The dragon's harem

Not taking Gaia’s bait, Arad flew right up the hole where his brother and the angels waited and watched the hole getting filled with stones and water. The archon remained stunned, staring at Arad, who carried Gaia in his arms. “I fixed it. If there were any other problems like this, inform me.” Arad approached the archon and glared at him. “This place might be outside my empire’s land, but it is still on her body.”

“We, the residents of the mortal world, should treasure our Mother Earth.” As Arad stood taller than the archon and glared down at him with eyes burning with magic, Gaia whispered in a sarcastic tone. “Our great emperor, you weren’t around, so they were doing their best.”

Arad looked at her for a second, then sucked her back into his stomach so she could rest. “Anyway, which god sent you here?” Arad quickly changed the subject. “Was it Amaterasu?”

The archon nodded, “Yes, she handles jobs like this thanks to her boundless divine energy. Other gods might suffer a hit to their power if they started cleaning eldritch magic like this.” He approached Arad a bit, “So? How did you get rid of all that eldritch magic?”

“Consumed and destroyed it. It is similar to a trick I learned from Kali.” Arad then looked back at Gojo, “What should we do now? Check on mother, right?”

Gojo looked at the horizon with a worried face. “She didn’t join the last battle, so she must be hurt quite badly. We must hurry.” With that, the two waved at the archon and teleported away before he could do anything to stop them.

The archon looked back at the ocean with a pale face. How could such a monster exist?

Back in Alina, it had just rained, and people were still confused about the halo of light that engulfed the world. Many of them had started running around to prepare for a disaster, and some seemed careless, going about their lives as usual. It would take years for them to get used to such things.

Among them, an old lady with a hunched back approached one of the stalls on the main street. “Five loaves of bread.” She extended her hand to the woman in the shop, “Hot, please.”

The woman stared at her for a second, then sighed. “Shouldn’t you be inside? You saw that light, right? What if the world started shaking like the last time?” She started picking several loaves for the old lady.

The old lady smiled. “When you get to my age, you stop worrying about such things. I just want to live the rest of my days in peace.”

As the two stared at each other, a carriage passed through the street at great speed, hitting a puddle and sending a large splash of water and mud toward the old lady and the shop. The shopkeeper closed her eyes and flinched, taking a step back to avoid getting drenched.

When she opened her eyes, her face paled, and she almost died on the spot. The old lady was dry without a single drop of mud or water on her clothes. Behind her stood a large man, over three meters tall, wearing full black armor and a large embroidered black cloak, which he used to cover the old lady.

The tall body, black armor, thin beard, menacing purple eyes, and a stern face which made it impossible to tell whether he was glaring at her or not. That was without a mistake, the emperor himself.

Arad Orion, the Great Emperor.

“Grandma, what are you doing out here alone?” Arad asked, and the old lady, who was Alcott’s mother, giggled. ’Ah, my son. I wanted to pick up some fresh bread for dinner.” She looked at him with a smile. “Your father is out at work with Ginger, and your mother fell asleep to rest.”

Alcott had recently moved to live beneath Arad’s castle in the new city, and not everyone here knew who he was or who his mother was. The poor shopkeeper had no idea she was dealing with the emperor’s grandmother.

The shopkeeper took a few steps back, tripped, and fell, landing right in Gojo’s lap, who had already appeared inside her shop and took a seat in her rocking chair. “Ohh, lovely. Careful where you step.”

She could’ve jumped out immediately, but looking at his glowing blue eyes, she remained still in his lap. “Who…what?”

“His brother.” Gojo pointed at Arad with a finger and then looked at the lady with a loving smile. “Aren’t you taking a bit of a long sit?”

She immediately jumped to her feet. “His majesty’s brother?”

“Gojo Orion, king of the northern Arctic Lands.” Gojo stood and gave her a bow.” Then with one step, he approached and grabbed her hand, “Grandmother wanted to buy some bread, I’ll pay.”

She blushed and rushed back, “No, no need. I can’t take money from the emperor’s family.”

“Hoo…” Gojo smiled. “Heard that Arad, can’t you give her a better shop?” The poor woman could feel her blood dry when Arad was brought back into the conversation.

“Emma Hazel, widow of Liam Hazel, a soldier who died in Vlad’s war and was forced to move here when the capital got destroyed. She has one child that she is raising, Miles Hazel. Currently, he is nine months old.” Arad replied with a stern voice, and the woman almost shat herself. He doesn’t just know her by name, but her entire recent history.

Gojo lifted an eyebrow. “You know her?”

“From Isdis’s reports, we had to go through a lot of paperwork. We especially kept an eye on those living around important people, like Father’s house.” Arad leaned on the counter. “Why not? I’ll ask Isdis and see if we can get her into the castle’s cooks. The maids there could even help her take care of the kid.”

She herself couldn’t believe her ears, but Gojo booed from the back. “I asked to give her a bigger shop, not a job.” Hearing him, she wanted to turn around and punch him in the face. She didn’t want Arad to give her anything if she could help it. She didn’t want to get any preferential treatment from the royal family because that would become a huge target on her back.

Arad laughed. “Come on, how can she take care of a huge shop on her own? While raising a baby?” Arad flicked his finger and picked the bread his grandmother ordered. “If she works as a cook in the castle, she could earn more money, have reliable people to help her raise the kid, and be safe behind the walls.” He then smiled, “Besides, Isdis would decide in the end. She is better at this than I am.”

Arad then looked at his grandma and smiled, “Let’s go. I want to check on mom and head to the castle. Everyone should be worried.”

She felt relieved that Arad left, but forgot about his brother still standing behind her. She turned around and bumped into Gojo. “You don’t seem to look around when walking.” He grabbed her by the shoulders before she could fall, and smiled. “If that buffoon doesn’t give you enough, call me. I’d love to have better bread in my kingdom.” And with that, he too left, leaving her with a small crystal of condensed magic.

When she turned around, she noticed that all of her stock of bread had disappeared. In its place, a pile of coins awaited. Gojo had taken it all.

She looked at the pile of coins, and they were all golden… All of the bread she had in the shop for today was worth less than a single gold coin.