Chapter 60 – The Queen’s New Throne Spoiler: Chapter Both of the girls explain their respective parts in the creation of their joint invention. Our menu cards became even more intuitive now, which is good. The easier they are to understand, the fewer issues the customers will have. I always aimed for them to be as clear as possible. This also helps teach them to the girls so they can help operate those inside the rooms or even explain the services while our guests stay at other, less lewd facilities, like baths or the recreational zone. Afterwards, we talk a bit about what Neira managed to gather while observing me and the tieflings in action before she ran out of white paint. The mention of this little play brings a slight blush to her cheeks and Cornelia certainly doesn’t miss it with her inquisitive gaze. Fortunately, Neira was able to focus for long enough to capture some decent—in her eyes—ideas and create a few quick sketches, or even test-paint a feature or two. I won’t be of much help here this time so I will be leaving the project completely to her and her artistic sense. I stay with them for a moment longer before going out and leaving them alone to not disturb the cooperating duo in their work with the menu cards and their amazing creation. It’s slowly getting late. A lot of things happened today. I should check how the new maids are doing before moving to practice a bit until it’s sleep time. Following my senses, I arrive in the dining hall and find every one of the new batch of employees there, accompanied by Elea, Roseni and Cinra. They look much better already after getting a proper bath and having their hair and bodies taken care of. The elves provided them with white shirts and short skirts, for now, already making them look quite professional. When I arrive, they are in the middle of listening to Elea’s lecture so I lean on the closest wall and wait while paying attention to her words too. The new girls have their backs to me so they don’t notice my presence, but my elves surely didn’t miss my entrance. Elea even flashes me a soft smile when our eyes meet for a moment. The part I walked into is about the bathing service. Elea explains it in detail and her former attendants share their thoughts and experiences too. I’m pretty sure they already covered the basic responsibilities linked to taking care of the mansion outside of business hours. I remember the very beginning when it was only Elea and her troupe. No matter how much I tried to convince them, they didn’t want to let me do any work that is supposed to be in the hands of maids, servants or slaves. I offered my help countless times but always ended up being turned down. Only the things I was the sole person being able to do were left in my hands. At that time, I still felt a little guilty leaving everything to just a few elf girls, but I slowly got accustomed to being tended to like that. Now, I feel a little better knowing that our maid corps expanded much more and they can rotate their responsibilities after covering each area easily. As for the things they have to do during open hours besides the bathing or entertainment services, like checking the state of the rooms a moment before guests will be led to them, none of the new girls has any problems with. Cleaning after the deed is done is usually left to those who can operate Livelihood Magic or a similar kind of spell family as it lets them deal with the aftereffects more comfortably. Before, all the elves were able to do that, even the girls with less magic-oriented Classes. I didn't let Safi or Emi take care of those responsibilities, though, as it just doesn’t feel okay to have them clean anything in their own, unique way, which obviously happens by consuming everything and dissolving it inside their bodies as they did back in the inn where I found them. Even if it’s normal for them, I still chose to force my own views onto them in that aspect. In the new group, everyone except Rene the Dogkin can do that. She seems to be barely compatible with magic, or specifically spells and rituals. She lets everyone know that without the collar and the mark she can use some strengthening-type techniques and such, but that’s the extent of her talent. You shouldn’t expect much more from a Brawler either. She would need to train a lot to grasp simple magics, like everyone who isn’t gifted in that area. When Elea and her friends finally finish their lecture, they let others know about my presence and everyone quickly turns around to give me a slight bow. I glance at Elea with a soft sigh and she winks at me. Figured she would start with hammering a bit too much respect into their heads. I ask them to lift their faces and explain that it’s not necessary to act like this on a daily basis. It will be great if they keep the polite act during work hours or in front of other people, but I want them to feel comfortable here and not see me as some unreachable lord of the mansion. We then move onto the slave seals part and I explain everything connected to them. After a few reassuring words from the elves, everyone agrees on receiving my ‘fake’ marks too. I take their restraints down one by one. The satyr sisters seem the most anxious about my touch so I leave them for the last and use the other girls to show them that there’s nothing to be worried about. Afterwards, they are free to go for now. I encourage them to explore the mansion and get to know other residents. Talking with them will ease their minds more. Tomorrow we’ll be open again so they will have a chance to observe their seniors in action or take part in their new responsibilities already if they will be willing. They should relax a little today. I answer some questions from them before going to the underground to train and practice a little. Getting incredibly strong overnight won’t really help if I don’t learn how to properly control my skills and abilities after they are now strengthened much more with my higher stats. I also need to get accustomed to this supposedly new and changed body. The difference is clearly visible to me and already was discernible during the duel with Garrena. I tire much slower than before. Outside, my physique didn’t change that much, but it’s obvious I’m not the usual Human anymore. Spells and magical abilities come to me much easier than before. The same thing goes for physical techniques and such. I test the hilt for a bit too since it looked like I could control it much better now. If the soul in there is aware of my thoughts or growth, it still doesn’t show any signs of willingness to communicate with me. In various novels and stories, especially those with martial arts themes, people often create those mental or spiritual spaces inside their bodies or minds which can be also accessed by others and I’m pretty sure the Soul Realm works in a similar way. I might one day be able to figure out how to invite the soul into mine after I learn how to get inside there myself. That’s a topic for my next meeting with the Goddess, alongside the whole world crisis. There’s still so much I don’t know about either this world or my own abilities, even though I studied both of these aspects thoroughly. One thing that comes to my mind during my amateur self-training with various shapes of weapons the draconic hilt can now recreate is getting some actual guidance. I’m in the possession of Arms Mastery: Novice thanks to all the teaching I went through back then, but due to me being quite weak at that point in time, I couldn’t go any higher with any form of fighting. This could have changed now. If I start receiving tutoring again, will I perhaps reach the level of intermediate or advanced or something? Unfortunately, it’s not like I have a spare year to focus completely on training a countless number of weapon types. I can ask Teffith for guidance in spear, Garrena in two-handed axes and the elves in their respective types for now whenever I have some free time. More experts might join our ranks slowly. I just need to get ready as much as I can before I decide to start going out of the capital so that I won’t stay a burden to whoever comes with me. Having strength is great, but as the Goddess said, I’m not invincible. Experience is crucial. I would have died if our duel with Garrena was a serious fight for sure. Until it gets really late, I try to exhaust the current options the draconic hilt can reproduce, but after half an hour of imagining different weapons, I run out of ideas while it doesn’t fail once. I stop on the scythe and have some fun with it. I always loved scythes and polearms and Cornelia’s past show left quite a mark in my memory too. I bet she would love to train together. I’ll ask her later. I turn in for the night. It’s actually Cornelia who joins me this time. Talk about coincidence. She is delighted to hear my request for some guidance with scythes and promises me to find some time to share her knowledge and experience with them. Before falling asleep, we cuddle affectionately together and have a pleasant chat while embracing each other. She got a bit more active after hearing my question and I can’t say I don’t enjoy her showering me in soft and loving kisses. In the morning, I wake up with Cornelia peacefully napping on top of my chest with a pleasant smile. Her hair somehow ended up unpinned and flows down on the sides of her face, completely dishevelled. Her warm breasts rest on me, reminding me about their existence each time I take a breath. She started sleeping in just panties like Sirgia sometime ago. I sense some rivalry between the two. I brush my fingers through her messy hair and scratch her head a bit. Cornelia soon sloppily raises her eyelids and takes a lazy glance at me. She slowly realizes our situation and smiles even wider, pulling herself up to peck my lips, effectively rubbing her warm body over my chest too. “Morning, Al,” she whispers after nuzzling her face to the side of my neck. “A great one,” I reply and rub her back gently. She grabs my hands and guides them behind her, one towards her back and another to her waist, placing them there and urging me to hug her tightly. “Mhhhmmm… Let’s stay like this for a bit… It’s so pleasant…” “I can’t disagree with that.” She chuckles softly. “Enjoying yourself with these?” Cornelia asks and squishes her chest over mine a bit more. I raise my hand a little and delicately slap her ass, evoking a cute yelp from my charming magician, soon followed by a giggle. “You are getting cheekier recently. You sure the painting is no longer affecting you?” I ask. “I’m just getting more and more comfortable with… what I want… around you…” she says, slowing down near the end and hiding her face in my neck a bit more. “But it’s still not easy…” I turn my head and peck her lips. “I’m always there to support you so don’t push yourself too hard.” “I know. Thank you.” As she requested, we lie down like this for a while longer, just enjoying each other’s warmth. We start to slowly drift away into the dreamland again when someone knocks on the door to my room and sobers us up. “Master, are you asleep?” Sirgia’s voice makes it through the wooden barricade. I glance at Cornelia and she raises herself, stretches and nods at me. I also sit up and hug her while we stay in a lotus position. “I’m not. You may enter if there’s something you need.” Sirgia follows my words and gets inside, wearing a casual t-shirt and shorts. She notices me and Cornelia sitting pretty much embracing each other and her cheeks grow a little rosy. When my lovely magician leans herself even more onto my chest and flashes her a playful grin, she squints her eyes at the woman a little. I clear my throat to get their attention and Sirgia quickly makes a light bow. “Sorry for bothering you. There’s a message from the King’s man and I thought I should deliver it immediately.” “Good. I don’t mind. Let’s hear or see it.” She walks closer to the bed and hands me a letter. After I take it, Sirgia looks like she doesn’t know what to do with herself. I can feel her being a little jealous through our connection, so I lean forward and kiss her on the lips. “Thank you. You can sit with us if you want.” She smiles and climbs onto the bed to sit on our side. I pat her head a few times while Cornelia opens the letter with a small ice blade she creates on the tip of her finger. I then take it from her and hold it so that all of us can see the contents. The handwriting seems different than Ross’s though. Much more delicate. Dear Alastair, How are you doing recently? Not that much time has passed since our last meeting, but I’m sure you were as busy with your little business as you usually are. I’m quite aware of how intensively you are developing it, thanks to my dear friend Cornelia. I’ve realized we haven’t actually held a meeting together yet, excluding the visit you paid me with Cornelia to help with my issue, and I thought inviting you for a short tea party could be a great form of showing my gratitude for your amazing gifts. I’m also looking forward to having a pleasant chat with your interesting person. I have some time to spare today. I’m aware you are opening tonight again, so I’m only thinking about inviting you for a short moment to not inconvenience you too much. Please, let our informant know if you’d be willing to accept this invitation as soon as you decide. Yours truly, Queen Lianne. “Shit… She blabbered out our connection… Haaaaah…” Cornelia sighs after finishing reading, earning herself a chuckle from me. “Do you really believe I still wasn’t aware of that up until now?” “No, but… She just went and said it like that. I’m sure she found it fun trying to expose me.” “Hahaha, I see. But well. An invitation from the Queen. Looks like your work is being truly appreciated, Sirgia.” I brush through my cute dwarf’s hair while she averts her gaze and blushes. “I only follow your instructions… These aren’t my own ideas…” “Coming up with how to actually make the things I describe work is quite a big part of the whole thing, don’t you think? Don’t lower your contribution in this. You are very talented to create so many amazing things.” “So many amazing fake dicks you mean,” Cornelia snickers. “Ah!” She yelps a little after I slap her bottom again. “Hey, Sirgia. I think we should show our friend the true greatness of your creations. What do you think?” I say to Cornelia with a wide grin, releasing a little bit of the purple mist which usually accompanies my Void Chains. Sirgia quickly catches on the gig and giggles, reaching towards her spatial storage inside the collared gem and bringing out three dildos of different shapes, a bunch of butt plugs, some bean-shaped rotors and two sets of fluffy handcuffs. “I’m with you on that, Master,” she answers my question and unlocks one set of restraints. “Wait! Wait! Wait! They are great! I completely understand that! There’s no need to convince me!” Cornelia starts wriggling in my arms while I use my newfound strength to hold her down. Sirgia slowly moves closer to her hands with a mischievous smile while the taller woman’s face starts getting pale as she imagines what the two of us could put her through with all this equipment. Sirgia and I chuckle and she stops shortly before locking her hands, backing away casually. Cornelia exhales in relief and drops her head onto my shoulder. “Seriously… Don’t scare me like that…” I move closer to her ear and whisper. “You can’t convince me you weren’t looking forward to it.” “...” I kiss her cheek and back away. I’m more than sure she wants to explore more possibilities with various types of restraints and teasing, but we should go at it with small steps. And definitely alone. She would die out of embarrassment if someone was watching or helping me. I can leave group fun to a few other individuals. “Anyway, it looks like you finished quite some of my ideas already,” I change the topic by asking Sirgia about the plethora of toys she brought out. “These were easy and not time-consuming, Master. I have some other ones completed down in my workshop. I’m currently working on that round looking box you are supposed to… sit on top of if I’m not mistaken? I’m still at the beginning. I flipped through some of the new additions in the notebook and they looked extremely interesting. I’ll try my hand at these mechanical poles when I have some spare time too. I need to work on Teffith’s naginata right now.” I smile to myself after her explanation, knowing exactly about which toys and appendages she is talking about. Seems like she has moved onto ones more complex than just a simple dildo now. “Don’t overdo it, as usual. I’ll come to you a bit later to see what you already finished. I shouldn’t show up without a gift, even if this meeting is meant as thanks for them.” “Uhn, I won’t. I have more fun with these than I actually thought I would. At first, I… viewed all of your ideas as shameless and… inappropriate, but… they are so smart. I even had more fun with a few ones than with most artifacts I made in the past.” “I’m glad to hear that you aren’t forcing yourself to work on these.” I pat Sirgia’s head some more. “With how many things you brought to life already, you should take a break and focus on something you like more. I’ll take care of the materials.” She hugs my arm and pulls herself up to leave a peck on my cheek. “Thank you. I’m fine with my current work. I’ll be making sure Teffith’s weapon ends up as a product of amazing quality.” We finish our short meeting and Sirgia leaves to prepare breakfast with the other chefs and assistants. Cornelia coats herself in beautiful clothes made out of her ice magic and we go our ways too. I first pass my response to the guy on the other side of the road before joining everyone for breakfast. I inform others of my plan for today and that I should return before we open. Elea and Cornelia will take the lead when I’m out since I’m going alone due to the invite being a personal one. Our new residents look quite shocked after hearing me casually mention going to meet the Human Queen just like that. I’ll leave the explanation to my beautiful partners. After finishing eating, I follow Sirgia to her workshop and she presents me with a bunch of gadgets she already finished. There’s not much besides the ones I’ve already seen. A weird-looking contraption standing near one of the walls captures my attention and she brings it forth. Confirming that it’s finished and fully operational, I sweep it and a few exchangeable parts into my ring. It takes a lot of space, barely fitting inside, but I’m sure it’s unique enough to be considered a new gift. We then spend some time together to prepare an extensive guide on how to operate the rig. Thanking Sirgia for help with some cuddles, I move up to take a quick bath and dress properly. Neira joins me in both and makes sure I look the best I can. I’m really grateful for some guidance and opinion from someone of the opposite gender. And for not acting playful while at it. I take the usual way to the castle and walk out of the wardrobe. The room behind it got cleaned now. I just hope no one gets to live here and it was just a regular dusting. Would be awkward if I walked into someone sitting here. Or doing something else. Just after a few steps through the corridor outside of the chamber, a maid catches up to me and asks me to follow her. I let her guide me to the royal part of the castle and she leads us into a beautiful room with a big balcony, where a table is set and prepared. She instructs me to sit and wait for the other party, which definitely is the Queen. Ten minutes later, Queen Lianne walks through the same door as I did previously, wearing a beautiful dress in dark blue colours, perfectly matching her slim figure and porcelain complexion. A calm smile paints her pretty and calm face. I stand up instantly and bow politely. “There’s no need for such pleasantries. It’s a private party with two friends involved and not an official audience. I would be happy if we could speak casually, Alastair, if I may call you so,” she speaks softly while walking closer. I raise myself and nod. “It would be rude of me to reject such a request. I might need some time to get used to calling the Queen by name, but I’ll do my best.” She also nods and we both sit down by the table on the balcony. The view outside is just glorious. I’m pretty sure this is the best spot to see all that’s best about the castle’s inner premises. There is no servant with us and Lianne reaches out, most likely aiming for the teapot. Due to all the lessons I’ve undergone in the past about statuses, I subconsciously try to grab it first as someone of a lower position. She slaps my hand away and squints her eyes at me while starting to pour me a cup of tea. “I said friends, didn’t I? I’m the host so I should be one to serve today, isn’t that right?” “My apologies. It’s hard to fight against habits.” She chuckles softly and smiles again. We both take a sip of the floral tea with a charming scent. “How is Cornelia doing?” “Great, as usual. And I’m making sure she doesn’t lack anything. I’m not sure if you two already talked about it, but she recently managed to revive a long lost branch of magic by herself. I think that shows she is doing quite fine.” Lianne laughs a little again. “That’s just like her. But, it’s not what I’m asking about. Perhaps I should rephrase my question as I might have gotten a bit ahead of myself while considering your daily environment. How are the two of you doing?” “Ah.” I completely didn’t expect her to start off with questions about such topics, but on the other hand, I didn’t really know what to expect from a casual talk with the Queen. I guess Cornelia’s and my sex life is something she would like to tease her a bit later. “Uhhh… Well… It’s also quite good, I would say. We are getting more comfortable with each other day by day, although we haven’t done that a lot of times,” I answer in a somewhat roundabout way. “I see. Thank you. I was worried no one would be able to break through that adamantite shield of hers she erected around her heart. I was afraid she would end up never experiencing the pleasure of embracing a man, but now I feel relieved knowing she was able to touch on that happiness too,” Lianne shares her past worries with me. Certainly, I can imagine how much trouble she must have had with the cold and completely uninterested in love Cornelia. I’m pretty sure Lianne tried her best to find a proper man for her friend, especially since she is quite a passionate lover herself, from what we all know. I lower my head a little. “Please, there’s no need to thank me. I haven’t done anything special. I was just lucky to earn the affection of such a lovely woman. But, if I were to say anything, it truly wasn’t easy to bring her true feelings forth, hahaha.” “Oh, I’m sure of it.” Lianne laughs softly too. “Then, would you be so kind to share with me what she is into?” The Queen brings a beautiful smile on her lips and flutters her eyebrows charmingly. I chuckle and show a wry smile. “I’m afraid I wouldn’t want to disclose such secrets without my lover’s permission, even if it was an order rather than a request. You should consult that with the person in question.” She sighs playfully. “Shoot. This is the first day in my life I might have considered men with strong principles anything but attractive.” We both laugh at her remark and follow it with a bit of a casual back and forth about our lives. I get to know some funny and interesting facts about living in a castle as a person of high standing while Lianne eagerly listens to some of my daily struggles in my mansion, and also enjoys hearing about my homeworld a bit. Around two hours pass in a flash before we stop and she brings us back onto the less-public topics. “How is business? Maybe there’s something I could help with besides spreading the word?” “I appreciate the offer, but we are doing fine. Just yesterday I picked up a few more maids. While the method of employment leaves a lot to wish for in my eyes, it’s currently the most efficient one. Just letting more people know is of great help.” “Well then, let me just verbally thank you again for your thoughtful gifts. They truly helped with my… condition.” She flashes me a faint smile with slightly rosy cheeks. “Thanks to you, I’ve pretty much returned to my everyday life from the past, without all this tension and worry. To a certain extent of course. I’m sure you’d agree with me that no substitution can compare to… the real thing...” I clear my throat and try my best to not stare at her beautiful and gentle appearance too much. “I’m not that experienced in these areas, but… I’m pretty sure I would. I’m glad mine and my artificer’s work is being so highly valued.” We smile at each other and silence falls onto us for a moment. It’s just a little awkward. I think neither of us knows how to continue now that we stepped onto these slightly embarrassing topics. I cough again. “Saying that, I didn’t come empty-handed today either. Although, it’s something a bit bigger and more complex than my previous gifts, so I’m not sure if I should just bring it out casually.” Lianne’s eyes widen for a moment and I swear I can notice a faint shiver pass through her body before she manages to regain control of it. Her light face does redden by a notch though. She suddenly stands up, walks to my side, grabs my wrist and pulls me up too, starting to walk somewhere. We go through a different door and enter a room looking to be a big bedroom. I’m sure these aren’t the Queen’s Chambers, but it’s still hella fancy. She closes the door behind us and glances at me with her hands joined behind her back. “Here… should be fine… right?” She can’t hide the curiosity and anticipation in her eyes and voice. I nod with a wry smile. I should tread carefully from now on. We don’t want to accidentally flip Lianne’s nympho switch. I think. Thus, we move to the centre of the room and I bring the item out, placing it on a grand and soft rug. “What’s… this? I thought I would be able to at least grasp the purpose after your previous two gifts, but I can’t wrap my head around this thing. It’s like… a short rocking stool?” She curiously examines the structure. I chuckle. “You are not that far off, Lianne. People from my world sometimes call it a Love Glider or just Rocking Chair.” The thing I took out is a knee-high wooden contraption set on two curved beams. They are connected together with horizontal ones and two legs rise up from each of the sides separately, ending with a rectangular cushion per pair of poles. The seat is not in the form of one, square pillow, but two separate rectangles on each side, with empty space in the middle. In that free space, a little bit lower, a mechanism with its form closely resembling the shape of an anchor with flattened ends is located, connected to the two sides of the construct by some wooden, moving parts. It looks like it definitely is able to follow some motion. I let Lianne walk around it and think for a little longer, waiting to see if she will figure out anything related to this fun contraption, but she quickly admits defeat and moves her eyes onto me with a confused yet curious expression. I smile at her and kneel by the rocking chair, pushing it back and forth a little. When I do so, the mechanism in the middle does a motion similar to that of a swing or seesaw, raising one side of the flattened anchor's arm while lowering the other one as I tilt the chair forwards, and then completely opposite when I press on the back of it. “And? Any ideas?” “Honestly… none. It’s just a small rocking chair, no? But… I guess the empty section in the middle… does allow to sneak a hand there or something else…” She shows a soft smile while blushing even more. “But what is that mechanism in the middle? A counterweight for balance?” She tries to come up with the purpose of the toy but fails in the end. She was close though. I shake my head while smiling at her. Lianne makes a cute pout and crosses her arms over her chest. It’s quite petite, so it doesn’t bring out much of an effect over that area. I still bet her breasts are beautiful and soft. “Then what is this weird thing? Stop teasing me and tell me already. I know you know I’m extremely curious…” She averts her gaze for a moment before returning it onto me. “Oh. You definitely have the instruction with you, right? Give it to me then. Ah. Or better. Since you are with me this time, why don’t you demonstrate how to use it personally?” “Uhhhh…” “What? You can give such improper tools to a lady but are too embarrassed to present them yourself, hm?” she asks and I can clearly tell she is being a little playful. I chuckle. “No, of course not, my lady. I was just surprised by your suggestion. Well then, perhaps this will be enough to let you realize the actual function of this improper tool.” I turn the structure so that its side faces Lianne and sit on the cushions. I can imagine how comical it must look with a man in a full suit sitting on a short stool with his knees on the floor by its sides. Nevertheless, I glance at the Queen’s face and start rocking the chair back and forth. She stares at it intently but doesn’t seem to realize its true purpose. I chuckle again. “Pay close attention to the flat ends of the mechanism’s arms.” I slow down the rocking to let Lianne watch the motion carefully. It takes a few repeats for her eyes to finally widen in realization as one empty platform on the top of the anchor's arms gets lifted almost to my very crotch when I lean forward, and the other one reaches almost my butt when I move to the back. “Ah…” She blushes even more and keeps sending me glances as her thighs clash together. “Am I right to assume that… these platforms… are not complete?” I chuckle again, stop the motions and nod, getting off the rocking chair. “Congratulations. I honestly didn’t expect you to figure that part out. I thought you’d suggest these are for massage or something. But, yeah, you are correct.” From my ring, I bring out a dildo. This time out of the slightly elastic material Sirgia created for her personal training tool. This one is also designed to resemble an actual male part. I bring it to the mechanism in the middle and set it on the forward end of the swing, securing its place with specially prepared clamps at the ends of the flat platforms. When you look at them from above, they actually reveal a shallow hole to insert something into them. Afterwards, I sit on my knees on the side of it and start rocking the little chair again, giving Lianne a good view of it. We can now clearly see how it’s supposed to work as the replica of a penis rises up when the rocking stool reaches its most front angle, making it peek over the surface of the cushions surrounding the mechanism, lowering it when the chair reaches the middle or most back angle. Lianne gets into a trance. I don’t think she realizes she is grinding her thighs together while biting on her lower lip. And I didn’t expect to experience such a sight either. If anyone were to find out I had, my head would fly for sure. “Lianne,” I call to the Queen, making her jump in surprise. “Pretty simple, right?” I ask with a smile. “You can set it on the front or back platform either to try different angles. The mechanism itself is also adjustable and you can control how far up it can peek. I’ll also throw the replica in.” She nods her head a few times, still gazing at the rubber dick going up and down. I stop rocking the tool and she moves her eyes onto me. She drops them down onto my crotch and quickly raises her gaze back onto my face, getting even redder. “Ummm… Is it perhaps…” I glance down at my crotch in confusion and then suddenly realize. “Ah, no, of course not, hahaha. How could I? It’s a completely fictional design.” She smiles awkwardly and her shoulders slump a little. I really hope I didn’t offend her. I should have spoken about it from the start. “Erm, well, anyway, cough, I hope I’m not taking it too far by asking this, but… Did you… ummm… take it… up the butt too?” “Up the butt?” She tilts her head and asks, puzzled. I scratch my head. “You know… The other hole…” “Ah! Hahahaha… Ummm… Once or twice… in the past… When my husband was in the mood for it… But why the question?” She laughs softly and glances at me a bit timidly. “I see. Am I right to assume that it didn’t feel too comfortable for you?” I continue. “Well… Yes,” she stops for a moment but answers honestly, slowly getting more relaxed again. “You didn’t use any lube or something to help with that, right?” “Lube?” “Yeah, I get it now. Thanks for confirming my theory. As to why I asked, look here.” I bring out one more rubber cock of a different colour and set it on the other side of the swing mechanism. Rocking it a few times again shows each of the dildos rising and lowering themselves respectively when the chair leans forwards and backwards, visibly aiming at different spots above the cushions. Lianne instantly realizes the implication. “I see. So… you can play with… both holes at once. What a clever idea.” “It is. Although, you don’t have to. You can just use one on the front or back platform to try for a different feeling in your… vagina. Not everyone has to enjoy anal the same way. Especially without a proper preparation, which I’m sure was lacking in your case,” I add, slightly uncomfortable to mention the Queen’s private parts like this. She moves closer and sits on her knees in front of me. “What do you mean by preparation? Does it feel… different if done in a specific way?” “Yes. It’s the same as with normal sex. It will feel uncomfortable if you just stick something inside your vagina right off the bat, without any foreplay. At least I assume it should as I’m not really familiar with how the body of someone with your… condition... works exactly.” “It’s the same. I get into it much quicker, but it would still hurt if done too quickly. I know a thing or two about that, hahaha…” She chuckles awkwardly, most likely remembering an event or two. “So, you can also prepare the other side in a similar way to make it feel good?” I nod. “First of all, it’s best to have your partner play with that hole a bit and loosen it up. Ummm… It might be impossible for you now, but it’s doable alone too of course. The other important part is to make it a little bit easier to slide something inside. We have many mixtures to help with that back in my world, but using love juices works in the end too. Although, you need quite a lot in that case.” She ponders while stroking her chin. “I see… Well… Thank you for the tip. No wonder I didn’t really enjoy it when we tried it. I’ll make sure to do it properly… next time.” She smiles at me softly with completely rosy cheeks. I can feel her hot breath reaching me even though there’s enough of a casual distance between us. I nod and stand up quickly. “I’m glad to help. I’ll leave you with my new gift alone then. I’m sure you are eager to test it out, right?” I chuckle and prepare to escape before I’m dragged into something more serious. Lianne also stands up and pats her dress. “Thank you. You know me well, hahaha. But it’s not like I can hide it anymore. Honestly, it feels good not having to be careful at all times around more people. I’ll let you know my thoughts about this one. The previous gifts were incredible. Especially these vibrating beans.” She takes all the toys into her own storage ring and smiles at me brilliantly. “Ah. I also heard you are thinking about selling your toys in the future. I can tell you that it’s a great idea. I had some of my friends or even maids try them out, I hope you don’t mind. It could definitely take the capital by storm! If you need help, I can help you open up stores in various districts! Just say a word!” I chuckle seeing her suddenly turn joyful and grabbing my hands. “Thank you. I appreciate it. But, while at first I thought only about selling these items, I actually came up with another idea. I still plan on allowing people to buy the smaller toys, but I also figured out I could perhaps turn a few chambers into ‘pleasure rooms’ with sets of many bigger contraptions and structures, and perhaps try to appeal to the female audience too,” I explain my ideas. “They could have fun with whatever they like.” Lianne’s eyes sparkle in awe. “That’s an even more amazing and brilliant idea! I’m completely sure there are hundreds if not thousands of lone housewives and girls out there who don't really like to go for services of male prostitutes, but with this, they could fully enjoy themselves without feeling like they are cheating on their partners! Everything you suggest is just so groundbreaking! Tell me instantly whenever you implement this! I’ll do whatever I can to promote it!” I take a step back under her sudden outburst of excitement. “Hahaha, I’m glad you think so. It will take a bit of time, but now I’m sure it’s something I want to complete.” “Definitely! Oh. Why not prepare a special room for me too while at it? Ah, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t abuse my position to ask for special privileges. But the thought of my personal chamber filled with a myriad of your creations just makes my knees weak… Ahhhh…” Her body trembles and I catch Lianne into my arms before she drops onto the floor. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just out of excitement. She seems to finally realize her behaviour and starts blushing again while smiling wryly as I hug her. “Sorry… I got a bit too excited, ahaha...” She steps away from me and takes a deep breath. “Again, thank you for everything. Let me know whenever you need anything. Now then, I really feel like I need to excuse myself or I might start leaving a trail behind as I walk.” Lianne chuckles elegantly and quickly pecks my cheek before I can react. A moment later, she is already out of the room. I take a deep breath and sigh heavily. “That was fucking close…”
Chapter 61 - The Masked Man Spoiler: Chapter After the Queen leaves, I return to the previous, adjacent chamber. It looks like she really was in a hurry as the doors leading out of it are left wide open and there are no signs of her doing anything else besides storming out of the room. I walk to the table on the balcony where we sat together and finish my cup of tea. It’s way too good to just leave it to waste like that. Perhaps I should ask Cornelia about it. She should have an idea or two about which brands the Queen favours with how close the two are. This calming, floral scent would definitely be loved by the girls. Staying behind to stuff yourself with the snacks after the host has left could be considered rude, so I decide to return. Our meeting took a moment, but I still have around two or three hours before we open again. I can go for a stroll through the city to check on our tailor and some other things after returning. But before that, I still have something to do. I go outside of the room and glance around, spotting the maid which led me here standing a bit further. She notices me looking at her and quickly makes her way to me, bowing just slightly. I tell her there’s something I have to deliver to the Queen as I forgot to do it during our conversation and ask if she could provide me with an envelope. And if she could pass it later to Lianne. She agrees and takes me to the servant’s wing where she gets what I asked for. I put the instructions for the latest gift inside and seal it tightly. Although I’m sure the maid wouldn’t do something as risky as spying on the contents, I advise her to not do so if she doesn’t want to end up in a lot of trouble. The message is meant only for the Queen. She promises me to fulfil her duty properly as soon as possible. With an awkward smile, I suggest not doing it immediately since the Queen might be a little bit busy at this moment as she left in quite a hurry. Hopefully, that’s enough to hold the maid back for a while. Well, I have no idea who is and who isn’t aware of the Queen’s true nature here. Better safe than sorry. There’s not much else I currently need from the castle so I walk back to the passage. Ross still didn’t reply to my letter, which means he might be quite busy. I can’t just randomly show up and bother the King whenever I want. Well, technically speaking, I can, but that could lead to some rumours or even misunderstandings. He’ll get in touch with me when necessary. After returning, I check on the new maid girls. They are accustoming themselves to the mansion and doing pretty fine in general. Hopefully, we can get their uniforms without any delays. Till then, they’ll stick to working behind the scenes during open nights, or perhaps to accompanying people in the lobby and recreational area while in some nice, party dresses. As long as they are up for it. We don’t have that many recreational customers yet, but there are a few ones once in a while. Just as planned, I prepare to head off to the town for a bit. The tiefling trio approaches me and shows their interest in accompanying me. We already have their uniforms so I agree. Even if we didn’t, I need to slowly start letting girls out. Our image is growing bit by bit. They quickly change clothes and we leave the mansion. For the first few hundred meters, each of them tries whatever they can to maximize the amount of skinship with me as much as possible while walking. It creates a quite comical sight and we do attract more than a bit of attention. How could we not when three, colourful girls in sexy maid outfits fight over one man, trying to hug his arms or waist without inconveniencing his movements. We somehow reach the tailor without tripping. They agreed on taking turns by my sides instead of desperately clinging to wherever possible in the end. The tailor sure works fast. We pick up a few more sets already. He explains that they have prepared whatever possible beforehand and he just introduces adjustments when necessary. Guess with how many I order all the time, he started automating the process, hah. The next stop is the craftsman responsible for our gems. He has already finished two of the new batch and we get our hands on the satyr sisters’ crystals. While there, Mafaris, Shawure and Zalia joyfully browse through the jewellery section. Since I don’t mind spoiling them a little, I buy them one accessory each. Mafaris gets a dark gold necklace in a simple pattern, Shawure chooses a silver anklet with dangling bits and Zalia goes for a silver bracelet after I manage to convince her that this shop doesn’t deal in pussy piercings. The other girls pick up on that the moment she mentions it and our heated conversation makes the cute clerk who serves us turn so red I’m amazed she doesn’t faint. In the end, they don’t assault the owner over not giving nip or pussy piercings and just settle down with what I got them, leaving a long, soft kiss on my cheeks, all at the same time as I pay up for everything. I get the feeling all of that was just to tease me. We head to the Artisanal District to stock up on some materials and items Sirgia needs and then stop by a cosy restaurant on our way back home. I kinda wished to treat them to a nice meal, but I should have expected it to end up with the three of them being all over me while feeding me playfully. Some jealous stares start getting really intense while they do so. They don’t miss that either and use the chance to advertise our establishment by sneakily talking as if they are just chatting between themselves about how it’s fun to spend time with people over a good drink and listen to their stories. They appear to be frivolous and mischievous, but these women are quite the smart and cunning vixens. Well, we’ll see if their actions change anything. After getting our fill, or rather mostly mine, we walk back to the mansion. They all are quite happy about our little date. I didn’t intend for our trip to be one, but now that I look at it, we really turned it into one. Back home, I shoo them away before they rope me into a post-date appreciation time. I noticed how they kept looking at me the closer we were getting to the front gate. Especially Shawure. Seriously. These horny tieflings think only about sex. It’s a miracle they survived back at Selina’s. Promising them a good pounding at a different time, I somehow escape their clutches and begin helping others set up things for the night. With these over two weeks of experience, my first helpers wrap everything up in a flash, assisting the new acquisitions whenever needed. Our family’s cooperation only grows and it shows. Only the new maids are a little awkward. And well, maybe I should add Astrea to it. She is as elusive as always, nowhere to be seen. The night comes and it actually gets quite intense already from the start. Looks like the tieflings' behaviour lured in a group of people curious about the establishment. The women in question take care of them alongside my beautiful dark-skinned elves. Five people in total are led to the recreational area. They spend around two hours there while accompanied by the colourful ladies. In the meanwhile, a few guests visit for another reason, surprised to see the place much livelier than before. Yeah, two of those are already returning quite often. Time flies and even part of the initial group gets persuaded by Zalia and Shawure into trying out baths and then some more fun services. They all went through screening and were accepted so there is no issue there. The few enhanced menus Neira prepared are coming in handy now since people keep coming in from time to time. It’s not a constant stream of visits and requests as big as to make people wait for their turn, but compared to before, it is an impressive upgrade. At one point, I sit in the main lobby on one of the sofas with a random dude, chatting with him casually while having Neira on my lap. It’s just an unimportant banter, mostly about how he is surprised about the place and how he imagined it to be much worse when he learned it is all about non-human girls. But then, an unexpected Whisper arrives. ~Master… There’s a guest… waiting for you… in the dining area… He says… he is important...~ Elea’s voice resounds in my head, making me frown in confusion. I don’t remember seeing anyone being guided there nor heading that way by themselves, so how could that be? Nevertheless, I have to check it out. She might be able to explain further. I apologize to my temporary companion and head to the doors by the reception. Instantly after passing through, my eyes fall on two figures. One is a fully cloaked person sitting with their back to me, and another is of course Elea standing in front of them like a professional maid. She notices me and gestures towards my position to the other person. They stand up and turn around, revealing an oval mask covering their whole face. It’s a simple and plain white one with just a single hole for the left eye. All of this starts looking less and less like a visit from some random customer. I keep my mind focused on summoning the hilt if it ends up being necessary. “With all due respect, but this area is off-limits unless given permission and I do not remember us being acquainted in any way. May I know who you are and what is the reason behind your visit, sir or madam?” “My apologies. I meant no offence. Due to my circumstances, I had to enter through this room. I, of course, came for your amazing services. I’ve heard this place started employing Dark Elves recently, right?” the figure answers, clearly with a voice of a man, but weirdly uncomfortable to listen to, as if slightly distorted. “Did you come through the tunnel?” I ask. “Yes, I did. I was directed here by a friend. He said there’s no better place in the whole capital.” I move my eyes down and ponder for a brief moment if he really might be one of the people the King kept mentioning in the past all the time. But then, my gaze stumbles on the man’s feet and something clicks in my mind instantly, making me sigh and rub my forehead. “Seriously… You could have just said you are coming or something. Is this masquerade really necessary? You’ve spooked the shit out of me, man.” “Pardon?” “Elea.” I glance at my maid and she snaps her fingers. “It’s now soundproof, you can drop this act, Ross.” “I’m afraid you’ve mistaken me for someone else—” “You’ll have to get rid of that mask and voice modulator anyway if you want to meet up with any girl. Be a man and don’t hide like some pervert.” There’s a moment of silence before the man pulls down his hood and takes off the mask. The King shows an awkward smile. “How did you know?” I point downwards. “At least change your boots if you are going to sneak around pretending to be someone else.” “Oh, goddammit,” he curses after noticing his quite royal-looking shoes. “Besides, that pretend-play with the nobles never worked in the first place, so let’s end it already. I’m also pretty sure you’d let me know someone is coming too, instead of just sending them here without a word. Really, if Cornelia saw all of this, you’d be for an earful.” “Let’s… maybe not tell her about this, okay?” I chuckle and come closer for us to exchange a handshake. “I’ll think about that. So, up for your first ride ever? Elves, right?” “Well… yeah. Don’t I need to go through screening first?” “No need for that. I know you well.” I turn to the side. “Elea, can you bring your free friends here?” “Naturally.” She quickly leaves to do as told and I bring out one of our menu cards from my storage ring. “Here, check this out in the meanwhile. It’s an upgraded version.” While he goes through the pages, I observe his reactions. Seeing some of the services mentioned there makes his brows raise and eyes widen a little. Looks like nothing changed since our last, casual meeting. I’m pretty sure he is still as inexperienced as ever and additionally completely oblivious to some possibilities the girls of other races bring to the table. “Damn… That’s quite a range of… stuff. I remember seeing a glimpse of the first iteration and it definitely wasn’t as complex.” “Things have grown since then. Bit by bit, we offer more diverse and fun options.” “Definitely looks like it. I’d have never thought of a… Tiefling’s Tailjob… by myself. It kinda… makes me curious.” I chuckle and tap his shoulder. “Good. Good. Hopefully, we’ll keep finding more and more curious guys.” The door opens and Elea comes back with four other elves behind her. Seems like they weren’t busy. I signal at them and they come closer, standing in a line in front of us. “Welcome to Utopia, traveller,” they speak in one voice and bow lightly. I throw my arm over his shoulder and lean onto Ross from the side. “So? What do you think of my charming elves? From the left, Filue, Cinra, Roseni and Leyne.” I can hear a heavy gulp with how close to him I am. He looks completely stunned and only his eyes move all over the girls. It truly seems like he has a thing for some choco beauties with long ears. I wonder how he would react to a cute catgirl; he mentioned them too. Unfortunately, Astrea is not even a maid yet. A slight elbow hit is necessary to bring him back from the daze. “So? Made your mind already? Just a tip, by the way, don’t pick all. You can’t handle them, trust me,” I say with a smile and all of the girls giggle. He looks at them and then back at me. “Uhhh… I don’t know. You girls all look… stunning. Ah, they do know Common, right?” “Enough to appreciate the compliment,” I answer and they nod with beautiful smiles. “Alright. Then… Cinra, was it? If you don’t mind.” “I’ll be happy to accompany you for tonight,” she answers sweetly. “Thanks… As for the services, I guess—” “Now, now. Leave that part to me. I promised you something special and I don’t plan on going back on my word,” I interrupt him and steal the menu from the King’s hands before he opens it again. “Eh? But what does that—” “Girls, please escort our honoured guest to a free VIP room. Cinra, stay with me for a moment. Elea, you can get back to your duties,” I issue commands to all of my employees and push Ross into the hands of three dark-skinned women. They surround him from all sides and make their way towards the stairs in the back. I chose the VIP room specifically so that they don’t have to go through the main hall and they picked up on that without additional explanation. We made one more door leading to the corridor with the staircases just for situations like these, to avoid dragging special guests through storages or kitchen. After everyone leaves, Cinra walks up to me. “Is that really the Human King?” “Yeah. Are you uncomfortable with that?” “No, I’m fine, Master. I just didn’t expect him to be this… timid.” I chuckle. “Neither did I at first, but that’s just how he is. I’m pretty sure he’ll get less awkward with time. He just never was with a woman yet.” “Oh, so I’ll have the honour to steal a king’s virginity.” She giggles mischievously. “What should I do then? You didn’t let him pick the services.” “About that, how confident are you in your acting skills?” “Acting? In what way?” “Well, assuming a slightly different personality than your usual one. To give you a better idea, I’ll explain something first. You see, that guy has a heavy master-servant fetish. I guess it came to be due to him always being in the highest position, so he never felt like anyone ordered him around, besides maybe his parents. I want you to act like a high and mighty noblewoman, looking down on him but in a seductive way.” Cinra ponders for a moment. “I see. That kind of acting. It’s not like I did something like that in the past, but I should be more than fine. Could I ask for a bit more guidance, Master?” “Of course. If you are wondering what to do and how to act, you just have to imagine him being your servant. Tease him a bit while acting all mischievous and tempting. Order him around, keep showing him that you are in control and that he has to serve you. Keep playfully calling him names or getting angry. I’d rather not have you hit him too much, but if you notice that he is actually into it, do as you see fit. Is this enough or do you need some more detailed suggestions?” She shakes her head with a smile. “It’s enough. I would have never thought I’d get to have a real king act as my slave, fufufu~ We’ll definitely have lots of fun~” “Great. Go and pick a nice dress for yourself from the ones we have available before you go to him. It will make it feel even more real.” Cinra nods and sneaks a peck on my cheek as she passes me. I follow her with my eyes and she seems quite excited about the job. I’m glad it’s not otherwise. This will be the first case of our roleplaying service. After the new maids get comfortable, I should focus on finding a dedicated and talented tailor for costume-making, as well as talking with the girls about it. I can already guess who will be very much up for our new idea. I’ve done what I could. Time to get back to the lobby. I go through the door and look around. It got a bit calmer and that man I’ve spoken with previously has already left. I can still hear some chatting from above so some guests must still be having fun there. I glance at Teffith and she nods, letting me know that nothing happened while I was out. Since not much is going on, I come closer to the reception and lean my back into it. Cornelia also rests on the counter from her side. “So. What was that about?” “Ross came.” “What?” She sighs. “Why am I not surprised he didn’t say a word. What now?” “You don’t have to worry, I took care of it and made sure he enjoys himself to the fullest,” I answer with a grin. “I have a bad feeling about this…” She glances at me. “You know he is an awkward virgin even though he doesn’t exactly act like one around others?” “I know much more than this, my beautiful Ice Queen.” I tilt my head to the side and smile at her. Cornelia stares at me for a moment and begins to close the distance between us. To avoid getting interrupted by a random customer, I lean in more and join our lips for a short kiss. She breaks it off and returns to her previous position while glancing around if anybody saw us. Cute. Half an hour later, Cinra lets me know that they are done and heading for a quick bath now. I instruct her to bring Ross to another VIP room afterwards so that I can speak with him comfortably. I better check on him before he sneaks out. Just in case. When she does as asked, I bid farewell to Cornelia for a moment and head to the correct room. I find Ross sprawled on the bed in quite good clothes, definitely one of his casual sets. There’s no trace of the mask or cloak so I guess he completely dropped the act. He notices me coming inside and raises himself from the mattress. “Is my head going to fly or are we good?” I ask with arms crossed over my chest. “Bastard! You should have let me know!” He chuckles with an awkward smile. “Right back at you.” “I should have realized you were scheming something like this behind my back. No one else would dare.” “And that’s exactly why you have me. So, how was it?” “Ugh… It was… embarrassing at first. But… as much as I hate to admit it… it was amazing. And I’m not talking just about my first time. Well… thanks.” “Hahahaha, don’t be so serious. On a slightly different topic, why haven’t you slept with anyone before? It’s not like you had to keep it in your pants for a royal reason or you wouldn’t have come here anyway.” “I just didn’t meet anyone I’d fancy, that’s all. Most of the people I came across were either daughters of nobles or princesses of other, subservient kingdoms. It’s not like I could have gone for some casual fun with them, as you can imagine. And it’s just not in my style to have secret affairs with maids. I only decided to come here because I trust you and the people you chose. And what I’ve experienced recently only strengthened that feeling.” “Great. We good then. Just, next time, let me know you are coming. I was ready to incapacitate you like some kind of an intruder and I’m not yet in perfect control of my strength.” “Hahaha, don’t worry. I may not look like it, but I can actually take care of myself. You know that I have the Divine Templar Class and that I’m at Tier 4. My defence abilities are nothing to scoff at.” He waves his hand while chuckling. “That’s exactly why I’m worried.” I move closer to a coffee table between us and place my palm on the edge of it. Making eye contact with Ross, I apply some force into my arm and pull it upwards while stepping on the table’s leg with my foot. The wood begins to creak, and a moment later, I yank the top from the single pillar in the middle without much effort. Ross raises his eyebrows at me but doesn’t look that shocked. I guess even he can do this much when boosted by Physical Strengthening or whatever he has in his skills. I bring the round plank in front of my face and literally fold it in half with the next movement, sending splinters through the air, accompanied by a loud crack. The tabletop wasn’t an especially thin one. “Holy Mother of the Goddess… Weren’t you weak physically? Don’t tell me you got to this level by just having sex? What’s your Tier?” Ross barrages me with questions, slowly uncovering his face from guarding it against the flying fragments. “Well, technically, I did, but that’s not all. And I’m at Tier 3 now. Advanced just like a day ago.” “Unbelievable. What you mean is that the Class we all considered useless is actually this powerful at Tier 3? Or did you get some amazing skills at your tier-ups?” I throw the two pieces of wood to the side and walk closer to sit on the edge of the bed by him. With a hand gesture, I pull up my status window. “This should explain things a bit.” His eyes scan through the pink table until they stop and widen a lot. “What the hell is wrong with these numbers?! Tier 3?! That’s a powerful Tier 5 or 6! Are these bonuses that big?!” “To some extent, yeah. The deeper the feelings of a girl towards me, the more we both get from it, and I was quite fortunate to come across a few very lovely women. But, that’s not the only issue. Move up.” He follows my advice and checks other things, stopping at the Titles. “Demigod of Lust? I’ve never heard of such a prefix…” “Neither did I and it was different in the past if you remember. It was The Embodiment of—” I stop instantly when I take a glance at Ross’s face. It’s pale as a sheet of paper. He seems to be intensively staring at one point with a completely frozen expression. Beads of sweat run down his forehead. “Ross? You good buddy?” I wave my hand in front of his eyes until he snaps back to reality. He fervently points at my Race and brings himself way closer to me than before, staring straight into my eyes. “What is the meaning of this?” he asks in a low and quiet tone. I can’t judge if he is angry or utterly scared. “The past week was quite a chaotic one and some things happened. It includes me literally moulting after waking up due to that thing.” “How much do you know about it?” “Uhhh… It’s an extinct race of supposedly first beings to live in this world? And that they were quite something in their era, being able to utilize their bodies and abilities to the fullest.” “These are just basics. It’s said that Primordials are the progenitors of almost all the humanoid races. Their relationships with various monsters and different kinds of ancient and mystical beings were what brought existences like Beastkin, Demons or Elves forth. Also, the very last Primordial founded the very first Human kingdom, as our oldest records state.” “Wait. Don’t tell me—” Ross suddenly summons something from his storage ring and grabs one of my hands at the same time. He cuts my finger with a small knife and presses it against another thing he brings out - a hexagonal plaque out of some white mineral. I watch as the weird item flashes with a golden glow and my blood gets sucked into many, tiny rows of some formation engraved in it. After all of them get completely filled, it flashes again and literally flies out of our hands. The artifact hangs in the air and my stolen blood turns gold too, making the whole thing look divine. It suddenly releases a sequence of deep sounds and noises that I completely don’t understand. No. That’s wrong. I instinctively know it’s a language I don’t know, perhaps thanks to my maxed Linguist. I get the feeling that it’s about something positive rather than negative. The object stops glowing after it finishes ‘speaking’ and falls to the ground. I glance questioningly at Ross. “What was that abou—” I’m interrupted again, this time, by him jumping off the bed and standing in front of me. He then suddenly drops onto one knee and lowers his head. “I, Rossberg Ruminas, the 152nd King of Evalitia, otherwise known as the Divine Land, greet the Progenitor.” And he stays like that. Unmoving. While I stay taken aback. After finally returning to my senses like half a minute later, I lean forward and tap his shoulder. “Dude, you are creeping me out a little. What the fuck are you on about?” “Since ancient times the royal family was tasked with guarding the Mark of the Founder until he would finally return to us. Primordials are immortal, they can’t die from old age. The Founder left the kingdom after managing it for a hundred years, promising to return one day. To avoid others from impersonating him, the last Primordial, he created this artifact which verifies one’s race, and I used it to confirm that you are not lying. I apologize for not trusting you, but this is a matter in which I had to act according to the instructions passed down by the consecutive rulers of Evalitia,” he explains without raising his head. “Okaaaaaaaaaaaay. But even so, get up. I might have that Primordial blood, but I’m not your Founder; just some random dude turned into a Primordial by the Goddess.” He finally raises his head. “By the Goddess?” “Yes. Now, sit back on the bed or I’ll drag you there myself. Let me fill you in properly.” Ross does as I say and returns to his previous spot. I mentally let my girls know I’ll be leaving things to them for a while longer and instruct them to contact me whenever they would need anything. Then, I try to summarize the recent events again, stressing the whole thing about becoming a Primordial. I have no idea what the royal family is passing down, but I’m certainly not the proper person to suddenly inherit a fucking nation. “I see… I knew you were something since the start, but I would never have thought you’d get to meet the Goddess in person,” he comments after I finish. “Yeah. So, to make things clear, I’m not some great Founder. This whole system is flawed. How could you assume he really was the last one?” “Because the kingdom was founded over a thousand years after they disappeared, with him being in hiding or something. Also, supposedly, their people were connected to each other and that’s how he knew he was the last.” I sigh. “Still. He could have made it so that it only recognizes him. I won’t believe it was impossible.” “But, for whatever reason, it was made like that and we had no way to change anything. We were just handed this story down under an oath to follow the commandments and pass them to the people after us.” “So, who else knows?” “Only me and Mother, of course.” “Let’s keep this between us then.” “What? Why?” “To avoid unnecessary chaos. I’m not the guy you are waiting for. I don’t want to suddenly be revered more than the King of Humanity just because I’m a fake Primordial. But well, if you think you can manage to share this news with her while also conveying what I mean right now, you are free to do so,” I explain. He ponders for a moment while rubbing his chin and then looks back at me. “Alright. It’s not that I want it either. There is just this whole sacred oath and stuff that’s supposed to torment your soul if you ever disrespect the Founder or such, but seeing that I’m not yet in excruciating pain, I guess it doesn’t take you into consideration.” He smiles awkwardly. “So, a Primordial, huh.” “You are not even questioning the part about the Goddess.” I chuckle. “Why would I? She summoned you guys here, I literally used an ancient blood test on you, which came positive, and to top all of that, I trust you as a friend. We need to meet up for a nice chat one day. I’d love to talk about her. And you. Things are a little bit different now after I saw all of this.” He glances at me again. “I know. You are currently thinking how you don’t want to do it since you promised to leave me be, but you feel like you have the responsibility to ask me for active help with the Calamity now that I turned out to be quite strong.” He shows a wry smile. “Right on point.” “Well, I certainly won’t suddenly rush straight at any Abyssal spotted while abandoning everything I’ve built up to this point, but don’t forget that I always planned to explore a little bit after setting things up properly. And we are quite close to finishing up. I don’t mind taking a small detour while out of the city to check a report or two,” I say with a smile. “You truly are a godsend, Al. Literally and metaphorically. The other Heroes are doing a great job too. We didn’t gather much yet, but there’s progress. And they headed for another outbreak just recently. It actually happened close to where they were staying.” “Glad to know they are fine. Guess I now have an actual reason to meet up with them sometime soon.” “Definitely. And well… I’m sure you could help them… one way or another… now that you are much stronger…” I roll my eyes and punch him into the shoulder just strong enough to send him tumbling over the bed. “Do not think I don’t know what you are insinuating, you perverted king. Looks like popping your cherry made you cheekier instead of more mature,” I say and chuckle. “Anyway,” he fixes himself up after my punch, “you becoming a Primordial is actually a great thing if we consider travelling around the world, especially to other continents.” “Why is that?” “You are not a Human anymore, technically speaking. It could help you get out of possible trouble. Not many commonfolk know about Primordials, but those who do will definitely show at least some respect or fear.” “Do you think they would believe me just like that?” “I haven’t ever heard of someone being able to fake their Status. People rarely even show it to others, so the credibility of it is quite high. It doesn’t mean that everyone will instantly trust you completely, but the majority should.” “So, I can act like I’m a Human here and try to use my Primordial race to get around non-human territories with my companions. That sure sounds at least a bit helpful.” He stands up from the bed and summons a cloak from his storage artifact. “Let’s wrap it up for now. I took way more of your time than I meant to and our conversation went heavily off the tracks. We were supposed to talk about my first time, not about you becoming a demigod.” He chuckles and dons the cover. Without the mask this time. “True. We’ll be in contact then.” We shake hands. “Oh, and Al. Did you arrange a meeting with Mother for tonight?” he suddenly asks. “Huh? No, why?” “She looked unusually elated whenever I saw her. She was often going around with a letter in her hands. When asked about it, she only told me she is really looking forward to the end of the day.” I laugh and place my other hand on his shoulder. “If I were you, I’d choose the furthest bedchamber from hers for tonight.” I shake my head and leave it at that, guiding Ross out of the room. He stares at me suspiciously the whole way to the secret staircase where we separate. Poor man. Just when things must have started calming down. Well, he should be used to it. Cornelia gives me a short report of what I missed and we continue working through the rest of the night. It’s a really impressive one. We had many more guests than previously, especially in the recreational zone. I thank the tiefling girls for this properly during our post-work meeting. It was hugely their influence. Shawure jumps at me and almost mounts me right in the middle of the meeting in front of everyone after receiving her praise and Elea has to pry her off me with Sirgia’s help. She might not care, but I’m pretty sure the rest isn’t into a watch party. Anyway, we sum everything up and I mention to them that I would want to talk about a few things after we all rest, mostly with those who tend to more intimate services. Cinra quickly picks up what it’s about and winks at me. I move to my room and sit down to do some work before going to sleep. Just a little bit of finance management, checking on our progress with the ideas and plans I’ve previously written down, and verifying these meant for the future. At some point, the door to my room opens. Surprisingly, it’s the one connecting it to my neighbour and Cornelia walks inside while still wearing her working dress and the collar. I’m a little bit confused since we’ve just slept together the last time, but as I said previously, I have no idea how their night system works. “Just a second. I’ll finish in a moment,” I tell her and focus on wrapping things up quickly. Before I manage to do so, Cornelia approaches me from behind and entwines her arms around my chest. “I’m here… for my reward…” she whispers to my ear.
