Unlike the men guarding the gates of the other major cities we’ve visited, Villeverdure’s guards were not knights, nor were they armored in any meaningful way. They did have their swords and spears, but each one looked about as unblemished as something you’d find on the shelves of an armory – they looked unused.

  Further, and this was enough to bring back a vaguely hidden twist of suspicion to Elane’s brow, none of those entering the village-turned-city ahead of us were stopped or questioned in any way. All were allowed through the gates without so much as having to suffer a cargo check, let alone a pat down in search of hidden blades.

  While the fact that we didn’t have to pay a tax just to get in was enough to make my purse weep with joy, none of this made sense. The place was supposed to be suffering from bandits, but we were greeted with smiles when it was our turn.

  “Excuse me, sir,” I called to the man who, by the virtue of having the nicest leather armor, looked to be in charge.

  “Ah. Afternoon, travelers,” he said. “Haven’t seen you here before. How may I help you?”

  Taken aback by his enthusiasm, whereas most guards typically met me with a concentrated mix of caution and annoyance, I barely managed to smile back.

  “Nothing too troublesome, I hope. It’s just, this is Villeverdure, right? We were told to expect a small village, not this.”

  Gesturing to the hustle and bustle beyond the gate, I watched his expression for something, anything that would show that the lively cityscape was some sort of lie, but instead, his smile only brightened.

  “Yes, yes. This is Villeverdure and it was indeed small once. Too small, if I were to say. I grew up here. Grew up right along with this place, but unlike mine, the city’s growth period hasn’t ended yet.”

  “What caused the change?” Elane asked.

  “Not really sure myself,” he said, scratching his head. “Can’t remember, at least. One day some years back, people just started arriving by the wagon-load and they never left. Not sure why, though. Place used to be a bit of a dung heap.”

  Elane and I looked at Yua, whose ears flicked before she nodded. The guard was telling the truth.

  “I see. Then has there been any trouble recently?”

  “Trouble?”

  “Yea. You know, greedy people trying to ruin what you’ve built here. Thieves, bandits and so on,” I leaned in and cupped a hand beside my lips to whisper. “Gotta keep my girls safe, you know?”

  Smirking at this, he glanced at the girls and his eyes widened before his cheeks did their best impression of a sun-burnt tomato. Clearly, he wasn’t as vigilant as I would have thought if he only just noticed their combined beauty.

  Part of me wanted to feel just a little boastful over his reaction, but after noticing he had a hard time taking his eyes off a certain large and now reflective part of Elane, I stepped in front of her and he stiffened while his fellow guards chuckled.

  Surprising me yet again, his info box read that he was only seventeen years old. I questioned how he found himself guarding this place, but his age did explain why he didn’t know much about the city’s growth. When it started, he was probably too young to want to look into it. And from the looks of it, the rest of the guards were in the same boat.

  “N-No trouble at all,” he cleared his throat and waved us in. “Now get a move on. If you’re planning on staying a while, try out the Moonlit Garden. Best inn you’ll find in Villeverdure.”

  “Blessings of Tallow to you,” another guard added with a wave.

  Deciding it best to question someone with more years on them, I led the girls through the gate and into the city proper.

  Even from afar, it was plain as day that the sleepy little village in Elane’s memory was long gone, but from up close, seeing all the people, I never would have guessed it was anything less than a sprawling city with hopes of becoming the next great trading hub.

  The buildings were a rough-hewn tapestry of stone and wood set against the peaceful blue sky, whose clouds were far too removed to hide the remnants of the city’s past. More meager, older abodes were interlaced between the newer as we walked. Standing tall with hunched backs and thatched roofs cut and carved directly into the landscape, they almost cowered under the oppressive shadows of the newer homes, but were proud to be a continued part of the city nonetheless.

  Sweet scents of exotic spices and smokey, roasting meats kept Mana on her toes as she unashamedly sniffed the air, while the open haggling of merchants and the heavy lines their cart wheels left in the roads made me cautious.

  The streets were full enough to have to try not to bump into people as we walked, but they were not so cluttered that I couldn’t hear my own footsteps.

  “Big Bro,” Mana said, tugging on my sleeve as she stopped to point at a food stand smoking some sort of meat outside a butcher’s shop.

  I reached for my purse, not because her big blue eyes had weakened my resolve to be frugal, but because Elane’s ideal research location happened to be a place I knew she was bound to hate. That, and because she was drooling profusely.

  However, after the fiasco of past me trusting Mana with my coin purse on an errand, only for her to return from the market carrying as much meat as her little arms could manage, I handed the coins to Yua. Nodding with a sympathetic smile, Yua was dragged off towards the stall.

