Chapter 313
A little before 6PM, someone knocked on the door while the five of us were engaged in an orgy. I almost sent them away until they uttered the word, 'dinner'. We quickly got dressed, but no amount of recomposing was going to hide how disheveled we were. When I went to open the door, an employee was sitting on her knees and had been waiting patiently for us. She wore a blue yukata and white apron, with her hair done in a bun. A kind smile greeted us, as well as the smell of dinner from the food cart just to the side.
"Good evening, Miss Saeko. Your dinner has arrived. Would you like to eat now, or shall we bring your food back at a later time?" she asked.
"Now is good. Thanks!" I stepped aside as three employees entered the room to set up dinner for us.
They laid out additional tables that extended the one we currently had in the room. A worker put all the food on the center square table, while another set plates, chopsticks, and additional dishware.
Very soon, the smell of savory food replaced the scent of sweat from all the sex we had. Even the employees put on a poker face to pretend they hadn't noticed. We worked up an appetite, too. At least, the others except for Mio and I. All the same, everyone stared with deep hunger at the plates of fish, barbecue, hotpot, omelet rice, tofu, sushi, and more.
Once the three employees were finished setting the table, they retreated back out of the room and bowed.
"Enjoy your dinner!" they exclaimed at once.
As soon as the door shut, Kana, Elendir, and Erma started digging in right away.
"Perfect timing. I'm starving! You two drained so much out of me, my balls are empty…" Kana groaned, stuffing his mouth full of rice.
"Nnh… I'm still not used to chopsticks after all. Is there a fork or spoon?" Erma asked.
"Oh, yes. They are on my side. Here you are." Elendir picked up a fork for her.
"I'm still full from earlier, but there's always room for food dabbled with hot sauce!" Mio excitedly pulled out a bottle of hell from her bag, much to everyone's displeasure.
"If you're going to open that bottle, no sex for the rest of night for you. I don't want to be anywhere near your lips, or your lips anywhere near me!" I warned.
The other three nodded in agreement. One too many times, Mio decided to get freaky after consuming large amounts of spicy food, resulting in us suffering the consequences.
"Grr… Fine. You guys suck! Hmm… Maybe just a little…" Mio put a tiny drop onto her plate, and our eyes were already watering.
"So, are we doing something tonight? Or staying in for more of you know what? Just so we're clear, I'm spent. I can't give you and Mio anymore no matter how hungry you are," Kana said exhaustively.
"We can head out once everyone's full. You'll see." I winked.
After stuffing ourselves with the inn's amazing dinner, we bundled up to head outside. I left the room cleaning service request sign on the front door. The staff in the lobby gave us each an electric lantern. It had gotten pitch black quickly.
We took a path behind the inn, leaving its light for the wilderness of frozen Hokkaido. Trees were sparse. It was mostly a hilly hike. I could tell by the tracks on the ground that someone had taken a snow plow through here earlier in the day.
Thank goodness for them, because we were able to stroll down the open road without trudging through snow. Still, the ground was rocky and uneven. Erma was in her element. She neither tripped nor stumbled. I'd think it was a flat road, and she could see in the dark or something.
Elendir, on the other hand—
"Ah!" Elendir slipped, but I was close enough to catch her.
"Good?" I asked.
"Thank you, love. Even with lanterns lighting the way, it doesn't make the ground any less slippery. Where exactly are we going anyway?" Elendir stared up and saw only a dark, gradual ascent up the hill.
"You'll see soon enough." I smiled and held her hand. "It's nothing compared to night in Elza, but this is going to be as close as it gets."
The others furrowed their brows at me. They looked up only to find thick clouds and specks of snow falling down on us. Still, we pressed on to the top of the hill and reached a park outcrop. It had a slide and some spring riders, as well as a pavilion with picnic tables underneath it. A long wooden fence wrapped around the ledge.
Some people were around, taking pictures and leaning against the railings. Others were on their way back down the hill.
"Brrr… I want to jump into the hot spring again when we get back. Why did we come out here again?" Mio asked, hugging Kana from behind to keep warm.
"Wait for it…" I checked my phone for the time and weather.
Right then, the clouds began to thin. They passed over us, giving way to a gorgeous water color of purples, blues, and palette impossible from the big cities. Stars blanketed the night sky, and from one side, cluttered together to appear like a jagged rift to another world.
The sight stole everyone's breath away. Their jaws hung open, their gazes mesmerized by the heavens… in a view of the lifetime. Then, in a blink of an eye, a white line dashed across the sky and vanished.
"What was that?" Erma gasped.
"It's a shooting star! We can count ourselves lucky. If you're superstitious enough, you can make a wish on it," I explained.
"Oh. I thought we were about to be bombarded by magical artillery…" She pressed a hand to her chest.
"Do you just think every unexplainable phenomenon is magic…" I rolled my eyes.
The legate in her returned as her blue eyes glazed over.
"The night attack on Hecturn Hill. My forces had the high ground on top of the hill. The Demon King's forces were in the forests below, a legion of succubi, dark elves, and hell beasts. It was pitch dark out, and everyone was setting up for camp. We couldn't advance. The terrain was far too wet, so we needed to wait until afternoon the next day when the dew's evaporated. But as many of us were heading to sleep, the lookouts shouted that we were under attack. All units mobilized. We waited, and waited, but it was a false alarm. An hour later, another warning of an attack. The stars were falling. Mages raised the shields to defend against the blasts. They were only short-lived. As we returned to sleep again, once more, a call of an attack. It happened throughout the night, and no one could get a wink of sleep."
