"Touya, look at this." = Normal speech.
'Touya, look at this.' = Thoughts/Telepathy.
(One hour later.) = Time skip.
~Yo, it's God.~ = Phone call.
"Come forth, fire!" = Chanting.
[Kingdom of Belfast] = Title/Place/Rank/Weapon Name.
{Gate} = Spell name.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
(At the [Eastern Forest].)
It has been a day since Setsuna officially joined the Party, and what better way to celebrate it than to go on a quest, though, when they asked her what rank she was, she showed them that she was a green rank, she has been an adventurer for some time, saying that it helps her relax a bit and that it keeps her senses sharp.
So, after scouring the guild board, they came to one quest. Unfortunately, the girls, sans Sally and Setsuna, dreaded the quest.
Why?
Because the quest was about an investigation of a researcher's castle, and said researcher's line of work?
Slimes.
So, on a carriage making their way to their destination, the girls, sans Sally and Setsuna, let out a collective whine, their mood plummeting, Touya raised an eyebrow at the atmosphere and he wasn't the only one. Kohaku was confused as well, not sure what all the fuss was about, then again, she could never understand humans and their complex emotions.
"Why are all of you upset?" Setsuna asked, tilting her head, "They're just slimes, it's not like they'll be dangerous."
"I can't be motivated for something like this…" Yae grumbled.
"Can't believe the quest they want us to investigate are slimes!" Elze whined.
"And a slime researcher's no less…" Linze added, feeling the same downcast as her sister. "I have a bad feeling about this…"
"Do you guys hate slimes that much?" Sally asked, kicking her feet back and forth, "I think they're cute honestly."
"I just inherently dislike them…" Yumina commented, sighing as she continued, "Especially the green slimes, they melt your clothes off…"
"You too?" Touya remarked, then he hummed, thinking about the situation from the perspective of the girls, "Well, I guess having your clothes melted would be humiliating."
"They haven't been seen for over ten years, right?" Yumina asked.
"Yes, it shouldn't even be a problem by then, I feel." Linze nodded, sighing, "They're not harming the nearby villages anyways…"
"But what about the villagers then!?" Sally exclaimed, standing to her feet, "Would you let the slimes roam freely and let those innocent villagers live in fear!?"
"I agree." Touya nodded with Setsuna agreeing with him, "I don't think we can call ourselves adventurers if we just left them roaming around unattended."
"Exactly! Which is why we should do our duties as adventurers and exterminate the slimes, what if they attack the nearby villages? Who would save them?" Sally remarked, she then turned to Touya, "Right, Master?"
"Yup, I fully agree." He nodded.
"...You aren't thinking of anything improper are you, Touya?" Yumina glanced at the corner of her eye, giving Touya a stare.
"Nope, not one bit, just thinking of the poor villagers." Touya smiled, hiding his perversion through the very convincing poker face he had. Yumina kept staring at him for any lies and she somehow found none.
"In any case, I still don't like this quest, but we all, reluctant as we were, agreed to complete it." Yumina sighed and sunk into her seat, dreading the end of their destination
Which didn't take long as the researcher's castle was visible in the distance, it was at a state of disrepair which isn't all too surprising as it wasn't maintained for at least a decade plus the sheer size of it meant that no one would even try to. Thus it was left to the elements and became abandoned.
Once they were near, the party departed from their carriage and started to walk to the castle, Touya offered to go first which all of them agreed unanimously. He approached the massive wooden double doors and pushed them aside, opening the entrance, he stepped inside of the castle with the others trailing behind him.
He scanned the room and deduced that it was safe and nothing was there other than him and his party, he relaxed his tense muscles and turned to his party, "See? Nothing's here, sure it's a little creepy but that's about it."
"Now, everyone let's-" Before he could even finish his sentence a water basin fell on his head, interrupting him.
"Touya!" The girls shouted in worry as he held his head in pain before taking a deep breath and shaking his head.
"See! it isn't safe!" Elze yelled.
"Damn, that was surprising." Touya tsk'd, "I'm alright, it didn't hurt as much, just surprised me is all."
They all sighed, relieved that he wasn't in any danger other than some slight pain, but then Yumina turned her attention to the basin that fell on Touya's head and saw it twitch, "Touya! The water basin!"
At her voice, they all turned their attention towards the basin and saw it twitch and turn until its form dispensed and it was a slime all along. The slime moved and ran away from the party, leaving them flabbergasted as they watched it leave.
"That was a slime? I've never seen anything like it." Linze said in curiosity.
"Does that mean it is a newly created slime?" Yae inquired.
"No clue, but seeing as this is a researcher's castle and they're here, it must be." Linze replied.
"Well, standing here doesn't answer our questions, let's go find the researcher's documents, maybe we can find some information there." Touya suggested, they all agreed and started to explore the castle.
They made their way around the castle, searching through the ground floor and avoiding places where they think the slimes would be, it's not like they were that dangerous to the group anyways but being slimes meant that they were quite resilient to most forms of damage meaning that they were too troublesome to really kill off for good and that doing so was not worth the energy.
Their search brought them to a room full of books and documents and it seemed like it was salvaged through as the state of disrepair was apparent to the group, they then started to look through the selves but when they checked the books they had no pages and looked like they were eaten.
"There's only a leather cover." Yumina said, opening the book and it had no pages at all, "The content must have been eaten by slimes."
"Do green slimes eat paper?" Touya asked, Yumina thought about it and shook her head, never hearing something about it before but it could be possible.
"This one wasn't eaten." Linze called out, showing a notebook in her hands and placing it on the table in the middle of the room, everyone walked near it and let Linze flip through the pages, it was a full of notes written on it and drawing illustrations of different slimes that they never saw before, "It looks like a record of research results, the properties of many different slimes are written here."
"Let's take the notebook with us, it'll prove useful." Touya said and Linze nodded.
"That means we're done here right?" Setsuna questioned.
"Yes, the first floor should be fully covered, all we need to do now is look through the second floor." Yumina nodded, "Let's return to the hall and head upstairs."
Off to the sides, Elze and Yae were holding hands with tears in their eyes, their voice trembling as they complained, "I want to go home already…"
Unfortunately for them, no one heard their pleas and were ignored as they made their way towards the stairs at the hallway where the entrance was located. As the party walked, Touya was just about to go up the stairs until he heard Linze calling out to him.
"Um… Touya." Linze said as she pointed in front of her.
Touya followed her finger and saw a group of green slimes coming out of hiding, they were all various sizes, some small and some were bigger than a small child, and they looked like they were getting ready to attack them if their slow advancement was any indication.
