Chapter 74 – See? Monster.

After all the excitement settled down, Lee went back to manning the grill, taking over again. He made some double-stacked cheeseburgers and plated them for Nayun, Rachel, and Evandel.

Droon had politely excused himself a bit ago to report back to Boss, disappearing into the shadows.

Lee grabbed his own burger and sat down at one of the chairs around the folding table he set up with Rachel, Nayun, and Evandel. As he did, he glanced at the ring on his left hand, feeling super self-conscious. "...You realize this is like pouring jetfuel to the flames, right, Rachel?"

Rachel idly cut Evandel's burger into small circles for the toddler to munch on. Then she nodded and said, "I'm aware. But the more ridiculous things we do now, the less people question Eva later."

Nayun paused mid-bite. She finished chewing and said, "That's... actually really smart." She laughed and said, "You're really doing the Princess Diana thing, huh? Committing to the bit?"

Rachel smiled, watching as Evandel munched on her 'nom noms.' As she did, she said, "A great actress always commits to the role she plays. And I've accepted mine in life." She shrugged and said, "Even if they call me a tyrant, I have everything that makes me happy. Besides, the worse I am, the better they'll receive Eva."

Evandel nodded. "Yeah! I bestest King!"

"Queen, Eva."

"Queen!"

Lee chuckled. "Well. Guess we'll make it work then. But I wonder how many of our classmates are going to flip out after break?"

Nayun cackled and said, "Oh, I already know Yeonha's going to be pissed. She put a lot on you and Rachel eloping before the semester's done."

Rachel looked amused and said, "Elope? I'm not like her. Why would I fear saying I choose Lee as my beloved? The world will have to fight me to make me change my mind."

"...Wooow. Okay, Lee DEFINITELY had a big influence on you, Rachel." Nayun smiled and said, "That cold and aloof princess completely vanished."

Rachel shrugged and took a bite of her burger. "She was never real. That Rachel was just a scared girl who didn't know how to save her country. I do now."

Nayun raised an eyebrow. "Really? And how do you plan on doing it?"

"I'm taking a page from Yeonha's playbook. I'll just make the biggest drama of the British royal family the world's ever seen and sell the rights. That should make plenty of money to replenish Britain's coffers. And then after I graduate, Lee and I can go clear a Tower or five while destroying monster hordes."

Lee paused. "...I want to refute your casual statement that just you and I alone can clear five whole Towers. ...But considering that we can bootstrap all the way through a Tower, you're definitely not wrong."

Rachel giggled.

Evandel raised her tiny burger and said, "Tower! Clear! BOOM!"

Nayun looked amused and said, "We don't blow up Towers, Eva..."

"Yeah. Especially twin towers."

Nayun gasped. "OH MY GOD."

"What? I'm American. I get to make that joke." Lee shrugged.

Evandel tilted her head, confused. "Twin towers?"

"I'll tell you when you're older, Eva. It makes more sense when you're big."

Evandel still looked confused. But she nodded and said, "Kay~"

Rachel looked genuinely concerned.

Lee pointedly changed the conversation and said, "So, saving your brother, Nayun..."

Nayun gave Lee a blank stare.

Lee didn't budge.

Nayun snorted and said, "Fine, fine. But anyway." She glanced at Evandel and said, "...Eva's Holy Grail can do it, you said?"

"Oh, absolutely." Lee nodded. "But that's kind of a last resort thing. A kid with access to something like that..."

Nayun froze. "Oh. Right. Bad idea."

Evandel tilted her head. "Gwail... bad?"

"Not bad, Eva. You just need certification to use it. Daddy will teach you when you're bigger."

Evandel blinked. Then she smiled and said, "Kay~" After that, she immediately started back on her 'nom noms.'

Nayun looked amused and said, "You know, you're so lucky that Eva's such an obedient daughter."

"That's because her Mommy's a good girl too."

Rachel turned a deep red and swatted Lee's shoulder. "LEE!"

"What? It's true, isn't it?"

Rachel huffed.

Evandel stuck up another small burger and said, "Yay! Mommy goodest girl!"

"That's..." Rachel sighed. "Yes. I suppose I'm a... 'good girl.'"

