What It Means to Build a Harem (2)
Anyway, I gave Karmine, who was wagging her tail furiously again as she clung to me, a big, tight squeeze.
"Mmm, I'm glad you like it!"
Karmine beamed at me and hugged me back.
"Make up for all the hugs I missed until now—hug me tons, my Hero!"
Just as she wanted, I pulled her in even tighter as she rubbed her face against my chest like crazy.
How much time passed like that? Karmine, who had hopped up and wrapped her legs around my waist, finally slid back down and declared,
"Mmm, that's enough now! I've had my fill!"
"Yeah?"
"I've savored it plenty!"
Fine then.
"Alright, Lilith next."
"What? W-Wai—mmph...!"
Why's her reaction different from mine? I grabbed the arm of Lilith, who was grumbling that from the side, and yanked her straight into a hug.
"Ngh..."
She didn't react as wildly as Karmine, but her ears turned bright red as she settled quietly into my arms. Seeing her tail sway slowly back and forth told me she was thrilled.
"What the hell are you doing all of a sudden... seriously... if you're gonna do it, why not from the start?"
She was grumbling up a storm with her mouth, anyway.
I gave her a squeeze.
I hugged Lilith just as long as I'd hugged Karmine before letting go.
Then I said,
"Hoaran, come here. Karura too."
This was back when I was still staying in the Narmer Kingdom.
When I'd confessed to Karmine about Lilith, Hoaran, and Yustitia—saying there might end up being way more women in my life besides her and Karura—she'd been shocked and asked if I'd really never had a single wife up till then.
When I said yeah, that's right, her advice to me had been about how people in the Narmer Kingdom handled their wives and husbands back in the day.
Polygamy or polyandry.
In the Narmer Kingdom, where it was normal for exceptional heroes—regardless of gender—to have even more wives and husbands, Karmine had taught me the proper way those heroes treated their spouses.
Even in a culture like Narmer's, where harems were a given for men and women alike, jealousy-fueled drama was common.
If you love someone, it's only natural to want that love returned even more fiercely.
If a husband doted extra on a new wife, the others would get jealous—that was the cute kind. But in Narmer, lover's quarrels often ended in deaths.
That said, they had ways of dealing with it.
Well, "dealing with it" sounds off.
Anyway, they had this tradition? Custom? Something like that.
In the Narmer Kingdom... back in the old days, when there were still men around.
If a guy with multiple wives hugged one, he had to hug all the others too.
Kisses, gifts, nights together—everything had to be equal.
No skimping, no favoritism.
Treat them equally, love them equally.
That was the duty any hero with multiple wives or husbands had to uphold without question, or so Karmine had told me—and it made sense.
So, since I'd hugged Karmine plenty, I had to do the same for Lilith, Hoaran, and Karura.
They loved me, and it made me so damn happy.
The least I could do was make them happy too.
If I wanted to give back even a fraction of the joy they gave me, this was how.
"Th-this is a bit embarrassing..."
Hoaran, who'd come over when I called, looked up at me and said that.
She'd seen me do it to Karmine and Lilith first, so she probably knew what was up—and sure enough, she was blushing hard.
But her tails were swaying happily anyway.
To her, I said,
"What's there to be embarrassed about? Your husband's just hugging his wife."
"Wi-wife... ngh..."
I pulled Hoaran into a squeeze, her cheeks flushing at the word "wife."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her tails puff up dramatically before swishing even faster than before.
But I resisted the urge to grab them and stroke away.
If I did that here, I'd have to start over from the beginning—petting Lilith and Karmine's tails, and Karura's wings since she didn't have any.
I held firm, even as those fluffy, tempting tails swayed like they were begging, Go on, pet me.
After hugging Hoaran plenty while fighting that impulse, I moved on to Karura—giving her a gentle squeeze since she was pregnant, but firm enough so she wouldn't feel neglected.
That's when I spotted Yustitia stumbling out of the bedroom, her hair a mess.
"...Hanjo? What're you doing out there...?"
"Perfect timing, Yustitia. Come here."
I'd planned to hug her later since she was sleeping, but this worked.
"Huh...?"
She tilted her head but came over when I called. After giving Karura her fill, I pulled Yustitia into a hug.
"Huh...? What's this all of a sudden...?"
"It's a thing."
"...Yeah, whatever... I don't get it, but okay."
I gave her a squeeze.
Yustitia wrapped her arms around my waist.
"Like this, right...?"
"Yeah."
I stroked her head, praising her quick thinking—then realized my mistake.
Karmine was already staring at me with sparkling eyes.
Not just her—Lilith, Hoaran, and Karura were all watching too.
They hadn't said a word, but from what I'd been doing, they got it. As their gazes bored into me, I pulled my hand away from Yustitia's head.
Equality...
This shit's brutal...
Managing equality in a household—even with fewer than ten people—was this tough? No wonder the World Government pulled their hair out over it.
But no choice.
I'd sworn to make them all happy—even if I couldn't make them the happiest in the world.
I didn't want them feeling down over something like this.
I've gotta step up.
After pulling away from Yustitia, I went back to Lilith and stroked everyone's heads equally.
By the time I'd hugged and petted them all the same, a good chunk of time had flown by.
Anyway, now I could finally ask what I'd been wondering.
