[BL] Challenge: 100 Baby in Fantasy World-Chapter 273: Weird Scents
Ares froze for a moment, panic rushing through him.
He was afraid that the bat maid might have noticed him but then he remembered, the second and third floors were already covered by a protective barrier.
When they had been preparing Sir Agus’s room, Ares’s two masters had used barrier to create protection.
"Why didn’t we think of that earlier?" Gara had said back then. "Even Della’s room already has a protective barrier."
"Yeah," Wina replied, "and Fian said he can’t even smell the triplets anymore from your dorm room, Gara."
It had been a late decision, but at least now everyone could finally relax.
Ares headed down to the second floor, where Della was carrying trays of food up from the first floor. He hurried to help her.
"I’ll keep you company while you eat and look after the triplets at the same time," Della said with a teasing smile. "Poor thing, always eating alone."
"It’s fine," Ares grinned. "As long as I get to eat with our adorable princes and princess."
He stuck out his tongue playfully and jogged into Gara’s room to check on the babies.
Della just shook her head with a small laugh and went back downstairs to fetch the rest of the food.
Inside the room, the triplets were already awake. But they weren’t crying. Rea’s little ones were playing with them.
The triplets had grown so much, already six months old. They loved to roll around, though their crib was a bit too small for that, so they mostly just flipped themselves over right now.
"Princess Ava hasn’t gotten any sunlight today," Ares muttered.
Their cute, intelligent faces and surprising awareness always amazed him. He was convinced these babies already had personalities of their own. That’s why he called them princess and princes.
He gently scooped Ava into his arms. The baby girl cooed happily at first, but Aldwin stretched out his tiny hands, demanding to be picked up too.
"Goo—goo—gooo!" he protested loudly.
Arion, as always, remained calm, his clear blue eyes following Ares’s every move.
"Wait a bit, okay?" Ares chuckled and dashed out of the room, leaving the squirrel familiars to distract the fussy Aldwin.
He carried Ava out to the balcony on the second floor. The moment the baby felt the sunlight on her skin, she jerked and burst into loud cries.
"There, there~ Just a moment, Princess." Ares gently patted her back, trying to soothe her, but didn’t step away.
This happened often. Gara had said the triplets needed sunlight for a healthy body, so they were always made to bask in the mornings.
But Ava never liked it. She hated sunlight or anything too bright.
Gara once explained that devils preferred darkness, and Ava, having inherited both the devil horns and their affinity for the dark, was no exception.
To keep her brothers from crying along with her, Ava’s sunbathing sessions were always done separately.
Ares patiently rocked her, patting her tiny back.
What he didn’t notice, though, was the change in his own body temperature. Ever since getting used to the cold weather here, his body had started to instinctively heat itself up.
That was what was happening now.
Unknowingly, Ava felt that warmth, too much of it. The bright light and the rising heat made her cry even louder.
Ares thought she was just crying because of the sunlight.
It wasn’t until a few minutes later that he felt her wet tiny hands slapping weakly against his neck.
He looked down and froze in horror. Ava’s body was drenched in sweat, and the palms of her hands, pressed against his skin, were starting to blister.
"Oh no—!"
Panic hit him hard as he rushed back inside.
Meanwhile, on the first floor, Gara was chatting with Agus, but his attention drifted away from the elder vampire’s words when one of Rea’s children entered the room.
’I already told them not to come near. If they showed up, that means something serious happened,’ Gara thought, his chest tightening with worry.
Taly didn’t say a word. She just pointed upstairs. Each of Rea’s children was assigned to watch over one of Gara’s kids. So if Taily was the one here, it meant something had happened to the third child.
"Sir, I just remembered I need to contact Chief Ambar. Please excuse me for a moment," Gara cut in abruptly, interrupting the man before him.
Madha, who was also there, looked surprised but immediately took over the conversation.
Without wasting another second, Gara rushed upstairs. The sound of Ava’s crying greeted him the moment he arrived.
