—Several Weeks Later, Zanto Port—
"Thank you for your patronage, Sir Sauros!", a Slave Trader proclaimed, holding a large bag full of Asurian Gold Coins, "Please come again. We get fresh stock every week!"
"I will keep that in mind!", Sauros promised, leaving the building with his group of newly enslaved maids, "My apologies, the process took a bit longer than I anticipated. I ended up buying a few other slaves that specialize in magic to help with maintenance around the home."
"It is fine, we have to get moving toward the port though. Eris and Rudeus should be arriving within the hour.", Paul remarked, looking up at the sky.
Remembering why everyone had come to Zanto Port again, Sauros lowered his head and apologized. He had completely forgotten about our primary objective, having gotten carried away by the alluring women in his presence.
"Damn it, I did not realize how much time had passed!", Sauros said, pushing us toward the harbor, "All of you go on ahead without us. I still have many things to do in the Market District. Please do not worry about us, now that they are tied to me there will be no issues. We will see all of you back in the village in a few days."
Telling Sauros to wait a moment, I handed him a Magic Bag with the rest of his family's fortune safely secured inside. Examining the bag for a moment, Sauros realized what it was and looked at me in shock.
"Cole…such a gift…I can not accept it without proper compensation!", Sauros stated, "A Magic Bag of this caliber is of Legendary Quality!"
"Do not worry about it, I make bags like that in my spare time.", I chuckled, "Now go on and enjoy yourself, you are retired now so take your time. Just remember not to spend it all in one day."
"Haha, I will do my best!", Sauros laughed, "It will be hard with such gorgeous women around me!!"
Guiding his entourage toward the market, Sauros began rubbing his hands together as he followed behind them. Letting out a sigh, Hilda apologized to all of us for her father-in-law's antics.
"He used to be more reserved, but now that he is retired and no longer a nobleman…he has turned out like this.", Hilda stated, "Sorry you had to witness that."
"That was still pretty reserved if I am being honest.", Yasaka remarked, looking toward Lilith, "You would agree, yes?"
"Agreed, if he were like some of the younger men in our race, he would have made those women wear skimpy clothing in public or even fondled them in front of bystanders.", Lilith commented, with a disgusted expression, "Unfortunately, I am no longer in a position to demand they stop that so I have to deal with it now. That is…unless someone would be gracious enough to let me move in."
Glancing over at me, Lilith gave me a sheepish grin and playfully stuck her tongue out. Smiling back at her, I was going to say she could move in if she wanted, but Serafall had other ideas.
"Oh!! You can move in with me and we can play video games all night long!!", Serafall told Lilith, "We can also do our nails, dress up in fancy clothing, and just have a lot of fun!!"
"Serafall, I think that was aimed more at Cole than anyone else.", Leviathan snickered, patting Serafall on the back.
"Yes it was, sorry Serafall.", Lilith said, apologizing as a courtesy.
Taking this as a good sign for us, I decided to talk it over with my wives and get their thoughts on it. Turning our attention toward the harbor, Paul suggested we get going before we missed them. Flagging down a large transport wagon to get us there, we paid the man and asked him to get there as soon as possible. Acknowledging the request, he promised to have us there in no time.
"Ghislaine, are you sure it was alright to leave Sauros alone?", Hilda inquired.
"Of course, all of them will defend Sauros till their last breath. You may not realize it, but the lives they will have under Sauros' care are far better than the lives that previously had. They will have a steady supply of food, a warm bed to sleep in, and someone who will not work them to death.", Ghislaine informed her, "Everyone else that we sold will likely die slaving away for whoever buys them."
"I suppose that is true, it explains why they were acting so flirtatious with him.", Hilda laughed, recalling how the women did everything they could to tempt him, "At this point, I am certain that I will need to move out with Eris. I hate to continue asking you for favors Cole, but could we stay with you till one is built? I have genuine concerns that Eris will catch them in a compromising position by accident one day."
"I do not have a problem with it. Malty can get a room ready for both of you.", I stated.
