Sam and Meri are both tired from their long adventure and their strenuous healing massage, but they’re still wide awake and eager to spend time with me. The Shield Maiden is wearing an adorable little frilly, yellow nightgown that barely covers her chubby butt or her white panties beneath, and Sam is wearing a boyish red tank top and a gratuitous black thong that does wonders for her behind.

I’m going to assume that Opal must have rinsed them off while taking care of them, as the armor stank has left the room since last I’ve left.

Meri is absorbed in whatever erotic tome wound up in her hands this time, and Sam is further on in the book detailing House Lundreame throughout the ages. Judging by the horrified look on her face, she’s likely learning about one of her less than beloved ancestors.

“Ready for bed, Master?” Meri asks, tearing her eyes away from her text.

“Yes. I’ve done as much paperwork as I can stomach for one night, and then some.”

Sam doesn’t greet me. Instead, she continues staring at her book with great concern. “Boss, there’s literally a dude in this book called Hymen-Breaker the Deflowerer of Daughters, and I’m only on page one hundred out of... like two thousand. Why the fuck is my family still in power?” She asks, wide-eyed and astonished.

“To my understanding, every time House Lundreame has been overthrown, they’ve just as quickly regained their place,” I shrug. “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t."

Meri tilts her head. “That name sounds familiar... I think I saw some books about him in your collection, Master.”

Sam opens her mouth, aghast. “...You fucking have porn books about my tyrant ancestors?!”

I deflect this criticism while changing into my pajamas. “Look, Sam. I’m not into hardcore stuff like that, but you have to understand this isn’t Imperalis. There are only two bookstores in all of Dewhurst. My collection contains lots of erotic material I wouldn’t otherwise read because, in a town like this, you take what you can get.”

“...Are they, um, are they any good?” Meri asks, unashamed.

“MERI!” Sam snaps.

“One or two, but most of them are tripe. ‘The Conquering Cock King’ tetralogy is a guilty pleasure.”

“Interesting...” Meri notes with sparkling eyes.

“I can’t fuckin’ believe you two, Boss...!” The Princess blushes as I wiggle my way up between them on the bed.

I should probably avoid telling Sam how much erotica exists about her father. Legends of Theostus Lundreame’s sexual exploits are still being formed to this day, inspiring many an author’s quill.

Meri shuts her book and sets it off to the side, revealing the cover as ‘Caught by the Tail End’, an erotic novel based on a famous, real-life Gold-rank adventurer by the name of Fang-Ripper, a scantily clad Dogfolk girl. It’s not too uncommon for bards and authors to be inspired by adventurers they come across and create stories based on them, erotic or otherwise.

“Are you alright, Master?” Meri asks, cuddling up to my side and wincing from the aches in her muscles. “You seem... distracted tonight.”

“There’s a lot on my mind, Meri. Paperwork for the Association, my upcoming meeting with Duke Gloomcrest, tomorrow’s mating ceremony...” I stop just short of mentioning Snow.

“You know what’s on MY mind, Boss? Finding out what the fuck’s in this thing.” Sam says, tossing me the mini treasure chest that was left waiting on the nightstand.

I pluck it out of the air and hold it in my palm. “Ah, yes. I almost forgot. Luxy went out of her way to include something for me, didn’t she? It would be rude of me to wait any longer to find out what’s inside.”

“I wonder what kind of magic thingy she came up with for you...?” Meri tilts her head, excitement brewing.

“Maybe it’s something that fills out your paperwork faster so you can spend more time fucking us,” Sam snickers. 

“Would that I could only be so lucky,” I sigh, knowing it won’t be the case.

Without any further ado, I open the chest and peer into its contents with palpable excitement. Inside the wooden box is a single pendant shaped like the golden sun of Lux Ultima. It is held upon a splendid golden chain and looks to be quite a treasure.

Beneath the pendant is a golden ring. Although not Dwarven, it looks very well-crafted and much more tasteful than the other magic rings we’ve been exposed to as of late.

“What the shit, Boss? How come you get two?” The Princess pouts in a half-joking manner.

“Obviously, as the chosen Hero of Light, I’m the Goddess’s favorite. That goes without saying.” I tease, causing Sam to pout even further. 

“Isn’t that a defensive charm?” Meri tilts her head as she takes the pendant into her hands. “I’ve seen lots of adventurers carry them at the Perlshaw Adventurer’s Guild... this one looks fancier than the ones I’m used to, though.”

“Lux must be trying to protect you since you’re a squishy weakling who relies on women to do all your work for you,” Sam sneers. Without hesitation, I spank her fat, thonged ass faster than she can hope to stop me. The Princess’s eyes shrink to surprised pin-pricks right before she figures out what horror was about to be done unto her.

“OW FUCK, BOSS MY FUCKING MUSCLES AGH-” The Princess twists her aching body in dire pain. Meri giggles at Sam’s punishment.

“You’ll have to forgive me. I’m just so very weak that I thought it wouldn’t have any effect on you, Princess.”

Sam bites her lip and breathes in through the skin of her teeth, no doubt planning some sort of bratty revenge in my near future.

“Give me a moment, girls,” I hop off the gigantic Dwarven bed and rifle through the nightstand’s drawer for the iron knife I keep around out of habit. “Let’s see how well this works.” Extending my hand towards Meri, she hands me the defensive pendant with great anxiety.

Even if I’ll be protected, she doesn’t like what I’m about to do.

I hang the pendant around my neck, finding it to weigh not much at all. Placing the knife against the tip of my finger, I press it forward. It seems unable to penetrate my skin- even when I put a reasonable deal of force behind it. It’s like there’s a thin layer of coating around my skin not too dissimilar from Steel Soul.

