Her skin starts to grow cold, so I let go of her and allow her to dress herself. I glance into her eyes and hear the glass ringing again, then I notice that her MP has decreased by two hundred.
"How can I dispel your [Mask] even though I couldn't do anything to your [Chain Life]?" I ask.
She answers without turning to face me as she puts on a very small not-bikini, "You just can't see it yet. You have good insight into my feelings, but not into Life in general."
"You used a different word for 'life,' what does it mean?"
"It's what we call the connections that every living being has with each other. It's extremely similar, but not entirely the same as your Thread of Fate. The Thread deals only with your past, present, and future, and the people that you meet along the way. 'Life' encompasses your Thread, spirit, soul, and physical body."
I frown and hold my chin. "Huh… Well, I'm a Nature mage, so I think that I should've learned something about this back in the magic university."
"Nature magic is more concerned about interacting with nature than understanding the underlying foundation of everything. That's what Life truly is."
She finishes putting on her clothes, and I raise my eyebrows. The bottoms of her not-bikini are so small that they're merely a centimeter above her pubes. Her top covers a few centimeters around each of her nipples, but it's still so small that the entirety of the shape of her breasts is visible. The hanging strips of cloth don't even hang over any part of her chest, abs, or navel, but they still cover most of her arms and legs.
"I want the girls to learn to dress like you," I say.
"Really?" She smiles, slightly pleased.
"You know very well how to bring out the… best parts of your physique."
She bows gently. "Thank you."
"I'll get changed, now," I say and get up, then I pull out my wardrobe.
As I get naked, she comes behind me and traces her fingers along the scars on my skin.
"Do you enjoy fighting?" She asks in a faint voice.
"No," I answer in the same tone.
"Neither do I."
"Then why do you fight?"
"Because I have to."
"So do I."
She stares at my private parts, and I stop dressing, letting her look as much as she wants.
"You're going to get cold," she says, and the corner of her lips curl into a smile.
"So are you, with how little you're wearing."
"The hungry stares of others will keep me hot," she says innocently.
I put on my elven clothes and give her a smile. "Let's go."
--
We wait for a short while before night falls and Bastico appears.
The design of his clothes is similar to mine: a thin vest, and baggy shorts. But his are made with a much more delicate material than mine. There's also an intricate pattern created by the transparency of the cloth. I don't pay that much more attention to it since I don't really feel like staring at a man's chest.
Roxanne and Yunia think otherwise and observe every detail of his outfit. Yunia gets a little embarrassed from her staring, so she won't get punished, but Roxanne, on the other hand…
Well, I don't entirely blame them. This dude is stylish with his sweptback hair and youthful grin.
Bastico smiles at us and nods respectfully. "Greetings, Ryders. It's good to see that you are all doing well," he says and becomes serious as he looks at Yunia. "Especially you, Yu."
"I'm stronger than you think," Yunia answers in the same tone. Her cold and cool aura is back, a mask for her true personality.
He smiles faintly. "I'll pray that your strength lasts."
She scoffs smugly. "I don't need you to give me encouragement."
"Well, another small push doesn't hurt, right?"
"Hmph," she turns her face away and points her nose up.
After some simple greetings, we enter the dining room and begin our meal.
Thankfully, we asked the servants to prepare a meat-heavy plate for Aoi, otherwise, our hungry "little" dragon would be very unsatisfied with the typical high-class elven cuisine. For us, there's a wide variety of fruits, salads, and spices, but not much in the way of carbs or protein.
"I heard about what happened this morning. Your fellowship just doesn't stop with the surprises. Everything you've already been through would make for a great start to a book," Bastico comments.
"I'm writing one, in fact. It's actually a diary, but it can be thinned down to a book if we hire a writer," Alissa says.
Bastico's eyes glimmer, and he grins at her. "If you give it to me, I'll ensure that it's made into a wonderful book!"
Alissa smiles wryly. "There are… quite a lot of personal details, so I'll edit some of it myself before we show it to anyone else."
Ciel freezes while chewing and slowly turns to Alissa. She covers her mouth and exclaims, "What?!"
"We said that we didn't want these things published," Lina says and looks even gloomier than normal as she frowns.
