The night had grown deep, and under the magical light Seraphina had prepared, we made our way along the path leading to the village.
They said it would take about three hours to reach the village, but I wondered if we had already walked about half that distance.
Since it had been a strenuous march, walking from morning until night, the fatigue was clearly visible on my wives’ faces.
Even so, Elen, with her remarkable stamina, seemed unfazed.
The other two looked to be struggling.
“Miina, Seraphina. You both look quite tired, are you alright?”
“I-I’m fine, nya… I’m the one who said I wanted to go today, nya… I’ll do my best, nya…”
“I-I’m also fine… Please, don’t worry about me… Haa, haa…”
“Is that so? If either of you are too tired, I can carry you on my back.”
“Carry you… on your back? You mean, piggyback?”
“Piggyback?!”
The three of them latched onto the idea with incredible intensity.
Even Elen, for some reason.
“W-well… Miina does seem really tired. I might not be able to make it without Douglas giving me a piggyback, nya.”
“What are you saying, you useless cat? I am the one who is extremely tired. It is I who should be piggybacked by Lord Douglas.”
“Ah, I think I’m getting tired too? Maybe I won’t be able to walk another step without Douglas giving me a piggyback?”
The girls began to vocally assert their exhaustion.
There was one, however, who was clearly faking it.
“Hmm, Elen looks perfectly fine, so that’s a no for you.”
“Ehhh, that’s unfair! I want to be piggybacked by Douglas too!”
“Alright, alright, maybe next time. –Miina and Seraphina, I’ll give one of you a piggyback, so play rock-paper-scissors to decide.”
“Understood, nya. I’ll use all of Miina’s observation skills and reflexes to defeat Seraphina, nya.”
“Very well. Power of the Prophecy Priestess, show me the path to victory now.”
“–Rock, Paper, Scissors, SHO!”
In the end, Miina triumphantly raised her fist to the sky, while Seraphina collapsed onto the ground in despair.
They seemed surprisingly energetic.
And so, Miina clung to my back, and I carried her.
“Nyahaha, I got a piggyback from Douglas, nya♪ Nyanya~tto.”
Miina leaped onto me from behind.
The Beastkin girl wrapped her lithe arms around my neck and her healthy legs around my waist, pressing her upper body against me and leaning her weight on me.
Although she was a bit petite, she was a grown woman, and her well-developed chest occasionally brushed against my back. The faint scent of a girl mixed with a hint of sweat wafted towards me, making my heart race quite a bit.
“Hehehe. Douglas’s back is big, like a father’s, nya.”
Miina whispered in my ear.
Her warm breath tickled my ear and the back of my neck, making things rather intense.
But I hadn’t intended to piggyback her with any ulterior motives, so I had to remain composed.
Let’s change the subject.
Um, like a father, father… right.
“Speaking of which, Miina, what about your parents? I feel like I should visit them and pay our respects sometime.”
“Nyah? Ah, you don’t need to worry about that, nya. My parents are quite the wanderers, nya. When I became an adult, they just up and left somewhere. I don’t even know where they are now, nya.”
“Oh, I see.”
What parents.
Or perhaps that’s normal for Beastkin… but from the way Miina spoke, I suspected her parents were exceptional.
As for Seraphina, her family was the royal family of Lombardia, and introductions had already been made… that left Elen.
“What about Elen’s parents, what are they doing now?”
“Eh, my parents? Hmm, the one who gave birth to me, I don’t know her and I don’t remember her face. According to my master, I was an abandoned child.”
“Abandoned child…? You have a master, Elen?”
“Yeah. My master raised me. When I was with her, she was living in seclusion deep in the mountains, but I don’t know if she’s still there. She kicked me out, saying I was an adult now, so she might be angry if I go back.”
Hmm, I see.
It might be worth paying a visit to Elen’s master sometime.
“Ah, but I wonder who’s stronger, Master or Douglas? My master was incredibly strong. So strong she could probably defeat a Dragon on her own. Well, I don’t actually know.”
“Hoh.”
Among Humans, there were rare individuals known as “masters.”
There were whispers of those who possessed the power to confront even the world’s strongest Monsters, like Ancient Dragons, single-handedly.
However, at that level, it became difficult to distinguish between heroic tales and reality.
“By the way, is your master male or female?”
“Master? She’s female. And she’s incredibly beautiful. Even when I lived with her, she was quite old, but she looked like she was in her twenties. Now that I think about it, I wonder if she was truly human.”
“Fascinating. I’m somewhat interested.”
Perhaps it was a man’s nature to want to fight Elen’s master sometime.
But I didn’t want to have a deathmatch with a beautiful woman.
Rather, I’d prefer to… well, get acquainted… What am I thinking, with these beautiful girls surrounding me? I’ll be punished.
Then, Elen poked her head out from beside me and grinned at me.
“Ah, by any chance, Douglas, are you trying to seduce my master too? …Does that mean you only see us as children? Do you prefer older women?”
“H-how could that be? When I said I was interested, I meant I wanted to spar with her as a warrior.”
“Ehh, is that true? …Sniff, sniff. Ah, I smell a lie.”
“W-wait a minute. You can tell that by smell?”
“Ah, so it was a lie. How lewd! You’re cheating!”
“Wh-what… I’ve been tricked…?”
The three girls giggled merrily at my reaction.
I’ve been played.
But their reactions afterward were surprising.
First, Miina, who was riding on my back, broke the silence.
“It’s fine, nya, Douglas. I don’t mind if you sleep with other women, nya. But I won’t forgive it if other women try to trick you for fun, nya.”
“That’s right. I don’t want to be the kind of woman who ties down her husband. If it were about forcing yourself on someone without their consent, that would be different, but you’re not that type, are you?”
“To try and monopolize a man of Lord Douglas’s caliber by just the three of us—no, if we include Lombardia, that’s four. Regardless, it would be presumptuous of us to try and keep Lord Douglas all to ourselves. Please do as your heart desires, Lord Douglas.”
The three girls spoke in turn, saying things that seemed to condone my infidelity.
What overly accommodating wives I have…
Today too, my reality is absurdly fortunate.
I pinched my cheek to test it, and it hurt.
Then, Seraphina asked something that brought me back to reality.
“By the way, are Lord Douglas’s parents still alive? I believe we should pay our respects to them as well.”
“Ah, no. My parents died a long time ago. From a common illness.”
“I see… I’m sorry, Lord Douglas.”
“No, it’s fine. Thank you for your concern, Seraphina.”
“N-no, not at all…”
I patted Seraphina’s head, and the girl in the Sage’s attire blushed and looked embarrassed.
And so, we continued walking through the night, engaged in such idle chatter.
Incidentally, I swapped with Miina and carried Seraphina for a while. Miina, having won rock-paper-scissors, grumbled a little but quickly conceded and let Seraphina take her place.
In fact, Elen, who was the most energetic, seemed the most dissatisfied, but she was appeased when I promised to make it up to her.
Or rather, I was carrying everyone from the start.
And so, eventually, we arrived at the village.
As the night deepened, there were no people on the streets, and light leaked from the houses.
For now, I decided to head towards the largest dwelling in the village, which I assumed belonged to the Village Chief.
