Harbingers of Change

Chapter 28

Celebrating birthdays was such a strange concept for Milim, at least from what she heard from her boyfriend. Celebrations in general weren't really things done often in her lands. The only thing resembling it was the harvest feast, which usually consisted of consuming large amounts of fresh nuts and fruits and listening to praises from her people, the same ones who couldn't get in their thick heads that she didn't like raw food. At least they were enthusiastic about her and continually strove to create sweeter fruits every year.

'I wonder when my birthday is? Does anyone alive even know? Uncle could pin it down to a month but that's about it since he wasn't around at my creation. Who would I invite to celebrate? Would there even be a point in doing it back in my castle when all my friends live here? I should get into the guild and make Momonga take care of my lands as a ruler. Uncle is smart to avoid doing all that boring stuff, I should do the same.'

Tempest, on the other hand, held various festivals and multiple smaller events throughout the year. From New Year's Eve, with massive fireworks over the Royal Castle as its main event, to an artisans' weekend that was nothing more than an overhyped market event for hawkers to sell their wares, the monster nation spearheaded entertainment and leisure activities across the world.

Today, however, was not just any day. It was one of the most special occasions she would ever attend. Her boyfriend Mare and his sister Aura – Milim's best friend – were celebrating their thirteenth birthdays. The celebration was bound to gather the entirety of Tempest's elite in a private event, accessible only by the invitation she had received. And Buku, regardless of how annoying she could be, would guarantee the celebrations to be highly elaborate and especially delicious.

With a swift pace, she approached the grand ballroom of the Tempest's Royal Castle, carrying two wrapped gift boxes in her arms. With the twins pretty much already having everything they wanted or needed, Momonga had advised her to gift something handcrafted and personal for each. For Mare, Milim had crafted a collection of bookmarks out of dragon skin and enchanted to glow in different colors since she knew he loved reading. The dragon skin would not only be extremely durable and last an exceptionally long time, but it would also remind him of her anytime he used them. For Aura, Milim had crafted a pair of hunting gloves and a bow out of the materials gathered from the same arch dragon she hunted down and eliminated for Mare's items.

Of course, Milim had obtained some help from the Dragon Faithful for the designing process, but that didn't need to be publicly stated. In fact, she did most of the work personally, and some of her infinite power had rubbed off on the items, turning them into veritable works of art.

Most guests were already present, having arrived earlier that day, so the whole room was packed to the brim with people mingling about or waiting in line to present their gifts to the elven twins. Milim covertly snuck around Buku and made her way through the line as the less important guests parted to give her way. Her reputation was useful sometimes.

Her friends noticed her approach and shifted their undivided attention to her. Mare was becoming so tall and handsome; she knew he would only grow more delightful with time. He had reached her height a short while ago and would soon tower over her if his rather tall uncle was of any indication. Aura meanwhile was having a harder and harder time hiding her girly proportions with each day, not that Milim was jealous or anything since material physique was inconsequential before a fully spiritual being such as herself.

"Happy birthday!" She congratulated both, pushing forward the gifts into their arms. Although Aura's box was much larger, Mare seemed just as happy about the gift when he unwrapped it right in front of everyone.

"Thank you, these are wonderful!" Mare was first to exclaim, as he hugged her, giving her a quick peck on her lips.

"Awesome bow! Is this made of dragon bone?" Aura embraced her next.

"Yeah. I caught an arch dragon to make these for you." Milim proudly stated. Save for Veldora and the four world enders, there were no other dragons in Tempest, so their parts were rather rare and valuable on top of the benefits their materials offered. She even sold off the rest to Pero, getting a rather sizable spending fund for future gifts if need be.

"Cool. We should go hunting together sometimes! I'm sure mom will let me go if we promise to take some guards with us." Aura suggested.

"Sure, there are plenty of them in my territory. Most are weak though so don't get your hopes up." Milim agreed to her friend's request.

Unfortunately, their interaction needed to be cut off for now as the other guests wanted to present their gifts as well, so Milim wandered off, observing the rest of the invited people, most of whom were involved in either idle chatter about this or that or playing the numerous games strung all around the ballroom.

The few exceptions were Buku, who was running around like a toddler high on sugar, making sure the whole thing was going smoothly, and Momonga, who was idly standing in a quieter part of the room to avoid drawing any attention away from Aura and Mare.

For a tiny moment, Buku's eyes met with Milim's, and her future mother-in-law flashed a smile. Milim waved awkwardly back. 'Don't come here. I don't want to deal with you today.'

Buku had tried a few times to bring up the offer to help her deal with her past and resolve the trauma of being abandoned or whatever else nonsense the slime tried to attribute to her, but Milim always angrily blew her off.

But the fact that Mare was growing up while she stayed the same was undeniable even to Milim. She needed to figure things out fast or rather sooner than later he would likely lose interest in her, and would turn to looking for a girl or woman closer to his mental age.

This birthday celebration was just another reminder that in only a short few years, Mare would become an adult while she… she would stay what would be considered a girl barely in her teens, albeit a powerful one. She had half a decade left, and that was quite short by Milim's standards.

