"Hey, El?" Velariah asked after a long time.
"Hm?"
"Did you know your rear floats?"
"I did."
I finally opened my eyes to see one happy, grinning elf.
"You want to use me as a boat next?" I grinned.
"Heh." She chuckled. Her face then went to one of slight shock.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Just remembered that I didn't bring any clean clothes..."
"Nice going there, Vel. Shall I ask Elly to get some after getting dressed?"
She nodded in response. "Yes, please."
She removed her hands from my back and brought them in front of her face. Her skin had gone completely wrinkled because of the water.
"How long have we been in here?" She inquired.
"Dunno," I replied. "Hours, for sure."
"We should probably get out and get some dinner."
"Doesn't sound like a bad idea," I said as I removed my hands from her back and back of her head. Even the hands that had been in her hair had gone completely wrinkled.
"Aw, shucks. We forgot to use the shampoo." She mentioned.
"Oops," I said. "It appears we got too distracted, eh?" I chuckled.
"Whatever." She finished. "Let's get ourselves dried. How many towels do you even need?"
I shrugged. "About five."
"Will four do? I need one as well."
"Let's find out," I said as I released my legs from behind her back. I removed the stopper using the tiny claws on one of my hind legs. The water started draining and I stood up to allow most of the water to fall off my body before stepping out of the tub.
It turned out that with the loss of hair all over my body, four turned out to be the magic number. I got myself dressed after drying, walked up to the doors, opened one, and peeked around the corner.
Velariah, of course, finished a while before me and was now waiting, sitting in the hammock.
Elly was seated at the dining table, reading a book. Gray was seated beside her chair and looked up to me when I opened the door. The noise had likely drawn his attention.
He ran to me as quickly as he could and I crouched to pet him.
"Elly?" I called out.
"Yes, Miss Elania?"
"Could you please get a set of clean clothes for Velariah, including underwear?"
"Not a problem." She stood up and was ready to walk upstairs.
"And then start dinner after?"
"Sure," She smiled and left the room.
Gods, it felt so awkward to ask someone to make dinner. That had to be the first time in my life that I had done anything like it. I doubted I would be able to get used to it.
"'Sup, Gray?" I said as I scratched his ears and stroked his back.
Having four arms was amazing.
"Missed me?"
His panting and closed eyes as I scratched him confirmed that he had. I allowed him into the room and he ran underneath me towards Velariah's dangling legs on the other side of the hammock.
"That tickles!" The elf's voice called out.
I turned around to see Gray licking her feet and grinned at the sight.
I waited several minutes for the maid, who eventually returned with a stack of folded clothes. She handed them to me at the door and I thanked her before closing it.
"There you go," I said as I planted the stack of clothes on the hammock.
"How did it feel?" She said with a smile.
I was lost as to what exactly she was talking about. I had a great time in the bath if that was what she was referring to.
"Asking Elly to make dinner." She clarified.
Oh.
"Honestly? I feel bad." I said.
"I knew you'd say that. I feel the same way."
She jumped out of our bed and put on her clothes. I looked away as she was changing her underwear, switching my attention back to the wolf pup who was before me, once more.
Someone craved attention.
And it wasn't Velariah for a change.
"He is cute, isn't he? I wonder how big he will grow up to be." The elf called behind me.
"I guess as big as any other wolf we saw the other day, which is quite big, to be fair. You're going to be paying quite a bit for food for this little guy soon enough." I grinned.
"Money isn't any of our concerns anymore." She answered.
"I guess you're right," I answered before rubbing Gray's belly. "This is going to be one fluffy boy."
"Speaking of money," I continued, "We should get some more spools done after dinner."
"We really should. I feel so much better after taking that bath too. My drowsiness has disappeared almost completely."
"That's good to hear," I replied. "I assume that means we can go to the dungeon tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I'll be completely fine. You wanna see Dworag before heading out to see the others?"
I nodded. "That's probably for the better."
I looked at the saddlebags that still sat in the corner. "We could try to dump our 'loot' on him at the same time as well."
"There's always the iron, if nothing else. We should be able to get rid of those crappy weapons without issues."
"I hope next time we can find something of greater value. It doesn't seem this dungeon has a whole lot of loot."
"I guess that scorpion's stinger is going to be the most valuable item there is in that place," I said, referring to the massive scorpion that roamed the place before Velariah got herself injured.
"Most likely. You could take those saddlebags with you just in case any other, more useful, monsters appeared."
"Hm, I guess I should," I replied.
Velariah appeared at my side, fully clothed, and knelt to pet Gray as well.
"I do hope he gets as fluffy as the other wolves. I can't rely on you anymore with the loss of your hair." She spoke with mischief in her voice.
