Chapter 103: A Peaceful Bath and Fateful Discoveries

That evening, after getting worn out from strolling around town, Dion took a soak in the open-air hot spring bath behind the inn. It looked like a pristine natural spring, featuring a view of moonlit cliffs, massive boulders encircling the pool, and a surrounding hill acting as a natural fence to keep the bath private from the outside.

"Aaah... now this is the life," Dion sighed, stretching his arms behind him to lean against a boulder as he gazed up at the moonlit, star-filled sky.

"Splash!"

Dion glanced over to see Gina taking her bath, flapping her wings in the pool until water splashed right onto his face.

"Hey... don’t thrash around in the water like that, Gina," Dion scolded her gently.

"Okay, Papa," Gina replied cheerfully via telepathy, raising her tiny hand.

Gina swam over to Dion and perched right on his chest. "Phuaah," she let out a satisfied breath and rested her snout against his chest while Dion stroked her head.

"It’s so peaceful like this," Dion muttered lazily.

"Yeah, Papa... yawn... sleepy," Gina replied.

"Wait... don’t sleep in the pool, go inside," Dion said, gently shaking Gina, who was already drifting off.

However, Gina stopped moving altogether and fell into a comfortable sleep. "Sigh," Dion had no choice but to let Gina sleep on his chest. He leaned his head back against the stone wall and stared up at the sky once more. But after a moment, his eyes narrowed and his expression turned serious.

"Looks like this world has a lot of problems too. Sure, it’s not as suffocating as Earth, here I actually have a life and can enjoy peaceful moments like this... the problem is... for how long? I just want things to stay like this," Dion thought to himself.

Dion closed his eyes calmly. Everything that had transpired since he was kicked out of the party replayed in his mind. His face darkened as he retraced the sequence of events he had witnessed yet pretended to be blind and indifferent toward. The sense of responsibility and workplace loyalty from his past life began to creep back up to haunt him, directly conflicting with his true desire to retire, creating a bitter struggle in his heart.

"Grr... I need to finish up all these lingering affairs with these kingdoms as soon as possible and retire in peace. Looks like I’ll have to find a new, quiet spot, my territory is starting to get way too crowded," Dion thought to himself. "Maybe this city would be a nice place too, hehehe," he added.

He then began imagining his life in this city alongside Luna, Mei, Sheila, Cleo, and Aria, their faces appearing one by one in his mind. A wide grin spread across his face as he pictured things he couldn’t even put into words, culminating in a future where he grew old together with his wives, children, and grandchildren.

"Honestly, that doesn’t sound half bad, hehehe," he thought in his head.

"Plop!"

A soft ripple echoed in the water around him, but Dion ignored it. Keeping his eyes closed, the image of the five girls surrounding him drifted back into his mind. Suddenly, he felt a distinct shift in the water around him. Curious, he opened his eyes, and "Whoaaaaa... holy shit!" He instantly jumped, shouting in shock. "Splash... kyuuuu!" Gina slipped and tumbled right into the pool.

The reason? The five girls he had been imagining were currently encircling him. Luna was looking at him from the front while holding the drenched, startled Gina; Aria and Mei were watching him from his right and left; while Sheila and Cleo stood above the pool, yet to step into the water. To make matters worse, not a single one of them was wearing any clothes, or even a towel.

"Whoa... why did my wish come true instantly like this?!" Dion accidentally voiced his thoughts out loud.

"Oh? What were you thinking about?" Cleo asked from behind, resting her hands on her hips.

"Uh... nothing... don’t worry about it," Dion stammered, covering his bright red face with one hand.

"You were taking so long in the bath, so we decided to just join in. It’s fine, right?" Aria said.

"Relax, he doesn’t mind at all. In fact, I bet he’s thrilled, hahaha!" Sheila added from above, hands on her hips.

"Hmm... suspicious," Mei noted, eyeing Dion skeptically while stepping back slightly and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah... exactly. Why do you have that look on your face? Were you thinking about doing something naughty with us?" Luna asked, leaning right into Dion’s face.

"Alright, that’s enough... stop talking nonsense," Dion replied, standing up.

He climbed out of the pool and stood next to a large boulder, looking out over the cliff below. "Sigh," he let out a sigh of relief. "Splash!" Sound echoed from the pool as Cleo and Sheila waded in, chatting casually with Luna, Mei, and Aria, who was cradling Gina.

