Time passed quickly in the Boreas mansion.
And before I knew it another year passed and now I'm nine years old.
Eris and Ghislaine's classes continued with their normal course, Eris finally learned to read or well to spell slowly and can now write several sentences enough to make a letter.
Her arithmetic lessons have also progressed, albeit at a slower pace.
We are currently stuck on two-digit division, but she continues to work hard.
Ghislaine, on the other hand, has the academic knowledge of a high school student, which is something she never imagined.
In addition, Eris made a huge leap in her progress with the sword since two days ago Ghislaine named her Advanced Rank in the God Sword style at just 11 years old.
Besides that, her feelings towards me have grown significantly and this time she wasn't doing it on purpose like with Sylphie although I didn't complain.
Ghislaine's pregnancy went without complications and three months ago she gave birth to a sweet little girl whom we named Ana.
She was born with white hair and red eyes, fortunately for me, except for a mole on her right cheek, and she was also born without a tail and only had her cat ears.
Ghislaine explained that this was normal among mestizos, so my doubts were allayed.
And she was disappointed that it wasn't a boy but she quickly cheered up when I told her we could always make another one.
Plus, she's been acting even more affectionate with me in public, which started to raise some suspicions... But nothing out of the ordinary.
Even so, unfortunately, after a month of giving birth, Ghislaine resumed her duties as Eris's Bodyguard and Fencing Master, which reduced my salary by half, although I can't complain Since the beast woman gave me her saved salary because I am the "leader of the tribe".
Although I would prefer the title of man of the house, that also applied.
My relationship with Hilda also progressed without any setbacks and we have even had threesomes with Ghislaine on occasion.
Although Hilda was sadly disappointed that she didn't get pregnant, I was relieved.
I don't want to have to many children so soon, having three is already too much!.
Besides that she told me that she has spoken with Philip about the possibility of me marrying Eris.
The old fox says he's "thinking about it" but I know he's been thinking about it before.
Although I don't blame him, I'm just too strong and he doesn't want to pass up an opportunity like this.
And I also do not rule out the idea why?
Well, in the original anime, besides marrying Eris, there was the possibility of recovering my noble status and becoming the head of the Boreas Greyrat.
It is sincerely an opportunity that could not be wasted and if it presented itself to me I would not hesitate to take it.
And when I have enough power, who will oppose me?
But that brings us to another incident.
The Mana Disaster.
Unfortunately, upon climbing the highest tower of the mansion, I was able to confirm that the red orb is already in place and is getting even bigger every day.
With my mana eye I could confirm that that damn thing is surrounded by mana and its mass and density is getting bigger and bigger.
I knew that so much mana accumulated in such a small point was not good at all and would reach its peak the day after my tenth birthday...
I had already calculated the trajectories where my women would fall and the situation was critical.
Zenith would be trapped in the teleportation maze
Lilia would be on the outskirts of Shirone.
Hilda would teleport into the middle of the conflict zone just like Ghislaine but I wasn't too worried about her.
Sylphie would fall into Ariel's palace, which I definitely won't allow.
And Eris and I will go to the demon continent...
But I didn't just want to save them... My in-laws, Hope and Philip, for my political interests...
In short, the situation was complicated. I could simply gather all my women in my room and have us all hold hands at an opportune moment, but that wouldn't work.
What happens if we all end up on the demon continent?
I could survive but only Ghislaine and Eris are cut out for combat...
The rest would be just dead weight and I would never abandon them, and that's not even counting my children...
"Haa... What a complicated shit..." I sighed to myself in frustration.
"Hmm? What's wrong, dear?" Ghislaine asked from beside me with concern.
It was early morning, we were both snuggled up in my bed with Ana between us and as we watched her sleep thoughts invaded me.
"Something's bothering me... It's that orb in the sky, I feel like something bad will happen if that thing keeps growing," I muttered.
"hmmm..." Ghislaine's ears twitched slightly a sign that she was in deep thought and then she looked at me with a slight smile.
"If you feel overwhelmed by anything, don't hesitate to come to me. This body is yours to use after all," she whispered as she caressed me.
"I say the same, but it's simply something I can't let go and I think we should all talk about it," I said seriously.
"Guuoo..." Ana babbled slowly, threatening to wake up, but after slowly caressing her, she went back to sleep peacefully.
"I'll support you in whatever you do, I'm your wife after all," she said lightly with a smile.
"Good," I whispered, then leaned down to kiss her affectionately.
"Now let's go upstairs, Eris should be up by now," I said as I took Ana in my arms.
Fortunately, Philip had given Ghislaine a maid to look after Ana while we worked, but she always kept Ana close to us so as not to lose track of her.
"Yes, Eris...have you noticed?" She asked
"Notice what?" I asked, slightly confused.
"Eris is in love with you and from what I see it's quite a lot, I think you should accept her" Ghislaine's tone was soft and somewhat nervous as if she was waiting for my answer.
"Hmm... Yes, but I'll wait for her to grow up and her breasts to develop, we are young after all and she is Hilda's daughter, the potential is there" I said with a mocking smile.
"Hmm! Womanizer" Ghislaine said while pulling my ear but there was nothing negative in her gesture.
"You know you love me for that," I replied.
"I will neither deny nor affirm anything" she replied but I could notice her tail wagging.
...
