95 – Adviser III
Ari almost got carried away. It was really hard to start kissing Elise and not have things escalate. Fortunately, Elise dragged them back to the matter at hand. They were getting seriously side-tracked. For the hundredth time, Elise corralled them to the thing Ari had brought up:
“Potions. Potions, Ari.”
Ari pulled back, planting one last smooch on Elise’s cheek. “Potions.”
“If you aren’t revealing your class to the public, but want to sell them, then how would you go about it?”
“Cover story?” Ari asked. “Something that makes it clear what the potions are, but without drawing too much attention to me.”
“Attention’s inevitable. A lot, probably. But you can be smart about it.”
“Like?”
“Well, just keep funneling it through third parties. Madam Iris will want to buy them. Let her handle it.”
“But I’d still have to explain it to her, then.”
Elise nodded.
“And, I’d figure they’d be harder to market than normal potions. Drinking … that sort of stuff … probably isn’t something everyone will want to do.”
“That’s true. Then again, it depends on the effect. And, honestly, might be a selling point to some. The clientele are people visiting a bordello. So it being, erm … ”
“Girl cum?” Ari suggested, amused by Elise’s awkwardness.
Elise blushed. “That.”
It was certainly true, considering how the substances had lewd effects, and so would be attracting lewd clientele, that the potions being made of girl cum could be an upside. “But we’d have to prove it’s what we say it is,” Ari said, half to herself. “That it’s from girls, not … you know.” Where cum normally came from.
Proving that could be difficult. Her Menagerie’s impressive endowment was, to Ari’s knowledge, unique. Most people firmly had one set of genitalia, not both, and that counted for all the varied races of the world. Hence the mess of trying to market the substances. But, Ari did need the money.
Elise chewed her lip. “What a mess. Probably, you should take this to Madam Iris. She’ll know how to handle it better than us. Could probably give you a battle plan.”
“So you think she can be trusted?”
“You’ll need to trust someone. Several people, probably. As your guild starts to grow, you’ll need allies. Just don’t go for full disclosure, when possible. And choose who you bring into the loop carefully.”
“Then Madam Iris gets small disclosure, next time I see her. I did already tell her that the items come from a ‘special monster’,” she mused. “I suppose I could claim the cum is the same. From ‘monster girls’, an enemy I found out in the Forest. Maybe introduce one of them to her? But downplay their sapience.” How embarrassing, though, because Ari would have to explain she’d ‘milked’ them, and did so regularly. Even worse, maybe it would be rude to present one of her friends as a rare, ‘dumb, lustful monster girl’. Would that offend them?
Elise chewed her lip. “Maybe. I guess that’s your best option. The important part is you don’t reveal the big stuff.”
“The big stuff being how I can magic powerful adventurers into existence,” Ari said. “And that I level a hundred times faster than I should.”
“Yeah,” Elise said. “That. But the monstergirl part itself … I guess it isn’t the worst thing to reveal. Especially if you don’t tie it directly to you. And make sure she agrees to stay quiet about it.”
“Okay. I guess I’ll try that.” That was going to be a meeting and a half. But Ari needed as many ways to make money as possible. Equipping a Menagerie, and building an entire guild, was going to be an undertaking—even with the expanding manpower. “Last thing before I get out of your hair. Date time. Tomorrow morning?”
“Doing what?”
“There’s a fair in town,” Ari suggested. “I know that’s not really your thing, but it could be fun?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Ari beamed. “Perfect.” Then, taking a sly expression, she leaned forward and whispered into Elise’s ear, “And when we come back, I’ll have a surprise for you.”
Elise blushed. She was quiet for a moment, struggling to work herself up to something.
“We could … skip that step?” she finally said. “I mean. You’re here now, aren’t you?”
“I thought you had studying to be doing?” So much for Elise’s practical nature.
“I do.” Elise flushed deeper, then continued: “But I also have you to be doing.”
Ari gaped at her.
“My Elise, making innuendos?”
Her fingers went to the hem of Elise’s shirt, and she started fiddling, slowly lifting it up, revealing more and more skin.
“Well, that deserves a reward. And I didn’t come here to distract you, but if you’re gonna bully me into it … then I guess I can’t say no.”
She finished hiking Elise’s shirt up, bundling the fabric above her breasts, showing off her bra. Ari admired the sight, then cupped Elise, squeezing, and leaned forward to murmur:
“But the surprise is for after our date. Today’ll be some normal fun. And I won’t be quick, so you better be ready to waste a lot of time.”
Elise swallowed. She squirmed beneath Ari, who squeezed and played with her.
“I think I can live with that.” She gasped as Ari pinched. “It’s okay to be a bad student every once in a while.”