"Give me a break... that really scared the life out of me... I was just imagining having kids with them... not making them... aaah... why am I even thinking about this stuff?!" Dion thought, scratching his head.

He glanced down to make sure his junk wasn’t standing at full attention, relieved to see he was managing to hold it together despite being half-aroused by the view he had just seen. But as he looked down, something caught his eye. His expression immediately hardened.

"Huh... no way," Dion thought to himself.

Dion realized that the stone structure he was holding extended all the way down, and its shape was intimately familiar, and yes, it looked just like an obelisk. He immediately looked out into the ravine before him, his mind jumping straight to the circular trench that served as the seal in his own territory. Aside from the obelisk, he spotted several low-standing stone structures in the ravine that appeared man-made rather than natural formations.

"Wait a second... those stone shapes down there... they look like buildings... similar to the ones back in Mageford... aren’t those ruins supposed to be in the Eastland and guarded by a few Shadow Hand clans?" Dion thought to himself.

Dion narrowed his eyes. Because of the dark, his vision wasn’t clear, preventing him from making out what was below relying solely on the moonlight, though he could estimate their shapes based on the records he had acquired in Mageford. He scanned the massive boulders scattered sparsely through the forest, unlike the dense hills or pyramids behind his house. Yet at a glance, he could make out the remnants of structures, grand statues, obelisks, and several seemingly ordinary stones stacked in ways that were clearly deliberate.

Dion turned back to look at Mei, glanced once more at the ravine, and turned back to Mei again.

"Hey... Mei, come over here for a sec," Dion called out, waving his hand to beckon her.

Hearing her name called, Mei turned around and stepped out of the pool. She walked over to Dion and stopped beside him.

"What is it?" Mei asked.

"Take a look down there. Doesn’t it look like there are ruins below?" Dion answered.

Mei looked in the direction Dion pointed, her eyes narrowing to sharpen her focus. A moment later, "Gasp!" Mei recoiled, her expression completely changing. She turned to look at Dion, who instantly knew that Mei was seeing this for the very first time as well.

"Okay... so you didn’t know about this either. Now look at the stone behind you and check its base," Dion instructed.

Mei turned around to inspect the large boulder behind her, looked down toward its base, and immediately dropped into a squat. She turned back to Dion with a bewildered look on her face.

"Why... is there an obelisk here?" Mei asked.

"Hey... you’re the local here, why are you asking me? How should I know?" Dion replied.

"Oho... now this is interesting," Cleo chimed in, suddenly walking over and squatting beside Mei to inspect the same spot.

"Hmm... there are ruins here?" Sheila asked, standing beside Dion.

"Wow... turns out there are ancient ruins here too... I thought they were only in the Eastland and off-limits to the public," Luna added from behind Dion, peeking over his shoulder.

"This is the first time I’ve ever seen something like this here, despite coming to this town so often," Aria added, standing behind Cleo and Mei to examine the stone.

They all fell silent, preoccupied with staring down into the ravine, until suddenly, "Sleepy... sleep!" A little girl’s voice shouted inside their heads. Everyone immediately turned toward Gina in Aria’s arms, whose battery had completely run out.

"Alright... we’ll investigate first thing tomorrow morning. For now, let’s get some sleep," Dion said.

"Okay," the five girls agreed in unison.

Dion took Gina from Aria’s arms and began walking toward the entrance to his room. However, he suddenly stopped and turned back to see Luna, Aria, Mei, Sheila, and Cleo following right behind him completely stark naked.

"Aren’t you guys supposed to be taking a bath?" Dion asked, utterly confused.

"Ah!" All five of them snapped back to reality, turned around, and jumped back into the pool one by one to finish their bath.

"Seeesh... seriously... let me take you inside, Gina," Dion said, shaking his head as he turned back around to head inside with the completely unresponsive Gina.

Meanwhile, up on the roof tiles of the inn, a shadowed figure stood rigid, quietly observing them. In particular, the shadow watched Dion carrying Gina inside. Once Dion had taken Gina indoors, the shadow turned its gaze back toward the five girls soaking and chatting in the pool.

"Hohoho... so that’s how it is... interesting. Perhaps my duty in this world is finally complete and I can return home... hohoho," the shadow was caught in the moonlight, revealing the figure of Chiyo standing atop the roof with a smile, her eyes closed, and both hands resting behind her back.