Building Harem Town 4, page 24
“Maybe I could do some more work on the carriage,” Aleia said. “I would love to have carvings on both sides.”
“And I would love to do some more garden work.” Penelope nodded. “I need to make sure the vegetables have enough space to thrive. Maybe Elowise can work with me?”
“Of course,” the gnome agreed. “You know I love the garden, we can check on the herbs and see if we can harvest anything else.”
“That all sounds great,” I said. “Celeste and Nicola, how about you find Balabar and get some fighting practice in.”
“He would like that,” Elowise assured the girls. “He’s been with the kids non-stop, I’m sure a little battle practice would add some variety to his day!”
“Actually,” I said thoughtfully. “Let’s get all of you practicing together for a few hours. Afterwards, you can work on the carvings and the garden. Those things are important, but not as important as making sure your defense skills are as sharp as possible.”
“I’ll go and get Balabar.” Elowise nodded, and she hurried off to the north tower.
“Do you think we’ll go back to Evelhelm soon?” Nicola asked as she looked out at the forest. “Just in case the storm comes back?”
“We’ll leave in plenty of time,” I said. “We’ll keep an eye on the sky to make sure we know when the storm moves. That’s one of the reasons why I want you all to have a fighting session. I have a feeling the elves are going to need more help before the sprites descend on the town.”
“I am worried about most of them not knowing how to fight,” Penelope admitted. “Perhaps we should give them proper demonstrations, or at least the ones who were willing to fight.”
Elowise brought Balabar over to the group, and he cracked his knuckles as he joined the priestesses.
“So,” he said gruffly. “We’re doing some combat training this morning?”
“If you don’t mind,” I replied. “I know you’re a busy dad.”
“It’s not a problem,” Balabar said quickly. “Nissa’s got them all eating breakfast. The only time they’re all quiet is when they’re stuffing their faces, and I’m certainly built for a lot more than fatherly duties, I can tell you that much.”
“Wilfrim’s helping Nissa, too.” Elowise smiled. “He is fulfilling his grandfatherly duties and making sure the little ones get a good breakfast.”
“Excellent!” I said brightly. “In that case, what do you suggest we work on, Balabar?”
The gnome looked slightly surprised that I had asked him, but he proudly scratched his chin as he looked at the priestesses.
“Well,” he hummed. “They’re all already so skilled as you know, but there are always things to learn and improvements to be made. I’m not perfect by any means, but I do wonder if we should practice hand-to-hand combat. Can’t let ourselves get rusty, you know.”
“You mean without weapons?” Nicola asked. “Is that necessary? We’re always armed.”
“You are when you’re expecting a fight,” Balabar said. “What if something sneaks up on you when you’re bathing or cooking? It’s important to be able to fight without weapons, and to utilize your own personal strengths to defeat attackers.”
“Sounds good,” I agreed. “You all have very different skills and abilities, I’ve got no doubt you could beat the shit out of anyone with your bare hands.”
“Aleia could,” Nicola snorted. “Imagine getting punched with the strength of a fucking muckbeast.”
“Yeah,” Balabar said as he eyed the fairy. “Maybe we won’t use our full strength while we practice.”
“I’ll be gentle!” Aleia laughed. “What’s the first lesson?”
“Let’s get into the middle of the grounds,” Balabar said. “We should work on defending ourselves when someone sneaks up on you from behind, since that’s most likely what an attacker would do.”
Thunder the puppy ran alongside Nicola as the group walked, and the dopey-faced dog stared up adoringly at the brunette. He slobbered everywhere as he ran, and then he ran off when he got distracted by a butterfly near the gate.
“Okay,” Balabar said as he came to a halt and rubbed his hands together. “Now, this will be slightly different for each of you, seeing as you’re all different sizes. Let’s start with Nicola and Celeste.”
“I’ll be the attacker.” The harpy grinned as she jumped behind the brunette. “I’m here to steal your puppy.”
