Dragon of the Shield 4: An Odd Job (Patreon)

It was two days after the trial, and for the first time since then, Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki were in the same place without their parties. After recounting the ways they’d died before being summoned, Ren shared something he’d noticed.

“I think Sigurd died too, when we were first summoned, I saw his hand fly to his stomach, almost like he was clutching at a wound… kind of like the pain I still felt,” he explained, his own hand lingering over his side.

“I mean… it doesn’t excuse what he did, but the way he acted when he was accused. Did it seem odd to either of you?” Motoyasu asked, wanting to get something off his chest.

“You mean the way he didn’t even react to the charges? Like being caught didn’t matter to him?” Itsuki responded.

“No, well, not just that. He acted like the results were a foregone conclusion, but that’s not what I’m talking about. What was he talking about when he mentioned ‘obedience chips’?”

“If I had to guess?” Ren said slowly, considering his words. “I think his world had something like the slave curses here. Maybe pure technology, or maybe it was one of those harvest mods he talked about.”

“Speaking of those, any idea what he had? That patch of scales, his teeth, the way his voice changed that first night…”

“I don’t know, but the way the court reacted… sure, Sigurd’s scum, but I feel like he was being given a harsher punishment because of the scales he had. It’s a few scales, what’s the big deal?” Itsuki mused aloud.

Ren sighed, “I’ve seen a few people who had animal features, and based on the way the people around them acted, I think they’re seen as second class citizens at best. All the ones I’ve seen have had the slave markings.”

“Wait… if people with animal traits are treated like burakumin at best and slaves at worst, how would they treat someone who’s human but willingly took on nonhuman traits?” Motoyatsu asked, a small note of horror in his voice.

The three shared a look, none of them speaking, the implications of Motoyatsu’s question unsettling them. Even if Sigurd was a rapist, they weren’t comfortable with punishing him for something unrelated to his crime.

Who knew what he was doing, or how he was possibly preparing for the Wave in three weeks without a party.

[hr][/hr]

"You want me to do what?"

“It’s not that weird, do you have any idea how much that shit will sell for?”

“Even setting aside just what you’re asking me to steal, you’re still telling me that you want me to break into the castle that the royal family lives in. The castle that they threw me out of just a few days ago after a show trial to give them an excuse to kick me out of their circle, for whatever reason. The amount of risk the job involves isn’t worth the pay you’re offering.”

The Black Market merchant sighed before making his final offer, “I know some smugglers who owe me a favor, do this and I’ll cash it in to have them take you to one of the neighboring kingdoms.”

I blinked in surprise. I honestly wasn’t expecting that kind of offer this soon, but it wasn’t something I could pass up. I’d been hoping for the merchant to offer more money, not a Jail Break Card. Even without that, this job offered me a chance to fulfill one of the requirements of Draconian Instincts.

With the level magic, the dragon blood I’d gotten from my wyrmblut was growing stronger. Which meant the impulses from the Four Truths were more powerful. If I could swipe something valuable enough, then I wouldn’t have to fuck either Siniy or Milashka. At least, not this week.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” I said. Now I just needed to figure out how I was going to sneak into the castle, steal the royal family’s undergarments, and get out without being caught.

The last part was fairly simple, teach Siniy and Milashka how to open an apartrift, have them in a safe location, then open one the next morning. That way I’d be able to sneak out via my apartment without the return apartrift opening somewhere in the castle.

Well, I might as well get back to the apartment and start working on a plan. I’d left Siniy and Milashka there with the monster egg, but how much trouble could they have caused?

(five minutes later)

“Jester… what did you do?” I slowly asked.

“I drew a bunch of dicks,” the blue girl replied with a far too chipper smile.

“How do you… on second thought, I don’t want to know.”

However she learned what dicks looked like, she’d drawn them on every surface in my apartment. I think there were more dicks in my apartment now than in the Sausage Speakeasy. Sighing in resignation, I made a note to order a few dozen reams of paper. I should have expected something like this. I didn’t really have anything for them to do while I was out, so of course they got bored.

“I-I’m sorry Master Naofumi,” Raphtalia apologized, and I mentally cursed the way she called me Master made my body react. “I tried to talk her out of it, b-b-but…”

“It’s true, she did, but I’m good at ignoring people,” Jester backed her fellow slave, a hint of steel in her eyes as she subtly moved between Raphtalia and I.

Realizing what Jester was preparing for, I couldn’t stop the confused blink or the question that came out of me, “Why would I punish Raphtalia for something you did, Jester?”

The two girls stared at me in surprise, before Jester minutely relaxed and Raphtalia practically collapsed in relief.

“Jester, Raphtalia. There will probably be times I’ll have to punish you, but it won’t be for something the other did and it won’t be over something as base as drawing on the walls because I didn’t leave you something to do,” I told them, gently placing a hand on both girls’ shoulders.

With that said, I got to work on lunch. Nothing fancy, just some grilled cheese. After we ate, I got to work on developing a plan. Cartography Shield came in particularly useful, that minimap it gave me was just the most basic ability, when I had the shield selected it unlocked a few additional features. Like providing a detailed layout of any place I’d been, even if I hadn’t been in every room.

I’d need to be careful, it didn’t show me patrols, and I’d need to find some way of confirming the layout of the castle it provided. But if this shield was accurate it made the job a lot easier. Though it was weird that Corpo had a smaller bedroom than the one labeled as the queen’s, matriarchy maybe?

Still, with a bedroom for a queen and two bedrooms labeled as belonging to princesses, I had plenty of choices. I’d start with the Queen’s then hit the Corpo’s and end with the Princesses.

