After fiddling around, we find a rhythm which works for us. Before joining the others, Sammy releases my arm and we enter the camp, separated from each other. The kobolds are busy making tents out of branches, leaves and patches of moss as we join them. From time to time, Maple checks their progress and offers advice if they are struggling. She finishes her current round before heading towards us.

"Welcome back. I'm glad you two have made up again." Her warm smile soothes me after such an exhausting day.

"For the time being, yes. Although it depends on Sammy's end," I say.

"Oh, I'm sorry for making such assumptions. I hope you're still okay with a two-person tent?"

"I don't-"

"No, it's fine. I wouldn't have it any other way," Sammy says, cutting me off.

Maple looks at us in disbelief, and I clear my throat. Sammy's eyes widen as she realises what she has just done. Even the kobolds pause their work to watch us.

"I'm so sorry, Milord. I didn't mean to interrupt you." She bows down at me.

I wait a moment before I begin. "What are you waiting for? These tents will not build themselves." I lean forward and say in a low voice in Sammy's ear, " I need to spank some discipline into you, don't I?"

Her face reddens. "Whatever the punishment, I will take it with pride."

Maple blushes too. Her hearing must be excellent if she heard that. I decide to be cheeky with her.

"Why are you blushing? Do you want to see later what happens to disobedient servants? I didn't expect you to be 'that kind' of person."

"W-W-W-What are you implying? I'm just surprised, that's all." Maple's blush is now a deep crimson.

"That answers question number one. What's with question two?"

At first, she mumbles and buries her face, but then says "Yes" with a soft voice after a few seconds.

"Wait. Does she really have to watch? I don't like the idea of anyone spectating," Sammy interrupts.

"You're trying to be my number one sexual partner here, but it doesn't look like you're cut out for it. Hey Maple, would you mind carrying my potential heir in the future?"

Maple doesn't move a millimetre. It must have fried her brain.

"Maple? Are you still there? Hello~" Even Sammy is worried about the white-haired girl.

After still getting no answer, Sammy and I decide to leave Maple alone for now, and just as we pass her, she speaks.

"An heir. An heir? An heir! Are you sure?" Her voice is full of energy and her tail is wagging at full speed. "My mum used to tell me stories about Demon Kings who blessed a handful of their servants by making them mothers. Of the status and service they enjoyed after carrying a new life within them. But there's a problem..."

I stop and ask, "A problem?"

"Yes, you see, we kobolds have a strict tradition which prohibits..." she blushes and pauses for a second, "the deed between a male and a female before marriage. If you decide to break said tradition, you get exiled from your home and denied access to most towns and cities."

"So, you are open to it, but only after marriage?" I ask to confirm, and she blushes but nods.

"Please stop." Sammy's face has lost all colour. "Maple, I'll let you watch me get spanked as long as you want, but please stop talking about becoming a mother. I'm first, and then maybe in the distant future you can have your turn."

Sammy points her index finger in my face. "Once you embrace me, I will make sure that I put the most skilled succubi to shame as I drain your balls every day."

I'm at a loss for words. Is my subordinate threatening me? Either way, she'll regret her words in the future, but the focus is on the here and now. My lack of response earns me a puzzled look from Sammy as I walk over to a tent which is still being finished.

A long, sturdy branch rests on a thick, bifurcated stick. The innermost layer has more tightly compressed sticks. On top is the moss and finally the leaves. There is also a layer of leaves on the floor inside the tent.

"Is it to your liking, Master?" Maple asks from behind me.

"Planned and constructed with pre-existing knowledge in mind. Where did you learn this technique, Maple?"

"You flatter me too much, Master. Camping in the woods is just a hobby of mine. Besides, it's always fascinating to build with raw materials instead of what I'm used to."

I pause. "What do you mean? Do you have some kind of job in the spirit realm?"

"Why yes, I have a job there. It may not look like it, but I'm a builder."

I put both hands on her shoulders and look down at her.

"The gods must have sent you. I'll need your expertise when we reach the mountain. We'll have a lot to discuss by then, from housing to logistics and more." I can't contain my excitement after hearing about her profession.

"Mountain?" she asks.

"Let's go to my tent and I'll tell you about my plan for the foreseeable future."

Soon we are at the entrance, Sammy waiting inside, but her bedroom eyes fade when she sees Maple and me go in.

"Is she really going to watch? I know I said she could, but it is still embarrassing."

Holding up my hand, I say to Sammy, "Business first. I am going to tell her about my plan and the next steps in it."

I start by explaining why I want to go to said mountain, or rather, the summit. Soon there are questions about rations, logistics, materials, labour and tools, and sometime later the three of us find ourselves in a sheer endless cycle of a never-ending stream of questions, to which we find answers, only for new questions to arise.

At one point, a kobold interrupts us with three large chunks of meat on an oversized leaf.

"Please take. Your food. From us."

Maple takes the food and tray and places it in the middle of the three of us. I was going to pass, but then I changed my mind. The smell is too good to resist. The sound of chewing fills the tent and everyone is absent-minded, thinking of their own solution.

After dinner, the discussion continues, but much more focused than before. We take a different approach and start with the last thing first: a castle. From there, we break this goal down into the requirements necessary to build one.

We continue like this until we find out what our key priority is once we reach the mountain: tools and a blacksmith to forge them. While the kobolds can make simple things with relative ease, Maple tells me that kobolds don't handle heat well, making any work in a forge or at high temperatures undesirable or impossible.

With that, we end our discussion for today. Three long, drawn out sighs fill the small space inside the tent. The food has done wonders for our productivity.

I look over at Sammy. "Now on to the next topic. You haven't received your punishment yet."

Saibler

Another chapter completed. We are slowly coming to the end of the first arc. One chapter at a time.