[BIAW] Chapter 100 – Danse Macabre (Patreon)

I glance back over my shoulder to locate the source of the paralyzing killing intent. As expected, it’s coming straight from Shino.

She has her head cast down, effectively hiding her expression behind her black bangs, but the ominous aura seeping out of her body and her hand resting on the hilt of her katana should be enough for anyone to guess what her face looks like at the moment.

Even the others seem to be surprised by the clear hostility she is emanating, especially Ghilerie. I get it. You wouldn’t really expect such an adorable girl to assume such a mood, but unfortunately, these idiots made a grave mistake.

I turn my eyes to the front and sigh to myself. “Fine. We’ll do it your way. Don’t come crying to me later. I warned you.”

Shino walks closer and stops by my side with a serious expression. “I’m going to erase them from existence.”

“Want to do it together?” I ask.

She glances up at me, relaxing her face a little and showing a faint smile. “I would love to, Sensei!”

I smile back and reach out with my hand, placing it on Shino’s cheek. She blushes a bit and rubs it into my palm. We both lean towards each other and share a brief but affectionate kiss. Shino closes her eyes to enjoy the moment before we part ways.

“Oi! Did you forget about u—”

“Teffith, please make sure none of them gets any ideas about the others. Ghilerie, assist her if you could. You guys, leave this to us.”

I give everyone simple instructions and my demi-human companions nod, readying their weapons. Paul’s party looks a tad confused by my sudden declaration but he doesn’t show any signs of objection.

We share a quick thought with Shino and I quickly bring up my skills to activate a certain ability. After my mind receives a brief flash of understanding, I nod at her and we both look forward at the perturbed adventurers. They have figured out that something is going to happen and started preparing themselves for battle.

The moment I activate Shino’s borrowed skill, my body gets filled with a wave of pleasant energy. My skin starts itching a little and I notice with the corner of my eye how it changes colours from the usual one into a silvery shade. Two slightly painful points surface on my forehead and I can tell without looking that those are definitely Oni-like horns.

After all the changes take place, my mana spikes up and creates a small explosion. Exactly at the same time, another one occurs to my right and the two forces clash with each other, causing the nearby grass to shake wildly and our clothes to flutter.

Glancing towards it, I meet Shino’s eyes, which are now glowing charmingly and emanating an intimidating aura with their vertical pupils and dark grey sclera. Just like mine, her skin changed too and turned almost pitch black. Onyx horns decorate the sides of her head, rising vertically in a demonic style.

Darkness and Light. Yin and Yang. As weird as it sounds, just looking at her makes me feel like we complete each other. Judging by Shino’s gaze and the emotions flowing into me through our bond, I’m sure she feels the same. What an incredible ability her Demonification is.

“What the fuck?! Those guys were demons!” someone shouts amongst the adventurers.

“Don’t just stand and watch! Kill them!” the leader commands while pointing his longsword at us.

We completely ignore the cacophony of shouts and screams as they all start rushing towards our position with their weapons raised and turn towards each other. Without any words, we step closer and enter a hug, staring deep into each other’s eyes as our foreheads rest against each other.

I can tell that our friends are beginning to freak out from the enemies charging at us with obvious intentions, but nothing really matters to us right now besides each other. We join our lips together once more, in a much livelier fashion this time, actively pursuing each other’s tongues.

The first thug reaches our position and his greataxe soars through the air towards our entwined bodies. I hear a few of my current party members shout at us and my vision plunges into darkness in a split second.

After a forceful pull, I lose ground under my feet and quickly create a platform out of mana to serve as a foothold. The light returns a moment later when the darkness recedes and reveals us in the same situation, still going after each other’s lips.

But, instead of down on the grass, we are now mid-air, standing on a silvery-white platform resembling a moon a few meters above the crowd that has just noticed our shift in position and raised their gazes up in utter confusion. Especially the man who tried to hack us is completely puzzled, with his axe lodged in the ground.

We break the kiss and I smile at Shino. “Care for a dance?”

She giggles and pecks my lips. “With pleasure, Sensei.”

We lean backwards towards our respective sides and fall off the silvery platform. Shino disappears in a puff of black mist and I turn myself around to face the ground. With a few quick thoughts, I start creating more footholds around me and use them to change the trajectory of my fall, gaining more speed with each push.

Bringing my draconic hilt from behind my waist, I shape a magnificent greatsword in no time and fill it with mana just moments before I come crashing down into the crowd of adventurers.

My blade splits one of the men in half and causes a powerful tremor when it hits the ground, cracking the earth around me. Shino jumps out of my shadow already in a drawing stance and I watch as she suddenly blurs and disappears.

*SHIIIIING*

She reappears a few meters forward after a loud metallic noise resonates through the air. A bunch of guys who were on her path end up mutilated, losing their arms, legs, heads, or all at once. Shino sheathes her katana with a distinct clink and elegantly swipes her long hair aside while shaking her head.

“Attack them together with your skills, you idiots!” the leader attempts to organize the group.

Two spear users follow his orders and their slightly glowing weapons surge at Shino from her side. Before the tips manage to reach her, I’m already there and take them onto my greatsword, blocking their assault completely.

“Thank you, Sensei,” Shino whispers to my ear and pecks my cheek, disappearing into the shadows again.

“Try to leave some of them alive,” I say to the air, sure that she can hear me.

Five guys don’t waste any time and throw themselves at me from all sides, kindly requesting me to die. But, unfortunately, I’m unable to grant their wish. There exist things and people I do have to live for. And they are worth much more than them.

