13 Duty - Part 1
We start to get a bit tense due to the oncoming battle, so even Roxanne decides to skip work and join us on the sofas for the evening. Though she steals my breast pillow and cuddles with Hana, and that makes me notice how they seem very… friendly with each other.
Anyway, I play with Alissa's tail while we chit-chat, and she starts to get drowsy, so I also play with her ears to put her to sleep, then I successfully carry her to our bed. She happily wakes up mid-blowjob from Hana, and then I give both of them my all.
It might be hard to get my dick wet during the expedition, so I have to enjoy it while I can. My new skill also helps a lot with satisfying both of them, and I finish it up feeling reinvigorated rather than drained.
--
Today is the 16th.
We only have a quick breakfast, then we leave in the early morning to buy the rest of the supplies, and we spend most of our remaining time looking for the last few things we need.
We still have those sleeping bags that we bought and didn't use even once, but now that we have money and the harem got bigger, I need a bed that fits everyone. My sleeping quality is just too important to be cheap on, so I get one that fits us three. But our tent is too small for the new bed, so we also buy a bigger tent that's tall enough for us to stand on and even has enough space left for a small table.
We then buy a lot of different "Items"-ready meals, and a new flying vehicle for all of us, a polished wood dinghy with wheels and a windshield big enough to fit six people. It's thirty gold, but most of the price comes from the magic tool as it's quite big, almost the size of a basketball.
The tool is a faded-green-tinted polyhedron crystal ball with a bike handle glued to its top. The handle doesn't move, but it responds to pressure, allowing the driver to control the yaw and pitch. To apply propulsion, the driver has to insert mana into the crystal in the direction you want to go. For example: to move forward I have to insert mana on the back side of the crystal, to go backwards I have to insert it on its front, and to go up I have to insert on the underside, basically allowing me to fly in any direction, but that's not advised. The seller says that at most, I should only switch between applying force upwards to float or forward to speed up.
Roxanne and Hana have a little experience with this type of magic tool, so they'll fly if necessary until I learn how in the future. It's a bit different from flight sims since there's no roll and very little in the form of safety, so I have no hurry to learn since I definitely can't be reckless with flying.
I send Alissa to pay Ghulam, and after she returns, we walk to the west gate, where a row of wagons and a crowd of adventurers are waiting to leave. It's already 11 AM, so we have an early lunch at a nearby stall. Then we see Silas coming with five knights and two robed figures.
The knights wear a surcoat with the heraldry of the Lord on top of black scale armor. And in the middle of them, we recognize a familiar face. Black hair, square jaw, the hint of a stubble, and a piercing, stoic gaze. He's the Lord, or rather, a younger version of him.
Behind him, there's another familiar face, an elven girl. Silver straight hair that's so glossy it almost shines, an adorably short stature, skin as white as snow, an oval face, upturned blue eyes that look almost Asian, a small and pointy nose, small red lips, and the unmistakable long pointy ears of the elves protruding at a right angle from her head.
Silvane notices us and smiles at Alissa, who immediately returns it.
Then Silas walks to the crowd and announces out loud, "Gather here, hunters! We will begin a roll call! Bring your leaders for a strategy meeting!" And his voice has the characteristic distortion of someone speaking on a microphone.
Once my name is called, I'm told to enter a nearby building and sit around a large table. Burly men, scarred faces, crazy eyes, stoic gazes, and threatening auras. These are the leaders of the fellowships called for this subjugation force, and then there's me. Aside from Silas, I'm the smallest and also the youngest here.
I wanna run away! Help me, Alissa!
Thankfully, the strategy has already been defined, so there's no need for me to speak. The Lord's son, Haaran, is the leader of the expedition, and he has the Lord's knights at his command, so he explains the plan, and nobody has any significant concern about it.
Haaran's voice is softer than the Lord's but it's like he's a younger clone of him, and I just wonder what kind of genetics is at play here.
Anyway, there'll be one fellowship responsible for the vanguard, one for the rearguard, and four duos responsible for scouting, all to protect the main force as we travel across the Sea of Trees. After we reach the place chosen as our base of operations, all fellowships will contribute towards finding the exact location of the goblin base.
Once found, our strike will begin after the terrain around it is properly mapped. There are two fellowships of mages that will act as artillery and rain magic from distance as the first strike. My fellowship, the Lord's knights, and two other fellowships are the shock troops, so we'll enter the enemy base and engage in melee after the artillery raises chaos. The scouting troops will make sure as few goblins escape as possible, the vanguard fellowship will protect our backs during the attack, and the rearguard fellowship will guard our base of operations.
The plan is simple, swift, and decisive. We'll take half a day to get to the entrance to the Sea of Trees, camp there, half a day to move to our base, most likely take half a day to scout, half a day to fight, and another day to get back, which means we'll likely be back before Selina's wedding. Then the meeting ends, and we're ordered to board the wagons.
But before we embark, my eyes are attracted to a glowing smile as Silvane approaches us. "Greetings, Mr. Ryder. I hope you remember me," she gently greets. This is the first time that I hear her voice and it's pleasantly delicate and feminine.
I actually do remember your curves, or the lack of them, when I saw you wearing that one piece.
"Greetings, Miss Silvane. It'd be difficult to forget a face like yours," I smoothly reply and smile back.
