A Contact From Afar

More than a month and a half ever since Kisuke started his grind, he and Line finally emerged from the underground hideout.

Stretching his arms out, Kisuke uttered, "Finally! Some fresh air!"

Meanwhile, Line was still lost in her thoughts, "More than a month has already passed? But it felt so short... Even though I'm awake 23 hours a day."

Kisuke then patted her back, "Stop thinking about it. You'll still be continuing this kind of lifestyle, won't you?"

"But you only gave me a month worth of those refreshing 'candies'."

"It isn't good to rely on those in the long run. However, if you have enough magic control, you can try 'refreshing' yourself with magic. It's a lot safer than depending on external factors. That's what I'm using and I technically only need sleep once every few months. Besides, you have to keep the normal rhythm of your life so even if you can do it, you have to refrain from it unless you're in a rush or something."

Line's eyes widened in realization and she said, "I see... I understand. I'll remember your words."

Kisuke smiled and added, "That's good enough. By the way, what're you going to do next?"

Line smiled widely and replied, "I'd like to go back for now!"

"Is that so? Then send my regards to Loki-sama and the others."

"I will! Thank you very much for all the things you've done. I'll be sure to return this favor someday."

"Don't mention it. If you want to do anything else, then take the healer position within Sona-chan's party. That's the reason I gave you extensive knowledge about healing and that would be enough."

"I'll be sure to let Loki-sama permit it!" Line then bowed down before Kisuke before turning around and running away.

While watching her back, Kisuke suddenly recalled something and yelled, "Another thing! Don't let that High Elf boss you around! Aside from Magic Power and experience, you're better than her!"

Line stopped momentarily and turned around, chuckling at Kisuke's 'joke' and took it as a motivation, "Eh? That can't be. Riveria-sama is the greatest Mage in Orario, after all."

As Line resumed leaving, Kisuke could only smile wryly and muttered, "I wonder what face that overly serious Elf would make? Too bad, I have to go home now."

Making a detour through the free market, Kisuke got some snacks on the way to munch on. There were some Adventurers and people who were pointing at him and commenting on his reappearance, but he ignored all of them. In any case, none of them seemed to have the courage to approach him.

'But what's this 'Caretaker of Devils'?' he asked internally after a few of them mentioned it, 'Looks like some fun things happened after I left,' he concluded and went on his way towards the Hearth Manor.

However, before he could arrive at his destination, Kisuke received a call from Yoruichi and immediately turned into an empty alleyway before answering, "Yo~! Yoruichi-chan~! How are you and Kuroka?"

From the magic circle that appeared beside his right ear, Yoruichi's voice could be heard, "From the sound of your voice, you're finally out?"

Kisuke chuckled and replied, "You know me so well~ I was able to finish Medusa's body, but I wasn't able to do much for the other objectives. The information is too little and the opponent is too strong for a direct confrontation."

Kisuke's eyes then became sharp, "But since you're calling me, you've got some discoveries?"

"Yes. Although it took us a very long time to locate a certain spot and while we weren't able to detect anything out of ordinary from it, Byakou reacted. I think that warrants our attention and further investigation."

"It's your lovely feline friend that brought us into this situation, so it must be something. Have you heard anything from him?"

"None. And I think this is already weird. There must be some clauses that prevented Byakou from saying anything regarding this world when he agreed on a contract with this 'Chaos'."

"That's a good point and may likely be the case. Alright. After I give Medusa her body, I'll be going there."

"Got it. I'll prepare the end node of the teleportation magic. And by the way, Kuroka and I have been very frustrated this past month due to some 'problems'. Get ready to take some of that 'heat' off~"

"Ehem. I'll be sure to prepare."

"Alright. We'll be expecting you soon," Yoruichi then hung up the phone. Kisuke also thought that he wanted to lose some 'heat' as he exited the empty alleyway, so he became a bit excited, thinking about what kind of 'toys' he should bring.

However, the moment he got near their home, Kisuke immediately noticed prying eyes from the shadows watching the manor, 'A dead person? Interesting.'

For now, Kisuke ignored it and went inside the Manor, arriving where everyone seems to have gathered, "I'm home~!"

The first one to greet him was his ever so short Goddess as she launched herself towards him, gripping him like a rope with her arms, "Kisuke-kun! Welcome home~!"

Patting her head, Kisuke replied, "I'm home, Hestia-sama."

"Welcome home~!" Aika soon followed and then the rest except for Sona, Ophis and Claire.

Upon closer inspection, a hooded figure could be seen behind Sona, hiding in fear.

Of course, Kisuke already took note of this presence but didn't say anything until now, "Good afternoon to you, guest from the Dungeon~ Please be at ease. No one's going to hurt you here."

"Hiih!" A small voice came from the hooded figure and made her body smaller behind Sona after Kisuke addressed her.

"Don't scare her, will you?" Sona glared at Kisuke. She also noted that Kisuke seems to be already aware of the true nature of their guest.

"Ahaha, sorry about that, but I would like to hear her story~"

Everyone sat down but the hooded figure never left Sona's side. Ophis and Claire on the other hand were also very curious about her, especially the former, sitting beside her, and poking her occasionally.

But before she spoke, Sona first removed the hood of their guest, revealing a little girl with amber eyes and long silver-blue hair with some scales on her face. She also has a red stone in the center of her forehead in addition to her bluish-white skin pigment, signifying that she isn't a human.

"A Vouivre, huh," muttered Kisuke as it confirmed one of his suspicions regarding the Dungeon.

"Yes. We came across her when we were returning to the surface," replied Sona. She then started to tell Kisuke what happened when they were returning from the depths of the Dungeon.