Our journey back to our county was swift and uneventful. Kira, being a dragon, was able to keep up with us.

"Behold, my city! Eh… town." I said as Petunia came into view.

"You have a weirdly big tree at your castle." Kira observed.

"That is Ash. Maid knight and leader of my grove." I replied. But her tree seems a bit bigger. Maybe also a shade darker? Maybe I was imagining things.

"I see." Kira replied.

So far Kira seemed unimpressed but she had not set foot inside the town yet. I noticed that our train station made some progress. Good. Hopefully they could finish the tracks soon since the prototype was coming along nicely.

It was fascinating how quickly they managed the tracks anyway. In my old world it took them years. I guess magic, especially earth shaping, helped. And storage devices were rather convenient to get materials in place.

Once we were close to the town Kira stopped. "What… what is that?"

I looked at her, feeling smug. "I did mention a grove. My dryads have roots everywhere and they are filled with electricity! I am going to use it to power magical devices."

"But… trees don't conduct electricity!" She insisted.

"The trees of my storm dryads do." I replied.

"It's an Amaya thing, just roll with it." Lucy replied.

Kira looked around wide eyed as we walked through the town. We got a lot of friendly waves and some bows on the way. When we arrived at the castle Lily was there to greet us.

"Welcome home, my ladies. I have prepared a meal for you. Or would you like a bath first?" She curtsied.

"Hey Lily. We have a new guest! This is Kira, a storm dragon. She is going to work with us. Kira, this is Lily, grandmaster of the maid knights." I introduced them

"She is a grandmaster and greets you like a normal maid…" Kira observed.

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"I am a maid knight. We do take our responsibilities seriously. Welcome Kira, I hope you will enjoy your stay." Lily replied.

"Hey, how goes the wing training?" Lucy asked.

"Very well, my lady." Lily replied. Wings made of lightning sprouted from her back. They were beautiful. I wondered if I could get wings myself somehow.

Meanwhile Lily flapped her wings and started to hover. It was curious. The wings themselves were energy and obviously could not provide any flight. That was a magical part of the wings. And yet she needed to flap them. Or was the flapping optional?

"Do you need to flap the wings?" I asked.

"No but it helps with concentration. Lilith said I will learn to hover while keeping them still in time. I can also use them to attack!" Lily reported with a smile.

"I want wings…" I mumbled.

"You… are succubus." Kira stated.

Lily nodded.

"And you have electrical wings?" Kira inquired.

"I am a storm knight. I have been granted powers by Amaya and Lucy." Lily explained.

"Both? Since when do Kitsune create elemental knights? How can…"

"It's an Amaya thing." Lucy replied, patting Kira on the back.

"Let's have some food!" I suggested.

Lily led us into the dining room where Nira and Adhira were busy filling the table with food.

"You have a storm sprite maid." Kira noted.

"I am a maid knight!" Adhira announced proudly. Her maid uniform shifted into a plate armour, with an apron.

Kira blinked.

"My maid knights have magical armour." I replied, helpfully.

Adhira shifted her armour back into a normal uniform, then continued with her work. She did not physically carry things, she just levitated them.

We sat down and began to eat. Then there was a knock and Ash entered.

"Amaya, Lucy, it's good to have you back. And I see you have a guest." Ash said.

I swallowed the meat I had been enjoying and nodded. "Yes, this is Kira, a storm dragon. Kira, this is Ash, leader of the grove."

"A pleasure to meet you." Ash said.

"Is nobody here shocked that I am a dragon?" Kira asked.

"We do have a portal to hell here." Ash pointed out. "Which is the reason I am here. There are some developments…"

"Oh? More demons we need to eat?" Lucy asked.

"No." Ash replied. "It's about the grove."

"Did something happen? Did the portal hurt you?" I asked.

Ash shook her head. "No it's… complicated. Our roots are growing through the portal into hell. But the whole gate has somehow become part of the grove. It is now part of our root network. We can even feel the divine gem that is powering everything. Also, we have started consuming things in hell. The demons figured that we can get nutrients out of most organic things. They have started dumping corpses they have no need for on our roots…"

"Free food, nice." Lucy commented.

"The foreign mana from hell does seem to have some effects on us but the lightning coursing through the network is filtering it. We are developing a small fire attunement and definitely more fire resistance. Without the maid knight bond I am afraid the mana would have destroyed us but thankfully it helps purify the bad parts." Ash explained.

"Has anyone grown a big eye in their trunk?" I asked.

Ash frowned. "No. Why would they do that?"

"No reason… Anyway, we can ask Lilith to stop feeding you things, if you want." I said.

"No. I think it is beneficial. But it might help if we had a dryad inside hell too." Ash replied.

"Any volunteers? Or do you want to grow a new one?" I asked.

"Growing a new one might be ideal. Do you have another powerful magical seed, by chance? We might be able to grow the tree and awaken it as a dryad." Ash asked.

"Hm. I will check my inventory later. But I like the idea. Worst case I am sure we can find a seed somewhere. We are next to the Black Forest, after all." I said.

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