Novel I Own a Brothel in Another World

Discussion in 'Community Fictions' started by Saileri, Feb 5, 2021.

  1. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 20 - The Soul Relic
    Waves of warm and sweet air brush against my face when I slowly start regaining my consciousness. My brain enters its booting sequence, sending probing commands towards every organ and limb. A small yawn escapes my mouth. After around thirty seconds, the body responds to the brain’s pings and I begin realizing that the warm, soft and delicate puffs of air hitting my skin aren’t exactly part of my waking up routine.

    My mind switches to a higher gear and starts frantically going through all its data banks, recalling all the events of the previous day. The records end during the night when I’m wiping away Sirgia’s forehead from sweat and then jump to the current moment. Another pleasant wave disperses when breaking off against my lips, nose and eyelids. A sudden realization arrives in the calculating center of my head. I must have fallen asleep while nursing Sirgia.

    I open my eyes a tiny bit, and as I suspected, there’s a mountain range made of sheets, in the shape of a small person lying on their side. There’s no doubt that it's covering a certain dwarf’s lower body. And only just now I notice that my right arm is reaching over that hill and supporting its back. There is no more confusion about the mysterious hot air assaulting me above.

    Uaaaaaaah… I fucked up and drifted off literally centimetres from her, even throwing my arm over… I better quickly get up before she wakes up!

    Fully opening my eyes, I prepare to lift myself up with as gentle movements as possible to not disturb the cute dwarf’s rest, but before I do so, all the brain cells in the commanding center abruptly stop responding and both my mind and body freeze in place. It takes me three full seconds to realize that I’m not staring at Sirgia’s dangerously close sleeping face, but at Sirgia’s dangerously close awake face. As I look into her cinnamon-brown eyes, she glances into my grey ones, with her usual neutral expression, like nothing is even a little bit wrong here.

    Another wave of hot air travels towards my face when Sirgia exhales softly, sending shivers down my spine. I quickly close my eyes and focus on calming my panicked body and mind before I even try opening my mouth. Two deep breaths later, I feel ready to face her again and I lift my eyelids. Nothing has changed in the previous view.

    “Morning,” I start awkwardly while we gaze into each other’s eyes.

    “Uhn.” She faintly nods without breaking the link.

    “Ummmmm… how are you feeling now?”

    “Good,” Sirgia answers in a quiet tone.

    “I see…”

    I start panicking again due to not being sure how to defuse this whole situation. I’m still kinda embracing her with my arm, we are like a hand away from each other and her calm responses certainly don't help here.

    “Ermmm… do you feel any weird? You lost consciousness pretty abruptly yesterday…” I ask, still worried that something might have happened to her.

    She finally stops gazing into me and looks up. I follow her eyes and judge that she is looking at my arm which is bent under my head acting as a pillow, or more likely at my hand which is holding a piece of cloth.

    “Did Master stay by my side the whole night wiping my body?”

    “Well… Yeah…”

    Sirgia looks forwards again but quickly lowers her gaze with a very faint blush on her cheeks. My panic levels reach extreme heights as I imagine her getting all embarrassed right now due to thinking about what I could have done or where I could have touched when she was asleep.

    “I’m… sorry… for you having to do something like that for someone like me…” she whispers barely audible words, but we are so close they are sound and clear to me.

    Her self-depreciative tone finally brings my cool back and I sigh deeply, making her look at my face again. I can’t be such a sissy when she’s more worried about me having to take care of her than of her own body. I move my hand, which was behind her back, up to her head and gently ruffle through her brown hair. Closing the remaining distance between us, I rest my forehead against hers and look into her charming eyes.

    “Do not be sorry for something I brought upon you. I will always gladly look after you because you are my—, no, our friend. I feel immensely relieved to know that you are fine after that attack. And you should be able to confirm that via our connection. So don’t blame yourself and tell me whenever there’s something wrong, got it? I speak to her confidently, without averting my gaze even for a millisecond.

    She just stares at me for a while before quietly nodding. “Uhn.”

    A kind smile appears on my face and I move my hand back from her head. “Good. And you better not forget that.” I playfully boop her nose with my index finger and sit up.

    Sirgia follows suit, grabbing the sheets to cover herself since I took off her shirt when wiping the body and left her only in panties. I quickly take care of the last part of her wound, which is under her left eye. The silvery scar going from her forehead down to the cheek will, unfortunately, have to stay, but it doesn’t affect her cuteness by even a bit.

    Then I order her to take a bath but she insists that shower is enough, so with this compromise, she leaves to wash her body, I prepare some clothes near the door and walk out of the room.

    She quickly arrives in the kitchen and joins me in making breakfast. The moment Emi lays her eyes on Sirgia in the dining room, she jumps at her, covering the dwarf almost completely with her elastic body. We all have a decent laugh watching how the little girl tries to escape the resistant hug. I tell everyone that I accidentally triggered one of my defensive items and Sirgia was caught in the blast. I’ll one day properly explain the hilt to Cornelia, but right now, even I don’t know much about it.

    Today we continue with the search. Just a bit of the upper floor and employee areas are left. We split into the same groups, but just before we disperse, I get an idea to test something out.

    “There’s something I want to check. Would you be willing to help me, Safi?” I ask.

    [Of course, Master.]

    She comes closer to me curiously. I move my hand to her face, brushing against her cheek and place a soft peck on her chilly lips. We enjoy the short moment of our intimacy and I back off, seeing a lovely smile on her face.

    “Erm....” Cornelia looks my way with slightly widened eyes.

    “What? I’m pretty sure the two of them has already babbled out to everyone here that we had sex together.” I glance at Sirgia questioningly and she nods. “See? Is it so weird for me to give Safi a small kiss?”

    “Well… no… I just didn’t expect to see you do it around everyone.”

    “There will be many more people wandering these corridors in the future. I don’t want anyone to feel neglected just because I’m too shy to show some affection in public. And besides, that was a little test. Feeling any different, Safi?” After defending my actions, I turn to the sapphire beauty again.

    [I feel refreshed and slightly more energetic after Master’s kiss. And a bit warmer near my core,] she conveys and I repeat for others to hear.

    I summon her Status window and have a look at it. There’s an additional line in the category bar, notifying me that her stats are boosted by 10% for 24 hours. I share my findings with the rest of our group.

    “Master’s kiss is like a D-grade energy potion mixed with a body enhancement one… Amazing…” Sirgia analyses its efficiency.

    “Yeah. I don’t know all the details behind that effect, because just until now I thought it’s only a stat boost, but Safi mentioned being refreshed too, so there might be some hidden effects. And when we—”

    Before I get to finish my sentence, Emi pulls me down while bringing herself up by grasping my vest and cheerfully assaults my lips. Her frosty tongue pierces my defences and entwines with mine in a joyful dance. My warm saliva mixes with her frigid slimy liquid. I place my hand on her back for support and lean a bit more to make it easier for her to embrace me. After a few deep kisses, she gives me some space and stays in a hug. I calm my breathing and pat her head.

    Cornelia’s cheeks bloom in almost full red from that spectacle and she averts her gaze. She’s similar to me. Up until now, she hasn’t experienced any closer contact with the opposite gender. I just recently graduated from being a virgin myself.

    “Sorry about that.” I bonk Emi’s head with my hand. She makes a smug grin while rubbing her face into my chest. “As I was going to say, the more sensual the contact is, the stronger effect follows.”

    “How much stronger?” Sirgia asks curiously.

    I summon Emi’s window this time and announce that she has received a 15% stat boost.

    “It rose by 5% just because it was a deeper kiss?” Cornelia speaks amazed, still blushing.

    “And after we did that, their stats were up by 50%.”

    “WHAT?! 50%?! That’s insane!” Cornelia forgets her embarrassment and shouts in shock.

    “S-grade potions…” Sirgia looks up at me with amazement in her eyes for the first time ever.

    “I agree. But still, we literally need to have sex. And additionally, the person has to be my Partner and at least think positively of me. I’d say that’s quite the trade-off there with the number of restrictions.”

    I sigh dejectedly and Cornelia nods to my words.

    “That reminds me, I’d like to be your Par—” I turn to her and start speaking, just to realize that I’m making the same mistake as with Sirgia. “—Ekhm… If it’s fine with you, I’d like to contract us as Partners, so I can know about your well-being when we are separated.”

    “Yes, of course, I’d love to— EEEEEEEEH?!”

    Cornelia, lost in her contemplation about something, answers halfheartedly, just to notice it mid-sentence. She gets as red as a fully grown tomato and grabs the hem of her robes on the sides, dropping her gaze to the ground. I tried my best, but the effect is even worse than with Sirgia. She is gone. Completely.

    “Hey, listen to me.” I try to pull Cornelia back from her wild imagination. I’ve learned how deep and illustrative it can be during our past studies. “It’s not for any lewd things! Sirgia, help me!” I turn to the dwarf girl which already returned to her calm and neutral state.

    She trots to Cornelia and stops in front of her, just below her face. She looks up at the dazed woman. There’s around 40cm difference between their heights, so Sirgia has to lift her head a lot when standing under Cornelia’s gaze.

    “Master can feel our presence with his skill. And we can feel him too. We can even tell when Master is worried or happy,” she calmly explains.

    Under the emotionless stare of Sirgia, Cornelia slowly cools herself down and the more logical part of her mind assumes control of the situation. She takes a few deep breaths and lifts her head. Her beautiful face still flushed with a red tinge.

    “I see… Sorry… I don’t mind,” she answers with an awkward smile.

    I bump Emi on the head a few times to release myself and walk closer to Cornelia with an extended arm. I nod at her and she takes my hand. I invoke the skill and moments later start noticing the connection between us. Smiling, I take a step back to give her more space. To test the effects, I focus my mind on thinking how beautiful she is. That should be enough for her to notice my positive emotions. And I guess it works because her eyes widen and the blush on her face increases a bit more after just calming down.

    “Great, let’s get back to work then.”

    We scatter and everyone moves to their designated part of the mansion. On my way to ours, I summon the Partners menu to take a peek at Cornelia’s entry. Besides being 0/5, it shows the Bond Type as Friends and emotion as Passion. I guess we are connected through her passion to learn about new and mysterious things. And I am that thing in this case. I wonder how wide is the range of emotions and bond types, the title definitely didn’t list all of them.

    There are no special surprises during our journey through the top floor of living quarters. Along the way, I chat with Sirgia about the previous day, and especially about what she knows about Soul Relics since there were only some vague records in the royal library. She explains to me that some immensely skilled artificers were able to imbue souls into objects, usually using specifically prepared gems or crystals. Then, an artifact which was crafted using that gem would usually turn out insanely powerful, fitting the image and characteristics of the soul.

    There is a downside though. Soul is a soul. It’s an entity on its own. You could say it’s a living being. And that living being is locked inside some crystal box connected to a weapon or something. It’s much harder to gain the favour of a sentient entity than just a blood-bound artifact, which basically judges your quality and power through the mentioned blood.

    A person, because that’s what usually the soul is, can choose whoever they want to serve and can even decide to stop working for an already picked master at any moment. You could say that you enter a relationship with your weapon.

    Sirgia apologizes to me for her behaviour yesterday, explaining that she was surprised to see such a powerful Soul Relic to choose to serve me. I naturally tell her that I don’t mind and that I’m grateful for her worry about me. And also that I’m happy she finally used a less formal tone. I think I catch her cheeks getting a little rosy after that statement, but that can also be just some light refraction from all the red curtains and bedsheets.

    She continues saying that while it’s strong, it also may be threatening. She does not believe that an artifact of this calibre would choose anyone and the soul inside must have some reason or goal to act so subserviently. She asks if I ever used it, so I tell her about the times I activated the hilt. Then I bring it out and pour my mana into it in front of her. The purple helix connects to the crystal and purplish mist forms the yet immaterial whip.

    Sirgia’s mouth slightly opens at the sight and she begins glancing around the handle, my hand, arm and whole body, trotting around in circles.

    “I… don’t understand…” she mutters under her breath after the examination.

    “Don’t worry, I also don’t get how it works yet.”

    “No, that’s not what I meant.” She shakes her head. “Master is currently too weak to even wield this Soul Relic properly and the soul inside connects its mana reserves to yours, which can be observed by this purple mist. Through this helix, the soul transfers its mana into Master’s circuits, so that you don’t collapse barely seconds after activating it.”

    I look at her in shock and then at the silvery handle in my grasp. I would have never thought that it is supplying me mana and not the other way. It’s such a bizarre concept. This weapon is literally boosting my own body just so I can use it.

    “What I don’t understand is the reason why.” Sirgia stops in front of me and looks up with curious eyes. “Why is such a strong artifact with such a powerful soul inside expanding its mana just so someone nothing but weak in its eyes can use it?”

    I dive into my thoughts and rack my brain over a possible reason, but nothing comes up. I recall a peculiar event during my first encounter with it though. I tell Sirgia about the stone I found it encased in, how it lured me in with a sweet scent while others were repelled, how they died when trying to pull it out but in my case, it just sent a wave of mana through my body, mind, memories and let me pick it up.

    “Physical Structure Evaluation, Deep Mind Dive and Recollective Memory Vindication…” she speaks in a shocked tone while taking a step back and stumbles over her trembling legs, falling onto her butt.

    “Hey, everything okay?” I quickly kneel by her side and place my arm over her back to support her.

    “Those are all high-tier spells…” she looks me in the eyes and I can feel how perturbed she is just from a short glance. “It’s… impossible…”

    “Why? What’s impossible?”

    “A person has to be an experienced 6th Tier sorcerer or even 7th Tier to be able to cast spells like those in quick succession.”

    My jaw drops down almost hitting the very floor.

    7th fucking Tier?! What the fuck?! Even during the Great War, 7th Tier was the peak of humanity’s existence! And now, centuries later, people at 5th one are considered fabled heroes!

    Quickly increasing worry coming from Sirgia through our connection brings me back to reality. I look at her visibly concerned face and ponder over the reason why she is getting so frightened out of sudden. And then it dawns on me.

    “Wait… Doesn’t that mean… that I’m literally holding a soul of a 7th Tier sorcerer in my hand?”

    She nods. I gulp audibly. The saliva opposes my orders and goes down my throat with a lot of resistance. If that soul can cast 7th Tier surveying magic, there’s a possibility it can use a more offensive one too. But the worse thing is… how strong of a monster must have the person who locked that soul in the crystal been themselves? My brain can’t comprehend those power levels. I’m just a trash Tier 1.

    “Ha… haha… hahaha…” I plop onto the floor by her side and start laughing. This whole situation feels like a joke. I’m being helped by an insanely powerful entity and it’s definitely not out of its big-hearted kindness. It has to have a goal, but I can’t do anything. It’s not like I can talk to it.

    “Hahaha… Oh well… If it’s going to such lengths to help me, then I guess I must be important to it. It shouldn’t hurt me on a whim, so don’t worry, nothing we can do about this.”

    I pat Sirgia’s head reassuringly. Her worry slowly recedes and she faintly nods to my words. I help her up, we take a short break to calm ourselves and get back to work. With how often we get distracted delaying our search, others might start thinking that we are doing some weird things instead.

    After we are done with the wing we move to check on the other girls. They already finished the upper area near the VIP rooms and moved down. We decide to leave that floor to them and walk down the hidden stairs to the cellars. Time flies slowly during our inspection of various crates and barrels in stone rooms of many sizes. We don’t find anything suspicious, just some tools, old clothes and such. In one of the chambers, we stumble upon another hidden passage leading to a place with numerous boards on the walls and a big wooden table in the middle. There are lots of papers pinned around. Maps, sketches, notes, portraits. And a comprehensive map of a respectful size is placed on the table, most likely depicting the castle.

    We decide to leave that room for now. I’m not yet sure if I want to keep such information with me or if I should deliver it to the King, just to be safe. They could fortify the marked weak points with that. I’d repay Rossberg at least a bit.

    A few hours more and we are finishing looking around and cleaning this small dungeon. I stand on Sirgia’s side and give a last glance towards the empty space while ruffling her hair a bit with my right hand.

    “Nice. No issues.” I take a deep breath of relief. “Now, I have an important question for you.”

    Sirgia moves her gaze up, with my hand still present on her head.

    “What do you say about helping me give life to a few small ideas of mine?”

    She furrows her brows. I didn’t know her face can get even cuter but that single action has proven me wrong.

    “Ideas?” she asks.

    “It would be too much of a waste to keep such a skilled artisan like yourself to just cook, so why not make good use of your experience and create a few things for me?”

    I notice a faint spark in her eyes for a moment but it fades out very quickly and she drops her gaze to the ground.

    “But with my Job locked to that of a Slave and other restrictions from the Slave Mark, I won’t be able to fully utilize my skills…” she says with a hint of hopelessness in her voice.

    “Pardon me for a moment.”

    I kneel in front of her like the day when we left the slave trading company together. I move my hands to the collar of her shirt and start slowly unpinning the buttons while watching her reaction. She just stares at me with her usual blank expression.

    After a few buttons, I uncover the area above her chest, without arriving at her small bra. A circle with a few sigils enters my sight. The Slave Mark. I glance at her face with a smile, pull a small knife from my ring behind my back, make a light cut on my index finger and press it against the mark. Closing my eyes, I focus my mind on it, sending my mana towards the finger.

    Judging that the connection is steady enough, I break the seal. “Release!”

    A few cracking sounds emanate from the symbol and it shatters into tiny particles, releasing Sirgia from its influence. I naturally had researched all about Slave Marks during my time in the castle. Breaking one when you are a rightful owner of the slave is a piece of cake if you know a few tricks.

    “Problem solved. Just don’t tell anyone, okay?” I give the surprised Sirgia a few pats.

    I stand up and she examines the place where the mark disappeared. A moment later she looks up at me.

    “Can I… really do it?”

    “Only if you want of course. They might be hugely under the level of a master like yourself though.”

    “I do!” She clenches her small fists and gazes at me with sparkling eyes full of determination. “If it’s for Master I’ll create anything!” she announces slightly more lively than usual.

    A satisfied smile appears on my face from the fact that I was able to cheer her up even a tiny little bit.

    I have high hopes for you, my sweet little craftsman!
     
  2. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 21 - Through the Eyes of Another: The Hero’s First Battle
    Meanwhile, a little bit to the east from Evalitia's capital…

    After three days in the carriage, we finally reach the place that the idiot King has sent us to. Honestly, what the fuck, my ass hurts like hell. They have all this magic and shit but can’t even make a little trip a bit comfortable. And why did it take so long? Shouldn’t his mages be able to just like, teleport us anywhere or something?

    I exit the carriage I was in with Marcia and Paul and look around. It's barely dawn. We are in some kind of a small, wooden village. More like a ghost town I should say. Besides the other carriage which transports Shino and Natalie, and some knights that are escorting us, it doesn’t look like a single person is living here. Some buildings wear marks of a fight that might have taken place in this settlement. Sword cuts, arrows sticking out from the walls, claw marks here and there, and a weird dark substance covering some parts of the buildings.

    We gather with the knights in what looks like the town’s main square and the captain of our escort brings up a roll of paper, unwinds it and speaks up.

    “Heroes, this is the mining settlement of Reghuar. Another outbreak happened here two months ago. The knights and adventurers have already dealt with the main wave of Abyssals, but we still think it’s too risky to let people return to their homes. There’s a nearby mine which was the source of the assault. As per King’s orders, we humbly ask you to investigate it and make sure that all abominations have been taken down and to confirm that the area is safe again. Previous forces have stopped before reaching the core of this excavation site, so there still might be a few monsters lurking around. Please, be careful.”

    He ends reading and makes a courteous bow towards us.

    “Yeah, yeah, whatever, we just have to kill all the ugly shits in that mine, right?” I ask the captain.

    “Erm… generally speaking, yes, Sir Lewandowski.”

    I furrow my brows at the man. “I already told you to not address me like that. It’s Sir Kamil or Sir Hero! I finally fucking escaped the shadow of that pathetic nerd who does nothing besides playing those retarded games all day, laughing like an idiot to thousands of even more pathetic people. Fucking Citadelday kids. Worse than simps.”

    The soldier hastily bows again. “I apologize, Sir Hero. I definitely won’t repeat that mistake.”

    “You better.” I point my finger at him and turn around to the rest of our party. “Let’s smash some undead fantasy monkeys, I’m bored as hell and can’t wait to finally test my skills on real targets!”

    “Well, I certainly could use some exercise after all this sitting,” Marcia says while doing some stretches.

    The knights start leaving the area. We were told before that they’ll be waiting in the village’s main inn, in case we need any help. Not like it will ever happen. We are all super strong heroes here, and there are 5 of us.

    “Oi! Which way to the mine?” I shout before they disappear from our sight and someone points in the direction of a medium-sized mountain to the south. Doesn’t look far. There’s a road leading to it. “Nice. Time to go. Follow me.” I start walking towards the big, black hill.

    “Wait.” Shino’s quiet voice catches up to me and I glance back. “When did we decide on you being the leader?” she asks.

    “Huh? What’s to discuss here? I have the Hero class, of course I’ll be the one leading our team into the battle,” I say while turning to her. “While I take that burden from your shoulders, you can focus on doing your part properly. Or what, do you think you would do better than me?”

    She drops her gaze. “No… I’m not good at stuff like that… But, shouldn’t we at least vote or something?”

    “Fine.” I grab Marcia by the waist and pull her closer to me, looking at her face from up close. “Any issues with me being the leader?”

    “Noooope. I know that you are quite good at being the one in control." She chuckles, playfully strokes my chin and with a quick pirouette, escapes my hold, sending me a wink.

    I smile at her and move my eyes to Paul. “And you?”

    “Well… I’d like to experience a real battle first before I can judge if I can properly split my focus between managing my own abilities and thinking of strate—”

    “Great, that’s three including myself, so a majority. Still gonna fuss over it?” I glance at the shortie.

    She looks at me with a weird gaze and opens her mouth to say something but Natalie places a hand on Shino’s shoulder and shakes her head after they lock their gazes.

    “See? It’s four already, three without me. Let’s not waste any more time,” I say while winking at Natalie. She rolls her eyes and looks away.

    “Shouldn’t we at least explore this village a bit? Or look for a map of the excavation site?” Just as I am starting to walk, she speaks up again. I groan at her words.

    “For what? This shithole is already abandoned and was cleansed by the iron fucks. A map? Who the fuck needs a map? It’s just some old mine,” I reply and begin moving. On my way, I give Marcia a little slap on the ass when passing her. She makes a teasing moan and hits my shoulder with a smile.

    We exit the settlement’s premises and walk alongside the paved path towards the mountain. Fifteen minutes later we arrive at what looks like a miners' camp. A few completely devastated stone huts, some warehouse looking structures and lots of debris from destroyed carts. We take a quick look around but there’s nothing of interest, everything has been utterly broken. This place was most likely the first stop for those monsters. Before we enter through the main shaft, Paul speaks up.

    “We should establish a proper party formation. There are three frontliners and two backliners. I’d suggest having two of the first in the front, one in the back and the rest in between.”

    “Okay, I’ll go first with Marcia and Shino will be closing.” I glance over everyone, stopping at the black-haired girl for a moment, but no one raises any more concerns.

    Everyone who hasn’t already done so summons their weapon from storage rings and we start moving again. Just a hundred meters in, we get surrounded by pitch-black darkness. Only a faint glow of light can be noticed behind us. I check the insides of my ring but there aren’t any torches inside.

    “O flame that burns in the darkest nights, shine your light upon us, lost wanderers - Firefly.“

    Natalie’s soft and melodic voice echoes through the tunnel and a small mote of fire appears above the palm of her hand. It quickly takes the form of a ball and tiny, flaming wings sprout from it, allowing it to rise and start circling above our heads, emitting a low, yellowish glow. We can now see 10-20 meters ahead.

    “Nice,” I comment and we resume our descent.

    For the next hour, we explore countless corridors leading to various smaller caves where the whole mining happens or something, but we don’t encounter anything important. There are traces of combat here and there, yet no bodies, be it monster or human ones. They must have been taken away by the defensive force.

    We enter a slightly wider and higher space. Tools and broken carts are lying everywhere alongside piles of some mined up metals and rocks. Judging by the broken barricades on the other end, this must have been a hold for humans.

    Slightly irritated, I kick a rock lying nearby, which flies against a wall and ricochets up, disappearing into the darkness. “Fuck! There’s nothing in this damned cave! What a waste of time!”

    “Calm down a little, we haven’t even delved that deep yet. Besides, we have to just check if it’s safe. There’s no guarantee that we will encounter any—”

    “Shhhhhh!” Natalie interrupts Marcia, shushing her down.

    “What?” the redhead turns to her questioningly.

    Moving a finger to her mouth, Natalie signals to be quiet. She looks around for a moment and then lands her gaze at me.

    “Where’s the stone?” she asks.

    “Stone? What stone?” I ask confusedly.

    “The one you kicked up.”

    “The fuck? Probably lying somewhere in this goddamn pothole.”

    “I didn’t hear it drop.”

    Now that she mentions it, I didn’t hear it hit the ceiling either, and I don’t think any of us would start arguing about the most sensitive to sound person in our group missing the noise of falling rock in a silent, stone cavern. We all look up at the sea of darkness above us.

    *SQUEAK*

    *SQUEAL*

    *SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAK!*

    Like on command, something begins squeaking and squealing, then another one, and another, and another, and in a few seconds the cave gets filled with weird cries. A moment later, a swarm of small, flying things drops down onto us. There are tens of them.

    I pull out my sword from its sheath inside the shield and start hacking around those weird fucks dashing around. They look like small kites made out of bare skin, with their heads ending in long, syringe-like trunks. They are like some mutated flying squirrels out of the post-apocalyptic movies.

    “What… hyaaaah! Are those things?” I yell to others while trying to deter the assault of an unknown enemy.

    “Those are Stirges! Sensei told me they drink blood like mosquitoes, so watch out!” Shino shouts back while dodging their strikes.

    I cover myself with the shield and glance to the sides. Marcia jumps around making countless pirouettes and somersaults while slashing a passing monster with her twin swords from time to time. None seem to even graze her body. An energetic smile paints her face.

    Paul rolls towards a wall and kneels with his back to it. He starts shooting arrows into the swarm, hitting some of the Stirges. When they try to attack him, he ducks or rolls to the side, making them hit the wall and then nails them with an arrow he holds in hand.

    Natalie pulls out her rapier and mostly tries to deflect the needle-like proboscises aimed at her by the soaring rats. Shino unsheathes her pure white katana and with her back to the blond-haired girl, cuts down most of the monsters trying to attack her friend from the blind spot.

    Besides some light scrapes here and there, we aren’t really in danger. They are more annoying than dangerous. I can’t count how many of them are flying around, but definitely, more than 30 are left.

    “Take this! Arcane Shot!”

    Paul activates one of his skills and starts pulling back the unloaded string of his bow. A second later, a transparent torrent of mana forms in the shape of an arrow, or rather, a miniature spear of an arrow’s size. He releases the projectile with a heavy groan, sending it towards the biggest cluster of enemies. It flies straight through them with amazing speed, mutilating around ten into small pieces and crashing somewhere far into the ceiling with a loud boom.

    “Natalie-san!”

    “Go!”

    Shortie yells something at Natalie and I move my shield to better see their positions. When they enter my sight, Shino is a bit further from our Bard and is running towards her. The blonde takes off her guitar, flips it so the backside faces upwards and rests it angled on the ground while holding it by the neck.

    Shino leans to the front and breaks into a dash. Reaching Natalie, she steps onto the guitar which gets swung upwards, sending the petite girl high into the air. She raises her katana, now shining with a whitish radiance, above her head and activates a skill.

    “Moon Slashing Arts - Crescent Cleave!”

    A quick downwards cut, leaving a glowing-white afterimage in the shape of a half-circle, slices the air in front of her, almost tearing through its very tissue. Numerous Stirges are caught under its path and end up being slashed by the unstoppable force.

    She begins falling with increasing speed, heading towards another flock of the weird creatures, her ponytail fluttering beautifully through the air. Shino positions her sword by her waist, acts like she sheathes it into her left hand, and closes her eyes, focusing on something. Just as she is going to slam against the cloud of Stirges, she raises her eyelids and the blade gets enveloped in a black, smoke-like aura.

    “Moon Slashing Arts - Dusk of the Night!”

    Another skill and another cut. No. It’s not just one. Three wide horizontal slashes of dark energy fly through the monsters, turning them into otherworldly sashimi, and hit the ground, leaving deep marks in it. I have no idea how she managed to move her katana three times in a second, but there’s a bigger issue now. Shino is quickly reaching the ground, falling face first.

    Still being surrounded by the leftover creatures, I invoke an area of effect skill in hope of clearing them all out.

    “Valiant Sword Arts - Blade Burst!”

    Countless blades of light shot out from my body and pierce through most of the Stirges, forcing others to fly away. I instantly break into a run, locking my gaze on the falling girl. Judging by the distance, I will barely make it. But at a half-point, one of the flying shits pierces its snout right through the weak part of my armour, in the area under my knee.

    “Guaaah! Fuck!” I groan as I slam into the ground.

    Paul notices my assailant and shoots it down instantly, but I watch as Shino crashes into the floor. Or rather, that’s what should have happened. Instead, she turns around making her back face downwards and as she is going to hit the stone pavement, she disappears in a puff of black, shadowy smoke.

    “Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?” I involuntarily voice out my confusion.

    Suddenly, she appears out of thin air just by my side, surrounded by the same effect. She crouches in front of me and extends her hand.

    “You okay, Kamil-san?” she asks concernedly.

    I angrily swat her hand away and raise myself to a sitting position before sending her a glare. “You idiot! Why the fuck didn’t you tell us about that last skill! I thought you were going to splash your ass all over this cave!”

    She furrows her brows and stands up. “Who is the idiot here? Would I decide to jump so high without securing my descent?” she answers with her quiet tone, but a tinge of irritation can be felt from it. As she's walking away, she turns her head back to me. “I told Natalie-san about my skills. If I suggested sharing our info, you’d say it’s a waste of time to remember it anyway.”

    Tsch… whatever…”

    I glance around and see Paul and Marcia finishing last of the monsters. I turn to our healer which is currently high-fiving the Samurai girl.

    “Nat! I need healing!”

    She slowly walks up to me and checks out the wound. It’s not the worst. She patches it up with Cure Wounds over the span of a few minutes. My leg is back to its previous state. After that, she shoots a few Firebolts into the ceiling to make sure that we’ve dealt with all the flying shits and it looks like there are no more.

    We take a short break to rest a bit. Everyone starts talking about their skills, so I join too at the end. I summon my Status window and explain what I got.

    [​IMG]

    We get a better idea of our abilities now. Who would have thought that Shino can literally teleport between any two places that are covered by a shadow? And she supposedly has Darkvision, but it’s still at its first level.

    Taking everything into consideration, Paul comes up with a new formation with Shino and me in the front, while Marcia is the one watching our backs this time. Shortie’s sight will work as additional scouting and I’m supposed to be a ‘tank’ or something, due to most of my skills focusing on defence. Natalie can cast magic spells of all elements besides her healing magic and Bard Class features. Paul and Marcia’s skills are quite self-explanatory. One is an expert at dodging and slashing while the other uses various kinds of powerful arrow shots. He says that he can also pinpoint an enemy's weakness if it’s not overwhelmingly stronger than him.

    We start moving in our new formation. There are still some areas to check out and we didn’t bring any camping equipment to stay in this cave for long. Gotta keep moving for a few hours more, hopefully completely investigating this excavation.

    Three hours of searching later, Shino stops me with her hand while we are walking through a corridor. Natalie quickly lowers the intensity of her Firefly and we wait for the shortie’s reaction.

    “There’s something in the cavern ahead. I can’t see it, but I can feel the dark energy seeping from it.”

    Nat covers the Firefly with her hands and we start moving quietly in a conga line, with Shino at the front. Reaching the entrance to the cave, we take a quick peek in. Fortunately, it’s not pitch black. Unfortunately, it’s not pitch black. And that’s because there’s a weird pool of dark energy on the floor, sending out purplish hues in every direction, making the room enveloped in dim light. The surface of it seems to be swirling around.

    “Look there.” Paul points at one of the corners.

    A big, gorilla-like creature is lying at that spot, most likely sleeping or whatever the shit those Abyssals do because it’s certainly one. It slightly glows with lines of similar purplish light, while looking like an undead ghoul gorilla.

    “Anything else?” Marcia asks and Shino scans the room, shaking her head after.

    “We have the element of surprise, let’s get rid of it,” Paul suggests and fills us on his idea. We agree and prepare to take action.

    Slowly, we tiptoe closer to the monster, each of us taking their position. Before we start, Shino picks up a stone and throws it into the pool, but it bounces off the surface like it’s completely solid.

    The noise makes the creature flinch and we begin our operation.

    “Draconic Sharpshooter Arts - Rain of Fire!”

    Paul notches three arrows onto his bow and fires them up into the air, activating his Class skill. They leave red trails behind and explode above the target. Three flaming circles appear in their place and tens of fiery projectiles fall down onto the Abyssal.

    *RRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRR*

    It raises itself, covers its head with its wide arms and gazes around, stopping his purple, smoking eyes on me, who is standing the closest.

    “Come on, bitch! I’ll fuck you up!” I shout while banging my sword against the shield.

    A lively melody starts being played on an acoustic guitar and my body gets filled with energy. All the armour loses its weight, no longer restricting my movements. The music sounds familiar like I’ve heard it in one of these popular fantasy movies with epic battles.

    The monster charges right at me and slams his fist into the shield, pushing me back a few meters, but I manage to stay on my legs.

    Strong...

    Before it catches up to me again, Marcia crosses its path, making a few quick cuts in its chest. She swiftly dodges any incoming hits, slicing back in response. The angry monkey raises both of its fists to squash her but suddenly stops due to Shino making a wide, horizontal slash right into its back. She disappears before it can even turn around and Marcia doesn’t let go of this chance.

    “Sword Dance - Ballet of the Sylphs.”

    Both of her blades get covered in a greenish aura and her red hair starts fluttering like on a windy day. She starts running around with a melodic step, like the floor is her stage now, and inducing very deep cuts in the Abyssal’s torso. She spins around countless times and dodges all counters by a hair’s breadth, making awe-inspiring poses. With each slice, a blade of greenish wind follows, deepening the previous cut.

    Paul rains normal arrows at the monster from the side, Shino joins into the fun every time she notices a chance of a sneak attack and Natalie observes the battlefield, prepared for any incoming emergency.

    The creature gets enraged with the flow of this fight and suddenly makes an enormous roar which shakes the whole place and pushes back everyone with its shockwave. Thanks to my shield and armour, it only nudges me a bit. The now even more smoking gorilla locks its gaze onto me, who is now the closest to it again, and breaks into a rush.

    Expecting an even stronger hit this time, I plant my shield into the ground and activate a skill.

    “Come! Impenetrable Fortress!”

    Yellow aura covers the steel aegis, creating an additional layer of protection. The monster crashes into it with ridiculous force.

    *HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG*

    When its fist lands on the shield, a loud, metallic clang fills up the air, as if someone had just hit a huge bell, and a shockwave follows. I’m pushed back by a few centimetres, leaving trails with my boots in the ground.

    *HOOOONG* *HOOOOOONG* *HOONG* *HOOOOOONG*

    It keeps barraging my guard with its mighty arms, roaring with each strike. With the corner of my eye, I can see others being repelled back by the force of impact. If nothing changes, it will break through when my mana starts running low. Our plan went to shit.

    Okay, fucktard… Time for a ride!

    “Overdrive!”

    My body gets increasingly hotter, my heart starts beating faster and I feel like the time itself has slowed down by a notch. Preparing myself for another attack, I angle my shield and it bounces to the side. Using that moment, I swiftly push my shield under the monster’s chest and mustering all my boosted strength, I vault the Abyssal over me into the air, by notching the aegis against his armpits.

    “Valiant Sword Arts - Impaling Light!”

    I make a powerful thrust into the target flying above my head and a yellow, glowing, three times bigger copy of my sword sinks into its chest, piercing through it and hitting the ceiling. Just in case, I prepare another skill, which will completely empty my mana reserves.

    As the monster’s body hits the surface of the weird pool with a loud thud, sending purple fluids in every direction, I rush towards it and raise my sword.

    “Valiant Sword Arts - Dawn of Justice!”

    I shove my shining weapon into its body, pinning it to the ground. Golden flames soon erupt from the blade in a raging wave, burning everything on their path in the range of 15 meters. When they subside, there’s nothing left of the monster, just my sword stuck halfway into the pool.

    I deactivate all skills and fall onto my butt, waving my hand to others. “Haaaaah… Gottem!”

    Everyone gathers around and breathes in relief. Sound of a breaking glass reaches our ears. We glance at our feet in panic and see the weird surface break like a mirror. It completely shatters into particles soon after and gets replaced by the natural, stone floor.

    “What was that? Was that the source of those monsters?” Marcia asks.

    “Maybe they come from a different place too, like us, and it was some kind of a portal?” Shino chimes in.

    “Whatever the fuck it was, it’s gone now—”

    *CRACK*

    *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK*

    *CRAAAAAAAACK*

    As I begin speaking, the ground starts shaking and the stone floor also becomes covered in quickly increasing gaps.

    “OH FU—”

    Before I even have time to stand up, our footing crumbles into pieces and begins falling into the darkness along with all of us.

    “—UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuucckkkkkkkk...”
    And here we go. I plan on giving you a little more insight into the other characters with chapters like this. There's one more from Kamil's POV before we go back to Al. Sometime later we'll get another POV. Who would you like to know more? I think I can guess the answer already ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

    So, I guess it's time for the reward, yeah? Here you go :)

    Our first chibi - Shino, the Demonic Samurai Priestess!!!!

    [​IMG]

    Her face ended up more ara-ara than petite, but that's just part of the artist's style and still is cute as hell. Just remember she's closer to the soft and kind one, like Mitsuha from 40k gold manga.

    Credits to the artist - @roosterf2p on Twitter! I'm going to get many more chibis from him in the future. If you'd like to have a say in which character should be next, join our Patreon!
     
  3. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 22 - Through the Eyes of Another: The Hero’s First Dungeon
    “Ow, ow, ow… My fucking ass… My fucking head… My fucking everything!” I groan while lying on top of a small pile of rubble.

    Flipping myself onto the stomach, I take a glance around. Natalie is kneeling a bit to my right and tending to Paul’s injuries. Shino is walking from side to side and checking the place we landed in for possible threats. Her hand lays prepared on the katana’s handle. Besides slightly torn clothes here and there, she looks fine. She must have eased the landing with her movement skill somehow.

    After dealing with Paul, Nat comes to check on me. My armour mitigated most of the flying debris, but I still feel sore all over my body, from the hits and the last impact. While she takes care of it, I scan our surroundings with my eyes.

    We are in another cave. No, that’s wrong. It looks more like a room carved in stone, but old enough for most of the walls and some parts of the ceiling to fall off. You can still tell that it had a rectangular shape and there are some weird torches attached to its walls, with blue, glowing crystals instead of your usual flaming heads.

    There’s also a pair of stone doors, each on the opposite end of the room. One of them, let’s say to the south, is completely shattered and covered in debris. No chance we can get through it. But the northern door looks almost intact.

    Natalie calls everyone to gather up and we sit in a circle. While she plays a soft and slow melody, we drink water and eat some of the rations. Her chant revitalizes my body even more than any food and I feel my fatigue being slowly washed away. It’s one of her Bard skills - Song of Rest, which boosts regeneration and all healing, also taking care of some strain of the body. It can’t replace sleep, but it’s the best course of action we can take right now.

    “Is this place connected to those monsters?” Marcia asks while munching on some jerky.

    “I don’t think so. There are some murals on these walls, but I don’t know which race they depict. They are too damaged. This must be some old, unknown structure that happened to be under the mining area,” the Samurai girl shares her findings and thoughts.

    I look up into never-ending darkness. “We don’t have any magic to go up the way we fell, right?” I ask moving my hopeful gaze towards Nat.

    “I’m still Tier 1 too. My wind magic won’t be able to carry us into the air.” She shakes her head.

    I sigh heavily. “Haaaaaaah… Fuck! What shit luck!”

    “You always had problems with controlling the strength of your thrusts.” Marcia giggles teasingly.

    “Oh, fuck off!” I look at her with my face saying ‘really?’ and she starts giggling even harder.

    “It’s not Kamil-san’s fault. That monster must have weakened the floor with the shockwaves too.” Shino surprisingly joins to defend me.

    “I know, hehehehe, it’s just a little joke to lighten up the mood,” Marcia responds.

    Ten minutes later, we finish our short break and explore the chamber with a bit more attention. From all the details, we conclude that this area might have been built by Dwarves or some other similar race. I have no idea how many of them exist in this world, but Shino says that there are plenty. But, wouldn’t they make everything smaller if it was made by Dwarves? The room and doorways seem the usual size.

    Nothing else can be learned here, so we move to the stone door. With Paul’s help, I somehow manage to push them open, with a lot of resistance. They make loud scraping noises, scratching all over the pavement from the same material.

    A corridor fashioned akin to the room we are in opens up in front of us. It’s about 4 people wide and something around 2 meters high. Its walls have carved, decorative pillars in equal distances, split by the blue torches in between the sculptures. This whole place gives ominous feelings.

    We begin moving in the already tested formation. This time we are walking at a much slower pace because Paul suggested that there might be some traps down here. We have no idea what the purpose of this place is, so better be careful.

    Whenever there are crossroads, we take left if it’s still possible. So far, we haven’t encountered any dangers in the hallways, or we are just finally getting a little lucky. After some time, we arrive in front of a slightly more detailed, stone double-doors. I glance back and everyone nods. We push them open with Paul.

    We step into a warm, green glow. There’s a huge crystal sticking out of the ceiling and it is the one emanating the light. Directly under it, something akin to a giant chessboard is carved in the ground, but without any colours, just squares. A long and wide panel of glass cuts through its middle, splitting it into two sides. On each, there are 8 statues depicting some small creatures dressed in the fashion of samurai. A few of them hold katanas while making different poses and the rest use other weapons.

    “They look like humanoid frogs,” Shino says, examining one from up close.

    After the last person enters the chamber, the door closes with a loud boom. A second later, it disappears by melting into the wall, like it wasn’t even there in the first place. We glance at each other battle-ready and turn to the statues, expecting them to start moving at any moment.

    A minute passes and nothing happens. We check every wall in the room, but there’s no sign of any other doors. Or they are hidden, like the one we came through. We gather near the carved board with sculptures.

    “What now? We are locked,” Marcia states the obvious.

    “Those things must be the key to getting out,” Natalie responds while pointing at the frogs. “There weren’t any deadly traps up to this point, so this one shouldn’t be too.”

    “I agree. At least with the first part,” joins Paul.

    So we focus our attention on the little shits. They look like any other stone statues, just amazingly detailed and with a perfectly captured dynamic feeling. They seem to be ready to jump at you with any tiny trigger. I try touching one but nothing happens. They also feel unbelievably heavy for their small size.

    “This is so weird…” Shino murmurs to herself somewhere.

    I turn around and see her trotting around the edge of the glass, from one side to another, and stopping to watch something. I come closer to the huge window and stare at the black-haired girl on the other side, who seems to move her eyes everywhere but not onto me. She then runs around the edge again.

    “Ah!” She quickly stops before crashing into me. “Kamil-san?” She stares at me dumbfounded.

    “What the hell are you doing?” I ask her.

    “How did you get here?” she asks in return.

    “Huh? I was standing here the whole time, looking at you.”

    She furrows her brows, runs back to the edge and leans over with just her head, looking back at me through the glass. But again, it seems like she has trouble focusing on anything. She takes her face back to my side, glances at me and furrows her brows even more.

    “This is not a normal glass,” she announces. “Kamil-san, come here.”

    Confused, I move around the corner to join her.

    “Now follow me with your eyes.”

    Shino positions herself a bit before the beginning of the glass and locks her gaze with mine. I nod at her. She breaks into a run, we stare each other straight into the eyes. She reaches the glass and… I lose her. She disappears. Gone. It’s like watching from the side as a certain wizard boy runs into a wall on the train station. My eyes widen in shock.

    “Can you see me?”

    I hear her voice. “What the fuck? No, I can’t.”

    A waving arm emerges from the edge of the glass, but there’s no body in the place I’m looking at. My confusion increases. Others are now standing near me, also staring at the floating hand. Shino jumps out from ‘behind’ the glass and walks up to us.

    “It’s like a Venetian mirror but see-through.” She points back to the other side. “Look, we can’t even see the statues from here.”

    Now that she mentions it, I notice that there truly aren’t any statues on the other side. It’s just an empty board. Shino walks back there and shows us how she disappears again. We all move from side to side and confirm that this weird phenomenon is true. From one half, you can see everything clearly, from the other, you see only an empty room, while the statues are actually there.

    “Ummph… I’m getting dizzy from all those perspective chang—eeeeeeeeeeees!”

    Paul leans over one of the carvings on the visible side and it ends up being pushed away, zooming through the tiles like they are ice. It hits the edge of the board and stops with a thud, without falling over.

    “The ones on the other side aren’t budging an inch while these have literally no resistance,” I comment and lightly kick a different statute, which also slides away a few tiles.

    “Wait a moment…”

    Natalie says and starts walking around the board while heavily thinking about something. A moment later, she comes back to us.

    “There is exactly the same number of identical statues on each side, but they are in different formations. Assuming that this glass is a hint, perhaps we have to set them correctly on the half where we can’t see through?”

    “At least worth a try, right?” Marcia claps her hands.

    Shino and Natalie stand on each end of the mirror-like structure while I and Paul start pushing around the frogs according to their instructions. Marcia watches over everything from the sides and is tasked with raising an alarm if something happens.

    We finish the arrangements in a few minutes. As the last of the samurai takes its proper place, the glass starts glowing with a greenish light and becomes normally see-through, without any weird effects. On the opposite side to the way we came from, a door emerges in the stone and opens up, scratching the floor.

    “We did it!” Marcia jumps into the air. Everyone starts high-fiving each other.

    “Haha! Think of better puzzles, stupid frogs!”

    I kick one of the nearby statues and send it rushing through the board. It hits the edge and flies off the playing area, shattering into pieces after crashing onto the floor. Suddenly, the whole room begins shaking and the eyes of all other 15 figures start glowing in green. They jump from their pedestals and turn to us. The screech of the closing door reaches our ears.

    “RUN!”

    Paul shouts and dashes towards the exit. Shino disappears in a puff of black smoke, most likely teleporting to the corridor. Marcia picks up Natalie and sprints while being pushed forward by a green wind. Lacking any movement skills, I start running too.

    “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

    I reach the doorway barely seconds before it gets too tight for me to slip through. My armour sends off sparks as I squeeze through the gap but I manage to get inside and fall on the floor, panting heavily. Everyone glares at me from above.

    “That was really stupid, even for you,” Marcia says.

    “Yeah.”

    “True.”

    “Right.”

    Natalie, Paul and Shino quickly agree with her. I raise myself up with a heavy sigh.

    “Fine. I fucked up. My bad.” I raise my hand in apology.

    “In the future, don’t try breaking anything in puzzle rooms. Unless asked to,” Marcia adds.

    We walk through more passages. Some smaller rooms start appearing on the way, but there doesn’t seem to be anything interesting in them, just a lot of stone furniture, already crumbled almost to dust. There are some books on the shelves here and there, but none of us recognizes the language and most of them are unreadable anyway. Through one of the alleys, we enter another big and eerie chamber.

    This time, it’s illuminated by medium-sized braziers, also filled with blue crystals. There are huge, ornamental, stone double-doors on the other side of the room. In the middle, four pillars half our size with pedestals on top of them, surround a rectangular shape, most likely some kind of an altar.

    Everyone starts looking around as the last time, trying to find some hints on how to open the big gate. We closely examine murals on the walls since they are in better shape this time and they depict most likely Dwarves in various activities linked to mining and crafting. Nothing helpful.

    We gather around the altar and focus our attention on it. Natalie spots some geometrical looking script carved into the surface of the table. We rack our brains over all the information, but nothing comes up after half an hour of brainstorming. Shino leans over the altar and ponders over the writing for like the tenth time.

    “If only sensei was here…” she whispers under her breath.

    My brows twitch and I turn to her with a groan. “Oh, fuck me! Why do you have to bring up that useless geezer literally every other second.”

    She glares back at me. “Sensei is not useless! He is very helpful and kind! And he studied a lot about this world while we were training, so he would definitely know about these runes!”

    “Oh, yes. Very kind. The kindest person alive. So kind that he snitches on his beloved students to the authorities. He should get a Nobel Peace Prize for his big heart.” I almost slam my fist into the altar but I stop myself in time. Better not trigger another trap or something.

    Natalie walks up to Shino and stands up by her side. “You know very well that it wasn’t him but the security guy,” she says.

    “Yeah? They could have kept it for themselves then.”

    Nat shakes her head. “And lose their jobs when found out later?”

    “Sensei couldn’t go against the rules, he loved his job,” the Samurai girl adds.

    “If the two of you are so into him then why haven’t you married him already, hah?!” I raise both my voice and my arms in a questioning way.

    Shino drops her gaze down and a barely visible blush appears on her face, while Natalie slowly facepalms and sighs heavily. Marcia enters between us with a spin and sits on the altar.

    “Now, now, chill, people, chill. Calm your tits Kamil, a girl can like whoever she wants,” she moves her gaze between me and the other women. “And she is not wrong. There’s a high chance Carter would have known something about these symbols.”

    I snort at her words and silence falls onto the room. She exhales dejectedly before speaking. “Haaaaaah… Too bad he didn’t join… I really wonder how it would feel with him…”

    It takes me a few seconds to process what she just implied and I lift my head up at her. “What?”

    She looks down at me. “What what?”

    “Even you are after his dick?” I ask, utterly shocked.

    Marcia tilts her head. “What do you mean by even you? Have you forgotten about his Class? I bet he could make any girl cum like a machinegun.” She places her hands between her legs and starts wiggling a bit with a sensual moan. “Damn… Just imagining that makes my whole body hot…”

    I blink a few times and just stare at her in consternation. She looks back at me.

    “Oh, don’t give me that confused look. Or did you think that I’m yours only? Have you also forgotten how I told you before our first time that I have lots of sex friends? You were fine with that.”

    I drop my gaze to avoid her eyes. I do remember that day.

    “No… but… I… After all we did toget—”

    She rolls her eyes and sighs. “Did you really think I found your cock so heavenly that I cut ties with others? Oh, come on, don’t be like that.” She jumps down from the altar and walks closer to me. “You know how I hate being limited. All this girlfriend or wife stuff is a perfect example. Enjoying everything that life can offer you is the best feeling in the world.”

    Marcia spins around, showcasing her freedom, then she stops and puts her hands on her hips.

    “When a man has many girls after him, he is a winner, but when a girl has some fun with many men, then she’s a dirty whore. Fucking society.” She crosses her arms over her chest and furrows her brows. “Haven’t you too nailed different girls while we were supposedly ‘together’?”

    I look away to avoid her gaze. I certainly did since I knew that she wouldn’t mind.

    “Don’t be so hypocritical then. I thought you didn’t care about boring stuff like that. Also, don’t assume that I’m after literally every cock I pass by on the sidewalk.”

    Marcia moves her gaze over everyone as if looking for some reaction, but then walks closer to me and hugs me from the front. She embraces me closely. Her bountiful chest in a leather tank-top presses against my armour and her deep, green eyes stare right into mine.

    “Or was I badly mistaken about you this whole time?” she asks.

    I get lost in her beautiful irises and ponder over what she said. It’s all true. Marcia is a very open and understanding person. Some may view her as loose as she described, but that’s just rude and narrow-minded. She loves to have fun with others and it doesn’t just relate to sexual things. The time we spent within our little class group was always enjoyable, with her leading us around and directing the flow of most conversations. I’m not sure why I started thinking that she changed her way of being after meeting me, it even was the main reason why we got along in the first place.

    Somehow, I just dislike the idea of her too looking up to that guy. Shino is already all over him. How is he better than me? It always irritates me how she acts all cute and shy around him or jumps in to defend that dude in every situation. It’s like she has known him since childhood, but that’s not possible.

    A pinch on the cheek brings me back to reality. Marcia smiles at me, still not dropping her gaze. I lower my own.

    “No… I… I would never call you a whore… Sorry… I got a bit too irritated there…”

    She lifts my chin up and kisses me. A soft, warm peck on the lips quickly evolves into a deep and intense kiss. She breaks off after a few seconds.

    “Good. I would be really sad after losing one of my best friends over some stupid misunderstanding. Especially after literally all other ones are now most likely gone for the rest of my life. Ugh… and men in this world are seriously disappointing…”

    She sighs and joins our lips in one more kiss. After that, she jumps back with a spin and glances over everyone.

    “Now then, can we conclude this pointless argument? We are all good friends here, differences in opinions happen, but let’s not start just throwing insults at each other.”

    Marcia moves her eyes from Shino to me in turns. I look at the shortie and she glances at me. She sighs and nods. I nod too. Marcia stops her gaze at Paul and waggles her eyebrows at him.

    “I’m still waiting, you know?”

    He waves his hands with a wry smile. “Thanks, but I still have to decline. I’m hoping to meet someone special one day.”

    “Too bad. I really hate forcing myself on others. It’s only fun when both people enjoy each other’s company. I’ll be around if you ever change your mind.” She sends a wink with a kiss towards him. “Ah, gosh, my throat is now dry as a desert.”

    She leans over one of the pillars, brings out a canteen from her ring and takes a few big gulps of water, spilling a little over her face and chest. A small stream runs down her elbow and drips onto the pedestal. The column starts glowing with blue runes from top to bottom and then slowly descends into the ground, completely catching Marcia off guard and making her fall.

    Shino helps her up while Natalie enters her detective mode again. She walks up to the mural which is placed on the wall opposite to the hidden pillar and glances all over it.

    “I see…” She strokes her chin and comes back to the altar. “Each side represents one of the elements. Just look at that mural, the characters are picking up water from a river.”

    It’s true. We move to other ones and examine them again.

    “Here they are using bellows under a forge. It might be air,” Paul says.

    “In this one, they seem to be mining something out. Perhaps earth?” Marcia ponders.

    “There are many fireplaces in mine. Must be fire,” Shino finishes.

    Gathering up by the altar, we look at the pillars. Nat summons a small ball of fire and another one descends. Paul picks up some rock and places it in the correct place, making the third one hide too. We all think on how to place air on the last structure while Marcia empties her waterskin and lays it onto the pedestal, which somehow works. We all look at her.

    “What? There’s air inside now.” She smiles.

    Paths of runes light up in blue on the floor and run towards the gate, which also starts glowing in many sigils and slowly opens towards us. Paul advises us to be ready for anything, a fancy entrance like this could be either good or bad.

    We walk into a huge chamber. It looks like some kind of a workshop or assembly line. There are tens of tables, structures, pathways, shelves and some big, rusting machines placed in patterns. Everything seems to be ancient and slowly crumbling to dust. Besides one thing. A wide pillar in the center of the room is shooting up high into the ceiling, towering over the whole place. There’s something attached near its end but it’s too far to ascertain the details.

    There’s no need to strain our eyes though. Loud and metallic sounds begin to permeate through the room, exactly from the position of that thing. Soon after, it slides down along the pillar and presents itself as a big, rotating ring made out of steel or something, with four huge ballistae attached to it, facing four different directions. The size of their bolts is enough to easily impale elephants.

