10 Chapter 9

I started to spend much, much more time in the Dungeon in the ensuing days. Thanks to my regular visits to Loki, I could see my stats tick up, in fits and starts - five, ten, fifteen points each day, depending on exactly how I had fought my way through the Dungeon. I expected to find it enervating, and maybe it would have been over a long enough time span, but I was leveling fast, and it wasn't mentally taxing to throw knives at monsters, then remove the knives from the dead monsters. Sure, I had to dodge, occasionally, but Duck Fate meant even if I was somehow being a lazy idiot and about to get stabbed in the back by a goblin, I could just reach out for the strand of fate in question and yank myself out of the way of harm.

I was also teaching Julia the fine arts of the Unnatural Many-Stepped Stride technique. Mostly by her grabbing me from behind as I stepped up on the secret threads of fate, her own feet trying to mimic my movements. It's a simple fact that teaching others helps secure one's own knowledge of the material in question, and I could feel my grasp of the Sidereal Secret Art - the March of Spiders - continue to expand gently. I remembered its progression in general terms: here a Charm that knocked someone out and let you eat their soul, there the Form that let you play with strands of fate like you were Spider-Man, then... something, I didn't remember it, probably because it wasn't very good, then Pattern Spider Touch, which let you turn people into, well, basically whatever. Turning them into other people was the primary use.

I vaguely worried I'd grab the next Charm in the chain before I had actually managed to puzzle out how to use You and Yours Stance, though I wasn't sure that was actually how Charms worked in real life - experience points are just a game mechanic. I was actually finding that the pretense of being somebody else with Julia was helping with You and Yours Stance, though. She thought it was hot that I was whoring her out to wage laborers (I stopped doing beggars because she kept giving them money, because she is a truly good and kind person), and feeling that faintly different impression of relations was helping me puzzle out the magic.

Whatever the case, it was much easier to throw yourself into work if you could actually feel the tangible benefits. It was particularly obvious since I soon broke through the barrier to have all my basic abilities at G - the point at which it was recommended that first level adventurers dared to venture down to the fifth floor.

* * *

Cass's gauntleted fingers plunged into the war shadow's form with ease. It looked human, a shadowy creature with strange, elongated limbs, but it wasn't a person. It just attacked. There was no sense behind its movements, not even sense restrained by raw emotion. It was a monster, just like the goblins and kobolds. Already empty before it died.

The gauntlets Syr had gotten for her were very nice. The fingertips felt razor sharp, and the armor protected her forearms from attack. She wondered exactly where Syr had gotten them. Syr had claimed it was from 'an admirer' who would have 'just thrown them out', but there was more to it than that. Cass wished that whatever Syr was hiding, she would just say, because it made it hard to like her. She knew Syr was trying very hard to be liked, and giving her an ex... a gift that cost a lot of money to do that. But she couldn't like someone who was lying like that, all the time, and about important things.

She repeated the attack on the next war shadow, but one of its allies tried to take advantage of her plunging fingers and she rose one arm to protect herself, blocking off the attack and capturing one of its finger-claws in between her wrist and the gauntlet. She managed to snap an attack into it, a moment later; Drake also threw one of his knives into the creature's head at almost the same time, having seen her fighting and wanted to help.

She smiled. It was nice to be able to fight alongside Drake, now that he could join her in these deeper floors. She spun a kick out at a war shadow, catching it in the arm and twisted her whole body up by the momentum, fingers reaching for its head. She used a technique she'd never have used on another actual person, and just twisted its head clean off, the monster's body collapsing as she tossed the head back towards the corpse unceremoniously.

* * *

Ais stared quietly at the tile in front of her as the warm water of the shower fell over her body. She had been training with Tione, who was still training now. Loki wouldn't realize she was here for a few minutes, so she had a brief period of quiet in the shower.

She heard a heavy clunk from the entrance, like someone taking off armor. Curious, she twisted her body to look, and saw that it was one of the new familia members. The ones who had joined a little over a month ago. The girl with the short dark hair was taking off her gauntlets - one already unceremoniously laid on the ground - and Ais's eyes narrowed as she saw something tumble out of the other, a blade the size of a fingertip. That was a War Shadow's Finger Blade, the drop item of a War Shadow. The girl leaned over to pick up the blade, staring at it in silence for a couple seconds before placing it down in a cubbie hole with her other clothes as she started to strip.

