Zutiria seems to have made herself a new friend. After properly introducing themselves, Gwin wasted no time chatting up the sorceress who just got back from her round of kill quests. Even though the Dwarf really should be getting home she ends up spending another twenty minutes with the mage, mostly discussing the stone magic gate that she just teleported in from.

The subject seems to interest Gwin, and Zutiria is surprised to find someone who actually understands the magical schematics she made while designing the Return Gate.

‘I like this one. Keep her around, Sir.’ Zutiria tells me in no uncertain terms.

Having a Mage and a Dwarven smith around would be an absolute insane dream come true, and my mind goes wild at the possibilities at the types of equipment we could create if both girls were properly outfitted with an alchemy lab and a workshop respectively... but that would be unfathomably expensive, and that’s assuming Gwin would even want to stick around here if she got her freedom or her family’s blessing.

The Guild has seen a fair amount of progress in this short, life changing month but it doesn’t help that I keep adding on to the list all of all the things I want to improve on or add...

Zutiria and Gwin talk and bond as the Dwarf proudly shows the Mage the door she just enchanted with her spellsong, until at last the young Dwarf finally deems it time to head on home. She says goodbye to her new friend and turns around, giving me a playful wink before walking out of the door that she just built and making sure to sway her wide hips as she does so.

‘So.’ The Mage says from behind me. ‘How did this happen?’

I laugh shyly. “It’s nothing serious. It was just a handjob.”

‘Interesting.’

“She’s going to be hanging out around here from now on, I guess. Family issues and... I guess it sort of ties into some important things I need to tell the three of you. You don’t need to go back out for another round of quests today. Sam and Meri are having a nap, but as soon as they’re up it’s time for an impromptu meeting.”

‘Is everything alright?’ Setting her bags and staff down, Zutiria comes closer to the table I’m sitting at and makes herself comfy in my lap, facing me.

“Things could be better.” I admit.

Wordlessly, the Mage pulls my head down between her small breasts and she forces me to nuzzle her. Neither of us say anything, but I’m happy that the little lady is so calm and tender with me.

As soon as Zutiria starts playing with my hair, though, I start to get suspicious of whether or not Opalina has been giving her some pointers...

I really need to be taken care of like this sometimes... At least until the other girls wake up and I need to go back to being large and in charge.

Unfortunately that moment comes sooner than I thought it would. Sam and Meri both start coming down the stairs and I quickly pull my head out of Zutiria’s warm, nuzzling embrace.

“Boss, are we interrupting something?” Sam smiles playfully, awful cheeky for an idiot who had to nap after training far too hard.

“I-I can go back upstairs if you need your alone time with Miss Syndaline!” Meri blushes as she sees my dutiful lap Mage.

“Everything’s fine. Can you get them some water?”

Zutiria nods her head and points at the wooden table with her glowing index finger, and I hear the arcane tech faucet from the kitchen being switched on for a moment. After it turns off, two cold glasses of water magically appear and await Sam and Meri as soon as they both join us on the table. They each share their thanks and drink the glasses so fast that by the end they’re left gasping for air.

We all share some light conversation after that, Zutiria reports in her quest totals and it looks like we’re going to be making about 1,500G from her two hours of work. That’s not bad, a few weeks ago it’d take her an entire day’s work just to make that much.

Meri tilts her head. “Why are you all talking about what the Guild made? You’re sounding like all of this belongs to you now, Mr. Guild Master.”

“Ah. I guess we haven’t really brought that up.”

Sam smiles brightly, “Me and Zuzu are kind of a pain in the ass and neither of us care much about getting paid. We’re happy just to stay here in exchange for Boss not getting mad at us.”

‘It’s true. I would rather Sir keep the money and use it to better the Guild, and besides. He still buys me whatever I ask him for.’ As if to show off, the emotionless girl plants a loving kiss on my cheek.

“I-Is that so...? That’s very noble...” Meri seems to be surprised at how altruistic these other adventurers are.

“Officially speaking I DO pay them, they just keep their earnings in a Guild Account so that I can report them to HQ and I can access the funds through personal donations. Please don’t misunderstand, though. This is something they’ve volunteered to do and by no means will we attempt to force you into the same agreement.” I make it very clear to air this situation out properly, knowing how quick this girl is to get the wrong idea.

“I already have a Guild Account... b-but it’s mostly empty.” She sighs. “I don’t think I would mind chipping in around here, though... if you’re really going to be letting me stay here then, um, I’m very indebted to you...” Meri blushes as she manages to look me in the eyes.