Quickly, both Yumina and Linze drew out their guns and peppered the slimes, the gunshots reverberated throughout the room yet despite the stopping power of the bullets, it did little to no effect on the squishy bodies of the slimes, halting them in their tracks as the bullets were unceremoniously spat out.
"Guns don't work on them!" Yumina yelled, groaning as she placed her revolver back on its hoister, Linze frowned before aiming her wand towards the slimes, it growed a red hue as she chanted.
"Come forth, Fire! Hail of red stones Igni-!" Before Linze could fully finish her chant, Touya grabbed her hands and lowered them.
"Stop! If you use that spell you'll burn the whole building down!" Touya scolded.
"Who cares!? Let's burn this whole place to the ground!" Elze yelled.
"I do! We're still here! Kohaku!" Touya argued and turned to his divine beast.
"On it!" Kohaku jumped into the air and turned into her true form, she took a deep breath before releasing a strong roar, the wind generated from her roar pushed away all of the green slimes as they collided with the walls.
Unfortunately, it seemed to do no damage as the slimes merely stuck to the wall and slipped downward until they reached the floor and kept advancing towards the party. The party panicked until Touya ordered for everyone to evacuate to the second floor, they followed as they started running up the stairs as the slimes were hot on their tails.
Once they were on the stairs, the slimes stopped pursuing them and stayed on the ground floor. Touya looked back and saw them just staying near the steps but doing nothing to follow them up there, he raised an eyebrow, why would they give up so easily? In any case, he was just glad they did so he wasn't gonna question it.
"What is the meaning of this?" Yae asked.
"Maybe they established a territory or something." Yumina commented.
"Yeah, looks like it." Setsuna nodded.
"Welp, all that matters is that we're safe." Elze let out a sigh of relief and turned to continue walking up the stairs, "Let's hurry up to the second floor, the sooner we finish the quest the sooner we can leave-"
Just as she was about to take another step, she slipped, falling flat on her ass. Elze let out a groan of pain as she rubbed her bruised behind, but when she touched the floor she realized it was slimy and sticking, he brought up her hand and looked at the liquid covering her hand, "Hey, what is this!? It's so slimy!"
"Up there!" Setsuna pointed at the top of the stairs, standing there at the top were light bluish colored slimes secreting some form of liquid down the steps below.
"The hell kind of slimes are those?" Touya wondered as he looked at his feet and saw the slimy liquid those things were releasing.
"I'll look it up." Linze said as she opened up the notebook and flipped through the pages until she found the illustrations matching the slimes in front of them, "Lotion Slimes, when it senses danger, its body secretes a lubricating fluid, harmless to humans, failed creation."
"That's a failed creation?" Yae asked.
"Looks like it to me, wonder what he's trying to do with all these slimes." Sally pondered as she kept still so she wouldn't lose her footing.
"Whatever it is, it sure looks like trouble." Touya remarked.
Elze tried to get back up to her feet, but the fluid those slimes released made her losing her footing and grab a hold of Touya and it set of a series of events, causing everyone to lose their grip on the stairs and go sliding down to the ground floor, fortunately for Touya, Kohaku was able to save him by grabbing the collar of his coat.
Unfortunately for everyone else, the divine beast could only save her master which meant they were left to their fate - which was immediately getting ganged on by the green slimes below. They all screamed in fear as the slimes were upon them the moment their feet met the ground.
"That was a close one, thanks Kohaku." Touya thanked his divine beast.
"It's nothing, Master, however your wives and friends-"
"T-Touya!"
He turned his attention towards the girls and saw them getting their clothes melted off by the green slimes, while they were relatively unharmed all things considered, their clothes on the other hand was a different story. They tried to get the green slimes off of their clothes and bodies but the slimes persisted, keeping themselves firmly latched on them.
Touya wasted no time in opening a {Gate} underneath the girls and teleporting them back to the stairs where they previously were, once they were through the gate, the green slimes immediately let go of the girls and jumped off the stairs, slithering down the stairs as fast as their squishy bodies can.
"How about that, those things really did establish a territory." Touya remarked as he watched the slimes hop down to the ground and then dispersing away, hiding deep within the ground floor, "Is everyone alright-?"
When he turned to his party members. He was greeted with the sight of their disrobed bodies, showing a fair amount of skin that made him blush.
"And this was my favorite outfit too… How awful!" Yumina whined, most of her upper clothes melted off, leaving her shoulders bare while some parts of her skirt were eaten away by the slimes.
"It melted more than half of my skirt!" Linze complained, her clothes' fate was the complete opposite of Yumina's, her skirt and pantyhose ripped to pieces, showing her bare legs for all to see.
"M-My bindings got melted too-" As for Yae, she looked over herself, most parts of her kimono were melted away as well as the binding around her breasts, loosening it and showing a bit of her leverage, "Th-This is a bit of a problem for me…"
"Thanks to this slimy stuff, you can see right through my underwear!" Elze complained, trying to wipe off the slime off her body, her clothes were tattered and ripped, most of the upper and lower clothing melted off while miraculously her chest was left unharmed, though the wet state of her clothes meant that her bright pink bra was visible through her clothes, "I've had enough!"
"I can see why all of you hate green slimes…" Setsuna groaned, compared to most of the girls, her clothes were already showing much of her skin, which meant that the green slimes only ate most of her upper clothes and some of her skirt, her boobs laid bare, the loss of the warmth around her chest area caused her to shiver.
"Didn't think they could melt my clothes off." Unlike the rest of the girls, Sally looked more annoyed than embarrassed, her clothes were in a state of such disrepair that she might as well have been naked instead. Underneath her clothes, she wore some mature black lingerie. When she moved, the strips of her bra snapped, causing it to fall off and setting her boobs free, "Whoops, there goes the bra."
Touya turned around, averting his gaze from their unrobed bodies, he sighed as his mind replayed the scene over and over again - He had to keep himself from bursting and to keep a certain part of himself down so it would not rise to the occasion and make things harder than it should be. He also felt like if he kept watching Elze would lash out and punch him, he definitely didn't want that.
So, after helping the girls, which was harder than it needed to be since their clothes were melted off, Touya was able to use {Gate} to bypass the lotion slimes and walked away from the stairs - They also went through one of the rooms and obtained some cloaks laying around, while it wasn't ideal, it was better than walking around half-naked, so the girls wore them until they were able to get back home.
"It seems like he was trying to create some special slime." Touya started, trying to ease the tense atmosphere around the party, "Though he seemed to mass-produce some failures in the process."
"Right." Linze scoffed, reading through the notebook that was miraculously able to survive, "He wouldn't know the special trait of a slime until after it was created."
"We should burn the whole castle down. Purify it! We should purify it!" Elze ranted, still angry over her melted clothing.
"While I agree with that, should we really do such a thing on our own authority?" Yae argued.