  I watched their tails swish and sway as they walked, until Elane’s grip on my hand tightened slightly. She was looking all around the city.

  “Think we should ask someone about the…?”

  “No,” she said quickly, nearly clamping a hand over my mouth. “The guards were one thing, but don’t talk about it so openly here. You never know, word may reach them before we do.”

  “Then do you have any idea where this tavern is, or should we just ask?”

  “No need,” she said. “The best taverns are usually near the heart of the city. I was just working out where that might be.”

  “Then I’ll check the map,” I said, reaching under my cloak and into my item box for a piece of parchment. Nobody but us could see my map menu, but having something physical to pretend to look at would make us stand out less.

  “Oh, I already figured it out using the position of the sun and the shadows. Comparing it to the look I had at the map earlier, the heart is that way.”

  When she pointed down the street, I thought she was pointing to Mana, but stepping to the side, I found the streets widening into a more inviting part of town. But what really caught my eye was what stood taller than all the rest of the city architecture at the furthest reaches of my vision – an imposing church.

  With the sun at its back where it loomed over the city, its pointed bell tower appeared to be painted the color of pitch until its bronze bell rang proudly almost the very moment I noticed it.

  “Think that has something to do with that Tallow whose blessings the guards were chucking at us?”

  “No idea. Never heard of any gods named Tallow.”

  “Really?”

  Usually, Elane was a smorgasbord of random facts due to all her traveling, so it was a genuine surprise she didn’t know about a literal god. With a shrug, I brought her over to the cat girls and we made for the heart of the city.

  Exactly as Elane predicted, near the heart but with a respectable distance put between it and the church, and what was an easy find thanks to the red-faced patrons drinking out on the veranda, was The Last Drop.

  The tavern was an inviting place packed with tables and thirsty customers on the ground floor, but the floor above looked to be some sort of living quarters, but I quickly decided we wouldn’t be staying there.

  Feeling more and more like I needed a drink myself now that we were here, I climbed the stairs and the girls followed.

  The Last Drop buzzed with the chatter of its patrons and the repeated thumps of ale mugs hitting the table. A blend of the flickering reds and blues of both magic and traditional candles mixed with the daylight. Shadows danced across the floor as the people enjoyed their drink, their meals and their good company. Thankfully, the place had a more mellow vibe when compared to the Adventurer’s Guild.

  And as expected, Mana, still nibbling on her meat of choice, stopped in the doorway. I thought she might protest the smell of alcohol, but instead, her pointed ears perked up the moment a minstrel over in the corner plucked the strings of his instrument.

  Needing to check its info box to see that the mini harp-like instrument was called a lyre, then lightly admonishing myself for not knowing that as a recovering gamer, I almost missed the sudden entranced look that took over Mana’s face as the soft and flowing melody picked up. Soon enough, her tail was swaying back and forth to the rhythm as the minstrel’s fingers danced across the strings. And to my surprise, even Yua had to shake her head to bring back her focus.

  “Big Bro, can I go…”

  I laughed and pat her head.

  “Go ahead,” I said, guiding her by the shoulder to make room for another man trying to enter the tavern. “Leave the rest to us, but try to keep your ears open like we discussed. Okay?”

  “Kay.~”

  Skipping away, straight towards the lyre and its musician, Mana would have looked like any other girl that had been enchanted by the sound of a song she’d never heard, were it not for the bow strapped to her back and the leg of meat she clenched in her jaw.

  “You sure about that?” Yua asked and I shrugged.

  “You know as well as I do that she wasn’t going to be able to pay attention.”

  Her nose was too sensitive and, while she could stomach the smells around us, that didn’t mean she was going to like it. At least this way, she could help out without hating the experience.

  “What are you two dawdling for?” Elane asked, slapping a hand on the tavern’s bar. “Get over here.”

  Smiling despite herself, she pulled off her axe and leaned it beside her against the counter. The heavy thud it made drew the curious gazes of a half a dozen patrons.

  “Two ales over here! And a Misty River!”

  Elane called to the barkeep without a hint of decorum about her. Supposing she’d already given up any lingering attachments she had to her nobility by the way she plopped down on a stool, I shrugged and we sat with her.

  I glanced back to Mana, found her sitting on the floor near the minstrel a full foot away from an empty chair. The music had ensnared her attention so fully, I doubted she’d hear me if I called out to her.

  “Yua, does music sound extra beautiful to the ears of a cat-kin? I’ve never seen her so focused on something that wasn’t food.”

