Day 13 Month Water

  Today is the day we, the Nagumo household, went to Isis-san’s home, which is located in the Land of Death. Since the Land of Death is freezing cold we decided to use Airzone to regute our temperature as we stay there.

  According to Kaito-san, Isis-san’s home is covered with a barrier to keep the temperature inside warm so we don’t need to worry about the freezing temperature.

  But in any case, we decided to use Hajime’s artifact to go there. Since there’s no teleportation gate to the Land of Death, we decided to fly there using the Flying Dragon Service. Though they can only transfer us so far so we will walk on foot once we nd there.

  And here we are, at our back are lush jungle full of greenery while in our front are frozen wastend with white snow and rge ice mountains as far as the eye can see. The scenery reminds me of Schnee snowfield a bit.

  Yep, this is definitely the famed Land of Death. Oh? Upon closer look, there’s something amidst the snow and ice. There are two familiar figures walking side by side towards us while holding hands like a lover. We all immediately know who they are as they wave their hand at us.

  “Hello everyone… welcome to the Land of Death… I hope you all enjoy it here.” (Isis)

  “Hello Isis-san, my gratitude for letting us stay at your home for a couple of days.” (Hajime)

  “Fufu… you’re welcome to stay… the more the merrier.” (Isis)

  Nn, as Isis-san said that, she has a really bright smile on her face, she looks like the Goddess of snow with her beautiful looks that it takes our breath away.

  Yep, precious.

  “Anyway, let’s move to Isis-san’s home shall we?” (Kaito)

  Kaito-san then suggests that we move our location to Isis-san’s home, to which we say yes to.

  Nn, I’m curious what kind of house Isis-san is living in.

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  After quite some time, we arrived in front of Isis-san’s house, or rather, what we thought was her house.

  Because this “house” isn’t a house at all but a magnificent giant castle entirely made of ice. Coupled with the way the sun shines, it makes the spectacle of the castle look more dazzling as if it was straight out of fantasy books.

  Or rather, Isis-san, you live in this castle!? Now that I think about it, she is one of the Six Kings, the pinnacle of the Demon Realm so this home is befitting of her status. She’s just like a princess from a certain cartoon Myuu likes to watch in Hajime’s world.

  “Waaaah! It’s E**a’s castle nano!” (Myuu)

  “Ara ara~ let’s ask Isis-san to give us a tour inside the castle okay Myuu?” (Remia)

  “Yes nano!” (Myuu)

  Nn, I’m also excited to see what are the many things that are inside Isis-san’s castle.

  After Isis-san opens up the huge door that led us inside the castle, there are 6 figures that can be seen, one of them is someone we know of.

  “Eh? Iris-san? What are you doing here desu?” (Shia)

  “Ah I forgot to tell you all but I’m actually one of Isis-sama’s executives and these people are also the same, in other words, they are my co-workers. These are Poris, Rasal, Sirius, Spica and Eulpecu.” (Iris)

  Hee, I see, so Iris-san is one of Isis-san’s executive members just like how Fafnir-san is an executive towards Magnawell-san huh, and looks like the five people that she introduced to us are also Isis-san’s subordinates too.

  The one called Poris is a fairly built woman wearing a white pointy hat and outfit alongside her purple hair, it makes her look like a mystic witch.

  The one called Rasal is a retively small built girl carrying a coffin twice her size.makes her look like an imposing grave watcher.

  The one called Sirius is a… bug? Either way, she’s a pretty big figured woman with bug antennae and six arms with six swords on her waist.

  The one called Spica is a girl with a beautiful blue crystal-like flower on her head while wearing a cute light blue dress.

  And finally, the one called Eulpecu is a ten tailed fox girl wearing a shrine maiden-like outfit.

  They all then bowed down to their King they served, which is Isis-san.

  "”””””Welcome home Isis-sama.”””””” (The Pleiades)

  “Unn… I’m home everyone… We have guests today… So please be polite, okay?” (Isis)

  "”””””Ha!”””””” (The Pleiades)

  Nn, Isis-san looks like a sovereign empress from the way she orders her subordinates to take care of us. She is indeed befitting the title of a King that rules over the icy castle.

