I didn’t see the executives when we left but I decided not to ask them what they did with them, especially when their screams suddenly stopped unexpectedly.

I assumed the girls killed them and probably had Katsuki incinerate their bodies or something so I left it at that.

Like I said, we’ve been doing this for an entire night and I even had to entertain three goddesses for a while after that, so the only thing I was concerned about was getting into a nice soft bed right now.

It took almost another half a day for us to get back to civilisation and by then, I was ready to just dive into the closest bed and knock myself out.

But I still managed to haul myself to the Guild first and reported the success of the Request before I dragged myself back to the inn to collapse.

Well... The girls were exhausted in a different sense where they needed some loving so I told them to go ahead and do whatever they wanted with me while I slept.

I was fully expecting the girls to just jump on me and ride me while I was knocked out but... When I woke up, I was still naked but there were no signs of any lovemaking around me, oddly enough.

The sheets hadn’t been changed either so it wasn’t like they cleaned up after the fact.

Apparently, the girls ended up just cuddling me to sleep instead of doing it with me, which I thought was really cute.

Anyway, it’s a new day once again and I got the girls to gather around me... After a quick romp in the morning as a way to compensate for last night.

"So... I suppose we should plan for our next step?" I asked, looking at my girls in turn. "Where should we head to next?"

Delmare tilted her head, "Since we’re already here... Shouldn’t we visit the capital as well?"

Katsuki nodded, "Our path would take us towards the Elhiria Republic which would require us to pass through the capital city as well."

I turned to Katsuki, "Hmm... Anything I should know before we head there?"

"Mistress should know what you have seen in this village... It would be several times more prominent in the capital city..."

Ah... She must be talking about all the pubic sex and stuff... Well, I guess that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

"Shall we set out then? Or should we find an escort Request that is also heading towards Keminomi Capital City?"

Katsuki shook her head, "I already checked in the morning, Mistress. There are no escort missions heading towards that location."

"Well, that’s unfortunate. I guess we’ll just have to make our own way there then. Are we ready to leave?"

"All ready, Mistress."

I stood up from my seat and nodded at my girls, "Then let’s head out, shall we?"

*

We’re back on the road once again with Katsuki leading us through the forest.

Since we weren’t escorting anyone this time, we didn’t need to worry about protecting someone outside of ourselves nor did I need to hide my Shadow Guards so I had them spread themselves out to escort us instead.

Even though there were a few monsters that appeared nearby, none of them managed to get past my Shadow Guards and they cleaned them up without affecting us.

And since we weren’t on a Request either, we could also just take it easy too.

Not too easy though, as this was still monster territory so it wouldn’t be a good idea to let our guards down just because Eins and the others were keeping watch.

As seen from the case with Carrey, they were not perfect.

We reached another one of those trading posts just as night fell and this one was noticeably bigger and more populated than the previous trading posts we had been to on our way to Shippo village.

I suppose the trading posts located closer to the cities would expect more traffic going and leaving from those places and thus were built to be bigger to accommodate the larger traffic flow.

In fact, this trading post in particular even had wooden walls with guards watching the entrance as well.

I would have thought it was another village if it wasn’t for the fact that there was only a single large building erected behind the walls with the rest of the area being taken up by tents that travellers had pitched.

That sight was enough to tell me that this was a trading post and not a village.

The guards were also not interested in checking anyone that was entering or leaving the place and seemed to just be there to watch out for monsters.

But even then, I saw the same type of talismans stuck on the walls which should repel monsters anyway so I wonder if they were even necessary.

We did our usual thing where we set up our own camp in our own corner within the walls and a question came to mind.

"Katsuki... There’s so many people here and yet somehow we never see any other travellers aside from that one time with Albert. Why is that?" I asked.

"Because it isn’t just a single path that we can follow, Mistress. There are multiple of those carvings that travellers could follow. And it’s also safer to travel separately instead of a big group."

"But Albert?"

"Merchants like him have no choice so they would hire guards as well since they would expect their group to be attacked. But for other travellers, they would mostly try to avoid other people if they can help it. I had also been actively avoiding other groups as well, Mistress."

"Wait, you were?"

"Yes. On our way here, we passed by six other groups and I made sure to take detours to avoid running into them."

"Is it worth the trouble to do that though?"

"For most people, it is, Mistress."

Hmm... I guess this is also just a custom of theirs here so who am I to argue?

Speaking of which, there seems to be some kind of event happening near the trading post building as people were gathered around in front of it and several shouts could be heard.

What’s going on over there?

My curiosity must have shown on my face because Katsuki asked, "Shall I go and find out, Mistress?"

I nodded and she disappeared from her spot, leaving me with my other girls who were still in the middle of setting up our tents.

I would have helped but they have always insisted that I shouldn’t be involved in such tasks because they ’would be too distracted’ or so they claimed.

A minute passed and Katsuki reappeared where she had disappeared from earlier.

"Mistress. It seems like there is a challenge being held over there right now."

I tilted my head, "A challenge? What kind of challenge?"

"A combat challenge, Mistress. There is some Mercenaries that are challenging people to have bouts with them with promises of money for those that can beat them."

"Where?!" Odeta cried out, the Amrap suddenly appearing beside me like she teleported and making me jump a little from surprise. "Where are they fighting?!"

I gave her a look, "You’re not planning on actually joining are you, Odeta?"

"Wahahaha! Of course I am, Sister Aster! If they are putting out such a challenge, they must be confident of their abilities right? That means they must be strong! I want to challenge them!"

Hmm... I suppose I don’t mind her going to challenge them but let’s just go and see what it’s about first before I decide if it’s a good idea or not.

I told the others I would be going to check the event out with Odeta and Katsuki before the three of us went over to the crowd in front of the building.

As we got closer, I could hear the sound of metal clashing against metal which meant that whoever was being challenged must be using a weapon of sorts.

We managed to find a spot where we could peek into the circle that the crowd was surrounding and I realised that it was a rather beautiful female Trasif with long blonde hair currently fighting against a male Nekomata with spiky black hair.

The Trasif was using a halberd that she was swinging around elegantly like it weighed nothing while the Nekomata was using a longsword that he showed remarkable experience in using.

The Trasif swung the butt end of the halberd at the Nekomata and he ducked under it before dashing forward, aiming to get past the Trasif’s guard.

She didn’t panic and pulled the halberd back with surprising speed, surprising her opponent as the blunt end of the halberd ended up striking him in the side and sending him rolling onto the ground.

Before the Nekomata could get up, he realised the bladed part of the halberd was now resting on his shoulder.

He sighed, "It is my defeat."

"Woaaahhh!! That’s already eight wins in a row!"

"Damn it! I lost money again!"

"Can anyone even win?!"

...

Yes, yes, Odeta, no need to keep looking at me like that... Go ahead and challenge her...