Chapter 248

I stared off into the distance as Goldenhearth came into view. It has been nine days since we escaped the capital after the raid on the slaver's guild. Despite initial reluctance, all of the former prisoners had become succubi, excluding the women who had been non-responsive. Part of me was worried that I had put them all through an extreme peer pressure situation, but I came to realize over the course of the trip that what they wanted was a way to take their lives back into their own hands again. The transformation was able to do that for them. The transformation essentially let them assume new identities, change their stat allocations, and gain unique abilities relating to Karma.

None of the people I had transformed before had been as forthcoming with their new Karma abilities as these people were. Once Nelly had decided to publicly share her ability, they all did. Nelly's karma ability improved the qualities of her breastmilk based on how high her karma was, with healing as a baseline. Bottles of her milk had essentially become healing potions. Which is just wild to think about. The others had abilities that varied wildly, were always useful to the person who gained them, and none of them had the exact same ability. I wasn't sure if this was solely because of the succubus transformation or because of an outside influence. Perhaps the transformation worked this way because it only seemed to alter someone's existing race rather than replace it. I wasn't sure.

Nelly had confided in me recently that she was interested in becoming a priest of Velenthel and wanted to know if I would be against that. Velenthel's domains were about healing and reincarnation. Nelly felt that the gentle holy magic of Velenthel's domain would suit her well. I warned her that the succubus transformation may have restricted holy magic from her, so we would have to see if it was even possible for her to become a priestess. Velenthel wasn't a goddess I had cleared from being a member of the Tamin church yet, but she was one that I had an interest in meeting. Supposedly, she was responsible for me losing access to my memories when I was reincarnated so if I ever wanted those back, I would have to go through her. Nelly would have to regularly invoke Velenthel's name if she wanted to use holy magic so taking a Velenthel priestess with us would be like taking a spy along unless we could clear Velenthel from being a member of the Tamin church. I had mixed feelings about the situation but I told Nelly that I would at least try and meet with Velenthel's priests. I was hoping for the best but I didn't know what to think about that goddess yet.

The four women who had been non-responsive were showing some signs of improvement after the former prisoners had been working with them. Getting away from their prison seemed to have helped their situation. Two of the people who had spent the most time caring for them had surprisingly turned out to be the hyena twins. Both of them were still hyenas after their transformations but now looked even more similar than they had looked before. Their transformation had been interesting to Morrigan and Torien since it mirrored their intentions of transforming while remaining recognizable as siblings. The two hyenakin sisters were planning on working as adventurers but were going to continue with us to Traehall first.

Most of the former slaves had decided they were going to stay in Goldenhearth for a while and see what Oceane could do for them. Perhaps unsurprisingly, every one of the former slaves was now more interested in personal protection and getting stronger. Though their backgrounds had varied, none of them had been soldiers or adventurers and they had been mistreated when they were slaves partially because of it. Most of the ones here had been illegally kidnapped and hadn't been able to defend themselves. All of them had been used in disturbing ways since these people had not been valuable to the slavers for different reasons. The ones that had been more valuable had already been sold off. Gwen had been regularly tortured and intentionally scarred all over their body to delight the sadists who visited. Fellia had already been burned on much of her body, so for similar reasons, other sadists burned her even more until her entire body was covered. None of the stories I had heard from this group of former slaves had been pleasant to hear. The others we had freed had been treated well by comparison.

Nelly and Kal'daeryn insisted they wanted to continue on with us and for different reasons, Quinn wanted to keep following us as well. I got the impression that Quinn was still trying to make up his mind about the transformation. He had been thoroughly enjoying the orgies we had been having so I wasn't worried about the sexual aspect being a problem, but he was on the fence about taking the plunge himself from what I gathered. He was around the same level as Raya so he made a good fit for our quickly forming 'B team.' Sibyl and Kal'daeryn were the only outliers and both worked well as guides to improve the group. Sibyl had a lot of fighting experience but was lacking in wilderness training, while Kal'daeryn was the opposite. Her fighting style was fierce and self-taught, which made it hard for others to replicate, but she had top-notch survival skills that could keep everyone safe. Her skills overlapped with Torien's quite a bit, so having her on the other team wouldn't be a loss for us either.

Speaking of the twins, Torien and Morrigan were now working with Lorriene on shadow magic training. I had unfortunately been absent from the conversation, but from what I heard after the fact, she had been ecstatic to train them in their family's traditional magic style. Lorriene hadn't asked to become a succubus yet either but her view of me had changed a lot in the time that I've gotten to know her. She had started out quite suspicious of me but over time she's become a lot more friendly. My strong relationship with both of her nieces helped quite a bit I think. It was one thing to be told that I didn't treat them as slaves, and another to see it. Not that any of them have collars anymore, but the point remains. It probably also helps that I had decided to go on this mission, I think that may have reassured her that I truly did want to live up to the legend that her Order followed.

Bella had been working to improve her nature magic and had begun really dabbling in poisons quite a bit more lately. Her karma ability improved her healing and her ability to use poisons effectively but it's only recently that she's begun to feel comfortable with that aspect of her magic. Of all of us, Bella was the one with the softest heart but the reality was that we would be facing monsters and demons that even she didn't have much sympathy for. The poisons would come in handy.

