A part of me was still worried that the other wolves would jump in to avenge the defeat of their alpha. This concern proved to be unwarranted. They didn't look the least bit eager to fight us. Quite the contrary, they appeared downright frightened.
"Damn..." the alpha chuckles, rising to his feet. Barely. "Looks like you guys are tougher than I thought. Aren't you going to finish me off?"
"Up to you, Squire. He's your would-be mate. I don't have any stakes in this." Vile says. Slave, predictably agreed, as she tends to do with virtually everything that the rat happens to say.
"Please don't call him that." I grumble, doing everything I can to forget that part of the deal, yet the rat certainly is making it difficult to do so. "I can't justify killing him. Both because he is a defeated foe, and because he chose to spare me in the past. It would be dishonorable to not return the favor."
"I only spared you because I was just playing around. I wasn't fighting seriously." the large male wolf says, looking away.
"What a coincidence." Vile grins. "We weren't fighting seriously either. You wouldn't want to see us when we are."
I couldn't help but smile. Sure, it was quite an exagerration, but I almost believed it. It was a pretty decisive victory, after all.
The wolf looks to us with confusion before lowering his head, shivering. A part of me expects him to fly into a rage and lash out as us, despite his broken body, but instead he raises his head, bellowing out laughter. "Heh..." he says, finally getting it under control. "Fair enough." before looking to face me. "My offer still stands you know. Now, more than ever. You'd be a great addition to our pack, and I could only imagine how powerful the pups we could make would be."
Unlike before, none of the other wolves voice any objections. "I can't." I say to him. "I still have a mission that I need to accomplish."
"And when that mission is complete?"
"I'll think about it." I say. It isn't a total lie. I doubted that I would consider it, but I certainly wouldn't stop thinking about what almost happened to me anytime soon.
"Well, a deal is a deal. We'll escort you and your friends to the other side of our territory. I've got to warn you, though, the depths of the woods are really dangerous." he says. I take this very much to heart, of course, considering the source. I nod in understanding.
As me and my allies walk past him, he speaks up once again, speaking not to me this time, but instead to Slave. "One more thing... you, cat..."
"I have a name, you know." the black cat huffs. "It's Slave."
Much like I had upon first hearing, he pauses to take in the implications of it, and seemingly tries to figure out how that's a less flatteriing title than 'Cat' before abandoning the matter entirely. "Um, right Anways, I've been in a lot of fights before, and never met anyone who could take a hit like you could. What's your secret?"
Slave looks to Vile for permission, who offers it with a disturbing smile and an encouraging nod. The black cat then looks to either side, making sure none of the other wolves are close enough to hear, steps forward, sits up and begins to quickly whisper into the large, pointed ear of the alpha wolf. He wears a serious expression, nodding along at first, before his nose begins to crinkle, his tail lowers and he begins to look much, much more concerned before pulling away.
"Ugh, I get it!" he says, and visibly shudders. "I think I'd rather stay weak."
The black cat just smiles, knowingly, and actually looks rather proud of herself.
"Alright!" Vile says, raising a tiny fist to the air as she hops off of my back and returns to Slave's. I have a sneaking suspicion that there will be a stain left in my fur where she had sat that will be surprisingly difficult to remove. "Operation: Preserve Squire's Maidenhood is a complete success!"
"That was not our primary objective here." I say with a sigh.
Vile looks rather confused. "Really? Because that's what it was called in the quest log."
I am about to roll my eyes and give another exasperated sigh until I look to Slave who wears a serious expression and nods in agreement. I can tell she is telling the truth. It also does solve the minor mystery of how the rat knew what my name was, despite me have never said it. That's when I realize something else.
"Wait, quest log? So that's why you came along? Because it was a quest? Because I had an exclamation mark over my head?" I say.
"Well, yeah. Turned out worthwhile, too. That fight gave a ton of experience points! Way more than the usual weakling adventurers we usually fought!" the rat nods. "Why do you ask? Do you have a problem with that?"
For the briefest of moments I did, but realized it was rather silly to. I constantly went out of my way to help people visibly in need. If anything, the fact that they chose to is a good thing. "No, it's just..." I pause, trying to think of something more elaborate to say, but in the end just settle on, "Thank you."
That's when another realization comes to me. "Wait, if was a quest, does that mean I need to give you some sort of reward?" I ask. I have no idea how the logistics of such things work. Still, all the quests I have done offered at least a little something extra.
I have a sneaking suspicious she was going to say 'no' but immediately changed her mind. Rat expressions are difficult to read. They always look sinister, like they're up to something, but perhaps that's just how all rats look.
"Yes. Yes you do." she replies with a wide, overly toothy grin, which would be a lot less unnerving if at least most of the teeth were pointed in the proper directions.
"Uh, I don't really have very much... ooh, I have a beginner's sword!" I say. I don't even need to see her disappointed stare to tell that it wouldn't be very suitable. It's way too large for even Slave to use, let alone Vile. "Um, how about some gold?"
"I'm a rat. What do I need money for?"
"Yeah, you're right." I say with a sigh. "How about some slime! I've got lots of that!" I say, genuinely excited this time. At first I felt compelled to just eat all of it right away, so it wouldn't go to waste, but ever since I'd gotten my bag, I made a point of storing some away for a special occasion. I'm surprised at her reaction, the way she draws back and crinkles her nose. I thought rats were known for eating pretty much everything? "I'm sorry. That's all that I have."
I lower my head in defeat. It feels wrong to not properly reward a successful quest, even if I didn't realize that I had offered a quest in the first place. Looking up, I'm both relieved and disturbed to see her twisted, wicked looking smile.
"Don't worry. Let's just say that you owe me a favor."
"Alright." I say, before giving the matter some more thought, "So long as you promise that you won't ask for anything perverted."
I really wished she would take offense at the statement. Instead she smiles softly, leaning towards me and says, "I wish I could promise that. I really do."
I lower my head in defeat once again. The quest is already done, so I don't exactly have much leverage for negotiation. "Okay, fine. What do you want?"
I anticipate an immediate and horrific answer, but instead she gives the matter some thought. "I haven't decided yet. I'll figure it out later."
I nod, a little relieved and a little bit concerned, but then take in the implications. "Wait, does that mean you still plan to travel with me?" I ask.
"Of course! A favor is a precious thing, and I can't risk you dying before you pay up." The rat says. "Why? Is that a problem?"
I, too, give the matter some thought, smile and shake my head. "No. That's not a problem at all." I say as the three of us step out from the wolf pack territory and into the heart of the Abyssal Woods.
--- Squire has attained Paladin rank 4! ---
--- Squire has learned the "Aura Bolt" ability! ---