Harem of Moms and Milkers

The personnel of the Lucky Slime Shop increased with the purchase of Tomoyo's comrades. Sadly, they were all men (two humans and two foxfolks) with the exception of Chiyo.

Asdel quickly assigned the new slaves to their task. One of which was to collect soul gems in the Grave of Flesh. That’s why he accompanied them to their first incursion inside the rift to check if they were up to the challenge.

It was Tomoyo’s first encounter with aberrations. “Oh my god, there are dead bodies hanging from the ceiling! Wait, are those ropes intestines?!”

’What happened? What kind of cruel monsters would hang their victims like that?’ An insidious thought gave her a deranged vision of herself as one of the hanging bodies. Her legs almost gave out.

“They’re not ‘dead’.” Asdel unsheathed his short sword.

Severine and Viola followed suit, but the Tailbrush men stood confused.

The lost worshipers fell from the ceiling one by one while emitting eerie giggles.

Seeing an aberration for the first time sapped Tomoyo of all her sanity. She fled while crying. “What is this? I can’t-”

But a lost worshiper threw a lasso of intestines at her head and caught her.

"Eeeeek! Save… me-" She was brutally yanked back when the monster pulled its guts back.

Asdel slashed the intestine. “Stay close to Viola.”

Severine rushed forward on her own, swinging her sword to deflect the intestines thrown at her.

The new slaves could only watch while cowering behind Viola. “That girl is amazing!” “Grr, if only I had a blessing too.”

Severine sliced the aberrations without needing the help of the foxfolks.

Asdel rubbed his chin as he observed her. ’She recently broke through 10 in aura power stats, which is enough to use the second skill of Heroslayer moveset 'Pursuit'. She needs to reach at least 20 to unlock 'Erosion' to tackle the Bladeclasped aberrations, but squires have an all-rounder stats growth, so it's unlikely that she can use it before her promotion to E-rank.’

“Wow, I didn’t have time to cast a frost ring.” Viola nodded her head, impressed by the girl’s progress.

“Hey, you three foxfolks will live here with Magdalena. If you want to eat, you better fight!” Asdel said.

“Grand elder, please don’t joke. This is no place to live.” Tomoyo's lips quivered as she forced out a smile.

Foxfolks grew stronger even without blessing. In a way, non-humans had their own class from birth and leveled up slowly without external help.

Training in rift was immensely beneficial for them, but the entry-difficulty was too high and the logistics complicated. Thanks to Severine and Magadalena’s library, both problems were solved.

…

At the library, Severine shook Asdel by the collar, outraged by his request. “I have to live here too?!”

“How are they gonna survive otherwise? Magdalena’s traps don't earn enough soul gems to feed everyone, and the foxfolks are too weak to roam alone.” Asdel shrugged.

It was impossible to bring soul gems from outside because the rift portal greedily ate everything. Bringing a large supply of food was too demanding for their small team. The reliable option was to collect soul gems on-site and transmute it into food.

“And why is that my problem? Think well before you open that mouth.” Severine squeezed his cheeks.

“You’we almoft E-rank.” Asdel massaged his cheeks after she released him. “Reach level 30 while they get used to the rift, I’ll explain your promotion mission then.”

After getting off the hook, Asdel inquired to Magdalena about her progress. “How’s the genderbending potion going?”

“Why does it have to be MY blood? Did you covet my body from the start?” The granny hissed, stepping away from Asdel like a frightened cat.

Asdel facepalmed. “It’s related to arcanes. You took a step into becoming an aberration, and it happens to be the right category. It’s more convenient to use your blood rather than hunting in another rift.”

Viola chimed in. “Is that genderbending potion involved in your ‘get rich quickly’ scheme? You halted all production for research.”

The boy laughed like a villain. “That’s right! Do you know how much a male slave costs compared to a virgin female slave? It’s like 1k vars to 75k! Can you imagine it? A 7400% return on investment!”

Chiyo whispered to Tomoyo. “Can that person really be trusted?”

Tomoyo bared her canines. “I know your devotion to the clan, but mind your words! The grand elder saved our lives and he’s working hard to reclaim ‘Parting Words’. In comparison, what have we done?”

Asdel’s insane fit of laughter gave more ground to Chiyo’s concerns. “Kehehe! A loan of 500k vars? Come at me! I’ll pay it in no time!”

It was Viola who calmed him with dreadful words of caution. “Everything hinges on whether Magdalena can make the genderbending potion.”

