18 – No Dudes and B*tch, Please!

Warm water poured out from the urn of the maiden statues, making the sounds of splashing. Thin steam rose from the surface of the water in the Jacuzzi. In this luxurious and spacious bathroom, two souls were indulging in the aftermath of their blissful union.

I, one of those two souls, was leaning my back against the wall of the jacuzzi. I was staring at the ceiling absently. Meanwhile, the other soul—Amelia—was draping her soft, feminine body on my front. Her slender arms were encircling my neck, and her soft, plump buttocks were pressing down my lap underwater.

We were wet and naked. We had been indulging ourselves in sensual pleasure. It was wild and raunchy; it was more impressive than my first time with her. Correction, my first time with her was pale in comparison.

Due to my 'charm' in addition to my status as one of the three Holy Heroes she worshipped, she had easily lost her reservation. Heck, she had lost it when we arrived at the changing room.

I claimed the maidenhood of the same girl twice! Isn't that amazing?!

I ceased my thoughts and looked at Amelia's sleeping face. Her eyes were closed, her breath was steady, and she was snoring softly and cutely as she slept. She was utterly drained after a few hours of receiving my overbearing manliness.

I moved my attention and glimpsed at the clock. It was nine-ten. I recalled the meeting in the throne chamber was around ten o'clock; there were fifty minutes left.

(It is more than enough...)

Then, I woke up Amelia. "Sweetie, wake up~."

Amelia stirred awake. Then she rubbed her eyes sleepily. She looked adorable when doing so.

"Um...huh? Where am I? Ah! I remember! I fell asleep!" She mumbled sleepily. She then noticed our posture and location, and then looked at me. Her eyes were flickering with devotion and fanaticism.

After a few hours alone and being intimate with me, she had been fully converted as my devotee. She was now the follower of Faith of the Sword instead of the follower of the Three Heroes.

I kissed her lips and then replied, "It is nine-twelve. I'm not sure when the king will summon me and the other heroes, so..." I intentionally stopped, so she could think for herself.

She opened her eyes wide in realization. "Oh, the meeting! Everyone must be wondering where you are, sir! You have to get out and prepare yourself for the summons of His Majesty!"

"Don't worry, I don't think I'm late for the meeting." I gave her a smirk, but she looked troubled.

"Oh, come on! Have faith in me!" I said and rolled my eyes at her hesitation, and then, she nodded obediently.

Then, I decided to cast some recovery magic spells to help her recover her physical and mental energy. The effect was immediate; her fatigue disappeared, and she looked energetic as if she had not accepted my ferocity the previous hours. She realized that and seemed amazed.

"Feels better?" I asked, and she nodded in agreement.

I changed the topic. "By the way, would you like to be my traveling companion?"

Surprised, she silently gazed at me with a dumbfounded expression. She recovered and then spoke, "This one is only a maid. Is this one worthy to be a traveling companion for you, the Sword Hero, sir?"

"Well, I need someone to take care of me in my travels, so a maid will do. I will protect you as well," I replied.

I thought she would carefully consider her answer, but she surprised me by answering immediately.

"Then, this one will join you in your travel, sir," she said energetically.

I suppose I should have considered that. She had become fully devoted to me, after all.

"All right, let's leave this place. I have to prepare myself for the summons of the King, and you certainly have some important things that you must complete such as reporting to your boss and getting ready for traveling."

"Quite so," Amelia said and nodded.

We left the pool and went to the changing room. On the way, I dried myself and Amelia using magic, after which I equipped my jacket and jeans combo. When we arrived at the changing room, Amelia quickly collected her underwear and maid uniform, and then I helped her put them on.

Afterward, we exited the changing room.

"Sir, you haven't had breakfast, have you? Would you like to be escorted to the dining room?" Amelia offered hopefully.

After a short consideration, I accepted. After that, she escorted me to the dining hall. It was the same Dining Hall where I had breakfast and small talk with the other heroes in my first timeline.

My arrival took the interest of everyone in the room. Due to my boosted charm, men and women were attracted to me. Although I felt pleased when women sent inviting gazes at me, I felt disgusted when men questioned their sexuality or accepted their new romantic preference due to my sublime charm.

Fortunately, they kept their distance due to my status as one of the Holy Heroes; they did not want to anger me. Without my status as an important personage, those people would have swarmed me.

Putting that aside, I did not see the other heroes here. When I checked [Map], I found that they were gathered in Motoyasu's room. I lost interest and focused on my breakfast.

I sat on an empty table in the corner, and Amelia immediately went off to get my meals; she was showing off her capabilities as a maid to impress me.

It looks like she was taking her role as my exclusive maid seriously.

A few moments later, Amelia returned with a food trolley, stopped at my table, and then moved the foods to the table. After that, she stood beside me, explained the menu, and helped prepare the food on the table so that I could eat comfortably.

