A monster

"Pfft..hahaha"

"Hahaha..."

Alex's mocking laughter rang out in the training grounds as he observed Jonathan, who was laying on the ground. Jonathan had been taken from the center of the training ground to get healed. What made Alex laugh so hard was none other than the sheer hilarity of Jonathan's expression.

His cheeks and entire face were so swollen that he looked like a squirrel. This wasn't an exaggeration; people could hardly have recognized him if they didn't already know it was him.

Seeing him in that state, Jonathan's close family could only wonder if Lilia had something against him to beat him up in such way.

"All the while, Alex's laughter continued to grate at their ears, but this wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that he wasn't the only one laughing at Jonathan; no, there was someone else, none other than Grace.

"Haha, Lilia really did a good job there. Were you the one instructing her?" Grace whispered to Alex, well, it wasn't really a whisper since everyone could hear her.

"Of course, who else would it be?" Alex whispered back with a grin.

"Hehe, I see that you're as bright as your grandma," Grace said with a proud smile as she patted Alex's shoulders.

'Tsk, as evil as her, rather,' thought people, hearing Grace's comment."

'Haa, and those two are supposed to be the current and past heads of our branch. Does this branch really have a future?' wondered Candace as she observed the pair of grandmother and grandson laughing so hard that tears escaped their eyes.

'Haa, it's really a shame that there are no cameras in this world. I would have captured the moment,' sighed Alex in disappointment.

Despite this world being technologically advanced in some fields, in others, it is still primitive, which is why even now, people use painting.

'Hmm, now that I think about it, I can make Scarlett create a camera even better than those on Earth and sell them. But that will have to wait; I doubt she would accept to work on something other than this element-sensing device of hers.'

"I should probably heal him now," said Amelia, approaching Jonathan's prone body.

Alex and Grace had asked her not to heal him the moment he was brought here, which she had done, but she started to feel bad for letting the poor soul continue to suffer just so that Alex and her grandmother could make fun of his condition.

"Wait, don't heal hi-"

"No, he needs to be healed; he is actually losing blood. He might-"

"Don't worry, I'm not so cruel to let him suffer any longer. It's just that I want to test something, and he is the perfect candidate for that," said Alex as he took out a glass vial containing yellow smoke from his spatial ring.

"Oh, is it-"

"Yes, it's a healing potion, or rather, healing smoke," confirmed Alex.

He tossed the vial towards Jonathan's head with so much strength that it shattered upon contact.

"Did you need to throw it with that much strength?" asked Victoria in irritation.

"No."

"Then why did you do it?"

"Just for fun; he is going to be healed in just a moment anyway," answered Alex.

As he said, the moment the vial broke, Alex controlled the smoke it contained to enter Jonathan's mouth, and under the astonished gaze of the onlookers, his wound started to heal immediately.

"It's really potent," remarked Candace.

"Much more potent than the original potion it was made from, it will heal him in a matter of seconds," shared Alex.

"Since you apparently managed to bottle up the smoke, and your smoke potion is even more potent than the normal ones on the market, we can start to-"

"Later, later, for now, let me focus on the show," said Alex, cutting off Candace.

"I- ...sigh, as you want. Let's speak about it later."

After that, everyone turned their attention towards Lilia and Celine's fight.

****

As Alex enjoyed watching his wife beating up the members of his branch one after the other, on the coast of the Fiore Empire, kilometers away from their mansion, an inconspicuous ship docked far from the others.

A moment later, a handsome young man with brown hair and green eyes got off the boat.

"So, this is the Fiore Empire capital. Quite disappointing for an empire as large as this one," commented the young man.

"Don't be quick to judge; I'm sure you would like our capital city if you spend some time in it," said a deep voice.

"Are you the one supposed to guide me?" asked the young man as he looked at a man in knight armor followed by soldiers.

"The knight stopped in front of the young man and took off his helmet to reveal a handsome man with short blond hair."

'Woah, his blond hair is so shiny. I would love to have hair as beautiful as his,' thought the young man as he witnessed the knight's hair.

"Yes, I am Sir Triskan, and I am the one charged to guide you to the emperor. Are you ready to go?" asked the knight with a smile.

'Even his smile is beautiful. Wahh, I want to possess a smile like that,' thought the young man, although he didn't let it show on his face and replied to Triskan with a composed expression.

"Yes, let's go."

Knight Triskan and his soldiers guided the young man towards a flamboyant cart adorned with colorful banners and intricate embellishments.

'Woah, this cart looks so much better than the one I usually ride. I'm getting jealous,' thought the young man before embarking on the cart.

Knight Triskan barked some orders to his soldiers, and a second later, they surrounded the cart while Triskan stood on his horse at the head of the procession. Then, the cart started moving in the direction of the imperial palace, situated in the center of the city.

"Look! It's Knight Triskan!" screamed a young woman excitedly to her two friends.

"Huh? Where?" asked one friend as she looked around.

"He looks so handsome and strong," said one friend with heart-shaped eyes.

Seeing the gazes of her two friends, the third one shook her head, 'they are hopeless.'

'I wonder who is so important to be escorted by one of the Knight Commandants of the Empire,' she thought.

Her ruby eyes glowed, trying to scan the interior of the cart, but the moment she did this, she felt a gaze lock onto her.

Following this gaze came an immense pressure that made her collapse on the ground.

"Alisha!"

"Hey, what's wrong with you?"

The girlfriends quickly caught her while asking her what was wrong with her, but it was like she couldn't hear them, blocked in her thoughts.

"A-A Monster?"