3,024Patch Notes:
-Changed the line about Love Fairies not being able to give birth in normal situations. It was a mix between unclear and straight-up contradicting Hibiki's existence. Love Fairies still don't have tons of kids, but it's not nearly as rare as I made it seem. They just don't take them back home to Sky Garden(Venus comes to them to visit) and it's rare for Love Fairies to visit each other outside of Sky Garden.
The trip to Arcanletia was relatively uneventful. Sena stuck close to Kyu at first, not talking much. She was understandably nervous, considering Kyu had sprung all of this on her, so I didn't push.
It took a couple days by wagon, and all we could do was sit in the wagon and talk. We ended up playing a lot of word games and giving each other riddles. It was fun, and Sena slowly started to loosen up, joining us and enjoying herself.
During the trip and at night I kept a careful eye out for monsters using [Void Sight]. There weren't many, and the few that did threaten to cross our paths I took out with a [Doppelganger] before anyone else noticed them.
As the second day progressed the terrain shifted from flat plains to rocky hills. Their craggy walls towered over us as we traveled a winding path between them. Those walls suddenly gave way in the afternoon as our wagon crossed onto a massive bridge made of white stone bricks. The bridge crossed a lake of sparkling blue-green water, steam faintly rising from its surface.
"Woooooow!" Megumin cried out as she stuck her head out of the window so she could see it. "It's so pretty!"
It really was. I cast my gaze forward, looking with [Void Sight]. Arcanletia was crammed into the space between several different small mountains, pools of steaming water dotting their cliffs. And, at the far end of the city, one mountain towered over the rest, and a great cloud of steam rose from it.
"Welcome to Arcanletia!" the driver said cheerfully. "One of the most beautiful cities in the world." Then, under his breath, he muttered, "If you can put up with the inhabitants, that is."
It didn't take long for us to cross the bridge and enter the town through the main gate. Our wagon came to a stop in a line with the other wagons, and everyone started piling out of them, eager to stretch their legs after the long journey.
"Welcome!" a cheery-looking man greeted us after we stepped out of the wagon. "Tourists from out of town? Excellent. I can recommend a wonderful inn. And there's a special promotion going on right now, where all visitors can enter a raffle to win amazing prizes! There's even a chance to win a piece of high-quality materite!"
"Materite?!" Megumin exclaimed in surprise. "I could use that to cast Explosion!"
If the man thought her reaction was strange, he didn't show it. "Indeed!" he agreed as he pulled something out of his pocket. "To sign up for the raffle, all you have to do is sign these forms. Just some basic legal documents, I'm sure you understand."
As Megumin eagerly reached out to grab the proffered sheets of paper, I grabbed her wrist, stopping her. She looked at me in annoyance and confusion, but I ignored her as I grabbed the sheets from the man and looked them over.
"Axis Order Sign Up Sheet," I said reading the title at the top out loud. I raised my gaze to the man, who suddenly looked nervous and annoyed. "A raffle, huh? Thanks, but no thanks." I pushed the papers against his chest.
The man clicked his tongue, but he knew he had failed. He grabbed the forms, putting them back into his pocket, and went to bother another group of tourists.
Arcanletia was the capital of the Axis faith, which meant that nearly everyone who lived here worshiped Aqua. Unfortunately, being a devout worshiper of Aqua didn't make you priestly or wise. Instead, all of them were closer to con artists, using elaborate schemes to try to get you to sign up for their faith.
I was going to avoid coming here until I had to. One of the Demon Lord's Generals was going to appear here sooner or later, but I had no way of knowing exactly when, so my plan was to just keep my ear out for news indicating he was here and then quickly hop over and take care of him. But Momo wanted to come, and I wasn't going to tell her we couldn't just because the locals were annoying.
"No one sign anything without carefully reading what you're signing," I warned the others, who looked surprised. "Unless you want to be tricked into joining the Axis Cult."
