WIEDERGEBURT Act IV: Chapter 1

I sat behind my desk, reading over the latest report regarding the Nevarian Braves’ finances. It looked like we were taking in a lot more valis than we were spending, which meant we had a good deal of room to expand our base of operations, but we had already expanded so much, going from 400 members to 1,000 within the last six months. Not only had our numbers increased, but our sect headquarters had been remodeled.

I didn’t know if expanding our operations again would be a good idea.

It had only been four months ago that we were forced to remodel our headquarters to accommodate for the great influx of people joining. I had bought out the surrounding buildings. They currently weren’t in use anyway. Then we had demolished the old buildings and rebuilt them.

The Nevarian Braves’s base of operations was now a four-story building that was longer than it was wide and shaped like the Rune, Uruz. It was a Rune that stood for physical strength and speed, untamed potential. I wanted this sect to symbolize that meaning. In the very center of the runic-shaped building was a massive courtyard that now acted as a training center. I would often go out there to train alongside my sectmates… though it normally ended up turning into a sparring match between me and Fay, Kari, or Lin.

After reading the report, I set it back down, sighed, and leaned back in my chair. The sect was doing very well for itself. That could only be a good thing.

“In that case, it might be time to leave,” I said to myself.

This chair was quite comfortable. It was made using a type of foam and wrapped in Demon Beast hide. The Demon Beast used in the chair’s construction was a Goliath. They were large Demon Beasts with surprisingly soft fur.

As I sat there, I looked around the room, which was a lot larger than our original office/living space had been. The walls were lined with shelves that contained books, a few odds and ends, and some glass jars filled with either alchemy ingredients or fragments from ancient structures. In the very center of this room were two long couches surrounding a glass table. The table was lower than your traditional dinner table. However, I often ate all my meals there with my wives.

Just as I began thinking about my wives, the door on the other side of the room opened and in walked one of the women in question.

Kari Astralia, the princess of Nevaria and my Primary Wife, walked into the room. Her hair, a long blonde that reminded me of golden threads of silk, trailed behind her as she walked. She had the most vibrant blue eyes I’d ever seen, which complimented her snow white skin and golden hair. Currently, she had a large smile on her face, but that was not so unusual these days.

I glanced down at the boots covering her feet. They were a simple brown color. Her stocking-clad legs contained a perfect ratio of muscle and softness, which I could attest to as I often massaged her thighs. As she walked around our eating area, the skirt she wore swished around her legs. She wasn’t wearing her armor, but she did have on a blue and white article that was halfway between a shirt and a blouse with short sleeves.

“Kari,” I greeted with a grin. “I see you’ve finally emerged from your research lab.”

“I actually haven’t been in the lab for a few hours,” Kari admitted as she came up to my desk and walked around it. “I’ve been with the others. We were playing with Raul.”

“I’m a little jealous,” I admitted. “I’ve been stuck here for several hours.”

“Being the sect leader must be hard.”

“You could always help me.”

“I had enough of that in our previous life, thank you very much.” As we bantered, Kari placed her hands on my shoulders and applied pressure to them. I almost groaned as she began working out some of the knots that came from sitting for too long. While she worked on my shoulders, she continued talking. “Besides, I think you make a great sect leader. There’s no need for me to interfere.”

“You say that, but I’m sure you just don’t want to do any administrative work.”

“Administrative work is what Lin is for.”

I let out a slight hiss as Kari moved her hands from her shoulders to the base of my neck. She used her fingers to rub a small spot just between my shoulder blades. As she did, all the muscles in my back loosened and I almost went slack. It felt so good. I closed my eyes began leaning forward as though offering more of my back to Kari.

“Are you all done with your work now?” asked Kari.

I glanced at the wide desk made from bocote. There was only a single stack of papers on the desk, though there had originally been two stacks.

“I’m finished,” I confirmed.

“That’s good.” I could feel Kari’s smile even though I couldn’t see it. “Since you are done and no one else is around, it means I can have you all to myself.”

Wearing a grin as she pulled me back from the desk, Kari slid around and knelt before me. I didn’t even need to guess what she was doing. Almost as soon as she was on her hands and knees, Kari undid the belt buckle. Once my pants were loose, she began sliding them down.

I shifted and raised myself off the chair as she slid my pants off my hips and down my legs. Not only had she taken my pants, she’d also taken my underwear down as well. With both articles sitting around my ankles, my entire lower half was exposed.

