Thankfully the sight of the manor started growing larger ahead of us, because another ten minutes carrying the halberd probably would’ve finished separating my shoulder from the rest of my body.

I adjusted the weapon against my back again while we walked the final stretch up the road, the heavy axe head dragging just enough weight behind every movement to stay consistently annoying.

Valka watched me shift my grip before a laugh slipped out of her. The dark coat hanging around her shoulders swayed behind her as she walked beside me through the evening breeze.

"You have adjusted that thing at least twenty times since we left town." She poked fun at me, letting out a loud laugh after. "I can carry it for you..."

"It keeps changing weight when I’m not looking and nothing says ’manly’ like having a woman carry my heavy ass weapon..." I rolled my shoulder carefully after the rear hook clipped awkwardly against my side again. "I swear the damn thing gets heavier every minute."

"That sounds like a skill issue then." She finished with a small chuckle before turning her sight back to the road. "The manor... home is so close,"

Celeste glanced back toward us while balancing several bags against her chest, her expression brightening immediately after spotting the halberd again. "I still think it suits you more than the spear did."

Looking at my new weapon. "That’s because it looks awesome." I said, trying to sound convincing.

"It does look... more dramatic than anything." She smiled down at one of the silver-lined sleeves on her new outfit before looking back toward me again. "That isn’t a bad thing."

Valka motioned toward Celeste with one hand like she’d just won an argument. "See? Somebody here understands presentation."

I looked over the ridiculous amount of silver stitching hanging off both of them before snorting under my breath. "You bought enough ribbons to decorate the entire town’s livestock."

Celeste glanced down at her sleeves again like she was checking them proudly instead of feeling insulted. "And the livestock would look incredible."

Reika failed to fully hide the smile that crossed her face while she stepped around Astra to keep her from drifting too close to the edge of the road.

Astra stayed close enough beside me that the edge of her cloak brushed against my arm every few steps, her eyes carefully tracking the manor growing larger ahead of us.

Compared to earlier, she looked calmer. Not that she had fully relaxed yet, but easily much calmer than earlier.

The tension still lingered in her shoulders whenever loud voices carried from farther down the road, though she no longer looked ready to run every few seconds either.

Celeste naturally slowed whenever Astra drifted behind while Reika quietly kept the group together without anybody needing to point it out.

Watching them all adjust around her so naturally still did something strange to my head. A month ago I was worried about surviving goblin requests outside town.

Now I was walking toward a manor carrying an expensive halberd beside four women after escaping an underground prison full of monsters. Somewhere along the line my life stopped asking permission before becoming ridiculous.

A familiar warm light spilled from the manor windows as we stepped onto the property, the manor sitting quiet against the evening sky while the last of the sunlight faded behind it. After the dungeon and the packed streets back in town, the place almost felt unreal again.

Astra slowed slightly after we stepped inside, her eyes drifting upward toward the chandeliers before moving slowly across the polished floors and staircases.

The grip she had on her sleeves tightened again while she looked around the entrance hall like she still wasn’t fully convinced places like this were real.

Celeste noticed almost immediately and softened a little beside her. "We can help you get cleaned up before dinner if you’d like."

Astra hesitated briefly before giving a small nod. "I would appreciate that."

Valka stretched both arms overhead beside me hard enough that something in her back popped. "Good. I’m officially tired of smelling like a dungeon and sweat had a baby."

"You stopped caring about that days ago..." I lowered the halberd off my shoulder carefully before my arm completely gave out. "Pretty sure you called it..." I stopped to think back a second. "... survival seasoning at one point."

"That was a temporary allowance, we’re home now," Valka waved one hand dismissively while starting toward the stairs. "This is now nothing more than a lingering tragedy."

Reika covered part of her mouth trying to hide the laugh that escaped while Celeste rolled her eyes and guided Astra upstairs beside her.

The four of them disappeared deeper into the manor still arguing over adventurer hygiene while I stayed near the entrance hall, rotating my shoulder slowly and appreciating the fact I no longer had to carry the halberd for at least a few minutes.

I called my for systems panel to bring up the harem progress.

[ HAREM CANDIDATES ⅘ ]

[ NOTE: 1 MORE FOR HIDDEN SKILL ]

"Wait... the manor has skills?"

[ IDK :) ]

"What the fuck is that, pervy god... I’m coming for you one of these days," I yelled into the empty room.

A panel I didn’t ask for popped into my view.

[ QUEST: BED THE DRAGON ]

[ REWARD: DRACONIC MANA SYNERGY ]

Reading over the text, I couldn’t figure out how I would be able to do that. We just rescued her, there wasn’t a chance in hell that deep down she was a nympho. Right?

"There’s not a time limit, is there..." I asked the empty room again, to no answer. "Good, at least I can take my time..."

Somewhere upstairs a burst of laughter suddenly echoed down the hallway followed by Valka loudly defending herself from what sounded like several accusations at once. Celeste immediately started arguing back while Reika tried and failed to calm the situation down.

Then I heard Astra laughed too. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The sound caught me so off guard that I found myself smiling before noticing I had started toward the stairs.