Feeling spent, I slowly lowered both my hips and the girls back down to the ground where the three of us just stayed there like that for a minute. While we caught our collective breaths, I questioned why the clarity I usually felt in moments like this was entirely non-existent.
When all was said and done, Mana was the first to get up. Removing herself from my face without so much as a flick of her tail to show she'd noticed how she straddled me, she once more knelt beside us. Her cutely smiling face was spoiled by the love juice clinging to her blushing cheeks. She looked straight at me and her smile widened.
"So, can I be your mate, Big Bro?"
How did that not scare her off? Shouldn't a girl this small be scared of being asked to take something this huge?
"Shouldn't you ask your parents or something before you make such a big decision?"
"Hmm? Nope. I can hear them. They already heard everything. They are talking about it right now."
What?! Doesn't that mean they also heard their daughter asking me to take her virginity and make her my slave?
"T-Then what are they saying?"
Without pause, Mana lifted her chin to the sky and flicked her ears. A small smile spread across her lips a few seconds into listening and then she came back down to us.
"They said that it's about time I found a mate, anyway. And that leaving the tribe for a while would be good for me. At least, that's what Mother says."
She spoke as plainly and as calmly as possible. Given her stature, her naivete and her cuteness, you'd be forgiven for thinking that this girl was just making up her parent's approval to get what she wanted. But I could tell she was completely serious. How could I tell? Well, Yua, still panting, gave me a thumbs up.
But how could a girl this cute not have found a mate yet? Someone should have at least been interested, right?
"Are you really sure?"
"Yup."
"Really, really sure?"
"Yup!"
"I-I feel like I should still ask your parents."
Mana puffed up her little cheeks and pouted at me. She then crossed her arms in front of her tiny breasts and turned to face the tent flaps before speaking in a mostly calm tone of voice.
"Daddy, can you come here?"
Holy shit, she's really serious?!
Soon enough, a medium-sized man that looked to be more slender than he was muscular slipped into our tent without a word of warning. He just opened the tent flaps and came right on inside like he owned the place. Like father like daughter, I guess. He seemed to completely ignore the fact that my cock was still buried inside Yua as she continued to try and catch her breath. Unperturbed, he walked around us straight towards his daughter.
For the sake of all that is holy, and I say that as someone that has met and even kissed a literal goddess, I thought this man's brooding expression meant that he was about to tell this girl off for the ridiculousness of her request, but he didn't. He sat down in the corner of the tent and crossed his legs. Patting his thigh, he looked expectantly at at Mana.
She quickly got up and moved to sit on his thigh. The man's frame was smaller than Tama's and from the looks of it, smaller than mine as well, but when she took to his lap, he still made her look extra petite.
"Daddy, Big Bro won't let me mate with him unless you say it's okay."
From behind a pair of sky-blue pleading eyes, she looked up at him. It would have been the perfect picture of a girl adorably begging her father for a favor, were it not for the fact that they were both completely nude.
Finding her wording utterly scandalous, I bored a couple of holes into the man with my eyes, willing him to talk some sense into her, but all that I got from this effort was the appearance of his info box. He was a level 15 Hunter named Mochi.
The man, this Mochi, wrapped his arms around his tiny daughter's arms and waist, as if trying to hold her in place to make her listen to whatever he had to say. He paused. After a long moment of silence between the two of them, him somehow not reacting to the ticklishness of the ears Mana let rub against his cheek, he drew in a deep breath and spoke.
"Mana, this male has already asked you this, but are you absolutely sure you want to become his mate and slave? This isn't one of your games."
"Yes, Daddy," she said instantly, adding a happy nod for effect. "I want to become his and go live with him and Big Sis."
The man closed his eyes, bit his lip for a moment and squeezed his daughter lovingly to his chest. I couldn't even begin to imagine what it felt like to willingly give up your daughter to slavery, or to have her actually ask for it, but I could tell at a glance that their relationship was no less close than Yua's was with Tama. These two just showed it with actual familial affection, rather than beating the shit out of each other before playing in the dirt.
Mochi looked to me and I gulped, still trying to figure out if all of this is some sort of long-winded ruse for daring to step into this cat-kin village while being human.
"Mr. Alex, I have already heard a lot about you from your talk and your fight with Chief Tama."
"So, everyone really was listening…"
I knew they would. After not seeing her for so long, why would they not be interested in what Yua had to say about her life with the humans, especially the one she brought back with her? For much the same reason, they listened in on our fight, no doubt to see what Yua's mate was capable of.
"Because of this," Mochi continued, his tail thumping the floor uncomfortably. "I am willing to part with my daughter, but only on the conditions that you treat her as well as you do Daughter Yua and protect her. She's not as strong as either of you, but if you managed to make her stronger, then you can do the same for my Mana, right?"
I gulped. No part of my brain was allowing me to accept that it was this easy to get such a cute girl to stand beside me. Not after all I went through for Yua. Not when I already had Yua. Hell, not even after the months it took to build up the courage just to speak to that old neighbor of mine. And there wasn't going to be a distracted truck driver plowing into this tent the moment I opened my mouth to prevent it.
"I-I can, but… Yua, um, just to be clear, you're my mate too, right? Officially? I'm kind of having a hard time understanding how your people do things."
Holding a hand to her lower abdomen with a loving smile, Yua looked to me and nodded.
"Yes. Daddy has given us permission to be mates."
"A-and being your mate is basically the same as… being your husband, right?"
My heart clenched up much like it did before our first boss fight in the dungeons. I more or less already knew the answer, but I nearly forgot to breathe when the mere seconds she took to think it over stretched into eons. She tilted her head confusedly, as if trying to compete with Mana's cuteness now that the smaller girl was really on the table.
Then she smiled, almost laughing a bit before taking my hand.
"I'm sorry. If I had known you didn't understand, I would have explained it to you before our first night together."
