The Gamer Chapter 1309 – Fusion Festival 16 – Prophesized Romance (Patreon)

Lorelei had changed the least for their date. Clad in a dress that resembled her usual ashen grey, highly ornamented garb quite closely, she walked alongside him. The only real difference was that this dress was white at the base. Golden, silver, and red, the iconography of the Golden Rose was scattered all over it. Her white-blonde hair, however, had been given considerably more care.

On normal days, the blind seer produced quite the messy braid. That was not an issue to John, it added to her charm. What the Order had found tolerable, he certainly did as well. For today, however, she had received Lydia’s help. The result was a flawless braid, rolled up into a snail-house-like bun. It all was held together with a hairpin, decorated with a prismatic butterfly at the end.

They were currently walking from the backstage area to the VIP watcher’s podium. The battlefield was going to be the same vast, open space that the majority of the crowd inhabited whenever there was a speech in the area. It made the most sense, logistics wise. No need for additional infrastructure, and the earth elementals would come through here to make sure the grass stayed green and pretty no matter how many people trampled on it anyway.

The Guild Hall would have repaired itself in time, but even it couldn’t withstand the constant damage of several hundred to thousands of feet.

In silence, they walked up to the podium together. A select few people were up there, such was the nature of a VIP area, and they kept themselves in clusters. There was Magoi, with his wife, his son plus girlfriend, and his first daughter Stephanie. The last of which was a mild surprise to John. She was a bit of the odd one out in her family, being a water mage busy somewhere in New Atlantis. Then again, who didn’t take a vacation now and then?

Somewhat more expected were the Horned Rat and Romulus, both of which stood wide enough apart to be considered isolated and yet close enough that they could growl at each other. Growling, in this case, being more the undertone in otherwise highly diplomatic messages. Neither Sol nor Luna were present, interestingly.

Completely unsurprising was William and his entourage of six knights. All of them wore their full armour and sat with their shields, or in William’s case his two-handed sword, in front of them, held upright by the hands resting on top of them. They were unmoving, unyielding, unwilling to look weak for even a split second.

John had to respect the hustle, even if he thought they looked ridiculously stern. This was a place that everyone could take pictures of, like a politician could be seen during a football game. “Maybe you should talk to the Lord Protector, John,” Lorelei quietly suggested.

Despite already knowing his answer, John hummed. Then, because he knew Lorelei could see literally through him, he actually considered the question. “No,” he came to the same, mostly emotion-driven, conclusion. “This is our date. I don’t want to spoil that with unnecessary politicking.”

“As you wish.” Lorelei rested her head on his shoulder and let him guide her to an unclaimed corner of the reserved seats.

The VIP area was positioned almost right next to the stage, only far enough that it could be angled in such a way that the people on top of it had an easy view of the speaker. There was a second platform just like it on the other side. One could argue it was good or bad luck that they managed to walk up on this one.

John did the courtesy of waving at whoever looked in his direction, until he and Lorelei sat down. Far up the slope of the seats, they had a pretty great view of the field above. The average person would have to rely on the cameras and the screens to catch what was happening. He and Lorelei, their eyes were different in numerous ways.

Neither of the opponents had stepped out yet. It was about five minutes before the event. This gave him and Lorelei ample time to get comfortable in the cushioned seats. They got comfortable and did little else. The seer was perfectly happy just leaning up against him and he was perfectly happy letting her.

Much of John’s harem was built on banter. A select few girls, like Lorelei, he was usually just quiet with. This was not to be misconstrued as a sign of favouritism or that talking to them was in any way less interesting. Lorelei, Undine, to a lesser extent Gnome, Nia, and Beatrice, all of them just were happier just being. They didn’t require the constant back and forth, however witty.

For Lorelei specifically, it had taken him a couple of private encounters to get really comfortable with this fact. Because her integration in the harem had been based on a rather, to put it mildly, sex-focused prophecy, John had known her less than he preferred to. Obviously, he had still gone along. For one, because he was terribly weak to attractive women. That wasn’t a statement of glory, but it was the truth. Second, he had seen her enough times to get the broad strokes of her. John was not a terribly patient man, he usually made up his opinion on whether or not a woman was harem suitable after about thirty hours of time spent together.

The Gamer turned his attention away from his harem-growing guidelines and towards the woman who would monopolize him for the next hour or two. Even if her addition had been based on raw sexual compatibility, the prophecy had ultimately held true. The two of them were deeply in love and he expressed that by planting a couple of kisses on her cheek. Lorelei giggled and turned red. “John, perhaps not out in public…?”

“Why not?” John whispered back and kissed the corner of her mouth. “I believe our love is proper.”

