CH 22: Any proper harem should include twins.

Two days passed, and Argo contacted Noah to demand an invitation to dinner.

Noah didn't need to be told twice, as he was eager to hear from her. Asuna, not wanting to cause an awkward situation with Argo, decided to use the opportunity to meet Mito and do some shopping and spend some time with her.

Noah had changed from his usual leather armor into casual pants and shirt made with his Sewing and sat close of the restaurant. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long. Argo generally made a point of being punctual.

"Hey, No-chan."

Argo also had changed into a more casual outfit, forgoing her usual brown pants for a short gray skirt, although her brown top remained the same.

"Hi Argo. You look great as usual." Said Noah with a small smile, as he looked her up and down.

"Thanks. I hope you didn't wait for me too long."

"It's fine. But I must say I'm glad you came. I took a look at some of the dishes that restaurant is serving, and I'm eager to try some."

"Oh? What's your favorite?"

"I want to try what seems to by their equivalent of Gyudon. If it is anywhere as good as the real-life counterpart, it's going to be one of my favorites. What about you, Argo?"

Gyudon was a Japanese dish. Chunks of beef cooked with a wok or skillet, with a thick soy-based sauce and placed over a bowl of rice. Some green onions and sesame seeds were usually sprinkled over the beef.

Argo nodded, smiling. "I like Gyudon too, but my favorite with this restaurant is like a spicy Mexican ground beef casserole."

"I don't like spicy food, but it does sound interesting. Let's go eat!"

They entered the restaurant and took a table. After making their order, Argo sighed.

"Let's get the bad news out of the way first. While we are under the table's privacy screen. I have spoken to two players who lost their weapons after Nezha tried to enhance them. And I have seen Nezha meet in secret with members of Brave Legends. So, your allegations are very much confirmed. I have started writing pamphlets to describe the scam, how it's done, how to stop it, and point the finger at Nezha and Brave Legends. That's really boring work, which I why I want you to pay me for it. Once I have a hundred of them, I'll wait until the middle of the night, then start disseminating them all over Urbus and the Town of Beginnings."

"Great. Thanks, Argo." Noah opened his interface and transferred 30k Cor to her.

"It's not exactly great news that those guys are really doing it, but at least we can put a stop to it early and limit the damage."

"There's a chance Nezha might get killed by some of the people he scammed, you know?" quietly said Argo.

"I'm aware. But it's still fairly unlikely, as most players will not want to gain a permanent red marker just for revenge. And it's still better than having scammed players losing their lives against monsters because their equipment was subpar, or others being killed by Brave Legends members after they grow strong enough and begin to act like tyrants. Imagine the consequences if the next boss raid failed because of a dozen players having bad weapons. The effect on the players' morale would be terrible. We are doing the right thing, Argo."

She stared at him for a while as the waiter came back with the dishes and left, then sighed.

"I know. I can't find a better way to do it without exposing ourselves. Still, it doesn't make me feel very good. Can we do it tonight, please? I want to take my mind off it for a while."

"Of course. And you're not the only one who want it, you can be sure of it."

Noah used his chopsticks to lift a piece of mino… beef and put it in his mouth. It was tender and juicy, and the sauce really reminded him of soy sauce.

"Hum, this stuff is very good. I'll be a regular customer until I can replicate the recipe. Thanks for showing me that restaurant."

"Isn't it right?" Argo smiled as she welcomed the diversion. "During the beta, I have tested every single restaurant on the first ten floors! I'm considering creating a guide of the best foods and selling it."

"That's a great idea, as long as your price is relatively affordable. Good food will be good for player's morale, and once they get a taste, they will be motivated to hunt more monsters. Success will give them confidence."

Noah knew that Argo had used a considerable part or her earnings to create a walkthrough guide for new players, providing them with useful information from the beta about monsters, quests and the game's mechanics. She really had gone above and beyond to try to save as many people as possible.