“Pshh,” Nicola snorted. “If you tried to touch Thunder you would already be dead.”
“Now,” Balabar said. “Obviously, we’re not going to actually fight with full-force here, but we can walk through the moves. Okay, Celeste, act like you’ve just grabbed her.”
The harpy reached her arms around her fellow priestess and held her tightly with one arm around the neck and one on the waist.
“What do you think you would do here?” Balabar asked, and Penelope shot her hand up like she was in school.
“Kick backward to the groin?” The naiad asked.
“I can’t reach her groin,” Nicola said as she attempted the move.
“Oh,” Penelope said as her shoulders slouched.
“It was a good guess,” I said encouragingly.
“You want to use the head first,” Balabar said. “If you knock your head back as hard as possible, you’re going to damage something. You might break their nose, or fuck up their neck if you’re a bit shorter than them. Either way, you’ll probably cause enough chaos to get your next move in.”
Nicola did a dramatic, slow-motion jolt of her head, and she nudged Celeste’s chin.
“So now you’ve taken them by surprise,” Balabar continued. “You might have even knocked a few teeth out. Quickly reach down, go between your legs, and grab their knee. Pull their leg through between yours as hard as you can to get them on the ground.”
Nicola bent over and could just reach Celeste’s leg. Then she grabbed the harpy’s knee and pulled, and both women tumbled over into a giggling pile before Nicola sprang up and waved her hands.
“I’m free!” she cheered as she jumped up and down. “No robbing for you today.”
“Damn.” Celeste grinned. “I was going to steal all your riches.”
“Joke’s on you,” Nicola snorted. “I don’t have any.”
The brunette helped her friend up off the ground, and Aleia clapped.
“Nice work,” I said approvingly. “Aleia and Penelope should practice that one, too.”
The naiad and fairy got into position with Aleia at the back, and they mimicked the motions they had just seen.
Balabar went over the move again with more details and variants, and soon it was second nature to the women to headbutt then bend down. I had to admit I was impressed watching the gnome instruct the priestesses. It was seriously useful to be skilled in fighting without a weapon, and it was awesome to watch the girls improve with every try.
They laughed with every takedown, but took the fighting seriously, and Balabar continued to demonstrate kicks, punches, and using the palm to break noses and chins. The women carefully reenacted each move, and it wasn’t long until sweat poured down their foreheads as they worked.
I kept checking the sky during their training and made sure there wasn’t even the slightest hint of orange in the clouds above.
Elowise appeared after an hour or so with water for everyone, along with some more chopped apples and berries she had foraged. The women gratefully took the refreshments, and they wolfed down the snacks in a matter of minutes.
“It looks like it’s going well!” Elowise admired.
“Balabar’s a good teacher.” Penelope smiled. “I’m learning a lot.”
“Let’s get back to it, then,” Balabar said. “Not a second to waste!”
As the girls restarted their training, I scanned my God Vision. The perimeter of the convent was quiet, and the only motion was Thunder running in circles chasing his own tail. Then I looked over the forest, and I stopped as I found a group of several elves walking toward the gate.
“What the…?” I muttered as I watched them.
There were five altogether, three guys and two women. They were all relatively young but probably somewhere in their thirties. If elves aged the same as humans did, that was. They had sensible, earth-colored pants and tunics, and the women had their hair tied back.
“We’ve got company,” I said. “There’s a group of elves on their way.”
The women dropped their hands and turned to face the gate.
“Elves?” Aleia asked. “What could they want?”
“Check the sky,” I said. “Make sure the storm isn’t over the town yet.”
The fairy shot into the air, and it only took a few moments to see that the orange clouds were still a good distance away from the far-off rooftops.
“No sprite attack just yet,” Aleia said, and she fluttered back to the ground.
“I hope Evelhelm’s okay,” Penelope fretted. “Do they seem hurt?
“No,” I replied. “They look fine, but let’s make sure they’re okay. Elowise, could we maybe get them some tea?”