"What did you want to see us for? Do you want to have a threesome?" Hilda asked in an excited tone as she began to take off her dress, but I stopped her.
"No, I want to talk to you about something serious," I said as I looked at the two women in front of me.
After a day of work like everyone else I asked a Maid to call Hilda to come to my room.
When the woman found out, she abandoned what she was doing and came running to my room, and judging by the way she was rubbing her legs together, it was clear what she was expecting.
"Oh..." Hilda blushed immediately and looked down at the ground in disappointment.
"I wanted to talk about something important that concerns us all... No, we can't get married yet... Haaa..."
"hmm... Damn..." Hilda clicked her tongue at the interruption.
"Hilda, you've noticed the red orb in the sky, haven't you?"
"Hmm? That thing? I think I've seen it," she muttered as her dress fell to the floor.
"..." I was silent for a few moments as I held back another sigh.
"I have a feeling that orb isn't good at all. Ghislaine's demonic eye has noticed an excessive amount of mana accumulated in a single point and we fear the worst," I said and Hilda became serious for the first time.
"So... What do you plan to do about it?" She asked.
"I honestly don't know, I don't know what that might cause in the long run, but I'd like you to discuss it with Philip and Eris."
"hmm leave it to me..." She replied while blushing slightly and squeezing her legs together.
And before I even realized it, Ghislaine was already without pants and her bare breasts touched my back.
"Come on, both of you..." I muttered dejectedly at the end.
...
"Haaaa!" With a battle cry, Ghislaine lunged at me, her wooden sword arcing diagonally, forming a long sword of light.
"Nngh!" I quickly used the Flow technique to repel her technique, but I barely managed.
Ten months ago, I felt like I was approaching her speed and strength, but for some reason, in these last three months since giving birth, she's become much stronger.
"Haaa!" Ghislaine's sword embedded itself in the ground, leaving her exposed.
It was a split-second opening, but it was the best I had.
I quickly did a 180 to get out of her range and threw my own long sword of light at her, aiming for her legs.
But again, I was too slow.
*clank!!*
Our wooden swords collided, and the force of the impact shook my arms.
"Hmmp!" And with a decisive movement, Ghislaine's sword disappeared from my sight, and all I could feel was a diagonal cut across my stomach, sending me flying through the air.
"Nngh!" Using wind magic, I managed to cushion my fall and land on the ground like a cat.
"Haaa...haaa... shit," I could only mutter as the cat woman looked at me with a smile.
"You've gotten really fast, Rudeus, but you're not the only one."
"Yeah...I noticed," I muttered as I began to feel a stabbing pain in my stomach, so I healed myself with healing magic.
"Wow..." Eris, on the other hand, looked at us with a look of admiration.
She hadn't seen anything; the fight lasted less than three seconds, but it was still impressive to her.
"I don't understand. You've been out of training for ten months and you're already stronger than before. That's cheating!" I remarked with a smile.
"Hmm..." She crossed her arms with a smile. "Although you haven't surpassed me yet, you're already at the rank of a Sword King. Although only my master Gall Farion can officially grant you the title, no one will deny that you already possess the strength of one." Ghislaine said with a smile and a slight blush on her face.
"Eh?! Impossible!" Eris shouted indignantly, but Ghislaine looked at her sideways, and the girl just crossed her arms and sat on the floor with a pout.
*Ding!*
[Skill Acquired]
[Swordsman Rank: Sword King]
[Reward: Knowledge of Barrier Magic, Beginner-Saint Level]
"Wow..." I let out a sigh of astonishment.
"Believe it or not," Ghislaine replied as she slapped me on the back.
"Rudeus!" Eris suddenly shouted as she grabbed her own sword.
"Hmm? What's up, cutie?" I asked with a flirtatious smile.
"C-cutie?!" She squealed in embarrassment as she blushed.
*Ding!*
[Eris's affection increased to 75%]
[Childhood crush begins to transcend into something more]
"Don't call me Cutie! Fight me!" she shouted with her shrill voice and her face as red as a tomato.
"Okay, don't hold back," I replied as I got into a fighting stance.
"Nngh! Haaa!" Eris shouted as she began to run towards me at full speed.
She closed the twenty-meter distance between us in a second, painfully slow for my current speed.
"Haaaa!" With another war cry, she threw a longsword of silence at me, which I dodged without any strength.
The very force of her attack made it impossible for Eris to stop its trajectory, leaving her exposed.
'Should I hit her now? Hmm, if I do, she'll be angry for losing, but if I don't, she'll be angry because I held back...'
'This is too complicated!'
"Hmp!" So I made a quick decision and with the tip of my sword, I made a swift movement, striking her in the shoulder and sending her rolling to the ground.
"Gah!" She let out a strangled scream as she fell face first onto the ground and slowly got up.
"Well... what did you learn from-"
"I haven't given up!" She suddenly cried out, brushing the dirt off her clothes.
"Eris..." I muttered dejectedly as I looked at the girl who refused to accept defeat.
I glanced at Ghislaine, but she had already left the training grounds and was holding Ana, signaling that she was done for the day.
"Nngh..." I gritted my teeth at the sight and turned to see Eris, who was already running toward me.
"Haaa..." I let out a sigh as I put myself on guard and faced Eris.
Needless to say, I beat her into submission, or rather until she was powerless to even stand up.