ACR - Ch3

The sun began to set, and Lyle finished up. The wolfgirls trotted off to the lake and cleaned themselves up, while Lyle kept things much simpler. He still didn’t trust the water here.

Ein trotted over to him while the rest of the Vierfach played in the lake. The wolfgirls splashed about, swimming deeper into the lake and making noises about the “strange fish” here.

“I’ve never seen a place like this anywhere else,” Ein said as she approached, still completely naked. She wrung out her tail, steam rising from it as it dried itself out. Her skin glistened with droplets and drew tantalizing images across her soft body. She smiled. “Well, at least I know you do like this. I was worried.”

“Just because I don’t think with my dick doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy using it,” Lyle drawled.

“Clearly.” Ein plopped down in his lap, and Lyle suppressed a grimace as his uniform got wet. “You’re here because everything’s weird here, right?”

“Something like that,” Lyle said.

“Not saying?”

“The collar doesn’t stop you from talking to others.”

“Ah,” Ein said. She fell silent for close to a minute. They listened to her sisters splashing about nearby. The red rays of the sun fell on them. In the distance, something or somebody howled.

“I’ll need to rest soon,” Lyle said. “It’s dangerous for me to be out at dark.”

“Can’t say we like it either. It’s dangerous to be this close to the wasteland, and we’re newcomers,” Ein said. “Plus, there’s a wolf pack nearby and the pack leader is a nasty piece of work. Saw her tear a birdgirl to ribbons from hundreds of meters away. Like your glowy trick.”

“Magic,” Lyle said. “Monstergirls are as capable of it as humans. If things go well between us, I’ll teach you.”

“Fucking seriously?” Ein erupted. She paused. “I don’t get it. Why not just turn me into a mindless sex doll? You said that you can do that. And I’m betting you want us for the manual labor more than my amazing insights, given you know more than I ever will.”

“Keep yourself out of trouble and maybe you’ll find out,” Lyle said. He ruffled her black hair and the tufts of white hair in her ears, and she growled at him. “But I did mean that I want somebody with brains. Being smart means you can stay alive, like you have today.”

“Hmmm,” Ein mumbled.

“Anyway, we need to rest. Could you go in the house earlier?”

“Yeah. Why? We checked the place out before we went in the river downstream. Then we smelled something different and doubled back. Found your wagon and Zwei hurt her hand,” Ein said.

“The wagon is warded against corruption, which includes monstergirls. The house clearly isn’t. The four of you sleep in the house, and I’ll rest in the wagon,” Lyle said, rising to his feet as the howling grew closer. He could code their collars and allow them into the wagon, but he was still wary of them, collared or not.

“Come on, cuddle up with us,” Ein said, her voice turning sultry. “If you let us, we’ll wake you up with something real nice.”

“I’m not worried about you. But you said that you smelled me. The wards will prevent anything nasty from finding us while we sleep.” Lyle walked off. “We’ll talk again in the morning.”

Despite his concerns, the night was completely uneventful. The howling never came too close, and nothing scrabbled at the wagon or screeched in pain due to the wards.

Come morning, he stretched, checked his equipment, and went outside. His hand gripped the hilt of his sword, just in case, but no enemies were nearby.

He smelled something pleasant. Something he hadn’t smelled in nearly a week.

Meat. Cooked meat.

The Vierfach sat around a makeshift campfire beside the lake. The ugliest, foulest rabbit that Lyle had ever seen lay dead beside the girls, and the meat of another sat on a spit over the fire. The corruption warped animals as well, and the meat looked unpleasant. The color was entirely wrong. More black and purple than red, and didn’t properly brown when cooked.

“I’m surprised you cook your prey,” Lyle said when he approached them.

“Very little tastes good out here without cooking,” Ein said.

“Everybody knows that,” the Vierfach said, the others agreeing with themselves.

“Are you going to eat? I’ve noticed you don’t like the water,” Ein said.

“Out of preference,” he said, taking a seat next to them. Ein and one of her sisters cuddled up to him immediately.

