"Waahhh~! I don't wanna leave!" I whimpered and cried in front of our ship, "I didn't know Meil wasn't coming along! Wahhh~!"

"How old are you?" Lem clobbered me on the head, "Quit causing a scene, it's not the end of the world."

"Rightfully said, Lemmy." Meil nodded, "Nelly, please be on your best behavior while on vacation. You will be back soon anyways, so do not trouble your mother and father."

As he pointed out my parents, the group had turned to see how dad was reacting to my tearful goodbye. As to be expected, he couldn't care less about me possibly making a fool out of us.

"What're you grinning about?" Uncle Ed slapped him on the back of the head, "Tell her off for being loud."

"Ehh, but this is the first time in years I've seen my adorable daughter sob!" He couldn't help himself and used the situation to pinch my cheek, "As expected, she's cute even when she's being a whiny brat~"

"Hey, don't call me a brat!"

"With a doting father as spineless as him, I have to ask who the hell made you turn out so diligent?" Lem rolled his Eyes.

"Ah, that would be her mother." Dad smiled back, "Yep, a true to heart warrior maiden. When Cecily speaks, the world listens!"

Rambling on about mom as he always does, I had already braced myself for the inevitable rage Lem would unleash after he got annoyed enough of listening to him, but in fact the opposite happened. No, instead of growing bored, Lem looked super interested to hear as much as he could about my mom. He's plotting something, he's gotta be...

"And you said she has a thing for cloaks?" He inquired.

"Yep, she hates how regular coats weigh her down and restrict her movement, so she always opts to wear cloaks instead." Dad recalled blissfully, "Ah, but back when we were younger, she used to wear them all year long because it looked cool. Her words, not mine."

"Papa, mama's gonna be furious when she finds out you've been sharing all these embarrassing things about her." I warned.

"Hey Lune, quick question." Issei went to whisper a question into dad's ear, "So did your wife ever..."

"T-That's...!" He blushed, steam coming out of his head from hearing the embarrassing question, "Don't ask that with Nelly around!"

"I was whispering, come on." Issei kept nudging him, "Did she though? It's only natural to try it once, isn't it? With just the cloak?"

"...Y-Yes, a few times." Dad nodded bashfully.

"Shit, my bad." Uncle Ed started snickering, "I accidentally used Analyze. Didn't mean to see it."

"You idiot! Stop looking at my intimate memories!" Dad shoved him a bit.

"What the hell could those three idiots even be talking about..." Auntie Eleanor sighed.

"You still don't get it?" Othelia shrugged.

"Somehow, I don't wanna know." I slumped forward.

After this, we said our goodbyes to Meil and boarded the ship to Cardina, waving at him until the moment he could no longer be seen from the dock. Well, that's how everyone else did it, but I came prepared and bought a little spyglass just so I could wave at him for a bit longer. Through the spyglass, I saw him waving with a happy little smile at us before suddenly stopping as his face drooped down into a more neutral position. Just as abruptly as he had stopped, he turned around a perfect 180 degrees and started heading back for the university. Honestly, if I wasn't trying to make him my husband, I'd think that was pretty creepy just now...

"Eep!" I jolted as I felt a cold surface touch my neck, "Hey, the hell was that for!?"

"What, don't want it?" Lem coldly offered me the drink he bought, "I'll drink both then."

"No, I'll take it. Thanks." I snatched it away from him, "But you could've given it to me normally."

"Then I wouldn't get to hear your yelp." He chuckled.

What's his deal, seriously? If he came here for a chat, then he'd better make it quick. Because he did that, I couldn't get to see Meil leaving the shore.

"Tell me the real reason you came here on this trip." I got straight to the point.

"Do I have to have an ulterior motive? I just wanna meet my childhood friend's family." He kept sipping his drink.

"JUST. FRIENDS." I reminded him, "And besides, you're not that well known for wanting to do things just cause, so tell me the real reason."

"What is this, an interrogation?" He backed off, "Fine, you're no fun. I'll go ask that Slanted-Eyed guy how he managed to trick two chicks at once to date him."

Good, at least he's leaving me alone to pester somebody else. Though I do feel bad for Issei, but to be honest I'm also just as interested in the answer to that question. If it comes down to it, I don't mind Meil having another girl in his life, just so long as he doesn't forget about me.

As I thought this, I had noticed there weren't any trash cans nearby to throw out the empty can I was drinking from. I started wandering around the ship to find one, but accidentally ran in on a conversation I wasn't meant to hear.

"You're aiming for Nelly's heart, aren't you?" Uncle Ed interrogated Lem behind a corner.

Wha-!? Dammit Lem, I told you not to joke around like that, and now look what you did! Geez, I'm gonna need to talk to uncle before he starts spreading rumors to the rest of the family, otherwise I'll never hear the end of it! But ohh, so help me if this trickster asshole continues the prank, I'm gonna throw him off the plank!

"...Nah, it's not that. Chill out, Goldie Locks." Lem gave a negative reply, "Besides, if it was about that, I wouldn't go up against her entire family. You think I'm stupid?"

"Kinda, yeah." Uncle nodded with a shrug, "But then, if it's not that, then what is it? Answer truthfully, I can read minds, you know."

Nice going, uncle! He might not want to give me an answer, but there's no hiding anything from my uncle's Iro Ability! Let's see what you got, Lem!

