On the Chesa front, things are going well.
Seeing that the sermon is over, Human-Aoi turns to the quiet mer beauty and calmly resumes their previous conversation, "Can you sense the 'lines'? Once the clouds form, I sense many little 'lines' appearing under them, and they continue to appear further down until they touch the ground. Then they start to 'align,' and once a 'path' is formed, the lightning follows it and strikes down."
Chesa's head-tail wiggles adorably as she becomes thoughtful, and the way she narrows her eyes makes her look unintentionally sexy, but Roxanne is sure that the young woman has no idea how to use her womanly assets. "I… I think I can sense something like that, yes. It's like there are little 'hairs' poking out of my cloud, and just before the lightning strikes, a strand grows thick and long where it's going to fall."
And now Aoi mimics a certain angel's tone as she scholarly lectures, "The 'lines' are the basis of [Electric Magic]. The mages also call it 'paths,' and they 'help things go through it,' like making you faster with [Rush]. That's also how you aim [Lightning Bolt]; you control the 'lines.'" But because of Aoi's extremely slender and feminine appearance, her voice triggers the onee-san fetishist within me.
"I know [Lightning Bolt], but I've never sensed those 'lines,'" the mer beauty confusedly replies.
Me neither, and I actually studied [Electric Magic] back in Rabanara.
The draconic beauty smiles warmly at her like an older sister, and since both women have an exotic type of allure, they do pair quite well. "You're like Wolfy, you're good with the theory because of Earthling science, but you're bad with abstract concepts like 'lines.'"
This knowledge is what gave me easy free levels with magic, so it isn't all bad.
"That makes sense. Magic is supposed to take years, but we all easily gained a bunch of levels in just a year," Chesa casually replies.
See?
Aoi nods slowly, then pushes her silky smooth, dark blue hair behind her ears in a surprisingly sexy move. "Well, I think I'm also not that good with abstract magic since my flames still can't burn metal, but I do think that you should focus on those 'hairs.' If you can sense them, you can manipulate them."
But the dainty mer girl girlishly frowns. "Really? I don't like them; they feel creepy."
"You're the ones who call them 'hairs.' For me, they're just 'lines,'" the draconic woman replies with a shrug.
And it takes a bit of pushing until Chesa finally accepts Aoi's suggestion.
After another lively and reinvigorating meal, we practice fighting together against the Companions.
But once again, there's an immediate problem: where should we position The Four?
The girls all have extreme mobility and situational awareness thanks to [Bind]'s sense sharing and summon function, not to mention that the suits of Bastión armor make them impervious to anything short of a Lord-killer level of attack. The Four have incredible suits of enchanted armor, too, but ours are fit for wealthy Kings and hand-made by a fucking God-Ruler himself, so they're obviously better.
Even if we forcefully insert The Four into our formation, they just don't fit in it. The wives and I are like a well-oiled machine, so it's like having to wear ill-fitted shoes, constantly hurting your feet.
If it wasn't for the Gods literally putting the feeling directly into our brains that we must work together, we wouldn't even be trying this.
I mean, we can work together, but I feel like "just" working together won't cut it. If we don't somehow reach an Avengers level of teamwork, this will just make it harder for the wives and me to achieve our Gestalt.
After a few sessions, I decide to stop and declare, "You know what? I'm not comfortable with our teamwork."
"What? It's fine?" Lily grunts confusedly and rests her sparring hammer on her shoulder.
"Not really. Watch this," I immediately reply, then I just sync everyone's movements through [Bind], and we all do perfect practice swings with our sparring weapons. "Our teamwork will never become like this."
"What the fuck is wrong with all of you? It's like you're puppets," Samkelo states, sounding creeped out. Then I have us all jerk our heads towards him just to fuck with him further, and he even jumps in surprise. "Eish…! Jou ma se poes!" he angrily shouts in what I assume is his native language.
"Did you turn your wives into puppets, Wolfy?" Lily sternly questions as she stares intensely.
Uuhh~… I can't really deny that one, can I?
I just dodge it completely as I composedly explain, "Telepathy. We have telepathy, giving us perfect teamwork, but fighting alongside you four feels awkward."
"Don't you have soldiers and other people that fight by your side?" Lily questions further, still skeptical.