Ais knew that one of the new members, the red-haired one, was much more powerful than a normal Level One, but the others should have been just normal. The girl stepped in, her body criss-crossed and pockmarked with countless scars, and Ais forced herself to turn away, turning her face towards the wall in front of her again, starting to properly wash her body once more.

"What... is it?" The other girl's voice was quiet, almost mouselike. "You're... wondering... something. About my scars?" She inquired, from behind the divisor - she'd picked the shower stall closest to Ais.

"No. You went to the fifth floor?" She asked.

"Yes," the girl replied, turning her head to closely inspect Ais's own face.

Ais simply quietly stared at the tile in front of her. "You've only had a falna for a little over a month." Ais hadn't gotten her stats that high, that quickly. Was she... falling behind? "Why were you down there?"

"Our... stats are high enough... except Noriko, who's a... supporter, and Erza, who's really strong."

Ais turned her head to the girl, her brow furrowing. "You have G-ranked stats?" She nodded. "How did you get them so fast?"

The girl turned her head away from Ais, her cheeks flushing. Ais had asked too much. She should apologize. "Our love for... Drake..." she explained, sparing a quick glance over at Ais. "It makes us... level faster..." she explained.

Ais just blinked at the revelation. Was that really true? If it was... she wanted to be stronger. Did she need to find someone... to love? Her hand opened and closed as she contemplated the question. Should she get a boyfriend? But Tione and Tiona had leveled up at the same time... She should ask Riviera about it. Maybe she should ask this girl? "What is your name?" Ais asked her.

"Cass," she replied.

"I'm Ais." She shifted her weight, offering one hand. "It's nice to meet you, Cass." Cass took her hand and shook it. "What did you mean by 'our love for Drake makes us level faster'?"

"Because we... love him, we... level faster."

Ais quietly stared, trying to think of how to rephrase her question. As she did, though, Loki started to prance into the showers. "Ais, my favorite, you took a shower without telling me-mmf!" She was cut off when Cass lunged for her, pinning her to the ground, arms held behind my back. "No! I was so close, Cass! Why?! Why must you ruin these things for me?!" Loki's legs kicked fruitlessly at the air as Cass balanced her weight atop her.

"Ais... doesn't like it..." Cass explained.

"Uwa, she totally loves it, she's just what we call 'tsundere,'" Loki lied. Cass simply shook her head, not believing Loki. "Come on, Cass. Be a good girl. Let me up."

"I will... when Ais is done."

"That'll take forever!"

"You can promise not to... peep," Cass offered.

"I'll never peep again, I promise!" Cass simply stared down at Loki, not believing her in the least. "Puh. Your stupid body language reading BS is really inconvenient, you know?"

"You can peep... on the nameless girl... she'd like it."

"She would, eh?" Loki asked, seeming intrigued. Ais turned her attention back to the wall, focusing on the water falling over her, washing herself clean as Cass ordered around the familia's goddess. Most of them weren't quite so hands-on with Loki when she did this sort of thing, but, Cass hadn't actually injured Loki, so Ais didn't care too much. Her thoughts just went back to how far the new members had apparently come in just a month.

She didn't understand it, and Cass's answer hadn't helped her understand it. She should make an excuse to talk to her again. It was hard to talk about anything personal with Loki squirming around and trying to peek at you. Cass and Loki were still talking about 'Xulia' or 'Princess' or 'Annoying' - she wasn't sure which was her actual name - and she interrupted. "Cass, would you like to train with me later?"

Cass looked up at her, blinking a few times, then quietly nodded.

* * *

"I'm training... with Ais..." Cass said, as we wrapped up our day in the Dungeon. "So I won't be... able to go to... the Hostess with you... Erza," she said.

"That's quite alright," Erza replied. "I will simply go to the Hostess of Fertility alone. The food is delicious - particularly the cake."

There was a silent moment of communication between myself, Julia, and Cass - Noriko and Erza were too oblivious to be privy to such a tiny conversation. I was the one who ultimately stepped forward. "Actually, this is a good chance," I said to Erza. "We could go out on the town for a proper date. Normally you're busy with training, or the Hostess with Cass, or the Dungeon - but now you're free, aren't you?"

