Chapter 293 – Re: Quest

Day 34

"So what is it you ladies wanted to show me?" John asked the four women, the carpenter, woodworker, weaponsmith and armoursmith, who brought him out to the mill after breakfast. He had several plans today, but he could spare them some time before he was needed for magic lessons with Mi and Sei in the afternoon. 

"This, Milord." The carpenter said, pulling the sheet off the object in the centre of their workshop.  A massive, intricately carved throne stood before him, with the same cross symbols his armour had inlaid into it. The wood had been burned to a black hue and covered with some sort of varnish, and silver metal had been used to make the iron crosses. Black leather had been used to make the seat, with silver buttons pinning it down. Its high back was even taller than he was, making it look like a throne meant for a king.

"What? When did you even have time to make such a thing?" He asked, knowing full well they had been busy building things around the village or crafting tools and weapons for people to use.

"We used our free time in the evening and night to create this for you, Milord. We wanted to give you something from the craftswomen of the village to show our appreciation for all the hard work you have done." The woodworker said, guiding him over towards it. "Please, have a seat."

"Ee found the silver alongside the mithril deposit, so we used the metal to create the crosses."  The Armoursmith said, her angelic-sounding voice not matching the gruff exterior she normally portrayed. For once, she didn't have a scowl on her face, appearing proud of the workmanship they had accomplished in a short amount of time.

"Well, it is very impressive. Thank you." He said. He had no idea why he needed such a chair, though it was clear that most of the furniture in the house wouldn't support his weight unless it was a couch or a bed. Every time he tried to sit down for a meal, he was worried he was about to find himself on the floor.

He took the seat and found it incredibly roomy, with ample room on either side of his hips in case he grew even larger with another evolution. He hoped that didn't happen. If he got much taller, he would have to lean over in most areas of the mansion.

"Are you comfortable, Milord?" The carpenter said, standing in front of him and looking down at his legs. "We took the measurements the other day, but we can cut it shorter or add risers if needed.

"No, I think you got it perfect the first time." He replied, trying not to stare at her cleavage as she bent over to inspect how his feet were resting. Little John had already caught a glimpse and was riding high under his loincloth.

Damn bunny suits.

"Are you sure? It wouldn't do if your circulation got cut off if you had to sit there for a while. We should test that out, just to be sure." She said, stepping forward and climbing onto the chair, straddling his waist. With a flick of her wrist, she pushed his loincloth away and grabbed Little John and began to stroke him, the callous on her hands actually feeling incredibly soft. 

"Umm... what are you doing?"

"You don't think the fighters of our group are the only ones that want to show how we feel about you, Rou? We all care deeply for you and want you to know that if you ever need a release, you can come to us, too. Right, ladies?" She said, lifting herself up, pushing the narrow strip of fabric covering her vulva aside and sliding Little John right inside of her. 

"You're crazy." He said, then kissed her waiting lips as she grinded on top of him, while two others started to kiss his cheeks while the third knelt behind the carpenter and started to fondle his balls.

Suffice to say, he was late for lunch that day.

"Fireball!" He chanted, throwing the spell at the distant target he put up in the training yard. The magic flew out of his hand instantly, enveloping the stack of Dig stones he was using as a target, burning their surface but leaving them unscathed. They were the perfect thing for them to practice offensive magic on.

"Firebolt!" Mi said beside him, casting the weaker spell he had taught her. The bolt struck home, albeit with much less flash than the fireball.

"You did it!" He said, giving her a hug as best he could. This was the first time she had fired the spell off that it didn't go awry, hitting something else she had not intended. 

"So did you! Didn't you just start reading the tome last night?"

"Yeah. Might have been luck?" He said, though he suspected it had something to do with the blessings he had been given. He took to the magic from the tome like a duck did to water, understanding everything almost immediately. There were two other spells buried in that tome, plus he felt he could modify them further just by changing the chant slightly.

"I doubt it! What else can you do?" She asked him eagerly, clearly not put off at how quickly he figured out that magic. 

"This! Firewall!" He chanted, throwing up a curtain of fire similar to that time he used the single-use spell scroll in HOTD to burn the zombies away, though it clearly was nowhere near as powerful as that one. 

He then cancelled that spell and cast another. "Inferno!" A circle of fire about ten feet in diameter locked on and enveloped the target. If it was something that was living, he was certain that it would die rather quickly in that blaze. Both of these spells were expensive to cast, and the longer he left them running, the more mana they would draw from him, but in much of the fighting he had been in before, he could see how useful they could be.

Still, he wanted more magic that could build things up, rather than burn them to the ground. These were useful in times of strife, but he wanted magic that he could use in times of peace. 

Aqua really knew what my heart wanted, making the mana pool become a well of healing instead of something that could cause harm to others. Still, I need to be strong enough, to make my people strong enough, to defend it in case someone comes calling that wants to try and take it all away.

Speaking of Aqua, she and Riana were out dancing in the fields, singing together as they planted even more crops. They had a team of female goblins helping them now. Two of the ladies broke the ground while Aqua cast Nature's Beauty on a seed. Then the third planted it, and Riana would cast spells to make it grow faster. The pair of them looked beautiful, both filled with joy as they did this simple task. 

