Chương 176: Chapter 159. Dreams Of A Vacation

John Ericsson's Point Of View" Finally!" I had just finished the paperwork needed to make Emily a Proxy Lord in my absence. With this, I didn't have much work left before I leave in 2 days. The day Sarah, Anna and I set off to the Dark Forest will make it a week since Warrick got the message from the Dark Elves. We've spent the past 5 days preparing everything we needed to make our way to the Dark Forest. When I explained the request to Sarah and Anna, they're reactions were interesting." A vacation!"

Sarah was smiling brightly." Sarah, there's going to be work to do when we make it to the Dark Forest, you know?" Anna wanted to correct Sarah's thoughts, but instead, Sarah explained her thought process to Anna and by proxy, me as well." But, Anna, it's going to be 6 weeks to the Dark Forest and back! That means we'll have 12 weeks of relaxation traveling to and from there! It'll be like a 2nd honeymoon!"" You know I'm going to be hard at work making the road we'll be traveling on, right?

Also, Paula will be bringing us back once we're out of sight when we leave." I couldn't help but point out that I would be working during this "2nd honeymoon" she was talking about. Seems Sarah forgot about Paula. Anna began to comfort her. I guess I really need to get the economic plans off of the ground so we can go on vacation? After finishing some thoughts about the future, I looked away from my Wives and noticed that Emily and Ruby seemed to be sad." Are you guys, okay?"

I asked them and it seemed to surprise them. I continued to speak to them." I imagine I'll only be gone for 2 months or so max. I doubt recounting a fight that lasted a little over 15 minutes will take that long."" That's good at least." Emily smiled weakly at me." Relax, you had to help manage a city-wide business with multiple moving parts and multiple partners. A few weeks of paper pushing should be easy to do."" Yes, it will be. But that's not the reason we're sad."

I looked at Ruby and Emily as they looked in my direction. What else would they be sad abo--... Oh yeah! Sarah and Anna." I know it's hard to say goodbye to Friends, but don't worry, I won't let anything happen to Sarah and Anna, if anything bad happens, either on the road or in the Dark Forest, we'll warp right back here!" I smiled to let them know not to worry. That seemed to help, but they still seemed sad? Ruby seemingly couldn't take it and said what was on her mind."

If you think something could go wrong, you should bring protection! Let me come with you 3!" Ruby spoke with irritation in her voice. Contrary to what she wants, I know she needs to be here for Emily." Ruby, I've already assigned some people to come with us as a convoy. They're technically replaceable in that position, but you being here isn't. You need to be here to help Emily as an Advisor. I'm grateful you want to come with us however."" But! I mean!..." Ruby seemed to be tripped up on her words.

There was a sense of frustration on her face. If I'm being honest, it was kind of cute. I waited for her to find her words, but when she looked at me, she began to calm down. It was strange, almost like someone said something to calm her down, how strange? Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Press... As I thought about what Ruby may have wanted to say, I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder." It is understandable why she'd want to go.

Ruby has spent her whole life here in Paradise after all. Even she would want to travel sometimes. Perhaps the next time we go somewhere?" Sarah explained how Ruby was feeling to me, I see. I guess I should try to schedule in some vacation time for her, shouldn't I?" I guess when I can finally transport multiple people to faraway places, we could bring Ruby to Blackstone?"" That sounds like an excellent idea, My Love." Sarah seemed to like my idea." What about me?"

Emily spoke shyly to us as I thought the conversation was over. I looked at her in curiosity." Where would you want to go? I mean... I know it might sound weird coming from me, but Diablos still doesn't think well of Humans. Would there be anywhere you would actually want to go in Diablos?" To my question, Emily thought for a moment and then began to speak." I'm not afraid of something like that."" Why not?"" Because I'm the Secretary of Marquess Matthew Drake. I'm under your protection just by being that.

Or do you expect to keep me cooped up in here when you travel for business meetings?"" W-Well... No, bu-"" Exactly! So, to get the inhabitants of Diablos used to seeing me around, it'll be effective to have me being seen with you around Diablos, so people recognize me as your Secretary! Ruby could also join us since she's easily recognizable as well." I'm being bombarded with reasons to give people vacations... Wait! Why am I automatically involved in the vacations!?

I look to Sarah and Anna, and they don't seem to have a problem with it." What?" Anna asked me that as she saw my face. I get a bit more confused." We'd obviously be with you if you were to go on vacation, Darling." Anna answered me without me speaking my thoughts. Wait, her smile. Her eyes aren't smiling along with her mouth. I guess she's insulted that I didn't include Sarah and Anna immediately! But, can you blame me? Emily forgot to include them in her words!"

It would be nice to go all around Diablos without needing to work. However, that'll be impossible currently, maybe if we take small breaks that amount to a month a piece, we might be able to do it?" Emily began to think through her ideas. She seems to already be allotting time for it during the next few years. While Emily was making calculations, Ruby seemed to be lost in thought as well." Ruby, are you okay?"" Huh! What!? Yes, I'm fine, Matthew!"

Ruby heard my voice and seemed to snap out of whatever she was thinking about." Hm, the Duties we have as Nobles will bring us to far-away towns, just like how we need to attend That Duke Fracks's birthday party. We can use our travels to have points where My Love can teleport us, which would cut down travel time as well. These things are possible and mostly relies on My Love's Magic Tempering and growth as a Summoner." Sarah began to work with Emily with the planning of vacations.

She really is desperate for more time to ourselves. This makes me wonder why she even allowed me to become a Marquess in the first place? The best way to keep me to herself is to make sure I'd have no real say on the matter after all? Maybe it was Warrick's decision to make me a Marquess because he wanted me to have a certain amount of freedom? I looked at Sarah and Emily as they spoke to each other." Yes, this place here in the South has great local delicacies. Here in the West, it has great views.

And his reactions will be all ours with no one to interrupt us." Sarah began to talk about places to go and then, at the end... I should thank Warrick for making sure that I became a Marquess and can move freely. Wait! Emily... Why did her eyes flicker like Sarah's when she was talking about "reactions"?" Maybe we should go to Darkstone as well!?"" Ah great idea, Ruby!" Anna and Ruby were innocently thinking about good places to go on vacation and not noticing the somewhat dark reasonings for the vacations.

With both sides being right next to each other, it's almost like a realistic yin-yang symbol in front of me. I guess this means regardless of anything else, we'll have at the very least, 5 people going on vacation. I guess as long as Sarah and Anna are happy it doesn't make much of a difference to me who comes and goes." I hate to burst your bubble, girls, but first, we have to get through a diplomatic mission and a bunch of work surrounding this town before we can even think of a vacation."" Ah..."

They all made the same sound in unison. Like they forgot how this whole conversation started." Did you 4 really forget about the work? Look, I understand wanting to take a vacation, but the work comes first, we have a lot of people's lives dependent on us all doing our jobs."" We know, Darling... It's just nice to have a goal, you know?" Anna spoke to me." Of course, once all the work is done, I can't wait to laze about and just enjoy the days as they come.

Of course, it'll be even better with my 2 Wives next to me, also enjoying the day. And who knows, maybe a couple kids crawling around?" I winked at Sarah and Anna. Ruby and Emily seemed to feel a bit awkward as they looked at Sarah and Anna with a strange look on their faces? And it looks like Sarah took my words as a starting whistle. The rest of the day went as usual, the only difference is we had to allocate supplies for the convoy to the Shadow Forest.

I ended the day the same as I always did, with Sarah and Anna wrapped in my arms as I closed my eyes.