    “Take cover!”

    Paul shouts and everyone ducks behind their closest stone structure. The machine stops spinning and the first of the weapons takes a shot at Shino, which is hiding behind a block of stone. The projectile hits it with unimaginable force, penetrating the 3-meter thick structure and the tip of the bolt emerges just a little to the right from her head. We lock our eyes for a second, utterly terrified by its power.

    “Don’t stop moving! It can shoot through!” I yell and start running from cover to cover.

    The ballistae keep shooting out projectiles every five seconds or so. When one attacks, others reload. Everyone is frantically dodging the deadly projectiles while looking for a way to strike back. Only Paul is able to easily counterattack with his bow. His normal arrows don’t do anything so he uses his Arcane Shot every now and then, but they only stagger the enormous crossbow for a moment. Natalie doesn’t even get a chance to use her guitar and her magic will definitely be too weak to damage this steel structure. The situation looks really bad.

    I avoid getting impaled by another spear by a hair’s breadth. Nat passes behind, trying to get some music going on the move, but I watch as her cape catches onto some protruding pipe and her guitar flies off, while she falls back onto her butt. The ballista takes aim. It will easily penetrate this little bit of metal.

    Oh no, you don’t!

    I dash to her side and slide in with an angled shield to completely cover her.

    “Impenetrable Fortress!”

    The giant bolt tears through the air towards us, breaks the iron structure and hits my guard with force incomparably stronger to the Abyssal gorilla from our previous fight.

    *HOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG*

    The projectile ricochets and nails the ground. My shield gets blasted off my hand and I’m sent flying backwards at an incredible speed. A moment later, I crash into the wall so hard that I get encased in it.

    “Guuuuuah!”

    I cough up a lot of blood. Everything hurts like hell. I raise my head while stuck in the wall. The ballista is already aiming at me and preparing another shot. Marcia does her best to reach my position, pushing her movement skills to their limits. Paul barrages the machine with Arcane Shots in panic. Natalie stares at me with wide eyes while lying in the spot I left her.

    So… this is how it ends, huh? Pathetic...

    Suddenly, everything goes black and a feminine scream reaches my ears. I guess my eyes are done for. I close them and drop my head in wait for the inevitable. But… it does not come. Instead, a strong light hits my supposedly still working eyes through the eyelids. I raise my head again and open them just to see the figure of Shino standing on top of the giant crossbow with her katana shoved into the ballista’s reloading mechanism, shining with a pale white glow.

    She makes an upwards swing and slices off half of it. Then she jumps over to another, sending a slash of white energy towards it. While it destroys the second weapon, she catches onto its corner and launches herself up into the air, preparing the katana by her side. It starts shining even stronger and a moment later, she rushes diagonally through the air like a falling star, piercing through the whole pillar which is over 10 meters thick, and leaving a white trail behind. She lands crouched on the ground between me and the running Marcia, and as she sheathes her katana back to its scabbard, the giant tower slides off at the place she left a cut and plunges into the ground shaking the whole chamber in a small earthquake.

    When the vibrations subside, she opens her eyes which are now glowing with a purplish hue. This and her shining katana handle are currently the only sources of light in the room. Shino rises from her knees.

    “I’m sorry for being late, Kamil-san. I had to create more shadows to—” she staggers mid-sentence and begins falling down, the glowing on her katana fades out.

    Paul catches her before she hits the ground. Natalie quickly arrives at my side, summons another Firefly and starts casting her most powerful healing spells. Marcia and Paul support the completely exhausted Samurai girl. Nat tells me how Shino was running around the whole place, leaving small cuts on every torch and brazier in the room, and then when I closed my eyes, she activated some insane skill that made her bounce off the walls like a ray of moonlight, destroying all targets almost at once. The scream I heard was hers, it supposedly strained her small body a lot.

    But she did not stop at that. She teleported above and the rest I’ve already seen with my own eyes. This explains how I didn’t catch a glimpse of her around the battlefield and how everything suddenly went dark. There’s no doubt that she pushed herself to the limits to save me. If I haven’t got hit back there, she most likely would have executed her plan much more carefully.

    After Nat gets me into a working state we take a well-deserved break. Fortunately, my armour is enchanted with a high-level Self Repair spell, so as long as it’s not completely shattered or ripped off, it will slowly regain its original form. While I and Marcia stay with the unconscious Shino, Paul and Natalie check the doors to rooms adjacent to this chamber. They find lots of different crafting stations and not that many things of value to us. They do manage to find a floor plan carved into one of those rooms' walls, so we take notes of a path that looks like it’s leading to the exit or the entrance.

    Two hours of rest later, we decide to move out. Shino already woke up. I thank her for what she did obviously and she says that I would do the same anyway, so there’s no need to be grateful. She insists on walking on her own, but she’s barely keeping herself up. Paul scoots her off the ground and she gets a piggyback ride, with her face completely red as a tomato. We follow the notes and head straight for the main gate. We’ve been up for almost a day now.

    Luckily, we avoid any other dangerous rooms and reach another big gate, which should lead to the outside. There aren’t any puzzles around, just an enormous lever. With some issues, we manage to switch its position and the doors start opening inwards.

    “—iot. We can’t even get through some stupid door? Wait… they are opening!”

    A feminine voice reaches our ears from the other side as the wings of the gate slowly move to the sides.

    “I don’t think I did anything to make them open…” Another girly voice joins.

    “Who cares, maybe there was some keyword that triggered them. Let’s not waste any more time and head inside.” Some young boy speaks.

    Three people and some creature with blueish skin, pointy ears and of a low posture enter. Two girls, most likely in their late teens and a boy. They look like adventurers we’ve seen plenty around the capital.

    “Eh? Who the hell are you people?” The girl in magician robes raises a question after spotting us.

    “That’s not important. How the hell are you inside?” The boy butts in.

    “We’ve fallen into this place from a mine above and were trying to get out,” Paul explains.

    “Ah, shit! That was supposed to be our great find!” The boy kicks a stone.

    “Erm… have you explored it already?” the other girl asks timidly.

    “There are plenty of chambers we didn’t check,” he answers again.

    “Great! Let’s go!” The boy waves at his friends and runs inside, pulling the creature behind him. The magician soon follows.

    “Wait! Be careful. There are plenty of puzzles with deadly traps out there.” Marcia grabs the arm of the last, roguish looking girl and warns her.

    She smiles and makes a slight bow. “Thank you. We are very lucky to meet so many kind and helpful people recently.”

    “Sasha! Don’t fall behind!” the boy shouts from a distance.

    She bows again and runs off. We finally leave this god-forsaken place and get back to the village.
     
  4. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 23 - A Busy Week
    Back in the capital...

    Time flows incredibly fast when you are busy, having something to do, one thing after another. After finishing the whole check-up operation and our little talk with Sirgia, we begin brainstorming ideas about the interior design of the establishment. Fortunately, the place has been decorated by someone with a great artistic sense along with the utility one, so there’s not much we want to change about the mahogany and white marble decorations everywhere.

    As for the furniture, it also fits the image I had in mind when thinking about a high-quality establishment. All the wardrobes, beds, cupboards and other stuff are masterfully crafted, yet without over-the-top details that would make them an eyesore or pain in the ass to operate. While I love medieval or fantasy designs, I hate when they are overdone and get in the way of the thing’s utility.

    We all agree on changing the sheets and other materials. They are currently in a royal crimson or scarlet colour and we all think something else would go better with the dark mahogany style. We decide on purple. It both feels great and at the same time, it’s kinda the symbolic colour for this field of work. I’d have never expected one of my favourite colours to actually be used with this particular meaning in mind, but I’m lucky it did, no one has anything against using it here due to that so that’s like killing two birds with one stone for me.

    The windows could be a problem when considering the things that will happen in these rooms. This mansion is still in the city, on the border of Noble and Mercantile districts, and even if it has some space around, thanks to the low stone fence it’s still easy to take a peek inside from the adjacent buildings. Sirgia suggests that we order a bit more of the purple material and create bigger curtains which will also be able to act as blinds on the windows. Thanks to that, we will be able to cover them for most of the time and in a case when it’s necessary, move them to the sides. We naturally all jump onto that idea.

    We are going to introduce these changes to all rooms in the wings, but since there are lots of them, like really an insane number, I propose to make the upper areas function both as living spaces for our future residents and also waiting rooms for the girls when the brothel will operate. Each wing has its pair of stairs leading to the other level, so after someone picks a girl at the counter, she can then easily walk down to a room that the guest will be given, without unnecessarily having to parade through the whole main hall. Convenient if we introduce different outfits or something, in the future.

    Naturally, it all depends on the situation, because I definitely plan on asking some of our employees to spend their time waiting in the main lobby, but only those who would be fine with that. Having the girls sit around and possibly get in touch with the people who come inside would be a nice way of showing them their good sides. And of course, it will function as presenting part of our assortment. Seeing your possible choices in front of you has a much bigger emotional impact than just reading the list, even if that list includes pictures or sketches. You gotta work for that first impression, it’s really important.

    And well, some people may just want to enjoy a nice talk with a beautiful girl by their side first, hostess' bars are a thing, and for that reason, we should also offer something similar. There’s that recreational area above with an alcohol corner. Getting to know a girl a little bit better can increase the chances of pleased customers and might end in them taking the next step too. Will have to be careful though, don’t want someone utterly drunk into oblivion trying anything funny, but well, we will introduce a decent set of rules and instructions. The bartender will keep an eye over the situation.

    That reminds me, besides maids, I’ll have to look for some bouncers or security guards. As much as I would want to believe nothing will ever happen, wishful thinking like that can only lead to a disaster. I better solve this issue before we open for the first time. Safety of the girls is my utmost priority here and will always stay that way. Sirgia is strong and has a decent Class, but she’s not only our chef but also will start being an artificer too. I shouldn’t push so many roles on her little shoulders, even though she would try to convince me that she’d be fine with whatever I need from her.

    A day passes as we walk around and discuss various things. Everyone gets to their rooms to rest and regain energy for another day of heavy thinking and other work. Well, almost everyone. Somehow, Safi and Emi end up in my room quite often recently. I have nothing against that fact. I enjoy their company and falling asleep while cuddled up by two charming and chilly Slimes is a win. It’s not like any of the other girls is going to spend the night here, so for now, I’m going to pamper them a bit each night. For a moment, I was worried that from how quickly the things between us escalated, I might have flipped some ero-switch inside them and made them addicted to sex or pleasure, but so far they just seem to be closely attached to me. There’s no doubt that they would be up for it any time I asked though.

    Next day marks the first delivery from Barren. He doesn’t employ that many helpers in his small store so he comes here by himself with a cart. Sirgia is still a little bit wary of him, but she does not let that uncertainty be in the way of her duties, and she does her best checking the quality of the goods he provides and raising accurate questions regarding any concerns she might have.

    I must say, it feels really extraordinary to see a little girl, almost half the size of the muscular man which is walking by her side, carrying two more large crates of goods in her hands than him. That’s a Dwarf for you. If I were to use numbers to convey their strength, then a Human would need around 20 Strength for his stats to have enough influence over his body to rival the common Dwarf. And Sirgia is a Crusher, which additionally raises her Strength stat. 10 Strength stat Human doesn’t equal 10 Strength stat Dwarf, it’s more like 20 to 10, and she is 30 already by herself.

    When everything gets properly unloaded and placed in storages or the fridge, we move out to do some material shopping with me, Cornelia and Sirgia. I think it’s still a bit too risky to bring Slimes out into the open. We either need to get some recognition first or I have to get stronger to be able to protect them. I have no doubts that they can take care of themselves better than I would, but still. We visit a few businesses and order tens of curtains and other stuff, with designs we came up earlier together. It will take some time to get all of it done.

    While in the city, we also check on the artisan who is working on the collars, but they haven’t been finished yet. There’s no rush, so that’s fine. Since we are already there, Cornelia starts asking about a custom order for clothes. Without me noticing, she smuggled out one of the sexy maid outfits which Safi and Emi wear, most likely depriving one of them of the joy of using it for some time. She presents the uniform to the clerk and they begin discussing the details of replicating it, but with more violet and purple details here and there. This might end up as our brand outfit. I don’t mind. It’s the opposite. Just imagining all the girls wearing such cute clothes around me is a thing that evokes whole oceans of fantasies. Ahhhhh…

    The day after, we begin taking down the old curtains and bedsheets. Safi ends up with the previous white shirt and black panties combo since as I expected, she was the one who Cornelia has robbed out of her costume. I make sure to give her lots of pats and snuggles from time to time so she doesn’t feel sad. But as for me, she could stay in that getup forever. Who does not find an oversized shirt and sexy panties a sight to behold?

    We almost end up on top of each other instead of working. That sly slime is getting too knowledgeable about the art of seduction. It’s getting increasingly dangerous just being around her. You will not convince me that she came up herself with her breasts 'accidentally spilling out of the shirt’ when reaching up for something, her panties ‘accidentally catching against a cupboard’s knob’ to flash the sapphire lips of her alluring pussy as she leans over something or ‘accidentally tripping over her own legs’ and falling face-first into my crotch.

    I have some suspicions on whose fault this might be. We’ll need to have a loooooooooooong talk about what she is teaching my lovely and innocent slime girls.

    Oooooohhh, she does not want to go to war with me. She is not ready for the amount of knowledge I have amassed from various sources back at home.

    Fortunately, we manage to do our share in time, not like when I was working with Sirgia, with just a few breaks for some kisses and pats. And perhaps a little bit of touching.

    We finish moving around the furniture and taking down the decorations in two days. There’s not a lot of manpower at our disposition currently, but there’s no rush towards anything. Then, I decide to have a shopping trip with just Sirgia so that she can pick up the necessary tools to start giving life to the ideas I have in mind. We grab some utensils for woodworking, metalworking, leatherworking, order some small devices she deems worthy of having and a few other things. Nothing much yet, it’s just for several smaller projects. I also get some more professional paper and drawing tools to be able to make decent schematics for her.

    Huge materials supply is not yet required so we postpone searching for a proper supplier for later. Sirgia tries to hide it behind her neutral mask, but she’s brimming with happiness and passion too much for me to not notice. It feels good seeing her like that. When I pat her head and brush her hair a bit, she even smiles faintly from time to time. I help her arrange all the things in the room she has chosen for herself, spending the rest of the day at it. We slightly move a few pieces of furniture and rework the desk so it can function as a makeshift workshop. I tell her that I’ll drop her the first design soon and she bumps her small chest with her fist, saying “Leave it to me! I will not disappoint Master!” with her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

    Then, almost a week after we started taking everything into our own hands, a message comes. Cornelia brings a letter from the castle. It’s from the King. He’s inviting me for a meeting. Supposedly, there’s something important and that could ‘definitely be of huge help to me’. Since the letter states that I can either come today or have Cornelia deliver a reply with suggestions of possible dates, I choose to check this out immediately. Besides, since when does ‘The King’ work his schedule around some plebeian’s free time? He does not act like this towards everyone, right? I’m starting to get worried about the way he conducts himself.

    I decide to test the secret tunnel. I walk down into the cellars and then to the passage with the two trolleys. They have a lever mechanism like the ones you often see in western movies. I sit on a bench at one of its sides and begin fanning the mechanism up and down. We'll have to figure out with Sirgia some other way to operate it. Perhaps she will be able to create a simple bike gearbox and some pedals, or we can just test some mana-operated ways with her Mana Artisan.

    As the cart moves through the tunnel, small crystals on the walls, imbued with some kind of proximity trigger spell, start glowing in yellow. They fade out when I pass them, leaving only the area I’m currently moving through brightened. After ten minutes they start changing into orange and then red so I start slowing down, guessing that it’s just a way of telling the driver that the end of the tracks is close. And I’m not mistaken.

    Soon, I reach the stop and get out of the trolley. There are two paths now, but one of them is completely buried in rubble and debris. I guess it led under the treasury. I take some stairs up and am met with a wooden plank at the end of the pathway. I examine it closely and notice that it’s possible to slide it to the side. I remove the obstruction and get swatted into the face with fur coats. This is definitely the inside of some wardrobe. I push open its doors and reveal a typical castle room. Confirming that there’s no one in here, I walk out of the wardrobe and look around.

    Nothing much to be said about it. Decently sized chamber with a bed, desk, wardrobes and other furniture. From the amount of dust, it doesn’t seem to be in use. I move the backside to its original position and close the wardrobe before leaving. I enter a usual corridor with many more doors like the one I’ve just used. I think this is the area where most of the royal guards live.

    I manage to navigate to the room we usually used for meetings during our time in the castle. No one had any problems with me going around. I’m still a Hero in their eyes, even if I’m not really helping with their case, but well, at least I look adventurey enough in this brownish attire and the coat. I pick an apple from a tray and wait by the balcony.

    This brings back memories...

    I marvel over the view from up here as I did a little over a year ago. Who would have thought on that day that I’d end up starting a brothel? But well, I’m not mad, at least not anymore. I have things I can focus on now and that Class seems better and better with each passing day. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be able to help the others with their mission. I wonder how they are doing.

    Not that long later, the King arrives. He wears his more casual, but still royal, robes without the extravagant cape. A smaller crown decorates his blond hair.

    “Al, my dear friend! How are things going?”He smiles at my sight and extends an arm towards me.

    “Pretty good. We are slowly making progress. No catgirls yet though.” I take up his hand and we enter a lively handshake. I wink at him while saying the last part.

    Ross chuckles. “I’m glad to hear that!” He gestures towards the table and we both sit down. He starts pouring some wine into the glasses. “Well… That thing at the end might actually change soon,” he says looking up at me.

    “Oh? Could that be the subject of this sudden meeting?” I ask and ponder over how much he must want to meet one, to personally arrange a situation where I can possibly gain a Catkin employee.

    “To some extent, yes.” He finishes pouring the wine and serves me one of the glasses. “But before that, do tell me more! I’m really curious about what you achieved! There certainly has to be something, right?”

    “Hahaha, yes, there certainly is.” I laugh while recalling the events of the passing week. “Literally the day after we parted I stumbled on two Queen Slimes, which are now naturally part of my ‘family’.”

    “What?! There were no notices of you leaving the city… How?” he replies, shocked.

    Oooooh, so I am being monitored. I guess it’s only under certain orders if he didn’t get informed about my purchase or situation in that dinner.

    “I found them in some random barrels.” I give him the same answer I did to Cornelia, also making his jaw almost drop from surprise. “Some idiot has been using them as waste disposal tools for like 7 years. I stumbled on him the day he almost killed them. That was lucky.”

    He shakes his head as he laughs. “What are the chances.”

    “I know, right? Besides that, I just got myself a chef. Someone has to help with all the food.”

    “And you’ve stolen a quite the great magician from me, don’t forget that.” He points at me threateningly and chuckles.

    “I was most likely more surprised than you when I saw her at my doorstep. But well, I can’t deny that Cornelia’s help is much appreciated.”

    “Our main Court Magician will have to deal with a bit more work for some time, but that’s fine. Having a little mole in your rising fortress is worth it.”

    Oh, I really do wonder which one of us will benefit from this more...

    I smile mischievously, making him raise an eyebrow.

    “Well then, let’s move onto the main topic.” He assumes a much serious expression. “As much as I’d want for this to be easy and simple, it, unfortunately, won’t be.”

    “Oh? Is it that problematic?” I ask.

    “Not only problematic but also risky and dangerous.”

    I furrow my brows at him. “Okay?”

    “You know how most of the slavery is controlled by the kingdom or the authorities of the capital itself. If it’s more than just getting rid of a few ‘pieces’ of merchandise, you need either a temporary or a permanent permit.”

    “Yes, I know how it works, so you can spare me the details.”

    “Good. If something is controlled, it doesn’t exactly mean that it’s fully contained. There’s an underground group of slave traders who operate on the Black Market. They import a lot of products and then hold private auctions at various cities in the kingdom.”

    I begin thinking that I might have an idea of where this is going to lead. Rossberg continues.

    “I’ve got information that in a few days they’ll supposedly hold one in the capital. And naturally, from both a legal and personal standpoint, I’m quite eager to get rid of this issue if I can. We’ve started planning on crashing their little party and possibly capturing as many criminals alive, but dead is fine too if they were to try escaping.”

    “I see. What’s my role in that plan then?” I ask.

    “They are quite well-informed about governmental agents and it could alert them if we tried sending someone from here inside. That’s why I wanted to ask you to work as my agent and infiltrate the auction. They are not some foolish amateurs. There will definitely be fake rumours being spread about the location or date or any other crucial information. But you, as someone new and fresh, have a chance to gain their trust as a new customer,” Ross explains.

    I think for a moment. “Even so, how would I get in contact with them?”

    “Leave that part to my men, it will be arranged. You just need to act your part and I believe that with the procurement of quite the luxurious mansion, your classy attire, noble manners and the way of being, you won’t have any problems getting in.” He brings a rolled piece of paper from his own storage ring. “This is the deed to that place. It’s now rightfully yours and can also confirm your credibility in their eyes. I’ll naturally throw you some more money so you can flaunt your wealth a bit.”

    I pick up the document, unroll it and check the insides. The mansion’s worth is calculated to be over 350 platinum coins. That’s over 35 000 gold coins. Quite a fortune. Just with this, they should consider me their new VIP customer. And also…

    “I believe this might come in handy too, right?” I pull out the Ruby Card from a pocket in my vest. Rossberg’s eyes widen in surprise.

    “You got yourself in the highest VIP category at Madam Selina’s? There’s no way they will be even a little bit suspicious of you with that. I did not expect this, but that’s insanely fortunate.”

    “So yeah, let’s say we have the identity part covered. What’s my task?” I sit cross-legged and rest my chin over my joined hands.

    “After making contact with their team, you have to arrive at the meeting place and confirm its authenticity. Attend the ball, the auction and other parts, but mostly the auction, it will be the best sign to judge. They will certainly have some slaves at the fake locations, but the main one will have much more and better products to show. And higher bidders.”

    He takes a sip of his wine to moisturize his throat.

    “Our team will be waiting for your signal. Since they will be partially split between the places we’ll be able to gather rumours about, it will take some time to move most of the forces to the one you will deem as the true one. They will block all possible routes of escape before launching the assault. The remaining soldiers will also storm the fake locations, who knows what they will find. After the operation begins, I guess you can hide or join the knights, that’s your call.”

    I play the whole plan in my head.

    Yes, it is very risky, especially for someone like me who doesn’t have that much offensive or defensive abilities. And I can’t bring Sirgia or Cornelia with me. First one would look weird from their perspective, and the other one is definitely on their watchlist. But the chances of success seem quite high and I’m not completely defenceless.

    I sit straight and get lost in thoughts a bit. Mostly about what could go wrong and how I could assure my safety in those scenarios. One more thing pops into my mind during my contemplation.

    “And how is that supposed to be ‘of huge help to me’ or even linked to the Catkin in the end?” I ask the King.

    He smiles knowingly. “You see, operations on this scale tend to get a little… chaotic. Our priority is to capture or kill the criminals at any cost. During the fight in enclosed spaces, many unpredictable things can happen. I can’t fully guarantee to my advisors that one or more slaves won’t accidentally end up dead alongside their owners or use the chance to sneak out and run away amidst all the turmoil. Stray arrows and spells are a thing. If you catch my drift.” He waggles his eyebrows at me.

    “Ohhhhhhhhhh, that’s certainly true. Fire-based spells are especially fatal. I wonder how many victims could a badly placed Fireball claim,” I say while giving him a side glance.

    “I’m not an expert in fire magic, but I guess up to like ten? It would be such a futile task to take a proper count of bodies afterwards though, ” Ross answers with a similar, angled gaze.

    “Yeah, definitely. Hard to judge which pile of ash consists of one or more people.”

    We both laugh. Then he stands up and I follow. “Can I count on you then?” Ross asks with an extended hand.

    “Oh yes, let’s begin the operation ‘Pimp My Auction’!” I grab his hand and shake it while giggling at my own joke. He smiles wryly with a tinge of confusion in his eyes. “Don’t mind me, it would have been a killer back at my place.”
     
  5. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 24 - Personal Training Room ❤
    After agreeing to help Ross with his issue, I sit down again and we begin talking about random stuff that happened around the capital. Just your typical friendly chatter on pointless topics, but it feels good to have a short chat with another guy when you are surrounded mostly by beautiful women.

    At some point, I realize that there’s a very important aspect of the whole operation that we haven’t touched on yet.

    “Ross, there’s one more thing I need to know. How am I supposed to let you guys know about the site being real?” I ask.

    His expression turns from joyful to more clouded and troubled.

    “That’s still the part we are working on. They will definitely take many countermeasures against any possible leaks, including blocking all telepathy in the area or monitoring mana density.” He sighs dejectedly. “I hope we’ll come up with something safe, I’m already putting you in a lot of danger by just sending you there.”

    I ponder over the issue too. “That’s bad. I can’t think of anything from my side that would help, but I’ll keep looking around,” I say.

    I will have to talk to Sirgia about this, she might be able to give us some insight or even help us directly. There aren’t that many people I can ask for help with something like this. Cornelia’s knowledge-driven mind might be valuable too, but I don’t think she can come up with means other than pure spell-based solutions. Anyway, definitely worth giving it a shot. I’ll have to run a strategic meeting with everyone after I get back.

    “We are going to work on that intensively too, so let’s hope for good news or we’ll have to cancel the assault,” he announces.

    “There’s no need, I’ll enter nevertheless. If I manage to get an invite that is. In case I won’t find out any means to contact you, I’ll just gather as much information as I can.”

    He shakes his head. “I can’t have you risk even more by snooping around inside enemy’s den. What if they notice?”

    “Then, I’ll be known for starting the biggest orgy in the whole history of the capital.”

    I look at Ross and put my hand in front of him with my palm facing upwards, summoning a little of the pinkish smoke from my Carnal Mist skill and twirling it around my fingers while chuckling.

    “Tell your soldiers to keep their ears up for a lot of moaning,” I add.

    I never used it before, so I have no idea how strong it is, how much of it can be released with my mana reserves and how fast it can spread. There weren’t any potential targets I could have tested it on and I definitely don’t want to try that on any of the girls around me first. I need to start experimenting with my abilities. So far, I’ve really neglected most of them in fear of affecting the minds of others too much, but that was a bad move on my side.

    “Let’s leave that option as the last resort. Please, just leave the area if you feel like there’s nothing you can do.” He smiles wryly.

    Later, he invites me to have lunch together and I feel that it would be rude to decline, so we end up spending a bit more time talking during the meal. Shortly after, I head back home via the same way I arrived here.

    Everyone is present when I come back, so we gather up in my room. Safi and Emi as usual take spots on both my sides when I sit down on the bed, with the emerald girl happily snuggling to my arm. Cornelia takes place by one of the desks and Sirgia sits on the same bed as us, just a bit further away. She finally stopped dropping herself onto the floor.

    I begin explaining the whole operation to them, without hiding too much information. I do trust them. Cornelia would most likely get filled on it by the King anyway, Safi and Emi can’t even speak and Sirgia would most likely choose to die rather than leak my secrets.

    “So, yeah, that’s it. We need to come up with something that will allow me to report back. If you get some ideas, just let me know,” I finish it up.

    Cornelia opens her mouth to say something but doesn’t make it before Sirgia, who jumps down from the bed and trots in front of me.

    “This is too dangerous, what if something happens to Master.” She looks at me with concern in her eyes. I place my hand on her head and ruffle through the cinnamon brown hair.

    “I know, but I couldn’t refuse there. This is a great opportunity to get rid of some bad people and also possibly save a few poor demi-humans like yourself.”

    She drops her gaze down, not exactly happy with my decision. “But…”

    I lift her head so that I can look her straight into those beautiful pupils of hers. “I promise you that I will be careful. I definitely don’t want to leave any of you alone and know that I will prioritize my own safety over anything else,” I speak while moving my hand from the top of her head to her cheek and grazing it gently with my thumb. She closes her eyes and nods.

    “Yeah, right, you of all people will think about yourself while surrounded by tens of pitiful slaves around.” Cornelia places her legs on top of each other and crosses her arms over her chest.

    “I will. As much as my ideals would want to disagree, I can’t save anyone if I end up dead.” I look at Sirgia who has opened her eyes again. “Besides, I already have people I need to protect in the first place.”

    A tinge of rosiness appears on Sirgia’s cute cheeks and she averts her gaze. Safi and Emi move under my armpits and arrive at my front, rubbing their chilly faces against my neck with lots of affection. They try to act sweet, but I can feel their worry over our bond.

    Cornelia sighs. “It’s not like I can stop you. Just… be careful, okay?” She gives me a side glance with concernedly furrowed eyebrows.

    We spend some time discussing more details and trying to figure out some ways to not only solve the communication issue but also make sure that I’m protected as much as possible. The other part is brought by Cornelia and everyone instantly agrees, not leaving me any room for negotiation. I feel like they will prioritize it over the first problem, but what can I do.

    It’s getting late when we decide to end our little meeting and we move to eat something together. I help Sirgia prepare it while others wait. I never was any good at cooking, but under her instructions, I manage to decently support her work and at the same time learn a lot. Her face might not show it, but I can feel how happy she feels during this cooperation of ours, all thanks to the skill.

    After dinner, I walk back to my room and start drawing some schematics for Sirgia. I promised her that I will give her something to work on soon, and at the same time, it will redirect her thoughts from me when I will be out for the operation. I just need to stress out that this is something really important and she will quickly forget about worrying and completely focus on crafting.

    Finishing a few projects, I yawn loudly and stretch my arms. It’s past midnight already. Shoving everything into my storage ring, so that no one accidentally stumbles on these notes, I stand up and decide to take a real bath before going to sleep. I throw everything besides my shorts and shirt off me and leave the room. Just as I am reaching for the knob to the bathing area, the door opens.

    “Ah!”

    Cornelia yelps and stops before walking right into me. A towel covers her hair and another one is rolled tightly around her body. It’s a little weird seeing her without glasses. How should I say it… they give her more mature and elegant vibes with her hair woven into a back-bun, while without these elements, she looks more… girly? Innocent? Both images are dazzling anyway.

    Judging by her glistening skin and droplets of water here and there, she’s just barely finished bathing. I turn my head to the side before my eyes wander into dangerous zones.

    “Sorry, I didn’t know you were in.”

    She grasps the towel tightly around her chest and shakes her head, visibly blushing. “No… It’s okay. I’m the one parading in towels through the baths’ intersection.” She tries to play it cool with a smile. “It’s really amazing, I must say. Even better than at the castle... Well… have a good time while I excuse myself…”

    She giggles nervously and starts walking away. My eyes follow her alluring figure. The towel she’s using for her body is not exactly large and ends up only slightly below her butt, having to sacrifice a lot of its surface for the ample peaks on the front. As she slowly takes each step, her bottom jiggles a bit, flashing a little more of the round delicacy, but just barely not enough to show anything more serious. And... oh my god…

    “Those are some of the sexiest legs I’ve ever seen…”

    I unconsciously voice out my thoughts while entranced by her juicy thighs, making Cornelia slip from the sudden compliment. She quickly supports herself by placing a hand on the wall and avoids falling. For a moment she just stands there with her back to me, not moving even an inch or looking back, just frozen on the spot. She then breaks into a much quicker pace and disappears around the corner with a side step.

    Great… Now I made her weirded out...

    I facepalm at this short moment of weakness and enter the baths’ intersection. For my defence, I was taken by a complete surprise. Those really were some great fucking legs. Many would kill just to be able to lay their eyes on them from up close, not even mentioning any other parts of the human body. I slap my cheeks to compose myself and head for the men’s section to have a nice, long, relaxing dip.



    ╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣



    The next morning, after breakfast, I visit Sirgia’s room and pass her one of the designs. I tell her that she doesn’t have to instantly start working on it because it’s not something insanely important, just a little device I came up with for the future. She assures me that she’ll do her best and that failing is not an option. She’s already filled with loads of determination. Looks like I don't even have to stress it out.

    Before she loses herself in it, I ask her for a little help with the cellars underground. On our way down, we also grab Cornelia, who definitely hasn’t forgotten our last conversation, due to how often she avoids my gaze. I just hope it won’t stay like that. She cuts down any apology I try issuing before I even finish, saying that it’s fine.

    We move to the largest chamber and I explain to them that I want to turn it into a training area, and the reason I brought them here is to ask about their input since one is a skilled magician and the other is a skilled artificer. They both look around while I move some boxes into other rooms to clean this area completely.

    Sirgia inspects walls and the floor while Cornelia dives into her thoughts. The first one says that she should be able to reinforce them with proper enhancements via carving special sigils into the blocks of stone. With everyone’s help, she can most likely make them at least as tough as hardened steel. If it was just her mana reserves, it would take a lot of time, but having a magician with a deep mana pool and a few other people to help, we should be able to finish in a day.

    Cornelia tells us that she might be able to draw some Magic Absorption arrays to apply another layer of protection, which will lessen the strain produced by offensive spells flying around. She has to visit the library to check on them before she can do that.

    For now, it’s meant to be a sparring arena, but I suggest that we acquire some mannequins for practice too. Cornelia adds that in the future we might consider investing in a bit more expensive solutions like self-regenerating golems or other advanced training systems, but it will be hard to inconspicuously bring them in, since it’s the Adventurer’s Guild which deals with those mostly, and they are quite meticulous in screening the buyers for the purpose and such.

    I give Sirgia a few pats on the back and say that our artisanal prodigy will definitely make even better ones at some point, making her shrink into herself and quiver a bit under the praise.

    Our trio leaves for the city shortly after, to pick up necessary ingredients and tools. Cornelia splits off for the library in the middle of our shopping trip. She tells us not to wait for her and to head back home after we are done with our part. It takes us an hour to collect everything Sirgia needs. We also pick up a few more tools used to carve runes in various materials.

    To create the image of a rich nobleman for the plan, I’ll need some new clothes. I can’t show up in my current attire, so we head to the Noble district and enter a dignified looking tailor. There are countless suits, shoes, dresses and accessories showcased inside, fitting the image of the upper class.

    “Pick up something you like while I take the order.” I turn to Sirgia and say with a smile.

    “But I’m—”

    “With me. And I want to buy you a little something for your great help. Okay?”

    I kneel down and pat her head while looking her in the eyes. She nods and I walk towards the clerk and begin discussing the details with him. He scoffs at me at first, but gets completely pale and quickly apologizes after I flash him the Ruby Card. For the whole time, I don’t stop paying close attention to Sirgia. Ten minutes later, the clerk finishes taking down all the notes and informs me to pick up the order tomorrow.

    I walk back to Sirgia, who notices my approach and turns around.

    “Everything here is really beautiful, but I didn’t find anything that I would want, so it’s okay if Master just—”

    I poke her forehead with a little force, making her head bob. She massages it in confusion, but I don’t say anything, just walk past her. She quickly catches up to my side and her little mouth opens in surprise when she notices what I am reaching for. I pick up a flat, metal hairpin, depicting a pink lily flower in full bloom. Turning to her, I gently slide it into one of her braids, near the top of her head, tilting the nearby hanging mirror for her to see the reflection better.

    Sirgia stares into the mirror and examines the decoration with her hand. She then moves her gaze onto me.

    “Next time you lie, I’ll have you pick up two things, understood?” I stare down at her and raise my eyebrows.

    A faint smile appears on her lips before she lowers her head to hide it and nods. “Uhn.”

    We arrive back home faster than Cornelia, so we begin the work without her. At first, I just observe how Sirgia creates various patterns in the stone blocks, but after some time I catch on and help with carving the symbols while she gets to properly link them with her skills. Two hours later our magician finally joins the party and we all focus on the task. It takes us 5 more hours to complete the preparations and then another hour of pouring the mana of all five of us to properly activate the sigils. We should have bought some blunt weapon on our way back, there’s nothing to test the effect right now.

    Next, under Cornelia’s guidance, we mix lots of magical ingredients and create mana imbued ink or paint. She shows us the array formations she copied from the library and we spend two hours drawing lots of magic circles everywhere. All our mana is drained, so we have to leave the activation for tomorrow.

    Like almost every day, Safi and Emi end up in my bed again. This time they are much more cuddly than they usually are, especially Safi. While we lie down together, I give their cores some gentle rubs and try to convince them that everything is going to be fine. They quite literally melt under my touch. Within a few minutes, I turn their concern into waves of pleasure. Few passionate kisses later we fall asleep.



    ╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣



    Everything activates without an issue and Sirgia barricades herself in her room to focus on the task I’ve handed her earlier. Cornelia follows suit and dedicates her time to the research of the least detectable form of communication. I’m left in the training area with my two affectionate jelly girls.

    Since my suit most likely won’t be ready so early, I decide to spend some time to familiarize myself more with my weapon. I open my skills menu to check my whip proficiency hidden behind the Arms Mastery: Novice passive, but before I dive into it, I notice that I’ve gained Mana Control from our previous work and it’s already level 2. Great. I’ll have an easier time with magic and most of the skills now.

    My Whip Mastery is at level 3, like all other weapon masteries. This was most likely the required level to gain the Arms Mastery merger. Unfortunately, I do not possess Whip Arts which would list me some useful skills with that weapon, but I guess it will appear at some point if I keep using it. Marcia gained Dagger ones before uncovering her talent in Dual Shortswords, so it’s not like I can’t learn them, they are common ones, just it will take a little more time and effort.

    I recall all the movements my instructor has drilled into me a few months ago and begin replaying them in turns. This time the wall is my target since there’s nothing else, and it doesn’t look like there’s even a scratch on it from my strongest moves. Safi and Emi watch from the sidelines as I keep repeating the same movements over and over for six hours, using up mana to forcefully revitalize my body. This way I’ll be able to train both my physique and magic at the same time. They come and snuggle up to me to cool me down during breaks and pass me water.

    During the current one, Emi playfully licks the sweat from around my neck, sending shivers down my spine. I bonk her head and reprimand her that I’d rather not practice with a raging boner. She imitates a giggle and says that it smelled so captivating that she couldn’t stop herself and that the taste is unbelievably sweet. Safi can’t hold back her curiosity after hearing that and I end up being pushed down and assaulted by their tongues for ten minutes straight.

    I have to resort to shoving my hands inside them and grabbing their cores to make them stop. I give their hearts a few good squeezes as a punishment, making them squirm and spasm uncontrollably until they finally manage to utter an apology under my intense care. It was easy to access Safi’s one due to her still being in just that half-open shirt and panties, but with Emi’s maid uniform, I had to flex myself a lot to get under her skirt and use the backdoor to reach for her orb. No wonder she enjoyed it even more than Safi.

    And naturally, my efforts end in vain. Raging boner it is. After collecting themselves, they say that it’s their turn to make me feel good now. No matter how hard I try to explain to them that they do not need to repay me every time I do something, they do not listen. I sigh inwardly and surrender myself to them.

    Emi moves behind me and sits on her knees, pulling my back towards her springy chest. I don’t resist and end up leaning on her while she starts moving her chilly hands under my shirt, which is almost completely see-through from all the sweat. One hand grazes my abs while the other one backs off and pulls my head to the side, and we join our lips in a deep and sensual kiss. Deciding to leave everything to them this time, I let Emi take the lead and she greedily prods the insides of my mouth with her frosty tongue.

    I start feeling the tightness around my waist loosening, so I move my left eye as far to the edge as I can, and I barely catch a glimpse of Safi unwinding my belt and sliding down my pants along with underwear, revealing my fully erect member to the world. She pokes it a few times with her iconic, motherly smile and begins to slowly stroke it up and down.

    Emi turns my head even more towards her and I’m unable to watch whatever Safi is doing for the moment. I do have some idea though. She stopped using her hands and is most likely giving it careful, prolonged licks from the bottom of my shaft to the very tip of the glans, taking her sweet time to travel up. She somehow managed to recreate something akin to breathing and an icy air brushes over my dick's underside while her tongue follows the path over the standing pole. I close my eyes and let the pleasure fill my mind, along with countless lewd images.

    After a minute of their soft caresses, Emi releases my lips, which are now completely covered with her cool saliva, and begins planting frosty kisses all over the nape of my neck. I move my eyes back to Safi just to see her fumbling around with her shirt. To my surprise, she does not unpin the buttons to remove it. Quite the opposite. She skillfully inserts some of them into the wrong holes, making her shirt squeeze her boobs even harder. With a mischievous smile, she moves closer to my junior, leans over and envelops it with her flexible tits, now pressed together more than ever before.

    She starts dropping them down and pulling back up while glancing at me. Emi moves her hands towards my nipples and starts circling them with the tips of her fingers as Safi bombards my dick with her bouncy melons. The tip of my cock peeks out with each slam and quickly disappears back into the sapphire valley, which is held together by a few entangled buttons in the middle of her shirt, threatening to break off at any given moment.

    Not yet content with her actions, Safi begins catching it with her lips, giving the glans a quick, swirling lick and releasing it with a bit of suction and a loud, sloppy pop. The room gets filled with rhythmic popping sounds.

    “Ufffff… I swear that you are getting more and more creative…”

    I groan a little as my penis gets hotter and hotter, sending waves of pleasure through my body. Noticing that, Safi speeds up her movements, adding much more force to them. She also spills some of her cool saliva onto my twitching pole to bring this whole scenario to another level. I could sit here enjoying the moment for much longer, thanks to the title’s effect, but there’s no need to prolong this when I’m already feeling heavenly.

    “Go and join her for your reward.”

    I lean my head back onto Emi’s shoulder and whisper to her ear. Not like it matters where I whisper since she translates the language via vibrations of the air with her Tremor Sense, but this just feels proper and more sensual. She places an upside-down kiss on my lips and does as I say.

    Safi pulls her breasts off my dick to give Emi some space and they both begin ferociously licking my member. The first focuses her efforts solely on the glans while the other wraps her tongue all around the shaft. While I still can, I focus my mind on the title’s effect and try to imagine it rising by about 10% in power.

    “Bon appetit!” I joyfully say to them and follow with a groan of pleasure as my cock erupts with a cloudy liquid.

    Safi quickly moves her mouth back and the both of them join their lips around the tip of my penis, cuddling it up between their fierce kiss, and sucking in coordinated turns.

    “Uuugh…”

    Milky white nectar spurts out, and unfortunately not being able to defy gravity, rains down onto the slime girls' overjoyed faces. They start wobbling and trembling all over, even before I finish cumming. With the last projectile out of the barrel, they begin to slurp the remains straight from the source.

    With that gone, they move to each other's faces and I watch as they fiercely scoop the seed with her tongues, fighting for who gets to acquire more. Soon after they finish, the flashiest pink glow up to now happens on their cores surfaces. I hastily jump to my knees and lean them over my chest, anticipating them losing control of their bodies for a while. It takes two minutes for their flashing and spasming to end.

    [Amazing! Master’s seed got even tastier!] Emi informs me with an overjoyed expression.

    [I’ve never felt so much pleasure for so long before,] Safi adds.

    [That’s because Master is the best!] Emi jumps at my chest, pushing me down onto the floor and snuggles her face to it in her usual manner.

    “Hahaha, no, you two are the best.” I pat her lots and brush the cheek of Safi who lays down on my side. “I’m so glad I’ve stumbled onto you back there.”

    As I say those words, I feel something change inside of me. I can now feel their emotions much more clearly and a trace of something more than just gratitude and pleasure surfaces there. I wouldn’t call it with such a strong word like love or even affection yet, but it’s like a little hint of fondness between master and a familiar. My lips curl into a broad smile as I slowly realize what this phenomenon means.
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2021
  6. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 25 - New (Old) Resolution
    Before I lose myself in the inner workings of the system again, I clean the training arena with Prestidigitation so that no evidence of our little act remains on the floor. Livelihood Magic sure is handy. We then move to the baths and take a dip in the mixed section. Safi and Emi wash my whole body with great care, especially that one place they got a bit too fond of recently. The idea of embracing the floating bodies of these two alluring slimes here and now hangs on my mind for the whole time they scrub themselves against my skin, but unbelievably so, I overcome that almost irresistible urge. We’ll leave the sex in the bath scenario for another time.

    Naturally, I thoroughly enjoy my time washing them during my turn, grazing my hands over every area of their bodies. I come up with a fresh idea and using the recently gained Mana Control skill, I focus in my hands much more energy than I could before, leaking it leisurely through their membrane. It seems to be effective as I see their faces smile in joy and their bodies squirm when my palms wander over the sapphire and emerald chillness.

    Done with bathing, we sit together in the corner, cuddling while halfway submerged in the hot water. It’s time to confirm my guess. First, I summon the Partners menu and lock my gaze on the area which describes the slimes.

    [​IMG]

    And here it is. Our Bond Level has risen to the second stage. And it looks like Bond Type changed too. I can see how Emi’s one can be linked to joy with how energetic and easy-going she is, but Safi started admiring me? This girl...

    I turn my face to the sapphire beauty resting her head on my shoulder. Lifting it up, I place a soft, mana imbued kiss on her lips. She jumps a little taken by surprise, but gives herself to the pleasurable feeling and moves her core up, to quickly absorb the energy. I break off first and she hastily pursues my lips to suck up even more of the treat. I stop the flow after a moment and Safi smiles charmingly with her cheeks growing opaque.

    [Master…]

    “I just felt like pampering my adorable little slime a bit.”

    Her smile grows even wider and she leans on my chest with a blissful expression. Naturally, Emi notices this whole ordeal and glances up at me with a pout. I ferociously assault her head with mana-pats until she almost loses her shape, spilling all over me. Next, I decide to check how the change affected my status.

    [​IMG]

    Woah! 29 Charisma and 28 Constitution at Tier 1! The bonus did get doubled from 10% to 20% as I thought. That’s almost catching up to the Hero class. And when I tier up, all of the base ones should rise by around 10 points. Amazing...

    I marvel over the insane boost. My stats begin rivalling the other races which are much more powerful than humans. Physical ones are still quite low, but just imagine how quickly they can catch up if I get close with someone whose main stat is Strength or Agility.

    With them getting over 30, I may start seeing changes with a naked eye, and not only in terms of skills getting affected. Isn’t this much more broken than the Hero’s? If I enter a deeper relationship with races like Minotaurs or Ogres, which often reach like 80 STR, the jump will be insane for a Human… Although, even with 90 STR myself, the Human physique would still be weaker than theirs. Such is the fate of the race with frail bodies. Well, some have it worse.

    Caressing the girls, I continue to the skills section and skim over it with my eyes. They are growing quite decently. Checking the Arms Mastery group I notice that Whip Mastery has already risen to level 4. That was fast. I should keep practising in my free time.

    The other thing I am curious about is my Partners growth since I remember that others can benefit from everyone besides themselves. I take a look at Safi’s and Emi’s statuses and confirm that they also rose a little, which is great to know.

    This has a really fearsome potential. Not like building a harem full of strong individuals is an easy task to achieve, but if I consider only the best-case scenarios, wouldn’t the owner of this Class become incredibly overpowered? Well, I guess he himself wouldn’t be that strong if the Class’s skills focus on support, but his harem would become a small, elite army unit. Haaaaaah… Am I destined to end up being protected by the girls around me?

    While I don’t have anything against them being stronger than me, I’d really want to avoid falling into the useless harem protag trope. But well, nothing I can do besides training and trying to get better with what I have. Perhaps this draconic hilt will lend me more of its power when I tier up. I wonder when it will happen.

    In the first place, how do I progress my Class? Do I have to start using the Mist a lot? Does registering Partners help? Raising Bond levels? Getting to know others better? Or…

    There’s one more thing which can fit the ‘doing things connected to your class’ hint that the King has given us in the past. If I were to go with the name, then obviously that would mean the best way is to have sex with more people or evoke more pleasure.

    I planned to keep most of the relationships on more professional levels, being more like a mentor who teaches about the sexual stuff towards those who would agree to work, and keeping my hands off employees who only take care of the non-sex stuff, but it’s not like I’m not hoping for things to actually happen. I’ve been transported into a fantasy world filled with countless exotic races which previously only existed in dreams and fiction. And quite a lot of it was less than safe for work.

    Should I stop acting so reserved? I mean… I wouldn’t force myself on anyone if they are unwilling, but I guess I’m a little on the passive side here. Even though I’ve already noticed those little adorable blushes on Sirgia’s face from time to time, I still tried to avoid getting closer to her because it feels like I’d be taking advantage of the situation. On the other hand, I don’t want to make them think that I’m dense or something. I guess I’m quite open with Safi and Emi, but they already accepted me… Haaaaaah…

    I sigh heavily. Safi and Emi move from my sides to the front and both place a hand on my cheek with a concerned expression. They must have felt my distress, the connection is now even stronger.

    [Master, is something troubling you?] Safi asks.

    “I’m… a bit lost with how should I act towards other people who will live here…” I speak honestly and while feeling slightly down, explain my thoughts to them.

    Safi ponders during my short monologue and after it ends, she raises herself a bit and pulls my head towards her chest, making it rest between her sapphire breasts. She starts stroking my hair with affectionate movements. Seriously… how much more charming can she get…

    She lifts my face up so I can see her lips.

    [I think Master is a wonderful person and should stop overthinking it so much. We feel really happy to receive Master’s kindness and affection and I think others feel the same. No, I’m sure of it. Master thinking that he’s taking advantage of Sirgia is wrong. She likes Master very much, but she thinks that a lowly slave like her shouldn’t be dreaming of being with such an amazing person and she is hiding her true feelings, convincing herself that Master wouldn’t even consider embracing someone like her and that he bought her to be a cook, so she will be happy fulfilling just that role.]

    Safi barrages me with words of encouragement while I’m the one being pampered this time. I try to assimilate what she just told me and pit it against my own views, but she brushes my cheek to get my attention back.

    [That’s why I think Master should stop worrying over little things like that and be bolder. Master extended his hand towards Sirgia without expecting anything back and took his utmost care to make sure that she feels cherished. Thinking that she already received much more than she deserves, she will always stop herself from asking for more. It’s nothing but rude and presumptuous in her eyes. If Master won’t be the one to show her, and perhaps some other people in the future, that it’s okay to want to be closer with Master, she will stay withdrawn forever. Even me and Emi thought that we shouldn’t impose on Master’s kindness any more than we did when Master saved us and offered us shelter.]

    “The last part is quite hard to believe when I recall how active you were before our first time, Safi,” I say, remembering how she went for my crotch on the very first day.

    She shakes her head. [After Master said that I shouldn’t do these things and that I should cover myself with some clothes, I thought that Master is disgusted by someone like me and I was going to distance myself. It’s only thanks to Master’s friend, Cornelia, who convinced us that Master is just too considerate for his own good. I told Master before that we spoke with Cornelia that day, right?]

    “Yeeeeeeeeeah, that’s certainly something she’d say… And I do remember you mentioning that you talked about me…”

    I start mulling over everything that she said in my head while mindlessly staring at her translucent breast in front of my eyes. My hand moves to it by itself and my fingers start gently squeezing the frosty softness as my consciousness completely dedicates itself to solving my internal issues. Part of me tries to convince the other half, that she is just trying to cheer me up due to her caring personality. But in the end, the part that completely believes her words wins the struggle.

    I’ve already decided to drop those pointless thoughts on the day I agreed to be Safi’s and Emi’s master, so why the fuck am I still going back to how I was before? I can’t dream of making everyone happy without being the first one to reach out. It’s obvious that many people will hide their true feelings and issues behind fake masks or bullshit self-imposed limitations, like the ones Safi described. It’s time I stopped being such a pussy. When did I ever care what others thought about me? Definitely not back at home, so it had to happen during the last year. Not everyone who will end up in this mansion has to like or admire me and I’m not going to make them do so. They are free to leave if they are dissatisfied, of course after they recuperate. That was my goal. I shouldn’t forget it.

    Some clarity returns to my mind and I notice what my hand has been doing this whole time. I stop and prepare myself to move back and apologize, but I realize that it’s something completely contradictory to my latest resolution. So instead, I look up and raise myself towards Safi’s face to pepper her lips with many mana imbued kisses. At the same time, I infuse my fingers with some energy too and squeeze her boob harder. She quickly gets enveloped in waves of shivers and I end up pressing her against the pool’s edge from above.

    “You haven’t even collected your previous wish, but you already gained another.” I chuckle and stop tickling her with mana. “Thank you. I really mean it.”

    [I’m glad to be of help.] She embraces me closely, squishing her sapphire mountains against my muscular chest.

    After a few more kisses, I turn around. “Emi,” I call to the emerald girl who has been holding back during this soppy conversation and open my arms in the gesture of a hug. “This idiot Master of yours needs some cuddles to cheer up and there’s only one Slime in this world that can live up to the task.”

    Her dejected expression instantly switches into an utterly euphoric one and she lunges at me at a breakneck speed. Smashed with a giant mass of jelly, I fly three meters backwards and begin floating in the middle of the bath, with an overjoyed and unimaginably cuddly slime buoy at my side.

    After snuggling for a few minutes, we finally leave the bath. I slowly started looking like a dried plum. Since it’s evening now, I move out to check on the suit order. As expected, they prepared it as quickly as they could and it’s ready, just waiting for me there. They insist on me trying it on at their place to fix any possible mistakes so I agree. I go to the changing room and start dressing up.

    First, a beautiful purple shirt, top-tier material, very comfy and good-looking. Then, black material pants and classy black shoes. I put a grey sleeveless vest on the shirt, with purple buttons and lacing around the edges. On top of that, a black tail-coat with an open front, also with purple details and neatly folded handkerchief in the chest-pocket, naturally, violet too.

    I check myself in the mirror. It’s great. Amazing. Perfect. Gives rich nobleman vibes and at the same time functions as an extravagant butler outfit. If I pick up a top hat and a cane, it will be even more luxurious. I pay the second instalment and thank the clerk, informing him that I’m completely satisfied with their product.

    On my way back, I pay a visit to the artisan who works on the collars. He finished his work and presents them to me. Masterpieces. No other words can describe the sight. They are perfectly the way we agreed on when making the order. Coloured, heart-shaped gem surrounded by a silvery outline with two tiny horns and a succubus tail sticking out from the bottom side. The black leather strap fits the design very well. I also pick up the maid uniform we left here as a base for the other clothes and return home.

    I stumble on Cornelia first. Striking up an elegant pose, I make a courteous bow.

    “Milady, what doth thee bethink of mine own attire?”

    She looks at me befuddled, blinking countless times. “Erm… Eh… I… Ummmm… good...”

    The unexpected change makes her have a small issue with articulating herself, so I decide to tease her a little. I come closer and grab her hand with a concerned expression, using my fingers to brush around her wrist.

    “Doth mine own mistress feeleth ill p'rhaps?”

    Her face gets increasingly red as I stare intently into her hazelnut eyes, so I chuckle and release her. She takes a step back and waves her hand, trying to act high and mighty.

    “I was just surprised, that’s all.”

    I chuckle again. It’s cute when she tries to defend herself while her face is almost completely flushed.

    “So, what do you think for real?” I spin around a few times, showing her the full extent of my new outfit.

    “Honestly, it looks extremely good on you. It really fits your hair and posture. You resemble a professional butler, and quite the handsome one at it…”

    “Thank you, my Lady. I’m honoured by your praise. If a need arises, please signal for this humble servant and he will rush to your side for any order.”

    I take a step closer, make another bow, take her hand again and plant a gentle kiss on its back with a smile. Then I just walk away with a playful wink, leaving her there almost steaming from embarrassment.

