Erika hugged me tightly. I couldn't help but hug her back. I was happy to have her at my side, honestly. I also felt quite proud she arrived back then and helped me out. I guess I've helped on making her someone strong and brave, she has grown a lot from the little and crybaby girl of back then.
"Are you alright?" I asked her.
"Oh me? I am sure alright! You were the one that passed out in the middle of the battle! Beelzebub, that damn bug!" Erika gritted her teeth. "Well, he still died! You defeated him with the power of the Holy Spirits, right?"
"Yeah, you guessed right." I nodded. "They arrived in that moment to bring me their strength, and thanks to that, it was also possible to destroy the Tower of Gluttony by targeting the Core through Beelzebub's soul. The Holy Spirits did everything, but I did tell them how to do it."
"Eeeeh?! Y-You did all of that?!" Erika was shocked. "I did heard the tower fell! T-This is amazing though! Then… this means… there's really a chance? There's hope for this world… as long as we can take down the Archdemon Vessels, the towers fill fall one after the other and then… we'll be freed from their invasion!"
"Hahaha, it won't be that easy." I laughed a bit, giving her a head pat. "But don't worry about these things for now. Is Elizabeth alright? She's still sleeping."
"O-Oh! She spent a lot of time healing people and also purifying the area where the battle happened, so she grew very exhausted…" Sighed Erika. "Elizabeth? Are you alright?"
"Hmmm…" Elizabeth groaned while ignoring Erika's call.
"Well, maybe we should leave her sleeping for now." I said with a sigh.
However, that wasn't the case. The door was opened aggressively as Chris, Eric, Alberta, and Elfriedden entered the room without even knocking the door. Naturally, the sound woke up Elizabeth.
"Uwaah! W-What the hell?!" She asked, groaning angrily. "Ugh, Chris, did you had to open the door- BLAKE!"
She quickly averted her attention from Chris as she jumped towards me, hugging me tightly.
"Y-You're alright? Are you okay? Nothing hurting? I can heal you!" She said, checking on my entire body rather shamelessly.
"I am alright, maybe a little tired, that's all." I laughed.
"Damn you're awake already? It has been barely a night! You fought so much I thought you were going to stay sleeping for a week." Said Chris.
"Are you disappointed about that?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Ahahaha!" Chris laughed. "Not really, but I was hoping to get an excuse to skip classes…"
"Well, vacations are already beginning next week so I think we're good anyways, Chris." Eric said. "Also, the teachers took care of the other monster infested areas. After you fell unconscious the Hero Dylan and even the Director Hasan came to the scene to clean things up.
Just this morning they said we all passed with excellent grades because we survived and ended neutralizing a threat that could had even endangered Stronghold as a whole!"
"Y-Yeah! We all passed! Now we can relax…" Alberta sighed in relief.
"Hmph, I barely participated on this, I can hardly feel like I deserve this…" Sighed Elfriedden. "Though, truth be told, I never saw you as someone capable of your feats, you've surprised me, Blake."
"Oh? Are you finally beginning to see me as an equal?" I asked with a smile.
"T-Tch! It's not like I have an option!" He sighed, crossing his arms. "Nonetheless! I will merely seek my own achievements."
"I see. Well, maybe for the break we should go back to the village to see our family, it has been half a year since we've seen them all." I said with a sigh. "I honestly been missing them."
"Yeah, good idea!" Said Erika. "I could even bring mom too!"
"Indeed, good idea." Elizabeth nodded. "I am wondering how the priests are hanging things there."
"Alberta, Elfriedden, do you think you can come?" Wondered Eric.
"Well, I'll see if I can, but don't get your hopes high." Elfriedden said. "Though, I am quite curious about the little town you monsters came from."
"I-I think I can…" Said Alberta. "I-I would like to meet your parents, Eric."
"Hahaha! Nice! But I thought you could have wanted to go see your own family?" Asked Eric.
"E-Err… W-Well, I… I would rather just not bother them…" She sighed.
"O-Oh, well, that's fine then." Eric nodded, giving her a head pat.
"Hey, where's Erdrich?" I asked.
"Erdrich? He was training all morning. He said there wasn't any need to come check you out, as he guessed you would be fine anyways." Chris sighed. "He's kind of a dumbass sometimes, no?"
"Well he wasn't wrong, and I don't really care much about these formalities. Anyways, we should move back home for now." I said.
I feel like Erdrich might have learned something from the demons. After all, he's the only one that can understand their language… I might as well just talk to him right away about this, to not generate misunderstandings.
Like that, I quickly took a bath in the hospital and wore my casual clothes, we walked back home in the morning. The city was as peaceful and peaceful as always. Once we arrived, we were greeted by Erika's mother who was there cooking for us.
"Oh my, you're all back! Ah, Blake! You're fine, right?!" She asked, checking my entire body like Elizabeth did. Erika pouted a bit.
"M-Mom that's enough!" She said angrily.
"A-Ahahha, I was just worried." She giggled. "I wouldn't had wanted my son-in-law to ever get injured severely."
"Don't worry, I am doing alright, Lady Cattalina." I nodded.
Like that, everybody quickly started preparing things for lunch. I used this chance to go see Erdrich, who was inside of his room doing physical training and cultivating his demonic energy.
"Erdrich." I entered his room.
"So you're alright, just as I guessed." He smiled back. "What's up?"
"We need to talk, about what you heard from the Demons." I said with a stern look.
"Oh? So you're finally addressing it." He smiled.