Damn, I nailed that line.
She covers her mouth with the tips of her thin fingers in playful surprise as she giggles girlishly. "Oh, my." And her adorable demeanor is super effective on me.
Oh, my heart!
Then she turns to Alissa. "It's good to see you well, Miss Alissa."
"You too, Miss Silvane," Alissa warmly replies as the two nod at each other, making both elven ears and fox ears bob. "What happened to you? You're part of the Lord's soldiers now?"
And the silver elf girl brims with happiness. "Oh, yes. Grand Haaran bought me, and I'm to marry him at the end of the year."
Alissa beams back with innocent brightness. "That's amazing! This means he'll look to conquer a dungeon soon, right?"
"Yes! I'm also under apprenticeship with the court magicians, and I'll enter the university next month," the pretty girl warmly continues.
Oh?
"You might study with Master, then. He's also joining next month," the other pretty girl warmly replies.
And the two young beauties turn their heads to me, making me instinctively tense up as I almost got lost in their eyes.
Silvane's gaze becomes playfully curious. "Ah, so Grand Ryder is really the one with the Blessing, then? The skill you created, [Redirect Mana], caught the attention of many people." And her pretty eyes stare at me intensely.
Well… I really didn't want to bring attention to myself.
I just smile wryly as I think it's better to not say anything, so she just adds, "How's your research on that skill?"
Then I sense Roxanne's and Hana's teasing smiles on my back, so I smother my shyness and properly answer, "It's going very well, actually, but because of the subjugation, I had to stop before I reached a real breakthrough."
"That's unfortunate, but this is our duty," she solemnly replies as she nods, and Alissa follows along. "We can't let that goblin camp get any larger, for the sake of our people."
But then she's quickly back to smiling adorably.
"It seems you found your happiness," Alissa quietly remarks.
"And you did yours," Silvane slyly replies and glances at her, making the cute fox blush. But then pretty elf ends the conversation, "Let's go. We can speak more when we reach the campsite."
"Certainly!" Alissa happily exclaims.
We enter the wagons, and I ask my pretty fox how she knows the silver elf. They met in the Misty Low Forest when both of them were to be brought to Rabanara, so they spent a day-cycle together during the trip and became friends. Their dreams and goals were similar: to find someone strong for them to serve so they could honor their families, or restore the family's honor, in the case of Silvane, so they bonded over it.
Alissa doesn't say it explicitly, but the lack of mention of love or marriage is quite jarring to me. They're all about duty, and I don't know how to take it… Rupegian culture is still so alien to me.
--
Double horses pull the wagons down the road at a high speed, yet there's not much shaking, just noise. The road seems to be really well-built, less maintained than the one inside the town but it's still impressive engineering. It's made of large square blocks of stone set in a slightly curved way to push rainwater to the channels at the sides, and there's some sort of cement holding the blocks together, creating a very smooth surface. Fairly Roman-like.
We share our wagon with Akros, one of the shock troop fellowships. They have four members: a red-skinned demon race man who has a single horn coming out of his forehead in a truly Japanese oni fashion, and he uses a tower shield; a large, tanned, and bearded man that uses a greatsword as tall as he is; a lanky white man with an ugly black bowl cut who uses a longbow; and a scrawny and cute dwarf girl with boyish black short hair, who uses a small composite bow.
From my amateurish understanding of their tactics, the guy with the shield is the tank, the greatsword dude is the DPS, the longbow dude is for monsters with a thick hide, and the dwarf girl is for quick-firing at easy or numerous targets. Alissa follows the same doctrine as the dwarf girl while the rest of our fellowship doesn't really match with anyone else in Akros.
And honestly, they aren't very pleasant to talk to. They're too crude, and they keep talking about the ways they'll disembowel the goblins while the dwarf girl wants to compete with Alissa on how many eyes they'll pop. Roxanne and Hana deal with them just fine, but I don't enjoy talking to them.
Hana has to save me by interjecting in the conversation, and they eventually ignore me, so I just zone out and practice my meditation for [Redirect Mana]. It's quite hard to cut your senses with so much stimulation going on, but it serves to shorten the trip, and before I notice it, Alissa tells me it's time to leave the wagons.
--
I stretch and massage my muscles to help with the soreness. Half a day inside that wagon, and I spent all of it meditating. It's kind of an amazing feat, really. I wish I had this sort of skill back on Earth so that boring trips would be done in a second.
It's now 5 PM. We left earlier than planned, and we reached the border even earlier than predicted.
Haaran tells us to start marching, and the scouts run ahead first, then the vanguard enters the Sea, and we follow after them. Behind us are ten [Space Magic] mages, and they're basically humanoid pack mules as their only purpose is to carry things around in their deep [Item Box]es. The rearguard is tasked with protecting the mages, and I recognize Targua leading the rear.
He notices me and waves at us but keeps to his business.
What a nice fellow.
The atmosphere of the Sea of Trees is always a bit fantastical to me, charming even. It's a gloomy and dangerous place with an air of mystery to it, so a nerd like me definitely enjoys this kind of mood.
After studying the books in the dungeoneering guild, I now recognize quite a few plants and fruits, and we discreetly collect them as snacks for later. My "Items" is seemingly bottomless, so I'm the only one who can afford to increase my load.
