I thought about Silva's story. How did I feel about it? She was a self-proclaimed killer and for good reason, she's killed thirteen people before even being assigned to Fae who had an issue with her killing people in front of her.
But as horrible as this might make me, I couldn't bring myself to judge her that harshly. I wouldn't go so far as to say she was justified in killing those people but at the very least it was understandable. Maybe I wouldn't have felt this way in my old world, or even before... that night with Mark. But what the people from that barony were doing was horrible, systematically tricking people to falling into debt and becoming slaves through it.
I also could hardly believe Baron Norrin Morrister was a saint if part of the reason for saving Silva was as a reward for killing Baron Julian Samlin, even if he was a rival in this world's abolitionist movement. Sure he trained her to be a bodyguard but it would have been a small step from turning her into an assassin, she seemed to have the temperament for it. It wouldn't be an unreasonable leap if he was happy someone murdered a rival.
Things were a little too complex here, a little too grey. Perhaps it's just because this world is a bit more brutal than even my own. These are people who not only have to worry about each other but monsters and dungeons all the time as well. Murder and death is a much more frequent occurrence. From what I can tell, while some monsters act like animals, most actively want to kill you. Unlike my world where the animals might kill you if you mess with them too much.
And not that this is a justification for slavery but I had no idea about the economics of it either. How much of this world's economy hinges on slave labor? Would the economy collapse if slavery were abolished completely or would it be able to withstand losing that labor force? Was there slavery everywhere or just in this country? There are still just too many unknowns for me to deal with right now. I wasn't a moral paragon, being the hypocrite that I am owning three slaves now but if I do want to support any kind of abolitionist movement I need to know more about all of it.
"So?"
I looked up to see Silva with a questioning look on her face.
"So do you trust me more now? I shared my story and you've just sat there quietly ever since I finished."
Bella laughed and smiled warmly. "She does that sometimes, gets lost in thought, thinking about bigger picture things."
I scratched the base of my horn. "I trust you. I was trying to put together how I felt about all of that. And why... you being someone who's killed people bothers me less than I feel like it should."
Silva studied me closely. "People... not nobles?"
I shrugged. "Nobles are people too. I don't particularly differentiate, other than by the individual's actions."
"Huh..." Silva looked at me like I was weird. Perhaps by her standards I am.
Torien smiled. "Yeah, Lilith's weird. She cares about some things way more than most people do, and other things much much less. I've picked up on this but Lilith has hardly any respect for nobles and even gets frustrated when often being compared to one."
I furrowed my brow. "Do I really give off the impression that I don't respect them?"
Torien looked at me flatly. "Yes. If it wasn't obvious by other things you've said, the fact that you just called the nobles a 'them' speaks more than you would think."
"Right..." I didn't really know how to respond.
Silva laughed. "Well, that makes things easier for me."
Morrigan set her own bowl aside. "Most people revere nobles and do whatever they can to gain their favor. To most people, being hired by a noble is a ticket into a more comfortable life. They wouldn't dream of being disrespectful to a noble, even when there isn't one present, that way there wouldn't be any chance of offending one. While you haven't said anything... blatant about what you think of nobles, you noticeably speak about them without the 'proper' respect. Especially when compared to one yourself."
I frowned. "That sounds like it could cause problems. I might have to ask you to help me with that."
Morrigan looked excited. "Sure! But... perhaps later." She glanced at Silva.
Silva looked back and forth between the two of us. "Do you really not know anything about nobles in this country? I didn't think you were a foreigner, you don't have any kind of accent."
Torien laughed. "You don't know the half of it."
Silva quirked an eyebrow at that. Thinking about it I probably should tell her about myself more. Things will get complicated and confusing if I'm always asking questions in front of her. Perhaps saying I'm a world traveler but leaving out the Origin part is for the best at the moment. Baby steps.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "So here's the thing. When you say I'm a foreigner, that couldn't be more correct. I'm a [World Traveler] and I've only been here for about a month. A bit less even because of some dungeon things that happened. My [World Traveler] title actually translates everything I speak to whatever language the person I'm talking to is speaking. I have a separate title that lets me read and write anything I can speak."
