I figured there was no point in hiding my abilities anymore. I wanted to know if Return worked, so it seemed like as good of a time as any. I gestured for Lydia to give me her hand. She blushed, but took it and then moved right next to me. Meanwhile, Miki was still clinging to me from the other side.
"Ladies, would you like to be in my party?" I asked.
Miki cocked her head curiously, while Lydia gave me a confused look. They were both slaves, so of course it would seem a bit weird for me to suddenly ask them to join my party. By all accounts, I was in charge. However, I didn't know any other way to make a party, so I felt I needed to ask. I gave the two girls a nod of confirmation that they should answer.
"Okay."
"Yes."
{Miki has joined your party.}
{Lydia has joined your party.}
"Ah? I feel even better than before?" Miki said in surprise.
Lydia nodded, "I too feel rejuvenated."
It appeared like they could feel the Party Status Up. Unfortunately, it didn't apply to me, but I imagined it felt a bit like I felt when I switched from something like Cook to something like Hero. Just a boost of strength and energy that came from that particular job's skill boosts. It was good that Miki now had that boost. Figuro had said she could pass out unconscious within hours of being revived. That might have happened without her status boosts, or perhaps Figuro was being a bit dramatic to discourage me from getting Miki. I didn't know.
"Okay, girls, stay close to me. If I disappear for some reason, just wait here and I'll return in a bit."
This added a few more weird looks towards me. Well, that was fine. I was just experimenting anyway.
At this point, I'd probably just use Portal to come back if I found that the Return ability of the Hero didn't work. I'd need to do a lot more tests on it in the future. For example, could I use it multiple times a day, or just once like Portal? Would it teleport all of my party? Did they need to be touching me? If they were touching me, did they even need to be in my party? All of these were questions I had, but the first thing I wanted to test is if I could bring people in my party at all, so I worked towards maximizing that likelihood.
"Alright, Return!"
It would have been nice to see the look of surprise on Figuro and company's face as we vanished, but Return was too quick for that. One second, I was surrounded by a caravan, the next second, we were standing in the town square right next to the fountain feature.
"Master is awesome…" Lydia said wonderingly. "That was much faster than Portal."
"That's true…" I breathed, knowing that both girls in my party traveled with me. "But it might have some limitations I don't know about yet."
I already knew it couldn't work in a dungeon. I couldn't believe the skill would be much more OP than Portal, which required the rare and elusive dungeon points.
I took a step forward, planning to leave the town square, but then I felt a tug on my pants. I looked down to see Miki lying there on the fountain steps, smiling helplessly.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Master, I cannot walk. You will need to carry me." Miki said.
"Ah? I guess the resurrection did weaken you a lot, huh? In that case, Lydia, can you please help get her on my back?"
Lydia looked between me and Miki, with a concerned look on her face. "Ah… y-yes… Master…"
However, Miki shook her head. "My arms are too weak to piggyback. I might fall. Master must carry me in front with two arms."
"P-princess carry?" Lydia gasped.
Miki nodded, a mischievous smile showing on her face. "Master must carry me princess style!"
"I… see…"