He turned his attention back to Mi, who was readying another spell, while Sei was watching over both of them, the hobgoblin standing there with her arms crossed. One would think she was angry, but she was like Yu, and the 'resting bitch face' was her normal look. She was actually impressed as John was at Mi's progress, happily giving the younger hobgoblin some pointers when she seemed unsure of herself. Sato was nearby, practicing with her sword while waiting for the magic practice to get over with. She had been glued to Sei's side the last few days, making sure the mage would stop work on the door to come up and get food and sunlight every day. 

He had watched the purple-haired woman train a few times now, but had barely talked with her. That would probably change soon, as he could pick out some problems with her form that should probably be corrected. He was surprised Jean had not picked up on it already during their morning training; the woman was much better with a blade than he was, but she already had her hands full training the human women and other goblin hunters. He was going to pick up her slack when they left, which would be easy to do since he was already training at the same time, but it made him wonder if there was an issue between the two of them.

"Firebolt!" Mi shouted, sending another dart of flame towards the target, slamming into the stone. 

"Nicely done. Now, let's try some of the other basic spells." He said, returning his attention to Mi. "Give me a bolt."

Sei and Sato left a few minutes later, Sei eager to see what was behind the door she had been working on for the last few days. She gave Mi some more words of encouragement, then smiled and nodded at him before departing. She really was an attractive woman, and her eyes always seemed to light up more when he talked to her.

Damn it, man, how many times a day do you need to have sex to not think about it every thirty seconds! Alec, you're fixing this as soon as we get back, else I'm not playing ball anymore. This is bloody insane. 

{Fine. I'll tone it down when you get back. We are going to need to combine a bunch of things anyway. Don't worry, you still have a lot of time in that world if you want your reward. I'm curious to see how you handle the next twenty-five days.}

A shiver went down John's spine. He had not expected Alec to answer, let alone give him some sort of vague warning. That uneasy feeling the women had dispelled had come back to him in full.

"Hello. My. Son." Angel said, looking at him with a wary look in her eyes. 

"Good evening, Mother. How are you feeling?" He replied, offering her the bouquet in his hands. Not really knowing her, he brought her a bouquet of flowers from outside Riana's tree, making one of the waterlily flowers the centrepiece. 

They were in the sitting room next to the balcony, her seated in one of the chairs while he knelt in front of it. Lina and Jean stood nearby in case Angel had an episode with him and needed to help calm her down. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, but his current form was still shocking to several of the women, and he couldn't blame them for it. It seemed like a much healthier response to his looks than how Jean and most of the other women were acting. 

That said, I remember what was in the grocery store romance novel section. Apparently lonely housewives dreamed of werewolves, vampires and minotaurs making love to them; why not an ogre?

He shook the thought off as she took the flowers from him, clutching them to her chest, never taking her eyes off of him. "Fine. Nice. Here. Your. Home. What. Need?"

His heart went out to this woman who had clearly been traumatized, so he tried to lighten the mood. "I clearly came to see the smile on your face." He said, smiling as best he could without baring his fangs.

"Don't. Tease. Your. Mother." She replied, smiling slightly, though the fear never left her eyes. "You. Need. Something?"

He sighed. He would have to try to work on her over the coming weeks. "I do. Are you able to use your skills to watch over the women going to the human kingdom? I want to know if they get in trouble."

He could use the scrying ability he received from her to see things far away, but he couldn't always be watching them. He didn't expect her to watch them constantly, but he wanted a second set of eyes checking on them when he wasn't. 

She eyed him for a moment, then nodded. "I. Can. Taxing. Will. Do. It. For. You. My. Son." 

"Thank you, mother." He said, standing up and stepping back from her. He hated that every time he met this woman, he asked her for something instead of trying to get to know her better. "Do you want to have coffee together tomorrow morning?"

"Be. Nice. Thank. You. For. Flowers." She said, giving him a tight smile again, clearly having a hard time being around him but wanting to know him better as well.

"You're welcome. Until tomorrow then." He said, then with a smile and kiss to Jean and Lina, he left the room and made his way up to his own. 

Mi was waiting for him, making a cup of chamomile tea from their little pod machine. He sat down on the couch on the side of the room, and she offered him the cup before grabbing her own and plopping down on his lap. "How did it go?"

"She will watch over them; however, I still have a bad feeling about this. I'm not sure how a human settlement would take it if a raging ogre invaded them, looking for the human women he had come to save."

"They will be fine." She said, leaning on his chest, drinking her tea. "I'm told human lands are quite safe compared to where we live, and they are strong fighters."

"You're right. I'm probably worried over nothing." He replied, taking a sip of his tea and eyeing the next spell tome Mi had brought up for them to study. 

"Is there anything I can do to help take your mind off of things?" She said, nuzzling his chest with her cheek. 

He took another drink of his tea and set the cup down, then took hers and placed it beside his. "Yes. I think there is." He replied, then pulled her in close and brought his lips to hers. Oddly, he didn't want sex at that moment, but he felt like he needed to be closer to Mi, to feel the bond of someone who was close to him. Aqua and Riana were busy tending to the mana well, and Ee was down in the baths as far as he knew, though she would be here shortly. That left the smart and adorable Mi to get closer to.

She really is a kind and caring woman, always looking after the little things for me. She will make a great wife someday.

That day wasn't today, but he knew it was only a matter of time.