"The fortress has already been abandoned." Yumina stated, "I doubt my father would complain."
"Wow, tough crowd." Sally commented, giggling as she walked beside Setsuna, unlike the others, her clothes were magical in nature, so she was able to remanifest them like they were never destroyed in the first place.
Suffice to say, the girls were envious of her.
"You're one to talk." Setsuna quipped, unlike most of her companions, she was less embarrassed and angry about her clothes being melted, though that didn't mean she wasn't annoyed by it - she was chilly thanks to the lack of clothes, "Your clothes still exist."
"I know right? Being a spirit has its advantages." Sally remarked, enjoying the frowning faces of her companions.
Touya wisely kept his mouth shut during the whole conversation, he didn't want to step on anyone's toes right now, so he kept his eyes forward and after walking a few more steps, he spotted a line of statues.
Um, very busty statues at that.
"What is all this?" Yumina deadpanned, she never thought she'd be envious of statues but here she was.
"They're big." Setsuna commented, eyeing the statues' chest, they were very well crafted, down to the last minute details.
Touya chuckled awkwardly, but then he saw one of boobs twitch, he narrowed his eyes and stared intensely at the statue.
"What is it?" Yae asked, wondering why he was so tense all of a sudden.
"Well, it might just be me, but I think their chest moved." His sentence turned everyone's heads, except for Kohaku.
"What are you saying? Honestly men are so-"
"No, I think he's right." Setsuna interjected, she pointed at the closest statue, "That one over there moved."
"I'll check it out." Touya moved towards the statue Setsuna pointed and groped the chest, finding it surprisingly soft to hold, he gave it another good squeeze, "It's soft…"
"Huh!?" The girls let out a surprised gasp.
Touya kept touching it until he was satisfied and let the boob go, once he did, it fell off the statue and plummeted to the floor, both of the breasts fell and when it reformed, it revealed a reddish-pink slime.
"Bust Slimes." Linze read outloud, finding the page the aforementioned slime was in, "They attach to women's chest and mimic them, their preference is to attach and accentuate smaller breasts, a step closer but a failure."
"Closer to what exactly!?" Touya exclaimed.
Suddenly, the slimes sensed some small boobs and leapt towards Yumina, she stood there unflinching until she realized why the slimes were jumping towards her, she trembled in anger before chanting a wind spell, "Shred! Wind! A thousand blades born of the gale: {Cyclone Edge}!"
The action resulted in the wind spell easily ripping the Bust Slimes apart, shredding them to pieces until nothing was left, pieces of the Bust Slime slammed against the walls, they started to melt away.
"...I'm still growing." Yumina muttered, her voice dangerously low.
"What?" Touya asked.
"I'm still growing." She repeated as she started walking forward.
The group kept their mouths shut and proceeded to trail behind the princess, Touya let out a sigh as he felt Sally pat him on the back, he stared into her eyes and they wordlessly told him, 'Try not to talk about her breast size.' He nodded and went to catch up to the rest of the party.
They walked through the long hallway, checking most of the rooms until they stumbled upon a room at the end of the hallway, seeing as it was the last room they hadn't checked, they entered with Touya stating he would go first just in case something happens.
Turning the knob slowly, Touya pushed the door until it was fully opened, he popped his head out the doorway and looked around the room, seeing as there was nothing that could be of danger. He nodded and made room for the rest as he entered the room.
"Looks like it's safe enough." Touya announced, he then spotted the lone skeleton sitting on the couch, "Is that the slime researcher?"
"Looks like it to me." Sally prompted, she then saw a notebook on top of the table next to Touya, "Hey, look at that."
Touya raised a brow and turned his head towards the place Sally was pointing at, he grabbed the notebook and read its contents, "Let's see here… 'It's complete, now my- No, the dream of all men has come true. I have nothing left to regret, ah, I can see Heaven…' What the heck is this?"
"Touya! Over there!" Yumina yelled, catching Touya's attention as he turned to the doorway to his right side.
Pinkish colored slimes emerged, they took one glance of the party and started to twitch until they changed their shapes, morphing into something, the more and more seconds passed, the more humanoid their shape was until they formed and what stood there was slime imitations of his party members… Naked. Like really naked, their boobs and private parts perfectly formed to perfection.
"Huh!?" The girls yelled in surprise.
"Wow, I look good." Sally approved, checking out the slime version of herself.
"Hm. Am I really that small?" Setsuna pondered, now that she was able to see herself from a different angle, she cupped her breasts and she noted how her boobs were on the smaller side of the spectrum.
'Holy shit!' Touya yelled in his mind, getting a feast for his eyes, one that was so tasteful he unconsciously burned it into his mind, 'That's… This is so fucking awesome!'
Unfortunately, he was so distracted by the view that Yumina, Elze, Linze, and Yae tackled him to the ground in an effort to block his view of the naked slime girls modeled after his party.
Despite their best efforts, the sight was already in Touya's mind for years to come.
'Thank you, Slime Researcher, your life's work will never be forgotten.' Touya smiled, as he let himself be taken by the sweet embrace of unconsciousness due to the lack of oxygen thanks to the bodies of his party members stacking on top of him.
At least he got to see a feast for the eyes before he went out.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
(At the [Belfast Mansion]'s garden, in [Alephis].)
It had been a day after the whole slime quest, the fortress was burned to the ground after the whole fiasco with the naked slime harem - Most of the girls decided to burn it to the ground while chanting 'Purify' over and over again.
After that, they were able to turn in the guild with the notebooks used as proof of their completion, except Touya and Sally were the ones to hand it over, as the girls did not want to let other people see them in such a state, it's not like Touya minded either way, so he agreed to be the one to hand the quest over, the receptionist was understanding when she saw that only Touya was the one to hand the notebooks.
Seems like she knew it would happen at some point.
Now, It was early in the morning - Touya was outside, in the garden of his mansion, he was looking over the materials he bought, laying them on the mat he laid out prior, he hummed as he made another headcount of everything he bought and nodded when he confirmed that he had everything he needed.
For what, you may ask?
Well to make some bicycles of course.
While he was busy preparing, he was suddenly approached by the resident gardener, Julio. He was just doing his daily activities around the garden when he spotted Touya next to a pile of material, curious, the gardener approached.
"Master, what might that be?" He asked.
"I'm trying to make a bicycle." Touya answered, not realizing that his employee had no idea what he was talking about.
"A bicycle…?" Julio repeated, still not getting what he meant by that.
"Ah, it's a mode of transport I'm making, when you ride it, it'll move you faster when you use the pedals." Touya explained as best he could, though that seemed to not do much as Julio still tilted his head in confusion.
"Huh…?"