“Of course.” The gnome nodded, and she hurried off toward the kitchen.
I watched the group of elves as they appeared at the gateway, and since the door was open, they looked around wide-eyed at the convent. When they spotted the priestesses, they waved and hurried over to join the group.
“Hello!” Penelope called. “Is everything alright?”
“Good morning!” one of the young men replied, and the group came to a halt. “Sorry to drop by uninvited.”
He had curly, yellow hair, and was the most well-built elf I had ever seen. Instead of the normal, wiry frame his people usually had, he had biceps bulging out of his tunic sleeves, and wide shoulders.
That’s when I noticed that all the elves in the group were slightly more muscly than usual, and I wondered if they were the ex-soldiers we had heard about in Evelhelm.
“It’s not a problem,” Aleia said. “You’re welcome any time.”
“Thank you,” the elf replied. “My name is Grez, we’re from Evelhelm.”
“Is the town okay?” Celeste asked. “The sprites haven’t attacked, have they? The storm is still away from the town?”
“For now,” Grez said. “I know it’s only a matter of time before it returns, though, just like Jack told us. But that’s actually why we’re here. We think we might need a bit more guidance for when the fight comes around.”
“Ask them how we can help,” I said.
“What can we do for you?” Penelope asked. “We’ll do anything we can to help.”
Grez didn’t answer as he stared around the convent, and the other elves muttered as they pointed to the towers and limestone walls.
“Would you like to look around?” Aleia offered. “We could show you the garden, the altar, or anything you’d like.”
Elowise arrived back with cups of tea for everyone on a wooden plank tray, and she offered the drinks out to the new arrivals as the elves gratefully accepted.
“Wow,” one of the female elves said. “You really have it all set up nicely here, don’t you?”
“We’re rather pleased with it.” Penelope smiled. “We put rather a lot of work into upkeep and building new things. Come on, let’s show you around.”
The priestesses led the elves around the convent, and there were a few gasps when they stopped at the garden.
“This is beautiful!” a pink-haired elf girl said. “Oh, my goodness, the vegetable patch is lovely, and look at those herbs.”
Penelope flushed a darker shade of blue, and she grinned from ear to ear as the group complimented her work.
“Seems like everyone can tell how impressive you are,” I chuckled.
“Oh, my lord,” Penelope said with a wave of her hand, and the elves looked at her curiously.
The next stop of the tour was the altar, and the elves seemed shocked at the mural.
“You have an image of your god?” Grez asked.
“Oh, yes.” Penelope nodded. “He is very handsome, isn’t he?”
The elf women nodded, and I felt slightly smug as they giggled.
“This is so odd,” the pink-haired woman said. “We’ve never seen an image of Tobias.”
“That doesn’t shock me,” Nicola sighed. “From what we’ve heard, he isn’t exactly one to appear before his followers.”
“Appear?” Grez scoffed. “Of course not. When has a god ever done that?”
He looked at the priestesses’ raised eyebrows and gasped.
“You’ve seen him?” one of the men whispered. “In real life? You’ve actually seen a god in physical form?”
“He comes down sometimes.” Nicola nodded. “Well, not necessarily down, since he’s here all the time, but you know what I mean.”
“He’s here all the time?” Grez asked in a higher-pitched voice, and I had a feeling the elf was struggling to take it all in.
“Jack speaks to us,” Aleia said. “It’s sort of in our minds, but we can all hear it. If you truly believe in him, then you can talk with him, too.”
The elves stood open-mouthed as they stared at the altar, and I hoped they were more impressed than freaked out, but it was hard to tell as they waited in silence.
“Maybe take them somewhere else,” I suggested. “I think that image gave them a bit of a shock.”
“Let’s go and sit down with our tea,” Penelope said hurriedly. “It’s nice a bit closer to the gate where the sun hits us.”
It wasn’t a sunny day, but the elves simply nodded and followed the priestesses as they strode away from the altar.
