Chapter 627 - 860 – We Can’t Let Pleasure Get in the Way of Work

"I... I lost."

Ain lay in Arton's arms and apologized.

She had wanted Arton, who loved fighting, to enjoy a thoroughly satisfying battle.

Unfortunately, things hadn't gone as she wished. Ain realized she simply couldn't manage it.

Then again, it made sense. How could she possibly master a move she had never trained in—or even used in actual combat—on her very first attempt?

"You did well enough for your first time using an unfamiliar move."

"I almost couldn't hold out."

Arton patted Ain on the back.

"Even so, I still couldn't hold on just a little longer."

Ain sighed.

She clearly still wanted to see whether she could withstand the Captain's finishing move with her current stance.

As though he could read her mind, Arton cupped Ain's cheek and smiled. "Leave the rest to me. I'll make sure you experience what you wanted to experience."

Ain's eyes lit up as she immediately understood. "I understand, Captain. I'll leave it to you."

"Don't worry. Leave it to me."

Arton wrapped both arms tightly around Ain's waist. Once she was ready, he unleashed several consecutive Dragon Fists.

Although Ain had prepared herself, she still felt a jolt of alarm when the Captain truly went on the offensive.

Especially when Arton's finishing move struck her, Ain's mind went completely blank, and she remained unresponsive for quite some time.

By the time she came back to her senses, Arton was already forcing her to relax and unclench her jaw.

"You're awake, Ain. How do you feel?"

"Mmm."

Ain murmured with her mouth open. Once she realized how inappropriate her current state was for talking, she first focused on cleaning up what needed to be cleaned.

Only then did she raise her head. "It feels warm. I really like this feeling."

"It's good that you can get used to it."

Arton nodded.

He had been worried that Ain might find it uncomfortable.

If that were the case, he wouldn't be able to watch her use a technique like this again.

"Captain, are you still planning to keep fighting?"

Ain asked.

"Forget it. We've fought enough times today."

"I can't keep clinging to you girls all day."

"Besides, don't Kalifa and Raki still have something they need to do?"

Arton looked toward the two women.

"Something?" Kalifa froze. "What do we need to do?"

"The ship. Have you forgotten?"

Arton reminded her.

"Oh. I was so focused on fighting earlier that I completely forgot."

Kalifa rubbed her forehead, somewhat embarrassed to look at him.

"Being focused on fighting is a good thing, but don't forget the work you need to do."

"You've already been here with me for several hours."

"Iceburg and the others may have already finished the ship's blueprints."

Arton's reminder made Raki get to her feet. "If that's the case, we really should go take a look."

"Yeah. We can't let pleasure get in the way of work."

With Raki's help, Kalifa stood up as well.

"Then let's clean ourselves up first and head out."

Raki took Kalifa by the hand.

...

"Go ahead. You don't need to worry about me."

Arton waved goodbye to Kalifa and Raki.

The two nodded, grabbed their usual clothes, and headed toward the bathroom.

After cleaning themselves up, they changed back into their normal outfits and returned to the living room, ready to say goodbye to Arton.

Only to discover that Arton, who had been on the sofa, was nowhere to be seen.

And it wasn't just Arton. Conis and Ain were gone too.

"Where did they go? Did they leave?"

Kalifa looked at Raki in confusion.

"If I had to guess, they probably went to the bedroom."

Raki thought for a moment.

"The bedroom?"

Kalifa frowned curiously and walked over to the tightly closed bedroom door.

The moment she pushed it open slightly, she saw Conis sprawled across the bed.

As for Ain, she was busy moving back and forth in the same position Arton had used earlier, striking his back.

Kalifa could even hear Conis's delighted cheers from time to time.

"This really is..."

Kalifa sighed and shook her head before closing the door again.

She turned toward Raki. "Didn't the Captain say he'd already had enough? And didn't Conis say she couldn't fight anymore?"

"Well..." Raki rubbed her chin. "Arton may have been satisfied for the moment, but he never said he couldn't be satisfied again, did he?"

"As for Conis... even if she's almost exhausted, she should still be fine if she switches to defense."

"I see."

Kalifa nodded.

If it were her, she was confident she could manage that much too.

In that case, it was perfectly normal for the stronger Conis to be able to do it.

"Come to think of it, I think I saw the Captain constantly switching scabbards earlier."

Kalifa touched her chin.

"That's right."

Raki smiled and headed toward the suite door.

Kalifa naturally followed.

"Aren't you curious how Conis feels right now?"

Kalifa glanced at her.

"Of course I'm curious, but we have actual work to do."

"We can ask Conis after we finish."

"Or we can just try it ourselves with Captain."

Raki smiled.

"You're right. Once we finish what we need to do, we can have Captain let us experience it ourselves."

Kalifa nodded and followed Raki out of the room.

"Come to think of it, I'm suddenly a little envious of you."

Kalifa sighed.

Back when she still didn't understand why her counterparts in those derivative comics behaved the way they did, she had always found their actions strange.

But after meeting Arton in person and imitating the way her counterparts in those works attacked him, Kalifa finally understood why they acted that way.

Why was it that the versions of her in those derivative works were so often the ones taking the initiative?

Now that she had personally experienced this feeling in the real world, she also found herself wanting to take the initiative and attack Arton again and again.

Her only regret was that she still couldn't force Arton to keep expending his energy the way her counterparts in those works could.

...

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