RotGM Chapter 77 - Fleetfoot

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“Alrigh’ bucko. Listen nice n’ close now, kay?” Gwin asks as I continue to spoon her, ready and primed to fire off her woman’s intuition at a moment’s notice.

“Yer gonna be fine, Lad. Trust me.” She sighs and clasps her warm, thick hand atop the arm I’m using to hug her. “Ah would’n ever show interest fer some prissy sunnuva bitch, yer tough. Like a Dwarf. Ya been through some shite, and yer gonna hafta wade through s’more shite, but yer still here aren’t ya?”

“...Hm. I see. And that’s attractive to you?” I let out a small laugh.

“Some girls like the smell’a shite on a man... metaphorically.” She corrects herself. “Yer already knee deep, what’s a little more?”

That’s... kind of true.

I’m not saying Gwin sparked some deep understanding in me or anything and that things clicked into place after this, but...

My goal ever since Sam reignited my passion has been to restore the Guild to well beyond its former glory and to become the greatest Adventurer’s Guild in all the realms.

I already send girls out on dangerous missions every day of my life, and if the Demon Lord is growing in power then they would likely have had to face his forces anyway.

This isn’t something I wasn’t already aware of, I’m not naive.

Putting it into perspective... nothing has really changed. I still need to work towards my main objective, empowering the Guild, to complete this long term goal.

...

Actually, doesn’t everything I learned today during my audience with Luxy paint a more positive picture than it did before?

I now know I have powers left to develop. The connections I make with girls aren’t ‘forced’ by the Goddess, they’re girls who my specially made heart is able to have a deep, 100% bond with entirely naturally. She just slightly alters their lives so they head my way. That’s nowhere near as sinister as I once dreaded.

I... I can do this. I wasn’t just talking shit when I was full of adrenaline.

This is something I can actually achieve, because it’s hardly any different from what I was already planning to do with my life.

More than anything...

Luxy confirmed it herself.

I was born to be a Guild Master.

“Gwin... thank you. I’m starting to feel a bit better now.” I reach back for my glasses over on the nightstand and lift up my sleep mask before laying down next to Gwin once more.

The Dwarf girl turns around and smiles brightly in the darkness of my room. “Things with mah family are a bit rough an we’ll need to deal with that ‘ventually but just let me know when ya need my shovel an ah’ll come runnin’ on these stumpy arse leg’sa mine to help ya sift thru all the shite, Lad.”

We both stare at each other until the inevitable happens. Cheeks redden. Shimmering, Dwarven eyes flutter their long lashes and her breathing becomes deeper, heavier. We both lean in and share a passionate kiss, and in my vulnerable state I relish the feeling of love blooming in the fiery depths of her heart.

Then, the door opens.

Sam, Zutiria, Meri and even Nikita spill into the room and practically jump into the bed with us with frantic panic written all over their faces.

“BOSS, THE FUCK’S UP WITH THIS NOTE?! DID EVERYTHING GO OK?!” Sam shouts as Gwin and I jump up from excitement.

‘Hmm. Sir seems ok now.’ Zutiria sarcastically remarks as Gwin blushes and looks away. ‘Good, because I wasn’t quite done with my nap.’ She yawns.

“Master... I-I know there’s a LOT of stuff going on that I don’t understand yet b-but I... I’m your shield. I will protect you from any and all pain, a-and that includes emotional! Use me as you see fit, please!” Meri pumps her fists up in determination, her adorable round face filling with blush as the realizes the lewder implications of what she just said.

“Fucking Zeus almighty, I knew this would happen.” Nikita sighs, completely unashamed of being in my bed for the first time. “This is why you don’t meet your Gods, kids. It ain’t ever worth it. It wasn’t too bad, was it?”

“It... was pretty bad, but I think I’m ok now.”

“Dwarf pussy that good, huh?” Sam smirks and gives Gwin a playful look, while Meri blushes at the idea of me conquering the stout redhead.

“WE DIDN’ FUCK, YA BLONDE BIMBO!” Gwin angrily blushes and shouts back at the giggling Princess.

