Chapter posted: 31st December 2023
This is it, gang. End of the year chapter.
Big thanks to 7Skydark making this chapter even readable. See, writing big siege setpieces, I've done that a fair bit. Never written a foursome before.
And for obvious reasons, you ain't seeing the whole thing on FFN. Head to Ao3 for that. Link to that in my profile.
Chapter 24: Golden Beginnings
"CURRENT OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE"
- Halo: Reach
It was strange to wake up from bed and not immediately worry about work.
A routine had been established: Lisbeth would wake up in her tent, a bit cold, but not too badly thanks to her thick blanket and tent. She came out to see Asuna was already hard at work making breakfast at the fire, her apron contrasting with her sword she always wore.
The former smith of Fort Eternal Vigilance then would stretch, say hi to the cook, and go about checking the wagon, the horses, and the mules, making whatever little repair that was needed. A ferrier she was not, but she spent enough time making horseshoes to know the basics.
Then she would wash her face by a stream, a pond or whatever nearby water source: this one a small river. There, the Rat was already hard at work with her kung-fu, wearing little despite the cold weather. After a meditative session of combing her hair, Lisbeth would park herself by the fire and enjoy the heat.
Thus the routine repeated for a good week. There was comfort in the familiars.
A pot of tea was being boiled right over the coals and the smell of eggs and bacon was positively mouth watering. "Ah, isn't it great to be in the great outdoors?" she quipped.
"Hmm," mumbled Asuna, too focused on her task of cooking the eggs. "Care for the tea, would you?"
Lisbeth began pouring tea in the cups as soon as the kettle began to boil. On cue, one of the tents opened revealing their newest addition to the company, Yuuki - sorry, «Absolute Sword» - who's hair was all tangled up and her clearly not having enough sleep no matter how long that the company had been on the road.
That was the downside of being chosen to have the 3 am nightwatch. Not enough sleep before and after. She was no veteran like Asuna or Sinon who could sleep at the snap of their fingers and wake up energised just as they were being raided by monsters. Then again, Lisbeth was no veteran either, but she liked to think she was getting there.
"Hey, Yuuki-chan. How are ya'?" she asked.
"Ughgwaagagaaoo," Yuuki answered, eyes still closed and head still in dreamland.
"Yeah, I figured," she said, handing the young girl a mug of tea which Yuuki took and sipped like a zombie.
A few minutes later, Sinon was the second one to wake up, the hunter silently pouring her own mug. For some reason, she was clad in that bear pelt, all jumbled and tied around her as if the creature was trying to kill her from beyond the grave. She had been doing so since they left the fort. Lisbeth knew better to ask the woman about her eccentricities.
"Yo, Lisbeth."
"Yeah?"
The blue haired girl leaned over, the pelt brushing on Lisbeth's arm. "Do you feel horny? Does this bear pelt inspire feelings of lusts and passion?"
"Sinon, you've asked me that everyday since we left and the answer is still no."
At that, the slayer only shook her head. "Sorry, that was a strange thing to ask," she repeated the seventh time that week. Then she mumbled something about an old wives' tale and how she needed to sell the damn thing. Who the hell drops that kind of question when you just woke up?
Not a moment later Argo came by the fire, dressed in nothing but a towel, another towel wrapped around her head and her whiskers mysteriously still painted on. "Oh yeah, eggs and bacon! You're an angel, Aa-chan!"
"Shush," said the chef, tossing some bread onto the large pan.
Worryingly, the Rat parked herself next to the smith and not even the cold saved her from Argo's smell. "Hey, Lis-chan."
"Yeah?"
"How do I smell?"
Lisbeth only sighed "Not again …"
"Just answer the question!"
Reluctantly, Lisbeth leaned over and took a sniff. "Huh. Like sage."
"Alright! I don't smell stinky anymore!" She folded her impressively sized arms. "A lady's gotta smell nice to impress her man, y'know."
"I'm just surprised you haven't died of the cold." It was just below zero celsius according to Lisbeth's HUD.
