The Snoring Dove was everything I would have expected in a medieval inn, being that it barely looked like an inn at all.
The stinging, pungent odor of alcohol nearly knocked me over the moment we opened the doors to a place that could have passed for a bustling restaurant. Dozens of people were scattered about the room, all stacked around the various tables, sharing meals, chatting by the burning fireplace and drinking mug after mug of something that reddened their cheeks more with each greedy gulp. A couple of overworked barmaids ferried trays of food and drink to the tables to keep the fun going.
Likewise, a young couple walked up the stairs with a key in hand as they whispered and giggled to each other. Seems like this was going to be the last stop on a date that went very well. At least we were in the right place.
Meant to rest your head after a long journey, the place was three whole parts restaurant, tavern and inn. Thanks to this, nobody seemed to take stock in the cloaked figures following behind me.
"Oops… Sorrshy."
Slurring his apology, a man staggered past us, bumping into me on his way out of the building. Finding his awkward movements intriguing, Mana stopped and turned to watch him go. He made it down the first two steps rather easily, but the last three he took in an unintentional fall that had him face-planting into the street. Her tail giving the occasional flick beneath her cloak before Yua covertly pressed it down. Their people weren't ones to drink much, so seeing someone that sloshed was probably a rarity.
I carefully prodded my pants pocket to make sure my coin purse was still in place and made my way over to the bar where the couple paid for their room. The woman waiting there was also dressed as a barmaid, though she didn't seem to be serving anyone. She just sat at the counter, hunched over a ledger, likely jotting down the room she just rented.
"Excuse me, Miss?" I said, already prepared to get off my feet for the day.
"If you want a drink, you'll have to wait a moment," she said, scribbling down some numbers.
"Thanks, but we're here to rent a room. Possibly for a couple of nights."
With my Merchant class advising me to incentivize her, I let her know our stay probably wasn't going to be a short one. And as expected, this got her to lift her attention to me. The moment she did, my breath caught.
More or less what tradition demanded for such a place, she was pretty. Or at least, I think she qualified for that title, as the moment her long black hair fell from her face, I was met with only a single eye. She wasn't wearing an eyepatch, nor did she have some grotesque scar keeping one permanently closed. She was a cyclops. Everything else about her screamed normal woman, but that singular large eye centered on an otherwise attractive face that stared back at me.
"And how many nights will you be staying with us?" she asked, looking bored. I read the name Seldi in her info box.
Snapping myself out of the joy I felt in seeing yet another fantasy race, I answered, "Uh, just two for now. But we may need to stay longer depending on business."
"That's fine. A room for one, then."
"No, a room for…"
I paused. Something important I hadn't considered suddenly popped into mind.
Should I rent Mana a separate room? Sure, her people could care less about privacy, but she wasn't technically mine yet. If her father found out we shared a room… Well, he might not even understand the connotation of a man and woman sharing a room at an inn, and Yua would be with us, so…
"If it's not a room for one," Seldi said. "Then how many? We do have a few beds left in the communal room, if you'd prefer."
"No, no. Sorry. I'd like a room for three, please."
Pointing over my shoulders at the girls, I figured I might as well give in and let Mana stay with us. I already knew she'd likely prefer it and, given her overly curious nature, I thought I needed to keep an eye on her. All that trouble with Miss Bellenfort reminded me of the fact that Mana, too, had become a Thief thanks to me. Can't have someone else noticing and getting the wrong idea.
Seldi squinted at the girls, eyeing them up and down. Then she turned to me and crossed her arms.
"Sir, these two wouldn't happen to be cat-kin, would they?"
At this, a few of the patrons enjoying their drinks turned to check the girls as well. Most took a single glance, shrugged and returned to their mugs, but several looked annoyed at the mere idea of their presence. I couldn't' help but notice that some of the joyous atmosphere had gone silent.
Shrinking behind me, Mana took the hint and let her hood hide her face. Yua did the same, but I could tell her fists were clenched, almost daring for those glaring to attack.
"No, they aren't," I lied, hopeful. None of the patrons, at least none that I could see, were beast-kin, so their natural scent shouldn't be a tell.
"Mhmm, sure," Seldi tapped an inpatient finger on her bicep. "Then let's have those hoods off, yea?"
Seeing no way out, Yua started to remove her hood when I stopped her. If the jig was up, there was no point in arguing with people like this. Unfortunately, our plans meant we had to stay here. Pissing the owners off would just jeopardize that.
"Okay. They're cat-kin. Could you please make an exception for them? I'll pay extra."
"Not happening. Their kind aren't welcome here."
"… Would it change your mind if I said they were my slaves?"
Seldi scoffed, looking at Yua with a smirk that might as well have said serves you right. Using Yua's cool lack of a response as a reason to keep things peaceful, I let her answer.
"If that's the case, those two can sleep in the stables."
Happy to let her think she'd won, I turned to Yua.
