“Lightning Crush! Inferno Blast! Shatter Punch!” Ileena, Flamiris and Flavia were unleashing hell on the Pincer Ants, with Narias, Growly and Nicky barely needing to fight at all.

Ahh… I suppose they haven’t gotten over it yet… Narias thought in his head.

“Ah, wow. That was… great. You killed all the Pincer Ants by yourselves… again,” Narias complimented his girlfriends, rubbing the back of his head and smiling sillily.

The Magic Research club’s team was finally exploring the Magic Dungeon and they were on the third floor right now. With the tournament being over and the classes resuming to normal again, the students were free to apply and register to explore the Magic Dungeon once again. The number of students wanting to go to the dungeon has tripled or even quadrupled which meant some teams had to wait until they were allowed to enter the dungeon, mainly due to the schedule and workload for the available Guides. Fortunately for the Magic Research club, their club had a Magic Dungeon Guide of their own. Narias was a fully fledged dungeon Guide, so he and his friends could go to the dungeon any time they wanted. Well, except when they were locked out of it and had to wait until the dungeon would let them enter again.

Thanks to Narias being a Guide, his team could go into the dungeon the moment they were ready. He had to register and receive the approval from the academy first of course, but Narias being a Guide could choose the time when they would go himself. And so, the first thing Narias had done after the Magic Power Games were over was to register for the Magic Dungeon exploration. Well, almost the first thing that is. Something else had to be done before then. Before they went into the dungeon, Narias decided to make a big announcement to his girlfriends. The big announcement being Milenna expecting his child.

Belinda and Estella already knew about Milenna being pregnant from the last meeting at Jean’s office, but Narias had still received some heat from both of them for not telling them personally beforehand. A bigger worry for Narias was how his younger girlfriends would react, especially Flamiris. She had a fiery temper, after all. To Narias’s biggest surprise however, Flamiris had the calmest reaction out of all three. Not that she didn’t say anything, because she did, but it was in line with the Mastermind Pervert theme only on a much higher level.

Regarding the other two of his girlfriends, Flavia became the most excited one out of the three upon hearing the news. She was very happy about Milenna becoming pregnant and the first thing she had said was she will have six kids with Narias herself. That got everyone’s attention in an instant and made Narias squirm in his seat too. Ignoring everyone’s perplexed facial expression Flavia simply declared that she comes from a family of six kids herself, and since growing up with five other brothers was so much fun for her, she wouldn’t want less kids of her own either.

Ileena was the one who became the most flustered out of the three and it showed. She was speechless for the first few minutes, but calmed down shortly after. She was neither snappy like Flamiris nor as jumpy as Flavia, yet she had a very unusual look in her eyes, one that Narias had never seen before. During the short stay that Milenna was visiting them at their student club’s building, Ileena wasn’t leaving Milenna’s side even for a second. She wasn’t pushy or anything and was conducting herself in a very ladylike manner overall. However, Narias couldn’t hear what the two of them were talking about for the most part because he was pressed against the wall, almost literally, by his other four girlfriends, Belinda, Estella, Flavia and Flamiris, who were fighting for his attention while trying to get him to tell them how many kids Narias would want to have in the future. Needless to say, Narias chose to say he will need to think about it than to give them a concrete answer at the time.

So, Milenna will be moving in with my mom. That’s good news. It will make things for both of them easier. Narias remembered that one detail when he was talking to Milenna in regards to where she will be living after leaving the academy. Right, I should probably focus on our dungeon exploration right now. I need to watch over Ileena, Flavia and Flamiris.

“Are you three ok? Maybe we should take a break now?” Narias suggested after yet another cave room was cleared of all the Pincer Ants.

“No way. I can still keep going,” Flamiris instantly refused.

“My muscles are just starting to warm up,” added Flavia, not willing to stop just yet.

“We had a long break after killing the second boss, so it would be prudent to still keep going until we find a Supply Point room,” Ileena agreed with Flamiris and Flavia, adding a seemingly very reasonable argument.

“Yes, but…” Narias wanted to disagree, but it was evident his girlfriends wouldn’t listen.

“I believe the only way for Ileena, Flamiris and Flavia to stop will be to become too tired to walk,” Nicky said jokingly when Narias walked back to where Growly and Nicky were. Growly had found a Soft Steel Ore deposit and had just finished extracting it.

“Ahh, but that… wouldn’t be good,” Narias said, worry jumping on his face.

“Becoming too tired can lead to injuries. Monsters on the third floor are dangerous,” Growly offered a fair warning.

“I was just joking, ok?” Nicky exclaimed, pouting her cheeks.

