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Cass and Ais stood apart from one another in the training grounds, Cass's own hands drawn up in a defensive posture, gauntlets covering them. Ais was wielding a strong wooden sword, and her eyes watched Cass carefully. Whenever Ais lost track of her, after all, Cass gained enormous physical speed, which allowed her to much more easily get in a hit on her higher Level opponent. Even if the strikes did no damage, and often failed to hit, it was far closer than it had ever been before. Ais was now only one Level above her, after all.

Ais brought her sword up, aiming for a horizontal slash, but the moment Cass moved to defend it, she shifted to a vertical slash, forcing Cass to compensate, which in turn made Ais make a strike at a diagonal. Cass knew how that sort of move worked, though, taking a step back just in time before dashing into Ais's guard, trying to slip under it.

It didn't work: Ais managed to turn her missed slash into a spin, taking a half-step back at the same time, and as a result, Cass got knocked off her feet by a blow to the shoulder, sending her into the ground. She was instantly back on her feet, though she decided to maintain a low crouch to reduce the profile presented to Ais as her opponent contemplated her once more.

"Good," Ais said, nodding to herself. "Here it comes," she said, dashing in an incredibly telegraphed strike, which was also intended, but obviously she planned to take advantage of her speed advantage on Cass. So Cass tried to cancel it, scooping up dirt and hurling it in Ais's face. It was a new strategy, so Ais instinctively closed her eyes in response, which should have provided a burst of speed - but it didn't, her body remaining quite sluggish for some reason. Someone was watching their match, and as a consequence, Ais's next hit landed right on Cass's back, sending her into the ground.

Cass tapped out at that point, sitting up as she did. Ais's breathing was heavier than normal, having clearly put a lot of energy into their spar, which also made Cass happy. Ais was very strong, after all. She looked around for their observer, spotting Koriand'r after a second or so.

Koriand'r was like her, from another world - she was even from the same world. Well, not the same world... the same... plan-it. No, different plan-it, the same you-nih-verse. If you walked around everywhere you could walk on Earth, you would never reach where Koriand'r was from, but if you flew around everywhere you could fly, you would eventually reach where Koriand'r was from.

"Hi," she said, waving at Koriand'r, who flew over, moving like a leaf on the wind, this slow, wavy, languid movement, before landing next to her and Ais.

"Hello," Koriand'r said. "It is nice to meet you," she added, looking over at Ais. "I am Koriand'r - Drake's newest wife." Koriand'r meant it only as an introduction, but Ais herself frowned at the statement, a small pout appearing on her features.

Ais wanted to marry Drake. Not because she loved him (she didn't), but because she knew it would make her stronger. The fact that her love confessions had failed was frustrating to her. So every time Drake got a new wife, she got frustrated. "Hi. I'm going," Ais said, which Cass knew meant she was going to go try to find Drake and confess her love to him again. She could also tell it wasn't going to work, again, but she didn't want to annoy Ais by telling her as much.

"Did I offend her?" Koriand'r asked.

"No, she... wants to love Drake," Cass explained, making Koriand'r frown, but nod in acceptance. She seemed to basically understand the problem, at least. "Would you like to... spar?"

"I suppose I have chased off your previous sparring partner," Koriand'r said, nodding, then taking a deep bow. Cass reciprocated, bowing herself, and then stood back up, both women adopting a fighting stance.

Cass had an overwhelming speed advantage, so the first round was not even a fight: she effortlessly dodged Kori's first blow, then took hold of Kori's wrist, hefted her up by it, and pinned her to the ground, twisting her arm in a way that worked just as well on Tam-are-rain-ians as it did on humans. Kori let out a noise of surprise, not having realized just how fast Cass could move in a fight. "Yield?" Cass asked.

"Yield," Kori agreed, and Cass released her, the other woman soon rising to her feet. "That was very impressive - and not just for your Level. I could tell your technique is well-honed."

"Thank... you." Cass felt a faint flush to her cheeks at the compliment. Kori was also an experienced fighter, after all - that was obvious watching her move. "You should try... flying, this time," Cass told her, getting back into a battle stance. "And blasting... if you hit... even weak... it counts?" She didn't know quite how strong she was against Kori's blasts, after all.

"Ah! That may indeed help with evening out our difference in ability," Kori declared, bowing along with Cass before flying up into the air like a bolt, moving away before Cass could approach. Cass paused for a moment, taking a more defensive posture, ready to dodge, and Kori began blasting her - the beams were light, only enough to singe a normal person, but Cass dodged each one anyway. When Kori made a sweeping blast, Cass had to scramble to get out of its line of fire, grabbing a rock and hurling it in Kori's direction - it hit, making the woman let out a cry of pain, going off balance in the sky for a moment. Cass took advantage of it, just leaping up at Kori, grabbing her in her gauntleted hands and headbutting the older woman.