    I guess that was bold enough, right?

    I giggle to myself.

    Next morning, I dress up in my old clothes. Sirgia barely walks straight when preparing breakfast. She definitely overworked herself during the night. I order her to rest properly after it. She very reluctantly agrees. Just in case, I ask Cornelia to check on her from time to time. If Sirgia is at least a little similar to her, she most likely also loses herself in her craft completely, as our magician does in her studies and experiments.

    I start practising in the arena again. Five hours into it, a messenger arrives. He tells me to meet with their agent so he can fill me on how to get in contact with the organization. The King’s men supposedly got some reliable info, but it will still depend on me being able to gain their trust. I switch back to the butler attire and walk to the meeting place.

    The location looks like your usual inn. There are plenty of people sitting around and drinking already. It’s quite lively here. I glance around and spot a man sitting in the corner who fits the description I was given by the messenger. I order a light beer and arrive at his table.

    “Mind if I join? Seems decently quiet here. Too rowdy for me in the center.”

    He nods his head and I sit down. My supposed informant looks like your typical man in this world. Short, brown hair and a thick beard. His clothes suggest that he works as a handyman at some blacksmith or other place which deals with furnaces a lot. He sips his beer with a chill expression.

    “Man, this place sure does bring back old memories. You ever been to Stovalicia? It’s like this inn is a mirror image of one there,” I speak while inserting a codeword in the middle.

    “Ay.” He takes a few gulps and burps loudly. “Who can forget their royal mead.”

    And the answer matches, good.

    The man takes out some cube-looking object from his pocket, taps it and squeezes in his hand. A low humming can be heard. His demeanour changes to a completely serious one.

    “Let’s not waste any more time, I can’t feed this device for long.”

    I guess it’s something to cover our conversation. He continues.

    “The Lusty Vixen. Get in touch with the bartender. There’s no specific code, you have to think of some creative way to talk about getting into the inner ring without being straightforward. Most will depend on how persuasive your persona will be. If they ask who gave you the lead, you can try using Norm’s name. Can’t say a lot about what happens next. They might lead you to some hidden compartment, be mindful of any traps. Hopefully, your acting is good.”

    The artifact stops buzzing and he continues talking about some random stuff in his previous, completely chilled out tone. I accompany him for half an hour more and leave after finishing my beer.

    I find The Lusty Vixen without much issue. It seems to be a classy bar in the Noble district. People sit or stand around small and round tables, mostly in pairs, and gracefully sip wine. Most of the customers appear to be young nobles being accompanied by most likely their fiancees or women they pursue.

    Moving my eyes to the main counter, I spot the bartender. A lovely girl with shoulder-long black hair stands behind it, wiping one of the tens of bottles of wine which are showcased on the wall. Her suit with a white shirt and black vest fits the image perfectly.

    Here goes nothing.

    I move closer and sit on one of the stools lined up in front of the counter. I place my elbow on it and rest my chin on the palm of my hand, brazenly staring at her figure. She notices my reflection in one of the bottles and turns to me, showing her elegant face. I start gazing into her blue eyes. She throws the cloth piece away and imitates my pose using both arms to support her head, positioning herself in front of me.

    “Hi there, handsome. First time?” She smiles enchantingly.

    “It would be a lie if I said that, and I’d really hate deceiving such a beauty.” I wink at her.

    She giggles. “Bold. But I like it. What can I get for you?”

    “I don’t mind such a gorgeous woman taking the lead.”

    I lecherously glance all over her booty as she turns around while asking. She naturally notices that and smiles even more impishly. She picks up a few things and begins preparing a drink. When mixing ingredients in the shaker, she intentionally shakes her hips in a sensual way too. Presenting me with something looking like a Mojito, she leans even closer to my face.

    “You wouldn’t be flirting with me so openly if you knew what my boss does to all the gutsy boys who dare to covet me during business hours, honey.”

    I move my own face to the point where our noses almost touch each other.

    “You wouldn’t be threatening me if you knew what I can do to people who dare to stand between me and a lovely girl during my flirting hours, sweetie.”

    I take a sip of the drink without dropping my gaze even a little. This might be a decent time to test more of my title’s effect. I stop blocking it and move past her face to whisper into her ear, making sure that she can take a good whiff of my neck.

    “And there’s a quite bewitching one in front of me.”

    I sit back with a smile and start gracefully drinking the cocktail she prepared. It looks like my move worked to some extent, as her face gets slightly rosy. I decide to start with my attempt to get in.

    “You know, I’ve visited many establishments like this, but their selection was always disappointing. I wonder if you can offer me something more… exquisite here?”

    Pushing my almost empty glass towards her I signal for a refill. She picks it up and begins filling it again.

    “Definitely. As you can see behind me, our assortment is full of exotic merchandise.”

    She gestures over the shelves while laying down the glass in front of me. Before it hits the counter, I swiftly slide my Ruby Card under its bottom, making sure that she caught onto that. She stops her movements for a moment, definitely noticing. I place my hand over hers on the glass and pull the drink back myself. As I pick it up to take a sip, I catch the card between my pinky and ring finger, making it stick to the bottom of the container. Just before placing it down again, I shove it into my sleeve.

    “I certainly hope so. They say a wise merchant doesn’t put all of his best wares on display. And my friend assured me that I won’t be disappointed here,” I say while giving her an upwards glance.

    She goes back to smiling impishly. “I wonder who it was that recommended our humble abode to you.”

    I start casually staring at my fingers. “Don’t remember, it was a huge party with many people. It lasted till the mron-ing. Do you have any parties planned? I’m bored with the usual ones.”

    “Hmmmmm…” She assumes an ostentatious thinking pose. “There might or might not be one happening soon, but I’m not sure if you are qualified to join.” She giggles, covering her mouth with her hand. “We would have to make sure that you are not just flaunting your daddy’s wealth.”

    “Only if the examination is going to be conducted by you personally.” I waggle my eyebrows at her.

    “I’ll see if that can be arranged. For now, enjoy your drink.”

    She fills it to the top again, leaning far enough to almost push her chest into my face. Through a little hole between the buttons, I blow a little bit of hot air into her mature peaks, making her squirm in surprise. She slaps my face playfully with a seductive smile.

    After that, she switches with another bartender, a cute and short girl, but she doesn’t seem to want to interact with customers as much as the previous one.

    I wonder if that worked. Well, I guess it was a nice practice for being a little bolder. Although I can’t see myself acting so rowdy on a daily basis.

    Half an hour later, she peeks her head out from behind a curtain that is placed next to the counter and winks at me. I go to her and she leads me down through some stairs, into a room, no, more like a lounge, where many men and women sit around on sofas, smoking cigars and drinking extremely expensive-looking stuff. Most of the men are surrounded by at least two or three girls in flirtatious dresses which are acting lovey-dovey towards them.

    We pass a few chambers like that, each one slightly different, and the bartender leads me into a smaller but also fancy room and locks the door behind us. She walks closer to me and presses her body against mine. She is a tad shorter than me so she needs to lift her head a bit to gaze into my eyes. She strokes my chin as her ample bosom squashes against my chest.

    “So, your boss will be fine if we flirt inside this room?” I raise my brows at her.

    “What if I told you that I am the boss?” She places her other hand on my butt and squeezes it. ”Where did all that bravado from before go, mister casanova?”

    I take a step forward and press her against the wall. Both of my hands land on her butt, squeezing it even harder than she did with mine. She moans softly and her legs tremble a bit. I insert my knee between them as she slightly lowers herself, making her womanhood drop onto it.

    “Ahhnnnnnn!”

    Her whole body shivers and she grasps my coat behind my back to try and raise herself but fails to do so, rubbing her girly parts over it even more.

    I lean closer and nibble on her ear, evoking even more moans from her and making sure that her face is in contact with my skin. “Where did all that confidence from before go, miss seductress?” I give her ear a sensual lick.

    “Oooooohmmmmm...”

    Moving one of my hands from her butt to her breast, I gently flick her nipple through the shirt.

    “Ahhhhaaaan! Waaaaait! Let’s talk! Uhhmmmmmmmmmmmm!” Breathing loudly she surrenders, clenching her teeth as her whole posture starts quivering.

    You’ve chosen the wrong opponent for a teasing battle, missy.

    I move my knee around a few times more to punish her a little and then release her completely. Her body limply slides down the wall onto the floor. Her breathing is ragged and her face is completely red. I wonder if she’s just this sensitive or that’s the effect of my scent. I guess she wouldn’t be so provocative without having at least some endurance.

    I crouch down in front of her with a smile. “Did I pass?”

    “This… haaah… had nothing to do… oooooof… with the examination… oh, fuck me…” she tries speaking but still can’t properly catch her breath.

    “Is that an invitation?” I take a step closer and place a hand against the wall just by her face.

    “NO NO NO! WAIT!” She frantically waves her hands. “I’m sorry! I just love teasing cocky boys like you! Please forgive me!”

    I can see a tinge of fear in her eyes. Not even a single guy before must have won against her. I sit cross-legged on the floor in front of her and shake my head.

    “Forcing myself on unwilling girls is not my style. Can we get to the point now?”

    “Yes, yes, of course.” She smiles wryly, still monitoring me with a slightly uncertain gaze.

    She begins to question me about my job, background and stuff like that. I go with the story of a rich noble that moved to the capital after receiving a deed to a luxurious mansion in an inheritance succession. I show her the paper and she confirms that it’s most likely not a fake. Royal sigils have some specific mana signatures woven into them and it’s immensely hard to forge them. I mention that I’m quite close with Madam Selina and she also examines the Ruby Card.

    After fifteen minutes of questioning, she finally says that she can pass my request further. She’s just supposed to screen through people who somehow learn about the other part of their business. She informs me that there’s an event planned and that their messengers will contact the customers close to its date.

    I move a little closer to her and raise her chin. An intense blush blooms on her cheeks.

    “You better make sure they process it quickly, or I’ll have to come again and file a complaint, directly to the manager.”

    I balance my lips just barely millimetres from hers as I speak, making her hysterically move her gaze between them and my eyes since she can’t escape anywhere. She begins nodding energetically after I back off.

    Chuckling to myself like some anime villain who just taught the hero how huge the difference between them is, leaving him utterly defeated, I walk out of the room. Proud of my success, I head back home and take a long bath. I was so nervous the whole time that I’m drenched in sweat. Now that I think about it, that might have actually given me the edge there.

    While I’m replaying the whole day in my mind, resting on the bed, someone knocks on the door.

    “Master, may I enter?” The quiet voice of Sirgia arrives from behind the door.

    “Whenever you feel like it.”

    I raise myself, quickly pull on a shirt since I still have my pants on and announce loudly for her to hear.

    I wonder what’s the reason behind her visit.
     
  7. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 26 - A Slave Can Be Happy Too ❤❤
    The door slowly opens and Sirgia walks into the room. I sit down on the edge of my bed. She’s currently wearing the shirt and shorts I’ve bought her on the first day, so I guess she just left her little workshop. And the thing she holds in her hands in the front confirms my guess. She glances over me and over the item she brought.

    “Ummm… I finished the artifact that Master requested.”

    She quietly announces and raises her hands with the device to show me. It has a short, cylindrical shape, around a few inches long, with one end narrowing down into a pointy tip, but more round than sharp. It’s completely made out of some light wood. It has a very sleek and polished design to it. A small smile forms on my lips.

    “It looks great. What about the other part?” I ask, curious if she managed to achieve what I suggested.

    “I managed to complete it too. I came up with using Vibrazium as the core inside the wooden shell and etched some runes onto it. It will activate when supplied with mana.”

    She grabs it into one hand and places the other one on the bottom, flat end, imbuing a little mana into the product. It starts weakly vibrating and emitting a low, humming buzz.

    “The more energy you infuse, the stronger it will vibrate.”

    And she demonstrates what she means, making it visibly shake in her hand. My smile grows even wider. She managed to achieve much more than I expected.

    “You truly are amazing. I only gave you a vague description of the effect and you thought up a solution so fast. You really overworked yourself over this, didn’t you?”

    I clap my hands and shower her in praise. She turns the device off and joins her hands in the front, dropping her eyes to the floor with a faint smile. She quickly composes herself back and looks at me curiously.

    “Emmmm… Will this help with Master’s quest? I can’t really imagine the use of this wooden stick. Doesn’t seem to be a weapon... Some utility tool?” She rotates the thingy in her hands, glancing at me.

    I extend my hand and she walks closer to give the artifact to me. I examine it around. Really professional work. There are no splinters or deviations anywhere; it’s completely smooth. Holding it by its base in one hand, I turn to Sirgia.

    “It’s not really connected to the mission I accepted. It was just an experiment. You can say that it was my first test for you, to get a grasp on your skills, and you not only passed it but also exceeded my expectations.” I reach out and ruffle her hair. “As for what it is… You could say it’s a massage tool.”

    She tilts her head a bit and starts staring at the object, visibly in thought. I leak some of my mana into it and press it gently on the top of her shoulder.

    “Ah! Mmmmmm…”

    She jumps a little, surprised by the sudden sensation, but does not back off and stands still as I press it over her left shoulder. I chuckle and take it back. She looks slightly confused, so I explain it further.

    “But, you see, it’s a specific kind of a massager. Tell me, doesn’t this shape ring any bells, hmmm?”

    I wave it a few times between us and stop to let her take a closer look. Sirgia stares intently at the wooden stick, trying to figure its real purpose. After a minute or two, I start thinking that her mind is too pure to create such a connection, but finally, her eyes grow wide and a bit of crimson appears on her cute cheeks.

    “Oh? Did you figure it out?”

    “Is it… for… ummmm… down… there?” Her voice gets quieter with each word as she struggles to properly express the role of the artifact.

    “Yes. That’s right. It’s often called a dildo. It’s a tool for lonely girls that either don’t have a partner or their loved one is away from them. It allows them to feel good by themselves. There are many variations but this is one of the simplest pieces.”

    I explain to her about the lewd tool that she created for me. Well, at least in general terms. There’s no need to go deeper as of today. Sirgia drops her gaze to the ground again, but this time, I don’t think it’s out of embarrassment.

    “Are you disappointed?” I ask.

    She quickly raises her face and shakes her head, but speaks hesitantly. “No…”

    It’s my turn to shake my head. “You don’t need to lie just to please me. Don’t forget that you are allowed to have your own opinion about things or disagree with me. I completely understand how making such a shameful thing can be disappointing for an artisan from a remarkable bloodline like yourself.”

    “I created an artifact that Master wished for. I’m proud to be of use.” She still keeps up her act.

    I smile wryly at her devotion. “Listen. In the future, I might ask you to help me with many more indecent ideas. Perhaps one day we might even sell them to customers, I just thought of that possibility right now. From my past experiences, I can tell you that things like these have a very high chance to gain popularity. That being said, I can obviously see how a proud artificer might feel ashamed having their name associated with obscene tools like these. That’s why you can use an alias to cover your real identity. You can’t predict how things will develop and I think cutting yourself out of something that has the potential to get famous worldwide is a wasted opportunity. And if one day you decide that you want to claim the ownership, you can just announce who is behind that alias, although that’s of course not necessary. What do you think? I don’t want to impose on you things that you hate. So please, speak honestly.”

    I try to present the whole thing in as much positive light as possible, naturally knowing how weird it may sound to someone from a world where the erotic market is mostly limited to brothels and lone prostitutes on the streets. Although, shouldn’t it be possible for some horny magi-crafter to come up with such an idea? I imagine Cornelia, a lonely researcher, working on some seismic case and accidentally discovering a new field of pleasure. Well… Maybe not her… I guess sooner or later it would have happened somewhere.

    Sirgia finally gazes back at me after being lost in thoughts and speaks again.

    “I understand. Master’s words are very wise. I really don’t mind creating whatever Master needs. If my creations will someday become available to the public, I’d like to use an alias. I think it’s a bit too embarrassing for me… And if someone from my family learned about it…”

    She confidently voices out her decision, squirming a little near the end. That’s understandable. It’s the main reason why people started using fake names to cover themselves when creating things that could be considered embarrassing to reveal to close ones.

    I nod happily at her decision and ruffle her hair a little more, with a kind smile.

    “Thank you.” An adorable smile forms on her lips too. She’s such a cutie when she properly shows emotions. “I promise you that I will build the most amazing workshop you have ever laid your eyes on in the underground area, just for you, so that you can create whatever weapons, armours, tools or any other artifacts you want in the future.”

    The smile disappears and her face gets painted with shock and surprise, or maybe something closer to disbelief and surprise.

    “Really?” She grips her shirt with both hands and asks with a lot of uneasiness.

    I stop the pats and move back a little. “Why would I lie to you like that? Did you think that I would force the upcoming greatest artificer of this millennium to work only on things that she dislikes? How are you supposed to get better from crafting trash of such low tier? Besides, I’m legitimately curious what amazing things you can create, so of course, I’ll do whatever I can to provide you with the best possible work environment!”

    Sirgia freezes on the spot with her mouth slightly agape after it opened by itself somewhere in the middle of my monologue. Her eyes wander all over me while she processes my words. When she’s finally done with it, her fists clench over the clothes even harder and her little mouth moves a few times, trying to convey some words, but no voice leaves her tensed throat. She’s barely making any movements, staring at me without even blinking.

    I give her another warm smile. “Out with it.”

    Her lips close shut insanely tight before she overcomes whatever is holding her back.

    “Can I… hug you…?”

    This girl… Looks like Safi was right...

    I extend my open palm to her and nod. She grabs it with her small, trembling hand and I close mine to not let her back off. Pulling her closer, I help her climb up onto my lap and she sits on my legs sideways. Her head leans against my chest and her other hand grasps my shirt tightly. I release the one I’ve been holding her with and embrace her closer, supporting her by the thighs with one palm and affectionately caressing her hair with the other, brushing my thumb over her warm cheek.

    Moments later, I begin hearing soft sniffles and my clothes get a little sticky. Looking down, I see tears flowing out of Sirgias closed eyes. She pulls herself even closer and starts rubbing her face against my chest, clenching her fists so hard that the material barely avoids being ripped off.

    Hic… Hic… Thank you… Sniffle… Thank you… Thank you for buying me…”

    She begins mumbling thanks over and over while crying her face off into me. “It’s okay… Let it all out… You’ve held very bravely until now…” I whisper to her softly, not stopping the caressing even for a moment.

    “Uaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh…”

    All the emotions she has been hiding back since most likely the day she was captured or the day she was framed for assassination finally break out and flow outside, obstructed by no more barriers. I let her cry herself out into me for over half an hour, softly embracing her shivering body the whole time.

    She falls asleep still latched onto my chest, utterly drained from the physical strain from her work and mental one from the sudden outburst of emotions. I gently wipe her face and set her in one of the two beds in my room. I smile at her relaxed expression as I cover her up with the sheets. Deciding to not make her unnecessarily embarrassed in the morning, I fall asleep dressed on the other bed.



    ╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣



    Waking up and regaining consciousness, most likely already during the morning, judging by how bright it is even with closed eyelids, I notice that my right forearm is slightly numb and my palm is experiencing some weird sensation. Without opening my eyes I begin moving my left hand to massage it a bit, but before it even changes its location by a few centimetres, it brushes over something smooth and warm, catching onto some material that restricts the action. I confusedly stroke the warm surface with the tips of my fingers.

    “Ehehehehe… Mmmmmhhmmmm…”

    A cute, girly giggle arises literally right by my side, followed by a long, soft sigh and some mumbling. I slowly lift my eyelids up and the perceived image completely stuns me. I’m lying on my right side with Sirgia snuggled to me as a little spoon, using my right forearm as her pillow and embracing my palm with her small hands. With each breath, a puff of hot air tickles it. My left arm is lying over her body, with the hand somehow placed directly on her belly, under the clothing.

    Erm… I think I remember falling asleep alone… Did I walk over to her in my sleep?

    I carefully raise my head and look around the room, spotting the other bed with sheets moved to the side. By the position of all the furniture, I can deduce that the mattress in my sight belongs to Sirgia.

    This is exactly the bed I’ve laid myself on. Then… Did I unconsciously pick her up and bring her here? No… I’ve never sleep-walked before… Did she...

    There’s only one way to solve the mystery behind this situation. I bend the fingers of my right hand and tickle Sirgia’s nose a few times, stopping when her body starts shifting in the bed. It suddenly freezes. She must be analyzing the situation as her hands prod my left palm, and then my right hand laying on her belly. She wiggles slightly, her butt presses against me and she suspends her movements again. Her head starts rotating very slowly until she catches the sight of my face with the corner of her left eye.

    “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have sneaked into Master’s bed! I’ll leave immedia—”

    She starts panicking and apologizing frantically while hastily raising herself and beginning to run away. I quickly stop her by grabbing her by the wrist.

    “Wait. I don’t mind. You can lie down by my side and sleep with me whenever you feel like it.” I stroke the back of her hand with my thumb. “Besides, sleeping with such an adorable girl in my arms really makes me happy.”

    Sirgia’s cheeks grow rosy as she glances at me, weighing her decision between retreating and coming back into my embrace. Thankfully, the latter side wins and she hesitantly moves closer, this time with her front to me. I place my left hand over her back and pull her into a hug. We stay cuddled up like this for a few minutes. I can see a corner of her smile from above.

    She breaks the silence first. “Thank you… Even though I’m just a slave…”

    I sigh heavily and slide myself down to the point where our faces are in front of each other. I place my hand on her cheek.

    “Being a slave does not mean that you can’t yearn for happiness. To me, you are just a cute, little girl—, no, an adorable little woman who has big dreams but a small problem with expressing what she wants.”

    I move closer as I speak, our noses touch each other. Her gaze frequently drops down onto my lips, quickly returning to my eyes after. Such a cute reaction.

    “So tell me. I’m going to fulfil your request no matter what it is, as a token of my gratitude for your help.”

    Her mouth opens a few times but she is still holding herself back after all this.

    Arghhhhhhh, fuck it!

    I support her head with my left hand and go for her mouth, making our lips finally connect. Sirgia’s eyes widen in surprise, even though this was clearly what she has been thinking about the whole time. I don’t give her a chance to back off, at the same time trying to not be violent, so I only gently join our lips together in a light kiss.

    After a few kisses, I give her some space and glance over her almost completely flushed face. Her eyes get slightly moist as if ready for another round of crying.

    “Are you really fine… with someone like me?”

    I roll my eyes. “What’s wrong with you?”

    She drops her gaze down and squeezes her breasts together with her hands. “My chest… isn’t that big… and I’m very thin… Don’t Humans like women with more body? I’m nowhere close to Safi or Emi...”

    I sigh and shake my head. I raise myself a bit and move my mouth close to her short, pointy ear before whispering to it sensually.

    “I want to push you down right here, right now, and do you so hard that you won’t be able to stand for the next 24 hours.” Her ear twitches and her body shivers as she tightens her grasp on my shirt. I back off to the front of her face and I’m met with her eyes even wider than before, but there’s no fear in them, only surprise. “Is that clear enough for an answer?” I ask with a smile.

    She pulls herself closer and hides her face in my neck. "I want to do it too…"

    After she pulls away, I lift her chin and kiss her again. This time she pushes her mouth against mine too, instead of running away. We exchange a few, slow pecks while gazing each other into the eyes.

    I unpin her collar after we break off and she glances at me questioningly. I pull the new one from my storage ring and wrap it around her neck. Sirgia closely examines the dangling, brown crystal heart. She smiles happily and giggles to herself.

    “It’s beautiful…” she mutters.

    “Just like you.”

    She takes my lips by surprise, leaving a quick, soft kiss on them. Looking down, she brushes over my underbelly with her small hand.

    “Is my body really to Master’s liking?”

    I grab her fingers and lead them inside my underwear. Her small palm grasps my hot, fully erect rod. “Do you think this guy down here is lying?” I kiss her a bit more aggressively and our tongues entwine in their first naughty dance. Sirgia strokes the shaft of my penis with the utmost care like it’s something precious to her.

    We break off with a trail of saliva between us. Sirgia glances at me for the last time and slides down to the level of my crotch. She pulls down my pants along with underwear and my expectant member lunges out, hitting her on the forehead. She stares at it with awe.

    “It’s so big…”

    Well… I personally wouldn’t say that, but in the eyes of someone with her small posture, it might seem quite large. I actually have no idea about the average Dwarf’s dick size in this world. It wasn’t mentioned in the books I’ve checked in the past.

    Moving her face around it, she starts grazing over the whole length with her fingers, delicately prodding the glans. She jumps a little when my penis twitches in response to her poking and looks up at me.

    “Is this your first time?” I ask and she nods hesitantly. “Don’t worry then. It moves when feeling good. Do you need some help?”

    “I know what to do…”

    She replies and begins kissing the shaft, slowly arriving at the tip. Positioning it in front of her face, she opens her mouth wide and slides it in. Her hot tongue tickles the glans from below. It’s my first time experiencing a ‘real’ tongue on my member too, and it’s completely different from the chilly texture of Safi’s or Emi’s mouth.

    Sirgia’s mouth barely fits the girth of my member. She tries to slowly take more of it inside, but it hits the top of her throat, and inexperienced with such things, she starts panicking with her mouth stretched around it. She tries her best to not bite it while slightly gagging; tears start rolling from the corners of her eyes.

    I quickly hold her head, cast Rejuvenate to calm her down and help her relax the muscles. Her teeth lightly graze the tip as I slowly pull it out, making me wince a little.

    Cough… Cough… I’m sorry… Cough…

    She apologizes many times with a teary face, full of guilt and concern. I brush her cheek with a smile.

    “Everything is fine. Don’t force yourself to do things that are hard or painful for you, okay?” She nods, still a little down. “You can lick it around and use your hands. There’s no need to take it inside your mouth.”

    She nods again and locks her gaze onto my dick, regaining her lost motivation. Using both hands, she strokes along the shaft, up and down, this time licking the tip carefully from outside. She glances up to see my reaction as she tries to match different palm movements and squeezes with her tongue circling around many areas around the glans. I stop holding back and let her see the changes on my face and hear grunts of pleasure from time to time so that she doesn’t lose confidence in herself. What is some stupid male pride in front of ensuring that an unbelievably adorable girl sucking on your cock feels properly appreciated?

    Sirgia smiles sweetly, and with a newfound passion, she focuses even more efforts on making me feel good. Her small lips connect with the tip in various places, leaving it with a gentle suck. She licks it around, lovingly swirling her tongue over the edges and concentrating on the area under the head. One of her hands continues to pump the length while the other fondles the two oval balls on the very bottom.

    Her actions get more lively with each passing turn. To spice things up, she switches the strategy, starting to softly brush the glans with her delicate fingers while she opens her mouth, hangs the tongue out, and begins to move it along the whole length in parallel slides, covering my whole dick in her saliva.

    I chuckle in between the gasps of pleasure. “See? You are so damn erotic… Haaaah...”

    She giggles too and moves her face up to mine while gently kneading the tip of my penis within her hands, but she stops before her lips meet mine and backs off a little with realization painted all over her face. I chase after her and assault her mouth with my tongue. She seems a bit surprised, but quickly responds with her own advance and we exchange a few deep and wet kisses.

    “What? You think I wouldn’t kiss a girl who had my dick in her mouth?”

    I pull back for a moment and say to her with a cheeky smile, just to venture back into between her lips again, much more aggressively exploring her upper dungeon. She surrenders it to me, letting my invader prod every corner of it, but it’s just a ruse as she locks her lips and sucks on my tongue playfully. She releases it with a smile of her own. Giving me one more light tap on the lips, she moves down again.

    Not wanting to keep her there forever, I stop withholding my orgasm and let the pleasure flow through more freely. “I’m going to come soon.”

    Hearing the announcement, Sirgia moves her mouth to the front of my penis again, without pushing it in this time. She parts her lips to some extent and envelops a chunk of the tip between them, starting to suck and massage it rhythmically. Her hands squeeze the shaft with more force during the movements. She looks up at me with expectant eyes. This view is unbelievably seductive and her short posture just makes it even more alluring.

    “Watch out… Guuuuh…”

    My penis starts throbbing as white stuff spews out from the tip straight into the insides of Sirgia’s mouth. She wavers a little after realizing the amount of milky liquid shooting in raging waves against the back of her throat, but does not back off and takes it all in.

    I brush my fingers through her hair, sighing in satisfaction. “Haaaaaaaaah….” She sucks out the very last drop from the thick pipe and closes her mouth while backing off, quickly covering her lips with her hands to avoid accidentally spilling any of my creamy seed.

    “You don’t have to swallow it—”

    I don’t get to finish my sentence when the sound of gulping enters my ears and I watch as her little throat moves up and down to drive the received meal further through the tunnel. It’s again, a massively different scene than when my lovely slimes consume it. It kinda makes me happy and proud seeing her do that.

    Dealing with all of the abundant load, she coughs softly. I bring out the waterskin and give it to her for a sip of water. She drinks it greedily as I pat her head. With a heavy sigh of relief, she gives it back to me.

    “We Dwarves say that swallowing the man’s semen is a token of affection. And I wanted to show Master that I… that I...”

    She gets redder and redder as she speaks and stops before finishing. It’s quite comical that she gets embarrassed over such simple words while she was vigorously sucking on my cock a moment ago with a satisfied smile.

    I pull her up, back to my level, and rest my forehead against hers. “Do you like me?”

    She nods lightly while staring into my eyes. “Uhn.”

    “That’s great because I like you a lot too.”

    A joyful smile appears on her face and a little tear flows down her cheek. I wipe it off with my thumb. She sits up, takes off her top and looks at me, bringing my hand to her modest breast.

    “I want Master to fully embrace me.”

    I raise myself too and push Sirgia down onto her back evoking a cute yelp from her. I quickly dematerialize my clothes into the ring and lean myself above the adorable dwarf. Giving her a few pecks on the lips, I start sensually moving down, leaving a trail of loving caresses with my mouth. Arriving at her humble chest, I begin circling with my tongue around her slightly stiff nipples.

    “Ahn! Master...”

    A soft moan escapes her lips and she blocks her mouth by biting on her finger. Using my hand, I poke the perky right tip while giving tiny sucks to the left one through my lips. Listening to her cute, withdrawn moans, I move down, tickling her tummy a little and making her giggle.

    I reach the line of her bottom clothes. First, I slide down the shorts, revealing cute, light brown panties, with a slight moist stain on the lowest part. I poke it with my finger, evoking some more yelps of pleasure and her body jumps a little. As I grasp her underwear to pull it down, Sirgia grabs my wrists with a bit of a fearful face.

    “Wait! I… I…” She tries to convey something, but her eyes dart off to the sides all the time. “It hasn't been shaven since the day I was imprisoned…” She brings back her hands and covers her face with them.

    Goddammit girl… Are you trying to give me a heart attack?

    I remove the cloth nevertheless, expecting quite the bush down there, but only a small, triangular patch of brownish hair above her cute slit enters my eyes. I sigh to myself and shake my head. A bit of my hot breath brushes over her entrance making her squirm.

    “Really? You are so worried about this?” I stroke the pubes a little. “It’s beautiful. I love it.”

    Her expression becomes less tense. I move my eyes to the pink crevice and split her labia to the side, opening the gate to her most secret place. A tiny trail of love nectar flows out from the bottom of it.

    “I’m ready… Master can enter already…” She quietly announces.

    I start sliding my finger around her inner labia while I pull myself back up towards her face. “No can do. I have to make sure that it will feel good for you too. And of course, return the favour.” Leaving another kiss on her lips, I move down and start using my tongue.

    “Mgghnnn…”

    And she’s back with a finger in her mouth. Oh well…

    Spreading her lower lips with my own fingers, I make sure to thoroughly caress all the outside areas of her pussy, giving long and gentle licks over each part. After a minute of this erotic tongue massage, I cover my index finger with lots of saliva and start poking a tiny hood above the door to her womanhood.

    “Ahnnnn… Mmmmmhnnn…”

    It’s instantly met with an expected response. Not wasting any more time, I slide the tip of my tongue inside her hot vagina while rubbing her clit with utmost care.

    “Mhnnnnnnnnnnnnn!”

    Her body shivers a little and her legs close around my head. I begin tickling her insides with my tongue with a bit more strength, and with each movement she moans even louder, barely being able to stop the amorous sighs from escaping her mouth. I increase the fierceness of my assault in response to her body's trembling, and soon it starts tensing up with waves of spasms enveloping her whole short frame.

    “Ahhhhhhhggnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!”

    A bit more of the sweet nectar drips out of the entrance as I pull back my lips. I move up to match Sirgia’s gaze and brush her cheek as she breathes roughly after achieving an orgasm. Her slightly hazy eyes stare intently into mine and she extends both arms up. We join our lips in a soft kiss while she entwines her hands behind my back.

    Resting for a moment, she glances down and then nods at me. No more words are needed. I spread her legs again and position my neglected member in front of the pink gate. It looks quite big compared to her modest body and I start getting worried that it may hurt more than feel good no matter what I do. Her pussy is not tiny, but when I press the tip against the entrance, it definitely looks like it will have to stretch a bit considering the girth of my member. And trying it over her belly, I get the feeling that I should be careful to not push it too far.

    Sirgia notices my weird actions and most likely figures out the source of my distress. She places both hands on my cheeks as I’m still leaning above her and speaks.

    “It will be fine. Master’s… penis… is big... but while male Dwarves ones are a lot shorter, they are usually much wider, even two times as thick as Master’s.”

    I glance over her lower lips again and can’t quite believe how something that thick could enter her small body. It’s not that it’s impossible, I’ve seen my fair deal of short girls riding on dragon dicks, but it feels completely different when in front of your eyes.

    Releasing a sigh to compose myself, I decide to not trample over her resolve and slowly push the tip of my dick inside. It slides in with a bit of resistance and soon the fleshy mounds swallow the glans, making it disappear in the depths of the amazingly hot and moist cave. I involuntarily let a gasp when they squeeze the tip. It’s my first time inside a human-like vagina.

    Sirgia winces in pain, clenching her teeth with closed eyes. “Ughh… It’s fine!” Seeing me not move any further, she tries to lower herself onto my member by pushing her hands against my body. “Uguuuuuh… I can take more! Hnnngggg...”

    I quickly stop her the moment my tip bumps into a soft blockade. I already can’t watch as she forces herself to suffer through while I’m almost about to break her hymen.

    I hope this works...

    I brush her lips with my thumb and she opens her eyes full of tears. “Swallow some of my saliva. Tell me if you start feeling weird.” I join our mouths and try to pass as much of the liquid to her as I can while she does as instructed and drinks it slowly. A minute later, we break off.

    “It… doesn’t hurt that much now… but my body is a bit hot… and it starts to itch down there,” she conveys between her breaths, with a much more flushed expression than before. Looks like the effect adjusted properly to my orders.

    Nothing better to test it more than pushing my penis deeper and finally breaking her purity seal.

    “Ahnnnnnnnnn!”

    No scream of pain follows, just a moan full of pleasure. Taking that as confirmation, I rest my hands on her sides and begin moving. Gentle thrusts at first. Slow, steady pokes around her hot vagina, with each push going a little deeper and deeper.

    “Ahhn... Mhhn... Mmmmmhm... Master…”

    The walls start coiling around my spear with incredible pressure. It feels amazingly tight, but I can notice how it slowly begins adjusting to my size. My glans scrape the uneven ceiling inside her pussy with each pullback, resulting in increasingly louder moans. At last, she stops biting on her fragile finger and is not hiding them anymore, with her hands now hugging me firmly.

    “It feels good… Ahhnn… Uhmmm… Does Master… ahhhn… like it inside… too?”

    I dive in for a kiss and ravish her adorable lips as an answer. She merrily takes me up for the offer, entwining her tongue with mine. Her other mouth clamps on my sword even harder. Taking a glance below, I see about three-fourths of my dick inside her. The tip hits something more limiting on its path.

    “Aaaaaaaaaahnnnnnnnnn!”

    Sirgia breaks the kiss to moan loudly as her back arches upwards. I must have hit the entrance to her womb. As I suspected, she won’t be able to take much more of it, good that I was being careful. She again notices my gaze. What a perceptive girl.

    “You can… mmmmmmmmmmmhhnnn… deeper....”

    I exhale in pleasure while backing away and chuckle at her. “Haaah… Maybe next time…”

    With her sensitivity slightly increased by my saliva, I can tell that she is nearing another orgasm quickly. I start moving my dick around her insides to find more pleasurable spots and she begins squirming in my hands with an ecstatic expression. Poking the places that make her wriggle the most, my cock ravages the hot insides of her pussy even faster.

    “Ahnnn! Ahhhhaaan! I’m… Aaaaaahnn! Again…!”

    She starts squeezing my member so hard that it’s getting difficult for me to move, and I have to use even more force, ferociously spreading her dripping walls as my glans scrape over them under almost a vacuum-like pressure. Timing my release to her peak, I lean over her ear.

    “Hooooh… Do you want it inside?”

    She turns her fervent face towards mine, with a little bit of surprise surfacing in her gaze, which is mostly lost in pleasure.

    “Ahhhn… Ahhhh… But… Uhhhmm… I could… Pregnant… Ahhhhaann… But… if Master wishes…. Mmmmnnnnn… I will…”

    Even though she’s barely able to speak under my pounding, I don’t slow down. Her resolve to even give birth to my child touches my heart. I kiss her passionately. As sweet as this may sound, I don’t want to have kids so early, and inconveniencing Sirgia literally after our first time also seems inappropriate to me. Maybe one day.

    I move one hand to wipe the tears of pleasure from her face. “You won’t unless I specifically let it happen…. Guuuh!” Her pussy begins clenching in pulling waves as I near the end of my sentence, almost like it began desiring to suck out my seed.

    Sirgia pulls herself up for a quick kiss. “Then! Mhnnn! All of it! Please! Ahnnnn!”

    I shove my twitching cock mightly into her convulsing pussy and release the cloudy delicacy straight into her thirsty chamber.

    “AHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!”

    Hot liquid begins pouring into it, wave after wave, as Sirgia’s whole body spasms fiercely and her back arches into an almost perfect bridge.

    “Guuhhhh… Fuck!”

    I hold her close as I pump more of my load inside, to the extent that I slowly begin feeling it move down her vaginal canal around my shaft, after filling up her small tunnel. Soon enough it starts dripping out from the place where we are connected.

    The ferocious pleasure subsides in both of us and I support myself on my elbows to not crash onto her from above, breathing heavily straight at her face. Sirgia exhales frantically too and we stare into each other’s eyes while gasping for air. She smiles gleefully and brushes my cheeks with her small palms.

    “You look utterly adorable… haaah… when you don’t hide your smile…” I tell her the truth that has been on my mind for some time already.

    She giggles cutely. “I’ll try my best to smile more for Master then.”

    I gently pull out my penis with a quiet plop and land on her side. Sirgia snuggles closer to my chest and kisses me lovingly from below. We rest for a bit while cuddled together in post-orgasmic bliss.
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2021
  8. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 27 – Luckiest Man Alive ❤
    We lie on the bed in each other’s embrace. My hand softly caresses Sirgia hair as she rests her head on my collarbone, grazing my pecs with her palm. A warm smile forms on her lips. I’m the first one to break this relaxing silence.

    “How are you feeling? Did you notice anything weird? Felt like something was trying to influence your thinking?”

    She lifts up her gaze to match my eyes and ponders for a moment. “Ummm… After the pain disappeared, my body got a bit hotter and it started to feel really good instead, but I don’t think it made me want to do… something that… I wouldn’t want to do by myself…”

    Sirgia’s pointy ears twitch and the tips get slightly red as she speaks, showing her embarrassment from admitting that her words and actions were this lewd without any external push. I chuckle and pat her head even more.

    “Good. I wasn’t completely sure how it would exactly work. But I’m glad it turned out fine.”

    She closes her eyes to focus on enjoying the pats. A moment later, she opens them again and stares at me with a little blush on her cheeks.

    “Did my… pussy… feel good?” She averts her gaze and lowers her voice when mentioning her girly parts, definitely forcing herself to use such obscene words.

    I grab her springy butt and pull her up into a kiss. We exchange a few gentle pecks while she brushes my cheek with her hand and moans a little when I squeeze her bottom.

    “It felt heavenly so stop worrying over it,” I break off and tell her with a smile. A more proud expression soon appears on her face.

    After giving her one more light tap on the lips, I glance down over her whole body, stopping at the valley between her legs. A steady river of white slowly spills out from the fleshy cave. She notices where my eyes land and moves her hand towards the area. She angles her hips to give us a better view and spreads the entrance to her vagina with two fingers, releasing even more of the captured cream.

    “There is so much… I would have definitely gotten pregnant…” she says with a dreamy expression.

    “Let me take care of that.”

    There’s no need to leave this much inside her and have her suffer discomfort later when I can deal with it easily. I tap her adorable lips with my finger and lazily trace it down through the middle of her whole torso, making her giggle cutely when passing her ticklish tummy. Arriving at her pretty, pink flower, I gently slide a finger in.

    “Mmmmhnnnn…” A little moan escapes Sirgia’s lips.

    Sealing her mouth again, I use some simple magic to get rid of all the milky stuff stored down there. A few seconds later there’s no trace of it left behind. I retract my palm, giving her cherry a few more sensual rubs. She glances down and examines it with a slightly saddened expression.

    “Don’t make that face. You can get as much of it back there as you possibly want.”

    Her ears get redder and she nods, getting rid of that heartbroken look. I sit up and take a deep breath. We should get up already. Sirgia raises herself too and hugs my arm from the side. Her cute, modest breasts peek out from around it. I can feel the warmth of her body on my skin. I give her a kiss on the forehead making her giggle gleefully.

    Moving around, she hits the dildo which was lying somewhere on the bed this whole time. She picks it up, glances over it and presents it to me. I close her small hand around it and shake my head.

    “Keep it. I want you to have it.” Her cheeks get almost completely crimson and she drops her eyes to the sheets. “Hahaha, as a memento, you silly girl.” I poke her forehead to clear her mind. “That’s the first thing you created for me. And there will be definitely a lot more to come.”

    She composes herself and nods. “Thank you. I’ll cherish it.”

    I lean closer and whisper to her ear. “That doesn’t mean there’s anything shameful in having some fun with it when you feel like it. It’s all yours.” I nibble on the tip of her pointy ear, making her tremble a little.

    She looks at me while playing with her fingers when I back off. “Ummm… I think… I’d rather like to… use yours instead…” She gives me a slightly embarrassed upwards glance.

    I chuckle at her remark again. “You can use it whenever you want. No need to hold back. Just let me know and I’ll be there for you. And if I don’t get the little hints, you are free to assault me by yourself.”

    I begin tickling her belly and she falls onto her back while laughing.

    “Hahahahah… I would… hahahah… never!”

    It’s my first time hearing it and she has such an adorable and lively laugh. Sirgia catches onto my hand trying to playfully push it away and I stop to not be too overbearing. I help her up and she slowly catches her breath.

    “Ummm… About earlier… can I really sleep with Master in the same bed?” she asks with expectant eyes.

    “Of course. Although, you will have to tell Emi and Safi first if you want to monopolize me a bit for the night. I have to peel the former off me like every morning.”

    I chuckle while remembering how they almost always end up in my room. I guess they sensed Sirgia being here today and that’s why they stayed away. I bet it was Safi who held Emi back from bursting through the door. Really… such a great girl...

    Sirgia also giggles at my words. “I’ll discuss it with them then.” She skips closer to me and places a soft kiss on my lips. I hold her in my embrace. “Thank you… I’m really happy I was able to meet Master...” She peacefully rests her cheek on my chest and lovingly hugs me back.

    “And I’m as happy as you to hold such a beautiful little dwarf in my arrrrrrrrrrmmmmmssss—”

    Suddenly, my mind starts getting light and fuzzy out of nowhere. My vision blurs and I feel myself falling forwards. Sirgia’s concerned shout reaches my ears before everything turns completely black and silent.

    ╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣​

    An unknown amount of time later, my eyes open rapidly. Unnatural amount of pink and purple shades appear in my sight. Judging by the fluffy, floating objects above me, this must be a sky. But a purple one?

    I raise myself up on my elbows and look around. First, I’m naked. Second, I’m lying on the grass or something similar to it, but in shades of colours, I previously noticed. I stand up and examine my surroundings. It looks like a plain with a giant cherry tree growing near an end of a grassy cliff. Nothing but the rustling of leaves and grass can be heard. And literally everything seems to be in different shades of violet. I’m not sure if the sky or the sun itself is behind this bizarre sight or if that’s how actually everything looks.

    Okay. What the fuck. And where the fuck.

    While trying to figure out what the hell is happening, I feel a nudge on my right shoulder and instantly jump forward while turning around. A feminine, shadowy figure stands in the spot which was previously behind me. I instantly recognize it. It’s the same person or thing that appeared in front of my eyes during the awakening. It looks a bit less shapeless now though. It’s easier to notice the curves and details of a humanoid appearance and the pink mist isn’t spilling out as much as before.

    “Who are you?” I ask.

    I can barely see the shape of her mouth move in this smoke but no voice follows. And my Linguist either doesn’t work here or she uses a language I don’t know. Last time, I at least heard some unrecognizable whispers from her. She notices my focused expression and sighs soundlessly.

    “Can you understand me?”

    I might not be able to hear her, but my previous experiences with the Slimes convince me to at least ask. And fortunately, the purplish shadow nods.

    “Just in case… there isn’t anything around that you could use to write instead of trying to speak?”

    The shadow shakes its head sideways.

    Oh well, it was worth a shot.

    I rack my brain over some questions that could possibly be useful in this situation. While I’m lost in my thoughts, the shadow walks closer to me and extends her hand. I glance at her questioningly but she only smiles wryly. Since during our last contact nothing bad has happened, I decide to grab her hand. A tingling sensation envelops my palm as she brings it up and covers with her other hand. A bit of pink glow escapes through her fingers and I feel something hot coursing through my whole body.

    Soon, it stops and she releases my hand. I pull it back and see my Hero Sigil uncovered. And more than that. It’s glowing like during the reveal. And it goes even further. The small circle part has now taken the shape of a heart.

    I look back at her, utterly puzzled. The shadow bows down to me very low and moves her mouth again, but obviously, I don’t get a single word out of it. The intent is clear though, she is apologizing for something. After raising herself, she steps even closer and places a tingly kiss on my cheek. Backing off with a kind smile, she waves her hand at me.

    “Wait! I have a lot of questio—”

    The dizziness returns and I get swallowed by darkness again.

    ╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣​

    “—er… —ster... Master!”

    I open my eyes and a familiar face appears in front of them. Sirgia is frantically calling out to me while almost on the verge of tears. She notices me waking up and backs off a bit. I raise myself into a sitting position and rub my temples with my fingers.

    “It’s okay… I’m fine…” I place the other hand on her head to calm her down a little.

    Sirgia launches herself at me and envelops me in a tight hug, nuzzling her worried face into my muscular chest. I serenely brush my fingers through her hair while repeatedly telling her that everything is fine until she finally gets ahold of herself.

    I start noticing that there are much more details flowing into me through our connection. While previously I was able to get a read on the strongest feeling or emotion, now I can distinguish more of them at the same time. Anxiety, fear, shock but also relief and a bit of self-blame.

    “Did you calm down yet?” I ask Sirgia.

    “Uhn,” she answers softly, not letting go of me.

    “Good. Just so you know, this was in no way your fault.”

    “Uhn…” She nods again, a bit hesitant.

    “I think it was because of my class, so don’t blame yourself for this.”

    And I summon the Information part of my Status to confirm my suspicions. My Tier rose from 1 to 2, as I suspected. Figured that this weird vision, which also appeared during the awakening, would be linked to me advancing further. I’ll check the details in a moment, Sirgia comes first.

    I move to the corner of the bed with her in tow and we both sit at the edge. “Let’s take a bath. We are all sweaty from our little fun.”

    I try to poke her tummy a few times to improve her mood a little. She squirms a bit and swats my hand away with a faint smile. She stands up from the bed, takes one step forward and her legs start wobbling, making her fall back into my arms.

    “Ummm… I might have a small problem getting there…” she announces quietly.

    I scoop her up into a proper princess carry and chuckle at her blushing expression. She hangs her arms around my neck.

    “Since I’m the one at fault here, let me take full responsibility for causing you such discomfort, Lady Forgegraver.” She gets even redder and covers her face with her small hands as I walk towards the door.

    “Eh? Are we really going out naked like this?” Sirgia asks with a flushed face.

    “Don’t worry. Safi and Emi are still hibernating on their bed and Cornelia seems to be working on something completely focused at her desk.”

    The fact that I can pinpoint their location and state with even more accuracy, supports the guess that this is thanks to the level-up and not just me finally embracing Sirgia and raising our bond above 0. I confidently walk to the mixed bath with the little dwarf in my arms.

    We spend some time washing each other's bodies thoroughly. Sirgia releases her braids to properly wash her hair and the volume of it amazes me. When woven into the usual form, it doesn’t seem like there’s much, but when fully released, she can almost completely cover herself with a wall of hair ending slightly above her ankles. She starts making the braids again and I ask her to teach me so that I can do it for her. I follow her instructions and learn it step by step while a very elated smile persists on her face for the whole time.

    Done with washing and doing hair, we take a dip in the main pool to relax a little. Sirgia sits between my legs and leans back onto me. I place one of my hands on her belly and softly brush her skin with my thumb while invoking the full Status.

    [​IMG]

    “WHAT?!”

    When my eyes fall on the Stats section, I involuntarily cry out in shock, making Sirgia jump. I quickly apologize for startling her and rub my eyes a few times just to be sure, but the numbers don’t change.

    What the hell?! Aren’t your stats supposed to raise by something like 10 points per main stat or less usually? I can clearly see that they literally doubled! I had 15 CON and 16 CHA as a base before! And what is wrong with those bonuses? Wait...

    “Sirgia, can you check your status and tell me what’s your Constitution score?” I ask my adorable dwarf.

    Naturally, I could just summon her Status window and check myself, but this is a good moment to introduce her to the effects of my Title if it really is how I think it is.

    “Of course, Master.” The brown rectangle appears not only for her but also becomes visible to me. “My Constitution is at 3—…”

    She stops mid-sentence and furrows her brows while confusedly moving her head further from the screen. I can see that it’s 35 and there’s a +14 bonus next to it, so almost 50 in total. Some quick math in my head tells me that my 32 base Charisma, with the previous bonus from Safi and Emi being at +13, can easily give her that amount as a bonus if you assume a 30% transfer. I quickly summon her entry in the Partners menu as a final step to confirm my suspicions.

    [​IMG]

    And there it is. Bond Level 3/5. And Bond Type is ‘Honest Affection’? So, this girl jumped straight from hope to almost love, and it had to be strong enough to start at the 3rd level already...

    I notice Sirgia staring at me with curiosity painted all over her face. I smile gently and while patting her head. I explain how the stat bonus works in detail. She looks at me with admiration in her eyes.

    “Master is amazing…”

    I pull her up and sit her on my thigh. “No, it’s so big only thanks to your strong and honest feelings. I’m just some guy who is extremely lucky to be on the receiving end of those. And the fact that they come from such a gorgeous little Dwarf makes me unspeakably happy.”

    Lifting her chin up, I dive for a deep and romantic kiss. Her ears turn almost fully crimson and twitch a lot, but she does not run away and answers by letting me invade the insides of her mouth and invite her small tongue for another round of sensual dancing. After we separate, she slides down with a cute giggle and leans onto me with her side, caressing my abs. I let her cool down from the sudden assault of compliments and affection and focus on the Status again.

    First, with all the bonuses from all three girls, some of my attributes broke the threshold of 50 points… That’s… utterly insane for Tier 2… For Humans, that would be a very lucky Tier 4 or pretty normal Tier 5, which is already considered the top of the elite. If Kamil’s stats also double on tier-up, then he would be over 70, but he has the legendary Hero Class, so that wouldn’t be so surprising.

    Actually, what will happen when I advance to Tier 3? Will it add the same amount or double the new base again? No, the latter is impossible. That would be broken beyond any logic. And just the bonus from others is getting more and more ridiculous. Why is it so easy to power-up with this Class?

    I start pondering over the possible explanations. My hand keeps stroking Sirgia’s head and my finger accidentally grazes her ear making it twitch. I freeze. She looks up at me confusedly and I just keep aimlessly staring into nothingness as the realization dawns on me.

    No fucking way…

    Suddenly, everything becomes clear. It’s not that this class is unbelievably powerful or has some insane principles behind it. On the contrary, it’s the trashiest class someone could get. But. BUT. This only applies to someone RAISED IN THIS WORLD.

    Just imagine your typical Human getting it. No. Actually, let him be a Human prodigy. If we follow this world’s rules and history, he’d most likely surround himself only with other Humans due to his hate or prejudice against other races. Even if it would have happened during or before The Great War. But people didn’t know their Classes back then, everything was just a feeling. Nevertheless, be it a Human, Elf, Dwarf, Lizardfolk, whatever the race, the person would most likely come close only to females of their own kind.

    Next, it’s not like gathering powerful girls is an easy task. When limited only to their own folk, the chances of meeting one fall drastically. Especially in Humanity’s case, where Tier 4 or 5 stats are already ultra-rare. The Class owners, being awfully weak at the beginning, have a very slim probability to actually acquire a proper harem, not even mentioning strong individuals falling for them. And there’s the Bond Level too. Just getting a person to like them and stay at the first level would net them like 5 points from 50 due to the 10% buff. So, developing and progressing a deep relationship again reduces the already low odds.

    And then, there’s me. A complete opposite of this world’s mentality. There are no racial boundaries for me. Reaching out to everyone, regardless of their status or race, opens up a towering door to a path of boundless possibilities. Numerous species with various stats dispositions and growth rates stand lined-up in front of me. And the one path that I’ve chosen is rich in abused and mistreated slaves who start feeling attached to the very first person who shows them a little kindness. As wrong and rude as it might sound there, that’s usually true. Those Class owners would most likely distance themselves as far as they could from their slaves if they would even buy ones for different purposes than being bait or luggage carriers. Pride and things like that.

    It’s not like there’s something wrong with the Class. I AM the mistake here. If we consider this situation purely from the effectiveness standpoint, then this is most likely the luckiest combination that could have taken place ever. My mind free of all prejudice, my arms open almost to everyone equally and the fact that my career path dabbles in the area which houses the greatest variety of potentially useful individuals, made the Class broken beyond comprehension. It would never work any better for someone else.

    I take a few deep breaths to calm myself down from all this heavy thinking since I almost began shaking. It finally starts making sense. Accepting Safi, Emi and now Sirgia, boosted me up insanely fast and high. No free Human girl with as high stats as theirs would most likely consider me worthy her attention for months or years to come. Yes, the Class has this adonis and aphrodisiac thing, but it still needs consent and mutual affection. And tiering-up most likely bases like 90% on having sex and strengthening bonds with Partners, with only a little of the rest being combat or other things.

    If I went the suggested Hero path, I would have struggled a lot, and the chances of meeting a girl who would grow to like someone with such a pathetically weak Class would have been incredibly low. The only thing I could have done would be flaunting my Hero status. Perhaps Cornelia would have been one of the stronger people to get close to me, considering that we were already good friends before my Class was revealed. But the number of potential girls ending up with me in that scenario can’t even come close to my current predicament.