“Well, hello there,” Kari said with a smile, though she wasn’t necessarily talking to me. “It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?”

“It’s only been a few days,” I muttered. “And don’t greet my dick like it’s a long lost friend.”

“Has it really only been a few days?” Kari wondered out loud as she gently touched my flaccid cock. My dick twitched. “I feel like it’s been much longer. We almost never have any time to ourselves anymore.”

I shuddered from the crown of my head down to my toes as Kari stroked my dick with her soft hands. It felt like I was being wrapped in chiffon. As she gently touched me, the blood rushed to my nether regions and caused me to swell. My dick grew larger and larger, until it was standing at full mast.

Kari’s cheeks were flushed by this point, eyes hooded with desire, breathing a little heavy. I could feel her hot breath on my skin. It caused goosebumps to break out. Her bosom heaved within the confines of her shirt. I should have realized it before--her boobs were practically stretching her shirt--but she wasn’t wearing her breast bindings right now, meaning she must have come here already prepared for this.

She was in one of her moods.

And now, so was I.

“I don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet, but I’m awfully hungry.” Kari glanced up at me with her eyes containing an intense arousal. “I hope you don’t mind if I have a little snack.”

“Help yourself,” I muttered, smiling wryly. “Far be it from me to stop you.”

Kari giggled. “You always know just what to say to please me.”

With those words, Kari leaned down and stuck just the tip of my dick in her mouth. I sucked in a breath as she moaned around my cock, then clenched my hands and teeth when her tongue came out to play, swirling around the mushroom-shaped head. Her actions caused electric arcs of pleasure to race through my body.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Kari took more and more of my dick into her mouth. I watched as she lowered her head, as my cock disappeared inside of her. She was looking at me as she moved. If it weren’t for the fact that her mouth was full, I was sure she’d be grinning.

My dick eventually touched the back of her throat. Kari hummed for a moment, then the muscles in her throat relaxed, and she went down further. I groaned at the feeling of her throat enclosing around me from all sides. The sight of Kari with her nose pressed against my crotch along with the warm, wet, and altogether pleasant sensations was enough that I almost came right there.

I didn’t, but that was because I was trying everything possible not to. I wanted this sensation to last longer.

Kari began bobbing her head. I sucked in a deep breath as she moved back, then pushed forward. Was the lewd slurping noises she made an accident or on purpose? Either way, as my cock, covered in her saliva became visible again, I felt her tongue drag along the underside of my shaft, until she reached my head again. Then she swirled her tongue around it once more.

“Kari… if you keep… keep doing that… I’ll…”

“I don’t want you cumming just yet,” Kari said as she removed my dick from her mouth. She looked up at me and grinned. “There’s something else I want to do.”

I already knew what she wanted, but I played along.

“And what is it… that you want to try?”

Still grinning, Kari grabbed the hem of her shirt and lifted it over her head. Her breasts sprang free with a flamboyant bounce. I found my eyes drawn to them like a moth to a flame.

Out of all the women I had married, Kari’s breasts were the largest. Now at eighteen, her boobs had grown even more, so much that even her breast bindings could not keep them fully contained. Her light pink nipples were also enticing. I’d love nothing more than to take them in my mouth.

“I know what you’re thinking, but that will have to wait.” Kari placed her hands under her massive tits and hefted them up. “Let me have my fun first, okay?”

“Whatever my princess says.”

I scooted until my butt was almost hanging off the chair. My legs were already spread to allow Kari between them.

Breasts still in hand, Kari leaned forward and moved until my cock was wedged firmly between her tits. The feeling of sliding between those succulent breasts was altogether different than the feeling of being inside of her warm mouth. Different. But no less pleasant.

“Ha… ha… how does it… feel? Do you like it?” asked Kari. Her breathing had already grown heavy from her own exertions, which I found odd because she was a Spiritualist who had more stamina than almost everyone else save myself, Fay, Lin, and Siv.

“You already… know the answer to that.” I grunted as I struggled to answer her question. My mind was going blank from the sensations rocking my body. “You know I love it…”

“Good… ha… I-I’m glad I can… please you like this… mmm… your dick… it’s so warm… it feels like… ahn… like I’m being branded by you.”