It worked. "Yield, yield," Kori said, spinning a bit in the air before she finally managed to right them both. "Ah... very impressive," she said, letting out a sigh and descending to the ground. "I can see I have much to learn. May we spar once again?"

Cass considered for a second, then nodded.

* * *

"I love you," Ais said to me, for probably the twentieth time or so. She was completely po-faced, no hint of mockery or falsehood in her expression. She said it with a firmness like someone might say I want this job.

Unfortunately, it didn't count. "Sorry," I told her, also for the twentieth time, and she let out a huff of annoyance at that, her expression turning sullen. I almost suggested that we try having sex, but Ais didn't seem like the type to be that shallow. Maybe if it was Rei I was talking to. "Do you have any unfinished emotional business, or terrible things you want dealt with?" I said the words more as a joke than anything else, but Ais just shook her head. "We could try going on a date or something," I suggested, though I doubted a battle maniac like Ais would care that much about anything I had to say. I only knew the vaguest outlines of military strategy or weapons in this sort of era, probably actually less than the average native (large parts of premodern society were militarized because there was always the risk of raiding).

Ais just pouted. "You married Coriander," she said. "Why not me?"

"Because Kori loves me, and I love her," I told her. "You don't love me."

She gave a small little stomp and stalked off, huffing loudly. I couldn't blame her for her frustration. Maybe I could write something for her? I mostly wrote smut, though. Hm. What sort of smut would Ais be into? That might actually be good. Ais seemed like the time of person to swoon over any handmade gift, and not notice how weird smut was as a gift. (Honestly, I'm pretty sure I could have slept with her at that point if I had wanted to, but it felt more like taking advantage of her than anything else.)

I sat down at my desk, scribbling down a few ideas for smut stories that Ais might like. It'd probably be a big strong man hero type thing? Not with an innocent maiden or anything, more like a battle couple. She seemed too serious about everything to be willing to enjoy anything with too much in the way of dominating elements... maybe normal lovey-dovey stuff. Prince(ss) and pauper, for example. Presumably less masochistic than Erza, my normal "lovey-dovey smut" target audience.

I was interrupted in those contemplations by Cass and Kori entering the bedroom. "Drake..." Cass said, and I knew instantly what the pair wanted - and the fact that I knew it so instantly made Cass's cheeks flush. "Um... I watch?"

"You can go first, if you prefer," Kori said, looking at Cass reassuringly, one hand placed on her shoulder.

* * *

"No..." Cass said, hesitant as she spoke. She liked watching Drake have sex with other women. She liked it an embarrassing amount. Seeing the man she loved happy, seeing her friends and family happy... it was so nice. It was more happiness than she deserved. She didn't say that out loud, because she knew everybody else thought she was good, but...

"Cass likes to watch," Drake explained to Kori, making Cass duck her head and blush. It was true... but he didn't have to say it...

"Oh! I apologize, then," Kori said, giving a small head bow that was meant as a sign of respect and contrition. Cass just nodded - and Drake took hold of Kori's wrist, making her let out a small laugh as he drew her with him towards the bed. For Kori, the act of disrobing was swift, her light clothes making quick work of it, but Cass's attention was more on Drake than anything else, her tongue flashing out over her lips as she watched him pull up and off his shirt, revealing his toned, muscular body. He just looked better and better with each passing day, it sometimes seemed like to her... she wasn't sure if that was just her imagination, or maybe some property of his eks... his eks-salt... his magic thingy that made the circle symbol appear on his forehead. He sometimes joked that it was the 'slut' mark, which meant somebody who had sex with lots of people, which meant they were sexy (which made it easier to have sex with lots of people).

Whatever the case, Cass's eyes were drawn to Drake's cock, which had bounced free of its confinement, his length throbbing in the air as he grasped Kori's butt in one hand. Kori liked his touch, responding in kind, groping his own ass, their bodies soon pressing against one another in a kiss. Kori was strong enough to lift Drake, so she did so, hefting him up, and reorienting the pair on the bed - she positioned herself so that she laid along it, head facing up towards Cass, Drake looming over her.

Cass knew it was because she wanted to give her a good show. She felt a flush hit her cheeks at that, but she couldn't help but smile anyway. Kori seemed nice. All of Drake's wives were nice. Drake pushed himself inside of Kori at that point, leaning down over his latest wife, kissing her on the lips firmly and flagrantly, twisting his head just a little to give Cass a better view of both their faces in profile. His hands freely explored Kori's body, toying with her full breasts, groping her ass, as he pumped away inside her - and both of them loved his touch. Kori reciprocated with groping of his own, sliding her hands along Drake's back, then squeezing his ass cheeks, her own legs lightly twining around his hips to better control the pace.

