Haru woke up to dawn's light, sighing in relief as he had a good night's sleep. But he feels a tingling sensation down his lower body. He looks down in horror to see Celestine sucking on his member. He recoils in shock, but accidentally ejaculates on Celestine's face.
"Aw… I wanted to swallow it all too…"
"What are you doing!?" Haru while backing up. "Why were you doing that!?"
"Isn't it obvious? I want your baby Sir Haru. The offspring of the goddess-incarnate and the great conqueror of Oestia. He would be the greatest one we ever had!"
"But I have a wife! I am a married man! Where is Rias"
"Oh." Celestine said disappointedly, before turning to the servants. "Bring the consort in."
The servants brought a chained woman and set her before him. It was Lady Rias She seemed mind broken, though her face carried an expression full of ecstasy. Haru could only stare in horror at the animal his wife had become.
"Please don't hesitate to be rough on my dirty pussy master…" Rias said with her tongue out. "Fuck me like all your other dirty bitches…"
Haru saw all the other women chained before him, all carrying a face of ecstasy and sexual glee. Haru had done this? Haru looked at his reflection as he no longer saw the man he knew. He was a monster.
Haru woke up in a start, seeing that he was simply having a nap under an apple tree next to the construction area. He breathed a huge sigh of relief, but felt so dirty having a dream like that. He then stood up and saw his personal guard approach him.
"Milord."
"Pyrrho, what brings you here?"
"I merely wish to ask what to do with the girl named Maia. She has fully recovered and wishes to walk outside the castle."
"Why is that my problem?" Haru asked bluntly.
"Because, the shield-princesses wish not to leave her alone, but they are too busy to tend to her."
"Then tend to her yourself, I'd rather have her off my mind for now." Haru said while rubbing his temples. "I also recall that Pope Gregory wanted something from me, so I have to meet him immediately."
"I will not fail you milord."
"Of course, just go easy on the lass." Haru responded before turning.
Haru finally relaxed when Pyrrho had left. Though Pyrrho was his loyal guard, he was still scary to stand with. Standing at nearly seven feet tall and weighing two hundred kilos, he was an absolute beast in combat. Though Haru could very well hold his own in a duel, Sir Pyrrho could easily crush him. Haru had seen the man crack the necks of infidels with his bare hands and he made a personal note to never cross him, though Pyrrho had shown only complete and near blind loyalty.
Meanwhile, Celestine also woke up, feeling disturbed by what she had dreamt. She approached Lady Rias, who was staying in her room. They had a conversation, before both shared a nod and exited the room. It was unknown what these two had planned.
Maia rested on her bed a bit. Talking with her fellow shield-princesses was a good way to get her back to fighting spirit, though she was dismayed to find out that she had to wear armor, since she always preferred a lighter approach in dueling. She sat in boredom while staring emptily at the wall. She saw a giant man walk into the room as she eyed him warily. He wore heavy armor, which made him look giant by her standards, surpassing Volt in height. Maia saw no life behind the knight's visor. This caused her to be a bit fearful of what the giant man would do. The giant armored man went to her bed and said.
"Stand up."
Maia stood up in fear of angering the man. She was wearing a cloth that wrapped around her chest and her body was still bare. Maia covered herself in the blanket as she began to shiver in fear. The giant man then throws some clothes.
"Get dressed, I'll be accompanying you today."
"You? I…"
"You were hoping that the shield princesses would be the ones to accompany you?"
"Uh no! I didn't mean it like that, I—"
"Don't sweat it." Pyrrho curtly replied. "I am merely bound by duty to guard you."
Pyrrho then turns around and says.
"You may dress up, I will look at the door for anyone who might come inside." Pyrrho replied firmly.
Maia hesitantly takes off the blanket and puts on her clothes, and Pyrrho keeps his word, he did not dare even flinch, as if he were a statue. Maia finishes putting on her tunic and says.
"I'm finished." Maia said.
Pyrrho turned back and looked down on Maia, who wore simple peasants clothing, with a pink tunic and a strange brown leather jacket and a very pair of trousers. It seemed that these clothes were very different from the ones Pyrrho had intended to give to Maia. Maia could hear a simple grunt from the man as he then said.
