-----

Today was a special day in the manor of the Igni Family within the Seashore Town.

Lord Ervas, the youngest aristocrat within the entire city was celebrating his birthday.

Although only three other aristocrats were invited.

…And they were freaking out.

Not because of the many types of cultures getting mixed into the party.

Not even if they were to know that Ervas was celebrating being 3 years old despite his appearance would they be so surprised and frightened.

It wasn't because of that, as they had not told them the truth about Ervas age…

But it was because of other… tiny things.

"Happy birthday, my lord!

"

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAH!

"

"Grraggagaaaahhh! Gragaga!

"

"GYAHAHAHAHA! GAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!

"

"GuUuuUuuUUUUUuuuuOoOOooooOOOOOoonnnnnn…!

"

A large group of Undead, from zombies, skeletons, floating skulls, Cursed Weapons, Living Armor, Ghosts, Spirits, and more all celebrated Ervas birthday.

They were all incredibly happy for him, and everyone else was also cheering while carrying food to the table…

However, Drakna, Doragon, and Vairvec were… almost frozen in surprise.

"T-Those… and those… and those! All Undead… Why are they not attacking us? Why are they acting friendly and serving us food?!

" asked Drakna, Doragon's wife.

"It is a very rude stereotype to call Undead mindless monsters that attack any person at sight, Drakna…

" said Veronica while crossing her arms.

"E-Eh?

" asked Drakna as she glanced back at Veronica without being able to understand what she said.

"This is… how? They are all acting like….. they are acting like… Unbelievable… they are… Ah… T-Thanks…

" said Doragon, glancing at a very polite skeleton wearing chef clothes who served him warm and aromatic tea.

"This… So you are… I knew it! I knew that you were shady… That you had some strange power or something… So you… are a Death Attribute Mage?! Those that can control death… those that appear every thousand of years…

" said Vairvec as he glanced at Veronica while his hands trembled.

"EH? Is there some prophecy for Death Mages? I know they are rare but aren't you exaggerating? Lich can also control Skeletons,

" said Veronica.

"Yeah, we were taught this by an old Lich,

" said Ervas.

"A-A Lich… taught you to… t-tame undead?!

" asked Doragon.

"Yeah it is a long story, and it is a pain to explain… So yeah, he did,

" said Veronica.

"In my long life I have never seen a Lich capable of… conveying his ability to tame bone-type Undead to other people that were not Liches… and even if that were true… these are Living Armors, and Cursed Weapons… and… that's a zombie right there!

" said Vairvec, pointing at a zombie butler who suddenly felt attacked by his words.

The zombie groaned weakly as if he were being intimidated.

"Vairvec, stop being so unpolite with the workers of my manor! These people were here before we got inside, and they accepted us despite our differences. You should be more polite and nice with such honest and good people. It is honestly quite hard to find people like them in this day and age,

" sighed Veronica, reprimanding Vairvec as she released the full extent of her Abyssal Soul Aura, making Vairvec fall paralyzed, any boldness or bravery he had was completely suppressed.

"Thanks, Veronica, Vairvec was getting a bit too out of touch, especially because this is my birthday, not someplace for him to insult people,

" said Ervas.

"Yeah, you should be more polite when you are invited to a birthday party… And you call yourself the Adventurer Guild Leader?

" asked Kireina.

"My son, was it a good idea to invite them without previously informing them of your and Veronica's ability to tame undead?

" asked Jason.

"It is a good way to break the ice and just outright force them to understand that this is real and that we indeed can tame undead,

" said Ervas.

"Yeah, like that one method where you… forced people to get through things… Err… what was the method called?

" wondered Veronica.

"Shock method?

" sked Ervas.

"No, that's for athletes to be able to jump higher…

" said Kireina.

"Well, whatever! If we force the truth into their eyes it will be faster and swifter,

" said Veronica.

"Yeah but you forgot the part where they freak out and fall unconscious… And there they go…

" said Ismene, as she saw Drakna and Doragon falling unconscious due to the shock…

Vairvec was still paralyzed in fear, but he was sitting, and glancing at things unfold.

The concept of Undead being untamable except for the very rare Liches who can tame skeleton has always deeply seeped into the minds of the people.

Liches are almost seen as simply myths or legends in this continent, and people would often not even believe that Liches were real, even less believe anyone that they had seen one.

Although Vairvec had met some evil Liches in the past who he had defeated, he had never seen someone control undead with such an immense swiftness as Veronica and to a lesser extent Ervas.