There was obvious, clear love between both of them, and it made Cass so happy to see. Kori was still new to the harem, not knowing everyone else that well, but she loved Drake because of the magical thingy with the split bodies that brought her over. And Cass could tell that Drake really, truly loved Kori. He wanted her, desired her, cared for her. Wanted to make her happy, not just in the bedroom, but everywhere. Wanted to spend time with her. It wasn't a flat, selfish sort of love, it was sincere and earnest and so Cass felt happy for both of them, rocking gently back and forth in her chair as she watched. She didn't have to worry about Drake mistreating Kori, any more than she had to worry about Drake mistreating her.

Cass lost track of time, basking in the good vibes which practically steamed off Drake and Kori. The pair touched and played with one another's naked bodies, Kori orgasming with a moan into Drake's mouth, and Drake coming inside Kori with a long groan. It was such a nice scene. Happy and warm. But after Drake came inside Kori, he pulled back from the kiss, staring down at her body, loving the sight of her golden skin, lightly slick with sweat. "Do you want to try... the Celestial Bliss Trick?" He asked Kori, who considered for a second or so and nodded.

Drake then twined his finger around an invisible piece of thread that nobody else could see but that really existed, wrapping it tight and starting anew, kissing at Kori's neck hungrily, wanting to hear the noises she made when she finally started coming. It didn't take long at all for Kori's pleasure to simply explode, a moan escaping her throat as her hips began to buck, her naked body pushing up against Drake's own, lewd noises escaping her mouth as she writhed in ecstasy.

Drake intensified his pace inside Kori, chasing both his own pleasure and Kori's, leaning up to give Cass a better view of both their naked bodies, one hand going to Kori's breast, the other gently taking hold of the back of Kori's head. With a subtle, gentle movement, he twisted Kori's head back so Cass could see her ecstatic face, her lips stretched wide in endless pleasure. Her brilliant green eyes were stretched wide as well, as pleasure simply coursed through her body endlessly.

It made Cass extra-happy, seeing that. Apparently Drake really liked it too, because he became increasingly animated in how he fucked Kori. He was a bit more selfish in how he moved, how he touched her, but that was because he could afford to be - no matter what he did, it would feel wonderful for Kori. By the time he came in Kori for a second time, the other woman had orgasmed over a dozen times in quick succession, and Drake had groped and played with pretty much every part of her body, including a point where he held himself inside her and simply kissed her mouth in such a way as to make her orgasm, enjoying the strange feeling of sexual power it brought with it.

Cass couldn't help but flush a bit, seeing what Drake had done with Kori, and knowing, as he pulled his still-slick cock out of her, that he wanted to do it with Cass as well.

She also couldn't help but want to be with him at that moment. To be united with him. She pulled her clothes off in a rush, then moved towards the bed, just kissing him on the lips as she arrived, pressing her naked body against his, positioning herself alongside her new co-wife. She knew Kori wouldn't enjoy the show as much as her - only the nameless girl ever did - but that didn't mean she wouldn't enjoy it at all. She laid down, pulling Drake down with her, wrapping her legs around his hips and dragging him inside her, making him groan as he bottomed out, their kiss still ongoing.

She loved it. Loved every second. Hot breaths spilled into one another's mouths, as he thrust inside her, playing with her clit. She let her understanding of Drake guide her into a new course of action: seeking her own orgasm first and foremost. Rather than doing as always and focusing on making him feel good, she instead twisted her body in exactly such a way that she was orgasming beneath him in short order, her sex slickening and grasping his cock as she kissed the man in question. She tightened her hold on him, intensified the kiss as she pulled him into her, pressed her breasts up against his bare flesh. His own desire intensified as he felt her pleasure through her body, and they kissed frantically like that, mashing their bodies against one another.

For the moment, rather than thinking of his pleasure, she decided to think only of hers - and it was clear that he was positively loving the experience, the way she twisted and jerked beneath him, the way her orgasms came one after the other. She just maintained an endless kiss, counting on their Levels to deal with any hypoxia that might come, and it worked as they mashed lips like that, tongues pushing into one another's mouths, her clit grinding against his pelvis as she brought herself off over and over again.

After her eighth orgasm, though, she sagged for a few seconds, simply slumping and breaking off the kiss. Both of them caught their breaths, and Drake teased her clit with his fingertips. After their months of marriage and his careful learning of each of his wives' bodies, he knew how best to bring her off that way - but he couldn't compare in raw skill to her own ability. So instead of letting him keep working, she decided to try something else new: "Do... whatever makes you feel... best," she said to him. "Just... use and enjoy... my body," she explained.

His cock throbbed inside her at that, and he began to ram away, just pounding her cunt relentlessly. He really was trying his hardest to come now, just grabbing her hip in one hand, tilting and twisting her body with casual ease. "I love you, Cass," he said, his voice full of intensity and feeling as her body bounced on his cock, as his hips rammed away, as his balls slapped her ass.

"I love, you, too," she got out, her voice vibrating owing to the force - and he promptly came, groaning as he bottomed out inside her and simply exploded, slumping over her in a moment of post-coital bliss. She gently ran her fingers through his hair, whispering the words now, but putting just as much sincerity into them. More, even. "I love you too," she told him, giving his cheek a gentle peck.

