“…And when do I get to have my time?” Momo grumbled her thoughts out loud, moments after they reunited with her. The moment she noticed what she had been doing, she blushed intensely. Averting her gaze from John, she told him, “Stop grinning!”

John hoped the glee in his voice was even more apparent. “Whoever would be grinning?”

“Asshole!” Momo kicked his shin. A gesture that could only be responded to by pressing her against a nearby wall. The startled, anticipating expression she had on her face was an artwork of bashful duality. Slid partway down the wall, she appeared smaller than she actually was. He leaned over her, elbow resting above her head, grabbing her chin with the other.

“My precious little Momo,” he said in his most suave tone, while caressing her cheek. “I missed you too,” he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss, “but this is hardly the time for sentimentality.” A sigh later, they kept on moving.

The group was on their path back south, only amongst themselves. After thinking it over, the Gamer had decided against organizing a migration of the people from the desert into the savannah. On time investment alone, that task would be arduous and there was no guarantee it would save any lives. In the long term the desert was obviously not a place for agriculture to take place in. This conquest was not in a situation to consider the long term yet.

Relocating the people would do nothing for their health situation. North or south, Mettle would remain the entirety of their diet. If John guided the tens of thousands in the desert south, it was practically guaranteed that he would just increase the number of savage beatings between war-conditioned tribes competing over abundant resources. All that enforced any semblance of order was his presence, he had learned that lesson after the first day he had spent on this world.

Sometimes the best thing one could do was nothing. Maybe he would get the time to sort this out by his design or maybe natural selection had to take place. Viewing that statement from John’s modern understanding of morality, it sounded downright malicious to just leave tens of thousands to rot in a desert. Reality left him with none of the resources, time, or opportunity to properly care for these tribal societies. It would get worse before it got better. The consolation was that it could get better, once the Iron Domain was removed.

Although Momo had just come from there, the entirety of the group was moving back to the Cardinal Bastion. It would take them about two days to travel all the way back there and they had already been on the road for one. Momo had done some reconnaissance flights in the area, rather than beeline straight for them.

As they ran, he had more than enough time to once more check up on what Jack and Claire were doing.

__________________________________________________________________________

“I know a little something. I know a little more. I know what lies beyond this door,” Claire mused as she led the Gamer and his first maid into the depth of the fortress of the Archduchy Remlzont. With an aggressive kick, the smirking vampire broke down said door, causing the two halves of solid metal to fly into the room behind. “A coward, a coward, a coward,” she finished the little improvised song over the scraping of metal on stone.

Jack stepped in alongside Aclysia, the three of them finding themselves inside a chamber that might as well have been underground. Surrounded on all sides by three layers of walls, the heart of the fortress was clad in utter darkness. The only light was the magic drifting off the Archduchess of Remlzont, a woman made of a silver, sparkling metal that reminded of stars reflecting in a rippling pond. She had four arms and a smooth tail. Whatever species she had been in life, it must have been quite exotic. Now she was tainted by that same swirling green mist that was emblematic of their necromantic existence.

Observe identified her as ‘Meliandre’. She sat there, in front of a large round table. Several shelves all around held the archives of the Archduchy. Archives that were especially interesting to John as it was the summary of all previous attempts to rise up against the Iron Domain, small and large.

“You dare call me a coward, traitor?” the Archduchess hissed.

“A hull that fits your core, Meliandre.” Claire raised both of her arms in a slow, conjuring motion. The crimson hue of her dark energy added a little more light to the room as it poured between her fingers, down her arms, and pooled on the floor. Out of that darkness formed fur and fangs, limbs and claws, distorted shapes that quickly consolidated into the form of two large wolves, their heads at the height of Claire’s hips.

They dashed off to the side, launching a counter assault against four Ironborn that were storming out of their hiding place behind bookshelves. Even the familiars of the vampiric Archduchess could take out a couple of Lords without issue. If there was a problem, it was the other Archduchess across the room.