    This chance. I won’t let it go to waste. I don’t plan on becoming an all-powerful Hero, but I swore to use whatever I can to become stronger and protect those who will gather around me. And now that I discovered my strong points and opportunities, I’m going to make use of all of them. To grow stronger, I just have to keep doing exactly what I have been doing before, which means trying to help as many non-humans as I can. There’s no malicious intent here. I’m still not going to force all of them to stay with us, but let’s be real, if things continue at the same pace as up until now, I’ll be tiering-up like a madman. I reached the second one in a little more than a week.

    A giggle escapes my mouth and soon evolves into a stifled chuckle, garnering Sirgia’s attention again.

    “Master?”

    “Sorry. I just realized that I am most likely the luckiest man alive in this vast universe.”

    I lovingly brush her cheek with a warm smile, still slightly chuckling. She giggles and rubs her face into my hand before resting on my chest again.

    Okay, enough of this flirting left and right. I need to see what skills I got.

    Summoning the Skills tab, I scan through the contents with my eyes, spotting five changes. I open the Class related ones first.

    [​IMG]

    My eyes fall on the first entry.

    Hell yeah! Sweet Whispers is exactly what I needed! Now, I should be able to communicate with Cornelia, who will be able to quickly pass the message directly to the King or his soldiers. And the description sounds amazing. It’s kinda like flavoured telepathy. Judging by the length limit, it should be much better than it too.

    I move to the second one. Not gonna lie, its name did make me a little uncomfortable when I saw it in the Skills tab. Let’s hope it’s not some kind of a sexual rage mode.

    Hmmmm... The description starts a little creepy, but this seems to be a pretty dope tracking skill… The only downside is that it works purely on girls, but considering how powerful it sounds, that’s not that bad of a tradeoff. I will certainly have to test it out as soon as possible.

    Finally, I glance over the last one.

    The Void? I did see the Void Affinity skill in the Passives section, so I guess it came with this. Sounds great. Another crowd control skill but this time much more physical and aggressive. Ten chains is a lot. And why I’m not surprised that they have a ‘fun’ mode too...

    With those out of the way, I summon the remaining two skills. Void Affinity sounds almost exactly the same as Charm Affinity, but instead of offering protection against effects up to the highest tier, it currently nullifies effects of low tier Void magic and offers a partial resistance for the medium tier. And also tells me that my proficiency in that school of magic is also around mid-tier.

    I open the Formless Blade Arts skill group.

    [​IMG]

    So… I guess that appeared because of the Soul Relic I have been using all this time. I might have gotten strong enough to properly start getting better with it one step at a time. The ‘any weapon you can imagine’ part does sound pretty powerful. I wonder if that really means any. And creating techniques? That’s something new. I need to start training my ass off with it to raise the proficiency and reach a level high enough to form more shapes. I don’t mind maining the Whip though, it somehow feels right for me to use.

    After taking one more peek into every corner of my Status, I finally conclude this tier-up analysis session. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get at least a bit more used to all the new stuff before the auction guys contact me. Actually, why not try some skills out already…

    I close my eyes and focus completely on sensing every Partner I currently have. With enough meticulousness, I can not only feel their location but also kind of see the outlines of their bodies as purplish shadows, similar to the woman from before but much more detailed. I stare at Cornelia from up close, like my existence is being suspended in the air above her head. Invoking the Sweet Whispers skill, I speak the message in my mind.

    ~Juicy thighs...~

    Her figure jolts up, startled by an unexpected sound arriving at her ear. Or at least I think she heard it like that since I can’t confirm it from my position. She stands up and turns around assuming an accusing pose, but quickly realizes that there’s no one behind her and starts confusedly looking around. I chuckle to myself. This has too much trolling potential.

    ~Just a new skill… My love…~

    I send her another message with a little more teasing. I can see her shape tensing up and how she rotates her head to the right, where the source of the voice is most likely located for her. Too bad I can’t see her expression. I bet she’s furiously blushing right now. I’ll apologize later. Let’s just try one more thing.

    ~Try sending me… a mental message back...~

    Most likely expecting more of my teasing, she has prepared herself for another whisper and hasn’t reacted in a funny way. She assumes a thinking pose and soon the reply arrives.

    ~You are such a… tease… you bully…~

    Shivers run down my spine. Cornelia’s voice whispers to my ear in an utterly seductive tone. The thirst and horniness literally spill out from every quiet word and the intonation threatens the receiver with ferocious sexual arousal of the sender. No wonder she reacted so heavily during the first one, it must have sounded like I was ready to push her down and ravage her like a horny beast.

    ~Sorry… Didn’t know how… lustful… this sounds…~

    I can discern a giggling motion from her slightly shaking figure. Leaving our little conversation at that, we finally move out of the bath, with me carrying Sirgia back to my room and making her promise me that she will take a day off to rest today. Dressing each other up, we talk a bit about the future artifacts and I share some of my ideas with her. To not inconvenience her further, I prepare some light breakfast today and carry her to the dining room. Others give us suspicious and knowing stares, making the adorable dwarf hide her face in my clothes while I walk with her in my arms. I share with them the information about my new skills so that they can communicate with me whenever they need.

    After breakfast, it’s time for more training and testing before the invitation arrives.
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2021
  9. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 28 – A Wolf Amongst the Sheep
    I walk down to the training area to begin familiarizing myself more with all the new offensive skills and the Formless Blade Arts.

    Sirgia complies with my request and decides to spend some time resting in her room. And by resting, I mean most likely drawing countless designs and schematics, and coming up with possible solutions for difficulties that will certainly arise during that time. At least she’s not going to overwork herself this time.

    Cornelia leaves the mansion to check the completion of maid uniforms, curtains and other materials' orders which we placed on previously. Safi and Emi again accompany me to the underground arena. This time, I might actually accept their offer to help.

    Before I start my practice, I remove the placeholder collars from their necks and present them with the beautiful, black, new ones. Safi gets the blue gem and Emi gets the green one. And Safi finally got her favourite maid clothes back after I brought them in recently. They look completely stunning in this full getup with the graceful collars. With their contrasting personalities, they would be perfect for our lovely poster girls. Just imagine the cheerful Emi joyfully dashing around the customers or trying to draw more of them by the front gate, while the kind and caring Safi just emanates an aura of politeness and observes her from the side with a motherly smile. But unfortunately, this won’t happen in this cruel world for yet some time. Who knows, maybe one day.

    The slime duo gets delighted with this small gift and Emi locks me down with her wobbling hugs for a good ten minutes while Safi rains down sensual kisses on my lips. I peel them off me as soon as possible, to not earn myself a repeat of our last training session before I even begin today's one. Satisfied by lots of mana-pats, they move aside and play with their dangling badges.

    I start my practice with the whip. When activating the artifact, I notice that the purplish helix thinned down a bit. My mana reserves must have risen a little with the tier-up. The ethereal smoke and material whip both form a lot quicker now and I feel that I have much more control over them. I begin repeating the whip moves I used before and they are visibly easier to pull off. Spending a few hours on the training, I raise my efficiency with the state-changing relic and manage to complete the desired set of repeats much faster than the last time.

    After recovering myself with Rejuvenate, I begin focusing my mind on creating different shapes with the mist coming out of the hilt. Looks like most of the conventional weapons are still too hard to imitate even with my vivid imagination. I must be too weak, or my Tier or Mana Control is too low. An hour later, I finally get to a satisfying point with modelling a shortsword. The amount of smoke and its outline somehow resonate within me, so I guess I hit the sweet spot.

    I direct a clear and strong intent into the draconic handle and the purple energy starts swirling, forming a dark violet blade of a straight double-edged shortsword. As I expected, it’s slightly wider than the dragon’s maw which now bites into the metal, or whatever material it actually is. The weapon looks incredible. When held at different angles, it shines with a handful of shades of purple and violet, like magenta, fuchsia, slate blue or indigo. It’s unimaginably mesmerizing when swung around. The weight distribution, length, width and grip on the handle feels excellent.

    For the next few hours, I familiarize myself with this new form and recall all the moves linked to this type of weapon which I can still remember. Whip shape still feels better to use but having an alternative is great. Near the end of my planned set of revisions, I begin feeling like I understand the artifact better, so I check the Status and it shows me that I’ve raised the Formless Blade Arts to the second level.

    Something tingly persists in the back of my head, but I can’t get a hint on what it is. I decide to practice sword moves a bit more. At one point, my body starts moving by itself when switching stances and I feel my mana storming into the hilt. Seconds later, the blade dematerializes and I shove it deep into the floor. Tens of similar yet much larger violet swords burst out from the ground with a loud shiiiiing, crossing each other in a narrow, few meter long path of death. I pull the hilt up and they retract into the ground too, disappearing within purplish smoke.

    Holy fuck, that looked awesome… I finally got a useful offensive skill!

    I pump my fist in victory as the slimes run up to me.

    [Master! That was amazing!] Emi launches herself at me with open arms.

    [Indeed. That last move felt really powerful. The way it crystalizes Master’s pure mana into these blades is hypnotizing to watch for someone with Mana Sight. The efficiency is amazing for the first-ever use, but I think with some more practice, Master can easily perfect it,] Safi marvels over the given spectacle.

    “Crystalizes mana, huh… Does it look like that when I materialize the whip or the shortsword too?”

    [Yes, but it’s already perfected and of course on a much smaller scale. These weapons Master forms seem to be constructed out of pure, solidified mana.]

    “I wonder if it has been named as a material. I don’t remember reading anything about weapons out of pure mana. I’ll have to ask Sirgia later. Thanks for pointing that out, Safi.” I give her a long kiss with lots of my mana, making her shiver a little. “I’ll be counting on you in the future too. Please, tell me about all the changes you notice. This might help me in finding parts on which I’ll have to focus on to better myself.” She nods and leans onto me for one more little peck.

    We spend the rest of the day training with both the sword and the whip. I do the moves and Safi points out areas where the mana flow is inefficient. I get too drained to try out more skills, so we leave it for tomorrow. Tonight, it’s Sirgia who awaits me in my room with slightly rosy cheeks but as a part of her usual, neutral face. I guess when out of the heat of the moment, she turns back into her less expressive mode. It’s sweet in its own way.

    She takes off everything but her panties and joins me in bed. Asked why she doesn’t wear any top, she hides her face in my chest whispering that it feels nice to snuggle to my warm body like this, but she’s too embarrassed to have her girly parts exposed. I chuckle at her honest answer telling her that she looks adorable in just her panties, and pull her as close into my embrace as I can. With a gentle goodnight kiss, we fall asleep cuddled together.

    During the next two days, I keep training either by myself or accompanied by Safi, while others make their own preparations for the big operation. The girls start to hang and allocate the newly brought violet decorations, with Sirgia customizing them to better fit the rooms.

    I accept Safi’s pleas to assist me with testing the Void Chains. Thanks to that, I quickly learn how to summon and control them with just a few thoughts. When activating the skill, the desired number of literal chains, also in similar shades of purple, shoot out of the chosen surface and entangle the target with pinpoint accuracy. I can easily pin someone down or hang them in the air when using multiple angles. They seem special because Safi can’t just leak herself out from between the joints, forced to stay in her human form. Some kind of Void element effect I guess.

    On the third day, I move out to the city with Sirgia. We buy some more things she needs for the projects she’s working on and also visit a weapon merchant to get her something to defend herself with. Thankfully, she does not resist the idea too hard and is quickly convinced by the argument that she can’t protect me properly without a weapon. I let her choose whatever she wants and we end up buying something akin to a great maul fused with a warhammer. I store it in my ring, walking around with an armed demi-human slave might garner too much attention.

    “Hmmm… Sirgia?” I ponder for a moment and turn to her while we walk around.

    “Yes, Master?”

    “Are storage rings really hard to craft?”

    “Yes, they are rare due to materials being costly and the process being deeply sophisticated when it comes to infusing something with spatial magic.”

    “I see…” I nod in understanding.

    “Ummmm…” She looks up at me a little hesitant. “If I had proper materials and a bit more developed workshop, I could possibly have a chance of succeeding in creating them thanks to my Mana Artisan and my past experience, even though I never worked on them before… But that would cost a lot before I would get them right without failing…” She drops her gaze to the ground.

    “I guess we need to start thinking about that soon.”

    “Really?” She looks back up.

    “Of course. I promised you didn’t I? Baby steps, but we’ll get there. Make a list of things you’d like to have and organize it by priority and importance. And not just tools and devices, think about the layout and any constructions that might be required in your craft, not only for the rings but in general, okay?”

    I pat her head while she moves closer and hugs my arm with a faint smile. “Uhn!” She nods enthusiastically.

    “Ummm… Can Master come a little lower for a moment?” Sirgia asks out of the blue.

    “Sure.”

    Slightly puzzled by this request, I lower myself to get to her level. She hastily stands up on her tiptoes, places a kiss on my cheek and quickly walks away with her own cheeks getting a bit crimson. I chuckle to myself, catch up to her, place my hand on her head and ruffle her hair a bit while enjoying this short show of her cuteness.

    On our way back, someone bumps into me, not even turning around to nod in apology or anything and Sirgia notices something sticking out from my coat’s external pocket. It’s a small letter. Suspecting what might be the contents of it, I leave checking it out for when we arrive back at home.

    And as I expected, the message is from the organization. The auction takes place tomorrow and I have to show myself at a designated meeting point to confirm my identity and receive further instructions. I share the info with everyone, grab Cornelia and take a trolley ride to the King. We request an audition and wait in one of the chambers. He soon arrives at our spot.

    “Al! Cornelia! Great to see you! I’ve heard that you have something important to discuss.” Ross enthusiastically walks through the door.

    “Yeah. Al has been contacted. It’s happening tomorrow,” Cornelia gets straight to the point.

    “Just as we suspected. Any details?”

    “Nothing more than the date and place of some verification meeting. They might use this as an additional way of weeding out those who got through the first screening and lead suspicious ones out into the field,” I answer.

    “Right. This might as well be just an elaborate trap. So, what are we doing?” The King asks.

    “Going in as planned. I secured us a potential way to get messages through their safety net, but that’s just an assumption.”

    “You amaze me more each time we meet! How does it work?”

    “I can exchange mental notes with Cornelia. She’ll stay by your side and pass my verdict directly to your ear, or to your squad leader, whatever you choose to do.” I glance at the magician making her avert her gaze with a slight blush, most likely reminding her of my previous attempts to communicate.

    Ross catches that little detail. “Ooooooh… A skill of yours? So you two—”

    “NO, WE DID NOT!” Cornelia shouts at him while getting almost completely red and gives the King an angry glare.

    I snicker a little making her redirect that ferocious focus onto me.

    “As she said, but yes, that’s something I acquired recently. Unfortunately, as you know, most of my skills don't work on guys, so sorry, but that’s the only option.”

    “Ahaha… my apologies, I didn’t mean to assume…” He laughs nervously and tries to deescalate the situation he brought onto himself with his own words.

    After calming Cornelia down, we discuss some details of tomorrow’s operation and then head back home to have another meeting, but with my residents this time. As much as everyone tries to convince me that they want to come and protect me too, I don’t let them have even a sliver of hope that it’s possible from the very beginning. I can’t get soft here, not when their safety is at stake. Rest of the time is spent on fixing the dejected mood of the overly-attached emerald girl and trying to not falter under the most hurt expression from the loving sapphire girl I have ever seen anybody make in the whole 28 years of my life. Sirgia doesn’t show any objections with her face, but I know pretty well that she’s bottling them up inside again.

    All three of them end up in my room tonight. I even sense Cornelia on the verge of pushing the doorknob between our chambers for a moment, but she hesitates, stands in front of it for a minute and walks back to her bed. I smile to myself. She might have a little bit of tsundere blood coursing through her veins. I’ll see if she’ll be able to overcome it by herself or if I’ll have to be a bit more straightforward and help her break down that wall which is holding her back.

    Nevertheless, I spend the night with an adorable dwarf sleeping peacefully on my chest and two chilly slimes cuddled to both of my arms, enveloping them in the springy softness of their bosoms. Can life get even better than this?

    In the morning, I empty my storage ring leaving inside only the additional money Ross gave me yesterday to flaunt my wealth during the auction, the draconic hilt, and don my formal outfit. Better safe than sorry. All the girls escort me to the very last inch of the doorstep with concerned expressions. I give each of them a long and loving kiss before departing and assure them that I’ll run away at the first sign of danger, immediately notifying them if something happens. Sirgia doesn’t let go of her weapon for even a second, ready to rush outside immediately.

    Making Safi promise me that she’ll hold the other two back so they don’t do anything stupid, we finally leave the mansion with Cornelia. Our paths split midway to the meeting point and we part ways.

    “Hey, Al…” she calls out to me before we walk in opposite directions, “be careful… please…”

    “Don’t worry. I’m not going to die in some trashy slaver’s den. That would rob you out of the possibility to dissect my otherworldly body and we don’t want that, right?” I chuckle at her.

    We lock our eyes for a second and she quickly averts her gaze with a faint, wry smile, biting on her lower lip a little. I step closer and pull her into a hug.

    “It’s just a joke, idiot. Cheer up. You are only allowed to sulk like that after the spell you’ve been researching implodes gracefully.” She giggles quietly. “Evaporating all your clothes in the process,” I whisper sensually into her ear, tracing a line towards her butt over her back with my finger.

    “Hey! Hands off me, you pervert!” She pushes me away with a frowning pout and then turns around, acting offended, but I can clearly see the corner of her mouth rising into a smile.

    “Damn it! I hoped to get at least a single squeeze before I die, hahaha.” I also turn around while chuckling and start walking away. “See ya back at home. Don’t freeze half of the capital when you feel me stub my toe over some random furniture down there!”

    Leaving it at that, I get on my way towards the described place. It looks like a clothing store in the Noble District. After entering, I’m greeted by a handsome clerk and I sneak the passcode mentioned in the message into our conversation. He catches that and leads me to the changing rooms. He gestures for me to enter one of the sections and covers it with a curtain from outside. Soon after, the mirror inside clicks and uncovers a passage leading down.

    I walk into a small room with just a table and two sofas. A woman in a nice, long dress and with wavy, brown hair sits on one, smiling at me invitingly. I sit down on the opposite side to her.

    “Got the invitation?” She asks uninterestedly.

    “Yeah, here.” I pass the paper to her.

    “Good. Anything to confirm your identity?”

    I pull out a copy of the mansion’s deed which has my name on it and show it to the woman. She examines it carefully, even casting a few insight and detection spells to check for any falsifications. She hands it back to me after a moment.

    “So, Mr Carter… It’s your first time taking part in one of our events, right?”

    “I believe so.”

    “What’s your goal then?”

    “A goal, huh. Desire to try something new? Thirst for something exotic? I’m quite close with Madam Selina and I’m getting slowly burnt out with just her merchandise. Just don’t tell her, m‘kay? She would feel hurt knowing that one of her precious Rubies has an affair behind her back.” I give the woman a mischievous smile. Her facial expression changes for a second after hearing the name people have given to Selina’s VIPs.

    “I see… I’ll keep it a secret naturally. Let me briefly explain how the event works in that case. Everyone who enters the gala does so under a nickname and wearing a full-face mask to protect their identities and allow them to enjoy all the attractions and discussion without worrying about accidentally offending someone they shouldn’t. Nothing ruins a good party more than a tense atmosphere brought in by some bigshots. Do you have one in mind or should we come up with something right now?” she explains and asks.

    I ponder for a moment. Quite a clever system. They really put a lot of work and thought into their operations. But this will also make it harder for me to discern the authenticity of the place with everyone hiding behind fakes. Nothing I can do. As for the nickname…

    “Pimp.”

    “Eh?” She blinks a few times. “Pimp…?”

    “Yes. Is there something wrong with it?” I ask, acting surprised.

    “No, no, of course not, but… why? Most of the people choose things like Sword of Darkness, Lord of Lightning, The Immortal Phoenix and such.”

    I cringe a little internally.

    Is this a slave auction or a fucking chuunicon? Oh my god, where am I headed to...

    “Well… just imagine, you talk to someone and they ask ‘And you are?’, and you answer with ‘Pimp, at your service.’”

    I say with a completely stoic expression and lock gazes with the woman. A moment later, I explode into a hearty chuckle while repeatedly slamming my thigh with my hand, supposedly laughing at my own joke. She furrows her brows concernedly.

    “I… see… well… cough… Let’s move to the next part.” She composes herself back before continuing. “You are free to walk around and have fun in the whole complex. The areas off-limits to the public will have bouncers stationed near the entrances, so don’t try sneaking past them or you’ll get kicked out instantly. The main event starts at 6.00 pm. Before that, there are banquets, balls, discussions, but also chambers where you can relax or even talk some business. Merchandise won during the big auction will be delivered to the exchange room after the whole thing ends and you will be able to pay-up there. People on site will answer your questions if any arise. And this is your mask, catch.”

    She ends her monologue and throws the item towards me. It depicts a calm wolf with grey fur.

    Heh. A hungry wolf entering the sheeps’ den. What an irony.

    “Thanks. I’ll be sure to have lots of fun. If it turns out boring, I hope you don’t mind me crashing here for another, even more, pleasant chat.” I wink at her playfully before leaving.

    The same clerk leads me into another booth and then we enter yet another secret passage. He guides me through a labyrinth of corridors and we arrive in front of a giant, steel door. Definitely enchanted with lots of magic. If not for my Partners’ connection, I’d have a really hard time trying to judge where we are now after exiting that maze.

    The guards in front of the gate use some spells to examine me and point out that my storage ring has something looking like a weapon. I pull out my draconic hilt and try explaining to them that this was once a sword belonging to my fallen friend, which broke when he gave up his life to protect me with his own body, and that I always keep it on myself as both a memento and a lucky talisman. I try to emphasize that I wouldn’t have gotten far without it and that I’ve encountered countless great opportunities while carrying it. They inspect it in detail, but it doesn’t seem like they figure out its real purpose and hand it back to me, allowing me to pass. Fortunately, they didn’t explode into puddles of blood either.

    I put my mask on, enter through the door and send Cornelia a message to try pinpointing my location and to be on standby for further notices after I confirm if it’s legit. I also release the limits I placed on my skills and titles. First thing I see is a wide main hall, similar to the one in my mansion but on a much larger scale. There are tens of neatly dressed people in different masks walking around or sitting by tables and sipping on wine. It’s loud from all the talking.

    I start looking around and exploring the complex. As I walk around, many women turn their heads when I pass by, most likely catching a whiff of my scent. The banquet hall is the one crowded the most, nothing unexpected, the food here is top-notch and even I can’t hold back from spending some time marvelling over the bountiful and exotic cuisine placed on display. Besides that, there are plenty of other facilities guests can enter, like a small theatre, a gambling corner full of people playing cards, most likely throwing away most of their fortunes alongside it, a dedicated alcohol corner, even though there are countless waiters and waitresses manoeuvring between everyone while holding trays full of strong liquids, a massage and bathing chamber where visitors can relax, and even an area offering much closer physical contact with many gorgeous girls ready to take care of a person’s needs.

    One thing that catches my attention and actually makes me feel a little relieved is the fact that there actually are women of other races in that last chamber, even if they are like a droplet in the sea of Human ones and most likely being slaves forced to partake in such acts. This gives me a bit of hope that there might be more people with such tastes hiding around than I was starting to believe there are. I just really pray that they aren’t some rotten to the core bastards with abusive characters.

    Nevertheless, I return to the banquet hall. Can’t lose sight of my main goal. So far, it does seem pretty believable, but I’ll decide when the main auction starts. I contact Cornelia and learn that they most likely found me and the King’s men are gathering above the location, with some still stationed near the other places they’ve gotten info about. While I’m having a weird, sensual, mental conversation with my friend, a man in a white suit and wearing a mask depicting a white tiger arrives at my side.

    “I get that the food here is great, but to enjoy it as much as to space out in a hall full of people is something rare, hahaha,” he speaks in an upbeat and young sounding voice.

    I turn to him. “It’s just so amazing that I was reminded of a specific event from my past. The chefs here truly deserve a myriad of praises.”

    “Certainly, hahaha.”

    “What do I owe this pleasure of speaking with you, Sir…”

    “Frostwind Claw. And I was just curious about the person who nonchalantly steals all the attention of every beauty present here while acting hard to approach. And you, my friend, are...?”

    His remark is definitely spot on. There’s even a group of like seven girls following me everywhere I go while chatting and giggling with each other. They stand a bit to my right even now, acting like they are having fun with food, but glancing my way every other second.

    “Pimp. I’m honoured by your praise, Sir Claw.” I make an exaggerated bow.

    He bursts out laughing. “Hahahaha! Did you choose that name because all the girls are after you? Man, you are such a funny guy.” He offers a handshake and I accept it.

    We start a friendly banter about the place and its facilities. He does seem like a pretty decent person from our little conversation.

    “I’m glad I’ve spoken to you, Sir Pimp. Most of the people here just flaunt their statuses and wealth when you try to speak to them,” he says.

    “I’m always up for a pleasant chat. What’s the point in trying to enter a contest to see whose dick is bigger when we are all equal here?” I chuckle to myself.

    “Exactly, hahaha! I have a feeling we would be great friends outside with how similar our way of thinking is. It might be a bit insensitive to ask about such things, but I’m really curious about your reason for coming here.”

    “Oh, it’s fine, it’s not a secret or anything. I’m here to have fun. It gets boring being subjected to the monotonous routine and this party seemed to be a nice opportunity to try something new. And well… there certainly are plenty of things a man can feast his eyes on here,” I give him a similar talk as to the woman from before.

    “You never disappoint, haha! I feel you, my friend. Personally, I love collecting rare and exotic stuff. I’m hoping to get something special today. Surrounding myself with things pleasant to the eye is my way of living, so I get what you mean, haha!” He gives my shoulder a few slaps.

    A bell rings through the hall, announcing that the auction part will be starting soon.

    “Looks like it’s time for the main event. I wish you luck, my friend. But, you should know that I will not show any mercy if you try to steal something I’ve laid my eyes on, gotcha?” He chuckles a bit more and leaves. I get a feeling that this wasn’t just a friendly joke.

    The previously mentioned group of girls approaches me after he leaves.

    “Dear Sire, would you give us the pleasure of accompanying you during the bidding?” One of them asks while entwining her arm with mine and rubbing it against her cleavage.

    “How could I be so heartless to reject a request from such lovely ladies!” I raise my arms to allow other women to take a hold of me and walk towards the auction hall surrounded by beauties from every possible angle, gathering countless envious stares from other men as we stroll through the crowd.

    We sit down at one of the bigger sofas in a large hall with a beautiful, theatre-like scene with marvellous curtains. There are even hanging side-lodges in the walls above, like in a high-tier opera. Well, I’m happy with my cosy seat. Not many other people have so many gorgeous women leaning all over them.

    I spot my new friend a few rows before me. He’s sitting with another man who seems to be his butler or something. Someone walks out from behind the curtain and the auction starts.

    Let’s see if it’s the real deal and try to get someone out of this shithole.」
     
  10. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 29 – Pimp, Hero or a Saviour?
    The auctioneer welcomes all the guests that gathered here and starts explaining the rules of today's event. The merchandise will be introduced one by one, with some exceptions for bulk packages, and anyone can raise their hand to take part in the bidding. The price gets raised to the amount they offer or, if there’s no suggestion, by a specific number, to allow more seamless flow of the competition. 1 gold per bid under 25 coins, 5 per bid under 50, 10 per bid under 100, and the amount gets higher and higher along with the total price.

    After three calls from the last bid, the one who has given it wins the product and no one has any rights to complain. The slave will be delivered to the exchange room after all of the assortment gets presented, as the woman from before explained to me. There, people can trade their prizes with others, selling is also allowed. As long as the highest bidder claims ownership and pays up, the organization doesn’t involve itself with his decisions anymore. That said, any violence, extortion or malicious intent is prohibited as all guests are still under the protection of the hosts.

    No one voices out any disagreements and the leading man starts bringing forth slaves. While they do look better than most found in the slavery companies or at travelling slavers, those are still races that can be considered nothing more than uncommon. A lot of Beastkin, Elves, Dwarves of various characteristics are being presented at first. Nothing that surprising, they will most likely save the precious ones for the last. Not that many people bid in the first hour and the prices usually don’t reach 100 gold coins. A pure-blood black panther Beastkin male gets sold for the most.

    More rare merchandise starts being introduced after around two hours in. Lamias, Centaurs, Satyrs, Lizardfolk, Ogres and such. Also some aquatic races, but they do not garner that much attention due to the capital being located along the shoreline of the biggest ocean on this continent. Bidding prices start reaching hundreds depending on the shown individual. I send Cornelia a notice, saying that this might be the spot and they should start committing more forces to my position. I ask her to wait for my final decision before they act.

    Many people have joined the competition already, but Claw still sits on his sofa completely unmoved as if waiting for something. There were already at least a few quite unique slaves presented on the stage and yet he didn’t even try to bid for them. He told me that he’s a collector, so that’s a little suspicious behaviour. He does not look like someone who has to sacrifice everything to save his money for when something ultra-exotic shows up.

    I observe him cautiously for some more time, participating in the fight for a few slaves to show the crowd that I’m not completely passive. I join only the most heated races and overbid the winning person a few times to suck out more of their wealth before backing down. The girls all snuggle to me trying to cheer me up after supposedly ‘failed’ attempts, earning us even more angry glares from the men around and some jealous ones from their wives or partners.

    The latest slave leaves the scene with the presenter and most of the lights turn a few notches down, enveloping the chamber in dim light. Some of the lighting crystals are aimed towards the stage as he reappears and bows.

    “Ladies and Gentlemen! I believe it’s time to finally touch on some of the more valuable items we have to offer! Feast your eyes on the first gem of tonight's auction!”

    The crowd starts clapping enthusiastically while the man grabs the aforementioned slave and pulls them to the front. Suddenly, everyone begins cheering. An unimaginably beautiful Dark Elf woman appears from behind the curtains. Her long, bountiful purple hair goes perfectly with her dark brown skin and dazzling yet immensely elegant face. Besides metal manacles on her hands and feet, all chained together and pinned to the stage, she’s only wearing a thin and narrow piece of material in the fashion of a circle, hanging from her neck, barely covering the nipples of her voluptuous and perky breasts, and similarly semi-transparent, seductive loincloth protecting her nether regions.

    With a body that could make even a goddess jealous, she quickly wins every man’s attention. Her alluring figure captivates you the very moment you lay your eyes on that perfectly toned body. It’s no surprise that almost all males lost their minds when she was brought forth. Even being a demi-human can’t stop these racists from lusting after such beauty and the fact that Elves and Dark Elves are considered the least ‘inhumane’ just adds fuel to the lust fire. There’s no doubt that she would end up a sex toy, raped and abused until she breaks and loses her worth in the eyes of the owner, most likely getting disposed after.

    “As expected, this product has instilled quite the reaction! As you all are aware, Dark Elves are extremely rare in this part of the world and it just so happens that we have this exquisite specimen in our hands. And not only does she possess such a brilliant body, but she’s even an untouched virgin—”

    “FIVE HUNDRED GOLD COINS!”

    The man in the white tiger mask abruptly stands up and shouts from the top of his lungs, before the presenter even finishes his speech. I move my eyes to his position and see him standing there with his fists clenched strongly. From my spot, I catch a glimpse of the side of his face and just this little detail makes my eyes go wide. There’s no doubt that he’s smiling. And it’s not just your everyday smile, no, I can literally feel in my bones how twisted it must look under that mask.

    ~Begin… Now…~

    I quickly send Cornelia the signal to start the operation. I have a very bad feeling about this guy and even if no slave can leave the premises of this place before the event ends, I’m not going to take any risks with him giving off vibes like that. After his exclamation, the whole hall falls silent and no one dares to even look his way now. This is not your usual reaction, even if he sounded quite intimidating. Something is on.

    “Can you raise for me, baby?” I turn to one of the girls by my side and stroke her cheek.

    “Eh? Are you sure you want to go against… him?” She asks hesitantly.

    Yep. Looks like people do know that guy. All equal and anonymous, right.

    With my hand over her shoulder, I begin tracing circles above her exposed cleavage. “Don’t worry, he’s nothing compared to me, sweetie. Hit him hard.” I chuckle and she giggles a bit while squirming under my caresses.

    “Five hundred for the second ti—”

    “Eight hundred~♪”

    Before the auctioneer confirms the bid for the second time, a melodic voice travels through the silent hall, topping the previous amount. Everyone looks towards its source and their gazes land on me, sitting, or rather almost lying, while surrounded by a bunch of gorgeous women. Claw also turns around and spots me. I wave my hand at him nonchalantly.

    “You!”

    People start whispering amongst themselves, most likely shocked that someone dared to stand up to the previous bidder. Suddenly, shivers run down my spine and my eyes instinctively move to the person sitting near the white tiger guy. I just know that he’s staring daggers at me very intently. I can feel our gazes lock even through the masks.

    He feels dangerous. I better keep an eye on that dude.

    “NINE HUNDRED!” Claw obviously doesn’t just sit back down and raises the bid.

    I bump another girl with my elbow.

    “One thousand~♪”

    “Wha—?!”

    Looks like he didn’t expect me to continue, perhaps assuming that I wanted to just tease him a little. Too bad, I’m going to play this game until the very end. Let’s see how much money he can cough up.

    “FIFTEEN HUNDRED!” He shouts to the auctioneer and turns back to me with arms crossed over his chest.

    I give more instructions to the girls so that they can top him instantly, without waiting for my orders.

    “Two thousand~♪”

    He drops his hands in shock. “I told you to not get in my way, didn’t I?! Twenty-two hundred!”

    “I don’t remember agreeing though.” I nod my head and another girl raises the bid.

    “Three thousand, hehehe~♪”

    He takes a step back, wavering a little. “Is this the fun you’ve been looking for?!” he shouts at me accusingly.

    “I mean… I guess? The ladies here seem to be having lots of fun, no?” I spread my arms and shrug while the women giggle to each other and stroke my chest or the sides of my face.

    “Fuck off, you prick! Back down now or I’ll make sure to completely erase your whole lineage to the very last, living root!” He clenches his fists again while shouting his threats.

    “Oi, oi. Is this how a fair auction is supposed to be conducted? Your dirty mouth will cost you a bit since I felt offended. Go for it, my dear.”

    “Fifteen thousand, ohohohohoho~♪”

    Everyone gasps from the sudden increase while Claw looks utterly shook by it. His butler helps him catch the balance before he falls.

    “No way! There’s no way some no-name has so much money! He’s just fucking around! I demand you to kick him out!”

    He furiously turns towards the auctioneer which slowly starts panicking, glancing from him to me in turns, seemingly judging if he can risk upsetting this guy even more by not complying. He might have partially accepted that I may be some hidden bigshot.

    “Verify it then, I don’t mind.”

    I wave my hand at the presenter and he quickly jumps off the stage and runs to me. I extend my hand and let him take a peek inside my storage ring. He goes almost completely pale after noticing the sheer number of platinum coins, which should border around five hundred. Of course, they are not completely mine, it’s just borrowed money specifically for this operation and I’ll return it to the King immediately after. The man steps back and prostrates himself before me, surprising all the onlookers and evoking even more whispers of confusion. He stands up and confirms my bid for the second time without moving back from my spot.

    “WHAT?! Are you fucking kidding me?! How much money does this asshole ha—”

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

    A big explosion occurs somewhere near and the whole hall shakes heavily, making many people who are standing fall to the ground.

    *BOOOOOOOOOOOM*

    Another one follows soon after but from the opposite side. Looks like the party is on the way to its encore. Everyone starts screaming and looking around. Someone bursts in through one of the entrances in the back while shouting.

    “WE HAVE BEEN EXPOSED! EVERYONE RUN!”

    As if a few screams weren’t enough, the chamber gets flooded by shouts and shrieks as people begin rushing towards all exits, trampling each other along the way. No rules apply, just run before they get you. Nothing surprising, most of those people are just some sheltered nouveau riche kiddos seeking attention and I bet they barely know how to defend themselves. Some sounds of battle arrive from the open doorways. Metal clashing against metal, more screaming, magical effects from spells and such. It’s not that the King’s men are slaughtering everyone, their objective is to capture people alive for interrogation, but employees and guards from the organization don’t plan to go down without a fight.

    All the girls who were around me are already long gone. Only a few unlucky men and women, picking themselves up from the ground, are still in the hall, and like seven guards on the sides.

    “Iyyyyyaaaa!”

    A scream of a woman hits my ears and I instantly turn around.

    This fucker!

    When everyone was running for their lives, Claw rushed to the stage and is currently wrestling with the Elf girl on top of it. She’s trying to push him away while he struggles to unhook the part of her chains which is locked to the floor. I quickly drop the mask, pull out a violet cloth belt from my ring and tie it around my head. All soldiers should have been briefed about this symbol, making them recognize me as an ally. I break into a run towards the scene as a few of the assailants reach this chamber and begin their skirmish with the guards.

    I use Voidal Bondage to summon four Void Chains while I approach the stage and restrict his hands and feet with constraints rising from around him. As I jump onto the platform, he finally notices me charging at him.

    “Zaaaaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed! Kill that bastard right now!”

    Before I reach the guy, the butler crosses my path.

    “Young Master does not have to worry himself, I’ll gladly dispose of this trash in a blink.”

    He brings out two large knives, almost as big as shortswords, from under the back of his suit. Taking off his rabbit mask, he assumes a fighting stance in front of me.

    Old man with grey hair, check. Servant to some bratty young master, check. Double knives and an aura of an expert, check. Yep. Definitely lethal. 2/10, wouldn’t recommend.

    I quickly take out my silvery hilt and activate it, shaping up a shortsword first. My opponent hesitates for a moment seeing the weird smoke coil around my arm and create a colourful, fade purple blade in my hand. I point it to the ground by my side in a neutral stance. I can go for lots of moves from it.

    “I’ve already blinked thrice yet I’m still standing, old man. I’d say you are the first one to wither away if we engage in a waiting contest.” I try provoking him, but he doesn’t take the bait that easily.

    Just staring won’t get us anywhere, so I summon more Void Chains and try catching him, but the butler swiftly dances around the void ropes striking from the ground, evading the next six attempts with ease. His reaction speed is quite something. After the last one, he finally lunges at me with his knives.

    I manage to block the first attack, making it slide along my own blade to the side, but he promptly follows with a myriad of cuts and thrusts in close quarters, pushing me back with each action. Somehow, I’m able to avoid any deep wounds while parrying his attacks, but his relentless barrage doesn’t give me even the slightest opportunity for a counter. The difference in our skill and battle experience is obvious and time definitely works to his advantage.

    Revitalizing my body with Rejuvenate, I act like I’m stumbling over my own feet. He doesn’t let go of this chance and launches a forward, x-shaped slash right into my chest. Before it connects, I firmly fix my faked posture and block it by holding my sword vertically with two hands. His knives bounce off the sides of my blade with a loud clink and I push him back with a shoulder bash.

    Finally gaining a chance for a counterattack, I begin my own flurry of blows, inserting as much strength into my slices as I can muster, since power is the only way for me to beat his high agility. He gracefully parries or evades most of my attacks but these that hit, throw his guard around, evoking a slight grimace on his face with each contact.

    Thank god the other guy is a pussy or I’d stand no chance in two against one with my current abilities.

    We engage in a wild dance with metal clashing against metal, or perhaps metal clashing against crystalized mana, but who cares. None of us gains any significant advantage and I can’t really use my recently acquired trump card thoughtlessly. With his reflexes and smarts, he won’t fall for it twice. At the same time, I can’t keep draining my mana reserves with Rejuvenate forever.

    *BOOOOOOOOOM*

    Another explosion occurs and he wavers a little on his feet. I quickly launch myself at the butler with a straight thrust, aiming for his heart. Just as my blade is going to puncture his body, a rogue smirk appears on his face and his whole posture blurs, disappearing from my sight. I’ve fallen for his feint, but I’m not that stupid to not realize what’s coming after. I frantically jump forwards and feel one of his knives leave a shallow, horizontal cut on my shoulder line from behind. A second slower and that would have been my neck.

    I fall onto the ground and roll to my back just to see two blades coming down straight at me. I barely react in time, but manage to block them by positioning my sword flat on my left forearm in front of my face. He succeeds in pinning me down with his knives just centimetres from my neck. We enter a strength contest.

    “That was a decent fight, but it seems like you lack any significant offensive skills and trying to challenge me with just your techniques was your bane, youngling.” He smiles while applying more body weight onto me.

    “Yeah… I might be lacking… in skills… but I have… something better… old man...”

    I try to speak without giving him more chances to push further and he raises his brow at me. I am the one who starts smirking this time.

    “Creativity!”

    All at once, I push myself upwards, dematerialize the blade and lock my legs around his waist. The knives fall through the smoke, but only graze the sides of my neck due to my sudden movement, leaving two shallow cuts on it, still painful though. As his eyes widen in surprise, I entwine my arms behind his neck and pull myself closer, hitting his forehead with mine, but not as an attack. I cast Carnal Mist at its full power, creating the smoke in my lungs and strongly blow it straight at his face.

    He lets go of his weapons and rolls to the side, coughing heavily. Veins start popping up wherever his skin is visible and his eyes literally roll backwards. I materialize my weapon again and approach him frantically rolling around while scraping his face. Before the effect takes over his body completely, turning him into a sex-craving beast, I swiftly behead the butler.

    I heal the wounds on my neck just enough so they don’t bleed and take a glance around. A few of the knights are engaged in a fight with the organization’s guards on the other end of the hall while the masked bastard stands behind the Elf girl, holding a knife to her throat.

    “Why?! Why, why, why, why?! Why do you target me?!” he screams at me.

    I furrow my brows in confusion. “Target you? You mean the bidding?”

    “You stole everything from me! All the women's attention I’ve garnered went to shit when you appeared! You strolled through every corner of this damned place, seducing every girl I worked my ass off to make fawn over me! And if that wasn’t enough, you even went for the slave I’ve chosen! What are you after?!”

    Oh, for fuck’s sake, this kid is a definition of an attention whore...

    I slowly walk towards him while spreading my arms. “Listen, I didn’t mean to clash with you, they all just flocked to me without a reason, okay?”

    “Don’t take even one more step further!”

    I shake my head after stopping. “It doesn’t have to end like this, Claw.”

    “Fuck you! If I can’t have her, no one will! Especially not you! Drop your weapon right now or I’ll slice off her head!”

    I sigh, make the blade disappear and wave the hilt at him. “Look. I turned the artifact off. Now, I’m going to drop it to the ground in front of your eyes, so don’t hurt her.”

    “Just fucking do it!” he shouts, pressing the knife harder to her skin.

    I hold the relic between my fingers by the crystal on its end and release it while looking him in the eyes, visible through the holes in his mask.

    “Good. Now step back and go fuck yourse—”

    As the dragon’s maw approaches the ground, I close my eyes and focus my mind on it. I feel some of my mana leave my body as I keep the hilt envisioned in my head.

    *SHIIIIIIIIIING*

    The man stops talking after a familiar sound reaches my ears. I open my eyes, which are directed to the ground, and see the handle with its materialized blade shoved halfway into the floor, surrounded by some of the purple mist. Moving my gaze up, I spot a wide, violet sword, sticking out vertically from the ground between the guy’s legs, reaching even higher than his head, splitting him cleanly into two perfect halves. I wince a little while imagining the scene of it emerging from the ground and puncturing that certain part of his body.

    The Elf woman turns around, surprised by the sudden silence and the knife falling from the hand of her assailant, and cries out in shock, watching as the two parts of him lean to the sides and hit the ground with a soundly plop, leaving just the big blade behind her.

    “Ahhhhh!”

    She subconsciously tries moving away, but still being chained to the floor, she just falls down too. I dispel all my magic, grab the hilt, collect the butler’s weapons into my ring and walk closer to her. She looks at me slightly terrified. Kneeling by her side, I extend my hand towards her and speak in Elvish.

    “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. If you follow me, I can get you out of this place safely.”

    Her eyes widen when hearing me speak her language and she visibly hesitates, glancing over the man’s body and my smiling face. I look to the side just in time to notice a stray Firebolt flying straight at her. Without a moment of hesitation, I quickly cover her with my own body and the spell hits my back, turning to ashes a chunk of my clothes, scorching part of my skin and pushing me slightly forward.

    “Guuh! Fuuuuuuck!”

    I groan after hitting the ground.

    “Saviour!”

    The woman breaks out from her hesitation and calls to me while crawling to my position.

    I cast Rejuvenate at its full power to quickly patch up the wound and notice another type of warmth entering my body. Turning my head around, I see the Elf barely reaching my back with her hands and casting some kind of healing magic. With combined efforts, we manage to deal with it pretty quickly and I sit up near her while keeping an eye on the guys fighting on the other side.

    “Thank you.” I bow my head to her.

    “No, I should be one giving thanks to you. And I’m sorry. It was all because I hesitated.” She bows hers even lower.

    Being this close to her, I start noticing some finer details, like silvery rings piercing her long ears or how graceful her whole posture looks, besides the already obvious, alluring body with large breasts. I can hardly keep myself from staring at those impressive mountains. I stand up and help her do the same before she notices my lewd gaze.

    “Will you trust me then? I have a place where you can take shelter for the time, and you will be free to leave it anytime.”

    She smiles and nods. “Yes. I’ll leave myself in your hands, my Saviour.”

    I’ve been called many things in my life, but it’s the first time someone addresses me as a saviour. Even though I don’t want to show that it makes me a little excited and proud, the faint smile appearing on my face as I break her chains with my sword, completely betrays me. I extend my hand to her and she grabs it with confidence.

    After taking two steps, I feel like I’m tugging her, so I turn around and see her looking back to where the curtain is. She clenches her other hand into a fist as if resolving herself, and turns to me with a slightly forced smile, beginning to run again.

    I grab her by the shoulder. “What is it?”

    She shakes her head. “It’s nothing. I can’t inconvenience my Saviour even more.”

    “Your Saviour tells you to speak.” I look straight into her pretty, violet eyes.

    “Some of my… subjects… are still being held in the storage chamber at the back. But I can’t possibly—”

    “But I’m the one making the final decision here, right? Lead the way.” I gesture with my eyes for her to go the opposite way than we were planning to.

    She smiles enchantingly, nods and begins guiding me towards the backstage while still holding onto my hand. I give her the knives just in case and we push our way through the guards without too many issues. With her acting as a frontliner, I can focus on attacking from unexpected angles with my whip and Void Chains. She’s quite nimble and well-versed in combat too, so she just focuses on dodging and striking safely.

    We reach the storage room with cages in around fifteen minutes. There are tens of slaves still locked here. She quickly leads me further into the chamber and stops by one almost completely covered from each side.

    “It’s here. They should still be inside.” She looks at me expectantly.

    I take a big swing and easily slice through the lock in the gate. This mana blade is really sharp and cuts through iron or even weaker steel like through butter. The Elf opens the cage and jumps inside. Shortly after, she guides five other Dark Elf women outside, all of them being not that far from their friend’s gorgeous figure. They line up in front of me and bow politely after the first one quickly explains that I’m her saviour. There is just one small problem...

    “Oh come, fucking, on! You had at least these cloths barely covering anything, yet why do all of them have to be completely naked?”

    I rub my temples and speak in Elvish as the sight of 5 stark-naked elf beauties enters my eyes. Ten voluptuous breasts sway in front of my face, waving their perky nipples and dark areolas at me while small patches of hair peek out from above their nether regions. With each small movement, their alluring bodies just send waves of seductive signals at me, and even a little bit of juicy pink flashes from time to time from between their legs.

    The only dressed one steps to the front. “I’m sorry, I should have let you know beforehand, my Saviour. I didn’t think that looking at our bare bodies might be unpleasant…” She bows even lower than before with a tinge of guilt in her voice, misunderstanding my question completely.

    “Unpleasant? Yes, it’s extremely unpleasant. As much as trying to fight for your life with a throbbing hard-on can be.”

    I roll my eyes and literally point at my crotch. All of them follow my gesture and their dark brown cheeks show a little bit of barely visible crimson after they spot a visible bulge down there.

    “We better find you something to cover yourselves or I’ll have to walk the whole way back like a penguin,” I say while mimicking the movements of one.

    Some of the girls giggle and the main one smiles kindly. “I’ll thank you for this compliment on behalf of all of us, dear Saviour. We’ll try to pick something up from the fallen guards along the way.”

    “Good. And I’m Alastair. Al for short. No need to call me Saviour the whole time. I haven’t yet managed to save you anyway.”

    “My name is Elea and those girls are my subjects. I think it will be better to introduce all of them in a safer place to not cloud Saviours mind with unnecessary names. You can refer to them by their hair as of now,” she explains while gesturing over them.

    “As Princess suggests.” The one with short, silvery-white hair agrees.

    Figured out she’s some kind of a royal with all the subject talk before. Oh well, I guess I’m a Hero saving a kidnapped Princess now.

    “Great. Let’s move. Everyone stick close to me and grab a weapon if you find one. Time to get out of here before one of the explosions disintegrates something much more important than a bunch of slavers.”
     
  11. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 30 – The Escape
    Before we begin moving, I take one more glance at all the cages stored around. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of them and releasing every captive wouldn’t take too much time. The problem is, with all the chaos that is taking place everywhere, it could be really dangerous for a mob of slaves to run through the complex. They could easily get hurt by either the organization or the knights by accident.

    At the same time, leaving them locked like this is also quite risky. If the building's structure gets damaged in some crucial parts, the whole thing can come crashing down at any moment, burying all slaves here alive, and various offensive spells flying around and hitting walls don’t help this scenario even a bit.

    Both options are shit, but I decide to go with the first one. I can’t protect that many people with me so they will have to count on themselves or each other. Many if not all, will most likely be stopped by the knights stationed at all possible entrances to the building, but that’s still better than ending as a bloody smudge after the ceiling falls down. And the soldiers would search through the whole place after the organization is dealt with so the outcome doesn’t change anyway.

    Fuck! I promised others to prioritize my own safety, yet here I am, getting swayed by my emotions again. Whatever happens, happens.

    I turn to the elf beauties waiting for my orders. “Let’s run around and open the cages first. That’s the least I can do for them in this situation.”

    We proceed with the plan and break all the locks in around ten minutes. During our little detour, the girls all pick up a sword or a knife, and more importantly, cover themselves with some shirts and pants, also from the fallen guards. The thought that they are all still going full commando just can’t get out of my head when they run alongside me.

    We arrive back at the auction hall and see the knights getting upper hand over the remaining criminals. Promptly joining the fray, I support them by restraining targets with my whip or distracting them via other means. The battle in this chamber quickly comes to an end, with only a few of the King’s men losing their lives. I inform the rest that backstage and storages are clear and they scatter towards other parts of the underground mansion.

    Moving cautiously in our own little unit, we focus on getting outside, but still help the good guys along our way. The elves do seem to have some fighting experience or training, but nothing too outstanding. Their strongest point lies in their coordination. All six of the dark-skinned girls move around each other flawlessly, confusing their opponents by repeatedly switching positions with their nearby comrades, like they are one in body and mind. Individually, even I shouldn’t have too much of an issue when facing them, but as a unit, it changes the game completely. They have definitely known each other for a long time.

    Without that much trouble, we finally reach the main hall and, oh boy, it’s a mess. Looks like the biggest battle takes place right here. And somehow, the bad guys took their stand literally in front of the exit so we will have to go through them to run outside. How in hell did they end up there instead of the other side of the hall is a mystery to me.

    “Let’s make groups. Elea with me, silver with black, then white and brown with grey. Just help the knights get an upper hand so we can push through,” I point at everyone as I team them up.

    They nod and we run forward to engage with the main enemy group. From their equipment, it looks like we are against an archer, two mages, three swordsmen and one pretty tough-looking guy who swings an impressive greatsword, straight from fantasy games and fiction. The blade is like 20cm wide or so. Dude must be strong as hell or his Class features some kind of physical strengthening ability.

    “Take out the archer and the mages first.”

    I nod at the two groups of women on my sides and they increase their speed, heading towards their appointed opponents.

    “We’ll try to tackle the big guy.” I glance at Elea and she readies her knives. “Be careful, he seems strong.”

    “I won’t disappoint you, my Saviour,” she says with a determined face.

    We slowly reach our prey, which is currently decimating common soldiers while repelling the stronger ones back. The mages prevent any more serious spells from hitting him while he deals with the knights. Must be some kind of an elite group amongst their ranks, focusing on defending the big guy as he deals damage. Hopefully, the other girls can deal with them while we make him focus on us.

    A buff-looking bald guy in a ripped suit, with a heavy double-handed sword, finally notices us approaching and makes a wide, horizontal swing our way. I furrow my brows at his pointless display of strength, but then, the carpet on our path towards him starts wriggling like a snake coming our way.

    Shit!

    “Duck!” I shout.

    Elea glances at me as I hastily step closer and throw both of us onto the ground. Not that long after, a wave of force passes above us with a ferocious wind which hits us hard. Screams of pain soon follow and we take a peek behind us to see three knights cut in half at waist’s length.

    He even has ranged attacks?! How is that fair?!

    Quickly getting up, we break into a dash again, this time being much more attentive to our enemy’s movements. I have no chance with my puny shortsword against him, so I switch my artifact into its whip mode and make a few warm-up lashes at the guards we pass by. The man starts running to meet us in the middle, with a confident smile.

    He launches himself up from the ground and aims a powerful vertical swing at our position. We hastily sidestep out of its path and the sword hits the stone pavement with a loud thud, cracking the floor in a process. Elea tries to make use of this chance to slash his back but gets kicked in the stomach and flies backwards a few meters. He uses the kick to spin himself around and slash at me horizontally. I evade by stepping back just in time and counter with a lash aimed at his head, but he blocks it with his forearm.

    Damn, he means trouble. And I’m running like half a tank of my mana. I need to save some for the way further.

    The warrior places his greatsword on the shoulders and smirks at us. I could go with bait-and-bite tactics and tire him out since my Constitution is really high, but time isn’t exactly on our side. I start smacking him with my whip and hoping for a chance. It comes when he decides to block one of my attacks with his sword and the purple rope coils around his blade. He must have expected to easily cut my unimpressive weapon with a simple swing, but the material proves to be outstandingly durable. I mean, that’s also crystallized mana, right? Or rather, materialized.

    Nevertheless, I don’t plan on wasting this opportunity and run past him while avoiding another slash. Still running, I pull the whip with all my strength. It’s not enough to snatch the weapon from his hands, but I manage to slightly throw him off-balance and that’s all I needed. Elea does her part perfectly and gracefully pierces his extended left arm around the armpit, sinking both of her blades deep into his flesh.

    The man screams in pain and tries to swat her away, but expecting a counterattack, Elea ducks early. Unfortunately, she isn’t able to avoid another powerful kick, but she at least crosses her arms in front of her before it connects. The warrior’s left arm hangs down unresponsively. I switch back to a sword and dash at him to land one more slash while he’s focused on my partner.

    “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

    Before I reach his body, he makes a powerful shout and a burst of force pushes me back, making me fall to the ground. I look up as he tears his clothes off with his working arm while screaming angrily. His face twists in pure fury and madness and his muscles tense to the extreme. He picks up his sword with just one hand and rushes towards me.

    Rage Mode too? Fucking Berserkers...

