Chapter 138

In the dwarven mountain fortress city, after errands running around town…

 

It’s weird to walk on dwarven cobblestones and streets. For the most part most of the houses are close to human size so we don’t often have to duck to get through doorways of businesses and shops. The buildings around us are pretty close to human sized too because the craftsmen built things knowing they’d need to have it strong enough for big folk too. But there is a feeling that things are somehow on a smaller scale, while we walk over cobblestone streets that can be narrow in some places but wide in others where more traffic is expected.

We’re all walking shoulder to shoulder at the moment with me in the center and the girls next to me with Gyle somehow hanging on. Plus, I get to stand in the center as the ‘posse leader’. But truthfully sometimes our ordered line gets bent out of shape when we have to dodge other foot traffic or horses of other travelers.

“You know if you think that’s twisted, the fact that armor costs more than a house is even sillier,” Gyle said suddenly, while we’re walking back to the inn to check out. We are going to then go to a different inn of course, since we’d just gotten nearly robbed. Not to mention all the negative attention and I didn’t want people following us around.

“What? How could armor cost that much?!” Rina exclaimed.

I also had an exclamation of dismay and a few curse words. Armor would be really nice to have.

Gyle shrugged, “it just does. The governments control the markets. And they do that to keep people under their thumbs. And they also don’t want any rebellions or for the king to be ousted so they make it that way. It was by law declared a ‘controlled substance’ almost like a hazardous chemical even though it isn’t one. We suspect it was instigated at the same time with several other kingdoms in an effort to prevent people with Otherworld Syndrome from staging coups.”

“I get it though. Why would armor be cheap? Why would a government let just anyone have armor? I think the price control of making it ridiculously expensive is also more proof of government corruption and exploiting. If You think like that of course they will want all the good stuff controlled,” Sunghee argued back.

“It’s not so much corruption as there were several countries that had coup attempts to topple the governments. And in each one the groups responsible were as I said people who believed they were from other worlds. That’s partly why people fear people with Otherworld Syndrome,” Gyle whispered carefully to make sure others weren’t watching.

Huh? What was that?

I’d ask him more about it in a minute.

“Well, isn’t protection and being able to protect your family a basic right though?” Sunghee said.

“I…you think so?” The dwarf questioned back. He wants to deny it but he’s staring at Sunghee’s chest again. I need to somehow put him in his place for staring at Sunghee’s boobs too much. If it’s some other man’s woman…

I’m guessing monarchical education on societies to brainwash them are why Gyle is partly having a hard time with this.

“Of course,” she shot back.

“I think so too. But we were taught that in regards to weapons but that armor is a different story; but usually I have people having a hard time agreeing with me. I’d heard otherwise so long I’d almost believed the other way myself. Also be careful city guards don’t hear us talking about something like this. It’s a good way to have them follow you around looking for things to give you fines and extra taxes for,” he added.

At the mention of lost money that unnerved both Sunghee and I. immediately we checked to make sure we weren’t being followed. We weren’t but the paranoia of having someone steal your hard earned money isn’t cool.

Rina seems content to listen. She’s a bit too trusting of Sunghee and my strength.

The dwarven town still feels good even though it’s always night down here. It’s weird to not have the sun around us. There are lamp posts that make it bearable and the cavern is deep enough to still have such a big city here. But we have gotten tired of walking around too.

“Wait a minute. I’m having a hard time believing this. But even if it does cost a lot, how is it that it that armor costs more than housing?!” Rina is shocked.

I am too for that matter. But it could happen. On our own world a quality bullet proof vest was ridiculously expensive. So it could happen.

“Yeah, that’s common knowledge. Everybody knows that…or I should say is painfully aware of that fact,” Sunghee said.

“Eh?!” Rina is upset now.

“No armor seems like a really awful deal, but if it’s like that I don’t know what we’ll do,” I said.

“Tell me about it! It makes everything so hard you know?” Gyle droned on about it some more for a few seconds.

“We get the picture,” I assured him.

“Well now you know why I’m only wearing leather clothes. This is the best I can afford for now and get away with without any special fees or unnaturally high prices that could bankrupt me. And leather clothes are not the same as leather armor at all but it’s still considered fairly well. Leather clothes are also only available because of so many native tribes on the surface near here that hunt and fish as a way of life and trade with others. Gosh, I’d probably kill for some leather armor right now,” Gyle said aloud, shaking his head.

“So even a simple leather armor is like that too?” I looked to Sunghee.

She shrugged, “I was aware of it, but I forgot to tell you boss. I’m sorry.” She gave me an apologetic strained faced look.

“Wait, you mean native tribes like Indians, Gyle? Like Native Americans?” Rina questioned.

“That does sound interesting doesn’t it?” Sunghee agreed, reminiscing about something.

I think they forgot that term doesn’t belong in this world. I gave Rina a warning look and because of it she’d confused because she didn’t get it.

“Native what?” Gyle is puzzled by what Native Americans are. Of course it wouldn’t translate well because they have different people and terms here.

We had to explain it to him more clearly.

“Like nomadic tribes is what she meant,” Sunghee said to cover for her.

“I don’t understand why it’s like that,” I said looking to Sunghee for an explanation.

“Well the Yayoi live close to here. We do trading with them a lot. They are somewhat permanent but in a way similar to nomads in that they have a tribal clan system of people living forts and stuff,” Gyle added.

“That does remind me I’m curious about that,” I said.

The girls are curious what I mean by that. But I think they like the dwarven city with its modern conveniences more.

“What do you mean?” Sunghee asked me while we pick up our pace a bit more in the street.

When she raised an eyebrow, I clarified for her,”about the expensiveness of armor, not natives on the surface.”

“Go on,” Gyle sighed knowing this may take a minute to explain.

“Well…this is a hell world you already know. There’s constant war and invasions. People and demons are always fighting. Because of it black market influence, state budgets competing with common people for the same needed resources, price manipulation by merchants and government people, not to mention shortages because of the war, and a lot of other factors have forced the price of armor through the roof. Partly the demand for armor also aided in its prices becoming uncontrollable,” Sunghee sighed.

“Wow,” I exclaimed.

“Think about it. When we were in the inn dining area, did you notice how few people actually had armor? And the few that did, actually had piece meal stuff stitched together things they’d scavenged on the battlefield like bone plates even in some cases for the desperate though that’s a turn off for dating,” Sunghee explained again while we’re going down the street.

“Wait, but we did see a lot of soldiers with armor so now I’m confused,” I objected.

