When I wake up, it already looks to be morning. I’m not even sure at which point I dozed off while admiring the Elf beauties sprawled around me on the bed after we finished. Besides sunlight sneaking into the house through small cracks in the shutters, some noise outside can also be heard.

It seems that the party is still on. The Elves must have celebrated the whole night and made it pretty much to breakfast. I feel kind of sad that I snuck out to bang their leader and never returned to join everyone at the epic banquet hosted in our name, but I couldn’t have known where I was being led.

Something stirs next to me and I glance that way. Ghilerie is already awake, lying on her side, and smiles at me softly as she stares at my face. Her hand moves to my chest and trails over my skin gently.

I take in the sight of her magnificent, naked body for a brief moment before throwing my arm around her waist and pulling the charming Tracker into myself, stealing her lips in the process. Ghilerie chuckles quietly as we enter a tame kiss. Her decently sized breasts press into me pleasantly.

“Did you enjoy yourself last night?” she asks with a faint blush after we separate.

“That should be my question.” I smirk at her.

Some more rosiness surfaces on Ghilerie’s cheeks and she hides her face from me by resting her forehead against my chest. I chuckle and brush through her golden hair, leaning over to reach her long ear.

“I loved every second of it. And, I hope you did too.”

She draws her head back and looks straight at me with a smile. “I didn’t think it would feel so good… in there. But, it was amazing. Thank you for taking care of us afterwards.”

“It’s nothing. I’m glad then. I hope Elyari enjoyed it too. I remember going a little hard on her near the end.”

“Oh, I certainly did.” Another pair of breasts, much bigger this time, press into my back and the Elder shows up hugging me from behind. “You have forced my eyes open for ways of pleasure I would have never thought of.”

Ghilerie giggles softly. “Your eyes weren't the only thing he forced open back then.”

Elyari squints at the younger Elf but then smiles charmingly. “True. I still feel a little loose in there. In a good way.”

I shake my head. “Are we really talking about this?”

“Why not?” Elyari raises a brow at me.

“I don’t know. It’s a little bizarre listening to a respected Elder of the Wood Elves casually chatting about how she got her ass destroyed last night so much she can still feel it.”

She lets out a very noble chuckle and presses herself more into me from behind.

“There’s no one else here besides us…”

“And my spider friend.”

“And your spider—what?” Elyari blinks a few times and glances at me confusedly.

I point at the ceiling without breaking eye contact with her and the women soon look up. The Elder gasps while Ghilerie squeals adorably after they both notice Hecate nestled comfortably in the upper corner of the cosy house. She’s still awake and observing us attentively.

“I didn’t feel her…” the older Elf admits.

I chuckle. “I’m certain no one can. She’s been here since the beginning, most likely. She’s very clingy.”

Elyari stares at my Arachne companion for a bit longer and moves her gaze back down, clearing her throat.

“Anyway, as I was saying, there’s no one else here besides us, and we are just talking about natural things like physical pleasure. I see nothing inappropriate for an Elder here. Now, if we spoke about such things in the middle of a crowd…”

“I would get instantly chased away or worse.” I laugh, imagining an angry, envious mob of male Elves chasing me after learning that I tainted their Elder.

“Possibly.” Elyari chuckles again and her hand snakes down my navel, almost reaching my member. “You and Ghilerie showed me an incredible thing. It’s a little sad that I have just learned about it and have to say farewell to it already.”

“I think you are forgetting what kind of place I run.”

With a wave of my hand, I summon a row of stylized toys between me and Ghileire, causing the younger Elf to flush red at the sight of a plethora of dildos of various sizes and shapes right in front of her face.

“Oh.”

The Elder brushes her fingers over a common, male-themed one as her eyes jump from one toy to another.

“I can always leave you something more automated if you would prefer to be fully on the receiving end without much effort on your side. Or also…”

With another wave, a bunch of strapons and empty harnesses without a fake cock yet slotted into them drop onto the mattress. There’s not enough space to bring out a full machine but that can be arranged later.

