(MC POV)
Lian Li was the first to reach me, which was surprising considering Manami could have just teleported here which for some reason she did not.
"Masteeeeer!!" Lian Li cried, flinging herself into my embrace.
I caught her in my arms, my golden haired disciple immediately nuzzling my chest with her face happily.
She purred contentedly when I patted her head, trying to bury her face deeper into my chest.
I guess whatever she saw here must have scared her somewhat and she's using me to forget about it.
"It's ok, it's ok. I'm here now. It's ok," I soothed.
Lian Li looked up at me, her smile as bright as the lightning she creates.
"Master! Umm… Umm… I…"
She did not need to finish her sentence for me to know what she wanted. I held her chin with my hand and tilted her head upwards slightly, giving her a kiss to soothe her.
My golden haired disciple purred into our kiss, her arms tightening around my back.
I broke the kiss after a while, making sure Lian Li felt completely safe in my presence before releasing her from our hug.
Right then, Manami had teleported in with Eris in tow, the two of them immediately leaping at me when they saw me.
"Master!!" They cried, each of them hugging an arm of mine and burying into my chest.
I tried my best to calm them by making calming noises, patting their heads as best I could from my position.
Diao Chan showed up a moment later, appearing out of thin air as well.
Instead of going for my torso like I thought, the Witch dove straight at me and hugged my leg instead. The girl proceeded to rub her cheek on my thigh with a rather perverted face with an equally perverted smile, probably thinking I couldn't see her in the darkness.
With both my hands still occupied, I couldn't pull her away from me if I wanted to.
Oh well, I guess since she did probably go through something that frightened her too, I will let her indulge herself for now.
Brendan and Kiyomi showed up together, both of them raising an eyebrow when they saw the state I was in.
Brendan remained at where he was while Kiyomi moved to Manami's side, the white haired fox picking up my hand and moving it to her head instead of her sister's.
Of course, I dutifully patted her head.
The last group to show up was Elaria, Odriana and Cai hong together, the loli dragon immediately leaping up on to my shoulders to nuzzle my neck from behind.
My sisters joined in on the group hug as well, prompting Lian Li to join back in just to avoid being left out.
The only exception was Brendan who was smiling wryly at me from the side.
"Is everybody alright? Nothing bad happened at all?" I tried asking.
"Yes Master!"
"Yes Papa!"
"Of course, Onii-sama!"
"Fufu~ No problems here, my cute little brother~"
Oh good, looks like I made it in time after all. I wouldn't know what I would do if something had traumatised them in some way or another, selective memory wipes are actually quite difficult to do, and I definitely wouldn't want to subject my cute disciples to it.
"Is Master ok? We felt something big happen just now," Lian Li asked, her eyes full of concern.
I shook my head, "That was just me breaking the domain. No need to worry about that."
The girls and Brendan seemed to relax quite a bit after hearing that.
Seriously, what did I do to deserve them? They must have gone through quite a horrific experience and yet they still worry about me instead of themselves? There is no way I can ask for more than that!
"Alright, shall we go back and start the barbecue?" I suggested, my mind made up to give them the best barbecue I could make.
All of them nodded vigorously, obviously looking forward to the feast awaiting them.
I smiled and snapped my fingers, creating a circle of light under our feet that instantly transported us back to the beach.
Alpha was there to receive us with a bow, "Welcome back Master, Mistresses. The pit has been kept hot as Master ordered. I hope the rest of your night finds you well. The four of us shall return to the ship now."
I waved my hand at her, "Nonsense, you girls are invited too. The more the merrier, right?"
I looked back at my group and all of them just smiled and nodded.
"Big sisters! Big 'Bar bee cue'!" Cai Hong waved her arms in excitement.
"Well then, what did you girls manage to get?"
Diao Chan was the first to stand up to raise her hand, "I did not get anything Master! Please punish me for my inability!! Then… Then maybe we can go to the forest for some… Ehee… Survival lessons…"
I chuckled, "I'm not going to punish you for not getting anything. Though I think it's a great idea to have a survival lesson of some sort for you all. I'll have to set a date for that."
"Onii-sama! Look! Look! We got these!" Elaria showed off hers and Odriana's hauls proudly, all of them hung on some sort of belt that they had worn on them just moments ago.
Each of them got headpats for their hard work, though Odriana requested I let her hug me, which ended with me being shoved into her bosom for a good minute or two.
Manami, Eris and Lian Li didn't manage to get anything either, though not for a lack of trying it seems. Not that I would fault them for it since it wasn't a competition of any sort to begin with.
"Master…" Kiyomi called, her storage ring lighting up to deposit a giant bear on the beach.
Huh… I didn't think any of them would actually go hunt down a bear of all things but… I suppose that's my disciples for you.
Got to give her something good then…
…
"Ahhhnnn~~ M… Master! So… So rough!!" Kiyomi moaned.
Well, I never knew that fluffing her ears could make her look like this. All I was doing was stroking the inner sides of her vulpine ears, making sure that each part of it was sufficiently stroked.
I wonder if Manami would also become like this?
Judging from how the red fox youkai was looking at me expectantly, I would wager it to be so.
With my white fox satisfied and the bear diced up by Eris, I began making my way towards the fire pit where Brendan was waiting.
Cai Hong then ran up to me, "Papa! Papa! Cai Hong got this!"
My little dragon showed me an apple she had gotten from somewhere.
I smiled at her, picking up the offered fruit while ruffling her hair, Cai Hong giggling as I did so.
Brendan had already assisted me in placing the slices of meat on the grill, each of them seasoned with pepper and salt by the maids as I had instructed.
"Now, bear meat is a bit tricky, since they're carnivores, the meat is going to need some thorough cooking," I explained, Brendan and Eris watching me attentively.
First thing I did was to control the fire with my Quarks, blasting it up to cook the meat close to well done.
"You can use normal fire of course," I assured. "Just make sure it is hot enough and cook it long enough for the meat to be well done."
Once the meat was thoroughly prepared, I dropped the fire and carefully placed slices of cheese on top of them before raising the flames again, letting the cheese melt into the meat itself.
The end result were creamy slabs of well done, spicy meat that gave off a mouth watering smell.
Simple, but still good. No need for all the complicated stuff out here on a beach barbecue.
The maids had also brought in alcohol for the occasion, not sure why we would have those just laying around on the boat but I figured it would be a good distraction for the girls. They at least still had the sense not to go overboard with it, so that's still fine.
I gave each of them a generous serving of the grilled bear steak, all of them making rather suggestive moans when they bit into the meat so I dutifully ignored the last part.
Except Cai Hong of course, the loli dragon squealing in delight when she got her share, right after peppering my cheek with kisses.
At least the night is going to end on a better note.
