“Husband, I don’t recall doing anything last night that’s worth letting you spoil me.”
“Who’s spoiling anyone? We’re not here for fun.”
“Hoho, you trickster. You don’t need to warn me. I know how to control myself.”
“Elane…”
Ignoring the exasperated look I threw at her backside, Elane sauntered down the street leading to The Last Drop. Perhaps because of its location near the center of the city, the tavern easily exceeded expectations. Like the inn, the tavern must be one of the city’s main sources of breakfast to those that can’t cook.
It was effectively a bar-turned-diner as it wasn’t even noon yet and several of the people crowding the streets looked to be heading in its direction. Which was precisely the problem.
“Hey Sam, did you hear about what happened last night?”
Yua and I both sighed inwardly as a man greeted a friend by broaching the one topic that’d been on everyone’s lips this morning. The friend, a merchant sweeping the front stoop of his shop, shook his head, more annoyed than anything.
“Like I keep tellin’ ya, I ain’t interested in what ya do when yer drunk.”
“No, no, not that. There was a fire at the church.”
“What?! Are Lady Nerissa and Father Werner okay?”
We hurried past them, unwilling to hear out the same conversation we’d heard a hundred times before on our walk. Given the number of people that showed to help with the fire last night, it was no wonder the news spread so fast. What concerned me was being unable to tell whose ears were listening.
I hate to admit it, but I was outplayed twice in one move. The fire that Hemomage started both allowed her to get away and likely put a giant target on our backs.
“You think they’re going to try and blame us for the fire?” I whispered.
If I were in their shoes and wanted to keep their operation running smoothly, I’d blame the fire on the adventurers trying to put an end to their schemes. At least, with one of the bandits charming the people through the church, doing so was more than plausible.
Thankfully, we had daylight on our side preventing outright attacks, but after last night, who’s to say that would keep us safe for much longer?
“I don’t know,” Yua said. “But I think we would have been arrested already if they did.”
“True.”
Elane’s casual, hip-swaying pace effectively split the crowd before us as the people moved to avoid her – or rather, the giant axe she kept slung over her back. Strange as it may be to say this, I was almost concerned with how the people weren’t stopping to gawk at her as usual, since their minds were set on the hottest story of the day. At least, they weren’t looking at us like criminals. Yet.
Still, there were too many info boxes to keep an eye on. Even if they didn’t outright attack or blame us, I was expecting the bandits to at least have one of their own trailing our every move, but Yua’s ears, nose and my info box reading were all coming up blank.
“It’s possible their leader just hasn’t said anything yet,” Yua added.
“True again.”
We could only hope. Maybe our little spat on the roof tired her out enough to go straight to bed once she crawled back into whatever hole she’s been hiding in.
Regardless, the girls and I were once again sporting our weapons and armor. The bandits were aware of our true intentions now – to some extent. Greater caution was needed.
Of the bandits we’d seen last night, I remembered enough to describe faces to make sure the finer details stuck with them, but anyone with a bit of knowhow could blend in with a crowd.
“Are you sure about this?” Yua asked, her emerald eyes stuck on The Last Drop.
“Yes. I want to know what he knows, if anything. And what they plan to do with that information.”
Proactively moving on the assumption that Giulio knew what really happened last night, the sword lessons he promised made for the perfect excuse to meet up with him and read his mind. After all, based on the steep level disparity between him and the other bandits, he must be higher up in their food chain. He’d know if they had plans for us.
My hand might have slipped, but he didn’t know all my cards yet. All I had to do was wait and see. At the very least, if he doesn’t show, that may be proof enough that he knows.
“And what if he… what if they all ran away?” Yua prompted as we hurried to keep up with Elane. “They don’t exactly have a reason to stay and fight.”
“Maybe.”
Again, if I were in their place and knew the guild was after me, I might hightail it out of here too, but that was me. I had my own life and my girls to worry about. These guys, though, the operation they’ve created is running so smoothly, that even murders are going unnoticed by the general public. Seeing as how I couldn’t so much as lay a finger on their leader, who’s to say they were even concerned?
“Hey, Big Bro, look.”
Speaking of a lack of concern, Mana excitedly rang the sleeve of my jacket as she pointed towards a man with a rustic bag slung over his shoulder. He made his way past Elane without so much as a glance her way and hurried up the steps to the tavern.
