—Cole POV—
Asking the locals for directions to a good armorer, we were directed to a different man than Naofumi would have originally met. Stepping into his shop, the middle-aged man behind the counter took a look at us and stared at my wives. Knowing that this was a Human Supremacy nation…I knew something was about to happen.
“We don’t allow pets in the shop.”, he spat in disgust, “Get those mongrels out of-”
Feeling the temperature start to rise in the room, he quickly did a double take and realized Eve was forming a massive fireball.
“Haha…”, Eve laughed in an angry tone, “What was that you just said, sir? I am afraid I misunderstood what you referred to us as. It’d be a shame if this place were to catch fire all of a sudden.”
Being trashed talk by anyone really rubbed Eve the wrong way, especially when it was humans doing it. Call it Snow Elf Pride, but anyone that insulted her quickly felt her fury. When she officially became my wife, she earned the nickname of the King’s Guard Dog…and the man that gave it to her ended up as a burn mark on the granite floors of our Throne Room.
Seeing his roof beams start to catch fire, he quickly apologized and pleaded with her not to burn the shop down. When she didn’t stop, he quickly got on his hands and knees pleading for mercy. Extinguishing her flames with a satisfied smile, Eve told him to never refer to any of them as pets again.
“Next time my fingers may slip.”, she said with a scary glare.
“Of course…”, he replied with a gulp, “So…how can I help you all of you today?”
“We need to get this man here fitted with some armor, whatever fits him will work for now.”, I told him pushing Naofumi forward, “Please show us several options so we can pick one.”
Taking some measurements, he went into the back to see what he had. After the man was out of earshot, Naofumi asked why I asked for whatever fits him.
“Is there something different about how people sell things in this world?”, he inquired, “I thought it was common sense to sell something that fits.”
“There are three types of equipment, mass-produced armor, custom armor, and enchanted adjustable armor.”, I informed him, “Enchanted Adjustable Armor is the most expensive, the bag of gold you were given wouldn’t even cover a pair of gloves. It takes a Master Armorer months to make just a pair of gloves, chestplates and leggings can sometimes take a year or more to be completed. Custom Armor is the middle of the road, it’s made to fit you specifically so it cost a lot because it’s custom fitting. Commissions on that take a few weeks to a month depending on the armorer’s skill. Lastly is mass-produced armor, it’s the cheapest option as most of the time they have apprentice workers make them for practice. It’s lower quality, but it will get you by till you start earning yourself money.”
“I see…isn’t it riskier to use it then?”, he asked.
“No, they have to meet certain standards or the shop would garner a bad reputation. Since you are a low-level person at the moment, mass-produced armor is the most cost-effective option.”, I assured him, “Besides, I will jump in if something becomes too dangerous for you.”
Nodding his head, he thanked me for sharing my information with him. Waiting a few minutes for the Armorer to return, he came back with several different types of armor for Naofumi to pick from. Looking at me for assistance, I told him that heavy armor was out for the time being due to him being physically weak at the moment.
“You should go for leather armor!”, Isola told him, “It’s the easiest to adjust and repair.”
“No, he will need metal armor for the added protection. Leather armor has very low resistance to acid, some of the monsters in these parts have acid which will eat right through it.”, I spoke up, “He isn’t going to be doing martial arts like the four of you do so the added mobility isn’t necessary anyways.”
Choosing between either bronze or steel, Naofumi selected the steel chainmail armor since it would handle a beating a bit better. Getting him a cloak to go along with the armor, he got suited up to make sure things fit right before paying the man. With his armor taken care of, I told him the next step was getting him registered with the Guild.
“The Adventurer’s Guild has branches in every nation of this world, so they don’t discriminate like the kingdom does. Getting registered with them will allow you to sell items you find or gather for money.”, I informed him as we walked into the Guild, “The job board is over there, but you will need to speak with one of the receptionists first to get your Guild Card. We will be over at one of the tables waiting for you.”
Walking over to the counter by himself, the six of us took a seat to relax a bit. Ordering some drinks while we waited, the women and I looked around the space to take it all in. It had been a long time since I stepped into a Guild Hall like this, and it brought back a lot of fond memories.
“So this is an Adventurer’s Guild?”, Rumi asked looking around, “Seems like a fight could break out at any time, this is my kind of place!”
“That’s pretty much every Guild Hall, Adventurer’s are considered to be the misfits of society in some places. If you don’t want to farm, be a soldier, or pick up a trade…you become an Adventurer or a Bandit.”, I chuckled looking around at the various races present here, “This place reminds me of Alestar…especially that time after we slayed the Undead Dragon of Winterfrost.”
