Don't Trust a Thief
Poor Arme. Her own stubborn pride had earned her a thorough punishment from me. Yesterday's panty gag and today's golden shower were only the opening notes of a long, long course of training.
If you want to tame a cat properly, the whip matters just as much as the carrot — all the more so when the cat in question is a cute, cunning little thing like Arme. Give her even a sliver of slack and she'll start plotting her escape, so I had to drive her so hard the thought itself couldn't form.
After filling Arme's mouth with a cool morning piss, I teased her nipples, sucking them like a nursing infant. That soft, flat chest — the very pinnacle of a magnificent washboard — was a delight on my tongue. And the main course of the feast was Arme's shattered expression after she'd swallowed my urine.
It was criminal pleasure, plain and simple. I doubt even drugs could deliver a high like this.
Arme, the signature loli character of Solari World, had made countless otakus laugh and weep thanks to a chest that suited her petite frame so perfectly. Flip through the official Solari World community boards and you'd find the true-loli faction locked in keyboard war with the big-tit-loli faction — a desperate conflict whose thrill reached even me, a man from another world. True loli or busty loli, as long as it's legal and tastes good, what else matters? Arme was delicious enough to put the world's three great delicacies to shame.
"Arme's absolutely soaked in Master's scent. Mmm~! I love it."
Sera sniffed toward Arme, who was drenched in my piss, and let a sweet little voice spill out as if the smell pleased her. I'd expected a beastkin with a sensitive nose to hate the ammonia, but apparently not. Then again, Sera had always been wildly fond of my pillows and underwear, so it wasn't that strange.
I spent the entire morning tormenting Arme like that. Even so, her venom hadn't fully drained away. As expected of a protagonist's party member, her mental fortitude was considerable. What Arme didn't know was that her stubborn, bristling personality only made the whole thing more fun for me.
Arme had no idea how she'd ended up in the clutches of that perverted merchant. How he'd found her one and only weakness. What the hell that man even was. Why those two maids followed a filthy deviant like him. Everything was a question mark.
The one thing she knew for certain was that she was completely, utterly fucked. And that was the one fact she least wanted to admit.
Shit.... How do I get out of this? How do I run? The bindings are too tight. My wrists are going numb.... Fuck.... I'm actually fucked. Ah, shit, the piss smell is disgusting too. Aaaaagh!
Arme had been a master thief who'd made even Coulon's wealthy tremble, but she was no escape artist. She'd never been caught — not once. She simply never committed a crime that would get her caught.
Which made charging into that pervert merchant's house this time the blunder of a lifetime. The trap had been obvious, and still a moment of arrogance had ruined her. She hated yesterday's self so much she could barely stand it.
That man — pig or human, it was hard to tell — was far more thorough than he looked. There wasn't a sliver of an opening to run. Still, if she endured and waited, a gap would appear. Humans were never perfect. Arme clung to that thin thread of hope and held on.
The man's torment was truly, thoroughly disgusting. When he'd pissed in her mouth, she'd gagged more times than she could count. After that came a parade of sexual torture: sucking her breasts like a baby, teasing her clitoris with a quill pen, shaving her pubic hair down to nothing.
He'd even ordered the beastkin woman to lick Arme's freshly shaved, silky-smooth pussy. Arme, who was weak to sexual stimulation, had squirted so much she nearly passed out from exhaustion. But she endured somehow, and at last lunchtime arrived.
"Buhihit. I'll go have a meal. Luna, Sera — keep a close eye on her. Don't let her starve, so wash her and feed her while she's still reasonably restrained."
"Understood."
The man vanished. Arme realized this was her only chance.
"Luna. We should wash her first, don't you think?"
"Yes, Sera. I believe we can fetch the meal from the inn's dining hall. I'll go place the order while you bathe her."
"Got it."
Arme noted that the human maid with the calm voice was Luna, and the dark-haired beastkin maid was Sera. She had no idea how these two had become that perverted pig's maids, but if she wanted to escape, she'd have to win at least one of them over.
No. If I can just pull one of them in, I can get out of here somehow....
The maid called Sera rummaged through the nightstand by the bed and pulled something out. A blue dog collar. It looked like a collar for a dog, but it was meant for binding people. Arme knew exactly what it was — a collar used to restrain slaves. An item sold at the Magic Tower or in slave markets.
"Master told us to put this on her."
Sera beamed as she showed the collar to Luna and Arme. She was a cat beastkin, and she loved accessories like this. Especially after meeting a master named Walker, her original sharp personality had been sanded down in great chunks, and she craved the tokens of belonging.
"Once it's fastened, an electric shock will trigger if the wearer resists. It should prevent any escape for certain."
Luna fastened the slave collar around Arme's neck with practiced hands. Arme frowned at the tight, stifling press of metal against her throat. Still, she didn't resist. She waited, calm.
Before long, the maid called Luna went downstairs to the dining hall to fetch lunch. Then the maid called Sera undid every rope that had bound her. Freed from the chair, Arme was physically unrestrained — but with a slave collar on, running was impossible. Besides, Arme knew perfectly well that this beastkin maid's physical abilities were anything but ordinary. If she bolted carelessly, she wouldn't make it three steps before she was caught.
"Come on~ Let's go to the bath."
This was one of Coulon's most luxurious inns, and the room had its own bathroom. Inside was a large tub that could fit two people at once. Sera led Arme to the bathroom, and Arme followed without a fuss.
"It's a shame Master's scent will wash off, but Master ordered it, so~ shall we get you nice and clean?"
"Ahem...! Before that.... May I use the toilet?"
