{Chris}

“Gris … Griiiss.”

“H-Huh?” I mumbled, waking up groggily from the noise and having my body shook.

“Gris, wake up. Help Lily.”

It was still dark and the sun hadn’t risen yet. I reached for my glasses to put them on and see what was in front of me. After taking a moment for my vision to adjust, I suddenly found myself wide awake from the sight.

Lily, who used to be about the size of a kindergartner, had gone through one hell of a growth spurt overnight. She grew close to a late elementary schooler, maybe even an early middle schooler. Her new body looked to be developing some curves, but I wasn’t sure how much. The night gown was so small on her now that it was like the clothes shrunk down while she was still in it. She looked to be suffocating.

“Oh, crap! Hang on, let me get that off of—” I said while jumping off the bed, when a stinging, numbing pain ran up my limbs and made me unbalance and fall over, “—aak!”

“Gris! Gris hurt?!” Lily cried in panic.

“I-I’m okay, Lily, just sore from yesterday … very, very sore from yesterday. It will get better over time.”

As much as I want to cast [Heal] and see if that would speed up my recovery, I don’t want to attract suspicion from others after all the work I did yesterday, and I’m not sure if I’ll lose benefits of increasing stats if I don’t let my body heal naturally. Maybe Bargamus could fill me in on this? In the meantime, I’ll just have to tough this out and try to take it easy, I decided.

I slowly got up, went to her back, and unbuttoned the top. As if released from a stranglehold, she gasped and drank the oxygen into her freed lungs in panting breaths of relief. Lily then raised her arms up before I pulled the gown off through her head, now leaving her butt naked. She probably slipped out of the panties I put on her last night when they became too small, too.

I took the new change of clothes and compared it to Lily’s new body, “Yeah, no way you could fit into these now with how big you’ve gotten. Lily, stay under the blanket. I’ll get you some new clothes.”

She followed my instructions dutifully as I quickly stepped out and found the nearest maid to help us while minding my muscle soreness. The next half hour after that was rather hectic, with the maid screaming bloody murder when she saw Lily, even though I warned her ahead of time. That had woken some of the others nearby who checked in on what the commotion was about. I quickly calmed the maid and she eyed Lily’s figure to guess size before rushing to get new clothes. Then, I blockaded the door to not let anyone in as they arrived at the scene. Without getting too much into details, I explained the situation and reasoned Lily will get on edge having so many people gathered around her, so I told everyone to disperse and I’d introduce her to all of them later. Hesitant to get any closer at my warning, they all went back to their rooms and got ready for the day.

Finally, the maid brought some new clothes and told me to call on her again if another wardrobe emergency happened. I thanked her for her service and went back into my room to check on Lily when I was assaulted by a tight hug.

“Sorry about that, Lily. You must have been pretty nervous when she screamed like that, right?” I asked.

“Mm,” she replied while nodding, holding me tighter.

I petted her head. “It’s okay, Lily. I’m here now, and you did a great job keeping calm like that,” I said while squatting down to her level before ruffling her hair with a smirk, “You’re a good girl, Lily.”

She looked down as her cheeks and ears turned a darker shade of green, which was apparently how Goblins blush, “Thank you …”

“Now, it’s a bit late, but do you know how we greet each other first thing in the morning?” I asked.

“Goblins say … good morning,” she said in Goblin.

“Hmm, so that’s how you say it between Goblins, huh?” I asked, “When speaking to Humans and similar people around here, though, we say ‘good morning.’ Can you say, ‘good morning?’”

Lily closed her eyes and concentrated, “… Goog … gogig … good … godin.”

“Close, you’re getting there. We’ll practice a bit while getting ready before we introduce you to everyone. Good morning, Lily,” I greeted.

“Good … goding, Gris.”

I should think about getting some books to help her better understand the language. I’m able to understand everything with the [World Language Comprehension] skill, so I should be able to teach her like I would with English. Wonder if this country has books on nursery rhymes or something? I thought.

After I dressed Lily in a loose, one-piece tunic top stretching down to her knees with a belt around her waist and bigger panties underneath, we brushed our hair and teeth to get ready for the day and practiced our greetings. I also had the maid bring a pink, silk ribbon to tie Lily’s black hair that had grown much longer overnight. With that ribbon, I took the liberty of styling her hair into a ponytail while tying it into the best bow knot I could pull off. Once I saw how cute Lily became, I questioned if other Monsters wouldn’t look as threatening if they were prettied up a bit.

