New (Old) Resolution
Before I lose myself in the inner workings of the system again, I clean the training arena with Prestidigitation so that no evidence of our little act remains on the floor. Livelihood Magic sure is handy. We then move to the baths and take a dip in the mixed section. Safi and Emi wash my whole body with great care, especially that one place they got a bit too fond of recently. The idea of embracing the floating bodies of these two alluring slimes here and now hangs on my mind for the whole time they scrub themselves against my skin, but unbelievably so, I overcome that almost irresistible urge. We'll leave the sex in the bath scenario for another time.
Naturally, I thoroughly enjoy my time washing them during my turn, grazing my hands over every area of their bodies. I come up with a fresh idea and using the recently gained Mana Control skill, I focus in my hands much more energy than I could before, leaking it leisurely through their membrane. It seems to be effective as I see their faces smile in joy and their bodies squirm when my palms wander over the sapphire and emerald chillness.
Done with bathing, we sit together in the corner, cuddling while halfway submerged in the hot water. It's time to confirm my guess. First, I summon the Partners menu and lock my gaze on the area which describes the slimes.
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[PARTNERS]
Safi - Blue Queen Slime
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Bond Level:
2/5
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Bond Type:
Admiration
(Master/Familiar)
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»STATUS DETAILS«
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Emi - Green Queen Slime
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Bond Level:
2/5
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Bond Type:
Joy
(Master/Familiar)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
»STATUS DETAILS«
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「And here it is. Our Bond Level has risen to the second stage. And it looks like Bond Type changed too. I can see how Emi's one can be linked to joy with how energetic and easy-going she is, but Safi started admiring me? This girl... 」
I turn my face to the sapphire beauty resting her head on my shoulder. Lifting it up, I place a soft, mana imbued kiss on her lips. She jumps a little taken by surprise, but gives herself to the pleasurable feeling and moves her core up, to quickly absorb the energy. I break off first and she hastily pursues my lips to suck up even more of the treat. I stop the flow after a moment and Safi smiles charmingly with her cheeks growing opaque.
"I just felt like pampering my adorable little slime a bit."
Her smile grows even wider and she leans on my chest with a blissful expression. Naturally, Emi notices this whole ordeal and glances up at me with a pout. I ferociously assault her head with mana-pats until she almost loses her shape, spilling all over me. Next, I decide to check how the change affected my status.
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[STATS]
| Strength: 11 (+2) | Agility: 11 (+2) | Constitution: 15 (+13) | Intelligence: 14 (+3) | Charisma: 16 (+13) |
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[SKILLS]
Common Abilities
Actives
| »Livelihood Magic Lv. 5« |
Passives
| »Linguist Lv. MAX« | »CQC Lv. 3« | »Arms Mastery: Novice« | »Improvised Weaponry Lv. 1« | »Mana Control Lv. 2« |
Class-Specific Abilities
Actives
| »Love Contract« | »Rejuvenate Lv. 4« | »Carnal Mist Lv. 1« |
Passives
| »Lover's Intuition« | »Sensual Strengthening« | »Charm Affinity« |
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「Woah! 29 Charisma and 28 Constitution at Tier 1! The bonus did get doubled from 10% to 20% as I thought. That's almost catching up to the Hero class. And when I tier up, all of the base ones should rise by around 10 points. Amazing...」
I marvel over the insane boost. My stats begin rivalling the other races which are much more powerful than humans. Physical ones are still quite low, but just imagine how quickly they can catch up if I get close with someone whose main stat is Strength or Agility.
「With them getting over 30, I may start seeing changes with a naked eye, and not only in terms of skills getting affected. Isn't this much more broken than the Hero's? If I enter a deeper relationship with races like Minotaurs or Ogres, which often reach like 80 STR, the jump will be insane for a Human… Although, even with 90 STR myself, the Human physique would still be weaker than theirs. Such is the fate of the race with frail bodies. Well, some have it worse.」
Caressing the girls, I continue to the skills section and skim over it with my eyes. They are growing quite decently. Checking the Arms Mastery group I notice that Whip Mastery has already risen to level 4. That was fast. I should keep practising in my free time.
The other thing I am curious about is my Partners growth since I remember that others can benefit from everyone besides themselves. I take a look at Safi's and Emi's statuses and confirm that they also rose a little, which is great to know.
