Ao

"Thanks, Ao." Aki thanked, with Ao quickly climbing up to his left shoulder.

Shrimpy, on the other hand, was resting on Layla's shoulder as the two formed an immediate, strange bond when Aki first brought him over to the barracks. 

"NOW THEN, BROX! REMEMBER WHEN I STATED IN THE WAGON WHEN YOU TOOK ME HERE!" Aki yelled, proceeding to empty multiple magic sacks, "YOU GET TO DEAL WITH THIS!" He declared, with large separate piles of mana stone, firestones, fangs, claws, and fur pelt. 

"Wait, why do I have to deal with this?" Brox questioned, "I'm not in charge of monster material, or rather, isn't that the Guild Master's job?" he asked. 

"It doesn't hurt to help the Guild Master once in a while," Layla said, crouching down and starting to see what surprised Aki had in store for them." What monster did these come from?" she asked, picking up a purple firestone.

"Hellhounds," Aki answered, with Layla dropping the firestone and sitting on the dirt field. "Are you okay?" he asked, offering a hand. 

"D-Did you say Hellhounds?" Aemila stuttered, fully aware of the answer after appraising them, "All these materials came from Hellhounds? Are you trying to destroy this Kingdom financially with this much rare material?!!?!?" she yelled. 

"Eh?" Aki questioned, "Are they that rare?" as he looked down at Ao, gently stroking his blue body. 

"It's not about the fact that monsters are rare; it's about the amount you have," Layla answered. "Hellhounds are extremely vicious pack monsters that require a special party to subdue them. The biggest issue with that is that almost all the material recovered after the fight is practically unusable. How did you get them so clean?" she asked. 

"OH! I forgot to mention. The underground cavern I was stuck in was actually connected to a Labyrinth Dungeon," Aki explained. "The entire Labyrinth Dungeon was packed with wolf-type monsters, and they were a giant pain to deal with, right, Ao?" with Ao nodding. 

"LABYRINTH DUNGEON??!?!?" the Queen yelled, "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT EARLIER?!!?" she yelled. "SHOW ME WHERE!" she demanded, with Prince Albert bringing out a large map from his inventory and spreading it onto the ground. 

"It's right over here," Aki pointed, after verifying the location with his map skill, "That's also where that Orc Settlement was located, too," he added. 

"So that's where their settlement was," the Guild Master muttered, "We've been seeing a large number of Orcs lately, but couldn't find their settlement at all. The area you pointed to is way out of our search area, too." 

"Mother, we don't have a record of a Labyrinth Dungeon being in this area," Prince Albert stated, as he flipped through his memobook. "I believe this is a newly discovered Labyrinth Dungeon!" he stated.

"The Thirteenth Labyrinth Dungeon in our Kingdom, huh? I honestly can't determine if I should be impressed or concerned about your existence, Aki," the Queen stated, "In the past hour, you have shaken the foundation of this Kingdom by bringing a once legendary bird, destroying an entire Orc Settlement alone, bringing back piles of mithril weapons and armories, and now you have discovered a new Labyrinth Dungeon. What exactly are you trying to do?" she asked. 

"First, I didn't defeat the Ice Hawk and the entire Orc Settlement alone! I had my partners, Ao & Shrimpy!" Aki corrected, proudly showing off Ao to everyone. "Second, I was trying to get home, that's it," he answered. 

"This slime helps you defeat the Ice Hawk & Orcs?" the Guild Master questioned, rudely, poking Ao's body. 

Ao immediately retaliated by shooting a quick shot of acid and dissolving part of the Guild Master's mustache. 

"HEY! Be nice to my partner!!" Aki demanded, "He is an elder and needs to be treated with respect!" he added. 

"Elder?" The crowd questioned, "The Slime is an Elder?" They immediately thought, staring at Ao.

"When you mean by Elder, you mean this water slime is actually an Elder Slime?!?!?" Aemila questioned, approaching carefully towards Ao and appraising him. "OH.....it is an Elder Slime!" she stated, before falling backward onto the ground and lying unconscious. 

"What happened to her?" Aki questioned, with everyone trying to maintain consciousness. 

"There is a popular children's bedtime story that details how a Kingdom that was destroyed after receiving the wrath of an Elder Slime," Princess Rei explained, "The Elder Slime was contracted with a commoner monster tamer who was executed by nobles for refusing their marriage proposal. The Elder Slime became enraged and proceeded to single-handedly destroy the Kingdom in a single night before disappearing." 

"What was the Kingdom's name?" Aki questioned, wondering if the Kingdom in the story was the same one where the weapon & armor came from.

"The name for the Kingdom was lost due to time, unfortunately, " Prince Rei answered, "But I do remember that the Kingdom had a red flag with two swords crossing each other with a monster in the background," she stated.

"Was it a Griffon like this?" Aki asked, showing off the flag he found inside the cavern. 

"Oh, yes, like that!" Princess Rei looked down and saw the flag insignia. "WAIT, WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT?!?!" she yelled.

"I found it inside the underground cavern where the Ice Hawk was living. This was included with those weapons & armor that I recovered," Aki explained, "I think the story was incorrect, to be honest." as he folded the flag over and handed it to the Queen for inspection. 

"Aemila, wake up!" the Queen requested, trying to wake Aemila up before touching her cheek with her cold hands.

"What happened?" Aemila asked, "Where is the Elder Slime?" 

"The Elder Slime is over there still, but can you appraise this?" the Queen requested, holding the flag up. 

"Where did you get this?" Aemlia asked, appraising the folded-up material, and immediately spotted the names of multiple legendary monsters used to make it. She opened the flag and finally noticed the golden embroidered insignia on it, "OH......the story was true....the Elder Slime has come to destroy this Kingdom", she determined, before passing out again. 

