My Celestial Ascension

Anna quickly retrieved a small table from her spatial ring, placed the pot of tea and the cups on it, and then set down a small tray filled with snacks that paired well with the tea.

"Miss Isadora, here," Anna said, pouring a cup and offering it to her with a smile. "Try the snacks too; they're delicious and go well with tea."

"Oh, they look very tempting. Sure, I'd love to try them." Isadora quickly took a cookie, bit into it, and then sipped her tea, the combination of flavors making her close her eyes in delight.

Anna then poured tea for everyone else and also a cup for herself.

While enjoying the delicious tea and snacks, they chatted for a while. Since Isadora was very interested in the spiritual beasts roaming the forest, she asked many questions about them.

Yuan was initially reluctant to share more about spiritual beasts. However, since he trusted her, he decided to explain more about how spiritual beasts were different from magical beasts. Nevertheless, he refrained from divulging too much, as he didn't want to overwhelm her with information, knowing her curiosity would only increase.

They talked about various other topics besides spiritual beasts, and without realizing it, more than an hour passed quickly.

Archmage Isadora stood up from the tree trunk she was sitting on and looked at Yuan and his wives. "Thank you for letting me join you; it was great company. I enjoyed every second of it."

"However, it's time for me to leave now. King Richard might be looking for me as we speak," Isadora said with a smile, placing her empty cup on the table.

"Then we won't hold you back. I know how serious King Richard is," Anna responded with a smile, and Archmage Isadora left.

A few minutes after Archmage Isadora left, Yuan and his wives also returned to their tent as many mosquitoes began to appear. Although they couldn't pierce the skins of Mireya, Sylvia, and Valeria, mosquitoes are still very bothersome.

—

"Crown Prince Daniel, how is the condition of the injured? Are they recovering steadily?"

Suddenly, Daniel heard Archmage Eldrick's voice from behind while he was enjoying a cup of tea during a rare moment of relaxation.

"Oh, it's Senior Eldrick," Daniel turned around and greeted him with a smile, lowering his cup. "As far as I can see, they're recovering steadily, and their recovery rate is quite fast. No one has lost their lives. However…"

"However?" Archmage Eldrick raised his brows, his face turning serious.

Daniel sighed and replied, "I don't think we can continue moving forward tomorrow. Most of the injured who have recovered from their life-threatening injuries are quite weak at the moment. They will need at least a day to recover half of their strength."

"I see… This is really a serious problem for us." Archmage Eldrick sighed upon hearing this, feeling uncomfortable knowing they had to wait another day before resuming their mission.

"Indeed. But we can do nothing about it," Daniel responded with a smile before taking a sip from his cup.

"Well, I'll go and check on how the treatment is progressing," Archmage Eldrick said as he left, heading toward the infirmary where the injured were being treated.

"I hate this old goat. He is always speaking favorably about that coward, the Holy Son…" Daniel muttered, watching Eldrick leave, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Talking about that bastard, I wonder what he is up to… Is he planning something against Yuan and his women?" He pondered the possibility, knowing Arthur was quite the cunning fellow and couldn't be trusted.

"I haven't seen that bastard since yesterday. He didn't even come out to have meals with us… Well, it has nothing to do with me, and I won't concern myself with him." Daniel finished his tea, placed the empty cup on the table, and went to his tent to relax for a while.

As Daniel left the kitchen area, King Richard showed up. The female hunters in charge of preparing food immediately greeted him politely.

"Give me something to drink. I'm feeling very tired from all the work," he ordered, having been working for more than five hours without rest.

Without him, managing so many people would be impossible. And he couldn't put all the work on Crown Prince Daniel or the representatives from other nations. They were equally busy taking care of the injured and treating their wounds. More than a thousand people were being treated in the infirmary. While some had recovered, the number of patients hadn't decreased.

"Your Majesty, here is your drink." A female hunter approached a moment later and politely handed him a cup of tea and some cookies.

"Thank you very much," King Richard accepted the tea and cookies, thanking the female hunter with a smile.

"Please, don't thank me, Your Majesty. We should be the ones thanking you. After all, because of your efforts, we're alive today," the female hunter humbly responded with a bow.

"I did nothing, actually. It's all thanks to Yuan and his wives that we're alive today," King Richard replied with a smile. His countenance then turned sad, knowing that he wasn't able to do anything to save people from the corrupted monsters.

A few moments later, King Richard placed the empty cup on the table and went back to the infirmary to check on the people taking care of the injured.

Upon arriving at the infirmary, King Richard saw Archmage Isadora instructing a few individuals who specialized in healing magic, telling them to take care of the people who were seriously injured.

"Go to ward number four and use your healing magic on the patient there. Although their wounds are healed on the outside, they still have internal bleeding," Archmage Isadora said seriously, her countenance matching her tone.

"Understood, Lady Isadora!" The group nodded and quickly left.

Turning around, Archmage Isadora noticed King Richard looking at her with a dazed expression.

"Ah, Your Majesty, how long have you been standing there? I didn't even realize you were there," Isadora said with a smile as she walked toward him.

"I just arrived a moment ago and happened to hear your conversation with them," King Richard replied with a smile.

"I see…" Archmage Isadora nodded.

Then King Richard asked, "By the way, Lady Isadora, how long do you think it will take for the patients to recover enough strength so we can resume our march?"

"The recovery is going well. I think by the day after tomorrow, everyone will have recovered enough strength to continue the mission," Archmage Isadora replied after thinking for a moment.

"I see… It's a pity that we have to wait another day. The threat is constantly increasing with each day; the more time we take, the stronger the enemies will be," King Richard sighed, looking at the ceiling of the infirmary. He continued, "I hope everything goes smoothly and we can resume our mission the day after tomorrow."

"It's not only you, Your Majesty. The hunter party—The Celestial Blades—said the same thing to me. They also wish to complete this mission as soon as possible."

"I see… I didn't expect that you would be chatting with them. I thought you disliked them for some reason, Lady Isadora. I'm surprised you had a conversation with them," King Richard said, surprised to learn that Isadora had talked with Yuan and his wives, given her initial indifference.

"Well, not only did I have a good conversation with them, but I also found that Yuan has more knowledge about this forest than we do," Archmage Isadora replied with a serious look.

"What?! That is almost impossible! No one should know these parts of the forest; it's practically impossible!" King Richard found this hard to believe.

"As impossible as it sounds, it's the truth," Archmage Isadora responded with a very serious expression, indicating she wasn't joking. "Besides, he also told me about things we have no knowledge of or have never heard about."

"What?! What kind of things did he tell you about?"

"Well, he told me about a kind of beast," Archmage Isadora replied with a small smile. She then began to recall everything Yuan had told her and shared the same information with King Richard.

King Richard's countenance turned extremely serious upon hearing Archmage Isadora's words, and he muttered, "T-This is impossible! How could such beasts exist in this world? And what kind of energy do they use instead of mana?"

"I do not know that. Yuan didn't tell me in detail," Archmage Isadora sighed.

"Is that so? I guess we have no other choice besides asking him," King Richard also sighed.

Meanwhile, back where Yuan and his wives were, Anna began to prepare the cooking ingredients for dinner. This time, Yuan decided to help her since he used to cook back on Earth.

At first, his wives were surprised upon hearing that he would be helping with cooking. He had never participated in something like this before—except for one time when he took charge of maintaining the fire.

But they were even more surprised when Yuan began to prepare the ingredients alongside Anna flawlessly. Each of his movements was graceful and elegant, making his other wives look at him in disbelief.

Anna smiled at him and said, "I never knew you were so good at cooking too, my dear. Color me surprised!"