Tensei Skill Shop Chapter 25

Tensei Skill Shop

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 25:

A pair of giant claws clamped onto my shoulders, their owner staring intensely into my eyes as she looked down at me. The amount of force they exerted was more than I expected, and my posture made it impossible to escape.

More importantly, I could feel the heat pressing against my crotch, especially with the rubbing that was ongoing.

“Haa… haa… haa…” Her breath felt just as hot on my face.

“Matsu?” I asked tentatively.

“Oh no… I’m losing control of myself…” She panted, “Rick-tan… I need you… to help calm down this heat…”

Something about that seems doubtful, but I’m not going to complain. I obligingly slid my pants down, exposing my erection.

Matsu didn’t waste any time in sliding her panties aside and mounting me, riding me with her hips furiously. The heat of her aroused body, combined with the stimulation of her insides as she bounced up and down… With how fast she was moving, it was a struggle not to blow my load in right away.

Not going to just lie here and take it! I reached up and started groping her breasts, squeezing them harder than I normally would.

“Ah… aaah… AAWOOOOO!” She actually howled as she climaxed.

I grunted as her pussy tightened up incredibly, pushing me over the edge. Compared to all the times we did it before, it really felt like Matsu’s body was trying to milk me off every drop. My vision actually blanked out from how intense it was.

When I could see again, Matsu’s face came back into focus, with the new stripes on her cheeks as her face descended for a toe-curling kiss.

“Mmmm~ Nya~n…” The Sekirei mewled as I groped her butt, her hips still rocking slightly. “Oh no… I’m-”

“Alright, that’s enough.” 

A light smack to Matsu’s head made her yelp and pause. The culprit was a deeply blushing Uzume, using a ball of rolled up cloth like a flail.

“I know you’re just faking it,” She scolded Matsu.

“No, I really did lose control,” The redhead insisted, using her arms to raise her upper body away from mine.

“A reaction between the dressphere and you being a Sekirei, maybe?” I theorized.

“It is possible,” Matsu agreed, “I-”

“You’re still moving your hips!” Uzume pointed out hotly.

The Lady Luck dressphere had been returned to the Gullwings after we updated its skillset, and now we were working on the Berserker one. As we were finding out for ourselves, emotions bleeding through was a thing, and not just a cutscene for story purposes. Except instead of an urge for violence, it manifested as a heightened libido.

Rather apt, given the horns on this outfit. I mused to myself as Matsu resisted Uzume’s attempts to pull her off me. But it also means that we need to consider skill-race interactions when crafting our own skills.

While wearing the dressphere, the girl would have paw gloves and boots, along with horned headwear and shoulder pads, but the body covering varied depending on the character. Matsu’s appearance was similar to Rikku’s, in that the body covering was a skimpy bikini top and bottom, leaving her dressphere-tattooed skin on full display.

My fingers trailed down the reddish marks on her thighs. I had to admit, it did make her look sexy. 

The cloth ball bounced off my head too. “You too, Rick-kun! Leafeon, help, please!” 

“Lee!” A tan form leapt onto my chest, bracing itself between Matsu and I. “Feeeeee~”

“Fine, fine…” Matsu gave in and pulled off from me. “At least I got to cum.”

After we cleaned ourselves up, the three of us sat down to discuss what we discovered from the dressphere research. 

First of all, the Berserker dressphere, as its name suggested, granted the ability to go berserk, where the wielder would focus on attacking to the exclusion of all else, with a stat distribution devoted to fast and heavy offense. It also had auto-abilities meant to cover for its weaknesses.

As for the special skills, they were designed to dispel an enemy’s buffs, and offered options to debuff further, which were very useful for affecting the flow of a battle. Considering how many isekai stories seem to downplay the importance of such basic stuff, I think there might be some sales potential for them.

But we all agreed that it was still somewhat plain. 

