RD 3 Ch 27

Chapter 27

Our newly formed group continued to map out the region like a giant rectangle. Every time we found a fruit, I marked it with a talisman high in a nearby tree. That way, even if people forgot, I would be able to hand out locator talismans and send everybody out to gather them rapidly.

Thankfully, I had come in prepared with plenty of ranked paper for inscription. Gloria had worked her magic in that market of the FPA.

By the end of the day, the weaker members of our group were growing exhausted. I found a group of pines to carve another safety enchantment, and another group of pines to carve a set of inscriptions to hide our presence.

After I'd finished up, Antonio's group was still curiously examining the inscriptions in action, stepping in and out of them while another made noises, stomped their feet, or performed other actions to test their effectiveness. Merlin had made a multi-roomed stone hut before making a second one and insisting that Gloria, Simone, and I should stay in there and probably soundproof the space. 

Gloria only gave Merlin a giant grin. "Do you really want us to soundproof it?" 

"Yes. I absolutely want you to soundproof it," Merlin deadpanned. 

Simone squinted before sighing as if she’d lost something precious, "Fine, I'll make sure Bran soundproofs it." 

"Thank you," Merlin nodded before walking my way and pulling me aside with a heavy expression on her face.

"What can I do for you, Merlin?" I asked, genuinely meaning the words. She'd been a big help thus far. 

Merlin squinted lightly at me. "First you say, 'places like this,' as if you've been in similar places before, and then you seem to treat these fruits oddly." Her eyes narrowed even further until she was looking at me with the barest of slits. "Bran, you know something," she stated confidently. 

"Perhaps I do, perhaps I just suspect things," I said. 

"Then there's the fact that you clearly saw something when you were inspecting Antonio eating the fruits. It was slight, but you had a reaction. Meanwhile, myself and even Antonio were unable to see any change. What could you possibly see that Antonio couldn’t see in his own system menu?" 

I cleared my throat, "I'm not sure what you mean, after all, inspect is a system skill." System skills were absolute, unless of course they were countered with another.

"You trying to make an excuse like that only makes me more curious," Merlin said. 

I glanced up at the sun. "Can we use your glasses and the ruler? See if anything has changed?" 

"You are not getting out of this conversation with such an obvious change of subject." Merlin grumbled. But despite her words, Merlin pulled out the ruler I had made, as well as her sunglasses, putting them on and using the ruler to measure. She hummed as she worked. "I'd say we lost perhaps a tenth of the sun, maybe a little less. It's certainly been eclipsed further," she said, putting the ruler away and taking the sunglasses off. 

"A little less than a tenth," I said, glancing at the sun. "So perhaps we have the sun shifting by a twelfth," I asked, trying to get a firm number. 

"Perhaps a little more, maybe thirteen or fourteen," she said before clarifying, "days total. Fourteen makes sense. A fortnight is a common unit of measure," Merlin said. 

I nodded along. It didn't really matter what the total length was, but just that we had a general idea. "If it's a fortnight total and we've already spent, now, three days adventuring through these woods, then perhaps eleven more days before these fruits ripen," I shook my head. “That is a considerable amount of time for everyone to prepare for the next phase of this trial.”

"You think that's too much time for… these sorts of things?" Merlin emphasized, watching me closely. 

"Frankly, yes. Two weeks to prepare for what?" I said, waving an abroad sweeping gesture. "To find the fruits, to kill the monsters, to fight each other. Everything is so spaced out. Two weeks feels like an overabundance of time. Yet, in the same breath, if we are given the time we should be in theory preparing for whatever comes next. So what are we supposed to do for two weeks to prepare for the next phase?" 

"I'm just not sure what that is. Perhaps build fortifications?" Merlin asked. 

"Maybe, but what is a little hidden castle going to do for us?" I shook my head. "It's not the craziest of ideas, but I'm still not sure, even if we wanted to do that, where we should do it?" 

Merlin pursed her lips. "I think it would be better if we spent the next 11 days traveling in a broad circle while you build one of these hiding spots along the way. We could make a network of them so that perhaps we can send Antonio's weaker members out while giving them the options to hide should they encounter trouble they cannot manage." 

I thought about Merlin's plan and added my own understanding. "We'd also create a wide net. Anything inside that circle should be relatively safe," I said. 

Merlin only grinned. "I have noticed all of the talismans you've been leaving along the trees. If you're as good as you say, you should be able to create a safety net for your two ladies to get some experience. I can tell that you dote on them, but I don't think you want them to be completely immature in the wider ways of the world." 

"I wouldn't call either of them immature," I wiggled my eyebrows, enjoying getting a rise out of Merlin.

She rolled her eyes. "Not like that. We both know that they have not been initiated for long and that initiated live a different life. You showed them today the way this world works when you bound Antonio to your service, along with the rest of his people simply by being stronger than him." Merlin's expression was unreadable, but the words felt like they held more.

"Perhaps," I admitted. "I still don't think it has anything to do with maturity, however it is important that some mentalities change. The world is going to be different now and going into the future."

Someone I respected in my past life had a saying. There was no right or wrong in a world ruled by strength. The only sin was being weak.

