Rillettes de Tours

Caleb took a deep breath as he went down the elevator, bracing himself for whatever he might find in the dining hall. He was sure that yesterday’s challenge would still be fresh in everyone’s minds and wouldn’t be surprised if that led to conflict. They had already had tensions pretty high when Eliza lashed out at Stella, and that had been before Lucian had spent the majority of the day messing with their heads.

He made his way down past the elevator doors and navigated the hallways to the dining room, and was met with silence. Well, not totally, Noemi had noticed him instantly and waved over from her table, where she was sitting with Maddy. However, there were no visible signs of any conflict taking place, everyone was simply eating their meals rather cordially. Caleb did note that the groups of the dining room had definitely shifted.

It hadn’t been much of a secret what the social dynamics of the contestants were, they had always been visible to anyone with eyes in the dining room. Eliza’s group had always eaten together, Amy would sit off to the side by herself, Mira and Maya would be off together, and Stella would show up late and sit on her own. Now? Stella was off with Mira and Maya, Eliza was nowhere to be found, and Noemi and Maddy sat together, separate from Amy and Lily. No, there was no obvious fighting taking place, but it was obvious the wounds and new lines that had been formed.

As much as it hurt Caleb to think of all the women here as members of his harem, ideally, he did want all of them to be able to see eye to eye and be able to cooperate. The trust wasn’t there. Their host would do everything he could to make sure that it didn’t develop either.

Caleb swallowed and then tried to make his face cheerful, “Good Morning, everyone, ready for a new week?”

Smirking from her seat, Stella raised an eyebrow, “What are you, a camp counselor? Are you going to have us start singing songs together next?”

Noemi puffed up her cheeks, “Caleb could be a great camp counselor if he wanted to be!”

Reaching across to pull Noemi back, Maddy chuckled, “Not sure that’s the takeaway here.”

Caleb winced slightly in embarrassment, but seeing more people were smiling now, pressed forward, “Come on, let’s not beat around the bush, it’s been a rough few days, but let’s look on the brightside, we have a beautiful island to explore and enjoy, good food, lots of entertainment…

Lily called out from her table, “...Lots of hot babes to look at.”

Blushing, Caleb pushed forward, “Lots of great company! There’s no need to let our situation drag us down any more than it has to.”

Maya piped up from her seat, “But you can’t explore the island because of your phobia.” She said matter-of-factly.

Recoiling slightly, Caleb nodded, “That’s true, but you shouldn’t let my limitations detract from your experience. There are lots of ways to have fun here.”

Mira didn’t look up as she sipped her coffee, “Other than participating in the contest, you mean.” Her eyes glanced up to lock with Caleb’s, “Caleb, I appreciate you trying to help and take an active part in helping us out, but it’s pretty obvious what you’re trying to do.”

“I’m not entirely sure what you’re driving at…” Caleb looked towards the window on the side wall as if it had suddenly become very interesting.

Mira didn’t press, but Maya took a bite of danish and then frowned, “You’re trying to manipulate us into not playing the game by encouraging us to do these other things. Pretty forcibly, too.”

Noemi bristled and rose up from her seat, “Caleb wouldn’t try to manipulate us like that!”

“No…No Noemi, they’re right,” Caleb sighed **** to concede before things escalated, the last thing he wanted was for this to become a new source of conflict, “‘Manipulate’ might be a strong word for it but yeah I wanted everyone to focus on other things and hopefully we could take some time to recover after the challenge. I thought…” He paused, looking out at all of them, “I thought you had been through enough, and maybe we could try and focus on happier things for a bit.”

“Caleb…” Maddy let out under her breath, seeing how crestfallen the man became after admitting it.

Noemi came back to her seat and pouted, “Well, even if he was trying to manipulate us, it’s not a bad thing, right? It was for a good reason! He was trying to help.”

From her seat, Mira set down her coffee and shrugged, “Like I said, I don’t disagree with the sentiment. If anything, I’m impressed he is trying to take a step forward like this. That being said, I am not a child and, even if he’s our ‘Master’, he’s not our parent. If he wants something, he can communicate it like an adult. Unless he’s letting his station get to his head…” She let the words hang while gazing over at Caleb.

Caleb met her gaze, “No, of course not, I don’t see me being above any of you here, I just thought it might be a nicer way to go about it.”

