Chapter 289 – Re: Late

Day 30

Time passed, and John fell into a routine that kept him occupied as the village quickly cropped up around the mansion. He spent much of the week planting trees with Riana, building a living wall on the outskirts of the village, while Aqua and the others built more workshops for the tradeswomen. He spent another large portion of time making more Dig bricks for building foundations; when combined together, the blocks he made were stronger and smoother than anything they could make with the village's limited resources. The rest of his time, he was pretty much holed up in the library, translating more encyclopedias and other works into the common tongue and teaching Mei how to read English.  

Sei also joined Mei in learning English, and she was proving every bit as much of a scholar as Mei, the two of them eagerly learning as much as they could from him and each other. She added her tomes to the library as well, allowing John to start learning some more magic spells, including Fireball and Dispel. Not that he had much time to devote to that yet, but he planned to start once the wall was completed.

He did manage to make time for a morning hunt with Kichi; the big hobgoblin had practically become the leader of the rest of the goblins and most of the hobgoblins. He had a simple way of speaking that made him seem dumb, but even without Scouter, John knew better. He was a simple man with simple needs, and he was happy as long as those were met. Honestly, John enjoyed spending time with him; they could just hang out in silence, and it didn't feel awkward.  

Soon enough, a month had passed since they arrived in this world, and John could actually say he was happy. He managed to sate his growing lust with Riana every morning (and sometimes afternoon quickies), and focused on learning more about the other people around him. Which brought him back down to the mines with Ee, Sei, and a couple other goblins. 

"Do you think you can dispel this ward?" John asked, looking down at Sei. He and the hobgoblin mage were examining the door they found in the mine, while Ee was nearby with a few helpers, laying tracks and mining some of the different ores that she had discovered. He was actually supposed to be hanging out with her today, but going down into the mine reminded him of the door, so he brought Sei along.  

Sei didn't say anything at first, running her hand over the glyph, then nodded. "I should be able to, though it will take some time. The magic is powerful, yet degraded. As long as I'm careful, I should be able to break into it with no issues, just a bit of time. This is pretty amazing. I knew there was a mine here, but I didn't know this was buried deep within it." Sei replied, her green eyes focusing on the task at hand. 

"Yeah. I'm curious about what is behind it. I tried to use my Dig spell, but it repelled it. I could probably tunnel around it, but if there is no danger, I'd rather see if we could open the door properly."

"It should be fairly safe. I don't sense any magic that would strike out at me; it is more like a massive coat of armour was placed on the door. I just need to pick away at enough of the loose threads of the magic, and I should be able to start unravelling it. That might get a little dangerous, but as long as I don't rush, there should be no issues."

"Thanks. Did you want help with it?"

"No, just tell Sato where I am when you go back outside. I'll probably lose track of time while I'm working on this, and it will be after midnight before I know it." She said with a small smile, looking up at him with her glowing green eyes. He could easily get lost in those eyes if he didn't check himself. 

She might be Bi, but that doesn't mean I need to add her and Sato into the growing list of possible lovers I could have in this world.  

"Will do. Good luck." He replied, then left the mage to it. 

Following the noise of picks and hammers, he soon caught up with Ee and her crew of goblins, and spent the rest of the day helping them lay down tracks to the mithril and spirit stone deposits on this level. They had ripped the old tracks up that were in the upper layers of the mine, and moved them down here. The carpenter had already rebuilt the old pulley system that was in place, the tailor using the webbing he could create to make long ropes more than capable of pulling a heavily laden mine cart up a slope. 

Ee was a lot like Kichi, very simple and down to earth, and seemed perfectly happy to stay down here in the mine all day long. She was also quite forward in her intentions, sitting on his lap while they had stopped for a quick lunch, wiggling her butt on Little John until he was at full mast.

"Be careful with that, you know you're playing with fire, right?" He said, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her in for a hug. 

"You know that Mi and I want it, so why don't you take us?" She replied, leaning back on his chest.

"I... honestly, Ee, I am just a bit overwhelmed with the amount of women that seem to want a relationship with me in this world. It was much different in other worlds I have travelled to. I would rather get to know you all better first, before we take it any further."