Chapter 62 – Exploring New Paths ❤❤❤ Spoiler: Chapter I smile softly and lay the pencil down, closing the notebook too. How could I make my precious magician wait when she went out of her way to properly voice out her desires, as rare as it is. Grabbing her right hand located on my chest into my hold, I bring it up to my lips and place a gentle kiss on its top. Then, I leave a trail of kisses over her delicate skin as I travel the road upwards her forearm, pulling it just so slightly. Cornelia walks around the chair and sits on my lap while facing me. She gazes at my face with a beautiful smile on her lips. “Go on. Why did you stop?” Urged to continue, I resume my journey over the smooth path, soon reaching her shoulders and then neck. But, contradictory to what she must have been expecting, I move down instead of up and plant the last kiss in the cut-out shape of a heart in the middle of her chest. Cornelia chuckles softly while brushing through my hair. “You just love that little window, don’t you?” I finally raise my head and we join our lips together in a loving kiss. She lets me lead, inviting my tongue into her sweet mouth and I do not reject this opportunity. For a few good moments, we enjoy the taste of each other, actively pursuing a connection allowing our tongues to dance together in a splendid manner. She’s the first one to break it and draws her mouth back to peck my forehead before glancing at me again with rosy cheeks. “Can’t say I don’t,” I answer her previous question with a bit of delay due to our actions. “Does this little affection classify as your desired reward?” Cornelia takes my right hand and leads it towards her exposed thigh. “Surely you jest. After I pushed myself so hard to come here, do you think just this would be able to satisfy me?” I nuzzle my nose against her neck, evoking a soft sigh from her. “I know very well how difficult it is for you to be even this straightforward. I’ll be sure to take great care of you tonight.” She lets go of my hand and pulls my face towards hers, joining our lips again. Alongside that, I graze with my fingers over her thigh, tracing up with them. I soon reach the upper part of it and start moving past her hips, straight towards her waist, moving under her alluring dress all the time. But then… “Oh? What’s this?” I break our kiss and ask while gazing into her eyes with an impish smile. “You should have let me know if you didn’t have enough spares for change.” Cornelia giggles at my comment and starts raining small pecks onto my lips while also smiling playfully. When making my way over her smooth skin, there was just a single issue. Nothing stopped me from crossing over to her slim belly. And should it? If you consider wearing underwear, then yes, it should. But, there was none on the path I took. I slide my fingers down her underbelly and reach Cornelia’s secret place, laid completely bare as I expected. I nudge her lower lips a little, making her release another lovely sigh straight into my face. She’s already a little moist down there. This hidden pervert is certainly looking forward to something much more passionate. “Well then, my dazzling Ice Queen. Do you have any wishes your loyal servant should abide by?” I ask while still gently caressing her sensitive parts. “You know very well what I want… Are you going to make me say it aloud again?” Before I have a chance to reply, she blocks my lips with hers with a short kiss and then moves them to my ear. “These magical straps… Let me feel them on my skin again… But please… Don’t tease me as long as the last time…” she whispers and I can clearly distinguish a faint note of excitement in her voice. “As you wish.” She pulls away after I answer her request and we both stand up. We could get rid of our clothes with a blink of an eye, but instead, we walk to the bed while kissing, hugging and grazing over the materials of our sets with our hands. Cornelia then steps back and unpins something behind her neck. I assume it’s the collar, but instead of that, her dress slowly slides down her body while she extends her arms towards the ceiling, striking a very alluring pose. In a brief moment, she stands in front of me with just her glasses and the collar on. Looks like it’s not only the panties she is lacking. She then moves close to me again and starts unpinning my shirt. With each button she gets rid of, Cornelia leaves a kiss on my chest, going down one by one. I let the shirt fall to the ground after she unlocks the last one and she moves onto my belt without a break. I’m used to just shoving my clothes into the storage ring so the current situation is incredibly sexy and that fact gets visibly announced the moment my pants slide down, revealing quite a stiff area over my underwear. Cornelia giggles and removes them very slowly, relishing in the sight of the mighty beast getting gradually uncovered. She finishes all of this with a kiss on my underbelly and stands up to match me again. “Did you like it?” “Like hell I wouldn’t. Isn’t this meant to be your reward instead of mine though?” She smiles charmingly after hearing my response and presses her chest against mine, wrapping her arms around my waist as I do the same to hers. “I want to spoil you a little too, you know? As awkward as getting spoiled by an inexperienced research freak can be.” “Don’t say that. It was so hot because it was you. Anyway, let’s move on. I won’t be spending hours teasing you as I promised.” She nods and begins taking off her glasses but I stop her midway. “Why not leave them on this time?” Cornelia looks at me a little confused as I slide them back into their place and grab their ends. I invoke a little bit of my magic and smile at her after releasing my hold. She reaches towards the same place with her own hands; her eyes widen a little. “I have much more control over my Void Chains now after I changed and tiered up.” There’s now a purplish band of magical material connecting both ends of her glasses, perfectly applying enough pressure to make them stay in place even as she shakes her head to test it, but not uncomfortable in any way. She chuckles and pecks my cheek. “Are you perhaps into glasses?” I laugh back and do the same. “I’m into you. And your glasses make me hard.” “That I can tell,” she replies while glancing down at my dick at full mast, closely squashed to her underbelly. “I’d love to have them on too.” She brushes her fingers against my chest. “I assume you can do much more with your lovely chains than just fixing my glasses steady, right?” I smile at her and place both of my hands on the sides of her waist. Soon after, a purplish mist begins rising from the ground under our feet. Cornelia notices it too and we watch it travel up her legs and towards the very neck, covering her body in violet streaks of smoke. The mist brings her arms to the back and I lift Cornelia into a princess carry for a moment. During that action, the smoke rearranges the position of her limbs a bit and turns into a solid material afterwards. I summon a few long straps from the floor and ceiling to uphold her in the air and step back to check on the whole thing. Right now, Cornelia’s body is wrapped in an actual bondage-style setup. Previously, I was only able to tie up her wrists, ankles and other joints, but right now, she has a full web of stripes all over her skin, in a purplish colour of course. They travel seductively around her arms, legs, curves, and naturally, breasts, accentuating their beauty a bit, but not too much. Her precious place is hidden behind a single band of material. Her arms are currently tied together straight behind her back. “Woah… This looks and… feels… incredible,” she comments on the restraints. “Are you going to dick me down like the last time? I’m wet and ready,” Cornelia asks with a grin, bringing forth enough courage for a bit of dirty talk as she wiggles her hips. I walk closer. “Let’s not be too hasty. Let me give you a hand first. Or a tongue, if you’d like.” She blushes a bit more, understanding what I’m getting at, and speaks up to stop me as I’m kneeling down. “Wait. I want to… do it for you first… while tied up...” she says, averting her gaze to the side. I have just the perfect idea for that and I snap my fingers. “Ah!” Without a warning, Cornelia’s body rotates vertically and turns upside down. I raise myself up and it should not need clarifying that her face ends up literally in front of my crotch and mine does the same with hers. I glance down at her and smile. “This is so trippy… But also… quite hot. I’ve never seen a man from this angle. And his thing too…” She leans forward and starts kissing my jewels without waiting for my reply. I move even closer to make it easier for her and soon feel her tongue tickling my shaft’s underside, making me shiver a little. “Fufufu~ Looks like I’m doing a decent job.” “Don’t forget I’m here too.” Not letting her be the only one working on pleasing the other party, I place my hands on the inner side of her juicy thighs—now even juicier when wrapped by tight restraints—open the path to her secret place and reward it with a long and careful lick. “Ahhhh~” It’s met with an instant reaction. A quiet moan escapes Cornelia’s lips. They soon get sealed as she starts raining kisses and little sucks on my pole, moving her hot tongue over its length from time to time. While she takes care of the bottom level, I shower the upper one with tons of affection too. I spread her beautiful flower with my tongue and massage her lower lips with my muscle, making circles over them. Once in a while, I nudge the tiny orb on my way around her labia, which evokes another soft sigh or moan from my lovely magician. We play with each other like that for a short while. Not wanting to make her wait too long as she wished before we started, I finally dive into her pussy with my tongue and begin caressing her moist tunnel, aiming to bring her to orgasm soon. “Hey… Would you mind… helping me out down here a little?” Cornelia stops tickling my penis for a moment and calls out to me. I glance down and see her smile wryly as she struggles to catch it into her mouth due to the position and angle she is at. I chuckle at that spectacle and use my hand to guide the tip of my dick to her lips. She hastily catches it and slides it inside, surrounding part of my length with amazing hotness. ~Thank you… love…~ Her sultry voice arriving by a Whisper makes me quiver a little again. I did not expect it in the slightest. Even if I can’t really see it from my position, I feel her smirk through our bond. That little tease. We get back to work. Neither of us wants to prolong this too much. I can easily get this from the way she aggressively swirls her tongue around my glans while moving her lips back and forth. She is truly doing her best for me. I can’t be left behind, can I? Since my control over mana is now much greater and more precise, I decide to employ a technique previously used mostly when having some fun with my bundles of captivating jelly. I focus some of the energy on the tip of my tongue and it succeeds. The next moment, I shove it into her leaking honeypot and begin tickling her insides. “Hnnnnghhhhhh?!” It looks to be way more effective than I expected as Cornelia completely stops her movements over my cock when met with the new sensation of pleasure and her marvellous thighs encase my head from both sides. Looks like this technique works quite well on sensitive places. I continue exploring Cornelia’s depths as much as I can while getting squeezed by her enticing legs and move my hand to tickle her clit with my fingers now that they don’t need to support her thighs anymore. She clearly struggles to suck on me with all the pleasure I’m sending through her nervous system, but she does not relent and continues putting in the effort to satisfy me too. Her climax slowly approaches and I move my tongue to play with her precious orb while sliding a finger into her slightly twitching hole. Cornelia starts squeezing me even more and her whole body begins to shiver. Soon after, I flick her clit with the mana-filled tip of my tongue for the last time and her pussy clutches my finger as if wanting to wring it dry. “Mhnnnnnnnhhhnnnnnnnnnn~!” She moans loudly with my cock in her mouth and begins spasming. When it tones down a little, I release my high too, sending waves of hot and creamy delicacy into the depths of her mouth, trying my best to not make too much of it flow inside her delicate lips to avoid Cornelia accidentally choking due to our position. To my surprise, the sounds of gulping reach my ears soon after. Even being like this, she still tries to swallow my seed, fortunately, without any accidents occurring. She releases my cock from her mouth’s embrace and pants heavily. “Ghhhhhaaaahhhhh… Haaaaaahhh… Delicious as usual… Or even more… Haaaaaah…” she praises my semen and giggles. I really can’t get used to it being tasty for the girls. “But Al… What the hell... haaaaah… was that?” I carefully bring her back to the correct position and peck Cornelia’s lips. Her eyes widen again when our tongues entwine and she experiences a completely different feeling from it. After separating, I wiggle it a little outside of my lips for her to see. “Why is it glowing pink? You really are full of surprises…” I chuckle. “Don’t ask me. It’s like that whenever I focus my mana.” I show her my hands which get slightly illuminated over the palms too, and I place them on her ample breasts. “Mhhhnnnnnnnnnnnnn~” she releases a prolonged moan. “So that’s what you were doing with Safi and Emi. It feels really pleasant.” I nod and peck her lips again while massaging her bosom gently. “Nnnhhhhnnn… Al… I said no teasing…” “Alright, alright. Sorry. You are just too gorgeous. I can’t stop myself.” “Hahaha, you damn flirt. I love you. Come on, let’s do it. Look how wet you’ve made me. It’s dripping down my legs.” I brush my fingers over her thighs and scoop some of her love juices, bringing them up to my face and seductively licking them off. “That I can tell.” She chuckles hearing her own words used on her and brings her lips to mine while I still have my index and middle fingers in my mouth. We enter a kiss with them in the middle and our lips cover them from both sides. Our tongues wrap around the obstacle, trying to connect with the other side like forcefully distanced lovers. Trails of saliva drip down our cheeks. I never imagined something like this could feel so hot. I playfully push Cornelia away or we would lose ourselves in this little game. “Well then. Let’s finally get to it. I shouldn’t make the Queen wait, right?” I snap my fingers and Cornelia’s body rotates in various axes until it ends up horizontally flat, with her facing the ground. She giggles during the motion. I’m presented with a full view of her delicious bottom from behind and all of its secrets are almost laid bare to me. I just need to move the single strap of the purplish restraints to the side and that’s exactly what I do. Then, I open her legs and move her thighs a bit to the sides, spreading her pink flower a bit which drips with love nectar onto the floor. She glances back at me over her shoulder with a smile. “Do you like what you see?” My glans touching her lower lips and beginning to slowly push through her tight entrance answers her instead of any words. “Mmmmmmhhhhhnnnnnn… You definitely do…. Ohhhhh yeeeesssss…” My whole length disappears in her pink crevice in a flash thanks to how wet she is. I rub my cock around her insides before starting to move, evoking some more sighs from her. “You have such a beautiful pussy. There’s no way I wouldn’t.” She moves her face back to the front, definitely embarrassed to hear such a straightforward and blunt compliment. She is forgetting who is the real tease here. Nevertheless, I grab the thin belts covering her thighs and begin to move her body back and forth, impaling Cornelia’s pretty flower on my dick, slowly at first. “Nhhhnnn… Ahhhhmmmm…” I raise the tempo a little when more moans begin escaping her lips and the room soon gets filled with not-so-quiet wet noises and the sound of my pelvis slapping against her tender butt. I don’t move my hips even a bit right now. I just keep pulling on her restraints and the sensation of floating through the air to finally land on my dick seems to be doing wonders for her. “Ahhhhh… Ahhhhh… Nhhhhhnnnn… It’s way different… Ahhnnn… Than when you just fucked me… Nhhnnn… Ahhh!” I pull her even stronger. “Told you that I have plenty of things we can do with these. Just enjoy the ride. The fun starts now.” Pulling out of her hot insides for a brief moment, I snap my fingers again and she rotates ninety degrees horizontally to the right. I carefully place Cornelia’s left leg over my shoulder and plunge my dick into her pussy again, this time being able to observe both her front and back due to her being side to side with the ground. She can glance at me much easier too. “Fuuck… Ahhh… Ahhh…” Holding onto her leg, I start moving this time, thoroughly exploring every part of her moist crevice. My glans scrapes over her pussy’s uneven walls, focusing on their sides due to our position. I smile at Cornelia when our gazes meet. “I love the way your perfect breasts bounce up and down.” Her vagina squeezes my rod a bit stronger after another teasing compliment and I begin hammering her pussy while looking straight into her eyes. I can feel her growing more embarrassed and at the same time happy through our connection. If we were in any other situation, I bet she would punch me softly and avert her gaze while blushing. She’s just so cute. “Ahhmmm… Ahnnn… I too… hnnnnnmmm… love your… hard cock… Haahnn… You know…?” she says and even brings a smirk to her face before ruining it by biting on her lower lip as I turn up my thrusting even more. “That’s so nice of you. Guess I have to do my best after such lovely praise.” I snap my fingers again and her body rotates with my penis still inside, evoking a different kind of sensation for the both of us. “Oooohhhhhh…” Cornelia releases a prolonged sigh and I spread her legs to the sides, grabbing part of the rope over her underbelly firmly with my left hand, and moving my right palm to the top of her little, pink hood. She quickly notices where my now slightly glowing thumb is going and shakes her head. “Wait! If you do all of that at once—AHHHHHNNNNNNNNNN~?!” Unfortunately, it’s too late. I begin tickling the shy bubble with my mana-filled finger while starting to thrust into her quivering tunnel by pulling her body towards me and pushing my hips forward at the same time. With all the forces combined, my penis speeds through her moist pussy, releasing even louder, wetter sounds. Cornelia bites on her lip more while enjoying the pounding and massage. “Ahhhh~! Ahhhnn~! That's... Ahnnnn~! Too much! Ahhh~! Al! Ahhhhh~! Ahhhh~!” We’ve played for quite a bit now and I can feel her approaching another orgasm very quickly. Her pussy starts tightening on me as I increase my pace even more, aiming with my tip exactly at the spots I discovered the last time we had sex in a similar position. Cornelia’s pleasure soars into the sky and she throws her head to the back as her whole body begins spasming in orgasmic waves. “Ahhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn~!” “Ghh… Fuck!” I release my seed at the same time as her pussy is convulsing and a furious load travels through Cornelia’s tight tunnel, aiming for the furthest destination. Without a doubt, her precious chamber gets filled with a flood of milky-white cream. I keep softly thrusting into her pink flower while riding my own high too until both of us finish. I lean and rest myself on Cornelia’s chest. She’s a bigger panting mess than I am, but that’s granted due to my increased stamina of this new body and the whole increase in stats and their assimilation. I feel like I could go for hours if not days. “Al…” She calls to me quietly and I glance up, seeing her satisfied smile. I get the idea without her needing to say anything more and I pull myself up to join our lips together for a long and passionate kiss, interrupted only by a few short breaks for air. “That was amazing… All of it…” Cornelia comments after I bring her straight up again. I move to the bed, sit down on the edge, and place her on my lap. We chuckle softly and kiss a little more. “I’m glad. Your insides felt incredible too.” She hides her face in my neck for a moment, making me laugh again. She’s just so perfect to tease. “Ngh!?” A prickle of pain almost makes me moan and I watch as Cornelia pulls back while licking her lips with a mischievous smile. “You sly vixen. You only acted embarrassed and went for a hickey.” “Fufufu~ I’m getting better at it, am I not?” “You are.” She smiles happily and kisses the spot she previously bit. We give each other loving pecks all over our faces and necks for a short while, just basking in the romantic mood. Forget the fact that she is completely tied up and restrained. It’s still fucking romantic. “Hey… Can you still… do more?” Cornelia places her forehead against mine and suddenly asks. “For you, I can do it as many times as you want,” I answer and we both glance down at my stiffy, chilling between her supple thighs. “There’s something… I would like to… try…” “Don’t be shy then. I’m all yours.” She awkwardly moves her gaze around and then wriggles a little on my lap. I let Cornelia jump onto the floor beside the bed and the gem hanging from her collar blinks faintly, announcing that she has brought something from the spatial storage inside of it. I can see her visible hesitation, but she spins around after a moment and reveals to me an object in her tied-up hands. I pick up a small, round container from her palms, looking like something ointments are stored in back on Earth. “What’s this?” I ask, curiously examining the object. “I’m sorry for doing it without asking, but… I took a peek into your notes inside your desk a few times… I was just… really curious after Sirgia showed me the ones you prepared for her.” I open the lid and find a colourless, gel-like substance inside. It reveals to be slightly slimy after I scoop a little onto my fingers and rub them together. It might be some kind of liquid-like salve or something. “One thing caught my attention,” Cornelia continues, “I copied the details and decided to think about it a bit. I asked Safi, Emi and Elea to help me. I believe you labelled it as lube.” I raise my eyebrows and then look at her. A slightly apologetic and embarrassed smile paints her lips. Even though I’ve made sure to tell her that everything that's mine is hers too, she still seems to be feeling bad about peeking at my notes. “Wait. Since you asked Safi and Emi for help… is this their...” She averts her gaze and nods. “We worked on the slime they can produce and used it as a base for the end product. It’s obviously not part of their bodies, in the truest sense of it. Elea helped it reach the consistency you described with her knowledge and affinity with nature.” I shake my head and smile. I was planning on researching that idea myself, but it looks like I was left behind. “Do you know its purpose?” She nods again. Even though she is still quite flushed from our previous fun, I can discern another, much heavier blush on her cheeks. “It caught my attention because… while Safi took your literal first time… and Sirgia was the first actual girl you had sex with… I was sure that you still hadn’t done… anal... “ she speaks quietly, still avoiding my eyes. “Thus… I thought that you could not only take my other virginity there… but I could also be your first in something…” I sigh, place the container on the bed and pull Cornelia back onto my lap, wrapping my arms around her. “Cornelia… I had no idea you were worried about such things… I love you so much, you know? You don’t need to offer that part of yourself to me to prove you are the same.” “It’s not like I’m not interested in that. From the things you wrote, it seemed like… it would feel good with this…” “Are you sure you are not forcing yourself into this?” She leans closer and steals my lips with a loving kiss. “I am. I told you I’m a little curious too. You know how I love experimenting with new things. And I want to do it with you anyway. I didn’t bring it up before because I was a bit afraid. I remember hearing the same girls I mentioned in the past chattering about doing it in… the butt… with their boyfriends… saying that it hurt…” “Then why are you assuming it would feel good with this?” “Because you would never come up with something that hurts instead of making the people involved have more fun. And you would certainly not describe poison or acid amongst tens of notes about your other perverted ideas.” “Hearing that makes me weirdly happy…” She giggles and pecks my lips. “So? Can we? Elea already verified that it’s safe.” “Alright. But promise me to say if it’s too much. Not everyone has to be into anal, you know? Let’s get you out of these first.” “It’s fine… I would like the belts to stay… If you don’t mind...” I kiss her too and smile cheekily. “Someone is getting more open with their fetishes.” Cornelia drops her gaze while getting increasingly red. “Don’t…” “I won’t. But it’s true. Some time ago you would get all fidgety talking about even slightly lewd things. I’m truly amazed. Don’t try to say that it’s nothing. I know best it doesn’t come easily to you.” She smiles faintly and raises her eyes to match mine again. More confidence can be discerned in them now. “So, are you going to ravage my ass like a beast or no?” “Hahaha. I’ll rather do it slowly so you actually enjoy this. But I appreciate the taunt.” Cornelia chuckles, pecks my cheek and makes herself fall onto the bed on her stomach. She lifts her ass up on her knees and spreads her legs. Unfortunately, her arms are still tied up to her back so that’s all she can do. She glances back at me from the surface of the bed. “Have you played with that place before?” I ask to understand what to expect. “No. But I cleaned it with magic so there shouldn’t be any surprises. I’m sure you’ll show me how to enjoy it properly,” she answers with a smile. “Time to dig in then.” I grab her tender butt with my hands and spread her cheeks more. A moment later, Cornelia quivers a little when my tongue brushes over her cute, little anus. “Eh? Why are you licking there?!” “Hmm? You don’t trust me?” “I do, but… it’s… ticklish… and weird.” “The main thing will feel even weirder.” She gulps audibly and stops protesting, deciding to just enjoy my passionate caresses. I play with her tense hole a bit more, tickling it with my tongue and rubbing the starry areola with my fingers. “Ohhhhhh…” Cornelia sighs softly when my muscle invades her back entrance. She squeezes my tongue hard, but quickly catches upon it without even needing my instructions and the pressure lessens a bit, allowing me to prod deeper into the tunnel. “Your tongue feels so different than when you lick my pussy…” She closes her eyes and focuses her mind on the completely new sensation. I keep teasing her unexplored yet spot and reach for the lube. I must say, they did a great job. I should get used to all of my beautiful girls being much more talented than me. Anyway, I pick some of it onto my fingers and rub a bit of it onto her anus. I know it should go mostly on the other thing, but just in case. I then cover my middle finger with it and poke the entrance with my fingertip. The next moment, I push it inside just a bit and Cornelia exhales quietly. Bit by bit, I guide my finger deeper into the incredibly tight corridor, gently spreading her insides. “Mhhhhhnnn… It’s so fucking big… It feels even bigger than usual… You were right… It feels really weird,” Cornelia says after I slide it in as far as I can. Looks like we have a small misunderstanding here. “Cornelia? You might want to open your eyes.” She follows my advice and the previous, contented smile quickly disappears from her lips after she notices my dangling erection on the side of her legs. Her eyes move to her butt and widen in surprise. “No way… That’s just your finger?” I chuckle and rotate it a bit. “Yes, it is.” “It feels so big! How is your penis supposed to fit there?!” “With some effort. And the help of your invention. But we can stop at just a finger or two if you are scared.” She hesitates for a moment but shakes her head. “No. I want to… feel you inside…” “As you wish. Be ready for another weird feeling.” She glances at my smiling face confusedly and I pull my finger out in a semi-quick motion. Her mouth instantly assumes the shape of the letter ‘o’ and she squeezes her asshole, losing a bit of control over it. “Ohhhhh… This is gooooood...” I repeat the motion a few more times to allow her to grasp the feeling even better, slowly sliding my finger into her anus and then pulling it out in a slightly faster manner. It looks like she might be liking this. But, since we are aiming for the main thing, we need to move forward. I start moving my finger inside her more and stretching her alluring entrance enough to fit a second one now. She moans quietly each time I thrust them in and then sighs in satisfaction as I pull them back. After a few short minutes of such play, Cornelia connects our gazes again and speaks up. “Hey… It should be fine now, right? I’m getting really curious…” With a smile, I pull my fingers out for the last time. She watches me cover my dick with the slimy substance and move behind her with anticipation clearly present in her eyes. I place the tip of my penis against her anus and it twitches cutely. After one more glance at Cornelia, I push my glans inside with a little bit of resistance. “Ohhhhhh… It’s spreading me so much…” “It’s tight as hell too… Guhhhh…” Each of us enjoys a different kind of sensation as I very carefully make my way inside her unvisited apartment. I shove a bit of my cock into her squeezing ring and pull it back, reaching further with each, slow stroke. “Mhhhhhhhmmm… It doesn’t hurt… You can go faster…” I listen to her only partially and still keep a steady pace of making progress. After a minute or two, I finally manage to hide all of my stiff rod in her narrow tunnel. Feeling her anticipating gaze on myself, I free her anus of almost my whole length, leaving only the tip inside, in a quick pullback this time. “Ohhhhhhh daaaaaaaaamnnnnn… It hits so weirdly but gooooood…” “Looks like my worries were unnecessary. It’s also really easy to move thanks to the lube.” Cornelia gazes at me warmly. “I finally was able to take your first…” “Damn you, woman. I told you not to care who was first and whatnot.” I chuckle, but still smile at her widely and she doesn’t miss that. She giggles. “Now comes the part where you pound me so hard I won’t be able to sit straight for a week, right?” “I would much rather enjoy a more passionate time with my lover tonight,” I say to her and grab the restraints behind her shoulders, bringing Cornelia up from lying chest-down on the bed. “Ahhhhhnnnn~!” With the motion, my cock obviously penetrates her hole again in one go, making her moan in surprise. I pull my hand holding the ropes closer and arch her back to lean her shoulders onto mine as she sits backwards on my lap, impaled with my dick. I wrap the other arm around her slender waist and reach for her breast. Cornelia tilts her head and kisses my neck. “Told you it would be better to leave them on, fufufu~” “Time for the second part of your reward session, my Queen.” She chuckles and aims for my lips. I naturally help her find them and we start making out while I begin thrusting my rock hard cock into her tight ass. Bit by bit, we increase the tempo and the room gets filled with rhythmic slapping again. “Nnnhhhnnn~ Mhhhhhnnn~ Nhhhhhnnn~” Cornelia is intent on showing her satisfaction with loving kisses and doesn’t let go of my lips even though she is moaning into them more than doing anything else. Not like it bothers me. These tingly vibrations just make it even better. I focus on ploughing through her insides with my dick, shaping them up to my size more and more. “Ahhh~! Ahnnn~! Ahhh~! Who would have… Ahn~! Thought... Ahhh~! It can feel so good… Nhhhn~! In the ass!” She finally breaks our struggling kiss and just leans back onto me, moaning into the sky while gazing at my face from below. I stare back at her incredibly flushed and hot expression with a smile. “You can go harder! Ahhhh~! Ahhhh~!” I grant her request and begin pistoning my hips even faster. At the same time, I gently massage her breasts with my free hand. These soft and dreamy mounds are just so perfect and pleasant to touch. Every time I tickle or pinch her nipple a little, her anus squeezes again. Timing it to the moment when I pull back seems to give Cornelia even more pleasure as her mouth opens wide during the movement. “Ahhn~! Fuuuuuuuck~! Ahhh~! I can’t believe… Ahhhn~! I’m almost coming from… Ahnn~! My butt!” “And who is the pervert here, hmm?” I ask her teasingly and Cornelia pushes her lips up into mine again. ~We... are…~ she answers with a Whisper, much to my delight. Since she announced getting close on her own, I redouble my efforts too. She breaks the kiss due to my slightly stronger thrusts which make it hard for us to comfortably caress our lips together and glances down curiously because I stopped playing with her boobs. She quickly realizes the target of my slowly descending fingers. “Oh, no, no, no—AHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNN?!” She arches her back even more than I made her by holding her back and moans extremely loud when my two, slightly pink at the tips fingers sneak into her front entrance. “AHNNNN~! Don’t play! Ahhh~! With my pussy! Ahnn~! When fucking! Ahhh~! My ass!” “Why not? You squeeze me so good when I tickle it here.” “NGGGGHNNNNNNN?!” She trembles when I poke my fingers into the walls of her extremely wet vagina when my cock rushes through her anus into its furthest depths. Each time I tease her sensitive pussy at the same time as I shove my dick into her ass, she shivers again with a loud moan and tightens the ring around my shaft, sending lots of pleasure into my rod. She rests her head back onto my shoulder and completely submits herself to me, focusing only on feeling good and releasing alluring moans into my ear. Sensing her peak, I start sliding my fingers in and out of her pussy in tandem with my cock ravaging her ass. Cornelia orgasms in a blink and pushes my fingers out of her precious place, almost choking my cock with the tightening entrance to her anus as it begins flooding her narrow tunnel with a luscious load. “AAAAHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN~!” Her body begins spasming and I grunt from the insane pleasure too. A trickle of love juices spurts out of her wide open pink flower due to the intense high she is experiencing from having both of her holes satisfied at the same time. It takes a good minute for Cornelia to finally stop shivering and fall limply onto my chest. I immediately remove the violet straps and embrace her lovingly from behind. We both gasp for air in a chaotic manner. When our gazes meet, we chuckle together and kiss softly. “I take the previous statement back… THIS was amazing…” “Hahaha. Same here. I never felt anything like this. But it’s not like I’m someone with lots of experience. There are countless things I haven’t done.” “Then we can try them together,” she says with a beautiful smile and pecks my cheek. “As long as you’ll be comfortable with it, then of course,” I answer with the same. We lie down to rest for a moment and graze our hands over each other’s chest and belly. Cornelia has such a charming, happy expression on her face. It suits her sharp looks so well. And the glasses. They add so much, but… She glances at me curiously as I reach towards her face and pull her glasses off. “I love looking at you with them, but it’s definitely uncomfortable lying on your side like this.” Cornelia chuckles and grazes my cheek with her hand. “So considerate. It’s almost as if it’s a different person from the one who ravaged both my pussy and ass to their heart’s content while I was tied up.” “You are making it sound like I’m a villainous bastard here.” “A handsome, caring, kind and perfect villainous bastard.” She leans for a kiss. “Oh, and perverted.” “Oh, you…” She giggles charmingly. We then both glance down at the small container with lube lying between us. “We can make a great use of this if we introduce it to the girls,” she says. “How complex and fast is the process to make it? And how much of it?” “Safi, Emi and Elea can easily take care of it in a flash now after we confirmed the result. Even the other elf girls should be able to do so, as long as they know a thing or two about herbs, and I believe they do if they are Elea’s followers.” “Amazing. There’s a favour I would like to ask of you though. The timing couldn’t be better. Well, it could if you showed it to me in the morning, but that doesn’t matter.” She squints her eyes at me and then raises one of her brows curiously. “What is it? I’ll do anything for you, as long as it’s within my ability, of course.” “Give one to Lianne the next time you meet her. The earlier the better actually.” “The Queen? Why?” “She’ll show you why after you mention it’s lube,” I answer with a playful smile. “It would be great if you could explain to her a thing or two about it too, perhaps with a little presentation, but I can understand if it’s too much to ask.” She stares at me in silence for a moment and then sighs. “You know we are close and gossip about lewd things anyway. I’ll go check on her tomorrow. Did you talk her into trying anal during your recent visit? I must let you know that she… doesn’t have the best experiences with it.” “I know. She mentioned that. And we spoke a little about it. That’s why I want you to give it to her soon. You’ll understand why after she introduces you to her new friend. Maybe she’ll even let you take it for a ride if you tell her about our little fun.” “You and your perverted toys…” She chuckles softly. “Looks like you know we talk about you too. I’ll try my best, love.” She pecks my lips and pulls herself closer into my hug.
Chapter 63 – The Great Change Spoiler: Chapter Something ticklish and slightly cold trailing over the skin of my chest brings me out of peaceful slumber. The small point travels to my nipple and circles it a few times, nudging the little protrusion, and then moves to the other one to do the same. After leaving an area of chilly sensation over both of them, the mysterious traveller begins their journey down my solar plexus. On the way through the smooth plains of my body, a friend joins them, making it into two frosty points grazing my skin. Then, a third one appears. Then, a fourth one. Then finally, the group reaches five individuals. They move down and down at a steady pace, travelling in a single, horizontal line and leaving trails of cold sensation behind them. Soon, they pass my stomach, circle around the navel, and reach the underbelly. When these mysterious entities almost touch my nether regions, I hastily catch the wrist that has been leading them and open my eyes while squinting. What enters my sight is obviously Cornelia’s face with a smug expression. One of her arms is extended down and towards me. “What were you planning to do with these exactly, you little witch, hm?” I ask her playfully. She smiles at me and pushes her hand further down in one, swift motion, grasping my precious family jewels into a chilly grasp. “Ohohohohohohoooo… Now you’ve done it!” I shudder, shout, and yank her hand away, using my other free one to start tickling her exposed belly, sending Cornelia into a huge fit of laughter and lots of shaking. “Ahahahahahaha! Stooooop! I concede! I concede!” “Too late for that!” I don’t let her go and mercilessly assault her delicious tummy and those perfect curves of her sides, making her unable to do anything else besides wriggling in pleasurable agony. But, she somehow manages to muster enough strength to throw herself at me, grab both of my wrists, and pin them above my head while straddling my waist. Still giggling a little to herself, she takes a few deep breaths and stares at me with a wide smile. “You beast. To violate a dignified woman like me in such a barbaric way.” “And who is the one that started it? I’m pretty sure going after the little guy is even more barbaric.” Cornelia opens her mouth to most likely give another playful reply, but she stops and raises one of her brows. She then glances back over her shoulder and snorts. I’m pretty sure it’s from my quickly growing boner hitting her butt with how she is sitting just above my crotch. “Mom was right. All men think about is sex,” she says while turning her face back to me and chuckling softly. “Excuse me. The last time I checked, it was you who teased my nipples and grabbed my balls like some thug. Besides, how can I not grow hard when a gorgeous bombshell of a beauty is showing her everything to me while being on top?” It’s as I just said. Literally everything is laid bare in front of me with her slightly leaning position, from the very enticing, perfect peaks hanging above my face, to the charming, little mound between her legs kissing my underbelly affectionately. Cornelia chuckles again and leans forward to join our lips in a soft kiss. She releases my hands and lays herself down on my chest while I gently embrace her back and begin stroking her smooth, released hair. Sweet moments like these are just worth living for. After a short session of caring pecks, she raises herself again with a warm smile and stretches her whole body while moaning openly. I hold her waist as she trembles a little from the pleasant exercise. “I must say, your Rejuvenate is amazing,” she says after finishing. “I’ve recovered as far as to doubt that we even did anything before going to sleep. Which is great, but also… a little sad.” I lift myself to a sitting position too and hug her tightly while landing a kiss on her cheek. “What? Would you rather have trouble walking after your first ever anal? If so, we can always arrange for that.” I trace my finger down her back and tickle her butthole a little bit. She slaps me gently and I chuckle. “Did you forget I have to meet the Queen per your own request? She would instantly notice if I walked funny. I’m just a little down that there’s no evidence of our precious time together.” “All the evidence is here,” I say and lean my forehead against hers. “Or, do you perhaps want to boast to someone and it’s hard without solid proof, hm?” Cornelia blushes a little and pecks my lips. “Your imagination sure runs deep.” She turns around on my lap and rests her back on my chest, pulling up her Status window. We both scan through it for changes after our passionate night and instantly notice one. “Oh my. Wasn’t this only 50% and for around 24 hours?” Cornelia points at the window. Surely, the temporary bonus from sex would always show up as 50% for 24 hours or however many it was left after the act, but we can now see that the numbers there are 100% and 64 hours, which is certainly 72 minus 8. “True. I wonder if it’s due to me advancing a Tier or from the race upgrade. Or…” I wave my hand and summon my own menu to the side of Cornelia’s Status screen, and navigate into the Partners section. It doesn’t take me long to find her entry at the top of the list and I open it, making it visible to her too. “As I thought, our Bond Level and Bond Type levelled too. I noticed your stats change a tiny bit. It could also be a bonus from us being actual lovers with mutual feelings.” Cornelia rubs her chin while thinking. “Or it’s because you played with and came in both of my holes. Or it’s all thanks to anal. You haven’t done it before. Too many variables here…” “Guess I’ll have to trouble the other girls to help me find out. But, all in all, it’s great that the duration increased threefold.” “Already starting to get tired of all the pussy you are getting?” She chuckles. “If I were to supply all the girls here with buffs daily, or even only those who are actually close to me, how much time do you think would be left for you then, hm?” “Oh.” “I know things are moving slowly for our little establishment and it’s not really visible, but there are fourteen girls that openly slept with me already. If we include all the other employees, our family now counts up to twenty-one individuals, excluding me.” “Damn. I didn’t realize there were already this many. I still feel like it was yesterday when I came here from the castle or we opened for the first time with just Safi and Emi in the main department.” I nod. “Right. There are now also Garrena, Mafaris, Zalia, Shawure, Nebu, Cinra, Leyne, Roseni and Filue. It might not look like much when compared to the normal brothels, but…” “...when we consider that it’s all non-humans then that’s plenty,” she finishes my sentence. “We are actually getting somewhere.” I chuckle and brush over her fair skin with my fingers. “I wouldn’t phrase it like that. We still usually have a few customers a night. These are fair beginnings, but we need to double down on actual promotion soon. Meanwhile, I still have so many ideas to introduce…” She grabs my hand and squeezes it gently. “You were thinking about finding a skilled tailor recently. Maybe it’s finally time for our little hero to make his way into the vast world?” “Oh? Am I such a heavily annoying husband for you to already want to kick me out of our lovely house?” I tease her a little. Cornelia fidgets a bit and I’m pretty sure I hear her quietly mutter the word husband a few times. A soft smile finds its way onto her lips for a brief moment and quickly disappears. I don’t think she knows I did notice it though. “Ekhm. You must be joking. I’d never do or think that. I’m just a way less possessive woman than you may be thinking I am.” “Considering your yesterday’s obsession with having my first time, I find it quite hard to believe.” She grows more and more flustered. “That was… just a short moment of weakness… Everybody has them…” I chuckle and pat her head. “Alright, alright. You know I’m just teasing you.” A smile reappears on her lips. “I know. Anyway, what I meant was, I don’t plan on tying you down and restricting you to moving only around the capital. You can leave the management to me and go out. Elea is plenty capable too. That was one of your goals and I believe we pretty much met it.” “And here I thought you’d be very much into tying me up or down…” “Al!” “Hahaha, sorry, sorry. I just… love being like this with you,” I tell Cornelia honestly and kiss her neck. “I’d have never thought I’d fall for a corny pervert in my whole life, but… me too…” She guides my hands to affectionately embrace her waist. “Umm… sorry…” I tilt my head in confusion. “What for?” “I call you a pervert again and again but it’s not like you are really one and I realized it might have been a bit rude…” I sigh and chuckle faintly. “You can call me whatever you want. Besides, all men are perverts according to your mom.” She laughs. “Seriously… How did she even get laid in the first place is above me… She was an even worse shut-in than me and her personality was not that different from mine…” “Your personality is perfect and don’t let others tell you otherwise. There’s nothing wrong with getting embarrassed with lewd things and I find it very cute how you sometimes try to deny the simplest things with that stubborn act of yours. Now, let’s end this long-ass morning discussion before we lose ourselves in it even more.” Cornelia moves off my lap and stands up from the bed to stretch again, showing her juicy butt to me. “Hhhhhnnnnnnngggggggg… True. It was fun, but there’s work to do. Ah!” I softly slap that beautiful piece of ass while sitting on the edge by her. “That’s right. You have a royal to meet and I have to check on the new girls. Let’s have a meeting during dinner, you should be back by then. We’ll leave the travelling part for later. I need to make sure Sirgia creates enough fun toys for you to not grow lonely when I’ll be gone,” I say with a smirk. “Pervert.” Cornelia snorts and takes slow steps away while creating underwear and casual robes around her body using her ice ability from before. She spins around and gives me a smug look after placing her glasses on their proper spot. An idea flashes in my mind and I quickly check for my new stealing skill, confirming that it’s off cooldown. With a few strokes of my finger, I borrow her Frostweave and activate it while standing up. My body is covered with a similar, whitish mist as hers was, and after a few moments, I create a casual set of pants and shirt. It does feel comfy even amongst all this chill. Cornelia’s eyes widen for a moment and she sighs afterwards. “Not only a pervert but now also a thief. Oh, how low you have fallen.” We both chuckle and finally leave the room. Our beautiful chefs have already finished preparing breakfast for the whole family, including the new maids, so we join everyone impatiently waiting for the food. Due to our numbers, the previous, long table we were using for our meals is now not enough to house all of us and we split into two groups this time. It's proof that we are growing in strength and numbers. Sirgia runs out of the kitchen the very moment I show up in the dining hall, not leaving my side for even a brief moment. She doesn’t let Emi get any close to me this time. Their fight over my lap is getting more serious with each passing day. I enjoy my meal by the table with all of my lovers and core members of the mansion, which includes Cornelia, Sirgia, Safi, Emi, Elea and the elves, and Teffith. Garrena, Nebu, the tieflings and the new girls group up by another spot. I’m pretty sure it was arranged by Elea and a clear distinction of seniority can be noticed here, going by who joined our ranks first. The whole breakfast passes in a pleasant and chatty atmosphere. I expected our table to be the livelier one due to theirs having more new and not-yet-accustomed people, but the tiefling trio overshadows all the girls around my table with how easygoing and talkative they are towards Rene, Dhosk, Tyriana, Meiya and Neiya. I just focus on pampering my cute dwarf and being fed in response. At first, I was slightly nervous about Tyriana, but it looks like my worries were unnecessary. It all came from the whole thing of fantasy stories back at home including various kinds of Elves. I’ve come across books where Dark Elves and other types of Elves had quite a hostile attitude towards each other and I didn’t see many mentions about such relationships in my time in the castle’s library. But, that may be because it’s all good here. I caught neither my dark-skinned beauties nor Tyriana showing any discontent during their interactions. Just to be sure, I ask Elea about it and she confirms my assumption that there’s not much to worry about. Any conflicts are on a settlement basis rather than a racial one. Each village is like its own community. After breakfast, we all tidy up and the new girls help out with the dishes in the kitchen. Cornelia prepares herself properly, picks up the merchandise she is meant to deliver to the Queen, and leaves the mansion. I wonder how the meeting will go. Perhaps I should have gone with her, but that would be weird with me coming literally the day after. Everyone else finds their own work or things to spend time on. Sirgia, Mafaris and Teffith dive into the little dwarf’s workshop, most likely to work on the naginata. Neira disappears in her own studio. Filue and Leyne move to the garden and our satyr girls follow them. Garrena and the other elves head to the underground arena. I might want to check on them to learn a thing or two. Astrea disappears as usual. Okay, maybe not as usual. She lets herself be much more visible than before and even makes eye contact with me for a short moment. As mysterious as ever. I still wonder what was that lick about. Nevertheless, I don’t want to pressure her, so I focus on others. And I have no idea what the rest plans on doing. Safi and Emi decide to accompany me for today and I of course agree. I decide to try and talk with our new maids to perhaps ease their worries a little more and find out what they would like to take care of most of the time or such. Our first target is Rene. We sit together and chat a little about ourselves. I especially encourage her to ask questions about me or the place or whatever else, and albeit a little uncertain, she does as instructed. I notice how her tail starts wagging enthusiastically a few times during our little exchange, mostly around the parts connected to how I treat the other girls and what our relationships are like. She seems to be an honest and kind-hearted person to me, willing to earnestly follow the lead. Rene has nothing against helping in the bathing department alongside her usual maid-type work around the mansion, but when mentioning her body, she clearly gives the vibes of someone insecure about it, saying how she is sure she won’t be picked much. I have to assure her with lots of head pats that it’s not true. I’ve seen most of her body back at Selina’s and she surely is a looker. Perhaps a little chubby at some places, but like hell anyone would have something against it. This is not Earth where people shame women about their bodies, turning them into walking skeletons. Her mood quickly switches into an overjoyed one and she starts openly snuggling to me after I praise her figure and looks, to the point where Emi starts pushing herself into me too, not wanting to lose in clinginess to the new resident. Making sure that she doesn’t lack anything and that she is content with her room and situation, we come across Dhosk next. From an open and easy to read extrovert, we turn towards a quite withdrawn and cold introvert. All her questions for me are formulated the way I don’t have to answer with anything else besides yes and no. When I try to learn something about her, she keeps her own answers short too. The most important thing we are able to find out is that she was a charlatan at her previous settlement. She confirms having some knowledge and experience with alchemy and other fields connected to it and agrees to work with us on projects related to these areas. She will surely come in clutch at times. As for the usual servitude, as I expected, she doesn’t say no to anything, just keeps her almost indifferent demeanour while talking about it. While she is okay with baths and such, I’m not sure if she is suitable to accompany guests for social purposes and I let her know that. To which, she obviously agrees with a short ‘yes’. Figures. Hopefully, Cornelia, Sirgia or Neira will find a common tongue with her. I decide to not bother Dhosk too much and move on. The next person we find is Tyriana in the library. She is peacefully reading some book while casually sipping a fragrant tea when we come in. I don’t really want to interrupt her and think about coming back later when she closes the book and glances my way. Now it would be rude to just leave. She is surrounded by that noble-like aura, but not the high and mighty one. Tyriana surely is a proud High Elf and it’s clearly visible with how she conducts herself, but it’s more like she respects herself. And others to some extent. Our talk goes much smoother than with Dhosk. She is fine with most duties. Only bathing gives her some concerns. She explains that while she doesn’t mind showing a bit of her body, she doesn't want to let random men get touchy with her. I assure her that there are rules for that, but don’t pressure her into changing her mind. She is truly a beauty like most women of her race, so I would be glad if she was up for the social part of the establishment in the lobby, but her way of being might not be that suitable for it, similar to Dhosk's case. She actually says by herself that she would like to observe others do it and then decide, which is good already. Even if she stays just as a general maid, it will be plenty. Finally, I take Safi and Emi to the garden behind the mansion and… damn. I know I don’t really check on it often, but the transformation is real. The last time I took a glance around here was when Elea made that little tree nest for Nebu. Since then, it got much more colourful here. Most of the hedges have now various, colourful flowers covering them, creating even fancier paths around the whole garden. The bowers are covered in vines and similar kinds of plants much more, giving them a completely different vibe than before. I have no idea how, but all the grass is evenly cut and no corner of the garden looks neglected. The girls must have been working hard on it. Meiya, Neiya and the two gardening elves tend to the area around our small pond when we arrive. They look really fascinated by whatever the taller women are explaining to them. We join the group and listen about the underwater flora and how to properly raise it. Truly, I can spot some beautiful looking greenery down there through the crystal-clear water. After Leyne and Filue finish their lecture, we butt in and chat about the two satyrs. They are not new to nature obviously, but they let us know that forests were their main home and that’s what they are most knowledgeable about while the aquatic aspect is not really their forte. All in all, the elf girls mention that they already talked plenty and both satyr sisters will definitely be a huge help to the garden and other flora. They already started planning to fill the mansion with some appropriate flowers and plants they plan to grow back here, and with Meiya’s and Neiya’s knowledge, they will be able to see to it much faster now. As for the talk about their other responsibilities besides the garden, it goes well too. Meiya, the shorter sister, does express a little doubt that she would do good, but neither of them has anything against helping with the baths. The same goes for the social company. It took around two hours to talk with everyone. It’s way too early for Cornelia to come back anytime soon so I decide to train my control over the draconic hilt and my other skills a little. My two, lovely bundles of jelly oblige to help of course and we go down to the underground. Garrena, Roseni and Cinra are engaged in a two versus one there. It’s obvious who against who. Even without the help of her ancestral bloodline, Garrena is able to fend off the two agile warriors while throwing an attack now and then. I don’t know if there are any racial relations at work here but I swear both sides are fighting much more ferociously than they usually do while training. And they all have wide, almost taunting smiles on their faces. As far as I know, there was no large-scale conflict between their races in the past. Which is kind of surprising with the whole desire to conquer in the Orc’s communities. But then again, it might boil down to settlements and tribes. We take a spot where we shouldn’t disturb the trio and begin our own exercises, starting with hand to hand combat. I’m no CQC master but I do have some experience in it so I’m able to take the two of them at once. The memories they inherited from the girls are not enough for them to match me. But, their almost shapeless bodies that are able to morph during the fight are definitely a tough nut to crack. Thanks to their high resistances I don’t have to hold back that much, even though seeing my punches literally create holes in their elastic bodies from the force of impact did make me a bit concerned at first. After an hour, I bring out my artifact and switch into a more defensive stance, letting them attack most of the time. While they try their best to assault me at the most irregular angles, I practice the speed of morphing my weapon into different forms. Being able to quickly switch shapes in the middle of a fight can definitely end up being more than just handy. I manage to get the hang of it when it comes to the weapon types I used a lot in the past. The new ones still take a bit of time to form and materialize. Two hours later, we make a little scramble. Garrena looked like she wanted to fight the slimes herself, so I gave her that chance while going to face the dark-skinned duo this time. And boy, they do not spare me in the slightest. Now that they know my body is much tougher than before, they go almost all out on me. I can repel Safi and Emi, but when it comes to experienced fighters, I still look like an amateur. Garrena overpowers my slimes fast and we switch back in twenty minutes. Our trio decides to take a break for now and then actually to end for today. While the elves and the orc stop paying attention to us, getting lost in their own, small and violent world, Safi and Emi drag me to a different stone room, one of the storages. The moment I see the calm and collected Safi give me the look, I understand instantly that there’s no escape. Mana-filled pats may not be enough today. And I don’t even delude myself they could work after she steals my lips while Emi goes after something else. Thus, we spend thirty minutes enjoying a different type of physical activity. We haven’t partaken in it much after they finished our biology lessons, so I feel very much obliged to let them have some fun with me as an apology, and they certainly do. I just hope nobody randomly comes into this little warehouse and finds us entangled together in the sea of crates and barrels. Thanks to that, I’m able to confirm that the doubled value of the buff Cornelia received was in fact due to either me advancing or changing race as the two of them receive it too, so it’s for sure not about us reaching the fifth, maximum level of our bond. We end our ‘practice’ at the same time as the others do and we get into the bath together. I still can’t get over how hot Garrena’s muscular body is. Fortunately, no incidents happen in the water and we peacefully wash ourselves and then enjoy a short dip in the hot pool. After the bath, everyone goes their way and I can sense Cornelia coming back so I walk to the entrance to fetch her. Leaning onto the pillar of the open gate, I wait for her to arrive by my side. The moment she comes close, I notice a heavy blush on her cheeks. “I take it the meeting went well,” I say with a smile. “Oh, Goddess…” “That good?” “I… She… Haaaaaaaaaah…” I chuckle a little and pull her for a quick peck. “I won’t pressure you if you don’t want to talk about it. Come now.” We start walking the path to the mansion and she sighs heavily again. “What the hell is that thing you gave her this time…” “Uhhh… A rocking stool?” “A rocking stool doesn’t have two platforms for artificial penises that literally ravage both of a woman’s holes when using it!” “Hahaha, well… It’s an upgraded version. Did she already use both before you gave her the solution?” Cornelia shakes her head. “No. She only played with the front and she told me it was amazing. Completely different from doing it by hand. You’ve outdone yourself again, Al. Each time you give her something, she can’t stop praising it.” She jabs me with her elbow lightly. “And… Ummm… When she explained its use to me, we obviously talked about… us… and last night…” “No wonder you came back so embarrassed.” “That’s not it. She… She literally made me help her apply the lube and show her how to… you know… make it feel good in that place…” Cornelia shivers a little. “Oh, Goddess… I thought you were intense back then but she was moving so fast I didn’t even know something could go in and out so quickly, and she kept cumming and cumming and still rocking back and forth even faster...” “Oh wow.” “Yes. Oh wow.” I rub her shoulder reassuringly as we move past the front door. “Well… Sorry for that… I did not expect her to jump straight to it…” Cornelia takes a deep breath and chuckles. “It’s fine. I had to lend her a hand a few times in the past too so I thought I was quite used to her intense nature, but this was a surefire eye-opener. My butt feels sore at the very thought of that…” “At least she seems to be enjoying herself.” “If we consider that all her previous actions were limited to the front side… you literally doubled her possibilities with that lube. If the Queen ends up getting into double action, it will be all your fault.” “Oh noooo…” I cry playfully and Cornelia laughs openly. We share dinner together with everyone and then start gathering in the main lobby for the meeting. I have a few topics I want to touch upon now that we are much more developed than at the start. And one of them is quite crucial regarding our clientele. The coffee tables are moved to the side and the sofas are brought into a half circle so that everyone can see each other and we can have a nice, auditorial atmosphere. I sit opposite to them in the very middle. Again, it seems that there’s some kind of order to the seats. My lovers start the domino from the right and then it goes by seniority. I wonder if the position of Cornelia, Sirgia, Neira and Elea have some kind of rule to it too. It doesn’t look like they sit in the order of who I accepted first. Who knows. “Well then. Let’s begin our short meeting. There are a few things I want to discuss with everyone here and hear your opinion on them before we decide to introduce the changes. But first, I wanted to thank our new friends, Rene, Dhosk, Tyriana, Meiya and Neiya for joining us and deciding to help out as much as they can. I hope you girls won’t be dissatisfied with your stay here. Feel free to talk to me and others about anything. We are one, big family here.” Rene raises her hand a little timidly and I nod at her. “Yes?” “Does that mean we don’t have to be formal and very polite all the time?” “Yes, it does. You can be at ease here. I only want to ask you to refer to me as Master and act appropriately in front of customers or guests. Besides that, you are free to be yourself.” “Can we… call you by name too?” Neiya joins and I nod again. “Of course. All those who keep calling me Master all the time do it because they want to for whatever reason. I’d love for you to be friendly with me.” Almost everyone from the old crew nods along with my words. “Okay. I guess we should start with this. As most of you know, we’ve been developing some toys and devices for the sole purpose of having more fun with intimate stuff and a fair share of them are designed for women. At first, I mostly considered selling these at our place and perhaps through some connections, but I figured out we could target both genders with our services in the end. Until now, every new resident we’ve welcomed here was a girl, but if we want to open for women too, I thought about looking fo—” “NO!!!!!!” A sudden, unexpected and completely unanimous rejection of the idea even before I lay it down completely makes me flinch in surprise. I’m pretty sure that shout came from not just my lovers but also most of the working girls too. I take a moment to think about it, but nothing comes to my mind. “Ermm… May I know the reason? I can kind of understand the four on the right objecting, and perhaps others uninvolved in more explicit business, but why is the rest joining in on it too?” “Master, if I may?” Elea captures my attention and I nod at her. “While I’m blessed to call myself one of your lovers, I believe I understand the situation of others enough to speak on their behalf. It’s completely different to just have sex with the guests that come here for it when we are open than having men other than you live in this mansion with us all the time.” “She is right,” Mafaris joins in. “People come, people fuck, people go. No more interactions. Well, besides the baths or company, but that’s part of the job and we do act there. In any way, it’s different when men would live among us. I’m honestly very comfortable with just you. I don’t wanna other dudes to try to hit on me while off duty or stuff like that. That’s just an example of course, not like I expect them to, but… yeah.” “I’m in a similar boat,” Roseni speaks up. “Having casual sex is different from living together. It might get… uncomfortable. As stupid as it might sound, girls get along with other girls much better than with guys. All in all, we do think a little bit different in some aspects.” I wait for a moment but no one else adds anything. “I presume the rest of you have similar thoughts since you don’t speak up?” The remaining people who previously objected nod their head. “Well, I respect the opinions of all of you so I won’t be pressuring you. I expected my women to be against it in the first place. Our plans change only a little bit.” “We are sorry for the inconvenience, Master,” Cinra says and all the elves bow down, soon followed by others who catch up. “Stop. Don’t do that. It’s fine. As I said, it only changes my plans a little bit. We still can open to women and that’s where all the toys come in.” I move my gaze around and stop at the crimson-skinned tiefling girl. “Mafaris. I assume you’ve run across a few of the fun thingies by now right?” She nods curiously. ”What if I told you to service some frustrated ladies in a room full of these?” Her eyes instantly shoot wide and I swear they start sparkling. She stands up so fast others around her flinch. “OH, MY GODDESS YES! I LOVE YOU!” She launches herself at me, almost toppling my chair. I catch her into my arms and chuckle while getting squashed under her fine body. Mafaris quickly realizes what she is doing and jumps off me. “I’m so sorry! I got a little bit too excited there!” She bows down, showing a bit more control. Her tail keeps flying behind her like crazy though. The other tieflings give me wide and knowing smirks. “It’s okay. I’m already used to this thanks to a certain individual.” Half of the girls turn to glance at Emi who shows a funny expression with her tongue out. “Anyway, that’s the plan. We’ll turn some of the free rooms into literal pleasure dens for women, equipped with many different contraptions and toys. Most of them should be easy to use and we could just lend the rooms to the female customers while they take their time there with what they chose, but some more complex plays might require a helping hand to set up. And there could always be girls that are similar to you, of course.” “Yes, yes, yes! I’ll gladly see to it, whatever you have in mind! I’ll do everything to make it work even if I will be the only one to oversee that part of our services!” I chuckle and reach out to ruffle through her dark crimson hair. “Great, but what about others' opinions on this?” Everyone looks around and nods. No one raises any concerns. Then, Shawure and Zalia speak up and offer their help with the activities too. Some of the elves also join in. Looks like we have a few people willing to help with this. Mafaris returns to her seat, visibly trembling. “Alright. We’ll go with this then. It will take some time before we announce these services, but I’m glad to hear no one is against them. Let’s move onto another feature I want to mention. Role-playing. We do lack the costumes and perhaps a tailor for now, but it’s something that could enrich our repertoire.” Cinra instantly gasps a little in realization while others look confused. “What exactly is this role-playing, Master?” Shawure asks. “Cinra, what do you think?” I turn to her to see how much she got from our first session. “I believe it’s about acting according to a certain assumed role or personality during sex, making it a bit deeper than just bland service. For example, I was recently asked to behave like a slightly arrogant noble lady towards a customer, ordering him around while we did it. He seemed really, really satisfied with my acting, fufufu~” “That’s right. It was about personality in your case. Other examples could be something like dressing into robes of an adventuring priestess and acting slightly pure like one, dressing into a cloth armour as a rogue and acting in an appropriate manner, or any other stereotypical professions. It doesn’t always have to involve acting according to stereotypes, some people just love doing it with a ‘theme’, so just the costume changes a lot. Oh, and this includes common racial outfits. Orcs, Elves, Tieflings. Every race has something unique they wear, right?” Everyone goes ‘oooooooooooohhhh’ and they start chatting between themselves. I catch on some mentions confirming that men in this world might be into this stuff too, from their giggling banter. Shortly after, almost everyone from the working department starts nodding enthusiastically. Nebu looks a little bit lost, but that’s expected. I’ll have a longer talk about everything with her sometime later. “Okay. I see that this gets a green light too. Uh… It means it passed. Just a saying. Pay it no mind. Anyway, the last thing is connected to you being almost locked here. From now, I want you to be able to leave the mansion at will, under some rules and regulations of course.” The girls listen to my words curiously, awaiting my further news. “First one, you’ll obviously have to wear your collars. And I’d like you to wear your uniforms too. It will both protect you a bit and serve as an advertisement for our establishment. The more people see your outfits, the more questions they will ask, getting directed here in the end. Any objections?” Everyone shakes their heads. “Second one, you won’t be allowed to leave the city’s premises alone. I might take some of you out from time to time or per request, but I want you to stay inside otherwise.” A wave of nodding. “Third one, you have to promise to not cause trouble. And I mean acting rashly. By all means, defend yourselves when something happens, but try to not get into dangerous situations by yourselves. It might be hard to see your folks being pushed around on the streets, but we can’t fight the system. For now. And remember that others don't know your seals are kind of fake but don't let that stop to act in case of an emergency.” “You don’t have to worry, Master. I’m sure everybody understands that even without you mentioning this. Most of us were slaves and know it’s best to avoid unwise actions in the middle of a Human settlement while alone. We also owe you a lot,” Neira butts in and most of the girls nod. “Alright. There are some more, but they are minor ones so I’ll just give you a note to read. If you are fine with that, we are good. I’m sure I mentioned it before, but you do get an actual salary, so shopping is very much up for consideration.” It suddenly gets a bit too lively to continue when I mention shopping and I decide to end the meeting. We’ve covered all the major points anyway. With this, we will be moving onto another phase of our business. There’s still so much to do but we are making good progress. And so far, reception is also as good as it can be. While I make my way out of the increasingly louder lobby, Cornelia catches up to me and walks by my side. “Things are looking good. Give it a week or so and you’ll be able to go out on an adventure or two. Maybe find a good tailor or some nice monster girls and use your manly charms to talk them into joining us,” she says with a mischievous smile. “I kind of feel bad for the prospect of leaving you behind like this. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t want to accompany me.” She chuckles and joins our hands together. “How sweet of you. I can always let Elea substitute for me, you know? But, you should take out the girls with a bit less freedom. The two of us can go anywhere, anytime.” “True. I’ll just wait for the day when you will beg me to take you with me after I ignore you for months.” I give her a playful smile too. “Ha! We’ll see who will be the one begging for attention!” She pushes me with her hips and laughs. We then glance at each other and share a short kiss as we head to my room. Someone has to work before all that can happen.
