Chapter 124

"Lilith," Oceane said, bringing me out of my thoughts.

She slithered over to me from the other side of the room. My [Zone of Silence] was still in effect, the mana it took to keep it up and running was more or less negligible for me now.

"Lilith, I was thinking. If we start offering your change to a large number of the girls, it will get out eventually. Even if none of the new succubi tell anyone, it will become obvious when others change to the same extent that Nadia and Raya have."

I sighed and scratched the base of my horn. "That's true... Did you have something in mind?"

"Contract magic." Everyone in the room went silent at the phrase. The twins and Silva in particular looked especially disgusted. Oceane glanced around the room, taking in everyone's expression. "I understand the hesitation, I've run this brothel for a long time and can count the times I've used it on one hand. It's not something I would suggest lightly. However, it would make it safe to offer the transformation to the entire brothel without any worry of this getting out."

That seemed to have placated my friends to an extent but there was still tension in the air.

Grace raised one hand. "I can attest to that, the only times we've used it have been... special cases. We're not in the dirty business of making deals and tricking women into our service. If that were the case this place would have a lot more slaves and many fewer beastfolk working here. ...I wouldn't be here myself if that were the case."

I frowned. "Okay, I'll bite. What are we talking about here, what is contract magic?"

Half the room gave me a confused look but Morrigan quickly stepped forward and cleared her throat. "Right, contract magic is an application of ritual magic that forces two people or groups into a magically enforced agreement. Something like a geas without the same level of hierarchical authority. A magic contract is more of a mutual agreement. However, despite it being a mutual agreement, that doesn't stop people from using tricks or clever wording to take advantage of each other. People have used them to trick others into becoming slaves, and they often still do. Beastfolk in particular are very wary of them for that reason."

My brow furrowed. "Magically enforced how?"

Silva growled. "Total body control. I've felt it before. Your body, tongue, legs, whatever, they don't listen to you if it would break the contract. It feels disgusting, I would rather take the extreme physical pain that comes from trying to violate a slave collar."

I looked around the room, my friends had different looks on their faces but one in particular caught my eye, Bella's. She looked concerned. The look on her face made me think she would go along with whatever I chose but there was only one answer she would like. I didn't like the idea of this either.

"No." I shook my head. "That's now how I'm going to do things. We'll start with people you trust and give them the offer. If they decline, we'll leave it at that. As convenient as this magic would be, it doesn't feel right."

Oceane paused. "To be clear, I was only suggesting a promise of silence, perhaps 5 years if they choose to leave the Ruby Vixen. Surely that isn't the same as tricking people into slavery?"

I sighed. "I didn't think that's what you were suggesting but it would still be forcing them into the choice we want. What would their options be? Leave the Ruby Vixen if they don't agree? Abandon their livelihood? Their home?" I glanced at Raya. "Their family?"

I rubbed the base of my nose and continued, "...No. I don't like it, it wouldn't be a choice at all. It's important to remember that the ends don't always justify the means. How you do something can be just as important as why."

Torien smiled. "Well said."

Oceane crossed her arms. "Alright. If you're adamant about it then I'm fine with that. If contract magic isn't an option, we'll have to be careful who we talk to about this at first. The truth will likely get out eventually but we'll have to impart the importance of keeping things hidden for as long as possible. I may still have to dismiss some of the girls I don't trust," she said catching my gaze.

"That's fine." I waved off. "That feels different. ...just don't go too far with it. Not being right for the change isn't the same as someone spilling all of our secrets. ...But wait, will the ones you dismiss even have anywhere to go? The city is in shambles right now, I would feel just as bad if you threw them out on the street over this."

Oceane looked away in thought. "No, I won't throw anyone on the street, not right now. I'll have to talk with a few of the other brothels in the city. There are only a few girls I'm worried about."

Morrigan sat forward. "Couldn't we just, I don't know, separate the girls who go through the transformation? Like change their bedrooms around or something?"

Oceane shook her head. "No that wouldn't help much. Even if we did change the room assignments, the girls still need to wait in the lobby and common rooms for customers. Shuffling rooms around would also alert everyone that something is going on, we've never done anything like that before so it would only invite more questions. Besides, most of the girls are friends with each other. There are a few rivalries here and there but most of the girls spend a lot of time with each other. A secret like this will spread to any of the girls we don't tell, it's better to just ease everyone into it starting with the girls we trust the most."

She glanced at Grace. "We'll have to discuss the people we're considering bringing in first, as well as anyone we may need to distance ourselves from."

Grace nodded. "Of course." She turned to me. "You will have to give us some time to plan things out."

I nodded. "It's getting late and this isn't something that's time sensitive. Take all the time you need to figure everything out. Tomorrow morning we're going out to hunt demons again, the priest of Morkinnen that we met with today asked us to help clear out the castle and we intend to participate. I'm not sure how long it will take but we'll come back here when we're finished."

Oceane smiled. "Very well, get some rest then. You've done a lot for us already and given us a lot to think about."

