Volume 2 Chapter 16

However, not everything went as smooth as we expected it to. Unluckily enough, we got involved with the men who were trying to recruit Luna and Til into their party. The two of them seem to belong to a clan called Wolfgang. Let’s be sure to talk with the receptionist afterwards about what kind of clan the Wolfgang is. There is a high chance that they will be a threat to us in the future. Until then, the more information we can gather about them the better.

Even though I was thinking about that, it was late at night. It was impossible for us to talk to the receptionist so long as the guild is closed. More than that, I had something else I had to do.

[For our success in securing the egg. To everyone. Cheers!] (Youya)

[Cheers!] (Luna & Til & Selene)

We bumped our mugs. After returning from the forest, we returned directly to our room in the inn. Although it was an occasion that we should celebrate at the bar, celebrating our success for the Magic Egg in a bar.. I would rather pull my eyes out. Furthermore we would be exposing ourselves to Wolfgang. With these reasons, we returned to the inn. The food and drinks that we were currently eating were foodstuff that we purchased during the day. The food that we liked was secured in the Magic Bag before we left for the dungeon.

I was currently drinking my favourite ale, Selene was drinking wine while the two girls who had sour expressions the last time they drank alcohol were enjoying milk and grape juice instead. Although I had talked to them about drinking alcohol moderately, the two of them still seem to be wary about drinking alcohol. It was a pity since I was looking forward to a drinking party with Til and Luna.

[Uncle Youya. I was surprised. That it was so easy to get your hands on the Magic Egg.] (Selene)

[It wasn’t that easy. We had to survive entering the labyrinth at least twice while be capable of deciphering the star chart and the pendulum clock at the end. Both of them are difficult tasks] (Youya)

[That is true.. However that star chart. Normally I don’t think you would be able to notice it.] (Selene)

[It comes with experience. I have seen similar things in my travels.] (Youya)

It doesn’t seem appropriate for me to tell her that it was a memory from my previous life. It should be fine to hide this fact form her.

Selene looked into my eyes with longing eyes.

It isn’t that I don’t know what she is thinking. However it isn’t mutual. She has likely noticed it from her own observations however if she still decides to follow me, then I will respect her decision. In order to divert the conversation, I brought the attention onto the MVP who managed to grow a beard made of milk.

[Luna. You did great today. It was a brilliant showing.] (Youya)

[Naturally. Luna’s tree climbing skill is the best in the world.] (Luna)

Luna had a look of satisfaction on her face but thanks to her milk beard it could not be seen.

[Ah. I could had done my part well too. Youya, next time make a strategy that I can play a part too okay.] (Til)

[I’ll consider it. However the plans I make are only for the people who are the most suitable for the situation.] (Youya)

The right place for the right person.

It is the party leader’s role to give out instructions for the situation based on the strengths of each and everyone of the party members. In Til’s case, her bow will have many opportunities in the future. In a short while she will definitely be the most useful person in our party.

[Uncle Youya, could I please take a look at the Magic Egg?] (Selene)

[Of course.] (Youya)

I took the Magic Egg from my bag and handed it over to Selene who received it. Luna and TIl who were intrigued by the eggs were also looking over.

[Youya. The egg is alive.] (Luna)

[Uhn. There are sounds coming out of it. What kind of creature will be born from this egg?] (Til)

[In the first place how are we going to get the egg to hatch?] (Selene)

The girls did various actions such as caressing the egg, sniffing it and poking it. However, getting the egg to hatch is a fairly high hurdle to cross. The Magic Egg is definitely sturdy, however it will still be broken if it were to receive the full brunt from a monster’s attack. Plus carrying it around for everyone to see would basically be begging for someone to steal it .

[Hee. This is troublesome. Since the egg weighs about 2 kilograms it’ll be difficult for us to carry it on our backpack all the time.] (Til)

[We only have to maintain physical contact with the egg for about 200 hours. It’ll be better if we just held it while we were sleeping since it’ll be safer than carrying it around in public. In any case, we won’t be able to perform the second method in Greenwood.. There is no hurry to hatch the egg.] (Youya)

I plan for us to leave Greenwood when we reach level 30 which should take us at least three weeks. Assuming our total sleeping time is 8 hours everyday, we will accumulate a total of 168 hours by the time we reach level 30. Furthermore the time required to move to the next town is about 5 days, which adds another 40 hours to our timer. It’s a coincidence but our hatching work will end the moment we arrive at the next town.

[Youya, what’s the second method?] (Luna)

[After warming the egg, you will place the egg into a hot spring mixed with spiritual energy for thirty minutes. If you do that then the Magic Pet would be born immediately. Our destination after Greenwood will be the City of Forges, The number one smithing town on the continent, Flaregard. It is also famous for it’s hot springs heated by the nearby volcano.] (Youya)

(Note: Should I change the title of the city to *The city of forges* since its a blacksmithing city. )

Flaregard. The world’s number one blacksmithing city. There are two secrets as to why it is number one. First would be the dwarfs whose favourite things were fire and iron. The second would be the Sacred Flame which has never been extinguished ever since the world was born. The Sacred Flame is the flame from god which was capable of melting everything, even Orichalcum which was known to be incapable of being smelted in any furnace. It is because of this flame’s existence that it came to be known as the world’s number one blacksmithing city. Due to the Sacred Flame there are many different magical metals that can only be processed at that city. Furthermore due to the influence of the flame and the nearby volcano, the spas in the area were full of hot springs.