Chapter 64 – Through the Eyes of Another: The Bard’s Highway to Hell Spoiler: Chapter Meanwhile, on the road towards the village of Vilre, south of the capital of Ronerulle... “What’s with this cliché timing?! Why did there have to be an outbreak just as we decided to head back to the capital?! Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh…” Shino whines while making a mess out of her hair. I chuckle quietly. “Well, isn’t it always like that?” She stops ruining her looks and glances at me, who is riding on a horse by her side. “What do you mean by that, Natalie-san?” “In all these novels you always talk so much about, isn’t it a common trope for the heroine to get interrupted whenever she tries to confess? We are technically heroes summoned into another world. What if it’s not Kamil but Mr Carter who is the main character in our story?” Shino pales instantly and her eyes widen. “Oh no… Oh no, no, no, no… Don’t tell me I will be unable to express my feelings for sensei and remain a side character forever while he creates an incredible harem of foreign beauties and falls in love with them!” She starts rubbing her head even more forcefully. “Aaaahhhhhhhhhhh! I should have been honest with myself back on Earth! What do I doooooooooooooo?!” I shake my head with a soft smile. Since our last talk by the fire, Shino became a little less secretive with her love for Mr Carter, which resulted in her beginning to worry about it more and more even after all that talk about not minding anything that happens around him as long as she could be by his side. She still doesn’t talk openly about it with anyone else besides me, but she certainly changed and others definitely noticed that. Well, maybe besides Kamil. He always has been oblivious to everything else besides his own existence, and it’s actually even worse now after Vanessa joined us. He can’t get his eyes off her, whatever we do and wherever we are. If Shino changed then he suddenly turned into a completely different person. 「Does love at first sight have such a strong effect on someone? Or love in general? I don’t remember becoming much different when I realized my feelings...」 I take another peek at Shino, who is slowly calming down her emotions, and with a smile, I observe how she employs one of the breathing techniques she learned from her family, to regain control over her mind and body. A sight almost like from martial arts movies. Before she finishes, I move my gaze forward onto Vanessa, riding between Kamil and Marcia. After we escorted her to the king of Ronerulle, we agreed to take her with us to Evalitia’s capital after the burial since that was where we were going to be headed anyway due to Shino insisting on us returning. But, during the three days we stayed at their place to rest a little, a report arrived, saying that Abyssals have been spotted in the vicinity of one of the villages in this kingdom. Vanessa is a very kindhearted person and instantly requested her father to send her there so she could help. She will definitely become a great ruler with how much she cares for the people, being able to instantly put away her thoughts on her brother’s death and focus her mind on doing everything she can to help those that are still living. I’m sure the king would have begged us to help too, and that’s pretty much our role in this world anyway, but before anything of that had a chance to happen, our great Hero stepped forward and swore an oath to assist the princess in saving her people. Thus, we are currently heading towards the village which reported the sudden appearance. Our return has been delayed a little, but this is also a chance to learn more on the topic of Abyssals. And hopefully, to prevent the massacre that happened in the mining village back in Evalitia. “Haaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh…” Shino releases a long sigh and captures back my attention. “You good now?” “Yes…” She nods. “Why am I so unlucky, Natalie-san…” “There’s no reason to think about it. We both know it was just a coincidence. Besides, a day or a month won’t make a difference if the both of you have feelings for each other, right?” “I know… But, it’s still frustrating… Anyway,” she then bows to me slightly, “I’m sorry, Natalie-san. I feel like I’ve been forcing you to talk much more than usual due to my recent behaviour.” “It’s fine. I don’t mind it. It’s good to be open about yourself.” I wave my hand. She giggles a little. “That sounds weird coming from someone who rarely talks about themselves. Or talks in general.” I return my gaze forward and glance down. She is right, it does look weird. I’m always giving advice to her or my coworkers on movie sets, but I never share many things about myself with them. Even with her… “Ah! I’m sorry! I just realized how rude that was! I really don’t mind you being like that! I actually really like your demeanour!” Shino starts hastily apologizing. I smile faintly seeing her panicky expression and hearing her words. “I know, so don’t sweat it.” “Hey! We’ve let the horses rest enough. Time to resume our pace. Don’t fall behind,” Paul shouts and the both of us look forward just to see him waving in our direction. “Roger that, Paul-san!” Shino answers back and turns back to me. “I guess we should end our chat for now, Natalie-san. I don’t want you falling off your horse again.” She giggles while I shake my head and we raise the speed to catch up to the vanguard. Seriously, it’s not my fault I’m so bad at riding horses… How can others do it so easily? I always had issues with this, even on the set, needing the help of stuntmen in such scenes. We completely refocus on the road and make our way towards the village as fast as we can. According to Paul’s predictions, we should arrive there tomorrow around noon. That’s a day faster than the king said, but still slow when it comes to coming for the rescue. We can only hope and pray there were no big attacks yet and the civilians are safe. I really need to raise my Tier and magic more. I’m sure I can learn some kind of spatial travel method, like the ancient Gate spell left behind in Evalitia’s capital by previous generations. Too bad there are only three spatial tunnels leading towards three, far borders of the Human Kingdom, so it can be used only to arrive at these points. One direction is excluded since it’s covered by the sea. During my time in the castle, I thought I’ve learned a lot and developed my magic to a satisfactory level, but after what we’ve gone through already, I realized I only scratched the tip of the iceberg. I should ask that Acting Court Magician Cornelia for more guidance when we get back. We ride in relative peace. Nothing much happens on our way to the village, besides a few short, forced stops to repel wild animals catching onto our scent. Vanessa said it’s nothing uncommon on these roads and it’s usually just beasts, without any stronger monsters in the vicinity. I can see how escort quests can make adventurers and the guild thrive. Night falls and we make a stop in a clearing by the road. Judging by the burnt ground here and there, it’s a popular spot for people to set up a camp and rest. We don’t have any carts or cargo so we take only one-third of the space with our tents and fireplaces. Shino, Paul and Marcia are the ones who usually prepare food other than our rations. The first one can decently deal with eastern-type meals, but due to our supplies of rice and similar things being low, the latter two take the main role, thanks to their experience. It shouldn’t be necessary to say from where Paul has it, survival in the wilds is quite an important part of the military, but in the case of Marcia, she just likes cooking exotic dishes. And the meat of various fantasy creatures does certainly qualify as exotic ingredients to her. Thank Goddess people in this world know how to properly make and use spices. After eating together, we split into two groups, as usual. Kamil, Marcia and Paul, now also accompanied by Vanessa, sit by the main campfire while I and Shino move to the one on the side to pass time before sleeping in a little less loud atmosphere. I bring my guitar onto my lap in the form of a provisional table and bring out my small notepad. Flipping through the pages, I quickly arrive at a clean one and press my pencil over its surface, beginning to write. {Day 396 Nothing notable happened today. We are still on the road towards Vilre village. We should arrive tomorrow at noon if everything goes according to the plan. I really hope nothing critical happened there yet for the sake of Vanessa’s compassion. I’m sure she is not unfamiliar with death since she was born in this world, but I can’t help worrying that seeing a freshly devastated village could have an impact on her gentle heart. Anyway, no use worrying about the future. Shino is growing more prominent since the night she earnestly accepted her feelings. She is still the same Shino, but at the same time, it seems as if her smile has gotten even more charming. They do say that people tend to look prettier when they are honest with themselves. I wonder if X XXXXX XXXX XXX XXXX XX X XXXXXXXX XX XXXXXXXX? Guess I’ll end it here. My mind is wandering off.} I sigh softly after crossing out the weird thoughts I put on paper again and end the new entry in my diary. I take a glance at Shino sitting on the opposite side of the fire. She is tending to her weapon with a gentle smile. It brings one on my lips too. A strong breeze hits me from the side and the notepad flutters while the pages flip in chaos. I cover my eyes for a moment so that nothing falls into them, carried by the chilly current. After it passes, I look down at my diary. {Day 1 I still can’t believe it, but it really seems we somehow ended up in another world like in one of these novels Shino and teacher love. Honestly, it’s a bit too much to take in. I didn’t have my usual diary on me when that happened, so I’ll be starting a new one. We landed in a throne room and were asked to save the world from destruction. Such a cliché trope. We were pretty dazed, but teacher Carter stood up as our representative, even getting angry for our sake, in front of someone who called himself a king. He is always so daring for others... We can’t get back immediately, so we decided to see through it for now, after we had a talk with that king and his aides. All the stats and stuff, it’s almost like a game, but I know it’s not at the same time. This is our new reality. Honestly, I’m a little scared but also relieved that teacher Carter is with us. As shameless as it may be, I know we can rely on him for anything. And Shino is here too. I’m really glad. Really, really glad she is okay... We should do our best as a group to keep everyone safe and protect each other.} Shortly after I finish reading the very first entry and reminiscing about the past, footsteps reach my ears from the side. Vanessa makes her way here and we look at her. “Hey. Mind if I join you girls?” She waves and smiles. “Of course not, Vanessa-san! We don’t mind more company, right Natalie-san?” I nod to Shino’s words. Vanessa comes closer and sits down near her. “Now that I think of it, why do you keep calling people like that? I’m sorry if I come out as rude,” she asks. “Ah. Ummm…” “Same as in Naharren, there are many languages on Earth, where we came from. Shino’s mother tongue uses these suffixes as honorifics, to show proper respect and closeness to others. Even though we are not speaking it, she always believed that other languages don’t show enough of that respect and kept adding these into other tongues. So, she’s just overly polite with everyone. It’s part of her upbringing. She could be viewed as a princess in our world,” I take the question over, expecting Shino not to be able to prepare a good explanation under the sudden pressure. “Natalie-san! You are making me look like some kind of a weirdo!” “Well, if we consider what’s normal, aren’t you one?” She visibly pouts at me and Vanessa chuckles softly, glancing at us afterwards. “I understand. I’ll bear that in mind. That’s certainly something unique, but I guess it’s like having an accent. I believe it should be possible to find similar cases of people using parts of their own dialect in other languages amongst all the races here.” “That’s true. Sensei definitely knows at least four of them. Or maybe more.” “Sensei?” Vanessa shows a curious expression. “It means teacher in her language. He spent most of our one-year training learning about this world and other races, but we split in the end due to his Class being… not suitable for this task,” I explain vaguely. Vanessa nods. “I get it. To be able to learn four or more foreign languages, he must have received the blessing of some kind of a scholar. There are some Classes that aren’t strong.” “Ummm… Not exactly…” Shino mutters quietly and drops her gaze to the ground. “Hm? What is his Class then?” I stare at Shino, wondering if I should answer this question or leave it be. She, for sure, won’t be able to— “It was something called… Sexmancer…” But, she proves me wrong. Vanessa’s eyes widen for a quick moment and then she cocks her head back in understanding. “Ah. I see now. Certainly, it would be hard for you considering your teacher-student relationships. I apologize for prying into your private matters.” “Do you know what it does?” I ask after seeing her reaction. “Uhh, well… To some extent…” A slight blush appears on her face. Shino suddenly moves closer to her and pretty much pierces Vanessa with her curious gaze. “Please, Vanessa-san! Can you tell us what you know about it?” “Are you sure it’s okay? I mean, wouldn’t it be better if he was the one to tell you since he didn’t in the past?” She glances at both of us and we nod. Mr Carter definitely wouldn’t mind. “Alright then. Ekhm. Just so we are clear, all I know comes from fictional novels I stumbled onto in my mother’s chambers. There was a certain one that told the tale of a Sexmancer hero making his way through the realm. It was… quite a vibrant one.” She smiles wryly. “Anyway, he supposedly could empower his companions for the fights as they would get buffs from… taking his seed… into their bodies… You can guess what was the focus in that story… Most of the other abilities described there were… similar...” After Vanessa finishes, I instantly lock my eyes with Shino. “Natalie-san… Do you think…” “...that was the real reason why he didn’t come with us?” She nods. “There’s no doubt.” “Yeah. I agree. If it was like that, then sensei must have exiled himself from the party to not make us disturbed. He most likely couldn't imagine talking about specifics in our group. Especially with Kamil-san and Paul-san around.” We stare at each other in silence for a moment longer and then sigh in unison. “He sounds like a very thoughtful and caring man,” Vanessa comments. “You have no idea how much, Vanessa-san,” Shino replies. “Sensei always puts others above himself. We knew that and yet… We should have figured that out sooner…” “We should…” I add. “Well, you can talk with him the next time you visit Evalitia’s capital, right? After hearing you talk about him, I’m sure he understands it already, but you should let him know that it doesn’t bother you girls. Even if… you are not planning to partake… in such activities… with him...” Vanessa’s skin flushes a little again. Shino suddenly stands up with a determined gaze. “Yes! We need to return quickly! I can’t let sensei feel like he has to distance himself from us!” She then bows to us. “Natalie-san, Vanessa-san. Thank you for tonight. I’m going to sleep now. I need to rest as much as I can so that we finish this up as soon as possible. Goodnight!” With a hasty step, she leaves towards her tent and disappears inside shortly after. I trail after her with my eyes until her figure no longer remains in my sight. She was thinking about him so much she completely forgot to get all flustered over what we were talking about. I sigh softly and hear a giggle afterwards. Returning my gaze to the front, I notice Vanessa staring at me with a smile while supporting her cheeks with both hands as her elbows rest on her thighs. “Is there something on my face?” I ask quietly. Her smile grows even wider. “Oh, no, nothing. I apologize for staring so much. I just didn’t expect to find someone the same as me amongst the fabled Heroes.” I lightly furrow my brows at her and she giggles again. Vanessa then stands up and leaves towards the main campfire where now only Paul is sitting, beginning the night shifts. 「Did she…?」 I shake my head and walk to my tent too. There’s no point in making assumptions. It can only cause misunderstandings. The next morning, we wrap up the breakfast, pack in a flash, and resume our trip. Shino is in high spirits from the very sunrise. She emanates an aura as if she could take on a whole army by herself. I should watch her carefully in case she loses attention to her surroundings in battle. Four hours into the ride, I notice some commotion in the vanguard and they begin slowing down. Shortly after, Vanessa makes a loud whistle with her fingers, playing a melody similar to the morse code from our world. We all gather around her to see what’s happening. Then, a small but very fast bird descends from the sky and jumps around her like a hummingbird. It’s way bigger than its Earth counterpart and looking more like a cross between it and a raven. It finally sits on Vanessa’s shoulder. “What’s with that bird?” Marcia asks. Vanessa pinches its legs and brings forth a small capsule. “It’s an emergency messenger. They are trained to fly along the travelling paths and circle above people for a short moment before flying further. They come down if they hear the call I made earlier. Most adventurers and people with military professions know it.” She opens the container and unrolls a piece of paper, reading it quickly. Her eyes widen for a brief moment and she hastily stuffs the message back into the tube, reattaching it to the bird’s leg. “It’s from Vilre. Their hunters spotted a higher number of Abyssals in the forest and they are expecting an attack. We need to hurry!” She flings the bird into the air and it flies away at an amazing speed. “Wait a second.” I stop everyone before we break into a gallop and bring my guitar from behind my back. Vanessa looks a little anxious, but she understands I wouldn’t stall them without a reason. I close my eyes and focus my mind on recalling a specific melody. In a flash, a musical staff appears in my imagination. A clef and notes follow soon after it. Without wasting any time, I begin playing my guitar and the notes disappear from the lines as I hit them, starting to fly from right to left. I don’t have time to listen properly to the output and I do my best to finish the piece invoked by the Symphony of Wind skill as soon as possible. Ten seconds after I start, the music ends and I make a deep sigh. Targeting twelve individuals at my level is extremely draining. I didn’t only buff us but also the horses. They are the key factor here. “Amazing. I would praise your music more, but every second counts. Let’s go!” Vanessa nods at me and we depart. Thanks to my magic, we are now able to make the horses run almost 50% faster than their previous best speed for around three hours. They will also feel less fatigue from it, so we can push them to their limits without worry. In a bit over an hour, the trees begin clearing up a little and we notice the wooden palisade in the distance. There’s no smoke or any other signs of something bad happening coming from behind it, but we can’t be too sure. Abyssals aren’t bandits that set everything on fire. Everybody could be already slaughtered. I shake my head to clear my mind from unnecessary imagery and focus on recalling all my spells and abilities. The rest of us seem to be preparing for a possible battle too. We’ve fought with a few Abyssals, but we’ve never defended a village from a swarm. I can’t be the only one nervous here. We finally arrive close enough to see the gate clearly. And we quickly realize it is under assault as we’ve feared. But, fortunately, it looks like there are only slightly over a dozen of these monsters trying to break inside through here, of various sizes and shapes. “Paul! What’s the plan?” Kamil shouts while we still ride towards them. Ever since that accident in the mines, Kamil toned his ego down a bit and Paul assumed his rightful role as our strategist. Shino often fills him up on monster trivia she learned from Mr Carter during their short conversations, which were more in the form of her stalking him until he spoke up to her. Anyway, it’s good that Kamil stepped down. Thanks to that, we can now have someone competent to come up with a course of action in the span of seconds. And, this time too, Paul doesn’t let us down. “Vanessa! Can you push them away from the gate?” “No sweat!” “Good. On my signal then. Kamil, get yourself between them and the gate the instant she finishes! Grab their attention! Marcia will support you!” He looks at them in turns and then glances back at us. “Shino, get them from the flank! I’ll stay with Natalie in the back and rain arrows at them! Natalie, apply defensive buff on everyone besides us as soon as possible.” “Time to squash some trash!” “Aye, aye, captain!” “Understood.” “Got it,” I reply as the last person. We all ride the last two hundred meters in complete focus and stare down our enemies in the form of many beastly shapes made out of purplish, almost eldritch-like, shadowy substance. They look like irregular dogs, wolves, tigers, monkeys and similar beasts and animals. “Now!” Paul shouts and everyone, besides Kamil and Marcia, pulls the reins to stop. Vanessa jumps off her horse, brings out her staff while midair, makes a few spins, and shoves it into the ground. It begins to tremble under our feet and we watch a wave of earth rises just in front of the gate and travels towards us like a tsunami, scooping almost all Abyssals on its path. Kamil and Marcia stand on their saddles and jump into the air just before the tall wave of mud reaches them. They fly above it as it passes them, catching the horses too. That was unavoidable. I’ll heal them later. Humans are more important right now and this is not lethal. The pair lands on the ground behind the rolling earth and prepares their abilities. Vanessa’s spell crashes down into the surface shortly before our position and I instantly begin playing the Hymn of the Royal Knights, not closing my eyes this time. A bluish aura surrounds everyone for a brief moment as my powerful yet withdrawn melody fills the air and it soon vanishes. The buff has been applied. Various Abyssals begin crawling out of the accumulated lump of earth. Figured it wouldn’t be enough to deal with them. “Draconic Sharpshooter Arts - Tears of the Azure Sky!” Paul activates one of his skills and aims his bow upwards. A powerful, dark blue bolt of energy soon shoots from his weapon and explodes in the air. Six streaks of a similar colour fall from that point and speed towards the ground, hitting some of the monsters. He launches more of these attacks while observing the battlefield. Kamil easily blocks the assault of six wolf-like shadows, striking back from time to time, while Marcia dances around enemies with a smile as usual. Nothing here can even reach her. Shino quickly annihilates any Abyssals that pop out of the gathered earth before they even fully emerge from under it. She is really determined. Vanessa holds her ground properly too. I could make things faster and use my area of effect magic, but since Paul hasn’t called for it yet, I don’t step over the line. I’m sure he is also thinking about the next fights we might encounter inside and doesn’t want us to exhaust our reserves at the very entrance. I totally don’t mind being inactive. As a healer and support, it’s my duty to be as efficient as possible. The games Shino forced me into playing taught me at least this much. We deal with all enemies in less than five minutes. Just to be sure that there are no more of them hiding in the mud accumulated from the surge, I create tens of thin wind needles with a wave of my hand and skewer the lump with them. A bit of dark smoke rises from the created holes. “We should be done here. Let’s move inside,” Paul commands and we all nod. We run to the gate. “Hey! We’ve dealt with the Abyssals! Let us in! We are here to help!” he shouts as loud as he can. We wait for a short moment but nothing happens. “Maybe all the wardens are at other—” The creak of the huge doors opening interrupts Shino and we quickly run inside with our horses. I’ve already dealt with the injured ones. They didn’t suffer much from the earth. “Vanessa, Natalie, can one of you reinforce it somehow?” Paul asks before the doors start closing. We look at each other with Vanessa and she ponders for a second, nodding afterwards. “Leave it to me.” She then runs to the middle of it and begins her magical dance with her staff. After a few spins and pirouettes, she shoves it into the ground and a wall of earth rises in front of her, covering the whole gate high and wide. She runs back to us and we look around. We instantly realize why it took a while to open. Only three men are now pushing the gate so we help them finish closing it and then throw the massive log into the hooks to lock it. They must have struggled to get it off. “How is the situation?” Paul asks as soon as we get done. “The Abyssals are focusing on the southern gate. We left this one as soon as we realized it might be a diversion. We don’t have enough ranged fighters to cover all of them,” one of the men answers. “Lead us there, quickly!” Vanessa pretty much orders the man and we nod between ourselves. We leave the horses and run after the villager while the other two stays to watch the gate. It doesn’t seem like this place is too large as we can already see the center after a short while. From what we can observe, there are no signs of battle on the streets. At least in the direction where we came from. In the middle of the main plaza, our guide slows down for a moment and changes directions, heading towards some other man. “Chief! Chief! Help is here! The northern gate should be secured!” We all realize that this must be the leader of Vilre and follow after the villager to meet the man. “Boston! That’s great! I assume it’s you six. Thank you for your assistance, but we still require it if you are willing! The main gate is going to break at any moment!” The middle-aged man bows his head to us. “That’s why we are here. We'll do everything in our power to repel the attack!” Vanessa answers him. During that exchange, Paul readies his bow straight up and closes his left eye. Everyone senses mana gathering in the air and turns to look at him. Some kind of an orb forms above the tip of his arrow and four streaks of red energy cover the shaft. “Eye of the Falcon,” he calls some technique out and releases the projectile. We watch as it flies upwards and then flashes in red. Paul covers his closed eye with his hand and focuses. Meanwhile, the arrow begins falling back down but at a much slower pace. I squint my eyes and notice that the attached streaks of mana make it spin while also rotating like a fan and slowing the descent as a result. Such an interesting skill. “Looks like only the main gate is in danger. The rest should hold. I don’t see any intruders. No monster should have made it over the palisade,” he speaks after a moment. “Chief, did you start evacuating people?” The man is in a daze for a second but gets out of it when Paul turns to him with his single eye. “Ah, yes. People are moving from that direction to buildings around the centre.” Paul cancels the technique and rubs his chin before speaking again. “How are your reserves, Vanessa?” “A bit over a half.” “Chief, bring everyone to this plaza at once. Vanessa, when most people get here, create a bunker and cover the area, leaving some windows with bars on the top so that they don’t suffocate. Can you manipulate the structure to create and seal the entrance in turns?” “Yes, no problem.” “Then do so when more people come late. Stay outside of it and protect the bunker just in case. We’ll take care of the main gate.” Vanessa looks at us for a moment and then nods. “But why—” The chief tries to ask questions but is interrupted by Paul. “You don’t have enough soldiers to protect every home. If Abyssals break through somewhere, they’ll massacre them one by one and defenders will struggle to move between them. It’s much safer to protect one spot with lots of space around. Now go.” The man doesn’t question him again after hearing such a detailed and militaristic explanation and runs off, screaming orders to other people in the area. We share a nod with Vanessa once more and run off towards the southern gate. We don’t need to follow anyone this time so we utilize our speed buff from my song to its fullest and get to our destination in under a minute. I catch the expressions of some villagers who are running towards the gate with provisional weapons as we pass them. I’m pretty sure they are not believing their eyes due to how fast we move. When we get there, it becomes obvious that Paul was right. The gate is cracking in many places and the log is also almost giving up. If he was able to see so much detail with that technique and wasn’t only guessing, then I’m in awe. “What do we do now?” Shino asks him as we stop. “I counted around fifty of these things there. Six medium-sized and one two times bigger than the gorilla-like thing we fought in the mines. Hmmmm…” He ponders for a quick moment. “Kamil, did you get ahold of that spell you called your finishing move?” “Oh, that shit? Hell yeah, man! But, I’ll become as limp as a dick after a three-night marathon by using it just once.” Marcia snorts and I roll my eyes. Crude as ever. If Vanessa was here he would have never phrased it like that. I always hated people like him. With just a bit of experience on the set, you start recognizing fake acting subconsciously. “Natalie,” Pauls call my name so I turn my attention to him. “We might need to rely on you this time. I want to try to end things in one go.” “What do you need?” I ask. “How is your fire magic?” “Quite good in my eyes. What do you have in mind?” He points towards the gate. “Can you raise walls of fire to cut off all intersections and create a tunnel along the main road?” I take a glance where he points and then behind me, trying to calculate this in my mind. “Doable. How far?” “First five intersections.” “Alright. And then?” He looks at Kamil. “That move doesn’t hurt you, right?” Kamil nods. “Natalie will create one more wall across the street at the end of our tunnel and you will stand there with Shino. You two will hold your ground until all of them come to you and then Natalie will cover the path back, trapping them in a square formation. Shino gets out with her Shadow Step and you disintegrate the enemy. Simple?” “Oh man, this is so lit! I’m in!” Kamil gets fired up and I nod after Paul glances at me again. Without wasting any more time, we begin our preparations. He and I get onto the roofs to watch over everything from above. Marcia runs to the wardens to let them know what is cooking up and Kamil with Shino ready themselves in the middle of the main road. As soon as Marcia waves at us, we nod at each other with Paul. I gather my mana and slowly raise thick walls of powerful fire over the path we discussed before and close it behind Shino’s and Kamil’s backs. The fire reaches even higher than buildings and connects above them, just in case these monsters get the idea of climbing onto the structures. “Good thinking,” Paul praises me for the quick fix and readies his bow. Soon after I finish with a bit of sweat forming on my forehead, from all the focus and not the heat, the gate is opened. Abyssals flood the fiery corridor and look a bit lost at first, trying to run past the flaming obstacles, just to screech in pain after getting in contact with them. My magic is not that weak, you know? I hear a roar, but it sounds closer to what a Human would release rather than them, and most of the enemies begin rushing towards Kamil. He must have used some kind of a taunt. Paul keeps skewering enemies with his mana-covered arrows as they run to reduce their numbers. Some of the quicker Abyssals reach the duo fast. While Kamil focuses mostly on defending his front, Shino skillfully covers his back. Her sword techniques and gracefulness are as impressive and beautiful as always. A small smile forms on my lips. 「Stop it, Nat! Focus on keeping the walls up! Just a few more monsters!」 I berate myself internally and observe the wave of the rushing Abyssals, waiting for a moment when I can close their escape path. It arrives just a few seconds later and I raise one more wall, releasing the ones which are now outside of the enclosed area. Shino disappears into Kamil’s shadow while he laughs. “Hahahaha, fuckers! This is what you get for going against the Hero!” He points his sword clad in a golden aura into the sky and shouts with a booming voice as many Abyssals pile on top of him. “Diviiiiiiiiiiineeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Reeeeeeeeeeeetriiiiiiiiiiiibuuuuuuuuuuuutioooooooooooonnnnnnn!” We all glance up and see the clouds above us starting to swirl and move aside from the spot where he is pointing at. Soon after they part, something flashes in the distant sky and an immense pillar of light crashes onto Kamil in a blink of an eye, covering the whole area I enclosed with my fire. Loud humming accompanies the bright spectacle and we can still hear him laughing from the epicentre. I take down all of the walls to allow others from our party and the village wardens to prepare for interception of any remaining Abyssals that could have somehow avoided that golden ray of heavenly annihilation. The pillar finally disappears and we are able to glance down where it hit. There’s nothing left there besides Kamil standing still in the same pose as when he invoked the skill. Or magic. Or whatever that incomprehensible move was. “Huh. Not as limp as—” Paul begins to comment with a smile when Kamil suddenly faceplants into the ground. The sight makes both of us chuckle and we shake our heads. I glance towards the gate while we make our way to the ground and notice that they closed it already. Dealing with any leftover Abyssals that could have been left behind around the village should now be a piece of cake. I better head to our Hero first and help him recover at least a bit. I arrive by his side shortly after Shino and Marcia flip him onto his back since he can’t even lift a finger. He makes eye contact with me and grins. “You know what, Nat?” “Hm?” “I just realized it would have been even more epic with a dope-ass track playing in the background.” I roll my eyes and sigh. But of course...
Chapter 65 – Through the Eyes of Another: The Bard Discovers a New Land Spoiler: Chapter After his huge finishing move, Kamil can’t even lift a finger, so Paul and Marcia have to pick him up and carry him like some wasted drunk. I’m pretty sure they've been in such a situation at least once before, judging from how swiftly they manage to scoop him up from the ground and how easy it seems for them to keep guiding him. The main threat has been dealt with, but that doesn’t mean the siege is finished. There are still monsters all around the village’s palisade, even though their numbers are not that high. Paul informs the wardens present by the southern gate that we’ll take care of them soon so they can spread to all the other gates to keep an eye on them. Literally dragging Kamil over the ground, we head to the main square in the village to check on Vanessa and the residents. From afar, it looks like everything is fine and she did follow Paul’s instructions as we can see a huge, flipped over bowl-like structure rising into the sky made out of mud. She notices us coming and runs to meet us. “How’s the gate? Are you guys okay? What happened to Kamil?” The person in question chuckles wryly. It’s all he can do in his current state. “It’s all good… We’ve… dealt with most of the monsters… I’m just… a little drained… from going all out…” Vanessa raises one of her brows. “Was that weird pillar of light perhaps your doing?” “Yep! Our handsome hero wanted to make a good impression on our beautiful princess. Did his valiant effort capture your maiden heart?” Marcia teasingly butts in. “Shut up! I was just following Paul’s plan! I didn’t do it to look good!” Kamil retorts. “You sure?” “Yes! I’m not that kind of person!” I snort mentally. He is very much that kind of person, even if what he is saying is actually true in the current predicament. If it was any other girl in the past, he would not waste a chance to hit on her, but somehow, he acts completely different in front of Vanessa. We hear a soft giggle and see the princess covering her mouth. “It truly looked to be a work of a Hero chosen by the Goddess. I would lie if I were to say that I am not amazed by the sheer power that divine light emanated.” She gives us a beautiful smile and I’m pretty sure Kamil blushes a little while averting his eyes. On the other hand… After our last talk by the fire… I’m beginning to think she’s intentionally playing along to tease him for some reason… And when I glance at her, she winks at me with a merry smile as if reading my thoughts. Afterwards, she opens up the shelter and starts letting people out. The village chief approaches us and we report the situation to him. We leave Kamil in his hands and split into three teams to cover more ground faster. Shino is the strongest of us when it comes to offence so she rushes towards the western gate by herself. Paul and Marcia head towards the eastern one and I’m left with Vanessa to check on the northern entry and its surroundings again. “Want a ride?” she asks after we take a few steps towards our destination. “Hm?” Without elaborating, Vanessa starts her exotic dance using her staff and part of the ground emerges from under her feet, creating a flat, stone board. It’s the spell that allowed her to surf the earth back when we first met. She offers me a hand with a warm smile. I take it and she gracefully pulls me in with a bit more strength than I expected and I land in her arms, leaning against her body. Our eyes meet for a brief moment and her smile grows wider. A second later, she thrusts her staff to the front. “Onwards!” And the earth under our feet starts gurgling, rising higher and higher until we begin moving forward at the height of an average person. The gentle breeze created by the speed of our movement makes our hair flutter. Honestly, to other people, I might be looking like a princess held by a valiant knight more than her right now. It’s a weird feeling. We reach the gate and jump off the wave of mud. The wardens open it up for us and Vanessa’s previously created wall of earth is still present, blocking it properly. Before she takes it down, I gather my mana in preparation for launching a few elemental spells if there are any monsters on the other side. “I’ll fight on the front, Natalie. Earth Magic has quite good defensive capabilities.” She winks at me and I watch as her whole skin gets covered with a thick layer of elastic mud, which looks harder than any mineral I’ve seen in this world so far. How does it bend around her joints without crumbling is a mystery, but it certainly gives the vibes of something hard to penetrate. After she finishes gearing up, we nod at each other and the wall of mud slowly descends back into the ground. When it lowers itself to match our waists, a few shadowy, wolf-like Abyssals jump over it, aiming straight at Vanessa. She braces herself for impact, preparing her staff, but it’s completely unnecessary. Before the monsters even reach the ground, I raise my hand into the sky and summon a dozen of Fire Lances. They impale all of the enemies in a blink after I bring my hand down, and they dissipate into dark smoke. Vanessa whistles at me. “They told me you were strong but I didn’t think it was this much.” I shrug. “I don’t get many chances to use my offensive magic when we fight as a group. I’m a healer and a support in the first place, but I do have a knack for Elemental Magic. It would be stupid not to develop it.” “I see. What is your main element then? Fire?” “All of them.” Vanessa’s mouth opens from shock. A monkey-looking Abyssal jumps at her after we walk through the gate, but she waves her staff without even glancing its way and a huge hand out of earth slams it into the ground, flattening the enemy. She keeps staring at me. “You must be joking.” I raise my hand in front of me and turn it palm up. One by one, pieces of many elements appear above my extended fingers: a tongue of fire, an orb of water, a ball of wind, a lump of earth and a crystal of ice. Well, the last one is a fusion of water and wind and not exactly part of the main elements, but it looks fancier with five instead of four. “And you can control them to the same extent?” I nod. “Hahaha… Are you sure that guy is the Hero and not you? Elemental Magic, Healing Magic, Divine Songs with an incredibly wide plethora of buffs and debuffs through your Bard’s Class… No matter how I look at it, he seems kinda bland.” “As someone wise once said, title maketh man not. Even though the context was completely different. We are who we are and we do what we can.” Vanessa assumes a thinking expression as we walk along the outer walls of the palisade. “That teacher of yours, right?” I nod again. “The more I hear about him the more interesting he seems to be. I wish I could have a chat with that person one day.” I smile softly. “If you’ll still accompany us to Evalitia’s capital, you’ll meet him for sure. Just follow a certain black-haired girl. These two are like magnets for each other.” “She can’t be more obvious.” Vanessa giggles quietly. “And I will. I decided to join your party and I already feel like it was a great decision, even though we’ve barely spent any time together. You guys are just… kind of different from other adventurers.” “That’s obvious. We are not from this world.” A pack of Abyssals interrupts our little chat and we glance at each other. With a smile, Vanessa lunges at the enemies while I create sharp wind blades in my palms. We focus on the battle completely and annihilate all leftover monsters we come across on our path towards the western gate. We finish in around three hours and head back to the main square to meet with the others. Shino is already there, waiting by herself while meditating. No surprises here. With her speed, abilities and strength, she most likely flew through her opponents like a wind, without stopping even for a moment. She seems to be the one progressing the fastest out of all of us. The others arrive soon after we do and we are invited for a post-assault meeting with the chief. He thanks us a lot for the help, but Shino finally manages to calm him down and we discuss the matter of the Abyssals appearance in the area. He informs us where the first ones were spotted and let us know the names of the hunters who reported the sightings so we can investigate it more by ourselves. They don’t have enough strong people to send into the forest to do so; it’s quite dangerous. After the meeting, we are pretty much forced to attend a party held specifically for us, for obvious reasons. Kamil regains enough strength to be able to drag his body around by himself and enjoys the feast to the fullest, focusing more on the alcohol and ending up almost completely wasted. As usual, Shino and I are the first to leave. Both of us prefer a bit less rowdy atmosphere. Our rooms are next to each other and we split by the door, heading to our respective resting places. I fill another page of my diary before going to sleep as usual. In the morning, right after all the toiletries, I sit down by the desk in my room and summon my full status. Yesterday’s fights were quite fierce and we took down a lot of enemies, so it’s possible there are some changes. Our bodies should have assimilated all the experience and energy from the previous day overnight. 「Looks like my Elemental Magic gained a level. Same goes for the Hymn of the Royal Knights. I did not tier up, but that’s to be expected. The King said that the second Tier would come quickly due to all the experience we accumulated during our year of training, but after that, it might take long before we move further. Normal people take long years before managing to achieve Tier 3, not even mentioning the ones above. You have to be very talented, gifted or lucky to encounter beneficial opportunities. Even that high-ranked magician Cornelia is stuck at the third one since forever.」 I analyse my status carefully, looking for all the changes. Some more spells appeared in my Elemental Magic submenu, most likely thanks to my increasing mastery over different elements. I remember them mentioning that creativity with Mana Control allows magicians to pretty much discover new spells when they experiment, so this might be the case. 「Anyway, I should practice my music a bit before breakfast. We’ll be going after the source of Abyssals right after it.」 A smile forms on my lips when I recall how lively and fired up Shino was to complete this task. She does everything she can to finish it quickly and meet with Mr Carter, but I can’t help feeling like she’ll turn back into a bundle of blushing, shy insecurities immediately after finding herself in front of him. Sitting cross-legged on my bed, I bring forth my guitar and open up my notebook with all the music notes and stuff. I pull out the photo picturing me and Shino shoulder to shoulder I use as the bookmark and stare at it for a moment. 「I better start preparing to give her the final push or something.」I sigh softly. Putting it away, I begin my practice, which isn’t just your usual musical exercises and playing the instrument. When it comes to my Class, pretty much everything connected to sound is magic. Or rather, it’s more like I passively imbue it with mana, changing the output completely. I still have to focus on it, of course. It honestly feels a little bit like cheating, but Mr Carter said it’s still my own ability and I shouldn’t view it like that. After that, I started viewing it as a part of myself and reached a much higher understanding of this phenomenon than before. It doesn’t just make me a goddess of music, but using mana, I can enhance the sounds I produce, which in turn gain various magical effects in the forms of buffs and debuffs, and some other effects. I do have a higher affinity with all instruments, but even though I can just grab a new one and be able to play it, the actual quality will still be at a beginner’s level, at least for someone experienced with it. Closing my eyes and focusing my mind on creating something new, I begin to weave my mana into the sounds produced by my guitar. I’ve already gained a skill this way once and I’m sure it will be possible to get more. In the end, the skills shown in the system are there to confirm that you are able to do the thing. If I look at it from a different angle, anything you get proficient enough in by yourself should show up in your system as an acknowledgement of you mastering that thing to a level high enough allowing the action to be performed as a skill. And so it is with my melodies. Unfortunately, it’s easier said than done. I do not manage to figure out a good enough match of mana and sounds to create a new magical effect before the time of breakfast comes. It’s alright. These things need time and patience and I have a lot of both. We hold a short briefing while eating. But before that, I had to cast Detoxify and Revitalization on Kamil or we would have to drag an empty, hungover husk with us wherever we go. His Holy Magic doesn’t help with these things. The struggles of being the party’s healer. Afterwards, one of the village girls leads us to the hunter’s quarters and we meet with the head of the group there. He brings the three men that encountered Abyssals first and they proceed to tell us all they know. They came across a wolf-shaped one around two weeks ago, somewhere to the East. They killed it, thinking that it was a normal animal, but the body dispersed into dark smoke soon after. Much later, they had a clash with a bigger group and barely escaped an ambush. It totally felt like it was prepared according to the routes they usually take around the forest, showing that there surely has to be some kind of intelligence behind these monsters. We do know from the King that they have a hierarchy amongst their ranks, but we aren’t sure about all the other details. The usual grunts feel like they are just following their instincts to attack everything or perhaps some orders. We haven’t yet met with a truly smart Abyssal. Anyway, after the ambush, the hunters started travelling in bigger groups and also picked a few from the fastest men amongst their ranks to function as general scouts, tasked with investigating their usual routes and the forest. That’s when they noticed a huge swarm gathering up around five kilometres East of the village. The rest is obvious. They ran back, informed the chief, he sent requests for help and then we came, a few hours after the assault began. Even though none of the hunters saw it, we concluded that the weird portal must be somewhere here. The suspicious, dark, spiralling surface we encountered in the mines. We did not confirm they came out of it, but we are almost sure that’s correct. And if we can find it in the forest, there will be no more doubts. Next will come finding a way to somehow track these Abyssal Gates from afar and closing them as quickly as possible. I’ll try to figure something out with my magical knowledge if we find it here. I did learn a little bit from Lady Cornelia. Though, it would be much better if she was the one examining it. Perhaps we should ask the King to let her join us for the next expedition. With all the information we could get from the hunters, we make our preparations and head East. With Vanessa present, our usual formation was a little bit modified. Kamil and Shino still lead at the front and I take the middle with Paul, but Marcia has company in the back now, walking alongside the princess. Paul tries to lead us through the hunter’s tracks and paths while we keep our eyes and senses primed for any Abyssal movement around. We walk for an hour, then for two, and three. We do encounter some aggressive animals and lesser monsters, but there’s no trace of our target. Then finally, after almost four hours, a weird, distressing ripple travels through the air and I shudder when it passes through my body. Looking at others, they don't seem to notice, like it didn’t even occur. Only after glancing at Vanessa, I find that her expression turned sour. We lock our gazes and nod at each other, stopping. “There’s something weird,” she speaks up. Everyone turns around to look at her. “I felt a wave of ominous energy pass us from somewhere ahead.” “Huh? I felt nothing,” Kamil says. “Me neither,” Marcia comments. “I don’t think I’ve sensed anything…” Shino also joins. “I did.” After I support Vanessa’s claim, they look at me. “Just a moment ago.” “Why only you two would feel something?” Kamil switches his confused gaze between us. “They are both well-versed in magic. It could be something connected to it,” Paul voices out his thoughts as he rubs his chin. “That’s possible. The energy wasn’t too strong, but—” Chills again. Vanessa stops and glances at me and I stare at her. Others notice our behaviour. “Was there another?” Paul asks. We both nod and point towards the same direction simultaneously. “Should we follow it? It could be the gate,” Shino suggests. It’s our only clue after hours so we all agree with her and begin heading towards the point where the weird waves of energy originate. They pulsate almost at equal intervals, allowing us to have a fairly good grasp on the epicentre. Careful even more, we make our way there. At one point, the pressure of the waves increases so much mine and Vanessa’s bodies almost tremble when hit with the weird pressure. It’s close to how standing in front of a powerful bass-boosted speaker feels but much more… sinister and uncomfortable. It’s surprising only the two of us are experiencing it. Suddenly, with another wave, Shino jumps a little, disregarding my previous thought. “I felt it too. Faintly, but I did,” she confirms it after we ask. Besides her, no one else from the rest managed to experience the waves up till now. It might have something to do with her Demonic Affinity perhaps. We do not know if Abyssals have any connection to it, but that’s our best guess for now. We find a tall cliff on our way towards the source and decide to climb it since it feels like we are quite close. After half an hour, we reach the peak, way higher than the crowns of the trees in the forest. We instantly notice a clearing just further the way we were headed. “It’s that weird surface again for sure,” Shino speaks up first. To that, we can all agree. There’s no mistaking it, even if it’s a bit far for our eyes to see the details. But, there’s someone for whom distance is not a problem. “And it’s that cursed gorilla again too,” Paul informs us after activating one of his abilities and squinting his eyes. “Are they supposed to be a sentry or something?” “Anything else?” Vanessa asks while another wave passes through us. “Oh. A small Abyssal just jumped out of that weird surface and took off somewhere further east.” Shino, Vanessa and I look at each other. “That pretty much confirms it. It’s a portal of some sorts and these waves must come from it operating,” the princess concludes. “What now then?” Kamil butts in. We all direct our gazes at Paul, who keeps staring into the distance and scratching his chin. “Honestly… it feels risky. If each wave was a visitor from wherever that thing leads, we could easily get surrounded if they are anywhere near. But we should try to close it too…” “It will be fine! All of us are now Tier 2 and we know how that weird, smoking gorilla fights. We can end it fast and if the small ones keep jumping out one by one, we can easily deal with them,” Kamil exclaims confidently. “What do you guys think?” Paul turns back to us. “I know I’ve only just joined your party and shouldn’t get ahead of myself, but I want to at least try to close that portal. If it gets dangerous, I don’t mind escaping at the first sign of things going wrong. I’m willing to be the last one to run, covering your backs, if that’s what will be needed for you to agree,” Vanessa pretty much pleads to us with a determined face. She truly cares for common people. “We came here to help, so we should try at least…” Shino agrees with her. Paul looks at me and Marcia and we both agree to take part in this. After deciding, we hold a short briefing to discuss some strategies and head down the cliff. We did have Vanessa’s help going up, but it’s even easier moving down as she pretty much makes us ride a slide she carves in the stone with her magic as she travels as the first person. Acting as sneaky as possible, we move closer to the spot with the gate and its guardian. It stopped summoning more Abyssals just a moment ago, which feels at least a bit fortunate. Through the trees at the border of the clearing, we find the gorilla-shaped Abyssal, sitting by the portal. There are also some grunts sprawled on the ground around it. It won’t be a one-versus-many like the last time. We all nod at each other and begin the operation. I sit down and start focusing on one of my magical songs, readying myself to play it at the proper moment. Paul notches an arrow and aims it diagonally into the air. Motes of whitish energy gather around the tip as he stretches his bow more and more. “Now!” He gives the signal and releases the projectile. It travels through the air with a very loud, wheezing noise, the same most fireworks create back on Earth. All the monsters follow it with their attention and it explodes above their heads, releasing ferocious, blindingly white light. It stays in the sky like a flare. We didn’t know beforehand if Abyssals’ sight or other senses work the same way as ours, but from them cowering under the sudden assault of brightness proves that it does have some effect on them. Vanessa was ready too and shoves her staff into the ground after finishing a dance. Four giant hands of stone coil around the gorilla-like creature, sealing it behind the hardened earth. The big guy is immobilized for now. The moment Shino, Marcia and Kamil rush forward into the clearing, I begin playing Psalm of the Damned and a slow, gloomy melody travels through the air. This specific piece is supposed to make the target feel sluggish, drained of life and generally weakened. Hopefully, it works. Shino manages to cut down a few of the Abyssals with her Moon-Slashing Arts as she dashes between them with an amazing speed while Marcia’s dance-like moves from her Tango with the Dead would captivate anyone if only we had an audience. The monsters regain composure soon after and Kamil forces their attention onto himself by activating some kind of a taunting ability, following it with a Divine Body strengthening technique to boost his defences just a little. It proves fruitful and every Abyssal turns to him. As the battle progresses, the three of us move into the clearing too, to avoid getting ambushed from the forest by possible reinforcements. Vanessa keeps her focus on the makeshift tomb while I switch into playing March of the Braves to boost my companions this time. Paul rains magical shots and arrows at the monsters whenever he can, observing the battlefield attentively. Enemy’s numbers aren’t as great as the ones we’ve previously encountered and with our quite decent cooperation, we deal with the grunts without much struggle. Kamil gets a bit scratched here and there, but that’s natural with literally every monster in this glade rushing at him from every direction. They finish the last one before Vanessa’s trap loses all of its durability. I’ve noticed it beginning to crack a little. Nevertheless, we all gather what should be a safe distance from it and prepare our attacks. Shino lowers her stance by my side and grabs the hilt of her sheathed katana, readying a rush-type ability. Paul charges up a powerful, piercing shot while Marcia stands in front of him with her dual blades getting covered in more and more wind mana. Kamil also gathers energy in his sword, now glowing in golden light, and holds it above his head with both hands. I glance at Vanessa on my other side and she nods. Before she releases her hold, I create a huge bubble of water above the stone cage, setting its viscosity to as dense as possible, aiming to capture the Abyssal with it to allow others, including Vanessa, to have an easier shot at it. She begins untangling the four stone arms and I immediately slam the water down through the ceiling before the monster has a chance to jump outside. But… It turns out to be a mistake as a huge explosion occurs and an unbelievable amount of grey steam surges out of the unravelling cocoon of earth, quickly reducing our vision greatly and covering the whole glade. A ferocious roar reverberates through the air after Paul, Marcia and Kamil send their attacks towards the pre-aimed spot anyway. Soon after, the earth trembles and I spot a big shadow flying at the three of us from the front. It reaches us before I can even react and the silhouette of the Abyssal gorilla shows up in front of my face. I instantly realize what has happened back there. It looks completely different from before getting trapped. Its dark body is now covered with violet flames, most likely much stronger than your usual fire, and they must have reacted with my spell. Before the monster slams into me, Vanessa jumps to the front and waves her staff horizontally, covering me, Shino and herself with a rough wall of earth in a desperate attempt to shield us. It, unfortunately, is not enough and the beast pierces through the obstacle and hits all three of us with its charge, seemingly not bothered with the reduced visibility. I grunt heavily after being sent flying backwards and tumble on the hard ground a few times, hearing two thuds by my side, most likely made by the bodies of Shino and Vanessa. Another roar arrives and it’s obvious that we are still the targets. Without thinking, I decide to roll to the side and something slams the ground in the place where I’ve just been previously. I barely avoided getting turned into paste. Before the next attack comes, I hear a shout and a lump of earth hits the monster, giving me enough time to stand up and find Shino and Vanessa near me. I can’t see the others. They might have trouble locating us in this grey mist too and attacking blindly could be dangerous. “Hold it back! I’ll deal with this steam!” I shout to them and step back. Shino rushes in instantly and Vanessa sends more earth javelins hurtling towards the gorilla. Meanwhile, I clasp my hands together and begin gathering mana between them. Slowly pulling them away more and more, increasing the gap, I fill it with the wind element, and a spinning orb of greenish winds forms there. After I fully extend my whole arms to the sides, I slam the orb with all my might between my hands, doing a mighty clap. A powerful wave of air pressure surges from it in a spherical shape, instantly pushing all the smoke away and even hitting the trees in the distance. “On top of the portal!” I hear Paul shout and realize that the three of us are in fact fighting on this weird, swirling, starry surface. “Watch out!” Marcia screams and I notice something moving towards me with the corner of my eye. The monster somehow made it past Vanessa and lunged at me, most likely because of my recent stunt. I quickly begin covering my body with a layer of stone in case I fail to dodge, but something suddenly flutters in my shadow and Shino jumps out of it already in a full swing of her Crescent Cleave technique, which slices the Abyssal from bottom to the top perfectly. Dark purple blood splatters on us and the ground as it’s sent flying backwards. And then, something weird happens. I get all wobbly like jelly and my vision begins shifting too. I instantly feel like throwing up and do exactly that the moment it stabilizes, after falling onto all fours. What a horrendous experience… Is their blood poison? “What the hell…” Vanessa’s shocked voice reaches my ears and I glance to my side. She is wiping her mouth, definitely after releasing the contents of her stomach too, but she is already rising to her knees and looking around. And then, I notice it. We are no longer in the glade. There are no trees around. Actually, there’s literally nothing around. I stand up and can’t believe it. As far as my eyes can reach, there’s just a dark grey wasteland. The sky is the same and even the clouds are of a darker shade of grey too. Besides the stone-like terrain of various shapes and sizes, completely devastated and devoid of life, there’s no sign of anything else. Besides the spiralling, starry surface under our feet. “Did we… somehow teleport to the other side?” Shino asks nervously. ~Who are you?~ A deep, cold, bone-chilling voice reverberates in my head, making me shiver from its sinister vibe. Judging by how Shino and Vanessa flinched too, I’m not the only one hearing it. We all look around, ready to defend ourselves at any moment. ~Mortal beings? Here? How did you step through the Rift?~ It continues asking questions and making us subconsciously tremble with each sentence. I notice some movement to my right and immediately look there. My eyes widen at the sight and the others soon glance where I do too, having the same reaction. From behind a raised piece of grey terrain… something… steps out. It’s somewhere between three and four meters tall at a first glance and it has a mostly humanoid shape. Its body is truly weird, partially consisting of very dark tissue at some sections of its arms, legs and torso, and partially filled with moving, obsidian smoke, mostly around joints. As for its arms, it has six of them, and they look beastly. To make it even more horror-like, its head has no distinct face but just a demonic, scary shape. “What in the name of the Goddess is that…” Vanessa mutters quietly. ~Do NOT mention the Treacherous One inside this domain!~ We shudder and grab our heads from the sheer animosity the voice conveys this time, seemingly furious at her remark. The towering horror slowly approaches us. ~It doesn’t matter who you are and how you avoided the anti-life barrier. I can’t let you return after stepping into this realm, for the sake of the Great Lady’s revenge. Your existence is a danger to her plans.~ “Ngh!” I suddenly feel a spike of pain as if someone or something is trying to drill into my mind, and it’s clear Vanessa and Shino are experiencing it too. It’s definitely this horror’s doing. It aims to immobilize us while it slowly approaches. “We have to run!” Vanessa shouts while visibly strained. “But where?! There could be—nghhh… more of them around!” I ask, trying to fight against the invasive sensation. “The portal!” she screams back. “But we don’t know how it works!” Shino chimes in, also in pain, but seemingly doing a little better than the two of us. The tall monster reaches our position while we still struggle with its mental attack. It draws back its arm and aims to hit Vanessa. As it travels through the air gaining speed, its clawed hand changes into a sharp, sword-like edge. Before it slices through her, Shino lunges in front of Vanessa and manages to parry the powerful hit with her katana. The force sends her back into Vanessa with a grunt. ~Cease your struggling. You are too weak to resist. Accept your fate, Naharrenians.~ I gather enough focus to create a Flame Javelin and hurl it towards the monster’s leg but it doesn’t penetrate its tissue and explodes on impact. Its faceless head turns to me. ~Magic of such level cannot harm me, Human woman. I do commend your mental fortitude thoug—~ The horror suddenly takes its nonexistent gaze off me and I follow it. My eyes widen from surprise again. Shino is getting up from the ground and kneeling on one knee, supporting herself with her sword. It would be nothing to get shocked about if not for the fact that her skin is now so dark it’s just a few shades away from black. Her whites turned dark grey and her irises glow in the same, deep, purplish hue as during her last Demonification. There are also horns sprouting from her head, but this time from its sides, and they rise straight up with a truly sinister shape. It feels completely different from the last time she activated her ability. Black energy surges out of her back and quickly forms draconic looking wings as she stands up. Shino wipes her mouth from a trickle of blood and then her posture blurs. She vanishes from the spot with a loud thump, breaking the sound barrier. She appears in front of the monster with her blade prepared for a diagonal swing and it cleaves through one of its knees with a loud, ominous hum. Only now I notice the sword's nefarious, black colour. The monster falls onto the wounded knee, somehow not split into two, and quickly covers its torso with all six arms. We are fortunate it either doesn’t feel pain or decided not to scream into our heads. The invasive drilling I experience also subsides and allows me to think more clearly. Shino’s katana slashes the horror’s forearms faster than my eyes can follow, splattering its dark purplish blood everywhere. The image of the gorilla rushing at me flashes before my eyes and a thought pops up in my mind. Glancing at Vanessa, I notice she somehow has a bit of purplish substance on her skin too, just like me and Shino. “Blood!” I shout as loud as I can and Shino glances back at me just for a fraction of a second but it’s enough for me to understand she got it too. I instantly run towards Vanessa and drag her towards the fighting girl. “What are you—” She doesn’t finish her sentence, most likely realizing it too. Without her resisting, we reach Shino in a moment and she quickly makes a wide, horizontal swipe, purposefully splashing the horror’s blood on the three of us and wraps her arms around me and Vanessa. I pray in my mind for the rift to activate and it fortunately does as I begin experiencing the same, uncomfortable sensation I’ve gone through when we got here. This time though, I’m too tense to feel like throwing up. My vision stabilizes and we find ourselves in the clearing again, almost blinded by the difference in brightness. “They are back!” Marcia’s voice reaches my ears. “Shino!” I scream the moment I regain my composure after the transfer and throw a hastily gathered ball of pressurized wind behind the three of us. Shino vanishes before it hits the ground and sends me and Vanessa flying past the edge of the spiralling surface. We fall onto our backs and hastily raise ourselves on the elbows to look behind. Everyone is gazing into the sky and we follow suit. Shino is hovering way above our heads, most likely thanks to her demonic wings, and seems to be focusing her mana. Black strands of energy seep into her blade and she makes a tiny, meticulous cut with its tip. A moment later, a huge, ominous tear rips the sky. We can literally gaze into the starry void through the sinister-looking gap. Meanwhile, Shino slowly slides her katana into the small hole she cut in front of her and an enormous version of the black blade slides out of the giant fissure. After around one-fourth of it emerges from the void, she thrusts the rest into the gap with a mighty strike and the giant katana surges down towards the Abyssal gate, piercing it and the ground behind it like butter, evoking a small earthquake from the impact. The weird surface begins cracking and breaks into thousands of tiny particles like the previous one we destroyed in the mines. I exhale heavily at the same time as Vanessa. We glance at each other and chuckle wryly. We should be safe now. “Catch her!” Paul’s shout makes us look up again and we see Shino, now without her wings, falling limply from the sky. The giant sword and tear are gone too. I instantly jump to my legs and create a strong updraft under her position, focusing my all on slowing down her descent. Fortunately, I succeed and Marcia swoops her from the air close to the ground. I run towards them and kneel by Shino’s side. She shows a strained smile. “I’m… fine… just… tired…” She makes a deep sigh. “This version… is much more… exhausting…” “Shush. Just rest. We’ll take care of the aftereffects. You saved our ass again.” She nods and closes her eyes. I leave her in Marcia’s care and return to check on Vanessa. “You good?” “Yeah, thanks.” She grabs my hand and stands up. “I now know why it’s Heroes and not a Hero.” I smile softly. “She’s in a league of her own.” We stare at each other for a short while and chuckle together. “Come on. We’ve got some crucial information we should share with your friends.” She wraps her arm around my shoulder. “We might have almost died back there, but it certainly was a beneficial accident.” Considering what we’ve learned, even if it’s all cryptic and weird, it truly was. This might be the first breakthrough in the case of Abyssals. We now have even more reason to quickly return.
