We quickly finished doing all the standard things to ghost proof the Esmere household before we turned to leave. The pair thanked me profusely and even offered to pay coin which we refused. I’d rather they felt a little indebted to us than accept a few measly coins. I still felt like having them owe us a favor was more important. As I reached the gate, Pait ran and grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks. I glanced back and looked down at him. He had a worried expression on his face.
“My boy, I know you’re strong, and your team is also quite capable. However, this Lord Tibult comes from a strong house. As much as he appears it, he is no fool. If he agreed to this competition, it is because he believes he can win. You can believe he’s simply being arrogant, but I guarantee you that he will not leave anything to chance. He is likely going to have a trick up his sleeve, maybe several. It’s just, your slaves seem to love you very much, and I can see you care for them, so I’d hate to see you separated.”
I nodded, “I’ll be careful, don’t worry.”
If he somehow cheated, I wouldn’t tolerate it. If it turned out the curse with the girls had to be broken, I already decided. Of course, my decision was to lose my flesh! Let them cut off the dungeon tattoo. If that’s what it took so the girls obtained their freedom, then so be it. Of course, I would prefer if things didn’t end up that way. Tomorrow, since I had some time while they were preparing the competition, I had plans to visit the slave guild. Perhaps, they’d have a better idea than the Prince on how to remove my tattoo, or at least the slaves bound by it.
We bid our farewells and the five of us headed back to the hotel. When we arrived, I was glad to see that the place was booming. The mercenaries that had previously trashed the place hadn’t returned, and the innkeeper seemed to have replaced everything they had broken. One of the maids immediately tried to offer me some food, and when I shook my head, she offered something to drink.
Just the memory of my pounding head made me shake my head more enthusiastically to the alcohol. She seemed strangely regretful that there was nothing she could get me, so I ended up asking for an extra pillow.
“Y-yes!” She said a serious expression on her face that seemed at ends with the task I had assigned.
When I turned back to my girls, they were all looking at me with flat expressions.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Master is a lot of work.” Miki sighed.
“Eh? What is that supposed to mean? I barely ask anything of you girls. Are you saying you don’t want to fight for me?”
The girls shook their head and Lydia spoke up. “Master, it’s just… where ever we look there is always another girl. We can accept if Master finds someone he fancies, like with Terra… but… I mean…”
“Master needs to keep the doki-doki in his pants!” Celeste said.
The other girls started nodding.
“What are you talking about, I haven’t slept with anyone, and I’m not even chasing anyone romantically. You girls worry too much.”
The four girls were giving me looks as if they were unconvinced. I could only sigh and promise them I’ll try to be less… doki-doki… whatever that means. They accepted that and we went to bed, four girls all finding a place to lie while maximizing contact with me.