After the incident at the academy, we had the knights' interrogation.
The academy was closed to search for the places where the invaders entered.
Obviously, the academy closed. But not forever, it just ended the first cycle of the school year early.
I also had to take the exams alone, and somehow I finished them with average grades.
Now I was in a carriage heading to the Rosenberg duchy.
There was no money to buy a limousine or rent one; this was cheaper since it belonged to my future house.
That's right, in the future I'll be the next head, a duke, one without power since I still haven't received the surname prefix 'von'.
"We'll be home soon."
We were almost four days in the carriage; we stopped at a rest area to eat something and stretch our legs; the horse also needs to sleep.
We didn't even take the bullet train since it's much more expensive.
Oh, and I say "we" because of the people inside.
On one end there was; myself clearly and my girlfriends.
The game's protagonist, Lily, a pleasant commoner girl with a heart so pure you feel purified by it.
Her hair was long light blonde, tied in ponytails near her neck; her clothes were a color combination with her white skin and red lips.
Near the window was the villainess, my fiancée, Elize von Rosenberg. Or Eli for short.
Her hair reached her back; it was bright blonde, and her eyes were a beautiful plum-red color. She looked like a cute foreign doll.
Their faces are beautiful, and their smiles are full of life, but right now that smile was erased, and very complex-ridden eyes were visible.
The reason for that was in front of us.
"Heavens, a high-class carriage really is different from an economical one! Rich people are different from us savers."
"I-I don't think that's the case—! Ah, my tongue."
Two beautiful and unexpected girls were sitting with us.
No, we're not giving them a ride. Actually, it's a bit difficult to explain since even I don't understand it.
But the girls who aren't my girlfriends are classmates.
The girl eating popcorn has light brown hair with a bob cut style, very popular lately.
Her eyes are turquoise, and her clothes give the feeling she's heading to the mountains.
On the other hand, the one next to her is totally different.
Her hair is light ash blonde, a very, very rare hair color even for this world.
It's long down to her hips, wavy from how fluffy it looks; a large part of her hair is tied in two braided buns that make her look like a little mouse, very adorable.
And even more so when combined with her amethyst eyes.
Her skin is the palest of all present, almost like a snow princess.
She bit her tongue by accident and was now drinking water so it wouldn't hurt.
She was very cute for some reason.
"Eli, could you explain again how we got to this? I forgot."
"Huh? Oh, sure."
Eli was in the clouds; this time I'll pay attention and not think about the tasty food we ate recently.
"You should already know their names since they're your classmates, but I'll repeat it again."
Her hand pointed to each one in a presentation manner like at a ball dance.
"This person is Celia von Algrand, only daughter of Count Algrand."
"Even though we already knew each other, we interacted little, but still, greetings⭐!"
She greeted me with a typical sign from friendly girls in my old classroom, even winking her eye and sticking out her tongue to imitate one.
"And she is the only daughter of the Marquis and member of the 10 holy mages, Evelyn von Exner."
"N-Nice to meet—!"
She bit her tongue again; she's a clumsy girl. Undoubtedly, it's clumsy charm.
But, what were they doing here?
When we were about to get into the carriage to reach my future territory, we ran into them in a nearby carriage.
Coincidence or stalking?
The first, without a doubt.
Who stalks poor people?
Continuing with Eli.
"What business do we have with them? Something related to summer homework perhaps?"
Eli didn't seem to answer.
I focused my gaze in search of an answer from the person who would help me the most.
Cid, who came because I dragged him along.
My other friends, Cliff and Derrick, couldn't come even though they wanted to.
I won't lie, I don't want them to see Eli's mom. I know them well, and I know what they would do if they saw her.
While Cid had nothing to do at the palace.
Now that he's the third prince in the line of succession, annoying people harass him almost daily.
Miraculously, the incident with Xerxes improved his reputation and not mine.
That's right, I'm still a background character, someone who doesn't stand out.
Everyone believes it was Cid who defeated those five and Xerxes.
That's good; I won't be harassed by annoying people, and instead Cid will stop being a shadow.
Am I not a great friend?
I received a reward since they know I was with him.
The first was that I was promoted from D rank to C rank as an adventurer.
Although my real rank should be A, many don't believe I did anything and just took advantage. Advantages of not standing out. No one defends me or expects anything from me.
