61. Cracking Party

Nysta sat quietly, unusually distant from all the other women in the party. She would usually sit next to Wynn for breakfast, but today, she woke up earlier, and decided to finish her food first. The rest of the girls came down later.

"You're early." Wynn said.

"I have something on my mind."

Wynn nodded as Kiara and Raven joined them for breakfast. "Demons?"

Hannah came down next, and she had a mild, cheery glow from the pleasant massage the night before. "Morning!"

Wynn, Kiara and Raven just shrugged. "Yeah. Morning." Food was just bread with some butter.

Nysta looked at Hannah. "You had a good night's sleep?"

"I guess." Hannah smiled. "How about you?"

Nysta shook her head. "Not at all. I'm feeling a little betrayed."

"Oh? Who betrayed you?" Hannah asked innocently, unaware that Nysta had overheard their conversation. Kiara, Raven and Wynn all focused on the conversation. In their minds, did something happen?

Nysta looked at Hannah. "The goddesses said that we should be honest and forthright in our dealings. I'm just curious how it is that the people they chose to fight for them don't display the same characteristics."

Hannah shrugged. She wasn't sure why Nysta was feeling so prickly today. "The goddesses must know something we don't, I guess."

"There's a lot we don't know, indeed." Nysta said with a sigh. She got up and walked away without saying goodbye. The remaining four heroines watched, and they shared glances.

Once Nysta was out of the inn, Raven was first to break the awkward silence. "Did something happen, Hannah?"

Hannah frowned. "I don't know. I didn't talk to her last night."

Wynn shrugged. "Maybe she's getting harassed by the adventurers."

Kiara nodded. "The hero should be back in two more days. Maybe we can ask him to talk to her." Nysta was closest with the hero.

Hannah blushed, briefly remembering what she did last night. Raven sighed. "Maybe she couldn't masturbate because the hero's not around. You know she masturbates to the hero every night, right?"

Kiara ribbed Raven. "Eww. Shut your dirty mouth."

Raven chuckled. "Oops. I seem to have forgotten everyone else here is a prim and proper woman."

Kiara rolled her eyes.

Embarrassingly, Hannah and Wynn both couldn't react. Both of them pleasured themselves last night to the thought of the hero, and if Nysta was the same, they could understand why she was feeling prickly. Maybe it was just her time of the month. Raven's statement back when Kiara first rejoined the party only reminded them that this party exists because of the hero. They all understood, at some level, this was a glorified, goddess-endorsed marriage interview.

***

Edmund could feel it in the air. He could feel it in how the air of the room was changing, and so he continued to sabotage Wynn's magical fluids. Hannah was too embarrassed by Nysta's confrontation to engage his services again, but Nysta was quiet and distant the next day.

Edmund felt like Nysta was now vulnerable to his advances, and he decided to stalk her closely. Nysta was constantly harassed by dirty talking adventurers, and all the talk about the hero screwing the heroines only reminded her of what she thought she saw.

Nysta, a priest, was similar to Aida. Aida was still the superior healer, but if she was blessed by the goddesses, it still made her worth 'conquering'. Edmund observed as some of the injured soldiers in the barracks, and smirked.

Influencing normal people was easy, and in the form of a tiny rat, he began to touch each and every soldier, injected with a ton of aphrodisiacs. These injured soldiers immediately felt horny at the sight of Nysta, and all of their dicks stood erect, harder than they've ever been.

She paused, as she wondered why all their dragons were standing. One of the soldiers moaned. "Priestess, come help us out. We can't masturbate like this."

All of the soldiers whipped out their weapons, and Nysta's face turned red. "No! What do you think I am! I'm a priestess, not a prostitute!"

One of the soldiers then teased. "Priestess! With that body of yours and the way you dress, I can't tell the difference!"

"This is standard priestess attire!" It certainly didn't help that the game designers gave priestesses somewhat sexy attire. "I'm leaving."

***

Nysta stomped into one of the quiet prayer rooms that was unused, and slammed the door. Frustrated, she marched right up to the old disused altar and prayed for guidance. First, she found out her party members were sleeping with the hero, and now she had soldiers trying to get in her pants. She cursed.

She prayed to the goddesses. "Oh goddesses, please guide me. Why are the women around me behaving this way? Are they not chosen by the goddesses?"

Edmund wondered whether it was a good time to disturb her. He couldn't mimic divine presence, for sure. That was out of his skillset. But speaking as if a godly, ethereal female was well within his shapeshifting and magical abilities.

"Mortals are flawed, imperfect. Some flaws are expected, child." Edmund said, trying his best to mimic cryptic speech.

Nysta froze as she heard the voice echoing in the old chamber. "-goddess?"

"I'm no goddess." Edmund decided to clarify. He wasn't sure whether he could pull off a goddess imitation. "Just an old spirit who found this place home."

"Oh." Nysta sighed. "Why are they like this?"

"Everyone sins, child. I'm sure you know you have some too."

Nysta immediately blushed as she realized she wasn't so proper, either. She occasionally touched herself to the thought of the hero, but somehow, she didn't think it was that bad.

"Think of why you were chosen. The goddesses can see far more than you know, surely there is a reason." Edmund said. "Or perhaps, it is just not a big flaw to the goddesses."

"Not a big flaw?" Nysta thought, and then she frowned. "But-"

Edmund decided to use the knowledge of the game's design against her. "Every woman in the hero's party has been beautiful, lean, young, and dresses suggestively. Why do you think that's the case? Why weren't old, or ugly people selected? Is it because the goddesses were looking for certain qualities?"

Nysta paused as she looked at herself. There really was no reason that only young people joined the party members. No. Even if they were old people, they looked like young people! "-the goddesses want us to mate with the hero?"

"Think for a moment, child. If the goddesses planned this, and yet the hero doesn't seem to make a move, what does it tell you?"

Nysta wasn't sure what to think. She didn't want to go down that line of thought. It frightened her. Edmund decided it wasn't right to give her the answer. No. If he fed her the answer, she would only oppose it. Instead, she had to draw the conclusions herself.

So, Edmund stopped. "Best of luck, child. Goodbye."

"Wait-" Nysta called. "-I- I don't understand-"

He wasn't going to respond. He'd let her cook.

***