I got five stones on my hunting earlier. I sold two stones and paid the government three stones. All in all from those two stones, I got twenty dollars. It truly felt too little when I'd had to risk my life. But they were F-rank stones. All they were good for was flashlight batteries, so I knew they were practically worthless. But if I did this every day, I could earn 600 dollars. It was above the minimum wage for most countries.
"I can kill monsters just fine, but the future looks bleak," I muttered. "Well, I can simply improve. That's why I need to upgrade my skills. I've decided—Yuuno should be my next target. To do that, I need to gather more essence from Sakura. I wonder if she's free this evening."
No, that would make me look like a sex addict. Should I hold back and do this once a week? But in that case, all we'd ever do would be vanilla stuff. I needed to train her to feel pleasure so she'd become addicted to it.
As I pondered my next strategy, Sakura greeted me in front of the school gate, as if she had been waiting for me.
"Tanuki! Um… good morning."
"Um… morning. Is there something you need from me?" I waved back. The sudden greeting caught me off guard. Why did she suddenly greet me? She'd been ignoring me for the past ten years.
"Um… nothing. I was just greeting you, that's all."
"Ah. I see. By the way, did you have fun that Saturday? Want to do it again?" I smirked, invitingly. I could still remember the pleasure she'd felt during our play last Saturday. I even had the video as proof. Well, I wouldn't do anything with the videos—they were just a journal. A training journal of how my childhood friend became obsessed with sex.
"W-w-what are you talking about? I-it's not like I enjoyed it or a-anything." She stammered badly, her face flushing red. Whoa—she was so innocent despite being caught reading SM books red-handed. This girl was a rare specimen. I really wanted to train her fully. I had ordered SM toys yesterday after depositing my stones at the government hall.
"I have new toys. Do you have club activities today?"
"U-um… my club is tomorrow. So… yeah. I suppose I could spare you some time to play. You'd be lonely without me, right?" Sakura said haughtily.
This bitch. I'll fix her mouth later once she gets addicted to to my dick.
"Sakura! Morning! Eh? What's this? It's so rare to see you two walking to school together." Nijima, Sakura's best friend, greeted her. She leaped at Sakura, hugging her and burying her face in Sakura's chest. This world isn't fair. Why is it okay for girls to do that but not for boys? If I hugged her like that—burying my face in her chest—I'd definitely get slapped.
"Nijima, geez. We just happened to meet at the school gate, that's all. Makoto is a classmate, after all." Sakura patted her head.
Nah, she was totally lying. She'd been waiting for me at the school gate. Why, though? Did she have something to say to me?
"Hm… that's sus. You had never greeted him before. Why act friendly now?" Nijima squinted at me, eyeing me closely. My heart raced a little. She acted childish, but she was sharp.
"I'll leave that to your imagination." Instead of denying it vehemently like Sakura, I smirked.
"Whoa, a creep is here! We should call the police, Sakura. He's harassing you!" She clung to Sakura's arm while slandering me.
"Hey! I'm just joking!" I reeled back. This was why I hated women. Give them a few suggestive ideas and they're quick to cry harassment. "Hah… whatever."
"Hey, Makoto. Wait. Geez, Nijima... You can't accuse people left and right like that. Makoto isn't like that," Sakura said.
"Men are all lecherous, Sakura. You shouldn't bother with a loner like him. Let's go."
I can still hear you, you know!
"Hah…" I sighed. My mood to play with Sakura today tanked.
No. This wasn't mere play. I needed to do this to complete my mission. Without Essence Shards, I'd just be a random commoner you could find anywhere. Let's see what I bought yesterday.
I'd bought several tools, ranging from anal beads to vibrators. I hesitated over which mission to pursue next. Should I make her climax anally? Or maybe through breast play? Or should I just train her to have multiple climaxes? So many options.
*bzzt
As I pondered my plans for the evening at my desk, my phone vibrated. I thought Sakura was about to apologize for Nijima's behavior, but it was Yuuno. What a letdown. I thought I'd grown closer to Sakura, yet she'd let her friends mock me like that. Women.
"When will you be available? I want to do a raid soon."
"A raid?" I tilted my head as answered her with a question. I'd heard about raids on TV. They were supposed to be carried out by super-elite groups of adventurers who'd been delving dungeons for years. Was she really inviting me into something like that? It sounded too good to be true. What was the catch?
"A raid is when multiple adventurers try to tackle harder floors. No, it's not exclusive to a select few. Don't trust everything you see on the internet. Anyway, raids are both safer and better-paying."
"Aren't raids exclusive to guilds? Are you sure your guild will let me in?"
"Erm… no. This raid is just for the three of us. Noelle is also a wandering adventurer like you. So… would you like to come?"
"I see. Are you sure it'll be safer? We're just adding a random nobody, right? Anyway, how's the split?"
"Noelle has a greatsword. She's perfect as an attacker alongside you. With double damage dealers, that means less work for me as well. As for the split, it's forty-five, thirty-five, twenty. So, are you in?"
