Recently, Alama had a rare bit of leisure.
Not that there was nothing to do, but compared to the past decade or so where he had to sit in command at High Fortress all year round facing the brunt of the demon army, the situation was now different.
High Fortress had changed hands, and the human army retreated to a defense line further back, creating a large buffer zone between the two sides.
The lengthening of the battle line and the change in the form of confrontation unexpectedly gave this Duke some time he could freely allocate.
Only then could he temporarily leave the defense line like now and run to the Mushroom Capital to see his daughter, who always brought him "surprises."
"Is this that Imprisonment Ring or whatever?" Alama's attention was quickly attracted by the simple-styled ring on Inanna's hand, faintly flashing with the brilliance of runes. "Why are there two?"
While speaking, he extended a finger somewhat curiously, wanting to touch that ring for a closer look.
"Take away your dirty hand, human!"
A tongue of flame suddenly leaped from the ring, sweeping across the fabric on Alama's chest that had just been dampened by melting ice, instantly evaporating it dry and even singeing the tips of his black and white hair until they curled slightly.
"Little Fire! He is my father!" Inanna scolded the ring somewhat angrily in a low voice.
"This Lord certainly knows!" A voice like muffled thunder came from the ring, carrying obvious displeasure. "Otherwise, he would be a piece of medium-well roast meat right now! Also, this Lord is not called 'Little Fire'!"
"Ignoring you today!" Inanna then came to Alama's front, asking with concern, "Old man, didn't get burned, right? Sorry, Little Fire was just beaten by Little Ice and is in a bad mood."
"Who was beaten by it? Who was beaten by it! Right here, you call it out, let's fight another round!"
Tongues of fire constantly popped out of the ring, accidentally igniting the wooden table beside them. Inanna hurriedly extinguished it with a water ball, finally having to use the runes on the ring to temporarily confine the Fire Elemental Lord, only then did it quiet down.
Alama, having successively experienced "fire and ice," saw his daughter approaching again and instinctively wanted to lean back slightly.
Fortunately, the control honed over years on the battlefield allowed him to stabilize his body forcefully at the last moment, only his shoulders stiffened almost imperceptibly for an instant.
This time, finally, no "defense mechanism" was triggered again.
Hearing his daughter call that Fire Elemental Lord, which in reports "set off an elemental riot and destroyed an entire city," "Little Fire" in a tone like coaxing a child, the corner of Alama's eye twitched uncontrollably twice.
He raised his hand to stroke his beard, which still felt a bit singed and curly, and laughed dryly twice:
"Good, good... daughter has grown up after all, becoming more and more capable. Good thing, this is a good thing!"
Saying this, Alama's voice unconsciously softened a bit. His gaze followed his daughter's face; those hard lines tempered on the battlefield became soft at this moment.
He talked about some celebrations she missed in her childhood, asked what she liked to eat now, whether the diplomatic journey was smooth, and even clumsily mentioned whether to redecorate her room in the ducal mansion. His words revealed a cautiousness attempting to make up for his past absence.
Unfortunately, this compensation was more or less a bit late.
Inanna was no longer that little girl lacking care; Puchis filled her heart completely.
She smiled and responded to Alama's words, just like a qualified lady of a noble house. Alama saw it in his eyes, feeling somewhat helpless in his heart.
But some things, once missed, couldn't be made up for, and Alama had no choice back then.
Fortunately, although the relationship between father and daughter couldn't become intimate, at least it wasn't hostile; there indeed existed kinship between them.
While the two chatted about family affairs, No. 4, completely unable to understand this atmosphere, jumped onto the sofa on its own and drilled into Inanna's arms.
And Inanna also very naturally began to PET the Puchi in her arms right in front of Alama.
Watching this made the corner of Alama's eye twitch again.
He even wanted to mention the issue of Inanna's lifelong event again.
Inanna was already eighteen. Not married at this age meant she would be an old maid in two more years.
