94 – Adventurer Party
While Naofumi, Lia, and Sylvia were out hunting monsters, Bahamut was going treasure hunting.
Of course, he wasn't going alone.
Morgan rested his hand on his mother's blade, sheathed at his left side. As he did, his blue eyes sparkled with joy, looking around the surroundings with a smile on his face. "I've never gone treasure hunting before..."
Melty nodded, holding the Seven Star Staff that she had borrowed (without permission) from her older sister. "Neither have I." She smiled, looking excited. "Princesses rarely have the opportunity to explore beyond their realm... Unless you are like my older sister who decides to be a complete gadabout."
Filo frowned, adjusting her blue sun dress. "Big Sis Malty is no good! Running away with bad people is bad!"
Morgan tilted his head and said, "Big Sis Malty?"
Bahamut swept his gaze across the surroundings, absently responding with, "She means Miss Mein, Father's..."
Slave?
Servant?
Lover?
If Bahamut thought about it, Mein would end up being all three in the future considering his father was only abstaining because he had more of a lust for world domination than women, but considering how he acted around Miss Rishia, it was only a matter of time.
"...Companion."
Bahamut finished his words with that safe titled and then focused on the area around them.
Since the adults were mostly all doing their own things with the Three Heroes level grinding, S'yne working with Lucina to make the latter a proper wardrobe, Father off with Lia and Sylvia, and Bahamut's little sisters being watched by Miss Daji, Miss Mirellia, Mein, and Rishia...
It meant that this was Bahamut's one and only opportunity to actually go looking for loot.
Which led them to the current situation: sneaking into the caves by the side of the shoreline at lowtide.
A few tidepools were on the ground, filled with grabs and colorful sea critters.
But Bahamut ignored them, instead taking a look around for useful crafting materials.
Morgan noticed and tilted his head. "Are you looking for something, Bahamut?"
Bahamut nodded. "Fun things to craft with." He picked up a shiny stone with expectation... but it was just quartz, so he sighed and set it back down.
Filo's eyes sparkled though and she picked it up the moment Bahamut dropped it. "TREASURE!"
Bahamut blinked. Then he smiled and said, "It is all yours."
"Yay!" Filo giggled and tucked the shiny stone into the small blue backpack she carried. "Mine!"
Melty took a look around and said, "This place is quite interesting. It almost appears like the mystical locations spoken of in the ancient texts by the heroes..."
Morgan looked over at Melty and said, "Ancient texts?"
"Ah, yes." Melty nodded. "There were quite a few records by former summoned heroes and visitors to Melromarc. Some speak of hidden treasures kept in chests by the sea or in seaside caves."
Bahamut looked amused and said, "I do not think we'll find the Circle of Water here or Excalibur laying around."
Morgan swept his gaze around and then paused. He pointed at a rock and said, "Is it me, or does that rock have writing on it?"
"Hm?" Bahamut looked towards where Morgan was pointing. And then his eyes lit up in surprise and excitement. "It does!" He quickly walked over to take a closer look.
Melty and Filo trailed after him, both of them excited as well.
"Lemme see, lemme see!" Filo jumped up and down, trying to take a better look.
Meanwhile, Melty held up a glowing orb of light, cast with a muttered spell. "It does appear to be writing... although I do not recognize it."
Bahamut took a look and did a quick mental search. After that, he said, "It appears to be written in... Hylian?" He blinked. "...Strange."
Melty looked over at Bahamut and tilted her head. "Hylian? What language is that?"
"...Fictional. At the least, it should be? As for what this says..."
Bahamut furrowed his brow, mentally remapping the letters and translating it. Then...
"Conquer yourself?"
The moment he spoke those words out loud, a white light flashed.
Melty gasped.
Filo immediately clung to her older sister.
Morgan drew Falchion.
And then Bahamut...
He stared blankly at the four shadowy figures who looked just like them before saying, "...Father is going to scold me again later."
The one who looked like Bahamut held up his hand, gathering a pure blue light.
And then Bahamut pointed at him and said, "[Stopga]."
An invisible wave of mana spread out and then the shadowy figures froze, a transparent white clock slowly ticking down over their heads.
Bahamut looked at Morgan and said, "You can actually use Falchion, yes?"
"A-Ah. Yes!" Morgan nodded, raising his mother's blade. "I inherited Naga's blood properly, so it responds to my hand."
"Okay. Then you should be supereffective on the shadow versions of myself and of your own self." Bahamut smiled. "Shall we have some fun then?"
===
I stopped in the middle of punting a Karma Pengu, a monster that looked like a giant metallic penguin with black feathers. Then I glanced towards the coastline. Specifically, at the cliffside coastline that definitely had hidden caves.
Lia stopped in the middle of continuously stabbing a Karma Pengu of her own to farm train skill proficiency and tilted her head. "What's wrong, Naofumi-dono?"