“I remember that!”, Luna said with excitement, “We got so piss drunk that night, that poor idiot smacked Sapphire’s butt and she reduced him to ashes for it.”
“Didn’t she accidentally light a keg or two on fire for that?”, Evelyn stated.
Nodding my head, I reminded her that both Luna and Evelyn ended up losing the hair on their ears for a while because of the fiery explosion. Remembering that part again…they quickly said it was no longer a fond memory for them. Laughing at that, we started to talk about other adventures we had when a group of men approached our table.
“Hey ladies, is this human bothering you?”, a Grizzly Bear Beastman asked them as he stared at me, “What sort of shitty armor is that, haha!”
“No, he’s our husband.”, Isola told them, “Is there something you need? If you are only here to harass us, fuck off.”
“Husband!?”, the group of men shrieked, “This bastard force you into marrying him, or are you actually slaves?!”
“We are not damn slaves!”, Rumi spat in anger as she rose from her seat, “If you got something to say about our man, speak up or piss off!”
Realizing what Rumi was going to do, I slid my seat back with my lager to avoid being hit. Unfortunately, that man was an idiot and said that their fine asses shouldn’t be in my bed. Slamming her fist down on the edge of the table, the opposite flipped up and smashed into his chin. Watching his eyes roll back into his head, the big man fell backward like a felled tree.
“Hey that’s our boss!”, a Tigerman growled, “You stupid rabbit, that was a cheap-”
Slamming her leg into his crotch, Luna told him to piss off because they didn’t ask for his opinion. Dropping to his knees, the man clutched his crotch as he started foaming at the mouth. Having watched two of their colleagues get knocked out, the rest of the team jumped in to fight. Admittedly I could have dealt with them myself in seconds, but my wives had it covered well enough.
Opening up with several barrages of ice and fire magic, Eve caused dozens of explosions that sent a few of the men flying out of the Guild Hall. As for the Rabbit women, they were letting loose with their martial arts skills breaking bones with every blow. Fixing the table while they cleaned the idiots up, I set my mug down and ordered them replacement drinks since theirs were all over the floor.
Beating the men to a pulp, the five of them piled the unconscious bodies on top of each other in a corner of the Great Room. Dusting themselves off, the five of them let off sighs of relief as they started to settle down.
“Finally!!”, Rumi sighed as her urge to fight subsided, “I can see why you are called Warrior Bunnies, you three are excellent fighters.”
“The best in our respective tribes.”, the three boasted.
“So how exactly did you end up settling down with this knucklehead?”, Rumi said pointing at me.
Taking a sip of their drinks, Evelyn and Luna started with their stories first.
“Well…as you have probably seen, Rabbitkin like us attract a lot of unwanted attention. We are always being hunted down by men that want nothing more than to rape us.”, Evelyn told her, “Since our world was being ravaged by famine and plague, the Warrior Bunny tribes banded together for safety as we were too weak to defend ourselves independently. One day, Cole showed up at our camp asking for directions to the Hell Forest.”
“Of course, we thought it was a human trying to lower our guard, so we immediately tried to kill him on the spot.”, Luna laughed, “He pumbled all of us with little effort as we were severely weakened from starvation. As we lay on the ground unable to move, we prepared ourselves to be his fucktoys but instead, he used his magic to heal us. Thinking he had done something to insult us, he quickly apologized and said all he wanted was to go to the forest to gather badly needed food.”
Since I didn’t assault them, they opted to place a little bit of trust in me and provided me with directions to the forest. In addition, since I was out gathering food, they sent several people with me to see what I was picking out so they could do the same. I ended up gathering garlic, wild onions, ginseng, potatoes, and several other ingredients which they weren’t aware could be eaten. Taking back a large haul with us, the rabbits presented the food to their comrades who immediately started cooking with it.
“Cole is the reason we managed to survive out in the wilds alone. We were so desperate for food at the time that we almost considered starting to sell our weaker comrades off to buy food for everyone else.”, Evelyn admitted with a downcast look, “Looking back on it now, I can’t believe we even considered it. We have never turned our back on our own before, but we came so close to doing so knowing full well the life they would have.”