Sunghee and Gyle both shook their heads. They knew something I didn’t.

“Armor worn by soldiers is owned by the government so it’s not the same thing. So if you are a soldier you will have access to it thanks to the government connection. That’s also why its becoming popular to work as a soldier in the government forces. But is that worth it if you are going to the front lines as part of that being the deal for being able to have the right to wear armor?” Gyle said. Gyle’s face has a strained look on it. He’s had to think about this choice too.

Gulp.

“That’s …wow, I had been thinking it might be bearable if we had armor, but if that’s out what do we do?” Rina asked.

“We need to get you guys in as many close combat defense skill classes as possible until we can get armor. And just for the record armor is expensive but the government control doesn’t apply to magical items like rings, necklaces and such,” Sunghee said again with curt tight lipped smile.

Oh good. There’s a loophole to exploit. Though I’m sure magical items probably won’t be much less expensive come to think of it.

Despite it being bad news, she manages to put her arm around my shoulders leaning close. “It’ll be fun. I can teach you guys some aikido and other stuff. You know we need to train harder right?”

“Is aikido any good?” Rina and Gyle asked at once. Gyle I think didn’t recognize the name, but had guessed it was something of a close combat martial technique. Rina recognized it immediately and had even had interests in things like that, except for the fact that she’d been so sick for so long. But among the different martial arts aikido isn’t always the most popular next to especially krav maga, kung fu, and a few others. It would be a miracle to find an instructor for those though.

“It’s not perfect but it’s something,” Sunghee countered.

“I want to get a few other martial arts classes besides aikido Shun. If you can get me into them, and I having a background in this stuff already will be able to absorb it quicker and then teach you guys the adaptations,” she said.

“That’s a good idea,” Rina said.

“We can decide that after lunch or later. We have to also compare the cost of other things too,” I said.

“But is it even worth it for Shun to study that if he’s already a mage?” Rina asked curiously.

“Protection is always needed. And there will always be someone trying to grapple you and throw you down into the dirt. It’s when they are up close in your face and trying to get you down on the ground to cripple you that you need something like martial arts to get them off you. And if they take your weapon, or are so close you can’t use a nuke magic without hitting yourself then you need to do something so that it’s not game over. If that happens even a mage can be defenseless,” Sunghee said.

I didn’t quite agree with it, but she’s right in principle. Theoretically I could also have some point blank attack magic skill prepared. And if my hands are being held down that could be bad too. But maybe having both routes workable is good too.

“That’s true,” Gyle admitted.

“But why Aikido and not some other martial art form?” I asked Sunghee.

She just chuckled. “It just happened to be what my grandfather knew and taught me. So that’s what I had to work with. He made me learn it from him because he was worried boys might try something when I became a teenager. But he was also kind enough that he didn’t want me learning something to break people’s arms just for fun and thus aikido was put over other choices. And…you know the rest.” She blushed.

I wonder if dwarves have some martial arts too for unarmed combat? Gyle is being ridiculously quiet. And I don’t think that industrious dwarves wouldn’t have something thought up. But he’s not telling and I don’t want to pressure him.

We then got back to the reception desk at the inn not too long after that.

The short dwarf clerk girl looks a bit young but greets us with a bow. “Hi, welcome back. Is there anything else I can get you?”

“No actually we’re checking out,” I said.

“Oh dear, that’s too bad. Sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do to change your mind?” the girl pleaded. I also noticed other people were watching us. Yeah, we need to get out of here before we get into too much trouble.

“No, we …liked your inn but we’re traveling to another city,” Sunghee lied to be polite.

“But that’s not what your friend said,” she shook her head.

“Friend? What friend?” I asked suspiciously.

“The one that said he forgot his room key, and asked for it be let back into your room. He was here just like less than a minute ago,” the girl said innocently.

Gyle and I swore at the same time. Someone tricked her to get our room key. And because she was so young she fell for it.

Are we being robbed?!

The serving room sees us all running with a mad dash to our room while the serving girl is wondering what the heck is going on.

We bust open the door at the same time. It’s not a big room, but sure enough someone has searched it. The bed sheets are on the flower, the mattress has been tipped over, and the room has been basically tossed looking for something. We continue to look over the wrecked up and tossed furniture. Most of it is in one piece but the place is a mess.

“Wow, I think you guys got robbed,” Gyle said in shock.

“Damn it,” I swore.

That idiot receptionist desk person let them in. I briefly enjoyed fantasizes about punishment games with her, but decided not to act on them.

“I guess that zero fatality statement does attract bad attention,” Rina said.

“Yeah, they probably thought it meant we were rich or something,” Sunghee admits.

We’re lucky though.

We feign that we’re upset and angry, which we are; but before this happened I’d kept all our money in my demon inventory box with its dimensional pockets, along with most of our items. Incidentally they did end up stealing some dwarven clothes that the girls had put out to dry after washing them this morning. That part has me upset still even though clothes are replaceable. In this kind of world, even small goods can cost you some money to replace.

While the girls are standing there in shock, Gyle clears his throat, “uh,…they didn’t get anything did they? With you guys it’s hard to tell where and how much stuff you have,” he finished.

Rina was about to say something but put my finger over my mouth.

“Rina, be careful what you say.”

“I think it’s safe to say we didn’t get anything valuable stolen. We’re carrying most of our stuff,” I replied quickly.

Gyle nods. “Smart. I never trusted inn security much. This kind of thing is why. I had this happen to me a few times in the past too though that’s rare.”

“Eh? This happens often?” Rina raised an eyebrow.

“It’s not supposed to. When you sign in the front desk is supposed to keep an enchantment that only permits certain people to be allowed to have a key. But that guy probably saw the innkeeper’s daughter was small and innocent and anxious to prove herself and be helpful and took advantage of it, since that can be overwritten if you have a key or the owner’s skeleton keys. Even if they didn’t get that key the door lock can still be picked easily so it’s kind of a cheap enchant that is vulnerable if you know how to exploit it,” he finished.

“That sucks. Poor kid is going to feel really bad for a long time about this,” Sunghee said. While saying it, she’s holding my hand. That of course makes Rina jealous and she grabs my other hand.

It makes me mad that they’d take advantage of a kid that’s helping their parents.

“If you think about it, if this kind of thing happens it must be scary for people who raise kids in this world,” Rina said.

When she said that our ears pricked up; but it was such a depressing comment we didn’t reply to it.

“Well…let’s check out. The other inn is it cheaper or more expensive?” I asked.

