- Arthas -
I returned to the inn late in the evening to find Veena and Rose downstairs, getting ready for dinner.
I had already eaten at the Academy with other Knights so I just accompanied them with a drink.
"So… how was the meeting?" I asked as I took a sip of my drink.
Veena smiled at the question. "The deal went great. They want to try our Guild's abilities first and see if we can handle their demand so there will be a temporary contract for the next six months. If we can keep with their required quantity and quality of products, we can expect a permanent contract with them."
"That's great. That would mean a steady flow of Gold and Experience for the Guild Members." I smiled at the good news.
"Indeed. Not only that, they also had some new medicine recipes here as well as information about some Classes as well." She explained.
A Pharmacist could become more focused on poison and become a Poison Master. Then there was the Pharmacist Class and Mage Class together coming to become the Witch Class. Then there was a T4 Potioneer Class which can be unlocked by a Scholar and Herbalist Class.
Now that would normally have been available to Veena… if she hadn't used Mage Class Card and gotten Scholar Class instead.
A Potioneer can become Potion Master at T5 and then Alchemist at T6 although the requirements for the classes are not yet known.
Obviously, these are pure production based classes so they didn't have any fire power but with the rising difficulty, more people were choosing safer production based classes instead of going out to fight dangerous beasts to gain easier levels and stats from crafting items.
This was especially true for the kids who actually had a passive growth skill which increased their skill proficiency faster.
We had bought another broken down building and on Suikazura-san's request, renovated it into a shelter for kids. We had been so busy with our own difficulties that we never noticed the plight of the kids who had gotten involved in all this mess.
We were providing them with food and basic necessities and taught by some guild members in their free time.
They were in fact taught some crafting as it can increase stats and give them some measure of skill for when they are older and want to go out to level up.
This way they can get access to higher level Classes and we can get a variety of production Classes in our Guild.
This needs some more planning.
"Even the temporary deals are worth a lot… and so… today we party."
And we did have a party. The food was free for the invited and their companions so even Rose didn't mind the extravagance.
We went back to our rooms after eating.
_________________________________x____________________________________
"You look wonderful." Veena said as she straightened my dress.
"You too." I replied. "And Rose, you look amazing too."
I wasn't joking. They did look stunning. Veena was wearing a white dress while Rose had a blue princess dress on.
It was the next evening, the day of the party. I had done my daily routine and trained with the Knights the whole day before returning to the Inn.
Veena and Rose, in the meantime, had bought a dress for each of us for today's party.
Obviously, among the three of us, she was the only one who knew what kind of dress was suitable for such parties.
The girls looked quite happy at the dresses.
"T-thank you…" The girl replied with a light blush.
"Alright, we are all prepared here. Let's go. We can't keep Lord Straight waiting for long." Veena said and we agreed.
Sure enough, Arnold was waiting for us below.
He was dressed in formal clothes too, looking like a proper noble although the clothes did nothing to hide the feeling of the soldier he always carried.
I guess it's something which gets ingrained in your bones over time.
"Arthas, ladies." He gave the two ladies a polite nod. "Shall we?"
Our carriage was waiting for us outside and we were directly taken to the castle.
The whole place was lit with lights, both magical and non magical, making it look like an extremely beautiful fantasy…
Arnold took the lead and we followed him.
The Lord's Castle was huge. The hall alone was several times larger than the building we had bought for the Guild hostels.
Inside, several hundred people were enjoying the party.
Arnold looked around and found the group from the Knight Academy and we joined them.
We introduced the girls to the group and I looked around. "Where is Sir Ralph?"
"He's with the bigwigs on the first floor. This floor is for Knights, Barons, Viscounts and wealthy merchants. That floor is reserved for higher ranking nobility and T6 ranked people, the top level of the Greenfrost territory. Arnold can go there if he wants since he is in the same position as them but not us."
"Eh, I will have to spend the whole day tomorrow and the day after with those old guys, watching over the tournament. I'd rather stay here today." Arnold waved off.
We talked about a few things and both Ryan and Arnold introduced me to some figures on the ground floor.
The people included Magic Knights, Templars and even Mages and Clerics.
Veena and Rose both had Mage classes and thus got to know the Mages too.
"I thought there was hard competition between Magic Knights, Templars and us." I asked Arnold, confused by their cordial behaviour. They weren't even pretending.
Even the worst one had only been uninterested at best but not bad.
"Yes, we do. But at the same time, we also work together to defend the kingdom against enemies. You cannot trust your back to your enemy. As for the rivalry, it is something which has been promoted tactically by each side to help us compete against each other and grow. No one ever crosses the line. So they are just that, rivals… not enemies."
I nodded at Arnold's explanation.
"If you want to look for enemies, then you can look in that direction." Ryan nodded me towards the other side of the hall. "That's the group invited by Hector Black. I heard they are going to compete tomorrow with us."
I took a look at the group and they seemed like… "Mercenaries?"
"Hmm. They call themselves the 'Order of the Black Hand'. From what I have heard, their leader is a T7 Berserker Warrior. He wants to make his Guild strong enough to rival the 'Order of the Silver Hand'. This time Hector Black has recruited them, probably promising monetary support to help his guild grow in return."
"Are they really going to pull something like that? Calling in outsiders to compete against us, just in a bid to undermine Lord Daren's authority?"
Arnold shrugged. "It's not against the rule so who cares. All you guys need to do is win."
I got interested in their words as this sounded like something which could be important to my quest so I asked more. "What kind of people are they? Any news about them?"