Of course, a minute or so later, and he was back in action, and Kori soon recovered herself, the three of them doing their best to positively exhaust one another.

* * *

Noriko's Magic stat had risen into the H ranks now that she had begun casting and training in the casting of her new spell, Mar Tiamat. However, she still remained mostly a supporter, as Mar Tiamat had a very high cost in Mind, which would cause her to suffer Mind Down if she spent too much of it. At present, her Magic stat was only enough to cast it once, for perhaps a few minutes, which was not very useful in the Dungeon.

Their party was now composed of herself, Drake, Bitch, Cass, Aisha, Haruhime, and the newest new wife, Koriand'r. She had attempted to be very polite and genial with her newest co-wife, and Koriand'r had seemed to reciprocate, so she was hopeful to have a fruitful relationship going forward. Koriand'r was very strong before receiving a falna, so afterwards, she was equivalent to someone around Drake's level, or perhaps even a bit ahead. Her ability to blast enemies was very valuable in the Dungeon, and she was also quite capable as a frontline fighter, though not as good as Cass or Aisha.

"We need to turn around, now," Drake said, and instantly, the whole party turned around. Bitch grabbed Noriko, hefting her up onto her shoulders; Aisha did similar for Haruhime.

"What is the matter?" Koriand'r asked, which was also a question that Noriko wanted to know.

"Setsuko - she fell and dropped down a floor. The Dungeon's summoning lots of critters now to try to keep her there."

Noriko did not hesitate. She had not used Mar Tiamat at all, so she immediately began to intone the spell's words. She spoke as quickly as she could. "I call to you from the depths of my being. Come forth and take form. Be my weapon and my shield. Protect me and those I love. Destroy my enemies and those who would do us harm. I offer you my magic as sustenance. Consume my essence and be born into this world. I am your master and you are my servant. Do as I command and let us together crush our enemies. Come forth and show me your power, Umu Dabrutu!"

Something inky black spilled out of her lips with the last words, congealing onto the ground, and with her will, she sent the flat monster that appeared to be pure darkness out, and it did beat out the pace that Drake or Koriand'r were making, meaning that the summoning was useful rather than useless. She hoped that her mother would still be alive by the time it reached her.

* * *

Setsuko's blade slashed through the air desperately. Drake was just a floor up, he would be down here any moment. Goblins surrounded her, and she couldn't even trust the walls to keep her back to. Her heart raced, and her thoughts turned to Noriko and Drake and her unborn child, still resting in her belly. No - they were forced back to her current circumstances. She had to fight these creatures, if she wanted to live, for their sake. Her blade whipped around, lightning fast, cutting through the flesh of the nearest goblin. If it had been a normal creature, its guts would probably have fallen out of its stomach - as it was, its magic stone shattered, and the creature itself began to rapidly disintegrate to ash.

She counted more than a dozen goblins. A knife flew from the sky down, hitting the nearest goblin in the head, and was then yanked up - along with the goblin for a meter or so - before the goblin collapsed back to the ground in a messy heap. Drake was here - but he was still coming down. Was she only a floor down? She felt something grasp her around the hips a moment later, yanking her up by it, and she let out a squeak of surprise, blade lashing out for whatever monster it was - then she realized it was Drake.

A War Shadow joined in a moment later, lashing wildly in her direction, and she screamed in panic, her long blade lashing out at it. It seemed, however, that the creature wasn't aiming at her, but instead at the invisible thread that kept her half-suspended in the air - and it cut through it, sending Setsuko tumbling down into a mass of goblins below, screaming and thrashing desperately as she went.

One of the goblins managed to grab her leg as she hit the ground, and she brought her sword around on it, but she'd lost the advantage of reach in the time she'd been in the air, the goblins gathering to 'catch' her as she fell. The malevolent sentience of the Dungeon really wanted her dead, it seemed like. First it used a half-dozen goblins to knock her off a ledge, then this - was this normal for the Dungeon? It didn't matter. Goblin, sword, ignore the pain of the goblin beating and clawing you with its hand and club, ignore the raking of flesh and the spilling of blood, just kill, survive, survive, Setsuko.

All her thoughts were consumed by that. Eight goblins. That goblin had its club raised into the air, and she brought her sword around on it first, slicing into its arm and making it shriek in a parody of human agony. Another goblin leapt atop her back, grabbing her helmet and trying to yank it off. Before it could figure out the latch that kept it in place, she managed an incompetent sweep at the creature, clanging her sword against her helmet but knocking the creature off with a deep wound. She barely managed to struggle to her feet as the goblins swarmed her, and she could see as Drake hurled knives at this one and that one, her heart pounding in her chest. She sliced every goblin that got near, narrowly winning the ground back from them, unbelievably happy that they weren't coming in too close.

