Chapter71. “Guests” Arrival (Part 3)
“I’m sorry…”
“Bang!”
Kedrick ruthlessly landed another punch on Cedric’s face, then yanked Cedric’s collar, angrily saying, “Bastard, do you forget how I got this spot? I fought my way through that dark, hellish labyrinth, barely surviving for a month to earn it.”
“This position was fought for with my life for Lilith; how did you swear to me back then?”
“Ah?!”
Kedrick’s furious roar echoed throughout the entire restaurant.
In response, Cedric merely feebly repeated, “I’m sorry…”
“You motherf—!!!”
Kedrick raised his fist again, swinging left and right, each punch landing hard.
“Kedrick!”
Seeing this, Lilith hurriedly stepped forward, wanting to stop Kedrick.
But she couldn’t; Kedrick’s strength was far greater than hers. Even with her Battle Qi, she couldn’t budge the furious Kedrick in the slightest.
Blood sprayed more and more; Cedric’s initially friendly face was now a bloody mess, yet he still did not resist at all, knowing it was his fault and he had to bear Kedrick’s wrath.
Blood stained Kedrick’s fists, and he had forgotten the last time he was this angry.
Going to the Netherrealm and reaching the Blood Clan territory was Lilith’s long-cherished wish, one he had promised to help her fulfill.
She was very obedient; every day, whenever she had free time, she would pick up her wooden sword and practice diligently.
No one had taught her any swordsmanship; all her skills were self-taught. Yet even so, at not even twenty years old, she had already reached the level of a mid-tier swordsman.
This was the result of her persistent efforts day and night.
How could nearly a decade of hopes and perseverance be offset by a mere “I’m sorry”?
“Cedric!!!”
Kedrick’s whole body surged with Battle Qi as he raised his fist again.
But the next moment.
“Daddy, no!”
Lilith suddenly hugged Kedrick’s arm, her soft voice now tinged with a bit of a cry.
Kedrick’s fist halted immediately; after a moment of painful struggle, he slowly lowered his fist, and his Battle Qi gradually dissipated.
Kedrick bit down hard on his teeth: “I need an explanation.”
“Of course.” Cedric smiled wryly: “But you need to wait for me to drink a couple of healing potions first; right now, my mouth is filled with blood foam, and I can’t speak clearly.”
“I’ll give you ten minutes.”
“Hey, thanks.”
“Hmph.” Kedrick gave Cedric a cold glance before turning and leaving the front hall; he was indeed a bit out of control and needed to calm down.
Watching Kedrick storm away and then looking at the injured guild leader, Lilith bit her lip, momentarily unsure of what to do.
At that moment, Elrose walked up beside her: “Lilith, why are you in a daze? Quickly go to the kitchen and comfort Kedrick; I’ll take care of things here.”
Lilith froze for a moment, then nodded and quickly ran to the kitchen.
Elrose sighed, then approached Cedric and helped him up slowly.
“Ow, it hurts, it hurts, be gentle, be gentle.” Cedric whimpered in pain.
Elrose glanced at him lightly: “Come on, can you not be so melodramatic?”
As she spoke, Elrose directly used force to pull Cedric up from the ground.
Cedric’s expression changed, and he immediately yelled in pain.
But Elrose showed no pity; she threw him onto a chair, then softly sat opposite him, looking at him with a very disdainful gaze.
“It seems Miss Elrose has some objections to me.”
“Of course. Although I’m not quite sure what exactly happened, you must have done something unforgivable to make Kedrick that angry.”
“Unforgivable? Perhaps.” Cedric took out a special restoration potion from his pocket, downed it in one go, and then laughed bitterly: “Kedrick is like this; he usually seems harmless, but when it comes to his daughter, he becomes as ferocious as a lion.”
“Well, it’s obvious to anyone that Kedrick is a doting father; if you mess with his daughter, it’s no surprise he’d blow up.” Elrose said: “Though, I’m still not sure why Kedrick is so fixated on that expedition slot; going to the Netherrealm isn’t exactly a good place.”
“Because Lilith wants to go.” Cedric sighed softly: “You might not know, but Lilith… she’s not just a simple human.”
“Not just a simple human?” Elrose was taken aback, asking quickly: “What is she?”
“She’s a human-demon hybrid, a half-demon.” Cedric said nonchalantly: “Her mother was a vampire.”
“What did you say?!” Elrose was shocked: “You’re not joking with me, are you?”
“How could I?” Cedric sighed helplessly: “Do you know why she wants to join this Netherrealm expedition so badly? It’s because the destination for this expedition is the territory of the Blood Clan; she hopes to use this opportunity to find her mother.”
Elrose’s mouth twitched a couple of times; she vaguely remembered Kedrick saying that Lilith had been adopted under dire circumstances after losing everything.
“This…”
Human-demon hybrid, biological father tragically dead, searching for her mother from thousands of miles away…
Just from these few sentences, Elrose could ascertain this must be a tragic yet extremely melodramatic story.
