Hilda rejoins us half an hour later while we are digging into some soup before our main meal consisting mainly of some dried meat and bread. It’s not much, but it fills, and that’s the most important part for soldiers. Speaking about the soldiers, those have all left us to our own designs for a while.

Hilda immediately starts drinking some soup too, she must be starving as well.

“How did it go, Hilda?” Nikki asks.

“I explained the situation and recommended that they strengthen their defenses across the entire line. I also told them to not go on the offensive. That will not go well at this stage. We really need to prepare something.”

“And did you speak to the adventurers as well? Considering the situation…” Nikki continues.

Hilda nods. “I took them aside afterwards and told them that dying might have some severe implications that we could not really foresee yet. I didn’t really want to cause a panic but they seemed to understand that it’s quite a serious situation.”

“So what will they do?” Sam asks.

“They are mainly going to perform defensive and supportive actions. A lot of preparations will need to be made while we figure out what is actually going on. Obviously I stayed silent about the connection to our ‘own world.’ So technically we are all ‘outsourcing’ our research right now.”

“Okay, so it’s best that we retreat as fast as possible, contact our divine contacts, and get this figured out pronto?” My sister asks. She is not eating that much, she’s just barely touched her soup.

“Pretty much. So let’s eat something and then head back to our mansion so we can rest.”

“About that…” Sam raises her hand. “Ami and I would like to propose something.”

Hilda tilts her head. “Sure, go ahead.”

We explain our want to have the kids and their adoptive mother moved to our mansion as well.

“I know it’s our base of operations and it’s meant to be for us… But we would feel a lot more at ease if at least those kids and their mom are safe and sound on another continent.”

Hilda smiles and nods while my sister chuckles a little. “That’s to be expected of my sister, isn’t it.”

“Are you against it, Lise?” Hilda asks.

“Not at all.” Lise shakes her head with a light smile. “If they want to leave their village and go to an unknown kingdom, I’m all for it.”

Hilda turns herself to Max and Carol. “Of course, we have not really discussed it before, but you two are also allowed to stay in the mansion, that goes without saying.”

“Otherwise we can go and look for an adventurer inn, it’s really not a big issue.” Max replies.

Nikki shakes her head in response. “No, I think it would be best if we stay together. It’s easier to coordinate like that.”

“Exactly.” Hilda agrees. “The mansion is plenty big enough anyway.”

“Max and I are not going to complain about that.” Carol smiles.

“Then that’s settled, we shall go talk to the kids and their mom after we are done.” Sam agrees.

Sam and I finish our food a bit earlier than the rest so we can make our way to the house where I healed the kid’s mom. We knock on the door and wait for a bit as we hear footsteps approach on the inside.

It’s the youngest of the kids, the little Nekote girl opens the door for us. “M-mom!” She immediately cries out.

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“What’s wrong, Deli?” We hear the mom’s voice coming from around the corner, when she sees us she immediately starts smiling. “Ah, it’s our saviors.”

“Hello.” I smile back. The mom seems to be doing just fine, she’s already walking around and she looks very healthy too compared to yesterday.

“Hello there.” Sam echoes my greeting.

It takes only a couple of seconds for the other two kids to join their mother in front of the door. “What could we help you with?” The mom asks.

Sam looks at me to do the explanation. I give her a nod. “We would like to make you a proposal. It might sound a bit scary but we would really like you and your kids to be safe.”

The lady’s visage turns a bit serious but she gives us a nod nonetheless. “Go on.”

We continue with explaining the situation, vague enough not to scare the kids but definitely enough so that the mom understands that something is amiss.

“Does the Goddess lady want us to come and live with her?” The Drakone girl asks as she looks up at her mom.

The mom puts her hand on the kid’s head. “But we can’t pay you for anything.”

“Money is really not something we need.” Sam replies. “Your safe-being is enough payment.”

“Don’t get me wrong, but you barely know us. Why would you do such a thing for us? Especially after already giving me my health back.”

Sam looks at me for a response. “It would break my heart if we would come back here and see that something happened…” I reply. “I’ve not had the best of childhoods, and after meeting your kids, I really want them to be able to have the best possible life they can have. They have already gone through much from what we gathered, and if they would stay here…” I look down at the kids. Luckily they seem too young to really understand what I’m saying. “You don’t need to pay us anything, but if you really want this to be a trade of some kind, maybe we could arrange something like some kind of service contract…”

The lady sighs and thinks for a while, looking down at her children. She stays silent until the oldest, the Langor boy, pulls her shirt a little. “Obviously I want them to be safe. But it’s still quite a decision to make. How will we get there? Are the people friendly? Do my children have a future in such a foreign place?”

“We have a means to get you there rather quickly.” Sam starts explaining. “There’s not a single person in that city who would look badly on you because of where you live and for a future…”

“We have personal connections at the university there. Education will not be an issue.” I add.

The mom starts chuckling. It comes as a surprise to Sam and I. “When I was talking about a future I was talking about good work, I wasn’t even thinking of an education, that’s all the better of course.”

“Mom, what’s an edumacation?” The little Nekote girl asks.

She immediately gets a pet on the head from her mother. “It’s something your mom was never able to experience but I’m sure the three of you will be having a lot of fun with it.”

“Yay!” She shows us a big smile.

“Does that mean you take us up on our offer?” I ask.

“It does.” She nods. “When do we need to be ready and where do we wait on you?”

“Uh…” Sam scratches the back of her head. “An hour or two at most?”

The eyes of the mom go a bit wider. “Then we should probably start packing, shouldn’t we?”

“We can help.” I smile. “It goes a lot faster with some help.”

The family doesn’t deny our help and together we start packing the few possessions they have. Those kids will not know what has happened to them once they arrive at our mansion. Such a luxury is even hardly thinkable for people from our world, let alone a poor family in, to say it rudely, the middle of nowhere.

We make short work of packing and together with the kids and their mom we head to the gate where the rest of the party is waiting for us. The kids have their little reunion with our dogs while the mom meets the rest of our group.

“So you proposed a service contract to her, did you?” Hilda comes to Sam and I after speaking with the mom; she’s bearing a cheeky grin.

“Sorry, she really looked hesitant to accept this purely as a gift.” I puff my cheeks up a little.

“It’s not a bad idea actually. It might be a good idea to have a secretary of sorts to look over the mansion while we are away. I’m sure that Brielle will do that job just fine.”

“Brielle?” I tilt my head a little. “Oh!”

Hilda laughs. “You never asked her for her name?”

“It wasn’t really necessary.” I puff my cheeks up even more.

“And do you at least know the kids' names?”

“I know the little one is called Deli….” I continue pouting.

“The Drakone girl is called Aine and the boy is called Henri.” Sam replies.

I look at my girlfriend in betrayal. “How do you know those?”

“I talked to the kids a little while we helping them pack.” My girlfriend shrugs and gives me a smile.

“Ami, sometimes you are a bit hopeless, aren’t you.” Hilda pokes me, teasing me all the way.

“Can’t help it… Was too focussed on other stuff…” My pout is sure to last quite a while now. -At least I’ll have plenty of time to apologize for not asking their names in the future. That’s time they maybe wouldn’t have gotten…-