She paused and my heart's palpitations grew to an immediate halt when, in a brief moment of clarity, I began to think that I might rather not know the answer to that question. That it might be best to be blissfully unawares so that our current lifestyle could continue. Then she continued before the muscle in my chest could forget how to beat altogether.
"But yes. Mates are like what the humans call husband and wife."
"S-so then… you're my wife… and mate?"
"And your slave, yes! I have been since the night you bled me!"
Offering me up another of her patented, loving smiles, Yua leaned over to plant a kiss on my lips, as if to cement the fact in front of the whole world that our relationship held three different titles that shouldn't have been able to coexist.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Fuck, yes!
Goddess, I knew it, but… Such a huge weight I wasn't even aware of just flew off my chest. Bye bye doubts and hello married life!
Wait, no…. Celebrate later. Clarify now.
Fighting back the urge to quite literally jump for joy in recognition for the fact that I was officially and legally not a loveless bastard anymore, I coughed into my fist, cheeks burning, and turned to Mana.
"Ahem… So, Mana, you heard her. Being my mate means a relationship with me, right? And if the cat-kin mate for life, then…"
"Then I'll always be your mate?"
"Exactly, yes… Is that what you really want? And I don't mean because you want to be with Yua. If that's all you want, then you can just visit us from time to time, you know?"
"Eh? Yea, I know. I mean, I don't know where your village is or how to get there, but I know. But I wanna be your mate, too. Just like Big Sis is. Isn't that okay?"
Just seconds ago, after a month of making love every night, Yua cleared up the last of my lingering doubts. I was so unbearably happy that I could have nearly cried from joy, but the moment Mana posed her question, my heart went still for a completely different reason.
It wasn't from fear that caused all my bodily functions to cease. Nor was it worry, anxiety, or any other negative emotion. It was because Mana'd leaned forward on Mochi's lap and stared straight into my eyes.
Those once, big blue globes of sky-colored cuteness teared up just a little, just enough to say that every living soul on this planet had instantly begun to weep for her. Her little sakura-pink lips puffed up in a pout as they quivered, holding back a sadness that threatened to end the world itself should she break and let it out in a sob. At the same time, she raised her shoulders into a look of meekness so sincere that I very nearly wanted to rip her out of her father's arms just to hold her close and tell her everything would be okay. And most notably, most critically, her small pointed cat ears drooped and fell flat against her messy black hair. Her tail hung limply over Mochi's thigh.
It was the fabled puppy dog pout. And from a cat girl, no less. It was a practically-paradoxical sentiment, but it was very real. And it was right there, in front of me. And it was instantly the most dangerous weapon I'd ever faced. Even Mochi was deliberately examining the stitching holding the tent together to avoid her gaze.
"A-And, Yua?" I said, tearing every muscle in my neck just to look away from those all-too-cute eyes to grab at the last shredded, lingering attachments I still had to my sanity. "Are you okay with this? We just officially became mates, but are you really okay with me taking another? Is that even allowed?"
Yua nodded without pause and did so with a shockingly peaceful smile on her lips.
"It is. As long as you perform your duties as a mate equally, it's fine with us. And Mana and I are already close, so I don't mind at all if you love her too. Besides, you said this morning that you had a lot of love to give, remember? So, why not?"
I nodded, trying to understand all that I just learned in those few sentences.
This has to be too good to be true, doesn't it? Yua and I never actually beat Alphonse DeGrave, did we? This is all some sort of self-preserving hallucination I'd subconsciously concocted in order to save myself the mental anguish of living out my new life as a slave myself.
Or, no, maybe Tama actually killed me and everything from that moment on was just a merciful daydream of sorts that the Goddess was allowing me to watch as she shipped me off to heaven proper. Or more likely hell, if this is the sort of dream I'm having.
I just… don't understand. What did I do to suddenly win this girl's favor?
It's like time started speeding up all on its own since I arrived here. This is all going so fast.
Noticing my panic, Yua placed a gentle hand to my chest and instantly, my heart began to calm. The warmth of her palm against my bare chest felt like it alone had to be proof that she and all of this was very real. Jokes aside, I could accept this as reality, but…
"Alex, really, I don't mind you taking another mate. Especially if it's Mana." After saying this, Yua leaned into me again and pointlessly whispered in my ear, "I know you like her. I heard how crazy your heartbeat became when you met her. So, that's part of why I'm okay with this."
She heard that? I was only vaguely aware that I even felt it, since I immediately resorted to reprimanding myself for even considering another girl to be attractive enough to compete with Yua.
"Big Bro," Mana called to me, puppy dog pout removed from her face as she scrambled to free herself from Mochi's hold to kneel beside me. Her tail had resumed its casual, almost hopeful swishing. "I don't know if having two mates is bad for humans, but it's not for us. So, please, can I be your mate? I'll be your slave too, if you want. As long as I'm your mate, I don't care."
I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed, but mainly at myself.
First Yua proposes the idea, then Mana agrees, then Yua gives her open-minded approval, and now Mana's begging?
In my earlier doubts towards Yua's true feelings, I at least had reason to believe she could have had it out for me for numerous reasons, but not this girl. Not Mana. I wasn't playing favorites already or anything of the sort, but due to how I knew so terribly little about this girl, not even the more pessimistic side of my brain could fathom her having any ulterior motives in this.
I came here just as naked as everyone else, so it's not like she could have scoped me out wearing some fancy clothes and started to think I was rich enough to let her live in the lap of luxury. And she thinks we live in some other village, presumably one like this, so she can't be wanting to move into some big, luxurious house to rid herself of the literal tent she lives in now. And I can't imagine any sort of blackmail my being with her could cause to come my way since Yua's ears weren't catching any alarms.
