Chapter 50 – Master of Art
“Master, could I have a minute of your time?” Neira asks after arriving in front of me.
「Looks like everyone wants a piece of me today. Oh well, it does feel kinda good being this popular, haha.」
“That depends on what you need. We should start preparing for the night soon. But I’m happy to help however I can.”
She nods with a beautiful smile. “It won’t take long, I promise. I just need a favour or two back in my studio. It’s purely for my hobby so I understand if the timing is not that good.”
That certainly can be observed from her attire. She is currently wearing a loose white shirt with her sleeves rolled up a bit onto her forearms, and simple, brown pants. Both pieces of clothing are stained with various colours, definitely from painting or perhaps mixing some stuff. Not gonna lie, she looks really charming in this getup. It also fits her short, white hair.
I wave my hand. “It’s fine. Come on, lead the way. I’m actually curious what you may need.”
We don’t waste any more time and head down. I take a peek into Sirgia’s workshop, and yeah, she’s working hard. It looks like she is even more fired up than usual. Did our morning fun make her like that? It’s such a weird thought. But hey, what is not weird about me. My cum is literal magic. Why should I even be surprised by these things anymore?
Neira leads me into her own, small workshop, and I spot the change right from the doorstep. There are many more utensils and different painting appliances and tools than I remember being here. Also, there are a few standing frames with rectangular or square shapes covered by material. I guess those are some of her works.
Overtaken by curiosity, I move to the closest one and try to lift the sheet up a little, but Neira is quick to notice and slaps my hand away, positioning herself between me and her secret showpiece.
“These are not yet finished, Master. You would only embarrass me if you saw them. Please, wait until they are done, okay?” she says in a playfully sad tone.
“My bad. But the curiosity is really eating me inside out, you know? I haven’t seen any of your bigger works yet, besides some sketches and portraits for our menu.”
Neira chuckles. “I will soon present you with my first masterpiece, Master, I just need some more time. And also, your help, because that’s the reason I asked for you. I can’t move forward alone from where I currently am.”
I nod my head. “I see. I’m all yours then. What do you need me to do?”
She then starts moving various frames and other structures from the middle of the chamber to the sides with my assistance. We clear the center pretty quickly and Neira positions an empty easel there, equipping it with a clear board. She brings some of her utensils and arranges them around on a few stools. Then, we drag a fancy, pillowy chair, almost a small throne, from the corner of the room and set it in front of the painting station. I wonder where she got it. It was most likely in one of the storages or they just moved it here from the mansion.
“Please, sit comfortably, Master.” She points at the chair and I comply.
Seeing her pick up a pencil and eye me from bottom to top makes all the gears in my head click and I finally realize my role.
“You are going to draw me?”
Neira smiles and nods. “In simple words, yes. I’ve been spending almost all my free time recently trying to return to my previous glory, as they say. I had quite some time of a forced break after we left the main community with the Princess. I need practice to regain my past style and ability.”
“Understandable. I guess the other elves were helping you out with that during their visits down here?”
Her eyes widen a little and she gets visibly surprised. “Ah. Master can sense us. Right. Even if only a bit. Ummm… how much…”
She has a slight problem finding the correct words so I reassure her before that. “I haven’t been spying on you or others, don’t worry. Only checking from time to time. I saw one of your friends holding something? I think. Not much more than that.”
A relieved sigh leaves her lips. I raise my brow at her a little and she notices that, showing a slightly nervous smile.
“It’s nothing! I just got really stressed after realizing Master can pretty much watch me work. I’ve never been good with audiences. I’m always like this when others see my paintings halfway done. I’m sorry.”
I feel like it isn’t exactly all, but I’m not the person to pry into others like that. “It’s fine. I’ll try not to peek at you too much. I’ll just focus on your general location from now on. Don’t want to have you nervous all the time over the possibility that I could be watching,” I tell her with a smile.
Neira clears her throat and also smiles, more naturally this time. “Ekhm. Thank you, Master. Well then, continuing, it is as you said, others have been helping me by acting as my models or by holding certain props for me. I’ve invited you here today for the same reason, as you have guessed, Master. I’m pretty much on par with what I could do in the past with women, but… I obviously lack in male counterparts. And Master is the only man available around, so I decided to request your help.”