"Yeah, but they fight to support us. There's nobody that fights alongside us, like what we're trying to do here." And this one is actually true, so it isn't just us being fussy.
"Sounds like whining to me," the gnome boy-not-boy replies like someone truly ignorant of tactics.
"No, I feel like there's something weird," U Thant surprisingly sides with us.
"Mages can just stay in place, behind the melee, so you wouldn't notice it," Roxanne explains to the gnome, and he actually listens to her since they're both mages.
Then Oritiki steps forward and politely joins in, "Your Highnesses, you work like a single unit, correct? It might be better for the other Earthlings to fight around you, or maybe you could fight around them since you're more mobile. That's what the [Tiretiera Maire Style] would instruct us to do when we were fighting alongside our Divines."
Ciel then "accesses" the skill since she has a few points in it already, and it actually gives her some hints on how to fight like that. Since she knows almost zero theory about the skill, all she gets are gut feelings and muscle memory, but it's still enough once you know the general idea of what it's trying to get you to do.
And that's enough to give us an idea, so I start to deliberate, "Lily as the 'anchor,' U Thant behind her as the 'finisher,' the other two further back, and my wives and I between both groups."
"I fight beside Lily," the cat corrects, his pride slighted by the idea of having to stay behind the loli.
But Hana straightens him out, "You have range. If you learn how to better bend your light weapons, then you can just stay behind her while we cover the flanks."
"I'll be your bodyguard, kitten," Lily cheekily pokes his pride, immediately catching on to his insecurity.
Before he can start to whine, Roxanne moves on to let him stew in embarrassment, "Who's the better anchor, though? Hana can handle a dragon charge head-on."
"She can also fly, so it's more efficient to allow her to move freely," Yunia points out.
And I'm feeling like tonguing Lily, so I start some banter, "She also has that 'larper' hammer of hers."
"It's an Artifact," the bitchy loli blurts out, which was a mistake, as that shows a weakness that can be exploited.
"I bet you named it 'Mjolnir,' you Marvel-baby," I tease her as I sassily put my clawed hands on my waist and (literally) look down on her.
"Me-… Meow-nir?" Alissa attempts to repeat the name and cutely tilts her head, making such an adorable sound that I feel my Cock twitch.
"You're the one who actually named yourself 'Wolf Ryder'!" Lily angrily retorts, and now I'm certain I got a finger up her butt hole.
I boldly face the endless well of anger behind her eyes and strike again, "And you're the geek obsessed with berzerking and big, stupid weapons. You even had a loli-succubus avatar."
"In-game, not in real life!" she tries to correct me, as she has no real comeback.
So I make her choke on my finisher, "You're getting awfully mad about a little joke."
"It's because you're such an insufferable person," she unhesitatingly bites back. This is just a canned response, so it seals my victory in this banter duel.
"Now's not the time for this rom-com," Samkelo carefully pokes the mad loli beast.
But I won't let her switch targets to him, so I promptly nod and calmly poke Lily again, "Very well. Do you think you can stop a dragon's charge with your 'Meow-Meow'?"
She narrows her eyes at me and glares for a second, but she definitely can't try to correct me, as she'd be showing another weakness, so she just covers the well of anger again and impassively replies, "Yes, I can, but the problem is that I'm light as a feather. I still haven't learned how to create those 'rock boots' that would keep me glued to the ground like your child-wife can."
"It's been a year. How have you not learned that?" I question sternly just because she called Lina a "child."
"I'm not that good with magic," she dismissively replies with a rather cute pout.
I want to say, "you're a failure as a dwarf," but that might be a bit too rude. This isn't an avatar she chose to roleplay as; she is a dwarf.
Then everyone but Lily slowly turns their head towards the quiet, gloomy little girl, who really doesn't like this idea. If it was Yunia in this situation, she'd find a way to brag and bully Lily, but Lina's too introverted for that, so teaching Lily actually has zero pros and only cons for her.
"I'll do it…" she quietly accepts because she's a good, good girl.
We eventually progress to sparring against the Horns, and it provides quite a challenge for us, but that's mostly because we have to hold back on our Gifts. It's also a good observation exercise for the Companions as the Horns display the pinnacle of teamwork, which is the envy of any soldier.
