harleyscars Chapter 325: Very busy from now on
Chapter 325: Very busy from now on
"Are you still angry?"
Rory shook her head and smiled faintly at Jasper. "I stopped being angry a long time ago."
Jasper lowered his head and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.
"Rory... once the Thousand Females Festival is over, let’s go back to the Hunter Alliance. Aren’t you always saying you want to become a hunter and travel around capturing mutated beasts?"
His violet-black eyes softened as he looked at her.
"When we go back, I’ll hand the Alliance over to Yuel. I won’t do anything anymore. I’ll just stay by your side, alright? We can take missions together, hunt mutated beasts together..."
"You once said you wanted to know what it feels like to be a hunter. I’ll take you to experience it for yourself."
Rory knew perfectly well that Jasper was trying to cheer her up. Her smile deepened as she looped her arms lightly around his neck.
"Alright. Sounds good. When the time comes, we’ll form our own team too. We’ll drag Nix and the others along with us."
Jasper chuckled softly and nodded. "And you’ll be the captain."
...
Very soon, the battleship arrived above the estate and slowly descended.
Hidden inside a patch of inconspicuous mutated flowers at the edge of the manor grounds—a tiny snow-white wolf cub, barely the size of a kitten, crouched there sneakily with its head poking out, watching the descending battleship with nervous silver-gray eyes.
The hatch opened, and Rory stepped down from the ship.
Her expression was calm and unreadable. No one could tell whether she was still angry or not.
Xarion didn’t dare show himself rashly. What if Female Master saw him and got angry again? What if she told him to get lost? He didn’t want to leave.
After stepping off the battleship, Rory didn’t immediately head into the villa. Instead, she slowly swept her gaze across the surroundings.
"What are you looking at?" Yuel walked up beside her and asked softly.
Rory lowered her voice near his ear. "I have a feeling someone got home before we did. I just don’t know where he’s hiding."
Yuel suppressed a smile before answering quietly.
"He’s hiding in the mutated flower bushes to the east. Looks like he’s too scared to come out for now. Do you want me to drag him out?"
The moment Yuel stepped off the battleship earlier, the estate’s mutated plants had already informed him of Xarion’s location.
Rory shook her head. "No need. Let him hide."
As long as she knew where he was, that was enough. She had no intention of dragging Xarion out herself. If he wanted to hide, then he could keep hiding.
Yuel nodded. "Then let’s go inside."
It was already four in the afternoon. After resting for a bit, it would soon be time for dinner.
Meanwhile, Xarion remained hidden in the flower bushes, secretly watching everything unfold without daring to make the slightest sound.
He was terrified Rory would notice him.
Only after Rory’s figure disappeared through the villa entrance did Xarion finally let out a cautious breath of relief.
Thank the Beast God... Neither Yuel nor Female Master had discovered him.
That meant he could safely hide at home for the next few days. This way, he wouldn’t have to return to the Snow Domain... And he could still stay close to Female Master.
Perfect.
***
After returning to the villa, Rory first went upstairs to shower and change into comfortable loungewear.
Once she finished drying her hair, she opened her communicator and glanced at her chat with Vincent.
He still hadn’t replied. Had he not seen the message? Or was he simply too afraid to answer her?
With a faint frown, Rory tossed the communicator aside, grabbed several beast cores, and headed toward the training room.
Downstairs, Yuel and Jasper were busy preparing dinner for Rory.
Since her mood had been poor today, the two of them had cooked an entire table full of dishes to cheer her up. There was even dessert prepared afterward.
Jasper carefully set the freshly made beast milk pudding aside before turning to Yuel.
"Should we send some food to the one hiding outside?"
He was referring to Xarion.
At this point, everyone in the house—except Xarion himself—already knew he was hiding in the flower bushes.
Yuel replied calmly, "Tomorrow. One missed meal won’t starve him to death."
Besides, Xarion still had nutrient solutions stored in his spatial ring. He wouldn’t actually go hungry. And honestly, if they tried delivering food to him now, Xarion probably wouldn’t even dare accept it.
After finishing dinner preparations, Yuel headed upstairs to call Rory down to eat.