Momentarily thinking she’d mistaken the man for Giulio due to his long hair, I dug through my mind for memories involving his face and realized that he was the musician that was playing during our last visit. This man, Fitz, was not-so-shockingly a level 8 Bard – the bag bouncing against his back likely contained his lyre. No wonder he managed to ensnare Mana’s ears so well.
He threw the tavern doors open and, without even waiting for the customary western stare down with the tavern’s patrons, he bolted straight inside. Must have been late to start playing.
“Let’s go! Hurry!” Mana said, tugging harder at my sleeve.
I let her pull me forward like an excited puppy gearing up to go for a walk, rapidly swishing tail included, but Yua was quick to rain on her parade.
“We need to stay together, Mana. You can’t just run off to go listen to music.”
“Eh? But Booby-Lady is…”
“We’ll catch up to her in a moment, but you need to stay with us.”
At this, Mana looked up at me, her big blue eyes searching my soul for signs that I’d challenge Yua or whether I’d side with her. Unfortunately for her, that cute pout puffing up her cheeks just made her look like a kid running to her other parent when the first already told her no.
Although, the way she stopped in front of me and parted her legs to let me (and my fingers) speak to her the way her people were want to do kind of ruined the image of playful disobedience.
I, however, kept my hands to myself and agreed with Yua.
“Separating’s not safe anymore. You know that.”
“Hmph. Fine then.”
In a huff, she let go of my sleeve and carried on. The intentional flick of her pointed ears was no doubt a signal that she intended to focus on the music regardless of where we were. Which was fine.
Unless the whole bandit gang happened to be in the tavern, the only person we needed to worry about was Giulio, who likely wouldn’t show for some time yet. Besides, with her ears, she’d be able to hear the music just fine even if she waited outside.
Not that this mattered in the least, as the moment we stepped inside, Mana turned in the direction of the bard, while Elane was already waving down the bartender. Yua and I, though, were struck by the sight of a set of slender, pale white legs.
Waiting, leaning against the bar’s countertop was a beautiful woman with hair the color of glacial ice – Elara Granidine. Her dress was a mix of pale blues and soft, wintery whites where it draped off her arms in a way that nearly begged for her supple shoulders to be looked at, but the low cut had already crowned the valley of her cleavage as the center of attention. The Last Drop was nothing if not inviting.
The sides of her long skirt ran almost precariously high, higher than any man’s imagination should be allowed to muse. It was almost like she’d lifted and bunched it up before she took her seat on one of the bar’s many stools, specifically to show off her creamy thighs. And yet, at the same time, she looked utterly relaxed.
When she crossed her legs and her skirt failed to protect her, Yua lightly elbowed my side. Not because of how Elara’s lax posture had unintentionally gifted me a clear view between her thighs, but because someone else was staring.
Pointing with her chin, Yua drew my attention to the man standing beside Elara. Dressed in common traveling clothes and with nothing of note in his info box other than the name Ivan, he leaned on the counter, nearly hunched over a bowl of soup. And yet, his eyes were so entirely rooted in Elara’s cleavage that even the cat-kin would have cringed at how he smiled at her.
Elara, though, smiled wryly back at him. Drawing in a long breath that looked deliberate, she raised her arms high up over her head to stretch, letting his gaze linger as her breasts naturally rose to the occasion.
For a moment, for a fraction of a second, I noticed a faint hint of something pink peeking out from behind the collar of her dress before she lowered her arms again. In return, she noticed us and waved.
“Welcome, welcome. Feel free to sit anywhere you can, hon. There aren’t many seats left, so feel free to double up.”
“Thanks…?”
Seeing her attention focused on the bard as he readied for his first set, I bent down to grab Mana’s hand and dragged her towards Elane, who’d already claimed a seat at the bar. Yua hurried after us and, as Elara mentioned, there were very few seats left open at the bar.
Hell, almost the entirety of the bar was packed with guests either chatting, eating or quietly sipping at their drinks as waitresses dashed between the tables taking every order slung their way.
I let Yua take the free seat on Elane’s left, but as I was debating whether to just stand beside them or find a table for Mana and me, Elane “accidentally” bumped the arm of the man on her right when she set her axe down. He took one look at her, then at her weapon, paled, picked up his bowl of soup and scurried away to another corner of the room.
