The moment I finished speaking, both of them lunged at me.
They threw their arms around me, sending me toppling back onto the straw. As they rubbed their faces against both sides of mine, they spoke.
“I will do my best. I will serve you with my entire life.”
“So-ryong, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to go this far either, but there was no helping it, was there? You saw our naked bodies, after all. Thank you for taking responsibility like a true man.”
I glanced sideways at them and noticed Gun Hye-rin’s neck—where the dagger had supposedly pressed—was completely unscathed.
She must’ve had [Protective Inner Energy] wrapped around her.
'Fraud...'
I shut my eyes tight and decided to report this to Hwa-eun.
Better to be beaten first, as they say—it was best to report this as soon as possible.
If I dragged my feet, it could easily lead to misunderstandings from those around me.
What if a warrior happened to witness this moment—me with one woman clinging to each side? They’d think the Tang Clan’s son-in-law was cheating, playing around with two women at once.
And if they found out that one of them was the princess? That would be a full-blown catastrophe.
『“Hwa-eun...”』
I softly called her in the group communication room, and almost immediately her voice responded.
『“Yes, So-ryong. What is it?”』
Why did her voice sound so bright and clear today, of all days?
With a bitter expression, I said:
『“There’s something I need to tell you.”』
“Something? What happened?”
“Yes. Something unavoidable and... beyond my control occurred. I regretfully feel we need to have a serious and honest conversation.”
“Pffft. What’s with the dramatic buildup?”
Hwa-eun laughed at my overly solemn phrasing.
But I was dying inside.
I had become the kind of man who had to report to his wife that he now had two concubines.
Gun Hye-rin and the princess were clinging to me in high spirits, utterly overjoyed.
“So-ryong. My So-ryong.”
“So-ryong. Be gracious.”
“Agh, hold on. You two—please.”
I tried to peel them off, but they stuck like glue.
With a sigh, I closed my eyes and began reporting to Hwa-eun.
Starting, of course, with the background story.
『“Actually... I’ve identified the spirit beast your father-in-law has been so worried about.”』
“Oh, really? What is it?”
“It’s... the Silver Fish.”
“Ah. The Silver Fish.”
I cursed myself for once skimming past the entry labeled Silver Fish in the Secret Compendium of Venomous Creatures without a second thought.
If I’d kept my head on straight back then, none of this might have happened.
The type of poison it used would’ve definitely been described in the Compendium—I could’ve avoided this whole mess in advance.
'Why... why did it have to be a damn silverfish!?'
The silverfish—Lepisma saccharina—a primitive insect species. In the West, it’s called “silverfish.”
In the East, in ancient times, it was called eun-eo (Silver Fish).
That’s because when viewed from above, its wriggling body resembled the swimming motion of a carp.
The silverfish has a pair of antennae nearly as long as its body on its head, and three tail filaments at the end of its abdomen. It moves its whole body like a fish when it crawls. That’s why both Eastern and Western cultures gave it the name “silver fish.”
It looks like a shimmering fish swimming.
'Why didn’t I connect the dots!? Damn it, Spicy Fabre—go ahead and return your Fabre license.'
Why hadn’t I realized it was that kind of silver fish, not an actual fish?
As I internally revoked my own title as Fabre, I heard a congratulatory voice.
『“So-ryong, congratulations. That means you’ve now found all the spirit beasts of the Twenty-Four Poison Branch, right?”』
“No, I haven’t captured it yet.”
“Really? Still, you’re close, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) right?”
Just as Hwa-eun said, I was one step away from completing the set.
I had confirmed the true form of the Silver Fish spirit beast.
But despite her congratulations, I couldn’t feel happy.
Because the last one had dropped a bomb on me.
I spoke in a cautious voice.
『“So... Hwa-eun, the thing is... In the process of identifying it, a bit of... a mishap occurred. Let’s say, a small problem came up.”』
“A mishap?”
“Yes...”
“Did someone get hurt? Or was it the Tang Clan warehouse?”
“No, it’s... The Silver Fish used a really strange kind of poison...”
“A strange poison?”
“Yes... It doesn’t harm people, but... if it gets on you, your clothes dissolve. They just rot away. So while I was talking to it, the poison sprayed over us and... and...”
As I trailed off, repeating “and,” Hwa-eun asked in a curious voice:
『“And?”』
“In the process, the princess, Gun Hye-rin, and I... all ended up... n-naked!”
I clenched my teeth and spit it out.
And then—suddenly—I heard Hwa-eun’s voice.
“So that’s how you ended up like this?”
『“Yes... Like this? Wait, what?”』
Her voice had come not through the group chat—but directly into my ear.
Startled, I opened my eyes—
And there was Hwa-eun, looking down at us with a bright smile.
“GYAAAAAAAH!!”
***
The sudden appearance of Hwa-eun.
Before I knew it, I had dropped to my knees.
Getting caught in a scene where Gun Hye-rin and the princess were clinging to me made my knees fold automatically.
Then Hwa-eun laughed for quite some time at the sight and helped me up, saying:
“It’s okay, So-ryong. I told you before—I hoped you’d accept their feelings, didn’t I?”
“No, still...”
“And the three of us already talked. We agreed that if something like this ever happened, we’d get along, so you don’t have to act like you committed some grave sin.”
“But still...”
Hwa-eun had told me a while ago that both Gun Hye-rin and the princess liked me, and that I should accept them. Even now, she reacted the same way.
But for some reason, I still felt guilty.
Noticing my mood, Hwa-eun sat down and laid my head on her lap, stroking my face as she spoke.