[quote][b] Sleeping Gas breath activated [/b][/quote]

That was another tool in my arsenal. I hadn’t had the time to test it out yet, but I imagine it would be a lot more effective on people that were already asleep. In any case, I needed to find someplace where the girls would be safe while I was on the job…

[hr][/hr]

“I’m a blacksmith, not an innkeeper.”

“You’re also the only person I’ve met so far that I even remotely trust not to sell them behind my back,” I shot back. “I need the opportunities this job provides, but it’s too risky to bring them along. Plus, this way, if I die I’ll know they’ll be with someone who won’t use them as sex toys as soon as I turn my back.”

From the glare he gave me, I don’t think the implication that that was even a question was appreciated. Still, he sighed and agreed, and that was all I needed. Now, to find a way to sneak into the most heavily guarded place in the city to steal fap material for a bunch of pervs with too much money. If anyone from Drift Row saw me now they’d laugh themselves sick.

So I engaged in the most aggravating part of this kind of job: the stake out. I needed to know how long the guard shifts were, so I could make my approach close enough to the end that they’d be tired and thus less alert, but not so close that the new shift would take over while I was still there. So I found a good vantage point, laid down on the roof, and waited.

The first shift change was an hour after I laid down, probably around three in the afternoon. I didn’t move, remaining as still as possible. I wasn’t a sniper, but I’d forced myself to have the patience of one more than a few times in the past, so I wasn’t completely screwed while waiting for the next shift.

Finally, seven hours later, the guard change happened again. I kept a careful eye on the guards as they replaced their tired comrades. If I could spot some that were sloppy, that’d make the next part of the job even easier. Sure enough, there was a group of rookies, on the west wall.

I waited five hours, roughly three in the morning, before I finally moved. My body protested having been forced to maintain the same pose for twelve hours straight, but I ignored the pain and popping joints as I slipped down to the ground and moved towards the castle wall. I didn’t have climbing gear, it would make too much noise anyway, but I had athleticism and a little something else.

[quote]Wyrm Claws activated[/quote]

My arms from my elbows down grew scales and my nails turned into black claws. WIthout hesitating, I dug the claws into the stone masonry and began climbing. I was up before even three seconds were up and stopped using the claws as soon as I could haul myself onto the walkway.

Now, to get to the Queen’s chambers. From the minimap it was on the fourth floor, the fastest way to there being a two minute walk along the wall followed by a flight of stairs and then a hallway with three intersections between the stairs and it. As expected, there were patrols of guards between me and my destination, but I managed to stay hidden long enough for them to pass by, or for the sleeping gas to take effect.

Soon enough, I was in the Queen’s bedrooms. Yes, plural. Whatever, Corpos are all the same, opulence and luxury galore. Still, I grabbed half a dozen pairs of panties and bras as well as a jewelry box filled with some fancy looking necklaces and rings. Next up was Corpo’s, I didn’t take any underwear from him, but there was a fancy septer on the wall that looked expensive, so I grabbed that.

The first of the princesses’ rooms was covered in a lot of blue, and judging from the size of her clothes either she’s incredibly petite or she’s close to Siniy and Milashka’s age. Given what Draconic Instincts could drive me to do, I’d be a hypocrite for judging the faceless strangers who’d be buying these. So I’m a hypocrite, if I do anything to my slaves, it’s going to be because of the dragon blood in me, I doubt the buyers will have that excuse.

But my last stop for the night, that held a surprise. In addition to Red, one of the dumbasses was there as well, the blonde one with the pointy stick. I considered doing something nasty to them, but I was on the clock, so I just instead settled for shoving the entirety of her wardrobe into the shield’s storage space.

[quote]Armoire Shield unlocked[/quote]

[quote]Dresser Shield unlocked[/quote]

[quote]Lingerie Shield unlocked[/quote]

… I don’t want to know. I’m getting out of here while I still can.

Thankfully, I made it back to the apartment without issue, and in a few hours, another apartrift opened up that I took full advantage of and walked out of. Bringing along four breakfast burritos with me, of course.

They weren’t anything fancy, just some eggs, potatoes, and some leftover shrimp I had, but they’d be filling nonetheless and I owed the guy for looking after my girls for the night. I just hope Siniy didn’t cover the entire shop in dicks like she did in my apartment.

Fortunately, when I entered the shop the walls were free of defacement. Milashka was helping put out some new wares, only to stop and sniff the air as the smell of breakfast wafted over to her.

“Yes, I brought food,” I said, holding up the plate with the burritos. “You each get one.”

Two burritos were gone in an instant, and with a smile I offered one to Smith who took it curiously. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the expression on his face as he took a bite.

“Where did you get this?” he demanded.

“Made it, it’s nothing fancy, but it’s filling enough for breakfast,” I answered as I bit into my own.

“If Legendary Hero doesn’t work, you should consider being a chef. How’d the job go by the way?”

“Finished, I just need to return to the client.”

And after finishing breakfast, that’s exactly what I did, Milashka and Siniy in tow. The look of surprise on the merchant’s face as I showed up told me he wasn’t expecting to see me again so soon. The continued surprise as I started to pull lingerie and lingerie out and sort them into piles based on whom they belonged to was particularly satisfying.

“I believe you said something about some smugglers,” I asked with a smirk as I dropped the last of Red’s wardrobe.

“Uh… yeah. Um… I… yeah, let me talk to my broker, I don’t carry enough coin at the stall to pay for all this,” the merchant said before walking off in a daze.

“Master, did you steal a girl’s panties?” Siniy asked, accusingly.

“He offered to pay a small fortune and a way out of the region. Honestly the latter’s the more valuable commodity for me at the moment,” I explained, before thinking back to the nation that the smugglers would be taking us to. “Now, can either of you tell me anything about a place called Zeltoble?”