Once I cleaned myself up and gathered my phone and Bargamus’ list, we were ready to go. I told Lily to stay close before leading her by the hand to the banquet hall, explaining to her how we needed to stay calm and behave around the others. Again, I was still feeling sore from yesterday, so I walked us there a bit awkwardly. As we approached the doors to the banquet hall, though, there were three people waiting that had my sore joints stiffening further.

“Christopher Monty! A good morning to you!” Omar greeted, with his kids Rosalina and Marcus following along.

The fake santa still had the same gaudy red garb on as the first day we met him, but his kids wore different attire that was more casual and not as flashy as before, yet still possessed that royal aura and followed their previous color schemes. The royal brats looked to be wearing the same expensive jewelry they had on before, too.

I think the biggest eye-catcher in the wardrobe change for me was Rosalina’s as there was now a diamond-shaped hole in the chest area of her pink dress that exposed some of her modest bosom. A brilliant ruby stone, the same stone I noticed Marcus and Omar also wearing, dangled from her necklace in the very center of that diamond-shaped hole. It looked like she didn’t have a bra on, but she might have had something that still protected her chest in some way or her nipples would be poking through the thin silk fabric, otherwise. Unless they’re inverted?

Moreover, the dress she was currently wearing hugged to and revealed her curves more than her formal, poofy one did, which made me notice just how wide her hips were. This gave me an impression of just how thick her thighs were, as well as how big her royal arse was. Considering her possession of the Seductive Princess Job, I wondered if she wore that dress from the first day for formality's sake and this was the kind of clothing she wore on a daily basis. Add in her curly golden-blonde locks and silver tiara, and she looked more like a promiscuous beauty pageant queen than a princess.

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Lily partially hid behind my back immediately after seeing the royals, clutching the hem of my shirt tightly.

I forced a smile, “… Your Majesties, good morning. What brings you three here?”

“Your Tamer mentor, Augustus, reported what happened last night. I wanted to give my congratulations to you for successfully taming your first Companion. Is that it behind your back?” Omar asked.

“Yes, her name is Lily. Lily, please greet these folks like we practiced.”

Lily tentatively stepped out from behind my back with her hand gripping on mine. “Good … morning … Lily … name,” she greeted awkwardly while placing a hand on her chest.

I shit you not, I was jumping over the moon when Lily learned to pronounce her name so quickly during our practice. Granted, she learned to pronounce my name before that, which flattered me, but I really wanted her to get familiar with saying her own name, at the least. It made me nostalgic from how happy I was when my pet dog, Betsy, learned to do some tricks I taught her. From that nostalgia, I hugged and kissed Lily on the head to show her the same praise and happiness like I would have Betsy. I didn’t think too much on it afterward, but Lily’s whole face went dark green while she fidgeted in place, which made her all the more adorable. After Lily’s successful greeting, genuine shock spread through the royals’ faces for the first time since I came here, but only for a brief moment.

Omar’s eyes glistened, and his smile grew even wider than usual, “This is the first time I’ve ever heard a Monster speak our language! How marvelous, as expected of a Tamer from another world, able to make the impossible possible within a day after taming his first Companion! I can see the bright future of our kingdom winning the war already!”

Like I’d send my Lily out to fight in your fucking war you royal, pot-bellied bastard, “Is there some other reason why you’re here humbling me with your presence, Your Majesty?” I asked.

Omar cleared his throat, “Ah, yes. Since you brought in a Monster from the outside, the heroes would be on edge seeing one for the first time in a setting like this. I had even overheard some sort of stir occurring earlier. I thought I’d help arrange your Companion’s introduction to reassure everyone.”

“I’m unworthy of your generous consideration and kindness, Your Majesty. Lily’s still nervous around crowds, so I’d appreciate it if the others could give her some space,” I said, making sure to really brown my nose up this fat bastard’s ass. If it means lightening the weight on Lily’s shoulders, I’d butter him up as much as he wanted.

The king waved his hand, “Of course, of course. The other heroes are inside eating now, so I will announce your arrival right away. Rosalina, Marcus, keep these two company until I give the okay.”

“Yes, Father,” they both answered in sync before Omar opened the door and stepped inside, leaving me and Lily alone with them. A moment of silence passed between the four of us.

Ugh, this is awkward, I thought, After seeing them using their Charm-related stuff to affect everyone, even if my resistance is maxed out, I want to see them as little as possible. Wait, could their Charm Skills affect Lily, too, even though she’s my Companion? If that’s the case, then it’s all the more reason for us to stay away from them.