"And what's so bad about that?" Aqua protested. "And we're not a cult!"
"Come on," I continued, ignoring Aqua. "I did some research ahead of time, and there's a good inn nearby we can check into."
We push our way through the crowds of people, ignoring the locals trying to sell us things or get us to sign something. The city was actually very beautiful, with charming and well-crafted stone brick buildings and a gentle haze of steam filling the air.
We arrived at the inn I had scouted ahead of time without too much trouble, and I approached the front desk.
"I need lodging for seven people," I said. "Preferably split into two or three rooms. If one of them has a large bed, then that would be ideal."
"You're just in luck my friend," the innkeeper replied with a smile. "I've got just the room for you and your lovely ladies. A nice big bed and a private bath big enough for all of you with a wonderful view of the city. And the walls are thoroughly soundproofed, so you can enjoy yourselves without worry, yeah?" He winked.
I made a mental note to check it for spy holes or any magic that would let him peek in. "That sounds perfect," I said. "I'll take that room and another room for two. Not all of my companions are 'mine', so to speak." While Darkness would probably enjoy being in the same room as us while I fucked my harem, I doubted Sena would.
"Ah, I understand," the man replied with a wink. "A work in progress, no? There is an available room nearby with two beds, I'll check out both for you."
The cost of the rooms was easily three times what you'd expect to pay in even the nicer parts of the capital, but I had expected as much and didn't even bother trying to haggle with the guy.
"Excellent," he replied as he put away the Eris I just paid him with. "Just sign in here and I'll give you your keys." He handed me a clipboard and a pen. But I stopped right as I was about to sign. My eyes read over the paper, and it seemed legit, with some legalese about renting the room, about how he wasn't responsible for stolen items, how I'd have to pay extra for damages, so on and so on.
But the format of it was weird. Normally you sign papers at the bottom left, but this one had the line awkwardly placed at the bottom right. And not even the actual bottom, but moved up slightly. I squinted at it and I felt the innkeeper grow nervous.
Something was definitely up. I lifted the paper up from the clipboard, looking under it. Sure enough, there was an Axis Order signup sheet right underneath the first piece of paper. And with how thin the paper was, I recognized what it was immediately; carbon paper. Anything I signed on the top sheet would bleed through to the bottom one. Part of me was both surprised and impressed that this world had such a thing.
The other part of me was just annoyed. I sighed and removed the piece of paper from under the actual sheet I had to sign, causing the innkeeper's expression to sour and for him to click his teeth. But he didn't say anything as I checked for another hidden layer or another form of trickery. Finding nothing, I signed my name and handed him back the clipboard, deliberately making eye contact with him.
He looked away, visibly annoyed, but handed over the keys to the room without a fuss. I turned to the others, who had been too busy excitedly talking amongst themselves to notice what happened.
"What do you guys say about hitting a hot spring first?" I said to them as I joined. "I just got us a couple rooms, and one of them comes with a private bath, so we can all get in together."
Everyone agreed with that except for Sena, but she didn't protest either so I pretended not to notice. Sena and Darkness went to drop their stuff off in their room, and the rest of us headed straight for ours where we dumped our things to the side to take care of later and immediately stripped before getting in the hot spring.
"Ahhhhhhhhh," I let out a sigh of contentment as I slid into the steaming hot water. No matter how strong I got, it always felt good to take a nice soak in some hot water. Momo and Kyu slid into the water next to me, close enough that their sides pressed against mine. I spread my arms, putting one around each of their waists, and enjoyed the sensation.
Megumin and Aqua got in as well, both of them just as naked. Megumin pouted when she saw that there wasn't any room next to me, but instead of sitting between my legs, she simply sat down nearby. Aqua, on the other hand, didn't even glance at us. She joined us for sex now, having acquired a taste for it, but she wasn't particularly romantically interested in me or the others. Or, if she was, she didn't show it very well.
