Chapter 18: Shadows

Chapter 18: Shadows

"Start from the beginning," I say.

"Well, I have always been going to the same few stores since they always have a steady of the things we eat normally. So yesterday, before we found your little... accident," I wince, "I sent Ciel to buy some more wyvern meat but I forgot to tell her to get the smoked sausage, so I went after her. That's when I noticed an inconspicuous woman with a hat, the important part is that she was too inconspicuous, she's certainly using some magic that makes it harder to look at her."

"Then what really called my attention is that I couldn't see her with [Sense Presence], she was using [Hide Presence], she's deliberately hiding. She followed Ciel and I managed to get a small look into her jaw before I hid. Then I decided to pass by her and got a sniff of her smell. Both the jaw and the smell jostled my memory, I had seen a few glances of her for a few days but never really paid any attention to her, I was too confident on my [Sense Presence] being infallible," she looks down and her ears flop.

"Don't feel down, no one would imagine we would start being stalked," Ciel says rubbing Alissa's back.

"Then I saw glimpses of her when I dropped you both at the university and when I went to get you back. I didn't see her when Ciel went to drop or pick Lina from Mr. Bombur but she could just be waiting in the middle of the way or at Bombur's."

"But why?" I ask.

"Red Smile?" Hana says.

I sigh. I hope not.

"There's also the circle of magi that Vanea mentioned," says Lina. She rubs the right spot with her ass but the tension of the situation keeps me contained.

Roxanne shudders.

"Oh no, the Dawn of Fire is a circle of magi that used to stalk me at the High Forest. They stopped once I moved into Rabanara," Roxanne says.

"But why would they stalk Ciel or Alissa?" I ask.

Roxanne lowers her head.

"There's always those hunters that want to know more about you, who think you could be a fraud. They could be jealous of your magic dick," says Hana.

"Well... stalking would be a little too aggressive for them, wouldn't it?"

"Probably..." Hana sighs.

"Then it most likely is about Red Smile, Darean," I massage my eyes.

"Is she all day there? We could follow her when she goes home and murd-... Capture her or her accomplices," says Lina.

Don't tell me you too are being corrupted.

"If Alissa can't feel her presence then she's an expert spy or assassin, who has enough experience to stalk a stalker?" I ask.

"You," says Ciel.

Ah shit.

"Not experience, but you can use your skills to increase your [Hide Presence] and stalk her... " She continues, she's cringing at this idea, but it's an idea, "What about [Illusion Magic], do you know something that could help?"

"There's the level 10 spell [Ignorance], it makes it harder to be noticed by others, possibly what that girl was using. Which means they already have the support of a magician, it makes things even more dangerous," I respond.

"Still, Wolfy, we can't let it stay like this. Being stalked is something very, very offensive to do. Nothing good will come out of it if we ignore the problem," says Hana, she looks solemn.

"Kweh..." Aoi makes an unhappy noise.

Alissa comes to me and grabs my hand. Lina finally releases me from her claws, then sits somewhere else and she looks at me concerned. Alissa doesn't say anything, she stares at the ground. I bring her closer and hug her.

"Yeah... we have to do it, you girls will follow me from a distance," I say.Cheêck out latest novels at novelhall.com

"Understood..." Alissa says dejectedly.

"Should we do it tomorrow?" Asks Ciel.

"I... think we better wait a little more, perhaps after tomorrow. We can all spend some time thinking on a plan or on what might happen," I answer.

"You mean, mental training?" Asks Hana.

"I guess it's something like that. It's gonna be more difficult than just fighting monsters, we need time to get used to the idea of following the stalker and possibly ending up fighting her. Actually, the one who needs this training the most is me," I say.

"Ciel, did you ever kill someone?" Alissa asks.

Ciel looks away and grimaces.

"Yes. As an honorary member of the Templars, we killed a few bandits."

"What about you Lina?" She asks again.

"N-never. But I won't back down, if it's for defending Wolfy I will do anything it takes!" Her eyes glare in anger.

"Careful. Don't let yourself be consumed by rage, to kill another humanoid you need a clear mind," says Hana.

"I killed once and I went berserk. I would rather not feel like that ever again," I confess. It still pains me to think about that.

Alissa kisses my forehead. Ciel gives a knowing look.

I pat Lina's head.

"It's mostly us two who need time to think. But I'm sure we will be able to do it."

Lina nods and smiles.

