Chapter 48

[Third Person's PoV]

Earlier in the morning:

Futarou had just finished his daily quest and accepted his reward. Afterwards, he headed towards the pool and lay on a floaty, passing the day away.

"Eevee~~" Eevee called out as she emerged from the yard, jumping towards the pool with all her limbs spread out before landing on top of Futarou.

Chuckling, Futarou started to pet Eevee's chin. "Hey girl, how have you been?"

"Eevee~!" She snuggled into Futarou's neck.

Meanwhile, Tohru was sitting by the edge of the pool, lightly kicking the water with her feet, while Kanna and Raiha sat next to her, copying her actions.

His other spirits were each seen with a floaty of their own, relaxing early in the morning. Even Paimon was flying about, relaxing outside her metal vessel.

Scáthach was swinging her spear and practicing her footwork when Grayfia appeared carrying a tray of coffee, which she handed to Futarou.

"Thanks," Futarou said as Grayfia smiled and nodded.

As he took a sip, his system warned him of a message on his phone. Retrieving it from his inventory, he read:

Miku🎧: Hey, it's Miku. I want to invite you to lunch as a thank-you for saving me. Let me know when you're free.

This nearly caused him to choke on his drink.

"What's wrong?" Tohru asked, giving Futarou a strange look.

Futarou rubbed the back of his head a bit shyly before turning his phone towards them. "I think I just got invited to a date…"

"WHAT!?" Tohru, Raiha, and Voltara exclaimed simultaneously.

Futarou turned his phone back towards him and started typing.

"What are you typing as a response?" Raiha asked curiously.

"Sure, I'm available now if you're up for it," Futarou said, reading what he had written.

"What! You agreed?" Tohru said, biting her thumb nail, her dragon eyes taking on a feral look.

Hearing the commotion, Scáthach walked over and tapped the butt of her spear against Tohru's head. "Relax, would you? It's just an outing."

Tohru glared at Scáthach with her dragon eyes, holding her head, but Scáthach's glare caused her to shrink back.

"Don't tell me you were planning on monopolizing Futarou," Scáthach teased.

"So what if I was? He's the one I designated as my mate, so by clause, no one else shall have him," Tohru protested.

Scáthach let out a sigh as she shook her head. "If it were another male, I would have agreed with you and said you are within your right to set such rules in your relationship. But you're forgetting three things:

First, someone of Futarou's caliber and potential can't be tied down to just one person; it would be right for him to have more than one partner."

Before Scáthach could continue, Paimon intervened. "She's right, you know. Futarou is someone I have chosen to be King of this Kingless world, and a king has multiple wives and concubines."

"Second, from what I learned, the two of you fought, and the result ended in Futarou's victory. That means Futarou is the one who has the most say in your relationships; you have no right to impose such a rule."

"That's because I let him win! He was my benefactor, and I didn't want to end up hurting him as a result. As we fought, I realized I wouldn't have minded spending my days with him!" Tohru shouted in her defense.

Scáthach still shook her head. "Still, you deemed Futarou the winner of your duel. It doesn't matter if you were holding back or giving it your all; Futarou was still the winner because you decreed it so. That makes him your master."

"Third, based on the research I did in this reality after the apocalypse that plagued this world, people having a harem isn't strange or frowned upon. In fact, it's often encouraged as a show of strength; it shows you are powerful enough to handle all of them yourself."

Tohru let out a loud, frustrated groan in response to the points Scáthach made. She then pointed towards Futarou. "Let's have a rematch where I go all out. If I win, I forbid you from going out with another woman, and if you win, I'll even help you acquire beautiful women myself."

Futarou smiled, floating next to her before patting her head. "Let's do it after the date; I already agreed to go to that first."

Tohru gritted her teeth, causing sparks to fly between them due to their sharpness. "Very well," she said through gritted teeth.

"Now then, let's go, Master. You are going to have to change if you want to appear presentable for this date of yours," Grayfia said in a dignified manner.

As Futarou got out of the pool, he gently put Eevee down, causing her to look at him with sadness at being off of him.