I was drawing blanks on all cylinders. I couldn't even say off the bat how I truly felt about her, other than the Goddess-given fact that she is adorable beyond reproach. Admitting that I do want her is one thing, meeting her stirred up my emotions just as much as meeting Yua had, but I'm no longer backed by that desperate loneliness that convinced me to break my own moral code to make her my slave in the first place. And Mana was actually asking for this.
Seeing that everyone in the tent was awaiting my answer, all of them patient-looking enough to say that the mental lapse I had taken myself on just now didn't actually take all that long, I looked over each of them. Yua was smiling happily. Mana had retreated back into her father's lap in my silence and was holding her knees up to her tiny chest. Mochi held her tightly, looking more concerned with the fact that I might be about to spurn his daughter than that I might say yes.
Yua aside, how did I win over these two? Seriously. All I did was show up with Yua and get my ass kicked. Not exactly the sort of manly man these two should be happy to be seen with.
I shook my head, mentally though, so I didn't give them the wrong impression. Mana's clearly serious about this. I don't know why, but she is. So, I need to take this seriously too. This is essentially a proposal and it needs to be answered properly.
"Yes, okay," I said. "I-I will take Mana as my second mate. No. Please, let me."
I spoke as clearly as my shaky voice could allow and Mana's tail started flicking about so rapidly that Mochi had to loosen his hold on her to avoid being bruised by it. She looked ready to squeal as she clenched her fists.
"Alright then," Mochi said. "You have my and My Mate's blessing to take our daughter. Both as your mate and as your slave."
"W-Wait, she doesn't have to actually be my slave!"
Him letting me take his daughter as my wife was one thing, an understandable thing for a girl her age, but to willingly let her be my slave? Do these people really not know what that word means? Why did they all get so angry with me earlier if they don't know?
Yua, who most definitely knew, tilted her head at this.
"Hmm? Alex, doesn't she have to be your slave to get stronger? I thought that's how your trait works?"
"Er, uh… Shit."
I forgot about that. When it came to Yua getting stronger through my experience-boosting trait, I'd like to say that she was only affected because of us going into the dungeon together, but I didn't actually get any sort of prompt for us to party up. That left the slave contract binding us being the only thing connecting us. Other than love, obviously. And the trait didn't seem to care whether or not someone liked me, as Yua still benefitted from the boost back when she hated me.
Because of these reasons, I could only assume that, to benefit from this trait, they had to be my slaves. Yua was likely right. And she knows I got the "Slave Binding" ability when I completed her contract. She even shared this bit of info with Tama since learning that ability was the proof we'd beaten Alphonse, so I can't exactly say I can't do it knowing Mana and Mochi overheard all of that.
Damn Slave Master class has been sitting there mocking me ever since, but now… I hesitate to say that it might be able to do me some good.
"Well… I guess that's true, but…"
If she's doing this to get stronger, then I suppose that it is likely a must. But to turn her into a slave just for an EXP boost? Why? She's clearly not as obsessed with fighting as Yua is.
Mana's ears twitched, her big blue eyes were jam-packed full of hope. There was no malice in her gaze, no laughing sneer to say this was all a joke at my expense. Her eyes betrayed nothing but the blushing look of a cute girl hoping her confession would be accepted. But those eyes of hers were no less deadly than a blade pressed against my heart.
… I mean, I don't treat Yua like a slave, so all I need to do is match that effort for Mana, right? Yua approves, so wouldn't I be a failure as a man if I said no here?
Assuming that I'd made up my mind, Mochi leaned forward and in a voice just as shaky as my own, asked, "M-May I watch her become your slave?"
I drew in a deep breath and closed my eyes.
"… You know how it works, right?"
"Yes, but I've never seen it done. I just want to make sure I'm giving her to the right man."
Ah. So, he means he wants to see my status page. Yua mentioned letting people see it was considered an intimate act, but considering how he was sitting there in the nude, and didn't bother to cover up his crotch at all despite the presence of two girls in this tent, I didn't understand why his question made him blush a little.
Regardless, I nodded and pulled a gold coin out of my item box. No point in hiding its existence knowing he overheard our conversation with Tama and Kimiko.
With the sudden appearance of gold, Mochi's ears shot to attention and he gasped in obvious shock. He looked at the small coin in my palm as though I'd casually pulled out something worth more than his entire salary. Which, now that I think about it, might actually be the case.
I ignored his shock and held my hand out to the girl on his lap, showed her the coin and after steeling myself to once more commit this taboo, I set it on the ground between us. Using the Goddess's advice to imagine what I wanted to happen, I forced the thought that the coin belonged to me and me alone to stay in the forefront of my mind.
"Mana, if you take that coin, you will be marked as a Thief. That is the only way I can make you my slave. This is your last chance to reconsi…"
"Hey Big Bro, is this real?"
Before I could finish my explanation, Mana snatched the coin out of the dirt before plopping back down on Mochi's lap to look at it. She held the coin to the sliver of setting sun still peeking in through a gap in the tent to admire how shiny it was. Thanks alone to the utterly amused smile on her lips, I knew it was her first time handling coin of any kind.
Bewildered by her complete lack of hesitation, I checked her info box and sure enough, she now bore the Thief tag below her name.
"Y-Yes, it's real… You do realize you just became a Thief, right? You can't undo that."
She tilted her head cutely, squeezing the coin in her hand.
"Yea, so? Daddy told me all about how stealing things was bad when I was little. Didn't you say I had to do it so I can be your mate?"
Holy crap… She really is serious about this. All of it. Finding my face heating up at the idea of this girl so willingly changing her life in such a huge way just to be with me, I let a small smile slip.
I don't understand the reason for her feelings just yet, but maybe I put too many points into my Luck stat.
