After the great offensive of the demon army was thwarted, they went quiet. It was obvious, since the damage they received after losing hundreds of thousands of pawns across various fortresses in a single day was quite heavy.

Even after an entire day had passed, there was no second offensive at all.

Axel, of course, rested well enough after a full day. Although his time wasn't exactly luxurious, it was still comfortable enough to bear with. If something was bothering him, it was that—

'Just how many girls did me while I was asleep?!'

Just counting them, he had already met twenty with at least one count on them. Some even had two, for whatever reason.

Thankfully, all those he met with non-zero counts had "acceptable" appearances, so he simply shrugged the problem away.

Well, if someone ugly had been in the lineup, then his thoughts might have changed… It might sound biased and discriminatory, but it was a truth nobody could really deny.

Anyway, blaming the girls? Asking for compensation?

With no way to prove what they did, his words wouldn't even hold any weight. Thus, he didn't bother thinking about it further.

Well, in truth, he felt complicated—unsure whether to feel unsatisfied or blessed. If possible, he wanted to reenact everything, but awake this time. Still, he couldn't really ask for such a thing directly.

'But seeing their affection levels all over 90, I don't think they'd refuse…'

Such excuses even circled in his mind.

"Sir Axel?"

Right then, Rosaria peeked at his face. He had been quiet for so long that she started to worry.

"Hmm? Ah, right." Axel nodded, returning to the present.

Before him were the guards designated by Queen Wisteria, led by Princess Ethernina, who… couldn't quite meet his gaze yet. Axel could tell she was trying to play it cool, but with how madly she was blushing, she looked just like Teruria—easily embarrassed.

"We'll be heading toward the target fortress now!" he shouted toward everyone present. "As you know, we might encounter demons along the way, and there'll be lots of them within the fortress, so be prepared to fight at all times!"

"YES!"

An energetic reply returned.

The girls before him now looked at him with shining eyes full of respect, unlike before. After all, his display of facing the demon army alone had ignited their admiration. Fortunately, none of these girls—aside from Nina—had a positive count.

Still…

'Their status windows are in the way…'

Since the Settlement Management and Resident Management systems had merged into a passive function that worked even when the target wasn't technically a "resident," their windows popped up whenever they entered his view.

Although the popups were small and half-transparent, leaving minimal blind spots, they were still distracting.

'Well, I guess I'll just have to adjust to this new view,' he thought, nodding to himself.

"Then, let's go!"

Axel shouted—before taking something out of his inventory.

A large hunk of metal fell to the ground, shocking the girls. A monster with brown skin and four black, circular legs appeared. Although it didn't seem to possess any will, its bulk alone felt threatening. However, since it had transparent parts that allowed one to see through it, the girls slowly lowered their guards while keeping their distance.

"This is a Humvee, a vehicle!" Axel explained. "Since the next fortress is quite far, we'll be using this to travel. Girls, get in!"

"Y-Yes…!"

Although there were fifteen of them, fitting everyone inside wasn't impossible—comfort would simply be ignored.

Axel took the driver's seat on the left, with Nina sitting beside him so as not to interfere with the controls. Rosaria and Mimika took the passenger seat.

In the middle compartment, five witches were squeezed together on a straight bench. At the back, the remaining girls filled the two parallel seats, sitting tightly together. Some even sat directly on the floor just to make room.

"That's everyone, right?" Axel asked, checking the rearview mirror. "Then let's set off!"

VROOOM!

The engine roared as the wheels began to turn.

"I-It's moving…! It's really moving!"

"What a weird vehicle… It's noisy, but bearable."

"No, wait—what kind of vehicle is this? The best carriage could only fit six at most, and there are fifteen of us here, excluding Sir Axel!"

"No horse is pulling it either... how mysterious..."

As expected, the girls began clamoring as soon as the Humvee started moving. The experience itself felt novel to them.

Seeing their expressions of awe and surprise, Axel smiled and did them another favor. He opened the windows, letting fresh air circulate inside so it wouldn't get stuffy, even with their numbers.

"S-So fast…!"

Feeling the wind rush in, they finally realized how fast they were moving. Just watching the barren land outside wasn't enough to judge their speed, especially with the scenery changing so slowly.

But with the wind ruffling their pointed hats, they could feel it directly on their skin.

It was fun and noisy inside the vehicle, but Nina remained silent the entire time. No—rather, she was making herself smaller, trying not to touch Axel at all.

"Princess Nina?"

Her behavior made Axel want to tease her.

"If you're that stiff, your reactions will be delayed if we encounter monsters. Look—about three hundred meters ahead. A party of them." He said, patting her shoulder before pointing forward.

"H-Huh?!"

Nina jumped at his touch, her face flushing red once more.

But when she looked ahead, she realized Axel wasn't joking. "There's a pack of Shadow Jackals ahead! I'll handle them!" She said, quickly changing gears.

"Death Curse!"

With a single cast—using only one Advanced Voodoo Doll—the entire pack fell without even realizing what happened.

"Oh! Nice aim!" Axel grinned. "If it were Ria, everyone in the car would've been caught in the curse too."

"Y-Yes… My sister is quite clumsy, after all."

Nina understood that Axel was trying to ease her nerves with small talk. However, she couldn't exactly tell him that he was the reason she was nervous—not the danger ahead.

"Right?" Axel nodded. "I've been caught by her curses a few times myself. They're powerful and effective—if only she worked on her aim…"

"Fufu… Yes… Truly. If she practiced more often, she might even surpass me as a witch."

"I see."

A brief silence followed.

The chatter of the other girls slowly filled the space again when—

"Uhm… Sir Axel?" Nina asked shyly. "That… you and Teruria…" she said hesitantly.

Axel smiled, already knowing what she wanted to ask.

"Yes. She's my wife now," he answered plainly.

"...I see." She nodded with a forced smile.

At that moment, Nina's expression turned pained. As if guilt was slowly eating her away.

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