"I think that's all of it," I said, pulling out one last cloth bag from my Explorer's Bag.
I placed it on the ground alongside several other cloth sacks, each stuffed with supplies of all kinds. We were currently in the western forest near Border Town.
"I still can't believe it," Wendy muttered, staring at the pile with a wry smile. "This is work that would've taken me months… and we finished it in just a few hours."
"Were you really planning to transport all of this with just Nightingale's help?" Roxanne asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course not," Wendy shook her head. "Although we had used Field Walk to reach Quratar. We didn't plan to leave the same way."
She gestured toward the bags.
"We would've spent at least a week shopping in Quratar's markets—they're the cheapest and most extensive in the Empire—then stayed at the small house behind your mansion. Once everything was ready, we planned to hire a horse cart and transport the supplies slowly."
She let out a small sigh.
"Just getting everything back here would've taken months."
"So your new base camp really is somewhere in this western forest?" I asked curiously.
"Michio-sama…" Wendy hesitated, her expression turning awkward. "I-I'm truly grateful for everything you've done for us, but… I can't disclose our base's location to anyone."
She bowed deeply.
"I sincerely apologize." As she bent forward, her long hair swayed—and yes, her big boobs jiggled with the motion.
I was reminded that before we left Border Town, Nightingale had asked for my permission to reveal my identity to Wendy.
She explained that since she would be remaining in Border Town for some time, it would be better if Wendy were the one to approach Cara and try to arrange the meeting I wanted.
It aligned with my plans anyway—I had intended to win Wendy over sooner rather than later—so I agreed.
What I hadn't expected, however, was just how much Wendy's attitude would change afterward.
Before, she had been friendly and open with me.
Now?
She treated me with an almost excessive level of reverence.
Even going so far as to call me—
"The Hero of the Witches."
After that I had to stop her repeatedly from kneeling. Even her manner of speaking had changed as she kept calling me Michio-sama. I told her again and again to treat me normally, but her eyes were still filled with respect and admiration.
Honestly, it all felt way too strange.
Even the girls back home hadn't reacted like this after learning about the Hero Job. When I asked Wendy about it, she simply explained that witches had heard countless stories about the Hero—how kind he was to them, how he had fought for their sake when the Empire was first established.
So in her eyes the Hero was above even the current King of the Empire.
"Don't worry, I was just asking casually," I said with a sigh as I lifted her back up. "And I told you already—stop bowing so much, and just call me Michio."
"As you command, Michio-san," Wendy replied with a wry smile.
Having such a beautiful woman look at me with that level of reverence was honestly bad for my heart.
"Wendy, will you be able to bring all of this back to your base safely?" Roxanne asked, glancing at the pile of bags.
"Hehe, don't worry," Wendy said cheerfully. "I may not be as powerful as Michio-sama, but us Cow-kin are quite good at carrying things."
She gestured to the bags.
"And I'll be using Field Walk to transport the supplies, so it won't be much trouble at all."
"That's good to hear," Roxanne replied with a smile.
While we had been shopping, Roxanne and Wendy had quickly become friends.
In my headcanon, it was probably because they both had… big boobs. I was sure Sherry would agree with me on this.
But for the same reason, I'd had to use Intimidating Glare more than once on passing groups and parties who kept ogling them in the market.
Still—at least I hadn't run into any arrogant young masters yet.
That alone felt like a small blessing.
My gaze drifted once more to the pile of bags on the ground. Most of what Wendy had bought were second-hand clothes and dried rations—nothing fancy, nothing excessive.
It had taken quite some effort from both me and Roxanne to convince Wendy to let me pay for her shopping. And even after that, I'd had to remind her repeatedly not to cut back just because it was my money.
Wendy was extremely pragmatic. She always chose the most affordable options, never once reaching for anything flashy or unnecessary. Thankfully, I had the foresight to keep Roxanne away from the shopping from the very beginning—if I had let her "help," we probably would have spent the entire day wandering the market.
In the end, I spent 14 gold, 32 silver, and a handful of copper coins—even after applying my fantastic Discounts. It was a bit more than I had originally planned, but still well within reason.
From the sheer volume of clothes Wendy had purchased, I could tell there were likely over thirty witches in the Association. And judging by the supplies, they were preparing to hike into the freezing Impassable Mountain Range in search of the so-called Holy Mountain.
Helping Wendy bring these supplies back so quickly would likely move up the date of that expedition.
But at the same time, it would earn me goodwill from all the witches at once.
That alone made it worth it.
"Michio-sama, once again, thank you for your generosity," Wendy said, bowing deeply. "This will definitely help all of us witches greatly,"
She straightened, smiling brightly.
"I'll also notify Cara about your request to meet her. I'm sure she'll agree once she knows that the Hero himself has asked."
"Alright," I replied with a nod. "I'll be counting on you."
Wendy looked optimistic—but I was far more inclined to trust Nightingale's judgment. If Cara truly was as stubborn as she claimed, there was a good chance she would ignore the request entirely.
And if that happened…
Well, I would simply have to pay her a personal visit myself.
After Roxanne said her goodbyes to Wendy, I opened a warp gate and began the long journey back to Quratar.
The mana consumption was no joke. In fact, I had originally planned to drop Roxanne off at the mansion first after finishing our shopping trip. That way, I would only take Wendy and myself to Border Town, and on the return trip I would be traveling alone—greatly reducing the mana cost of Warp.