  “Let head-dono and I prepare food while the rest of you can guide our guest here to their room.” (Poris)

  “Well then, let’s guide the guests before Rasal infects them with some weird virus.” (Sirius)

  “Ah? Rather than infect them, I’m more worried that they will get dirty because you never clean yourself when you finish training.” (Rasal)

  “Ah?” (Sirius)

  “Oh?” (Rasal)

  “Enough you f*cking monkeys, we have work to do and Isis-sama’s good name depends on your attitude today so keep it down!” (Eulpecu)

  “Yeeeees~ this way everyone~.” (Spica)

  …These people are really colorful and lively aren’t they? I’m sure the rest of the Nagumo household also thought the same.

  Nn, looks like it’ll be lively today as usual.

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  After we pced our stuff in our room, we then went around Isis-san’s castle to sightsee. Since the castle was huge to begin with, the tour ended just before dinner time.

  When we sight-see, while most of the castle’s interior is either empty, regur storage rooms or offices, we saw many interesting things like a library with million of books, a storage room full of collectibles that Isis-san gathered for many years, a castle section that are used as a dormitory for her subordinates and followers to live in, the Blue Crystal flower garden with patio in the middle of the garden, and a big onsen that’s facing the Land of Death, giving it a magnificent view.

  Incidentally, while Kaito-san is capable of suppressing Isis-san’s Magic Power of Death even while they’re separated, the range is about 3 meters at best so they both decided to consult with Kuro-san to imbue the whole castle with the same magic that are capable of suppressing Isis-san’s Magic Power of Death so that we can roam around her home with no issue.

  Seriously, both of them are so considerate they might as well be Angels of kindness.

  Of course, there’s the kitchen where Iris-san and Poris-san are cooking and the big luxurious dining hall where we all ate our delicious dinner together.

  Now then, since we already fill our tummies with delicious food…

  “...How about you stand back waiting in the line, Bakaori?” (Yue)

  “Heee, who is the one that secretly finished her food faster than anyone and quickly ran towards the onsen I wonder? I wonder?” (Kaori)

  “...It’s just your imagination, now go back to the waiting line obediently.” (Yue)

  “You just want to get a headstart over everyone in taking a bath with Hajime-kun aren’t you Ahouyue!? I won’t let that happen this time!” (Kaori)

  Chih, looks like she guessed my intention and followed me here, cheeky Bakaori is getting cheekier with each day passed.

  Unfortunately for her, this Vampire Princess is starving for love from her beloved husband and shall take a bath with him this time no matter what!

  As we were still in the middle of our gring standoff, suddenly a person came by and greeted us.

  “Kaori…? Yue…? Is everything okay…?” (Isis)

  “...Please stand back Isis-san, this is the matter of women’s pride.” (Yue)

  “It’s exactly as Ahouyue said, to turn down after all of this will bring shame to my women’s pride!” (Kaori)

  As we told Isis-san to stand back and leave us alone, she then tilted her head asking us a question.

  “Eh…? Both Yue and Kaori… are Hajime’s lovers right?” (Isis)

  “...Nn? Well we are, what about it Isis-san?” (Yue)

  “...? Shouldn’t both of you… not fight with each other then…? Both of you… love the same person after all…” (Isis)

  “Well she gets Hajime-kun’s attention the most so it isn’t fair that she gets all of the love!” (Kaori)

  “Unn? But it’s not like… Kaori didn’t get… any attention right?” (Isis)

  “Eh? W-well He does give me attention from time to time I guess?” (Kaori)

  “Then it’s… not a problem isn’t it?” (Isis)

  “”Eh?”” (Kaori and Yue)

  As Kaori and I were dumbfounded by Isis-san’s cims, we then asked her some questions.

