"No," I answered, folding my hands with a serious look on my face.
For a split second, Fiora paused, a clear look of disappointment drawn on her face. Only to turn back into her usual proud expression, as she answered with, "Good. That is really for the best."
"However," I interrupted her, still keeping up my serious expression. "That doesn't mean I am going to abandon you. I'll be your bodyguard until we have to separate up north, with you going to the west and me going to the east, crossing over to the Demon Continent. And then, as promised, you'll pay me a thousand gold coins, just like you said you would."
"Hmm?" She replied, looking genuinely surprised. "Why? You don't seem to approve of my goal."
"Approve? It's not about that. I just have no interest in politics, especially helping a princess ascend to the throne. I just want to meet Sherry, and then go to where my sister is with her. Afterwards, we'll just become ordinary adventurers. Nothing more. Nothing less. That is the life I've decided to want to do."
And then, she laughed. "Ha! Ordinary adventurer? With that level of strength, you can be so much more than that! A ten year old boy with the ability to cast that level of spell at such speed, nearly every country in the world will want you as part of their military force, boy! You can be a court mage, given a lofty place in social standing with your own land and servants! You like women? Then women would throw themselves to you as well!"
I sighed. "Sure, being famous and powerful and all that would be nice. But honestly, as you already know, I'm a big pervert. Ultimately, what I want is just to have a pretty girl by my side. We'll get married, have lots of fun time together, and then raise some kids. I'll buy us a nice home in the countryside, and then work as a humble knight. Yeah, just like my father." I smiled. "Having that kind of life is already good enough for me. I am not a big dreamer like you are, and I certainly don't want to get involved in the game those high nobles play. And that's why I'll have to say no to your offer."
Once again, Fiora seemed to be taken aback by my statement. Another look of disappointment flashed on her face.
"...Sherry… was her name, was it not?"
"Uh, yeah?"
Suddenly, she stood up, walked right up to me, and pushed me back onto the bed. Before I could react, she climbed up the bed as well, placed her hands to the left and right of my head, and hovered above me with a smirk on her face.
"So, which one is cuter, hmm? Me or her?"
To even more of my surprise, she took my left hand with her right and put it right on her left breast.
"You like this, don't you boy? Does your Sherry have the same size as mine? Have you even felt her up like this?"
There was no questioning it. She was outright seducing me right now.
"You know, I was actually considering taking you as prince consort once I became empress. At first, I thought you were just a crybaby. But I see now that you have the qualities I want for a partner. You're honest and you're not afraid to talk back to me if you don't like what I do. You're strong and you're a faithful lover as well. You see, I need someone to set me straight if I ever go astray. I don't need any more blindly obeying servants. I want intelligent equals like you, someone I could have an entertaining banter with. As much as I like Nicole, she's not good for such a thing, unfortunately."
"Of course, you can have your Sherry on the side as well, as a concubine. I wouldn't mind her sharing the bed with you. You can even never touch me as a woman if you want to keep your faithfulness to her to that extent."
"But, since by doing merely this, you're already all excited." She released her grip on my hand and circled her thumb right on the tip of my bulging member. "I expect sooner or later, you would want my body as well. So I suppose if you really want to be that faithful to her, you have to reject my offer."
She then retreated, lifting her body upwards and climbing down the bed like nothing had happened.
"I shall let you consider my offer, boy." She gave a haughty glance towards me as she put her hands on her waist. "Do not rush. The fight for me to ascend the throne would not occur until years later, I imagine. I am still lacking the strength necessary to do so. Once it's about to start, I'll come to you and ask for your answer then."
And with that, she left, saying that she would be waiting for me on the fields for us to have our morning training.
Leaving me with a painfully throbbing erection that I need to take care of.
---------------
And that is how I had my very first ejaculation in this body of mine, signifying that at last, I was starting to have my puberty.
The event that just happened was so shocking to me but I half-felt I was only dreaming it, a wet dream to be exact.
But it indeed just happened. Fiora just told me that she wanted me to become her husband, offering her body in the process, if I were to help her in her future efforts on taking the throne.
I really did not know how I should react. Should I be happy? I believe I should. Another girl actually showed her interest to me, not just Sherry. And Fiora was certainly a beautiful girl. And dare I say, sensual as well, the way she boldly did that to me. I am certainly into being the seduced party instead of being the seducer in bed.
Her boobs—I now got to examine just how soft they were. And they were indeed soft, so the sensation I received for a split second back at the swamp wasn't just one of my perverted delusions.