  “Maybe, but it’s hard to say since I don’t know how it sounds to humans. But it’s not all that great, since bad players sound extra worse, too.”

  “Hmm… Then why don’t you ever react to the music at the guild?”

  “Because I focus on our surroundings, in case someone tries something again.”

  “Are you still worried about a thief stealing your pant… stealing from you?”

  “Not from me, but from you.”

  “… Is that why you were so eager to arm wrestle back at the guild? You were protecting me from thieves?”

  “Hehe.”

  I shook my head, smiling. Elane drew in a deep whiff of tavern air, which consisted only of the scent of alcohol, food, and a lingering sweaty smell from those that had already finished working the field. And yet, she looked exhilarated.

  “What was that Misty River you ordered?”

  “Hoho? You’ll see. Don’t worry, though. The first round’s on me.”

  Elane, like Yua, but not Mana, had her own coin purse so she could buy whatever she wanted without having to come to me first and she was eager to use it. Her breastplate made a small clack when she leaned onto the bar to watch the slender shoulders of the bartender shifting as she prepared someone else’s drink before vanishing into the backroom with a couple of empty tankards.

  My attention lingered on her as well, but only for a moment before I remembered why we were here and made a show of stretching, ever the weary traveler, and did a quick once over of all the people in the room.

  Finding nothing of note in their info boxes, I discreetly tapped Yua’s foot with mine to grab her attention and whispered, “Any beast-kin here?”

  Matching my discretion, she sniffed the air a few times before saying, “Hmm. None that I can tell, but all the alcohol in the air makes it hard to tell.”

  “Then have you heard anything interesting?”

  “Nope. Not unless you count a man complaining about his wife nagging him for spending his coin here as interesting.”

  “Not particularly. Well, I suppose we did just get here.”

  With a sigh, I resigned myself to taking it slow. We were in plain sight at the bar, but knowing that we were effectively on a stakeout to find a bunch of murderers made it difficult to keep still.

  Enjoying the sight of Yua’s ears flicking about as she focused, I was distracted by the sound of Elane undoing one of the clasps binding her breastplate. Letting out a short sigh, she tugged it down to fan her chest. She caught me looking almost instantly, smirked playfully and looked as though she was about to tug a little further for me before a metal tankard clacked against the bar in front of me.

  “I assume one of these ales are for you, hon?”

  A voice as sweet as it was inviting rang out almost in a whisper, but its sudden appearance cut through the gentle tones of the lyre so defiantly I couldn’t be sure whether the hairs prickling on the back of my neck were from her tone or from the strange chill it brought.

  Lifting my gaze from the frothing tankard to the person that appeared before us, I nearly forgot where I was the moment I found her.

  The woman before us wore a light blue dress that looked something like a sultry cross between a barmaid’s outfit and a shrine maiden’s robe. The silky fabric slipped down, cascading over her shoulder like a waterfall to reveal the sloping hills of her cleavage in a way that paradoxically looked both entirely intentional, but entirely pure – almost maidenly.

  She moved, as did her chest, and feeling like Yua was about to tease me again, I forced my attention onto the woman’s face.

  Her hair was an incredible mix of blues and purples that brought back memories of seeing sunlight refracting through a glacier in the middle of a cool winter’s dusk, even though I’d never seen such a sight before. Her eyes held a soft, almost come-hither curve to them, but when her cheeks dimpled with her smile and she brushed her hair over her ear, there was no doubt in them.

  She giggled.

  “Well?” she asked, again in that sweetly-chilling tone.

  “Y-yea. Sorry. I was…”

  I trailed off without meaning to.

  The softer features of her face were positively alluring, but what really caught my eye was her info box. This woman, Elara Granidine, was a level 24 Mage. Intrigued, I tried to work out what such an accomplished mage was doing working behind a bar when a sharp elbow and a chuckle knocked my attention back to reality.

  “Alex,” Elane said. “Stop staring at her tits or you’ll scare her off.”

  “Huh? But I wasn’t…”

  “Uh-huh, sure. Sorry about our husband,” Elane laughed. “He has a hard time keeping his eyes to himself.”

  “Oh, I don’t mind,” Elara said, gently touching a hand to her cheek. “Happens every day. But I must say, he’s getting a little ahead of himself with a gorgeous woman like you next to him.”

  With her eyes fixated on Elane’s bulging breastplate, prompting the blonde to look down at herself, I half expected her to complain about the size of her bust again – or that I should have been staring at her ass instead, as usual – but she just shrugged.

  “Eh. I like that about him. He knows what he wants and doesn’t shy away from looking.”