Elyari brings one of the strapons up into the air and stares at it with a raised eyebrow.

“Fascinating. What about the weird substance you used? It’s necessary, isn’t it?”

“I’ll obviously leave you a decent stock behind.”

“I was supposed to be repaying you yet I’m the one receiving gifts now. This doesn’t feel exactly right.” Elyari smiles at me.

I shrug. “You gave me a lot already. I now have access to your skills, you give me some stats, we can communicate mentally in case I would need something, and I can even swap places with you. A few toys are nothing compared to that. Oh, and you mentioned women willing to go with us.”

She nods. “Yes, that I did. We should meet them after getting cleaned up properly and having something to eat.”

“Alright. Let’s not waste any more time. Do we have a bathroom here?”

Elyari nods and points at an empty door frame on the far side of the hut. I move over Ghilerie, jump off the bed, and scoop the elven beauty into my arms as she gasps in surprise. The Elder smiles at me and then proceeds to lead us to the bathroom as I princess carry Ghilerie behind her.

We enter a charming cabin with everything still made of wood or trees, literally, and jump under a shower. Not sure how this one operates but Elyari makes it rain fresh and pleasant water. It feels like all the sweat and the other waste are perfectly cleansed from our bodies as we stand under the magically refreshing stream.

The two women quickly begin taking care of me even before I can suggest lending them a hand with their hair or such and I end up getting grazed all over with their hands as they rub and scrub me gently while smiling alluringly at me.

It doesn’t take long before their hands arrive at a certain spot and they give it way more attention than necessary. Before I realise, Ghilerie is already down on her knees and sucking me off while I chase after Elyari’s lips and massage her impressive chest, pretty much absorbing my fingers into the fluffy comfort.

We wrap things up pretty quickly, fortunately, and I help the beautiful Elves with their hair before we get out to dry ourselves up. Afterwards, I drop a few piston and gear devices onto the ground in the bedroom and let Elyari choose a bunch of things she would like to receive from me as a parting gift.

Then, with all of that out of the way, I call Hecate to me to shower her in some pats and thanks for watching over me, even if a little creepily. I know she means well and it will take a bit of time before she stops taking her role as the Queen’s guard so seriously. If it will ever change, honestly.

The four of us leave the charming hut and head down the wooden bridges. We join a group of Elves chatting happily around the remains of the bonfires and a few nice girls bring us something to snack on from yesterday's leftovers. 

I can easily spot a bunch of drunk, asleep people sprawled around the village, over the benches, fences, and even window frames. It makes me chuckle. They really partied hard after I was led away.

“Sensei.”

Shino materialises out of my shadow while we are eating and I smile at her warmly.

“Good morning. How are you guys doing?”

She trots closer to me and I move a bit to make some space on the bench I’m sitting on. Shino plops down next to me and rests her shoulder against mine. So adorable.

“I’m okay, Sensei. Kamil-san and Marcia-san, not so good. They might require some Healing Magic or your Rejuvenate before we depart. They drank a lot. They even pulled Paul-san in.”

I chuckle, patting her head. “That must have been a great sight. Too bad I missed it. Also, sorry about suddenly disappearing.”

She blushes a little. “Don’t be. I know you had… something important to attend to…”

A little surprised, I raise a curious brow at her, making my cute samurai even redder. Then, I glance at Ghilerie and she escapes my eyes with flushed cheeks too. Looks like she had consulted with more people than just Teffith about last night. That little pervert.

Natalie soon walks into the area with her own plate of food and sits not that far from us. They must have been walking around together with Shino but the latter jumped right to my side after sensing me around.

We talk a little while eating. Some Elves that pass by as they begin to clean up the stuff after the big banquet still stop to show their gratitude for our help with the Abyssals and the reconstruction of their village. It does feel nice.

After getting our fill, we follow Elyari. Teffith stumbles onto us as we stroll through the village and joins our procession. She and Ghilerie connect gazes for a brief moment and the Dragonewt smirks while the slightly embarrassed Elf looks away. She knows well what went down a few hours ago.