“I’m honoured. Please direct me however you wish. I have no experience with this so don’t hold back from being strict. You can drop the master too if that would make you more comfortable.”
She nods her head. “Thank you. Let’s start with something simple then. A straight pose with both hands on the armrests. Like a king during an official ceremony or something.”
I shuffle myself on the chair until Neira nods again and begins scribbling on her board, glancing at me from time to time. It’s actually much harder than I thought to keep your position up without deviating it in any way. And I feel like it’s even worse when you are consciously trying to do so.
Fortunately, it seems that she works really fast, and just after ten minutes Neira steps back, gives me one more full glance and nods again after comparing it with something on the paper.
“Great. Let’s move through some more sitting ones then, shall we?”
And we start our little marathon of various poses on the chair. Each takes from ten to fifteen minutes and they range from some simple, stiff positions to completely weird and entangled ones at numerous angles. After a bit over an hour, she switches the layer on her stand for a fresh one and brings a different pencil.
“Alright. That was magnificent. Now, shove that chair somewhere to the side and strip, we are goi—ah…” She starts in quite the gung-ho mode, but stops herself in the middle, bowing down. “Apologies, Master. I got too much into it. What I meant to do was to ask if it would be fine with you posing in underwear. Bare body and muscles are the areas I lack in the most currently.”
I chuckle a little and start following her instructions, getting rid of my clothes after I push the furniture away.
“Don’t worry, I don’t mind. I’m not that good of a nude model though. I’m merely mediocre when compared to the more visually appealing guys.”
“I dare to disagree, Master. Elves are often called the beautiful race, but I think even amongst elven men you take quite a high spot when it comes to your well-toned body. It is really pleasant to look at, if I may say. Every single one of us thinks so too.” She shares her opinion with a wide smile.
“Uhh… Thank you, I guess? But I’m pretty sure that’s mostly due to the effects of my Class. The reception might be warped,” I answer.
“Aren’t you able to control that, Master? And if I remember correctly, it isn’t as invasive towards people who already hold positive feelings or thoughts about you, right? Why don’t you try blocking it completely?” She barrages me with a myriad of questions.
Following her request, I focus on limiting all effects as far as I can and then glance at her with a raised eyebrow. Neira checks me out whole again and nods.
“See? Nothing changed. I still think you are a really handsome man with a beautifully chiselled chest, Master. Not too much, not too little. You kept in shape even before arriving in this world, right?”
“Well, yeah, as much as I could. Okay. If you are fine with me, then let’s do this. What now?” I spread my arms and ask after ending up in just my underwear.
She then guides me through a few sets of different poses again and it’s way harder than before. Having a chair to sit or lean on was a blessing when compared to this. Being a professional model is definitely not for me. I have no issues with staying still for hours in a comfortable position, but it’s another thing when I’m almost reenacting Discobolus.
We finish in under an hour this time. An hour of straining your muscles in many, tough positions. Neira brings a stool for me to sit on and hands me some water she poured into a glass.
“Thank you again, Master. This is really helping me a lot.”
“Don’t mind it. I’m having fun too. It’s something new I haven’t tried before,” I reply. “We should wrap up soon, it’s past 3 pm now or so.”
“Alright. Let’s do a final piece then. Can you bring the chair back, Master?”
I move it to the middle again and await further orders.
“Okay. Now… I don’t have the exact pose in mind yet, but… let’s try something that emanates confidence, power, respect, pride. Like you are above everything and anything around and below. Not necessarily evil but more like exalted, looking down on others as not even close to what you are,” she tries her best to explain the idea.
I sit down and dive into my mind. Countless images of book covers move in a stream inside my head and I try to recall those with a character sitting on a throne. I look for the closest ones to what Neira wants. After a minute or two, I decide to give it a shot and fuse various elements into one.
Setting my ass close to the edge of the cushion, I lean onto the backrest with my whole posture slightly bent and angled to the right side. I slide down a little to allow my right elbow to lay on the armrest and use the hand closed into a fist to support the side of my chin.
Mustering all of my acting skills, I bring out the most fitting smirk I can call onto my face, trying to fill it with pride and the feeling of looking down onto someone, as if trying to make them unimaginably jealous of my situation.