Before Touya could try to explain it further, he was suddenly interrupted by the sound of Laim's voice calling out for him, the two men turned to the source and saw Laim accompanying Alfred who came to visit.
"Master, His Highness, Duke Ortlinde has come to visit." Laim announced, raising an eyebrow when he glanced over his master's shoulder and saw a pile of things behind him, "If I may ask, what are you doing?"
"I'm making a bicycle." Just like with Julio before, both men looked confused, he shook his head and decided to just show them instead of explaining it, "Anyways, so what brought you here, Duke?"
"I came by to thank you for completing the journey to [Mismede] and to congratulate you on your marriage to its Third Princess." Alfred congratulated the young man, patting him on the back and smirking, "Why if I didn't know any better, you're like those knights in shining armor that saves the princesses! You even slain a dragon!"
"Haha yeah…" Touya laughed awkwardly, his smile stained as he tried to keep himself together, 'Again! Who the hell is able to spread that news so fast!'
Choosing to forget his dilemma, he sighed and instead focused on the task at hand, which is making the bicycles. He started walking towards the pile and sorted them out while checking his phone for the right schematics.
"Also, uhh… About those mirrors meant for sending letters, would it be too much trouble if I could ask you to give me some?" Alfred pleaded.
"What for?" Touya questioned.
"It's for my wife, I was thinking it would do her some good if she could frequently talk with her mother who lives far from her, surely you remember that?" Alfred explained, Touya hummed as he did recall the first time he met Sue, she was just returning from a visit to her grandmother.
"No problem, but could you keep it a secret?" Touya nodded, handing him two spares he made just in-case.
"Ah, I promise you we won't tell anyone, I can make sure of that." Alfred nodded, accepting the two mirrors, "By the way, this bicycle, how long will it take you to finish it?"
"Hmm…" Touya hummed, mulling over the time it would take him, "This is my first time making it, so I'd wager about thirty minutes or so…"
"I see! I guess I'll stay here and observe you until you finish it!" Alfred declared as he sat down on the grassy ground, watching him do his work with excitement in his eyes. Touya raised an eyebrow, did the Duke have that much time? Then he remembered his conversation with him a few months back about how there wasn't much entertainment in the world.
Touya sighed and let the Duke watch him while he made the bicycle. The first thing he did was to make the base of the bike, so he made the top and bottom tubes first and then made the seat tube, after that he created the stabilizers of the seat along with the handle bars for steering. Then all he needed to make were the cranking arm, the chains, the tires and the cassette.
Once he had all of them made, he quickly assembled them, every now and then he checked his phone for which part went into which and made some small adjustments here and there until finally, after exactly 30 minutes give or take, he was able to create a fully functional bicycle. He wiped the sweat off his brow and smiled, he presented the finished bicycle to the Duke and he let out a gasp.
"Ho, so this is a bicycle?" Alfred inquired, Touya nodded as he got up on it and took it for a spin.
The ride was smooth and it felt like everything was held firm, he tested out the brakes and they worked perfectly, though he could adjust them to be more responsive but for now, he was able to make a bike and it was about as genuine as one in his old world.
"Touya! Can I ride that too?" Alfred asked, walking up to Touya.
"Sure, let me get off first." Touya nodded and showed the Duke how to properly ride on it and how to get it to move.
Once Alfred was able to find his balance on the bicycle, he started to move but the combined effects of him being scared as well as the unfamiliarity of riding a bicycle meant that he more often than not, fell off the bike. Laim ran up to the downed Duke only to stop as Alfred raised his hand and declared that no man would stop him from learning how to tame his 'mount' - Touya shook his head and began to create a second one while the Duke continued to fail on how to use a bike.
The man's determination to ride a bicycle is admirable.
While this was going on, his party finally came back from showing Setsuna around [Alephis] and buying some things on the way. What they came back to was Yumina's uncle repeatedly falling over his bike until he made some progress and finally started to ride it steadily.
"The hell is that thing?" Elze commented as the Duke sped past the group.
"Did Touya make that?" Linze observed as she saw Touya making another one, Yumina on the other hand winced when she saw her uncle fall over.
"Uncle Alfred!" She shouted, but calmed down when he got back up like nothing happened and continued to use the bicycle.
"Reminds me of a small horse." Setsuna remarked, "Though it's metal from the looks of it."
"I agree." Yae nodded, the group continued to make their way towards the man responsible for making the bicycle.
"Hey girls, how was the tour?" Touya asked, he finished the second bicycle and was just about to make another one.
"It was awesome!" Setsuna exclaimed, "This place is definitely bigger than [Berge]! There are so many cool places to visit!"
Touya was happy to know that she liked living here so far, he was kinda worried about her being homesick, but with how she was acting and how comfortable she was with everyone here, it looks like all his worries were for naught.
"By the way, what's that thing you're making?" Setsuna asked, pointing at the bicycle he completed.
"Oh this? It's called a bicycle, think of it as a small carriage you can ride without needing a horse to make it move, you just have to use these pedals." He emphasized as he put a hand on the cranking arm and slowly pushed it up and down, showing the mechanism.
Before anyone could have further questions about the bicycle, Alfred stopped his bicycle near them, catching the attention of the group.
"Touya! This mount! This bicycle! Please let me have one of these!" Alfred exclaimed, he was so happy to finally ride it without any complications.
"I knew you'd say that, which is why I made one for you, I also made one for Sue." Touya smiled and showed him another finished bicycle he made while the Duke was practicing, he then showed the smaller bicycle, one Sue would use, "In return, you can pay me for the materials."
"You're amazing as always, Touya!" Alfred praised as he had his servants carry the small bicycle to the carriage and store it there, both men then discussed about the payment of the bicycles and came into an agreement rather quickly. After that, Alfred insisted he would leave using his bicycle.
"Are you sure you don't want me to use {Gate} to send you home quicker?" Touya offered.
"No!" Alfred shook his head, intent on biking his way home, "I want to go home riding a bicycle."
"I'm not against it, but please be careful on your way home." Touya advised, "Don't rush when cycling on the road, be aware of your surroundings, mind the other pedestrians and keep your attention on the road at all times."
Alfred listened and nodded his head. Once Touya was finished with his warning, he waved the Duke goodbye as he rode his bicycle on the way to his home, the carriage he rode here trailing beside him. Touya then turned back to the sounds of someone falling off a bike and saw Elze on the ground grunting in pain.
"Ouch that hurts… This is a lot more difficult than it looks-" Elze whined as she maneuvered out of the bicycle that was on top of her.
"Then the next one is mine!" Yae said, running up to the bicycle Elze fell from and picking it up.
"I'll go next!" Linze declared, after making sure her sister was alright she reserved a turn herself, which didn't take long as Yae fell off as soon as she tried to get the bicycle moving.