It does feel better to fight in this new formation than the one before. Hana is a bit sad that she isn't the anchor anymore, but now she has more freedom to be a bruiser and wreck shit up, the dream of every dragonkin. We also aren't going to fight alongside The Four forever, so this arrangement is only for when we're questing together.
And when we take a break to rest, Alcander approaches our group. His gaze flies between Yunia and me as he seemingly doesn't know who to speak to, so I just stare at him because I'm feeling more talkative than Yunia.
The mature imperial man lowers his head respectfully and then promptly begins his question, "Your Highness, have you come up with a plan to get through that fortress?"
I shrug and answer noncommittally, "Somewhat. I need to see it with my own eyes before I can come up with anything concrete." Then I give him a raised eyebrow. "But I wonder why you're curious about this."
He flashes a proud smirk before becoming stoic again. "I merely wish to brag to Silvano that I broke through a fortress while he was forced to stay behind and train."
And I chuckle softly. "'Broke through'? Well, I guess there is a chance we'll do just that."
He smirks again, and this time there's a fire in his eyes that I know very well. It's the heat of a blazing heart, eager for great deeds. "It sounds like the perfect opportunity for Your Highness to use your cannons, and I believe you wouldn't so easily discard such an opportunity."
Oh, yeah… now we're talking.
I smirk back as the flame also takes hold of me, then I heatedly reply, "You know me well. I'm gonna wreck that shit."
The dignified imperial nods in understanding and then nostalgically shares, "I'm eager to see that. Part of the reason I chose [Space Magic] was so that I could personally launch ballistae bolts or trebuchet boulders."
"Ah, a fellow man of destruction," I calmly hum and nod repeatedly.
"My wives say it's childish," he wryly replies.
And I glance at the wives, who try to hide their smirks, except Ciel, who smiles warmly. Then I move to stand beside him and pat his back as I passionately declare, "So do mine, but they don't understand the romance in conquering an impregnable fortress, of exceeding your own limits and achieving great deeds."
But he just stays silent as he nods along, staring at me impassively.
"What?" I grunt confusedly.
And he suddenly jumps in place, then glances away in embarrassment. "No, I-… I was just expecting a sexual analogy."
I want to retort, but… yeah, that's fair.
So I just sigh and say the thing, "Well… the pleasure in destroying something as impressive as a fortress is comparable to defiling a beautiful woman by covering her face with my seed."
He hums loudly in agreement, but then he becomes awkward at the depravity that surrounds my family and how he has now come to expect it. "Ah, yes! That seems… well, fitting."
This won't do, so I give him a middle-of-the-road option, "If you want something less filthy, conquering a fortress is just like conquering a woman's heart."
He clears his throat and earnestly engages with it to quickly leave the depravity behind, "Ah, yes! Now that's relatable to me. Romancing both my wives at the same time might've been the hardest task I've ever had… so far." Then he gives me a pointed look.
"I love your attitude," I casually hum back.
Now he finally returns to normal and replies in kind, "I'm just eager to boisterously retell this adventure to Silvano."
I give him a wry glance. "You two have quite a nice friendship."
"No, it's strictly a rivalry," he promptly states.
"Mm-hm…" I sassily hum as I stare intensely.
But he doesn't budge. "I won't comment further."
And with all of the wives focusing on the training, I actually have a bit of freedom to tune it all out and let them control my body for a while. This allows me to pay attention to Osaria's summoned bird, and I'm glad that I can because there are some interesting things going on.
She's been meeting with each of our Subordinate Lords, and most give her a quick tour of their territory while sharing their situation. The Root Lords still worship us, especially now that the Bark Shield Wall Project for the villages is actually starting. This will make their lives a lot easier, so of course, it'd make us popular; it's just that none of the previous Lords needed the support of the Root Lords, so these lower nobles mostly went ignored.
One of them even offers herself to us as payment for this "gift."
But my curvilicious milf soberly corrects her, "It isn't a 'gift.' Consider it a return for the taxes you pay. If you keep accurate records of the population of your village and tax them accordingly, more benefits might follow."
Of course, anyone would tense up at the mention of taxes, but villages pay little in the form of taxes to foster their growth, so this is just to force them to maintain high bureaucratic standards.
"The 'Royal Doctors' are also part of these 'benefits,' correct?" the Root Lord carefully questions. She's a rugged golden elven milf, which I find doubly sexy lately due to my growing taste for strong women.