"...I just had the feeling that I'll need to scold the Boy later."
Was this what Dad felt when I did things?
I should get him a bottle of whisky one of these days to apologize.
I definitely understood what he was going through now...
Sylvia picked up a cute pink rabbit onesie that dropped from the giant Karma Rabbit field boss she killed. After taking a look at it, she smiled and said, "I think Mina will like this, don't you, Master?"
I stared at the onesie and imagined Mina wearing it. Then I said, "Mimi would enjoy it. But I'm kind of worried she'll be inspired to do tricks..."
Lia tilted her head. "Would that be so bad?"
"Yes. Because my cute Mimi is definitely a sadist in the making."
I remembered the glee in her eyes when she saw me panic after she dove in the water...
Sylvia handed the pink rabbit onesie for me to put away. Then she said, "Are you feeling better now, Master?"
"Hm?" I put the onesie in my inventory and said, "What do you mean?"
"Well, you seemed a bit flustered by your parents being here."
Lia giggled. "Very flustered! You looked like you wanted to run away and never show up again! It was funny! I didn't know you could make that face!"
I coughed. "Yes, well..." I sighed. "...I love my parents, but they have a habit of doing ridiculous things and making my life complicated."
Sylvia tilted her head. "...So like what you do for me, Lia, Mina, Nina, and Bahamut?"
"..."
Lia giggled again.
I sighed. "...Anyway. We're here to mostly relax and get resources. It seems like my parents decided to let things slide, so we're back on track."
Sylvia hummed. "I have been meaning to ask, Master..."
"Yes?"
Sylvia crossed her arms and said, "What do you actually want to do with this world? And... when do you plan to leave?"
I paused to consider that. Then I said, "Huh. Did I not tell you guys yet?"
Lia shook her head. "It's been a while since we've just talked, Naofumi-dono. So no."
"...Oh. Right. Note to self: figure out a way to add private messages to the Status Magic System."
That would be SO convenient at organizing things...
"...But anyway." I looked at Lia and Sylvia. Then I said, "I plan to use this world as a home base and trial ground on how to resolve resource shortage issues back in my home world. But to do that, we need to clear up the waves... the next one should be the last if I have things set up properly. At least, this world will stop being dragged into those events."
Lia nodded. "Okay. So Naofumi-dono wants to become this world's god."
"...I didn't say that."
Sylvia covered her mouth with a hand and laughed. "It is essentially the same thing, is it not?"
"I said I want to use this world to-"
I paused, remembering exactly what I said. Then I realized that it was functionally the same as a nascent creator deity testing powers on a sandboxed planet...
"See?" Sylvia smiled. "The only difference is that you do not intend to rule or govern, just own... yes?"
"...Right. So, not necessarily a god, but divine adjacent."
Lia tilted her head. "What does adjacent mean?"
"...I forget that you guys have the life experiences of kids at times. But it means next to, Lia."
"Oh! So you want to be kind of like a god but none of the responsibilities?"
"...I didn't say that."
Sylvia chuckled. "We know you by now, Master. And you clearly aren't a person who likes being held down by anything."
Lia nodded. "Mmhm! That's why you haven't picked a girlfriend yet, right? Even though you have so many beautiful women who want to be with you?"
Sylvia looked at Lia and nodded back at her. "My mother, Mein, Miss Mirellia, Miss Lucina..."
"And lots of people in Libertas!"
Sylvia's eyes lit up. "That is true. If Master returned to Libertas and simply asked if anyone wanted to be his beloved, there would be plenty who would volunteer."
"...Okay. Enough about my love life. That comes later."
Sylvia smiled. "Fine. Then..." Her violet eyes focused and she said, "When do you plan to leave, Master? There's not much left in this world for you, right?"
I thought about it for a while. And then I realized Sylvia was right.
My main objectives were settled.
The world was pretty much squared away. The global powers that kept it a crapsack world were gone, Libertas had been created with everyone holding me up as an ideal and guideline, and then the waves were (soon to be at least) a non-issue.
Not only that, since Iggy was on the moon and getting a feel for adjusting the dimensional boundaries since she was a World Tree, and since the moon was also terraformed, we have a Plan B in case the world went to hell too.
In short...
"Huh." I paused. "I guess that's true."
Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu were capable enough to deal with anything that might come via the waves.
Mirellia was competent enough to sort out the political fallout.
The only thing that I really needed to check on was that Japan-like country that was clearly responsible for messing up Lia's life, and that also kept spying on me...
But it wasn't like they were a threat or anything.
So...
"Alright then."
...Since Mom and Dad were planning to stick around anyway, and since I had secured a way home...
"I guess it's time to have some fun-"
*BOOM*
I froze and looked towards the distance just in time to see what looked like a megaflare deflected into the sky.
Lia giggled.
Sylvia sighed.
As for me...
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY!"