After a full night of being bound, Arme's bladder was a heartbeat from bursting. Her profession had taught her to control her bodily functions with skill, but even her patience had run out.
"Ah. Go ahead and go in that toilet over there."
"Ahem...! There's, uh.... the other kind too. Could you step out?"
"Come on~ We're both girls. Master ordered me not to take my eyes off you, Miss Arme."
Arme hadn't really expected the other woman to leave, so she just did her business. Afterward, Sera washed her neck thoroughly, every crease and corner. When Sera started washing Arme's hair, Arme slowly opened her mouth.
"Hey. Your name is Sera, right?"
"Yes. I'm Sera. A cat beastkin."
Sera didn't dodge the question. Arme felt, instinctively, that this was a good opening.
"I'm curious about something. Why do you work under a man that awful? Does he pay you well? Well — a man who owns a treasure like that would have plenty of money, I suppose."
"Pay.... I don't receive any. Master feeds me and gives me a place to sleep, after all."
Walker did press pocket money into Sera's hands for snacks, but he didn't pay her a regular wage. Of course, Sera had no complaints about that whatsoever. If it hadn't been for him, she'd have been sold as a slave or died in some far-off place.
Sera was grateful just to be able to serve Walker, the man who'd saved her life. The somewhat sharp personality she'd shown when they first met had vanished out of that gratitude.
"You don't receive pay? This may be rude, but.... are you a slave, by any chance?"
"A slave? No. I'm not a slave. I almost became one, though. Come to think of it, Miss Luna is Master's slave, apparently."
"Ahem! I see. So that demure-looking maid is that bastard's slave."
"Lady Luna had a slave certificate. Of course, even as a slave, she's not all that different from me."
Arme was relieved that the maid washing her wasn't a slave. Slaves who'd received harsh training at the slave markets felt a considerable aversion to betraying their masters. An education bordering on brainwashing had branded the terror of betrayal into them.
Of course, slaves who betrayed their masters still turned up now and then. Every human being instinctively yearned for freedom, after all.
"Listen. I'll be blunt. Are you satisfied with your current situation?"
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
Sera tilted her head cutely and asked it back.
"I'm asking whether you're satisfied working under that pig of a man in a position that's no different from slavery. You don't even get paid. You work under him blindly. Honestly, you're no different from a slave. I don't know how you ended up under a man like that, but.... I might be able to help you."
"I don't really want money or anything, though? Master gives me whatever I say I want, anyway."
"You've been thoroughly brainwashed. From what I can see, you almost never actually ask that man for anything."
"Well.... that's true."
In truth, nearly everything Sera asked of Walker had to do with sex. And sex with Walker wasn't merely for pleasure. It was training for growth as well, so Sera received both power and pleasure from him. That was why she had no need for money.
Since coming under Walker, she'd never once felt destitute. She was far wealthier now than when she'd lived in her tribe's village, or when she'd wandered the continent alone.
"You've been brainwashed. By that man. Doesn't he feel like your entire life?"
"Hmm.... I guess he kind of does."
"A textbook case of grooming. Anyway, take my hand. I'll end this life of yours that's no different from slavery. And money.... I'll give you money too. Two platinum. That's more than enough to start your life over."
Sera's hands paused for a moment as she listened. She thought about something, then started moving again. She layered fragrant oil over Arme's body, coat after coat, then rinsed her own hands in clean water.
"Two platinum — how much is that, exactly?"
"Enough to buy three houses like this one. How about it? Undo this collar, and I'll give you your life back."
Arme's tongue felt like it was going dry. This beastkin maid was the only hope she had left. Of course, everything she was saying right now was a slick, polished lie. The moment she was free of the collar, she planned to knock the girl out and get out of here.
As a thief, Arme was confident in her ambushes. No matter how physically gifted a beastkin her opponent was, it was hard to stop a surprise attack coming at an unexpected moment.
"Well, that sounds pretty okay in its own way~ It's a promise."
Sera answered without any particular hesitation.
"Heh heh. Good. It's a promise."
Sera pulled a key from the pocket of her maid uniform. Arme's eyes lit up. She wanted to snatch that key right then and unlock the collar, but she exercised a thief's patience and held back.
Click!
Sera slotted the key into the collar's lock and turned it. With a cold metallic sound, the collar came undone. In that instant, Arme struck the back of Sera's neck with speed like a flash of light.
Thud!
"Ngh!"
Sera's body crumpled like a doll.
"Sorry. Pretty beastkin girl. But you've learned a lesson, right? Don't trust a thief's word. I have to survive too, so I didn't have a choice."
Arme threw on a bathrobe in a hurry. She'd wanted to steal Sera's clothes and put them on, but there was no telling when the other maid would return. She left the bathroom for now.
"This is the second floor? I'll go out the window, then.... I need to get out of this city as fast as I can. Hah.... You filthy pig bastard. I'll get you back someday."
Arme carefully stored Walker's face in her memory. Someday, she swore, she would drive a dagger into that pig-like belly of his.
"Master really was right. You shouldn't trust a thief's word."
"Huh?"
Sera's voice came from behind her, sudden. Sera rose, rubbing the back of her neck. Arme's attack would have knocked an ordinary person out for half a day.
"Tch! Sorry about that. But with this, I'm free.... Huh....?"
Her vision went suddenly blurry. Arme realized, by instinct, that she'd been hit with a sleeping drug.
"Kh...! I have a resistance to poison...."
"It's a topical sleeping agent Master bought for a lot of money. No matter how good your resistance is, I layered it on you several times while you were bathing, so of course it's going to work. Yesterday Master told us that if you tried to talk us over, we should do it this way."
Arme's consciousness vanished completely a moment later.