Me—the boy who became a girl in this new "world of no-males"—was having fun with the princesses. Both princesses were sitting on either side of me. We were in a wooden guest room where a small, four-footed wooden table was placed, just like a classical Japanese-style room. Hanging at the entrance was a 'Guqin'. As expected, it was an old-era world, so the style was entirely traditional.
A maid, who was wearing a traditional kimono, entered the room through the sliding door. She served us Japanese green tea in clay cups adorned with floral designs.
"Saki-san... who's your mom?" I asked.
The brown-haired girl, Saki, replied to the question we were just discussing. "Don't you know? It's Kashumi Kurose."
"Oh..."
I asked her that because, in reality, Natsumi-san, the MILF Queen, is the Queen. However, because her existence had been erased, it meant Queen Yuji had never married Natsumi, and they never had their seven children. Instead, this Queen Kashumi had two daughters: one was Saki, and the pink-haired girl was Natshu.
Once the three of us finished our tea, someone entered the room. I looked up and saw Yurima and Naomi standing at the entrance.
Naomi declared, "Akane-san, let's go. The battlefield is ready. The King, the Queen, Sasukisama, and the townspeople have already gathered."
I was surprised. That fast?! It's faster than pizza delivery!
"Princess Saki, Princess Natshu, you two must come with us to the royal family seats. The battle is about to begin," a maid who was sitting silently in the corner told the princesses.
"You go, Akane-san. Our love is all yours," both princesses said to me.
On the other hand, my first two girl companions were having their own thoughts.
Naomi: We've arranged that battle...
Yurima: For Akane's sake, she will either have to join this idiot corps or deal with that comrade with the curly hair.
The princesses left with the maid, and I set out with my friends toward the battlefield.
Wait! What kind of battle is going to happen? And why is it against Princess Sasuki? Is it a battle of marriage?!
I didn't try to ask my friends because they had already told me it was a secret. We had to cross a long wooden floor lobby in the castle just to reach the battlefield.
Nearly three-quarters of an hour later, we finally arrived. It was a small field that looked like a baseball stadium. At the entrance hung a handwritten banner: 'Sanren Field.' The Chinese word Sanren means "Scattered One."
But why 'scattered'? And isn't it kind of an insult to fight a marriage battle on a field named that?
We entered the grounds. A massive crowd had gathered all around the wooden galleries. There were two special sections: one for the royal families—where I could see Saki and Natshu applauding for me—and another presumably for the judges.
"Okay, sit in the opponent's corner to the right of the field. We are heading out. You've got to win, Akane!" Naomi said, and then they left.
A few paces away was the judges' table. I was shocked to see four old hags sitting there as the judges. They looked incredibly slow with pale, weathered faces.
Can they even watch the full battle before they die of old age? Eh?
Then, I saw a cute little girl, looking to be nearly seven or eight years old, step onto the wooden battle floor. She was holding a fan spotted with a red circle on one side and a blue circle on the other.
Suddenly, I got a massive nosebleed, blood dripping from both my mouth and nose!
"Aaaaaaaah! A little girl?!" I shouted, staring at her.
The girl was genuinely cute, with black bangs framing her face. But the thing that made me bleed out was that she was wearing nothing but a stylish pink bra and panties!
"What the heck is this?!" I yelled, looking at her.
She noticed my reaction and walked right up to me. Seeing me terrified, she said, "Don't you know? It's my family tradition. In my family, everyone starts working as an announcer from the age of eight, and now it's my turn. If you're surprised about my clothes, let me tell you that this is another tradition of our clan. It dates back to the start of the Kurose clan: whenever any kind of match happens, the announcer has to wear this. I am Kiko Sato. Time to start!"
She stepped back out onto the wooden battlefield.
What kind of family does she even have?! But she does look hot for her age...
She announced, "Hello everyone! Today, a match is about to take place between our neighboring country's Princess Sasuki-sama versus the teen hagard loved by our princesses, Akane Minamoto! Let's start!"
After she announced it, we both stepped onto the floor. But when I looked at Sasuki, I was completely stunned. There stood a girl with long silver hair and sharp pink eyes, wearing a battle-costume kimono. She looked incredibly familiar, but I couldn't quite place who she was.
We both stepped forward to face each other.
Kiko declared, "Start your round!"
Right then, three maids came out carrying three platters filled with tea cups. Each plate held five cups.
Eh? Tea cups?
"It's the only round, but it's the toughest one for any shoulder," Kiko explained. "Because you have to choose the tea made by our princesses. If anyone guesses correctly, she will marry them, and if no one guesses right, then no one gets married."
"Whaaaat?!"
I saw that Sasuki had already started drinking her tea, so I quickly started too. But after draining two cups, I realized something. I stopped drinking, set the cup down on the floor, and began reading a novel that was tucked inside my kimono.
"Heh! Are you lost?" Sasuki taunted.
I didn't reply.
"Aren't you going to play?" Kiko asked.
"..." I remained silent.
Beside the stage, Naomi looked angry with me.
Suddenly, Sasuki picked up another tea cup and declared, "This is it! It's the tea of the princesses!"
"No," Kiko replied flatly. "You lose."
"Akane, what about you?" Kiko asked.
I stood up and answered confidently. "There is no tea made by them on these trays. Because they are princesses, and they genuinely don't know how to make tea. Their family would never allow them to do manual labor anyway."
Everyone fell dead silent for a moment.
Then, Sasuki burst out laughing. "HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! You've lost!"
But then Kiko raised my hand high. "Akane Minamoto is the winner!"
Instantly, the crowd erupted into applause. I spotted both of my mothers clapping happily in the crowd.
"Eh! Really?!" Sasuki gasped in disbelief.
Then I turned to Sasuki and walked toward her. She looked startled. "Wha—what are you doing?"
I caught her hands and pulled her into a kiss—this beautiful, silver-haired girl. The moment our lips touched, I realized by her style that she was Lorfa Nocturne!
Naomi, Yurima, and the princesses all ran up to me, and I kissed every single one of them to silence them.
My mothers were thrilled too. I had gotten married at the young age of twelve. And from the day of our marriage, everyone was happy until... the enemy country attacked. Caught in a devastating fire attack, all six of my brides died.
Before being reborn into this cycle, the Rebirth Goddess had informed me: "This is your Life Cycle of Harem. Every time you marry them, you are destined to die." But she had granted me a special ability to recognize my girl companions across lifetimes.
Remembering her words, I could only think back to my reply to her:
"But... does underwear still exist in that black and white world?!"
[Epilogue Notes]
OH! And... Queen Yuji was also incredibly hot—sporting short red hair, blazing red eyes, and a handsome, cold expression.
During the marriage ceremony, many people asked me how I knew the secret 'Sunawa Tou' Technique.
I simply replied, "Someone taught me in a dream, though I don't know who they were."
— END OF NO MALE WORLD ARC —