"I see," I said, trying to compose myself. "Just wanted to make sure you understood. Then…"
I sat up. Yua instantly lost her balance, but for some reason fought to remain on top of me, keeping me inside of her by wrapping her arms around my neck. I clenched my jaw, refusing to let the pleasurable sensation she was basically forcing on me at this point to show on my face.
"Mana, hold out your hand with your palm up."
"Okay!"
Her hand shot out so fast that her tiny bust was forced to jiggle. I placed mine on top of hers. She didn't flinch. Despite her being a full adult already, I was still concerned that she didn't actually know what she was really doing. But it was too late now. Now that she so hastily stole that coin, there was no going back. The only option I had now was to see this through. If I backed out now, she'd be eternally stuck with the risk of ending up enslaved to someone like Alphonse.
Without looking like she meant to, she basically forced my hand.
Unperturbed by this massive red mark on her life, Mana continued to smile giddily from atop Mochi's lap. He too looked no more bothered than he did when he first showed up.
"… Slave Binding."
With a short, verbal incantation of the Slave Master ability, I gave Mana one last chance to run away instead of casting it quietly. I willed the same window that popped up when I first bought Yua to show up again. A bright white light appeared between our hands and her status page popped up, showing me her personal information.
Already knowing her sole class was that of a level 2 Beast-Warrior, I moved straight to her stats. Most were all relatively unimpressive where they sat around 5 to 15 for everything, but most were below 10. The only impressive stat she had was Speed, which was at 20. I saw firsthand through Yua and Tama how useful such speed could be, but without the power to back it up, she'd be in trouble.
Seeing this, it was easy to understand why she stayed rooted in the village all this time and why these two jumped at the chance to level her up faster.
After quietly confirming her stats and that her only combat ability was the Rend ability given to Beast-Warriors by default, I couldn't help but notice that she was also a perfectly healthy virgin as well. Which seemed the only logical conclusion given how we got here in the first place. Though I made sure not to blurt this information out this time. Won't be making that mistake again.
Satisfied with what I saw, I switched the window to show my status and let them look.
Both Mana and Mochi looked at the small window as seriously as I could have expected, but once they saw what was written there, their eyes went wide. Hurriedly, they leaned closer for a better look, as if the already slight distance between us had blurred the text for them.
With Mana now on all fours in front of me, her tail swishing about, and with Mochi directly behind her, pressing against her backside for a closer look at my status window, and with the two being naked, they had unintentionally adopted an incredibly lewd pose. I quickly reminded myself that what I was thinking was definitely not what was happening.
I could understand why they were so surprised, though. Along with my relatively young age, I was already almost twice Mochi's level. According to Yua, such a level should have been highly unlikely, if not impossible to obtain this early on. So, the power of my EXP boost made itself loud and clear. Then there were all the classes that I shouldn't have been able to have, let alone the abilities and traits that so captivated Yua when I first showed her.
A small twitch made Mochi's expression take a sudden turn for the worse. Rolling his jaw in contemplation, he took one more good look at the window, manually flipping through it again and again as if trying to memorize everything written there. Then he looked to Mana and squeezed his eyes shut.
Did he not like what he saw?
He grabbed Mana by the wrist and yanked her hand away from me. She let out a small yelp as he pulled her back onto his lap. Seemingly even more confused by his response than I was, Mana looked up to her father to find that he didn't look at all upset. If anything, he looked oddly determined as he looked me dead in the eye.
"I've changed my mind."
"B-but, Daddy!"
Mochi clenched his jaw shut and forced himself to look away when Mana turned her big blue eyes on him. Apparently, the puppy dog pout was super effective on him too. He couldn't let himself be swayed by it now. Not when he had more to say.
Ignoring her protest completely to the point of feigning deafness, Mochi once more locked his arms around Mana, who tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but with her Strength stat a measly 5, she stood no chance. His brow furrowed, he continued.
"I heard what happened between you and Daughter Yua in the human city. I also heard how you stood against the Chief without faltering. You even managed to wound him."
"Hey, he was clearly holding back."
"Doesn't matter. Do you have any idea how few have managed that? You're not even half his level and you're a weak fighter, but you managed the fight just fine."
Okay, ouch. Did you really need to put it like that? Also, what, were you expecting my numbers to be higher than his? The man's at least twice my age and presumably spent his whole life training. It would honestly be sad if I were more powerful than him.
"I don't see the problem, then."
Mochi shook his head, but he couldn't hide the clenching of his teeth.
"There isn't a problem. But I've decided that I won't be handing my daughter to you… unless you do something for me. For us."
"Daddy…"
Despite Mana looking as though her heart had just been ripped out by the sudden betrayal, Mochi held firm. The good mood she'd been clinging to for the last several minutes dropped like a lead weight in water, but I felt a sudden sense of relief creep up on me.
Mana asking to become my mate and him agreeing to it happened way too easily. Way, way too easily.
I almost made the same mistake I did in buying Yua. I didn't read the fine print. I thought there had to be a catch in this somewhere, but I was surprised that it took him learning the truth behind my status page for it to show up. Willing to hear him out, I nodded for him to continue.
"For the last few years, the humans in the nearby city have been trampling through the forest. We aren't able to see what they're actually doing, but we know it isn't hunting."
Hearing this, my first inclination was to assume the people of Guerraway had just made a habit of going for the occasional camping trip in the forest, but if that were true, he wouldn't sound so concerned.
"I don't understand the problem," I said and Yua nodded in agreement.
Having been gone from the village for five whole years, this was most definitely news to her as well. And yet, Mana, face scrunched up in confusion as well.
"The problem is that their actions are wreaking havoc inside the forest. The animals have started to act in odd ways. The grass-eaters are straying further from their nests to forage for food. The meat-eaters are getting too full of themselves with how easy it is to catch their prey now. And most importantly, sensing all this, the bears have started challenging us more often for control of the forest."
