The coldest river water of early morning allowed Al's mind to calm down again. He was no longer as tense as when he had woken up, and the energy drained by the nightmare gradually returned to his body.
"We must accelerate our progress."
Al rode on Alina's back, speaking as if to the mare, yet also to himself:
"We have to speed up! To win, to win the End Times, we need to grow by a hundred people today and two hundred tomorrow!"
"Before they see me, we must be fast—fast…"
"What did the Bloodmother show you?" Alina asked in confusion.
The Bloodmother ran away.
All four of them ran off and left me behind.
But right now Al's mind had no room for such messy thoughts. Even the slightest relaxation kept him in a state of constant tension.
The centaur girl felt a little heartache for Al's condition and comforted him gently: "Don't be so tense. Relax a little. Do you want to play the game we did at the clear spring again? We can find a quiet place later."
"We absolutely cannot lose!"
Al answered off-topic, gritting his teeth with iron determination.
"No matter for myself, for you, for this world, or for anything else— we absolutely cannot lose!"
"We cannot fail!"
"Enough!"
The centaur girl spoke to Al in a rare firm tone.
"You're too sensitive right now…" She remembered how the boy had hugged her earlier, crying with a sob in his voice. Her heart, which had just hardened a little, softened again.
"I've prepared a small gift for you. Today, don't think about tribe matters. Everything will be handled."
The centaur girl made up her mind. Ignoring Al's protests, she carried the freshly bathed boy toward the tent.
The river troll chieftain that Al had previously ordered released to graze had also returned. Surprisingly, it was leading three slightly smaller river troll kin behind it.
They walked straight into the camp, circled once through the tribe. Only then did the three slow-witted river trolls belatedly become wary of the surrounding beastmen. However, with the chieftain's suppression and the beastmen not making any aggressive moves, they managed to maintain a fragile peace.
Alina sent people to guide the four river trolls to the fenced area and brought them inside to mix with their kin. At the same time she ordered fresh meat to be prepared as feed for the trolls, hoping that feeding them well would reduce the chance of trouble.
None of this concerned Al for the moment. He didn't even have time to look at the map.
The tall goat girl stood out among the other goat girls. Her face was very beautiful, combining the quiet elegance of a maiden with the gentle charm of a wife. When passion rose she could display boundless seductive allure, while also carrying the maternal glow of a nursing woman.
She possessed the beauty and three distinct auras and postures of maiden, wife, and mother at once.
Al admitted he had harbored quite a few improper thoughts toward the goat mother, but they had only been thoughts.
Today, however, it seemed those thoughts were about to become reality.
The goat girl wore only a loose robe and stood in the middle of the tent, as if waiting for something.
The centaur girl brought Al back, then gently placed him in front of the goat girl.
Al, whose growth had been accelerated, could already reach the goat girl's smooth collarbone. Raising his head, he could kiss her lips.
"Ali… Mommy, what is this?"
Al looked toward the centaur girl, nervous and incredulous.
"I said it was a small gift for you. Spend the whole day here today," the centaur girl said seriously and earnestly.
"I!"
Al was speechless.
"I don't need it and I… I can't possibly do this all day, okay?"
"Then rest. You need rest."
"But why her! I… I don't even know her name!"
Al looked at the goat girl. Her beautiful face was already flushed with two patches of red, making her look especially charming—like a shy wife.
"Do you want Mommy instead? That's also possible. It's just that you're still too small and… I have to fulfill my duty as a mother with the Bloodmother first."
The centaur girl looked somewhat troubled.
"If a mother's duty also includes helping her son relieve himself…"
"Stop stop! I said stop!"
The topic was sliding deeper and deeper into the abyss. Al hurriedly cut off the mare's lewd words.
"My name is Elune. Elune."
The goat girl spoke softly, her voice light and clear, as if she truly were a young wife.
She stepped forward, embraced Al from behind, pressed her body against his, and used her body heat to soften the boy's stiff limbs.
The robe silently slid to the ground.
Alina closed the tent flap, helped the goat girl lay Al down on the ground, then lay down on the side herself, watching the proceedings with great interest.
"I like you."
She said this to Al. The boy's body stiffened on the blanket, letting the goat girl take the lead.
"Your eyes…"
She kissed his eyes, then his cheeks, before aiming for the boy's lips.
"Your taste…"
A slippery, soft little tongue broke through his teeth's useless defense, wrapped around Al's tongue and sucked, as if trying to reclaim everything that had been taken from her here.
The two tongues entangled for a long while, completing a continuous exchange of saliva. Only then did the goat girl release his mouth and withdraw her tongue.
When that little thing left, Al actually felt a trace of reluctance in his heart.
The centaur girl's eyes grew brighter and brighter, her breathing becoming heavier.
The goat girl moved her target downward to his lower cheeks, earlobes, neck, and throat, kissing one spot after another.
A tingling, itchy sensation spread from top to bottom, paralyzing Al's entire body. He wanted to stop, to resist, but from head to toe he couldn't summon even a shred of strength.
Then the goat girl moved her assault to the same place she had been sucked by Al many times before.
If the previous kisses had still been within bounds, this action went beyond anything Al and the centaur girl had experienced. An indescribable, unprecedented feeling shot through his head like electricity, as if it wanted to drill out through the top of his skull and then drill back in.
After the goat girl took the initiative for a while, she kissed the boy's lips, looked into his eyes, and slid all the way down—past his chest, navel, and lower abdomen…
"Ah!"
Al couldn't help crying out.
"Enough… enough! Enough…"
Al trembled, unable to form a complete sentence.
All the blood supplying his brain seemed to be flowing in one direction.
"My name is Elune."
The goat girl sat in seiza, her long, slender thighs spread beside Al's legs. She was as naked and honest as the boy.
Her gaze was clear, yet covered with a thin layer of misty water from previous experiences. Spring light rippled with autumn waves.
"From now on I belong to you…"
She leaned down, pressed against Al's face, and gently nibbled and sucked on his earlobe and ear.
"If you're willing…"
"You can also call me…"
"Mommy."
Al's final line of defense collapsed.
Fatal strike!