“Oh? Aren’t you afraid of the corruption seeping into your body?” Ein smirked at him, her fingers wandering over his missing crotch plate. He hadn’t bothered to replace it, given he may end up “enjoying” the Vierfach before long.

“No,” Lyle said. “So if that was your plan, forget about it.”

Ein blinked and froze. “Shit.”

Lyle chuckled. “You really thought I’d fuck you if I wasn’t immune to the corruption? That’s how you monstergirls turn people into mindless mates.”

“I thought you were just hard-headed,” Ein muttered. “And after a good sleep you’d be up and ready to lay down and let us take turns for the rest of your happy, little life.”

“Tough luck,” Lyle said. “Changed your mind?”

“After yesterday?” another of the Vierfach said, eyes wide. “Fuck no. We’re having sex after breakfast, right?”

Ein rolled her eyes. “It’s safe to say we’re happy little wolfgirls. For now.” Her eyes darkened as she said the last two words.

Given he was going to be distracted after breakfast, Lyle decided to discuss the day’s tasks over food.

“I’d like to know anything nearby that’s of interest,” he said. The Vierfach watched him over bites of their meat. “I saw the homestead below the clearing and the old mining town downstream, but nothing else.”

“Mining town? You mean the boarded-up hole in the ground near the bridge,” Ein said. “Because there isn’t a town there anymore.”

“It was called Hollowford before the Blight. I’m guessing the corruption has reduced the buildings to nothing,” he said, shrugging. “What do you know about nearby? You mentioned the wolf pack.”

Ein chewed on a bone thoughtfully, while her sisters nibbled on berries. They offered some to Lyle, who took them without a thought.

“Whoops, now you’re poisoned.” One of the Vierfach giggled as he ate a few.

He rolled his eyes. “The collars stop you from harming me even indirectly. And you wouldn’t get sex if you killed me now.”

“Got us there,” another of the Vierfach muttered. She leered at him, her fingers wandering over her breasts.

He really needed to get them some clothes.

Ein spoke up, “The wolf pack mostly occupies the forest to the west, which is on the side of the ruined house you mentioned. They rarely cross the river, as there’s a colony of bees that can get territorial. Plus there’s a super creepy tower further east we’ve heard about from the birdgirls. Supposedly a baphomet lives within a chasm nearby. It’s mostly rumor though, and birdgirls love to talk shit.”

“I hope so,” Lyle said darkly.

A baphomet. That was the last thing he needed. They were part of a class of monstergirls known as Blight heralds, as they actively sought to spread the Blight and fight the Priestess. Lyle lacked the resources to fight one at present.

So, going too far east was off the cards.

“What about closer to home?” Lyle asked.

“Nothing organized,” Ein said. “Lots of birdgirls around, but no big flocks or harpy tribes. The harpies all hang around closer to the wasteland border.”

“That’s a bit odd,” Lyle noted. “Birdgirls form flocks at the slightest opportunity. They only need a single mate for dozens, or even hundreds of birdgirls, and aren’t averse to mingling between species—save for harpies.”

Ein shrugged, although she looked put out at her lack of answers. She munched on some rabbit for a while, until Lyle pressed her for more information.

“That’s everything we’ve spotted around here,” she said. “But we’ve only been here for a few weeks. If nobody new came, we were going to start following the wall further south. We’ve heard that the wasteland was thinner the closer you got to the coast.”

Lyle remained silent and shrugged. He didn’t want to give the Vierfach an excuse to try to leave. Right now, the fact he was a potential mate prevented them from causing trouble but Ein still had second thoughts. Until he either convinced her of his merits or fucked her into submission like a typical monstergirl, he needed to treat carefully.

“Are there any mountains or craggy areas nearby? Cave systems?” Lyle asked, checking off some check boxes for dangerous monstergirls.

“No serious mountains, but there are some serious chasms about a day’s trot north,” Ein said, pointing north with a bone she had cleaned off. It glistened with her saliva but lacked even the slightest trace of meat on it. She continued to gnaw at it. “Mama always said to avoid them, but I know there’s a flock of eagles that nest there. Uh, dunno about caves. There’s obviously the one they boarded up near this Hollowford place you mentioned.”

