Time skip.

(Author's note: The story required it, but I'm not into femdom. Anyone who wants to elaborate on the protagonist's two very bad nights is welcome to, no limits apply. We now return to your regularly scheduled power fantasy).

Something woke Reader. He wished it hadn't. His dreams, icky though they were, had felt distant. Now, awake, everything felt much too close, too real.

"Myaster, wake up!" it repeated urgently.

Ah. his catgirl. Kitsune? For a shameful moment he wished he'd let her die. He didn't really want to spend time with her after what she'd seen. Nor did he want to mov-

"Myaster, we have to check out nyow! This is the most expensive hotel in the city! She means to indebt you to her!"

Shit. Time to move. Reader's limbs felt much too heavy, as though he was commanding them from a distance. Getting up felt like it was taking forever. impulsively, he reminded himself of what had happened in the bed he occupied, riding his desire to get away into rolling out, landing on all fours.

I'm a hero he grimly reminded himself as he rose to his feet. stumbling to the cage through a haze of pain and shame. he flicked the latch and sagged into the arms of the fox-eared, cat-tailed girl that suddenly stood beside him.

"Come on Myaster... I'll help you..." she mewed, stumbling a little as she took his weight. "Whatever it takes... I'll make you glad you took that deal. Just give me time..."

"That I'd like to see" Reader muttered as the Nekotsune half-dragged him through the richly - carpeted hallway and down a gilded staircase. Everything looked red, gold, or mirrored, It really was a nice hotel. He wondered if he should trust the catgirl. He was certainly in no condition to resist her if she decided to take advantage-

"Myaster and I are checking out!" The Nekotsune shouted nearly as soon as they hit the ground floor. She pulled him through a pair of swinging double doors and into a velvetous lobby. A conservatively-dressed elf stood behind the counter, and it looked like she'd been talking tot he adventuress.

"Oh, but- I had already put you down for another night-" she began, clearly discomfited.

"I explained that you wanted to rest..." the adventuress began mildly

"Not unless someone else picks up the tab." Reader tried to meet her eyes, but found he couldn't. He managed to address the checkout elf though. "I'm afraid I can't afford to stay here on my own dime. My regrets if there was a miscommunication".

The elf looked at him, taking in his exhaustion and the bruises on his naked form. He watched her expression shift from confused and put out, to dawning comprehension and, as her gaze shifted to the adventuress, sharp disappointment. The adventuress - Kat, Reader reminded himself - didn't seem to notice. She was busy glaring daggers at his half-kitsune pet, who was returning her glare with a matching malevolence.

"We have staff accommodations here that I can use as I wish", she began hesitantly, flinching as three sets of eyes hit her at once. "It's not the Baronal Honeymoon suite, but it has a decent bed if you wish to rest. No charge".

"Thank you" Reader managed, and let his half-neko pet guide him through the door the elf indicated.

"Reader!" the adventuress called as the two made their way. He flinched at her voice, and again at his own reaction, but she didn't approach them. "If you get into trouble you need help getting out of... break this and I'll help" she said. She laid a small, clear gem on the countertop and strode outside.

The room was small but clean, and Reader was glad for the sudden privacy. His pet deposited him on the bed and immediately resumed the form of a two-tailed cat. She sprung easily onto the bed and curled up at his feet, one eye on the door.

Tired as he was, Reader decided to take another look at his character sheet, to see what he was working with now. The results were a decidedly mixed bag.

The resurrections must have been the reason behind the endurance hit, he saw- in fact, from the logs he saw that was accounting for it going up for enduring the beatings. Not great. On the other hand, he'd gained a number of assets, and was close to leveling. He wondered whether that would lift the violated condition. very low luck would probably be a bad thing especially now. But even if it was, there's likely to be a quest of some kind he could go on...

And with those thoughts coursing through his mind, Reader drifted off into a slightly less troubled sleep than before.