The Gamer Chapter 1325 – The Country Gal Question (Patreon)

“Alrighty, everyone present?” Rave asked and looked around. It took almost three hours to gather every last haremette. They had been spread out not only over the property but also the surrounding landscape. Siena, especially, had made it a point of habit of venturing further out than anyone else. With invisibility, she could travel the mundane faster and easier than the rest of them.

Thankfully, the Harem Comms did not care about range or the number of recipients. Once the message was out, they only needed to come back to their clearing. Major delay came from Lydia insisting she would be part of this.

“Fantastic,” Rave clapped her hands. “Eliana says we gotta have an emergency meeting so here we be. Wanna give us the rundown on why?”

“John said he wanted to find himself a fucking country girl,” Eliana revealed, to moderate surprise around.

Was John Newman expanding his harem unusual? Obviously not. On average, he had added one haremette to his gathering of supermodels per month since getting his powers. ‘Actually… 19 haremettes, 22 months… average of 0,86 haremettes per month. The elementals drag that average up considerably. Still, I slowed down a lot. Which is good. I don’t want to thoughtlessly expand. My time is limited as it is, even with three bodies.’

To the point, expansion was not unusual. It had been a while, however, since John had gone out of his way to try and add a new member deliberately. Most additions to his harem, particularly the later ones, were women that he sort of ran into while doing what he wanted to do. John considered that a normal occurrence. With the amount of affairs he got himself mixed up in, stumbling repeatedly over hot women was more likely than not. How many people had he met since becoming the Gamer? Ten thousand? Twenty thousand? It was impossible to gauge, and that was just counting in-person exchanges. That 10 out of those (the number of haremettes not elementals, Artificial Spirit, or otherwise shaped by his desires) were workable partners in sexual desires, harem fittingness and overall character may have sounded a tad convenient, but he deemed it firmly in the realm of realistically possible.

It helped that he was a charmer with massive resources at his disposal. That made the harem prospect a lot more feasible.

The last time John had gone out of his way to find a new haremette had been… never, arguably. There had never been a time where John went out adventuring with the specific goal of finding someone new to romance. Closest to that situation had been when he created Beatrice. Caveat there was that he had given Beatrice the choice to go her own way, virginity intact. It had been an unlikely choice, practically out of the window once she acquired Aclysia’s memories, but he had still given it. The cart had been put in front of the horse in that situation.

Not even Rave was someone John met because he had been trying to find a haremette. Collide was present for an attack by a bunch of punks and attempted to recruit him afterwards. Thus, Rave had burst into his life with technicolor lights and her perfect ass on full display.

And thus the first pertinent question came from Rave: “Find to fuck or find to add to the harem?”

Everyone looked to John for the answer. The Gamer honestly felt like he was an eyewitness reporting to the jury rather than a member of the meeting. Considering the agreement he had with his harem, the comparison was close to reality. There was no expanding the harem without a unanimous decision.

For John, this was not just a working but the only proper agreement on which to run a harem. Depending on his answer, they would have a say in things. John could have one night stands with other women whenever he wanted – a privilege he, and they, only enjoyed because there was a quiet agreement underpinning it to not stretch it too far. They usually kept it to Rave’s rare parties, making out with female friends that were also open to such activities, like Chemilia or Cindy. The latter of which was one on whom John enacted the opportunity.

Those one night stands had to stay rare for a number of reasons. First, the barrier at which someone moved from regular sex partner to haremette was difficult to discern and it was in everyone’s best interest to never skirt it. Second, related, it was difficult to not develop feelings for a regular sexual partner. Third, to satiate his hungers repeatedly outside his sizable harem would inevitably create a sense of inadequacy in his current haremettes.

John was really only using the agreement if he had a craving for a particular body type not present in his harem. The three notable times he had taken advantage of it had been to fuck Cindy, to fuck the forty women in maid outfits on now-Servitude Island, and to fuck Worlina. Since then, he had not made use of it at all.

Did he have a craving for a country girl?

No, what he wanted, he would not have described as a temporary hunger that could be sated with just one serving.

