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The bell rang signaling the end of class at 3:00 PM, with a stream of students surging out of their classrooms, eager to attend their clubs, to go out with their cliques, and to go home to have fun by themselves.

John stood up, grabbed his sling bag, and was one of the last people to exit the classroom alongside Marie, who quickly positioned herself beside him, their steps in sync with one another.

Outside the classroom were some students who loitered around and they directed their gaze to the two of them, as if they were a good-looking couple leaving to have some fun and do things that couples do.

As they approached the gate together, another beautiful girl standing on the same height as Marie, with her long raven black hair tied into a braid, purple eyes, C-cup breasts, waited near the entrance, a pink and blue bag slung over her shoulder.

Hearing their footsteps, she spun on her heels and faced both of them, turning her gaze from John to Marie, giving her a glare that she returned with a glare of her own.

"Oh, it's you Marie. What are you doing walking beside John?"

"Is there any problem, Janice?"

As the two girls entered a staring contest, the once pleasant atmosphere suddenly turned into a tense one, both of the girls' auras clashing against the other.

On the other hand, John just moved his eyes back and forth, trying to determine the reason for the sudden change in the atmosphere between the two girls.

The disembodied voice made its presence known once more, a surge of lust flowing through his body, followed by its raucous laughter.

"Now this is what I call a cat fight! This, your Highness, is what you get when a boy like you has earned the affection of beautiful women. By treating them not as fragile and unattainable objects but as humans with emotions, you've earned their affection, enough for them to be chosen as part of your harem.~"

"You're really having fun at my expense, are you?"

He just gave him a grin, a grin as far as he can imagine a voice like him would have.

"It shows that they're willing to fight for your attention. Isn't that the greatest feeling for a Harem King, your Highness? As far as I can tell, anything you ask of them they'll do it without question because you've already forged a strong bond with them during your youth."

As the staring match of both girls continued, the pressure around them started increasing, first as a trickle, flaring their magic as it increased in intensity.

"Forged a strong bond during my youth? What are you saying?"

"Whether consciously or subconsciously, the days you spent with these beautiful girls throughout the years resulted in them imprinting your presence on their souls. When this happens, these same girls are automatically chosen as part of your Harem, a bond of sorts, if you will, not unlike other bonds where they take place after entering high school."

"Is there such a difference between my situation and others situation?"

"Not many Harem Kings know this, but having a long-time bond with a girl or a group of girls during your youth will result in them being stronger than average. Your friend Karl only has two close bonds with girls and thus, those two are the strongest members of his harem. The other members of his harem are weaker by comparison, by virtue of Karl not spending much time with them. Keep in mind that if you aim to create the strongest harem, you must spend time with your harem members, whether individually or as a group."

Both girls' auras had reached the point where students around them started to curl into balls, arms over their heads, and some losing consciousness due to a lack of air, the result of their intensifying aura.

"So in my case, I have three, which means that I already have enough power to fight against other Harem Kings."

"Not three your Highness but four, since you've forgotten one other girl whom you've also spent a lot of time with during your childhood."

When the voice said four, he scrunched his face, rattling his head for any memory of the final girl whom he also spent a lot of time with in his youth. 

After a couple of minutes, an image of a beautiful tanned girl, with medium length dark brown hair and golden eyes, appeared in his mind, that triggered a memory inside him.

"Wait, even Cara qualifies as one of those girls whom I'm close with?"

Both girls noticed that the students around them started to drop like flies, some now shivering while curled into balls, and lowered the intensity so that they'll prevent any deaths due to their petty confrontation.

A perverted laugh was the voice's answer, which made him uncomfortable.

"Hohoho...who would've imagined that his Highness has already marked his future partners? Certainly not me, nor anybody for that matter. In fact, having four girls whom you're close with is already a power multiplier since the only thing you have to worry about is training them and looking for the last three members that will round up your harem."

"Isn't four enough? I'm not interested in getting a full seven since it's too troublesome to take care of them."

"You're still naive and foolish your Highness, and I won't give you an answer since the Arbiter will be the one answering your question. For now, just remember that your harem grows in overall strength the more you spend time with them.

"And now, I shall rest and watch his Highness fumble around with his...how should I say it...'chicks' or 'women'...or would you rather prefer 'property'?" 

With a boisterous laugh, the voice disappeared, the feelings of lust inside him vanished, bringing him back to normal, seeing both girls exuding their auras against each other, that made the other students in the vicinity shudder in fear.

To stop them from threatening the students even more, he stepped between them, grabbing their shoulders and squeezing them with enough force to snap them out of their confrontation, the auras vanishing into particles of light.

