The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'
Chapter 52 - Piggyback Walks~ Diplomatic Balks~ Vanishing Talks!

Chapter 52: Chapter 52 - Piggyback Walks~ Diplomatic Balks~ Vanishing Talks!

A loud gurgle broke the heavy silence that had fallen between them after the tale of ancient love lost in tragedy. The reborn cultivator’s still dull eyes widened, flashing with some slight emotion as she placed a hand over her *traitor* of a stomach.

’The mood wasn’t excellent, but there wasn’t a reason to kill it like this!’

The swordswoman couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. Her fingers circled the small girl’s stomach and the pat at it a few times. The tension from their previous conversation was lifted and the teenager was quite thankful for that... as she wasn’t sure what to say or do to make the girl feel better besides just keep holding on.

"It seems like talking about your past always does this? It’s also getting late, so I think that’s a sign that we should get you home."

The brunette looked up at her fiance, unable to pout with her facade still not placed back on. She had to suffice with brushing against the tendrils using ’discomfort’ and ’obstinance’.

"Carry me? I’m too hungry after chasing you down all evening."

The Yecine raised an eyebrow but didn’t protest. She lifted the girl underneath her armpits and raised her to her own feet. Then she knelt, gesturing for El to climb onto her back. The one being accommodated didn’t want to complain, but she was originally hoping for something more-

’Well, all these muscles here are fine too.’

As they set off in the still dropping temperature of the evening air, Qatrand found herself lost in thought. The silence between them had again settled over like a heavy cloak. The streets were quieter than mid-day and her footsteps echoed softly against the buildings, leaving her without much to focus on other than the revelations of her fiancee. As always, it felt like it would take more than one short evening to figure out exactly what she felt about it all.

Elua had sensed the need for silence from her ’fortress’, even if she felt her beloved would not have requested it aloud. She rested her chin on the taller girl’s shoulder and waited while her facade attempted to slowly and properly reassert itself. After several minutes, her sightline caught a certain Guild building. The heiress hesitantly interrupted the other girl’s thinking.

"Qat. There’s something I kind of failed to mention. Your father was not the only one of your family that I... had words with when seeking your location."

She didn’t want to out and out say she had been ’attacked’. Emotions were often more intense if the person was led to conclusions on their own, rather than directly stated! Unfortunately for the schemer, she wasn’t being very careful and the one she was trying to manipulate could feel ’mischief’.

"Did you sneak into the Yecine estate and enter my room?"

This was the first thought of the blonde, as Yatrel er Goltbred had proudly told the story of how she had done as much to Ondua’s dormitory room. While part of her knew this daughter thought a little differently on things than the mother, she had been noticing too many similarities lately. Even earlier, the girl herself compared her ’faithfulness’ to that of the woman.

"What? No. Wait, if I did then who would have been in there for me to speak to?"

Pigeon blue eyes squinted and her brow furrowed. It was a good point!

"Nevermind then. Who was it you talked to?"

Two sets of fingers kneaded and fidgeted along the shoulders she was holding onto.

"So you see... if you hadn’t gone home, then I thought maybe you went to your Guild for something and-"

"Oh. He was on duty tonight, wasn’t he? My cousin."

It didn’t take a lot of mental power to guess that she had told the young man of what Anper said. She had already probed Navuill with a few topics on her own and came to the conclusion that he might not be the source of the plan regarding the competition. Like her, he was just a member of their family being done with as their elders expected was best.

"Ye~ah. He has sort of a bad habit, doesn’t he? Also a repulsive Astralism that was reminding me of my panic. I was probably sharper with my words than needed because of that."

"What did you say to him?"

The young miss nuzzled closer to the tall girl’s neck. Her voice took on an ’innocent’ tone that contrasted with her words enough that Qat felt she would have noticed her intent even without sensing the roguish desire. It had been quite a long time since she viewed El as so ’immaculate’... even well before the talks about her past life.

After all, she had been doing secret business that included black market deals since she was a little older than ten.

’She has always been incredible, at least.’

"Oh, you know, just a bit of friendly conversation. I may have mentioned how disappointed I was to learn about the instruction you were given. And perhaps I implied that his own victories might be... less than earned."

She paused dramatically and let out a small ’sigh’.

"When he tried to use his Empath abilities on me, well... I might have demonstrated why that was a poor choice."