The Elder leads us to a bigger treehouse and introduces seven women to me. They are all very charming and beautiful Wood Elves of various hair colours and styles, heights, and obviously figures. They all smile at me sweetly even though they surely are the ones that suffered the most from the Abyssal attack.

I take some time to talk with each of them alone, both just to chat a little to learn more about them and to make sure that they fully understand what’s going on and that there are no misunderstandings or misconceptions anywhere along the way.

But, it seems that Elyari and Ghilerie properly mentioned all the crucial things and my short conversation with the women doesn’t change anything regarding their decision to follow me back to my place. A few of them even show signs of great curiosity and interest after I give them some more details about our base of operations.

Out of these seven, four are already openly admitting that they are fine joining the services department from the get-go so it looks like our catalogue will grow quite a bit with the addition of these almost eternally stunning ladies.

The other two aren’t yet completely sure about it and that’s obviously fine. I promise them they won’t have to join that department if they don’t wish to and that we are always in need of maids or people to accompany the recently more common social gatherings.

And, the third one is the person Elyari said was interested in fabrics. From my brief chat with the bronze-haired woman named Nyfile, she isn’t a professional tailor or anything like that but she has picked up some experience over the years from others and her own self-study.

Nevertheless, she will surely be a great help, even if she won’t become the core of our cosplay production department. It’s always good to have someone proficient in sewing and such on hand. And, from how she dresses, I can already tell that she has a more than decent fashion sense and creative personality.

So, these seven charming ladies decide to accompany us back to Evaneheim. The Elder takes it on herself to deal with any possible formalities or people questioning their leave and urges the women to start preparing for the trip. Before she tells them to pack light, I assure them that I will easily be able to store anything they might want to take with them.

They already accept my Partners connection for easier communication and we leave the building for now. It would be good to deal with the leftover Rift before we somehow forget, even though it’s been on my mind all the time. But, you never know. What if Elyari or someone else decides to distract me again before we leave?

But, it will be good to gather everyone for that. And almost half of our group is suffering from hangovers from what I’ve been told. Therefore, I ask the Elves to take us to them so we can ease their suffering.

And, surely, we find Kamil, Marcia, and even Paul, almost dying on the comfy, elven beds in one house. What the hell did they drink to get wasted so much? Actually, maybe I don’t want to know. It was definitely some special elven alcohol they brought out to celebrate.

I take care of the guys with my Rejuvenate while Natalie uses her Healing Magic on Marcia and we gradually bring the drunk trio back to an operable state. Kamil curses and swears something about never doing it again and Marcia just keeps giggling while poking fun at him. Paul remains silent, clearly a tad embarrassed about the state he got himself into.

With everyone ready, we depart towards the cavern hiding the Rift. Besides our current team, Elyari joins us temporarily just to take a peek at it and generally accompany us on this errand. She’s back to her respectful robes and noble aura of a mature lady. My eyes still keep jumping to her massive rack hidden under the material, unable to get their nude image out of my mind. She knows and sneaks a soft smile at me now and then.

We arrive at the grotto without an issue. The guards that have been placed in front of the entrance don’t report anything suspicious as we confront them. It doesn’t look like the gatekeeper lied about the time it will take for the reinforcements to come.

To not tempt fate, just in case, we quickly move underground and find the swirling surface. As we have initially planned, we leave its destruction to Shino. The last time, we were interrupted, but this time, I properly bring the short samurai into my arms and make sure she receives all the energy she needs through a passionate kiss. Even if she doesn’t need it even a little bit.

Shino then trots away with rosy cheeks and we watch her transform into one of the demonised forms, the black one, and she summons a giant katana blade out of a tear in the realm, stabbing it into the Rift. Loud cracking follows and the portal explodes into dark particles before disappearing completely.

We wait in suspense for a few minutes just to be sure that nothing went wrong and then relax. Elyari thanks us for closing the Rift and I pamper my powerful samurai girlfriend lots and lots to reward her.

