Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1532: Rainbowden Return

It didn’t take Zhen Liu too long to address everyone’s concerns, but it was mildly tedious.

"No, I won’t purposely pick a fight with the champions of either faction if I can help it. High-ranking warriors held grudges for much longer than your average mortal one."

"We’re heading back to Rainbowden because despite securing part of the Rainbowsmith’s legacy, he still has a whole ass tomb full of potent treasures and knowledge down there and I would rather make sure that nobody save us got their greedy little hands on them."

"I’m not going to murder your cousin if we run into—wait, what? You want to be the one to...okay, I feel like I should be trying to stop you on that front but I also know that you have some...questionable blood with your family. More so than I did, so..."

"Yes, if you don’t want to participate, you are free to return home for the time being...or you can go and check out the Zhen Clan estate; that works too."

Once all of these questions had been answered and the mortals had made their decision, the final roster of people who were going to go along with Zhen Liu’s shenanigans was a touch smaller than before. Granted, the reasons for their leaving were actually pertaining to reasons unrelated to Zhen Liu.

Alice, Alicia, Bellona, and Harriet were still technically only in Rainbowden for academic reasons. At this point in time, their "field study pass" had expired, and they needed to return to the academy.

"Promise you’ll come and visit soon? There’s a wonderful year-end party that would be significantly more interesting with you around," Bellona said to Zhen Liu.

"I...hmmm... I was going to say, ’no promises,’ but that does sound like it would be a nice breather," Zhen Liu agreed.

"Really? Yay!"

Axer wished to stay behind, figuring that his old domicile had either been destroyed by the fallout of battle, and he found that the library’s workshop was better than his own, and Taurna and Lyona also stated that they wished to stay behind at the Library of Nowhere with the aforementioned metalsmith. They were still in the process of learning everything he had to teach them, and they figured that spending time at the library was a better way for them to learn more about their possible future trade and the world at large.

"From being ignorant in a literal cave to blowing the lid with the power of education...amen," Zhen Liu commented to himself as he respected the former slave girls’ decision. "I look forward to seeing what you guys are able to do."

"If this [Chaos] forging manual is as good as the people of Rainbowden say it is, we should be able to make you something that rivals that gourd of yours," Lyona confidently stated.

"Ah, wait, if it’s not too much trouble, can you deliver my finished commissions to my clients in Rainbowden?" Axer added. "I would rather not have my master’s reputation tainted despite all of the extraneous circumstances."

"No problem."

After all this, the roster of mortal warriors accompanying Zhen Liu consisted of Olstenna, Lythero, Antonio, Rianna, Zhen Xing, Zhen Tai, and Jinju Ren.

"You guys sure you still want to tag along? Things are only going to get worse from here," Zhen Liu warned his cousins.

"That may be the case, but the two of us are still warriors with Ignarii aether flowing through their channels," Zhen Tai answered for the two of them. "We promised we wouldn’t head back until we reach the Aether Grandmaster rank anyways."

"That, and I have this new aether art that I want to take for a spin," Zhen Xing added. "Those curators are weirdly generous with their handouts."

"Yeah... I’m not entirely sure why either, to be honest."

Meanwhile, the dragon-blooded princess still hadn’t had her fill of travelling yet and wanted to actually get into a proper fight alongside her man, while Rianna had wanted to see if there were more interesting things to hunt further into the continent. There was also one other reason, but Zhen Liu made it a point to actively ignore that reason until Rianna shared it with them willingly.

"You know, I still have that Wrath-fire Dragon Ape as part of my saber’s familiars," Jinju Ren commented as she held the sheathed blade in her hands. "Still haven’t figured out a way to get him to calm the fuck down..."

"Maybe we’ll find something or someone that can fix that," Zhen Liu suggested.

"Maybe."

As for Olstenna, Lythero, and Antonio, they didn’t exactly have a choice, as the Dozing Salamander Continent was their homeland. However, they did also want to go along with Zhen Liu for, well, personal reasons.