Chapter 66 – Keep That Dog on a Leash Spoiler: Chapter One week and a half passed since our last general gathering with everyone present. I can’t say that the business is booming now, but it’s certainly slowly getting better and better, and that’s surely not just thanks to our own efforts. The King’s information network should be given its credit too. Thanks to him, we surely are able to reach the ears of people actually interested in having some fun with other races. Anyway, during these days we focused on helping the new additions to our ever-growing family get accustomed to the establishment and their own responsibilities. All of the girls, which are Rene the Dogkin, Dhosk the Lizardfolk, Tyriana the High Elf and the Satyr sisters Meiya and Neiya, learn very quickly and get the hang of most things without any issues. With that, our maid battalion is now of a decent size and the elves tending to other services will not heavily strain that department. Of course, it’s far from perfect, but we’ll get there with small and steady steps. Our popularity is not that great, so everything is working fine for now. It’s not like people openly swarm our gates, just some enthusiasts or curious ones come late at night, often hiding their identities from others at first. As for the other things, Sirgia finally finished Teffith’s naginata and our main bouncer was overjoyed with the final result. We managed to obtain enough adamantite to forge the blade while my master craftsman dwarf used other metals of similar, crimson colour for the rest, creating an end product truly fitting our red-scaled dragonewt. Additionally, Mafaris and Teffith assisted Sirgia with the designs and so the weapon is not only of amazing quality but also looks magnificent without affecting its performance in any way. The naginata’s bloody blade has a truly draconic feeling to it, or perhaps I should say it’s more like a fusion of demonic and draconic styles. I’m glad Teffith is happy with what she got. I barely have any chances to dote on her since she is not part of the girls that partake in some more intimate activities with me, considering those very much a reward for their efforts. Who knows if the situation between the two of us will someday change, but I’m more than fine with keeping my hands off her if she is happy with our current distance. Besides weapons, during these ten days, Sirgia also brought to life some of the less-than-decent ideas I’ve shared with her via various schematics and designs. She is already long past her phase of minding working on such gadgets and I can only see pure joy and determination while she does so, which is really reassuring. So, while we are not yet ready to officially open for women, thanks to Sirgia’s efforts, supported by ever-so-eager Mafaris and a few other girls, we did almost finish turning one of the rooms into a true pleasure den. I wanted to make it much fancier than the next ones, just in case, we’d be getting some VIPs, especially one certain someone. It’s already filled with countless toys, tools, gadgets, contraptions and even some mechanical devices. Yes, Sirgia completely overdid herself as usual and created some outrageous stuff for this world. The stool the Queen received is nothing when compared to them. I honestly did not think I’d see a fantasy version of a sybian or magic-operated dildo machines. Whoever will be brave enough to come here is signing up for a ride. Or a few. But, it’s all just the beginning and many of these are just early prototypes, which is already impressive for Sirgia to create some quite complex toys this quickly. Well, she now has the help of Mafaris who is also interested in craftsmanship so it’s natural the work is faster, but still, I really need to think about something actually in her field of expertise she could make for me or she’ll keep pumping out sex toys for my sake while ignoring her true calling. Unless it’s actually this. Nevertheless, we are developing nicely. During the last meeting we also mentioned role-playing, but not much of it has been touched upon as of yet. We did talk with our usual tailor but they weren’t confident in producing things different than fashionable clothes, and abundant outfits of various adventuring professions, and not only, seemed to them as a bit over their abilities. Thus, that part is more or less put on hold until we can acquire a skilled tailor or/and leatherworker, be it as a resident or a shop, company, person willing to work with us. Cornelia did start looking into it a bit, but there wasn’t much success so far and hoping for a miraculous master tailor slave is not the right way of thinking. I won’t always be magically finding people with the skills I need amongst non-human slaves. The girls are having some short conversations and lessons about the whole idea of role-playing and such, but it’s more to satiate their curiosity than actually train roles and acting with them. Even without these, just serving customers in quality outfits would raise the popularity of the establishment by a lot for sure, definitely creating some more positive impressions via rumours. As for the last part of the important talk, which is going out, some girls did start leaving the mansion during the day. At first, it was mostly the elves, but after seeing the merry state of them after their return, many other residents got interested in trying it out and pushed their worries aside. Fortunately, there were no big incidents so far and they always go out in a group of at least two, so everyone who decided to get some fresh air usually had a good time. We did notice a slight increase in customers which definitely was the result of our girls having strolls in the city in their uniforms and collars. All in all, things are looking better and better, but there’s still lots to do and a lot of room for growth. Ah, there actually were a few minor disputes during these past days. Should I say finally? It has been so quiet up until now. It wasn’t anything big, just a bunch of self-entitled people looking down on the girls and expecting to be treated like kings since non-humans are trash in their eyes. Teffith had a chance to see some action after weeks of being here and she handled them better than just well. The troublemakers were kicked out with full professionalism and grace and those who showed enough hostility were made an example of. Even without her weapon, which hasn’t been completed at that point, Teffith is plenty capable of beating a bunch of Humans into a pulp. These situations will only increase from now on. It would be better to start thinking about increasing the security, even though almost all the girls could take action if the case was serious enough. But, for normal disputes, having bouncers is the better answer. We have to build and uphold a professional image. Right now is the morning of our free day and I’m practising my abilities and handling of the draconic hilt in the underground arena. I’ve started training more regularly than before. I can’t fall behind. Many of the girls happily assist me, sharing their knowledge and experience from various fields, which feels like I have many amazing, dedicated instructors by my side. As I’m repeating a set of motions with one of my favourite modes of the draconic hilt, which is the whip sword, I catch the door to the area opening within the corner of my eye. My perception rose a lot after I managed to get accustomed to the new body and surge in efficiency. It’s nothing as great as having a completely inhuman reaction time, although I guess I should not use that term considering I’m no longer one, but the difference between me from the past and me now is noticeable with the naked eye. “Master, Cornelia wishes to meet with you if there’s nothing of high importance currently occupying your time,” a soft, gentle, lady-like voice informs me shortly after the door opens fully. “She said she will be waiting in the place where you last ate crepes together!” a very lively and overjoyed one joins soon after and a few seconds later something bouncy slams against my naked back covered in sweat. “Emi, I told you not to jump at Master when he is training.” Two arms of emerald colour appear on my chest from behind and embrace it tightly while someone’s chilly face snuggles to the back of my neck. I dispel the hilt’s dark pink smoke and turn my head around to glance at the green Slime girl hugging me with an enthusiastic expression and the blue Slime lady approaching us with a faint smile. “Emi is sorry… But Master’s sweat is just so tasty, Emi can’t hold back…” Safi chuckles a bit while I move my hand to pat Emi’s head. “That’s true, but show some restraint. I’m sure Master will reward you plenty if you do so.” Ah, there is one more change that took place early in these ten days. A day after our fun session in one of the underground storages after the bouts with Garrena and Filue, Safi and Emi advanced and chose to be able to imitate vocal cords as their upgrade. Since then, I’m able to finally converse with them properly. The change in my power’s efficiency the Goddess mentioned must have been enough to push them over the necessary threshold to advance a stage with just that one, short session. Well, they did say they were kinda close before that. I had some fun with others after the change of course, but no one has yet advanced a Tier with my help. It’s not like we were fucking like rabbits though; there were still many responsibilities. But anyway, we are keeping track of progress in that field now too so that we can get some data on how much of a help my body can be. “It’s okay. You can absorb as much of it as you want. Come on, it’s all yours. Just listen to your sister more in the future, okay?” “Yay! Emi promises!” She answers joyfully and in a flash, my whole torso is swallowed by her slime, making it look like it is me who wears the maid uniform now. Though, I don’t think having a second head with a jelly girl’s face growing from my shoulder and rubbing its cheek against mine is part of the image. If someone saw me right now, a barefoot man in black pants, torso and arms enveloped in emerald slime with a maid uniform over it, and two heads, they would definitely faint or run away while screaming something about a monster or a pervert, or both at once. A monvert. Or perster. “You are spoiling her too much, Master,” Safi says after coming closer. “I know, I know. That’s why you are here, to act like the composed older sister,” I answer and reach my hand to her cheek to share some of my mana with her, evoking a beautiful smile from the sapphire beauty. “Well then, Emi, let Master go. You’ve had enough,” she says after enjoying my energy for a short moment, sucking it into her core. “Alright!” I’m released from the slime suit and Emi quickly assumes her usual, humanoid form. They can now change shapes much faster than before too, most likely thanks to advancing a stage. We leave the arena together and I take a quick shower in my own chamber. Since Cornelia didn’t contact me personally through the Whispers and didn’t share any specifics with the slimes, I assume it’s nothing serious, requiring much preparation, so I dress into my fancy butler outfit instead of my adventuring gear. Maybe it’s a date, who knows. Informing Elea about my leave, I head to the place Emi mentioned. Some people take a longer glance at me while passing by near the mansion. It’s a sign that I am getting a little bit of recognition in the neighbourhood, no matter what kind. It’s not at the level that crowds recognize me, but it’s still a new kind of feeling when random people on the street know who you are. I reach the destination in around twenty minutes. It’s not that far from our home. We stopped by that pastry once when coming back from the castle together in the past. Their crepes were truly magnificent and Cornelia fell in love with them. When the outdoor set of tables in front of the store enters my sight, I notice a woman clad in purplish robes sitting by one of them alone, sipping on a small cup of coffee. I walk closer to her and stand by the side of the table. “Good day to you, fair lady. Is this seat taken, perhaps?” Cornelia raises her gaze and smiles softly. “I don’t mind it being if the one who does so would be a fine gentleman such as yourself, sir.” We chuckle together and I sit down on the opposite side. “Not eating?” “I was waiting for you.” “How thoughtful. I was sure you’d have already devoured a dozen of them.” “Hey!” We laugh again and I signal at the waiter, ordering one crepe for each of us. He brings them quickly. Being the star of the menu makes them sell out in a constant stream so the store has fresh ones prepared almost all the time. “So, what do I owe this little, pleasurable date with my charming magician?” I ask after we take a few bites. “Do I need a reason to meet with the man I love in one of the spots we shared some memories together?” she answers. “But, I must say, your intuition is really impressive seeing you even dressed this nicely.” “You deserve nothing less, my daring Ice Queen.” A little rosiness appears on her cheeks as Cornelia smiles again. “Alright, enough flirting. We have a place to be and I don’t want my mind distracted by a plethora of unsuitable for the moment thoughts after we take it too far,” she says afterwards. “How far is too far?” “Al, please.” “Okay, okay. I won’t tease you,” I surrender with my hands raised. “So, what’s all of this about?” “Ross mentioned he has something to discuss when I bumped into him earlier. Something that could interest you, supposedly. I didn’t remember you having any serious plans for today so I told him we’ll come.” “I see. That’s too bad. I wanted to enjoy our little date for a bit longer.” We both stand up and Cornelia moves to my side, entwining our arms together and leaving a quick peck on my cheek. “We can always continue it on our way there.” As she said, we take our sweet time while walking towards the castle. We don’t drag it out intentionally but don’t rush to the place like it’s on fire. I’m really enjoying just chatting with her while walking arm in arm and I know Cornelia is having fun too. Both of us don’t have much experience in romance considering our pasts and even such walks are extremely enjoyable. An hour flies by and we arrive in front of the castle’s outer gates. They are opened for us even before we get close, thanks to my and Cornelia’s identities. A Court Magician, even if ex and temporary, and a Hero, even if not really contributing to the Abyssal’s case, are quite important figures most of the knights and servants around the castle grounds are bound to recognize from a mile away. One of them guides us through the premises after Cornelia informs him about our business and we follow the guard to a meeting room. Naturally, to uphold Cornelia’s image, we stopped acting so lovey-dovey before arriving at the gate. No one knows about us and it’s good for her reputation if it stays like that. Well, no one besides maybe Lianne, and perhaps Rossberg, but his must be only assumptions so far. As we are walking through the stone corridors side by side with a bit of distance between us, we stumble on a group of six people in robes coming from the opposite direction. One of the men amongst them has a little fancier look than the others, having his ruby vestments decorated with golden accessories. He holds onto an also gold staff with a carved ruby at the top. Judging by his face, he is somewhere around forty or something. You can’t say that he is not a fine-looking man though. His smooth blond hair swept to the back perfectly combines with a not-that-long beard of the same colour, covering his chin, cheeks and surrounding his mouth. Even his eyes are yellowish, what a match. “Ah! Cornelia! Long time no see, my dear friend!” he suddenly stops talking to his group and calls to us while extending his hands to the sides. “Ruther…” Cornelia mumbles the man’s name under her nose and I don't think it was in a very favourable manner. Nevertheless, seeing him coming towards us, she also steps forward and lets herself be hugged by him, reciprocating the action of course. They share a round of pecking around their cheeks like good family members meeting during some grand occasion. “How have you been, my dear? How is your research progressing? I’ve heard you stepped down from your position as the Assistant Court Magician shortly after I returned to the castle. Why did you do so? Did something unpleasant happen whilst you were taking care of my responsibilities in my stead? Losing someone as talented and beautiful as you is a huge blow to our morale! You have no idea how worried I was when I heard the news. You should have come to me instantly if there was some issue.” Ruther starts monologuing on his own, not leaving even a short break between his questions and statements where Cornelia could possibly say something without interrupting him. From his rain of words, it’s obvious that he is the Court Magician she was replacing when we were summoned. But, that’s not the important part here. This guy slides his hands all over Cornelia’s back clearly not in the fashion of someone close greeting their dear friend. It’s obvious from my position that he obnoxiously takes advantage of the situation to get a feel of her, slowly trailing lower and lower over her waist and towards Cornelia’s bottom, making her clearly uncomfortable, and I don’t even need our connection to understand that. Before he reaches his objective though, I quickly move closer and catch his wrist with my left hand, pulling it to the side, wrap my right arm around Cornelia’s waist and pull her back towards me, staring the man coldly into the eyes. Surprised by the sudden action at first, he swats my hand away and furrows his brows after finally noticing my presence. “And you are?” “If being a friend means acting like this, then I’m just a colleague,” I answer while keeping my stern expression and not dropping eye contact. “Now, if you excuse us, we have an important meeting to attend.” Without further ado, I lead Cornelia past the man and the group of mages, beginning to walk towards our objective again while holding onto her. “Wait! Do you think you can leave after disrespecting me like this?” His voice reaches our ears from behind. “Oh gods, don’t tell me he is the arrogant young master type…” I think out loud while rubbing my forehead with my free hand. “What?” Looks like he heard it. I turn my head around and glare at him over my shoulder. “Forget it. As I said, we are busy at the moment. Withdraw while I still have the patience or you are going to offend someone way above your pay grade.” I turn back to the front and leave. My main objective is to get Cornelia away from him so she can relax a little anyway. Considering the fact that I don’t hear any shouting or magical spells coming after us, he either took my warning seriously, which is very unlikely, or someone from the people there held him back. I don’t care, honestly. Our guide told us which room we are supposed to wait for the King in so I take it on myself to lead us there, having a decent idea of where we are and how to get there. I have most of the castle memorized from our one-year stay. After we are quite far from the previous commotion, I slow down a little. Cornelia still hasn't said a word up till now and we keep walking together with my arm wrapped around her waist. “So… Your ex?” She sighs heavily at my poor attempt to bring up a conversation. “I’m sorry. That was a distasteful joke. I know very well how devoted you were to your research and pursuit of knowledge.” The moment we turn a corner, Cornelia suddenly pushes me to the side into a niche in the wall, carved to create an impression of a concave gate around the wooden door, and we disappear in the indent deep enough to shield both of our bodies. She presses herself against my chest and goes for my lips without any warning. She is not the type to be this aggressive and the way she fiercely pursues my tongue can’t be called anything but. Additionally, she grabs my hand and guides it to her back, sliding it under her robes, and then even deeper, into her panties, forcing me to squeeze her tender butt with a lot of force. We kiss sloppily for a good minute or two while I keep digging my fingers into the flesh of her plump ass. After finally parting, we pant a little into each other’s faces. “This looks even more serious than I first assumed,” I say with a smile. Cornelia chuckles softly. “I was just a little happy seeing the angry glare you shot at him and how you interfered to save me. And I might have used your manly hand to get rid of the lingering feeling of his fingers on my body.” I give her an affectionate peck and squeeze her butt again, evoking a quiet moan from her. “Damn. I wonder what I would get if I hired some thugs to go after you and then jumped forth at the perfect moment to heroically save the damsel in distress.” She chuckles again. “A slap on the face.” She then kisses me deeply. “And a night of loving caresses because you would have to be unimaginably frustrated or completely not yourself to rely on such petty tricks instead of just tying me up with your incredible chains and fucking me silly to your heart’s content.” While we stare lovingly into each other’s eyes, I catch a piece of someone’s face and a frilly dress, most likely belonging to a maid, peeking over the edge of the hollow Cornelia pushed me into. Meeting my gaze, the person quickly runs off, leaving the sound of rushed footsteps behind them. Cornelia leans back to take a glance over the edge and giggles after spotting the person. “Look what you have done.” “Oh, so now it’s my fault. I see.” I move my thigh a bit, which is lodged between her legs, and rub her private parts a little, making Cornelia moan. She pulls herself close to my chest again and goes for another kiss while giggling into my lips. I think I might have broken her. We share a few more pecks and leave the nave. Any more of this and we’ll be exposed to more than just a stray maid. Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next day the news about the respected magician having an affair with a hero were to spread inside the castle. “So, what was that actually about?” I ask as we walk with some distance between us again. “It’s a long story, but in short, he sometimes came to help me in my lab. Well, maybe more often than sometimes. That guy was seriously into me and I was aware of it. I knew he was doing all of that only to court me, but as long as he was at least somewhat useful, and believe me, a Court Magician isn’t an empty title, I decided to ignore his advances and focus on my work. He must have taken my lack of clear rejection as a sign that I liked him, but I never did. He is just a perverted ass, thinking all about how he could get a feel of me during experiments.” “This fucker…” “Hey, it’s alright.” She grabs my hand and smiles softly when I look at her. “It was partially my fault for being so passive.” “That doesn’t mean he was justified to comfortably assault you, clearly exploiting his higher position. Even if you would have frozen his balls solid if he ever crossed the line.” Cornelia chuckles and pulls me closer to peck my cheek. “It’s a matter of the past. I now have a real man to take real care of me,” she says charmingly with a faint blush. I can’t help but get a little bashful too as my face grows a little warmer. “I’ll leave it at that then. For now.” We stop our coy conversation at that because we reach our destination. Standing in front of an ornate double door, I reach for the knob, but stop before I grab it. I knock on the wooden surface instead. “Enter.” Rossberg’s voice answers from inside. As I thought. Even though we were supposed to wait here for him, he is the one already there. He really is something else. I open one wing and let Cornelia walk inside first, closing the door after me. We are greeted by the sight of not only Rossberg in his more casual, royal clothes, but also Lianne, his mother, sitting on the sofa in one of her light blue dresses. “Al! It’s so good to meet you agai—” He extends his hands while welcoming me, but is quickly pushed to the side by his mother. “Alastair! How could you have kept such an important thing from me!” she says in a raised voice, which is a very rare occurrence. “Huh?” She then grabs the hem of her dress on both sides and does a respectable bow. “I, Lianne Ruminas, the former Queen, and mother of Rossberg Ruminas, the current King of Evalitia, also known as the Divine Land, greet the Progenitor.” I sigh heavily as I slap my forehead and swipe my hand down my face. Cornelia gives me a confused look. “Lady Lianne, please stop tha—” “Uh, uh, uh.” She stops the courtesies and waves her finger at me. “It’s Lianne. We’ve already talked about it. And now, you have no more excuses to insert that Lady there. You are way above me.” I roll my eyes. “Fine. But I’ll only do it when we are alone or in a familiar group.” She nods with a gentle smile. “Anyway, wasn’t this whole thing supposed to be a secret?” I ask while pointing at Cornelia with my thumb. “It’s fine. I trust her more than this idiot son of mine.” “Hey!” “And I’m sure she already knows about your race so it was bound we would talk about it someday anyway. I’ll explain it to you later, my dear.” Lianne nods at Cornelia, which nods back, still a little perplexed. “Alright. Let’s drop all this Progenitor talk. You wanted to speak, right Ross?” I move the topic back onto its rightful tracks. “Ah, yes. Come, sit down first.” We follow his invitation and seat ourselves on one of the sofas around the coffee table. “I’ve stumbled on something that might actually interest you.” “I’m all ears then.” “You see, there’s a certain quest shared by the Adventurer’s Guild’s branches in this region, which is hanging there without completion for more than a week.” “I know that you know about my plans to venture outside the capital, but what made you think I would be interested in a random quest in the area right now? Unless… you need my help. What’s the issue?” Ross smiles. “A Succubus.” I shake my head and smirk. “I can already see where this is going.” “Some time ago, a rumour surfaced, saying that an Arch Succubus has awoken and taken one of the cavern systems near Turna village as its lair. The quest was issued at once and many parties attempted to subjugate the threat, but none succeeded so far and men from that village still keep disappearing. We have to send reinforcements before the situation spirals out of control.” “So, instead of sending your elites to slay the supposed monstrosity, you thought of letting me go after her in hopes that I would subdue the Succubus and somehow talk her into working for me. Isn’t that right, Mr Cunning?” I raise an eyebrow at him. “Well… I thought a lot about who to send and you are just the best person for the task… You know… your abilities, your Class, now your changes after advancing… It’s obvious I would reach out to you instead of anyone else, right?” He shows a wry smile. “Alright, alright. Your true intentions are showing.” I sigh. “I can’t say that I’m not interested. And I can’t say that your words are without any reason. Still, even if I do seem powerful to you now, I’m inexperienced in adventuring and monster hunting, if she even is a monster and not just another victim of humanity’s ancient grudge.” It’s Lianne who speaks up this time. “We would not allow you to go alone, of course. There’s a group of four adventurers of an A-rank willing to have a try right now. You would join them if you have nothing against it. Of course, if you’d rather go with some of your girls, that’s fine too.” “I see. But I’m an F-rank. I haven’t done any quests. Wouldn’t it be risky to fake a lot of stuff at the guild?” Ross takes over again. “Hmmm… Why not make you join them as a scholar? One specifically proficient in this type of demons? The guild would accept you without a word as it would be help from the Kingdom, even if in the form of a non-combatant with lots of knowledge. The party definitely wouldn’t have anything against too.” “Two birds with one stone, huh? Showing people you care by sending your men to help and letting me officially get in. You are not as stupid as I thought.” “Hey! What’s with all of you today? I’ll let you know amongst the people I’m known as the Wise King!” He ostentatiously plays angry and we all chuckle afterwards. “So, what do you think?” I mull it over for a moment and glance at Cornelia. She smiles charmingly. “It will be a good test for us too. We’ll never know if we are ready for you to leave the business to us without actually doing so. If worse comes to worst, we all can communicate telepathically.” “You are right. Theory without practice is just a bunch of unconfirmed scribbles on paper. What do you think, personally?” “I believe in you, of course,” she answers without a second of hesitation. “And in the rest of us too. We’ve been preparing for it for some time already.” “I guess so. Still, no matter how much preparation is done, you can’t stop feeling anxious when it comes to the day of the real test. Anyway, looks like I’ll be joining on that hunt. Any more details?” “We’ll need some time to prepare all the things connected to you, so we’ll set the departure for 3 days from now. I’ll have someone deliver you the dossiers of the adventurers so that you can familiarize yourself with them beforehand. And of course, I’ll provide you with whatever information we have on the case. You already have unlimited access to our library if you’d want to check some things.” “Much appreciated. I’ll be waiting for further instructions then.” I nod at Ross and we shake hands over the table. “Now then, Lianne, I hope you are all good and well. Is my relaxation treatment proving efficient enough?” The Queen blushes faintly, which results in cute, rosy marks to show over the fair, pale skin of her cheeks. “Absolutely. I’ve never been relaxed more in my life since my husband passed away. I’m truly grateful for your help and for regularly providing me with new ways to relieve my stress. I owe you a huge favour.” Ross coughs. “So… What is this help actually about?” “Hm? My skilled artificer comes up with new massaging tools under my supervision and I sometimes share these devices with your mother. What else did you think I was doing?” I answer him with a wide smile. “Massages, huh… Honestly… from the sound of it during some nights… I thought you were sneaking into the castle for a different kind of… massage.” “Rossberg!” Lianne raises her voice with her face now completely flushed. “How could you?! Alastair is a fine gentleman and he would never lay a hand on a lady in such an underhanded way! He knows very well that such a relationship could be very difficult from the political standpoint!” Ross hides himself behind his arms. “But mother, didn’t you say you like him? And he is now even higher than the highest royalty!” “SILENCE!” She picks up a fluffy pillow and begins slamming him with it into the crossed arms since she is sitting by his side. She is now completely red. “You know very well we can’t reveal it to others!” “Alright! Alright! Stop hitting me! I yield!” Lianne stops bombarding him with the pillow and sits back properly. She quickly tries to return to her usual, calm and graceful way of being and shows us her iconic angelic smile. The petite and fragile Lianne is back. “What if he became a lord of some territory?” Another sentence coming from Ross makes her blush again and she raises the pillow high above her head, threatening him with a repeat of the previous punishment. She sighs tiredly and drops the pillow, turning her gaze back to us. “Please, forgive my idiot son for creating this embarrassing display. I’ll discipline him later by myself, I give you my word as the former Queen,” she speaks softly while glancing at me a little timidly. We look at each other with Cornelia and show her wry smiles. “We don’t mind.” After this comedic insert, because there’s no way I’m not calling it that, we have a pleasant chat about a few other things before we decide to leave to tend to our own responsibilities. We stand up and meet in the middle of the room to say goodbyes. “Ah, one more thing, Ross.” “Hm? What is it?” “How important to you and the kingdom is the current Court Magician?” Cornelia’s eyes widen at my question as she glances at my face from my side. “Uhhh… I’d say very, very important? Why?” “Well, if you do not want to have to start considering his successor early, you better keep that asshole on a short leash.” The King shows a confused look. I wrap my arm around Cornelia’s waist and pull her closer. “The next time that dog gets any funny ideas about my amazing Ice Queen, I will not be as lenient as today. I do not care about his position or importance in the slightest. If he dares to make my woman uncomfortable again, death will be the least of his worries.” I release highly condensed magical pressure from my body, which I practised after getting all the upgrades specifically for situations like these. “Are we understood?” The tension can be felt in the whole chamber, almost as if the air got noticeably heavier. I'm not sure how intimidating the aura from a Tier 3 can be, but seeing a shiver pass through Ross' body—who is at Tier 4 and specializes in defense—I guess me actively trying to make it as showy as possible, joined with my race and stats, is enough to affect him. “Yes… I’ll be sure to watch him…” Ross nods slowly after a moment. I retract the aura. He exhales in relief as I smile at him kindly. Lianne, standing a bit behind him, gives me a delighted look while covering her dainty lips with her petite hand. Glancing to the side at Cornelia, I can see her blushing while looking down. 「Whoops. I might have unintentionally teased her a bit too much with that. Well, if Ross still had any doubts about us, then they are now all cleared up.」 I politely nod towards him and the Queen and guide Cornelia out of the chamber. After we make it through two intersections, she suddenly pulls on my collar and dives in for a deep kiss, right in the middle of the corridor. Oh well. That one is on me. She releases my lips with a wide smile, staring straight into my eyes. “How much more are you going to make me fall in love with you again and again today?” “Considering that it’s barely afternoon, I guess quite a lot.” She chuckles and kisses me once more before we begin heading back home with our arms entwined.
Chapter 67 – A Surprise to Be Sure, but a Welcome One ❤ Spoiler: Chapter Fortunately, on our way back home, we do not stumble on the mage again. I was partially expecting him to stay somewhere in close vicinity to confront me after our previous exchange, but perhaps he had something to do or the group of people that was with him dragged him away. Nevertheless, better for him. We don’t dilly-dally too much while returning and arrive at the mansion decently fast. After entering the main lobby, Cornelia throws her hands over my shoulders and pulls me closer for a short and affectionate kiss. She smiles gently after we break off. “Thank you again for standing up for me. And for our short date. I’ll excuse myself now to see what I can prepare for you to take for this little trip. You also have plenty of work to do, right?” I close the distance once more to leave a gentle peck on her dainty lips before answering. “It was only natural, don’t think too much of it. But…” I lean towards her ear and whisper, “you sure we should leave this without a conclusion? I can sense your little arousal…” Cornelia chuckles gingerly and whispers back, “I’m afraid my puny mortal body will end up useless for the rest of the day after experiencing the love of a demigod, even with the help of your Rejuvenate, and we truly have many things to do.” “Alright. Just remember, holding back is unhealthy.” “And look who is speaking. I do not believe you are not holding back constantly when surrounded with beauties—AH!” A yelp of surprise interrupts her sentence as I lightly slap Cornelia’s booty and smirk at her. “You better go before I change my mind.” She leaves my embrace and walks away, definitely doing her best to make her movements as enticing as possible and stopping for a short moment to send me a tempting gaze before disappearing behind a corner. Who would have thought she would grow fond of teasing me back this fast. Guess I can only draw out her cute, tsun reactions in public now. To not waste the precious time, I sit on one of the sofas for a moment and formulate a plan on what to do next as there are truly many things I, or we, have to cover, and they are not only related to the establishment but the whole adventuring aspect too, closely linked with just my own person. Let’s leave the brothel’s matters for now and focus on the other ones. The most critical issue here is the core of the whole case - the Succubus. Obviously, it’s not that I’m clueless about them. It should be obvious to anyone that studying the information on these beings would have come first, right? I mean, you land in a fantasy world and gain access to a huge library. As a man, checking out Succubi first is just the natural order of things. Heh. So, as for knowledge about their strong points, weaknesses, general style of living and such, I’m pretty much covered. But, I’m not heading out to slay the monster. My goal is to capture it, or preferably, win the Succubus over to join me as my Partner and, if possible, a worker. There should be plenty of men lusting after a literal lust demon, even in this world. But, my whole Class operates on two important things: acceptance and consent. I can only add someone to my Partners if they accept me willingly and I can gain more benefits from them only after they willingly choose to take it a step further, into the intimate zone. While I’m almost completely sure the latter part would not be a problem, considering the nature of the entity we are going after, the whole acceptance might prove difficult. So far, pretty much every girl of another race I’ve met was favourable towards me with just a little bit of effort and kindness, but I shouldn’t let it make me complacent. It won’t always work like that. And Astrea is a good example here. Same as with others, I approached her with kindness and she started living with us, but she’s the only one who is still not my Partner even for the sake of the connection itself. I can’t make her. And it’s of course fine with me. So, when it comes to a wild monster that usually considers other races as a mobile food supply, it might be impossible to achieve anything with the first impression and words alone. Hell, I’m not even sure that actions would be enough. Thus, this calls for more drastic measures. It’s time to finally pay a visit to the Monster Tamer’s Guild. Safi and Emi didn’t press the matter of the seals so I’ve been putting it off all the time other things came up, but this could prove useful in the current predicament. And they would be happy to finally get their seals too. They were a bit too understanding, especially Safi. I need to show them my appreciation with something else than just sex and mana-pats. While I would prefer to start on good terms with the Succubus, I can’t underestimate its might. Ross mentioned it was an Arch Succubus, and from what I know, they are quite a bit higher than the common ones. Safely and successfully capturing it under the taming or enslavement contract first and then slowly trying to explain and show things is better than risking ending up mutilated while trying to talk politely. It’s not like I have malicious intentions. Sometimes you just can’t avoid using a little force. Then, this is decided. Besides that, I need to prepare for the journey, and that means, stocking up on consumables and other utility stuff. I can’t rely only on my Rejuvenate or Healing Magic stolen from Elea. If I would even have it on me at the moment. I’ll have to bring her or Dhosk with me and go for a shopping spree, get some potions, ointments and the likes. My gear is fine, but I could use this opportunity to take Sirgia on a little date too and let her pick some things for me if she’d find it necessary. I’m sure she’d be more thrilled to make them herself, but I don’t want her to overwork herself even more. Even though a few days is not much, I should turn up my training a notch, perhaps asking the elves, Garrena, Teffith or other experienced warriors to drill some more practical knowledge and movements into me during that short period. I do believe I’m fairly decent now, but surely, I’m far from what a proper, offensive Class would be. Then, there’s the case of the adventurers that will be accompanying me, or rather, I will be accompanying as a researcher delegated by the kingdom. Guess I’ll wait for one of Ross’s men to deliver me their dossiers, hopefully still today so that I get to have some time to think about our performance. Alright. I think that covers the external factors. Now, as for the establishment, I better call another meeting and explain everything properly, hearing them out in case someone would want to share their opinion. Let’s do it right now, I think I can’t sense anyone being outside at the moment, so it should be fine. After finding Elea, I ask her to gather everyone in the lobby. I could use my Whispers, but there’s no need to startle them when my skilful elf maids can handle it with ease. I still can’t perfectly control the ability and sometimes fail to get rid of that part forcing me to split the message into a bunch of sensual moans and whispers, but I’m slowly getting there. In fifteen minutes, we are all in the main hall and sitting in the half-circle like the last time. Without wasting their time, I explain the request of going after a Succubus and how it will affect us. Since I will be departing alone, I appoint Cornelia as my direct representative, telling them to treat her words and decisions as mine. Elea becomes second-in-command during my outings. The two accept the honours and I make sure that everyone knows they can freely contact me via Whispers if necessary, but I trust their judgement and believe that they don’t need to be supervised by me over every single action and decision. In the end, many of them are much more knowledgeable or experienced in plenty of areas where I’m lacking. For the new maids, this kind of stance from their master is still something surprising, perhaps a little bit shocking to have so much freedom of action, but the rest of our growing family is already accustomed to my way of being. They’ll come to be gradually too. Rene is already much more cheerful and open than when she came here, but that was to be expected from a Dogkin, hah. It takes us all a fair amount of time to convince Sirgia to let me go alone though. I have to take her onto my lap and cuddle affectionately while promising to never drop my guard and take good care of myself. Her adorable and concerned gaze almost makes me rethink my decision. And here I thought I was supposed to be immune to Charms below the highest level. Her cuteness is just too strong. But, in the end, after telling her and the others about the rest of my plans I’ve gone over before the meeting, she finally lets go and gladly accepts my suggestion of going shopping together, acting all dreamy and absent-minded for the remainder of the meeting, still perched on my lap. Thus, we cover all the points and everyone heads back to do their stuff. I decide to visit the Monster Tamer’s Guild tomorrow and take my cute dwarf on a date today. Then, I’ll do the shopping with Dhosk the day after. She already agreed to help me out with it. Sirgia merrily darts off saying she needs to prepare before we leave, making me chuckle seeing her so invested. I send her a Whisper to not be in a hurry and take her time picking her clothes or taking care of whatever things she needs. Since we’ll be visiting mostly smithies, armour shops and such, I switch into my adventurer’s gear, taking a quick shower before, of course. It will finally see some real adventuring instead of just walking around the streets of the capital. Unless Sirgia decides it’s better to completely replace it. I better prepare my wallet just in case, who knows how she will act when shopping for things she is actually knowledgeable about. Half an hour later, she knocks on the door to my chamber and walks inside, wearing her maid uniform. She looks absolutely adorable and the slight blush on her fair cheeks just enhances the scene. Of course, it’s nothing new for her to wear it, but I can also tell she took great care of herself before coming here and the calming, floral scent coming from her gives no doubt she spent most of that time in a scented bath. “You look stunning.” My compliment makes her blush even more while she fondles her skirt. “But, you know you don’t have to use your uniform for this occasion, right?” “I know. I wanted to wear it.” “Alright. Let me change into my suit too. I fully expected you to choose some casual clothes.” “There’s no need, Master. You… ummm… look really handsome… in this getup…” I sigh and come closer to pat the head of my a bit embarrassed dwarf. “If you say so.” I offer her my hand and we leave together after Sirgia shyly grabs it. A little bit of time passes before she gets less nervous and more relaxed, but I manage to somehow bring her focus to me rather than our surroundings with some small talk and we start our actual date. We share a meal together before going shopping. I chose the place where I took her after our first meeting, surprising Sirgia positively. We chat a little about the past, reminiscing about our first moments and days. She awkwardly shares what were her thoughts in the beginning and I do the same. All in all, a good time. Then, the real thing begins. We start visiting various stores, smithies and workshops and Sirgia instantly switches gears from slightly shy into enthusiastic and passionate, almost as if her previous behaviour wasn’t true. I happily listen to her giving me a plethora of little trivia and information related to many pieces of equipment and weapons. She beams with excitement whenever I ask a question myself. It’s not an exaggeration to say that she drags me around by hand without a hint of her usual timidness. Well, I do enjoy her sweet voice excitedly explaining things to me, but I’m pretty sure we’ve been quite close to being kicked out from a few shops. Not all owners take kindly to some random Dwarf storming into their store and listing all the flaws she could spot while going through their products. Under her guidance, I buy a few pieces of equipment. The most important one is Grennian Undergarments. It’s like a thin sweatshirt made out of silk from some strong spider monster. You barely feel it on yourself, but it supposedly can withstand cuts even from greatswords. I get the vibes of an item from a certain popular fantasy saga from it, but it’s more like a less impressive version of that mail. Still, a great find nevertheless. Even if it won’t completely defend from piercing attacks, slashing ones are the most common amongst monsters and other enemies. Although Sirgia definitely has quite the stamina from working at her workshop and from her Class, she exhausts herself almost completely before evening comes due to all that rushing and running around while acting all giddy. I carry her in my arms on our way back to the mansion and she silently rests her forehead against my neck, clearly sleepy but still awake enough to be aware of the situation she is in, which brings a bit of rosiness to her cheeks as she often steals glances at my face. We head straight to her room after arriving back home and I lay her down on the bed. Sirgia snuggles close to me and I stay with her until she slowly falls asleep under my affectionate pats. She truly drained herself completely. With a small kiss on the forehead, I leave her alone to rest. She might finally clock in a few more hours than usual. After a short dinner, I move to my own chamber to go through the information about the adventurers. It was delivered when we were out. They do work fast. But I guess they would have good connections with the Adventurer’s Guild or even work with it directly. Anyway, after giving their files an initial glance, it seems that I’ll be in the care of a fairly balanced and experienced party. Four people in total: one tank, two damage dealers and one healer. Good composition and they are all A-rank, working together since the very F-rank. They are all men besides the tank. I lowkey expected the healer to be a girl, but I shouldn’t be letting such thoughts cloud my judgement. This is not a game but a real world. Making such assumptions was improper even back at home and here it’s even more baseless with all the magic and other fantasy stuff. I’ve already met a fair deal of badass ladies. For the rest of the evening and portion of the night, I familiarize myself with all the data about them that’s included in the dossiers I’ve received, going through bits of their history, their achievements, quests, but also information on their usual fighting style, abilities they shared or were confirmed by others, and such. Before I notice it, I drift off over the notes, still sitting by my desk. I wake up to an extremely weird but somehow familiar feeling. There’s a mysterious warmth spreading through my body and I feel hot to some extent. I lift my eyelids and realize that I’m resting my arms and head on the desk, where I must have fallen asleep. There’s a blanket covering my shoulders, so I guess whoever was meant to sleep with me last night, didn’t want to move me. I’ll have to apologize to them later, but now… I’m fairly sure the weird warmth is not the effect a blanket placed over my back can have. Especially when it originates from somewhere around my lower abdomen, in the front to be specific. Then, my brain finishes booting up too and I begin registering the missing sensations, along with some wet noises and faint breathing from under the desk top. Connecting the dots in my mind, I lean back and tilt my whole posture along with my head to the side, aiming to take a glance below the desk. What greets me, is most likely the most unexpected sight ever, instantly throwing me into extreme confusion. Right now, down there, my belt has been unfastened and my pants have been lowered to the middle of my thighs, along with my underwear. But what’s more, there’s a girl lazily licking my erect penis while holding it up with her petite hands, with a dreamy expression and closed eyes, visibly relishing in the action. But, what’s even more, that girl is Astrea. And that’s the core issue here, making me so confused. I’ve already guessed what was happening, but in no way have I been expecting to see the single woman that has the least skinship with me to be giving me a morning blowjob. No wonder I haven’t sensed anyone from my Partners under the desk. I watch as Astrea’s slightly ticklish tongue travels over my shaft from bottom to top in slow motions. Again, it feels way different from whatever I’ve experienced before. I was curious if Catkin tongues are any similar to what I expected them to be and I was proven right. But, it’s not uncomfortable, rather very much pleasurable. Still, even though it feels amazing, it’s as confusing as it was a moment ago. After a few more careful licks, she guides the tip into her mouth and swallows my rod bit by bit, swirling her tongue along my glans and then the shaft as she takes it further inside, applying a bit of suction alongside that too. Now, I can’t call myself an expert, but I’ve been through enough to notice that there’s no way this is her first time gobbling down a dick. She’s clearly experienced and her movements are refined. She definitely knows what she is doing with both her mouth and fingers which now switched to massaging my precious orbs. Not that it actually matters to me. Astrea makes a long and powerful suck while coiling her tongue around my rod as she pulls up. Her body shivers a little and her closed eyelashes flutter during the motion. My dick leaves her mouth with an audible pop and she prepares herself to go down on it again just to have her now half-closed eyes meet mine. She freezes with her jaws wide open and her tongue sticking out, on which my tip is currently resting. I can clearly see her impressive—and now a little bit scary—sharp canines surrounding my flesh. Her pupils instantly narrow into thin needles and she stays unmoving while staring right back at me. Sensing her sudden wariness even without any bond between us, I try to move as little as possible while bringing up a reassuring smile. I’d rather not have her freak out with my dick between her teeth. “Let’s stay calm, alright? There’s no need for any sudden movements.” I show her my hands, slowly moving them closer to my body so that she can see them clearly. “I’m not angry. Perhaps a little bit surprised, but not angry. I don’t mind you continuing if that’s what you want. It felt really good. I promise I won’t do anything.” She stays still for a moment longer, seemingly judging my words, and her pupils slowly return to their usual, a little less narrowed size. I can see some of the tension leaving her body. “If you want to go out, I can move,” I add, realizing that she’s pretty much squashed between my legs under the desk with barely any space for movement. It’s amazing how she got herself there. But, Astrea doesn’t intend to leave yet and unhurriedly envelops my cock with her mouth again, not dropping her gaze off me for even a moment. With a wry smile, I observe how she gradually resumes her lively blowjob, finally accepting that I truly don’t mind. Since that’s where we currently are, I lean into the backrest and relax too, exhaling in relief and pleasure. I watch from above as her head bobs up and down on my penis while she gazes me in the eyes all the time. I have no idea how long she was at it, but I felt quite close when waking up, so I guess I shouldn’t prolong this too much. I let myself enjoy her amazing caresses. Her tongue is truly skilful, tickling and coiling around many great spots over my whole cock and working in perfect sync with her hands and lips. And the way she is looking up at me from below just takes it to another level. I move my hands to grip the sides of my seating as it gets better and better. “I’m almost there. You should watch—uooooooooohhhhhh!” In reaction to my words, instead of taking my rod outside, she actually increases the intensity of her movements. Astrea suddenly starts banging her head up and down on my dick like a metal vocalist while her tongue waggles horizontally at the speed of an electric razor, stimulating the underside and my glans and shaft like crazy. She keeps pumping me with her hands at the same time. “Ohhhhhhhh, maaaaaannnnnn…” That’s the most intense blowjob I’ve ever experienced and her slightly ticklish tongue is just perfect for what she does with it. Even though I could control myself for a bit longer, the amount of pleasure coursing through my whole body is so great it could make me go mad if I keep this up, so I stop blocking the buildup and let the dam break. “Astrea, I’m going to—OHHHHHH FUUUUUCKKKKKKKK!” She interrupts me again, this time by shoving my whole fucking cock into her insanely tight throat, down to the very base, hitting my underbelly with her small nose. The pressure is insane. This pushes my pleasure meter through the roof and a flood of milky liquid shoots into her constricting tunnel trying to wring me out desperately. My penis twitches furiously as it releases wave after wave, and Astrea takes it all like it’s her daily thing to have a thick pole thrust far into the insides of her mouth. Thank gods I somehow held myself back from reaching out to pat her head earlier because the spots where I’m holding the chair explode into splinters when I clench my fingers into fists, crushing the hard wood like dried up twigs. If there still was any leftover doubt of her having plenty of quite rough experience behind the belt, the fact that she has literally no gag reflex even with how ferociously she thrust my pole straight into her throat in one go, completely annihilated it. It’s either that, or catgirls in this world just don’t possess such a thing. Astrea waits until I stop sending more of my creamy seed out of my cock and slowly slides it back up, stopping at the tip to lick the whole thing clean to the very last speck of evidence left on it. She finally releases me from her clutches and continues to observe me with her calm and neutral face from below as I pant heavily. “Huuuuhhh… Huhhhh… That was… insane...” I cast Rejuvenate to regain my strength quicker and slide the chair backwards, extending a hand to her after hiding my penis back in underwear first, of course. Astrea takes it and I help her up, creating an orb of clear water afterwards for her to clear her throat and she accepts it too, cutely drinking from the bubble suspended in the air. With me sitting and her standing we are now seeing almost eye to eye since she’s like above 155cm tall and my chair is quite high too. I’ll have to replace it now, though. “You really surprised me there, you know?” “Sorry,” she replies quietly, not shyly, just in a soft tone. “It’s okay. Did something happen? We haven’t even talked much in the past. I did not expect you to… you know.” She breaks eye contact for a moment and ponders, most likely trying to figure out the words or if she should tell me the actual reason. “It’s fine if you still don’t trust me eno—” “It’s here.” “What’s here?” “My mating season.” Before I reply, she wedges her fingers under the fabric of her shorts and brings them down along with her panties just enough to fully reveal her magnificent, petite lower lips, decorated with a silver bush above the closed slit. There’s a huge, wet stain on her underwear and a thick trail of nectar connecting it to her pussy. “I’m in heat.” “Ah,” is all I can utter while my eyes are glued to her precious place. I manage to break out of my daze a moment later and bring her clothes up again to cover the distraction. Glancing at her face, I can spot an extremely faint blush, even though her expression remains unchanged. This might be more of a physical reaction than her getting a little shy. “I see. It must have been hard for you here. Do you want me to help you? Or do you already have a mate and want to leave?” “I was fine... I don’t have a dedicated mate, but… I have a suggestion… and a favour to ask… if that’s okay...” I slowly move my hand to her head, watching if she will allow me to touch it, and she doesn’t show any signs of swatting it away or dodging, letting me gently place it down and ruffle through her hair, still being observant of me. “Of course it’s okay. Just tell me what you need and I’ll do what I can to make it happen.” She stares at my smile for a moment and then continues. “It’s not many, but I had a few friends back there, on the streets. There’s a… secret community of Beastkin under the city. Each month, we gather in a specific place in the sewers to meet and share what resources we can with others. It’s a harsh community ruled by the strong, but it allows many to survive as long as they are useful… or exchange favours for food...” I can sense a tinge of sadness in her calm voice. “I’m willing to become your exclusive mate if you agree to help my friends and take them in too. I can guarantee they are good people and they are all girls, so there shouldn’t be a problem with others being uncomfortable around them. They would also definitely be fine with working here. It’s way better than what they have to go through there...” I rub her head a bit more forcefully. “Hey, Astrea, I already told you I will help you if I can. No need to go this far. But, the timing couldn’t be worse…” “The next meeting is still over two weeks from now, so it’s okay. It won’t interfere with your current objective. And even if it did, I would just wait for another one.” “Alright. We’ll let others know and prepare slowly so you can bring them in then.” “I’m afraid… it’s not that easy…” I raise my brows a little. “Is there some problem?” “I haven’t brought this up until now because… I’m just not strong enough to do it. But now, I can smell how strong you are after the change and that’s why I decided to ask. My friends are not like me. They aren’t skilful enough to go to the surface, so they live with the community. As I said, it’s ruled by the strong, usually males. My friends are females, so… they won’t be allowed to leave just because they want to…” I cock my head back in understanding. “We will have to take them by force then, is what you are saying?” She nods. “I see. Another breakout operation.” I rub my chin as I consider the situation. I guess it should be fine. I shouldn’t have to go alone like the last time. And I don’t really want to let Astrea down, now that she finally decided to open up to me a little, even if in a quite unexpected moment. “I’ll help. Let’s discuss the details after I’m done with the Succubus. And, you don’t have to offer yourself for their sake.” A faint smile finds its way onto her lips for a second and then disappears in a blink. She sighs softly, perhaps a little bit dejectedly. “Thank you… I knew you wouldn’t accept me as your sworn mate…” She gazes down a bit. I sigh too, sensing some misunderstanding going on. “How so?” “Because I’m not a virgin.” “And?” “Almost all of your sworn mates were pure when you accepted them. And I’m anything but pure. I’ve mated with many different males in my life. When we Beastkin go into heat, we look for any partner of the opposite gender to relieve ourselves in mutual understanding. And I’ve done it many times in the streets with many different variants of Beastkin. Even many at once. I must look very dirty in your eyes…” “Hey.” I scratch behind her adorable, grey ears to make her look me in the eyes again. “You should already know that I don’t care if a girl was a virgin or not before we met. I don’t discriminate based on such meaningless things. So tell me, is there something more to your request about becoming my mate besides helping your friends?” She glances back at me, a bit anxiously. “Each Beastkin’s body works differently and some have their mating seasons more often while others can go for months without it, but there’s one thing that can influence some species. Females of the Catkin are highly attracted to strong males and that’s also what’s happening to me. A bit ago, your scent suddenly changed into one that very powerful males produce and it started affecting me,” she starts to calmly explain. “I apologize. I didn’t know about that part.” “No, it’s not your fault. That’s just how it works. You are very strong now and it made my body start going into heat after I inhaled your incredible scent. And even more when I subconsciously licked your sweat, letting my urges get the better of me. I almost collapsed from ecstasy afterwards, barely managing to hide in time. Please, don’t think I’m against it. I very much like it. And so… I know it’s selfish… But I thought that maybe while I ask for help for my friends… I could also become your sworn mate in return… Which is actually something I began yearning for...” That’s what I thought. I’ve accidentally made her fall for me without doing anything. Well, perhaps by evolving, but it’s not like I had a say in that. She is just following her instincts and how her kind functions. It’s not something unheard of and I can't deny it kind of stroking my ego a little, knowing that she is attracted to me for such reasons. I show Astrea a reassuring smile again and move my arms to her armpits. She doesn’t react in any way besides just following my movements with her eyes and lets me sit her down sideways on my lap. I continue to play with her short, grey hair with one hand. “Well then, am I understanding you correctly? Do you perhaps have feelings for me?” She nods. “Yes… I want to become yours… Even though—” I stop her by placing a finger on her lovely lips. “Thank you. I’m very happy to hear that. You are a very beautiful girl. And now, I’m also sure that you are as thoughtful and kind as you are cute. I’ll gladly accept you as my sworn mate as long as you don’t mind sharing me with others. I can’t push them away to be with you, unfortunately.” “You don’t have to.” Astrea shakes her head a little. “Strong males have many mates. It’s common for Beastkin. I saw how much you love your mates. I’m content with being one of them and receiving part of that love.” “Then, there’s no problem.” She stares at me with expectant eyes. “Is that really okay?” I chuckle a little. “Where’s that confidence from when you almost choked me to death?” She drops her gaze down. “I’m really sorry for that… There were Humans who tried to lure me in with sweet words too, to try and capture me… After the second time, I became wary of their fake kindness… Also… males like it more when their females act submissive, no?” I chuckle again, realizing that she has been trying to get into my strike zone, most likely hiding her true personality whenever possible. “I was just joking, so don’t sweat over it. And I would like for you to be yourself. Do you think you can do it for me?” She nods after a moment of hesitation. “Good. I’ve read a bunch of stuff about Beastkin, but is there something special you have to do for us to become mates?” “It’s not necessary, but… while they join their bodies together under the pale light of a full moon, sworn mates show their devotion by letting their partners bite strongly on their most sensitive part, which is the tail.” “Interesting. I’m afraid I don’t have a tail though.” “Would it be okay if I bit on your ear?” “Of course. We should wait for a full moon then, I guess?” Astrea starts fidgeting a little on my lap while her tail makes charming dances in front of her face. “I don’t think… I can wait any longer… After getting this far… It’s just a thing people do, not even a tradition, so…” “Hahaha, I can see that. I’m okay with doing it now if you want. Or do you need to prepare yourself?” I catch a feral glint in her eyes. “Now is good.” I fully expected Astrea to make a move after that, but she just keeps staring at me while sometimes dropping her eyes onto my lips. “Go for it,” I encourage her with a smile. “I can tell you want to be the one in the lead.” “Is it truly fine for me to act that way?” “Stop worrying about it. I’m all yours. And besides, strong girls who know what they want make me really hard.” It seems my words achieve the desired result as Astrea shifts on my lap in a flash, from sitting on it sideways into kneeling over my thighs right from the front and looking at me from above. She takes my face into her hands, pulls it up, and slowly descends with her own while making sure I get a good view of her sharp canines. She locks our lips together, closes her eyes, and begins to savour the taste of our first kiss.
Chapter 68 – Lust of the Tigress ❤❤❤ Spoiler: Chapter Astrea’s lips pursue mine in a slightly worried and uncertain fashion at first, but she gains more confidence after realizing that I’ve done exactly what I said and laid myself bare in front of her, like a cornered prey waiting for the ferocious predator to strike. She starts pecking my mouth more aggressively with each little rub, sometimes sneaking a gentle bite or pull with her sharp teeth, still having her eyes closed. She greedily assaults me while enjoying her position of power to the fullest, step by step growing more and more forceful, seemingly still not sure how far she can go. She must have been forced into the submissive role by most, if not all, of her previous mates, and still feels a little hesitant in the back of her mind. If I want her to properly embrace her desire to exert control over me, I’ll need to get rid of these worries. I begin slowly backing away with my lips, subtly signalling to Astrea to end the kiss for a moment, without me being the one to stop her. She catches onto my intention and lazily opens her eyes after our mouths part. “Would you like to officially become my Partner now?” I ask her with a soft smile. I know asking that in the middle of things seems at least a bit intrusive and insensitive, but I haven’t done that just so we can enjoy the bonuses of my Class. I’m not such a capitalistic person to put numbers above feelings, wanting to get her into my system before we have sex. There’s a different reason behind that. Fortunately, Astrea doesn’t seem to mind. At least on the outside. She nods at me from above and I send her the request. A moment later, the confirmation appears and I shove it away without even giving it a glance. The moment our connection kicks in, I’m flooded with the intensity of Astrea’s desire. It’s so strong that I could easily mistake it with the level of shared thoughts and emotions I achieve after getting intimate with someone, but I know very well we are only barely connected, not yet bonded. I can feel how badly she wants me. It’s honestly a bit overwhelming and makes me shiver a little, in both anticipation and fear. You could say I have a person-sized, scorching hot furnace sitting on my lap and the heat almost singes my skin, penetrating deep into my body. Heat. Hah. I’m truly in awe. Even though I understand the principle behind her being drawn towards a strong male, it’s still unbelievable to me how much effect on somebody can their instincts have. She is literally burning with passion, but still, holding a little bit back, and it’s time to fully release the caged beast. My hands reach towards Astrea’s body and one palm softly grazes her back while the other makes its way to her grey hair and adorable ears. I scratch one of the fluffy triangles and move my face past hers, towards that very shape. “Now… Focus your mind for a moment… Can you feel it?” I whisper into her ear sensually. I can feel Astrea calming down a little, which is a sign of her diving into her thoughts, and then her whole body trembles and freezes. A wide smile finds its way onto my lips as I back away from her ear to check her face which is covered with an expression of surprise, but I can sense the wild desire in her narrowed pupils, barely able to hold back anymore. “Do you understand now? I. Am. All. Yours. For. The. Taking.” For the first time since we met, I’m able to see her smile, and oh boy, it’s a purely feral one. It’s the face of a true predator, alpha and omega. If I didn’t know any better, I would think she is going to ferociously tear me into shreds bit by bit while relishing in the ecstatic feeling of mutilating her defenceless prey. My little trick of sending her my intentions to get dominated through our faint connection seems to have done its job. Astrea grabs both of my wrists and pulls my arms to the side and behind the chair, while slowly licking her lips, still adorned with that ferocious grin. Holding my hands behind my back, she descends onto my face again, starting to lick it all over, relishing in the taste of me. Her body trembles just so slightly with each stroke of her tongue and so does mine. “Ugh!” Her trail of licking and pecking leads to my neck and I groan openly to the sensation of my flesh getting squeezed between her sharp teeth. After pulling on it a little, Astrea greedily licks the place all over, just to move to another one a moment later and repeating the action. In just a few minutes, my whole neck is covered with bloody hickeys. She finally moves back, not stopping the fierce glare. I shiver again after seeing her lick her lips in a mischievous manner to scoop a bit of my blood left on them. “I won’t be holding back then… You can only blame yourself now…” Her usually quiet and soft voice is now dripping with lust and completely changed into a lascivious tone. I smirk back at her to match her predatory gaze and smile, fully enjoying this change of pace. “Do your worst.” Astrea’s eyes flash with desire and her hands move to the linen shirt I’ve been wearing overnight. She rips it into two pieces in one single motion, uncovering my chiselled chest. She then throws the ruined material to the side and giggles almost maniacally after staring down my body from bottom to top. Her fingers reach towards it and graze my pecs and abs as she gazes deep into my eyes, shortening the distance between our faces with an unhurried pace. Just moments before our lips connect, she digs her nails deep into my skin and drags both of her hands down my chest, making me groan in surprise. She seals my open mouth instantly, interrupting my whimper midway, and begins greedily hunting for my tongue with her own muscle. I keep my hands entwined behind my back where she left them, playing my role of a defenceless prey in the clutches of a merciless predator. She must have a lot of pent up frustration and desire stored deep inside her little heart, unable to express it over the many years. And I will be here for her to release it all. After finishing her little game of cat and mouse with our tongues, she pulls her lips back while biting on my mouth. She begins raining down little pecks on my skin again, this time, moving further than just my neck, journeying far into the lands of my exposed chest. With her slightly hunched on my lap, I can clearly observe her enchantingly dancing tail, almost luring me in to grab it and have a feel of it. But, from its almost agitated movements, I get a clear message that it’s a deliberate trap that will result in immediate punishment. Feeling another bite on the flesh of my stomach, I release a pained and aroused moan which brings my attention back from Astrea’s tail. Looking down, I notice her staring at me from below with a knowing grin while pulling on my skin with her teeth. She clearly noticed my enamoured gaze. That bewitching spectacle with her tail was planned all along, just to make me lose focus and allow her to draw more pitiful moans from the unsuspecting me. I’m slowly starting to realize how little I thought of her due to Astrea’s slim and short figure. She is the boss here, not me. Satisfied with my reaction, her grin grows even wider and she switches back to sensually licking my sweat from all over my front, stopping here and there to place a wild kiss or nibble on my flesh, but in a way tamer fashion this time. She is perfectly balancing on the edge of pain and pleasure, not forgetting completely about my own satisfaction. Finally, it seems she has enough of it, and with a long sniff that makes her whole body tremble, she drags her cheek across my whole chest, from the bottom of my abdomen to my very face. She licks her lips hungrily while staring at me. I wonder what’s next in her plans. My question is answered a second later when Astrea grabs her own shirt and rips it in a similar fashion to what she did to mine. Her supple and beautiful breasts wobble in front of my eyes, drawn to them like something magnificent. She giggles seeing my state and runs her fingers through my hair. “Suck them.” Without even a chance to register her words, my face is strongly pulled towards her left nipple and my mouth meets with a marshmallowy sensation of pure bliss. Not wanting to disappoint my overbearing mate, I sheepishly begin to fulfil her order and start moving my tongue. “Nhhhhhhnnnn~♪” A faint moan reaches my ears. It’s like extremely gratuitous music that pushes me to work on the sweet hill even harder. My tongue tickles Astrea’s nipple repeatedly while my lips envelop her whole peak in repeated sucks whenever the muscle takes a brief break. “Yeeeessss~♪ Bite it~♪ Nyaaaaaaaahnnnnnn!” The moment my teeth close on her stiff point, Astrea’s body shivers and she releases a much louder moan. I think she came a little from this. I wouldn’t be surprised after the amount of time she had to wait since the moment she started working on my dick who knows how long ago. She suddenly pushes my head to her other breast and I begin teasing it without a break. My efforts are rewarded with occasional moans, and most importantly, a very entrancing purring. Yes. She purrs. Like a cat. With my face so close to her chest, I can hear it clearly, and even feel it a tiny bit in my lips. It’s an unexplainably satisfying feeling, making you feel truly appreciated. After seemingly satisfied with my work, Astrea pulls my head back and leans in to connect our lips. This kiss feels more like a reward than her previous, feral assaults. Still, she strongly explores my mouth while purring. She definitely noticed how much I began to like it. With our kiss finished, I pant heavily to gather my breath. Meanwhile, Astrea gives me another mysterious grin and stands up on the chair with her feet barely on the edges of the seating. My face ends up perfectly in front of her underbelly and I instantly realize what comes next after she shoves her fingers under the material of her shorts. In a very erotic manner, Astrea lazily draws her shorts and panties down at the same time. She shakes her hips from side to side with each short pull until the clothing reaches her ankles. Her face ends up in front of mine and she leaves a quick peck on my lips, with a cute giggle afterwards. Getting rid of the garments, she stands up straight again and looks down at me. Even though it’s unimaginably hard not to stare at the perfect, dripping wet pussy in front of my face, I try my best to follow her with my eyes. Keeping up the eye contact Astrea begins leaning back, effectively falling backwards. Before my mind registers it properly, she’s already far into the fall and I hastily jolt towards her. But, she suddenly stops her descent at around ninety degrees from her previous, standing position, as I have my hands reaching out towards her. In the heat of the moment, I completely forgot that we are in front of my desk. She dropped herself back onto it and landed on her hands, switching to her elbows. Seeing me in the middle of coming to her rescue, Astrea smirks triumphantly. I’ve been had. She uses her foot to push my back to lean against the chair again and then places both of her calves on my shoulders. With a quick and strong motion, she pulls me and the chair closer to the desk, and effectively, my mouth to her fragrant pussy. She rests her thighs around my neck and locks her legs behind it. “Eat it. You can use your hands this time.” She commands with a grin, lying between me and the desk like an angled plank. I get a full view of her body from this point, starting at her precious place, seeing her supple hills with stiff peaks further in the distance, and her slightly flushed face staring back at me in anticipation. Having such an exquisite first-time meal in front of me, how can I say no? I slowly move my hands to her soft back and support her posture, grazing it sensually with my fingers. Leaning forward, I take a good whiff of her humid and sweet scent, inviting me to dig in with the promise of a mind-melting treat. I don’t think I’ve come across such an aromatic scent. It must be a Beastkin thing, perhaps enhanced by her being in heat. Without further ado, I make a careful, long lick from the bottom to the top of her pink crevice, which results in a faint whimper and a little shiver. She did say that she had plenty of sex in the past with various other Beastkin, and I know they could be quite different in size down there, but the cute slit in front of me holds no hint of even being invaded. It again must be due to her race. I’ve read that they are extremely flexible and durable. In any way, all I can do right now is to worship this gift from the Goddess with my hot tongue and that’s exactly what I do. Astrea’s precious flower is already flooding with love juices due to our long teasing and her physical state, so I put my mouth against her delicate folds and begin caressing them. “Nyaaahhnnn~♪ Go harder~♪ Nhhhnnnn~♪” Answering her wishes, I begin sucking on her lower lips and nibbling on her sensitive, pink skin with my mouth, travelling all around Astrea’s yearning entrance. “Ahhhh! Nyyaaaaaahhhh~♪” When I brush against her tiny orb, she trembles again. I don’t stop my caresses, instead, I bring them a step further, starting to move faster and more intensely, focusing on her precious pearl and the inside of her moist folds. Wet and lewd noises begin filling the chamber, accompanied by a myriad of erotic whimpers and cute moans. “Mhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmm~♪ More~♪ Is that all you can do?” 「Ohohoho. You asked for it.」 “Nyaaaaaahhnnnnnn?!” I shove my tongue deep into her dripping honeypot in one quick slide, bringing forth an amorous scream from her. She begins spasming while riding her orgasm and a wave of her love nectar sprays my face a little bit. Not giving Astrea’s body a chance to wind down, I begin greedily exploring the depths of her pussy with the tip of my tongue, playing with her hot and wet insides. Her muscles tense involuntarily and her legs, entwined behind my neck, tighten too, pressing my mouth further and stronger into her warm folds, effectively locking me in place and cutting off any possibilities of backing away. But, it’s not like I intend to do so. “Ahhh~♪ Ahhh~♪ Nyaaaaahnnn~♪ Yessss~♪ Nyaaahh~♪ Deeper~♪” With her pushing me further into her fragrant mound, I tirelessly tickle her vaginal walls with the tip of my tongue while brushing against her clit with my lips. She squeezes my cheeks and neck with her tender thighs, almost to the point of squashing my head, but I can tell she is properly controlling her strength to not actually hurt me while still riding her pleasure drive. Since it’s pretty obvious that I won’t be released until I make her come like crazy, I decide to reach for a surefire method from my arsenal and condense mana on the tip of my tongue. This time, I try to faintly enhance my lips with it too and the effect is instantaneous. “Aaaahhhhhhnnnyyyyyyaaaaaaa~♪ Whaaaaat’s thisssssssss? Ahhhhnnnn~♪” Astrea’s back arches upwards from pleasure and she starts shaking. I don’t forget about her position and properly support her fine figure with my hands to prevent her from accidentally slipping down from the desk, and with how much she trembles, it could very well happen. Expecting a big one, I redouble my efforts and mercilessly drill her perfect pussy with my tongue, swirling it around the scorching hot insides. Each stroke, she shivers again, and her muscles tense more. I can feel her high building up at a quick pace and I move my focus to her precious pearl. Astrea finally can’t take it anymore and explodes in a powerful orgasm. “Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn~♪” I hold her body carefully as she trembles and wriggles around, relishing in the pleasure assaulting her mind. She finally stops spasming after a good minute and I pull Astrea to me, letting her lay and rest on my chest. She desperately gasps for air while faintly tracing her hands over my muscles and sneaking in a gentle lick on my neck. I’m completely sure this is not the end, so I avoid getting too much in control, just waiting for her to regain enough strength to continue with her assault on this poor prey. And we haven’t partaken in the mating tradition she mentioned yet. After a moment, Astrea takes a deep breath and pulls herself up, standing on her knees above my waist again and brushing my cheek with her fingers. She leans forward to give me a short kiss. “How did you like the taste of my pussy?” she asks with a wide grin. “It was exquisite. Nothing like I ever experienced.” She giggles and covers my lips again, pushing further into my mouth. She doesn’t forget to drive her nails into my back this time and gets a jump on my tongue with hers after I wince a little from the sensation. Astrea’s relentless attacks quickly make me breathless and she releases me with a smile. “Hold the chair.” I do as instructed and grab the seating on its edges while Astrea slowly steps off me onto the ground. In the next moment, she yanks my pants along with my underwear off my legs like a magician pulling a sheet from under the tableware, making my eager erection spring into the open air. She waves my pants in the air teasingly and throws them away. Astrea kneels down and glances at my towering cock from below. Still holding onto my seat, I impatiently wait for her to take any action against it, but for now, she only limits herself to taking short whiffs of my pulsing rod. With a knowing gaze, she finally brings out her tongue and makes a long lick from the bottom to the top, sending shivers through my spine. Contradictory to my expectations, she doesn’t go for another round of playing with my dick but only covers it all around with her saliva, sucking a little on the tip to give me some more pleasure. Done with what she wanted, Astrea spreads her legs over the chair and comes to stand above my waist. She lowers herself onto my thighs and joins her hands behind my neck. While staring me right into the eyes, she begins grinding her pussy against my erection. “Hands to the back. Don’t you dare even think about touching me.” She commands and follows it with a quiet but scary growl. I quickly comply and move my arms behind the backrest. She smiles and increases the pace of her hips. “Do you want to go inside?” “I do.” “Do you want to mate with me?” “I do.” “Do you want to shove that thick dick into my small pussy and mess it up?” “Yes, I do.” Astrea giggles maniacally after her folds stop around my glans, teasing it mercilessly while on the verge of penetration. She relishes in my yearning expression, making me wait for her own amusement. “Too bad. I’m the one in control here.” She grins devilishly and raises her hips a little, gradually releasing my tip from her hotness to my slight disappointment. “And that’s why,” she licks her lips, “I’ll be the one doing the shoving! Nyaaahnnnnnnn~♪” Without a warning, she slams her waist down, perfectly nailing her small entrance with my standing cock. In a blink, it pierces through her tight and scorching hot insides, reaching her furthest depths as Astrea’s plump butt hits against my thighs. She took it all in one swing. As she moans and throws her head to the back, I groan in surprise. “Such a prime cock, nyaaaaaa… It feels like a perfect match… It rubs me so good…” Her gaze turns into a little bit more enamoured than predatory one for a brief moment and she savours the sensation of my penis invading her precious place. Astrea then pecks my lips and grabs the top of the backrest with her hands, returning to her feral look. She starts moving up and down on my shaft. “How does it feel… nyaaahnn… to be fucked… nhhhnnn… by a female… nyaaa… while being… mhhhhhnn... at her mercy?” “Too fucking good, hooooh…” She giggles to herself while jumping on my dick, pushing herself up from the ground using her feet on the sides, and then forcing her body down with her hands on the backrest. To let her enjoy the feeling of dominating me more, I let out a plethora of little moans and groans each time she descends on my cock, making it spear through her folds with might. From our slightly growing connection, I can tell she likes it a lot. Astrea roughly grabs my hair with both of her hands and pulls my face to hers. She starts a sloppy and greedy kiss while still pleasuring herself with my penis like it’s her own fucktoy. It very well could be at this very moment. I’m content with having such a cute yet fiendish girl have her way with me. It’s just a little hard to keep my hands to myself. With a prick of pain from a sudden bite, my mouth is left alone and she withdraws while licking her lips. I can feel a tiny trail of blood travel down my chin. Astrea notices it and begins sucking on the small streak until it heals by itself enough to stop bleeding. She purrs loudly into my ear and returns to sitting straight while impaling her pussy on my cock. She moves her hands behind her to support herself on my thighs and switches all of her focus to my rod, increasing the pace again. With an accompaniment of the lewd sounds of flesh hitting against flesh and our erotic groans, I’m presented with a beautiful view of Astrea’s angled front, jiggling peaks and exposed pussy. Clearly intent on giving me a good show this time, she locks her eyes with mine and signals down with them. Intending to enjoy her goodwill, I move my gaze to her beautiful lower lips adorned with a small bush of grey fur and take in the sight of this perverted mound descending on my pole. As if waiting for that, Astrea starts adding more diverse movements to her repertoire. She begins impaling herself from different angles, making her pussy rub me in a completely new way with each slam, and when she runs out of possibilities, she drops her hips down for the last time and switches to grinding her pelvis in curricular motion. “Nhhhhnnn~♪ Ahnnnn~♪ Do you like… nyaaahhnnn… what you see?” “Very much... Ghnn…” She giggles and leans onto my chest, still making my penis stir up her insides around. “You can only cum… nyaaa… with me… nhhhhhnnn… got it?” “Yes…” Astrea nods to herself with a wide smile and starts licking my neck. I can tell she is getting close. Her hands travel to my chest and her fingers begin scratching it according to the back and forth grinding motions she makes with her pelvis. Each time she digs her nails in, my dick twitches inside her. After just a few moments, her prolonged moans change into quick and short ones and her actions turn up a gear or two. She hastily hugs me, squishing her soft breasts against my chest, and her fingers dig deep into my back. Her hips start moving the fastest yet, almost as strong as to rattle the chair, but I quickly tie it down to the floor with my Void Chains. “Ahn~♪ Ah~♪ Ah~♪ Yes! Yes! Nya~♪ Nyah~♪ Cuuuuuminnnnnnnnggggnyyyaaaaaa!” With the last, strongest shove, her pussy squeezes on my eager-to-release cock as her whole body shivers. Met with this intense sucking and stimulation, I explode into her tight passage with a flood of creamy liquid, quickly painting her insides white with a loud groan. Astrea keeps trembling on my dick for a good minute and each wave of seed shooting out of my cock makes her body shiver again. While we are relishing in the postorgasmic bliss, I start feeling, faint, feeble licks on my neck, accompanied by rough gasping for air. It makes me chuckle openly. She really must love my taste a lot. Sluggishly, Astrea pulls herself up to match my gaze and begins pecking my lips, gently this time. “Thank you…” A smile creeps onto my face while she is still peppering me with kisses. “What for?” “For letting me do this.” Taking her slightly less overbearing tone as permission to act on my own, I finally move my hands and place one palm on top of her head, stroking her adorable ear. “I get that you are satisfied?” “Uhn,” she nods faintly and begins rubbing her cheek against mine while purring affectionately. “Good. I’m glad then. You were really pent up.” She giggles apologetically. “Sorry. It was always me who was treated like a toy…” I plant a passionate kiss on her soft lips after pulling her from my cheek to cheer her up a little. “It’s all in the past. I’ll be always happy to let you have your way with me. I enjoyed it a lot. Your fierce bites too.” She shows a truly loving expression and gets back to actively rubbing her cheeks against mine. I guess that’s how her kind shows pure affection towards someone. It is quite pleasant to be on the receiving end. After a short while of these snuggles, Astrea pulls herself back. A gentle smile found its way back onto her lips, although I expected her to turn into a bit less expressive person again after we got finished. She carefully lifts herself up, releasing my still hard rod from the clutches of her hot cavern, not without a cute moan, and steps off my lap. She stumbles a little but quickly grabs the desk to find balance, giggling adorably. I start standing up to help her, but she shakes her head with a mysterious smile. In the next moment, she turns around to face the desk and lifts her right leg, placing it on the wooden top almost at a perfect, right angle. The gates of her secret dungeon open up a little bit and a trickle of her love nectar drips out of it along with some of my creamy seed. She leans forward onto the cold surface and uses the fingers of one of her hands to spread her pussy even more from below while giving me a hungry gaze again, a little more reserved this time, but I can feel her desire much clearer now after we have bonded. “I think it’s your turn now. You’ve earned it, um… Master?” she speaks a little hesitant while tracing circles around her labia. I chuckle to myself and start walking closer. “You don’t need to call me that.” I arrive in front of her butt and hang down over her pretty back, leaning forward to peck her lips. She grabs my cock with her petite hand in the meantime and begins stroking it back and forth while we kiss, bringing it closer to her entrance. “Then… Alastair… Please, enjoy my body. It’s your right as my mate. You can be rough if you want. I’m used to it.” “I would rather,” I keep raining kisses on her dainty lips, “be whatever you want.” With one hand enjoying her tender thigh and the other massaging her supple breast, I slowly slide inside her vagina again. The further I enter, the stronger Astrea’s purring into my lips during our kiss gets, until I bury my whole length inside her. “I’ve never had it so gentle before…” It pains me a little to hear that. She notices my feelings and rubs her cheek into mine. “It’s okay. For Beastkin, it’s normal to do it rough and hard to satiate the burning desire. I don’t dislike it that way, it’s just a first for me.” “Then we can consider it your real first time.” She smiles faintly and begins to affectionately lick my lips. I can feel her appreciation flowing into me. She notices my penis twitch while embraced by her warm walls and stops the caresses to smile at me. “Do me. Maybe a little harder than gentler…” I chuckle and withdraw my hips just to push them forward again, bringing out a cute moan from her. I start a trail of small kisses from Astrea’s lips towards her neck and then the back, slowly thrusting my rod into her comfortable embrace with an increasing tempo. She supports herself on her elbows which allows me to easily reach her charming breasts. While showering her slender back with a myriad of kisses, I rub her peaks with my fingers, timing each thrust to a squeeze of her erect nipples. Each turn evokes another adorable whimper. “Nya~♪ Nyah~♪ Nyaa~♪ Faster, please…” I lean even more onto her body and turn my pistoning up a notch. Her slender waist jolts up over the surface of the desk with each slap of my pelvis against her bottom. My penis drills through her wet pussy with fervour, finally allowed to freely explore her depths on its own. “Yes~♪ Like this~♪ Nhhhhnn~♪” Seems like I accidentally stumbled on a good spot while I was fixing my posture. Thanks to that, Astrea begins literally melting under me. I move my face to the side of hers to let her rub against me and she does so instantly. Hunched over my pretty mate, I keep poking that one spot she found very enjoyable, of course, not forgetting about her soft chest. At one point, she shivers, but it’s a different one than the usual trembles during waves of pleasure. Astrea grabs my hands which are on her breasts and stops rubbing her cheek against mine. “Ahh~♪ Wait! Nhhnnn~♪ Flip me! Flip me! Alastair! Nyaa~♪” she calls to me desperately. While pulling back my hips and leaving the tip of my cock barely inside her snug tunnel, I do as she requests and lift her body a little to skillfully flip her. Even though she was expecting it, she still yelps in surprise. I catch her properly and lay Astrea down onto the desk again, driving my cock into her tight canal again and resuming my motions. A fluffy strand suddenly starts repeatedly swatting my cheek and I notice her anxious gaze amidst the flushed expression and lewd moans. It’s not hard to guess her message. We’ve almost forgotten about that part. I open my mouth and she leads her dancing tail through my lips, which close over the furry rope very gently. The moment I do so, an immense shiver travels from the point where I squeezed, into her body, making it quiver so hard she bounces off the desk’s surface like a rotor. “Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn~!” “Guh!” Astrea’s inner walls tighten like never before, squeezing my cock as if aiming to milk it, making it much harder to move inside her precious hole. She starts flailing her arms at me amidst all the moaning and sounds of our lovemaking, finally succeeding in grabbing my neck and pulling me close. Her legs lock behind my waist and her arms hug me tightly as she begins pulling her own hips into mine shortly before I thrust into her leaking honeypot, increasing our sensations even further. Understanding what she is aiming for, I tilt my head to give her easier access to the side of my face and I instantly feel her tongue on my earlobe. Strongly slamming into her slim frame, which in turn loudly hits the wooden desk, I bring the both of us to the edge of another peak. “Mhhhnnn~♪ Together! Nyaaa~♪ Bite... when we come... Uhhmmmm~♪” Easier said than done. She isn’t the one with a sensitive strand of precious fur in her mouth, already doing everything she can not to accidentally close her teeth over it from all the pleasure coming from an amazingly tight, wriggling pussy. And how hard am I supposed to bite it? How hard is too hard and how hard is enough? We should have discussed it beforehand. Sensing my indecisiveness, she kisses my ear. “Mhhhmmm~♪ Don’t worry… Just… nyaaa… give it a good squeeze!” She is a tough one. I shouldn’t worry about simple things like these. And that’s why I embrace her whole posture even harder and hammer her expectant pussy just as she desires for it. Astrea sings me a beautiful song of countless seductive moans straight into my ear. I just hope Cornelia is not in her room because we are making the desk pound against the wall like crazy. I'm not sure if the silencing ward covers that too. Finally, we both reach our limit at the same time, thanks to a little trickery of holding back on my side. Astrea trembles all over and digs her nails into my flesh like usual as a sign of getting overwhelmed by her orgasm. The moment I feel her pussy constrict on my member and her fingers tear my skin, I bite on her tail as instructed, at the same time, experiencing a hard nibble on my earlobe. Both my groans and her cries are muffled due to our mouths being busy and we ride our high in a distorted accompaniment of weird noises. I fill her cosy tunnel with my milky seed again as her body shivers in response to each shot of creamy delicacy travelling further inside. She shakes for around two minutes this time. Tail nibbling must have brought her way past the usual pleasure thresholds. I pet her fluffy ears in the meantime, enjoying the pleasant squeezes her inner walls give to my rod. Finally, Astrea’s orgasm fades down and we both stare at each other while panting heavily. I let go of her tail, now lying cutely on her side. I reach towards it with my fingers and tickle it very gently. She giggles from my touch and pushes her face up to peck my lips. “Don’t tickle me… I just came so hard…” “Hahaha, sorry. I just can’t resist. I was dreaming about touching it for so long.” “It’s a bit too sensitive after all of this, but… You can touch it as much as you want later.” “I’ll definitely hold you onto that,” I joke and lean closer to let her rub herself against me. We rest on the desk for a while longer. I savour the blissful feeling of Astrea snuggling to me and purring affectionately. After she regains enough strength, I lift her up and walk with her to the bath. The moment we leave my room, we both notice Elea standing by the door with a knowing smile. Fortunately, Astrea doesn’t seem to mind being seen naked in my arms too much. She just snuggles her face more into my neck. Elea raises her brow a little after noticing all the scratches, bruises, bites and other marks over my chest, back and neck, but only sighs after seeing my wry smile. She tells us to enjoy the bath while she takes care of my room. I get a feeling she was waiting just to do that, right after we finish. To avoid running into anyone else, I quickly make my way there. We wash each other on the side of the pool with care and then jump into the hot water to take a relaxing dip. Astrea rests on my chest with a big, satisfied smile, purring bewitchingly.
