[Vol. 2 pt. 30]

Cani came back to the dungeon with us. Nobody else was biting when it came to my advertisement for help, plus I doubted that we were going to find anybody better than the pink-haired dog girl now that she was apparently free. Though, I was curious about what happened to her restaurant. I tried getting her to talk about it a few times, but she kept the conversation focused on what her duties at the dungeon would be instead.

So, I explained it to her while we took the long, scenic route back to my dungeon. Or in other words, while we walked through a perfectly normal forest. Considering that there were no forests near me in real life, though, I considered it pretty dang scenic. “Basically, you’re going to be a waitress of lewd.”

“A waitress?” Cani asked in response. She wasn’t anywhere near as perky as she was when she served us in her restaurant. If anything, she sounded a bit depressed.

“Right. I need somebody to stand around near the front of my place taking orders like a waitress would.”

“So… I’m going to have to do whatever the clients want?”

“If you mean personally listen to any request they have for you, no.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“Alright. How about you tell me what you think your ‘job’ is going to be? So I can see where the misunderstanding is.”

“Uh… I kind of thought that you were looking for somebody to treat like a prostitute.”

“I really should have made my advertisement clearer. Anyways, no. I need somebody who is going to help clients get set up with a monster of their choice, not somebody to actually do any of the fucking themselves. I mean, if you want to help out in that regard, you can, but it’s not what I need.”

For the first time, I saw some red color Cani’s cheeks as she shook her head. “No – no, I… I’m actually kind of relieved that you’re not expecting that.”

“Don’t tell me you were planning on doing work you weren’t comfortable with.”

“Well… it’s not like it was something I was completely against. I wouldn’t be playing this game if I was a prude.”

“But you don’t sound entirely on board with it, either.”

“I just need to find something to do now. Your message was the first one that I saw, so I thought I would go for it.”

Unfortunately, it started sounding like Cani wasn’t who I was looking for. Maybe it was me being picky with having my standards set too high, but I wanted somebody who was actually passionate about the position. I didn’t want somebody who was only doing it because they had nothing else to do. Then again, that was probably the most I could hope for considering what sort of job it was.

I felt like one of those hiring managers in real life who expected interviewees to talk about how they want to work for a company because they love it instead of because they need money.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather work in a restaurant again? Aren’t there other player-run shops that you could work at as a chef?” I asked.

Cani sighed and shook her head. “None that I’d consider. I don’t mean to call them out since I’m the same, but… we’re competitive. I know everybody else in the city who runs their own restaurant, and they know me. It was as intense as actual PvP. We all wanted to be the best and wanted to get the most customers and make the most money, but… I was bad at it.”

“Your food was great, though. Plus you provided us with some nice service.”

“I could have done more. And my place was out of the way and I was bad at advertising. I hoped that word of mouth advertising would be enough, but it wasn’t.”

“Well, it was what got me there. And it looked busy when we went there.”

“That day was an exception. It was dead most of the time.” A heavy sigh left her lips as her canid ears flattened against the top of her head. “And… that’s why I had to make that wager.”

It sounded like I was finally getting somewhere in regard to whatever happened to her since I last saw her. At the very least, I had enough information to make an educated guess about what happened. “Needed money to keep the place running?”

“Yeah. I got confident and thought that I’d win, but… I ended up losing everything instead.”

“Wouldn’t doing your dailies have been enough to keep the place afloat?”

Cani turned her head to look away.

I knew that reaction to whenever dailies were brought up. “Hate the daily grind?”

“S-something like that.”

“Same,” Akorya said. “I don’t think I’ve ever repeated a daily after doing it the first time.”

Lily nodded and joined in. “You do not have to do dailies if you never level up and unlock them! Ehehe…”

I patted her on the head, seeing as how she was too cute to resist doing that, and asked, “But haven’t you been leveling up anyways?”

“Only – only because I want to be useful to you in stronger zones!”

“Your company still works regardless of level, so it’s impossible for you to not be useful no matter where we are.”

Lily giggled some more and grabbed onto my arm to cuddle up against it as we walked. I almost expected Akorya to join in on my other arm, but she was content with walking while keeping her hands up behind the back of her head.