Did he have a desire for a country girl?

That was a definitive yes. Being out here, hearing the accent, breathing the air, developing a strong dislike for feral hogs, he was feeling a mighty want for a country girl in his life. The kind that drawled, worked around the farm, had a necessary good understanding of mechanics, a good, if rough, upbringing, and had that particular fusion of femininity and stubborn labourer around her. Particularly, given the choice, he wanted the rare breed that would shoot a sniper rifle at the highest calibre, fully aware of the risk of the kickback dislocating her shoulder. She had to be hot too, which further narrowed it down.

Did he have a need for a country girl?

That was difficult to say. The answer was clearly tilted more towards yes than no, however.

Therefore, the Gamer answered: “I would like to pursue one, if I find one that I fancy. For permanent purposes, potentially, yes. I wouldn’t do it just to have sex with her. Feels disrespectful, particularly for the kind of woman I’m talking about.”

“Hmmm, hmmm, I see how it is…” Rave rubbed her chin thoughtfully. There was not even a hint of jealousy in her voice. If there was any harem member that John was thoroughly lucky meeting, it was her. Specifically because he met her first. Convincing Lydia of the polygyny lifestyle would have been difficult. Not impossible, but difficult.

Rave had been easily swayed to let him try. Her conditions had been reasonable too. No girls she didn’t like and the whole thing ended when she demanded it. The former condition had changed over time, the latter had fallen away entirely. Rave was still with him and their love had only grown. Gradually, it had transformed from young adults crushing on each other to the companionate bond that could withstand all hardships.

And so it was that the feline Lightbearer shrugged. “I don’t think we gotta do anything here. Tiger knows better than to stick his dick in a haremette before she’s approved.”

“Let’s not give me too much credit,” the Gamer cautioned her. There were some cases where there had only been vague or implied approval.

“Ya gonna disappoint me?” Rave asked, with a mockingly raised eyebrow. Mockery aimed at the idea that he could do that. All of her body language radiated a confidence in him that was heart-warming.

John raised his hands in surrender. “My girlfriend just has too much power over me.” He looked over the rest of the gathered harem. There was nothing in the way of displeasure thrown in. Trust in his judgement and in Rave reading his intentions down to the core was universal. “Alright, so I will woo a country gal, if I find one.”

“Gal?” Lee snorted.

“You have to say it like that, otherwise the magic doesn’t happen,” the Gamer responded swiftly.

“Yeah, sure,” the gamer girl said drily.

Scarlett whistled to catch everyone’s attention. “We’re operating on a timetable here. Are you leaving that undone?” she pointed at the slab of concrete. “I… fuck, I don’t want to stress you, John.” She ran a hand through her long drapes of red hair. “You’re putting a bunch on your plate. Building a house, finding a ‘country gal’, dealing with that hurricane dragon.”

“Also, also, we wanted to visit the hot springs!” Sylph threw in there.

Nightingale shifted a bit in her seat. What she wanted to say, John already knew. He shot her a glance to that end.

“Just a lot to do in a month,” Scarlett finished up her thoughts.

“A valid point,” John commented. He had achieved more in less time before and that was exactly the kind of stress that had led him to needing a vacation in the first place. There were a few solutions to this. The length of the vacation was open ended. He aimed for a month, but he had pledged to keep it going until he felt fully unwound. The only truly time sensitive part of the vacation was dealing with the dragon. The option to forego the house building in favour of skirt chasing was also there. This was just what John had decided to do to keep himself busy during the vacation. Sitting around and twiddling his thumbs had never been his style. That was another aspect of what had drawn him to videogames over other pastimes, the constant challenges.

The last and clearly best option to get all of this done sat diligently on a blanket. Her legs were tucked under her, her blind eyes stared ahead, and she played with her messy braid. Lorelei did not raise her voice. Evidently, she already knew that he was going to address her and opted to wait until he had sorted his thoughts. That was how the servile seer typically acted.

