However, because they were shy, the two initially kept their heads down, too embarrassed to look at Takeru, their faces bright red.
"Raphtalia-nee, Rifana-nee, let's play!" Seeing the two get into the water, Filo excitedly came to their side and splashed water.
"Filo, no splashing or swimming in the hot spring!" Watching the lively Filo, Takeru reminded her again. After all, although there were no outsiders, Takeru didn't want Filo to be too unruly.
"Eh, I understand!" Hearing Takeru's words, the excited Filo paused for a moment, then quickly became like a salted fish that had lost its dream.
But soon, she perked up again. She came directly to Takeru's side, leaned against him, and enjoyed the relaxation the hot spring brought.
Takeru smiled as he stroked Filo's long hair, and Filo showed an expression of enjoyment.
As for Raphtalia and Rifana across from them, seeing this, they became envious again. Then, blushing, the two moved closer to Takeru.
After about forty minutes, Takeru stood up and quickly left the hot spring. After all, soaking in the same hot spring with so many beautiful girls, where he could see but not touch, was also a kind of torture...
Watching Takeru's somewhat hurried retreating figure, Ram showed a mischievous smile. She had been teasing Takeru all along.
"Nee-san, be careful that Master punishes you tonight." Watching the snickering Ram, Rem said with a light laugh.
"Hmph, I'm not afraid!" Hearing this, Ram licked her lips.
Back at the inn, at Filo's insistence, Takeru helped her comb her long hair and the feathers on her back.
At night, after enjoying dinner, Takeru felt a fire inside him.
After ensuring Raphtalia, and the others had completely entered a meditative state, Takeru directly pulled Ram and Rem into the portable space.
"This place is completely different from the main world's space." Looking at the situation in the portable space, Ram and Rem quickly realized it wasn't the familiar portable space.
"Yes. Because it's a different world, I can't open the entrance to the main world's portable space here." Hearing their words, Takeru nodded gently.
Soon, with Takeru and the others' arrival, many of the eight Filolials, one sub-dragon, and many slimes gathered around.
After casually greeting these Filolials and slimes, Takeru teleported the two to an empty area in the portable space. With Takeru's will, a tall building quickly rose from the ground.
Watching Takeru's actions, Ram and Rem vaguely sensed something, blushes appearing on their faces, tinged with anticipation.
"Ram, I'm going to punish you properly and make you understand the price of playing with fire." Speaking softly, Takeru quickly led the two into the house...
In the blink of an eye, three hours passed. Because he had brought the two into the portable space, Takeru could only maintain a threefold time acceleration.
This meant about an hour had passed outside.
Looking at Ram and Rem, tired but satisfied, Takeru showed a pleased expression. After washing up together, Takeru brought them back to the room in the outside world to rest.
…
Time flew by. Three days passed quickly. Takeru and the others had stayed at the Hot Spring Town for three days. Of course, Raphtalia, Filo, and the others' training hadn't stopped.
Besides that, on the second night, Raphtalia, Rifana, and Filo took advantage of the darkness to enter the mountains near the Hot Spring Town.
Because Raphtalia and Rifana had heard about a special bird here called the Gaggako. This bird collected a special ore called Lachium. Finding their nests could yield this ore, believed to ensure romantic relationships.
Filo, on the other hand, learned from the innkeeper that Gaggako eggs were a rare delicacy. She wanted to bring this delicacy to Takeru to earn his praise and head pats.
Then, by chance, a silver boar interrupted their fun. So, the three hunted the silver boar as prey, brought it back, and presented it to Takeru.
Seeing the three bring the boar monster before him, Takeru didn't hesitate to store it away.
Although the gift might not have been extremely precious, Takeru was very pleased with their thoughtfulness.
After staying for three days, Takeru decided to head back. After all, besides leveling up, he had also hoped to encounter the Filolial Queen during this trip. But luck wasn't on his side.
However, Takeru didn't mind too much.
He had also been away for quite some time and wanted to return to the empire to see if everything was developing smoothly.
Then, on the way back, while passing through a forest, after hunting a batch of monsters, they encountered a special girl.
"Master, there's something over there!" Sensing something unusual over there, Filo spoke to Takeru.
"Let's go take a look." Takeru had naturally sensed this scene long ago. He also recognized the girl.
She was Melty Q. Melromarc, the second princess of the former Kingdom of Melromarc and Malty's sister.
Although she was the second princess, she was actually the first heir to the throne. This had earned Malty's jealousy, to the point where Malty didn't hesitate to collude with the Three Heroes Church to try to eliminate her.
At this moment, she was alone, surrounded by several Filolials. However, as Takeru and the others approached, the Filolials quickly fled.
"Those birds look delicious." Watching the fleeing Filolials, Filo spoke directly.
"Wait, Filo, you said delicious..." Hearing Filo's words, Raphtalia was stunned.
"Filo, those are your own kind, just like Chi-chan who pulls the carriage for you." Hearing Filo's remark, Takeru said helplessly.
"Eh!" Hearing Takeru's words, Filo looked shocked.
"So big. Are you a Filolial?" At this moment, Melty approached Takeru and the others, looking curiously at Filo.
"Are you talking about Filo?" Hearing the girl's words, Filo looked surprised.
"You can talk too!" Hearing Filo's response, Melty showed a delighted expression.
"Yes."
"Talking with a Filolial is my dream!" Seeing Filo nod in response, Melty became even more excited, saying that her dream was to talk with a Filolial.
Hearing that Melty's dream was this, Filo was also astonished. She hadn't expected there to be such a childish dream in this world.
"Would you like some jerky?" Then, Melty began to tempt Filo with food.
"Thank you!" When it came to food, Filo was never one to refuse. She directly took the jerky from Melty's hand and ate it.
"Filo, you can't just eat food from strangers!" Seeing this, Raphtalia quickly said.
"Eh, but she doesn't seem hostile." Hearing Raphtalia's words, Filo said hesitantly.
"Not even if she seems friendly." Hearing Filo's words, Takeru said seriously.
"Yes!" Seeing Takeru's warning, Filo lowered her head and retreated to Takeru's side.
"Um, I'm Melty. I just wanted to be friends with her." Seeing that Takeru and the others seemed very wary of her, Melty became nervous.
"Is that so? But a little girl suddenly appearing in the forest naturally makes one wary." Hearing her words, Takeru said calmly.
"Well, actually, I was trying to get to the royal capital. Um, with the Filolials... um, I got separated from my guards while playing." Lowering her head, after hesitating for a while, Melty blushed and confessed that she had gotten separated from her escorts while exploring.
"Eh, the royal capital? Isn't that our destination too?" Hearing Melty's words, Raphtalia said in surprise.
"Really? Um, could I travel with you for a while? When we get to the royal capital, I'll have my father reward you." Hearing that Takeru and the others were also heading to the royal capital, Melty said with delight.
"Oh, you'd ask to travel with strangers you just met? You're not an ordinary child, are you? Aren't you afraid we're kidnappers?" Watching Melty directly ask to travel with them, Takeru was surprised.
"Well, I don't think you're bad people." Hearing Takeru's words, Melty said somewhat embarrassedly.
"Bad people don't have 'I am a bad person' written on their faces. Since you're not afraid, then come along." Looking at Melty's expression, Takeru shook his head.