Ann and Lin came over and both looked excited by the safe. Ann didn’t know any lockpicking spells but Lin thought she would be able to open it. She took out a few tools from a pouch at her waist and started on the locks. Shadow sat on top of the safe and watched while Lin worked. Ann assured us there weren’t any magical traps on the safe.

While we waited, I explored the rest of the smithy. It looked like the creatures that attacked us had used part of it as their home. Sticks and other debris had been collected into something like a nest with some bones scattered about. The back room contained the normal blacksmith tools I expected to see and various ores and metal bars ready to be fashioned into weapons or armor.

I was no blacksmith so wasn’t too interested in any of it. Lin said something excitedly and when I looked over, she had already started on the second lock. Lux and Ann stood behind her, anxious to see what was in the safe. Smiling, I could understand their feelings and soon enough Lin had the safe open. I hurried over to look inside while everyone crowded around.

There was the expected money which consisted of gold and silver coins but also a few pieces of jewelry and a dagger which even I could tell must be magical in nature since it had runes up and down the blade. I also noticed several ingots of different colored metal. A couple were obviously gold but I wasn’t sure about the others.

There was blue and green ingots and I heard Ann gasp and mutter the names of familiar sounding fantasy metals like mithril and adamantite. I wasn’t exactly sure about the nature of the metals but knew they must be valuable so we eagerly emptied the safe to add it to our pile of loot. Everyone returned to the main room to poke around for armor and weapons.

A few pieces of armor were still usable so were snatched up. I wasn’t sure how much more the special bags could hold but I was already impressed. Everyone seemed to be finished looking around and it was getting late in the day so we decided to head back home. I considered the trip a major success as we had found a lot more than I thought we would.

We didn’t forget to grab the boar on the way home but when we got closer we could see the building we had stashed it in was being attacked by a large bear who was clawing at the door. It had greenish fur, similar to the jungle wolves so I was sure it was called a jungle bear. It was at least 10 feet high as it stood on its back legs and tried to get batter down the door we had blocked.

I wanted to forget the boar and just go home but Lux seemed to be fired up. I didn’t know if he really wanted to eat that boar meat or if he just wanted to try out his new sword and shield. In any case it was decided to kill the bear even with my objections. Ann gave us a few buffing spells before combat and then she and Lin would stay in the back and shoot it with spells and arrows. I would back up Lux. Shadow stayed with the girls and sat down to watch the fight.

The buffing spell was incredible. A light yellow glow appeared over me and I could feel myself getting stronger. It was a strange feeling but I didn’t have time to relish the sensation as Lux charged the bear. Lin and Ann’s shots hit the bear before Lux reached it as the bear was turning to face us. It roared in pain from the double blows and tried to take a swipe at Lux. He brought up his new shield and then retaliated with his sword.

I wasn’t as confident as Lux so hung back and tried to jab the bear when I saw an opening. The bear was quickly amassing wounds from Lux’s sword and my spear. The metal kite shield was holding up well and the bear couldn’t get past Lux. It wasn’t giving up however, and continued trying. It soon ran out of steam, probably due to blood loss and Lux was able to finish it off. I was shocked that the bear had been dealt with so easily since if I had been by myself I would have been killed instantly.

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We left the dead bear where it lay and hurried to get the boar and get out of the area before anything else showed up. To give us an incentive, a howl could be heard in the distance. Lin had wanted to take the bear’s fur but there wasn’t time. Evidently the magic bags had some limitation on what could be shoved into them as the items had to fit through the opening.

The rest of the trip back was uneventful although Shadow got tired of walking and jumped up on my shoulder. She was definitely getting bigger, or maybe just heavier. When we got back to the mansion I helped the girls with the boar while Lux emptied the bags and started putting away the loot and then started taking care of his equipment. Shadow went to take a nap. All in all, it had been a good day. If we could get somewhere where we could sell all the loot, then we would certainly be rich.

The boar meat meal was amazing, especially after just eating fish for so long. I could understand now why Lux was intent on fighting the bear for it. After the meal I checked on my equipment before wiping myself down at the well. I was too tired to try and fill the tub up. I returned to my room to discover Ann already asleep in my bed. I could only shrug and get in bed next to her. She had snuck into my room so often I should be used to it by now.

Even though I was tired I had trouble going to sleep. I don’t know if it was the presence of Ann or not. Usually I fell asleep first and she snuck in without me noticing. As I lay awake I heard my door open and I was instantly on guard, waiting for Lux to attack. Instead the door closed again and I could feel someone getting into bed on the other side of me. “Lin, what are you…” I began to ask but she put her finger to my lips, not wanting me to wake up Ann. She just smiled and hugged my arm while snuggling up next to me. The presence of both girls in my bed didn’t help me get any sleep that night.

Both girls were in a good mood in the morning but I needed a nap. Ann didn’t seem to mind finding Lin in my bed for some reason. I thought it was strange but maybe it was just my Earthly sensibilities. I really had no idea what the culture was like in this world as the books I had read didn’t go into those kinds of details. I wasn’t much of a lady’s man back on Earth so wasn’t used to all the attention. Of course, me being the only eligible bachelor around probably had something to do with it.

I thought both girls were cute but if I was going to get closer with Lin it would help if we both spoke the same language. That would take a lot more studying on my part. I was still tired but luckily there wasn’t anything too strenuous planned today. Ann and Lin wanted to inspect all the items we recovered while Lux and I smoked the rest of the boar meat so it would last longer. There was plenty left even after the big meal last night.

As I helped Lux with the boar meat my tired mind wandered. I didn’t really know either girl that well so couldn’t say I loved either of them yet. My guess was my hero status from being summoned also had something to do with their affection. I still didn’t feel very heroic and Lux was way stronger than me. Seeing him fight that bear was something else. I didn’t know what he would do if he found out I was dating one or both of his daughters. I still didn’t know if I wanted to date both of them at the same time. It sounded like a bad idea to me and I didn’t know if I could handle two girlfriends.

I never did understand how harem protagonists did it. It had been a while since I was in a relationship and that one hadn’t lasted very long. If I screwed something up it wasn’t like we could separate very easily since we all depended on each other to stay alive in the survival situation we found ourselves in. My head started to hurt from all the questions running through it so after we finished with the boar meat I vowed to rest.