Once she’d gotten everyone calmed down after Joram’s latest bout of ridiculousness, Myra led them back to the mansion and to their rooms for some quiet time. The other women from Kirkwall, her mother included, went back to the mess hall to clean up and organize things. For which she was very glad.

Mostly because she didn’t want to deal with sticky-noses. Partially because she didn’t know most of the answers to the questions they’d likely be asking her. Nor was she particularly comfortable sharing things about Joram, even with her mother.

She knew just how special Joram was, and how he valued his privacy. Which was why, she was certain, Asami had brought him away so quickly. And now she was standing in front of their bedroom door and sighing.

She’d forgotten to take the key that Joram had given to her. Well, he had also given one to Asami, but that was tangential to her current dilemma of being locked out of their room.

So, she quietly knocked on the door, hoping that she wasn’t… interrupting something she shouldn’t be interrupting. But at the same time, fervently hoping that if something was happening that she’d indeed be interrupting things.

A moment later, she heard the door unlock, so she quickly entered the room and locked the door behind herself.

And there laid Joram with Asami on his chest, both fully clothed- thankfully! She heaved a quiet sigh of relief as she approached the bed, noting that Joram had one hand resting on Asami’s head as she quietly snored, while the other arm lay extended from his side.

Smiling, she quickly kicked off her shoes and took up her traditional space beside him, happy to snuggle up to him again before their normal bedtime.

She noticed that he still hadn’t opened his eyes, nor had his expression changed any. Then she felt the muscles in his arm move and she was astonished when his hand rested on her head, brushing her left ear in the process.

She suppressed a shudder of sheer joy and pleasure, not wanting Joram to think that she was weird or something equally embarrassing. Then she relaxed even more as the warmth of his hand finally got through her hair and reached her scalp.

Now much happier than she’d been herding everyone earlier, she closed her eyes and just enjoyed the moment.

* * *

A few hours later saw Joram emerging from his room, Myra and Asami in tow.

Fyrellia smiled at the sight, wondering just how insatiable her new master was.

Then she discarded those thoughts as she remembered the ridiculous display of magic earlier that morning. Messing with someone that powerful almost never turned out well. Though, if she could get closer to him…

She sighed then, wondering just how much a human would be attracted to a demon like herself. Yes, she pretty much looked human if you took away her horns, wings, and tail. But she knew just how deep-rooted the hatred most humans had for demons went.

Though, if Asami Miki was to be believed, then her master wasn’t a human. But if that were true, then what was he? She couldn’t see any physical difference between him and any other human that she’d seen, barring his ridiculous physique that is.

Well, he could have used something like [Polymorph] to change his appearance so, really, he could have been anything, even another demon.

Which would go a long way in explaining his absolutely ridiculous mana pool. And his magical control. And the power behind that control….

She sighed as she watched her master head down the hall towards the rooms she and the other slaves occupied. Just thinking about all that mana did things to her that almost no one else had done for her, including her previous city lord, a powerful demon in his own rights.

Fyrellia snuck a peek at her two companions and saw what she had expected. It wasn’t just her who found incredibly powerful beings incredibly attractive. No, everyone from the demon continent was pretty much the same. The culture of the strong ruling had been there since time immemorial. So, whenever a particularly powerful demon showed up, they were almost swarmed with would-be suitors. Or just people wanting a part of the action, as it were.

She then just about laughed out loud when he stopped in front of the first door and knocked as though he were a servant, asking if it was OK if he entered. So, she quickly approached to see what he was up to, certain that it would prove incredibly entertaining.

“Shae’ra? Could I please have a word with you?” he said, looking for all the world as though he expected the elf to refuse.

But, unsurprisingly, she didn’t.

She listened as the young master explained the “greenhouse” to Shae’ra and his hopes that she would be able to help with growing enough food for everyone. Which revealed that Shae’ra was a [Druid], and a much higher level one than she’d thought. At level 31, she was even higher level than not just her and her companions, but also the young master himself.

Well, that is if Arise’ [Identify] had worked properly. She still couldn’t believe that he was just a level 17 [Crafter]. It was almost insulting.

After yet more talking, it was determined that Shae’ra could indeed help with the task of [Grow]’ing the food for everyone. Though, much to her surprise, she also recommended the night elf, Imryll, who happened to be an [Herbalist], though only level 6.

She smiled as the young elf practically wilted under the young master’s attention. Then was impressed when the terrifying Myra actually stepped up to reassure the young elf.

“Would anyone else like to help with the greenhouse?” the young master asked loudly enough so that everyone in the room could hear him.

Surprised, she watched as a few more hands were hesitantly raised, all of which belonged to the older girls in the room.

“It’s not an order, nor will it involve anything but gardening,” the young master said, sighing.