Noah had been tempted on occasion to tell her about his agreement with Kayaba, and that players didn't really die. But he could not take that risk. If he even whispered it to anyone, there was a chance Kayaba might learn of it, and reverse his change.

They both chatted about the things happening with the rest of the players as they savored their food, then left to retire in Argo's room.

After closing the door behind them, Argo opened her interface to deactivate her adult content protection.

"Do you mind if I take the lead again, Argo?"

"I don't. Make me feel good, No-chan."

"That's the whole point. Are you still up for a bit of bondage and roleplay?"

"…Yes. I trust you."

From his interface, he took the blindfold and offered it to Argo. Seeing it, she gulped as she took it in her hands, running her fingers on the soft leather. She slowly lifted it to her face, and slipped it over her eyes. Then she waited.

With slow and careful moves, Noah removed her clothes, then led her to the bed.

Taking a pair of leather cuffs, he bound her wrists behind her back. She was breathing more quickly.

He spoke softly into her left ear. "Argo, you have fallen into my trap. You should never have trusted me, and it's too late now. Actually, I'm a slaver. I am going to train you and turn you into a perfectly obedient and submissive sex slave, then I’ll sell you off to the highest bidder."

"What? No, let me go!" Argo was already getting into her role, as she playfully struggled to escape his firm grip.

"And to prove your status as a slave in training, you need to wear a collar."

"You fiend!"

With quick gestures, he took one of the two slave collars from his item storage, and fastened it around her neck.

Keeping her pressed against his body by one arm around his waist, he kissed her gently, while using his free hand to explore her breasts. Argo moaned cutely as she returned the kiss.

Between the activation of his Hands of Nirvana, the blindfold increasing her sensitivity, and the effect of the slave collar boosting both the pleasure she felt and her libido, Noah was confident that by the time the session ended in a few hours, the notion that bondage sex was more pleasurable than normal sex would be firmly imprinted in Argo's mind. After a few more sessions, she would start doubting her own preferences, thinking that she might be a closet submissive, deep inside. Surely it had to be the case, if she got more pleasure from being bound and used as a plaything. Maybe what she really wanted was for him to be her master, rather than his lover.

She would come to him and ask him to dominate her again. And again. And Noah would happily oblige, gently leading her down the path of submission to him, all the while letting her think it was her own idea.

…

Noah and Asuna were exploring the fifth level of the labyrinth. The entrance had been easy to find this time, at ground level under a giant cow head engraved on the surface of the giant stone pillar connecting this floor to the next one.  that pillar, at least five hundred meters in diameter, contained the labyrinth. Inside were Lesser Taurus Strikers, Taurus Ironguards and Taurus Ringhurlers, bulky minotaurs respectively armed with one-handed axes, one-handed swords, and two-handed axes.

Unlike the monsters on the plain, those had twenty percent armor mitigation, a lot more HP, and used some of the sword skills associated with their weapons. But they also gave a lot more experience.

As Asuna gave the coup de grace to their latest bovine opponent, Noah reflected on what Argo had told him this morning. It had been two days since the pamphlets had mysteriously appeared in places like the Monument of life, stuck on walls in front of popular restaurants, the portal, and so on, and news about what Brave Legends was doing were spreading like wildfire. Nezha had gone into hiding, and each time another member of that guild showed his face in public, there were always at least one or two players to recognize them and shower them with insults. The passersby would inquire about the cause of the commotion, and thus learn about the scam.

Those players would either be forced to disband their guild and keep a low profile until people forgot about them, or hide their faces under a hood. Orlando, their leader, had seemingly disappeared. Noah had a gut feeling that they would cross paths at some point, and one of them would "die".

Argo also had reported to him on the formation of guilds. While Brave Legends likely wouldn't be around for much longer, the pecking order was starting to emerge.