At that, the info broker only thump her fist on her chest. "Nah, I up my «RES» regularly. A dip in the river is just a cold shower to me. I'll be fine."
Lisbeth only shook her head. Weirdos, the lot of them.
Just as Asuna placed breakfast on the plates was when chief weirdo exited his tent.
It pained Lisbeth to admit it, but Kirito was a very pretty man. His hair grew past his shoulders, yet he kept it as black and shiny as Asuna kept her own long hair, sometimes even better. Despite dressing in a simple pair of pants and open robe, he wore no shirt underneath, showing off a lithe body. He looked positively ethereal, as if the concept of beauty sleep really did apply to him.
That and the one upside of being CEO meant that he took no part in sentry duty.
Lisbeth could hear the other girls gasp, their eyes ravishing him, no doubt thinking about the horribly naughty things they'd do to him.
He stretched and yawned, rubbing his eyes. God, he really looked like a puppy at times. "Morning ladies."
"Good morning, Kirito," they answered simultaneously, in an almost dreamlike manner. Lisbeth rolled her eyes and snorted.
Kazuto unfolded his chair and immediately Asuna had a napkin and plate of food placed on his lap. "Thank you, dear," he said.
"Anything for you, sweetie," said Asuna, the last word louder than the rest, and Lisbeth did her best to not gag and retch. Even the other girls were staring daggers at her. Ugh. Maybe she could go back to the fort and stay there until spring.
Dagger staring aside (and the usual strange attempts at flirting from Sinon regarding her bear pelt), breakfast went on as normal. Kirito poured his second cup of tea as he laid out the plans for the day:
"So we're currently on the 20th Floor. I hear there's some sort of horde in the north the Clearers are hunting down. Sinon, how far are we from our destination?"
Sinon checked the map they bought from a wandering trader, the pelt around her clearly restricting her movement and she cared not a whit for it. "The town of Bakuye, should be half a day's travel away, assuming good weather and good roads. So that means never. I reckon we might reach there by five pm."
"I have contacts there, might be of use to us for any business opportunities," said Argo.
Kirito clasped hands. "Excellent. We should head there as soon as we can."
Lisbeth hoped so. She was absolutely tired of being stuck in this four way war. The sooner she got out of here and into civilisation, the better.
There may be comfort in the familiars but a girl gets tired being asked weird questions whenever she just woke up.
"Me and my big mouth," muttered Lisbeth, annoyed at the current situation.
"What was that?" asked Asuna.
"Nothing. Sinon-chan, don't we have … literally any other town?"
The slayer checked the map. "Nope. Nearest settlement is a floor below. It'd be too much trouble to go back where we came from."
"Aye, an orc warlord is making trouble for the marcher lords, mercenaries swarming Fort Arsites up north," said an NPC on the cart next to them, a grain merchant Asuna assumed. "A prophet has arisen amongst the greenskins. That keeps happening every few generations or so, I wouldn't pay much mind to it myself."
"Well, as long as we can get into town before dark, that's all I care for," said Kirito, holding the reins. The traffic was slow, not as bad as Tokyo traffic during rush hour, but still enough to slow down the carts on the road. "Say Asuna, go take the girls into town and find us an inn. Lisbeth and I can handle all the paperwork and boring stuff. Make it a good one!"
Kirito threw a pouch of coins towards his bodyguard, bulging with enough coins you could use it to bludgeon someone. Not that money was an issue for the Kirito Corporation at the moment. "Alright then. Sinon, Argo, Yuuki, with me."
At the click of her tongue, Kumo-chan started trotting forward and the girls followed.
Bakuye was a walled town bursting to capacity. Out in the fields, Asuna could spy the flags of many guilds, looking most miserable in the snow and even more miserable trudging in the mud. This was the closest thing she had been to the Frontlines proper, even if it was only the town and not the fort up north.
