The festive atmosphere showed no signs of dying down after Grey's toast. If anything, it only grew more lively.
The teenagers' cheeks were slightly flushed, and their laughter and heated discussions continued without a moment's pause.
It felt good to relax after all the hard work and tremendous stress they had been through.
Brutal training, life-and-death struggles, and the constant fear of being hunted by cultists had toughened the teenagers and forced them to grow up before their time.
Such a lifestyle was perfectly suited for forging true warriors.
Grey deliberately put them in situations where they had to constantly push their limits and squeeze every last drop of potential out of themselves.
However, living under constant pressure had its downsides.
Humans were not machines. They couldn't work without a break. Unless they were allowed to blow off steam and rest from time to time, even the healthiest body would eventually begin to break down.
And the same was true now.
The moment Grey saw the state of his subordinates, he realized they had reached their limit and could break at any moment. So even if Lily hadn't made her breakthrough, he would have found an excuse to let them relax a little.
The little succubus's performance had simply made things easier.
He hadn't forgotten about the supernatural phenomena that had been causing panic among his subordinates. In fact, he hadn't stopped thinking about their accounts for even a moment, comparing them with the various monsters he had studied in the Village of the Abandoned.
However, after inspecting the mansion together with Lily, they hadn't found a single clue, so he had to change his approach.
Rather than continue searching for the source of the anomaly without getting anywhere, Grey decided to do the opposite.
Since the unknown entity was trying to instill fear in his subordinates, Grey would simply ruin all its plans and calmly wait for it to make its next move.
As Lily had said, fear was an unstable emotion. As long as it didn't develop into paranoia, it was very easy to control.
And that was exactly what Grey did.
He redirected his subordinates' turbulent emotions in the direction he wanted.
The results didn't take long to appear.
The flames of ambition and pride, which had begun to die down, suddenly blazed to life once more.
All Grey had to do now was make sure his subordinates let every last bit of their emotions out during this celebration.
Right now, the group had split into two smaller circles: the boys and the girls.
The table covered with food had been completely forgotten. The boar roasting on the spit had developed a black, charred crust. Mugs filled with drinks were scattered everywhere, and nobody seemed to care.
"Alright," Kai announced, standing on a tall tree stump. "The game is simple. Everyone tells a story about some made-up feat they've accomplished. The more unbelievable and ridiculous the story, the better. But there's one rule."
He raised a finger.
"Nobody is allowed to laugh at their own story. Only at other people's."
Everyone voiced their approval.
Zebra was the first to stand up.
"This happened at the southern border. I was surrounded by a hundred experts at the Sky-dweller level..."
"Pathetic..." Achilles commented with a laugh. "It would take at least a thousand to stop the mighty Zebra!"
Everyone burst into approving laughter, but Zebra suppressed the twitch at the corner of his mouth and simply nodded with a straight face.
"They were scouts..."
The laughter grew even louder, and Zebra took another sip.
"I looked at their leader with a crazy grin, just like our boss had that one day. He was nearly three meters tall, clad in full plate armor and riding a jet-black stallion. But the moment he looked into my eyes, he immediately understood..."
He paused.
"Understood what?" Kai played along.
"That he'd better go home."
Kai slapped Zebra on the shoulder.
"Excellent! Now that's a story! A perfect example of stupidity! Who's next?"
Garen was the next to stand up. He was already drunk enough to believe he could tell a convincing story.
"Once, I went hunting."
"For what?"
"A bear."
Kai nodded approvingly.
"The bear turned out to be small."
"And?"
"So I decided to find its mother."
The teenagers groaned in disapproval and chased Garen off the stump with a few kicks. Mother jokes had gone out of fashion back when the gods still walked the lands of Eridania. They were considered just as outdated as the oldest relics.
Everyone turned to Achilles. He was the most talented storyteller in their group.
An impossibly handsome young man with curly blond hair, blue eyes, and a well-built figure. His irresistible charisma and natural leadership aura hadn't suffered in the slightest, even with Grey repeatedly proving his own competence. Naturally, the others had high expectations.
Achilles casually adjusted his hairstyle, sweeping his hair back.
"I was ten years old. Back then, I used to practice swordsmanship with only one hand. So there I was, walking through the forest, looking for someone worthy of challenging me. Suddenly, I heard someone crying. I turned around and saw a dragon. A huge one, as big as Devil's Pass."
