This girl was an orphan as well but fell outside of the Holy Order and was only provided shelter and a minimum of food in return for manual labor.
Her life had taken a slightly rougher path to start but she was confident she could make it. She had learned of archery via a local huntsman that took pity on her and used the skills she had developed to put meat on the table.
In time she became the main provider for the children at the orphanage as she supplemented their meals with rabbits and foxes caught in the outskirts of the forest. Her reputation had developed to the point where it soon preceded her where ever she went.
When she came of full adult age at eighteen, she often took tasks to provide as an armed escort for the traveling convent as they moved from one village to another. Though it wasn't paid work she would be able to travel with her close friend and it gave her the opportunity to explore the land outside of the small town she had been caged in.
The close friend was a young priestess that she had grown up with and they shared a similar past as she had lost both parents to war and the other lost her father first, then her mother later. They were one year apart and as the elder, she felt like an older sister to the priestess she had first met at the age of nine.
Though the way they grew up differed significantly, they still remained close friends as the years went by. Two years had passed since they first set out to travel, constantly traveling around the Northern Kingdoms spreading their word, helping and healing where they could.
Then one day they had made a decision to travel to the far North, something that hadn't been done in decades.
The priests and nuns believed it would be a good idea to check in on the Northern Triangle and a few villages on the way. She had no opinion on the matter and had no obligation to follow but preferred to accompany her friend on the fateful journey.
Both women had grown up as orphans and despite the similar origins and being surrounded by many of the same people, they had developed into two distinctly different people, with nearly opposite personalities and experiences.
Still, the saying that opposites attract certainly held true. The self-conscious, unconfident, and seemingly immature priestess and the confident, grounded, and mature hunter had formed a strong bond of friendship through a lifetime's worth of struggle.
As the man continued to lie under the sun, pretending not to have noticed the strong gaze of the woman beside him, he soon found himself in a precarious position.
The raven haired girl had rolled over and placed her face besides his.
With the brunette facing the other way while in the middle of the river completely unaware of what was going on behind her, the raven haired girl stole a long kiss.
* * *
I opened my eyes to find myself staring at the empty cabin walls before me.
With only the moonlight peering through the slight cut-out in the wall, it was exceptionally dark.
Having finished my recollection of the day by the river less than a few days past, I found myself no less troubled by the sudden actions of Katherine and that of Selene. And to make matters worse, I could now feel a gaze coming from the other side of the room.
Whether Katherine was aware of Selene's actions or not I was unable to tell, but I fully believed Selene had not informed her.
Selene's actions had been sporadic as well, as there had been nothing since we spent the night at the Earl's, then there was the river incident, and now there was clearly some tension as she silently watched Katherine and I.
I hadn't been romantically steady and the fault was solely my own.
In the months building up to this moment I had playfully flirted with both women as I wished to progress my relationship with both.
It was a greedy, selfish thing to do.
But, they were also my companions and I needed their loyalty.
Trust was a harder thing to level, but affection on the other hand….
Increasing their affection for me was the easiest and fastest way to earn their loyalty. In a sense, getting both women to fall for me was a necessary evil, a requirement to retain their services. The game had forced my hand; it created the rules that bound me to the path of a harem king.
I could only go along for the ride.
Well, that's what I told myself.
In my entire life, I had never once been attracted to more than one woman at a time. But I also was never put in a situation where I was constantly surrounded by two highly attractive women that both had their own respective charms. In the end though, in my moment of weakness in front of the ocean that one night past, I had made the fatal mistake. I had brought them both in to comfort me in that time of need and had opened the gates. Even if it was nothing more than physical contact, it sparked the fire for Katherine.
The fault was squarely on my shoulders.
The situation was not something I had intended or wanted.
I knew something like this would end up happening… I knew a storm was brewing the moment there were two women stuck in a single room with one bed and a single male.
Yeah… not knowing what to do in this situation was the worst part. I continued to lay there, unmoving and unreceptive to Katherine's advances as Selene stared on from the bed.
I was in a bad spot.
I shook my head, in my head.
Chapter 33: Developing Culture
(Monday, May 10th Game Day / Saturday, February 13th Real Day)
As time ticked over from Friday to Saturday the sun rose just like clockwork. The village's center, which was nothing more than an outdoor campfire, was suddenly engulfed in a large beam of light. That beam of light faded for a moment then shined once more, repeating the shine and fade alternation ninety-six times in total.
It was the same golden ray of light that had brought me to this world, the very one that spawned every adventurer around the continent.
With each beam of light a new NPC arrived with a bag of belongings like a soldier back from deployment. The noise of freshly arrived recruits woke Katherine who quickly moved away from me while heavily blushing as Selene pretended to be asleep.
I turned around and smiled at Katherine while staring straight past her, staring directly at Selene.
Her eyes were just slightly cracked and made eye-contact with mine.
Katherine didn't catch on but Selene was now aware that I knew she was awake.
I needed to clear the air at some point; it wouldn't do to have two friends going after the same guy. Someone always ends up losing and more likely than not everyone will be hurt in the end.
I eventually rolled over and got up, making my way outside as the two girls changed silently inside. There was clearly tension there but it seemed to be mostly embarrassment from Katherine's side. I wasn't sure exactly what the tension was from on Selene's part… jealousy, anger, doubt… I had no clue.
Opening the cabin's door I found myself staring at a quickly growing mass of NPCs that almost seemed to be getting a bit out of hand. They weren't unruly or anything of the sort, but they were simply showing up too quickly and in too many numbers.
They didn't have the time to even set their bags down after spawning, having to be ushered out of the way for the next arrival.
Katherine made her way out of the cabin first and then Selene followed a minute or two later to join me at my side. In front of us the spectacle of ninety-six fresh recruits lining up to receive their orders was not just inspiring but awe-inspiring.
I never thought I would be in this sort of position, to be giving commands to my own personal army with two female companions fighting for my affection on my left and right.
I decided to give a small speech to give the moment a little bit of an official feel to it, "Good morning everyone. I would like to welcome you to Dragon's Breach, my humble abode, my humble land. I've gathered you here, the best and brightest available the world over for one reason and one reason only: to succeed.