“I haaaate it!” The granny slammed her shackles on the table. “I’ve been living the life before they came, but because of their ‘debt’ I have to work extra hard without rewards?”

“Now now, granny, don’t be so mad. Have you ever heard about ‘gambling’? This will pique your curiosity.” Asdel knew Magdalena’s tendency from his playthroughs. “Let me teach you this arcane: soul gem transmutation!”

He unfolded a roll of paper inscribed with diagrams and put the soul gems of lost worshipers in corners.

“Put a soul gem in the center and infuse your mana into the mercurial ink, then you’ll obtain a random item. You can even get gold!” Asdel hyped her expectations quite a bit.

“Let me try!” She crouched and performed the ritual. “Um, I got a weird candle holder.”

“You’re lucky, this is a Candle spear! Look.” Asdel equipped it and a blade of fire bursted at the tip of the candle. “This is perfect for Tomoyo.”

“Thank you, grand elder!” She felt distraught for a while, but receiving a gift made her day.

Soon, everyone tried their luck and the result varied greatly. Quite a lot of items were useless like shiny buttons, worn-out comb carrying dear memories, or nails full of resentment.

“I got a couple of gold coins! They are easily worth 400 vars.” Severine was overjoyed. ’With this, I filled today’s quota- Wait a second!’

She rushed to Magdalena. “Stop it, this is our food!”

“Let me play! You can just hunt more!” The granny latched on Severine’s arm.

“Alright, time to dip out!” Asdel watched in satisfaction the quarreling team who would live in the Grave of Flesh for an extended period of time.

“Now, onto the backup plan! Let's beg Luciella for help.” He proudly strutted out of the library. “Viola, Chiyo, and the two human goons, join me.”

…

Asdel walked alone into the school's cemetery where orphan adventurers lay. Only his footsteps could be heard in the bleak and solemn space.

Luciella prayed, kneeling at the foot of a monument dedicated to the dead.

It felt too awkward to speak out, so Asdel knelt right beside her and imitated her prayer.

The nun raised an eyebrow. “I never took you for a fervent believer.”

“I’ve always wanted to pray next to a cute sister,” Asdel replied evenly.

Luciella was speechless for a second. “Sometimes, I am envious of Loreley and you. As an orphan myself, I have always longed for a warm family like yours.”

Asdel raised his eyebrow. “But you already have Luke. What more do you want?”

“You must think that I am a terrible mother, and you’d be right. I don’t deserve Luke and the only thing I can do is pray for all the children I have failed.” Her head hung down in shame.

’Is this her emo phase?’

“Well, I’m almost like your son since you breastfed me.” Asdel tried to pat her shoulder, but she contorted herself to dodge his hand like a cat that didn’t want to be touched. “Bruh-”

“Don’t carelessly touch filthy things. Your teacher isn’t as good of a person as you think,” the nun said evenly.

With the hand that missed its mark, Asdel facepalmed in frustration.

Luciella got up. “Anyway, it’s been a long time since you visited. Let’s go spar.”

“Actually, I opened a drugstore but we’re in dire need of money. Can you get the school or the church to buy my stock? Maybe the northern campaign could use my products. I guarantee top quality!” Asdel handed her samples.

Luciella was startled at the variety of products. Healing candies were certain to be successful among the students, and pills were more convenient than potions. “Sure, ask the head to put it on my budget.”

“Yes! I’ll go talk to her.” Asdel clenched his fist in victory.

Seeing him overwhelmingly happy, she hesitated. “I was afraid that it was true. You have been attracting a lot of attention with all sorts of rumors around you, but it’s not the good sort of attention. Your strange potions at the auction, your regular visit at the Grave of Flesh… I beg you, stay at home or at the school like a normal kid and be wary of… everyone.”

“Yes, yes.” Asdel left, taking a last glance at the downcast nun. ’Hmpf, what can happen to me? Now that I’ve set everything right, it’ll just be a time skip to being filthy rich and reunited with Loreley.’

…

The next week at the Grave of Flesh, Asdel's group went on an ordinary wholesome trip to get gambling chips for Magdalena. Only the two male human slaves stayed behind to tend to the shop, and Chiyo kept Magdalena company.

“Ha, I guess our activity attracted some flies.” Viola turned around and stretched her knuckles.

A group of adventurers emerged from a corner of the corridor. They had tailed Asdel’s party.