Father-Daughter Crafting Squad (1)

When the ranking came up, bafflement hit me harder than joy. We'd taken down a Tentacle Spider with just four people and still only managed third?

"Waaah! Third place! You guys! You did so well! Really, really well!"

Unlike me, who'd never let go of first place in competitive games, Sophia was purely delighted. She was so happy she swept everyone into deep, full-body hugs.

"Mmngh..."

Watching Na-a thrash around with her face buried in Sophia's massive chest, my disappointment evaporated. So this was why people loved free hugs.

"Can't breeeathe..."

"Ah. Sorry."

Sophia trotted over to me on quick little steps and attempted a shy hug of her own. Those enormous tits pressed into my stomach, but it wasn't quite right.

"Lady Sophia. Favoritism among minions is bad."

"Huh? Uh—what, you didn't like it?"

"Do it like you did for Na-a."

"...Yohan, you're taller than me."

I dropped to my knees without hesitation. Once our heights matched, Sophia sighed.

"Stand up!"

Slap.

She could've just said it—why hit me? I smacked my lips in regret, and then Sophia yanked me into a fierce embrace.

And whispered, soft enough that only I could hear:

"...When no one's looking."

Message received. Answering out loud would let someone else hear, so I tapped her hip twice instead.

"Mad Demon. Thou hast truly labored hard. Accept this lady's embrace as well."

The moment Sophia let go, Cheonsol wrapped her arms around me. She even gave me the face-plant into her chest that Sophia had postponed for later.

Was it my imagination that sparks flew from Sophia's eyes while she was hugging Lan-lan-i?

"Mad Demon! Me too! I wanna do it too!"

"Go ahead."

Lan-lan-i straight-up hopped up and clung to me. Back when she'd just been born, she used to bounce like that right up onto my palm. Even grown, the habit hadn't gone anywhere.

I stroked her hair and she melted.

"Heeeyuuu..."

"Naa-a wants a turn toooo."

"It's Lan-lan-i's turn right now! Later!"

"Okaaay."

Lan-lan-i wriggled with excitement. Given the position, her breasts rubbed against my face while her well-developed ass ground against my crotch.

"Lan-lan-i. Will Mad Demon not grow weary? Come down now."

"Huh? Mad Demon tired?"

"Dad's fine."

"Hyaaah! That's my Mad Demon!"

Lan-lan-i climbed down right before I lost control and started licking her chest. Lusting after my own daughter. I was a failure as a father.

And if I was already a failure of a dad... maybe I should just go for it?

"Evni! Lulu! You saw that, right? That's what a big sister looks like!"

"Mm..."

Big sister only provided covering fire, though?

"Lulu, you want a beating?"

Thanks to big sister's covering fire, Dad and Mom could land fatal hits on the spider.

What was I thinking, looking at a kid that pure? Self-control. Besides Lan-lan-i, there were plenty of other women to screw.

"Myyy turn nooow."

Like Na-a, currently hugging me while coiling her tail around my waist. Aside from the chest, lamias left everything else freely exposed—and that bare skin felt pretty refreshing.

After a pleasant free-hug session, it was time to check the rewards.

"Lady Sophia. Before we check the rewards, can we see who got second and first? I'm curious."

"Ah! I was curious too! For top three, they upload the clear footage from the moment of the raid. Let's all watch!"

Sophia blew the screen up huge. Sitting on the bench watching it felt like being at a movie theater—kind of fun.

"Hyaaaaaaah!!!"

Lan-lan-i ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠loved it. Evni and Lulu were so locked onto the screen they didn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even speak.

"Took longer than us, but fewer people, so the score multiplier must've been higher."

"Yeah, fewer people means a bigger multiplier. Ah! The video's starting!"

A knight soaring on a wyvern appeared on the massive screen. The knight, wielding a lance bigger than his own body, skewered the Tentacle Spider mid-leap through the air.

A huge hole punched through its trunk, and the spider crashed to the ground. The wyvern-mounted knight cast a frigid gaze down at the falling Tentacle Spider.

"How dull."

"Amazing!"

"Cool..."

What a pretty, cool big sister.

The kids were awestruck. I agreed with Lulu. That cold, looking-down-from-above gaze belonged to a female knight who stirred the urge to conquer.

"Was she more magnificent than this lady?"

"Uh—no! Of course Mom is the coolest!"

"Yeah..."

That's right. Mom is the prettiest and coolest.

The kids praising the female knight had Cheonsol fully jealous. They scrambled to soothe their slightly sulking mother.

Meanwhile, Sophia worked the screen and queued up the Rank 1 footage.

