Well, not really a warning. The Holly is crying, literally. Its vision is blurry as its single eye sheds a stream of tears.

I wish to share proprioception with the summon and can tell that nothing is wrong with its body. It's just very sad right now.

I could leave it there, but I would feel pretty bad for letting it suffer all night until it's devoured, so I unsummon it after I've memorized its position. It's quite far away, so it will take some time for us to reach the Weepers.

I go back to sleep and mentally prepare myself for tomorrow.

Today is the 19th.

-

We give each other our good morning kisses. When Klein gives one to Roxanne, the succubus takes the opportunity to - invade the little monkey's mouth and make the innocent girl melt in her arms.

- I feel oddly at peace while watching the two.

Roxanne ends the invasion with sensual and loving little pecks on the lips. "If you think you aren't 'double-edged' after this, then I'm an - old hag," she says. Klein shrugs and gives a last peck on Roxanne's lips.

"You're a hag already, so," Hana says and shrugs.

"You're older than me!" Roxanne scowls.

"But I'm hotter than you." Hana smiles smugly and ferociously.

I reflexively turn away and walk out of the tent while the two goddesses burn their glares into my back.

While we eat, Anton sends us worried glances. After Krista finishes lunch and sits down to eat, too, he decides to speak. "So, you think it was a good idea to do that?" He asks me, lowly. Krista looks at me intently, waiting for an answer.

I knit my eyebrows in confusion. "Do what?"

"Reject the nobleman's offer."

"We do not need the money and Aoi is more valuable than anything he could ever offer," I say casually.

"Aoi is family," Hana says and pats Aoi's head, who looks around in confusion when she notices the attention focused on her.

Anton goes quiet, but his surprise is still apparent.

"Be careful with that noble," Krista warns us with concern.

"We will. Thank you," Hana says with a nod.

I find it difficult to think of a single angle that Ento could use to take Aoi from us. The most he can do is try for petty revenge. The temple is not strong enough to protect commoners like us here, but the laws are.

Ento eats quietly at the other table without even sparing us a glance.

We get moving again and I call the girls for a meeting.

"So, I know where the Weepers are, and it's pretty far away," I say.

"You, Ciel, and Alissa should go. With a light elemental, nothing should happen," Roxanne says.

"Well… I was thinking of making this a psychological test."

"Psy…?" Alissa tilts her head.

"A mental test, to see how well our minds can handle an attack."

"Hm…" Ciel murmurs and twiddles her thumbs. "I think it's a good idea."

"Do any of us has any regrets?" I ask.

"No," Alissa answers immediately. We all turn to her and she looks around, confused. "What?"

"Well, she is the most depraved of us all," Hana says with a shrug.

"I like to think that I'm merely madly in love with Wolfy," Alissa says with smug pride.

"Yes, madly," Roxanne sneers.

"I don't think it's that bad…" Lina mutters.

"So, Alissa can stay with a light elemental while we meet the Weepers one-by-one," I say.

"Ooh…" Roxanne understands my idea and looks around, very worried. "I don't think I need a monster to show me that I have issues…"

"Maybe you could learn something and understand yourself a little more," Ciel says.

"No thanks, I prefer to remain a crazy bitch." Roxanne gives a phony smile.

"Maybe it's time for you to change," Hana says, showing real concern.

Roxanne frowns and looks down, then slowly nods.

I tell Rande that we will be away for a long time. To protect them, I summon an earth and a nature elemental, and one Holly for scouting. Then I send another Holly towards the direction where the Weepers should be.

"So, you are mentally masochistic, too?" Klein asks, her face tells us it was rhetorical.

"Hm, would a dark elemental bypass my [Pain Conversion]?" Hana wonders.

Ciel blinks repeatedly; her eyes do not believe the words that Hana's lips just formed.

"Dunno. But it would make torturing you easier on my body," I say with a shrug.

Alissa licks her lips.

We gallop for a few hours and the cries slowly become more clear and creepy. There are few monsters along the way because not many monsters can maintain their sanity while near the Weepers for too long. This makes it simple to avoid them, so the journey is easy for us.

At a certain point, the scouting Holly breaks down into tears again. We reach where it stopped moving forward and I unsummon it.

"So, who's first?" Alissa asks with a wicked smile.

I sigh and say, "Me," with as much enthusiasm as a cow mooing before slaughter.

