Chapter 1022: On Our Own Now |
"Has my little baby prepared everything?"
"Mommy… I'm not a baby anymore… And yes, I triple checked and also got Katsuki to check as well. I have everything I need," I whined.
Mother continued to pat my head while she hugged me to her chest, "Ara, ara~ My little one is all grown up and leaving the nest~ Mother can't help but feel a little sad."
Well… So do I, Mother… But it's not like we're going to be separated forever…
I gave her one of the [Ring of Shared Thoughts] so that we could communicate telepathically through it whenever we want, which should stop us from missing each other too much.
Speaking of which… The other girls aside from Katsuki didn't want those rings for some reason.
I think it's because they knew that I had a new boon that already allowed us to communicate telepathically via [Booty Call].
I did tell them it can only be initiated by me and that we would get hornier the longer the call lasts… Wait… I think that's why they wanted this instead of the ring…
Damn it… I should have left that horny part out…
Anyway, I let Mother hug me for a while more until I lightly pushed against her to signal it was time to go.
She obviously didn't want to but she still relented and loosened her grip on me, allowing my feet to touch the ground again before she released me.
"My little one… Remember that you can always come home whenever ok? If you don't want to be out there anymore, just come back home. My little one doesn't need to do anything at all, Mama will be fine with taking care of you for eternity~"
Mother… I don't want to be a useless person ok? And please don't give the girls ideas because I think they would be on board with helping you do that as well…
She gave me another pat on the head, "Take care, my little one… Call Mama whenever you want, ok?"
"I will, Mommy."
She sniffed a little before turning to my girls, "Take care of my baby won't you?"
The girls all told Mother not to worry and I'm just glad that no one was bringing up the dragon that almost wiped us out in the Dungeon just two days ago…
Of course, being someone who could read the room, I didn't say anything and just let them have that moment.
Mother then wiped her tears away with a handkerchief before reaching out to pick me up again.
I thought she wanted another hug but she lifted me all the way to her eye level before she planted a kiss on my lips.
It was a deep kiss as well with tongue involved so I relented and gave Mother the kiss she wanted before she was finally satisfied and put me back down.
She then gave a final wave before stepping into the portal that Mary had kept open this entire time before it closed up behind her.
I think it was at that moment that it finally hit me that I was now really on my own.
Well… Not really since I have my girls with me but I mean like outside of Mother's influence.
Looking back, I found all my girls looking at me in anticipation with sparkling eyes.
That was also when I realised that I was undisputedly the leader of this group.
I have been leading them into Dungeons and such before but there was always something or someone that was also guiding me, whether it be the school or Mother herself.
But now, no such person was above me and the fate of everyone here rested solely in my hands.
I sucked in a breath.
This was what I had been preparing for.
This was what I had wanted.
This was what I took all those boons from the gods for.
That's why… It's finally time for me to go and explore the World with the girls!
I shot them a grin, "Shall we all get going? To see the World?"
Well… I got pulled into a group hug and I was stuck there for another ten minutes…
*
Dragon View Trade City… This place was the first actual settlement that I visited in this World when Mother wanted to bring me to the capital city.
Truth be told, it seems like quite a bit has changed.
They seemed to have done some renovations to the harbour and there were a lot more ships docked and also waiting to dock than the last time I came here.
"Tch… Look at them… Scavengers just picking up the scraps left behind…" Emilia scoffed.
I thought she was referring to the people that were working on the docks and tried to see what made her say that.
Emilia shook her head, "The ships. Because my… Former family lost the Floating Pussy, the demand for goods had to be filled somehow. No doubt all of these are new shipping companies that sprung up during that time to fill that void. This really proves how incompetent my former family is when they even allowed this to happen."
"What about us?" I asked, referring to the company that Emilia had set up.
"We don't have any ships for now… Since my former family was watching that side of the business in case I sprung up again. But I think we can start now since it's been several years already and their business must be really plummeting without me. Even if they found me, they wouldn't be able to do anything anyway."
Odeta chuckled, "Wahaha! Why don't we just go kick their ass? They've been a bother so far and if we don't deal with them, they'll continue being a bother right? So let's just go and beat them all up until they won't be a bother anymore!"
Emilia turned to raise an eyebrow at my Amrap, "Are you suggesting that we go and kill my former family?"
"Hmm? If that's what you want, why not? They tried to kill you, what kind of family is that?"
Emilia grinned, "Agreed. Only problem is that I don't know where they are. Or more specifically, where they are exactly. They could be at any of our branches throughout Erednay and to go out of our way to go find them is not profitable. There's no reason to do something that isn't profitable."
Huh… She's still thinking about money huh? Funny how that goes out the window when she is dealing with me though…
I turned to her, "Hmm… Aren't your fami-- I mean… Former family from the Nekinumi Kingdom?"
"Eh? Yes, that was my birthplace. Why?"
"Won't the headquarters be there or something?"
"It is indeed there but… It's not like there's a rule that one of my former family members had to be there all the time. But… Hmm… I suppose if we want to find out their location, that might be a place to start… Ah!! But there's no need for you to go out of your way to do this for me, Boss!"
I waved my hand at her, "Nonsense~ I also want to visit there since I've never been there before anyway~ And I believe Katsuki also said that you would give me a tour of that place if we went there right? Seeing that it was also your home?"
My Inugami maid bowed, "If that is Mistress's wish, I will do my best."
Err… Not like I'm pressuring you to do it Katsuki… I was just trying to use that as an excuse so that Emilia doesn't feel like we're imposing on her…
I cleared my throat, "Anyway, we'll also have to go through there to reach Odeta's hometown and then Lisa's hometown as well right? Then if I remember correctly, there's a ship that can bring us up to Aerialla Academy to the north of Arwan Territory as well right? So I think this would be perfect for our route~"
Emilia finally relaxed, "In that case… I suppose we should look for transportation there then?"
"Oh, there's no need to hurry so we can just take our time. We could just go to the Guild and look for escort requests or any requests that we can pick up that would be on the way there~ Since we now have to be responsible for our travelling expenses."
Emilia blinked at me, "Boss? Err… I mean, Aster? I think our company has earned enough money for us to travel comfortably though. And even if it hasn't… The monster materials that we got the other day from that Dungeon could sell for quite a lot."
I huffed at her, "You don't understand Emilia! It's the journey! The journey! We start out as complete newbies and we're travelling together out in the World for the first time!"
That's right! This is like the start of an RPG adventure! We can't just use cheats like that!
That's why… First things first! To the Guild we go!