"I've been thinking, wouldn't it be more efficient to deal with ferals through traps?" You glanced at your harem as you mentioned this, walking through the thicket, annoyed at having to fight your way through the plant life. 

"In what sense?" Diane commented, wincing as she was leading the way and having to deal with the more annoying part.

"Just... traps," you muttered. "Dig a hole, put some sharp spikes, some poison, prep a pokeball to drop once triggered. If the feral dies she dies, and if she survives she gets caught."

"That wouldn't work with some girls." Kiara floated above, laying on her side as if an invisible wall were holding her aloft. "Doubt I'd fall for something like that."

"Doesn't need to work on every pokegirl, only on enough of them. Just prep the thing, and come back to check on it every twelve hours or so." Scratching your chin, you nodded along. "Seed an area with the traps, you should be able to catch or kill a few at least."

"And the humans?" Your alpha muttered.

Kiara sighed. "Right, they might poach the traps and take the pokeballs..."

"No, I meant it could kill humans if they stumble onto one."

"I guess warnings would need to be put out. Signs, stuff like that." You rubbed your chin in consideration. "Though the ferals might learn from those what areas to avoid." Taking a second to catch your breath and shove the annoying plant-life aside, you thanked your stars at least these weren't covered in thorns.

"Bah, they're not that smart most of the time, it's more like a child."

"True as that might be, I still think there might be some merit to consider here." You rubbed your chin. "Usually defensible positions are easier to manage because, among other things, you can work the terrain into your advantage." A glance at the duo. "So why would the league promote the current way tamers work?"

"You mean Hunters."

"I think Master means the 'wandering' aspect of a Tamer’s job," Diane commented, turning to look at you over her shoulder and grin a little. "Being a tamer comes from older traditions, originally there were neither as many ferals nor pokegirls to go about. So those who wished to protect the league or expand their harems needed to travel plenty. This allows the road to be safer and for transport of goods to flow more easily across the league."

"That's why they put the stupid gym thing, they needed to know people weren't just taking a tour of the country," Kiara groaned loudly.

"My... I'd heard back on the ranch how much of a violation of a Tamer's basic rights that is," the nurse commented.

That proclamation made you scowl heavily. The more you were considering it, the clearer it was becoming that the current way tamers were implemented was a stop-gap solution, and not an actual way to solve the problem. "Basic rights?"

"Right to own pokegirls and the right to self-determine how to use them," she explained. "By implementing the gym system, tamers are restricted and unable to specialize in ways that aren't as directly applicable for combat."

"Oh, not this bullshit."

You glanced at the Succubus. "What about it?"

"It's just humans whining that they can't snap their fingers and make a Dragoness bend over to slobber their cock." She rolled her eyes, yawning.

"That's... not quite how it works."

"Every league has the same people, little shits that think they're owed obedience and success. Pretty sure it's the same here."

"Diane?"

"One of the chief concerns is that not all pokegirl owners are tamers, so not all of them have the same legal protections as one," Diane said. "For example, if a draft issue came tomorrow, we would be protected since we're owned by Master, a tamer. But if you were a pet owner, you would be forced to sell us or volunteer to join the draft if your intent were to avoid losing us."

"Yeah, I'm sure THAT doesn't get abused at all." The infernal rolled her eyes.

"There have not been any league-wide draft orders, ever." The nurse scowled.

"And local?"

"How are we supposed to fight against a feral wave if not with help from everyone who can join in?" Her fists clenched for a moment, now clearly showing annoyance.

"Now now." You glanced at them both. "I'll just consider myself lucky I won't have to worry over that particular detail."

"And yet what you get instead is Sadie's and salvage, not many would count that as a win," Kiara said.

"Salvage we've mostly... placated, I don't plan to let it fuck me over, and Sadie's..." Pausing, you looked at the infernal, then at Diane, then shrugged. "I mean, I could voice my opinion about it, but I feel that making claims of who I think might leave and who not, especially in front of either of you, would be a bad move."

