The dragon's harem

Arad transformed outside his house and stared at the village and the castle. The weekend had ended faster than he expected and the dawn of a new school week was upon them. He stared at the rising sun and then looked north, "An hour's flight at a reasonable speed." He looked at Aella who just walked out of the house.

"Please slow down a bit more this time. Not everyone is used to your flying speed." She replied. Albeit they were fine riding on his back, riding in a carriage that he carried was giving them motion sickness especially when he started flying between mountain peaks at a high speed.

"An hour is too long." Betty said as she stood beside Aella. "I'll go ahead and wait for you there."

"Do what you want."

Bling! Betty disappeared in a flash, and by the time Aella turned to look at where she stood, Betty had already reached her office at the university.

Just a second after she walked inside, Lucia came looking for her. "Chairman, I finally found you." She smiled.

"I wasn't even here a second ago."

"We're used to your movement so we set a magic detection net to catch you when you return." Lucia walked into the office and closed the door after her. "We have a lot of work to prepare for the week's courses and tests. We need you to approve all of this."

Lucia waved her wand and a pile of papers fell on the desk.

Betty stared at the papers and giggled, "Well…I wish I stayed…" She sighed and started reading and signing them.

"The other teachers would bring you their portion soon. Please get mine done first." Lucia smiled and Betty gasped.

"Wait?! There more?"

"Far, far more than you can expect." Lucia left the office and Betty smacked her head on the desk, "Too much work from the start. I want to leave…"

An hour later Arad finally reached the university and landed outside the city in the swamps. He laid the carriage down and shifted back to his normal form. He looked inside the carriage, "Wait here, I'll be back."

He teleported to Croc City, started walking through the streets, and headed toward the city's stables to rent two horses. He can't fly into the university or teleport everyone in as the teachers might pick up on that. It was safer to return like normal people.

As he walked, he saw a familiar face. "Arad! It's been a while." Abel approached him. "You've come back."

"Yeah, looking for horses." The two headed toward the stables.

"How is the city?" Abel asked.

"Alina is doing fine, but my village and where the king is living are having some financial problems. I've left them to Roberta to deal with, but it's going to be a while before things are stable. What does someone like you think about it?"

"Someone like me?" Abel smiled, "A devil you may ask. And an answer you shall get."

"To us devils, humanoids are as simple as cats. They love to eat and rub their faces in catnap. But sometimes they can get feisty and bite the hand that feeds them." Abel clenched a fist.

"Provide them with food and drinks to hold the year. Farm the next year and harvest in the one after. But don't eat or spend the harvest, store it for the coming year and make sure people pick up crafts and open up shops." Abel opened his fist, "Counting this year, those are four years. So what do you think of the fifth?" Abel closed all of his fingers except the index one, pointing it at the sky.

"You want to make my region a trade-focused one. That would make a center of commerce and a hot spot for merchants. But, that would be in exchange for me providing everything out of pocket to kick start it." Arad thought, "I can't guess what that's year for."

Abel giggled, "Of course, someone like you won't know. You aren't the type." He pointed back at the church.

"Get the people something to believe in within a year. Humans with a belief would live longer, a part of it due to healing magic, and part is coming from their faith allowing them to be mentally relaxed." He giggled, "Which makes them a bit dumber and easier for us to manipulate…but that's another topic." He flicked his finger and both he and Arad disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

When Arad opened his eyes he was sitting in a room facing Abel who sat on a throne while in his devil form with several half-naked tiefling, human, and devil women surrounding him.

"Who are they?" Arad asked, looking at the seventeen women around Abel.

"Those who wanted to swear fealty to me and signed a contract. Unlike my sister, I do have my own plans and schemes. I'm a devil after all, am I not?" Abel tilted his head and stood, expanding his wings.

"Ladies and ladies, this is my benefactor! A being that even devils fear. And believe it or not, he is not a paladin." He started walking toward Arad and then stopped, "While you weren't here, I sensed something bad." He said with a serious face.

"What is it?" Arad asked as Abel walked around him.

"Would you believe it if I said it's a god?" Abel said as he stopped walking, and the women behind them gasped.

"They don't walk the earth." Arad replied.

"Well, he is a god, but not a true one. We call them demi-gods, beings who are challenging fate itself, to step into the divine realm." Abel smiled, "I believe you've faced one, didn't you? The toe-sucking, feet-worshipping elf, his name was Vars, wasn't' it?" The women cried in the back for some reason, and even Arad was confused. Can't they stop gasping at every word?

"We didn't face him. Even my brother only managed to damage him with a massive hit before he fully became a demi-

god. When he reached that stage he had already surpassed anything we could throw at him. He only died because he wanted it. We lost that battle." Arad replied.

"Katal, the blood god of murder. Usurped by foot fanatic and destroyed what a romantic story. But, I'm not asking for you for help based on that, I'm not a mere human after all."

Abel moonwalked back to his throne and sat in the women's laps. "I'm a devil and we scheme for centuries. A crucial part of that is our supreme intellect and luck." He pointed at Arad.

"I can't imagine you losing. I can see it from here, how you punch that bastard in the face hard enough that he questions why he was even born. I'm betting on you." He giggled.

"Sex and drinks weren't enough for me it seems, so I'm now gambling with life and death." He stood, pushing the women aside.

"My first gamble will be the greatest. You against a demi-god, the closed thing mortals get to being gods. My money is on the big dimensional lizard with too much muscle. I love to bet on dark horses it seems." He smiled, tilting his head. "Which reminds me, you looked for horses."

Abel flicked his fingers and they disappeared into a puff of black smoke. The two appeared standing right outside the city's stables, and Abel had returned to his humanoid form.

"And so I was thinking…" Abel kept talking. "What kind of price would be worthy to fill those eyes? A fleet of maidens enough to fill your belly, a mountain of gold, a mighty steed from the hells, or enough power to rule the world?" He smiled.

"I say naught. I've got something better for you." Abel closed his fist and reopened it, showing Arad a skull-shaped necklace.

"After you fight, cast him into the hells. I'll sing the song of my people, and they shall rip the sparkly fledgling into shreds. Doing such would grant you favor among the devil's line no other, and I might be able to get us a safe gate to the lower layers of hell." Abel giggled.

"Infinite riches and sinners to slay exits down there, no dragon's hoard would be complete without a hub to the outer worlds, especially the hells."

Arad smiled, "Sometimes I almost forget you're a devil until you start acting like one."

"What a lovely compliment. I take pride in looking like a pathetic human, but as friends, I must be a devil you can trust and rely on. Getting your trust is easy, but to be reliable, I need the devil's approval and rank up in the hells."

"Got a deal." Arad took the pendant. "Depending on what is the demi-god up to, I'll take action."

"I couldn't have hoped for more."Abel looked back at the stable door opened, and a yawning man walked out. "Who's out this early?" He looked at them, rubbing his eyes.

"Two horses. We need to them quickly." Abel smiled.

"Buy or rent? I'll need my money present before you can take them out." The man replied.

"Of course. Got the gold right here." Abel paid for the horses and gave the tag to Arad. "Drop the horses by my brother later, would you? I'll need them for some work."

"What work?"

"Special work that only horses can do." Abel replied with a grin.