"I just... hate how she doesn't ever visit her family." He sighed.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Huh?" Uncle tilted his head.

"I don't have a mom. She died when I was young, and I don't know who my real dad is either." Lem continued with a bitter tone, "The only true family member I have in my life is Lee, so when I see her neglecting this large family she was blessed with, constantly tossing away the countless letters she receives from you guys to come visit, ignoring Meil's advice to at least go over the holidays... It makes me furious."

"I see. Well, it checks out for now." Uncle's Eyes flashed Brown, "But that still has nothing to do with you. She was gonna go anyway, regardless if you accompanied her or not."

"Would she, though? Or would she just hole herself up in her room and count the days before she can go back to that damned Meil of hers?"

Lem... He saw right through me, that's exactly what I was gonna do. So then, he came to steer me towards my family? That's... awfully nice of him... But know this Lem, don't ever trash talk Meil ever again.

"...You're actually a good kid, huh?" Ed backed off after that, "Well, if we ignore the real reason you came here, that is."

"Real reason?" Lem started sweating bullets, "W-Whatever could you mean?"

"Don't play dumb, I already saw all your deepest thoughts." Ed patted him on the shoulder before leaving, "That includes the wet dreams."

"I-I!? Oh, you...!" Lem started cursing him out, "That's a breach of privacy, dickwad! Don't you dare tell a soul!"

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***

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"Hey, papa?" I asked as we left the ship.

"Yes, dearest?" He smiled back, carrying three giant suitcases of our stuff alone.

"What's a wet dream?"

"Unf-!? Ack!" He dropped everything immediately and responded, "Who taught you that!? Was it that little short bastard!? I'll have his head on a stick!"

Ah, I guess I probably shouldn't throw him under the wagon then. Judging from dad's reaction, it's probably something really bad.

"No, I heard uncle Ed casually mention it, so I was just wondering." I covered for Lem, "What is it, though?"

"That damned... Look, it's nothing that you should concern yourself with." He started picking up all the luggage, "The less you know, the better I'll sleep at night."

"Okay, don't get a wet dream." I advised.

"Haven't in a long time, dear." He chuckled, "Now come on, help me carry all this into the cab."

"Cab?"

"Yeah, come on." He pointed to the wagon Issei and the others were entering, "The cab!"

"The transport wagon?"

"Oh yeah, that."

Where the hell do they call those things cabs? Well, I guess it is more convenient than going with the full name, but it's still kinda odd. The trip from Meridia's dock to Centralis City was pretty short, all things considered, but dad was really complaining the entire time.

"Ugh, what the hell, we're so slow!" He said, "And I can already feel my stomach start to churn from all these damned microbumps!"

"Uhh, no?" Othelia raised an Eyebrow, "We're ahead of schedule. We should be making it by noon tomorrow."

"It's morning now, though!?" He exclaimed, "That's over 24 hours, and just for a simple car ride!"

"...Car?" Eleanor seemed just as perplexed as the rest of us.

"That's your world's transport system, Lune." Issei reclined with a wide grin, "No more cars, trains or airbikes. Just you, the transport wagon and the gravel road!"

"Ehe, that's what you think, Issei!" Dad started Materializing some doohickey's parts in the carriage, "But once I make an airbike of my own, I'll race to Simpleton whenever I want!"

"Oi, don't go making megavolt batteries in the wagon!" Issei scolded him, "You'll blow us all up, you idiot!"

"Blow up!?" Uncle started panicking, "Grim, what the hell are you doing! Stop that!"

"Don't worry, don't worry!" Dad reassured us, "This thing might have the capacity to kill an entire shark as well as the surrounding 50 or so meters of fish, but that's only if it comes in contact with water!"

Hearing this, everyone turned to see Lem slowly put the water bottle he was chugging back into his backpack. Carefully gulping like his life depended on it, he had but one thing to say to dad.

"Kill everyone and yourself with your stupid powers AFTER me and Nel leave!"

After that, dad was forced to stop tinkering in the wagon and kept pouting before falling asleep in his seat. The rest of us followed suit soon enough, and when we woke up, it was already noon the next day. As usual, wagon rides are mostly comprised of the passengers sleeping through them entirely, since you really don't have anything else to do until you reach your destination, but for some reason dad and Issei kept randomly waking up to disappointedly stare out the window. Those two must have gotten used to the lightspeed travel those mystical vehicles from Issei's world can reach.

"Is it over finally!?" Issei and dad ran out of the carriage before lying flat on our yard's vibrant Green grass, "Ahh, the curse, it's over~!"

"You're bothering the neighbors." Uncle followed shortly behind with way less enthusiasm, "I'm the neighbor, by the way. You're bothering me."

"You don't understand, man! Back on Earth, we'd be here 3 days ago!" Dad explained.

"That's the day we left!" Uncle bickered, "How the hell is that even possible, quit making shit up!"

"Looks like they're lively." Lem chuckled before noticing Othelia carrying out the luggage, "Hey, let me!"

"Whoa, is the little twerp actually showing decent manners for once?" She joked.

"Hell no, I was talking about just my stuff." He took the backpack off her and left her with the rest of the heavy load, "If you'd have dropped it, something really important would've gotten dirty and I would have killed you. Okay, carry on."

"You little...!"

"I see." Mom's voice could be heard from the door frame as she welcomed everybody back, "Look who finally decided to show her little face after a whole year of studying."

"Mama!"