"I'll save you the effort. The cat can't, the nurse won't, the spider will, and with me? Not sure yet."

That gave you a long second, stopping your advance as Kiara floated lazy circles around you and Diane. There was a lot to unpack there. "Monica can't? Is it because she's feralborn?"

"She's been tame for less than a year, it's standard since recent ferals might cause trouble if separated from their Masters before they fully understand society and its rules," Diane confirmed. "What did you mean that Raven will leave?"

"It's pretty damn obvious she's looking for an out, Sadie will be her best bet." The infernal shrugged.

"I'm not too sure about that."

"That's cute of you." She let out a chuckle as she glanced your way. "Not going to ask whether I'll leave or not?"

You took a long moment to glance at the infernal as she floated lazily around you. It was a long silence that left you wondering how seriously you ought to consider her words. In the end you couldn't really bring yourself to, not when you'd warned her that you were quite willing to protect the secret pertaining to your origins.

The consideration of being put at risk ran through you unbidden, and your brows knit together. "I think that we both know that, if you left, you'd make very sure to get out of the league before I found you."

The words appeared to physically hit her. The Succubus nearly fell, her flight path dipping abruptly before she hastily stopped her dive. With shocked eyes, she looked at you, shoulders tightening before she glanced away. "For a second there you almost made me believe you'd actually stand a chance to pull such a thing off."

You didn't answer. Turning back to the thicket you continued your trail through, following Diane as she quietly went to work. The silence was awkward, and you could feel Kiara's eyes boring into the back of your head whenever she thought you weren't paying attention. Your thoughts pushed the conversation away and instead focused on your surroundings, the thin trees, the bushes, and the lack of visible movement besides the bugs.

You knew the direction you were taking, and you could see Raven and Monica up ahead peeking in on you three from time to time. By the time you'd caught up with them, you got to see firsthand their handiwork. Five Titmice, a nest. Found, fought, captured. All before the others had managed to reach their location. Monica was proudly bouncing on the balls of her feet, puffing out her chest. "No kill," she said, pointing at the pokeballs Raven held.

"Indeed, well done Monica," you congratulated her, making her preen all the more. "And you too, Raven."

"It was merely my duty, Master Rick."

With the slight bow of her head, you couldn't help but look at her more closely, remembering last night, and remembering Kiara's words just a handful of minutes ago. You pushed the doubt away, not wanting to dwell any further on the idea. The reason why Raven had been acting strangely had been because she'd not had a chance to move on from her previous life, still aching from the loss. You pushing things would only make them worse.

Maybe that was what Kiara wanted, to keep things from going smoothly. It didn't feel like much of a stretch that the infernal held at least a minimal grudge at Raven after the whole "leaving her tied up"... Shaking your head, you pushed that thought away as well. Were you really going to lock yourself into a mental guessing game that'd only leave you spinning your wheels?

"Let's get back to the others, they must have gotten quite the headway after this little detour of ours."

A chorus of agreements greeted you.

Now time to go fight the thicket again.

 

---

 

When you'd left the group it was early morning, and now that you were catching back up to them, it was starting to get dark. Thankfully, Monica had a good sense of smell and they'd set up camp. You felt rather tired; it had been a long day and your mind had had too much time to wander around into places you didn't quite like to think about.

"Told you he'd be back," you heard Tomas mutter, shooting you an easy look.

Next to him, Kat's shoulders slumped, letting out a little grin. "We were worried after the troopers asked about you."

That caught your attention, and you quirked a brow. "The what now?"

Mr. Gabriel snorted loudly. "Some men showed up, riding horse girls." The old man snorted. "Asked if we'd seen anyone with a Succubus."

A cold chill ran down your back all the way to the soles of your feet. You glanced at each of them. "Anything else?"

"No, just asked and carried on. Told them we know no one with a Succubus."