"What happened?" he asked, his voice tense, eyes darting toward Ares, who looked just as panicked.
"M-Miss Ava’s hand... it’s burned..." Ares stammered, trying to explain.
Gara didn’t hesitate. He hurried to his youngest daughter and poured his water over her blistered hand.
The burn wasn’t too severe, and within minutes, it began to heal.
He heard Ares let out a shaky sigh of relief.
"I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I’ll accept any punishment," Ares said, bowing his head.
Gara didn’t know what to say. He had been just as panicked.
But he also knew this was Ares’s first time taking Ava out for some sunlight on his own. And it only happened because everyone else had been busy.
It wasn’t Ares’s fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.
"I just want you to be more careful next time," Gara said softly, holding Ava close as she sobbed in his arms.
Her two older siblings were on the verge of tears too, but Rea’s children quickly calmed them down.
"Thank you, Taly," Gara said gratefully.
As he carried Ava, something clicked in his mind, the requirement for Ava’s Talent to awaken.
He opened his daughter’s status panel, and to his shock, her Talent had already been activated.
Talent: Whip of Fire.
So their Talents only awaken when they’re in danger like this?
The thought made Gara uneasy. He hated the idea. He’d rather find a way to safely trigger his children’s Talents himself than let them face real danger.
’If Langga were here, could he create a safe condition for that?’
The thought of that man slipped into his mind before he realized it. Gara quickly shook his head, annoyed at himself.
Meanwhile, the man who had just crossed Gara’s mind stood outside her dorm room door.
"The scent that’s similar to mine... it’s gone. I kept catching traces of it around here every time Gara entered her room," Langga muttered. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎
It was strange, very strange.
"The old scent, the one that smelled like a druid’s, disappeared. Then another scent appeared, similar to mine, but only when Gara was inside her room. And now... it’s gone completely."
Click. A door opened.
Not Gara’s door, but the one next to it.
Andine, clutching her large cloth bag, nearly stumbled when she saw her professor standing in the dorm hallway.
"Professor? What are you doing here?" the mermaid girl asked in surprise.
"I wanted to see you," Langga replied smoothly, improvising on the spot. "I have a message for Anel in case you meet her during the break."
"Oh, I see." Andine nodded quickly. "What message, Professor?"
They began walking toward the pillar as Langga gave his answer.
At the far end of the corridor, the one dividing the left and right hallways, Langga caught the sound of Miki talking with Revan and Jett.
"The beast scent’s been gone," Miki said. "But when we first entered this dorm, it was really strong."
"It’s not an intruder. I already reported it to the dorm staff," Revan replied calmly.
"But it’s still weird, isn’t it?" Miki pressed, clearly unsatisfied.
"At least the smell’s gone now. No point thinking too hard about it," Jett added with no interest at all.
Langga listened quietly from a distance, his mind replaying what he’d noticed about Gara’s scent earlier.
If the same smell came from Gara’s room, then either he was hiding a beastman inside... or he was using that scent to cover something else up.
Whatever it was, Langga needed to find out.
...
The dorm tower turned unusually quiet on the first day of break.
Gara finally stepped out of his room, carrying a large cloth bag over his shoulder. Fian and Madha followed soon after, both packed and ready to go.
Down in the lobby, they ran into the trio from Raksa County.
"You guys really aren’t heading to Falopo Town?" asked Orman, who was planning to return to his village. He had hoped for some company. Raksa County was quite a distance from Falopo.
But the three young men shook their heads.
"We’re staying here. Hilda already arranged a place for us," Gara replied.
After exchanging farewells, they parted ways, each leaving in their own carriage.
Once they reached the capital city, the true heart of city, their carriage rolled through the busy streets until it stopped in front of Alrova Shop.
As usual, the shop was crowded with customers. A small line had even formed outside.
Of course, Gara didn’t need to wait. The moment a shop staff spotted him, they hurried over and guided him past the queue.
They went straight to the third floor. An exclusive level prepared solely for Gara, where no one could enter without special permission.
...
