A while later Norn and Erika were alone in the house they occupied.
Erika explained why she decided to enslave the orc lady.
The explanation was long & kinda crude, but in short it was something like that:
"Well, judging by her age she is quite a talent. Haven't seen tribe leaders that young~"
Erika caressed Norn's head as they both were sitting on the bed.
I lied, only Erika was sitting on it, Norn was sitting on her.
"Anything else besides just that? I get your point, we can use her as a trainer for goblins, but... What about male orcs? Wont they fight with goblins for females?"
Norn's concern was justified, orcs weren't exactly a peaceful bunch that loved flowers and singing.
I lied again, they actually do love those... If the flowers grow from one's dead body, and songs are about war and death...
Still, they weren't peaceful at all.
"Oh, they wont sweetie, i never said that i'm taking all of them in~"
Erika didn't even try to hide her smile.
Norn couldn't see it, but he could hear that she was smiling.
"Oh, makes sense."
After saying it an awkward pause attacked the room.
"So... What was that flame you made back there?"
Norn decided to ask a question that wasn't entirely stupid.
"Oh, that... It's a universal method for mages to fight each other without actually fighting. Color of the flame decided who's stronger and..."
She explained the whole thing to him.
You know most of it already, why should i explain it for the second time?..
"Oh! How do i make the flame? I wanna check mine!"
Norn was excited. As excited as a 5 year old is when his mommy is about to buy him some icecream.
"Well... I'm not sure if the same technique could be applied to you... Remember healing magic?.."
Erika's concern wasn't baseless. It seemed that, for some reason, Norn's magic was somewhat special.
Even though he can use healing magic as a human...
When he's in a goblin body it's a bit troublesome.
"Uhm... Well, u're right, but it wouldn't hurt to check, would it?"
Norn didn't give up easily, what could go wrong if he tried some random spell?
To be honest... everything. What COULDN'T go wrong?
He could even kill himself if we're talking about failed spells...
But wait, he had a fucking demigod as his wife, why bother using normal logic?
Norn was sure that even if he died Erika would bring him back anyway.
...
After a while Erika finally gave up.
She wasn't that positive about it since some of the spells were potentially destructive towards their caster...
Instead of telling Norn about it, she decided to follow whatever he wanted to do.
Even if it could potentially kill him...
Well, it wouldn't, since she prepared a spell just in case...
What the spell was? Well... too bad, not gonna tell you.
Anyway, she was sure that Norn was skilled enough to not fuck it up.
After some failed attempts and gasps from Erika Norn finally succeeded.
His flame was...
You guessed it, he didn't even have one.
It was just nothing.
The spell was casted successfully, yet there was no flame...
"So... Did i fuck it up again? Where's my flame?"
Norn couldn't help but ask.
He got used to failing those after a while, but now...
It was kinda different, wasn't it?
He could feel that something was draining his mana, but he couldn't see the spell working.
As such, one little question appeared - who the fuck is stealing his mana?
"I... Not sure? That's the first time i see such a thing sweetie..."
Erika didn't know the answer to Norn's question.
It was the first time she encountered such a problem.
No, not only Erika, it was the first time this spell reacted like that.
It was just empty. Nothing.
Well, it might not sound so bad from your perspective...
But imagine that you did something with a certain result.
Like hitting a rock with a rock.
You know what will happen, it always happens.
Yet, nothing did.
No sound, no stupid piece of stone that flew right into your eye...
Nothing. The rocks didn't even touch, yet you are sure that they did.
Impossible, right?
Congrats, that's the same feeling that Erika feels right now.
It's... surreal.
Norn, however, wasn't too concerned about it:
"Yeah, fuck that, let's just imagine that mine's the worst. What else could it be?"
After saying it he dispelled the... spell, yeah.
However, before he could saying something stupid...
"Wait, sweetie, can you cast it again? To see if the result is the same..."
Erika's voice was quieter than normal, but it didn't stop Norn from hearing it perfectly.
He, however, didn't answer.
He simply casted the spell again, to see the same result.
Nothing.
"So it's indeed like that..."
Erika mumbled to herself...
It wasn't quiet enough for Norn to be oblivious to it though.
He, however, still was.
"Anyway, what are we doing now?"
Norn couldn't help but ask since he grew bored of doing... nothing.
"I dont know... what do you feel like doing?"
Erika's answer wasn't an answer at all.
"That's what i'm asking. Just give me an idea or something, i can only think about training to become stronger 'n stuff like that, but that's not what i want to do now."
His voice was a little agitated as he hated when people answered his questions with questions of their own.
"Then... What about... checking the village? I could do plenty of interesting stuff to girls~"
Norn couldn't see Erika's face as she said it, but he could feel that she was smiling.
As such, he pulled his chin up, looking at Erika from below.
It looked incredibly stupid, but the purpose of that move wasn't to look nice.
As Norn saw her face, he could see her gorgeous smile, but it wasn't just that.
There was a bit... just a bit, of some other emotion.
"Hmm... Okay, show me what it is."
Norn couldn't be bothered enough to think about other implications behind her words.
Yeah, she could be somewhat evil judging by that smile.
Yeah, she definitely meant that she did some bad shit in the past...
So fucking what? Can he fight against her? Can he tell her to stop?
Well... the latter could be done... probably...
But does he care enough? He doesn't.
He enslaved several dozen humans just for his goblins to have fun with, he cant go lower than that.
Can he?
...
