The Return spell finished, and I instantly collapsed to the ground. I felt like I had been torn apart, and then clumsily put back together. For a second, I felt like I was going to cease to exist. I instantly began casting my strongest heal spells, but I barely managed to cast one before I passed out. As I lost consciousness, I could hear my girls crying out for me.

When I woke up a bit later, I was in my bed in my mansion. I realized that all of my girls were around me. Lydia, Celeste, and Terra had returned. Elaya and Astria were there as well. To my biggest surprise, Prince Aberis and Eliana were there as well. They had various levels of worried and confused looks on their faces.

“It’s that bad huh?” I muttered, stroking my aching body.

My voice sounded high-pitched and strange. Even that had been hurt? I did feel weak. As soon as I opened my eyes and spoke, everyone seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief. It was Elaya though who approached my side and spoke.

“What happened? You used your hero ability Return. Then, what happened?’

“That man! He’s dangerous!” I tried to sit up, but Elaya pushed me back down, but then removed her hand from my chest with an awkward look.

“Yes, your girls have already mentioned him. We don’t know who he is. Perhaps he works for the Imperial Cloud Meadow?” Prince Aberis spoke. “Rather, we want to know what happened to you.”

“Me?” I blinked. “Um… I don’t know… wait… he grabbed my neck. I was afraid he was going to keep us from Returning, so I… did something.”

“Did you cut your soul in two?” Elaya demanded.

“Cut his soul!” Lydia cried out.

All the other girls started speaking at once.

“Silence!” Elaya’s commanding voice did the trick, and everyone else quieted. “Deek, did you use miasma to damage yourself?”

“I think… I think I did.” I finally got out, feeling a surge of fear. “What does that mean? Am I okay?”

“You did something very stupid, and very dangerous,” Elaya said. “What you did was chop off a piece of your soul, and sent it with Return back here. You are that soul.”

“What do you mean? Wh-where is the rest of my soul?”

“Dead. That man, he likely destroyed it shortly after you did it. Your soul was flayed. It’s remarkable you even survived.”

“Flayed… No… Master…” Celeste cried worriedly.

“It was the right action. Whoever this guy was, he’s strong. To be able to interrupt a Return in mid-use, all of you together wouldn’t have been able to defeat him.” Astria sighed.

“This was the right action.” Elaya agreed. “But the consequences…”

I gulped.” What are the consequences?”

“The majority of your soul was left behind and destroyed. We know this because we already tried to summon your soul, and it didn’t come. It’s much like someone who dies too much in quick succession. Your soul has been taxed too greatly. Had it been the other side that was sent, then you’d be in far better shape, but whatever this guy was, he had a grip on too much of your soul.

“For the immediate future, you’ll be weak. You may experience emotional changes and mood swings. Although with time, your soul will heal and grow again, you may never grow back what you lost. Only time will tell how much you did lose.”

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“…”

“I should also add… under no circumstances can you die again. Your soul in its current shape, there is no guarantee you’d be able to be resurrected from even a simple death.”

“I understand.”

Elaya nodded. “Then, it’s best you get some rest.”

“Shouldn’t we tell him?” Miki asked.

“Shhh!” Shao elbowed her.

“Tell? Tell me what?”

Elaya shot Miki an irritated look, but Miki returned it with her sense of stubbornness. There was something she wanted to say and Elaya was trying to keep it from me.

I summoned up all of my strength to made a stern demand. “Tell me… if you want…”

Somehow, I felt embarrassed as soon as I acted that way and lost all momentum. Had my competency as a leader been damaged by this? It was worse than dying, it seemed.

“Your body was in that man’s grasp. Only a small piece of your soul was transferred over.”

“What do you mean? I’m not a ghost?”

“No…” She shook her head and then looked a bit reluctant like she didn’t want to reveal something to me. “What I’m saying… is that your body had to be reconstructed, to finish the return. However, the Return magic didn’t have the proper mana to do it, so it used the only thing available.”

“Huh?”

“Perhaps it is best if we just showed him,” Astria suggested.

Elaya nodded and waved a hand, creating a mirror out of seemingly nothing. She handed it to me. I looked at her worriedly for a second, but every eye seemed to be watching me intensely for a reaction. I glanced at the mirror. I let out a breath. It was just me. I was expecting to see some lizard person or something. Wait… didn’t I look a bit… cute? My hair was a bit longer, and… I noticed something going on with my chest, so I tilted it down, then my eyes darted down. I had breasts! I tossed the mirror aside and my hands went to a certain area. Something was missing!

“I’m a girl!” I cried out, not realizing that my high-pitched voice was a girly voice.

“The mana of the girls that were returning with you was used to reconstruct your body. As a result, you were reborn as a female.” Elaya finished.

“I’m a girl!” I repeated the same thing, checking my body parts and confirming once again it was true.

It was a fact that required repeating.

“You’re a pretty cute girl!” Astria corrected, grinning slightly.

“It’s okay, Master, you’re still our Master!” Lydia tried to comfort me. “I’ll still satisfy Master’s needs!”

“It’s possible, I’ll look into an appropriate gender-bending potion.” Prince Aberis explained awkwardly. “As progressive as our country is, I’m not sure I can convince the council to allow the Princess to marry another woman.”

“N-Not saying my feelings for you are any less!” Eliana says teary-eyed. “L-look at it this way, when the baby comes, we can both breastfeed.”

“Uhhh…” I made a noise like I had been punched, and the girls all glared at Eliana, who quickly quieted herself.

“Deek, are you okay?” Terra asked worriedly.

“I’ll be okay,” I said, deciding to not think about what was between my legs right now. “What about Carmine?”

“We’ve already sent her manager a message. They will drop out after the next match. With this mysterious person under Lord Reign’s employ, it’s become too dangerous.” Shao explained. “We haven’t gotten a response, but she should be returning soon.”

“There is also some good news, you’re officially a C-ranked Adventurer now. Ruby put in all of the paperwork.” Lydia tried to give me some good news.

“That’s not the only news. We’ve also made contact with the bandits.” Shao added.

“The bandits?” I blinked.

“The bandits? In the southeast? A message was sent out to every Traveler’s Guild with an open invitation. The Bandit Hero wants to meet Reign’s End!”

“I see…”

“He’s not up for that… I mean she… I mean he!” Lydia chastised, only to grow flustered.

“Guys, I’m fine.” I said, “Just give me some Waters of Life, and a day to heal myself with my White Mage abilities, and I’ll be back on my feet.”

“You shouldn’t walk into danger like that! Don’t be so reckless.” The girls tried to protest.

“We do it every time we enter a dungeon! My soul in its current state is no different. Besides, you guys are my strength. I give you strength, and you fight for me. That’s how it’s always worked.” I said. “It’s okay… I’m scared too, but some things you need to do because they are right!”

“Ah… I guess Master hasn’t changed much after all.”

“Master…”

“Of course…”

I managed to convince the girls somehow. I’d spend a day or two resting, and then it was back to the village where our army was starting to form. We talked for only a little bit longer before Elaya ended things because she felt I needed rest. I honestly felt fine. I cast some more healing spells on myself, and soon, I didn’t even feel the weakness anymore, although I did have a feeling like my strength wouldn’t match my level, it wasn’t at a point I felt I needed to worry.