And Osaria calmly explains, "They aren't directly tied to the Royals. They're part of the 'healthcare program,' which makes them more akin to government clerks." Then her eyes suddenly turn sharp and seductive. "But if you want to offer your body to the Royals, I must first… inspect what you have to give."
The Lord doesn't seem fazed one bit as she calmly answers, "I favor men, but I'm ready to entertain women too if that's requested."
Then my naughty milf glances at the bird, and her breath suddenly becomes heavy. I even see a bit of hesitation in her body language as my "training" kicks in, making her think twice before stealing pussy that belongs to me.
"You're not a virgin, correct?" the stubborn sexual predator prudently asks.
And the golden milf nods. "I've never been with another woman, but I used to be an adventurer… and I comforted the men of my former fellowship."
Ah, a fellow True Noble.
But this is enough for Osaria as her red eyes fall upon the golden milf's modest cleavage. "Then I shall have a brief taste of your body, and let's hope that His Highness is watching through this summoned bird."
Okay, that's acceptable. I'll let her have this much.
And this goes well with my recent appetite for rugged women, for this Root Lord is a slightly more mature version of a Companion.
I watch them kiss, their lips sealing and unsealing repeatedly, giving brief glimpses of their tongues as they slowly wrestle. The Lord takes charge, pulling my elven milf into a tight hug and penetrating the other woman with her strong, dexterous tongue. It's a beautiful pairing, though it requires a Cock for it to be fully complete.
Then the golden milf goes for Osaria's tits and even sneaks a slender finger under her not-bikini-bottoms, quickly drawing pleased moans from the insatiable milf. The Lord even seems to get into it, emboldened by the lewd sounds of approval, but Osaria actually finds it within herself to stop things before they escalate to the point of no return.
She dries her lips and quickly recomposes herself, then happily gives her decision and follows up with sober advice, "You have my approval; I'm sure His Highness would love to welcome you into their bed, but keep in mind not to overstay your welcome. You're offering your body, not selling it."
The golden beauty calmly nods in understanding and impassively confesses, "I understand His Highness is constantly hounded by women looking to take advantage of his hunger. I can't say I'm not completely unlike them, but I'm happy to just be embraced once."
Oh, boy.
As for the Heart Lords, I find their behavior quite peculiar.
"There's nothing to report, Lady Este," they all reply with perfect politeness and impassiveness.
But daddy Ira Saponaria breaks from the pattern, "Nothing but whispers, Lady Osaria."
"Whispers about what?" our Diplomat replies, her tone so serious it's like she's a completely different woman.
And the square-faced, Ron-Swanson-looking elf shares a look with his wife, who gives the subtlest of nods.
His mustache twitches as he breathes in. Then he slowly answers, deliberately choosing each word to not say something careless, "The Circles of Magi and merchant companies have been bad-mouthing the Royals at social gatherings. Nothing blatant or truly offensive, but it's still a bad omen."
Osaria hums in understanding, "Yes, I've seen this before. They're using silent calls to search for like-minded people."
This is just the elven way to sow dissent. They're rarely straight-up confrontational, but they have a thing for plotting in secret, and sometimes they choose one of their own to risk themselves and do something more visible, like how Lord Ira was chosen to challenge us during the Reniandisabis of our Lordship Ceremony.
His wife then somberly follows up, "And the scoundrels are listening. Disreputable individuals have been appearing more often in public."
"Scoundrels"? Does she mean that criminals are getting involved?
"Who has been meeting with them?" Osaria immediately inquires further.
And Ira surprises us by giving a straight answer, "The landless nobles. I'm closely watching the comings and goings of my Nobles' Quarter, but they can just convene in secret after establishing a relationship."
"Perhaps not everyone in the Thieves' Guild has taken heed of our warning?" Alissa speculates through [Bind].
"Heretic's Rest is also crawling with criminals," Yunia grimly adds.
It'd be a bit bad if all of our enemies started working together.
We need to expand our spy network.
Confiel could know something since he also has his own spies, but I have a feeling that these whispers are concentrated in our side of the High Forest.
Still, let's not forget that it's Ira, of all people, who has given us this advice. This has definitely shown him to be somewhat trustworthy, or at least more trustworthy than the other Heart Lords, who've all remained silent.
