The departure from the city of Millis was fortunately uneventful.
I could feel the stares of all the women in the group now that Eris had told them I had defeated Alek Kallman III.
Apparently, I'm now a world power...
Honestly, the title seems almost unusual. I don't feel different, or well, I do feel stronger, but it was thanks to the system's improvements.
Our current destination was the village of Dedoldia, which was a week away, but thanks to gravity magic lightening our weight and the speed at which Ruigerd and I ran, we would arrive in less than two days.
After that, we would walk north for two days to reach the teleportation circle.
With each step we took, I felt closer and closer to home, or well, closer to my women.
Honestly, I already missed my mothers, Ghislaine and Ana, tremendously.
Besides, I still needed to rescue Philip...
"Haaaa..." I couldn't help but sigh. There were still things I needed to do before going back to look for a home to settle down with my wives.
"Rudy? Is something wrong?" Sylphie asked worriedly.
"No, it's just that I remember everything I still have to do and I feel a little depressed, hehe," I muttered embarrassedly as I scratched my neck.
"Well, you don't have to do everything alone, Rudy! We're already in human territory, and besides, with your power and Ruigerd's, I don't think anyone will dare attack us anytime soon!" she said enthusiastically, and I couldn't help but pat her on the head.
"Hhmmn! Rudy! I'm serious!" she protested with an adorable pout. "Mom, say it!" With that, she turned to her mother, who was just staring at the ground with a complicated face.
"Mom?" Sylphie asked worriedly.
"Ah, it's nothing... w-well, I've already told you how I met your father, right?" Hope asked in a sad tone.
Immediately, Sylphie lowered her head and clenched her fists.
"If anyone messes with you, I'll beat them up!" she declared, raising her small fists.
"Hope? What happened in Dedoldia Village?" Hilda asked, and the group immediately stopped.
Hope looked at me anxiously, and I patted her shoulder, causing her to blush deeply and a faint smile to form on her face.
*Ding!*
[Hope's Affection Increased to 100%]
[Laws? Who's that?]
Very well, I'll summarize Hope's story as best I can...
about forty years ago, yes, forty.
Laws and Hope met by chance while both were hunting near the borders of the Elf and Dedoldia villages.
Their relationship quickly went from friends to boyfriend and girlfriend, but precisely during those days, it was discovered that Laws was the son of Elinalise DragonRoad, who, to my surprise, is a woman-eater who only had one child after being raped.
Despite the difficult situation, she escaped from the great forest, tarnishing Laws' image and, at the same time, Hope's. As the bride of a son "fruit of sin," Hope's mother was so outraged that she tried to sell her into human slavery.
Fortunately, Laws, who had escaped from the elf village, went in search of Hope, but unfortunately, they were intercepted by slavers.
But to my greatest surprise, Hope said that back then a young 30-year-old Gyes saved them by diverting the slavers, causing them both to escape from the great forest never to return... until now.
...
"Wow... That's a brutal origin story," Kishirika muttered and I glanced at her.
"What?!" She responded defensively and I just sighed.
"mother-in-law... "I'm so sorry, I didn't know you had been through something like this...if you want we can find a way around the village to avoid going there" I murmured while putting a hand on her shoulder.
She just blushed and finally sighed after a long silence.
"No need, dear. With you here, even more judging glances won't be a problem at all," she said, holding my hand and giving it a light squeeze.
"Are you sure, mother-in-law? We can always find a way to avoid going through there," I murmured, but she shook her head.
"No need, after all, that's the easiest way to cross to the other side before going around the whole forest"
With those words Hope closed the matter and we continued with the trip.
...
"Rudeus!!, "And who will get that huge sword?!" Eris asked suddenly as we made camp.
We had spent a whole day running towards Dedoldia village and now we were halfway there thanks to my gravity magic.
I glanced at the huge sword that was on my back tied with a simple rope to my waist.
The damn thing was incredibly heavy, around 50 kilos and about two meters tall, so using it in battle was not practical.
Still, he couldn't doubt the incredible advantages this sword gave to those who wielded it, so i shouldn't just leave it in a corner of a room.
"I don't know, this thing is too dangerous to leave out in the open... But carrying it on my back is also annoying." I muttered as I took the sword off my back and placed it in front of me.
"I already have the sword your grandfather gave me, the sword I stole from Paul, and it's simply more than I need, and you can't have swords that are too powerful, or you'll stagnate in your progress." I told her firmly.
Eris immediately crossed her arms with a pout.
Clearly she had something up her sleeve.
"Darling, don't insist, Rudeus won't let you have those swords for your own good," Hilda said suddenly as she hugged her daughter.
Which only made Eris's pout increase but now because of embarrassment.
"Hmm!, okay! But no hugs for today!" Eris said but immediately she made a face regretting it immediately.
This just made me laugh and relax in front of the campfire.
As expected at bedtime Eris snuggled up against me without saying anything.
Sylphie and I laughed silently at this and so the three of us slept curled up together.
...
So another day passed, after reporting my movements to my mothers and relatives through the ring, we continued our journey to the village.
Even from a distance I could see the huge trees with huts in them, this because in the rainy season the water rises here to ridiculous heights or so Hope said.
As soon as she saw the village, Hope began to doubt; there were probably or very likely adult villagers who still remembered her or identified her scent, by which they would identify her.
But again when I put my hand on her shoulder she sighed heavily and so we all started walking towards the village.
"Stop right there! Who are you?!" A man with a tail and cat ears said angrily as he approached us with a sword in hand.
Sylphie and Eris got into a defensive stance but I stopped them both and approached the man.
But for some reason young Dolida, upon smelling me, his ears drooped and his tail tucked between his legs.