  “Excuse you…”

  Cheeks heating as the two ladies laughed at my expense, I snagged a drink of my ale, only to be surprised by how good it tasted. Smirking at me, Elane pat my thigh under the bar, where Elara couldn’t see. Glaring back at her, I noticed a hint of something in the way she looked at me that suggested I play along.

  And figuring she set her standard reactions to my ogling aside for a reason, I did just that.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare. It’s just, as you can see, my wife here is a bit of a prude, so as a man, I…”

  “Pfft? Prude? Don’t act like you don’t get enough to look at at home.”

  Laughing, Elane reached for her drink, which I only just noticed came in a transparent glass. A thick layer of blue mist wafted up from the thick, sludge-like liquid inside, but she brought it to her lips all the same. As she tilted it back, the mist poured down her person without end, though it left no trace on her when she set the cup back down with a satisfied squeal of delight. I thought she meant for me to try it, but she downed it all in one gulp.

  She reached for her coin purse and, as she did, Elara watched the blonde’s steel-clad breasts. Elane dumped a few coins on the provided trading tray and, when Elara shifted to counting them, Elane tossed a few more into the pile.

  “How about another one? And while you’re fixing it up, you can tell me how a cutey like you ended up here, er...”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Elara’s eyes widened slightly before returning to their welcoming curve. She’d been tracing a finger in the air over the coins, counting them, but she was eager to answer.

  “My name’s Elara. And alright, but if gossip’s what you want, how about we trade?”

  “Hoho? What would you like to know?”

  “Well, I’m interested in why you’re here as well, but more importantly,” she paused, glancing at me. “Earlier you said our husband when talking about this one. Does that mean this cat-kin is also his wife?”

  Eager for gossip, she set her elbows on the bar and propped her chin up in her palm. Yua, who didn't seem to be paying all that much attention to the barmaid, flicked her ears and smiled politely. Seemed something else had been holding her attention.

  “Yes, I’m his first wife, Yua.”

  “Oh my,” Elara pretended to gasp. “Then does that mean blondie here is wife number two?”

  “Haha. Try again,” Elane laughed, then held up three fingers.

  This time, Elara’s gasp sounded real, as did the slight redness that tinged her cheeks when she looked to me. I tensed, forcing a smile as her eyes widened. From what I’ve heard, polygamy wasn’t exactly uncommon in Vierre, but I wasn’t sure how to feel we should be sharing that sort of information with someone we just met.

  “Alright, now spill it,” Elane said, taking a smaller sip of her second misty drink. “How’d a cutey like you end up in this dump?”

  Elara’s brow twitched only once before her cheeks dimpled into a smile. Pushing against the bar, she looked all too happy to answer.

  “Oh, gosh. I’m not used to such flattery coming from another woman, but you should know that I actually built this place myself. Been here a few years.”

  She lifted her hands, gesturing to everything all at once. Elane faltered a moment, nearly slipping off her stool before she cleared her throat.

  “Sorry. Guess I’m not the best flatterer.”

  “No worries, hon.”

  Elara slid a second misty cup over to Elane, who took a grateful swig of it before pressing on as if her little mistake was already water under the bridge.

  “Why here, though? If you can mix drinks this good, you should have opened shop in a bigger city.”

  “Oh, it’s not much of a story, I suppose, but several years ago, a priestess of the Tallow church and her flock came traveling through here. They claimed the area as some sort of holy site and returned to headquarters to gather some supplies to build a church here.”

  “A holy site? What did they find?”

  Elara shrugged. “Who knows? But they brought along several contractors and built that church down the street. Then a few traveling merchants caught wind of their plans and, knowing they likely wouldn’t stop at just building the church, they decided to join them. You know, it’s cheap and easy to open up a shop when there’s no competition.”

  “And that’s why you’re here?”

  “Oh, my, yes. This poor little village didn’t have a proper tavern at all! It was so sad. Everyone either drank at home or didn’t drink at all. The people here would just work the fields and then go home. That was all. That was their life. Where’s the comradery living like that? So, being quite the brewer myself, how could I overlook a chance to bring the people together?”

  “Hoho? I bet.”

  The two women smiled at each other, but I could feel a certain sense of amusement between them. Like they were both in on a joke I didn’t understand. Except, it was relatively easy to guess at.

  Elara opened her tavern when the village was small and the land was cheap. And without any competition, her tavern quickly became the best place for a drink both for the villagers and the laborers building the new city.

  She must have raked in quite a bit of coin. Really made her Merchant’s secondary class make all the more sense.

  “That ain’t even the half of it!”

