"I'm home," I said, a big smile spreading across my face as I looked at all the girls lined up to greet me.
"Ugh—"
I turned to see Sherry frozen in place, wearing the perfect surprised Pikachu face.
Guess a part of her had still hoped I was exaggerating about the number of girls.
Meanwhile, Miria was trying to quietly hide her fish basket behind her back. Poor thing probably wasn't worried about herself—but about having to share her beloved fish with all these new people.
"And this is Sherry and Miria," I said, gesturing to both of them. "Now that they have returned, our family is finally all here."
Roxanne nodded with a warm smile.
"Hello! I'm Shea!" the energetic rabbitkin was the first to bounce forward, her ears flopping as she beamed brightly.
"There's so much… evil in this world…" Sherry muttered in horror, her deadpan eyes locked onto Shea's vigorously bouncing chest.
"H-hello," said the towering Vesta shyly, taking a single, gentle step forward.
"Drop… dead," Sherry hissed under her breath, staring up at the monumental mountains on Vesta's chest like they personally offended her.
'Sherry, do you want a harsher punishment next time? Maybe somewhere even more… open and windy?'
I warned her through the party link, narrowing my eyes at her.
Sherry let out a long breath and quickly pulled herself together.
"Nice to meet you… all," she said politely, her voice tight but composed.
I chuckled. At least she knew how to play nice when she needed to.
Beside Vesta, I noticed Remu's eyes lighting up—though I couldn't tell if it was because of Miria who was also a Catkin, or the basket full of fish in her hands.
"You all go ahead and mingle," I said to Roxanne. "I'll get changed first. When I come back, I'll show you what I bought at the auction."
"Sure, Master," Roxanne replied with a nod.
Smiling at her and the rest of the girls, I turned and walked upstairs to the bedroom.
"Sherry, did you and Master…?"
I heard Roxanne's voice behind me, questioning Sherry.
Of course. With her keen sense of smell, there was no way she wouldn't pick up on it—even if we had washed ourselves clean already.
I paused at the top of the stairs and glanced down at the hallway where the girls were gathered.
Roxanne, Anastasia, and Sherry were huddled together, with Sherry whispering something in a flustered tone, her face bright red.
Miria was off to the side talking with Shea, Remu, Shera, and Vesta. At first, she showed them her fish basket hesitantly—but her confidence grew quickly, and soon she was smiling proudly. Lillia was nearby too, likely translating her words in Brahim.
Ram, Rem, Jasmine, and Viviana stood in a loose group, whispering to each other while subtly eyeing the others.
Yasaka and Kunou were standing a bit behind Anastasia. Kunou kept sneaking glances at the fish, her curiosity clearly battling her restraint.
Setsuna and Nyx had retreated to the far wall, quietly keeping to themselves with their heads lowered.
Erina stood off to the side, visibly awkward—probably wanting to join the conversation but not knowing how to jump in.
There were so many girls now.
And they all belonged to me!
Looking at them together like this filled me with joy, yes…
But as I focused on each of them, one by one, a sudden wave of anxiety crept up inside me.
Bringing so many girls under one roof—was that really okay?
This harem… Could I truly manage it all?
Me… a guy who was a complete virgin just a few days ago?
I shook my head, pushing those thoughts away. No use getting stuck there now.
I turned and went back upstairs to the master bedroom. It looked spotless and I noticed the changed fresh sheets too. Roxanne and Lillia's work, no doubt. Even on their off days, they still chose to take care of the house. Such diligent girls.
Smiling at that warm thought, I opened the wardrobe and changed out of my silk clothes into something more comfortable and loose.
Then I glanced at the bed. It looked so inviting that I let myself fall onto it—and instead of going back out, I let my eyes close for a moment.
Thirteen new girls…
That makes eighteen in total.
Eighteen girls.
Were there even eighteen girls I had been friends with in my entire life back on Earth?
...Probably not.
Yeah—it really is a lot.
"Looks like Sherry's words are getting to me," I muttered with a sigh.
What started as Harem in a Labyrinth was slowly turning into Imperial Harem in a Labyrinth.
I chuckled at my own joke.
Self-deprecating humor had always been my way of coping—especially during those last months in the hospital bed.
The harem situation was serious, sure, but not unmanageable. After all, this was a world where slavery was strictly enforced.
Even with a lack of magical slave bindings—which was odd, considering how magically attuned this world was—the whole society itself here, worked as a deterrent. Runaway Slaves are treated as criminals, which meant that they couldn't just walk away from their masters unless released.
And I wasn't a cruel person. If anything, I wanted these cute, beautiful girls to enjoy their lives with me.
And even after such an extravagant spending today, I was still considered wealthy—all thanks to my system. So chances are, they wouldn't want to leave me… probably.
No, the truly serious matter was something else entirely.
The Bonus Job I found out today.
Witch.
"Has… Release That Witch's world somehow mingled into this world too?" I murmured, covering my eyes with my arm. The thought alone was enough to spike my stress levels.
As an avid reader of the original novel and manhua, I knew what the presence of witches meant: other dangerous, magic-wielding races… and even possibly…
"Is there a Battle of Divine Will happening here too?" I whispered, anxiety building in my chest.
An endless battle where entire races fight and slaughter each other in the name of some Divine Evolution.
"It would make sense, though…" I muttered, trying to slow my rapid breathing. "The Cradle Project in that story does match up with the game-like design of this world."
I don't know why, it was hard to keep my heart calm right now.
"Try to look on the bright side… at least this isn't DxD, Re:Zero, Mushoku Tensei, or Arifureta," I muttered with a chuckle, trying to ease my anxiety with humor again. "Although, those worlds could still be mixed in somehow… and even my theory about this being the Release That Witch world might just be a false alarm." I sighed, trying to keep all possibilities in mind.