"Sara heard them say 'Alazea' when they left," Tomas commented, mentioning his Doggirl, and his eyes appeared troubled as he glanced at you. "You... didn't encounter anything?"

"It was a nightmare of thicket and bushes, we found some mice." Rubbing your chin, you had to frown. "How far away are we from Alazea? A week or so?"

"More like four days," Kat commented. "We were talking about the whole thing, we might want to avoid the town entirely."

"We can't." You shook your head. "We need the food, supplies, and I was still intending to buy a girl. If those men were looking for me, it's also going to be better to encounter them in someplace civilized with police nearby than out in the wilderness."

"Like, Alazea isn't exactly the most civilized of places, at least that's what the brochure says," Kat commented with a deep frown. "I didn't like them either, they gave me bad vibes."

"They're thugs if I've ever saw them." Mr. Gabriel shook his head, glancing at you as he rubbed his chin. "Doubt they'd go for killing though."

"What makes you say that?"

"Gut feeling, you don't approach someone you're going to kill while loudly riding down the road unless you're just that much of a numbskull," he commented. "When you want to kill someone, you ambush them."

Though you nodded, you also knew these people could potentially be scouting ahead. A myriad of thoughts cross your mind, but you put them to the side. The last thing you needed right now was to be paranoid without any more information. Turning towards the pokegirls, you raised your voice. "Anyone here familiar with Alazea however remotely?"

"I know what I've read from the booklets.," Diane spoke up.

"Freya, Magdalene, either of you know Alazea?" Tomas called out.

The Elf and centaur raised their gaze, looking at their Master and shaking their heads almost in unison before returning to preparing the meal.

"So we got the booklet and what little pops up about them online," you muttered, sitting down with the other three tamers and having the nurse take the spot next to you. "What do you know, Diane?"

"It's the largest town in the area, a bit of a trade hub from the local villages and Ebony. They aren't well known for much," she said, leaning into your chest and preening a little. "The last time I heard news about them had been about a drug bust, maybe a year ago, the southern edge of the league is a bit less developed after all. There have also been some issues with ferals no doubt."

"What about the internet? What do they have to say about the place?" You glanced at Kat as she fiddled with her dex.

"It's a local hotspot for cheap pokegirl purchase," she commented. "Many fived girls apparently."

That mention made you shudder a little, imagining pokegirls just standing around, blank stares... You shook your head. "Any reason why they're fived?"

"Excess of ferals." Diane's words made everyone glance at her, and she grimaced a little. "The southern parts of the league have had multiple feral rushes over the past several years. That means many ferals getting captured, too many to handle and train properly on time."

"So they're fived and put to work right away rather than have to spend resources on them." Your lips thinned in distaste.

Your alpha nodded solemnly. "Fived pokegirls make for unskilled labour and weak fighters, but when having to decide between that and not having the time to prepare for the next rush..."

The words hung in the air, and you could only grimace at the consideration, nodding along but keeping to yourself. Would getting a fived pokegirl be what you wanted? Your goal had been to expand on the harem's combat capabilities, but...

"Now that I think about it, I had almost bought a girl from Alazea back when I'd been looking around for my starter," Tomas commented with a little nod, then went quiet for a second. "Guess I did the right thing to not get any of them."

"Yeah, your girl's sharp, you needed that," Mr. Gabriel chuckled, glancing at you. "What about you?"

"Hm?"

"You seem to like them sharp too, I've seen some of those fived girls, looked drugged-up. You sure you'd be into that?"

The question made you scoff. "The problem is less what I like and more what I need. I'm looking for someone that could join the harem and improve our combat odds." As you said this, you thought of Monica when she was put through a level 4; the shudder was suppressed, but not without the spark of consideration. "If it comes down to it I'll just push extra time into helping them develop."

They had maybe a month or so from Alazea to Ebony, so there should be plenty of time on the road to focus on that. Even if he cut down on hunting. If nothing else, getting basics down and expanding on...