"Good girl~"

Rachel shivered, looking at Lee with a mix of mortification and something she definitely would never admit in front of Evandel.

Nayun noticed though and smirked at Rachel.

Rachel tossed a chunk of her burger at Nayun. "Stop it."

Evandel gasped. "Mommy! No throw nom nom!"

Rachel sighed. "Yes, Eva. Mommy will stop."

Evandel nodded, looking serious. "Nom nom is for getting bigger! No throw!"

Nayun let out an amused smile. "You heard her, Mommy."

Rachel rolled her eyes and then looked at Lee. "So, this is our home?" She looked around and hummed. "It's a bit bland..."

"Well then, you can decorate it however you like, Rachel." Lee smiled and said, "This is your home too. And we both know I suck at decorating."

Evandel let out a serious nod and said, "Daddy, bad at fashun!"

"Fashion, Eva." Lee corrected Evandel and said, "And that's because Daddy doesn't get it."

Nayun looked amused and said, "The ridiculous resident genius is defeated by interior design?"

"Feng shui, I get. Basic color coordination, I also get. But the difference between white, white smoke, chalk white, and ghost white is beyond me. My brain just does not compute the difference or why it matters."

Rachel gave Lee a blank stare.

Lee tilted his head. "What?"

"...It matters because the walls change color as daylight fades and the white stops being white if it's not a proper true white."

"...And that matters why?"

Rachel sighed.

Nayun laughed. "Okay, fair. I don't get that either."

"...Plebians."

Nayun gasped. "Did you just call us low-class? You, the future queen of Britain?"

Evandel gasped too, copying Nayun. Then she said, "Mommy! No names!"

Rachel pursed her lips. "...Fine. But color is important."

Lee paused. "Is that why you repainted your rapier a brighter white? To look better in daylight?"

"Yes. Why?"

"...No reason."

===

After a lot of burgers, hot dogs, and steaks, Evandel wandered over to the living room, letting out a sleepy yawn. After that, she promptly sprawled against the floor and fell asleep, curled up against a small army of plushies and plushed toys.

Lee walked inside to make sure Evandel was cozy before keeping the screen door to the back porch open and walking back outside.

Rachel glanced up at Lee, sipping on a Sprite soda can. "Is Eva sleeping?"

"Mmhm." Lee sat down next to Rachel and said, "Our little girl's been having fun all day, so she's completely exhausted."

Nayun glanced at Evandel and said, "Shouldn't you like brush her teeth?"

Lee paused to consider that. Then he looked at Rachel and said, "Have you been brushing Eva's teeth for her?"

Rachel paused. "...No?"

Nayun facepalmed. "You two..."

Lee coughed. "To be fair. Eva's special. It slipped our minds, I guess?"

Nayun sighed. "It's a good thing I taught her how when she slept over then... Honestly, you two..."

Rachel blushed and cleared her throat. "I-In any case... Do you have any plans for the break, Nayun?"

"Well, I WAS going to run around looking for things to cure Oppa. But since Mister Prepared over here forgot to tell me there's already a solution, I guess I'll just figure something out. Why? You got plans?"

Rachel hummed. "Not particularly. I wanted to spend time with Eva and Lee, but it would be fun to go on an adventure together again."

Lee's eyes twinkled and said, "Well... if you actually want to go on an adventure, there's a few places I want to look around here in Europe."

Rachel paused. "Oh? Like where?"

Nayun grabbed a Coca cola from the cooler nearby and cracked it open. After that, she said, "Yeah. What are you thinking, Lee?"

"Well. We're pretty close to Ireland. And the Irish have quite a few famous spears I wanna see if I can dig up... Also, I *did* want to go spearfishing. Heh."

===

The next day, on the shores of the Irish Sea.

Nayun gave Lee a blank stare as he put on a swimsuit and various pieces of diving gear. "...You're joking. You're telling me you SERIOUSLY plan on fishing for the spears. Like, ACTUAL spearfishing."

Lee nodded. "Yep. Well, kind of. You see, Gáe Bulg was said to be made from the bones of a sea monster. And the Irish Sea is a thing, so..."

Rachel looked concerned and said, "Are you sure this is a good idea, Lee...?"