While we walk, I reflect upon my skills and realize that [Summoning Magic] would be quite useful here. We're going to face a large number of goblins, and having summons to watch our backs would be a great help. I'll have to lie to Roxanne, though.
Our safety is more important than hurt feelings, so I decide to tell her that I've managed to acquire [Summoning Magic] while studying [Golemancy] at the university. This way, I can use my bird for scouting and my dog for guarding us.
I slow down so that I'm beside her as we walk, and she flashes me an innocent smile once she notices I want to talk. "So, Roxanne, my research of [Golemancy] is actually pretty close to [Summoning Magic]. So close, in fact, that I've learned a few spells already," I casually remark.
"Hm?" she hums absentmindedly and tilts her head while holding her wide-brimmed hat against her head. Then she realizes something. "Ah! Yes! There's a spell called [Summon Small Golem], right? Kind of obvious the two schools intersect somewhere."
Not the angle I was going for, but okay.
I just go along with it, "Y-yeah. Well, so far I've only managed to summon a small bird and a dog. Also, I want to tell Lord Haaran about my skills, but I'm not sure how to go about it since he's pretty intimidating."
"It's okay to not tell, Master," Alissa kindly interjects and comes up to my other side. "Not many hunters tell others their secrets. You can just use it whenever you wish and most people won't bother. Elementals are a bit conspicuous, though, so be careful with them."
Elementals sound interesting. It's been a while since I tested whether new spells unlocked, so perhaps I can use summons now, but I don't know what level I need for them.
"But isn't it a rare magic? I don't want to bring attention to me," I question worriedly.
"You're already the town hero," Hana points out and grins.
I turn to the other two, but they just both shrug, then Alissa adds, "The news of you gaining a Blessing from the Goddess of Knowledge should be spreading, too. You can't stop your fame from growing, Master." Then shows a wry smile at my dismay.
This is bad, but also good. It means I can more easily say "fuck it" and do what I want without caring about what people might say, but the problem is the ID checks. I need consistency, and if I keep adding or removing skills, it might cause problems if someone tries to record my skill progress and notices how bizarre it is.
I hum thoughtfully then share my idea, "Alright, I'm thinking about summoning one or two dogs and using them as guards. This way, maybe we won't need to participate in the watch."
"Oh, oh! That's a great idea, Wolf! Please do!" Roxanne exclaims, then she excitedly grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. "Mages need a good night's sleep to achieve peak performance, so standing guard will only make me weaker." Then she releases my hand and continues happily strolling forward, leaving me stunned at the sudden physical contact.
This woman is such a tease…
Hana raises an eyebrow at me, and absentmindedly remarks, "Hm, yes, we'll all be able to sleep together this way."
Alissa says nothing, not paying attention to Roxanne's eccentricities, but I see her fluffy tail wagging gently as she's likely imagining how a night together would be. Nobody likes to stand guard in the cold and alone.
--
After half an hour of walking, a small gray fox appears to our left and quickly approaches the leader of the vanguard, then it glows and becomes a gray-skinned-and-haired man. His appearance is quite striking, too, as he has claws, fox ears, and a small black snout in place of a nose, but no tail.
I feel like bragging that Alissa can become a much bigger fox, but I don't want to be a dick to a stranger, so I keep quiet.
"His color is unusual," I very quietly remark to Alissa since I know that werefoxes have good hearing.
"He could be a mixed descendant of a White Stalker with something else, or just a clanless fox mixed with another race with gray skin," she casually replies.
Interesting… there does seem to be some racial dynamics.
I give her a curious look. "What about you?"
And she seems happy to answer, "I'm pure Misty Fox, though my parents allowed my fur and hair to be a lighter brown instead of the usual bright orange."
She said "allowed," as in, they didn't pray to the Goddess of Fertility to give her a certain color and allowed genetics to do its thing.
I stop the conversation there as I don't want her asking where I'm from, and with her very submissive personality, she doesn't even entertain asking me about it.
Anyway, the gray fox man talks to the leader of the vanguard, a short and wide man who uses a poleaxe, then they rush ahead. They come back a couple of minutes later, the leader now looking a bit winded and with his poleaxe dripping with blood.
But blood attracts monsters, so one of the members of the vanguard discreetly chastises the leader, who then finally cleans his weapon. This area is still crawling with monsters, so the vanguard actually has to pull their weight and clear the area ahead of us.
Then the sun sets to the sound of dying goblins, and Haaran tells us to set camp at the next clearing. Not the most tiring day, but I'm glad that it's finally time to rest.
I sweat a little when I notice that everyone pulls out tools and begins actually building their tents. There's no avoiding this, so I just puff my chest full of fake courage and pull out my large, square tent, which was stored already completely built, then we hurry inside to hide from curious looks.
The tent is roughly 5x10m, but our bed fits perfectly, and we have enough room to comfortably sit at the small table with four chairs. I'd rather not let anyone see the inside, though, as this is a bit luxurious for adventurers.
"This is actually nice. I should have bought one as big as yours," Roxanne remarks in wonder.
"But you wouldn't be able to carry it yourself, right?" I reply with a grin.