  Amongst all the noise and music playing in The Last Drop, I hadn’t heard anyone approaching until a man’s arm draped itself around my shoulder. With his other one wrapping around Elane’s, he hiccupped. Face flushed, his breath smelled like it was permanently infused with ale. Smiling crookedly, he continued, pointing at Elara from over my shoulder.

  “This woman ain’t just pretty, she’s nice too. Real nice. Mhmm. Before business picked up here in Willever… Villeverdure, she’d let us farmhands have one free drink every night! Ain’t she just the sweetest? Right, everybody?”

  He turned and waved to the room, ushering a raucous chorus of whooping and hollering.

  “Hell yea! This place was so boring before she showed up with proper booze!” said a man, whose clothing and skin were dirty enough to look like he spent his day shoveling coal.

  “Traders just won’t stop pouring in since she started pouring drinks,” added another.

  “She even gave me my first job!” shouted a young woman bussing a table and whose dress was significantly less revealing than Elara’s.

  “She even donates to the church to help expand the city!”

  “C-Come on,” Elara said weakly, blushing. The cool air about her had evaporated beneath the flurry of praises. “Every merchant in the city donates a portion of their income to the church. It’s nothing special.”

  “Ohhh, don’t be so modest,” said the man on my shoulder. “Without you and your tavern, this place never would have become so lively. I mean, just look at who your booze ensnared.”

  Slipping off of me, the man sauntered his way around to my other side, tripped over nothing and caught himself on the bar before leaning into it like he’d meant to all along. His lips twisted into a playful smile that was full of a misplaced confidence as he looked into Yua’s eyes.

  “Excuse me, young miss. Might I say you are absolutely ravishing. Not many beast-kinses come through here, but you are by far the finest I’ver… ever seen. Would you allow me the honor of buying you a drink?”

  “Uh, I…”

  Yua’s ears perked up, clearly surprised to be targeted for some unwanted flirting instead of Elane for once. Her eyes darted between his face, then his chest, or rather the beating of his heart. Drunk or not, seemed he wasn’t joking around. Guess he hadn’t heard her earlier declaration.

  Finally, her eyes fell on me. Her look was less a plea for help and more a question on what she should do. Had he been any more forceful, she could have just pounded the stupid out of him, but we didn’t want to cause a scene.

  I stepped off my stool, considering the use of her people’s way of proving her heart belonged to me, considering even more the weight of my sword. It usually ticked me off a bit when the more brazen men tried to flirt with my girls and this time was no different, but I forced myself to keep cool in the face of this drunken idiot. Elane, however, chuckled under her breath.

  Removing my hand from my sword, I was about to reach out, tap the man on the shoulder and calmly explain to him that she was already spoken for, but someone yanked him away from us before I could get a word in edgewise.

  “Now then, why don’t you leave the lass alone? You’re making her uncomfortable.”

  Slinging an arm around the drunk as if they were old buddies, was another man whose appearance earned a heated sigh from a couple of the local women in the room. And it was easy to see why.

  Slender, but with a fair bit of lightly-tanned muscle to him, the man looked like the sort of actor who was born to play the role of a dashing vagabond who was always on the move, never setting down roots, but always stealing the heart of any woman fool enough to steal herself into his bed at night, only to find him gone come morning.

  He swept his long, chocolatey-brown hair back and away from his face, showing off a bright and cheery smile framed by a well-groomed beard and a sharp jawline, all just to meet the staggered gaze of the drunk directly.

  In short, he was the sort of man past me would have hated purely out of jealousy, but current me was momentarily grateful for his help in keeping things peaceful. Until I noticed the elegant saber on his hip.

  Narrowing my eyes, I read through his info box as he thumped his hand on the drunk’s chest, lightly chiding him for his antics.

  This man, Giulio Fiocarda, was a level 21 Swordsman. While, by the standards of this world, his level technically dwarfed mine, he looked relatively harmless. For now.

  As I continued reading his info box, and as he turned his chiseled smile full of pearly white teeth to Yua, my hand gravitated back to the grip of my sword almost on reflex. He noticed, but wrinkled his brow with an apologetic smile.

  “Sorry about this one, mio amico,” he said, patting the drunk’s shoulder. “He can’t handle his drink, or his desires, very well. But he meant no harm to you or your woman.”

  “Gino,” Elara said in a huff. “I thought you were supposed to be on guard duty today?”

  “Oh, but I was. And now I’m not. You didn’t expect me to stand out by the fields all day, did you? Why, the scarecrows are not nearly as adept at conversation as you are. Nor are they as fun to look at.”