She scoffs. "That's unfair, I still don't know how to read."
Torien perks up. "I can teach you. If you want to learn of course." Morrigan looked at her sister as if she said something crazy.
I nodded. "That might be a good idea. But back on topic, because of this there are huge gaps in my knowledge. There are things that I simply know nothing about. Where I came from there was no monsters, no classes, no magic. I'm only able to remember bits and pieces of my own past, most of the information I have is just what my world was like, some history, and things like that."
Silva looked me up and down. "You've only been here less than a month? How did you get so high leveled? You're the highest level in your group by a decent amount, nearly the same level as I am."
"Well, things haven't exactly been easy since I've gotten here but I have a... quirk of my abilities that give me quite the boost in experience." I made eye contact with Bella for a moment and felt an wordless acknowledgement to keep our race secret for the moment. I could tell Torien and Morrigan caught on immediately as well.
"Still, that's quite impressive," she said with a nod.
"So that's what I'm willing to say about myself for the moment. I might tell you a little more about everything as time goes on but this whole situation was kind of a... last minute decision on my part. I talked about it with everyone beforehand but I make the final call in the moment after what happened."
Silva glanced around the room. "And everyone was okay with welcoming me into the group?"
I nodded and looked around to confirm. "Everyone responded positively. I jumped the gun a bit in the end but everyone said it would be a good idea before I did it."
The rabbitgirl looked around the room and smiled probably the most genuine smile I had seen on her yet. "Thanks guys... I'm glad that you seem to like me so much."
"So, any questions for us?" I asked.
"Sure." Silva looked around. "Which one is your girlfriend?" she asked with a smile.
"We're all friends!" Mimi said excitedly causing me to face palm.
I cleared my throat. "Mimi, she means lovers. I uhm. Bella, Morrigan, and Mimi."
Silva looked around with a surprised look to the room of blushing girls. "All three?"
She looked over at Torien and winked. "That means you're available then?" Causing Torien to blush brighter than I had ever seen her. The confident catgirl I was used to seeing completely shut down and stared at the ground.
I laughed, not used to seeing Torien embarrassed like this. I suppose I've never seen anyone flirt with her before either though.
"So... how's that work anyway? I've never heard of like... a whole group all being together like that."
Bella smiled. "We share, take turns." She looked over at Morrigan. "Help each other when we need it." Then she looked at me. "But of course, we probably wouldn't have this arrangement if it wasn't for Lilith. It was her idea to all love each other as a group, rather than... a different arrangement."
Silva quirked her eyebrow at that. "Does that mean me joining one or all of you... isn't off the table then?"
"That's something we can certainly consider, as long as everyone in our group is okay with the arrangement," I said looking around at my girlfriends. "Probably not tonight though," I quickly added. "This probably isn't something we should just jump into and I think all of us... have a lot of things to process about what we've talked about."
"Right," Silva replied with a nod. "So back on more... practical things. I should probably know how all of you fight and how you expect me to fight. I don't even know all of your classes."
I nodded. "Right, well first off. I have a hybrid build between sword fighting and magic. I mainly use a two-handed claymore or a one handed longsword. Though currently..." I looked over at Mimi. "My sword sheathe has been filled with Mimi. How was it when I used your sword form against that Featherjack?"
"It was a lot less scary than I thought it would be to be used as a weapon. Though I don't know how I would feel fighting against another sword or metal."
"So... Mimi can turn into a sword then? And this is her normal form?" Silva asked.
"Oh no! I can turn into lots of things!" Mimi then stepped off her bed and turned into a familiar candelabra. "See!"
"That's... something. A shapeshifter? No wonder you keep her a secret. Are you sure she's not a demon?"
I spoke seriously. "I know for sure Mimi is not a demon. In fact, all of us except for Mimi have the [Demon Hunter] title.
