Chapter 44: Meeting The Party
In a rather decently decorated room, with wooden walls and a carpeted floor, with a training doll chained to the wall. Yumiko stood in a combative stance, facing an iron doll covered in padded material as she punched out violently in her armoured maid outfit.
Each blow rang out with a dense impact and the jingle of her bronze pauldrons and growth-type gauntlets on her hands.
Despite being metal, the detail and appearance of her armour were beautiful. The shade perfectly matched her maid outfit, which she wore with a shorter skirt for kicks.
A thin layer of metal covered her delicate fingers.
With small parts of black cloth at each, join to allow effortless movement. There was barely enough armour to change the outline of her bare fingers.
'These gauntlets are so amazing. It feels like I'm wearing nothing, and they protect my entire arm for free.'
In reality, rather than just gauntlets. Her armour protected her entire arm and shoulder, which comprised various parts: Gauntlets, Vambraces and Pauldrons.
While the leg portion identically comprised various parts: Sabatons, Greaves and flexible Knee Cops.
Such great armaments were called "Growth Types." Compared to the highest-quality armour made with magic, they might lack significantly at first.
However, they could grow and adapt to a specific user.
As long as you had it equipped once, you could always wear it again, and no other could, until the owner died or gifted it to another person, and the armour would start from the beginning once again.
Yumiko's leg swung in a sharp arc, smashing the doll and causing the padding and metal to crack. She almost bent from the blow as she pulled back with a deep exhilaration.
The irritation of meeting other beautiful women who were close to her beloved made the beastkin furious, though she would come to accept it. Her race was one of ferocity, great jealousy and monopolistic desires.
'He's already sleeping with others. How many? Where are they? Will they come to take him away, saying I am just a toy or a fling!?'
The idea of being his toy for a moment gave her a slight tingle of excitement, which she quickly shook out of her head.
Ryuji didn't understand how much his slip of words caused Yumiko to worry about invisible enemies that existed in another world; though she knew from the start that he wouldn't be a one-woman man, it still created great conflict and made her feel violent.
Yumiko never truly believed it could happen in reality.
She burned with the desire to beat that training doll as though it were an enemy while she held a mental image of some fantasy girl in her mind's eye. The big-breasted elf from the other day and the knight who seemed to be interested in him appeared doing things with Ryuji that would make her lose control.
'He wouldn't do that. Ryuji said I was the best... I just need to remain the best, and all those women will kneel beneath me!'
Thud!
Thud!
Her fists rained on the doll, crushing it into oblivion before a soft knock sounded at the door, which Yumiko didn't hear because of her loud actions.
The knock sounded three times before waiting a moment and then turning the doorknob.
"Hello? Is anyone here!?"
"Sheila, be careful!"
Sheila and Alicia entered the room, only to see an enraged yet beautiful beastkin turning towards them with a devastating roundhouse kick.
Her eyes were full of rage as the elf stepped forward, her left hand clasping Yumiko's ankle, her right grasping her thigh before slamming her over her head, using Yumiko's momentum against her with a bang.
Alicia frowned as a little blood trickled from Yumiko's mouth, and she blinked wide-eyed as her body rose again from the elf's sudden counter and realised the two were not her imagination but the real thing.
'Ouch. The slutty elf is really skilled...'
"Are you alright, Yumiko? I am sorry if we startled you." Sheila's friendly voice sounded, yet her lips curled into a smile as if making fun of her.
Shiela's beautiful black hair was silky, like a raven's glossy feathers in the sunlight, and her eyes green like an evergreen forest. Although her body seemed modest, Yumiko could see under that white robe that her rounded buttocks were definitely bigger than they seemed and Ryuji's type.
"Fine, I thought you were enemies. Forgive me."
'Damn this woman! I can smell her lewd scent from here, and she will seduce my Ryuji the moment I turn my back...!'
Meanwhile, the lovely green hair of the elf just above her shoulders danced like grass in the morning breeze, her eyes watching Yumiko with amusement, her body nothing like a normal elf, tight abs, a wide pair of hips and globes of soft flesh, bigger and perkier than Yumiko's!
'The true enemy!'
The pair of them just smiled at each other, seeming to understand their thoughts as fellow women.
"Ryuji's dog maid."
"The slut elf that lusts for Ryuji."
"Hmph!"
"Tsk!"
"Now, now you two, we are here to test Yumiko, not fight each other... Wouldn't that make Ryuji sad?"
'This woman isn't an ally!'
Yumiko realised how sly and powerful an enemy Sheila could prove if she really pursued Ryuji and felt a sense of desperation.
She could only go back into the corner, where the destroyed dummy remained in its pitiful state. Then the door opened again, and a fresh-looking male with two swords on his waist and a balding male with a friendly face entered.
"You must be Paul, right? I remember Ryuji being impressed by your runes!"
Paul could only smile. He seemed unaware of how much he had influenced their newest member, Ryuji.
"R-Really!? I thought he might think it boring since he's a melee type."
"No! He told me about it and said you were such a vital part of the victory that day. He seems to want to learn magic because of you."
Because it concerned Ryuji, Yumiko remembered almost all his words to a tee, which helped her soften the initial terrible start; Alicia and Sheila stood with Simon, who watched their friend Paul seem genuinely happy for the first time in a while.
"Heh, Paul's admiration of Ryuji's combat style is mutual. How cute." Simon muttered, rubbing his stubbled chin.
"Simon, are you jealous?" Alicia stuck out her tongue with narrowed eyes, mocking Simon.
"Bah, that boy is lucky enough as it is..."
"Don't worry, Simon. I am sure you will find a young boy who admires you, too!" Sheila tapped his shoulder before closing her eyes and whispering something that caused the dual swordsman's face to turn red.
"Not like that!!"
The party seemed to have improved their relationship since Ryuji helped them; most of them were now a few levels higher from individual training and battle during knight duty.
However, they seemed to look excited at the prospect of diving into another dungeon with Ryuji.
***
"So, Ryuji is meeting the princess?" Simon asked; the group now sat on the comfy sofas while Yumiko sat opposite them.
"I am sure it is only official business! You know how the nobles are about these things." Sheila spoke up, but her smile had a slightly sour expression.
"I agree... However, as you know, the church and the nobles are already making a lot of noise about the heroes and taking too long to choose their damn chosen."
"Well, we are small people; let's just enjoy the dungeons when we can," Alicia added despite looking at Yumiko with a strange gaze.
The plans given to Yumiko by the party were to have her protect the casters and act as a supportive tank for Ryuji, though this was only until they knew her strength and abilities.
Thanks to mentioning supporting Ryuji, she quickly accepted sincerely.
The party gave the details about Ryuji's previous dungeon dive, and she listened with wide eyes, never complaining or interrupting.
A far cry from the previous violence. However, she would growl at the lewd and flirtatious comments from Alicia and Sheila, who spoke about his gaze or hand touching their bodies by 'accident.'
After talking for an hour, they agreed she could join them and let her return to their shared room.
The moment she entered the fancy room, the scent of their night together flooded her senses. "I'm glad I scolded the maids not to clean the scent away... hehe." Yumiko then jumped on the bed, rolling on the sheets with a radiant smile.
"Stupid elf... and priestess, I won't let you take him away!"
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