  “Erm, what do you mean by that Isis-san?” (Kaori)

  “Unn? I think since Hajime… gives you attention… then it’s fine don’t you think?” (Isis)

  “...Well certainly but don’t you feel like you wanted to monopolize Kaito-san’s attention?” (Yue)

  “Unn? Why did I… ever want that?” (Isis)

  “”Eh?”” (Kaori and Yue)

  “While sometimes… I like it when Kaito gives most of his attention to me… I still like Kaito who… loves and is loved by his other lovers too…” (Isis)

  “”...”” (Kaori and Yue)

  “Unn, Kaito when he’s with me is the coolest… but Kaito when he’s with his other lovers is also the coolest… and Kaito who does his best for all of us… the one who is having fun the most… the happiest he can ever be… is the coolest of them all… that’s what I think… That’s why, I don’t need all of Kaito’s love… for the confirmation of his love towards me and his happiness… is all I need…” (Isis)

  …What is this precious lovable creature? When she cims that she doesn't need all of Kaito-san’s love but the confirmation that Kaito-san loves her and his happiness is all she needs with clear eyes and firm determination with both her hand pced on her chest, she looks like an Archangel descending towards the Earth and blesses the nd with her presence. Her loving presence almost makes me, a Vampire Princess, burn in agony.

  But… Nn… as Isis-san said those words, it felt like a scale had fallen from my eyes. Indeed, Hajime when he’s giving all his love to me is the coolest, but Hajime when he’s giving his best for Shia, Tio, Kaori, Shizuku, Aiko, Lily, Remia, Myuu, and his parents is also the coolest. Every version of Hajime when he’s having fun or happy, is the coolest.

  And I’m sure Kaori must’ve thought the same.

  “That’s why… let’s reconcile?” (Isis)

  “...Unfortunately that is something impossible to do.” (Yue)

  “Unn? Why though…?” (Isis)

  “W-well, it’s complicated.” (Kaori)

  “Complicated…? …Ah, I get it… Fufufu, both of you are just like Sirius and Rasal… or Ein and Chronois or me and that useless meat.” (Isis)

  As me and Bakaori still feel wary of each other, suddenly Isis-san chuckled a bit. I ask curiously about it.

  “...What about them, Isis-san?” (Yue)

  “They both usually fight… when they met… but after that… they will reconcile with each other… like a friendly rival… both of you remind me of them.” (Isis)

  “”No way I’m being friendly with this huge pervert!”” (Yue & Kaori)

  “Fufu… even the way both of you talk… are simir…” (Isis)

  “”Guh…”” (Yue and Kaori)

  I felt like me and Kaori just lost in a debate against Isis-san, so much so that we both can’t say anything more to her.

  “Anyway… let’s go to the women’s bath… shall we…?” (Isis)

  “Eh? Women’s bath?” (Kaori)

  “Unn… since we’re having guests… we should make two more baths… one for male, one for female… that’s what Kaito and Kuromueina say…” (Isis)

  …I see, so there are two more onsen with separate genders huh. I mean of course Kaito-san and Kuro-san would make that in case the cssmates visit Isis-san’s home.

  “...Or rather, there is still space in the castle to make more onsen?” (Yue)

  “Unn? We use spatial magic… to expand the bath… so not much space is used… My personal bath also uses spatial magic… to make it bigger…” (Isis)

  “”...”” (Kaori and Yue)

  I see, they use spatial magic to expand the onsen so there’s no worry of running out of space when building one huh.

  I sometimes forgot about this but this lovable sweet creature here who is so full of love is also one of the Six Kings, the pinnacle beings of the Demon Realm, one of the beings that can wipe us all too easily.

  The moe gap is really too wide…

  “Unn, maybe we should… build one more bath… for a mixed gender bath…” (Isis)

  Yep, she’s definitely one of the beings beyond common sense alright, that’s what I thought.

  And surely Kaori thought of the same too…

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  Day 15 Month Water

  This is day three of us staying in Isis-san’s home/castle and I have to say, it was really cozy here. Not only the atmosphere, but the room they prepared was made to look like a modern Japanese bedroom coupled with a light switch that is powered by magic power rather than electricity plus a desk so it fits in like a home.

  Of course, in case we want to change the bedroom, we can always press the button next to the light switch to completely change the bedroom into whatever we desire. Hajime, Shia, Kaori, Aiko, Myuu and Remia let the bedroom stay the same, Tio changed it into traditional Japanese room with tatami flooring, Shizuku add the room with cute dolls, while I changed the room into middle age European style bedroom with decadent wooden flooring coupled with a working chimney.

