We talk all the way through the lunch stop, but then I insist she take a break and play with Kirito. Asuna happily takes a break and I spend some time cuddling with Sero, Kreno, and Bella. I notice that Bella seems a little tense, but I can’t tell what is bothering her, so I ask.

  Bella says “I am thinking that it is time for me to be getting back to the peninsula. Damona wants me to start the military training, but I have been putting it off since I don’t really want to. I understand the need for me to go through it, but it really isn’t my kind of thing. On the other hand, Sero and Kreno only get a few more days with you and I don’t want to take that from them.”

  Sero says “You aren’t taking anything from us! We enjoy having you join us!”

  “I understand that you don’t want to do the training, but I also don’t think keeping Damona waiting is a good idea.”

  Bella sighs and says “You are certainly right about that. That’s why I am thinking that I need to head back today. I’ve made her wait long enough.”

  “Alright. Do you want to leave before or after dinner?”

  Bella says “Before. If I stay for dinner I am very likely to stay for the fun afterwards. Then I would be too tired to leave before the morning.”

  Sero says “That’s probably true. We will be heading back in a few more days.”

  “I’m not going to argue. I will open the gate for you whenever you are ready.”

  Bella says “Now that I have decided, I should probably leave before I make an excuse to stay longer. Although, having Damona mad at me could be fun!”

  “So, are you leaving now or not?”

  Bella says “Yes, I am leaving. Can you open the gate right now? I don’t want a chance to change my mind.”

  “Sure.”

  Bella takes a little time to say goodbye to everyone, which involves kissing Sero and Kreno. Then I jump out of the carriage with her in my arms, put her down, and open up a gate for her. I quickly shapeshift to give her a goodbye kiss and then return to my male form.

  I was quick enough that I don’t think any of the rulers noticed and after the kiss Bella runs through the gate. I close the gate and then run to catch up to my carriage and rejoin the others. Once I am back in the carriage, I snuggle with Sero and Kreno while watching the kids play.

  Now that Bella has reminded me, I intend to make sure Sero and Kreno get their fair share of attention. Kirito finally runs out of steam and takes a nap, so Asuna and Mulan start playing a game. Thinking of the two of them, I connect to the network and send a message to my wives.

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  I explain how Mulan has been acting and my guess as to why she is acting that way. I ask my wives to try and find missions for the other kids, ones that will let them feel useful. Kechara has her job of maintaining the barrier of the mountain, so she should be alright.

  The others don’t really have anything to do besides train and that is a problem. My kids are all far more powerful than anyone else would expect, but I may have sheltered them too much. I have been treating them as kids and tend to forget that they are actually monsters.

  Even as babies, most of them were more than capable of killing a human or two. My strength made me not see that and I kept thinking of them as being as weak and helpless as human kids. That was my mistake and I am willing to admit that, but I need my wives’ help to fix it.

  My wives quickly agree and they have already been doing something similar, but only non-dangerous missions. For the kids to feel useful, they are going to have to be allowed to take some risks. While as their father that thought terrifies me, I also know that it has to be allowed to happen.

  They have already taken some risks in going to the other planes to explore and hunt. However, that is different from going on dangerous missions, they will feel completely different. The sense of accomplishment from completing an important mission will change how they feel.

  Now that they have my permission, my wives will start giving my kids more important missions. They didn’t want to do so before for fear of how I would react if my kids got hurt. I can’t say that I blame them, I probably wouldn’t have reacted well in that situation.

  I’m going to worry about the kids, but I also know that they are stronger than I give them credit for. Maybe not compared to me, but compared to anyone else they are really strong. Missions against humans or demonic beasts shouldn’t be any real threat to them.

  My wives will start them off on easy missions and then let them work their way up to more dangerous ones. That will give them the chance to get used to doing missions and gain some levels. Their first few missions will be done in pairs, just to make sure they are safe at first.

  I also warn my wives to watch for the kids being far too excited, just like Mulan. The first few missions will be the worst, after a few they should hopefully settle down. Of course, not all the kids will be the same, so they will have the option to say no.

  I am not about to force any of my kids to do anything that they don’t want to, that would be counterproductive. Although, I am pretty sure that all of them are going to want to at least give the missions a try. They may get bored of them after a while, but it is fine if that happens, I just want them to feel useful.

  Mainly, I want them to get their nerves settled, that way if something happens later they can remain calm. I don’t want them running off like Mulan did, at least not unless it is a controlled situation. That will be the point of the missions they will be sent on and my wives agree with me.

  Sero and Kreno are cuddling with me in the carriage, but they are also involved in the conversation. Being more recent additions to our group, they have a different perspective of my kids. Out of all my wives, the two of them actually rate my kids strength higher than the others.

  It is probably because they didn’t watch the kids grow up, so their view isn’t influenced as much. They definitely have a clearer idea of the kids’ strength than I do, which is important. What I was considering easy missions wouldn’t work, the kids are too strong for anything that simple.

  However, my wives now know that and will work on setting missions that will be fitting. Luckily, they have plenty of other people that they can call in to help out, like Leonarr. As the military leader, he is going to be the one actually creating the missions.