Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

"I…I'm sorry for what I did before," as things began to calm down, Melicia slipped away from the group and took just a moment to apologize to Tan. The raccoon boy looked at her confused, unsure why someone of her stature–that is a duchess -- would ever apologize to a servant like him.

"Sorry for what?" He asked, his eyes blinking with an empty look.

Leaning forward to match his height, Mel forced a smile on her lips and was about to brush his hand playfully but halfway through she was reminded of Tan's reaction to the last time she'd touched him. Pulling her hand away, she heaved a hefty sigh and responded.

"For making you feel uncomfortable, I'm sorry for that and if there's anything I can do to make up for it please, let me know okay?" Staring at him, Mel waited for his reply, but to her misfortune, another girl walked up behind him, the very same who'd hugged him all night at the mansion party.

"There you are~" She cooed, her voice as soothing as a songbird.

Turning around, Tan matched the girl's gaze who was nearly twice his size. Wearing a rather rugged barbarian tunic and top made of leather, the girl appeared to be an adventurer.

"Sorry, Mel but can I borrow him for a second? I wanted to talk to him about something…" Showing no courtesy as is tradition for a barbarian, the rather muscular and tall girl stretched her hand towards Tan. "Come with me for a minute will ya?"

Although reluctant at first, after a few back-and-forths between Mel and the girl, Tan took the barbarian's hand and let her lead him to the other side of the commotion. Standing upright with one hand on her hip, Mel glared at the barbarian's back, wondering just who exactly she was going on between the two.

'I guess, I'll have to apologize another time?' Although upset about being unable to settle things between her and Tan, Mel hadn't given up just yet, however, she wouldn't have to wait for long to make it up to the raccoon boy.

But for now, it was time to focus on the present. Shaking everything else out of her head, she looked to the front again. The two were already gone, but in their place was Helga approaching from a distance wearing a sunflower-pattern sundress.

However, she wasn't the only one approaching the group as a handful of Red Madam's servants were rushing from behind the Valkyrie with boxes full of runic swimsuits.

"NO WAY! I DON'T WANT YOU TO LEAVE!" The screeching voice of Tia sprinkled more chaos into the mix, forcing Mel to turn around and witness her being really clingy to Raven.

"Tiaaaa! Let go of him! He has to go!" Trying to pull her off of Raven, Robin tried to speak some sense to her, but nothing seemed to work. "At least give him the king's letter! We can discuss everything after!"

Visibly tired of her shenanigans, Raven finally pulled Tia off of his body, but instead of shoving her away, he looked her in the eye for a moment before pulling her closer for a passionate kiss in front of all of Athenia.

Tia's pupil widened as she felt his lips suddenly pressing against hers, and the cheering roar of the people from behind–especially Raven's friends drowned what little shame she had left. Kissing him back with her tongue coiling around his, she could feel his hand trailing down her spine before stopping to squeeze her ass which made her chuckle and break free of the kiss.

Once done laughing, she looked him in the eyes and caressed the side of his cheeks, hoping to forever keep that feeling warm against her palms. But, as clingy as she was–being pulled away from him after a moment of calming passion, she finally realized that him staying in Athenia any longer wasn't really a choice that they had.

"Come back soon…" Her lips pressed in a bittersweet smile, Tia reached into her purse and took out the king's letter. Handing it to Raven, she took a step back. "Milo wanted to come, but he can't right now, unfortunately. That letter carries his and his queen's gratitude and well wishes."

Glancing at the letter in his hand, Raven ran his finger over the royal wax seal. Eyeing it for a moment, he pocketed the envelope to read later at a more convenient time. Past his meeting with everyone, the girls also mingled with everyone for a while. Helga, although still distant, bid them off with a hug.

Once the Red Madam's servants were done handing out the boxes full of clothes to the group, it was finally time for them to head out.

Sitting inside one of the carriages surrounded by boxes of clothes from the Madam and a dozen magic scrolls and potions from Darius, Raven for the first felt bittersweet for leaving the city of Atheina behind. At the start of his journey, there were only a handful who supported them, yet now nearly the entire city was cheering them on.

"Makes me feel like we're a big family," Erika whispered, breaking the silence.

The smiles those words brought on everyone's lips confirmed they were all thinking and feeling the same thing. Thus, opening the windows, the party peeked out to the people and waved their hands at the cheering folks until eventually, they were far too out of sight.

"So right to the ocean, right?" Mel asked while pulling her head back into the carriage.

Everyone's attention quickly turned to Raven, but with a moment of thought he betrayed their expectations.

"First stop, Elenaris," looking around, he reminded everyone of one of the passengers they still missing. "We need to get Linkle and also check on Lana's progress with the underground sex dungeon."

"Shit, I just remembered you promised to help Linkle with that demon situation she has, didn't you?" Amedith questioned, shaking his head already at the mere thought of headaches that task would bring.

The others felt no different, for they knew they could go against a primordial demon with no way of winning. Either way, however, with their journey back on track, there was no way they could back away; from facing the worst of horrors and adversaries.

"What demon?" But with the voice of Moxy pulling them out of their thoughts, the group realized that there were a lot of problems for them to worry about. From Moxy tagging along and an inexperienced succubus mage to getting back into the hang of things, there was just far too much for them to worry about.

"At this rate, it'll take us a month to build a ship…" And to top it off, Reina dropped another bomb.

"Build a ship?! Yelled the main party members, and to their horror, the blacksmith nodded with a mocking smile.

"How else would you learn to do repairs if the ship gets damaged in the middle of the sea?" Reina added, reminding them as to why they needed someone who'd been to the sea to tag along.

'Well fuck!' Was the sentiment shared by them at the moment.