“Anyways,” I said, returning my attention to Cani, “if you’re looking for money, I won’t be able to help you there. I’m kind of broke myself right now.”

“I figured,” Cani replied. “You would have mentioned pay in your message if you were offering it.”

“So, if you know that, and what you need is money, how come you’ve come to me?”

“I don’t really care about money. I already lost my place and it was bought up within minutes of being made available, so it’s not like I could get it back even if I get the money to. I… just want to feel useful somewhere.”

“I see. The kind of person who can’t stand being idle and always has to have something to do, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“So, it doesn’t really matter where you work as long as you feel useful. Well, excluding working in some other chef’s shop because the competitiveness of that scene won’t let you.”

“Sounds about right.”

I both liked that and didn’t like it. I disliked it because, again, I wanted somebody actually passionate about the role as unrealistic and probably stupid as that was. I wanted somebody who would share my own passion. I did, however, like how honest she was.

And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I really was being unreasonable with what I wanted. Thera, for example, helped me with my dungeon more than anybody else. Yet being the manager of a sex dungeon was something that she wasn’t passionate about. She was only helping me because we were friends and she enjoyed doing things with me. Well, she might have had a bit of fun with the whole management idea, but she couldn’t have cared less about the sexual aspects of the dungeon.

Employing her despite her lack of interest in the dungeon’s sexual aspects while not wanting to hire others who lacked passion in that regard made me think of nepotism.

And as soon as I thought of that, Cani became a far more appealing candidate in my eyes. I wasn’t going to deny somebody an opportunity that I would have given them if they were a close friend of mine. Though, there was still one more thing that Cani had to learn about first.

“By the way,” I said right before we reached my dungeon, “my brothel isn’t exactly a normal brothel.”

Cani tilted her head and asked, “What do you mean?”

“You’re probably expecting it to be a normal building that you can buy, right?”

“Yeah? What else would it be? Wait, you don’t mean it’s one of those NPC house things, is it?”

Of course, since housing was limited in the game and most players were too poor to afford the initial purchase in the first place, many players simply made use of NPC housing. It didn’t matter to them if there was a building full of NPCs going about their daily, scripted lives in there. Players would claim these houses as their own and use them. These houses couldn’t be customized at all, but there was nothing stopping a player from opening up, for example, a strip club in the basement of a random family’s house. That was what most roleplayers ended up doing. They didn’t care about whether or not they legitimately owned the place since they were already roleplaying. What did it matter if they roleplayed owning the place, too?

But as elitist as it might have made me feel, I had a legitimate establishment. I didn’t have to take over some random family’s house to run my sex dungeon.

“Come on, you think I’m that basic?” I asked, teasing her just a bit as the entrance to my dungeon came into view. Of course, the entrance basically just looked like the opening of a cave.

Which it was.

I stood in front of her and said, “Welcome to my dungeon.”

It took Cani a few moments to properly react. She seemed confused at first, but that confusion turned into excitement as soon as she realized what was going on. Or at least, I assumed it was excitement since her tail wagged and her ears perked up. “You – you actually own a dungeon? Aren’t these super expensive and hard to get?”

“It was a massive pain in the ass that required way too much grinding, yes.”

“You’re not screwing with me, right?”

Her doubt was understandable. “I’ll show you myself. Come on.” Actually proving my legitimacy was easy. All I needed to do was take her inside and order my monsters around who were happy to follow any order I gave them. Once Cani saw me order my goblins to do pushups and then saw Al Capra greet me as boss, she was convinced.

“Dang… you seriously do own this place,” she said.

“I’m a ton of things, but I’m not a liar.”

“That’s good to—”

Cani froze, her ears and tail both sticking straight up as her eyes locked on to somebody behind me.

It was only when I looked behind me that I noticed Thera standing there.

“I was wondering when you would notice me, darling,” Thera said, smiling as teasingly as ever.

“You know, if you want my attention, all you have to do is say something,” I replied.

“Please. What good is it if I must ask for it?”

“You could at least make a noise instead of standing around as quietly as possible.”

