“C’mon, Meri. Uppy-up.” The Princess yawns, nudging the Shield Maiden with her foot. “We gotta get some stamina potion in you, or whatever...” 

“Five more minutes...” Meri mumbles, shaking her head.

“Boss, she ain’t movin’. Can I do this the fun way?” Sam asks for permission to lewd.

“Naturally. Gods know I could use some eye-candy after having to focus on such a long, hard battle... a bit of brevity would be nice.”

“Such a pervert,” Snow teasingly shakes her head.

“And?” I return her retort with an unamused look, and she backs off, forgetting I told her I wasn’t going to be doing any more playful flirting.

Her Highness smiles a weary smile before plopping down on her behind next to Meri. Sam takes a moment to pull off the ties keeping up her twintails, and she shakes her head side to side, letting the hair fluff out properly. Thanks to all the sweat, her unbrushed, tousled hair resembles the mane of a very wet lion.

Sam pokes around in Meri’s adventurer pouch before pulling out the last stamina potion. Opening it up and taking a deep swig, the adventurous Princess fills her cheeks with the green liquid. She leans down and plants her lips against Meri’s, feeding her the potion bit by bit so that she doesn’t choke. It’s a welcome sight, but...

“PFTACK-” Sam spits as soon as she’s done kissing Meri. “T-That was a stupid idea... shit’s nasty...”

“I-I’m sorry...! I’ve been eating jerky and drinking potions on and off for five hours straight!” Meri begins to tear up, covering her mouth. Meri’s anxious mind assumes Sam was referring to her breath.

“Not you, babe. The potions. You taste kick-ass.” Sam snorts and gives Meri a deep hug, then a loving kiss on the cheek.

“...Oh.” Meri leans into the hug, blushing as she utters what might as well be her second catchphrase.

“You two take a quick breather, alright? I need to prepare a few things before you send Pimpington here.”

“I’d like that,” Meri smiles, nuzzling into her friend’s embrace. The stamina potion got her up, but just like Sam, it’s only barely keeping her going.

“Peri, I want you to go up and check on Zutiria. See how she’s doing, change her into some pajamas if you haven’t already. Her clothes are in the wardrobe.”

“Yes, Myaster!” As Peri skitters away, the hype from finishing the dungeon infects her and puts a bounce in her step.

“Snow, Cherry, tie him up with some of the new bondage equipment we confiscated. I won’t make you dress his wounds, but please carry him in a blanket to the storage room. He’ll get blood all over the floor otherwise.”

“Sure,” Cherry frowns. “I take it you wouldn’t like it if I scratched him up a bit, nyaa?”

“He’s already at death’s door, best not.” I shake my head, making the kitten frown even more.

“Fiiiiiine,” Cherry leaves the office, sighing.

Snow doesn’t follow and instead stays here alone with me. The awkward air between us is almost overwhelming. “When would you like to discuss payment, Guild Myaster?” She asks, getting down to business.

“Snow, I don’t fucking care... Just let me adopt some Beastgirls for free and make it so that I don’t have to do the waiting period next time.” I groan from weariness, slumping my tired body across the scratch-ravaged desk. “I’m much too tired to calculate the specifics, but the mission involved a perilous dungeon, multiple drawn-out fights, many monsters, traps, and a two-phase boss encounter that could have easily killed much more experienced adventurers than mine.”

“So I take it you’ll be charging for the dungeon after all?” Snow tilts her head.

“You saw first hand what the girls went through to complete your quest. Just because I was technically the source of the dungeon doesn’t mean-”

“Easy, easy. I was only joking, nyaa.” She smiles softly and lowers her head in respect. “There’s no way I would try to devalue you and your Guild’s efforts. As far as I’m concerned, you deserve absolutely anything you demand as far as your reward goes.”

“Snow...” I raise my head, giving the pretty kitten a deep and upset frown. “You need to stop saying shit like that if you don’t want me to get the wrong idea. I don’t want to be the type who says you’re leading me on, but...”

“Excuse me? I- ...oh.” She blushes the moment she realizes the unintentional implication she made. “At any rate, The Elders will most likely agree to your terms, but they might have something to say about forgoing the trial period.”

“Well, I hope you can convince them.” As I continue to stare at the maid, a thought comes into mind, and I say something I probably shouldn’t. “...Do you want to know why I suggested determining the reward later, Snow?”

She’s silent, and I take it as permission to keep talking.

“I was going to make this big, dramatic declaration where I revealed the only thing I wanted in exchange was for you to come work for me.”

“That might’ve been cute,” Snow admits with a respectful blush, but distant eyes.

“It might’ve been.”

“...You could still ask me, you know.” She asks as a twinge of hope perks up her fluffy, white ears for just a second.

“I don’t want to ask you. You’d say yes.”

Snow stares right through me, not even attempting to respond as she dwells on my words.