That made a dragon unlikely if eagles nested in the chasm. Lamias were possible.

Lyle drew up a rough map in the dirt around the campfire. Compared to his current location, he had a decent idea of his surroundings.

A pack of wolfgirls led by a dangerous leader lay in a forest to the south-west, past the homestead. Beegirls had a colony to the south-east, close to Hollowford. Much further east was a narrow chasm, which supposedly contained a tower and a baphomet—bad news, if that was true. Large numbers of independent birdgirls hung around the entire area and refused to flock for some reason. Harpies nested further to the south, close to the wasteland border that was almost a day’s travel away. And a day’s travel north had a network of chasms that had a nest of eagles and maybe some lamias or more dangerous monstergirls. There was also a boarded-up mine in Hollowford.

By the Priestess, what the fuck had Lyle gotten himself into?

He stared at the map and the many symbols he had drawn on it. He was alone, in the middle of hundreds, or even thousands of monstergirls, plus many more monsters, and had no idea how to even accomplish what his father had tasked him to do. Every building he had found was a ruin. If he wanted supplies, it was a week of restless travel back to civilization—and nobody from said civilization would brave the trip his way.

Ein’s ears twitched and brushed his chin as she leaned into the crook of his neck.

No, not alone. As odd as it was, he found comfort in the fact he had four wolfgirl companions now.

Because they were far friendlier than everything else around him.

After breakfast, Lyle showed his appreciation to the quadruplets in earnest. They moaned and twitched as they drained out on the grass afterward, while Ein serviced his length. She had more energy than her sisters and wanted to keep going forever. Lyle couldn’t let that happen however and sent the Vierfach to clean up in short order.

He grimaced at the too-clear water of the lake and decided to clean off despite his concerns. Nothing ate at his skin or activated his crest. Whatever created those black tendrils of corruption further downstream wasn’t present in the lake itself. The Vierfach leered at his body and gasped at the countless scars that ran across his muscled body. Ein stared at the intricate tattoo across his back, seemingly enraptured by it.

The day was still early, despite the lengthy exercise they’d had.

“I want to build a home here,” Lyle announced.

The Vierfach squealed and pressed against each other in excitement.

Ein raised an eyebrow, remaining subdued. “I assumed we’re going to help?”

“Once I find a suitable location.”

She looked around in surprise. “Not here?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” He pointed downhill, toward the homestead. “There’s two other locations I want to investigate today. Given how long it will take to settle in, I want to pick the right place to build.”

Lyle hopped aboard his wagon and compelled it to ride toward the homestead. The Vierfach followed, keeping their distance from the warded vehicle.

Shortly after, they arrived at the ruined homestead he had spotted on his way to the lake. Lyle dismounted and approached the area, a frown etched upon his face.

The Vierfach bounded ahead, only stopping to investigate a series of strange objects held on wooden stakes around the outskirts of the homestead.

“These look like the things on your wagon,” Ein noted, running her fingers over the intricate designs of a brass corruption ward. “And the material is the same as my collar.”

“They’re corruption wards, and the material is brass. It’s the best and most efficient material for controlling corruption with,” Lyle explained. He stared at the wards.

Whoever had lived here was a recent resident. Corruption wards hadn’t been invented until well after the Blight had taken over the continent. The rise of the Priestess had been responsible for many changes in the battle against the Blight, and the invention of corruption wards was the primary one.

Had one of his family lived here? If so, it had been some time ago. The wards had long since burned out. Many had been destroyed and the fields and pastures had been obliterated by the blight. The tainted grass of the wasteland had overtaken the fields.

From experience, he knew that crops grew just as well when corruption was cleared, so that didn’t concern him, but it was alarming to see a bastion of humanity destroyed like this.

The building itself had been reduced to its frame, which was sturdier than it had any right to be.