So, the intervention of the humans is essentially throwing the eco system out of whack? Hardly a surprise. While I hated to play up the stereotype, we humans were known for doing that in pretty much every world, fictional or otherwise.
"Okay, but what does that have to do with Mana and me?"
"Because you're a human, too."
"… I don't see why that matters. You know I'm not from Guerraway, right?"
"That's not what he means, boy."
All four of us turned to look upon yet another intrusive guest that trampled his way into our tent without so much as announcing himself first. Mana gulped, almost as though his sudden appearance had sealed her fate where her becoming my mate was concerned. Mochi stiffened a little, but only in the sense that he felt the need to carry himself better in this man's presence. I myself blinked hard at him, most definitely trying to blink him out of existence. Meanwhile, Yua just continued to cling to me as though nothing was wrong at all in the world.
"He's saying that you being a human is the reason why you can help, because we cat-kin can't do it ourselves," Tama said, then unapologetically squat behind Yua and I. Openly looking at how, despite all the intrusions, Yua'd kept our erotic connection going, he grimaced. "Then again, had you been one of us, I'd likely be a grandfather soon."
Oh Goddess, I don't know how many times I can say it, but these people are going to kill me.
As if he didn't just walk in on us moments after having sex and having an entire conversation about both becoming Mana's mate as well as enslaving her, Tama plopped himself down next to Mochi to casually join the conversation. Mana, for some reason I could only assume was a custom for them, scrambled off of Mochi's lap to take to his other side, as if not doing so in front of the chief would be considered rude. He looked at our connection again, but only shook his head.
Wait, did that man, Yua's father, really just walk in on us right after we had sex and say next to nothing disparaging about it? Even though he could clearly see what we had been doing? That same father that forced me to fight him for the right to be her mate? What sort of family did I just marry in to?
Tama stared at me, for all the wrong reasons, and waited for me to say something.
Okay. Guess I'll bite, then.
"… Why does me being human mean I can help? If you and I are able to talk, why can't you just ask them to…"
"Because the humans put up an anti-beast-kin barrier around their camp, you idiot!"
Slowly and deliberately, I drew in a deep breath. Keep calm, me. He may be irrational, but we need to maintain what little sanity we still have in this situation. Surely, he was aware that I did not know about this supposed barrier, as even Yua and Mana looked taken aback by this.
Besides, I already won this round by having my cock buried to the hilt in his daughter.
Tama's eye twitched.
"Why did I get the sudden urge to punch you again?"
"N-no idea…"
"Is that why you and Mother went hunting with Mochi?" Yua asked, saving me, but Mochi answered for him.
"Yes. I consider myself to be good with a bow, but I'm not much of a fighter. I needed protection. And since my job is to supply the village with food, the Chief decided to join us on our hunt."
So I didn't look to be dismissing their worries, I ignored the urge to shake of my head here, even though it'd be fully deserved in this case. Because of the way this world worked, he as a Hunter had to be the one doing the hunting. Anyone else that killed an animal would, at best, be rewarded with a pelt, not meat. Mochi and the other Hunters losing the ability to hunt would be a serious blow to everyone's stomachs. Their caution was warranted.
But that was just taking the more economical approach to the problem. If the carnivores of the forest hunted their prey to extinction, they'd be forced to leave in search for more. And they might put the nearby Guerraway on the menu. The animals in the forest were supposed to be dangerous enough to warrant a drunken warning for us to be careful before we even left Amoranth.
With these muscle-heads at the helm, I was fairly sure this place would be fine, but the humans settled outside of the major cities would be nearly defenseless. Especially if the bears that are both willing and capable of fighting Tama for control were to end up thinking the humans were food.
Did the humans in the forest just not know what they were doing, or was this just another case of "Eh, I don't care. Not my problem"?
"So, you want me to go talk to them and ask them to stop?"
"Yes," Mochi said earnestly.
"Kill them if you have to," Tama added, scratching his backside. "You have my permission."
"I understand Mana's feelings towards you," Mochi continued. "But if you don't prove yourself capable of this much, then I won't allow you to be her mate."
Hearing this, Mana's entire being slumped so hard that, were Tama not present, she probably would have fallen straight to the ground and started crying. However, she didn't protest her father any further. From what I've seen of them, the people of this tribe seem to view their mates as mostly equals, but the men, let alone their fathers, were still clearly in charge to an extent.
Or so I would assume. It's really hard to tell given how Kimiko treats Tama almost like he's a child in need of an occasional telling-off.
Then there was Yua to consider.
With all feelings of lust seemingly gone from her, she took in what the men said with her knuckle pressed to her chin. After a few seconds of deep thought, her ears flicked and she pushed herself off my chest to stand.
Naturally, this ended our connection. The abrupt expulsion from the warmth I'd been locked in sent a shockingly sensitive pleasure racing up my spine, almost causing me to harden again. It also had the side effect of proving that there was yet another side of Yua that I wasn't aware of. For the second we parted, a variable sea of white spilled out of her womb and ran down her thighs and she didn't bat an eye at it. As if it wasn't there. The two men not only stared at it intently, they practically mimicked her in tilting their heads to show their confusion of its sheer amount.
Yua, however, paid them no mind as she stepped over my leg to straddle my thigh, as was their custom, but she did so without so much as wiping herself down first. When she was good and comfortable, she did the unthinkable and grabbed hold of my penis right in front of everyone.
She's not going to… Not right in front of them, right? I mean them walking in on us was one thing, but doing it on purpose?
"Alex," she said, her tone surprisingly serious. "Please help my people. My village."
"U-Uh, I …"
Even in the face of this request, I stammered like an idiot right up until I gave in and silently cast the Body Wash spell on the both of us. The feeling of her leaking on my thigh and of the men staring at the impressive amount was way too distracting. Unfortunately, however, my silent casting and check to make sure the spell worked betrayed me, as Mana started to tear up in the silence I let hang.