"W-what d-do you w-want in m-my v-village?!" He stuttered loudly, panicking.
"We don't want anything, we're just passing through and we want to pay our respects to the leader of this village" I said with a smile that for some reason made the man hunch over even more and lower his gaze to the ground.
"I-I'll see what I can do!" He shouted and immediately ran away from us to the huts in the trees.
Shortly after, a group of about ten young Doldia came towards us, but once again, upon smelling me, their tails and ears drooped and panic swept through them.
"How strange... I've never seen the proud Doldia warriors act like this... How low these generations have fallen..." Ruigerd sighed disdainfully.
'You sound like a bitter old man against generation Z, Ruigerd!'
But I still couldn't agree more, since according to Hope the Doldia warriors would try to attack us if we were intruders, but now they all seem like submissive dogs and cats.
"S-so you wish to speak with Lord Gustav?"
One of the older Dedoldia asked but he looked pale and was trembling slightly.
"Yes please, as I said we don't want to cause any inconvenience" I replied with a smile.
So again the ten warriors ran away and only one returned.
"n-it can't be..." He muttered in fear and surprise but not for me.
"Gyes! What a time!" Hope said happily and Gyes sighed.
"I-I never knew if you two had made it... S-seeing you here has taken a huge weight off my shoulders," he murmured, then looked at me out of the corner of his eye and shuddered.
"Yes, and for that I am deeply grateful..." She said with a slight bow.
"B-but... What are you doing here... with them?" Gyes asked, avoiding looking at me.
"That's why we came, we want to talk to your father to explain the situation" Hope explained.
Gyes took several steps away from me, circling the group to get closer to Hope but keeping a safe distance.
"I-I see... Then please everyone follow me and...W-who is that child?" Gyes asked at the end, unable to contain himself any longer.
"Oh him? He's my son-in-law, why do you ask?
"Nngh! It's like looking the devil in the eyes!" The cat man hissed "Are you a demon?!" He screamed looking at me.
Hope and Sylphie frowned as they looked at me and I just smiled.
"No, I'm not a demon, I'm just an ordinary human, what makes you say that?" I muttered.
"...Oh yeah? Well, I've never felt the aura you emit before... But if you're Hope's son-in-law... Then... Please come in everyone" he said while shrugging his shoulders.
And so quickly Gyes began to run towards the treetops to climb up to the huts that hung from them.
Fortunately there were stairs we could climb so I didn't use gravity magic.
As I walked across the village bridges I could see how the men, children and women kept their distance from me and looked away in terror.
"What's your problem? You haven't seen humans before?" Sylphie muttered grumpily.
"No... I've never seen them like that... It's like they're afraid of Rudy..." Hope muttered curiously as he saw the beastfolk actively avoiding me.
"Isn't it obvious? They know that no one should mess with Rudeus!" Eris on the other hand seemed proud of this result.
"Hmm, I think that's true, the Dedoldia can generally sense when someone is stronger than them and will mostly show submission... But this one is too much." Ruigerd muttered and all eyes turned to him.
"Did something like that happen in the second human-demon war?" I asked him and he frowned.
"Yes...although most of them were young warriors but... I've never seen them react this way."
"Well, let's not think about that, we're just passing through." With these words from me, we all focused on Gyes, who, upon noticing my gaze, squeaked like a scared cat.
...
"f-father...th-these are the people who wanted to see you" Gyes muttered as he walked away from me.
"...I see, you can go," Gustav said after a brief moment of hesitation.
Before us stood an old man with cat ears and tail.
His hut was completely different from the others in the entire village as it looked like a normal cabin.
And he was sitting on the floor while staring at me.
"Lord Gustav, it's a pleasure to see you again," Hope said as he bowed respectfully to the old man.
His eyes widened and then he smiled warmly.
"Hope... It's good that you're alive. Gyes was depressed for several months without knowing your whereabouts. We thought you were dead."
"Yes, we escaped without stopping until we reached the central continent, but things haven't turned out so well since then," she muttered sadly and Gustaban narrowed his eyes.
"Please tell me" he said, Hope looked at me and I nodded.
"It happened eight days ago..." She murmured and she began to tell what happened.
...
"I see... Honestly, it's hard to believe, teleportation magic? That hadn't been completely eradicated centuries ago?" Gustav asked, obviously skeptical.
"Of course," I intervened. "After all, the Demon Queen Kishirika Kishirisu herself is accompanying us." I said as I approached the horned woman, patting her on the shoulder.
"Haa... Yes, I was already wondering what this strange smell was... So it's her" He murmured while staring at Kishirika who was moving uncomfortably next to me.
"Indeed, thanks to your great knowledge and age we were able to find teleportation circles on the demon continent and thus get here" i replied.
"And you say there's a teleportation circle two days from here?" Gustav raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing me.
"Yes, and the reason why you haven't discovered them is that they were the property of the ancient Dragon race and are hidden by barrier spells created by them."
"Hmm... I see, that makes sense and tell me... Who are you? Besides Hope's son-in-law, you don't seem to be just a human, no human has ever put me this way." Gustav's tone turned hostile as he stood up from the floor.
"I don't know why you're asking me that, sir, but I'm 100% human," I declared, shrugging my shoulders.
The path directly towards me, staring at me, I could feel his body being wrapped in Touki and I narrowed my eyes.
"Lord Gustav ple-"
"Grandpa!! Tell Pursena I don't want to go with her!!" A girl with cat ears burst into the cabin and behind her a girl with dog ears growled loudly.
"Haa..." Gustav sighed heavily as he abandoned his hostility and sat back down on the ground.
And I couldn't help but notice...
'those girls' breasts aren't very big?...'
[Another chapter as promised!]