Chapter 89: Home

Chapter 89. Home

The forest disappeared, and a heartbeat later my boots touched the familiar stone path behind my estate.

I immediately canceled Voidwind Manipulation.

The faint current of mana surrounding my body dissolved into the evening air, leaving only the quiet garden, the enormous mansion ahead of me, and several warm lights glowing behind its windows.

Home.

I pulled off my coat and tossed it into my Dimensional Ring.

Then I stopped.

The mansion entrance stood less than twenty meters away.

I inhaled.

Slowly.

Then again.

Why the hell was my heart beating faster?

I’d fought three S-rank monsters today.

One of them had six legs, three bladed tails, and enough intelligence to understand combat strategy.

None of that had made me nervous enough to stand outside taking controlled breaths.

But apparently returning home late did.

Rey’s memories were completely useless here. He had five wives, yet somehow there wasn’t a convenient memory titled ’What Happens When You Return Home Hours Late Looking Like You Were Dragged Through a Monster’s Intestines’.

Evan’s experience wasn’t much better.

The closest reference I had came from researchers at the institute.

Several married coworkers had occasionally arrived looking spiritually defeated after staying in the laboratory too long.

"My wife made me sleep in the garage."

"She asked where I’d been for an hour."

"I had to explain why magical residue from another woman’s experiment was on my coat."

That last one had sounded especially dangerous.

One researcher had survived an unstable mana-core explosion with fewer complaints than he’d made about his wife’s interrogation afterward.

Was that about to happen to me?

Five wives.

I’d multiplied the danger.

Maybe I’d misunderstood harem mathematics.

I stared at the front door.

Technically, I could cheat.

One Void Shift and I could appear directly inside my chamber. After that, shower, change clothes, casually walk downstairs and announce that I’d returned earlier but accidentally fallen asleep.

The front door opened.

I froze.

Ariel stood there.

Her hair fell loosely over her shoulders, and the moment she saw me, her entire expression changed.

Then Lily appeared behind her.

Seris came next.

Nia.

Liora.

All five.

All staring directly at me.

I’d been caught.

My body instinctively straightened.

Apparently fighting the Dark Lord hadn’t erased the ancient human instinct to panic when caught returning home late.

Their expressions were almost identical.

Worried.

I waited for the interrogation.

Where were you?

Why didn’t you return before dinner?

Why are you covered in blood?

Did you almost die again?

Then Ariel hurried toward me.

I braced myself.

She hugged me.

My mind stopped.

Her arms wrapped around my torso, careful around the obvious injuries, and she pressed herself against me without caring that my clothes were dirty.

Before I could process that, Lily reached me too.

Then Nia.

Seris’s hand landed against my shoulder.

Liora stayed slightly more composed, although the relief in her eyes was unmistakable.

I didn’t move.

For several seconds, I genuinely didn’t know what I was supposed to do.

Was this what it felt like?

Having people waiting for you?

Not servants waiting because it was their employment. Not guards waiting because it was their assignment. Not colleagues waiting because you possessed research results they needed.

People who had simply been worried because you weren’t home.

Evan had never really known this feeling.

My childhood home had always been enormous, polished, expensive, and strangely empty. Nannies handled my daily life. Butlers managed everything else. My parents weren’t cruel. They were simply busy enough that affection became something scheduled between responsibilities.

So I’d learned early how to get their attention.

Become what they wanted.

They wanted a powerful magus as their son, so I studied magic until my hands shook.

They wanted talent, so I gave them talent.

They wanted something they could proudly mention among other prestigious families, so I became that too.

Then my mana core was destroyed.

Research replaced magic.

Eventually, I became successful enough that people admired Evan Veyr again, but by then I’d stopped expecting anyone to wait at home.

My work became dangerous. Espionage, forbidden research, ancient ruins, organizations that would happily kill me for what I knew. Having roommates was impractical. A girlfriend was even more unrealistic.

The only knowledge I had about someone waiting for me at home came from coworkers complaining about it.

Yet none of them had mentioned this part.

The relief.

The warmth.

