Primordial Villain with a Slave Harem

Chapter 1219: Follow Them

Ayame’s sandal thudded against the marble floor, her voice cracking with irritation.

"What do you mean, ’not this time’?!"

Quinlan flinched at the accusatory tone of his sexy samurai and then sighed, raised a hand, and patted her head.

It was an instinctive action on his part; he didn’t even think before his body started moving.

*Smack!*

Her palm smacked it away instantly. "My feelings won’t be smothered by head pats! I’m not Blossom. So tell me, what gives?!"

Quinlan’s eyes darted anywhere but her. The trees. The wall. A random plant. The sky. Back to the wall.

Clearly, he had no intention of acknowledging her existence right now.

Ayame scoffed at the realization, standing before him with hands on her hips. "You’re unbelievable!"

But as she noticed the obvious trouble behind his eyes, her anger receded.

It was obvious that Quinlan was torn. He wanted to let go, truly let go, but he couldn’t. His heart wouldn’t let him.

Such a troubled expression was shocking to see on the oriental beauty. Quinlan was always so steady and firm. It was extremely rare to see him struggle with making decisions.

Her shoulders relaxed. She huffed and leaned forward slightly, wordlessly. A tender smile materialized on her lips as she felt Quinlan’s hand return to her head and begin stroking her lush black hair.

She knew he just couldn’t help himself. It was these small moments and gestures that made her fall into the deepest depths of the abyss of love.

"... Fine," she whispered her acceptance warmly.

A quiet sigh escaped her lips. "I get it. They’re kids. Younger than I was when I started cutting down monsters."

Her tone turned reflective. "But the reason I thought letting them go was the right decision was that after meeting the real monsters like Vex and Raika... women who were already fighting before they even entered puberty..."

She raised her hands and studied her palms, seeing the calluses from years of training with the blade. She picked it up a long, long time ago and has been religiously training since she could walk.

But she only started killing late into her teens and was always escorted by her family’s guards.

It meant that while yes, she was way ahead of the masses, being level 14 at age 18, the few true monsters of the world were far ahead of her.

"I see it now. Being cautious isn’t always the right path. If I didn’t have your help, Quin, I might’ve grown wrinkles before I ever reached Vex’s level, let alone Black Fang’s."

Quinlan reluctantly nodded. "Exactly. Starting early gives you a head start. But it also drastically increases your chances of dying. If you succeed, you’ll be younger than your peers and have the chance to reach the peak while people younger than you grow old and frail... But chances are, you’ll just die a miserable death, forgotten in the maws of a beast that eats you alive."

Ayame arched a brow. "And if you were in their place? Young, talented, holding a powerful class... would you really sit in this mansion watching time slip by, happily counting the days until the adults say you’re ready?"

A big smirk adorned her beautiful face, knowing full well what he would do in their stead.

Quinlan opened his mouth, paused, then shut it. "... Point taken."

"Mmhm. Good."

Then, from Ayame’s shoulder, Rosie chirped brightly, "Mommy Vex and Auntie Raika are also very unhinged women! Rosie thinks it’s partly because of their traumatic childhood!"

Ayame froze. "... You might be onto something."

A long sigh escaped her again. "Fine, Quin. You win. Let’s protect them from the shadows."

But then her eyes widened. "Wait, why did you want Rosie to follow them?!"

Hearing her distraught question, Rosie and Quinlan exchanged a glance.

And in that instant, one could see it.

That mischievous sparkle, the same wicked twinkle, was mirrored perfectly between father and daughter.

The embodiment of trouble brewing.

They were the perfect duo.

Ayame didn’t miss it. "... You two are up to something."

Quinlan’s lips curved into a smirk. "This little young lady," he began, patting Rosie’s tiny head affectionately, "didn’t find it important enough to tell us the truth. But she opened up to me today after some severe prompting from my end. I learned that she’s far, far more powerful than we ever thought."

Ayame blinked, confused. Her gaze snapped toward the little dryad perched smugly on her shoulder.

"... Just how powerful?"

"Level seventy!" Rosie chirped proudly, puffing out her chest like a sparrow showing off its feathers.

Ayame’s entire face drained of color. "Seventy?! I’m not even level forty yet!"

Quinlan let out a long, weary sigh. "Yeah. I know the feeling."

Ayame’s shock turned swiftly into a sharp glare directed right at the dryad. "And why," she began with her voice taking on a strict-mother tone, "have you kept this hidden, young miss?"

Rosie froze stiff. Her leafy hair practically bristled as she trembled from head to toe.

Quinlan spoke before the girl could stammer a word. "She feared that you and the others, her mothers, would treat her differently if you learned she was powerful."

The fire in Ayame’s eyes instantly softened. Her anger dissolved into a tender warmth. With a gentle smile, she reached under Rosie’s arms, lifted the dryad off his shoulder, and hugged her close to her chest.

"Rosie, we already accepted you as our daughter. Even if you grew into a giant woman towering far above even Serika, you’d still be our little girl."

Rosie’s eyes welled up instantly. She clung to Ayame, burying her face into the samurai’s neck as tears ran freely. "Rosie loves Ayame Mommy!"

Quinlan watched the scene with an amused grin. This was the exact warmth that Rosie craved like a hopeless drug addict. She was hooked on the drug known as ’motherly love’ and was ready to inject it straight into her veins at any given opportunity.

But he also noticed something else.

Ayame’s attitude. Stern when needed but tender and accepting, a perfect example of how he imagined a good mother of his children should be.

"You’ve grown into a good woman, Ayame. My mothers should have no problem anymore. I’ll turn you into a true oriental MILF one day."

Ayame paused mid-hug, and her face flushed crimson.

Then she turned, slowly. Her expression morphed into a glare so vicious that Quinlan almost felt his soul retreat a few steps back into his own body.

But he did not let it show. He stood proud and unapologetic.

Rosie burst out laughing. "Daddy is a big perv!"

Ayame’s glare lingered another long second... but eventually, it shattered. She exhaled, and her lips formed into a soft smile.

"...Perhaps this kind of arrogance is exactly what’s needed to handle a harem full of horny women."

Her gaze sharpened teasingly. "You just have to be hornier than the collective."

"Rosie wants to taste Ayame Mommy’s milk!! Get to work, Daddy! Stop procrastinating!" the dryad demanded.

"Rosie!" Ayame yelped, turning even redder. "What are you saying?!"

"Did Rosie stutter?"

"..." the dryad made even Quinlan pause this time around.

This girl was truly a special one.

Quinlan cleared his throat and ignored the demands sent his way.

"I want you to keep an eye on them at all times. If they leave the range of your roots, can you keep growing just in the direction they are, instead of all around at an even pace?"

"Yes! Rosie will do her best!"

Then she looked at him expectantly and said, "She is to be paid in head pats. A hundred a day."

"Deal."

And just like that, the team heading into the unknown received a fifth member unbeknownst to them.

But Quinlan’s work was still not done.

Quinlan gave Ayame’s head one last pat, savoring the feeling of her awesome hair.

"I have work to do, my sexy samurai," he said, his smirk returning.

Ayame tilted her head. Her curiosity was plain to see. "What work? Are you going to work on the armor with Kaelira or visit Miri Town? You still haven’t seen Mavena in her new home. She’s Lucille’s daughter, just in case you forgot. When was the last time you saw her?"

"I do remember, of course. I’ll visit Miri Town once I get Ignis and his wives there. As for the armor, yeah. It’s time to finish it."

His grin turned wolfish. "But not yet."

"Hmm? What do you plan to do then?"