The dragon's harem

When Camilla opened her eyes, she found herself on a soft bed looking at a marble ceiling with a mana crystal illuminating the room. As she remembered the fight, she quickly gasped for air and sat up; all of the muscles and veins in her body were ready to keep fighting.

“You’ve been asleep for six to seven minutes. His majesty carried you here to get healed. This is Amaterasu’s church in the castle. He would’ve taken you to the private quarter, but your father was worried, so his majesty put you here so he could visit.” She pointed at the door. “He should be sitting in the hallway.”

Camilla looked at her hands, then at the woman who spoke to her. What a strange nun, tall, blond, had glowing golden eyes, and two feathery wings behind her. “Are you a half-angel?” She asked, and the woman smiled.

“I am Amaterasu’s Second Archon of Dominion. I specialize in mass plasma magic, planetary devastation, and controlled extinction of anyone that my goddess deems irredeemable.”

Hearing her, Camilla laughed. “Sure… you got some really nice wings.” When her laugher died, she looked at the woman. “So? Did they anything?”

“Yeah, you passed the test. You two friends did too, and the three of you should meet again later this evening in the private quarter.” She stood, “I’ll leave now. Your father is waiting outside.”

Camilla cracked her neck and threw the woman a glance. “You won’t check me again? I know I’m a fighter, but you won’t know if I’m fully healed or not.”

“I am an Archon; our healing doesn’t need a second tap. One stare and any ailment would be burned away by Amaterasu’s holy radiance.” She stared back at her with glowing golden eyes.

“Say that to the nuns down at Alina. Mother hurt her back in Vlad’s rampage, and she was an avid worshipper. Those nuns there never managed to fully heal her back. A gold coin or two every couple of months is a bit much, isn’t it?”

Camilla stood, checked her arms and back, and then stretched. At least now, she seems to have been fully healed to a perfect shape. This woman indeed did a better job than any healer she ever saw; she wasn’t even hungry.

The woman stared at her for a long moment, then growled. “NOTED!”

As she opened the door and walked out, Camilla’s father rushed in to check on her. The woman, the Archon, walked through the hallway with a frown on her face, and then she disappeared into pure light.

Camilla’s mother was cooking in their house, praying for her daughter’s success and unaware of the chaos at the castle. It was then that when the room suddenly illuminated, and she looked back, thinking something had caught aflame from the fireplace, but she instead saw a tall and blond woman glaring at her.

“I see… such a sloppy job. No control, no knowledge, and no skill.” She took a step forward, and Camilla’s mother backed away. She didn’t know who this woman was, but only one thing rang through her mind.

^Don’t be afraid.^

“Who… are you?” Camilla’s mother cried, and the Archon lifted her hand. “Your daughter brought your case to my attention. I’m Amaterasu’s Second Archon of Dominion. I specialize in mass plasma magic, planetary devastation, and controlled extinction of anyone that my goddess deems irredeemable. I already healed your back, your liver, and all ailments affecting your body.”

With those words, the archon faded into pure light, leaving Camilla’s mother both shocked and confused.

In Alina’s Amaterasu’s church, the nuns were running around doing their daily job, tending to the sick, cleaning the place, and praying. But all of that came to a halt when a wave of divine light washed over the main hall.

A tall blond woman with ten pale wings sat on the head of Amaterasu’s statue, glaring at them with a deep frown. “Someone complained to me, accused my work of sloppiness, and it was all thanks to your hard work.”

None of the nuns there could mistake the presence of an Archon. They wouldn’t have believed such a thing before, but with Amaterasu staying in Arad’s massive church beside his castle, an Archon or an angel being around wasn’t that strange.

In the blink of an eye, the Archon was standing behind the nuns. She stared at the adventurers they were healing, and her frown grew deeper.

“How would you heal a stab wound?” She asked, and one of the nuns replied with a smile.

“Close the wound with healing magic and stop the bleeding.”

The Archon sighed. “You’re as sharp as a marble. Go and bring some hot water and clean clothes; you closed the wound without fully cleaning the insides first.”

She then looked at another injured adventurer and pointed at one of the nuns. “Why is he still here?”

“He broke his hip falling from a monster’s back. It’s healed now, but it still hurts.” As the nun replied, the Archon rubbed her temples. “Was that monster a nun? Stay pretty, you’re going to need it to survive.” She approached the man and gave him one solid kick that sent him flying out of the church’s door.

Looking at another patient, who was an injured woman who burned herself working in the charcoal kilns, the Archon looked a bit confused. “You healed her burns, but forgot to moisturize her skin, so it’s all tight now, and she can’t move her fingers. Did you really think that healing magic alone would fix that?”

“Healing magic usually fixes that. We don’t know why it didn’t work for her.” As a nun replied, the Archon froze in place and slowly turned her head as she saw the nun looking at Amaterasu’s scripture.

“Please! You couldn’t even pour water out of a boot with instructions on the heel. Throw that book away, or at least learn to read.” She fixed the woman’s skin with a flick of her wrist, then stared back at the nuns.

“Amaterasu was right, some of you are only useful to create shade. I can’t believe someone like Lydia came from this dump.” She then swung her arm, healing everyone, and shouted at them to leave. The church was closed for the next two weeks as she trained them until they started begging her to let them sleep.

That that evening, Camilla, Alicia, and Roana met inside the private quarter. Tomorrow will be their first day at work, and they had the rest of the day to rest and recover. It seems that the other two also worked until they passed out. Camilla wasn’t the only one who ended up in a bed.

Now that they officially joined the maids, they were informed that they were allocated to work under Mira, all three of them. And they were also informed by a large set of rules that they must follow.

The first rule was hard to understand, since even though they are obliged to obey all orders no matter what, they aren’t forbidden from refusing as long as they can provide a decent argument, and apparently, not feeling like it is an argument that could be accepted.

But there was a catch: if a maid wanted to become a mistress, she would need at least one concubine to vouch for her, and the approval of all wives. So, a maid who nags a lot may not get that approval. As Isdis explained it to them, they can refuse to get her a cup of tea, but then they would be unable to complain when she refuses to vouch for them later on.

There was another strange rule, and it was that maids are required clean themselves twice a day, and be always ready to be dragged into a bed by Arad. To this point, no maid was picked up, but the Queens were clear. The last thing they wanted to see was Arad complaining about a maid’s backend being unclean. On top of that, being picked up by him means the maid is either going to become a wife or a concubine, which would make it even more sad if the maid ruined her chance by not being ready.

Maids and servants alike were also required to report the days they were on their period, because they would take those days off work.

The maids’ rooms were large, as massive as a king’s quarters, and each of those rooms housed four beds, enough for four maids. Not even the wives can walk into the maids’ room without getting permission, but the maids were informed that Arad could do whatever he wants.

There was also a health checkup day each month, followed by a fitness test day. The maids who feel ill can seek treatment at either Claug’s lab or one of the inner churches, and for fitness, there are many training facilities that they could attend, like the large swimming pool in the bath, the fighting arena, and the training ground, which worked more like an open-air gym.

For payment, and while they receive a large sum each month, either coins in hand or deposited at a bank, the maids could request more as long as they can provide an adequate explanation. One maid seems to have already spent five hundred gold coins from Arad’s money buying thousands of books and stocked a small library inside the private quarter, and another one had requested two hundred gold coins’ worth of jewelry from the Kobolds, which she is now wearing.

The list was long, and the three new maids didn’t have time to read it all in one sitting. Especially since one of the senior maids was sent to give them a tour around the entire quarter, show them where each of the Queens’ rooms was, and explain to them how their work day would go.

A lot of work awaited them, and so they had to start taking notes.