"Didn't you go shopping? What'd you buy?"
Hoaran made an "oh crap" face at my question.
"Oh no, I forgot. I should've cooked these while they were fresh..."
Cooked?
"Just wait a bit. I'll whip something up quick."
As she said that and started pulling stuff out of the shopping basket, I shut my mouth instead of asking what the hell she'd bought.
One by one, these bizarre-looking things were piling up—tons of them.
Some were still alive, wriggling like mad.
That one's... like a turtle or something. That one's... an eel? Kinda?
Anyway, they were all huge—how the hell did they even fit in the basket?
And not just big; they looked otherworldly.
I mean, "turtle-like" and "eel-like," sure.
But the turtles and eels I knew didn't have horns or legs sprouting out.
"...You're cooking those?"p>
Those?
"Oh, these won't be cooked."
Ah, figured.
No way they looked edible, even being generous. I was relieved it wasn't food after all—then Hoaran said,
"These two have inner cores, so it's better to slice them open and extract them raw than cook 'em. Inner cores are best fresh—I'll set some aside for you."
"......"
Her casual "Perfect, just what I needed" made my head spin a little.
What kind of neighborhood mart sells living spirit beasts with inner cores?
Mandrake's the lowest-grade spirit herb you can farm, fine—but anything with a formed inner core is mid-tier at least.
Do they sell that at a mart...?
Even if they did, it's not cheap...
"Ah."
Right—Hoaran was loaded, getting fat World Government pensions.
She didn't care much for money herself—in fact, that's why she could casually drop cash on spirit herbs like it was nothing. Her accounts were probably bursting.
Hell, if there were more on the market, she'd buy crates of mid-grade ones without blinking.
And it wasn't just Hoaran. Lilith managed dispensers on top of her pension. Yustitia didn't work much these days, but her magic-engineering gig paid big...
Even Karmine, no longer pharaoh, and Karura, no longer great warrior, had piles of stuff they'd brought.
Gems and gold had crashed in value, but sell just a couple of their accessories and they'd be set for life.
"...Why the long face all of a sudden, Hanjo?"
"Nah, nothing."
I'd started feeling a bit intimidated, but then I remembered—I was rich now too.
Cash-poor at the moment, sure, but sell that staff from the pedo skeleton and I'd be swimming in it.
Just needed liquidity first.
Of course, even if I cashed it in, could I match their bank accounts? Probably not.
Anyway, I wasn't the broke debtor from before.
Well, I still owed Lilith, so technically a debtor...
Whatever.
"Okay, those two for inner cores— what about the rest?"
Those two were extra freaky-looking, but the others were no slouches either.
"Oh, these... well, you've been depleted on ki these past few days, right? They're all great ingredients for replenishing it."
"...Replenishing."
All of them. Including those two she bought for the cores.
"...Hoaran?"
"I-it's not just for that—they're all good for the body too, so... I mean, not entirely for that..."
Her face turned beet red as she stammered.
It killed any credibility.
As I stared, she blushed even harder, clutching her skirt hem, and insisted,
"I-it's true!"
If it was really true, she wouldn't be this embarrassed...
Eh, whatever.
"Yeah, I believe you."
I said it.
Even if she did buy these appetite-destroying monstrosities purely for that, I wasn't mad.
She did it for me—what was I gonna say?
If that was the case, it was my fault for not satisfying her enough.
I was the one who owed her an apology.
"Looking forward to it."
"Hanjo..."
Her ears perked up happily, twitching away.
Soon, she rolled up her sleeves and said,
"Leave it to me and wait. It'll be quick."
"Ah, I'll—no, I'll help."
"Mm, then Karura, mind prepping ingredients?"
"I shall assist as well! I too wish to cook for my Hero!"
"Karmine too...? Alright then..."
Anyway, Hoaran, Karura, and Karmine headed to the kitchen.
They'd gone shopping together and now cooking together—guess their bond had improved while I was holed up in the bedroom.
Though I knew Hoaran and Karura were good cooks, was Karmine too...?
Never seen it...
But she seemed confident. Hidden talent, maybe.
Anyway...
"...What're you looking at?"
"...Why?"
I glanced at Lilith and Yustitia, who unlike the others were still by my side, and said,
"You two just gonna sit?"
"...I can only make sandwiches, okay? And even those come out totally fucked."
Lilith huffed.
Ah.
Still sulking?
"...Still, I'd love another of your sandwiches, Lilith."
"......"
She stared at me, then said,
"...You'd just call it weird again?"
"Nah."
Now that I knew better, no way I'd say that shit.
"Fine... if you really wanna eat it that bad, I guess I could."
She seemed a bit appeased, asking Hoaran if there was bread left as she headed to the kitchen.
I turned to Yustitia, still standing there blankly.
At my look, she said,
"...Sorry, but I've never cooked a day in my life? And you know I don't even know what's tasty."
"Come on, give it a shot while you're at it."
"...Yeah, fine... if that's what you want."
Don't expect much, though.
Yustitia joined the kitchen crew too.
Hoping this brings them closer.
Doing stuff together always does.
Karmine said in Narmer, they made spouses bond by having them do activities like this.
So I figured I'd try it.
Meanwhile, while they cooked, I'd stick to the original plan and hop in the shower.