    Judging the situation dangerous enough, I dematerialize my blade and shove it into the ground, calling forth the purple path of death. Many giant swords rise from the floor and wound him heavily, but he pushes through them only flinching a little. With his torso massively bleeding out, he reaches the spot where I lie and starts ferociously slamming down his weapon, while I frantically roll around, avoiding all lethal strikes.

    Elea launches a myriad of cuts at his back, but he doesn’t even react, just keeps pounding the ground while trying to obliterate me. He finally notices the elf girl when she jumps in front of him and lands a decent cut on his wrist, making the sword slip out of the Berserker’s hand. I swiftly crouch up, transmute my weapon into a whip and coil it around his wrist, pulling to the side before it reaches her. And while I somehow manage to alter its trajectory, making him hit the ground, I unfortunately misjudge my own strength when compared to a raging Berserker and he pulls on the rope, launching me up into the air.

    “Whoooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

    I don’t even have enough time to release my grip on the handle as he slams me down on the other side with an astounding force, sending me crashing against the floor.

    “Guuhh!”

    I bounce off the ground and land on my stomach a meter further, coughing up a bit of blood. My whole body hurts like hell. I raise my head to check on the guy. Elea dodges and weaves around his fist, creating tens of cuts in his body, but they are too shallow and she’s visibly getting slower and slower, taking a few punches on her forearms when guarding. I glance around to quickly check on others and they seem to be doing fine, almost finishing dealing with the backline.

    “Gyyaaaaahhh!”

    My eyes shot back to the main guy after hearing Elea scream. The Berserker landed a solid hit straight onto her stomach, sending her flying back and slamming against a stone balustrade just near the point of our fight, which crumbles into dust from the impact. He starts slowly walking towards the elf girl buried under the created rubble.

    Stand up! Stand up! FUUUUUUCK!

    I push myself off the ground while trying to ease as much pain as I can with my healing skill. If not for my high Constitution, I’d have most likely ended up splattered with that last slam, or at least with lots of broken bones, but thankfully, I’m just profoundly sore all around. Supporting myself with my hands on my knees, I manage to get up. A shout of anger and rustling of stones reach my ears and I watch as the enraged guy picks Elea by the throat and hangs her high in the air, trying to crush it.

    “Nghhhhghghhhhhhhhhnnn!”

    She struggles to break free, but without the knives, she can’t do anything to his hand. I notice the trio of elf girls beginning to run towards us, but they get entangled in another encounter shortly after. Gritting my teeth, I break into a jog and pick up the lying draconic hilt on my path. Activating it, I summon a whip and wrap it around my left hand. Reaching the Berserker, I jump onto his back, dig my knees into it and begin strangling him with all my might, using the rope like a garrotte.

    Don’t need to feel pain to suffocate! Now die!

    I pull the whip back to my utmost limits, yet his grip on Elea’s throat still tightens with each passing second. Just a little more and he’ll definitely crush her windpipe. She’s getting increasingly pale. Our gazes meet and she extends a pleading hand towards me, slowly starting to lose consciousness.

    I should have shaped a goddamn sword and sliced his head off!

    “I DON’T CARE HOW, JUST FUCKING DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

    Instead of knees, I move my legs up and dig my heels deep into his back while desperately pulling back the whip. I sacrifice half of my remaining mana and send it to the relic, shouting at it in my mind to do something, anything to save her. I feel a quarter more getting sucked out of my body and suddenly all the resistance around the man’s neck disappears, making my legs launch me backwards off his body.

    After hitting the ground, I look up at him still standing at the previous spot, with just a single, little detail that changed. He’s headless now. I watch as all the strength leaves his body and he finally releases Elea from his grasp, just to lifelessly fall back onto the ground.

    Following a trail of blood from his body towards me, I find the decapitated head lying somewhere in the middle of us. Utterly confused, I glance at my right hand which still holds the artifact and my eyes widen in surprise. It’s still in the whip form, but the rope has become almost completely flattened and there are sections of small and wide version of the purplish double-edged shortsword blades facing both ways attached to it. It’s a perfect example of a weapon that’s called a whip sword.

    Breaking out of my astonishment, I move to Elea and begin easing up her pain a little. She soon gets better enough to add her own healing into the treatment and recovers much faster than with just my Rejuvenate alone.

    “Thank… you…”

    She whispers barely audible words with a lot of effort, having a warm smile on her face. I shush her down so she doesn’t strain her injured voice chords even more. The trio group finally overcomes their difficulty and rushes to our position to keep us safe while the two of us recover. Glancing around, I spot the other duo doing fine too. The fact that we haven’t gotten nailed with any arrows while fighting proves that.

    I help the Princess stand and we begin walking up the stairs towards the exit, with all our members together. The battle here is slowly dying out, but still quite far from its end. It’s not my task to take part in it, I have to leave as soon as possible to not endanger the girls even more.

    Just as we reach the top of the stairs, the hall starts trembling. We turn around and scan the battlefield, noticing a group of mages beginning to multicast some kind of an earth-based spell, aimed towards us, or rather at the entrance. They most likely plan to block it to prevent more reinforcements from entering and others from escaping. We won’t reach the main gate before they finish, the elf girls won’t make it to them in time and I’m too spent after all this to be able to cast that sword skill again from such distance. Our only hope lies in the soldiers, but they are too busy with their own little skirmishes to head for them.

    “Tsch…” I click my tongue in annoyance and turn to the women while taking off my cloth headpiece. “Take this and run. The knights shouldn’t stop you. I’ll try to at least distract the mages or something. I just need to get into the range of my skill,” I tell them while trying to judge how far I can spawn my Carnal Mist.

    I revitalize my body using almost all mana that’s left and start running. Or at least that was my intention because Elea grabs my arm and stops me.

    “No! We can’t just leave you here!” she shouts while shaking her head.

    “There’s no time! Go! The soldiers are on my side, I’ll manage somehow!”

    “But…”

    While she hesitates, the magicians are slowly finishing generating a huge boulder above their heads which will soon get launched at us like a small meteor.

    It’s too late now...

    Bracing ourselves for the upcoming impact, we focus on evading the hurling sphere as it will be heading towards the gate. Before they finish the spell though, an unexpected chilly breeze hits us from behind, and I swear it gets cold enough to see our breaths in the air. Soon after, we watch as three huge crystal-clear javelins form above each of the casters’ head. Without giving them even a fraction of a second to react, those icy spears plunge down onto them, impaling their bodies to the ground. Their spell breaks and the boulder also falls down, squashing them into three bloody puddles.

    We all glance back and a familiar silhouette enters my vision.

    “Well, well, well… Shouldn’t the Hero be the one saving the damsel in distress and not the other way around?”

    Cornelia stands in the middle of the gate with her hand extended our way and a smug grin on her face. She’s dressed in her representative, purplish magician robes and holds a pretty well-known to me, silver staff, in her other palm.

    “Cornelia! Oh, I love you so fucking much, my dazzling Ice Queen, hahaha!”

    I break into a laugh, realizing that we are now saved. She’s a Tier 3 Ice Sorcerer and should be almost full on mana as of right now. She fidgets a little when my sudden, joyful remark reaches her ears. I quickly run up to her with my Dark Elf party.

    “You came alone?” I ask, pulling her into a hug.

    “I was leading my squad through the maze, but felt you in pain so I rushed ahead while following your presence—... Wait! Your back?!” She notices the lack of clothes on my backside after embracing me.

    “It’s fine. One of my new friends took care of it. We’ll check on that later, let’s get out of here first.”

    “Right. Follow me, I left traces of my mana along the way back.” She nods, turns around and we run outside.

    We enter the labyrinth of corridors and as she mentioned, Cornelia confidently takes her turns while following some kind of a path. She’s the first one to strike up a conversation as we make our escape.

    “I knew it wouldn’t take you long to find your first world-class beauty, but seriously, six of them at once?”

    She glances back at the elves, checking out the almost completely naked Elea and other women whose seductive charms are barely contained by tight male shirts, threatening to rip themselves into pieces at any too sudden movement.

    I chuckle. “That’s incorrect. I’ve already met one on my very first day here.”

    She stares at me with furrowed brows, trying to recall the past. Soon after, she blushes intensely, realizing who I’m talking about.

    “Oh, shush, you.” She returns her gaze forward, still with crimson on her cheeks.

    “I mean it.” I chuckle again seeing how hard she tries to keep her composure.

    Unfortunately, our little flirting session gets interrupted by a group of completely irrelevant mobs. They do not look like the King’s men so there’s just only one other possibility. Spotting us, they draw their weapons out. There’s seven of them and all seem to be melee types.

    “Damn, I’m barely running on fumes after all this,” I share my lack of mana with Cornelia.

    “Don’t worry, I’ll take it from here on. I don’t get too many chances to show you that I’m not just a shut-in bookworm.” She winks at me teasingly.

    I smile and move to the back, leaving the front to her. I’ve only seen her train a few times at the castle grounds, never how powerful her abilities are in real combat. She hasn’t been chosen to fill in the Court Magician spot during his absence solely because of her knowledge.

    First two enemies break into a dash towards her. She smirks and begins spinning her staff in circles in the front.

    “Piercing Blizzard!”

    Soon after her chant ends, a blueish magic circle appears in the air and hundreds of little pieces of ice shoot from it at the assailants. One gets stabbed to death with them instantly, while the other somehow manages to slowly push through the storm of projectiles with just light grazes here and there. Cornelia stops rotating her staff, places her hand on the wall and three impressive icicles emerge from both sides of the corridor around the remaining attacker, ripping him into shreds.

    Others don’t seem to be stupid enough to rush alone again, but it looks like they aren’t exactly that smart either or they would have started running away already. Instead, they decide to push together, positioning guys with the biggest swords in the front, creating a makeshift shield to cover their vitals as they approach.

    Our Ice Queen scoffs at their poor attempt and summons a whirring javelin above her shoulder, launching it at the desperate bastards with a wave of her hand. It easily drills through the fake buckler and leaves a gaping hole in the stomachs of two other people after passing through them.

    The remaining three criminals break the half-point and split, running at different positions, switching places with each other frequently. She raises her staff up like a certain well-known wizard from popular fantasy books and slams its bottom into the ground, sending a narrow wave of sharp ice pillars emerging from the floor, which obliterates the middle guy.

    This gives his partners enough time to finally arrive in front of the sorcerer and the guy with a longsword steps forward to slash at her after she misses him with a smaller projectile. Cornelia, already prepared for that, makes just a single step back and watches as her assailant’s foot slips on an ice puddle she created earlier, making him majestically fall onto his back. The guy with a war axe uses his friend as a footstep and launches himself upwards to plunge into the magician from up close and above, smiling widely while knowing that she won’t have enough time to cast another spell.

    Unfortunately, he is mistaken. Cornelia touches the top of her silvery staff with an open palm and traces a downwards arching path with it. She makes a few quick spins, and using both of her hands, she cleaves the poor guy in half with her freshly created ice scythe while he’s still mid-air, and dodges his two falling body pieces with a breathtaking gracefulness. She steps closer to the last guy while holding her bloodied scythe and swiftly beheads him as he struggles to get on all fours over the ice.

    She looks back at us with a confident and proud smile. “Never assume that a magician is hopeless in close-quarters combat.” She makes a few more spins with her weapon and dissolves the blade.

    The girls start clapping after her beautiful show of power and I walk up to Cornelia with a wide smile of amazement.

    “How can someone be so hot and so cool at the same time. You are going to break the universe if you keep it up,” I throw a little pun-compliment at her.

    “Stop teasing me all the time! Gosh…” She makes a pout with a slightly flushed face.

    “Hahaha, sorry. You were really amazing. I stand no chance against you. I’m glad to be your friend.” I pat her on the shoulder a few times, making her smile proudly again.

    We get out of the labyrinth without any further encounters and emerge in some side alley between two buildings.

    “So, what now?” I ask our guide.

    “I had a feeling that you won’t come back with just a single person so I’ve hidden a few traveller’s cloaks just a bit further. You get one too. Walking around in a suit patterned with an uncountable number of cuts and a huge, scorched hole on the back is quite eye-catching.” She leads us to the secret stash.

    “I’m so blessed having such a smart woman helping me out.”

    “Yeah, yeah. You better appreciate that properly.” She waves me away, hiding her smile. “Do your new friends not know Common?”

    I turn to the elf girls with a similar thought. They didn’t talk at any other moment than near the cages or during our fights, and I’m pretty sure we communicated in Elvish the whole time.

    “Elea, do you and your friends know only Elvish?” I ask while we are covering ourselves with the cloaks.

    “I can decently understand Common and am able to poorly voice out my intentions with a bit of struggle, but others have a hard time to even piece out most of the words they hear. They can get the meaning, but just barely, and possibly with some misunderstandings.”

    I relay the answer to Cornelia and she nods in understanding.

    “I’ll have you function as an intermediary then. I can use Elvish, and I think Cornelia knows a little bit of it too, but when speaking with others, you’ll translate for both sides since you have the best understanding. Sorry to trouble you so much, but you will have to relay messages from and towards your friends.”

    “I understand. That’s not an issue. This is the most convenient and efficient way of communicating.” She bows a little and all other girls follow, making Cornelia raise an eyebrow.

    I scratch my head with an awkward smile. “They are just a little too grateful for saving them. Let’s go. We’ll talk more at home.”

    We garner a bit of attention while we walk back, but it doesn’t look like what’s happening below has reached the ears of common residents and it’s just your typical attention that a numerous group travelling in identical cloaks during the night can gather. This time, I avoid my previous mistake and let the girls know who they can expect to see. They all have quite surprised reactions to hearing about me living with two Queen Slimes and a Dwarf.

    We don’t have that much distance to cover, so I leave most of the details for later and only explain that I created a safe place for non-human races to rest and recuperate and that it also will function as a brothel in the future. And obviously, the part that they aren’t obliged to stay and can leave at any moment, but I advise them to take some time before deciding on that. The city might get a little hectic for a few days since there’s no way that tonight’s events won’t somehow leak to the public. I guess the King should have an announcement prepared already if he’s smart enough. It should be easy to turn into positive propaganda of the kingdom getting rid of a criminal organization.

    Anyway, we reach our destination and enter the mansion’s premises. Sirgia, Safi and Emi obviously camp the entrance battle-ready and jump at me instantly after I open the door. Cornelia guides the girls to the bath first while I let myself get snuggled and cuddled on one of the sofas in the main hall, having the little dwarf on my lap and two jelly girls on my sides.

    A few minutes later, I give each one a gentle kiss on the lips and shortly explain the situation, promising to fill them in on all that happened at a later date. We all move to the kitchen to prepare dinner for us and the elves. I order everyone to rest after we finish eating, saying that we’ll talk properly about everything tomorrow. The new girls take a few rooms in one of the upper wings for now.

    Just like last night, Safi, Emi and Sirgia end up in my bed again. I pamper them a lot before we fall asleep together.
     
  12. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 31 – The Tale of the Dark Elf Princess
    I wake up first. Sirgia follows shortly after due to my gentle brushes on her cheeks. She opens her eyes slowly and smiles cutely when she finds me so close to her. She leans even closer and leaves a gentle peck on my lips. I begin tickling her exposed tummy, making her giggle adorably. I can’t get enough of this little dwarf.

    My jelly girls finish their hibernation too and we take a quick shower together. It gets a bit cramped, but Sirgia uses that as an excuse to rub her naked body against mine after seeing the slimes do it. It’s a completely different experience when someone with a real skin does it. I reward her efforts with a few more kisses and we move to the kitchen after dressing up.

    We swiftly prepare breakfast and set it in the dining room. The slime girls go to bring our new guests here and I walk to check up on Cornelia. Arriving at the door to her room, I knock a few times. No answer comes. I do it again but louder. Still nothing. I can sense her lying on her bed on the other side, so she must be sleeping deeply.

    I wonder what she wears to sleep.

    With a small smile forming on my lips, I use her lack of response as an excuse to wake her up personally. Let’s see how she will react. Stealthily opening the door, I take a peek inside and spot her exactly where I felt her be, lying flat on her belly while semi-covered with sheets.

    I step inside and close the door behind me. I haven’t checked out this room after she has taken it for herself, so I glance over the interiors with curiosity. Not that much changed. There are lots of papers scattered everywhere though. And some scientific and magical devices here and there. It’s slightly dark in here due to the window being almost completely covered with one of the curtains we’ve ordered recently. No wonder she sleeps so peacefully, barely any sun reaches her spot.

    Walking closer to them, I casually uncover the blocked window, without using any sudden movements. A faint groan escapes Cornelia’s mouth, but it doesn’t seem like she’s going to wake up just from that. With this much light, I can finally take a better look at my lovely Ice Queen.

    Cornelia lies on the bed with her limbs spread to the sides. Her hair is not being held by the usual accessories and flows freely down her neck and shoulders. As for her clothes, it looks like she’s wearing a dark purple negligee. Not the seductive transparent one, just a regular material piece. I bet she has panties in the same fashion.

    I sit down on the edge of her bed and stare at the sleeping beauty. She looks so calm. I almost feel like I shouldn’t disrupt her peaceful rest. I begin stroking the back of her hand with my finger. There’s no visible effect so I move further and circle around her forearm. She rotates it and catches my arm with her hand, still completely asleep.

    “Mhhnnn… not now… I need to bathe first…” she whispers some words while fondling my forearm and starting to move it closer to her face. “What do you mean by saying you love my scent… mnnnn… stop… Al...” My hand reaches her face and she starts rubbing them against each other.

    Soon, she begins realizing that something is wrong, taking a few sniffs of my hand. I stopped turning my skills off around the girls and instead began my training in controlling them better at low power after resolving myself again, so some sweet scent may be currently surrounding my body. I think it smelled like lilac in her case.

    Cornelia starts slowly opening her eyes while blinking a lot. She suddenly stops after locking her gaze with mine and freezes, most likely trying to figure out why my smiling face is present in her room. She moves her eyes to her body, then glances at my hand which is stuffed under her cheek and follows it up my arm to arrive back at my face, with hers getting increasingly red.

    If we follow the usual stereotype, then she should start trying to impale me with her ice spears at any moment now. That does not happen though. She just keeps looking at me while her expression reaches a flushed state. I brush my finger over her cheek, making her squirm a little.

    “What are you doing here?” She somehow manages to speak coherently but still a little shakily.

    “I came to wake my sleeping princess up. What else?” I give her a wide smile.

    Her eyes move to my hand under her cheek again. “And this?”

    “You pulled me in when I was doing so. You know, I don’t mind lying down for a few cuddles if that’s what you want.”

    Her pupils tremble a little. “In your dreams!”

    She rises to a sitting position, finally revealing the rest of her body, of course, covered with the negligee. That does not mask her womanly charms completely and my eyes instantly dart off to the ample peaks standing attentively under the purple material, which in turn pull it upwards, revealing a bit of her charming, slim abdomen, and as I expected, purplish panties.

    Cornelia squeaks a little and hastily hides her chest behind her crossed arms. “Go ogle the girls you already bedded, you horny beast!”

    She sends me an embarrassed glare, but her eyes soon widen and her expression changes into a slightly uneasy one, still almost completely red though. She must have started worrying that she sounded rude towards both them and me. I chuckle at her reaction. Such a gentle and contradicting tsundere is a real gem.

    I move a bit of her hair from the side of her face to behind her ear while chuckling. “Too bad. That belly is a treasure second only to your alluring legs.” I wink at her and start moving away. “Breakfast is ready. Take your time. We’ll wait for you.”

    Standing up, I head to the door, giving the flustered Cornelia one more smile from the doorstep. The other girls are already sitting around the table when I walk back down. In this world, Dark Elves and Elves aren’t herbivores like in some universes I’ve stumbled on in the past while reading fantasy books, and they hunt and eat meat like many other races, thus we all get the same dish.

    The sleeping princess finally joins us. She and Sirgia keep barraging me with questions about all that happened the previous evening. We dine while I tell them the whole story, earning myself a lot of nods and clapping from the dark-skinned beauties, even though I try to not sound like I’m just boasting about my achievements, although I’m proud of at least one of them. Yeah, the fight with the butler. Against someone much more proficient in close-quarters combat, I held my ground satisfactorily. Even Cornelia sends a few praises my way. She is on the top of the list of people who know almost everything about me and now also about my skills.

    We move to the main hall and I take a long look over all of the elves. They switched their previous clothes into clean shirts and pants, but their sizes are still inadequate and their breasts are squeezed together in a clearly visible fashion.

    “We need some clothes for you. Walking around with six Dark Elves in tow is not the best idea though. Hmmmm…” I speak in Common so everyone understands, and start pondering while Elea passes the meaning to her comrades.

    “Should we just size them up and order more uniforms?” Cornelia suggests.

    “Don’t already assume that they are staying. But the other part is a good idea. Let’s measure all of you and do a little shopping.” I nod after reworking her suggestion.

    Elea turns her head around and informs the girls about our plan, then they begin unpinning the buttons of their shirts and Elea’s impressive breasts are soon first to be released from their confinement, springing out in front of our eyes.

    “Aaaaaaaahhh! STOP! STOP! STOOOOOOOOOOOP!”

    Cornelia screams flustered, rushes to her and grabs the sides of her shirt to cover the bouncy melons again. The other five girls pause their undressing and look at her, puzzled.

    Elea glances at me with a bit of worry in her violet eyes. “Did we do something wrong?” she asks in Common.

    “Why are you taking your clothes off?!” Cornelia asks her, still slightly panicked, sending glances back at me.

    “Isn’t the Saviour going to measure our bodies for new clothes?” she asks in turn.

    “We are in the middle of the main hall, and besides, HE IS A MAN!”

    “Eh? That’s an issue?”

    “Wha—?”

    Cornelia steps back utterly befuddled, moving her gaze from Elea to me and back. I break into a laugh at this scene.

    “Hahahaha… I’m not sure about Dark Elves, but in Human society, it’s quite improper for a man to touch a woman’s body casually. Hell, even looking can be offensive too. Humans value and protect their privacy, especially when it comes to the sensitive parts of their bodies,” I briefly explain since it’s quite obvious that it may not be the same at her home.

    “Ah… We are terribly sorry, Lady Cornelia. We weren’t aware of that Human custom,” Elea hastily bows to her.

    The magician calms herself down. “It’s okay, it was just a misunderstanding, sorry for screaming at you.”

    “I’ll let Cornelia and the other girls do the job. Join me in my room after you are done so that we can talk about you and the future.” I leave them and head to where I mentioned.

    Twenty minutes later, the group of dark elves, Safi, Emi and Sirgia come in. They tell me that Cornelia already left to pick up some clothes for them. Hopefully, she won’t repeat the thing from the past where she was supposed to choose something for Sirgia.

    We all sit down comfortably. Sirgia is a bit too hesitant to get onto my lap with other people around and Emi quickly makes use of that chance to pounce on me and snuggle to my chest from the front. Slightly dejected with her moment of weakness, Sirgia plops on my right side and I brush my fingers through her hair to cheer her up a bit. Safi takes the spot on my other side while the elf girls place themselves as a group on the other bed.

    First, I explain in detail about this place, starting with the part about it being a safe shelter for other races and ending on the soon to be open brothel functionality of it. Naturally, I mention how one doesn’t have to work that way to live here and any help is appreciated, but if anyone decides on it, I’ll do my best to teach them everything they need to know and make sure that they won’t ever experience anything horrible or displeasing.

    Hiding the strengthening part and some other details, I also let them know that my Class revolves around lewd things and if they ever feel weird around me, they should let me know since it’s possible that one of my abilities may be somehow affecting them.

    One of the women asks Elea something in Elvish, and even though I catch it, I still wait for her to translate.

    “Neira, this girl with short white hair,” she nods towards the person, “asks if that’s why Saviour’s scent seems to be so… suggestive.”

    Hmmm… wasn’t it more like a flower or some fruit for others? Well, I guess it can be like this too. Or does the arousing function just affect them slightly stronger?

    “Yes, it’s very likely. It usually varies from person to person. Like this girl here, Emi, says that it’s like a fresh apple to her and Safi, here, like morning dew.” I point at the slimes around me.

    They start whispering between themselves after hearing my answer, most likely sharing whatever smell they pick up from me. I glance over all of them again. Before I ask about their situation and what they plan on doing, I should get to know their names first.

    “If you don’t mind, I’d like to learn your names. As you already know, I’m Alastair, Al for short. The girls around me are Safi, Sirgia and Emi.” I nod towards each when reintroducing them.

    Elea moves to the side so that I can clearly see all of her friends. “My name is Elea and I was a Princess in a small tribe of Dark Elves. The women by my side were part of the group of attendants who helped with my duties. This is Neira, Leyne, Roseni, Filue and Cinra.” She gestures at white, black, brown, grey and silver-haired beauties respectively and each of them bows lightly during her turn.

    “Was a Princess? Did you lose your inheritance rights or something?” I ask, curious about that small detail.

    Elea stares at me for a moment, pondering over something. “Ah. It’s not a royal title but a functional role. I’m not the kind of princess that is a daughter of a queen in the Human hierarchy. We Dark Elves use a different ruling system where we elect the leaders of the settlement through their merit and experience so that in the circle of people who make important decisions, each is an expert in their field, like farming, magic, hunting, politics, architecture, warfare, strategy and others. And they switch quite often to allow fresh minds to introduce their viewpoints.”

    “Yes, I do know that. Royal families still do exist sometimes if I recall correctly, so I thought you were part of one.”

    The Elven community is nothing new to me, and it usually works just as Elea has described it. Some bloodlines still can gather enough renown with their actions and history to be considered royal and referred with more respect by others. I thought they used the same titles after learning that Elea is a Princess in the slaver’s den.

    “I’m sorry, I didn’t know how much Saviour knows.” She bows a little again.

    “I’ve read a lot about various races so you can assume that I know most of the stuff that’s not kept completely secret. And you can drop that title already, we’ve introduced ourselves for the second time now. Just refer to me as you would to a friend. And don’t even dare to add Sir or something in front of it.”

    She hesitates a little but nods. “Then… I think I can explain our role along with the story of how we ended up enslaved if you would like to hear it.”

    “I’ll gladly hear you out if you don’t mind sharing it.”

    “Of course I don’t. It would be rude to not explain our background to someone kind enough to offer us shelter in their own home.” She starts thinking about something for a minute. “I’ll start from the beginning then. I will try to not make it too long.”

    “Take your time, I’m fine with learning more about you.”

    She smiles. “Initially, all of us were part of a big Dark Elf settlement called Lir-Nirvaen, which is located not that far from the Human kingdom borders. We lived there as your usual members of the Elven community for most of our lives. Besides the aforementioned leaders, there always was a person who was tasked with preparing all rituals, prayers, sacrifices and other events dedicated to the Goddess. As you might have already guessed, it was the Princess. At first, she was chosen by the Council, but it quickly changed into a more voluntary position. The girl who was going to take on the role of the Princess had to be under 100 years old, be a virgin and willing to guard her purity for at least the next 300 years. She was allowed to pick a successor after that time. I offered my service to the previous Princess when she requested for her dismissal. The Princess was also allowed to recruit up to 20 attendants which helped with her responsibilities. The women you saved with me were my past helpers and I always considered them my closest family. You have my utmost gratitude for listening to my selfish request of rescuing them.”

    Elea bows deeply, and others quickly follow. In simple words, she was something akin to a shrine priestess in their community. Very interesting. But… I wonder if they had ceremonial outfits too… Damn, now I can’t shake off this image of her in a Miko cosplay.

    She raises herself and continues. “Unfortunately, one day, some of the new Council members wanted to push quite controversial changes into the service of the Princess. They were going against a lot of traditions and heritage and also targeted some of the Princess’s personal rights. I stood up against them but the majority had been convinced to support the idea. Later, I learned that it was actually schemed by someone who wanted to drive me into a corner and act like he would be saving me to earn my gratitude and make a move on me, which was impossible with the old rules. Some, like myself, felt disgusted by that and confronted the Council but we weren’t able to get through them. A group of around 50 elves gathered around me and we decided that we don’t want to have anything more to do with this and left the settlement. We formed a small village a bit closer to the Human’s borders and I kept my role as a Princess there, alongside my 10 attendants which left with us, and continued to live in our small community for 55 more years.”

    Her expression grows sad throughout the story. She pauses for a moment and sighs.

    “Then, our village was somehow discovered, perhaps our mages weren’t skilled enough in concealment magic, but if I am to make some bold assumptions, I think someone from our previous home leaked the location to Humans. We were raided and many lost their lives while defending their homes. Some managed to flee after I ordered them to, but most of the survivors were captured and branded as slaves. 25 of us were being transported through some Human cities and settlements and sold off for like a year until only me and 5 of my attendants were left. Then we arrived here to be sold in some kind of a big event, and that’s how we met our Saviour.” Another round of bowing follows.

    “We can’t thank you enough. We knew how most humans treat other races and we already lost all hope to live in dignity, but somehow the Goddess still sent us her chosen envoy to liberate us from such fate.” Elea finishes her story and they all look at me with admiration and gratitude painted all over their faces.

    “No, no, no. I’m not some Goddess’s chosen envoy, I’m just a—” I start waving my hand to repel their flattery, but then I remember who I actually am. “Hahahaha. Oh, goddammit… I really am one…”

    My girls look up at me curiously. I still haven’t told them about my real identity. I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, but they definitely don’t believe that I’m just some random Human who unconditionally loves all races. I glance at the dark-skinned beauties, contemplating the decision to reveal it with them present in the room since they already see me as someone through who the Goddess has saved their lives. I guess it should be fine. I can’t keep that hidden forever.

    I ruffle through Sirgia’s hair with a smile. “Well, Elea is not completely wrong here. I was sent here by the Goddess herself.”

    “What do you mean, Master?” she asks.

    “Have any of you perhaps heard about the art of summoning entities from other realms?”

    She opens her eyes wide and the elves begin whispering again. Sirgia looks down with a thoughtful expression. I can see her eyes moving quickly from left to right like she is scanning through some book.

    “Wait… Otherworlder... does that mean...”

    She soon stops and looks at me with them wide as much as possible, after muttering one of my titles she must have just recalled.

    “That’s right. I’m a Hero summoned here from another world by the Goddess.”

    Gasps of surprise arrive from the side of the elf girls. Even Elea looks surprised. She must have not expected her religious remark to hold so much truth in it. I can feel Safi’s and Emi’s curiosity through our bond as they tilt their heads. Looks like their memories don’t hold that much information about that aspect. Sirgia skips closer to me and grabs my hand with both of hers.

    “Why was Master summoned? Is Master going to fight in a war? Is Master going to leave?” She barrages me with questions while looking straight into my eyes.

    I poke Emi to leave my lap for a moment and she complies. I pull Sirgia in her place and hug the concerned dwarf tightly. She grasps my shirt with her small hands.

    “Don’t worry, I’m not going to just disappear, leaving all of you alone. I was summoned with a few other Heroes, but because I was really weak, they went to fulfil their task without me. I’m not strong enough for a grand thing like saving the world, but I can try my best in saving a few demi-humans from their cruel fate, can’t I?”

    I brush her adorable cheek as I explain this. She completely forgets the existence of Elea and other women and snuggles to my chest while looking up at me with a newfound fondness and a bit of concern. I chuckle at that cute sight and lean forwards a bit to plant a small kiss on her lips. Sirgia doesn’t resist and closes her eyes to accept my gentle peck.

    Our short show of affection evokes some more gasps and whispering from the elves. After we separate, I leave one more kiss on her forehead.

    “You girls are my priority and no matter what happens, your happiness comes first, even before the world.”

    Safi and Emi understood enough of that to get the fact that I care for them a lot and also move closer to embrace me. Not wanting to reject them in such a situation, I naturally comply with their requests and let them both kiss me passionately one after another. Others must now view me as a complete casanova who seduces tens of girls with his sweet words and erotic skillset.

    This whole sudden outburst of feelings leaves Sirgia a bit flustered, so I sit her down back on my side to let her cool herself down. She still stays close to my arm, holding my hand with hers.

    “Well… sorry for being so… bold in front of all of you.” I turn to our guests, who should be the main focus of this meeting instead of us.

    Glancing in their direction, I think I spot some of them blushing, but they all are definitely smiling and shaking their heads.

    “There’s nothing to apologize for. We were able to learn a lot about our Saviour from this and we are thankful for that.”

    She smiles charmingly and a little laugh escapes her lips. Soon a few more follow from her comrades. Oh well, it looks like they really didn’t mind.

    “So, leaving all that aside, what do you plan on doing now after we’ve exchanged our stories? With my connections, I should be able to get you out of the city premises, but after that, I can’t help much.” I try to bring the discussion back onto its right tracks.

    “Our home has been completely destroyed and I don’t think any of us would want to return to the previous settlement, am I right?” She looks over her followers and they all nod. “Thus, as a representative of this small group, I’d like to kindly ask you to allow us to make this place our new home. We are naturally willing to help with your work to repay our debt of gratitude and as our input into this tolerant community.” She lowers just her head and everyone follows suit.

    “Well, I’ll obviously allow that even if you just wanted to spend your time leisurely, but if you are offering, then this may be perfect. I’m actually looking for a few maids to keep this big place running. What do you say?”

    “We would be more than happy to fill that role.”

    “Great. From now on, you are part of our small but growing family, so don’t be polite and speak up whenever you feel like it. Ah, one more thing. Do you have Slave Marks?” I haven’t looked closely enough to spot them before.

    All of the girls show their respective marks, which are just medium-tier control types. They shouldn’t lock their Jobs, but their Classes are definitely being limited to some extent. It was visible during our struggle underground.

    “I’ll deal with that someday later. I can’t easily break seals of slaves that aren’t completely under me yet. Sorry, but you will have to wait a bit.” I wave my hand at them apologetically.

    They look at each other in surprise. “You are planning on releasing us from their influence instead of taking them over?” Elea asks.

    “Of course. You are our friends, not slaves. No one has a mark here.”

    Her eyes wander over all my girls’ collars, stopping at Sirgia’s one. I catch up on that.

    “Ah. Those are just for aesthetics. Well, Safi and Emi are my familiars I guess, but Sirgia just wears it as a part of our brothel’s uniform. She’s not enslaved, although it’s safer for her if other Humans think she is,” I explain.

    “It was a gift from Master.” Sirgia brushes the crystal heart lovingly.

    Elea nods with a smile. “I understand. We will then await the joyous day when Master breaks our seals.”

    “Erm… Didn’t we already agree on not using any titles?” I raise my brows at her and ask confusedly.

    “Isn’t a maid supposed to call her employer Master?” she tilts her head.

    I cover my face with my hand while sighing in defeat. “I walked straight into that one myself, didn’t I?”
     
  13. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 32 – The Operation’s Aftermath
    While waiting for Cornelia to come back with the clothes, we start talking about the responsibilities which the elves will take upon them. First and foremost is of course cleaning duty and all aspects connected to it. None of them has anything against working with that so that’s quite nice. In the future, we’ll also have to deal with the rooms after they are done being used during the service time, which naturally means getting rid of various fluids and other things, but fortunately, they don’t seem to mind too. A lot of the cleaning can be achieved with just some magic alone and that’s a huge plus.

    Roseni and Cinra, the girl with shoulder-long brown hair and the one with waist-long silvery hair, inform us that they don’t mind helping with cooking so we decide to place them as Sirgia’s assistants. She agrees to that suggestion. This will allow them to learn and practice at the same time, and having someone to help our dwarf chef is definitely good. The rest of the elf girls can just help with setting up the tables, cleaning dishes and doing other stuff that isn’t specifically about preparing dishes.

    We cover a few other areas and pretty much are done with delegating most of the tasks and responsibilities. Near the end of that discussion, one of the girls asks who should be the one to take care of washing me in the bath or if they should just prepare a rotational schedule.

    While the idea instantly evokes some interesting thoughts and fantasies and is very much to my liking, I convince them that something like that is not necessary and they do not have to cover that part of the maids care for their master. Cornelia would definitely kill me if she learned that I made all of the new girls take baths with me literally in less than a day after they arrived here. And I don’t think it would matter which side suggested the idea. A few of them seem rather disappointed and I take note of that for the future.

    “Well, I guess that would be all for now. Definitely more changes will come while we see how it works out. Speak up whenever you feel like there is a room for improvement somewhere or when you feel like something is giving you a hard time or just doesn’t fit well with you, got it?”

    They all nod in unison.

    “What about me, Master? I don’t seem to have that many specific tasks when compared to others. I don’t want to feel like I’m being favoured,” Elea asks.

    Such a good person. Even though it wouldn’t have been unexpected for her to have a bit less on her shoulders due to her previous position and role, she still doesn’t want to feel special. This tells me a lot about her. No wonder some of the other Elves followed her when she decided to leave the village. She definitely acted the same way back then.

    “Don’t worry, it’s not that I’m trying to be easier on you. Instead, I want you to become the Headmaid, as you are best suited for that position. You performed the duty of a Priestess in the past and also instructed your attendants, yes? So I believe that organizing them and their work is best left in your hands. And you can also pass all the questions, suggestions, information or orders onto them and back since you are the most well-versed in Common amongst your group. It’s a good idea to have someone function as a medium while I’m away.”

    She bows gracefully with a kind smile. “I’ll fulfil this duty to my utmost ability, Master.”

    “I’m sure you will,” I switch to Elvish, “but girls, please, do not overwork yourselves. I don’t want you to slave around without any room for a break or free time. This is now your home, not just a workplace. You are not just my employees but also our friends and members of this small family. Take good care of yourselves. Can you promise me that?”

    I stare intently into the eyes of each of them individually, hoping to convey how serious I am about the previous statements. They all look at each other, nod and smile beautifully.

    “We promise.” They all answer as one.

    “Great. That concludes our first briefing.” I switch back to Common after that sentence and move my gaze to Sirgia, giving her a few more pats. “Can I leave showing them around and explaining where everything is to you?”

    She looks at them and then up at me, a little hesitant. “Me? I think… Cornelia would be better…” She squeezes my hand.

    Now, perhaps that’s true, but I want her to begin accustoming herself to them and slowly start to open to not only me but also others. I know this might take long, but there’s no rush. Might not even fully work in the end, but she will definitely get more confident and free when surrounded by more people that only care about who she really is. And I think there are no better people for that plan than other demi-humans.

    I pull her a bit closer and brush her cheek with my palm. “I want you to do it, is that bad?”

    Sirgia leans her head against my arm and gazes down, visibly conflicted. She must really want to comply just for me, yet her reserved personality holds her back strongly. I lift her chin a bit and place a light kiss on her cheek.

    “If you dislike this idea then, of course, that’s fine. But if you do it for me, you can get whatever reward you want.”

    I feel another squeeze on my hand. She glances into my eyes, averts her gaze and blushes a little. “I… I can do it…” She snuggles her face into my arm, takes a few deep breaths and jumps off the bed, turning to the elves. “I’ll be your guide then…”

    They all stand up and bow a little.

    “We are in your hands, Lady Sirgia,” Elea speaks.

    “Eh? Lady…” She looks back at me not knowing how to respond. I just smile at her. She starts to panic a little while looking between us so I gesture towards my throat. She copies the movement and her fingers run across her crystal badge. “Umm… I’m also Master’s servant so just Sirgia is fine…”

    “Understood. Then please call me Elea too.”

    Giving me one last glance, she leaves with the squad of elf girls behind her. She looks so small amongst those tall and gorgeous beauties but tries to act composed as their guide. I guess thinking of herself and others as my servants can ease her pressure a bit. Quite the unique way to achieve that, but whatever works for her is fine. I’m not going to force them to not regard me as their Master.

    While they are busy sightseeing, Cornelia makes her return and arrives in the room where only me and the slimes are left. She’s not even a little bit surprised by the fact that Emi went all over me the moment others left and is currently showering me in hugs and kisses. I tear her off me to be able to speak and briefly summarize what we went through with Elea and her friends.

    She rolls her eyes. “I knew that would happen. I should have ordered the uniforms on my way back as my gut feeling was telling me to.”

    “I mean, you couldn’t know. They might have been homesick and wanted to return immediately. Not everyone that we somehow save will always be like this.”

    “It was obvious from the start. Did you not notice how some of them looked at you? Elea was quite happy and willing to follow any orders even back in the den.”

    “They may feel slightly attracted to me due to the skills and titles and thus the reactions.”

    Cornelia shakes her hand in a dismissive gesture. “I’ve thought about this a lot and came up with a thesis saying that it doesn’t work that way on people who already have a good image of you in their heads or some positive feelings in their minds. The women back there fawned over you like some mindless dolls, but when it comes to people closer to you, they just experience a nice and pleasant feeling, like smell for example, without affecting their will or thoughts too much. Or like in Sirgia’s case when your saliva just eased—… her… pain... a little bit…”

    I raise my brow when she mentions the cute dwarf and she instantly realizes what she has just revealed. She starts getting all red under my curious gaze and a knowing smirk. There’s no backing away from this and we both know that.

    I start considering if I should bully her a little with this little slip-up or spare her this time. Well, I can’t be mean to her in every single situation, so let’s leave it as is. It’s nothing unexpected. I’m actually quite happy that the girls find themselves close enough with each other to share even such experiences. I gesture at her to continue.

    “Ermmm… yeah… cough… The point is, people that like you seem to have a somewhat higher resistance to those effects, leaving only the harmless and pleasant ones not nullified…” She squirms a little, still embarrassed by her mistake.

    “I see… Shall we test that theory then? I haven’t completely stopped blocking my Class effects yet,” I say with a mischievous smile.

    Cornelia’s eyes flicker a little with a spark of her scientific curiosity, but she starts taking a few steps back while smiling nervously. Even her thirst for knowledge can’t completely suppress the worry for her own body and I’m quite reassured seeing that.

    I chuckle and wave at her. “I’m joking. Why are you even considering the possibility that I’d do that to you?”

    She stops and realizes her actions. “I’m sorry… It was just a subconscious reaction—”

    “Don’t apologize. I was the one who overstepped the boundaries a little. Saying that, I’m glad to know that you value yourself higher than possible knowledge. I respect that. A lot. Sorry for startling you.”

    She sighs. “Really, I should have gotten used to it long ago…”

    “Why don’t you do it too then?”

    “Eh? Do what?”

    “Tease me. It’s not like you don’t get the chances and I certainly won’t mind. You can get back at me easily,” I suggest honestly.

    She looks to the side hesitantly.

    “I hope you don’t think you can offend me with just a few words spoken jokingly. And don’t tell me that it’s not your style or I’ll have Safi here tell me in detail what you’ve taught her in private,” I say to her while recalling the sapphire slime’s advances on me when we were searching through the hotel rooms.

    She chuckles. “Okay, okay, fine. There’s no need for that. I’ll think about it,” she says with a beautiful smile.

    “Good. And as for the theory, I would actually be willing to test it a bit, but in a controlled and safe environment. I don’t want to do anything weird to you as much as you don’t want to do anything weird to me under the Class’s influence.”

    “Hummm… And how would that be?”

    “Don’t know, perhaps we could tie you up to something so that you don’t throw yourself at me like a Beastkin in a heat?”

    She chuckles again. “Let’s leave it for later then. I don’t mind helping you out with your skills. There aren’t many people you can ask and not having any information on them is only detrimental to you. Before that, let’s go to the castle. I’ve heard that they’ve dealt with everything already.”

    “Oh? I guess we should pay a visit to a certain friend of ours then.”

    Cornelia leaves to give the elf girls their new clothes, mostly just bigger shirts and better-fitting trousers. She also brought a few hair accessories so they can arrange their heads a little. I spend some more time with my lovely slime girls, instructing them to help the elves as their seniors too. They wobble cheerfully and assure me that they’ll do their best to not only assist them but also learn how to do more things themselves. Such lively and devoted creatures. I shower them with lots of mana-pats.

    I get into my adventuring gear since the butler outfit got almost completely obliterated and we leave the mansion with Cornelia. This time we decide to go through the city to visit a few places.

    First, we stop by the artisan who works on our uniforms and collars. We both agree that the crystal badges should match the new owners’ hair so we place an order for six more. Same goes for the maid clothes. The tailor scratches his head while looking at the long list of things he’ll have to work on now. And also, he finished Sirgia’s one so we take it with us. I can’t wait to see her wear it. The levels of adorableness will certainly shoot through the roof.

    Next, I guide Cornelia to the place where I’ve gotten my suit previously. I show the remains of it to the clerk and he catches his head with his hands, his eyes widening in shock. I ask him to repair it or salvage what is possible and make like a few more copies, just in case. Ten should be enough. Now that I think of it, we’ll need to order spares for the girls too.

    While we are still there, I notice Cornelia looking through hair ornaments. I walk closer and stop by her side.

    “So, this is where you got her that flower.” She points at the same hairpin I bought Sirgia the last time.

    I glance through the display in hope of finding something that would match my beautiful magician. I’m not a pro stylist, but I don’t think a similar type fits her hairstyle. I move a bit further from her, racking my brain over the countless possibilities.

    Then, I finally spot it. A hairpin, or rather a small comb, with a beautiful representation of a lavender flower. It instantly reminds me of the first day when I was met with its scent when following Cornelia out of the throne room.

    She catches up to me. “Are you looking for something? If you tell me what for, I can—”

    I pick it up and turn to her with a wide smile. Before she has any chance to react, I take a step to the side and place the accessory on the side of her hazelnut bun. The bottom part sinks in hiding itself in her well-cared-for hair, and only the violet flower remains visible. I stand behind her and lead Cornelia to the nearest mirror.

    “What do you think? A symbol of grace, maturity and devotion. At least it was, the last time I checked. I say it suits you perfectly.”

    She examines the ornament from a few angles and smiles charmingly.

    “You don’t have to…”

    “I want to.”

    I give her a warm hug from behind. She blushes.

    “I guess it would be rude to decline. Thank you.”

    “It’s nothing when compared to all your help. Feel free to spoil yourself from time to time with the funds the King has given me. You deserve it.”

    She laughs softly. “Watch what you are asking for. I might as well do it.”

    We leave the shop with Cornelia in a pretty good mood. It makes me happy to see her like that. On our way to the castle, we step into a few more stores so I can pick up some materials and other things that Sirgia has recently begun to write down for me. I’ll have to look around for some builders and carpenters soon too. We can slowly start with the workshop project. And perhaps something else could be made down there… Plenty of space to use…

    After everything is taken care of, we finally move to the castle. Looks like the King is currently discussing something with his advisors so we wait together in one of the chambers. While gazing at the city from the balcony, we talk with Cornelia about some past events. The time we spent together in that short year was really fun for both of us. While we are arguing which one of us was luckier to meet the other one, the King finally arrives with his iconic, friendly smile.

    We sit on the sofas around a coffee table.

    “I’m glad to see both of you safe and sound. I’ve heard that it got quite hectic down there at one point,” he starts the conversation.

    “Yeah, a lot was happening at once with the fighting in almost every chamber. I even got my back tanned a little by a stray Firebolt.”

    “By the Goddess! Are you fine? Do you need any medical help?”

    “I’m fine. I was lucky to stumble on someone who knew a little bit of healing magic. I don’t mind having a Priest look at it later though.”

    “Good, we’ll organize that shortly.”

    He looks visibly relieved to know that I wasn’t seriously hurt. Seems like he really has been worrying himself the whole time I was down there.

    “I also know that you were a big help in dealing with a few guys that put up a fight. I thank you for that. You definitely saved a lot of lives. Many soldiers were impressed by your achievements.” He bows his head gratefully.

    “No need to thank me, I didn’t want to join the fight, it’s just that they literally were on our path outside. I’d have avoided clashing against them if that was possible.”

    “Naturally, but the fact still stands. It wouldn’t be possible to conduct the operation this well without you.”

    “And Cornelia.” I nod towards her, sitting to my right. “I would be a bloody stain on a wall if not for her saving my ass. You better not forget her input into this.”

    She blushes a little and averts her gaze under my smile. It’s true. I’m only alive thanks to her.

    “You’d have definitely figured something out…” She tries to bring down her contribution.

    “Hahaha, you are overestimating me too much. After dealing with the butler and the Berserker, I was barely dragging my feet over the floor. I have a huge life debt to repay.”

    “Hmmm… I’ve read about the Berserker, but what’s with the butler?” the King asks curiously.

    I shortly tell him how I clashed against an older man who was protecting some crazy young noble and how I barely managed to win in that struggle rather than a fight.

    “While we are at it, do you maybe know who that was? That dude was acting like he owned half of the capital. He seemed a bit out of his mind. Had to literally split the man into two or he’d have killed an innocent bystander.” I ponder and ask Ross.

    He furrows his brows and stares at me for a moment. I raise my brow questioningly. A few beads of sweat can be seen forming on his forehead. He joins his hands under his chin and drops his gaze to the table with a concerned expression.

    He looks around as if checking if we are alone, returns to his previous position, and then lifts up just his eyes to glance at me. “Did I hear that part right? You were the one who killed that noble?”

    “Erm… yeah?” I start getting a very bad feeling about this.

    “Did anyone see you do it?” He pries further.

    “There were a few people fighting on the other end of the chamber, but I don’t think they even realized something was happening where I was. And later, they scattered to other rooms.”

    “Good. There was nothing about the killer in the official reports too.” He sighs to release the pressure he built up and rubs his forehead. “That guy was a son to one of our subservient kingdoms monarchs.”

    “... Fuck.”

    “Yeah.”

    “Wait. So he was basically a prince?” Cornelia looks between us.

    “Yes. He was. Now he is not. And some people may not exactly be happy about that small detail, so better completely forget that ever happened,” Ross answers.

    “There’s no way they will just let it go, no matter the fact what he was doing there in the first place. Some king’s son died. And I’m pretty sure there weren't many casualties amongst the civilians, right?” I ask him.

    “Some were injured, but only he is dead. It is as you said, they will definitely investigate. Just so we are clear, I don’t blame you. You had to have a really good reason to resort to killing him. I know you’d try other ways if given the chance.”

    “Thanks, but what are we gonna do?” I turn to him again.

    “You? Nothing. This is my problem and I’ll deal with it. It’s a matter between kingdoms. I’ll think of something. You two just stay out of it.”

    I swipe over my face with my hand and sigh heavily. “This fucking kid…” Cornelia places hers on my shoulder and rubs it reassuringly. “Okay, you know better when it comes to stuff like this. Let’s move on. What about the slaves I stole during the fray?”

    He sits back and leans into the sofa, relaxing a bit. “That was already taken care of. I made sure that all the reports don’t have even a word about them. As for the slave records held in that building, they suddenly caught on fire due to some safety mechanism and only part of them was recovered. The lost half was recreated based on the slaves found around the area and there weren’t any Dark Elves mentioned there if I recall correctly.” He smiles proudly.

    “Thank you. A lot. But how did you know how many and what slaves ran away with me?”

    “I instructed Cornelia beforehand, to leave a message for my trusted man near the exit you used to extract yourselves. He delivered it instantly after your escape.”

    I look at her with a thankful smile. She averts her gaze, playfully acting like she knows nothing of this. I send her a mental thanks, making her shiver a little and stare at me from the unexpected, sensual message. She jabs me in the side with her elbow while her cheeks get a little rosy.

    “Hahaha, I’ve never seen the famous Ice Witch acting so frisky towards anyone.”

    Ross starts chuckling. He stops when suddenly an ice spear emerges from the floor under his sofa and pierces it just between his legs. He stares at the pillar with wide eyes. I glance at Cornelia who is glaring at the King with an angled gaze, with her fist clasped in front of her face. I chuckle too, grab her fist and shake my head with a smile after she looks at me. She sighs, relaxes it, letting go of the spell, and smiles back.

    “For the future, it’s Ice Queen now. Better remember that,” she says to him and sends a wink at me.

    “I will…” He smiles wryly.

    I give him the look saying ‘better watch your words’. Only I get to tease this beautiful and powerful magician without risking losing my life. Or something much more important than that.

    “So, what about the other slaves though?” I redirect the discussion back onto its tracks, asking about something that won’t stop bugging me.

    “Not much I can do for them, unfortunately. I might have been able to smuggle those six out, but if I try to interfere too much, someone will finally notice. Everyone else besides your prize has been caught while running away. They will get sold to the law-abiding slave companies. I’m trying to pick the most trusted ones, but you should know how it is almost everywhere. I’m sorry, but I can’t overstep my boundaries too often.”

    I sigh dejectedly. “You are already doing a lot. Thank you.”

    “Speaking of slaves, how are you doing with your little project? Do you need any help? Perhaps the elves require something special?” He barrages me with questions supposedly out of genuine concern, but I can clearly see the hidden meaning here.

    I smile at him while shaking my head. “Good. We are almost at the opening stage. The elves began their maid training recently, so they are fine with just that for now.” I glance at him to see if he deciphers my message and he definitely does as his shoulders slump down a bit. “I could use some help though. I’m making a small forge-workshop in the underground area and wouldn’t mind some recommendations of trusted craftsmen.”

    “I’ll naturally see what can be done! You can expect the best of the best to come for whatever you need there!”

    We exchange some more words about random stuff and end our meeting. Cornelia goes with Ross to talk about something and I move with a servant to the medical quarters to get myself checked. After that, I begin my journey back home. I decide to use the tunnel, there’s nothing I can think of that needs my attention in the city.

    I walk through the castle’s corridors while deep in thought about what to do next. We need to slowly start preparing to open the business. Or I could wait a bit more and hope for more girls to arrive and agree on working in the service department. So far, it’s only Safi and Emi that are willing. But on the other hand, that’s quite plenty already. I don’t expect people to flock on an opening day. Hell, I don’t expect anyone to even peek their head in during the first few weeks.

    Before we do that, I need to sit down and prepare a very detailed set of rules and terms of service. They can’t be long but need to be strict and clear, covering all important aspects of the service to assure the girls' safety and wellbeing. I’ll have each customer go through them and explicitly consent to follow them in front of me. The punishment has to be deterring enough but not too scary as to not push the clients away. There’s so much to do. I thought we are getting closer, but it seems like we are just getting to the hardest part.

    And I need to host more training sessions with the slimes. This time with much more teaching and less letting them just have their own way with me. The more they know about the Human body, the more pleasure they can give others and the safer it gets for them. Possibly, also reducing the time they have to spend doing the thing.

    I’m lost in thought and almost walk into another person coming from the corridor on my side. I quickly jump away to not crash into them after I spot the movement with the corner of my eye.

    “My apologies, I wasn’t paying attention to where I’m going. I hope I didn’t—”

    I look at the woman whom I almost bumped into and hastily make a courteous bow with a hand over my heart.

    “Your Majesty.”

    “Raise your head.” A mature but soft voice leaves her lips.

    Raising my posture, I glance at the figure in an amazing dark-sapphire dress. A mature woman dons it. Her skin is of a porcelain-white complexion and she has beautiful, long white hair. Her eyes are also of a deep blue colour and her face resembles that of an unaging angel, which strongly contradicts with the fact that she is the previous Queen and the mother of Rossberg, having lived her dose of life already.

    “There’s no need for such titles, Sir Carter. I’m no longer a Queen.” Her angelic voice wanders through the corridor again.

    “With all due respect, My Lady, but once a Queen, always a Queen.” I nod my head with a polite smile.

    “As courteous as ever.” She shows a smile of her own. “ I hope my son doesn’t inconvenience you too much. I’ve heard that you have been visiting the castle quite often recently.”

    I wave my hand. “Oh, no, no. There’s no such thing. It’s for mutual benefit and even if it wasn’t, Ross is my friend and I’m glad to call him that. I’m always willing to go out of my way to help my acquaintances.”