"Take Mana back to the stables," I said, pretending to sound heartless, then whispered. "Just wait for me."
"Yes, Master," Yua replied with a short bow before taking Mana by the arm and dragging her outside. Thankfully, Mana at least didn't seem to catch on to the casual racism being slung at her. The drunks in the corner of the room were too interesting.
Once they were gone, I took out my purse.
"I'd like the largest bed you have to offer."
"Fine. It'll be six coppers. Eight if you want food."
I quickly set the coins for just the room on the provided tray, accepted the key she gave me and started upstairs.
"Second floor," she called, leaning over the counter. "And don't think you'll be having those two in your bed tonight. I so much at catch as peep of them in this building again and I'll kick the lot of you out. Nobody gets past Seldi's eye."
Pretending again to unbothered, I hurried upstairs.
The following the number plates posted to the side of each room, I quickly found the one matching the number etched into the key in the corner of the hall. I let myself in and locked the door.
The room was nowhere near as sparse as the one I rented back in Amoranth. All the furniture was well-made, polished and decorated. There was even a small table in the corner by the window. And more importantly, the bed looked significantly more comfortable as it was easily fit for four people, or in my case, one greedy rich boy with two slaves. They even did us the honors of cleaning the linens before renting it.
Seeing such a nice room set at such a low price really drove home how the Lazy Cat back in Amoranth was a giant rip-off.
Relishing the chance to sleep in an actual bed again, I cast a careful Clothing Wash spell on the sheets as I crossed the room. I tossed the window open and embraced the fishy smell of the ocean. Finding the alley leading to the stables tucked away right beneath my window, I leaned over the sill and cupped a hand beside my mouth.
"Yua," I called, sure my voice was just loud enough to reach her and as expected, she and Mana scurried into sight. Their eyes instantly locked onto to me and Mana waved.
Making sure they were alone, I cast Dimension Step, connecting the alley to the room and Yua hurriedly pulled Mana through it. Once they were through, I cut the spell and mentally flipped Seldi the bird.
"Sorry about that."
"It's okay," Yua said. "I knew you wouldn't let us sleep on the ground."
She pulled her backpack off and set it on the small end table by the door before stretching her back with a satisfied grunt, as if the bag hadn't been empty the entire time.
"That's not what I meant. Sorry about the treatment you've been getting."
"Woow…!" Mana muttered, still oblivious. Turning on her heels fast enough for her hood to fall all on its own, she excitedly looked around the room.
"It's fine," Yua continued after pulling off her cloak. The casual swish to her tail as she helped Mana out of hers said she was truly fine. "People tend to treat those different from them as outsiders. That's just a fact that you pick up on living in the city."
"That's true, but this is a little different."
"Yup. Those thieves started those rumors about us, right? Then all we have to do is kick them out of the forest and things should go back to normal."
"Let's hope it's that easy."
If not, then maybe I'll start spreading some rumors myself. Hell, if Tama takes control of the crystal mine and trades them to the city, maybe their opinion of the cat-kin will turn naturally in their favor along with the influx of coin.
"Wow. So many things!"
Her eyes sparkling with curiosity, Mana dashed around the room. Throwing open the wardrobe with a flourish and nearly ripping the end table's drawers out of their sockets, she beamed even though they were all empty. She even leaned out the window to take in the city from up high. I guessed being only two stories above the ground didn't bother her, and her swishing tail agreed with me.
I laughed.
"I don't suppose you weren't like this your first time in an inn, Yua?"
"N-no."
Her cheeks turning just a little pink as she remembered a potentially embarrassing moment, Yua neatly tucked her skirt beneath her before sitting on the bed. Seeing, or rather hearing this, Mana extracted herself from the window and ran to the bed to slam her hands on it.
"Big Sis, what's this thing? It's soft like boobies."
"Hehe. It's a bed. Humans prefer to sleep on these."
"Ehh? So, this is a bed? I've heard about these before."
Mana ran her hands over the sheets with a grin before jumping high into the air before plopping facedown onto the mattress. The back of her skirt flipped up when she landed, revealing her complete lack of modesty. Since we weren't in public anymore, I let her get away with it.
Grinning still, she rolled onto her back, then back onto her front. Again and again she rolled, messing her clothes further until she bumped into Yua. There she stopped and closed her eyes, letting her head sink into the mattress.
"So soft…~"
Her excitement slowly faded thanks to the softness of the bed. She rubbed at her stomach with a very pleased smile. Her belly was as flat as her petite frame would have suggested it'd be, but with all the pork she ate earlier, I was surprised her corset wasn't cracking at the seams.
It was thanks to witnessing her voracious appetite yet again that I had to pick up some extra food for the cabin on our way here.
Speaking of appetites, since we'd already eaten, we had nothing left to do but get to work. Yua gave a small nod, ready for anything I might say.
"Can you hear anyone in the other rooms?"