Just to make sure, I confirmed their statuses were the same as they were yesterday with my [Appraisal]. Rosalina still had the Seductive Princess Job while Marcus possessed the Arch Wizard Prince Job, a promotion from the Starter Job Wizard that can perform higher-tier spells and magic while making use of his skills that come with being a Prince. Omar likely had the same status as yesterday, too, bearing the Refined Brute Monarch Job that specialized in axes and other large weapons while possessing skills in boosting Strength, among others. The king easily topped the strongest knight in his guard in Strength, almost being an even match for Bargamus. Interestingly, both Omar and Marcus have the [Charm Resistance] skill at max level like myself,

What I noticed in my [Appraisal] scan, however, was that I wasn’t able to see if they were equipped with anything that could stop me from seeing their statuses. I was able to tell that a few pieces of their jewelry were enchanted to give them stat boosts after scanning the items themselves. My [Appraisal] skill wasn’t able to see everything they had equipped and their current proficiency levels, however. So, unless it was in plain view, I wouldn’t know that it was there, or what enchantment it had. It’s possible that they were wearing a necklace or something underneath their clothing so I wouldn’t be able to appraise it, because surely there was no way they would risk standing before us without some form of protection.

How was I able to see their status despite their possible [Appraisal]-blocking items, you ask? Well, that’s due to my [Skeptic] skill that I looked into deeply the first night of my stay.

[Skeptic]: An Integrated Skill that consists of the [Mental Note], [Insight], [Interrogation], and [Intuition] skills. It serves to help find the truths its user seeks by circumventing or ignoring all barriers and uncovering all hidden knowledge if their Intelligence and skill level are high enough.

Integrated Skills, according to Omar, were what happens when two or more skills combine into one, and usually carry an additional effect. This merger happens either by chance whenever you possess skills that hold some synergy to each other and your being, or as the result of a reward for clearing a dungeon. These actually take longer to raise in proficiency as you’re basically raising all of the skills that make up the integrated skill at once. The payoff from that is that all those skills will be boosted up to the same proficiency level as the integrated skill.

The description may be vague, but basically, as a result of my constant pursuit for the truth, the ‘additional effect’ of my [Skeptic] skill was the ability to bypass anything that attempts to hide stuff from me. That means, even if these royals were wearing accessories that normally block the [Appraisal] skill from scanning their status, they have no effect against me. I was able to see their true faces hiding behind their masks, and they weren’t even aware of it. It’s because of this advantage that I had to be careful in how I presented myself to these royals and everyone else, lest I give myself away.

“This is my first time seeing a Goblin in person, you know,” Rosalina started, snapping me out of my invasive inspection as she approached and squatted down to Lily’s level, “I’ve heard and read some things about them, but I had no idea they can be prettied up to be this adorable. Would this one be willing to play with—”

Lily stiffened up and hid behind my back as Rosalina reached toward her, probably to touch her in some way. I had told Lily ahead of time to try and not act hostile to anyone and huddle close to me if she got nervous, and I could feel it as she tightly gripped my shirt with both hands.

“I apologize, Your Grace,” I started, “Lily doesn’t wish for other people but me to approach her like that, she’s very young and still nervous being alone with other Humans, you see. I ask that you please don’t take it personally and think poorly of her.”

“… I see,” she said with a scarily unreadable expression before straightening up and plastering her smile back on, “Very well, then. I do hope you’ll tame many interesting Monsters in the future. If they’re well-behaved on top of being trained, I’m willing to negotiate prices for purchasing one or two to keep for myself as pets.”

Something in my head snapped, “… Excuse me?”

Before I could question her further, the door opened again and Omar’s head peeked out.

“They’re ready for you, Christopher,” Omar said as Marcus squeezed in through the opening.

Just before Rosalina followed the others through the door, she invaded my personal space, pressing the exposed parts of her modest chest as well as the majority of her body against me. My sense of smell was assaulted by the scented mixture of her perfume and feminine pheromones that sent unsettling shivers down my spine.

The princess then leaned in close to my ear, “Take some time to think about it, Christopher. Depending on what you bring, I may pay you handsomely,” she whispered with a sexual undertone completely different from how she spoke normally.

To add to my surprise, she guided one of my hands down to run over the backseat of her dress, giving me a feel of how big, soft, and perky it was.

“This will be Our. Little. Secret,” Rosalina breathed over my ear before pulling back with a finger to her lips, giving me a mischievous wink.

She then turned around and left, squeezing through the open crack of the door to the dining hall. I hoped no one noticed my eye twitching.

Ohhh … you will get something from me, alright, you conniving little cunt.

“Come along, Christopher, they’re all waiting,” Omar said, looking out from the doorway yet again.

“… Yes, Your Majesty. Come along, Lily.”

Lily took my hand and I led her into the banquet hall. Thoughts of how much I wanted to watch the princess’ dainty neck get torn open by my Companion like Lily did with the Bloodhounds seared my mind.