Alama didn't want others to laugh at his daughter behind his back.
But right now, there were other things to say first.
Unknowingly, the chat shifted from family affairs to that war.
"The Church of Light... paid too much," he said slowly. "Precisely because of this, the Kingdom needs stability more. Recently, some emerging sects always pop up everywhere, causing unrest in people's hearts..."
His words paused, his line of sight seemingly inadvertently sweeping over Julia in the distance.
Inanna's movement of kneading No. 4 stopped for an instant.
"Old man," she looked up, the jumping light of the fireplace reflected in her pink eyes, "the Baygu Cult is different."
Alama met his daughter's gaze. Inside was a stubbornness and innocence familiar to him, exactly the same as her mother back then.
He sighed: "Inanna, my child, how can you be sure they are different? For many things, what is seen on the surface isn't everything. The Church of Light has taken root in the Kingdom for hundreds of years, always being the pillar maintaining faith and order. The blood of that sacrificed Archbishop proved the weight of this orthodoxy. You are my daughter, a member of the St. Clair family. Emotionally and reasonably, you should... stand on the side of maintaining this orthodoxy."
Inanna shook her head, saying with certainty: "Those who like Puchis and are liked by Puchis, how could they be bad people?"
But were Puchis themselves necessarily "good"?
Alama really wanted to say this, but couldn't just open his mouth like that.
And he suspected, judging from Inanna's state of dependence on Puchis, even saying it would be of no avail.
And leading his daughter to become like this today was ultimately his fault.
Finally, he could only sigh again, looking at the ceiling without saying a word.
Yes, personally, he owed Puchis too much.
If not for his negligence back then, Inanna wouldn't have fallen into a desperate situation; it was these little Puchis who saved her life.
In that tragic battle at Dragonroar Valley, it was even the power of Puchis that forcefully dragged him back from the gates of hell.
As a flesh-and-blood person, he was grateful and even held closeness to these wondrous lives.
However, he wasn't just Inanna's father.
He was a Duke of the United Kingdom, one of those shouldering human safety.
Puchis were constantly integrating into the Kingdom, and the proportion of Puchi Masters was getting higher and higher. But with the research of those scholars in the Relic Association, some previously unknown details were also discovered.
For example, people with mycelium growing on their bodies would naturally feel closeness to Puchis, as well as a large-scale mental communication ability called the mycelial network, and so on...
Within the mycelium, exactly how many unknown secrets were hidden?
Sometimes he even thought, even if they really defeated the Empire relying on Puchis, at that time, would the true winner be humanity or Puchis?
As a Duke, he must prepare for the worst possibility, even if this made him look like an ungrateful person.
But just like he would choose humanity between the kindness of humanity and Puchis.
Yet Inanna... He looked at his daughter's happy expression while holding and teasing No. 4. If the moment truly came where a choice must be made, she would probably stand on the side of Puchis.
How could this not make him helpless?
He had no good way to deal with this situation; this was much harder than killing enemies on the battlefield.
Comparatively, whether to release an organizer of a small emerging sect became an insignificant detail instead.
Maybe after Inanna got married, this situation would change somewhat, shifting her energy from Puchis to family?
Alama pondered this possibility on his own, planning to discuss it with Lorenzo later; his two sons were both married, so he had more experience.
In the end, Alama, failing to persuade his daughter, could only rise and leave with a trace of dejection.
He waved his hand, leaving a sentence: "Forget it... I will go explain to the Church."
Out the door, he noticed another member of the Mushroom Tribe carrying four swords standing outside. He knew its name was No. 14.
No. 14 extended a tentacle, patted Alama's shoulder, then walked into the room with "puchi puchi" sounds.
Alama stood in place, that soft tactile sensation still remaining on his shoulder.
He looked back at the re-closed door, a trace of confusion emerging on his face.
What did that mean?
It couldn't be that this Puchi was comforting him, right?
(End of Chapter)
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