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On the Chesa front, things are going well.
Seeing that the sermon is over, Human-Aoi turns to the quiet mer beauty and calmly resumes their previous conversation, "Can you sense the 'lines'? Once the clouds form, I sense many little 'lines' appearing under them, and they continue to appear further down until they touch the ground. Then they start to 'align,' and once a 'path' is formed, the lightning follows it and strikes down."
Chesa's head-tail wiggles adorably as she becomes thoughtful, and the way she narrows her eyes makes her look unintentionally sexy, but Roxanne is sure that the young woman has no idea how to use her womanly assets. "I… I think I can sense something like that, yes. It's like there are little 'hairs' poking out of my cloud, and just before the lightning strikes, a strand grows thick and long where it's going to fall."
And now Aoi mimics a certain angel's tone as she scholarly lectures, "The 'lines' are the basis of [Electric Magic]. The mages also call it 'paths,' and they 'help things go through it,' like making you faster with [Rush]. That's also how you aim [Lightning Bolt]; you control the 'lines.'" But because of Aoi's extremely slender and feminine appearance, her voice triggers the onee-san fetishist within me.
"I know [Lightning Bolt], but I've never sensed those 'lines,'" the mer beauty confusedly replies.
Me neither, and I actually studied [Electric Magic] back in Rabanara.
The draconic beauty smiles warmly at her like an older sister, and since both women have an exotic type of allure, they do pair quite well. "You're like Wolfy, you're good with the theory because of Earthling science, but you're bad with abstract concepts like 'lines.'"
This knowledge is what gave me easy free levels with magic, so it isn't all bad.
"That makes sense. Magic is supposed to take years, but we all easily gained a bunch of levels in just a year," Chesa casually replies.
See?
Aoi nods slowly, then pushes her silky smooth, dark blue hair behind her ears in a surprisingly sexy move. "Well, I think I'm also not that good with abstract magic since my flames still can't burn metal, but I do think that you should focus on those 'hairs.' If you can sense them, you can manipulate them."
But the dainty mer girl girlishly frowns. "Really? I don't like them; they feel creepy."
"You're the ones who call them 'hairs.' For me, they're just 'lines,'" the draconic woman replies with a shrug.
And it takes a bit of pushing until Chesa finally accepts Aoi's suggestion.
After another lively and reinvigorating meal, we practice fighting together against the Companions.
But once again, there's an immediate problem: where should we position The Four?
The girls all have extreme mobility and situational awareness thanks to [Bind]'s sense sharing and summon function, not to mention that the suits of Bastión armor make them impervious to anything short of a Lord-killer level of attack. The Four have incredible suits of enchanted armor, too, but ours are fit for wealthy Kings and hand-made by a fucking God-Ruler himself, so they're obviously better.
Even if we forcefully insert The Four into our formation, they just don't fit in it. The wives and I are like a well-oiled machine, so it's like having to wear ill-fitted shoes, constantly hurting your feet.
If it wasn't for the Gods literally putting the feeling directly into our brains that we must work together, we wouldn't even be trying this.
I mean, we can work together, but I feel like "just" working together won't cut it. If we don't somehow reach an Avengers level of teamwork, this will just make it harder for the wives and me to achieve our Gestalt.
After a few sessions, I decide to stop and declare, "You know what? I'm not comfortable with our teamwork."
"What? It's fine?" Lily grunts confusedly and rests her sparring hammer on her shoulder.
"Not really. Watch this," I immediately reply, then I just sync everyone's movements through [Bind], and we all do perfect practice swings with our sparring weapons. "Our teamwork will never become like this."
"What the fuck is wrong with all of you? It's like you're puppets," Samkelo states, sounding creeped out. Then I have us all jerk our heads towards him just to fuck with him further, and he even jumps in surprise. "Eish…! Jou ma se poes!" he angrily shouts in what I assume is his native language.
"Did you turn your wives into puppets, Wolfy?" Lily sternly questions as she stares intensely.
Uuhh~… I can't really deny that one, can I?
I just dodge it completely as I composedly explain, "Telepathy. We have telepathy, giving us perfect teamwork, but fighting alongside you four feels awkward."
"Don't you have soldiers and other people that fight by your side?" Lily questions further, still skeptical.
