~ Chapter 112: Separation ~

[Ayuseya's point of view]

After we left Polis, we stopped at about one kilometer away from the city and began to heal, feed, wash, and clothe the newly bought slaves just like we once did for everyone else who traveled with us.

In this world, it was normal for peasants to see nobles as their superiors and understand that their lives meant nothing when compared to theirs. Of course, murder and torture were acts punishable by law in many kingdoms, but the severity of it varied from one to another. As for slaves, very few acknowledged their right to live because the idea of a 'meat shield' to be used in dungeons was quite common and approved off by many adventurers. Tamara was once a victim of such a horrible mentality.

As such, while peasants could at most end up being abused by the nobles, their rights as free citizens were still recognized. On the other hand, slaves could only hope they would not end up in the position where they would be used just to fend off some starved monster.

Most of the slaves bought by Illsy fell into this category. Injured or ill, they were more likely to be bought for the purpose of being cast off in a dungeon or used in a dangerous magic experiment. They were all aware of this, so when they saw themselves being healed and treated to a delicious warm meal, they did not know how to better express their joy and happiness. Most of them just cried.

Savannah was tasked with explaining the rules and benefits of following Illsy on his journey as well as the fact that they would all be given their freedom and right to choose what to do with it once we reached Port Ilia. The slaves could not believe their ears when they heard her and even after explaining that it wasn't a trick, they still had doubts about it.

Each of their individual history had marked them with wounds and scars which couldn't be healed so easily. Many of them had trust issues and even among those who had traveled with us since the beginning, there were some who did not believe they were going to be released by Illsy, but at the very least, they knew he wasn't a bad master to them.

I was certain that with time and by witnessing Illsy's good and caring side, their wounds would be healed, however, if all of them wished to stay with us after we reached the Ilia Port City still remained to be seen.

During this break, I also had Illsy build several toilets for them because while we were in the city, we didn't have anywhere to go, and we were forced to hold it in. One thing was for the men to do it and another for the women. Unfortunately, because they were slaves with functioning collars around their necks, they did not complain or raised the question to us.

When Illsy found out, he panicked and quickly built the toilets for them, cutting down several trees and leveling a square area next to the road. Afterwards, he ordered them to let us know every time they needed to go to the toilet.

We were lucky none of them had a leak.

While the slaves took turns using the toilet, I checked the map together with Nanya. It was the one the old cartographer Cairen Talcaea made. It was quite large and had all the roads and known settlements on it. Just by looking at it made me realize what sort of patience and skill he must have had to make it. The details on it were extraordinary. Even if this wasn't the first time I saw it, I still couldn't help but feel impressed about it.

For maps such as these, nobles and especially merchants all over the world wouldn't shy away from paying ridiculous amounts of coins to buy them and if given the chance, they would even resort to murder or kidnapping as well in order to acquire them. This just proved to show what great skills he had.

While thinking about this, I called out to my husband.

“Illsy? Do you have a moment?”

“Yes. What is it?” he asked as he walked over to me.

“Do you remember Cairen Talcaea?” I asked him.

“Yes. He's the one who made this map.” he replied pointing at it.

“Well, I believe it would be for the best if you contacted him once you have built the Magic Academy and invited him to live there.” I suggested.

“Why?” he asked tilting his head to the left.

“I think I told you this before, but a skill such as his is quite rare. There are many nobles and merchants who would use any means necessary in order to get their hands on him or his maps. With us, his safety would be guaranteed and if he wants to, he can even make maps of your dungeons which can then be sold to adventurers.” I explained to him.

“Or by our students to help them around.” Illsy said with a nod. “Alright! I'll send him a letter or maybe I'll get someone to bring him over once I establish the academy. Until then, we still have to deal with the political mess the sudden appearance of my Magic Academy will bring!” he laughed.

“While it is indeed a delicate matter, it isn't something our family can't handle.” I nodded and smiled.

“If there's a fool who wants to cause trouble for us, I'll punch him into the afterlife!” Nanya growled while holding two ends of the big map.

