My Seven Wives in One Body and Me, her Manager

After Gary picked up Dennis and Daisy and they set off south to stay at the Hunter Guild’s Colosseum Hotel, Gary, Olivia, Jason, and Kimberly stared at the pair, who looked completely drained sitting in front of them.

"What’s wrong with you two now?" Gary asked.

"Nothing," Dennis answered shortly, looking lethargic because his entire body was in pain.

"Yep... nothing at all. Just relaxing," Daisy added.

Silence fell over the group again. Gary and Olivia kept studying Dennis and Daisy, while Jason and Kimberly seemed perfectly relaxed—they clearly understood the situation and even had smiles on their faces as they watched the two.

"What’s up with you, dude? Why are you grinning like that?" Dennis asked Jason.

"Nothing... I was just wondering, are you really that eager for Destiny to have a sibling already, dude?" Jason asked jokingly.

"Hehe... maybe take your foot off the gas a little. You two are way too lovey-dovey," Kimberly added, teasing them.

Dennis and Daisy’s faces instantly turned beet red because they’d been caught red-handed, and it didn’t help that Dennis could still feel every ache and ounce of exhaustion in his body.

"Mr. Steve called me last night, but his voice was breaking up. Any idea what he wanted to talk about?" Gary asked.

"Oh, Mr. Steve called you?" Dennis asked.

"Yep, because you didn’t pick up your phone," Gary answered.

"Oh... right," Dennis muttered. "I was busy training all day yesterday and... well... how was I supposed to hear the phone ringing," Dennis muttered in his head.

"Did you try calling him back or sending a message or something?" Daisy asked.

"I did... but it seems like the signal down south is acting up. Yesterday he mentioned something about the tournament... and how the city-level tournament was... canceled or something... I couldn’t really tell," Gary answered.

"Hmm... if it’s canceled, it would make sense. The city is still dealing with the damage from that giant monster attack, after all," Jason replied.

"Well... maybe once we get there, we’ll find out for sure," Dennis said.

"If it’s canceled, that’s fine by me. Honestly, I’m kind of over the whole tournament scene. We’re in our third year and basically just waiting to graduate; even the classes are chill now," Olivia replied.

"Totally agree. I’m actually pretty lazy about getting involved in this stuff too," Kimberly added.

"Hey... we’re the school’s core team. Like it or not, we’re in it, so quit complaining," Gary said.

"Let it go. We’ll just see how things look once we’re there," Dennis said.

"Exactly. Just take it easy," Jason added.

The car continued toward the southern district. As they entered the dark southern sector and pulled up in front of the guild building, they saw Steve talking to Vanessa near the entrance. Steve appeared to be smoking, which was why they were talking outside. When he saw Dennis, Daisy, and the others step out, Steve immediately headed down the stairs to meet them.

"You’ve arrived," Steve said.

"Yes, sir. Right on schedule," Dennis replied.

"First off, my apologies. I tried to reach you yesterday but couldn’t get through, and when I called Gary, the signal here was terrible. Here’s the deal: for this year, the tournament is canceled. Many schools aren’t ready, including the Emerald Military Academy; the eastern and northern branches withdrew because of the damage to their facilities from the recent attacks. They only confirmed it with the guild yesterday due to communication being down over there," Steve explained.

"I see, sir. So the city-level tournament is canceled as well?" Dennis asked.

"Yes... there won’t be any tournaments at all this year. It’s a shame you won’t get to participate," Steve answered.

"That’s quite alright, sir," Dennis replied.

Steve scanned the faces of the six students standing before him. Not a single one of them looked disappointed about the tournament being canceled, and he let out a long breath of relief. He then led them all inside the guild building. Since this was the first time Dennis and Daisy had ever been inside, they were struck by the massive lobby and the circular reception desk at its center. Pillars filled the room, and a capsule elevator for going upstairs sat right in front of them. There were plenty of hunters around, some lounging on the lobby sofas and others browsing the touch-screen LCDs mounted on the pillars to look for available jobs.

Seeing how enthusiastic the six of them were, Vanessa immediately invited them on a short tour. They walked into a room on the right, which led to a hallway with transparent glass. This allowed them to look down from a tube-like bridge and see the hunters training in the hologram rooms below.

