The meeting with Teresina ended up being more productive than it had any right to be. Her Punisher tendencies make it easy to placate her, but this is only the beginning of our relationship, so I want to find a way for us to really connect and begin to actually trust each other. If that comes through the screams of dying heretics, then I'll take it, though I'd prefer the usual way of having my dick inside her holes.
Meanwhile, Aoi tries to make her fire breath hotter. It's well known that dragon fire can melt anything other than Okross, darksteel, or heavily enchanted material, so the straight fact that she couldn't melt a simple lump of iron ore makes her feel very embarrassed.
Hana helps her out since she's the only one who's also able to properly spit fire. In my case, I can only sneeze some wisps of flame, so I'm not an appropriate teacher for that ability. Roxanne gives Aoi some pointers about magical fires, but this is more about the fire sac organ inside her body, so it doesn't help her that much.
Now that Roxanne has a whole lab for herself, she might become a hermit, but she's making progress in discovering gunpowder, so we'll let her be for a few more days.
Ciel and Osaria continue the Lordship duties together. We showed them all the sword by making an example out of Caruso, yet now we'll extend a hand to build relationships, and the duo make a good pair for that job. Osaria is more confident and relatable since she's also an elf, while Ciel is more approachable, and her angelic demeanor puts others at ease.
They go to the Lord's Hall in the Nobles' Quarters to meet with the nobility that stayed in town even after Mavel was deposed. They must have some measure of roots spread in the town, so it'd be a good thing to placate them a bit since they're more likely to remain loyal to us if we do.
Yunia tells Ciel to also remind them that they're expected to participate in the expeditions to defend the High Forest. Unlike with the usual town where the nobles are expected to man the walls to aid the Townsguard, the elves in the High Forest have to sally out and meet the monsters head-on. This is because the Shells make the towns basically impossible to really assault for the monsters, so they instead blockade the area and ruin everything nearby, forcing the elves to engage the monsters if they don't want to see their economies wrecked.
Osaria leaks an implied threat that we'll be checking the records of the Expeditionary Division of the Townsguard. This means that any noble not properly registered and ready for combat will be opening themselves to being "punished" by us, and they know that we aren't playing around.
After Confiel took control, the Elder Council brought the Buscuadores back to the Western High Forest to purge the region of monsters. Now that we're in charge, we'll be expected to join the Buscuadores before long, so we can't allow the nobles to slack off. We treat them as would be expected for nobility, and in return, we expect them to follow us into battle when the time comes.
Before the day officially ends, I have to make all our new hires into Blood Slaves.
Esvisor, the evil and sweet-talking slaver from before, is called to the castle again so that he can perform the ritual.
We also call Sandoro to make him a Blood Slave, which briefly takes him away from his work, and it really needs to be brief because he's very busy. As the Commander of the Lordsguard, he's the one that has the most important job besides ours, and so, it's also very important that he becomes a Blood Slave. Since he isn't a noble, he doesn't complain a single bit about it.
"An eclectic choice of officers," Esvisor comments with a whisper while we all wait as I'm drained of my precious blood. I have to fill six small bowls with blood, which is not a small amount.
"It follows if you look at our family," Alissa adds with a hint of pride, though she prevents her tail from revealing her emotions.
He turns to Alissa, giving her kind eyes. "Forgive me, but if my sources are right, then you were, or are, a Blood Slave too, correct?"
She nods confidently, making her pointy ears sway. "Yes, were."
He nods appreciatively. "Give my compliments to the one who sold you; their instincts must be transcendental."
Alissa smiles wistfully and allows her tail to lazily wag. "It wasn't just me, Lord Hanafuria was also sold by him."
Esvisor loses some of his composure as his easy and evil smile smoothly fades away, replaced by shock.
"I always had the feeling that Ghulam could see 'through' me, like I couldn't lie to him. Perhaps he is capable of seeing the Threads of Fate, after all," she ponders casually as she squeezes my biceps to drain it of blood.
I smile wryly and chime in, "I feel like you and Ghulam are rather 'similar'… though maybe it's just your high 'Charisma.'"
