A Cheap, OP Brawler

"Don"t worry about it. Are you feeling better?" I ask as I wipe the remains of Ren"s tears and snot from her face with my sleeve, wishing I had my handkerchief, but it"s in the MIB that"s with Lili right now.

Still slightly red in the face, she only nods silently while I cast [Clean] on my stains.

"Let me just see if I got my facts straight. While you certainly want someone strong and dependable to watch your back while the Chaos Barrage comes after you, you really want to find someone to be your support, to make a new "pack" that you can live a good life with. Does that sound right?"

"Yes."

"And trying not to sound egocentric, but you think I"d be the best guy for you as … your master?"

"W-Well …" Ren pushes her fingers together while averting her gaze. "You"d be the best for that other thing, too. If possible, I"d like you to be the leader of my new pack, the leader of our adventurer party."

"I get being the leader of the adventurer party, but what does one being a "pack leader" entail? Is there a difference?"

"Well, a pack leader makes the decisions for what we should do and what tasks to a.s.sign members as we work together. Also, as the pack leader, the highest alpha, he has the privilege of having as many mates to do with as he pleases. I imagine people in adventurer parties have more equality in social standing, or it could vary depending who"s in them, but I believe you being the leader for both cases would be best."

"Wait, so … you want me to form a harem?"

"Yes. Though humans allow polygamy, I understand the ways they go about relationships are different from us Werewolves specifically, as do other races. Since I"m a slave, I can take the part of what we call the "alpha female" among the other slave girls, a faction that serves as your concubines, tending to every need of yours and your wives while we bear and tend to your children. Whether they be from the same race as me or not, I will acknowledge and accept every person, male or female, as part of this new pack, though I"d preferably like more females than males, or, really, having you being the only male while I look after the other females in your harem."

Nyra comments.

Recalling my conversation with Ms. Umeiyon after hearing "children," I freeze up in a daze before shaking myself out of it. "H-Hold on, wait, this is a lot to take in," I say while holding my head. "Wouldn"t you want to be free of slavery so that you"d stand on the same level as my other wives? Not that I"m saying how sure I am of getting other wives. Having many girls giving so much attention to someone like me is something I"ve never experienced back home … well, other than my aunts, my mom"s friends, who like to dote and tease me on occasion."

Hey, it"s not like that. They were family to me. I wouldn"t go that far.

Those were just hopeless childish crushes! They only saw me as a nephew or even a little brother, anyways, so they don"t count! Shut up!

"I think you"re being modest," Ren says, snapping me out of my banter with Nyra, "and those girls had no idea what they were missing out on not having to be with such a man of your caliber. As for being free to become your wife, it may be better for me to stay as your slave."

"Why would that be?"

"While free women do have the choice of who they want to be with, I think they"re at a higher risk of being taken advantage of and can"t fend for themselves than slaves are, whether they"re someone"s wife or not. Plus, they"re more likely to get into infidelity behind their husbands" backs. Being someone"s slave means they"re their owner"s personal property, something outsiders would rather not mess with if they know what"s good for them. Plus, should something happen to a slave, their owners can track them thanks to the magic in effect and could pin the culprit for committing a crime against them."

"How common is slavery here?"

"From what I"ve learned, it"s been around since after the Great War. Those were much crueler times, but the industry"s been progressive in how they treat and trade slaves these days. The "Slave"s Silver Lining Act" never existed until a few centuries ago, and it"s still an agreed practice among those of the three kin involved with the slave merchant"s guild."

"… I have complicated feelings for how slavery is handled here right now."

"That"s just today"s logic behind slavery, but in my personal opinion, I"d rather be a slave because … I"d feel safer and more comfortable knowing I"m owned by someone like you, someone I"m more than happy to do anything for."

"…"

Shut up. "Okay, being comfortable is one thing, but if you didn"t catch what Ms. Tephalia said, Nyra here attracts much misfortune, and my LUCK stat was already low enough before I made a Weapon"s Bond with her. I think it went down even more after that. There will be many obstacles and hardships coming your way if you stick by me."