"Wow... so the training rooms are underneath us?" Dennis asked.

"That’s right. The hunters run their combat simulations down there. Want to give it a shot?" Vanessa asked.

"Maybe some other time," Dennis answered. His body was still incredibly sore, and he definitely wasn’t in the mood for a workout.

As they walked, Daisy nudged Dennis and pointed to a screen beside them. It showed three hunters fighting a single S-rank Mandrake Lady Bug. Dennis just snorted at the sight. He had fought that same monster countless times in his own dimensional training room—and not just one at a time, but ten at once. He had nearly died every single time, even with his six powerful wives by his side.

The hunters facing that S-rank monster seemed to be having a hard time landing an attack. The creature just sat there, but whenever they tried to close in, they were immediately blown back by the sheer force of its screech. They clutched their ears, their faces contorted in pain.

"Just imagine ten of those things at once. They’re struggling with just one," Dennis muttered in his head to Daisy.

"Yeah, and we fought ten of them over and over... until we were bored and our bodies were completely trashed," Daisy said.

"That’s only because you all spent nearly two hours in the pool taking turns with me," Dennis replied.

"Hehe... sorry. I couldn’t help it; we were just in the mood," Daisy teased.

"Whatever... it is what it is. Now I’m just stuck with the exhaustion," Dennis said.

"Hehe... I know, honey," Daisy replied, wrapping her arm around his.

They continued walking across the hallway that resembled a bridge, with the simulation arenas sprawling beneath them. After passing through the door at the end, they entered another corridor lined with laboratories. Numerous scientists were visible through the glass, busy studying Crawlers, developing new weaponry, and conducting various research projects. At the end of the hall, they reached the elevator. Vanessa pressed the button and the doors slid open; everyone filed inside as she selected their destination.

"Um... where are we heading, Ms. Vanessa?" Dennis asked.

"To see the guild’s operational offices upstairs, then we’ll hit the restaurant. After that, we’re meeting with the Guild Master—he’s looking forward to seeing all of you," Vanessa answered.

"Oh... I see," Gary replied.

"Does he actually know who we are, Ms. Vanessa?" Daisy asked.

"Of course he does... you’re quite famous because of the footage of you fighting those enemies on the train tracks and your victory over the S-rank Claw Centipede," Vanessa answered.

"Wow... is that so? That means we’re a shoe-in to become hunters once we graduate, right?" Jason asked.

"Actually, you’ve basically been hunters since yesterday. So don’t worry about life after graduation; you’ll have jobs waiting for you and you’ll be set, but you have to stay disciplined," Vanessa said enthusiastically, clenching her fist.

As they caught a glimpse of Vanessa’s hand, they finally noticed a wedding ring on her ring finger.

"Oh, are you married, ma’am?" Kimberly asked.

"Yes, I am... for quite a while now, actually. Since I was about your age," Vanessa answered with a smile.

"So, was it an arranged marriage too?" Olivia asked.

"What do you mean ’too’? We weren’t arranged," Gary corrected her.

"Oh... right. Sorry," Olivia replied.

"Is your husband in this city too, ma’am, or is he somewhere else?" Jason asked.

"Huh... you guys didn’t know Mr. Steve is my husband? Didn’t he ever mention it to you?" Vanessa asked, looking surprised.

The six of them were instantly shocked to hear that Vanessa—who was beautiful and looked like she was still in her late twenties—was married to their gym teacher. Mr. Steve was bald and looked more like someone who lived on a battlefield than a teacher or a family man.

"Wait... that means there’s a huge age gap, right? Mr. Steve is around thirty-five," Olivia remarked.

"How old do you think I am?" Vanessa asked with a smile.

"Twenty-five... maybe a bit more, but definitely under thirty," Gary said.

"Wow... I look that young? Thank you so much! My actual age is thirty-four; I’m only a year younger than my husband," Vanessa replied cheerfully.

"Huh," the six of them gasped, falling into another state of shock. They never would have guessed that Vanessa, who looked as youthful and fresh as a college student, was actually thirty-four years old.