But that was fine with me. She was mine, which was all that mattered. I looked out over the view of the city and simply enjoyed the moment.
A few minutes later, Sena and Darkness entered the bath as well. Both were blushing, naked save for a towel wrapped around them, preserving their modesty. A herculean task, considering the figures of the two girls. Sena wasn't quite as large or curvy as Darkness, but she wasn't too far behind either.
"Come on in, the water is great," I invited them.
"And lose the towels!" Kyu added. "This is a nudity-only bath!"
Sena stiffened at that, and I rolled my eyes. "Ignore her," I said. "Keep them on or take them off, that's up to you."
Kyu pouted, but Sena visibly relaxed.
+12 Affection with Sena
For not pushing her
"I-it's alright," Darkness stammered, face even redder. "I-I don't mind." She slowly started unwrapping the towel from herself.
"Good for you," I said disinterestedly, turning my gaze back towards the view rather than her. Not that I was actually going to miss a chance to see her naked. I used [Void Sight] to take a look as I felt her arousal spike because of my dismissal. She had paused at my words, a look of pleasure on her face. The towel had been undone enough for it to slip off the rest of the way by itself.
Darkness froze, clearly not having expected it to slide off, but after a moment she collected herself and left it on the ground, stepping forward into the bath, ignoring the gazes of the others. Sena, towel wrapped firmly around her chest, followed. Though, since she was the last one in, she was forced to sit fairly close to someone. The bath was big enough for all of us, but it wasn't that big. She ended up sitting between Kyu and Megumin, her eyes occasionally flicking over to us.
"Another big boobed one, huh?" Megumin complained as she glared at Sena's chest.
"Excuse me?" Sena asked, sounding more confused than offended.
"Why does everyone else have bigger boobs than me?!" Megumin said, louder now. She rounded on me. "You said you like boobs of all sizes, right? So how come there's no one here the same size as me?"
I shrugged. "Coincidence?" I guessed. What I didn't say was that it was difficult to get as small as her and still be within my strike range. Megumin wasn't flat, but her boobs were definitely tiny. Leticia was maybe a little smaller than her in her younger form, and she was about the same size as Clemea. But neither of them had joined us on this trip.
"Or you're a liar," Megumin accused me, crossing her arms under her chest. "A secretly big boobed obsessed liar!"
I sighed. I tried heading off this kind of thing with all of my smaller girls, making sure they knew that I preferred a variety of sizes over any one single size. But I guess Megumin's self-image issues ran too deeply.
"I can guarantee that he's telling the truth," Kyu butted in. For some reason, I felt a cold sense of dread wash over me, despite her defending me. "After all, if he was unsatisfied with your tits, he'd just give you a potion to make them bigger."
Everyone in the bath froze. "You- you can do that?" Megumin asked in a quiet voice.
"I have no such potion," I firmly denied, carefully schooling my expression.
"He's lying," Kyu said with a mischievous grin on her face.
"Shut up," I hissed at her.
Megumin launched herself at me. "Gimme the boob potion!" she said. "I'm tired of being flat! I want boobs that will make Yunyun jealous!"
"I refuse!" I replied. I tried to fend Megumin off, but both Kyu and Momo had grabbed hold of my hands, leaving me unable to defend myself as Megumin grabbed me by the shoulders and started shaking me.
"But whyyyyyyy?!" Megumin whined as she shook me. "I don't want to be called a kid anymore!"
"Because I don't have anything heretical like that," I insisted. It was only kind of a lie. I had a potion that could change your body proportions to whatever you wanted, but that technically wasn't the same thing as 'a potion that makes your boobs bigger'.
"I love your cute little boobs and how sensitive they are," I continued, holding myself still, not letting Megumin shake me anymore. "I love Momo's nice big chest that I can sink my fingers into. I love Kyu's medium-sized tits that fit perfectly in my hands. I love all sizes, and I believe that a girl should never seek to change their bust size because the size they were born with is the one that suits them best."