"Yeah, well. I'm writing about it just in case you change your minds," Alissa says.
Bastico claps his hands and calls for our attention. He looks at all of us with a maniacal grin. "If you allow the erotic parts to be published, you'll definitely become a legend in the High Forest. Perhaps even in the rest of the empire since your harem has such a wide variety of backgrounds."
"There aren't many erotic romances about a large harem that doesn't involve an emperor, so I can see the novelty," Lina says.
Our eyebrows go up a few centimeters, and we all look at her.
"I agree…" Yunia says in a low tone, and Bastico grins widely.
Lina's eyes lose focus, and she freezes into a statue that slowly gains a shade of red.
"I didn't know you were studying those kinds of books back at Rabanara's university," I say with a grin.
"I wasn't… that was Oura…" Lina whispers.
"She was corrupting my daughter's mind, I see," Roxanne comments.
Bastico's long ears twitch. "She's your-…" He starts.
"No, she's not. It's a… inside joke," Ciel interrupts.
She almost said "fetish," instead.
"You've explained nothing and only increased my curiosity," Bastico immediately responds.
"Then please bear with your curiosity because I'm not going to say anything else about that matter," Ciel says and forces a smile.
"A-apologies…" He says and nods respectfully.
"No offense taken."
"Even though I've been in this harem for a very short time, just take my word that nobody is… 'normal' among us," Yunia says and smiles wryly.
"I don't even care about the money. I just think that the realm of erotic literature needs to know about your harem," Bastico says.
Ciel massages her eyes. "Maybe when we're older, but right now, we don't want to share this," she says.
Bastico nods calmly. "It's fine. Your story is just starting, anyway," he says.
"How can you be so sure?" I ask.
"Well, you've made even father feel unsure about what exactly is your gift after the events of this morning. If you hid [Gate], then what else are you hiding? Just having [Monster Summoning], [Gate] and [Godly Language] as a Gift sounds rather… 'odd.' Gifts always have an underlying 'logic' to them, and the only thing we know for sure about yours is that it has something to do with magic."
"You seem very knowledgeable about Gifts."
He nods. "Every Lord must have a keen eye for the Gifted. Either to bring them to their side or to avoid them at all costs due to their 'interesting' Fate. Gifts can also be very specific, so we first try to collect as much information as possible."
"How about just asking what someone's Gift might be?" Hana questions.
"Some Gifts are so abstract that it's too easy to lie about them. We want to know their exact limits so that we can use them as efficiently as possible."
"And some people might not even fully understand their own Gifts," Yunia adds.
"I think that you two might know more about Gifts than even I do," Ciel says, a little impressed.
"We are the Chosen Descendants, after all," Bastico responds with a grin.
I think for a second and smirk as I say, "Now you've got me wondering about how far you really went to get more information on us. Did Root Lord Ricardo join our caravan just to watch us? Did Seigneur Ento antagonize us deliberately? Was even our duel a farce?"
He lifts his hands in surrender and continues grinning. "Whoa there. The justification to challenge you was forced, but the duel was legitimate. I put all my effort into that fight, though since I'm a spell sword, fighting without all of my enchantments put me at a disadvantage against a magic swordsman."
"Even with all of your enchantments, you wouldn't have been able to defeat him," Yunia says, a little smugly.
I smile but also look at her a little worriedly.
Bastico's eyes shine, and he says, "Oh? Then I'd like a rematch one day."
That's precisely what I didn't want to happen.
"I'm not much for duels. I like to spar, though," I say, and Yunia looks away with an awkward smile.
Bastico nods and smiles cordially as he says, "That's fine, maybe one day you'll change your mind… Anyway, Father sent Root Lord Ricardo to your caravan because he wanted to extract Ricardo safely and because he wanted to know how you would interact with nobility."
"Well, from what I've heard, I don't think that Ento was faking the way he acted. He's been known to be odd," Yunia says.
"You know him?" Aoi asks, suddenly mildly interested in the conversation.
"He sells the best dragons. Every noble in the High Forest should know about him," she answers.
Bastico's smile turns mischievous, and he leans over as he says, "Don't share this with anybody, but I heard some rumors that Ento might be in love with one of his dragons. That's why he doesn't sell the only Rubelite dragon that he has."
