Chapter 34

The cat girl walks into a building that she must be working out of. There are many other undesirable looking thieves and bandits walking around the building. I seriously worry about her safety. She is far too pretty and delicate to be dealing with that crowd, although I suppose that with her dirty clothing covering up her hair and her youthful age, she probably pulls off looking like a boy.

The problem comes when she enters a room with a guy that looks to be the head of the group. At least, he is about ten years older than everyone else, who are all in their teens, and he has a condescending air about him. The cat girl hands over my pouch without complaint, and the man fingers through it. Then, the man grows angry and suddenly has a knife out at the cat girl’s throat. I add sound to the spell, but I already suspect I know why he is angry.

“Have you been pilfering coins?” The man demands while shaking his knife angrily.

The cat girl is shaking her head desperately, “No, no! I’d never!”

Of course, I saw her reach into the bag and pocket a few coins, so I knew that to be a lie. Unfortunately, the boss man isn’t buying it either. He shoves her to the ground with his foot and gives an order. Two men start grabbing at her pockets while she tries to resist. However, they manage to empty out a pocket, coins dropping to the floor. It turns out, she had been pilfering a lot of money. That's at least 30-40 gold coins. As the man gestures angrily toward the coins, her hat is knocked to the ground and her cat ears sprout up.

“Oh, she’s a cat girl!” Ariel says excitedly.

“Why did you think you could steal from me?” The guy shouts. “A filthy pussy too!”

“You don't understand! Th-that's my savings! My sister is a slave and I need to buy her free!” She tries to get on her knees to beg him. 

"Like I give a crap!" He kicks her back to the ground. 

"F-fine, you have the money now. I'll just go!" She says this, but her eyes are teary.

“You think that’s enough now? We need double the amount because you tried to steal from us!”

“D-double? I can get it to you in a week, just give me a week!” She begs. 

“No, I want it now!” He responds petulantly, making it clear he never intended to give her a chance in the first place while she looks on with a terrified look, “But perhaps, you can work it off other ways.”

The way his filthy eyes glare down at her, it is obvious he meant for her to become his sex toy for the next week.

“No!” she shouts, “I’m a virgin! I’d never give it to a bastard like you! Besides, I’m a m-”

The boss strikes her face to shut her up. “You have quite the mouth on you, don’t you?”

“Uh, boss, you know virgin cat people sell for a lot on the slave market.” A crony speaks up.

“I know that!” He gives an annoyed glare.

It appears like he is weighing the cost of deflowering the girl over the cost of selling her, and he doesn’t want any of his men knowing it. After a moment, he gives a shrug.

“She’ll sell a little less, but not more than a good prostitute, I’ll tell you what, after I’m done with her, I’ll pass her around and everyone can have a taste before we sell her.”

"N-no..." 

"Hehe, don't worry, soon you'll be right next to your sister! Aren't I generous?" The bandit leader chuckles. 

The men start to advance on the girl. As I watch, suddenly two soft pillows press against each of my arms. On one side is Ariel, and the other side is Aura.

“Hero, please save the girl!”

“Yes, Hero-san, you must!”

“Is that really what you all want? She’ll be joining the rest of us from here on?”

The five girls all nodded excitedly, fully consenting to another girl being added to the harem. Of course, I plan to save her regardless and add her to the harem, but it is a lot easier if all the girls think it is their idea. I put on a show about thinking about it while the girls stare at me with pleading eyes.

“I… suppose. But you’ll owe me big!”

“Yes, Master!”

“Of course, Hero-san.”

“I’m always yours, Hero!”

I smile to myself as I open a portal to the thief’s hideout. I swear girls aren’t this easy in my old world, but these girls were just like putty in my hands. Not that I'm complaining. I move off to add a sixth girl to my harem.