"Well, it was your idea," Roxanne says.

The way forward is dark, like nearly everywhere in the High Forest, but my [Spirit Light] looks very weak right now, as if there were a cloud of impenetrable darkness in front of me.

I look back and Alissa's smile shines even brighter than the curvy light elemental beside her. I face forward and the cold darkness stares back at me.

Alissa's blessing is still active, but I already feel like my "Sanity" is back at seven again. All I want right now are my - ladies to cuddle with.

This was a terrible idea, maybe I should just swallow my pride and go back to cry on the girls' chest -.

Gih.

You are the one who keeps peeping on my thoughts, pervert.

Gih!

If you say so. -.

He gives me a painful peck on the neck, then pops out of existence and returns to take care of the horses.

I chuckle, but my happiness fades away as fast as it came.

I take a step forward and feel that my body is getting oddly heavy, but nothing is actually wrong with it. I take another step and feel my back begin to ache, but I'm not carrying anything heavy.

My waist hurts with the sway of my legs caused by my emerald fang sword on my belt; my leg feels like it's forming a bruise from the scabbard smacking the side all the time; my knees creak like the old joints of a hard worker; my neck feels like stone with the weight of my barbute pressing down on it; my lungs struggle to pull in air because the padded scale armor is crushing my ribs; my hands refuse to obey me, like on cold days when the joints feel sluggish and painful.

The cries of the Weepers remind me of Lina's loud cry when Hilde died; of Logan's tears when he drunkenly stalked us; of my sobs on my first day in this world; of Hana's silent sorrow when she was arrested; of Ciel's guilt when she deserted Macht; of Roxanne's wail when Mithra died; of Lily's pain when I abandoned her; of the widows of the bandits we killed; of Darean's anger when I killed his brother; of Farana's horror when I left her to be raped.

"You know very well what happened to me," the cute high-pitched voice accuses me.

"Vanea never told us," I defend myself.

"The Sin of Rape protects me from that, so I wasn't taken against my desires, no," -Farana's hazel eyes pierce me with anger- "but that doesn't mean I wasn't being taken against my will, repeatedly. You know Vanea's words: every hole was filled by a man, repeatedly."

"I didn't know that she would go so far," I turn my eyes away from her.

Her eyes stare into me from the darkness, they open shallow cuts in my skin and lick up the blood that trickles from them. "But you didn't do anything to stop it after it started. I GOT FORCEFULLY TAKEN AND FILLED JUST TO SURVIVE! I WAS A SLAVE AND A COMMUNAL HOLE!"

"You messed with Vanea and I was just defending myself," I think to myself and push on into the darkness.

If I kill the Weeper, everything will end.

"THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM, WHAT IS A DAMN PROBLEM, IS THAT YOU WANTED A PIECE, TOO!" Her words crush my heart, but my rationality turns it into a glancing blow.

"Judging me for my thoughts won't work! I am what I do, not what I think," I sneer at the Weeper.

The eyes filled with anger surround me, preventing any escape. "YOU COULD HAVE SAVED ME! SHE OFFERED ME TO YOU, BUT YOU REFUSED! NOW I SUCK A RAT'S SHRIVELED SWORD SO HE CAN FEED ME AND CLOTHE ME!"

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I'm not here to cause a revolution and change this world's version of human rights, I say to Farana and push her away.

"Oh? I could be sucking your sword right now if you weren't such a wimp," she sensually whispers in my ear.

"Is that what you want? Screw it, then. Suck on this!" I yell to myself.

I pull it out and shove it down the throat of the kneeling young girl. She scowls at me and swallows it with anger, applying more pressure and speed to make me reach the summit and end this faster.

She chokes, but doesn't stop. If she does, she won't be able to start again and will probably puke in disgust instead.

"Clean all the smegma, because that's your purpose, Smegma," I cackle a laugh and force it down her throat.

I feel extreme amounts of pleasure as she chokes harder and tries to pull me out of her, but she's too weak to do so.

She can't breathe, so she quickly becomes desperate. I feel her teeth apply a little pressure on me, but she won't dare to bite it. Unless she wants her holes seared shut again.

I let it out down her throat just as she passes out and goes limp. I pull her off of me and she regains lucidity. She chokes and spits, trying to get it all out of her body.

A hand touches my shoulder and the disgusting feeling of the pleasure is purged from my body.

"It wasn't like that!" I yell.

