Raising A Few Wives in a Beast Apocalypse-Chapter 467: Talk with Hope

"What? Why are you all looking at m... Nooo! You couldn't possibly be expecting me to go and talk to Hope first right? I am a dude! I'm unsure of how to handle these kinds of situations. If anyone should go, it's clearly Audrey!" Muku immediately denied the idea before it was voiced.

And it was understandable. Like most dudes, he had no clue what to do or say when a girl is sad or mad. If it was his fault he would have bit the bullet but it wasn't so why should he suffer?

"Please?" Audrey didn't say much.

Emily didn't say anything at all. She just looked at Muku with begging puppy dog eyes.

What was even worse was how the other girls joined in.

If it were just one or two, maybe he would have been able to resist. But all of them ganging up on him was simply too much and plain unfair!

"Argh fine. Stop looking at me like that. I'll go speak to her. And don't blame me if the situation becomes worse" Muku relented.

"Thank you" They all thanked him uniformly like it was rehearsed.

"Yeah yeah yeah. Don't get used to it" Muku replied as he walked away in an annoyed manner.

The girls just smiled without taking offence. After all, no matter what he said, he was doing what they wanted. And if he thought it was the last time then he was lying to himself.

With how much he loved them, there was no way that was true. They knew their worth in his eyes and were completely willing to take advantage of that.

After all, it was the same as what he did with them when he wanted tournaments. He just had to look at them a certain way and they'd agree.

So it was a mutually exploitative relationship. Not in a bad way of course...

....

A while later inside the castle.

Since everyone else was outside and the walls were also sound suppressors, Muku could only hear his steps as he walked.

Though he wasn't paying attention to it. What he cared about for the moment was...

"What the hell am I going to tell her? Damn it. I shouldn't have agreed. Well, whatever, I probably think of something when the time comes" Muku spoke to himself as he walked.

Soon enough he reached Hope's door.

Knock! Knock!

He gently knocked on the door. Interestingly enough, despite being soundproof. When someone knocks on it, it's heard inside. It was probably archived through mana in some way...

Another thing, if the person inside says the word "enter" it's heard by anyone just outside the door.

As for how that worked, no one but Freya knew. The others saw no reason to ask. All that mattered was that it worked.

Anyway, Muku didn't hear anything from the other side but that didn't deter him. He figured Hope was probably not in a speaking mood. And so, he let himself in...

What met his eye was Hope's figure lying on the bed with her stomach. Her arms were hugging her pillow while she seemed to be stuck in thought.

From how it looked, she probably didn't hear the knock... Well, she heard it, but it didn't register in her mind.

Muku quietly walked forward while trying his best to avoid looking at the minor wardrobe malfunction that was going on with her. Her dress had ridden up her body a bit. Probably from through herself onto the bed.

So currently the dress barely covers her butt with a pink cloth visible from between her legs.

Muku didn't want to take notice of it but to some as strong as him, the second he looked might as well have been a few minutes, so the image was rather clear in his head.

Anyway, he forcefully pushed such thoughts out of his mind. It wasn't the time for such things. Not to mention that Hope was his sister so...

"Hey sis" He spoke gently as he sat beside her looking away from the situation down below.

"Hmm?! Oh... hello big brother. I didn't hear you coming in. What are you doing here?" Hope was slightly startled at first but quickly regained herself.

"Yeah, I noticed that you were lost in thought. Sorry to bother you. But you, know, you kinda stormed off on us so I had to come and check on" Muku replied.

"Oh, that. I'm sorry about that. Thanks for checking in, it means a lot" Hope spoke understandingly.

"So, want to talk about it?" Muku asked.

He was just going with the flow like he said he would. But it felt right so far. Maybe he was a natural. After all, most won't even be able to think of anything...

"... Big brother. Do you think I'm weak?" Hope remained quiet for a moment as if thinking about how she should reply.

"What? No. With everything you can do. Being weak is the furthest thing from you. Why would you even think like that?" Muku replied spiritedly.