"Yeah, but they fight to support us. There's nobody that fights alongside us, like what we're trying to do here." And this one is actually true, so it isn't just us being fussy.
"Sounds like whining to me," the gnome boy-not-boy replies like someone truly ignorant of tactics.
"No, I feel like there's something weird," U Thant surprisingly sides with us.
"Mages can just stay in place, behind the melee, so you wouldn't notice it," Roxanne explains to the gnome, and he actually listens to her since they're both mages.
Then Oritiki steps forward and politely joins in, "Your Highnesses, you work like a single unit, correct? It might be better for the other Earthlings to fight around you, or maybe you could fight around them since you're more mobile. That's what the [Tiretiera Maire Style] would instruct us to do when we were fighting alongside our Divines."
Ciel then "accesses" the skill since she has a few points in it already, and it actually gives her some hints on how to fight like that. Since she knows almost zero theory about the skill, all she gets are gut feelings and muscle memory, but it's still enough once you know the general idea of what it's trying to get you to do.
And that's enough to give us an idea, so I start to deliberate, "Lily as the 'anchor,' U Thant behind her as the 'finisher,' the other two further back, and my wives and I between both groups."
"I fight beside Lily," the cat corrects, his pride slighted by the idea of having to stay behind the loli.
But Hana straightens him out, "You have range. If you learn how to better bend your light weapons, then you can just stay behind her while we cover the flanks."
"I'll be your bodyguard, kitten," Lily cheekily pokes his pride, immediately catching on to his insecurity.
Before he can start to whine, Roxanne moves on to let him stew in embarrassment, "Who's the better anchor, though? Hana can handle a dragon charge head-on."
"She can also fly, so it's more efficient to allow her to move freely," Yunia points out.
And I'm feeling like tonguing Lily, so I start some banter, "She also has that 'larper' hammer of hers."
"It's an Artifact," the bitchy loli blurts out, which was a mistake, as that shows a weakness that can be exploited.
"I bet you named it 'Mjolnir,' you Marvel-baby," I tease her as I sassily put my clawed hands on my waist and (literally) look down on her.
"Me-… Meow-nir?" Alissa attempts to repeat the name and cutely tilts her head, making such an adorable sound that I feel my Cock twitch.
"You're the one who actually named yourself 'Wolf Ryder'!" Lily angrily retorts, and now I'm certain I got a finger up her butt hole.
I boldly face the endless well of anger behind her eyes and strike again, "And you're the geek obsessed with berzerking and big, stupid weapons. You even had a loli-succubus avatar."
"In-game, not in real life!" she tries to correct me, as she has no real comeback.
So I make her choke on my finisher, "You're getting awfully mad about a little joke."
"It's because you're such an insufferable person," she unhesitatingly bites back. This is just a canned response, so it seals my victory in this banter duel.
"Now's not the time for this rom-com," Samkelo carefully pokes the mad loli beast.
But I won't let her switch targets to him, so I promptly nod and calmly poke Lily again, "Very well. Do you think you can stop a dragon's charge with your 'Meow-Meow'?"
She narrows her eyes at me and glares for a second, but she definitely can't try to correct me, as she'd be showing another weakness, so she just covers the well of anger again and impassively replies, "Yes, I can, but the problem is that I'm light as a feather. I still haven't learned how to create those 'rock boots' that would keep me glued to the ground like your child-wife can."
"It's been a year. How have you not learned that?" I question sternly just because she called Lina a "child."
"I'm not that good with magic," she dismissively replies with a rather cute pout.
I want to say, "you're a failure as a dwarf," but that might be a bit too rude. This isn't an avatar she chose to roleplay as; she is a dwarf.
Then everyone but Lily slowly turns their head towards the quiet, gloomy little girl, who really doesn't like this idea. If it was Yunia in this situation, she'd find a way to brag and bully Lily, but Lina's too introverted for that, so teaching Lily actually has zero pros and only cons for her.
"I'll do it…" she quietly accepts because she's a good, good girl.
We eventually progress to sparring against the Horns, and it provides quite a challenge for us, but that's mostly because we have to hold back on our Gifts. It's also a good observation exercise for the Companions as the Horns display the pinnacle of teamwork, which is the envy of any soldier.
