SSS Ranked Summoning: I have the Strongest System

Drax had filled his tummy with milk and, as usual, was now sleeping peacefully in Freya's arms as she waited for Alucard's signal.

About an hour after Alucard left, the Elf Queen heard a knock on the door of her chamber which prompted her to look in that direction.

"Come in!" she answered, her response was replied immediately with the opening of the giant door as a young maiden entered.

This young maid had similar physical traits as the Elf Queen and was one of the elf maidens who answered to her inside the castle.

She was short in stature and light-skinned with white hair and grey eyes.

She held the lower sides of her maid's gown and curtsied before Queen Freya.

"What is it?" Freya softly inquired since she had not called in any of her servants in a while.

"My Queen, Lady Alucard says to inform you that she is ready," the elf maid relayed the message that brought her into Freya's private chamber.

Freya bobbed her head a few times, acknowledging that she had received the message before going ahead to discharge the maid with a gesture of her hand, sending back to whatever it was that she was busy with before now.

"You may go."

"As my queen wishes…" the elf maid replied, curtsying again before leaving as she shut the door behind her.

Even though she managed to successfully hide her expression from her queen, the maid's countenance was a happy one as she was leaving the room.

This young elf maid had noticed the baby in Queen Freya's arms and she couldn't help but be happy for her queen.

Everyone in the castle knew how much Freya wanted a baby of her own, considering that she could no longer have one.

It was no surprise that she was going to solve that problem one way or another.

After seeing the baby with her own eyes, and considering the dense amount of mana that they had felt throughout the entire castle the previous day, the maid could only confirm a rumour that had spread around quite quickly.

…The rumour that Queen Freya had used a certain kind of magic.

Although she was genuinely happy for her liege, she couldn't quell the seed of uneasiness that had suddenly been planted inside her when she considered the consequences of what Freya had done.

Every mana-enlightened being in the world of Nethria knew that such a spell could not go unanswered because it could affect the very nature of the world itself.

As for Freya, however… she didn't care about that at all.

The Elf Queen breathed a sigh as she shifted her gaze from the door to the baby in her hands.

Alucard finishing with the preparations for the appraisal only meant that it was time for her baby to go through immense turmoil.

Freya, however, was not going to allow it.

She couldn't let her baby be subjected to such a thing.

The mere thought of it, birthed from her experience of an appraisal, made her skin itch and her bone overran by a chilling sensation.

She gently and slowly stroked the baby's red hair as she gave him a reassuring smile even if he was asleep and couldn't notice.

"Don't worry, my darling. Mama will make it all go away."

******

Alucard patiently waited in the chamber where the appraisal was supposed to happen.

She clapped her index fingers together as she sat cross-legged at the circumference of the magic circle, waiting for Freya and the baby to arrive.

She looked at the entrance intermittently, knowing full well that it had been a while since the elf maiden had gone to call the Elf Queen for her.

Freya should have come down already.

Alucard groaned as she took in a deep inhalation, breathing out a second later to relax.

Her mind couldn't help the thoughts that it brought up but Alucard was considering the possibility of Freya backing out from the appraisal or probably, she would have only agreed so that she could leave her and the baby alone.

Alucard was very patient, at least when it comes to matters that have to do with the Elf Queen since she was Freya's Spirit Companion.

Half an hour passed and she had grown tired of waiting.

Just as she was about to stand from the floor, Alucard picked up the sounds of footsteps and halted, sitting right back down as she could already guess who it was.

A few seconds later, the Elf Queen arrived with the baby held to her chest and sleeping as she massaged his back with gentle rubs.

"Finally…" the Dragon Queen grunted. "What took you so long?"

"I had to freshen up. Sorry," she apologised.

She had changed into a light blue, almost see-through gown, which left Alucard with raised eyebrows as she watched the Elf Queen approach her.

"What happened to your regal attire?"

The Elf Queen examined herself as Alucard asked the question and then looked at the Dragon Queen.

"Sheesh, Alucard! Don't tell me you don't like this," she said. "You used to love it, you know."

Alucard scoffed and averted her gaze, her face flushing red as Freya made her comments.

"Y-You… You know w-what I mean!" Alucard blurted out.

The Dragon itched her cheek with her index finger, barely able to say anything afterwards.

"I'm stepping in with him."

Alucard's eyes fluttered and her posture froze as she stared blankly at the Elf Queen.

"You can't do that, Freya," she protested.

The Elf Queen shook her head, having already made up her mind before coming down here.

"Why not? It's either that or we will wait for a year."

Alucard tried her best to make Freya see reasons but the Elf Queen was just as stubborn as a mule.

"Your mana might interfere and we might now get an account apprai—"

While the Dragon Queen was still explaining why Freya's idea wouldn't work, the Elf Queen had already stepped into the magic circle with Drax on her shoulders.

It didn't end there.

She continued into the pool as the magic circle brightened up even more as soon as it detected their presence.

"Trust me, Alucard. I know what I am doing. The mana I will use to heal him will be no more than the maximum for a 1-Star Sorcerer. I hope that helps."

Alucard exhaled and contemplated it for a second.

There was nothing she could do anywhere.

The Elf Queen had made up her mind.

All that was left was for her to use the information which Freya had just given her to make her calculations after the appraisal.