Something made of glass shattered against her helmet, and a warmth splashed across her face and throat. She didn't realize what it was until she felt the healing energy of a health potion hit her body, a curative to deal with the numerous minor and major injuries she'd suffered. She was still surrounded, the goblins swarming her, trying desperately to kill her, sometimes cutting or beating her through her armor, leaving fresh gashes across her skin, consuming what of the healing potion was still having its effect. She had no choice but to continue fighting, desperately swinging her sword, only able to focus on the moment to moment. The darkness that surrounded her seemed to swell at one end, and she imagined it was another War Shadow sent to dispatch her, until it started grabbing the goblins and simply tugging them down into it, pulling them to the ground and then seeming to be torn apart, black streaks of something leaving claw makes and tears and ripping it to shreds.

Drake finally stepped into sight, glowing in the darkness of the Dungeon, a sapphire beacon of hope, and she couldn't help but be happy - and he grabbed her around the waist and simply ascended upwards, leaving everything else behind the pair of them.

She clung to him, still shivering with the adrenaline of the battle.

* * *

I wasn't sure that I had really done the right thing for Setsuko, letting her join Hestia's new familia. I wasn't her owner or her boss, so it was ultimately her decision - but at the same time as I said that, I wasn't sure it really was her decision. Had she decided to become an adventurer out of her own concerns and preferences, or was it because of Hestia being a pushy hyperactive gremlin?

"Definitely the latter!" Loki had proclaimed when I'd mentioned my thoughts to her. "I can't believe you gave the megaboobs MILF over to her familia! That little oppai loli doesn't deserve those gorgeous massive tits! They should be in my familia, Drake! How could you do this to meeee?!" She flailed about on the bed wildly, pretending to throw a tantrum.

"I don't know if she'd be better off in your familia, either. She'll be more independent this way, I think? If she'd joined this familia, then she'd just be wrapped up around me all the time still..."

"Oh yeah, because you're letting your pregnant wife operate totally independently in the Dungeon," Loki said, rolling her eyes with an exaggerated wave of her head back and forth as she spoke, making it clear how transparently bullshit my reasoning was.

I let out a long sigh. She wasn't wrong. I definitely wasn't willing to let Setsuko act so 'independently' as to just wander around in the Dungeon alone, to get killed for her armor by another adventurer, or to die to some goblins, but it felt different. Was that just an illusion? "I don't even know if I'm doing the right thing, Loki," I said. "Can't you just reassure me of that?"

"Sure, Drake," she said, leaning up, wrapping one arm around my shoulder. "You're doing the right thing. Every decision you've ever made is the ideal one. You, Drake, are in fact, the most moral person in the world," she explained, raising one hand and casting it out over the horizon. The fact that 'the horizon' was actually the wall to her bedroom somewhat reduced the effect. "That help?"

"No, obviously not."

"Damn. It's almost like I can't just tell you you're a good person and you'll believe me, on account of you not being retarded," Loki said. "Look. Is it better for Setsuko to be in my familia or Hestia's? Well, mine, because I can grope her boobs then, adding to the total happiness in the world by a factor of like... one gazillion," she said. "But, for Setsuko's sake? Eh. You can't see the future and there are no takebacks in life."

"You could challenge her to a wargame," I said. "That'd be a takeback."

Loki just rolled her eyes. "Ugh. No, no, I know what a do-gooder dork like you needs," she declared, snapping her fingers. "I've seen it a hundred times. 'Ooo, was this the right thing?' Who knows? Can't see it until time passes, yadda yadda. No, what you need is to do something you know's the right thing. So c'mon, lover boy. What righteous deeds have you left uncommitted?"

I knew the answer. "...adoption," I said, at last.

Loki peered at me quizzically, twisting around my body. "Adoption? Wow. Nah, I get it, you obviously like kids, since you've knocked up, what, three girls already?"

"Four," I corrected. Erza, Noriko, Setsuko, and Lena.

Loki pursed her lips. "You know, you could adopt Ais or something. She could use a father figure in her life."

"You know that Ais is actively trying to fall in love with me, right?"

"Wow. Not into daddy/daughter incest apparently," Loki said, in a tone of voice that implied contempt for my tastes. I just shook my head at her antics. "Well, there's a few orphanages in Daedalus Street, I give some of the familia taxes to them. You could try adopting from there, though you'd be the first as far as I know."

* * *

The girl without a name couldn't help but smile, as she and Drake walked together towards the orphanage in Daedalus Street. There was the obvious fact that 'Spectre and Batgirl' had worked to clean up Daedalus Street, and the amount of casual crime had fallen like a particularly heavy rock, so just traveling through it let her see her own positive impact. Drake would have explained it in terms of equilibrium or some other social science-y sounding thing, but for the girl without a name, it was obvious why Daedalus Street was better than it once had been: all the criminals stopped committing crimes because they were either in prison or afraid of going to it! And also the leader of the biggest gang around had a hole blown in her head by the girl without a name herself!

