A short while later, Hiro woke up on a purple-skinned woman's back. He noticed that his waist was tied to hers as they walked. Upon checking both his other women were by his flanks with a cart between them.
Vanessa who saw Hiro wake up said in a voice filled with happiness. "My love! I ran an estimation and we should earn quite a lot today! Almost 1000 Vals!" Hiro then noticed the magic stones, goblin ears, crude weapons, and armor in the cart. Hiro didn't remember making that much before so it must be due to the hobgoblins.
Vals was the currency used by the Valorius continent. The average household only needed about 200 Vals a day to eat decent meals and lodging expenses. So for low-rank adventurers earning enough for five days was indeed a good payout.
Raylene who noticed her man stirring continued to walk as she spoke. "Stop struggling and rest for a while darling. Your body feels tired right? While Nessa's golden juice does alleviate the caliber diseases. It does not remove exhaustion. Rely on us a little more okay? We are going to the guild for your reward."
Hiro who heard her request and consideration felt warm. Others might argue that a man should be strong, but that only holds true when men must put up fronts. Only in the presence of those they trusted would men allow their weaknesses to show.
From their fight with Maximilian Hiro knew that these girls would never abandon him. Thus, he didn't pay attention to keeping up appearances. Allowing them to show their love and spoil him to their heart's content.
Hiro then embraced his skull woman from behind. He naughtily placed his hands over her breasts, or rather her flat chest which he used to steady himself.
Surprised at the sudden stimulation, Raylene almost threw Hiro off as she started shouting in an embarrassed voice. "BAKA! Have some decency! Where do you think you are touching?! Keep your hands to yourself! PERVERT! LECHER!"
This was also something they learned during their month of living with Hiro, he was extremely childish and loved playing jokes on his harem. Most of his jokes were just surprise skin-ship though. He regularly kissed or hugged his harem without warning, running away after being caught.
At first, they thought it was fake due to feeling sorry for them, but then the girls noticed Hiro never even looked at other women in their presence. It was as if in his eyes only they existed. Thus, their self-confidence as members of the fairer sex increased due to his efforts.
Back at the present, Hiro then gave Raylene's neck with a light kiss as he laughed. "Haha, I'm sorry Lene, I could not help it. You know seeing your sexy swanlike neck and beautiful hair turns me on. Doing nothing is impossible for me. Please forgive me, darling."
Raylene who was affectionately called by her pet name pouted in unhappiness. Well not really, Hiro also learned that this skull woman, normally stoic and confident was in fact a tsundere. She was what people would call an authentic perfect ratio tsundere. 50% Tsun (Cold) and 50% Dere (Loving).
"BAKA! Who is your darling?! It's not like that made me happy in the least! Anyway, behave yourself before I drop you! BAKA!"
"Lene. Liar. Happy if harassed. Weird. Brushes hair. Forever."
Raylene who had her secret ritual exposed froze in shock. Ever since Hiro praised her for her hair's beauty and silkiness, the skull woman started washing and brushing it religiously if only to get more compliments.
Not to be outdone, Lene then raised a fist as she exposed her sister as well. "Oh yeah? Then what about you? Ever since darling said you looked cute when you make faces, haven't you been practicing every night for two hours? You even use concealment arrays for such a stupid reason!"
Jade similarly stopped walking and started undulating mana in small amounts. Her "eyes" which were shadows made from mana narrowed in annoyance.
Normally expressionless, the mage now used her eyes and head to show her emotions. How her eyes moved and how she tilted her head gave people an idea of how Jade felt. Naturally, the suggestion all started from her husband.
Vanessa then got in between the two as she tried to keep the peace.
"Now now calm down both of you, it's okay to do these stupid things to win points with Hiro-sama, there is no shame in admitting them."
Raylene and Jade grew irritated at the maid playing dirty. She smugly downplayed, criticized, and insulted their behaviors all at once. They then looked at each other and nodded as if they agreed on something.
If they couldn't make Hiro forget the embarrassing things he heard, dragging everyone down with them was the next best thing.
"Darling, Did you know ever since you commented on how Nessa was graceful, she bought books on etiquette, and secretly practices in front of the lake every morning."
"Nessa. Stuffs bra. Enjoys husband's ogling."
"..."
The surroundings turned cold and neither Hiro nor Vanessa could say anything. After a moment, a voice shrieked in anger, its grace and gentleness evaporating like snow.
"Bitch, what did I ever do to you two? That book was on sale! Read it you butch of a woman! AND YOU! YOU DON'T EVEN WEAR A BRA! It's on now!"
The maid moved like a blur as she threw a thick book at Raylene's face and then quickly leaped towards Jade like a mad animal. The mummy mage not backing down caught her and started pulling her hair.
Hiro who found their exchanges endearing laughed heartily for the first time since coming to this world. Different from his half-hearted amusement this laughter was so genuine that it cleansed his soul.
Sensitive to everything about Hiro, all three women stopped in their tracks. The man then wiped his tears as he said in a jovial voice full of happiness and contentment.
"Thank you, my beloved girls, I haven't laughed like that since arriving at Valorious. It's fine, I love you three so much, I would never think you are silly. I also do some weird things if only to appear more manly to you girls, so to me, it's cute.
"I now feel so light, I could even take on the manticore this moment without fear. Let's go girls, to the guild and then home right after. We shouldn't waste any time."
While they were joyful at being confessed and even proud their antics made him laugh, everything dissipated when the elephant in the room was brought up. Hiro leaves for the hunt tomorrow.
If for the past month they all experienced bliss and happiness in each other's company, when the sun rises again, the man they all loved would go forth to challenge a trial. One they didn't know if he could return from.
Originally they all led lonely existences, Hiro brought them together and turned their days from dull and lifeless into ones of color. Things that originally gave them no happiness such as eating meals, the lull before bed, or even coming home, became things they cherished and looked forward to every day.
Fearing it would come crashing down when they slept tonight, they all made their way into the adventurer guild in silence.
Knowing he killed the mood, Hiro asked to get off Raylene and walked on his own. The three women noticeably glued themselves to him like little ducks.