Esvisor's shock passes, and he returns to his devil-like expression, then he chuckles softly and adds, "I'd have to agree because I've certainly never had a Blood Slave I sold become a True Noble, and I know the power of my smile."
"Indeed. Smiles are powerful tools, though I wouldn't say that they're weapons," Poosh contributes, then unleashes her power upon all of us with just a simple smile. I feel like it tried to "force itself in," almost like a moist tentacle ran over my naked skin searching for a hole. Must be her [Charm].
"A smile is the only thing I need most of the time," Silvano comments offhandedly. His demeanor irks Alissa, but she's far too polite to complain openly. He's hogging most of his sofa by spreading his long arms wide apart, entirely too casual, even for my tastes, so perhaps we should get Sandoro to teach him how to show respect sometime soon.
Sainalai looks blankly at Poosh like one would stare at a juicy piece of lamb. She definitely got [Charm]ed, but then she recovers a moment later.
"I have a feeling that Yunia's facial muscles have atrophied because we rarely see her smile," Roxanne teases through [Bind].
"Your mouth has become too big from all the cocks you've sucked, whore," Yunia coldly shoots back, though she doesn't sound too aggressive with her bantering this time because a small part of her fears that Roxanne's words might be true.
"I predict that you'll be spending a good while in front of a mirror trying to break the bitchy face you-… AH!" Roxanne squeals, interrupted by Yunia making her slap herself through [Bind].
I snip their connection so that they can't escalate this into a war inside my head. I'm still the center of the [Bind]s, so anything they send to each other always passes through me first.
Soon, all the necessary blood is finally drained from me, and Esvisor starts preparing to cast the spells.
Before he finishes chanting, I give the officers one last chance, "You all could wait a few days longer if you wish. This is a big step to take, so I'd understand if you wished to get to know us better before becoming a Blood Slave."
"And risk having someone with a higher level swoop in and take my chance? No, thanks," Sainalai jokingly answers and giggles.
Alcander chuckles once and nods in agreement. "Yes, not a risk worth taking."
Sandoro shakes his head softly at the frivolity but doesn't say anything.
Esvisor casts [Contract of Servitude] on each of the officers, taking their last names away, and [Tongue of Obedience] so that they keep my secrets. He doesn't cast [Mark of the Master] since it's just more respectful to not brand them when they aren't traditional Blood Slaves.
With that done, Shala gives the new High Officers a tour of the castle, then Sandoro introduces them to the mages of our Court and the Lordsguard.
Now I finally get some time to cuddle with my foxy lady while we watch the town and the psychedelic moons rise from up in our room. We lay on one of my sofas with me acting as the bigger spoon. It has to be the deepest one we have so that my tail can fit.
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"Things should be calmer tomorrow, right?" I ask absentmindedly.
"I believe there will be fewer things that will require our presence, yes," she prudently responds, then gives me a small smile, knowing what I have in mind.
I bury my nose in her hair, smelling the faint perfume of her hair products. Today it isn't Ranja, so I don't recognize the smell.
I extend a tentacle and comically pat Yunia on the head so that she doesn't feel left out.
She turns around and glares at it, then I grin and start giving her some proper attention.
She leans against the tentacle, and her eyes lose focus as I activate its non-lewd vibrating massage.
Her legs begin to quiver, so she sits down on a free spot on the sofa before something shameful happens to her.
This feeling that she just let out triggers my sadism, tempting me to lift her up with my tentacles and then do her right here, for all the town to see. Now that would be something "embarrassing."
She jerks her head towards me to give me a glare, fantasizing in her head about a scene where she crushes my jewels with her needle heels.
I smile and shrug internally. She's the one who shared her thoughts with me, accidentally or not, though I'll play nice and stop myself from teasing her further.
She sighs and relaxes again, gradually letting the stiffness of her mask slip away.
"I still need to go to Goldport," Alissa suddenly remembers, making me frown.
"Can't someone else go? I kind of miss your Blessing whenever you have to be somewhere else," I ask with puppy eyes. Considering how I have sharp horns and claws, I could consider myself a "danger puppy."