“It’s a frivolous use of your powers, but think you can help me with this?” Until John knew how exactly to prevent her blindness, he tried to have her use her foresight sparingly. A request like that went against that notion. He allowed himself such breaks at times, because she still had at least a decade until the blinding set in. The rule was in place primarily to prevent overuse, not to prevent usage at all.

“If the Lady indulges me, it will not be frivolous.” Lorelei folded her hands in her lap. The fabric of her sun dress whispered. “It can only be proper. If she does not answer my prayer, then you will know that it is improper to ask what you ask. May I ask that you place your hands in mine, John?”

Interestingly, she had been using ‘Master’ a lot less while they were on vacation. Perhaps Lorelei was growing out of the word. Their own relationship was growing constantly, away from the fated sexual union she had sought and towards that same companionate love that he wanted to firmly establish with all of his haremettes. Basically, their relationship became less founded in the sexual and more founded in the mutual trust. Thus, the sexually charged title reduced in usage. The maids did not have the same development, because the word meant more than that to them.

That was John’s theory, at least. Strong as the bond he shared with them was, he was confident to declare it the correct one.

Lorelei’s hands were warm and soft. Carefully, she held his right with both of hers. Slender fingers rubbed his skin, massaged his palm. Silently, she moved her lips. The milky white of her eyes managed to grow even more distant. “The dragon lies in wait, a thoughtful sliver in its eye wrestling with impatience. A storm will come, between the arrow and the maple leaf. The 114th whirl.” Lorelei stopped for a moment, then a tremble went through her. “Above the peak that you request, in the opposite of where you would look, you will find impure gold. You run, you have to move swift. If you fail to find her, her parents waste away, alone.”

They all waited, wondering if something more was on its way. Hesitatingly, Lorelei let go of his hand. John plopped down next to her and hugged the seer. “Well done,” he whispered in her ear.

“John, I must insist that you move now!” Lorelei told him, the moment she regained her voice. “The vision showed me urgency. There are three lives threatened by circumstances I cannot quite comprehend. Dirty gold was sapped into a container. Any reward you would graciously bestow on me, it must wait.”

John was taken aback, it had sounded urgent, but not that urgent. Wisdom much lower than his was required to heed the words of an experienced seer. He pressed a quick kiss on Lorelei’s cheek and then got back up. “I must move to the opposite where I would look?” he thought out loud. The answer to that came immediately. What was the last place he would visit to find a country girl? The inner city. “The vision said I had to run, right?”

“It showed you running,” Lorelei confirmed.

“Ya gotta love it when things get exciting,” Rave mused. “One moment ya watch concrete dry, the next your boyfriend is switching into running shoes to find a new girl for the bedroom.”

“To be fair, I just learned that I have to save someone,” the Gamer told her. The Skittersteps weren’t traditional running shoes. Visually speaking, anyone would have raised an eyebrow at them. In terms of comfort, John would have gone for nothing else. The elementals went incorporeal. Many of the other haremettes got moving, only to be stopped by Rave.

“Let him do that on his own, don’t want to alert whoever tiger finds by having everyone of us around her.”

“B-but what if there’s danger?” Gnome asked, after returning to physical form. The other elementals followed her example.

Rave gave her a deadpan stare. “What, ya think Romulus is hunting tiger’s new harem target? Just keep your teleports ready.”

John did not hear how that argument continued; he waved in goodbye and left the barrier. Then, he started his jog down to the road and past the car. He had been told he was running, so he was running. If he drove the car, he may miss the correct timing for arriving there. Prophecies could be fickle like that. ‘Screwed up that lives depend on me wanting to add some red-blooded American girl to my harem at the right time,’ the Gamer thought. He would have plenty of time to analyse that thought. The closest city was Muskogee City. Even running like an Olympic marathon contestant would keep him on his feet for over two hours until he got there.

The Gamer grinned. His limbs felt light. Easefully, he held his head high. Thoughts came and went, none lingering longer than he wished. He was free, free to stop in his tracks if he so desired. Obligations were only present in those he had to himself. He would have howled randomly into the woods, had he felt just a tad more chaotic.

This was life outside of duties.