Gyle frowned. “More expensive, but has more security options. It’s not the only one in town. This one was the cheapest but it’s partly because of security issues that it’s so cheap. But you guys were so new I didn’t think you’d be targeted for stealing over other people that have more.”

“Yeah this is like fate right?” Sunghee joked.

“Or it could have been someone hired by those guys that tried to duel Shun earlier,” Rina said stiffly.

So they want revenge huh? It could have been them for sure.

We checked out right after that with the inn employees apologizing profusely. We still left despite their attempts at bribing us with two free nights. But the girls didn’t feel safe there. The argument had been, what if Shun was out and they were there alone then what would have happened…

“Hey is there a place like an open market or something where people search for goods quickly or can check out magic items and stuff?” I asked.

Gyle’s lopsided smile appeared again. “There are a number of shops that have stuff like that. Come, I’ll take you to them.”

I’m curious what our options are. Maybe we can still work up our defense even if armor is a controlled substance somehow.

“But first, lets decide on the other team options and get the other inn secured,” I decided.

Gyle was looking at me like how come I get to be the one that decides but then notices both girls are like always touching me. I can feel Rina’s hands around my waist and at the same time Sunghee gives me a big wet kiss on the cheek.

“Hey none of that before night time,” Rina protested to her. She actually didn’t mind though, she just minded that it wasn’t her instead.

“I wish I had a woman,” Gyle looks at us with a defeated expression.

“Maybe we should introduce him to that one dwarf girl we met at the other town?” Rina suggested while still having her hands roam up the back of my shirt.

“Really? You’d do that for me?” Gyle looks teary eyed now suddenly.

…

Is that such a big deal? I looked to Sunghee…

“Dwarves use introductions through a friend as a type of way to establish trustworthiness and initiation in their marriage and dating rituals. They don’t ever date someone that doesn’t have their introduction system used so you probably don’t realize what that means for him. If there’s no introduction then, nothing happens,” Sunghee explained.

OK, it makes sense that there’s a system like that actually, if you consider this is a hell world where evil happens and kidnapping with slavery is common. Plus dwarves were a culture that relies heavily on customs and a concrete social connection system to each other in order to live.

That explained his odd reply to Rina on that matter.

“Is she…hot?” Gyle asked with a big goofy smile.

“Well not as hot as me and Sunghee maybe?” Rina said.

Gyle’s face fell a bit but he still looked hopeful.

I coughed. “Well…I don’t know how to measure human girls to dwarf girls…”

Gyle looked a bit worried at first but Sunghee told him it was fine that I just didn’t grow up around dwarves and didn’t know them well yet.

“Uh oh…is it that bad?” Gyle asked Rina.

“No, no, no. She’s OK. She’s …nice looking. It’s true what Shun said. We don’t have dwarves in the land we came from so we aren’t sure how to view them yet, though we think you are all nice people. Its like somehow when you meet other cultures and peoples and you have a hard time telling them apart from each other and their ages. She’s so helpful too and good at cooking. A strong woman with courage,” Rina hurriedly tried to counter.

“She does have some bodyguard skills too I think,” I added.

Gyle isn’t sure what to think.

But when he heard strong woman with courage and bodyguard skills, suddenly he’s sold. I guess to dwarves strong woman with courage is like porn to them. They like independence, strength, and money so it’s like that. Another way of looking at it; dwarves are into strong woman with courage, who can live like the men.

It’s odd to me…

As long as the females don’t look like males I guess it’s OK to live in this city right?

We finally ended up in the new inn after crossing town while watching to make sure we weren’t followed. But that’s not easy or perfect in a city that’s always night. This time we checked it better in looking at inns. It costs 1 silver piece to be here and 5 copper per meal per person. There are two bouncers on duty at all times as well and families can stay in a room together with no charge for immediate family members, but non-family members pay an additional 10 copper person.

Gyle is staying in a different room of course but takes it rather well since he understands that Rina, Sunghee, and I are a married couple and somehow polygamy in this world is actually pretty common. He does look a bit defeated still with me having more women than him compared to 2 versus a big fat zero.

After we seal the deal Rina gives me a big hot wet French kiss. “Thanks lover,” she winked at me while we’re leaning against the bar counter to settle our business.

“That’s not too bad. The daily charge for us will be 1 silver 20 copper for all three of us,” Sunghee is smiling at me with a fresh new look. While talking I can feel her arm around my waist, she’s trying to keep me close to her and feel my warmth.

“Hey cut it out you guys. We still need to pay for the rooms,” Gyle reminds us we’re still at the checkout desk with the inn employees glaring at us while trying to be patient.

Gyle apologizes for us.

“Thanks for rescuing me Shun. I’ll always be grateful,” she said. She was leaning into my shoulder, but we were interrupted by Gyle.

“Do you guys need a minute?” he asked. “I can meet you guys in an hour in the dining area for lunch and to go over our next move.”

An hour and six blowjobs later from both girls at once we returned to the dining area after cleaning up. Normally I prefer the real thing, but the girls don’t want to have to take a bath or get too sweaty. Thus because of that, they want to do blowjobs so they can clean up easily.

We left the room and were going down the stairs of the inn, when Rina broke the silence.

“How come that stuff tastes so good?” Rina asked Sunghee.

“Sh-shut up, we’re going to be around people now and they might hear you. You can’t talk about that stuff outside the bedroom!” Sunghee said pinching her arm lightly as we are walking down the stairs. Sunghee’s face has turned crimson.

I’m alarmed to. “Careful,” I said under my breath.

We settle down at the same table as Gyle, who has the letters and offers spread out over the table. “Welcome back,” he gives us a slight bow. Then he shows me the offers. He also has a big mug of some kind of dwarven ale I think that’s all bubbly and frothy.

Then when the waitress comes over we order fruit juice and hot water instead. The last thing we want is to have a beer belly that sticks out like Gyle’s does. That would totally suck if all my women had beer guts.

“So a couple of other offers came in to look at. First we have a team of dwarves that claim to be a friend of Svinn’s. They heard you are some kind of protection mage and are interested in taking you on into their team. Here’s their written letter of introduction,” he said.

I noticed he doesn’t sound very happy about that one.

“What’s wrong with that one?” I asked.

“They are a good team, and have an 80% survival rate. The team has managed to get six suits of armor which are team inherited rather than person inherited over many, many years of fighting and farming together. They have good leadership and some two master veterans. All in all it’s a good offer,” I noticed he was avoiding eye contact.

