When the early morning came, I was the first to wake up in our group, and I sneakily woke Kaley up so we could have some alone time together and it wouldn't be as cramped in the shower. Showering with beauties left and right could be the dream for some but it was as dangerous as dropping a soap in prison when their switches were turned on.
"We're gonna do this from now on, huh?"
"When can I get some alone time with you then?"
"Now?"
"Exactly."
"Then let's stop wasting time and start making use of it, hmm?"
"I thought you'd never ask—"
"Shh— MmM! C-Close the door— Ah! W-Wait— There, we can do whatever we— Ah! Hngh... MmMh!"
In any case, the reason we were able to sneak around was because we've recently discovered that sleeping by the edges of the bed could give us this small window and we have been doing it ever since everyone else decided to pile on together after our nightly activities.
But yeah, in regards to our morning activities, I've seen from the mirror that even I had put on some muscle—though a portion of it was also fat—due to the amount of food we were consuming plus the arduous work every morning and night: chopping wood in the morning, powerlifting before dinner, and "cardio" before nighttime.
After a while, everyone—including Megan and Nancy—was now hiking up the mountain to finally see this log cabin Sebastian was holding in high regard.
Sure enough, we were met with a larger group of people just having breakfast in the early morning but only a few nods and invitations to eat were exchanged before three gentlemen who looked to be the same age as me made their way toward Sebastian.
And upon closer inspection, I discovered that the one on the left had a huge gash on his left eye and the color on his left iris was different while the one on the right had what seemed to be a cleft lip but in actuality was also a 3-inch wound, and the one in the middle didn't seem to have any outstanding scars.
In any case, they all bowed their heads and greeted us at the same time, "Good morning, dear guests, our lords and ladies, head butler.../ Have you all eaten yet? We have some rice porridge topped with shredded chicken, green onions, and eggs... /Would you all care to try a bowl?"
Sebastian answered, "Thank you, but we've all eaten before coming here... I believe I can leave this portion to you three?"
The one in the middle replied, "Ah, so you're heading for the cabin, I'm assuming?"
"Yes, actually."
Then the one on the right nodded, "We still insist on cleaning it ourselves but we leave it to you, sir. I hope it's as liberating as the first time we laid our eyes on the horizon..."
The one on the left followed, "I agree... Luckily enough it doesn't need a lot of repairs but I hope you'd be happy to see it once again..."
Sebastian then waved them off, "Please, no spoilers... In any case, we'll be moving on up. See you all soon."
"Of course!/ Yes, sir!/ We'll get there as fast as we can!"
Then Edith and Elsa sneakily approached me, "What happened?/ W-What did you do?"
I shook my head as I looked at the two, "I should be the one asking you that. What happened over here? He's never like that."
Edith answered first, "W-We— I have no idea, sis?"
Elsa shook her head, "It's the first time we've seen him like that too... He's always like you know, like you but in a more posh or gentlemanly way."
I glanced momentarily at Sebastian before I turned back to the two, "What's the deal with this cabin, anyway?"
The two answered at the same time, "Hmm?/This cabin?"
I looked at them, bewildered, "You... You own a cabin in the mountains, right?"
The two answered with confusion in their faces:
"We do... a few, actually..."
"B-But not this one..."
"What?"
"We could've owned this too, maybe..."
"But this one is too... you know... too old..."
Hearing the two, I once again visited the fact that Sebastian might be a spawn or the devil himself and there were only a few context clues in my arsenal.
One of them was that he's older than he looks and even if he tried to get evasive or deny it outright, I remember Quinn saying that he came out of retirement—and even though it could also mean that he quit earlier than actual retirement age, even if Quinn was only a little bit older than us or Tatiana, Sebastian should very well be older than the two for at least a decade.
Secondly, the scars I've seen on his arms and on his legs were completely unnatural, and the way his three personal workers addressed and talked to him earlier told me that they were hinting about something from the past but with the ages of some of the trees we cut down, it was also hinting at something further back and something terrible.
And lastly, just the way he reacted from getting surprised from looking at this old but sturdy cabin correlates with what I've said above but at the end of the day, we could only know the truth if we asked the person himself. But yeah, the way he was, I doubt he'd even open up to complete strangers or even Kaley after the fact.
However, this was one of the few times a STR and CON character landed a critical on a nigh-impossible INT check.
"Spill," Mauro said as he loomed over Sebastian.
"Pardon?"
"I said spill. You know I still haven't cashed in my favor from you three, right? So, spill."