Next, I lazily hang my left arm over the other side of the chair. As for my legs, I lift the left one and rest my ankle on the right knee, creating a cross-legged position with what some people call ‘a table’, angling my left shin to be horizontally flat and parallel to the ground.
I wiggle and shuffle to find a perfect finishing touch to everything and then glance up at Neira. Her expression instantly makes me break the character. She is literally standing there frozen with her chin pretty much resting on the very floor. I’m not sure how it looks from her perspective, but I have a feeling that I kinda nailed the setting.
“Neira?” I call to her.
After finally snapping out of it, her eyes widen to the brim. “STAY LIKE THAT!” she shouts and instantly rips the current sheet of paper off from her stand, throwing it away without any care wherever and however it lands.
In a flash, she puts on a new one and dashes to the side towards a wide cupboard with many drawers and shelves above it. She frantically opens them one by one and literally creates chaos inside, shoving her hands into them and digging like a ferocious beast chasing her mischievous prey that has hidden itself in some hole.
Just a moment later, she runs back to the stand with a set of various pencils in both hands and slams them down onto a nearby stool. Starting to feel her extremely focused gaze, full of passion towards her craft, I take a deep breath and do my best in making the previous expression resurface again.
It seems I manage to do it properly as Neira hastily dives into sketching. She fervently brushes and scribbles with her pencil on the other side of the frame, peeking out her head from above or around it from time to time and glancing all over my posture.
She switched into a higher gear. I’m well familiar with those. I saw Sirgia enter such a state many times during our little talks about artifact making. Neira is so into it that she even uses her other hand for some details, dual-wielding her artistic tools. The speed and intensity of her pace make them run out in a flash, and instead of sharpening them, she just throws them to the side and grabs another one or two from the stockpile she prepared before.
I’m forced to stay still for something like forty minutes I think. It certainly does feel like an eternity to me though. The edges of my mouth start aching from the constant strain. But, Neira finally stops, lays off her pencils, gently this time, onto the stool, and takes a few steps back.
“Perfect! Marvellous! Exactly what I needed!” she exclaims in a quite overjoyed tone.
I take that as a signal to finally stop posing and release a deep sigh before standing up and walking towards her and the frame. As I’m reaching it, Neira notices me coming closer and quickly grabs the whole piece from the stand and presses it against her chest to hide it from my sight.
“Oh, come on! It’s not done? You said it was perfect.” I sigh again and glance at her slightly panicked face.
“I’m sorry, but that’s only a rough sketch for practice purposes. It is a perfect sketch though. I can’t thank you enough for coming up with such a pose. It really inspired me. But I really can’t show it to you yet, Master.”
“Seriously… Do you want me to die out of curiosity? You are just too cruel…”
She gazes at me hesitantly from above the frame. “I’m truly sorry… I can show you all the previous drawings but not this one. I didn’t expect to be able to create something like this so soon. I can’t let others see it before I make sure it’s complete. But… if… if you order me…”
“No. I won’t do that.” I wave my hand at her in a dismissive way and bring a sheet of fabric. “At least cover it with this so it doesn’t tempt me.”
Neira complies and wraps the square around, laying it down on the side with similar ones.
“Thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah. That thing better blows me through the roof when it’s done or I’m cutting your budget in half,” I threaten her jokingly.
Neira giggles and acts like she is all panicky before answering. “Oh, I’m sure of that, Master. There’s no doubt.”
I shake my head with a smile and drag the chair to the side again, picking up my clothes from a cupboard. While putting on my shirt, I notice her thoughtful and slightly unsure gaze on me. She steals a few glances while also going through a few things. It’s obvious there’s something on her head.
“What’s the matter? Still need more? We will be cutting close if we stay here for much longer.” I walk closer and ask.
“No. I mean… Yes. There’s one more thing I need to work on… I don’t think I can ask you for such a—”
“Shoot before I get angry,” I interrupt her.
“Butts,” she says while staring me right into the eyes.
“Eh?”
“I need to practice drawing male butts. Naked,” she adds.