Touya went on to making some more as just one bicycle because having the one he has now being cycled, no pun intended, between people who really wanted to learn how to use one isn't gonna end up well.
"Are you going to make another one?" Yumina asked, bending her knees as she watched Touya work on another bicycle.
"Yup, though I probably need more materials, if my calculations are correct I should have enough here for two more bicycles." Touya explained as he quickly made two more of them using {Modeling} just to save the time, he then gave it to Yae and Elze, "Welp, Imma just have to buy more materials, need to make some more bicycles for the maids and Julio so they can go shopping easier."
"Would it be okay if I came with you?" Setsuna asked.
"Sure, I could always use some help." Touya nodded.
The two said their farewells to the rest of the party and made their way to the capital's marketplace.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
(At the [Alephis], in the mainstreets.)
The two strolled through the busy streets of the capital, shopkeepers going their way trying to entice new customers while trying to appease their usual ones, the atmosphere was a lively one.
To pass the time, Touya asked Setsuna what she thought of [Belfast] so far, she said that even though it had a different vibe to it - it was as lively as her home and despite her being a beastkin, she was surprised to know that most of the people here were accepting of her. She smiled as she continued to talk about what she thought about the place.
They passed a street performer jiggling some knives, it looked nice to watch but they didn't have enough time to stop and see the performance, while they were rounding a corner. Touya hummed about something.
"Hey, Setsuna, do you know what ice cream?" Touya asked.
"No, what's that?" Setsuna shook her head, intrigued by Touya's question, she knew what cream was but never heard of anything like 'ice cream' before.
"Well, how about trying some after we buy some materials for the bicycles?" Touya offered, he laughed when he saw her eyes practically shine in excitement.
Though that moment was suddenly interrupted by someone bumping into Touya, thankfully the person wasn't tall, more like a kid actually, that crashed into him.
"Sorry about that." He apologized.
"Watch your step, sir. Make sure it doesn't happen again, 'kay?" The kid scolded, before turning away and continuing where he was going.
"What a peculiar child." Touya commented, the kid's accent reminded him of some back in his old world.
"Are you okay, Touya?" Setsuna asked before turning her head in the direction where the kid was going, "Even here there's kids who have no manners."
"Yeah." Touya nodded, dusting off his coat, but he then realized it felt a little lighter than usual, he checked the inside pockets and let out a sigh, "My wallet is gone."
"What!?" Setsuna whisperingly yelled.
"Looks like that kid stole it. I mean, I wouldn't mind - I didn't have much in it but my Guild Card is there." Touya sighed, pulling out his phone from his back pockets, "And I need the card if I'm gonna withdraw more money, so I better find where it went."
He was glad the kid didn't manage to steal his phone, then again, compared to most things it might just look like a black rectangle, he input the keywords in the search box, a popup appeared and it seemed to be running away, Touya thought that maybe the kid was caught trying to steal someone else's' belongings or the guards were actively pursuing him.
Either way, Touya shrugged and relayed the same information to Setsuna, she nodded and suggested using {Accel} to catch up to the thief, he nodded and asked if she could use it and she confirmed. He was pleasantly surprised but realized that since she was related to Jamukha, she must've inherited his null spell.
Wasting enough time as it is, both of them used {Accel} to catch up with the wallet thief, Touya noted that the pin indicating the thief turned to a corner and suddenly stopped, he told Setsuna and they went towards the secluded alleyway to confront him.
They were greeted with the sight of the kid being flung towards a pile of garbage bags, the ones responsible were two young men, if Touya were to guess, they were probably the local thugs from the looks of it.
"Doin' business in our area 'gain you lil' shit?" One of the thugs yelled, kicking the kid in the stomach hard. He let out a pained gasp, the air forced out of his lungs.
"Must be yo' fault the patrols' getting tense lately, eh!?" He yelled, kicking the kid again, "We can't continue our normal operations because of youse!"
Touya frowned as he watched the scene before him and turned over to Setsuna, she was barely holding back, looking like she was about to pounce on the thugs physically assaulting the kid, she glanced at his direction, pleading him to have them interfere but Touya silently told her to wait, at least for a little bit.
"Which is why… We've gotta repay ye." The thug pulled out a knife, the kid's eyes widened as he tried to back away only to be held firm by the other thug next to him.
"Stop! Please! Stop it! I'm sorry, okay!? I'm sorry!" He begged, frantically squirming about.
"Too late now." The thug laughed, holding the knife near the kid's hand, "But we're a reasonable bunch, how 'bout we settle this by cuttin' off one of ye finger. That'll teach youse to not eva' come to our territory 'gain."
And that was the last straw that broke the camel's back, Touya gave full permission to Setsuna, she wasted no time in slamming her fist into the face of the thug welding the knife. He was flung to a nearby wall and knocked out conscious, never knowing what hit him. The other thug was stunned so much that he couldn't defend himself the moment Setsuna set her eyes on him, he was helpless as the beastkin lifted him by the collar and threw him at the same wall his friend was head first.
Touya watched with a calm demeanor, while it was a bit excessive of Setsuna, he understood her rage against the thugs, so he let her have free reign on how to deal with them, he also had a feeling that if the kid wasn't there, she would've ripped them apart - Either way, the situation has been dealt with.
"Hey there, you okay?" Touya asked the downed child, he nodded slowly, "Hold still, this won't hurt, I promise."
Using {Cure Heal}, Touya was able to make the injuries the kid sustained from the beatings disappear, he then asked for his wallet back which the kid happily gave back with no problems, "Thanks, since I got my wallet back, I won't alert the guards, so don't go stealing again, okay?"
Just as he was about to leave with Setsuna, the kid called out to him, "Ah! Thanks- Thanks for saving me…"
"If you're really thankful, just stop stealing things, you'll get caught sooner or later-" As Touya was speaking, he heard the kid's stomach growl in hunger - he held his stomach in embarrassment as he tried to avert his eyes.
"...Are you hungry?" Touya asked, and the kid nodded.
"We can't just leave 'em to starve." Setsuna nudged Touya with her elbow, "Plus, I'm hungry too, I could go for some food."
Touya sighed as he checked his wallet again, he noted that he better go to the guild and withdraw some money, the ones he had on hand wouldn't be enough to cover all three of them, "Come with us, I'll buy you some food."
"Really?" The kid exclaimed, when Touya nodded, the kid jumped in joy which caused the hat he was wearing to fall off, revealing long light brownish hair, in fact, he wasn't even a he, she was a girl this whole time.
"...You were a girl this whole time?" Touya asked.
"Mhm!" She nodded, flashing a smile, "Just call me Renne!"