Megumin and the others paused, clearly not having expected such a declaration. Momo and Kyu were smiling as if they expected it. Darkness, Megumin, and Sena were all blushing. And Aqua…
"Hey, how come you didn't mention my boobs?" she asked, annoyed.
"Your boobs are amazing too, Aqua," I said, rolling my eyes.
Aqua nodded proudly, crossing her arms, emphasizing her chest more. "That's right," she agreed.
"And what about Sena's?" Kyu asked, still trying to cause trouble.
Sena immediately tensed, but I didn't look at her. "I don't think Sena's comfortable enough with us yet for me to be talking about her boobs," I replied neutrally. I did look at Sena then. "Sorry if the topic made you uncomfortable."
"It-it's alright," she said, avoiding looking back at me. "You said things would be like this, and it's…interesting to see a group like yours."
I don't think she was using 'interesting' in a positive way, but I let it slide. I hadn't lost Affection, and that was good enough for me.
"So, does everyone know what they want to do while we're in town?" I asked, settling back in to relax once more.
"I want to try all the most popular hot springs!" Aqua said. "And eat at all the fanciest places!"
"I just want to walk around town and take in the sights," Darkness said, surprising me with her lack of lewdness. Ah right, she hadn't revealed her status as a worshiper of Eris yet, and so she didn't realize what kind of treatment she could get.
"Is there anywhere where I can cast Explosion?" Megumin mused out loud.
""No!"" Aqua and Darkness replied simultaneously. She ignored them and looked at me, used to me enabling her habits.
"I'll find somewhere nearby," I promised her. She gave me a massive smile in response, even as the other two glared at me.
"I want to do all the tourist stuff," Kyu said, cutting in. "You know, all those cheap and dumb things designed to make for good photo opportunities and charge you way too much money for them."
Odd, but then again, Kyu was an odd one. I shrugged. "Sure, we can do some of that."
"What about you?" Momo asked me, a glint in her eyes.
"Well, the first thing I want to do is take you somewhere nice for dinner," I replied confidently. "In fact, I already have reservations at a place tonight for just the two of us."
"Wait, how did you make reservations already?" Darkness asked, confused. "We only just arrived, and you haven't left our sight."
I just gave her a small smile. "I'm just that good," I joked. In truth, it had been as easy as teleporting over last week and making a reservation in person.
Darkness narrowed her eyes at me as her brow furrowed, obviously trying to figure it out, but Momo just smiled, likely having guessed it already. "Alright," she agreed. "I guess if you have reservations, I can't exactly say no, can I?"
"Then it's a date," I said with a wink before turning to the others. "We're here for a week, so we'll have plenty of time to do all the things you guys want to do. And I'll spend time individually with each of you. Including you Sena, if you're up for it."
"M-me?" she said, suddenly tensing again.
"Like I said when we met, I want to get to know you better," I said in my most genuine sounding voice while flashing her a smile. "And what better way than spending some time together, just the two of us?"
The others were giving me various looks, all of them except for Aqua knowing exactly what I was doing, but Sena was too busy being embarrassed to notice.
+6 Affection with Sena
For wanting to know her better
She was so easy. Even in this situation that she was initially against, just being a little bit of a gentleman and not pushing her too hard was enough to make her like me more.
"I think I'd like that," she eventually said in a quiet voice.
"Perfect," I replied casually. "We'll figure out a better schedule tomorrow. Tonight, you guys do whatever you want while Momo and I are on our date. Do not cause trouble or I'll put you on a wagon headed back home."
"Oh come on, we're not that bad," Aqua said. I just gave her a flat look. Unfortunately, it bounced straight off of her, too confident in herself to care about any sort of glares I sent her way.
So I turned to the most responsible one of the trio. "Keep them out of trouble," I told Darkness.
She nodded seriously. "I'll do everything I can," she promised.
Somehow, that didn't exactly reassure me.