‘Unprecedented. Things are more serious than I thought.’ Zutiria opens her mouth in mock horror, even though her tired eyes just makes it look comical more than anything. She then scoots up into her favorite seat in the realms- my lap.

“You want me to go grab Opal? I’m sure she can take an emergency day off to come help with you.” Nikita stands up on the bed, um... she’s... ah... tall... and still wearing a white tunic... and nothing else underneath the skirt part. Everyone on the bed has a clear view of her naked, trimmed womanhood and we all share a mutual blush and loss for words.

“That... would probably be for the best, yes. I don’t need to be coddled, but I want to tell everyone the details of what was discussed as well as... the plans for the future. I’ll plan a presentation of sorts tonight.” I swallow nervously but under the sheets I clench my right fist with conviction.

“Alright, I’ll be back later with tits in tow.” Nikita leaps off of the bed dramatically and when she lands she falls straight through to the first floor, creating a large hole in the floor of my bedroom.

Everyone is completely stunned and silent as the dust settles.

“Uh... I’ll be back a bit later. Gonna go kill some of those Pinemen thingies for you...” She says before we hear her leave the building. I guess she feels bad enough about the constant damage she causes to temporarily lift her ‘no fighting’ rule.

“If yer good for it, do ya mind if we leave ye with Zu fer a while? I promised I’d take the stutterin’ shield an th’ royal disappointment somewhere fer a few hours.” I guess Gwin knows Sam’s true identity now, too. I’m not even surprised anymore.

“S-s-stuttering shield...?” Meri nervously stutters.

‘He doesn’t mind.’ Zutiria jokingly answers for me. ‘I shall take care of him in his fragile and emotional state just as he does the same to me every night.’

“Zuzu...” Sam blushes and scratches her head after the Mage creates another one of her patented ‘not fair’ moments. “Boss, can I take 5,000G out of my account? I don’t wanna spoil the surprise but it’s for the Guild. Kinda. It’s for me but for the Guild, ya know?”

“That’s fine.” I hardly deserve any of these wonderful women who flock to me at the slightest hint of something being wrong, I couldn’t deny them anything they asked of me and would give them the moon if they wanted it... at least when I’m feeling like this.

“See you all tonight, then?”

Gwin, Sam and Meri all confirm and head off the bed. Sam and Gwin use the shortcut that Nikita created and jump down to the first floor while Meri nervously leaves the room properly and hurries down the stairs.

It’s just me and my Mage now, and to my surprise she stands up, sits behind me and places me on her lap to begin stroking my hair. ‘Rest, Sir. You’ve been through a lot and you can tell me all about it later, but for now... you must clear your thoughts.’ She smiles and as she massages my scalp I feel my strength fading fast. Before entirely clocking out, I return her genuine smile and look up to her fondly.

“I love you, Zutiria.”

She smiles blushes so hard that she has to look away and adjust her glasses. “I... l-love you too, Sir...” The Mage mumbles quietly out loud before coughing softly.

Everything feels wonderful in that single, brief moment in time where my eyes meet hers, but it all falls apart as soon as I shift in place and my eyes briefly end up glancing down at the edge of the bed.

A small, child-sized figure wearing a black cloak, little black leather armor and the most terrifying, soul-crushingly scary mask I’ve ever seen sits at the foot of my massive bed just staring at me. Perhaps the mask is too distractingly frightening, what with its unnerving grin and its piercing eyes, but can’t I make out a single feature of the intruder. It does seem to be one of the many rogues who’ve been on my tail, but... different. Otherworldly.

“Really? Love?” It asks in a warped, distorted voice. “It’s been like three weeks. You haven’t even asked why she lived up in that tower.”

I jolt upright much to the shock of Zutiria, and see that the masked figure is gone.

‘Sir?’ She didn’t hear the intruder, or even see them. That much is apparent from her reaction being as held back as it is.

“She killed her family and her entire village, you know.” The disturbing voice calls out from behind me.

...

“Zutiria. I need you to answer my next question no matter how personal it is. Out loud.”

“Of... of c-course... Sir...” She whispers so as not to agitate her vocal cords too much.

“Why did you live in a tower for twenty-seven years?”

Her face goes white.

“S... Sir...?”

