Chapter 1155: Departure
Chapter 1155: Departure
"Will we ever see you?"
"Can you please come back at least?"
Aqua and Rose were constantly swimming around us, asking for us to come back quickly. They
were sure going to miss us, maybe miss me more than the rest, but yeah.
"Sorry, no promises, girls," I said. "Erm, also don't wait for us... or me, get married to someone else if possible, alright?"
"Ugh..."
"Really?"
Are these girls for real?
"Yes, really! Anyways, farewell, take care, okay? I'll open a Shadow Portal here only I can access, so if I ever come back, it'll be through here," I said. "I do plan to start doing some trading between your nation and my village, maybe make a connection with the dwarves as well."
"So you're coming back!"
"Alrighto!"
They were pumped up, but I just decided to ignore these mermaid princesses, our worlds were too different, and I would prefer if they remained living their leisure lives down here.
"Please wait, as a last gift, we would like to give you this," the King said. "You've slain the King of the Depths, so the least we could do is gift you half of our treasury!"
Suddenly, a gigantic carriage brought a huge pile of gold, jewels and treasures, there were also many weapons included into the pile.
"M-More things?!" asked Lucifer. "Oi this is too much, you're going to fall into poverty like this!"
"Poverty?" wondered the Queen. "Well, we don't do trading with anybody, so this is mostly useless... We are rather self-sustained after all."
"Unbelievable..." I sighed. "Okay, if you insist, I'll take some of that!"
I didn't hesitate at the end, taking what they offered, it was better and less insulting to take and accept their generosity instead of just rejecting it. I opened a portal to my inventory, and everything got sucked inside.
"Maria! Isn't this excessive? I don't feel right taking advantage of their generosity..." Lucifer was perhaps too nice at times.
"Worry not honey, they'll be fine," I said. "I left them some protection. Look."
He looked into the seas surrounding the city's bubble, realizing there were a few thousand undead sea monsters, most at S Rank and above.
"If you want to put it that way, they're paying me to protect them," I said with a smile. "Does that please you then?"
"I-I... I guess so?" he wondered. "Hah, whatever the case, let's just go, I'm tired of these overly generous people. Nobody else in the world will you find people openly gifting you treasures, and gold like them."
"Hahah, yeah, they're a very generous bunch," laughed Partner. "So how do we go back home- Woah!"
Partner stepped into the Shadow Portal as we all instantly teleported from Aquarose to the village.
Yep, once I pinpoint the locations and place my Shadow Realm Fragments in them, I can use Shadow Teleportaiton to teleport from one place quite literally to another.
What greeted us was a beautiful grassland surrounding a small town, or perhaps a large village? Whatever the case, the town was surrounded by tall walls and a near invisible barrier.
The sky was clear, and the sun shone brightly, the sun was nice indeed.
"We're really back home~ It has been a while!" said Emeraldine.
"Yeah..." Partner nodded.
"So this is your home?" wondered Nia wondered. "Such a beautiful and big place, and this coldness... It is certainly different than the deserts!"
"Woah, I feel... stronger here," said Celes. "Not as strong as in the sea but, the humidity is nice."
"It's no longer snowing all the time now!" Nyx jumped around happily. "Celes! Let me show you the place! There are farmlands over there, and then there's the forest over there, and the mountains, and dungeons!"
Nyx grabbed Celes hand and started showing him the surroundings, not physically bringing him there, of course, but she was mostly teaching him where all things were.
"For anyone that isn't familiar, welcome to my home. I am not an ambitious woman, and I do not aim to create a nation," I said. "I have only created a small community of hard-working people, and with their help, we've built a small home, a village of sorts. I don't aim for anything grander than this, but I guess my people is different... I don't know how this will change in the future, but it has already changed quite a lot- Ah, right, anyways! Welcome! And please, try to feel like at home."
I distributed warmer clothes to everyone that came from the desert, Fabian and his friends were looking around in surprise, Eustace, and Nia too, amazed by the beauty of these lands of fertile green and humidity in the cold air.
"Woah, this place's amazing!" Fabian said.
"Such a beautiful town!" Spectra nodded.
"It sure is huge!" Beery nodded.
"Quite so..." Garon gasped.
"Ahh, I don't know if I like the style of the houses..." Nick commented.
Fabian and his friends entered the town once the gates opened. Guards, composed of tall hobgoblin-like people, with muscular frame and horns, Majin, and also Rabbit-kin, greeted
us.
The Rabbit-kin also looked oddly different now, most of them had white and gold fur rings around their brown fur, and their eyes held a celestial, golden gleam to them.
What did happen here while I was gone?!
"It's Lady Maria!"
"She's finally back!"
"Welcome back, everyone!"
"She's back, she's back!"
"She has brought many friends!"
"New people? So many new faces!"
"Surprising..."
The people quickly ran out to greet us, all kinds of people. I couldn't see any goblin anymore other than the youngest children. Everyone else had fully evolved into something beyond
Hobgoblins.
"Hello everyone! Hi!" I greeted them. "I'm back! Just to chill for a bit."
As the people clamored our return, I heard some familiar voices.
"Oh, lady Maria!"
"Auntieee!"
"She's here... Finally!"
"It has been quite some time."
I was greeted by three green-skinned people, former goblins, and friends of mine, and also
two rabbit-kin people, also friends of mine.
They were all people I once rescued, a long while ago, before everything truly began, when In/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
had yet to even pick a place where I could stay.
Old friends...