「This has a really fearsome potential. Not like building a harem full of strong individuals is an easy task to achieve, but if I consider only the best-case scenarios, wouldn't the owner of this Class become incredibly overpowered? Well, I guess he himself wouldn't be that strong if the Class's skills focus on support, but his harem would become a small, elite army unit. Haaaaaah… Am I destined to end up being protected by the girls around me?」
While I don't have anything against them being stronger than me, I'd really want to avoid falling into the useless harem protag trope. But well, nothing I can do besides training and trying to get better with what I have. Perhaps this draconic hilt will lend me more of its power when I tier up. I wonder when it will happen.
「In the first place, how do I progress my Class? Do I have to start using the Mist a lot? Does registering Partners help? Raising Bond levels? Getting to know others better? Or…」
There's one more thing which can fit the 'doing things connected to your class' hint that the King has given us in the past. If I were to go with the name, then obviously that would mean the best way is to have sex with more people or evoke more pleasure.
I planned to keep most of the relationships on more professional levels, being more like a mentor who teaches about the sexual stuff towards those who would agree to work, and keeping my hands off employees who only take care of the non-sex stuff, but it's not like I'm not hoping for things to actually happen. I've been transported into a fantasy world filled with countless exotic races which previously only existed in dreams and fiction. And quite a lot of it was less than safe for work.
「Should I stop acting so reserved? I mean… I wouldn't force myself on anyone if they are unwilling, but I guess I'm a little on the passive side here. Even though I've already noticed those little adorable blushes on Sirgia's face from time to time, I still tried to avoid getting closer to her because it feels like I'd be taking advantage of the situation. On the other hand, I don't want to make them think that I'm dense or something. I guess I'm quite open with Safi and Emi, but they already accepted me… Haaaaaah…」
I sigh heavily. Safi and Emi move from my sides to the front and both place a hand on my cheek with a concerned expression. They must have felt my distress, the connection is now even stronger.
"I'm… a bit lost with how should I act towards other people who will live here…" I speak honestly and while feeling slightly down, explain my thoughts to them.
Safi ponders during my short monologue and after it ends, she raises herself a bit and pulls my head towards her chest, making it rest between her sapphire breasts. She starts stroking my hair with affectionate movements. Seriously… how much more charming can she get…
She lifts my face up so I can see her lips.
Safi barrages me with words of encouragement while I'm the one being pampered this time. I try to assimilate what she just told me and pit it against my own views, but she brushes my cheek to get my attention back.
"The last part is quite hard to believe when I recall how active you were before our first time, Safi," I say, remembering how she went for my crotch on the very first day.
She shakes her head.
"Yeeeeeeeeeah, that's certainly something she'd say… And I do remember you mentioning that you talked about me…"
I start mauling over everything that she said in my head while mindlessly staring at her translucent breast in front of my eyes. My hand moves to it by itself and my fingers start gently squeezing the frosty softness as my consciousness completely dedicates itself to solving my internal issues. Part of me tries to convince the other half, that she is just trying to cheer me up due to her caring personality. But in the end, the part that completely believes her words wins the struggle.
「I've already decided to drop those pointless thoughts on the day I agreed to be Safi's and Emi's master, so why the fuck am I still going back to how I was before? I can't dream of making everyone happy without being the first one to reach out. It's obvious that many people will hide their true feelings and issues behind fake masks or bullshit self-imposed limitations, like the ones Safi described. It's time I stopped being such a pussy. When did I ever care what others thought about me? Definitely not back at home, so it had to happen during the last year. Not everyone who will end up in this mansion has to like or admire me and I'm not going to make them do so. They are free to leave if they are dissatisfied, of course after they recuperate. That was my goal. I shouldn't forget it.」
Some clarity returns to my mind and I notice what my hand has been doing this whole time. I stop and prepare myself to move back and apologize, but I realize that it's something completely contradictory to my latest resolution. So instead, I look up and raise myself towards Safi's face to pepper her lips with many mana imbued kisses. At the same time, I infuse my fingers with some energy too and squeeze her boob harder. She quickly gets enveloped in waves of shivers and I end up pressing her against the pool's edge from above.
"You haven't even collected your previous wish, but you already gained another." I chuckle and stop tickling her with mana. "Thank you. I really mean it."
After a few more kisses, I turn around. "Emi," I call to the emerald girl who has been holding back during this soppy conversation and open my arms in the gesture of a hug. "This idiot Master of yours needs some cuddles to cheer up and there's only one Slime in this world that can live up to the task."