"This is beautiful," Momo said as she looked out over the view. The two of us were alone on a terrace, a table between us covered in a silk tablecloth, fancy silverware, and several candles. I was wearing a suit and Momo was wearing a blue-green dress the same color as her eyes with a very deep neckline. Something I was having trouble keeping my eyes away from, to Momo's amusement.
Though the view was certainly putting up a good effort in distracting me. Most of the city of Arcanletia was spread out before us, the lights of the buildings glittering like stars. And beyond all of the buildings was the lake with the bridge leading into the city, the water shining with the light coming from the shore.
"Almost as beautiful as you," I replied with a grin. She rolled her eyes at the cliche response but seemed pleased by it anyway.
Momo turned her attention back to her food, taking a bite of the expensive dish she had ordered. "I think you've spoiled me," she said after swallowing the bite. "My father would drag me to all kinds of dinner parties and business deals at fancy restaurants, so I can tell that this is quite well made. And yet, all I can think of is how much I'd rather be eating your cooking."
I smiled. [Cooking] really was cheating. "You think they'd get mad if I asked if I could borrow their kitchen?" I asked.
Momo laughed. "Oh, definitely. Especially if you then cooked the kind of thing you make at home. It would be an affront to fine dining in their eyes."
"As amusing as it would be, I think I'd rather spend my time with you," I said with a shake of my head.
A comfortable silence fell, interrupted only by the sound of our silverware scraping against our plates as we ate. After a moment, Momo spoke up again. "You know, it's kind of crazy to think that we've been in this world, an entirely different world than our home one, for over four months now."
"The time has gone surprisingly quickly," I agreed. "Especially since we only met three or so months before we came here."
"And now, here we are, married already," Momo said with a smile. But then she frowned. "No, wait. Not married. Engaged, we're only engaged." She shook her head. "I've gotten so used to you calling me your wife that I forgot we haven't actually had a wedding yet."
"I forget too," I admitted. "I initially said you were my wife instead of a fiance because it felt simpler, but now…it just feels more true."
Momo nodded in agreement. "It's going to be strange, going back home with no time having passed, and then having to plan a wedding after living as your wife for almost a year." She smiled, her focus distant as she imagined it. "Though planning it out with the help of Sona and the others is something I'm really looking forward to."
"I'm sure it'll be quite the production with the two of you planning it," I agreed. "I can't imagine a more formidable duo of organization and planning."
Momo giggled, amused. "We'll make sure it goes perfectly, don't you worry," she said. After a moment, her expression faded slightly, and I felt a pang of loneliness from her with [Empathy]. "...I miss them, all of them. A lot. I've never been away from them for so long since joining Sona's peerage. I'm enjoying my time here, adventuring and helping people and seeing all sorts of amazing places. But I miss my friends, my family."
"I miss them too," I admitted. "I can't tell you how many times I've thought how much I would like to see one of the others." I paused, hesitating for a moment before continuing. "Do you…do you want to go back early? Give me a few days and I can bring us all back."
It wouldn't be hard. All I had to do was complete the quest I had gotten when we had arrived in Konosuba, which just meant assassinating the Demon Lord. It would be child's play for me.
Momo took a moment, considering my offer, but then shook her head. "No. No, I'm just a little homesick. I still think your plan is the best, to safely carry out my term here, in this world where it's safer." She placed a hand on her stomach.
"How long until you start showing?" I asked.
"A few weeks, most likely," she said. "Devil pregnancies are pretty similar to human ones, but they're also a little less consistent, so it's hard to say for certain. I've been keeping track of the signs though and using some diagnostic spells, and things are going well so far."
"I have noticed your breasts getting a little bigger lately," I noted, eyes once again drawn to her cleavage. "And a little more sensitive, if I'm not mistaken."
