Chapter 38

After a fantastic meal, Kal, Ikuno, Kashka, and the others mingled with Sayaka’s townsfolk for a few hours. Less than half the villagers left after eating, returning to their homes, businesses, or farms. Of those remaining, many had questions about Ikuno’s declaration and the true origins of monster girls. Kal explained what he learned about Prentas over and over until he worried he might recite the story in his sleep that night.

Ikuno specifically sought out those who now had an issue with considering her a monster girl as well as a spirit. Kashka helped by steering them toward a few people who were actively avoiding them as they moved through the remaining crowd. These villagers often had bad personal experiences with monster girls, either through being abducted or having a man in their life taken, be it a husband or brother. The oni didn’t try to convince these people that monster girls were miraculously good just because she was one, but she let Kal explain what they were trying to do by changing how monster girls approached finding mates.

It proved challenging to convey that some monster girls experienced powerful breeding seasons and struggled to control their urges. Interestingly, despite this being widely known, many people assumed monster girls, since they resembled humans, possessed the same level of self-control. Kashka and Kal recounted her recent heat, describing how her overwhelming desire to mate led to her attacking Kal, and explained how bad she felt afterward for losing control. They also talked about the rarity of a man remaining with a monster girl for more than a few weeks after being abducted. In such cases, the man’s escape often resulted from a diminishing desire for sexual encounters as the monster girl’s heat subsided or the presence of a male companion diminished her need. This, combined with the guilt of kidnapping gnawing at their conscience, led to ‘allowing’ the man to escape.

Many accepted this, but some townsfolk bore hatred too deeply rooted to tolerate any explanation. Thankfully, that number seemed extremely low compared to the towns and cities between Fazal and Lantaris, but this was expected given the difference in attitudes toward monster girls.

Eventually, the after-meal conversation wound down, and Ikuno made a final address to the remaining people of Sayaka, stating that she would be leaving once she regained her power.

“I have loved ones on the other side of the world who have not seen me in two years,” she said in response to the crowd’s disappointed groans. “However, Kal now has business in Silvermoon, which will require his attention, and I will be joining him on any return trips. If time allows, I will try to visit and hopefully be back once every two to three years instead of two hundred.”

After thanking the people of Sayaka and the town council for the meal, everyone returned to the shrine. When they arrived, the sky had darkened, and only a faint glow remained on the western horizon.

Ikuno looked up at the stars peeking through the sun’s final rays as the caretaker closed the gate behind them. “I’m not ready to go inside yet,” she said with a faint smile that turned predatory when she looked at Kal, “but while my belly is full of good food, another part of me is empty, and I need you to take care of it.”

“Then do it out here,” said the caretaker’s wife. “I’ll ask my husband to stoke the campfire in front of our house if you want some light, but once the gates are closed, and there’s no chance of children stumbling in on us, you are welcome to undress and make love as you please.” As if to prove her point, the woman pulled her robes over her head, revealing a curvy body toned by her constant work maintaining the shrine. A small patch of neatly trimmed pubic hair grew above lips swollen with arousal as hard nipples capped breasts slightly smaller than Ikuno’s.

“Don’t mind her,” said the caretaker, coming up behind them. “She loves showing off her body, especially to new people. My wife and I are at your service, Great Ikuno, and if you or your friends would like our assistance with your pleasurable nighttime activities, all you need do is ask.” He looked pointedly at Asahi. “My wife and I enjoy the company of both women and men.”

The middle brother’s eyebrows raised in surprise before he looked at Yamori.

“You warned me this was something you enjoyed and wanted to continue even if we became a family. Better to try it now while we’re still starting out to see if I have any issues,” said the gecko.

“Why would you have a problem with it?” Ikuno asked.

“It just seems strange. Since we monster girls often become lovers with each other, sex with a man or woman makes little difference. But I’ve never met a man who enjoys sleeping with other men before, and when he said he would like to find another man to be a fourth in our little family, it felt ... odd.”

“Thinking about a fourth already, brother?” Ichiro asked, chuckling. “You haven’t even become a trio yet.”

“Just thinking ahead. Planning is the path to success,” Asahi responded with a grin.

