“How long will you be gone?” I asked after a long period of silence.
The girls all let out breaths, taking my words as acceptance toward their requests.
“It might be a month, or maybe up to three.”
“Three months…” I breathed.
Altogether, I hadn’t been in this world for much more than three months. I understood though. I had the pleasure of having nearly two months in Twilight dungeon. Even then, it wouldn’t be unreasonable if someone needed years to go on a personal journey. A few months wasn’t much at all. It was just hard to wrap my head around how much had happened in this last half-year, not even that much time had passed for my girls.
However, with the threat gone, there wasn’t a better time for them to do this. Once I got back from the wedding, we’d have finished cleaning up after the battle. The army will then march on Alerith, and I will establish my rule over the western side of Aberis. It will be more politics and ruling, and I wasn’t anticipating doing very much dangerous stuff. I had no reasons to go into any dungeons. Even my money problems would be resolved once we started growing plants. I expected my time here would be smooth sailing in the future.
“What are you all planning to do?” I asked after calming my heart a bit.
“I need to look for a swordmaster.” Lydia declared. “I’ve realized that I’ve taken my sword craft about as far as it can go without one. My levels have become slower and slower to earn, and my skill is still lacking.”
“Is there one in Aberis?” I asked.
“I do not know, but please don’t find one for me. I believe this is something I have to do on my own.” Lydia explained.
“Very well.”
“One of the three dungeons in the wilderness is of the undead type,” Miki spoke up. “I’d like to head there to refine my spiritualist abilities. I have spent so much time among the living, that if I want to see my path, I must experience some time among the dead.”
“I see, is this a dangerous dungeon.”
“For me?” Miki raised an eyebrow.
I blushed. “Right…”
Miki feared the dead as much as I did, which is to say not at all. We both had a strong affinity for battling them.
“Mother says she knows a way for me to cultivate my mana body by immersing myself into the fairy spring.” Celeste declared. “While she is helping Elaya and Xin rebuild the dungeon, I’ll be in the spring directly, refining it through my body.”
The dungeon had been mostly destroyed by that meteor. Xin was quite ruffled over it. We had succeeded, but it would be a month before the dungeon was back to normal. Celeste being in the spring was probably a good thing. I didn’t know how it worked, but springs and fairies had a unique relationship where their presence reinforced each other. Celeste said she could gain whatever she needed wherever there was wind, but the fairy spring was still the best place for her.
“Terra?” I turned to her.
“I will be going underground into the deep.”
“The… deep?”
“Garnet says she remembers a path that leads to the home of the deep dwarves. We’ll be heading down there. I want to do this for a few reasons. First off, to gather unique magical ores. She believes that there are still treasures down there. With my mineral appraisal, I might be able to make the old deep dwarf kingdom’s wealth our own.”
“That would be great!” My eyes widened.
“I also feel that communing with the deep Earth will help me gain a better understanding of my ability to channel Gaia,” Terra admitted. “You don’t need to worry, I spent most of my life underground, and so did she. We’ll be fine.”
“I see.”
“I’d like to go to Earth.” Shao spoke up.”
“Wh-what?” My eyes widened.
“I just… I want answers.” Shao blushed. “I mean, it’s not like I can walk into the demon castle and ask the demon king. I know you said it’s unlikely I can find my family, but I would still like to give it a try.”
“I… I will send you if that’s what you want.”
In truth, Earth was a very safe place compared to everywhere else. If Shao wanted to go there, then she should have that right. Just because I didn’t have any lingering attachment, didn’t mean that she didn’t.
“Salicia? Carmine?”
“I’ll be returning to the church.” Carmine shrugged.
“And you’ll be joining her?” I asked Salicia.
“Surprisingly, no.” Salicia chuckled. “My goal is the dungeon that created me. When Calypso restored my memory, I also gleaned the location of the dungeon that spawned me. She never bothered to destroy the place, nor did she take control of it like Bandit’s Respite. It’s in a generally unknown location, used mostly by bandits as a hideout so they don’t get caught. I’d like to go there and destroy it once and for all. It’ll be good closure for me.”
“I see you’ve all put some thought into this.” I nodded. “Then, you may go.”
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