They say you can’t sneeze out your eyeballs but as another spasm bent him halfway, Joe had some doubts about it.

“You alright boss?”

“Yeh, sure. I’ll be even better when my body stops trying to eject my brain through my nostrils.”

“You’re not allergic to fur, are you?”

Savile asked, her face a mask of fear mixed with disgust.

“I once had a master like that. After he won my auction, he couldn’t wait to consummate his purchase.”

A shiver shook her body, making what was left of her fur stand up.

“It took me a few hours to clean all his snot off of my butt.”

Joe could imagine. His ex-wife had a grass allergy that turned her into sneezing and bloated orc for two months every year.

“Nah. Nothing of the kind. Your butt’s fine. Knowing my luck it’s someone scheming something behind my back.”

He jabbed his thumb at the demi following a few paces behind them. Surrounded by a thick cloud of dark miasma, Neira stared daggers at them while she went through the boink-boink withdrawal. Pluss, he used his knot skill on someone other than her.

“Mmm, that's good to hear, master. You think we could…”

“No. It’s on cooldown.”

“What a shame. Well, tonight we can try something else…”

Damn perverted demi. Twice damn perverted demi with truckloads of constitution to back up her libido. Fear crept over Joe's back. Neira was a demanding one but Savile? Oh gods. Thankfully the knot skill had a month long cool down.

“Enough is enough. You had your fun. I need rest. I need to sleep. And we need money.”

His last quest cleaned his coffer and the so-called quest reward made sure his expenses grew. Out the corner of his eye Joe saw the latest addition to his merry buch limp quite a bit behind others. And no one else was paying much attention to her. Well, thanks to that pervert and her performance yesterday, the other two were too preoccupied to notice the one lagging behind.

No other way around it.

Joe stopped and waited. Although he wasn’t ready for what he saw when she caught up.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

He stood staring dumbfounded at the bloody trail The Saintness left behind her.

They’ve been walking for a better part of the day and through different terrain, rocks included, but she hasn't made a single complaint. Not even while her feet were bleeding enough to leave bloody footprints.

“P-please forgive me. I did not want to…”

“I don't care what you wanted. Your feet are fucked and that will cost me.”

He wasn’t sure what annoyed him more. Her bleeding feet or the fact that he allowed such a thing to happen. Regardless, he cast his true heal at her then went aside to hork out some blood after his skill ate a third of his hp.

“Seems I did not make myself clear.”

He spoke between convulsions.

“If I need to know something, especially something like this, you tell me. That’s an order.”

All the women winced as the slave seal etched his words in their minds.

“Patchwork, you carry her. No complaints. I want to get to town before the sunset.”

And off he went, mumbling something to himself. Something about the real world and whatnot. Savile just shook her head and let him go. Joe had his particularities. Her eyes fell on the troubled priestess, not really sure what to do with herself.

“Well, you heard him. Up you go.”

Loirra let out a tiny yip while the knight slung her over her shoulder. Not so much from the fact that the grinning woman carried her akin to a sack of potatoes but because the knight’s hand rested firmly on her rump. It made her think many, many conflicting thoughts.

“I'm sorry if I hadn't…”

“Don’t be. He’s a dick. But at the same time he’s our dick and as masters go, I've seen worse. Far worse. Slaves are a commodity. It’s nothing short of a miracle when someone treats you like a person. You may ask that furball back there, staring daggers at me.”

The saintness locked her eyes with the fuming demi. For a moment there was something in there…

“Don’t wanna talk about it.”

Neira turned her face away and quickened her pace. In several strides she caught up with Joe and after successfully employing her ultimate “i’m begging here” watery eyes, tier five skill, with a groan he let her cling to his arm.

“See what I told you? He’s all grumpy and groany on the outside but he’s sweet on the inside. As much as humans go. Also, I think he has some serious demi fetish or at least ears and butt fetish. Just wiggle that bumper for him and you’re good.”

The knight suddenly groped Loira’s bony end, causing another yip.

“Although in your case, we really need to put some fat over your bones first. My boots weigh more than you do. Oh and you Freeloader, stop dawdling already and go full time. How long do you intend to mooch off of this party? Sooner or later we’ll have to bring you up to standard but I'm not gonna waste my time training a temp.”

Alia’s cheek flared up. She had no intentions of becoming a slave but… a million gold. There was no way she could earn such money in her lifetime. Not even if she could have several more lifetimes.

“I- I need to think about it.”

Neira paused and turned to face the bumbling human.

“You got some wealthy relatives or filthy rich fiance?”

“No.”

“Then what’s there to think about? If you could, you would have already bought yourself out. Stop wasting our time, join the pack and get the full package. ”

There were so many benefits she missed out just by being a temporary slave and almost twice as many annoyances. The demi knight would really do away with the constant popups reminding her the human wasn’t fully integrated into their party. It messed up her skills as well. Almost all her tier nine skills required a solid party and due to their mixed setup, every time she tried to use them she got hit with a penalty.

“I-I need to think about it. ”

“I’ll let you sleep with me. I’m warm. Fuzzy. Humans like to rub their faces in our fur, if you go full time slave right now, I’ll let you mofu-mofu me anytime you want.”

The human’s face went very, very dark shade of red. Seeing a chance present itself, Savile grabbed the human girl and pulled her into her bosom.

“I’ll even lick whatever you want me to lick.”

Savile whispered into the girl's ear.

Biting down on her lower lip, Alia fell for the story hook, line and sinker. She opened her status screen and pushed a button converting her slave seal into a permanent one.

Congratulations! You have become permanent property of Joe. (body & soul)

At about the same time that screen confirmed her choice, Joe screamed, pulling hairs from his head then fell face first into dirt.

“Hey what did you do to him?! I was getting to the good part!”

Neira fumed, poking Joe’s corpse with her foot. He was foaming from his mouth and his eyes were empty while a black screen hovered over his head.

Conditions met! Upgrade in process. Please wait…