“Psshhhhhhhhhht, hahaha! Oh, really?” I explode into a laugh and swat my face with a hand. “Thirty minutes. No more. Others will get angry if we leave everything to them,” I say while returning to the center.
“Really? Is that fine?”
“You literally bathed with me before.”
“That's a different thing, Master. The fact that I saw it once in the bath doesn’t mean I have permission to draw it.”
“Well then, now you have it. Come on. Thanks for the consideration but let’s get done with it.”
I position myself in the middle, turn around and glance back. She is standing with a new sheet in front of her and a satisfied smile. Without further ado, I slip out of my shorts and move my eyes to the front. I’m not sure what to do though. Fortunately, the masters of ancient times come with help and I recall seeing Michelangelo’s David statue. It had quite a nice butt. I try to copy the pose and even use my underwear as a makeshift prop of whatever he was holding.
“This… The tension is heavenly! You are a born model, Master!”
Neira’s voice, full of praise, arrives from behind me and I smile. The scratching of a pencil soon reaches my ears too. Now I just have to keep this up for some time. I cast Rejuvenate to lessen my fatigue a little and focus. Easy. Peace of cake. It’s not a hard pose. I just need to stay like this and... let her… stare… at my ass. In full view. Completely naked.
「Wait. No. Stop. No. No, no, no, no, no. You are not going to— I said no! Don’t you even dare— DOWN! STAY PUT! This is not the time! You had your fun in the morning! I. SAID. DOWN. YOU DAMN HORNY SAUSAGE! Ugh… For fuck’s sake… I shouldn’t have used Rejuvenate… DOWN OR YOU ARE NOT GETTING ANY PUSSY FOR A WEEK!」
“Umm… Master? Are you okay?”
“YES! I’m fine! It’s just… uhhh…”
“Are you tired? Please, don’t push yourself too much. I can’t exhaust you just before opening, Master.”
“I’m really fine. I, uhhh, got a bit... hard. ”
A soft giggle leaves Neira’s lips. “Shame we are out of time. I’d love to practice that too.”
“So ass is a no-no but dick is okay?”
Another giggle. She is just teasing me now. I take a deep breath and do my best to keep my body tensed for her to draw my behind. With a dangling stiffy in the front. Gods. Where did I go wrong for you to punish me like this? It was going so well.
She wraps it up in twenty minutes and tells me to dress up. This time, I’m allowed to take a peek at her masterpiece. In that short time, she managed to capture my manly butt from four angles, drawing the same number of even sketches over all the board. I do have to say, it does look quite… sexy. Now, I’m not exactly into that, but at the same time, I’m not really against it. A sexy ass is a sexy ass. That’s all.
While we clean the chamber up, Neira showers me in thanks. She really looks grateful for the help. I guess all people who are very passionate about their hobby or profession are like that. It didn’t seem like much to me. It was just a short session. I’m sure she was good before, from the arts she did for our menu, but one training session won’t let her get back her knack fully, right? Or am I just surrounded by geniuses?
We finish up quickly and walk up to join the rest of the inhabitants in preparations for the working night. It’s nothing as grand as before so it doesn’t take long. Everyone gets into their outfits or suits and takes their stations. The bar on the upper level has been supplied with some decent wine and other drinks already and the manning order has been given to the elves, depending on which one will be free at the time of the request.
The hour comes and the gates open. Literally. I go near the entrance to the mansion, still inside, and press a wooden button. Sirgia installed a simple mechanism to close and open the gate in the front with it. Partially my design of course. It’s nothing grand though. A simple pressure thingy working on water and wind crystals in pistons.
Surprisingly, someone reaches the door already, and they open, catching me by surprise. I quickly bow down and say our welcoming phrase. A young man with short, brown hair walks in.
“Uh, hi,” he starts quite hesitantly. “So ummm… this is the place where you can… with Slimes, right? And it’s really safe?”
I quickly switch into a business mode and throw my arm around his shoulder with a smile.
“Yes, it is! There is no risk or danger here! As long as you follow the rules of course! Come! Don’t be shy!”
He reciprocates the smile and lets me guide him to the counter. Filue doesn’t signal anyone else coming so I explain the terms of service to the man with Cornelia helping me. He seems to be a very careful type as even after that, he does another readthrough of them by himself. Confirming that there aren’t any weird clauses, he moves onto the menu of services.
