I explained my situation to Sarah and that my dick would be dismembered if I went all the way with her or any other woman.

"Why didn’t you ask us before doing that?" Sarah asked, clearly upset.

"It wouldn’t change anything," I replied. "You guys wouldn’t carry that wood, so it couldn’t be helped. I’ll make that sacrifice."

"It’s not only you making a sacrifice," Sarah said, looking down at the ground, her cheeks flushed.

"Don’t worry, it’s just for one night. I’ll visit Freya in her palace, do whatever she wants with me, and get it over with."

But Sarah’s expression didn’t soften.

"What does Freya want you to do there?" she asked.

"I don’t know. Probably another hideous task, but I think it’s worth it for a top-tier weapon, don’t you?"

"If only I’d known, I would’ve spent last night with you. Because of the party, we didn’t stay together," Sarah said with a grumpy expression. "Ah, geez!"

Sarah snapped in frustration. I didn’t feel like there was anything I could do to ease her mood, so I let her be. I still had to talk to the others about the situation, but it didn’t go any better. If Sarah’s grumpy face wasn’t enough, the others’ expressions weren’t any better either.

"If it’s what my prince has decided, I will follow as you wish," Alicia told me, "but it’s a bit disappointing."

"What kind of demonic ordeal are you imposing on us, Master Rick?!" Camula said dramatically.

"Not even a quickie?" Erina asked. "It’ll come off just like that?"

Justine didn’t say anything, but she avoided my gaze with a bashful expression.

Even though Diane also seemed to dislike the situation we were in, she was the only one willing to put up with it. She looked at the girls ahead of us, following an angry Sarah.

"Let’s focus on getting to Greenville, so the girls can be safe at home," she told them. "And Alicia, use this."

Diane put on a hood, covering her head, and told Alicia to do the same. Greenville was a town with soldiers from Silver Fang, and Alicia and Diane were fugitives of some kind.

Erina said they hadn’t made any wanted posters for them and that the order to capture the girls had been given directly by Gerard, but Diane insisted. Better safe than sorry.

Without much trouble, we managed to reach Greenville. As we approached the city gate, one of the guards rang the bell to draw everyone’s attention. No wonder—the women who had been kidnapped had returned to their homeland safe and sound.

The girls embraced their families amid tears of joy. Leila, who stood out the most among them, hugged her parents, and her father approached me.

He was about 1.70 m (5’7"), didn’t have a beard, but had strong arms—I was later told the guy was a lumberjack.

"Thank you for saving our daughter. You’re adventurers—if you need a place to sleep, my house is open to you." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Are you sure?" I asked him. "Our group is quite large."

He let out a brief laugh. "Don’t worry about that. Our house can accommodate you without any problems. Isn’t that right, daughter?"

I could’ve sworn Leila glanced at Camula, who smiled as if their verbal clash had never happened. Despite that disagreement, Leila didn’t object.

"No problem, father," said the girl who had tried to be my "fuck buddy," acting like a true lady. "They are true heroes and should be treated as such."

I could sense something fishy about the young woman, but I agreed to spend the night at her family’s house. At least we would save on one night’s lodging.

At Leila’s house, we were welcomed with a good, rustic meal—stewed meat with vegetables, rice, and corn. Even though it was simple food, it was very good.

Leila’s mother helped prepare the room where the Valkyries would sleep, while I would stay in another part of the house. I said goodbye to my wives when I felt sleep was about to take me and went to my temporary room.

I thought my abstinence from sex would be a hard ordeal, but after walking so much to get to Greenville and having a good meal, I felt little desire to copulate. Maybe the feeling of my dick being stuck in a guillotine also helped my mind drift to other things.

I thought about my Valkyries, but not in a particularly sexual way.

I thought about Alicia and Diane, and our mission to take her back home and protect her from her uncle in the meantime.

I thought about Erina and Justine, who were subordinates of that same man but had cut ties with Silver Fang. I wondered if they could already be considered deserters. Maybe we should be more careful from now on and avoid drawing too much attention.

I also thought about Sarah. I hated hiding things from her, but I hated making her sad even more, so I decided to avoid talking about Leo in her presence.

Fortunately, at one point, when Leila’s father was chopping some wood outside, I managed to have a word with him, asking if he had, by any chance, seen a blond swordsman with green eyes.

"Huh, now that I think about it, I remember seeing someone like that some time ago, but he didn’t stay for long," he said.

Unfortunately, the lumberjack didn’t have anything more to tell me about him. But that was fine—there was still someone who could give me information. That would have to wait until tomorrow. The sooner I slept, the sooner I could be free from my mission.

*Knock, knock* Someone knocked on the wooden door.

I thought it might be one of the homeowners wanting to say goodnight, so I innocently opened the bedroom door.

I was careless. I should have asked who it was, and if there was no answer, I should have ignored it. But now it was too late.

In a swift movement, Leila slipped into my room and closed the door behind her. Her dark brown eyes fixed on me with a tempting look.

"You didn’t think you had gotten rid of me, did you?"