    She smiles beautifully. “You are a good man, Sir Carter.” She sighs softly. “You resemble my late husband a lot.”

    “I’m honoured to receive such exquisite praise from you, My Lady.”

    “As much as I’m enjoying this little chat, I, unfortunately, have things to tend to, so if you excuse me, I hope we’ll meet again in a more favourable situation, Sir Carter.” She nods her head, I follow with mine and the Queen walks away.

    I get on my way too. Who would have thought that I’d run into the Queen? We haven’t spoken with each other for more than five months I think. She always seemed so busy. She’s a very strong person. Even after the death of her husband, she didn’t fall into despair but continued to proudly support the kingdom until she passed the sceptre to her son.

    Today although, I feel like she was a bit more hesitant when speaking to me. My Class may be the reason, she definitely has been informed about it. She didn’t seem repulsed though, just a bit more reserved. Eh, who knows what she is thinking. Definitely nothing bad if she looks forward to meeting again.」

    I shrug and head for the secret tunnel. Time to get to work. Hard.
     
  14. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 33 – A Thorough Examination
    After arriving home, I walk around to see if the girls are already done with their small tour. I stumble on a few of the elves wandering through corridors so I guess they are. When asked, they say that they are just familiarizing themselves more with their new home. Two of them are already taking their new job very seriously and I find Filue and Cinra checking the rooms and dusting them off here and there.

    This makes me realize that I’ll have to think of something for them to spend their free time on. For at least a few weeks more, they won’t be able to freely go out of the mansion and I don’t want them to start feeling like they are imprisoned, even though they’d never admit something like that.

    First, we need collars. Uniforms would help too. Then I need to check the castle’s library records in hopes to find some more info about breaking the slavery seals when you aren’t the owner. So far, I only have some vague information on that and my Class or skill set isn’t really helping here. With them clear of all the restrictions, it would get much safer to wander through the town.

    They definitely are at least Tier 3 since they lived for hundreds of years already so even if someone gets some weird ideas they should be able to protect themselves just fine. And it’s not like the free demi-humans are getting scooped off the streets literally all the time. The slavers almost always aim for the harmless ones or look for a less risky chance of capturing them around the borders of the kingdoms and in the wilds.

    I’m a little bit too overcautious here with how strong the girls with me are. Sirgia can most likely squash your usual human into a paste if anyone tried anything against her. Safi and Emi are quite the special case since they are Slimes and just that makes them much more eye-catching than your typical non-human race person walking around. But I don’t think they mind staying here around me all the time. At least for now.

    Now that I think of it, it may actually be a good idea to start registering the girls as combat slaves. I can break their seals when I’m able to, leave the collars on them and visit the guild as an adventurer, which I technically am, and make them record the fact that they are my possession, also issuing them their own, combat slave badges. They don’t check if and what type of seal is placed on the slaves. It’s not that uncommon for adventurers to buy combat slaves. It’s both efficient and safer since they can just literally abandon them if things go south, which totally irritates me when even just thinking about it.

    But with that, there will exist a solid proof in guild records and also in the form of their universal combat slave badge. I think it’s a good idea. I’ll have to discuss that with everyone and hear them out. Maybe I can figure something out for Safi and Emi too. The system already says they are my familiars. I’ll need to pay a visit to the Monster Tamer’s guild. Even if this somehow works like I’m hoping for, I still wouldn’t let them go out alone, but if they would be accompanying me, that should be fine. A date with my two jelly cuties. Why does it sound so enticing?

    Anyway, that’s a plan, I need to add it to my to-do list. I should create it first. There’s so much stuff we need to take care of now that I should better start keeping track of it.

    On the way to my room, I check on Sirgia to see how she’s doing. She’s working on the projects I’ve discussed with her previously, using almost all her free time on them. No matter what I say to her, she just won’t slow it down. I guess that’s just how she is. I hope she’ll allocate more of it to her own development and ideas when we are done with the workshop. I’m happy that she works so hard for me and it certainly is extremely beneficial, but I want her to think about herself much more. This might actually be quite hard to achieve with how affectionate she started being towards me.

    We spend some time together in her room. I cuddle up to her on my lap while we talk about various things, like some of my ideas, her solutions and inventions to make them real, her goals or dreams and just generally about her past or artifacts. I love hearing her speak about her passion. She gets so much more lively during it. She also gets a bit less backed-off and often sneaks some kisses by herself or even voices out her thoughts about wanting them. She seems so mature and dependable and at the same time unimaginably adorable and innocent.

    With a few more passionate kisses, I stop interrupting her work and go to my room to write down the list.

    First, oversee and finish the workshop in the bottom ground with Sirgia. Second, collect the maid uniforms and collars for the elf girls. Third, not forget getting my own suit from the tailor. Fourth, sit down and create a detailed set of rules for the brothel, hopefully with Cornelia’s help. Fifth, discuss the adventuring idea and make it happen if accepted. Sixth, talk with Ross about some promotion ideas for the opening day within his connections. Seventh, start holding training and teaching sessions with the lovely slimes. Eighth, investigate breaking the slave mark more. Ninth, figure out more things to do for the girls in their free time. Tenth, test my abilities with Cornelia. And I guess eleventh, train more.

    I most likely forgot something, but I’ll just keep adding stuff to the list on the go. Having the notepad in my storage ring always on me makes it easier. After the dinner, Safi and Emi join me for the night. I explain to them some simple details about the teaching and they both seem eager to start whenever. We’ll create a schedule for it, most likely in the evenings, some time before going to bed.

    The next two days pass uneventfully. We use that time to learn more about each other. It turns out that Neira is quite the artist type. She shows us some of her sketches she completed recently and they look amazing. I inform her that I’m adding to my list creating a small room for her to draw or paint or whatever she would like to do. And also, this gives me a nice idea for the future. I’ll have to discuss that with her in person later. Neira can’t stop thanking me even after Elea intervenes.

    Roseni and Cinra are content with cooking as their hobby. Filue and Leyne don’t seem to have that much interest in anything, but they take a notice of the garden behind our mansion and ask if it’s fine for them to tend to it. I obviously wholeheartedly agree. It was left untouched till this day.

    We discuss the Combat Slave idea when Cornelia has some time to join all of us. She praises me for coming up with that plan. Everyone present in the room has nothing against it. On the contrary, I can clearly see their expression brighten a lot when they hear that they could be able to gain so much freedom back. Sirgia even breaks out of her reserved mode and trots to me for a warm hug. The elves' eyes almost start sparkling and for a second, I feel like they are ready to kneel down and swear fealty to me at any moment.

    And of course, my super clingy slime would not be herself if she didn’t grapple me with an overbearing hug after hearing that she might be able to walk outside by my side, so she goes and does that. Safi for once doesn’t try to tear her off and instead joins and changes it to a group hug session.

    So in the end, we decide to work on that after I get rid of the elves’ seals. Elea inquires if they can use the underground training arena or if it’s my personal chamber. I didn’t think of that before, but it should be good to let others practice there too, not just with me. It will not only help us all thanks to my Class.

    Since it’s quite spacious, I give everyone green light to use it whenever. Sirgia already has her weapon so I note down what to get for others. I end up with a shopping list mentioning a longbow, spear, shortsword, two stilettos, and possibly two trinkets or artifacts for magicians. One is for Elea as she actually has the Priestess of Nature class, which is a healer with high affinity for all elements connected with nature. That’s how she was able to help me recover so much even with her mark interfering with it.

    I leave trying to get us some dummies and other stuff for the training area to Cornelia since she knows much more about them than me. Sirgia suggests that she can try recreating them after the workshop gets operational so that’s great. It’s an immeasurable help having a talent such as her with you.

    On the next day, a few crafters and builders show up at our doorstep. It’s obvious how they ended up here. They aren’t exactly happy seeing that many demi-humans walking around as I decided to not hide them, but after some explanation how they all are my slaves and they were sent here to work on the project and not get close with the residents, they don’t create any meaningless issues.

    I don’t think they will listen to a Dwarf’s orders without grumpy snapbacks and Sirgia isn’t exactly on the level where she can casually chat with Humans, so I work as a middleman and present all the schematics and designs by myself, naturally spending a good deal of time in her room to properly learn everything to not fuck up. Most of the things look doable and they begin their work, which is estimated to take around a week, perhaps a little more. I’ll have to refrain from using the tunnel and training area for some time.

    Why so long? Because it’s designed more like a forge than an artisanal workshop and the whole thing is underground. Fire and smoke don’t exactly go well with enclosed stone rooms and passages. They will have to employ help from Earth Mages to create proper chimneys leading outside. And since we don’t want some random smoking tubes shooting out of the lawn in the front yard, we came up with a plan to sneakily run them to the back and build into the mansion’s walls so that it looks like your usual chimney from a fireplace. This will take most of the time.

    We let the guys work and focus on our own tasks and problems. Cornelia leaves me a note saying that she’s okay with conducting some tests today and that becomes the main thing to do. Until she arrives back home, I spend time with Sirgia, Roseni and Cinra in the kitchen, preparing a nice dinner for our whole team. We have a pleasant chat alongside it, with me doing the job of a translator between the dwarf and the elves for the most part since they aren’t good with Common. I don’t mind. It’s fun and to some extent my responsibility as someone who crammed almost all languages that were accessible in the castle’s library. It was a great decision back then.

    After dinner, Cornelia leaves to change her clothes into something less exquisite than her usual robes or dresses and we agree to meet in my room. While waiting for her to come, I lay on my bed and glance through my status. Not that much changed since the big upgrade which came with Sirgia’s feelings. One thing I notice is the fact that my skills rise quite quickly. Mana Control gained another two levels, Voidal Bondage is now at 3 after some training and a few uses during the operation, and Rejuvenate is at 6.

    Even though I keep using it all the time, that’s still incredibly fast. It took a few months for the other guys to raise their respective weapon or magic arts to that level. Meanwhile, my Formless Blade Arts is already at 2. I feel like there’s something wrong here but I don’t have even the slightest idea what and why. Maybe it’s also connected to my base stats doubling instead of rising by a few points during the last tier up.

    Out of boredom, I check the Job submenu, tapping on the downwards facing arrow near my Scholar. There are a few common ones there like Cook, Soldier, Merchant, Butler, Slave Trader, Scholar…

    Wait… Slave Trader?! How? Since when? I’m pretty sure it didn’t pop up there after purchasing Sirgia so why now? I haven’t sold any slave. Did I meet some other criteria recently? Technically, I’m not even an owner of one since Sirgia’s seal was broken and the elves should still be under someone from the organization if they are alive. Anyway, since I have this Job, I should be able to gather some information from other traders now. Maybe I can learn something about the marks from one. Well, let’s equip it for the time being and check later, I can feel Cornelia closing in.

    Still slightly confused, I sit up on the bed. As I expected, she soon opens the door and walks inside. She stops in front of the door after closing them behind her and squirms a little awkwardly. Seems like she’s not used to such clothes. And they obviously aren’t her typical attire.

    Cornelia chose to switch her clothes into a clean white shirt and thigh-long grey skirt. With her hazelnut hair braided into a bun in the back and her iconic almost rimless glasses, she just emanates perfect vibes of a female teacher from Earth. Her mature aura fits this getup amazingly well.

    She catches me staring intently at her.

    “What? Is it that weird to see me not in robes?”

    “Not in the slightest. If I knew how amazing you look in a shirt and a skirt, I’d have begged you to wear them ages ago,” I comment with an amorous smile.

    “Seriously. You are such a flirt.”

    “That doesn’t change the fact that you look beautiful in this.”

    “Did I come here so that you can court me or to help you with your skills?”

    She tries to act annoyed but averting her gaze with slightly rosy cheeks and a complacent smile completely sells her out.

    “Okay, so what are we going to do first? Do you have any list of ideas prepared or do I have to come up with the tests by myself?”

    “I think it would be best if you controlled everything. I’ll provide you with as detailed information about the effects your skills and titles have on me as I can. That said, I’m not sure how to assure that nothing unexpected happens.”

    “That’s also a decent chance to test one of my skills. Hmmm…” I look around the room and spot a bit of empty space near one of the walls, not cluttered with any furniture or other things. “Can you walk there and lean on that wall with your back?”

    She follows my instruction without a word. “Spread your legs a bit more.” She raises one brow for a moment but does as told nevertheless. “Great. Now extend your arms to the sides along the wall.”

    After setting Cornelia in something akin to DaVinci's diagram, just with arms a little lower, I smile at her and snap my fingers, just because I always wanted to do that while casting a spell. Four Void Chains emerge from the wall and coil around her wrists and ankles, pinning her to the wooden surface. She looks around slightly startled but soon realizes they do not harm her in any way, just restrain movements.

    “How do you feel?”

    “I’m not going to lie, it’s a bit weird seeing yourself chained up to a wall, hahaha.” She chuckles a bit awkwardly at me.

    “Let’s try to change it a bit then.”

    I focus my mind on the existing chains and try to somehow modify them. They quickly answer my request and morph from the usual metal-looking links into something akin to leather straps, still dark purple.

    “That’s handy,” Cornelia comments on the change. “I guess I won’t be able to throw myself at you now.”

    “And more than that. This is just a theory but try casting any magic.”

    She starts visibly focusing while I stand some distance in front of her with crossed arms and a smug smile. Her eyes soon widen in surprise.

    “I can barely gather and condense my mana. At this rate, it will take me minutes to create even a single ice lance. What’s going on?”

    “Thought so. Even Safi couldn’t escape them. Looks like the Void element in those chains somehow nullifies or blocks magic and skills of the restrained person. My skill seems to be too low level to completely cut off someone as strong as you. By the way, are they uncomfortable? I switched them into the ‘fun mode’.”

    “That’s insane. And no, the restraints aren’t harmful to me in any way. They seem quite pleasant on the skin while still retaining their tight grasp.”

    She wriggles a little, trying to stretch herself and the chains at different angles and purposefully create some friction, but as she said, nothing undesirable happens.

    “Good to know. Shall we move onto the next step then? Can you tell me anything about how my presence makes you feel right now? Does it somehow affect your thoughts or mind? I’m currently at the usual level of holding the effects back.”

    I walk closer to Cornelia so that she can judge things better. I’m pretty much standing in front of her now, just not as close as to get too intimate and make her too embarrassed. That’s not the goal here. For now at least.

    She glances all over me and takes a few deep breaths. “Well, you elude a very pleasant fragrance, similar to lilac to me. I don’t think it’s affecting my mind. I do feel like it would be really nice to step closer and hug you while leaning my face against your neck, but it’s not as if something tries to incite me to do that. I think it’s the natural reaction to something this nice. It’s also quite calming. Some perfumes infused with magic can feel similar, but your scent is obviously superior.” She calmly analyzes the effect.

    “Thanks for the information.”

    “Ermm… Could you move a bit closer, like past the side of my face? I want to check something. Just don’t freak out, okay?” she asks a little awkwardly.

    I follow her request and lean forward, almost putting my forehead against the wall. I wait for a few seconds but nothing happens. Tilting my head a bit, I can see Cornelia hesitating over something with a slightly red face. A moment later, I feel a slow and gentle lick on the side of my neck.

    “Unbelievable… They were right…”

    Moving back after another doesn’t happen, I glance at her trying to avoid my gaze.

    “First, why would I freak out from that and second, who was right about what?” I ask curiously.

    “Well… You might have gotten weirded out if I licked you out of the blue…”

    “Oh, come on. Safi and Emi do it all the time. And I don’t think it’s gross or anything. I certainly don’t think less of you now.”

    She exhales in relief. “They told me numerous times that you taste sweet and I was really curious if that was just how they feel you as Slimes or if there’s more to it. Now, I can confirm that you are in fact extremely sweet.”

    “This Class is so fucking weird…”

    “But at the same time really intriguing, don’t you think? What if your sweat has more effects than just a pleasant scent and taste. What if your seed is actually brimming with nutrients and energy as they claim it to be? It might be similar but at a lower level.” She quickly gets into her theorizing mode.

    I chuckle and raise a brow at her teasingly. “Want a taste of that too?”

    She gets all flushed after realizing what I’m implying. For a moment it looks like she is going to throw a decent burn at me but she stops herself just short of doing so, only averting her gaze to the side. “Jerk.”

    “Hahaha, okay, take a sip and let’s finally check the full power of that title. Tell me if anything starts feeling wrong right away.”

    I bring out a waterskin and help Cornelia drink some water since we already talked lots. After a short break, she nods at me to continue. I release the mental block I’ve been holding on the title. The only other time I did that, was in the slaver’s den, and it wasn’t exactly completely set free.

    “Oh damn… It’s much clearer and noticeable now. I feel much more eager to snuggle up to you and it’s like I somehow know in the back of my mind that being hugged by you must be really lovely. And it’s also like I know I would be safe in your arms, that you would take good care of me. But again, it’s not forceful and it’s not trying to brainwash me, it’s more like trying to reassure me that no matter what, you would accept me as I am.”

    She shares her experiences with me again, looking at me with a hint of admiration in her expression.

    “It’s a little bit embarrassing to say this, but I think in the case of people close to you, it eases their worries and insecurities, giving them a little bit of courage and bringing to the surface their true thoughts which were slightly overshadowed by little bits of anxiety. It helps them be more open. I don’t feel any sudden arousal or desire to throw myself at you. I think you should keep it unlocked, but we don’t know how it exactly works on other random women.”

    I ponder for a moment about Cornelia’s insight. If what she said is correct then this is actually a huge deal. It could help the more shy and reserved people break the barriers holding them back from their true feelings. And from her words, it doesn’t seem like there’s much of aphrodisiac effect mixed in, but that’s most likely thanks to the fact that it lets me control that part too, like with Sirgia that time or the woman at the bar. She pretty much came just from a light touch and getting a whiff of my scent.

    “That’s quite interesting. So it’s similar to the Lion’s Resolve spell, just a tad different. Are you able to think straight?”

    “Yeah, I guess so. As I said, this reassuring ‘voice’ is not invasive. I can pretty much ignore it when I’m not paying attention to it, but I am aware of it existing back there. If we were doing something requiring much more focus, like fighting, studying or even talking about stuff different than this effect, I think it wouldn’t be disruptive in any way.”

    “Thanks again. I’m learning a lot.”

    “No need, I’m the same. This is so fascinating.” She smiles charmingly.

    “Okay, I guess it’s time for the finale.”

    “Eh? There’s more?” she asks, a little bit surprised.

    I take off my brown vest and begin to unpin my purple shirt. Cornelia watches me attentively. A little bit of confusion appears in her eyes. I smile reassuringly at her. She knows I won’t do anything indecent against her will.

    “There’s that little part in the title saying something about ‘women not being able to avert their gaze’ after glancing at my chest so let’s see if that’s just an overstatement.”

    I finish undressing and expose my quite decently chiselled torso to Cornelia. I spread my arms as if presenting the goods.

    “Do you like what you see?”

    Her face gets flushed pretty quickly and she tries to look away but her eyes always make their way back to me. I walk closer with an alluring step and place my hand on the wall near her head like it can sometimes be seen in some comics. She glances down at my abs while blushing furiously. I think it’s the first time she catches me completely topless.

    After teasing her a little more, I back off and stop focusing my mind on that specific effect. Cornelia takes a few breaths, visibly less pressured to look at me now. Seems like if I don’t focus on that part, it won’t cause too many problems.

    “I knew you were quite good looking, but… I had no idea you are actually this… hot,” she shows a wry smile.

    I see her trying to desperately pull her legs together, but the restraints don’t let it happen. “Something wrong? Did it have an unpleasant effect?”

    She shakes her head, getting redder and redder with each second. “No, it was fine. It’s fine now too. It’s just that… I can feel it... dlipn dn ma lg…”

    She speaks each word of the last sentence quieter and quieter until the last part is just mumbling so unrecognizable that even my Linguist doesn’t pick it up.

    “Erm, I couldn’t understand the last part, so…”

    She locks eyes with mine and I can tell how deeply embarrassed she is.

    “I think I need a change of underwear, hahaha…” She laughs awkwardly but it’s more of a chuckle that tells me she wants to run away from this shame.

    “Hahaha, oh come on, Cornelia. We both were expecting much more ferocious things than this. There’s really no need to get embarrassed over a natural bodily reaction. You get wet, I get hard. Perhaps a little quicker or stronger due to the effects, but we can’t control that.”

    She looks at me, a little surprised. “You got an erection?”

    “Oh, please. There’s a beautiful woman in front of me. I hung my face just above hers. I let her lick my neck. She was showering me with compliments. I even undressed in front of her. How am I supposed to not get hard from all that, huh?”

    “I see… I guess you are right. And… thanks...” She gives me a bit of a side glance.

    I come closer and get her off the chains, helping her walk to the bed so she can sit down to regain some strength after being bombarded with a myriad of lewd skills.

    “Sorry for putting you through so much embarrassment.”

    “Don’t be. I volunteered for this myself. But you could have left some of the teasing out, you rascal.” She bumps me into the shoulder.

    “Hahaha, my bad.”

    “Just so you know, this was all for the sake of science. I did get wet, but don’t get some weird ideas about this.”

    Looks like she’s still a bit hesitant. I could try giving her the last push now, but it would be scummy to take advantage of the current situation. I pretty much drugged her even if she says she’s thinking clearly. There’s no rush. I can clearly see her getting more comfortable around me and others.

    “I know. Thanks again. If you’ll ever need a live test subject for your experiments or something, call me whenever. I’m pretty much in eternal debt from everything up until now.”

    “So, you are basically my slave, right?” She smiles at me cheekily.

    I stand up from the bed and bow down. “It’s as Master says. Or would you prefer Milady? My Queen?”

    She squirms a little and chuckles. “Stop it! I have no idea how you can keep up a straight face with all the girls calling you master.”

    “Well, I’m perhaps that weird dude who enjoys the sound of it? It’s just something back from my world.”

    “I see. Well, don’t expect me to join them anytime soon.”

    “Good. I’d much rather be on equals with you. But, I don’t mind acting as a slave from time to time...”

    She chuckles again and some more useless banter later we decide to finish for today. Before she leaves, I grab a rectangular box from one of my drawers and hand it to her.

    “What’s this?” She glances all over the package curiously.

    “I can’t just leave you like that after you went through so much, right? It’s a small gift which might be useful at times like this. Check it out when you are alone. There’s a manual under the bottom part after you get the thing out.” I wink at her.

    Cornelia eyes me suspiciously but accepts the offering and walks to her room through our connected doors.

    God, I wish I could see her reaction when she reads the manual, hahaha.
    Since the chapter was pretty much about Cornelia, I think it's a great moment to share our 2nd chibi, portraying exactly her! It would have been better if it was finished during "The Escape", but whatever, she looks amazing. Maybe we can't see her bun, but that will come someday in a full art!


    [​IMG]
     
  15. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 34 – Hardships of a King
    With the help of the elves, we finish restyling all the guest rooms on the bottom floor in just a few days. Now, all of them follow the same design and are completely safe from any undesirable spectators peeking in.

    The purple curtains now completely cover the windows, not letting even a speck of a sunray fall inside. They are of course removable. Getting some fresh air in there from time to time is quite a no-brainer. Can’t have it become stale and heavy from all the possible scents and light aphrodisiacs.

    Bedsheets and pillows are now of various shades of violet too. We ordered a material that’s supposedly easy to wash from any possible fluids. We even saw some made out of a hydrophobic one, but it would have been quite stupid to choose it. Yeah, it’s perfect for things like coats or other clothing, but you don’t want to end up swimming in sweat and love juices while you are at it. I don’t know who thought making bedsheets out of it was a good idea. They definitely didn’t test them long enough to notice the issue.

    The internal design of the rooms with lots of dark mahogany and white marble parts here and there seem perfect so we don’t change that much when it comes to walls. Lighting crystals, which were light orange before, are now replaced with pinkish ones that can also reach purplish hue with more energy infused. We leave a yellowish one in the main lamp hanging out from the ceiling so it will be easier to clean and use the room when it doesn’t serve its main purpose.

    I’m currently going around and inspecting everything, thinking of possible changes and improvements while I’m at it. Sirgia accompanies me and tests all crystals since she was the one who fine-tuned them to achieve the cosiest result. Everything seems to be working fine and I don’t see any parts that require reconsidering again. It all creates a pretty lovely atmosphere.

    I try to recall whatever I know about hotels and their more naughty counterparts while glancing all over the room we are currently in. We nailed the atmosphere quite decently. All the important parts seem to be there. All locks work without an issue. Beds are comfy as hell. Looks like everything is pretty much ready.

    While brushing my hand over one of the cupboards near the bed, I’m reminded of one more feature which both of them utilize. And it’s one of the most important ones, especially for the lewd establishments. It’s communication. You don’t go through tens of floors back down to the reception desk to ask for something or request a thing to your room. And in the case of love hotels, it’s even more crucial since you aren’t going to parade out of the room in the middle of the session to ask for an extension or whatever else.

    “And suddenly you start appreciating telephones when they are gone…” I murmur with a wry smile.

    Sirgia catches onto an unknown word and walks closer to me with a curious expression.

    “Don’t mind me, just trying to figure out how to connect each room to the reception desk. Having rows of stones enchanted with Message doesn’t seem like the best idea.”

    I ruffle through her hair. She really looks insanely adorable in her maid outfit. I pick her up and sit her down on the cupboard. She’s now slightly taller than me in that position. She smiles cutely when I brush her cheek. Most likely sensing my intentions, she leans in for a kiss and we join our lips in a gentle peck. I’m the one to tilt my head a bit upwards this time.

    While Safi and Emi pretty much always lively assault me with deep kisses, Sirgia’s ones are more tame and soft. Even though she’s being less reserved than before, her true nature still surfaces in things like these.

    Pulling her a little closer, I pepper her lips with tens of quick kisses without diving any deeper, evoking a little giggle from her. She stops me with her hands and looks me in the eyes for a moment, before joining our mouths together again and inviting my tongue for a slow and gentle dance.

    Ending our little session of affectionate fun, she rubs her cheeks against mine while entwining her arms behind my neck. A moment later, she pulls back and keeps glancing at my face while moving her small hand over my cheek.

    “What is a telephone, Master?” she asks, not forgetting my previous words.

    “Well, it’s kind of a device, I guess we can call it an artifact, which allows a person to speak with another one, who also has a copy, over huge distances. It’s quite sophisticated though and I don’t think it would work in this world. It’s different from Message. Closer to Telepathy I guess.”

    Sirgia’s eyes sparkle a bit when hearing about it being complex.

    “Can you tell me more about how it works? Please?”

    I chuckle at her and place one more kiss on her lips. “Let’s see, I’ll try to envision it with our home as an example. There would be one device with two parts in this room. The lower one would be a panel to put in numbers. There would be another one located in the reception desk and also in every room in the mansion and all of them would have their unique sequence of numbers that would identify them. You could pick up the second part of this device here and it would automatically make the one at reception create a sound to inform someone about a request for conversation. After they pick up theirs, a connection would be made between those two and both people could hear and speak to each other through them. And the one in reception could input the unique numbers in the bottom part before picking up the top one so that it makes a connection with any of the devices in the rooms. As for the more technical details, all those devices would have been connected with a rope that can transmit electricity. When someone would speak to their own device, it would change the sound into electricity waves and send them to the other one which would receive them and transform back into sound for the other person to hear.”

    That’s still quite a basic interpretation of how it all works, but I think it’s enough for her to grasp the concept. Sirgia’s imagination and creative way of thinking are great, but I don’t think she will be able to recreate the whole thing without electricity being spread and used commonly.

    “I think I have an idea how to create something like that,” she suddenly says.

    I raise my brows in surprise. “Really?”

    “It most likely won’t be exactly the same, but there are a few things I just came up with which could potentially work. It just needs to connect the people using the artifact so that they can communicate with each other and the one at the reception desk has to be like a master device that can reach any other one, right?” She reaffirms if she understood me correctly.

    “Yeah, pretty much.”

    “Then, I can start working on it even with the small workshop I have in my room. Should I do it?”

    “I mean, sure, but that’s a lot of artifacts to prepare. Are you fine doing all of it alone?”

    “Of course! It’s nothing! As long as I succeed with what I’m thinking of and create a working prototype, the rest will just need me to repeat the process but quicker.”

    She explains with a lot of confidence and pride showing on her face. I ruffle through her hair again and she smiles contentedly.

    “I’ll leave it to you then. Don’t push yourself like with the first project. And tell me whenever you need anything.”

    “Anything?” She glances at me a bit shyly and I nod. “Then… I need some more kisses from Master…”

    “Don’t be ashamed of asking for much more…”

    I fulfil her request for a few more minutes before we come out of the room and finish checking the rest of them.

    Next, I head out to the town to get weapons for the girls. Not much planning here, I just visit some weapon shops and pick up a few decent looking ones. We’ll think about something better if a need for them arises and that most likely won’t happen until we get the combat slave plan going and perhaps figure out some low-tier storage rings.

    As for the magical focuses, I’m not that well-versed in them so I spend a bit more time in the shop which deals in them, listening to some details from the owner of the store. With their help, I get one that has nature affinity and one that serves as a general mana catalyst.

    Naturally, the clothes and collars are still far from ready in just a few days so I move to the castle. I spend a few hours browsing through the books about slavery marks. I don’t find that much useful information in the general part of it, mostly what I already knew or stumbled on in the past when also checking out the topic.

    The basics are there. A slave mark creates a connection between the slave and the owner, with various restrictions and additional features the higher tier the mark is. With the highest being similar to what Sirgia had, where she couldn’t go against master’s orders or she would be in a lot of mental pain and both her Job and Class were almost completely restricted.

    That connection persists all the time, as long as one of them is alive. The books list some functions of various slave marks, but they don’t say anything about placing or removing them, besides mentioning death and that the owner can get rid of it. I’ve already learned how to do that.

    I decide to move to the restricted section. Not the forbidden one, just a bit less public and available to people living in the castle. A person comes with me to watch if I’m not going to try and steal anything since this part of the library consists of many quite important or serious writings. And it also leads further into the forbidden chamber so the lady who comes with me has to keep an eye on that entrance too. The librarians and guards do know who I am, but that doesn’t mean that they will just turn around and act like it doesn’t concern them whatever I do here.

    She seems quite eager to help me with my research. It’s a woman somewhere around 30-40 years old I guess, with dark brown hair woven into a single long braid. She does not act completely enamoured with me, but she smiles openly at my banter and follows me quite close, often asking if I don’t need anything else.

    With her help, we quickly gather a bunch of books on slavery seals and begin the research. She also takes part in it. I just can’t convince her not to, and another pair of eyes will make it faster so I instruct her what to look for.

    In a few hours, I learn that slavery ownership can be removed via other means than just death and it also doesn’t destroy the seal. The restrictions still exist, even though the slave becomes masterless. It’s a technique usually reserved for those slave merchants who work for the government.

    When for some reasons it’s needed to undo the connection and the owner doesn’t want to do it willingly, they can void the slavery contract. That technique isn’t explained in detail in the books, but at least I now know that it exists. It doesn’t get rid of the mark, just the connection, but dealing with it after a slave is without a master is much easier.

    One of the books fortunately mentions a way for slave traders to verify what seal is placed on a person and if its connection is active. I memorize it to test later when I come back home.

    As for breaking the seals, it’s as I expected and not much information is available here, besides the few tricks I figured out when reading their descriptions in the public area the previous time. It’s most likely intentionally not placed here so that it doesn’t get leaked out and stays available to the chosen individuals.

    There’s always a chance some slave traders have come up with their own technique of breaking seals or acquired the information through other means, but I don’t think it will be possible for me to act like one and try to ask for it directly. Selina definitely has her ways considering how big and well-known her business is. Mentioning breaking the seals could seem suspicious even if she placed me in the VIP category.

    Guess I’ll have to trouble Ross. He might agree to arrange a meeting with one of the kingdom’s people who deal with the seals while I pose as a freshly employed slaver. Voiding the ownership may be out of the question, but breaking masterless marks should be fine.

    Since I’m already at the castle, I decide to ask for an audience. I’ll be able to take asking for help with advertising and slavery seals off the to-do list at once if everything goes right. We end our research in the library and after thanking the woman for her assistance, I move to the royal part of the structure and inform one of the servants about my request. He tells me that the King is currently talking with the other Heroes who just returned from their first mission and asks if I want to join them.

    I don’t think it would be a good idea so I politely decline. Shino would definitely start inquiring about what I have been doing during this time and there is a chance she would want to visit my ‘store’. I’m not ready to reveal the true purpose of my business to them yet. It will happen, but not so soon.

    Not having any other things to do, I walk to the training area behind the barracks and start practising with my weapons, which now include the whip, shortsword and whip sword forms. I’ve managed to somehow create or unlock one active skill for the shortsword, the big blades emerging from the ground, while training with it so maybe I’ll figure out more of them for other shapes the same way.

    Since my Whip Mastery is at level 4, I focus on the new whip sword form. It feels kinda weird having a weapon like this. It’s not something new to me since those can be sometimes found in fantasy fiction or games, but that’s completely different from reality. I’ve watched a lot of videos in the past about how whip swords aren’t exactly good weapons and are quite troublesome in use.

    Nevertheless, I’m kinda in a fantasy world myself now so there’s a chance it will do fine. And it’s not just some random whip with blades attached but a supposedly powerful artifact from who knows how long ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if it dated back to even centuries before the Great War.

    At first, it really is awkward. I try to use it similarly to the normal whip since it should be the closest to it, but I can barely do anything besides throwing it in a straight line and pulling back. Any attempts to waggle it around in more controllable patterns fail completely. I almost cut myself a few times when the tip springs back at me after applying a wrong angle before pulling it back.

    Some knights take breaks to watch as I struggle with this coiling snake-like weapon, chuckling from time to time when my moves end in a complete failure. For other weapon types, I had an instructor to teach me some basics and correct mistakes, but unfortunately, for this particular one, I don’t think there’s someone who could help me in the capital. Ross would most likely send a message asking around since there should be a chance for someone like that existing, but who knows how long that could take.

    Even though I’m not doing that great, I keep my composure and repeatedly try out different moves and strategies to handle the mischievous yet deadly weapon. A competitive spirit awakens in me. Something in the back of my mind is telling me to not give up and push through until I succeed. Mastering such a difficult and unique weapon seems worth it for the sake of pride and boasting effect. Perhaps one day I’ll be known as a legendary whip sword user. That sounds definitely much more impressive than just longsword or greatsword.

    After around an hour or more, I finally get some grasp on it. The mastery has risen to the second level. I can make some decently looking horizontal swipes now along with the thrusts. It’s still not as impressive as my efficiency with a normal whip, but that’s to be expected. You can’t master something in an hour, without any external help from someone who already knows a bit about it.

    Just as I am finishing the last set of exercises, a familiar feeling arises in my body. I quickly focus my mind on it and a chunk of mana flows through the purple helix to the crystal at the end of the handle. The whip sword retracts for the first time and forms a blade of a longsword’s length. The only difference is that its edges look like rows of pointy and rounded triangles. It’s like a saw-edged blade but the ‘teeth’ are much larger, giving really ominous vibes, almost like it’s a weapon of some sadistic villain.

    After all of the blade parts set themselves in their responsive spots, my body moves on its own and positions the sword in front of my face with the tip facing to the sky. It flashes with a purplish glow and suddenly, all of the small blades shoot out to the sides, detaching themselves from the whip, and begin spinning around me like some kind of a protective wall of death.

    I glance all around as the spinning blades whirr in the air, emitting a low humming sound. They move in a certain distance from my body and when I make a step, they also fly along the path. I try running and there are no issues with accidentally getting into their path as they match my speed without any problems.

    This feels so weird… but at the same time, it’s so cool. I guess I now have at least one defensive ability. This came faster than I expected.

    Cutting off the flow of mana makes them all fly back to the almost flat rope and attach themselves to it again, and the ominous blade forms back. I check my mastery and it did reach level 3. Seems like it’s the required threshold for skills to manifest.

    Why did it rise that fast though? Was it because it’s a whip and a sword and I kinda used both a lot already? Or something is really wrong here. I wonder if I’ll ever figure this out.

    While I’m pondering over it on the sides, Ross walks up to me. Supposedly, he arrived here around 20 minutes ago but didn’t want to disrupt my training so he just sat on a bench and watched the show. That explains why it got so quiet out of a sudden. All the knights must have stopped procrastinating and went back to do their stuff when they saw the King walk in.

    We move to a nearby, small garden and sit down by one of the stone tables. There’s no one around, but he takes out a similar artifact to what I’ve seen the info broker use back before the operation. In his case, it starts floating after being injected with mana and I don’t think he has to focus a lot to keep it up.

    “That was quite something, I must say. I’ve never seen a sword split like that,” he opens the conversation.

    “I’m surprised no less than you. I didn’t expect anything else besides me getting hundreds of little cuts during this very first training session with the whip sword shape,” I chuckle with a wry smile.

    “And yet something did happen, and it looks pretty useful. Should be possible to utilize it both defensively and offensively, I think.”

    “Yeah. We shall see. Anyway, how did the meeting go?”

    He smiles. “Good. Besides an unexpected fall into old Dwarven ruins after they clashed with an Abyssal, everything went pretty well.”

    “Nothing ever goes along the plan. Typical. Did we learn anything new from their expedition?”

    “Not exactly that new, but we confirmed again the presence of a weird water-like surface which is actually solid. Both the Heroes and us suspect that this is some kind of a portal, but we never had a chance to investigate it.”

    “I see. Well, not like me knowing that will be of any help. I’m kinda useless here, sitting on the sides.”

    He waves his hand. “Don’t say that. You have your own goals and plans. And besides, you never know how and where you can find a connection to the calamity. If you don’t mind, I’d like to share with you our findings regularly. And besides, it looks like you are getting stronger bit by bit so perhaps one day I’ll ask you to cooperate with the more serious investigation too.”

    “I’ll see about that in the future. I have some decent leads on how to utilize this Class a bit more efficiently than I thought at first, but it still needs time. It’s not like I don’t want to go exploring, that’s actually really tempting, but as you just said, I need to focus on the goals and plans I’ve set my mind on right now. And to do that, I’ll need a little help from you.”

    After this little chat, I move the conversation onto the important things.

    “Speak then and this humble servant shall grant your wishes, My Lord.” He lowers his head and places his hand on his heart.

    I chuckle at him while raising my brows in surprise. “The hell are you doing? If anyone heard that, I would have been beheaded on the spot. Are you trying to get rid of me?”

    He also laughs. “Goddess forbid, of course not. It’s just I always wanted to say that line and you are the only person who wouldn’t completely berate me for it. Everyone is always humble and polite and I have to act like some immensely respectable person which doesn't make mistakes and only shows himself from the overbearing and noble side. But I’m just a human too. It gets boring when no one treats you like an equal. You and Cornelia are pretty much the only people who act casually around me.”

    “I see, so you are basically into a master-servant type of play. Noted.” I summon a notepad from my ring and act like I’m writing something down with full seriousness.

    “Erm… what could you possibly mean by that?” He smiles awkwardly.

    “Oh, nothing. You’ll see for yourself one day. Just wait patiently.” I waggle my eyebrows at him and hide the props. “Let’s get to the point then. First, I’d like to borrow your information network for the day of the opening. It would be great to spread some news here and there about the locum and its purpose, but also about the most crucial rules. I’ll send you a list of them after I’m done writing all down. This might be a little bit problematic, but we need to try to somehow use them in the rumours. I don’t know, perhaps something like ‘Hey, have you ever had some fun with a Slime? I’ve heard it feels like heaven. There’s this new place opening which actually lets you do it. And it’s completely safe as long as you don’t go for their cores.’ or the likes.” I try to come up with a quick example.

    Ross ponders for a moment. “Hmmm… I see… Well, definitely doable with a bit of work. I’ll be able to arrange that after you get me the rules. Mark down the most important ones. And… does it actually…?” He gives me a bit of side-glance.

    “Yeah. Not like I have that much experience with ‘normal’ people, but it is quite unimaginable.” I smile at him while recalling my fun with Safi and Emi. “Okay, the next thing is much more troublesome. I learned how to identify masterless slave marks, but I’m not completely sure how to break them. And yes, I do break the seals of the girls in my mansion, I hope you won’t snitch on me. This actually might come helpful to you someday since I plan on registering them as combat slaves. Just imagine having a personal army of demi-human girls at your call. Anyway, would it be possible to meet one of the contracted slavers to learn the technique? Should be okay if I only wanted the masterless one, right?”

    He joins his hands under his chin. “That’s… an interesting idea. So, basically, it’s like you are creating your own party but with demi-humans. You could act independently from the other Heroes. Amazing! I don’t care how, I’ll make this meeting happen! Just wait for my notice! Truly, you really come up with some fantastic ideas. And it actually can benefit your long-term goal too, can’t it? If rumours about a strong party of demi-humans led by a Human saving the world spread around, it could have a great impact on society!”

    Ross seems much happier about the combat slave plan than I expected him to be. I only brought it up to support my reasoning so it doesn’t look like I’m breaking slavery marks left and right, even though he most likely would have figured that out just from knowing me for some time already.

    Well, it’s good. I don’t think we’ll be the ones saving the world, but undertaking some quests together might actually be nice. We would have a stable income and also ‘cover’ of a brothel while acting like adventurers on the backstage. To do that though, I need a lot more people in the mansion. Enough for the brothel to keep running when I or some girls leave for a journey. That’s something worth looking up to. I’m already getting excited!

    “I’m glad you are up for it. These are the main aspects I need your help with. We are pretty close to starting the business. Perhaps a week or two at maximum more.”

    “Great. I’m happy that things are going well for you. Don’t be polite and ask for whatever you need, I’ll try to help as much as I can. Now, that there’s the possibility of you helping with the calamity in the future, I’m even more obliged to offer my help.”

    We shake our hands and laugh. This meeting went much better than I expected. And it’s good to know that the others are doing fine too. I hope they stay as a group and act together. Marcia will definitely try to keep the team running, but I’m a bit worried about other girls getting in arguments with Kamil. Even back in class they often bickered amongst themselves and it wasn’t always complete jokes. Well, I can’t do anything about that. I should focus on my side of things.
     
  16. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 35 – The Queen’s Secret
    Done with the main aspects of this meeting, we spend some time just chatting a bit more. Ross gives me some details on what the other guys have been doing up until now and what are the results of their investigation. Looks like they were in quite a pinch for a moment, but thankfully, they all got out of it just fine.

    They will rest in the capital for some time and then they have pretty much free reins over where to go and what to do. Of course, he will provide them with appropriate information and locations of previous outbreaks, and if any new ones happen, they will be immediately notified.

    Ross believes that letting them roam free around the world and experience it more will be beneficial for their growth and I agree with that belief. We might have trained for like a year, but we do lack a lot of real battle experience. And our Classes and abilities are pretty much fresh and weak. This is the best course of action.

    It doesn’t look like the world has a known date of its end and the Abyssals appear mostly randomly in small groups, but we both are pretty sure that there has to be some kind of a goal for them in the long run. They might be scouting, they might be probing the world’s defences, they might just be waiting for something to happen so that they can appear in their full strength and wipe out all life at once.

    Unfortunately, we do not know anything about that. By their hierarchy, it’s implied that there might be some kind of chain of command in their ranks. The portal theory is quite sound. They might be invaders from some other realm and didn’t yet figure out how to launch a full-scale assault.

    But I would really hope it’s some kind of a natural calamity caused by magic or something, which can be stopped and completely nullified. Having another realm with their eyes set on you is much more troublesome. We would have to somehow prevent them from crossing worlds if we wanted to completely stop their advances because I don’t think we can wipe out the other world from which they come out as a defence strategy.

    I really hope more of this will clear up in the future. There are too many unknowns at this moment and pretty much all are just speculations. But the only thing I can do right now is to grow stronger and also help the girls around me advance too. We have to be ready for whatever comes. No one can guarantee that another outbreak won’t suddenly happen in our front yard on some random day. There weren’t any patterns noted in the past.

    While we are having a pleasant conversation, Ross brings up another topic.

    “That reminds me, I’ve heard that you ran into mother recently. She pretty much berated me for dragging you into my personal matters all the time, ehhhh…”

    “Haha, yeah, I’ve almost walked straight into her but she was quick to step back. We had a short and pleasant exchange. Although, I think she might have gotten a bit more reserved towards me after learning about my Class. She kept her distance pretty visibly.”

    Ross waves his hand.

    “No, no, no, that’s not it. Do you really think that the Queen would judge someone based just on their Class? She knows you well enough for that to not happen,” he denies my assumption.

    “Well, she still seemed quite uncomfortable in my presence.”

    “She was always like that, it’s just you haven't noticed in the past. You are now more conscious of it due to the nature of your Class.” He sighs. “She is behaving similarly towards everyone in the castle. Actually, I should say to every man, including myself. Our time together was greatly reduced after father passed away. And it keeps shrinking slowly. We barely exchange a few sentences during breakfasts, over a long dining table.”

    Now, this is something new. The Queen was always quite kind and open towards everyone, that’s the first time I hear about her being like that. Maybe he is right, I’m paying much more attention to women around me because of the skills.

    Curiosity gets the better of me and I can’t hold myself back from getting deeper into this unusual case.

    “But why is she like that? It kinda feels like she’s being awkward around others.”

    Ross chuckles. “You see, they often say like a father like a son, if you catch my drift.” He looks at me but I just give him a bit of a confused look. “Right, forget that. The thing you don’t know is that father was… quite a lively person during the night. And while this might come surprising to you, mother wasn’t exactly the type to shy away from him. I’d say, it was the opposite. They were a pretty good match in that aspect. So good that it was hard to sleep on some days.”

    I can’t believe what I’m hearing. And it’s not about the fact that he just shared a pretty intimate secret of the royal family, but about the Queen being that much into it. She always emanates an aura of someone gentle and quite petite. Looks really can be deceiving.

    “I would never ever think of something like that when seeing her. She looks so delicate and fragile. I can’t really imagine her being as active as you described,” I voice out my doubts.

    He laughs again. “Again, as they say, still water runs deep. I’m pretty sure she was the one who often initiated their night meetings.”

    “Okay, but how does that connect with the current issue?” I ask him curiously.

    “After father passed away, everything was fine for a few months, besides all the grief and mourning of course, but after that time, she began avoiding closer contact with all other men. I think the reason should be obvious. She didn’t suddenly change who she is deep inside. Even if she tries to act all composed, I’m pretty sure her body is not acting accordingly with her wishes. Without father around, there’s no one who could help her with that, and it naturally has an impact on her behaviour. She doesn’t want to show that side to others so she is taking as much distance as necessary to not slip up accidentally. After so much time, it got to the extent of her avoiding even me, and I don’t blame her obviously.” Ross sighs with a sad subtone.

    So, basically from what he said, the Queen is actually a hidden nymphomaniac who is afraid of having others notice that fact after the person which was her other half isn’t there anymore. She doesn’t want Ross to feel weird around her too. I bet she thinks he would be disgusted by her if he noticed how much she is holding back to not fall into her desires but is not aware that he already knows pretty much everything. And the loyalty to her husband must play a big role in this too. There’s only so much she can do alone after years of a passionate relationship with the previous King.

    “If only she had someone she could lean on…” Ross mutters under his breath with another long sigh. Then, his eyes open a bit wider and he slowly raises his gaze to look at me. “Hey, Al… maybe you could—”

    I blink a few times and interrupt him. “You are not asking what I think you are.”

    He smiles awkwardly and gestures with his hands as if trying to make his point. “Al, you know that I consider you my best friend and I know you see me as one too. So, I’d really like to request something from you just this once—”

    “Ross, no.”

    “But—”

    “I’m not going to seduce your mother.”

    He drops his head dejectedly. I look to the sky, slightly in disbelief. I was not expecting him to literally ask me to go after her.

    “Are you aware of what you are even asking for? First, she was a Queen and is of royal blood while I’m just some random dude from some other world. And second, that would be literally spitting on her resolve and respect towards your father.” I reprimand him a bit.

    He raises his head again with the wry smile still present on his lips.

    “You are not just some random dude. And you are a Hero. Didn’t heroes often propose to princesses? I know you really well, you are a good man. And she obviously respects father, but the fact that he is gone won’t change. Choosing another person to rest a shoulder on has nothing wrong to it. Do you really think that a woman can’t try to find love and happiness again after the death of her husband?”

    “I’m going to run a brothel in a few weeks and I’ve already slept with various other girls.”

    “What’s the issue there? It’s not like the public has to know. And I’m sure she doesn’t find you any less attractive because of that. She mentions you in our short conversations pretty often so she definitely likes you to some extent already. She never brings up the other Heroes as much. I think she somehow got to know about your real intentions, even though I was being careful to not leak it by accident.”

    It’s my time to sigh and I do that while starting to rub my temples with my hand. Cornelia’s phrase ‘a woman has her ways’, from the day she arrived at my doorstep, appears in my mind and I have a strange feeling that these two women might know each other better than some people would suspect.

    Ross keeps looking at me with pleading eyes.

    For fuck’s sake… is he really trying to convince me to fuck the Queen? What the hell is wrong with this sudden development?

    I sigh again and shake my head. “Okay, I’m going with no right now—”

    “Al, please—”

    “—BUT, I can’t just leave you like that without any help after what you’ve done for me already.”

    His expression brightens a little and he smiles more naturally. I continue.

    “Do you maybe have any idea what her favourite colour or style is?”

    He furrows his brows a bit at my question and then contemplates his answer for a moment.

    “I’d say something in the likes of cyan blue. She has a lot of accessories in that shade. But, why does that matter?”

    I smile back at him. “I have an idea for a gift which might help your mother a bit with her condition.”

    “Splendid! Money does not matter, just state your price! If it can relieve her tense mood even a little, I’ll be in your eternal debt!”

    I chuckle to myself a bit. “Oh, it will definitely help her relieve herself. And you don’t need to pay for anything, it’s supposed to be a gift.”

    “Well, if you insist. Pass me a message as soon as you acquire it. I’ll have someone stand on watch around your mansion.”

    “Hahah, I appreciate your eagerness, but I will be the one to present it to her personally. Trust me, it will be much better that way. And in case of my idea coming out as offensive, you won’t risk having your mother avoid you even more.”

    “You are much better with women than I am so I’ll leave it in your hands. There’s no way it will fail if it’s your idea.”

    “And what is that supposed to mean, huh?”

    We both laugh and I ask Ross about some more little details in hopes of finding something unique. I can say that this would be our first custom order. And it’s for none other than the Queen. Who would have expected that?

    Half an hour later we bid farewell to each other and head our own way. I return home and look around. The elves are tending to the garden together. They seem to be having a good time chatting with each other happily while taking care of a bit overgrown backyard.

    I come to them and ask for a bit of their time to verify their seals. Even though I assure them that they just need to uncover a bit of their collarbone, they all pretty much unpin all the buttons of their shirts and their alluring bellies enter my vision, alongside the centers of their chests. At least their breasts are partially covered with the sides of their shirts.

    They all smile at me enchantingly and form a line. I look at Elea and she just giggles before joining them instead of convincing them to not act so frivolously. I guess that's just how they are, less restricted by things like shame. I step closer to each one and touch their marks with my thumb, making three counter-clockwise circles over their edges. I learn that all their seals are now masterless as I suspected. The kingdom’s slavers must have already nullified the contracts with their owners.

    I leave them with the garden after announcing that I will be trying to figure the seals out shortly and resume my stroll.

    The craftsmen are working on the workshop as they should so I don’t unnecessarily interrupt them. Cornelia seems to be out for some errand. I can feel Safi and Emi lazing around in my room so I pay them a visit first. We cuddle together for some time while I tell them a bit more about our lectures and training which will be starting from this evening. They are both looking forward to it. Although, I can sense that they are looking forward to pleasing me more than learning.

    After a few rounds of mana-pats, I leave and walk towards Sirgia’s room. She’s working on something inside. I knock lightly and come in. As I expected, she is completely focused on designing some artifact and I can pretty much guess that it’s the communication device from earlier. I move quietly around her and sit on the bed. With a smile on my face, I watch as she moves her pencil over the paper with a lot of attention, stopping only from time to time to think. I’m sure she noticed me already so I just wait patiently for her to finish the part she is drawing. She looks so mature and collected while focused.

    Ten minutes later, she places the pencil on the side and turns to me on her chair.

    “I’m sorry for taking so long, Master. I wanted to finish it before I forgot. Do you need anything from me?”

    I smile and pat the bed on my side. Sirgia leaves her seat and walks to me to sit on the bed. After she is on my side, I place my hand on her shoulder and lean her down to give her a lap pillow, and begin brushing my fingers over the side of her face. She closes her eyes and exhales softly.

    “I need to make sure that you take proper breaks,” I speak to her.

    We sit like that for a moment. A faint smile paints her face. She then raises herself up and sits on my lap while leaning against my chest.

    “Any more and I will fall asleep. It feels too nice.”

    I chuckle a bit. “Let’s continue that later then. I actually have a request for you. I know you just started with the device from the morning, but this is something important, sorry.”

    She looks up at me and places a soft kiss on my lips. “Master shouldn’t apologize, I will do anything for you.”

    “Well then, we’ll have to create one more of those toys from before, but this time, it’s a bit more special case.”

    “What do you mean by that, Master?”

    I pat her head with my hand. “It’s a gift for the Queen.”

    Sirgia's eyes widen in surprise. She lowers her gaze for a moment to think about something. She soon raises it back.

    “Does Master know the Human Queen?” she asks.

    “Yeah, you can say that. I’ve met her a few times.”

    “That’s amazing. But… I’m not sure if I’m good enough to create something for such an important person…”

    I pull her closer into my embrace.

    “Don’t say that. I think there’s no one better for this job.”

    She snuggles to my neck with a warm smile and hugs me tightly.

    “So, do you think we can come up with a few new things for it? I will have to trouble you a bit to figure them out.”

    “I’ll do my best for Master. Always.” She pulls back a bit so that we can look at each other. “Does Master have any ideas already?”

    “Yes, a few. First, so far we used wood as a base, but can you make it work with stone or other mineral-type materials?”

    “As long as it’s not something that requires advanced magic or machinery to sculpt and refine, it should be fine.”

    I pat her more. “Great. Then, do you think it would be possible to make it change the temperature in a similar way to how the vibrations work currently? And if it can be put up together in one device?”

    She rubs her chin with her hand and ponders for a moment. I can see her eyes darting from left to right, most likely trying to imagine possible complications and also solutions to them. After a moment, she looks up at me again with an energetic smile.

    “Yes! I think there shouldn’t be any problems! And if the material is not heat-resistant itself, then I should be able to easily infuse the core of the structure with heat-based enchantment and follow it up with some directional pathing via conductive mana line-circuits. I would need to figure out how to split the mana intake between them so that the function which is desired is the one that gets enabled and not both at once.”

    Seriously, she gets so passionate when talking about this stuff. I can’t wait to see her work on some bigger projects in the new workshop already.

    “Would it be possible to create designated areas on the surface of it, or on the bottom part, where you could press your finger and transfer the mana through that point and each place would correspond to one function?” I try to give her some help with how buttons work back at home.

    “Hmmm… Interesting… So, depending on where the mana would flow, it would be directed to the correct part… And we could mark it somehow so it would be known where that spot is… Yes, I believe it should be doable.”

    I ruffle through her hair a bit more ferociously, evoking a little giggle out of her.