Still, this is nothing. I need to go a bit harder.

“Master... uh... maybe we should wait and test this when Opal is around to heal you if anything goes wrong? This just doesn’t seem very safe to me...” Meri’s nervous sweating increases greatly as she watches me rear the knife toward my opposite arm.

“Zutiria still has some of her healing potions left over. It’ll be fine.” I exclaim, readying the knife for further testing.

“Famous last words,” Sam says.

I roll my eyes and strike myself with the weapon. An explosion of pure light occurs from the point of contact. The knife breaks, not in half, but into a fine dust that scatters outward in the air. Sam and Meri look on at the impressive sight, mouths agape.

“Holy shit, that’s some fuckin’ defense charm, alright!” The Princess gawks at the display of my newly acquired trinket.

“Interesting. Seems you were right, Meri..” I’m happy with the pendant’s effects as-is, but I won’t know the full extent of its powers until Zutiria or, more likely, Opalina can take a look at it. For all I know, there might be more to the pendant than meets the eye.

Now, onto the other prize. I slot the golden ring upon my ring finger. As expected of a gift from a Goddess, it fits like it was made for me. The problem now is finding out how to activate whatever effect it has. Assuming it even has one, that is. “Have either of you ever seen a ring like this before?” I ask, showing it to the girls.

Meri shakes her head, but Sam thinks about it for a moment before responding. “Kinda looks like an arcane tech thingy I saw back home. Lots of gadgets are turned into rings, necklaces, earrings, and junk like that so you can pull ‘em out when you need em.”

“Ah, I didn’t think of that.” Upon closer inspection, I do note that the shape of the ring is very mechanical in nature. I think I remember hearing about trinkets like these now that she mentions it.

I squeeze my hand into a fist and watch as a small burst of magic occurs in my hand. The ring glows, morphing into a small piece of ornate steel that resembles a crossbow without limbs. Weighing several pounds, the weapon has good heft and feels nice to hold in my hand.

“Woah! Boss, do you have any idea what that is?” Sam lights up, barely able to control her excitement.

“If I’m not mistaken, this is a weapon called a pistol, isn’t it?” Almost unseen in Karnalle, firearms are traditionally found in the Inner Realms of High Verne and, more recently, Ikkuni.

“Ohhhh, I’ve seen a few adventurers use those! They’re pretty rare.” Meri says. 

“The Galloise Company and House Lundreame are super tight. I’ve gotten to play with some of their firearms before. Good times.” Sam sighs wistfully.

“So I just point and shoot?” I ask, tilting the weapon on its side to inspect the detailing. Adventurer classes that use firearms are a newer phenomenon. None of my reference books cover the topic, so my knowledge of them and the Arts that their users can use is minimal.

“Pretty much. I’m jealous, Boss. You got some kick-ass presents!”

I can see how this would be useful- especially with eyes like mine. I’m not suddenly going to be joining them on the frontlines, but now I’ll at least be able to deter most small threats to my safety.

For now, I will the weapon to return into being a ring, and it does just that.

“Guess Lux Ultima was worried about you getting hurt when no one’s around to protect you?” Meri smiles. “That’s kind of nice... even though we already have Nikita for that.”

“Nikita is a mercenary, Meri. She may be our friend, but we can’t rely on her to always be around when I’m in danger. Ideally, I’d want more Beastfolk around to serve as bodyguards, but that won’t happen for a while.”

“Guess you’ll just have to settle for three for now,” Sam shrugs.

“Three? Snow said no.” I would’ve thought the maids would have told the Princess such.

Sam blinks, looks at Meri, and then frowns. She coughs. “...Shit. I uh, just kinda assumed the cat was in the bag. Figured she’d say yes.”

I raise an eyebrow.

Meri sits up despite the pain it causes her fatigued body. “ACTUALLY, we both think you need a distraction to keep you from thinking about Snow, Master, a-and... um... and we haven’t gotten any lewd rewards even though we did such a good job in the dungeon! Right, Sam?”

Sam tilts her head like she has no idea what the fuck Meri is going on about but eventually nods her head. “I could go for some naughty fun right about now, yeah!”

“Sam, sweetheart, I don’t think that’s a good idea...” To prove my point, I reach down and cup the warrior Princess’s ass in my hand.

“MOTHERFUCKING- AGH!” Sam screeches, biting down on her own teeth to better help her manage the pain.

Meri blushes, “T-That’s kinda hot...” She twiddles her thumbs, looking to the side. “B-But, um... we haven’t gotten any kind of reward for how good we did in the dungeon. Maybe you could do something... you know... a little gentle...? We did get a lot of new toys, Master...”

“Huh, never thought I’d hear you asking Boss to be gentle...” The pained Princess smirks.

“I-I’m not ONLY into hardcore play!” Meri blushes, realizing just how she’s perceived by those around her.

When Meri looks at me with those big, pleading puppy-dog eyes of hers, I don’t think I could say no to her even if she asked me to kill a man in cold blood. “Well, when you put it like that, Meri... perhaps I can look around downstairs to see if anything would suffice. Are you interested in a little fun, too, Princess?”

“Duh. Just count yourself lucky I’m not strong enough to get some payback on you, Boss... hmph.” She bites her lip and looks away from me, blushing. If I weren’t so considerate, I’d take this opportunity to mess with Sam and dominate her like there’s no tomorrow.

Sadly, I want her to heal with no complications. Opal wants the girls to get a couple of days of actual bed rest, and I know better than to fight the good Doctor when it comes to treating her patients.

Hardcore domination play will have to wait for some other day... for now, It’s time to go to the storage room and dig out some new toys.