“Please. What good is it if I must make your job easier for you?”

“It’s my job to notice you now?”

“Of course. With how many women you continue bringing here, I will hold even higher expectations for you.”

Akorya tilted her head and brought a finger up to her mouth before saying, “I don’t get how you two haven’t fucked yet.”

“Because she won’t let me until I beat her in PvP,” I answered. “Oh, right. Thera, there was a tournament the other day, right? Did you go?”

“Ah, no,” Thera answered. “As much as I enjoy PvP, I was a bit too preoccupied with the real world to properly prepare for it. Besides, I would have invited you to watch if I planned on competing.”

“Fair enough.”

“I did, however, watch it.”

“Yeah? Who won?”

“Anna, as most expected.”

“Sounds familiar.”

“I’ve most likely told you about her before. A very proud woman, leader of The Judges. An excellent fighter. Of course, I have beaten both her and her opponent in the final round before.”

“Oh, right. She’s the one with white hair and huge tits, right?”

“Darling, you should not remember women by their hair color and breast size.”

“Let me rephrase then. White hair, huge tits, and a really big sword.”

“Better, but still objectionable.”

“So, who was she up against?”

“Oh? Interested in PvP all of a sudden, darling?”

“I just want to hear more of your voice.”

“Ooh, nice one, Master,” Akorya said.

Even Thera smiled a little bit more than usual. “Even though you have a guest waiting for your attention?” Turning her attention to Cani, Thera looked the girl over and almost looked like she was about to grin before stopping her lips from curling any more. “What an interesting guest you have brought. Now, to answer your question… Lupir was Anna’s opponent. Or as I have always liked to tease her,” she looked at Cani, “Lupi.”

I was actually able to remember that name. “Wolf girl brawler with muscles, right?”

“Well, at least you said nothing of her breast size.”

“It’s her muscles that did it for me. I mean, you almost never see girls in this game playing with muscular avatars.” Thinking about it, Lupi was basically the exact opposite of Cani. From what I could remember watching Lupi in the tournament fight against Thera before, Lupi was a proud wolf girl who was more on the masculine and tomboy side of things. Then there was Cani who was a super girly and pink dog girl with no muscle but plenty of squish. They were complete opposites. I was a man with many tastes, however, and loved both styles of canid girl.

“Fair enough. But yes, Lupi was Anna’s opponent. Most of the crowd ended up cheering for Lupi by the end of it due to her sheer perseverance and clear desire to win, but it would appear that Anna trained much more than expected after the last tournament where I defeated her.”

“I guess she must have trained with the expectation of fighting you in the last round.”

“She still would have lost.”

“That confidence is hot.”

“Everything in existence is hot to you, darling. Now then,” Thera returned her attention to Cani, “tell me, is this the first time we are meeting?”

That was a pretty strange thing to ask. Wouldn’t Thera know if it was their first time meeting?

“I-it is,” Cani answered, “Misstr—” Cani forced her hands over her mouth as Thera failed to reject her grin.

I might have been stupid at times, but I wasn’t that dense. “I take it you two must know each other.”

“Indeed, darling, but I will leave the details to her. After all, it is not this body of hers that belongs to me,” Thera said.

“Wait, you’re owning bodies but you don’t own mine and make me call you ‘Mistress’ yet? Come on, you know I’d be down for that play.”

“I will do anything you want once you defeat me.”

“That’s kind of ironic, isn’t it? Having to defeat you, basically dominating you in battle, just to order you to dominate me?”

“I suppose it is. Regardless, there is nothing for you to be jealous of when it comes to what I have done with my pet.”

“I’m jealous of the fact that you’re calling somebody other than me your pet.”

While me and Thera talked, Akorya peeked around from my other side and asked Cani, “So, how do you know each other?”

I appreciated her for how blunt she could be with asking whatever was on her mind. I planned on waiting until Cani said something herself, but Akorya just went straight for it.

“I…. met her in PvP before,” Cani answered.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” I said. It would probably be seen as rude to assume that somebody lost… in any case outside of going up against Thera. It was the reasonable thing to assume that somebody lost when going up against her. “Anyways, I hope that you two get along. Thera here is my manager. Thera, I’m planning on hiring Cani here to work the front.”