She snorted. "Of course you did. I wish that was the only symptom. There's a reason I've decided to stop adventuring now. The morning sickness and cramps aren't too bad, but on top of camping out in the woods and fighting goblins and other monsters all day…" she trailed off.
"If you're more comfortable staying at home, that's fine," I reassured her. "We went into this knowing you wouldn't be able to stick with us forever. We've prepared for it even. Yua and Tara will be there to keep you company, and Leticia and Kuro Usagi will help you with anything you need. And I'm just a mental message away. I'm probably going to reveal my better teleports soon anyway. And speaking of which, I can teleport you to wherever you want to go, you know. So can you, Devil teleportation spells are safe for pregnancies, right?"
"Apparently, but…" she looked unsure. "There's a part of me that doesn't want to risk it. The chances of something going wrong are so small that they're basically zero. But…our situation is just unusual enough that I can't help but to worry."
"Ah," I said, brow furrowing as I considered that. Reincarnated Devils were, for all intents and purposes, not significantly different from Pureblood Devils. The only real differences were that they carried over their previous skills, Sacred Gears, and physical appearances. The only thing they lacked was a chance at the Pillar Clan bloodline powers. Which was true for a lot of pureblooded devils from any non-High Class family as well.
So the concern wasn't Momo. She'd have the same pregnancy as a Pureblooded Devil would. But in most Devil pregnancies, the father was also a Devil. Devils and Humans having children together certainly wasn't unheard of, but between lifespan issues and abysmally low fertility rates, it wasn't very common.
Of course, I wasn't human. I was, to put it nicely, a unique mix of human and other races, with two of those things technically not even being organic beings. My existence, on its own, was unprecedented. A child between me and a Devil was unknowable.
I wasn't too worried about it in terms of the health of the baby though. I trusted the System administered by Kyu and designed by a Goddess of Love to make sure there weren't any complications.
"At the very least, I don't think there would be any problems with my kind of teleportation," I said after a moment of thought. "If he, or she, is at all like me, then they will be protected from that, same as I am. Not to mention I'm already protecting all of you completely when I use my teleportation. And I talked it over with Kyu before we even came here. The hop between worlds is completely safe."
Momo sighed. "I know. But knowing doesn't stop me from worrying."
I reached over and placed a hand on hers. "I worry too," I said. "Mostly about what comes after. Raising a kid back home is a…stressful thought. There's so much danger there compared to this world. People who can wipe cities off the map just because they're bored. And at least half of them aren't going to like us very much for one reason or another."
"But that's why you're making the Global Supernatural Coalition, right?" Momo asked.
I nodded. "To reduce the number of those powerful beings that hate us, and to create allies to help us deal with the ones who don't want to play nice. Not to mention that each faction could offer so much to the others. There have been a few preliminary talks between the devils, Heaven, and the Grigori and we've already thought up some ideas that will benefit everyone. But it's going to be a slow process. With organizations that big, you can only go so fast."
Momo placed her other hand on top of the one I had over hers. "And in the meantime, you'll be there to protect us. I know you will."
I grimaced. "I'd like to think so but…I wasn't there for Kokabiel. He found a way to keep me away from you, one I hadn't ever considered feasible."
"And will it work again?" Momo asked, her tone less concerned, and more like she knew the answer but wanted me to say it out loud so I'd realize it.
"Not as well," I admitted. I had a few plans. The trait I had gotten from my Lightbearer class, Paracausal, would allow me to wait it out and train without worry if I was brought to the past and forced to wait until I caught back up to the timeline. It wasn't ideal, but it was an option.
And if I was brought to the future…well, with my System, unlocking some form of time travel certainly wasn't impossible. Again, it wasn't ideal, and it would require a ton of time and effort, but it would get the job done, and I'd be more powerful for it.
"But there could always be another method, one unknown to me," I continued. "And while I'm doing everything I can to empower everyone I care about…a baby can't look after itself, it can't defend itself. I trust you to do everything you can to protect him of course, but what if that's not enough?"
