“Tek here, many unfortunate people have to work through the new year--and they don’t even notice that the year has changed.”

 

“Tek!”

 

The first of my girls who found me as I returned from the Royal Capital, of course while bringing souvenirs, was Mia. It looks like Spirits become slightly excited when Teleportation Magic is used, and even though it’s only for a second, she somehow notices it.

 

Probably noticing Mia’s excited dash towards me--Pochi and Tama quickly run out from the villa.

 

“I knew it! It’s Master!”

“Wilcome!”

 

The three arrive at the same time, and all three jump onto me.

 

Mia latches onto me from the front, her slim arms wrapping around me tightly, her soft chest pressing against mine. Tama and Pochi each take a side, entwining my arms in their warm embrace.

 

Pochi speaks with teary eyes, up-turned eyes, “Arisa is…”

 

When I ask her what she means, she only answers with little, confused moans and a tilted head, while repeating “Arisa…Is?”

 

It seems like she can’t figure out how to word it, especially because she seems to have trouble speaking badly about people she loves.

 

“Nn, emotionally unstable.” Mia pipes up as she rubs her head on my back.

 

We had started walking back to the villa, so Mia had to change her position--while the other two girls got to stay in their place with pleased grins.

 

“Well, I’ve brought some souvenirs with me, let’s talk while eating them.” I speak in a reassuring tone.

 

“Meat?”

 

Tama and Pochi asked at the same time, their tales beginning to wag excitedly.

 

“Sweets?” Mia asked from behind, her arms still wrapped around my waist as we walked.

 

“Both, among other things.”

 

My words made the girls feel much happier.

 

When I open the villa’s door, I suddenly hear Arisa having a dispute with the others.

 

“I’ve said since a while ago, w should attack from a distance with Magic!”

 

“Negative. If that blow cannot defeat it, the rear guard will encounter danger.”

 

“That’s right. The first spear is the honour of a soldier. The proper method would be us, the vanguard, charging in first; then the rear guard can give the decisive strike when its health is low enough.”

 

“But, Liza, Tama, and Pochi might be injured by then!”

 

“Arisa, I will be protecting them, so I propose.”

 

“Nana’s guard isn’t impregnable. Even a Mid-Rank Demon wouldn’t be unscathed if they get hit by the triple attack of the Magi-Hydra’s breath, Magic, and bite.”

 

“It’s all thanks to the equipment, and the new Magic. I recommend that we forward the praise to Master, so I declare!”

 

It seems that even though I suggested that they try to avoid fighting the Magi-Hydra because of its Charm attack, they still fought it--I wonder why.

 

***

“So, in other words. Arisa, Liza and Nana seem to be arguing tactics, and a misunderstanding that occurred during the fight?” I asked the girls.

 

“That’s right. But that’s not it.” Mia answers.

 

“Arisa is saying some unreasonable things.” Pochi says, looking down.

 

“Eh, didn’t I only say that you should use your Smooth-bore Gun to kill the Bring-Bird.” Arisa said to Lulu.

 

“Arisa, hitting the Bring-Bird with Magic is difficult enough, your request is unreasonable, you know?” Lulu calmly replied, placing the tableware and dishes on the table.

 

“But, you hit it, right?”

 

“It was because the Bring-Bird was resting on a rock, in the distance. I also had the interlinked goggles, and Space Stake keeping the gun’s barrel stable. I have absolutely no confidence to hit a Bring-Bird if it is flying--it moves like Tama…” Lulu cutely puts her finger on her chin while thinking, before correcting Arisa.

 

The interlinked goggles are something I added to her new Smooth-bore Gun, it covered the difficulty of using a scope. The goggles will directly display the image from the scope on one eye, and from a prototype ‘radar’ on the other--which removes a lot of the threat of being ambushed from behind.

 

On the other hand, the Space Stake is designed after the World Tree’s Subspace Anchoring. Of course it is nowhere near as good as the World Tree, but it can easily stabilize the barrel of a gun and completely eliminate any shaking; the Magic Circuit is activated by either a button or voice command.

 

When activated, there is a reply, which was recorded by me. I don’t feel too shy when doing so, because sometimes when the game company I worked for didn’t have the budget, the staff would also work as voice actors.

 

“Did Pochi manage to hit one?” I asked her.

 

“I did hit one--with Magic Edge Cannon.” The last part of her sentence was said in a lower tone.

 

“Pochi is amazing. She bent Magic Edge Cannon.” Tama reported Pochi’s achievement with a pleased look.

 

Oh?

 

So Magic Edge Cannon’s shot can be bent, like the bullets in that unrealistic movie…I forgot the name.

 

When we had entered the villa, Arisa, Liza, and Nana didn’t notice. We sat on the couch and observed. Mia was leaning against me, Tama and Pochi shared my lap.

 

“Okay! The talk about fighting stops here, please continue after the meal.” Lulu, who had finished all the preparations for the meal, clapped her hands, gathering the other three girls’ attention.

 

It was only then that the rest noticed my presence.

 

Liza and Nana apologized for not greeting me--while Arisa jumped at me with an annoyed face, burying her face on my neck…while running her hands all over me, causing Tama and Pochi to let out squeaks when she accidentally brushed their butts; she was rubbing my thighs, squirming her hands under the two, surprised, Beastkin.

 

Arisa got like this when she was annoyed, or scared.

 

Rolling my eyes, I gently pushed the girls off and walked over to the table.

 

 

***

The next day, the girls began training again. This time, with the assumption that the Floormaster can negate Physical Attacks.

 

When they came back for dinner, everyone was exhausted, probably from Magic Power Exhaustion. It seems that they had trained until they used up all of the Mana Potions I had given them.

 

I was glad that they had enough sense to leave enough Mana for Arisa to Teleport them back.

 

Since I had been working with Mara, my Mana was quite low as well--so I didn’t use Mana Transfer on them, but brought out the meals that Lulu had made last night; meals that helped with the recovery of Mana.

 

Unfortunately for the Beastkin girls--these dishes were primarily a special kind of herb; so there was no meat. Their disappointed faces, drooping tails and ears was both cute…and made me feel slightly bad.

 

As for the other girls, they ate normally, because they don’t dislike vegetables.

 

In addition, for the girls who like meat, I will ask Lulu to make them an extra helping for dinner.