“Your tits are so soft… I don’t think… I’ve ever felt anything quite like it… ah… ha… hn…”

Kari continued pleasuring me with her breasts, her hot breath washing over my cock as she rubbed herself against me. I could feel my dick twitching against her bosoms. It wouldn’t be long now before I came. Just the thought of cumming, of releasing my load all over Kari’s chest, was enough to almost tip me over the edge.

However, just as I was about to let her know I was gonna cum, there was a knock at the door.

“Excuse me. Lord Eryk, I have several reports for you.”

It was Felman.

Before I could say anything, the door opened and Felman walked inside. He was an older man with graying hair and some wrinkles lining his face. While he was in good shape, he was not a Spiritualist, which meant he aged much faster than myself or Kari. Dressed in a simple red and white tunic, the man walked up to my desk with a stack of documents in his hands.

I leaned forward, clasped my hands together, and placed them on the table. My lips trembled as a groan threatened to escape them. Kari was still rubbing my dick with her breasts, and I could feel my head being engulfed in her warm mouth again. The wet warmth caused me to clench my teeth. A shudder traveled through me as she ran her tongue over me.

Damn minx. She was doing that on purpose!

“Are you okay, Lord Eryk?” Felman paused when he reached my desk. I was fortunate it was so large. It meant he couldn’t look over and see what Kari was doing underneath it even if he leaned over. “You look a little flushed. You aren’t running a fever, are you?”

“You know Spiritualists cannot… get sick,” I said with only a slight hitch in my breathing. I had to be strong. I had to be strong. I had to--damn it! Did Kari just stick her tongue against the opening?! “I am fine.”

Felman hesitated, clearly not quite willing to believe my words, which may or may not have had something to do with my face. I couldn’t see it myself, but I was certain it had turned red from both exertion and embarrassment. A man was standing right there, in front of me, while Kari was kneeling on the floor and giving me a tit job while sucking on the head of my dick like it was hard candy. There was nothing but a desk separate him from us. My only consolation was the desk was too large for him to lean over to see what was happening.

“You said… something about… mm… about reports?” I prodded him along. I had to get him out of here.

“Yes.” Felman shook his head, then placed the stack of papers on the desk. “Most of these are detailed after action reports from the quests that have been completed today. Myself, Eira, and Dagny have already gone over them, but I know you like to check them yourself as well.”

“T-thank you.”

Felman once more paused at my stutter, but he didn’t remain standing for long. He bowed once, turned around, and walked toward the door. I watched him open and close it. Once the door shut behind him, I leaned forward and groaned as all the willpower to stop myself from cumming vanished.

“Mmmph!”

Kari released a sound that was halfway between a moan and a surprised squeak as I shot my seed inside of her mouth. She let go of her breasts and pressed forward, deep throating me as I spurted out several thick strands of semen. Her tongue ran along the underside of my dick, which kept me from going flaccid even after I had finished. Loud gulping noises echoed from below as she swallowed my cum.

As Kari removed my dick from her mouth, an intense hunger came over me. I had already been lost to pleasure, but what just happened had, for some reason, made me even hornier than before.

I pushed the chair away. As it clattered to the floor, I reached down and pulled Kari to her feet. The blonde woman squawked, but she didn’t have time to say anything as I hampered her mouth with my own. She moaned into my mouth as I pushed my tongue into her. I didn’t care that I could taste a bit of myself in her mouth. Grabbing two handfuls of her ass, I lifted her up and set her on the desk.

“S-so fierce,” Kari muttered as I attacked her neck. She tilted her head back and let out a startled gasp as I bit her hard enough to leave a small red welt. “Are you gonna… leave… aah… are you gonna mark me?”

“I am. I will.” I continued kissing my way along her neck, leaving shiny love bites every few centimeters. “I’m going to mark you all over your body.”

Kari shuddered. She wrapped her arms around my neck as if pulling me closer. I accepted the invitation, stepping forward until our bodies were pushing together, until not even a sheet of parchment could have passed between us.

My dick came into contact with her stockings and skirt. I jerked my hips forward a little, rubbing her cunny through the fabric of her clothes. However, I knew the sensations she could feel like this were muted, so while I was kissing her neck, jaw, and nibbling on her ears, I reached down and rubbed my finger against her pussy.

Kari was not wearing underwear. I already suspected she wasn’t. As I pressed my index finger against her honeypot, applied pressure, and rubbed her smooth pussy lips. It felt like she was trying to suck my finger in, but her stockings were getting in the way.

