The stuffiness of the air subsides as we make our way upwards.

We at last make our way outside. It’s really damn cold out here now, a stark contrast to the warmth of earlier. I guess deserts are like that.

The lagoon sloshes silently around my feet. It is still floating with corpses. I wonder why these ones have not dissolved into flames like the skeletons do?

"What... what happened here!?" Exclaims Yuuzu.

"Elijah happened." Aria snickers.

Yuuzu looks momentarily aghast, with creased brows, but nods. It has been an upwards journey of shocks for her, hasn't it?

I stop and take a deep breath of the air. It's got a weird tinge to it, presumably due to the bodies, but it’s a step up from the mustiness of the dungeon. I look at the girls as they pass by me. It was tough, but we really made it through!

I close my eyes briefly.

I think... it’s not only me. They've all gotten stronger. Everyone has learned new skills when I wasn't paying attention, so I can't slack off or be left behind.

I'm starting to get used to this. I don't know if it’s a good thing, but I'm certainly a different man than I was nary a few weeks ago.

In such a short time, I've been blessed.

And cursed, I suppose.

I'm not dense enough to miss the fact that, at the very least, Aria, Kiku and Seria, at the bare minimum, are starting to get rather affectionate for me.

I suppose being a dense harem protagonist... has its merits? Ignorance is bliss and all that. But, sadly, that's not me.

"You do think to yourself alot, don't you?"

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I open my eyes. It is Yuuzu. The others have moved a fair distance away.

I give a wry smile.

"Probably my biggest weakness. I think too much, rather than doing too much." I answer.

"I see. You are similar to me in some ways, then. I thought, once, that I had no choices in my life. It turns out I only had to stretch out my hand and do something..."

I turn to look at her. She has creased brows.

"... and it turns out, my thinking about much of the world was wrong. You must do things." She continues.

"Solid advice." I reply.

"More like I am a fool pretentiously waxing lyrical... But doing nothing... fearing the consequences of change... that is more foolish."

Wait... is this harem management advice...? Surely not. But the twinkle in her eye is suspicious.

"Do you love Rishya?" She suddenly bombs me.

What.

I instinctively snap my head to look up to the other girls ahead. Rishya is arguing (?) with Aria.

Just who do I like? Isn't it too soon to like anyone? But... in some ways, I have grown to like them all.

"No wait... you don't have to say anything... that is the best answer… hehe..." She replies, still bearing a funny smile.

This cunning woman. Did I just react exactly how...?

"Hahh..." I sigh.

"Don't be disheartened. It is the sad fate of strong men... errrm... so I hear..."

She tentatively pats me on the shoulder and walks off to join her cousin.

Don't I know it?

Before, I was a generic cog in the machine. Mostly beneath notice. Not likely to often pull off a Casanova with women except a tiny minority with a weird niche for nerds. I exploited the latter occasionally but it never became serious.

Now, with so much to eat at the table, I am paralysed despite a healthy hunger.

First world problems, eh?

Maybe Yuuzu is right, though. I need to stop hesitating and follow my heart.

If that means hurting them, or buying a ticket on the nice boat, then... well... I need to face that choice like a man. I know I hate indecisive main characters, and hypocrisy.

At the moment, I don't especially -love- anyone. Maybe that will change. But I -like- them all. I'm clearly a lolicon pervert even if I try to deny it, so I want to do... things to all of them. It’s clearly just lust, so part of me rallies against that. Part of me is trapped by fear.

Fear of what?

It's not like the Earth police will suddenly leap out of nowhere and reveal this was all an elaborate sting to catch a suspicious man.

A perv with interests is not necessarily a paedophile. I don't want to hurt anyone.

I think that’s it. I'm afraid of what people will think. Will I cross a point of no return? Is it really safe to court a young girl without an accusation of grooming? A fear that you have exploited a certain naivety?

This will never end. It is the twisted Gordian knot in which I've been trapped.

Well.

For better or worse. This may be the path to hell itself.

But you know what...?

Screw what people think.