She pouts and sassily puts her hands on her hips. "With your stupidly big [Item Box] it'd be pretty easy. But after seeing, this I don't just want a bigger tent, I want to sleep on your bed too. The bag is pretty bad."
My grin becomes cheeky. "Sorry, my bed is only for my lovers."
I won't sacrifice my privacy even if you're a companion.
Hana smirks at Roxanne, who simply pouts harder, and Alissa puts on her poker face, but I saw that tail twitch, I saw it!
"It should be okay to leave now, Master. Let's take a bath," Alissa obediently suggests.
We leave the tent, then I discreetly pull out a foldable partition and put a simple wooden bathtub at the center. In just a minute, Roxanne fills it up with [Water Wall], then heats it up with a measured [Fireball], and now the bath is ready.
As the one who made this possible, Roxanne goes first. Since the water was recently created with magic, she can "de-conjure" it after she's done and prepare another bath for us.
With that, I get to wash the girls and enjoy myself. I also have a proper gag now, and it muffles their moans almost entirely. It gets a bit cramped with all of us inside it, but since I have two ravenous women to fuck, we don't have much time to spend soaking in the water.
We're careful not to show or say that we have a bathtub. The partition isn't excessive, it's something any fellowship with two different sexes should have, but nobody except nobles brings a whole damn bathtub to an expedition.
Once we're done cleaning up, everyone has finished pitching up their tents, the bonfire is already crackling, a Space mage cooks some stew in a large pot above it, and the adventurers are now eating at a long wooden table with benches.
Silvane sees us approach and waves for us to come to sit beside her. She's not wearing her usual mage robe, but a thick woolen red dress that shows her adorable pink legs. It's not something that's meant to be very fashionable, but she still looks cute in it.
We sit down, and I bring out our "Items"-ready meals: toasted bread, bean paste, fried veggies, and beef stew. Silvane also seems to be eating something prepared beforehand and not the soup from the Space mages. Her food is a large selection of unknown veggies, something that looks like greenish baked potatoes, and a nice slab of roasted meat.
I don't recognize most of her food, but I can't pay too much attention to it as it'd be impolite, and then she promptly starts a conversation.
"Say, Mr. Ryder. Were you the one who gave the guild the info that the Giant Tarantulas were covering their bodies with flammable web?" she curiously asks, her eyes brimming with excitement.
I blink blankly a few times.
"How did you know that?" I blurt out confusedly.
And she gives me a rather foxy smile, proud of her correct guess. "Your fellowship and Hauberk were the only ones hunting there for the last half-cycle, and since I heard you have a Blessing from Knowledge, you're the most obvious candidate."
I shrug and snort, "Hah, I guess that makes sense. So, was it useful?"
She nods excitedly, making her long ears sway.
I fucking love non-human ears.
Then she quickly tells her story, "Yes. We explored the Ant Hill after your encounter with the Symbol of Hate to investigate the battle site, and then we hunted down the White Arachne. Along the way, we tested your info and burned to death about half the spiders, which is quite the peculiar number, but the tip was very helpful, though the smell is terrible." And she flashes a grimace.
I smile warmly and hum back, "Amazing. I'm glad that helped."
And her eyes become sharp as she moves on to what she really wanted to talk about. "But what made me curious was the second part of your info. You said that it might be only one gender of the Tarantulas that were doing this, so we did a few autopsies and discovered that's precisely what's going on. We didn't know how to even differentiate one sex of spider from another, but we noticed that the ones who have rounder, uh… facial fingers, are the ones who catch fire easily, and after some experimentation, we've discovered that they're the males who use the web to stick to the female and inject semen onto her with its… fingers."
All the while she describes the mating habits of Tarantulas she has an innocent and eager scholarly air to her, but once she mentions the "fingers," which are actually the equivalent of spider dicks and I believe are actually named "pedipalps," something changes on her face, but I can't describe what, exactly. She seems "tense," but no less eager to talk about spider dick, so maybe she's just being awkward?
Regardless, I'm still impressed by her knowledge.
"You seem to enjoy this sort of thing quite a lot. Do you plan on becoming a scholar?" I ask, genuinely not wanting to make fun of her for mentioning spider dicks.
And she assumes a dreamy look. "Perhaps one day. I like to think about the details, and there are so many things that we just seem to overlook. This one detail you found, for example, helped us kill these spiders twice as fast, so what else can we discover that will make our lives easier?"
So I give her something to think about, "But why didn't anybody discover this first?"
And she was ready for that one. "Perhaps it's mating season. Lord Anara is going to send a squad to investigate every half-cycle to see if it's true."
"That's good news," Alissa chimes in.
Indeed, both the Lord getting more involved in the culling and the confirmation of another tool against monsters are good news.
"You telling them about the spiders, Silf?" A gentle voice comes from behind us and we turn our heads to see the young Haaran approaching us.
"Silf"? Is that kindness I hear in his voice? It's rather hard to imagine a stoic man with such a piercing gaze being so gentle and casual like this.
"Yes. It was Mr. Ryder who gave us the info on the spiders," she happily gushes at him as he sits beside her.
He turns his chilling gaze to me and states with a respectful nod, "Hm. You have my gratitude, Mr. Ryder. It was quite an odd piece of info, but it turned out to be true and quite useful."