Fuck Darean.

We end up the night with a group hug. Tonight Ciel is with us on the bed and I'm feeling like I want some comfort.

"So, Ciel..."

She looks at me expectantly.

"You see..."

She looks a bit impatient.

"Alissa is a pervert..."

"Well, all of you are," she smiles wryly.

"Yes but she's a bit different. She... likes to watch."

Ciel slowly turns to Alissa, who's blushing.

"So... can we do it in front of her, while she masturbates?"

Ciel is expressionless. Alissa is trying to hide her smirk.

"No," she says flatly.

"Please... you already saw us doing it in the bath or the bed."

"T-that's different," she looks exasperated.

"Please. We are a family, no secrets among us and being open-minded like this only makes things easier for all of us. When we go on a trip we might not have room for everyone to have their own tent, it's going to be easier if we all share one and get comfortable doing things in front of each other," I make the best puppy eyes that I can.

Ciel facepalms. She massages her forehead and groans. After a minute she responds.

"Okay..."

Alissa claps her hands and instantly gets naked.

"Remember that I'm doing this because I love you, I really do love you, Wolfy."

"Awn... I love you too."

I hug her tight and kiss her.

"But don't ever think that I'm depraved, okay? I'm doing it because I love you and I love Alissa too, but I'm not completely shameless," she glares at Alissa.

Alissa squirms in happiness and immediately starts masturbating, Ciel groans again.

Tonight I'm extra gentle with Ciel, I use [Massage] on her breasts and make sure she orgasms at least twice. Alissa was incredibly happy.

Today is the 24th.

I learned [Earth Magic] and [Andraste Language] with 1 point, I guess that skills level very slowly if I don't learn the theory behind it. I increased my [Electric Magic] by 1 (now 0+8) and increased my MP by 30 (now 630).

Ciel wrote for me some basic grammar rules and I have been trying to read without the language skill but it's very hard, using the skill really is a complete crutch for me.

I'm impressed with my MP growth, yesterday I wasn't so focused because of shame so I'm going to do the same today and focus much harder. I'm gonna need the mana for confronting that stalker.

We risked it and didn't change a thing in our routine. Today we won't be attacking, but tomorrow we will.

With renewed vigor and caution, I train my mana again and make sure the backyard doesn't get destroyed. To the happiness of the girls, the griffin spirit drops down from the wall and frolics on the grass beside Aoi, this way she might end up being the first one to touch it.

On the break of the [Blessing Magic] class, we have some time to speak with Hatara.

"So, everything succeeded?" I ask.

"Yep, he's mine, only mine," she answers with a giggle.

"But do you have guarantees?" Alissa asks.

"Heheh," she shows us a necklace, hidden under her clothes, "This is his family's symbol, his father gave it to me. Once we graduate we are to marry immediately."

It's a simple metal medallion, polished until it's almost a mirror. It has a flame and a drop of water engraved on it.

"His father was a bit..." She cleans her throat, "Annoyed at what I did to him but he relented when Gara told him I'm a mage. His father was looking for a court mage's daughter to introduce to him but he told us 'she'll do'," she smiles bitterly.

She doesn't seem very happy with Gara's father but it's understandable, considering their situation.

"Wolfy, can you give us some privacy? There's still some... things I have to teach her," Alissa says with a wicked smile.

Hatara blushes but her eyes show expectancy.

I shrug and leave. I take this time to visit Nononya.

"Do you ever take a break?" I ask.

"FUAH!" Nononya crops the scalpel with a clang.

"That was an incredibly cute noise you made."

"P-please, don't tease me like this, Mr. Ryder," she hunches over, her cheeks red in shame, "Anyway, how can you be so silent?"

"I don't have [Quiet Steps], you are simply far too absorbed in your work."

"That's... yeah, Silvane told me this once," her whiskers twitch, her ears drop. Cute.

I chuckle.

"Here are my notes on the soul. I'm still far from done, I can certainly improve more but I have many things I want to train so I have to keep a certain priority."

I hand her my papers.

"Ooh, impressive handwriting. Do you have the [Writing] skill?" She asks, swiping through my notes.

"Well, no."

I did put the skill on while writing the notes, my handwriting is some ugly noodles without it.

"Even more impressive."

I smile wryly.

"So, here is a copy of my research. I didn't write them myself, I hired a scribe to copy them, too many drawings that I will never torture myself to remake them."

