Vol 2. Chapter 7: COLLECTION GET!! Nerd Cave Too!! (1)

“Hnn… this ceiling…” I whispered, opening my eyes after what could only be called a veeeeeeeery long night and confirming that—“I’m back… I’m finally back…”

Then again, maybe I should pinch my cheek and grope my boobs just in case… Yep. Felt that pinch. And this unmistakable softness and weight… oh yeah, I’m back in my waifu’s body, I mean, my body. You know what I mean.

Anyways, what a night… Seriously, if that counts as the prologue for the next volume of my story, I really don’t want to imagine what the rest of it holds. Hm? It wasn’t the prologue, you say? The first arc? Then, what was the prologue? Wait, don’t tell me. I don’t wanna be spoiled. Either way, my point still stands! Usually the first arcs in new isekai volumes are chill, and this was anything but that…

Not only was I abducted by a certain idiot goddess, but I had my soul burnt by her, and then I was forced to run all over the city of the gods to try and escape her, all while I got to meet not only Nerinne’s divine high school teacher, but also both of my in-laws, to whom I did things you really shouldn’t do to your in-laws… Like how I told my mother-in-law that her boobs were too huge for her to be Nerinne or how I peer pressured my father-in-law after I grabbed his lightning without permission… ahaha…

Oh, and how could I forget what came after… Not only did I met my other mother-in-law in the form of Ere’s mom, but I apparently was this close to being in a surprise duel against her because of how much a battle fanatic she is… And then, just as I was enjoying some nice uniform quality time with Nerinne after finally finding her, the idiot goddess suddenly appeared and said things in the worst way possible, causing Nerinne to misunderstand and go dark…

Of course, it’s not as if it was all bad. I had a lucid dream of Nana, I got to have fun with Nerinne while we were wearing school uniforms, I did something surreal with her… twice, and I even stayed with her in her divine realm for hours. We played, we talked, we watched anime, and more.

And if that wasn’t enough, I also got a feast of lore from that idiot goddess, I mean, Isharnnat, and from Nerinne herself. Yes, some of it was worrisome, but even then… knowing is better than not knowing. At least that’s what I think. And so much of the lore I learned was frankly amazing. Getting to see the city of the gods was an experience I never thought I’d go through too, but now it’s something I’ll never forget.

Hmmm… I guess that’s a good way to dub this whole thing, an experience I’ll never forget. And it’s also why I feel so exhauuuuuusted despite me having just woken up from a ‘good night’s sleep’…

But oh well, let’s stop the recap there and start this new day on the right foot! That’s right! Today’s a new day! Weekend even! And what a better way to start it than by making sure I don’t get karate-chopped out of nowhere for mentally narrating too loudly and waking up Nerinne earlier than usual on this world’s Saturday! Yep! That’s why I’m mentally whisper-shouting all of this at what feels to be like… 4 am!

Anyhow, fully awake as I now was, I slooooooowly sat on the bed while taking care not to disturb anyone. Yep. Just like that. There. Phew… Next, I pulled back my hair and, with the help of a hair tie I just conjured out of nowhere, tied it into a rough ponytail. And then I just… let my heart be soothed by looking at the sleeping treasures around me, as seeing them sleep soundly AND safely truly filled my heart with such a welcome feeling. Really. Whatever worries still lingered within my heart just went away by seeing them.

First, let’s start with the black-haired heroine in a white dragon onesie who’s peacefully sleeping by my left side. She’s my right-hand woman, my closest advisor, and a girlfriend who burst into my heart and never left. Erevain! Or as I endearingly call her, Ere! I really need to think how to broach the subject of her mother to her, but that’s a task for later in the day. Right now I’ll just deftly move her hair a bit and… give her a soft kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you for everything you do…” I whispered in such a low voice that one could say I mouthed it instead. Still, I mean it. I talk a lot—well, more like complain—about the amount of work I’ve been doing recently, but the truth is that it still doesn’t compare to Ere’s workload. She’s in charge of so many things at once that I’m always in awe of how easily she deals with it all. She even helps me by sifting through the brunt of the stuff I’m brought and only passes me the most important/urgent things.

Yes, she delegates things properly and so on, but still… that’s a lot of work. And yet she never complains. Rather, she… always tells me that she’s glad to spend all that time with me. Of course, that’s just one aspect of our relationship, but it’s important not to take it for granted. I am blessed to have her, to share a bond with her, to see her sleeping face be adorned with a slight smile as I caress her cheek… “I shall do everything I can to keep being worthy of your love.”

With yet another whisper for her having escaped my lips, I turned my gaze away from my immediate surroundings and checked on someone just as important. Someone who was peacefully sleeping in another room rather than here because ‘she had won the date, so now it was Erevain’s turn’ as she explained when I invited her to join us for story time. Yes, I’m talking about Gabrielle. The very woman who took my heart in her hands and soothed it with her unique warmth, care, and passion, always doing and planning things to help me keep moving, unfettered by whatever weighs on it at any time.

