A sloshing sound echoed as the three girls rose from the ditch and gathered together. After a wet and tiring night, not in a sexual sense, Hiro retreated to their wombs to rest. The night had been exhausting in a way Hiro didn't enjoy; he had seriously thought he might die. Well, perhaps not die in the literal sense—the assassins wanted to capture him alive—but he absolutely didn't wish for Cecile, Nana, and Rebecca to be killed. Even if Rebecca was a snotty brat. Even though Rebecca was a snotty brat. It needed to be said twice.
Hiding from the guards during the day was easy. Like in Horaine, the guards were mainly concerned with who came in, not who went out. The trio found refuge in a nearby forest, already outside the city, but Hiro could still sense and hear people moving nearby.
"What do we do now? Should we move to another country?" Cecile asked. Rebecca remained silent and merely nodded. She had been like a doll ever since she learned of her father's betrayal. Even when Hiro poked her cheeks, she didn't respond.
"Yes. We can't stay in this country much longer," Nana replied.
"We didn't do anything wrong! And what if we become fugitives there, too?" Cecile asked, her voice tinged with worry.
"The Kingdom of Vertia doesn't have any extradition treaty with Latvin. We could go there... but the road is treacherous," Nana said.
"We could simply go to the Litmus Kingdom. Extradition treaties aren't as simple as you think. They still need to prove we're guilty. Since we're not guilty, we could go to any kingdom or even any city, not under Balto or Evesys' influence," Rebecca said languidly. Hiro nodded his tentacle in agreement. Even when depressed, unlike Nana, who could only cry, Rebecca's mind was still sharp.
"But... the symbiote..." Cecile trailed off, uncertain.
"Everyone knows symbiotes shouldn't be separated from their hosts. Moreover, symbiotes are sentient; they wouldn't bind with people who killed their partners. This is all because I told him that our symbiotes were compatible with any woman... The most the other nobles could do to control us was to hire us with gold. It's a good offer," Rebecca said.
"I don't want to live here anymore. The knights can apprehend us whenever they want. Let's leave," Cecile muttered.
"Yeah. Let's..." Nana nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, at Evesys Mansion
"Stupid! Useless! I hired three of you knights just to kill three failures, and you still failed? Damnit! It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for the Evesys house to have three—THREE—symbiotes!" Count Evesys fumed at the incompetence of his knights. The knights could only hang their heads in shame. They had ambushed unarmed girls at night, fully armed and prepared, yet they still failed. They were reminded of the true power of symbiotes.
When he heard Rebecca had a symbiote, he wanted to search the forest they were in, but reports about Alex had already come in days ago. It was impossible for royal knights to miss symbiotes nesting in the wild; they would surely kill them to keep the population low and maintain their monopoly.
The reason he wanted to kill Rebecca was simple: he wanted his second and third unmarried daughters to have symbiotes. They were virgins, unlike Rebecca. If they had symbiotes, even if the symbiotes weren't overly powerful, many nobles would flock to his house. Moreover, this was a wild symbiote. There might be a way to breed them. It was proven by the girls who accompanied Rebecca— all of them had symbiotes that worked together.
The House of Evesys had been in slow decline. Despite having a second son who wielded a symbiote, he was still average compared to other symbiote users. Moreover, their land value had dropped due to unmaintained public services such as roads and lazy soldiers. Their income was also low because most of their produce came from farming and timber.
"Damn it. I need to write a letter. Rebecca will surely go to the adventurer guild sooner or later, but which one?"
And so, Count Evesys had lost not just one but three golden opportunities at the same time. The chance to revive the House of Evesys from its decline had disappeared with Rebecca. The House of Evesys would surely end within his lifetime.
"Excuse me, is this the Litmus Kingdom?" Nana asked a passerby in a random village a week later. They had avoided highways and tried to make a direct path to the country, fearing apprehension by knights. Hiro had provided them with almost everything: bags for water, a box for storage, wooden spears for weapons, and even patches for their dresses with needles made from bones. Every night, he wanted to molest the girls, but he always stopped due to monsters prowling around. He gave up playing with the girls on the third night and took his role as a night sentry more seriously. He obviously couldn't play with them during the day since the girls needed their stamina to keep walking. And so, an impromptu period of abstinence began.
Nana and Cecile had gained three levels, while Rebecca and Hiro each gained one.
[Cecile has leveled up to level 11
Level: 11/100
STR: 36 -> 51
DEX: 34 -> 53
MAG: 2
Spear Mastery has reached level 3]
[Nana has leveled up to level 14
Level: 14/100
STR: 17 -> 22
DEX: 50 -> 74
MAG: 2
Spear Mastery has reached level 4]
[Rebecca has leveled up to level 12
Level: 12/100
STR: 6 -> 7
DEX: 10 -> 11
MAG: 30 -> 40]
[You have leveled up to level 6]
[Choose an upgrade:
Flesh Mending
Organ Mimicry
Water Storage]
[Flesh Mending:
Use your cell storage to heal lacerations on your host.
Prerequisite skill: Cell Storage]
[Organ Mimicry:
Use your cell storage to mimic the organ of another life form.
Prerequisite skills: Cell Storage, Metamorphic Tentacle
Current organ that can be mimicked: Claws]
It was a difficult decision, but Hiro chose Flesh Mending.