After returning to the settlement, we get together and sit down by a big, round table. I bring out the maps and we take a look at them.

“So, what are we doing? Crossing the desert again? With a bit more luck this time? Or going around,” I ask.

“Not that we are in a hurry anywhere, but going around would take us a bit,” Paul says while rubbing his chin.

“We shouldn’t forget that our group will be bigger now, with seven additional people,” Natalie adds.

“We might be forced to go around for safety reasons, then. It will be harder to protect all of them in the desert,” Marcia shares her opinion.

“We could travel under the surface like last time, no?” Shino glances up at me. “It should be a bit safer than going through the sands and easier to camp for the night.”

I ponder for a moment and look up. A certain spidergirl gets my intentions clearly and descends from the ceiling on her thin thread, turning herself from upside down to a correct position and stepping onto the ground in front of me. With a smile, I brush through her hair as she snuggles into my lap.

“Do you think you could lead us through the tunnels just below the ground?” I ask my loyal guardian.

Hecate nods almost instantly.

“From one side to the other?”

Again, she confirms with no hesitation.

I keep playing with her hair, now in a bit better shape, and look at the others.

“I think we should be fine with our pale-skinned guide. And I agree with Shino. It will be a bit easier to defend with just two directions to split our attention to, most of the time. Unless we run into Sandworms. But, we should be able to notice their movements early through tremors and structural damage.”

Everyone looks at each other and we decide to go with that in the end. I would like to return through the shortest route if possible. Even though I know my girls are doing fine, it just feels weird for me to leave them for so long. I should be there to look over them and help them out however I can as the boss of Utopia.

So, with our maps now updated with the information from the nearby villages and Ghilerie’s settlement, we chart a new route, keeping in mind that we will be travelling with a group of Wood Elves. We’ll bring unnecessary Human contact to a minimum just in case.

Then, we wrap the meeting up and start preparing to depart. No need to delay it unnecessarily. We did what we had to, gave the Elves a hand with a few other things, and received our rewards. It was fun to stay here for a few days but we aren’t settling down with the handsome forest people.

Everyone meets up in the middle of the main square. Or is it the main circle if it’s round? We need more shapes for these.

Anyway, I pick up all the luggage from the seven Elves and we slowly get ourselves ready, talking a little about the journey with them. Some other villagers surround us, with the Elder at their front. Ghilerie stands by Elyari’s side with a slightly anxious expression, looking away when I glance at her.

With a small chuckle, I split from the party for a moment and walk up to the two beauties. Elyari nods at me with a ladylike smile while Ghilerie keeps awkwardly looking to the side. I stand in front of them and wait.

The blond-haired girl finally meets my gaze and shows an uncertain smile.

“Alastair… I… Back when we first entered the settlement… I know that I said that I would go with you… But… Many hunters lost their lives during the raid and it’s just two more besides me now… So—”

I place a hand on Ghilerie’s soft cheek and lean in to tenderly peck her lips. Surprised a little at first, she smiles warmly and lets me pepper her with a few small kisses. Drawing myself back, I brush through her golden hair.

“There’s no need to explain yourself this deeply. You thought your home and your family were gone. This has changed. It’s only natural for you to stay with them just like you initially intended to. So, don’t feel awkward about it. You should feel proud instead. Proud that you resisted my seduction and still were able to choose your people.” I smirk at her.

Ghilerie chuckles adorably at my little joke and places a kiss on my lips. “I’ll definitely miss you. It was a fun journey. From the very beginning, out in the streets.”

I wrap my arms around her waist. “Should I leave you something special then or are you going to share with Elyari?”

A stronger blush shows up on her cheeks and she drops her gaze to the ground.

“I… I already received something… from Shino…”

I raise my brows at the blushing Elf and quickly realise what she might be talking about. A single glance at the samurai shortie confirms my suspicions as her face turns beet red the moment I look her way. Shino slowly walks up to us.