“Then let’s think of it this way.”
“How?”
“Since such a coincidental thing happened, maybe this is heaven’s will?
You ended up in a situation where you had no choice but to take responsibility. So let’s just call it heaven’s will.”
“Heaven’s will?”
“Yes, heaven’s will.”
Could it be because even the Buddha supposedly had three wives?
But I’m not from the Celestial Human Temple, you know?
As I was thinking that, Hwa-eun continued.
“So instead of fretting, start thinking about how you’re going to love all three of us fairly.”
To Hwa-eun, this wasn’t an issue. Her stance was that I should now be worrying about how to provide for three women.
But even with simple math, this wasn’t a matter with only one or two complications.
“But the princess—if the imperial court finds out...”
“They probably already know.”
“They already know!?”
I sprang to my feet in shock, and the princess gave a small smirk and said:
“When I ran away from the palace last time, I declared I would follow So-ryong.”
“Whaaat!?”
Just when the hell had this woman been plotting!?
But at her words, I realized something terrifying—that the emperor might already despise me to death.
If a daughter runs off with a man, of course the father would hate the bastard who bewitched her.
'I’m screwed.'
He probably couldn’t declare me a national criminal because of the princess, but it was obvious he’d hate me with all his might regardless.
“I-Is this really okay? I feel like His Majesty must be furious...”
“No. My father gave permission. A decree has already arrived at the Tang Clan.”
“A decree?”
“Yes. The Emperor said So-ryong did a commendable job uncovering the cause of the earthquake and granted you permission to take three wives.”
“T-Three wives!?”
How could this be!?
All I wanted was to send the princess back to the palace—but somehow, that very act had turned into...
My own actions had boomeranged back and hit me in the face.
Stunned, I turned to Gun Hye-rin and said:
“E-Even if the princess’s matter is settled... what about Lady Gun? If it gets out that the Tang Clan’s son-in-law took the Cult Leader of the Celestial Demon Church as his wife, this is going to be a huge problem.”
My main family may have been the Beast Palace in the Outer Martial World, but I was still the Tang Clan’s son-in-law.
If it got out that the son-in-law had taken the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Church as a wife, it would definitely cause massive trouble.
And right now, I was practically standing in the position of the Martial Alliance Leader’s successor.
At that, Hwa-eun wiggled her finger and said:
“So-ryong, sure, if it gets out right now, it’ll obviously be a huge problem. But once you’ve gathered all Ten Poison Beasts, that’ll fix everything.”
“That fixes it?”
“Yes. Right now, people would say the Tang Clan’s son-in-law got seduced by a demonic woman.
But if you collect all Ten Poison Beasts and reach [Life-and-Death Enlightenment], you’ll become the strongest under heaven.
In the martial world, power is law—so no one would dare say anything about it anymore.
No, they’d even say the Tang Clan’s son-in-law subdued the Heavenly Demon Cult and took its leader as a wife for the sake of peace. That’s how they’ll spin it.”
In fantasy terms, that meant—
If it got exposed now, it would look like a low-level hero got seduced by a succubus demon queen and became her puppet.
But if I became a max-level hero capable of slaying demon kings, it’d be spun as conquering the Demon Realm and forcing the queen to surrender below the belt.
Because heroes only conquer demon queens in two ways: by beheading them, or by dominating them sexually.
At that, Gun Hye-rin smiled sweetly and said:
“Master, then now my Heavenly Demon Cult also belongs to you.”
All I wanted to gather were Poison Beasts—so why were wives gathering instead?
As I internally lamented, one thought suddenly came to mind:
Thank goodness none of them had hair.
***
Once the chaos was sorted out, the three of them bowed deeply to me.
“Hwa-eun of the Tang Clan.”
“Gun Hye-rin of the Celestial Demon Church.”
“Yoo Ji-ryeon of the Imperial Family.”
“We three pledge to take So-ryong as our husband.”
'Does my opinion not matter at all?'
A sudden solemn pledge.
Caught off guard, I instinctively bowed back.
“I’ll... I’ll try my best.”
“Wonderful. Princess, Lady Gun.”
“Let’s get along like sisters, without jealousy.”
“I shall respect you both.”
Then, the three of them chatted noisily about how well this turned out, until Hwa-eun suddenly asked me:
“So-ryong, how do you plan on capturing the Silver Fish? I heard it’s rather timid?”
She asked how I intended to capture it.
But had I ever told Hwa-eun the Silver Fish was timid?
All I had said was that it sprayed poison and fled. Tilting my head, I asked:
“Did I ever say the Silver Fish was timid?”
“Oh, uh... the p-princess told me.”
“When?”
“J-just a bit ago?”
Hwa-eun grew flustered fast.
It seemed the two of them had spoken while I was spaced out. She nodded and said:
“Yes. It looked like it was eating silk, so there’s a way to lure it out.”
“There’s a way to lure it?”
“Yes.”
Silverfish are known to chew through paper and silk.
But that’s only on the surface. Go deeper, and the truth is different.
The reason silverfish can consume things like silk and paper is because they can break down organic components like proteins and carbohydrates within those materials and absorb them as nutrients.
Natural fibers like silk contain proteins like keratin and fibroin. Paper contains starch. Silverfish can selectively consume these proteins and carbs.
So if the Silver Fish spirit beast was eating silk, it meant it was consuming protein.
Which meant—we already had bait it couldn’t resist.
'If it’s silk spun from the demon fox’s threads... could it resist?'
If the silk included the protein of a spirit beast, there was no way the Silver Fish could just ignore it.