Next was the Samurai dressphere, which we had indirect access to through Matsu’s connection to the Celsius’s computer systems. That one was more interesting because of the similarity to the Yojimbo Aeon, whose fayth record I managed to acquire before the fiend outbreak. Matsu couldn’t confirm it yet, but she believed that there was enough of a connection that she could make modifications to achieve a better version.

Compared to the Berserker, the Samurai was more of a supporter, with a few buffing skills to round off its attacks. They might be simple in application, but there was an element of coolness that made those skills flashy and fun to use, which some gods had a preference for when they came to buy skills. The advanced skills were still out of reach for now, but it was only a matter of time.

The real treasure was the Alchemist dressphere that the Gullwings received for their help in clearing out the ruins of the Monster Arena in the Calm Lands. While the passive abilities of enhancing items used was similar to the Alchemy perk in Skyrim, the advantage lay within the [Mix] and [Stash] skills.

The latter was a rather strange one; the description just says that the item is just a spare one found stashed away in one’s inventory, but Matsu’s analysis indicates that it's like hacking reality to make the desired item materialize out of nowhere, similar to those insta-make crafting skills that skip all the steps needed in reality. That does explain why the skill takes time to use, but can be repeated infinitely.

It does seem similar to how the White Phial works, so perhaps it might be worth including that into the investigation as well. 

As for [Mix], that was where things got… interesting. Two separate items with individual properties combine together in a catalyzed reaction that isn’t normally achievable. A different version of reality hacking, so to speak. It was quite similar to the Ivalice Alchemist’s skills in how they generated the desired effect, except one made use of items and the other used MP. With a bit of [Editing], I’m sure I could create those combinations as standalone skills, or maybe give rise to a whole new one.

Of course, such a thing depended on the individual world’s system, so it’s hard to estimate how much DP Sano would pay for them.

There was also the gun, but that was a minor footnote compared to everything else. Besides, some fantasy worlds excluded them entirely, so it might be changed or even removed depending on the circumstances.

“How are things on your end?” I asked Uzume.

She had taken on the role akin to a crafter, though in this case it was more of modifying the skills on items, using a combination of skills foreign to this world to extract the ones from the native equipment, and installing others onto plain ornaments to turn them into actual equipment. All of it was to make steps towards her objective of making an original dressphere.

“It’s a bit difficult without the shop to help, but the number of failures is going down.” She rested her head on an arm, propped up by the elbow. “I know we’re using the normal accessories that are being sold in shops, but even at this rate, our funds won’t last.”

“Even after we built up so much with the data selling and O’aka?”

She nodded. “Even then.” 

At this point of time, O’aka had already left the Celsius, so it was no longer possible to buy his cheap wares and resell them elsewhere at a profit. He thought we were just random Al Bhed members on the airship helping to pay off his debt, so he never questioned when we bought a lot of his goods. But now that he was no longer available for that…

“Then we’ll just have to gather funds the grind way that Matsu said.” I noticed the smiles they were giving me. “What?”

“You’re looking forward to it, aren’t you?” Uzume said amusedly.

I gave her an incredulous frown. “What part of it?”

“Rick-tan might say one thing, but it’s obvious that you enjoy the ‘grinding’, so to speak.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it, several times. 

They did have a point. I had that contradictory part of me, where despite preferring to stay in my comfort zone, I didn’t have any problems tackling troublesome tasks like these. Though if anyone asked me the reason why, I couldn’t give a proper answer. 

Yet my Sekireis had no problem identifying that part of me. That… made me feel oddly pleased. And embarrassed at having it pointed out.

“Anyway,” I changed the subject, “I’ve gained enough LP, so I can [Create] that skill now.”

Looking at the two of them for permission, I waited until they nodded before generating the skill and confirming its appearance in my status screen.

[CONGRATS!]

In exchange, my LP dropped to only a few thousand, making me wince. But the Lady Luck skill was going to be very useful, especially in this world. 