She hands me a large stack of notes, most of them have anatomy drawings covering most of the page.

"Say, do you know anything about the level 30 spell [Summon Monster]?" I ask.

She squints her eyes and crosses her arms. Cuute.

"Well [Summoning Magic] is very rare to acquire since there's no living teacher for it," she increases her speed and pitch after every word, "To even reach level 30 on it would make you a master of summoning. You already have level 20 right? I heard you can summon elementals. Oh! This means you already reached level 30!?" She gets up from her chair and gets so close she's almost falling on top of me.

"N-no. I'm just asking since I heard this is the next level," I lie. Well, half lie.

I can see the spell now that I unlocked level 30 spells but I haven't used it yet, it sounded rather... Dangerous.

"Hm..." She returns to her chair, "Well this spell is incredibly useful, especially for hunters. You can summon any monster that you killed because part of their information was absorbed in your soul as experience. Though it won't be as strong as the original if your level in magic is not high enough."

I'm straining myself in keeping up with her speed.

"Please, speak slower."

"Oh? Hahah, sorry, Silvane keeps telling me this and I always forget about it," her speed turns back to normal.

"Back on topic. The monster that I summon works the same as an elemental, right? It won't attack others?"

"Yes, that's the curious thing. Anyone with [Sense Presence] will think it's a monster, though if they get real close they might sense the mana that's leaking out of it, which is unnatural for a normal monster, but not many people would know that. Though if you don't tell them to act, anyone will immediately see there's something wrong with the monster if he doesn't attack humanoids on sight."

Her whiskers keep twitching, she's making an effort to keep her talking speed constant. Cu~ute.

"Sounds incredibly powerful. I heard there's one more spell at level 40, you know what it is?"

"Nope. Nobody does, if you ever reach that level you might as well call yourself the most powerful summoner in the world."

I see. If people have difficulty reaching level 20 then [Summoning Magic] is actually a rather limited magic school, no wonder they don't teach it here yet. But if we can teach people how to get [Summon Monster] like we do [Item Box], then it could greatly influence civilization.

There are a few monsters that could give me some massive benefits if I ever killed them, seems we are going to collect some monsters for my pocket.

I look around at the cages, it seems there's less than half of the animals and monsters of last time.

"What do you do with all these animals?"

"Oh, I don't kill them all, Silvane would hit me if I did. Most of them I use to understand their behavior, I take them for a walk, give them different food, observe their mating habits," -I shudder, Tanya's flashback- "or just play with them. You can learn a lot about their anatomy when you discover all their tickling spots, can't do that with the monsters, though."

She giggles again.

"You seem very close to Silvane, how did that happen?"

"Well, Conchononoi is next to Elaria. The silver elves have a good relationship with us. Silvane also seems to adore rabbit wereanimals, my ears, specifically..." her voice trails off and a silly smile appears in her mouth.

Those fluffy ears and hair seem alluring. They seem so soft, so cute. They are asking to be petted.

"And you seem to adore them too," she says with a smile.

I clean my throat and recompose myself. I have Alissa's tail and ears, even Hana's hair is comfy, there's no need to lose myself in anyone else.

Nononya chuckles.

"Payback," she whispers.

"A-anyway, thanks for the notes, I will let you keep working."

"No problem, come back anytime. I always end up forgetting to talk to other people so Silvane is the only one who I talk to regularly."

I wave goodbye and go back to the buffet, this time there's a simple chocolate cake there, oof. I get one of the last pieces, those cakes are selling fast.

A few minutes before the bell I go back to our place and see two evil beings plotting something and laughing. A succubus with a glint on her green eyes and a fox-demoness with a bewitching tail swaying about. When I sit by them Hatara snaps out of it and blushes.

"How about we have a quick dinner and go to the theater?" I ask the girls while we prepare the meal.

"Oh? Some interesting play there?" Roxanne asks while washing leaves.

"Yeah, there's a play there called Roberto and Judea, I heard it's pretty good. I think it would be good to relax a bit, you know, like we do before a battle."

"Hm. Alright, then let's just fry so meatballs, don't wanna waste too much time making dinner," Alissa says, grabbing some ground meat from the ice box.

Lina looks at me with wonder, she might have never seen a play before. Roxanne claps the tips of her hands in excitement.

During the trip to the theater, Lina grabs my arm and leaves my hand on her thigh, dangerously close to the sacred place, her thin skirt doesn't help. I'm dealing with her tonight, it's very clear the other girls are giving her space like they did with Ciel.

