I was pleased to see that we were let into the castle without much fanfare and shown a receiving room large enough to accommodate our party. It was only five minutes later when the door opened and a familiar face showed themselves.

“Well, look at you. It seems you’ve managed to find all of your women.” A slightly irate voice spoke.

I smiled. “Pait, that’s where you went!”

Pait had entered the room, and right next to his was his trustworthy maid Dav. He was an esmere, which were a short people not unlike dwarves, although they preferred to live on open plains rather than mountains and caves. They’d be closer to a halfling, although they were named after their country Esmore. I had honestly lost track of him when I was dealing with the invasion of King Roth.

He stiffened. “Hmph! You were so busy after we returned from the deep, I thought you had forgotten about us. I ended up returning to Dioshin with Lord Duran. After all, that’s where I was supposed to be before you kidnapped me.”

“Y-yeah… sorry about that.” I laughed. “But it worked out, right? Have you been in contact with Esmore?”

“Of course, I’m in regular contact with them through Gram’s Passage.” He sniffed. “They’ve approved me for this expedition.”

“Expedition?” I blinked.

“Do you think you’re the only one who wants to see Jespain? From what I understand, they need a lot of materials. The mining of Esmore has provided them the necessary ingredients for years, but we’ve always had to trade everything third party because of Dioshin. With this trade route you’re opening up, Esmore had an extremely invested interest in such things. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that it’s the most important thing they’re worried about right now.”

“You shouldn’t be discussing such things with an outside.” A deep, smooth voice came from the hallway.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The voice was so baritone and smooth, it reminded me of the voice of the movie announcer. I glanced at the doorway, but they hadn’t entered the room and I couldn’t see them.

“You’ve brought someone?”

Pait shot an annoyed look at the doorway. “As I said, Esmore has a lot of invested interest in all of this. That’s why they sent one of our nation’s top speakers with me. I could have handled this deal on my own. I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Haha… please don’t feel offended.” That buttery voice came from behind the door. “I’m merely here as an orator.”

“H-his voice makes me feel funny,” Celeste whispered.

“Shhh!” Miki elbowed her.

I was starting to grasp Pait’s annoyance. Dav was sneaking peeks behind her at this guy, and every time he spoke, her face flushed pink. This was some kind of smooth-talking panty-dropper. I didn’t want him anywhere near my girls. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust them, but what man would be okay with his girls talking to a guy who could make your heart beat faster with just the sound of their voice? I instantly had an image of this guy in my mind.

“Then, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” I forced myself to be polite.

Dav stepped aside, and the man himself finally entered the room.

“The pleasure is all mine.” He spoke in a voice that caused all of the girls nearby to flush.

However, I immediately felt calmer as I grasped his tiny hand. He was a middle-aged man that had nothing remarkable about him, except that he was shorter than Dav. He was from Esmore, so was it that surprising he was an esmere? My girls shouldn’t be interested in him, right?

I did learn something though. As far as I had come in this world, and as much as I had done with my girls, I could still get insecure at times. The other thing I learned was I used to think this world had a problem with proper game balance, but seeing this esmere, I was thinking this world balanced out pretty okay.