“But there is something wrong. I can see it on your face,” I said.

“The problem with that one is they are too good. Because of it they will take you only. If you go with them, you won’t be in charge. You won’t be able to take Rina, Sunghee, or myself with you. They are also mostly old people, and I don’t know if they still can move quickly but usually older dwarves can fight as well as young people can, often better even.”

“The controlling interest and not being able to be in charge or make decisions was part of why we wanted our own team. When someone else is in charge we have no idea if we’ll end up as vigilantes, thieves, or killing the wrong person,” Sunghee said nervously. She doesn’t want to be left behind either I think.

“That’s a valid concern,” Gyle noted while nodding.

“Scratch that one then,” I said.

The others look relieved.

“Thanks for not scrapping me,” Gyle said sincerely while bowing.

“No problem. It wasn’t in our best interest anyway,” I said.

Gyle looked squeamish. I think he was wondering if I would sell him out if a better offer came along.

“It’s best to deal with people you can trust,” Sunghee explained.

“The next offer is a team of rookies. All of them are rookies, and five them total. They want to hook up with another team of mixed people to go in and farm the dungeon. It looks promising because they are all so new they will be more malleable into accepting another person as a leader and decision maker on team policy. They already have their own weapons too. Breakdown is a knight trainee wannabee, two people that want to experience so that they can later apply to become city guard personnel, a novice alchemist, and a novice mage trainee. They call their team ‘The Knights’,” he said.

“That’s a pretty generic name. Not very creative,” Sunghee said.

“Or it could be like when someone is delusional and too fixated on that. In this case, ‘The Knights’ also represents their career goal probably,” Gyle responded.

“Wow, that one sounds pretty good,” Sunghee said.

“You think so? They sound kind of new though,” Rina said voicing her concern.

“But there’s potential too,” Sunghee said.

“Why do you think that?” I asked her.

“People that are more new will accept a teacher easier and for someone to help them through things. There’s also the fact of your…special skills Shun. What if you can get the alchemist wannabe to be willing to teach you how to use…a particular skill you have to make health potions?” Sunghee said in a low voice.

“Eh? You have a skill like that?” Gyle is looking at me like I’m super powerful again. He’s in total awe, along with my other two women. It’s almost like I’m ten feet tall and they are children looking up at me expectantly to solve their problems.

Actually, I don’t know anything about Alchemy. Will it really work? I haven’t tested it. Who would I work that out with?

“Well…I don’t want to talk about that part where it can be overheard but I’ll tell you more later,” I said to Gyle. He looks satisfied for now.

“It would be a big perk if you can maybe do some kind of skill exchange with that other mage too or at least pick up something from them,” Sunghee added.

“I like that idea,” Rina perked up in attitude. I can feel she’s hanging onto my wrist again, while Sunghee has her hand on my thigh under the table.

This really is the life. I could never get tired of this.

Although to be fair half the room is giving me the most insanely jealous looks I’ve ever seen because both Sunghee and Rina are the prettiest girls in the room and probably on this whole street. But to be fair this world has a lot of good looking women since its somehow got an effect on helping people’s bodies stay looking healthier. So it wouldn’t be fair to say they were the best looking period, after all there was Asakura and Fox in front of both of them in that area too.

“It would also do some good to the community if you can help those other two get tough enough to become accepted as city guards this year. I’m guessing those two are dwarves since this is a dwarf city and most the city guards are dwarves. But not all of the dungeon teams are dwarves or even majority dwarves since a lot of people are willing to migrate for work,” Gyle added.

“That one does show promise. Let’s put it on the reserve pile while we take a look at the others,” I said.

“Sounds good,” Rina clapped me on the back. Of course she did it to rub her right boob against my back and left shoulder on the sly.

Sunghee gives her a dirty look while Gyle is getting out the next offer, having not noticed anything.

“Cassius sent us a notice of apology for not being able to mentor us further. He says he has too much on his plate right now but wishes us goodwill and prosperity,” he read.

That’s to be expected. His team all thought we were small fries.

“So what was the point of the letter then? He could have just not said anything?” Rina asked. She’s still rubbing her boob into my back on the sly.

“Well according to dwarven etiquette if he bothered to send a letter at all, and with such beautiful calligraphy it really does mean he respects us but just feels bad he can’t do more, right?” Sunghee guessed looking to Gyle for confirmation.

“That sounds about how I’d interpret it too. Nobles and higher educated people are big on etiquette,” Gyle confirmed.

“But what’s stopping people from using letters and just operating with no paper trail? I mean paper has to be expensive here right? It doesn’t just grow out of thin air,” Rina seemed to really want to know what was going on with adventurer team offers being in writing.

“Well another reason is that it has to do with contracts and business. Dwarven culture evolving on business contracts being something that needs to be written down. But it’s also true that if there’s a written record of a team and let’s say they go into a dungeon and a crime is committed. Then there is a written record that might help investigators tell what happened. If there’s a written offer of a team invite and the next day that person doesn’t come home then the murderer has less chance of going free,” Gyle finished.

“Wow, I didn’t think they’d use it for criminology too,” I observed.

“Unfortunately sometimes things happen in the dungeons within teams that shouldn’t because of greed mixing with a person facing life or death repeatedly,” Sunghee said dourly.

“She’s right. I hate to admit that it can still happen in a dwarf city though. Usually it’s the non-dwarf cities that are like this. But even we have our problems here,” Gyle reinforced.

He moved to the next letter while rustling the parchment paperwork.

“City guard has appended enemy of the state Johnny White Hand, due to our efforts in stopping Evan the Duelist. Johnny White Hand was caught fleeing the scene of a crime after robbing several food stands. Magic trackers found and apprehended him quickly and it was traced back to our intervention of stopping his boss as a critical role in stopping him and the rest of the gang,” Gyle read.

“Johnny White Hand? What kind of name is that?” Rina asked.

I snapped my fingers as it hit me, “that must be that huntsman guy that was with him that had all the money right?” I said.

Gyle nodded and confirmed it. But then as he read further down he was upset again. “Fracking cheapskates…” he shook his head sadly.

“What?” Sunghee and I asked at the same time, while Rina is giving me a wonderful shoulder massage from behind.

“They only gave you about 20 copper for the bounty. Seems like their bounty on the books was still pretty low, since they were using a legitimate exploit,” he complained.

“There’s something wrong with that if his bounty was the lowest but that he was the one with the most money,” Rina noted.

“Probably he just wasn’t on the radar as much as the others yet,” Gyle shrugged.

