Chapter 159

--- 26th Day, Evening ---

When we returned home after exploring, we could hear someone talking in the dining room, and to my slight surprise, it was my daughter and Mia.

“Oh, Master!” the bunny girl gasped, jumping out of her chair and stopping in front of me, clasping her hands together. “Your friend came by, and I didn't want her to wait outside, so I invited her in. I hope you don’t mind.”

“My... friend?” I asked, worried that Vi could tell Mia too much about herself or me when the bunny girl didn’t know many of my secrets.

“Oh, I saw you talking yesterday,” Mia quickly explained. “I-I wouldn't let a stranger into the house.”

I smiled, wondering how she would stop anyone if they insisted on coming inside, but I didn’t comment on it. “Thank you. You can let Vi in anytime she wants,” I added, looking at my daughter.

Mia nodded before speaking again. “I prepared dinner and can heat it up quickly. Do you want to eat now, Master?”

“Are you hungry?” I asked Vi, not bothering to tell Mia there was no need to call me that. If she insisted on it, I wasn't going to stop her.

“I could eat something,” Virelia replied.

“Sure, we can eat,” I said to Mia. “Will you join us?”

“I-I ate already,” the bunny girl replied.

“That’s okay then, thank you. Is Amber home?” I asked.

“No, she took Azura’s sisters to the market.”

“Alysson too?” I asked, surprised that she was still learning from the elf.

“She didn’t want to stay home,” Mia shrugged. “I’ll go prepare dinner now?”

“I’ll help her,” Zoe offered, grabbing Mia’s hand and pulling her out of the room.

“I found out that Mia is only a week younger than me,” Vi said as I sat down across from her. “And she’s already your slave.”

“It’s not like that-” I tried to protest.

“I know, you explained it yesterday,” Vi interrupted. “And she said the same thing. You’re helping her.”

“I am.”

“Are you really going to free her?”

“Of course. I already freed Mari, who also happened to be my slave for a short time. And I offered to free Mia’s sister, Terra, but she refused.”

“So you’re trying to fight slavery by buying and freeing slaves?” Vi asked.

“Not really. It just happened. Besides, what difference would one or two freed people make in fighting slavery?”

“Mom says the same thing. That she needs to change the laws and the overall situation. But can you look at Mia and say you didn’t change her life? That you didn’t save her? If I had money like Mom, I’d be buying and freeing slaves all the time. She could probably buy all of them and set them free,” Vi claimed fiercely.

“You don’t like slavery?” I asked.

“No one should!”

“You do realize that I have a Demon Master class?” I asked quietly, glancing toward the door to make sure Mia hadn’t returned, then flicking my gaze toward Azura, who was simply sitting there and listening in silence. “And I have four slaves. Doesn’t that bother you?”

“You want to free them,” Vi claimed.

“Not all of them.”

She frowned, hesitating for a moment before speaking. “You don’t choose your class, only how you use it, and...” She looked at Azura, then back at me. “You should free them.”

“Azura, do you want me to free you?” I asked.

“No.”

“And Zoe would probably cry if she even found out I was thinking about it,” I added. “It’s...”

“Complicated,” Vi groaned. “I know. Mom says that all the time. And... and... then buying and selling slaves should be illegal. If someone willingly wants it for some reason... then I guess they can. Besides, I know you treat them well. If it were different, Aunt Sage... would probably have killed you already,” Vi added with a frown.

Before I could ask about it, Mia appeared carrying plates for us.

“I hope you will like it,” she said quietly, putting the food in front of me.

“I love your cooking, and it looks delicious,” I replied with a grin.

Mia blushed, getting flustered. She mumbled something under her breath and then darted out of the room.

A moment later, Zoe appeared, bringing food for herself and Azura.

“Can you put the spell around us?” Vi asked the succubus. “The one that blocks sound?”

“The Silent Dome?” Zoe asked, glancing at me. After I nodded, she cast it.

“Do you have a skill that can break slave bonds?” Vi asked immediately.

“I do,” I replied, tasting Mia’s delicious food, though I was more focused on wondering where Vi was going with this.

“And you can free slaves?”

“Only those bonded to me.”

“But it’s level one, right? Maybe it will let you break other bonds on a higher level?”

“Maybe,” I shrugged.

Vi nodded thoughtfully before asking, “How did you get that class?”

“I... asked Zoe to become my slave, and she agreed.”

“That’s all?” Vi asked.

“I’m not an expert. And your mom claims no one really knows exactly how it works. Why are you asking?”

“I want that class,” Vi replied. “To free slaves. To break their bonds.”

“You can just do that?”

“Technically, yes.”

“And not technically?”

“It’s illegal, and the owners would probably be pissed, but who cares?” Vi asked.