Meliandre dashed forward as her subordinates were torn to shreds. Reality rippled as she skipped forwards faster than her speed should have allowed. With her magic focused on the wolves, Claire must have appeared wide open.

Aclysia appeared in front of Claire, using Aid. The teleportation caught the swift moving Archduchess off guard, but she was already committed to her attack. A rapid dash surprise attack was the only advantage the level 306 Ironborn had, however. Boosted by True Block, Aclysia caught Meliandre’s attack. A blade of light broke on the weaponized maid’s palm, ultimately ending with Aclysia’s hand clasped around the clenched fist behind the conjured weapon.

Each time it happened, the Gamer failed to understand why anyone’s eyes would go wide with surprise. “This world has basically forgotten the art of information warfare,” he thought out loud, blasting an Arc Lance at the fifth and final Ironborn that had lied in wait.

“We all forget a lot.” Claire looked down at her feet, where the wolves placed the four cores of the defeated Ironborn. “I forgot my place.” With a smile that Eliana would have been proud of, the vampire crushed the first of the cores under the heel of her black shoes. A tremble of ecstatic satisfaction ran visibly through her and a second stomp quickly followed. A third, a fourth, then a fifth, crushing nothing but quartz at that point. A mad joy took hold of Claire’s grin and eyes as the savage stomping continued, quiet except for the crunching of stone.

Watching, the Gamer felt no need to intervene. It must have been infinitely cathartic to Claire. Was it healthy? Arguably so. There were a great many stories out there that revenge was a monstrous thing. As far as John was concerned, proportionate revenge was often justified and quite satisfying. Claire was taking her lifetime of misery out on exactly the people that had inflicted it on her. Demanding that she did so in a more dignified fashion would have been a bit much right now.

Meliandre tried to pull away from Aclysia, but the Strength difference was too vast for her to even free her fist. “Why would you side with the invader?!”

The screech snapped Claire out of her frenzy and she turned to Meliandre, murder in her red eyes. “Sorry about that, I just hate Arkeidos,” the vampire responded, her voice calm and collected. “I know, totally unreasonable of me.” Claire tip-toed over to Jack and threw her arms around him, tackling him from the side. The gesture surprised him. Her Relationship Score had been gradually rising. Checking on it now, it had crossed 80. High enough for physical closeness with friends, for certain, but he hadn’t expected it from her. “I like this man though.”

“You exchange our glorious Emperor for fleshy filth like him?!” Meliandre was erratic with rage and fear. “He had great plans for y-“

“Don’t even compare them,” Claire hissed, squeezing Jack a little tighter. “He’s wonderful.”

Salver separated Meliandre’s lower jaw from her skull before she could get out another word. Dismissing her dagger, Aclysia forced the Archduchess’ arms behind her back and held her like a common captive. As her eyes wandered from Meliandre to Claire, the look in them shifted from annoyance to approval. “I truly appreciate you.”

Claire bowed her head slightly. It was a gesture she had swiftly picked up from the weaponized maid. “It is mutual,” the vampire assured and turned to look at Jack.

What she found on his face, the Gamer himself wasn’t quite sure. There was still that twinge of surprise deep in his stomach. The pleasant variety, caused specifically by the unexpected hug of an attractive woman. Being who he was, that put quite a smile on his face. He was also conflicted because there was a voice at the back of his mind that he would be taking advantage of her vulnerable mental state if he did something.

How vulnerable was she really? Not any more than Eliana had been, that was absolutely certain. The Gamer had been through this rodeo before and he was certain he could be a positive influence on the hate-filled optimist. Was it not better if he did assert himself and tried his best to help her? Would it be immoral if things developed romantically as he did?

Before he could find a definitive answer to these questions, Claire distanced herself a little bit. There was something in her eyes, something curious and lustful. Desires she had not known were natural for humans to have must have been manifesting alongside her interest in him. “I think I get the sexual attraction now,” she whispered quietly. “Funny that I didn’t before. Perhaps I needed someone… worthy of… adoration?”