I'd like to test if the rooms here are enchanted with sound-proofing like the one we stayed in back in Amoranth. If so, we could talk to Arthur here once he shows up and not have to worry about our conversation being leaked to his thieving buddies. If not, then we'd have to come up with a way to get him to go on a walk with us, which didn't sound easy at all.
Yua's ears gave a small flick after being called into action. She shook her head.
"I can't. I can hear what's going on downstairs, though."
"Great. Then could you listen for Arthur and let me know when he checks in?"
"No need. He's already here. I think he has his room's window open, so I can hear him easily."
Guess the enchantment doesn't work unless the room is completely sealed. Makes sense, but good to know.
"Hmm. Let me guess, we were lucky enough to be roomed right next to him?"
"Nope. He's on the third floor, right above our room. I've been keeping an ear on him since we were in the alley. He hasn't left."
"… That's good, I guess."
Not that a flight of stairs was a problem, really. I just thought my Luck stat might have kicked in again to make life a little easier.
"Can you tell me what he's doing? I'd like to talk to him as soon as possible."
"Yup. He's been having sex since before we got here."
"Really…?"
Yua nodded, her cheeks not even slightly flushed despite what she claimed to be listening to. And after meeting her people, I felt exactly zero need to question her.
She closed her eyes to focus and a couple of seconds later, her ears shot up and she smiled.
"Oh! Never mind. He just finished. You should be able to talk to him soon."
Ah. There it is. Thank you, Luck stat… I guess. I rubbed my knuckles into my eyes.
"It's kind of strange, though," Yua said, her ears flicking. "The female he's with is demanding coin from him now."
"Well, Tillmann did mention the city had a brothel. Maybe he brought one of the women back with him."
"Oh, right. I forgot humans sometimes pay for sex," she said, shyly fiddling with her fingers. "Um, Alex, as your mate, can I ask that you don't do that?"
"I would never."
Honestly, I already felt as though I was bursting with luck at just having a girl like her that was so receptive to my desires. And I'd make sure Mana would be the same soon, too. The thought of paying for it honestly hadn't crossed my mind. My old self might have jumped at the chance if it meant doing away with my virginity, but not this version of me.
Instantly reassured, Yua turned her attention back to the window to listen.
"Hey Big Bro," Mana said, crawling over to use Yua's lap as a pillow. "Didn't you pay that slave guy a lot of coins to be Big Sis's mate before? Isn't that kind of the same?"
"… Yua, put more clothes on her."
"What? No way!"
"Hehe. Sorry, but you put all her clothes in your item box."
"Tch… damn item box."
I wasn't expecting my dark past to be brought up here and what's worse is that I can't deny it. I even admitted as much to Yua.
Mana braced herself and covered her chest protectively, not from it being exposed, but from the fear of having more added to her outfit. Yua smiled mischievously at her, but unfortunately, we didn't have time to fool around. While I would have loved to ask Yua to spend the rest of the day helping me dirty the bed sheets as a sort-of middle finger to the innkeeper, we had our chance and we'd be fools not to take it.
"Yua, do you know if Arthur is alone yet?"
"He will be in a moment. The female he's with is getting dressed."
"Good. I'll head up now. You wait here, I'll teleport you up to him when I'm ready."
Unfortunately, since she wasn't allowed here, I can't just let her walk around the place. I'd be on my own for a minute or two.
"What about me?" Mana asked.
"Maybe it'd be best if you just waited here for us."
"But I wanted to ask the human about the spriggans."
"We'll ask for you," Yua said, standing from the bed.
"Mmm…."
Grumbling, Mana plopped back down on her back. As her pout was aimed at the ceiling, it had no power against me. I unlocked and pulled the door open. Just when I was about to leave, I heard other people coming upstairs and whispered to Yua, "For as long as we're here, just keep the door locked.
I got a quick nod of approval and closed the door. Thanks to the negligent effect of the sound-proofing enchantment, I heard the click of Yua locking the door and moved upstairs.
Jazzing myself up with a silent pep-talk, I skirted around a group of drunks loitering on the staircase and a couple with bags in their hands headed for the market. On the third-floor landing, I passed a woman in a dress that looked to have been hastily altered to show off more of her cleavage. Lightly sweaty, her admittedly attractive face was flushed pink. And, as an experienced man now myself, I recognized the smell of, shall we say, passion on her.
She smiled seductively at me, pressing her elbows inwards to accentuate the shape of her chest and I forced myself to look away, somehow thankful she didn't call out to me.
Figuring she was the woman Arthur had paid to keep him company, I waited until she was out of sight and searched for his room. Assuming that, if he were above ours, it should be in same position along the hall, I tiptoed right on over. Checking to make sure I was alone, I cast Dimensional Step and Yua joined me the moment the portal formed. Thankfully, she thought to put her hood back on before coming. As did the girl that came bounding out of it next, though Mana's cloak was sitting sideways on her shoulders.