"Those incompetent servants… It appears that your clothing is too small." Pyrrho said while his helmet glanced at the exposed cleavage and legs.
"No, it's okay! These are the right size!"
"You wear that?" Pyrrho asked in disbelief. "You'll catch unnecessary attention with these clothes. Your tunic exposes your cleavage, your trousers expose your legs. You'll get quite a few stares in public."
"Well I'm sorry but this is what I choose and wish to wear." Maia replied firmly.
"So be it. Be warned that I cannot watch you everywhere." Pyrrho informed.
"That's okay, I'm a shield-princess after all!"
Maia only received a simple "hmph" from the giant as he then said.
"Come on, I will be taking you out of the castle." Pyrrho said while exiting the room.
Maia followed Pyrrho to the castle exterior, where there were guards by the gate. The fully armored knights raised their visor at Pyrrho, who returned the exchange by raising his visor.
"Wait Pyrrho, before you go." One of the guards said while unrolling the scroll.
Pyrrho and Maia turned to see Pyrrho being handed the unrolled scroll, showing a man on the cover, scarred and ugly. It was a wanted poster, with the reward being a hundred florins for the man dead, and three hundred if alive.
"Locals say he's a notorious serial rapist in the area, one of the goons of Volt I believe. If you happen to see him, tell us, or do whatever you want, and then tell us."
"I'll be sure to accomplish this task should I have the opportunity to do so." Pyrrho said before turning with Maia. "Now if you'll excuse us, we will be visiting town now."
"Of course, be safe sire." The guard bowed before returning to his post.
Pyrrho and Maia then began to walk to town, with Maia feeling awkward from the heavy silence that loomed over the two. She glanced at the giant armored man, who had little expression behind that terrifying helmet of his. She took a look at his weapon, which was called a poleaxe, it only surpassed the man in height slightly, though to be fair, it was a very tall poleaxe. But Maia and Pyrrho soon arrive in town and Maia began to admire all the wares. She had plenty of responsibilities as a mercenary and a shield-princess. But she finally had the day to herself, shame that her other friends could not join her.
She sees a store, with the display being beautiful dresses. Her eyes shone at how colorful they were as she went inside. She picks through the dresses and tries them on. She frowned while staring at the mirror as she had no one to try her dresses with, as her personal bodyguard was waiting for her outside. She walks out to see that Pyrrho wasn't there anymore. She walks to a nearby bystander and asked.
"Have you seen a large man in armor?"
"Yes, the moment you came in, he walked into the blacksmith." The man pointed to another store.
Maia then walked into the building, but she felt herself being pulled out by someone. She saw the man who was pulling her as her eyes widened in fear. It was the same man who was on the poster handed to Pyrrho. He pulls her to the back of the building and licked his lips. Still recovering from her trauma, Maia couldn't resist his grasp as he groped her inappropriately. Maia tried to scream, but the man gags her with a cloth. Her screams were muffled as the man then began to undress her.
"I didn't think the boss was right when he said that you'd be here!" The man said while excitedly removing Maia's clothes.
Maia closed her eyes and braced for incoming rape, but it did not arrive. She hears a huge thud as she sees her would-be rapist on the ground. She sees Pyrrho, with his poleaxe ready. The rapist was angry at being caught red-handed and lunged at Pyrrho with a dagger. Pyrrho didn't flinch as the knife broke as soon as it made contact with his armor. Pyrrho raised a foot and kicked the man really hard, and sent him flying to the streets, where everyone stopped to glance at him.
Beastpeople, men, women, children, and stray elves stopped to glance at the injured man, who radiated fear as soon as Pyrrho approached him again, with his poleaxe ready to strike. The man gets on his knees and begs while shaking.
"D-Don't hurt me! I'll give you whatever you want! I surrender!"
There was a brief pause before Pyrrho put down his poleaxe, he sticks on the ground and said.
"So be it. Stand up." Pyrrho commanded coldly.
The man shakily stood up before extending hands and said.
"Take me to your dungeon!" The man said willingly.
The man heard a scoff from the knight, as he realized that the knight had no cuffs on him. The knight instead grabbed him by the neck and raised him, choking him, much to the horror of the bystanders.