"The dragon was crying?" Sunny asked in disbelief.
"Of course." Achilles nodded.
"Why?"
Achilles looked at the boys as if they were idiots.
"Because it was lost."
Someone was already rolling on the ground laughing.
"So I..." He shrugged. "Showed it the right way."
"That's it?" Kai shook his head in disapproval, clearly disappointed.
"It was grateful."
"And?"
"Ever since then, dragons have flown south every winter..."
The teenagers completely lost it.
Some were lying on the ground pretending to be corpses, others were writhing in convulsions, while a few hurriedly tried to hide the tears welling up in their eyes.
Even the reserved Grey, who had only been half-listening to their conversation, couldn't suppress a twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Everyone turned to the quiet Reus, who almost never took part in group gatherings. He was a true killer, both by profession and by nature, and rarely enjoyed talking. Yet today, by some inexplicable miracle, he had found himself among a bunch of jokesters.
"Come on," Kai urged him, shaking his shoulder.
Reus silently sipped his drink.
"Reus!" Kai refused to leave him alone.
Finally, Reus put down his cup and calmly said:
"Once, someone tried to kill me."
Everyone waited, but Reus said nothing more.
"And?" someone couldn't help asking.
He calmly shrugged.
"As you can see, they failed."
Reus picked up his mug again and took another sip.
An awkward silence followed.
Kai climbed back onto the stump and announced:
"I think we have a winner." He raised his cup and gave his silent friend an approving pat on the shoulder.
"For what?" Garen protested indignantly.
"He's the only one who told a story so convincingly that I simply couldn't help believing him."
The group once again erupted into uncontrollable laughter.
Grey realized that the boys were having a great time and shifted his gaze toward the girls.
Naturally, Lily was the center of their group.
She sat gracefully on an overturned barrel, looking like a princess who had just been introduced at court. It seemed she was making full use of her right as the strongest to have everyone obey her every decision today.
After all, the celebration had started because of her, so she had every right to do so.
Her breakthrough had come as a surprise, and if not for Grey's spontaneous actions, she would have preferred to keep it a secret.
But one thing led to another... And before long, someone had brought out the drinks and even delivered a heartfelt speech...
Now the girls were sitting in their own little group, having spent the last ten minutes arguing about the most important question of the evening. Which bow was best for showing respect while maintaining one's dignity.
At her friends' insistence, Lily had become the judge.
"Alright, alright, you've convinced me. We'll hold a competition too." Lily waved her hand tiredly, as if the role was nothing but a nuisance to her.
But Grey, who knew her true nature perfectly well, couldn't miss the playful spark dancing in her eyes.
"The main criteria are beauty, drama, and how easy it is to perform while wearing an elegant outfit."
"And the ability to transition from a bow straight into a killing move," Miranda added.
Everyone gave her a strange look.
"What?" Miranda looked confused.
In fact, Miranda was a rather ordinary village girl who had ended up in the hands of the Merciful Flame's Cult through a twist of fate.
Her life had changed dramatically since then. She had spent far too much time training alongside the boys, just like her friends Felicity and April, who were now giving her disapproving looks.
Because Miranda had trained with the boys so often, she had picked up two habits: warming up her shoulders before doing anything and taking everything far too seriously...
To be honest, the changes in her personality worried Felicity and April, whom she considered her friends.
Despite all the hardships they had endured, those two girls still insisted that it was vital for a woman to preserve her femininity and remain gentle if she ever hoped to find a good husband.
Miranda herself, partly under Grey's influence, had come to the conclusion that only personal strength mattered. Manners and all that other nonsense wouldn't protect her anyway. So she had stopped worrying about them.
Where had that charming prince been when the cultists were preparing to use her as a sacrifice?
Of course, Achilles, who had been in the same group as her and saved them from their pursuers, could have played that role. However, in Miranda's opinion, he was far too feminine and sugary-sweet. The same went for Grey, whom her friends had recently become so infatuated with.
She preferred more masculine men, like Garen and Zebra...
Seeing that Miranda had no intention of admitting her mistake, the girls turned away and pouted in displeasure, deciding to have another talk with her after the celebration.
Cheryl was the first to step forward.
Despite her shyness, she didn't want the celebration in honor of her friend to end in an argument or an unpleasant confrontation.
However, the moment she stepped forward, all her courage vanished, and the rabbit girl froze like a deer caught in headlights.
"Cheryl... isn't sure she can..."
