Cultivating Anthro CEO RPG Hero Harem Reincarnation In Another World

The entire basement level of the Cultivator fort was used as a prison. However, during the dragon attack, a group of Stormfleece fighters had used the unfolding chaos as a cover to slip in, unnoticed, freeing the prisoners then barricading themselves inside behind an iron-barred door.

"Lieutenant," one of the Cultivator soldiers posted at the locked door greeted him, upon his arrival. What shall we do?"

"They're searching for Yorick, no doubt," Zhao mused, continuing as he procured a ring of keys from his inventory. "

Akira shifted excitedly. "So, this time...I'm going to be fighting normal opponents using only [Pocket Maids]?" he asked. "Against some of those bear-men, no less..." Pausing, he took a moment to appraise Cindy and Lorica with his hands on his hips and a growing look of uncertainty. "I'm not sure how I feel about this—those Norns from before looked pretty tough, compared to a couple of little girls in revealing battle armor."

"Don't sweat it," Vash said, patting him on the shoulder. "I'll be backing you up."

Akira smirked. "Yeah—they'll probably laugh themselves to death when they see you in that ridiculous armor," he said, in reference to the full set of [Cultivator Infantry Light Armor] his friend had managed to salvage: comprised of toughened brown and beige leathers reinforced by lacquered wood platings, with a helmet that formed a perfect shell around his head save for small gaps for eyes.

"Beggars can't be choosers when it comes to protection."

"Protection, you say?" Akira became chibi, smugly smirking. "I always preferred to go in raw, like a real man. And I was never one to beg, besides that."

"You're the worst! I hope you get your unguarded head split in two."

"Well, I did find some [Potions], and something else that should prove useful," he said, while swiveling around to face Cindy and Lorica with a sly smile spreading across his lips and his hands behind his back. "It's just not something I can make use of myself."

"Are we receiving gifts from master already?" Lorica said cheerily, clinging to his waist, then abruptly becoming lewd: "if you're going to spoil us, shouldn't we do something to earn it first...?"

"Soon. But for now, this gift goes to which one of you two is the better shot."

"Is that so? Well, as it so happens—"

Cindy straightened, suddenly. "Ah! Master, if it's a bow, then…" She blushed, holding a hand to her mouth shyly under Lorica's fiery gaze. "That is, Lorica-san is probably better...but I think I am also worthy."

Akira revealed the [Cultivator Infantry Bow] he was hiding behind his back.

"Cindy-chan, you're good with a bow?"

She nodded. "In my tribe...the women hunt and guard village, while men raid."

"I see!" Akira said, wide-eyed.

That's when Lorica cut in—huffing mad, "Well! My ex-husband and I were great adventurers, before I became a [Pocket Maid]!" she boasted. "And during our many travels, I became skilled with using every type of weapon and magic that exists in Seaspan!"

"Geez! I never expected you girls would be so eager to receive any kind of gift from me," Akira said, eyes closed as be gave an amused chuckle. "I guess we'll have a competition to decide, then."

Zhao, meanwhile, had still been working on unlocking the door. When finally, he found the key that clicked.

"Akira, there's no time!" he said, just as the walls and ceiling quaked. "We have to hurry underground—there's a tunnel that will lead us safely out of the village, and I would wager it's crawling with Stormfleeces."

A decision was made, by Zhao, that the group of five would scout ahead, while the soldiers would stay behind and look after the escaping villagers.

And from there, it wasn't long before they ran into some trouble…

"Never should've come here!" A Stormfleece fighter cried out, drawing a two handed ax just as they arrived into an open, circular room lined in jail cells.

Of course, he was not alone: being just one out of a whole group of them, lying in wait to guard all access to the escape tunnels, that proceeded to pour out of the surrounding jail cells, like a pack of rats, to completely circle Akira and Co.

"You're outnumbered, with nowhere to run," one of them said. "Lay down your weapons and you may be spared."

To which Akira and Lorica, both thinking of something cool to say in retort at once, opened their mouths—only for Zhao to step forward, beating them to the punch saying: "I'm afraid that won't be possible..." Then smiling, as the surface of his skin turned a deep shape of grey and became strong as bedrock, through the use of his [Iron Body, Bronze Sinew] technique. "Because my own body is my number one weapon."

