[Matthew's POV]
Now that my harem was complete, I had no reason to keep saving XP. So I spent the next few days burning through everything I had left.
With what I still had from Amélia, plus what I earned with Lady Drako, I managed to bring all the girls up to Silver Rank.
Leona reached Peak Silver, she was this close to hitting Gold.
Besides that, there were still several performance bonuses left to spend in the shop on Skillbooks.
Since we'd just arrived in a new city, I could just say I bought them there, no need to worry about them getting suspicious. So I bought one Skillbook for each of them.
Apparently, these worked like some kind of gacha, you only found out what skill you got after using it.
Leona was thrilled; she seemed to get a special swordswoman ability, though I honestly didn't really get what she was talking about.
Felicia got an upgraded version of one of her current skills, I think it was called "Shadow Steps" or something. I gotta admit, I wasn't exactly paying close attention to the details when each of them came to tell me what they'd gotten.
Rose landed a combat skill and was pretty hyped too, since all her previous skills were support-focused.
Lilian also got a combat ability, and judging by how the other girls reacted, it was something insanely powerful. The name was "Domain of Darkness." Of course I had no idea what the hell that was, but from their reactions, it seemed pretty rare.
Luna was the only one who didn't get a skill related to her combat class. For some reason, her
Skillbook gave her something related to her secondary class, Merchant.
If I had known that, I might've kept the Skillbook for myself.
The skill was called "The Art of Negotiation." Kinda self-explanatory, right?
I was a little jealous, to be honest. But hey, she'd end up using it for my benefit anyway.
The next few days went by without anything too significant happening. We got back on the road.
Zahira, for some reason, decided to hitch a ride in my carriage again.
I kept giving lessons to Lady Derya. The Drakos had taken a different route — which, honestly, was a relief.
My days had become full, now I had five battle-hungry warrior women constantly craving satisfaction. Not that I'm complaining, but man, maintaining a harem really is a full-time job.
Things only shifted a bit when we arrived at the last town before crossing the border into the Duchy of Iberia.
It would be our biggest stop in days, we'd be staying there for almost a week, so the girls were eager to enjoy it.
Unfortunately for me, not quite the way I wanted to enjoy it.
"We need to go out and hunt, test our new abilities," Felicia said. "We should make the most of this week before the caravan moves on."
"Then let's all go together," I said.
I wasn't excited about it, but I didn't want to miss a chance to farm some XP.
"You? Hunting monsters?" Lilian asked with a teasing smirk.
What was the surprise for? Did she really think I was that much of a coward?
"The dwarfs made me buy a sword and dragged me into hunting goblins. It was... fun."
Okay, truth is, I didn't enjoy it at all. I was only doing it to grind XP, but no one needed to know that.
"I'll love watching you kill some monsters," Lilian kept teasing.
"You'll be surprised when you see me slaying them," I shot back.
"But this time we need a real challenge. Goblins won't cut it for testing our new skills," Felicia said, ruining my plan to farm easy mobs.
"We don't know this region well, so I think it's best to check in at the guild for some info," Leona suggested.
"The city guard is planning an assault on a suspected bandit hideout," said a different voice, jumping into our conversation.
"Lady Zahira, you've been absent these past few days," I said. If that spy was suggesting something, I knew it had to be dangerous.
"I've just been handling a few things," she replied with a smile that clearly meant: Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong.
Talking like that only made me more curious.
Our next stop would be Barcelia, so I had to make a decision soon. Honestly, I wasn't too keen on going along with her proposal.
"They're recruiting volunteers?" Leona asked, bringing the topic back.
"Exactly. They suspect this might be the base of the group that attacked our caravan," Zahira replied.
That little revelation threw a bucket of cold water on the girls' excitement.
"Don't worry, the scouts didn't find any signs of RedTails in the area," Zahira added, seeing the concern on their faces.
"An assault on a bandit base seems a bit more than we were planning, don't you think?" I tried to talk them out of it.
"The Royal Guard authorized volunteers to keep any loot they find. It could be quite a profitable task," Zahira said, clearly knowing exactly where to press to get me onboard.
"We've made up our minds then, let's go hunt some bandits!" Lilian said, all fired up.
She's the real boss here, so if she said it, who was I to argue?
"Mr Matthew, may I have a moment of your time?" Zahira asked.
I had no reason to say no, but I had a feeling I wouldn't like where this was going.
I simply nodded and pointed to one of the inn's private rooms so we could talk.
"This mission will also be a test, in case you decide to accept my job offer."
Yeah, I figured as much. I knew the job she had in mind wasn't just about collecting merchant gossip.
"We believe this specific group of bandits might be in possession of sensitive information regarding a certain VIP from the kingdom."
She always paused to study my reaction.
"So you want me to recover that info?" I asked.
"If you can get to it before the guards do, yes. I want you to bring it directly to me."
"So it's not a problem if the guard gets it first, but you'd rather I get it for you?" I pressed.
"Exactly. If the intel gets recovered through official channels, it'll be much harder to keep it secret."
"And what exactly do I get if I complete your mission?"
If I was gonna take a risk, of course I needed to get something out of it.
"I don't know… why don't you tell me exactly what you want?" she said, giving me a teasing look.
Zahira was one hot milf. She was playing with fire throwing out that kind of innuendo.
I leaned in close, close enough that my lips nearly brushed her ear, and whispered exactly what I wanted as payment.
She didn't flinch for a second at my demands. Just kept that wicked little smile and bit her lip every now and then.
"You drive a hard bargain, Matthy," she said, giving me one of the naughtiest looks I've ever received.
"It's almost a bargain, don't you think? You're gonna enjoy it too," I teased back.
"Very well. If you complete the mission, I'll give you a night to remember."
After saying that, she just stood up and walked out, swaying that perfect ass like she owned the world.
Damn, where's Lilian when I need a hand here? Zahira had left behind a burning fire.
[Ding!]
[Side Quest Accepted: Retrieving Sensitive Information]
[Mission Bonus: Sugar-Mommy Zahira; Additional Profession Slot; 800 XP]
That system notification gave me some extra motivation to complete this quest.
Now I almost felt sorry for those poor bandits who'd just been dropped in my path.