“It’s my dick, isn’t it?” I ask her openly.

The shy samurai nods while fiddling with her hands. I chuckle and run my fingers through her marvellous black hair.

“How many replicas of my cock do you carry on yourself?”

“Well… Ummm… Usually… it’s three… The spare, which I gave to Ghilerie-san… and two main copies… One for the front… and one for the back…”

“Oh? You double-penned yourself with those?” I ask in a bit of a surprise.

Shino immediately turns into a tomato at her little secret getting out. I chuckle again and lean down, arriving at her crimson ear.

“Let’s replace one with the real thing next time you get in the mood for some double action,” I whisper to it sensually.

A shiver runs through her whole body and I can literally feel the heat coming off her with how embarrassed she has gotten. And, perhaps a little turned on, judging by the faint emotions flowing into me through our connection.

Leaving the steaming girl to cool off, I raise myself to look at Ghilerie again. She’s possibly even redder than before due to her overhearing our brief conversation with Shino.

“Call me to chat whenever. Not just when you want to report how you girls are doing or such,” I say to her.

“I will. Thank you for everything again, Alastair.” She nods politely.

“I thank you too for the goodwill all of you have shown towards our community,” Elyari joins in. “And a very valuable lesson.” A bit of a playful smile pierces her professional mask for a second.

“Always happy to be of help.” I make an overdramatic bow and the women chuckle softly.

Then, we share a few farewell pecks and the two of them escort us to the edge of the newly repaired wards. The atmosphere was starting to get a little tense amongst the male half of the population due to how close I seemed to hold myself around their Elder.

With the last goodbyes, we promise to be in touch and move out. Paul assumes the leadership of our big group and we travel on foot. As we slowly cover the distance, I finally take a peek at Elyari’s Bond Level and her status.

She is registered at level two out of five, pretty much as I expected. The relationship revolves around Appreciative Friendship. I’m fairly sure it jumped from the first to the second level after our little discovery about her and Ghilerie’s unusual likes and our exploration of them.

As for her status, Elyari is a Forest Witch at Tier 5. She didn’t feel that powerful when we spent time around each other so I assume she’s more of a knowledgeable type with her Class getting this far mostly due to her longevity. She’s supposedly over four hundred years old. And just only discovered the wonders of anal. Perfect time for new experiences.

Her skillset revolves around Nature Magic more or less. I’ll study it closely as we walk just in case there’s something that could prove useful at some point in the future. It’s unwise to underestimate any ability. You never know when it can save your life.

In around a week, we reach the mountain range separating the Barren Valley from the lush forests. It doesn’t take us long to find the same grotto through which we surfaced previously and we descend under the ground with its help, assuming a slightly different formation, fine-tuned to the number of VIPs amongst us.

Just as promised, Hecate skillfully navigates through the caverns and passages, often scouting ahead with Shino by her side. They are the stealthiest members of our party, allowing them to eliminate most threats before they are even noticed. This environment is also Hecate’s home, pretty much.

With the hard work of the sneaky duo, we move through the underground tunnels with relative ease. The Elves were a bit scared at first but they quickly realised how strong we are and that we can definitely keep them safe. Just the uncomfortable, characteristic darkness remains as the anxiety-inducing element of this small delve beneath the surface.

Still, it’s much safer here than there. In a week more, we reach the border without any major incidents happening. Fights were unavoidable and it’s good they occurred since it meant more experience for the Heroes. But, everything was dealt with quickly. The effects of our trip could be clearly seen in how they handled themselves.

After escaping the unending darkness, we take a full day of a break to get accustomed to the light again and to get rid of some stress accumulated over the last week spent underground. We relax together by a river and spend some casual time doing various activities. Including some more tiring ones on my side, of course.

Then, we resume our journey back home. Two days later, we stumble on a merchant caravan. It seems that luck is with us after the few good deeds that we have done and they are actually nice people who aren’t straight-up hostile towards other races.

