"Ah, ah, ah!" One of the girls who had thrown herself on top of me earlier was panting loudly. "I can’t carry this any longer."

"This is slave work!" the other one said.

"Stop whining," Erina said, the strain on her body evident in her voice. "We are almost there."

All of us were helping carry the stick of Yggdrasil. Most of the girls pulled it from the front using ropes, while Sarah and I pushed from behind.

"It better be worth carrying this thing," I said, starting to get irritated with the work.

Princess Alicia, who was further ahead helping pull with the ropes, stopped for a moment, her expression as if she had noticed something.

"I can feel cooler, fresher air," Alicia said.

Alicia let go of the trunk and ran ahead, following the direction of the wind.

"Hey, wait, Alicia," I said, stopping my push on the trunk and following the petite woman.

Beyond the trees and grass, there was a blue lake with beautifully clear, crystalline water, so pure that we could see our reflections in it. I stood side by side with Alicia, admiring the scenery.

"It’s so beautiful!" the Princess of Ashia said in wonder, then turned to me, smiling.

I gently stroked her beautiful blonde hair. "We can spend the night here and rest. From what Leila said, the next city, Lavinnia, isn’t too far from here, so we can relax and take a bath here."

"Yeah!" Alicia said, smiling broadly as I patted her head. I felt a warmth growing in my chest each time I saw Alicia smile, as if she illuminated everything around her.

"Rick..." I heard Diane call in a strained voice. "Could you give us some help?"

I had completely forgotten about the magically heavy piece of wood.

"I’m going to die..." Sarah said, covered in sweat.

Alicia and I returned and helped the girls bring the trunk closer to the lake. Sarah began flexing the muscles in her arm that had stiffened from the effort.

"Aaah~," she said in a relaxed voice. "I’m finally free."

"For now," Erina said. "We still have to bring this thing with us."

The girls’ faces, including those of my Valkyries, filled with expressions of aversion. I didn’t blame them, since I was also fed up with carrying that thing, which was why I wanted to spend the night here. I had in mind to ask Freya for a favor.

’Freya might be able to help. I haven’t asked her yet, so there’s no guarantee,’ Brandish said to me hesitantly.

’Could you go talk to her and butter her up for me? I really need her to help us with this,’ I asked Brandish, really hoping that my unlisted skill, called charm, would affect her and make her do such an ordeal.

For a moment, I could only hear the girls gossiping nearby, but then Brandish spoke to me again.

’I’ll try, but don’t put your hopes too high,’ Brandish said, giving in.

’I owe you one, Brandish. And I promise I’ll pay you back later,’ I said cheerfully.

Brandish sighed deeply and said before leaving me, "Wish me luck."

"Now we can finally take a bath," one of the rescued women said.

"Aah~," one of them let out a cute moan. "The water feels so good~! It’s like a dream~"

When I turned around, I saw all the girls—a sight that could be described as paradise. All of them beautiful and young, their curvy bodies overflowing with femininity, now with only their underwear covering them.

"You can’t look!" Sarah said to me, her face right in front of mine as soon as I turned. Unfortunately, I could only take a peek at heaven through the bars of its gate. By gate, I mean Sarah.

... 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Sarah made me step away from them, keeping me on another part of the lake’s shore. In the spot she chose, some rocks formed a natural barrier, blocking my view of the girls enjoying their bath. The only way to see what was happening there was to stick my head out—and be met by Sarah’s gaze.

"Even from meters away, I’ll sense your perverted eyes and kill you, so be warned," she said with a smile.

Not even my harem was near me. All of them stayed on the other side of the shore. Maybe they were upset because the others had been fawning over me.

"As if that were my fault. Aaah..." I sighed deeply. "All that’s left for me is to take my bath alone and pretend paradise isn’t right there."

I was talking to myself, letting the thoughts in my mind echo out into the world. The last thing I expected was to get a response.

"Well, you don’t have to bathe alone," a female voice said right above my head.

I was leaning against the shore with my eyes closed, enjoying the pleasant water beside me, when I was caught off guard as the girl cast a shadow over my face.

When I opened my eyes, Leila and two other girls were looking at me with mischievous gazes. The two girls beside her had long brown hair and eyes of a similar color, and the fair skin of all three of them was only partially concealed by the white cloths covering their breasts and their private parts below the waist.

It wasn’t the best moment for me to be completely naked, but since I thought none of them would be able to see me, I didn’t care much about hiding my meat sword.

One of them covered her mouth and widened her eyes when she saw it. "Eeeeeeh! I didn’t know a man’s dick could be that big!"

"You could tell even through his clothes, but he’s also really muscular, right?"

Leila removed the white cloth that covered her slit, exposing it right above my head. I didn’t want to look, but it was pretty difficult considering the position I was in.

"Can we join you, Rick?" she asked in an alluring voice.