…

Yuna squinted as the hover the Gullwings were riding on headed for their excavation site. 

“Is someone else there?” She asked Picket, their pilot.

“Huh? Oh yeah, we got another new guy recently. He’s pretty good. At least that’s what Nhadala says.”

“He looks kind of familiar…” Rikku leaned out for a better look.

“It’s Rick.”

Paine’s guess proved to be correct, as their hover came to a stop right next to the one already there, and they were treated to the sight of the man huffing as he came staggering through the sand.

“Hate… sand… coarse… rough… irritating… gets everywhere…” He muttered.

“It’s not that bad,” The blonde Gullwing objected in defense of her home island.

“How’s pickings?” Picket called over to his fellow hover pilot.

“So-so! We keep getting interrupted by this weird unidentified object! Keeps trying to target our diggers! New guy does a good job of keeping it off the rest of us though!”

“Unidentified object? What could it be?” Yuna wondered.

“No time to waste, you better get digging before the heat gets too much!” Their pilot reminded them.

And so they did. With the Observer locating the treasures lying just beneath the surface of the sand, they ran to uncover and claim them before the sandstorm arrived. In addition to the Assembly Piece the Machine Faction wanted, there were a few treasure chests with miscellaneous stuff that the Gullwings retained for their own.

Yuna couldn’t help but notice that Rick was moving quite quickly over the sand, and seemed to be able to last for longer than they could.

“Phew! I’m parched!” Rikku gasped as she collapsed on the hover. “Yunie! Got any water?”

“Here you go.”

“Thanks!”” She gulped down the drink. “Is he still at it?”

“He is.” Paine answered.

“Alright, we’re moving off!” Picket called, starting up the hover.

Back at the excavation camp, they found the camp supervisor Nhadala waiting for them with a request. She asked them to go visit the Cactuar Nation to help them with a problem they had. To Paine’s resignation, Yuna went along with it, so off they went, accompanied by a young Al Bhed child Benzo.

It was a surprise for them to encounter a talking, moving cactus, though they quickly accepted it as Benzo helped interpret its squeaky language. 

According to Marnela the cactus, there was an ancient fiend wandering the desert, having woken up recently. Fearing its future attack on the Cactuar Nation, Marnela requested the Gullwings call back the Ten Gatekeepers required to raise a magical barrier to protect their nation.

“‘There’s another human who volunteered to help, by buying time against the fiend’,” Benzo translated.

“Who is that person?” Yuna wondered.

“His name is Rick. I’ve guided him here before,” The boy answered.

The three girls looked at each other, curious about how the man had found his way to Bikanel Island all the way from where they last saw him in Luca. 

Marnela squeaked again, her green body swaying back and forth.

“‘Unfortunately, the fiend is too strong for him, and he cannot delay it forever. Please, lose no time in finding the Ten Gatekeepers and returning them to us’,” Benzo translated, “That’s the gist of it.”

Yuna nodded. “We’ll take care of it.”

After getting clues from the Cactuar Mothers about where their wayward children were, Yuna went back to the Al Bhed camp. There, they found Rick sitting against the hover, taking a long drink of water.

“Hello again, Lady Yuna,” He greeted her, “And Gullwings.”

“Why does that sound like we’re an afterthought?” Rikku complained without any heat.

“You’re here alone? Where are your companions?” 

“Yeah, I am. As for the other two… well, they’re off doing their own thing.”

She nodded to acknowledge that response, and didn’t press for further details. Instead, she changed the subject. “I heard you’re facing some dangerous fiend in the desert. What sort of fiend is it?”

“It’s very large, and has two supporting sections.”

“Any more than that?” Paine asked.

“I’m still gathering data on its behavior, but here’s what I found out…”

Yuna took note of what Rick had to say; if they encountered the fiend while they were out excavating in the desert, knowing how it fought would help greatly. Even then, what she heard was intimidating. One section being immune to physical attacks, while the other was immune to magical attacks? It would take proper preparation to face.

