After witnessing the arousing display, I had Sam suck me off quickly before we both got to work. She was eager for a little office fun, while I was eager to get my thoughts off of the kitties. Hopefully, Cherry is right, and that release will help calm Peri down enough for her to get through the last two days without any issues.

Once I finish up, I offer to play with Sam and get her off as well, but she declined the offer to go and train. No matter. I start working on paperwork that I’ve been neglecting until Igor gets here. When I hear Peri hissing at an intruder out in the entrance hall, I know it’s my cue to get the gold out of the vault.

Igor is paid in full, and the hunchback leaves the Guild with fatter pockets than they’ve ever had before. Now that she has a minimally functioning alchemy lab, I leave Zutiria to her own devices. The Mage promises she’ll be able to make a batch of health and stamina potions by tonight and quickly gets to work.

The rest of the day passes by in a flash. Meri comes home at around seven, although Nikita is nowhere to be found. “She took off when I asked her if she’d come inside, Master. Sorry...” Meri tells me. Upsetting, sure, but I know Nikita is avoiding the Guild right now for whatever reason, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

As soon as the kitties start preparing dinner, my adventurers and I all settle in at the hall together. We’re all relaxed for tonight, having each changed into casual clothes.

“How did everything go?” I ask Meri, eager to hear the results of her training.

“I learned three new Arts all in one day!” She smiles brightly.

Sam leans across the table. “The fuck you talking about? You can’t fully use them yet, right?”

“U-Um. Yes, I can... w-why, is that... bad?”

“Gah-” Sam throws her head back as her face turns white.

‘There, there, Sammy.’

“Sam. Don’t forget Meri was already using an Art before either of you knew anything about the concept. Of course she’s going to pick them up faster than you are. You’ll be fine after you play catch up for a bit.”

The Princess sighs, holding up her cheek off the table with her palm.

“While we’re on the topic, how did YOUR training go?”

Sam groans. “Mostly good. I can use all three of the Arts Niki taught me, but I’m just not great at them yet.” Sam was out training in the back all day. I didn’t check on her, but knowing how hard she works, I’m sure she made a lot more progress than she’s letting on.

Meri speaks up, saying, “Nikita had me learn Steel Soul and Blunt Edge, too, and then she had me learn an art called Shield Bash! It’s pretty useful.”

Oh, nice. That’s one I would have picked out for Meri to learn as soon as possible, too. “Glad to hear that. Shield Bash is a standard technique, excellent to have in your arsenal. It’s not a Shield Maiden Art but just a general shield user Art, right?”

“R-Right.” Meri frowns as I accidentally touch a nerve. “Nikita can’t teach me anything actually related to my class... we’re still going to have to do something about that.”

‘I could use the warp stone network to visit another town sometime and poke around some libraries.’ Zutiria offers. ‘There has to be a manual for being a Shield Maiden somewhere out there.’

“That would be nice...” The brunette replies with quiet meekness.

“We’ll solve that problem in due time. There’s still plenty of general shield arts Nikita could teach you, I’m sure.” I smile reassuringly at Meri, who perks up at my words.

“So what does Shield Bash do, huh?” Sam asks with heart-pounding excitement. “Is it just a massive attack, or what?”

“O-Oh, uh, kinda! But more importantly, it sends me dashing around ten feet forward! I store my stamina in the shield and blow it backward to build up momentum. It’s super handy. I can attack with it OR use it to get in between you guys and oncoming danger!”

‘Nice. That will surely protect my squishy potato mage body from harm.’

“Hee hee. Did your potion brewing go well, Zutiria?” Meri asks.

‘Sir bought me a decent variety of alchemical supplies today. The potions are still brewing, but they’ll be done in an hour or two from now. They no longer require my attention, however. Thus, I am here.’ Zutiria flashes me a warm smile from across the table after speaking to Meri.

“Sounds like everyone had a nice, enjoyable day then. Besides myself, of course. Paperwork can only be so much fun.”

‘Worry not, Sir. Although your day was boring, your night will prove to be anything but.’ The little Mage teases with a wicked smile.

“Can’t you tell us what the spell is, Zuzu?” Sam leans into her friend’s personal bubble and smirks.

‘Trust me. It’s just as much of a surprise for you and Meri as it is for Sir. You’ll thank me later.’

“Tch.” Sam spits.

“H-Hey, Master?” Meri clings to my side and looks at me with those big round eyes of hers.

“Yes, Meri?”

“Aren’t you forgetting something important...?”

I stare into her eyes, trying to gain a clue somehow as hard as I can. Eventually, it comes to me. “Ah. We never checked your profile yesterday, isn’t that right?”

“Yup!” The Shield Maiden exclaims. “Might as well get my humiliation over with, ahahaha...”

“Oh yeah, Meri joined the level two club! Scoot over!” Sam stands up and runs over to our side of the table, Zutiria following close behind her.