"I have little to no problems with that. If you are in grave danger, I am willing to put my life on the line for you since you saved it once already. Also …" Ren trails off before her face reddens and she glances away. "I-If you get stressed, backed-up, or get caught under the curse"s side-effects again, I-I … I will leave my body for you to do with as you please."

"Right … is there anything else I need to know about your intentions being with me?"

"Well, if possible, I"d be happy if you could redeem Eri as your second slave/concubine. Though I"m older than her by almost a year, she has more experience being a slave than I do, and she"s helped me with adjusting to my new life the most out of everyone in Master Todoka"s household."

"Wait, Erizora"s younger? How old is she now?" We then turn to the Ogre/Human who was picking her teeth with one of the finished skewers. She pauses when she notices us staring at her.

"Um … I apologize, I wasn"t sure if I should b.u.t.t in," she says before setting all her finished skewers to the side with an awkward smile. "And to answer your question … I just turned 18 recently."

"And just putting it out there, I"ll actually be turning 19 within a few months," Ren says.

"… Is there a legal age of when one"s acknowledged as an adult?"

"It"s complicated for the Demon-Kin"s Territory as there are not only so many races that reside here, but there are those that have longer life spans and age slower than others," Ren explains. "Lately, using humans as a standard, we demons are acknowledged as adults when we look similar to a 13-year-old."

THIRTEEN?! "… And are there races who are actually younger than that despite looking like it? Like a 20-year-old being actually, I don"t know, 5, for example?"

"You mean those that age quickly? I know there are monsters like Goblins that fit the description, growing into "adults" within a week after birth, but I don"t know any demon races that are like that," Erizora says while scratching her cheek while looking up to think.

"Some of the sentient races today just age slower like the Elves and Dark Elves, and then there are Fairies and Pixies that were reported always seen as children, but we never knew what their true ages were since we never found where they live. Plus, there are human n.o.bles who are married at that age, so that"s why we have that as the standard for reaching adulthood. Same goes for when they"re allowed to be sold and be enslaved," Ren finishes.

Have n.o.bles in European Medieval times been married around that age? Actually, weren"t there kings who were even younger than that? Wait, is she saying slaves can even be bought and have those things be done to them around that age, too?

Nyra explains.

"… Just to make sure, you both are still virgins, right?" I ask the girls.

"Y-Yes, that is true for both of us," Ren says with blushing cheeks while Erizora nods along with the same face.

This conversation is getting more complicated for me to keep up with. I decide to drop it then and be thankful the girls who"re with me are long past the "age of adulthood" in this world and still have their chast.i.ty intact.

I clear my throat and compose myself to get back on the original topic. "Erizora, like Ren, I"d like to know what your intentions were, if you had any, for volunteering to be at my side despite the risk of losing your life as the result of me being under the curse"s side-effects."

"R-Right, that." Erizora straightens herself in seiza and clears her throat. "Well, it"s as I explained earlier when you woke up. Ren is like a sister to me, and so I felt I owed you a debt for saving her life, as well as mine many times over for all the potions you threw at me. More than that though … I have a few confessions to make if you"d allow me, Master."

"You may."

"First, I"m … a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t."

"…"

"N-Not so much as such that I"d get turned on from being roughed up, humiliated, looked down on, and played with by just anyone! I"m not that easy! It"s just from those who I rightfully acknowledge as stronger than me!

"Stronger … in what way?"

"For the majority of us Ogres, we acknowledge those with raw strength, usually within our own kind, but there are races who we know are more powerful than us that we give great respects to. It"s the same raw strength and power that determines who"s the leader of our tribe and has the high ground for choosing their mate worthy to bear his children. For my mother, however, she only recognizes a man worthy to bear children for if he has a strength of heart, and she was the strongest female among all Ogres who can throw anyone down, even the males who approached her. There was only one who overwhelmed her, not just with raw strength, but even when all odds seem to be against him: my father.

"This brings me to my second confession: only half of my blood is of an Ogre on my mother"s side. My father, who represented my other half … was a Human."