Qatrand’s step faltered and she had to slide the foot and tauten her core to keep the girl balanced safely on her back. Part of it was learning that the young man tried to do that to someone, but it was mostly-

"Demonstrated?"

"Mhm~ I simply showed him that his Astralism was... inadequate against someone like me. And then his Element, which I don’t think he understood I was practically designed to counter. Purely as a learning experience, of course."

"I’m confused. If he failed to use his spirit on you, how did it come to clashing with essence?"

"How indeed~ I think my warning about staking his life on the spiritual manipulation attempt may have frazzled him, so he doubled down? I don’t really understand, of course."

The swordswoman clenched her teeth, also not understanding. She could tell that despite the small girl’s obvious incitement, she hadn’t been lying about a single word. While it wasn’t something she relied completely on for other people, she trusted what her senses told her about this future wife.

If the one being believed in knew how much of a conviction was in that belief, she would probably feel *very bad*. For a while. She leaned back slightly, her tone becoming more matter-of-fact.

"But really, darling, I was quite restrained. I didn’t even mention how his disgusting Empath abilities reminded me of a particularly unpleasant individual from my past. I didn’t disparage him much at all out loud, besides telling him he was throwing a tantrum. See? I can be diplomatic!"

The Yecine could only picture the girl lecturing her cousin with a stern face and confident tone. She didn’t even imagine anything nearly like the thuggish threats for their unfought third round... or the screeching emotional fulmination that stopped as abruptly as it started. No, Qat didn’t actually understand who really threw a tantrum.

But even if she did, it wouldn’t change what happened. She took a deep breath while thinking of something with a lot of severity. She really, really didn’t want to go home now!

"Actually, I wanted to ask you another thing as well. Why couldn’t I sense you? I searched everywhere with my spirit, but it was like you had vanished. It was... it was one of the bigger reasons I panicked."

The blonde’s brow somehow furrowed further. She hadn’t been *aware* of any change in her spiritual presence. She had just been meditating a little up in the stands.

"I’m not sure. I was just watching some late training sessions while I started to cultivate my spirit."

El hummed thoughtfully, her breath warm against the teenager’s ear... who suddenly felt a little funny about their positioning. She had been told quite often in her training that a prowling beast is supposed to be kept in sight at all times.

"It’s strange. With my recent advancement, I shouldn’t have had trouble locating you at all. Unless..."

The reborn cultivator left the sentence hanging in the air. Qatrand turned her head slightly, catching a glimpse of her fiancee’s contemplative expression. The fact that her opinion of the one on her back could swap from ’dangerous to hold’ towards ’must hold and protect’ because of something like how cute she found the small girl... slightly frustrated the teenager.

"Unless what?"

She prompted while rapidly but softly shaking her head. Her curiosity had been piqued despite the whirlwind of contrasting emotions. The girl’s grip on her shoulders increased again.

"I told you that you were special. That your Trinity is aligned. Your Anchor Astralism partially prevents others from affecting your spirit. I knew that much, but I don’t know what a spirit like that attached to a body with Cynosure would do."

The heiress shifted the hold of her thighs around the swordswoman’s muscular waist.

"A spirit that aligns with a body housing a Physique that increases attention... would normally make others more aware of you while cultivating? Logically. But then there is the concept of Gravity also aligned... which might naturally invert that."

"Naturally invert...?"

The swordswoman was trying to follow her thoughts, but while she was simplifying it all to be easy to understand - that seemed to just make it worse. At least she understood that it was potentially something unique...

"Maybe. It’s a guess for now. I’ve never been in range of you cultivating - I would have never tried to use my sense to find you while you were doing it before. It could be that this effect has been happening all this time."

Those considerations were now out of the way and, despite being hungry, she was also feeling playful again. She had noticed the ’spiritual blush’ a bit ago and decided to place a short kiss on the strong neck. But she didn’t forget to quickly start talking again so that the girl could not complain!

"We can test it some time in the future, so that my mind can be set at ease. I don’t want to feel like I can’t locate you again... but if it happens due to who you are, then I’ll have to learn to accept it."

A hand twitched a little, wishing to latch onto her forehead. The fiance had spent more than enough time talking to the flirtatious girl to understand... that she was trying to trade acceptance of this mysterious supposed thing for the Yecine’s own acceptance of being randomly kissed from behind!