"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!" Kishirika screamed with joy as she hugged me tightly.
Puzzled looks fell on the three women in my group and Ruigerd looked at me with a slight smile.
"Thank you so much!...I-I... I've spent so much time... Badi never looked for a way t-to help me!" Kishirika sobbed as she buried her face in my chest tightly.
"Calm down, now, now, you're safe now, now you can go all over the world without fear," I said with a smile.
"Yes... And I'm also going to keep my promise..." She murmured as she stared at me, blushing.
"I'll be waiting for it" I said, caressing his cheek and so we separated.
"D-did something happen Rudy?" Sylphie asked curiously.
"Yes, I was able to cancel Kishirika's curse that kept her confined only to the demon continent," I answered her while putting a hand on her shoulder causing her to blush.
"I-is that so?... T-then congratulations Kishirika!" Sylphie's tone was cheerful as she looked at the demon loli who gave her her typical shark-toothed smile.
"I always wondered why you had never left the demon continent, now I know why?" Ruigerd murmured softly and with a small smile.
"Does that mean she'll be able to accompany us home?" Eris asked excitedly.
All eyes turned to Kishirika and she nodded without hesitation.
After chatting a bit we located our position on the map to continue the trip.
"According to the map, we're 10 km south of Millis," Hope said, looking at the map on her ring.
"Yes, and Lady Hilda is close by as well, "She is about four kilometers from the city and about 20 kilometers from us," Sylphie continued.
"Huh?!, Mom's here too?!" Eris asked excitedly and I nodded.
"In that case we must notify her so she can join us," I said as I activated my own ring.
[Rudeus: Lady Hilda, please check your location on the map]
[Hilda: Why are you there now?! How did you do it so fast?!]
[Ghislaine: Weren't you guys north of the demon continent?!]
[Philip: I want to know too]
[Lilia: Me too]
[Zenith: and me]
[Rudeus:It's something complicated to explain, I'll just say that I found ruins of teleportation magic thanks to a demon queen]
[Philip: Teleportation magic? Wasn't that forbidden?]
[Rudeus: Yes it is, but now we are using it to our advantage, I don't think you have any problems with that, right?]
[Philip: Sorry, you're right, so what will you do now?]
[Rudeus: Most obviously, I'm meeting with Lady Hilda, so I need her to check her location on the map]
[Hilda: It says here that you are 20 kilometers east of my location, Do you want me to come to you?]
[Rudeus: We both move forward to cover more ground]
[Hilda: It's okay, I'm so relieved everyone is okay]
[Zenith: Rudy! Before you go, I want to let you know that we are finally in the south of Asura!]
[Lilia: Indeed, thanks to your ring, young master, and Lady Ghislaine's skills, we were able to return safely.]
[Philip: Yes, but I'm still on the Beggarit Continent waiting in this tremendous sun]
[Rudeus: Please be patient Lord Philip, I will find a way to get to you]
[Philip: I understand, you must be under a lot of pressure, right? I won't bother you anymore. If my daughter and wife are okay, I'll be calm.]
[Rudeus: Don't worry Father-in-law, I'll protect them with my life]
[Zenith: Rudy? What do you mean by father-]
I quickly closed the ring chat and focused on the ring map.
"Lady Hilda is not far, we will move quickly to reach her as quickly as possible..." I said and everyone nodded.
The easiest solution to move faster is to carry the dead weight on our backs.
So with much sacrifice I carried Hope as princess, Eris carried Kishirika and Ruigerd carried Sylphie.
My mother-in-law blushed heavily as she buried her face in my chest and so we started moving quickly.
...
"Not so fast! You're making me nauseous!" Kishirika complained as she was carried like a sack of potatoes by Eris.
Because we were in a hurry, I used gravity magic to make us all slightly lighter so we could run faster without expending more energy.
After about five minutes we covered half the way to Hilda.
I won't be lying if I say I'm not excited.
Even though it hasn't even been a week since the disaster in Mana, being away from her beautiful tits is too much for me.