  Elara’s huff quickly faded into obscurity as her cheeks heated in the face of his smile. Pleased with himself, but not enough to really brag about it, Giulio, or rather Gino (?) pulled the drunk man over to another table that already sat two women, both of whom stiffened and reflexively puffed out their chests the moment he looked their way.

  As he did this, I discreetly used telekinesis to fix Elane’s breastplate back into place.

  Elane arched a brow at this, but said nothing.

  “Excuse me, ladies,” Giulio said, guiding the drunk into a seat between them. “My friend here is in need of some company. Would you mind?”

  “S-Sure,” one said, bashful as the drunk threw an arm around her waist.

  “But won’t you have a drink with us too?” said the other woman.

  “Ahh,” he sighed almost happily, thrusting his hands on his hips. “I would, but I don’t think my sweet Elara would be too pleased with me if I did.”

  At this, Elara, still blushing, rolled her eyes and picked up an empty glass and started cleaning it with a fervor that didn’t match her expression. Looking a little proud of himself, Giulio smiled right back before returning to us. Noticing his gaze falling again to my sword, I let go of it and took a drink.

  “Thanks for that,” I said.

  “No need. It wounds me to see a woman so bothered. I saw that you were about to put a stop to it, but I couldn’t help myself,” he said, then paused before knocking his palm against his forehead. “How rude of me. I forgot to introduce myself. Please, call me Gino.”

  “I’m Alex. The cat-kin over here is Yua. And this is Elane.”

  “Wonderful names! It is a pleasure to meet you all.”

  He dipped into a bow, glancing between the three of us. His eyes then fell to my sword again, before raising a brow at the sight of both Yua and Elane’s chests. The movement was quick and unobtrusive, but the smile forever plastered to his lips lost some of its vitality.

  Still, he found an empty seat near us and tapped the bar with his middle and index fingers. Seconds later, Elara came back, somewhat calm again and handed him a tankard. He took a long drink and sighed as though it was his first in years.

  “Wonderful as always, love.”

  “Hmph.”

  “Ah, come now. None of that. Come here.”

  He beckoned her with a curl of his finger and, pretending to pout, Elara pressed her chest against the bar as she leaned in and presented her lips to him. Happy to oblige her, he met her halfway and they shared a kiss that was smack-dab on the border of being almost too intimate for such a public display.

  A few of the girls behind us let out resigned sighs, fewer still muffled jealous complaints. The men, however, merely laughed.

  Pulling back, Elara touched a hand to her cheek and it was almost like she couldn’t handle the sweetness. She turned and left when another patron called for a drink.

  Giulio caught me looking, but smiled all the same.

  “Apologies. I saw you don’t mind exploring the joys of multiple women. I had to make it clear she was mine.”

  “Message received,” I said, taking another drink.

  Not that I planned on making any sort of move to begin with, though. Having a tavern owner so close to Elane could only weaken her resolve to ease up on the drink.

  “…”

  Sensing the thick cloud of silence around Yua, and hoping she wasn’t upset about his assumptions about me and the barmaid, I instead found her emerald eyes tracing patterns on the ceiling. Her gaze went around and around the space above us, her expression was as calm and as focused as ever. She hadn’t even touched her drink yet.

  However, knowing how odd she must have looked, I turned the conversation back to Giulio as he, and Elane, enjoyed their drinks with gusto.

  “So, did you move to Villeverdure with Elara?”

  “Hmm? Oh, yes,” he said. “But it’s not what you may be thinking. See, I was wandering the wilds with nothing but my sword for companionship when I happened upon a caravan of traders being attacked by some beasties. Moss Ogres. A lot like regular ogres, but a little shorter and with even shorter tempers, you know? Real nasty stuff. Oh, and it turns out, the thick patch of green on their shoulders isn’t actually moss.”

  “Really?”

  “Yea. It’s just green fur!” Giulio pat his own furless shoulder with a laugh before reaching again for his tankard. “Whoever named it must have never gotten close enough to smell them. And let me tell you, you can smell them from miles away.”

  He downed a significant gulp of his drink before slamming his tankard back down on the bar, perhaps a bit harder than he meant to, because the clang drew Yua’s attention off the ceiling. Ears flicking, she shot him an indiscernible look and turned finally to her own drink.

  “Anyways, she offered me some gold to help cut them down and I did,” Giulio continued. “Elara, this fine lass, liked my skills with a blade enough to hire me as her escort – and no, not that sort of escort. Anyways, that’s all there is about it.”

  “So you saved the damsel in distress,” Elane said. “Good job, Gino. She’s quite the damsel, too.”

  “It was nothing, I tell you! But I won’t lie and say things didn’t work out like I had done just that.”