"Did you see her?" I ask Alissa, trying to clear my mind.

"Yes. In the morning I saw her, or rather, felt the magic that made things difficult to see so I assume it was her. When we left I saw her a few blocks away from our house," she answers.

Tomorrow after dinner we will stalk the stalker.

I breathe deeply to calm my rapidly beating heart.

I already made my resolve, I will do whatever it takes to keep my family safe.

It's 8:50 PM. The ticketmaster is working non-stop as a line of people enters the theater. I'm happy that our clothes aren't out of the norm, we blend well with the average person here, though Hana and Roxanne are more risque than the average woman. There are a few who clearly have very expensive clothes, with their ridiculous embroidery, what looks like to be gems embedded in the clothes, even shiny scales, and most ridiculous of all a few have some very flashy feathers protruding out of their clothes.

I assume that since there's no industry, having everything hand-crafted, and the use of magic allows for some very advanced fashion, like Snow Weave, but makes it very limited in supply. The nobility also doesn't seem to have a monopoly on fashion, creating this carnival of time periods where the most "fashionable" person is the one with the most unique or well-crafted clothes. Though official positions seem to follow a standard in uniforms, like how Rabanara's attendants seem to like velvet.

We enter the theater and pay 50 silver per person. Lina and Ciel grimace at the cost.

This time we are on the main floor chairs, the balconies are ridiculously expensive and the main floor gives enough of a good view. Most of the ridiculous looking people go to the balconies.

It really is Romeo and Juliet. The families and Paris are put into a very bad light for trying to force Juliet to accept Paris. Prince Escalus is seen as a strict and foolish Lord who deals judgment without a Judge or listening to the circumstances. And Romeo and Juliet are seen as foolish for choosing suicide, though their love for each other is respected.

Alissa and Ciel are sniffling. Roxanne is simply entranced and Hana looks at her with warm eyes. Aoi fell asleep in the first few minutes. I would be paying more attention to it but Lina is absentmindedly caressing my hand, taking my focus away.

What do I even see her as? She's clearly smitten by me and following all of Alissa's advice on how to seduce me, but why? What does she want from me?

Every girl is with me for a reason. Alissa needed a master to follow, someone to honor her clan, she did not need to be a tool for this so she changed her personality to please me. Hana wants to stay safe from the scheming that tore her family apart, it might be impossible to stay away so we all have to work together. Roxanne was a lonely woman who wanted the happiness she denied herself, I can give her a strong reliable family where we rely on each other. Ciel wanted adventure but she wasn't ready for the ultimate sacrifice, like me she wants to help but doesn't want to tread too close to death.

Is Lina looking for safety? Is she looking for the power that I give? Does she simply love me? Does she want to seduce me for better treatment? Or is it just lust since I'm the first real man in her life (Dietgard does not count, in more ways than one)?

Does it matter...?

Love is different here, the weak love the strong. As a slave marriage is a far-fetched dream for Lina, marrying someone you truly love and being exclusive is an even more impossible dream. For her, I must be a prince.

So why did I reject her advances until now? I'm not sure, I think it's because now that my mind is in a better place I regained my resistance to women. After putting a ring on my hand due to Lily certain women became much more flirty and I took pride that I was unaffected by them, it's regrettable that such homewreckers exist but they do. I guess this is why I rejected her, pride, pride that I was immune to women that threw themselves at me.

But now I actually like Lina, of all the other girls she's the one with the personality the closest to mine. Quiet, reserved, introverted, curious, a bit cynical. While she enjoys reading about every book at the library I enjoyed going into my blue link adventures on Wikipedia. Even our outlook at life seem similar, we are both bitter realists.

Then there's the fact that she's a slave. Different from a Blood Slave that can escape if they have enough willpower or are being treated bad enough, the traditional slave doesn't have a chance for this, unless if she runs to the temple. To treat her well, to give her the best life she could wish for, those things are entirely my responsibility.