With a kind smile aimed at us, she patted the newly vacated seat.
Apologizing to the man in my head, I took his seat and set Mana on my lap. Momentarily grateful for the fact that this petite wife of mine actually preferred this kind of seating arrangement, I couldn’t help but notice how we were forced to sit next to Elara.
Entirely unbothered, perhaps even unaware, Elara leaned over towards Ivan. With her face drawing near, he only just managed to pull his eyes off her breasts in time for her to cup a hand beside his ear. She whispered and, be it because of her words or her closeness, the man’s cheeks flushed a little.
Whatever was said lasted only a moment before the man smiled, downed the last of his soup and left the tavern all together. She smiled back, watching him leave for a moment before stretching again and leaning her elbows back on the counter.
For a moment, I was at a loss and considering a way to naturally switch seats with Elane when Elara’s violet irises shifted over to me. On the outside, I gave her the sort of casual nod any customer might give their patroness. It was a lie even Yua couldn’t have noticed, but on the inside, I was sighing deeply.
Lo and behold, the man with three wives complaining about having to sit next to a beautiful woman.
Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue, not even if my inability to keep my eyes off the chest of every woman I met made this meeting awkward. But the reason why we decided to pass the morning here was so I could also take a peek into her mind as well.
As Giulio’s girlfriend, though it was hard to call her that after what I just saw, he might have mentioned us. For whatever reason, I’d read in Giulio’s mind just yesterday that Elara took some sort of an interest in me. Enough of one to bother him, actually. So, I’d like to take a peek and see if he told her about last night.
And I can’t do that when she’s looking at me.
“What brings you here, hon?” she asked, turning her hips just far enough on her stool to face me. “I heard from a little birdy that you were causing trouble at your inn. The Moonlit Garden, right? They serve breakfast there too, you know? Not that I’m complaining.”
Brow twitching – of course Giulio had to tell her about that – I put up a strong front and pretended I hadn’t understood what she meant.
“I’m here to wait for Gino, actually. He promised to give me a few sword lessons later.”
“Did he now?”
Confusion spread across Elara’s face, but it was fleeting. She quickly controlled herself when the person behind the bar started setting bowls of soup out in front of us.
Elane set out a few coins on the provided tray and the server, one of the women I’d noticed bussing tables earlier, accepted the payment and left with the tray. Guess we were having a second breakfast of generously-proportioned meat and veggie soup to blend in.
Peeling her eyes off the Bard for a moment, Mana scooped up her bowl and turned back to the musician to continue watching as he finally began to play. Already sinking into my lap to enjoy the music, she was seconds away from digging into her soup finger-food style before Elane pushed a spoon into her hand.
Meanwhile, Yua was already diligently focusing on our surroundings as she ate. I would have liked to do the same, but with Elara’s eyes fixed on me, it was impossible.
“So,” I started. “I couldn’t help but notice that you’re not behind the bar.”
“Of course. I do have employees, you know? Gotta give them a chance to earn their keep.”
“And here I thought your hard work building this place would’ve made you reluctant to hand over control of it so easily.”
“I wouldn’t,” she giggled girlishly, and a man sat at the table nearest us nearly spit his drink. “But I do have my reasons. The man from before was actually a trader from out of the city. We were negotiating, so I had to hand the bar over to one of my girls.”
“Pretty interesting sales tactics you got there,” Elane said, raising a brow at Elara’s cleavage. In turn, Elara proudly puffed out her chest.
“Isn’t it? Most see the world of trading as man’s world. As a woman, I have to give my everything just to keep up.”
“Isn’t that a bit much, though?” Elane continued. “I’m all for using what you got, but I don’t think that man’s eyeballs heard a thing you said.”
“He was staring pretty hard,” I added, spooning some soup into my lips to shut myself up.
I knew I wasn’t one to talk, what with how often I get called out for ogling women myself, but Elara shrugged off our comments with ease.
“It’s all part of the game. He wanted to sell me his hometown’s ale. Even tried to have me drink a few bottles. More than a few, even. To test its quality, you know?”
“Sure.”