"Awn… He is fat, but every dragon deserves a humanoid," Aoi says.
"Uh…" Bastico's face goes blank as he processes Aoi's words.
"Well, none of them are as smart as you. That makes it more difficult for them to interact with other races," Alissa says.
"Yes. That's why I want many, many children! Azurite dragons must spread everywhere!" She exclaims proudly, and smoke escapes her nostrils.
Yunia smiles at Bastico smugly and says, "See?"
"And who's going to give you children?" Bastico asks Aoi.
"Wolfy!" Aoi answers.
I just smile and delight myself in imagining how the world will react when I marry Aoi and have her walk beside me in her big form.
"Okay…" Bastico says with a faint voice.
After traumatizing Bastico, we share some small talk until he recovers. Yunia talks with him about the knight's academy, and he shares how much he'll miss dueling with the other students.
--
Once Bastico fully recovers, he turns to me and says, "Right, Father asked me to tell you that you can use our armory to improve your equipment. We only have wooden armor, but at least it's better than your current armor."
"Yeah, that'll be perfect," Alissa says and sends me a knowing look.
I nod respectfully, and Yunia says, "We both know [Nature Magic]; we can maintain wooden armor with a little guidance."
We do have a resident expert in nature and wood.
"Gih!"
"Ah, that's great," Bastico says with a smile. "So, when are you leaving?"
"We haven't decided that yet, but we don't have any remaining business here. So, tomorrow we'll gather more knowledge on the Legado dungeon, and after that, we'll continue exploring it."
His happy expression fades, and he turns to Yunia, looking impassive. "Tomorrow afternoon will be your father's funeral, so I think that you should attend as commoners. Your brothers will be there, but they'll be with the nobility."
"I'll meet with them after the funeral, then. I can at least do that, can't I?" She asks.
"I think so," Bastico says with a nod.
--
We enjoy our meal while Yunia and Bastico share banter back and forth.
She smiles smugly at him and says, "If Wolf-…-y won't duel you, then I'll do it in his stead. After we come back from the dungeon, we'll certainly have become much, much stronger."
I think she's betting on instant casting being enough for her to win.
He smiles back at her, and I see a bit of Luz and Confiel in his expression. "I'll be waiting for that fateful day, then. But will we fight with armor or simple clothes?" He asks.
Yunia scoffs. "I'll never give you the chance to expose me. I'll be using metal undergarments."
Wait, like, actual bikini armor?! It has a real use?!
Bastico laughs. "I've never had any such intention!" He protests.
Yunia looks away and raises her chin in a snobbish way. "And I'm as ugly as a Ton. Please, I know that you'd have easily taken that opportunity if you had the chance."
He lowers his head. "I am a man. Please do not place fault on us for merely seeking the simple pleasures of life."
She scoffs again and sends him a withering glare, then slowly it turns into a gentle smile. But her eyes never truly seem "gentle." At most, they now look only slightly cold.
--
We finish our dinner, and Bastico pulls out a cold bottle of some kind of alcoholic drink. He uncorks it, and a very sweet and intoxicating smell wafts out of it.
I immediately feel weird. My skin tingles, and touching things causes an odd and indescribable feeling; things become more colorful and vivid; and a warm feeling starts to grow in my heart.
I open my "Status" and see a new "Status Effect":
--
"Slightly Heightened Connection to Life, Source: Eia, Time Left: Unknown"
--
"Eia extract?!" Yunia exclaims, brimming with happiness.
"High-grade extract spiced with the five flowers," Bastico says with pride.
"Oh! Rande had a medium grade bottle. This will be goo~d!" Hana comments.
Alissa's senses get enhanced far more noticeably than mine. The rest of the girls just feel an odd, but pleasant feeling from the smell.
Bastico pulls out shot glasses, smaller than the ones on Earth, and pours a few millimeters of Eia into each.
"Since none of you have ever tasted a high-grade Eia extract, just this much should be enough for a pleasant feeling," he says and pushes the glasses to each of us.
I still don't care much for alcohol, but this one is special, so I drink it eagerly. Its flavor is incredibly complex, and it also seems to be constantly shifting. I first feel a strong taste of chocolate, then hazelnut, then honey, then the chocolate and hazelnut fade, then strawberry starts to rise, then something flowery overpowers everything else, then my tongue starts to go numb, so I swallow it.