Silvane suddenly giggles girlishly then her pale skin becomes pinkish as she remembers a rather salacious detail, "Oh, the info on how to break mind poison was also useful. We… confirmed it works." Then she turns her eyes away while Haaran freezes momentarily with a suggestive smile on his handsome face, and Alissa and I smirk back in return.
I had also told the guild that the Arachnes' mind poison can be broken by "passionately kissing a loved one".
After the pink moment passes, Silvane clears her throat and changes the topic. She asks about my adventures with Alissa and then tells tales of her own with Haaran while the young future Lord and I just listen to them in silence while we eat.
Hana starts a conversation with another fellowship nearby, and she quickly gets herself a beer tankard even though we aren't supposed to be drinking heavily. I also notice that Roxanne stays by the fire, discreetly drinking from a bottle of wine she carries in her [Item Box] while she listens to the more boisterous adventurers loudly tell their stories.
I'm okay with not making conversation with strangers, but I still enjoy talking with my two girls while eating, so I feel just a little bit lonely right now. Eventually, I start to get more comfortable, so I gather some courage and talk to Haaran.
"Ah… Lord Haaran, about the watch. I can summon dogs to stand guard, and I think that two dogs and a bird are the maximum that I can keep without straining my MP. So, may I use them to replace my fellowship during our turn to keep watch during the night?"
He gives me a measuring look as he hums thoughtfully, and his piercing eyes make me feel almost naked in front of him, but then his gaze softens and he accepts, "One of my own knights uses a dog as a substitute for the watch, so I can't deny you. Just make sure it's a breed with a good hearing and sense of smell."
His unnatural gaze is hard to deal with, but he's not ill-intended. I just give a short bow and excuse myself.
I summon two Dobermans and a small bird, which wipes away almost every single point of mana that I have. It's a bit risky to do this, but the camp is safe, so I have time to recover my MP. I'll share my senses with one of the dogs, which will guard the entrance to our tent, and Roxanne's tent is right beside ours, so it'll protect her tent too. The other dog will patrol the camp while the bird hides in the trees, and they'll make noise if they detect any monster or suspicious person approaching.
After my summons are ready, I see Haaran grab Silvane's hand, then they both say their goodbyes to Alissa and retire to their tent, so my foxy girl joins me on our bed. We immediately begin kissing gently, our tongues slowly caressing each other, and I savor her body with my hands, slowly increasing the intensity of my touch, which she responds with her tongue.
Then Hana comes back. When this fiery dragonkin drinks she doesn't get drunk, she gets horny. She suddenly pulls down my pants and demands that Alissa continue her oral lessons.
With some reluctance, my little fox breaks our deep kiss, then they both touch cheeks as they stare at my thick cock. Alissa briefly reminds her student of where the erogenous zones are, and they begin teasing these exact areas with their tongues.
This sort of light touch isn't the most intense, but the view is. Two gorgeous women licking my shaft is a perfectly erotic scene, and my cock soon begins to beg for more stimulation. Their tongues also occasionally touch as they run it down along my length, and I feel a tingling in my heart as a fetish starts to awaken.
Alissa teaches Hana very well, and their teamwork quickly progresses leaps and bounds to the point that my cock and balls begin throbbing with delight. Their constant switching from sucking to licking ensures a gentle rise in pleasure, which peaks once Alissa swallows my whole cock and I flood her mouth with cum.
"Don't swallow everything, give me a bit," Hana requests and lightly punches Alissa's shoulder, who simply freezes and stares back. "Come on, spit a bit in my mouth," the thirsty dragonkin insists.
My breath becomes heavy with excitement, and I eagerly nod in approval at Alissa. My loyal slave then nods back and licks the tip to get the last drop, then she moves over to Hana, who opens her mouth wide in expectation.
Alissa puckers her pink lips then lets a long white drop come out, which falls directly onto Hana's tongue, but the two have their faces so close to each other they almost kiss. Then Hana closes her mouth and rolls my semen around her tongue, coating it entirely so that she can savor it best.
"Holy shit, and I thought I was the depraved one," I remark in awe.
The lewd red woman simply smiles and swallows, then she gives my head a few gentle sucks, causing rather pleasant shivers to go up my spine.
Alissa at first looks concerned, but after seeing how happy this cum-playing makes me she quickly becomes comfortable with it and even giggles at my reaction.
After they [Clean] their mouths, we fool around a bit more, then we go to sleep. We have to wear our armor in case of attack, so no naked touching or breast pillow for me, but since we're on an amazing bed, I still get a wonderful night of sleep.
--
Today is the 17th.
As soon as the sun comes out, Haaran's knights wake up everyone and then hurry us to break camp so we can start marching.
Since storing our tent is just a matter of a simple button press, we take our time with getting out of bed, and Hana decides to start her morning by sucking my soul through my dick.
"Sorry, master. But this is my first battle in seven months, so I'm really excited," Hana explains while stroking me then continues to suck.
I grin as I caress her head, her yellow eyes locked with mine. "You really don't need to be sorry for this. The maximum you can do is give me another level in [Enhanced Semen Recharge]."
She smirks with my cock still inside her mouth, and I spend a few more minutes kissing Alissa, who seems to be in a good mood considering how energetic her tongue is.
Is she eager for battle, too?
