Miracle Card Shop: All My Cards Can Be Actualize

Chapter 418: A Slow Day - 02

Little Sylvana greeted Pride with a wide, innocent smile. "Hello, Aunt Pride. How are you?"

The moment Pride saw that innocent smile and heard that sweet voice, all her frustration and negativity melted away like ice under a summer sun. It was as if the child's smile had healed her.

Pride cooed and slumped forward, engulfing Sylvana in a hug. "Awww," she said, nuzzling her cheek against the child's soft cheek. "Who are your parents, sweetie?"

"Um," the little one began, a hint of confusion clouding her brow frowned as she seemed to search her memory. "Papa's name is Daniel Embereave. As for Mama..." Sylvana trailed off, starting to count on her fingers. "Ummm... I have four mamas right now. The first is Mama Koyuki, the second is Mama Envy, the third is Mama Greed, and the fourth is Mama Penthesilea."

Pride's jaw dropped. "Four mamas?!" she exclaimed, stunned. "And you said the first one is that... fiery... I mean, Koyuki?"

Sylvana simply nodded in confirmation.

Of course, Pride, raised in a mage family, didn't mind that Daniel had several partners. In fact, she was even proud of him. After all, they were all powerful witches, which meant the inheritance of their magical legacy would be strong and secure.

However, what truly irked her was that Koyuki, her rival, the former Witch of Wrath, held the position of first wife. Honestly, Pride wouldn't have been half as annoyed if it had been Envy, her teacher.

Suddenly, a realization dawned on Pride. "Wait! You said your fourth mama's name is Penthesilea?" she asked, disbelief etched on her face. Little Sylvana simply nodded in confirmation. Pride's gaze immediately snapped towards Greed, who was busy arranging the hospital gifts.

"Yes, that Penthesilea," Greed confirmed. "The one who fought Achilles and died."

"Who brought her back?"

"Daniel, of course," Greed replied. "And before you ask, no, it wasn't through a homunculus body. It's a true resurrection. Aunt Envy already examined her – there's no trace of homunculus forging technique within her body. Penthesilea possesses a genuine body from the Era of Gods, when mana was abundant. Her strength comes from that era's constant mana exposure, not homunculus enhancements."

Pride, of course, knew Daniel somehow possessed the power to revive long-dead heroes like Heracles, whom she met in Japan. However, she believed the process was incredibly complex and taxing on Daniel. Bringing back an ancient hero must have consumed a vast amount of resources. But perhaps this was something Daniel could achieve with minimal cost to himself or his resources.

A frown creased Pride's brow. Her injuries stemmed from a desperate escape – fleeing from Achilles, another ancient hero seemingly working for General Moore, or perhaps aiding in a coup. She'd stumbled upon a secret underground laboratory on the outskirts of Washington.

It was a place of horrors, teeming with abominations being experimented upon. Even worse, her father was imprisoned there, guarded by Achilles himself.

However, the Achilles she'd fought differed from the original Achilles. This one was brought back using the soul of Achilles that integrated into a powerful homunculus body – a far cry from the true resurrection Daniel had achieved with Penthesilea.

"Speaking of your injuries," Greed chimed in, setting plates of food and sweets on the table for Pride and Sylvana, "what exactly happened? Care to fill us in?"

Pride sighed deeply. "Alright, I'll tell you everything I found out." She launched into a detailed explanation, mindful of little Sylvana who was playfully sharing sweet melon pieces with her yellow iguana companion.

— Morning - San Francisco —

— Union Square —

In the heart of Union Square, the historic Dewey Monument towered over the bustling crowds going about their daily lives. Amidst the vibrant shops and the air of prosperity, Daniel stood out in his long, old-fashioned fabric coat and formal wear.

His appearance bespoke a nobleman, seasoned by age and maturity yet retaining a hint of youthful charm. Glances, particularly from women, drifted to his way from time to time as he waited patiently.

A sigh escaped his lips as his mind wandered back to that morning. He'd offered Koyuki a date, a long-overdue one, only to be met with chaos. The girls had descended into a frenzy, resorting to a high-stakes rock-paper-scissors match to determine who would accompany him.