I nodded. I hadn’t gleaned anything particularly nefarious about the man, but after what I saw, I’d believe her if she’d told me he tried to use his sampling to get her drunk. Given the time and location, I could only imagine his true intentions.
Elara, though, seemed pretty sure of herself.
“He tried to get me drunk to make the numbers harder to understand. This isn’t the only tavern in the city and there’s bound to be more in the future. He was offering exclusivity and tried to say his product was sure to draw more customers, but since he wasn’t playing fair, neither did I.”
Checking over her shoulders to be sure nobody was watching, Elara leaned in and a sultry smirk that could have set ice on fire spread across her lips. She hooked a finger under the collar of her dress and gave it a firm, playful tug. The already thin fabric peeled and lifted off her bosom without a hint of resistance.
Her visible lack of a bra meant anyone standing over her shoulder would have undoubtedly gotten an eyeful. We, however, got nothing more than a smirk when she let the fabric snap back onto her chest.
“I distracted him right back. Gave him a peek and then some, and suddenly his tongue couldn’t work itself into proper words, let alone numbers. Needless to say, we still have some details to iron out later, but I’m sure I’ll have some cheap and tasty ale filling my patron’s bellies soon enough.”
“What about the Sword Guy?” Mana quipped, suddenly jerking her attention off the music to turn on my lap and face Elara. “Big Bro says human males don’t like it when other males see their mate’s boobies.”
Briefly taken aback by the family nudist of all people talking about not showing off, I clamped a hand over her mouth to keep her from saying more.
For what it was worth, Elara did seem to not want the other patrons to know the full extent of her trading skills. She did have something of a kind and giving reputation here in this church town, after all. She probably didn’t want to ruin the image she’s made of herself.
“Sword Guy?” Elara mused, still somehow smiling sweetly despite the number of hungry eyes turning on us after Mana’s poorly-worded question. “If you’re talking about Gino, he already knows that it’s nothing more than a bit of teasing for the sake of making money.”
“Right, right. Comes with the job, doesn’t it?” Elane quipped, her extensive list of experiences in taverns causing her to nod.
“Exactly.”
Though our specific circumstances and slips might say otherwise, I was proud to say Elane never used such tactics in selling her maps. Even though her tactics were notably much larger and easier to haggle with.
However, the image of Giulio putting himself between her and another ogling patron back when we first met filled me with doubt. And given how he, a bandit, kept his thoughts solely on her, despite being surrounded by a group of armed adventurers, I had a hard time imagining he was on board.
Elane, too, seemed a little incensed by this as her golden brow furrowed when she looked to the icy-cool woman leaning on the bar.
Pushing herself off the stool and stepping carefully around the blade of her axe and me, Elane threw an arm around Elara’s shoulders, much to the bartender’s amusement. However, when Elane’s free hand started drifting towards Elara’s breasts, every single instant of her unapologetically groping Mana and Yua flashed across my mind.
Quickly, I turned to where she’d left her meal, but found no tankard emptied of alcohol, which only made it all the more confusing when Elane grabbed hold of the front of Elara’s dress and started fiddling with it.
“Elane, wait…”
“Oh my,~” Elara cooed, amused. “Someone’s handsy this morning. Should I be calling for help?”
“Ha. Your tit’s about to fall out. I don’t care how you run your business, and I don’t mind my husband looking, but let’s not give him a reason to drool all over the place, okay?”
Realizing after the fact that Elane was lifting Elara’s dress instead of pulling it down, I was all too late to realize that the woman’s teasing had indeed left her moments away from a wardrobe malfunction. Elane was only using her body to shield her from prying eyes.
While I was grateful for the fact that Elane countered her own future teasing by stepping in before I could look, the other men in the room openly booed her. Though, they hurriedly switched to doing so under their breaths once one of them pointed out her axe.
Positive reputation or not, Elara was hard not to want to look at. And clearly, that was of her own design.
Unlike the booing men, however, Elara remained cool as could be as Elane fixed her dress back into place. She even let Elane pull the dress back up onto her shoulders, despite it not starting there.
“Now enough about me,” Elara said as the blonde started back to her seat. “I get the feeling you’re really here for a bit of gossip, aren’t ya, hon?”