Although more than controlling them… they were simply making them act like normal people.

Or something more.

He could not get it.

What kind of power could make Undead act… like people?

Even if Undead were tamed by Liches, they did not become intelligent nor particularly serviceable, to the point of even cooking delicious food like the skeleton dressed as a chef.

Vairvec could simply not make any sense of this.

He was completely confused.

Whatever Ervas and Veronica were, they indeed had some kind of strange power that let them do this with Undead…

Which was their Guidance, of course, something that Vairvec had yet to discover about them.

He continued watching as Ervas was dressed with many different costumes of all the tribes, first was a colorful feather dress that made him look like an incredibly cute harpy boy (or girl), then some strange battle dresses from the bear-kin, where he proceeded to fight against Gaius, Ragdaz, and Azra and beat them all three for whatever reason, afterward, he dressed in feminine witch dresses that Mysticia had made, which he was forced to wear, of course, and then, he dressed into many other outfits, for each tribe, as he desired to respect their traditions and embrace their varied and beautiful cultures.

…Ervas did not mind wearing girl clothes, of course, as he used to be a woman in his previous life, however, in this life he desired to be identified as a male, so he changed his clothes after a little while back to his usual mini-Dracula outfit.

Vairvec glanced through all of this, as he found all the ridiculous traditions of these demons and beast-kin was well, ridiculous.

He did not understand why Ervas was so willing to let them show him their cultures and tradition, he was just a child, why did he worried about them feeling accepted or embracing how they celebrate their festivities?

It's not like he was some kind of King or Prince that wanted to experience the cultures of his people to grow closer to them, right?

Yeah…

As time went by, everyone was in the manor, many people that Vairvec had never seen before.

And more, way more Undead.

And also gigantic monsters.

A serpent made of vines…

Enormous walking trees…

A strange man with a woman made of plants attached to him.

A giant metallic spider.

An enormous colony of ants covered in the silver exoskeleton.

A giant mass of bones.

A strange phantasmal Arachne with metallic spider half… and more.

Each one of them more and more horrifying and surprising than the last one.

All of them happily singing happy birthdays to Ervas.

"Happy birthday!

" said Jason, as he hugged his son, everyone around Ervas was cheering for him with honest and happy smiles.

"Happy birthday, boy, make sure to grow strong and healthy…

" said Ismene, petting Ervas.

"Indeed, happy birthday,

" said Anna.

"You're… strong! Oof… my back… Happy birthday! You deserve it!

" said Ragdaz.

"Y-Yeah, you did splendidly… Happy birthday!

" said Gaius.

"Happy… birthday…

" said Azra.

"Ooh! Happy birthday my lord!

" said Lilith as she cried tears of happiness alongside her daughter.

"Happy birthday, Ervas… I am very happy that you're now three years old…

" said Veronica, kissing Ervas on his forehead and hugging him tightly.

"Never forget that I love you,

" she said.

"…Thanks,

" said Ervas with a happy smile, Veronica was his former self but now someone different, yet they shared the same past and memories, it could be said that they felt like twins.

"Happy birthday, Ervas-kun! I will try to be a good wife in the future!

" said Amelia adorably, as she kissed Ervas cheek.

"Thanks, Amelia,

" said Ervas as he petted her fluffy hair and kissed her forehead back.

"Hehe…

" laughed Amelia adorably as she received Ervas affection.

"H-Happy birthday! M-My gift is…

" said Acathea, as she also kissed Ervas on his other cheek.

"I see, thanks…

" said Ervas, kissing Acathea back as she flushed like a tomato.

"D-Don't get carried away…

" she said while averting her gaze.

"Pekooo! Ervas, happy birthday!

" said Pekorina, as she jumped over Ervas lap and smiled at him.

"Thanks, Pekorina- Muh?

" muttered Ervas, as Pekorina neared her lips towards his and kissed him on his lips, it was a brief kiss, but it felt warm and lovely, such as the love of youth.

"Mwah! I have always wanted to kiss you, peko…! A-And I got the courage now… that is your birthday…

" said Pekorina as she blushed.

"Pekorina! What did you do?!

" asked Pekoran, scared of her having offended Ervas.

"It's fine, Pekoran. Thank you, Pekorina. I also love you,

" said Ervas, as he slowly kissed back Pekorina, another brief yet lovely kiss.

"F-FWEEH?!

" asked Pekorina.

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?

" asked Ervas rather boldly, as he blushed a tiny bit.

"PEKO!?

"

-----