But even more important than that was the fact that they were going to an orphanage to look into possibly adopting a child! The girl without a name loved children! (Not like that! At least, not in real life - in hentai, shotas dominating big-boobed older women was hot! As was lolis getting dominated by older men!) Drake clearly loved children too, given he'd knocked up Noriko, Lena, Erza, and Setsuko.

Part of the girl without a name wanted to spit in the face of the things that had given her this power, but the rest of her knew that it wasn't worth risking what might happen to any biological child she had. Would the child come out wrong somehow? She didn't want to risk that... Drake had said it wouldn't, that the punishment would be on her, but then he'd hesitated and noted he wasn't entirely sure. It was only in one version of the game that it worked that way, and there was no guarantee that carried over exactly.

So she wasn't willing to take the risk. But this was a chance to have a child of her own! She couldn't go around killing all the bad people in Orario, not just yet, and even once she did, Orario wasn't that big a city. Oh, it was the biggest city in Gekai, but it only had about half a million people! San Francisco was more populated than that!

She walked into the church with a spring in her step and a smile on her lips. There were children playing - she suspected she recognized a couple, the young boy was probably Rye, the chienthrope girl was probably Fina. "Hello!" She said, with a smile as she stepped inside the building. Rye himself gulped as he saw her, his expression one that mixed surprise with an inability to control his jaw in a way that suggested that he just maybe had his first sexual thought. "I'm The Prettiest Princess, and this is my husband, Drake Holt!"

"The prettiest princess?" The chienthrope girl asked. She had quite pretty cream-colored hair. "What kind of name is that?"

"You're not pronouncing it right!" The girl without a name chided. "You have to include the capital letters! The Prettiest Princess, see?" She repeated. The boy was still dumbfounded and staring at her, and she gave him her winningest smile.

"Ahem," Drake said, and the girl without a name shut up for a second so he could talk. "We were, uh, wondering if there was any... procedure for adopting children from here." He obviously felt pretty awkward about the whole situation, which was quite different from how he normally was! The girl without a name wondered quite why that was - maybe because it was adoption specifically? Or maybe he just felt awkward asking for things? He had been awkward about asking her to play the Stepford wife, especially the first time! That was probably it.

"Yes!" The girl without a name agreed instantly. "Goshujinsama and I are wanting to adopt," she said, reaching for Drake's hand to give him a squeeze, half out of demonstration, and half because he was obviously feeling awkward. "I don't know if it's okay to ask?" She prompted the pair. She vaguely remembered that the children were happy here, but just one mother with so many little ones, even if the money was taken care of - that was a lot!

"Wait!" The boy said, suddenly perking up, as if his brain had finally restarted from its first flush of arousal. "You're Black Agony! And he's Happy Ending!" He said, his fingers pointing between the two of them.

The girl without a name leaned up. Black Agony was a name that was hers, enough to actually count, so she couldn't respond to it in any way. "Hmm? Who's that that he's saying I am, goshujinsama?" She asked Drake, making it obvious to him what the problem was, even if the innocent young boy had no idea.

"Ah. My wife can't respond to that name. She just about got her head chopped off not that long ago because she did," he explained to the boy, making his eyes go wide.

"Wha-?" The boy asked, incredulous and shocked. "Then what should I call you, pretty lady?" He added the word 'pretty' there with the sort of brainless enthusiasm only a young boy could manage.

"I already said, didn't I?" The girl without a name noted. "The Prettiest Princess!"

It was as if the youthful scales had instantly fallen from his eyes. "Um." He still didn't want to insult her, but he had obviously realized the girl without a name's true nature at that moment. She wondered if he'd come up with some clever new mean nickname for her? Drake always just used Bitch, which was nice and simple but so bo-ring! "Okay."

At that point, Syr emerged from one of the rooms. "Who are-?" She started, a gentle smile on her lips, before her head swiveled to the girl without a name, like somebody's eyes being drawn to a bright flashing light. The moment her eyes hit the girl without a name's body, Syr immediately vomited. There was no gagging, no retching, not even a failed attempt to keep it in. Her hands only started to come up to her mouth after the puke started coming, as she just reacted in the most visceral and intense way to being so close to the girl without a name.

"Ahh!" "Big Sis Syr, are you okay?!"

"Oh, oh," Syr said, just collapsing onto her hands and knees and staring at the floor. The girl without a name would probably have felt a little guiltier about causing the other woman such pain, if she hadn't just recently had a knife shoved into her sternum and run up into her skull by somebody paid by Freya to do exactly that. And given Syr was puking on sight of the girl without a name, it seemed almost impossible to imagine she wasn't Freya at this point. "Ah, just, sudden, um, bout of, sickness," she said, all her ordinary cheer and mischievous delight gone. She didn't even look up from the floor, as she wiped at her mouth.