  “That’s pretty amazing, though. Wish I was skilled enough to take on a horde of ogres. How’d you manage it?”

  With a forced smile, a half lie since I’d never seen an ogre myself, and a pinch of self-deprecation, I spied the saber on his hip again and mined him for information.

  “Oh, come on!” he laughed, then shook his head. “In reality, it was only a couple ogres. Two, since the other guards took care of the rest before I ever got there. But I’m sure you’re plenty strong, mio amico. Just look at you! That is a mighty fine sword. I can tell. Only a fool would buy something like that if they didn’t know how to use it.”

  “Ha ha… Yea...”

  “Pfft.”

  Ignoring the small snort from the blonder part of the peanut gallery, I was about to change the subject when Giulio, fresh off wetting his throat with another drink, jumped right back in.

  “But if you are unsure of yourself, why not let me train you a bit?”

  This question took me by surprise and for several reasons, none of which I was prepared for.

  “Train me?”

  “Oh yes. See, most of the guards here used to be farmers. Hardly any can hold a blade properly, let alone use it. And the professional few think of me as nothing more than a sellsword and won’t give me the time of day. So boring. But I think a bit of sparring would do us both some good. And if you happen to need a lesson or two, then you won’t find a better teacher. After all, you can’t be an Adventurer if you don’t know how to defend yourself, right? So, what do you say? My lessons are cheap, but I can swear to Tallow they are effective.”

  Man, this guy likes to talk. I blinked, my mind speedrunning his words to catch up with the conversation when I noticed something odd about what he said.

  “Wait, who said I wanted to be an Adventurer?” I asked, realizing I was sweating.

  “Nobody at all. But with that fine sword, and your lady friends’ fine armor, it’s pretty obvious, wouldn’t you say? It’s a common thing to see travelers carrying weapons to protect themselves. No I’d say it’s for the best. But not many wear armor. You could have been mercenaries, but there’s no war here for you to fight, thankfully,” he said, his smiling slipping into a grimace, but it was one he quickly corrected. “I just assumed, really. Or perhaps, were you here to join the guard? We could always use more help.”

  “N-No, we…”

  Pulled out of the conversation by a tug on my sleeve, I found Mana standing beside me as she pulled off her bow. The moment I turned to her and made an opening, she took the liberty of climbing up onto my lap, only to slink into a more comfortable position.

  With her looking so relaxed, I couldn’t help but throw a glance over to the minstrel that had kept her attention when I realized the music had stopped. Contrary to his audience, he looked utterly exhausted. It wasn’t hard to imagine she kept asking him for more, like she always did at dinner.

  Deciding I’d toss him some coin before we left, I wrapped my arms around Mana and moved her onto my other leg so her thigh wasn’t pressed against my sword.

  Giulio puckered his lips jokingly and raised a brow, looking very much the part of a friend that just caught you canoodling with your long-time crush.

  “Oh my. A third? You dog.”

  “Hahaha… Can’t deny that one.”

  “Hey hey. The more the merrier, right?”

  “Right.”

  Giulio clanked his tankard against mine and tilted it back, polishing it off in one swig before slamming it down on the bar again, this time with an even deeper sigh. He tapped his fingers on the bar, ordering another and turned back to us while he waited.

  “So, you lot on a quest, or are you just here to show off your women? All of whom, if I may say so, are gorgeous.”

  Weary of telling this particular stranger the full truth, I opted for a little lie. And as I did, I used telekinesis again to lightly tug Elane’s finger off her drink to grab her attention.

  “Just here to collect some plants,” I said.

  “Really? Which ones? I don’t know much about plants myself, but I’ve seen a good few out on patrol.”

  “Hydrangea,” Elane said for me, washing the words down with the last of her drink. “And no worries, I know where they are.”

  “We kind of owe our local Apothecary a few favors and she sent us here,” I added, thankful for the help.

  “We’re just here to rest our feet for a moment. And to have a drink, of course.”

  Raising her glass as if in toast to the lie, Elane quickly realized her drink was gone and greedily stole a swig of mine.

  “I see, I see,” Giulio said, nodding to himself. “Then, if you won’t be here for long, how about that sparring match?”

  “Thanks, but maybe another time. The journey has been long and Mana here has been complaining about her feet for a while now.”

  I plopped my hand down on Mana’s head and she nodded slowly.

  “I think we might pick up some supplies, then head to the inn to rest.”

  At this, Elane pouted. Even if she wasn’t planning on getting drunk, she clearly wanted to at least continue drink her fill.

  “Ah, what a shame? Tomorrow then?”