  …Seriously, it was so convenient, Hajime tried to reverse engineer it in order to apply it in our house but apparently it uses an exorbitant amount of mana to even change the room once so he decided to drop it.

  Incidentally, the cssmates plus the Hero’s party all came to Isis-san’s castle yesterday, and needless to say, most of the cssmates, especially the males, are all enamored by her cuteness, some of them even made a club dedicated to worshiping her like some idol just like when they met Kuro-san the first time.

  I forgot about this but st month they made a poll on which one is the cutest, and based on their conversation Kuro-san came to the top st time. Maybe Isis-san is able to beat Kuro-san but only time will tell.

  …It was also needless to say that the male cssmates are all cussing Kaito-san in their mind, they got silent by Isis-san’s scary aura though…

  Also, since there are two onsen for separate gender, the boys tried to take a peek at the female onsen, though what they didn’t know is the onsen is booby trapped by the fox girl called Eulpecu or Eul for short so their effort went down the drain.

  …She said that the trap isn’t lethal but sometimes I heard explosions and the male cssmates’ painful screams, but they all came back intact so it’s not lethal I guess?

  By the way, Isis-san was in her personal bath yesterday with Kaito-san. Why do we know this? Well on our way to the separate onsens that Kaito-san and Kuro-san built for us, there’s a corridor leading the other way. Someone asked where the corridor leads to, and Iris-san said it leads to Isis-san’s personal bath and she said to never step into there as she demonstrated by throwing a rock.

  …Said rock was immediately crushed and burned down into a pile of ashes by the traps that were id in the corridor. The cssmates’ faces immediately went pale for the consequence and moved on.

  The difference of lethality in traps was really obvious, it's insane, but I guess that’ll be expected.

  Anyway, Eul became a fast friend with Myuu the other day. The sight where they bounce around pying with each other is so precious, Hajime takes about a thousand photos of Myuu pying with Eul. They both also love to py pranks on some of the cssmates but mainly with Sirius-san and Rasal-san.

  Incidentally, Sirius-san became good friends with Shia since she likes muscle training, while me on the other hand became good friends with Rasal-san, who according to her, is a necromancer.

  Surprisingly Suzu also became good friends with Rasal-san, she must’ve reminded of her former best friend Eri.

  But what’s weird for me is that Shia also tried to become a good acquaintance with Poris-san since Shia said “She got a good posture and form befitting of a seasoned warrior” or something simir. I thought Poris-san is a witch? Well it doesn't really concern me so I’ll just ignore that.

  In any case, the Nagumo household decided to meet with Isis-san and possibly Alice-san to talk about something pretty weird in the guidebook Alice-san has made for us. Since the castle is rge, Hajime used the compass to locate Kaito-san since they both should’ve gathered around him and since we already informed Kaito-san and Isis-san that we will meet with each other, we decided to use the Crystal Key to immediately teleport to his location.

  As we arrived, we saw Isis-san drinking tea like a high css elegant dy alongside Alice-san who was sitting on Kaito-san’s p for some odd reason with an embarrassed expression on her red beet colored face. We all are pretty dumbfounded at the scene where Kaito is giving Alice-san a sit on his p

  “The hell’s happening?” (Hajime)

  “This is her punishment.” (Kaito)

  … Now I see, I forgot that we told Kaito-san about what Alice-san did before so he must’ve thought that since Alice-san didn’t learn her lesson before he decided to embarrass her instead.

  …As we thought, Kaito-san… so you really are…

  “Oya? You all arrived… Good morning… Want some tea?” (Isis)

  “Ah yes please.” (Hajime)

  For the time being we decided to drink morning tea with Isis-san.

  “So, what brings you here today?” (Kaito)

  As we were still sipping tea, Kaito-san suddenly asked us the purpose of our visitation.

  “Well we actually want to ask about something in the guidebook.” (Hajime)

  “Hmm? The guidebook Alice made? Is there something you all don’t understand?” (Kaito)

  “Well it’s more like we need confirmation about something weird in the guidebook. I’ll just pull mine out to point it out.” (Hajime)

  As Hajime pulled out his Demon Realm guidebook, he then pced his finger on those mysterious star symbols.