I released the [Zone of Silence] and our group shuffled towards the exit. Raya was looking seductive and slinked over to me. "Heya Lilith. Would it be alright if Nadia and I joined you in your room?" Her tails curled around me giving me a bit of a hug. Despite her confident demeanor, I could feel some of her anxiety and nervousness coming through our fresh bond. She was worried I would reject them.

I smiled. "Sure, but let us rest for a bit first. How about you join us after dinner?"

She beamed. "Sure! See you tonight."

She turned the corner and pulled Nadia through the door with her. In a flash she was gone. I looked over at our group and watched as Mimi once again took on a disguise, a coat of fur flowed over her golden skin making her look like an unknown kind of beastkin rather than a walking statue. When she was finished she looked around curiously before clothes flowed out and covered her. Oceane raised an eyebrow at the display.

We made it back to our room where I could finally take off my restrictive new armor. It felt nice to wear, it was strong and sturdy, but it was still taking some getting used to. I piled it all in a corner, it would take some time to learn how to quickly equip and remove my armor but I was managing so far.

I sat on the bed and patted Mimi's shoulder. "You're looking pretty good like that Mimi! Soon you won't need to hide all the time."

She smiled back at me. "Yeah! It can be a little hard to maintain but I'm getting the hang of it. I need to practice condensing my mana more though, it's getting easier but I still have trouble doing it for long periods. We've been around other people so much lately I haven't had the chance to work on it much."

Morrigan sighed. "I knowwww, we've been busy non-stop since we left Traehall. Sure a lot of it was boring carriage travel but that was exhausting tooooo."

Torien snickered at her sister and I pulled Morrigan into a hug. "It's true we haven't had much time to relax. I would suggest having some downtime in the city but... that's kind of a mess right now too."

She pulled away and snuggled into my side. "I knowwww, it's unfair!"

Torien smiled. "Careful Lilith, indulge her whining too much and she'll never stop."

I laughed. "A little bit of whining never hurt anyone."

Morrigan squeezed me even tighter. "Torien! I'm in love! She tolerates my whining! I couldn't ask for anyone better!"

Silva stepped close to Torien's side with a grin and spoke in a stage whisper, "Perhaps I should make you whine too, I bet you would enjoy that."

Torien's face turned bright red, she was much more used to being the one doing the teasing rather than the one being teased and it showed.

Morrigan looked over with a gloating smile and didn't even need to say anything. Torien only had to look at her sister for a moment before she looked away, face flush all over again.

I turned Morrigan back towards me. "Now now, don't tease your sister too much. Silva seems to have that handled plenty."

Torien sputtered but couldn't even say anything in reply and Bella couldn't help but giggle at the reaction. I leaned over and pulled her into a hug too. "Do you have any whining to do Bella? You look like you could use some attention too."

She leaned into my arm and kissed me on the cheek. "I'm happy anywhere we go. Just being with you is enough for me."

Morrigan peeked around my bust at her. "Okay Bella, that was a little sappy even for me."

Bella huffed. "It's true! And it's not just her! I'm happy to go anywhere with all of you!" She grabbed Morrigan's nearby hand and kissed it.

Torien laughed. "See, now yo—"

Torien was cut off as Silva lifted her off the ground and began to carry her off. "Things are getting a bit out of hand in here, I'd rather things get out of hand over there instead. We'll try to be quick before dinner."

I waved. "Have fun in there you two!" Silva flicked the door of the adjoining room closed with her foot.

Morrigan pulled the three of us down onto the bed. Her fingers trailed through the fur under my shirt, intimate but not yet sexual. Mimi started to climb on top of me but I sat up before she could and slid back to a more comfortable position on the bed before holding my arms out to her. With a smile, she crawled over and snuggled into my chest while the other girls quickly found their places next to me. I lay like that for a while, just enjoying their company and letting myself unwind. A normal person may have been overheated sandwiched between three people like this but I felt fine, the warmth felt good.

I sighed as I looked up at the ceiling. "Do you think things went okay?"

"I think so." Bella smiled and began to trace her fingers through my fur as well.

Morrigan sat up on an elbow and looked down at me. "It was a bit risky to tell them about everything but I don't think it could have turned out any better. I was half expecting things to go bad. We might have been fighting girls off left and right!"

I laughed. "Don't speak too soon. We have two of those girls joining us tonight and who knows what will happen after I offer the same thing to half the girls in the brothel."

She leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. "Being with you has been great Lilith, the best of both worlds. A pretty lady to spend my time with and the exciting life of an adventurer. Sure I didn't expect to share this much but I guess I don't mind." she looked over at Bella and gave her a wink. "Instead I get to spend my time with three pretty ladies instead of one."

"I love you too Morrigan," Bella said with a grin. "And you too Mimi." She leaned over and gave the mimic a kiss as well.

"I love all of you!" Mimi pulled the other girls into a group hug right on top of me.

"What a weird group we have." I couldn't help but laugh.

I rested in the group hug for a while, feeling content to be surrounded by the people who make me happy. It's been a complicated few weeks but moments like this make all of that worth it. There were downsides to this life of course, regularly risking my life was equal parts terrifying and exciting, but I wouldn't trade any of it as long as I got to keep having moments like this.