“NICE!” Sam throws her arm around Meri and smiles widely, “More free labor acquired!”

Meri starts blushing and protesting, while the Mage and I watch with great amusement.

It’s time for the next topic of conversation in this little meeting, and that’s the training session. I explain to Sam that I’m disappointed she didn’t have enough common sense to stop even after getting tired and dehydrated, but Meri steps up to shoulder the blame as well.

Seems that I did have the right impression of her, after all. Meri truly wants to improve and despite how badly her armor was overheating she struggled to keep training to prove her worth to me.

I sigh heavily. “You don’t need to prove your worth to me or anything. Especially not at the cost of your health. You’re already a member of my Guild. I’m not going to turn you away, Meri.”

“Y-Yes...” She looks away nervously, but also with a hint of a happy smile on her face. “I’m not used to such a... a nice place like this, back in Perlshaw I had a few friends but... I wasn’t close to anyone. There wasn’t a b-big deal about us all being part of one big team, you know?”

“It’s a lot more intimate here.” I confirm.

‘In more ways than one.’ Zutiria responds.

“Hey, I was gonna say that!” Sam slams her fist on the table comically towards the Mage.

Meri giggles softly, feeling more comfortable here by the minute.

While we’re on the topic of Meri, I bring up that we should find a solution to her armor heating her up so much. The Mage on my lap suggests brewing an alchemical potion to improve her resistance to heat while fighting, but acknowledges how this is only a stopgap measure and not a long term solution.

I was thinking more along the lines of having someone enchant the armor if we could eventually find the materials that would give it a cooling effect, though Sam wonders where the hell I’d find a blacksmith who could do something that expensive for cheap.

As soon as I start blushing in response to her question, Sam’s eyebrow perks up and her face becomes coy. “Are you fucking a blacksmith girl now, too?”

At the suggestion Meri blushes even harder than usual, though seemingly with interest.

“Yes, well, all in due time.” I sigh. “I need to start from the beginning, starting from yesterday.”

The explanation takes me a while because there’s a lot of pieces in play. I explain to the three girls about the Shatterbrew Clan, and how Thadmar brought his daughter with him yesterday to help construct the bed. I mention how there was a bit of flirting but nothing serious, and today something changed.

I tell the girls that this topic was going to get a bit scary, and the atmosphere in the room darkens in response. I do my best to relay today’s events after I left the Guild. The rogues stalking me, Opalina’s suggestion that they may be men of the once thought fictional Duke of Dewhurst, and how the both of us agreed that the door could no longer wait to be fixed.

So after making my way to Shatterbrew’s, I explained to Thadmar the situation but he abruptly cancelled our business deal on the spot upon hearing “The Duke” might be involved. Sam and Zutiria are both visibly upset that we suddenly weren’t going to be making as much on the Pinemen as we thought we would, but they stifle their emotions to let me keep talking. Gwin is a firebrand, and she ran off with me to come back here and she insisted on making a brand new door for us herself for free, and she even gave it powerful Dwarven enchantments. She’ll probably be in trouble with her family now, but she seems adamant on helping me out and poking in a couple of times a week.

“And?” Sam leans over the table, anxious for the details.

Sighing, I give her highness what she wants to hear. “And she gave me the best handjob of my entire damn life.”

Sam laughs at this while Meri becomes red as can be. “B-BUT YOU JUST MET THIS GIRL YESTERDAY!! H-H-HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH LEWD THINGS WITH A LADY SO SHORTLY AFTER MEETING HER?!” 

As if in practiced unison, Sam and Zutiria both awkwardly look away, blushes on their faces.

Meri is quick to take the implication. “W-w-wait... buh... both of you...? H-How long until you both did t-t-the... thing with the Master...?”

“Look, this isn’t the time for that! In case you somehow forgot the other part of my story, you know, about the rogues trailing after me?”

The Shield Maiden then awkwardly looks to the side, herself. “Yes, you’re r-right... I’ve just... never had any lewd experiences of any sort and the thought is... um... overwhelming. Especially when hearing about it so casually...”

“Wow, a virgin? I would have never guessed.” Sam smirks and elbows Meri in her tits, causing her to gasp and scoot further down the table.

‘Sammy. Not the time.’ Zutiria looks more concerned than either of them, and her glare straightens the Princess out at once. ‘What do you have planned to counter this, Sir?’

