At the same time I rushed toward Mia, the ogres also rushed towards their frosty companion.
I gently descended to the ground while deeply kissing her while she was in my embrace. At least, that's how it appeared to everyone else.
In reality, I was administering a mixture of potion made from Hipokute Plants and mana enriched water directly via mouth-to-mouth. Okay, I was also enjoying kissing her, but given the fact that she began responding after the potion took effect and she woke up, I don't think she minded nearly as much as the other girls who were fiercely glaring at me.
As I slowly landed on the ground, I handed Mia to Treyni who was poutingly glaring at me. To placate her, I briefly brushed the hair behind her ears before giving her a smile and a quick peck on the lips. "If you want to be my lover, you've already wormed your way to my heart through my stomach. To become my wife, my first wife no less, you will have quite a bit of competition."
Treyni was happy receiving some of my affection too, but hearing that she currently had more competition than she thought made her frown. "Who?" She asked suspiciously, soon turning to look at the two ogresses wearily.
"Pfft! It isn't them, my jealous little dryad. Look, they seem ready to rip our heads off right now. For now, I think we should placate them and heal that fellow up, don't you think?"
"Hmph! I'll squeeze that out of you and more…" she paused taking a look at Mia and noticing that she was already healed. "That was an impressive kiss, but do you plan to do the same for that brute? I may have to rethink our relationship if that is the case…"
Although she was joking, I still winced from that mental barb. "Of course not! I pulled out one of the empty flasks I had located amongst the goods from the storage room. It was now filled with the full-potion produced by Saul within my storage space.
Treyni took a whiff of the potion to appraise it before nodding. "An impressive potion indeed. No wonder our little friend here has already completely healed."
I turned to face the ogres who were baring their fangs toward me as I flash stepped towards them. The purple-haired ogre wielded her war-club in a defensive stance as she stood in front of the princess and the injured prince.
On her sides were both a burly male ogre as well as the Oni Swordmaster, while the stealthy ogre took up the back line.
"What's the meaning of this, slime?" Asked the club-wielding ogre.
"Hmm? This is the result of their sparring, no? You can't tell me you think that only your side is allowed to launch lethal magic attacks, and my people are only allowed to flounder and die, right?" I asked with a bit more bite in my words.
She frowned, looking back towards her leader who shook his head, causing her to sigh. She was about to ask a question, but I tossed the full-potion over towards her.
"Like I said at the beginning, I have plenty of potions to clean such messes up. Your welcome to test it if you want. Just half the bottle should be more than enough to heal those minor injuries." I spoke nonplussed towards their surprise and weariness.
The purple-haired ogre handed the potion back towards the princess who I had already noticed had the [Appraisal] skill. Although I doubt it was on the same level as mine due to Saul and its sub ability [Akashic Records] which gives me an innate understanding of the things I appraise or analyze.
Even then, the disbelieving, wide eyed look of hers confirmed that her skill was adequate enough to understand that it wouldn't be anything harmful for her brother. She quickly turned to her brother and shoved the bottle in his mouth, forcing him to gulp down around half of the container before capping it off and watching his injuries.
A moment later, the injuries began to thaw and his flesh began to knit itself together. The only indication he was ever harmed was the torn clothes and armor. Seeing this she beamed a smile as she turned to face me and deeply bowed. "Thank you very much for such a valuable potion, Lord Orion."
"Hmm?" I tilted my head in confusion. although I figured Hipokute was a rare or high quality herb, and I was also impressed by its healing abilities as a potion, but I didn't think the potion itself was particularly grand given it was made from some basic mixing from Saul when I didn't even have any alchemical knowledge or skills.
"No problem. This was just a friendly spar to show you what my people are capable of anyways, no? I wouldn't want anyone to suffer any lasting harm from a simple bout." I smiled while waving off her concerns and telling her to keep the rest for when she might need it. I had more than enough ingredients to spare, especially if this left them with a good impression of us.
Sensing no deception from me, she smiled brightly and stowed away the potion in a waist bag she was carrying with her. "Even if it isn't a big deal for you, my brother's health and safety mean a great deal to me. For that, you have my gratitude, Lord Orion."
Seeing the red-haired ogre completely recover, the other ogres also began to relax and withdrew the weapons.
The mood became much more relaxed and Treyni walked over with the now healed Mia. "Well, now that everyone has calmed down, I think we should set up camp for the evening so that we can let the recently wounded rest."
Hearing Treyni, the red-haired ogre stepped forward and bowed, "That was an excellent spar. It seems I still have much to learn. Allow me to apologize for belittling you, lady Mia."
She nodded and commented, "Your skill with the blade and experience in battle are to be commended as well. You have made me understand that the rumors about the mighty ogre tribe are not to be underestimated."
He then turned toward me and lowered his head as he asked, "Would you mind if we rested here for tonight? It's been several nights since we have had any decent rest."
I looked towards Mia and Treyni to see if they had any objections, but they both shook their heads to show they had no issue with it. With the three of us, they didn't feel any sort of concern over the ogres. After all, I alone could take all of them on with little to no trouble, and Treyni and Mia on their own would place a significant pressure on them. With Treyni's magical power, she was an A-rank being after all.
I smiled, "Sure we don't mind. What's a bit more company, right?"
The ogre prince smiled wryly and nodded in thanks, probably understanding our thoughts. He then looked towards the pot of Treyni's green curry soup. Sensing his gaze, she nodded. "Help yourself to extras if you would like, it would be a shame to let it go to waste. There's plenty to go around if anyone is still hungry."
Hearing that, both purple and red-haired ogres rushed alongside me to have seconds and maybe even thirds.