"A date," she said, looking down at her own hand as if the very idea of going on a date had yet to occur to her. In fairness, other than Noriko, my wives weren't really the dating type - and Noriko was as happy sitting on my lap in the Hostess of Fertility as she'd be back at the Twilight Manor. "Yes! A date. We will go dancing, and then, after dancing, we will eat a delicious home cooked meal!" I cringed inwardly at the thought of dancing with Erza, given what I knew of her as a dance partner from Fairy Tail, but part of a relationship was dealing with your partner's less pleasant ticks. I could take her for a dance on her first date. "Ah, but I haven't prepared a home-cooked meal."

"We could make something together." That would really mean she'd make it and tell me what to do, since my idea of a home-cooked meal back on Earth was a peanut butter sandwich or following the instructions on the container, on the rare occasions that I got anything that required more preparation than that.

"Yes! A delicious home-cooked meal, made together, will taste even sweeter!" She grasped my hands in hers.

I just hoped that our dance wouldn't be too harsh, thanks to my falna.

* * *

Any benefit of my falna to our dance routine was overwhelmed by Erza's own stupendous strength and agility, further enhanced by her own falna. She simply twirled me around like a top, and I probably would have puked if I wasn't capable of brushing off the urge with a small expenditure of Essence. When she got done spinning me that way, she grabbed my hip firmly in hers and forced me onto my back, held up a half-foot from the ground as she loomed over me.

I was not a good dancer; I never went clubbing or anything back on Earth to build up the skill, an absence I was now dearly feeling since Erza was hardly satisfied with me shaking my hips back and forth. Erza's dance style was, at best, flashy. At worst, it was that of an ogress who compensated for her utter lack of skill with agility and strength, in ways that mostly involved making her dance partner sick their stomach as they were spun and hurled around.

We had come to a restaurant with an open floor plan and a dance floor - modestly expensive, but not as much as the Hostess of Fertility (not that that was saying much). Many people were looking at us, but I honestly didn't really care. I never had any fear of public speaking or anything like that. In one of my college classes, the teacher had at one point said, "Can anyone answer this question who isn't a woman or Drake?" since the other guys in the class were basically silent. I wasn't eager for the limelight, I just felt some quiet pride at the fact that I didn't care, which in retrospect was maybe undeserved. It wasn't like it was something I had cultivated intentionally, I just had never minded so far as I could remember.

Erza, however, was not nearly so cool about being the center of attention. When she finally dragged me back up to my feet, giving me a brief breather before she no doubt started spinning me like a top, except this time on my head, or something equally absurd, she realized that she was the center of attention. For a moment, she opened and closed her mouth like a guppy fish.

I tried to help her out by taking a deep bow, and had vastly underestimated how dizzy I actually was, because I started to stumble for a moment, my hands pinwheeling briefly as I tried to gather my balance before hitting the floor. Erza grabbed the base of my shirt and physically hefted me off the ground with it, giving me the chance to straighten up. "This is my wife, Erza, everyone," I said, placing one hand on her side, knowing that I was making her the center of attention even more, but at least this way it would be in a more clearly positive fashion.

I considered for a moment something else to say, to try to coolly segue into something that made me look good - then I realized I didn't actually care about these people's opinion of me, so I could say something that might lower it a bit, but would end the conversation. "You can all go back to eating, I'm just about done dancing," I said, woozily making my way off the dance floor to flop down in a seat. Erza was still standing there, I realized. "Erza," I called out, and finally she snapped out of it, coming over to join me at the table.

"They were quite impressed with my dancing," she decided on, straightening up with some confidence. "I have no idea what quality of food this place has, Drake. If you wish to eat here, instead of retiring home for a romantic home-cooked meal that we make together, then I will eat it."

I honestly don't think she was even trying to guilt trip me into eating here, that was just how earnest she was. In either case - "I just need to rest my legs for a moment. You're a very vigorous dance partner," I said, instead of admitting that I couldn't stand up at the moment without risking stumbling to my knees. I didn't want to make her feel bad about it, so I left it at that.

"I see. Then we are still going to make a romantic home-cooked meal together?"

"Yes," I told her, as the floor started to finally steady itself, leveling out. I stood up, hands on the table for balance, and I was pretty sure that I could walk. I decided to cheat a bit and, when Erza stood up, I grabbed her hand and leaned against her. I was taller by a good few inches - okay, more than a few; she came up just an inch or two over my shoulders. My new body was tall, though not unusually so for this world. (The most prominent adventurer in the city, Ottar, had almost a full head on me.) It made it look rather awkward, but Erza simply blushed and smiled innocently, and if anybody looked at us, they probably just saw a lovey-dovey couple, rather than a guy who was worried about looking like a drunk from how dizzy he was.