Throaty sounds echoed from Meliandre, drawing the ire of both the Artificial Spirit and the Ironborn. “I suggest you end this distraction,” Aclysia stated, her voice laden with hatred for whoever would interrupt a moment with her Master.

Claire took a step forwards. “I’m in full agreement, Aclysia.” Mouth opening wide, Claire’s already pronounced canines extended another two centimetres, growing into needle-sharp fangs. In vain, Meliandre tried to dodge the bite. Confined by the weaponized maid, there was no escaping, and a silvery fluid soon trickled past Claire’s lips. The manifested lifeblood of the Ironborn was drained from Meliandre. She had a lot of it, what made it worth killing her in this fashion in the first place.

After five agonizing minutes, the declining struggle of the Archduchess ended completely. The empty hull was toppled over by the two women together. Throwing another Observe at Claire revealed that she had gained two new levels from that. Most interestingly, her Libido went from 5 to 9. John’s hunch was basically confirmed: whatever Claire’s actual sexual inclinations were had been utterly ruined by her circumstances.

“Thank y-“ Claire started, only to be interrupted by Aclysia.

“Reconsider Master’s offer,” the weaponized maid almost made it sound like an order. Her tone softened up after she took the vampire’s hands between her own. “Your attitude and words are most proper. You deserve to serve as a maid. Leave with us, after this horrid affair is concluded.”

“The offer is still on the table,” Jack assured. It had been three days now. Three full days of constant interaction, only interrupted by sleep, and mutual endearment. Personally, the Gamer would have let the matter rest until a week had passed. Now that Aclysia had pulled the trigger, and her intuition in regards of maid-potential could be trusted, there was no reason to hold back further. “I like you, Claire,” he told her, more straightforwardly than he had the last few days. “I like you a lot and I don’t want to see you find your end here.”

“Nobody would care that much about me,” Claire waved off with a smile. “Thanks, but you have better things to worry about than me.”

Her expression brought John back to his conundrum. Would he be taking advantage of her if he stepped forwards now? ‘To hell with the worries,’ he discarded what his brain contemplated and followed what his heart wanted.

Claire’s eyes went wide when he took a confident stride towards her. The mental barrier she had so instinctively broken minutes ago no longer held the Gamer back and he embraced her deeply. Immediately she went rigid. He put a hand on the back of her head and allowed her to hide herself from his eyes by pressing her head against his shoulder.

“I decide what I worry or care about,” he told her. “Sure, I have my own world, my own people, and to do the best for them I can is a constant struggle. Yet, I also want to help this world. Above all, right here, right now, I want to help you.” He combed through her red hair. She smelled of iron, bloody iron. “You’re special, Claire. Not just because you talk in a way that I like or because you dress in a way I like, but because you do these in spite of what you’ve been through. With all the misery you’ve been through, you’re not an Ironborn. You deserve to live happily after this.”

For a long while, there was nothing. Not a tremble, not a word, not even a twitch of her shoulders. She was quiet, motionless, and then she collapsed.

The Gamer felt a surge of panic when she sunk straight to the ground with all the elegance of a boulder in freefall. When he looked down to check on her, he was immediately greeted by the most miserable face a person could make. Tears ran in streams down her face and her mouth opened in a wailing cry that no one would ever expect from an adult. She was crying with such an intensity that it made her physically ugly. Every bit of her face was scrunched, wrinkled or tense.

“I… I… waahhnnt…” Intense sobs from so deep inside that not even she would have known they needed to get out interrupted any word she tried to say. Slowly, visibly struggling to control even an arm, Claire reached out to Jack’s leg and grabbed his pants.

There was only one proper reaction to seeing someone break down like this. As quickly as his body obeyed him, the Gamer dropped down to her level and hugged her tightly once again. “It’s okay,” he whispered to her, while Aclysia joined them in the hug. “It’s all your choice now.”

“Stay, come with us, even serving, it is all up to you,” the weaponized maid assured. “My Master offers, he does not force.”

Claire was incapable of giving an answer at that moment.