When Asami Miki nodded at his words, several of those hands went down. But then a few more went up, including the cute deer-kin’s hands. Though, oddly, the cow-kin and sheep-kin hadn’t volunteered. Maybe that was racist of her?

She shrugged, then followed the young master and his new recruits out of the room and to the next one where, once again, he knocked and asked if it was OK to enter.

Once given “permission”, he entered, followed by his new entourage. Once inside, the young master once more asked for volunteers with gardening, harvesting, and preparation work. The humies, though were much more reluctant than the others hand been. Though, given that Joram looked human, he got a few volunteers after once more clarifying that it was only going to be gardening, and agriculturally related activities.

Then the process repeated with the predator-kin’s room, surprisingly getting several volunteers from them as well. Which, again, might have been somewhat racist of her to assume that they wouldn’t be as interested in that as the others had been.

Stolen story; please report.

“Oh, right,” the young master said once he was back in the hallway. “Could someone tell the others that I’d like to meet everyone in the mess hall in ten minutes?”

Immediately, several girls hurried off to tell the others before the young master started off down the hall again.

“What’s his deal?” Arise whispered to her and Qyress as they followed along at the tail-end of the group of would-be gardeners.

“What do you mean?” Qyress asked uncertainly.

“I mean: why is he acting so nice? Is he trying to lure us into a false sense of security? To make us trust him?” she asked, looking incredibly suspicious.

“Could be,” Fyrellia said, shrugging. “Though with how powerful he is, I don’t think he would need to stoop to that,” she said, gesturing to the mess hall and the new communal bathhouse behind it. “Someone who can lay down enchantments that fast, and accurately, doesn’t need to mess around with mind games.”

Qyress nodded at her words, though Arise still looked doubtful.

“Did he really enchant the whole bath?” Arise asked skeptically, though she could tell that the dark elf’s doubt was starting to crack.

“From what I could see, he even used some Crystal Cores in the process. A process that I’ve never seen, by-the-way,” she said, shaking her head.

Qyress gave her an appraising look before nodding while Arise still stubbornly held onto her doubt. For as much as she liked her squad-mate, she knew that the elf was ridiculously stubborn. Part of the reason why they’d been captured and enslaved.

Shaking off that memory, she joined the rest of the soon-to-be gardeners in the mess hall. A few minutes later, the rest of the girls arrived, taking up even more of the seating, though everyone present only took up about half of what was available.

“OK, so, some of you might have heard what I’ve done for Shae’ra here,” the young master said, quieting the room instantly. “I’m told that there are certain legal restrictions in freeing slaves,” he said, glancing over at the woman she’d heard was the chief of the village they had come to.

“So, this’ll be the first, and likely last, order I’ll give you as your… owner,” he said, seemingly distasteful of the word, or its implications. “I’ll need everyone to split into two groups. The first group will consist of those who’re considered adults amongst your people. The second group will consist of those who’re still considered minors amongst your people,” he said, motioning first to his left, then his right.

Many murmurs broke out then as their nervousness was once more brought to the surface. For her part, Fyrellia couldn’t wait to see what happened next as she joined the group of “adults” to the young master’s left.

She then frowned at how many minors gathered to his right, though. Only twelve of them had gathered on Joram’s left side, leaving thirty-seven to stand in the other group.

She was a bit surprised to see the night elf and the one dwarf join that group, though. But, to be fair, she was terrible at estimating the ages of dwarves and elves. Probably because they matured slower than most other races out there.

She looked back to Joram and saw him frowning slightly and wondered what he was thinking.

“Well, that complicates things a bit,” he muttered under his breath, making it unlikely that anyone outside of their small group heard him.

He then turned to her small group and gave them an appraising look that caused her heart to skip a beat. Blushing, she watched as he nodded to himself, though he was incredibly hard to read.

“Could you each step forward, one by one, and tell me your names?” he asked, looking at each one of them in turn, though he waved Shae’ra off as she stepped forward. “You’re good,” he said, leaving it at that.

The cat-kin who was with Pryte and Ruva stepped forward next, letting them all know that her name was Kuro.

The young master nodded, then dug through a small pouch until he withdrew her slave token and held it in front of Kuro.

“Do you wish to be free?” he asked simply, though with a kindness that tugged at her heart.

“Yes,” Kuro replied, sounding a bit choked up, though she tried to hide it.

The young master nodded then took her right hand in his free left hand, then pressed the token into her upturned palm. Fyrellia blinked at the burst of mana, then smiled when she felt the curse of slavery leave Kuro.

For her part, Kuro just stood there staring at her hand as the young master let go and asked for the next person to step forward.

Amongst the rest of them, there were the three in her group, four humans, the two cow-kin, and a mouse-kin. She wasn’t surprised to see that the two cow-kin stepped forwards together, seeing as how they were twins and all. Though, she’d been surprised to see that the human twins had also stepped forward, just a second later.