Bakuye itself was not like other settlements, neither the stone castles of Granum nor the palisaded walls of the Free Tribes. This city was ancient, sculpted from marble not native to this floor, the great ruins of some ancient sorcerer-lord's demesne. The gaps were plugged with wood and mud, hardened by the cold, and where Granum was the land of lords and knights, this was the borderlands into Orc territory, where only the hardiest of the Free Tribes warred, raided or traded with their tusked neighbours. To Asuna, it reminded her of those post-apocalyptic shanty towns in the movies more than anything.
A manor was built atop a hill, overlooking the rest of the town. The manor itself belonged to the satrap, the ruler of Bakuye. His son-in-law was a fearsome tribal chief, married into the family of the stewards of the long dead sorcerer-king. Even long after the end of the sorcerer-kings, many of those who wished for the long gone days referred to themselves as satraps in an attempt to legitamise themselves as the ruling class.
Smoke from a hundred homes mixed into the grey clouds above just as Asuna and the others entered the city to stable their horses.
Asuna admitted, it was a stark contrast to the cleanliness of Fort Eternal Vigilance and all the trash and debris was not so welcoming. Not even Mankhlar was this chaotic and it was a city that took up an entire floor.
Argo inhaled deeply and exhaled. "Ya' smell that, ladies? It's the smell of civilisation."
Sinon side eyed the bucket of trash someone had thrown out of the window onto the unpaved road. She was sure she saw the skull of a rat in it. "Yeah. Civilisation. Whoopee."
"Heh, don't worry. I got contacts in this city. I know just the right place for us to bunk for the night," said Argo.
Despite the traffic and the amount of people on the roads, it didn't take long for them to find the best inn in the town. It stood in stark contrast to the rest of the buildings, with its clean red walls and it being easily six floors tall.
The girls looked up at the inn in awe, the sign above written in elegant font: Pleasurable Nights - a sign for what's to come.
"Alright, ladies, let's make a reservation," Argo said, leading them up the steps of the inn. Even the doors look like they could take a straight shot from a catapult with how sturdy they looked.
They entered the building and the drab, dirty and cold outdoors was replaced by the warm and brightly lit lobby, with its lovely wooden paneling and lush pink carpet. A dozen sconces lit the lobby, one hall leading to the inn's restaurant and another leading to the baths. A couple of tall Free Tribals bedecked in mail shirts stood nearby, crossbows cradled in their arms, massive warclubs looped on their belts.
An old battleaxe of a woman sat behind the counter, her puffy sleeves doing nothing to hide the tattoos on her forearms, looking more like she could lead a tribe of her own than an inn proprierter. She was smoking a long bone white pipe as she addressed the newcomers. "Ah, Miss Argo, welcome to Pleasurable Nights. I have your rooms prepared for you and your friends."
"Thanks, Isi. Always knew I could count on you," said Argo as she signed the ledger on the counter.
But Asuna was suspicious. "Wait, hold on. Lemme see that ledger."
"Why? No need. I booked us a room well in advance," she said, forcefully handing the ledger back to the innkeeper.
The older woman continued to smoke. "The master suite is prepared for you and your lover. I made sure to put the others on the floor below, as you requested, and the appropriate … equipment."
"Lover?" said Asuna and Sinon simultaneously.
At that, the Rat could only scratch her head and smile nervously. "Eheh, I forgot! I have an appointment with someone. Put my stuff up in my room, would ya? Okay byeeee!"
Before she could make it to the door, Argo found herself landing face first on the soft carpet, a pair of bolas wrapped around her ankles. "Hey, lemme go, Sinonon!"
"How do you do that?" asked Asuna, surprised at the hunter's speed.
"Not the first time I have to tie someone down," said Sinon, as she pinned her knee on the smaller girl's spine and tying her up. Not even the guards in the lobby seemed to care as Isi returned to her smoking, as if this had happened before all too often.
Yuuki could only scratch her chin at the commotion. "Now, I may be new at this whole thing, but is this normal?"
"No such thing in the Kirito Corporation," said Sinon.
Asuna had sent Yuuki with the luggage to 'their' rooms as they hauled the struggling Rat to the so-called 'master suite'. Not even her impressive muscles were a challenge to Sinon's high level knots as the Rat reminded herself to work on her lats.