With some negotiation from my side, and a bunch of discounts and free night vouchers, I manage to secure a ride for all of us since they are heading to the capital anyway. We spread ourselves over the waggons and join the merry group of merchants on their way to do business.

I’m fairly sure the fact that they do know of Utopia and that I am the owner played a big role in them agreeing to give us a lift. It’s a hot topic for about four days before the chatting related to my place dies down and gets replaced with other discussions about random stuff in random places around the kingdoms.

The merchants are kind enough to avoid stopping by any villages on our way to Evaneheim due to our Elf friends and we arrive at the capital in nine days of travel. We jump off the waggons shortly before we reach the gates, just in case there would be some trouble entering. Better safe than sorry. No need to complicate things for our benefactors.

I let Cornelia and Elea know that we are about to enter the city and she actually tells me to wait after getting in. She avoids giving me any details and mysteriously says that I will see for myself soon.

Very curious about her secret plan, I relay the request to the others and we move past the gates without a problem. Well, the sentries did stop us but that’s because they recognized me and wanted to say hello.

Seriously, my heart rate spiked for a brief moment. I got baited so hard into thinking that something was wrong.

Anyway, we wait past the gates just like Cornelia wished, looking around for signs of anything happening. Then, ten minutes later, four, black, fancy carriages enter our sight, driving in a single line. I immediately spot a golden logo on the back section as they stop in front of us. A heart with two small Succubi horns and a pointy tail.

Holy fuck these are ours.

Everyone else is as stupefied as I am as we look at each other in pure confusion. Most gazes get directed at me and I shrug heavily because what the fuck else am I supposed to do?

The drivers step down and open the doors for us, making a courteous bow and gesturing with their hands towards the inside. So, we split as equally as we can and hop in. I hope four of these are enough to carry the fifteen of us.

But, they surely are enough. The inside can easily fit three people per side, maybe even four if they are skinny, so it’s around six per carriage. And, the inside is incredible. The extremely comfortable cushions are made of dark purple material, which also was used for the thick curtains covering the windows. There’s even a simple, flat, crystal lamp on the ceiling.

For now, we remove the curtains and enjoy the ride in these spacious carriages while wondering what the fuck is going on. I don’t remember ordering these or anyone mentioning anything regarding such a thing before our departure. I can literally feel the smug smile on Cornelia’s face right now.

The carriages take us straight to the mansion and we jump off at the little roundabout with the marble statue in the front yard. Cornelia and Elea stand together in front of the entrance with proud smiles, watching us step out of the fancy transport. The drivers then take their leave, returning somewhere.

A bunch of girls in maid uniforms come out of the mansion and approach everyone, inviting them inside for some refreshments after the trip. Everyone glances at me and I nod. We’ll have to follow whatever these two have set up for us for now. They have clearly put some work into it.

With the others being led by the beautiful women of various races, it’s just me, Teffith, Hecate, and Shino left behind. We step closer to Cornelia and Elea. I cross my arms over my chest and raise a brow at my charming magician.

“So. Care to explain what the hell did we just go through?”

Cornelia mirrors my actions. “Is that how you greet your hardworking wife after weeks of separation?”

I catch her wrist in a flash and pull her towards myself, evoking a yelp of surprise from the hazelnut-haired mature beauty. After her body crashes into mine, I initiate a deep kiss, going hard after Cornelia’s tongue. She moans a little into my mouth as I ferociously pursue her lips.

Backing away, I grin at her slightly flushed expression. “I planned to greet my hardworking wife properly later in the bedroom, but if she is so eager, we can exchange our greetings right here, right now.”

More crimson surfaces on Cornelia’s light cheeks and she chuckles softly.

“I missed your teasing so much.” She pecks my lips.

“And I missed you so much.” I peck her back.

She then lets me go and I share a brief kiss with the silent Elea. Perhaps silent, but as happy to see me again as the other woman, sneaking a little squeeze at my crotch when nobody's looking.

“Well then. Will I learn about these carriages or are you planning on leaving that for later?” I ask.