“I-”

“Are you going to lecture me now, like Mom?” Vi interrupted before I could continue.

“I... We just don’t want you to get into trouble,” I replied.

Virelia pouted but didn’t answer.

“Is your dislike of slavery because of Gemma?” I asked.

“I think it’s mostly because of Aunt Sage. But slavery is bad in general.”

“Sage?”

Vi tilted her head to the side, looking at me quizzically. “You don’t know about her past?”

“She was a slave?” I asked.

Vi didn’t answer, becoming thoughtful.

“Are you going to tell me it’s her story to tell, just like Gemma does?” I asked.

“First of all, it is her story to tell. And besides, I’m nothing like Mom,” Vi claimed firmly, still pouting.

“Yeah,” I chuckled. “Completely different. Not like her at all.”

“I don’t have a stick up my ass like she does,” Vi pouted.

I snorted. We were all almost done eating by then. “Any ideas what we could do after dinner?” I asked.

“What do you usually do besides work?” Vi countered.

I hesitated. Most of what I actually did wasn’t suitable to mention to my daughter… fucking my girlfriends, teasing Selira, spanking naughty elf…

“I don’t have that much free time, but I train with weapons for the dungeons and practice using my mana. But I haven’t had that much training.”

“That’s just like me,” Vi replied immediately. “We’ve had mana for the same amount of time. We could practice together,” she offered.

“Sure. Sage berated me recently for not training enough, so that would actually be really useful.”

“Why would she do that?” Vi asked with a frown.

“She trains me and gave me some exercises to do in my free time, but... I didn’t really do them.”

“She trains you?!” Vi gasped. “What the fuck?! I begged her to train me, and she told me maybe in a hundred years when I grow up.”

“Well, she doesn’t do it for free,” I replied.

Vi pouted again but didn’t answer.

I picked up the plates and carried them to the kitchen. Mia was nowhere in sight, but I assumed she would clean them later, or I would do it myself once Vi had gone home.

“When we train, we head out of the city to a nearby forest so no one notices that I have mana,” I said to Vi.

She agreed to go to the same spot, and together with Azura and Zoe, we left the house.

“How did exploring go today?” Vi asked as we headed toward the city gate.

“It was okay. We made it through level three and reached the checkpoint. We’ll probably test ourselves on level four soon. What about you? What do you do now that you're staying in Ortas?”

“Catch up with my old friend,” Vi replied. “And finally have some freedom and fun,” she added, rolling her eyes.

“Is Gemma really that strict of a parent?”

“Yeah. Do this, don’t do that, all the time. It’s nice to have a break.”

I wondered if it was really like that or if Vi was exaggerating, like most kids probably did. Then again, it was entirely possible that Gemma was strict with her daughter... our daughter.

“Do you always go everywhere together?” Vi asked, looking between Zoe and Azura.

“Umm...” the succubus murmured. “We explore together and spend a lot of time together,” she explained with a soft blush on her cheeks, avoiding mentioning that she hated to part with me, and would love to be at my side all the time.

We reached the city gate, passing between the guards and other people moving in and out of the city, before quickly taking one of the less-used roads leading into the nearby forest.

Azura at least waited until we were far enough away from other people before she hummed and looked at me.

“Sure, but please hide behind a tree or a bush,” I added quickly, hoping she would be patient enough to find some cover from Vi. “And Zoe, pick up her clothes, please.”

“Yes, Master,” the succubus replied.

Azura moved behind a small bush that barely hid her naked body as she took off her clothes and shifted into a wolf. She barked once before running a circle around us.

“I always envied shifters for that,” Vi said, her gaze following Azura. “Well... I envied anyone who didn't have a blocked class like me, but being able to turn into a completely different creature, see the world in a different way...” she murmured.

“Did having your class blocked cause you a lot of problems?” I asked as we followed Azura deeper into the forest, searching for a good training spot.

“It shouldn’t have. There are people who live perfectly normal lives without a class. But Mom used her position to put me in a school full of kids who had classes, so I was the odd one out.”

I nodded, briefly wondering if she had been bullied because of it. Then again, Gemma should have been able to do something if that had happened. Either way, it was in the past now, and there was nothing to be done about it.

“That should be far enough,” I said, stopping in a small clearing where the trees were a bit thinner and there was enough grass on the ground to sit comfortably instead of directly on bare dirt.

“Master...” Zoe said, dragging out the word as she looked at me hesitantly.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Do you think maybe I could... hunt?”

“Ugh... sure. Just clean yourself afterward, please?” I asked, still remembering one of the first days when she came back with a rabbit and had smeared herself in its blood. “And I don't think we can bring it home. Especially if you catch a rabbit,” I added, unsure how Mia would react to a sight like that.

