Chapter 15: War on the Horizon
"Okay, Ladies, I know we all want to fuck, but we have shit to do today, and if we start now with the few hours we have, we will not get anything done!" I state loudly, and the ladies all blush. Doorknocker was firmly in the girl still hard, and I just wanted to leave it sheathed in her. Instead, I kissed her and pulled her off.
I found out her dad learned this morning of our interactions and was elated giving her the day off and sending her upstairs to seduce me. A couple of hours later, she still hadn\'t slept, so I told her to sleep while we were out.
"Ladies, we can all fuck again tonight. I know Kate won\'t take no for an answer," I smile at them all, "Let us get our stuff done, get some food and bathe, then I can fuck you ladies like the bunny I am." Emily is happily smiling, and Mally agrees. Kate, on the other hand, looks unsatisfied but accepting.
I noticed Kate was still in the shackles last night. I took them off, and she rubbed her sore joints but whispered in my ear. "I enjoyed last night and hated it; I love you." That threw me off, and I didn\'t know how to respond; I just smiled at her and got dressed in a blue robe, and grabbed my staff heading downstairs. The inn\'s diner was preparing for diner as it was around high noon.
I kissed the ladies as they all went separate ways to get shit done. I went to the alchemy guild that had a small branch everywhere to see if there were any ingredients that they had I was interested in. I stepped up, and a short goat-kin male serviced me. I asked about the rarer ingredients.
There was nothing that caught my eye, so I started asking about local specialties and found a few that were unique. I picked some up to study later in various research.
I went to the small branch of the adventurers guild here, and there wasn\'t much. One of the girls working here was a Cat-kin with a nice smile. I flirted with her for a bit, but she wasn\'t receptive. I felt pushed aside by her, but that was fine. She was professional, and I had the feeling as well this was normal for her.
There was nothing that really interested me, so I just walked around town, looking around seeing if anything caught my eye. It wasn\'t until I went into the leather shop and looked around I saw some whips and a flogger I thought that Kate would love if I used it on her later. So I picked up a Brown flogger feeling embarrassed about what I was thinking.
I left with red cheeks, and the goat-kin was very helpful. I went back to the Inn, and it was starting to serve dinner. Mally was back, so I sat down with her.
She was a little annoyed some of the supplies she wanted being not available here since it was on the border with less traffic, surprisingly. Apparently, the bureaucratic taxes in the dwarven kingdom stopped a lot of independent merchant\'s travel, cutting down supplies here. It was why the goat-kin was so accommodating to us.
The big merchant guilds did bulk runs twice a year here, and the delivery was three weeks from today, so they were out.
I listened to her complain a bit, and a young bar waiter dropped a beer for us with a blush. This was a little goat-kin boy who looked cute. I thanked him and saw him go to serve more customers—probably the brother of that cute girl upstairs. Slowly the ladies trickled in.
Emily got some more supplies to upkeep her weapons, and Kate got some as well and stopped by the adventurers guild to pick up some potions. Most adventurer\'s guilds kept a supply of them and sold them at a discount to lower-ranked adventurers. As a country, it was smart to support them in the lower phases to have more chances for them to get strong and upkeep the peace easier.
It was cheaper than having soldiers patrol the roads for bandits and to take care of low-tiered beasts. I think it is inefficient, but it is the way it is.
We enjoyed a good meal, and our cute barmaid came from upstairs to join us for bathing. We had a fun romp in the bath, and a very annoyed boss talked to me in a respectful but firm way that I can\'t do that it is unhygienic, which is true... But we had fun. We continued back in the Inn, taking carnal pleasures in each other over the night. It was an enjoyable experience here.
We slept a little earlier but only had a few winks before the merchant train had to leave. We left with a very sad barmaid wishing us goodbye to us. She was crying, and it kinda hurt, but I smiled at her and left without looking back.
We had a trip ahead of us, and We were boarding the North Beast mountains and the Dwarven Kingdom, both mountainous, and there was a giant forest road to the City Nogrod. The path started inside the canyon, and Us ladies in our little alcove slept the sleep we missed from last night.
After I awoke, Emily, who wanted to get frisky, was stopped when The wolf-kin merchant leader asked to see me. Her disappointment was palpable, but since the merchant train was still moving, he wasn\'t going to call me if it wasn\'t important.
I ran to catch up to one of the carriages that he was at and jumped up to take a seat with him in the back. "What is up, Mr. Owen?" I asked, trying to confirm that was his name.
"I see you read the message. Perfect, It was weird you didn\'t know my name, to be honest," He stated, and I gave a small smile.
"I am a very closed person. To be honest, Mr. Owen, can I call you Owen?" he nodded, "Good Owen unless someone does something that catches my attention or interest enough for me to take the time to ask or remember, I really don\'t know peoples names I am a research type personality. Please don\'t take this incorrectly, but to my mind, people don\'t matter. Research does some of those bandits.
I would have loved to dissect them and put them on a table to open them up, preferably still alive, so I could see how everything works. I am a person driven towards understanding everything about Mana. The reason you even see me here traveling is that I need the experience to see how others see it too."
"I can see you are a driven girl with lots of knowledge, but the world around you matters, Miss Chelsea, May I call you Chelsea?" This time I nod, "When you take time to show you care to those around you, just simple things like knowing their names, it shows you care. A person is more likely to do what you want if you show small things that make them think you care, Chelsea.
I know you don\'t mean it personally, but people will. But that is not what this conversation is supposed to be about. I know you just woke up, and I know you and the Ladies around you want to... Indulge in each other, and I do not want to insult your professionalism since you are the one who has noticed each attack. With that in mind, though, I received the news in town."
"Oh, I am not talking good news, Owen; otherwise, we would not be having this conversation. I just realized I cut you off, Owen; sorry, my bad," I apologize.
"It is acceptable. I paused for a little too long, and you cut in. But nonetheless, When I was in town, I heard not only was the Kingdom of Arlin now in a war with the beasts several kingdoms are starting to declare war with them against the Beasts. For the longest time, none of the Northern Beasts Mountains have been available for resource extraction; no one was angry with them too much.
Now though, if Arlin takes even a small chunk, that will spell disaster to the neighboring countries. So now I have it on good authority; what is the first thing when wars like this start?"
I sigh unless one was a tyrant that could take them out in one swoop. The best thing to do was to raid the supply lines. Now that everyone is joining the war and competing for territory, the raids on trading will get worse. "Has our Beast-kin nation declared war or the Dwarven kingdom?" I ask, simply hoping for a double no.
"Our Beast-kin Nation has not, but the Dwarven Kingdom has. Meaning Raids will be starting. I do not know what started this mess, but we will be affected, which means I really need you to be on your game all the time, Chelsea. I am Fine with your indulgences before, but all our lives are on the line." He looks at me seriously, and I sigh. I will have to control my urges, and so will my ladies.
I nod and bid him farewell. I simply stand and wait for my carriage and jump in. Emily has a look of want, and I stop her with a sad smile.
"Ladies, we need to be ready for battle at any time." I start and go into a rant about what is happening. Kate and Emily pale a little at the implications, but Mally didn\'t at all. I go on about what I need to do until I feel like I am talking for the sake of talking. I told them at my finish that I will be meditating and keep a close eye on everything.
That although I wanted to indulge in their sweet bodies that we were all paid to be here and that we need to do our jobs.
I sat down and worked on compressing my Mana further and sending out pulses to check for potential threats. I was frequent no one a minute but at least four pulses of three a minute so that I could keep my surroundings known.
It was going to be a long trip.