The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'
Chapter 69 - Uneven Enthusiasm? Cool About Crystals, But Melting For Memories

Chapter 69: Chapter 69 - Uneven Enthusiasm? Cool About Crystals, But Melting For Memories

At the dinner table, with an annoyed squint and lips pressed into a thin line, the eldest daughter sat. The facade’s usual saccharin was conspicuously absent. Replaced by an air of genuine frustration, her fingers drummed an impatient rhythm against the polished wood as she waited for the meal to be served.

The cook who heard about this from another servant was whirling around the kitchen trying his best! Her father’s gaze moved between his daughter and his wife, silently requesting an answer. Yatrel merely shrugged.

The woman was equally puzzled by their eldest’s uncharacteristic display of annoyance at the table.

’Was it a lack of food? She promised she would eat lunch before leaving this morning...’

While a lot of things seemed to be changing like this with their daughter since she came back from training, she was almost acting like she used to during her week of the month. The mint eyed woman wasn’t the only one who had this thought - most of the servants were panicking, expecting it to be the second coming of the moody glares.

"El, dear, Is everything alright?"

After his cautious venture, the ’young’ cultivator’s mint eyes snapped up to meet her father’s concerned gaze. She inhaled deeply before considering whether to maintain her *irritation*... or slip back into her usual demeanor. She chose the former - and not just because he’d used the name that Qat called her.

"No. I’ve been working on my project. It requires precise stitching and punching."

Her mind drifted back to the afternoon’s work. The supple leather beneath her fingers, the careful placement of each mark and stitch. She’d been so close to finishing the punched lines when...

"I was aligning the final row when my mind wandered."

A blush colored her cheeks. Yatrel’s lips twitched into a knowing smile that she quickly hid behind her cup. She really shouldn’t grow accustomed to being amused by it, if it was what she was thinking. Luckily the brunette pressed on.

"Anyway... in my distraction, I gripped the leather punch too, uh... tightly. Then it just crumpled in my hand like it was made of paper."

She’d had to bend the metal back around the sides of her hand. All in all, It was a very uncomfortable mistake. Ondua’s eyebrows shot up.

"I don’t suppose this has anything to do with that Physique of yours that you haven’t told us about?"

’First he makes me tell my Astralism, now he wants to know everything. I guess I should have expected as much.’

After glancing at the brunette man, she decided to be noncommittal.

"Perhaps. In any case, it left me without one proper tool to finish my work. Going to buy another would have made me late for dinner. The progress I’d made today..."

She would have gotten much further had she not distractedly made an entire gift for someone else first. Her father nodded thoughtfully at her talk then began to stroke his chin. There was an idea forming. A way that he could help - and potentially impose... that is, spend more time with her!

"You know, Elua. I might be able to be of use. I could make you a new set of your tools. If I take my time with their formation, I can make them nearly shatter-resistant."

Mint eyes opened wider. She’d known of his Crystal Element... but overlooked his potential use to her. He was right. If he actually knew what he was doing and spent his time on it...

"You could do that?"

The man grinned happily at his daughter’s clear interest. People were always amazed when talking to him, but this might be the first time *she* seemed genuinely impressed! Unfortunately for him, Elua was a lot closer to incredulous than in awe. His essence cultivation... was only Fifth Echelon Enchanter.

"Of course! It really would take some time to get the crystalline structure just right - and it would be easier to start from good gems which will make them expensive. But I could make you punches, awls, maybe even some specialized needles?"

He sounded a little unsure, but excited.

"I haven’t done something so thin in quite a while. Just bring me everything you want an improved copy of and I’ll work on it in the evenings."

The reincarnated cultivator looked beyond the crystal tools. If he could reform gems to fit her needs... there was a lot of potential to enhance her sigil work. Her own carving with essence was fine. Rather, it was getting parts for it shaped to the right size that was a hassle.

"That would be... incredibly helpful. Thank you, dad."

She had been thinking about making them herself anyway, but it would have been time consuming and it wouldn’t have prevented her from crushing them... unless she spent as much on materials as she did on Qat’s sword. This way, she would get a feel for his capabilities and she could just focus on her work.

As the family began to eat, the tension from earlier dissipated. The heiress found herself explaining more about her leatherworking process, carefully omitting certain details about the true nature of her project. Her parents listened intently to her rambling about artisanry much more specifically than they’d expected.

