The Trip Home

Five weeks, it took Yuri five weeks to get through the comprehensive breeding program the ninja village had him on, and that was with most days having him seeing bunny girls to fuck almost every hour from sunup to sundown. Due to how quickly the rabbits gestated, his earliest fucks were already showing signs of pregnancy; chances were Selvina was going to be showing a bit more than a baby bump when they got back to the town, seeing as he was literally the first person he fucked, and impregnated. The rest of his party worked with the village on things related to their fields. Thelsia gave some advice on a few of their rituals, especially the ones they had made use of for reproductive purposes; Althana assisted in the development and refinement of various alchemical concoctions, especially the replication and improvement of mixes that assisted with energy loss and rehydration; Alma assisted with combat training, especially when it came to weapons training; Lithira assisted with language studies, history, and survival training; Usagi spent a bit more time relaying her experiences in a more in-depth manner to the village, also expressing how much the fact Yuri had ended up in fringe town was a godsend for both the town and their village.

The confluence of as many factors around Yuri as there were pointed to there being no coincidences; some greater power had plans involving Yuri and arranged for things to play out the past few months as they had. As things stood, there were very few powers the village was aware of that could pull off that, and some of them were of a divine nature. But they really didn’t have a way to narrow things down, so they couldn’t help Yuri and his party on that front; all they could do was provide a list of the known entities with the power to call from another world, which basically included the entire pantheon and then some.

Usagi’s mother, who was considerably pregnant by this time, made a playful comment about coming to see Yuri so she could be there for some fun with Yuri and her daughter, as she made the arrangements for the group to leave. As was to be expected, everyone in the group who wasn’t Usagi was basically knocked **** When it came time to leave. When the group woke up what was most likely some hours later, the party was in the middle of a forest with all their packed supplies within arm’s reach.

“We’re in the woods halfway to the town from the village,” said Usagi, “I’ll be guiding you the rest of the way. We’re doing it this way because the council is worried Thelsia might properly disassemble the ritual’s location information. We’re less worried about Lithira working her way back to the village, mostly because I’m the only one here who knows the direction the village is in, and we’re going to keep it that way for the foreseeable future.”

“Reasonable,” said Lithira, “you’re all just starting to trust us, and those with my kind of heritage usually have a pretty poor reputation amongst most communities.”

“And given how your village works,” said Thelsia, “I can understand the reasoning. Lead the way.” Usagi did a quick check of the area to verify safety and make sure everyone’s gear, including her own, was accounted for before grabbing her utility belt-like hip bags and securing them to herself, and leading the group westward for a few miles before pivoting northward while still facing west and continuing the march, with everyone else hauling their gear shortly behind her. After the party had been marching for what felt like three or four hours, she halted and made a comment about everyone getting an hour or so for rest before they all continued.

During their break, and the march afterward, the party encountered a few wild monsters that called the forest home and took care of them. It didn’t look like anything they would get anything major for what they dealt with, but at least turning them into the guild could earn them some coin. Thankfully, their equipment wasn’t damaged in the scuffles.

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After what felt like another three or four hours of hiking, which wasn’t helped by the sun’s positioning seeming to confirm and deny that perception at the same time, they made it back to town. What they found waiting for them was a few minor, yet big, changes. Yuri had mixed feelings about what he saw.

The area of the forest they came out of had a load of building supplies, mostly stone and metal with lumber harvesting tools and a small collection of builder’s tools, all under what seemed to be some kind of tarp, right next to them as they exited the woods about where Althana had planned to put her atelier. There was a sign on the road; it seemed to be made of wood and stone, facing the main road, which was a bit more developed than it had been the last time the group had been to the town. And, to top things off, the inn and guild buildings seemed to have undergone some renovations to make them a bit bigger.

“Well, we were gone a bit longer than anticipated,” said Yuri as he massaged his knees and ankles, “and I did hear something about a meeting to discuss town renovations, but this is still a bit much.”

“I think they just wanted an excuse to make things better for you while we were out,” said Thelsia, “the temple doesn’t seem to have changed much from here, but who is to say they haven’t made a few renovations as well.”

“I just hope the rent hasn’t gone up for our stays,” said Lithira, “we really didn’t make much coin while we were out.”