"This one will explain the menu. First, let's start with..." Amelia explained each food professionally.

As she did so, she had a confident smile. I could feel how smug she was as some maids in the room were giving her envious gazes. After all, no matter how they looked at us, it was very clear that we had become close.

Those maids weren't blind and stupid. They were aware that Amelia had obtained my favor, and it was considered a fortune because of my status as the Sword Hero.

Afterward, I ate breakfast silently. It was nothing amazing. I felt like I could prepare something better.

Then again, after eating beyond 5 stars rate food prepared by the Legendary Sword, the food in the castle felt bland in comparison.

At nine-fifty, I finally finished breakfast and then left the dining hall. Amelia followed behind me like an obedient little puppy. Then, we stopped outside the dining hall and faced each other.

I said, "I will wait for the king's summons. I will request your new employment as my exclusive maid to the king as well."

Amelia nodded in understanding and then replied, "Then, this one will prepare for joining your party, sir."

She seemed confident in the result. Perhaps, it was due to my charisma that inspired confidence in her, or maybe it was due to blind devotion. Either way, she was ready to join my party.

After that, we parted ways and headed for our respective destinations. Amelia went to prepare for traveling with me, while I went to the throne room directly.

When I arrived outside of the throne room, the doors were closed. I checked [Map] and found the Adventurers inside.

"Pardon me, sir. Where are the other heroes?" One of the knights guarding the doors approached me and asked. He was careful and full of tension when asking me.

Glimpsing at the [Map], I found those three just left their rooms and were going there, guided by a maid. "They are on the way," I replied to the knight.

He nodded and returned to his post. Then, I waited for a few moments until the other heroes came. I maintained my aloof facade in front of the three, making them shrug helplessly.

In my eyes, they were unimportant. Perhaps, their existence was needed to maintain the barrier that restrained the Wave of Calamity, but I had a plan for that, and Est gave me the green light to do it.

Then, the knights announced our presence. "The Heroes enter!"

The doors swung open, and I entered the throne room, followed by the trio. We saw the gathered adventurers.

Just like in my first timeline, the volunteers were there. Nothing had changed in the personnel. There were 7 men and 5 women, Malty included.

Their attention was on me. I wasn't startled by this. I carefully looked at them and read their information [AR] provided.

Previously, five men joined me. Even though I did not bother to remember their respective names, according to [AR], they were Welt, Bakta, Tersia, Ferrie, and Drey.

Now that I had maxed out my [Intelligence] stat and could recall even unimportant random trivia from before this whole transmigration and Isekai ordeal, excluding Drey, the other fours were the original Ren's companions who died in the Spirit Tortoise fiasco. This matched the novel. All OG Ren's companions were men without any girl like in the anime, after all.

Then, Mald the Knight, Welst the Mage, and Rachel the Rogue joined Itsuki. These three were consistent in all media.

Finally, the four girls in Motoyasu's party were Malty, the maroon-haired dancer Iona, the loli witch Lisa, and the martial artist Lynda; [AR] informed me of their name.

This was where it became funny. The only consistent thing in Motoyasu's party was all of the members were girls.

There were many inconsistencies; in the novels and manga, the other three were unimportant female Adventurers that would be sold off to Slavers by Malty; in the anime, the maroon-haired dancer was Lesty, which was wrong because Lesty was another noble daughter and a friend of Malty with a matching personality—her manga art, which consistently followed the novel, also looked different from the anime art.

As an experienced 'Otaku,' I knew that production teams of the anime often changed some parts and caused some fuck ups. Even 'The Rising of the Shield Hero' was not safe from this disaster. At the very least, it did not come out as a total disaster like the anime adaptation of Highschool DxD season 1 and 2, and Arifureta. Those things were sacrilege!

Anyway, Lesty supposedly joined Motoyasu's party a day or two after the heroes got their funding. So, this Iona character would be a victim of Malty's cruelty. The same thing would happen to the loli witch, Lisa.

Lastly, in the anime, the last member of Motoyasu's party was Elena Haven, which was diverging from the light novel, again. Elena supposedly joined Motoyasu's party a week after Lesty joined.

However, there was no Elena or her lookalike this time. It was a green-haired fighter girl that supposedly joined the OG Ren's party in the anime.

I ceased my thoughts when Aultcray began speaking. "As we discussed yesterday, I have called for others to assist you in your journey. Apparently, my call did not go unheeded. Now then, gathered adventurers, please choose the Legendary Hero with whom you will travel."

And choose they did...

A few moments later, Aultcray had a wry grin on his wizened face, mimicked by some of the officials, while the rest were looking dumbfounded like the three heroes. My lips twitched as a long line was behind me, while no Adventurers stood behind the other heroes.

(...considering my new charisma, I have considered this outcome and was not startled, but still... no dudes and Bitch, please!)