Your thoughts were interrupted as Diane wriggled on the spot; her smile remained polite but her eyes were sharp, and it left you blinking as you looked at the others.

Kat let out a chuckle at the expression you were making. "You're lost in thought, teacher."

"I plead the fifth."

"Fifth?"

"It's..." You took a second to nod a little. "It's a law, I can't be considered guilty of something just because I refused to answer the question provided."

"It's the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution." Mr. Gabriel's words caused Kat and Tomas to look at him in apparent shock, and the old man snorted loudly. "If you're going to die for your country, you ought to know what you're protecting."

Kat instantly looked away, squirming, on the spot. "Let's not bring those things up."

"I had enough spats over it back when it mattered," he said, shaking his head.

Tomas reached out and squeezed Kat's knee, the young woman sighing and nodding, remaining quiet. You felt the potential to push for some answers, but frankly speaking, you weren't really that curious. Instead you glanced around at the camp, at Monica, Kiara, and Raven poring over some writing or reading exercise. It made you relax in turn, watching them nod at one another as the feline mouthed the syllables one by one.

"I've been thinking about giving my girls an allowance."

Tomas broke the silence, drawing attention back at him. "You know, some weekly stipend, one they can spend on whatever they'd like.

"I can respect that, but I'm not too sure on how well it could be implemented with the current finances." You tilted your head somewhat, thinking thoroughly on that. "I'm also not too sure how well we'd be able to teach the value of money to Monica or other feral-born before they understand words to begin with."

"Oh." The young man nodded, lowering his head a bit. "I guess you're right."

"Maybe in the future?" Kat wriggled, grinning a bit. You noted she didn't make an effort to remove Tomas' hand from her knee.

"Maybe, I doubt it's something I'll get to see you implement," you commented, leaning back a little. "I think I'll be staying in Ebony after we drop off the old sack of potatoes."

"What?" Tomas and Kat leaned forward as if having coordinated the move.

"What's your idea?" Mr. Gabriel asked, seeming more amused than irritated at the moniker.

"Not sure yet. I don't like travelling around when I don't have a goal in mind." You shook your head. "I'll see how long I can stick to one place and use the opportunity to get my bearings properly. Decide things from there."

"But..." Tomas and Kat shared a glance. "Doesn't being a tamer put a limit on how long you can spend in one place?"

"Yeah, I'll have to check on that," muttering under your breath, you nodded. "But I can't really go around aimlessly anymore. I've got responsibilities."

Mr. Gabriel chuckled, nodding. Though the gesture appeared to confuse Kat, the young woman frowning further. "Being a tamer is plenty of effort."

"I meant to my..." A pause, and you hesitated as your arm moved to grasp Diane by the hip. "A responsibility to my girls."

The nurse preened, face lighting up as she turned to look at you in full. Her hands remained on her lap, but you could tell she was just about ready to knock you on your back.

"Such as?"

Tomas' expression was serious as he asked, his brows drawn into a single line. It wasn't a challenge, or a mock, it was an earnest query... even if next to him Kat seemed utterly shocked.

"Let's be honest here, none of us are the type that would toss someone away without some damn good reason." You tugged Diane closer. Her shoulders straightened as she did her level best to appear as proud as she could. "Doesn't that mean we... are effectively looking at a prospective relationship that's going to last years if not more? And since we're the owners here, it's not like we can just claim they will figure something out and go their own way whenever they want."

Tomas and Mr. Gabriel nodded. Next to you, Diane was practically vibrating, her fingers gripping her knees firmly.

"I guess that makes sense." The young man nodded a little. "I... honestly hadn't thought of anything other than wanting to go back. Regardless of if it's possible or not... I think I'd have to think this through."

Your eyes caught Kat's expression, pale and wide eyed for a split second, only an instant before she shook her head and turned it downwards with a frown.

 

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Dex Entry of the day: Dex Entry