“Thank you!” Zoe gasped cheerfully, wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me. “Azura, do you want to join me?” she asked when she pulled back.

After Azura barked in response, the two of them ran off together, quickly disappearing between the trees.

“So, what are we going to train?” Virelia asked.

Looking around, I picked up a stone and explained one of the exercises Sage had given me. I suggested we do it together, bouncing the stone back and forth between us using mana.

It was supposed to help train precision and concentration, and the fact that we could practice together seemed like the most important part of it.

“Seems good,” Vi replied.

We found a place to sit down across from each other, and after confirming she was ready, I summoned mana.

Vi didn’t.

I realized she was focusing really hard just to do the same, looking like she was struggling much more with it than I had. But eventually, she managed to summon mana, and actually quite a lot of it.

I tossed the stone up and pushed it toward her. With a look of intense concentration on her face, she managed to send it back, using quite a bit of mana in the process, though compared to how much she had summoned, it wasn’t that bad.

We bounced the stone back and forth a few times, but then I pushed it a little too far to the side. Vi managed to hit it, but it flew away while her mana completely dispersed.

“Fuck!” she gasped.

I used my mana to catch the stone and send it back toward her, but then redirected it into my hand when I realized she no longer had enough mana to keep it in the air.

“You’re still holding mana?” she asked.

“I’m summoning it on the fly.”

“Just like that?” Vi asked. “You don’t seem to focus much.”

“I practiced a bit,” I replied.

“I practice every day. Ever since I could. Just like you.”

“Maybe I didn’t realize how much it helped, but Zoe assisted me with sensing my mana, and I picked it up pretty quickly,” I replied, frowning as I wondered if that was the reason.

“How did she help? Can she help me?” Vi asked.

“No,” I grunted.

“Oh...” Vi pouted. “That’s not fair. I hoped we could at least be on the same level, getting access to mana this late.”

“I’m not that far ahead. I’m sure you can catch up if you train a lot. And you have plenty of mana for that.”

“I do. How much mana do you have?” she asked.

“Twelve hundred,” I replied.

“Ha! I have more. I can catch up and beat you.”

I smiled before asking, “Do you know that I increased how much mana I have thanks to our class?”

“Wait, what?! I can get more? That’s impossible!”

“With our class?” I asked.

Vi stared at me in silence for a moment before asking, “How?”

“Do you have the Achievement skill?”

“I can get more mana from completing achievements? Oh my god! And you know what I need to do?”

“Some of them, at least if they’re similar to mine, because some are... well, I don’t think they’re going to work for you.”

“I have The Collector, The Main Goal, Spreading Joy, Streak, Did You Fall in Love, Perverted Mana, Amazing Series, You Broke Her First, and Within Family,” Vi quickly listed. “Do you know what I have to do for any of them?”

“All of them,” I replied with a frown. “It’s called You Broke Her First?” I asked, emphasizing the word ‘her’.

“Yeah.”

“That’s...” I grunted, feeling a little flustered.

“Please,” Vi said. “Mom already doesn’t want to talk to me about this. I need someone I can talk freely about it with, and you’re perfect.”

“It’s a bit weird talking about all of that with my daughter.”

“Oh, come on. I’m an adult now.”

“Okay,” I sighed. “I’ll try.”

Virelia nodded before asking, “So? What do I need to do for that achievement?”

“Ugh... In my version, I had to take all three virginities of a woman. And if yours has ‘her’ in the title, you might have the same requirement.”

“I hope so,” Virelia replied. “It would be fucked if I had to do something with guys.”

“So you are...” I trailed off.

“Into girls? Yeah. And not interested in men at all.”

“Okay... The reward for that achievement is three stat points you can assign however you want.”

“And which achievement gives mana?” Vi asked immediately.

“The Main Goal and Spreading Joy. Fifty mana per achievement.”

“And what do I have to do?” Virelia asked.

“Um... Reach the finish line with The Main Goal, and help your partner reach it with Spreading Joy.”

“You mean I need to come fifty times to get fifty mana?” Vi asked with a smile.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “But not on your own.”

“Right... First I had my class blocked, and now I can’t even level up on my own,” Virelia pouted.

“You have time, and you shouldn’t rush into anything just to farm levels,” I replied.

“Like you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I... might not be the best example when it comes to that.”

“I wouldn’t say so,” Vi replied with a smirk. “You seem to be managing your class quite well.”

“Shouldn’t we practice more with mana?” I asked, hoping to change the subject.

“First, you should tell me about the achievements,” Vi replied, refusing to let it go.

So I told her about the descriptions and rewards of the achievements we shared so far, deciding to keep the higher-level ones for later. Vi seemed really excited about the rewards, but at the same time disappointed that most of them appeared difficult for her to complete at the moment. Especially the one that required having sex for thirty consecutive days, since she didn’t have a partner to do it with.