“Not a lot. We have no funding for defenses or a security staff. Our best bet is really just to keep building up Pineman wood and hope that Gwin is down to make us more doors But it’s not like we can tear the Guild down and have her rebuild the whole thing with protection enchantments, we’d need a dragon’s hoard of gold and an entire team of Dwarves to pull that off...”

“W-Well, we don’t even know if this is a real threat just yet do we?” Meri tries to remain positive but it’s clear she’s a little nervous. I really hate having to make such a nice girl like her involved in my problems, she didn’t choose to help out knowing the stakes like Gwin did.

Meri just showed up at the wrong place at the wrong time and I’ll never get over it if she has to pay for it.

“We don’t, but we have to act like we do. I should bring this up once last time, Meri. You don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to.”

“W-what?” She looks at me a little stunned.

“I’ll still write you a transferral notice if this current scenario changes your mind regarding your decision to stay. I wouldn’t exactly blame you.”

To my surprise, Meri stands up. Sam, Zutiria and I all look right at her stern face and for a moment we see a much more confident and put together woman in front of us. She shakes her head and clenches her fists, “No. Shield Maidens exist to protect others and spread hope wherever we go... and you’ve been so welcoming and kind to me... more than anywhere else ever has been. Right now, it seems like you need a shield more than anything! Let me be your shield!”

Zutiria blushes a little and Sam claps her on the back. “Damn, girl. You need to let out this side of you more often!”

‘You’ve made up your mind, then?’ The little Mage asks, and Meri nods.

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be... especially if... if the thing about your... thingy is true.” Meri’ words become quieter the longer her sentence goes on, but if I heard her correctly she kind of just hinted at something big. She looks away shyly and her confidence recedes back once more, replacing it with the timid maiden persona I’ve become quite acquainted with.

At least can look me in the eyes sometimes, that’s a step up.

“Is that everything, Boss? That was kind of a lot to swallow... not that-”

“Sam, can you go two sentences without bringing up sex somehow?”

“W-what? I don’t talk about sex THAT much, do I?” She looks around the room for vindication. Zutiria makes an ‘eh’ gesture with her hands and Meri avoids eye contact for fear that it would incriminate her thoughts on the matter.

Sam crosses her arms like a spoiled brat and goes, “Hmph.”

Everyone shares a quick laugh at the Princess’s expense and I finish up this meeting. “That’s everything, Sam. I want everyone to have a good, relaxing day off today. There’s a chance Opalina was able to talk to her friend about coming by tomorrow, and while I can’t say for sure that she’ll agree to give the two of you some training we need to  at least be prepared for it. Sam, Meri, I want the both of you fully rested.”

“Y-Yes, Sir!” Meri holds up her fists in determination, though it makes her chest jiggle from such a sudden motion. Sam noticed this too and has to struggle to pry her eyes away.

I swear, Sam’s tits are plenty fucking big on their own. Why is she so obsessed with other girl’s goods? First Opalina and now Meri. Is the love for tits truly that universal that even when you have them you can’t help but want more? Fascinating.

The rest of the day passes, and we have a fairly standard day in although I wish Sam had some hobbies other than sex. She’s being very clingy and absolutely refuses to pick up a book. What kind of things would a girl her age even be interested in...? Even if I had the budget, I’m not sure what I would get her.

Meri enjoys talking to Zutiria and I, but Sam keeps cuddling me and nuzzling when she gets a chance. She practically kicked the Mage out of her spot so she could have more access to me.

I guess with everything that’s been going on lately, I haven’t had much one on one time with Sam... I do sort of miss those early days when it was just the two of us on our own for a week, experimenting and trying things out, but I can’t say my life isn’t better now. Still. I would like to do something for her soon if I could.

We have a normal, cheapass dinner and after that everyone does their own thing for a few hours. Even as stubborn as Sam is she realizes I need my time to do the piles of paperwork that I put off the day before. Things finalizing Meri’s transfer, verifying that I received her and that she intends to stay, so on and so forth...

Zutiria spends some time with a heavy looking magical tome alone in the bedroom, while Meri polishes her armor as she talks awkwardly to Sam.

Not even ten minutes into doing my work and I hear Meri shout, “WAIT, ARE YOU THE P-P-P-PRINCESS?!” 

...

Well, I can’t say I wasn’t curious as to how long it would take Sam to slip up. Meri’s too honest to play along and anyone with half a brain and a vague understanding of Karnalle’s nobility would be able to piece that one together fairly quickly.

It’s getting late, and it’s time to retire for the night. I escort Meri to her new dorm room although I feel extremely bad about it. It’s a huge step down from where she slept last night, after all. And I can’t just go and offer to let her sleep with us.