“You can barely even buy a meal with 20 copper for the team of us,” Sunghee shook her head in disgust.

“That’s also for lower end restaurants. It can go up a bit for high end food and more classy stuff,” Gyle interjected.

His response didn’t help comfort us any. I think I accidentally gave him a dirty look.

“So why did they get caught again? Why didn’t they take the hint when their leader was off’ed?” Rina asked.

“Well not everyone is going to be repentant. Plus those guys were forced to be totally desperate when you cleaned all their money out of them. They also may have caved under desperation while not having any real job skills,” Sunghee said to me directly.

“So they are committing more crimes to build up their pyramid scheme again, so they don’t go hungry and then he gets caught when they are desperate,” I replied.

Gyle took the initiative on that, “they’d been noticed strong arming people like that several times. He was suspected before you got him in the duel but nobody had come forward yet. Someone just needed to come forward to nail him on it. I think it also helped for someone to show the guards that he wasn’t invincible. It was coming to him.”

“I see,” I replied.

“So there might be other people like that too? I’m a little curious if there’s much in that payout wise compared to normal dungeon work,” Sunghee is curious.

Gyle considered what she said, but frowned, “bounty work is pretty risky. Essentially it pays more but the problem is that you have to be pretty confident you have the upper hand to be going around conning people or committing crimes to think you are so strong you won’t get caught. And those guys are doing murder for hire on a daily basis. Do you really want to confront someone like that? That could a real problem. It’s all essentially coming down to whether or not you can take down that one person without any help or reinforcements from the guards. And people are usually trickier than monsters, the smarter they are.”

“I don’t think bounty work sounds very safe,” Rina said after hearing that.

“That’s probably right,” Sunghee also said in response.

“Next offer please,” I asked.

Gyle is really getting into this. He likes being our personal secretary and performing diplomatic functions for us. This is much like what a company meeting of higher ups might be like, except for on a smaller scale too. “Hmm this one isn’t bad. But just so you know most people don’t have a ton of offers like this just from start up. You made a lot of impressions quickly that people are trying to think how to turn to their advantage or emulate.”

“Is that what you are doing?” Rina asked him pointedly.

He ignores her but turns back to the letters.

He takes a breath, “team of mining caravan guards wants to hire a few extras to guard ore harvesting team in the dungeon. Shares will be equal premium rate for those with licenses but standard rates apply for those that do not. **Plan is for team to be mining in the Slag Tunnels area of the dungeon ** One year of dungeon experience preferred. Life insurance contract enchantment available upon request; retirement benefit options available for long term relationships including 401k; advancement opportunities available upon request.”

“Wait a minute. There’s something weird about that ad,” I said.

Rina also hiccupped and looked at me with an alarmed expression when hearing the last part I noticed.

Seriously? 401k?! Rina’s eyes and mine met. We’re both thinking what the fuck.

“There is?” Gyle is puzzled.

Rina is still massaging me, sometimes pushing her chest against my back.

“Wait a minute, your right honey,” Sunghee suddenly pushed up against the table. Gyle tries to not stare at her chest, being more prominently displayed. He coughed and looked the other way. She winks at me and Rina frowns.

“So…” then I noticed it.

“It’s the 401k phrase isn’t it?” I said looking at Sunghee.

She nods slowly, “so…how long have dwarves had 401ks and the idea of having a 401k?” she’s looking at Gyle.

He’s puzzled. “I’m not sure. Maybe a hundred years or so?”

“That doesn’t make sense. Our…hometown just had them come out in like close to forty years ago?” I raised an eyebrow at Sunghee. She knows I mean our world.

The question remains how the idea of 401ks get dropped in a medieval world when its concept and name is exactly the same as an Earth word.

“Gyle, where did the idea of 401ks come from, according to your culture?” I asked. Rina is sniffing my hair and hugging me from the back, being totally obsessed with me. It’s making Sunghee annoyed now.

“Well…the legend is that there was a guy named Rigoberto who worked as a mercenary for the dwarves a hundred years ago. But he claimed to have a ton of weird ideas that he wanted to revolutionize the banking industry and a few other things but he seemed to be mentally unstable.”

“There’s nothing weird about that,” Rina said.

Gyle looked a bit uncomfortable and stiff. “That’s not the problem. He was locked up in the crazy house. He was obsessed with this idea. He kept insisting to friends and family that he wasn’t from this world and had been stolen away with a group of other people and put in this one.”

Gyle is shaking his head sadly. “People like him get locked up all the time. They call it Otherworld Syndrome. It’s the fastest way to get locked up in a mental hospital.” He sighed. “Any way his ideas are a bit odd, but he did introduce some good banking ideas that helped revolutionize several countries including the dwarven nation regardless of if he was crazy or not.”

“Do you think he was crazy?” Sunghee is testing the water to see if it’s safe to go out on a limb. I can tell because of the funky way she’s eyeing me and Gyle at the same time.

Gyle doesn’t catch it. “I don’t care really. I wouldn’t cause trouble for anyone that’s making me money. But people get mad as hell if you mention stuff like that. It’s a lot of trouble if you claim you are from another world. I wouldn’t go near a claim like that if I were you even if it looks like good money. You’d get locked up fast claiming stuff like that. Think about it. If it were true then people would be forced to like sacrifice and give stuff up to correct the wrong. That’s why they don’t want to believe it and why he got locked up so fast.”

“So is that your opinion or the opinion of people everywhere about that?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I’m not sure. But I’d be careful about saying stuff like that. It’s clear you get into trouble with such claims though I’m not against anyone’s belief systems,” he said.

“So when did people first start having this otherworld syndrome in this world?” I asked.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Gyle said.

“He means like how long people have been aware of this medical condition,” Sunghee explained.

Gyle though for a minute, “Well I think it’s first mentioned like two hundred years ago. But it’s not confined to dwarves or humans only. It happens a lot. Usually its people that are seen as eccentric, successful and brilliant, but sort of kooky, like mad scientist types. And they are usually pretty mentally unstable, but most cases happened where the person did contribute some social or physical inventions to societies in this world so it’s hard to say what went wrong exactly before they lost their mind and claimed their aliens. I mean isn’t that the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard?! How can someone be from another world?! Claiming something like that would for sure get you locked up!”

When Gyle finished I noticed that both Rina and Sunghee seem to be looking at me. They are afraid of what to say. They also look stiff and their eyes are wide as they sit there blinking.

“Well at any rate. Let’s not worry too much about that,” I fumbled through my words.