“After showing us the proper way to grow, harvest, and prepare the ingredients Cole left our camp and returned to the capital.”, Luna said getting off the topic, “Our tribe decided to do something to thank him for saving us, but we had nothing to give him as a reward. Since we knew he was a good man, Evelyn and I volunteered to be his concubines. Gathering our belongings up, the two of us chased after him and have been with him ever since.”
“What they forget to mention is how they were almost eaten when they came to find me.”, I chuckled, “These two idiots got caught by a man-eating plant because it smelled good. I stumbled across them the next day…completely naked as their armor had been dissolved. They had to be cut out of the plant before they were dissolved themselves.”
Looking away with embarrassment, they told me I didn’t need to tell her that. Assuring them that I did, I said it was certainly a memory I burned into my mind. After telling me why they chased after me, I made them members of my party instead of concubines since I needed assistance more than sex at the time. By the famines and plague were resolved, I had grown very close to them and I was visiting their tribe on a weekly basis.
‘It was on one of those trips Luna’s grandma flat out told us to start humping like rabbits.’, I recalled with a smirk, ‘She kept telling Luna that finding a good man like me was a rare occurrence and that she needed to secure her spot before some hussy took it from her. Evelyn’s grandma was no different, she even tried to offer me some of her other granddaughters to sweeten the deal.’
When they announced their pregnancies, their tribes held a celebration for two full days to commemorate the occasion. Remembering those times put a smile on my face as seeing them dance around with happiness was something I enjoyed quite a lot.
“My story is much simpler, the humans in my world tried to completely eradicate all non-human races.”, Isola said getting straight to the point, “When Cole rose to power as the Demon Lord to fight back against, my people eagerly joined him to reclaim our homeland and save our brethren. I served as the envoy for my people so I got to know Cole very well.”
As the envoy for her people, she and I spent quite a number of nights hammering through battle plans to make sure we lost the minimal amount of lives possible. Working alongside me, she got to see the gentle and vengeful sides of my personality which eventually ended up winning her over.
“I see, well I am happy to have close friends like all of you!”, Rumi said with a smile, “All of you are a blast to hang out with, and are awesome sparring partners!”
“Yeah!”, the three women shouted in agreement.
Coming over with his Adventurer License in hand, Naofumi wore a pale look as he glanced over at the pile of bodies. Telling me that he was ready to go, I took him over to the Job Board to pick out an easy job for him to start with.
—Cole POV—
Asking the locals for directions to a good armorer, we were directed to a different man than Naofumi would have originally met. Stepping into his shop, the middle-aged man behind the counter took a look at us and stared at my wives. Knowing that this was a Human Supremacy nation…I knew something was about to happen.
“We don’t allow pets in the shop.”, he spat in disgust, “Get those mongrels out of-”
Feeling the temperature start to rise in the room, he quickly did a double take and realized Eve was forming a massive fireball.
“Haha…”, Eve laughed in an angry tone, “What was that you just said, sir? I am afraid I misunderstood what you referred to us as. It’d be a shame if this place were to catch fire all of a sudden.”
Being trashed talk by anyone really rubbed Eve the wrong way, especially when it was humans doing it. Call it Snow Elf Pride, but anyone that insulted her quickly felt her fury. When she officially became my wife, she earned the nickname of the King’s Guard Dog…and the man that gave it to her ended up as a burn mark on the granite floors of our Throne Room.
Seeing his roof beams start to catch fire, he quickly apologized and pleaded with her not to burn the shop down. When she didn’t stop, he quickly got on his hands and knees pleading for mercy. Extinguishing her flames with a satisfied smile, Eve told him to never refer to any of them as pets again.
“Next time my fingers may slip.”, she said with a scary glare.
“Of course…”, he replied with a gulp, “So…how can I help you all of you today?”
“We need to get this man here fitted with some armor, whatever fits him will work for now.”, I told him pushing Naofumi forward, “Please show us several options so we can pick one.”
Taking some measurements, he went into the back to see what he had. After the man was out of earshot, Naofumi asked why I asked for whatever fits him.
“Is there something different about how people sell things in this world?”, he inquired, “I thought it was common sense to sell something that fits.”
“There are three types of equipment, mass-produced armor, custom armor, and enchanted adjustable armor.”, I informed him, “Enchanted Adjustable Armor is the most expensive, the bag of gold you were given wouldn’t even cover a pair of gloves. It takes a Master Armorer months to make just a pair of gloves, chestplates and leggings can sometimes take a year or more to be completed. Custom Armor is the middle of the road, it’s made to fit you specifically so it cost a lot because it’s custom fitting. Commissions on that take a few weeks to a month depending on the armorer’s skill. Lastly is mass-produced armor, it’s the cheapest option as most of the time they have apprentice workers make them for practice. It’s lower quality, but it will get you by till you start earning yourself money.”
