In the morning on the road somewhere amidst the vast plain of Zenobia province, Zarba's group has finally taken a break from a week of nonstop travel on the road after they found a suitable clearing with no overgrown vegetation.
And then the dark red luxurious carriage carefully turned to the left as it moved into the clearing from the road, while one of the Zar-Bros that was assigned as the commander unit, who was also the driver of the carriage, gave commands to the other summoned units and coordinated them on the tasks without Zarba having to do it himself like usual.
After receiving the command, the Zar-Bros around the carriage immediately dismount as they start to secure and clear up the area as ordered from the commander unit before they begin to make camp together with a group of Pro-Maids that join them later on.
"Ahh~ finally some respite after such a long journey~!" Mormon groans with relief as she twists and turns her torso after jumping down from the carriage. The goblin girl is now dressed in a little blue dress and brown leather shoes that she got from Louise the merchant some time ago; now no one will possibly be able to tell that she is a goblin by just visuals alone, as there's no trace of goblin that could be seen on her any longer.
"My husband, I'll prepare a bath. Care to join me~?" Xin, with her arm hooked with Zarba, asked him with a sultry look as they stepped down from the carriage behind the goblin girl together. She has been quite restless after reading some dubious books from her stash this morning.
"I'll be happy to join you." Zarba smirked as he glanced down at the half-elf beside him. He noticed that she had been like this for a while now, and he knows exactly how to "help" her out.
"I'll join as well." Unexpectedly, Nadia joins in the conversation as she walks towards them with her arms placed on her hips after she had dismounted from the skeleton horse. Her face was determined. with a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Oh my, what have we here..." Xin shows some surprise at the muscular woman who intends to join their sexy time. This is the first time they have ever seen Nadia take the initiative to play with them without being forced into it.
"Hmmm... let's see, let's see..." Xin mumbled as she unhooked her arm from Zarba before she walked towards the muscular woman and circled around her with her finger poking all over the woman's body out of curiosity. She wonders if Nadia is an impostor.
"Stop, what are you doing?" Nadia grunted in annoyance as she slapped Xin's poking finger away like she was swatting flies.
"Well, I don't mind you joining us." Zarba chuckled as he also walked towards Nadia before he pulled her into a hug as his arms wrapped around her waist.
"Hmph..." Nadia huffed cutely as she was being held by Zarba while feeling quite embarrassed that he started groping her butt and smirking at her.
Behind Nadia, Zarba could see Xin grinning like a Cheshire cat as she mumbled about something.
"Hehehe... so easy..." Xin said as she hid her grinning lavender-shaded lips with her hand, her plan to tame the Great Warrior seemed to have advanced to another stage.
"You three are so energetic..." From a distance, Mormon watched the trio start their mating ritual with an amazed expression. To be honest, she started to get annoyed since they are doing it almost any chance they get without any sign of being sick of it. She wonders how they are so horny and shameless all the time, doing it in front of her every damn day.
"I'll make a bath now; you two can start playing around first~." Xin smiled suggestively at Zarba and Nadia before she went to set up the bathing area with the summoned units. They definitely needed a bigger bathtub this time, which she was going to create with magic.
"So what's on your mind?" Zarba nodded at Xin before he turned to the embarrassed muscular woman in his arms with curiosity while he kissed her cheek, making Nadia's cheeks feel even warmer now. "You were not this proactive before."
"I'm... you..." Nadia swallowed her saliva as she mumbled in silence while looking away from Zarba before responding more clearly; her usual brass attitude was gone as she revealed why she was taking the initiative in a whisper. "That thing... last time... I can't stop thinking about it..."
"It made me feel strange and fluffy... seeing you like that... because of me..." Her fingers gripped the back of Zarba's white shirt as she still avoided his gaze while telling her feelings with a blush. "I-I want to... do it again."
"Oh~?" Zarba chuckled with a husky voice; he didn't expect her to admit that as he slid his palm up her spine while his other hand squeezed her butt possessively. "What do you want to do exactly? What is 'that thing' you're talking about~?"