The students breathed a sigh of relief, with the ones who were knocked out having the ability to breathe again. 

After his conversation with the disembodied voice, he viewed both Marie and Janice as people he wants to protect, but not as a part of their harem.

Not a chance, especially for John who waved off any thoughts of treating them as no more than close friends because for him, playing around with a girl's heart is cruel, and he doesn't want to see his bond with them destroyed just because of being chosen as a Harem King.

"So Jan, you said you wanted to visit the new cake shop nearby. Let's go. Marie, you should come along with us too so that you can have a taste."

Janice just grumbled as Marie cheered inside her head, treating John's invitation as win and proving to her that she's in the lead for his affection.

"Fine, but your paying for your own, Marie."

"Of course, but not for me. For ours."

"What do you mean by 'ours'? And why are you smirking?"

"Because I promised him that I'll buy it for him. You've got a problem with that?"

She just clicked her tongue, knowing that going any further would just yield another loss for her.

"Alright girls, let's just go before the line gets longer, shall we?"

Both girls entwined his arms with theirs on both sides, resulting in an awkward smile and a look of disbelief from the students loitering outside the school gates, as they walked side-by-side towards the new bake shop a couple of steps from their school[.

"Are you seeing this right now? Two of the most beautiful girls in our school hanging onto that handsome bastard without a care in the world."

"Don't question reality, bro. That's the way it is for men who are born with looks. They get all the pussy, and women treat them differently than men like us who are below average."

Both boys just sighed, resigned to their fate of never attracting beautiful women even if they max-out their strengths.]

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While John, Janice, & Marie spent time at the cake shop, Angelica was busy fighting against one of Karl's harem members, a black-haired beauty sporting a bob-cut and wearing red-rimmed glasses.

Because there were no students present, the gymnasium became a battleground, the floor pitted with crater holes of varying sizes, the steel beams warped and separated from their foundations, the windows broken, and the walls on each side sporting large circular holes enough for an average human being to enter.

"You blonde bitch, why don't you just die!"

The girl held two orbs of lighting on both her hands and threw them towards Angelica, who used her Wind Step to dodge her attacks.

"Instead of constantly attacking me, you should focus on training. You're weak!"

She danced around the battlefield, not giving the girl a chance to hit her while moving faster than the wind.

Stopping behind a stone wall created by the black-haired girl, she exchanged her pistol with a long-barreled sniper rifle, a sleek, raven black weapon with red colored lenses attached to its sights.

"Let's see you defend against this, you uncivilized Scythian!"

Peering behind the wall, she saw her gasping for breath, giving her enough time to position herself, aim the sights, and shoot her in the head to knock her out.

Settling into a prone position behind the wall, she took deep, controlled breaths, the barrel of the gun protruding from the hole on the wall, aimed at her forehead, and pulled the trigger, the bullet fast enough to knock the black-haired girl off her feet, and a hole the size of a pellet appearing on the girl's forehead.

"Bull's eye!"

Because she used stun rounds to knockout her opponent, there was no blood to be seen on the pellet shaped wound on her forehead, and looked as if her opponent was fast asleep, with a round red-shaped imprint on her forehead.

For Angelica, this was the twelfth attempt on John and she was fast enough to stop whatever Karl's harem members are planning. 

Thanks to her affinity over the wind and air, she's able to eavesdrop and spy on others without them knowing about it, with only people possessing high enough magic power able to detect her spell.

"First it was Kana, now Lea. At this rate, I'll run out of gas before John will accept the role of a Harem King."

Fatigue, exhaustion, and a desire to rest assaulted her, ignoring the unconscious body in front of her and taking slow and steady steps outside the gymnasium and going straight to her house.

A black crow perched on the branches of one of the oak trees inside the school premises saw everything, a silent spectator to a one-on-one fight, and flew away, the entire gymnasium being restored to its original appearance.

Unaware that a black crow witnessed her fight against the bob-cut girl, she hummed a victory tune, a slight limp on her step.

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Inside the cake shop, the three of them sat on a round table, with John seated between Janice and Marie. 

A waitress approached them and took their orders, all the while stealing glances at him, which wasn't noticed by both girls.

As they wait for their orders, John was in deep thought as he reflected on the message, unable to decide on whether or not to accept this so-called 'Arbiter's' invitation.

Since he's still not used to being invited, he was wary of going to the meeting location, not because he is afraid, but because he doesn't have any idea what will happen if he decides to go.

