Chapter 297 - The Beach Reception
(MC POV)
I sighed contentedly, feeling the wind blowing past me while I watched the trees roll by on my right.
All of us were now on our way to the Royal Family's beach villa in one of Elaria's new creations, the jeep.
Or to be more exact, a Willys MB that I vaguely remember seeing during my trips to the other world by the damnable truck-kun stick.
I had sent Elaria a message about our vacation trip and she immediately drove one of these down with Odriana, intent on joining us as well.
Although it still took a day or so for them to get here, we made use of the time to get the necessary equipment needed to enjoy our no doubt relaxing time at the beach.
My sisters said they didn't need anything as Elaria had 'prepared and foresaw such an event'.
Elaria and Odriana ended up being the drivers for each vehicle since they were the only ones who knew how to operate them, with each vehicle containing five persons each.
Unfortunately, Guiying was not able to come with us since the country needed their monarch to stabilize the current situation caused by both the Royal Family's demise and the Dong invasion. Not to mention the fact that Guiying would be busy consolidating her political power in the capital as well.
Thus, it would just be my disciples, my sisters and I.
They had apparently used some sort of lottery to decide who would go with whom for each vehicle.
I ended up riding at the back seat squished between Kiyomi and Manami with Elaria as our driver and Diao Chan at the front passenger seat.
Both Elaria and Odriana had opted to drive with the top folded down and the girls were quite excited to feel the rush of the wind blowing through their hair.
"You know…" I muttered, my hands busy with stroking two extremely fluffy tails that had found its way to my lap. "When you said you had something to bring us there fast, I didn't think you actually had something like this…"
Elaria turned to grin at me, "Ehehehe! Is Onii-sama surprised? I worked really really hard for this! Onii-sama once said that girls and fast cars go very well together!"
"Eyes on the road," I warned, seeing the car sliding off to the side of the dirt road we were on dangerously.
"Hai, hai," She laughed, swerving the car back onto the path dangerously.
Goodness… How did this girl even get her licence? Oh wait, there's no such thing here. My memory really is quite a mess...
Manami leaned against my arm, nuzzling her face against the crook of my neck while she traced a finger on my chest.
"Ufufufu~ I can't wait to see the beach, Master~ If Master wants, I can help spread the skin lotion all... Over... You~~"
Kiyomi leaned her head on my shoulders on the other side, her finger mirroring her sister's actions.
"Master… I'm afraid I do not like the heat much. If Master could help spread the lotion on my skin when we're there, I would be very grateful."
Diao Chan's head snapped towards me, "The… The beach is private right? Master, could we please, please, pleeeease do outdoors ignore play? Pretty please?"
I sighed while patting the two foxes on the head, "We'll see. We don't even know if there is anyone there at all."
"Ehehe~ We can already see it from here!" Elaria called out, jerking her chin to the right.
We followed her gaze and sure enough, the trees that had been obscuring our vision cleared to reveal the deep blue sea stretching far out into the horizon.
The beach was set at the end of an inlet with towering cliffs stretching on both sides towards the sea, acting as the 'arms' of a large, rocky hill behind the beach.
Built into the hill itself was a lavishly decorated villa that looked out towards the sea, the entire structure stretching from the top of the hill down towards the foot with a grand staircase access to the beach below.
In my opinion, it looked unnecessarily large. Whichever monarch decided to build this must have splurged a lot of money to complete it.
Right now we were on the left 'arm' of the cliffs, following a narrow, winding road down towards the base of the hill.
I got a little worried since the path was obviously not made for our mode of transportation and I had to levitate both vehicles a few times whenever it almost tipped over the cliff side.
After another few minutes, our little convoy arrived at the bottom of the stairway leading up to the main entrance of the summer villa, which I really think should just be called a summer palace at this point.
There, another surprise was waiting for us as I saw Gamma waiting there alongside the elf I remembered seeing at our Sect's New Year Festival.
Standing beside them was a wolf youkai and a nekoma… No, wait. That girl only has one tail so she's a cat youkai, not a nekomata.
Each of them were dressed in what I recognised as a classic maid uniform, the dress reaching down to their ankles complete with a frilly headpiece nestled at the top of their heads.
They bowed as we dismounted from our vehicles, their hands clasped in front of their waist demurely.
"Welcome, Master," The wolf youkai greeted, her face betraying no emotions as she pushed her half moon spectacles up with the tip of her fingers. "I am Alpha and I am in charge of the staff here for your stay. Please let me know if there is anything you require at all."
Alpha? And the centauress is Gamma?
I looked at the elf and cat girl, "You two wouldn't happen to be Beta and Delta… Would you?"
The cat girl bowed quickly, her tail ramrod straight behind her, "Gre… Greetings Master! I am Beta, a cat youkai! A… A pleasure to serve you!"
The elf bowed at the waist, "Good day, Master, I am Delta. I was not able to thank you properly the last time for saving me, Master. It is only thanks to you that I am able to see this world unhindered again. For that, my life is yours to do as you see fit."
"Ah… Well met. I will be in your care then," I greeted back before turning to the other oddity of the group. "Gamma, what are you doing here?"
She made the same bow that Delta had given me, "Reporting to Master, they were looking for more help to serve you here and so I volunteered!"
I raised an eyebrow, "As unlikely as it is… You four don't happen to be sisters… Are you?"
"We are not sisters by blood, but sworn sisters who have adopted new names for ourselves," Alpha explained, her wolfish tail swaying noticeably behind her.
Huh… Something tells me that I probably wouldn't want to know what the circumstances were that led to their meeting together.
Since Gamma and Delta had mentioned about meeting my girls before, could it be due to them?
Oh whatever, it's their business anyway, won't be nice of me to butt into a girl's past.
Hey, I'm still sensitive enough to know about these things, ok?
"Well then… For the duration of our stay, I'll be in your care," I nodded to them.
Speaking of which… We never actually decided how long we were going to stay here and neither did the Queen say anything about a time limit… Could we actually live here for good?
Better not be too shameless.
The plan for today was to quickly change to our swimming attire in the villa before spending the rest of the day on the beach. Then we'll come back to the villa before nightfall in time for dinner.
I know for a fact that none of my girls had actually been to the sea before so they will definitely be eager to start.
It is the start of Summer after all.
Just as I was about to start moving towards the stairs, Gamma sat down on the ground while watching me with sparkly eyes.
She gestured towards her back with an open palm, "Please, ride me, Master!"
The other girls were also looking at me like it was the natural course of action for me to do.
So we're back to this again…
Oh well, it is supposed to be a vacation after all, I suppose I can just indulge them for a bit...