That's how we walked back to the Twilight Manor - Erza blushing and smiling the entire way there.

* * *

Cass watched Ais's movements carefully, as the other girl stood there, sword in hand. She moved incredibly quickly, but it was possible to predict her movements despite that. She stood in a way that said she was going to feint right then strike left - and Cass managed to interpose her own gauntleted hand in front of the incoming blow, trying to twist around to grab the blade, but it rebounded off her before she could, Ais's snap-twist movements too fast to stop.

Ais stared at her for a second or two, deciding on her next attack with a defense that showed no sign of laziness despite her overwhelmingly superior strength and speed. She struck again, planning two feints before the real strike - and, too late, Cass saw her change her mind and turn the second feint into a real attack. It took a far smaller fraction of a second to do than a normal human would have taken, and Cass could only just twist her torso to make the blow merely send her reeling instead of knocking her out.

Ais allowed her a couple seconds to breathe, then got right back into it.

* * *

The Twilight Manor had a kitchen, but not any actual cooking staff, strangely enough. I'd made a good few meals there, and by "made" I mostly mean "sandwiches" and the ever-popular "salted bread." Popular with me, anyway. With my new body, I wasn't too concerned about the dietary problems of just taking a slice of bread and pouring salt on it, merely the expense, since salt cost much more here than it did back home. Erza was the one who actually prepared the meals we ate in the Dungeon normally, which were much more complex and nice than anything I made.

Erza, for her part, requipped into stereotypical Japanese housewife garb: a long skirt that nearly reached the ankles, a long-sleeved shirt, and an apron to cover both. "What will we be having for dinner, darling?" Given my particular tastes, seeing her dressed like that was incredibly sexy - all the more because despite Erza's normal immodesty and love of male attention, she seemed completely oblivious to the effect her dress was having on me.

"I'm not much of a cook, or a foodie," I told her. "What do you want to eat? I'll help you make it."

"I see," Erza said, turning her attention back to the pantry and carefully considering it for a long few seconds. It was as if she was physically stuck in that position - then she hit on what she'd make. "Soup, sandwiches, and cookies for dessert," she proclaimed, then darted into the pantry to gather the necessary ingredients, ordering me around like a drill sergeant as she set to work making us a romantic dinner.

It came out pretty nicely. We made way too many cookies, so she just stuffed them all in a jar and scrawled a note on it that said 'Take one.'

"Ah, the soup is delicious," Erza declared. "That must be because it was made with love." She put her spoon down and ate one of the sandwiches in a few meaty bites, before making a similar declaration about it too. "How are you enjoying it?" Erza asked me.

"It's good," I agreed. "Thanks. Sorry that I couldn't help that much with the cooking - I'll do the cleanup, at least." They had running water and a proper sewage system here, so you could just wash out the bowls in the sink. "How was the date?" I asked her, as I ate. I was worried since it had been rather brisk - pretty much just the dancing and now the meal that she had been the one to cook anyway.

"It was wonderful! I particularly enjoyed when you leaned your weight against me, displaying your trust in me not to let you fall," she said, a faint pink note to her cheeks as she said as much. "Which I would never do," she added with an overwhelming sincerity that was distinctly Erza.

"I'm glad to hear it," I said. My hand went to hers, squeezing it. "Let's call it a night and hit the bedroom."

"You normally do not sleep for several hours yet," Erza replied, completely missing that I wasn't suggesting sleep.

"Yeah, and I wasn't planning to, either," I said, pulling her with me as I headed to the bedroom and she took a couple seconds to realize what I had meant.

"Ah! We will make love, then!" She declared it loud enough for the whole familia to hear, but I didn't really care, as I just kept going. Who cared if they heard? We were married (basically).

After marching to our bedroom, I practically threw open the door, and I would have hurled Erza onto the bed if she hadn't simply rushed in to dive bomb it herself, Requipping herself into the nude. Noriko was sitting at the desk, and idly turned her seat around, holding a book that was apparently about monsters in her hands. She blinked owlishly as I stripped. "When you are finished having sex with Erza, will you have sex with me, darling, or would you prefer some type of threesome arrangement?" She asked, tilting her head slightly to one side.

