Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Cecilia who was in a state of focus suddenly felt a presence not far from her and she slowly opened her eyes. Seven coloured lights of varying depth flashed across her eyes before mysteriously disappearing.

Seeing that it was Irene, happiness flashed across her eyes before she quickly sprang up and ran towards her.

"Sister Irene so you have returned" Cecilia said as she trodded towards the rock where Irene was sitting.

Irene replied with a small nod "Un I have returned".

After hearing that, Cecilia tilted her head and looked towards the palace before asking innocently "But why can't I sense the presence of big brother?"

During these few days, Cecilia had taken quite a liking towards Irene and had started calling her big sister.

Cecilia liked Irene very much and her gentle smile reminded her of her mother. Although she had lost quite a lot, she had also gained two important people that were very dear to her.

Hearing her question Irene looked towards the ceiling before commenting "He should be coming soon".

"Un..." Cecilia said with delight.

Just as Irene said, it didn't take long for Simon to return back and as soon as he came, Cecilia waved to him and dashed towards his direction. However, she stopped in her tracks as her spring came to a halt midway.

"I have returned Cecilia. Those bad people that have tormented you and your clan, big brother has made it so that they won't bother you anymore. You no longer have to be worried" Simon tried to give his best smile which he was so bad at to console her and lift all her worries.

"Un..b-but'¦" Cecilia opened and closed her mouth many times, trying to form some words, but failed miserably. Tears glimmered in the corners of her eyes which she desperately tried to hold back.

"Huh'¦ eh?" Simon did not expect such a reaction and was momentarily stunned. He didn't know why she would suddenly start crying just after seeing him.

"W-what's wrong? Was there any problem while I was gone?" Since he did not know what made her almost cry, he could only ask her about it.

"...." She shook her small head while wiping her tears before saying "No, there was no problem. But big brother'¦ y-you are wounded!!".

It finally dawned on him as to why Cecilia's first reaction was to cry as soon as she saw him. She was already feeling guilty for involving him in all of the trouble so if she saw him injured all over while fighting the enemies that was after her, wouldn't she feel even more mortified after that?

'Ahhh why didn't I think of this before? I am an idiot to appear before her with my wound ridden body'. Such thoughts were revolving inside his head as he hurriedly tried to think of an excuse to calm her.

"T-this is nothing, injury of this level will heal in a jiffy. See some of my wounds have already started healing" Simon thought that he could mend the situation but he was making it even worse.

Irene silently sighed before shifting her gaze away unable to see Simon embarrassing himself any further. 'Those are not the words you use to console others'.

Cecilia came up to Simon with tear-stained eyes and examined his wounds. No matter how he tried to pass it off as light injuries that would quickly heal, one look and Cecilia immediately knew that he was saying all that so she doesn't blame herself.

As she touched those wounds that looked quite deep, especially the ones on his chest, tears fell out from her eyes and dripped on his wounds.

DRIP... DRIP...

At that moment something incredible happened. Boundless energy like that of an ocean circulated through Simon's body. Every vein, muscle and bone in his body were quickly being submerged in that energy.

While the boundless energy was circulating around his body, a calming emerald green light shined all across his wounds. What made Simon open his mouth wide open was that the wounds all around his body were swiftly closing at a miraculous speed. The boundless natural energy that was circulating inside him had healing properties that even healed his internal injuries and also those scars that he received from his previous battles.

What was going on? How could his wounds regenerate at such an insane speed? Even with his natural recovery and regeneration skill, the speed was still exaggerated. The only explanation left was'¦ Simon looked at Cecilia with surprise and astonishment in his eyes.

The ridiculous healing speed, not to mention the boundless energy that was rushing through his body was due to Cecilia. Or to be more exact, her tears contained that miraculous healing ability.

Even Cecilia herself was dumbfounded by the insane speed at which the wounds were closing. She lifted her adorable head and looked at Simon with admiration. Thinking that her big brother had used one of his abilities to instantly cure his injuries which put her mind at ease.

"Big Brother you are truly amazing, even the wounds closed in an instant," She said with joy and relief on her face.

"Eh? Wha?... it wasn't m'¦" He wanted to say that it wasn't him and instead it was her abilities that had healed him, but when he saw her make such a relieved and clueless face, he couldn't help but gulp his words down.

The only one who wasn't shocked was Irene. Although honestly, even she had underestimated the speed at which Cecilia was manifesting her abilities. 'At this rate, it wouldn't even take her a decade before she could utilize her heaven-defying powers'.

She chose this time to step forward and ask "What took you so long?".

Simon widened his eyes at the sudden presence, he didn't know when Irene had arrived behind him. This woman was becoming more and more mysterious.

Scratching his head, Simon replied, "Well I went to check if this team of adventurers had another group stationed somewhere else in the forest and also to see if those two scurried back out of the forest or not". The two he was talking about was naturally the pair of Chuck and Lisa who he had saved a couple of hours ago.

Though he put it as if he was trying to chase the two away, Irene naturally knew from his action that Simon had a certain level of respect for them to help them out in the first place. The humans and demons were arch-enemies, but it did not mean that they were constantly fighting each other.

However, it was clearly unusual for a demon to help a human on his own accord. Irene was more and more convinced that Simon was unlike any other demon.

"Ahem" forcing a cough Simon decided to return back to his palace. While on the way, he glanced at Cecilia and asked, "How are your clansmen?".

With a gratifying nod, Cecilia happily replied "These past few days have taken a great toll on their body. Right now all of them are sleeping like a log".

"That's good. After they wake up we shall have a feast. I know that all of them have not eaten for a long time" Simon said as he thought about the dishes that he had yet to bring out.

On their way back, Cecilia looked at the wide back of Simon which gave her a sense of relief before muttering in a voice that only she could hear "Thank you... big brother".

-----

After the Forest Spring Spirit Children woke up, they came to the dining hall and saw a marvellous sight that stunned them for a good while.

A grand feast. Lines of food and beverages decorated every part of the table. Plates lining up with delicious food of every kind released an appetizing smell. A sight to behold.

The wide porcelain table that he got from the [Gacha] (now [Ga??????]) on his first day, was finally being used to its full capacity. The children after looking at the delicious food placed on the table, couldn't help but gulp a mouthful as they continuously stared at the dishes, mesmerized.

During their time in the Forest Spring spirit village, they had never seen foods of this kind and variety. However, they weren't to be blamed; after all, these food were a cuisine from the earth.

"Hm?" Simon frowned after seeing that children were hesitating to eat. He had spent quite a lot of time picking out the varieties of food that they might like. Just when he was delving on how to convince them, Cecilia brought a few of them along before taking a seat and eating.

Since Cecilia broke the awkward atmosphere, following her example, the other children also decided to start eating. Looking at the delicious food on the table, their hunger could no longer be contained as they frantically dug in.