“Oh wow. I thought the prices would be much higher when I saw this place from outside. But they seem quite affordable. The range is decent. I expected everything to be at least a few gold coins, but it even drops below one here and there,” he comments.
“Naturally! We are aiming to provide the best quality services without overcharging our guests!” Cornelia puffs her chest out proudly. “There are many rules to follow, as you saw yourself, dear customer. Not everyone will be admitted. But, if you keep acting like a good boy, nothing stops you from enjoying yourself to the fullest!”
He does seem convinced. And choosing Emi, a bath with Cinra and a drink afterwards truly confirms that. The former escorts him to the room and they disappear behind a corner. Fifteen minutes later, they come back. A big smile paints his lips and he does seem a little tired. That doesn’t stop the man from jogging up to me and grabbing my hands.
“Boss! Do you have VIP cards? Or regular customer status?” he asks very eagerly.
“Uhhh… No. Not yet at least. Perhaps when we get more guests,” I answer, slightly thrown off-track.
He brings up a piece of paper and writes something down on it. “Here! This is my name! Put me on the list when you add the thing! Ah! How long until you close?”
“We’ve just opened. There are still at least seven hours to go,” Cornelia adds.
“Great! I need to get my brother! Be right back!”
“Hey! Your bath and drink?” I shout behind the man, but he speeds through the door like a bullet. I turn around to face Emi. “What the hell did you do to him?”
She playfully shows her tongue and makes a funny face. Oh well. I guess he was one of those who really wanted to try a Slime. Looks like Cornelia was right about men in this world having a thing for some gelatinous delicacy. What was it? A hundred or so reported cases of genitals burnt by Slime acid last month across the kingdom? And in the public, they would never admit getting horny when looking even at another race. Hypocrites.
After an hour, the man brings his said brother, not so different from him, and he goes for a ride too. Afterwards, they share a bath and some drinks together before leaving. Hopefully, they have some ties to the Slime Lovers community and spread the word. The power of boner will conquer the capital! Maybe someday.
There are three more people that pay us a visit during the rest of the night. One seems to be a friend of the first duo. They don’t have any problems with the rules either, which makes me quite glad. I was afraid there would be more disputes. But, it’s just a few people. It’s hard to use this as an indicator.
They only stay for the main service, but that’s still plenty. Especially that they do seem quite satisfied. So far, so good. Afterwards, I thank everyone for their work, especially my amazing slime girls that did a great job, and we clean up the main hall. The rooms were taken care of by the elves shortly after the service part. The night seems to be successful. Now, let’s hope we can get some nice girls to join us.
Everyone cashes in on their well-earned rest and we meet again during breakfast. I have to leave for Selina's shortly after and I’m wondering what to do. It would be great if I had some help in convincing the girls about my true motives and such. Safi and Emi are out by default. Not only they can’t speak, but also are Slimes, and that would be risky. In the end, it falls either on Elea or Sirgia. Surprisingly, the cute dwarf is very up for the idea. She must really want to help me.
So, we decide to head out as a trio. I instruct Astrea to bother Cornelia if she needs anything while we are gone. She looks a little hesitant but nods nevertheless. I’m pretty much stealing the two people that interacted with her the most right now, so I can get her uneasiness. Hopefully, she will get more familiar with the place this way.
I get into my butler suit and the girls jump into their maid outfits. I hide their weapons in my ring. Sirgia is still on the case of the enchantments. It’s a tough one to crack. I pat her head and we move out.
On our way there, we stop by a few commercial boards and slap some posters onto them. More exposure is always good. Also, we do get some curious stares. And some not-so-friendly ones too. But that’s to be expected. They better not get any weird ideas. I haven’t used my hilt in quite some time and my hand is itching to whip a baddie or two. I shouldn’t let it feel neglected.
We arrive at the peculiar building and stroll inside. Both the customers and employees behind the two counters look slightly surprised by a man in a suit accompanied by two demi-human girls in maid outfits. I try to act slightly high and mighty and stare down everyone around.
