"Master, you said you'd tell us what happened," Shea said eagerly, stepping closer in the steaming water.
Her blue eyes kept flicking down below the surface at my erect cock, and I couldn't help but notice how her fair breasts floated temptingly above the waterline. Her rabbit ears twitched adorably as she tried to edge even closer—but both my sides were already occupied by Roxanne and Setsuna.
"Well, I suppose I should tell you all now that we're all in the bath," I said with a grin, glancing around. The moment I spoke, the girls perked up. Conversations quieted, splashing stopped, and suddenly everyone was leaning in, eager to listen.
The problem was—the bath wasn't exactly built for a small army of beautiful women. With nineteen of us squeezed in together, it was getting… snug. The clearest sign was Miria, who had stopped swimming and resorted to dunking her head underwater, giggling as she came back up.
I made a mental note to do something about it later—either expand the bath, since the room had plenty of space, or have them take turns bathing. With my explorer bottle's infinite hot water, we can absolutely afford wasting some extra water.
Still, if I could help it, I wasn't about to give up the heavenly sight of all these naked beauties bathing together.
It wasn't an easy decision, so I decided to postpone it for later—after all, I should at least ask for the girls' opinions before making up my mind.
I cleared my throat, forcing my focus back to the topic. "Before I tell you what happened at the village, I would like for everyone here to know about some things of note that had happened at the Auction." I said, letting my tone grow serious enough to pull their attention.
The girls already knew about my Appraisal ability, so I started from there—explaining the brief encounter I had had with the two princesses, and then revealing the new Job I had discovered… Witch.
"I had no idea so many things happened while you were gone for just a short while, Master," Anastasia said, eyes wide in surprise.
"In stories, only gods are said to possess multiple Jobs," Viviana murmured thoughtfully. "First there's you, Master, being a Hero with more than one job… and now even these Witches?"
"Witches are those evil women who eat little girls, right?" Shera whispered nervously to Remu, who immediately shushed her.
"The Witch Job sounds terrifying!" Shea exclaimed dramatically, clutching Vesta's arm.
"(If I turn into a sword… will I still be able to eat fish? I should at least be able to slice them easily,)" Miria muttered thoughtfully, her face set in serious concentration, while Lillia, who had been translating my words for her, just smiled wryly at her mutterings.
"If the Witch Job is that powerful, why haven't I ever heard of a Witch Guild? And how did a princess of all people end up with that Job?" Sherry muttered, clearly intrigued.
Roxanne—who was the only one I had told earlier about the Witch Job—still looked surprised when I mentioned the princesses.
"Master… did you really meet Princess Tilly and Princess Garcia?" Erina asked, looking stunned.
"Have you met them before?" I asked in return, curious about her reaction.
"Umm… once," Erina said softly. "Years ago, when I cooked for the royal family with my grandfather."
"Oh? Do you know anything about them, then?" Sherry asked, leaning in with interest.
"Not much," Erina admitted with a small smile. "But when I served them, Princess Tilly was the only one who smiled at me and said the food was delicious. She seemed kind. Princess Garcia, on the other hand… she was already a bit overbearing, even back then. She asked me to become her personal chef."
"Wow, even the princesses recognized your cooking!" Anastasia said, clearly impressed.
"I wasn't even a proper Cook back then," Erina said shyly, lowering her gaze.
"Well, that's still pretty impressive," I said, smiling at her. Her cheeks flushed pink as she ducked her head slightly.
I made a mental note to ask Erina later for more details about the royal family. I also wanted to bring up the poisoning incident… but that seemed like a sensitive subject. Maybe I should give her time and let her come clean on her own.
"Master… dealing with the Royal Family, especially a princess with a Witch Job… you should be careful," Sherry said hesitantly.
"Master, the one you really need to be careful of is the Pirate Queen," Anastasia added with worry. "The rumors say that if you're captured by her crew out at sea, your fate will be worse than death." She pressed a hand to her chest. "Having her eye on you is definitely not a good thing."
"The Royal Family should be the top noble house in the Empire," Yasaka muttered in thought. "It's very risky to form connections with them, even if Master is a Freeman."
I had just told them there's a Job out there that can freely use Magic, even literally turn themselves into a sword, but somehow their biggest concern was me meeting a couple of princesses. Still, I could understand their point — the Royal Family sits at the very top of this world's social hierarchy. Unless you have got equal status or overwhelming strength, even getting noticed by them can be dangerous.
"But why should Master be afraid? Isn't he the Hero?" Vesta asked, genuinely confused.
Her voice silenced the room for a moment. Everyone turned to look at me, realizing what she meant.
"You're absolutely right, Vesta!" Roxanne said proudly. "And Master isn't just a Hero — he's got all sorts of special things no one else has! If the Royal Family wants trouble, let them come. We'll be ready!" she declared, slapping her wet chest with gusto, making her breasts jiggle.
Her words fired up the others. The gloomy mood lifted as the girls began chatting animatedly about how I could probably take on the entire Royal Army by myself.
I wanted to remind them that I was still quite weak, having not even reached double digits in the Labyrinth floors yet! So if possible I would very much like not to face an entire Royal Army.
But I was more worried about any of them planting even more dangerous flags, so I quickly changed the subject and told them about my meeting with Mina and Azur.
"Master, an information broker is still a broker," Sherry said sharply. "You can't trust them."
I nodded, promising I would be careful. Then I moved on, telling them about the invitation from Reiko Motto — and her Tea Brewer Job.