“I see…isn’t it riskier to use it then?”, he asked.
“No, they have to meet certain standards or the shop would garner a bad reputation. Since you are a low-level person at the moment, mass-produced armor is the most cost-effective option.”, I assured him, “Besides, I will jump in if something becomes too dangerous for you.”
Nodding his head, he thanked me for sharing my information with him. Waiting a few minutes for the Armorer to return, he came back with several different types of armor for Naofumi to pick from. Looking at me for assistance, I told him that heavy armor was out for the time being due to him being physically weak at the moment.
“You should go for leather armor!”, Isola told him, “It’s the easiest to adjust and repair.”
“No, he will need metal armor for the added protection. Leather armor has very low resistance to acid, some of the monsters in these parts have acid which will eat right through it.”, I spoke up, “He isn’t going to be doing martial arts like the four of you do so the added mobility isn’t necessary anyways.”
Choosing between either bronze or steel, Naofumi selected the steel chainmail armor since it would handle a beating a bit better. Getting him a cloak to go along with the armor, he got suited up to make sure things fit right before paying the man. With his armor taken care of, I told him the next step was getting him registered with the Guild.
“The Adventurer’s Guild has branches in every nation of this world, so they don’t discriminate like the kingdom does. Getting registered with them will allow you to sell items you find or gather for money.”, I informed him as we walked into the Guild, “The job board is over there, but you will need to speak with one of the receptionists first to get your Guild Card. We will be over at one of the tables waiting for you.”
Walking over to the counter by himself, the six of us took a seat to relax a bit. Ordering some drinks while we waited, the women and I looked around the space to take it all in. It had been a long time since I stepped into a Guild Hall like this, and it brought back a lot of fond memories.
“So this is an Adventurer’s Guild?”, Rumi asked looking around, “Seems like a fight could break out at any time, this is my kind of place!”
“That’s pretty much every Guild Hall, Adventurer’s are considered to be the misfits of society in some places. If you don’t want to farm, be a soldier, or pick up a trade…you become an Adventurer or a Bandit.”, I chuckled looking around at the various races present here, “This place reminds me of Alestar…especially that time after we slayed the Undead Dragon of Winterfrost.”
“I remember that!”, Luna said with excitement, “We got so piss drunk that night, that poor idiot smacked Sapphire’s butt and she reduced him to ashes for it.”
“Didn’t she accidentally light a keg or two on fire for that?”, Evelyn stated.
Nodding my head, I reminded her that both Luna and Evelyn ended up losing the hair on their ears for a while because of the fiery explosion. Remembering that part again…they quickly said it was no longer a fond memory for them. Laughing at that, we started to talk about other adventures we had when a group of men approached our table.
“Hey ladies, is this human bothering you?”, a Grizzly Bear Beastman asked them as he stared at me, “What sort of shitty armor is that, haha!”
“No, he’s our husband.”, Isola told them, “Is there something you need? If you are only here to harass us, fuck off.”
“Husband!?”, the group of men shrieked, “This bastard force you into marrying him, or are you actually slaves?!”
“We are not damn slaves!”, Rumi spat in anger as she rose from her seat, “If you got something to say about our man, speak up or piss off!”
Realizing what Rumi was going to do, I slid my seat back with my lager to avoid being hit. Unfortunately, that man was an idiot and said that their fine asses shouldn’t be in my bed. Slamming her fist down on the edge of the table, the opposite flipped up and smashed into his chin. Watching his eyes roll back into his head, the big man fell backward like a felled tree.
“Hey that’s our boss!”, a Tigerman growled, “You stupid rabbit, that was a cheap-”
Slamming her leg into his crotch, Luna told him to piss off because they didn’t ask for his opinion. Dropping to his knees, the man clutched his crotch as he started foaming at the mouth. Having watched two of their colleagues get knocked out, the rest of the team jumped in to fight. Admittedly I could have dealt with them myself in seconds, but my wives had it covered well enough.
Opening up with several barrages of ice and fire magic, Eve caused dozens of explosions that sent a few of the men flying out of the Guild Hall. As for the Rabbit women, they were letting loose with their martial arts skills breaking bones with every blow. Fixing the table while they cleaned the idiots up, I set my mug down and ordered them replacement drinks since theirs were all over the floor.