“I will scratch them with my claws, nya~!” said Tamara who was making a big pot of stew not that far away from us.

“I'm sure you will! By the way, when will the food be ready?” Illsy asked.

“Mmm, in half an hour maybe?” she replied tilting her head.

“Maybe?” Illsy raised an eyebrow at her uncertain reply.

“The meat I bought from the market is wild boar, and it takes a bit longer to prepare.” her ears twitched and then looked at me “Ayuseya? Where is Nasat on the map?” she asked.

“Nasat? Let me see.” I replied and then checked the map. “It's to the South-West of here, why?” I asked as I looked back at her.

“The merchants told me it’s the best place where I can buy good spices.” she replied.

“Isn't it on our way to Ilia?” Illsyore asked.

“Yes, it is.” I replied.

“Hm, let me look at the map.” he said as he moved between me and Nanya. “If we go South from here in a beeline, we pass through this small village here and then we reach Ilia. These four towns and cities: Polis, Nasat, Ilia, and Argos make a diamond shape.” he pointed out.

“I want to go to Nasat.” Tamara said.

“Mistress Ayuseya?” Keltaru called out to me from behind.

Turning around, I saw him standing there, trying to peek at the map.

“What is it?” I asked with a small smile on my lips.

“Two days ago, while the merchant who sold us was thinking about who to put up for auction, I happened to overhear him talking about Marcelle Ollera being recently acquired by one of the slave merchants there in Argos. If wish to buy her as well, I believe that is where you will find her.” he told me.

“Marcelle, the maid? Hm...” I closed my eyes and thought about how to proceed but seeing how Tamara wanted to reach Nasat and Illsy Ilia, the only logical solution would be to split up here and join up in the port city or have Illsy follow one of our groups.

“What do you want to do?” Illsy asked me after I opened my eyes.

“I want to free Keltaru and all of my enslaved maids, so I will go to Argos to complete the procedures there, and I will also free Marcelle.” I declared.

He looked into my eyes for a moment and then back at Keltaru. Whatever my husband decided now, I was determined to follow his lead, but if it was something ridiculous, I was ready to scold him.

“Alright! I've decided!” he said.

“What did you decide?” Nanya asked raising an eyebrow.

“You and Tamara will go to Nasat to buy spices and whatever useful goods you can find!” he said with a smile.

“Huh?! Why me?” Nanya complained.

“Because you can use a human disguise to ease up the trades Tamara will do and also because you can spot any useful slaves you can buy. The furball won't be interested in the slave market.” he pointed out.

“Huh?! Even so! Why not Ayuseya or Shanteya?!” she complained.

“Because you will be running there to reach it faster, and I can't have Shanteya run with you in her current condition. Well, she technically can, but I don't want her to because I'm worried, you understand, right?” he told her.

“What? Run? All the way to Nasat?” Keltaru spoke in a low volume while narrowing his eyes at her.

“Well... yes but...” Nanya said, but seeing her sullen expression, I knew she wanted to stay with Illsy.

“Also, Shanteya will be going with Ayuseya to Argos.” he said then.

“What?” I blinked surprised and then looking at Keltaru. Is that why? I thought and then let out a sigh “Alright, I will make sure to protect her.” I told Illsy.

“Please do!” Illsy told me with a smile.

“Wait? Does that mean you'll be left with Zoreya?!” Nanya realized.

“Yes, why?” Illsy asked tilting his head to the left.

“But that's not fair! I want to sleep with you!” she complained.

“Nya~ But did you forget that you lost your turn to sleep with him for this whole week?” Tamara pointed out with a mischievous smile on her lips.

Nanya paled when she heard her.

It seems like she had forgotten. Well, I doubt this little tease will last more than a week. I thought.

Letting out a sigh, Nanya passed me the corners of the precious map, then she walked up to a nearby tree and took a deep breath.

“RAAARGH!” the demoness let out a fierce roar and uprooted the tree with her brutish strength. “I'm... NEVER GAMBLING AGAIN ON MY CHANCES TO GET LAID!” she roared and threw it as far as she could.