"Does Big Bro not want to be my mate…?"
Apparently, she'd taken my pause as second guessing her, not her father's request. When she turned an even more destructively cute look my way as she teared up, I hurriedly threw up my hands in protest before I even knew what I was going to say.
"I-It's not that, I swear! It's just… Yua, do you need to hold me like that in front of them?"
I gestured with my chin to the part of me in her hands and her ears shot up, as though surprised.
I was starting to think that, after having spent the last month mostly in bed during what truly turned out to be our honeymoon, she just forgot where she was. She, however, tilted her head. This lasted only a second, though, as her eyes quickly widened and, betraying my expectations yet again, she didn't let go before jumping into an explanation.
"Oh, sorry. I guess I forgot to tell you about this too," she said, giving me a light squeeze and a smile. "We hold our mates like this both when we want to show others they belong to us and when we want to have a serious conversation. By doing this, I want you to understand that I am seriously asking this of you."
Is… Is that why Tama kept fingering Kimiko earlier? Because we were all having a serious conversation? Also, what the hell kind of custom is that?!
Allured by the idea, not because I wanted to do it, but because the way she was sitting on me left her delicates on full display to the three in front of us. Reciprocating her now would at least cover her up some, but I ended up staring a little too intently at her crotch while I considered it.
"I think you've touched my daughter enough," Tama snapped from behind his folded arms. "I know enough to say the gesture it doesn't mean the same to you humans."
So, he does care about me and her doing dirty things? What a fucking way to show it, Daddy! Also, why the hell are you only complaining now when you basically forced us to do this earlier?! Don't start contradicting yourself on top of all of this! My heart can't handle it!
"Besides," Mochi continued. "I'm… Mana and I are the ones asking you. Daughter Yua may be asking the same, but I get the feeling she's only asking on behalf of Mana anyways."
Yua quickly nodded, as did Mana, but my gaze rested on the latter. Mana was in the process of trying to dry her tears after her little misunderstanding was cleared up and I couldn't help but feel as though I'd been putting her on just as much of an emotional roller coaster as they have me. I mean, not even ten minutes ago we were seconds away from essentially getting married. And now this.
If her feelings were genuine, which all signs pointed to this being the case, since she accepted the idea of being with me as a slave so easily, then I really need to take it easy on her.
What I need to do is to continue my motto of do better and step up now where I'd failed with Yua. I need to be clear with my intentions.
"Okay, okay," I said. "Mana, please stop crying. I do like you and I do want to be your mate. So, I will do everything in my power to get the other humans out of the forest for you guys."
My face felt like it was on fire having to admit to this in front of all these people, but mainly Yua. She may have given her approval, but admitting to liking another girl in front of her just felt odd. This place may be weird, but Yua and Mana are most definitely two parts of their culture that I wanted to take home with me. And seeing the unrefined adorableness that was the teary-eyed smile Mana showed when I declared this outright on top of Yua's nod of approval, I could say without a doubt that I would make them happy.
"What?" Tama snarled, his lip pulling back into a sneer. "So, my daughter's not enough for you? You have to steal Mana too?"
Why the hell is this guy so mad when Mochi looks mostly content with my answer? You know what, no. I won't take the bait this time. Yua already told me their people view polygamy as perfectly normal. I won't sweat the fire burning in his eyes.
"Daddy, stop it," Yua said, finally letting go of me to wag a finger at him.
"But Daughter, he's…"
"No, Daddy. I already gave Alex, My Mate, permission to take another. Besides, he's my mate. You don't get a say here."
You tell 'im, Honey!!!
"Tch…"
Clicking his tongue in obvious irritation, he dropped his chin into his palm and said nothing more on the subject. Though he did continue to glare at me.
I don't know if it was the shock of actually getting told off by his loving daughter or if the acceptance of the others had anything to do with it, but he backed off. Yua, however, seemed to take his continued sneering glare as a sign that she hadn't made herself clear.
"Daddy… I know you heard us talking earlier. Don't pretend to be surprised now. Alex will be taking Mana as his mate and, since you're not her father, you can't say no. So, stop being mean to my mate for no good reason!"
Tama flinched beneath the pressure of her tone and ducked his head as if he'd just been hit and was actually scared it'd happen again. Watching how Yua's words and wagging finger caused the man that beat both of us to a pulp to cower made my love for her double on the spot. Forget confidence. The way she glared back at him suggested she was ready dust off her knuckles just to get him to shut up.
Mochi grinned at the sight of his chief cowering in front of his daughter. The whole village understood their loving relationship more than I did myself, but the way he watched without even pretending to wipe off his smile suggested that this too was normal for them. That and he was friendly enough with Tama to know the village chief wouldn't reprimand him for laughing at his expense. He turned to me.
"I'm happy to know you've accepted my daughter, but I still won't let you have her until you do this for us."
"Yes, I understand. How about we get back to discussing the problem then?" Throwing Tama a bone to pull him out of the daughter-imposed dog house, I asked, "How do you know the barrier only affect cat-kin?"
Weakened to the point of sweating, Tama jumping to answer. All to save himself from Yua's unwavering glare.
"Ahem… We don't, really. None of us here know much about magic, but we've seen humans walk straight through the barrier without issue. But when one of us tried, it burned him as severely as shoving your hand into a bonfire would."
"Why test it with his hand? Why not a stick or something?"
"When we watched the humans enter, the one in front just held out his hand and part of the barrier opened. We thought that would be enough to let us in to figh… talk to them."
That was a vaguely understandable thought process for someone unfamiliar with magic. While I couldn't say I'd do the same, it was intriguing to learn that barrier magics exists too. Thanks to my gaming experience, I knew of at least a few kinds of barriers that they should have been weary of, ranging from kinds that repelled or weakened attacks, kinds that resisted certain elements and more.