Merlin glanced at me suspiciously. "That sort of talk again. It's almost as if you know what the future will hold." 

I laughed at her expression. "Now you sound like a crazy person. Knowing what the future holds.” I shook my head, but I was not a very natural actor so moves like this were better. “Not even the great Merlin who believes in prophecies, does she?" 

"Who knows?" Merlin waved her hand. "I've seen stranger things. Though you, Bran, might be the strangest thing I've seen yet." 

I started to reply, but she waved away my words before I started. "I know you're not going to give me any straight answers. Go frolic and play with your two ladies while you pretend to be younger than you are. If you won't tell me exactly what you know then I'll just have to interpret what I can from your actions." 

I turned to leave but then paused. "Merlin, I hope you understand that despite hiding some of what I know, I have the best interest of humanity at heart. Self-interest and protection of my ladies are only a small step above that. I will not lead you astray. I am simply trying to ensure the greatest number of resources being extracted from this place and the fewest people dying." 

Merlin's eyes pinched into little pin bricks. "And that is what I find most concerning, Bran. Because I believe you're saying those words honestly, and from everything I know about humanity that simply can't be true."

Her eyes held mine for a moment more before she turned and stepped into the stone building she had made and with the wave of her hand closed the door.

Turning back around, I found Simone and Gloria smiling from ear to ear inside our stone hut.

Seeing both of them standing there, waiting for me, made a giant grin spread across my face. I quickly moved into both of their arms and slapped a talisman to the door frame. A light screen filled it in, hiding the sounds from even demonic observers that might be watching us from the sky or so I hoped.

Simone pulled me down onto the king-size mattress that had been set out in the space.

"So, Merlin," Simone asked, her hand trailing along my face and down my chest teasingly.

"What about Merlin?" I replied, keeping my face neutral.

"She's quite pretty." Gloria's face was set in a neutral mask. However, she had changed out of her outfit and was now wearing a silk robe. When she shifted, I could tell she was wearing thin, lacy lingerie underneath.

Both ladies had me exactly where they wanted me. Simone didn't hesitate in taking off my shirt while Gloria removed my boots and then my pants. 

"Is it really the time to be talking about Merlin?" I asked, letting a hand wander over each of them. I just wanted to feel them, to touch them again. I had missed them over the last several days and had been worried about them.

There was something reassuring about simply feeling their bodies and knowing that they were beside me once again.

Simone feathered a handful of kisses at my now-exposed collarbone. "I'm just curious," Simone whispered into my ear while her fingers trailed down my chest. "She's a powerful, certainly not bad-looking woman that you seem to have found." 

I rolled my eyes. "I don't think she's interested. She seems fairly jaded by humanity. But she has some wonderful travel spells. She has this ability, League Step, where space warps and each stride covers a mile. It's how we were able to make such quick time over here after I felt you use your talisman." 

"Oh, so she's just an ally of convenience," Gloria pressed sounding like she was trying to convince all of us.

Between both ladies, they had now stripped me down to my underwear and were laying on either side as Gloria pulled a heavy blanket over us.

Suddenly, Simone's clothes shot out from under the blanket and I could feel her naked body pressed against my right side. Meanwhile, Gloria took up my left and I could feel the smooth silk of her robe with the occasional rougher texture of her bra brushing against me. 

"Now this just isn't fair, you two," I wiggled, trying to pull them even closer against me. 

"What's not fair?" Simone kissed my shoulder again and I could feel her hand wandering slow, tantalizing circles along my hips but never quite penetrating into my boxers. 

"I'm not doing anything with Merlin," I insisted, "not when I have you two right here." I wrapped an arm around each and squeezed them to my side. Simone glanced over my chest at Gloria. 

"Can you believe him? It seems like he's about to take us two on one." Simone stated.

Gloria snorted. "Nice try, Simone. There's nothing like that happening tonight." 

Simone pouted. "What? Whatever do you mean," she said, feigning a gasp and putting a hand on her chest. "I thought we were both here to tease Bran about Merlin and get to the bottom of the situation." 

"No, it looks like you're trying to initiate a threesome," Gloria deadpanned. Though her own hand began to wander along my thigh. With the two girls teasing me and talking about us all being together, I couldn't help but imagine a threesome with the two of them.

"I swear, there is nothing between Merlin and I. She even suspects that I am more than I say. I let slip that I have some experience that might be helpful at present, and she knows I’m still skeptical of the fruits. Merlin is incredibly suspicious of me." With good reason and I couldn’t really blame him.

Simone's eyes flickered to the talisman by the door. "How good is that?" she asked. 

"Very, very good," I said. "However, it's always best to be cautious. You never know." I flicked up my system menu and pulled a hand away from Simone to obviously swipe it in the air, letting both of them see what I saw. "It is telling when even information you trust with your own eyes might not be 100% correct."

I could see the moment that Simone understood, her eyes opening wide and she gasped. Gloria took a moment later, squinting at the system screen. "You can't be serious." 

"I am dead serious, Gloria. It takes me a considerable effort to see the truth." Both of them nodded. The sexual tension melted away, but Simone was not going to let the moment go so easily. She shifted, running both hands over me, she said, "Let's forget about that for now, hmm?"