Beating the men to a pulp, the five of them piled the unconscious bodies on top of each other in a corner of the Great Room. Dusting themselves off, the five of them let off sighs of relief as they started to settle down.
“Finally!!”, Rumi sighed as her urge to fight subsided, “I can see why you are called Warrior Bunnies, you three are excellent fighters.”
“The best in our respective tribes.”, the three boasted.
“So how exactly did you end up settling down with this knucklehead?”, Rumi said pointing at me.
Taking a sip of their drinks, Evelyn and Luna started with their stories first.
“Well…as you have probably seen, Rabbitkin like us attract a lot of unwanted attention. We are always being hunted down by men that want nothing more than to rape us.”, Evelyn told her, “Since our world was being ravaged by famine and plague, the Warrior Bunny tribes banded together for safety as we were too weak to defend ourselves independently. One day, Cole showed up at our camp asking for directions to the Hell Forest.”
“Of course, we thought it was a human trying to lower our guard, so we immediately tried to kill him on the spot.”, Luna laughed, “He pumbled all of us with little effort as we were severely weakened from starvation. As we lay on the ground unable to move, we prepared ourselves to be his fucktoys but instead, he used his magic to heal us. Thinking he had done something to insult us, he quickly apologized and said all he wanted was to go to the forest to gather badly needed food.”
Since I didn’t assault them, they opted to place a little bit of trust in me and provided me with directions to the forest. In addition, since I was out gathering food, they sent several people with me to see what I was picking out so they could do the same. I ended up gathering garlic, wild onions, ginseng, potatoes, and several other ingredients which they weren’t aware could be eaten. Taking back a large haul with us, the rabbits presented the food to their comrades who immediately started cooking with it.
“Cole is the reason we managed to survive out in the wilds alone. We were so desperate for food at the time that we almost considered starting to sell our weaker comrades off to buy food for everyone else.”, Evelyn admitted with a downcast look, “Looking back on it now, I can’t believe we even considered it. We have never turned our back on our own before, but we came so close to doing so knowing full well the life they would have.”
“After showing us the proper way to grow, harvest, and prepare the ingredients Cole left our camp and returned to the capital.”, Luna said getting off the topic, “Our tribe decided to do something to thank him for saving us, but we had nothing to give him as a reward. Since we knew he was a good man, Evelyn and I volunteered to be his concubines. Gathering our belongings up, the two of us chased after him and have been with him ever since.”
“What they forget to mention is how they were almost eaten when they came to find me.”, I chuckled, “These two idiots got caught by a man-eating plant because it smelled good. I stumbled across them the next day…completely naked as their armor had been dissolved. They had to be cut out of the plant before they were dissolved themselves.”
Looking away with embarrassment, they told me I didn’t need to tell her that. Assuring them that I did, I said it was certainly a memory I burned into my mind. After telling me why they chased after me, I made them members of my party instead of concubines since I needed assistance more than sex at the time. By the famines and plague were resolved, I had grown very close to them and I was visiting their tribe on a weekly basis.
‘It was on one of those trips Luna’s grandma flat out told us to start humping like rabbits.’, I recalled with a smirk, ‘She kept telling Luna that finding a good man like me was a rare occurrence and that she needed to secure her spot before some hussy took it from her. Evelyn’s grandma was no different, she even tried to offer me some of her other granddaughters to sweeten the deal.’
When they announced their pregnancies, their tribes held a celebration for two full days to commemorate the occasion. Remembering those times put a smile on my face as seeing them dance around with happiness was something I enjoyed quite a lot.
“My story is much simpler, the humans in my world tried to completely eradicate all non-human races.”, Isola said getting straight to the point, “When Cole rose to power as the Demon Lord to fight back against, my people eagerly joined him to reclaim our homeland and save our brethren. I served as the envoy for my people so I got to know Cole very well.”
As the envoy for her people, she and I spent quite a number of nights hammering through battle plans to make sure we lost the minimal amount of lives possible. Working alongside me, she got to see the gentle and vengeful sides of my personality which eventually ended up winning her over.
“I see, well I am happy to have close friends like all of you!”, Rumi said with a smile, “All of you are a blast to hang out with, and are awesome sparring partners!”
“Yeah!”, the three women shouted in agreement.
Coming over with his Adventurer License in hand, Naofumi wore a pale look as he glanced over at the pile of bodies. Telling me that he was ready to go, I took him over to the Job Board to pick out an easy job for him to start with.