“It’s just a small side project we came up with during your absence,” Cornelia admits. “Ria did an amazing job with our finances. Everything is so clear now. We could spot a steady flow of profits and decided to expand a little.”

“We brainstormed some ideas and the carriages popped up during one of the sessions,” Elea continues. “It quickly became a hot topic and everyone was on board with developing the idea.”

“I see.” I nod at them. “What’s the main purpose, then?”

“We now offer an additional service. Seven carriages in total wait for the guests in the front yard during the open night. They can order or reserve one to be brought back home after their time in our establishment.”

“Oh. It’s like Taxi service,” Shino comments with faint excitement.

Elea chuckles. “In the core part, yes. But, that’s not all.”

“What else is there?” I raise a brow at the smiling women.

“The guests can be accompanied by a girl of their choosing, who will escort them home to make the trip even more pleasant. Naturally, just sitting there with a glass of wine and chatting casually is not all that’s allowed in the completely soundproof carriages,” Elea explains.

“With a similar fee as for a room, the interested guest can enjoy a very exciting and pleasant ride back home as they partake in obvious activities,” Cornelia ends the explanation with a sly smile.

I remain silent for a brief moment before exploding into a laugh and dropping my hands onto her shoulders.

“You, girls, are geniuses! This is fucking brilliant! Passionate sex in a moving carriage is one of the staple fantasies! Gods, I love you girls so much, hahaha!”

I shower both Cornelia and Elea in kisses for a few long seconds. The Dark Elf lady smiles proudly while my slightly shy magician blushes heavily under my assault. To not embarrass them too much, I soon step back.

“And? How is it going so far?” I ask, very curious about this new service.

“We are considering doubling the number of available carriages even though this has been fully introduced less than two weeks ago,” Elea informs me.

I whistle in awe. “Damn, they are selling like hotcakes.”

Cornelia chuckles while shaking her head a little. “That’s mostly because the girls are so damn excited and thrilled for the ride that they themselves keep approaching the guests to convince them to take it. You would be surprised how many of them love to bang on the move, or just enjoy travelling back and forth in the night afterwards.”

“I can imagine. Even I’m now very eager to have a go at it.”

A stronger blush surfaces on Cornelia’s cheeks. “We can always reserve one next time…”

I peck her forehead and smile impishly.

“Anyway, great work. I totally didn’t expect this. Damn. You are doing so amazing without me. I’m soon going to be useless.”

“We just got lucky once.” She fixes her rectangular glasses. “Your ideas are still the best. Anything you introduce, people love unconditionally.”

“Thank you very much.” I nod my head. “As for the carriages, where do they stay?”

“We have rented out a stable with a small warehouse. They are tended to at that place during the day and drive here for the night,” Elea explains.

“So. Who is the silent, very pale girl with quite unique eyes behind you?” Cornelia inquiries.

I glance at the person in question and nod. Six spider legs unfurl from around Hecate’s body and the women gasp in surprise.

“This is Hecate. Our new friend. She’s an Arachne, a unique variant. She doesn’t talk so don’t overwhelm her too much, please. And, she’s very clingy to me. She pretty much considers me her Queen.”

Then, I turn to Hecate and kneel in front of her, staring deep into her pure black eyes.

“Hecate. Every person you will meet inside my home that lives there is very important and precious to me. Do not hurt them, alright? That’s an order. No one will want to harm me and even if it will look like that, we will be just playing or acting. Understood?”

The silent predator stares back at me for a few seconds and then nods. I smile at her sweetly and kiss her forehead. I had to make sure with her slightly yandereish tendencies. I can’t let her mistake Nebu’s sudden dive or Garrena hitting me as hostile acts.

“Alright. Enough standing at the front door. Let’s get in and greet everyone properly.” I stand up and look over the women around me. “Man, I can’t wait to finally learn the results of the bet.”

Cornelia pales a little as I chuckle and we walk inside as a group. There’s so much to check on and so many people to meet. The following days, or even weeks, are going to be very busy. 

I can’t wait.