But Alissa soon breaks the kiss as she detects my pleasure nearing the tipping point.
I stare at Hana's eyes as she sucks me off, and I decide to share a small piece of wisdom, "I heard that men-… men and women should sleep with their loved ones before battle. Thoughts of regret or unspent desires have no place on the battlefield."
Then I moan as I cum down Hana's throat. The red woman promptly gathers it on her tongue to show it to me for a moment before she swallows with a grin.
"I agree with that. Unfortunately, I never had someone to use my desires on," she remarks with a seductive tone.
"You're free to make up for lost time," I reply with a smirk.
"Master, be careful. One day Hana might break you," Alissa jokingly advises, and if she's saying sex jokes, then the world is one step closer towards world peace.
After a quick laugh, we get up and eat our breakfast, then we finally come out and we're immediately faced with a bored Roxanne, sitting on a little stool as she watches the others dismantle the camp.
Once the bubbly succubus sees us, she immediately stands and brightens up. We share cheerful morning greetings, and Hana strikes up a conversation with her, but I just take a look around and see Silvane helping out by storing a few things, then I notice that her skin seems to be glowing as she brims with happiness.
Her mood seems awfully similar to my two girls, so I guess that Haaran is a fellow vigorous man in private.
--
As we march on, the screams of dying goblins gradually become more frequent, and we even cross paths with two ogres. We don't have to do anything but march, though, so we actually get so bored that the moment a group of four dumb Mossy Fangpines comes into view they're zapped, burned, crushed, and shot by every single hunter of the expedition.
Haaran has us keep a fast pace, but I cast [Swift Foot] on my party and put [Stamina Enhancement] on the two girls, so we have a pretty sweet time. I just wish I could help Roxanne a bit more, but if she gets too tired, I'll have Hana carry her.
The landscape begins to change, becoming more inclined and uneven, which makes travel more difficult. Haaran's map is quite accurate, so we stick to the little valleys between the small hills that dot the landscape as it's the fastest route through the Sea of Trees.
As we pass by a little hill, the view briefly opens up, allowing me to spot a small mountain to our left, and it makes me curious enough that I summon a small bird, which I tell to keep close to the canopies of the trees to avoid Dragolites.
The bird takes flight and gives me a breathtaking view of the green sea, perhaps the very same one that earned its name, and I wish I could share my senses with the girls as this view is one of a kind. Endless green from the leaves with colored patches here and there along with a constant flickering of gold as the sunlight reflects on the leaves, and the bird even has to fly up and down as if it were swimming across frozen waves.
The bird spots a crack in the treetops, revealing a river nearby, which we avoid due to the likely presence of monsters and dangerous animals who drink from it. Then the bird also spots a small hill far to the south with such a huge tree I can't grasp what its actual size may be. Its leaves are a shade darker than the rest, making it stand out, and it seems to be covered in vines, which must be huge and thick since they're visible from this distance.
My adventuring spirit wakes up from this view. A landmark like this is begging to be explored, and who knows what might be further south from there? The depth that the Sea of Trees has been explored is only puddle deep, so this expedition is already nearing the edge of known territory, but the fact that I've never heard of a tree as huge as this one in the books that I've read about the region is very suspicious.
But we don't have the luxury to make a detour, and even coming this far requires experienced fellowships to deal with the monsters, so the mystery of that tree will remain unexplored.
To the west, in the direction we're marching, we can already see a hint of a snowy mountain range on the horizon, the Rakontagne Mountain Range, and past it is actually Alissa's homeland. It's incredible how close the Misty Low Forest is to Rabanara, but to get there requires a large detour as the Rakontagne is simply impassable except in a single location far to the north.
After a couple of minutes of wonder, I return from my trance and focus on my surroundings again, and I notice that Alissa is smiling at me while walking by my side.
Was I showing a stupid face?
I ignore any embarrassment and happily share my experience with her, "I saw a huge tree through my bird summon. I've never heard of such a tree before, so I'm really curious about it."
She raises her eyebrows in surprise then delicately cautions me, "It might not be the best idea to explore it. Such a conspicuous place could be the home of the forest's guardian."
"Guardian?" I curiously ask.
She smiles softly as she enjoys educating me. "Places with a lot of magic can give birth to intelligent magical beings, and they protect and preserve their home, so it's difficult to believe that a place as big as the Sea of Trees wouldn't have a guardian. In forests, dryads are the most common being who become guardians, and they can be hostile to those who don't know of their customs."
Interesting… though now I'm a little more scared about this expedition.
But my curiosity is still higher than my fear, so I continue, "Could I learn those 'customs' at the university?"
She shrugs softly. "Perhaps. Since the Sea of Trees is right next to Rabanara, it makes sense that they'd teach Nature mages how to safely interact with dryads."
Nice. Maybe one day we'll actually come here again.
--
We maintain our pace, and we eventually get near the river I spotted earlier. Haaran has us divert a little to the north since the scout reports the presence of Giant Dragonflies over there, and there's no need to fight them, to Hana's disappointment.
Then Haaran has us climb a steep hill, and with the tight pace, some hunters start complaining about tiredness, which is understandable since we have a considerable number of mages who are known to have low physical stamina. It actually surprises me that Roxanne isn't part of the complainers, but she does have my [Swift Foot]. Anyway, once we make it to the summit, we're finally allowed to rest as this is a very defensible location.
