Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!-Chapter 1838: What A Big Family

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Laura’s eyebrows twitched. "Fran, you keep talking about these bizarre things like they’re just a normal day for you..."

"I mean, it’s like that... Anyway, let’s go greet them, okay?" Maria asked. "I’ll introduce them to you instead so it’s not so awkward."

Maria introduced them one by one.

"This is Jonathan. He was my boyfriend when I was alive in Yggdrasil, before I became a ghost," Maria explained. "He was a hero of that world. We were enemies at first, but he betrayed his faction to join me. We’re in a relationship too."

"It’s an honor, Laura," Jonathan said. "I’m eager to learn more about Maria’s past life. I hope my full body armor isn’t too strange... I suppose I should take it off."

"Blond twink..."

"What?"

"N-nothing!"

"Anyway, this is Partner," Maria continued. "It’s a little complicated. She’s my past life’s skeleton. I turned her into an undead—my first friend. She evolved over time into a ghoul, then a vampire. But she’s unrelated to the Crimson Order. She’s her own unique species of vampire, without their usual weaknesses."

"Heheh, yeah! I’m still deep down a skeleton!" Partner giggled. "Nice to meet you, Laura! I hope we can get along! Happy to see Master’s sister."

"Skeleton... A-Aha, yeah..."

"This is Emeraldine... ah, she used to be... uh, is it fine to say it?" Maria asked. Emeraldine nodded with a gentle smile. "Well, I rescued her from slavery. Since then she’s stuck with me. We’ve grown really close. She’s... a very lovely girl. And she has the kindest heart."

"Nice to meet you, Laura. It’s... really nice to finally see you," Emeraldine said with an angelic smile.

"Wow, you’re an elf..." Laura gasped. "Sometimes they appear, but they’re so rare..."

"Is that so? I wonder where they come from..." Emeraldine said.

"A world named Runeterra or something..." Laura replied. "Dwarves come from there too, I think."

"I see..." Emeraldine nodded. "We didn’t really explore that world much. We mostly visited a human city. But I guess there are fairies and elves. I did sense fairies... hm, that’s so nice!"

"This is Alma! She looks a lot like a normal human, right? And she is! She’s one hundred percent human," Maria said with a giggle. "She’s my girlfriend from Azure Star—a floor we saved from a time loop that was slowly creeping toward destruction, right?"

"Y-Yes! Nice to meet you, Laura!" Alma said. "Um, Azure Star is a lot like Earth! Like a lot. We even have the same countries... but there are some points of divergence. It could be said to be parallel worlds."

"Wow, they exist?!" Laura asked. "You got me interested there, Alma."

"Heheh, we can talk more while we eat!" Alma smiled gently.

"And this here is Arthur... he’s my brother from my previous life in Yggdrasil," Maria said. "Someone I also love as my family. My beautiful, beloved little brother! Mooch, mooch!"

"B-Big sis, you’re embarrassing me!" Arthur said. All grown up, he squirmed as Maria spoiled him and kissed his face. "A-Ah! Nice to meet you, Laura... I... uh, I know this is awkward. You may even feel like I stole her from you, but that’s not the case. I’m happy to find another sister... I mean, my sister’s sister that’s not really my sister..."

"Ahh, you don’t have to worry about those things. You’re so cute!" Laura said with a gentle smile. "I wouldn’t mind welcoming you as my brother, heh."

"Hahah, thank you." Arthur blushed, unaware that Laura was flirting with him a little. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"This here is Nia and Celes—people we helped in the Golden Dunes Deserts of Yggdrasil," Maria said. "Eventually we helped them overthrow the tyrannical rule of the gods and their saints! Celes is practically my adoptive son by now, and Nia is... well, I love her."

"I’m glad to be here. Thank you for your great hospitality," Nia bowed her head respectfully.

"Hi...!" Celes waved his cute little hand.

Laura stayed silent, but she was genuinely shocked that her sister had a harem.

"And this is Arachne. She’s also my adoptive daughter," Maria said. "A cute little spider that can also go really big!"

"I like naps and snacks," Arachne introduced herself. "If you can provide both, I will be happy."

"Okay? Nice to meet you," Laura giggled nervously. This girl was cute, but she carried a weird, bizarre pressure around her.

"And how could we forget these two?" Maria asked.

"A-Are they your lovers too?" Laura asked, her face showing clear disappointment.

"N-No! They’re just our friends. Melianna and Ferleen are siblings from Verdanthral—a world where beast tribe people thrive. We helped them destroy the Crimson Order governing that place," Maria said.

"We owe everything to Maria’s kindness," Ferleen said.

"She helped us avenge our parents and village!" Melianna nodded.

"That’s nice... sorry for thinking wrongly," Laura said with a smile. "Wow, Maria, your family is massive..."

"It is, right? So big..." Maria said. "We also made another sister in Azure Star with Arthur... but we can tell you about Amelia while we dine. Let’s dig in, everyone! Laura prepared the best lasagna she could today."

"And our family’s meatloaf recipe too!" Laura added.

As everyone started eating, they noticed the striking similarities to the recipes Maria always prepared for them.

"This lasagna and the meatloaf..." Lucifer said. "They’re like what Maria always cooks."

"Yes, it’s so nostalgic," Jonathan said, shedding a tear and feeling deeply emotional. "I remember eating this meatloaf back then when she was my girlfriend... She would always cook me something and greet me with such an adorable smile."

"I’m fairly sure I still do that!" Maria said angrily.

"H-Hahaha, of course, honey," Jonathan smiled kindly.

He didn’t want to admit that Maria had become grumpier and a little lazier over the years.

But after everything she had endured, it was only natural she had changed.

Nonetheless, he still loved her.

"Can I have seconds!" Nyx said, holding out her already-empty plate.

"Oho! You eat fast, little dragon princess," Laura giggled. "But don’t you think that big slice is enough? What if you get a stomachache? Kids have small stomachs."

"Eeeehh!" Nyx complained. "But I’m still hungry..."

"Ah, right—I forgot to tell you, Laura..." Maria said. "The kids can eat a lot more than you think. We all do. When you evolve past a certain threshold, you need a ton of energy and calories just to get through the day. And we get bigger stomachs too."

"Is it really fine?" Laura asked.

"Yeah, she needs to eat a lot. She’s still a dragon pup after all," Lucifer patted his daughter’s head. "Kids her age usually have one big monster carcass every week, plus some supplementary small prey every day. They have to eat hundreds of kilograms of meat to grow big and healthy."

"I don’t know if I have enough food..." Laura panicked, quickly offering Nyx more slices of lasagna.

"It’s fine!" Nyx smiled. "If I’m really hungry, I go to Mom’s Soul Realm and eat something from there!"

"Ah, I see..." Laura nodded, still trying to adjust to everything.

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