I couldn’t have that.

With a simple application of Spiritual Power, I tore the fabric around her crotch. Now her pussy was exposed. I didn’t hesitate to place my fingers against her warm skin and rub her already wet lips. Kari leaned back further and moaned as I stimulated her. My fingers came away sticky.

“You’re already wet,” I muttered.

“O-of course I am,” Kari breathed. “I’ve been--ahn! I’ve been waiting for this…”

So she’d been planning this moment from the start. That sounded a lot like Kari. For as compassion and polite as she was, Kari could be awfully calculating. She was the kind of woman who would do whatever she felt was necessary to get what she wanted, including convincing me to marry her estranged childhood friend so said friend would have no choice but to become friends with her again.

“Ah! Ah! Ha! Hyk! Haaan! Hrrn!”

Now it was Kari’s turn to grit her teeth as I played with her pussy. My index finger was sucked into her vagina as pressed it against her lips. Her insides were already wet and sticky, but as I rubbed my finger against the rigid walls of her vagina, the juices leaking from her increased.

“Ahn! Ah! Han! Hrrn! Ahn!”

Kari was gasping now as I fingered her. She tried to rock her hips, which was hard since she was sitting. I inserted my second finger inside of her, then pressed my hand against her and used my thumb to work out her clit, already engorged with arousal, and began rubbing it.

“E-Eryk! If you do that… if you do that, I’ll--!!”

I didn’t let her finish that sentence, curling my two fingers and finding the sweet spot inside of her. It was just a small fleshy area that felt different from the rest of her. The area around it was soft and had ridges, but this spot was rougher. I rubbed it while pressing my thumb against her clit.

Kari released a silent scream as her entire body tensed up. Her back arched, her pussy tightened, her thighs and butt clenched, and her breasts heaved and jiggled as she came around my hand, staining the desk with her juices.

“Ha… ha… ha…”

As she took heavy breaths of air, I pulled her close and rubbed my still hard dick against her pussy, coating it in her juices. Kari shuddered.

“Eryk…”

“I want you. Right now.”

Kari looked into my eyes, her own hooded with desire. I’d once heard that eyes were like windows to the soul. Right now, Kari’s soul was overcome with lust. The wanton desire staining her eyes complemented the rosy hue of her cheeks.

“I want it… too… do it. Shove your dick in my pussy. Pound me. Please.”

That was all the invitation I needed.

I grabbed her hips and pulled her until she was hanging off the edge of the desk, then thrust my cock inside of her in one go. Kari gasped as I filled her up, but so did I. Even now, Kari’s pussy remained incredibly tight, like a warm vice trying to milk my dick. The ridges of her vaginal walls contracted. Pleasure raced through my body like waves crashing against a beach.

Spiritualists aged slower than normal people. Our Spiritual Power kept us young. However, that wasn’t all there was to a Spiritualist. On top of remaining young, the more power we became, the more youthful our bodies became.

Kari and I were not only top grade Spiritualists, our bodies had also been enhanced by numerous alchemy pills. While I wasn’t certain, I was positive the combination of refining her body through alchemy and having reached a state of Spiritualism few ever could was what made her pussy feel this incredible.

Of course, all this was conjecture.

Why was I even thinking about this?

“Eryk?” Kari asked after calming down. She must have sensed my thoughts going off on a tangent. She was also great at sensing my emotions.

“I love you,” I said before leaning down and kissing her.

Kari returned my kiss, though doing so became difficult when I began thrusting my hips. Gasps and squeals escaped her mouth as I flexed my butt and pounded her just as she’d asked me to. I didn’t start off slow and work my way up. It was hard and fast.

The sound of my balls slapping against her ass as I pounded her pussy echoed around the room, barely heard over the sound of mine and Kari’s moans and pants. Our kiss had become hot and needy. Kari’s tongue was in my mouth, filling it with saliva as she swirled her tongue around mine.

Our bodies became slick as we rubbed ourselves against each other. The heady scent of Kari’s body as sweat glistened down her skin in tiny droplets filled my nose and addled my mind, making it harder and harder to think about anything other than pleasing this gorgeous creature before me.

I wanted more, so I stopped kissing her. While Kari gave a moan of complaint, I leaned down and took one of her nipples in my mouth.