Alissa turns around and gives me a faraway look as she dramatically performs, "And who's to go in my stead? Who's the one damned to take my burden upon themself, to forsake the warmth of your body, the calmness exuded from your presence, the delight of your touch? Who's the one you condemn to eternal banishment?" After the first two questions she feels like ending the silliness, but her desire to just play around wins out.
I give her my biggest pout and whine like a needy puppy.
She remains unmoved and insists in her continuing theatrics, "Who do you condemn in my stead, Wolf Ryder?"
I squeeze my eyes shut and try to play up my cuteness, but I can't hold a candle to either Alissa or Lina in that area.
"Who do you condemn…?" Alissa asks one more time, immune to my charm.
"I can't choose…" I whine and hug her tighter. "It's not fair for me to choose."
"You could actually choose someone, then compensate for the lost ti-…"
"Shush!" Alissa interrupts Yunia, unwilling to give in and stop this improv play.
Yunia rolls her eyes, then gets the tentacle to massage her shoulders and lower back.
I kiss the top of her head and relent, "I'll allow you to go to Goldport because only you can do that job, but know that I'll miss you dearly."
Her pointy ears flick back, tickling my cheeks, then she nestles her head against my chest. "I must complete my duty," she whispers softly with determination.
"Yes… you must…" I bitterly repeat.
"Anyway…" Yunia changes the topic now that our play is done, "The air dock is already beginning construction, so unless you want to help Mizushina or oversee the Lordsguard and the Court train, then there's nothing pressing that we need to do for now."
I shrug. "I'll just continue training."
Things are only going so well because we're just restoring a system that was already in place. If we had to rebuild the infrastructure or recreate the Lordsguard from the ground up, then we'd certainly have a long-lasting headache ahead of us.
The stomachs of the girls start to rumble, so we all decide to visit the baths for our sacred ritual, and also to go get a snack.
While I take off my clothes, I take my pick of the sweet fruits to snack on. To accompany it, I down half a cup of actual cow milk, not the stinky minotaur milk.
I feel a bit ostentatious in taking delight from the fact that I have cow milk, dampening my enjoyment.
But I'm just going to get used to this lifestyle right away, aren't I?
I don't let the girls probe my thoughts right now since I'm feeling a bit disgusted at myself, which is ironic considering everything I've already done.
I definitely won't become an ascetic, I just need some time to settle my heart. The dragon within complains so much about the "silly human" that I feel like transforming just so that I can unleash its greed, but I shouldn't do it in front of the maids yet.
After a few more seconds, I manage to suppress my conflicted feelings, then I enter my washing tub.
I allow the maids to wash my entire body, the soapy elven hands teetering on the edge between lewd and clinical.
We'll need to wash ourselves every once in a while so that we don't forget how to do it on our own…
"Yes, that's… that's actually something that we should be concerned about," Yunia embarrassedly admits through [Bind], and chuckling echoes in my head.
We may all find it amusing, but deep inside, we agree with Yunia. And, knowing how good it feels to be washed by someone with a skill, even Lina can't say no to the maids.
Aoi shrinks down to small-Aoi to make it easier for her to get washed, and it scares the new maids who weren't here yesterday. I can barely wait until we can show off her human form.
After the maids finish their job, we sink into the perfumed Jacuzzi and snuggle up together.
Roxanne straddles me and lets her charm loose, so I just drown in her bewitching eyes.
I regain my consciousness as I grunt, and I realize that I'm now mounting medium-Aoi.
I finish her up and groggily sit down, then I notice Roxanne passed out in Hana's arms.
I shake my head and sort out my memories. Roxanne's "racial charm" seems to have become even stronger, so I think it's not just affected by her "Charisma," which only increased by one point when we killed Arreira.
I re-enter the bath and decide to cuddle up with Yunia this time. A tentacle massage is nice, but it doesn't have the same intimacy as just two bodies touching each other lovingly.
Through Alissa, I hear the maids talking about me.
"Is he going to do Lord Hanafuria? I want to see The Ravaging," a young maid excitedly questions.
"She doesn't seem to be asking for it right now, so maybe they did it earlier," the elder one answers quietly.
"Isn't she a lascivious beast dragonkin? How could she not want it?"