“It could be argued so and against it,” Lorelei responded quietly. “Your love for me is pure, I have no doubt on this, but the outside may not agree entirely. Circumstances are… odd.”

“What do I care what they think?” John played with a couple of strands of hair that had escaped their braid. Some did so deliberately, to frame her face. Others were simply too short. The milky white eyes of the fair-skinned seer moved in his direction. A courtesy for one whose sight was far beyond her eyes. Like most haremettes, she had gained a good amount of colour. A tan was only natural in an eternal summer and the weekly outdoor outings the harem had. The Newman Private Island meant they didn’t need to have their orgies at home all the time.

She was so adorable, with that slight brown shade, John actually managed to miss what she said. He was too busy watching her pale pink lips move. Before he asked, she repeated it for him. “You do live in a society, John… Why the amusement?”

John cleared his throat, to get over the giggles. “Meme damage, ignore that. Continue?”

“I may not have more to say. The expectations of others on us are healthy, as they will help us manifest a harmonious and best self. If the Lady did not wish us to try and correct each other, why give us the impulses to do so and the craving to prove ourselves?”

“Broadly, I do agree with that,” John told her. “No man is an island and all of that and I do care about my approval ratings, so it’s not like I actually mean that I don’t ever care what other people think.” He turned his head when the crowd, divided among the public viewing stands, began to cheer. “I just mean that, when you truly want something, you should pursue it. If you already have it, hold onto it. It’s prudent to listen to the world, it’s stagnating to be commanded by it.”

Lorelei accepted that with a nod. “I expect you to maintain balance, chosen of the Lady.”

“Am I only the Lady’s chosen?” John teased her.

Turning a little bit redder, the seer responded by playing with the ring on her left middle finger. It was a beautiful, bronze thing, intricately worked. Triangular facets on its surfaces were only barely visible, shimmering purple or gold when the light fell on them. The outer rim on both sides was purely bronze. “I am one of your chosen,” Lorelei whispered, smiling dreamily. “I am not the one who made the choice.”

“That’s not true,” John told her. “You could’ve had anyone, Lorelei.”

“I have little to offer, besides an ability doomed to fade.”

Putting her face between his hands, he squished her cheeks together. The sentence genuinely annoyed him. He claimed her lips to discharge some of that frustration. “You have more to offer than most women. More than beauty, you have wisdom, you have grace. Don’t let anything in the world persuade you otherwise. I do not and will never settle for looks alone. If you trust in me, you have to value yourself higher.”

“I… trust your wisdom,” Lorelei paused for a moment, then added, “my chosen.”

“That’s more like it,” John said. A renewed wave of cheers brandished over the impromptu arena.

The Gamer’s eyes darted over to the battlefield. The conversation had distracted him, but the fight had already begun. Rave and Moira were engaged in a steady rhythm of blows and retreats. As per usual, their fight had all the hallmarks of speed versus strength. The Shield Warden steadily advanced on Rave, who stayed out of range and waited for her opportunity. Shield and Mithril warhammer were at the ready on one side, hard-light claws and a weapon of mass distraction on the other. On the big screen, the feline Lightbearer’s ass looked mouth-watering in the form-fitting bodysuit.

“I find it interesting how much more readily accepted female combat is in the Abyss,” John whispered to Lorelei. “On the mundane side, women beating each other up is generally regarded as poor taste… with the occasional exception of cat fights and the solid exception of oil wrestling.”

“There is less need to be protective of the fairer sex in the Abyss,” Lorelei responded.

John nodded, that was an observation he made time and time again. Magic all but eliminated the differences in natural physical strength, and with Abyssal medical technology, the long-term consequences of fights were also muted. Biologically speaking, individual men were still worth less than women due to the way pregnancy worked. Consequently, some protectiveness would always remain, no matter how much more egalitarian Abyssal cultures may have been.

As a man, John himself didn’t have an issue with that. He was rather happy dedicating his life to keeping his partners safe, happy, and fulfilled. For Rave, the first of those three was basically a self-running affair these days. The number of enemies capable of threatening her shrunk by the month. For Lorelei, that was a bit more difficult.

“Who do you think will win?” John asked.

“The honoured Warden.”

“Jane won’t be happy you bet against her,” the Gamer teased.

“With utter respect to the head sister, although I find great fulfilment as one of your harem, Moira is still… my best friend.” There was slight hesitation there, likely for reasons of deep respect. “It would be unbecoming of me to wager against her.”

“That is fair,” John said. “I’ll bet on my future wife, of course.”