The suite was deserving of its name. It took up half the floor, big enough to house the wagon, the mules and the horses and everyone else. A massive king sized bed lay in the middle of the room, a heated copper bath tub in the corner as well as a table for two. It looked straight out of a romantic film.
Argo found herself tied to a nearby chair. "You know Sinonon, didn't take you for someone who's into bondage …"
"Everything about me screams how much I like bondage," she said.
"Yeah, you're right, I was just making smalltalk."
Asuna looked about the room in utter disgust. "I can't believe you'd hoodwink us like that."
"Us?" said Sinon, raising an eyebrow. "There's no us. I'm banging Kirito the first chance I get."
"You can't just go on and bang Kirito like that!" said Asuna. "We - I mean, I - have to treat him to dinner first. Lower his guard. Treat the man right."
It was the other girls turn to stare at her. "Aa-chan, are you not aware how much of a slutty the man has been of late?" asked Argo.
"I've no idea what you're talking about."
It was Sinon's turn to argue. "Asuna, just this morning, he just walked out of his tent, his robe open, showing off his man-chest to the world, no doubt forever scarring poor Yuuki-chan, and he probably combed his hair for a good ten minutes before he came out too!"
Asuna pointed an accusing finger at Argo. "Yet the Rat here has been walking around half naked half the entire time!"
"Hey, it ain't my fault these clothes can't contain this hard bod of mine," said Argo, once again attempting to flex and failing. "Besides, it's normal for women to show off their muscular bodies. Men shouldn't go around strutting around like peacocks. It's improper."
Asuna shook her head, slumping on the comfy velvet armrest behind her. "So what now? Ask the innkeep to change rooms?"
"Isi doesn't take refunds. Besides, it'd be a real shame if we aren't gonna use the room, if you catch my drift. Remember that time Kii-bou got kidnapped?" the Rat said.
Sinon immediately got it. "Yeah, I remember."
Asuna always hated being in the dark about these things. "I don't. Speak plainly."
"Speak plainly," Argo parroted. "Like damn, Aa-chan, I know we're in a fantasy world but you don't gotta like it."
"What Argo means is we need to team up to dive into Kirito's dungeon," said Sinon.
Asuna blinked. "You mean we need to get back to the Fort?"
"No, I mean -" Argo gestured around the room with her head. "We need to set up an ambush."
Asuna's hand slipped to the pommel of her sword. "We're in danger?"
"How are you as blind as Yuuki? And that kid's fourteen," said Sinon.
"I am not blind," Asuna argued. "I have the second highest «PER» in our company."
Argo sighed. "I meant we need to team up together to get Kirito!"
Her left thumb popped the rapier out of the scabbard, baring steel. "Are you speaking treason?"
Sinon facepalmed. "Argo meant we should fuck him together, you idiot!"
"Ah," said Asuna, sheathing her sword. "Ah." Her face was turning as red as her armour. "Aaah. Ahh! Ahhhhhh?!"
"Pipe down, we have neighbours," said Sinon as she helped herself to a cup of spiced wine.
"W-w-we can't do that!" Asuna said, transforming from hardened veteran to a young bashful maiden. "I mean, I don't wanna share him with you! At least, I don't wanna see you guys -"
Argo had already tipped her chair, resting in it as lazily as if she weren't tied to it. "Oh, come on, Aa-chan. We can show you pointers. I mean, I've been with him the longest -"
"You broke up with him," Sinon pointed out.
"And we're back together aren't we? So shut it!" the Rat snapped before turning back to her normal self. "Let's face it, Asuna. I know Kirito, Sinon has the most notches on her bedpost, you can use a few pointers from us. Sides', you've already seen me mostly naked all the time!"
Her lips had become dry, her throat parched. "I mean, Kirito and I have already made out a bunch -"
Sinon handed the steaming pile of embarrassment another cup. "That's not the same. That's elementary shit." Sinon slammed a gloved fist into her palm. "We need to encircle him, wear down his defenses, and when he's at his weakest, we pounce on him, tear him to shreds. I'll take his rear, you two can be the distraction."