"What am I going to do with you,  Aemila?" the Queen questioned, poking Aemila's cheek with a cheerful, cheeky smile appearing on her face.  

"Ah!" Aki muttered, noticing the close resemblance the Queen had to Ao's previous master. 

"For now, let's go over the details inside and leave this mess to them," the Queen stated, picking up Aemila off the dirt ground. 

"Let me, please," Aki offered, taking Aemila and carrying her on his back.

"I knew you two would be a perfect fit!" the Queen stated, looking at how perfect Aki & Aemila would be as a couple. "Albert, follow us!" she ordered, with Prince Albert dropping the random broken pieces of armor he held in his hand. 

The crowd, now consisting of Queen Caroline, Prince Rei, Prince Albert, Layla, and Aki, sat inside a large living room with Aemila resting on the Queen's lap.

Aki began to bring out multiple old documents and explain his assumption to be the real reason for the destruction of the mysterious kingdom. He explained how the Ice Hawk had come down to recover her stolen egg, and during the intense battle, they must have broken through the Labyrinth Dungeon's barrier. He mentioned how the Ice Hawk's cold air was actually capable of preventing the dungeon from fixing itself, resulting in it being trapped alone without its egg. 

Aki purposely omitted the discovered Ice Hawk egg that is currently sitting in his inventory, as he was concerned about the Queen's reaction from earlier. He noticed how the Queen looked a bit sad once she was informed that the egg was not found. 

Aki proceeded to provide Prince Albert with detailed information regarding the newly discovered Labyrinth Dungeon, describing the layout, monsters, and traps he encountered. Prince Albert, now gleaming with joy, took all the old documents and quickly exited the living room to decode them. 

"One shouldn't underestimate a Mother's fury," the Queen stated, with a calm tone. "You'd be surprised what kind of hell a Mother can unleash when someone tries to hurt her babies," she glanced at Princess Rei. 

"Your Majesty, may I ask you a question?" Aki asked politely. 

"I believe we are past you calling me, Majesty, Aki," the Queen commented, after his rudeness earlier. "Just call me Caroline, or Mother, if you want to," she jokingly suggested after hearing the story. 

"Okay.....mother, can you take a look at this?" Aki requested, taking out an open locket and handing it over to the Queen, as she looked at the faded hand-drawn family portrait. 

"Whoa! The tall lady in the background looks like Mom!" Princess Rei commented after taking the locket from her mother.

"I agree!" Layla said. 

"Who is she?" Caroline asked, knowing the answer already. 

"The little blond girl in that picture is Ao's previous master," Aki explained, "She died inside the Labyrinth Dungeon around two thousand years ago."

"T-TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO?!?!" Princess Rei & Layla exclaimed, unable to believe what was being told, while Caroline's eyes widened. 

"Ao is two thousand, four hundred and fifty-eight years old," Aki stated, "When I made the tamer contract with Ao, some of his memories emerged inside my head when I came in contact with that locket. The little blond girl had the same cheeky smile as yours, and her facial characteristics looked very uncanny." 

"I've never heard of tamers being able to see their tamed monster's memories?" Layla questioned, "Is it because Ao is an Elder Slime?"

"Resonance," Aemila answered, "It's a very rare phenomenon that occurs when a previously tamed monster fully trusts its new master and shares their experience with them," she explained, sitting upright and leaning on Caroline's right shoulder. 

"Based on what I overheard, you truly believe this little blond girl is an ancestor of Caroline's ?"Aemilia asked.

"Yes, I believe so. What do you think, Ao? "Aki asked Ao, as he jumped off his lap and bounced towards Caroline, sitting in front of her. 

Ao stared closely at Caroline, but didn't see any resemblance at all.

"What are you doing down there? You can't see anything from that low," Caroline said, leaning forward and picking Ao off the carpet, holding him tightly as he looked up.

At that moment, Ao began to remember a similar memory when his master's older sister had picked him up from the ground and held him tightly during a heavy thunderstorm. "It'll be okay," a gentle voice assured him, gently stroking his trembling body. "Once this storm ends, do you want to go for a stroll?" she asked, with a bright smile appearing above. 

 Ao began to tremble with tears shortly afterward. 

"It's okay....you are okay," Caroline softly assured Ao, gently stroking his blue body. "I guess that settles this matter. Ao was indeed part of my family history at one point in his life," she determined based on his reaction. "Welcome home, Ao!" she said, with tears falling down her cheek, and with Princess Rei, Layla, and Aemila sobbing. 

"I have a request," Aki asked, "I'm actually holding on to Ao's previous master remains, and I would like your assistance in properly putting her to rest. Preferably, a place where the sun will always reach her," he requested. 

"How is that possible?" Caroline questioned, "If the remains are two thousand years old and they were inside a Labyrinth Dungeon, how can they still be intact?" 

Aki began to explain the memories he experienced from Ao, starting from how the Labyrinth Dungeon appeared, to the tough battles the survivors experienced, and finally, the moments of her death, along with her final request of seeing the Sun again. He proceeded to explain how Ao kept the remains safe and has been waiting for the past two thousand years inside the dark Labyrinth Dungeon for someone to help him with his promise. 

"*Sniff, Sniff*, I'll take the remains and make it my top priority," Caroline stated, with tears falling profusely, "I promise you, I will find the sunniest place in this entire Kingdom where she can always feel the sunlight, Ao!" she declared, with Aemila taking the remains and the journal from Aki. 

"Isn't that wonderful for you, Ao?" Aki asked, shedding a few tears, as Ao quickly jumped out of Caroline's arms and started to bounce on the carpet with joy, with everyone laughing.