Passing the rickety bridge didn't turn out to be as dangerous as I had originally thought it to be. It was actually quite fun gaining momentum, and the flip at the end only served as the cherry on top. Othelia and the others found it amusing as well, so I think I did good overall.

"So Aru, what about..." Othelia yelped as she saw a giant white snair head fly past us down the mountain, "W-Was that...!?"

"Ah, that's probably the other group." Aru smirked as Cene tightly held onto her in fear, "Kid, you don't gotta worry, it's already gone."

"B-But... B-Blood...!" Cene cried a bit as he hid behind Aru, "Blood, Awoo, blood!"

"Yeah yeah, so what? Blood's a liquid, just like anything else, so~" She flicked her finger around as all the blood magically rose from the ground and off the cliff, "There, you gonna stop whining now?"

"Mhm!" Cene hugged her with a smiley expression, "Thank you, Awoo!"

That boy's growing way too attached to her. Maybe she reminds him of his sister Nelly, seeing as they're roughly the same size. Then again, anyone would be interested in a magical waterbending little girl with peculiarly colored hair, so I guess I'm just overthinking things. I should probably focus on the path ahead though, this isn't something to worry about at the moment.

"Wait, did you say the other group?" I tilted my head, "So wait, have they already surpassed us!?"

"Don't act so surprised by that fact, mortal." Aru scolded me, "The path we're taking is a side path, but their path is definitely what one would colloquially refer to as a shortcut. It's steeper than ours, which makes for a way more difficult hike."

Damn, so they're already above us by that much. There was a loud bang a couple moments before the snair head fell, but I just assumed that was another avalanche or rockfall going on somewhere else. Just what the hell are they doing over there? Maybe having a visionary like Issei paired up with the ever powerful Cecily is a tad too overpowered. As for Eleanor though, heh, I can only imagine the type of shit they're putting her through.

"Groooowl...." A sound echoed out.

"What was that!?" Othelia yelped, "C-Could it be, has a beast come to us as well!?"

"Greooouwl..." The sound reverberated even louder this time.

"I don't think it's a beast..." I chuckled as I turned to the two kids in our party.

"T-Then what-!? Ah." She finally noticed, "Aru, are you perhaps hungry?"

"Oh, you could tell?" Aru bashfully sat down on a nearby stone, "Come on, it's not my fault! We haven't eaten anything all day, so of course I'd get a bit peckish!"

"Yeah, I think we could all use some rest right now." I sat down as well, "I was dying to eat my beloved's sandwiches anyways!"

"Anna, was it? She's an incredible cook." Othelia smiled as she took her own sandwich out and carefully partook in it, "You two seem quite happy together. I'm jealous."

"Yeah, we're perfect like that." I felt like gloating just a bit, "Cene, tell them how much I love auntie!"

"Haha, uncle wuvs auntie Anna soooo much!" Cene danced around on Aru's lap adorably, "He keeps pinching hew butt and kissing hew!"

"The hell are you dimwits doing in front of such a pure child?" Aru clicked her tongue at me.

"Just showing him what a healthy relationship looks like." I joked, "He'll need it for future reference."

"If this boy grows up to become a tail-chasing booty-pincher, you can bet your sorry behind that I'll administer the worst possible divine punishment known to man to you, Edward Saint." She glared at me.

"Heheh, Awoo said boo~ty~!" Cene giggled a bit before stopping, as if realizing something incredible, "Awoo, Awoo!"

"What is it, kid?" She smiled.

"Can we get mawwied?" He asked as excitedly as ever.

"When you reach my power level, sure." She patted him on the head in a humbling manner.

Phew, for a second I got scared there. Not saying Cene has it in him to snag a girl so early in his life, moreso that I don't trust Aru to stay away from my family. Realistically, as someone in desperate need of a place to stay, I genuinely expected her to agree outright just so she could live in our place rent free. Not like any of us would take them seriously, though.

"And what makes you think that, skeptical mortal?" Aru teased as she hugged Cene tightly, "Are you dissatisfied with having a Goddess join your family?"

