Return to Dragonhide Manor.

Fortunately, the manor is still there. Your party makes their way through the front gate, and the moment you step onto the path leading to the manor's front door, the dryad Peony squeals in joy. You look to see the leaf-skinned, unclothed woman that tends to your courtyard's garden. Every time you come back, there are somehow even more flowers than before. It's starting to get overwhelming. It is pretty though.

She runs towards you excitedly. It's a strange sight. Though she doesn't wear clothes, she doesn't exactly have definite parts either. Her breasts come to the shape of tips, though they aren't really nipples. She's a woman made of plant-life. Though her body still has the same feminine shape that brings you excitement, and her chest still bounces like any other. When she reaches you, she almost tackles you down. Her arms squeeze your body tight and she snuggles her head into your chest.

"My lord!" she exclaims. "You've returned at last."

"Thanks for keeping the place safe while we were gone, Peony," you say.

She looks up from your chest with pleading eyes. "Of course... I love you, my husband."

"I--"

Niki slaps you on the back as she begins walking again. "Come on! Let's make sure the people inside are all right.

Peony releases you and turns. "Oh yes. They are. Yin has come out to speak with me every day, and I've learned much of devils. Delphi is really funny. Oh, and Snow has been coming and going, always keeping her eyes out for danger. She's very cool."

You reach the doors and knock. After a moment, they open, and you're greeted by the growing smile of Yin, the devil maid. She does the exact same thing. Once again, you have a girl throw herself into your chest and hug you tight. Though she does release you, and stand up straight and proper. A dark red blush comes to her cheeks as she tries to restrain herself.

"Welcome back, Master," she says with a curtsy.

"Thank you, Ms. Yin," Amara replies.

"Please come inside. You have been out for a long time. Certainly you have much to say, but rest is important. Follow me to the parlour so that you may have a seat and speak with the others."

"Thanks. Lead the way, Yin," you say.

She nods, proud of her job. You follow behind her--tail waving left and right. She eventually leads you into the living room where Snow and Delphi have set up a chess set on the short table in the middle of the room.

Snow's ears twitch and she turns to give you a smile. "Ah! You've returned alive, Kyle. Thank goodness." She stands up from the table and makes her way over. "I accidentally agreed to play strip chess with Delphi. I needed a way out."

You look past her to the pixie who seems disappointed. "So was the thank goodness about me being alive, or..."

"Please have a seat," Yin chimes in.

"We've had plenty of rest on the road, honestly," you say as you make your way over to the sofa for a seat. You're immediately joined by Amara, Eva, and Niki, forcing you to squeeze uncomfortably to make room. "Guys--"

"We did it!" Niki yells right by your head. "Vampires? Nothing but ash. This Vampire Queen chick? Defeated. The only thing we didn't get was the necklace, but we wiped out her entire castle and got back alive."

"Oh? Please tell us the whole story," Snow asks.

You take a deep breath. Maybe I should leave out the part with the holy cum. "All right. If you insist."

Though you do fluff it up a bit, you retell the story of everything that happened since you left Avana. It's a good way to spend time with everyone again. And since it's the afternoon, Amara makes a tasty lunch for everybody to enjoy as they listen.

Time passes. As you all finish sharing what happened, and clear your plates, people lay back with relief. Even those you left behind are happy to know they're no longer being hunted by vampires.

Snow grabs Alice's arm and looks it over. "So there's some sort of magical cannon in here, eh?"

"Y-Yes. I suppose," Alice replies. "I am still figuring my body out."

Delphi wiggles her fingers. "I can help with that."

"I wanna know what happened with that Kashura girl," Eva speaks up. "She totally abandoned Catherine, so I figure she might not even report back to the Demon King. Maybe she's just hiding out there somewhere."

Yin hustles over to you. Suddenly, she lowers her head in a deep bow. "I am so sorry, Master!"

"Huh?" You have no idea what she's talking about.

She looks up and holds out an envelope. "You received a letter the other day, and I completely forgot to tell you about it when you first arrived home!"

You take the letter with a smirk. "It's fine, Yin."

"Please forgive me."

"I said it's fine. I do forgive you. So who is it from?" you ask as you look to the back. It's addressed from from the Party's Rest inn. "Oh interesting. I wonder why they would be contacting us."

You tear open the paper and read it over.

"What does it say?" Eva says as she tries to lean in and see.

"It says that they commend the good deeds we've been doing, and that they would be happy to have Niki's business again granted that she doesn't cause trouble like last time."

"Hell yeah!" Niki leaps up from the couch with her arms in the air. "Now this is the real reward. Finally, that muffin will be mine again..."

"That was unexpected. Guess they decided they might as well lift the ban by now, especially since we've been making a name for ourselves. Though I didn't think we were that well known."

"Let's go there now!"

"But we just ate."

"I don't care. I'm drooling just thinking about that muffin, and I just like it in there, you know? It's that classic adventurer's tavern aesthetic. All sorts of interesting people stop there. Though if nobody else wants to go there right now, I don't mind heading there alone."

"Heck I'll come with you. Why not?" And I don't really trust her to go alone and immediately get us banned.

Eva sinks back into the couch. "I'm definitely staying here for now."

"That's fine." You stand up and stretch. "Gotta do something without video games anyway."

They have no idea what you're talking about.