Chapter 108

Chapter 108: Has Humanity’s Value Inflated?

Upon hearing the door open, Illya thought her mother had finished talking and was coming to pick her up. She turned her head, but to her surprise, it was her mother-in-law who appeared.

As her gaze filled with disappointment, Illya’s nerves instantly tightened.

“Illya, it’s time to eat.”

“Oh…”

Illya, somewhat reluctant, hugged her toy and climbed down from Flanna and Bella’s bed.

“You can leave the toy here for now.”

“Why?”

“Your Mama fell asleep. Come, let’s eat first, and then we’ll bring some food back for her.”

“Oh…”

Illya placed the toy on the table and walked up to Iris.

Iris took Illya’s hand.

Even though Iris had promised Naya to gently reason with Illya, her jealousy hadn’t entirely subsided. Being in front of Flanna and Bella, she habitually maintained her cool, queenly demeanor, causing her expression to appear a bit stern.

Iris could feel Illya’s palm growing slightly cold—an obvious sign of her tension.

Illya knew she had said something wrong, but she couldn’t figure out exactly what. She didn’t understand why her Mother was so upset.

Once they left Flanna and Bella’s room, Iris’s expression finally softened.

She bent down and spoke to Illya.

“Come, Illya, let Mother give you a hug.”

Illya looked up, slightly confused, at Iris. But seeing her Mother’s gentle expression, Illya’s guard gradually lowered.

She opened her arms and leaned into Iris’s embrace.

Iris pulled Illya into her arms, feeling the softness of the little pink-haired girl and breathing in the faint milky scent on her.

Iris’s heart gradually softened, and her voice naturally took on a tone of Naya’s usual gentleness.

“Illya, your Mama is my wife, and she can only be my wife. Do you understand?”

“Um…”

Illya blinked her wide, round eyes, staring at Iris.

She had many questions, but didn’t dare to ask her Mother.

Seeing Illya’s still-confused expression, Iris continued.

“So, your Mama can only have children with me, not with you. Even if you become the Dragon King in the future, you can’t choose your Mama as your queen. That would go against ethical principles. You see, the relationship between your Mama and me is one of love—the kind of love you hear about in fairy tales, like between a princess and a prince. But the relationship between you and your Mama is one of family. Both are equally important, but the nature of them is different.”

“Family?”

“Yes. When you’re a bit older, you’ll understand the difference between love and family affection. Because your Mama and I have love, that’s how you were born. You are the result of our love. Do you understand?”

“Um… I understand.”

Looking at Illya’s clueless pink eyes, Iris felt she hadn’t really understood.

This was so difficult to explain.

She hugged Illya and walked onward.

They would have to slowly educate Illya over time.

These past years of isolating Illya in their utopia had left her lacking in many basic concepts. Plus, Naya’s excessive pampering had led Illya to develop such thoughts.

Illya was indeed only grasping things half-heartedly.

She had many questions she didn’t dare to ask.

For example, why could her Mama only be her Mother’s wife? Why couldn’t she be many people’s wife? Why was it against ethical principles to choose her Mama as a spouse? And what exactly were ethical principles?

In Illya’s mind, these concepts were still vague and unclear.

“Mother, can love only happen between two people?”

“Yes, only between two people.”

There were cases where it didn’t have to be two people, but explaining that would be too complicated and not suitable for Illya to understand right now. It was better to give her a simple, straightforward definition for now.

Instilling the idea of being devoted to one person from a young age wasn’t a bad thing. If possible, Iris hoped that Illya, like her, would one day love only one person wholeheartedly.

“So, because Mama has love with you, she can’t have love with me anymore, right?”

“Of course.”

“But why did the previous Dragon Kings have so many concubines? They had children with many concubines. Is that also love?”

“No, it’s not. Hmm… how should I explain this?” Iris rolled her eyes, thinking.

“The reproductive ability of dragons is generally low. For the continuation of the Dragon King’s bloodline, having children is more of a duty, and the concubines are more like tools. Here’s a simple example: the Osmanthus cakes Illya loves are made by pressing them out with different molds. Different concubines can produce different shapes of Osmanthus cakes.”