However, once the shopping was done, we had so many bags that they simply couldn't all fit into the Explorer's Bag. In the end, all three of us had to carry multiple bags by hand as I warped us slowly to the western forest.
Even though the return trip was just Roxanne and me, I still had to recall the long chain of warp locations and keep careful track of how exhausted I felt from the mana drain.
It didn't feel as bad this time—probably because it was already the third time I had done it myself. Still, I had gone through three entire wineskins of mana potion just from this trip alone.
I couldn't have been more grateful that both the mana potion and the water from the Explorer's Bottle were essentially free. Otherwise, this would have been far more painful for my wallet.
There was another option—using the original Michio's method of stopping at a labyrinth and killing and draining the mana of the monsters through Durandal's MP absorption—but that would have taken far too much time. And with an endless supply of mana potions, there was no reason to complicate things.
"I'm back," I said, letting out a content breath as I stepped into the mansion's entrance hall.
What greeted me, however, was silence.
The hall was completely empty. Only then did I realize I hadn't informed Sherry about my return. Still, she should sense my presence now that I was nearby.
"Sherry's in the back. The others are probably with her," Roxanne said with a gentle smile.
"Right," I replied with a nod as we headed deeper into the mansion.
"Thank you, Master, for taking me with you," Roxanne said softly as we walked. "I really liked that we could spend some time together… just the two of us."
Seeing her earnest smile and hearing those words, I finally understood why she had been so talkative on the way back.
She hadn't just been making conversation.
She had wanted to stretch out the time we could spend alone together.
"I liked it too," I said, leaning in to give her a quick peck on the lips. "Next time we go out, let's do something naughty… just the two of us," I added with a smirk.
"Mm," Roxanne nodded with a bright, happy smile as she walked ahead, her fluffy tail wagging cheerfully behind her.
She was clearly in a great mood. If I hadn't known there was an entire group of girls waiting for me, I might have grabbed that tempting ass and made that tail wag even harder.
With some effort, I reined in my horniness as we stepped into the back of the mansion. Unlike Border Town, where it was only nearing noon, the sun here had already passed its peak.
I couldn't help but smile.
In front of me, several girls were kneeling in the dirt, pulling weeds from the ground and tossing them into woven baskets. Sweat glistened faintly on their foreheads, and the baskets beside them were already half full—it was obvious they had been working for quite some time.
The sight filled me with a strange sense of calm and peace.
I was home.
"Master, you're back," Sherry said, the first to notice me as she stood and walked over.
"Oh! Master's back!" Shea exclaimed, hopping up and hurrying over, leaving her basket behind. As always, her enthusiastic hops made her breasts bounce along with her.
The others perked up as well, approaching us with warm smiles. Setsuna looked especially happy, stepping right in front of me with an expectant look—as if waiting for a head pat.
"Were you all pulling weeds?" I asked, glancing around while deliberately ignoring her hopeful eyes. If I patted her head now, I knew the others would want the same—especially Roxanne, who was standing right beside me.
"Yes," Sherry replied after taking a breath. "I thought it wouldn't look good if the front garden was neat but the back was left unattended. Though… there's still a long way to go."
"Good work," I said with a smile.
Without lawn mowers or modern tools, even something as simple as weeding was hard, labor-intensive work in this world. And unfortunately, even wind or fire magic wouldn't help much here.
Looking over the group, I could tell that Erina, Anastasia, Kunou, and Nyx were completely worn out. Their faces were drenched in sweat, and a few of them were subtly rubbing their lower backs. It was probably the first time many of them had done this kind of manual labor, so their exhaustion was understandable.
"Let's head inside first," I said, gesturing toward the mansion. "We have things to discuss."
I had kept Sherry updated the entire time, so she already knew what had happened in Border Town. And she had informed others already so there was no need to rehash my little adventure.
After everyone had freshened up, we gathered again in the dining hall. Surprisingly, the main topic wasn't Border Town or witches—it was our future in the labyrinth.
"As I've already announced," I said clearly, letting my gaze move across the room, "everyone in this household will take an active part in labyrinth exploration. Defeating monsters won't just help you level up—it will make you stronger. At the very least, I want all of you to be able to protect yourselves if the need ever arises."
This was necessary as I couldn't keep an eye on everyone all the time. And if my girls became strong, I wouldn't have to worry as much about leaving them alone in such a large estate.
One by one, they nodded. Even Erina and Kunou—who looked visibly nervous—gave small but determined nods when my eyes fell on them.
Before we could enter the labyrinth, however, there was one more thing to settle.
Weapons and equipment.
I had some extra money right now, and it made far more sense to invest it into proper gear rather than have them share the equipment. I had already asked Sherry to discuss preferences with everyone beforehand, but many of them were still undecided.
Rather than waste more time deliberating, I made the call.
"We'll head to the equipment shops first," I said. "You can choose what suits you best there."
Then I opened a warp gate and looked back at them.
"Once you've all picked your gear, we'll do some test runs in the labyrinth today. I'm not asking a lot from you—I just want you to get familiar with the environment."
As I met their determined gazes, a quiet sense of pride settled in my chest.
These were my girls—my waifus, who were strong and beautiful both inside and out.
***
[AS1291 has redeemed an Extra Chapter this week]
***
I give a heartfelt thanks to my new Patreon Supporters! :)
Siegfreed
You are Omega level on Patreon and Tier 5 on Discord now!!
GenericStatue
You are Beyond Omega level on Patreon and Tier 10 on Discord now!!