    “You are so damn amazing, you know! Coming up with solutions for anything I mention.”

    “Ehehe~. Master didn’t ask for anything that hard yet. You don’t have to be so considerate.”

    “You little… Do you really think I see you that undependable?”

    I start tickling her and she begins squirming in my arms while laughing. She playfully hits my chest but doesn’t force me to stop. Listening to her laughter is like music to my ears. She finally gets enough of this and uses her strength to push me back and I fall on the bed. Sirgia also falls with me, landing flat on my chest. I look down at her while she glances up along my body.

    “I wouldn’t mind if Master gave me more… hard things… to work with…” she says with her cheeks getting slightly flushed.

    I chuckle and pull her up for a passionate kiss.

    “Then, if you do good with this request, I’ll let you jump onto the hardest project I have, for as long as your body endures. I don’t want to inconvenience you too much while you have so many things to work on right now. Sounds good?”

    She hides her red face in my shirt. This kind of flirting isn’t really her strong point, besides the time during the heat of the moment. It’s already impressive for her to even use such an implicative tone by herself. I can hear her quiet response, muffled by the material and my body.

    “Yes, please…”

    I bring us back up and after calming the embarrassed dwarf down a bit, we sit together by her desk and begin drawing first drafts of the toy. Since it has to be somewhat special, I ask Sirgia to carve a little protruding fragment near the lower part of it and include a smaller vibrating core on its end. She has no problems with adding that part.

    We spend another hour discussing various aspects of it. Most of the time it’s just me listening to her explanations about how she plans to use different enchantments together to produce the effect we want. She’s like a magical engineer. Just give her some rough idea and she will use her vast knowledge of artisanship and magic to figure out how to make it work.

    Then, time just flies while I wait for Ross to contact me about the meeting with the slaver. During the day, we work around the mansion or help a bit with the workshop construction. Sirgia works relentlessly over the gift for the Queen so I have to check on her pretty often to remind her to take a break. I also spend some more time with Elea and other elves.

    During the evenings, we have our class time with Safi and Emi. There’s a lot of theory about human anatomy, but there are also practical parts obviously. Some might think that due to them being Slimes they would have a hard time learning stuff like that, but they gobble my lessons as easily as they can gobble anything with their jelly bodies. They get so good at controlling their slime to stimulate various sensitive spots that it’s quite hard to believe they knew barely anything about them from the girls’ memories.

    We also cover a lot of aspects connected to their own safety. Whatever may happen, they are fully allowed to take action or defend themselves if they feel threatened or forced to do something they didn’t agree on. Especially when it comes to anything linked with their cores. Even touching them is a no-go and I’ll have to stress it out properly in the rules later. And since they can’t speak, I advise them to use writing to communicate with customers before they begin.

    I plan to introduce a clear list of services that the girls will provide and the customers will have to explicitly point out and choose those which interest them for the current session with the employee. Naturally, if Sirgia succeeds with the communication device, we’ll be able to offer additional service after someone decides to pick something more during their time in the room, but before that, they would be limited to what they choose at the counter and maybe at things that the girls will have a good grasp on without requiring more instructions beforehand.

    During the time when I’m not doing anything in particular, I sit down and begin creating the terms of service and some crucial rules. At first, I start with some simple and general ones, like the prohibition of any abuse or forceful behaviour which isn’t part of the service or acting.

    We reserve the right to turn down any request and decline offering our services to any person we deem unsuitable. All clients will go through a short verification phase at the reception during their first visit, where they have to check the rules and confirm their agreement to follow them.

    Any breach of the TOS will have consequences, starting at a warning, through a temporary banishment, ending at lifelong one with high reparations for the issues caused. And they have to remember that the girls are allowed to act in self-defence.

    Another very important part I want to stress out for potential customers is also regarding the girls' safety. I’m pretty sure a lot of them will have their own style we will go with and it’s quite possible some may like it rough, there’s nothing wrong with that. So, all customers will be obliged to prepare a set of safety measures with the chosen girl, like a safeword. And in case of being unable to speak, some non-verbal signs too. I’ll have to talk about some examples and ideas for those with each of them beforehand.

    There are many smaller rules which are mostly situational, like the touching of the Slimes’ cores, and I believe there will be even more specific ones in the future if some other races or species join us. Pretty much each one must have something they wouldn’t feel comfortable about.

    We go through all the rules and TOS I come up with together with Cornelia and after some tweaks and changes from her side, we finish a quite decent first version of them. Both of us are satisfied with the result.

    With all that happening, almost two weeks pass by. We finally receive the rest of the uniforms and collars. All the girls now have their own outfits and the elves look just beautiful. Their dark skin goes great with black and white clothing and purple accessories and ribbons here and there. The gems in their collars are perfect too.

    The craftsmen finish their work without any troublesome issues coming up. When Sirigia sees the underground workshop full of various stone tables, forms, kilns, furnaces and pretty much anything you can come up with that’s linked with her field of expertise, she can’t stop tears from flowing down her cheeks like a river. I spend a good hour with her in my arms before she calms down a bit. Even I am amazed by how rich in functionality it turned out. And it’s still not everything she had designed for this place.

    After getting ahold of herself, she pretty much gets lost in trying out all the devices and bringing down all of her stuff there. I decide to not bother her for some time so she can have fun exploring her new second home. I have a feeling I’ll need to prepare a bed there too, just in case.

    I also finally get the notice about the meeting from Ross. It will happen in three days from now. The timing is almost perfect since Sirgia finished our little gift just recently. I notify him in my reply to pass my wish to meet with his mother when I’ll be at the castle on that day.

    In the evening, I go down underground to check on Sirgia and just as I expected, I find her asleep while lying over one of the desks. It was so obvious she will end up like that due to all the hype and emotions. I bring her back to her room and place her in the bed, undressing her a bit so she doesn’t get uncomfortable during the night.

    The weird thing is, while I’m working on some small stuff in my room, Safi and Emi don’t come over. Pretty much every night it’s either them or Sirgia who sleeps by my side, and since the latter one is already out of the equation, I was pretty sure they would be storming here at the very first second.

    My confusion gets cleared when I hear knocking on the door to my room. The thing is, it’s the door from Cornelia’s chamber. And I can clearly feel her on the other side if just the previous fact wasn’t making it obvious who is announcing their visit.

    “Come in.”

    I turn myself on the chair to face the entrance. Cornelia walks in, slowly closing the door behind her, looking quite embarrassed there. And I think it’s pretty obvious why that is. She wears the purplish neglige I’ve seen her in before, but with a few more additional parts which are semi-transparent in the same violet hue. Folds of soft material flow down around her whole body, creating something akin to a see-through, short dress. Just her breasts and nether regions are hidden behind a silky, purple material.

    She begins rubbing her arm nervously while stealing shy glances at me with her head turned to the side. Even with just the moonlight coming through my huge window I can discern a visible blush on her cheeks. She looks unimaginably enchanting in this getup paired with beautiful, pale light.

    “Ummm… You said you’ll be my test subject whenever I need so… I decided to finally move onto more practical experiments...” she announces quietly.

    I smile to myself.

    You really can’t be honest with yourself even for a moment, can you? Well then, let’s see for how long you can keep that excuse up.
     
  17. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 36 – Love Is in the Air ❤❤
    I can’t help but stare at Cornelia’s slim, well-toned body. She looks so damn seductive in this purplish negligee. I thought that she finally made up her mind when I saw her enter my room like that, but it looks like she still can’t voice out her intentions properly. Well, I guess it’s time to play the disappointed victim card.

    “I see. I promised and I will of course deliver. So, what do you need my help with?” I ask her calmly, like her visit in those clothes is nothing new.

    She still keeps rubbing her arm around the elbow and looking away.

    “Usually, the girls helped me with my theories and experiments. We talked a lot and discussed various things about your Class and unique physique. They always said that no matter what they did, it always felt really good with you. It’s just… I don’t think I can move any further in my research with just pure theory…”

    Cornelia tries to put logic and reason behind her actions to make herself sound more professional. She keeps stealing glances at me, especially at a certain area around the lower half of my body.

    “I thought there were lines you weren’t going to cross for the sake of knowledge. Last time you expressed yourself pretty clear about not wanting to use your own body in the tests,” I try pointing out her recent behaviour during our last session.

    She visibly panics a little and hesitates. Her eyes dart around the floor and walls while she keeps her head to the side, most likely looking for some sound excuse. She finally turns her eyes to me and shows a wry smile.

    “I know what I said, but… it’s just… sometimes we need to sacrifice something to gain another thing. I thought I would be able to learn enough without having to, but in the end, I realized I have to do it. I know you will be gentle with me so that reassures me a little… I just… I think a lot of valuable data can be collected if I do it with you. It’s too good of an opportunity to pass on and I think it’s worth it, even if I have to sacrifice… my…”

    I assume a slightly disappointed and dejected expression and sigh heavily. I drop my gaze down onto the desk and speak without looking at her.

    “Of course, I understand. I’m a man from another world, a Hero with a somewhat unique Class. I’m a really precious study material for you. I can see how this is forcing your hand quite heavily, considering how much you love studying mysterious things.”

    I try to make a sad chuckle while slightly shaking my head.

    “And it’s not like you would want to do this with me because you like me or something. Don’t worry, I won’t get the wrong idea here, I’m just a curious unknown. You already told me you came here so you can observe me more on the day you offered your help to me.”

    She starts panicking even more when hearing my words and seeing my disheartened expression. She drops her arms down and curls her hands into fists while her lips begin trembling a little.

    “No!” she shouts while taking a single step forward, but then stops and hesitates while a tinge of red appears on her cheeks. “Yes! I mean… Of course, hahaha…”

    At first, it seemed like her feelings finally pushed through, but they retreated back into the scientific shell. She’s clearly torn and it’s visible through the language of her body. She keeps avoiding my gaze and she starts rubbing her hands together. I can see beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Her mouth keeps opening and closing as if trying to convey something.

    “It’s not just that. As a woman, it’s obvious that I would be curious about sex and I’d want to try it. I never was with a man before. And the other girls are always talking with each other about how great it feels when your… your… hot thing… pokes around their… insides… Especially Sirgia. She could go for hours when asked to describe what she felt.”

    And she again tries to cover everything with excuses and even tries to put part of the blame on others. She then realizes what image of herself she was presenting and turns up another shade of red while frantically waving her hands at me.

    “Ah! But I wouldn’t do it with anyone! It’s special! Yes! You are special! Very special! That’s why I can use you to learn more and at the same time, experience what they all are talking about and confirm it myself. Right?”

    It now sounds more like she’s desperately trying to convince herself more than me. I stand up and make soft but nervous laughter, slowly walking towards the window, and gaze outside into the starry sky.

    “Hahaha, that’s true. It’s really convenient for you. I told you that I understand. You don’t need to go to such lengths to explain your reasoning. Well… I consider you my very precious first friend and you helped me a lot during my time here so I guess I’m fine with being used like this for the sake of your experiments.”

    I start turning around to face her again.

    “I’ll try my best to keep it professio—”

    *THUMP*

    Just as I finish turning my body, something slams into my chest. Or rather somebody. And that obviously is Cornelia. As I was speaking, she must have run towards me and jumped at me when I turned around. She hugs me very closely from the front, throwing one of her arms above my shoulder and the other one under my armpit, and grasping the back of my shirt tightly. Since we are of a similar height, she rests her chin on my other shoulder. I can feel her whole body shaking as she tries to squeeze me with as much force as she can muster.

    “I’m sorry! I’m really sorry! I didn’t mean to say that! I really didn’t! I don’t know why I did it! I’m so stupid! I’m so sorry! Please, believe me! I really don’t think of you just as some tool to use for my goals!”

    I place one hand on her smooth back and use the other to brush over her head, patting it gently. She trembles in my embrace and starts sobbing a little.

    “Shush. Calm down. Of course, I believe you. I knew from the beginning that you didn’t really mean all that. I’m sorry for keeping this up for so long. I shouldn’t have pushed you so far,” I calmly whisper to her ear.

    Her head shakes sideways on my shoulder. “No. That doesn’t justify me saying such rude lies. If only I wasn’t so stubborn…”

    I chuckle a bit and pull her back by the shoulders a bit so that we can see each other's faces. I use my thumb to wipe the few tears that appeared on her face and smile kindly.

    “We can work on that together. I don’t dislike this side of yours. I think it gives you a bit more charm when it doesn’t escalate to today’s levels.”

    She smiles too. After calming down a little, she realizes the position we are in and begins to back off, but before she does that, I pull her back using my hand placed behind her waist, making our bodies lean on each other closely. Her face grows even more flushed. It’s enough of this game.

    “Do you like me? I mean, like like, not just like,” I try to convey my message in a bit silly way to lighten up the mood.

    She chuckles a little and glances to the side for a moment but then takes a deep breath and answers while trying to look me straight into the eyes.

    “Of course I do, you dummy.”

    I slowly move my face closer to hers. Her gaze jumps a few times between my eyes and lips and she also begins shortening the distance between us with an embarrassed smile. We meet in the middle with a gentle peck. I graze her exposed back with my hand as we kiss softly, making her body shiver a bit. She moves her hands to my chest and clutches my shirt again.

    We separate our mouths soon enough but still stick our foreheads together, looking each other into the eyes. Cornelia smiles a bit wider and brushes my cheek with her hand. I place mine above hers.

    “I see. I’m glad. But also, a little bit sad. Or rather anxious.”

    She furrows her brows and a bit of worry appears in her expression.

    “Eh? Why?”

    “Because I also like like you a lot. Perhaps even a bit more than just that. I’m really happy that you are the same, but…” I sigh and drop my gaze, “you understand who I am… I would really like to be a proper man for you, yet I know it’s not possible. There are many girls around me and there will definitely be a lot more in the future. And it’s not just about sex. I’m sure that I won’t be able to have feelings only for just one person. I can already see myself falling for Sirgia a bit. You are a great woman and you deserve much better than this.”

    She sighs too, much more heavily and soundly than I did. Then, she puts her hands on both of my cheeks and pulls my face up to match our gazes. I see a beautiful smile painting her lips.

    “You dummy. Biggest dum dum I’ve ever met.”

    Cornelia initiates a kiss on her own, pulling herself closer to my mouth. She dives in for a bit deeper one than before, trying to softly push through the defences of my lips. I let her in and she affectionately entwines our tongues. It’s sensual, but at the same time, I can feel her caring intention in its movements.

    After we separate, she throws her arms around my neck and hangs them over my back.

    “I don’t care. I fell for you partially because of that kind heart you show to everyone. It’s obvious that I would resolve myself about not being the only woman in your life before deciding to pursue you. I learned all about your personality during our time together in the castle, and already back then, I predicted that you would win over the hearts of many girls. Really, I’m fine with that.”

    She joins our lips together again, this time inviting me to take the lead. I naturally fulfil her wish and lovingly explore the depths of her mouth for a good minute. We both pant a little after splitting up again. Cornelia still continues her monologue.

    “Honestly, I was never completely sure if you too think about me the same way I do about you or if you just love teasing me all the time. You never made any serious advances on me. I know it’s not exactly your style and you don’t like forcing yourself on girls, but I was really worried about it all the time. I’m so relieved to know it’s the former that I could cry.”

    The moonlight falling on her face from behind me illuminates the beautiful smile that’s formed on her lips. Just a few minutes ago she was trembling from emotions, but she now looks mystically composed. Cornelia chuckles a bit seeing my enamoured gaze.

    “Besides, you are a Harem Lord, aren’t you? I think that if someone can have a happy relationship with many girls, that person definitely has to be you. And it’s not because of some special Title or abilities but because of who you are. I truly believe so.”

    I wait for a moment to see if she wants to add something more, but seeing that she has finally let out all her thoughts, I pull her into a close hug again and we graze each other’s backs for a bit while enjoying our embraces. Backing off a little, I put my hands on her alluring waist.

    “Thank you. I promise to cherish you forever. I’m not perfect in any way, so please, just come and talk to me if you ever feel neglected or need anything.”

    She looks at me seductively. “Right now, I think my lips feel a little bit neglected…”

    “Oh? Which ones?” I raise one of my brows playfully.

    Cornelia moves her mouth closer to my ear to hide her embarrassment and whispers to it, “Both…”

    I slide my hands from her waist down onto her plump butt and squeeze it gently.

    “I like that answer.”

    With another squeeze, Cornelia moans a little.

    “Oh? Aren’t you quite sensitive already?”

    She hits my chest with her fist. “And whose fault do you think it is? After you left me with that… that… thing… I’ve been imagining the real deal a lot.”

    “So, you played with it?”

    She squirms under my caresses.

    “Of course I did! You knew pretty well I wouldn’t be able to hold back my curiosity! Mhhhnnn…”

    I join our lips for a few quick kisses.

    “How did you use it?”

    “Wha—? Are you seriously asking that?” I nod at her with a smile and she turns almost completely crimson. “I… I… I turned it on with mana as you wrote in the instruction and then… I pressed it against… down there… Its buzzing felt really good…”

    “That’s all?”

    “I also sat on it horizontally and… rubbed myself over its length…”

    “You didn’t try putting it in?”

    Cornelia seems to not be able to handle it anymore as she hides her face in my collarbone before answering.

    “I… I wanted yours to be the first thing to enter me…”

    Holy fuck! Why are all the girls around me so fucking pure?!

    A little laugh escapes my throat.

    “Well then, what exactly do you want to enter you, hmm?”

    She quivers in my embrace, most likely realizing that she has to properly say the names of things instead of avoiding them like she has been doing up until now.

    “I’m not going to say, you idiot!”

    “I see. You leave me no choice then.”

    I snap my fingers and familiar, purple leather bindings tie up her hands and feet together and move the former above Cornelia’s head. She is now pretty much chained to the floor and the ceiling at the same time. She looks at the straps above and those below, trying to wriggle a little, but I left her barely any room for movements, making sure that I don’t overstretch her uncomfortably.

    “Ummm… Al?”

    Cornelia glances at me with an awkward smile.

    “You came here to conduct some tests so we should get started with them.”

    She chuckles nervously. “I already apologized and you said that you forgave me for that.”

    “Yeah, I did. But I also said that we will work on that little stubbornness of yours together, didn’t I?”

    Her eyes widen and she struggles in the restraints again. I pick her chin up with my hand and leave a gentle peck on her lips.

    “You will not get to experience the real thing until you can voice out what you want properly. You are a grown girl, I know you can do it.”

    With another kiss, I take a step back and leave her with a mischievous smile. I walk towards my desk and bring out a cubic box of not that big size, it easily fits in the palm of a hand. I move with it to the bed and make the chains swim through the air to arrive near it too. Cornelia glances at the box and then straight into my eyes. I can see a little bit of fear in hers.

    I step closer to her and bring our faces closer. “Oh, come on. Do you think that I didn’t notice how much you enjoyed these chains last time we met alone? Maybe I’m wrong? Am I?”

    Smiling, I wait for her answer just in case that I actually am, but it was pretty obvious thanks to our still not fully deepened Partners connection.

    “What are you going to do to me?”

    She does not correct me but inquiries about my plans. Looks like we are good to go.

    “Oh, not much. I will just make you feel insanely good for as long as you won’t speak clearly about what you want me to do.”

    Cornelia gulps audibly and begins blushing furiously again. Her eyes dart quickly between my hands, my crotch and my eyes.

    “Okay, the safeword will be ‘post’. I assume you remember how to use it.”

    I leave a small kiss on her cheek and calmly take off her glasses. I don’t want them to get damaged if they manage to fall off when she will be wriggling in all directions. She follows me with her eyes for the whole way to my desk where I place them, turning her head as far to the back as she can.

    On the way back, I come to her from behind and embrace her, placing my hands on her smooth belly.

    “Let me just say that you look gorgeous in this exquisite negligee. I can barely hold myself back with how alluring you are, my beautiful Ice Queen.”

    I push my hips against her butt so she can discern that I’m not lying from how hard I am. I begin to pepper the nape of her neck with loving kisses while using one hand to graze under her navel and the other one above her belly, close to her breasts. Even though I do not approach either of the more intimate zones, her breathing slowly gets rougher. She keeps glancing at me over her shoulder while panting and releasing a muffled moan from time to time. I can feel her anticipation growing.

    Moving my hands to her back, I carefully unpin the sexy bra and free her decently big peaks from their prison. I throw it onto the bed and start placing sensual kisses down her spine while my hands graze her sides. After arriving at her panties, I play with their edges a bit while staring in Cornelia’s eyes with a playful smile. I leave them be for the moment and move to her front. She glances at her bare chest and turns her head to the side shyly.

    I chuckle at her. “I guess it wouldn’t be fair if you were the only one naked here, right?”

    Not breaking the eye-contact for even a moment, I take off all my clothes in front of her, leaving only my shorts on. Cornelia’s eyes wander all over my chiselled body, landing on the visible bulge in the leftover material. She can’t stop staring at it. Walking closer, I pull her into my embrace again.

    “Are you going to say it properly or do I have to move onto the next step?”

    I move my lips closer and after a bit of hesitation, she pushes hers forward too. I leave only a soft kiss on them before backing off, making her follow after my mouth, expecting a more intimate connection. She realizes I only played on her emotions and assumes a pouting expression.

    Taking no answer as a rejection, I begin brushing my fingers over her considerable mounds. Gently squeezing one, I’m met with quite a new sensation. Cornelia’s beautiful breasts are soft and my hands basically melt into them, but they are not as springy and bouncy as the slime’s ones.

    This in no way makes them inferior or anything, it’s just almost a completely different experience. Besides Sirgia’s adorable chest which is on the smaller side, I haven’t had the chance to touch the breasts of this calibre, belonging to a more humanoid race.

    Cornelia tries to hide her moans by biting on her lip so I move my face down and start affectionately swirling my tongue around the nipple of her other breast.

    “Mhnnnnn…”

    She squirms a bit and the blockade falters under the sudden change. I try to use whatever I have learned in the past about the human body and its erogenous zones to play with her skin gently and carefully but with enough lewdness to arouse her bit by bit. I have to tread with care if I want to make her ask for it.

    After evoking some more moans and twists of her body, I get back up to her face. She is breathing much more roughly even though I only played with her chest a little.

    “Onto the second phase then.”

    I insert my fingers between the material of her panties and her skin and pull them down at a sensual pace. A wet spot is clearly visible on them. The material mysteriously passes through the magical bindings tying up Cornelia’s feet and I bring them up to spin them a few times around my fingers in front of her face.

    Throwing them at the bed too, I slide my hand over her whole belly while gazing into her eyes filled with embarrassment but also some longing. She keeps awfully quiet the whole time. As I guessed, she must be really enjoying this type of play deep down. My fingers arrive at her secret spot and nudge the slightly moist crevice.

    “Ahnnn… Mhnnnn…”

    I rub her lower lips with the tips of my fingers, lovingly stroking around the entrance to her pussy. Placing one over the middle, I can feel how wet she already is. I graze over her labia, moving it to the sides and back, using my thumb to press the hidden, little, erotic orb in the front.

    “Wait… Not there… Ahmmmn…”

    Cornelia muscles tense a bit and she tries to pull herself up on the bindings, but she only manages to escape a centimetre at most. I keep affectionately massaging her delicate flower.

    “Not where? I don’t know what you might mean. Can you explain it to me properly?”

    “Ahhnn… I won’t! You know well what I mean! Don’t think that you can break me with just this! Mhhnnn…”

    I giggle a little. “Oh, you can rest assured, I have lots of cards I can play.”

    As she glances at me curiously, I slide my index finger a bit inside her virgin lily, bending it slightly to scrape over the ceiling of the entrance to her hole.

    “Ahhhh! You… Mhnnnnnn!”

    She writhes in pleasure while trying to send angry glares at me. I smile and increase the intensity of my massage, quickly making her squirm and moan even more. Using my other hand, I play with her left breast while tickling the nipple of the right one with my tongue.

    About two minutes of increasingly louder moaning and more forceful trembling, Cornelia’s body approaches climax.

    “Ahnnn… Mhhhhnnn… Stop… Ahhhhnnnnnn… I’m… Al… Eh?!”

    Just as she is preparing herself for the upcoming orgasm, I swiftly pull my hands and mouth back, taking care not to overstimulate her sensitive spots with the sudden movements. She raises her brows questioningly at me while almost out of breath.

    “Haaaah… Haaaah... Why?”

    “I told you, no real thing until you start naming things properly. So, you were what? I didn’t hear you say it.”

    She struggles in her constraints. “You… you… you bully! You even tease me like this!”

    “Hahaha, Cornelia, it really is simple. Just say ‘Please make me cum with your fingers rubbing my wet pussy’. It’s not that hard, isn’t it?”

    As if she wasn’t already completely flushed, her face gets even redder.

    “You are the worst!”

    “I see, I see. Well, I guess I would be too merciless to edge you endlessly like this.” I move to the bed and bring up the box I previously placed on it. “It’s time to ask these little guys for help.”

    Opening it, I pick up three small objects, around the size of a pinky finger or a small bean. Cornelia eyes the suspicious things in my hands. I was wondering when I would have the chance to test them in action after Sirgia finished the first batch long ago.

    “What are these? Al?”

    I show her a mischievous smile. “Since you want to come, I’ll let you come. I wonder how many times it will take for you to finally act honestly.”

    I snap my fingers and a few more straps appear from the ceiling and the floor. Her arms, which were tied above her head, are now moved behind her back towards the ground. Her feet get separated and the new bindings bring Cornelia’s knees closer to her body, placing her in a position similar to squatting with legs slightly open to the sides and bent towards her torso. She hangs in the air with her private parts completely exposed to me. I can see a little bit of love juices dripping down onto the floor.

    Cornelia looks all over herself in this new, utterly embarrassing position. I walk closer to her and decide to reward her with an aggressive kiss for enduring the first part of the teasing. She greedily entwines her tongue with mine and we are joined in a wild dance. I can feel that she is almost on the verge of giving up. She really is a stubborn girl. I’ll have to make lots of love to her after she finally voices her thoughts properly.

    Breaking our passionate kiss, I place two of the beans by her nipples and one just above her clitoris and imbue a bit of mana into them. The little objects stick to these places like magnets but don’t inconvenience the wearer in any way. It’s like they are weightless.

    I step back and snap my fingers again.

    “Ahhhhhhhhhhhn! What?!”

    Cornelia’s eyes shoot wide and she stares at the devices in shock and disbelief. When I snapped my fingers, they all began buzzing similarly to the vibrator I’ve presented her in the past.

    “Hnnnnnnnnn! This is cheating! Ahnnnnnn…”

    She begins squirming as the little beans stimulate three of her precious spots. It doesn’t take long before she orgasms for the first time. She was already on the verge of cumming a moment ago.

    “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhnnnnnnn! Haaaaaah… Wait?! They don’t stop? Mhnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!”

    Even after she finally comes, the devices keep mercilessly vibrating, evoking even more pleasure in her fresh, post-orgasmic state. Cornelia starts rocking around in the purple straps, trying to shake off the thingies, but to no avail.

    “Al! Mhnnnnnnnnn… Ahhnnnnn… Make them stop!”

    I chuckle while staring at the spasming woman in front of my eyes. I’m slowly growing a little restless with all this. I finally slide down my shorts and my fully erect rod is revealed to the world.

    Cornelia naturally notices the appearance of my penis and her gaze instantly gets glued to it. I walk closer to her, to the point where our bodies almost touch and keep stroking my penis with one hand.

    “Ahnnnnnn! So… haaaahnnnnn… you finally can’t hold… back! Uhhmmmn! Hahahah! I guess it’s my win! Mhnnnnnnnnnnnnn!”

    A triumphant smile appears on Cornelia’s face amidst all the panting, gasping and moans. She spasms again and a bit of love juices gushes out of her sopping wet pussy. But, instead of doing what she thinks I am planning to, I snap my fingers again and the rotors increase the strength of their vibrations.

    “EHHHHHHHHHHHHH?! Ahhhhhh! Wait! Mhnnnnnnnnnn!”

    “I’m fine with just watching, you know? Having such an alluring woman orgasming in front of my eyes is enough to satisfy me.”

    “What?! You are just going to… to…”

    “To what?”

    She bites on her lower lip and makes another long moan as another orgasm envelops her shaking body. I just keep slowly pumping my rod in front of her pink flower, faking the expression of great pleasure with my mouth open.

    “Haaaaah… Haaaaahnnnnnnnnnnnn… You can’t just stroke your… your...”

    I increase the power just a tiny bit more and Cornelia throws her head back in pleasure. She then tries to focus on me again with a pleading gaze. Her lips start trembling too. Just some more time and she’ll be approaching another orgasm soon. I take a slow step back.

    Her eyes widen again. “FINE! YOU WIN! I WANT YOUR DICK IN MY PUSSY, OKAY?! I WANT TO HAVE SEX WITH YOU! I WANT YOU TO FUCK MY VIRGIN HOLE WITH YOUR THROBBING COCK! PLEASEEEEEEEEEE! AHNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!”

    As she cums for like the fifth time, Cornelia finally admits her defeat and speaks her mind properly while enveloped in shivers. I gradually decrease the power of the beans until they completely turn off and I step closer to the heavily panting girl. I pull her into a hug and she rests her head on my shoulder.

    “You jerk… Haaaah...”

    I lift her face up by her chin to match my eyes. Still panting a bit, Cornelia joins our lips together in a rough kiss. She giggles after we separate.

    “Can we finally do it for real? I’ve come so many times. I really can’t wait any longer. Haaaaaah… You are really the worst, making me say such obscene things…”

    I chuckle. “Aren’t you a scholar? Why are you so embarrassed by just some words?”

    “It’s… it’s completely different when near the person you love…”

    I steal her lips again. For a moment, I feel bad for making her go through all this teasing, but I also know that she enjoyed all of it. The playtime is over. I brush over her cheek lovingly.

    “Let’s get you out of those straps and give you what you came here for.”

    Moving more to the side, I position my arms around her so that she lands in my hands after I release the Void Chains. As I hug her closer, I hear a faint whisper coming from her lowered face.

    “Can we… do it like this?”

    She averts her gaze in embarrassment. I smile knowingly and move back to her front.

    “What exactly can we do like this?”

    Cornelia glances at me longingly and sighs, realizing that I’m not going to let go.

    “I want you to sho━━MHNNNNNNN?!”

    Unfortunately, she is wrong. Just as she begins speaking, I place my hands on her thighs and gently slide my penis inside her already drenched pussy, slowly moving deeper and deeper and pushing through her purity seal. At the same time, I join our lips in a passionate kiss. Thanks to all the action before, and a bit of my saliva, I’m sure that she doesn’t feel any discomfort.

    My whole shaft soon gets swallowed by her lewd virgin hole, up to the very root. Insanely hot insides of her vagina squeeze me a bit and coil around my member. Cornelia’s body shakes a little. After inserting my whole length inside, I break off the kiss.

    “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck…”

    Just one long sigh-curse escapes her lips. I’m not yet moving, just leaning my forehead against hers. She stares me straight into the eyes with an enamoured smile.

    “Both felt neglected, right?” I chuckle at her and she pushes forward for a quick kiss again.

    “It’s so big and hot… Finally… Haaaaah… Please, slam your cock into my pussy and make a mess out of it. Let’s both feel good.”

    “Now, that’s how a grown-up woman talks. As you wish, my Queen.”

    Without any further ado, I begin moving my cock back and forth, crashing my pelvis against her hips. Heavily obscene sounds are created when our bodies hit each other due to all the love juices accumulated from Cornelia’s previous orgasms. I modify the restraints a bit so that she can move her hands and she throws them around my neck, pulling herself closer while I fuck her needy hole senseless.

    Just like that, suspended in the air, her majestic, squatting figure battles against my own standing one. Using all my strength, I pull her thighs as hard as I can, which results in some really powerful thrusts and slams.

    “Yes! Mhnnnnnnnnn! Ahhhnnnn! Ahnnn! So deep!”

    Cornelia moans sensually just near my ear. Her soft breasts press against my chest with each slam more.

    “Fuck! Cooooooominnnnnnnnnnnnnnng! Mhnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!”

    Just about thirty seconds into the fun, Cornelia already begins spasming, but I don’t stop my fierce assault. Even as her whole body convulses, my dick fiercely scrapes over her insides. I actually start focusing more on a few spots, grazing the uneven ceiling of her pussy.

    “OHHHH! There! Fuck me there! Ahhhhhhaaaaannnnnn!”

    Just as she wishes, I switch my attention to that certain spot and angle her body a bit to the back so I can reach it more easily. As I drop her down onto my cock repeatedly, she leans back a bit and begins kissing me passionately. I push both my penis and my tongue into both of her perverted caves. I can feel her approaching another orgasm so I decide to allow my twitching member to release the long-held-back load of creamy liquid.

    I shove my dick as deep as I can while aggressively sucking on her lips and waves of white delicacy flood Cornelia’s baby chamber as she also reaches another height. I can feel her back arching in pleasure and she digs her nails into my own behind.

    “Mwhhmmmnnnmnmmn~!”

    A muffled moan barely escapes our mouths sealed tightly together. I push my penis a few more times according to the release rate of my seed. In a few seconds, the frenzy slowly fades out and just our rough breathing can be heard in the room. I release the bindings and walk with Cornelia in my arms, with my penis still in her pussy, towards the bed, and sit down on the edge of it. She moves her legs behind my back and encloses me in her affectionate hold.

    “Haaaah… no wonder… they can’t stop thinking about you…” She slowly calms her breathing.

    “Hahaha. I really hope this isn’t the sole reason.”

    Cornelia chuckles and pulls back enough to position our faces in front of each other.

    “It’s not. I can guarantee you. This? It’s just a bonus. A really fucking good bonus.”

    “I’m honoured by your praise, my Queen.” I give Cornelia one more soft kiss.

    “You are having too much fun with this.” She smiles adorably.

    “Do you dislike it?”

    “Of course not, you dummy! I love when you are so flirtatious. And also… I might have enjoyed those more than I would want to admit…”

    I laugh gleefully at her slightly embarrassed upwards glance.

    “Trust me, if you think that this makes you weird, then you haven’t yet learned the definition of it.”

    “Then… I hope we can try this again sometime.”

    I lovingly graze over her back with my hands. “Whenever you want. I have countless positions and setups in mind. We would never run out of fresh ideas.”

    Her eyes sparkle a bit. “Now you made me curious. Do you know the price of such an offence?”

    She wriggles her butt around, rubbing her pussy’s walls over my still erect penis inside her vagina, evoking a little moan from me.

    “I’m afraid you have to teach me about it.” I wink at her playfully.

    Cornelia pecks my lips and pushes me back onto the bed. She straightens her figure while straddling me and sensually stretches her arms upwards. While glancing at me mischievously, she reaches behind her head and removes the accessory that is holding her hair into a bun. She shakes her head around, freeing all of the hazelnut threads. With moonlight falling directly onto her back, it looks incredibly beautiful and seductive.

    “I have no mercy for criminals.”

    She then begins to grind her pussy all around my pelvis, but in the end, she actually shows mercy because she brings herself to the climax quicker than she manages to make me cum, due to her being way more sensitive after all the previous stimulation. She falls onto my chest and I shoot one more load into her precious flower. We cuddle a bit more before falling asleep together.
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2021
  18. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 37 – The Morning After
    I wake up to a warm and pleasant feeling of something brushing against my lips. As I open my eyes, I catch the smiling face of Cornelia slowly moving away. Her unkempt hazelnut hair, currently lying on the sides of her face, reminds me of the events that transpired during our recent time together.

    “Good morning, Al.”

    I stare at her charming expression for a moment and glance around. We are together in my bed, covered by bedsheets up to our chests. Finally, my eyes land on Cornelia’s body, and more specifically, at her beautiful breasts which are on full display to me due to her lying on the side. We are close enough for the covers to create a cave between us.

    She, of course, doesn’t miss that detail and moves her right hand to her chest and makes the bouncy peaks jiggle a little.

    “Gosh, stop staring at them so much or Sirgia will get jealous,” she announces playfully.

    I chuckle, move my hand to her belly and slowly trace a path downwards. Cornelia’s gaze follows it for a moment and her cheeks get a bit rosy. While she might be expecting a different kind of affection, I change the trajectory around her underbelly and move my hand to her back, then stop on her plump butt.

    Giving it a gentle squeeze, I pull her whole body closer to lean against mine and steal her lips with a passionate kiss. She seems a little surprised by the different than she predicted turn of events, but quickly begins to reciprocate the intimate contact. We play with our tongues for a good three minutes before splitting up.

    “Good morning, my beautiful Ice Queen.”

    Cornelia giggles. She moves a bit lower to rest her forehead against my collarbone and snuggles to me lovingly. I pat her head from behind, kindly grazing her back from time to time.

    “I’d have never thought that feeling the warmth of another person would be so blissful. Now I understand all those girls back at the academy who chose to spend time with their boyfriends over studying magic.”

    “I’m really glad you didn’t.” She looks up at me and I use that chance to plant a kiss on her forehead. “Because I wouldn’t be able to meet you otherwise.”

    She smiles even wider and hides her face in my chest to cover the increasingly red cheeks.

    “You damn playboy. Flirting even after you’ve already subdued me.”

    I brush through her hair with my fingers.

    “Does us expressing our feelings and having sex forbid me from saying pleasant things to you?”

    She pulls herself up to match my face and stares deep into my eyes.

    “You just love seeing me lose my cool after you assault me with compliments. Admit that,” she says with a playful smile.

    I give her a swift peck. “No, I just love you.”

    She clearly hasn’t been expecting such a bold statement out of nowhere as her eyes widen in surprise and her mouth begins opening and closing. We both were pretty roundabout with our words yesterday, and I guess I should at least say it properly so she doesn’t have to assume or wonder as she did before.

    “I s-see… That’s good then… I too…” She gets quite flustered, but takes a deep breath and tries to compose herself. “I love you too.”

    We join our lips for a much gentler kiss this time and then just lie down in each other’s embrace.

    “I’m so happy…” Cornelia mutters while brushing her hands over my chest.

    “I’m happy that you are happy then. But besides that, how do you feel?”

    Ending our long session of cuddling, she slowly raises herself to a sitting position and stretches her arms upwards while releasing a seductive, prolonged moan. I’m pretty sure that was fully intentional. With my hand supporting my head as I lie on my side, I gaze at her alluring figure.

    “A little bit sore around certain lower parts, but that’s to be expected since it was my first time. Although, I feel kinda refreshed and… stronger?”

    While she makes a thoughtful expression, I sit up too and gently place my hand under her navel, invoking my Rejuvenate skill.

    “Mhnnnn…”

    A soft moan escapes Cornelia’s lips as I pour my mana into her body. She kisses my cheek after I’m done.

    “Thank you.”

    “Don’t mind it. And well, the other thing might be due to us finally properly connecting. You remember my skills.”

    She nods and summons her icy-blue status window, scanning through it with her eyes. She suddenly stops and freezes.

    “EHHHHHHHH?!”

    Her sudden cry of surprise startles me a bit. I should get used to all the girls reacting in a similar way when they discover the additional stats they receive from me after fully consummating our relationship. I would have thought that Cornelia wouldn’t react this strongly since she knew how it works.

    “Come on, don’t surprise me like that. You knew about the stat—”

    “I’M TIER 4 NOW!”

    My mouth stays in the position it stopped during pronouncing the word for like a few seconds. The thing is, she was Tier 3 just yesterday.

    “Oh shit.”

    “YEAH, OH SHIT!”

    She doesn’t even try to hide her excitement. As far as I know, she was sitting at Tier 3 for a good few years, not being able to advance in any way. With her wide knowledge about magic, she reached that point pretty quickly, but then it stagnated for a long time.

    I leave a soft peck on her cheek and decide to not disturb the passionate scholar in the way of learning more about her new possible skills or whatever changed. It’s time for me to check the Partners menu and my own status. Then, I’ll glance at hers too, just out of curiosity. I’m so glad that I have insight into my girls’ statuses.

    I open the first window.

    [​IMG]

    Okay, so we have 4/5 straight from the start. It’s not that unexpected considering the fact that we both had something for each other, with her most likely being way more invested than I was. Now I wonder if all mutual lovers start at the 4th step as fresh lovers or something similar to what the relationship type states. 5/5 should be the highest form of mutual love, at least that’s what the Title says. Well, can’t test that unless I get close to someone with strong feelings towards me and vice versa and the chances for that are quite… almost zero. Anyway, this should be a huge boost to my stats.

    Next, let’s see them. I’ll leave the best for last. I will most likely want to compare our windows, so time to summon full status.

    [​IMG]

    I glance all over the numbers and nod to myself in amazement.

    Uhuh, that really is a damn huge boost. If I recall correctly, my INT was at +8. Her stat must be at over 40 with the 40% transfer. No wonder, Tier 4, hah. But, it’s not like I should say anything. I’m Tier 2 and some of my stats are over 60 now. Insane. No other words. I was right to consider this Class broken. Especially the fact that ALL my stats doubled on tier-up. With my disposition of them, it should be like 3-4 points per lower ones and up to 10 for the main ones. I can’t wait to see what happens when I advance again. But, it’s not like it will happen anytime soon. I just barely did recently.

    Finished with admiring my new numbers, I swipe the pink window to the left and summon Cornelia’s status in front of me.

    [​IMG]

    As I thought, Tier 4 stats are no joke, 47 INT. And now she even has like 30% additional points there from me. Her magic should see a visible increase. And goddamn, those are some skills… I’m not going to go over all of them right now, gotta familiarize myself with them at some other time.

    Having the windows side by side allows me to compare our statuses with ease. And all the information in front of my eyes confirms what I figured out not that long ago in the bath. At first, I thought that I would be surrounded by powerful beauties while remaining a supportive weakling, but looking at my stats now, some of them are higher than Cornelia’s even with the bonus she receives from me. Tier 2 has higher stats than Tier 4. She only beats me in her INT and that’s to be expected.

    I might actually be on the path to the powerful support type. And I’m not even quite sure about that with my Formless Blade Arts and Voidal Bondage. It really feels like this Class is overcompensating the low base stats way too much. I wonder if my guess about it getting so OP due to me not limiting myself just to one race is right. Well, I should ride the lucky wave for as long as I can. You never know when things may turn to worse.

    “—l… Al… Al!”

    A very overjoyed feminine voice brings me out of my contemplation. Making the colourful windows disappear reveals an ecstatic face just behind them. Cornelia looks at me with pretty much sparkling eyes and an infatuated gaze.

    “Yes?”

    She pounces on me, pinning me down onto the bed and landing on top of my chest. A rain of kisses all over my lips soon follows. She squeezes me so hard that her breasts want to create a cave-in in my lungs. It’s not unpleasant though, quite the opposite. The soft mounds rub against me with each erratic movement she makes.

    “I love you! I love you! I love you so much!”

    I chuckle in between the ferocious yet gentle kisses. The new discovery has completely pushed her tsun side back into the depths of her mind. I’m not blaming her for getting swept up like that. She most likely had given up on trying to advance. I roll us over so that she is under me now.

    Cornelia quickly locks her legs behind my waist and entwines her hands behind my neck, giving me a very amorous gaze.

    “Are you going to take me again? You beast! But I don’t mind. I’m all yours!”

    I shake my head while smiling. “Calm down, girl. You are high on euphoric emotions.”

    With her latched onto me, I raise both of us up and step off the bed. I begin spinning around with her in my arms. Cornelia arches back while laughing joyfully. When I stop, she leans forward again for a passionate kiss.

    “Let’s not waste the whole day in bed. You can have a piece of me whenever you want from now on,” I tell her with a smile.

    She nods and jumps down from my waist, staying in a warm hug for a short while longer. Cornelia slowly cools down and more clarity returns to her eyes and mind, and obviously, she almost instantly blushes when thinking about her unusual outburst. I chuckle again while brushing my fingers through her hair.

    “Don’t be ashamed, it’s a huge step forward for you so naturally, you would be happy.” She sighs with a smile. “So, got anything good? I assume yes?”

    I try to move her attention away from the embarrassing things and it works flawlessly. Cornelia steps back from me.

    “Very, very good. I only have the general idea behind my abilities, but they sound awesome. Ah, but the insane boost from you is even better! Some of my stats pretty much doubled!”

    “You don’t need to flatter me, hahaha. Come on, show off a bit.”

    She smiles and starts focusing mana inside her body. She straightens her hands down and to the sides and closes her eyes. I observe as her skin turns light blue and her hair pretty much white. If not for the Human ears, you could have easily mistaken her for an Ice Elf. After she opens her eyes, I notice they turned crystal blue too.

    “In this form, my control over ice increases by a lot and I’m able to cast spells from that school of magic much quicker. It’s a passive called Coldblooded, but it’s like a permanent active skill with a switch. It doesn’t drain my mana, but it’s a bit weird to stay in this form. I feel cold, but it’s not from the temperature but from the mana itself. I guess it needs getting used too. There are many other small benefits of this change too.”

    Impressed, I step closer and grab her hand to graze my fingers over her skin. It’s cold as frozen hell. I shudder just from the short sensation. Cornelia snickers and slowly moves her other hand towards my crotch. Even without direct contact, I can already feel the merciless winds of Jotunheimr crashing against my junior.

    “Uhuhuhuhuhu—coooooooold!”

    I hastily jump back and cover my nether regions with both hands. Cornelia laughs impishly.

    “I finally have a way to tease you back, you bully~.”

    I show a wry smile. “Please, just don’t go full snowman on me in the middle of it, okay?”

    She laughs again. “I’ll think about it.”

    “Great. I think this is neat. What’s Frostweave about then?”

    She raises her brow, slightly surprised, while she turns back to the colourful Cornelia, but soon remembers that I looked at her status just recently. She places a hand under her chin and ponders for a moment. A smile soon appears on her lips and she positions her hands in front of her, making a triangle out of her fingers. A small hexagon of ice appears in the space and a whitish mist leaks out from it towards her body, travelling over her skin.

    The smoke arrives at her chest and nether regions and in the next moment, I watch as silky-smooth, white underwear with light blue details forms on these parts. The pieces emanate a faint whitish mist around them. She releases the spell and places her hands on her hips, wiggling her waist from side to side as to present her creation to me.

    “Woah. It looks beautiful. Isn’t it cold?”

    “Nope, not even in the slightest. It feels like any other high-quality material. Much more durable and protective too. Panties and bra aren’t the only things I can weave out of my ice mana now and this material has supposedly enormous fire resistance and quite decent physical one. I need some practice, but I feel like I should be able to create pretty much anything I can imagine in detail,” she explains, turning around to seductively waggle her butt and gives me a smile while looking over her shoulder.

    An idea pops up in my head. “Hey, you can cast Mind Bridge, yes?”

    She furrows her brows at my question. “Yeah, why?”

    “I want to try something fun. Cast it on us and start the skill, but try to not look at what thoughts I’ll be sending you. Just let me take control of the crafting process. I have quite a vivid imagination.”

    Cornelia thinks about it for a moment, furrowing her brows even more, most likely suspecting some ulterior motive behind my suggestion, but her curious nature wins the battle and she agrees.

    After connecting our minds, she closes her eyes and focuses on the skill while I send clear and detailed instructions into it. It’s much easier than I expected. It’s like creating something in one of those 3D graphic apps but in your mind. I design the clothing with enormous attention to detail, checking if I’m not straining Cornelia on the way. It ends in success.

    Sensing the end of the process, she opens her eyes and sees my stupidly wide smile. She squints her eyes at me and takes a deep breath before looking at herself, most likely expecting to see something perverted.

    She slowly lowers her head, “Wha—?” and takes two steps back in complete shock.

    She is currently wearing an unimaginably beautiful wedding dress made out of that majestic white material with light blue details here and there. It’s a masterful one piece, not even slightly erotic. Well, maybe besides the fact that almost all wedding dresses are quite seductive to some extent, but the cleavage is not that big, just perfect to accentuate her womanly charms. Two over-the-elbow sleeves wrap up her arms, both with amazing patterns. The veil perfectly matches the whole set, creating a semi-transparent long cape.

    Cornelia is so astonished that she doesn’t notice me coming closer. I grab her by the waist and pull her to me.

    “What are you—”

    Before she has a chance to react, I steal her lips with a very soft kiss. We stay like this for a moment, until she gets so embarrassed and red to forcefully cancel the spell and appear naked in front of me again.

    After the kiss, she rests her head on my shoulder. I can feel her heart pounding like crazy.

    “You jer—… dummy…” she whispers softly.

    I chuckle and it makes her squirm in embarrassment even more.

    “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t hold back. I tried to visualize the grandest dress I could imagine though. Did you like it?”

    “My heart is not yet ready for things like that… but… it was stunning… you damned tease...”

    “Now, we are even.”

    She exhales audibly and then chuckles. Oh, she loved that. This little tsun-masochist.

    “Okay, let’s leave it at that. Unless you want to fight back?” I glance at her and she shakes her head with a smile. “Good. If we take any longer, I have a feeling that the door won’t hold the weight of three people and fall inside at any moment.”

    Cornelia looks at me with wide eyes and then turns to the door, finally noticing the presence of three other entities just behind them. She can now feel my other Partners much clearer after we did the deed. Still not as good as I can, but good enough.

    I expect her to get all flustered and panic, but she swallows her saliva and sighs heavily while rubbing her forehead. She recreates the underwear back onto her body and urges the girls to come in. I quickly grab the nearest clean shorts to not flash my package at them first thing in the morning.

    The door opens and Safi, Emi and Sirgia walk in. They are all in their maid uniforms. Emi launches herself at Cornelia and jumps into a hug. Cornelia allows the lively slime girl to embrace her. Safi stands back while smiling and Sirgia hides by her side, also smiling faintly, but a bit anxiously, most likely for being found out eavesdropping.

    Turning my face to Cornelia, I scratch my head. She notices my gaze. “What?”

    “I’d have thought you would be a bit more angry or embarrassed,” I say.

    She chuckles wryly. “Why should I be angry when they were the ones who encouraged me to step forward.”

    I nod my head. “I see. I knew it was too calm and empty in my room last night.” I move my gaze over all the girls. Safi just keeps smiling kindly and Sirgia averts her eyes while blushing.

    “I almost completely ruined everything though…”

    I step closer and hug Cornelia from behind while Emi still keeps embracing her from the front.

    “No matter what you would have said back then, I already made up my mind to reach out to you that night.”

    She leans into me more and sighs in a bit of relief. She then pats Emi to let her go and walks towards the other duo with her. Cornelia hugs all of them together.

    “Thank you. I should have been more honest with my feelings much earlier. I’m really happy now.”

    Seeing all of them together like that somehow makes me feel warm inside. I know that Cornelia is quite special, but there’s a Human, a Dwarf and two Slimes being close with each other in front of my eyes.

    Safi glances at me and waves her hand so I smile and join the group hug. The five of us cuddle together while those girls that can speak, giggle happily. Since it looks like they are pretty fine with this relationship, I give each of them a good morning kiss. Sirgia still gets a little shy to act openly with others around, but I can see her slowly getting more open with those girls present.

    “Damned casanova.” Cornelia playfully hits my stomach with her fist. A teasing smile is present on her lips. “Acting all lovey-dovey with 3 other girls just after our first time.”

    She then laughs and we get one more group hug. It ends quite fast, the moment Sirgia notices six dark-skinned heads popping out from the door frame to my room and gets so embarrassed that she hides behind me. Cornelia gets a little panicky too and we split up, giving the uninvited spectators wry smiles. Only the slimes don’t seem to care.

    The trio decides to take a bath together. Even though Emi tries to drag me with them too, I convince the girls to go relax by themselves. I bet they will have a much easier time talking about stuff without the subject being present. The perpetrators of yesterday’s situation definitely are curious about details.

    Our breakfast together passes in a bit awkward silence. Cornelia might have been fine with the slimes and Sirgia peeking on her, but getting caught almost naked in my embrace by the elves is a bit too much for her yet. They should have closed the door after walking in, hahaha.

    The dark-skinned beauties don’t seem to mind our relationship. I’m pretty sure they know a bit or two about the things around here already. I hope they will be able to fit themselves nicely into our little community and they won’t feel weird with me courting so many girls around them. But from their previous reactions, I assume it should be fine. They seem to be quite understanding.

    Later, I visit Sirgia so we can examine the gift for the Queen for the last time and prepare the appropriate packaging. I write a personal note with some additional explanation and throw it inside, alongside the manual or instruction I’ve composed myself too.

    The device turned out great. It looks beautiful and both functions work flawlessly. The small protrusion too. This will do great. If used properly of course. Let’s hope that this little act won’t end up in my head rolling if Ross is even slightly mistaken. Why are all his requests always somehow endangering my life?



    ╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣​



    On the day of the meeting, I leave the mansion with Cornelia. Obviously, I get into my butler outfit. It’s much more appropriate than the adventuring gear.

    We first stop at the Noble district to purchase a nice paper bag for the already exquisite looking box. The less the people around will see, the better my chances of not getting beheaded.

    Cornelia helps me choose the pattern. She says that the Queen loves foxes so we can go with a pretty crystal fox on the bag. She mentions that the Queen has a huge collection of crystal figurines depicting various wolf or fox-like animals and beasts. I trust her intel and we get one.

    We split in the castle. I go to the place mentioned in the notice I’ve received and Cornelia tells me that she will check some things around and then meet me after I’m done in the chamber where we’ll be supposed to talk with the Queen.

    I have a distinct feeling that every time she left to check something at the castle, she went straight to the Queen. Let’s hope that she doesn’t spoil her about our plan. I could bet they are like besties.

    The slave trader that welcomes me seems like quite the normal person. I don’t know why, but I always expect them to be lowkey evil or something. Talk about stereotypes. It’s easy to forget that in this world, slavery is pretty much a business with rules and restrictions. Too bad the demi-humans are often treated like criminals or trash.

    Since it was the King who introduced me, the man has no issues with my story about being someone freshly on the path of slave trading, without much experience with seals, and we spend a few hours with him teaching me some mana weaving techniques and details about slavery sigil structures.

    I accompany him during part of his work and observe how he removes the master from the contract and then voids the slavery mark completely. Unfortunately, just from looking, I can’t get anything useful about the former process. From his heavy focus and him needing the help of some book, I can clearly see that it is way more complex than the other thing so I give up on trying to steal the techniques visually.

    He then lets me try to remove the masterless seals, and within a few tries, I manage to get some practice alongside the theory. I quickly catch on the proper way to do it. He also teaches me some more useful facts and tricks about slavery. It might be good to know a thing or two when dealing with other merchants. I haven’t been at Selina’s for some time. I guess I should show myself sometime soon.

    After we are done, I’m escorted by the butler I remember from our tour of potential brothel locations to the place where the Queen is waiting. This time, I’m led to a different section of the castle than where I usually meet people.

    He opens the door for me and I enter a beautiful chamber. Its furniture and walls are out of whitish materials, with some silvery metal here and there, and blue details and patterns. It’s really bright here due to all the white.

    In the middle, Cornelia sits on one of the sofas by a coffee table. The Queen is seated on the opposite side. They turn their faces to me. I make a courteous bow.

    “Greetings, my Queen, and respectable Magician.”

    Cornelia rolls her eyes but I don’t miss the little smile that flashes on her lips for a short moment.

    “Took you long enough. Do you think the Queen will wait for you forever?” she scolds me, but I can sense the playfulness in her tone.

    “I apologize for this offence. I promise to do better in the future.”