InfoName:LinaAge:15Race:DwarfHP:100MP:200Magic Power:105Level:14Experience: 223/3000 StatsStrength:7Endurance:8Dexterity:12Speed:11Intelligence:16Wisdom:11Willpower: 17Charisma:10Piety:10Perception:14Sanity:11 OtherStatus Effects:NONETitles:NONEAffiliations: Wolf Ryder (master), Helios (Fellowship)Companions: Wolf Ryder, Alissa, Hanafuria, Roxanne Succubus, CielCrimes: NONELina Skill ReportPhysicalSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelHammer Use6Parry1Dodge1Block3 MagicalSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSense Mana1Mana Control2Mana Efficiency1Fire Magic1Light Magic1Space Magic1Conjuring Magic1General Enchanting3Magic Tool Carving1 MiscellaneousSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelGeneral Blacksmith3Sewing3Housework1Cleaning2Washing1Math4Riding1Stonebody (innate)315 Remaining Skill PointsOBS: Level means (free point)+(trained point)Spells CleanSpirit Light Fireball Conjure Water Telekinesis Item Box (weak) Enchant Carve Spirit of Gaia Wolf Ryder Skill ReportPhysicalSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSword Use0+6Dodge0+5Parry0+5Block0+8Shield Bash0+1Muscle Explosion0+1Battlefield Perception2+1Quiet Steps10+0Quiet Action10+0Sense Presence11+0Hide Presence10+0 MagicalSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSense Mana0+5Mana Control0+7Mana Recovery0+0Mana Efficiency0+5Reduced Mana Cost0+0Mana Overuse Resistance0+2Electric Magic0+8Earth Magic0+2Light Magic6+4Nature Magic0+13Space Magic14+16Summoning Magic11+9Blessing Magic0+14Illusion Magic8+2Golemancy0+2Redirect Mana (creator)3Sense Soul (creator)2 MiscellaneousSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelAndraste Language9+1Dismantling0+2Enhanced Semen Recharge0+3OBS: Level means (free point)+(trained point)Soul InfoName:Farana UiaraRace:HumanLevel:37

I can't stop, I gotta move, gotta move, gotta move.

With a bit of effort, I take my sword away and look around. 2 elementals are fighting a sword and shield duo to my right, in front, an elemental is getting hit by a huge [Earth Bullet] and it's now skidding on the ground. To my left another elemental is on the ground, cut in half vertically, a huge man with blue dragon wings is charging towards me, he has a dark two-handed flamberge, there are jagged edges at each wave.

I'm going to die! I gotta survive this charge!

I cast [Vine Weapon] and create a small shield. I jump sideways to dodge and use my shield to deflect the blow. The sword ignores everything and cuts my hand away.

"AAA-..."

My scream of pain gets interrupted, I feel "death" approaching. I use [Explosive Muscles] to move my upper body to the side, I feel a gust of wind and mana from my [Wind Armor], then a horrible pain surges on the right side of my neck. I fall on the ground and put my hand on my neck, it's wet and warm, I'm bleeding horribly, I cast the biggest [Heal] I can in a second.

"You aren't supposed to kill him!" Yells the dragonkin.

"HE KILLED NARIAN!" Someone screams.

"FUCK NARIAN, WE AREN'T SUPPOSED TO KILL HIM!" Screams the dragonkin from the bottom of his lungs.

I cast [Lightning Bolt] on the dragonkin, it doesn't work, it won't come out of my handless arm. I use the other, the bolt flies.

"Heh," Laughs the dragonkin, the bolt arched towards the sword and disappeared.

WHY DOESN'T IT WORK!

I cast [Earth Bullet], it hits him square in the chest and the dragonkin flies away. A flying rock is still a flying rock, block this spell you fucker.

"What the fuck," says someone.

A small breather, I can survive a bit longer.

One elemental dies, the mage got him.

My vision is foggy, too much mana in too little time, my head is splitting open. I get up, my stump is bleeding profusely, my legs are shaky, my neck is still bleeding.

I see a hooded archer looking at the dragonkin, who's slowly getting up. The archer looks at me with fury and draws another arrow, I feel "death" coming again.

*Thunk*. I hear an arrow getting embedded in flesh. The archer falls on the ground with an arrow behind his head, he's dead.

"You fuckers took too long!" Yells the dragonkin.

Another elemental dies, one of the two swordsmen destroyed an elemental.

"FUCK YOU FUCKING FUCKS I WILL KILL YOU, I WILL KILL YOU!" Screams Hana, I guess she's too angry to be creative.

She lands in front of the dragonkin with a savage overhead slash. The dragonkin grunts and parries Hana.

The mage gathers mana, it's a robed woman. She's ignoring me, the taunt worked.

