As time dragged on, the atmosphere inside the café grew suffocating. Only Chis seemed unaffected. The Dryad Elder wavered between the two choices—destroying her own backyard or freezing the entire world. The weight of the decision hung heavy in the air as everyone waited with bated breath.
I saw the Elder's face turn pale, her eyes filling with sorrow and regret. Finally, a small voice broke the silence.
"I shall chooseth the first option." She turned toward the window, looking out at the anxious dryads. "E'en if 't be true we loseth our home... we cannot taketh away the warmth and life from the rest of the w'rld."
She had made her decision: sacrificing their sanctuary for the greater good.
"Good." I immediately turned to Orla. "Orla, do you have any magic or an artifact that can connect you to your Lord of the Realm?"
"Yes, I have something... It's in the room upstairs," Orla replied, startled.
"Get it. Now!" I ordered. "We need to assure the Human Realm that what we are about to do isn't an attack."
Orla scrambled up the stairs, but the real obstacle remained right in front of me: Chis. She didn't budge. It was clear she wanted this phenomenon to be perceived as an act of aggression; perhaps she was even hoping for the worst outcome.
I turned to face her. "Chis, do you have a way to contact Lilith?"
"Of course I do..." she drawled, looking bored.
"Then do it!"
"Why?" She tilted her head, a wicked glint in her eye.
"Because we need Lilith to create the Second Sun."
Chis smirked. "I think she will feel the same way I do..."
"WHY DO YOU THINK SHE WILL THINK THE SAME AS YOU?"
A loud voice suddenly echoed from the entrance. It was so loud.
I turned around to see who it was. Standing in the doorway was a small girl with bright red hair.
Looked like a normal human child, wearing casual clothes, but her expression was filled with arrogance.
It was Varania. But right now, she just looked like a lost kid who had wandered into the shop.
"Varania?" Chis stared at her, surprised.
Varania walked to our table as if she owned the place, ignoring the Dryads who were staring at her.
She pointed her small finger directly at Chis.
"YOU ARE NOT DOING YOUR JOB!" she shouted. Her voice was naturally high-pitched but deafeningly loud. "THE PURPOSE OF YOUR PRESENCE IN HERE IS A BRIDGE BETWEEN MASTER AND DARYA."
"Lower your voice," Chis frowned, looking annoyed.
"SO WHAT DID YOU DO IN HERE?"
Spontaneously.
"Washing dishes…" I said.
She blinked once. Twice.
"PFFT…" Varania covered her mouth.
"Darya, why are you telling her?" Chis said to me.
"BWAHAHAHA!" Varania pointed at her and laughed loudly. "LOOK AT YOU! WASHING DISHES LIKE A PEASANT."
She held her stomach, laughing as if it were the funniest thing she had ever seen.
"I WILL TELL MASTER! THE VAMPIRE LORD IS WASHING PLATES! INSTEAD OF DOING HER JOB."
"Shut up, you lizard!" Chis snapped, her face turning red.
"Varania," I called out to her. "Why are you here?"
Varania stopped laughing and looked at me. She put her hands on her hips, puffing out her chest to look taller.
"MASTER SENT ME!" she yelled at me. "SHE FELT SOMETHING WAS WRONG SO SHE DECIDED TO SEND ME. SHE KNEW THE SOURCE MUST BE THIS PLACE."
"Well, Lilith is right…" I said. "The forest is rapidly expanding right now, and we need a solution. The Dryad Elder beside me chose to sacrifice their home to save the world, but to do that, we need a massive light source. A Second Sun."
"A SUN?!" Varania shouted, tilting her head.
"Yes, to attract the forest. So the forest will expand to the center again, not to the outside. Can you contact Lilith about this situation, as I thought her power was necessary for this solution?"
"WELL, INSTEAD OF MASTER, WHY NOT ME?" she said, tilting her head. "THIS MEANINGLESS JOB ISN'T WORTHY OF HER TIME."
"Can you do the job?"
"ARE YOU MOCKING ME, DARYA?" Slowly, she walked towards me.
In front of me, I could see her bright eyes like a depth of inferno.
"You?" Chis scoffed. "You have the subtlety of a volcano, Lizard. You'll just burn the forest to ash."
"SHUT IT, YOU BAT!" Varania yelled back. "I HAVE PERFECT CONTROL."
"Perfect control, huh?" Chis fought back. "Even you can't control your emotions; how do you control the sun? How many villages have you burnt because someone called you a child?"
"THAT WAS DIFFERENT!" Varania stomped her foot hard as the sound echoed through the shop. "THEY WERE THE ONES WHO PROVOKED ME FIRST!"
"See?" Chis smirked. "Temperamental. You'll probably sneeze and turn the forest into a charcoal briquette."
"I WILL NOT!"
Varania turned her head to me as her face flushed with anger. She pointed aggressively at Chis.
"DARYA! TELL THIS BAT TO SHUT HER MOUTH! I CAN DO IT!"
I looked at both of them. Bantering each other, as the Elder's face was shockingly pale, looking like she was trapped in a cage with two rabid monsters debating how to cook her. She looked back and forth between the Vampire Lord and the Red Dragon, likely wondering if her choice to save the world was actually a mistake.