Chapter 69 – The Weakness of All Succubi Spoiler: Chapter With a cute, grey-haired feline Beastkin relaxing on my chest under the gentle stroking of my hand, I finally begin summoning all the windows I’ve intentionally sent away before when we were having our little moment. The first one is obvious and just states that Astrea joined the ranks of my contracted Partners. It doesn’t seem that she has a surname or anything else besides her first name as it doesn’t appear in there. While in contemplation, I notice the lack of purring that pleasantly filled the air up till now. Astrea must have sensed that I’m thinking about her and is currently looking at me from below, with her previous, calm and neutral expression. “Something wrong?” I ask. She tilts her head for a bit and her ear twitches. “It’s weird. I can feel you. Do your other mates feel you this deeply too?” “Hmmmm… I guess the girls I’ve bonded with have a stronger connection with me than just the people I register as my Partners, but I’m also pretty sure it goes even a level higher with you girls who I actually wish to be with, and vice versa. Like, the deeper your feelings for me are and the more I love you back, the closer we actually get. You can think of Sirgia or Cornelia versus girls like Shawure and Zalia as an example. We are in a different level of relationship.” Astrea lowers her gaze for a moment and ponders, returning it up to me shortly after. “Does this mean that… you like me? Even though I’ve been avoiding you and you barely know anything about me?” I smile gently and move my hand to rub her adorable ear a bit more. “Silly girl, of course, I like you. I might not know a lot about you, but you definitely had a reason not to share, right? I can at least tell that you are a good person and that’s the most important. And I can feel that your feelings are real.” Astrea pulls herself up and starts rubbing her cheek against mine, beginning to quietly purr again. This time, I join her in this weirdly satisfactory motion and move my face too, effectively making us nuzzle against each other in a quite lively fashion. It kind of reminds me of the videos back from home where two cats would rub their cute heads together. A faint smile paints her lips as we share some affection. “I love you…” Astrea whispers, seemingly not fully conscious of it. “I love you too,” I answer back with a faint chuckle, making her stop nuzzling to me and look me in the eyes. “Really?” “What? You think I accepted you as my lover on a whim? I was pretty interested in you, you know?” “You were?” “I admit that it was—and partially still is—mostly due to how cute and charming you are, so it kind of feels like I’m infatuated with your exotic body, but I’m sure it can grow much deeper if we just get to know each other better.” She keeps silent for a few seconds before moving her lips close to my cheek to present it with a gentle peck. “I’m alright if you love me for my body. Actually, I’m a little bit happy. It makes us… kind of similar.” “Oh, how so?” “Well… I mean… It’s like you are following your male instincts, no? And I fell for you because of my own, feral instincts, making me lust after strong individuals. Aren’t I technically just after your body too?” I stop for a moment to think. Astrea’s words actually hold more truth to them than I expected. The most common reason for falling in love is getting infatuated with someone’s beauty. It’s pretty much the same in this case. With a smile, I peck her forehead back. “You are right. It seems like I’ve been overthinking it even more than you. So, let’s just agree we both love each other and move on.” She nods cutely and then grabs my hand to place it on her breast. “And if you are interested in my body, you can just take it whenever and wherever. It’s yours now. You can do anything you want to it.” I move my hand back to the top of her head and ruffle through her hair. “Wouldn’t you rather do anything you want to my body?” “I can? It wasn’t just once?” I chuckle seeing her slightly surprised expression. “I thought I was pretty clear by saying that I’d like you to be yourself from now on. You might be instinctively drawn to strong males, but isn’t your desire to be the one in control? I’m fairly sure you’ve still held back when we did it even though I told you not to, isn’t that right?” Astrea lowers her gaze while quietly enjoying my pats, pretty much confirming my guess. She’s ready to push back her own wants to be with me and that already shows a lot of dedication. But, I’d rather she didn’t. Especially since I really don’t mind. I bring her chin up to make her look at me again and pull her into a short kiss. “I’m sure about it so don’t analyze my words so deeply.” Her eyes change in a moment and I recognize that familiar, feral glint in them again. Astrea then entwines her arms around my neck and strongly pulls me into a kiss, taking the lead. Like the good mate that I am, I let her savour this feeling of superiority for as long as she likes. After a few moments, she finally releases my lips and slides back down onto my chest with her back pressing into it. “Can you hug me?” “Did your previous mates always ask you to do things for them?” Astrea looks up at me, slightly uncertain of why I asked, but she quickly realizes what I actually meant and looks down again, making herself more comfortable in my lap. “Hug me. And pet my ears.” With a smile, I fulfil her request, or rather order, and wrap one arm around her waist, using the other one to caress her fluffy ears. She instantly starts purring audibly. We might need a bit of work, but I’m sure Astrea will be able to act like the one in control in no time. She must have been forced into the submissive female role quite badly for her to be this used to suppressing her desires. I’ve read that most Beastkin are quite rough, so it’s easy to imagine, and she did mention she mated plenty of times while satisfying her heat. Anyway, she’s definitely worried about these things so I shouldn’t press her to tell me more about her past until we get a little closer. We’ve just barely accepted each other. I shouldn’t force her to talk about things that in her eyes are definitely emasculating and degrading. It would only hurt her pride even more. I’ll have to wait until she understands that it truly means nothing to me. While pampering my new partner, I continue checking on the information from our bonding and check what the system says about our relationship first. And one thing that again catches my attention is the fact that only her first name shows up. Now, as far as I know, Beastkin don’t have surnames, but they actually have something that should follow their first name and it’s their gained title. Every Beastkin receives one when reaching adulthood. Some may get it earlier if they achieve something impressive, like hunting an incredibly stronger prey. It’s usually names like Bloodclaw, Ironpaw, Braveheart and other quite cringy-sounding titles. But, to not be granted that title, either means that the individual was extremely weak or unskillful, not being recognized amongst their kin, or they never had a family or a pack in the first place. And since Astrea does seem more than capable enough—granted that I can’t know what kind of tribe she could have been brought up in—I’m actually inclined to lean towards the latter. Honestly, the curiosity is eating me away so badly, but I don’t want her to feel sad reminiscing about her past if that’s true. Anyway, our Bond Level starts from three already, so she really is into me quite a bit. The Bond Type is actually quite close to what I had in mind. The fact that she considers me her mate for life does stroke my ego a little bit. I’ll just have to not let her down on that part. Finished with the Bond menu, I call for her Status window. So, she is thirty-one. If I’m not mistaken, feline subraces of Beastkin live up to something like one-hundred-fifty, so she can be considered pretty young—some years past her adulthood already—which is good. I kind of forgot to make sure about that. I’m starting to get complacent recently with all these almost eternal fantasy races around me. Her Job is nothing surprising, but her Class certainly is. Until now, I didn’t really have any idea what it could be, besides the fact that she seemed quite strong when we first met. I can still remember that crushing feeling around my throat. But, just strength isn’t enough to figure out someone’s Class and she could have been using some enhancing ability or something. Astrea’s stats are pretty normal considering her Tier. Well, excluding the boost from me, of course. As for her skills… Now, this explains a thing or two. It looks like her feline kind specializes in agility. With her Sneak and Keen Perception, it’s no surprise she could move around the mansion pretty much unseen. If she knew I was pursuing her back then, I most likely wouldn’t have been able to catch up to her that easily. What’s the most interesting is her Class abilities. She has quite a few techniques listed under there and some do sound pretty fancy and mysterious. I kind of want to see her in action now. Will she move as smoothly as people in these martial arts movies and anime? Are her skills and techniques that amazing? I really have to spar with her sometimes. After familiarizing myself with her status screen, I keep spoiling my strong kitty for a while longer and we then move out of the bath. I have lots of things to take care of, even though I would love to do nothing but spend more time with my lovely ladies. Making sure that Astrea doesn’t need anything else from me and that she isn’t left unsatisfied with me just running away like that, I split from the catgirl and head to the underground area where Teffith, Garrena, Leyne and my jelly beauties are warming up while waiting for my arrival. I apologize for my late appearance and we dive straight into practice. They show and teach me many useful things about combat with beasts and other humanoids. It doesn’t have to be said that after such an intense workout I have to return to the bath again before I can show myself in the dining area. Naturally, all of my teachers follow suit and we end up in the same pool. Nothing special, I guess. I’m pretty much used now to the sight of many nude women all around me. They understand that I’m tight on my schedule and don’t bother me much while we wash each other, but I make sure to show them my appreciation with some soft caresses. Of course, only towards those who want them and to a level that won’t bother the innocent bystanders. I really don’t want to make Teffith uncomfortable after she decided to hop in with all of us. She already catches me staring at her amazing body and scales more than a few times. Breakfast is a bit more lively than usual. Perhaps because of the fact that I’ll be leaving the establishment in their hands, the girls feel the need to actually start interacting with each other properly instead of doing it only when necessary. They talk about a lot of things for the upcoming days, including me in their discussion too. It feels good to see everyone so engaged and Cornelia taking the leadership onto herself, with the support of Elea. With these two amazing women in charge, I can leave pretty much without any worries. Next is my planned visit to the Monster Tamer's Guild to see if I can learn anything useful for the encounter with the Succubus, and about the seals for my slimy familiars. I’m not technically a Monster Tamer myself, but I’m fairly sure some things should be universal. The thing is, I’m wondering if I should go alone or perhaps take Safi and Emi with me. Their presence might be useful, but is it fine to walk around with two Queen Slimes by my side? Most likely sensing my hesitation, the two bouncy entities-in-question show up in my chamber. I brace for impact and catch the enthusiastic green girl into a hug, showering her in mana-pats while greeting the mature, blue woman with a mana-filled kiss. I think I might have made them addicted to these. “You don’t have to worry, Master! Emi will be a good girl! Elea and others are teaching Emi how to behave properly when outside and around Humans!” “It’s as she says. We both know Common too, so we will be able to understand everything clearly, possibly being of help to you, Master.” I smile at the two. “I know that I don’t have to worry about you acting out of the line, but I’m still worried about the others around. I don’t want you to get hurt.” “You said that we can defend ourselves, right, Master?” Safi asks. “Yes, of course.” “Then I think there’s no problem. We are plenty strong to fend off any possible attacks without hurting the assailants too much. Don’t forget that Queen Slimes aren’t your common Slimes everyone can deal with, Master, fufufu~” Safi chuckles softly, using her recently-gained, voice of a doting older sister. “You might be right. With how carefree you two were around me since the beginning, it might have warped my perception of you a little bit.” “Yes! And Master will be with us too! Master can protect Emi and Safi easily!” the green girl happily comments. “Alright, alright. Guess we are going together. Admit it, you two are just eager to finally get your seals, hm?” Emi giggles cutely while Safi avoids my gaze. I’ve hit the mark perfectly. Who can blame them though? I’ve been putting it off again and again. Let’s just hope they’ll have a way for me to contract them somehow. I really don’t want to disappoint my two lovely bundles of affectionate slime which accompanied me since the very first day I was left on my own here. Since they are pretty much always in their maid uniforms, it’s only me who has to dress up before we go out, and with the two of them present, it obviously turns into a dressing session where they help me don my adventuring outfit. Can’t be helped. At least they are staying true to their roles as maids. We let Elea and Cornelia know about our departure and head out. The moment we step into the open street, Safi and Emi take spots by my sides and both assume poses of professional maids escorting their master, with their hands elegantly joined in front of their short dresses. I’m quite surprised to see Emi being any different than lively and joyful. Looks like she was speaking the truth. Naturally, we garner quite a lot of shocked and curious gazes as we move through the city towards our goal. My slime maids keep their postures straight and their gazes forward no matter what, ignoring all the commotion when it takes place. Fortunately, I don’t notice any malicious intent from our surroundings and I’m fairly sure I spot a few people recognizing their uniforms. We reach the guild without any unfortunate events occurring. The worst that happened was someone’s dog pulling its leash from the hand of its lady and launching itself at Emi, but it came to an abrupt stop when she turned her head towards the charging animal. She somehow intimidated the dog and sent it running back, whimpering like a beaten pup. It was quite funny, I must say. I wonder how she did that. In front of our eyes is a tall, four-story, wooden building. It’s quite massive and the signboard above the main entrance confirms that this is our target. There’s not much activity in the close vicinity. I partially expected this place to be as busy as the Adventurer’s Guild, but now that I think of it, that might have been wrong. Anyway, with Safi and Emi by my sides, I enter through the glass double doors and take a look around. The lobby is pretty spacious and decorated with paintings of various beasts and monsters. There’s only one counter on the far side of the room and a young boy sits behind it, reading some small book. We start walking towards him and he stops what he is doing only after we arrive right in front of his desk. “Welcome to the Monster Tamer’s Guild. How can I hel—ARE THOSE QUEEN SLIMES?!” After lifting his gaze mid-sentence, he suddenly shouts loudly when his eyes fall onto my two companions. It seems he is not just a mere receptionist to recognize them with a single glance. Especially with the way they are dressed and how they hold themselves in my presence. “Yes, they are. Would you kindly—” “MAAAAAAASTEEEEEEEEEEEEEER! MAAAAAAAAASTEEEEEEEEEER!” Before I can finish my question, the boy darts away through a door by the reception while screaming his lungs out, calling most likely for his superior or something. I sigh with my hands on my hips and hear Safi chuckle. “I take it that we’ve made quite the entrance, Master.” “Oh yes, we did. I just wonder if it was a positive or a negative one.” “Don’t worry! Emi will protect Master if they are bad guys!” I pat my green queen while smiling at her. “I’m counting on you then.” In less than three minutes, we hear the sound of rushed footsteps from the same way the boy ran off to, leaving the door half-open. From the noise, it seems to be only two people. And my guess is proven right when the familiar clerk returns following an older man with a long, white beard. “Great Goddess! Those really are Queen Slimes!” He exclaims excitedly after stopping in front of us; all his focus on my two partners. “What amazing specimens! What incredible control! I can’t spot a single bead of slime leaking through their membranes! Truly magnificent!” The old man reaches out to touch Safi’s collarbone while in his weird, reverent trance, but I catch his wrist before he makes contact. His eyes snap to mine instantaneously. “Take that hand away if you don’t want to lose it.” “How dare you threaten Master!” the boy shouts from behind him but the man raises his other hand to silence him. “Thank you for stopping me, kind sir.” He bows his head lightly. “I almost made a grave mistake. I apologize for my impudence.” “Master! Why are you apologizing to him?” “Shut up you idiot!” The man turns around and chops the young boy on the head. “You should have been the one to stop me! Watch!” He brings out a wooden wand from the inside of his leather vest and glances at me. I nod, figuring out his intentions. The boy’s master then directs the tip towards part of Safi’s exposed sapphire skin and presses it against her membrane. The wooden stick penetrates it and slides inside her jelly body. In mere seconds, that part of the wand is gone. The man pulls it back and shows the leftover half of his wand to his disciple. “See?! These are not normal! That would have been my hand! Elderwood in a blink! I bet it could melt a steel sword in under thirty seconds!” Glancing at Safi, I catch her smug expression, clearly proud of the power of her acid. Was it always this strong? I don’t know how corrosive it must be to eat away food and leftovers, but it is kind of scary now that I think of all the times I’ve stuck my hands—and other parts too—into her bodies. A small shiver passes through my body. Hearing about a steel sword, I don’t think it would end up with just severe acidic burns like in all of Cornelia’s stories about people having a try at Slimes. Safi, sensing the sudden change in my mood, gently takes my hand into hers and presses my palm against her chilly membrane above her chest, letting it slip inside, up to the wrist. As expected, nothing happens to my fingers, besides getting nudged by her hot core that she brings up and rubs against them affectionately. She smiles at me charmingly after I softly catch it and brush its surface with my thumb. Our unexpected show leaves the two men with their jaws almost resting on the very floor, and one certain green Slime with a comically angry, pouty expression. “No fair! Emi was being a good girl too! Why is only Safi getting rewards!” “It can even speak?!” the old man raises his voice in surprise. “Alright, alright, come here,” I call for her to move closer and slide my hand into Emi’s body too, starting to tickle her happily floating core and evoking a big grin from the emerald beauty. “And you,” I turn to Safi, “don’t take advantage of the situation to get more caresses. We are here on a business.” “I apologize, Master. I promise to be careful about my actions in the future,” she says with a soft smile that doesn’t really convey being all that sorry. “You are their master? How unbelievable!” The man almost jumps at me. I withdraw my hands and turn to him. “Well, not exactly.” “But a Slime’s slime is not harmful only to its master! Or when it's commanded for it not to be!” “They do view me as their master, but we are connected through a little different bond than what you’d usually come across. And that’s why I’m here. I wanted to know if I can somehow enter a contract with them without being a Monster Tamer.” “I’ll gladly answer your questions, sir…” “Alastair.” “... sir Alastair. My name is Juvren and I’m the current Guildmaster of this establishment. The boy behind me is my young apprentice, Orno. Come! Let’s move to a more comfortable environment than this lousy reception!” We follow the clearly excited Guildmaster through a few corridors and end up in a fancy chamber most likely meant as a meeting room for important guests. The young boy brings some wine as we sit down and pours me a glass. Looks like another VIP treatment to me. “Well then, sir Alastair. I’ll first inform you that you don’t need the Monster Tamer Class or any other derivative having skills and abilities connected to Monster Taming. Of course, contracts and bonds initiated by people with these are incomparable to methods others use to bind monsters to them, but it still is possible, albeit much harder. But, seeing how subservient these two Queen Slimes are to you, I don’t think there would be any problems even with the simplest and weakest rituals.” “I see. That’s good to hear. How does such a connection created with a ritual work and look?” “Depending on the complexity of the ritual, it’s almost the same as the magic used for demi-human slaves. You have pretty much full control of the monster’s life and its will. Although, while it's possible to force it to kill itself if it’s not mentally strong enough, you won’t be able to kill it just with the connection, like Monster Tamers would be able to.” I shudder a little when he mentions forcing your companion to commit suicide, but it would be a fairy tale if Monster Tamers who capture and enslave monsters and beasts into being their familiars didn’t exist. I bet there is plenty of scum who force them into submission through sheer violence and threats. It kind of puts me off a little bit. “Are there any rituals that don’t have such invasive functions? As you can see, I don’t really need to force them to do anything.” “Emi would follow any order from Master! Even if Master wanted to use Emi’s core for ingredients!” “NO, YOU WOULDN’T!” I accidentally raise my voice after the unexpected statement from Emi, almost shouting at her. “I prohibit you from ever harming yourself or following any orders that would put your life at risk! And that’s an order!” She visibly shrinks into herself and lowers her head. “Emi is sorry…” Safi’s hand appears on my tensed shoulder from the other side and I turn my face to her. “Master… Even if it hurts a bit, we can shave off parts of our core at will. We can even split it in half if necessary, without it endangering our life. She didn’t mean to say that she would kill herself for such a reason...” Seeing Safi’s concerned expression, I take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Nodding at her, I turn back to Emi and pat her springy head. “I’m sorry, Emi. I overreacted a little. I apologize for getting angry at you. I’m happy to hear that you care about me this much, but please, don’t talk about hurting yourself so casually. You know I wouldn’t want that.” She pushes her head more into my palm and brings her core close to the surface. “It’s okay. Emi didn’t think before speaking and made Master sad. Emi doesn’t want to make Master sad. Don’t apologize, it’s Emi’s fault.” “Nah. I didn’t think over what you said too, so we both are at fault. Here, have some of your favourite mana. We good now?” She beams with a wide smile after I leak some of my energy into her core through the external membrane. “Yes. Please, don’t mind Emi, Master, and continue.” With a chuckle, I turn back to the Guildmaster. “Well… Uhhh… I apologize for raising my voice so suddenly. Where were we? Ah, less invasive contracts.” “Ummm… I think there are some…” Juvren replies while still looking between me and Emi, most likely trying to piece some things together. “Is there something specific you are looking for?” “Pretty much anything goes if it could show others that they are under me like a Slave Mark does, so some kind of visual representation. Any other functions would be a bonus. I mostly want to confirm my identity as their master if someone asks. You know, walking around with two Queen Slimes isn’t something common.” He cocks his head back in understanding. “Ahhhh, of course. It’s not a problem. We can conduct such a ritual very quickly and at an affordable price if it’s just about identification. Such things don't happen often, but I can see how obedient and trusting your familiars are. I truly respect you for achieving such a feat. Most would just force their way with them, but I always repeat that coercion leads to a huge loss in potential and capability… But do they listen? Pfft, they don’t care… Younger generations are so disappointing…” “I listen, Master! And I care too!” Orno tries to join in. “Then study the books I tell you to instead of wasting your time on these indecent novellas, you damned brat!” The boy averts his gaze and starts whistling. Looks like we have an adolescent man of culture here. Now I know why he is secretly—in his eyes—ogling Safi all the time. This little pervert is most likely infatuated with monster girls, which are quite plenty in this world. If only he was a little bit older I would pass our business card to him. Even if by this world’s standards he’s almost an adult, it still feels somewhat wrong to me. “I’m really glad to meet a respectable Monster Tamer who doesn’t treat their familiars like disposable tools.” I smile at Juvren. “The pleasure is mine, sir Alastair! Being able to lay my eyes on almost legendary beings is already a huge honour! And if you let me be the one to conduct the rituals, I will be delighted!” “If you can then I will surely take you up on that offer.” “Then so be it! Boy! Go prepare the room and materials for the Heart Link ritual! Chop chop!” “Yes, Master!” Orno bows lightly and rushes out of the chamber, leaving us alone. Juvren looks very excited and happy. I can tell he is a man devoted to his passion like Sirgia or Cornelia and it brings him much joy to work with magical creatures. “Well then, since we have some time before things will be ready, would you mind telling me more about Monster Taming without a Class related to it? I’m actually curious about people using coercion to exert control over monsters that you mentioned before. I’ve always stuck to approaching them with kindness and an open heart. What if I tried capturing a beast stronger than myself? I don’t know, let’s say a Succubus for example. Is that even possible to do? I managed to convince these two to follow me out of their own will and I’m wondering what I would have needed to go through if I was like these people you spoke about.” The old man keeps nodding along with my words. “Oh, yes, yes, of course, I’ll tell you! I can sense a deep desire for knowledge from you, young man! That’s really admirable! And you seem to have your heart in the proper place, so I don’t mind talking about it.” “You humble me, Master Juvren. It’s just simple curiosity.” “Doesn’t matter! Anyway, it is possible, of course, but it’s really hard and troublesome, not even mentioning the danger. You usually need to rely on many weakening rituals and spells, having to place them down before the attempt. The whole thing boils down to luring the monster into each of them until it gets strongly suppressed. Then, they—the classless tamers—naturally use the strongest binding rituals they can, making sure that the entity can’t go against their orders or kill them in their sleep or something. It costs a small fortune and is extremely dangerous the smarter the monster is.” “I see. So, it’s pretty much about stacking debuffs until you are the stronger one. But what if we assume that the person is pretty much equal or even a little stronger than said Succubus? Is it still like that or can they approach it differently? Of course, assuming that the monster is hostile.” Juvren strokes his beard while gathering his thoughts. “Hmmm… I guess it would be enough to restrain the monster and bring it into the ritual formation. No one knows why, but Succubi just can’t stand the mixture of mashed watermelon, strawberries and squeezed lemon juice. This concoction burns them like hell when applied orally or through any other orifice. Just the smell can make them writhe in pain. I bet it would come useful when forcing the contract.” 「Mashed watermelon and strawberries mixed with squeezed lemon juice? I think I remember watching a video with something like that… Wait... Wasn’t that the recipe for...」 I involuntarily begin giggling and then laughing openly after making the connection. The old man and the girls stare at me weirdly. “What’s so funny, Master?” Emi asks curiously. “Hahaha… Sorry… Haha… Sigh... I’m not sure if you are aware, Master Juvren, but that concoction is believed to boost a man’s, you know, performance, pfftttt…” He stares at me for a moment while blinking repeatedly until he finally registers what I meant after I make a move with my eyes down there. He slaps his face, chuckling a little too. “Great Goddess… What an irony… But...” he glances at me with one eye covered, “does it really work like that?” “I can’t say for sure since I’ve never tried it, but where I’m from, many people boasted about the effects of such mix. And I believe there were other recipes similar to it. The potency isn’t something formidable as far as I know, but that doesn’t change the fact nevertheless.” The hidden spark in his eye makes me explicitly aware that this world might not know what viagra is. I’m not a chemist, nor randomly memorized its structure—not like it would be of that much help with people in this world not knowing most likely any of the scientific terms—but I should at least make an effort to try and recreate it with the help of my talented friends. It would be stupid to ignore the fame and riches this could bring to the one who introduces it to the world. I’ll need to talk about it with Dhosk and Elea later. It's honestly a bit surprising. They figured out anticonception pills, but not this thing? Maybe I'm just reading into the old geezer too much. Better do market research first. “Anyway, thank you for the tip. I’ll equip myself with a few vials of this concoction if I ever consider wandering into regions Succubi might inhabit. Great thing for self-defence.” “Cough, yes, certainly. I’m glad to be of help.” “Master! It’s ready!” Orno comes in like a bullet, without even knocking, and informs us about his preparations. “Well then, shall we?” I nod and we follow the duo to a different chamber, more plain-looking and spacious enough to house a big, runic circle on the floor. It’s already supplied with fresh ingredients; the glistening lines of the formation are proof of that. “Alrighty then. Would you mind removing the upper part of your clothing, sir Alastair?” Juvren asks after picking up a small vial with dark liquid in one hand and a brush in the other. “I need to ask the same from your familiars.” We three look at each other and I shrug. Ritual is a ritual. I follow the request of the ritual expert and take off my leather coat, vest and purple shirt, revealing my bare torso to everyone present. Turning to face the man and his apprentice, I find them staring behind me with wide eyes. The boy is practically salivating. One glance over my shoulder explains everything. Two completely naked jelly beauties stand right behind me with every single nook and cranny of their bodies visible to the world. And that includes some of their private organs inside as they keep their slightly translucent appearance. They must have shoved their whole uniforms into their storages inside their collar badges. I shake my head and ask them mentally if they can do anything about the fact that their smoking-hot bodies are distracting our hosts and they happily oblige by resummoning their black panties and controlling their slime to cover their breasts in the shape of bandages wrapped around them, additionally going fully opaque. Well, good enough I guess. “Ekhm. Let’s continue then. Boy, create the markings on Sir Alastair. I’ll take care of his familiars.” “But Master, I think—” “Boy!” “Yes, Master!” Orno skilfully draws immersive lines all around my limbs and torso, finishing in around ten minutes. His master is even faster and completes the markings on Safi and Emi during the same time. These are way more complex and actually cover their whole bodies. I guess he is going all out for me. I wonder if this may have a connection to my chemical revelation. With that finished, he leads us into the circle and activates it with the help of his apprentice. First, the patterns on the floor get illuminated and then, the ones on our bodies lit up, both in a crimson hue. “Alrighty. Now just feed them your mana and it will activate. Don’t forget to clearly imagine the mark you’d like to use as your identification. Or leave it to fate,” Juvren instructs me with a wave of his hand. “Hm, how would you like to—mwhhmm?!” As I turn to my lovely slimes to ask them about the method, my lips get sealed mid-sentence by the sapphire beauty and we enter a deep kiss. I can hear both men gasp behind my back. “No fair! You broke your promise! Ghhnnnnnn… Emi’s turn!” The emerald girl pouts while angrily clenching her fists and then slams her jelly body against her friend’s, pushing Safi away enough for her to slip her own lips onto mine too while she stands on her tiptoes. And just like that, I end up getting kissed by both of them at the same time as the formation enters the next stage and pleasant warmth fills my whole body, flowing towards the direction of my heart. Well, I guess I can let them have this one, so I just stand firm and enjoy the feeling of their tongues caressing my mouth and my own muscle, relentlessly fighting each other over the territory of my lips. It’s such a bizarre scene. In a short moment, the ritual finishes what it’s intended to do and I watch the markings disappear from our bodies. Even though I can’t see them right now, I know that their cores earned a glowing, purplish tattoo on their surface, in the same style as the fake seals I’ve applied on the other girls. I can feel their happiness flowing into me through our bond. It takes me a good minute after everything fades to pry them off me, especially Emi who turned way more competitive due to Safi getting two headstarts on her. I compensate my overenthusiastic shorter slime girl with a deep, affectionate kiss one-on-one after Safi backs away. Of course, filling it with plenty of my mana, which is greedily sucked in by her floating core. “Phew. Don’t forget that—unlike you—I do have to breathe or I will drop dead,” I jokingly berate them, earning myself a chuckle from the mature lady and a giggle from the tomboyish girl. Turning around to the two men again, I’m met with the most shocked and surprised expression they have shown so far. And I’m pretty sure there’s a hint of jealousy hidden somewhere there, especially in the eyes of the young Orno. Dressing up again, we stay in the guild for a short chat after the ritual and then head back home. The girls are clearly overjoyed and it’s extremely visible with how they handle themselves on the street. Emi walks with a skippy step while Safi looks as if she is lost deep in her thoughts, with a faint smile on her charming face. I feel like our bond might evolve again after this.
Chapter 70 – The Ephemeral Aegis Spoiler: Chapter On our way back to the mansion, we check some usual notice boards and other spots where our posters are located. I notice some people pointing their fingers at our trio as we replace the old ones with the updated versions. Looks like the main poster girls got recognized. That’s good. More word of mouth marketing. Afterwards, we return home without anything major happening. Walking through the entrance, we meet our new canine maid waiting with Roseni in the lobby. “Welcome back, Master. And you too, Safi, Emi,” the elf lady makes a slight bow and Rene follows the motion. “We are back. Are you two waiting for us perhaps? What’s in that box?” I point at the small package in Rene’s hands. “Yes! It’s for you, Master!” she replies cheerfully while her tail swishes energetically behind her back. “A cloaked man came to deliver it. He said it’s from your noble friends. Where should I put it?” 「Oh? Something from Ross? Interesting.」 “I can take it from you. I’m sure you are busy with the preparations for the night. There’s no need to hand me my mail directly. Just drop it into my chambers in the future.” Stepping closer, I receive the package from Rene and ruffle through her hair with my free hand, evoking a blissful smile from the adorable dogkin. She got comfortable with our home very quickly after arriving here and I can now even enjoy some pleasant petting like this. “We’ll return to our responsibilities then, Master,” Roseni says with a soft smile. “That is if you release Rene from your affectionate prison. I’m not sure she can break out from this pleasure by herself, fufufu~” I chuckle seeing the melting expression of the girl experiencing my caresses and draw my hand back. A very quiet whine accompanies the motion. Gods… She’s just so pure and adorable I can barely hold back from petting her more… Fortunately, Roseni doesn’t miss the opportunity and takes Rene with her, heading into one of the corridors. Safi and Emi receive some more parting mana-tickles and I walk to my room to check the contents of the package. Using a small dagger, I carefully cut it open. The wrapping was very soft, pretty much without any solid parts, so I assumed that I’m dealing with something made out of thread, and that guess proves to be right as I pull out a set of clothing from inside. Arranging all the parts on my bed, I’m met with something akin to scholarly robes in the colours of the kingdom, which are mostly blue, grey and white. It looks similar to some outfits I’ve seen people wear around the castle, especially the library. 「Looks like we are going full undercover. Alastair the Court Scholar, heh. I guess this will make my identity more believable. My F-rank won’t raise any suspicion with this getup. I’m sure not many of the castle’s researchers have time to raise it or even register.」 I throw the clothes into my storage ring for later use. I’m looking forward to this already. It’s been so long since I roleplayed. And I’ll even be in cosplay this time! This will be fun. Should I prepare a fake personality? A backstory? Should I write a character sheet like in the good, old times? Man, I miss playing D&D. Maybe I should host a session with the girls someday. I wonder if they would be interested. Anyway, it’s past afternoon and I shouldn’t be wasting time. Without any further ado, I start my usual routine of checking on all the girls and seeing if they need any help. Everything seems to be fine and all the rooms are good to be used too. The time to open arrives and we dive into the usual. It’s getting really lively with all the girls around now. Of course, with those who want to show themselves in the lobby or accompany the guests. Almost everyone from the working cast is present in the main hall and the sight of so many different and colourful ladies in one place is just breathtaking. Even some girls from the maids' department show themselves up from time to time, drawn in by the almost party-like atmosphere. They don’t need to do so, especially since they themselves aren’t on the menu, but it’s fine nevertheless. It’s a good way for them to grow more accustomed to the good Humans. While the snacks and beverages are mostly for the clients, I didn’t forbid them from taking a bite either. Thus, a sneaky Rene can sometimes be seen, making her way through the hall and picking up a cookie while supposedly just crossing from one side of the mansion to the other. Just adorable. The night passes quickly and without any qualms. Our progress is quite steady. New faces show up now and then, but it isn’t something substantial. At least we rarely attract any troublemakers. Very rarely. I have a feeling someone might be watching over us. I’m pretty sure our renown and popularity won’t make a big jump unless we release something new to the public. The major increases all came after the roster was expanded, which is quite obvious. The next thing might be the pleasure rooms which are almost ready. They will most likely open while I’m gone. Cornelia and Elea should be able to handle that easily But naturally, we can’t really speed things up with just internal changes and effort. The most limiting and suppressing matter is—and for a long time still will be—the common perception of non-humans. We need to reach a level high enough where we can somehow rope the King into it or not much will change. Small steps. Rome wasn’t built in a day. We close again and everyone heads to rest. Well, almost everyone. Our tiefling trio has been very popular tonight and they demanded a reward for their hard work. Thus, I end up in the bath with them. Needless to say, bathing isn’t the only thing they are after and it’s my turn to work hard this time. Afterwards, I take a quick nap with Cornelia by my side in the bed. When the time to wake up comes, we cuddle affectionately for a bit and then I pick up my dazzling, naked Ice Queen to carry her princess-style to her room with the accompaniment of loving kisses on my neck. Today, being the last day before I meet up with the party of adventurers, only the planned shopping trip for consumables and herbal things with Dhosk remains. During breakfast, the satyr sisters express their wish to help us with these things too and I agree to let them come along. They are still too fresh to leave the mansion alone so this is a good opportunity for them. And there’s a new rule I added to the previous one of going out in pairs—at least one person in the group has to be in an intimate relationship with me. Or they just would need to have had sex with me once. The reason is obvious—all the bonuses and enhancements coming from being my intimate Partner and not just a registered one. Even at Bond Level 1, the difference is starting to be big. Before the four of us leave for the city, Cornelia approaches me and says that she will join us for a brief moment as she is heading to the castle again. It’s a good thing as I remember my thoughts from yesterday and ask her about viagra-like boosts while we walk. “I’m pretty sure meds boosting one’s libido do exist, but there’s a catch.” “What catch?” “Only products of low quality and effectiveness are available on the public market and in most of the apothecaries.” “And why is that so?” “All the good stuff is controlled by… brothels.” “Ah. I think I can see where this is going.” “It’s most likely like you think. The best products are offered in these establishments, often only to customers. Some might run a shop with inflated prices as an additional source of revenue, but the main focus is to boost their own services while limiting anything that happens outside.” I nod my head while rubbing my chin. “That’s quite smart. Even if someone comes just to buy the product, I bet they do everything they can to lure the man into the services too. And even if they fail, the customer will definitely come again after experiencing the greater effects of their meds than what the apothecaries can offer. But, why not do the same with anti-conception drugs if they are already pressuring this part of the market?” “It’s actually more beneficial for their business for it to be widespread. Fewer kids, fewer reasons for men to find an excuse not to go to a brothel. I’m not saying that every guy suddenly changes after getting a kid and stops going there, but from some old surveys, I know that quite a few do.” “And the government is fine with all that manipulation, right?” “Of course. Brothels are a major part of the kingdom’s taxable income. Don’t underestimate that segment just because of public opinion dominated by angry housewives. It’s just beneficial to give the owners some privileges. And if we make it big, you can expect even more of them, considering that we have quite the connection to the government.” “Hahahaha, that’s true. I just hope we can ease the tension between Humans and non-humans along the way.” “I’m sure we will.” Cornelia gives me a gentle smile and squeezes my hand as we have been holding them since we left the mansion. “Anyway, why the sudden question?” “During my visit at the Monster Tamer’s Guild, I came to notice that people might not know about certain fruits and vegetables having this kind of effect on a person’s body when correctly mixed together. My conversation partner seemed quite surprised so I started wondering if it’s even a thing.” “Ah, so natural aphrodisiacs, huh. I’m not surprised there. Most fruits like this are considered exotic so they appear more commonly in the noble class. Which ones do you have in mind?” “Pretty normal ones actually, like apples, oranges, lemons, watermelons, strawberries and such. During that little chat, I recalled a few recipes for drinks with the use of these and some other ones. About ten I think.” “Wait…” Cornelia stops for a moment to think. “This is great!” “Huh? How so?” “We can introduce your ideas to the menu and also serve these mixes as free drinks and appetizers! The cost wouldn’t be as high as all the aphrodisiacs and pharmaceutics the other establishments use!” “So, you want to drug the customers with these to make them even hornier than how just our enchanted painting makes them already?” I ask with a chuckle. “Hey, it’s not drugging. These are just natural fruits, right?” she replies with a sly smile. “Alright, alright. As long as it’s not anything that gets into their heads, I’m fine with it.” “Well, it certainly gets into a different kind of a head though.” “Pfffffft.” We laugh together for a brief moment. Looks like my cringy humour might be starting to rub off on Cornelia. Reaching our parting point, we split up and go our respective ways. Cornelia heads further towards the castle and I venture towards the herbal markets with Dhosk, Neiya and Meiya in tow. The two sisters stick close to me. I must say, the cute sound their hooves make on the stone roads is just so captivating. There are some stares, which is natural with three demi-human girls in maid outfits and a single Human in a suit, but we, fortunately, don’t come across any hostility during our shopping trip. All three of them are a huge help in picking useful things for my upcoming journey. Dhosk points out herbs and plants that can be used for concocting some simple potions she can make for me overnight, and for other purposes like detoxification bandaids or healing salves. Meiya and Neiya focus more on suggesting which flowers and houseplants would be nice to have in our environment and help me pick out the seeds or saplings. We don’t purchase many of the latter as our spatial storages aren’t that big yet. Mine is almost full with various adventuring stuff already—and some other weird items—and their collar badges are filled with necessities and means of self-defence. We also visit the artisanal district to order some alchemical utensils and all that is necessary for Dhosk’s work. I should put a lab on my to-do list. There might be more girls with experience and knowledge in such areas, and even if they decide to leave after a year, the lab would be ready for the next ones in the future. Not gonna lie, it looks like I’m slowly turning that brothel into some kind of a sly cover for an all-purpose base of operations. Which is kind of true in our situation. Brothel on the top, training and crafting grounds on the bottom. As the Goddess said, raising a small army of women. Who would have thought it would turn out like this. With our storages and hands stuffed to the brim, we make our way back home. Some of the girls help us unload all the stuff straight from the entrance. It’s good to have many hands on board. Next comes setting up the makeshift lab for Dhosk and other girls. I’m sure a few of the elves and the satyr sisters are looking forward to it too. With a group of ten, we finish everything in a few hours. It doesn’t look as impressive as Sirgia’s workshop, but that was granted. None of our herbalists has anything bad to say about it, which doesn’t surprise me anymore. I leave those who wish to have some fun in there alone and hold a small meeting with Elea and Cornelia to discuss the pleasure rooms and how to handle them when I’m gone. Sirgia surprisingly comes out of her forge and joins us, taking place on my lap, receiving lots of my gentle caresses. I can feel her slight anxiety, most likely coming from the thought that I will be leaving tomorrow. We extensively cover the main topic and the duo of managers don’t leave me any reasons for worries and doubts with how good their understanding of the topic is. It’s not even sure that we’ll get any female customers during the time I’m away anyway, but they have all the means to conduct and develop the business in that area. Afterwards, I start making the last preparations for tomorrow, still accompanied by Sirigia, who is dutifully assisting me with everything she can. You rarely see her this active outside of her workshop. It just shows how nervous she is. Thus, with everything ready as much as it can be, I move my whole attention to the distressed dwarf and we take a bath together during which we talk a little. I do my best to reassure her as much as I can and shower Sirgia with lots of affection. Then, before going to sleep, Sirgia snuggles to me tightly and suggests that we share a more intimate moment together. Her reasoning for this being activating the effects of our Bond, so that I can be buffed as much as possible for the next three days. After lecturing my silly dwarf again that she doesn’t need any reason for us to make love, I agree with her suggestion, but just because we both want to embrace each other and not because I’ll get some good benefits from it. We end up having a very tame and loving session of a bit more naughty cuddles during which each of us just relishes in the warmth of the other, finally falling asleep closely snuggled together. In the morning, Sirgia helps me dress up in my new clothes. And it takes a moment. I’m not used to wearing something like this. Like what exactly? Like dark grey pants; partial vestments or robes of the same colour, reaching a bit lower than knees; a thick belt holding them together, adorned with a big and heavy book on the right and a plethora of potions and little pouches alongside its strap; and a two-part shawl of sapphire and white with a hood resting on my shoulders, joined together with a silver badge portraying the royal emblem. Shortly after we finish, Cornelia strolls into my chamber from her room. “Pfffft. You could now pass as one of my assistants without a sweat, hahaha.” I ruffle through Sirgia’s hair for her to let me go for a moment and approach the laughing magician in two quick steps, pulling her into my arms by her waist. “Would I then get to do something like this during your research?” I ask and tilt her body a little to be the one above her, sealing Cornelia’s lips with a deep kiss. She quickly wraps her arms around my back when sensing a possible fall, only to push her mouth more into mine, completely submitting herself to me for a moment. Our tongues dance together with passion until we get short of breath. Cornelia then glances at me with flushed cheeks, still in my hold. “You beast. What would the others say?” “Do you really care?” She chuckles softly and connects our lips once more. “Not in the slightest.” I help her up and step away to show my new outfit to her and Sirgia in all its glory, assuming a few stereotypical poses. While doing that, I perceive something peculiar and a big smile makes its way onto my lips as I glance at my beautiful magician. “What?” Cornelia raises one of her eyebrows. “Are you getting turned on by this?” “What?! Of course not! What are you even thinking?” Her eyes widen and she avoids my gaze. “Really?” I take a step forward. “Really.” She takes a step back. “Then,” I cover the remaining distance in a quick jump and slide my hand into her panties, making Cornelia squeal in surprise; a shirt and undies are the only things she is currently wearing after waking up recently, “why is this place so hot?” “Al!” She hits my chest lightly. “You… You… Ahhnn~” “Yes?” “Stop rubbing it when I’m trying to speak!” I chuckle and pull my hand back, clearly covered with a bit of slimy liquid. Cornelia’s cheeks flare up even more after seeing the coating on my two fingers between our faces. “What exactly… did make you like this?” I ask with a grin. “That’s just sweat… I barely got up and it was hot under the covers…” “Is it really? Are you not lying to me again?” She looks at me with a side glance and bites on her lip a little. Seeing that I won’t let it go, she hangs her head down and murmurs barely understandable words, “—in these clothes…” “I can't hear you~” “I thought you looked hot in these robes, okay?! I have a thing for handsome, young, smart scholars, alright?! I imagined you boning me in these in my old lab and got wet!” A quiet giggle reaches our ears shortly after Cornelia finally admits to her desires. “Pervert.” Our gazes land on Sirgia smiling on the side. “Oh, you little—” Before Cornelia rushes after the cheeky dwarf, I seal her lips again while pushing her against the wall. “Man, that’s really hot.” I smile at her. “We should try it after I come back.” She only nods faintly while staring me straight into the eyes with that completely red face of hers. I then turn to the side and look down. “And I don’t think you have the right to criticize her on that, hmmm? Should I remind you about a certain accident in your workshop?” Sirgia averts her gaze with rosy cheeks too. “N-No…” It’s Cornelia who chuckles then after seeing her reaction. I release my charming magician and we return to the actual preparations. Dhosk, Meiya and Neiya bring me the potions and salves they completed and I throw them into an additional storage ring Sirgia made for me just recently. Its capacity is small, but enough to hold a few bottles. Pretty much everyone gathers in the lobby to say goodbye and we talk for a brief moment before I leave. Of course, I don’t forget to give each of my lovers a sweet kiss. Sirgia, Cornelia, Elea, Neira and Astrea each get an affectionate peck and a tight hug. With a sea of waving hands, I head out towards the Adventurer’s Guild. It’s honestly weird going around the city in different-than-usual clothes. I mean, it’s like all the time I have this uncomfortable feeling that something is wrong with some part of my clothing and I glance all over myself every minute or so. I should get used to it or my cover will be blown before we even start. Entering the guild, I realize something after seeing Elise behind one of the counters. She knows me. What the hell do I do if she notices me? I would come out as rude if I went to another receptionist and she spotted me. Well, shit. Either way could end up in rumours so let’s just have a go at it. I approach the black-haired girl with a soft smile. “Hi there, Elise.” “Hello, Al! Welcome! Oh? A new getup? I must say, it looks great on you.” “Hahaha, thanks. It’s part of a job I took. I didn’t want to stand out. Anyway, there should be some instructions on it for me so I would be glad if you could check that.” “Of course! Give me a minute.” She dives into something on her side of the counter and raises her brows shortly after. “Huh? You are joining an A-rank party? As an F-rank? And it’s an A-rank subjugation quest too? Ermm…” I scratch my head. “Yeah, something like that. They needed an expert on the monster’s subject and I was somehow roped in. I’m pretty strong myself, just didn’t have time for any quests, so it’s better than taking a fully inexperienced scholar.” “But… It says here…” she glances to the sides and leans closer to me, “that you are part of the Royal Lore Keepers. That division works almost directly under the King if I’m not mistaken. Or at least under the Court Magician.” “Well… I have some old ties with the government. It’s one of these cases of the past catching up to a retiree. I kind of couldn’t decline a direct request, you know. And I didn’t want this news to spread when I registered. I wanted to start with a blank slate. Some people might think unfavourably of me if they knew.” Elise nods a few times in quick succession. “I get it. Don’t worry! Your secret past is safe with me! We are forbidden to share internal affairs with outsiders anyway and I can promise you that I won’t bring it up with my coworkers too! But you seem quite young for someone in retirement, hahaha.” I chuckle too and wave my hand. “I know, I know. I actually quit, but my accomplishments were significant enough to grant me a small pension. Nothing amazing, but you can live off it.” “Oh, how lucky! I’m so envious!” “Struggling with finances?” Elise turns her gaze away with a wry smile. “Are receptionists underpaid that much?” “Well… You can make ends meet… somehow… Most of the pay is based on the number of adventurers you handle in a month and their accomplishments so it’s a bit unstable.” “Hmmm… If it’s that bad then why are you still here? Is this perhaps your dream job?” “No, nothing like that. I like this line of work but I’m not especially bound to it. The truth is, I’ve been looking for a different job for some time already, but… my only redeeming qualities are a pretty face and a nice voice. There are plenty of girls like that. I have experience only in customer service and these positions are usually filled with the business owner’s family or friends since almost anyone can do it.” “I see…” I rub my chin while glancing at the definitely pretty receptionist in front of me. “If you are not bound to this place, I might have something for you then. And the pay should be pretty good. Just not sure if you’d be fine with the environment.” Elise looks straight at me with expectant eyes. “Really? I honestly ran out of options and I’ve already been considering some shady places so it should be fine. Especially if it’s you who is recommending it.” “Hahaha, it’s nothing shady. Uhhh… I think... Anyway, want to grab a bite with me after I return? I’ll fill you in on details then.” “A date for a job opportunity? I’m in! Oh, this made me realize how much of your time I’ve wasted! I’m sorry!” Elise suddenly bows to me. “It’s fine. I was the one to bring all of this up. Let’s continue it later. So, what do you have for me?” “Alright. Let’s see… Looks like everything is filled in and there are no further actions needed to be taken. The A-ranked party Ephemeral Aegis was instructed to wait for you in one of our VIP meeting rooms. I can see that all of them have already checked in so let’s go and meet them. I’ll lead you there.” “Thanks. Appreciate it.” I then follow Elise through the restricted section of the guild and we stop in front of a door with the number 69 on it. There’s no way this is a coincidence. It’s not some novel written by a cringy-ass kid. I bet a different kid is behind this. One with very high standing. We enter inside after she knocks on the door and we are greeted by the sight of four adventurers in their full gear, sitting on two sofas around a coffee table. Elise guides me in and leaves after bowing to everyone. “So, you are the brainiac with expertise on Succubi sent by the gov, huh? Weird thing to specialize in, that’s for sure,” a middle-aged man with short, dark red hair says. He wears heavy leather armour and a giant axe lies by his side next to the couch. That’s the Berserker. “Much younger than I expected. He’s still wet behind the ears, how is he supposed to be the man with the most knowledge on the topic?” an older dude with long, black beard and hair comments. He is dressed in dark violet robes and holds onto a staff. He’s the Lightning Wizard. “Hey, at least he should be able to run fast! We could have gotten some senile geezer who can barely move. I’ve heard the castle’s research labs are full of them. He could make a good bait too,” the last of the men joins to comment. A young adult. He wears light leather and cloth armour and a long cape with a hood in whitish shades. I can see a magical focus in the form of an amulet hanging around his neck and a mace by his side. The party’s healer, a Battle Priest. “You guys! How can you be so rude right from the start! And towards someone sent by the kingdom too! They surely wouldn’t choose someone at random for such a dangerous task!” Finally, the tank speaks up; the only woman in this group. A gorgeous brunette with straight waist-long hair and a slightly freckled face. She’s covered with a heavy, steel armour, but a quite unusual one. The light silver metal protects parts of her body in the form of gauntlets, bracers, shoulder pads, chest piece—ending shortly under her breasts, leaving her slim belly exposed—waist piece and high greaves. Most of her thighs and arms are uncovered for some reason. There’s something looking like a very tiny buckler strapped to her left forearm and a huge flail by her side. She’s the Holy Crusader and supposedly the leader of this party. The men laugh and bicker between themselves for a while longer until the woman finally manages to calm them down. She walks up to me and extends her armoured hand forward. “Please, ignore their comments, they are always like that towards everyone. Nice to meet you, Mr Carter, if I remember correctly. I’m Kyrie, a Holy Crusader, leader of the Ephemeral Aegis.” I grab and shake it. She seems to have forgotten she is supposedly dealing with a scholar and squeezes my hand a little too hard, quickly noticing it, but ends up slightly surprised by my unconcerned smile. “The pleasure is mine, Ms Kyrie. Feel free to drop these formalities. I’m here to temporarily join your party. Unnecessary things like that only get in the way during battle. Just call me Alastair or Al.” She smiles back and nods. “Will do. These three are Alan, Crawford and Edgar,” she introduces the members in the same order they spoke earlier. I obviously knew their names like they knew mine, but you gotta do the greetings. “Hey, twerp. What’s your Class?” the Berserker asks. 「Huh? It wasn’t listed in my portfolio they received? Ah, that’s quite logical actually. I’m so slow. Hmmm… What should I go with? Perhaps Ice Mage? Nah, what if I’d needed to switch my borrowed skill and couldn’t use Ice Magic in a situation? Let’s go with this.」 “Spiritual Weaponmaster,” I answer. “I’ve heard of Weaponmaster but not a spiritual one. What does it do?” Kyrie asks this time. I move my hand behind my back and grab the bladeless hilt strapped to my belt there, bringing it forth. They must have recognized it as an artefact of some sort because their eyes get instantly glued to it. “It does something like this.” Drawing on my mana, I create a connection with the crystal. The purplish helix is now barely visible. I think it will be gone after I tier up once more. Maybe something will be revealed finally. Anyway, the violet mist spills from the silver dragon’s maw and forms a shortsword in purple, metallic hues. I make a few test swings with it and turn the blade ethereal, showing them that it can pass through my body and Kyrie’s, who is still standing by my side. To finish it up, I form a longsword shape, and then something new, the shape of a fully operational longbow. I only lack arrows if I wanted to use it. “Damn. Doesn’t that mean you can fight with pretty much anything?” Alan asks. “Fight? Yes. Do great? No. Don’t take me for a warrior or something. My proficiencies with many weapons are decent, but this Class doesn’t really operate on many skills. Its main selling point is the element of surprise. I can quickly change my weapon mid-fight to confuse the enemy,” I try to make them believe that I’m nothing much for now. “That’s right. We are supposed to protect him, not have him fight on the frontlines,” Kyrie says while placing her hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, you will only have to do so if the worst happens or something pushes past our defences, which basically never happens. We are pros at this.” I hide my hilt and nod at her. “I’ll be in your care then. I’m quite knowledgeable about monsters and other entities so I’ll do my best to throw tips and hints at you whenever possible. I’ve also prepared a few things that should help against our target.” “Oh? That’s nice. You might not be as much of dead weight as we assumed,” Edgar comments. 「I wonder who will be the real dead weight when push comes to shove. I’m fairly sure I can snap your neck with a single hand.」 “Alright, no more rude comments. We are now comrades. I’m sure Alastair will prove to be plenty useful. We don’t get a chance to work with a kingdom’s researcher often. We might be able to learn from each other,” Kyrie adds and everyone stands up. We head back to the main hall together and let Elise know that we are leaving. She wishes us good luck and informs us that there are horses waiting for us at the stables by the south gate, rented by the kingdom. The men in our party cheer loudly, slowly starting to enjoy the preferential treatment that comes with me. After getting the horses, Crawford and Edgar take them to their inn to pack their necessities. Kyrie and Alan brought everything with themselves and I have all my stuff in the spatial storages. Asked about it, I say that one has been leant to me by the head of my division just for this quest and the duo seems impressed. Without delaying it too much, we depart as soon as the other two come back. Fortunately, during my time in the castle, I've gone through horse riding practice and don’t have to completely embarrass myself during my first ever actual journey on this kind of transportation animal. Our formation is simple and I take the spot in the middle, for obvious reasons. Kyrie takes the front, Alan rides in the back and the other two cover my sides. They do seem professional with escort quests, even though I’m not an actual escort target. I hope I can see them in action before we dive into the Succubus’ Den. Perhaps I should suggest going on a little hunt if nothing happens on our way to the village of Turna. Three days pass in a flash and nothing notable happens. During breaks, we talk about our past experiences. It's mostly me listening to the great tales of their party. One thing I noticed, Kyrie isn’t that great with compliments herself. She can shower others with them, but the moment one of the guys mentions how amazing she is, she averts her gaze shyly. Whenever I have the chance to talk—although I usually keep my social distance like a good, shut-in scholar would do—I share some fun and interesting trivia about various monsters with them. At one point, they finally recognize my knowledge and start asking about the ones they met in the past or the ones they have the highest chances of coming across again. We, of course, cover the Succubi too, as one of their kind will be our main worry during this quest. They share most of their skills and abilities with me and how they usually use them together when fighting to give me some more insight into possible strategies I could come up with when clashing these with my knowledge. Not all of this was mentioned in the data I received from the King. Thank the Goddess they also prefer not to show their statuses or I would most likely have to take a huge trust hit for being overly secretive. But, I guess Kyrie would support my decision, coming up with something like me having to be vigilant because I’m one of the kingdom’s men. During these three days, I obviously keep in touch with my amazing girls through the Sweet Whispers. Just, after the first night, I had to introduce a rule saying that I will be the one to initiate the conversation unless it’s something crucial or an emergency. Suddenly shivering or flinching at random moments when we sit by the firepit is a little bit eye-catching. Then, on the fourth day of our journey, something finally happens.