I’m sure that if I tell her about everything that happened, she wouldn’t let me do anything until she was sure that I was alright both physically and emotionally. And just thinking about it fills me with warmth. Man, I’m truly fortunate… so, so fortunate. To the point that I just need to move my gaze back to the bed to find yet another very precious someone.

Yes, yes, a little someone in a Cerberus onesie that was sleeping on top of my legs before I moved, a cute little girl who’s currently using her own tail as a teddy bear and is… sleepily nibbling on it, hehe. She’s our adorable Dragon Lord daughter! Celesia!! What can I say about her that I haven’t said before? Her arrival into our lives was so sudden and yet… I can no longer imagine my life without her, my little violet princess born from a wish. You are so curious and so eager to learn about anything and everything, and it makes me so happy that I get to be part of that learning as we both get to know more about this world and its wonders together. Yes… Together. Because…

“…Papa will always be with you. Always. I promise.” I whispered to my daughter as I slowly brought my finger closer to her mouth so she could nibble on it instead and she did. As soon as my finger got close enough, Celesia latched on to it and began happily nibbling on it, all while still being deeply asleep.

Ah, if you’re wondering why she’s nibbling at all, it’s to relieve the discomfort brought by her little dragon teeth developing into the mighty draconic fangs we know and love. To explain it in her words, ‘nibs-nibs make the itchy-itch go away’. Itchy-itch being the discomfort. And guess what? The scales of a draconic parent are THE best thing for them to nibble on. So you can bet that Celesia has been nibbling on both my arms at least twice a day. It’s ADORABLE. And, according to Nerinne, it also strengthens our bond, something I’ll never say no to.

Just as I will never say no to having my right hand held tightly by a certain little someone in a chibi skeleton onesie. She’d been sprawled all over Nerinne and I just a bit ago, but I guess I wasn’t as careful as I thought when sitting on the bed and she felt my weight shift, making her sleepily reach out to me. I mean, just look at how she’s tightened her grip on my hand while furrowing her little eyebrows… she’s that worried that I might leave. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if she somehow sensed my abduction and that’s why she’s like this now… Demigoddess or not, she’s a sensitive one,  my dear, dear little volcano princess, Ilya.

Truly… you came to us so early in this new life of mine and yet, just like with Celesia, I can’t imagine my life without you. Seeing you go from a very shy girl to a very loving, caring, and thoughtful girl that earnestly pursues that which she likes never stops being one of the greatest rewards I’ve gotten. And I’ll be right beside you as you discover more sides of yourself. So…

“Thank you for making me a dad, Ilya.”

“Fa… ther…”

“There, there… I’m not going anywhere… I promise…”

“zZz…”

That’s it, she’s gone back to sleeping peacefully. She even has a little smile on her face now. That’s good. That’s very good. She hasn’t let go of my hand though. Heh. In fact, her grip on it has only gotten stronger. But that’s alright, what matters is that she’s no longer carrying such worries. And if holding my hand helps things stay that way, she can do it for as long as she likes.

Seriously, no kid should be sleeping with that kind of worry in their head, I should know… Still, I meant what I said. I’ll never leave her. Nor Celesia. Not like that. Never like that. They’re my most precious treasures after all. The little lights of my life.

Speaking of which, there’s another one of such lights sleeping here by my right. She’s wearing a pink bat onesie, and you know her as the first heroine of this isekai. The goddess of this world. My sweetheart darling. Nerinne! And yes! Her current sleeping face is the perfect representation of someone who fell asleep after tasting defeat and having her (mine) collection taken away! She’s so salty about it that she’s even biting her blanket out of asleep frustration! Muahahaha!

She even tried to stop me from taking back what was mine by hugging my leg and pleading me not to, among other more… sexy type of appeals… BUT! I remained steadfast and ignored any and all of such pleas and reclaimed my collection!!

I bet you’re wondering how though, so let me explain it in the simplest of terms. I… put it back into my soul in the same way that I took it out. It can’t get any simpler than that. Although, this time things looked as if I was shoving everything into my cleavage, which made things funnier to look at. At least for me. Meanwhile, Nerinne was too occupied trying to hide stuff as a futile last attempt at resistance, but I would just immediately find it and reclaim it.

That said, as I was going through the stuff in the room, I took some time to properly check out the stuff that Nerinne added to the collection, which I didn’t take of course, but it’s still totally worth mentioning because of how awesome that stuff was! I’m talking about 1/7th and 1/4th scale figures of me, our daughters, and the maids!! And the quality…! The quality and care with which they were made was spotless! Imagine the best sculpt and paint job you have ever seen and multiply that by 100! That good! And she made them all!!