“Sooooo,” Nicola said. “That’s some of the convent, sorry if the altar took you by surprise. We could go and look at the kitchen and cellar after our tea. They’re impressive but don’t have any pictures of all-powerful deities.”
“I apologize,” Grez said as the group sat down. “I didn’t mean to get so startled, I just didn’t expect to have such a clear visual of your god all of a sudden.”
“That’s understandable,” Celeste said. “It’s a lot to take in.”
The group sipped their drinks for a moment, and Thunder the puppy barked in the distance as he raced after a rabbit.
“So,” Nicola said. “Evelhelm is doing okay for now? Why is it that you came here?”
“Not that we mind visitors!” Aleia said quickly. “You’re all very welcome any time, we’ll prepare some food next time.”
“Not at all,” Grez said. “We just wanted to come, because we were curious about your god, and we were hoping for some more guidance from him.”
His answer took me by surprise. I had expected the guy to admit to some curiosity, but not for him to say flat-out that they were looking for my instruction. Penelope’s talk of me in the town really must have made an impact, and I knew I had a duty to help the elves out.
“Tell them of course, I will help,” I said. “They just need to be willing to listen.”
“Jack wants to help you,” Aleia told the group. “He just needs you to be open to his ideas.”
“Of course,” Grez agreed. “The five of us are ready to fight. I used to be a trained soldier, and so did these two.”
He gestured at one of the men and one woman, and the elves nodded.
“We’re just keen to help,” the other guy added. “We have a little workout group together to keep fit and strong. We figured this was our chance to use our skills to help the town.”
“We’re ready to learn,” the pink-haired woman added. “I know this goes against Tobias to come to you, but…”
She trailed off and shifted on the spot as she glanced up at the clouds. I could tell she felt slightly uncomfortable coming to a new god for help, even if she knew it was the right thing to do.
It must have been a hard choice, and it showed just how done they were with Tobias to have walked into another god’s convent.
“Let them know that they’ve done the right thing,” I said. “I’m here to help in any way I can, and it took bravery to come here.”
“Jack says you have nothing to worry about,” Nicola said. “He thinks you’re all brave for doing this, and he’s ready to help.”
“Great.” Grez smiled. “We told everyone we were coming here, they’re all kind of waiting to hear what they should do. Honestly, we don’t really have a clue what move is next. The information about the sprites was really helpful, but we’re not sure how to go about defending an entire town with so little resources.”
“Okay,” I said. “First thing’s first. Everyone needs to be armed. Ask about the weaponry.”
“You need to be armed.” Penelope nodded. “Jack wants to know if your armory would distribute their wares.”
“The staff agreed to it,” Grez replied. “The old guy who owns it wasn’t very happy about the idea, but the two younger staff members convinced him that they wouldn’t have a shop left if they didn’t.”
“There’s not quite enough for everyone,” the pink- haired woman said. “But there’s plenty for all the able-bodied folks who can fight, and a few left over for older people to defend themselves with.”
“Good start,” I said. “Obviously, the sprites attack from the sky, so the safest place to hide the kids and elders will be as low as possible. Find out if they have any cellars.”
“Right,” Celeste said. “Jack suggests you hide anyone that can’t fight underground if you can. Do you have many cellars?”
“We do.” Grez nodded. “The bigger houses have them for storing food and wine, so there’s definitely enough room for the older folk and children. That’s a good idea.”
“Jack is pretty good with plans.” Nicola grinned. “These sprites don’t stand a chance.”
“Make sure their strongest fighters are spread out,” I said. “If any of them can get up high to be on the frontlines, that would be great. Make sure they keep some strong ones near the hiding places, too.”
The women relayed my instructions, and the elves nodded.
“Also, make sure nobody is fighting in an isolated spot,” I continued. “Those orange fuckers will sneak up on you from behind, and their wings are pretty quiet. At least two people at each post, so they can watch each other’s backs.”