First she became an ’instant’ prodigy in sigils and now she’d done it again in another field. She knew it was likely going to be seen as strange, but Elua allowed herself to simply enjoy the familial interaction. After all, it was rare for her to admit to having interests outside of Qat... even if it was on a whim that she returned to an old hobby.

---

The soft knock at the door drew the reborn cultivator’s attention from her latest project. She finalized and let go of the illusion before standing up in the middle of her cultivation room. Making something suddenly for a disciple made her realize that she had been neglecting someone else in her life.

’A sibling of mine should not be having bad dreams.’

"Young miss, there’s a courier here with a package that is supposed to be from your fiance."

Her personal servant’s curious voice struck her the moment the door opened. It was already not often that letters came - at least compared to the amount her charge sent out. She couldn’t think of a time when a whole package arrived from the young Yecine. Elua’s eyes lit up with an unforced smile on her facade.

"Are they waiting outside the gate or..."

"I led them to the waiting room."

The young girl’s steps were quick with a measure of excitement and reached the place in no time. As the door swung open, her smile faltered for just a moment. A cloaked woman stood beside the doorway, a carefully wrapped package in her hands and an unreadable expression on her face.

’What was her name again...?’

"Sevra!"

The brunette exclaimed after a beat, tone full of ’pleasant surprise’.

"I didn’t expect to see you here. Are you trying to become my personal courier?"

The scout took a step closer, though her movements were cautious.

"It was a coincidence this time. I was in the area finishing a different delivery. When I came into the courier post Qatrand er Yecine was already there. They heard my name being said and asked for me to deliver this personally. He said it was... important."

The Goltbred accepted the package with a soft look. Her fingers began to trace the intricate wrapping, Like her servant had been, she was incredibly curious. Qat had never sent her anything.

"How thoughtful of ’him’. And of you, to go out of your way. Thank you."

Sevra shifted with a discomfort in her spirit that was palpable. Mint eyes studied the woman’s form, wondering what might be the problem. Her first thought was that she was jealous!

"It was no trouble."

"Of course. You know, this reminds me of something your brother said to me."

The Shadow Whisker Sorority member’s eyes grew wide and her spirit surged with more discomfort.

"My... brother?"

Elua nodded with a distant gaze. She was trying really hard to remember what that man had actually said. He hadn’t left much of an impression... it was also only a single time that he took the woman’s place for the delivery at the Coiled Serpent Guild.

"Yes, he mentioned that he used to tell you bedtime stories? About ancient cultivators, if I recall correctly."

She turned her mint eyes back to Sevra. The person being looked at felt like there was a hint of something primeval in their depths! Her breath hitched, just knowing that the ’little girl’ *knew* that she knew.

"It’s funny how some patterns in those stories repeat, isn’t it?"

The scout swallowed hard. Her suspicions flared - was this a veiled threat? A test? She had to answer and it needed to be believable.

"I... suppose so, Little Snake."

The voice that responded to that moniker was full of ’youthful enthusiasm’ that clashed with the understanding borne in the woman’s heart.

"Well, I won’t keep you. Once again, thank you for the delivery, Sevra. Oh, and do be careful out there. Life and the world can be so... unpredictable."

Sevra hurried from the room at the dismissal and the heiress allowed herself a small, satisfied smirk. She had no idea why she was riling the courier so much today, but it was fun!

"Maybe she realized that my mother might be home. She had seemed very scared of her name at one time, like many people are."

It didn’t really matter to her. She was merely distracting herself in order to savor the moment of having an unopened present in her hands. It almost felt too precious to unwrap. She ran back to her room with it!

The heiress sat cross-legged on her bed with the unopened package before her. She stared at it like a challenge, refusing to cast her spiritual sense into it. Part of her wanted to savor this moment forever... to bask in the raw potential of what lay within. Was it something related to their recent trip?

Elua turned the package over in her hands while tracing the precise folds of the wrapping. She also ’weighed’ the package in her hands. Slowly - *reverently* - she began to peel back the paper.

As the last of it fell away and the box inside opened, she froze in confusion. The brunette let out a soft gasp as understanding dawned. She also let out a pulse of spiritual pressure that startled her personal servant.

"Oh, Qat. You..."

The reincarnator clutched the set of gifts to her chest. Tears pricking at the corners of her listless eyes. It wasn’t the most expensive thing she’d ever received, by far. However it was-

"From a single conversation, you gave tangible form to a memory of mine, my love."