Rave suddenly went on the offensive, much to the excitement of the crowd. Repeated punches clashed against the rapidly repositioning tower shield. Rave tried to use Martial Arts to reposition herself, but Moira kept up. Turning the situation around, the redhead brought down her hammer. The feline Lightbearer’s claws surged in their prismatic radiance. In a lesser version of her Babel Phrase, Rave conjured five slices of light that clashed against the weapon and ultimately blew it backwards.

The two opponents brought distance between them. Excesses of the magical energy kept flying. The crowd could be heard in mild shock, until the security measures kicked in. A wall of water surged up from the edge of the arena, absorbing the remaining impact within it. ‘Good job, Undine,’ he reached out to the slime girl. Her clones were distributed all around, with Gnome acting as back-up.

“Now that I think about it, I think I never asked you this. What are your stances on children and…”

“Seven.”

John did not even get to ask the second half of the question, as Lorelei answered with incredible eagerness.

“Within seven years of the first,” she added.

To the typical modern man, the number would have boggled the mind. To John… it was still a bit much, learning this so suddenly. The realization that his direct progeny would number in the triple digits had struck him a while ago. It was doubtless that every last of his haremettes would want at least one child at some point, be it only to emulate what their peers were experiencing. Eliana alone was advertising baby-making more than any national effort ever could.

There may be a lull in enthusiasm after the realities of parenting came over the harem – or it could elevate it even higher. In any case, with the many years they had available, one per haremette was the prudent guess. Eliana, Aclysia, Claire, at least those three were practically guaranteed to be repeat customers once the breeding season started.

The problem those three had, which Lorelei didn’t, was that they were all combatants. Lorelei was perfectly capable of executing her primary purpose while repeatedly being pregnant. Her being this child happy was not entirely unexpected, she had a special bloodline to continue and was traditionally feminine, and even followed a religion built around a blessing that induced lust in those that used it.

Perhaps part of the success of the Order of the Golden Rose was that it encouraged multiplying so much.

“Why seven?” John asked.

“If I may say, it is a good baseline.”

‘Baseline?’ The Gamer blinked several times. “You don’t just say that because you’re the, currently, only Varnik, right?”

“Every woman has an obligation to continue the society she has been born into,” Lorelei answered, her voice soft, feminine, and determined in that statement. “It would be selfish of me not to continue what prior generations handed to me. A few children, three or four, would suffice… but I want to have many.”

‘Three or four… a few, she says. Man, cultural differences are wild,’ the Gamer thought. As a child of the suburbs, a neighbouring kid having a sibling was barely even the norm. One could say about that whatever they wanted. Personally, John was very much looking forward to populating a village on his own – even if aspects of that future hadn’t clearly manifested in his head yet. “Seven it is then.”

“Truly? You swear it?” Lorelei eagerly tugged at his sleeve.

“Whatever makes my ladies happy, they get,” John told her with a smirk. Images of her highly pregnant were surfacing in his mind. One had to wonder how big her tits would get. He tried to suppress the erotic incentive and instead imagined the tiny little bundles of joy they would have together. A much purer and, ultimately, fulfilling thought. “How about marriage? Does the Golden Rose celebrate in any other way or would a typical Christian marriage suffice? Do you even want one?”

“I most certainly wish for a ceremony. Our rituals are closely based on the mundane one, although I would not be wed by a Christian priest.” The Gamer nodded, that worked for him. He would have to investigate more on this topic.

For the majority of the remaining fight, they said very little. They watched and sat, arm in arm, back to being happy with the presence of the other alone. After ten minutes of back and forth, Rave secured her second victory over her long-term rival. The crowd was split over the result. Most supported Rave, as First Lady. Due to the influence the Golden Rose had enjoyed before their integration into the Federation, Moira had her own set of fans.

‘I wonder what they would do if they knew what happens after this fight.’ John chuckled. Moira had exerted herself, Rave had gotten hurt several times, which meant both of them would be turning into dripping messes after the adrenaline wore off. They would take care of this with each other.

John and Lorelei went back to the teleporter and then went over to the Hudson Barrier. It was now the afternoon and the Gamer had reserved a romantic lunch for that day. It was a restaurant in a high place, letting them enjoy the view. The seer saw much of the world differently, but distance still helped her take it all in at once.

After lunch, they found a nice little corner on the private island and just cuddled. Wordless, happy, just together, sitting in the hollowed-out trunk of a tree that naturally grew in that way. John had imported it from the elf woods. Sitting in it, he fed his love strawberries, and combed through her now open hair. Lorelei was half dozed off and still hummed for him. A happy little song, reverberating against his chest, where her head lay.

And all was right with the world.