The Sword Saint and The Dragon

Arc 1 Chapter 6: The Hand Of Orion

"I'm glad to see the both of you again."

Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti was sitting on a picnic blanket as he looked smiling fondly at Alexis and Emilia.

Alexis had already seen his followers in the village handing out supplies to the residents.

They had also seen Otto mutter depressingly to himself as he dried out his clothes seeing as Alexis had "accidentally" pushed him into the lake.

"Come on Geuse." Alexis said as she hugged Emilia. "Who would I be if I didn't come visit every once in a while?"

"Umm, wasn't your last visit just a week ago?"

"Hush Emilia, a week away from you feels like an eternity for me."

A pair of hands sneaked their way to Alexis neck before using ice magic to chill her nape.

"Maybe if you stopped causing such a ruckus every time you come in, you could get away with visiting so often."

Alexis shivered in slight fear before looking at the smiling irked mother who had set down a picnic basket. She had prepared a verbal retort but the malice emitting from Fortuna made her wisely stand down.

"....okay."

"Mother Fortuna, Alexis is just....a very worried friend. "

"Is that what you mean when you both disrupt Archi so much?"

Like Alexis, Emilia was silenced by the chilling tone sent towards her.

Alexis looked at Geuse expectantly, waiting for him to get Fortuna to let them go but he only looked away as he began taking out the food for the picnic.

Fortuna deciding to let them off this time, only huffed as she distributed the food to the plates that she brought with her.

They sat in comfortable silence as they ate.

The meal would go on as most go. The people would be eating calmly and slowly. However there was an exception.

Emilia looked up from her roasted peppers and looked lost seeing Alexis scarf down portion after portion.

"Uhhhhh, have you always eaten that much?"

Geuse looked with a deadpanned blank face as he looked into the basket to see how much was left.

"....She already ate half the food."

Alexis swallowed as she smiled innocently at Geuse.

"Are you sure your appetite isn't just small?"

Fortuna interjected as she destroyed Alexis claim.

"I made sure to make four times the amount we usually make so this little child can be fed."

Alexis having no retort, turned away with a red face as she resumed to stuff her cheeks.

Emilia giggles as she spoke.

"Geez Alexis your face is sooooo puffy! It looks adorable!"

Wanting to save Alexis from further embarrassment, Geuse spoke up.

"Now Emilia, there's no need to tease her so much. She just happens to eat more than most people."

The four stopped their talking as they quietly ate till the sun was at the halfway point to the horizon.

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Alexis and Emilia were laying on the blanket, arms around each other as they talked.