As Erika praised me, her mother seemed to want more from me than just being a nice and calm person.
"Yeah, Blake is so patient and nice, he's someone that always listen to what I talk." Erika praised me in front of her mother.
"Oh my… I see, he's a good boy." Cattalina smiled. "But you'll need to do more before I approve of you and my daughter's relationship, Blake. Make sure to work hard. My daughter deserves only the best after all~"
"Mom! Don't say that. It's rude!"
"B-But it's true my baby, I want the best for you, so he better work hard, alright? It's not like I am looking down on him or something…"
Her mother tried to calm down Erika for getting slightly angry. This was the first time she got angered with her mother and it was because of me… Ah, maybe I should calm them down myself.
"Calm down, it's fine. Don't worry, Lady Cattalina, I will make sure to surpass your wildest of expectations." I smiled back at her confidently.
After all, getting good grades in this academy is easier than breathing.
"He already got perfect grades in everything today!" Erika continued to defend my honor. I guess she's a girl worth keeping if she's so dedicated to me.
"Is that so? Even the instructor fight?" Wondered her mother.
"Yeah he fought against Hero Dylan and crushed him!" Erika smiled. "…Well, not really, but still!"
"Huh?! S-So you fought with him from all other instructors? Geez, that young boy's really a bully sometimes… He's a battle junkie, always fighting those he finds strong and promising to test them out. So you fought him and you ended without any bones broken?" Asked her mother in surprise.
"Partially. Erika has developed some amazing healing magic, so she helped in that regard." I smiled back.
"So you're not only overflowing with magic but you're also a healer… Probably due to being a half-dryad. Oh well, let's get going now. I bet you don't want to stay outside when its about to get darker… Alright, let's go to your house, I'll quickly talk things out with little Evelyn." Erika's mother said.
"Little Evelyn! I am going to stay at your home, is it okay? I hope you have more rooms for me." Cattalina smiled back, her gloomy appearance now filled with cheerfulness.
"E-EEEH?! Lady Cattalina?! Y-You what?!" Evelyn freaked out.
"Of course I will! I want to be at the side of my beloved girl at all times. I want to give her baths, to cook her meals, to kiss her beautiful face every morning, and hug her while she sleeps!" Cattalina was developing a daughter complex.
"S-Sure… I was just surprised, Lady Cattalina. I'll arrange things right away. You also have to pay a part of the rent…" Evelyn said.
"Sure thing, I will pay my part, I won't be paying everyone though, as I want the children to earn their keep too, don't worry. If even, I might pay mt daughter's stuff if she asks me." Said Cattalina.
It was clear she was a mother that loved to spoil her children more than anything. When we gathered with everyone else, we finally made our way back home. In the way, we stopped around a corner of the Eleven Street, where the rented area the duke got for me was.
I got the key and opened it. The place was a small area with a little storage room, mostly empty, with just a few furniture pieces, but everything necessary to start selling products. I'll arrange this tomorrow morning though, we still have things to talk with Erika and her mother.
"Oh my, Blake will open a shop at his age? How bold… Is he really confident on his alchemy?" Wondered Cattalina.
"He's the best! After all its thanks to him that I was reborn." Erika smiled back at her mother.
"Yeah, I'll just produce a few things for now…" I said, quickly creating potions and other items through the {Instant Creation} ability within the Alchemy Recipe Book.
POOF! POOF! POOF! POOF!
Erika's mother was naturally amazed, potions, antidotes, and bombs appeared out of thin air, taking the materials I had stored inside my Inventory to be instantly created.
"I have the [Instant Creation] Skill. By using Mana and materials stored inside a dimensional bag, I can create specific items instantly."
"A-Amazing… I've seen Blacksmiths have something similar, but you've gone beyond this."
"It's nothing much, I cannot do this with every single item I make, the skill seems to have restrictions based on certain items."
"E-Even then… Also I heard this is your second talent? So you're a Summoner and a Synthesist… Hm, maybe you do have what it takes, but I'll still hold on for now. I need to see more through the rest of the year."
"Sure thing, this is but just the first day." I reassured her.
Like that, we made our way back home and then inside the house, we finally relaxed. We decided to take baths to relax at long last, and got into more comfortable clothes than the uniforms, we were going to have dinner in a few hours, but we gathered with Erika's mother back in her room, alongside my friends except Evelyn, who wasn't allowed to enter because this was some top-secret stuff.
Through the next thirty minutes, we explained her everything we could, from what we learned about Erika's curse and her death, to the items we used to revive her, and more. When the conversation finally ended, Erika's mother felt… betrayed by her own family, and at the same time, afraid of the uncertain future.
"So Sathan, my sister… It's her fault… Not only she colluded with the cultists but… to think she would go this far! …It has been ages since I went back to the Kingdom's palace. How much have the cultists seeped into the royal family already? The Goldriver Kingdom… might be in more danger than we think." Sighed her mother. "Sathan… That damn bitch! How dares she do… something so horrendous!
I'll… I will make sure to kill her."
Erika's mother seems to have gained a new resolve.