"…Hmm… alright." As expected of the penny-pincher. Still, this was much fairer than getting one-third yesterday. Well, as long as I gained experience, it was fine. I needed to make concessions here—I was the one who'd asked for flexible hours. But I already had a promise with Sakura today, so I couldn't venture into the dungeon. "I have plans today. Can we do it tomorrow?"
"Understood. Tomorrow it is, then. We'll be going to the third floor. There'll be a group of five goblins there. Sometimes a hobgoblin appears as well. Stay on your toes."
"You stay on your toes. I don't want to risk my life for pennies. If things get hairy, we leave."
"You need to take some risks if you want to prosper. There might be treasure chests down there."
"What kind of treasure would be inside an F-rank dungeon?"
"Beginner weapons. They'll help you get out of the loan, right? If we find one, I'll give it to you. In exchange, you'll give me one stone every day."
"Geez. I'm not diving every day, you know. Alright. I'll accept. You owe me, okay."
"I am just kidding. We will share the treasure equally. but if a weapon or items come up, we will give each a turn, Okay. See you on Tuesday. Thanks"
Huh? She said okay. I thought she'd yell, saying she owed me nothing. I guess even she had some sense of shame.
When I put my phone away, Sakura eyed me.
"Tanuki. Who was that? Your new friend?" Sakura smiled as she glanced at my phone. Huh? Why did she suddenly seem so comfortable? She'd never been curious about me before.
"Huh? Yeah."
"Oh? I didn't know. So you do have friends. Was it a girl?" Sakura looked at me closely. Her smile didn't reach her eyes.
"I just met her yesterday. She's in a guild."
"Eh? A guild? So she's an adventurer? Ew. What a creep. I bet you didn't actually make friends with her. You probably just met her on the street and decided she's your idol," Nijima said. This bitch certainly had a loose mouth.
"Nijima…" Sakura admonished her.
"That's true. Adventurers are basically elite humans. They're favored by governments. Even the police are afraid of them. There's no way this Tanuki could make friends with such an elite group, let alone a girl."
Nijima was right. Adventurers were basically an elite group. Only they could dive into dungeons and defeat monsters. The arcane stones they harvested were used for many things. The government was essentially pandering to them. I'd read in the news that an S-rank adventurer had been let off with only a stern warning after killing someone in a scuffle. They were more privileged than even karens like Nijima.
"Well, for your information, I just got blessed a week ago," I smirked. "So, you see, she was a beginner adventurer as well. We just went on a dungeon hunt yesterday, and it was quite a success. We kinda hit it off, you know."
I'd actually met her by chance in the dungeon, but I wasn't going to tell her that.
"Eh? Really?"
"Yeah. We killed about ten goblins yesterday," I bragged to Nijima.
"Eh… no way. Are you actually a blessed person? Impossible. You're lying! Yes, you're lying! There's no way a loner like you would be blessed! Impossible! As you say—no proof, no deal!"
"Hehehe." I chuckled, my voice menacing. "I was waiting for that exact phrase, Nijima! Behold—my registration ID."
I showed her my registration ID on my phone. Nijima could verify that I was registered through the government website.
"No way! Impossible." Nijima turned ghastly pale.
"Yes! This loner you hate so much has become a full-fledged adventurer. Now, kneel before me!"
I really should stop boasting about my adventurer status to the world. People saw adventurers as superheroes. But I knew there were poor and weak adventurers out there. Yuuno was a prime example. I shouldn't get too cocky.
"…I beg for your forgiveness, Lord Makoto!" She performed a dogeza. The satisfaction when an arrogant brat like her kneel filled my heart with euphoria.
"No. Begone, thot!"
"Ehehe. Please don't say that, Makoto. You know I was joking, right?" Nijima suddenly acted obsequiously, fawning over me with all her might. Her words sent shivers down my spine. They awakened an old trauma within me.
"No. Please stop that, Nijima. If you come within two meters of me, I'll sue you for sexual harassment."
"Eh?? That's absurd. Sexual harassment can only be done by a guy!"
"Adventurers are an exception. Understand? Stay away." I glared at her. She wasn't entirely wrong—sexual harassment was usually committed by men—but there had been an incident where a woman tried to throw herself at an adventurer and ended up getting killed. That was why a new law to protect adventurers had been passed.
Realizing I meant business, she stopped advancing and flopped against Sakura instead.
"Ah… I was dumped by Makoto. Sakura, did you know about him being an adventurer? Is that why you're being so friendly with him now?" Nijima hugged Sakura, trying to play the victim while accusing me.
"N-n-no. That wasn't the case," Sakura said, looking away.
Hah… women were all the same. Once they found a rich guy, they acted like whores. Where were they when I was just a commoner?
This sense of conquest was truly exhilarating. I wanted to drown them in pleasure so that, instead of parasitizing me, they would work for me.
I would begin my conquest—starting with Sakura after school.