Her dejected expression instantly switches into an utterly euphoric one and she lunges at me at a breakneck speed. Smashed with a giant mass of jelly, I fly three meters backwards and begin floating in the middle of the bath, with an overjoyed and unimaginably cuddly slime buoy at my side.
After snuggling for a few minutes, we finally leave the bath. I slowly started looking like a dried plum. Since it's evening now, I move out to check on the suit order. As expected, they prepared it as quickly as they could and it's ready, just waiting for me there. They insist on me trying it on at their place to fix any possible mistakes so I agree. I go to the changing room and start dressing up.
First, a beautiful purple shirt, top-tier material, very comfy and good-looking. Then, black material pants and classy black shoes. I put a grey sleeveless vest on the shirt, with purple buttons and lacing around the edges. On top of that, a black tail-coat with an open front, also with purple details and neatly folded handkerchief in the chest-pocket, naturally, violet too.
I check myself in the mirror. It's great. Amazing. Perfect. Gives rich nobleman vibes and at the same time functions as an extravagant butler outfit. If I pick up a top hat and a cane, it will be even more luxurious. I pay the second instalment and thank the clerk, informing him that I'm completely satisfied with their product.
On my way back, I pay a visit to the artisan who works on the collars. He finished his work and presents them to me. Masterpieces. No other words can describe the sight. They are perfectly the way we agreed on when making the order. Coloured, heart-shaped gem surrounded by a silvery outline with two tiny horns and a succubus tail sticking out from the bottom side. The black leather strap fits the design very well. I also pick up the maid uniform we left here as a base for the other clothes and return home.
I stumble on Cornelia first. Striking up an elegant pose, I make a courteous bow.
"Milady, what doth thee bethink of mine own attire?"
She looks at me befuddled, blinking countless times. "Erm… Eh… I… Ummmm… good..."
The unexpected change makes her have a small issue with articulating herself, so I decide to tease her a little. I come closer and grab her hand with a concerned expression, using my fingers to brush around her wrist.
"Doth mine own mistress feeleth ill p'rhaps?"
Her face gets increasingly red as I stare intently into her hazelnut eyes, so I chuckle and release her. She takes a step back and waves her hand, trying to act high and mighty.
"I was just surprised, that's all."
I chuckle again. It's cute when she tries to defend herself while her face is almost completely flushed.
"So, what do you think for real?" I spin around a few times, showing her the full extent of my new outfit.
"Honestly, it looks extremely good on you. It really fits your hair and posture. You resemble a professional butler, and quite the handsome one at it…"
"Thank you, my Lady. I'm honoured by your praise. If a need arises, please signal for this humble servant and he will rush to your side for any order."
I take a step closer, make another bow, take her hand again and plant a gentle kiss on its back with a smile. Then I just walk away with a playful wink, leaving her there almost steaming from embarrassment.
「I guess that was bold enough, right?」
I giggle to myself.
Next morning, I dress up in my old clothes. Sirgia barely walks straight when preparing breakfast. She definitely overworked herself during the night. I order her to rest properly after it. She very reluctantly agrees. Just in case, I ask Cornelia to check on her from time to time. If Sirgia is at least a little similar to her, she most likely also loses herself in her craft completely, as our magician does in her studies and experiments.
I start practising in the arena again. Five hours into it, a messenger arrives. He tells me to meet with their agent so he can fill me on how to get in contact with the organization. The King's men supposedly got some reliable info, but it will still depend on me being able to gain their trust. I switch back to the butler attire and walk to the meeting place.
The location looks like your usual inn. There are plenty of people sitting around and drinking already. It's quite lively here. I glance around and spot a man sitting in the corner who fits the description I was given by the messenger. I order a light beer and arrive at his table.
"Mind if I join? Seems decently quiet here. Too rowdy for me in the center."
He nods his head and I sit down. My supposed informant looks like your typical man in this world. Short, brown hair and a thick beard. His clothes suggest that he works as a handyman at some blacksmith or other place which deals with furnaces a lot. He sips his beer with a chill expression.
"Man, this place sure does bring back old memories. You ever been to Stovalicia? It's like this inn is a mirror image of one there," I speak while inserting a codeword in the middle.
"Ay." He takes a few gulps and burps loudly. "Who can forget their royal mead."
「And the answer matches, good.」
The man takes out some cube-looking object from his pocket, taps it and squeezes in his hand. A low humming can be heard. His demeanour changes to a completely serious one.
"Let's not waste any more time, I can't feed this device for long."
I guess it's something to cover our conversation. He continues.