“Well anyway, it’s not my fault there are people like that,” Gyle said without really being sincere.

And it seems Gyle’s reaction is a lot milder than others reactions might be.

“So back to the offer on hand. It looks like we can either go with the new team of adventurers or the mining caravan guard group. So we need to figure out which we like more,” I said.

Still I can’t blame Gyle for being close minded. But part of me was hoping he and others would be open to that idea. But if 401ks have been introduced here…what about clothes, and other technologies like advanced weaponry? What else has been carried over and retro-engineered on this world?

And we’d have to be really careful even in asking about stuff like that.

The girls also seem a bit perturbed by the fact that it isn’t likely someone will believe we’re not from this world and that it might not even be safe to say such things.

But I keep getting hungry and also becoming antsier. It’s hard on me to not have Asakura nearby. I don’t have the canteens of milk right now because of it, and it’s put me on edge all day because of how quickly we had to change things up. To compensate I have to work out things.

“We really should get a look at the weapon shops. You guys are sort of under armed,” I think Gyle suggested quickly.

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Well you are doing OK, but it’s obvious that Sunghee isn’t used to a dwarven warhammer and is used to using swords by looking at how she has been carrying her equipment today. Rina, on the hand has trouble with coordination and probably shouldn’t be on the front line ever. Not to mention if that’s the case maybe you should train her in something like a full time range weapon role, since she’s more vulnerable,” he said looking at each of us.

“Wow, he picked all that up?” Rina questioned.

“Well I used to teach at infantry school a few years ago. I’m used to trying to help people get used to combat weaponry and fighting styles,” he said.

“Wow, an unexpected find,” Sunghee said.

“So you are suggesting changing the weapons for the girls?” I confirmed. It had been bothering me that Rina wasn’t a good fit for a lot of melee weapons.

“And Sunghee should have a backup weapon and probably something she can use for range too,” he added.

“I have been meaning to work on that, but there’s been so many things to deal with,” Sunghee said quickly to cover for us.

Actually I feel bad that so many things have happened that I know we’re way over due for getting better equipment. But I don’t want to sacrifice being able to buy or expand the research into slave crystals for just having more equipment either. I have to make both work somehow.

“Well let’s go take care of it,” he said.

“Let’s take another break before we over there. So meet back here in another hour?” I suggested. I feel so hungry right now that my teeth hurt again.

Both Rina and Sunghee are giving me hopeful lusty looks too.

Gyle gives us a weird look, but can’t really complain. “You people are scandalous. You’re almost like rabbitkin,” he said shaking his head. I think he guesses what’s going to happen while we’re off on our own because of the looks the girls are giving me.

Oh are rabbitkin lusty too? Even in this world it’s like rabbits have a reputation for being breeders.

I could feel my ears turning red, but by contrast Sunghee and Rina just giggled.

An hour later, Rina, Sunghee, and I come laughing back down the stairs into the dining area after having another hour of me getting blowjobs with both girls together. Then I had to remind Sunghee she’d missed doing up a few buttons on her shirt.

It can’t be helped, since it’s the sex demon biology needs and its one of the few things I can gain energy from. When I don’t have canteens of demon food it’s necessary. Plus the pheromones make the girls too enthusiastic for ecchi stuff. I’m lucky I didn’t go down into the dungeon without Asakura or her milk. Tonight I’ll have to set things up differently.

Gyle leads us to one of the local shops.

“Make sure you greet the shop owner properly. As dwarven custom you have to show respect for him and his family even if you don’t know him and introduce yourself properly. It’s all about face,” he hinted as another guy walked up. He was one of the household workers wearing what looked like asian robes.

He takes us past the lobby area of the shop into the back. The walls are covered with weapons everywhere with lots of show pieces of stuff that I didn’t even know what you called it, on top of the basic stuff like short swords, long swords, maces, and virtually everything under the sun. All of it bright shiny beautiful hand crafted metal of all kinds. Both Rina and Sunghee are fascinated by everything here.

“Wow,” Rina almost tripped with surprise.

Sunghee looks delighted, “Oh is that what I think it is? Oh this piece is good too. Wow, this shop has everything!”

An older guy comes and conversed with us. He’s giving us puzzled looks, and after a few minutes of introductions and strange politeness we’re checking stuff out.

“So remind me again, why we don’t use throwaway weapons from goblin and orc trash? I like the new stuff but just wonder,” Rina asked innocently.

Both Gyle, one of the household workers, and the shop owner look scandalized and have their mouth hanging open.

“You can’t be serious?” Gyle said.

“You’ll have to forgive her. She doesn’t know your customs. Neither do I,” I pleaded.

The dwarves nod, but look unappeased. They act like we’d committed religious sacrilege against them for some reason.

“She’s helped us kill goblins,” Sunghee said to defend her.

They look at her klutzy antics in disbelieve. Now they are puzzled with us.

“Are you sure?” Gyle asked. I sometimes forget he doesn’t know her or us so well yet.

I nodded.

But I’m getting into this too. It’s a medieval weapon shop! I’ve always wanted to visit something like this. All of the weapons are well made and shiny with really good craftsmanship and shiny metal placed in immaculate order and straightness in wooden cases over cloth with glass casing all around. The whole room is covered in cases like this with swords, blunts, pierce weapons, missile warfare materials and all kinds of other things.

“This place is beautiful,” Sunghee said in delight.

“Oh Shun, look at that!” Sunghee keeps grabbing my arm to show me different things but because I’m a mage and not a combat fighter like she is, I have trouble understanding some of the point of view.

It helps that they have flickering torchlight throughout the place and it adds a strange reflective pattern sheen coming off much of the glass and the metal weapons.

The dwarves blush in delight and it seems that Sunghee’s fascination with their products has overcompensated for Rina’s penny pinching. She’s saying the right thing, and she’s also tall even for a human, let alone a dwarf and crazy good looking. Although to be fair Rina was good looking too, but it didn’t work with her tripping over stuff in the shop and nearly breaking the glass case next to her, plus her offending them from their weird weapon fixations.

“Well what are you interested in?” I said to Sunghee.

She was looking over several pieces, “I don’t know. Do we have the money? It seems like we didn’t bring in much the past few days,” she seemed conflicted.

“Well we do need to be careful. There are some things we need to plan for too, but we should have a few good pieces for being adequately prepared,” I said.

“I second that,” Gyle said.

“But isn’t this guy related to you?” Rina said.