Surprise might not have been seen on my face because I"m well aware of that fact after using "Size Up" on her earlier. Honestly, if you remove the horns, she could very well pa.s.s off as an abnormal-sized Human, at best, and I"d be more shocked finding half of her race being an Ogre"s by then. Right now, I can"t see anything that set may set her apart from other Ogres if this is the normal appearance for the females of that race.

"Among us demons, there are exceptions like the Lamias, Arachne, and Harpies, races made up entirely of females, who need human males in order to reproduce. Other than them, no one had ever thought a child born between a demon and a human was possible, but I"m apparently the prime example that it is, and when the others in my tribe found that out later, they weren"t happy, I can say that much. So much so that I was called a freak, a disgrace of Ogres even when Mom trained me to be as strong as her. With this as my mark as a disgrace, I was banished from my tribe, and I don"t know what has become of Mom." She points at the stubble among her two horns as she said that. Looking at it closely, there are signs of it being filed afterward to smooth it out, but it was certainly cut by some sharp object in the past. I thought it was made of bone, but if it can be filed without pain, maybe it"s made of the same stuff as what"s in our fingernails.

"Dad died during one of his quests as an adventurer while I was young, so with no place to go, I thought going to the Human-Kin"s Territory might lead me somewhere. That was when I ran into Mistress Carmen"s father and he took me in as a slave in his business. While I was seen as a useful vanguard among adventurers who rented me for their quests, like those in my tribe, I was called as a freak, an abomination behind my back when they found out about me being half Human."

Nyra warns as I"m tightly gripping the gra.s.s beneath me.

"You asked Ren what she desired most, right?" Erizora asks. "I will say what I want as my third confession. While I was taught the skills needed to be a valuable slave, I came across … special novels that involve things related to how I became a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t today. From what Mom told me, the relationship she and Dad had was similar to what I read. While I could sympathize how much it might hurt for her at times, the way they made up like the books described as "aftercare" … I thought it sounded very pleasant. Whether or not it would develop into something romantic, I wanted to experience that with someone who"s willing to do it with me, and the fact that they"re stronger than me in all areas like in Mom"s case … it gives me a good, tingling sensation just thinking about it. Receiving the same by someone who I know is inferior, I feel more shame and disgust in myself than pleasure.

"Master, even though I haven"t enacted a test on you, just being in the presence of such great power, dominance, animosity, cruelty, and savagery …" Erizora trails off before she starts to squirm in her seat. Her face starts to flush. "I never felt so much overwhelming pleasure just being near such an aura before last night. E-Even now, just thinking about it again is making me a little damp—"

"Okay, please get to the point before you make an accident in public, Erizora."

"Y-Yes! I apologize!"

Nyra says before snickering.

But seriously, "animosity?" "Cruelty?" "Savagery?" Am I supposed to take those as compliments?

Erizora clears her throat once more. "The point is, we"d still have to do the test in front of Mistress Carmen to make it legit, but I believe you greatly overpower me, which is part of my own criterion of what I want in a master. I may be too muscular, brash, perverted, and too big a freak of nature, but as I"d fight for you, it would be my greatest honor if you have me as one of your concubines, and … I"d be really, really happy if you"d help me explore myself as a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t through such plays," she finishes while fidgeting in her seat blushing. The way her ma.s.sive b.r.e.a.s.t.s jiggle and press together as she did so was also very arousing.

Just remembering the sensation from how she actually made me grope one of those L-cup beauties, I was slightly worried the "side-effects" might be kicking in again.

Coming to my senses, I clear my own throat. "Right, thank you for your inputs, girls. I think I got a lot more than what I needed to know."

"So then … what do you want to do, Master?" Erizora asks.

"Putting in the math, if you wish to redeem both of us at our reduced prices after meeting both of our criterions, two of those white gold coins you gave to Lady Tephalia would be more than enough to pay for the proper certifications," Ren adds.

"Is that right? Well, you both will have to wait on what decision I"ll come to. I have a lot to think through and there"s still one other matter with someone I need to attend to before anything else."

"Oh, my, I hope you"re referring to me?"

Following that question, a familiar girl suddenly drops from above and looks at me while upside-down. Her sudden appearance makes us all jump.

""[Ms.] Lili!""