Chapter 34
The meal was beyond splendid. Suguru would hate to admit but it was the best cold noodle dish he has ever eaten up until this point. Could it have been the power of the divine creatures? Could they put such care into a dish to make it taste so magnificent?
He was lost in thought until a gentle. "Excuse me" was heard on his left side. Suguru turned and found small bands of people gathering before him.
"Yes? Can I help you?" he asked.
They peered at one another nervously before one child said aloud. "Can we stay with you?"
He was taken aback by the request, in fact the waiter returned and explained the situation. "These are families of divine creatures who are currently being hunted by sorcerers. At the moment, there are many sorcerers that like to swarm restaurants like this to take new familiars. They often aim for the children since the parents won't abandon their young…"
The more he heard, the more pissed Suguru grew. Things like this never bothered him before and yet now… it has become upsetting. He looked back at the families, so far there were twelve groups before him and they looked desperate.
"What do you mean by can you stay with me?" he asked gently. "I don't know if you are aware…"
"Are you not a spirit dragon?" one of the adults asked. "Spirit dragons can take in anyone who is made of energy. Curse or divine, can be taken into the dragon…"
"This is the first I am hearing about this too, what happens after a spirit dragon takes you in?" Syrax asked.
"Rumor has it… those who are taken into a spirit dragon are taking into another realm created by the dragon…"
Suguru blinked oddly in confusion. "That wasn't explained to me…" he muttered. But then, he opted to try something. "Just a moment…" extending his hand, a small fireball appeared before, it took form of a spirit. The little fire spirit stretched and peered at Suguru with great interest.
"Master!" she cheered.
"May I ask a question… what happens in there?" he asked and pointed to his stomach, after all, normally he ingests curses and had done so with a few elementals and divine spirits.
The spirit looked confused but then realized what the question was. "Oh that! We make it how we want it!" it explained. "Fire spirits like me have made a home that suits us, but doesn't harm others around us, it's great!"
"So, they make a domain within a domain?" asked Toshi.
The fire spirit turned, but froze at the sight of him, slowly, it's eyes inched up until it saw Toshi's face. The poor thing trembled, Suguru was about to call it back until it dropped to the table, prostrating itself!
"Great dragon! If you need ANYTHING! Please call on us!" she said, but turned her focus back to Suguru. "But it as the great dragon asked. It's a domain within a domain, fire spirits can make a fire domain but we can live next to the earth spirits without fear of harm. The master has a very unique way of ensuring no spirit clashes with another."
The divine families were getting hopeful.
"Then, is it okay if I take everyone here in?" he asked pointing to the divine families.
"That is master's choice, but you shouldn't bring them in the same way you brought my kin and fellow spirits in, we were separated for a while before we could break free from the bubble you put us in… well… we fell for that, you did warn us to leave the child alone…"
He smirked as it quickly corrected itself… just as Suguru's hair began to look like fire. "Huh? I didn't want this to happen…" he muttered. But a divine creature peered out!
"Oh master, new arrivals?"
"This is even weird for me…" Suguru muttered. "Uh… yes… yes, new arrivals." He said gently.
Next thing he knew there was a line, and divine creatures walked into and vanished into his hair that appeared to be a black, smoldering flame.
"I do apologize for holding you two up…" he whispered.
"That's fine at the same time, I have no means of reaching my wallet…" Toshi replied, but he sighed to this and called for the waiter again. "Can we get the bill?" he asked.
The restaurant came to a very odd pause, before they broke into laughter.
"You paid your bill the moment you ate!" the waiter laughed.
Suguru was confused, as was the rest of the table. "We did?" they asked bluntly.
The waiter nodded and explained, when a dragon is happy and content, they unleash a great deal of divine energy. It's what the divine feed off of to grow stronger, food is merely to keep the body going if there is lack of energy. Yet, having three dragons eat at the same time and everyone is content, it was far more than the price of the food.
"If anything, you three are welcomed back any time!" The waiter said, but then, he shifted his focus to Suguru. He had a feeling he knew what was going to be asked of him.
"Once a week" Suguru said. "You pick the day that is best, and I'll leave you a number to call in case of an emergency."
The waiter was stunned, just as the last of the divine families vanished into his hair. Once they did, his hair returned to normal.
"Do you feel any different?" Toshi asked curiously to him.
Suguru paused oddly to consider what was said. "I don't think so… then again, I haven't taken in creatures like this before… I'll keep you posted…" he said offhandedly.
So, Suguru gave his card to the waiter who vowed to keep in touch with him, but also warned of the divine users. "At the moment, you are a prize that is beyond anything they could imagine. Since you could contain an army of divine creatures at your will…"
They began to leave the table, Suguru turned and smiled. "I'm not a hoarder. And if the divine users think to see me in such a way, may that be their last mistake."
The waiter nodded to him and leaned in. "Ensure the female dragon eats, she is far too thin."
That… huh…
Do the divine women take criticism as well as human women?
Suguru merely nodded to him, but how to go about saying something?!
#
They returned to the domain.
Suguru thanked them for the time out but then paused as he remembered what was asked of him. He tried to speak it to Syrax, but found himself choking on his words.
"Are you okay?" she asked offhandedly.
"Uh… I was asked to do something and at the same time… I worry if I offend you doing so…"
"Which would be…" she asked in a rather annoyed tone.
He was about to speak until someone else did. "How do you expect to feed your children when he's done giving birth to them?"
Suguru was oddly relieved as he heard Sukuna blurt out such a question.
Toshi glared at him, however, judging by Syrax's face, it appeared to be a valid question. "Oh gods… he's right…" but then froze. "THAT'S why the waiter wanted me to change my order!"
So, it was a concerning factor.
Sukuna peered over. "You think people were tip toeing around you? That's why they were. They wanted to say something, at the same time, didn't want to piss you off."
No one could really bring themselves to move at this point. Syrax was suppose to be putting on weight like Toshi? But then again, taking into consideration his size, no one knows how many kids he has in him, as well… the mother still tends to them after they are born if there is a mother in play.
"I… I have been a terrible mother!" Syrax trembled.
"Hey, hey, it's still early, you can make up for lost time right?" Suguru said in an encouraging tone. "He's not due for a while yet, and just started his first trimester right?"
"He's about to start his second," Sukuna said bluntly.
"I am?!" Toshi demanded.
"You've eaten well enough, you rest well enough and there are no threats to you so your growth is to be expected and rapid."
"The fact that you are on top of this is rather startling…" Suguru muttered.
"Silence shellboy."