Chapter 168: Teamwork – Part 1
Once Roxanne and Samkelo run out of ideas to test, we decide to wrap things up, so the Horns start killing the leftover monsters one by one, which is just the cherry on top of the brutality cake we've baked here. I have to hand it to Oritiki, though; she's so reliable and determined that no matter the task, I know it'll be in good hands if I give it to her.
And while the executions are underway, the tired, baby-faced gnome sighs with a grimace as he sits down on a gnome-sized little chair. Then he makes a bitterly wry face and quietly remarks to Roxanne, "I never imagined I'd use my chemistry degree to commit war crimes. I mean, I fantasized about it, but I never believed there was any chance of it ever happening... though we definitely are in a filthy pervert's smut isekai novel, so it's not like I could've ever predicted this."
She isn't very keen on talking to the perverted gnome, but we give her a bit of mental encouragement, and she calmly replies, "War crimes don't exist in Rupegia."
He raises an eyebrow at her, then rests his head on his hand as he admires her divinely sexy face. "Do you even know what war crimes are?"
And the whorish succubus nods softly as she enjoys this kind of attention, even from him. "Yes. Wolfy's talked about them before."
Then he smirks suggestively, which looks both infuriating and creepy as he has a very strong case of "rape face," or at least "sexual harassment face." "And what about 'smut isekai novel'?"
But this is still within her fetishes, so she calmly adjusts her small glasses on her cute nose and happily replies, "Also yes. He's used those exact words to describe this situation before."
His eyes go down her body, but she's wearing padded scale armor under her lavish mage robe, so it hides her figure, and his eyes glaze over as the perverted gnome loses a bit of interest in her and becomes thoughtful. "Considering how all of us earthlings know a bit too much of internet culture, I think I know why we were chosen. I mean, we're all from some ass-end part of the world, and we all still know perfect English."
But Roxanne actually has something wise to say, "Isn't it just so that you can all speak the same language?"
He raises both his eyebrows in surprise and comically puckers his lips in surprise and understanding. "Yeah... that makes sense. Though, now I'm concerned why there isn't a white European or American cunt among us."
This makes me feel a little bit petty, so I take over her mouth and state, "Wolfy counts as an American."
And he chokes on his spit as he chuckles, making some very undignified but also a bit funny sounds. "A 'hue-hue' immigrant? Don't ever say that to a real American," he wryly replies and jokingly elbows her thigh, making the scales of her pants jingle.
"Why? Are they like elves?" she asks back, now actually a bit curious about earthling dynamics.
But he points with his chubby finger at Yunia, who's on the other side of the glass room, and gives her a perverted stare as he answers, "The only elf I've ever seen in person is right there, so I dunno about that."
His gaze makes her feel disgusted as if he were licking her skin all over, but it also appeals to her fetishes since she's just as whorish and depraved as my succubus, so I allow it because it makes her wet.
Wait, back to war crimes... don't monsters copy humanoids? If we start using rifles and chemical warfare, won't they eventually do it too? That already happened once with the monster village under Gnomeria, which started doing genetic engineering, possibly copying what the heretics did to create those Clone Soldiers we fought in the Misty Low Forest. Or at least, that's what we assume.
The one with the most knowledge about monster spawn mechanics is Ciel, and she makes a thoughtful face as she reflects on my doubts, puckering her juicy, kissable lips in a very kissable way.
She smiles softly, trying to ignore my incessant thirst, and scholarly answers, "Rifles are difficult to copy and too intricate. I believe it'll be extremely rare for a monster to spawn with one, while a monster village might eventually reach rifle technology if allowed to exist for long enough."
Huh...
It's almost like this world was specifically made so that we'd never truly gain an edge on monsters.
After the clean-up, we dismiss the Horns, then we offer a [Gate] back to Kini Kaina to the Heroes and Urmeie, and they happily take it, leaving us free to have a joy ride with only the Companions, safe from other males besides me. Our lunch will have to be delayed a bit as nobody has the stomach for it right now, so it's fine if we take our time.
"Now what?" Hana asks out loud as the wives and I relax on a comfy sofa by the prow.
"Elaborate," I kindly request as I wasn't paying attention to her thoughts, too focused on molesting Yunia's tight body with my tentacles as I care for her glorious golden drills with my clawed hands. She got a bit horny after her disgust fetish got triggered, so I've made my tentacles extra ugly and suggestive to slowly stoke the fire in her loins.
The lewd dragonkin simply stares at the molestation for a few seconds as her body has already been conditioned to get wet just from looking at these tentacles. Then she recovers from her thirst and elaborates, as requested, "We know their Gifts and how they fight, but how do we lead them? How do we use them to conquer the Fortress of Calamity?"
And this question stirs up a lot of complicated feelings within me.