I rush her, you don't let a mage cast freely. Once she hears me it's too late, I jump on her and bury my sword on her chest, then I collapse on top of her.

I feel mana gathering away, I hear footsteps and sounds of blades hitting shields.

I see her yellow skin, backward-pointing horns, her hooves, and fluffy goat legs, she's a krampus demon. The mage is still alive, trying to crawl away with the sword on her chest. I draw my dagger, I bury it on her back and twist it.

"HYAAAAAAH...!" She shrieks and squirms below me. I feel horrible, I almost puke.

"Please... help me... I don't... wanna die," she pleads.

I can't, it's you or me, I can't. I remove the dagger again and stab her on the back of her neck, that did it. She gargles on blood and goes limp a few seconds later.

I look in front of me. The dragonkin has an arrow on his chest, bodkin arrows doing work, he's being hit by a [Torrent] and falls on the ground. Hana is mid-flight and ready to skewer him, her face showing pure anger, something I never saw before.

Ciel is slashing at one of the swordsmen, he's suppressed and moving backward. The other is still fighting the elemental who's missing an arm and plenty of the dirt on its chest is missing.

I hold my stump. It hurts too much, it's bleeding too much, my body feels cold.

Hana falls on top of the dragonkin, her sword pierces him and gets embedded on the ground, he struggles and tries to grab the sword. Hana stomps on his neck repeatedly, I hear the bones breaking.

Roxanne casts [Fire Whip] on the swordsman fighting Ciel, she grabs his foot and he loses his balance. Ciel stabs him in the shoulder and he drops his shield, screaming in pain. He tries to parry the next stab but lacks strength, Ciel stabs him in the heart and after a few seconds of struggling, he goes limp.

Alissa runs as a fox behind the last swordsman, he looks deathly pale, he's desperate. He tries to run away but falls on the ground with an arrow on his thigh and screams in pain.

"MERCY! PLEASE, I YIELD!"

Lina comes running towards me, she has my hand with her. Her face is wet with tears. I turn off [Ignorance].

"Get Ciel... I don't have much mana..." I mutter, my voice is hoarse, it's painful to talk.

I'm shaking uncontrollably. I feel my legs are wet and warm, it's the blood of the mage that's pooling below me.

I crawl away from the blood and nearly collapse. I drink an emergency MP potion.

I hear the man scream again, Hana stepped on his other leg and crushed his knee. Alissa, Ciel, and Lina rush to me.

Alissa casts [Clean] while I hear Ciel hurriedly chant a [Heal], Lina brings my hand and holds it on my stump.

I feel a little bit of pleasure and almost cry, the pain on my stump fades and I regain the feeling of having a hand. For now, I can barely close my fist, tomorrow it will be much better. Ciel casts another and my neck stops hurting. Alissa and Lina hug me and cry.

I almost died.

I don't feel like puking, progress, but I can't feel my legs, adrenaline is one hell of a drug. It seems infinitely easier to kill monsters than humanoids, or maybe I'm just the weird one.

I don't know how long we kept the hug. The screaming man got muffled, sometime later I hear him mutter something and then he stops talking. Slowly I regain my movement, the girls help me walk.

The other 3 are surrounding the last man and notice me, their eyes hold nothing but coldness to the surviving man. Aoi is on Roxanne's shoulders, there's smoke coming out of her nose, I can feel through [Animal Tongue] that she's grumbling. I wobble towards them, I'm still sweating cold.

"You okay?" Asks Roxanne.

"I think so," I answer. I look at my hand and see it's trembling a little.

"It's okay, it will pass," says Ciel. She holds my shoulder and rubs my back. It helps, gives me a bit of comfort.

Lina grabs my other side, she's still silently crying.

My breathing is erratic, I focus on controlling and slowly it turns back normal. My head is still hurting a lot.

"Did you interrogate him?" I ask.

"Yeah, they don't know anything significant, just hired swords," Hana answers with poison on her voice, "The stalker would come here every day and make the same routine while they wait. The stalker probably didn't even know you were following."

"Anything about who paid them?"

"Nothing, just shady middle-men that only go by nicknames and masks. No wonder nobody gets a lead on Darean, he must have lots of money to buy silence and lackeys."

Being a hunter pays well in Rabanara, we are proof of that.

"Kill him," I mutter.

Ciel sighs and nods to Hana. She lifts her sword and the whimpering man screams in fear, it gets cut short as his head falls from his body. I'm starting to feel sick again.