With my super enhanced Eye senses I could feel Hilda's presence even from a distance but other presences made me tense up when they entered my field of vision.
There were about 30 people, all with decent power and only one was slightly formidable...the worst?.
That they were all heading straight for Hilda at a terrifying speed!
"Shit! There's trouble!" I yelled as I increased my speed.
"Rudeus? What's going on?!" Ruigerd shouted in alarm and started running faster as well.
"It's Lady Hilda! She's in danger!" I shouted.
Eris, Hope and Sylphie visibly tensed up but we kept running.
Hilda had Emperor-level stone bullets and god-level barrier magic.
On normal occasions she could defend herself, but her being alone against so many powerful people only made my concern increase.
I couldn't help it, she's my woman after all, and I will protect her with my life always.
...
On the other side of the forest Hilda walked quickly through the woods, her red dress was dirty and stained, her hair was disheveled and her face showed slight signs of fatigue.
She had been walking non-stop in the forest for four days, although it wasn't that difficult thanks to the ring Rudeus gave her, as a woman accustomed to being within the security of a castle, suddenly being out in the open was too much for her.
All she wanted now was to throw herself into Rudeus's arms and have him comfort her.
"Rudeus..." The name came out as a sigh from Hilda's lips as she shrugged.
As the woman in love that she was, being away from her beloved was too much for her.
But that would soon be over, just a little more walking and they could be together again...
"I just hope we can have some time alone for a moment..." She muttered to herself as she felt herself blush and her nipples harden.
*Track!, Track!*
But her fantasies were immediately erased when she heard the sound of a horse running towards her.
"!!!" Hilda immediately tensed up.
She had already been in this situation more times in four days than she should have.
"Haaa!" Hilda immediately activated the God-rank barrier provided by her ring and hid behind a tree.
It was not the first time that she had been intercepted by bandits.
After all, a woman with enormous breasts, expensive clothes, and completely alone in the woods might seem like an easy target, and she would be one without her ring.
This thought made her love for Rudeus only grow even more.
"Where is she?! I missed her presence!"
"She's using that ring again! Be careful!"
"She couldn't have gone far! Keep searching!" The bandits' screams made her tense up and hold her breath slightly.
"Rudeus.." Hilda muttered fearfully as she hugged herself.
"Hehehe! I found her! Everyone come here" the voice of a bandit made Hilda's heart skip a beat.
The bandit about 10 meters away from her yelled with a smile as he started running towards her with sword in his hand.
"nngh!" Hilda immediately pointed her right hand at the bandit and in a split second a stone spear about a meter long formed and shot out breaking the speed of sound.
"very easy!!!... Agh!" The bandit's screams echoed through the forest.
He couldn't even process what had happened.
In his mind he had easily deflected the stone spear, splitting it in two, but immediately a light blinded him, followed by a stabbing pain.
"aaagh!!!" The bandit's screams made Hilda tense up in shock but when she saw more of them approaching she began to conjure more stone spears.
"Careful! With that ring, she can use earth magic without chants!"
"haaa!! Urrgh!!!" Another bandit tried to cut the stone spear in half only to have the shrapnel inside it ejected into his face.
"Dodge those stone spears at all costs!" Another bandit shouted as more than a dozen of them rushed at Hilda
Panic gripped her and she began to throw stone spears left and right.
But one of the bandits was faster, dodged her stone spear and with a long sword of silence pointed at her shoulder.
Hilda saw her life flash before her eyes, she wasn't trained to fight so she couldn't react to any attack so she could only watch as the sword headed towards her and...
*claaank!!*
The sword bounced off her shoulder with a loud thud, breaking it in the process.
The force of the impact of his own attack broke the bandit's arms and the others were in shock.
"haaa!!"
*Clank!!!"
Immediately another bandit tried to attack her but the barrier on her body repelled all attacks.
"She's using barrier magic! Our attacks are useless!!" Another bandit shouted as the others took steps back.