"Huh, I'm not sure I really understand. As long as two of us agree to it, what is wrong with having sex? I never tried it, but the older goblins say it feels really good. I want to make you feel good, like you made me feel good with your magic. Is that so wrong?" She said, wiggling her butt again, her firm muscles squeezing Little John between her ass cheeks. 

John was about to reply that she would understand when she was older, but then remembered she was a hobgoblin, part of a shorter-lived race that didn't really do relationships like humans did. According to Sei, other than the chief's harem, historically they were rather free with who they had sex with within the tribe, though she mentioned that most male goblins hadn't been interested in female goblins for as long as she could remember, the previous chief being one of the few exceptions.

There were sometimes bonded pairs or smaller harems around stronger goblins, but it wasn't like how humans got married. The females would just tell the males their true name, and they were bonded that way. 

And with a quick glance at Card, I know their true names already. Not that I plan on using their names for anything nefarious. I don't even know how casting a curse even works? Is it just another magic spell? Or is it something different?

He sighed, hugging the muscular hobgoblin to his body. He hadn't been able to find anything that really fit his frame other than a couple of the red bathrobes, so he had continued to walk around topless, wearing nothing but a loincloth. The outfitter was tanning and treating some of that red bear hide, and once she was done, she and the tailor planned to make him a new outfit, but until then, he was walking about half naked. 

What's the harm? And if I do, I guess I can finally finish that quest... but that seems like a really crappy reason to do it. Oh gods... am I holding back because I was hoping to take someone's virginity who DEN considers better? Am I waiting for Aqua? Rias? Maybe Eris, Chris, or Ash? 

He wasn't sure. Ever since gaining Ki and coming to this world, his mind almost felt foreign to him. He was hungry; hungry for more sex, more women, more power, more everything. He felt he was losing the battle between his morals and his lust, and he didn't like that at all.

"Rou? Are you okay?" Ee asked, turning around and looking up at him, her black eyes now having turned a dark purple and were full of concern.

"Yeah. I'm fine, just... thinking about a few things." He said, then kissed her on the forehead. "Listen, I'm not against it, but I want you to be sure that it is what you want too."

"It is. The rocks down here make me happy during the day, and sleeping beside you makes me happy at night. I just want to be happy, alongside you, Mi, and everyone else in the village."

"It's that easy for you?"

"Why shouldn't it be? We don't need some grand adventure to grow closer and fall in love with each other like in Sui's stories. Just a little companionship and respect. I've already spent most of my life with you so far, and I don't need some epic romance to know I want to be with you for the rest of it. Mi and I both feel the same way, so you don't need to hold back for some grand gesture like in a story." She said, shifting herself so she was straddling his waist.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pecked him on the lips quickly before pulling back and giving him a sly grin, one of her canines poking out from her lips and a twinkle in her eyes. "We are not human princesses in some castle, just a couple of hobgoblins who are enjoying the life we have been given. A life that is improving every day because of what you gave us."

"You know, you are really cute when you smile like that." He replied, then pulled her in for a kiss.

Maybe... just maybe, she is right, and I am overthinking all of this. This is the world they sent me to, and if we just continue to build this little village in the middle of nowhere and let the world pass us by, that will be good enough for me. That, and I can come back here to relax if I ever need a break.

He made out with Ee for a few more minutes before getting back to work, pushing thoughts of DEN and all the other worlds out of his mind. He was here now, and he would focus on these people, his people, for now and leave the other worlds for another day.

Still, he wondered what else was in store for them, as this story didn't seem to have much else in it other than their little village, a few monsters, and a whole lot of forest. 

"Sui, what are you doing?" Mi asked, walking into their bedroom. Sui was kneeling in front of a chair and was holding something that looked similar to Rou's penis in her hands and was sucking its tip. 

"Mmm! Nothing!" Sui replied, hiding the weird object behind her back and a deep blush staining her light blue skin. "I was just... practicing..."

"Practicing? For what?"

"For when... Me, this is so embarrassing. I... want to make Rou feel good for our first time, but I... I have only ever read about this stuff. Until I watched Riana give him a blowjob, I've never actually seen it before. I was... happy, just living it all in my mind, you know. Now... it's more real, and I don't want him to think I'm some insecure virgin who can't handle him."

"I thought you still weren't sure you wanted to be with him?"

"Who else am I going to be with? Not to mention, I'm... attached to him in so many ways now, and I'm developing feelings for him. Feelings I never thought I would have for another being. I just have to accept the fact that he has... many other women in his life."