"Mana, what are you…"
Before Yua could finish, Mana gleefully knocked on the door.
"Wait!"
"Bitch, I already paid you," came a grumpy voice from inside. "If you want more, next time you better let me finish inside or I won't…"
The door swung open and we were greeted by a relatively thin man that looked about as confused as we were. No doubt it was Arthur, his info box said as much, but finding three people outside his room when he was expecting a single prostitute must have been jarring.
As for us, the sight we were greeted with was much less pleasant. His body was covered in multiple bruises and several partially healed lacerations, likely from the trip Tillmann sent him through the forest. His pale white skin was covered in a light sheen of sweat, like he'd been working out before we bothered him. But we could only see all this because the man answered the door wearing nothing but a loose, dirty pair of undershorts and, for some reason, his boots.
I knew the girls didn't mind his state of undress, but I still felt the need to pull Mana behind me.
Arthur's eyes refocused, likely working out that while the two girls beside me were lookers in their own rights, that they weren't here for coin. So, he sneered and took a swig of whatever alcohol was in his mug.
"Yea? And what do you want?"
Discretely sucking in a breath, I stepped up to bat.
"Excuse me, sir. I'm sorry to bother you, but we'd like to talk if you have a moment."
"Talk?" he parroted, scratching his crotch without mind for the girls. "About what?"
"About Tillmann."
His eyes went wide. For several seconds he stared at me until some sort of realization dawned on him and his body stiffened. He took a cautious step back, almost like he meant to slam the door in our faces just to put even that thin piece of wood between us.
His hand flew to his hip, but nothing was there. I don't know if he managed to buy a dagger, but he certainly wasn't holding one. Sweat trickled down his cheek and his stiffness quickly turned into a trembling panic.
I put my hands up to show I meant no harm. After the way Tillmann beat him, this kind of fear was understandable.
"Hold on. We don't want to fight."
"W-What is it? Did Tillmann send you?"
"No. We just…"
"Don't lie! Nobody in this city should even know that name!"
Scrambling away from us, he made for the belt he'd left wrapped around the bedpost. There was a steel dagger fastened to it and tied beside it was a long sword. Both were new and unused.
Right, he was a level 10 Swordsman. His old sword must have been broken when Tillmann brutalized him.
He'd only made it a few steps before his boot caught on the pants he'd carelessly left on the floor and he fell forward onto the bed. Undeterred, he lunged for the belt, but Yua flew into the room and grabbed him by the wrist.
"Wha… Let go!"
Lashing out like a cornered animal, he threw a punch aimed at her cheek, but she caught it with her off hand. She held him. Not held him down, she simply didn't let him move. Seeing the fear in his eyes deepening as he quickly learned he couldn't match her strength; Mana and I stepped inside and closed the door and then the window. The sound-proofing enchantment was now in effect.
"W-Wait!" he begged. "Spare me and I'll give you all the coin I have! I may not look it, but I have several gold pieces in my…"
"Please, try to calm down," I said, once more putting up my hands. "We're not here because of Tillmann. Look."
I pinched Yua's hood and pulled it off of her. Her spritely cat ears popped into view as did the gentle smile she wore. She may have used force to stop him, but she wasn't trying to hurt anyone.
As if seeing this as her chance, Mana also knocked off her hood and stretched her ears. Arthur gawked at her more so than he did Yua. For the briefest of moments, his face lit up much like Miss Bellenfort's had at the sight of her, but a shuddering worry quickly took its place.
"S-So what, the cat-kin really are after us? Did they hire you to kill me?"
"No," I said, tapping Yua's shoulder. She let go of him and stepped back. "We're not here for a fight. We just want to talk."
"If you're not with Tillmann and not with the cat-kin, who the hell are you?"
I suppose a self-introduction should have been our opener. Maybe he wouldn't have freaked out if I made it clear where we stood. Just wasn't expecting him to freak out like that.
"Sorry. My name's Alex, an Adventurer. Those two are Yua and Mana. We are here on behalf of the cat-kin, but not to fight."
"Then what do you want?"
"We just want you, Tillmann and the rest to leave the forest. They… hired me to talk with you."
I stumbled a bit there, but it wasn't technically a lie. I just didn't think I'd get anywhere if I admitted fifty-percent of the reason I'm doing this is to gain the right to take a second wife. Or how the other fifty-percent was because my first wife asked me to help. Wouldn't exactly sound all that altruistic if I shared my ulterior motives.
"Alright. Alright," he stuttered, stumbling back to his feet. Cautiously, he snatched up his pants and started pulling them back on. "We're talking, alright? What exactly do you want?"
"Like I said, we just want you guys to leave the forest."
"Yea," Mana chimed, crossing her arms. "You humans are making the animals weird. What did you do to the spriggans?"
"Spriggans?" he repeated without so much as a twitch for the small glare Mana shot at him. "You mean those plant-people? I don't know what happened to them. They took off into the forest soon as we got there."
