Time continued to advance quickly and since all orders had been given, now all Apollo had to do was wait the girls do their job. But while there was nothing wrong with that, doing absolutely nothing all day couldn't help but make Apollo restless, and, to make things worse, the dawn of another battle was drawing near, giving him one more reason to stress him out.
"Haaa~~~... I need to do something!"
Making battle plans without the enemy's intel was useless. Worrying about things he had no control over was also useless. The best thing he could do now was rest and calm down, but even if he knew this inside his head, his heart refused to settle down.
"Maybe I should try doing some exercises. I don't want that lame event happening again..."
While some people dreamed of being carried like a princess, Apollo was 100% sure that he wasn't included in this list. The simple thought of the event not only made him feel ashamed but also regretful of not having a healthier life style.
"Take care of your health while healthy because if you leave it for when you are sick, it will be multiple times harder to deal!"
Remembering the wise words of his mother, Apollo decided it was time for the famous training arc!
...
Next day Apollo woke up in his double bed, inside his private room in the Palace.
"Ugh! In the mangas and novels it's always a lot easier! I want to be born with a cheat ability in another world!"
His arms were aching, his legs were aching, his chest was aching, his neck was aching... Damn! Apollo never knew he had this many muscles before! But now he had discovered all of them! Why, you ask? BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL ACHING!
Maybe his mistake started when he asked Daisy to help on his training. Or was it when the girls started cheering him on and he refused to stop? Sure, he was able to stop before his hands were bleeding, but that's stuff of movies and should never be tested in real life!
"I'm going to die....."
"MASTER!? Are you okay!?"
"I'm just being a little drama-OUCH! f***! Okay, maybe I'm not. B-but I will be fine after resting for a day or two..."
Apollo tried turning his neck to Rose who had suddenly appeared beside his bed, but doing so caused his back and neck muscles to scream in pain which was more than enough to make him give up the act.
"Master, I know you are eager to improve but you should take one step at a time!"
(Oh! Don't you say! Why didn't you tell me this yesterday, instead of cheering me on!?)
No matter what passed inside his head, obviously Apollo would never say such crude words to them even if he was in pain, so all he did was show a pained smile and say not a single word.
Seeing his suffering, Rose decided to give a suggestion:
"Maybe we could massage you to relax your muscles a bit?"
It was an innocent suggestion, born from the worry and care for her Master. Master's muscles hurt? Massage them and the pain will go away! Right?? Maybe stretching could also work, but it would hurt like hell if he tried to do it now, and she couldn't bare to make him feel even more pain... right?
"Hmm... sure, please do so."
Rose smile at his answer, a seductive smile like a jaguar ready to jump over it's prey, and this was all that was required to sound the alarm in Apollo's head.
Rose brought two fingers to her mouth and blowing out all air from her lungs she let out a long sharp whistle that echoed through the whole camp.
(Did I messed up? Did I dig my own grave?)
"Alice's presenting herself!"
"Lumina, waiting your orders."
"Hime's here!"
"Cindy, at your service!"
As Rose's whistle sound slowly died down, 4 maids suddenly appeared as if they had teleported to that place from wherever they were before.
"Hime, Cindy, you are late..."
"Mercy! I came all the way from the HQ!"
"And me, from the Lab!"
"I want to hear no excuses! As a maid, serving Master is always the highest priority to us! This time was the first, so I will let it slip, but there will be no second time!"
""Yes, ma'am!""
Hearing the scene happening in front of him, Apollo couldn't help but break in a cold sweat.
(Why are they all here!?)
Was it due to his carelessness? Was it the pain that made it hard for him to even think? No matter the motive Apollo didn't notice the use of "we" instead of "I" in the phrase that had just left Rose's mouth and now, even if he discovered it, it was too late to turn back in time.
"All right! You know the drill! Everybody to your positions!"
"Wow! I never thought this day would arrive so soon!"
"Hehehehe, this will be fun!"
Hearing the girls approaching his bed, Apollo started to panic, but he could barely move, much less ran away.
"Huh well, girls, hey, hmm, I'm feeling better now! There is no need for-"
"Shhhh!!! No need to say anything, Master. Let us take care of everything!"
"Yes, Master! Let us take care of EVE-RY-THING!"
Ignoring Apollo's protest, each girl soon arrived at their target position. Alice and Lumina moved closer Apollo's legs, Hime and Cindy moved close to his arms and Rose moved behind him to reach his head.
"Ouch! No! Don't touch there! Ah! No! St-aaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!"
...
Minutes later... Apollo found his muscles completely relaxed after the massage dealt by the maid team, but even if his muscles had stopped aching, the massage still felt quite good, to the point he felt it would be a pity to stop right now.
"Well, it's not like anybody will find out, right? Just another five minutes..."
Unfortunately for him this decision would come to bite him back.
Bang!
The door of his room was sudden opened and Daisy walked inside.
"Master, we have guests!"
Before Apollo's brain could compute Daisy's words, a familiar figure entered the room, followed by an adult woman in her late twenties.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Hayate's Master, you can call me Nagi. I come to discuss our cooperation in the war against the Master of Red Onis. I would like to start soon but first I have to say: As expected of the Pedobear Master! You are truly living up to your name!"
"I-I-I swear it's a misunderstanding!"
Poor Apollo. Tears wouldn't save him now! Sure, nothing but a normal massage had happened, but seeing him on a bed with four little girl massaging each of his members, plus one more massaging his neck, who the hell would believe such words!?
"I SWEAR!!!!"