The caretaker didn’t allow Ichiro or Asahi to build a campfire near their tents, but he and his wife had a fire pit in front of their little house, which they offered to Ikuno and her friends. Dioga, Zakku, and Ming declined the invitation to join them as they were in the middle of a serious discussion, judging by their expressions.

Once the caretaker had stoked the fire enough to take the chill out of the cool night air, most of the clothes came off. Chihiro was the exception. She removed the decorative outer layers but kept her undergarments, a loose shirt, and pants. The caretaker’s wife also stripped before offering to gather their clothes and take them to their respective tents. She seemed to take particular pleasure bending over with her legs slightly spread as she took the discarded garments, showing off her glistening sex to anyone who wanted to look. Ria stored Kashka’s belt and daggers, and Kal’s bracers, but they let the woman take the rest of their clothing. She returned for Ikuno’s dress and delicately carried it into her house before returning everyone else’s clothes.

“Shouldn’t she have gotten your dress first?” Kal asked. “You are the ‘Great Ikuno.’”

“In Azum culture, the man is always seen first,” said Ichiro. “A woman must be powerful in her own right and not have a male companion to receive the same treatment as a man.”

“That’s foolish. I’m not the patron spirit they held an entire tournament for.”

“One thing at a time, Kal. We’re trying to undo centuries of prejudice against monster girls first,” said Ikuno.

“So they can be second-class citizens like human women?”

“Do you want to fight that fight with women who have been living this way for longer than I’ve been alive or with a bunch of monster girls who are fresh off the victory of being seen as equal to humans?”

“Ooooo ... you have a point there,” Kal conceded. “But in cities like Fazal, I wonder if either is possible.”

“Fazal’s slaves keep that city alive and have done so for centuries now. The return on investment for slave labor is just too high,” said Ikuno. She looked around at all of the exposed flesh before turning back to Kal. “I expect this with me and the other girls, but your friends too?”

“We’ve spent a lot of time soaking with Dioga and Zakku this past week. Being naked in front of them is nothing new,” Kal replied.

“Back to what you said about slave labor,” said Ichiro, “that’s why the ruling family of Soma and other Azumbahan cities maintain their slums. If they need something done, they put out a call to those living in desperation. It’s an awful way to conduct business, but undeniably effective.”

“If your family ruled Soma, do you think you would change that?” asked Ikuno.

“Honestly, no. There will always be poor and desperate people in any city. There is nothing I, my father, or even the Great Ikuno can do about that. The best I can do is see them as a resource to be tapped. Something Kal understands quite well.”

“That’s fair,” Kal shrugged. “Though I wasn’t thinking of using them as cheap labor.”

“My father may be a bastard, but he did teach me the ins and outs of running our family once he is gone, and people management is a big part of it. Admittedly, he has people beneath him who take care of the day-to-day things, but he at least understands the process and passed that on to me.” The eldest brother looked Ikuno over as she leaned back on the bench, soaking in the crackling fire’s warmth. “I must admit I’m a little jealous of Kal. You have an amazing body, Ikuno.”

“And if I didn’t have a man already, I’d let you, and probably your brother as well, find out just how amazing it is. However, because of mine and Kal’s bond, I gain more than twice the mana I need to recover from sleeping with him than I could from you and your brother.”

“I’m still curious about this bond you all have,” said Asahi. “You can speak to each other’s minds directly, share thoughts and images, and now you can share magic?”

“Not quite,” said Kashka. “For a time after Kal and I make love, I become more agile, can move without a trace of a sound, and seem to be able to disappear in the smallest shadow.”

“But I draw in mana from my surroundings and store it in these,” said Ikuno, tapping a horn. “Making love to Kal increases that absorption four-fold.”

“And what about you, Kal? What do you get out of it?” Asahi asked.

“Empty balls, near as I can tell,” said Kal. “I’ve made love to all of my women countless times and never noticed heightened physical abilities or greater mana regeneration.”

A moan from across the shrine made everyone turn and look. Two of Ichiro’s guards knelt with the caretaker’s wife on all fours between them.

Ichiro chuckled. “He resisted the temptation of the town whores during the tournament but crumbled to her.”

“A woman’s body freely given and wanting is a hard temptation to resist,” said the caretaker, joining them with his lute. The men mumbled in agreement.