It took another minute for me to get what she meant. She’s looking at Gyle and the shop owner. Suddenly it’s really quiet. The dwarves all stiffened up.

Something isn’t right here. Then they look at each other in panic.

Is this… a scam of some kind.

“You guys look like relatives,” Rina said sharply.

“Oh, she’s right,” Sunghee noted.

Even I’d been blinded by how beautiful the shop was to not see it until now.

All of them are clearly relatives.

So Gyle was trying to use our connection to pick up some money on the side through some under the table commissions I bet.

“Wow, you got me,” Gyle said.

“So you make friends with new adventurers that are about to get a big score and buying new equipment,” Sunghee guessed.

Gyle is totally in the doghouse and looks humbled. The shop owner just lost face too. They are trying to apologize profusely for awhile while we stare at them with distrust.

What should we do?

It’s true that we need some good new equipment. But maybe this isn’t the right shop.

Sunghee looks scandalized but Rina is taking it pretty well with a mischievous look.

I can hear the shop owner muttering something in a weird dwarven dialect. Because the temporary dwarven enchant given to us by Svinn is only keyed for the main dialect it’s not picking up this weird minority dialect for some reason. It might be a sub-race dialect I’m guessing.

Gyle and the shop owner go back and forth for a bit. Then the shop owner gets upset and keeps pointing at him angrily. They are discussing something heatedly.

Gyle lowers himself to a severe bowing position. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me. It’s true. I didn’t intend harm, but I do make my bread and butter by recommending new adventurer’s to buy weapons from my uncle’s shop, where I do receive a commission. I wouldn’t have pushed you into something that would cause you harm though.”

I’m not sure if the last part he said is true.

Ahh fudge buckets.

The girls look to me uncertainly. They don’t know what to do.

Gyle is so guilty…he was going to make a ton off us.

“To be fair, you really do need a few weapons. What I said about Rina needing a role to fill wasn’t a lie. I do also think Sunghee would do better with a slash type weapon by her posture and a small shield. So I just didn’t disclose my full earnings and background but everything I’ve told you is true,” he finished.

The shop owner also apologizes and bows deeply.

Darn dwarves…they just love money too much huh?

“So what do we do Shun?” Rina asked.

The shop owner says something else just then.

Gyle speaks for him in the normal dialect, “My uncle says he’ll give you a 10% discount. But he has a lot of grand kids to support so he hopes you’ll forgive him. Two of his sons were slain in the labyrinth, and he has to raise the orphans as his own.”

Just a lousy 10 percent off? That’s all?!

“Bull shit. You don’t expect…” Sunghee was a bit pissed off.

Gyle looks really humble. “Actually that part is true. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you everything. But if you still let me be employed by you I won’t ever cross you again. Please give me another chance.”

“And I’ll have your word on that? You’ll be my secretary and handle my correspondence?” I asked.

Actually that sounds crazy. I should have two people that can read anything at a given time to check each other’s work.

“Yeah, I’ll do that for you and help you interact with the dwarves. It would also be really bad if it got out that our shop was fixing our sales. But even though we could be fined for that and would lose shop prestige it’s true that I didn’t ever recommend any bad weapons to anyone. Nor did I cheat anyone. I just didn’t disclose I was connected to the shop I brought coworkers too. In a way I saved lives,” he said blushing beat red.

“I don’t know if I believe that last part,” Rina said critically.

“Well we can forgive this. It’s not a bad thing,” I said.

Rina gave me pad on the back just then for being nice. Sunghee is still checking out the weapons. She loves pretty weaponry more than jewelry I guess.

“Of course we’ll have to have you stress test the weapons to check the quality with no liability on our part,” Sunghee said to both of them with a serious look.

The dwarves flinched a bit.

“They should pass,” the shop owner said slowly.

“You’re sure about that?” I asked.

“You look scared,” Sunghee said to him.

He shrugged, “I’m actually worried you will overcompensate and try to do more force than a necessary test. But we make this stuff ourselves so under normal heavy blows it should hold up. If that’s the case it won’t be a fair test either, will it?”

“So Sunghee will pick out a weapon and a buckler of her choice of its type; at that point I’ll have you stress test them yourself. If it breaks she keeps going until she finds one that passes. Then we’ll buy,” I said.

The shop owner looks relieved. It makes me curious why that is so I ask him.

“I actually worry about if a weapon will withstand a blow when someone goes in a dungeon. I need to know it’s really a good weapon. What if something happens and someone dies because of a weapon I made? That would hurt my chance of feeling like I am good grandfather,” he said slowly not being able to look at us.

I guess he was blinded by money but isn’t such a bad guy. I don’t think that excuses him though.

“I think he’s honest Shun. He just was under a lot of stress,” Rina said.

“How did you know they are related?” I asked Rina.

She shrugged, “um…it just looked like they were. It’s hard to explain. They look a little alike, and their mannerisms are similar.”

Rina has sharp eyes I guess. Maybe knowing that will help me find her a role in this world.

“That’s amazing you picked that out,” Sunghee said.

We test a few weapons. We’re fortunate that everything holds. But at the end we switched things up. We had Sunghee also stress test the weaponry.

Sunghee had been about to buy a heavy looking longsword.

“Um, actually if I may have offer a suggestion?” Gyle said holding out his hand.

We look at him questioningly.

“We’re going into the dungeon and not all the tunnels have wide swinging space. I suggest a short sword for this type of dungeon with narrow corridors. The long sword feels better and heavier when you are outside the dungeon, but on the inside you will sometimes have some tight angles and tunnels where a longer blade can get caught. There are supposedly a lot of places like that in the Ever dungeon,” he countered.

“How much for the short sword and buckler?” I asked him.

“Err, I thought armor costs too much?” Rina asked.

“Everything except shields costs too much. Shields aren’t part of the armor trafficking crackdowns since people argue that a shield is pretty reasonable,” Gyle corrected her.

“So shields must be popular then since they are the only real armor people can have?” she followed up.

Both Gyle and the shop owner nod.

“The buckler here costs 1 gold, the short sword is an additional 5 gold,” the shop owner quotes like he’s done it a thousand times already.

“Wow, 1 gold? That’s a lot,” Sunghee looks at me for approval.

“And just that one run we only made a few silver. How do normal people do it?” Rina wondered aloud.

“I know right? It’s crazy. That means a normal john doe in this city probably had to hustle manure and do farm stuff for a whole year just to save up for a newbie weapon. Now you know why people die. They get greedy and want to adventure but can’t afford basic gear that will hold up,” Sunghee countered.