The second reward was a large amount of gold coins.
Money is good, and even more so when you're poor. But getting back to Eli, who was now looking at me.
"What's wrong?"
"You know we were at a camp, right?"
"Yes."
"This happened on the last day."
◇◇◇
Eli was summoned to a room in the hotel they were staying at.
She and Lily shared a room.
Once they returned to classes, the director informed them that, by request of the palace, Eli was to be demoted to the second classroom.
Anyone would be sad to know they were demoted, but not them.
The reason was that now she would be with her best friend.
"Lily-chan!"
"Eli-chan!"
They hugged each other after learning they would be classmates. Neither would be alone again.
The capture targets also returned to normal, but no one cares about that.
When Eli entered a large room, two men were waiting for her, sitting on different sofas.
One was burly, with fading red hair, an X-shaped scar on his cheek. Upon seeing Eli enter, he quickly stood up and said.
"Nice to meet you, Lady Rosenberg! I am Count Leonard von Algrand!"
"Nice to meet you."
Eli greeted him.
The other man stood up after she greeted the other guest.
Upon standing up, you could see how tall he was, thin, gray hair combed to the sides, a small well-shaved beard, and black eyes.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, daughter of the duchess. My name is Gregore von Exner; I am a marquis and the eighth seat of the 10 holy mages."
"Nice to meet you."
Eli didn't understand the presence of these men here, until one of them spoke first.
"I'll get straight to the point. I already wrote to your mother, and the response came some time later. The content of the letter was—"
The old man was interrupted by Leo, who was an adventurer and was once Razel's companion when hunting a queen spider.
"Miss! Would you like to have a concubine for your fiancé!?"
"... Huh?"
Eli didn't process what he said until Gregore explained.
"I'm sorry that man left you so confused."
"Hey."
"You see. I found out about what happened, and undoubtedly, it's thanks to the goddess, the blessing you received."
"Thank you for your words." Said Eli.
"For that reason, I wrote to your mother asking if she wished to have vassals."
It was normal for a smaller house to seek an alliance with a larger one. For that reason, the head of that house would offer the future head or the current head his most beautiful daughter to be taken as a concubine.
But Eli felt strange.
(Why would a marquis household seek to be our vassal? And even more so, one that is one of the holy mages...)
"You must think it's strange that a marquis of my position is doing this, right?"
"..."
"Don't worry, it's nothing strange or bad. For your information, my house was a viscount one until recently. It was thanks to my position as a holy mage that they made us a marquisate."
"In short, even if I'm part of the 10 holy mages, I'm still a low-ranking noble without connections. The Rosenberg Household needs vassals, doesn't it?"
"There's no better option than this. Your mother agreed."
Before Eli could speak, Leo interrupted her.
"I was going to say something similar, but in my case, it's because your fiancé is that kid Razel, right? I know him and we get along very well. Nothing would make me happier than my daughter and him giving me grandchildren."
Eli heard the word grandchildren from a man who wasn't her father, and she felt a little strange.
For her, raising her ruined house was the priority now that they no longer had debts.
Therefore, allies and vassals are important. There was only one option to take.
"I deeply appreciate your wishes. I, Elize von Rosenberg, will be delighted that your houses become part of the Rosenberg faction. We will welcome your daughters as concubines, so if you have no heir or distant relative on your part, your children will be named with your surname. Does that sound good to you?"
"Undoubtedly."
"Of course!"
Both men responded.
Eli's face showed happiness because her house was slowly returning to normal.
But hearing that she had to share her fiancé with other women gave her a stomach ache that she didn't enjoy.
◇
Now that I knew everything, there was only one thing to say.
(Ehhhh! Concubines? These two!?)
(Taking my classmates as concubines feels strange. And even more so because we never exchanged words.)
(Well, I can't complain about their appearance since there's something they all have in common besides being beautiful.)
"Ah, a bump." Said Cid.
The carriage gave a slight bounce in the air, but that slight bounce was enough for me.
I activated my Eagle Eye, and watched as if in slow motion, how the eight pairs of meat balloons bounced up and down a little.
(Thank you very much, and even more so because these two girls also possess large breasts.)
(But seriously?)
(I wonder, what will these vacations be like now that my harem has increased without me knowing?)