“Lastly, it ejects me from the fight after some time has passed, though it keeps on coming back for another go. That’s all I found, but so far, it’s more like a machina repeating the same motions.” Rick got up and stretched. “Alright, that’s enough of a break. I’m going back to digging.”

“Wait, what did you mean by it being a machina?” Rikku inquired.

“If there’s a certain trigger, it will act in a certain manner.” Seeing their confusion, he continued, “When the supporting sections are defeated, the main body casts Full-Life to bring them back.”

“I see. That’s a difficult enemy to face, alright.”

“I’m sure there’s other triggers too, but it’s hard to find them while I’m in the middle of a fight.” Rick got up on the hover, turning to look at them as the pilot started it up. “See you around, Gullwings.”

They stared after him until the hover was out of sight, before Paine turned to Yuna.

“So what now?”

“We look for the Cactuar Gatekeepers,” She decided. 

They ended up finding the first one at the oasis on Bikanel. Later, after they boarded the Celsius to go look for the next one, Yuna found another mysterious note near her bed.

‘The ancient evil of the desert will try to drink your soul when it has none’. 

Yuna puzzled over the strange message, but other than concluding it was referring to the dangerous fiend in Bikanel that the Cactuar Nation was worried about, the rest of its meaning eluded her.

Still, she had a feeling it would become clear eventually.

…

[CONGRATS!]

Yet again, a huge windfall of Gil entered my inventory, while the giant fiend stared down at me. Oddly, it seemed like it was exhibiting some emotions after facing me for the umpteenth time.

Every time I faced it, I was spamming that skill to gain this world’s money from it, but that wasn’t all. I still had the skill that allowed me to hold skills that I supposedly shouldn’t be able to, and was taking the opportunity to farm it for its skills as well.

I’ve encountered Angra Mainyu about six times now, and had been yoinking its unique skills each time, up until it expelled me from the battlefield with its [Unnatural Selection] skill.

[Bloody Breath] was another version of the Malboro’s [Bad Breath], while [Glimmer of Despair] inflicted MP damage with several stat debuffs. The main body had [Perdition’s Flame], which dealt several hits of percentage damage that would have been fatal to a single fighter, but thankfully I had a skill that locked it down before it could use it.

But still, it does seem interesting to have a skill that works as a combination between two separate parts. Would be harder to achieve with two individuals compared to a main controller with two drones, but I’ll ask Matsu what she thinks of it.

“Okay, time to give up those skills again!” I dashed forward, thrusting my hand out for an attack-

-that missed. 

My eyes widened as it suddenly withdrew backwards, a motion it had never performed before. In fact, it looked almost stressed.

I watched the two sections of Angra Mainyu, Tawrich and Zarich, slam down on the sand with their arms, creating a huge burst of sand that swept me away

Well, this is a first. And here I thought it couldn’t learn at all. I crossed my arms as I whirled through the sky. That wasn’t anywhere close to the time or HP limit.

I landed in the soft sand with a whump, and pushed myself up to my feet. In the distance, Angra Mainyu was burrowing back underground.

“The fiend is fleeing! You managed to chase it off!” My hover pilot cheered through the communicator. “But you better get back to the hover, the storm’s coming in fast!”

“Be right there.”

The same thing occurred with increasing frequency as I continued with my excavating; Angra Mainyu didn’t mind me using [CONGRATS!] to farm it for Gil, ejecting me once enough time had passed. But the moment I stole a skill, or said something about taking one, it would automatically expel me or flee from the battle.

Irritating, but not all that disruptive.

When I went to the Cactuar Nation to report this new behavior, Marnela was worried, not that I could tell any difference in the way she was swaying and squeaking, but that was what Benzo conveyed. 