"???"

I doubted my eyes. Why was Dohoyo showing up here?

"Lady Sophia. Is this some kind of error?"

"Yohan, did you get the same message I did?"

"If you're talking about Dohoyo, then yes."

"Same here. How did Dohoyo get first?"

Na-a tilted her head.

"Whooo is Dohoyooo as a goddesss?"

"Ah, right—Na-a and Lulu wouldn't know!"

I saw her when I was still in the egg.

"Then just Na-a doesn't know. She's my friend!"

"Amaaazing. Friends getting first and thiiird."

"Mm-hmm. Exactly. Let's watch the video and then go congratulate her."

Sophia hit play on the paused footage.

"Three minutes?"

Revived by the kids' petting, Sophia's eyes went round. Surprised Cheonsol looked adorable.

A handsome male elf appeared on screen. The elf was stroking the spider.

"Spider that heralds spring. Beneficial insect that preys on pests. My friend."

"Kieeek?"

The Tentacle Spider didn't attack the elf. Communing with him, it closed its eyes.

"Come with me... but the Administrator bars our way."

"Kieee..."

The elf stroked the spider with a sorrowful expression. The spider looked regretful too.

"Won't you step aside for me?"

"Kieeek."

The spider shook its head. In that instant, the elf's eyes changed completely.

"Blade of the Giant Mantis!"

The elf's arm transformed into a massive scythe and harvested the Tentacle Spider's head.

I was speechless. I'd barely beaten that spider with fisting play, and he just casually took it out like that?

"No!! Dohoyo!! This is cheating!!"

Having finished the video, Sophia went completely ballistic. Cheonsol looked a little deflated, so I asked instead.

"What's wrong?"

"That elf was a minion under Dohoyo's older sister! How can she bring a Level 4 minion who's top-tier even in the Frontier Official League?!"

"Level 4?"

Sophia's rage made perfect sense.

A Level 4 minion dropped into the Newbie League where freshly Level 2 minions were still running around. Did Dohoyo have any conscience? A goddess with as little conscience as she had chest.

"That elf is weird too. His level should've been downscaled to 2—why would he even join under Dohoyo?"

"Ah. Levels do drop?"

Hearing "Level 4," Cheonsol perked right back up.

"Mm-hmm. The Newbie League has level caps for fairness, so of course they drop. But Level 4 experience doesn't just vanish! Look—a Level 2 druid can barely dampen a Tentacle Spider's aggression, but that guy charmed it and finished it off!"

"Definitely cheap."

"Right? Right?"

Sweet-guy protocol for an angry woman: activate Empathy Mode. Sophia went ballistic all over again.

She stomped her feet, unable to contain her fury, and her skirt hem fluttered. Lady Sophia had such pretty ankles. The lines were so elegant I wanted to lick them.

Lick them while massaging. If the ankles gave no reaction, move to the calves; if the calves allowed it, move to the thighs; if the thighs allowed it, switch to eating her out.

Even I had to admit it was a perfect plan. I nodded, drunk on my own genius, and Sophia—mistaking it for agreement—let out a huge breath.

"Huuu. Still, Dohoyo is impressive. How on earth did she recruit a Level 4 minion? And a high-tier one at that—those have so much pride they'd never willingly drop to a lower league."

"Maybe she threatened him with a sword?"

"If she had, he would've transferred. An elf of that caliber in the Frontier League can name his price. You saw it too, Yohan."

He really had been incredible. The gap between him and the undefeated Rank 1 Johannes was night and day—no wonder.

"Still, that doesn't mean we're guaranteed to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lose. If we craft items from the raid reward materials, who knows."

"That's right!"

Sophia's face brightened. The kids, who'd been struggling to keep up with their master's rage, exhaled in relief.

"Let's check them right away."

Sophia opened the reward list.

"That's a whole lot of stuff."

From a gamer's perspective, these were satisfying rewards. I couldn't guess the uses for anything except the Inner Core, but the low quantities meant they had to be rare ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠goods.

The title and the entrance effect convinced me the operators were hardcore gamers. For a dedicated player, these were eye-rolling rewards.

"The carapace and tentacles are the same items we got as participation rewards. The blood and spider draws were one each from the ranking rewards. The rest are firsts."

"Naa-a reeeally wants that Solar Concentratooor."

"Huh? You know it?"

"It's what the top administratooor of Sky-Leon uses to manage scaaales. Light gets stored in the scaaales and they get so prettyyy."

Na-a was coveting it, but it was worth thinking over. A material we'd only gotten one of even after placing third—it'd be a waste to let it rot as a lamia beauty tool.