As she passed us, Elane tilted her head towards the woman and furrowed her brow, almost as if to say, “she’s using her tits to distract you,” before sitting down and, almost on cue, Elara pushed the straps of her dress back off her shoulders.
I had to say, she wore the look naturally, but I didn’t doubt it the intention. She was clearly a merchant ready to go to just about any length to make a sale, who also happened to fall for a bandit of all people. Assuming some of his own darkness seeped into her, going to such lengths made a certain amount of sense.
And again, on cue, she continued.
“I happen to know something juicy that you’ll be interested in hearing, but it’ll cost you a few beers if you want to hear it.”
“Something juicy, eh?”
Hoping that it was something about Giulio rather than her trying to change the subject, I pulled a few coins out of my pocket and set them on the counter. With a smile, Elara snapped her fingers, ordered, and the woman working the bar in her stead hurried over with a pair of fresh drinks.
Deciding not to question the early hour, I let Elane take one and sipped at the other myself as a sign of good faith, but I set it down just as fast. The drink’s stench made Mana recoil away from me.
“Now, get this,” Elara continued, her voice low. “There was some sort of accident at the church last night.”
Here we go again…
Seeing the wide, excited smile spreading on her lips, I tried not to sigh over my wasted bribe money. Instead, I calmed myself by focusing on the soft swishing of Mana’s tail against my abdomen and of my hand on hers.
“You mean the church fire? We already heard about that.”
“Mhmm,” Elara nodded, but didn’t look thrown off in the least. “From what I heard, lightning struck one of the higher rooms of the church and caused a fire, but I’m not so sure.”
This gave me pause, stopping my spoon half-way to my mouth. Mana greedily seized upon my hesitation and popped the spoon into her mouth, happily stealing the bite of meat for herself.
“Really…?”
“Oh, yes. Seems the guards are being real hush-hush about it, but I’m pretty sure the sky was clear when I closed up last night. Not a rain cloud in sight.”
Remembering the bolt of lightning Willomina shot at the church, the immediate and rapid spreading of the damage it caused – and how easily that spell could have been turned on me – I had to fight off a chill.
The lie that Lucielle fabricated to hide the truth of our battle was that some unknown arsonist had used magic to start the fire. She never specified which spell was used.
Giulio must have let her in on the truth, but since he wasn’t there to see it himself, the bandit leader must have told him what really went down.
Disappointing, but I guess the others finding out was inevitable. Guess I should count my lucky stars they haven’t acted on that information yet.
“What makes you think the guards are hiding something?”
“Duh… Because Gino won’t tell me anything, either,” she sighed, slumping against the bar. I, meanwhile, was actively trying not to look dumbstruck as she continued. “He’s usually the best source of gossip for what the guards are getting up to. He has the sort of easy-going personality that really makes you want to open up to him, you know? But I had to find out through other people that he was there last night. Even after I… with him, this morning. I even woke up extra early for him, too… I mean, honestly!”
She huffed, blushing as she crossed her arms. A few others in the room laughed, enjoying what might have been a rare slip in her.
Remembering the myriad of dirty fantasies that crossed Giulio’s mind during our walk in the forest, I tried not to ponder the numerous health code violations those two must have committed in the tavern’s kitchen as I chewed.
“Sorry to hear that,” I said.
“Hmph… Thanks, but don’t worry about it. Not like it matters, anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hmm? Oh, I guess you haven’t heard. The damage to the church has already been repaired and nobody got hurt. So, it’s all water under the bridge.”
“Already been repaired…?”
“Yea. I’m sure someone just forgot to put out a candle before bed and made up a ridiculous lie to cover their own ass. It happens more than you’d think, unfortunately.”
“No… What do you mean it’s been repaired already? The damage… I mean, wouldn’t a fire cause a lot of damage? A lot of damage means a lot of repairs, right?”
“Well, yes, I suppose. But from what I’ve heard, the repairs were carried out overnight.”
All that damage was undone overnight?
It sounded impossible. At least, without my Material Creation there to help, it should have been entirely unfeasible. Aside from the time it would have taken to disperse the crowd, I wouldn’t doubt it if a professional said it’d take several days just to sort through the mess, let alone draw up construction plans. How could it be done already?
There’s no way the Villeverdure I remember could have expanded this much, this fast.