"If we can't attack her, we must prevent her from using the ring." Another shout and so they began to surround her.
The calm that Hilda had regained was broken again by the bandits' new strategy, so she simply continued throwing stone spears.
The stone spears kept the bandits at bay, but Hilda couldn't escape either; both sides were in precarious conditions, and Hilda's stamina was wearing thin.
"I knew it, leave it to me! Raaah!!!" A guttural scream echoed through the forest, the bandits' faces lit up and they sighed in relief.
Immediately a lightning bolt shot out from deep within the forest and struck Hilda.
*Claaank!*
Her protective barrier did its job but the force behind the attack was so great that it made her roll on the ground.
"nngh!!" Hilda tried to get up quickly but the attacker had already moved.
But still when she saw his face she couldn't help but open her eyes wide.
"you are?!-"
"raaaah!!!!" Another guttural scream echoed through the forest intercepting the attack of the strongest bandit.
*krooom!!!* The expansive force of both attacks colliding was so much that everyone except Hilda was sent flying.
Seeing the person who protected her and recognizing him, Hilda's eyes couldn't help but fill with tears.
"Rudeus! You came for me!" She cried out with relief and love.
"Yes, run away!" Rudeus shouted and without thinking twice Hilda got up and started running.
Immediately when she approached the woods a green-haired man picked her up and carried her and ran away.
Hilda tensed immediately but when she recognized the people next to the man she relaxed even more.
"Eris!!"
"mother!"
Both women screamed in unison but nothing more as they all continued running through the forest.
...
"Haa... shit, that was close," I thought as I sighed.
"Nngh... aaah!" The man in front of me was attacking my Hilda, so he deserved death like the other bandits in this place. But looking at the man's features, I couldn't help but grimace.
"So it's you... father," I muttered with a sigh.
"The boss is in trouble! Let's help him!" one of the bandits shouted, and the rest began to run toward me.
"Stop everyone!" The man in front of me, Paul, shouted loudly, and the other bandits froze in place with surprised faces.
"B-but boss!..."
"Don't attack, I told you!" Paul shouted again, and the others lowered their weapons.
"Rudeus?... I-is that you?" He muttered as he looked me in the eyes, and immediately an awkward grimace appeared on his face.
"Yes, Father, it's me," I said, looking him in the eye, causing him to look away.
"... w-we'll retreat! Let's return to Millis!" he announced, staring at the bandits, who could only mutter angrily before retreating.
"..."
"..."
We both remained silent in our places. I didn't know what Paul was thinking, but his new appearance caught my attention.
His ponytail now reached his waist, he had a bushy beard, and he was wearing a green tent and full body armor.
What caught my attention most was his sword.
It had a gold handle, and the metal didn't look like silver or any other common metal. It emitted a slight greenish-blue glow, and using my Mana Eye, I could see that it was coated with a thick layer of individual Touki, which fused with Paul's.
It was hard to explain, but it was as if the sword produced its own Touki.
We both remained silent for several long seconds until Paul broke the silence.
"R-Rudeus... w-what are you doing here?"
"It's hard to explain. I'll just say that the entire Fittoa region was wiped out by a mana disaster, and everyone in the region was teleported to random parts of the world, and we ended up here," I said in a serious tone.
Paul simply stroked his chin and replied with an "I see," while lightly twirling the sword in his hand.
"And y-your mother and Lilia? H-how are they?"
"Lilia returned to her family. Mom's fine. She remarried, and now I have another half-sister," I said, emphasizing the word "half-sister."
"Heh, I see. That's good," Paul replied with a smirk.
"And why are you here? And why were you attacking Lady Hilda?" I asked, looking him in the eyes.
"H-huh? S-was that Hilda?" He asked, alarmed, but I just looked him in the eye.
"I understand, but it's a long story, you know?" he mumbled, but I nodded, simply saying, "Tell me."
And so Paul began to tell me what had happened in his life since he left us.