Rising from her seat and crossing to the buffet, Stella grabbed a bagel and said, “Well, message received you want us to all be good girls and have fun on the island instead of fighting, does that pretty much sum it up?” her tone combined with the wink she shot across the room, let Caleb know the imp was at least partially being facetious.

Maya raised her hand from her seat, and Caleb was pretty sure he knew what was coming, but still pointed across the room, “Maya, you can speak freely, no need to raise your hand.”

The purple-haired woman lowered her hand and then looked at Caleb fiercely, “I want to continue playing the game, I’m doing well at it. I got second in the challenge and have the second most VP.” She shot a glance at Noemi, who merely puffed her chest out proudly, “I understand you not wanting us to fight and be mean, but I don’t want to stop.”

Sighing, Caleb knew this would be the issue and had thought about how to respond. Ultimately, he didn’t want to tell the girls what they could and couldn’t do, but did he honestly think playing the game that Lucian had laid out was conducive to that? Absolutely not, still, “Maya, I am not telling you what you can and can’t do. I know how important playing the game is to you, I am just asking to avoid…fighting each other. Lucian wants us to distrust each other and not get along. I think it’s fair to say he’s succeeded in some respect.”

There were exchanged glances throughout the room that verified that feeling. “I know you don’t want anyone to fail and suffer the consequences either.” This earned a disparaging scoff from Lily, “I’m just asking to keep that in mind, ok? I’m not dumb, I know you all need to earn points somehow, just… let's be smart about this.”

“To that end…” Amy spoke up for the first time since this had started, and all eyes turned to the Oni, “Have any of the rest of you taken a look at the bounties for this round?” Seeing blank stares, Amy smiled, “I figured as much. New ones are posted out front, I took the time to write them down figuring it might be worth having on hand, but I can share with the group.” the red skinned woman got up and laid some sheets of paper on an empty table which people began to clamor around to read.

Bounty: **** of the Nerds: Sleep with the master while looking like a different contestant. 10 BP and 5 VP

Bounty: Herbal Cleanse: The contestant will be given a vial of Lily's pollen. They have to successfully use it to spike Caleb or another contestant's food/drink without being caught. 15 BP 5 VP

Bounty: Mother May I: For twenty-four hours, your libido will spike. However, you will be unable to orgasm without permission from a randomly assigned contestant. 4 BP 2 VP

Bounty: Attached at the Hip: Share your date night with one other random contestant and be unable to be farther than 5 meters from that contestant. 5 BP and 3 VP

Bounty: Hat Trick: Receive three random sabotage cards. You must convince three different people to use one of them on you within 3 hours. 2VP and 3 BP per Sabotage used, but Sabotages not used at the end cost you the full value

Bounty: Coup: Sabotage the contestant with more VP than you. You earn VP equal to half of what they earn as a result of the Sabotage

Amy watched as people reacted to the various bounties, though there was another reason she had written everything down. She could ensure everyone was on the same page with the bounties available, so if one vanished, everyone would know which one it was. Not only that, but doing this away from the Bounty Board negated the chance of sparking immediate conflict by someone impulsively taking a bounty right then and there, and all the fallout that would naturally result.

Mira, looking over the bounties noted, “There’s a lot more interaction with other contestants this round, so anyone looking to capitalize is going to have to rope another person in. Makes things complicated.” She glanced at Caleb, who also had noticed the trend, not only that, but they felt more…combative this round. Very few of these could be played off as harmless. The intent was clear.

Maddy looked up nervously, “Well, it's not like we need to take the bounties, right? There are other ways to earn VP without them.”

Smiling over Lily added, “Yeah, for sure, the challenges even get more points each round, so there’s no way that they’re necessary.” She gave Maddy a reassuring look, and they shared a smile before Maddy looked away.

Amy sighed, she hated to be the one to say it, but it wouldn’t do not to be honest and have it bite them later. “That may not be the case. Noemi has already had sex with Caleb, and even with first-time bonuses, that was only enough to get her less than halfway. Not only that, but not only are the number of points earned in the challenges increasing, so is the amount we can lose. There is no guarantee, even with…ambitious play, you can make it with Caleb and challenges alone.” She began to gather up the papers, “Just something to keep in mind.”

Caleb frowned. Of course, it would be designed that way. With only five rounds total, what they could accomplish was limited. Everything was set up so that they couldn’t just do their best and ignore the game. Whoever set this up had some screws loose. He turned to Amy, “Thanks for sharing with the group, good to be informed.”