My member hardened as a result, and she took advantage of it by actually touching the tip and smothering it with her thumb. The briefs and the thin robe I wore didn't protect myself from the powerful sensation that sent shudders all over my body.
As a result, for the first time in my new life, I felt that familiar, strong desire to masturbate. Which I did, resulting in me putting said robe and briefs to the laundry basket (I just hope that whoever poor sod is on laundry duty today doesn't notice the jizz stains on them). Thankfully, I was given more than just one robe, and of course, I had spare underpants ready inside my trusty bag.
I didn't want to make it a habit though. Masturbating too much on your own really made you feel like a loser. I mean, if you're a successful human being, you'd have a girlfriend to do it with, right?
I wonder if Sherry would be willing to do it everyday with me… Unlike in porn, women can get sore down there after doing it, especially if you do it too much. Not to mention a woman's sex drive is in average lower than a man, or so I heard.
What Fiora did back there, that was a clear display of manipulation by her. She's using her charms to seduce me to become her permanent bodyguard. Ha, to think such a prideful princess would stoop to such lows.
Still, she nearly got me. I was just about to retaliate and attack her back. Maybe kiss her and grope her breasts for real. Thankfully, she stopped her seduction before I crossed that line, though honestly, knowing her, she would just kick me in the nuts again if I had done that. Hmph, in the end, she was just an inexperienced young girl (not that I was any better, of course).
I doubt her promise of making me her prince consort is actually true. At best, she'll just make me her knight—another one of her servants. She never saw me as an equal. Not with that attitude of hers.
And besides, I'm not interested in her type. I'm not a masochist who liked being ordered and abused by a pretty girl. I'm a wholesome pervert who just wants a wholesome relationship with a gentle and kind girl.
What? You say Sherry doesn't fit that description? Nonsense! She's perfectly cute and lovely under that stubborn expression and super strength! I know she's the kind of girl who would just melt if I lovingly give her a hug and a kiss. And she'll be perfectly willing to be an adorable housewife as well, judging by how she was willing to clean my room while wearing that maid outfit of hers. Fiora would never want to do that!
I sighed. Nicole was right. My perversion really could lead to me becoming unfaithful towards Sherry. She certainly would not be happy if she knew what had transpired this morning.
Afterwards, I went to the field like she had instructed, with my assigned knights following. I just hope they hadn't overheard our conversation.
Fiora and her own assigned knights were already there, with the former greeting me with a smirk. "What took you so long?" Yep, that smirk told me she probably knew what I just did.
"You like it, don't you?" I replied with my own smirk. "Doing that to me?" I figure outright saying that she was seducing me was a no-no, not with the knights present.
"Hmph, what are you talking about, boy?" She twirled her hair, not fazed in the slightest. Oh, so she's just going to pretend that it never happened. Alright. Fine. But once we're back in private, I'll always remind you that you're a pervert that likes teasing innocent young boys such as me.
We sparred for a while until it was time for breakfast, then we resumed doing it afterwards. We got nothing better to do as we waited for the Grand Priestess to return. Nicole on the other hand seemed to already have plans with the High Priestess on her own. Probably talking about their priestly stuff.
There was no sign at all of the Fiora that just asked whether she was cute to me or the Fiora who teased the tip of my member with her thumb. It was the usual Fiora, proud and unhesitant in teaching me in the physical manner, hitting me with her wooden sword if I gave her an opening, which, naturally, I did multiple times. It almost made me think what happened this morning was just a perverted dream I had—the key word being "almost", as there's no way I could forget how it led to my very first ejaculation. As this was my second life, I knew exactly what my member shot out. Not like in my first life where my parents never taught me about that kind of stuff. I didn't know what the white stuff was until I looked it up online.
So yeah. This doesn't count as her taking my first time, I hope. As a romantic person, I want to give that to Sherry, with her giving her first time to me.
I quickly put those thoughts in the back of my mind. If I don't focus on Fiora's sword movements, I'll get hit over and over again.
---------------
???
Meanwhile, in a small, seedy bar on the corner of the town, three men were having a private conversation in a small underground room, away from prying eyes and ears. From the outside, the bar was just an ordinary, low class bar, existing to serve the poor with their cheap beer and even cheaper food. However, the truth was, it was controlled by the Assassins' Guild, an underground organization that only a few knew to exist.
And of course, said Guild had been hired to send its assassins after the second imperial princess.
Of course, most of the patrons there didn't know of the true nature of the place. Any assassins that came were told to blend themselves with the crowd. And if they couldn't, then they had to enter through the secret back entrance, which the monks did.
