67: It's hard to relax...

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Yesterday, Deirdre was very eager to go to the labyrinth to test her new daggers.

But we just got back from a long trip, and it's important to have a few days of rest, so I told her we'd better rest and maybe we'd go today.

I don't think it's good for her to always be thinking about fighting... So, to distract her, I thought of inviting her, Julia, and Mia for a day at the beach.

For that reason, I got up especially early today.

I dressed in a shirt and jeans and went to rent a carriage to take us to the beach.

In addition, I went to buy some interesting things to spend time at the beach.

Once I bought everything and paid 20 gold coins to the driver for him to be at our disposal today, I returned to the inn to pick up the food I had asked the innkeeper to prepare for me yesterday, already mounted on the carriage.

I know it will be very improvised since I have not given them time to prepare.

But the thing is, if I don't do it this way, Deirdre will probably think of some excuse to sneak away.

Sometimes I think this girl is too obsessed with fighting. And that means a lot coming from me...

But, while I'm most driven to fight by the desire to know what's at the end of the labyrinth, she's driven by the sheer desire to get stronger and stronger.

With food and entertainment secured, I climbed back into the carriage and went to find my raiding companion.

Deirdre was genuinely shocked at the idea and seemed intent on refusing to come along.

But Charity caught us talking, and she practically forced the little therian into the carriage.

I think this is the first time I've seen her without armor, as we usually only see each other in situations where we need our bodies to be protected.

She is wearing a black blouse that matches especially well with the gray of her fur and blue skinny jeans that highlight her figure.

When we arrived at Julia's, I told her about my idea and she accepted it delightedly.

And, after a hurried conversation, she and Mia got into the carriage.

They are dressed in their usual clothes, or at least it looks that way to me. Since, after a year of living with them, I'm used to seeing them in casual clothes.

But then Julia went out and made us wait a few minutes to prepare certain things, even though I told her that I had prepared everything we might need.

While we were waiting, Deirdre asked me if we would go to the labyrinth tomorrow, and if we would meet at the same time as usual...

It's really hard to get fighting out of this girl's mind!

When Julia comes back, Raila invites herself on the trip... I don't know her, so it hadn't occurred to me to invite her... but, anyway, what can I do?

When we are all inside the carriage and we start our march, I make the introductions.

Julia and Raila greeted Deirdre cordially, but Mia could not contain her curiosity and, instead of introducing herself, she asked the therian if she could move her ears at will.

However, Deirdre did not take the question amiss and gave her a demonstration, in which she moved her ears in different positions, which delighted the little girl.

During the carriage ride, Mia and Azur reconciled.

Or rather, one could say that Azur forgave her, since Mia had no idea that she had done anything to upset him.

It was funny to see how it only took a few caresses from Mia for the proud dragon to let go of his resentment. Even though, at first, he seemed disinterested in it.

When we arrived at the beach, I pulled out from my inventory everything I had bought and we set out for a day of relaxation.

As we ate, I discovered that the relationship between Raila and Julia was not that of simple friends, as I had thought at first.

I was very surprised to see how, at one point, when Julia had a bit of fruit in the corner of her mouth, Raila would reach over and lick the remains of the fruit away. To which Julia would respond with a kiss on Raila's lips.

After lunch, we spent some time chatting in which Deirdre and I told them about our mission in the Hill forest.

When we were done with our story, Raila, Julia, and Mia took off their dresses and, showing off their swimsuits, went to swim.

Through the bond, I notice that Azur still deeply hates water. But, this time; unlike when we came with Joseph, Agustin, and Sabrina; he lets himself get wet by Mia.

I guess there are times when you have to make some sacrifices for love…

I have a pair of shorts in my inventory, so I could have gone swimming too, but since Deirdre didn't bring a bathing suit because it was all so rushed, I stayed and chatted with her.

We started talking about our new weapons and what we could do with them.

However, as we talked, Deirdre kept shooting envious looks at the girls playing with the water.

At first, she didn't want to come to the beach. But now that she's here, it is easy to tell she's enjoying it, and that she regrets not grabbing a bathing suit before getting in the carriage.

So, to distract her, I decided to try out one of the beach games I bought this morning.

The game materials are a net, which divides an area of sand into two sections, a ball, and the instructions with the rules.

One player starts the game by kicking the ball into the opponent's section. Each team can hit the ball three times until it is returned over the net. The ball may not be held when it is hit, nor may it be hit twice in succession, although it may be hit with any part of the body.

The point is lost if the ball is not passed after the third touch, if it touches one's section, if it is sent out of bounds, or if it touches the net with the body.

And, because it's something where you have to compete with reflexes and speed, Deirdre quickly forgot that she didn't have a bathing suit on and happily played along with me.

It was a hard match since, although I am stronger than her, Deirdre almost matches me in speed and reflexes.

Besides, her skills are a nuisance in this kind of game. Since, although I can see the ball when she throws it, until that moment it is often completely invisible.

For that reason, we were pretty evenly matched.

After we had been playing for a few minutes, Raila and Julia offered to play against us.

We had a good time playing, while Mia played at burying Azur in the sand.

But, every time she was about to finish covering the little draco's body with sand, Azur grew slightly bigger, so the sand around his body fell in all directions.

Our team won in a landslide. Hmm, I guess our reflexes and speed are too high to compete against normal people.

A few hours later, I was thinking that we should get ready to go back, as I still had to go talk to Lilian about the result of our exploration mission.

Because, even though she has been receiving my reports, it is best that I describe to her in person what we discovered. Besides, she needs to see the corpses we found in the griffin's nest.

But then, as I was about to tell the girls my intentions, we suddenly heard an alarm sound coming from the capital.