Mana's ears flicked, but her expression softened soon after. She touched a hand to her chest and let out a small sigh of relief. The spriggans were her friends, apparently, so she must have been listening to his heart to test for lies.
Arthur's cheeks reddened slightly at the sight of her relieved smile doing away with her quick anger, but he turned to me. Somehow, just that quick look at her seemed to have softened him up a bit.
"I don't know why you're coming to me about this. If you know Tillmann, then you know I ain't in charge."
"Maybe not, but we know you two don't see eye to eye. We saw what he did to you earlier."
A sour look spread across his face, a mix of anxiety and pain. He touched a hand to his stomach, right where the largest of his bruises darkened his skin. If the fist-shaped mark was anything to go by, Tillmann must have found a reason to hit him again after we left.
"So someone was watching us after all… But why corner me in the city where there's witnesses? Why not just attack the moment I was alone?"
"Like I said, we aren't here to cause violence. We waited to speak to you privately because we'd rather avoid a fight."
Arthur raised a brow at this, then said, "Yea, I get that. Tillmann's a monster, but I can promise you, you won't be able to convince him to leave. He has his eyes set on the huge payout waiting for us. Dwarves practically worship gold. Well, they worship metal in general, but you know what I mean."
"And what about you?"
"Huh?"
"What do you want? Are you really risking your life just for some gold?"
He laughed. "This isn't just some gold, kid. It's a lot of gold. Enough for each of us to retire and for our kid's kids to never have to lift a finger for their entire lives."
I understood that more than he could know. After checking a single crystal's value and comparing it to the struggle I went through trying to raise money for Yua's contract, I knew.
"But is it worth the beatings?" I said. "The way he tossed you around like that, he could have killed you."
"I know. Can't use any of that gold if I'm dead, right?"
"Then you're okay serving him?"
"Serving him? Hell no! I was supposed to be in charge, but then that brick-headed bastard started swinging that damn hammer around. Sure, the others were his crew from the start, but I'm the one that scouted them! I'm the one Lord Argento told where to find the crystals! And I'm the one that persuaded him to give those bastards a bigger cut to keep them in line! Not only that, but I'm the one that has to risk my life transporting the damn things into the city! None of this would be possible without me, and they still treat me like trash!"
His yelling made Mana cover her ears, but, use to it, Yua held firm. Hearing his rant, I figured his drinking might have been to relieve the stress they all caused him and not because he was incompetent. I mean, not one of them lifted a finger to help him when Tillmann tossed him around like a ragdoll.
Fuming, Arthur clenched his fists and continued.
"That bastard was only hired because the Lord wanted a dwarf in the party to make sure we got what we were there for. Grubby little rock-muncher. As if I can't tell what a damn Essence crystal looks like!"
"Speaking of, do you know what are the crystals used for? Other than their value, of course."
"Huh?" he grunted, raising a condescending brow at me. "You're sticking your nose in our business and you don't even know?"
"Humor me."
"Pfft. Ain't nothing to humor, kid. It's not a secret. Essence Crystals are needed for enchanting. Ya now, like weapons and armor and what not. It's pretty well known. If anything, it's weird that you don't know. These cat-kin I understand, but a human?"
Feeling Yua eyeing me somewhat suspiciously, I regretted giving up the momentum of the conversation just to ask for yet more of this world's common knowledge that I was oblivious to. I didn't even have the chance to enjoy learning more about this fantasy world.
"Enchanting, huh? I guess I can see that being reason enough."
I still wasn't keen on the girl's using any of that skimpy enchanted armor, but knowing the crystals were related most definitely interested me. The items necessary to create weapons and armor that effectively broke nature and common sense were definitely going to be in high demand.
"I don't matter what they're for," he said, rubbing his forehead. "They have their worth and I have my reasons for doing this."
"And what's that?"
What could bring a man to risk thievery and eternal slavery and power through life-threatening physical violence from your own team, just for some coin?
Arthur clenched his teeth, almost sneering. Like he felt insulted I even need ask.
"For my family, obviously! I got drunk, did something stupid and because of it, I was exiled from Dragma."
"What did you do?"
He crossed his arms, but it didn't quite hide the bravado he was trying to mask his blush with.
"… I might have gotten drunk, wooed the woman I'd had my eye on and slept with her. She might have been the daughter of a local lord I should never have had a chance with. And… I might have gotten her pregnant."
I pinched my eyes shut and rubbed them. And here I almost forgot we were dealing with a known criminal. Although, I seriously doubt his Thief tag came from stealing the virginity of some nobleman's daughter.
Meanwhile, Mana looked completely lost, no doubt wondering why he wasn't allowed to be with that woman if he'd already slept with her.
"Hey, I've been in love with her for years, alright? She feels the same, she just isn't allowed to show it. I didn't do anything wrong. She explained this herself, but all her pleas got me was the right to keep my head on my shoulders."