"Ah, if you wish to make love to Drake, then of course I can wait," Erza said, ever self-sacrificing for her friends. Noriko actually hopped out of the chair at that, completely ready to take her up on it - but this was a date with Erza, it felt wrong to interrupt it for Noriko's sake.

"If you want to participate, you can wedge yourself in, but it's the finale of Erza's date, so I'm going to have sex with her first," I said, as I removed my shirt. Noriko quietly considered it, then took mental note of the page she was on in her book before placing it back on the desk and beginning to strip herself naked. I clambered up on top of Erza once I was completely naked, soon teasing my cock at her sex, enjoying the soft feeling of her lower lips teasing and brushing against my cock. I just slid myself inside her without further ado, taking a moment to hold myself deep inside her, my hand reaching down for her groin, one thumb brushing against her clit.

Erza had a certain masochistic bent to her sexuality, not just in terms of enjoying spankings and rough groping, but also in terms of enjoying denial play things - so I just held myself inside her, curious how long it would take her to actually ask for more than that, enjoying the warmth of her muscular sex around my cock, the pink note to her cheeks as she lay beneath me, her naked body on full display.

Noriko interrupted any potential begging from Erza by simply clambering up on my back, wrapping herself around me from behind. Her legs hooked around each other over my waist, and her nipples scraped against my bare skin. I could smell her cherry-strawberry juices as they started to gently trickle down my back. "I will watch from this position," she said quietly, her arms loosely wrapping around my neck as her chin came to rest on my shoulder. She was light and petite enough it wouldn't have been too difficult even without a falna enhancement on my already significant strength - with it, it wasn't much worse than trying to fuck while wearing a shirt.

"Please, ravish me, Drake," Erza said, her hands wobbling pointlessly on either side of her head, as if she was already lost in the throes of ecstasy rather than begging for a proper fucking.

I obliged her without hesitation, beginning to fuck her properly, Noriko's tight grip on my body keeping her firmly in position as my cock pistoned in and out of Erza's tight pussy. My hands gripped Erza's hips as her breasts bounced wildly from the force of my thrusts, and Erza began to moan in hardly any time at all, her body undulating beneath me like a worm on a hook, her lips half-parted, her cheeks hot with arousal. "I love you, Erza," I told her, earnestly. She moaned softly at that, eyelashes fluttering, and I jammed myself deep inside her and leaned over her to meet her in a kiss. Her voluminous breasts brushed against my bare chest, her hard nipples scraping up against me, as I continued to fuck her. Noriko never left her position attached to me, her juices slowly winding their way down my legs as I fucked Erza relentlessly.

Erza, for her part, threw her hands up, grasping my cheeks and holding me against her, sucking on my tongue with a vigorous force as she trapped me in the kiss. I was completely incapable of pulling away, her superior strength and lust serving to combine to keep me there, as I intensified my pace.

"Erza enjoys being spanked, I believe," Noriko noted. "May I give her some spankings?" I let out a mumbled noise that Noriko managed to interpret as a yes, clambering off my back to get behind me, leaning down to watch the show as my cock slid into Erza's pussy again and again. Her hands reached out, groping the other woman's ass cheeks - then she brought down a sharp strike, her strength significantly enhanced by her falna. I could feel the clenching of Erza's cunt around my cock, and arrested my movement entirely inside her for a moment, as she tightened so much it was hard to move. Erza let out a lewd moan of pleasure as well, and one quick brush of my thumb against her clit was enough to send her over the edge, making her come beneath me, bucking her hips wildly. The convulsions of her pussy let me start fucking her again, my pace erratic as her sex loosened and tightened around my cock

"Your balls are bouncing in a very appealing manner," Noriko noted. "May I please suck on them while you fuck Erza, or would this qualify as interrupting your lovey-dovey romantic sex?" Erza shifted one hand away from my cheek, out of my line of sight. "Erza is giving me the 'thumbs up' confirmation, so I will begin to suck on your balls, Drake," Noriko said, before leaning forward, wrapping her lips around them, starting to tongue them hungrily. It made me get even more intense with Erza, my pace going absolutely wild inside her, and I heard the sound of flesh against flesh as Noriko kept spanking Erza.