“Ahn!!”

I swirled my tongue around her nipple, flicked it up, then down, and repeated the process. Kari gritted her teeth as drool leaked down her lips and chin. I felt fingers threading through my hair, making a mess of my green locks. The leather band I’d been using to keep my hair in place was long gone.

“Eryk! Eryk! I-I--ahn! Ahn! Oh! Hyk! Hnnnn!”

Kari was getting closer. I could feel her body shuddering against me. Her legs had wound around my hips, feet locked at the heels, which rested against the small of my back. She was close, and so was I.

I removed my mouth from her tit, knocked the items behind Kari--the stack of papers, the bottle of ink, and a quill--off the desk, and pushed her down. Reaching out, I sought out her hands, lacing our fingers together. With our new position, I could see how her breasts bounced with every thrust of my hips. Sweat covered her body. Kari gasped and moaned as her tongue lolled out of her mouth and her eyes seemed to go crossed.

“Kiss… I want… Eryk… ha…”

That was all she could say, but it was enough. I leaned down and kissed her, pushing my tongue into her mouth, hooking, swirling, and connecting our tongues together. It was like a game of tug of war. Though our tongues rarely remained locked as they kept slipping apart, both of us enjoyed this game. Kari was just as enthusiastic as me. She ground her hips in time with my thrusts, pressed her tongue to mine, and clenched her fingers around my hands.

I could feel my body swelling. Something inside of my lower abdomen had grown abnormally tight. My balls were contracting. I was close. So close. Just a little more.

Kari’s end came first. Her entire body went stiff as she screamed into my mouth. Her love nectar flowed around my cock and onto the desk. I didn’t care and kept thrusting into her, bringing her to one more orgasm before flooding her pussy with my seed. My entire body felt like it had been struck by lightning as I felt that sweat release.

As our climax came and went, I found my body losing strength. I rested my head against Kari’s sweaty chest and took several deep breaths. Her boobs were softer than pillows. One of my favorite sleeping positions was using her breasts as pillows. I knew Lin also enjoyed sleeping like that. That girl had good taste.

“Eryk…”

At Kari’s voice, I looked up and into the soft blue eyes of my wife. While she looked tired, her eyes contained a pure joy, the kind I usually saw when we were exploring ruins.

“I love you so much, Eryk,” she said.

I smiled. “I love you too.”

I leaned up and softly kissed Kari. She smiled into our kiss, which was languid bordering on lazy. My dick was still inside of her, but it was flaccid now. However, as we continued to kiss, it quickly grew stiff again.

“You’ve become so virile,” Kari said with a giggle.

“You make me this way,” I said, kissing her again.

Kari wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me close. I began rocking my hips. I was ready for round two--

“Lord Eryk, someone wanted to… uh…”

The door opened and Felman walked in. He’d take several steps, talking all the while, but then he paused when he saw the position Kari and I were in.

I looked at Felman, whose face had suddenly gone pale. My arousal evaporated like superheated water. In its place was a red hot anger at being interrupted.

“Felman,” I said, my voice calm, composed, almost eerily so. “I am going to give you three seconds to remove yourself from my presence. If you do not--”

Before I had even finished with my threat, Felman was darting out of the room.

He didn’t even let me count down to three.

***

“Can you two please not shovel food into your mouth like that?”

“Bush dish prinshessh is hungy.”

“And Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

“Showwy. Gulp. But this princess is hungry. If she doesn’t eat quickly, she’ll starve.”

“What kind of logic is that? Ha… I expected this from Lin, but not from you, Siv. I gave you those etiquette lessons for a reason.”

“...”

“Don’t give me that look. Those big and innocent eyes aren’t going to work on me.”

We were sitting on the couches around the glass coffee table in the study. Lin and Siv sat on either side of me, while Kari and Fay sat on the other couch.

The one trying to convince Lin and Siv to slow down their eating was Fay. Her long red hair was tied back in a ponytail, though a few strands had slipped out and framed her face, highlighting her emerald green eyes. She was wearing brown shorts that road up her hips and conformed tightly to her bottom. Her stomach was bare, though her breasts were hidden by a green shirt. The shirt was only held up by a pair of straps, which made it easy for her to remove.

Of course, the reason for her clothing was the bundle in her arms.

Resting against his mother’s bosom, sleeping like a… well, like a baby, was Raul, my son.