"So they exiled you instead?"
"Exactly. Once he found out, her father had his men snatch me out of my bed in the middle of the night. They threw me on the first boat to Vierre without so much as a goodbye, just to keep me quiet."
I looked to Yua, who weakly smiled back, likely after listening to his heart for the truth. It was hard to believe that I could have ended up just like him. Or worse, if I didn't get Tama's approval. Assuming he didn't outright kill me, I couldn't imagine what it would have been like to have been ripped away from Yua right after we'd essentially gotten married.
The alcohol and that prostitute must have been his way of consoling himself, so I didn't bring it up. Yua and Mana, though, looked at him with complete disgust once they realized he'd cheated on his lover.
"I'm sorry to hear that," I said. "But what does this have to do with the crystals?"
As I tried to steer the conversation back to why we were here, Arthur pressed his hands together in a prayer and closed his eyes.
"Lord Argento heard about what happened and tracked me down. I know nothing about this country and I've been in Guerraway the entire time. I guess it wasn't hard to find me, but he told me he'd reverse my exile and allow me to come back home if I helped him with the crystals. He'd even help me convince my woman's father to let me marry her. All this on top of the cut of the profits I'd get."
"Sounds too good to be true."
"Right? But what choice did I have but to take it?"
"…"
A fool if he did and fool if he didn't, then. If we want this guy on our side, we need to wrap this up in a way that won't prevent him from going back home. That was a pretty tall order, considering his employer was the one offering him a trip back home.
Or maybe…
"What if your girlfr… er, the mother of your child were to come to you instead?"
"What do you mean?"
"Instead of working with Tillmann to go home, work with us to bring her to here."
Eyeing me with a great deal of understandable suspicion, Arthur waited for me to explain further. So, as Mana plopped down on the floor, bored, I started with another question.
"You guys are responsible for the rumors about the cat-kin being savages, right? And about the Dumort Forest belonging to Guerraway?"
"Yes. Well, Tillmann is. He said that the people would avoid the forest if he got them thinking they'd be killed on sight. The ownership thing was just to make them hatred so nobody would believe them if they came asking for help… Sorry."
"Er, uh, it's okay, I think?"
Arthur inclined his head to Yua, who started, but quickly raised her hands to ward off his apology. Even if her people were directly affected by the rumors, she herself only learned of them yesterday. Her people as a whole didn't seem to think too much about it in the first place.
So, Tillmann started a rumor that almost completely destroyed the cat-kin's reputation, just to keep themselves hidden? How like a thief. I guess the dwarf's very own Thief tag was earned through effort, not accident.
"The way I see it, the crystals rightfully belong to the cat-kin," I said. "So, if you help us out, I'll convince them to let you keep a portion of them. On top of this, I'll personally help you bring your woman here safely."
"… And how would you manage that? You don't exactly look like the sort of nobleman that farts gold, ya know?"
"Simple. Yua here is the daughter of the cat-kin's chief, so convincing him might be easier than you think. As for transporting your woman, I can use my magic."
I'd already proved my magic can drastically cut travel time to new lands down to being a minor annoyance. I could bring him back to Dragma, grab his woman and teleport them back here in a mere fraction of the time we'd normally need. Whether or not she'd want to come is something for them to discuss, but it would be easy.
Letting others know of my teleportation magic still felt like a bad idea, but if it was to help Yua and Mana's people…
"… And what would you need me to do? If you watched what happened earlier, you should know I'm no match for Tillmann."
"Like I keep saying, we don't want to fight."
Or rather, I don't want to. His is not the sort of strength we can fight against while expecting to walk away with all our limbs. He wouldn't hold back like Tama did. At best, we'd just try to talk him down and, if that failed and he charged at us, we'd call in the furry-eared cavalry.
"Just tell me how to get past the barrier. Better yet, if you can tell me how to destroy it…"
"I don't know how the thing works any more than you do," he said, shaking his head. "So I can't tell you how to break it. But I can tell you how to break into it."
Leave it to a thief to word it that way. I smirked a bit and he continued, leaning in closer like someone about to impart a dirty secret to a friend. He held up a single instructive finger and started.
"First, only humans can open the barrier. I don't know why, but that's what I was told."
Pressing my eyes shut, I barely suppressed a sigh. Tama's blind guess that only humans could get through the barrier actually being correct annoyed me more than I care to admit.
"What about Tillmann?" Yua asked. "He's a dwarf, right?"
"Oh, that rock-muncher doesn't ever leave the camp. He likes to say he's guarding it, but we all know it's because he doesn't want others to see those short legs of his dangling over a carriage seat like a child's.
Arthur laughed and my brain conjured up the image of that burly, bearded dwarf sitting on a high-chair, swinging his feet back and forth while his mother cooked dinner next to him. Then I shuddered at the thought of his hammer splintering that tree.
"Okay, so I can pass through the barrier unharmed?"