An awkward silence fell between us. "Do you…regret agreeing to my request?" Momo asked, and I didn't need [Empathy] to tell how worried she was.
"No," I denied immediately. "I mean, I won't lie, I'm not a fan of the stress. It probably would have been better to wait, and I don't think I'll be agreeing to have any more kids until I secure our position better." I shook my head. "But no, I don't regret it. I'm nervous, but I'm also excited. I've never given much thought to being a father before, and I have no idea if I'll be a good one. But it's going to be a big change, and I think it'll be a good one. An important one."
Momo smiled, her shoulders relaxing as she was reassured by my words. "I feel the same way," she said. "You're probably right in that waiting would have been better. But I don't think it was wrong to do it now either. It's scary, but we'll have each other." She gave my hand a squeeze.
"And about a hundred other people who are all going to be doting on the baby," I said with a smile, shifting the conversation to lighter topics. "They're going to be so spoiled." Momo giggled, removing her hands from mine so she could go back to eating, and I copied her.
"It's a nice benefit from my husband being so popular," she said with a smile. "Many fellow sister-wives means a lot of people to help take care of the baby."
I laughed softly. "That's true. So, have you been thinking of any names?"
"I've thought of a few, but none of them seem right," Momo replied. "It's too bad I used Yua already. That would be the perfect name if we had a daughter."
I tilted my head in confusion. "Wait, why?"
Momo looked at me in surprise, blinking, before a grin grew on her face. "Oh? Did you never look up what her name meant? I was pretty sure you wouldn't know off the top of your head when I gave her the name, but I thought maybe you looked it up later."
My brow furrowed. "I don't think it ever even occurred to me to look it up," I admitted. "Why, what does her name mean?"
"Well, it depends on how you spell it, but the one I had in mind was 'a bond of affection'," she explained.
I thought back to when Momo named Yua. It had been after we finished buying the cat stuff and deciding she'd go home with me. I couldn't hold back a laugh. "Wait, does that mean you were just blatantly saying you liked me, and I just completely missed it?" I asked, amused. "You weren't even being subtle."
Momo's grin widened. "Well, you looked like a foreigner, so I was pretty sure you wouldn't get it until later. Even if you had understood it, I wouldn't have minded. I wasn't exactly hiding my interest in you. In fact, for a moment I thought maybe you did get it, since you asked for my number right after."
I shook my head. "Nope, I didn't even suspect. I was trying to come up with an excuse to get your number the whole time. It didn't even occur to me that Yua's name was anything but something you liked the sound of."
"It is a pretty name, even without taking into account what it means," Momo admitted.
"It is," I agreed. "And it fits her well. But I think we can do better for our potential daughter than calling her what amounts to 'the proof of the bonds of love of your parents'."
Momo giggled. "I suppose that's true. It would be better than my name though. Momo is nice, but it just means 'peach', which doesn't really mean anything at all."
"Well, I can think of one part of you that reminds me of a peach," I said with a suggestive smile.
"Behave," she chided me, but she was smiling too. "Save it for when we get back to our room."
The rest of our dinner was relaxed and nice as we traded ideas for baby names and flirted with each other, the heavier topics left behind. We finished the night off by taking the scenic route back to the inn, enjoying the sights of the city at night.
There weren't as many people out, but we were far from alone on the streets. I got more than a few jealous glances from men when they spotted Momo on my arm. Though I also got a few thumbs-ups that I could only assume were intended to be some sort of congratulations. Maybe the people of this city weren't so bad after all?
By the time we were approaching our hotel, I was ready to call it a night. I wanted nothing more than to take a quick dip in the pool with just Momo and have a steamy and sensual session with her, and then join the others in the bedroom for the normal nightly harem.
I should have known better to get my hopes up though.
As we turned a corner and the inn came into sight, so did the rest of our group. Because they were all outside. And all of our luggage was next to them. And they all looked miserable.
