[Nightmare]

"So, onto important business." Atlas announced.

He unlaced his hands and rested his arms on his legs.

The shift in lighting instantly lessened the tin on his dark blue sunglasses.

Helix turned his head to the right to view the man in the corner.

Atlas was in the corner opposite of him.

"Hmmm? What's up, Atlas?" Charlotte asked.

"You." Atlas laughed.

Helix raised an eyebrow.

"Me?" Charlotte asked while pointing to her chest.

Atlas chuckled and shook his head.

"No, you four. The unit."

Helix gave Atlas a wry smile.

The young man had a smug look on his face.

"What about us, Atlas?" Marie asked.

Atlas gave her a wide grin.

Marie reflexively blushed.

"There's eight feet of space in this wagon on both sides." Atlas reasoned.

"Yet—"

"We're all sitting together at all times?" Helix sighed.

Kylon was directly in front of him.

Charlotte was to Helix's right, Marie was cuddled up to his left, and Riley sat next to her.

"Yup." Atlas replied with slow emphasis.

He met Helix's gaze with an amused gaze.

"These are my partners, Atlas.

So long as they love me, we're inseparable." Helix replied without hesitation.

Atlas raised an eyebrow with an [I'm impressed] expression.

Marie and Riley blushed furiously.

Kylon's eyes widened when he remembered Helix's multiple assassination attempts report.

Each had the same motive—women.

The person he was sent to pick up was completely different from the report.

"No. More specifically… that." Atlas chuckled.

Charlotte had grabbed onto his right arm with a [he's mine] expression.

Helix gave Charlotte a sidelong glance and chuckled at her territorial expression.

"The mighty Charlotte Kline is as helplessly crush-stricken as the Matriarch." Atlas chuckled.

"Hoh? Are you jelly of Hellie, Atlas?" Charlotte asked sarcastically.

She turned her body and pressed her breasts against his arm.

Unwilling to be undone, Marie did the same with a faux mocking expression.

Atlas burst into laughter when he saw Kylon's embarrassed expression.

"Haaaaaah. Who wouldn't be?" He chuckled.

"Even Yakuza sees the value."

Kylon, who tried to become a chameleon, was bitter about being pointed out again.

Helix sent a glance to Charlotte not to comment.

She nodded.

The cat was bewildered, knowing he wasn't being targeted.

Atlas burst into laughter again.

"That communication game—"

"It's pretty incredible, right?" Helix asked with a slight smile.

"We've trained, fought, and slept together every day for seven weeks.

Saying we're close is an understatement so deep it's inaccurate."

Atlas' eyes widened in shock, and an excited grin formed on his face.

Marie was hiding her face behind Helix's shoulder.

Charlotte's face turned bright red but recovered an instant later.

Riley was looking at Helix with surprise.

"So wait. Deets. Every day for seven weeks?

Does that mean that you slept together on the first day?" Atlas asked.

Helix glanced at Charlotte, Marie, and Riley to see their thoughts.

Surprisingly, the person to speak was Marie.

"Yes, we slept together the first night." She said with a calm voice.

"Hoh?" Atlas asked with an interested expression.

"Sex, Atlas." Charlotte replied with a grin.

"Ah!" Atlas cried in shock.

When Charlotte went to claim her victory, Atlas released his surprise.

"Well, yeah. It's not surprising at our age.

I'm just impressed that my main man restored the battered reputation of harem leaders." Atlas chuckled.

A period of silence.

A spark.

Laughter erupted in the wagon.

"That's what I said." Charlotte chuckled.

"I'm… not complaining." Marie replied shyly.

She wasn't prudish anymore.

However, the topic was sex in the explicit usage of the term, which can be uncomfortable.

"You, Riley?" Atlas asked.

"I like it." Riley replied with a sweet smile.

Atlas scoff-laughed, put his thumb to his forehead and shook his head.

"That… was a glorious reply." Atlas laughed.

"I made a good decision coming after you.

I look forward to learning your secrets, Helix."

"I'm happy to help in any way I can." Helix chuckled with a strange smile.

"Just don't ask me for tips.

I still don't know how I lucked out with even one of these three."

Helix spread a gentle gaze upon all of them.

"But I love every second of it."

Marie and Charlotte hugged him tightly.

Riley grabbed his outstretched hand.

"Hah. Don't worry. I'm too lazy to read books or talk to people." Atlas chuckled.

"Not having women is a lifestyle choice by association."

The wagon erupted into laughter.