"Enough," I interrupted, raising my hand. "We don't have time for a debate."
I looked at Varania. Despite her childish appearance and temper, she was still a High Ranking Demon who walked side by side with Lilith.
"Varania, I believe you," I said.
"HAH!" Varania spun around to glare at Chis, sticking her tongue out. "HEARD THAT? HE TRUSTS ME!"
Orla went back to the table from her room, bringing a box. As soon as she was at the table, she was surprised to see Varania. However, she had met her before, so she composed herself quickly.
"With this, you can call the Lord of the Realm, Darya." She said to me.
"Great… Now, can you use it right now, as we need to tell him about this situation?" I replied.
"Yes," Orla nodded. She placed the box on the table and opened it. Inside, resting on a velvet cushion, was a jagged blue crystal that hummed with a faint light.
"It works like a direct link," Orla explained, her hands trembling slightly as she touched the crystal. "But I need a moment to synchronize the mana."
"OI! HUMAN!" Varania shouted, stomping her foot next to me. "WHY ARE WE WAITING? THE SKY IS WAITING FOR ME!"
"We need to warn them first," I told her. "If a High Ranking Demon suddenly flies up and creates a second sun without warning, the Human Army might think it's an attack. Do you want them shooting arrows at you while you're trying to concentrate?"
Varania scoffed, crossing her arms.
"LET THEM TRY! I WILL TURN THEIR ARROWS INTO ASH BEFORE THEY EVEN TOUCH ME!"
"And then you'll burn the forest, and we'll fail," Chis added, not looking up. "Just wait, you impatient lizard. Let the adults talk."
"I AM AN ADULT!" Varania screamed at her back.
"Shhh!" Orla hissed. "It's connecting!"
The blue crystal glowed brighter, and a beam of light shot upward, expanding into a rectangular projection in the air.
The image solidified, revealing a room that looked more like a war tent or a study than a throne room. Sitting there was a young man—he couldn't have been much older than me. He had messy dark hair and dark circles under his eyes, looking like a university student pulling an all-nighter rather than a king. He wore a simple tunic, no crown, but his eyes were sharp and alert.
It was Muranu, the Lord of the Human Realm.
"Orla?" Muranu's voice came through. He leaned closer to the projection, squinting slightly. "Finally. We received reports that the forest has anomalous activity. Is this activity connecting with the shop?"
"My Lord," Orla bowed her head quickly. "I am currently at the shop. And yes, the anomaly is circulating around the Dryad forest. And we have negotiated a solution with the Elder of the Dryads"
"A solution?" Muranu rubbed his chin, his expression shifting from exhaustion to curiosity. "Does it involve burning it? The Kings and Queens are shouting in my ear to burn everything down. I'd prefer not to turn the continent into a fireplace."
"In a way, yes," Orla hesitated. "We are going to create a Second Sun to lure the forest back inward. But to do that, we need you to call off the archers and mages. There will be a massive energy signature in the sky."
"A Second Sun?" Muranu blinked, looking genuinely baffled. "Orla, have you been awake too long? How do you propose to manufacture a star? Do you have a divine artifact? Or does Darya, the shopkeeper, actually have ability of this?"
"NO! THEY HAVE ME!"
Varania shoved her face directly into the projection, blocking Orla completely.
Muranu jumped slightly, his eyes widening. "Who is this child?"
"CHILD?!" Varania's face turned bright red. She took a deep breath, and I knew my eardrums were about to suffer.
"I AM VARANIA! THE RED DRAGON! THE ETERNAL FLAME! AND I AM GOING TO BE YOUR SUN, SO TELL YOUR SOLDIERS NOT TO SHOOT AT ME OR I WILL MELT THEIR ARMOR WITH THEM INSIDE IT!"
Muranu stared at the screaming red-haired girl in the hologram. He didn't look scared; he looked completely bewildered. He looked at Orla, then back at the screaming child.
"Orla," Muranu said, his voice flat. "Is this a joke? Why is a random kid threatening my army? Can I have Darya talk about this?"
"It is not a joke," I said, stepping into the frame and gently pushing Varania's face away from the projection so Muranu could actually see me. "Though I admit, the packaging is deceptive."
I shrugged. "But yes, the loud child is Varania, the Red Dragon. Lilith sent her personally."
"Lilith..." Muranu muttered the name with a grimace, clearly not fond of the Demon Lord, but he respected the power associated with the name. He looked at Varania, who was currently puffing her cheeks out in irritation. "And she can... mimic a sun?"
"MIMIC?!" Varania exploded again, ducking under my arm to scream at the hologram. "I AM NOT A MIMIC! I AM THE REAL THING! I AM HOTTER THAN THE SUN! DO NOT INSULT ME, HUMAN, OR I WILL BURN YOUR EYEBROWS OFF!"
Muranu didn't flinch this time. He just looked at me with a 'are you serious?' expression.
"She is very... enthusiastic," I admitted. "But she is the only one with the capacity to hold a stationary heat source for days without draining. It's either her, or we let the forest eat everything."
"Fine," Muranu waved his hand dismissively. "I will order everything; stand down. But if she drops a fireball on my castle..."
"I WILL NOT DROP ANYTHING EXCEPT MY BRILLIANCE!" Varania shouted.