“This bond sounds useful,” said Yua as she nonchalantly reached for Ichiro’s cock and stroked it. “I’m surprised we haven’t heard more about it.”

“It seems more common among magic users,” Ikuno explained. “I think only they can understand and accept what is being offered, though Kal’s and my bonding was a bit of a fluke on his part. The bond also requires a huge amount of trust as you have to give your everything to them, which is extremely difficult for many. Lastly, it’s a lifelong commitment. Kashka and I aren’t free to leave Kal if we are unhappy with him.”

“Though I hope that if you were that unhappy, I would have the decency to let you go,” said Kal.

Ikuno raised an eyebrow. “This is new. I didn’t think the bond could be broken. Then again, all the lovers I bonded with before you passed away of old age.”

“During supper, I told you about the first year after you disappeared to rebuild your body. I should finish that story.”

“Any more nasty surprises?”

“A couple.”

Ikuno sighed. “Well then, let’s hear it.”

“I overwintered at the tower, then headed east. After a stop in Telsin to visit, I made my way to Fazal.”

“I just want to say that I am also jealous of your travels, Kal. I haven’t even set foot off Azumbaho while you’ve been to the other side of the world,” said Ichiro.”

“I happen to know a couple of ships that would be happy to take you to Silvermoon or Calfera,” he replied with a grin. “They might give you a discount if you’re willing to do some work in the bedroom.”

“I’m not sure I’d count on that, given their new crewmates,” said Kashka.

“That’s why I said discount, not free.”

“What do you think, Yua? Feel like exploring the world a little?” Ichiro asked the pika.

“Don’t worry that they might be trying to steal him away,” Kashka added, seeing the worried look on Yua’s face. “They aren’t interested in finding mates, just getting their needs taken care of.”

The pika shook her head. “I’m not worried about that. My kind is most at home in the rocky terrain of the mountains. The idea of being surrounded by that much water scares me.”

“Maybe after a few years of living in Soma with the sea as your eastern horizon will quell your fears,” Ichiro suggested.

Yua stared at him briefly before grumbling, “How do you know exactly what to say to get me going?” Without letting go of the elder brother’s prick, she hopped up on the bench and stepped over his lap before lowering herself and directing Ichiro’s cock into her sex with a happy sigh. Yua leaned back against the brother’s chest and slowly rolled her hips back and forth. The slow lovemaking kept them both aroused but didn’t appear to make any headway toward a climax.

“Your friends are very open with their lovemaking, Great Ikuno,” said the caretaker watching the human and pika for a few moments before plucking at the strings of his lute and adjusting the knobs at the end of the neck. “It’s a pleasant change from what we normally see in Azum people.”

“My travels up and down this land showed me its people are just as sexual as these two. Azum society’s strict code of conducting oneself in public is the only thing keeping them from fucking out in the streets,” said Ikuno.

Ichiro frowned. “I would hope they would show some consideration for the children.”

Kal shook his head. “Unlikely. Most of the houses in and around my hometown are single rooms. As a boy with a bedroom to himself, I was the outlier. Growing up, I heard plenty of stories from the other boys about seeing their mom and dad going at it. If they noticed the kids watching, the parents ignored them and kept going.

“Many of the monster girls I know grew up with their mothers bringing home lust-crazed men and fucking for hours on end. I think it’s part of why they have such a casual attitude toward sex.”

“I know my mother made no effort to shield me from her activities growing up,” said Senza. “Unfortunately, lust-crazed men aren’t good lovers. My mother certainly enjoyed herself, but it wasn’t until I came of age and took a monster girl lover that I discovered how good it could be. Making a man lust crazy fills a need and feels good, but I’d like to experience what I have with my lovers with a man,” she said, looking at Kal and blushing.

“Well, you’re in luck because unless Kashka has plans for him, Kal can be yours for the night. I’ve had him twice already today, so I can wait until tomorrow morning.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” said Kal. “I told you I’m not looking to leave any more children behind.”

Ikuno raised an eyebrow. “We talked about this not long after you claimed me. Now it’s even more important since you are trying to be a liaison between humans and monster girls. You said you’d be coming back this way. What makes giving Senza a daughter different from leaving Perra and the others? There is power in names, and you are passing on that power to your daughters. Senza’s little girl won’t have some nameless father accosted on the road but will be the daughter of Kal the Runesmith. A powerful mage who is often away but still cares about his little girl.”