"One step closer to fixing my swords," Lythero said aloud, as if to confirm this goal for himself. "Afterwards, revenge."

"You think we’re more likely to pick a fight with the Erupters or the Sacred Spark guys when we go for the Mother Sun Flame?" Olstenna asked. "Hell, do you think the Kaijin Lord will let us use the flame?"

"Wait, I thought you needed to use a special aether medicine or a special constitution to use the...right, Ignarii benefits," Antonio realized with a snap of his fingers. "Wait...is the guy in charge of the Sacred Flame Theocracy an Ignarii too?"

"Doubtful. Most Ignarii prefer places that are much...hotter." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Good to know."

As for the kaijin, well, it was basically all hands on deck. That is, except for the ones who were assigned elsewhere.

...

[Arcahnidame, Lacerage. You two sure you guys don’t want to take a break from managing the Zhen Clan forces and help out the Maestro?] Hurricroak asked. [It’s going to be fun~]

[We’ll be fine, Hurricroak,] Arachnidame politely refused. [We still have much to do here, including organizing a proper welcome-back feast for when the Young Master returns alongside the other members of the clan.]

[Not to mention the big hunt,] Lacerage added. [Some weird hippo-like aether beast rolled into the neighborhood and has Tiny and Mini all in a tizzy. Speaking of, the young master needs to come and visit them soon. Out of everyone in the clan, they miss him the most.]

[Noted.]

[Hey...didn’t Logos and Pathos mention something about the Director being able to turn living beings into kaijin at some point?] Razorstella asked Springerdermain. [What cultivation rank will that occur at?]

[I...forget,] Springerdermain answered sincerely. [Meh, not our problem...yet.]

[Hmm...wonder...how...the...others...are...doing...]Frosttusk wondered.

...

Aside from these allies, though, Zhen Liu had also decided to bring back those Calamity Triplet guys that they had secured as prisoners of war. He didn’t want them stinking up the library, and he figured that they would be helpful for a hostage exchange at least.

Or a bounty...maybe.

’Hmmm. I wonder if the fact that I don’t even remember who these guys worked for is a good sign or a bad sign...’ Zhen Liu mused as he brought his attention back to the people he actually cared about.

Zhen Liu had mildly hoped that more of his friends and family would opt to not tag along on his bullshit, seeing as he didn’t want them to suddenly pay the price that would inevitably come from his weird karma, but he was also happy that they decided to come along.

"Alright...let’s get ready to go!"

Now that the group was more or less decided, the people returning to the continent gathered at the door that was still connected to Axer’s workshop.

"We’re not going to get immediately jumped once we return, right?" Lythero asked as he eyed the doorway. "I would hate my first steps in reclaiming my masters’ to be into the awaiting spears of enemy warriors."

"No, we’re fine," Zhen Liu assured him. "I had my zakos take a look around. No enemies are presently poking around Axer’s workshop."

"Okay..."

Taking the [Key To Everywhere] into his hands, Zhen Liu channeled his [Chaos] and reopened the door connecting the library to the Dozing Salamander continent, allowing everyone else to go through before following and closing the door behind him.

Luckily for them, no one had bothered to come and investigate Axer’s workshop, meaning that Zhen Liu and his friends had the place all to themselves. Unfortunately, this also meant that they had to navigate through all of the rubble, debris, and bloodstains that had been made the last time they were here.

"Alright, we’re just going to go ahead and head back to the academy," Alice informed Zhen Liu and the others. "Hopefully the next time we meet, it will be under better circumstances and not because you have an angry god shard gunning for your skull...again."

"No promises."

"By the way, what are you going to do with those three?" Alice asked as she gestured towards the Calamity Triplets, still bundled and unconscious under Olstenna’s arms.

"I was going to just toss them back to the Redoxa Family in exchange for...I don’t know what they’re worth," Zhen Liu answered. "But Logos and Pathos mentioned that they found something...odd about them. Something that warrants testing."

"What kind of test?"

"The kind that requires to go underground."