"Huh? Oh, no. It doesn't matter if you're inside the barrier or not, anything that touches it gets burned. To get in, you have to hold up your right hand and say the passphrase: Saint Mejula, warden of peace, I beckon thee. Stay your watch and allow me safe passage into your loving embrace."
As he spoke, he raised his right hand like he was about to ask a question and my gratitude towards the Goddess increased yet again. If I hadn't been given a perfect memory, there'd no way in hell I'd be able to remember all that without at least writing it down first. But now it was a permanent fixture inside my head.
Still, Saint Mejula? I wonder if the barrier was made with holy magic. Sounds a bit sacrilegious for it to be used by thieves, but it was nice to learn that holy magic existed.
"Do that," he finished. "And a section of the barrier will open for about five minutes. As you speak, focus on how big of a section you want to open, otherwise you'll end up with a sliver barely wide enough for one person to slip through."
I nodded, engraving the details in my memory. That explains how they planned on getting an entire cart through it, but I wasn't sure how to handle the information that Tillmann was always going to be there. Any hopes of speaking to his men while he was away just vanished. And apparently, Tillmann himself was going to be harder to convince than I thought.
"That's all I know. If you want to destroy it, you'll have to figure out how yourself."
"No problem," I said, moving towards the door. Yua pulled Mana to follow, but I stopped before reaching the knob when another pressing question struck me. "Is the Duke of Guerraway working with this Lord Argento to gather the crystals?"
"Huh? No. From what I've heard, he thinks Lord Argento's only here to negotiate better trade deals. Far as I know, he doesn't even know the crystals exist."
Then Sir Astore and his knights must just be there to protect their lord, not his ambitions. But if the Duke of Guerraway was actually allowing them to block off such an important part of the city, Lord Argento must have a lot of sway when it comes to trading between nations. The Duke must be desperate to keep him happy and Lord Argento must be using the negotiations as a pretense to gather the crystals.
At least this way we won't have the Duke breathing down our necks by handing over the crystal mine to the cat-kin. We might even be able to seek his help by telling him a bunch of thieves are camping in the forest. He's not likely to let that pass and whatever troops he could muster would be a god-send. It would make this so much easier confronting Tillmann with a bunch of the city's knights on top of whatever Adventurers the duke hires.
And as for the crystals, I'm sure the Amoranth auction house would salivate at the thought of selling them all for Tama. He can earn the tribe a good deal of coin and buy up as much food as they need to compensate for what happened to the forest.
I'm already feeling closer to officially having a second wife.
My eyes wandered to Mana, who been looking bored of the conversation after her question had been answered, but I felt my heart clench when her big blue eyes lit up. She smiled at me and I pulled her hood over her head to hide her ultimate power.
"Thank you for your help," I said, reaching for the door. "I think it might be safer for you if you stay here until all this is done."
He looked to his blades and slumped. It won't do anyone any good if he tries to take revenge and dies in the process.
"W-Wait! No matter what happens, don't tell Tillmann what I told you."
"I won't. You have my word."
I pulled the door open after checking the hall and, after she put her hood back on, Yua led Mana out of the room.
"We'll have you back with your family in no time."
With those hopeful words, we left his room and once I was sure the coast was clear, I opened a portal back to our room.
Mana quickly ripped off her cloak and jumped onto the bed while Yua carefully folded hers and tucked it into her backpack. Finally done wondering the city for the day, I kicked off my boots.
"Alex."
At the sweet sound of Yua's voice, I turned to find her waiting by the door. She looked pensive as I worked on removing my leather jacket.
"We know how to get past the barrier, but what are we going to do about Tillmann? You heard him. Neither Tillmann nor Lord Argento are going to give up so easily."
"Maybe not," I said, tossing my jacket into my item box. "But Tillmann is a Thief. We can let the city officials know where he is. Then we can let him know that they're after him."
Knowing he might be up against a city's worth of soldiers, he'd probably run. And that's not even including the threat of the Adventurers or cat-kin joining the fight. He may be super strong, but what idiot would willingly face down an army with only a handful of men? Better yet, him running means him leaving the forest. And there's no way Tama would let him back in.
If luck was on our side and we played our cards right, we could win without lifting a finger.
"And Lord Argento, would probably hop onto his boat and run away back to Dragma once the Duke finds out he's involved."
Even if the forest belongs to the cat-kin, it's still a part of the Vierre kingdom. So, if a would-be ally nation is found to be stealing large quantities of something so valuable, it could spark something huge between the two countries. Hopefully it won't end up with the two going to war, but even if I can't say I know much about how the politics of the world works, I'm sure Lord Argento wouldn't want to be known for starting the war just to line his pockets. He'd probably shift all the blame on Tillmann and high-tail it out of here.
"I think we just have to let the two lords know what we know and the problem will more or less solve itself."
I pulled off my shirt and tossed it into my item box as well.
"If you're going to them for help, why not just open the barrier and let Daddy handle it like he said?"