"Is that really so bad?"

"For me... it is. My... the religion I follow didn't allow for love between more than two people. I believe it lessens the experience of love if you need to share it around." She replied, sighing deeply. "Rou is different. He seems to think he has enough love to share with everyone, and tries to make time for as many as he can instead of focusing on a single person."

"Yet you read all those fantasy novels, where the heroes have many women supporting him, loving him, and he loves them back in return."

"Those are just fantasy, Mi, not real life. The fact that he seems to make it work doesn't change how I feel about it."

"Well, you could just wait," Mi said, taking the seat across from her and setting down the fire magic tome Rou had asked Sei for. She knew he wanted to read it, but other than a little bit of time before bed, he never had any time for himself, so she thought if it was here, he could wind down for the night reading it.

"Huh?" Sui replied, sounding confused.

"Well, if you and him are near immortal, you could just outlive us, and then become his woman another time. I have what, twenty, maybe thirty years at most as a hobgoblin. Unless I evolve again, that's it. Still, we don't live anywhere near as long as a regular human does, and from what I understand, you two are not regular goblinoids or humans. You could just be his friend. He probably needs that as much as he needs anything else."

"You just don't want me as-"

"Don't say that! I would love you to be my sister in the chiefs harem. I'm more concerned with what you want, though."

"What I want?" Sui replied, finally getting off her knees and taking the other seat, the weird object lying across her lap. 

"Yes. I want you to be happy just as much as I want Rou to be happy. If you don't think you'll be happy with sharing him, then don't share him and just be his friend. You know he would be happy enough with that." Mi said. She didn't really understand why she put so much stock in being his only woman, but it was clearly tearing her up inside.

"I think... it is because I want to know what it is to be loved. I think my mother... my original mother, loved me, but I can't remember her... I can't remember very much of anything. Rou... I think he could love me, but it just isn't how I pictured it. Do... you think you can help me?"

Mi wasn't sure what love was either, but she felt warm, fuzzy, and safe whenever she was around Rou, so she assumed that was what love was. "Of course. Though this is all new to me too, I'll help however I can."

"Thank you."

"Now... tell me what you were practicing with that... thing. I thought his penis was supposed to go between my legs?"

"Oh... this is a dildo; it's a fake penis you can use to pleasure yourself. And what I was doing is called a blowjob. You use your mouth to make him feel good. I was just... trying to get used to having one in my mouth. I know Rou really likes them, and if he plants his seed anywhere else, you are probably going to get pregnant. I wasn't ready for a kid yet, so I was practicing other ways of making him feel good."

"Pregnant? What is wrong with that? You pop out a new goblin, and in a week, they are old enough to fend for themselves."

"Right... I almost forgot how quickly we are self-sufficient. Humans are not so quick to develop, and it's hard to say what will happen when Rou gets someone pregnant. He is an ogre now, but he has skills that might... change things, so it's hard to say what will happen."

"Huh... I wonder what is happening with Riana then. She is expecting three dryads in a month or so."

"I don't know. I haven't really had a chance to talk with her all week. Crossing a Dryad and Hobgoblin with the skills Rou has... might produce something unexpected... I'll have to check in on her later." 

*BOOM*

Lightning flashed as the rain continued to pour down outside, the rain feeding the farm and the new wall that Riana was working her spells on right now. Mi looked out the window to see if she was still out there, but it was raining hard enough that they could barely see the edge of the farm, let alone across the field. "I hope she is okay out there."

"She is a Dryad; she lives outside. She will be just fine. I'm more worried about Ee and Rou. They haven't returned yet from the mine. I hope it doesn't flood."

"I'm sure they will be fine. What do you want to do with the rest of the day? Practice with that dildo?" Mi asked, quite interested. If it was something she could do to help her please Rou, then she was all for learning how.

"No. Let's head back to the library. We have actual things to do, not just humour my silly thoughts. I think finishing another translation would be way more helpful to him than learning how to do fellatio better."

With that, the two hobgoblins left the bedroom, the sex talk forgotten. Mi still wasn't sure how to help her friend, but she wanted her to be just as happy as she was. If Rou could love a one-armed hobgoblin like her, surely he could love her forgetful friend too.