A guy named Thinker had created the Aincrad Liberation Force, and it was the largest guild, if one considered numbers alone. Noah knew the ALF would later be taken over by that scum Kibaou and would become a junta, bullying the weak in the lower floors while adding no value to the front line.

Diavel was leading the Dragon Knight Brigade. They were committed to conquering the castle, and Diavel seemed to have learned the right lessons from his near death.

The Divine Dragon Alliance, a secretive guild whose leader was unknown at this point, was boldly claiming to be the top guild, with its main rival being the Knights of the Blood, led by Heathcliff. KoB was the guild that Asuna would eventually have joined, had Noah not disrupted the timeline.

Noah had already promised himself that he would one day recreate the custom KoB uniform they would have made for her, as the white outfit with red highlights would suit her well.

And since he was thinking about guilds, Noah thought he should create his own, before the name he had in mind was not available anymore.

"Hey, Asuna, what do you think of Valhalla for a guild's name? The place where heroes from the Asgard mythology rested and trained while waiting for Ragnarök, the final battle."

"I like it. It's simple and has a nice sound, that doesn't seem presumptuous like this 'Divine Dragon Alliance'. The word Divine shouldn't be used lightly. Especially now that I know about Lilith-sama."

"Yeah, there is that, too. Since we have a unanimous vote of two, we'll go with that name, assuming it isn't already taken."

Noah opened his interface, searched in the social sub-menu, and found the guild creation option. He paid the 20k Cor fee.

"And thus, the Valhalla guild is born! As a female member of Valhalla, you can now proudly call yourself the first of the Valkyries! And I'm the first Einherjar!" He proclaimed grandly. Asuna giggled cutely at his joke, then thought about something.

"Will we have a uniform?"

"…That's not a bad idea. How about something black, with silver or gold highlights?"

"As long as it's not an indecent outfit…" grumbled Asuna as she looked at her master suspiciously.

Noah grinned. "Of course not. There are plenty of indecent outfits in your future, but those are only for fun times in private. I don't want strangers lusting after my women. I don't have a design in mind right now, but it will be something cute and elegant and easy to move in. Leather armor, I think, for some basic protection without penalizing your movement speed. Maybe some light metal armor pieces."

They reached the next minotaur, and Noah made short work of it. They both needed to increase their level and proficiencies and prepare for the next boss fight. Its location would likely be found within two or three days.

…

It was two days later, as they were hunting on the 19th floor, that Argo contacted him.

“No-chan, the boss room has been found by the main squad of the Divine Dragon Alliance.”

He signaled for Asuna to stop and told her about Argo messaging them.

“That’s good news, Kitty. Are we doing a pre-raid meeting?”

“Don’t call me that!”

Noah smirked, as he could imagine Argo blushing. He had mentioned a few times during their last session that she was his little Kitty. She had weakly protested, trying to sound stern as she squirmed in pleasure, wanting to be the big sis in their relationship.

“Why would you be the only one allowed to give nicknames to others? And it suits you well, my little Kitty. And I’m eager for next time.”

“We’ll discuss this later. Don’t push your luck too much, No-chan. Anyway, yes, there’s going to be a meeting, this afternoon at 16:00, central plaza of Taran village and I’m being paid to inform all major guilds and individual beta testers.”

“Asuna and I will be there. We’ll inform Kirito and Mito, if you didn’t already.”

“Thanks. That will help. See you later.”

Noah closed the chat window and looked at Asuna.

“Can you tell Mito that the pre-raid meeting will be in the Taran village’s central plaza at 16:00? We’ll head back now and do a bit of crafting until that time come. I’ll inform Kirito.”

“Sure.”

It took them a few hours to reach the village, a collection of uneven white buildings sitting on top of a steep cliff.

Asuna, using some of her money, borrowed the kitchen of one of the restaurants to increase her level in cooking and try to get a few recipes from the chiefs. Noah headed to the local furniture crafting station, and used the wood he had collected from the floor’s wooden area. His goal was to reach 50 in proficiency, and he had just enough materials to do it. He unlocked several patterns.