It's August mah dudes! Start of the month is the best moment to join Patreon ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Thirteen juicy chapters are waiting for you there, not just about a certain Succubus ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) And they will reach fifteen or twenty this following week ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) A certain long time fan favourite is making an appearance too ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ※ ※ ※ Chapter 71 – Kinda Sus Spoiler: Chapter “Halt!” Kyrie raises her hand and pulls our small entourage to a stop. I lean to the side a little, tilting my body while still on the horse, and try to see what might be the reason behind this interruption. But, besides a dark spot lying far ahead on the road, I don’t get much from that. It might be some kind of a monster or just the trunk of a fallen tree. Alan passes me and joins our leader at the front. “Finally something to do? It was getting boring without even a single rabid dog jumping out of these woods. What’s the situation, boss?” “I’m not exactly sure. As you can see yourself, there’s something on the road, but neither of us can tell much more from this distance.” Kyrie ponders for a while longer and turns around towards me and the rest of the squad. “Crawford, send Milly to check it out.” “As you wish.” The old magician slides his hand deep into his robes and pulls it out in the form of a fist. After unbending his fingers, a black-red spider is revealed. I might know quite a bit about monsters in this world, but I’m not a spider expert, so I have no idea if this one is any dangerous, but considering its quite big and frightful appearance, it certainly isn’t completely harmless. Crawford brings his familiar close to his mouth and whispers some words to it that are too quiet for me to catch. The spider waves its two front legs at him and jumps onto the horse and then onto the ground, starting to skitter towards the obstacle lying ahead. It takes three minutes for the little guy or girl to cover the distance between us and its task and Milly quickly climbs onto the magician’s shoulder after returning. He looks at the spider and keeps nodding his head while his friend makes a plethora of movements, mostly with its hairy legs. It looks like they don’t share a mental connection allowing them to communicate with thoughts or images. After another minute, Crawford looks up to face the frontlinters. “It seems to be a horse with a rider under its body; both most likely dead. I can’t say for how long already, but they haven’t started rotting yet from what Milly has said. She circled the surroundings for a moment but didn’t spot anyone hiding in the bushes in close proximity. I can’t be completely sure if it’s not a trap though.” “Hmmm… It’s not like we have that much of a choice…” Kyrie ponders. “Let’s stay alert and go by the road. If we get attacked, it should be easier to defend in the open than between the trees, considering our team composition. Alan, you ride first. I’ll stay with Alastair and others in case there’s a volley of arrows waiting for us. After the initial attack, the rest goes as usual. Edgar will switch with me later.” Everyone nods and we shuffle our formation a little. The Berserker takes the front while the rest of us moves in a two-by-two block; Kyrie with me and Edgar with Crawford. Everyone prepares a defensive ability or spell and we continue forward. I’m currently borrowing Sixth Sense passive from Astrea to boost my awareness. My stealing skill is off-cooldown in case I’d need to grab something more offensive or defensive, but I’d rather save it for an emergency. We cover half of the distance and begin to see the horse better. It’s lying sideways on the road with its belly towards us, unmoving obviously. There’s either no blood or we can’t see it from this side. I’m starting to wonder what could have happened here if it’s not just a bait to lure us into a trap. A minute later, we reach the suspicious spot and slow down a little. It’s now clear that there truly is no blood. But, the animal’s neck looks to be unnaturally bent upwards, definitely being the cause of its death. Crawford and I try to examine the crime scene as our group warily passes by it, with the rest of the party actively scanning the surroundings. “As weird as it might sound, it looks like that horse was strangled. Even the man under it has his limbs broken as if someone or something squeezed him to death. I don’t think it’s bandits,” the mage informs the others of what we can see. “A monster then? Nice. I haven’t cut anything in weeks! And it sounds like it’s something big! I hope it’s still around!” Alan chuckles to himself while applying a stronger grip on his two-handed axe. “Don’t jinx us, idiot. We are on a mission. It’s better for us not to meet any trooooouuuuubbbbb—” Kyrie’s words reach my ears in a slightly distorted state while time seemingly slows down for me. The skin on the nape of my neck suddenly tingles as if someone pinched and twisted it lightly. I have no idea what is happening, but I know one single thing—something is coming. Without any consideration for my strength, I grab Kyrie’s arm on my right and push myself off my horse to the back as hard as I can. As a result, the two of us fly backwards and crash into Edgar and Crawford, and that’s what I was aiming for. As we all are thrown off the horses and fall to the ground behind them, a huge-ass rock falls out of the sky from our right, smashes the two front animals I and Kyrie have been sitting on into a bloody paste with a loud boom, and bounces further into the forest to the left, leaving a path of carnage behind itself. I quickly roll off Edgar and Crawford, helping Kyrie stand up. The two men are still in shock, but she’s already taking a defensive stance in front of them. I see Alan making his way towards us on foot, most likely after falling off his horse due to the insane tremor the rock created with its descent. “What the fuck was that?!” he shouts while arriving by our side with a slide. “I have no idea but get the fuck up before more come! Spread out and watch the sky!” We follow Kyrie’s orders and increase the distance between us, waiting for the next strike to arrive. Everyone watches a different angle to let others know about an incoming projectile. But, there’s no follow-up. “What kind of a joke—” *THUD* *THUD* *THUD* *THUD* *THUD* *THUD* *THUD* Alan stops speaking when the ground begins to shake again, but this time, much lighter and at seemingly regular intervals. The loud thumping is gradually increasing in power and we all notice that its source seems to originate from the same direction as the previous attack. We all turn towards it and assume battle positions. It’s plainly obvious what is happening. I quickly bring out my draconic hilt and shape it into a greatsword. Whatever is coming, it’s big. It’s better to have something long and wide to defend myself with. My weak scholar cover might be blown if I fight directly, but it’s better than taking an unnecessary risk. Glancing at Kyrie, I see her whole body getting enveloped by a golden light that quickly takes the shape of see-through full plate armour. That’s her Holy Bastion. The additional coating covers all the exposed body parts, allowing her to sacrifice some metal in favour of greater mobility. She isn’t showing so much skin just for style points, you know. At the same time, she thrusts her left arm into the sky and her tiny buckler also begins to glow in yellow hues, forming a big heater shield out of the same, transparent light. Ethereal Aegis. The name of their party and her skill at the same time. To top it all, her spiked flail explodes in golden flames, closing off the whole Holy Crusader set. Truly a warrior of light. Alan just readies his giant axe with a battle-crazy grin on his face. I’m pretty sure he still hasn’t activated his Berserk ability and that’s just how much of a battle junkie he is. Well, that was to be expected. Edgar has just finished erecting some kind of a barrier around himself and Crawford has somehow summoned his staff into his hand back from his horse which ran who knows where after the huge impact. The latter is holding a violet arc of lightning on standby, connecting his left hand with the head of his magical focus. We notice some trees falling not that far from our position as the earth-shaking thumping nears closer. A moment later, two giant silhouettes emerge from the forest, accompanied by the creaking of wood. Their huge bodies are covered with light grey skin. One of them holds something akin to a big, makeshift club while the other seems to be barehanded. “Cavern Trolls! One young and one mature! Shit! Looks like we are on the menu boys!” Kyrie curses. “Menu? And how does turning your food into a bloody smudge help?” Alan barks back at her. “Thinking isn’t exactly their forte! You take the smaller one with Crawford while I hold back the mature one until you guys finish it! Edgar, protect the VIP!” The two of them charge forward and bring the Trolls’ attention onto themselves. A huge lightning bolt hits the spot between the two monsters, followed by another three thunderous attacks, effectively increasing the distance between them. Alan launches himself at the Troll around two and a half times taller than himself with a mighty jump and slices through its belly with a wide diagonal swing, pushing it back even further. The wound begins closing at a pace visible to the naked eye and the angry monster starts throwing fists at the Berserker, forcing him to focus on dodging. At the same time, the slightly taller mature one seems to have a better reaction time than its friend and tries to hit Kyrie with a horizontal sweep of its club as she reaches it. She comes to a stop and digs her metal heels deep into the road, shifting her ethereal shield towards the incoming attack. The weapon and shield connect, releasing a loud sound as if someone has just hit a huge bell and Kyrie is pushed a little to the back but holds her ground. She activates some kind of a skill and swings her flail onto the wooden club from above after tracing a few quick circles with its chain. The force behind that hit breaks the wood into splinters, making its owner lose balance. She uses that opportunity to land more attacks with her fiery flail on the monster’s legs. Both Kyrie and Alan are exchanging blows with their opponents. The former is doing a bit better due to her weapon being covered in Holy Fire, partially working as the Troll’s weakness and slowing down its regeneration, but neither is making any significant progress. They have to focus more on defence than on attacking. Crawford is doing what he can to support the Berserker without mindlessly burning through his mana, but his magic doesn’t pack enough punch to tip the scales in favour of his colleague. No matter how you look at it, Edgar being ordered to look after me kind of whittles down their overall power as a team, even though he is throwing some fatigue-reducing and smaller healing spells at them all the time. I turn to the priest and then to the mage. “Edgar, go join Kyrie. Crawford, after I switch with Alan, move your attention to the mature one too. I’ll hold back the smaller one while the four of you bring the big one down.” “Are you crazy?” Edgar furrows his brows at me. “We won’t get anywhere split like this. Don’t worry, I might be a scholar, but I’m working out regularly. I can stand my ground for a few minutes.” I tap his shoulder with a smile and break into a dash towards Alan. He is very surprised to see me suddenly show up by his side, stepping away from a vertical attack that lands in between the two of us. “What the hell are you doing here?! Get back to the backline, twerp!” “Leave this one to me and join your party at the other thing. I can dodge its hits easily,” I say while moving my body just enough to not get slammed into the ground. A giant fist lands behind my back while I keep looking Alan straight into the eyes. I keep making minimal movements to avoid a few more attacks and wave my hand at the man, shooing him away. He keeps staring at me with his eyebrows raised until Kyrie yells his name, most likely after getting my message from Edgar. Finally left alone with my opponent, I switch my focus to dodging. I can’t just rely on Astrea’s Sixth Sense all the time. It’s quite OP, that’s for sure, but it only reacts to malicious intent, which kinda explains why she didn’t notice me approaching her that day on the streets. If the Troll miraculously learns how not to think about killing me with each swing and decides to focus on just attacking instead, things may turn a little bit uglier. I would need Astrea’s Battle Sense to keep avoiding that. And I can’t steal two skills, unfortunately. “Now, what can I do to you without revealing too much about myself, hmmm,” I ponder out loud while stepping from side to side to avoid its fists coming from the sky and ducking under a horizontal swing now and then. “Oh, right! I can test my Charm Magic on you! Trolls are big and stupid so even the weaker spells should work! Let’s see…” I summon the window with my available spells and take a quick glance through the list while still jumping around the giant. I’d rather not use anything that could potentially arouse the target in this scenario. I’m curious how Confusion works in this world so that’s what I cast at the poor monster. With a wave of my hand, I can feel a chunk of my mana leave my body and shoot towards the designated target. After one more clumsy attack, the Troll staggers a little and supports its head with one of its hands. It still glares at me with its ugly face but gets visibly more sluggish. It tries to kick me this time and almost trips itself with the motion, grabbing a nearby tree to catch balance. I smirk at the comical sight. It seems that Confusion messes up the target’s motor and directional senses, making them lose stability. Well, I can work with this. I take a quick glance towards the others to check how they are faring and see the mature Troll under a heavy barrage of attacks from all four directions. It should be brought down shortly. Kyrie’s shield paired with Alan’s axe does wonders. Turning back to my own enemy, I dodge another wobbly fist with ease. Unfortunately, that attack again makes it lose balance and the Troll slams its head into a tree after barely managing not to fall forward due to its pathetic swing. “Alright, big guy. Let’s end this before you embarrass yourself even more.” As if somehow understanding the meaning behind my words, it releases a loud roar while rubbing its forehead and begins to rush at me in a very unstable charge, flailing its arms in total chaos. 「That’s even more perfect.」 I take a few quick steps back to position myself between two thick trees, glance at each of them, nod to myself, and wait for the Troll to come at me. Watching it attentively, I reshape my weapon into a double-edged greataxe with very long blades. Satisfied with the result, I swing it down and lodge one side deep into the ground, making the other blade stick out vertically. Just as the Troll is reaching the trees I eyed-up up earlier, I snap my fingers and a thick strap of purplish material shoots out of one of them, connecting the trunks at the height of the monster’s ankles. It doesn’t even notice the change and fabulously trips over my Void Chains, starting to fall forwards. I jump to the side and watch as its neck perfectly lands on the previously prepared blade, decapitating it with a clean cut. I nod my head in satisfaction. Turning to check on others, I see the other Troll kneeling on one of its knees, brought to that position most likely by Edgar who is standing behind its legs. It seems to be stunned by Crawford as purplish streaks of lightning jump all over its skin. Making use of that opportunity, Kyrie boosts Alan off her shield and his axe shines in crimson light before beheading the monster while he is in midair. Instead of celebrating their kill, the whole group hastily breaks into a run in my direction but quickly slows down after seeing me wave at them from the side of the dead Troll. Well, at least it’s good to know that they are level-headed and don’t casually forget about others after winning their battle. Kyrie is the first to reach me, followed by Alan, Edgar and Crawford. They stare at the huge body for a moment before moving their eyes onto me with clear confusion and surprise on their faces. “My bad, my bad. I was supposed to stall for time but it somehow tripped and fell onto my axe which I dropped from all the shaking it created with its attacks.” I point at the weapon still lodged in the ground and smile. “Beginner’s luck, I guess?” Kyrie sighs, releasing all the tension from the fight, and chuckles at me. Alan steps forward with his axe resting on his shoulder. “How in hell did you dodge it like that? Weren’t you supposed to be a scholar?” “You know what my Class is. I don’t spend all my time in a lab, you know? And well, that was one of my abilities—Sixth Sense. I can detect incoming attacks to some extent.” “So that’s how you knew about that rock earlier,” Kyrie comments with a curious expression. “Yeah, pretty much.” She makes a slight bow. “Thank you for pushing me away back then. That could have ended up badly.” I wave my hand in dismissal. “No worries. I was just doing my part. Besides, I could feel you gathering mana shortly before the impact so I’m sure you had something in your sleeve too.” “My Holy Bastion can activate on its own once a day to block an incoming attack even without my input. It would have most likely saved my life, but I have no doubts that I would have been disabled from the fight for quite some time while Edgar would have to focus completely on healing me.” “And that could have been dangerous with just me and Crawford left behind to fend off the Trolls,” Alan adds. “Well, at least in our usual squad. It might have been a little bit easier to hold on with you present, if that rock wouldn’t have crushed you too, hah. I guess you are not that much of a twerp in the end.” I smile wryly at Alan’s weird attempt at complimenting me. Well, I’m at least graduating from useless dead weight in his eyes so that’s something. Edgar and Crawford are still in a bit of disbelief, but it looks like Kyrie trusts my words completely. She did seem like a kind person during our previous conversations. None of us has any fire abilities or magic potent enough to burn a whole Troll, so we just drag their decapitated bodies quite a bit from the road so that the monsters they possibly attract won’t get too close to it. We also bury the poor man who was used as bait. It takes us an hour to find the runaway horses. The problem is, the two that I and Kyrie were using aren’t exactly in a state allowing them to carry us any further. Yeah… I don’t think Edgar can fix that… Thus, after a short break to recuperate, we decide to continue in pairs. My horse didn’t have any additional baggage so only Kyrie’s equipment gets split to all the other animals. At least that part of it which is salvageable. Most of her spare potions got shattered and I’m pretty sure we won’t be trying to eat rations completely drenched in horse blood. When it comes to deciding who rides with who, Alan is adamantly against sharing a horse, for whatever reason. That leaves the four of us to come to a conclusion. The decision actually arrives very quickly as Kyrie points out our team composition and I end up with her while Crawford has to pick up Edgar so that each pair has someone with good defences. Thanks to that, I can enjoy the rest of our journey in one saddle with a pretty girl in my arms. She, fortunately, doesn’t belong to the extremely shy holy maidens category and actually urges me to hold on tighter to her body so that I won’t fall off the horse. Her stomach is so soft and tender at the same time… Ekhm… Anyway, it takes us another four days to reach Turna village. A short palisade surrounds the place and you can spot eight watchtowers, two per direction. Judging by the distance between the opposite sides, the village doesn’t seem to be too big and the irregularly placed wooden houses confirm that. We make our way through the streets and head towards an inn after being directed by one of the locals. The building has its own stable and that’s where we leave our horses. It doesn’t seem that there are too many travellers here and we easily book a room for each of us. Kyrie wanted to cover my expenses as a leader of the party, but I politely declined, explaining that I rarely have any occasions to spend anyway. After a quick bath and a filling dinner, we move to the town hall after asking for more directions from the inn owner, expecting to find the mayor there. There’s no Adventurer’s Guild branch in such a small village so we need to speak with him about our task. All freshened up and with full bellies, we stand in front of the entrance to the town hall. Kyrie glances at the rest of us and we all nod at her. We enter a wooden hall and head straight for the alone receptionist in the middle. She’s a mature woman in the usual commoner clothes you’d expect in such a location. “Welcome! How can I help you?” “Hello, my name is Kyrie and I’m the leader of Ephemeral Aegis, an A-ranked party. The mayor should be expecting our arrival. Can we meet him?” The woman’s face switches from a professional smile into almost pure joy when Kyrie introduces our group. “Ah, yes, yes, you are finally here! I’ll go and get him immediately! Wait a moment, please!” She hastily stands up and pretty much dashes through the door behind her, leaving us a little bit surprised. “Looks like the issue might be more serious than what has been reported,” Edgar comments and we all agree. The woman soon comes back and instructs us to come to the public meeting hall not that far from this building in around fifteen minutes from now. The mayor wants to gather a few people to meet us as a group in anticipation of potential questions we could have. With each passing minute, we start believing more and more that the situation might be really desperate if they are so organized for this. We wait for the appointed time and show up in front of the meeting hall. A young boy leads us inside a room with a long table with many people sitting around it. One end has five empty chairs, most likely for us, and a single older man sits on the opposite side. We assume that’s the mayor. There are also some men and women of various ages standing around in the background. “Welcome, adventurers. I’m Philip, the current mayor of Turna village. Please, take a seat.” As we guessed, the old man is the mayor. We follow his instructions and sit at the appointed spot. You can easily tell how expectant the atmosphere is. There are many curious gazes directed at us, but there are many more hopeful ones too. I also catch some… troubled ones? I guess it might be a little awkward to talk about Succubi for some men in front of their women. “Let me begin the explanation then and we’ll go from there. Ekhm. Around three months ago, we started noticing the disappearance of some men from our village. Mostly young and able-bodied. They were going missing either for a whole night or day, coming back the next dusk or dawn while looking barely alive, sometimes even like dried-up fruits. The disappearances were occasional and irregular and the men always came back.” Everyone in the hall keeps nodding along with the mayor’s story. “It was usually just one person that went missing, but it soon increased into pairs or even groups, like the three brothers standing behind me. The tallest one is part of the first victims of the monster. Then, after a short period of time, he was kidnapped with his brother, and then again after like a month, all three of them were gone. At first, we just thought people are losing their way through the woods while drunk as it often happened in the past, but around a month ago, we managed to find out from the victims that it was all the work of a Succubus.” He points at the three men of different heights standing behind his left shoulder as he speaks. The tallest, and most likely the oldest one, keeps nodding with his arms crossed over his chest and looking straight at us while the other two seem more withdrawn, even avoiding our gazes. Kyrie raises her hand to interrupt the mayor’s story and directs her eyes to the three men. “Since you knew about the Succubus for three months already, why didn’t you report it earlier?” The timid brothers look very surprised with her quite logical question and glance at the taller one a few times before looking awkwardly to the side. The oldest brother keeps nodding to himself with his eyes closed for like five seconds before he starts answering. “Somehow, we just couldn’t. There was something wrong with our heads and we just didn’t think of it. It’s definitely the work of that cursed Succubus.” There are some grunts and yells of agreement with his words, mostly from the male population, while the women shout something about killing the damn monster that keeps stealing their husbands and such. It takes a moment for the mayor to calm the mob down. 「Hmmm… There WAS something wrong with your head but it’s not anymore? It conveniently stopped after two months, just like that? Suspicious...」 “Alright, alright, that’s enough. Let’s continue. We have interrogated some of the villagers, who weren’t too eager to cooperate—” I again catch some men turning their heads away, “—and managed to learn about the monster’s existence and where its den is located. I gathered up some men and led our group after it.” “What?!” Alan slams the table with a clearly unamused expression. “You sent a bunch of farmers after an Arch Succubus?! Are you braindead?! Sigh… Bunch of idiots… And?” “Three men died during the attack and six were captured, never to be seen again…” “Obviously.” Alan throws his arms into the air and rolls his eyes. Kyrie sighs too and shakes her head. “How did you even come back alive?” “After making an example of the chosen few, the monster spared us while saying that it would be improper to waste food. We made a deal where the village promised to send a different man to its den daily and that’s what we have been doing recently. But, it doesn’t look like that monster is upholding its part of the bargain and other men besides the ones sent into its lair are still disappearing. This monster destroyed many families, couples and marriages already. Men always come back unable to work for at least two days and with those stupid, smiling faces. Our morale is sinking lower and lower.” The women start shouting again, agreeing with the mayor’s words. It gets much louder this time with many housewives screaming that their husbands became useless, many girls that their boyfriends stopped looking at them as much as before and such. The men just support them with nodding or some affirmative shouts, not too fired up though. After Philip calms them down again, he lets us ask questions to anyone present in the room. I glance at the three brothers. “And how exactly are you guys being kidnapped repeatedly?” The tall one shows a bit more surprise this time. “Uhhh… Ummm… We… don’t know? It just… happens? One moment you are walking through the fields... and then suddenly you are in that cave doing… uhhhh… these things… then you are suddenly in the forest afterwards…” “That bitch is brainwashing them and getting rid of their memories!” some woman shouts from the crowd. “Yeah! She’s making them stupid! My husband now keeps dozing off in the middle of work after he was kidnapped five times!” another one adds. “Burn that monster on a stake!” a younger girl adds oil to the fire and the mob starts throwing insults again. I can see Kyrie discussing something with Edgar and Alan but I can’t hear what they are saying due to all that screaming and shouting. I’m pretty sure we won’t get much more from this and it seems that we are in a mutual understanding about that as we all nod at each other. Kyrie thanks the mayor and the people for their help and we leave the meeting hall, heading back to the inn. Just as we exit, I shout back at Philip that we’ll monitor the situation for a few days to see what we can learn about the kidnappings. Everyone gathers up in Kyrie’s room and we host our own small meeting to discuss what we have learned. “At least we don’t have to worry about time here. It looks like the only deaths are the ones that came from their pathetic raid. And there was one old dude who most likely flipped after his heart couldn’t stand the pussy,” Alan shares his thoughts. “You are right. We should be thankful that this Succubus is sucking out just enough of their vitality to leave them barely hanging. It’s both a good and bad thing. Bad because that means it’s smart and not just following its instincts,” Crawford joins in. “And don’t forget that it’s messing with their heads too. That tells a bit how strong it is, even though it’s common folk we are talking about,” Edgar also chimes in. “That’s truly a tough case. We might need to do some reconnaissance before we dive into its den. What do you think, Alastair?” Kyrie rubs her chin for a moment and turns to me with everyone. I chuckle. “Well, I think it’s all a huge sham.” “Eh? What do you mean?” “I’ve been carefully observing the reactions of people in that meeting hall. Especially men. I’m fairly sure there’s no kidnapping involved. Well, maybe besides the few first cases, but that’s not certain either.” “Then what is happening?” “Think about it for a moment. The Succubus demanded a single man daily after the raid, which means that she doesn’t have a need for any more or she could have asked for a greater number. The villagers wouldn’t be able to refuse. She was also kidnapping a single man now and then in the beginning. Then, she for some reason captured a man and his brother. And later the three of them at the same time. Why exactly them and not some random people?” They look at each other and then back at me, shrugging their shoulders and waiting for me to continue. “It’s obvious that they are going in willingly.” “What?” Kyrie starts blinking repeatedly and furrows her brows. “That’s stupid. Why would they do that?” I roll my eyes at her. “Succubi are literal lust demons so obviously to have sex with her, why else? I can bet all my money that she’s the most sensual woman they’ve ever seen in their lives, willingly spreading her legs in front of them much more often than their wives certainly do.” Kyrie’s eyes widen a little and her freckled face turns a shade redder after she hears my response. I ignore her embarrassed, downcast gaze and continue. “The tallest brother must have got hooked on that sex and kept coming for more whenever he could. It’s only natural that one of his brothers managed to find out one day. I bet he made him promise to keep it a secret in exchange for bringing him too. Then, the situation repeated and all three of them were in it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the same for other groups of men. These present in the room did look like families or close buddies to me.” “T-that’s… I-I d-don’t think… they would… It’s… a monster...” Kyrie stutters a little trying to disagree. “Oh, come on. It’s pretty much a free brothel with the hottest girl in the neighbourhood always present and happy to see them. Trust me. I know what I’m talking about. There’s no man who would be opposed to this.” I move my eyes to the guys and Alan awkwardly clears his throat while looking away. Edgar seems to be very interested in exploring the ceiling with his gaze and Crawford repeatedly brushes his fingers through his long beard, for sure trying to act all indifferent. Kyrie takes a deep breath and raises her eyes back up. “A-anyway, our task doesn’t change... We are going to take it down. That’s what the King asked us to do.” “I never said that it changes anything. You wanted to hear what I think and I obliged. I’m certainly not going to spread that information in the village. I can already imagine the chaos.” With our leader a little bit flustered and the atmosphere quite awkward, we finish our first strategy meeting and everyone walks back to their own room. For the rest of the evening, I lie down on my bed and mentally chat with my lovers, sharing with them this quite hilarious situation. Even though I haven’t confirmed anything, I’m completely sure about my conclusion. The next morning, Kyrie seems to be back to normal, which is good. She does blush a little bit when I remind her of my thesis by telling everyone that my promise to watch over the village can easily prove it, which was my aim from the start. And just as I predicted, in the next five days, there are no additional kidnappings. Only the designated people go to the Succubus’ lair, one a day. If that doesn’t clearly show how everyone is now hiding their asses at their homes to not get accidentally caught then I have no idea what will. Nevertheless, it doesn’t seem like the bad Succubus will make an appearance in the village, so we decide to prepare as much as we can and head out to its lair. I spend a good deal of time explaining everything I know about Succubi to them and introducing my anti-succubi grenades, just in case that she will actually be much more hostile than I assume. These makeshift bombs are just glass vials with various fruity combinations of homemade viagra inside, enchanted with Seismic Wave sigils meant to break the container on contact after the user fills them with their mana before the throw. They are also corked, allowing an oral application too. Sirgia and Dhosk truly did deliver. We gear up, check on all of our equipment, discuss strategies again and head towards the cave system north of the village. Time to get me a Succubus.
Chapter 72 – The True Demon of Lust ❤❤ Spoiler: Chapter After a few hours of walking, we reach the place described to us by the mayor and other people. There’s a huge cliff in front of us, on the verge of the lush forest. Bountiful moss covers almost all of it, making it look more like a grassy wall than a stone precipice. We need another half an hour to find the entrance to the cave system. All these weeds make it hard to spot, covering it like a tight, green curtain, merging with the scenery all around. Thankfully, Crawford’s familiar helped us by making contact with other spiders and asking around. I would rather not use my borrowing skill for recon ability and save it for the upcoming fight. Alan clears the bushes and vines with his big axe, uncovering the dark tunnel leading into the cliff. There’s nothing special about it from the very first glance. It’s the perfect hideout, without any signs of mortal dangers. All you could perhaps expect from it is a bear, some wolves or other wild animals. But, somehow, my senses are already telling me that this is it. Crawford starts chanting something under his nose while repeatedly tracing a small circle with the tip of his staff. The lines he is making start leaving a bluish trail until they form a solid smudge. Small, electric discharges jump across the ring, clearly announcing that the spell still matches his area of expertise. After a moment, he stabs the empty space in the middle of the circle with his staff and it explodes into five lightning bolts that shoot towards each of us, including himself. I flinch seeing the incoming spell, but it hits me and disappears inside my body without me feeling anything. I pat my clothes in confusion and then notice that our surroundings got a little brighter and a light blue hue can be observed. Glancing around, I see everyone having the same circle Crawford was tracing above their heads now, looking like blue, lightning aureolas. As expected, there’s one just above mine too. Neat. We don’t need torches now. We get into the previously discussed formation—Kyrie and Alan in the front, me and Crawford in the middle and Edgar in the back. Everyone draws their weapons, prepared for combat at any given moment. I don’t draw out my hilt yet; it can serve as a good element of surprise with my costume. Ready as much as possible, we start moving forward through the natural cave. Unfortunately, it seems that it won’t be as easy as walking a single path while following the stone tunnel straight to the designated boss room. This isn’t some dungeon designed by a dev or a game freak but an actual cave system with a multitude of natural corridors. It’s a full-blown network of passages. After the first three times that we have to walk back due to us running into a dead end, I start mapping the area so that we won’t be going in circles. Everything looks pretty much the same. Stone here, stone there, stone everywhere. A few stalactites over that ceiling, a few stalagmites near that turn. Thanks to me having my hands free, I can sketch our little journey. That is until we start hearing some weird, occasional rumbling and gnarling from up ahead. A careful peek inside reveals a small group of monsters looking like a boar mixed with a porcupine. They have the size and shape of a wild pig, but most of their body and back is covered in sharp spikes. And I know very well that these are not just decorations. We’ve stumbled on a passel of Razorspike Wildboars. “There are six of them here, but what are they doing?” Kyrie asks after watching the boars turn over rocks and pace back and forth without any greater meaning. I point at one of them after it turns towards us. “Look at its eyes. They are glowing in bright pink. I’m pretty sure that’s from some kind of a Charm spell and ability that works on monsters. We are against an Arch Succubus in the end.” “So, they are most likely placed here by that monster as sentries?” Alan chimes in. “Why didn’t the villagers mention any of them?” “They must have been intercepted before getting too deep into the cave system." “Well, we have to get past them. What’s the plan?” Edgar asks. “They are not much of a threat to us. Just watch out for a barrage of spikes and their tusks during a charge and it will be fine. I don’t think we can sneak past them, and since they are stationed here, we might very well be going in the right direction. I’ll grab their attention, you guys just slaughter them,” Kyrie sums up the very simple plan and we all nod. Edgar casts Reinforced Skin on everyone to help against the spikes and so that Kyrie doesn’t have to burn her mana to use her Holy Bastion in the very first encounter. We do not know how many are waiting for us up ahead before we reach the Succubus. With a loud shout, she rushes forward from behind our cover and runs pretty much into the middle of the group of monsters, readying her tiny buckler and flail. I thought she would at least bring out the light shield, but after she parries the first bombardment of little javelins with ease, I understand that she will be fine. Alan and Edgar follow suit the moment all of the boars turn to look at Kyrie and cut into their backline. The former cleaves through a whole pig with one swing of his double-edged greataxe like through tofu before it can even squeal in surprise, already jumping onto another a second after. Edgar decides to support Kyrie a little and raises his bludgeon into the air while standing behind her back. It then shines with immensely bright light, blinding the monsters in front of the woman, leaving her completely unscathed. That allows both of them to take down one boar each with a perfectly aimed strike in the skull. Three more to go. As Alan chases after a terrified Razorback Wildboar while laughing maniacally, Crawford finishes gathering his mana and I watch as five little orbs of purplish-blue appear above his extended palm. A moment later, similar but bigger spheres show up under the cavern’s ceiling, connected to each other with a streak of quivering lightning. He then closes his palm into a fist and squeezes it hard. The orbs above the battlefield fly into the centre of the ring that they created and slam into each other. A thunderous explosion fills the stone chamber as two thick streaks of lightning descend onto the two remaining monsters, frying them up instantly. Only two because Alan managed to catch up to his prey in the meantime, mutilating the poor piggy with a flurry of swings like a butcher. With all of them dead, the two of us come out from behind our cover and walk towards the rest of the group in the middle of the bloodbath. Alan spins his axe to get rid of as much blood as he can while Kyrie wipes off her face with her gauntlet. Seeing her only make the bloody smudge worse, I come closer, summon a ball of water with Livelihood Magic and dip my sleeve in it, proceeding to help get rid of that stain from Kyrie’s pretty face. She’s a little surprised by my motion but doesn’t back off. “Thanks.” She nods at me after I finish and looks around. “With this, it would be stupid to assume that the host doesn’t know about us now.” “I apologize. I underestimated the loudness of that spell in an enclosed space,” Crawford tips his wizardly hat. “I’m fairly sure it changed nothing. She knows about us since the moment we’ve stepped into this cave,” I say. “Why do you think so?” Kyrie glances at me. “Just a gut feeling.” I can’t really explain to them that I’ve been feeling a little weird since that moment. It’s like there’s this faint, sweet presence around us which is getting stronger the closer we are getting to her, I assume. I’ve been suggesting the paths at intersections based on it and we ended up here. Nevertheless, Kyrie seems to trust my judgement on that, most likely thanks to the lucky premonition with the Trolls. We leave the corpses of the monsters be and resume our journey. They aren’t especially rare so it would be a waste of time to salvage them for any meaningful materials. About forty minutes later, Kyrie raises her fist into the air to stop us before we reach another entrance to a natural stone chamber. We can then hear some weird grunts and moans; very tired and kind of drained. Crawford sends Milly to check it out and reveals to us that there are six Humans inside. We walk closer, assuming that those are the missing villagers, and we are proven right when they enter our sight. But, they look more like zombies than villagers. The six men slowly pace through the chamber while dragging their feet over the ground. As the mayor described, they look like dried-up fruits with how wrinkly their skin is. I also notice that their irises have turned bright pink. “Looks like another charmed group. We found our missing six. I guess it’s good that they are alive, but they don’t look too well…” Kyrie comments. “What now?” Alan asks. “We have to knock them out, obviously. They are armed with pitchforks and hoes so nothing to worry about. Just slap them a little hard in the back of their heads with the flat side of your axe and we are good to go.” A mischievous grin appears on Alan’s face, but I grab his shoulder before he goes on a head-smacking rampage. “Let me try this one. I might be able to do something about this.” He squints his eyes at me, glances at Kyrie, who nods, and steps aside with a dissatisfied grunt. I nod at Kyrie to thank her for the given chance. I’m curious how strong the charm placed on these guys is and if my Break Charm spell from my Charm Magic can do anything about it. I step forward and the closest guy notices me; most likely some farmer dude, judging by the iron hoe and his clothes. I avoid his slow swing with ease and grab him by the neck with my right hand. Staring straight into his eyes, I invoke the spell and feel like my mental attack crashes against a solid wall. Each time I try to penetrate it, my attempts bounce off the barrier like I’m throwing fists at it. Taking notice of another person starting to make their way towards me, I redouble my efforts and frown heavily. 「It’s always imagination that boosts magic in all of these stories, right? Let’s try this out then...」 I try to visualize my mental attack as a giant, spinning drill and push it against the barrier surrounding the man’s mind. His eyes widen when the blockade begins cracking under my assault and they lose their pink glow after it shatters completely. He loses consciousness and drops his tool to the ground. Finished just in time to avoid getting impaled by a pitchfork, I step to the side and throw the guy I’m holding at my new assailant. As he staggers from the impact, I grab his collar and pull him close so that we stand face to face. Diving deep into his eyes, I invoke the spell again, trying to imagine a giant wrecking ball hurling at the barrier. Don’t ask why there’s a naked woman sitting on top of it; those were the weird times. Anyway, it destroys the mental wall in one blow and the man faints too. I repeat the cycle with the four remaining guys, trying out different forms and shapes of mental attacks. Weirdly enough, the wrecking ball was the most effective one. I wonder if that’s because I could visualize it much clearer thanks to the woman. With all of them done, we lay the six men down by the wall and Edgar casts some kind of a barrier around them, saying that it should hold on for twelve hours unless something close to the level of the Trolls we met before were to hit it. After a short break, we move out again. The scent and presence are getting stronger and stronger. We are not hitting dead ends as often as before, mostly walking in the right way. Half an hour of marching later, stone double doors appear in front of us. We nod at each other and Kyrie pushes them in with Alan’s help. We enter a bigger chamber than before. It clearly shows the signs of some work being done here. Four crudely sculpted pillars stand in each corner; a pinkish flame adorns each one, giving the stone room a bewitching shade. Besides these, we can spot another pair of double doors on the other side of the chamber. But… there’s something blocking our path towards them. “Fufufufufu~♪ You have finally made it here, adventurers~♪” A tall woman seductively walks into the light with slow and sensual steps. Everyone tenses instantly. Well, everyone except me. I’m just lost in the incredible sight I have never expected to be able to experience in my life. Yet, I truly have a real Succubus standing in front of me, exactly like they were often portrayed back on Earth. Light violet skin runs all over the woman’s smooth and enticing body, barely covered here and there by a demonic-looking, dark crimson fabric or armour, definitely not your usual one. Almost all of her captivating skin is exposed except for her breasts, nether regions and the outer area of her thighs, waist, sides and chest, forming a long, demonic line from her feet to her breasts, running over the edge of her body, with her front and most likely back laid completely bare. The outer parts of her arms are covered with it too. She has waist-long scarlet hair, adorned by two, slightly curly, onyx horns sprouting proudly from the sides of her head. A to-be-expected, long and thin tail ending up in a heart-shaped spade dances enticingly behind her butt, of the same colour as her horns. To complete that demonic look, almost draconic-like wings can be spotted behind her back, with onyx edges and dark crimson membranes, half the size of her posture. Why am I not surprised that there’s a glowing scarlet womb tattoo over her pelvic area? Maybe because Elea’s peers were already all over it when I was handing out my fake seals to them. Well, as for the woman’s face, I could spend hours describing how attractive and ladylike it is, but I’m pretty sure saying that it’s just incredibly beautiful will do the thing. With the mention of her scarlet eyes with vertical pupils. “I’ve been waiting for you. I was wondering how long it would take for someone other than just a bunch of villagers to arrive here. They are fine men, don’t misunderstand me, but you can live with the same taste again and again only for so long, you know? But, I’m glad. I’m already getting wet just from looking at you three.” The Succubus licks her lips while moving her gaze between Alan, Edgar and me. “Silence, monster! You will not lay your vile hands on any more good men! My companions won’t fall for your beguiling techniques that easily!” Kyrie activates her Holy Bastion and points her flail towards the woman. She chuckles temptingly. “Bold words coming from a sole virgin of the group.” I swear I catch Kyrie blush as she quivers a little. “Awkward girlies like you are the most fun to break~♪ Come to mommy, I’ll show you the true world of pleasure~♪” “Enough pointless blabbering! We are taking you down!” “Straight into it with no foreplay? You are much more of a brute than I thought, fufufu~♪” It’s a miracle Kyrie hasn’t yet launched herself at the Succubus from her taunts with how red she is. It just shows that she isn’t some random, inexperienced adventurer. Even though it looked like she was just angrily shouting at the other woman, the rest of the party managed to spread out and get ready for battle in the meantime. She’s a good leader. The Succubus obviously noticed that and is now smiling at us impishly. “Show me what you got then! And don’t worry, I can take a good pounding!” 「Gods. And I thought my puns and innuendos were getting out of hand.」 She then jumps to the side to avoid a lightning bolt shot at her by Crawford and frowns at him. “Wait for your turn, gramps. You will be a good dessert after I have some fun with these youthful stallions full of energy~♪” I can see him shiver and I don’t think it’s from his rising expectations after her implicative comment. With how desperately he launches a few more spells at her, it’s pretty clear that he is not looking forward to the aforementioned dessert. While the Succubus dances around in the show of flashing lights from all the lightning attacks, Kyrie and Alan shorten the distance between them and the woman at the same time. The Crusader swings her flail burning with Holy Fire exactly when the Berserker hauls his greataxe with a crimson afterglow. They are going all-in from the start. Unfortunately, the woman makes a graceful bridge while leaning to the back and kicks up both of their weapons into the air as they are passing over her stretched belly. Looks like the demonic material making up her shoes is quite sturdy. Standing up again and starting to chuckle at the two, she is suddenly interrupted by a ball of light hurtling straight at her. She manages to avoid getting hit by it straight in the face, but the projectile singes part of her scarlet hair. “Oh, come on! I just finished making my hair specifically for you! Ugh, men will never understand how much effort it takes to make ourselves look beautiful for them.” She sends Edgar a disappointed glance as he was the one behind the last attack. “Ah! Whoops! Careful!” Alan doesn’t let her make any more playful remarks and begins to chase after her, entering his berserk state. His swings, slashes and all movements get much faster than before and each time his weapon smashes into the ground from too much force behind the swing, a small crater is created in the stone floor and the whole chamber trembles a little. “What a… Uf! Lively man… Ho! We have here... Woop!” The Succubus keeps dodging him by a hair’s breadth for a while until she steps onto a square static field prepared by Crawford. An electric shock surges from it and makes her muscles tense for a brief moment. That’s enough for the others and three different attacks fly at her from three directions, with Edgar stepping into close quarters too. I start thinking that maybe this will be it, even without us having to use any of the Holy Viagra Water or my skills, but when I notice a smirk on her beautiful face, I immediately understand that she walked into their trap deliberately. I was standing on the sidelines up until now, saving my abilities and skills for the critical moment, but it seems that I can’t delay this any longer. Watching her get enveloped by a rising, spiralling scarlet mist, I bring out my hilt and form a whip with it with one hand and pull out the vial with anti-succubi juice with the other, uncorking it and spilling the contents on the weapon. The group’s attacks bounce off the mysterious haze and they are suddenly pushed back a few meters after it explodes around the Succubus’ body. To the irony, she is now holding an onyx whip too while laughing softly at the adventurers. She doesn’t waste any time and launches it at Edgar, just to have it intercepted by my own, purplish rope. Two loud cracks follow after they interrupt each other and she glances at me with a raised eyebrow. “Oh? Looks like our little scholar boy isn't here just for moral support? Interesting~♪ I haven’t had a brave young scholar yet~♪” “I’m sorry but I’ve already promised someone a session in this costume. Take a ticket and walk to the end of the line.” She chuckles at me. “You even know how to properly talk back~♪ Lovely~♪” Alan interrupts our little flirting break and launches himself at her with a loud roar; his whole body seems to be emitting some kind of a ferocious aura. The Succubus scoffs at him and evades the cross-shaped double strike, tripping him with her whip afterwards. “How rude. I was talking to your friend. You need to be punished for stepping between two lovebirds enjoying each other.” Her whip visibly sharpens and she raises her hand into the air, aiming for his neck. I instantly send my own attack boosted with mana straight at her head. She clearly hasn’t been expecting my next move to be this fast and has to pretty much force her whole body to avoid it and she still fails to do so completely. “AHHH! It burns! You bitch!” A quiet sizzling sound fills the air as she holds onto her cheek and glares at me; a small puff of crimson smoke is rising from the wound. “I’ve had enough!” Just as she shouts at me, Kyrie jumps at her from the side. Her flail is now enveloped not only by her Holy Fire but also by some weird lightning coating. She makes a powerful arc at the distracted Succubus but that spreads her wings a bit and blurs, appearing behind the Crusader. The crimson mist surrounds her fist and she slams it into Kyrie’s back, sending her flying forward, tumbling on the ground. She snaps her fingers and numerous black tentacles rise from the ground under every one of us, aiming to restrict our movements. I dodge them in time thanks to my slightly better reflexes, but all the others get entangled by them. Judging by how their skills and abilities fade down, these must be similar to my Void Chains. As I’m jumping around trying to avoid getting caught, I notice a pinkish, heart-shaped orb forming above her palm. “I’ll enjoy watching you service all the others first, virgin girl. Prepare them for me well.” And she hurls it at the restrained Kyrie. “No!” I shout and move in front of her, thankfully being near as it’s happening. As I stop with my arms spread over the surprised brunette, the onyx tendrils coil around my ankles and the pink projectile hits me in the back. Kyrie gasps as I lifelessly slump forward, still standing straight. The Succubus chuckles from behind me. “Oh? Chivalry? Commendable, I must say, but what’s the point of that when you are the one caught by the spell now? Well, it doesn’t matter anymore. Since I grew to like you through this encounter, let me reward you a little bit. You are allowed to do whatever you want with this girl.” She snaps her fingers and my body jerks. I slowly crouch down in front of Kyrie and lean forward, placing one hand on her thigh and the other on her waist. As my face moves closer, I can see her cheeks turn rosy, but a tinge of fear can be distinguished in her eyes. She closes them just before my lips reach hers, but in the end, they never do and I move my mouth to her ear. “I’m sorry, but bear with me for a moment,” I whisper and begin nibbling on her earlobe as my hands start to roam over her whole body. After around ten seconds of gentle brushes that make Kyrie moan softly, I slowly raise myself again, turn around with my head still slumped towards the ground, and stay still. “What’s wrong? I told you that you can have your way with her first.” “I apologize, Mistress, but since the moment I’ve laid my eyes onto your exquisite being, all I could think of was embracing your irresistible body.” She chuckles while moving a finger to her lips and biting on it. “I was going to give you a taste of me later anyway, but I guess we can reschedule things a little bit~♪” The Succubus then approaches me while sensually moving her hips with each step and stops close to me with a lascivious smile. I tilt my head to the side and she follows my gaze towards Kyrie. “Are we going to do it in front of them?” I ask, trying to act shy but indifferent. “Of course. They will be next anyway.” She then passes me and snaps her fingers. Everyone gets dragged into a single spot near the wall, still bound by the black tentacles. “Enjoy the show~♪” I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around the Succubus, slowly stroking her exposed belly and thighs as I plant a kiss on her neck. “Fufufu~♪ So impatient. You are very eager to be eaten up, aren’t you?” I stop caressing her skin and grin to myself, “I apologize but the one doing the eating… will be me...” and I snap my fingers this time. Seven purplish straps shoot out of the nearby wall and tie themselves around her ankles, wrists, wings and neck, pulling her strongly towards the stone surface. “What?!” In the next moment, she gets slammed with her back into the stone surface after the bindings begin forcefully pulling her in. She tries fighting against the restraints, but she can’t move any more than they allow her, tied to the wall with her limbs spread out like Vitruvian Man by Da Vinci. “How did you break my charm?! Why can’t I use my magic?!” It’s my turn to chuckle this time. “It never worked in the first place. I’m immune to this level of charms.” Her eyes widen in shock. “Hmmm… It looks like my chains didn’t cancel your already cast ability. This is troublesome,” I comment after seeing others still bound by tentacles. She scoffs at me. “I will not let any of you escape!” “I never intended to.” My words surprise her again. “Oh well. I’m not really into doing it in front of such a cute girl,” I glance at Kyrie, “but it’s safer to take care of you first.” “What are you planning to do? If you think you can force me to release them by hurting me, then you are gravely mistaken!” I chuckle again and shake my head. “I’ve already told you what I’m going to do. I will eat you up.” She sneers at me. “Getting overconfident from your little luck with my charm, are we? I’m an Arch Succubus, you idiot! I will devour you!” “I’ll take it as consent then.” I smile at her and start moving closer. “Just try sticking it in me! I’ll suck you dry!” “Don’t come crying to me later saying that your stomach hurts from overeating.” I close my eyes for a moment and completely release all the limiters I placed on my titles and passives to appear like a normal person. There’s no need to hold back against her. She is a powerful sex demon, right? Opening them again, I grab the demonic-looking scarlet material covering her impressive breasts from the sides and rip it off, revealing her bare chest to the world. Judging by her widening eyes, it shouldn’t be so easy to tear off. Well, tell that to my stats. My fingers squish the soft and incredibly perfect marshmallows hanging seductively in front of me. I’ve seen my fair share of breasts of various sizes and shapes, but hers just look almost divine. I apologize, Goddess Lumina, it’s not like I’ve seen the real divine breasts. Anyway, I take my sweet time to fondle these excellent perky mountains, sneaking a little rub and pinch over their peaks from time to time. As expected from a Succubus, she holds herself very well against just this much, although I can see her breathing getting a little faster. Leaving her breasts alone, I tear off the rest of her clothes covering the edges of her figure, leaving just a little bit under her ankles. I roam my hands all over her skin. “You truly have a magnificent body, worthy of being called the Demon of Lust.” She doesn’t snap back at me and just keeps her lips tightly shut while sending me stern glares. I move my fingers towards her crotch and slip one under the heart-shaped patch of material hiding her love holes. “Mhhmm~♪” She finally can’t hold a moan when I yank it off just the way it rubs against her skin and pussy as much as possible as it comes off. She’s already drenched down there. Or she always is. I’ll have to confirm that little detail about her body later. As two of my fingers make their way to her precious pearl, I lean my body against hers and go for a kiss. She even moves her chin to meet me in the middle, most likely still confident in herself, hoping to bewitch me with her bodily fluids. Too bad. You chose the wrong opponent to compete in that. The moment her tongue invades my mouth, her body shivers and she hesitates for a second. I use that opportunity to push my mouth against hers with more force and attack her insides, ferociously making out with her muscle. Muffled moans start escaping from her sealed lips and she quivers again when I finally tickle her clit. After a few initial rubs, I shove my pointer and middle fingers into her leaking honeypot and keep teasing her sensitive bud with my thumb. “Mhhhmm~♪ Nhhnhnnmmm~♪ Mhhhnnn~♪” Her body tries to escape the pleasure by jerking up but the restraints keep her down on my fingers. I quickly increase the pace and slide in and out of her pussy faster and faster, tickling all the various spots inside that I’ve learned about from my previous partners and my time on Earth. It quickly brings her to her first climax and I can feel her vagina squeeze my fingers as some liquid spurts out of her love nest while she moans fervently into my lips. “Haaaah… You—mwwwhhmmn?!” After a short break for a single breath shortly after she finishes her orgasm, I seal her mouth shut again and resume pounding her pussy with my fingers, this time, with their tips enhanced by the condensed mana. Her back arches instantly, almost ripping away her lips from mine, but I quickly pursue them. I bring her to another climax in just fifteen seconds and much more of her love juices squirt out of her drenched crevice. This time, I don’t give her even a second of break and draw more mana to supply it to the thumb too. Both her clit and lewd tunnel are stimulated by my special technique, proving to be a little too much for our Arch Succubus as she makes it rain like a shower just seconds after I begin; her head shoots to the ceiling and escapes my hold. “AAAAAAHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN~♪” I take a step back and give her a moment to catch her breath; her perfect chest heaves strongly with each movement of her lungs. Crossing my arms, I admire the wet carnage I created under her. “Release them,” I order the Succubus. “I won’t be… haaah… defeated by a mere Human!” I sigh. “I really wanted to avoid doing it in public but you give me no choice.” Without using my spatial storage, I take off the two-part shawl-like cloak and throw it to the side, getting rid of my robe next, revealing my bare chest. I hear Kyrie gasp the moment it lands on the ground and the Succubus’ chin drops to the floor too as her gaze locks onto my front. I trace with my hands over my abs and pecs for a moment, reaching the line of my pants, and make them disappear into the ring without any warning. Her eyes instantly snap to my fully erect member, ready to pierce the heavens. As I slowly make my way back to her while making sure that my dick swings around as seductively as possible, I see her gulp heavily. She doesn’t take her wide-open eyes off it even for a moment. She looks down at it when I press my body against hers and rub my stiff rod over her smooth belly. “Do you want it?” I ask in a sultry tone. It takes her a few seconds to break out of the salivating trance and she shakes her head. “No.” Her eyes still glued to my penis as she answers. I chuckle and snap my fingers. The bindings expand and she drops lower and a bit forward, with her face arriving in front of my crotch. I press my shaft against her cheek and she takes a good, long whiff of it; her eyelashes flutter as another tiny stream of liquid gushes out of her pussy. “You came just from sniffing my cock? What a slut.” She completely ignores my comment and tries to angle her face to catch my dick into her mouth. Just moments before she succeeds, I rotate my hips to the side and back, slapping her with my hard erection across the cheek. “Ahn~!” “No dick until you release the adventurers!” She finally looks up at me with longing but also a bit of defiance left behind. I move my eyes off her and step back, turning to the rest of the party. “Wait! I will release them after you give it to me!” “No can do. Looks like I will have to ask this cute girl here to help me cool down a little.” I start walking towards Kyrie while wiggling my butt as much as I can, trying to hit the best poses. I stop in front of her with my fully erect penis towering over Kyrie’s face from above. She’s blushing heavily and staring straight at it. I smile at her wryly and soundlessly speak "play along" with my mouth. Positioning myself with my back perfectly to the Succubus, with my hips covering Kyrie’s face and shoulders, I move my hands to the top of her head, watching her reactions to make sure I don’t go too far. Before I even move onto the next step of my plan, the tentacles slither back into the ground. I smile victoriously and kneel in front of Kyrie, helping her up and pulling her closer to whisper to her ear. “Get everyone out of here. She’s resisting quite hard, I can’t bind her forever.” “What about you?” she asks worriedly, trying to look me in the eyes, but I can see her gaze desperately shooting down repeatedly. I pat her shoulder. “I’ll take care of the Succubus. I’m confident in my skills.” She looks down at my cock, unable to resist the urge to stare anymore and I sigh. Grabbing her other shoulder too, I spin her around and slap that tender ass, evoking a cute yelp from her. “Go. We will talk later.” She glances back at me over her shoulder once more and helps the others out. After they leave the chamber and close the stone doors, I turn back to the Succubus. With a snap of my fingers, the bindings disappear and she falls to the ground, instantly rushing towards me on all fours and slamming her face into my crotch. “Ohhhh sweeeeeeeet Aaallmoooootheeeeerrrrr… What is this fucking thing…” I chuckle. “An object of worship.” Grabbing one of her horns, I position her mouth in front of my glans. “Now. Show me how you treat your god.” She no longer resists and takes my rod into her mouth in one, quick swoop, wrapping her arms around my waist. I gasp a little when met with the humid and hot insides of her mouth. As expected from a sex fiend, she makes great work of her tongue, cheeks, throat and lips, applying incredible suction as she bobs her head back and forth. “Ohhh… That’s good… The better you get me off, the greater pounding you’ll get—woah!” Hearing my words, she doubles—no, triples her efforts to make me come. It’s the first time I see someone so eagerly sucking cock. She practically fucks her throat with my dick, drawing back and forth with incredible strength and movements, hitting my pelvis with her face so hard it pushes me back one step at a time. “Fuck… You are a freak…” Deciding to not prolong it anymore, I grab both of her horns and start thrusting into her mouth to meet her own advances. Loud, wet, schlicking sounds fill the stone chamber as I ravage this Demon of Lust. And her purely ecstatic face along with fingers rubbing her slit at lightspeed clearly show how much she loves it. With one last push, I delve deep into her throat and release a luscious load of milky cream. She keeps hugging my waist as if forbidding me to back away until she sucks out all of my seed with her amazingly tight tunnel, constricting around my cock while trying to milk it dry. I finish cumming after around ten seconds and slowly draw back, allowing her to meticulously lick my rod around to scoop every bit of semen left on it. My dick leaves her mouth with an audible pop and she starts gasping for air. “Haaaah… Great Allmother… This is unbelievable… The smell, the taste, the texture, the amount of life energy, it’s all inconceivable!” “Already satisfied?” Her anxious face shoots up at mine. “No! Please! You promised to fuck me!” “And I’m a man of my words.” I grab her horns again and lightly throw her up and against the wall. She hits it with a soft moan and I pin her to the stone surface with my body, lifting her right leg with my hand. I slide myself into her flooding cavern in one move. “Ahhhhhhhhhh~♪ Yesssssssssss~!” “Let’s see who will devour who.” “Ahnnnnnnn~♪ Ahhhhhhhh~♪ Like that~! Break me~! Devour me~!” I start violently hammering her into the wall; her bountiful love juices keep splattering over our stomachs with each heavy slap of hip against hip. Her whole body jerks upwards with each powerful thrust her tight hole receives. She wraps her arms around my neck in desperation, trying to reduce the recoil of my pounding, but she can barely latch onto me with how limply her body shakes from all the pleasure she is receiving. Sensing her incoming climax from how her insides seem to change, I aim for one of the usual spots with the tip of my penis and she orgasms instantly with her mouth opening wide. “Ohhhhhhhhh fuuuuuuuuuuccccccckkkkkkkkkk~!” I let her ride her high for a moment and roughly rotate her horizontally after she stops squirting on my legs, impaling her demonic lily from behind this time, pushing her front into the wall. “Ahhhhh~♪ Ahhnnnn~♪ Ohhhhh~♪ So fierce~♪ Destroy that pussy~♪” Stuck between me and the stone wall she can only scream and moan into the air as I drill through her incredibly hot and moist tunnel repeatedly. Her whole body bounces back and forth; into the wall, into me, into the wall, into me. And she is wholeheartedly relishing in the savage pummeling. I start licking the membrane of her wings, peppering it with sucky kisses here and there. “Fuck~! Fuck~! Fuck~! Coooooming agaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnn~♪” Her convulsing snatch pushes out my cock as another stream of love juices bursts out of her quivering slit. I press her body against the wall to prevent her from sliding down and plant strong hickeys over her neck until she stops shaking. “Mhhhhhhmmmmmmm… Not that ba—AH!” Seeing her still being able to act cheekily, I yank her off the wall and throw her onto the ground. Before she can collect herself, I pick her hips up from behind and shove my cock into her pinkish cherry, looking unspeakably cute from this angle and with that incredible, light violet skin all around it. “OHHHHHHHHH~!” She starts moaning while I hammer her pussy in a wheelbarrow position, slamming against her bottom as hard as to force her to move forward with her hands on the floor. A path of dripping love nectar is left behind us as we make it forward while fucking like beasts. At one point, I rotate her around to change the position and she ends up making a bridge with her hips still in the air. I can now perfectly see her lewd, completely euphoric expression. She tries to throw a wide smile at me but fails to do so when my cock rubs against her inner walls again, far inside her deepest depths, forcing her to bite on her lower lip as her whole body trembles. Not wanting to just fuck her without getting to bust a nut myself, I stop holding back my orgasm and push her onto the ground. I catch her ankles and drive them to the sides of her head, pinning them to the floor. With her butt now slightly in the air, I pummel that pussy relentlessly from above. “Ohhh~♪ Ahhhhh~♪ Ahnnnn~♪ So fucking deep~! I can’t~!” I lean forward and join our lips in a sloppy kiss. She wraps her arms around my neck again and her vaginal walls start constricting. As our hot tongues dance together, I start sending waves of cloudy liquid deep into her dripping honeypot, flooding her baby chamber with warm delicacy. Her spasming fades down after around fifteen seconds and I free her lips. Until she recovers completely, I softly play with her amazing breasts, enjoying the marshmallowy treat for my fingers and mouth. “Uhhhhh… Fuuuuckk… That was intense… I admit you are pretty good… You almost—” Seeing my wide grin coming from in between her sacred valley, she stops, her eyes widen, and her violet face pales a little. “Oh, no, no, no—AH!” With my cock still hard and inside her pussy, I rotate her again and continue giving her a good pounding in a leapfrog position this time. She is already barely able to move so she can only lie on her chest and take it with a lot of moaning. She turns into an even bigger mess after I grab her warm tail and yank it towards myself, catching the heart-shaped spade with my lips. “Ahhhh~♪ Ahhhnnn~♪ Ahhhh~♪ Alright~! Ahhhhhhnnnn~♪ You win! Ahhh~♪ Not the tail~♪” “You don’t look broken to me yet.” “Nooooooo~♪ Ahhhhhhh~♪” After making her cum into a squirting mess again, I pull her up and grab her wrists, starting to hammer her pretty flower from behind while we are standing and she is hanging down parallel to the ground within my hold. I pull her onto my dick with each shove, teaching her demonic pussy what it really means to be a Demon of Lust, or rather, a Demigod of Lust. Fifteen minutes of violent pounding through various positions later, she can’t speak anymore and can only moan and slur incomprehensibly every time she climaxes and receives my seed. I’ve lost count, but I think she took it around six times already. With the addition of the seventh one, I let go of her horns as I’ve been nailing her from behind while holding onto them and let her slump onto the ground; ass in the air and leaking from the abundance of cum. Her body keeps shivering repeatedly. I fall onto my ass and take a deep breath, admiring my amazing work. This was a good opportunity to test my endurance and it’s way better than I imagined. Well, I literally outsexed a Succubus, so that says something. An Arch at that. I do feel plenty tired though. I’ve been casting Rejuvenate a lot to support my immense stamina from my race and stats. Standing up, I walk closer and push her butt lightly, making it fall to the side unresponsively, hitting the ground with a lovely slap. “Huh. She fainted. Oh well.” Leaving a beautiful woman on a cold stone floor is against my principles so I scoop her up into my arms and princess-carry the Succubus towards the other set of big doors. I’m able to push them open with just my leg and it reveals a small, decorated chamber on the other side. Spotting a queen-sized bed with incredibly comfortable-looking bedding, I walk up to it and drop my exhausted Succubus in the middle of it, pulling myself to spoon her. Before falling asleep, I make sure to clean her love hole with Livelihood Magic to avoid any discomfort later since I have no idea if she needs to be conscious to absorb all that overflowing semen. With that done, I drift off with her in my arms.