Alissa hugs me from behind and I freeze on the spot, suddenly feeling so disgusted with myself that I have to summon all my will to not puke.

The light elemental sends another wave of cleansing and the disgust subsides. My breath quickly calms and I wipe away the beads of cold sweat from my forehead.

"Feeling better?" Alissa softly asks.

"Yeah, I think so."

She pats my head and I can feel her love even with my barbute between us.

"Let's go back," she says and I nod without hesitation. I failed the test and the Weepers didn't even have to use Lily against me.

Farana's life isn't like that. The Weeper took something that I felt guilty about and cranked the scenario up to eleven.

I get back to the girls and they all immediately crowd over me. Cuddling is [Healing] for the mind.

Roxanne is next on the chopping block. She walks forward with a somber face, since after seeing how affected I was, she has no confidence that she will do any better.

She doesn't even get that far before she freezes on the spot and the light elemental touches her shoulder. She quickly comes back and we apply them same healing procedures.

"What did you see?" I ask and continue kissing her feet.

"Mother," she answers with a sour face.

"I saw Farana. She blamed me for not rescuing her and for lusting after her."

Ciel raises an eyebrow and even Alissa look at me oddly.

"I never really wanted her," I continue. "It was just a passing disgusting desire that I had once."

"Considering how depraved you are, I think I understand why it's so effective," Ciel says.

Hana gets ready for the pain. She goes so far that the light of the elemental disappears from view, but she eventually comes back, looking very sour.

She unties her sword belt and throws it on the ground in a huff of anger. "Shitstain used my Dad. Blamed me for turning a blind eye when he was smuggling stuff. 'If family doesn't stop you from doing stupid shit, then why are you even family to begin with?'," she mimics a male voice, likely her father's.

With a very delicate soul touch, the pleasure of cuddling is taken to another level without even turning lewd.

Lina marches forward to seize the day. She walks with such confidence that she even wows Hana.

While we wait, suddenly one of the cries is abruptly cut off, catching our attention. The forest becomes a little quieter and a little less like the souls of the damned are haunting it.

Not long after, Lina comes back with Alissa, both looking very proud.

"Bite me, because I can't believe it," Roxanne says.

I grab her tail and lightly pressure the dagger-like tip with my teeth. She takes it back and sends me a glare.

Lina carries a human-looking head. It's bald and its skin is sickly pale with red bruise-like blemishes. The eyes and mouth are closed, and a black, oily substance seeps from them. The same substance drips from the neck wound. It smells like car oil and grease with a dash of piss.

"I got him!" Lina proudly announces and raises the head she's carrying.

We clap and sing her praise. Ciel discreetly takes the head away from Lina and then gives her a hug.

"You did very well," Ciel says and Lina looks up from the heavy bosom that's still squishy even through all that armor.

"I need a reward," Lina requests, unashamedly.

Ciel narrows her eyes playfully and Lina gives an impish smile.

Aoi volunteers as the next tribute. She changes size into her bigger form, which frightens Lina, and casually walks into the darkness while humming one of the elven songs that the commoners sang during the trip.

After a while, another Weeper's cry is interrupted and a moment later, Aoi returns with a wide, fanged smile.

"They didn't even try, anything with me," she says.

"She ate a whole Weeper," Alissa says, a little impressed.

"They taste like sun, dried meat!" The "little" dragon proudly pats her belly.

"'The tears make it salty!'" Alissa mimics Aoi, who nods innocently.

We look at Ciel and the dusky delight disentangles from the gloomy loli because it's now her turn to suffer.

She looks at Alissa and nods with confidence.

While we wait, I enjoy the view of Anton trying to cleave some Miasmatic Gambos with his poleaxe, who let out a horrific fart in his face every time he misses. Klein and Laertes laugh at him, purposely missing their shots. Eventually, my elementals and Rande do most of the job and the fun ends.

Soon after, Ciel comes back with silent tears running along her face.

"I still can't face him," she says as she comes back and we start the healing process.

Out in the open, we have a quick cuddle-orgy to refill our happiness meters.

Aoi's belly is tickled by Alissa while Ciel and Roxanne happily play with Alissa's fluffy ears and tail to recharge. I have Lina, who's brushing Gify's feathers, drill her ass on my lap while we are both hugged tightly in Hana's strong arms.