I spent most of my time drawing, working on my ritual circles, and spending time with the new succubi. Since I already knew most of them were planning on staying in Goldenhearth I wanted to spend a little extra time getting to know them while I had the opportunity. I felt bad for all of the succubi that I had been transforming and leaving behind, but I couldn't take everyone with me. Even my 'inner circle' had grown quite a bit to include Raya, Sibyl, Cecilia, and now Nelly and Kal'daeryn.

Fellia Winethorn and Gwen were kind of a different situation... Gwen had been a blacksmith previously and after talking with Tenna, there was talk of her taking Gwen on as a second apprentice. It was obvious that Tenna was already planning on becoming a succubus and it was for more practical considerations that it hadn't happened yet. I hadn't heard more from Kino one way or the other but I still suspected they might be interested. Fellia... wanted to be a merchant. Fellia wants to maintain some distance from her elven family for the moment for a reason she isn't forthcoming about. Rather than going back to the elves, she wants to travel with us and help us make money on the things that we collect. Especially once we start delving into the dungeons. Having her on to negotiate on our behalf could be very lucrative for both of us.

Though... I suspected it was because Fellia wasn't a fighter, yet still wanted to stay close to me. Her apparent infatuation with me hadn't relaxed and... if I was being honest, her feelings were solidifying as love. It was pretty transparent to all of us who shared the bond with her. I did enjoy her company, and she hasn't done anything that's crossed any lines with me or the others, but I couldn't help but feel like she was trying to force her way in. I was already planning on sitting down with my lovers and talking about our plans regarding her. I wouldn't be against adding her to our group but right now she was a bit too singularly focused on me and that made me a bit uncomfortable. Ideally, she would love all of us, not just me. All of it still requires discussion, both with her and with my girlfriends but it hasn't happened yet.

Raya and Sibyl have both been happy to spend time with the new succubi and their love for each other has only seemed to have increased. The slightly goofy awkward initial phase of their relationship has passed and now they have settled into something stable. They were still affectionate with each other but it was a bit less saccharine and awkward. Sibyl doesn't get as shy when Raya teases her anymore and she seems to have accepted that she enjoys being cute. She's even turned things around and teases Raya back pretty regularly now. It was helpful that neither of them seemed to be the jealous type. They both enjoy playing with others during the orgies but always return to each other in the end to cuddle and sleep together. Both of them are very comfortable with their needs and desires and have managed to make things work between the two of them so far.

As we approached the line of carriages leading up to the city gates in the afternoon sun, I could see that they were making progress on the farming outside the walls. It had been about three weeks since we had left Goldenhearth but they were still working on planting the fields. There was large amounts of farmland outside of the walls but farming was a long tedious process and it was still primarily done with human labor. Skills and magic bridged that gap a little bit but they weren't as effective as the huge farming machines that I remembered from my previous world. Since it was going to be dark out soon all of the farmers and people protecting the farmers had already gone back inside the walls.

We eventually pulled up to the gates and the guards approached us. I was sitting next to Cecilia, Raya, and Sibyl in the coach seat. One of the guards looked up and down our large and fairly extravagant looking carriage with a raised eyebrow before scanning across the four of us. "Do you have any refugees from the capital on board?" he asked.

I hadn't really been expecting this. "A few, but we have somewhere in mind to take them. We're not just going to let them be on the street."

He nodded. "Good, can I get your name and identification please?"

"Lilith Baphomet," I said while handing him my adventurer's guild identification.

The guard's brows furrowed and he whispered something in the other guard's ear. The other guard shrugged and the first guard rolled his eyes before turning back to us. "Let me go check something really quickly. I'll be right back."

"Is there something wrong?" I asked.

"No, you're not in trouble or anything. I just need to check your ID against something." He walked away and I felt a little nervous.

I didn't think we had been found out... did the capital guards suspect something and send word of us ahead? I thought we were in the clear. Unless the elves gave us away? Why would they though? I don't think it could have been any of the slaves we freed, we were very careful not to use anyone's names in front of them...

After a few minutes of anxious waiting he returned with a smile on his face. "I'm glad I checked! You and any passengers you bring along are preapproved for entry into the city Miss Baphomet. No need to do any kinds of checks or searches of your things. I also have a few letters for you." He handed a small bundle of letters over and I accepted them a little dumbfounded.

"Is this because of the work I did with the city guard?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh no. You have special clearance through the Ruby Vixen mercenary company. But I did recognize your name from the list of people we're supposed to look out for. I've heard good things about you, welcome back to Goldenhearth. Please head in, I've wasted enough of your time."

Raya and Sibyl sat up sharply to the news that somehow the brothel had turned into a mercenary company since we've been gone. It's only been three weeks, what had Oceane and Grace been up to? Cecilia flicked the reins and her uunas began to pull us through the gate and down the road to the Ruby Vixen.

"Looks like there's a lot to catch up on," I said.

Sibyl snorted. "That's an understatement."