—Next Day, 3rd Person POV—
Reconvening after breakfast, the Queen's suspicions of what might occur today appeared to be accurate. Sensing several gazes fixed upon herself, she could feel the disgust emanating from a few of them. Remaining silent as the rest of the ambassadors took their seats, she expected one of the Demihuman nations to berate Melromarc for training the Heroes so poorly. Surprisingly though once everyone was seated, it was the ambassador from Faubrey that spoke first.
"At this point, it's safe to say that all of us here are aware of what occurred yesterday in Melromarc through our own sources.", he said breaking the ice, "I believe I speak for many nations here when I say, we have serious concerns about whether or not Melromarc is up to the task for nurturing all four Heroes. Based on the display all of us saw, the Shield Hero is the only one to show strength, courage, and heroism. The other three Heroes were nothing less than fools throughout that entire confrontation. How do you explain this situation?"
"The Shield Hero has been receiving direct training from an S-Ranked Adventurer named Kessler. From what I understand, he has been pushing the Shield Hero and his party hard so they can stand on their own two feet.", the Queen explained, "The Bow, Spear, and Sword Heroes have taken their own paths, and unfortunately they have been slacking off. I assure you we will redouble our efforts to train them properly."
"From what I saw, the Three Heroes haven't received any proper training whatsoever. Running off on their own and abandoning the villagers are just some of the issues I saw.", the ambassador from Zeltoble questioned, "If this is what Melromarc has been doing up till now, I fear for our continued survival against the Waves. The Shield Hero cannot carry the burden alone, nor should he have to. I find it humorous that an Adventurer has nurtured a better Hero with less funds and resources than you have."
Unable to argue that, the Queen was in a bind now. There was no refuting his words as the evidence clearly showed the difference between Melromarc's and Kessler's training methods. Had her husband been of sound mind when they were summoned, she was certain he'd have forced them into proper military training. Unfortunately, he wasn't at the time and allowed the Heroes to do as they pleased. Now that he had his head on right, it was too late to fix the damage.
Noticing that several of the other ambassadors agreed with Zeltoble's assessment of things, the Queen had to come up with a solution to keep the Heroes with Melromarc. Struggling to come up with a sound plan, one came to her from an unlikely source. Clearing his throat to get everyone's attention, the Siltvelt gave her a suggestion that he'd been holding onto since last night.
"My nation feels the best person suited to train the four Heroes is Kessler.", the Siltvelt ambassador spoke up, "Based on the results the Shield Hero has shown us, the other three Heroes stand to benefit a lot from his training. As an Adventurer, he has a wide range of skills to teach them, and hopefully, they will grow into the Heroes the world needs them to be. If they aren't flexible enough to change…I am sure Kessler will show them the error of their ways. Afterall, he is the only one that can overpower them should they go down the wrong path."
"Shieldfreeden agrees with Siltvelt on this matter, our nation sees the potential in Kessler training all Four Heroes.", the Shieldfreeden ambassador agreed, "Kessler is an ally to both Demihumans and Humans alike, we want that sentiment to be instilled in the Heroes so they can help forge a brighter tomorrow for our children and grandchildren."
"Here here!", several other ambassadors backed him up.
Having no choice but to accept their request, the Queen knew asking Kessler for a favor like this would be expensive. Her husband had burned that bridge so it fell to Melty and her to make this request of Kessler, and hopefully, he wouldn't kill them. Accepting the group's decision, the Zeltoble and Faubrey ambassadors saw an opportunity to sway things in their favor. Jumping on it immediately, they wrote a message on a sheet of paper and handed it to their aide. Telling them to hand off the request, the aides immediately left the room.
As the two aides left, a few ambassadors were confused by what was happening. Asking the two men if they were unsatisfied with Kessler's teaching, both men shook their heads and said they were fine with Kessler. Stating that they wanted to arrange rewards for him as a token of thanks, the Queen immediately knew what they were doing. Now that the four Heroes were tied to Kessler for training, this meant wherever he went…they would end up going.
'Damn it…I didn't consider that possibility, as an Adventurer, he is free to go wherever he wants and has no national allegiance to anyone.', she thought clenching her fist beneath the table, 'I will have to come up with something to keep him in Melromarc.'
Coming to the same realization as her, other ambassadors began sending their aides out as well with similar messages. With this, a whole new set of challenges was dropped on Kessler's unknowing lap.
—Cole POV, The Following Day—
Hearing the sound of Eri and Kota running toward our room, the two of them burst in shouting at us to wake up. Making their displeasure known, my lovers groaned as they struggled to move normally. I had been a bit overzealous in my present opening the night before so it wasn't any surprise they didn't want to wake up.
"Sandy Claws came last night!", Eri proclaimed as she pulled herself onto the bed, "There are lots and lots of presents downstairs!"
"Haha, I am sure Santa knew you were a very good girl this year.", I chuckled, "Why don't you two go look what's in your stockings while we get ready, we will be down shortly."