Not when Sam and Zutiria are more than likely naked in the big bedroom waiting for my arrival. The bed is certainly massive, but it’s not big enough that you can ignore what we’d be getting up to.

“We’ll be down the hall in the bedroom from last night if you need anything, Meri. I am truly sorry about how bad of a shape this room is in... believe me. But I think we managed to clean it up nice enough.”

“N-No, Sir... it’s very kind of you to have lent me your bedroom for the night a-after the way I acted...”

“You’re fine. Things are weird here.” I laugh. “I understand why you had such a dramatic reaction to what you saw... and, well, I can’t deny I have quite the scary face even when I’m not bleeding out of my eyes.”

Meri manages to get a good laugh from that, but it's soon replaced by an awkward silence between us.

“So...”

“Y-Yeah, your face IS pretty scary and thuggish...”

Oof.

“But, um, maybe I kind of like that s-sort of thing now that I’m a bit more used to it?” She tilts her head... and then realizes what she just said. Her cheeks burn bright with blush.

Something... compels me to push. It’s not a Goddess barking commands at me from on high, I think, but it’s my own intuition.

I take off my glasses and put them in the inside pocket of my vest. I’m standing there in the hallway outside of Meri’s new room, looking down at the shorter woman. She’s still clothed in her heavy looking gambeson, but even so it accentuates her curves to hell and back.

“U-Ummm... S-S-Sir?” She shrinks back, shyly... pressing her back against the wall.

I slam my palm to the side of her head, cornering her. My ‘thuggish’ face stares into hers, hungrily. Meri yelps loudly as she becomes redder still and her eyes nervously dart back and forth. Curiously, my eyes aren’t picking up any signs in her body language that she wants me to stop.

Reaching out to her round, pretty face, I lift up her chin so she can better look me in the eyes. “Is this the sort of thing that you like, Meri?”

I try to make myself look big, intimidating, and scary. I even add a husky element to my voice.

Gods, if she were wearing her armor right now she would be clanking up an entire orchestra from how much she’s shaking.

“E-EHHHH?! M-M-MR. GUILD... MAS... TER...?!”

“Master will do just fine.” I whisper into her ear and hear her take a deep, deep breath.

“M... M... Mas... ter...?”

“Good. Was that so hard?”

She weakly shakes her head back and forth.

I... don’t know what came over me, but it probably wouldn’t be very wise to continue this much longer. Meri is NOT used to this. She looks like a cornered animal, and even if it’s clear she’s into what I was just doing I wouldn’t feel right if I pressed on and abused the fact that she’s incredibly weak to pressure.

I pull away and watch as she continues her heavy breathing. 

The seeds have been planted, and I have a deeper understanding of this girl. I was worried over nothing, it’s like the girls said. Meri was probably chosen by the Goddess because we’d naturally be compatible with one another...

Yet I still don’t want to rush it just because I see a path to victory.

“Goodnight, Meri.” I smile and turn around, putting my glasses on before it can hurt me.

“B-B-BOOK.”

I look back, trying to hold back a laugh.

“What?”

“I-I-I finished t-the last o-one...” She manages to somehow stammer out despite all the mental factors working against her. “Y-you s-s-said... you have... m-more...” Meri looks away, unable to look at me any further for fear of passing out.

“A moment.” I smile and dart off to my office back on the first floor. I have some of my many lewd books in there, and while it’s not as many as in my bedroom I know that the second I step foot there Sam and to a lesser extent Zutiria will jump me.

Going through the collection, a delightfully devilish thought occurs to me. I can use this. I’ll give her THAT book. Meri likely picked the first thing she found in the room last night, but grabbing this one off the shelf I know it’ll have a lasting effect on her.

‘The Fallen Knight’s Master’. It was always a personal favorite of mine when I was in a darker mood... but it’s perfect. Perhaps some would view it as too extreme; it details a proud and powerful knight falling to temptation after being caught masturbating by a fiendish rogue who always loved her. Using this over her, he gains leverage and is able to make her accept her dark fetishes and admit that she was waiting for someone to take control of her for her entire life. By the end, she’s practically his willing sex slave and the pair engage in all sorts of debauched play.

Handing it to Meri is practically an act of psychological warfare... so that’s exactly that I do. She looks at the cover and blushes heavily, her jaw all but dropping to the floor. I don’t think she can speak, so I simply leave the shaking Shield Maiden there in the hallway after whispering, “Have fun.”

And with that, I retire to the bedroom for a night of pleasure...

Or so I thought.