Raul was barely a month old. That said, he was quite big for a baby, had a head full of red hair like his mother, and was an incredibly cute ball of pudge. He had chubby little fingers and toes. While his eyes were closed right now, they were a shade of green that was like a combination of between mine and Fay’s.

“I guess you can take the dragon out of the wild, but you can’t take the wild out of the dragon,” Kari said as she cut a slice of steak with her fork, lathered it in butter, and stuck it into her mouth.

“This is no joking matter, Kari,” Fay admonished her friend with a frown. “You know how important appearances are. At the last dinner party we were invited to, Lin and Siv completely forewent using tablewear and ate with their hands. Do you remember the disgusted looks on the Mirian Families’ faces? They looked at those two like they were savages.”

“This princess doesn’t care what other people think of her.”

Lin, with her dark skin and snake tail, gave a very exotic appearance. She had golden eyes, a small nose, and soft lips. Her chin was a little more pointed than a normal human’s, but that only added to her exotic features. When her looks were combined with her imperious and somewhat arrogant bearing, it made her seem like a queen. That she somehow managed to look regal even while stuffing her face impressed me.

The outfit she wore was skimpy. A simple shirt with strings hung around her shoulders and kept her small chest from being displayed, but it didn’t hide her flat stomach. She had a skirt wrapped around her waist. It was long enough to hide her privates, but nothing else. Those were the only articles of clothing she wore if I didn’t include the necklace hanging from her neck and the hairpin in her hair.

“I know you don’t,” Fay sighed.

Siv did not say anything, but from the look in her bright green eyes, which had black slits running down the middle instead of round pupils, I could tell she felt similarly to Lin. She flapped her leathery wings a little. Her tail rubbed against the ground, the spiked tip creating strange patterns in the carpet that disappeared seconds later.

As the smallest of them, Siv looked a lot younger than everyone else. She had a slender figure that seemed almost childlike. Her skin was a pure white like freshly powdered snow, but covering certain areas around her body were emerald green scales. The wings jutting from her back were large, while the tail protruding from her tailbone was thick and strong.

Siv’s face, like the rest of her, looked incredibly young. A button nose. Small mouth. Big eyes. No one would think such a young-looking girl was actually older than the rest of us. I never did ask how old she was, but after being with her for so long, I suspected she had a couple decades on me. That said, most people assumed she was only fifteen or sixteen. One person even thought she was twelve.

“They might not have said anything out of respect for Eryk and Kari, but having such bad table manners is sure to cause them to look unfavorably toward us,” Fay continued her lecture. “We really can’t afford to get into fights with the nobility. The Mirian Family might not be as powerful as the Kriger, Eieran, or Drage Families, but they are still a wealthy noble family.”

“This princess understands what you are saying, but she really doesn’t care.” As if to emphasize her point, Lin picked up a large slice of steak with her hands, opened her mouth wide, and consumed the whole thing in a single gulp. It was impressive. She only continued talking after she finished swallowing. “This princess is not going to show manners to someone who is so blatantly attempting to use her husband. If they want her to show respect to them, they shouldn’t have tried taking advantage of us.”

“I… I guess I don’t have room to argue against that,” Fay said with a sigh. She pressed a hand against her face as if this conversation was giving her a headache.

Kari released a slight giggle, though she placed a hand over her mouth to hide her smile when Fay glanced exasperatedly at her.

Since Fay realized she would not be changing Lin’s opinion on this subject, our topic of conversation shifted away from the dinner we had with the Miriam Family last week and onto more pleasant topics. Most of them were about training, alchemy, runes, and so on. We talked and drank and ate. However, as the conversation continued, I decided it was time to broach a topic I’d been thinking about for awhile now.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” I began. “Now that Nevaria has become strong enough to withstand an army of Demon Beasts, I believe it is time for us to leave.”

My words caused the four women to look in my direction. Fay shifted Raul to her other arm as Kari made faces at him. Raul, who had woken up a few moments earlier, joyfully burbled and grasped at her with his tiny hands. Lin and Siv merely shifted against the couch to more fully face me.

“I’m guessing you want to travel to the Northern Plains?” Kari stuck out her finger, which Raul grabbed onto. He tried to bring it to her mouth, but she bopped him on the head, which only caused him to giggle more.

“That’s right,” I confirmed.

“Is it because of that Overlord guy?” asked Lin.