Chapter 73 – The Allmother’s Tale ❤ Spoiler: Chapter Similarly to the morning a few days earlier, a warm and tingly sensation in my lower body brings me out of the pleasant slumber. Not that the cause behind me waking up is any less enjoyable than the dreamy nap. I groan a little when met with a more aggressive action and lazily start rubbing my eyes. “Ugh… We need to work on your morning surprises, Astrea… The girls won’t be happy if you keep—” The sight that greets me when I finally open my eyes makes me instantly freeze. Judging by the weight pressuring my chest down and how it’s distributed over its area, I’ve already guessed what to expect in front of my face, but instead of a petite bottom and a small slit adorned with a cute patch of silvery fur, I find a luscious ass of light violet colour with a pinkish pussy spread invitingly and leaking a constant stream of love nectar onto my neck. Only now I realize that the hot muscle working on my shaft lacks the faint characteristics of Astrea’s very slightly coarse tongue and all the events from my encounter with a quite captivating beauty come back to me, including the very ending of it. Whatever reason she has behind this wake-up call, either intentional or not, I don’t really care, but we can’t speak properly until the other party that is feasting on what's assumingly my morning wood gets done. But, I will not waste the opportunity laid down in front of me so perfectly either, and thus, I announce my presence by joining my lips with the ones salivating in front of my face. That action is met with an instant and certainly surprised reaction of a vibrating moan passing through my hard member. The last time I was forced into a morning blowjob, I had no way to fight back, but this is different and I’m glad for it. While the charming lady eagerly works her tongue and lips all over my cock, I explore her yearning honeypot with my own muscle, stroking the entrance to this secret cave all around with my fingers at the same time. I must say, the taste is nothing like I have ever experienced up to this day. I was sure my Class and its abilities or Titles did have an effect on that to some extent, making it even more enjoyable for me to explore my girls’ bodies, but their nectar was never so sweet and delectable. I’m fairly certain it’s thanks to the current pussy belonging to a Succubus. Is this how my seed turns out for them? If so, I can somehow understand why they are so eager to get a taste of it. Nevertheless, we don’t have the whole day to waste here. Erm… Actually… I have no idea how much time we do have to waste… I don’t even know how many hours have passed since I nodded off with the Succubus girl in my arms… The others might be getting worried… Thus, let’s not dilly dally and finish this up to question the master of the house. Aiming exactly to do that, I set myself to fully enjoy the given service and stop holding anything back while filling the tip of my tongue with some condensed mana. Noticing the sudden spike in pleasure, the Succubus moans loudly into my rod and jerks a little but redoubles her efforts afterwards too, getting my message clearly. We do not possess a connection, unfortunately, since I haven’t registered her as a Partner yet, so I can only try my best to read from her body to time our highs together. It does come as a bit of a challenge as I was getting used to relying on that cheat a little, but in the end, after some skilful teasing, I manage to succeed. Totally forgetting that the sex demon lying on top of me is a huge squirter, I get blasted straight into my face with a spray of a very fragrant liquid at the same time as her throat gets flooded with waves of creamy delicacy surging from the tip of my cock pushed far into its depths. I wipe down my face as the violet body in front of it keeps quivering from the pleasure and I watch how her delicious snatch spurts out a few more, fainter gushes of juices while cooling down. It’s kind of hot. And not just physically. After a short moment, one of her legs flies above my face and the Succubus starts shifting around to match my position. And soon, I have a dazzling redhead lying on my side while seductively licking her lips as her scarlet eyes gaze into mine. “Thanks for the meal~♪” “I’m afraid this diner has not been opened yet when you forced your completely unauthorized order onto the unsuspecting cook.” “Oh, no~♪ Am I going to be punished~?” “It’s the law. Do not resist.” She giggles and observes me carefully. I move my hand to her body and roam my palm over her beautiful, light violet skin, getting a gentle squeeze of these firm and lascivious mountains and then head down. She doesn’t move even an inch, complying with my order. Before reaching her secret place with my fingers, I trail to the side and grab her tender ass, pulling her whole body closer to mine and stealing her dainty lips. A little surprised at first, but she doesn’t resist and lets me have some fun with her tongue, leaving it all up to me, acting all submissive. I break the kiss after a short moment. “This should be enough to pay off the damage you have caused. For now.” We stare each other into the eyes with wide smiles and chuckle at the same time. Then, her face turns into a more neutral and analytical one. “Who are you?” “Alastair. You?” She smirks and rolls her eyes. “You know I wasn’t asking about that. I'm Ailish. How can you not only resist my charms but even overpower them? Why did you just leave me be after I was defeated, lying by my side completely open to any harm? I could have killed you the moment I opened my eyes. You didn’t even try to restrain me. I just… don’t understand. Weren’t you sent to get rid of me?” “That’s quite a lot of questions you have there,” I answer while moving a lock of her hair behind her ear to uncover some more of her elegant face. “Let’s start with the most important one. No, I’m not after your life. Well, at least not in the way you are thinking of.” “What? But your companions’ attacks were clearly filled with killing intent.” “I wouldn’t go as far as calling them my companions. They are just temporary party members. Actually, I’m not even sure about that. I did kind of deceive them and use their party for my own goal which they weren’t aware of.” Ailish raises one of her brows at me. “Now that I think about it, I never felt any malice coming from you, even when you were fighting me. I can’t believe I’ve missed that.” “It just shows how much you were enjoying yourself, isn’t that right?” I ask with a cheeky smile. She chuckles. “Certainly. Well then, Alastair, what’s that hidden goal of yours? Assuming that it’s related to me, you should be able to fill me in, no?” I nod my head. “But of course. Before that though, I would like to ask some questions myself, if you don’t mind.” “Go on.” “Care to tell me what exactly is going on here? I’ve only listened to the villagers’ side of the story and it does sound kinda fishy to me.” She again shows some signs of surprise. “You are willing to listen to the arguments of a monster? As a Human?” It’s my turn to roll my eyes. “Oh, please. You are not even close to the most monstrous entity I’ve spoken with. Or fucked.” My comment makes her snort and chuckle. “Okay, okay. You do seem pretty weird. I’m curious about that last part so promise me you’ll tell me later. I’ll try to keep this short. I woke up from my slumber a few months ago in this cave, which had been prepared by me. Hungry as hell after who knows how many centuries, I went out to search for food. I’m pretty sure you can guess my most preferred diet.” A small smirk shows on my face and I nod at her to continue. “Anyway, I found out that there is now a village not that far from here and decided to check it out. One of the hunters was making his way through the forest so I approached him. He was quite hesitant at first, but it was nothing that couldn’t have been fixed with a few charms and we had some tasty fun together~♪ After that, I made sure to carry him close to the village and returned home.” “I’m surprised you haven’t sucked all life out of him.” She waves her finger at me. “Now, now. That’s a very outdated mindset. I don’t kill people. In fact, many Succubi don’t. Why waste precious food when you can enjoy it again and again? Show a little courtesy and it will find its way back to you by itself. Of course, accidents do happen, but I can’t predict if someone’s heart will pop from the pleasure. That’s why we usually prefer young and healthy men.” “I see. What about threatening to suck me dry yeste—the last time?” I correct myself, still unsure how much time has passed. “I mean, I thought you came to kill me so it shouldn’t be a surprise I would answer with the same, right? It’s easy to keep common people charmed, but I wouldn’t risk keeping an adventurer coming back that could gain resistance somehow and stab me in the back while I drill my pussy with their dick.” I nod. “Fair enough. And confirms some of my guesses. And then?” “Then it was as I said. He came back to the same spot so I took him here. Then, the next time, someone else showed up, clearly looking for me, so I took them in too. And another and another and another. At some point, two at once came, which included the first person I encountered after waking up. Then, they even started coming to me in a trio. Everything was great. I had a full buffet to pick from.” “And then they suddenly showed up with pitchforks, right?” “Ugh, exactly. But it was also partially my fault. Mom always said not to trust Humans and I got too lenient. So, I confronted them, still hoping to talk it out, but it ended in a fight. I didn’t want to risk it so I had to defend myself and a few people died. Seeing how easily I can squash them, they surrendered and I requested a man daily to make it official. I knew they’d try something else later as Humans always do so I was ready to face some adventurers. But, it turns out that I wasn’t ready for you, hahaha.” I shake my head. “I can’t even rebuke that part about Humans. Thanks for clearing that up. I’m now assured that my hunch was correct.” She scoots closer to me, pressing her body against mine while grazing my chest with her fingers. “So, what’s this all about? Or do I have to squeeze the answer out of you?” I chuckle and squeeze her tender butt, moving my hand to her back to bring our faces together for a short kiss. “No need. You’ve already earned it. Basically, as weird as it might sound, I was tipped off about your existence by the Human King and allowed to confront you with an offer. My own one; he has nothing to do with it.” She furrows her brows. “You know the Human King? And he didn’t send you to get rid of me?” “Now, things will get even weirder. He’s kind of my… good customer and a friend. I run a brothel in the capital of the biggest kingdom of Humanity. Technically speaking.” “A brothel? The King is your customer? What…?” She shows clear signs of confusion. I chuckle a little. “Okay, it’s like this. I opened that place as a kind of safe haven for non-humans in the capital. I obviously can’t take in literally every single one of them, but I’m doing what I can. The people that decide to stay there can just live there, work as maids, barmaids, women for company, bath helpers or as prostitutes. It’s up to them. And it’s more of an entertainment establishment than just a brothel. The end goal is to lessen the hate non-humans get, but it’s kind of a pipe dream still. Anyway, this brings us to my offer.” Ailish nods curiously, still quite shocked by the revelation. “Come with me and you’ll be able to get as much dick as you want without any repercussions and danger. Everything about this incident will be forgotten and the quest will be written off as completed. No traces left behind. Our home has many rules to assure the comfort of the ladies, so you don’t have to worry too much and can just focus on enjoying yourself. As long as you leave the customers in a decent state that is. So, what do you think?” She blinks at me repeatedly for a moment, staring at my professional, inviting smile with her mouth opening a few times to voice out her thoughts, but unable to do so yet. “Take your time. No need to answer immediately. And I’ll answer all your questions if you have any.” She calms herself down a bit and nods. “You are not joking, right? It’s not some smart plot to capture and enslave me, right?” “Well, I definitely wouldn’t mind capturing you.” I smile at her more charmingly. “But that’s only if you are willing.” Her eyes widen a little. “Does that mean I would be able to fuck you again?” “Hahaha. You can get much more than just some good pounding now and then. There are many benefits to becoming not just my employee but also my Partner.” “Partner?” “I guess it’s time to show you why I could overpower you so easily.” I wave my hand and summon my full status window. With another motion, I send it towards her while making it visible. She stops hugging me and drops back down onto the bed to focus her attention on the floating screen as I observe her face making a myriad of reactions. “What the hell is wrong with these numbers? They are higher than mine and you are only Tier 3!” “You might want to focus on the section above that part.” Her eyes jump up and instantly freeze on the spot, like her whole body. They finally move even further up after a good fifteen seconds and her head literally draws back from shock, most likely after noticing my race. Hearing her mention her slumber, I was assuming she would at least recognize it to some extent. She keeps looking between the two for a while longer and then swats the window away, moving her gaze onto me. Before I can say anything, Ailish jumps on top of me and straddles my waist with her front facing me. I chuckle a little, assuming that she got turned on by the revelation or something, but my smile slowly fades when I see her gently lay her hands on my belly and lower her head. “Please, become our Allfather…” “Uhhhh…” I completely did not expect this turn of events. Whatever is actually happening. Looking at her serious and very expectant posture, pretty much begging me to agree, I get the feeling that it’s something really important. Helping myself to my elbows, I then sit up and end up in a lotus position with Ailish on my lap. She still keeps her head lowered and does not raise her gaze. “Would you mind explaining a little? And please, act casually.” She finally moves her eyes up and shows a faint smile. “Of course. I’m sorry for suddenly blurting out something you might not understand. I’m still a little shocked.” I brush her cheek with my palm. “It’s fine.” She makes a deep sigh. “So, there’s a legend, or more like a belief being regarded as every Succubus’s lifelong mission. Our great Allmother, the very first Succubus born from the relationship of a Primordial and the Primeval Archdemon of Lust, is believed to still be alive and hidden away somewhere in this world while in deep slumber. She reached the end of her lifespan and sealed herself inside a powerful, life-preserving vault. It is said that you can attain semi-immortality by forming a pact with a Primordial, but by the time she learned about that, they were already long gone. Thus, it was left to her descendants to hopefully find one. As you can imagine, they searched for a long time, but none was found. Until now, I guess.” “That’s… quite the tale. Does that mean you can’t come with me now and are obliged to ask for my help?” She shakes her head. “No, nothing like that. I would be happy to come with you regardless. Your offer is really great for me. It’s just, on behalf of all the Succubi, I wanted to ask if you would be willing to at least meet her. If that story is even true. At this point in time, I’m not sure anyone even knows about the location of the vault or if it still exists. It’s just... if we ever stumble on some hints or something, could you promise me to investigate them whenever you would be able to? I would then feel like I’ve fulfilled that mission.” I rub my chin and think for a moment. It doesn’t sound like she is trying to force something very annoying onto me and even leaves the final completion of the task up to my decision. And well, I’m now kind of invested in this story already. I mean, it’s super interesting, isn’t it? I did not know about that part of the Succubi culture. “Alright. I promise to see what I can do to help you. She might be of help to me too, actually. The first Succubus must certainly be really powerful, right? I could use any powerful allies to face the Calamity.” “The Calamity?” “Ah, right. You’ve slept for quite a bit. When did you doze off actually?” “During the war between Humans and the other races. I didn’t want to take part in it so I hid away.” “Oh boy, we have a lot of catching up to do then. Anyway, I’ll fill you in on that later. Including all the Hero stuff. Right now, what do you want to do?” She looks at me while pondering for a moment and then speaks up. “Would you mind forming a pact with me too?” “Won’t that get in the way with me potentially doing it with the Allmother?” “I don’t think so. A Succubus or Incubus can form only a single subservient pact in their life with a single person they choose, but the other party can receive as many pacts as their soul can withstand, which is usually no more than two. Or zero in Human terms. But, I’m sure yours is much stronger. I’ve heard stories of Incubi receiving pacts of many Succubi and forming their own harems, which actually also shared and boosted their powers in turn. The reversed situations also happened.” “Oh, so like my Partners via Love Contract.” “Hm?” “It’s about the stats you’ve been wondering about earlier. I get a share of a girl’s stats after I form a contract with her and she willingly offers her body to me. Depending on the character of the feelings between us and their strength, the more of them I get, up to 50%. She also receives a similar bonus from me after adding up the stats I get from all my other Partners. So, if you became my Partner and had sex with me, you’d get at least ten or so more points, assuming the bond between us would base on just being favourable towards each other.” She blinks a few times. “That’s… quite similar, isn’t it?” I chuckle. “Yes, it does seem like it. But considering what is the name of my Class, I’m not that surprised it draws from literal Lust Demons.” Ailish laughs a bit too and smiles widely, grazing my cheek with the tip of her heart-shaped tail. “Then, each one of us has a kind of a pact to offer, right? And it so happens that the ceremony overlaps too.” I catch her black spade with my fingers and bring it in front of my mouth to place a soft kiss on it, sending a faint shiver through her whole body. “Then, let me ask again. What do you want to do?” She leans in to press her amazing breasts onto my chest and wraps her hands around my neck. I can feel her hot breath over my ear. “I want to accept your offer and come with you to taste many different men~♪ I want to show you my gratitude for your promise and offer myself to you through our racial pact, becoming a soul-bound fuck toy at your every beck and call~♪ And… I want your hard, throbbing cock to shred my pussy into bits~!” she whispers into my ear with a tone dripping with lust as much as her lower lips do. I back away a little for our faces to meet in front of each other and smile at her while sending out a mental offer on becoming my Partner. She quickly accepts it and glances at me expectantly. “Time for round two, I guess.” I wink at her. She giggles and dives forward to seal my lips with a deep and passionate kiss while her thin black tail coils around my shaft and starts pumping it. I move my hands to her succulent ass and sink my fingers in its heavenly texture, gently kneading it as she devours my mouth like a starved beast. After we finally run out of breath, she breaks the kiss with a heavy gasp and looks at me with a lustful gaze. Her red hair is now a mess and gives her appearance an even more erotic look. She pushes me back down onto the bed as I watch her impressive chest heave up and down from the rough breathing and starts rubbing her drenched slit over my cock squashed to my belly. She turns up her movements a notch or two and bites on her lower lip, falling forward to support herself with her hands on my chest after almost making herself cum from grinding against my shaft. Taking her a little bit off guard, I squeeze her ass harder and buckle up my hips with powerful thrust a few times, finishing what she did not have strength for and bringing her to climax as the head of my penis repeatedly assaults her clit along with the bumps created by her tail still coiled around my rod. “Nnnggghhhnnnn~♪” She trembles, showers my cock with a gush of love juices and curls her fingers lying on top of my chest from ecstasy. Eight distinct lines appear on my skin during that motion. As expected, her nails are sturdy and sharp like daggers. She pants for a few seconds and giggles at me. “Let me show you a good time~♪” Nodding at her, I move my hands off her ass and place them behind my head, leaving it all up to her. Ailish leans forward first and seductively licks the shallow wounds she inflicted on my skin. They instantly stop bleeding and I stop noticing any stinging sensation from them. Looks like her saliva has some interesting properties. After dealing with these, she moves closer to my face and presents me with a flirtatious kiss, nibbling softly on my lips. With another giggle, more to herself than at me, she raises her hips and uses her tail to line my cock up with her leaking honeypot, very eager to welcome it again with a tight and warm hug. She very slowly descends onto my rod and releases a sound moan when the tip slips in. Her tail moves to one of her breasts, starting to squeeze it in rhythm while she uses a hand to spread her pussy for my cock and the other one to play with the nipple of her tail-less mountain. Gasping sensually, she gets lower and lower, making sure to give me the best possible spectacle to watch, and an even better sensation to feel from moving her hips in a curricular motion, teasing my tip with the insides of her burning-hot pussy. Finally arriving at the very bottom, she smiles at me while grinding her hips around. Leaving her breasts solely to her tail, she raises her arms into the air in a seductive fashion and starts riding me with her wings spread fully to the sides in all of their glory. It’s then when I notice the crimson tattoo over her underbelly glowing slightly. This might be due to that pact thingy or something, I’m not entirely sure. But, she doesn’t miss the shift in my attention and starts tracing over it with her finger while biting on another in her mouth. She surely knows her craft, as expected from an ancient Arch Succubus. It’s extremely sensual to watch. Everything she does assault my senses with unimaginable pleasure. And also… Oh? Ailish slows down a little and puts more focus into sliding up and down my cock, but there’s something else that changes. The tension and pressure inside her moist tunnel start switching in a regular rhythm, evoking even more pleasure than her slightly violent assault. She notices me grunt a little from that form of teasing and chuckles. “Feeling good? I bet your mind must be blown already. As a Succubus, I have full control of my pussy and that includes all of the muscles and much more,” she speaks in a prideful manner while switching to moving her hips in circles and grinding my penis against her uneven walls as they coil around me and even apply sucking motions. I chuckle right back at her. “I’m afraid you are mistaken. It surely is amazing, but when it comes to an omnidirectional internal massage, you can’t even hold a candle to Safi and Emi.” She raises her brows. “Oh? You know other Succubi?” I move my arms from behind my head and place my hands around her waist, pulling her down, closer to me. “No. They are my precious Queen Slimes.” “Queen Sli—mmhhhnn~♪” Taking advantage of her surprise, I sneak my tongue into her mouth and start moving my hips to return the received favour. It just doesn’t lie right with me to be on the receiving end for too long. Both of us are already close so I wrap my arms around Ailish’s waist and gift her inexhaustible lily with some energetic affection. She starts moaning into my mouth while our tongues dance together in a sloppy fashion. Her tattoo glows even brighter and starts blinking with its crimson hue. Considering how her pussy is starting to squeeze my cock in a less controlled fashion, it’s pretty clear that it's related to her getting really close, and perhaps the whole ceremony getting near completion. Ailish breaks our kiss for a moment and grips the hair on the side of my head while staring into my eyes from above, moaning and gasping fervently from the assault on her lower body. “Nhnnnnn~! Give it to me deep! Ahnnn~! Shoot it far~! Far~! Ahnn~! Ahnn~! Flood that slutty womb!” She descends onto my lips again after relaying her message and I grip her waist harder, turning up the drilling her pussy gets by a notch, aiming to give her exactly what she asked for. When I feel my load building up, her tattoo flashes the brightest yet and I push my penis deep into her cavern as far as she lets me. A luscious torrent of semen fills her furthest depths as both of us come at the same time. I notice a different than usual connection forming between us, on the side of my Partner’s one. It’s on a much deeper and more profound level as if I’m being granted access to everything she is and represents with herself, including her life energy. It forms completely in a matter of around ten seconds as we enjoy our highs in the arms of each other. Afterwards, I wait for Ailish to stop trembling and catch her breath, lying on top of my chest as I stroke through her crimson hair. She releases a long and contented sigh before sliding down to my side, still hugging me closely. I reposition myself a little for our faces to match. She chuckles softly after our gazes meet and glances down at her tattoo. “Oh? The core formation changed?” I make some distance between us and check it out too. In the middle of it, inside a big heart where empty space was before, a familiar symbol popped up. It’s the same one my girls use as their fake slave seals—the heart with two horns, succubi tail, long, bat-like wings and the letter A in Infernal. “Interesting… I’ve heard only the highest rank Arch Incubi can imprint their Soul Marks on others. It’s very pretty.” “Soul Mark?” “It’s like your signature but formed from the deepest parts of your soul. It often symbolizes what the person went through that made them into who they currently are. The letter inside it is you. I can only guess, but it seems that you’ve experienced a deep and caring love from someone, it doesn’t have to specifically be a romantic one, that’s why the heart surrounding it. The demonic horns, tail and wings might refer to some kind of evil force you’ve struggled against that somehow came with that love, but with how it is visible only on the borders, it doesn’t seem to come from the same person. And the script is Infernal most likely because you don’t see yourself as a completely good person, closer to a neutral one. Surprising for many, Infernal is not an evil script.” I graze my fingers over the mark on Ailish’s underbelly and marvel over how accurate her analysis of the sigil is. “That was pretty spot on. I guess it really reflects my soul.” “Anyway,” she lifts my chin with her hand and pecks my lips, “the ceremony is now completed and I’m all yours. There are many benefits from this but the most important ones are that I can now share with you my life energy and mana, you can freely explore my mind while also possibly allowing me to dive into yours, we will be growing stronger together at the same time and I can now hide inside your soul whenever, which is especially useful after I get hurt as I recuperate faster in there.” “What about my Soul Realm? Can you like, live there?” “Huh?” She blinks at me. “You can form and access your Soul Realm at Tier 3 already?” “Well, I can’t get inside by myself, but it does exist since like Tier 2, for some reason. It might have something to do with the Goddess.” She sighs and shakes her head. “It will take me a long time to stop getting surprised by everything that comes from you, won’t it?” I chuckle and shrug my shoulders. We lie down together for around an hour more and discuss some things about me and her. I learn that Ailish is truly an Arch Succubus. Her stats are quite high, around eighty across the board already. We also start at the second level of the Bond, with the caption of an Understanding Pair. This will net me quite a few stat points. “Alright. I’d like to move out if you are okay with it. Do you know how much time passed since we fucked in that cave?” I ask while getting off the bed. “I think we’ve slept for around four hours, so including the second round and our short talk, almost six hours passed since then. Worried about your little entourage?” “Only a little. I just hope they are waiting for me instead of trying something stupid.” “Let me just pack some of my stuff and we can go. I’m honestly already sick of this stone chamber.” Ailish then flies off the bed and regains her black-red demonic material around her body again, forming it from a black mist. She then opens up a drawer, picks something up, and I watch as she waves her hand around and many things disappear into thin air, including parts of the furniture. “A spatial storage artifact?” I ask, slightly dumbfounded. “Hm? Yeah, I have a few ones in my possession. They are yours if you want.” “Well, I have this,” I reply and throw her my ring. She catches it and immediately frowns. “What the hell is this sorry and miserable thing? Did Goblins make it? Throw that tiny trash away and use this instead. Pathetic.” I pick up a black ring with a small, crimson jewel embedded into it from her hand and slide it onto my finger. The sheer size of the space inside overwhelms me for a moment and Ailish supports me before I lose balance from the dizziness. I did not expect such disparity. “Damn… Ugh… That’s like a quite spacious five-story building…” “It’s just a basic one. I’m sorry for not having any better ones. I’ve never been the person to need even this much space.” I shake my head and smile at her. “No, it’s amazing. How many of them do you have?” “Just four. One should be enough to collect all things from this cave.” While she takes care of that, I go to the previous chamber to collect the pieces of clothing I’ve thrown to the ground the last time I was there and also check it out. When I’m back, she is already done and the room looks almost completely empty. Even the bed is gone. “And now, I can do this~♪” Ailish grins and turns into blackish smoke that floats towards me and seeps into my chest, disappearing completely. ~Damn, you haven’t lied about your Soul Realm. And even though it’s in the infant stage, it’s very beautiful. I love it. You need to work on getting inside, I’m sure having sex here would feel incredible.~ I chuckle. ~That’s the first thing that comes to your mind after getting there?~ ~Hey, a woman has to know her needs and I’m not going to act shy about my own. I need a good dick in my pussy and it so happens that yours is the best I’ve ever shoved down there. Or did you expect me to suddenly change into a loving and devoted housewife looking forward to raising kids and occasional, chaste kisses from her spouse?~ ~Certainly not, hahaha. Make yourself at home. You’ll get as much dick as you want. Within my time and capabilities.~ ~Brilliant.~ With a friendly banter and a little chat about our pasts, I start making my way back through the cave system while Ailish leads me through it perfectly. I first check on the natural chamber where we left the unconscious villagers and don’t find them there. There are no traces of any struggle or monsters so I assume that the Ephemeral Aegis has moved them. When we finally make it out of the caves, the dark sky of the night greets us. It’s quite understandable considering the time of our attempted Succubus raid and everything that has transpired after it failed, from their perspective at least. Ailish materializes herself and flies around for a moment to check if someone might not be nearby and she jumps back into my soul after we confirm that no one is waiting for me in the close vicinity of the entrance. I head back to the village without meeting anyone either. Only at the gate leading inside, I stumble on the guards and they seem surprised to see me, so I assume that some rumours might have already spread over the population. One of the men informs me that the party is recuperating in our inn and the other one darts off to inform the mayor after I tell him that the Succubus was taken care of. Both of them didn’t feel especially elated by that news and Ailish’s chuckle inside my mind clearly pointed out why. After confirming with the innkeeper that they are in their rooms, I ask him to inform them about my return and order the best course the establishment can offer, served to the VIP lounge. I’m starving after almost two collective hours of sex and the time that passed since our breakfast. Ailish joins me for the feast and we stuff ourselves with quite tasty dishes. Around ten minutes after we start stuffing ourselves with food, the rushed footsteps of a group of people reach our ears and the door flies open. “Alastair! Are you oka—?!” Kyrie barges inside with the rest of the squad and freezes after noticing a certain individual sitting by my side. They instantly draw out their weapons. Whoops. I might have gotten too engrossed in eating and forgot to hide Ailish. Oh well.
Chapter 74 – Return of the Pimp Spoiler: Chapter Seeing the adventurers in the doorway, Ailish also seems to realize that we should have introduced her to them in a bit different way, but the cat was out of the bag already. I hastily stand up and raise my hands forward to defuse the tense situation. “As you can see, I’m great, so let’s not blow half of this inn up due to a misunderstanding.” “Misunderstanding? Can’t you see that the Succubus is right behind you? Did it charm your mind and erase its presence from you?” Kyrie asks. “Nothing like that. I’ve fully subdued her. She’s no longer a threat to the villagers.” “Subdued? But it is right there! Are you blinded?” I sigh. “Kyrie, I’m well aware that it is behind me. And that is a she. I’ve captured her. She can’t go against my will now, so sheathe your weapons and drop the chants.” “It’s as my Master says,” Ailish stands up too and makes a slight bow towards them. “What? How? But… our mission is to kill her!” “No, it isn’t. All that has been noted in the quest is to get rid of her and free the village from her terror. There is nothing said about how we should achieve that. By taking her away, I’m doing just that. The task will be completed properly and all the rewards will be issued without a problem, which I can assure you of.” They finally hide away their weapons and drop the prepared magic, walking properly into the room and closing the door behind them. Kyrie still looks unconvinced though. Before we continue, I quickly open my menus and navigate to Cornelia’s skills, borrowing the Hall of Serenity from her. She has been teaching me about it, but I still haven’t managed to properly learn the spell. I really hope I can get it at some point. Anyway, I quickly cast the borrowed magic onto the room and look at the Crusader. She notices and most likely recognizes what I’ve done and speaks up. “You are interpreting the quest’s description on your own! You can’t do that! It’s obvious that it asks us to kill her! It’s a request supported even by the King!” “Yes, I can. In fact, I can do anything I want with this request.” I summon a certain round and flat object from my new storage ring and toss it at her. When Kyrie catches and examines the token, her eyes widen in shock. “No way…” She stumbles backwards a little. “What? What is it?” Alan curiously steps closer and takes a glance over her shoulder. An audible gulp wanders through the room soon after. Seeing their reaction, the rest of the squad leans onto Kyrie from behind too and each one of them reacts in a slightly different way but clearly in a surprised fashion. “I take it you know what this is.” I cross my arms over my chest. Crawford raises his eyes and looks at me. “This is the Royal Sigil of Evalitia. And I’m pretty sure it’s the one issued directly by the King! How did you get it? No, that’s obvious. The sheer consequences of forging or stealing such a thing are unthinkable. No scholar would ever even think about it.” “Right. It was handed to me by the one and only. I guess it’s time we talk a little. There are a few things I should probably explain. But before that, Ailish?” As I look at her, she nods and quietly turns into a puff of black smoke, disappearing into my body. That action surprises the group even more than my possession of the Royal Sigil. I sit down and gesture at them to do the same. Albeit a little stiff, they oblige. “Thank you.” I nod at Kyrie as she returns the sigil to me. “Before we start, how is everyone? And did you escort the villagers back? I didn’t see them on my way through the caverns.” Edgar is the one to answer. “We are fine. I’ve taken care of all the injuries we’ve accumulated in that fight. It wasn’t anything serious. As for the men, yes, we woke them up and took them back with us. After we healed up, we checked the chamber, but no one was inside and only some parts of your clothing were left behind. That and… a lot of… certain liquids… everywhere…” He coughs and Kyrie’s face visibly grows flushed in a flash as she drops her gaze onto the table. A giggle echoes in my mind, from an obvious source. “We tried opening the other doors but to no avail. Therefore, Kyrie decided we should take care of the people first and come back after some time to check if anything changes. You looked quite confident with the mons—woman restrained,” he continues. “Good. That was pretty much the best choice. You wouldn’t be able to assist me in that fight anyway. But, as you see, I’ve won in the end and I’m fine too.” “How exactly… did you…” Kyrie raises her eyes a bit and asks quietly. “From your expression, I’m fairly sure you know how.” She quickly runs away with her eyes. “Yes, I fucked her silly until she collapsed. The leftover evidence should have been enough for you guys to add things up, no?” ~Fufufufu… You were so brutal and fierce… My pussy tingles at the very thought of it...~ ~I could do much better than that, dear.~ ~Fuck… I’m wet again...~ Alan’s brows rise in shock. “You beat a Succubus at… sex? How in hell?” “Well… Here’s the answer.” I summon my status window and throw it in between us. All of them instantly lean forward to analyse it. I’ve hidden the skill list, but the Information and Stats sections were left unchanged, and the latter is the first thing to be pointed out. “What in the name of the Goddess is wrong with these numbers?” Edgar grabs his magical focus hanging around his neck. “And that’s a Tier 3? Impossible,” Crawford adds. ~Are you sure about showing it to them?~ Ailish asks in my head. ~I’ll ask them later to keep that a secret, but even if they wouldn't, who do you think would believe them? A Tier 3 scholar with a Sexmancer Class having broken stats?~ ~Fair enough.~ While Alan stares at the window with his chin resting on the floor, Kyrie glances at me through the semi-transparent table. “You said you were a Spiritual Weaponmaster, but here it says… Sexmancer?” “I apologize for lying to you, but I think you understand why I haven’t gone with that and chose something else instead.” She nods. “To start clearing things up, I haven’t been delegated for this task as one of the scholars from the castle knowledgeable about the Succubi. I have been directly asked by the King to deal with this specifically because of my Class and its nature, as you can imagine. My resistance to charms is quite high. It would be hard to join an A-ranked party with something like that, thus we had to mislead you a little bit.” “He is right. Most leaders would most likely laugh at it and send the person away without even checking their worth or demanding to see their status,” Alan finally collects himself and comments. “I bet. Now, this whole quest was pretty much given to me. Full rights. Without sugarcoating it, you guys were just my means to get here via official channels through the guild. Of course, no one doubted your capabilities as a high-ranked party. It’s just that, instead of me assisting you, from the very beginning it was you guys who were meant as my support. Sorry for that.” Kyrie shakes her head. “There’s no reason to apologize. You were fulfilling your job and so were we. It’s not something new for the guild to pull the strings from the shadows like this, and for the kingdom too.” “You are taking it fairly well, huh.” “What else can we do? It’s not like getting angry at the guild or the King would change anything. We aren’t newbies. We are used to things not going exactly as planned or not being as they initially seemed. And considering that you are letting us know instead of further deceiving us, you don't seem like someone malicious… More like a… good person… Anyway, what now? What are you planning to do with that mons—uhhh, that… woman?” With my mental permission, Ailish materializes herself behind the sofa I’m sitting on and bows her head a little, startling them a bit. “Hello again. My name is Ailish and I will be following Master to work for him. I hope you won’t take to heart our past grievances. I was just defending myself.” “Ah, yeah, about that,” I interject. “It looks like I was right. They were willingly coming to her in secret, and at some point, the mayor found out about the Succubus. They didn’t want to expose themselves so they agreed to the raid. They pretty much stormed her house, so it’s obvious she would respond in kind.” Kyrie sighs. “Men are such a scum… Ah! Sorry! Not all of them, of course! Ekhm. What do you mean by work? They will let a Succubus into the castle?” I chuckle a little and shake my head, at the same time, summoning a certain business card, times four. I lay them down on the table and lean back on the sofa. “Rather than being a scholar, I specialize in a quite different area.” Everyone reaches to pick up the cards and examines them. “What? Utopia? What’s this?” Kyrie asks, slightly confused. Meanwhile, all of the guys have already checked the backside and their raised eyebrows clearly indicate their surprise. I do not notice any initial discontent or contempt. Then, Kyrie rotates it too and immediately turns a notch more crimson when her eyes find the short list of a few interesting services. “Well. To avoid any additional misunderstandings, yes, I’m the owner of that place. It’s a brothel that employs non-humans, be it the categorized humanoid races or monstrous species. Keep these. Now you know where to find me. For whatever reason.” They all turn to stare at me and Crawford’s gaze meets Ailish’s for a brief moment. “Fufufu~♪ Don’t be shy~♪ We can always pick up where we left before~♪” She seductively licks her lips and the old magician visibly shivers. I chuckle and glance at Kyrie. “That is if you aren’t part of the anti-nonhuman extremists. You were quite determined to lob Ailish’s head off earlier and I won’t let anyone who could potentially be rude to my girls any close to them.” She keeps her unfocused eyes on me until she finally realizes she has been staring straight into mine and looks away. “N-No… We aren’t exactly like that… I mean, we do not care about that whole prejudice surrounding the demi-humans, but you know, we are adventurers, and it’s a little bit different because of that. It’s one of the basic rules to attack first and ask questions later when in front of a monster, no matter how humane it might look. But, we aren’t exactly following that abusive belief present in the capital and the bigger cities. Right?” She glances around at the others and they all nod. Well… Besides Alan. He seems to be very focused on that backside of the card. “Amongst adventurers, you can still find people like that, but most are just following the usual guidance they receive from higher-ranked colleagues with more experience. It’s a dangerous occupation and hesitation often leads to death.” I nod at her. “Yeah, that’s understandable. I’m actually glad to hear that. I was a little worried there that you’d turn hostile towards me or something like that.” “Ermm… Excuse me?” Alan awkwardly butts in. “Yes?” “It says here that there are plenty of diverse girls and beings to pick from. I’m just curious what the latter part means.” “Ah, that’s simple. Our first employees were actually Slimes, and while they technically can take a form of a girl while also replicating some more detailed body parts, they are still genderless in the end.” “Slimes?” Crawford asks with a little spark in his eyes. “Yes. Queen Slimes.” “QUEEN SLIMES?!” he shouts as his eyes open completely wide. “That’s right. We are quite new on the market, but you can currently ask for the company of a Queen Slime, a Dark Elf, a Tiefling, an Orc or a Harpy. Soon much more to come. Besides the obvious service, you can also partake in bathing or dining with someone by your side, and that expands the list to also include a half-blood Dogkin, a High Elf, a Lizardfolk or a Satyr. Oh, and we of course can’t forget about Ailish, isn’t that right, dear?” “It is, Master. I can’t wait to see my new home and meet your friends. And obviously, to show you that you can count on me,” she responds with a smile. “Oh, and also, services for women should have been already opened while I’m away too,” I add while glancing at Kyrie. She has been slightly calming down but my gaze makes her blush again. “T-That’s great, but… I don’t think many women would decide to… do it with a male prostitute…” “There are way more ways for a woman to have some fun alone than with a partner, you know?” I wink at her. “And that’s exactly what we are specializing in. You can rent a whole Pleasure Chamber just for yourself, filled with tons of interesting items.” “Now, that’s something new,” Alan butts in again, unintentionally rescuing Kyrie from my teasing. “You are all welcome to visit us. First order free. As long as you promise to whisper a word or two to your fellow adventurers that you know aren’t extremists too. And if it actually turns out into a constant stream of people coming from your referral… I might consider further bonuses.” I show them a wide smile. It’s clear that at least one—scratch that, two people seem to be considering that option a lot. Looks like I haven’t been able to lure the priest that easily. Oh well. You will soon fall into depravity too, young cleric. Your friends will make sure of that, hahaha. Thank the Goddess that their powers and magic aren’t depending on the vows of celibacy. “Anyway, that’s it. Back to our quest, as I said, you will be getting the rewards as promised. The threat has been eliminated and all that’s left is to report the completion of the task. I’m fairly sure you’ll get at least some fame from getting known as the party that has defeated an Arch Succubus. You okay with that, Ailish?” “I do not care for the words of random strangers, Master. The only reputation I have to uphold will be that of the best girl in your establishment, fufufu~♪” “That’s a bold claim.” “I will work hard to achieve that goal~♪” I chuckle and return my gaze to Kyrie. “I don’t think we are okay with taking the credit for this…” “Well, you don’t have to outright lie that you have taken her down alone. You had help from the castle, right? Just mention that the scholar played a big factor in the fight and that’s all. Oh. As to how, here, you can have this. You still should have the ones I handed you before.” I summon some vials with liquids of various colours and place them on the table. They pick up one each. “What are these?” Edgar asks. “The same thing as the glass grenades you have and I explained before that their contents are Ailish’s weakness. For non-succubi, it’s just some fruit juice. Like literally. There are strawberries, watermelon, some citruses and other things mixed in there.” “So, what you are saying is, a mix of some fruits burned my body like molten lava?” Ailish asks, visibly surprised. “Yep. I found out about it by accident. But, it’s not like these mixes are random. The specific combinations work as libido-boosting aphrodisiacs for men.” “Pfffffffffffft, cough, cough, cough… What?!” I quickly lean to the side to avoid the discharge of liquid created by Alan’s surprised reaction. He stares at me with wide eyes. “Oh, don’t worry. It’s nothing that serious. These aren’t the usual exotic ones you might have heard about from somewhere. You might stay hard for a bit though.” Edgar and Crawford laugh at him while Alan makes a defeated expression. Kyrie avoids looking at him with her freckled cheeks still a little rosy. “So. As much as I want to fully trust you guys, I need to ask you to swear on the Royal Sigil that you won’t speak the truth about this operation to anyone else besides each other, me and the King. And that you will keep my status to yourselves. It would be great if you could not disclose what the potions are made of too, saying that they were concocted by some alchemist or something. Succubi aren’t exactly as lethal monsters as you imagine and this could turn out badly if someone decided to launch a crusade against them in the future with this.” They all look at each other for a moment and then back at me, nodding in sync. “Yeah. We promise,” Kyrie confirms their agreement. “Great. Let’s enjoy this feast together and report to the mayor tomorrow morning.” We then proceed to do exactly that. While I and Ailish continue stuffing ourselves with now slightly less warm food, the other four keeps asking questions about either me and the brothel or her and the proceedings in the cave. It doesn’t take long before Kyrie is reduced to a tomato from all the details Ailish shares with them after being asked about our fight and why she actually submitted herself to me. It’s no help that the story with her narration sounds way more overblown when it comes to the whole sex marathon and she emphasizes every single action and sensation her body experienced from whatever I was doing to her. Even for me, already partially used to the girls chatting about sex with me while I’m present amongst them, it’s quite too much to take and I’m sure I turn slightly red from time to time when things get to the intense parts or when she shivers and assumes almost a moaning voice as she recalls those. We end up with a slightly awkward atmosphere and everyone leaves to return to their rooms for the night. Since I’m not that tired due to me and Ailish taking a short power nap, I chat with her some more, mostly answering her questions about the brothel and all the related things. And, before we finally clock in, Ailish lures me in for a fast, spooning quickie. I’d have never thought Succubi could make something akin to puppy eyes and her pleading look is just too cute to deny her a little more fun. Well, I guess they are experts in charms, magical or not. Right in the morning and after a joint breakfast, with Ailish now staying inside my Soul Realm, we move out to meet with the mayor. He and many women that are present in the meeting room again—most likely coming after they heard the rumour to confirm it on their own—are very excited and start cheering after we confirm that the Succubus won’t be pestering them anymore. Some men dragged here by their wives don’t look as happy, but well, it’s partially their own fault too. They could have tried to de-escalate the conflict if they were enjoying her company so much instead of just following after the mayor. Maybe even changing him or something. As far as I’ve seen, men are more numerous in this village and could have been able to join votes. Kyrie refuses any additional rewards that are attempted to be handed to us by saying that we’ll be paid amazingly by the guild and we somehow escape the celebrating mob. She is proving to be a nice girl with some good principles. No wonder the rest follows her lead. We agree that staying here any longer would be pointless and retrieve our horses, leaving while most of the villagers are busy being happy or heartbroken. Or bonerbroken. Well. You reap what you sow. On our way back to Evalitia’s capital, Evaneheim—which I now know has been named after that Primordial guy who founded the first kingdom, Evan—nothing as dangerous as the last time takes place and we make it back safe and sound in six days. I’m eager to return home and check on everyone and the business so we head straight for the guild. Elise is found right at her post as usual and gladly leads us into a meeting room to comfortably write down the completion report with our help. She doesn’t seem any suspicious of our story, even though it lacks a little bit of detail, especially during the fighting part, and officially confirms our success. She takes us back to the reception and we receive our payout. My rank instantly jumps from F to E thanks to this. To the outsiders, it might look like I was carried by a high-ranking party, but we know how different the truth is, and that’s what’s funny. Afterwards, we bid farewell and split up, promising to be in touch. I’m fairly sure I’ll be seeing a few of them soon enough, hah. We’ll see how long it takes for them to cave in. I chat for a bit with the cute receptionist and we initially set up the date of our little interview for tomorrow. It seems that she was thinking a lot about my mysterious offer and is looking very forward to hearing about it. Our reception might be getting some new staff soon. With that promise, I pretty much run out of the guild and head towards my mansion. I’ve been in contact with Cornelia and already know today is a free day they rescheduled specifically for my return. The management team has been experimenting a little with the business days too, just to be prepared for situations like this. Getting in front of our gates in a flash, I make my way to the front entrance. But, before I push the door open, I stop myself and smile, knowing well what always greets me after even a slightly longer outing than usual. Fully prepared for an expected-this-time impact, I walk inside. “Welcome back, Master!” But, to my surprise, there’s no speeding bundle of green jelly heading straight for my chest. Instead, there are two rows of beautiful girls on each side of the long carpet; all of them in either maid uniforms or suits and bowing respectfully to the middle. Cornelia stands at the very end of these two rows, dressed in her enchanting working attire. She slowly walks through the middle and stops in front of me with a wide smile. “Welcome home, darling.” She throws her arms around my neck and pecks my lips. “Care to tell me what all of this is about?” I chuckle and peck her back. “Fufufu~ Just our little welcoming ceremony. Did you like it?” “You girls have done something completely unnecessary again. But... Yes, I did.” During our little talk, Sirgia, Elea, Neira and Astrea make their way to us too, also in their maid uniforms, or a suit, in Neira’s case. I’m surprised even Astrea is now wearing one. Cornelia steps a bit to the side, moving her arm from my neck to wrap it around my waist, and lets the other girls come closer. I kneel down to greet my adorable dwarf with a soft kiss and then do the same for each of them. Truly a surreal sight. Not in my wildest dreams I have imagined scenes such as this one. “Well then, while the girls prepare the table for you, why won’t we talk a little about our respective experiences during the last two weeks as we take care of you in the bath?” Cornelia suggests and they all nod. Something has changed. I’ve never taken a bath with all of my lovers at once before. Or even with half of them. Yet, even Sirgia doesn’t seem to object, although I can already spot a slightly embarrassed blush on her cheeks. Deciding to see where all of this will lead, I leave myself in their hands and we arrive at the bath. Cornelia and Elea help me undress while the other girls quickly jump out of their uniforms and go in first, most likely to prepare things. Then, I help the remaining two with their clothing too and we enter the main area. As expected, Sirgia, Neira and Astrea are waiting for us on the side by a spot dedicated to cleaning yourself. I sit down on a stool and they all take care of me at once. Sirgia and Astrea wash my arms and legs respectively, swiftly dancing all around me. Neira and Elea take the font and the back while Cornelia ends up with my hair. They move nimbly and never walk into or inconvenience each other. It looks way too coordinated. This is definitely not improvised. After enjoying their caresses and the sight of their incredible bodies, so different from each other, I’m led to the pool and we all take a dip in the hot water together. Sirgia quickly snuggles to my chest, clearly staring at Astrea, who squints her eyes a little at the dwarf and takes a place on my lap, leaning back onto the free part of my front. The other three giggle and just sit down in whatever free space they can find and I end up between Neira and Elea while Cornelia jumps onto the edge of the pool and moves behind me, pulling my head between her charming thighs and letting it rest on her smooth tummy. If this is not heaven then what is? Wherever I look, there’s a smiling face turned to me, or a slightly emotionless one with a faint trace of rosy blush over its cheeks. One arm pulled into the heavenly chocolate valley and the other sunk between two admirable thighs. It’s hard to believe they all came up with the initiative to accompany me by themselves. “Surprised?” Cornelia’s voice arrives from above me. She is getting better at getting a read on me. “I would lie if I said that I’m not. I would have never expected all of you to work together like that. But, don’t misunderstand me, it’s not that I thought you wouldn’t be able to get along or something. It’s just… dunno. Very surprising. Especially since you agreed to take part in this too.” I glance at the clingy dwarf and peck Sirgia’s forehead. “Fufufu~ We had a lot of time to talk and do all sorts of other stuff together. Almost two weeks. We used that time to get a little closer and learn more about each other. In the end, we all want the best for you, besides wanting to have a cherished place in your heart,” Elea explains and smoothers my arm with her impressive chest. “It’s very embarrassing, but… If… If doing it with more than one of us is what you would like… Then I… I don’t want to be left out… I want to do it for you too, Mast—… A-Alastair…” “Oh?” My eyes widen a little at the unexpected statement coming from the heavily blushing Sirgia. But maybe it’s more because of her attempt at using my name while looking me in the eyes, even if just for a fraction of a second. “I do not know what day it is, but with the number of atypical things that are happening today, it’s certainly not a normal one. You sound really cute when you call me by my name, Sirgia.” She gets even redder and I pull her chin up for a short kiss before leaving my embarrassed dwarf to cool down a bit. She’s clearly pushing past her usual boundaries with all of this. “What made you change that?” I ask. Neira steals the answer. “As your future wives, we felt like we should start using your actual name more, for some of us to grow accustomed to it, like in Sirgia’s case, and also partially just to show others that we are close to you. Most of the other girls still call you Master even outside of work.” “Future wives, huh?” I lean my head back and look up at Cornelia’s face, slightly obstructed by her supple breasts. “What the hell happened here while I was out?” She chuckles softly and strokes my hair. “It’s as Elea said. We’ve talked a lot. And came to a conclusion in terms of a few things. Are you against this?” “Hell no. I guess asking each of you if you are fine with this is pointless now. As long as everyone is happy. Wait. What about you, Astrea? We are quite fresh.” The catgirl rubs the top of her head into my chin and purrs quietly. Neira frees my hand to allow me to wrap it around Astrea’s waist. “You are my sworn mate. It’s already like a marriage for Humans, no? Since you accepted the traditions of my kind, I will obviously accept the ones from yours too, Alastair. As long as I can stay your mate.” Well, it truly looks like they have all the bases covered. I can’t sense any discontent from them through our bond. It obviously doesn’t mean that they miraculously have no differences in opinion, but they are quite determined to follow me together. That’s quite amazing. “So, in the end, whose idea it was?” Most of them chuckle a bit and all the eyes point above me. “Figured. You are just too good for me.” “Fufufu~ I’ve already said it before. With your natural charm and character, without mentioning your Class and other things, you are bound to attract the attention of many amazing girls. But, someone has to step forward and take the initiative and help you steer this huge relationship. They had nothing against leaving that role to me. But of course, I’m not deciding on things by myself; it’s a group effort.” “So, from a second-in-command in the royal castle, you switched to second-in-command in some guy's harem. What a promotion." I chuckle. “How can you compare that measly castle to this exalted palace, fufufu~?” She clearly catches on my sarcasm and we both laugh. “Well then. I believe you would like to hear at least some summary of the last two weeks. All in all, it went great. There was and still is a small but gradual increase in guests coming after various services. The girls were fine too. I believe we’ve passed the test on operating without your assistance with flying colours,” Cornelia changes the topic. “That’s great to hear.” “A few days after you have departed, we finished the Pleasure Chambers and added them to the menu, starting to promote the service too. A certain fair lady helped a lot with this for a promise of the first run of the VIP one and she was so ecstatic after her try that she immediately recommended us to many other women. If we haven’t moved the opening day for tomorrow, you’d most likely have walked into the main hall and got confused why there are groups of women with masks standing around, waiting for their turn. We have clearly underestimated the demand.” “Woah. Are the noble ladies really that… thirsty?” “Well, it’s clearly different than cheating in their eyes so there’s almost nothing stopping them from coming here. On one day, the queue started being so long that I needed Elea to help me man the reception.” “Oh, Goddess. If that fair lady you mentioned is who I think it is, she’s gone and did something outrageous. Not even Rossberg’s word changed this much. But, you can rest assured, I’m looking into something that could be of help at the reception.” “I won’t deny nor confirm that, fufufu~ Anyway, since we are talking about pleasure rooms, during the test runs, the topic of you working in the service department has been brought up by one of the individuals, not exactly related to just that service. We’ve discussed that possibility within our ranks and wanted to know what’s your stance on that since you’ve never explicitly stated that you would never do it, and considering your character, there’s surely more to this.” “I’ll go with whatever is more comfortable for all of you. That’s what is important to me, whatever your decision would be. Personally, I do think it’s a little unfair that I’m making others do it while I’m just having fun with you and other girls whenever I feel like it. At the same time, I do have you who are really close to me and I don’t want to seem like a man who only cares about sticking it into every single random girl to you. It’s a bit hypocritical and bothers me sometimes, but I’m obliged to at least this much for all the love you’ve shown me.” They all exchange glances and nod at each other. I’m pretty sure they have already predicted my response. Elea is the one to continue. “Considering your Class and how amazing it feels thanks to it—obviously not disregarding your skills and knowledge in any way, Alastair—it could easily make girls addicted to you and that could get very inconvenient or annoying for you at some point. Personally, I think we shouldn’t do that. I have no other reason to be against it.” Neira speaks next. “Perhaps we could allow it under special circumstances or for special customers, also letting Alastair be the one to have the final say on who could qualify for the offer. It could be a secret, resulting in a lifetime ban if leaked.” “Hmmmm…” Cornelia ponders above me. “And he could also help with Pleasure Chambers. That is if you would like to, Al. You do know much better how to use the appendages there. Penetrative play wouldn't really be required and you would just lend a hand with the devices. Or a finger. Or tongue. What do you say?” “Are you girls really fine with that?” I make sure to glance at each of them and they all nod. “I told you,” Elea continues. “We have talked a lot. Especially about this. That special treatment idea is not bad, isn’t it? It could be beneficial.” “Well… I did say I would go with whatever you decide and I’m still staying by that. This does give lots of leeway as you said. I guess someone needs to help me practice a bit first, though. Isn’t that right, Cornelia?” As I look up at her with a mischievous grin, she pulls her thighs together and squeezes her breasts between her arms too, hiding her surely red face behind a closed valley of dual peaks. I lightly slap her thighs in a playful way as I chuckle, letting her know that my head would have been squashed if not for my high constitution and strength. “Alright. We’ll speak about it more later. Before we leave and join others for dinner, there’s someone I need to introduce. Don’t get startled. She will be joining our establishment starting today.” After they all nod again and Cornelia relaxes her hold on me, I look forward and they follow with their gazes. A puff of black smoke flies out of my chest and stops above the surface of the water. Ailish materializes herself from it and stays floating in the air just above it. Cornelia, Elea and Neira gasp softly at her entrance. “Hello everyone. My name is Ailish and I’m an Arch Succubus. Nice to meet you. After meeting me, Alastair offered to let me stay here and I accepted. I’m looking forward to spending time with you and the other girls.” “Beautiful…” Sirgia mutters under her breath. Ailish chuckles softly. “Thank you, little one. You are quite a fair lady too. I can see how Master could fall for you so hard.” Sirgia hides her blushing face in my neck but a faint smile shows on her lips. Ailish then dematerializes her demonic almost-clothing, revealing her privates, and steps into the water too. After walking closer to us, she spins around, showcasing her whole figure, especially the wings and tail. “So? What do you think? How long will it take me to become the most popular girl of this establishment, fufufu~?” Elea sneers at her playfully. “Don’t think my friends will let you win that easily.” “A challenge? How amusing~♪ I already can tell I will love it here~♪” “Just don’t suck out all the life of our guests and we will be fine,” Cornelia instructs her. “Don’t worry. These are some overblown rumours. Master knows that I’m a good girl~♪ Right, Master?” She moves closer and leans forward, prompting me to pat her head. I oblige and stroke her hair with a smile. Her thin tail swishes happily behind her butt. “Then, I’m sure you will feel welcome here, Ailish. We are glad to have you,” Cornelia smiles at her and the two share a nod. We’ve already overstayed in the bath so we quickly move out to dry ourselves up. As expected, the girls take care of me together again. But, while Astrea deals with her part, which is my crotch, she somehow ends up with my member in her mouth. Cornelia places her hands on her hips and shakes her head, but in the end, they allow her to continue. Expecting Sirgia to get a little dejected, I act fast and pull her close to me and shower her adorable lips with a myriad of kisses until Astrea finishes. Elea scolds the catgirl for delaying us and we head to the social area after dressing up. I then share a pleasant chat with everyone present at a small feast they prepared and also introduce our new resident. It’s very interesting to listen to their personal reports—or rather stories—from when I was away. They also enjoy my own tale, but I’m fairly sure Ailish’s version gets much more attention. The rest of the day flies by in a blink. I visit the Pleasure Chambers with Mafaris and Cornelia, check on Sirgia’s forge and the things she had created during my absence, take a look at the portraits Neira had painted and were hung in the corridors, and do many, many other things. I leave reporting to the King for another day and write down all the new things I have to keep track of, like my tomorrow’s date with Elise or the day of the next gathering of Beastkin under the city, which Astrea informed me about in the bath. Ross can wait a day or two for me; he will have already heard the official completion report anyway. For the night, I actually manage to guess my sleeping partner. It’s Sirgia. I gladly slip into the bed with her and we snuggle together very closely. She is such a lovely girl you just want to pamper and protect all the time. I feel like the next few days will be hella hectic. I need to accustom myself to many new things. Let’s see what the future will bring us.