Flesh Mending was essentially a healing spell. Hiro didn't see the point of Organ Mimicry since he could already form claws on Nana's hand. They might be ugly, but they were functional. Healing was more important. In any RPG, healing spells are a meta-skill, so he chose Flesh Mending.
[level up achieved!
STR: 21 -> 24
DEX: 22 -> 25
MAG: 0]
"Ah... yes, this is the Litmus Kingdom. We're in Marissa Village. Where are you from? Are you from Latvin? You don't look like bandits. Are you fugitives?" a man who looked like a priest asked.
"We were chased by lewd nobles and knights who wanted to make us their sex slaves. Please, help us! We don't have any criminal record, I swear!" Nana said. Part of it was a lie since they didn't want to reveal Hiro's existence, but it was well-known that nobles often do selfish deeds.
"I see. It must have been a rough journey. Please, come in. Baronet Marissa will see you. In the meantime, you may stay in this village's chapel."
Hiro wasn't religious, so when he heard about a chapel, he frowned. Despite it being a chapel, he didn't recognize any religious symbol there. Instead of a cross, there was a scale and a stick. When they entered, he saw a rack holding what appeared to be a sword, a dagger, a whip, a stick, and a large paper folding fan, commonly known in Asia as a harissen.
Hiro was curious. The rack was ornately decorated, and so was the fan. He assumed the fan was used in religious rituals. But why would they need a harissen in a religious ritual? Were they smoking weed and using the fan to blow the smoke? And if so, why was there only one?
"Greetings, I am Marissa." A girl in a sedan chair came into the chapel. She had a soft expression and long brown hair. Hiro was amazed by her beauty, especially her large breasts. If Cecile was the innocent type, Marissa was the mature type. Hiro fantasized about what her moans might sound like. He initially thought she was an arrogant noble who had been exiled to the boonies. However, Marissa turned out to be very gentle. She was paraplegic and couldn't walk since birth. Since wheelchairs hadn't been invented yet, she had to use a palanquin or sedan chair.
"Ah, greetings. I am Rebecca Ev... Just Rebecca, Miss Marissa." Rebecca hesitated to use her family name.
"I see. This is a remote village in the middle of nowhere. May I ask why you're here? Are you lost? If so, I can arrange for someone to guide you to the highway and the nearest city, Braun."
The girls exchanged glances.
"We seek asylum or wish to settle here, Lord Marissa. We will work hard as adventurers and continue to serve the Kingdom of Litmus."
"You want to move here? Why? Are you fugitives? I must apologize, but we cannot accept fugitives from abroad," Marissa stated openly.
"We are not fugitives! We're innocent! Alex's death was caused by bandits! We were wrongfully accused!" Rebecca insisted.
"Very well, if what you say is true, we shall send an inquiry to the Latvin Kingdom. In the meantime, you may stay at my house."
"Yes, Ma'am." Rebecca bowed.
"Oh? You agreed... That's rare. By the way, I'm not married yet, so don't call me ma'am."
Marissa sent an inquiry through the knight order and the adventurer guild. The information came quickly from the adventurer guild. What the girls had said was true: the adventurer guild and even Horaine's and the royal knight order declared Rebecca innocent. While Balto's knights accused her, they couldn't provide proof. Count Evesys was siding with Balto, so their claim was also dismissed. After going through the procedure, Marissa received the report three days later. Hiro was starving; he wanted to eat, but the girls were given only a fixed portion each day. He could only take 10 nutrients at most from each of them, and they couldn't leave the village. He had been digging into his nutrient storage for the past three days.
"The report has just returned. You are indeed innocent. We apologize for accusing you. Here is your letter of residency; you may now call yourselves citizens of Litmus."
"Thank you, Miss Marissa!" Cecile jumped up and down.
"Now we won't be chased by knights again!"
"By the way, may I ask why you were being chased by knights from your own house?"
"Um... Well... Alex's death caused a fuss, so they tried to find someone to blame."
"Even your own father?" Marissa asked, her tone surprised.
"Yes..." Rebecca hung her head. They didn't know Marissa well enough yet, so they kept quiet about Hiro's existence.
"I see. I, too, was a victim of a power struggle. I am a duke's daughter, but since I am an invalid, I was sent here as a baronet. I suppose it's fortunate that no one has come for my life. It must have been a rough journey, traveling here in such simple dresses."
"May we know if this village has an adventurer's guild?" Cecile asked.
"This village has no adventurer guild, but our neighboring village does. It's just a three-hour journey from here. In the meantime, this house is for you. The elderly couple who lived here passed away months ago, and no one claimed the inheritance, so you can work the fields or go adventuring to raise money and earn your keep."
"Thank you!" Rebecca and the others expressed their gratitude.
"If you become successful, please don't forget this little village, okay? We always need knights and soldiers. Frontier villages are often attacked by monsters. They are weak, but they destroyed our crops, which impacted our harvest."
"Yes, Miss Marissa! We will do our best!"
[news]
Hello, i am thinking of taking a break next month! I feel a bit burnout at the moment.
So, there won't be any release in November. I also want to attend a writing contest, so i am preparing for that too.
i will share you what i wrote in patreon. thank you for your understanding.
[/news]