Chapter 32: Child Abuse

Gima sat on the chair, listening to the steady footsteps approaching outside the door. She took a deep, theatrical breath, trying to brew up some convincing, heartfelt emotions. Her grand plan was to induce George, her sweet, simple-minded tool, to go to the bank for her, to walk right into the lion's den and be her personal, heavily-armored mine-sweeper.

George pushed the door open. Gima’s black-stockinged legs swung for a moment. She hopped down from the chair, her feet pattering on the floor as she ran towards George, her face adorned with her cutest, most dazzling, and completely fabricated smile.

“George! You’re finally back! Was it terribly hard work, fighting all those nasty kobolds?”

George couldn’t help but glance at the clean, pale white tail swaying between Gima’s legs. The tip of her tail danced back and forth between her thighs, occasionally brushing against her silk stockings, making a faint, almost inaudible rustling sound. The stockings were very thin, and through them, one could see the hazy, snow-white skin beneath.

“It wasn’t hard,” he said, his voice as earnest as ever. “Just… troublesome.”

Gima sniffed the air, catching the faint but distinct scent of peaches. She deeply, profoundly felt that stockings were truly a woman’s most powerful and most sacred weapon. A look of bright, hopeful anticipation appeared on her face.

“Then we don’t have to worry about our food expenses anymore, right? Oh, George, I heard there’s a very delicious food in Salem City called grilled swordfish! They say they grill the strongest, most flavorful muscle from the swordfish and pour a divine sweet and sour sauce over it. It’s especially delicious, and there are no bones!”

As Gima spoke, her golden eyes shone with a brilliant, greedy light.

“No,” George said, shaking his head with what looked like genuine regret. “We don’t have enough money.”

“Then half a portion is fine.”

George shook his head again. “Still not enough.”

Gima asked cautiously, her voice trembling with disappointment, “A quarter portion?”

“The reward for the quest was only one gold coin.”

“One gold coin?!” Gima’s entire being seemed to wilt at a speed visible to the naked eye. “But… but I thought you had discovered a vast underground kingdom of kobolds and rescued a beautiful noble young lady from a horde of disgusting goblins, and she, moved to tears with overwhelming gratitude, gave you a giant chest full of gold coins!”

George blinked. “Hold on… how did you connect this to goblins?”

“Well,” Gima said, thinking on her feet, “I saw you and that noble young lady looking very close just now, so I naturally thought of a hero saving a beauty. And since it’s a classic hero-saves-beauty scenario, it’s only natural that goblins would appear, right? They’re the same kind of low-level cannon fodder monster as kobolds, anyway.”

George didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her impeccable, if somewhat tropey logic.

“Your imagination is truly rich. We just happened to meet by chance. Her name is Liz. She wanted to experience the life of an adventurer and was also planning to exterminate the kobolds.”

A standard hentai opening. It’s just a pity the ones living in the sewer weren’t a group of horny, tentacled goblins.

“I see.” Gima was a little disappointed, her tail drooping to the floor. “Then aren’t her parents opposed to it? After all, adventuring always has its… accidents.”

“They’re just kobolds. Besides, she has twenty heavily armed, and very expensive, battle-slaves following her.”

“And then?”

“She was hesitating at the entrance of the sewer, so I went down and wiped out all the kobolds for her. She felt bad about it and invited me to her boat. We had a nice chat. She thinks a great Bartonian knight shouldn’t be doing such a menial job as clearing out sewer kobolds, so she invited me to join the new adventuring team she’s forming. We agreed to go and attack a goblin nest in a few days.”

“What’s the real difference between clearing out kobolds and attacking goblins?”

Gima was skeptical. Even if George stood completely still, the goblins, with the strength of an eight-year-old child, couldn’t cause him the slightest bit of harm.

George thought seriously for a moment. “Kobolds are oviparous. You have to make sure to smash all the eggs.”

“Well, it doesn’t sound like a simple adventure for fun.”

“She’s a girl with a bit of a vain streak. She kept hinting that her many admirers are also in the adventuring team,” George said with a sigh. “I think she likes to watch others fight over her.”

Gima’s eyebrow twitched. She vaguely felt her chance had come. “So you’re interested in her? Are you going to fight her pack of simps for her affection?”

“Simps?” George thought for a moment. “Is that a metaphor for her pursuers?”

Gima nodded enthusiastically.

“How fitting,” George mused. “But it’s rather insulting. You shouldn’t say it to their faces. And of course not. She promised to invite her most capable adventuring teammates to the grand Rainbow Festival banquet. I just want to use her to build some connections and find out who this Nudelhi person is.”