My body absorbs it so fast that I can barely feel it going down my throat before it's all gone. Then it hits me.
My vision goes blurry and warps, as if I had just summoned something. I start to feel every single fiber of my body with absolute clarity. My muscles respond perfectly to my commands and move in a crisp way, but they also feel heavier and slower, requiring more effort to make them obey.
Within the new area that appeared with my expanded field of view, I see nothing but darkness and morphing dots of white. The dots move, appear, disappear, and merge with each other, seemingly at random. But the more I focus on these dots, the more I start to see a pattern. It's as if they were dotted lines, representing something much larger.
As I focus on the white dots, a relaxed sigh suddenly escapes my lips, making me giggle. Then the whole table starts giggling too, and the room is filled with the heavenly music of cute female laughter.
Long minutes of giggling pass by, and the bliss from the Eia starts to fade. The giggles of silly happiness become giggles of embarrassment as we regain our senses.
"Oh wow, this is addictive," Ciel says as she stares at her empty cup.
"But the second shot will never be the same as the first," Yunia says while smiling warmly at Ciel.
"You build resistance to Eia extract quite quickly, and it takes quite a long while to lose it," Bastico says.
"Don't you use Eia pills regularly?" Roxanne asks Yunia.
"They are flavorless and don't give you a high. It's the spicing of the extract that makes it addictive, not the Eia itself," Yunia answers.
"That's good. If you felt like this every time you used one of those pills, even I would feel jealous."
"I don't think you should feel like that about addiction," Ciel says in a slightly serious tone.
Roxanne shows her tongue to Ciel. "If someone can remain sane like Yunia while heavily addicted, then count me in because that sounds amazing!"
"That's not…" Ciel shakes her head with a wry smile and lets it go.
"Eia is too expensive to get addicted to. Remember that this is the finest extract that you can get," Bastico says as he corks the bottle shut again.
The smell fades, then my connection to Life starts to disappear, and my field of view returns to normal.
"Wow. What was that… thing that I saw? Like, it was a dark spot in my view where I saw white dots moving about."
"That's Life. If you managed to see it on your first try, then maybe you have a slight aptitude for it," Bastico says.
"I saw something like that, too," Alissa says.
"So, can we learn [Weaverism]?" I ask, a little excited.
Yulania chuckles. "Maybe you can, because, you know…" -I think she's talking about my Gift- "But seeing Life is different from understanding it, and it's very different from being able to manipulate it."
"It would take a decade, at least," Bastico says, and Yunia gives me a phony smile, hiding it from Bastico.
If it's going to take a few years to get good at it, then I'd prefer to focus on something else instead.
"Anyway. I'll give this to… you," Bastico says, then hesitates for a moment before extending the bottle to me.
"She's the one who deserves this," I say and gesture to Yunia.
Bastico smiles and hands the bottle to Yunia. The elven goddess looks legitimately grateful, and her expression nearly melts with joy.
"I refuse to drink this alone. We'll share this, slowly," she says and stores it in her [Item Box].
"Well, it's time for me to leave. We'll see each other again soon," Bastico says with a charming smile, and Yunia nods a little shyly.
I'm getting just a little jealous.
At the doorway, he extends his hand to Yunia. She accepts and gives her hand to him.
"Remember this: Blood Slave or not, your friends and allies will always be here," he says, then bends and kisses her hand strongly for a few long seconds.
We all stare and wait for him to finish. Then he straightens and smirks like a little shit as he says, "No offense to you, Wolf, but I simply needed to convey my emotions one last time. It hurts my heart, but I'll accept that you'll be forever unattainable to me, Yu."
She narrows her eyes dangerously and crosses her arms, pushing her dangerous cleavage upwards. "You never had a chance," she says in a cold tone and lets a hint of a smirk appear on her fleshy red lips.
"Keep lying to yourself. Now, goodbye Ryders, until another time," he finishes and turns around.
A little stunned, the girls mutter their goodbyes while I glare at his back as he walks away.
"You'll get your duel one day!" I yell, and he laughs.