Not sure what to do, I pull out my card and wave it nonchalantly. One of the employees disappears behind a door for a moment, leaving his customer waiting, and quickly comes back, informing me that someone will soon come to assist me and that I shall feel in the recreational area as in my own home.
I kinda expect Lucas to show up, but it seems like either Selina changed my personal advisor or he is not here currently. Hey, no complaints, I get a pretty lady which doesn’t look at my girls like they are bags of turd. She leads us straight to her boss’s office and lets us in after announcing our visit.
“Welcome again, Sir Carter.” Selina stands up and comes forth from behind her desk. “Oh? Who do we have here? Are my eyes deceiving me or do we know each other?” She playfully raises her eyebrow after noticing Sirgia.
The person in question is visibly nervous. I don’t need my connection to notice that. Who wouldn’t be in this situation? I plop my hand onto her head and gently brush through Sirgia’s hair.
“I would be grateful if you didn’t tease my employees, Selina. I know that you two share a not-so-happy past, but Sirgia is willing to forget all of that while working for me. And she is a valuable addition to my team.”
The little dwarf nods and does her best to glance up at the woman with determination. Selina lightly bows her head to me and smiles.
“My apologies. Just so we are clear on this, I don’t have the habit of reducing my merchandise to such a state. It was done by the kingdom’s law department. I admit that I avoided taking care of the aftereffects, but to me, she was just a broken product, not worth investing in. Especially with the death sentence hanging over her head. I will more than gladly start on a blank slate with you, little one,” she explains.
I nod at Sirgia as a sign of allowing her to speak.
“I’m the same, Madam Noint. I will make sure to be of the best use to Master and I won’t let my past grievances affect that,” she replies to the woman and curtsyes.
“Ufufufu~. What a devoted girl you are. You really picked up a treasure, didn’t you, Alastair?”
“Definitely.” I glance down at my lovely cutie and smile at her. “Well then. How is our commission coming together?”
“I would say quite good. There are eight girls that weren’t openly hostile to our employees trying to inform them about you. Come on, let’s go and meet them.”
She then leads us down a few corridors, stops by another office-like chamber with many people working on some documents and papers and instructs them to gather all the things related to my order. We then walk further and end up in a simple room on the lower level, most likely serving as a meeting and showcasing one but without a stage for slaves in it.
After ten minutes of chatting about random things connected to our respective businesses and slaves, someone knocks on the door and a group of demi-humans with manacles gets escorted into the chamber. There are eight, just like Selina said before. They all wear the usual shorts and t-shirts of various shades of brown.
Amongst them, I recognize three Tieflings of different skin colours, a pure-blood Beastkin of the tiger kind, a brown-skinned Ogre, greenish-skinned Orc, both looking quite buff, a tall and beautiful Oni and a brown-feathered Harpy.
Tieflings are classified as a demonic race. They often possess two horns growing from the sides of their heads like your typical Demon Lords from various fantasy novels. They also have tails quite close to those of Succubi or some thin-tailed Lizardfolk or Dragonewts. Their skin colours are as vibrant as a rainbow. The three that walked in have it crimson red, dark purple and slightly dark blue. Tieflings’ eyes don’t have irises and pupils, they are just full whites in much brighter colours than their skin, glowing very so slightly.
The Beastkin is just as you imagine it from that short description. It’s a quite tall and muscular but slim woman fully covered in yellowish fur with dark lines. She obviously has the face of a tigress, with all the features.
Ogres and Onis are close relatives. The former has one single thick horn growing from their forehead while the latter has two thin ones, usually longer than their tougher, distant family. Ogres are also quite similar to Orcs when it comes to physical ability. Both races are very strong but the former is also way tougher on the outside while the latter focuses purely on strength. When it comes to Orcs, the females are pretty much She-Hulks with two tusks growing out from their lower jaws, of various sizes and shapes. Ogres just have their single horns. And well, as for Onis, their race is more about magic and such. They are way more sensitive to it.
Then finally, we have the Harpy. She’s an example of a monstrous race, entities that possess sapience and intelligence close to most humanoids, thus not considered pure monsters. They do function in communities even if not that developed. Yeah, it’s basically like in many books I’ve read in the past, they often migrate and build nest-villages for short periods of time. Basically, oversized birds with intelligence and an ability to speak.