Amy shrugged, “I mean, while I have everyone’s attention, there is something else I wanted to bring up to the group. Kind of leans into what Caleb said earlier about there being so much Island to explore. Today I want to go on an expedition.”

Everyone blinked in response, Lily had figured her roommate was still thinking about what had been in her notes that morning, but still had no clue what she could be referring to. Stella took a bite of bagel smeared with cream cheese and spoke with her mouth full, “What sort of expedition were you thinking of going on?”

Looking over the group, Amy put a finger on the table, “During the opening ceremony, Lucian mentioned that we could spend BP to upgrade our transformations or even other people's. But has anyone found a place where we can actually do this? I tried messing with my ring early in the competition to see if there was an option there and found nothing. Then yesterday, Arietta told Lily and me that we would have to do some exploring to find the way to do it. I want to find this…hidden shop. I thought it might be better to do as a group, not knowing what’s out there, and also thought maybe someone might have a lead on where to look.

Not missing a beat, Mira asked, “Why did you see Arietta yesterday?”

Amy looked tired and exasperated, “I told you, the moment I had the BP for it, I was buying that Lucian Mask, so that’s what I did.”

Mira raised an eyebrow and looked between Amy and Lily, “That’s all you bought?”

Lily let out an irritated growl, “Not all of us are constantly looking for a leg up in this competition, Mira.”

Mira was about to respond when Caleb cut in, putting his arms between the two, “Hey, hey! There’s no need to fight here, Amy was trying to organize something, so let's focus on that, ok?” He retracted his arms and gestured for Amy to continue.

The Oni let out a breath and gave Caleb an appreciative look. “First off, does anyone have an idea where we could start looking?” She turned to the corner where Mira and Maya were, “I know you did some pretty decent exploration of the island early on, did you see anything?”

Mira seemed unwilling to divulge anything, but Maya cheerfully spoke up, “I don’t think we saw everything, but there were a few spots that were out of the ordinary. The burned church, I think we saw everything there was, but there was this creepy underground catacomb lined with skulls and a tower that seemed to go up endlessly. Both seemed like something out of a video game, but we didn’t explore them thoroughly.”

Amy smiled, “Both of those sound like good leads. Between the two, does anyone have a preference for which we explore?”

Stella smirked, “The catacombs sound like a dungeon out of a tabletop RPG. Those always have loot. I would figure it’s our best bet.”

Frowning and shaking slightly at the thought, Maddy added, “Don’t dungeons like that often have monsters in them? How would we deal with anything like that?”

Amy shrugged, “I don’t think they’d throw anything too dangerous at us, we can’t be sexy harem members if we’re dead after all.”

Stella waggled her eyebrows, “I’ve seen enough of niche hentai to know where this is going. Count me in!”

“...Thanks for the support,” the oni sighed, “Though it would be good to know who wants to participate. If there is anything dangerous, it will be better in a group. Also anyone interested in upgrades probably should come in case it’s hard to get there alone if we find the shop.”

Maya raised her hand and grinned, “Count me in, it sounds very exciting, and upgrades? Also exciting.”

Lily shot the purple-haired woman a look and then volunteered, raising her own hand, “Might be worth looking into, I was already **** to have an upgrade that made life hell last round, so it would be good to know more.”

Visibly shaking, but raising her hand, Maddy chimed in, “Someone in their fanmail said it might be good to look into an upgrade, not only that, if anything happened and I stayed back, I’d feel awful.”

Caleb gave a sad smile, “I’d love to join in…but…”

Amy nodded. This was definitely something that would be hard given his inability to leave without a panic attack.

Noemi went over and hugged Caleb’s arm, “I’ll stay behind too, I don’t think I’d be much help underground, and well, it wouldn’t do to leave Caleb all alone on his day off.”

Mira raised an eyebrow at Noemi before saying, “I’ll also be hanging back, I have my own problem child to attend to.”

Caleb was worried for a moment that she was referring to him, but noticed her looking off to exit. “Oh, no, is Eliza really that bad after the challenge?”

Clapping her hands, Amy nodded. This wasn’t the crew she had necessarily expected, but it was a crew. “Alright, once we finish off here, why don’t we take some time to get ready, change into appropriate exploring clothing, and we can head off together.”

The group agreed, Caleb couldn’t get Noemi off his arm after that and went to fill his plate. Time for him to actually eat something and hope that everything went well on this expedition.