And just like that, the three left the alleyway, but not before Touya and Setsuna alerted the local patrol about some thugs lying unconscious in the alleyway they just left, after that, Touya quickly told the girls to order what they wanted to eat since he'll make a quick stop at the guild to get more money.
After withdrawing some money from the guild and paying the food, as well as the materials for the bicycle, thankfully Setsuna reminded him of that - Touya asked about where Renne lived. She told him that she has no permanent residence, she slept anywhere she could, from the park to the back alleys, anywhere she could keep her head down, and before that, she stayed in an inn with her dad.
When he asked about her dad, Renne stopped eating for a second and took a long breath. She said that he was an adventurer, he took a quest to kill a monster and never came back, that was 1 year ago. Ever since then she was surviving in the streets - Touya asked if she had any other relatives, but said that her mother died giving birth to her, after her dad died, she said an old lady who was traveling from town to town taught her how to pickpocket. She knew it was wrong but she needed to do it if she wanted to eat.
Setsuna sympathized with her plight, while Touya fell into deep thought, he then came up with the idea of her working for him, he figured that his maids could always use the extra help in cleaning and other things around the mansion. He said that if she worked for him, she could have a roof over her head, she'd be paid for her work and she'd get free meals so she would never go hungry, he told her she can have all of this under the condition that she would stop pickpocketing. Of course, Renne jumped at the idea and hugged him, saying that she would wholeheartedly work for him if it meant that she could finally have a place to stay and eat.
After that and much walking later. The trio arrived at the mansion.
Renne couldn't believe how big Touya's home was, she asked if he was a noble and he replied that he was something like that - Setsuna parted once they reached the mansion, saying that she was gonna catch up with the girls leaving him with just Renne - he introduced her to the rest of the staff, Laim interviewed her, saying what if she had what it takes to be a maid of Touya's and Renne showed her resolve in doing so. Laim's gaze softened when he heard her and nodded, asking Lapis to fetch a maid dress after Cecile was down with cleaning and measuring her.
When she did that, Touya was left alone with Laim, the master of the mansion sat on one of the couches in the room and sighed, he pondered on whether ot not he did the right choice on employing Renne to his mansion and thought of maybe it was better if he handed her to an orphanage.
Thankfully, Laim seemed to know what troubled him.
"If it's alright with you, Master, may I speak?" Laim asked, Touya turned to his butler and nodded, "It seems you're debating whether or not it was a wise choice to employ young Renne. However, in my humble opinion, you should be proud of the fact that you saved a young child from poverty."
Touya let Laim's words sink into his mind, finding the man's wisdom to be logical, he nodded and thanked Laim for the tea he brewed, it was delicious as always and he enjoyed the silence.
Though the silence was quickly interrupted when he heard Renne's scream, she immediately ran back into the room he was in, wearing nothing but a bathing towel and held up Kohaku, who was in her chibi form, to his face, "To-Touya! There's a tiger! A tiger cub!"
"Master… Who is this little girl." Kohaku asked, a little annoyed that her nap ended abruptly after Renne picked her up and showed her to her Master.
"Huh!? It- It can speak!?" Renne exclaimed.
Touya chuckled as he watched Renne play around with Kohaku, but then his gaze fell onto the girl's neck, a pendant wrapped around her neck. Touya raised an eyebrow and wondered what that was, "What is that, Renne? A pendant?"
"This thing?" Renne answered, holding up the accessory. Meanwhile Kohaku took this as her chance to escape the clutches of the child, "It's a memento from my mom that my dad gave me, this is the only thing I have to remember them by."
"Can I see it?" Touya asked.
"Yeah, sure!" Renne nodded and handed the pendant, just then, Cecile entered the room and took her out, saying that she shouldn't go around wearing a bath towel.
Once the two left the room once again, Touya inspected the crest on the pendant, it was a crest he had never seen before and he got curious as to what it was, he turned to his butler, maybe he would know more about it, "Laim, do you know where this crest comes from?"
"A griffin and a shield, with twin swords and laurels surrounding it… No, I can't say I do." Laim shook his head, he tried to recall the many different crests of Belfastian Noble Families, but he's never seen a crest like this before.
"This must be valuable then?" Touya commented, checking the pendant again, "If this really is a memento, Renne might be born from a noble family…"
"I would not be too sure." Laim said, "Maybe it was her parents who happened upon it, or maybe her grandparents, or maybe they got this by mere chance."
"I see. A lot of possibilities huh?"
"Fret not, Master, as far as I know, there is no such crest amongst the Noble Families of [Belfast]." Laim explained, "I do know that many Noble Families in the [Regulus Empire] use griffins as the base of their crests though…"
Touya hummed, he remembered the conversations with Alfred about the countries surrounding [Belfast], with [Regulus] bordering them from the East, along with their soured relations.
'Nah, I shouldn't delve any deeper.' Touya decided, 'It has nothing to do with me right now and I shouldn't meddle in someone else's affairs, it's for Renne to decide whether or not she'll pursue the truth of her origins. For now I should drop this matter.'
Touya hummed in approval as he took a sip of his tea.
It was delicious.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
(Inside of the [Belfast Mansion].)
"Just like that." Touya guided, as Renne carefully poured him a cup of coffee to start his day.
"Like this?" Renne asked as she slowly filled the cup.
"Yup, just like that." Touya nodded as he stopped her from overfilling the cup, he carefully brought the hot brevage to his face and sipped the contents. He hummed in approval as tested the coffee, "This tastes nice, I can see that you're taking your lesson seriously, Renne."
Said girl smiled happily, she nodded her head as she took in the praise of her Master.
It had been a few days since Renne joined the stuff, she was given lesson on how to be a maid from Lapis and Cecile and was in the process of being Touya's personal maid, while she was a little rough around the edges, her drive to do better and her resolve meant that in no time, she would prove to be a maid worthy of serving Touya - Or so she says.
"Thanks Tou- Em, Master." Renne caught herself, curtsying in practiced form as she was taught by Lapis, along with properly addressing her master.
"No need for that, we're alone right now." Touya chuckled.
"That may be, but it's improper for a maid to address her master by name." Renne recited the words she was taught yesterday during her maid training with Ceclie and Lapis.
"If you say so." Touya shrugged as he took another sip of his coffee, and he was about to ask about her studies as a maid until he heard a knock on the door, interrupting him before he could ask about Renne's duties.
He called out to anyone on the other side and heard the muffled voice of his butler, "Master, may I come in?"
Of course, Touya said yes, and the butler entered the room. He seemed to have some interesting news to share, "Master, you have visitors, they wish to meet with you downstairs, at the entrance."