Chapter 75 – The Hidden Arrangements Spoiler: Chapter As the morning comes, I slowly wake up with a deep yawn. When I open my eyes, a charming sight of a cute face staring right into mine greets me. It seems that I’m not the first one to rise. Sirgia smiles ever so faintly and moves closer to join our lips in a light kiss. I move my hand to stroke her cinnamon-brown hair as she rains little pecks over my mouth, enjoying her lovely show of affection. Shortly after it ends, she snuggles her body and face closer to me and sighs blissfully. “You must have been really lonely,” I speak gently as my fingers graze her smooth back. “Just a little…” “There’s no need to act strong. I promise we’ll go out together next time. Until then, you can always come to me with or without a reason. It’s my duty as your man to pamper you.” “I will grow spoiled…” “You are already spoiling me with your amazing work so it’s only natural I’ll do my best to spoil you in return, whatever way I can.” She doesn’t reply with anything else and we just lie down in a close hug until Sirgia shuffles a little and flips over, turning herself into the little spoon. With a few more moves, she presses her back against my chest and guides my arm over her body, wrapping it and my hand around her slim waist. For the next few minutes, I keep caressing her hair with my other hand, acting like the big spoon. I don’t need to see it to know there’s a faint smile on her lips. I enjoy sweet moments like these too. They feel precious. Well… That is until someone’s small hand appears at a certain part of my body which is being very active in the mornings and starts to lightly caress it over the material of the underwear. “Should I take care of this?” I sigh into the nape of her neck. “And we just talked about me getting spoiled…” A very quiet giggle reaches my ears. “Is it being spoiled if both of us want it?” “I guess not.” And therefore, we enjoy our time together for a little longer, followed by a quick dip in the bath before we head to the dining area. I gladly listen to more of Sirgia’s challenges and developments she went through in her artisanship while I have been out as we stroll through the corridors, side by side. The meal times and their overall structure have been reworked during my absence. With our family’s non-working side getting more accustomed to the place, more of the girls showed interest in having some fun in the kitchen, increasing the number of those who can cook or prepare simple food. The breakfast is now in the form of a standalone buffet which is prepared by those who wake up earlier than others and then set up in the dining area so that everyone can join in whenever they want. They do keep some schedule up but it’s mostly there to serve as a basis and gets modified on the fly depending on who wants to have a turn. It looks like many things have been reorganized in the last two weeks. So, when we arrive in the dining area, the preparations are already almost finished by some of the elves and tieflings working together. Astrea sits by one of the tables and calmly consumes her meal in silence while the other girls set up the remaining dishes. We sit down together on the opposite side of the table and join the catgirl. During our meal, other residents keep coming in and doing the same. You can’t help but notice the nice and friendly atmosphere amongst everyone. Even when the two of us finish, some other people still keep arriving in the dining area. It seems to be working well for this type of meal. Somehow, it feels like a hotel buffet back from Earth but it's the guests that prepare the food for themselves and each other. Such a weird feeling. After we leave, I help Sirgia dress up and escort her to the forge. She then shows me a lot of the new tools and toys she managed to reproduce from my notes and also some of the simple artifacts or weapons she started creating as per my encouragement. She keeps saying that they are nothing great but you can easily tell the equipment she made is of top quality in the range of the materials she had used during their creation. There are even some small accessories with enchants useful in everyday life and they in no way look any worse than those in most shops. She is really skilled. Mafaris arrives in the workshop too, followed by Garrena, and Sirgia explains to me that they help her a lot with various things. The Orc woman might not be as knowledgeable about this stuff as the other two, but she enjoys pounding some metal in her free time. The dwarf shyly pecks my cheek and urges me to go deal with my own responsibilities while they jump into theirs. I was planning on spending some more time with her, but seeing how quickly she loses herself in her work, I just smile at the sight and leave them be. A quick scan of the mansion with my shared connection informs me that a certain individual has still not woken up, being one of the last yet to arrive at the dining hall for breakfast. I decide to pay them a little visit before dressing up and heading out. There’s still some time before our set hour with Elise. Entering the room adjacent to mine, the usual sight enters my eyes. The windows are covered by the curtains and a beautiful half-naked girl lies chaotically entangled with the blanket on the bed, belly down. I walk closer to it and sit down by its edge, which allows me to lean onto it in front of the sleeping beauty’s calm face. If I just sit here and wait, who knows for how much longer this overworker-number-two will sleep. So, I start poking the side of a certain squished marshmallow peeking out from under the covers with how its owner lies down. And as a result, with an accompaniment of some grumbling, the sleeping princess—or rather the sleeping queen—lifts her charming eyelids and smiles beautifully after noticing my gaze. “I should have figured out you’d be the one assaulting me in my sleep… You beast…” I roll my eyes at her and Cornelia chuckles softly, leaning forward to peck my lips. “What are you doing here? Didn’t you have a date planned for today?” “It’s a husband’s duty to wake up his wife before she misses breakfast, isn’t it?” A rosy tint envelops Cornelia’s cheeks almost in an instant. She’s just way too easy to tease. And to think it was her who brought forward the whole idea to the others. She slowly raises herself and stretches, revealing her whole dazzling figure, especially those perfect perky breasts. I move my eyes a little bit lower and shake my head. “You two really have a thing going on, huh?” “Hm?” Cornelia stops and glances at me with a questioning look. I point at her chest and then at her bottom. “You are sleeping topless even when I’m not around. You can’t convince me it’s not because of Sirgia.” She quickly hides her breasts behind her arms like I haven’t already been staring at them for minutes and blushes. “I-I have no idea what you are saying. She has nothing to do with how I sleep.” I chuckle a little. “Sure, sure. Just don’t let it go too far.” She sighs in defeat. “Don’t worry. This is just our small, friendly… competition. It also helps her be more open. You can’t say that she hasn’t grown less withdrawn since the time you took her in.” “Yeah, that’s for sure. Thanks for helping her out.” “Don’t even speak about it. It’s only natural after what she’s gone through. It’s a miracle she didn’t break back then. She is way stronger than she seems. It’s really weird considering how meekly she usually acts. But, from what I have understood from our little talks, she was like that back at home too. Not exactly the most social person.” “That’s good to know. Well then. Shall I serve as your escort, my queen?” I smile and extend my hand to her. “Hmph! I know you well! You just want to get a feel of me, you pervert!” “What could you be talking about, my lady. This humble servant wouldn’t dare to hold such intentions towards you.” She chuckles and steps off the bed. “Yeah, right. You better leave or you will be late and ruin your chances of capturing another woman for your harem. Ah~!” I quickly approach Cornelia from behind and hug her, planting a quick peck on the nape of her neck. “I need to make sure the current ones feel appreciated enough first. Don’t you think so, miss self-proclaimed first wife?” “You little—mwwwhhhnmmm…” As she turns around, I swiftly seal her lips for some more passionate exchange and grin at Cornelia afterwards. “Am I wrong?” She pouts at me and smacks my chest. “You are! Everyone agreed on it so it’s not self-proclaimed! Well, it’s not exactly like that so you are even more wrong! I just mediate and organize things among us! It’s not some position of power or influence! You know it’s better to have a leader, even if everyone shares the same privileges and responsibilities!” I laugh openly as she keeps hitting my chest. She notices my grin, stops after she finishes speaking, and throws a punch into my gut, making me bend over from surprise, still chuckling. “Damned bully! You and your teases! If you have the energy to joke then use it on the other girls! Now go and greet them properly before I freeze your dick so that no one else besides me can use it!” She makes a catching motion with her hand enveloped by some whitish mist and I dodge it to the side, leaving a quick peck on her cheek before hastily running away. I can hear her chuckle for quite a good while through the closed door. As Cornelia wishes, I walk away to see the other three of my wives before I go out. On my way to where I can feel Elea’s presence, the jelly duo appears. While technically Safi and Emi aren’t part of the actual harem as their relationship with me is more in the form of willful subservience thanks to them accepting me as their master, they surely are special to me too. At times it’s a little hard and confusing to understand them, but then I just have to remind myself that while they do look like humanoid girls and possess the memories of one of them each, they are still Slimes in the core of their being and the way they look at things is clearly a little different from us. A much simpler one at that. Nevertheless, I make sure to show my appreciation for their devotion and pretty much unconditional support with a lot of mana-pats and kisses while we talk a little about their time when I was out. We throw some core rubs into that package too; they really love it when I nudge them with mana-filled fingers. There’s only one other mana-filled thing—or rather a substance—they love more, but we don’t exactly have time for that right now. Perhaps a bit later. I finally reach Elea’s room and knock on the door. Her ladylike voice invites me inside and I find her sitting by the desk with a pen in her hand, clearly thinking about something written in the notebook lying in front of her. She’s wearing a casual white two-piece with her chocolate belly in full view. There’s also quite a bit of cleavage in the top part. Overall, it’s something that’s a common sight amongst Dark Elves. Their females just love clothing that shows a lot of their bodies, especially their stomach and back. “What an unexpected visit. How can I help you, Master?” “I did not come to you as your master. Or employer, to be more precise.” She stands up with an elegant smile. “Fufufu~ It looks like she is not planning to waste even a single day~” “Pardon?” “Oh, it’s nothing. Then, how can I help you, my dear husband~?” I stare at her with a raised eyebrow for a while but she doesn’t relent and just keeps her exquisite smile up. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t really nothing. I’m already starting to make some assumptions. “Well, I just wanted to see how you are doing.” “To check if I’m not lacking your very affectionate attention~? Oh, how thoughtful~ Thank you, I’m doing fine. But, I wouldn’t say no to a little hug~ Or a kiss~” I shake my head at her clearly flirtatious tone and step closer to wrap my arms around Elea’s waist. She doesn’t waste any time and quickly goes after my lips, not-so-stealthily roaming her hands all over my back, stopping for quite some time over my ass. “Are you sure a kiss is enough? You seem to be a little starved. I do hope you ate your fill earlier,” I comment after our tongues finally part. “Fufufu~ I appreciate the concern, but you have a meeting to attend, as far as I know.” “Between some random girl I’ve met twice in the Adventurer’s Guild and my lovely princess-wife, who do you think would I rather ignore if I had to choose?” Her smile grows wider and Elea dives for my lips again, not letting me escape that easily this time. I throw in a few good squeezes at her voluptuous bottom as a little payback and to settle the scores from her previous groping. She finally pulls back when we almost run out of breath. “Haaaah… Let’s stop here for now… Or I won’t be able to hold back...” “I was completely serious when I spoke earlier.” “I know and I’m happy to hear that. Let’s have some fun together later~” “Alright. As you wish. So, what was that you were doing before I came here?” Elea steps away from my embrace and brings me to her desk, tapping at the notebook. Her breasts sway seductively as she leans over it. What a sight. “Some of our elf and tiefling friends are looking very forward to the role-play service that you have mentioned before your short journey. Especially the dressing part. In here, I have written down some of their wishes and preferences they would love to explore. I’ve been thinking this over and consulting with Cornelia as she’s currently the only Human around. But naturally, an opinion of a man would be much more valuable~” “Ooooh. Interesting. Can I take a look?” She passes me the notebook with a nod and I start flipping pages. There are tens of notes with names hovering over each segment. As for the contents… “Wants to be taken doggy-style in the attire of Shal’aran Ranger Corps while having both arms tied up behind her back and acting like a prideful elite, slowly falling into depravity and love for a good cock while under intense care of her handsome assailant…” I raise my eyes from the paper and glance at Elea. She keeps her soft smile on her lips and prompts me with her eyes to read more. “Would love to dress in the ceremonial clothes of the ritual dancers from the Offering to the True Moon festival and take part in an intense lovemaking session while having Starglint poured all over her body and licked off it, with a heavy emphasis on certain, sensitive areas...” I again move my gaze up at her and look at the still unchanged expression of the Dark Elf lady in front of me. And again she urges me to continue. Swallowing my saliva, I get back to reading. “If there’s an opportunity, it would be amazing if she could equip a full set of knight armour, preferably something easy to remove, and while acting clumsy and shy, have a good time—oh, this one seems pretty normal—while getting… all of her holes… ravaged... by numerous appendages… preferably tentacles… but dicks are fine too… Okay, that’s enough. And I’m pretty sure I know who the last person is even without checking the name. Do you also have a dream scenario like this?” “Perhaps, fufufu~” I chuckle nervously and hand her the notebook back. “These are quite specific so I’m pretty sure it would be hard to find random people to fill in the roles.” “Everyone obviously knows that. These are just their dream scenarios, as you have called them. They would be plenty happy to have fun with less specific settings like just dressing up according to their partner’s wishes or assuming a different personality. And I’m sure there’s at least one person around whom they could ask for help with their most desired plays, isn’t that right? Fufufu~” “I guess there is. Let me know when you’d be up to bring your dream scenario to life.” Elea pulls me into her embrace again and hugs me closely. “I’m already living my dream life. But… There might be something I’d want to do… Unfortunately, the place required for that is out of our reach. Right now, at least…” “Sounds like an adventure to me.” “Oh, for sure, my dear husband. Let’s not lose ourselves in our dreams of the future though and focus on the present. There are still two people you have to visit before heading out, isn’t that right?” I show her a wry smile. “Why do I have the feeling that I’ve been acting according to some grand scheme since the moment I returned?” “You are just imagining things, fufufu~ Now go and show Neira some love. Maybe check if she’s not lacking any paint again.” Elea pecks my lips and pushes me out of her room. I end up back in front of her door. “Is there not a single damn detail these girls aren’t sharing with each other? Geez...” I shake my head with a smile and head to the underground area. The artistic elf is easily found in her own studio on the opposite side of the underground facility than the crafty dwarf’s forge. Before I even reach for the knob, the door swings open and Neira shows up on the other side, wearing a not-fully-buttoned-up white shirt with rolled sleeves and light brown hot pants. She shows a gentle smile and grabs my wrist, pulling me inside. The very moment I step in, she locks the door. “Uh oh. That’s usually not a good sign.” Neira chuckles softly. “Don’t worry. I just prefer for others not to see.” “You seemed pretty fine with the tieflings present.” She shakes her head with an amused smile. “And they say it’s Dark Elves who have sex on their mind all the time.” It’s my turn to chuckle as I slowly approach her and pull Neira into a hug. She wraps her arms around my neck and we exchange a few short kisses. “So, what is the actual reason?” I ask. I can feel her feelings of pride rising through our bond and she walks away without answering. While Neira rummages through a sea of frames and easels, I take in the sight of the workshop. There are way more things in here now than two weeks ago. And there are also countless paintings of various sizes and in various states of completion on display this time. They are mostly portraits of everyone. “It took me a bit, but I’ve finally been able to finish it.” Hearing her voice, I move my eyes back to Neira’s position. She’s holding a vertical frame, covered by a sheet of material. It’s around two-thirds of my height or so. Quite a big one. “Oh? Is it one of these you were not letting me have even a peek at?” “This one is much better. If not for the painting above the reception, I’d be calling this one my magnum opus.” “Now you’ve captured my attention. I assume you aren’t bringing that up just to tease me?” She smiles again and sets the frame on a nice showcase, pretty much prepared just for it. Grabbing the material and glancing my way to create some tension, she pulls it to the side, finally revealing the masterpiece. “...” “...” “Say…” “Yes?” “Is every single painting of me going to be nude?” “Why cover something perfect with unnecessary clothes?” “Good gods…” “Do you dislike it?” “Of course not. It’s incredible. I just… didn’t expect it to be a piece focusing on... my ass… Literally…” Yep. The thing in front of my eyes is my whole form portrayed from behind while I’m reenacting David. In full nude of course. I’m pretty sure it’s from that time I posed for her literally once before. Now I kind of remember her taking at least a dozen sketches of my butt back then. But, besides me, there’s a beautiful garden and a pond in the background. So while I’m doing the David, she created a piece looking as if I’m heading into the pond for a pleasant dip, holding some material over my shoulder—most likely my supposed underwear—and looking back at the viewer with a soft smile. The whole composition is very beautiful and charming. If you can ignore my whole ass on display, that is. “You don’t seem to like it too much…” Getting pulled out of my pondering over the painting, I quickly move closer to Neira and wrap my arms around her waist in a warm hug, getting our faces close together. “I never said that. It’s beautiful. The way everything merges together is amazing. I don’t remember if I said it before, but you can draw or paint me however you want. Don’t take my short moment of surprise as a sign of dissatisfaction, okay?” She nods and pecks my lips, reciprocating the embrace. “You really don’t feel uncomfortable?” “Check that yourself if you don’t trust me,” I answer with a smile. As I join our lips together, I try my best to enhance the connection between us, allowing Neira to get a read of my mind a little bit. It’s only fair anyway. I get to check on their emotions and mood almost all the time. After a brief moment, it becomes impossible to continue this little show of affection with how widely Neira is smiling. “Found your answer?” “Yes.” “Was it a good one?” “Very.” “I’m glad then.” We hug for a while longer and I help Neira cover the painting again. “What are you going to do with it?” “Can I hang it in my room?” I chuckle. “Of course. I’m asking because I’m curious, not to restrict your options. You can do whatever you want with it.” “Thanks.” “Be sure to let me know if you need more help. With modelling… or your painting supplies…” She smiles sweetly, catching my reference. “Would the front be okay too?” “Anything for you.” “Then I’m looking very forward to it. And I’ll check my paints to see when we can schedule another resupply. Now, I believe there should be one more person waiting for you, right?” “Why do I think it’s not Elise you are talking about?” I say as she pushes me outside of her workshop just like Elea did, with a quiet giggle. “Oh well. Time to find Astrea I guess.” At first, used to her elusive way of being, I get worried that it will be hard to locate the reserved-yet-ferocious catgirl, but then I remember that we have finally bonded together shortly before my departure and find Astrea in one of the solo training rooms that were made during my absence as an alternative to the big arena. When I enter the stone chamber, Astrea is jumping around while reenacting various moves and skills you would only see in martial arts movies or TV series due to the almost gravity-defying character of the blows and swipes of both her arms and legs. I wait until she finishes the current set of techniques and gracefully lands on her feet. She then takes a deep breath and turns her head towards me, scanning my figure with her curious eyes as her tail dances in a mesmerizing, wavy motion. “Alastair?” “Yo. Am I interrupting you?” “No.” She suddenly shortens the distance between us in just a few nimble steps, arriving in front of me in a flash and gazing up at my face with her usual, seemingly cold expression. Unable to resist her cuteness, I plop my hand on her head and start brushing through her hair, scratching around her adorable, silver ears from time to time. She closes her eyes while her expression doesn’t really change. The quiet but noticeable purring confirms that she is very much enjoying this though. “These were some fascinating and refined moves.” “After we mated, I felt stronger, so I started training more. I can’t be a dead weight to you when we go to rescue my friends.” I chuckle a little. “I’m pretty sure I would be the dead weight in this scenario. You have much more experience than me. All that I have is a slightly stronger body and a few useful skills. You would beat the shit out of me in a real fight.” “I fought with Garrena. It was tough. You beat her so you can beat me.” “I beat her? The last thing I remember from our bout is getting flung back into the wall with a force strong enough to turn a Human into a bloody stain, hahaha. I think she greatly exaggerated that fight.” “Really?” “Yes, really.” To not just stand there on the edge of the room, I grab Astrea’s hand and walk to the nearby wall, sitting down with my back to it in a cross-legged position. Then, I smile at her and pat my lap. She quickly jumps in and fits herself in the space, rubbing the top of her head into my chin and neck. “How is it going?” I ask. “I checked a few information points and found marks meaning that the next community meeting is going to happen in five days. Is it okay?” “Yes, it should be fine. Are we forced to go with just the two of us or can we take someone else?” “It will be easier to move through the canals with fewer people but I don’t mind one or two more. I think it would be better if you could defeat the leader in a one-on-one fight though.” “Now, that would be quite risky. Why?” “It would mean that you are the strongest and they would have to listen to your demands as you would be considered the new alpha of the group. They are not good people but most Beastkin still place pride on the first spot.” “Interesting. Well, we will see about it. Is the current alpha strong?” Astrea nods while I still pet her ears. “He is a pureblood canine Beastkin, a Crimson Wolf. Their tribe is usually very strong and fast. I challenged him many times so that he would focus his attention on me instead of my weaker friends. I couldn’t beat him… Not even once… Many scars I have are from him. Most are from the punishment after the fight though. He is very rough with girls. More than they would like their partners to be. That’s why I kept him away from—” “Alright, that’s enough. I already have enough reasons to lob his head off.” She tilts her head and glances up at me curiously. I gently stroke her cheek. “I’m really surrounded by unimaginably strong girls…” She tilts her head even more. “But I’m not strong.” “Trust me, anyone who is willing to sacrifice themselves for others is an incredibly strong person. And from what I just heard, you’ve been doing exactly that for quite some time and for quite some people. And you are still worried about these people now that you are not there to help them anymore, right?” She nods at me after a while. I stare at her for a moment, pondering over something. “Say. Wouldn’t you rather take your own revenge on him?” “I can’t. That’s why I asked you—” “That was before. You said it yourself, that you felt stronger. I can make you even stronger than that. If that’s something you want, I can do everything I can to boost you up as much as possible in these five days. Although, that would most likely require quite a lot of sex. The choice is yours. I’ll do whatever you want.” Astrea falls silent for a moment, most likely thinking about my suggestion. Just a few moments later, I feel a slight mental nudge. Not being exactly sure what it’s been about, I kind of instinctively pull out my menu. The sight of a very familiar window greets me. Oh… It looks like our Bond Level jumped up. And the Type switched to Deep Adoration. Huh. Was it what I said earlier? I think it’s the first time it rose like this, in the middle of conversation rather than overnight. Astrea’s movement in my lap brings me out of my thoughts and I watch her shuffle until we end up sitting face to face in a lotus position. She locks her eyes with mine. “Let’s do that. I don’t mind mating to get stronger. Actually… I would like to mate with you some more…” She leans in and starts carefully licking my neck, making me giggle a little. I resume scratching behind her ears while getting caressed by her too. “Alright. I’m happy to oblige. And if you won’t feel like you got strong enough before we depart, I will naturally still fight in your place if push comes to shove. Looks like my schedule will be quite packed for this week.” We stay together for a little longer. It’s weirdly pleasant to feel her slightly ticklish tongue on the skin of my neck. But, I have arrangements for today and I’ve already almost run out of time. Astrea doesn’t protest and lets me stand up after getting off me. I promise her to start our training later after closing and she accompanies me up, back to the main parts of the mansion, taking a turn for the baths when we reach them. Checking the time, I quickly dress up in my suit, take a few things that could prove useful into my ring and move out shortly after. Ailish materializes herself shortly before I reach the closed gates. “May I join you for a walk, Master?” “Hmmm… You don’t have your uniform yet so—” She surrounds herself with the familiar black mist and soon, her body gets wrapped up in the maid dress everyone else wears. She even recreated the collar with the pendant. Additionally, her wings and horns disappeared, making her look like your usual sex-bomb of a redhead. Okay, minus the light violet skin, hahaha. “I guess it’s fine. I would like to meet Elise alone though.” “Of course.” And so, we walk together through the capital side by side. Ailish often comments on the architecture or the style of clothing people use, comparing it to the Human towns and cities she had seen back before falling asleep. It’s fun listening to her pointing out the small differences. We quickly reach the spot at which I’m supposed to meet Elise and the eye-catching violet-skinned beauty disappears from everyone’s sight, tactically walking into an alley before turning into mist. I feel like letting her roam through the city in our uniform would net us quite some attention. Ailish giggles at my open thought and I begin looking for a free table with a smile. Around fifteen minutes pass before I spot a familiar haircut amongst the crowd, clearly heading my way. Elise is wearing a very charming outfit, giving nice, summer vibes while still having the appearance of something you would wear for a professional meeting. I stand up when she reaches the table and extend my hand with a nice smile. She shakes it while moving a lock of hair behind her ear. “Hello.” “Hi… I didn’t expect to see you in something so… formal… I’m getting nervous, hahaha.” “Don’t be. You can trust me or not but it’s something I wear pretty much all the time. That includes work too, but it’s not as serious as you would imagine.” “Alright. You just rarely see adventurers dress this nicely.” “How could I show up for a date with a cute girl in these rough clothes you’ve seen me register in?” Elise blushes ever so slightly and a faint smile paints her lips. Nodding at her, I gesture at the table and we both sit down. I’ve already instructed the waiter to come here when the second person arrives and he does so immediately. I missed showing off my Ruby Card. “Order whatever you like,” I say while passing her the menu. “Don’t worry, I will pick something… cheap…" She pauses for a moment. "Ummmm… Why are the prices scratched off?” “Because I asked for it. You can now pick without getting influenced by them. Feel free to order whatever you like, as I said. It’s on me.” She seems to be a little flustered by the unusual treatment. I guess blank cards aren’t that popular in this world’s restaurants. Too bad. It’s a very fun practice. After a few more convincing words, Elise finally orders a few desert-type items and so do I. The waiter bows respectfully and swiftly walks away. She glances at me with a curious gaze. “Hm?” “You told me not to be nervous but with every passing second I’m starting to think that you are some kind of a hidden bigshot, I, for some reason, caught the eye of, and you are trying to lure me in with nice things at first but then revealing that it doesn’t even matter what I say in the end as you wouldn’t take no as an answer.” I raise my brow at her. “That’s… quite specific. Speaking from experience?” “Well…” “I guess it looks a bit weird. I apologize. Where I’m from, it’s a common practice. I’m trying to scout a good employee so it’s only natural I show off my good side. And well, it’s also only natural to go this far for a date with such a nice girl. But, if I’m making you uncomfortable, I will stop immediately.” She starts waving her hands at me. “No, no, no! It’s great! I’m sorry for acting all suspicious!” “Don’t be. It’s good to be cautious. And from what I understand, you do have a reason for that. Being a popular girl must be tough.” “Hahaha. Sometimes. You get used to countless men hitting on you all the time though. It’s just always the rich-looking ones that seem to have a problem.” “I can imagine that. Anyway, to reassure you a little, you do have every possible choice here. You can even stand up, say that you never want me to show myself in front of you again, and leave. And I will make sure you will not have to deal with me ever again. The same goes for my offer. You can decline at any point during our discussion. I’m sure that many people wouldn’t be exactly happy to work in this particular environment. Even if you accept to work for me, you can quit at any given moment, no reason needed.” “Woah. That sounds quite amazing already. And... peculiar. But if people there are treated even half as good as what you have shown me then that would be a dream job. So, what is it about?” I smile at her and pull out a very characteristic business card, throwing it onto the table. While Elise picks it up, I calmly sip on my tea, waiting for her reaction.
Chapter 76 – Looks Like Trouble Spoiler: Chapter As Elise picks up the business card I’ve thrown onto the table, her brows furrow. Not that long after, they move up into a raised position, with her charming eyes widening a little. She attentively checks the front side and rotates the stiff piece of paper to see the back. Realizing what exactly is explained there, her cheeks turn slightly rosy and she puts the card down, glancing back at me with an embarrassed smile. “Surprised?” I ask. “Well… A little bit, hahaha…” “Don’t feel like you should hold back and speak your mind freely. If this particular field doesn’t suit you, just say so. But, if this is not making you too uncomfortable, I’ll move further with my offer.“ “I’m not exactly that uncomfortable with these things… It’s just… I’ve heard about this place from adventurers a few times in the guild’s lobby and I didn’t really expect you to be the boss of it, hahaha…” She starts adorably twirling her fingers as she speaks. “Quite a shock, huh.” “Ummm…” “Yes? As I said, don’t feel restrained to ask about anything.” “I’m just a little curious… All of these girls that came with you to register… They work there, right?” she asks, clearly emphasizing a certain part of her question. I smile a little. “You are quick to catch on. That’s good. But, it’s only partially right. Some of them do, some don’t. If you remember the first and last person I asked you to register, Sirgia and Elea are their names, they actually more like live there with me. That cute dwarf defending me back then spends most of the time in a forge or in the kitchen while that very ladylike dark elf is like a manager, making sure no one has any misunderstandings and that they are happy with their situation. Well… It so happens that these two… kind of… are my wives… but let’s forget about that for now.” “Wives?” Her brows rise again and I just keep smiling at her. “I don’t mind filling you in even on the whole story, but I think it’s better to focus on other aspects first.” “Ah. Yes, of course, hahaha. I was just surprised. Again. But now that I think of it, you did seem like a person who would be able to get close with people of other races. But, don’t get me wrong, I think that’s amazing. And if everyone is happy then it’s even better.” “I’m trying my best to assure that.” “Right. So… Ummm… I’m not sure… if I would be good enough… I haven’t yet… So...” she speaks, timidly lowering her gaze. I chuckle at her. “I think you are jumping to conclusions here.” Elise raises her eyes, a little confused and curious. “While I do think you are a very cute girl—and how popular you are amongst the adventurers only proves that—I approached you mainly because of your experience in dealing with people, and also your warm and cheerful personality. And the fact that you didn’t immediately show pure hate towards my friends of other races. Don’t you think there’s a much more suitable position for you in such an establishment than what you are suggesting?” Listening to my words, she smiles sweetly when I compliment her, but when I mention the last part, she pauses to think for a moment and her eyes widen again as a heavy crimson blush begins surfacing on her whole face. “Ahahahaha… Stupid me! Of course! Why did I immediately think of that, hahaha…” I chuckle at her adorable reaction and wait for Elise to cool down a bit before continuing. “You’ve been quite nervous since the start, so don’t blame yourself too much. It really do be like that sometimes. Anyway, to clear everything up, I wanted you as a receptionist. We, of course, have one already, but that’s obviously not good to count only on her. And she has quite a lot of other responsibilities and things to take care of outside of the establishment too. Thus, I would be happy to find someone who could fill that spot in too. Be it to rotate shifts or for sudden absences.” Elise keeps nodding with my words and still showing a slightly embarrassed smile. “I see. I see. That I would definitely be good enough to take care of, hahaha. Could you tell me some more about this?” “Of course. You’d mostly have to man the reception desk during open hours, which is from seven pm to three am, usually. We are working every other day, but how often you’d have to do it would depend on you and the other person. There’s no real pressure here. You can agree on some schedule or just go with the flow. As for the responsibilities, it’s explaining the rules to the newcomers, introducing them to the menu, checking people in, distributing the keyplates, and stuff like that.” “It does sound pretty simple. Almost no different from what I’ve been doing up until now,” she comments, slowly turning less nervous and embarrassed. “It is. At least if you can handle talking about all the lewd stuff. Not everyone is able to easily explain to a man where he can’t stick his dick in or he will risk having it ripped off. Or how amazing it feels to nail a Slime. Or that anal is a no go for certain girls while others love it. And while you surely were exposed to occasional naughty looks or obscene remarks at the guild, those would get much more open and common here. I need to be sure you won't feel uneasy or distressed by that. I wouldn’t want that for you.” “A-Anal?” And she is back to being a tomato, somehow hung up on that specific part. “Yeah. Something wrong?” “Doesn’t it like… hurt a lot for the girl?” she asks, trying to look at me but failing to keep eye contact. It looks like the general belief is what I have assumed previously. People don’t really know how to approach it so the girls would hate it, perhaps only agreeing to do it when they really care for or love their partners, to make them feel appreciated even though almost all they get from it is pain. I shake my head with a soft smile. “Not in the slightest if you prepare for it properly. And we have a certain patent in play that makes it even easier and a much better experience for both sides. For some girls, it can even be more pleasurable than normal sex. Curious?” She shows an embarrassed smile and looks away. “N-No… I was just a little surprised….” “I apologize for surprising you so much today, then. Well, you can always ask those who like it to share their thoughts with you. I’m sure you’d feel much less embarrassed talking about this stuff with another girl than a random dude.” Elise nods, takes a deep breath and slaps her cheeks a few times from both sides. “Okay. I need to stop getting embarrassed by everything or you will think I’m not suitable for this. Sorry, hahaha. I’m usually not that shy. It just gets a little worse when I’m nervous. And especially when I’m nervous around a very handsome guy. Ah! Ummm… Yeah… Hahaha...” Her attempt at calming herself down fails when she accidentally blurts out a little compliment in my direction and she blushes again, looking at me with an upwards glance. I smile at her. “Thank you. I appreciate it. But, I do owe you a little explanation. While I am holding back just in case, I was literally made for this. Technically speaking.” A bit of confusion shows on her face. “What do you mean?” “Well, two things. While I won’t deny that I have a pleasant to the eye image, my Class makes me literally a much more powerful version of an Incubus with how its abilities work. And I went through a certain weird event that can only be described as evolution, making it even stronger. It’s possible that it’s affecting you to some extent too. While it mostly charms those with less than positive views or intentions towards me, those who do see me favourably tend to get a boost in courage, allowing them to be a little bolder and freely express themselves to some extent. I do think I’ve properly grasped how to control it though.” “That’s… quite amazing, isn’t it?” Seeing her quite positively shocked expression rather than disturbed, I chuckle a little. “Doesn’t that make you feel distressed?” “I mean… You can do much worse with drugs or illegal aphrodisiacs. And from how you portrayed it, you don’t seem to be maliciously making use of it. It’s just like your natural charm, no? And I honestly don’t feel much different than normal. Could you maybe… let it out a little so we check?” For the first time, I’m the one to be surprised. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who’d suggested something like that. But then, I’ve usually kept my powers under control, besides the time inside the mansion where I can be sure it doesn’t affect the residents negatively and have talked about it with everyone. “Well, I can. It should be fine. I’ll bring it to the usual level now.” Doing as I said, I focus on taking down the restrictions I put on when I left the mansion. Mostly just in case that I would end up flocked by horny women. It didn’t happen the few times I removed these completely, but better safe than annoyed. Afterwards, I observe Elise’s reactions. A short moment passes and she makes a thinking expression. “That’s it? I’m not sure if anything chang—ah…” She pauses for a moment and takes a few whiffs of air. “Now I can notice how good you smell. That’s so weird. But not in a bad way. It’s very pleasant and I would say it suits you. Interesting. I’ve seen my fair share of abilities, but this is the best one.” “Hahaha, if you say so. I’ll leave it at it then. Tell me if it gets any uncomfortable or anything.” “Please do. It actually calms me down a bit. I feel less nervous for some reason. This is amazing. Ekhm. So, I think I can clearly say that I’m interested in your offer. What about the pay?” I fix my position a little and get back to business. “We are still quite fresh so it’s also not where we would want it to be, but we’ve recently managed to attract quite a crowd of noble ladies. Therefore, I can offer you something like 25 silvers per night as the starting point.” “A night?! That’s like a gold coin per week if I work every other day! Sometimes I wouldn’t get half in a month at the guild! And you call that the starting point?!” “Hahaha. Let’s say that we have a quite wealthy backer. But, we are also starting to rake in some decent money ourselves. And technically, you’d be the only paid employee. While the others do get money, they consider it more of a shared allowance which they usually just return to me and only ask for a bit when they go out. Some don’t even want any, saying that they are already receiving plenty by being allowed to live in the mansion and have all their needs taken care of. So, if you moved in, you’d be the only one considered an actual employee by its definition, hahaha.” “Wait!” Elise stands up and slams the table in shock. “I can live there?! For free?!” “Well… As long as you want to. No one is forcing you to move out of your home.” “No, no, no, no!” She shakes her hands and head at me. “I would do anything to get as far away as possible from that rude landlady! And the price is so bad because I need to be close to the guild in case of an emergency! Can I really move in?” I nod at her with a smile. Her little rant gives me a weird feeling of nostalgia from back on Earth, where many people I knew struggled with the same situation. “The moment you agree is the moment you can pick a room.” She starts visibly pondering about it with a serious expression. I wait for Elise to collect her thoughts. I’m actually glad she is not jumping straight for it just because a very appealing detail surfaced during the talk. I was purposefully holding back from mentioning the pay to see how it would affect her decision-making. Well, I didn’t expect her to react much stronger to the housing part, but it played the same role. She nods to herself after a short moment. “I would like to see my new workplace first, if that’s fine.” Good. Very good. She didn’t turn blind at the sight of an appealing candy. “Of course. You can get a full tour and meet up with others. Want to go now? We are opening tonight so you could also stay until then to see how everything works from inside.” “Yes, please. I’d love that.” We smile at each other and finish the snacks that were slightly abandoned during our heated discussion. I stand up from my seat, walk to help Elise rise too, receiving a nice smile from her, and we start walking away. But, before we take a few steps, I stop. “What do you think about Succubi?” Elise turns to me, slightly surprised by the question. “Ummm… Aren’t they very dangerous monsters that prey on men? I obviously haven’t seen one, but I’ve read a lot about them in the guild’s guides for adventurers. Oh. You went after one recently, no?” “Yes, I did. What would you do if you met one in the wilds, but they wouldn’t be anything like described, at least in terms of all that danger and such?” “Hmmm… They say to never trust a word of a monster, but... I’m a non-combatant, so… I would most likely try to talk it out if possible since I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to run away. If they really wouldn’t mean anything bad, then that would be great.” “I see. Last question. Would you mind if one of my friends accompanied us on our way back?” Elise raises one of her brows curiously. “Ummm… No?” With her response, a puff of black smoke takes off my body and accumulates by my side. She watches with wide eyes as it takes the form of a woman with violet skin, red hair and a maid uniform. “Hi. I’m Ailish,” the new arrival greets Elise with a nice smile. She looks between me and Ailish in turns. “Uhhhh… Does that mean…” “Yes. I’m a Succubus. Well, an Arch Succubus, to be precise. I’m hiding my features right now, according to my Master’s wishes.” Ailish leans in and pecks my cheek while hugging my arm, making me roll my eyes. “Scared?” I ask Elise. “Well… A little bit, but… she doesn’t seem bad. And she is very beautiful.” “Oh, thank you~ You are such a sweet cutie too~ I wouldn’t mind eating you up, even though I prefer men~” Elise blushes a little and Ailish giggles. I gesture at them with my hand and we resume walking. Now, I just have a clingy demon by my side. That wasn’t my goal, but they start chatting after a short while, so that’s fine. We reach the mansion in around twenty minutes and stop in front of the gate. “Woah… And I can live there?” Elise asks with amazement. “Wait until you see the inside~ Or the garden~” Ailish comments with a smirk. After Elise finishes taking in the sight, we walk through the paved path and around the marble statue of a very healthy-bodied woman with quite the chest, pouring water from a jug she holds over her shoulder into the fountain’s pond. It seems that Elise does appreciate fine art. “Wait a moment please,” I stop everyone before we enter and slightly open the door to peek inside. “Alright, no surprises this time. Let’s go in.” “Pardon?” “Don’t worry about it. Come,” I urge her with a smile and we enter the lobby. Elise is even more in awe of the inside than the outside. As she looks around, I send Cornelia and Elea a Whisper and they promise to come in a moment. While we are talking around the reception, the two women come down from the stairs and join in. Elea recognizes the girl from our past visit at the guild immediately, and vice versa, and I introduce my amazing magician, serving as the current receptionist. They shoo me away while saying that they will do better without me around, so I shrug my shoulders and leave our possible new receptionist in their hands, making sure through our mental connection to remind them not to mess with her too much. Considering that it’s Elea and Cornelia, it’s easy to figure out what the topics will shift to after a while. Making use of a bit of free time, I take a stroll around and decide to talk a little with whoever is free. Meiya and Neiya are the first ones I find. They are having some fun in the garden, accompanied by the cheerful Nebu. Asked about what the three of them are doing, they explain that the satyr sisters were curious about the harpy’s treehouse, and after talking a bit with Nebu, it somehow ended up at them trying to decorate the nest to suit her tastes even more. And that’s where they are right now, making use of their spells and abilities revolving around nature to make certain parts of it grow more in a specific way, get covered with flowers and plants of a specific colour, and generally customize the whole thing more. All of them are having a blast at it. After a short chat with how Nebu is feeling and learning that she is really happy with how many mates she gets, I give some pats to the younger satyr sister and leave them to their fun. Passing by the tieflings’ room, I hear some cheerful laughs and decide to check them out. They invite me in shortly after I knock. What greets me are their colourful bodies in full display, with no article of clothing over them, sitting on the bed in a semi-circle and playing cards. There’s a ton of dildos of various sizes lying around too. “Having fun?” I ask, coming closer to see what they are playing. “Of course!” Shawure beams at me with a wide smile. “We are playing Slip-it-in Poker if you are wondering.” “I did hear about Strip Poker, but this is new. I assume these are part of it.” I point at all the rubber or wooden dicks. They all giggle. “Your assumption is correct.” Zalia—sitting cross-legged to my right—replies and falls onto her side, revealing three thick poles up her bluish tight ring. Now not as tight as it usually is. The cocks she has shoved into her ass—with the help of a certain slimy substance—clearly made sure of that. “Your new invention allowed us to come up with this game and it’s the best one we’ve played since like forever,” Mafaris—sitting on her legs to my left—informs me and lifts herself a little, showing me a single rod in her backdoor. “Wanna join? I’m sure we’ll be able to find a spot for you to fill in~” Shawure—sitting on her butt in front of me—shoots me a seductive glance and falls onto her back, showcasing her cute purplish yet-to-be-impaled passage, opening and closing invitingly. I chuckle at her. “As enticing as it sounds, I’m afraid it would be hard for me to quit, and I’m in the middle of something right now. What are the rules, by the way?” Shawure makes a disappointed pout for a moment and then sits up again with a smile. “Simple. The winner can take one out, the losers have to stick one in. You get eliminated when your ass can’t fit any more cocks. Fun, isn’t it?” I shake my head with a smile. “Alright. I’ll let you girls focus on the game. I have a feeling I would be eliminated in a flash.” “Hey, no one said you’d have to stick one in too,” Mafaris comments while chuckling as I give each of them a peck on the cheek. “That wouldn’t be too fair, would it? I’ll join you sometime. Either as one of these or as a player. I’m fine with both. See you.” I wave at them from the door and leave. Ailish materializes herself by my side, buck naked and with all her demonic features. “I think I’m going to join them. Do you mind, Master?” “Weren’t you with Elise and the rest?” “They are doing fine without me. You can come back already if you want.” “Alright. Get in. And good luck.” I slap her juicy bottom and smile. Ailish squeals and bits on her lip while keeping eye contact with me as she opens and closes the door. With her advice, I follow my connection leading me to Elea and Cornelia. They are sitting in the social part above the lobby, each having a glass of wine poured. “So, how do you like it here?” I ask Elise after the trio notices me. She blushes a little, prompting me to look at the two women sitting on the opposite side of the coffee table, who clearly avoid my gaze. I sigh heavily. “Whatever these two have told you, don’t take it too seriously. Especially the parts that would refer to you doing anything with me. Or joining my so-called harem.” “Hahahaha… Okay.” Elise nods and looks up at me. “I think I would like to work here. They explained a lot to me and it sounds great. I still need to fill in all the necessary paperwork to quit and move out of my apartment, ugh, but I should be able to finish everything in a few days.” “Great. I’d be happy to have you. Don’t worry about it and take your time. Did they mention how my partnering ability works?” “Y-Yes…” Elise answers, a little embarrassed. I squint my eyes at the two beauties while continuing. “The part about mental communication, I mean.” “Ah. Yes, yes they did, hahaha. I don’t mind getting registered too.” So, I send her the invitation and she accepts. We test out the Whispers for her to realize how lewd the messages sound. I can pretty much control the splitting-into-erotic-moans part and speak full sentences, but the sultry tone still remains. She decides to stay and observe the preparations and I of course let her. As we move around and do our thing, Elise attentively watches us and sometimes gets roped into small talk by various residents, especially the more easygoing ones. Everyone seems to be doing fine with another Human around. Cornelia already showed them that we can be nice too. Before we open for the night, she thanks us for this opportunity and leaves, promising to do her best in wrapping everything up as soon as possible. I throw her a small pouch of coins and ask Elise to pick a nice dress for herself that she would like to wear for work. Or a uniform. She doesn’t need to imitate Cornelia’s attire and can go with what she feels comfortable with. Her thanks get even more cheerful and it takes me a moment to kick her out. Seriously, you don’t need to be that grateful. While making some final preparations and check-ups, Mafaris takes me to the Pleasure Chambers again to talk about them in a bit more detail than before. They truly fit the given name. It’s like these sex dungeons with a lot of weird stuff around but within a much more comfortable-looking room. As for what can be found in one, let’s say it's various wooden structures allowing a person to be restrained in a plethora of positions, some also with attachable parts for toys; a wide range of dicks of all sizes and shapes, from many races and monsters and beings and whatever some of our girls came up with as I allowed them to add their own suggestions to the list of designs; similar rocking chairs the Queen received, in many models; other fun things, like vibrating saddles functioning similar to sybians, or like fully operable piston machines working on pressurized air managed by Mana Crystals or runes, courtesy of our chief engineer. Those even have remotes. Neat. And many, many other things, from little to big. Of course, we can’t forget the staple elements, like a nice bed, a stylish office desk, a comfortable sofa, a coffee table with definitely-not-purposefully-customized corners, or a fluffy rug. The VIP ones even have a small bathroom. I think I can imagine how this got so popular so quickly amongst the noble ladies if a certain enthusiast of such things had her first run in one of these and shared her experiences within her circles. With my full introduction finished, I move to the top floor and lean over the marble railings to observe the opening. Cornelia urged me to just watch for the few first hours as she wants me to see how they were doing when I was absent. And thus, I’m able to witness something I’ve only heard about before, but couldn’t really believe. Now, I can’t stick to that anymore. After Roseni leaves to open the gates, she isn’t the first one to return. No. Before she is back, around five women eagerly make their way through the front door and towards the reception. All of them in nice dresses, and… wearing ball masks. Some are even those on a little handle. They quickly pay up and are led by Mafaris to the level above and into a corridor behind me. They don’t even pay attention to me, just pass by while happily chatting and giggling. Do all of them go in together? Now, that would be a scene. I think we need to invent cameras after our successful telephone. Besides them, some men start showing up too. The numbers per hour are already way higher than before my expedition. But, even though many men pay us a visit, mostly alone, they don’t even come close to the number of women. Like I’ve heard, small cliques of them are created around the lobby and the social zone, waiting for their turn in the Pleasure Chambers. I can tell that not all of them go together, but there are sometimes pairs or more. Rarely, but it happens. Noble-looking girls dominate the counter, but there are some common-looking ones too. They are often alone and slightly troubled, but our girls do their best to make them feel comfortable. All in all, after two hours, it gets very lively. People are having fun in the rooms, people are enjoying some company in the social zone and the lobby, some are even socializing with others while waiting for their favourite girls to be free, and some are in it for the baths. It’s not exactly packed, but we’ll definitely need to keep getting more employees in all fields. Unfortunately, it seems that I brought some bad luck from my journey and this evening isn’t fated to be as calm and peaceful as most of them without my presence. A dude walks in through the front door and you can tell with a single glance that he means trouble. Medium-long blond hair, a quite handsome face, a good-looking white shirt—half-open to reveal part of his muscular torso—and decent trousers. A lavish smile adorns his pretty face as he looks around, but I can clearly feel that it isn’t all to it. His weird aura of pride and confidence isn’t something you see amongst the visitors. I intercept him personally, shortly before he interacts with Cornelia at the reception. “Welcome to our humble establishment, sir. How can we help you today?” I ask with my best smile. “You the pimp? Nice place you have here. I’ve heard the girls are great too,” he answers with a wide grin. “But of course. I dare to say you would have a hard time finding better.” “Good. Good. You must be very proud of them?” “I couldn’t be any prouder no matter how hard I would try.” “Great. I’m in need of a good new side bitch.” I raise one brow at him and the man plops his hand on my shoulder. “Say, wanna have a little bet? Throw at me your most loyal slut, and if she won’t be able to live without my cock after fifteen minutes, falling in love with it completely, she’s mine. Otherwise, you get ten platinum coins. Easy money, right?” My brow twitches a little after he finishes, but I try my best not to lose composure. “Thank you for the offer, but I will have to decline. I don’t bet my girls. This is a high-class brothel, not a gambling den.” “Oh, come on, man. Don’t be a pussy. You said you were very proud of them. It’s just one session. You don’t think she will lose, right? Well, it’s not like any bitch has been able to resist me, but there’s always a first, right?” My smile cracks a little and I swear the air behind my back is getting colder for some reason. “I’m afraid that my decision won’t change. And I will have to ask you to leave on the principle of having the right to deny our services to any customer. Your clearly malicious intentions are against our rules.” “Who made such pussy-ass rules? Don’t be like that! You scared? Okay, if you win, I’ll throw one of my best girls into the pool. No, three of them. They are top-class bitches!” At this point, I’m sure my smile is as far from a nice one as possible. “I said—” ~Master.~ ~Safi?~ ~Let me… do it… I’ll teach him… a lesson… He is… overconfident… and proud… He doesn’t even… smell as good as… you…~ ~No. I’m not letting any of you into this. He’s clearly up to something and I will never risk the well-being of any of you. You girls aren’t prizes.~ ~Don’t you… trust me?~ ~This is not about trust. No is a no. I don’t care if the chance of him doing anything is zero. He is clearly a bad guy.~ ~Please…~ ~...~ I try to fight off the strong confidence and begging coming into me through our bond, but it’s really hard when it’s the first thing she has been so adamant on ever. I really don’t want to do this, but… ~Our cores belong… to you… We are… monsters… It’s impossible to change… our minds… for him… We can help… these girls… too...~ I sigh heavily and call her to come down. She soon arrives by my side as I agree to the man’s suggestion. He waggles his eyebrows at her and picks up the keyplate from Cornelia, whose stare could freeze hell solid. She’s against it as much as I am, if not more. He gets escorted to the room while I explain to our receptionist why I agreed, and she shakes her head at the slime lady. “Wait.” I catch Safi’s wrist as she starts walking away. “Isolate this. Don’t let it mix with your slime.” She nods and I pull her into a deep kiss. For the first time ever boosting everything I can to the maximum in my mind, I pass her my saliva and she greedily sucks it in. A small capsule of trapped liquid is created in her mouth. After our lips part, Safi smiles at me softly and I let her go. Trying not to think about it, I focus on assisting the actual guests and customers. It does prove hard though. Around five minutes later, I receive a Whisper. ~Master… I think… we have a problem…~ Even though I don’t feel anything wrong through our bond, a slight shiver passes through my spine and I immediately rush to their room, slamming the door open. Safi is standing by the edge of the bed and glancing my way with an apologetic smile. On the mattress, lies the arrogant guy, completely naked and spasming, from head to toe. His whole body is covered in his cum and a white foam is coming out of his mouth; his eyes rolled to the back. His hips keep buckling up and his fully purple dick keeps furiously twitching without stopping, trying to shoot out more of his stuff, but clearly running out of juice ages ago. “What in the…” “I’m sorry… I thought it would pass, but… he has been like that for four minutes now…” I stare at her in confusion. “How?” “I didn’t want to worry you so I dripped your saliva straight onto his genitalia before we started. He suddenly caught his heart and started orgasming. Up until now and counting. Do you think he will be alright?” I make a relieved sigh. “I hope not. Fucking prick. Oh well. At least we have learned something useful from this. You can go back. I’ll ask someone with healing abilities to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t kick the bucket in here. And nothing more.” We walk back together and share the news with Cornelia, who starts laughing openly and saying that it was fully deserved and that she hopes he ends up as a eunuch. I’m with her on that. Besides that dude, nothing as troublesome happens over the rest of the night. He stops spasming after around two hours or something. According to Elea, the chances of it being impossible to get up after something like this are pretty much a hundred percent if she doesn’t intervene. I tell her not to. We are not a clinic but a brothel. First aid is all we can do. For him, at least. Everything else wraps up great. We’ve seen a fair amount of people over the whole night. It’s as amazing as the girls have told me. At this pace, we might need to repurpose a whole wing or floor for women, leaving the other one to men. That’s something I didn’t expect. As we are finishing up the cleaning after closing, Nebu reports some man standing in front of the closed gates and looking around while she is taking a relaxing flight before going to sleep. We let him in and he turns out to be the butler of our prideful young noble. We explain the situation to him—of course avoiding a certain detail—and lead the man to his master. He pales a little when he sees the guy’s state, but only swipes down his face while muttering something about having it coming one day, so I guess he is fine with our version of his master not being able to handle Safi at her best. He throws the young lord onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and leaves. I make a mental reminder to ask the King about that pair tomorrow and get back to work, mostly chatting with the girls about our business. They really look proud, especially Mafaris. She is having a blast with the customers. Before sleep, Astrea joins me in my room and we get into our training session. This time, she lays herself down, pretty much offering herself to me, showing her submission. I can feel a trace of gratitude in her emotions so I gladly indulge myself in her offer and we spend around an hour in a quite intimate hug. The next morning, after breakfast, I go out to the castle. I’m sure Ross is very eager to hear the true story behind the subjugation quest. I can’t wait to see his reaction. Cornelia seems to be the same and decides to accompany me. And truly, while expecting me to talk it out with the Succubus, he clearly did not think I would literally outfuck her, hahaha. And he almost jumps out of his shoes when Aillish materializes by my side and shoots him an alluring grin while licking her lips. With him being a pretty good guy, they get accustomed to each other rather quickly. After my introduction, he begins looking at her as at any other woman and not some vicious monster. Well, any woman that craves a good cock, but I think he has some experience with that. I let him know about the dude from the previous day and he states that he might know a thing or two about that noble. A typical rich kid. His father is an esteemed lord and a famous alchemist. Supposedly, the misfit of a son has been stealing some insane aphrodisiac that his old man created by accident and using it to make the girls addicted to him. He is banned from almost every single brothel after brainwashing their women into his puppets. He must have learned about ours as it’s fairly new and targeted it. Oh well. I don’t think he’ll be a problem for anyone else anymore. Unless his old man can fix him up. I just hope he won’t somehow notice my saliva and comes to our establishment with an army, saying that we used some illegal aphrodisiac on his son, which isn’t that far from the truth. We talk some business, I share with him my plans to have a little raid in his canals, and get official permission just in case. I don’t plan on blowing up half of the sewage system, but hey, if it ends up happening, hero stuff, can’t blame that. Speaking of which, the actual heroes arrived back in the capital a few days prior to my own return. They had quite a scare with some weird eldritch-like horror in a different dimension or something. Figured out these monsters had to have some source. The invaders theory is getting more and more viable. We finish the talks, I come back home, things happen, everyone is busy, me especially with Astrea’s training, and time flies fast. In a flash, it’s already another working night. Elise hasn't managed to finish her things up yet, so we are still in the same squad. Everything is going well. No arrogant young masters this time. But, around three hours into the night, something slightly suspicious does actually happen. I’m starting to think that I really should be away more than not. As for what is happening, a weird cloaked figure of short stature makes its way into the lobby and stops shortly after entering through the front door. Now, it’s not that uncommon for men or women coming in covered like that, protecting their identity, but they usually don’t start glancing around at literally every single detail, focusing the most on me and Cornelia, trying to be very stealthy about it, but failing miserably with both of us noticing. We continue doing our job while I make sure someone keeps an eye on them from at least four angles and above. Elea has her vines ready at any time. Call me paranoid, but I ain’t taking any chances now. Not with the prospect of revenge from a certain poor dude. I still need to confront him about that bet. It would be great if we could somehow heal the girls he hurt. Anyway, our suspicious visitor finally makes their way to the reception after around ten minutes of looking around. I walk to the flat middle section above reception where the stairs on the sides join together and rest my back on the railing, making myself look like I’m taking a short break. “Welcome to Utopia! How can I help you, sir or madam?” After Cornelia's greeting, I can only hear some very quiet muttering, unable to make out anything from their words. But, their voice sounds a little unusual. “No need to be shy! You can ask me anything, no matter how weird it might sound in your head. We don’t judge here, and if there’s something we can’t do, we’ll sincerely apologize and offer something else. Your secrets are safe with us.” She’s such a natural at it. And to think a month or two ago she has been holed up in a lab for most of her life. But, only some quiet noise replies back. I’m fairly sure the person is still uncertain to speak up. “Ummm… If you are uncomfortable with people around, I can ask one of the pretty ladies here to take you into a private room and you could speak with her alone, hm? I’ll only let you know that everyone here is fully allowed to defend themselves, so no funny business, okay?” And again there’s no proper answer. This time, only silence fills the void. I decide that it’s enough and make my way down the stairs, coming straight for the reception and standing by its side. Cornelia and the cloaked person glance at me. I can now tell they are around Emi’s height, maybe slightly taller. “Hello. I’ve noticed you seem a little nervous. Or maybe uncomfortable. Is this your first time? Like, I mean, first time? There’s nothing to worry about, our girls can be very gentle and understanding. They’ll do everything they can to create a relaxing atmosphere.” “Ummmm…” While I can’t see anything about their face or body, hearing their voice from up close makes me furrow my brows for a split second, but I quickly fix my expression. It’s really strained. As if they are trying hard to sound different than normal. A little throaty, but I’m fairly sure it’s a girl. “Do you… have men?” the person continues, glancing at Cornelia. “I’m sorry, but unfortunately not,” she answers. “Why?” I take the question. “Because our girls that live here requested we don't employ men, for their own comfort and peace of mind. Being their master and employer, I highly value their opinions, and it’s my duty to do at least this much for them.” “What about… him?” Asking about me, she again directs the inquiry at Cornelia. “The Master doesn’t participate in sessions with customers. I apologize.” There’s a moment of silence. Perhaps they are pondering over something. “Is it really… not okay to do it… with him? I can pay… as much as you want…” I show a warm smile. “I’m sorry, but that’s not the matter of money. “ “Well…” Cornelia captures my attention, speaking quietly to make sure no one hears us. “We talked about that… And if it’s her first time… I think it would be good if it ends up with someone like you, who is kind, gentle and with experience. No one has to know, right?” She winks at the cloaked person. I sigh heavily. “Alright.” Nodding at Cornelia, I scoop the mysterious stranger into a princess carry, evoking a cute yelp of surprise from them, and walk away to a free room far from the people. They try to pull their hood as much as they can to hide their face from me. Getting inside, I let them down and activate the silencing array in the room, which has been laid down by Cornelia in each of them just for situations like these. I lock the door and turn around to face the stranger. The clearly feminine hands are rubbing against each other nervously. “Okay. Care to tell me what this is about, Shino?”