We make camp and have an early lunch. It's still 9 AM, but an adventurer doesn't always have the luxury of eating when they want, and it's never a good idea to skip a meal. Then the trackers are called for a meeting.
Haaran shows us a map of the surroundings and points out the locations where intelligent goblins were sighted. Taking into consideration the terrain, there are three possible locations for their camp, so the trackers are tasked with investigating them.
Alissa is the fastest of them all due to the size of her fox form, so she'll investigate the second location, which is the furthest, and she'll have to go alone since she has [Hide Presence] while I don't (officially) have it. The idea of not being able to protect her as she goes across the Sea of Trees makes me very nervous, but one of the reasons our fellowship was called here was because of her skills.
"I've traveled across the Misty Low Forest on my own, Master. I'll be fine," she kindly reassures me.
I simply sigh then silently nod in acceptance. She is trained, specifically, in hunting monsters, so I have to at least trust her on this matter.
We tie her bow, quiver, and sword with a belt, which she'll carry in her mouth since she can control her saliva, so it won't get dirty.
Alissa gained 1 level from the Symbol (now 25), and she increased her [Bow Use] by 2 (now 22), her [Hide Presence] by 1(now 4), and her [Quiet Steps] by 1 (now 4) so she still has 4 points left. I put 2 in [Quiet Steps] and 2 in [Hide Presence], making her quite the budding assassin.
--
['Alissa Skill Report']
['Physical']
[Skill Name: Level | Skill Name: Level | Skill Name: Level]
[Sword Use: 0+9 | Bow Use: 0+22 | Parry: 0+4]
[Dodge: 0+2 | Sense Presence: 0+5 | Hide Presence: 2+4]
[Enhanced Olfact: 0+5 | Enhanced Hearing: 0+3 | Pain Resistance: 0+2]
[Hawk Eyes: 0+1 | Muscle Explosion: 0+1 | Quiet Steps: 2+4]
[Quiet Action: 0+2 | Tracking: 0+2]
['Magical']
[Skill Name: Level | Skill Name: Level | Skill Name: Level]
[Sense Mana: 0+1 | Mana Control: 0+1 | Fire Magic: 0+1]
[Light Magic: 0+1 | Space Magic: 0+1 | Conjuring Magic: 0+1]
['Miscellaneous']
[Skill Name: Level | Skill Name: Level | Skill Name: Level]
[Housework: 0+3 | Cooking: 0+2 | Cleaning: 0+2]
[Washing: 0+5 | Riding: 0+2 | Oral Technique: 0+4]
[Hand Technique: 0+2 | Fox Transformation (innate): 0+4]
--
It's all on the trackers, now, so the rest of us can only rest, and I decide to train my dogs by sparring with Hana. While I don't have them bite her enough to hurt, they can still hinder her movements. It does take a bit of effort to fight this way since I can only communicate with voice commands but it's doable, especially if I bring two dogs versus a single opponent. The spell is limited to dogs, though, so no wolves, but a huge Kangal is almost the same thing.
Due to the unusual sight and our unorthodox fighting style, we attract some attention from the other hunters, and their gazes start to feel a little uncomfortable. Adventurers are quite competitive, and while they don't straight-up taunt us, I see in their eyes that they're judging our every move.
But I manage to keep the others out of my mind as I reminisce upon the memories of the dogs that I had back on earth. I had two, one was like a taller corgi who was lazy and liked to be scratched at the base of its tail, while the other was more energetic and looked like an orange beagle who loved belly rubs. They loved playing with each other, and it was the cutest thing ever.
Unfortunately, these summoned dogs don't have personalities, so they're like robots. Maybe I can order them to act cute, but now's not the time for it, not to mention what the other adventurers would say if they saw me playing with the summons.
We don't spar for too long though, as, at 3 PM, Alissa returns. Her beautiful and fluffy fox form breaks me out of my reminiscing as she quickly approaches me, then she turns back into her humanoid form, but the fearful expression she has makes me very concerned.
"Master, this is bad. The camp is a full-blown village."
--
Few monsters naturally work together, and goblins are a kind that do work together sometimes, but most of them simply act like animals who predate upon one another and become frenzied when they meet a human. Once in a while, though, a special kind of monster is born.
The most common type of "special" monsters are the leader-types. They have a natural ability to organize and command a large group of monsters, even those of other species, and the Orc Lord is a prime example of such a monster type. But all monsters can also become breeder-types, which are the nightmare of hunters and the most hated of all kinds because they capture both men and women, break their minds, then use them to breed more, stronger monsters.
Men are used for their sperm and women for their wombs. The bodies and souls of humanoids are naturally stronger than that of monsters, so the monsters born from a humanoid are stronger, bigger, more powerful, and much, much smarter. Humanoid men can be used to impregnate many female monsters, and while the humanoid womb is slower, it can give birth to an even stronger variant.
Monsters grow and mature many times faster than humanoids, so if a breeder-type captures humanoids, in a year or two, depending on the monster race, they might give birth to a whole army, one that could even topple a town. The presence of breeder-types creates a grave emergency that must be dealt with as fast as possible, and no cost is too big when faced with the prospect of annihilation.