Damn it, her stomach suddenly hurt.
“What a pity, but due to my incompetence, I messed everything up.” Cedric said with a dejected expression.
“So, what exactly happened?” Elrose asked curiously.
“Sigh.” Cedric sighed heavily, then gently touched his face.
During their conversation, the effects of the restoration potion had already kicked in; with the help of Battle Qi, most of the injuries on his face had healed.
“Let’s go; since you want to know what’s going on, you might as well come and listen.”
With that, Cedric slowly got up and walked toward the kitchen.
…
Nightmoon Tavern, Kitchen.
Elrose followed Cedric slowly into the kitchen.
Kedrick sat at the center of the dining table, a heavy gloom on his rugged face. Upon seeing Cedric arrive, he pointed to a seat across from him, indicating for Cedric to sit there.
Cedric sat down, and Lilith came over with two cups of hot tea, placing them between Kedrick and Cedric before sitting next to Kedrick.
Meanwhile, Elrose ran to one side, sitting gently next to Luna and Stella.
“Hey, Angelic Onee-san, what happened between Kedrick and Uncle Cedric? Why does it feel like the situation is so dire?” Stella said anxiously.
Elrose was a bit taken aback: “Oh? You were just here, didn’t hear anything?”
“I heard! I heard Kedrick was angry; he was shouting very loudly.” Saying this, Stella pouted, looking a bit displeased as she glanced at Luna beside her, “But just when I was about to go out to see what happened, Luna Onee-san showed up first and pulled me back to the kitchen, even used magic to seal my ears, leaving me in the dark about everything.”
“Oh, is that so?” Elrose nodded gently, secretly giving Luna a thumbs-up behind her back.
What happened just now with Kedrick’s furious outburst and the bloody violence was certainly not suitable for children.
“So, Angelic Onee-san, what exactly is going on?”
“Well…” Elrose thought for a moment and said: “It’s about some matters concerning Lilith that caused a bit of conflict between Uncle Cedric and Boss Kedrick, that’s all.”
“So it was a fight, huh?” Concerned looks appeared on Stella’s face, “Fighting, fighting, fighting is not a good behavior.”
“Don’t worry; they are both mature middle-aged men who know how to handle it.”
Elrose’s voice was a bit loud, clearly meant for Kedrick to hear. Though it was due to provocation, using violence in the home was ultimately not a good behavior.
Kedrick sighed softly, looking deeply at Cedric in front of him: “Alright, let’s stop with the small talk; tell me what’s going on.”
“Fine.” Cedric took a gentle sip of hot tea in front of him, then slowly said: “Kedrick, you should know who Lance Griffin is, right?”
“Lance Griffin?” Kedrick furrowed his brow, “That so-called ‘Thug Sword Saint’ who’s a Saint Tier Expert?”
“Yes, that’s him. And Lilith’s spot was snatched away by him using very despicable means.”
Kedrick’s frown deepened: “No, as a Saint Tier Expert, isn’t it easy for him to join the expedition? Why would he need to snatch someone else’s?”
Cedric shook his head: “It’s not him who wants to join; it’s his granddaughter, Elbira Griffin, who wants to join.”
“His granddaughter?!” Kedrick looked incredulous: “I remember Lance can’t be that much older than me, his granddaughter shouldn’t be old enough to join the expedition yet, right?”
“She is.” Cedric said with a blank expression: “That bastard is indeed living up to his thug reputation; he got married and had kids at twelve, and his son inherited the thug trait as well, having his first daughter, Elbira, at fourteen. Lance is only in his forties, but his granddaughter is already seventeen this year.”
Kedrick’s mouth twitched a couple of times: “Twelve years old having a baby? Where the hell did such a beast come from?”
“How would I know?” Cedric shrugged helplessly: “Anyway, his granddaughter, for some reason, insisted on participating in this expedition, so Lance had to figure out a way for her.”
“But unfortunately, at that time, the expedition was already fully booked; unless Lance was willing to join, his granddaughter wouldn’t get in.”
“But sadly, during that time, Lance had matters of his own and couldn’t go to the Netherrealm, and it seems his granddaughter also didn’t want her grandfather to follow, so Lance had no choice but to focus on those who had slots.”
“You know the expedition, right? Most people in it are from noble families, whose parents arranged for them to gain merit. With Lance’s bad reputation, who would care about him?”
“So in the end, he set his sights on Lilith.”
“Is that so…” Kedrick sighed heavily, “So then, why did you give up that spot? Did he bribe you?”
“Yes, he offered three hundred gold coins for the spot.” Cedric said, “But I refused; I knew how important this spot was for Lilith, and no amount of money could make me give it up.”
“Then what happened?” Kedrick inquired, puzzled.
“He, sigh…” Cedric said helplessly: “That bastard knows Lilith is half-human.”