"You are now level 21."

That was necessary. Darean shouldn't know about my chanting speed and the extent of my magical knowledge, neither should he know about how close to failure we were. If he does, next time he's going be fully ready for us.

"Bring me the bodies," I say.

"What? Why?" Asks Ciel.

"Infinite space," I answer.

"Oh! Clean all the blood you can and get all the items. Not many people should know what happened here," Alissa says.

"Why!? Let's talk to the guards!" Ciel yells, confused.

"It's because we collected a bounty that we are in this mess, to begin with. Let's lay low for now," says Hana.

"Oh. I remember... Gods help us, let the wicked stay away from us, let this family be safe," Prays Ciel.

I look at the headless man. I don't feel anger, he's just a hired sword. I feel pity, pity his life ended like this. The Gods tell us not to waste our lives, to work together for a better future, for a better chance of surviving the monsters. Yet here we are, hurting each other for money.

"Let your next life be on a better place for this one was wasted here," I pray.

I feel something change within me, my "Piety" increased by 2 (now 14).

"This sword is special, this guy must have been famous," says Hana.

The two-handed flamberge is beautiful and frightening. It's made of black metal with small monster teeth embedded into it. The metal looks glossy and it faintly sparkles in the light.

"That's 'emellanat', a metal that absorbs magic," Lina says, "It must have come from either Mountainhome or the silver elves. There's not much metal in Rabanara and definitely none of the special kind."

So this is why [Wind Armor] and [Vine Weapon] did nothing against it.

"Why does it use monster teeth?" I ask.

"It doesn't hold an edge very well. It's good against mages and magic beings but it needs something else to cut."

"There's a guy over here with another sword like that one, it's smaller though," Alissa says.

"This shield has that metal behind it," says Hana.

This is how they killed my elementals so easily and why my bolts didn't work. They were prepared for me.

"They knew I could use elementals and [Electric Magic], but they didn't know how fast I could chant. If it weren't for that I would have been kidnapped already," I say.

Alissa grinds her teeth and the other girls look down. We underestimated them hard.

"Why didn't you use [Gate]?" Asks Roxanne.

"Oh yes, I couldn't, I tried but something blocked me."

Roxanne opens her eyes wide.

"Search the mage girl corpse, she must have a magic tool there."

Lina rummages through the corpse without hesitation. She brings out a small disk. It's made of onyx with lots of circular silver inscriptions on it.

"Wolf... I'm sorry, I-I forgot these things existed," Roxanne looks down, tears on the corners of her eyes.

"What?"

"The disk is a Gate Scrubber, it blocks [Gate] and removes any 'coordinate' someone would have put down on the area affected," she clutches her staff harder.

"Oh, the Lords use it to protect their castles. Didn't know it could be used like this," Hana says.

"You use it in the middle of a town and you screw over the entire transport system, this is why it's not talked much."

"This mage girl is a runaway space mage," Lina says, bounty plate in hand.

This is why she had it then. I grab Roxanne's shoulder.

"It's okay. None of us would have imagined this," I say to her.

"But, we should have, I should have warned you this could happen."

"And the plan likely wouldn't have changed. It's okay."

Ciel hugs her from behind.

"We don't blame you, alright?"

Roxanne calms down and nods.

"So, I guess now we really don't want the guards involved?" Hana says.

"The empire would certainly investigate and use lie detectors on all of us," Roxanne answers.

"That's... a bit risky," I say.

"One thing is certain. Darean is not just a normal adventurer," Roxanne adds, fear in her voice.

We use bounty plates on the other corpses, they were kidnappers and illegal slavers. The woman likely used [Gate] on the victim and teleported it to a cell or something. They weren't branded by the gods as wicked so they wouldn't be executed but the crimes they committed spelled a long sentence as a criminal slave. Except for the mage, the empire does not fuck around.

I store everything on my "Items".

"Let's go home," I say.

I cast [Gate] to our living room. We go to sleep immediately after a quick wash. I hug Alissa tight and Hana hugs me from behind. Roxanne looks undecided for a second but then she drops beside Alissa and hugs her from the front.

Today is the 26th.

I wake up to Hana and Roxanne kissing with my dick in the middle, their tongue would entwine and then slowly play with my member, each getting a bit of time with it. I slowly built up my pleasure until I shot it all out upwards, making it rain all over the bed. I guess that wasn't a good idea.