"Right, I forgot to tell the rest of you yesterday because of the stalkers, but we discovered that a dungeon called 'Legado' has been found recently," I tell the girls.

"Oh, nice!" Hana smiles and pulls my head harder into her chest.

"So we have our next destination…" Ciel looks happily to the sky covered by the leaves while absentmindedly rubbing her face on Alissa's tail.

"It's a lost elven tomb, so it should be filled with treasure and history," Lina says excitedly.

"And traps," Roxanne comments.

"I prefer to call them 'challenges,'" Hana says and grins.

I look at Ciel with questioning eyes. She's still being aloof while sniffing Alissa's fur, but then she notices me and becomes a little awkward. "Traps are traps. You won't just get your arm broken if you fall into one," she says.

"I know it's certainly going to be a difficult dungeon to conquer, but the mystery draws me in and I just can't not go there after hearing about it," I say.

Alissa nods and says, "As long as we are together…"

When Roxanne's hands start to slide beneath Ciel's armor and Hana's hands start to get dangerously close to my sword, I decide that it's time to end this before we waste even more time.

"Right, let's finish them off," I say.

Wait, I just said no to love. What's happening to me?!

Gih.

Screw being mature, I want to plow my women!

I restrain my inner monster for tonight, it's Hana's turn.

I summon another light elemental and Ciel summons her [Holy Spirit], then we split into three groups and go hunting.

The light elemental covers me and Alissa like the softest blanket that ever blanketed and we huddle up like two lovers during snowfall. How romantic it is to take a stroll through a fantastical and dangerous forest full of monsters with the ambient sounds of the moaning souls of the damned.

The elemental uses more mana this way, so we hurry up until we find the hellspawns.

We find our first group simply standing still in the open, illuminated by the only streak of sunlight around us that pierces down through the crowns of the trees.

There are three human-looking things standing in a circle: one is pale and tall with long limbs, broad shoulders, a small head, and a shriveled "sword"; the second is darker and has a dwarven stature, a small ribcage, a large belly, and a "sword" that touches the ground; the third is a blue woman with very saggy chest, a grey bush and a normal stature, but she's armless.

They all stand still, but their muscles spasm randomly. The disembodied cries seem to come from them, but their mouths do not move. Their skin looks blemished with red welts and bruises. Their bodies are skinny and lack muscle. Their eyes and mouths are shut while the black substance slowly seeps out of them and is absorbed by the ground, creating a dark patch of mushy, dead dirt.

Roxanne will undoubtedly collect that substance because it is heavily toxic.

I approach the dwarven one and cut his head off with a single, clean chop. He falls down on the ground and splatters the oily substance everywhere. The others do not move and don't seem to make any sound in response.

I slash the back of the knee of the tall Weeper and he falls to his knees. He tries to stand up again, but he fails and stumbles, crashing on top of the woman.

She pushes him to the side and stands up again, and then the tall man crawls back to his spot and remains on his knees.

They move with lethargy and lack of emotion, eerily puppet-like.

Alissa fires two arrows into their eyes and the Weepers die, then I go back to huddle with Alissa and the light elemental-blanket.

"That was damn creepy," I say.

"At least it's over."

The other girls reach their targets and the forest becomes silent once again.

"Thank the Gods, it's like a buzzing in my ear is finally gone," I say.

We return to the caravan feeling creeped out, but still rather okay, due to the cuddle-healing orgy.

"Helios, what a pleasure to see you again!" Rande exclaims with a dashing smile as we gallop back.

"Our mission is complete," I say and return a dashing smile of my own.

"Much appreciated," Lord Ricardo calmly says and nods respectfully from the window of his carriage, then the huge glowing crystal on top of the nobles' carriage turns off.

Silvina appears in the other window and waves. "Thank you, this saves a lot of my mana," she says.

Ento shows no sign of appearing, so we return to the front of the caravan.

"So, how was it?" Klein asks from atop her carriage.

"Horrible!" Roxanne answers immediately. "Wolfy, that was the worst idea you've ever had!"

"What?" Klein asks and her tail scratches her temple.

"We went towards the Weepers one-by-one and alone to test our mental fortitude. We had Alissa and a light elemental to save us from being devoured."

Osaria, Oura, and Krista peek from out of the carriage and even Anton looks surprised.

"You what…?" Anton asks.

"Well, you heard her," I say with a wry smile.

"I managed to kill one by myself," Lina shyly lifts her hand.