"If only I could access the original Michio's memories… to see what options he picked on that damned website before his transfer. It would make this whole ordeal so much easier." I sighed again.
That led to a troubling thought.
"Am I here as a bug—like the protagonist of Release That Witch? Or… is something else going on entirely?" I murmured, removing my arm and staring up at the ceiling. The soft bed and fresh mattress tempted me to put those thoughts aside and just surrender to sleep.
"Master?"
The door creaked open, and Roxanne's voice gently pulled me from my spiraling thoughts. I sat up, startled.
"Yes?" I asked, seeing her step into the room quietly.
"You were gone for a while… Are you alright?" she asked, closing the door behind her and walking over.
"I'm fine," I said with a small, tired smile. "Just some thoughts gnawing at me, that's all."
"Maybe you can share them with me, Master," she said, sitting beside me on the bed. "I'll do my best to help." Her smile was soft, warm—genuinely comforting.
I couldn't help but smile back and pull her into an embrace. My head instinctively lowered, resting against her chest, melting into the comfort of her plush softness.
"Mmm…" I sighed, closing my eyes as a sense of peace washed over me.
Roxanne began gently stroking my hair, her touch full of tenderness. The headache I hadn't realized I was carrying started to melt away under her calming presence.
Breasts really were the best stress relievers… I had to admit.
Honestly, I almost wanted to ask her to take her shirt off—just to feel that divine softness directly—but I knew if I did, there would be no stopping myself.
"Will you tell me what's wrong now, Master?" Roxanne asked softly again.
"Sigh… During the auction, I was using my Appraisal skill on everyone—basically figuring out their identities," I muttered, still buried in her breasts. "And I found some people with two Jobs instead of one… they were three females in total. One of them was even in the form of a Sword, and the common Job all those girls shared was called Witch."
"A Sword?" Roxanne repeated, puzzled. "And by Witch, do you mean the scary female monsters from children's stories who eat little girls?"
"There's a story like that here?" I asked, surprised.
"Yes. In my village, whenever I came home late, my aunt would try to scare me by saying that if I stayed out too long, a witch would just snatch me with her long claws and eat me," she said matter-of-factly. "So, to avoid being caught, I trained really hard to dodge the witch's claws."
"Heheheh…" I couldn't help but laugh. Only Roxanne would treat a horror story as a motivation for training.
"Were they the same kind of witches, Master? But… you're already so strong—and even faster than me. I don't think even three witches could hurt you," she said sincerely.
"I don't know if they're the same kind," I said, exhaling deeply. "But this Witch Job… it probably lets them use magic—and some of it might even be pretty dangerous."
"Magic?" Roxanne asked curiously. "But Master can use magic too. I think you're already quite a strong Wizard," she said sincerely.
"It's not the same," I replied, lifting my head from her chest. "The magic I use is pretty basic—here, look."
I summoned a Waterball and held it in my palm.
"A Wizard can only use the four basic elements: Fire, Water, Sand, and Wind. And even then, it's limited to just three types of spells: Ball, Wall, and Storm."
I canceled the Waterball and let the water fall on the ground, next I replaced it with a shimmering Water Wall.
"The spells don't last long, and their power is also average. I can cast them quickly only because I can skip the chant—thanks to my unique ability," I added with a wry smile. "And even the strongest form, Storm, doesn't affect other people. It only targets monsters nearby"
Although I haven't tested that part myself yet, it is just from my meta knowledge of the original story, so it should be true.
"So overall, the Wizard Job has a lot of restrictions. Even if I advance it up to Grand Wizard, those limits won't go away—I will just get a few more elemental types to play with." I said with a sigh, as the Water wall goes away with just a pool of water remaining on the floor.
"That still sounds pretty powerful," Roxanne said thoughtfully.
"Well, yes… but Witches are different. They each have one unique magical ability—something special. And it doesn't need chants, doesn't have strict limits, and it can even evolve."
I smiled wryly. "They are still bound by the nature of their power, but the kind of restrictions Wizards face? They don't apply to them. What they they use can even be considered true magic!"
"Of course," I added casually, "that's just what I have read in some old books… and what my teacher had told me."
I mentioned my fictional, long-dead teacher again, covering up the real source of my knowledge.
"I still think Master's power is stronger than any of the Witches'," Roxanne said, looking at me earnestly. "You can already do so many things with it—and you make our whole party stronger, faster," she added with a warm smile.
I couldn't help but smile wryly.
Well, Character Reset and my Level Up System were pretty damn powerful—no point denying that.
"And if we keep getting stronger as a party," she continued, pumping her fist, "then no matter what weird or powerful magic the Witches throw at us, we will just beat them!"
"Yes, we can do that," I chuckled, reaching out to gently caress her soft dog ears. "But honestly, I don't think we will need to fight the Witches. They might even end up helping us… probably. There are other, more dangerous enemies out there. Demons—not like the ones in the Labyrinth. Smarter. More numerous. Way more powerful."
I muttered the last part to myself, remembering the brutal war described in Release That Witch… though I hadn't confirmed their existence in this world yet. It could all just be my paranoia.
"If there really are smarter and stronger demons after you, Master," Roxanne said, her amber eyes shining with determination, "then I will vanquish them!"
She leaned in, her voice unwavering. "And if, by chance, I can't… then I swear I will use my own body to shield Master from any harm."
Her eyes. Her voice. Her words…
They touched the softest part of my heart. Before I even realized it, I was cupping her face and kissing her passionately.
"I'm so madly in love with you, Roxanne," I whispered, pressing my forehead to hers, my voice full of emotion.
"I love you too, Master…" she replied breathlessly, before pulling me into an even deeper kiss.