“Basic forge: working station to craft metal armors pieces and weapons, up to item level 40.”

“Basic sewing workstation: working station to sew clothes, up to item level 40.”

“Basic leathercrafting workstation: working station to craft leather armor pieces or leather clothes, up to item level 40.”

“Basic furniture workstation: working station to craft furniture, up to item level 40.”

“Saint-Andrew Cross. Variable.

In SAO, it was possible to craft things like weapons or armor pieces without needing to go to a forge or a similar location, but it consumed 30% more materials as compensation. With those patterns, Noah would be able to turn a part of his house’s basement or some of the rooms into a forge or workshop and craft things without suffering a penalty or having to worry about curious eyes. They were the equivalent of any kitchen for cooking. The basic kitchen they already used in his house was something he had unlocked at Carpentry 1/1000, and Noah firmly intended to upgrade it with more advanced models later.

As for the other pattern, added thanks to Lilith, Noah knew it was a rather common furniture in BDSM circles. A X-shaped cross, used to restrain a submissive. The significant amount of leather pieces and metal ores on top of the wood planks in the material bracket suggested it could be reinforced and padded with leather, if he went for the high-grade option. And he would not cheap out on any of the furniture he planned to install in his house.

He then went to Taran’s forge. There was one specific item he wanted to create before the boss fight.

“Crude wooden shield. Def +200 if the wearer makes a successful block.”

This item looked like the wooden shields used by ancient Vikings, but without the single handle at the center, protected by a metal dome on the outside. That handle, which made those shields superior to most other types, allowed Vikings to turn their shields with the blows, as they used them to deflect the attack away from their body instead of outright stopping it.

Noah still had some metal ores and plenty of leather but decided to use them later. He left the crafting station and waited for Asuna to finish.

They went to the meeting place, and saw some familiar faces. Argo and Kirito were already there, along with the members of the Divine Dragon Alliance and the Knights of the Blood. Noah recognized among the later Cradeel, a tall, lanky fellow with dark sunken eyes and long black hairs. In the novel, Cradeel’s insane obsession with Asuna would turn him into a stalker, then a murderer.

And the instant Cradeel glanced at their direction and saw them coming, he froze and kept staring at them.

“Hugh. Asuna, we’re going to have a problem.”

“That man who is staring at me?” Asuna had noticed him, too.

“Yeah. Stay close to me at all times.”

“That’s an order I can easily obey. But he’s still staring. He gives me the creeps. Do you think he’s dangerous?” Asuna didn’t want to look at Cradeel’s direction, not wanting to give him an excuse to come over and introduce himself, as she only watched him with her peripheral vision.

“…Maybe. The way he is staring is screaming incel to me. And he’s still staring.” Noah, who also wasn’t directly staring at the focus of their discussion, couldn’t exactly tell her what he knew about Cradeel. She would ask him how he knew, and telling her that her world was based on a fiction and had only existed for less than two months, with all the fake memories issues it implied, and that she was one of the main characters, was a can of worms he didn’t intend to open. Ever.

“Incel?” Asuna, having spent her social life in private all-girls schools and not paying too much attention to news, wasn’t familiar with the term.

“Involuntary Celibate. Those guys who can’t get a girlfriend, mostly due to their creepy or gloomy temperament or lack of self-confidence, but blame women for it instead of trying to correct their flaws. They wallow in self-pity over their physical appearance while dehumanizing all women as gold-diggers or shallow sluts only interested in handsome men, and some of them even think the government should step in and provide them with a woman. An attractive one with a submissive personality, of course. They are mentally sick people.”

“That’s so disgusting. Do they not see women as human beings?” Asuna scrunched her nose as she looked at Cradeel, who turned away. But she could see he still stared at her from the corner of his eyes.