“The Great Overlord of the Seventh Plain,” I corrected her.

“Yeah. Him.”

“It is.” I took in a deep breath, held it, and then released it. “The Great Overlord of the Seventh Plain is a terrible threat to all of us. I do not know why, but he specifically targeted me in my previous life. Kari and Kayli were both killed as a result, so this time, I would like to take care of him before that can happen.”

“It would be a good idea to kill him now,” Kari agreed. “I am not fond of having such a powerful threat hanging over our heads.”

“We also have to deal with the Sekbeists,” Fay added as she placed Raul on her lap. The little baby looked from Lin, to me, to Siv, then reached out with his hands. Grinning, I leaned over and took my son from Fay, whose warm smile when she saw this melted my heart.

“This is also true,” I agreed as I held my son with one arm and prodded him with my fingers. He tried to grab my fingers, but I played keep away, which only caused him to reach out more. Finally, I let him have one of my fingers, which he gripped tightly as if afraid I would pull back again.

Kari hummed. “In our previous life, the Sekbeist didn’t become a threat until we were in our thirties. We’re nineteen right now, so we should have a few years before they become active.”

“Which is all the more reason to head to the Northern Plains now.” I placed my hand on Raul’s head and began rubbing his hair. My son released more burbling noises. “I’d like to deal with the Great Overlord of the Seventh Plain before the Sekbeists become a threat.”

“That is a good idea.” Kari bit her thumb as she thought. “From what I remember, the Sekbeists entire reason for coming to our realm was actually to look for him, wasn’t it?”

“That is what I suspect,” I said. “They were the ones who discovered his location and undid the seal keeping him contained, though I still don’t know why they wanted to release him.”

We grew silent for a moment, contemplating what all this meant. There was still so much I didn’t understand. Why did the Sekbeist release the Great Overlord of the Seventh Plain? From what I understood, the Great Overlords were the enemies of the Sekbeist, but it seemed to me like they were allies. At the very least, the Great Overlord of the Seventh Plain had been more concerned about killing us humans than he had Sekbeists.

I glanced over at the desk in the back of the room.

“When do you think we should leave?” asked Fay.

“As soon as we can,” I said. “We’ll need to gather supplies, and I’d like to modify a wagon for travel over the desert. We have to cross through the Endless Desert to reach the Northern Plains, so we should make sure we’re adequately prepared.”

“The Endless Desert, huh?” Lin muttered with crossed arms and a furrowed brow.

“That’s right, Lin. Don’t you come from the Endless Desert?” asked Kari.

“That is indeed this princess’s homeland.”

“Maybe we’ll be able to meet your mother.”

“Maybe…”

Lin didn’t seem as enthusiastic about meeting with her mother as I figured she would, but I also understood her concerns. She had been forced to flee the Endless Desert after being attacked. Her bodyguards had tried to protect her, but they fell before her attackers. What’s more, Lin had been injured to the point where her body had somehow transformed into a snake. I didn’t understand the mechanics behind that since she could not transform into a snake at will, but I suspect she might have been under something like a curse.

Just then, a rancid smell wafted into my nose and Raul began crying. I looked at the wailing baby, then at his diaper. The thick wool he was swaddled had grown wet and had a brown stain expanding from the bottom.

“Looks like someone needs to have their diaper changed,” I said.

“This princess is always impressed by how bad baby poop smells,” Lin muttered as she leaned back. Siv just pinched her nose to block out the smell.

“Shall I change his diaper?” asked Fay.

“No. I’ve got it.”

I stood up and smiled at the redhead before going into the room we’d set up for Raul. He wasn’t using it right now. He was too young to sleep on his own, and none of us were comfortable with that anyway, but this would be his room when he grew older.

I found some cloth inside of a drawer and set Raul on a bed in the corner of the room. The baby continued to cry as I undid the wool diaper. Yup. He’d crapped himself good, though it was more like liquid than actual poop right now. It also smelled even stronger now that the diaper was undone.

First things first, I cleaned Raul’s bottom with the water element, which was great at both removing filth and sanitizing. Raul stopped crying after his bottom was clean, making it easier for me to change his diaper.

“There. All done.” Grinning, I picked up Raul and rubbed our noses together. “Now you’re no longer stinky. Who’s a clean baby?”

Raul’s response to my words was to burble with joy.