"Many nobles enjoy the Motto family's black tea," Erina said thoughtfully. "Though I really have no idea why she would personally request a meeting with an Adventurer. The Tea Brewer Guild isn't exactly famous either."
"Maybe she was charmed by Master and wanted to meet him privately," Shea said with a mischievous grin.
Her words instantly drew sharp looks from Roxanne and Sherry, both eyeing me suspiciously as if waiting for a confession. Instead of answering, I did what any sane man surrounded by women would do—changed the subject. I asked if anyone had heard of the Lawrence family, specifically Eula and Amber. Unfortunately, none of them seemed familiar with the name.
That was about everything I had to share about the Auction, so seeing the girls' impatient faces, I finally moved on to recounting how we subjugated the bandit force.
Rather than turning it into some epic hero tale, I explained my thought process and the plan behind it all. I wanted the girls to understand why I made those decisions — maybe in the future, if something similar happened, they could even offer their own ideas.
"Wow, Master is so powerful!" Ram said, her eyes sparkling with awe.
"Nee-sama, Master is so… amazing," Rem said softly, her cheeks tinted red.
"Killing them all ruthlessly while protecting everyone so perfectly—Master truly is an incredible warrior," Jasmine said, bowing her head respectfully.
"I wish I had been there to protect Master with my body," Vesta declared, her eyes shining.
"Hmph, I would've done better than you," Shera muttered, poking Remu's cheek.
"You would have just slowed Master down," Remu hmphed at her in irritation.
"Even giving money to the villagers after all that… Master is so kind," Erina said quietly, sneaking shy glances at me.
"Thank you for saving Setsuna's village, Master," Setsuna said, hugging my arm tightly and rubbing her face snugly against my chest.
Even the usually composed Viviana and Nyx were looking at me with open admiration, their eyes filled with quiet respect. Beside me, Roxanne smiled proudly, like she was the one showing me off.
"So… you have a meeting with another noble lady soon?" Sherry asked, giving me her trademark dead stare.
I decided to ignore the look. It was hard enough trying not to blush with so many naked, pretty girls around me showering me with admiration. Soon enough, everyone started adding their own versions of what had happened, talking and laughing together, their smiles lighting up the steamy bath.
Leaning back against the stone ledge, I told them, "Alright, I'll be asking a few questions while checking everyone's Jobs through my powers. You'll get a notification soon, so please accept the party invite when it appears."
The girls nodded eagerly. I started inviting the newer members to the party and opened the familiar Party Job Setting menu.
[Party Job Setting
Setsuna
Acquired Job: Villager Level 4, Farmer Level 1
Set Job: Villager Level 4]
I checked Setsuna's Job list first. As expected, she hadn't gained her Beast Warrior Job yet. She probably needed to hit Villager Level 5 first — something she should reach easily once we take her on Labyrinth runs.
I also had a few questions for her. Though I was pretty sure she had no connection to Redo of the Healer, I still asked if she recognized any of the names from that anime. She didn't — which was a relief.
[Party Job Setting
Vesta
Acquired Job: Villager Level 2.
Set Job: Villager Level 2]
Vesta's Job sheet… was honestly the most pitiful one I had seen so far. Completely bare.
Then again, she was a slave from birth, so it wasn't surprising she hadn't had many opportunities to gain new jobs. Still, I silently promised myself I would fill that sheet up soon.
We would start by getting her Villager Job to Level 5 — then I could help her get her racial job Dragon Knight.
[Party Job Setting
Erina
Acquired Job: Villager Level 5, Explorer Level 30, Cook Level 1.
Set Job: Cook Level 1]
Erina's Job sheet surprised me the most. She only had three Jobs — but her Explorer Level was 30. I already knew that reaching Level 30 was necessary to unlock the Cook Job, but it was still strange how she didn't have anything else like Herbalist, Swordsman, or Warrior.
Has she ever even killed a demon herself?
Still, she was definitely the highest-leveled girl among the others. My own Explorer Level had just barely reached 32. If she weren't such a good cook, I might have suggested she try for the Adventurer Job — she was already more than halfway there in levels. But honestly, the Cook Job suited her perfectly.
I wanted to ask about names from Food Wars, but decided to hold back until she opened up more about her family. I wasn't too worried about that story being part of this world anyway.
I did ask about the Royal Cook Job, though, and she confirmed it was indeed the next step after Cook. Apparently, only the most distinguished cooks — those who had made every dish in the Empire — could qualify for it.
I wasn't sure if that was the exact requirement, but I mentally noted it down. Just in case.
[Party Job Setting
Remu
Acquired Job: Villager Level 5, Explorer Level 7, Thief Level 5, Swordsman Level 1, Warrior Level 1, Herbalist Level 1, Diver Level 1
Set Job: Explorer Level 7]
Remu was the first girl in our group who actually had the Thief Job.
Considering she used to be part of a bandit gang, it wasn't all that surprising. Though I had no intention of judging her just because of it.
I did want to ask her about the Bandit Job — specifically what the requirements for getting it were — but decided to hold that off for now. I would rather wait until she felt comfortable enough to talk more about her past.
One thing was obvious: the earlier skirmish with the bandits hadn't increased anyone's level, a stark reminder that the only reliable way to gain experience was by battling monsters in the labyrinth.
Honestly, it always felt like such a waste — cutting down high-level humans and getting nothing for it.
Would it be different if I fought them inside the Labyrinth instead?
Hmm… maybe one day I should actually test that. Purely for research purposes, of course.
As I was about to invite the next girl into the party, I realized that many in the remaining group had jobs I hadn't known about before—these were exactly the kinds of jobs I was dying to learn more about!
***
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