Silva's eyes flickered back and forth between each of us. "Well, that's one less thing to worry about I suppose. Not that everyone will be happy with you running around with a shapeshifting intelligent monster all the same."
Mimi shifted back to her normal form and sat on the bed next to me. "But... I'm not a monster am I?" she asked turning to me.
"Hmm... Technically you're not. You're a, well, you're like me. Lets leave it at that."
"Uh huh..." Silva said looking between the two of us. "I suppose I see some things in common but you two don't look like the same thing at all. Wait, does that mean you can shapeshift too?" she asked.
"In a much more limited form, but yes," I answered. I held out my hand and used [Succubus Shifting] to change the color of my fur to bright pink up to my elbow. "It uses Mana but I can maintain at least minor changes."
She looked at my arm with fascination. "What else can you do with it?"
"Hmmm..." I hadn't experimented with it too much yet, I wasn't sure how much I could actually change. "Let me see." I used the ability to remove my horns, leaving me with a hornless sheep head.
"Woah." Bella looked at me with unease. "That looks weird. I don't like it."
"Wait! Let me touch." Silva got up and cautiously stuck her hand through where the horn would be. "Woah, that's freaky. It's really gone."
Once she backed off I reverted my head to its normal form to the relief of Bella, she was oddly a lot more turned off by it than I would expect. I guess Bella likes me horny. I cringed a little at my bad pun.
Silva scanned down my body until she stopped at my crotch. "So like... can it..."
"Yes." I already knew exactly what she was getting at so I just answered honestly.
She gulped. "Good to know..."
Saine
Hello! This chapter was mostly some resolution for last chapter. Seems everyone really liked it! I'm glad, I'm pretty proud of how it turned out. Next chapter we get some more lore and character development, stay tuned for that!
Here's a link to the community Discord: https://discord.gg/XsNwYuZp6s
If you would like to support my writing on Patreon, you can read up to 10 chapters ahead there!
Please leave a favorite so I can get my story in front of more eyeballs! I would greatly appreciate it!
I thought about Silva's story. How did I feel about it? She was a self-proclaimed killer and for good reason, she's killed thirteen people before even being assigned to Fae who had an issue with her killing people in front of her.
But as horrible as this might make me, I couldn't bring myself to judge her that harshly. I wouldn't go so far as to say she was justified in killing those people but at the very least it was understandable. Maybe I wouldn't have felt this way in my old world, or even before... that night with Mark. But what the people from that barony were doing was horrible, systematically tricking people to falling into debt and becoming slaves through it.
I also could hardly believe Baron Norrin Morrister was a saint if part of the reason for saving Silva was as a reward for killing Baron Julian Samlin, even if he was a rival in this world's abolitionist movement. Sure he trained her to be a bodyguard but it would have been a small step from turning her into an assassin, she seemed to have the temperament for it. It wouldn't be an unreasonable leap if he was happy someone murdered a rival.
Things were a little too complex here, a little too grey. Perhaps it's just because this world is a bit more brutal than even my own. These are people who not only have to worry about each other but monsters and dungeons all the time as well. Murder and death is a much more frequent occurrence. From what I can tell, while some monsters act like animals, most actively want to kill you. Unlike my world where the animals might kill you if you mess with them too much.
And not that this is a justification for slavery but I had no idea about the economics of it either. How much of this world's economy hinges on slave labor? Would the economy collapse if slavery were abolished completely or would it be able to withstand losing that labor force? Was there slavery everywhere or just in this country? There are still just too many unknowns for me to deal with right now. I wasn't a moral paragon, being the hypocrite that I am owning three slaves now but if I do want to support any kind of abolitionist movement I need to know more about all of it.
"So?"
I looked up to see Silva with a questioning look on her face.
"So do you trust me more now? I shared my story and you've just sat there quietly ever since I finished."
Bella laughed and smiled warmly. "She does that sometimes, gets lost in thought, thinking about bigger picture things."