“You’d just be mindlessly doing what you were told, same as always. I don’t want to be some convenient excuse for you to ignore all your problems, and... I... Gods, Snow... what else needs to be said? You chose to act on what your heart really wanted, then instantly said it was a mistake. I can’t help you if you can’t help yourself.”

Snow stands up, clutches her paws to her chest, then makes a conflicted expression halfway between sadness and anger. “Where do you get off trying to tell me ‘what I really want’ or ‘what I need’? Do you think just because your eyes help you read body language that you instantly understand the inner workings of someone’s mind? As far as you know, maybe I really DO think kissing you was a fucking mistake!” Her cheeks fill with flush, and the Catfolk bares her fangs at me as if to hiss at a moment’s notice.

“If you really think it was a mistake, then why are you crying?”

Snow reaches to her face in shock, realizing that this entire time she’s been letting out thick streams of her inner sadness. She decides to embrace it, making no attempt to hide it. “Because I’ve never been in love before, and I don’t know how to deal with it! If I had met you when I wasn’t an adult saddled with a life, and responsibilities... and expectations... and people who depend on me, then-”

“Snow... This just isn’t the time for this.” I sigh, cradling my forehead and covering my eyes. I try hiding the small tears forming before she can see them. I’m tired beyond belief, and hearing her say so blatantly that she loves me is more than I can handle.

The fluffy, white-furred Catfolk lingers there for a moment before eventually asking, “...How much credit do you think would suffice? Give me a rough estimate.”

I push away my emotions, and the gears of business start to turn within my cold, analytical mind.

“This was undoubtedly a Gold-ranked dungeon, ironically enough. I’m going to give you an offer, not an estimate. One million gold. If I did an actual calculation and ran through the lists, the actual price would likely be several times more than that. Report it to your higher-ups that I purposefully insisted on a smaller reward to make me look as good as possible. Lie if you have to. Just make sure you convince them I don’t need to do a trial period for any future adoptions.”

“I don’t have to lie to make you look good, Guild Myaster.” She says in a solemn whisper. Eventually, she sighs, asking, “...Are you planning to staff this Guild solely with Beastgirls, then?”

“I’ve developed a bad habit as of late. Sam, Zutiria, and Meri technically don’t get paid for their quests. They trust their gold to me, pledging to help improve the Guild. Add Peri and Cherry to the mix, and one might say I’ve developed a taste for unpaid labor.”

“Spoken like true capitalist if I’ve ever heard one, nyaa.” As she wipes her tears, an ounce of playfulness returns to her voice. “And I’m sure wanting an entire building full of breeding-crazed Beastgirls has absolutely nothing to do with your bottomless libido, Guild Myaster.”

“Perish the thought,” I smile, and Snow smiles back. For a moment, things are how they were only hours before. Then it all fades away as we remember what we’ve said to each other.

“I think I can convince the Elders that you don’t need a trial period, but I have a personal request.”

“I’m listening,”

“I want the future adoptions to wait until you’ve settled your dispute with the local crimelords, nyaa.” Her eyes glare, and I get the impression there’s nothing I can say that’ll make her budge on that.

“That’s more than fair,” I nod my head and turn away from Snow. “This should all be finished within a little under two months if all goes well.” I smirk as a dark joke enters my mind and leaves my lips, “And if all goes wrong, I’ll be out of the picture, and the tribe won’t owe anyone anything.”

She doesn’t find that very funny. “Don’t say such things. I don’t know what I’d do if that... I...” Snow shakes her head, clearing it of doubt. She moves on like she never said a thing. “Thank you for understanding that I can’t risk any more girls than I already have.”

“Of course. Go and help Cherry, now. I need to talk to the girls.”

“Very well. I’ll be back in a moment, Guild Myaster.” She makes it all the way to the door before turning her head back to face me, saying, “I’m sorry I can’t give you what you actually want. I really am.”

“That’s alright, Snow. You wouldn’t want to make any more mistakes than you already have, right?”

Snow leaves, and I feel shame at myself for having said that. Part of me wants a drink right about now, just as I’m sure a part of her wants a smoke.

“Geez, she’s a fuckin’ tough nut to crack, huh, Boss?” Sam says as my eyes open wide in horror, realizing that she and Meri just overheard this entire conversation. I must have forgotten to mute Taskmaster, or else I would’ve never gotten so emotional...

“Sam, be quiet! Master’s must be really sad right now!” Meri frowns at Sam, unaware that she’s just digging my wounds deeper.

“At least we’re gonna get a lot more hot Beastgirls later,” The perverted Princess licks her lips.

“Gods damn it, get up off your asses and throw the magic warp bomb at the unconscious, naked pimp,” I groan, wiping more small tears out of my eyes as my cheeks fill with blush.

“Are you ok, Master?”

“I’m fine, Meri. Just something in my eye...”