Some time later both Norn and Erika were in a "breeding house".
What was that place?
Well, you guessed it, it was literally a breeding house.
Sadly enough, however, it's production rate was incredibly bad.
That wasn't what Norn wanted.
He didn't even know why he was doing all that dark shit, but why stop now?
He already started and it felt like so much fun to him.
"... so, technically, it will allow them to give birth once in a day or so."
Erika's "speech" just ended.
I left only the last part of it because it resembled a fucking essay written by some middle-agged pseudo-intellectual imbecile who thinks that he knows eugenics.
Well, with one small detail - she actually knows what she's talking about.
In short, she could "disable" some functions of a body and make it go "haha i make children now".
Of course, by "some" she meant that those humans will stop being abything but meat holes that produce little green blobs.
Also, it'll, and i quote "... will probably give them a year or so before they die, but imagine the possibilities!"
As such, Norn was a little disgusted by it.
"Uh... Erika, are you sure that it's a good idea to make cattle out of humans?"
Norn's voice wasn't filled with concern or anything, it's just that he was afraid that they'll die too fast.
Normally, humans women will be pregnant for a week or so before they give birth to a goblin, so it wasn't exactly profitable to shorten the time 7 times.
Why? Duh, where the fuck will he get so much food & other stuff for them?
Overpopulation isn't a joke!
"As i said, i lack some materials right now, if i had a few weeks to come up with a proper spell & a potion to top it up..."
After saying it she went quiet for a solid quarter of a minute.
Norn wasn't that big of an asshole so he didn't speak either.
So, the room was filled with either moans or moans.
What did u expect? It's a breeding house after all.
"...Yes... that'll do. Sweetie, i'll be back in a day or so, try not to die while i'm gone."
Saying that, she leaned towards him, kissing him on his lips.
"What? Where are you going so suddenly?"
Norn was a bit shocked since it was the first time Erika said something about leaving him, it felt a bit unpleasant.
"I'll go to an old lab of mine to collect some ingridients, i think they're still fine, when i come back we will make this place a perfect goblin factory~"
Erika was strangely excited.
Norn could feel it in her voice, it was just that obvious.
"... Okay, then."
He, however, couldn't say anything proper.
What is there to say?
"Uh-oh we cant do that, that's inhumane!"
Or maybe:
"No! We cant use humans as cattle to achieve our goals! We are not monsters!"
He literally was a monster you dumb soul.
"Dont stray too far from the village, and if anything happens just run, i will find you as soon as i can, dont worry too much about those goblins~"
Saying that Erika dissappeared from sight, she was a little bit too fast for Norn to even react.
"Great, she's a complete fucking psycho."
Was Norn's last thought before he left the breeding house.
...
Some more time later Norn was standing near a house, he was observing the now eslaved orc lady.
She was trying to talk to goblins that, for some reason, refused to understand her.
It was obvious, they were speaking different languages.
To Norn, however, it looked comical, they were saying exactly the same thing to each other, but none actually understood that.
"Hey you morons, come here, i will translate shit for you."
He screamed on top of his lungs, he grew a little bored of that sight.
Without even thinking goblins ran towards him, screaming.
"Chief! Orc wants kill goblin!"
"Chief! Chief! Help!"
Both of them were big goblins, those liked to bully small ones, yet now they were screaming like bitches.
Norn was amused by it, they behaved exactly like those bullies in his previous life.
Orc lady didn't bother running, she simply walked towards now three goblins, two of which were screaming like retards.
"I wanted to tell them that i dont like how they're looking at me"
She didn't even bother to say hello to Norn! How rude she was!?
"Oi, little fucks, dont stare at the big lady, okay? She's mine, so if i find any of you trying to fuck her or anything i'll torture you until you break, okay?~"
Norn's face looked the kindest a goblin face could look, yet his words were filled danger.
Goblins weren't impressed, one of them even tried to punch Norn.
However, even before he could start punching...
... a little *crack* spawned directly on his head.
How? Well, orc lady wasn't impressed either, she hit that goblin's head.
"W-wha? Why did i?.."
She wasn't even aware of that, and saw it only after she heard the sound.
"That's probably the slave pact or whatever, dont bother yourself too much with it."
Norn, however, wasn't surprised at all.
Erika didn't tell him anything about the spell, but judging from her actions and words before, he could guess that she made a puppet out of that orc lady.
Why would she not? Big and strong bodyguard was a great thing to have.
More than that, she would probably justify it by saying: "Well, she's big, you can use her as a meat shield~" which will be perfectly logical.
From her perspective, of course.
"I... Right, that elf b..."
She paused...
"What? B... BEAUTIFUL!"
She screamed on top of her lungs.
"Hey, you dont have to scream like that, i know that she is, she knows it aswell..."
Norn knew that it was probably "bitch" she wanted to say, but decided to play dumb.
"I didn't... She's a b... beach, right!"
She smiled as she said it, looking at Norn from above.
"How the fuck does it work? It's clearly a worldpay in english, not in whatever language you're using..."
Norn wasn't impressed at all.
"Eh... Anyway, you're my bodyguard and my slave, so you have my permission to scare off any goblins that bother you, u're mine, after all."
He smiled right after saying it, showing off his teeth.
A picture of him could be used as a screamer that usually comes with a loud noise, but he wasn't trying to look like that.
"Whatever you say..."
Strangely enough, orc lady wasn't angry or anything, as if she was ha... oh, right, Erika's spell...