I scratched the base of my horn. "I trust you. I was trying to put together how I felt about all of that. And why... you being someone who's killed people bothers me less than I feel like it should."
Silva studied me closely. "People... not nobles?"
I shrugged. "Nobles are people too. I don't particularly differentiate, other than by the individual's actions."
"Huh..." Silva looked at me like I was weird. Perhaps by her standards I am.
Torien smiled. "Yeah, Lilith's weird. She cares about some things way more than most people do, and other things much much less. I've picked up on this but Lilith has hardly any respect for nobles and even gets frustrated when often being compared to one."
I furrowed my brow. "Do I really give off the impression that I don't respect them?"
Torien looked at me flatly. "Yes. If it wasn't obvious by other things you've said, the fact that you just called the nobles a 'them' speaks more than you would think."
"Right..." I didn't really know how to respond.
Silva laughed. "Well, that makes things easier for me."
Morrigan set her own bowl aside. "Most people revere nobles and do whatever they can to gain their favor. To most people, being hired by a noble is a ticket into a more comfortable life. They wouldn't dream of being disrespectful to a noble, even when there isn't one present, that way there wouldn't be any chance of offending one. While you haven't said anything... blatant about what you think of nobles, you noticeably speak about them without the 'proper' respect. Especially when compared to one yourself."
I frowned. "That sounds like it could cause problems. I might have to ask you to help me with that."
Morrigan looked excited. "Sure! But... perhaps later." She glanced at Silva.
Silva looked back and forth between the two of us. "Do you really not know anything about nobles in this country? I didn't think you were a foreigner, you don't have any kind of accent."
Torien laughed. "You don't know the half of it."
Silva quirked an eyebrow at that. Thinking about it I probably should tell her about myself more. Things will get complicated and confusing if I'm always asking questions in front of her. Perhaps saying I'm a world traveler but leaving out the Origin part is for the best at the moment. Baby steps.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "So here's the thing. When you say I'm a foreigner, that couldn't be more correct. I'm a [World Traveler] and I've only been here for about a month. A bit less even because of some dungeon things that happened. My [World Traveler] title actually translates everything I speak to whatever language the person I'm talking to is speaking. I have a separate title that lets me read and write anything I can speak."
She scoffs. "That's unfair, I still don't know how to read."
Torien perks up. "I can teach you. If you want to learn of course." Morrigan looked at her sister as if she said something crazy.
I nodded. "That might be a good idea. But back on topic, because of this there are huge gaps in my knowledge. There are things that I simply know nothing about. Where I came from there was no monsters, no classes, no magic. I'm only able to remember bits and pieces of my own past, most of the information I have is just what my world was like, some history, and things like that."
Silva looked me up and down. "You've only been here less than a month? How did you get so high leveled? You're the highest level in your group by a decent amount, nearly the same level as I am."
"Well, things haven't exactly been easy since I've gotten here but I have a... quirk of my abilities that give me quite the boost in experience." I made eye contact with Bella for a moment and felt an wordless acknowledgement to keep our race secret for the moment. I could tell Torien and Morrigan caught on immediately as well.
"Still, that's quite impressive," she said with a nod.
"So that's what I'm willing to say about myself for the moment. I might tell you a little more about everything as time goes on but this whole situation was kind of a... last minute decision on my part. I talked about it with everyone beforehand but I make the final call in the moment after what happened."
Silva glanced around the room. "And everyone was okay with welcoming me into the group?"
I nodded and looked around to confirm. "Everyone responded positively. I jumped the gun a bit in the end but everyone said it would be a good idea before I did it."
The rabbitgirl looked around the room and smiled probably the most genuine smile I had seen on her yet. "Thanks guys... I'm glad that you seem to like me so much."
"So, any questions for us?" I asked.
"Sure." Silva looked around. "Which one is your girlfriend?" she asked with a smile.
"We're all friends!" Mimi said excitedly causing me to face palm.
I cleared my throat. "Mimi, she means lovers. I uhm. Bella, Morrigan, and Mimi."
Silva looked around with a surprised look to the room of blushing girls. "All three?"