“Not really. Some of the worst Incels went as far as to invent the term ‘femoids’ aka female androids, to dehumanize women. I once saw some footage about a pair of cops being called into a building's lobby because of an incel. He had talked to a woman in the street, and that women made it clear she wasn’t interested in starting a relationship with him. Instead of giving up and working on himself, the guy had followed the woman into her apartment building and was in the lobby trying to find out her floor and door number. As the cops were asking him to leave, the incel kept claiming that it was all a misunderstanding, and that if he just could speak to her once, he would convince her that he was a nice guy, not a disgusting stalker.”

“He totally was a stalker!” retorted Asuna.

“Absolutely. But acknowledging that would require a degree of self-introspection they seem to be incapable of. Anyway, be careful about him."

They reached Kirito and Argo and greeted each other. Asuna made sure to use Noah’s body to shield herself from Cradeel’s gaze. Two more hooded figures were standing a step behind Argo.

Argo grinned as they walked within talking distance. “No-chan, A-chan, let me introduce Kaede and Suzu. We’ll have a full party this time!”

Noah nodded politely.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Noah. I’ll likely act at the tank of the party this time, unless someone else volunteer for the role.”

“I’m Asuna. It’s nice to meet you, too.” She bowed slightly with a smile.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Kaede, and this is my sister Suzu.” smiled Kaede, and Suzu nodded without a word.

Noah observed them carefully. Their faces and hair were mostly hidden under hoods, which Noah interpreted as a likely sign that they were pretty and didn’t want to attract attention. He could still see that they both had dark blue bangs framing their attractive face and ending at neck level. Kaede had blue eyes, while Suzu’s were reddish amber.

They were both slightly shorter than Asuna, and aside from their different eye color, they looked so similar to each other than they were likely twins. Kaede carried a spear strapped on her back, while Suzu had a dagger sheathed on the right side of her waist. Both were wearing various pieces of brown leather armor over a gray and light purple outfit, respectively, and a short white cape with a hood.

Not wanting to make them uneasy, Noah stopped staring and looked at Argo.

“How many more players are we expecting?”

“About fifteen more, then we can start the meeting.”

“Ok. I don’t see Kibaou. Have you invited this jerk?”

Argo giggled.

“He’s not coming. I invited him as mere courtesy, not because I actually want that guy to come, and he immediately asked if I would invite ya. He tried to blackmail me by saying that he and his alliance would only come if I didn’t invite ya. So, I told him not to come. If only I could see his face!”

Noah couldn’t suppress his grin as he imagined the scene.

“Ehhh… I would have liked to see, too. He tried to throw his weight around, and you’ve showed him his place. He’s not a big loss anyway.”

“I don’t want to intrude, but is this something that will impact our party?” Asked Kaede with hesitation.

“It’s unlikely. Long story short, Kibaou caused a ruckus at the first floor’s pre-raid meeting. He claimed he wanted the beta-testers to apologize for not prioritizing random new players over themselves, but I think he really was just looking for an excuse to extort money or equipment from them. He’s just an opportunist and a hypocrite. I have made my opinion of him clear in front of everyone, so he hates my guts, but it should have no negative impact on you or your sister. Still, I’m surprised he’d give up on the chance to get the last hit on a floor boss…”

Noah suddenly had a sneaky suspicion. Would Kibaou dare attempt to steal the boss from the whole raid? He did try something similar in the novel. But Noah didn’t think Kibaou would manage to organize a raiding party. Not this early in the game. Even if he managed it, Noah didn’t really care. If Kibaou tried and succeeded, Noah had no interest in the boss loot when he would get decent stuff from crafting, and his stats from the Yin-Yang system were already starting to make him more overpowered than any equipment could. And if Kibaou tried and failed, nothing of value would be lost.

“Kaede-san, Suzu-san, how did you meet with Argo and Kirito?” asked Asuna.

“Soon after this game started, we were gifted with that guide for new players...” Started Kaede.