“Just don’t develop it into a ‘connection’ in the bed,” Gima muttered under her breath, then said with a look of concern, “But to attend a noble’s banquet, you can’t just wear your full plate armor. No one would want to talk to a guest who doesn’t even own a single decent set of clothes.”

“That’s what’s giving me a headache. I just hope Liz will be understanding. I’ll just have to tell her about my predicament.”

“Are you just going to tell her directly, ‘I’m sorry, I’m too poor to buy nice clothes’?”

“I’ll leave out the ‘I’m sorry’.”

“George, are you really, truly planning to just say it directly?”

“Is there a problem with that?” George looked at Gima strangely. “It’s the truth.”

How can one man be so catastrophically, suicidally dense?!

“Since she’s a vain person, she might politely decline and not invite you,” Gima said, trying to steer him. “She’ll probably be thinking, ‘A poor bastard who can’t even afford clothes thinks he’s worthy of attending my banquet?’”

“Actually… I have a way to solve our money problem. But… never mind.”

“Gima, leaving a sentence half-finished is the most torturous thing a person can do.”

“I’m afraid…” Gima’s eyes drooped. Her childish voice was filled with a convincing fear, yet she tried her best to hide it, making her trembling voice evoke a powerful, heartfelt pity. “I’m afraid that if I tell you, you won’t want me anymore.”

“I will never abandon you,” George said, his tone firm and unshakeable.

He’s taking the bait! He’s taking the bait!

Gima’s spirits soared, but her expression didn’t change. She hesitantly raised her head, mustered all her courage, and said:

“I… I think there’s a reason I was locked in the Demon Lord Kima’s vault. In my memories, I have a clue to his treasure vault.”

George’s expression grew grave. He thought of something, and his golden eyebrows shot up in disgust.

“The Demon Lord Kima’s actions were truly, utterly disgusting. To think he would make you into a living key for his vault, just to carry you around with him to satisfy his constant, depraved lust.”

What absolute nonsense! You’re the bad guy here, making shit up! Aren’t you the one carrying the “key” around now? And I’m the one who has to figure out how to satisfy your desires every single day… Although, that living key idea does sound quite exciting…

Gima suppressed the anger that flared up in her heart and said with an unchanged, innocent expression:

“The key to that lecher’s treasure vault is stored in the highest-security anonymous account at the Fellen Brothers Bank. There must be a lot of gold coins in that account. It should be enough to help you.”

“Gima, I’m so glad you could tell me your secret.”

Tsk, taking advantage of my good nature and still acting all noble. Let’s see if you can still smile after you’ve walked right into the minefield I’ve set for you.

“I’m just happy I can help George,” Gima said sweetly. “After all, George is the only one who has been so nice to me. I just hope you’ll share some of the money with me afterwards. I really, really want to eat that grilled swordfish.”

“I promise.”

“Then when are we going to the bank to withdraw the money?” Gima asked excitedly, clenching her small fists in anticipation.

George smiled. “Actually, Gima already snuck out this morning and went to the bank to withdraw the money, didn’t she?”

The hopeful smile on Gima’s face instantly froze solid. “This… this, I… I… you can ask the servants! Go on, ask them if I snuck out!”

“You only need to answer, yes or no.”

There was absolutely no room for misdirection or clever wordplay.

Gima’s little heart pounded. She could only lower her head and say in a tiny voice, “...Yes.”

“And let me guess. You couldn’t get it out, so you decided to ask me for help, right?”

“I was just a little greedy, that’s all.” Gima’s tail, which had been wagging with excitement just moments before, froze mid-wag.

“I’m not blaming you. As long as your greed doesn’t harm others, it’s a normal human emotion. I won’t blame you for that,” George said patiently. “On the contrary, I’m very happy that you could trust me and tell me your secret, even after trying to deceive me.”

Gima was surprised that George wasn’t angry at all. If someone had tried to trick her like that, she would have twisted their head off long ago. She breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little smug again.

As expected of a stupidly dense, goody-two-shoes virgin.

She raised her head, and her previously frozen tail began to wag happily again.

“But,” George’s tone suddenly changed, becoming stern and unyielding, “we already have an agreement. Although I understand your motives, you must follow the rules.”

With that, George pulled out his little scoring notebook from somewhere, picked up the pencil from the desk, and, as he wrote, said in a solemn voice:

“Violating the agreement and going out without permission, minus five points.” 

“Lying about it, minus three points.”

“Lying again after being caught, minus two points.”