She looked over at Torien and winked. "That means you're available then?" Causing Torien to blush brighter than I had ever seen her. The confident catgirl I was used to seeing completely shut down and stared at the ground.
I laughed, not used to seeing Torien embarrassed like this. I suppose I've never seen anyone flirt with her before either though.
"So... how's that work anyway? I've never heard of like... a whole group all being together like that."
Bella smiled. "We share, take turns." She looked over at Morrigan. "Help each other when we need it." Then she looked at me. "But of course, we probably wouldn't have this arrangement if it wasn't for Lilith. It was her idea to all love each other as a group, rather than... a different arrangement."
Silva quirked her eyebrow at that. "Does that mean me joining one or all of you... isn't off the table then?"
"That's something we can certainly consider, as long as everyone in our group is okay with the arrangement," I said looking around at my girlfriends. "Probably not tonight though," I quickly added. "This probably isn't something we should just jump into and I think all of us... have a lot of things to process about what we've talked about."
"Right," Silva replied with a nod. "So back on more... practical things. I should probably know how all of you fight and how you expect me to fight. I don't even know all of your classes."
I nodded. "Right, well first off. I have a hybrid build between sword fighting and magic. I mainly use a two-handed claymore or a one handed longsword. Though currently..." I looked over at Mimi. "My sword sheathe has been filled with Mimi. How was it when I used your sword form against that Featherjack?"
"It was a lot less scary than I thought it would be to be used as a weapon. Though I don't know how I would feel fighting against another sword or metal."
"So... Mimi can turn into a sword then? And this is her normal form?" Silva asked.
"Oh no! I can turn into lots of things!" Mimi then stepped off her bed and turned into a familiar candelabra. "See!"
"That's... something. A shapeshifter? No wonder you keep her a secret. Are you sure she's not a demon?"
I spoke seriously. "I know for sure Mimi is not a demon. In fact, all of us except for Mimi have the [Demon Hunter] title.
Silva's eyes flickered back and forth between each of us. "Well, that's one less thing to worry about I suppose. Not that everyone will be happy with you running around with a shapeshifting intelligent monster all the same."
Mimi shifted back to her normal form and sat on the bed next to me. "But... I'm not a monster am I?" she asked turning to me.
"Hmm... Technically you're not. You're a, well, you're like me. Lets leave it at that."
"Uh huh..." Silva said looking between the two of us. "I suppose I see some things in common but you two don't look like the same thing at all. Wait, does that mean you can shapeshift too?" she asked.
"In a much more limited form, but yes," I answered. I held out my hand and used [Succubus Shifting] to change the color of my fur to bright pink up to my elbow. "It uses Mana but I can maintain at least minor changes."
She looked at my arm with fascination. "What else can you do with it?"
"Hmmm..." I hadn't experimented with it too much yet, I wasn't sure how much I could actually change. "Let me see." I used the ability to remove my horns, leaving me with a hornless sheep head.
"Woah." Bella looked at me with unease. "That looks weird. I don't like it."
"Wait! Let me touch." Silva got up and cautiously stuck her hand through where the horn would be. "Woah, that's freaky. It's really gone."
Once she backed off I reverted my head to its normal form to the relief of Bella, she was oddly a lot more turned off by it than I would expect. I guess Bella likes me horny. I cringed a little at my bad pun.
Silva scanned down my body until she stopped at my crotch. "So like... can it..."
"Yes." I already knew exactly what she was getting at so I just answered honestly.
She gulped. "Good to know..."
Saine
Hello! This chapter was mostly some resolution for last chapter. Seems everyone really liked it! I'm glad, I'm pretty proud of how it turned out. Next chapter we get some more lore and character development, stay tuned for that!
Here's a link to the community Discord: https://discord.gg/XsNwYuZp6s
If you would like to support my writing on Patreon, you can read up to 10 chapters ahead there!
Please leave a favorite so I can get my story in front of more eyeballs! I would greatly appreciate it!
