Chapter 453 Annoying Little Girl
"So…who is that girl?" Princess Evalyne was finally able to ask after a few minutes of awkwardness had passed.
Nial had repetitively tried to say that the Little Oracle was just joking around, but he was only subjected to doubtful gazes.
Even his father had a hard time believing that the Little Oracle was not his granddaughter and that was something Nial couldn't understand at all.
The Little Oracle looked like a six-year-old child right now, meaning that Nial had to have met someone roughly seven years before to father a little demon such as the Little Oracle.
Nial hadn't even awoken his Origin seven years ago and he was not someone who left home if it was not really necessary. Thus, his father should know that the Little Oracle's words were utter nonsense.
Nonetheless, Miles Orin didn't seem to trust his poor son. He would not leave a single opportunity of teasing him, and Nial had to bear with his father's teasing until the Royal Princess had asked the question everyone was interested in.
"She calls herself Oracle, and she is quite powerful even if she looks timid," Nial explained what he knew about the Oracle while ruffling through her silky hair. The Little Oracle squealed while trying to remove his hand from her head, just to sense that Nial increased the intensity of his movements. He completely disheveled her hair as revenge for the joke the little Oracle had played.
She didn't like his act but it was not as if she could do something against it.
"I don't know that much about her either. Just ask her if you're curious about something related to this little monster!" Nial told the Royal Princess and the other Elves before he turned his attention to his father.
He smiled in Miles' direction, took a step forward, and hugged his father tightly.
"I'm glad that you're doing well!" He spoke sincerely while tightening the embrace.
"N-Nial…too tight!" Miles suddenly exclaimed in a suffering voice, causing Nial to loosen his hold. Miles took a few deep breaths and he held him by the shoulders before glaring at his son.
"Looks like you became strong enough to forget how to control your strength…" He analyzed while continuing to observe his son.
Miles had advanced to the Mirae rank not too long ago. Using his son's resources and connections it was not difficult for Miles to enlarge his Mana Core to the 10th Origin rank. He had also created an Advanced Origin ring and reached the 1st Advanced Mirae rank.
Never in his life would Miles have imagined that he had the talent to create an Advanced Origin ring. Even talented human Originals may not be able to attain the same feat, and their Mana Core's natural limit was much higher than his.
Yet, by using various means to overcome his natural limit, Miles seemed to have attained the seemingly impossible…and it was all thanks to his son's hard work.
"It's good to have you back!" Miles said, his expression changing to a bright and genuine smile before he pulled his son back into a hug.
Nial was a little overwhelmed by his father's emotions but he reciprocated the hug and he patted Miles' back lightly.
"I'm happy to be back as well," He said, enjoying the moment he had with his father.
Unfortunately, the moment didn't last long because the Little Oracle's squealing and Ryu's chirping filled the room.
Nial's lip twitched and he had to let go of his father when he visualized what the little troublemakers were doing.
The Little Oracle had picked up Ryu before she ran around in the room, trying to evade the Elves, who were trying hard to make her talk to them.
Even if the Elves in the wooden hut were not sure who the Little Oracle was, their gut told them that the little girl was some sort of bigshot. Only in the presence of the Empress were they as nervous as they were right now, and that was definitely not normal!
The Royal Princess was also a little astonished about what she felt when looking at the Little Oracle.
However, rather than being interested in her identity, Princess Evalyne was more intrigued to know how Nial had found that girl, how he made sure that she followed him, and what the hell had happened in the last few months to make him get back to his senses again.
Nial's condition had been extremely bad when he had left the Forest of Life. Princess Evalyne was pretty sure that Nial would fall into depression because of what happened to his mother and his master. Fortunately, that didn't happen and it looked like he had overcome the painful memories of his past.
But there was still this weird feeling she got from him, and it was stronger than ever before.
'His rank didn't change that much since he left…but his strength changed completely…what are his limits now?' The Royal Princess wondered as her fingers began to tremble subconsciously.
Nial stepped forward, and he bent down to pick up the Little Oracle and Ryu. Ryu chirped in joy, feeling happy that Nial would rescue him, the damsel in distress, from the bad Demon God, the Little Oracle.
Yet, before Nial could get a hold on either of them, mana oozed out of the Little Oracle's body and she seemed to disappear from Nial's perception for a millisecond before she reappeared half a meter ahead.
'Did she just use her control of time for something like that?' Nial wondered, bearing a smile as he released his dark energy through the ground in an explosive manner.
He summoned Kaeldur's arms that emerged from below his shoulder, expanded and burst forth.
Simultaneously, Nial shot hands of darkness from the ground of the wooden hut with the intention to restrict and catch the Little Oracle.
Nial was about to catch her again when he sensed a subtle release of mana from her body. As a countermeasure, he created a small dome of darkness in the blink of an eye.
"Arghhhgh, it's dark!!" The Little Oracle grumbled as she struggled to find her way through the dome of darkness, but that did not make Nial pity her.
Kaeldur's arms shot through the dome, and reached out for the Little Oracle, and finally got hold of her after some struggle.
Nial snapped his fingers and the dark energy was retracted in the blink of an eye, releasing the struggling figure of the Little Oracle, and Ryu who suffered the most.
To relieve Ryu from his suffering, he helped the Gryphon by picking him up and placing him on his shoulder.
"You did well!" Nial ended up telling Ryu while patting him gently. As for the Little Oracle, she looked at him with a scowl and began to sulk.
"You're boring…always taking away my fun!" The Little Oracle grumbled, just for Nial to pull her closer to him, close enough to whisper into her ear, "Just stop playing around. I know that you can alter your body at your will!"
Only the Little Oracle could hear what Nial said, but that was more than enough for the little girl to stare at him with a complicated expression.
It looked almost as if she couldn't believe that Nial had figured out her secret so quickly.
Little did she know that Nial was able to put two and two together. There had been more than enough clues that pointed toward the Little Oracle's true age and agenda.
The Little Oracle finally quieted down after hearing Nial's words and he put her down as she stood meekly by his side. Despite what she had just heard, the Little Oracle subconsciously grasped Nial's hand, which looked cute from the outside.
"Let's ignore this incident for now. What are you guys doing here?" Nial changed the topic to something else he had been interested in.
According to him, there was actually no reason for Miles, the Royal Princess of the Elven, and a bunch of other Elves to be together. It didn't really make any sense if Nial were to be honest with himself.
"Ah, I knew we were forgetting something," Princess Evalyne said when she regained her senses. She had been staring at the Little Oracle for too long and felt almost as if she had been bewitched.
"We were just talking to your father because we need his help with something," Princess Evalyne revealed in a mysterious voice.
Nial was unable to follow, thus he asked, "My father's help? Why?"
"We want him to infiltrate the Black Market!"