Touya raised an eyebrow, he never had visitors before and the only ones who would, would be Alfred or Sue, nevertheless, Touya nodded and got up from his seat, Renne accompanying him along with Laim.
When he made it to the stairs, he saw some of the girls standing near the base of the stairs, looking at something down their feet. Touya wondered what it was, so he made his way down and walked closer to the gathered group. He tried to see what it was all about and heard the familiar squeaking sound.
It was Paula!
"Woah, Paula!? Did you walk all the way here?" Touya said as he picked up the stuffed bear.
"Of course she can't." A voice called out, everyone turned to the entrance and saw Leen standing there with her parasol, "Good morning, Mochizuki Touya."
"Leen? Why are you here, all the way from [Mismede]?" Touya asked, putting Paula down as the teddy bear ran up to her creator.
"I've come to investigate something." Leen answered, she then grinned slightly, "I also came here to punish Charlotte, I just finished spanking her before coming here."
"You sure hold a grudge huh?" Touya chuckled awkwardly, he felt someone tugging his sleeves and turned to find Yumina.
"Who is she, Touya?" Yumina asked, wondering who this mysterious woman that appeared out of nowhere is and seemed to be acquainted with her fiance.
"That's our Court Mage, Leen." Setsuna answered her fellow princess' question, "She's the matriarch of the Mismedian Fairy tribe, she may look young, but she's older than all of us here… Well, except for Sally."
"Oh? Is that who you were talking about before?" Leen turned to Touya, "And who is this Sally?"
"That'd be me." Sally announced as she stepped out behind Touya, Leen raised an eyebrow when the raven-haired female appeared, she didn't even sense her from anywhere and it interested the Fairy.
Before she could even comment on Sally, Yumina spoke.
"She's a fairy? But she has no wings." Yumina remarked. The group turned their attention back to Leen and noted that she did have no wings.
"Ah, yes, my wings." Leen waved her hand and her wings appeared once more, "I was making them invisible to the naked eye using light magic, it attracts too much attention in this kingdom if I don't."
"I see, one question." Touya asked, "Why are you here and how did you find my home?"
"Charlotte told me." Leen smirked, but then her face went back into a neutral one, "And I needed your help regarding an urgent matter."
"I wanted to ask you about those crystal beasts you fought a few months ago." Her sentence caught everyone's attention, at least, everyone who was there fighting.
"What?" Touya blurted out, wondering how Leen knew about that but then remembered talking with the King about the matter prior.
"Another one had appeared in [Mismede] as well." Leen announced, answering his question yet more questions arose.
Deciding that the front of the mansion wouldn't be a good place to continue this conversation Touya ushered there to his office and talk there, he also sent Sally to gather the rest of the party and join the discussion. Once everyone was gathered in his office, they all did a quick introduction for Leen, and afterwards, Touya was the first to speak up.
"So, what's the deal?" He asked.
"A day after you returned home, an urgent message from a village in western [Mismede], [Lairesse]." Leen sipped on the tea Renne prepared, "It was about a strange phenomenon that occurred for several days."
"A strange phenomenon?" Setsuna asked, wondering what she meant by that.
"A group of children from the village discovered it, they saw a small crack suspended in the air in the middle of the forest. It could not be touched or moved, only observed." Leen recalled, placing the teacup down onto the table, "Soon enough, the children noticed it becoming larger and larger with each passing day, after that, they let the adults of the village know of the crack and the Village Elder sent a message to the capital."
"I was curious enough to join the soldiers in their journey to the village when I first heard of the news, so, a platoon of Mismedian Soldiers and I made our way to the village, however…" Leen frowned, her expression grimmed, "When we got there, we weren't greeted with a Village Elder, instead, we were greeted by an annihilated village."
The news put everyone on edge, the way Leen dropped her statement made it all the more tragic, but the party kept firm and continued to listen to the fairy's story.
"The villagers were all killed by the crystal beast, there were no survivors, it was beyond a massacre… Together with the soldiers, I fought it but we stood no chance. Swords couldn't pierce it, magic couldn't harm it, even if we did manage to crack its skin it would regenerate itself, a complete nightmare for everyone involved… Half of the soldiers were killed and the village was left in ruins." Leen concluded, taking another sip of her tea.
"But you killed it, right?" Touya inquired.
"Somehow, we did." Leen nodded, narrowing her eyes as she stared into her reflection on her drink, "When I realized that it was susceptible to blunt, physical damage. I wasted no time in dropping a huge boulder on it using an earth spell."
"Once I did, it shattered both the body and the core, when the core was destroyed, it could not regenerate anymore." Leen explained.
"It's just like the ones we fought before." Elze commented.
"Indeed." Leen nodded once again, turning to where Touya was seated, "When I came to Charlotte to have her help me learn more about those monsters, she said a similar event happened here, in [Belfast], moreover, I was surprised that you fought two at once and won…"
"After that, I heard that you can use all null spells." Leen stared deep into Touya's eyes, her gaze was met with his and the two came into a staring contest until Leen giggled, covering her mouth with her hand, "No wonder you can use [Program] and [Accel]."
"Based on the accounts of the surviving that were able to flee, the crystal beast emerged from the crack after the enlarging crack in the air broke." Leen continued.
"From the crack in space?" Touya said, "That's different from the ones we encountered."
"How so?" Leen asked.
"We found them deep within the ruins and they activated once Linze's light magic was absorbed." Touya explained.
"Is that so? In any case, this is what it looked like." Leen placed a piece of paper on the table, it was an illustration of the same crystal snake they fought along with the cricket. Those that fought them, leaned closer to the table and confirmed.
"It's the snake we fought." Yumina commented.
"Yeah, no doubt about it." Elze remarked.
"It's the same, it fought trying to slam its tail on us, while the cricket fought by extending its legs." Touya added.
"Hm? That snake one must be different, the one I killed attacked by using its tail as a blade, cutting and slicing its opponent like a sharp blade." Leen said, catching the attention of the ones that fought against the crystal snake, the fairy shook her head and continued to speak, "Back then, when I was but a child, an elder of my tribe told me a story…"
"Long ago, demons known as Phrase appeared from nowhere to destroy this world. These demons had crystal-like bodies and are said to be invulnerable. But in the end, those demons vanished just as quickly as they appeared as if nothing really happened, after that, the world simply returned to normal." Leen recalled.
"Do you think these crystal beasts are the Phrase?" Yae asked.
"I'm not really too sure." Leen shook her head, "That elder had passed away, and she told us that it was a tale she had heard when she was a child."
"In fact, we fairies only began to have contact with the outside world a hundred plus years ago…" She clarified.
"Well, it's useless to think about it now." Touya crossed his arms, "If possible, I don't want to meet them again, but in an off chance that they do appear again, we'll just have to destroy their core."