"What about you, Kylon?" Helix asked with a playful tone.

"You don't have to tell us.

But if you want to bond a little, so your week isn't total hell, we'll listen."

The moment that Helix made his intention known, the other women nodded.

Charlotte did so begrudgingly.

However, it wasn't malicious.

Kylon narrowed his eyes but released the attention quickly after.

He didn't sense the mocking, lazy malice Helix was known for.

So he sighed and took the plunge.

"I have a miss." Kylon said nervously.

The women's eyes lit with excitement.

Kylon recoiled by reflex, triggering a chuckle from Helix.

Helix gave him a gentle smile before the cat could start gnashing his teeth.

"They're excited about something you enjoy." He chuckled.

"This is your shining chance to argue you're a chivalrous Knight."

Kylon's eyes widened.

Helix was right.

This conversation was his one chance.

One chance means total failure.

Failure means a bad week.

The chance of a bad week leads to nervousness.

Kylon shut down with anxiety.

"No reason to be nervous." Riley called out in a heavenly tone.

"Helix and I will be disappointed if anyone mocks you right now."

The cat's eyes sparkled.

"If you gain this group's support, they'll take down a kingdom on your behalf." Atlas shrugged.

"They're lethally soft, so if they're excited and say they won't mock you, you're free and clear, bro."

Kylon panned the room to see everyone's expressions.

Helix was staring at the ceiling again, but he looked at ease.

Marie and Riley were nodding.

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders.

"So you have a misses?" Helix asked to restart the conversation.

He didn't look at Kylon and appeared bored, but his tone was melancholy, not rude.

"Yes." Kylon replied.

"Is she a talking cat, like you?" Charlotte asked with excitement.

Kylon started fidgeting.

"Um… no. There are not very many beast people in the world." The cat replied.

"We're nearly extinct now."

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise.

Helix realized that he never looked up to beast people because it never became relevant.

He read voraciously. However, he only read topics that could prove valuable in the future.

Since his curiosity was endless, it was a practical choice.

"I see. So your partner is human?

Will you describe her for us?" Helix asked with a gentle tone.

He didn't want Kylon to talk about an emotionally disastrous topic after they just mocked him mercilessly.

Kylon was shocked by Helix's gloss over.

But he knew that the young man was throwing him a lifeline.

"She… is gorgeous." He replied hesitantly.

The women's eyes lit up in excitement.

"Her name is Kiya, and she's from Lazco.

She has characteristic purple hair and white eyes common for their people."

All of the women's eyes glittered.

Helix chuckled when he saw their expressions.

"Why… are you so excited?" Kylon asked in bewilderment.

"Natural purple hair doesn't exist on earth." Atlas chuckled.

"They're excited that your lady friend has an unworldly beauty."

Kylon's eyes gilded between their nodding expressions.

"Please continue!" Marie exclaimed in excitement.

"Y-Yes…."

Kylon spent a [hour] speaking about Kiya.

As he went, he became more sociable, excited, and happy.

Helix and Atlas shrugged at one another when it didn't end.

So long as his partners were happy, Helix didn't care.

Atlas didn't talk much and avoided people, so it wasn't a problem.

Most importantly, they were secretly glad that Kylon was getting along with everyone.

Helix didn't want to be friends with [Yakuza Cat], but he didn't want his presence to ruin their week.

"You sound like you love her.

When do you get married?" Riley asked.

Kylon gave her a quizzical expression.

"Why…. How… do you know that we're not married?" He asked.

"Because you keep hinting at your desire to ask her, dummy." Charlotte chided with a playful smile.

Helix found her antics cute.

Kylon did too. He was surprised to speak to the same ruthless woman he met an hour ago.

"I see…." He replied while twiddling his claws.

"Ask her. She'll say yes." Marie added with a warm smile.

"How do you know?" Kylon asked with a hesitant tone.

"Your stories. What you do, how you recount them, it shows.

You're happy, and we can tell." She explained.

"Yeah, but… you don't know the little details.

What if she's not—" Kylon began, but Helix cut him off with a sigh.

The cat looked at the man who hadn't spoken in an hour.

"Kylon. Look at these beautiful women." Helix requested with slight exasperation.

"You've known them for an hour.

Do you think that they love me?"

Kylon's eyes widened.

"Uh…." He fidgeted.

"Yes. These women look very… happy. It's almost like nothing has ever gone wrong in your lives together. It's that perfect."

The atmosphere darkened slightly.

Kylon looked around at everyone's crumbling expressions with regret.

—

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