The tree flew away like an arrow and landed somewhere far far away, hopefully not on some poor chump's head.

“Erm... I know you all want to tease Nanya because she pranked you in the past, but don't you think this is overdoing it and becoming sort of mean? I mean, just look at her...” Illsy told me in a whisper as he subtly pointed towards the demoness who was breathing hard and had a rage expression on her face.

“I don't think it's wise to tell her now that it was all a joke.” I showed him a wry smile.

“Erm... with this I agree... But do tell the others, no more jokes on this. Her demoness nature requires her to embrace me as often as she can to assert her possession of me towards other women. Besides, I miss sleeping with her too...” he told me and patted my shoulder.

Maybe we took this joke a tiny bit too far? I wondered.

[Somewhere far far away from Illsyore's camp site]

The lord of a nearby village decided to begin a deforestation project which would bring a lot of coins to his pockets at the expense of the local wildlife. Although there were many who voiced their complaint against this, the noble decided to ignore them.

Today, he was supposed to cut down the first tree. Just for this special event, he bought an axe made entirely out of gold. The blacksmith who made it could only sigh at how bad the idea was because this metal was not known for its durability. To make it work, however, the noble paid a well-known enchanter to make it better. Thus, the gold axe was just as good as a normal steel one.

“Today, I will cut...” the noble declared as he was looking around “THAT tree!” he stopped his axe at a skinny tree that did not look that difficult to cut.

With a triumphant smile on his face, he approached his target and prepared his axe. Behind him were the many lumberjacks he hired to cut down all the trees in this area.

“One for the money!” he said as he waved the axe back and forth. “Two for the show!” he said as he aimed at the point where he wanted to begin to chop. “Three to get ready!” he said as he made sure his stance was good. “And four we... GO!” he shouted, but just then... something came crushing from the sky right in front of him.

When the dust cloud settled, the noble, who was thrown back, saw his axe stuck in the bark of a tree that wasn't there before.

Leaving aside the fact that he completely missed the skinny tree, right next to it was now a big one which had what could possibly be the thickest trunk in that entire forest. The tree was perfectly rooted in the ground where it landed, making it possible for it to spread its roots and continue living if left alone.

“Wha-What's this?!” the noble asked surprised.

“It's a sign! The spirits of the forest don't want us to cut it down! If we do, it will make it rain trees!” one of the lumberjacks said while he was trying hard to keep himself form trembling in fear.

“That's ridiculous!” another said, but he did not show to hold that much belief in his words.

“Then explain that tree! It came flying out of nowhere!” he pointed at the tree with the noble's axe still stuck in its thick bark.

“Forget this job! I do not want to be cursed! I am sure the noble is cursed too now! That's his axe!” another one pointed out and then ran away.

“C-Cursed? N-No way... I c-c-can't be...” the man looked back at the lumberjacks he hired, but all of them stepped back and looked at him with fear in their eyes.

“I'm sorry milord, but I don't want to be cursed... I'm out of here!” one said and then all of them left one after another.

The tree in question was none other than the one Nanya threw. But it could be said that the reason behind its trajectory and even ridiculous way of landing was in fact more connected to the divine of this world than one would give credit to...

[Back at Illsyore's camp, Illsyore's point of view]

Well now, I did not expect Nanya to go berserk. It was clear that my wives' joke had gone too far. I couldn't let her go like this with Tamara, she wouldn't be able to focus on what I asked her to do, so I took a leap of faith and approached her.

Stay calm Nanya... Don't bite now... Easy girl... I thought as I approached her.

“Ugh... This is not fair...” she said in a soft whimper.

“Hey, Nanya?” I said.

“What?” she asked while looking at me with a trembling bottom lip.

I showed her a soft smile and then embraced her.

She didn't pull back and tried to get closer to me.

“When you come back, I'm all yours, alright? I'm sorry I kept you waiting for so long, your foolish husband is to be blamed.” I told her and then gently petted her long lush black hair.