Then came the next two humans, then the timid mouse-kin. Fyrellia stood back with her fellow demons, though, knowing that freedom would come with too many hazards for them.

So it was that the young master freed each of the young women who’d stepped forward, much to the obvious envy of the younger women watching.

“And what about you three?” he asked when he’d finished with the others.

“We’ll remain as slaves,” Fyrellia spoke up for them, getting their nods of assent.

“Why?” he asked, looking genuinely confused, causing yet another blossom of warmth to spread through her chest as she smiled sadly.

“That would come with too many complications for them, I’d imagine” the village chief said as she walked over to them.

The young master looked over to her, then down at Asami Miki and Myra, who both nodded.

“Well, that sucks,” he said, sounding incredibly annoyed before shaking his head.

“Anyways. When the rest of you young ladies come of age, I’ll also free you,” he said, turning to the larger crowd. “Unfortunately, that means that you’ll all have to attend lessons until that day comes,” he said as he grinned mischievously at the now dismayed group of girls.

“That said,” he continued, still smiling. “Is there anyone here who’s experienced in teaching? I’ll probably need two or three volunteers.”

“Will we be paid?” one of the human women asked as she half raised her hand.

“Anyone who’s working will be paid,” the young master said casually, then blew her mind with his next words. “Doesn’t matter of you’re free or a slave. I’ll pay whoever is helping out. That said, it won’t be much, but I hope it’ll be enough to get some stuff for yourselves.”

The young woman nodded, then dropped her hand as she turned to whisper with the other three young women.

“OK, so, it’ll take a little while for everyone to settle in. So, don’t worry too much about what you think you need to be doing. Just relax and recover your strength.

“That said,” he said, turning to the nine free women. “If you don’t want to stay, I won’t force you. If you have families to get back to, feel free to let me know and I’ll see what I can do to help you return to them. That goes for everyone else, too.

“If you want to go back to your homes, just let me know. I won’t hold it against anyone for wanting to go home,” he said, sounding oddly sad about that. “I’m sure that Chief Manelle-,”

“Just call me Celys,” Celys cut in, quickly.

“… That Celys will be more than happy to help. That said, I know that it’s a lot to take in, so everyone, feel free to at least sleep on it. You can stay here for as long as you want.

“So, with that in mind, and as an expression of gratitude for the wonderful women of Kirkwall, I’d like to cook tonight’s meal for everyone who’s helped out, as well as for everyone else,” he said, giving them all a warm and fatherly smile that didn’t quite match up with his youthful face.

“… and there’s the honey trap,” she heard Celys mutter, though- oddly- she didn’t look displeased at the thought of the young master cooking for them all.

If anything, given Asami Miki’s and Myra’s furiously wagging tails, she thought it was probably something to look forward to…. Though, maybe that’s how he managed to snag those incredible beauties….

Shrugging, she just went with it. She was in it for the long haul, as it were.

“Will there be… cookies…?” Asami Miki asked, surprising Fyrellia with how eager she sounded, let alone how large her eyes had gotten.

“I’ll make a few different kinds,” the young master said, smiling as he patted her on the head, shocking everyone present.

Instead of calling down fire and lightning to smite his presumption, Asami Miki practically squealed in delight as her tails went crazy.

What these “cookies” were, she didn’t know. But if a venerable Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox was excited to get them, then she very much wanted to try them herself.

Crazy mana pool, crazy strong, and he can even cook… she silently mused, really taking in his details for the first time, and finding them very pleasing.

* * *

Joram felt a shiver run down his spine as the started getting food preferences from all of the girls. He turned and saw Avi falling over laughing as she clutched at her sides. Even Asami looked over to the rolling Avi, though instead of looking confused, she had a smirk on her face.

Not wanting to touch those cans of worms, he got back to taking notes.

He was surprised to find that all of the animal-kin were omnivores. Sure, the cow-kin, deer-kin, and sheep-kin said they preferred less meat in their meals, but weren’t against eating meat. Which, reflecting on it, shouldn’t have surprised him given the videos he’d watched of supposed herbivores eating other animals.

Once he was done with that, he went into the kitchen, closed the door and rolling shutters, and got to work.

His first task involved making a light lunch for everyone. It was now getting close to lunch time and he didn’t want anyone going hungry waiting for supper. Thinking quickly, he prepared several cauldron-like pots and began chopping up the veggies that he started creating with [True Creation].

From there, he created some “herbes de provence”, his favourite herb blend. Once the heat was turned on, he added water to them and threw on a lid. With that done, he created some fresh salted butter, then a good hundred rolls, hot and steamy.

Then, as the soup began to simmer, he got to work preparing for supper.