The Elf Sisters and the Older Sister (4)
"So you're Cheonsol, right? Must be tough living with Yohan."
"I appreciate you acknowledging that."
Thanks to my sacrifices, the two women were getting along better.
"Brother-in-law. Try this too. It's our family's prized secret salad."
Strangely enough, Ebria was acting all friendly. Being called brother-in-law was nice, but why the sudden warmth?
Still better than the glaring threats from our first meeting, so I accepted the salad.
"Well? Delicious, right?"
"I can taste the fresh essence of nature."
I was the kind of guy who hit the salad bar first at a buffet. Especially the undressed sprout vegetables—I hated when dressing ruined the pure flavor.
Ebria's salad had no extra sauce, so it suited my palate perfectly. Unlike me, Lan-lan-i—who preferred raw meat and blood—started whining.
"Mad Demon... is there any blood?"
"Lan-lan-i's just a little sister who doesn't get it. To become a cool elf, you've got to eat your veggies."
"Evril's the little sister who doesn't get it. Lan-lan-i's a Vampir, so she needs blood to grow."
"Daddy... eat this too..."
While the two daughters bickered over their favorite foods, Al-al-i earnestly held out a tightly packed rice ball.
"Whoa. Did Al-al-i make this?"
"Brother-in-law. Stop calling her Al-al-i already..."
"I wanted Daddy to like it..."
"Thanks. I'll dig in."
The rice ball of minced meat and rice was incredibly tasty. It fell short of the Sehrimnir I'd eaten in the Primordial Village, but it was way better than the ambrosia a poor goddess had to choke down.
"This is good. Al-al-i could open a restaurant."
"So how long are you going to keep calling her Al-al-i..."
"Mad Demon! Eat this too!"
"Daddy! Have this as well!"
Lan-lan-i and Evril shoved blood sausage and a sandwich at me. The sandwich I could handle, but the blood sausage was a bit...
They weren't even boiling it into soup—just raw. Would it be okay? I took a bite so I wouldn't disappoint Lan-lan-i, and it was surprisingly savory and fine.
"Tastes good."
"Heehee!"
While I enjoyed the picnic with my three daughters, Ebria—who'd been spouting nonsense earlier—started working on the moms.
"Is Al-al-i really okay as a name? She's a spirit-kin, so she needs a contract. The first contract can be dangerous, so adults should be there. You two don't know much about spirits, so let's handle it while we can still help."
"She's right. If Yohan or Al... Al-i came to us I'd have no worries, but she's Sophia's minion. We should contract now."
"That makes sense. This lady only knows martial arts, and the Mad Demon hasn't even awakened his mana yet."
The two elves stared at me like they'd just heard something unspeakable. So what if I couldn't sense mana? It hurt.
"The kids have a point. An elf should oversee a spirit contract."
"I'm a spirit goddess too, you know."
"No way?"
I stared at Dohoyo in pure disbelief. She wasn't a flat-chested goddess—she was a spirit goddess?
"Why are you looking at me like that? It's annoying."
"You just don't look like a spirit type."
"By your standards I'm an Eastern spirit, not a Western one."
"How do you know my standards?"
"Don't you know what your friend's planet is like?"
Sophia suddenly turned her head and started whistling. Our goddess clearly had no idea what her friend's planet was like.
How did these two even become friends? Had Dohoyo, jealous of the chest, been the one to make the first move?
"Sophia. Your minion's been staring weirdly for a while."
"He does that to me too. Better not to mind it."
"Must be rough."
All the adult women nodded in agreement.
"So we're starting with Al-al-i's spirit contract, right?"
"No."
Ebria declared solemnly.
"First we give the kid a proper name."
"This lady also thinks Al-al-i is not a good name. Fine as a temporary name, but far too crude for a true one."
"Then..."
"Yohan, you keep quiet."
Lady Sophia made me feel left out again.
"Why?"
"Then tell us right now what name you're thinking of."
"Evrande's family uses the Ev character, right? How about combining it with my surname—Kim Ev-al?"
"...Mad Demon. It would be best if you stayed out of the naming."
They really only pick on me.
"Daddy. I like Kim Ev-al too."
"Al-al-i...!"
Daughters really are the best.
"Lan-lan-i thinks it's meh. Evril's three syllables and Lan-lan-i's three syllables, so Al-al-i should just stay Al-al-i."
"Lan-lan-i, you be quiet as well."
Cheonsol subdued her daughter and fed her blood. It was the blue bird's blood that Sophia—still thrifty even after escaping poverty—had bought with trembling hands.
"Yummy!"
"Evril, eat some salad too."
"It's delicious."
Once Lan-lan-i and Evril were under control, the two goddesses sat beside me.
"Al-al-i. Don't you want a prettier name?"
"I like the name Daddy gave me."
"Oh no."
Sophia despaired.
"How did such a good daughter come from Yohan?"
"Evrande's genes must've worked overtime, right? She's an elf, so she listens well."
"That's it! That's why she's so good!"
"Al-al-i takes after Daddy..."