"Okay!", they said rushing out of the room.
"If Santa gave you candy, you can't have any till after breakfast!", I shouted down the hall.
Not getting a response from them, I knew it was probably already too late to stop them. Looking over at my lovers, Mirko poked her head out of the sheets with an exhausted look.
"Next time…be a bit more gentle.", she complained, "Some of us weren't ready for your passionate lovemaking."
"You weren't saying that last night, I strictly remember all of you being very vocal about it last night. In fact, I think you were the loudest one of the lot Mirko.", I snickered, "Are you telling me that I shouldn't do it ever again?"
Giving me blank stares for a moment, they all let out a collective sigh and shook their heads in defeat. Using magic to heal their aching bodies, I told them to come down to join us once they were dressed. Smacking Fuyumi and Shino on their butts as I crawled out of bed, I threw some on my boxers and a robe before heading downstairs.
Putting some coffee on for us, I glanced over at the two children who were opening the gifts that stuck out of their stockings. Opening a package with a plush horse in it, Eri gave it a big hug as she smiled with joy. Looking over at Kota, he was wearing an even bigger smile on his face.
"Dad, I got a baseball and gloves!!", Kota said as he showed me the presents, "Can…can we play after breakfast, or do you need to go to work?"
"I took today off to spend with everyone, we can certainly throw the ball around for a bit.", I promised him, "We can even pick up a baseball bat so you can practice a bit."
"Yes!", he replied as he pumped his fist with excitement.
Watching them pour out the remaining contents of their stockings, the children made off like bandits in the candy department. Hauling in more candy than they had during Halloween, I knew I would have to monitor their candy intake regularly to ensure they didn't over do it. Coming down a short time later, my lovers did their best to make it look like I didn't rock their worlds last night.
"Good Morning Ko-", Shino started to say when she saw all the presents, "Holy crap!"
"Damn these two made off like bandits!", Ryuko gasped, "I haven't seen this many presents before in my whole life!"
"Me neither…", Fuyumi agreed looking at me, "Santa really went above and beyond for us this year."
"...of course he did, they were both very good children this year.", I stated with a smirk.
Shaking her head with a smile, she whispered to me that she thought it was cute that I was spoiling the children. Getting ourselves some coffee, we sat down together and began opening presents. Handing them out to everyone myself, my wives had to help the babies open the gifts I bought them. Watching my family enjoy opening the gifts and the reactions they had gave me an overwhelming sense of happiness that I had wanted for a long time.
"I have something that I have been meaning to give you for while now.", I told the five MHA women.
Pulling out rings that I crafted for them, the five of them stared at the rings in shock. Catching them completely off guard with my proposal, they were utterly speechless.
"Oh my…are you sure?", Ryuko questioned looking at her ring, "You are really okay with marrying us?"
"Of course I am, I wouldn't have it any other way.", I chuckled, "I think I have made you ladies wait long enough."
Sliding the rings onto their ring fingers, they admired the ornately designed, handcrafted rings. Choking up after a few moments, Shino and Ryuko started bawling their eyes out as they admitted they thought they'd never get married by this point in their life. While they held each other and cried, Rumi patted me on the back with a grin.
"We got you something too.", Rumi told me as motioned to Sapphire.
Pulling out an enchanted ring from her storage, Sapphire presented it to me with a smile.
"You weren't able to take your wedding bands with you when you left each of our worlds. We wanted to make one for you as a family, and this is the result.", she informed me.
Taking the ring out of the box, I took a look at the pearlescent ring they gave me. Watching the ring shift between several different colors, I detected the faintest amount of magic emanating from it. Slipping the ring on, the magic within harmonized with me and gave me the feeling I had whenever I was with my family.
"This is a wonderful present, I love how it changes colors too.", I said moving it around in the light.
"Yeah…it's got the tiniest amount of mana from each of us in it. The colors are unique to us.", Gearnia advised, "Ya better be grateful 'cause it ain't easy making something like this."
"Haha, I am very grateful and promise to never take it off.", I assured her.
"Good, it will hopefully keep those hussies off of you too!", Gearnia stated.
Looking at her in frustration, I telepathically told her not to use that word in front of the children. They didn't need to know what it meant, and I didn't want them repeating it at school. Remembering that there were little ones around, she covered her mouth in embarrassment.
"What's a hussy?", Eri inquired.
"Good going Gearnia.", Aria sighed, "You never pay attention to what you are saying.
"Well excuse me fer not being a proper lady!", Gearnia argued, "I never liked that prim and proper shi…stuff, besides Cole likes me the way I am right?"
Giving her a smile, I nodded my head in agreement. Speaking to Kota and Eri about the word, Fuyumi told them that it was a word that only adults could use. Agreeing to not use the word, the two children grabbed their bundle of toys and went to their rooms to play while we got breakfast ready.