Asuna sipped her cup. "A-are we still talking about sex?"
"Just untie me from this and let me write up a battle plan," said the Rat, smiling mischievously. "Kii-bou won't know what hit him."
Lisbeth slapped her forehead. "Shoot!"
"What?"
"I forgot the chest of go -" The smith caught herself. "The chest of company funds."
Kirito waved the worry away. "Bah, don't worry about it. I think I left my bowie knife there too. It's not going anywhere anytime soon. Besides, I don't fancy trudging through town in this weather."
"Yeah, you're right."
After stabling their cart and mules, and taking their luggage with them (sans the chest), Lisbeth said to Kirito, "Hey boss, just wanna point out Argo plans to lure you into a bedroom and do unholy things to you."
"Yeah, I know."
Lisbeth raised a brow at that. "You do?"
"Course'. When I got kidnapped by that necromancer, I pretended to fall asleep and overheard Argo and Sinon talking about it. I'm just surprised it took them this long to pull it off. How did you know?"
"After we left the fort, she's been sending money to this town for a while using the same address with a shopping list that includes things like 'fluffy pillows' and 'king-sized bed' with a courier service. I'm smarter than I look, y'know," the smith said smugly.
"Please don't read Argo's letters, that's a breach of privacy." The inn was in sight. "I'm gonna die in there, aren't I?"
Lisbeth patted her boss on the shoulder. "There, there, boss. As long as you write my name in your will, handing the reins of the Kirito Corporation to me, it'll be fine."
"Of course, the Lisbeth Corporation does have a nice ring to it."
They entered the inn and found Yuuki waiting for them in the lobby. "Yo, CEO-Man. My rival says you got a bonus for me. So give me the bags and I'll give you the key to the room."
Kirito shook his head. "Guess every man has his end."
Lisbeth handed him an expensive looking bottle of wine from his bag. "I'll take Yuuki-chan out for some shopping and dinner. Try not to die, boss."
A few minutes later, Kirito found himself before the heavy oak door of the master suite. He knew that he was playing with fire convincing the girls to work on the Watch months ago. Strutting into their room, shirtless, wet, in nothing but a towel.
He knew for a fact he was a handsome man. All the girls pinning for him at school was a testament to that. He sincerely doubted Asuna would have agreed to become his bodyguard had it not been for his boyish charms and good looks. He was pretty sure Sinon hadn't killed him because of it too.
Kirito supposed, in a video game where death was around every corner, where undead munch on the living, raiders rob you at arrowpoint, and you can be forever lost in the darkness of a dungeon, dying from having too much sex might not actually be bad at all. At least, he'd leave a pretty corpse.
Kirito knocked on the door and Asuna's muffled voice came through: "Come in."
"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here," he said to himself and entered the master suite.
Tags: Blowjob, muscle girl, pegging, femdom, yuri, foursome
This is where you're supposed to go to the other website.
The suite was silent as they collected themselves. Asuna enjoyed the warmth of Kirito's body beneath her as he wrapped his arm around her waist. She felt him kiss the top of her head and all she could do was smile and look up at him.
"You okay?" he asked.
Asuna would have broken out laughing had she the energy. His face was soaked from Argo's juices, and he himself had been pummeled by all three girls — Sinon, Argo, and herself. It was a miracle that none of them had broken a part of the slim merchant. Behind him, Argo's chest heaved up and down; even her gloriously powerful body was out of it.
Asuna pushed back a stray strand of hair from his face and leaned in for a kiss on his wet cheek. "Yeah, I'm good. You?"
"Great," he answered, more with a croak than anything. "Hey, I'm glad we did this."
"I'm glad too. You okay, Argo?"
She weakly raised a thumbs up. "Good. Good. Hope ya' don't mind me mauling Asuna's tits, Kii-bou."
"I just wished I could have seen it." He wiped Argo's juices with a hand to no success. "I think we should rest."