  “Maybe. If I have the time.”

  “Wonderful. Tomorrow it is! Well, maybe!”

  Giulio laughed to himself and, seeing that his drink had yet to be replaced, he swiveled on his seat and found Elara, bent over, her breasts pressing against the bar as she chatted away with another patron. I couldn’t help but notice this patron, a man roughly my age with short red hair, who was flushed in the cheeks as he stared openly at her cleavage. She was in the middle of pretending not to notice when Giulio stood.

  “I’m not on patrol duty tomorrow, so feel free to ask for me at any time. For now, I bid you farewell. I must go rescue my lady from the clutches of evil.”

  “Until next time.”

  Giulio touched his middle and index fingers to his forehead, gave us a quick salute and wandered off. I waited until he threw his arm around the red-haired man’s shoulder and sat beside him, looking like a couple of friends enjoying themselves at the bar.

  I stood and let Mana down to the floor. Handing her her bow, I lightly pushed her back towards the door.

  “Big Bro, I thought we were going to stay a while.”

  “And I thought you were tired. Now, let’s go.”

  Tapping Yua on the shoulder, she quickly hopped off her stool and joined us. Elane, still pouting as she paused for a moment to leave some coin on the tray, followed us. Ushering the girls outside, I made a brief detour to pay the fatigued minstrel his dues and left The Last Drop.

  There was still a good hour or so of daylight left for us, so I grabbed Yua and Mana’s hands and started down the street. Dragging them through the city, I made a concerted effort to scan the info box of everyone we passed.

  “Big Bro, slow down. Why are you walking so fast?”

  Yua was having an easy time following at my pace, but Mana was struggling to keep up. Apparently, the energy she gained from munching on meat had already been used up listening to music, somehow. So, Elane scooped her up into another princess carry and hurried after us.

  “Husband, I take it you lied back there for a reason, but I should warn you, you probably shouldn’t blindly go along with anything that guy says, or sells. He says his lessons are cheap, but he’ll probably try to swindle you. Trust me, men like him are troublemakers.”

  “I know,” I said, looking over my shoulder before dragging them all into an alley. “I’m not planning on studying under him anyways. That’s… His skill set is not something I’d want to learn.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He was lying about killing ogres,” Yua said, brow furrowed and ears twitching.

  Elane shrugged. “That’s not all that surprising. There’s just something about drinking in a tavern that makes you want to embellish your stories a little.”

  “No, I think he was just full of it. About how he met Elara, why he came here, all of it.”

  “What makes you say that?” Elane said, then paused. “Wait… Did you use Thought Steal on him?”

  Thought Steal was one of the spells I learned after borrowing the spell books Elane kept in her personal library. Its effects were limited, as was its range, but it allowed me to peek into the mind of my target to see what they were currently thinking.

  Though, as a side note, I only found out how the spell worked by secretly attempting to pry into Elane’s mind in hopes I could use her knowledge of the world to expand my map menu, only to wind up listening in on the incredibly raunchy thoughts that were swishing around in her head at the time.

  I wasn’t keen on using this spell on a daily basis, since it was effectively an invasion of privacy of the highest order, though in this particular case, I wouldn’t have minded. However, I shook my head.

  “I wanted to, but I couldn’t. The man wouldn’t stop talking once he started and, believe it or not, even I have trouble listening to two conversations at once. He might have noticed I was up to something if I took too long to respond. Besides, most people think about what they are going to say next when they’re speaking, not their deepest darkest secrets.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  Checking the ends of the alley again for peeping toms, I took a breath.

  “I checked his info box and, girls, … Giulio’s a Bandit.”

  “…”

  The three ladies all stared at me, their expressions significantly less enthusiastic than I was expecting upon hearing that Elane’s idea worked and that we achieved our goal. And so soon at that. Yua’s and Mana’s ears flicked in unison, their tails dancing in the air behind them, while Elane scratched her head.

  “Uhm…. Remind me again, did we meet a Giulio today?”

  “What? Of course we did.”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “Maybe he read that name on someone’s info box and thought we knew.”

  “Maybe Big Bro is the tired one.”

  Now it was my turn to stare.

  “You guys…” I started, readying myself to tell them this wasn’t the time for jokes when a sudden realization nearly had me palming my face. “Look, the man we just spent the last few minutes talking to, is not named Gino. That’s a fake name. His info box said his real name is Giulio Fiocarda. And more importantly, he’s one of the bandits we’re looking for.”

  I don’t know what I was expecting to happen when it came to gathering information, but I sure as hell wasn’t expecting one of our targets to come find us first.