The statues of our daughters were all so frigging adorable! Chibi frog onesie Ilya and Chibi shark onesie Celesia were my favorites! I was melting when I saw them, MELTING! As for the statues of me and the maids, well, you already know about those. Some were faithful, while others had us in plenty of hot outfits. Sexy Nurse Gabrielle was… oh dear… she looked great… Sensual Villainess Ere was also great… And both the bunny (normal and reverse) and swimsuit sets of everyone were… a feast for the eyes. A FEAST.

Yet that was not all! No sir! I also found a folder filled with concept art for Erevain’s Moonlight Armor. You know, the one that appeared on her when she used her [Moon Descent] spell. Yep, that one. And I’m not just talking about the final product, but previous iterations of it like the version that would’ve been if I hadn’t, well, turned her into a woman, as well as… her mom’s version of the armor. Everything was just so detailed, with no line, no shape wasted. All had a purpose. Everything just clicked.. And let me tell you, Nerinne really went above and beyond to celebrate Ere’s bond with her mom while also vesting her with something that’s 100% her own. She’s amazing.

But wait! There’s more! I also found a big binder with what I presume was more concept art, but Nerinne began screaming ‘spoilers!’ at the top of her lungs and took it off my hands before I could open it. It was so sudden that she spooked the crap out me! Heck, I thought my soul’s soul was gonna come out of my soul… Even then, I was still curious about the binder’s contents, but I couldn’t dare to ask about it because I really didn’t want to get spoiled! Though I don’t need my instinct to figure out that it’s concept art related to all the maids! I just know it! I feel it in my horns!

All in all, my otaku goddess is a great artist! If only she could add illustrations to my narration monologue for all of you, now that’d be perfect! But I get that doing something like that would be a tad much even for her.

Moving on a bit, after Nerinne finally accepted her defeat she explained to me why I couldn’t recreate my collection here in the castle, and believe me, I tried. I tried it a lot of times but no cigar. It just wasn’t happening. And now I know why. It had to do with the requirements that my personal space has to recreate something, which are three.

One, mana. Duh. Two, I must have a clear mental image and knowledge of the object. In the case of food, I must have eaten it at least once. And three, the object must have some sort of bond with my soul. Can you guess which of these steps was messing with my attempts to recreate my collection here? Yep! The third one! And, well, it’s because the collection I brought out in Nerinne’s divine realm was pretty much that bond materialized, and I left it in said realm. Thus, making it impossible for me to have my collection here or anywhere else.

Not anymore though! No sir!! Heck, I ALREADY CONJURED IT ALL! Can you see it? The piles and piles of perfectly catalogued manga, comics and light novels? The game consoles? The games? The figures? The officially licensed wigs and other merch? The anime box-sets? Of course you can!! They’re all around the room after all!! Finally! AHAHAHAHAHA! MY BELOVED COLLECTION’S BACK WITH ME BABY!

Yes, I’m making a very satisfied and very normal smile right now. It’s not unhinged as some of you weebs are saying. And no, don’t feel bad for Nerinne. She actually made a copy of all my collection before returning my soul to my body. She just didn’t want me to take the og one back because it was both a memento of our first meeting and a part of me, technically, so it gave off my ‘warmth’...

Seriously… this lovable heroine… just remembering the way she said that makes me blush all over again… If you think about it for a bit, she really got the last laugh in a way…

Anyways, time for me to take advantage of waking up so early in the best way possible! As in… IT’S TIME TO MAKE A SECRET ROOM IN MY ISEKAI CASTLE! AND NOT JUST ANY ROOM, BUT MY SECRET ROOM! Why? FOR THE ISEKAI CHECK, OF COURSE! But also because I need a place for my collection!

That said, there’s something I need to do before teleporting away to said secret room, and that’s freeing both of my hands from my daughters’ grasp! How? By replacing them with plushies! For Ilya, her plushie of chibi me! And for Celesia, her plushie of Spider Knight Uma! Ok, here we go. One… two… three!

“Fa… ther… soft… zzz…”

“Zzzzz… nom… hehe… zzz…”

Yes! It worked! Both Ilya and Celesia are now sleeping peacefully with their plushies! And they look adorable snuggling with them! As for my hands, they’ve been successfully freed! Thus, with that out of the way, I can finally go and create that secret room on my own! AS IF! I’M TAKING MY DAUGHTERS WITH ME AND LEAVING A NOTE EXPLAINING EVERYTHING! I JUST FREED MY HANDS SO I WOULDN’T HAVE TO CARRY THEM IN AN AWKWARD POSITION! Not just that, but I’m totally planning on having some hot choco with them after they wake up and I show them the room! Oh I can’t wait to see their reactions to everything! Hehehehe!! Anyways, let’s go!!

To be continued… (cue a chibi illustration of a snickering panda onesie-wearing Auros carrying both sleeping daughters in her arms while going into a portal, not noticing that both Nerinne and Ere were actually awake and were watching her leave with a warm smile on their faces)