A goblin camp doesn't mean that there are breeder-types around, just a leader-type, but breeder monsters attempt to copy humanoid society, so they don't just stop at mud huts. The monsters grow small farms, care for livestock, build houses, weave cloth, smith tools, hug children, and make love at night. They train their guards and soldiers to stand watch and protect their fellows from attack. They sing and dance when they're at peace and curse and fight when attacked. But they still can't change that they're monsters, and they'll continue to grow until one day their leader orders an attack on humanoid civilization. There's no negotiation and no diplomacy because the reason for their existence is to kill humanoids while ours is to survive, so we have no option but to fight back. Such is life here.
But back to the expedition, a "camp" is just a collection of shitty huts where the monsters sleep, a "village" is a small settlement defended by simple walls and fortifications that are constantly manned and on the watch for attackers. Therefore, the difficulty of this request just increased by a few levels.
That's just my luck. Isekai protagonist rotten luck strikes again.
Alissa then reports to Haaran, who immediately gathers the leaders for a strategy meeting. The village is small enough that the monsters can pick their things and disappear in the Sea of Trees if they find out that we know where they live, and we'll only find them again when they have an army ready to march onto the town.
This is a risky situation no matter what we do because if we leave, we risk losing their location, and if we attack, we risk dying since the difficulty is much higher now. Though it's impossible for us to completely fail, at what cost will we succeed? The hunters follow the guild, but they're not sworn to the Lord and the land like the knights are, so we can still retreat and retain our honor.
But Haaran doesn't want to retreat, and neither does Silvane.
"You ain't paying us enough to die," one of the hunters grunts.
The handsome Young Lord stares back at the gruff man, who becomes eerily still, possibly tensing up at the nobleman's piercing eyes. "So it's all about money? I'm the son of the Lord, and Rabanara is rich, so I can easily double your pay. But it's not about money, and you know that. You're just afraid," Haaran taunts with a slow and deliberate tone.
The hunter scowls and grumbles, "Shit, of course, I'm afraid."
"Then say it from the beginning," Haaran barks back.
And the man cringes but doesn't reply.
Then Haaran sweeps the entire table with his stern gaze as he continues, making us shudder, "We're all afraid, all of the time. Just like how the population is afraid, too."
Silvane continues, her gentle tone helping us be at ease after Haaran's intimidation, "If we don't fight here and simply go back, how can we look the townsfolk in the eye and tell them we did our best to protect them after an army of monsters sieges our home?" And the pretty silver elf girl seems to be quite effective at shaming the rough men.
"We're not going to die here, this isn't a suicide attack," Haaran states reassuringly, easing off the intimidation in tandem with Silvane's gentler approach.
And she states the truth out loud, "For the first time since the start of this expedition we're in actual danger, yes, but it's also the same for the town. Everyone is in danger."
Then Haaran's tone becomes stern but inspiring as he speaks with such clarity, such charisma that I even get chills, "These monsters are far too dangerous to be left alive; they must be exterminated. Think of your friends back in Rabanara, your loved ones, and your family. Think of your home…! You may not have sworn to die, but you've sworn to fight! The town and the guild have given you everything you have, and now it's time to give back!"
The hunters uncomfortably shift in their seats as they show a variety of reactions, and it quickly becomes clear that not everyone was so easily convinced, but then we also realize that we've actually come to an impasse. A good number don't want to budge, but they can't find the words to explain themselves, they're simply stubborn and afraid, and their arguments fall flat on their faces.
It's incredible how Haaran's straight truths and Silvane's warmth backed us all into the corner. Either choice we make is justified and also has grave consequences, it's just a matter of what we value more: our lives, or that of an entire town.
I can feel that the scales will tip towards the latter soon, they need just a little push.
As for me, I've already agreed with Haaran. This world won't be kind to me, so I can't be kind to it in return. I have to fight, I have to grow, and I can't back down when things get serious. All things point to me being brought to this world for a stereotypical isekai reason, and my encounter with the Symbol of Hate cemented my belief that trouble will always come my way, so I have to deal with it as it comes.
I also can't simply see these people as NPCs, and I can't see Alissa and Hana as just toys, even if I do occasionally treat them like that. They're a part of this world… and now… so am I.
Then I see in the eyes of the girls that they also want to fight, and even Roxanne seems to want to blow shit up. We're hunters, and we all agree that it is the duty of the hunters, of the strong, to protect the weak.
But I'm the leader, and I'm here to make the rational, sensible decision for the best of all of us. The problem is that there's no simple answer here, and even my pragmatic realism isn't strong enough to go against this "duty."
This is a world where the strong are tasked with protecting the weak. And we are strong. Helios is strong.
I look at Targua, the leader of the aptly named Honest Shield, and the stocky man looks back. I nod, and he stares for a moment, but then he also nods.
We turn to the other hunters and stare until they notice us, then we nod, and they nod back. A silent agreement begins to form, then it slowly spreads around.
One hunter suddenly attempts to encourage the others, "We should fight. Even if we are scared, even if we feel like we're being forced, this is one of the times that we must fight."
His words strike true, causing sighs to be released and heads to be dropped in resignation.
Then I gather the courage to join in, "We should fight."
And the others echo one after another, "We should fight."