“Hey, what are you dilly dallying over there? It’s time to go!” Flamiris shouted from almost the other side of the cave room.

“Oh man… Guess I have no choice. Wait a moment. I’ll go talk to them,” Narias told Growly and Nicky before rushing to catch up with his girlfriends. “Wait you three, we’ll be taking a break now.”

“Huh? What? But we can still keep going,” Flavia protested.

“Yeah. The monsters aren’t that strong here anyway,” Flamiris joined in.

“That’s not the point. You need to rest before you become too tired and monsters inside the Magic Dungeon are dangerous,” Narias insisted.

“Flavia and Flamiris are right. We can handle the Pincer Ants easily now. I say we can still go deeper into the dungeon before needing to take a break,” Ileena wasn’t giving in either.

Seriously? I know you want to show how strong the three of you are and you’ve already proven that to me. Sigh… What do I do? Narias knew what was going on, but he was worried that if he lets them keep going, they might actually get hurt and that’s the last thing he wanted to happen. He needed to think of something to talk some reason into them or else. I could use my authority as a Guide to force them to listen to me, but that might make them become upset and fight even more intently after the break. I have to think of something to make them want to relax and take it easy. Oh, I know… An idea jumped inside Narias’s head.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Right, ok. If that’s what you want. I was just thinking to talk to you about where I could take you all on a date after we return from the Magic Dungeon, but since you’re insisting on continuing our dungeon exploration, we can talk about it later. I just hope I won’t forget what I want to tell you until we stop for a break,” Narias said, his words instantly making his girlfriends perk up. “Ok, let’s continue, shall we?”

“Ah, wa… wait, wait, wait. I… I think I would like to take… ach… uh… a break now. Yes, a break now would be good,” Flavia stopped him, trying to speak so fast she was stumbling over her own words.

“I believe it would be very reasonable to not push ourselves too much. We don’t know what awaits us deeper in the dungeon, so it is better to be cautious,” Ileena said, adjusting her glasses while trying to hide her charming flush.

“For sure. We need to have some rest or do you want us to collapse right where we stand from exhaustion, you Crazy… Forceful Mastermind?” Flamiris pointed her finger at Narias’s chest before averting her face away and crossing her arms in front of her. Flamiris crinkling her nose at the end made her look absolutely cute.

You three… Narias tilted his head to the side before narrowing his eyes.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that, you, Mastermind Pervert,” Flamiris shot at him when she noticed Narias looking at her, knowing what his look meant.

“Come on, you three, let’s join Growly and Nicky,” Narias smiled to his girlfriends.

“So, which one of us will you take on a date first, partner?” Flavia asked the moment they sat down to rest, her eyes sparkling with a hopeful glow.

“I say the one who kills the most monsters should be the one to go on a date with Narias first,” Flamiris offered a seemingly easy solution to that.

“I wasn’t counting but I am certain I have killed the most monsters on the way here,” Ileena made a bold statement.

“Say what? It was definitely me. I burned many more monsters with my fires than anyone else here,” Flamiris begged to disagree.

“Hey, hey. Please, stop. I will definitely not gonna choose who to go on a date with by how many monsters they have killed. You three need to calm down, ok?” Narias intervened, also raising his voice a little. He thought taking a break will cool his girlfriends off, but they were as intense and as focused on monster killing as before. “Listen, I understand you are a little… emotional after learning that Milenna is pregnant, but your conduct right now is a little off putting. And it makes me worry about you as well. We’re fighting monsters here and if you keep behaving the way you do, I will have no choice but have us turn around and go back home. I will even use my authority as a Guide to do that if I have to.” Narias couldn’t allow for his girlfriends to act like that anymore.

“Ah, wait… no, I wasn’t…” Flavia wanted to say something, but couldn’t think of an excuse to justify herself.

“You wouldn’t,” Flamiris puffed up.

“Try me,” Narias said with the most expressionless look on his face just waiting for Flamiris to push his buttons.

“Eek!” Flamiris exclaimed, realizing Narias was very serious this time.

“I’m… really sorry, Narias,” Ileena apologized after a short moment of silence. “I acted very immature all this time.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry too, I… didn’t want to make you worry,” Flavia said, scratching her head and looking away.

“Sorry. I will behave, ok?” Flamiris added, pursing her lips and burning from embarrassment as well.

“It’s ok. I’m… not upset, I just… worry about you all.” Narias said, relaxing a little. “Now, regarding our date. I understand that you’d rather go on a date with me one at a time which is quite reasonable. I’d like to spend some time with each one of you separately as well. However, going to El’Roonst after the classes would be too late and since we now can use one of the academy’s arenas to train, Saturday is a no go, because we agreed we’d train together on Saturdays. Besides, we have more club members at our club now and some of them are first-year students, so they will need some guidance from us too. That leaves only Sunday as our free day of the week. I could take one of you on a date each Sunday, but that would mean two of you would have to wait a week or two until we can go on a date together.”