Kal returned a dead-eyed stare. “No pressure or anything.”

“I’m not trying to pressure you, Kal. If your answer is no, then so be it. I think your reasoning is weak. Especially since you will come back this way and can visit your daughters.”

“You realize you said you weren’t trying to pressure him immediately after pressuring him,” said Kashka with a hint of annoyance.

“Please don’t fight because of me,” Senza begged. “I’m not—”

“You absolutely are worth it,” Ikuno interrupted. “As an immortal who can never bear children, I firmly believe every woman deserves the chance to become a mother.”

“I disagree, sandworms could all disappear, and the world would be better for it,” said Kal. Kashka nodded in agreement.

“You know what I meant,” Ikuno grumped.

“I do, and Senza, I agree with Ikuno. You absolutely deserve to have a daughter. Ikuno also made some good points I’ll have to think about. I’m not going to tell you no, but I am going to say not now. Ikuno may be willing to pawn me off, but I haven’t seen her for two years and want to spend the next few days with her.” He paused for a moment. “This feels like Emru all over again.”

“No, Emru was a lot more difficult. You were actually repulsed by her in the beginning,” said Kashka.

“Sandworms? Emru?”

“Yes, back to my story, but I’ll try to make it quick.”

“Please do,” groaned Ichiro as Yua started moving again. She had stopped when the conversation between Kal and Ikuno began to heat up.

“I made my way to Fazal, where a certain assassin tried to kill me ... three times.”

“Happy to be a failure,” Kashka laughed.

“This hardly seems like a laughing matter,” said the caretaker’s wife as she returned to the group with her clothes draped over an arm and sat next to her husband.

“I was under orders from my master then, and disobedience meant death. Luckily, Kal not only survived my attempts to kill him, but saved me from the trap my master placed inside me in case I was killed or captured. Kal freed me, and I love him for it.”

The mage flashed her a smile before continuing. “After killing her former master and freeing the rest of his slaves—”

“And fucking them silly,” quipped the cat.

“That too. I certainly had more fun than you did.”

Kashka sighed. “Yeah, but The Bull deserved better than slowly starving to death in that dungeon or dying on the end of a spear.”

“Her master procured a minotaur, a cow-girl turned male by powerful magic, and used it to punish his slaves,” Kal explained in response to the questioning looks he was getting.

“Someone created The Bull to breed the cow-girls instead of relying on humans, but it was nearly mindless. It would try to kill every man it saw and fuck every woman it could catch,” said Kashka. “I spent the night with it after failing my second attempt to kill Kal. It wasn’t horrible, but still bad enough I didn’t want to repeat the experience.”

“And you didn’t kill it out of revenge?” asked Asahi.

Kashka shook her head. “He was a victim just like the rest of us. The difference was that he had no place in the outside world. If someone found my master’s lair, they would have either killed him on the spot or used him for research.”

“Which I can assure you would have likely killed him after months or even years of torturous testing and experimentation,” Kal added. “Too many of the books in my library show how little mages and researchers worry about the effect of their experiments on test subjects when there is knowledge to be gained. I think she did the right thing.”

“A male monster girl? A monster boy?” said Yua, who had again stopped as having sex seemed inappropriate given the conversation. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“They are extremely rare and naturally only happen in the races already close to humans, but they aren’t unheard of. But this one was created with magic, not born naturally. But on with my story.

“After that was all taken care of, we joined a caravan crossing the Sulerin desert, and through some tricky dealings with the caravan master, ended up purchasing the most expensive accommodations, complete with a magical floating carpet and some exquisite food.”

“Tricky dealings?” asked Ikuno.

“The caravan master reported to my master Kal was in Fazal,” said Kashka.

“So he tried to soak me for everything he could, thinking he would never see me again. It got me Laika for the trip, so I can’t complain too much.” Kal’s eyes widened, “Oh no...”

“What?” Kashka asked.

“I was going to buy Bala and Laika’s freedom on the way back, but I gave all my gold to Roka for training her new sailors.”

“My hero is poor!” Ikuno laughed.