On my side, both Treyni and Mia sighed while on the ogres side the princess was left with an embarrassed expression as well.
"I apologize for my companions uncouth behavior." The princess began to bow her head, but Treyni simply waved it off.
"No need, as you can see, our leader also has his weakness when it comes to the food he likes." She spoke exasperatedly as my image of a strong and firm leader cracked slightly.
"It seems like we all haver our share of troubles," the pinkette commiserated with Treyni and Mia. Despite this, they were both still smiling.
The Oni Swordmaster was sitting by the fire meditating while the two remaining ogres began setting up the tents that the the bulky, middle-aged ogre seemed to carry.
Everyone was settled down by the time the prince and I completely cleaned the pot of food. The purple-haired ogress left a bit earlier to talk with the other girls.
When I walked over to the fire, I heard the ladies quietly discussing something. That was when Mia saw me and bounded over to my side.
"Hey, Orion. I did really good in my fight, right?" She asked mischievously.
It was clear she was planning something, but curiously, I indulged her. "You did quite well for fighting someone several ranks beyond you. I was quite impressed seeing you use the lightning spell on your first try. I'm glad you're making good use of the spell I taught you," I said patting her head.
She blushed a tad bit as she got lost in the head pats for a moment before remembering what she was after. "Then, don't you think that I deserve a reward?" She asked coyly.
I raised my brow. "Oh? I don't mind, but don't ask for anything too excessive, alright."
"Hehe, how about a group massage for the girls and I then. Naturally, I will be the first to go!" She spoke cheerfully before adding through our party chat, (Besides, this should help build closer ties with the ogre women. That's your real goal, isn't it?)
(Do you think I'm some sort of big bad wolf that will eat whatever helpless sheep crosses my path?) I asked incredulously.
(Obviously!)
(…) I had nothing to retort. Although I wasn't actually aiming for these ogre women, the princess is undeniably cute. Also, though she is a muscle head, the purple-haired ogress is quite curvaceous. It would be a lie to say I don't find them attractive, but that isn't my goal in recruiting these guys.
I sighed, "Well, I guess I don't mind if that's what you want as a reward, but are you two okay with it too?"
I saw that the pinkette was shyly nodding her head while the purple haired ogress was much more enthusiastic. Just what sort of things did Treyni and Mia tell them?
Since I figured I would be massaging several people regularly if things continued at this rate, I purchased a massage table with a built in cleansing feature for both the table itself and the user. It cost about 100 SP, but if I include this in the reward list for my people, I'll no doubt quickly earn the points back once I can start dispensing quests.
I opened a garganta and pulled the table out from my storage space. The girls were surprised seeing something new, but the hard to notice middle-aged ogre looked at it with a sense of inquisitiveness.
Based on what the skill [Appraisal] had revealed, he was likely curious as a craftsmen. I smiled, "This is just a massage table that people can lay on comfortably. The only thing special is that it comes with a built in cleansing function for both the table and the user."
"Oh…I see. interesting, I have never seen such a thing before." He spoke deeply, with his eyes locked on the formation that gave it its unique abilities.
"Okay… Well then, how about we get started. What type of massage would you like, Mia?"
"Umm, even though all my injuries are healed, my muscles are still tensed up from the fight. Can you help me loosen them up a bit?" She asked furtively.
"Of course, Mia that hardly even counts as a reward. Just give me a moment to set up an area around the table to give you all some privacy."
"Perhaps you should make the area large enough for the other girls to be able to see as well, if they already know what to expect it might be easier for them."
"Oh? That is a great idea, Treyni. Just give me a few minutes to set it up."
I quickly withdrew some thicker branches I had previously collected to use as posts and buried them in the ground in a rectangular pattern around the table before wrapping a mixture of [Sticky Thread] and [Steel Thread] around the posts, covering everything but the roof and entrance. For the doorway, I wove another tarp-like cloth with a split that went 2/3 up the center and pinned it to the door posts.
I then placed two additional taller posts in the center of both of the smaller walls and ran a twisted wire of thread mixture between the two and then made another tarp-like cloth to drape across it the line connect it to the two long walls form a roof.
The improv shelter took about fifteen minutes in total to build, with most of the time going toward weaving the cloths and wrapping the structure. After I was finished I turned to the girls, only to see them looking at me with dumbfounded expressions.
"Wa-Was that the ability used by the B-rank Demon Spider?" The elder ogre asked confusedly.
"Hmm?" I was surprised he was aware of the monster I had taken the ability from, but I saw no need to explain my abilities to them currently. "I don't know what you're talking about." I answered, not saying anything else.
The elder narrowed his eyes, examining me, but aside from understanding I wouldn't admit anything, he could find nothing else, so he dropped the subject and resumed his meditation.
I turned to the girls and withdrew some silky, size-adjusting, spa kimonos. They were simple white robes that would come down go just a few inches above the knee.
I spent 20 SP on each of them instead of purchasing a cheaper robe since it brought my total SP down to a nice, round, 66,500 SP.
I handed them each their own kimono and told them to go in and get changed, only leaving their underwear beneath the robes. Luckily the princesses' hot-headed brother and their stealthy companion had gone to patrol the perimeter of the clearing, else he might've thrown a fit.
"This is just to make things easier and quicker to get things done. Besides, it should help ease any embarrassment if you're all wearing the same thing, right?"
The princess looked at the outfit reticently, but both Mia and Treyni readily took it and entered the tent since it was a considerable upgrade from my previous massages.
The purple-haired ogress also looked curiously towards the thin robe before grabbing the princess's hand and pulling her inside.
A few minutes later, I heard Mia call towards me. "Orion, we are ready. You can come in now."