It does feel better to fight in this new formation than the one before. Hana is a bit sad that she isn't the anchor anymore, but now she has more freedom to be a bruiser and wreck shit up, the dream of every dragonkin. We also aren't going to fight alongside The Four forever, so this arrangement is only for when we're questing together.
And when we take a break to rest, Alcander approaches our group. His gaze flies between Yunia and me as he seemingly doesn't know who to speak to, so I just stare at him because I'm feeling more talkative than Yunia.
The mature imperial man lowers his head respectfully and then promptly begins his question, "Your Highness, have you come up with a plan to get through that fortress?"
I shrug and answer noncommittally, "Somewhat. I need to see it with my own eyes before I can come up with anything concrete." Then I give him a raised eyebrow. "But I wonder why you're curious about this."
He flashes a proud smirk before becoming stoic again. "I merely wish to brag to Silvano that I broke through a fortress while he was forced to stay behind and train."
And I chuckle softly. "'Broke through'? Well, I guess there is a chance we'll do just that."
He smirks again, and this time there's a fire in his eyes that I know very well. It's the heat of a blazing heart, eager for great deeds. "It sounds like the perfect opportunity for Your Highness to use your cannons, and I believe you wouldn't so easily discard such an opportunity."
Oh, yeah… now we're talking.
I smirk back as the flame also takes hold of me, then I heatedly reply, "You know me well. I'm gonna wreck that shit."
The dignified imperial nods in understanding and then nostalgically shares, "I'm eager to see that. Part of the reason I chose [Space Magic] was so that I could personally launch ballistae bolts or trebuchet boulders."
"Ah, a fellow man of destruction," I calmly hum and nod repeatedly.
"My wives say it's childish," he wryly replies.
And I glance at the wives, who try to hide their smirks, except Ciel, who smiles warmly. Then I move to stand beside him and pat his back as I passionately declare, "So do mine, but they don't understand the romance in conquering an impregnable fortress, of exceeding your own limits and achieving great deeds."
But he just stays silent as he nods along, staring at me impassively.
"What?" I grunt confusedly.
And he suddenly jumps in place, then glances away in embarrassment. "No, I-… I was just expecting a sexual analogy."
I want to retort, but… yeah, that's fair.
So I just sigh and say the thing, "Well… the pleasure in destroying something as impressive as a fortress is comparable to defiling a beautiful woman by covering her face with my seed."
He hums loudly in agreement, but then he becomes awkward at the depravity that surrounds my family and how he has now come to expect it. "Ah, yes! That seems… well, fitting."
This won't do, so I give him a middle-of-the-road option, "If you want something less filthy, conquering a fortress is just like conquering a woman's heart."
He clears his throat and earnestly engages with it to quickly leave the depravity behind, "Ah, yes! Now that's relatable to me. Romancing both my wives at the same time might've been the hardest task I've ever had… so far." Then he gives me a pointed look.
"I love your attitude," I casually hum back.
Now he finally returns to normal and replies in kind, "I'm just eager to boisterously retell this adventure to Silvano."
I give him a wry glance. "You two have quite a nice friendship."
"No, it's strictly a rivalry," he promptly states.
"Mm-hm…" I sassily hum as I stare intensely.
But he doesn't budge. "I won't comment further."
And with all of the wives focusing on the training, I actually have a bit of freedom to tune it all out and let them control my body for a while. This allows me to pay attention to Osaria's summoned bird, and I'm glad that I can because there are some interesting things going on.
She's been meeting with each of our Subordinate Lords, and most give her a quick tour of their territory while sharing their situation. The Root Lords still worship us, especially now that the Bark Shield Wall Project for the villages is actually starting. This will make their lives a lot easier, so of course, it'd make us popular; it's just that none of the previous Lords needed the support of the Root Lords, so these lower nobles mostly went ignored.
One of them even offers herself to us as payment for this "gift."
But my curvilicious milf soberly corrects her, "It isn't a 'gift.' Consider it a return for the taxes you pay. If you keep accurate records of the population of your village and tax them accordingly, more benefits might follow."
Of course, anyone would tense up at the mention of taxes, but villages pay little in the form of taxes to foster their growth, so this is just to force them to maintain high bureaucratic standards.
"The 'Royal Doctors' are also part of these 'benefits,' correct?" the Root Lord carefully questions. She's a rugged golden elven milf, which I find doubly sexy lately due to my growing taste for strong women.
