Chapter 105: Onward To Lumilus

「Nya~! Another long trip on a boat nya~n!」

On the next day, Vulcan stretched her limbs and received the winds flowing toward her. [Note: Titanic]

Right now, Aria and co. were on a ship that had departed from Labyrinth city’s harbor.

Their destination was none other than Lumilus, the elven village and the place that Vassago would most likely target.

Lumilus was located in a certain place beyond the mountain range in the Zehart kingdom. Since the group was racing against time, they had used a ship that would allow them to arrive at their destination faster.

「The sea! It’s the sea! This is the first time I’ve seen it!」

「The water is everywhere!」

「It has a rather peculiar smell!」

Lily and Faeri were exhilarated at the sight of the sea, while Stella was fascinated by the salty smell of the seawater.

「How’s your condition, Your Highness Julius?」

The worried Aria asked Julius, who was enjoying the wind in a corner of the ship deck with his eyes shut.

Just like Vulcan, Prince Julius was also participating in this mission. But, his complexion wasn’t good as he was still exhausted from the previous fight.

「It’s okay, Aria. Even though I might not be able to rampage as I did in the previous battle, I can still give commands from behind.」

Prince Julius replied to Aria with a nod.

Despite Aria and co.’s attempt to secretly give their elixir to Prince Julius, his condition was far beyond the state where it could be healed from the elixir. His deteriorated condition was the result of him overexerting his hero power many years ago,

The ones to board this ship were Aria’s group, Julius, and Alisha.

In addition, the knights, Dany and others, and ten adventurers were present too.

The knights went along since it was their duty, while the adventurers had volunteered.

Aria and co. had defeated Vassago’s two summoned beasts; otherwise, those two would have ruined Labyrinth city.

Therefore, when they heard that Aria’s birthplace was in danger, the skilled adventurers had raised their arms and nominated themselves by yelling, 「Now it’s our turn to save Aria-chan’s birthplace!」.

「I might’ve retired from the front line, but I can still fight?」

The one who muttered those words was… Arnold Hwarzenegger.

(S)he was a former B-rank adventurer who had decided to help Aria’s group in the upcoming battle with her own power.

（Our enemy is the Demon Race army led by one of the Four Demon Dukes, Vassago. This is our war potential. We can recruit more people when we arrive in Lumilus. We’re not going to lose since Cedric-dono will also join our forces.）

As he enjoyed Aria’s embrace, Tama thought about their current situation.

Since their enemy wanted to attack with a large force, it was only right for them to respond in kind.

According to Alisha’s information, Vassago would only attack after he had regained his full power and could teleport his army.

Since Lumilus was protected by a barrier created by the philosopher’s stone, it was impossible to teleport inside the center of the village. Therefore, Aria’s group would have to face Vassago’s army outside the village.

「Long time no see, Aria. Can I hug Tama-chan too?」

「I want to hug him too.」

Aria was enjoying the wind breeze inside the deck while hugging Tama when Kenny and Marietta called out to her.

Even though they simply wanted to hug Tama, they had also realized that hugging Tama was loosening the tension in Aria’s mind.

「Of course! Tama, will you allow Marietta-san and Keny-san to hug you?」

「Nya~n(Roger that, master)!」

Tama replied to Aria with a lively cry.

As a former knight, he was rather reluctant to be hugged by another person aside from his master. But since it was his master’s order, it couldn’t be helped. The two knights dressed in bikini armor then put the cat into their embrace.

「U~hm, he’s so fluffy and adorable!」

「Right! I can’t get enough of his glossy fur!」

Marietta patted Tama’s head while Kenny embraced him.

Despite being a Behemoth, Tama’s infant body naturally reacted and he squinted while enjoying the two knights’ treatment.

「AH! SO SLY! I WANT TO EMBRACE TAMA TOO!」

「ME TOO, ME TOO!」

「ME TOO~!」

Seeing Kenny and Marietta pamper Tama, the trio of Stella, Lily, and Faeri rushed over to them and said, “ME TOO! ME TOO!”.

In the past, because Aria viewed Stella as her rival in love, she used to do everything in her power to stop Stella from hugging Tama. However, after the two of them had understood each other better, Tama had always ended up inside their melons.

（Nya! Tama-chan’s sacred beast transformation is soo co~ol nya!）

Vulcan recalled the scene in the last battle when she saw Tama being surrounded by so many women.

Even though they had been fighting a deadly battle at that time, Vulcan had still been charmed by Tama’s majestic white lion form.

Aria and the others had tried to ask Alisha whether she knew about Tama’s mysterious transformation, but Alisha had shaken her head and said she had no idea.

（Fufufu… Tama-chan has become stronger than before.）

Alisha let out a gentle smile as she looked at Tama, who let out confused cries upon finding himself being sandwiched between Aria and Stella’s twin melons.