"Hehe, at the rate things are going you should just open a hotel, Cole.", Ciri pointed out, with a smirk.
Nodding my head in agreement, I contemplated building a separate building on the property to house our guests. Since the guest rooms were right below where my family slept, it had to be very uncomfortable for them when my wives and I enjoyed ourselves. Recalling several occasions when Malty, Melty, and Ciri could not look at my wives at breakfast, I concluded that it needed to happen sooner rather than later.
"Anyways…", Paul coughed, changing the subject, "How are we looking on supplies, Geese?"
"We have plenty of healing potions, food, and camping supplies.", Geese said, pulling his notes out of his pocket, "What we still need to buy are petrification and poison removal potions. The Teleportation Labyrinth is full of monsters with those attributes so we need to plan accordingly for that."
"Hmm, we might be better off buying enchanted items with those resistances.", Tallhand commented, "It will cost a small fortune to purchase those items in bulk."
"Surely someone as strong as Cole has the means to cure status ailments, right?", Elinalise said.
"Absolutely, but Paul is insistent on handling this with minimal input from me.", I told her, "He asked all of you for help because he recognizes that he cannot do this alone. I am coming along to ensure that Zenith's consciousness returns to her without any missing pieces."
"It will be a pleasure to travel with you.", Elinalise stated, biting her lower lip.
"Haha, not on your life.", I remarked, with a deadpan expression, 'Poor Cliff is going to have his work cut out for him.'
—Harbor—
Dropping us off as close as he could to the docks, the carriage man headed on his way to his next patron. Walking up to the ticket booth, Paul and Hilda asked if the ship we were waiting on had arrived yet. Looking out at various ships in the process of unloading, I singled out Eris thanks to her bright, red hair. Calling out to the two parents, I motioned toward the gangplank where the two of them were disembarking with their bodyguard Ruijerd.
"ERIS!!!", Hilda shouted, at the top of her lungs and waving her arms in the air, "OVER HERE!!!"
"RUDEUS!!", Paul called out, whistling loudly to get his attention.
Taken aback by someone calling their names, the two kids almost fell into the harbor but Ruijerd caught them before they did. Looking over at us, the two of them stared at their parent in disbelief before pushing their way toward us.
"MOM!!!", Eris cried.
"Dad!!", Rudeus proclaimed.
Kneeling to embrace them, Eris jumped into Hilda's arms and began to sob loudly. Expecting to get the same welcome, Paul was caught off guard when Rudeus punched him in the face out of the blue. Falling flat on his back, he blinked several times in shock before looking up at his son.
"What was that for!?", Paul snapped.
"That…that is for sending me away!", Rudeus said, tearing up, "Where are Mom, Lilia, Norn, and Aisha? Are they all okay?!"
"Rudeus, calm down. Everyone is safe and sound back in Ghislaine's village, we are staying there now as we have no home back in the Asura Kingdom anymore.", Paul explained, "That said, your mother Zenith is stuck in a coma right now. She was somehow transported into the Teleportation Labyrinth and sealed within a Magic Crystal. Cole was able to pull her out, but her consciousness is still trapped in the crystal."
Looking up at me, Rudeus was understandably confused by what he seeing. Going to ask me something, I cut him off by talking to him telepathically.
"My name is Cole Bolt, I am a God from another world that is similar to the one you originally hail from.", I explain, "My family and I are just bystanders here giving your family a helping hand. Once your mother is back to normal, we will be leaving and resuming our journey."
"You have not told anyone about me, right?", Rudeus asked.
"No, and I will continue to not say anything as it is not my place.", I assured him, "Just so you know, your friend Sylphiette is alive and well. She is currently acting as the bodyguard for Princess Ariel. If you want to reunite with her, I can arrange that before I leave this world."
"Please do!", he requested.
Nodding my head, I turned to Paul and Hilda to suggest we return to the village so the children could be brought up to speed. Agreeing with me, I opened a portal and took everyone back to Ghislaine's village.