I took in a deep breath and held it for a second before letting it out as a sigh. I should have known that leaving them unsupervised would lead to trouble. Momo and I hurried out steps slightly, approaching.
"There they are!" Aqua said as she spotted us first. The others quickly turned to face us, nervousness exuding from them in waves, especially Sena.
"Please tell me you didn't get us kicked out of the inn," I said, utterly unamused. All of them lowered their eyes and refused to look at me. I sighed again, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Gods dammit," I muttered. "How?!"
"It was all Aqua's fault!" Megumin immediately shouted, pointing her finger at the other girl. "She wanted to try the women's bath and she purified it!"
"I can't help it though!" Aqua complained. "Besides, they should be grateful that their goddess even used their stinky bath!"
I held up a hand. "Aqua, what was the rule I set before I let you come with us?" I asked her.
"To not claim to be the goddess Aqua," she repeated morosely. She stamped her foot. "But I am though!"
"It doesn't matter either way," I rebutted. "They won't believe you and will only get mad at you. And I will send you home if you cause too much trouble."
"But- but-," she pouted, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.
"But nothing, you're lucky I don't send you home for this," I told her sternly. But then I relaxed a little, the annoyance ebbing away. "Just…try not to purify their baths, alright? You managed not to when we were taking a bath together."
Aqua sniffed and nodded, looking every bit like a crying child. "Okay," she said.
I put a hand on her head. "Good. Now, stay here, I'm gonna go have a talk with the inn owner."
A stern conversation and an application of [Hypnosis] later, we were moved back into our rooms and wouldn't be bothered again. I was even able to have that bath with Momo I had been looking forward to.
As we relaxed together in the steaming hot water, Momo spoke up. "About what you said earlier, at dinner," she started. "How you weren't sure if you'd be a good dad?"
"Yeah?" I replied.
She looked at me, a serene smile on her face. "I don't think you need to worry about it. Just based on the way you handled Aqua, I think you'll be an amazing dad."
I thought back to the moment, and how I had handled Aqua in the past. "Maybe you're right," I replied.
Momo shifted position, rising out of the bathwater so she could straddle me. My eyes latched on to the water dripping down her curves, glistening on her pale skin. "I know I am," she insisted. Then she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. My hands naturally settled on her waist as I quickly began to harden.
There wasn't much talking after that.
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AN: Pretty wholesome chapter this time! So far I'm liking the quicker releases. It feels like things are progressing faster, even if they're not really. But it's also easier to balance these smaller chapters and working on planning for other stuff, and my monthly side fic releases.
The first scene was just a fun transitional one. It wasn't going to be that long, but the bath-time shenanigans ended up nearly writing themselves. And, of course, an introduction as to why Arcanletia isn't the most popular city in the world- its inhabitants.
The Momo scene was a chance to talk about some more serious stuff. Reminders of the past and planning for the future, both for the characters and to remind myself and readers. It's going to be strange, going back to DxD after so much time away, with so many hanging plot threads he'll have to pick back up. And I'm certainly looking forward to it. But I'm enjoying this time in Konosuba too, even if it has completely fucked the pacing.
I put a lot of effort into coming up with names for my OCs, and Yua's was no exception. It was 100% Momo declaring her interest in him back then in chapter 2, and he 100% just missed it because he doesn't actually speak Japanese, his System just translates for him. That actually ended up causing him to not use honorifics in his speech very much, even from the perspective of others, which helped bring him a little closer to some people early on.
Funnily enough, Axton himself is an exception to how much effort I put into naming my OCs. He suffered from a) me rushing the planning so I could get words on paper, overcoming that initial hump that I was stuck at for years, and b) Me having a pretty different idea of what the character was going to be like before I started writing it and he evolved on his own.
Anyway. The next chapter might not be next week, might be a bit after as I take the time to finish up the next chapter of Villain of the Void, which will be released on the first of the month as my monthly side fic update.