I've whined a lot about how the Hau-Hou royals and nobles everywhere just want to manipulate people to do their bidding, but the only difference between "guiding" and "manipulating" is that the latter is done through deceit and is harmful to the victim, so is it really a bad thing when nobles try to recruit the Gifted to their side? The whole reason for the existence of the Gifted is to use those Gifts to aid humanoidkind, so I guess I can understand when nobles are a bit "forceful" with their "recruiting."
Even our family leads and guides people through religious fervor, and we've also used the argument of "honor through battle" to convince them to fight and die for us, even though I'm extremely cynical about all this shit. Our family's motto is literally "guided by the light," yet I'm always suspicious and wary of the Gods; we recruit servants based on their "Piety," yet I have very little faith myself; I even have enough "Piety" to become a priest, but I could only be further away from priestly material if I was openly hostile to the Gods.
But all of this is necessary for the stability of the world.
The weak are encouraged to be humble, those with potential are encouraged to be romantic, the strong are encouraged to be protective, the faithful are encouraged to be selfless, and the leaders are encouraged to be ruthlessly pragmatic. The weak can't get too entitled or they'll take too many resources from the strong who protect them, those with potential must take risks to give birth to stronger people, those who are strong must always be ready to sacrifice themselves for the safety of others, the faithful fix the cracks and imperfections that naturally arise in society over time, and those who lead must not let it all fall apart no matter what.
Our family has firmly entrenched itself in that last role, so it's time for me to stop being so cynical and go back to rational pragmatism. But my caution regarding the Gifted isn't incorrect, though, as it's part of a leader's job to be wary of other strong people with aspirations to become ruthless leaders themselves, so I should always keep an eye on Brett and the Heroes. Reinhold was an example of the problems that boundless ambition can create.
And so, I should be especially cautious of Lily as I attempt to steal the Heroes from her.
Yunia then turns around and undoes the top of her dousnadeia, revealing her gloriously perfect tits and her pink nipples, hard from arousal, but she doesn't want to get fucked just yet as she has something to say, "You finally got over it. I was waiting for you to reach this conclusion on your own, so I didn't comment on it, but you took some time getting there."
I have the decency to look ashamed and look away, but then I make a quick note of the Companions that are lustfully staring at her tits for posterity.
"But I'm not fine with his conclusion," Ciel suddenly chimes in with a stern but still kind tone that makes her sound deliciously motherly.
"There's nothing wrong with it," the ruthless elven Queen retorts and pushes her perfectly-shaped tits towards my face so that I'll give them the love they deserve.
And the motherly angel's mouth twitches as she struggles to remain serious, but she successfully ignores my thirst again and continues, "I'm part of the 'faithful,' and I don't want to be so cynical."
But Yunia already has a response for that, which she promptly gives after a soft moan of arousal caused by my suckling, "As long as you remain pragmatic and objective in regards to your position as a Queen. Templars have a bad habit of sacrificing themselves for others, and that's the last thing we should ever do."
Ciel gives the Queen's perfect tits an envious glance as her own large nipples itch just from seeing me work, so I link Yunia's and Ciel's pleasure, and the angel lets out a moan, which she hides by launching into an explanation, "Yes, I know. That's exactly what Arreira's test was about, and it made me realize the importance of my own life, but I truly believe we're the right people to rule over the commoners. With Wolfy's knowledge, we'll bring so much change to the High Forest that our names will be remembered for generations, so I won't be so cynical about our role as 'ruthlessly pragmatic leaders' because we're truly righteous."
And the girls all unanimously agree that we're the right family to rule over the commoners. They all have their own specific reasons for why we're fit to rule, but their conclusions are the same: we deserve to be royals.
Of course, this greatly pleases Yunia, and she grabs a disgusting tentacle, then pushes it under her bottom so that it can caress her gradually moistening pussy lips, but she still has one more question for Ciel, "Do you also think that we deserve the luxuries that we're given?"
This is quite the test of self-control for the chocolate tentacle fetishist, who also starts to become wet from the shared pleasure. But she breathes in deeply to build up her willpower and gives another scholarly answer, "That's a... difficult question. To lead means to ensure the safety of those who live in our territory while also taking responsibility for the failures, so the rewards must match the burden. But if Wolfy's plan of expanding the government comes to fruition, we'll be delegating our responsibilities to the commoners, so it makes sense to reduce our wealth and invest it in infrastructure."
And Alissa agrees wholeheartedly. "It's not like we're sucking the commoners dry with taxes. Our subjects live better than anywhere else in the Empire," the foxy slut calmly chimes in, getting off on the denial.
Then Aoi suddenly interjects, "I'm already going to talk to her about magic, so you don't need to force yourself to join our conversation."
"You-...! You could've said that earlier!" Lina hisses frustratedly.
"It felt amusing to not say anything," the big little blue dragon cheekily replies.
"She's learning the art! She's learning!" Roxanne shouts in glee.
Announcement
Hall of Fame of Patrons
The patrons who support Rupegia shall have their names sung by the bards for they deserve the glory and honor. Their names are:
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