“I’m not poor,” Kal grumbled. “Gerda loaded me up with gems before I left, and I still have some mana crystals I could sell. I just don’t have much actual gold on me.”

“It’s still funny,” she giggled.

Kal cleared his throat. “The trip across the desert was mostly uneventful until Perra nearly died on us.”

Ikuno sat up a bit straighter. “What?!”

“Telsin has changed a lot. A salamander showed up looking for me, forcing Perra and Elta to reveal everything going on at the farm and my relations with monster girls. One of the men didn’t take it well and got physical with Perra.”

“I’ll murder the bastard—” Ikuno growled.

“He wasn’t the one to nearly kill her. Kuto came to Perra’s rescue, and Perra threw herself in front of Kuto’s claws.”

“Kuto is the harpy from earlier and Perra’s lover, isn’t she?” asked Senza.

“Yes, she is.”

“Then why would she do such a thing?”

“Because Perra thought that Kuto killing the man would undo everything she and Elta had accomplished and only increase hatred toward monster girls. I felt the attack through the bond and traveled through the astral plane to get to her. Elta was already healing Perra when I arrived, but it wasn’t enough. Cleric healing heals the entire body at once,” he explained for the sake of those listening, “but that makes it slow and wasteful. She needed my ability to direct the flow of magic toward Perra’s wounds and ignore the rest of her body.

“Perra was fading fast until Elta offered herself to me.”

“As in, you bonded with her?” Ikuno asked, incredulous. “But how could that help? Wouldn’t a bond with you sever her connection with her goddess?”

“It did, but not until she released the spell. With her power and my direction, we saved Perra. Then the door slammed on Elta’s power.”

Ikuno’s eyes narrowed as she studied Kal’s face. “But she’s not one of your women.”

“No, I released her from the bond, and she got her powers back, though I’m not entirely sure how all that happened. That all happened in the astral plane, and my memories of that time get very hazy.”

“I can imagine. You must have been exhausted.”

“When I woke up, I was alone with Ria in the tent. Outside, sandworms had dug out the area around us as they tried to figure out how to eat me. They gave up and went chasing after the caravan, so I set up a distraction for the sandworms to draw them back, then spent the next few hours catching up.”

Near the end of the crossing, the sandworms finally caught up to us. The sandworms and the caravan have an agreement. For a sacrifice, they leave the rest of the caravan in peace. There were two worms in this case, so there were two sacrifices. The caravan brings along volunteers—”

“People volunteer to be eaten?” asked Asahi.

“This will take a minute to explain. The volunteers are given treatment much like what I purchased. Then, if they run into a sandworm, one of the volunteers is chosen by lottery to be a tribute. The family of the unlucky volunteer receives a large sum of money when the caravan returns to Fazal. Fazal has enough poor and desperate people there is no shortage of volunteers.”

“And if they aren’t chosen?”

“They get a ride back and forth across the desert, fed some of the finest food Fazal has to offer, are attended to by some of the city’s best sex slaves, and receive a few gold pieces for their time.”

“That doesn’t sound worth it to me,” said Yamori.

“I doubt any of us have ever been in such a dire situation even to consider betting our lives like that,” said Kal. “But there are others, like the lady who volunteered with me, who have other reasons. She was dying of sickness and old age and wanted her death to be a boon to her family instead of a burden.”

“Wait, you volunteered?”

The mage chuckled. “Obviously, my plan was not to get eaten. I gave the old woman a modified slave collar and a knife to cut it. This was one of the collars from when I rescued the dog-girls earlier, but with a larger, flawless crystal. If the collar is cut or the slave tries to run away, a rune cracks the crystal.”

“You turned an old lady into a bomb?” Ikuno stated, frowning.

“The lady went out there to die. I gave her the power to go out on her terms instead of being slowly digested.”

“Hmmm, I guess. I’m still not sure how I feel about that.”

“Moving on. The old lady went with one sandworm, and I went to the other.

Kashka’s old master had one last trick up his sleeve. Upon dying, his body exploded into a cloud of poisonous gas meant to kill his killers, but Ria stored his corpse before it went off. She summoned Bozun’s carcass as I approached the second worm, and I used the strength rune to throw it into the sandworm’s mouth.”

“Then he attacked it to drive it underground,” Kashka added, “since we didn’t want the poison to jeopardize the caravan.