"Oh. I think he did that one on purpose, just to get you angry," Yunia says and looks at me a little guiltily. "I'm sorry. I should've rejected his kiss."
"It's fine," I say and gently pat her shoulder.
Both the mask and the [Mask] fade away, and she lets a more shy demeanor surface.
"He's quite the fun guy. Maybe I should duel him, too," Hana comments.
"He's more shrewd than I thought him to be," I say as I narrow my eyes. "No, he's exactly like a younger Confiel, isn't he? Maybe just more horny than Confiel, but he's still his father's son."
"He makes you feel jealous, so I think that he's fine," Roxanne comments.
"You like to see Wolfy suffer?" Lina asks and glares at Roxanne.
"Just as much as he likes to torture Alissa," Roxanne responds with a wicked smile.
Lina pouts. "Mother, you're a bad person."
Roxanne's eyes gleam with evilness as she leans down to bring her face closer to Lina's. "And how are you going to punish me for that?"
"You two are really going to continue that fantasy?" Ciel asks.
"I'll tie you up and give you to Father to punish," Lina says and returns the evil glare.
"That's hot," Alissa whispers as she watches the two of them roleplay.
"You have a thing for your own mother?" Yunia asks, incredulous.
Alissa looks away, very embarrassed. "Well… no. I just really like roleplaying."
Yunia turns to Ciel and asks in a neutral tone, "Okay, what's your fetish?"
"She's a pedophile and a foot fetishist. She may also have some secondary licking fetish or something," I answer immediately.
Yunia looks down at Ciel, as if she was disappointed in her.
Ciel shrugs with an unapologetic smile. "You'll soon learn all about your fetishes, too."
Yunia chuckles like a lady, but I notice a hint of anxiety coming from her.
--
While Roxanne and Lina wrestle, we quickly wash the dishes.
Once done, I pick up Roxanne's tied up body and carry her to our huge bedroom. Lina and I then spend our evening "punishing" Roxanne with [Massage]. I consider our job complete when the succubus can't speak or move her hips anymore.
She wraps her tail around my member and decides to sleep with her face near my crotch. "The smell is calming to me," she says and after a few minutes, she's already dozing off.
Yunia looks quite impressed at the soporific effect of my cum and subtly inches closer to smell it.
"I don't get it," she whispers.
"She's a succubus. That's all you need to know," Hana says.
Yunia frowns and takes a while to accept it.
I pat the pillow beside me and say in a low tone, "Here, for your first night you'll get to sleep at my side."
"You… rotate that spot?" She asks.
"Yep. Alissa's spot is permanent because… of those nightmares that I used to have. But at any other time, if you want to snuggle or something more, feel free to ask. Just like Hana did today."
"Okay…" She responds and nods sheepishly.
She straightens the drills of her hair with another magic tool and lays down beside me. Her eyes stare at my face, and she starts to count my freckles.
"He has twelve faint ones, five medium ones, and two dark ones," Alissa says.
"W-what?" Yunia asks.
"Freckles. I'm listing his freckles."
Yunia chuckles and confirms Alissa's number.
"Sleep…" Aoi pleads, and we turn off the lights.
Alissa and Yunia each hug one of my arms, nestling them between their breasts.
I don't really understand Yunia, but I can at least appreciate her efforts in trying to fit in.
My fantasizing about our future together continues on as sleep takes me, and I dream about having my own elven princess with Yunia.
--
--
Hall of Fame of Patrons
The patrons who support Rupegia shall have their names sung by the bards for they deserve the glory and honor. Their names are:
Oracle Maximillian Hübner.
Prince PreownedFIN.
Lord Andrew Meyers.
Lord Hope.
Lord Samuel Lim.
Lord Bill.
Lord Novgarod.
Lord DJ.
Lord Cidant.
Lord Ashadun.
Lord Michale Erwin.
Lord Enrique Peña Gomez.
Lord Braidborn.
Lord Bakerdea.
Lord Yeeteris Dedmeem.
Lord D4rk Sheep.
Lord Nathan Vanbrunt.
Lord Andrew Heffelbower.
Lord Markus.
Lord Maurice.
Lord Badger.
Noble Salty Panda.
Noble Evil.
Noble Yamibomb112.
Noble Mild Fracas.
Noble Geminus.