"Y-y-yeah!" Akira cut in. "And my little girls are gonna kick your ass your fat, hairy asses!"

Following off of his taunt, Lorica drew her greatsword: swinging it downward in a heavy crash that left cracks in the tiled floor. "Yeah! I'll make fur-lined panties out of ya!"

"Umm…" Cindy stood by, eyeing them uncomfortably as she wielded her dual swords without fanfare. "Yes."

Vash just wanted to get it over with. Because, in his mind, this group of opponents was just a mob of regular enemies; undeserving of a cocky battle quote on his part. What gamers like to refer to as "trash mobs."

Yet even for as focused as he was, Vash felt a tinge of delightful thrill:

"Zhao is our tank. I'm the Mage. Akira is our"—he groaned inwardly—"summoner, with Lorica-san and Cindy-san acting as our physical DPSers..."

In other words, it was looking like the perfect party!

Well, except for their lack of a—

Suddenly, Akira let out a shrill gasp as an arrow struck him in the arm.

"Healer," Vash said aloud to finish his thought, whilst glancing up to see the Stormfleece soldier holding up the bow who was responsible for taking the shot: garbed in the same dark blue and brown heavy leathers as their peers, though with their face concealed by an iron helmet with a mask bearing the visage of an intensely glaring, bearded face.

"Kill the [Maid Trainer] first," the masked archer said, in a surprisingly boyish voice. "So that we may quickly add his [Pocket Maids] to our forces, to help us defeat the others."

"Not on my watch!" Zhao yelled. 

He positioned himself in front of Akira, in between Lorica and Cindy, to form an impassable wall.

"You'll have to get through me first!"

Akira was gawking at the blood trickling forth all along his arm, in a pair of thin lines, from where the arrow was embedded. "Ack! But Zhao…! I thought you said they were just a bunch of dumb savages!" he cried, his brows furrowing in anger. "So how'd they come up with such a clever plan?!"

Zhao was smirking. "It's true I said they were savages, but I never once called them dumb—because if they were, this whole war would've been over by now."

"Such kind flattery!" the masked archer mused playfully, before abruptly turning acid: "Too bad we're still gonna chop off your skulls and hollow them out, to use as piss pots. Then chop up your bodies, to feed to our dogs."

A tense back-and-forth ensued, whilst Vash remained silent as he continued to watch the masked archer carefully: Observing their subtle gestures, such as that of placing a hand on their hip. As well as the aforementioned light, unmanly voice they bore; their noticeably slender frame, in relation to their contemporaries; the fact they felt a need to wear such a specific helmet, with a mask—ostensibly to conceal their identity—to begin with…

"Zhao," Vash said in a serious voice, to get the Cultivator to half-turn to him in attention. "Do you have a spare [Maidé Ball] I can use?"

"Well, yes," he replied, with a look of perplexity. "Why do you ask?"

"I need one," was his urgent reply. "Now."

"But I thought you were opposed to the very idea of using them," he said. "And, you know, they're only usable on—"

"Women, right? Yes, I'm aware."

"Very well," Zhao agreed, though with maintained suspicion: briefly wondering what Vash could be planning, as he proceeded to hand him a set of three unused [Maidé Balls].

Although, it ultimately didn't matter. Since Vash would need a few [Pocket Maids] on hand when venturing across Seaspan, anyway. And as such, Zhao had plans to eventually give him some [Maidé Balls] and help him catch a few, regardless.

Besides, Vash was, from what he could tell thus far, the smarter of the pair.

Meanwhile...

Chunhua was watching this all unfold through the television set in the [Sunny Beach] bungalow, as portrayed through Zhao's eyes: coming profusely with a crazed look on her face, in tense anticipation of the shining moment when he would summon her for the first time… 

"To fight for my tiny-dicked childhood friend, as his little girl slave…" she drunkenly murmured. "That is...my new sole purpose in existing."

However, it would appear now wasn't her time…

Because already, the battle had commenced.