"Didn't I tell you to stop reading my mind?" I rolled my Eyes, "Though for your information, I'm pretty sure Cene could definitely do better than someone like you. He's just spewing words out of his mouth as any kid his age does, he'll forget about you in a week, tops."

"No, I won't!" Cene thrashed around in her embrace, "I wuv Awoo, I wanna be with hew fowevew!"

"Hmm, it doesn't seem like he'll forget about me that easily, Edward Saint." She chuckled deviously, "Such a loyal cutie, just like your older sister! Fufu, I might just gobble you up!"

"Bwahaha!" Cene laughed out loud, begging for her to stop tickling him.

"Cene has an older sister?" Othelia turned to me with a puzzled expression, "I don't believe I've seen her yet. What's she like?"

"Of course you haven't, since she's not here right now." I explained, "Nelly should be studying her butt off at the University in Simpleton, where Meil is."

"Wow, and how old is she?"

"Thirteen, she wanted to be sent to Meil's side as soon as possible." I smiled as if not noticing, "Haha, she's completely enamored by that rat bastard. Ever since they first met back when she was four, she made it her life goal to be with him."

"Holy crap, now that's loyal..." Othelia looked up at the sky before smiling at Cene, "Looks like it runs in the family, then, eh Cene? Your sister was just a tad older than you when she found her target, so do your best!"

"Oi, don't go spouting indecent stuff too, now." I stopped her with a grim look on my face, "Out of all the things that should run in the family, wanting to date people who are way older than them definitely shouldn't be on the list."

"Too late, we're already engaged!" Aru mocked me with a ring she Materialized around her finger with some water, "Cene, I'll make you one as well, so stick your hand out. We'll be matching, and it's gonna be soooo romantical!"

"The hell are you doing to my best friend's kid!?" I finally snapped as choked on the last bite of my sandwich.

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***

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After that whole fiasco, we continued to venture through the mountain's path. The higher we got, the more breathtaking the sights had become, it was really unlike anything I'd ever seen. Just looking over the edge gave you an incredible panoramic view of what felt like the entire world.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Sigh..." I looked on, "I wonder what Grim would say to this view..."

"I can assure you he'd be enthralled, to say the least." Aru didn't wanna stop walking, "Now come on, you were the one who made that bet with Cecily to race to the top. Have you already forgotten about it?"

"Oh come on, what's the point of making it to the top if we didn't once stop to admire and bask in the moment?" I pointed to the view, "Actually, isn't what we're doing actually really incredible? We're climbing Mount Ivrys, the tallest mountains in the world, located dead center at the Southern pole. Now if that ain't something to write home about, then I don't know what is."

"Yeah, I'm with Edward on this one." Othelia stood next to me as we both looked on at the sunset, "Waaaahhh~!"

"Awoo, I wanna see too!" Cene anxiously tugged on the hem of her skirt.

"Hey now, darling. Are you that eager to pull my pants down already?" She joked, "Naughty boy~!"

"Oi, I chucked you off the edge once and I'm not afraid of doing it again." I threatened her as she guided Cene over to us, "Stop with that annoying roleplay already. It's sickening."

"Haha, let them be!" Othelia grabbed my shoulder gently, "I think it's adorable, don't take it to heart."

"Don't take it to heart?" I parroted her words with a raised voice, "That's exactly what Cecily kept saying when I was warning her about Meil and Nelly, and now look what happened! That bastard is across the sea, living under the same roof as her. I swear to God, if he so much as touches her...!"

"Do you seriously believe he will?" Othelia looked unamused, "I haven't known him for long, but he definitely didn't strike me as someone who knows his way around girls. Don't get me wrong, I can see the appeal, but I'm pretty sure she could lock him in a candlelit bedroom with her and strip and he still wouldn't get it."

"How can you even say such a thing with a straight face?" I got really irked just imagining it.

"Hm, dunno." She honestly shrugged, "Maybe it's because I haven't met her, so I don't personally know her well enough to feel bad about putting her in such a situation."