Thera crossed her arms over her chest and looked Cani over again. “You lost your shop, didn’t you?”

Cani didn’t say anything, too nervous to even look Thera in the eyes, but she did nod.

“Foolish girl. What did I tell you about coming to me if you need any help?”

“I… I wanted to do it on my own.”

“Admirable, but foolish.”

“I’m sorry…”

It was strange. I never saw Thera act… so fatherly before. No to mention that I had no idea the perky and smiling Cani could look so defeated and embarrassed.

“You are lucky you found my darling. Anybody else would have been happy to take advantage of your situation,” Thera continued. “Darling, you do plan on keeping her here now that she has lost her shop, don’t you?”

“Well, I was still a bit on the fence, but I won’t say no if you’re vouching for her.”

“Good. Thank you. I will personally train – I mean, ensure that she remains on her best behavior.”

“Come on, Thera! I heard that! I want you to train me!”

“Perhaps sometime in the future, darling. For now, you have two women at your side who I am sure would be happy to train you.”

Akorya backed away and waved her hands in front of her. “Sorry, I don’t know the first thing about that kind of thing. I’m afraid I’d look really stupid.”

As for Lily, her cheeks were red but she still nodded and said, “I – I could try my best!” She might have been willing to try her best, but I knew there was no dominance within her.

Thera was my only hope for being truly dominated. Even so, I still gave Lily a kiss to thank her for the offer which I was definitely going to take her up on someday even if I had my doubts about her ability.

“Would you like me to tease you even more, darling? Consider it a special service for today only,” Thera said.

“Please do. At least give me a teaser of what I might be able to look forward to the in future,” I answered.

Wearing a sly smile, Thera looked past me at Cani again and said a single word. No, she ordered Cani. “Bark.”

With zero hesitation and bright red cheeks, Cani followed the order like a faithful dog eager for a treat. “Wo-woof!”

While Cani covered her face up with her hands after that, Thera looked at me and asked, “What do you think of my training, darling?”

“God damn it I want that to be me,” I answered. “Anyways, before I get too excited,” I turned to Cani and held out my right hand, “welcome to my dungeon. If you’re interested, the position is all yours. I’ve got full faith in you if Thera is vouching for you.”

Cani looked at my hand and sighed before accepting it for a shake. “Thanks…”

“Also, I had an idea just now.”

Cani tilted her head and removed her other hand from her face.

“I think this would benefit us both. It would bring more attention to the dungeon while giving you more to do aside from standing around when there isn’t anybody who wants to fuck or get fucked by my monsters.”

“Yeah?”

“Want to reopen your restaurant inside here? It wouldn’t be hard at all to create a new room that you can set up shop in. It could be set up right near the front. Maybe if we get busy to the point where multiple clients want the same monster at the same time, whoever ends up waiting, if they don’t want to share, can hang out in your shop with some drinks and pie.”

“You – you would do that for me?”

“It’d benefit both of us, so sure.”

I really wasn’t expecting what came next.

First, I met Cani when she was a perky and energetic owner of her own little bistro. Then I met her again when she was kind of normal and borderline depressed sounding during our walk to the dungeon. Then I saw her turn into this submissive and embarrassed puppy via Thera. And now?

And now she forced a hug onto me and started crying.

“She’s precious, is she not?” Thera asked.

I wasn’t sure how to react, so I just wrapped my arms around Cani to hug her back.

“By the way, darling, would you like a list of all the commands she knows?”

“It’s not the same if I don’t teach her those commands myself,” I answered.

“Ah, well, you are welcome to adopt her as your own as I have not had enough time for her lately. Just know that her belly is her weakness.”

Cani hugged herself even tighter against me, pressing her abdomen against my own as if to try and hide it between our bodies. I wouldn’t be able to reach it with my hands if she did that, after all.

But all she really did was prove Thera’s words true.

And so, the dungeon officially acquired a dog girl hostess and waitress with a belly weakness and a mysterious, and submissive, past with Thera.

If only I could acquire being dominated by Thera to make the day even better.