"Yeah, we should." Asuna rested her head, hearing his beating heart. "A little cuddle pile."
"I'm down for that," said Argo.
"Yep," said Sinon, rising from the floor, only to immediately crash beside Kirito. Her arms spread across the mattress to gently touch the other girls, and she looked equally exhausted as everyone else.
"Hey listen, I'm really not that mad about the arrows anymore," Sinon said. "Also, I'm sorry if I was a little too … rough."
"Sorry?" said Kirito.
"A little?" said Asuna.
"Rough? Sinonon, you were trying to tear him apart!" said Argo, laughing.
At that, the slayer looked away, something of a blush on her face. "Hey, I apologised, didn't I? Besides, you should have said 'cheesecake.'"
Kirito could only laugh, followed by Asuna's giggling, and Argo's cackling. Sinon only groaned, causing the room to fill with more laughter.
As they finally calmed down, Kirito wiped away tears. "Anyway. Someone bring me more wine."
All three of them scrambled off the bed to reach for the bottle, ready for another session of lovemaking.
It was somewhere around three in the morning when Absolute Sword woke up from her slumber. "Halt, who goes there!"
The room was dark and she already had her sword singing from its sheath. She could see nothing, save for the starry night outside.
The greatest swordswoman in all of the castle strained to hear what disturbed her rest: grunting, shouting, yelling, and something slapping. Torture? That must be it! Someone was in trouble!
Immediately, the mighty warrior was out of her bed and shaking her weak and old comrade by the shoulder. "Lisbeth-chan! Wake up! Ne'er-do-wells lurk nearby!"
The poor smith popped her head from her covers. "Ugh, Yuuki … it's late, what the hell are you on about?"
She cupped the other woman's mouth immediately. "Shh! Listen! Do you hear?"
"Ah! Ah! Yes, harder! Harder!" said a feminine voice.
"Yeaaah! Feel these biceps! You know you want to!" said another.
"Wait, hold on, this thing needs more lubing …" said an annoyed voice.
This one, a male, spoke up. "Shit, we're out of wine? Where did you put the bottle?"
Lisbeth strained and focused, only to look up at the ceiling. "Oh my God, are those four idiots still going at it?"
Four? She must have been talking about Kirito and the others! "They're in trouble! Make haste, smith! We need to save them!"
A look that Yuuki could not adequately describe crossed Lisbeth's face. "No, no. They're uh … they're just doing some extra sword practice. Just go to sleep, we need to be on the move tomorrow."
"Sword practice? Hmm, I suppose it's never a bad time for sparring," Yuuki said.
Lisbeth looked horrified at the idea. "NO! I mean, no. Go to sleep. After all, warriors need rest to sharpen their minds, right?"
At that, Yuuki understood the woman's wisdom. "This is true. They will be too tired for tomorrow's journey, and that's when I need to protect them and commit a deed of arms."
"That's right! Just go to sleep, and cover your ears, okay?"
Yuuki nodded, sheathed her sword, laid her head on the pillow and was immediately off in dreamland, slaying monsters and kicking all sorts of ass.
It was late in the morning when Lisbeth saw Kirito again. "Well well, miracles really do come true."
She was having tea after running a few errands and was having a break in the inn's restaurant, waking up a fair bit later thanks to some loud noises from a certain someone.
Kirito was walking with a limp. He had sunken eyes, his clothes were wrinkly, and he lacked that swagger he always possessed. Yet, despite all that, there was a gleam in his eyes and he was smiling.
Sitting himself at the table, he muttered one word: "Coffee."
After consuming enough of the drink to give a horse a heart attack, he finally began munching on some sconces, staring at the wall with a thousand yard stare.
Lisbeth herself hadn't even finished her first cup of tea. "So, where are the other girls?"
"Sleeping." He munched on his food like a zombie chewing flesh. "When I woke up, I had my dick stuck in Sinon. Took a bit of effort to pull myself out without waking her up."
Lisbeth almost choked on her food and drank her tea to save herself. "Kirito! You can't just say that in public!"