"I see." Leen nodded.
She then clasped her hands together, "By the way, I'll be taking over as the Mismedian Ambassador instead of Olga."
"Since when?" Setsuna asked, she never heard of this from her father's letters, how come she didn't know?
"Since I arrived a few days prior, I'll be visiting every once and a while, let's get along, shall we." Leen smiled, though Touya didn't like the smile and a few of his party didn't as well, "Now then, you should be able to use {Gate}, don't you, Touya?"
She rested her chin on her hand as she smirked devilishly, Touya winced in his head as he was caught and tried to come up with an excuse that he couldn't but he can't, nothing he'd say would be able to deter the fairy.
"Now, now, no need to make that face." Leen giggled as she leaned back into her seat, "I won't tell this to Beastking or the other tribe patriarchs, I'm kind to my own, you know?"
"Your own?" Touya narrowed his eyes, just what does she mean by that?
"You're mine, after all." She said, and at her statement, Touya felt the room's temperature drop as he turned to see the girls, sans Sally who was just smirking, glare at the fairy, she giggled once more as she waved her hand, "It was just a joke, do not worry."
"It's not to my liking to force someone against their will." Leen clarified.
'That's a fucking lie, and you little she-devil, you know what you said!' Touya berated in his mind, letting out a frustrated sigh.
"We have arrived with more tea." Renne's voice caught everyone's attention as she was pushing a cart, Cecile was there but she stood next to the door, letting Renne do the rest and she placed the teacups down and filled them with practiced ease.
Renne bowed to the group and left, everyone who knew her was impressed at how fast she was at being a maid, Touya moreso, once everyone took a small break to finish their tea and partake of the biscuit, they continued the discussion.
"Such an exceptionally young child you've employed here." Leen remarked, taking a bite out of her biscuit, "She seems to be trained well enough, though I can see she's not used to serving just yet."
"I hired her fairly recently, my other maids are training her diligently, I'd be grateful if you can pardon her for any clumsiness." Touya said as he took a sip of the tea Renne prepared.
"Back to what we were talking about, you can use {Gate}, can't you?" Leen inquired.
"That's right." Touya nodded, no use in hiding it now, "But I can only travel to places I've visited, so my range is limited."
"I see, have you heard of a null spell called {Recall}?" Leen asked, Touya hummed for a second and shook his head, the fairy smiled as she continued, "It's a spell which allows you to read people's minds and retrieve their memories, if you can combine that spell with yours, you can go to any place from the retrieved memories of other people."
"Which is why I need you to use it, I have a certain place I want to visit and I can only get there if you use both spells. There's a ruin in that country I want to examine." Leen said, stroking Paula's head as she spoke.
"Okay, but where do you want to go?" Touya raised an eyebrow.
"Far east, to the easternmost end of the world, the [Divine Nation, Eashen]."
"[Eashen]?" Both Yae and Touya looked at each other.
"This girl was born in [Eashen], right?" Leen turned to Yae, "If you read her mind, you'll be able to open a {Gate} to [Eashen]."
"Huh!?" Yae exclaimed, frantically trying to wrap her head around what the fairy was proposing, "Wait- Wait a second! When you said reading minds, you mean mine-"
"You don't have to worry." Leen smiled, trying to reassure her, "As long as you're properly conscious as {Recall} only allows the user to recover the memory you've given permission. In other words, he can't see memories that you won't allow him to see."
"I see…" Yae let out a sigh of relief.
"The null spell is a spell that requires skin contact in order to retrieve memories from the other person's mind." Leen explained, she then grinned, "And the way to do that quickly is by kissing!"
That set off a chain of reactions, ranging from surprised to embarrassed, the chaos died down as the fairy's giggling drowned out the outcries of the people in the room, "It was a joke!"
"Alright, alright! Enough playing around, both of you come here and face each other." She then stood up from her seat and grabbed a hold of both Yae and Touya, her wings flapping excitedly as she pushed both teenagers together and made them hold hands, "Hold each other's hands."
'They're soft.' Touya commented, finding the warmth and soft feeling of Yae's hand to be relaxing.
'They're so rough…' Likewise, Yae commented in her mind, Touya's hands felt completely different from her own, yet she liked the feeling of her hands being encompassed by his.
She lifted her face and realized just how close their faces were, her face lighting up in a red hue while she fumbled to form words.
"Alright, now, close your eyes and Yae, try to picture a scenery of [Eashen] in your mind." Leen instructed, trying to get the two to cooperate, "Make sure you picture it as clear as possible, if you picture it vaguely, there's a chance {Gate} might open in another location."
"And Touya, place your forehead against Yae's and cast {Gate}."
He did as he was instructed, he was a little distracted by the sweet smell Yae was putting off, but quickly refocused and chanted the spell, images of trees and a shrine appeared, until a last image of a torii gate appeared before he opened his eyes, "I saw it…"
The two teenagers separated their foreheads and stared deep into each other's eyes, it would seem like they would stare at each other forever so when Yumina coughed into her hand to get their attention, Yae broke up, realizing that she was already taking too much of his personal space. The Eashen female tried desperately to calm her blushing face, while she mumbled about something no one could hear.
"If you saw it, would you be so kind as to open a {Gate} to [Eashen]?" Leen coaxed.
Touya rolled his eyes and stretched out his hand, he recalled the images in his head to confirm and when he did, he opened a gate to them, he hoped that he got it right, so he was the first to try it out and walked through the null spell.
The sounds of the winding blowing filled his ears, along with the sounds of wind chimes echoing in the air. Touya looked around as he felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him, he never realized just how much he missed home, and this moment confirmed it. One by one, everyone went through the {Gate} until Kohaku was the last one to walk through, the null spell closed and left them at the shrine.
Yae looked around, scanning the area as her eyes widened more and more, she smiled as she ran up to the edge of the shrine and stretched out her arms.
"There is no mistaking it!" She exclaimed, ushering the others to follow her.
When they did, she brought them to the edge of the hill, a view overlooking an Eashen Town in the distance, Yae smiled even more and gestured to the town, "This is my homeland! [Eashen]! And this is my hometown! [Hashiba]!"
And so, their journey to [Eashen] commences.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
And that's a wrap.
This chapter is an interlude, it's more or less a stopgap before we step into the next arc, the Eashen Arc!
And what do you think of the Slime Castle scene? I actually had a lot of fun adding in dialogue from Setsuna and Sally! Definitely my favorite pair when it comes to lewd scenes.
This chapter is a break from all the action of the previous arc, a relaxing chapter before we enter Eashen, there it might not have as much action as the Mismede Arc but I assure you, I'll make it worthwhile! If I can…
Until next time, this V_KJ, signing out.