“Zutiria. PLEASE.” I look at her with a great sense of urgency and she begins shaking, before hugging her body and crawling into the fetal position.

“Th... there... was... an... an accident... it... it was all my f-fault... I... COUGH- I-I... my village... I...”

I pull Zutiria to my lap and hug her as hard as I can without hurting her. “I don’t care. I’ll always love you no matter how bad it was.” I tell her as she begins to sob in my arms.

Then I shout, “YOU SEE THIS? YOU GO AND TELL THE DUKE THAT TRYING TO SET US AGAINST EACH OTHER ISN’T EVEN WORTH TRYING!”

‘Sir?!’ Zutiria stablizes herself as best she can and pulls back, looking around the room with fear and concern.

Although I don’t see anyone we both hear the sounds of sarcastic, slow clapping.

Then suddenly the figure reappears at the end of the bed

“Ain’t that cute.” The disturbing, distorted voice says. I know for sure it’s not in my head because Zutiria jumps up after hearing it as well. “You really deduced that I was with the Duke just like that?”

The figure reappears and that overpowering mask of theirs causes Zutiria and I to both shrink in fear.

“Ngh...” I start shaking against my will. This fear isn’t natural, it feels magical. That doesn’t make it easier to fight against, but... “No, I threw out the most logical guess and you confirmed it.”

The intruder pauses and tilts their head. “Shit, guess you’re right.” They shrug. “Me and my big mouth.”

‘Sir, my staff is downstairs...!’ Zutiria raises her hand to potentially cast non-verbal magic, but the figure has already disappeared so any attacking spells would only destroy the Guild further.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m not here for the Duke. Just wanted to have a little fun, sow some chaos, test your allegiance... But dang, you’re the real deal huh, big boy?”

The child-sized intruder reappears behind us, but as soon as we turn our heads they’re already back at the foot of the bed.

How in the...?

“OH! Wait, hold on. That’s not true. I did have a message from the Duke. Just forgot about it.” They laugh and wave their hand dismissively. “Was supposed to tell you that he’s feeling generous, and we aren’t going to bother with you for another two months. You can conduct your business as usual but you aren’t going to be getting any local quests. Abner had an unfortunate accident, you see. Too bad you don’t have a Necromancer handy or you might’ve been able to ask his corpse! You know. If it weren’t processed meat by now.”

“I knew it...” I mumble under my breath. “I KNEW that THAT was what made the Duke suddenly take notice of me...!!”

‘Sir... what do we do... what should I...?’ Zutiria panics and looks around for some sort of plan of action... but I don’t have anything.

“Keep your mouth shut, Kin-slayer. Don’t need you barfing up nightmares all over the place.”

“NO- NOOOO!!” Zutiria screams while falling onto the bed from a panic attack and I pounce at the intruder to strangle them.

I’m not a Hero, but I can still choke an evil little child to death if I have to.

But before I can even wrap my hands around their throat they’re gone, and a knife is placed upon my neck. As soon as I notice it I also see that a dozen similar knives are all floating in the air pointed at me like arrows ready to be fired.

I thought they were a Rogue...

What kind of magic is this?!

“You aren’t a threat. If the Duke wanted you and your happy hoard of hoes dead you’d be looooooong gone. Get out of town by two months time and we won’t have a-ny-more problems... m’kay? On the other hand... if you want to fight us... well. That’d be fun too and we won’t even get in your way. I think the Duke is hoping you go for it, personally. That’s why he’s not going to interfere too much. I’ve already dug up every detail on every last one of you, heh. We won’t even need to follow you anymore.”

“Who the fuck... ARE you...?” I grit my teeth and clench my fists.

“Me? I’m a God.” The distorted voice coming from under the mask laughs. “Haven’t you ever heard of Fleetfoot?” The intruder shifts their leg out in front of me and I see a disproportionately large, hairy foot. A Halfling’s foot.

And with that, the intruder vanishes with their knives as if they were never here to begin with. I’m alone with a sobbing, anxiety stricken Mage full of more secrets than I could possibly imagine and I can’t stop the gears in my head from spinning.

...

Could this day get ANY fucking worse?