“No... It's mine as well... I didn't want to wait... I was greedy. I was wrong to bet my time with you. “ she said, and I could tell that she calmed down.

Looking up at me with a soft smile on her lips, she told me “I will wait the promised time. I won't try to cheat anymore.” she wiped off a tear and then said “My time with you is precious... I should never have made bets with it even if they were against my sister-wives. Actually, it was wrong of me to ask them to bet their own time as well.” she shook her head.

“Well, I certainly didn't expect this...” I said blinking surprised.

“I had a lot of time to think about it.” she showed me a wry smile.

“Good. Then, don't make the same mistake again, I'm looking forward to our time together.” I showed her a smile and then pulled her in a long and passionate kiss.

My arms were wrapped around her slim waist, pulling her closer to me, ignoring the plated armor that pushed against me. A single tear flowed down the demoness' cheek and touched our lips, salting our kiss.

Even if she fell to temptation again, I wasn't going to let her bet her time with me again, this sort of prank could easily go wrong.

After we parted lips, we ate our meals and went over our plans again. I gave them an appropriate amount of gold to cover their expenses, not much, just enough to buy the city if they wanted to.

Seeing how Ayuseya was going to travel together with Shanteya, Keltaru, Neya, and Soleya to Argos, I decided to give them the MCV and use a Humvee-like car to pull the cars. If Nanya managed to buy some slaves from Nasat, they couldn't bring them by carrying them all the way here, so I gave her the prototype version of the MCV, which wasn't as well armored as the other.

With our bags packed and everyone ready to go, I gave my wives an embrace and a goodbye kiss. We were going to be separated for at least two days, but we were still in running distance from each other. If anything happened, I could go right there to give them a helping hand. Although, who would be mad enough to attack an Over Supreme in the first place?

As I saw them leaving, I smiled and looked up at the sky as if I was contemplating the meaning of life.

“What are you thinking about, Illsy?” Zoreya asked me.

“Just one tiny little thing.” I said and raised my hand up high as if wanting to grab the sky. “Colly TOS!” I shouted.

A harmless joke to mark our moment of separation...

Four pairs of panties fluttered in the air. One was white with lace, which I judged by the size to be Ayuseya's. One was simple and white, which was Shanteya's. One was red and made out of silk, but the hole at the back told me it was Tamara's. As for the last one, it was undoubtedly Nanya's because it was lacy and black, rather erotic and tempting.

“Huh? Four?” I questioned and then looked at Zoreya who was blushing and looking away.

“I foresaw that you might try something like this, so today I wore no underwear.” she confessed.

My eyes fell to her waist as I imagined her naked bottom hidden behind that plate armor. It stirred something in me.

“ILLSY!!!” shouted Nanya, who was coming back running.

The MCV also came to a stop and Ayuseya came out, walking back to me.

“Ah! They found out...” I said but then I looked back at Zoreya and blushed.

I can't miss out on this opportunity! I told myself and summoned the temporary house from my Inner Mind.

Nanya grabbed her panties and Tamara's before they landed on the ground, and I picked up Zoreya in my arms.

“What are you doing?” she said with a blush.

“Mhm, I want you.” I replied while looking into her eyes.

“Hey! But it's not her turn yet!” Nanya complained.

“Neither is yours nor mine.” said Ayuseya who grabbed hers and Shanteya's panties.

“True, Tamara wouldn't mind...” said Nanya with a sigh and then glared at me. “Still... isn't she getting a lot more time than we do recently?” she questioned.

“Hm... True. Are you trying to be the second to carry his child?” Ayuseya questioned Zoreya.

“No. I'm just lucky.” the High Apostle poked her tongue out at them.

“Well... That's that. See you in two days!” I said and then entered the house.

If I continued to pull this old Colly Tos joke, I feared that one day I would be known only as the Pantie-Snatching Perverted Dungeon Lord.

What can I say? All's well that ends well and my love for my wives never fades, especially when they tempt me like this! I thought as I slowly undressed the shy Zoreya.