    Wondering if she will react in any way, I sit quite close to her, but she only raises her brow at me a bit. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t be teasing her too much in front of the Queen.

    Moving my gaze to the person in question, she seems to be curiously glancing at us, especially at Cornelia. The Queen wears the same, beautiful dress I’ve seen her walking in the last time we met. She must really like it.

    “Well then, Sir Carter, what do I owe this pleasure of meeting you?”

    She sounds as nice as always. I do sense a bit of tension from her though.

    “Oh, the pleasure is all mine, my Queen. I thank you wholeheartedly for sacrificing a bit of your precious time to meet with me.”

    “There’s no need to keep up the titles. You are quite a close friend of my son and I consider all his friends mine too. Just call me Lianne.” She shows a kind smile.

    “As you wish, my Lady. Feel free to use my first name as well.” She squints her eyes a bit. “Hahah, pardon me, but I just can’t hold myself back from not calling such an elegant beauty a Lady.”

    She squeezes her delicate hands together, which are lying on her hips, and a faint blush appears on her pale face. I hear a stifled chuckle from my side and feel an elbow hitting me to the side. The Queen doesn’t miss that and glances at Cornelia who does her best to look composed.

    ~I thought… you weren’t going to… seduce her…~

    I shiver a bit when Cornelia’s sensual voice reaches my ear through the Sweet Whispers skill.

    ~Doesn’t mean that… I can’t be nice to her… or… is someone… jealous?~

    It’s her who jumps a little next. Lianne stares at our weird reactions a bit confused. We both smile wryly and she continues.

    “So, Alastair, Cornelia, what’s the reason behind this visit?”

    We look at each other with Cornelia. Fortunately, I prepared a decent story for this occasion, to try and not include the King in the whole ordeal.

    “First of all, I want to apologize, Lady Lianne.” She raises her brow. “Last time we encountered each other, I almost bumped into you.”

    “Oh, no, there’s no need to apologize. I was deep in thought too.” She waves her hand and smiles.

    “Perhaps, but that’s not the main thing I want to apologize for. You see, during that time, I’ve noticed that you don’t seem perfectly… well.” Lianne furrows her brows. “So, I wanted to apologize for sticking my nose into someone else's business. Especially since that someone is the honourable Queen. Saying all that, I just want to mention that I really hate leaving people who I can help alone.”

    I wait for a moment to see her reaction or hear some words, but Lianne keeps quiet, waiting for me to continue. I can see the curiosity and a bit of anxiety slowly building on her face.

    “That’s why, assuming that I guessed the issue that has been gnawing on my Lady’s mind correctly, I prepared a gift that could possibly help relieve your stressed mind and body at the same time. And I asked Cornelia to help me arrange the meeting. I can’t inconvenience Ross all the time.”

    I stand up, materialize the paper bag and walk to the other side of the table where she is sitting. Lianne grows much more anxious at me arriving at her side but tries to act like nothing's wrong. I extend my hand to her to help her stand up.

    The Queen hesitates, but I urge her to comply with a smile. She takes a deep breath and stands up with a nervous smile. I pass her the paper bag and pat Lianne’s shoulder while gazing into her calming eyes.

    “There’s a little something in this box, which I believe should work great to treat your condition, Lady Lianne. Just make sure to not open the package when you are not alone. I suggest unpacking it… hmmm… I don’t know… perhaps in the bedroom?”

    She receives the bag and glances inside, spotting the exquisite, rectangular box. She then moves her gaze at me and nods with a charming but wry smile. Moving her eyes behind me, she most likely glances at Cornelia and her eyes suddenly go wide.

    The curiosity starts eating me from inside. What could she be doing behind my back to shock the Queen so much? I can’t turn around right now. It would look really rude. I’ll have to question the mischievous magician later.

    Lianne returns her eyes onto me and a much more fervent blush paints her face. “T-thank you… I’ll let you know the results of the treatment at a later date...”

    She steps back hastily and I don’t hold her down. It’s quite hard to believe that someone so fragile is a sex-maniac. I wonder if her personality changes too. A few dangerous images start floating in my mind so I quickly regain my focus.

    After I sit back on my spot, Cornelia tries to hold a friendly conversation with Lianne, but the latter keeps getting distracted, most likely lost in her thoughts, imagining what could be inside the box.

    We take our leave. If Cornelia hinted at her something behind my back, it’s no surprise that Lianne would be thinking all about it. On our way back, I grab Cornelia by the waist.

    “So, what the hell did you do?”

    She moves her gaze away. “Nothing.”

    “That was quite the nothing there with how wide her eyes went.”

    “Must be because of your scent. You got quite close there.”

    “Yeah, right. Spit it out or say bye-bye to the chains.”

    Cornelia shoots her gaze back at me instantly with a semi-shocked and semi-pleading look.

    “That’s not fair!” She visibly hesitates for a long moment and sighs. “I showed her—mwhhnnn?!”

    I stop her mid-sentence with a kiss while pulling her closer. I chuckle after we separate.

    “Let’s say this covers your little mischief.”

    Cornelia shakes her head and chuckles too. We arrive back at the mansion and get to work. Almost everything is now ready.
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2021
  19. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 38 – Marking Up
    After arriving back at home, we eat a nice dinner together. It’s a good thing that two of the elves are helping in the kitchen or Sirgia would have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. With their assistance, meals come out quite quickly. They also shared with our chef some of their homeland’s recipes so she could try preparing them. As expected from her, Sirgia was all in for listening about dishes from other parts of the world and didn’t even consider that as having more work. I think she never does think like that if it involves artifacts or food.

    And since I instructed her before that I will gladly try out different cuisines too, she doesn't have to stretch out the menu that far. Only when one or more of us dislike eating some specific ingredients does she have to prepare personal meals, and so far, it has rarely happened.

    During our pleasant time, I inform everyone about me learning a way to get rid of masterless seals. The elves grow excited and happy at a moment’s notice. We agree on dealing with that after dinner. If everything goes without any issues, we might actually think about already registering them at the guild. That would take one problem off the list.

    Still, marching into the hall while followed by seven demi-humans may not be the best idea. I guess we will have to do it in turns to not seem suspicious or anything. Not like having many combat slaves is somewhat frowned upon, but registering almost ten at once while I’m literally an F-rank adventurer may garner unnecessary attention. In the worst situation, I can always try bringing out the sigil that Ross gave me in case I get into trouble or something, but I would like to save that as the last resort.

    Sirgia keeps stealing glances at me for the whole meal so I volunteer to wash the dishes with her and order others to rest while the elves are to prepare themselves and wait in my room.

    Safi and Emi envelop me with their bodies from the front and back, sandwiching me between themselves before I leave after Sirgia to the kitchen. The former squeezes me from the back while seductively grazing my abs with her chilly hands and the latter pushes her chest against mine, stealing my lips while standing on her tiptoes.

    The more time we spend on their lessons, the more active they start to get, trying to show me that they are listening and properly utilizing the techniques I show to them. And oh boy, they are quite efficient in them, especially in their duo plays. If this Human kingdom wouldn’t be so racist, there would be no man they wouldn’t be able to steal the heart of with their advances.

    Cutting them short of the fun, I free myself with some mana-squeezes and mana-kisses. I can’t get lost in their embrace right now. They are already getting a full course of me pretty much each or every other night. Naturally, they do get my point and obediently let me go and join Sirigia.

    We clean the plates in silence, only the sound of running water accompanies our chore. She clearly has something on her mind. It can be easily discerned by her sporadical lack of focus from time to time. After we are done, I wipe both mine and her hands with a towel.

    Sirgia still keeps quiet, so I pick the clearly a bit shy dwarf up and sit her on the counter so that we are on a similar level, with her slightly higher than me. There’s something really charming in having to look up at such a cute girl and see her gaze down at you.

    I give her a little peck on the lips. “So, what is on your mind, hmm?”

    A faint blush finally appears on her expressionless face. Both states look adorable, but this one suits her much better. She dives in to reciprocate my previous bit of affection with her own kiss.

    “When can I… receive the reward Master promised me last time…”

    She tries really hard to not avert her gaze and keep her eyes on mine. I place one hand on her cheek, brush it gently, making her tilt her head a little to lean into it, and smile at her.

    “Whenever you want, my sweet, little chef. Or perhaps I should start using something different? My sweetie? My cutie? My love?”

    Sirgia’s cheeks turn a shade darker, now almost reaching crimson levels.

    “My… love…?” she mutters quietly with a curious glance.

    “I already told you that I like you a lot, didn’t I? Do you want me to call you that?”

    Pulling myself closer, I rest my forehead on hers and rub our noses gently, making her even more flustered.

    “I… I’m fine with… my little dwarf…”

    “Oh, really? I wouldn’t think that you liked me calling you by race this much.”

    I raise one eyebrow at her and she averts her gaze, at least as much as she can since we are pretty much in each other’s faces.

    “That’s because… it means… that even though I am a Dwarf… I’m yours… and this makes me feel happy…”

    She slowly speaks her mind, stopping at times to find correct words. They completely take me by surprise. I did not expect this level of cuteness. I can’t hold myself back and steal her lips without any warning. My action startles her a little, but she soon melts under my caresses and we softly exchange loving kisses. After we separate, a pleasant smile paints her lips.

    “Then, does my adorable, little dwarf want her reward right here and right now?”

    She considers that possibility and looks around the room. I also take a glance around. It might not be exactly comfortable anywhere in here, but with Sirgia’s strong body and the effects of my saliva, we could pretty much go at it anywhere and it wouldn’t be inconvenient.

    For a moment it seems like she might have found a decent spot when her gaze lands on a long counter a bit behind me, but she shakes her head to compose herself.

    “No… someone might come in here… Maybe someday…”

    She definitely wants it to be here. And I could casually send discreet whispers to all other girls so they don’t accidentally walk into us, but let’s not put Sirgia under unnecessary pressure.

    “That’s fine. I’m okay with whatever you want.”

    “Then… tomorrow. Let’s do it... in the workshop. No one should come there.”

    Figured out that she might choose that place. It’s pretty much like a kitchen but for artifacts and they both are connected to the things she loves.

    “Why not today, hm?”

    “Because today it’s Safi’s and Emi’s turn to sleep in Master’s bed and I don’t want to risk intruding on their time if we… take too long…”

    I hug Sirgia closer and brush through her hair with my fingers while patting her head.

    “Even though they definitely wouldn’t mind that. You are a really understanding and kind girl, you know that?” I praise her a little while showering her in less sensual affection to not escalate things further.

    She giggles in my embrace, definitely regaining back some of her confidence after realizing that I’m not planning on taking another step.

    “Does Master prefer bad girls?” she asks a bit more playfully than seriously.

    I leave a quick tap on her cheek. “I prefer you.”

    With another giggle from Sirgia, I help her come down and she hugs me to the chest for a while longer as we stand in the kitchen. Then, I escort her to the underground workshop and help her change from the maid uniform into some work clothes I bought her recently.

    She looks amazing in a light brown, sturdy, leather shirt and dark brown pants on belts. It always was a dream of mine to see a real Dwarf in such getup and it’s even better when it’s an insanely cute and skilled girl.

    I observe how she walks from table to table while doing various things, from preparing numerous materials, starting some carving or drilling devices, through checking schematics and notes, ending at testing some enchantments. She seems to be working on those communication devices. I approach her while she isn’t carrying anything serious and give her one more kiss on the cheek and a few pats before leaving.

    Checking via our mental connection if the elves are already in my room, I head there immediately. I find all six of them sitting on one of the beds together, casually all over it, mostly around the middle, cross-legged or hugging their knees and such. They are chatting with each other when I arrive.

    “Welcome, Master.”

    Elea says in Elvish and starts moving to the edge to greet me properly, but I wave a hand to stop her. Walking to the bed, I glance over all of them. Everyone is smiling nicely and looking at me. I sit on the border and turn to them.

    “Ready to get rid of the seals?” I ask Elea.

    They all nod and also turn to look at the supposed leader of the group.

    “Um, can I have a question?” she speaks up.

    “Of course, what is it?”

    “Since Master can remove slavery marks, can you also create them?”

    Quite an unusual question and definitely not one I have expected, but there’s nothing stopping me from answering it.

    “Yes, I can. Although, I can only leave the base mark on someone, without any restrictions. But, it’s not like I would want to impose any on you girls. Why the question though? I can already sense you and you also can to some extent feel me, thanks to the Partners connection.”

    She smiles and nods. “Thank you for your kind words, Master. And while the part about our connection is true, the main goal is to have us register as combat slaves, yes?” she asks.

    “That’s right.”

    “And while Master mentioned that the guild doesn't exactly verify the seals, we just recently were discussing this topic and came to the conclusion that it would be better and safer to have any kind of mark on us instead of there being none. It would be more believable that way.”

    I raise one of my brows. “You want me to mark you as my slaves? Even though I’m freeing you?”

    They all nod again. “Even with Master’s slavery sigil, there wouldn’t be anything enslaving us, right? So, we don’t see anything derogatory in that. And it increases the safety of the holder. Master stressed many times how much you care about even our security, despite us being new here.”

    I rub my chin while contemplating their words. They naturally hold some wisdom in them. I would be stupid to disagree just because I don’t like the idea of marking them.

    “Certainly, this isn’t that bad of an idea. Are you sure you are okay with that?”

    A wave of energetic nodding follows.

    “Well, I’m not going to say no to that then. As you said, your well-being is my utmost priority and this plan supports that goal.”

    “Thank you for considering our suggestion.” Elea bows her head slightly.

    “No, no, no. Thank you for bringing that up. Not many would willingly offer to have a slavery sigil placed on them out of their own volition. Let’s deal with the old seals first.”

    I climb onto the bed and join them in the middle. They form a semi-circle in front of me. This time they don’t have to unpin anything since the slavery marks are visible on the exposed area above their chests.

    One by one, I move closer to them and spend around 10 minutes per person to properly erase the masterless seals. It’s accompanied by lots of finger-grazing with my hand over their smooth, dark skin and some of them react quite… sensually to that brushing.

    In the case of Elea, I can see her long ears getting slightly red and feel her heart rate rise noticeably when I’m up close with her. No other elf girl reacts this strongly. They do make some playful sighs or even a moan from time to time, but they all keep their calm, pretty much telling me that they are just having fun with teasing me.

    Elea though, tries to stay composed much harder than her friends. She’s the calmest when I work with her seal, at least in terms of no sighing or moaning, her heart can’t exactly be called calm. Their group didn’t give an image of some shy girls with how they acted in the beginning, so Elea’s reaction can only bring a few possible explanations and after what we went through together, I’m quite strongly leaning towards a certain one.

    Well, I shall observe her a bit more just to be sure. Perhaps not for as long as with Cornelia. I might be wrong and it’s just my Class affecting her to some extent. Elea is, or was, a Princess, in other words, a Priestess, and kept her body pure for something like 200 years if I recall correctly. Thus, being able to keep her role for this long, although maybe for Elves it feels way shorter, she shouldn’t suddenly have fallen for a man, right? And a Human at that.

    She did seem to revere me a bit even before I revealed my Hero’s background though… No point in assuming. We will see with time.

    We finish taking down the seals without any issues coming up. Next, since we have already decided on that, we move onto applying new ones.

    “Hmmm… Where do you want them to be?” I ask, considering the best place.

    “Aren’t they usually around the collarbone?” Elea joins.

    “Yeah, but that’s for normal slaves. You don’t need to have the mark in an easily visible spot. There’s no need to brand your beautiful bodies again.”

    The girls all smile.

    “Maybe under the navel then?”

    Neira unexpectedly throws out a suggestion and everyone looks at her and then back at me, most likely waiting for my reaction. I give the elf a side glance and she just smiles even more seductively.

    “We would be like Succubi then, right?” Roseni asks others.

    “Yeah, they have those cool marks down there, that’s what I heard too,” Cinra follows.

    “I always thought those were so cool! Imagine if they could glow when—”

    “That’s enough. Let’s keep the conversation on its tracks. Master is the one who will decide,” Elea stops Filue before she has a chance to finish her sentence and all the girls turn back to me.

    I scratch my head. “Personally, I don’t mind, but you still would have to show those if someone asked. Would you be fine letting others check that part in public?”

    A wave of ‘ah’ and realization quickly follows.

    “Only to Master,” Neira answers with the previous, enchanting smile, making others nod.

    I shake my head smiling too. “Then, I guess a shoulder should be fine, right? It’s usually covered and also easy to show when necessary. Are you fine with that?”

    There aren’t any objections. While I sort my knowledge about slavery marks in my head, the girls get back to the semi-circle formation, with Neira being the first one. After I’m confident enough in what I’ve recalled, I move closer to her from the side.

    She smiles at me and lowers her right shoulder strap, sliding it along her arm and revealing her skin near the shoulder. I reach my hand to touch the place but I stop midway and my gaze falls a bit to the side. When the shoulder strap slides down, it also lowers the corresponding part of the chest material with it and her voluptuous right breast comes to my full vision, hanging seductively, free out of its imprisonment.

    A giggle can be heard and I move my eyes back to her face questioningly. She just smiles, nothing more. Just your usual situation with flashing someone your intimate parts. Yep. There’s just one thing wrong here. Or rather, the lack of one thing which is supposed to be upholding two other things.

    “You do wear panties at least, do you?” I ask Neira while raising my brow.

    She giggles again. “Of course.” She lifts her skirt to show her black underwear.

    “Then why not a bra?”

    “Because they feel stuffy. Are we required to use them?”

    I shake my head. “No, it’s fine. Just… that was quite unexpected and took me off-guard. Could you at least cover yourself a bit while I work on the seal? Doing it like this may prove a little bit… distracting.”

    “As you wish, Master.”

    Neira then proceeds to move her hand to her breast and covers it with her palm. All is good besides the fact that she presses onto it with quite the force and it almost spills around her fingers, which accentuates the sexy shape even more due to how big her boobs are. This definitely isn’t unintentional. I make a deep sigh, close my eyes and try to focus on creating the mark on her arm near the shoulder.

    The first step is to connect with the target’s mana. It comes quite easily since I can sense them much clearer thanks to them being my Partners. I create a link with our energies and begin shaping a complex knot to prepare the base for the seal.

    When enough of our mana is led to the correct spot, I begin forming the circle part of the slavery sigil by tracing my finger filled with essence over her skin.

    A few seconds later, that part is complete and I start infusing more of my own energy into the mark’s foundation, properly focusing on fusing it with the next piece, which is the core of the mark. I didn’t prepare any ideas for how the centre of the sigil has to look so I just leave that part to my subconsciousness. My slavery teacher taught me that the image will be composed to suit the slave owner if they don’t design the sigil style themselves.

    The last and most important part is to activate all pieces at the same time and fuse them into one. I’m not adding any formulas for restrictions so anything else is not necessary. I take my fingers back, summon a small knife from my ring and cut my thumb a little. Pressing it against Neira’s skin again, I trace a full circle around the spot where our energies are connected and I can feel the mark forming.

    Letting everything slowly subside, I open my eyes to confirm the success of this quite complex process. The moment the seal enters my sight, my eyes widen in surprise. Neira doesn’t miss that detail and angles her shoulder to see for herself.

    “Oh! It’s so lovely!” she announces with a smile.

    What appeared on her shoulder is in no way even close to the circle I made with my finger. The foundation took the shape of a heart, very similar to the pendant we’ve commissioned for our girls. It has those two horns on the top and a pointy succubi-like tail on the bottom. Additionally, the mark also has wings sprouting from the lower part of the heart now. And, in the middle of the seal, there’s a really fancy letter A in… Infernal?

    Huh? All things aside, why not Common? Why is it Infernal? Some demonic races use it. Maybe due to the succubi-like appearance of the sigil? Weird.

    While I’m pondering over it, the other elves swarm Neira to take a glance at the seal and start joyfully whispering between themselves. Even Elea seems to be into it as she doesn’t try to tame them down this time. They get very eager to get their own marks after seeing the design. I guess that part about Succubi they mentioned before is something they really adore. You learn something new every day, huh.

    All other girls properly hold the cloth over their chests so it doesn’t slide down with their shoulder straps. Looks like they choose to let me work in peace on their new tattoos over trying to tease me and I’m glad they do. There are no issues going forward and everything finishes cleanly. They check out each other’s sigils, which all look identical of course.

    Elea leaves the giggling group and moves closer to me. “Thank you for giving us such beautiful marks, Master. We did not expect them to be so nice. Did you perhaps draw them according to what the girls mentioned before?” she asks.

    I shake my head. “No, I honestly didn’t. I haven’t even thought about how they should look. I guess that’s just the type of sigil that… suits me or something? They are supposed to be portraying the nature of the owner I think?” I answer while scratching my head.

    The girls stop whispering and giggling and glance at me, then at each other and back at me while smiling beautifully. Somehow, I get slight chills from their gazes, completely not sure why.

    Next, we discuss how we will go with the whole registration thing since it’s good to wrap everything up at once if possible. Going out with all of them in maid outfits would garner lots of unnecessary attention so we agree on going in pairs, excluding me, and I will also take a trip to the town before that to pick up some cheap, leather, protective clothes just for the plan.

    Personally, I wouldn’t mind having my personal corps of battle maids like a certain powerful protagonist of one of my favourite novels, but let’s leave that for later when we will all be a bit more powerful. God, I always adored those girls, especially the leader. Let’s add battle maids to the list of things to create someday.

    Anyway, we all agree on it. The registration part of course. During our dinner together, they still aren’t over getting the marks and other girls are able to steal a few glances of the sigils. I kind of expected that to happen, but Sirgia, Safi and Emi come rushing to me after to ask for one too. Looks like they don’t want to feel left out.

    At least Cornelia is not all over it when I glance at… her. I sigh with a wry smile. Hastily averting her gaze and acting like it doesn’t concern her might seem like she does consider it to some extent. Actually, I take that back. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was into this kind of restraints too.

    I create one on Sirgia’s arm. As for the slimes, I explain to them that a familiar seal would fit them better than slave ones. They get slightly down, so I explain to them that it would make them special and they both instantly cheer up, but… Sirgia is the one to get slightly sorrowful now.

    Kneeling in front of her, I give my cute dwarf a few kisses from below and tell her that I consider every single one of them special on their own and that I would mark them all with unique sigils if I could. Fortunately, it seems to work and she snuggles to me affectionately. I start to realize that being the True Harem Lord won’t be an easy ride.

    So, after promising Safi and Emi to figure out monster taming sigils, which would be more appropriate if we start going into the public, I move out to get the clothes for the elves, and perhaps something for Sirgia too.

    I head straight to clothing and armour merchants I’ve already visited in the past. For Sirgia, I get a decent, reinforced set which includes simple, plated greaves, leather armguards, vest and shorts. For the elves, I choose various leather armours too, mostly simple and easy to move in ones, and normal linen pants.

    And finally, since Elea dabbles more in magic, especially nature, I pick a simple, dark robe, or rather, it should be called a dress from how much it uncovers. I’m pretty sure most of her legs will be visible and the area above the chest seems to have quite a sizable ‘boob-window’.

    With everything collected, I return back to the mansion and give the items to the girls. The elves start changing literally in front of me, without any consideration of their half-naked bodies. They at least don’t have to change the panties.

    Sirgia stares at them and glances at me, visibly torn about what to do. Not wanting to fall behind, she finally decides to follow suit and starts undressing too. She often sends me shy glances while her cheeks are visibly red.

    Everyone leaves their collars on. One, they are really beautiful on them and the last time I tried to insist on someone taking them off, I failed completely. And two, it’s another easy way to show that they are mine. I might be slowly getting used to saying that about the girls, but it still rubs me in a little wrong way on the inside. With how much they are for rather than against that idea, I bet I’ll one day completely forget this feeling.

    After they are all done, we proceed with the plan. The first pair to go with me is Sirgia and Filue. The elves decide to set the order via rock-paper-scissors and unfortunately, Elea loses literally to everyone. Sirgia comes first as part of my plan to cheer Elea up. With the number of elves being 6 in total, this way she will be able to accompany me alone at the end. And also just to show Sirgia some affection.

    We leave the mansion and stick close together. The girls walk on both of my sides. They both look around curiously. For Filue this might be the first time seeing the city from this angle.

    Not wanting to let this chance go to waste, I stop by one of the dinners and we share a meal together. Filue starts acting like the usual slave, but Sirgia stops her and explains to her again that I don’t treat people like that and everyone is considered a friend. She really did change. Not that long ago, she was the one trying to sit on the floor to wait for scraps. This puts a smile to my face.

    We don’t take that long to not make other girls wait indefinitely and head for the guild. So far, so good. There are less weird stares than I expected. Maybe I really was too worried about all that. Let’s hope that it will work out with the brothel too.

    First time seeing the guild, the girls can’t help but stare at the building slightly in awe. Yeah, it looks quite fancy. We walk in and fortunately, it doesn’t seem like anything special is happening. You never know. Let’s not trigger any weird events, please.

    I spot a familiar receptionist with short, black hair and we head straight to her. The cute girl from the day I registered also recognizes my adventuring attire and waves at me while smiling.

    “Hello Mr.. ummmm… was it… Karper?”

    She starts joyfully, but after realizing that she doesn’t remember my name, the receptionist makes a wry smile and tries to make a comeback.

    “It’s Carter, Miss Elise.” I smile at her.

    “Oh, right. I’m sorry. Even though you remembered mine, hahaha.”

    “Don’t fret over it, I haven’t been here since that day. It’s not that hard to forget someone who doesn’t show up often.”

    She claps her hands. “Well then, how can I help you, Mr Carter?”

    Elise curiously glances over me and my companions. Looks like I’m lucky, she doesn’t immediately frown or show any other negative reactions. She’s either pretty fine with demi-humans or she’s a full-blown professional, unlike a certain blond-haired guy.

    “Can I register combat slaves with you or is there some special procedure?” I ask.

    “I can deal with that for you! Are you talking about this elf and dwarf?”

    I nod. “Yeah, and there are 5 more Dark Elves I want to register, but it would be inconvenient for me to bring all of them at once so I will bring them in pairs.”

    “Oh, seven at once? If I recall correctly, you were an F-rank. Do you have enough money for all of them?”

    “And I still am. Don’t worry about the money, I won’t run out of funds in quite some time. That’s also how and why there’s so many of them.” I smile at the girl.

    “I see. I see. Very well then, I’ll prepare seven forms and give two of them to you right now. I’ll reserve this spot so you can bring them in turns as you wanted. Are you perhaps preparing for a journey with so many bodyguards?” she inquires curiously.

    “Something like that.” I chuckle. Maybe someday. “I want to get done with registration before I forget.”

    As she stated, Elise hands me two forms and I fill them in with the girls. I ask them a few things so we can write at least a few details there, naturally speaking in Dwarvish and Elvish. I give the papers back to the girl.

    “You know their languages? That’s quite amazing, people rarely do so,” she says while going over the forms with her eyes.

    “Well, I like to know my stuff and also languages are like my hobby. I know a bunch of them.”

    She nods with a kind smile. “That’s nice! Reduces the chances of having to sacrifice them if they don’t get the orders correctly.”

    “Master would never do that!” Sirgia suddenly speaks up and Elise looks down at her in surprise.

    Realizing that she did it completely unasked, Sirgia hastily glances at me to examine my reaction while covering her mouth, I can feel her getting worried and a bit guilty. Slaves don’t speak unless their master allows them and she must have forgotten about that due to how relaxed the atmosphere around me is.

    We lock our gazes. A whisper arrives near my ear.

    ~I’m sorry… please… hit me… Master…~

    She must be concerned about keeping appearances. I raise my hand and move it towards her head. She does not suddenly wince like in the past, but she naturally tenses a little in preparation and closes her eyes. My palm lands on her hair. Gently. And starts brushing through it. She looks up at me in confusion.

    “It’s as she said. I would never do that.” I smile at Sirgia and keep patting her head. A faint blush appears on her cheeks as she drops her gaze to the ground.

    I glance at the clerk to see her reaction. She does seem surprised but not in a negative sense. As I thought, she doesn’t seem to be an anti-demi elitist.

    “I see… Well, that’s good, right? More efficient in the long term. I think,” she says.

    “You could say that,” I answer and lean more onto the counter. “It’s quite rare to not get stared down after such a display. How come you are fine with it?” I ask curiously.

    She looks around. “To be honest… they aren’t that much different from us, no? I mean… they still are people in the end. It’s not like I like other races, I just… dislike violence enough to not blindly agree with others.”

    “You are a nice girl, Elise. I like that.” I send her a wink with a playful smile. “But I bet a cute girl like you hears that on a daily basis.”

    She laughs while covering her mouth. “Flattery won’t get you a discount, Mr Carter.”

    I chuckle too. “Dammit.”

    We wrap up the procedure and even show Elise the seals just to be safe. She issues us combat slave plates pretty quickly. I pin them to the girls' shoulders and we head back to switch.

    Next two pairs also get done without any problems. We chat a bit more casually with Elise during their registrations. After finishing with Elea’s form, we bid a final farewell. Elise urges me to visit from time to time. I won’t say no. Having a friend in the guild might come handy.

    We step out of the guild. Elea starts walking back but I grab her by the shoulder and tell her that we are going to have a stroll together. I want to reward her for her help in coordinating the other girls. She complies with a nice smile.

    And thus, I lead her towards a nice recreational area that I know of. We chat with each other along the way. She tells me more about her life and village and I answer some of her questions about me. Rather than asking about my world, as pretty much everyone who knows my identity would, she wants to know about my various likes and views on some social aspects. Nevertheless, we have fun just talking with each other. Her calm and slow way of speaking emanates an aura of royalty. It’s hard to believe that Princess was just a role and not a real title. Maybe all Elves are like that.

    Our little fun gets interrupted by some loud shouting. Coming out from an alleyway, we notice a crowd of people gathered around the centre of the market square. It looks like I chose a wrong time to bring Elea here.

    We look at each other. She seems to be curious about it too so we begin walking closer to see what is happening here.
     
  20. Saileri

    Saileri Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2019
    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    16
    Reading List:
    Link
    Chapter 39 – Public Execution
    After arriving a bit closer, a small stage with four stocks which are often used to restrain criminals enters our sight. There’s a person in each of them. Or specifically, a demi-human. A small crowd has gathered around the makeshift stage and is curiously observing the spectacle unfolding in front of their eyes.

    We push through some people to get a bit better view. I notice a man dressed in quite a noble-looking clothes walking around the elevated area. Besides him, there’s one more person, holding a long and heavy axe. Their clothes are much less aristocratic, they just wear a leather vest and pants.

    I focus on the stocks. The demi-humans being held in them are of some kind of a lizard-like race. There are three women and one man and they are all completely naked, having their heads and wrists locked in the wooden structures.

    Their skin looks pretty much like your usual Human. The features that make them stand out are, first of all, the scales around their bodies. Trying my best to catch as many details as I can, I discern that those are similar to a dragon’s scales.

    They cover the outer areas of their limbs to some extent, like starting on top of the foot, going up along the front of their legs, stopping and joining just above their nether regions, then branching to the sides and moving to their backs, leaving their bellies and chests exposed while the area around the back is covered in those scales, also leaving a little window along the spine, then joining again around the shoulders and the collarbone, going up the sides and back of the neck and ending around their cheeks. The scales also travel over the top of their arms, finishing on the backs of their hands.

    Another very distinct feature is their lizard-like tail. It’s not very wide and thick, more like long and agile. From the looks, it seems like they can control it very well and I can imagine this race being able to grab things or fight with their tails easily. And the last parts to mention are their horns. They all have them sprouting out from above or behind their ears in the form of a sharp spike or two, matching the colour of their scales.

    From all those details and the fact that most of their appearance is similar to that of a Human, including their faces and hair, I have an idea on what they are. If I’m not mistaken, the four people locked in the stocks are members of the Dragonewt race. All Lizardfolk have their whole bodies covered in scales and their tails are much tougher looking, so I don’t think they are some rare variant, not with those horns.

    I catch a glimpse of Elea’s expression turning a bit sour as she watches the man circling the prisoners. Being too focused on trying to figure out who the people on the stage are, I stopped paying attention to the words of the crowd and the noble. Fixing that mistake, I move my gaze to him and listen closely.

    “—ore, we need more people! This has to serve as an example! All those dirty scoundrels living in our city need to hear of this! They need to know what happens when they dare to raise a hand against our people! Against nobles! Against me!” the man screams to the crowd which is cheering after every other sentence.

    Example? Example of what? The hell are they doing in the middle of the square—

    While I’m pondering over this whole ordeal, my eyes move from the demi-humans onto the man holding the axe, who is just now beginning to walk closer to the convicts. Suddenly, the word example connects with the weapon, or rather a tool, in this case, in my head, and the intentions of that noble clear up to me immediately. My eyes go wide.

    Surely, they aren’t going to hold a public—

    Unfortunately, they are going to prove me wrong even before I finish my thought as the muscular man with the blade finishes walking to the first locked person and nonchalantly drops the axe onto their neck from above, beheading the poor girl with yellow scales. Her head lands in some container, which we can’t see from our position, with a soft thump.

    “And that’s what you get for attacking our caravans! No mercy for filthy bandits! And especially none for those beasts!” The noble spits to the side. “Right?”

    Another wave of cheering follows while a grimace appears on my face as I clench my fists in disdain. This is not a mere bandit execution. You don’t strip Human bandits naked for everyone to see. This is humiliation in the name of the law.

    Holding self-righteous events like those is illegal in the kingdom so someone must have issued a permit for this to happen and I’m sure Ross didn’t get even a whiff of this. I bet one of the governmental bodies just went with the great idea of this fucker on the stage. The King would never allow such a shameful display, no matter what the person did or which race they belonged to.

    *SWOOOSH*

    As I’m mauling over the issue, another demi-human girl loses her head. I click my tongue. I obviously had to have this perfect timing to walk into something like this. And I even brought Elea with me.

    When I look at her, she seems to be calm. From the way her face is tensed and unnaturally neutral, it’s actually easy to judge how much she is trying to tame down her emotions. And those are pretty noticeable through our connection. There’s a lot of anger and disdain, but more importantly, a huge chunk of helplessness. She wants to do something, but at the same time, she must be aware there’s not much she can achieve alone in the middle of a Human city.

    I glance at the stage again. It’s not like there’s much I can do too. Intervening could possibly have some unforeseen complications and there are lots of people around. I can’t just jump up there and free the two people who are still alive. But am I going to just stay here and watch?

    The noble riling up the crowd with his hands comes to my vision again. I catch a glimpse of his smile as he turns around to order his partner to cut down another person and I freeze. This is not a simple smile of someone glad to be able to bring down justice on some criminals. It’s way more sinister. He’s enjoying every second of this whole spectacle. A very bad feeling starts growing inside my heart, telling me that this may not be as simple as it looks. Sirgia’s situation flashes in front of my eyes and I clench my fists even harder while gritting my teeth.

    Something touches my hand and I glance to the side. Elea came closer and is now gently squeezing my fingers with a concerned expression. She must have sensed my emotions through the link.

    “Master, I think we should leave. Our friends are awaiting your—”

    *SWOOOSH*

    Third one. The sound makes Elea shiver. I can feel her fingers squeeze me harder for a moment and notice a bit of pleading in her eyes, hidden behind a wry smile, trying to assure me that everything is fine. She is not fine.

    I take a deep breath and sigh heavily. She’s still placing me on the first spot even though I can feel how bad she wants to save the last girl from her fate. I escape her hold and brush her cheek softly, surprising Elea completely.

    “That’s not how you say ‘please, save them’ in Common.” Her eyes widen in response to my words.

    “But…”

    “I much more like girls who are honest with themselves, you know? Stay here.”

    I have been idle for too long. Whatever happens, happens. I don’t want to blame myself for not even trying. Three people already lost their lives because I hesitated. I have the King behind my back. If things go to shit, I can always bring up the royal sigil I have on me. I’m a saviour in Elea’s eyes so let’s do what the saviour is supposed to do and save at least one person.

    The last thing I catch from Elea while turning around and pushing through the crowd is a truly beautiful, relieved smile. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to adore it. The executioner is already heading for the last girl, a Dragonewt with fiery red scales and dark crimson hair.

    Arriving close, I can see that she is struggling in the stocks, trying to break free before she ends up like her friends or family. Who knows if they really attacked this dude or if he’s just some sadist scum who kidnapped random people on his path.

    Pushing myself off some random guy near the front of the stage, I jump onto it and immediately feel unimaginably disgusted. Even from afar this sight was awful, but seeing the naked bodies of three headless Dragonewts from point-blank can’t even compare to it. Some other scars and wounds on their vulnerable skin are now visible to me, proving that they definitely were at least beaten, if not tortured.

    I shake my head to clear my mind and see the muscular man already bringing his axe up. Both of them are so into it that they haven’t yet noticed that someone got up onto their stage. Words may not be enough so I grab the draconic hilt which I always hide under my coat behind my back and quickly activate the whip form.

    Before the axeman manages to make a complete swing, I send the rope to coil around the handle of his weapon and pull it to the side, altering its trajectory. The blade sinks into the wooden floor with a loud thud, a bit before the place where the stock is set. The crowd goes silent and both of the men look at me in confusion and surprise.

    Made it. Time to improvise again. Why does it always end up like this...

    I retract the whip, making a few snaps left and right on its way back to flaunt my weapon a bit. With it on my right, I start walking towards them. On my way to their positions, I scan the surroundings to check for any guard patrols. There seems to be one just leaving the market square. Let’s hope they don’t suddenly turn around.

    “Who the hell are you? And what do you think you are doing?” the noble asks, visibly annoyed.

    “Shut your trap for a moment and let me inspect the goods,” I say to him with an authoritative tone. He definitely didn’t expect someone talking to him like that as his face gets painted with shock.

    “What? Is this some kind of a sick jo—”

    *WHIZZ* *SNAP*

    The tip of my whip cracks the air barely centimetres from his ear, making him flinch and step to the side. The noble covers the side of his face and stares at me wide-eyed.

    “I told you to shut it. Or should I use something else than words to convey the message?” I glare at the noble while preparing the hilt for another strike. He quickly shakes his head. “Good. Tell the big guy to drop the axe if he doesn’t want to lose a hand or two. I don’t like the way he’s staring at me.”

    The executioner glances at his boss hesitantly and the latter nods frantically. He looks back at me, shrugs and throws his weapon to the ground. A smart guy. I send the whip to the axe, coil it around the handle and pull it back, sending it into the air and towards myself. I have no idea why I suddenly thought about showing off even more, but I, fortunately, manage to catch the spinning pole with my left hand.

    I’m actually surprised how light it seems to me, but then I realize that my stats are quite abnormal and even with the limiting, Human physique, they are high enough to be visibly manifesting in reality. A rogue smile appears on my face as I shove the axe into the wooden planks. The guy seems to be a little impressed.

    Nevertheless, I turn my attention to the girl locked to my right. She’s sending all of us quite the ferocious glares. Her crimson eyes with vertical pupils hold a lot of courage and will to fight. I come closer to her and take a good glance at her head. She has two pairs of vertical horns coming out from above her ears. They seem really sharp and tough. Her straight, medium-long, dark red hair falls to the sides of her face, just adding to her exotic beauty.

    I crouch down in front of her and glance at her face. She immediately spits at mine. I slowly wipe it down and catch her head with my hand by the chin, squeezing her cheeks a little, acting like I’m examining her face in detail while angling it to the sides.

    Moving my head really close to hers, practically arriving at her ear while trying to look like I’m checking on the horns, I whisper secretly.

    “Just bear with me for a moment. I’ll get you out.”

    Judging by her violent reaction, she must have understood Common, but also, most likely didn’t believe my words. I stand up and move to the back. I still need to act according to what I said, so I glance all over her body on the other side of the stock. I don’t notice any slavery mark at any place. That’s good. I can continue with the plan.

    Even in this situation, I can’t help but admire her beautiful figure and fair skin decorated with a myriad of crimson scales. They just accentuate her charms beautifully while also functioning as armour for the places covered with them. Dragonewt’s scales are as tough as tempered steel, Lizardfolks don’t even come close to that, although the fact that the former have no cover on their bellies, chests and a big part of their back is quite a downside.

    A very alluring downside I must say. The way her scales surround some of the more sensitive areas creates a very hard to resist image. Seeing them shyly reach towards the private parts from above can invoke some indecent thoughts at a moment’s notice. But let’s not dive into those thoughts. I’m not looking at her to satiate my desires but to keep appearances.

    I walk to the stock and lean onto it from behind, having the prostrated body of the dragonewt girl on my side. She tries her best to tilt her head so she can look upwards at me, but the restraints don’t really allow her to do that.

    I glance at the not so noble, noble.

    “I’ve heard that you captured them after they attacked your caravan, right?” I question him.

    He keeps nodding with an awkward smile. “Yes, yes! That’s exactly what happened.”

    “Then am I right to assume that you are a merchant?”

    “Naturally!”

    I smirk at him. “That’s great. You see, I’m a man of opportunities. I see a valuable one, I can’t hold back from pursuing it. You should be able to get what I mean, hm?”

    More nodding follows.

    “And thus, there’s an opportunity in front of you too.” I tilt my head and point at myself.

    “I see… and what would that opportunity be, Sir…?”

    “Roderich. And it’s simple. I have a few pure-blood male Beastkins in my forward team. Those are some good dogs, they fight on the frontline without a yelp. But you see, there’s one small inconvenience that even the best slavery seals can’t fix. During full moons, they go into unimaginable heat and if it’s not taken care of, they are useless for at least a few days after. So, in short, I need this bitch here as emergency relief. Dragonewts are quite durable. She should last for some time.” I give the girl a light slap on the ass.

    “Just try laying even a finger on my body and I’ll rip your dick off! I’d rather die than be a toy!” she finally speaks, or rather shouts, in what I think is Draconic, and begins to struggle again.

    The noble furrows his brows. “I’m not sure what the opportunity here is—”

    “Oh, for Goddess’s sake man… And you call yourself a merchant? The opportunity is for you to not lose your pathetic life and instead earn some decent coin from selling this waste here to me.” I roll my eyes and show him an annoyed expression.

    He starts smiling even more nervously and frantically looking around. “You don’t mean… you can’t kill me, I’m—”

    “Do you think I would bring that up if I wasn’t going to follow my words?”

    I stop leaning against the stock and start walking towards the panicking noble. I take a slight detour to pick up the axe. He starts waving his hands, scared shitless. I’m surprised no one reacts in any way. The crowd is just whispering between themselves.

    “Wait! Wait! This is a great opportunity! Of course, as a merchant, I can’t pass on it! What do you say about 20 gold coins?”

    I reaffirm my grip on the axe’s handle. “Twenty?”

    “Uhhh, I meant to say ten! It’s quite hot today and I’ve been in the sun for a bit too long, hahaha.”

    “You still seem fine enough to make a good decision! Let’s make a deal then, Sir…?”

    “Trance Leyton! The pleasure is all mine, hahaha.”

    I hope you are ready for a fucking raid first thing in the morning tomorrow if that really is your name, scum. I wonder how the King will react when I tell him about your little show.

    Trying my best to fake a satisfied smile, I shake his hand and give him ten gold coins. His lackey frees the girl and ties down her hands and feet together with a tough-looking rope. She does her best to somehow escape but to no avail. He pushes her forward, making the restrained dragonewt fall to the ground. She sends me a furious glare.

    Sorry, just a little longer, I swear.

    I apologize in my mind. Can’t really do anything else right now. I take off my coat and throw it at the girl before picking her up and placing her over my shoulder. I can do at least this much. Checking if the two men are truly going to follow through and not try anything behind my back, I head to the stairs leading down from the stage.

    Everyone in the crowd makes a way for me, clearly not wanting to annoy me after the given spectacle. I smirk at them and confidently walk towards Elea. I can sense her happiness and gratitude already, but the charming smile she tries so hard to get rid of before I come closer is enough to clearly let me read her mood.

    “Let’s go, Elea.” I tap her shoulder with a smile. She nods and we quickly disappear into an alley.

    The moment we get out of the sight of the crowd, the dragonewt girl starts wriggling on my shoulder.

    “Damned Human! This is your chance! Let me go or I’m going to kill you so hard that your ancestors back from before the Great War will feel the pain!”

    She actually uses Common this time, most likely wanting to raise her chances of talking me into doing her bidding. I try to calm her down. I don’t mind releasing her, but doing so in the middle of the city is a bad idea.

    “Stop struggling so much, I will set you free at my home. Just play along for a little longer.”

    “You fucker! Like hell I will believe that, grrrrh!”

    Unfortunately, that doesn't work. I don’t think she’s the type to believe in some simple words, especially when they come from a Human. Elea slows down her pace and moves behind me to face the red-haired girl.

    “Master is not a liar so please, stop slandering him. He saved your life. You should be grateful,” she tries her best to succeed where I failed.

    But, similar to before, she gets spat on. “Eat shit you disgrace of an Elf! Fucking broken, mindless doll at his every command!”

    I can sense Elea feeling hurt after hearing her words. I quickly turn around, surprising the elf woman. My hand touches her cheek and I brush through her hair around her long ear with a kind smile.

    “Don’t listen to her, I know best how noble and loyal to your beliefs you are. I dare to say that there’s no other Dark Elf so strongly devoted to their community.”

    She blushes a bit and the tips of her ears get slightly red. “Yes…” she says with an appealing smile and then steps closer to hug me. I pat her on the back with my free hand. It might be my imagination, but I feel like she is sniffing my neck and her hands are wandering dangerously close to my butt before quickly jumping up.

    “A Mage? Illusion? Charm magic? Don’t think you can break me so easily!”

    The girl keeps kicking so we leave the hug. Elea continues walking as if nothing has happened. I guess it really was my imagination.

    All attempts to talk with the dragonewt end up in vain. She doesn’t believe me even when I use Draconic, saying that I’m using magic to fool her. I really hope that she calms down after talking with the other girls. I send all of them a whisper to gather in the main hall since I’ll be bringing a demi-human who is a bit sceptical.

    We somehow reach the mansion without me dropping the wriggling girl to the ground. Seriously, that was hard. She really lives up to her race’s strength and endurance, struggling for the whole way back.

    After entering through the door, we are greeted by everyone already waiting. Safi and Emi don’t waste this chance to show their learned etiquette and make a bow while standing on both sides of the entrance. I give them both a pat as a reward.

    “Okay, I’m now going to place you down, cut your ties and step back. And that’s all I will do. Got it?” I speak as calmly and kindly to the girl as I can.

    With her on the ground, I fix my coat on her shoulders a bit. I still have a full view of her front, including the private areas, but I do my best to keep my eyes on her face. It’s not that hard with her being only slightly shorter than me. She seems to be around 170cm or so, excluding the horns.

    It looks like she finally calmed down to some extent. She still sends me angry glares but stopped creating such a fuss physically. I smile at her and bring out the draconic hilt. She jumps a little seeing a weird, purplish mist suddenly forming a solid shortsword.

    “Don’t worry, it’s just for the ropes. After we get rid of them, you can go with any of the girls here to get some clothes and ask them about anything. Ah, maybe besides the elves, they aren’t that good with Common, okay?”

    She looks around at everyone and nods after returning to me. I first take care of her wrists and then move to deal with her ankles. Dematerializing the blade, I raise myself back up to speak with her again.

    As I’m reaching her height, I notice that she seems to have turned her back to me.

    “HAAAAAAAAP!”

    *THUMP*

    “Ugh!”

    Rather than turning her back to me, she spins around and slams her tail into my stomach with incredible strength, sending me flying backwards until I hit the reception desk with my back.

    *THUD*

    “Guaaah!”

    Somehow, the wooden counter survives the impact. It still hurts like hell crashing against it with my body though. I instantly start Rejuvenate focusing on the most painful places. As far as I’m aware, from spreading my mana all around my body, there doesn’t seem to be any broken bones. My high Constitution is starting to pay off.

    “Quickly! Run away with me while he is recovering!” the dragonewt girl shouts to all others.

    Predicting what might soon happen, which is not that hard to do with so much anger and rage flowing into my mind through almost all my Partners' connections, I try to order my girls to stand back, but no voice leaves my throat. I hit my back too hard and can’t speak yet.

    “Why are you not moving? Do I need to kill him to release you?” she shouts again after seeing all the angry glares aimed at her.

    Cornelia runs up to me to check my injuries and I watch as Sirgia is the first one to take action. She either ignores or is too mad to hear my magical whispers so I focus all my efforts on healing my chest area while seeing as she arrives in front of the much taller woman and grabs her by the hand.

    “What are you—”

    The dragonewt has no chance to finish her sentence. The next second she is thrown onto the floor with a loud thump. Slightly shocked, she manages to roll to the side and dodge the fist coming at her from above.

    *BOOOOOM*

    The main hall shakes a little and Sirgia creates at least a three-meter wide crack in the floor. This had to be a punch supported by her Physical Strengthening skill. There’s no way she can exert this much force with just her body.

    The red-haired girl gets into a crouching position after getting out of danger. She stares at my dwarf with wide eyes. If that did hit, she would have been turned into paste. She trembles after locking gazes with Sirgia. I can only imagine how furious she must look right now.

    Three of the elves pass by me and Cornelia. They were standing on the stairs above and are planning on joining the fight right now. I send another whisper, this time to Elea and Cornelia, to stop everyone. I don’t want to risk other elves not hearing me too and I can see Safi and Emi preparing something weird together. I have a really bad feeling about that.

    Fortunately, Elea and Cornelia didn’t lose their cool, even though I can feel their animosity towards our guest. The former uses her magical focus to summon some vines and catches her friends before they reach my assailant. The latter whispers a quick chant and a wall of ice appears between the girl and Sirgia, just in time to block her next punch.

    I see my dwarf’s head jerk to the side as if she received some kind of a message and she jumps away from the obstacle. Relieved that perhaps my whisper arrived with a delay, I glance at the slimes and instantly realize why she did so.

    Safi and Emi joined their hands and feet, creating something akin to a circle standing vertically with how they extended their bodies to the sides while leaving the middle empty. There is some weird, gurgling orb of green substance hanging in the air where the cleared space is. Their cores start racing around the loop faster and faster.

    The bad feeling grows even more. I quickly glance at Cornelia, finally being able to utter a word.

    Cough… cough… Cover her!” I say, still a bit quietly.

    She instantly generates another three walls between the slimes and the dragonewt and we watch as a pressurized stream of acid shoots at it like a water jet. It eats through the first obstacle in a flash, puncturing another a second later. Cornelia keeps summoning new ones, but that won’t hold on for long. Sirgia somehow makes it to the dragonewt girl without her noticing and holds her down in place so that she doesn’t run away from the deadly laser.

    Gathering up as much strength as I can, I shout to the girls, hoping that they will hear me this time, “STOP IT! EVERYONE, CALM DOWN!”

    The ray of acid slowly loses its power and soon disappears. Safi and Emi turn back to their usual state. Sirgia finally breaks out of her frenzied mode and glances my way. She releases the dragonewt girl who falls onto her butt, surprised, and breaks into a run towards me.

    “Master!”

    Making quite big leaps she arrives at my side in a flash and gets on her knees in front of me with a really concerned expression. Her eyes dart all over my body, especially around the place where I’m still clutching my chest.

    “I’m fine. Just some minor bruises so don’t make that face, okay?”

    I use my other hand to pat her head while smiling. She very slowly leans closer onto me so as to not cause more pain. I sigh heavily with her in my embrace and look around. Safi and Emi also have already arrived at my other side. They both assume apologetic expressions.

    Elea walks up to the dragonewt girl sitting on the ground and extends a hand to her to help her up. Thank god at least one person is showing some kind—

    *SLAP*

    —and she instantly hits her face after the girl stands up.

    “I’ve already told you to stop slandering your saviour. Don’t make me regret asking him to save you.”

    She leaves the still dumbfounded from the whole thing dragonewt and joins everyone gathered around me.

    “Girls, I’m okay, thanks for worrying about me but let’s not escalate things further.”

    I give Sirgia a peck on the forehead and stand up with Cornelia’s help. Elea invokes a much more potent healing spell than my Rejuvenate and takes care of me pretty quickly. Asking Sirgia to release me for a moment, I look at the dragonewt girl.

    “If you want to run away, go for it. They won’t stop you. Good luck trying to escape the city dashing through the streets stark naked though.” I point at the entrance.

    She glances at it and then back at me, most likely considering that option but not being sure about the not stopping part.

    “Or, you can choose to finally believe my words and let me help you with that. I can get you out of the walls with ease. Do you really think I could brainwash this many strong people?”

    She looks between all the girls and stops her gaze at Sirgia, who is clutching my right hand to her chest while staring daggers at her. Noticing that, I pat her head, surprising the dwarf a little, but she quickly looks up at me with a faint smile, still a bit of concern hidden behind it.

    “What about… the beastkin…?” the girl decides to start asking questions.

    “A lie. If you would have listened to anything I said on our way here, you would have known it was all an act.”

    “Is he really not controlling you?” she asks others.

    Everyone shakes their heads. “Do you see any slavery seals on us?” Elea replies with a question.

    Oi, oi. That’s misleading. You DO have them.

    But the fact that none are visible persists and that seems to calm the scaly girl down a bit. She makes a deep sigh.

    “Okay… I will trust your words… for now.”

    “Good. If you are that afraid of me then I will just keep my distance from you. Elea, could you show her the bath and give her some clothes?” I turn to the elf.

    “Only after she apologizes for hurting Master.” She gives the girl a not-so-friendly smile, clearly not willing to move until her demand is fulfilled.

    “That’s right! She has to apologize first!” Surprisingly, Sirgia jumps onto the case.

    Cornelia chuckles seeing the girls’ devotion. I glance at her and she winks at me. “It’s obvious. You can’t expect to have a nice stay right after insulting the master of the house, can you?”

    Everyone nods and turns to stare at the poor dragonewt. She shudders a little under their gazes. “I… I’m sorry for attacking you…” she apologizes quite hesitantly.

    Elea claps her hands. “Great. Now come with me, we have a lot to talk about.” She walks up to the girl and grabs her arm, pulling her towards the stairs to the upper level. They soon disappear from our sight.

    I sigh again and move to Safi and Emi to give them some hugs and pats. They did jump to my defence so I shouldn’t scold them for it too much. The technique they used was quite powerful though. If not for Cornelia’s walls, the hall would have been pretty much sliced like butter.

    After dealing with them, I walk to the three-meter wide crack in the floor and stand near it with my hands on the hips. Sirgia trots shyly to my side, giving me guilty glances. I brush through her hair.

    “How in hell did you hit it so hard?” I ask her.

    “I’m sorry… I used both Physical Strengthening and Crushing Fury at the same time…” she answers while fiddling with her fingers.

    “Crushing Fury?”

    “It’s like a Berserker’s Rage skill but unique to my Class. It’s still level 1 because I never used it in the past, being afraid that I may lose my mind and hurt my friends…”

    “I see. So that’s why you missed my whispers. Well, you are the one who will have to fix it anyway.”

    “I’m really sorry…”

    I kneel down and give the cute dwarf a kiss. “It’s okay. You just showed me how much you care about me and that makes me really happy. She did start it so I can’t really blame you.”

    She giggles cutely and leaves a peck on my cheek. We start fixing up all the furniture that fell over during this little bout. I hope that Elea won’t be too hard on the dragonewt girl up there. Looks like our opening night got delayed again. Nothing ever goes as planned.