"They are quite strong, in fact, one of the strongest private guilds in the kingdom. In fact, they have grown rapidly in the past decade. Right now, they have at least a dozen T6 and over a hundred T5 members in their guild and are rapidly rising in power. They mainly operated in the southern and western parts of the kingdom, in the Redwood and Blackthorn territories. Now it looks like they are planning to spread their influence in Greenfrost."
"How about their characters?"
"That's… they have a very high rate of task completion and have even assisted in border security… it's just that… and I have only heard of this, their methods… are questionable at times."
"Oh?"
"Well as you can already guess from the name of the Guild, the Guild Master of the Guild has some… unpleasant history with the 'Order of the Silver Hand'. He was kicked out due to misbehaviour from the order and so opened his own guild. His level allowed him to do so. Since its formation the Guild has always tried to undermine the authority of the 'Order of the Silver Hand'. Greenfrost and the Marquis is a member, one of the high level members of the Order…"
"And that's why Hector Black is using them to compete against his father's influence." I completed, earning nods from them.
"Well, that's not exactly our problem, is it? They want the Silver Hand, let them go after the Silver Hand. The Order is not something that will crumble away under the pokings of some upstarts." Arnold said, uncaringly.
Just as we were about to say something, several people appeared on the balcony of the first floor.
Several men appeared, Ralph being one of them but the two older men in the centre getting more attention. Conrad stood beside one of the men.
Arnold told me their identities. "In the green dress, the man with long silver hair and beard is Daren Black, Lord Conrad's Grandfather."
The man looked old but the aura he carried was like a mountain. But it was still nothing compared to the man beside him. That man… he was something else.
"As for the one beside him… I didn't expect him to come here personally. That's Uther, the Lightbringer, one of first five Paladins of the Kingdom and the mentor of Arthas Menethil. He is the strongest Paladin of the Kingdom." I could hear the reverence in Arnold's voice, something very rare.
I took a look and indeed, I could see why he would be respected.
The guy was a max level T7, probably even stronger with his skills and combat ability. It would be like facing a T8.
"Welcome everyone." Daren Black addressed the audience. "It warms my heart to see all of you gather here to wish this old man well on this day. For this, thank you all with all my heart. Thank you for your support. The House of Black will always remember your love and support." He started and looked towards the crowd. "I won't bore you with my words. Enjoy the party tonight."
And we did just that.
Veena accompanied me with Ryan guiding us to introduce us to several merchants and other people with businesses to advertise our guild. She really had a way with words.
We even met the people from the Magic Tower and Magic Knights. On learning that all three of us were Mages, they invited us to visit them sometime. Rose was very interested in visiting.
At the end of the night, all of us left the party, quite satisfied.
In our room, I collapsed in our bed.
"That was tiring." I sighed.
"All formal events are, dear." Veena replied as she sat down near me, while Rose went to the bathroom to change.
"Really?"
"Hmm. After some time, it becomes incredibly tiring. That still doesn't change the fact that they are a great place to socialise and make connections. Now all we need to do for you to win the competition and assure them that we can indeed complete their quests."
"I will do my best." I looked up with a smile. She was really looking ravishing in that white dress.
The purple eyes gleamed slightly in the light of the room and she had a very slight blush due to the wine she had drunk there.
I wanted to push her down and take her in that very dress but Rose being there made me hold back.
She apparently understood that and leaned in and captured my lips.
I responded and we kissed for a while, only stopping when we heard Rose coming out. Seeing the look on Veena's face, I was pretty sure she didn't mind going further but I didn't want the poor girl to faint from too much stimulation so I gave up for now.
It was just a matter of a week or so… and it's not like we cannot find any alone time later on.
We too took turns and changed before putting out the lights and going to bed.
The room was completely dark and I closed my eyes to take an early nap.
I had to wake up early for the daily exercise tomorrow.
As I was about to sleep, I felt Veena's hand on my crotch, slowly caressing my rapidly hardening length.
I turned towards her and she whispered in my ears. "You looked quite backed up."
"Rose is here." I whispered back, although I didn't want her to stop her movements.
"Then make sure she doesn't find out. Isn't it exciting?"
I couldn't see her face but I was pretty sure she had that mischievous smile on her face right now.
She slipped down on the bed and under the blanket before I felt a tug at my shorts. I raised my hip to assist her in pulling off the shorts and felt her hands at my length, slowly jerking me off.
One moment, I felt the tip being enveloped in the warm and wet mouth of hers as she rolls her tongue around the tip.
I gripped the bedsheet with one hand to prevent a moan escaping my mouth while my other hand slipped under the blanket and gripped her hair.
She continued her ministrations and I found myself slowly thrusting into her mouth. Slight sounds were heard but neither of us cared at this point.
Just a few minutes later, I felt my climax approaching and pressed her head onto my length. Her throat clenched around me and pushed me over the edge as I shot ropes of my cum directly into her mouth.
I released her as I basked in the pleasure but she stayed there and her mouth moved again before she cleaned both of us with her spell and came out of the blanket.
"How was that?" She asked in a whisper.
"Amazing." I replied and pulled her for a kiss which she gladly returned.
My hands slipped behind her before pulling her night dress up and finding way into her underwear. I caressed her already wet folds and slowly slipped a finger inside and began to move.
She pulled me in for a kiss, not wanting to moan and I indulged her, increasing the speed of the fingers while we kissed.
Her climax came a few minutes later too and she moaned into my mouth.
I pulled her into a hug and we slept like that.