"You can." Knowing her friend's timid nature perfectly well, Lily leaned back lazily on her throne (the overturned barrel), imitating Lady Veronika. "It's just a bow. Be more confident."
Somehow, her words managed to calm Cheryl down.
Of course, Lily's magic had played a part as well. Ever since she had reached the Saint rank, it had become even subtler and easier to use, but Cheryl didn't need to know that.
The rabbit girl took a graceful breath, held the edges of her tunic with one hand, and bowed with a slight bend of her knees.
Her movements could have served as a model for every noblewoman in the Magic Empire. They were that natural, precise, and fluid.
Her back remained perfectly straight. The angle of her bow was just deep enough to show respect without sacrificing her dignity. If not for her slightly worn clothes, those watching might have thought that a princess of royal blood had just bowed before them rather than an ordinary beastkin from the Rabbit Tribe.
It was the kind of bow performed by someone who had spent years being taught to place a cup on the table without making the slightest sound. Even the most demanding master of ceremonies wouldn't have been able to find a single flaw in her movements.
When she straightened up, nobody could say a word for several seconds.
Aileen blinked.
Irene blinked.
Felicity cautiously asked, "W-Why did that look so expensive?"
Cheryl blushed.
"Mother said that if you do something, you should do it properly... Otherwise, you'll be punished..."
She wasn't lying.
Cheryl had always been a very obedient and responsible girl. The kind of person who remembered instructions word for word. That part of her personality hadn't disappeared even after she started spending time with Grey and Lily.
If anything, after reuniting with Shakira, Cheryl had begun absorbing her mother's teachings about manners and how a proper woman should behave with renewed enthusiasm.
And although Cheryl often felt shy and awkward around others, all those lessons had remained buried deep inside her, waiting for the right moment.
Lily nodded approvingly.
"That's my friend! An excellent start!"
Cheryl returned to her seat and hid behind her mug.
Irene and Aileen were next. They exchanged glances and smiled.
That brief exchange was enough to make Lily narrow her eyes.
"We'll show you the bow of a true star," Aileen announced.
"Just like we practiced," Irene added.
Everyone else grew wary at their words.
The twins stepped forward at the same time. They stopped. Then they bowed at a forty-five-degree angle.
Their movements were perfectly rehearsed, but not in the same way as Cheryl's. While the rabbit girl gave the impression that she had spent years practicing those movements, the twins looked as if they had been assembled in the same factory.
Then they straightened up sharply.
Charming smiles flashed across their faces with frightening speed.
One hand shot up to a cheek, and an index finger gently touched it, as if drawing attention to the cute dimples on their faces. One of their legs bent at the knee, with the toe pointed elegantly. They formed a heart with their free hands and struck a pose that would make any cultured person feel blood rushing to their nose, while a noble master of ceremonies would drop dead on the spot.
"Together, we're unstoppable! Smiles, energy, and 100% effort! Your Excellency Grey, you can do anything!" After shouting the words of their cheer, they froze in that pose, waiting for applause.
Lily pressed a hand to her forehead, sensing an impending headache.
Kai, who had caught a glimpse of the scene, had eyes shining like stars. It seemed that if Irene and Aileen didn't stop their performance soon, he would suffer a heart attack.
"What are you teaching them?!" Junior Grey protested in their shared consciousness, furiously berating Senior for his behavior.
Senior innocently spread his hands in the depths of their shared subconscious and explained that this was how the most famous idols in his previous world acted to attract countless fans and win their love.
At that moment, Sunny's furious voice rang out, as if he had just crawled straight out of Hell.
"BOSS! I mean, GREY! You son of a @№!&%! You treacherous bastard! You're a disgrace to humanity! What are you teaching my sisters?! I... I... I'LL DESTROY YOU RIGHT HERE AND NOW!"
Grey immediately felt a chill run down the back of his neck. The sense of imminent mortal danger grew stronger with every passing second. So he put to use the most important skill he had repeatedly practiced in the Village of the Abandoned under the supervision of powerful Sky-dwellers.
He ran for his life.
...
P.S
This is my first time writing comedy, and honestly, I'm still not entirely sure how well I'm doing.
Please don't forget to praise me in the comments, leave likes, write reviews, and so on.
That's the only way I'll know whether you truly enjoy my work.
Silent readers, I'm talking specifically to you. One day, I'll make sure you finally share your opinions.