Erza was absolutely enjoying it, and it didn't take her long at all to come a second time. Or a third. Or a fourth. On the fifth, I finally lost control and just let go inside her, coming my brains out. It probably had been barely ten minutes since I'd stuck it in, but as long as she'd enjoyed herself, I was perfectly happy to ejaculate deep inside her waiting sex. When I was spent, I paused for a moment, and Noriko popped off my testicles. "Are you done with Erza, and now ready to have sex with me? You may use my mouth, pussy, or ass, as is your preference, darling," she noted, making my dick twitch a bit inside Erza.

I would have been perfectly happy to move on to Noriko... but I did want this moment to be extra special for Erza. Fucking her first was a rarity (since she and Julia were both into denial in one way or another, they tended to go last or second-last), but I wanted to give her that little bit extra too, so I started to fuck her again. I couldn't actually answer Noriko's question, but she appeared to understand, judging by the way she once more began sucking my balls and spanking Erza as I fucked the other woman.

In the end, I orgasmed three times inside Erza, and Erza herself came over twenty times, moaning softly and turning pink from the sex. She wasn't sweaty even when I finished with her and moved on to Noriko, though - she just had infinite endurance even before her falna, and with it, she could probably have literally fucked all day. If she couldn't now, she would be in a couple levels. I fucked Noriko a couple times, playing with her erogenous tongue and clit to make her come buckets all over the bed - when she was panting and staring unsteadily up at me, I came inside her, then moved right back to Erza again, letting Noriko take her time recovering.

We eventually went to bed together, me the big spoon to Noriko's little spoon, Erza in turn the big spoon to me, holding me tight against her and enjoying every inch of skinship.

* * *

Cass panted, leaning against the wall as she recovered from the latest beating she'd received. Ais quietly stared down at her, shifting for a few seconds in uncertainty. "You can sit... next to me..." Cass said, patting the cool ground next to her.

Ais sat down promptly, looking at Cass in silence. "How does your love for Drake make you level faster?" She asked.

"I don't... understand exactly... but we share in... his power, from our... love."

"Like a Skill?" Ais asked. Cass nodded.

Cass could tell that Ais was attempting to learn if she could also get this power, but didn't know quite how to phrase it. "I think... other people can get it... but they have to... love him too." Ais nodded solemnly at that, looking down at one hand in consideration, opening and closing her palm, wondering if that was within her power. "He would... want you... I think? I could ask him..."

Ais nodded. "Thank you. Are you ready to fight again, or do you need more time to catch your breath?"

"I can fight," Cass said, standing up and readying herself for another duel with Ais. Ais blinked a few times, considering her strikes. She'd found the strategy of making a dozen very light feints and transforming them into serious attacks if Cass didn't properly prepare herself to defend against them to be very efficacious, but it was hard to completely wear out the intention behind an attack, so Cass managed to block seven strikes before one got through again.

It was what Cass liked to do. Train, and fight, and... do that sort of thing with Drake. A faint flush appeared on her cheeks as she remembered the faces that Drake made during sex, the way his body twitched in undisguised pleasure, and it meant that Ais managed to break through her defenses in just two blocks this time.

She did her best to focus on Ais, for the moment.

* * *

The girl without a name had gone to the Dungeon more recently, so she hadn't been able to visit Haruhime as much. She was doing her best to prepare Haruhime for Drake, since once she'd done that, he could seduce her and make her his. She had to tiptoe around the subject of sex with her in particular, since Drake was always rough, demanding, cruel with her, but that was because it was the sort of thing she liked.

"I used to ask goshujinsama for this certain specific thing, but I did it mostly to tease him because he clearly hated the idea," the girl without a name explained to Haruhime, who simply nodded, curious but not ready to ask. "But he finally started doing it recently, and it's so much fun, and sexy, and wonderful!" She sighed luxuriously. She had to change the subject, though, since she couldn't get into more detail. She doubted that Haruhime would find being whored out to beggars and wage laborers for a pittance to be nearly as sexy as she did, given her circumstances. "Ah, but enough about me. Tell me something you want to talk about, Haruhime."

Haruhime seemed to slowly consider it, looking down at her tea. "Could you tell me another story from your home country?"

"Of course!" She smiled. She needed to work hard to get new wives for her master. He needed them, and it wasn't as if any of his other wives would be seducing other women any time soon.