But just as he reached the doorway, the little Terry resting on his shoulder suddenly twitched.
"Awwoo..."
The tiny wolf-like cry was soft and childish, still thick with sleepiness and babyish innocence as it rang out from Yuel’s shoulder.
Yuel’s hand froze on the doorknob. His gaze snapped toward Terry.
Deep blue clusters of energy rapidly gathered around the little fruit spirit’s body.
In seconds, the swirling light wrapped completely around him, bathing half of Yuel’s face in an ethereal blue glow. A vast, pure life force pulsed within the cocoon of light, condensing and taking shape at astonishing speed.
Then, the light dispersed.
"Daddy..."
Terry stood happily on Yuel’s shoulder, tiny newly formed hands stretching forward to hug his face before planting a loud kiss on his cheek.
"Muah!"
Yuel stared at the little creature in shock. The energy of the Ebony Divine Fruit had actually allowed Terry to take human form this quickly.
Though perhaps because the energy was still insufficient, Terry had only partially transformed.
He now possessed tiny arms, legs, and a head, while the rest of his body remained round and fruit-like.
"Daddy, Daddy! I turned human!"
A translucent little flower bloomed atop Terry’s head, swaying gently as he curiously inspected his new body.
Standing unsteadily on Yuel’s shoulder, he wobbled his chubby little legs, then lifted his tiny arms in fascination.
His delicate features were exquisitely adorable. His eyes looked strikingly like Rory’s—clear and bright as polished obsidian. The transparent flower atop his head refracted rainbow-colored light beneath the lamps.
He looked less like a child and more like an impossibly cute collectible figurine come to life.
Inside the room, Rory, who had been about to step outside, heard the commotion near the door and walked over.
The moment she opened it, before she could even process what she was seeing—a tiny blur shot straight into her arms.
Rory instinctively caught it.
"Mother! Mother!"
Terry sprawled across her palm, hugging one of her fingers tightly as he tilted up his tiny face and beamed at her. The little translucent flower atop his head bobbed excitedly with every movement.
Rory froze.
She stared blankly at the adorable little figure in her palm—the one with the transparent flower on his head that looked so cute he resembled a handcrafted doll—then slowly lifted her eyes toward Yuel standing at the doorway.
"Yuel... th-this... this is... Terry?"
Yuel finally snapped out of his stunned daze. He stepped forward immediately, his expression complicated as he looked at the tiny creature in Rory’s hands.
"Yes. This is our Terry. The Divine Fruit’s energy... forced his transformation early."
Yuel looked helplessly at Terry’s plump fruit-shaped body. "Looks like the energy wasn’t enough for a complete transformation."
Not only had the transformation failed to fully complete, but Terry hadn’t grown properly either.
The tiny doll-like appearance gave Yuel an immediate headache. If Terry had remained in fruit form and continued growing on him for three years, he would’ve naturally matured into a proper plant-type beastman.
But now, because he had transformed through external energy before he was ready—and failed midway—he would need continued external assistance to complete the process.
Which meant... Yuel was going to be very busy from now on.
"Wow... Terry, you’re so adorable."
Rory gazed at the tiny creature in her palm with undisguised delight and fascination.
She gently poked his round fruit body with her fingertip. It was soft and springy.
Unable to resist, she poked him again.
"Mother, that tickles..." Terry burst into giggles, squirming around in her palm like a lively little fish.
The sight was so unbearably cute that Rory’s heart nearly melted.
She carefully lifted him closer, resting her forehead lightly against his tiny smooth one as she praised him softly,
"Our Terry is amazing. You’re already able to transform at such a young age."
"Mother, Terry has powers now too!" The little guy puffed up proudly. "In the future, Terry can protect Mother too!"
As he spoke, he lifted one tiny hand. A streak of deep blue lightning instantly appeared in his palm. The shape of the lightning resembled one of Yuel’s leaves.
Without warning, Terry casually tossed the lightning leaf aside.
BOOM!
A hole the size of a soccer ball exploded through the nearby wall. The attack happened so fast that neither Rory nor Yuel had time to react.