Even though I always knew it was a possibility that the women I'm interested in would also want to see people of the opposite sex, especially in a poly relationship, it still causes me a bit of shock. We might need to discuss it more, but I feel that’s only right if we are to be in an equal relationship. Even if I may prefer that the women I see only see other women…

But this seems to set off another fit of laughter, with her pointing at me, acting in a way I’ve never seen her do.

“Hahahaha, you should see your face, James! You really believed me and accepted it too! You’re too amazing, hahahaha!”

Well, I’m glad she’s taking enjoyment out of my…

… wait. She says ‘I really believed her’.

Does that mean that she was just playing around?

Regardless of my inner turmoil, it still takes her a bit more time to calm down. But once she does, she explains what she means.

“I should say that I still do hold some interest in other men, of course. But there’s no other one that I would truly aspire to be with other than you. Especially considering that no one else would ever even ask that in concern for their partner. Especially not in your position.”

I see. Part of her openness with all of this is that she genuinely feels comfortable around me, something that you normally can’t get in this world. Unless you are extraordinarily lucky.

Her eyes draw me back in, as they get serious again, locking onto mine.

“Even saying that, you wouldn’t want me to be with any other man, right?”

This is unfair to her. I know it is. For me to have access to so many women, but asking them to restrict themselves to just me.

I don’t care how normalized it is here. It just doesn’t feel right.

Especially since I’ve never been in a poly myself.

However, Ai brings me back from the growing guilt I feel.

“I want more women in our lives, but honestly, I don’t care too much about other men. You already know my experience in that realm. And from what I talked with them about, my sister and Shi Ji are the same. It’s not about the option, it’s about the person. No matter how high of cultivation they have.”

Her voice goes a little lower for the next part, and I lean a bit in to hear her better.

“You always consider us, James. Always. So, I’m going to make sure you are surrounded by people who do the same for you. Who wants what you want. Because I already know you would do the same for them. So, that even if we can’t be there, they can.”

…Something doesn’t sound right about how she said that.

“Ai, what do you mean?”

“James, I’m sorry, but could we… talk about it later?”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

I don’t think that later is going to come on this one. But even my scan is telling me to back off.

What the hell could it be?

I nod my head to her question, eliciting a flurry of movement in front of me, resulting in a tight hug.

“Thanks, my love. I knew I could trust you.”

…

…

But what the heck is it?

She gives me a smile before excusing herself.

And just as she leaves, I realize she was the first of the three to openly reciprocate my terms of loving them.

I scarcely have an instant to contemplate it, as Sofia, the new hospital administrator, speeds around the corner, her corpse-like skin and a vine plant still writhing inside her open chest cavity.

She’s on a mission.

“Master James. I need you in Sector A4. Please move this way, if you could.”

In the politest, yet most forceful way I’ve experienced in this world, she grabs my arm, presses it firmly to her and yanks me over to the aforementioned sector.

And that's how I discovered that the rest of my day would involve teaching the staff how to handle a sudden demonic plague pandemic before it escalates into a bigger issue.

That’s right, a person who could start off a whole, incurable pandemic was brought into the hospital from the outside. Of course, I permitted this because I had given instructions to staff and rescue crews to assist the sect, as necessary.

The scariest part is, is that I’m pretty sure that this was a purposeful action instigated by outside forces, looking to probe the sect’s defenses. Which is a regular occurrence, typically handled by the Fortress of Healing, the sect’s main healing institution.

While I was still here, I’ve been allowing a small portion of the Fortress of Healing’s patients to come here instead.

Something which I will drastically reduce in scope, while I’m gone. Especially since it seems this person’s condition ‘slipped’ past the filter. I’ll be writing Master Flowing Waters about it, so he can handle the ‘leak’.

I do NOT need all my people to die mysteriously, while I’m in another city.

Just in case, I should leave a communicator here. It’ll be awkward, but maybe I should reach out to Sister Nuan to see if she has an extra communication jade slip. I know I’ve left some basic communicators within the group, but we should have something more in-depth in case of an emergency.

Which is when I soon discover that, once again, Sister Nuan had already anticipated such an issue.

I detect a substantial stack of them in my tower. Just waiting to be used, along with a note on top of it.

“Don’t worry, my sweet disciple, I’m sure you’ll remember this before you leave.”

… how does she do it every time?

Though, I guess it is kind of obvious in a way. There’s just so much going on that it’s a little difficult to keep track of it all. Thank goodness for Sister Nuan.

After rushing back to the tower, I spend the rest of the day distributing the tokens to the different areas of my fortress. Namely the main towers, production buildings, hospital, and several trusted people in the group, suggested by the three who will be training and watching over the fortress while I’m gone.

Xu Ah, Sofia, and Shi Ji.

Of course, they get their own slips, as well.

Which naturally leads me into their individual trainings. Namely, giving them instructions on how to handle certain situations, preparing them for future, inevitable ones, as well as emergency procedures.

Because you always need a plan B through XYZ. For the things that they shouldn’t know yet, but will need in the moment of a situation, I create a panic scroll with instructions for when to open.

As the night falls, I finally start feeling that I am adequately prepared to go on the trip.

Which brings up another thought on a last idea of what I could do to prepare my group.

Something so large that I didn’t consider I would have the time to do.

But with Sister Nuan’s help… I might just be able to pull it off.

On my side, I rush from place to place, grabbing materials from the storehouses on site, and moving them over to the massive arena that I was training so many people at. Contacting Building set pieces and defensive areas. Bunkers and open spaces. Creating talismans of summoning, elixirs, and poisons.

Traps and mindless creatures from deep underground.

And in the center of it all, I place a seat.

My seat.

With a smile on my face, I know it’s time for the group to experience the typical MMORPG experience.

What it’s like to fight a Raid Boss.