As for their looks, they have two wings with long feathers instead of your usual arms and they don’t end in hands, but they do bend in elbows. There are some bones at those far parts of their edges that allow them to clumsily grab things while using both limbs, but it looks like someone in an oversized hoodie trying to hold something through the sleeves. Their legs are obviously finished with three wide and long talons and go up like bird ones until somewhere above the knee where the hardened skin switches into more normal flesh, covered in feathers. Both parts are of similar thickness, just the external coverage differs.
Selina seems to be intent on showing that she trusts me as her business partner and leaves us alone with the guests. They are marked so they won’t be able to directly harm us. Without wasting much time, we split into three groups. Elea handles the Tiefling trio, Sirgia takes on the Beastkin and the Harpy, which leaves me with the Ogre, the Orc and the Oni.
The three groups position themselves in different spots over the floor and my partners dive into explaining our purpose. While moving towards mine, I notice the faint tinge of nervousness from Sirgia and crouch by her side for a moment, gently brushing through her hair.
She smiles at me and raises herself a little to plant a shy kiss on my cheek before moving her gaze back to the women in front of her. Well, I guess this might have helped not only her but also them a little? We shall see.
I sit down on the floor near my own group and begin explaining all the things with as much honesty as I can muster. I mention pretty much everything about the establishment; how it works, what are the roles, what we need, what will be their living conditions, responsibilities, rights and so on. Also about how I will help them learn necessary things about the job if they aren’t too well-versed in sexual stuff to make them less susceptible to any uncomfortable situations.
Since I can talk in their native tongues, I secretly mention that I can get rid of their seals, but due to this being a monitored transaction, I can’t exactly let all of them leave free or it would start drawing unnecessary attention when I would start releasing numerous slaves at short intervals. There is no rule or law prohibiting that, it’s your slave, at least in the field of the demi-human ones, but it would certainly not be received too well by all the people or other slavers around.
I do promise them that if they would be truly dissatisfied or some harm were to come their way, they would be allowed to leave instantly, with my help. Without that, they would have the right to request dismissal after a year of service and become completely free, receiving a parting wage alongside their usual earnings too. But, they are always welcome to stay. I think these conditions are quite good.
They, of course, are quite hesitant about all of this. It truly sounds too good to be true and seems like sweet-talking them into a possible trap. Well, not like they would have a choice if someone wanted to purchase them, they have no say in that, but I decided to give them the freedom to agree or not.
After the short talk, we give them some time to think and they sit all-together to discuss it between themselves. I don’t think all of them knew each other before, but I guess this is an example of a situation where people in the same predicament are pulled closer together.
And, it seems like Elea truly has something for talking to and convincing people as all three Tieflings agree to follow us. Whoever she spoke with before also ended up with a quite favourable impression of me and the place too. She might be a natural-born spokesperson. But well, she was a priestess so that kinda checks out.
Sirgia’s side also goes quite well. The Beastkin woman refuses our offer and keeps her slightly aggressive demeanour while the Harpy shows an interest in coming with us. She seems to be one of those reserved and timid types. I’ve heard though that their kind tends to get very passionate during mating.
As for my group, they all don’t look too convinced. I’m not sure if I did a bad job explaining or other women just had it easier to believe another demi-human than a Human like me. I don’t push them though, and only the Orc girl agrees to go with me. I feel like the Oni lady finds all of this still below her noble self.
I’m afraid that this kind of personality won’t help her get out of here. But, I can’t work my head over what might happen to her if some common guy from this world picks her up. She is an adult and has her brain. If her pride is more important than her life, then I can’t do anything.
So, we call Selina and finalize the transaction, getting ourselves five new employees; a Harpy, an Orc, and three Tieflings. She throws in an additional set of some low-quality clothes for the women to cover themselves with as a gift for me and we head out.
Elea entwines her arm with mine and walks filled with pride of her achievement while Sirgia cutely holds onto my other hand with a satisfied smile too, blushing shyly. I will have to thank them both for the help later, but for now, I give each a more passionate kiss, earning myself some curious stares from a few of our new friends. Oh, how good it would be if they were as understanding and accepting as the rest of the girls around me. Only time will tell.