I didn’t have any intention of staying around this place the whole time to guard them, no matter how worried they were about it attacking the Cactuars before the Gatekeepers returned. They could only wait for the Gullwings to finish the task Marnela set…

Or not. I watched as the Al Bheds cheered at the sight of the retreating Angra Mainyu.

“It worked! You managed to scare it off!” Nhadala praised me.

Turns out, that same fear could be triggered by other people just shouting about taking its skills, prompting Angra Mainyu to flee even then. I didn’t even have to be on the frontlines for that to happen.

I had effectively traumatized a blind monster without intending to. 

It was so absurd that I threw my hands up and decided to leave, having had enough of this place.

…

<HAHAHAHAHA!> 

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” I said as I sat on the floor, looking up at the expressionless woman. “The other two laughed as well, so go ahead and get it out of your system.”

<Don’t mind if I do then! HAHAHAHAHAAAA!>

I just sat there with a quirky smile. 

After finishing up at Bikanel, there wasn’t much left to do but wait until the next big event in Spira, which was Yuna’s concert at the Thunder Plains. That was quite some time away, as she hadn’t even discussed organising it with Tobli. The prospect of staying in Spira until it happened wasn’t an appealing one, so with that in mind, we decided to return to the shop, to go back to work for another week before we got too used to sitting around.

Returning to the working routine was a nice change of pace, just working during the day, and relaxing with some form of entertainment afterwards at night. Matsu and Uzume seemed to be more busy though, trying to work with all the dressphere data we collected, but I made sure to do what I could to reduce their burden.

In between, I continued to check in with Olivia and Michio, trading some small favors in exchange for their skills. For Olivia, it was providing more entertainment to occupy her time until Nord Stardia would appear before her. Her help came in the form of a sounding board for what skills she recommended to [Create]. Whereas for Michio, who preferred to keep his former life a secret, it would be minor stat-boosting accessories for him and his harem. He compensated me with more knowledge of his discoveries, and some of the minor monster drops.

“Alright, so this new update should last you for another few months. I’ll come back around then.”

<Sure. How about a goodbye grope?> Olivia asked innocently.

“No~pe,” I stuck my tongue out childishly at her, “I’ve got nicer ones waiting for me back in my world.”

<Take that back! I don’t believe my breasts would lose to anyone’s!>

Chuckling, I triggered the recall and returned to the shop, greeting my Sekireis, who were waiting for me to join them for dinner.

“Rick-tan, you said you got a call from Sano today, and wanted to talk to us about it, right?” Matsu inquired.

“Oh right. Thanks for reminding me. He said he would be back this weekend.”

“About time! It feels like so long since we last saw him!” Uzume groaned.

“Because it is, but what I wanted to talk about is taking a short vacation away from the shop entirely.”

They both blinked at me curiously, so I explained.

With how long I spent in other worlds, it was nearly two years since I saw my family, and I was missing them a little. Furthermore, the lunar new year was a festive period where my extended family would gather for meals, and I missed it last year because of my schooling. So this year, I was hoping to go back for a short trip to see them.

“I’ve raised the topic with Sano already, but he said he’ll let me know his decision when he comes by this weekend.” 

“The lunar new year? That’s at the end of the month, right?”

I nodded. “Would the two of you be willing to come along if he’s okay with it?”

“You need only ask!” Uzume grinned, her leg rubbing against mine under the table.

Then again, it might be a bit difficult staying at my parents’ place, since it’s a single room. The bed itself definitely can’t fit three people, so someone’s going to be sleeping on a mattress on the floor. I continued to eat my dinner as I considered the issue. Not to mention the matter of sex… doing it so close to my parents and next door to my brother’s room…

“What’s with that troubled face, Rick-tan? You can rely on us too, you know? We’re your Sekireis!”

“Maybe later… after I confirm things with Sano.” 

The weekdays continued to pass as normal. Well, as normal as working in a shop catering to gods and deities could be. Checking on the requirements of their requests, recommending options, having Matsu make modifications if necessary, getting Uzume to test some new adaptations, and so on…

Until finally, the phone rang on Friday afternoon, shortly before the shop was due to close.

