My Wives Want to Attend the Academy
* A moment later, Liera woke up. The good news was that she didn't go berserk again upon awakening. Knowing her as I did, she was probably biding her time for a more certain opportunity after that one failure—I'd have to stay on guard.
She looks so pitiful...
Honestly, I did feel sympathy for them. Imagine your husband dying at thirty, giving up everything you had to chase him across worlds, only to find he'd forgotten every feeling he once had for you. Even I'd feel my heart tearing apart in that situation. Knowing their stories, how could I not grow fond of them?
But was that fondness love? I had my doubts. Frankly, developing true love for women I'd known for just a few hours would make someone extraordinary. Sure, that kind of love existed, but it wasn't me. With each of my ex-wives, we'd built deep emotional bonds over years before tying the knot. Physical passion mattered, but spiritual connection was far more important.
Liera's desperate final lunge at the end? That came from the profound emotional intimacy we'd shared—not something she'd do with just anyone.
"Alright, let's eat first and then talk. You all must be hungry, right?"
I seated my ex-wives and Seung-ah at the table and eyed the chicken Shin-woo had brought. He'd gotten one bird from my favorite brand and one from Seung-ah's—his own favorite was left out in consideration for us.
Guess I owe him a proper meal later. The guy hadn't even gotten a single piece, so a restaurant outing was in order.
For now, I popped the chicken into the microwave.
Beep. Beep.
It was fresh enough that a quick reheat made it piping hot. I brought it to the table and handed out plastic gloves to each of them.
"Put these on and eat it by hand—peel off the meat like this."
I slid into the empty center seat naturally and started digging in myself.
"It's just flour-coated and fried chicken, but it's delicious!"
"Not even the imperial palace had flavors like this!"
"So good..."
Shin-woo's anticipated reaction to otherworldly beauties' first taste of K-chicken was right here. Even I had to admit, beautiful women devouring it with such glee would rack up a million views easy.
We weren't stuffed, but the chicken filled us just right. Afterward, we gathered around the living room table.
In the awkward silence where no one dared speak, I broke the ice.
"Ha-yeon, can you start? Tell us how you got here."
I figured starting with the first world I'd gone to made sense, so I directed the question at her.
"Right after our last night together, when you vanished, I summoned every sorcerer in the cult. In my view, crossing dimensions fell under sorcery, not martial arts."
I agreed—dimensional travel seemed more like magic than kung fu.
"Of course, they'd all specialized in combat or harm spells; none had studied interdimensional ones. So I ordered them to scour every sorcery tome in the cult for answers."
To those sorcerers, it must've been like a bolt from the blue. They were already drained from their usual research, and now this new field? But no one would've dared refuse the supreme leader—the Heavenly Demon herself.
Refusal meant instant death.
"We searched and searched until we found it: a dimensional travel spell, along with the rare materials needed to cast it. I commanded our elites to gather them—ice crystals from the North Sea Ice Palace, transcendent herbs from the Southern Beast Palace, that sort of thing."
Now it was the experts' turn. The cult's top fighters mobilized across the central plains for those ingredients.
"Everything came together except one thing: your coordinates. We just couldn't lock them down. The spell warned it'd cost most of my power, but that hardly mattered."
That explained why she'd weakened to C-rank. Losing most of her strength—and abandoning all those bonds? Massive risk.
"After three years of waiting, your coordinates finally pinged. I handed the Heavenly Demon position—and the sacred art—to one of the elders, then crossed over."
"Wait... so from the moment I vanished until you arrived here, it took a full three years?"
My seventy-seven years... were just three to her?
"Yes... Is there a problem?"
"No, nothing."
I didn't want to worry her, and honestly, time dilation wasn't a big deal. Shorter wait was better than longer, anyway.
"What about you, Estelle? How'd you make it here?"
Next up: Runeterra, the world of the saintess.
"After Oppa vanished, I asked the Goddess. She said you'd reincarnated to another world via another god's power—could she send me there too?"
Communication eased after the Demon King died, probably because he'd been blocking it.
"She said yes, if I sacrificed most of my holy power. But she couldn't pinpoint your coordinates. I searched on my own too, but no luck."
Again, my position had foiled the search.
"Two years later, she said your coordinates locked in. Before they faded, I messaged my old comrades via crystal orb and jumped. Oh, Ludric says hi—wishes you well."
The hero with the spear mastery, Holy Lance Hero. Married to the empire's princess, I recalled.
"So you waited about two years after I left?"
"Yeah. I counted every day."
Estelle: two years.
"And you, Liera? How'd you reach our world?"
"After you disappeared, darling, I asked the allied magitech empire for help. Anything they wanted in exchange for every scrap of dimensional travel info."
A world of two empires and ten kingdoms; the magitech one was tight with our fledgling kingdom. We'd solved a major crisis for them pre-founding, so they backed us heavily—pragmatic as they were.
"They'd researched it for ages, nearly complete. I helped finish it myself."
I could guess the rest.
"All we needed was your coordinates. They wouldn't lock. I was going mad, but on the first anniversary of your vanishing, they appeared. I passed the throne to Lord Belheim and cast the spell."
Liera: one year.
Ha-yeon: three. Estelle: two. Liera: one. Just from my reincarnations? Or some divine meddling from the god of my Five Lives? Unknowable for now.
"Alright, my turn. I'll tell you everything."
I detailed my four past lives in depth, plus how this final one was going so far. Seung-ah, knowing none of it, listened with shining eyes especially intently.
"So Yu-won, you're not yet of age, and you're heading to the academy for exams soon?"
"Yeah. One week left."
"Meaning at least three years there?"
"Pretty much. Gotta graduate to hunt freely. Plus, I want to make some friends."
I had two close ones, but the rest of my network was pathetic. Contacts: just Shin-woo, Seung-ah, their parents, middle school homeroom teachers. That's it?
"I wanna go too..."
Liera muttered something odd.
"Huh...? You want to attend the academy, Liera?"
The other two reacted.
"In that case, this seat wishes to attend as well."
"Me too!"
Ha-yeon and Estelle now wanted in. Sure, one week till exams, and otherworlder special laws allowed it—but only for those seventeen or under!
My wives are at least twenty-nine!
"Your ages..."
They glared like they wanted to kill me. First time I'd seen that post-marriage look. I cowered instantly.
"Age? We can fudge that during otherworlder registration."
"Someone like me could easily pass for seventeen..."
"Academy... wanna go."
My ex-wives brazenly declaring they'd lie about their ages to enroll. How do I stop this bulldozer?
Then Seung-ah grabbed my shoulder.
Right, Seung-ah—you'll have a way out of this.
I turned expectantly.
"Give up... It'll be easier."
Even she had no solution.
Last hope: academy entrance exams weren't easy. Their combat sense would ace practicals, but theory? Mastering Korean and cramming for written tests in a week? Impossible.
Impossible... right?
It had to be.