Chapter 132

--- 21st Day, Night ---

I woke up in the dream world, blinking my eyes open and focusing on Gemma. “I thought we weren’t meeting today,” I murmured. “It’s late.”

“Something kept me up, so I gave it a try before going to sleep and we connected,” she explained. “Your mana increased again?” Gemma asked, sounding more surprised than actually asking, since she could read my status.

“Only by fifty points,” I shrugged.

“Only fifty points,” Gemma snorted. “People who don’t have mana at all would kill for fifty points. And there are many who have between one hundred and two hundred and will never have more, because your mana increasing like this is not something normal.”

“One hundred sounds so small,” I murmured. “Like… it would never be enough for me.”

“Well, people typically don’t feed hundreds of mana into their succubus girlfriend every day and tend to be more efficient when using it.”

“How?”

“Practice,” Gemma shrugged. “But you should learn control first, even if you’re not efficient yet, especially when you have so much.”

“I wanted to ask. I got more mana thanks to achievements, and one of them requires two elementals. Are those like demons? Do they live in cities? Can you check those files you have and tell me where I could find them?”

“Elementals are demons, but not typical ones,” Gemma replied with a frown. “I have only ever met one in my life.”

“Only one? Are they that rare?”

“I wasn’t looking for them, and they avoid cities, so there weren’t many occasions for our paths to cross. But if you manage to find one, they should be able to help you find more. The problem is finding that first one and convincing them to even talk to you.”

“Why?”

“They’re not very fond of pretty much anyone except other elementals. They feel a very strong bond with nature, especially with the element they represent, and that makes them weird to us, and us weird to them. They prefer to avoid contact altogether, so this achievement might be hard to complete.”

“The one you met before, do you know where she is?”

“No,” Gemma shook her head. “It was about fifty years ago. She was a water elemental, and I stumbled upon her on a beach by the sea, so yeah… good luck looking for her in the whole ocean.”

“What was she doing there then?” I asked.

“Actually… it’s a long stretch, but she was there keeping an eye on turtle eggs and helping newborn turtles get back to the sea.”

“So if I find turtle eggs, she might be there?”

“Maybe. It might be easier to find those than an elemental.”

I sighed, not feeling like that was a good way to find one. Maybe Selira would know something more. Or maybe someone else.

“Could Sage know more about it?” I asked.

“You can ask her, and I can ask around too. Maybe someone knows something. But you will have a much easier time finding an elf or a black-furred cat demon.”

“Can you check if there are any in Ortas?”

“If you mean the records I have, they are not segregated by race, so I would need to go through all of them in the hope I’d find something. You’ll save me time and find it much faster by going into any tavern, finding some creep, and asking him if he knows about any hot young elves around. Or ask your cute librarian, maybe she knows someone.”

“Thanks for helping with her and Hannah,” I said. “Selira hired her.”

Gemma just nodded and changed the topic. “How did the talk with Whitney go?”

“Didn’t Sage already report to you about it?”

“She did, but I want to know your perspective too.”

I told Gemma what I remembered about my conversation with Whitney, while she just nodded as she listened.

“You do realize she has some plan and wants to play you?” the blonde witch asked when I finished.

“It’s obvious, and it’s not hard to guess what she wants.”

“Just be careful and don’t assume freedom and blood are everything she wants from you,” Gemma warned.

“What else could she want?”

“I don’t know,” Gemma shrugged. “But you shouldn’t disregard her just because you played her once. Maybe she just wants **** because you helped catch her.”

“She did say she doesn’t blame me,” I murmured, wondering if she had just been pretending while planning how to pay me back.

“She could have been lying,” Gemma replied.

“Can’t Sage use her truth-seeking stone on her?”

“It detects whether someone is lying, but it doesn’t **** anyone to actually speak. She already refused to talk unless it’s with you, so put the stone in her hand and she won’t open her mouth.”

“Unless I demand that it’s the only way I would talk with her.”

“You can try, but she might not care about you that much,” Gemma replied.

“What about my payment for getting information from her?” I asked.

“First, Sage will need to confirm it’s true. Then I’ll pay you something, but that information isn’t really that valuable.”

“Illegal slaves that you can free?” I asked.

“I could send someone to Liraveth to any market, buy slaves, bring them here, and free them. That would be pretty much the same,” Gemma replied. “Only this person sells them here illegally, but at the same time I can’t do anything to her while she stays on Liraveth’s side. So I’m already spending a lot on buying those slaves just to free them. It’s not solving the problem, so don’t expect much for it.”

“Okay…” I sighed.

With no more questions for each other, we finished our talk, and I returned to sweet sleep.

--- 22nd Day, Morning ---

We were eating breakfast when the entrance door opened, and there was pretty much only one person who could enter like that. I sighed before she even appeared in the living room.

Sage entered with a grin on her face and a box in her hands, then sat by the table.

“Hey handsome. Hey Azura. Hey Zoe,” she said cheerfully.

“Sage,” I replied. “Someone’s in a good mood?”

“Maybe. That’s for you,” she said, pushing the box toward Zoe.

“Me?” the succubus asked, looking between the box, Sage, and me.

I frowned, wondering what she had come up with this time.

“Yes, you. Open it,” Sage replied with a grin.

“You open it,” I said, pushing the box back toward her.

Sage rolled her eyes before opening the box, revealing some light blue material inside. “It’s a gift,” she added, pushing the box toward Zoe again.

“It’s a dress?” Zoe asked as she pulled it out and raised it in front of herself.