As if catching wind of my thoughts, Elane leaned further into the conversation. Yua, too, glanced at us from the side, but favored her ears to keep from looking too obvious, not that it mattered.
“Excuse me, Miss Elara,” said one of the waitresses, sheepishly entering the conversation. “A customer is asking for something called Roi’s Finest, but I can’t find it.”
“Oh, that’s whiskey. It’s over there, under the…”
Deciding it was my chance, as Elara instructed her employee, I gave Mana’s tail a small tug with telekinesis to grab her attention, and to stop her from pilfering more bits of meat from my bowl.
Whispering the details for a distraction, Mana accepted her instructions with a happy nod, always ready to help her mate. Likewise, she wasted no time laying into the bartender with a question the very moment the waitress left.
“Are the people that fixed the church the same ones who built the city?”
The moment Elara’s eyes shifted back to us, I cast the Thought Steal spell on her, ready at least to help answer Elane’s confusion.
For a moment, I was alone with myself in my mind, but then we connected and hers took over. All at once, it was as if the thoughts skimming the forefront of her mind were my own and I was free to listen to them.
I was expecting her mind to briefly flit towards a certain name or group before answering, but what I got was…
Oh boy. This one’s staring pretty hard at my boobs again. How greedy. Those wives might be generous enough to let him look, but even they’re going to get mad if he keeps this up.
Hmm, actually… This kid has three women already. With a variety of sizes, too. He must have a weakness for boobs, right? Mine must be right up his alley. Ooh. Maybe if I give him a little peek, he’ll buy another round.
My eye twitched and I almost accidentally cut the connection. The moment Elara’s finger once again slowly started towards her collar, I turned away, making it look like I was searching my bowl for another piece of meat.
Is this woman really only interested in selling booze and making money? Poor Giulio.
Also, seriously? I wasn’t even trying to look!
Oops. Look at me, ignoring the little girl, Elara’s thoughts continued before her lips started moving again.
“Hmm, I don’t know, hon. I imagine they might be. The church did make this place what it is. More or less. So I wouldn’t doubt it.”
“Why the hurry, though?” Yua asked.
“From what we heard,” Elane added. “It was one of the upper floors that got burned. It’s not like all the church services would have had to stop while they waited.”
No, she thought, almost sounding relieved. Not all the services.
“Not everything, no,” Elara said. “They could just hold mass outside, but I imagine they wouldn’t want to overwork the priestess and her blessings. I imagine that she’d use the chance to run around exhausting herself by healing everyone that needed it, regardless of if they asked. That’s just who she is.”
“True… But fixing it up that fast, they must have cut a bunch of corners, right?”
And how would I know anything about that, you blonde titty monster?
Blinking back the sudden rude turn her thoughts took despite her calm smile, I was late to notice her gaze shifting back to me.
“Now, Alex,” she said, forcing me to cut my spell to focus on her. “I think I’ve given you more than enough gossip. I think it’s about time you return the favor.”
“What? Want me to buy another round?”
Half tempted to do just that to avoid her tempting me, simply because doing so would just give Elane more ammo to tease me with, I was about to reach for my pocket again when she shook her head.
“Nope. I was hoping for something a little more… hmm, well, something you might not want to talk about here, but that I’d really like to know.”
“And what would that be?”
“Well,” she said, glancing over her shoulder again before leaning closer. “And I’ll do you a favor and speak softly, but…” she leaned closer still, gravity pulling her breasts into fuller attention and, finally, she whispered. “Is it true that Gino had to scold you in front of everyone at the inn for making your wives moan too loudly?”
I closed my eyes and sighed into Mana’s hair.
I’m never going to live that down until I leave this place, aren’t I?
“Sorry to pry,” she continued, cheeks slightly flushed. “But as gossip goes, you have to admit that’s sort of a gold mine. And, let’s just say that, as a woman, I’m interested in the details of how you…”
“Ah, there you are, mio amico!”
Before she could finish the question I very much didn’t want to answer, the doors to the tavern burst open.
Standing there, wreathed in golden morning sunlight that somehow paled in comparison to the radiance of the smile wrinkling the corners of his eyes, and with a wooden sword set upon his shoulder, was none other than Giulio.
“I’ve been looking all over for you. I said we’d meet behind the tavern, no?”