[Youya. What is a hot spring? Luna doesn’t know.] (Luna)

[It is a pond with lots of hot water. Once you enter it, your whole body will feel good. Especially the hot springs in Flaregard. It is something that you definitely have to try once in your entire life.] (Youya)

[Want to go! Luna, loves feeling good! Especially together with Youya!] (Luna)

Entering the hot springs isn’t just that. There is a secret property held within their hot springs which was their springs filled with spiritual power. Just by soaking your body in the water, your entire body can be rejuvenated, your fatigue can be washed away and any illnesses can be cured. It also has the property of speeding up a person’s recovery from any injury.]

[If you look forward to going then you should work hard for the sake of reaching Flaregard earlier. Besides hatching the egg, you should do your best to raise your level as well. That way we can depart earlier.] (Selene)

[That’s right. Tomorrow we will do our best too.] (Til)

Selene and Til were both fired up as well.

Truth is, that isn’t the only reason why I targeted Flaregard as our next destination. There are also hidden elements that are present over there. Similar to the Magic Egg only being available in Greenwood, it is a place that I definitely have to go. That is why I chose it as our destination after we reach level 30.

[That is right. We definitely must become the strongest and raise our level to 30 as soon as possible and leave Greenwood. Next is to decide who will be the one to take care of the egg. It is impossible for me to do so as the sofa is too small. If I were to go to sleep with the egg then it would definitely fall onto the ground before the morning.] (Youya)

Since Selene joined our party I was moved from the bed to the sofa. One bed was for Luna and Til and the other for Selene. I had already requested the innkeeper for a room with three beds, however we had to wait for the current user of the room to leave before we could move in. Until then, I will continue to sleep on the sofa. After finding out that I was sleeping on the sofa, the girls had offered to let me sleep together with them, however I refused both sides.

Luna and Til were both fundamentally kids. It isn’t good for their education to grow up experiencing sleeping with a member of the opposite gender. On the other hand Selene was a princess. When thinking of her future, it’ll be bad if it was known that she had slept with another man even if I wasn’t willing to lay a hand on her.

[Luna wants to take care of the egg!] (Luna)

[Me too! Me too!] (Til)

Luna and Til both raised their hands.

[That’s great. Then the two of you will take care of the egg. Speaking of which, I have not mentioned anything about what kind of creature will hatch from the egg. The egg consumes the magic power of the person taking care of it to develop. Naturally it will follow the heart of the person as well. Depending on the magic power they consumed, the creature that hatches will follow suit. Which means that what hatches from that egg, depends on you two.] (Youya)

During the game era, after analyzing the different interactions and conversations between NPCs and players, the hidden parameter which determined the monster was confirmed to be the user’s race.

(Note: This paragraph was vague, at least on my understanding of the words, about the parameter discovered in the game so I decided to add some context.)

After understanding how the mechanics of the egg worked, it is possible to target a specific pet to hatch from the egg, however it is difficult to accurately influence the hatching. However, if I were to choose one I would choose the dragon the size of a kitten, a Faerie Dragon.

Faerie Dragons were capable of casting recovery magic, provide protective buffs to the party and is resilient itself. If we weren’t lucky enough to get that, I just wish to have something that the girls would like. Regardless of what comes out, if it was grown using the heart and magic powers of Luna and Til, I am sure that a good pet will hatch from the egg.

[Luna will do her best!] (Luna)

[I will try my best too. It feels as if it is our child. ] (Til)

The two girl’s motherly instincts were stimulated as the two of the sandwiched the egg between them. Luna’s ear began twitching, going *piko**piko*. It is a gesture that Luna does whenever something comes to her mind.

[Til. You were right. If it’s our child..] (Luna)

It looked as if the two of them were communicating through their ear movements as both their ears went *piko**piko* one after another.

[Ah! That is a good observation! You are smart.] (Til)

Til let out a devilish smile as she came to a conclusion. I have a bad feeling about letting this conversation go on.

[Well that’s that. We’ll leave it to the two of you to take good care of the egg.] (Youya)

[We understand!] (Til)

[Leave it to us!] (Luna)

Their responses were filled with energy. Selene has been squirming quite a bit since earlier, it seems that she might have something to say.

[What’s wrong? Selene.] (Youya)

It’ll be bad not to give her the opportunity to speak up before ending the conversation.

[I feel like I would like to sleep with the egg too. I wonder if it’s possible to lend me the egg from time to time.] (Selene)

Luna and Til stared at Selene’s face.

And..

[Uhn. It’s okay!] (Luna)

[You’re extremely reserved aren’t you. It was expected from the start.] (Til)

The two of them replied instantly. The two of them were good kids. There was no chance that they would reject her request.

[Thank you. I’m glad that you think so. Everyone, let’s take good care of the egg together.] (Selene)

Now then, I wonder what kind of monster would hatch from an egg taken care by the three of them. It is interesting to wonder about that. In the game there wasn’t any eggs that were being nurtured collaboratively, there might even be a magic pet that I didn’t know of. Although, that might be me imagining too much.

[Now then, the talk about the egg is over. Let’s return to the celebration. It’s late to be celebrating tonight but let’s make it a grand celebration!] (Youya)

[OUHH!] (Luna & Til & Selene)

Afterwards, the atmosphere heated up as everyone laughed and drank to the fullest.

In the midst of our celebration, I began thinking of Phil who we left behind in Rumberg. Tonight I will be writing a letter to her before going to bed to keep her updated our progress. Me, Til and Luna were all doing well, plus we even managed to find a new companion for our party.

However, that made finding the item even more important. The item that could increase our party’s limit to five. Even if we failed to do so, I want to meet up with Phil as soon as possible. There were many things that I wished to talk about with her. While such thoughts continously passed through my mind, I continued to gulp more ale down my throat.

Tomorrow, let’s continue to become even stronger than before. Right now we have already obtained the magic egg. We can now focus wholeheartedly to raising our level as quickly as possible. Let’s just say that I have a little trick up my sleeve for tomorrow.