Getting teased by Zarba makes Nadia feel annoyed and even more embarrassed as she glares at him with her brown skin flushed darker, but seeing his affectionate gaze makes her grow meek in his arms.
"You—you know," she muttered, eyes darting to where Xin was creating an earth bathtub with transfiguration magic and Mormon was setting up her alchemy equipment with the Pro-Maid help before she finally said to Zarba. "That... in... in my mouth..."
"Say it properly." Zarba's smile widened as he put a finger on her chin and forced her to meet his gaze directly.
'Who knows such a woman would awaken such a fetish?' He thought in amusement as he waited for Nadia to say what she wants out loud.
"I... want to..." Nadia's lips are moving slowly as her pride is in conflict with the heat in her belly. The fact that she wants to do that to him is humiliating and arousing her at the same time.
'It feels like I was submitted to him...' Nadia thought as she gazed into Zarba's brown eyes as the scent of her and Xin's soap mingled with the musk of Zarba's sweat, making her want to kneel down and just do it right here, right now.
"I want to suck your—" But before she could continue, the air above them exploded with the sound of howling wind and a screech that rattled their bones.
All the people in the clearing immediately look up and see a griffin, a large monster that looks like a hybrid of an eagle and lion with talons like curved daggers and a large wingspan, swooping down from the sky like a bird of prey.
The griffin's eagle eyes locked onto one of the skeleton horses standing around the carriage, as it was deceived by the illusion enchantment that made the golems appear as white horses, perfect prey for the griffin to feast on.
Zarba's group watched as the griffin struck, talons on its front legs aiming for what it thought was flesh and blood prey—only to screech in confused surprise when its claws scraped against a hard black obsidian skeleton, causing a spark instead of a blood splash.
The illusion enchantment on the struck skeleton horse immediately shattered like heat haze, revealing the true form beneath the magic veil: a black skeleton of a horse, its hollow eye sockets seemingly staring back at the stunted griffin before the skeleton horse starts to shake its body to push off the griffin on top of it.
÷×÷×÷
[ System Alert! ]
—Quest triggered!
—Quest: The Lone Griffin!
—Objective: Kill the griffin.
—Reward: [ War Elephant Template ]
÷×÷×÷
"Hah, come on..." Zarba, seeing the griffin get away from the skeleton horse as it went back into the sky and just circled confusedly above them there, couldn't help but sigh at his peace being interrupted. The pattern is becoming so obvious that he is not even surprised anymore.
'I couldn't have some peace and quiet for long, could I?' He thought as he glared at the flying monster. 'But at least the reward is quite intriguing—a war elephant? Now that's a proper war machine and a mount!'
"I'll kill it," Nadia growled, as she was also quite angry that some random monster interrupted her time with Zarba. She looked back to her greatsword on one of the skeleton horses' backs and was about to go get it, but Zarba held her back in his arms, making her give him a questioning look.
"It's fine; the Zar-Bros can handle it." Zarba murmured against Nadia's ear, his arms relaxing around her waist as Nadia huffed as she watched the griffin with annoyance.
And just as Zarba said, the commander unit had already raised his hand and pointed at the griffin above before most of the Zar-Bros nocked their arrows in unison, their bowstrings humming with tension as they aimed at the monster.
The griffin let out another ear-splitting screech, its wingspan casting a bird-shaped shadow over the camp as it got ready to swoop down again, its talons flexing for another strike.
But the lion-bird hybrid didn't expect a volley of magic enchanted arrows to fly towards it fast like bullets, unlike the typical arrows it had seen the humans use before.
The griffin screeched in surprise as it tried to dodge the arrows, but three arrows still punched through its right wing membrane, ten on its belly, six on its legs, and two on its butt.
Its scream wasn't majestic anymore; it was the raw, guttural shriek of an animal in pain as it spiraled into the tall grass fifty meters away from camp, kicking up dust of dirt and grasses.
"Heh, stupid bird." Mormon sneers as she sees the griffin being easily taken care of before she continues to mix stuff in the small glass beaker with the Pro-Maid assisting her.
"How noisy..." Xin on the other hand, just glanced at the commotion before going back to making a bathtub like nothing just happened...