“It saved our lives, more than once. Like when we found a suspicious chest in a cave a few days ago. It was a trap, and we likely would have been caught if not for us knowing about it. We wanted to thank the guide’s author, so we asked the guy who had given it to us…” Kaede pointed at Agil, standing not far off. “… And we got along with Argo surprisingly well.”

“Argo really is a good person. She used most of her time and income in the first few weeks creating those guides. She saved a lot of people.” nodded Asuna, as she looked fondly at Argo.

“Hehe, this Big Sis likes to have her efforts be recognized.” Boasted Argo as she puffed her chest slightly.

“As for me, I met with Kaede-san and Suzu-san just before you came. And it looks like everyone has come. The meeting will likely soon start.” Pointed out Kirito.

He was right, and a few short minutes later, the leader of the Divine Dragon Alliance, a man named Mobius, started his speech. He tried to reserve the looting rights to his alliance on account of the DDA being the guild that discovered the boss’s location, but was quickly shot down as everyone else opposed the idea. A few people, Kirito included, suggested first sending a scouting party, but most judged it to be useless, since they already had information from Argo’s guide book and didn’t want to last any more time than necessary.

Noah knew it was a mistake, but didn’t think it would be severe enough to cause the raid to fail or take heavy loses, and he if started playing prophet, some would suspect him of being linked to Akihiko Kayaba.

The players would have to learn caution the hard way.

Argo found herself being named leader of Team G, which also included Kirito, Noah, Asuna, Kaede and Suzu.

When the meeting came to an end and the players started to disperse, Asuna went to chat with Mito for a while, and Noah caught Argo in private.

“How about dinner with you tomorrow evening, Kitty? I want to play with you again.”

“You unsatiable scoundrel… fine, tomorrow night. But no restraints this time.”

“Ah? You disliked the roleplay we did? That’s not what I remember.” Noah raised an eyebrow when he looked at her.

“…That’s the problem. It felt too good, and it’s scary. I feel like I’d grow addicted to it.” She admitted in a low voice.

Noah was slightly disappointed but made sure to hide it.

“Fine. If you don’t want to play with cuffs, we won’t play with cuffs. I’ll ask you again if you’re willing to humor me some other time. But I don’t see the harm. Even if you come to like being treated as a submissive, that won’t diminish my opinion of you. You’re still my cute Kitty either way.”

“Don’t call me that, No-chan. At least, not in public. But thanks, for understanding.” Argo smiled.

“I have stuff to do, see you tomorrow, No-chan.”

“Bye, Argo.”

As he watched her go, Noah grinned suddenly.

[Thank you, Lady Lilith. I am very grateful.]

[A minor matter. I do not have the divine power to create thousands of worlds for this iteration of the Great Game, but there is no rule saying I can’t insert characters from other fictions. Or even create one world using multiple fictions as inspiration. I might actually do it more often, to keep you and my other champions on their toes. Do not assume you know how the future will turn out just because you’ve read the fiction the world is based on.]

[Yes, Lady Lilith.]

Noah already knew who the two sisters were. He might have failed to recognize one of them in isolation. But together? The mere mention of their name reminded Noah of the fiction they starred in, and their appearance was confirmation. Kaede and Suzu were the main heroines of a somewhat popular hentai manga, that was later adapted into an anime. Kaede was a typical, outgoing girl, who had gotten a boyfriend. And Suzu, the calm and rarely speaking younger sister, followed the couple around, being treated like a third wheel, much to her displeasure.

Her quiet facade was a fraud, however, and Suzu had a mischievous and decisive personality, expressing her feelings with actions rather than words. She didn’t hesitate to trick her older sister into light bondage, and tempting the boyfriend into a threesome, making clear to the boyfriend that as far as she was concerned, she and Kaede came in a single package. Not that the boyfriend needed much tempting. It was a hentai work, after all.

Noah was already thinking about ways to get his lustful hands on the twins. By hook or by crook, they would become his.