The two monks had fled to this place after their second failed attempt at assassinating the princess. With one of them wounded, with broken ribs thanks to Hugo's spell, they had to. Thanks to his harsh training, he could bear the pain to flee the scene, but he certainly couldn't fight in his current condition. And even if they were back at their best, they realized they were outclassed in strength, with Hugo being there. He wasn't part of the information they had received. How could there be such a strong mage with her all of a sudden? And since when a hobbit could be that strong in magic? (they wouldn't assume that Hugo was a normal 10-year old human child, of course).
Using an underground currency only shared between those in the business, they seeked shelter in the building, as well as purchasing the service of a healer, who quickly fixed one of the twin brothers' wounds. And then, they decided that they had to recruit another member to their cause before making another attempt, before the Grand Priestess returned.
They praised the Heavenly Dragon, as it just so happened that a certain infamous assassin was there.
"Eh? What d'ya guys want?"
He was a man around his twenties. Or rather, he was a catfolk, with two cat ears on his head and a cat tail jutting out from his trousers. They were black in color. As for his attire, he wore what could only be described as a tattered white shirt and a tattered brown pants. If not for the lack of collar, and the twin scimitars attached to said trousers, he would look like your ordinary, run-of-the-mill beastkin slave.
"We seek your help." One of the brothers spoke first. "You should already know about the contract for the second imperial princess." The other spoke as well.
"Eh, the princess?" The man spoke. His blue bangs were covering his eyes, so the only thing they could see was his grin. He was leaning back on his wooden chair, with his feet up on the table. "I don't take boring jobs like that. Killing demure little princesses isn't my thing."
"She herself is a powerful swordswoman," the first brother spoke. "And she also has a strong mage accompanying her," the other one followed.
"Good enough to give you two trouble?"
"As much as it shames us to admit."
"We would train our bodies in the mountains once this job is over."
The young man's grin only grew bigger, and, as a display of his incredible litheness, from that position, he somersaulted backwards, landing on his feet in a perfect manner, with his chair being the only one that fell.
"80%."
"What?"
"80% of the contract price. I want that."
The two brothers looked at each other.
And then, they begrudgingly nodded in agreement. As assassins, they held a certain code that they would never abandon the mission they had accepted. And besides, the pay was good enough that they would still receive a large sum of money, even if the majority of it was given to the cat man, which they respected as they knew very well his ability surpassed even theirs, who had trained for so many years as monk-warriors.
"Oh, and give me some advance payment as well. 10%."
They could only bow their heads.
--------------------
Hugo
Our training lasted until dusk, resulting in aches and bruises all over my body, courtesy of Fiora's wooden sword. Thankfully, one of the knights guarding us offered to heal my ailments away, so I could rest in perfect comfort and health.
Training your body in this world really is convenient, as long as you have a cleric nearby.
Still no sign of the Grand Priestess. Guess we'll have to wait for tomorrow then.
As we returned, we met with NIcole, and immediately my brain started to consider whether I should tell her what happened with me and Fiora this morning—the murdering part especially. Maybe I could leave out the seducing part.
I gave a knowing glance towards Fiora, but she didn't respond. Either she didn't notice or she didn't care, most likely the latter.
Hmph, maybe I should tell Nicole after all. See if she likes being a friend of someone who's willing to kill her own family members for her goal.
I would have to get an opportunity to talk to her alone first though.
"Hey, Nicole?" I stopped her before she could end the conversation.
"Yes?"
"Can I talk with you for a sec? In private?" I whispered.
I gave another look towards Fiora. Nope, still doesn't care.
"Is something the matter?" She tilted her head.
"I just want to talk to you about something," I replied. "If you could, maybe you could come to my room later?"
"Your room?" She raised her eyebrows. "Alright." She smiled. "I'm not sure what could be so private that you don't want Fiora and Helen to hear though."
"Be careful, Nicole." Fiora finally chimed in. "You know this boy is quite the pervert."
I gave her a smirk. Finally, she's squirming in her boots.
"Oh, I'm sure he wouldn't do anything improper towards me." She turned to face her friend. "He might have the… inclinations towards pretty girls, but I am not pretty at all, you see. I am plain, so he would have no interest in me," she explained.
That's not true though. She has her own charm in her own way. And as weird as it might sound, she's starting to remind me of Marina, in a way. Without the teasing and proudful part however.
And so I returned to my room, waiting to reveal to Nicole the true nature of her dear friend.