“Open Guild Roster,” I command Taskmaster into activating. As my eyes flare with light, the screen appears. Upon checking the love meter, it seems each of my girls is only a little past level two now. The balance is just about even. I guess I’ve done a pretty good job of giving everyone equal time this week, aside from the slight Eromancy lead Zutiria carved out for herself.

Sam isn’t too far behind, probably owing to that lovely session we had in my office earlier in the week.

Meri is in last again since she only just leveled up yesterday morning. I click on her picture in the roster menu, and just as before, it springs to life. Her dossier screen is displayed for all to see.

-------------------------------------

-NAME-
Merille Tillot

-CLASS-
Shield Maiden

-AGE-
20

-PERSONALITY-
Timid, Cowardly, Anxious, Naive, Gentle, Pure, Kind, Sweetheart, Dependable, Closet Pervert

-BLESSINGS-
N/A

-SKILLS-
Cooking, Housework, Gathering Items for Fetch Quests, Defending, Trying Her Best

-LIKES-
Master, Family, Erotic Fiction, Discovering New Kinks, Cute Things, Sewing, Baking, Children

-DISLIKES-
Demon Lord, Pain (Non-Sexual), The King, Dewhurst, Scary People, Monsters, Danger, Perilous Situations, Gilver Glorigold, Perlshaw Adventurer’s Guild

-FETISHES-
Light BDSM, Pain, Punishment, Bondage, Being Humiliated, Being Used, Voyeurism (Both Watching and Being Watched), Anal

-CURRENT MOOD-
Unsurprised About How Humiliating This Is

-CURRENT LOCATION-
Dewhurst Adventurer’s Guild

-BIRTHPLACE-
Bridgebury, Karnalle

-EQUIPMENT-
Shield of Hope
High-Class Bulky Armor (Imbued with Father’s Love)
Flash Grenade x 5

-------------------------------------

“I see...” I say after combing through the details. From the sound of things, Meri would make a charming mother. Baking, sewing, her sweet personality... she’s very family-oriented, more so than anyone else I know. Makes sense. She and her father sound very close. 

I assume that after her mother passed, Meri had to start looking after him, and that’s where she picked up all her girly hobbies. Not like there was much else to do in that old country village of hers. From what she’s told me, she mostly kept to herself in Perlshaw, too. She never absorbed much of the culture there despite living there for two years.

“Hwaaah...” Meri sighs, her cheeks predictably blushing as she hides behind her hands. “I knew it’d be bad. I just knew it...”

“Cheer up, Meri!” Sam wraps her arm around her brunette friend, pulling her into a hug. “We got some shit in common if it makes you feel any better. We both hate my dad, and both of our profile things are humiliating!”

‘Mine wasn’t that bad.’ Zutiria brags.

“Shut up, ball-sniffer.”

‘Point taken.’

“You really should have spoken up if you’re so good at housework, Meri. Maybe we can see about getting you a maid uniform, too.” I smirk and watch as the timid girl’s expression becomes more embarrassed.

“W-What?!”

“Cherry, Peri, and Meri! It’s too perfect.” Sam starts laughing loud, banging her fist on the table.

“I-I’m not a maid! I’m an adventurer!”

‘Among other things.’ Zutiria reaches out to the dossier screen and zooms in on Meri’s fetishes.

“N-NO! MASTER, PUT IT AWAY, PUT IT AWAY!!”

“Close window.” I say while laughing under my breath. Taskmaster follows my instruction and closes the dossier just like that.

The blushing girl pulls the neck of her sweater over her nose and slumps against the table, whining. She hides and whimpers once again like a cute turtle.

“Oh no, ya don’t.” Sam reaches out and yanks the collar off of Meri’s face. “How DARE you, bitch!”

“HYAAA!?!” Meri begins trembling, “WHAT DID I DO?! S-SAM, STOP!”

“IT SAID RIGHT FUCKIN’ THERE YOU LIKE BAKING, AND YOU HAVEN’T MADE ME SHIT FOR ME IN THE ENTIRE TIME YOU’VE BEEN LIVING HERE! GET IN THAT KITCHEN TOMORROW AND MAKE ME SOME GODS-DAMNED COOKIES!”

“HUWAAAAAAHHHHOK-OK-OK, A-ANYTHING YOU WANT SAM I’M SORRYYYY-”

Sam smirks at the girl writhing in exaggerated terror. “Good girl. For now, I’ll just have to settle for some ordinary sugar.”

“...Wha?”

The blonde Princess yanks Meri in for a playful kiss. She’s surprised but realizes Sam was just teasing her, and she gets around to kissing back.

Watching my girls kiss brings a smile to my face, and I sigh with contentment.

The doors to the kitchen open up, and a lovely smell wafts through the air. “Dinner time!” Cherry purrs with great satisfaction, bringing a large serving tray to the table.

“I hope everyone is hungry, nyaa. We tried really hard on this one...” Peri follows after, holding another tray stacked with the remaining food as well as several drinks.

‘Eat up, Sir.’ Zutiria takes my hand under the table. ‘Infinite stamina or not, you’re going to need it for what I have planned.’