Futarou then looked at Grayfia strangely. "What do you mean, 'Let's go'? I think I'm capable of getting ready myself, thank you very much."

Grayfia lifted a hand slightly. "With all due respect, Master, I was given the job of being your maid, which means it is my duty to make sure you are well-fed, dressed, and well-taken-care-of. The way you show yourself and appear before the public is a reflection of the maid's abilities. And I would not have you embarrass yourself out there, thus embarrassing me and my abilities."

"Ma'am, it's not that serious," Futarou teased in a teasing tone, awkward smile on his face.

Grayfia replied seriously, "It is to me, so let's go."

Seeing the sincerity of her actions and how much it meant to Grayfia, Futarou decided to let it go with a sigh. "Very well, let's go, my fabulous maid."

Grayfia just smiled and skipped along happily behind Futarou as they headed inside.

As they went in, Raiha got up, and Kanna looked at her in confusion. "Where are you going?"

"I have a phone call to make," she said in a serious tone as she headed inside as well, looking like she was preparing for war.

Kanna continued to look at Raiha in confusion.

Tohru then started to stand. "And where are you going?" Scáthach asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to secretly follow them," she answered shamelessly. "And you guys are going to join me."

"Huh?" they all said.

While Puck and Orion looked at each other unsure of what to say about that.

…

In Futarou's room, Grayfia laid out Futarou's outfit on the bed like a mother setting up the clothes their child would wear to school the next day.

Grayfia then motioned for Futarou to lift up his arms, which Futarou followed. As Grayfia took off his shirt, she blushed slightly as she started examining his muscles.

"Oh wow," she muttered as she slowly stretched out her hand and ran it over his abs. *Although I've seen him without a shirt, it's the first time I'm seeing it this close up.*

"Although I don't mind, I have somewhere to be, so I can spare only a few minutes," Futarou said, looking at Grayfia with an amused look.

Grayfia immediately composed herself and apologized. "Forgive me; that was unprofessional of me."

"Like I said, I didn't mind. Just ask next time, and I'll let you touch all you want," Futarou teased, which caused her to gain a red mark on her cheeks.

She immediately got back into her work mode and, like a professional, helped Futarou get dressed.

She looked him up and down for a bit before putting a hand on her chin. "Something's missing," she muttered, before licking her palm and ruffling Futarou's bowl cut.

Causing her to nod in satisfaction. "Much better; the bowl cut was too weird for what you are wearing."

"Oi," Futarou said.

Grayfia just smiled as she shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry, it's the truth. Now, on your way; you have a date waiting."

Futarou nodded and started leaving. As he left, Grayfia then detected the others following after him, causing her to let out a sigh.

…

Tohru peeked her head out from the corner of a building, wearing glasses that had a big nose and a mustache.

"Oh wow," she said, seeing Futarou for the first time since he got dressed, as she was following further behind to avoid being discovered.

From the top of her, everyone else appeared wearing the same glasses, observing Futarou leaning against the wall scrolling aimlessly on his phone.

"Oh wow indeed," they all replied, with an additional person that wasn't there with them in the morning.

"Wait a minute… Why am I here?" Erza said a bit embarrassed before taking off her glasses and looking towards Raiha.

"Isn't it obvious? Onee-chan, your boyfriend is going on a date with an unknown girl; you have to be here to watch and see how it develops," Raiha said, adjusting her own glasses and talking to Erza as if she were an idiot.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Erza shouted, a bit embarrassed. "Futarou and I have a very good, pure, platonic relationship."

"Uh huh," Raiha said, not sounding convinced. "May I remind you just said, 'Wow indeed,' while looking at my brother, so obviously you have feelings; it's only a matter of time."

Erza blushed once more. "I was swept up by the moment; plus, although we aren't dating and have a good platonic relationship, Futarou is a handsome young man, so I say my reaction is justified."

"Ah, there she comes," Voltara said.

Which caused Erza to put back on her glasses and peek out from the corner with the others.

Raiha just looked up towards Erza with a smug look, which caused Erza to blush and not say anything.

They watched as Miku nervously approached Futarou.

"She's very pretty, as expected of my brother, picking the best of the best," Raiha said, nodding her head.