Sarah looks confused but I don't stop to explain and head into the inn. The common room goes silent and everyone stares at me as I pass through and head upstairs. My foot has barely touched the top stair when out of the corner of my eye I see a fiery blue fist heading for my face.

While I have plenty of time and could easily dodge it, I decide not to. I take the hit in the side of my face and let it knock me to the ground. As I fall I tuck my wings tightly to my back and when I hit the floor I roll onto my back. Almost instantly I feel two knees hit my chest and I start getting slapped.

Ruby says "What. Took. You. So. Long?!"

Each word is followed by a slap from one of her fiery little hands. To be honest I don't even really feel them, but I am not about to let her know that. As I am being slapped I take the chance to look around the room to see who is witnessing this.

On one side of the table Isabella and Myria are smirking as they watch. On the other side sits Pol, he has his hands over his face but I can see him peeking through his fingers. At the far end of the table is Vacker, who is openly laughing as he watches the show.

Then I finally turn my attention to Ruby, who is kneeling on my chest and still slapping me. She looks just like I remember, which is slightly disappointing, she seems weak to me. Then again the same can be said of the others, my instincts are telling me no one in the room is a threat.

She is however still beautiful and very distracting, especially with her kneeling on my chest. Her dress normally goes to mid-thigh but with the way she is kneeling it has ridden up. To keep myself from looking I move my eyes up and stop when I see the medallion.

It is hanging around her neck on a chain and looks like it was never broken. I will have to remember to thank Roddick for all of his help with getting it fixed. Ruby notices my stare and quickly lifts the chain over her head and pushes the medallion into my chest.

Unfortunately, it deflects away about an inch from my skin and won't touch me no matter how many times she tries. As I am watching her I realize what is wrong, I don't have any mana for it anymore. Ruby doesn't realize this and just keeps trying to push the medallion into my chest.

"Ruby, it isn't going to work."

Ruby says "Why not? Are you breaking our contract?!"

"No! It just won't work because I don't have mana."

Ruby says "You didn't have mana before, it worked with your demonic power just fine!"

"I don't have demonic power anymore."

Ruby says "What?!"

Sarah says "Well, this is an interesting sight."

Looking over I can see just Sarah's head poking up from the stairs. From the smile on her face I think she watched for a while before speaking. Ruby blushes and finally climbs off me, she goes and sits next to Myria.

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Sarah comes the rest of the way up the stairs and that is when I notice the smell of food. A half dozen women are following Sarah, each carrying a tray of something that smells delicious. They are all giggling as they step over me to place their trays on the table.

Before they can go back downstairs I climb to my feet so they don't have to step over me again. Then I take my seat at the head of the table opposite Vacker and Sarah takes the seat to my left. Isabella is sitting to my right with Myria and then Ruby, Pol is on the other side of Sarah.

Nothing is said as Sarah lifts the covers off the trays and everyone digs in. The food in the tower was just as good, but for some reason I still prefer the food here. I can't wait to see what the cook here does with the spices and recipes I brought back with me.

Sarah says "Alright, Ash, start talking!"

Myria says "Yeah, we won't tell you a thing until you have told us everything!"

"First, where are Mericel and Alannis?"

Isabella says "They are up north with Mercy's army."

"Too bad, I was hoping to only have to tell all this once."

Before anyone gets impatient I start telling the story of what has happened since I left. Ruby is following the story just fine so someone probably filled her in on everything else. I was hoping I could get through the entire story, but that was in vain.

Ruby says "Why did you pick a fight with the guardian?!"

Sarah says "Kechara sounds so cute! Why didn't you bring her with you?"

Myria says "Quiet! I want to hear what happens next!"

After some more back and forth and a few glares I am able to continue the story. The only things I leave out are those that I know they will tease me about. Although, I'm sure they will find out eventually, the longer I can put it off the better.

Ruby says "What is with you and going into caves where you don't belong?!"

Ignoring Ruby I continue the story and tell them about the city and the driders. Instead of explaining things out of order I only tell them what I knew at the time. I still end up getting yelled at a lot for not being careful enough.

The comments stop when I start talking about the tower and meeting Yui for the first time. My descriptions of the tower leave them in awe and I am able to tell the story smoothly. When I talk about returning to the city to fight driders is when the comments start again.

It takes me several hours to tell the full tale, and a lot of food and drink is consumed during that time. Once the tale is done I explain about the teleporters and my plans for their use. Everyone looks excited when they learn they will be able to visit the tower.

Sarah says "You adopted and raised two beautiful creatures and then just abandoned them?!"

"I didn't abandon them, I will see them again soon!"

Isabella says "So Drog is gone for good?"

"He is serving Krenocia now, so unless she sends him as a messenger you won't see him again."

Isabella says "Good!!"

"Now will you tell me how your missions went?"

Vacker says "It's gotten pretty late, maybe we should save that for the morning?"

Noticing people yawning I am forced to agree, but that makes me think of the sleeping arrangements. Deciding to avoid the issue for now I tell the girls to go to bed and that I don't need to sleep. I will just meditate out here where it is safe, at least until things get sorted out.

The girls give me a few suspicious looks but no one chooses to argue with me. Not yet anyway, I am sure I will only get away with this for the short term. Vacker and Pol leave and Sarah heads downstairs leaving just me and the girls.

Myria and Isabella wish me goodnight and head into the bedroom, but Ruby doesn't move. She just sits staring at me like she is trying to solve a puzzle, or read my mind. When she finally moves to say something it is totally not what I was expecting.

Ruby says "What is your relationship with Core?"

"Core? She is a friend, I guess? It is kind of hard to say since she is practically a newborn when it comes to social interactions."

Ruby says "So, you don't plan to free her to add her to your harem?"

"Harem?! What are you even talking about?!?"

Ruby says "Nevermind. Goodnight, Ash."

"Goodnight?"

After she leaves the room I find I cannot enter my meditation because my mind is still spinning. What did she mean by that? Women are so confusing, maybe I should have stayed away longer.