Tale of Discovery

Chapter 198: Calm ; Shock

"Don't think much of what just happened," Alais says once we've entered her home.

"Of what?" I ask with a smile on my lips.

"The kiss," she responds, "It was nothing more than a reward."

"Sure, sure," I say while shaking my head before heading to the living room.

Alais and I both take a seat on a sofa, with the two of us being seated relatively close to one another.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened back there?" Alais says after a few seconds.

"It was nothing more than what you saw," I say, "Through the use of some unconventional magic, I relayed my voice to where the crowd was and deceived them into thinking that Ari was stirring up trouble through lies."

"But, now the others are going to berate Ari at every chance they get" Alais says in a despondent manner.

"Alais," I say in a calming tone while moving closer to her, "Ari is just reaping what he sowed. Had he taken a different approach to the matter, I wouldn't have done what I did."

"Just take a moment to think about all the lives that would've been lost if I did not stop him. From my experience, the humans would've allied with one another for the common purpose of eradicating the offending elves."

Alais remains silent for a few seconds before she closes her eyes and lets out a sigh.

"You're right," she says, "It's just that my focus was on Ari rather than anything else."

"That's only natural," I immediately say, "You're his mother, so I can't blame you for placing Ari above everything else."

Before she can say anything, I continue in a much firmer tone, "However, there are times that a child needs to be punished. This was such a time."

Seemingly agreeing with me, Alais nods her head as she leans back on the sofa.

"What are you going to do now?" she asks me with her eyes closed.

"Access the gate," I bluntly reply.

"What?" Alais exclaims as she swiftly gets up and gawks at my face.

"Don't worry," I say, "I'm not planning to make use of my cousin to do so. I'm sure that there is something else that you elves aren't aware of regarding the gate."

"Why are you so certain about that?" she asks while squinting her eyes.

"There is no point in telling you," I say dismissively, "After all, you wouldn't be able to help out either way."

Silence ensues as neither of us knows what to say next, so I get up from the sofa and prepare to go back to where I am supposed to be.

"Wait," Alais says before getting from the sofa as well, "What would it take for you to tell me?"

Oh? She seems to care about this matter more than I expected. From her earlier conversation with Ari, I deemed her to be uninterested in the gate, but it seems like there is more to the matter than I suspected.

"A ki-"

"Fine," she interrupts me in a resolute tone.

Yeah, there is definitely more to the matter. It doesn't matter, as I get to enjoy the warmth of a beautiful mature elf.

Nodding my head, I sit back on the sofa before patting my lap a couple of times.

Seeing this, Alais lets out a sigh before moving over and taking a seat on my lap while saying, "You sure like to tease women."

I stroke her cheek and say, "I wouldn't miss out on enjoying my time with a beauty such as yourself if I could."

She doesn't react to my statement much, so I proceed to pull her head closer to myself and lock my lips with hers.

This goes on for a while, with my doing nothing other than kissing her supple lips, as I'm certain that she would retaliate if I did anything else.

In the end, however, I did squeeze her pert but a little, which earned my swift slap to the face.

Naturally, I didn't let the slap reach my face by canceling out the vectors, but nevertheless, Alais wasn't amused.

"It better be worth it," she says while glowering at me.

I chuckle awkwardly before pulling out the black stone I had found within the boulder.

"What!" Alais immediately exclaims before stepping back a few times.

"What's wrong?" I ask, intrigued about what could've made her react in such a manner.

"That thing," she says while pointing at the rock, "It's making the spirits go to sleep."

"Huh?"

What is she on about? 'Spirits going to sleep'. What's that supposed to mean?

Perhaps realizing that she isn't making much sense, Alais coughs twice before explaining, "We elves use spirits instead of the magic that humans use. We call out to them and have them help us use powers beyond our own."

"That rock is making those spirits fall asleep."

"So, you're essentially saying that this rock is preventing you from using 'magic', am I right?"

"In essence, yes," she responds, "But this would attract the attention of elves who can see spirits."

"And I assume that you're one of them?" I say. After all, she must've seen them to know that they had fallen asleep.

Or, so I thought, but Alais shakes her head and explains, "No. I only realized because I felt an uncomfortable sensation that I've felt only once before."

"Which was when spirits fell asleep," I say, to which Alais nods her head.

"So, do you know what this stone is?" I curiously ask.

"No," she responds with a frown, "But, I'm sure the other elves would try to kill you if they find out that it's within your possession."

"What about you?" I say while grinning.

Alais beams a smile before responding, "I believe that you won't misuse it, so it's fine."

Nodding my head, I place the stone back in the storage ring before saying, "I think it's about time I left."

Bidding her farewell, I directly teleport back to where Tiffania and Aruru are, only to be astounded by the adorable sight of Aruru playing with her wings.

"Aruru," I say, earning me a bright smile from the petite angel as she rushes into my embrace. I realize that she did without making much noise, most likely to prevent Tiffa from waking up.

As such, I pat her head and whisper, "Good job, Aruru."

Aruru giggles lightly before enveloping my body by her soft and warm wings.

As a response to this, I get down on my knees and move my head closer, intending to kiss her cheek.

To my horror, Aruru moves her head away before I can do so.

My eyes widen as I look into her bubbly eyes with pure shock apparent on my face.

Why? Have I done something to make her feel uncomfortable? But, if that was the case she wouldn't have run into my embrace.

"Aruru?" I intone in a confused voice.

She doesn't respond to me but only looks back at me motionlessly.

Letting out a small sigh, I move my head closer once more, intending to kiss her cheek, only to be avoided by Aruru swiftly turning her head.

A chaotic feeling appears within my chest as I begin to think of every possible reason Aruru could be acting like this.

After a while, I arrive at a conclusion. A strange one.

Deciding that it's worth the shot, I slowly move my head closer, this time intending to kiss her lips.

Lo and behold, she doesn't move away!

Due to feeling relief and excitement, I somewhat lose control of myself in the kiss, overdoing it to the point that Aruru's wings limply fall as her eyes seem to lose focus.

Crap.

Breaking the over-passionate kiss, I look at Aruru's face, only to find it completely red with her muttering the phrase "father is the best" continuously.

Moving her wings to the side, I scoop her up into my arms before walking over to my bed and lying down with her still in my arms. A few seconds later, Aruru seems to regain her clarity as she pulls her wings back before snuggling into my chest.

Aruru yawns a little before clenching onto my clothes and falling asleep.

Was she waiting for me? Ugh. The guilt

As I slowly begin to doze off, I gently pat Aruru's head while thinking of how I will be accessing the gate tomorrow