The Demon King's Hero Of Light 178 Chapter 178 Deals With A God

"Aella! How are you doing? Haven't seen you in a while," chuckled Bob.

"You know exactly how I'm doing," she grumbled. "What will it cost me this time?"

"Depends on what you want to know. Just because I know a lot, doesn't mean I can see into the future," he said with a wide grin, wiping down the counter and reaching for a gla.s.s.

"I just bet," she mumbled, sitting down at the counter as he poured her a drink. It looked delicious.

"Want a cookie? One of my cooks made a large batch of them. They're even Stella approved!" he said, offering her a plate filled with cookies.

Taking one, she sniffed it carefully, but couldn't find anything objectionable. Taking a bite, the sweetness. .h.i.t her mouth.

"It's good, but I'm not a huge fan of sweet," she said.

"I know," he chuckled again, moving the plate to the side.

"What has you in such a good mood? The entire realm is about to tear itself apart from this storm, and you're over her giggling over cookies!" She leaned on the counter and stared down in her drink, wondering what question she should start with.

"I had a gift given to me by some adventurers in another realm!" he said with a wide grin, motioning behind her into the back corner by the door.

Aella turned to see the potted plant and rolled her eyes. "What's so special about a plant?"

"It's not just any potted plant! It's a baby world tree!" he grinned, moving over next to it.

Aella's eyes widened in shock and she swiveled in her chair to see it better. Now that she knew what it was, she could see that the pot was actually just part of the plant. As were the legs of the table it sat on. In fact, she couldn't tell where the plant ended and the wood of the bar began.

"Um, Bob. Has it grown into the floor and walls?" she asked, looking around her uncomfortably. There was one thing about going into a tree that had been carved out by the elves, but this thing seemed to have grown into this shape.

"Oh, the floor and walls are all part of the tree! When it was brought in here, it loved that I decorated in wood, and quickly took over. It's regulating my magic so well that I'm not having to work so hard anymore!"

She looked at the tiny sprout, and it opened an eye to gaze at her for a moment, before closing it back. Swallowing, she grabbed the drink Bob had poured her, she swallowed it all in one gulp.

"What were you wanting to ask me, Aella?" Bob asked her with a grin, moving back over to the bar.

Licking her lips, she shook her head. "I wonder who gave it to you? I thought Stella was the only one who dealt with baby world trees."

"Technically, she is, but this little guy needed help in the realm he had sprouted in. There can only be one world tree per realm, and the realm he was in already had one. So, the guys who brought him to me were hoping Stella could take him somewhere better, and he liked it here so much, he stayed."

"If there can only be one world tree per realm, then how is he here? I thought Stella already brought one to my realm?"

"Technically my bars are in a different realm," Bob said with a grimace. "It's really complicated and hard to explain in a way you would understand."

"Do you think that my world tree could help me regulate the magic I released, so my realm doesn't get torn apart?" she asked, not even trying to understand how his bars were in a different realm. Magic was scary stuff!

Bob thought about her question for a moment, humming to himself quietly, then nodded slowly. "Your world tree is really young. It's only got a couple of leaves on it. If there were a way to channel some of the extra magic you released into it, then it could use that magic to grow big enough to start regulating the realm."

"How do I do that? I don't know very much about magic, and Joseph is really scary," she said, ending quietly, as if afraid he would hear her.

"You? The Great and Mighty King Aella, scared of Joseph?" teased Bob, shaking his head as he grabbed another gla.s.s and started pouring a drink.

"Surely, I'm not that scary?" asked a voice behind her, and Aella swallowed the lump that formed in her throat.

What was wrong with her? Why was she acting so cowardly? Giving herself a shake, she turned and glared at the man who stood behind her.

Raising an eyebrow in amus.e.m.e.nt, Joseph stepped up next to her and took the drink that Bob handed him.

"Ah, Tropical Paradise. One of my favorites," sighed Joseph, taking a sip of the blue concoction.

"Why do I think I've been set up?" asked Aella.

"Because you have been, obviously," chuckled Joseph, setting down his drink. "I knew it would take something pretty serious to convince you to watch my kids again, and having your realm torn apart seems like a pretty serious situation."

Aella's heart jumped up into her throat. Was this all Joseph's doing? Had he intentionally led her to release all of that magic, knowing what would happen? Just so she would babysit for him??

"I just wanted to get out of the pits; maybe stop the child fighting and killing. How has it gotten so complicated?" she asked in a soft voice. Reaching for her gla.s.s, she saw it was empty. When had she finished it? Was it the reason she was being so emotional??

"I have found that being a king is hardly ever so simple. Are you interested in my help or not?" Joseph asked, taking another sip of his drink.

"I don't really have much of an option, do I?" she asked.

"Of course, you do!" he chuckled. "You can let Bridgette continue to look until she finds the necessary spells, and then use the old king Jozef, wonderful name by the way, to cast those spells, and then wait for the baby world tree to suck up all of the excess magic in the valley where it's currently at. Of course, you would also have to coordinate with all of the other kingdoms, to ensure that none are destroyed during the chaos you've unleashed, not to mention having to make up for all of the damage and destruction that you'll cause in the meantime."

Aella looked at him while she thought over her options. Was all of that effort and destruction necessary just to get out of babysitting for this G.o.d? His kids weren't that bad, after all…

"I also need to let you know that I'll need you to watch them for two days, instead of just the hour or so you had them last time."

She shot a glance at him, seeing him looking contemplative. Was he egging her on to make her go the hard route? She didn't like the idea of being controlled like this. But did she have a choice?

Thinking hard, she realized she had all of the heroes here, in her kingdom. The storms were only affecting her at the moment, but the humans had to be suffering worse than her, especially since she left them struggling with a plague before the magic was released. The dwarves wouldn't be hit as hard, being underground. The elves and smaller people could be warned, and she could coordinate what they wanted help with before the storms arrived. She wouldn't have much time, but it could be done.

The more she thought about it, the more she was leaning towards trying to fix this mess herself. Joseph had told her what was necessary to fix it, she just had to do it.

"I will only watch your kids for half an hour, in one year's time, if you point out the correct spells to Bridgette, me and Jozef," she said, turning to him.

Joseph finished his drink, and handed the gla.s.s back to Bob, who was pointedly not looking at either of them.

"One hour, and I will cast the spells for you," he said.

"How long will it take for the storms to subside?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at the G.o.d before her.

"It will take the world tree three hours to suck up all of the magic in the valley, but then it will take three months to calm the storms raging all over your realm."

"That's our prime crop growing time. This coming winter will be very hard on everyone," she thought carefully.

"True, but it's nothing your people haven't dealt with before," Joseph said with a smile.