The girl without a name actually thought about simply taking out her gun and shooting Syr in the head right then and there. After all, she wasn't looking at the girl without a name right now, and also none of her familia members were present to stop her, and nobody would care enough about a waitress to do anything to a Level Three. But it was possible that Syr wasn't Freya, and just happened to also have whatever powers Freya had, and of course there were a couple of young children here who definitely didn't need to have their last memories of 'Big Sis' being her head exploding. So instead she decided to just be annoying. "Hi, Syr! We didn't meet at the Hostess, I'm so happy to be able to do it now! Don't worry about the puke, goshujinsama knows I don't mind getting dirty," she said, as she stepped up towards Syr, the woman in question ducking her head rather than crawling away. "Here's my hand, let me help you up!"

"Julia-" Drake said, before catching himself. "Bitch. Don't."

"Ahh? Why shouldn't I, goshujinsama?" The girl without a name asked, though she pretended innocence. Drake stepped forward quickly, practically body checking the girl without a name.

"You know why," he said, before offering his hand to Syr in her place. "Do you want some help up?"

"No," Syr said. "I, ah, should stay down here a little bit longer." She still wasn't looking up.

"I'm gonna go get Mother Maria!" The chienthrope girl proclaimed, rushing off.

The girl without a name watched her go. "Should I go?" She asked, curious if Syr would say 'yes' or not.

* * *

Syr hated the maggot-soul with a passion. She couldn't even get a good read on the girl, like she ordinarily would - her stomach was still churning, and she was sure she'd puke again if she tried. She was only asking if she should go as some experimentation, trying to test the boundaries, but Syr was not so easily tricked. She clenched her eyes shut, tight enough that the fragmentary elements of the shining blue light of Drake's soul vanished from her sight, and unsteadily rose to her feet before flopping onto one of the pews. "Ah, no need," she said, putting on her playful mask again. Her closed eyelids didn't hide souls from her sight, but they did obscure them, like the way that staring at something brilliant would light one's closed eyes up with red. "It must have been something I ate, haha!" She gave a smile she didn't feel to those still in the room - the maggot-soul, Drake, and Rye. She avoided looking at the maggot-soul even through her closed eyes, though she could still catch the impression of the teeming rot through them.

"Ohh! What did you eat? Was it your own cooking?" The maggot-soul asked, and she heard Rye let out a little giggle. She'd seen Rye's soul when she'd first entered the room, seen that curious flowering of a boy so young experiencing his first sensation of wanting a pretty girl. She'd wondered who had captured his innocent heart. Given his little laugh at the maggot-soul's idiotic quip, it was probably her. How unfortunate for him.

It was one thing to see the maggot-soul from a distance, to obscure her partly, or to move away as she grew closer - it was quite another to suddenly be confronted with the sight with no chance to prepare oneself. "Ah, I don't cook much. Why bother when other people will do it for you?" She asked, a playful smile on her lips, her head tilting for affect.

"Oh. No wonder Cassandra isn't interested in-" Just the start of that sentence was enough to make Syr want to unleash her Arcanum, and she felt that divine fire boiling beneath her flesh, ready to be unleashed.

"Bitch," Drake interrupted, and the maggot-soul blessedly shut her mouth. It was, at least, somewhat pleasant that her own husband called her a bitch. She'd even heard the occasional rumors that he whored her out, though she'd never seen any signs of it. Certainly, if she was stuck in a relationship with someone that putrid - well, she'd kill them. But if she couldn't kill them, then humiliating them utterly would be nice. Not that the maggot-soul seemed to care.

"Ah, um, why do you keep calling her that, Happy Ending?" Rye asked. There was a faint warble to his voice, as he tried to stand up for the girl he liked to somebody who had three Levels on him. It would have been sweet, if his affections hadn't been utterly misplaced.

"Oh. It's a, uh, pet name," Drake said awkwardly.

"See, Rye, when a man and a woman love each other very much, and the woman wants the man to do something in particular, he does it even if it's strange, degrading, rude, and inappropriate! Oh, but you don't have to do those sorts of things if you don't want to, that just means you're incompatible with that particular woman! Don't worry, most girls are nice and sweet and not interested in getting choked-"

"Bitch, shut up," Drake said, and the maggot-soul fell quiet.

Syr dearly hoped that Maria had already explained to Rye the birds and bees and that the maggot-soul's idiotic explanation wasn't the first he'd heard of it. Fortunately, Maria emerged at that point, a blessed sound. Syr had her head bowed and her back was leaned forward on a pew. She was pretending it was to help keep herself from puking, but of course the real reason was to minimize how much of the maggot-soul she saw. "Syr? Ohh my, that's quite a mess," Maria said, her voice soft and gentle as she saw it. "Are you alright?"

"She must have eaten some of her own cooking!" The maggot-soul chimed in, before Syr could say anything.

"Aha, maybe," Syr said. She was certain her smile was very good, but she was getting increasingly close to just going to her Ottar and telling him to kill the maggot-soul and make absolutely certain she was dead. The stupid filthy thing didn't even understand her position. The only thing that held Syr back at this point was the knowledge (absurd as it was) that her Cassandra thought of the maggot-soul as a close friend and loved one. "I did wonder if those ingredients had gone bad, but I thought the salt would be enough!"