And he meant every word. If Hope was weak then there was no strong person in the world.

Though he knew why she was questioning herself, he had to let her speak. That's how people moved forward after all. By letting things out.

"Well, sometimes I don't feel like it. I thought that after my physical capabilities improved and I got that training from you, I'd be able to do more. But more often than not, I'm just fighting from a distance or not fighting at all. Even after knowing that I can do more, I still hesitate. Then there's how Emily looked at me. It was almost like all my insecurities took form in her gaze. It was like she could see through me. Like I was nothing but air in front of her. Like she was better than me. And I hated it. I hated it so much I almost couldn't stop myself from hurting her for real..." Hope let it all out.

Frustration could be heard in her voice as she spoke.

"... Well, good. I'm not saying that it's good that you felt weak. I'm saying it's good that you did something about it when you felt someone else indirectly calling you weak. That's what sets apart the strong and weak. Sure, one can have all the power in the world, but if they have a weak heart, then they are nothing. So I'm glad that you my sister not only have all the power in the world, but you also have a strong heart to back it up. As for what happened with Emily, forget about it. We've moved past it already. You've proven her wrong. Not only proven her wrong, but you did it beyond the shadow of a doubt" Muku spoke after a second of thinking about it.

And he meant every word. Sure he wouldn't say it in front of Emily but she wasn't present so he was free to say whatever he wanted.

"Hehe. Big brother you're such a... I don't even know what to call you. But thank you. I didn't look at it like that. You're right, I'm not the one who should be feeling bad. It's her. After all, she lost to something she thought couldn't stand up against her" Hope replied.

Her mood seemed to have gotten better by a few notches.

Muku internally celebrated. It seems he really was good at this.

"Yeah! As for the rest. It's not that you're weak in such situations either. You just took the most optimal stances. Like in the last battle. You took out a whole wave of beasts alone. Not even Emily could do that. It wouldn't have been possible if you had fought up close. If that's not enough, you can fight up close from now on. You clearly have the skills" Muku added as he mercilessly continued to bury Emily along the way.

It wasn't his fault, after all, he was cleaning up her mess.

"Yeah! You're right! I'm amazing!" Hope's self-esteem shot through the roof with Muku's hyping.

After that, she got up off the bed and sat beside Muku. Then out of nowhere she gave him a tight hug.

"Thank you big brother. I didn't know how much I needed that. I've finally realised that I was holding myself back and not anyone else or my skills" Hope spoke seriously while hugging Muku.

"Exactly. And anytime you need me. I'll be there" Muku said.

"No no, don't say that" Hope instantly refused.

"What? Why not?" Muku was confused. Shouldn't she be happy?

"Umm, I've seen enough movies to know that whoever says such things doesn't last long so..." Hope replied seriously while looking Muku in the eyes.

"Really? You think I'm setting up death flags? Fine. I won't promise" Muku replied in an exhausted voice.

"Good! And besides. There's no need to promise. I know you'll always be there for me" Hope replied with a beautiful smile that made Muku's heart skip a beat.

If she weren't his sister he might have pushed her down on the spot. That's how irresistible she looked at the moment.

"True. So, tell me about that black poison from before. Since when could you do that?" Muku asked about the mysterious poison she used before in an attempt to change the subject.

"Oh, that. Were you amazed? Were you shocked? Hehe. That's exactly what I was going for" Hope replied with a mischievous yet proud look on her face.

Muku had successfully diverted her attention.

"Yeah. Not just me. Everyone was amazed" Muku replied truthfully.

No one expected poison to beat fire like that. And it was a complete defeat too. With no resistance.

"Hehe. That's good. Anyway, that poison wasn't actually something I consciously tried to create. It happened by mistake. I have been working on it secretly ever since. However, there's another poison I developed. Unfortunately, I can't seem to figure out what it does... Oh, I know! Do you mind helping me out with it big brother?" Hope told him what he wanted to know without getting into details then she subtly switched topics.

"Umm... sure" Muku agreed.

He felt that there was something wrong but he didn't pursue it...