Gima’s heart went cold. She had worked so hard these past two days to clear her negative score. With these new deductions, she would be at negative ten points, which meant a spanking.

She blurted out, “I object!”

“Object?”

George looked up from his notebook and asked, his voice calm.

“I want to see the agreement! The deductions are far too severe!”

So, George took out the agreement and pointed out each rule to Gima, one by one. The more she looked, the colder her heart grew. Gima suddenly remembered that Paladins were lawful good and valued hard evidence above all else. She quickly said:

“You… you have no proof!”

George nodded. “You’re right.”

Gima breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn’t help but put her hands on her hips, her tail held high in triumph. “Well, then, you can just deduct half the points. I promise I won’t do it again.” I just won’t get caught by you again.

“Forcefully denying the truth, minus five points,” George said with a faint, almost imperceptible smile. “If I have no proof, how did I know you snuck out?”

Gima’s tail immediately went limp. “I don’t believe it. Not unless you show me the proof.”

So, George took Gima to the window overlooking the backyard and called out to the celestial warhorse in the stable, “Old friend, did you see Gima sneak out today? If you did, give me a sign.”

The horse let out a long, loud, and very affirmative, “NEIGH~~”

“Gima, did you hear that? Huh? Where did she go?”

The door to their room was pushed open. A hat with a white bow lay on the floor. A clean white tail disappeared around the doorframe.

In the corridor, Gima’s bare feet padded silently on the carpet as she ran towards the staircase at top speed.

Damn it! I knew there was something wrong with that damn stud horse! It’s a snitch!

“Gima, come back!”

George’s voice came from behind her, and it was also a command, imbued with the power of their contract.

I’d rather starve to death outside than go back and be spanked!

But her hands and feet wouldn’t obey. They went limp, and she stopped just before the staircase, her body refusing to move another inch.

She gritted her teeth, fighting against the power of the contract coming from the depths of her soul.

I am a magnificent Demon Lord! I will not yield to a mere contract! I am the master of my own destiny!

Gima’s little face turned red with exertion. Her black-stockinged legs trembled as she slowly, painfully, lifted one foot towards the stairs, then her body turned around against her will and strode back to the room.

This feeling of being out of control of her own body was terrible. Seeing the door getting closer and closer, Gima’s little face turned crimson with humiliation, and her eye circles couldn't help but turn red.

In the past, it was she who had used slave contracts to play with her maids. Now, she was being played with by the very Hero who had killed her.

Tears gathered in her eyes, but she held them back, refusing to let them fall.

George walked out of the door with her white hat in his hand. He quickly went over and put the hat on Gima’s head, covering her horns. He put an arm around her, guided her back into the room, and closed the door, hiding her tail from view.

Seeing Gima’s reddened eyes, he was stunned for a moment, then said softly, “I was anxious just now. I was afraid your identity would be exposed.”

Gima lifted her head, holding back her tears. How could a magnificent Demon Lord cry in front of her sworn enemy? It’s unthinkable!

She was so stubborn… George’s heart softened completely. He coaxed her, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have used the contract.”

Why is he apologizing to me?

Gima was surprised. It took her a moment to realize what he meant. George seemed to have promised not to treat her as a slave, and he felt he had broken that promise.

She was inexplicably touched for a fraction of a second, but the feeling quickly vanished.

What an absolute idiot. Haha, how many lifetimes of good fortune did it take for me to trick such a powerful, and utterly stupid tool?

“Lying and denying when faced with a direct accusation, minus five points,” George said, making a neat mark in his little notebook. “That brings your total to negative twenty points. According to the agreement, that means pants down, ten spankings on the bottom.”

Tears immediately, and this time quite genuinely, streamed down Gima’s face. She quickly clutched her chest and said, her voice full of tragic despair:

“My young, innocent little heart has already been deeply traumatized by the slave contract. If you spank me again, it will surely shatter into a million tiny pieces! I’ll have a lifetime of psychological trauma… It’s incredibly harmful to a child’s mental health!”

“The rules are the rules. Get on the bed.”

Gima immediately turned, threw open the door, and tried to flee, shouting at the top of her lungs, “Help! Someone’s abusing a child! Help me!”

Her upper body was just out the door when she felt a sharp tug on her tail. She turned her head and saw that George was holding her tail. He gave it a firm pull, and Gima stumbled back a few steps, landing with a soft oomph on the bed.

George closed the door, easily holding Gima’s thrashing tail. “Lie down obediently,” he said, his voice calm and firm. “Otherwise, I’ll deduct more points.”