"Good idea? Of course not. It's a GREAT idea. Right, Eva?"

Evandel raised her plushed version of Excalibur and said, "YEAH! Spear fishing! Go Daddy!"

Nayun picked up her bow and said, "...Okay. If I see any monsters down there, I'm shooting them, no questions asked."

Lee chuckled. "Oh, don't worry about that. Did you forget?"

"Forget what?" Nayun furrowed her brows. "The fact that you're a lunatic for jumping in such a CLEARLY mana-dense... body of... water." Nayun trailed off. Then her eyes widened in realization.

Rachel's eyes widened too. Then she laughed. "Lee, you sly man."

"Hey. If the world gives you lemons, you turn it into a yummy lemon meringue pie after squeezing the life out of it. Now." Lee put on his rebreather and waved. "Be back soon!" After that, he jumped into the water.

Evandel watched him with glittering blue eyes, clearly entranced at how cool it was.

Rachel noticed and said, "...No jumping in water without Mommy, Eva."

"Kay~ I go with Mommy and Bubbles!"

Nayun chuckled. "Yeah, you're going to need 'bubbles' to breathe down there, Kiddo." She shifted her brown eyes back to the water. Then she roused her magic power, turning them hazel as she peered into the depths. "...Think he'll find anything, Rachel?"

"Knowing Lee, I think-"

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!!!"

Rachel glanced at the garbled roar from underwater as well as the rapidly rising bubbles.

Evandel gasped and said, "BUBBLES!"

"...I think that it won't take long at all for him to find anything." Rachel sighed and drew her rapier. "Get ready, Nayun."

Nayun raised her bow with her left hand, glowing emerald mana arrows already primed in her right hand. "On it."

Evandel watched Rachel and Nayun get ready. Seeing them, she furrowed her brow. Then her eyes lit up and she raised her plushed Excalibur. "Me too! Eki..."

Rachel's eyes widened. "Eva. Eva, sweetie no-"

"CABUR!"

Rachel desperately reached out to stop Evandel.

But nothing happened.

Evandel giggled and then raised her plushed Excalibur again, repeating the motions for fun.

Rachel let out a sigh of relief. "...Please do not scare Mommy like that, Eva."

"Kay~"

Nayun laughed, although she kept her eyes trained on the sea's bubbling surface. "Alright, alright. Come on, Rachel. Looks like whatever that thing is, it's coming up."

Rachel swept her rapier to the side, her golden mana wrapping around it. Then it turned transparent before flickering an ominous crimson hue. When it did, Rachel paused and looked at it. "...This is new."

Evandel gasped and pointed at Rachel's rapier. "Gabul!"

Rachel tilted her head. "Gable? Like the mountain? Why is this-?"

"It's here!" Nayun raised her bow and fired six arrows at once.

At the same time, a massive shadow breached from the sea's surface. Something with FAR too many eyes.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!!!"

It roared again, an unsettling sound that felt like your very bones were shaking.

Rachel glanced at Evandel, worried that she'd be terrified.

But Evandel just held out her white plushy Kerny and roared back. "RAWR!"

Nayun laughed as she kept firing arrows. "That's the spirit, Eva! Show the big guy you aren't scared!"

Rachel chuckled, feeling relaxed now that she was sure Evandel was fine. "I guess I should act then, yes?" She narrowed her eyes, rousing the gathered mana from the surroundings. Then she swung her rapier at the sea monster.

And the moment she did...

"GABUL!" Evandel giggled and clapped her hands.

...What looked like an infinite amount of crimson barbs suddenly burst out of the sea monster, instantly shredding it.

Rachel quickly stared at her rapier, eyes wide in shock.

Nayun froze, staring at the falling bits of purple flesh in shock.

And then Lee jumped onto the shore, taking off his rebreather, looking mildly annoyed, but mostly confused. "Okay. So like, when were you guys going to tell me we already had Gáe Bulg?"

Rachel blushed, pointedly averting her gaze and not looking at her rapier.

Nayun laughed.

And Evandel giggled, pointing at Rachel. "Mommy, Gabul! SWOOSH!"

Lee slowly turned to look at Rachel.

Rachel coughed. "...It was a surprise?"

Lee sighed.