191 Chapter 4 Checking In Part 1

"You know...I could get used to this." Grey muttered as he enjoyed the rather calm atmosphere around him.

"We can agree on that I suppose." Dai hummed while looking up at the blue sky above them.

"This place is great!" Ray yelped happily while stuffing her face with various sweets. "There are so many different kinds of food here!"

Pinky who was currently leaning back in his seat couldn't help but mutter quietly to himself. "Better then that fucking island I guess." It was rare to see him this relaxed, a fact that Elena couldn't help but ruin somewhat.

"And there are so many new "friends" to meet~"

"Fucking perv..." He hissed, causing her to laugh in amusement.

"I still don't understand how you can eat when you're all basically intangible." Bels muttered as she tried to adjust the placement of her wings which were pressing up against the back of her seat.

"The boss lady literally brought an island to life and yet this is the thing that you're still so hung up on after all this time?" Grey chuckled with a teasing look causing the spirit in question to blush slightly.

"S-shut up!"

The group of six were currently taking a break from their explorations of their new surroundings at a rather nice looking cafe-like building. They were honestly acting like they were on some kind of vacation, a fact that they deserved after all the shit that they and their kind as a whole had gone through up until this point.

Additionally it was around this time that I showed up on the main road, a fact that Dai was the first to notice. I had just left my little discussion with Rimuru before making my way over here, of course I could have just teleported over but I decided that it'd be best to just walk instead.

"Miss Suu." Dai called out, getting my attention rather quickly.

It took me a moment to locate where exactly they were but eventually I noticed them. "Nice to see you out and about." Grey hummed while waving at me slightly.

I was about to respond but had to stop myself for just a second, mostly because Ray had just tackle hugged me out of nowhere. "Friend!"

"Good to see you all too I suppose." I chuckled, not really all that bothered by the excitable Blank's enthusiasm.

"So you're an official demon lord now~" Elena muttered flirtatiously. "I do like myself a bad girl~" She growled only to get hit in the back of the head by Dai.

"Sorry about her ma'am." He apologized and I couldn't help but wonder how he could keep this lot in line so well.

(God...I really pity him...)

After shaking away that thought I continued by asking. "How have you all been since coming here?"

"It's honestly been pretty nice, the people here are great and very welcoming despite everything that's happened." Bels responded happily, making me smile.

"I'm glad to hear that."

(It's nice to know they are all getting along at least.) I hummed internally.

"Anyway, what have you all been up to?"

"Mostly just checking things out and talking to people." Grey muttered with a shrug.

"We are trying to take it easy, however it is fucking hard okay." Pinky hissed much to the dismay of the others.

"What do you mean by that exactly?" I asked and Dai was the first to answer me.

"We have been fighting for months up until this point and before that we weren't exactly having what most would call the best of times either." He admitted with a sigh causing Grey to nod in agreement.

"Some of us are having a bit of a hard time adjusting as all."

Ray who was listening to all of this couldn't help but chuckle to herself and say. "Pinky nearly attacked a random lady yesterday morning."

"Don't just tell her that out of nowhere!" The Blank in question yelled in frustration but stopped himself when he noticed the genuinely concerned look that I gave him after hearing that. "She...she walked up behind me and grabbed my shoulder when I wasn't paying attention, I just kind of freaked out a little...I apologized afterwards if that makes it any better..." He explained with a somewhat guilty expression on his face.

"I see..."

(I suppose I'll need to look into finding or maybe training a group of therapists at some point.)

Honestly, it was something that I should have expected to happen from the very beginning, it wasn't like I was unaware that people could become traumatized and develop PTSD after all. Unfortunately I hadn't and now it had become a problem I needed to look into, I mean not everyone is as good at suppressing their traumatic experiences as I am.

Jokes aside though, for now I just added it to the list of shit that I needed to do in the near future, after all I had no experience in this kind of thing, as such I'd probably need some time to find a solution. As for what I would do right now however, well, I'd try my best to advise my followers to talk amongst each other if they needed any kind of mental support.

Besides all of that however, I continued to chat with them for a while about various things that they had been up to. In fact I even asked if they'd be willing to help out with some of my experiments down the line, once they've had time to enjoy their vacation or whatever you want to call it.

"By the way, do you know where any of the others are currently?" I asked but unfortunately Elena was the first to respond.

"Awww~ are you not satisfied with just us~" She purred much to Pinky's annoyance.

"Oh be quiet you damn pervert."

"You're so mean to me~" Elena huffed before smiling mischievously. "You're lucky that I like this kind of thing~"

"God, you're disgusting."

Ignoring those two for now I turned my focus towards the other four. "So?"

"Poe should be wandering around town somewhere and the old man is hanging out with Hakurou I think, also Elizabeth and some of her swarm are checking out various shops and other such places." Grey answered after a second of thought.

"And that crazy fuck head Haruko is over with Vesta and Kaijin." Pinky muttered, he really didn't like Haruko in the slightest. "Apparently they've got some shit going on over there or something, honestly I don't understand how those two can bear his constant and unending yapping." He shivered much to my amusement.

Still though, that part about those lot teaming up for something made me rather curious to say the least. (Sounds like they're up to something quite interesting, I'll have to ask about it when I see them later.)

"And the others?"

"I'm not all that sure really but I think that Kaen is probably asleep somewhere around here...or maybe he already went back to the abyss, I don't really know to be honest." Dai shrugged while crossing his arms in front of himself in thought.

"Good to know I guess." 

Our conversation did continue for a little bit longer after that, however I had to bid them farewell eventually, I had others I needed to check in on after all. (Welp, let's get this over with.) Was my first thought as I began walking once more.

"Let's head over to Gramps and see if I can find anyone else along the way..."