"Noo, what a waste," Hana says, licking my body and the sheets where it fell.

Not because of that, though.

My [Mana Overuse Resistance] increased by 1 (now 0+3). Ciel leveled up to 31 and increased her [Light Magic] by 1 (now 24).

Aside from the morning lewdness, we wake up without much energy, Roxanne more than the others. Everyone is slowly taking in the reality of the danger we were in. I have two new scars now, one on my wrist and the other on my throat. These don't have some glorious memory of it, just a reminder of the danger of overconfidence.

I just feel so weak, both in combat and in spirit. I was so close to being kidnapped, I now know they certainly wouldn't have killed me. It seems Darean is avoiding being branded as wicked by not killing me, but he wants to do something to me, what exactly I do not know.

"What now? You think it's safe to stay here or should we leave town?" I ask Hana.

"I don't know, I fought the underworld a few times but I never got involved like this," she answers with a frown.

"I think we need help," says Ciel.

"From whom?" I ask.

"You tried talking to the guildmaster?" She asks.

"I asked if Silas knew something about Darean's family but he said he wouldn't tell me even if he knew."

"Tch, after all this he isn't giving much back," Ciel frowns.

"What about Nour?" Alissa asks.

"He came here to train, away from his family's schemes. I doubt he could help much," I answer.

"Silvane?" Lina asks.

"I don't think she has that much power, she's still a Blood Slave. We also don't really have much of a connection with the Lord's son or the Lord himself. Except..."

"Vanea," Lina finishes.

I sigh.

"She's dangerous, who knows what she's going to ask in return," I say.

"But she's our only bet. From what you told us she has something against him," Ciel says.

Alissa looks concerned.

"I... don't wanna deal with her," Hana says.

"Why is that?" I ask.

"You know... nobles and schemes, this, this is why father..." Hana looks down, a lot of sadness in her eyes.

Roxanne grabs one hand and I grab the other.

"We don't really have much of an option, except running away," Roxanne says, caressing Hana's hair.

Hana closes her eyes.

"Wolfy, can you promise me that... that we will be safe?" She looks at me.

"I can, those are my vows, to keep you all safe."

"Dad said the same thing..." She mutters.

Her voice shows a weakness she didn't have before. A weakness, a pain that I don't want her to feel ever again.

"I'm sorry Hana, but you know we don't have many options. There are things we just can't run from, we have to fight," Ciel says, calming confidence in her voice.

"We need to trust each other, not just trust Wolfy. We will deal with this, together," Alissa says, a sweet tone that gives us motivation.

After a few seconds Hana breathes in deeply and nods, her face resolved, the weakness and pain gone from her face.

"Should we go and meet her immediately?" I ask.

"Vanea said she wanted you to visit, right? But did she give you a token or something?" Ciel asks.

"No, she did not."

"Then perhaps she meant you should visit her at the university? Visiting a Lord's daughter at her home is a privilege that shouldn't be taken lightly, even she wouldn't just give it to someone she just met."

"Then we wait until classes are back. But should we just wait here?"

"Perhaps... we should flaunt our strength to Darean, show that we are not scared," Alissa answers.

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"We could collect the bounty on those people. If Darean has more spies he would think we are confident in our power."

"Or he might think we are overconfident and attack again."

"I find it hard to believe he has two Gate Scrubbers. If he does we might as well assume he's funded by the royalty of the empire," Roxanne says.

"He won't attack to kill us, he wanted to kidnap you. He will have to find another way to ambush you again, he won't be able to do that so quickly," Ciel says.

"Well, in the end, it's a bluff, we could see if it works," says Roxanne.

"Then what? Go waltz around town and show we are not scared?" I ask.

"Well, we could go to a dungeon. We still need to keep earning money, my potions won't sustain us all forever. Especially because someone has some curious spending habits," says Roxanne.

I squirm and look away, the gazes are too much right now.

"Oh, let's go to the Spiral Springs again. We can put a portal on the Moon Turtles floor and get more moss whenever we need," she says excitedly, but then she cringes, "Though we have to go through the Ant Hill again."

No pleasant memories there.

"We could throw off any pursuers by teleporting back home, this could also serve as a trial for how much mana it's going to cost to teleport us far away," I say.

"I don't think he's going to pursue us for some time, but yes, I think we should go to the Spiral Springs," Alisa says.

"There's also something I wanna get on the Roulette of the Morning Dew."