Chapter 278: E-rank Commision & Everyone's Respective Thoughts

We finally defeated the slime and became E-rank adventurers.

Just like before, we continued doing unpopular commissions even after being promoted.

We’re accumulating guild points, and everyone in the Ernol family becomes stronger day by day.

There were commissions that would take a few days to accomplish, so there were times when we had to spend a lot of time outdoors. We could have opted to go home via teleportation, but we didn’t.

That’s because I wanted everyone to experience camping and other stuff that normal adventurers did.

There had been a few who opposed sleeping on the ground, but it was fun watching the stars with everyone before sleeping. I believed it would be a great experience for them.

We also took turns keeping watch.

I was awake all night long, so I kept guard while conversing with them one on one when they woke up in turns.

We were outdoors, so there was a sense of liberation.

And come night —

The mood was different than usual, so I got to hear the thoughts and feelings that they normally didn’t express.

Tina reminisced the days when she and I camped outdoors like this back when I was still the Guardian Hero. Back then, we slept outdoors with our life on the line, but Tina and I were together, so I did my best.

Leaffa opened up that she wanted to have a child soon. She was adorable as she turned beet red while making that request.

Youko wrapped me with her tails while telling me that she’s glad she formed a contract with me. She didn’t go berserk, and she even got to live with Kikyou, her mom, so she was over the moon.

I conjured a flame on my palm and played with Mai for a bit. It’s dangerous playing with fire at night, but that made it extra exciting.

Mei said that she was really happy that she and Mai formed contracts with me. I thought it was Mai that wanted to stick to Mei at all times, but I learned that Mei’s desire to be with Mai was also very strong.

Ryuka and I talked about a lot of things concerning [Resurrection]. I consulted her since I also wanted to use magic that could repair anything as long as it had mana flowing in it, but she told me that it was a specialty magic that belonged to the Dragon’s Shrine Maiden.

Merdie let me massaged her palms. It had been a while since I enjoyed those paw pads. I made her feel great, so there shouldn’t be any problem, right?

Sylph came to keep watch with me, but she laid her head on my lap and napped for a bit before switching with Seira. What did you come here for…Well, her sleeping face was adorable, so I just let it slide.

Seira confessed that she had liked me from when I saved her life back when I was still the Guardian Hero. Both of us became embarrassed, so we didn’t get to talk much after that.

Seira switched with Elmia with a red face, so when it was Elmia’s turn, she kept on asking what happened between us. She was going on and on about it, so I grabbed her and kissed her forcefully, and that shut her up.

Sitri confessed that she wasn’t a majin, but a demon, and was blessed by the Evil God to become the next Demon King. She asked me if I could still love her despite that.

Isn’t it a little late for that?

Sitri is already part of my family.

Even if you’re the Demon King, I love you.

Sitri burst into tears when I said that.

She had been hiding the truth from me this entire time, and she agonized over it.

Sorry… I should’ve noticed earlier.

…Ah. Then did that mean I should do that?

Should I go to Evil God-sama, the one who created Sitri, to greet him?

I wasn’t really worrying about this now, but if Evil God-sama were to kill me, I would like to punch him once, but…

Yeah, I shouldn't do that to my father-in-law, right?

I discussed that with Stri.

‘You can punch him, but please do it only once, okay?’, she said with a smile.

Shiro was the next one on guard duty. He told me to look after him more. He had his pride as the Divine Beast Fenrir, so he couldn’t ask anyone else other than Merdie and I to pat him, apparently. It was a bit moe~.

Hakua and I had an exciting discussion about dungeons, from floor organizing, traps, and other gimmicks down to item drop systems.

The two of us would visit Vestier’s dungeon from time to time. Recently, we opened it so that normal adventurers could also challenge it, and it was doing quite well.

Kikyou told me about Youko’s father. A human male saved her when she was injured in the past, and he had a similar air to me.

It was 200 years ago, so that guy was already dead. Kikyou didn’t know where his grave was since she had been sealed by Youko.

Next was Luke and Lielle. Both of them started to flirt with each other halfway through, even though I was still there.

When it was time to switch turns, Lielle went back to me on her own. She said, ‘Luke has been complaining that Halt doesn’t give him the time of the day recently. Please hang out with him from time to time, okay?’. Alright, Luke and I should go out and have fun looking for food stalls selling weird stuff with just the two of us.

Ryuushin and Hinata consulted me about wedding stuff. I see, so they’ve been thinking about getting hitched. I wanted them to be happy by all means. I would support them with all I could.

The greatest obstacle to their marriage was Cucuruka, Ryuushin’s mom. Well, Ryuushin’s love was the real deal, so I think they’d manage.

Do your best, Ryuushin.

The slimes girls were fast asleep, so they weren’t included in the rotation.

The last one to come was —

“Good evening, Halt.”

“Good evening, Luna — ah, but it’s already almost dawn.”

The sky was getting light.

“It’s been a while since we got to talk with only the two of us.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

We both sat on the ground and watched the sun rise. Luina leaned her head on my shoulder.

“Halt…Have you ever thought about going back to our former world?”

Luna said that, and she sounded really lonely.