To complicate matters further, Penthesilea had barged into the mansion, vying with Michaela for bodyguard duty. In the end, Koyuki kicked him out of the mansion and told him to wait here.

Now, here he was, stranded in the heart of Union Square for over an hour, nearing two actually. His desire for a peaceful date had somehow morphed into a rock paper scissor tournament for the girls. Another tired sigh punctuated his thoughts as he checked his watch for the umpteenth time.

Unknown to him, several women who exuded confidence beyond their appearance were standing nearby Daniel. This prompted Daniel to politely excuse himself and give up his spot to these women. Since they seemed to prefer being near him, Daniel moved to a nearby bench and sat down while waiting for his partners.

Although some of the women appeared annoyed and followed him to the bench, others positioned themselves to stand out more than the rest. However, Daniel paid them no mind, taking out his phone to play games while he waited, much to the irritation of the women.

There are many men who know what this group of women are up to and they laugh at the audacity of these women. Which earns the ire of this group of women.

"Hey, are you gonna ignore us like this?" One of the more outgoing women asked Daniel who is still concentrating in gaming and continues to ignore them.

"HAHAHAHA Haha ha HAAAAA!" resounding laughter erupted from the group of men observing the situation. They found it hilarious that these were the same women they had tried to hit on but had failed to capture their attention. Now, seeing these women receive similar treatment brought a strange satisfaction to the men.

"Hey! You!" The same woman pushed Daniel's shoulder, causing him to miss the timing to dodge the boss's attack and resulting in his character's death.

"Ugh…" Daniel groaned as his character died. He closed the game and pocketed his phone.

"How can I help you, ma'am?" Daniel asked, confused as to why this woman still wanted to associate with him after he had ignored her earlier.

"Are you free? Interested in having lunch with me?" The woman asked again, attempting to showcase her beauty by stroking her hair and revealing her cleavage. However, Daniel remained immune to her obvious moves. After all, his partners were supermodel-level beauties, so he didn't find her attractive at all.

"I'm sorry, but I'm waiting for my date. Could you please not interrupt my gaming?" Daniel said bluntly, causing the woman's irritation to become more visible on her face.

"Ah, Lord Emberweave!" A somewhat familiar woman's voice sounded from a distance, and a girl with pure white hair exuding a beautiful and ethereal air walked toward him, accompanied by a stern maid in glasses.

The girl's stunning appearance made the women surrounding Daniel jealous, nearly sending them into a fit of rage.

Observing the situation, the maid pulled out a rune stone from her pocket and crushed it. Instantly, the crowd around them dispersed as if losing interest, returning to their daily routines.

"Quite convenient," Daniel remarked upon seeing the maid's use of the runestone.

"You jest, Lord Emberweave. This non-magical beings repellant runestone is a common product sold in bulk by the Stenmark clan in the Curtained World. I believe you could have procured one too, given the close friendship between you and Lord Stenmark," the maid explained in a polite yet stoic tone.

Daniel smiled wryly before turning his attention to the girl with pure white hair standing before him. "And you are…" he tried to recall.

"It's Anastasia, Lord Emberweave, Anastasia Romanov. We met once when you were hunting Satan in our palace back then," Anastasia answered.

"Ah, I remember. How are you doing, Ms. Romanov?" Daniel politely greeted her, recalling that she was the girl who seemed to know about him before he became famous in The Curtained World, and who had tried to accompany him to Tessia Kingdom but was declined, leading to her detainment by her mage for etiquette lessons.

"I'm good, Lord Emberweave. Thanks for asking, even though Svetlana's etiquette classes have become harsher after you rejected my request to follow you," Anastasia replied, still holding a grudge against him for leaving her with her stern maid.

"That's for your own good, Your Highness. You're too rowdy for a girl of your status," the stern maid interjected.

"Ugh… Could you please stop talking about etiquette, Svetlana? We're here for a tour... I mean, for a diplomatic trip!" Anastasia quickly corrected herself, treating the trip more like a fun excursion than a diplomatic mission.

Svetlana, the stern maid, fixed her young mistress with a silent stare. Her gaze held a knowing glint, silently communicating that she understood Anastasia's true feelings about the trip.

"Wh... What?" Anastasia stammered, flustered under the stern gaze of the maid who had raised her since childhood.