Al-al-i puffed her cheeks in timid rebellion, but the two goddesses, lost in their own world, didn't even pretend to hear.
"In the end your minion has to decide. She's also a daughter of the Ev family, so the family name absolutely has to go in."
A three-syllable name with Ev in it. A good idea hit me.
"How about Ev-al?"
"I like it..."
"Rejected!"
"What about Ev-yo, after my name?"
"I like it..."
"Rejected!!"
"Ev-han?"
"I li—"
"Rejected!!!"
Sophia went completely ballistic.
"No! Think seriously for once! There are prettier names out there! Huh? You want to stick a name like that on such a cute, good kid?"
What was wrong with the ones above? Honestly, with the Ev family name it was hard to make anything pretty.
Cheonsol, patting Lan-lan-i's back to burp her, offered an opinion.
"What about Ev-sol?"
"Oh. Nice."
"That's a no."
Written as Ev-sol it looked pretty, but said out loud it became Absol—Earth's liquor.
"Why not?"
"There's a drink back home called Absol."
"Then that won't do."
"How about Evni?"
Evni? If you stressed the hard consonants it almost sounded like "pretty-ni"?
I checked (soon-to-be) Evni's face. Even though she still looked about elementary-school age, she already had a beautiful appearance.
"Evni."
"I like it!"
(Former) Al-al-i answered with full energy. She'd said anything I named was fine, but this one clearly hit better.
"From now on Al-al-i is Evni."
"That was exhausting..."
"Everyone worked hard."
I was the one who named her, yet the women took the credit. Excited Ebria took charge of the situation.
"Then let's hurry up and do the spirit contract too. We've been here too long."
"Is there a penalty for staying too long in another god's divine realm?"
I asked, and Ebria gave me a pitying look.
"It's just rude."
"What. The. Hell."
An elf who'd glared at me on first meeting was lecturing me on manners. It left me speechless, but the topic moved on and I missed the chance to argue.
"Evni is an earth-attribute spirit-kin, so we'll summon related spirits. We'll try for a high-rank first, but spirits old enough to be high-rank get picky. Assume we'll try more than once and just proceed."
Dohoyo's explanation was so clean I almost clapped. If Lady Sophia could explain even a quarter that well, it'd be great.
Our eyes met and Lady Sophia sighed. After all the time we'd spent building rapport, we could communicate with just a glance.
"My sister and I will draw the summoning circle. Lady Sophia, please prepare the materials."
"You didn't bring materials?"
"We didn't know Evni would be born—how were we supposed to bring them?"
Dohoyo was right, so I smacked Sophia. Lady Sophia, who'd saved up a lot of divinity thanks to me, rummaged through the market.
"Clay soil is too low-grade, isn't it? You need at least starlight sand to summon a high-rank spirit."
"Ugh..."
"Strange rock is a cost-effective pick, but it raises the chance of a nasty-tempered spirit. Let's buy the phoenix stone that good spirits like."
"It's expensive..."
Lady Sophia kept glancing at me while buying materials. Looks like I'd have to work myself to the bone again to refill the balance.
For my daughter's spirit contract, I could invest as much as needed. Divinity could always be earned again.
Once all the materials were bought, the elves and Dohoyo drew the summoning circle. Lan-lan-i, watching, muttered.
"Can Lan-lan-i do a spirit contract?"
"This lady is not certain either. Evrande. Is it possible?"
"Vampirs never existed on our planet, so I don't know. Lady Sophia might know?"
Sophia broke out in a cold sweat.
"I-I'll tell you later!"
"Please do."
Sophia hurriedly tapped at the empty air. Our goddess might be a bit sloppy and unreliable, but at least she was diligent.
While I was distracted, the summoning circle was finished.
"Evni. Come sit here."
Evrande tried to take Evni, who was nestled in my arms. Evni clung tightly to my clothes, unwilling to leave.
"I'll sit with her. Right here?"
"Y-yeah. That's right."
Why so awkward?
"Evrande."
"Huh?!"
"Why the sudden formality? Be comfortable like before. Your sister already officially recognized our relationship."
"Okay!"
No idea why she was so happy. They say a woman's heart is a reed—being an elf, she was probably even closer to plants.
I sat with Al-al-i—no, Evni—in the center of the summoning circle. Evrande taught her the incantation.
"The chant is... this. Can you say it properly?"
"Mm."
Evni mumbled the words with her little mouth. She was so cute and admirable that the actual content never reached my ears.
"Please come here!"
Rrrrrumble—
The garden shook and the ground caved in. Sophia's face crumpled when she saw the flowers and grass she'd carefully planted getting ripped up.
A giant made of soil and stone appeared. One look and it was clearly male. Just being a guy already made him unlikable.
The unlikable male spirit gazed at Evni nestled in my arms and wore an enraptured expression.
"You fucking bastard, eyeing my daughter?!"
"Yohan?!"
Sophia freaked out and tried to stop me, but there was no way she could.
"If you want to take my daughter, you beat me first!!"