Whoever built this place knew that it would need to weather the Blight. It had a sturdy iron frame spread over two stories and most of a masonry facade. But enough of its interior had decayed that the place was uninhabitable without considerable work. Irrigation from the nearby stream was heavily damaged, and water no longer flowed. But the trees had been cleared far enough back that Lyle suspected the resident had lived here within the last few decades at the very least.

“Oh, I think I know what this place was,” Ein said. “The goblins do this as well back home. It’s a farm isn’t it? Grow food, take care of animals, knock up your mate.” She leered at him and pressed her naked breasts against his body.

“That’s right,” he said.

He stared at the ruined homestead and couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing here.

His life had been about war, and here he was thinking about building a farm. And screwing wolfgirls.

Things had strayed far from his original idea of this mission of finding his family legacy and preventing the growth of the Blight, but he somehow wondered if this wasn’t also a good thing.

He’d never had a chance to settle down. There had always been new threats. New monstergirls to fight or tame. New monsters threatening problems. A new call to action by the Priestess, who had fought the Blight even longer than he or any other officer in the Royal Army had.

For the first time in his life, Lyle realized he had a chance to slow down and just… live. In the strangest of circumstances, and around the strangest of people, but the point still remained. Once he found out how to use his crest and secure the clearing above, then there was no race against time anymore. He had the rest of his life to while away, suppressing the Blight while living here.

Ein’s hands ran over his crotch and he returned to reality. That possible future wasn’t here yet, even if it had a strange draw to it.

Right now, he needed to survive the next several months and make sure the Vierfach remained loyal.

“Let’s check out Hollowford,” Lyle said abruptly, pulling away and returning to his wagon.

They found the bridge in the same place it was yesterday. Like stone, iron was immune to the effects of the Blight. This bridge was only just large enough to fit Lyle’s wagon. He couldn’t tell its age, but it didn’t look particularly new.

He crossed it and soon wondered if investigating Hollowford was the right decision.

A stone guardhouse was all that was left of the former mining town. Every other building was long gone. Not even remnants were left after centuries of the blight, unlike with the village. Oddly, the town remained clear of new wildlife. No grass grew here.

Lyle drew his sword, and it burst into shadow instantly. It was formed of consecrated steel blessed by the Priestess herself and was extremely effective against corruption and monsters. The Vierfach eyed his sword warily, but soon spread out across the clearing, shadowy claws and fangs springing into existence as they sniffed the air and ground.

No monsters or monstergirls were to be found. The guardhouse was empty.

But Lyle remained disturbed.

Corruption wards were inlaid into the stone of the guardhouse. They were weak, as wards needed to be regularly fueled with magic, but they prevented everything inside the guardhouse from rotting away. The Vierfach couldn’t enter, as Lyle hadn’t coded their collars to allow them to move through corruption wards yet.

Although this building might be old, somebody had used it recently, just like with the homestead. Had one of Lyle’s family members lived here?

As for the mine itself, the entrance was boarded shut and protected by much stronger wards. These were forged from the same consecrated steel that Lyle’s sword was made of and shimmered with darkness. The Vierfach and other monsters and monstergirls couldn’t touch or damage the metal, preventing them from destroying the wards.

“This stuff is way different to the other wards,” Ein said.

“I said that brass is the best material, but that’s only if it’s not going to be attacked. Stronger monstergirls can withstand the pain of directly touching warded objects. Consecrated steel or iron is a far better option, as only the most powerful monstergirls can even hope to damage it,” Lyle said.

Unfortunately, one such monstergirl might even be nearby. That damnable baphomet…

Whatever lay inside the mine shaft, Lyle didn’t care to find out any time soon.

“So, what’s the point of this place?” Ein asked, while her sisters hunted down lunch.

“It’s a mine,” he said. “Specifically, an iron mine, although records suggest there are more precious materials deeper within. Not that I know what those are. Nobody cared enough about a tiny mine in the middle of nowhere to protect detailed records about it.”

“Why do you know all this shit? It all seems so useless, but is still oddly useful, somehow,” Ein said.