'I can't ignore this anymore. I… I need to grow with him.' No matter how much resolve Milim could muster, the question remained on how to accomplish her goal. She could just reshape herself, giving herself a more mature body to keep up with her significant other. Having dragon blood in her veins gave her this innate ability to transform to a degree, meaning she could have wider hips, a larger chest, and anything else she desired. But as much as she hated to admit it, Milim knew that she needed to have mental growth too - just changing physically wouldn't cut it. Mare wouldn't be so shallow to care only about curves, and she had to anticipate that as his sole girlfriend.

There was likely only one person who could help her out with this, and that person wasn't Buku. Recently, Momonga had successfully aged Ramiris up, and if he could change her friend then maybe the same spell would help her as well.

Resolute to get Momonga to comply with her request, she marched straight towards the undead overlord. Luckily, Rubedo wasn't playing his shadow today since there was no real danger around. Intriguingly enough, the angel had used the opportunity to unashamedly stuff her face with cake in a rather uncultured manner while her sister, Albedo, pretended to not notice her antics as she enjoyed a piece of the same treat in a dignified manner befitting the first lady of the nation.

"I want you to do something for me," Milim began, outwardly exuding the brash confidence she was known for as much as she could. Considering what she was about to ask him for, she had to up her usual level in hopes of getting him to pay attention.

"Hm? And what would that be? Is this about joining the guild again?" Momonga sighed, clearly not amused by her antics as he sipped from his cup.

"No, that conversation we can leave for another, more suitable time. I need you to age me up like you did with Ramiris," Milim said, almost in a commanding manner.

"Even if aging you is possible, I doubt the entirety of Nazarick combined would be enough to fuel it. Aging Ramiris, who wasn't even close to your power level, required extraordinary amounts of energy. For you, the amount of magical power necessary would be unfathomable." Momonga shut down her request, just as expected.

"Just teach me how it's done and I'll do it myself!" Milim refused to give up. She was this close!

"Milim, correct me if I'm wrong, but you haven't aged for the past two thousand years. What makes you so convinced that the spell would work on you?"

"Because… because… it will. I just know it," Milim paused, seemingly unconvinced about even her own words.

'Please just roll with it. Don't be a hardass on me this time. I've been behaving.'

"I see. Wouldn't it be better to try what Buku has suggested?" Momonga asked, observing Milim's reaction. Buku was by no means an expert in psychology, but her suggestion for Milim to work through the traumatic past was a sound one to himself.

"No! Just help me out this one time and I won't demand to join the guild!" She couldn't cave to that damned Buku. She was Milim the Destroyer!

Momonga stared down the girl, the flames in his eye sockets flaring up. He couldn't fully understand what it was about this Demon Lord that made him sympathetic to her current and future problems. But if he had to guess, it might've something to do with the possibility that Veldanava's shard presumably used itself to build Nazarick and in some sense, that's how he inherited the responsibility of her. Or maybe Milim reminded him of his past where he was left alone to struggle in a cruel world alone at a young age, and he saw a part of himself in her.

'Perhaps I should just accept this duty. Milim needs a parental figure. However, the fact remains that there's simply no brute forcing her growth like with Ramiris. Would I even be able to do that? Moreover, what do I know about being a father figure? Pandora is an adult, and Benimaru as well as Shuna don't require much guidance and they've got Hakurou. Milim, on the other hand… if I ignore this problem it may end in a catastrophe no one can stop for the second time. Milim is already avoiding Buku and Veldora… sometimes I think they're siblings, not uncle and niece.'

'There's no avoiding this. If I won't do it, no one will. You know, Veldanava, if you ever come back, you owe me a big favor,' Momonga could only curse the dragon God who had left his daughter to fend for herself due to his shortsighted carelessness, and had left all his troubles for everyone else to squabble over.

"Milim, Buku wants to help you and so do I, but we cannot do that on your terms."

"Just age me up. I don't need to deal with my past bullshit that she keeps spouting about to get me under her complete dominion. That's an affront to who I am as a person!"

Momonga silently glared down at her, his crimson blazes threatening to spill over her from where they were burning in his empty eye sockets. Milim stared back up with defiance, but soon found her willpower starting to crumble. There was something about Momonga putting his foot down that she was unable to stand up to for long.

"You know I… fine. If you are so sure you can help me age in your own way, then do it. I will pick you over Buku any day, but then you better make me a guild member after all is done," Milim once again gunned for the coveted position, having found a compromise that didn't offend her very being.

"Very well. We can start whenever you are ready, and while I cannot promise you a guild position without the other members agreeing to it, if you genuinely try following my guidance, you'll have my vote."

'I hope Nazarick can survive this. If Milim loses control, we all might die.' Momonga grimly mused. Helping this godlike girl was a challenge few would take upon willingly, and one he had decided to take upon, nonetheless.

If this gamble succeeded, Nazarick would gain a massive benefit that even he only dared to daydream about previously. If it worked, it would enable the Great Tomb to grow its military and magical forces beyond his wildest dreams. If it didn't, chances are there wouldn't be a Nazarick left to mourn, not that he'd be there to mourn it in the first place.

Editing by aidan_lo and Zprotu.

Proofreading by Sluethen, Malguis, aidan_lo, Thea, Cakeeight, NuggetLover, Milk, and Zprotu.

Link my discord server (https://discord.gg/WmGKVU3XG2)