And Osaria calmly explains, "They aren't directly tied to the Royals. They're part of the 'healthcare program,' which makes them more akin to government clerks." Then her eyes suddenly turn sharp and seductive. "But if you want to offer your body to the Royals, I must first… inspect what you have to give."
The Lord doesn't seem fazed one bit as she calmly answers, "I favor men, but I'm ready to entertain women too if that's requested."
Then my naughty milf glances at the bird, and her breath suddenly becomes heavy. I even see a bit of hesitation in her body language as my "training" kicks in, making her think twice before stealing pussy that belongs to me.
"You're not a virgin, correct?" the stubborn sexual predator prudently asks.
And the golden milf nods. "I've never been with another woman, but I used to be an adventurer… and I comforted the men of my former fellowship."
Ah, a fellow True Noble.
But this is enough for Osaria as her red eyes fall upon the golden milf's modest cleavage. "Then I shall have a brief taste of your body, and let's hope that His Highness is watching through this summoned bird."
Okay, that's acceptable. I'll let her have this much.
And this goes well with my recent appetite for rugged women, for this Root Lord is a slightly more mature version of a Companion.
I watch them kiss, their lips sealing and unsealing repeatedly, giving brief glimpses of their tongues as they slowly wrestle. The Lord takes charge, pulling my elven milf into a tight hug and penetrating the other woman with her strong, dexterous tongue. It's a beautiful pairing, though it requires a Cock for it to be fully complete.
Then the golden milf goes for Osaria's tits and even sneaks a slender finger under her not-bikini-bottoms, quickly drawing pleased moans from the insatiable milf. The Lord even seems to get into it, emboldened by the lewd sounds of approval, but Osaria actually finds it within herself to stop things before they escalate to the point of no return.
She dries her lips and quickly recomposes herself, then happily gives her decision and follows up with sober advice, "You have my approval; I'm sure His Highness would love to welcome you into their bed, but keep in mind not to overstay your welcome. You're offering your body, not selling it."
The golden beauty calmly nods in understanding and impassively confesses, "I understand His Highness is constantly hounded by women looking to take advantage of his hunger. I can't say I'm not completely unlike them, but I'm happy to just be embraced once."
Oh, boy.
As for the Heart Lords, I find their behavior quite peculiar.
"There's nothing to report, Lady Este," they all reply with perfect politeness and impassiveness.
But daddy Ira Saponaria breaks from the pattern, "Nothing but whispers, Lady Osaria."
"Whispers about what?" our Diplomat replies, her tone so serious it's like she's a completely different woman.
And the square-faced, Ron-Swanson-looking elf shares a look with his wife, who gives the subtlest of nods.
His mustache twitches as he breathes in. Then he slowly answers, deliberately choosing each word to not say something careless, "The Circles of Magi and merchant companies have been bad-mouthing the Royals at social gatherings. Nothing blatant or truly offensive, but it's still a bad omen."
Osaria hums in understanding, "Yes, I've seen this before. They're using silent calls to search for like-minded people."
This is just the elven way to sow dissent. They're rarely straight-up confrontational, but they have a thing for plotting in secret, and sometimes they choose one of their own to risk themselves and do something more visible, like how Lord Ira was chosen to challenge us during the Reniandisabis of our Lordship Ceremony.
His wife then somberly follows up, "And the scoundrels are listening. Disreputable individuals have been appearing more often in public."
"Scoundrels"? Does she mean that criminals are getting involved?
"Who has been meeting with them?" Osaria immediately inquires further.
And Ira surprises us by giving a straight answer, "The landless nobles. I'm closely watching the comings and goings of my Nobles' Quarter, but they can just convene in secret after establishing a relationship."
"Perhaps not everyone in the Thieves' Guild has taken heed of our warning?" Alissa speculates through [Bind].
"Heretic's Rest is also crawling with criminals," Yunia grimly adds.
It'd be a bit bad if all of our enemies started working together.
We need to expand our spy network.
Confiel could know something since he also has his own spies, but I have a feeling that these whispers are concentrated in our side of the High Forest.
Still, let's not forget that it's Ira, of all people, who has given us this advice. This has definitely shown him to be somewhat trustworthy, or at least more trustworthy than the other Heart Lords, who've all remained silent.
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