"Big Sis Syr..." Rye said, his voice making it clear that he was hardly supportive of her culinary decisions. She didn't mind, though.

"Ahh... let's get you lying down somewhere. And what do I owe the pleasure of you two's company?" Maria asked, as she helped guide a (still pretending to be sick) Syr out of the room, Syr's head hung low. Once the maggot-soul was behind a wall, Syr opened her eyes, letting out a long breath and taking a seat shortly. Urgh. She looked truly disgusting. She supposed a 'girl next door' sort was the sort to actually have these sorts of problems, but it still disrupted the image. No one really liked to see their loved one coated in vomit. "Are you alright to be left alone? I assume those adventurers have business here," Maria said.

Syr supposed so as well. By definition she wanted to disrupt their business, because it was probably the maggot-soul despoiling Rye or the harem-master trying to add Fina to his harem or some similarly disgusting thing. "Ah... I guess. Sorry to make you worry, it seems to have passed! Oh, just-" she hesitated a moment, but Maria had a sweet, warm, kind soul, "-I don't think me and the dark-skinned girl will exactly get along, so could you keep her away?"

Maria let out a soft laugh at that. "Of course, dear," she said, before stepping out, leaving Syr alone in the room.

Syr sighed, inspecting her clothes. She was definitely a mess. She collected a handkerchief, cleaned up what had covered her chin, wiped her hands, and wadded the thing up to be washed later. Her clothes were in poor condition too, but the handkerchief had done as much of its duty as it could, so instead she simply casually disrobed, pulling off the dirty dress. Maria let her keep some spares around, since sometimes the children could make a mess with mud pies and similar childish things, and once she was properly dressed (unlike the maggot-soul, she didn't get some thrill from sexually attracting small children), she stepped out of the room, creeping over in absolute, breath-held silence to the door.

"...wondering about adoption," Drake said.

"Oh. I see," Maria said.

"I love Mama Maria!" Syr heard Fina declare, heard the sound of small footsteps running up to Maria as she just glommed on to the older woman. She couldn't help but smile.

"I don't want to disrupt anyone's life," Drake added. "But, ah..." He hesitated a moment. "My wife can't... have a child." The filthy maggot soul was barren? Good. "We have a large family, there are plenty of parents - I'm married to nine women, at the moment." Nine?!? It had been eight just last week! He had her Cassandra as his wife (and, loathe as Syr was to admit it, Cassandra clearly loved him) and he kept heaping new women on her, making her tolerate sharing with girl after girl... it was enough to make her want to puke all over again. Her fingernails dug into her palm as she contained her rage. He had her Cassandra and he dared to treat her like that...

"Oh, that's quite the family," Maria said.

"Even larger than you'd think, actually, with grandparents and the familia," he said. "I don't, ah... back where I come from, orphanages are rather famously bad places to live. Businesses run by people whose only interest is in getting some subsidy. If even that," said. "It doesn't seem like this is that sort of place," he added, clearly wanting to avoid offense.

"Oh, I understand what you mean," Maria agreed. "There are orphanages like that, to be sure. But this is not one of them, I'm afraid."

"Do you have any recommendations for one?" Drake asked.

"Mmm... no, I'm afraid not. Various familias keep the orphanages afloat, and it's hard to hide mistreating a child from a god." Drake let out a noise of acknowledgement. "I'll keep you and your wife in my thoughts, if there are any new orphans. I am struggling to handle all the ones I have."

"I'm sorry, Mama Maria!" Fina said. "Is it 'cause Rye's too annoying?"

"What! No, it's obviously because you're too annoying!" Rye declared loudly.

Maria let out a familiar, soft laugh. "You're both just as annoying, there's no winners and losers, children. But it isn't you. It's just difficult to handle so many children, even if they're sweet and honest. There isn't a lot of help here."

"Ah! I can help out, and so can goshujinsama!" The maggot-soul declared, and Syr's head spun at the thought. If that fucking piece of living filth, that rotting human-shaped collection of cosmic detritus, stayed here... then Syr... couldn't. Maybe she could get used to her vomit-inducing soul, but she refused to. Freya's expression twisted into a hateful scowl. She needed to kill her. She needed to kill the Black Agony. The Black Agony needed to die.

Freya only heard the blood pounding in her ears as she stood there. She couldn't do it herself. She couldn't order anyone to do it. It had to happen without her intervention. Otherwise her Cassandra would know, and whatever feelings she had begun to kindle in that beautiful, perfect soul would be smashed to ribbons by the betrayal. She wasn't so overwhelmed by emotions as to not understand that.

For a mind as old and wise as Freya's, of course, the problem of How can you cause someone to die, without intending to kill them? was a fascinating one to dissect and tease apart.

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