"Harsh," I replied.
The elf grinned before opening the doors to the dining area.
"Is there anything we can do before dinner?" She asked.
"I did have one more question with regards to Corium," I spoke. "Is it possible for sapient creatures to obtain it by killing other sapient creatures?"
"Besides goblins and trolls? Not that I am aware of. You're thinking about yourself, right?"
I nodded.
"Well, you're sentient. You're definitely not a monster and since you are not from this world and thus, not spawned by a dungeon, I would say no."
"Thanks, Vel. That's a relief to hear. It's been bothering me for a while..."
"You should beat Arch into submission and ask him the same question," Velariah said with a grin.
"That might not be too bad of an idea."
I thought for a second. "How does one beat a dungeon into submission, though?"
Velariah shrugged. "No idea."
"Nice help you are."
We played some more with Gray until Elly exited the kitchen with an oven dish. It seemed she had created something consisting of minced meat, potatoes, and onions.
She gave me a lot of cooking inspiration.
It turned out to be simple, yet wonderful in flavor. If I'd known this would be so easy, I'd probably have cooked more properly back in my old world.
I shook off the thought. This was my world now, and I doubted I'd ever go back, or wanted to.
I didn't eat as much as I could, as I promised. After half a cup of the new tea, I retreated to the bathroom with Velariah.
I hoped half a cup wouldn't trigger the effects…
So far, so good.
"Argh, I wish I could just fall asleep and skip to tomorrow," Velariah said as she jumped on the hammock.
Gray ran a few circles around the bathroom, to get rid of excess energy it seemed. I wondered if he would have to be walked again before sleep.
"We still got those spools to take care of," I said, taking them out of her bag and tossing them into the hammock.
She took them and stepped out of our bed.
"Let's get this done, then," She said.
I walked up to the tub and placed my head on my arms on the edge, trying to get somewhat comfortable now that all the pillows had been transferred elsewhere.
Velariah gently worked on the spools behind my rear and we finished about half an hour later.
The elf sighed and tossed the finished spools in her bags.
"Anything else we can do, El?"
"Well, the best idea I can come up with is Yahtzee," I said as I reached over to her pack. "I should get some other games shaped out."
"Some variation would be nice." The elf replied.
"Yes, it would," I said after I'd found the papers, pencils, and dice.
I took them with me and climbed into the hammock.
"I doubt this will make for one of the most comfortable surfaces to write on," I noted.
"Just use one of your legs."
"Heh, that's an idea."
Velariah turned to lie on her belly and I climbed on top of her. My pedipalps rested on her shoulders once more and I had my legs around her body. Two of them were ahead of her face and in reach to write on.
"El, what are you doing?" Velariah said with a giggle.
"I thought you begged me to hold on to you like this again tonight, or does this not count?" I smiled as I rested my head on one of her shoulders.
"Hm, I don't mind. You give the best hugs. I love hugs."
We started our game with me watching over her shoulder. The setup with regards to the surface to play on was quite scuffed, but we had a great time nonetheless. I had gradually tightened my grip on her throughout the game, I don't think Velariah minded it in the slightest.
Gray had started barking at the door a few rounds in. I received it as a message that he needed to be walked. Elly was eager to volunteer. I could open the door with one of my legs, call for Elly, and close it again without leaving the hammock.
She had not even commented on the position we were in. I'd completely forgotten about it but decided it wasn't worth fussing over.
I was glad she was a professional.
"She knows. Don't worry about it," Velariah said as she rolled the dice. "I'll probably have her transfer my clothes to this room soon."
"That does sound like a good idea. Especially after what happened earlier..."
We continued for a while but I found Velariah's body starting to tire. How I knew that was beyond me. My legs surely had something to do with it, but I couldn't explain.
It confused me.
I seemed to be right in my assessment, she yawned not long after.
Seconds later, Elly knocked on the door before slightly opening it, to allow Gray in. He instantly ran over to his bed and curled up in it.
"Heh, Elly wore him out it seems."
"Huh? Oh." Velariah replied.
I could tell she didn't have her head with the game anymore.
"Yeah, let's call it a night," I announced.
I stepped out of the hammock to lock the door. It would seem I couldn't quite do that with one of my legs yet.
"That sounds good," Velariah replied.
I collected the materials from the game and placed them in her bag again. The elf, in the meantime, rolled around to lie on her back. She removed her clothes in an overly complicated fashion while laying on her back.
All I could do was smile as I observed her antics.
She had her arms stretched out after she finished, and I stepped into the hammock in answer and embraced her with all the limbs that I had at my disposal. Warm feelings of comfort filled me. I felt as if I was protecting Velariah when I had my legs around her like this. I could only imagine what it felt like for her.