"Look, look… look at the water, he's doing her with his black things," a curious third interjects
"Their faces changed, they're all receiving it," the elder states as she studies our expressions.
"I heard a Chimera say that he can vibrate it," the excited one comments.
"What? Like a Buzzing Hive?" The elder questions, suddenly interested.
The excited one shrugs. "She never used a Buzzing before, so she couldn't tell, but she guessed that it's similar."
"I heard that he can enlarge it," the curious one adds bemusedly.
The elder one subtly frowns and sighs, "Oof, that seems like it could hurt."
The excited one reminisces, "Lady Osaria didn't look like she was in pain… well, no, she did look like she was in pain, but also in a lot of pleasure."
The curious one looks down at her own womb concernedly and asks, "How-… what is he?"
The excited one teases smugly, "Do you want to find out?"
The curious one rejects the suggestion a bit too sternly to be natural and chuckles nervously, "Oh, please. I'm not that desperate."
"The new High Chamberlain is a sheep demon race. I'm sure that she wouldn't mind."
They all suddenly go silent.
"You're really thinking about it, aren't you?" The excited one teases again.
The elder one chastises them, "Shut up, they're going to hear us."
A silent fourth maid suddenly chimes in while smiling wryly, "Don't werefoxes have strong senses? I heard that's why they're popular as monster hunters."
"Oh…" It finally dawns on the talking trio.
Now they quiet down for good.
Klein gets back just when we're about to get out, so she doesn't get a lot of time to relax with us in the water. The euphoria from leveling up makes up for that, though.
Since it has already been proven through our own experiences that gaining levels gives pleasure, it makes sense that some people might get a bit addicted to it.
We don't invite any guests to join us for dinner this time, so we have a very calm and relaxed meal. Well, it's "relatively calm" since giving alcohol to the girls always makes them noisy and excitable.
Osaria holds her liquor very well, so she and Hana have a lot of fun with Roxanne.
After we retire to our rooms, the knight Azador returns with a prisoner. A mere pen pusher that managed to embezzle some of the money that he was supposed to take care of. He tried to hide in the town until the heat died down, but Azador has his own connections, and he used them to nab the rat.
We won't even bother visiting him in prison. The Tribunal will come for him in a few days, so there's no need for us to do anything ourselves.
We play "Dexterity"-focused games with human-Aoi to train her hands. Like me, she needs to get herself acquainted with her other body. In her case, she needs to learn how to use her hands with precision so that she can be capable of working metal the way she wants.
Today, we ate a few hours later than usual, so we don't have as much time to play around before bed.
Today is the 6th.
My [Dragon Transformation] increased by 1 again (now 3).
Roxanne increased her [Alchemy] by 1 (now 2+8)
Lina increased her [General Enchanting] by 1 (now 8+12).
Hana increased her [Draconic Body] by 1 (now 2).
The morning goes by as calmly as it ever could.
I go back to my office and spend another delightful morning admiring the view while I practice [Dragon Transformation]; Alissa goes to Goldport to arrange for our preparations; Roxanne returns to her [Alchemy] research; Hana joins Yunia in inspecting the Lordsguard and takes the golems with them to test out their new skills; Ciel receives the new priests that are arriving through the [Eternal Gate] network; Lina joins me so that she can learn how to enchant my [Materialize]; Aoi continues with training her flames in Gify's room; Osaria helps Mimi out with whatever she needs; Klein returns to the dungeon; our ships have been moved to the site where the prospective air dock is being built expeditiously; the High Officers are still getting themselves acquainted with their charges; and the knights are all helping to maintain the dungeons.
After lunch, an interesting group of visitors arrives: the first nobles seeking shelter. If they register with the Expeditionary Division, then they'll be welcomed into the town and given a home in the Nobles' Quarters.
Among them, there's someone we know already: Noblewoman Silvina, the elf we escorted when working for Rande. But that's not all, there's also someone very important that Yunia recognizes: Ereia, a noblewoman with an excellent ear for every sort of interesting information, from the mere gossip of the maids, to the secrets of the nobles, and even to conspiracies to overthrow the newly appointed Lord.