If the one the humans used caused intruders pain, then I had to assume it was a barrier similar to the one shielding the Amoranth dungeon in that it was meant to keep people out, but it apparently had the bonus of attacking those that aren't welcome.
That means they were trying to keep the cat-kin out, not repel their attacks. And since most of the cat-kin in this village were melee fighters, specifically ones that didn't' wear clothes, then a barrier that burned your skin on contact would be more than effective against them.
"Is there anything else you can tell me? Anything you think may be important. Like, where they are and what they seem to be doing."
"Yes. We've been watching their movements since we first noticed them. They've been keeping close to a cave in the northern part of the forest. Their camp is right next to it, but we have no idea what they're doing there."
"Really? Does the barrier block sound, too?"
"No. There's a lot of noise coming from the cave," Tama said, wincing as though he could still hear it. "We just don't know what they're doing in there."
"Okay. How many humans are there?"
"We don't know. We've seen a group five males travel to the city multiple times on a cart filled with boxes, only to come back empty handed. It's the same males every time, though."
So, they're in a cave, making a lot of noise and taking crates filled with something back into the city. Sounds like they're mining something and are selling whatever it is in the city. The barrier is probably meant to keep the cat-kin from stopping them and to keep others from stealing their profits.
"Why can't you tell how many humans are there? I imagine you'd be able to hear them."
"Normally, I could," Tama said. "But whatever they are doing in that cave echoes too much to tell to make sense of anything I hear."
"Could you guess by the number of tents they have?"
Mochi shook his head. Besides him, Mana looked to understand the seriousness of what we were talking about, but also looked completely lost. She only followed along by mimicking his head shaking.
"The humans are working in the cave non-stop. When one group finishes, another takes their place. And the entrance to the cave is well-hidden by the surrounding plants. And they take turns sharing one large tent. So, it's impossible to tell how many there are without getting closer."
"Which we can't do," Tama added with a sneer.
"The distance between the edge of the barrier and their camp is also too far for us to see clearly. Even during the day."
"Tch. I thought about just tearing up the soil and punching my way through to make a tunnel, but that didn't work either."
So, the barrier covers a wide area and covers them from subterranean attacks too.
Still, why is one of the village Hunters discussing this more calmly than the actual chief? Yua said that one's strength decided your position within the village, but the way her father acts is just too...
"Something wrong, boy?"
"N-No, nothing. Just… Do you know what's in the cave? Whatever it is, it must be pretty valuable to them if they are willing to go so far protecting it."
Sneering, this time at me, Tama turned to Mochi for the answer. Apparently, the village Hunter was more knowledgeable of the area.
"All we know is that the cave used to be a spriggan nest, but that's all I know."
"Used to be?" Mana repeated. "Wh-What happened to them?"
I was about to exclaim a bit of joy at hearing the name of a new fantasy creature, one apparently not tied to the dungeons, but stopped myself when I saw tears welling in Mana's eyes again. Mochi, too, stopped his explanation to pat her head with a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry. Spriggans cannot truly be killed unless they are removed from the forest. I don't know where they went, but they were likely forced to make a new nest somewhere else once that barrier was put up."
"O-Okay…"
Mana sniffled, leaned into Mochi's side and drew her knees up to her chest. My heart clenched at her tears, and Mochi's ears flicked. He turned his smile to me.
"She likes to spend her time playing around in the forest. She knew the spriggans well."
"I see… So, in short, you don't know much about the humans?"
"Yes. I know asking you to handle this without sharing more is already too much, but…"
"I hate to admit it," Tama interrupted with a grumble as he dug his pinky finger into his ear. "But this is one problem we can't handle ourselves."
I closed my eyes.
If Tama's brute force can't handle the issue, then they must really be at their wit's end. While the people here all did seem nice on the surface, if they loved fighting this much, enough to routinely duel the forest animals to maintain supremacy, then it probably wouldn't be too much to assume that they handled most of their problems with violence. Possibly restrained, honorable violence, but violence nonetheless. And this barrier made that impossible.
"Alright, I already said I'll do it, but when should I start?"
"Thank you," Mochi bowed his head. "The longer we take to act, the worse the food situation will be."
"It's been a while since any human Merchants stopped by, too," Tama added, climbing back to his feet. "So, our food stores won't last through the winter at this rate."
Right. The merchants that pass through here, assuming they don't all die of severe nose bleeds on the spot after seeing all the nude cat girls living here before they can trade their goods, must be the cat-kin's main source preserved foods. Which I doubted they had the means to process themselves. Outside of, maybe, making jerky from their hunting kills.
I already questioned how these people keep alive in the winter without clothes to keep them warm and, unless the winter here was exceptionally mild, not having enough food would only multiply their problems. I'd really rather not find out that they had to resort to cannibalism the next time I bring Yua back here.
Time was of the essence.
"Wait," I said as Mochi stood. I immediately regretted it as I was once again reminded of his state of undress being flaunted when he turned back to us. "Yua and I came here in part to collect something for the Adventurer's Guild. Do you know where we could find the Connifery Plant?"
If we were going to essentially take on two quests in the same forest, we might as well knock both out at the same time. Plus, part of our reason for stopping here was to ask anyway.
"Conni…fery?" Mochi repeated, obviously confused. "I'm sorry, but I don't know. We don't refer to the plants or trees in the same way humans do. If you could tell me what it looks like…"
At this, I reached into my item box and pulled out the quest slip. Handing it to Mochi, whose ears flicked curiously at the sudden appearance of the purple miasma, I pointed to the little hand-drawn picture of a flower set just below the quest reward.
"I know what it looks like, just not where to find them. All I know is that they are in the forest."
Mochi shook his head at the image and said, "Never seen it. If you want to know about plants, you should ask the Chief Mother."
Kimiko, then? After watching her erotic display earlier, I wasn't too keen on speaking with her again so soon, but I suppose such is the price of my mercy.