I gave her a deep kiss before we wished each other good night.
I clapped out the lights and let myself relax as I laid my head on her shoulder.
My love continued to grow.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I woke up and felt Velariah stir beneath me as well.
"Good morning, Elania. Slept well?"
"With the best elven body pillow on the market? I sure did. Good morning, Vel."
Velariah chuckled.
"How are you feeling?" I asked.
"As good as it gets."
I turned on the lights and Velariah put her hands in my hair and tucked it behind my ears.
"You mind letting me go?" She smiled.
"I do, actually. We have things to do today though, so I'll let you go… for now..." I smiled back.
I removed my legs from around her frame and stepped out of the hammock, off to do my morning routine. Velariah played with an excited Gray and we reversed roles once I was finished.
One quick breakfast later, I almost felt bad for leaving Gray behind. I knew he'd be in good hands with Elly, though.
We armored up, made sure we had some new bandages with us, restocked all we could, and headed out to see Dworag. Velariah had fastened the saddlebags to me once more before we left the mansion.
I was carrying my bladed gauntlets again. This seemed to be the only way I could carry these safely, for now.
We reached his shop and Velariah entered, taking the weapons that were in my saddlebags with her. It didn't take long for her to exit the shop with two scabbards that seemed to be about the correct size for the blades.
"Where's the dwarf?" I asked out of surprise.
"Told him you weren't with me. Seemed to believe me too."
"Either you are a good liar, or he knows when to stop."
"Maybe both?" Velariah suggested.
"Well, you do seem to be fairly good at lying."
"Hey!"
I grinned and put the scabbards on the blades. They fit perfectly, as if they were made for these blades. Maybe they were?
"How much did you pay?" I asked the elf.
"Nothing," She said. "I traded the crappy goblin weapons for them. Why?"
I got the feeling the dwarf had scammed us. I was certain he created these gauntlets together with Coldanus and then intentionally withheld the scabbards that were supposed to go with them.
I shrugged. "Nothing. Just curious."
I didn't view the dwarf as such a person, though. Maybe I was concluding too quickly again.
We walked over to and entered the guild hall. Our companions were already seated in our usual corner.
Somehow, Velariah and I always managed to show up late. Or at least, later than the rest.
Nira asked Velariah how she was feeling after, saying hi.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Somehow, the wound was completely gone yesterday, a few hours after you guys left. Do you have any idea why that happened, Nira?"
"Completely?" The harpy asked.
Velariah nodded. "Not even a mark remains."
"No?" Nira answered. It sounded more like a question than an answer.
"And you're complaining, why?" Seralyn asked with a straight face.
"I'm not complaining at all. I just thought it was weird."
"It is weird," Draco confirmed. "But I doubt it's something to worry about."
It appeared the others had already had breakfast. We settled for a quick drink and were on our way. I equipped the bladed gauntlets as soon as we were outside the village. The scabbards remained on the weapons, even as I moved them around all the time.
I transported Velariah and Nira again while we discussed our plans. If we faced the same enemies again, we could simply repeat what we had done the day before. That was, without any of us getting distracted over things that had nothing to do with combat.
It appeared that the fields where coffee was planted were fully transformed to support the growing plants. They had already sprouted. The treemenders must have put quite some work into those. There were probably thousands of plants and each of them seemed to be at the same stage in their growth.
I cannot imagine how much work that had been.
I saw a couple of lower-ranked adventurers watering the many plants as we passed. Some of them waved as we made our way to the dungeon. I waved back with a free hand and so did the others.
About forty minutes later, we reached the entrance to the tunnels leading down to the dungeon. Draco lit a torch and led the way. Velariah and Nira dismounted and followed behind me as we made our way down.
The door to the dungeon was closed again and we had to reopen it. We were quiet as we descended the stairs. I was able to move over steps quicker and quicker. I was happy to see my improvements. I may have been flexing a bit by running down the stairs as fast as I could.
"Showoff," Seralyn said with a grin as she reached the last steps while I was already waiting at the bottom.
I smiled at her comment.
The tunnel leading ahead was even more lit than yesterday. More glowing blue moss was found on the walls. I was certain that a green glowing moss was present as well, although the green glow seemed to be suppressed by the blue one.
Draco noticed me staring at the light source and shook his head. "Unfortunately, it's not worth much. It loses its glow as soon as it's taken outside of the dungeon. It's arguably more useful in here."
Oh, so that's why it was useless. Good to know.
As for enemies… the room was empty, somehow. I wondered what the reason behind that was.
I was wrong. As we continued through the hall, we ran into a single slime. I quickly pierced its core with my spear before turning to my allies.
"Any of you know what the hell is going on here?"
Draco walked past me with a torch.
"Let's find out."