I swear, this woman can sometimes say the most out of pocket things at times... Now that I think about it, she was pretty quiet back at the house, so I take it Issei is the one doing all the talking for them. I guess this is what she's like when he's not around, how interesting.

"Oh, I forgot about this." Aru looked around the corner to see a giant wall with maze-like engravings, "Well then, Edward Saint, get on with it."

"Excuse me?" I tilted my head, "Get on with what, exactly? It's just a wall."

"Wrong, it's a puzzle." She explained, "The wall will move to reveal a staircase letting us pass further towards the top, but for that to happen, the puzzle needs to be cleared."

"Alright, what do I need to do, then?" I followed along for now.

"See that stick wedged into the bottom of the wall's maze on the wall over there?" She pointed to it, "Grab onto it and take it to the top."

"You'd either need a helluva ladder or flight for that!" I shouted, "Just use your water magic, dammit!"

"Nah, that's way too boring." She decided to lay down on the grassy soil she was standing on, "I wanna see how fast you'll do it."

"Grr...!"

"You can do it, Edward!" Othelia cheered as Cene clapped along, "We believe in you!"

"Gah, fine!" I threw my hands up resignedly as I grabbed ahold of the stick, "Here goes nothing, I guess..."

The maze was the same as any run of the mill maze you'd see in a magazine or something like that, except it was way more huge and was standing vertically upright. Basically, the wedged stick was serving as the pen, and I was to be the hand that guided it through the maze. Still, this would require a lot of physical strength to accomplish, as you literally needed to hold onto the stick the entire time as you lunged from one edge to another, using your other hand to hold yourself up from the last spot you were on. It truly does resemble something you'd see on the path towards the Gods' meeting place.

"Hup!" I managed the first big jump, "Alright, this should be easy, then!"

"Hold it." Aru smirked, "You went the wrong way, I can already see it from where I'm lying down."

"Then at least guide me through the right way!" I shot back.

"I-I can do it, if you want!" Othelia raised her hand nervously as she volunteered to be my Eyes, "Alright, go back one turn and take the right path."

"No shit I need the right path, brain." I groaned.

"Ugh, no! I meant the right path as in the literal direction!" She groaned.

"Oh, okay then..." I sheepishly turned back, "Hup! Okay, now what?"

"Crap, my bad, it was the left path..." She facepalmed.

"You son of a...!"

Yeah, needless to say we weren't breaking any records with this one, but I did eventually manage to reach the top. It was grueling, it was painful, and by the end my muscles were just about to give out, but I persevered, dammit! In hindsight, I should have charted the correct path out before even grabbing the stick in the first place, since that would've been way easier than listening to this idiot guide me. Eh, who cares? The point is I made it.

"Haah, haah..." I heaved heavy sighs, "What... now?"

"Pull that lever next to you." Aru pointed it out.

Doing as I was told, the lever was pulled and what followed was the sound of a bunch of giant gears turning. It actually made me fear for our lives, thinking something inside the mechanism broke and is gonna explode or something, sending all of us flying off the cliff's ledge, but nothing of the sort happened. What instead happened was that the giant wall I had just scaled had started to protrude step by step until it had turned fully into a perfect staircase. Once the sounds finally stopped, the others and I deemed it safe enough to have them climb to where I was so we could continue our journey.

"That was way too cool." I looked just a tad stoked upon seeing it.

"Yeah, you did good." Aru stood on her tippy toes to pat my back, "Though you're still no match for my dear Ouroboras! He holds the world record in solving this puzzle!"

"Again with that guy..." I sighed, "Alright then, I'll bite - What's his time?"

"6 seconds and 94 milliseconds." She proudly puffed out her chest.

"That's not possible by human means!" I yelled, "That's either a cheater or a TAS, either way it doesn't count!"

"Oh it does, I can vouch." She smirked, "He was holding onto that stick, and I was holding onto his-"

"Too much information!" I plugged my bright Red ears as I ran ahead of them in embarrassment.