"The Lusty Vixen. Get in touch with the bartender. There's no specific code, you have to think of some creative way to talk about getting into the inner ring without being straightforward. Most will depend on how persuasive your persona will be. If they ask who gave you the lead, you can try using Norm's name. Can't say a lot about what happens next. They might lead you to some hidden compartment, be mindful of any traps. Hopefully, your acting is good."
The artifact stops buzzing and he continues talking about some random stuff in his previous, completely chilled out tone. I accompany him for half an hour more and leave after finishing my beer.
I find The Lusty Vixen without much issue. It seems to be a classy bar in the Noble district. People sit or stand around small and round tables, mostly in pairs, and gracefully sip wine. Most of the customers appear to be young nobles being accompanied by most likely their fiancees or women they pursue.
Moving my eyes to the main counter, I spot the bartender. A lovely girl with shoulder-long black hair stands behind it, wiping one of the tens of bottles of wine which are showcased on the wall. Her suit with a white shirt and black vest fits the image perfectly.
「Here goes nothing.」
I move closer and sit on one of the stools lined up in front of the counter. I place my elbow on it and rest my chin on the palm of my hand, brazenly staring at her figure. She notices my reflection in one of the bottles and turns to me, showing her elegant face. I start gazing into her blue eyes. She throws the cloth piece away and imitates my pose using both arms to support her head, positioning herself in front of me.
"Hi there, handsome. First time?" She smiles enchantingly.
"It would be a lie if I said that, and I'd really hate deceiving such a beauty." I wink at her.
She giggles. "Bold. But I like it. What can I get for you?"
"I don't mind such a gorgeous woman taking the lead."
I lecherously glance all over her booty as she turns around while asking. She naturally notices that and smiles even more impishly. She picks up a few things and begins preparing a drink. When mixing ingredients in the shaker, she intentionally shakes her hips in a sensual way too. Presenting me with something looking like a Mojito, she leans even closer to my face.
"You wouldn't be flirting with me so openly if you knew what my boss does to all the gutsy boys who dare to covet me during business hours, honey."
I move my own face to the point where our noses almost touch each other.
"You wouldn't be threatening me if you knew what I can do to people who dare to stand between me and a lovely girl during my flirting hours, sweetie."
I take a sip of the drink without dropping my gaze even a little. This might be a decent time to test more of my title's effect. I stop blocking it and move past her face to whisper into her ear, making sure that she can take a good whiff of my neck.
"And there's a quite bewitching one in front of me."
I sit back with a smile and start gracefully drinking the cocktail she prepared. It looks like my move worked to some extent, as her face gets slightly rosy. I decide to start with my attempt to get in.
"You know, I've visited many establishments like this, but their selection was always disappointing. I wonder if you can offer me something more… exquisite here?"
Pushing my almost empty glass towards her I signal for a refill. She picks it up and begins filling it again.
"Definitely. As you can see behind me, our assortment is full of exotic merchandise."
She gestures over the shelves while laying down the glass in front of me. Before it hits the counter, I swiftly slide my Ruby Card under its bottom, making sure that she caught onto that. She stops her movements for a moment, definitely noticing. I place my hand over hers on the glass and pull the drink back myself. As I pick it up to take a sip, I catch the card between my pinky and ring finger, making it stick to the bottom of the container. Just before placing it down again, I shove it into my sleeve.
"I certainly hope so. They say a wise merchant doesn't put all of his best wares on display. And my friend assured me that I won't be disappointed here," I say while giving her an upwards glance.
She goes back to smiling impishly. "I wonder who it was that recommended our humble abode to you."
I start casually staring at my fingers. "Don't remember, it was a huge party with many people. It lasted till the mron-ing. Do you have any parties planned? I'm bored with the usual ones."
"Hmmmmm…" She assumes an ostentatious thinking pose. "There might or might not be one happening soon, but I'm not sure if you are qualified to join." She giggles, covering her mouth with her hand. "We would have to make sure that you are not just flaunting your daddy's wealth."
"Only if the examination is going to be conducted by you personally." I waggle my eyebrows at her.
"I'll see if that can be arranged. For now, enjoy your drink."
She fills it to the top again, leaning far enough to almost push her chest into my face. Through a little hole between the buttons, I blow a little bit of hot air into her mature peaks, making her squirm in surprise. She slaps my face playfully with a seductive smile.
After that, she switches with another bartender, a cute and short girl, but she doesn't seem to want to interact with customers as much as the previous one.