  “Well we’re mainly curious on what these star symbols are for, we tried to go to this 1 star symbol here at the Yggfresis before but there’s nothing there but a staircase downward full of people, same when we go to this 2 star symbol here when we’re in the Southern Region. Is this what I think it is?”

  Nn, we were also curious on what those symbols are for. I thought it’s a rating for a tourist spot but the spot where the 1 star symbol is pced is full of people so that couldn’t be right.

  Hajime said that he had an inkling on what the star symbol represents but he wanted to ask to make sure.

  “Unn, I see, Alice?” (Kaito)

  “Y-y-y-ywes!? This Alice-chan is at your swervice!?” (Alice)

  “Okay, you can get up now, sorry for making you embarrassed.” (Kaito)

  “PWAAH!!?? Kaito-san you bully! Anyway, you all are curious on what are those stars for right? Well I can give you a hint.” (Alice)

  As Alice-san gets up from Kaito-san’s p looking relieved, she then stops getting flustered and gives us a hint on this mysterious star symbol.

  “Well, the first hint, what are the types of people that gather when you visit it?” (Alice)

  “Hmm, well they aren’t tourists that’s for sure desu, and for some reason they are wearing some sort of outfit made for exploring or combat plus weapons.” (Shia)

  “Okay, now the second hint, are there any people coming out from the staircase?”

  “Hmm, I think there are people who come out either looking depressed or satisfied while checking their equipment or reading some sort of map.” (Shizuku)

  “I see… so it’s that huh.” (Hajime)

  “Eh? What is it, Hajime-kun?” (Kaori)

  As we all curious on what Hajime realized, he then looked at Alice-san with a finger pointing at her like a certain wyer.

  “This star symbol represents the difficulty level of a dungeon, is it!?” (Hajime)

  “Ding Ding~ you got it right~” (Alice)

  As Hajime guessed it, Alice-san pulls out the bell out of nowhere and rings it to signify that Hajime’s guess is correct.

  Or rather, a dungeon? I see, so the star represents the difficulty of the dungeon with the more stars there are, the harder the dungeon is and 5 stars indicates the hardest one huh? That’s why the dungeon with 1 star has more people in it than the one with 2 stars. It’s kinda like a video game Hajime likes to py.

  “So, since this is a dungeon we’re speaking of, I’m guessing you’re the one that controls it?” (Hajime)

  “Hmm, you’re half right, I do manage the adventurers that went inside the dungeon and the reward inside it but the one who makes and directly controls the dungeon is another person.” (Alice)

  “I see, so it’s not as if there art any danger since these dungeons art more like entertainment, is that what it is?” (Tio)

  “Yes yes, and if there’s anyone stuck in there or dying, the dungeon will teleport them back to the beginning and heal them. Though they cannot enter the dungeon anymore for a certain amount of time.” (Alice)

  Nn, so the dungeon in this world is built as an entertainment facility rather than a trial with almost zero threats. I see, so it’s just like a video game huh.

  “Anyway, since you figured it out without the third hint, I’ll let you all know the secret of this guidebook.” (Alice)

  As Alice-san said this, she taps on the star symbols twice and all of the sudden a hologram shows up.

  “Here, in this hologram, you can find a lot of info about the dungeon such as a map, information about the monsters, the loot they drop, achievement, and many more down to the potential secret dungeon, though it was locked since you all haven’t explored it yet. There’s also an option for teleporting to the nearest dungeon though there’s a cooldown for it.” (Alice)

  Hee, this hologram looks exactly like the status screen in most RPG manga that me and Hajime like to read in our free time. We do have virtual reality games that Myuu often uses to train but to think we can experience this in real life is really exciting.

  “So, any more questions?” (Alice)

  “Well we had one more question, it’s about this area here.” (Hajime)

  As Alice-san ask us if we have any more question, Hajime then pced his finger at the central part of the Demon Realm, there’s not much of information to it other than a red colored sign that says “WARNING: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO GET INSIDE THIS VICINITY AT ANY COST UNLESS YOU’RE AS STRONG AS PEERAGE HOLDER DEMON!!!” which piques our curiosity.