“It mostly worked,” said Kal. “The poison was expected. The explosion was not. The worm didn’t get all the way underground, and with nowhere for the explosion to go, it blew the worm’s tail off and sent most of its guts across the desert.”

“And the old lady?” Ikuno asked.

“The other sandworm did get underground, and a few seconds later, we heard a loud thump and saw the sand ahead of the caravan jump.”

“An honorable death,” said Ichiro.

“I think so too. A few days later, we reached the other side of the Sulerin desert and crossed the savannah. We made a few friends, but nothing exciting happened until we arrived at the Boordus Jungle and met Anika.

“Some ex-pirates had taken over the ruins she called home, so Kashka and I helped her wipe them out. Some of the pirates’ captives stayed with Anika to set up a trading post, while the rest came with Kashka and me to Calfera.”

“Ruins in a jungle on the opposite side of a savannah from the Sulerin desert,” Ikuno mumbled, seeming lost in thought. “I feel like I visited there before.”

“Anika would love you forever if you could shed some light on the people who built the temple where she lives. She’s been exploring for years now. Besides, I think you’d find Anika interesting. She’s a spider-girl, or maybe a spider-taur? I understand other kinds of spider-girls are more human but have four extra spider legs coming out of their backs.”

“Ewww,” said Yua, making a face. “Giant spider bodies. No thanks.”

“She really is very sweet,” said Kashka.

“I’ve killed enough giant spiders in my adventures that I don’t think I could see past her body long enough to care about her personality,” said Ichiro.

“You fucked her, didn’t you?” Ikuno asked.

“Many times, and it was quite fun,” said Kal. Once the pirates were dead, we moved on to Calfera, dropped off the captives with us, and found passage to Azumbaho aboard The Scarlet Bitch, a former slaving ship turned into a merchant vessel after the cargo escaped and took over the ship.

“Unfortunately for them, the former owner wasn’t willing to let them go. Unfortunately for him, Kashka and I were there when he tried to retake the ship. In a moment of either genius or stupidity, I made him give everything he owned to me in exchange for his life, which was witnessed by the captains of The Scarlet Bitch and The Dauntless. By the customs of the sea, an agreement witnessed by two captains is as good as law. Enough so that Ria took his robe right off his back.”

“Then Roka killed him,” Kashka explained, “and since Kal was never part of the Scarlet Bitch’s crew, the deal is still binding.”

“So, now I own a small fleet of slaving ships I need to re-crew and turn into merchant ships under the command of Scarlet, the captain of The Scarlet Bitch, some offices in Silvermoon, and, from what the former captain of the Dauntless told me, two large estates south of Silvermoon. Oh, and because of Silvermoon’s customs, I inherited a wife.”

“I was on board with saying you had a stroke of genius until you said that,” said Ikuno. She closed her eyes and looked away from him with an overly-dramatic pained expression. “Now look at me ... having an affair with a married man. I am now ... the other woman.”

She peeked back at Kal to see skeptical looks on Kal and Kashka’s faces before breaking down into giggles.

“Just curious, are you done with all the heavy stuff? Because I’d really like to continue.” Yua asked, pointing down at where she and Ichiro were still joined.

“We arrived at Soma. I gave Scarlet command of my ships because I’m neither merchant nor sailor. Set up Roka to train new sailors. Made my way to Sayaka, meeting Ming, Dioga, and Zakku on the way—”

“Dealt with a cat going through a particularly intense heat,” Kashka added.

“That too. We met Ichiro, Asahi, and their brother Nao. I entered the tournament, defeated Nao, and passed the days to your arrival with my new friends. Was that quick enough for you?”

“That works,” said Yua, sighing as she sank down into Ichiro’s lap. The pika immediately frowned and looked back at him. “You went soft.”

“You couldn’t tell?” asked the caretaker’s wife.

“She’s so tight I never slipped out,” said the eldest brother as he pressed his stiffening cock further into Yua’s sex.

The caretaker’s wife slid off her seat and crawled over to Yua and Ichiro, her eyes locked on where the pika was starting to raise and lower herself on the brother’s prick. When she could almost rest her head on Ichiro’s knee, she looked up at them, her question plain in her eyes.