Even though a bunch of thoughts were running through my mind, Leona and I called it a night at that moment. We both had people back home who would worry if we took too long to return. So after Leona left, I made my way back to the inn. Actually, I teleported there with Shade's help.
When I reappeared in our room, no one was there. Seeing that, I figured the girls were either having dinner or maybe they hadn't arrived yet. Either way, after making sure Fujiwara was comfortably tucked in, I headed down to the inn's first floor.
As soon as I got there, I was hit with the buzz of people drinking and eating while chatting about their day. It wasn't a new sight, so I just tuned out the noise. It wasn't too hard to find the table where the girls were, as there were three guys hovering around that particular table. They weren't old, maybe just a couple of years older than me.
When I approached, both the guys and the girls turned their attention to me. The guys didn't seem hostile, just confused. If I understood the situation correctly, these guys were trying to invite them to join them, since they were alone.
"You finally made it! We waited for you for almost thirty minutes"
Saemi said in a grumpy tone, puffing her cheeks. Hearing that, the guys glanced at each other for a few seconds before scratching their heads, looking embarrassed. Though I found it odd, I genuinely didn't feel like they were bad people.
"No worries, we thought they were alone, so we decided to invite them to eat with us"
One of the guys, whom I assumed was the leader, said. The reason I thought that was pretty simple – even before I got here, I had overheard them. Plus, by the way they presented themselves, it was clear the guy in front of me was the leader of the group, wielding a spear and dealing the most damage. The guy on the left was skilled in magic, while the one on the right was an archer.
"No problem, thanks for the invite"
Aoi said with a genuine smile. Hearing that, the three guys exchanged glances and looked at her with a kind smile. Then, they bid me farewell and went back to their table, which was relatively close to ours. Their lively voices and laughter indicated that it seemed like a nice place.
Ignoring that, I approached the table and pulled a chair, sitting down right after. Looking around, the place seemed quite bustling. Most people here were Demi-humans, except for the three guys from earlier. Maybe that was why they tried to strike up a conversation with the girls, as generally, this place has more Demi-humans than humans.
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"Ma-kun, welcome back"
While I was pondering this, Ana's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I turned to her and noticed she was savoring a portion of meat. Nearby, some empty plates indicated that this wasn't her first dish.
Well, considering it's Ana we're talking about, I guess this still falls within expectations. But seriously, I sometimes wonder where the hell she puts all that food. I wonder if she has a storage skill like mine. Pushing that thought aside, I turned to the girls and asked.
“By the way, have you seen Glasy? It's been a while since I last saw her”
Upon hearing my words, Aoi and Saemi glanced at each other for a few seconds before turning to me.
“We haven't seen her... we thought she was with you”
They said. Raising an eyebrow at their words, I found it a bit strange that Glasy hadn't returned even once, but my connection with her indicated she was fine, so I decided not to worry too much about it. Besides, Glasy seems to be having fun, so I don't see a reason to interfere.
“By the way, where's Fujiwara?”
Saemi asked, looking around. I had no reason to lie about it, and Fujiwara didn't seem to mind, so I just told the truth.
“We both visited an orphanage today. Fujiwara got pretty tired after playing with so many kids, so as soon as we got back, she crashed on the bed”
Aoi and Saemi's expressions upon hearing this were ones of confusion, but they seemed to accept the explanation and just nodded, going back to their meal. After that, I also ordered my food, and soon we all started to have dinner. Note that Ana had ordered another dish, saying that this would be her dinner. I really wondered what all those other plates meant.
Anyway, we talked while eating. For some reason, when I asked Ana and Aoi what they were doing in their free time, both of them just looked away, trying to hide something. To be honest, they were pretty bad at it, so I quickly caught on. Judging by their blushing ears, I had a rough idea of what they were up to.
Apart from that, we also discussed the dungeon we were planning to conquer. In the meantime, I acquired some useful skills and some quite powerful ones. Finally, I felt ready to enter, but before that, I would wait for the upcoming tournament to start.
When they heard my suggestion, Ana, Aoi, and Saemi didn't seem to oppose the idea. Moreover, when I briefly explained the reason to them, they seemed to accept and support me. With that, we finished dinner and returned to our room. Since it was a shared room, we all slept in the same space, so in the end, we went to bed together.
As I settled into the bed, sleep slowly started to envelop me as my eyes closed. However, before I could fully plunge into sleep, something caught my attention. More precisely, I felt two bodies touching mine, one on each side. When I opened my eyes, I found Fujiwara and Aoi, both wearing animal-themed bikinis, complete with tails and ears.
Aoi's face turned intensely red, while Fujiwara gave me a look with a smile on her face. I swear her irises turned into hearts. It seemed like that night was going to be long and lively.