“I don’t mind waiting, partner,” Flavia said. “I might be lucky to go first, whichever way you decide who will go first on a date with you of course, but… I can wait…” She added, rolling her eyes.

“Yes, that is a sensible approach, I believe,” Ileena agreed to it too.

“If there’s no other way,” Flamiris sort of agreed too, but it was evident all three of them would want to be the first ones to go on a date with Narias, because of how long they would need to wait if they were second or third.

“There is an alternative too, but…” Narias added, making all of their eyes jump on him with a lightning speed.

“Yes?!” Ileena, Flavia and Flamiris asked almost at the same time.

“Well…” Narias took a moment to think it through before speaking. “We could go to Sally’s Magic Diner at the student campus for a short date each or I could… or you could… I mean, we could visit each other at our dorm rooms. Not necessarily to spend the night, but-“

“YES! LET’S DO THAT!” All three of them exclaimed together again.

“Huh? Ah, yes, ok, but I was about to suggest something else too,” Narias still wanted to add something.

“No, no, no. It’s ok. Let’s do just like you said, partner,” Flavia quickly intervened, interrupting whatever Narias was about to say.

“I agree. Let’s have a date at Sally’s Magic Diner and then go to spend the rest of the… evening at someone’s room. I wouldn’t mind you… staying overnight in my room, Narias, but I don’t want to sound pushy,” Ileena was speaking with her eyes closed, pretending she was adjusting her glasses to hide her being rather flustered.

“Hey, I will definitely be staying at your place overnight,” Flamiris declared point blank, yet her cheeks were red too. “Or you can stay at my place too.”

“I could cook a dinner for you myself, actually, wearing an apron and all, but we can go to Sally’s diner too if that’s what you want,” Flavia was quick to slide in a suggestion of her own.

“Yes, ok. I don’t mind. It’s just that… staying at someone’s dorm might cause an unnecessary commotion and I wouldn’t want to cause any trouble, especially for other girl students at your dorms,” Narias said.

“But it is not against the rules to visit someone at their dorm. Besides, we’re dating,” Flavia said and she was correct.

“I know that, but still…” Narias smiled.

“I know. How about the room on the third floor at our student club?” Ileena suggested suddenly. “We could use it as… as our date room if we were to stay late in the evening while on a date and we wouldn’t be disturbing anyone while… sleeping… if we were to stay longer that is.”

“Hey, that’s a totally wicked idea. We could take a bath if we wanted to as well,” Flamiris grinned maniacally. “I like it. Let’s do that.”

“Cool. We have a kitchen too. That means I could cook you a dinner there as well,” Flavia added before becoming worried all of a sudden. “Oh, wait. I wouldn’t be able to… cook the dinner… I mean, cook the dinner the way you like me to cook for you, since someone would be able to enter the club building and walk in the kitchen while…” Flavia started stuttering for some reason, poking her index fingers at one another too.

“That’s not a problem. I’ll have the keys to our club building be made for all of us to have and we’ll make a rule that everyone has to leave our club building by a certain time in the evening too,” Ileena saved the situation by making a rule on the spot.

“Yes! Thanks, Ileena,” Flavia almost jumped from how happy she was to hear Ileena say that.

“Hah, way to go, Ileena. Now we just need to decide who will go on a date with you first, Mastermind Hero,” Flamiris said, showing Narias a sly grin.

“Well, ok… I just thought I’ll tell you what else I had in mind regarding our date before we decide on that,” Narias still wanted to share what he wasn’t able to say earlier.

“I say this way is the best way,” but Flamiris didn’t want to listen.

“Yes, partner. I think your current suggestion works best,” Flavia agreed with Flamiris too.

“Indeed. I am really glad you offered us to go on a date with you the way you did,” Ileena wanted to keep the current option as well.

“Right, if you insist. I guess… I mean, Estella has a Hot Springs Bath at her house, and since I have enjoyed it so much, I wanted to suggest for us going to the Scarlet Sunset Hot Springs on Sunday, but if you want to stay at the academy and have our date there, that’s ok too,” Narias somehow managed to slip in the thing that he wanted to say before, agreeing to go on a date with his girlfriends one at a time by staying at the campus in the end.

“Yes, let’s go to the Scarlet Sunset Hot Springs this Sunday!” Ileena, Flavia and Flamiris declared basically all at the same time… again.

You three… hah… Narias had a very silly smile on his face… again. I guess… that’s settled then.