Gyle’s scheme makes a lot of sense too though. He and his uncle have made a lot of money this way, as evidenced by how rich looking and immaculate the shop looks. A lot of jewelry stores would beg to look this perfect and beautiful with each weapon on some kind of almost silky, and velvet black cushioning and cloth.

Gyle has a forced smile and is trying to not look like a stooge right now. I can also see the sweat coming off his forehead, now that he wants to go home and do whatever he has to do to build up his reputation and morale again.

“And for Rina?” Gyle asked.

She’s looking around. Her coordination isn’t that great yet. But we have to be able to have her defend herself.

She tries out different weights of things while we’re trying to go over it.

At first I was going to try out crossbows for her, but then I see the prices. The heavy crossbow costs 10 gold, the lighter crossbow costs 7.5 gold, and the advanced loader is a whopping 50 gold. I also see that they don’t have interchangeable ammunition. The lightest crossbow ammunition costs 50 copper a piece. The heavy crossbow ammunition costs 1 silver a piece.

So if I equip anyone on my team with a crossbow I will bleed money faster than I can make it back. The bolts cost a ton.

I feel heartbroken.

“Sorry Rina, crossbows are out. We need to stabilize first before we can afford this stuff,” I said.

Her face fell first. I think she liked the crossbows because they looked the most similar to what gun technology would translate into in a medieval world. The dwarves faces fall at almost the same time. It’s from both the money and not finding a fit. We have to spend a few more hours working it out because she’s not very coordinated.

“We can do this!” Sunghee tries to cheer her up.

Rina looks like she’s about to cry. “I’m sorry Shun. If I were stronger, then it might work.”

Swords are out. Too expensive for what she can actually ‘deliver’ on. Also not in a hurry to get the least coordinated, weakest team member on the front line.

She can use spears a little bit, but it still seems like a crap shoot to me putting her anywhere near the front line.

We spend a lot of time trying to figure it out. But we don’t get anywhere even after losing more time. She’s not very coordinated, and she’s not strong. But I have to try to get her good at something.

We settle on a couple of slings, for slinging rocks, a bundle of throwing knives, a club, and a spear. I would have done a buckler for her too but I don’t want her anywhere near the front lines. I also don’t know yet where she’ll truly fit in and that’s the real issue. We can’t exactly have her bleeding our money out yet either. Once she works on getting her aim then we won’t be as worried about her and then can upgrade.

I’ve also managed to see that I was low on secondhand weapons I’d picked up. Virtually everything I’d collected from dead orcs and goblins had been broken or used up because they often weren’t built out of metal and sometimes it was brittle material like wood or bone. I’d lost weapons from a lot of reasons.

So the trip here was absolutely necessary but the idea of losing money doesn’t sit well with me either. A lot of the people here in this world that were sold into slavery got this way by not having money and then having an emergency hit where they need cash. Then they had to sell off a child or other relative, or themselves.

Stress…

Final weapon shop expense breakdown;

1 gold for buckler

5 gold for short sword

16 silver for 2 spears

25 copper for 5 slings; purchased more than one because of anticipating they will wear out since they are made of leather. I remembered in scouts using slings once too, and they wore out quickly then.

50 silver for 10 throwing knives at 5 silver each. Since they are made of metal and built to be durable they cost something.

Club was a gift; it’s made of left over metal slag that was all melted together. I can’t say clubs were that valuable though since you can pretty much make them out of anything you want. It was probably all throwaway metal too.

I can give Rina the club, since she doesn’t have a dwarven warhammer. But I will keep my dwarven warhammer, and Sunghee and Asakura each have theirs and will keep it that way.

Total came to 6 gold 66 silver and the rest of my copper change that I wasn’t as concerned about. Oh but I forgot about their 10% discount promise to save face; which reduces that to 5 gold 99 silver.

My previous funds were 141 gold 19 silver…minus 5 gold 99 silver equals 135 gold 19 silver left.

Gyle drew us a map how to get back to the inn, since he wants to catch up with his uncle and spend the rest of the day in their shop as family.

He looks repentant for now. Sunghee doesn’t say much but I think she was the one most bothered by it, particularly because of her past.

For now my biggest concern in regards to upping my war potential and problem #1;

Option 1) Buy a slave, but given my nature I can’t buy a male slave if I go that route.

Option 2) Buy prepaid bodyguards or mercenaries that are paid a daily rate, which isn’t the same as adventurers. Aventurers go solely on commission while bodyguards, mercs, and soldiers are paid a flat daily rate regardless of how much the team makes either good or bad.

Option 3) I could also use one of the various groups that petitioned me for support. I can send a reply back to the newbie group of 5 people, or try to join the mining caravan group. Or another option would be to try to spend time with both but on different days.

Who would have thought making 1 gold would be such a pain in the ass too. It takes forever just to save 1 gold!

In my mind, I keep thinking these weapons better freaking last forever, since it takes a long time to save for one. And because it takes so long to make 1 gold under normal circumstances just the equipment alone for Sunghee has me stressed out.

Problem #2; I get curious though for another magic experiment. What happens if I put weapons I’ve purchased into the summon equipment box. Will they stay there? Or will they be preserved from wear and tear? Will they be duplicable? Or will they just get eaten? That was partly the reasoning on five slings. Since slings are cheap they can be experimental goods.

Problem #3; if Asakura can’t wear a normal shirt, then I have to figure out a way of keeping her happy while I try to reduce her breast size. I could technically increase the amount of sex we do to keep her from complaining about not being at the front line, but eventually she may feel uncomfortable with the idea of not being able to wear normal clothes. Or will she? She also likes to help out too, so she won’t want to be on the side lines.

I may have to look at the clothing market next. But I can only bleed money so much in one day without crying about it.

I also know she doesn’t like the medieval clothes here in this world. She’s not worldly but she does like the styles of our world. And that could present some problems in matching her up with something that doesn’t look like a serf or peasant in this world. I may also have to account for if her boobs grow even bigger than they are now and that piece then gets outgrown, which is totally weird.

Problem #4; Is there an underground market for demon breast milk? Technically she’s still a ghoul and not a demon. But there might be a way of making money off whatever milk is leftover from her if I can boost production. That could end up recovering some of the costs but that will only be opened up when I have another girl that can cover my food needs in demon milk nutrients.

To do that I’ll need jars and more canteens, plus a way of looking for different things and I can’t have Gyle with me to check that out. But to investigate such a market I’d also need to figure out if it’s even safe to do so without getting in trouble with the law.