Illya nodded in sudden understanding.

“Oh! I get it now.”

Using metaphors was the best way to explain things to a child.

“So, for them, having children was a job, not love. It doesn’t necessarily take love to have children. The situation I just mentioned is an exception. Illya, do you want to treat your Mama as just a tool for having children?”

“No, no, no!”

Illya shook her head frantically.

“Exactly. Because your Mama and I already have love, she can’t have love with you anymore, so she can’t have children with you. Unless you think of your Mama as just a mold for making Osmanthus cakes?”

“Of course not! Mama’s not a tool. Mama is Mama. She’s the best Mama in the world!”

“That’s right. Mama is just Mama. She can’t also be your wife.”

“Mmm! I get it now!”

Illya nodded, her eyes shining.

So basically, Mama could only be Mama, and can’t also be her wife. Besides, Mama’s love slot was already filled with her Mother, leaving no room for her.

So, there’s no space left for her now.

That’s what it means.

But what if one day, Mother goes to heaven before Mama? Wouldn’t that free up the spot?

Illya still had this question in her mind. But she knew it was wrong to curse someone’s death, so she didn’t voice it.

As they stepped outside the inn, the topic was dropped for the time being.

“Mother, is Mama really asleep?”

“Yes, your little sisters have been exhausting her, so Mama’s tired and fell asleep.”

“Oh.”

Illya felt a little disappointed. Dinner without Mama’s company always felt like something was missing.

They went to the same restaurant Naya often took Illya to. It wasn’t about the place being fancy but simply that Illya could eat her fill there. Plus, the food came out quickly.

After placing the order, Illya and Iris sat down in a corner. The usual noise of the busy restaurant filled the air, with people discussing all sorts of things.

“Hey, did you hear? There was a dragon sighted in Bear’s Forest yesterday.”

“A dragon?!”

“Yeah, that’s what I heard from a hero earlier. Apparently, a giant red dragon and a pink baby dragon appeared, and they fought with the holy knights over a world-class leyline artifact.”

“Who ended up getting the artifact?”

“Of course, the dragons. They say a silver dragon showed up in the end, swallowed the artifact, and then used the leyline’s power to unleash a black breath at the Holy Knight’s daughter. It was an overwhelming victory, and the knights had no choice but to flee.”

“Even the Holy Knights were scared? That must’ve been an emperor-level dragon, right?”

“No, no, someone observing from afar through a magic lens said the red and baby dragons’ magic levels were… unknown!”

“Unknown? What does that mean?”

“It means either they far exceeded the emperor level, beyond what the magic lens could measure, or they were so weak they didn’t even register at bronze level. But in this case, it’s definitely the former—something way beyond emperor level.”

“Could it be that the Dragon King himself appeared?”

“Very possible. If they encountered the Dragon King and still survived the battle, those knights were incredibly lucky. The Holy Knight’s daughter didn’t die either, she was seen in Rex City yesterday, along with the Holy Knight and three other Casimir knights.”

Illya’s eyes lit up at this. Semira was still alive?

To survive Mama’s powerful breath—impressive! No wonder Casimir knights were known for their strength.

“Oh, and apparently, after the Holy Knight’s daughter was pierced through the chest by that Black Knight’s spear, her magic level increased by an entire rank.”

“She advanced even further?”

“Yes, she surpassed the transcendent level.”

The heroes discussing this looked at each other in disbelief. Surpassing the transcendent level—what could that even mean?

“No wonder she survived the silver dragon’s black breath.”

Human magic levels were usually divided into basic, intermediate, high, and transcendent. Transcendent was considered beyond mortal capability.

Originally, there wasn’t even a concept of a “transcendent” level, but some humans with special abilities, such as systems, managed to break through the previous limits, so the transcendent rank was created. Later, a few humans reached transcendent status even without a system.

“Surpassed transcendent?”

“They’re calling it the saint level.”

“A saint level? A new rank, huh?”

“Magic at the saint level is said to rival that of emperor-class dragons.”

Since human and dragon magic worked differently, each race had its own way of categorizing power levels.

“Ugh, power inflation again. Might as well reset the whole thing.”