“Meet me in my office,” My employer’s voice said, before he hung up.

I stared at the receiver, before cautiously replacing it back in its cradle. Well, that’s ominous.

When I reached his office, I found the god lounging back in his chair looking exhausted. 

“It’s been a while, boss,” I greeted him politely.

“Yeah…” He groaned. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“That Sage woman caused more issues than we realized. I was busy fixing things the whole time.”

Who’s we? I wondered, but kept quiet as I realized he had to be referring to other gods.

“But it looks like things have calmed down for now, so I’m able to come back here.”

“Aren’t you going to capture her or something?” I asked curiously.

“No, that’s not my area of responsibility. I handle outgoing issues.”

“I see…” Then I thought of something, “Wait, what about the-” -stuff I’m bringing back?

My sentence went unsaid, as my voice got cut off all of a sudden. Sano was pointing a finger at me, clearly having suppressed my speech somehow.

“Like I said, anything to do with this shop is an outgoing issue, understand?”

Recognizing the silent warning for what it was, I nodded. He lowered his hand, restoring my speech to me.

Guess someone’s been sidestepping the rules for his own benefit. Better not spoil it for myself. “So did you call me for something?”

Sano twitched, as though realizing something he had forgotten. “Oh, that reminded me. There was one benefit to what that woman did.”

I sat and listened as he filled me in. The disruptions Sage had caused with her entry to my world had been a hassle to fix, but they also allowed him to leverage things with the other gods to gain access to their worlds.

“So that means… Konosuba?” I asked, bringing up one of the worlds he denied as my choice previously.

The god nodded. “The negotiations are mostly done, but you should be able to go there soon. Though…”

I waited for him to finish, but he seemed lost in thought.

“Mm, it shouldn’t be a problem. I think.”

Okay, now I’m getting a little worried. Rather than press for more details, I decided to ask about taking leave.

“Hm? Oh, sure, how long will you and the two ladies be away? I can use the disruptions as a reason to take a break.”

I was so stunned at the god wanting to take time off from the shop that my voice stuttered as I answered his question. He wasn’t even looking at me, or examining a skill at all. Just how tired was he from fixing whatever Sage did?

“Last week of the month? Okay, no problem. I’ll handle the transport to the airport for you. Is there anything else?”

“I was about to ask if you’re interested in the skills we managed to get from Spira, but I think that can wait until tomorrow.”

Sano yawned. “Y-y-you’re right… I’ll see the three of you tomorrow then.”

Back in the living area, Matsu and Uzume were waiting for me, while Leafeon was nibbling a berry snack. 

“Welcome back. You’re later than usual. Sano?” Uzume inquired as she laid out the dishes for dinner.

“Yeah, we had a short meeting.”

I filled them in on the details as we ate. The access to new worlds, the permission to go back to my home country while the shop was temporarily closed, and Sano’s exhausted state. 

“Alright! We can go to Rick-tan’s house! Got to practice greeting his parents!”

“Do you think they’ll accept the two of us sharing him?” 

Somehow, it appeared that our priorities were different. I shrugged and decided to roll with it.

Sano looked more rested when we saw him the next day, and was quite pleased with the skills we collected from Spira and Skyrim, especially so for the former. It was interesting to see the glint of excitement in his eyes as he examined them right in front of us. The amount of DP he paid out for the skills we sold was staggering, enough to purchase four high level skills from his stock.

But we didn’t buy any yet. Instead, we were busy with other things.

‘I’m coming back for reunion dinner. Bringing two-’ My thumb paused for a moment, before I continued, ‘friends along’

It didn’t take long before my dad replied. ‘Okay noted. Where are they going to stay?’

‘Bunk with me in my room. Got spare mattress, right?’

‘Yes, but will be cramped. How long will you be back for?’