「I wonder if that worked. Well, I guess it was a nice practice for being a little bolder. Although I can't see myself acting so rowdy on a daily basis.」
Half an hour later, she peeks her head out from behind a curtain that is placed next to the counter and winks at me. I go to her and she leads me down through some stairs, into a room, no, more like a lounge, where many men and women sit around on sofas, smoking cigars and drinking extremely expensive-looking stuff. Most of the men are surrounded by at least two or three girls in flirtatious dresses which are acting lovey-dovey towards them.
We pass a few chambers like that, each one slightly different, and the bartender leads me into a smaller but also fancy room and locks the door behind us. She walks closer to me and presses her body against mine. She is a tad shorter than me so she needs to lift her head a bit to gaze into my eyes. She strokes my chin as her ample bosom squashes against my chest.
"So, your boss will be fine if we flirt inside this room?" I raise my brows at her.
"What if I told you that I am the boss?" She places her other hand on my butt and squeezes it. "Where did all that bravado from before go, mister casanova?"
I take a step forward and press her against the wall. Both of my hands land on her butt, squeezing it even harder than she did with mine. She moans softly and her legs tremble a bit. I insert my knee between them as she slightly lowers herself, making her womanhood drop onto it.
"Ahhnnnnnn!"
Her whole body shivers and she grasps my coat behind my back to try and raise herself but fails to do so, rubbing her girly parts over it even more.
I lean closer and nibble on her ear, evoking even more moans from her and making sure that her face is in contact with my skin. "Where did all that confidence from before go, miss seductress?" I give her ear a sensual lick.
"Oooooohmmmmm..."
Moving one of my hands from her butt to her breast, I gently flick her nipple through the shirt.
"Ahhhhaaaan! Waaaaait! Let's talk! Uhhmmmmmmmmmmmm!" Breathing loudly she surrenders, clenching her teeth as her whole posture starts quivering.
「You've chosen the wrong opponent for a teasing battle, missy.」
I move my knee around a few times more to punish her a little and then release her completely. Her body limply slides down the wall onto the floor. Her breathing is ragged and her face is completely red. I wonder if she's just this sensitive or that's the effect of my scent. I guess she wouldn't be so provocative without having at least some endurance.
I crouch down in front of her with a smile. "Did I pass?"
"This… haaah… had nothing to do… oooooof… with the examination… oh, fuck me…" she tries speaking but still can't properly catch her breath.
"Is that an invitation?" I take a step closer and place a hand against the wall just by her face.
"NO NO NO! WAIT!" She frantically waves her hands. "I'm sorry! I just love teasing cocky boys like you! Please forgive me!"
I can see a tinge of fear in her eyes. Not even a single guy before must have won against her. I sit cross-legged on the floor in front of her and shake my head.
"Forcing myself on unwilling girls is not my style. Can we get to the point now?"
"Yes, yes, of course." She smiles wryly, still monitoring me with a slightly uncertain gaze.
She begins to question me about my job, background and stuff like that. I go with the story of a rich noble that moved to the capital after receiving a deed to a luxurious mansion in an inheritance succession. I show her the paper and she confirms that it's most likely not a fake. Royal sigils have some specific mana signatures woven into them and it's immensely hard to forge them. I mention that I'm quite close with Madam Selina and she also examines the Ruby Card.
After fifteen minutes of questioning, she finally says that she can pass my request further. She's just supposed to screen through people who somehow learn about the other part of their business. She informs me that there's an event planned and that their messengers will contact the customers close to its date.
I move a little closer to her and raise her chin. An intense blush blooms on her cheeks.
"You better make sure they process it quickly, or I'll have to come again and file a complaint, directly to the manager."
I balance my lips just barely millimetres from hers as I speak, making her hysterically move her gaze between them and my eyes since she can't escape anywhere. She begins nodding energetically after I back off.
Chuckling to myself like some anime villain who just taught the hero how huge the difference between them is, leaving him utterly defeated, I walk out of the room. Proud of my success, I head back home and take a long bath. I was so nervous the whole time that I'm drenched in sweat. Now that I think about it, that might have actually given me the edge there.
While I'm replaying the whole day in my mind, resting on the bed, someone knocks on the door.
"Master, may I enter?" The quiet voice of Sirgia arrives from behind the door.
"Whenever you feel like it."
I raise myself, quickly pull on a shirt since I still have my pants on and announce loudly for her to hear.
「I wonder what's the reason behind her visit.」