"Do you know how many families have wept because of what you did? How many fathers had to break down in sight of their daughters? How many mothers fainted at the damage done to their flesh and blood? How many brothers whose blood had boiled seeing their sisters raped? You've caused harm not only to women but all who hold them dear. If you felt the pain that you've inflicted on these families for one moment, then you would never consider doing it in the first place."
The man couldn't respond as he was being choked, trying to break free from the knight's grasp.
"This is not cruelty, it is merely retribution." Pyrrho said before tightening his grasp, and snapping the neck of the man, throwing him to the ground.
The whole crowd of people gasped at the brutality. The children cried, while the women covered their eyes, while the men stood back, afraid to instigate any hostility against the large man. Pyrrho looked around, before huffing and returning to the blacksmith. The townspeople slowly dispersed and went about their business, while some cleaners came and dragged the dead man's body away. Maia followed the man back inside, where he was continuing about his business. He noticed her as they stared at each other. Maia then asked.
"Why did you kill him?" Maia asked.
"He was going to rape you, end of story." Pyrrho replied curtly.
"But he surrendered! He was willing to cooperate, we could have—" Maia said before being cut off.
"I completely understand your reaction Madam Maia, but know what I did back there was out of personal vendetta rather than logical reasoning."
"But why would you compromise logic of your screwed sense of—"
"Do you know what it feels like to be an unwanted child?" Pyrrho asked abruptly.
Maia didn't answer, as she realized that she might have brought up a sensitive topic for the man.
"My mother was a Grecian woman, a woman with beautiful red hair and pale skin. She ran away from home and took a cog to Denmark at age fourteen. From there, she stopped by an inn and tried to pay for accommodation."
Maia couldn't see where this was going as she leaned forward to listen more.
"Of course, she was short by just a few florins. The innkeeper says that they can make a deal, but they have to do it in a more 'private' area. And the rest defines itself, my mother gets pregnant and I come into this world."
"So you were… a bastard?"
"That's a light way of putting it. The innkeeper had abruptly raped my mother and she felt very violated by the experience, and without any way to vent her frustrations, there was only me for her to take her anger out against."
"So she abused you?"
"Abuse is a strong word. She simply disapproved of my existence. Every time she looked at me, I only saw disapproval, spite, hatred. Because…" Pyrrho said while taking off his helmet. "I look just like the man who violated her that night."
Maia looked at his face and saw a very rounded face. The man had a heavy face, his forehead protruded a little, his nose a bit round and his jaw very smooth instead of the ideal chiseled face of most women. She could guess that whoever was Pyrrho's father, he was a very heavy person.
"Imagine just looking at your mother's face as she sees you with nothing but contempt and disgust. There is no greater pain than your only family just staring at you like you're some mistake that she didn't intend to happen. That's why I choked the man who tried to rape you. Because I wouldn't hesitate to do the same to my father."
"But wasn't it good that you were born?"
"No, sometimes I would wish that I was never born, because of how much I suffered as a child. Nonetheless, imagine people staring at your son or daughter like filthy animals, thinking lower of them because they were illegitimate. An unwanted child should not be born at all."
"That's… some heavy stuff for someone like you."
"I know." Pyrrho sighed before bringing out an armor piece. "Besides, you probably want to know why I went to the blacksmith."
"Why did you? I was confused by your sudden absence."
"To pick up this." Pyrrho said while showing Maia a chestpiece. "This is an armor plate created for women. I wanted some way to warmly welcome you back into battle. I am aware of the events that transpired that lead up to your kidnapping. So I hope this makes a difference."
Maia looked at the chestpiece and saw other weapons stored inside. There were two smallswords and a dagger inside, together with a special looking type of belt.
"The dagger is meant as a surprise weapon for anyone who ambushes you, and a last line of defense in case you are pinned down by a would-be rapist. The belt there is a chastity belt that will protect your virginity as well. Knowing what you had gone through, I wanted to make extra measures for that not happen again. So, what do you think?"
Maia could only think of how thoughtful the gifts were. Pyrrho had the hindsight to get her gear that would really help her heal and help her allies in battle. She looks at the items and smiles at Pyrrho.
"It's beautiful…"