  “Oya? It’s about… the Forbidden Land huh?” (Isis)

  “...Nn? You know about this pce, Isis-san?” (Yue)

  “Unn, this is where… we, the Six Kings, usually go when we want… to fight against each other… Since we sometimes use it… the concentration of magic power in the air… is extremely dense there… so not everyone can go there.” (Isis)

  Hee, the central part of the Demon Realm is usually the pce where the Six Kings use to fight seriously huh, and because of that, the magic power in the air there is extremely dense so many creatures avoid it like pgue. I mean it was even called “The Forbidden Land” so there must’ve been some legends sprouting there in order to keep most people away.

  “I see, well what about this “bnk ste” here on the contrary of other ste that has stars in them. Why doesn't this one have it?” (Hajime)

  Nn, on closer looks, there is indeed an empty slightly dark colored rectangur shaped ste inside right at the center of the map.

  “Fufufu, that’ll be a secret until the conditions are all set.” (Alice)

  “Conditions?” (Hajime)

  “That’ll be entirely up to you to figure it out. See, Kaito-san told me that you all are really bored here so I decided to give you all a challenge, explore the dungeon, seek treasure, find the unknown, isn’t that exciting?” (Alice)

  As Alice-san said so, she sports a devilish wicked smile as if she is giving us a devil’s trade. Indeed, explore the dungeon, seek and find treasure, tread the unknown, it’s like us finding the Labyrinth in Tortus all over again.

  On one hand, we have no idea what we will be facing, we will be forced into fighting in their pyground and it’ll be disadvantageous for us. Especially since we knew that this world is not the one to be taken lightly coming from past experiences.

  But on the other hand…

  “A mysterious pce that can only be unlocked by exploring many dungeons! How exciting desu! It’s like when me and Hajime-san found the ruins at Earth desu!” (Shia)

  “Fufufu, this art interesting indeed , I can’t wait to see what lies behind the secret.” (Tio)

  Nn, just like what Shia and Tio said, conquering the unknown is a terribly exciting prospect, it was indeed just like st time we’re in Tortus conquering the byrinth for the first time.

  Of course, I’m not the only one thinking that, as we all look at each other with a fearless and exciting look, Hajime then devilishly smiles back at Alice-san.

  “It is exciting alright, though don’t cry to Kaito ter when we clear the dungeon all too easily.” (Hajime)

  “Fufufu, I know you will answer like that, well then I’ll be waiting.” (Alice)

  As we gre at each other, we then accept Alice-san’s challenge and decide to conquer the dungeon.

  Fufufu, dungeon crawling with Hajime again, how romantic.

  Oh my beloved husband, my friend, let’s conquer the dungeon! Again!

  “Unn, I don’t understand… but all of you and Shalltear… have fun I guess? Kaito, let’s eat lunch…” (Isis)

  “Unn, let’s eat first, you all can teleport to the dining room so we will be waiting there okay?” (Kaito)

  …I forgot that Isis-san and Kaito-san are still here. Ah, the tea has gone cold.

  Right, we’re still in the vacation mood so we will go capture the dungeon after that.

  On the side note…

  “...Nn? A letter?” (Yue)

  As we’re still eating lunch, all of the sudden I found a letter beneath the tissue that was given to me. As I look left and right, I can tell there’s no one receiving this letter so I decided to take a peek at what’s written inside.

  And the insides were…

  “...An invitation?” (Yue)

  As I saw a letter of invitation pced at the Blue Crystal Flower garden the day after tomorrow, there’s even a passcode. I then saw who the sender was.

  “...The IAA?” (Yue)

  IAA? What is that? weird.

  Oh well, everything will come to light when I go to the garden tomorrow.

  Afterword:

  Serious-senpai: It’s here! My seriousness!!!

  Author: Well there are still more things to uncover since this RPG dungeon crawling concept was fresh out of my mind when I first made this chapter so it’ll take a while.

  Serious-senpai: Whatever! My time has come! The seriousness has arrived!!!

  ???: Well it’s not gonna be that serious though.

  Serious-senpai: Shut up! Don’t take this away from me!!!