After everyone had enjoyed plenty of seafood dishes and wagashi for dessert, we decided to take a short nap while we were in the safe zone.

However, a small problem arose. No, rather than arising, it was simply something I had completely overlooked.

That is, while taking turns keeping watch in this safe zone, it meant that I would be sleeping in the same place as four beautiful women. When I first heard this would be an overnight request, I had planned to return home using teleportation magic at night.

...No, for a normal high school boy, this was an ideal situation, but at the same time, it was also a torturous predicament where I absolutely could not afford to do anything careless.

Wait a second—now that I think about it, what is this harem-like situation!? Why am I the only guy here with four women? This is amazing!

“Hoo!”

Oh, right, Fūsuke is here too. He obviously can’t read my thoughts, but he must have been worried because I was the only one acting suspiciously. Thanks to Fūsuke, I calmed down a little.

Looking around, I realized I was the only one flustered. The others had already prepared sleeping bags on top of the leisure sheet. Since we’d be taking turns keeping watch, there was no need to panic. …Not that I had any intention of doing anything in the first place.

“Alright, we’ll take turns napping. Even though we’re racing against Swift Thunder and this dungeon is relatively easy, the worst thing we could do is rush and get injured. Let’s make sure to get proper rest.”

“Yeah, let’s proceed carefully without rushing.”

Even though they were high-rank adventurers, they still remained calm and cautious. Then again, in a world as dangerous as this, recklessness would lead to death or serious injury before they could even reach a high rank.

“Alright, let’s split into pairs and take turns keeping watch while the others rest.”

“I’ll help with the watch too. With Fūsuke, we can form pairs of two.”

“Hoo!”

Perched on my shoulder, Fūsuke raised a wing as if to say, “Leave it to me!” He seemed more than ready.

“But Master Masayoshi, you’re already carrying all our supplies and even treated us to such delicious food. We can’t possibly make you keep watch as well!”

“It’s fine. I have storage magic, and I haven’t even participated in combat. I’m definitely the least tired out of everyone. Besides, I have a skill that allows me to stay active without sleeping, so I’ll take my turn at watch. You should all rest.”

“…I’ve come to understand that Big Brother Masayoshi won’t back down on these things. Let’s rotate shifts among three pairs.”

“That sounds like the best plan, nya.”

Yeah, Nonoh was right. In this situation, there was no way I’d be the only one getting a full night’s sleep.

“By the way, how do you keep track of time for the watch shifts?”

So far, I hadn’t seen any proper clocks in this world. Maybe they used hourglasses or something?

“Usually, we just estimate. We wake up the next pair when it feels like about half the night has passed. But this time, since we’re splitting into three shifts, it’s a bit trickier.”

“I have a magic tool that can track time accurately, so I can handle the shift change.”

“There’s such a convenient magic tool?”

I could just use my smartphone’s timer function. Adventurers really had it rough. Maybe I should buy them an hourglass as a gift sometime.

After some discussion, we decided that Luluene and Nonoh would take the first watch, then I would take over with Fūsuke after two hours, and finally, Lilith and Nenea would take the last shift. Apparently, the four of them usually rotated watch duty in pairs.

“Alright, I’ll rest first.”

“We’ll be sleeping first, nya.”

“I set an alarm to go off in two hours, so I’ll come wake you up when it’s time.”

“Alright, get some good rest.”

“We’ll handle the watch.”

I set up my sleeping bag on the leisure sheet. Mine was a cheap one I bought online for about a thousand yen, but it wasn’t too cold, so it would do. The hard ground was more of an issue—maybe I should’ve brought a mat instead.

“Hey, don’t stay so far away. Come a little closer.”

“Big Brother, let’s sleep together, nya!”

“N-No, I’m fine right here.”

I’m sorry, but this is impossible for a normal high school boy! Even at this distance, my heart is pounding. Does Lilith not see me as a man at all? That would be a little sad...

Beep, beep, beep!

“Ugh… mmm…”

I quickly crawled out of my sleeping bag and turned off the alarm. Two hours had passed. In the end, I barely got any sleep.

Well, considering I was sleeping next to women, the ground was hard, we were in a dungeon, and I couldn’t let my guard down—there wasn’t a single reason why I should’ve been able to sleep soundly.

I got up and went to relieve Luluene and Nonoh from their watch. Nothing unusual had happened while they were on duty. I set the timer for another two hours.

“Alright, let’s keep watch for the next two hours.”

“Hoo!”