After sharing what I knew about the achievements, we returned to training with the stone, bouncing it back and forth. Vi tried her best, focusing hard on the task, which didn’t leave much room for conversation, but that wasn’t important.

We were doing something together, and for the first time, it felt like we were bonding instead of simply asking each other questions.

“I’m getting low on mana,” I said when I was down to only a hundred points.

“I still have quite a lot left,” Virelia replied with a grin.

“Then you should train some more after we get back to Ortas.”

“I didn’t run away from home just to spend all my time studying and training,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

“Vi...”

“Oh, come on. You’re supposed to be the laid-back parent.”

“Am I?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“There needs to be some balance to Mom.”

I shook my head with a smile. “Just don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“Of course,” she replied.

I didn’t like the way she said it. It sounded more like a joke than a promise. I looked around, wondering where Zoe and Azura were, since they still hadn’t returned.

“Looking for your girlfriends?” Vi asked.

“Yeah...”

“Do you... really love them?” she asked quietly.

“I do. Why?”

“Just asking,” Virelia shrugged, looking away.

Not pressing her for an explanation, I got up and called out for Zoe and Azura, a bit of worry creeping into my mind now that they had been gone for quite a while.

Azura barked back immediately from somewhere in the distance. The next bark came from much closer, and a moment later both of them emerged from between the trees.

It was good to see them, especially since Zoe wasn’t covered in the blood of her prey.

“Did you manage to catch something?” I asked.

“Yeah,” the succubus replied, getting a little flustered.

I decided not to ask what had happened to it, since they clearly hadn’t brought it back with them.

Azura barked as she sat down in front of me, and as strange as it sounded, she looked happy in her wolf form. There was something in her eyes that I could also see when she was human.

“Azura really liked hunting with me,” Zoe said.

“We can come here more often and let you hunt,” I replied. “Just stay closer next time. I was starting to get worried. You were gone for a while.”

“Oh, we stayed close,” Zoe replied. “I just thought we could give the two of you some time alone.”

“Thanks,” Vi said with a smile.

“Thank you,” I agreed. “But I think we should head back now,” I added as it was getting late.

As we headed toward the city, I found myself wondering about something. “How long are you planning to stay in Ortas?” I asked Vi.

“I want to live on my own now. And Ortas seems like a good place for that.”

“I’m not sure what Gemma would think about it.”

“She wanted me to start becoming independent. Besides, I’m an adult now. I can do whatever I want.”

“It’s not that simple. You need a place to live and at least enough money to buy food. You’ll need to find a job.”

“Then I’ll find one,” Vi shrugged.

“What kind of job?”

“I don’t know. Something,” she replied nonchalantly.

“If you ever need help, whether it’s a place to stay or anything else, you can always come to me,” I offered, rather than telling her that it probably wasn’t the best approach.

“Thanks,” she replied, smiling widely.

We were already getting close to the city, and after Azura shifted back, we stepped onto the more heavily used road. There were too many people around to talk freely without risking someone overhearing us.

We remained silent until we entered the city and moved some distance away from the gate.

“I’ll be heading back to my friend’s place now,” Vi said, stopping a few steps in front of me.

I hesitated for a moment before asking “Can I hug you?” It felt strange to ask, but I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable or scare her away by assuming too much.

Virelia opened her mouth to answer but no words came out. After a moment, she simply nodded and stepped closer.

I wrapped my arms around her, and she hugged me back immediately.

“Eighteen years...” she murmured.

I couldn’t answer.

The storm of emotions stole my voice as tears welled up in my eyes. For the first time in my life, I was holding my child in my arms.

After a moment, she pulled back and looked up at me. I blinked rapidly, trying to hold back the tears. “Sorry,” I murmured, unable to say anything else.

Virelia didn’t answer. Instead, she hugged me again, and for another long moment we simply stood there in each other’s arms.

This time, I was the one who pulled away.

Only then did I notice that Vi had tears on her cheeks as well, sniffling softly.

“I should get going,” she said quietly.

“We could hang out again tomorrow?” I offered.

“Yeah. I can come to your place in the afternoon and wait for you to get back from the dungeon.”

“I’d really like that.”

After that, Virelia finally started walking away. Her gaze lingered on me for a few moments longer before she turned around.

I stood there watching her go, still overwhelmed by everything I was feeling.

Zoe wrapped her arms around me from the side and stayed silent, her tail curling around my waist.

“We should head home,” I said once Vi was no longer visible among the city streets. “We need to prepare for our date with Selira.”

“Maybe we can find some time to have a little fun first,” Zoe purred.

“Maybe,” I snorted.

Taking both Zoe’s and Azura’s hands, we headed home together in silence.