The strange pressure inside my chest when Ariel quietly said, "Welcome back, Rey."

Something tightened behind my ribs.

I swallowed.

Lily pulled back enough to inspect me.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" Her hands hovered over my shirt as though she couldn’t decide where it was safe to touch. "Is that your blood or someone else’s?"

"Uh, yes."

Her eyes widened.

I realized that answer hadn’t helped.

"Mostly someone else’s."

"That is somehow not comforting."

Seris had already started checking me with considerably more efficiency. Her fingers caught my wrist, turned my arm, then moved to the tear near my shoulder.

"You were bleeding here."

"Past tense."

Her eyes narrowed.

I suddenly understood why enemies feared her.

"I-I’m fine."

I had faced an S-rank corrupted monster without stuttering. Five worried women defeated me immediately.

"I’ll take a bath first," I said. "Then we can eat."

"No."

I looked at Lily.

She pointed toward the mansion. "Eat first. It’s already late."

"I look terrible."

"You look hungry."

Seris nodded. "I’ll have the servants prepare warm water. You can bathe after dinner."

I was about to argue that sitting at the dining table covered in dried blood would probably destroy everyone’s appetite.

My stomach betrayed me.

-Grrrrrrr!

I stared downward.

Really?

Now?

After everything we’d survived today, this was how my body chose to humiliate me?

Lily’s expression softened immediately.

No teasing.

"Dinner first," she repeated.

I sighed. "Fine."

That was apparently permission for all five women to collectively escort or abduct me toward the dining room.

The servants reacted exactly as expected.

One maid visibly flinched when she saw me.

Another nearly dropped the pitcher she was carrying.

I was also slightly afraid of my appearance, and I was the one wearing it.

The dining table had already been prepared, but the amount of food placed in front of me was absurd. Tender roasted meat covered in fragrant sauce, warm bread, vegetables glazed with butter, thick soup, rice, sliced fruit, and several smaller dishes crowded around my plate.

I stared. "Are we feeding an army?"

"You," Lily said.

Apparently, I was the army.

I sat down.

Liora appeared beside me carrying a small basin of warm water and a clean cloth.

Before I could ask what she was doing, she took my hand.

Her touch was cool and careful.

She dipped the cloth into the warm water, wrung it out, and began wiping dried blood from my fingers.

I stared at her. "Liora."

"Hm?"

"I can do that."

"I know." She continued anyway.

The cloth moved across my palm and between my fingers, removing dark streaks of monster blood. When she finished one hand, she calmly took the other.

There was something strangely intimate about it.

Not seductive in the obvious way. Liora simply cleaned my hands because I’d returned exhausted and filthy, and apparently that was reason enough.

Then she reached toward my hood.

I caught her wrist. "I can do that myself."

One eyebrow rose. "You’ve said that already."

"And you ignored me."

She smiled faintly. "Correct."

Nia giggled.

Before I could protest again, Liora pulled my hood back herself. The warm cloth touched my cheek, slowly wiping away the dried blood and grime.

I looked at her.

Among my wives, Liora was easily the coldest one. She wasn’t openly affectionate like Ariel, bubbly like Lily, fiercely expressive like Seris, or shamelessly playful like Nia. Most of the time, Liora’s emotions remained tucked behind that composed expression and dry, almost businesslike manner of hers.

But that didn’t mean she didn’t care.

Her hand was careful as she cleaned around a small cut near my temple. She turned the cloth, found a clean section, and wiped another streak of blood from my jaw without saying anything.

That was simply how Liora showed it.

Quietly. No fuss. Nor dramatic words.

She saw something that needed taking care of and took care of it.

So this time, I stopped arguing.

I sat there obediently while my usually composed crystal elf wife cleaned my face like I’d somehow become an oversized child who had returned home after rolling through an entire battlefield.

The water in the basin darkened quickly.

When Liora finally seemed satisfied that I looked more like her husband and less like a wanted murderer, she folded the cloth neatly beside the basin.

"There."

"Thank you."

Her expression softened just slightly. "You’re welcome."

Only then did I finally start eating.