A feeling of lust overtook him and his surroundings turning pink as he felt the disembodied voice talk to him, its deep, hypnotizing voice reverberating inside him.

"It seems you're conflicted on something, your Highness. Is it because of the Arbiter's invitation?"

"That's right. It looks so simple. Just an invitation to get to know this Arbiter whom I have no idea of."

"Hmm...you do have a point in being suspicious of someone who knows where you sit at school. It's safe to say that this Arbiter also knows where you live, as well as your close friends and family. I won't be surprised if it also knows your teachers. If I were you, I wouldn't take the bait."

"But I want to know more about this harem business because of the mark on my right hand. I know that I'm clueless on why I was chosen or what to expect upon becoming a Harem King, or why I'm being hunted down by Karl's girlfriends. I have a suspicion that he just wants to prove his superiority to me, and he does so by sending his girlfriends to attack me."

"That's an admirable goal, your Highness. Indeed, there's no harm to acquiring more knowledge and seeking answers to your questions. I agree that it's important you get an idea of what it means to be a Harem King and meeting this Arbiter is the easiest way to do so."

"If I accept, then I should expect another attempt then?"

"Indeed, your Highness. Karl would time his attacks when you're at your most vulnerable or when you're alone, so I would recommend that you ask these two lovely ladies to accompany you to the meeting three days from now."

Their orders arrived and both girls started digging in, with Marie eating the cake in a prim and proper manner, and Janice eating hers normally, like any other normal person.

He ignored the blueberry slice in front of him, and sank deeper into contemplation.

"Then I need to create some defensive measures on the off-chance that he'll try to ambush me."

"If you want some assurance, your Highness, then situations like these frequently occur in a match between Harem Kings, and there are a myriad of reasons why, but I'm of the firm belief that its subconscious in nature. That girls who are part of your harem instinctively know what to do and have their own initiative to do what they need to do."

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

"In other words, you can never guess what a girl is thinking and its useless to try. Such is the feminine energy they possesses, which is free of limitations and incomprehensible."

"You're right, I shouldn't be thinking hard about this. Very well, I'll accept his invitation and meet him three days from now."

"A wise decision, your Highness. Do remember that the moment you opened the envelop, you had no other choice available to you on the matter."

"Yes. In other words, he's already checked me in advance."

"Don't worry your Highness. Treat this as another lesson on reading between the lines."

When the voice disappeared, he snapped back to reality, reaching for his fork and eating the slice of cake in front of him.

After eating, all three talked about mundane things like a couple of lovers out on a date, and went their separate ways outside the entrance of the cake shop.

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Outside the gate of his house, John saw two large dogs with black and white fur sitting on their haunches, ears raised and noses sniffing the air for any signs of an intruder.

They turned their heads towards him as he drew near his home, silently raising their haunches and making space for him to pass through the gate.

"Strange...why are two dogs standing guard in front of my house?"

He shook his head, waving away any concerns he had about dogs hanging around other people's houses since dogs sometimes mark their territory where they hang-out and keep guard as if it was their own home.

Both the dog's eyes followed his form, turning their bodies around to observe him.

John turned around and observed the two dogs in return, nodding to them that he's okay and that there's nothing to worry about.

The dogs turned their backs on him and went their own way, the two dogs going into two different directions.

"They must've waited for me to arrive and defended my home while I was away. Who could've sent those two dogs to my home and ordered them to guard it?"

He put a hand inside his pants' pocket, rifling for the house keys, pulling it out and unlocking the door to the entrance lobby.

Once inside, he took off his leather shoes, took a pair of slippers from the shoe rack to his left, grabbed the pair of leather shoes using his hands, and proceeded to climb the stairs to his room.

His mother heard him enter and called out to him that dinner's ready, answering her call with 'Yes mom.'

Upon reaching his room and putting the pair of leather shoes on his personal shoe rack that also had four pairs of rubber shoes and bath slippers, he took off his uniform and dressed quickly, before returning downstairs and entering the dining room where the night's dinner was located, the table already set in advance.

Dinner passed with mother and son having small talk, focused more on John's day and, blurting out by accident that he went on a 'date' with two beautiful girls, placating his mom's insatiable curiosity on the details regarding his 'date.'

After washing the dishes, he said his goodnight to his mother and returned to his room, where he grabbed a random book on his shelf and  sat on the sofa, speed reading it until he felt sleepy, forcing him to stop, and his body urging him to go to bed.

While fast asleep, he dreamed of having an orgy with his three close friends, having his way with them until they were exhausted, his sexual desire barely satisfied. 

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