"Pfft. Boy, you accepted that little fetch quest without knowing how to find what you're after," Tama laughed, barely hiding his condescension. No… I suppose he wasn't hiding it at all.
"Daddy…"
At that one word from Yua, Tama's laughter and his smile vanished. His ears even drooped.
Honestly, seeing the way he immediately chickened out under the pressure of her stern gaze, you would think she was the one that won their earlier fight. Is this the power of a daughter?
"Whatever," Tama grunted, trying to save face, even though everyone other than me in the tent, and likely outside of it, were smirking at the two of them. "Mana!"
"Eep! Y-Yes, Chief Tama?"
Mana instantly quit her grinning at the call of her name and shot up to her feet to face him directly.
"I sent you here to ask my daughter and her mate a question. Not for you to try and mate with him yourself. Why didn't you?"
"I, um… I guess I forgot."
Mana shrunk back, but not far enough away that he couldn't see the obnoxiously cute, sheepish grin she turned on him. Her smile was clearly more forced than apologetic, but her eyes were large and utterly adorable. Seeing this, Tama visibly faltered, though unlike me, he whipped his face away from hers.
"Whatever. Just hurry it up and ask them."
With that, Tama stormed out of the tent. He'd surely be able to hear whatever answer we gave even after leaving, but he clearly didn't want to ask himself as he grimaced on the way out. Mana's grin, however, turned honest and she faced us head on before speaking.
Kneeling politely, she puts her hands on her thighs and asked, "Big Sis, Chief Tama wants to know if you and your… our, mate will be staying for dinner."
With the way Yua and Mana both grinned at each other, I didn't have to go too far out on a limb to guess that they both heard the way my heart skipped when she referred to me as their mutual mate. As if it were already a done deal.
Still, after hearing how they were apparently on the verge of a food shortage, I was immediately reluctant to accept the kind offer. Rather, I was about to suggest that they just open up direct trade with the trading hub Amoranth, when Yua turned to me.
Her pleading gaze didn't hold as much devastating power as Mana's, but since she so rarely asked for anything, I felt I had no power to deny whatever she was about to ask.
"Alex… I know we need to hurry with the quest, but could we stay a while longer? Please?"
She didn't look like she wanted to bring about another one-woman battle royal against her fellow cat-kin. Nor did she look like she wanted to fool around with her parents. What I saw in her, namely the way I saw her nostrils flare to catch a scent I myself could not sense, was more than enough reason.
Mana came to ask if we were going to eat with them. They had a large bonfire going in the center of the village and had been preparing something for a while now. They were likely getting ready to eat. They might have even been waiting for us on Tama's order. And Yua, the girl who'd been separated from her people for the better part of five long years, wanted to participate.
In short, Yua wants to have some good old home cooking while we were here. It may not be the barbequed pork she loved, but it wasn't something she'd be willing to miss out on unless I made her. On top of this, seeing Mana unable to sit still as she waited for my answer, how could I say no?
Smirking, and inwardly scolding myself for not considering either girl's feelings on the matter, I nodded.
"It's getting late. I think it would probably be best if we just stayed the night and got an early start tomorrow morning. Besides… I'd like a chance to get to know Mana a little better."
Both girls grinned broadly, but when Mana skipped towards me to do Goddess-knows-what given their odd culture, she was suddenly and very abruptly stopped in her tracks. She let out a shrill shriek that made her eyes go wide as tea saucers, but before I could think she'd spotted some crazed serial killer standing behind me with a knife, I noticed that Mochi had grabbed hold of her tail.
Effectively rooted in place, Mana grabbed hold of her backside with a tiny tear in her eye and turned to him.
"D-Daddy, let go."
"No," he said curtly. "He is not your mate yet. So, I won't be leaving you alone with him."
"B-but I want to…"
"I said no."
Without pause, but likely considerate of her feelings, Mochi scooped the tiny Mana up into his arms. Holding her against his chest, he quickly and sharply turned his attention away from the pleading look that took to her face. Weary of its power, he instead looked to me.
"Alex, I won't let you have my daughter just yet. Not until you fulfil your promise to us. But you have my word that I will reject any offer any other males may make to mate with her."
"… Thank you. Please do that."
Not knowing what else to say, because what could I say when a father outright told me he'd basically refuse any other men the chance to steal her away from me, I simply said a quick thanks. With nothing but a small, uncomfortable nod to show he was deadly serious to boot, Mochi carried Mana out of the tent and, finally, Yua and I were alone again.
I was aware that I had been breathing throughout the conversation, despite the numerous times where I was sure that supposed automatic function had shut down on me, but once we were alone, I sucked in a breath so deep I actually felt a little light headed. Wrapping Yua up in my arms, I fell back into the hay pile that would be our bed for the night. To my surprise, it wasn't the least bit uncomfortable.
Naturally, and probably just trying to be a good mate, Yua started kissing my chest and neck like she thought I meant to start something, so I stopped her by holding her just a bit tighter. She looked up at me, curious over why when I'd never stopped her before.
"Something wrong?"
"Can you tell if whatever they are making for dinner is almost done?"
"Hmm…" Yua tilted her head back, gave her ears a quick flick as if she was expecting someone other than her to answer my question so she could relay the answer to me. "It'll be a little while. Are you hungry?"
"No, it's… Okay," I lowered my voice to a whisper, knowing full well that doing so didn't mean all that much. "Is there somewhere here where we can speak privately. I mean really privately. Just you and me. Somewhere where nobody else hearing what we talk about."
Yua seemed taken aback by this question, as if she found it odd that I could want to hide anything from the others here after partially integrating herself back into their culture, but then she smiled.
"There is, but only sort of," she whispered back. "Want me to take you there?"
"Yes, please…"
LethalBacon here,
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