I looked over at Matsu, who glanced at me from her laptop. “We’ll be flying off on Sunday night,” She answered without me asking. “I’ve managed to get seats for all of us close together.”

“Thanks, Matsu.” The price of tickets this close is painful for my wallet, even if my pay is much better.

Snapping a photo of the flight summary, I sent it off to my dad, who acknowledged it. 

‘Need your brother to give you a lift?’

‘We’ll take a taxi. It’s more convenient that way’

And with that, the plan to visit my family was underway. As expected, my parents began to ask more questions; how did I know these friends, what are they like, anything to be aware of, can you get souvenirs before you come back, and so on… I did my best to answer them without giving too much away, but it was a bit stressful for me. Thankfully, I had two beautiful women to help me relieve that stress at night.

Preparations for the rest of the trip was another thing. Since Sano said he would handle transport to the airport, all we had to do was pack our luggage. We could simply just store spare clothes in our inventories, but since we were trying to keep our cover, we had to buy suitcases to hold clothes and other stuff. It did allow for some nice shopping trips at night though. 

As for Leafeon, we didn’t see any way for her to accompany us on the trip, so with her agreement, we decided to leave her with the Pokemon Daycare in Kanto. With the control over the timeflow differences, it would only be a few days for her before we came back. 

No, Arceus, we’re not abandoning her. Don’t give us that look.

“Oh, she’s one of those new Eevee evolutions, isn’t she?” The old lady running the daycare center commented curiously, A Grass-type?”

“Fee~” Leafeon answered, an accompaniment to my nod.

Uzume crouched down and ran a hand along Leafeon’s back, causing her to wriggle contentedly. We had been giving her more attention over the past few days to make up for this temporary absence.

I shared a few tips with the caretaker, but overall, Leafeon was very easy to look after. Minimal food since she could photosynthesize, and very well-behaved with little interest in battling, so she could be left alone most of the day. Though if any other Pokemon tried to start trouble, they were going to learn just how bad of an idea it was.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her,” The old lady promised.

“Alright, Leafeon, we’ll be back soon.”

“On!” The Pokemon barked, nuzzled each of us once more, and followed the caretaker into the building.

The next day, we went to meet Sano in his office. He was looking much better compared to when he first returned, but the god was evidently still in the process of recovering. 

“I’m sure you three already know this, but I’ll be closing this shop temporarily to rest and recover,” He began, “So with that, I will see you all in February. Here are your train tickets when you return to Japan.”

We waited for a moment, but he didn’t say anything else.

“Wait, that’s it?” Uzume asked.

Sano nodded. “That’s it. This shop will be here when you get back, and if anything, I’ll inform you over the phone.”

And just like that, we were standing on the train platform with our suitcases, and the train was moving away. It was the same way as how I had arrived at the shop in the first place.

“How did we get here?” Matsu wondered, looking around in surprise.

“Some godly skill, that’s the only answer,” I replied tiredly, reaching out to grab my large suitcase. “Come on, let’s go.”

Now that I’m here with my luggage, it really felt like everything up till now was just a long, realistic dream.

A slender hand took hold of my free hand, and I looked to see Uzume smiling at me. A moment later, another hand lands on top of our joined ones, with Matsu giving me a wink.

“It’s not a dream, you know! We’re here with you!”

I was surprised for a bit, before smiling. “Yeah. Let’s go then.”

With that, the three of us headed for the airport.

Afterword: This time it felt like my muse was struggling with the chapter, especially towards the end. Still, I hope my readers enjoyed the small things I managed to work into it. Anyway, I’m considering skipping the whole family visit scene, because I have a strong feeling writing the events of trying to introduce one’s harem to the family is going to make me cringe so damn hard. Plus it would be more exciting instead if I were to focus on writing about visiting new worlds, wouldn’t you agree?

Please continue supporting this fic, and leave your comments, thank you!