“Why don’t you complain about the dragon power inflation too?”

“Dragons were designed by the gods to be the pinnacle of strength. If dragons were ever reduced to being as weak as wild boars, this world would lose all meaning.”

“Why are you, a basic-level hero, so stressed about strength? Just go raise pigs or something.”

By now, Illya had heard enough.

Iris was also surprised that the little blonde girl had survived and even advanced in rank. Naya’s leyline energy attack had somehow helped the girl ascend.

Apparently, both Naya and the blonde girl could harness leyline energy.

And the mark of reaching the saint level was the ability to manipulate leyline energy to create a domain, just as the Black Knight had mentioned.

Leyline energy, as the Black Knight said, was the power of human souls after death, transforming into energy as a blessing for the living. That’s why the Black Knight had helped the Holy Knight and Semira.

Iris recalled that in the final moments of the Reincarnation of Abyss, the Holy Knight had turned into a black mist and rushed towards the knight, triggering the Black Knight’s new skill—something like “EX Curry Stick.”

Semira, after being stabbed by the Black Knight’s spear, had awakened her “Domain Expansion” ability.

The Black Knight had mentioned that they faced ten previous challengers, likely implying those challengers had all perished.

Those who survived the Black Knight’s attack experienced evolution.

Because leyline energy is formed from the souls of deceased humans, Naya had transformed the leyline energy into nourishment for the two souls inside her.

Leyline energy was indeed a gift from the Gods to humanity.

Too bad for them, one of their own had turned traitor.

Once Illya had finished eating, Iris packed up a meal to take back.

As they stepped outside, a voice suddenly called out behind them.

“H-Hello.”

Iris turned to see a black-haired man. She stared at his face for a moment before realizing it was the shirtless muscular guy they had encountered in the forest, now dressed. It took a moment to recognize him.

Iris’s expression turned sharp.

The black-haired hero quickly waved his hands in apology.

“Ah, I-I’m not here to report you. I didn’t get the chance to thank you that day. If it weren’t for you, my comrades and I would’ve been done for.”

“No need to thank me.”

“R-Really, thank you. We never killed any of your kind. We’re innocent.”

“Whether you’ve killed them or not doesn’t matter to me. If my kin were defeated by you, that’s their fault. No need to explain further.”

“U-Understood. Thank you again. Have a good day.”

The black-haired hero scratched his head awkwardly and hurried back into the restaurant to rejoin his group.

His comrades gave him a thumbs-up as he sat down.

“Boss, you’re so brave! Weren’t you scared she’d slap you to death?”

“You guys don’t get it. They say people don’t hit smiling faces. Besides, she helped us. It’s only right to apologize. If you’re going to survive in this world, you need to value loyalty.”

The young men looked at him with half-understanding eyes.

The black-haired hero shook his head and resumed eating.

If he hadn’t learned to be humble all these years, he wouldn’t still be alive to lead his brothers.

…

“Let’s buy Mama some cotton candy on the way back.”

“Okay ~”

Iris bought some snacks at a street stall before heading back to the inn.

When they opened the door, the sun had already set, and the room was dim. On the bed, Naya lay perfectly still, fast asleep.

Iris placed the food on the table, then sat beside Naya, gently stroking her forehead as she assessed Naya’s condition.

Nothing serious—just that the two souls growing inside Naya’s body were demanding more energy. Naya alone couldn’t generate enough to sustain them, so she had been using her own mental strength to feed them.

Iris’s expression turned a bit somber.

Those two souls weren’t like normal twins.

Otherwise, Naya wouldn’t be this exhausted.

“Mother…”

“Shh…” Iris withdrew her hand and turned to face Illya, who looked worried.

“Let Mama sleep a little longer.”

“Okay…”

Illya nodded.

Iris stood up and, holding Illya’s hand, led her to the dining table where they sat down.

She held the meal box and used her magic to keep the dinner inside warm.

“Illya, can you tell me in detail what happened when you were in Semira’s domain?”

Iris felt that the specifics of these changes were of research value. After hearing the conversation at the restaurant, her curiosity was piqued about how the first human to reach the Saint level displayed her abilities.