Once the pulsing stopped we lowered our hands from our face and gasped. The house looked brand new, almost like it had just been built. The furniture was the same but was no longer aged and worn. The dust was gone along with the cobwebs. The wood looked like it had gotten a fresh coat of paint and the air smelled clean.
Rubellia collapsed to her knees with a thump.
"Rubellia!" Sora grabbed her worriedly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine...just...tired. The spell takes... a lot of mana." She struggled to get the words out.
"You did good," I said with a smile. "But you need rest now. Sora, help her upstairs and have her lie down." Sora nodded and did as told.
Meanwhile, Patora and Han were making their selves at home.
"This is awesome!" Han said as he sunk into the couch.
"Look at this view of the lake," Patora said in amazement as she stared out the window. I walked next to her to get a look.
She was right, it was a clear view of the lake. "Wow," I said.
"Hey!" Pattora shouted from nowhere, making us jump. "We should all go swimming!"
"There may be monsters in the lake," Han said. "So that's probably not a good idea."
"...Yeah...I guess that's true," her shoulders slumped. I couldn't just leave her that way.
"Want me to check if there is anything in the lake?" I asked, though I tried to make it sound like I didn't care.
"You'd risk your life for me like that!" Her eyes shun as they met mine.
"Pfft, no," I shot down her enthusiasm. "I just have a skill that lets me scan the area. If anything is in the lake, I'll know."
"When did you get that? What the hell, Kichi, you have some strange skills." Han said.
I shrugged as I used Scan. The sonar beeped and scanned the area around me. Some things were pinned, but I knew that they were animals since they were tan pins. When the scan reached the water more tan pins popped up.
No enemies popped up on the mini-map. They would have been marked with a red pin, but everything pinned was tan, meaning they were just innocent animals.
"Looks like the water's safe," I said after a moment. "There's fish in the water, but nothing else."
As soon as the word left my mouth, Patora took hold of my hand.
"Then shall we go swimming!?"
"Um," I hesitantly looked over at Han. He smirked. That can't be good.
"I'm finw with it," he shrugged.
"Good," she let go of my hand and made her way upstairs. "I'll go ask the girls. But I think it should wait until tomorrow, for Rubellia's sake."
"Yeah," I agreed as she vanished up the stairs. My gaze immediately turned to Han. "You really wanna see the girls in bathing suits, huh?" That smirk he had given me, it was a lewd one.
"Huh? He looked at me like a confused dog. "No, not really."
Now I'm confused...
When we woke up the next mooring we decided to head to the capital. The girls agreed they all wanted to go swimming, so we were going to do it. But we all had to go get bathing suits.
We headed to a shop that specializes in selling and making them.
"Mushow!" The lady greeted as we walked in. She seemed to be in her thirties. "How can I help you all today?"
"We're looking for some bathing suits, and also," Sora whispered something into the ladies ear and her sweet smile turned into a smirk.
"Ah, I see. Well then, follow me girls." They all vanished into the store with the lady while Han and I looked for trunks.
"I think these would look good on you," Han shoved a speedo into my face. I quickly swatted it away.
"Gross, get that out of my face! I'd never wear something so indecent."
"Aww," his shoulders slumped as he put them away.
It didn't take me long to pick my swim suit. I had grabbed some regular black trunks and a black short sleeved shirt. Why?
Well, you see. I've never liked showing girls my chest. There's no specific reason for it, I just didn't like it. I always felt like they'd stare and mock me in their heads. So I had always worn a shirt when I went swimming.
Anyway, I purchased them from another lady who was working the counter while the other one was helping the girls with whatever. I put what I bought in The backpack that Han had been carrying. He had already bought his stuff, so he had been waiting by the changing rooms.
It was weird, the shop reminded me of one back from Japan, with minor differences. Such as the style and size.
"What'd you get?" I asked him.
"It's a surprise," he winked.
"Oookaaayyy then," I averted my eyes slowly.
"Um, Kichirou, is it?" The lady who had greeted us when we first walked in called my name.
"Huh?"
"Can you come here for a second? I have something to ask you." Weird, but okay.
I walked over to her.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Could you tell me which of these looks better?" My gaze followed her to some curtains that soon opened, revealing the girls.
They were all blushing and seemed nervous.
Sora was wearing a blue top and bottom that suited her body well. Rubellia was wearing white. Her top had a loop that held it together in the middle. Patora was wearing green. Her top and bottom had a ruffle around on them.
"Oh, neat. They look good," I smiled. A warm liquid dripped down my nose and I quickly wiped it away.
All the girls smiled at me. "We'll take these then!" They all said.
Relationship with Sora, Rubellia, and Patora have grown
All stats have been increased by 150
Man, this is a win-win. I got to see three beautiful girls in swimsuits AND my stats grew because I complemented them! Things couldn't get any better.
"Hey, Kichi," Rubellia said my name as we were walking through the capital, getting ready to go to our house.
"Yeah?"
"Is it okay if we stop by the smithing shop?"
"I don't mind, but why?" I asked curiously.
"Oh, well... I spoke to Ellie a while ago and she was supposed to be making something for me. I wanted to check on the status of it."
"That's cool then. What is she working on?"
"Uh....," she seemed to be looking for an answer.
"You don't have to tell me," I waved off the question I had asked. It's obvious she wanted to keep it a secret. It's probably something embracing.
"Thanks," she said, obviously relieved.
We made our way to the shop and Rubellia went and quietly spoke to Ellie, who raised her voice for a second before Rubellia hushed her.
What was it she said? It sounded like "I'd love ta!" Or maybe I was just hearing things. After all, I wasn't really paying attention.