"Uhhhhh. Okaaaay, then. Are you okay?" I waved a hand in front of her face.
"I remember Hecturn Hill," Elendir chimed in. "I wasn't there, but one of my lieutenants was. It was an overwhelming victory for my side."
"That's great and all, but I think Erma is tripping out," I said, shaking the elf by the shoulders.
Erma blinked a few times in rapid succession and returned to her senses.
"My apologies. My mind drifts sometimes, wandering back to those moments trying to figure out what I could have done differently. But yes, this is quite the wonderful view. Thank you for showing us." Erma smiled.
The rest of us stared at her in exasperation. Well, as long as she was fun, that's alright. We spent the evening taking pictures and writing our names in the snow. I found Erma kneeling near the railing, carefully molding snow into a small sculpture of the Everlight. It looked pretty good, too, since she used her fingernail to make the finer details.
"How are you so good at that?" I asked.
"Believe it or not, there is plenty of downtime during war. A lot of waiting for the upper chain of command to pass down orders. Keeping an eye on enemy movements. Planning our own movement. I've picked up woodcarving and the lesser-known mud shaping," Erma explained with a playful grin.
"Oooh. Is it some kind of ancient art using magic, too?" I played along.
"Indeed. The dangerous kind. Perhaps I may one day share with you these secrets." She laughed.
Before long, the clouds had blanketed the sky again, concealing the stars, moon, and cosmos. Kana let out a long, drawn-out yawn and started nodding off. We figured it was time to turn in for the night and hiked back down to the inn. Others, who had the same idea as us, returned by the trickle.
As we traded snow jackets for pajamas, everyone fell asleep one after another. Starting with Kana, Erma, and then Elendir. Their rhythmic breaths performed a quiet and gentle orchestra, filling me with a warm feeling.
Suddenly, something snuggled into my futon.
"Hey, hey. Look!" Mio showed me her phone.
It was a group chat between her, Casey, and Kairi, our former college roommates back when we were still attending Tsukiji University. Before leaving, we left Shadow and Snowball in their care. Since the girls were living in a pet-friendly share house, they volunteered to take care of the pets while we were on vacation.
Mio had open a picture of Casey hugging our cats to her chest, and they were desperately trying to escape her grasp. Kairi probably took the photo.
"Seems like they're doing fine. You should show Elendir in the morning. I bet she's worried about how Snowball's doing," I said.
"Oh, you right. Ahhh, man. It feels good going on vacation. We should do this more often," Mio insisted.
"Often is probably not the right move. You don't want to know how much all this cost… But I really wanted it to be special for all of us."
Mio buried her face into my chest.
"Alright, fine… Every once in a while is cool, too…" Mio mumbled and fell right to sleep.
I wrapped my arms around Mio, pressed my face into the top of her head, and shut my eyes. Sleep soon took me, too.
My eyes fluttered open with Mio's foot somehow pushed against my chin. She was lying asleep opposite of me, holding my entire right leg as if it was a body pillow to her. How she managed to get us into this position was one of the greatest mysteries of our relationship, but I didn't question it. Instead, I slowly wrenched my leg from her grasp, then nudged the still sleeping Kana into her embrace.
I sat upright and stretched my arms, only to notice Elendir wasn't around. Erma was also still sleeping, cocooned up in her futon to stave off the morning chill. My ears twitched to splashing water from the pool area. When I tiptoed over and slid open the door just a crack, I got a full view of her bare back while she soaked in the steaming pool. Her long hair had been wrapped in a towel to keep dry, and she held a porcelain cup in one hand. A bottle of sake sat on the ground behind her. She finished her drink and reached for the bottle, meeting my eyes instead.
"Good morning, love. Care to join me for a morning dip?" Elendir asked.
"How can I refuse a beautiful dark elven woman?" I was already stripping my pajamas off to do just that.
Elendir poured an extra glass as I entered the waters next to her. It seemed like she expected someone to eventually wake up early and join in. The heat warmed me up from the surface of the skin, and when she handed me a glass of sake to drink, the alcohol warmed me from the inside.
"It's only been the first day, and I've rather enjoyed myself. Maybe our next vacation can be somewhere in Elza. A nice little beach, camping, or adventuring?" Elendir suggested.
"That sounds great for us, but not so much for Kana," I reminded her.
"Some magical equipment should be able to keep him safe. And I can think of a few," she said, falling into thought.
The dark elf rested her moist head on my shoulder. A content smile crossed on her face. My wandering hand wandered to her inner thigh, and eventually to her pussy. She sucked in a deep breath as I rubbed her clitoris, face turning redder and gasping harder ragged with every second.
Using my tail, I guided Elendir by the chin closer and kissed her. She tensed up, eyes squeezed shut and legs thrashing under the water.
"I'm cumming…!" Elendir squealed, trying not to be too loud since the others were still asleep. "Goodness… Climaxing so early in the morning… is so much more intense…"
"Is that a sign to keep going?" I fondled her immaculate breasts.
"I never told you to stop, didn't I?" She sat on my lap, faced me, and wrapped her arms behind my neck.
We were in the middle of tongue-fucking each other when the sliding door creaked open. Mio cruised in stretching and yawning. Her eyes settled on the two of us and grinned.
"Now that's what I like to see first thing in the morning." Mio took a swig from the sake bottle and jumped in, splashing us wet.
"What'cha got planned for us today?" Mio resurfaced and embraced Elendir from behind, sandwiching her between us.
"I'm also curious," Elendir said.
"You want to know? After breakfast… we're going to ride some snowmobile bumper cars!" I exclaimed to crickets.
"The fuck is a snowmobile?" She tilted her head.