“Yeah, I thought you would look cute in it,” Sage replied. “Will you try it on for me?”

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Nothing, just giving her a cute dress,” Sage replied.

“Can I, Master?” Zoe asked, and from her eyes I could tell she really wanted to.

I stared at Sage, wondering what was going on, before finally nodding.

Zoe quickly walked out of the room, leaving me with Sage and Azura.

“What are you up to?” I asked again.

“Why? Do you feel jealous I didn’t get you anything?”

“You don’t seem like someone who gives presents without a reason.”

“Maybe you don’t know me that well.”

Zoe was quickly back, wearing only a light blue summer dress that looked really good on her. Though she should have put a bra on, because with the thin material her nipples were slightly visible through it.

“You look gorgeous,” Sage said, looking at Zoe as she spun with a grin.

Was she flirting with Zoe? What was this game now?

“Thank you,” Zoe replied, then looked at me. “Do you like it, Master?”

“You’re as beautiful as always. And if not for the dungeon, I would grab you and bring you to my bed.”

Zoe grinned with a happy hum, then dropped into my lap and pulled me into a kiss, our tongues playing with each other for a moment as I reached to squeeze her ass through the dress.

When we separated, Zoe was looking at me with that hungry gaze, and I was really tempted to actually head to the bed with her.

“Glad you like it,” Sage said, and I wondered if she meant Zoe or me.

“What are you doing here again?” I asked.

“Giving Zoe a present.”

“Don’t you have more important stuff to do?”

“Maybe. But this is my new favorite hobby.”

“Giving presents?”

“Teasing you,” Sage replied with a smirk.

I stared at her for a moment, wondering what her intentions were, but it was hard to make sense of her actions. So instead I took the opportunity to learn something.

“Do you know any elementals?” I asked.

“Why?”

“Let’s say that I have a taste for sexy demons,” I replied, shifting my hand from Zoe’s ass to her tail, sliding my fingers along its length.

“Elementals are not sexy,” Sage replied. “And I haven’t seen one in centuries, so good luck with that. Especially in a city. They stay far away from those.”

“Where did you see one?” I asked. “And what element was it?”

“An earth elemental, in the deep mountains far, far north of here. Outside of Torania, actually.”

“In another country?”

“Not really. Those are wild terrains, and they’re so inaccessible that no one cares where exactly the border is. In a way it works as a very wide border, and it’s so hard to cross that there is zero contact with the other side.”

“What were you doing there?” I asked.

“The only thing you can do there. Having fun,” Sage replied with a smirk.

“In wild, inaccessible lands?” I asked.

“A place that is not under any country? Inaccessible? With terrain so complicated and harsh that if you know it well, you can lose someone new there in seconds? That’s a paradise for criminals.”

“The Black Lotus had a base there?” I asked.

“No, I just wanted to breathe fresh air and see nice views,” Sage replied. “Do you want to join me later today when I pick up those slaves?”

“Why?”

“Why not?” Sage replied.

“Because hanging out with you brings trouble.”

“If you’re scared,” Sage shrugged and got up, heading out of the room.

I wasn’t going to take the bait and let her taunt me into it. She stopped in the doorway and looked toward the stairs, freezing for a moment before turning around to look at me again.

“You freed the kitsune?” Sage asked.

“I have a name,” Mari hissed from the stairs before heading past Sage toward the kitchen.

“Yeah,” I replied to Sage’s question.

She stared at me without a word for a moment, glancing toward the kitchen and then back at me.

“You didn’t do it officially, did you?” she asked.

“No?” I replied, unsure what she meant. “I just took off her collar.”

“You should also report it to the officials so it’s documented,” Sage replied. “Legally she’s still a ****.” She didn’t wait for an answer as she walked away and left the house.

I sighed, looking at Zoe’s new dress again, wondering what Sage was doing and why she would buy her a gift.

“Don’t be jealous, Master,” Zoe purred, grabbing my chin and pulling me in for a kiss. “I’m not going to do anything with her. Unless you want me to.”

She pressed her lips against mine in another kiss, and we kept making out like that until someone entered the living room.

“People want to eat here!” Mari hissed.

“Oh, suddenly you’re going to join us rather than hiding in your room?” I asked.

Mari glared at me before huffing and walking out, heading upstairs. Zoe slid from my lap as I headed after the kitsune, but I was too late and had to knock on her door.

“What?” she huffed, looking at me angrily.

“Sage mentioned something we should take care of,” I replied. “To make it official that you are no longer a ****.”

Mari frowned, staring at me without a word for a long moment.

“Why are you doing this?” she finally asked.

“I promised to free you.”

“I can run away after Zelda heals me,” Mari replied.

“You can. It will be after you sign the work contract with me. But more importantly, after all those accusations about how bad a person I am, if you ran away you would prove yourself to be a liar and a bad person here.”

Mari grimaced, glaring at me before groaning. “I’m not going to run away,” she mumbled. “I’m going to pay you back.”

“Perfect,” I replied. “We can make you officially free today when we return from the dungeon.”

“Okay…” Mari replied quietly.

“Great. We are heading out soon,” I said.

Mari just nodded with a frown, after which I turned around and started heading downstairs.

“Thank you,” Mari mumbled behind me.

“What?” I asked, looking at her.

She grimaced before growling again. “You should stop fucking in the living room!” Then she slammed the door shut.

With a smirk, I headed downstairs to urge Zoe and Azura to prepare for the next dungeon trip.