“Age, mostly.”

“How old are you? We’re only eighteen, but you look younger than papa.” Ein looked him up and down.

“I don’t know. Old. I stopped paying attention a long time ago. Particularly because the calendar is a mess, and I don’t know what year I was born in.” He shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter. I don’t age, for the same reason I’m immune to corruption. The Priestess provides.”

“Wow. You don’t age? So, like, you’ll be our mate forever? No limp dick worries like I’ve heard birdgirls talk about, when they toss out the old stock and replace them with younger humans to keep up egg production?” Ein’s eyes widened.

He ignored her and instead focused on what he had set out to accomplish today.

“I think we’ve seen all three viable locations for our home,” he said.

“Our home,” Ein said. She smiled slightly.

“For now,” he said, repeating her words from earlier, and even copying her intonation.

“Right, yeah,” she said with a wince as she looked away.

“As I was saying, it’s either here, the homestead, or the lake.” He sighed. “None of them are ideal.”

The lake held all the secrets to Lyle’s family, he knew. The clearing was special. It even had a mostly intact house, once they repaired the tower or at least covered the hole. If he stayed there, he suspected he’d find out more about his crest and the Blight far faster.

But the problem was that it lacked enough room for serious food production. The clearing wasn’t suitable for fields. Instead, Lyle would be better off planting berries or fruit-bearing trees. But he lacked the seeds to do so, and he didn’t know what would happen if he introduced corrupted plants to the clearing. How had the uncorrupted wildlife returned in the first place? So many mysteries with no answers.

In short, the lake was the best long-term option when it came to Lyle’s primary mission. But short-term, it gave him no advantages. He’d be entirely reliant on foraging and hunting for food until he established some means of food production. And it provided no other materials.

The homestead was the exact opposite. If Lyle wanted food and an expansive place to settle down with the Vierfach, there was no better option. There was plenty of room for fields and other construction, easy access to irrigation, and a nearby forest for wood. The house could be rebuilt around the sturdy frame quite easily, as well, and supported a much larger number of people than the five he had right now.

The downside was that the wolf pack would quickly notice. They weren’t the most dangerous enemy around, but they were threatening. Without corruption wards, Lyle would need to actively deal with them to remain safe. Furthermore, the homestead provided benefits such as research or material production.

That made the homestead a good option to kick start life and survival, but Lyle would need to quickly move on.

Finally, there was Hollowford itself. The guardhouse had active corruption wards, making it the safest place to live. The mine also provided materials that would allow Lyle to begin manufacturing more wards and tools. The clearing could be used for limited food production as well, although the river wasn’t as pure as it was further upstream.

But there were countless problems in Hollowford. The mine had something in it that needed to be sealed by powerful wards. It was close to the baphomet and a beegirl colony, and the wolfgirls could cross the bridge—there was a reason the guardhouse had been warded. The Vierfach weren’t fighters, so Lyle might need to handle whatever is inside the mine by himself.

That made Hollowford high risk for high reward.

Lyle couldn’t help but wonder if he shouldn’t simply settle down in the homestead for now and work out the rest later. But he knew that while he was relatively unknown to the nearby monstergirls, he had a great chance to establish himself that might be harder in a year or two.

Whatever choice he made, he needed to make it now. The sooner he started, the faster he’d be ready for any nasty surprises.

 - - - - - - - - -

Commentary: This is where the teaser ended. There's one more chapter in today's batch, though.

The set of MGs right now is fairly tame (the adult baphomet is probably the most "monstergirl"), although I might spice things up a little. Part of that is personal preference - I like fluffy, but not furry. I also wanted to avoid this turning into a boring "harem farm" scenario. Birdgirls are the primary early focus, although that, uh, had an ulterior motive (eggs...).

MG stories are a funny thing, as nobody ever seems too happy with the variety or definition. I lean more toward the softer ones (foxes, wolves, birds, hellhounds, alraunes etc), although this is the only work I have that is a genuine monstergirl story (just animal ears and tails does not a monstergirl make).