"Me too," Aoi says from Alissa's shoulder.

"Wow…" Oura mutters with wonder and astonishment. "I once read a book about a real report from a lone traveler. You shouldn't play around with these monsters."

"It's an opportunity for growth," Ciel says. "Even I, with nineteen 'Sanity,' was affected by them."

"They know how to play with your mind; they aren't the usual illusion that you can resist just with 'Sanity.'"

"Exactly, and now we know our mental weaknesses." Ciel smiles brightly and nods.

"Well, that's a noble goal, but it's still half-insane," Anton says.

"'Everything works, you just have to find out what for,'" Hana quotes the God of War.

Anton scoffs and turns away.

We missed lunch, so we gallop forward and have our own, private meal in our tent. Krista saved us our share and we enjoy a not-beer-based beef sauce with simple browned veggies.

The monsters we encounter today are more simple trash: another group of Miasmatic Gambos catches our scent and are used as target practice; a Giant Centipede approaches us and is also used as target practice; a few old Wood Goblins cross our path and are used as additional target practice; a small horde of Corpse Stealers comes too close and are used as even more target practice.

Night comes and the plants' luminescence changes into the usual purple glow. This means that it's time for our bath and also time for me to - Hana silly.

-

"Holy shit…" Klein mutters.

"Eh, they are having fun," Roxanne shrugs.

"No one else would be able to satisfy her the way Wolfy does," Lina says, watching the dragon being tamed with fascination.

"No one else would be able to satisfy Wolfy like she does," Ciel says and shrugs.

"You made me like this!" I complain.

"You chose your own path," Roxanne says with a smirk.

"'Have no shame in putting dedication into making someone else happy,'" Ciel quotes the Goddess of Love and Alissa gives her a thumbs up.

"Is [Pain Conversion] really that fun?" Klein asks.

Hana gives Klein a quick thumbs up and then returns to trying to not suffocate.

-

We soak in our bath a little more, but the smell of dinner calls to us.

Hana struggles to walk, requiring Ciel's help. She smiles proudly and giggles randomly, drawing the attention of the others.

When she winces as she sits on the bench, the others understand the source of her problem. Rande chuckles while Osaria looks at Hana with intense curiosity. Their reactions cause the nobles to notice Hana too: Ento frowns and looks surprised, but quickly returns to playing with his black dragon; Ricardo raises an eyebrow and looks at me in disbelief; Silvina giggles a little, but quickly regains her composure and returns to her prim and proper demeanor.

I see that Ento plays with his dragon in a rather similar way to how we play with Aoi.

I sit and eat calmly, ignoring the stares aimed at us, but controlling myself so that I don't smirk and gloat.

Anton and Laertes ignore it, perhaps truly learning some form of awoken meditation.

Krista looks at her daughter with concern. "Are you really doing fine?" She asks.

Klein chokes on her food and glares at her mother. "Of course I am! What kind of question is that?!" She hisses.

"Okay," Krista accepts, but still looks worried.

"You sure you are fine?" I ask Klein, mockingly.

"- Stop it!" She moans and pouts.

I - smile evilly. "Your mother is concerned if you can survive my attacks. Maybe you should tell her how I'm gentle and loving with you and describe how well-thoroughly beaten Hana is."

She sinks her nails on my arm and scowls -.

"Alissa's nails are much sharper than yours; she can even draw blood," I whisper in Klein's ear and chuckle evilly.

"You are a monster," she says -.

"And what are you?" I aks.

"His -," Lina answers for her with a smirk.

After Klein is satisfied, we have another - cuddle-party -.

The little golems are let out and immediately deposit themselves on my lap.

"So, why me?" I ask them.

"You enjoy, touching," Ted says.

"We will touch, to improve your, mood and serve, you better," Suzy says.

"Touching the girls also makes me happy," I say.

They spend a few moments thinking and I could almost hear the gears grinding inside their little heads.

Ted goes to Ciel and Suzy goes to Lina.

Alissa and Klein groan.

"Why them?" Klein asks.

"Only temporari-ly," Ted says.

"We must be, shared," Suzy says.

"Gihih."

"Yeah, they sure are Wolfy's children," Roxanne says with a chuckle.

We go to sleep soon after, but I'm awoken yet again by the Hollys. This time, two of them are squeaking a warning and they are in opposite directions of each other.