The Lustful Villain: Every Milfs and Gilfs are Mine!-Chapter 205. The Island Didn’t Show Any Signs of What Had Happened There
The transit vessel’s signal horn was low, long, and unmistakable. It announced its approach from the southern approach vector, which was earlier than the crew had said it would be at seven o’clock.
The wind had been coming from the northeast overnight, which meant the crew had gotten there faster than they had planned.
Talyra sat up so fast that the motion created its own small wind.
"Oh no," she said, sounding like someone whose whole mind had just switched from joyful to urgent. "Oh, that’s early—"
"Six forty-two," Aisella said, sitting up with considerably more composure and immediately locating her clothes with the systematic efficiency of someone who had prioritized organization even in field conditions.
Talyra was already on the move.
The next eighteen minutes were the kind of productive chaos that happens when three skilled people are working against a tight deadline and don’t have enough time to prepare. Rex used telekinesis to break down the shelters, while Talyra secured the specimen cases.
Aisella went through the supply manifest at the speed of someone who had been keeping track of the inventory in her head and was now confirming it against the real world.
"Fourteen specimens confirmed," she said, checking things off with the pencil she had found in the inside pocket of her field pack before Rex had fully brought down the second shelter. "Research documents are done, and the sample cases are sealed."
"The construct fragments?" Rex asked to make sure.
"In the reinforced pack, third section," she moved to the next item. "Assessment journal?" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖
"All done," Talyra said from the east side of the camp, where she was tying the last of the collection cases to the transport frame with the skill of someone who had been packing things in the field since they were fourteen.
"Food supplies?"
"Consumed or discarded as planned," Rex said.
The transit vessel appeared around the southern point of the coast as they arrived at the beach. Carr was at the helm while Doss managed the bowlines with the unhurried efficiency of someone seasoned in collecting field groups from remote islands.
They understood that groups were always either perfectly ready or not at all, with the distinction between those two states becoming apparent roughly thirty seconds after visual contact.
As the boat came in, he looked at them from across the water.
"Holy shit, you guys! Those documentation look real heavy indeed," Carr said when they got close enough.
"Well, it’s fourteen new species so far," Aisella said from the shore.
She expressed it in the same straightforward manner that she used for most things she was confident about, without any unnecessary details.
Carr looked at her for a moment, then glanced at Rex, and finally returned his gaze to the documentation packs.
"Alright, get on to the boat," he said. "We’re leaving fast."
The three of them nodded.
The crossing back was a specific kind that happened after long field assessments. It was the quiet of people who had finished something and were in the middle of going back to what they had been doing.
The island got smaller and smaller behind them until it looked like it did when they first saw it: big, green, volcanic, and not showing any signs of what had happened there in the last three days.
Rex sat at the back and watched it while thinking about Avatar Creation, five thousand energy points, and the exact shape of everything that would happen over the next two weeks.
[ENERGY BALANCE UPDATED]
[TALYRA SKYDANCER MAXIMUM BOND: +1000 ENERGY POINTS]
[AISELLA MOONBLOOM MAXIMUM BOND: +1000 ENERGY POINTS]
[THREESOME MULTIPLIER APPLIED: ×2 BASE ENCOUNTER ENERGY]
[TOTAL ACQUISITION THIS SESSION: 4,000 ENERGY POINTS]
[CURRENT BALANCE: 5,500 ENERGY POINTS]
Rex looked at the number. ’I fucking did it... and it cost only five thousand to purchase that goddamn avatar creation.’
’Oh yeah... this is it. I’m going to have fun at night~!"
After the purchase, he had five hundred points left, which was his operational budget.
He looked at the island until the distance made it too small to distinguish from the other islands in the Sable chain, and then he looked at the sea ahead, which was the sea between here and Aethelgard, and thought about what he was going to do tonight.
...
The harbor district of Aethelgard was visible from about ten kilometers away on a clear day, and the city was exactly where he had left it: occupying its coastal bluff with the specific density of a place that had been accumulating people, architecture, and history for several centuries without resolving into anything simple.
The transit ships came into the eastern docks in the same order that they had left. This meant that Apollo’s group was already there when Rex’s ship arrived.
The dock’s receiving area was full of people who had been on small boats for a long time and were now in the first minute of being back in a big place.
Elizabeth was at the front of the dock with a clipboard. She had the same look on her face as when she was doing administrative tasks, but it was a little more focused on organizing things.
Apollo was behind her and to the left.
He noticed Talyra and Aisella before Rex, which was the order Rex had anticipated.
The wave he gave them was the signature Apollo wave—genuine, warm, and uncomplicated, just like Apollo himself. His expressions were those of someone who did not grapple with significant internal conflict, allowing him to convey his feelings directly.
Talyra waved back like someone who had just come back from a trip to see someone important to her. Aisella did the same thing, but with less surface area: she lifted one hand at an angle that sent the same message.
Rex stepped off the vessel and was one step onto the dock when the impact arrived.
THUD!
Lily had been standing behind Diana at the dock’s reception area, which was about fifteen meters from where the boat was moored. She had gotten there faster than anyone watching her first position would have thought.
She hit him at full speed with the reckless abandon of someone who had been counting down to zero and was no longer interested in moderating the impact.
Rex absorbed the impact and put his arms around her, as not doing so would have been unkind; Lily, in her full embrace, was a person who genuinely missed someone and was not pretending otherwise.
"Rex~! It’s been three days," she said, leaning against his shoulder. "I’ve missed you so much!!!"
He said, "It’s only been three days... not a whole week."
"Three days is too long for me, who easily misses you," she said.
"Fair enough," Rex said.
She held on for a moment longer than the social version of the greeting required, and Rex let her, because the specific quality of Lily’s holding on was that of someone who was not doing it for anyone else’s benefit and was therefore worth the extra moment.
When she stepped back, relief washed over her face, accompanied by the unique brightness that her eyes held whenever she was near him. It was a simple expression, much like Lily herself, especially when she wasn’t concerned about making things easier for others.
Diana was three steps behind, standing like she was trying to keep her distance. Her face looked like the one Rex had seen in the academy hallway before sunrise, which was a calm version with warmth underneath it.
She stared at him.
He stared at her.
"Thank you for not bumping me like she did."
Diana chuckled. "I’m not childish like Lily."
"She’s lying! She also missed you too!" Lily pouted.
"Anyway... welcome back," Diana said in a way that made it sound like she was saying something simple but meant the longer version.
"Yeah... it’s good to be back and seeing you two," Rex said, and he meant the fuller version.
Lily looked between them with the expression of someone who had already processed all aspects of the situation and had reached a state of acceptance rather than one of desire for change.
Talyra, who had approached Rex during the exchange, glanced at Diana, who returned her gaze. This silent interaction had the quality of an unspoken understanding between two people who had not been formally introduced but had enough awareness of each other’s existence to make an introduction feel unnecessary.
"H-Hello...!!! It’s a pleasure to meet you, L-Lady Diana...!" Talyra stumbled over her introduction.
Diana chuckled. "There’s no need to be so formal."
"Yeah, Talyra... Diana is chill, you know?"
"O-Okay... let me try again..."