"Because I don't want anyone to get hurt. Including him."
"But…"
"After what we just learned, we've been offered a way to end this peacefully. Why not try and make that happen?"
"I just think it would be faster if we… What are you doing?"
I leaned my sword against the nightstand, unclasped my belt and started on my pants. When I had them halfway down my legs, Yua tilted her head at me.
"I'm getting ready for bed. It's late. There's no way the Duke would agree to meet now. We'll have to try again tomorrow morning."
Our talk with Arthur lasted long enough for daylight to recede into the ocean. There was nothing outside the window now but the moon and stars above.
Unlike with my first few nights together with Yua, I felt no need to hide the fact that I preferred sleeping in the nude from Mana. In fact…
"Wait! Does that mean I can take my clothes off too?!"
… she might want to join me.
Mana jumped to attention on the bed and smiled brightly enough to say I couldn't have refused her if I'd wanted to.
"Go ahead."
"Yes!! Finally!!"
Rolling onto her back, Mana hiked her hips and legs high up into the air. Her skirt fell and her fingers slipped under her panties so fast I barely had the chance to see them before she yanked them down so hard she lost her balance and rolled backwards off the bed. Landing spectacularly on her ass, she immediately tossed her underwear to the floor and started on her corset by clawing at the strings binding it.
Chuckling at her enthusiasm, I knelt beside her to start untying it so she didn't ruin it.
Smiling, Yua let out a small sigh and started unbuttoning her blouse. As she did, and as her shapely breasts came into view, she shot a catty smile my way.
"If we're going to bed, how about I try on that negligee you bought earlier?"
So, you did know what it was…
"Haha… I don't think so. Not tonight, at least."
Openly confused that I'd actively turn her down, Yua let her blouse drop to the floor before quickly shaking her head and stooping to fold it into her bag.
Sleeping in the nude with Mana in the room wouldn't be a problem, but knowing how she felt about me and the limitations placed on us by her father, I felt that forcing her to watch as we had sex would have just been mean. And I knew the sight of Yua in that negligee wouldn't stir up my desires. We were already going to be sharing the bed with her, so we'd have to keep it in our proverbial pants for the time being.
As soon as I had her corset off, Mana was on her feet and yanking her dress off over her head. Smiling at the sight of her tail's happy swishing as her bare ass came into view, I took out the more family-friendly nightgown I bought specifically for this reason. Yua happily accepted it, but Mana screwed up her face at the sight of it.
"Why are you making Big Sis put more clothes on?" she asked, already fully naked herself.
"Because this is how he wants me to sleep," Yua answered with an easy-going smile as she tucked her skirt into her bag. "You should put one on, too."
"No way!"
Dropping the dress she'd been holding like it had burned her, Mana jumped onto the bed, knocking off one of the pillows, and threw the covers over herself. Poking just her head out, she glared at us.
"If Big Bro isn't wearing any, I won't either."
Laughing, I pulled off my undershorts and tossed them in with the rest of my things. I lifted the sheets and crawled in beside her. Exasperated, Yua pulled her nightgown on over her head and joined us.
Finding a comfortable spot resting her head on my right bicep as I held her, Yua leaned over me and said, "You'll have to put your clothes back on in them morning."
"Mmmm!"
Grumbling loudly, Mana copied her big sis by snuggling up to me on my left. Although, she took it a step further by throwing a leg over my hips.
Feeling the soft warmth of two beautiful girls pressing against me in bed, I was almost grateful for the day's fatigue weighing down on my eyelids.
Even more so, I was thankful for the fact that Mochi wasn't here. He might have forgiven me when Mana snuck into our tent last night, but I didn't have any excuses for not turning her away this time.
"Big Bro, don't you want to mate with Big Sis? I don't mind."
"N-Not tonight. We're tired. Right, Yua?"
"Hehe. If you say so."
Tightening the arm I held Yua with just a tiny bit more, I decided to enjoy her giggles as Mana's ears flicked against me.
"But your manhood is hard."
That's because you're not wearing clothes! or so I'd like to say. I didn't want to start anything with her, either. Maybe I should have just ignored her willingness and kept myself covered. Least that way I wouldn't have to feel her softer parts directly.
"Just try to ignore it."
"Okay then?"
Sounding confused, Mana closed her eyes and, looking profoundly comfortable, easily drifted off to sleep. These girls grew up sleeping beneath a tent, so what did it matter if I was the one pitching it?
We'd have to get up early tomorrow and kick everything in motion. Thanks to our talk with Arthur, wee were one step closer to completing Tama's request. After that, all we had to do was pick some flowers. We could even call it a date between the three of us.
I chuckled to myself at the thought. Yua laid a hand on my chest and eventually drifted off too, keeping that beautiful smile of hers throughout her snoozing. After the scare in the forest and having my life threatened, I didn't need to be convinced to sink into my pillow and drift off with them.