"Mhmm." He sipped his coffee at a human pace again, smirking ever so slightly. "Where's the twerp?"
"Yuuki-chan's gone to the cart to guard. We really should be leaving soon."
"I'm not waking those beasts up. We'll leave when we're good and ready."
It was late afternoon when the girls were all awake as they consumed a feast for lunch. Each and every single one of them had a glow to them and they were chatting like the best of friends. They whispered with each other, making themselves blush, as they threw glances at their lover who himself was doing his best to astral project himself back into the real world.
As groan-inducing as their antics were, it was infinitely preferable to the horrible attempts of flirting with Kirito. The sooner they could go back to business, the better.
They trudged through the snowy street of Bakuye, the girls surrounding Kirito not so different from how a noble was surrounded by their bodyguards. Lisbeth chatted with Kirito on business expenses, supplies, all the boring stuff, glad at the return to normalcy.
Well, as normal as you could be in SAO, in the company of an eccentric merchant with his harem anyway.
When they reached the stables, they found that a crowd had gathered in front of it. Guardsmen were setting a parameter, asking them to stay away. Worried, the company picked up the pace.
One of the guards, a tribesman in a thick gambeson and wielding a spear noticed Kirito first. "You. You've stabled your wagon here, yes?"
"I am. Why, what happened?"
"Apologies from the satrap's office, sir. A group of thieves had snuck into the city and robbed the stable of valuables. Your caravan guard, the purple haired girl, had been knocked out, along with many of the people working here. Witnesses mentioned stealing valuables from all the carts and riding off to the Wastes in broad daylight. We have our men chasing after them but we're afraid they're long gone."
"Is she okay?" Lisbeth asked, worried.
"They've all been brought to the local temple not too far from here. A knock on the head, nothing too serious. No one has actually died."
Sinon cursed. "Damn, that's all our funds gone! We need to go after them!"
Kirito scratched his chin. "Ah, they must have nicked my knife too. Guardsman, the satrap is looking for people to hunt down these robbers, yes?"
"A massive bounty has been placed on their heads, yes. His Honourable One is seeking sellswords."
They walked away from the stable. Kirito clasped his hands and smiled, and the merchant who helped orchestrate the Mankhlar Rebellion and withstood the Siege of Fort Eternal Vigilance was back. "Ah well. New business opportunities and new adventures! Well, partners, what do you think?"
Asuna sighed. "We lost half our money … but we're not destitute, so there's that. Sure, why not?"
"Rubbing shoulders with the old imperial families? Honestly, Kii-bou, I wouldn't be surprised if you become royalty before this all ends," said Argo. They were already on the road to the satrap's manor.
Sinon shrugged. "I'm down to hunt and I'm down to fuck."
"Sinon!" shouted Lisbeth. The slayer was shameless with her comment. The other two women giggled girlishly.
Kirito thrusted his skywards, the very sun in his palm, eyes glinting with ambition. "Look out world, the Kirito Corporation is looking to expand!"
You may be asking what's next? Well, personally, I think I'm gonna take a short break.
Fear not, it's not long. Not like Aincrad Retold levels of break. Maybe a couple of months. I've been writing this arc for two years and there's still the final chapter of Sinonon to write. That'll take a good chunk of January.
February and later? I dunno, maybe some other non-SAO fics, another story for RimWorld, start up that Fallout one I've been wanting to make for ages. Maybe finish some OC stories. Hope you'll be on the road with me, and the Kirito Corporation sometime soon.
When Merchant Prince returns, I'll be focussing on the good ol' episodic focus, like the earliest chapters. I think my biggest mistake writing the Conotocaurius arc was jumping straight into it. What I should have done is done a couple of episodic chapters after Kirito and Sinon meet, and half a dozen chapters after the Mankhlar arc. Focussing on two arcs, one far bigger than the other, was unwise. Still had fun making it though, no regrets there.
As always, reviews and criticism appreciated. Also send some thanks to 7Skydark and read his stuff on Ao3. Because if you like the smut here, you'll love his stuff too.