Escaping from the partially destroyed inn, I ponder.

My intention to be vigilant notwithstanding, quickly giving chase appears to be the best option. Lets rely on passing some instructions to the demihuman responsible for guarding the inn.

Following this incident, I plan to chase after Father-in-law The Shield Hero. If by chance we miss each other, are you able to lead Father-in-laws group to the next town and meet me there? (Motoyasu)

Y-yes sir! (Guard)

Thus, I left town and followed the remaining filorial tracks, pursuing Father-in-law.

However En route, the traces of my filorials grew dodgy, and I completely lost the lead at the entrance to a mountain trail.

Playing with the nonsense monsters around here was unnecessary at present. They would be little more than raw materials for Father-in-laws group at this point.

Nearly ready to weep, I entered a portal back to town.

At that time, the uproar in town appeared to have mostly subsided into a still air.

Proceeding to the damaged inn to speak with the guard once more, I found both the bodyguard and the innkeeper were working on cleaning up the damage.

How is the situation? (Motoyasu)

Hum Around what time was that? (Motoyasu)

Is that right. (Motoyasu)

It seems weve completely and splendidly missed each other.

Things will only get worse if I dont immediately give chase.

When the Honorable Shield Heros party returned, several Three Hero adherents attacked, but thanks in part to their accompanying creatures immediately crushing the attackers, the honorable Shield Heros group quickly heard our explanation and set out. (Guard)

Understood. (Motoyasu)

Somehow or other, it seems Father-in-law and the others departed safely.

Obviously, this situation left me no option but to travel overnight to the next town.

Say, Honorable Spear Hero? (Guard)

If the goal in the first place was to pursue the Honorable Shield Heros group, then wouldnt it have been fine to chase in the direction of the next town? (Guard)

That It had completely slipped my mind.

Even if it may at a glance appear that I set off on a fools errand, absolutely any and every course of action is better than waiting about!

At present, we are in the middle of arranging a body double for the Honorable Shield Hero in order to confuse the Three Hero adherents assassins. The assassins directly after you should decrease a bit with that, we think. Hopefully that will give some peace of mind. (Guard)

Understood (Motoyasu)

Thats right, Silt Welt had made sure to deploy body doubles of Father-in-law along the journey.

Thus, I of course travelled all night to the next town.

I raced down the highway at full speed for several hours, and at length, the lights of the next town grew visible in the distance. The mountains ahead provoked a feeling of the temperature falling several degrees.

As I approached the town gate, it seemed like this town looked similar to a hot spring district, with steam wafting about in plain view.

Halt! Who-

Huh?! The heck are you saying!

With heightened vigilance, the town gatekeepers turned their weapon towards me.

How foolish; Ill make sure to have them regret such an action immediately, for I am on a mission to reach Father-in-law.

Please wait!

At that moment, an unfamiliar face appeared between the gatekeepers and let out a voice. Judging from the appearance of the animal ears and tail, I suppose they were a demihuman.

This person is our acquaintance. Could you please allow him inside?

Its fine if thats the case, but he has an awfully questionable personality.

He certainly says some dubious things However, please listen when I say his skill is certain.

Who is this, I wonder?

He wasnt the Silt Welt messenger, at least.

This way, Sir Shield Hero is waiting.

Yes, I was commanded by the Honorable Hero of the Shield to bring along the one who called out looking for Father-in-law.

Thus I was allowed through the gate of the hotspring town.

Perhaps sensing my presence, the inns front door burst open as Yuki-chan and Kou raced towards me.

Motoyasu~! (Yuki)

Yuki-chan, Kou! We were finally able to meet again! (Motoyasu)

Welcome back Kitamura. Any souvenirs? (Kou)

I dont have any souvenirs, but Ive long since finished your clothes. (Motoyasu)

To the two I display the produced outfits. Thereupon, Father-in-laws group and Sakura-chan appeared from the inn as well.

Motoyasu-kun! Weve all been worried since we left the previous inn. (Naofumi)

Yeah. Sakura-chan and the others were able to repulse anyone that came for us. (Naofumi)

Its all because these children are earth-shatteringly strong. At this point, Im not sure I have a role to play. (Eclair)

Or so Eclair softly informed. Hehehe, what would you expect of these youths? They were filorials, members of the race that stands at the pinnacle of the strongest existences.

Its perhaps a level of existence not fully displayed in their human forms however. In that regard, Eclair was considerably perceptive to notice just how great they are.

Sir Iwatani was so worried that, even upon arriving at the inn here, he was unable to relax properly. Now, Sir Kitamura should immediately rest as well. (Eclair)

Fortunately, they have plenty of hot springs here, so its the perfect place to let go of our fatigue right? (Naofumi)

Eclair fidgeted about a bit.

Hmm

Kitamura~, clothes~ (Kou)

Al~right! Then everyone, to the baths~ (Kou)

Thats right huh? We all worked hard today, so how about we clean off and relax? (Naofumi)

Thus we decided to transitioned our reunion to a soak in the local hot spring.

Differing from Calmira Islands vaguely Japanese style hot springs, this bath felt more natural, or wild.

Perhaps one could think of this bath as more Roman-esque, as it did reflect that this area was a relatively prosperous region. Nevertheless, this was still a region that would easily trade hands in war, so perhaps no single culture was able to take root.

My, my

Kou is so lucky huh? You get to enter with Motoyasu! (Yuki)

Ehehe~, Kitamura! Let me wash your back when we get there! (Kou)

Yuki-chan and the others happily chatting and occasionally lamenting. However, Father-in-laws decision was that girls should properly enter the womens bath.

Eclair, Ill entrust Yuki-chan and Sakura-chan to you. (Motoyasu)

Motoyasu-kun, you arent going to try peeping or anything, right? (Naofumi)

What are you just boldly declaring, Sir Kitamura! (Eclair)

Well, I wont be able to find Firo-tan by looking around here I bet, but regardless, when a man visits a hotspring, its his duty to peep!

For Yuki-chan and the others to bashfully hide their body after being seen by a man will definitely raise their charm.

Indisputably, this Motoyasu possesses not a speck of guilt.

As usual, I think, but I cant understand Motoyasu-kuns reasoning at all (Naofumi)

Eh? Well Since Motoyasu-kun and Kou will be coming with me, itll be alright for you to enter the womens bath. (Naofumi)

Were you properly listening? Ms. Eclair, could you help with everyone? (Naofumi)

Yup, got it! Ill do my best to look after them as much as possible! (Sakura)

And like that, Father-in-law and Eclair gave a deep sigh.

When the heck did I get stuck with the responsibility of child care (Eclair)

Hahahaha! An honourable jest. This Motoyasu is sincerely committed to Father-in-law and his companions!

Haa

For some reason Father-in-law and the rest let out profound sighs as we all headed for our respective baths.

//