Sending a chunk of mana into the crystal at the end of the artifact’s hilt, I invoke one of the first skills I have unlocked with it. After hastily shoving the blade into the ground, tens of gigantic copies surge back out of it in circles all around me. Everyone who has been any close to my position ends up dead on spot.

I look around. We took care of ten of them so far and I’m currently standing in the middle of our enemy’s formation. Quite a number of mutilated bodies litter the ground in my close vicinity.

“I’m not as graceful and nimble as Shino so keeping the greatsword would be disadvantageous for me.”

I guard against an incoming ice lance, accidentally sending it towards some random dude standing slightly behind me.

“Whoops. My bad, bro,” I apologize after glancing over my shoulder to check out the pained scream, realizing that its owner is not going to have kids anymore, granted he somehow survives the fight.

“Frank! You bastard! I’m going to fuck you up!” the poor man’s friend shouts at me angrily.

“Well, you can at least try. Not like your friend over there. I don’t think he can fuck anything anymore.”

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

He throws himself at me with a loud shout. The man’s halberd glows crimson and he starts spinning around his own axis, forcing his comrades to duck or jump aside to avoid getting hurt. What an asshole.

I reshape my weapon in a flash, having it assume the form of a whip-sword. Honestly, it’s one of my favourite modes. And perfect for situations like these, with a crazy mad opponent hurling themselves at you with a range advantage due to his much longer weapon.

Taking a quick glance to the side to check on the woman that launched the ice spell at me earlier, I catch her being skewered from behind by Shino, effectively preventing her from making any follow-ups.

With that out of the way, I strongly flick my wrist and the bladed whip wraps itself around the man’s ankles. His spins cause it to tie him up almost to his waist before the elastic rope tenses almost solid and stops him in his tracks.

He looks at me in shock, most likely not believing that I was able to stop his momentum with just a single hand without getting pulled towards him. I smirk at him and yank the whip back, throwing him into a reverse spinning motion and lacerating his legs with the little blades. He completely loses his balance midway and lets go of the halberd, which flies into another poor bystander.

“Hey. You can’t reproach me for something if you are going to do it next. Look. That dude is literally breathless at your actions.” I point at the man with the halberd in his chest, slowly dying on the side.

I hear a snicker in my mind and a gust of wind hits my back. Glancing over my shoulder, I find a decapitated body behind me, with both arms raised above its missing head in an attempt to strike me down with a mace. It drops to the ground a second later.

~Thanks.~

~You are welcome, Sensei.~

“Catch that fucking bitch, for the love of Goddess!” the leader yells.

“We can’t! She is and isn’t there at the same time!” someone answers in a frightened voice.

I chuckle to myself. My adorable schrodinger samurai girlfriend is wreaking havoc in their pretty much non-existent backline. And the guys around me aren’t looking too thrilled to face me after quite a few of them went down with no resistance.

Honestly, nothing unexpected. Their highest ranks should be around D, with most of them at E or even F. Even if they have developed their Classes to some extent, they are still small fries. And they are Humans too.

The advantage of numbers works only if these numbers are ten times greater or of a decent quality. Scummy trash like them who abuse the guild’s system to only complete easy tasks and get rid of any ambitious people that could prove to be dangerous to their plan has no chances against any of us.

I crack my whip once and walk towards the man whose legs I have recently ripped into pieces. He is screaming in pain while tears cover his eyes but manages to notice me coming and figures out the reason in a flash.

“No… Please… I promise to quit… I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be sorry. Be better.”

Assuming that I’m going to spare him, he starts hastily nodding his head.

“Yes! I will—”

My whip coils around his throat with a single flick of my wrist and shreds it instantly with a single pull.

“Next life. And you better keep your promise. I’ll ask Lumina to keep an eye on you.”

Some people who have been watching from the sides gasp at the scene, finally realizing that there’s truly no mercy. Their existence will get completely erased, just as the short black-haired girl said in the beginning, now annihilating them from the shadows without batting an eye.

At that moment, complete chaos descends onto the small battlefield. Pretty much everyone throws away any shred of tactics and strategy and they all surge at me as one mass of bodies, weapons and abilities, not paying attention to any of their comrades.

I quickly activate another skill and the little segments along the whip’s core come flying off it, starting to circle my person at high speed. I haven’t used that one in a while. A tornado of extremely sharp blades surrounds me and a few people run into it, unable to stop due to the pushing of others behind them.

A very unpleasant sound follows that makes me slightly wince. I guess it wouldn’t be far to compare this to throwing a piece of meat into a quite powerful blender. I can only imagine the bloody rain on the other side.

They quickly learn that my cloud of blades is very deadly and the pressure stops when everyone takes a step back. I recall the tiny swords back into the whip and whistle at the bloody carnage around me. These idiots did force at least a few of their men face-first into my defensive blade storm, getting splattered with their blood all over.

Shino materializes by my side. “I took care of the mages, Sensei.”

I plop my hand on her hair and ruffle through it. We are the only ones moderately clean amongst this crowd.

“Good job. Ready for the finale?”

She nods with an adorable smile and wraps her free arm around my waist. Noticing a few attacks coming our way from the remaining thugs, I change my weapon into something I haven’t properly used yet outside of practice. A purplish-crimson polearm shapes itself in my hand—a very demonic-looking naginata.

With its support, I lean both of us to the back and we avoid a horizontal slash aimed at our necks. Shino kicks the woman’s weapon out of her hands and I straighten us up, bringing us close enough for her to behead the assailant with ease.

A vertical slash cuts through the air at us and we throw ourselves to opposite sides, grabbing each other’s hands during the motion. Both of us quickly swing our weapons and cross them under the incoming attack, stopping it with no issue while leaning to the sides, upheld by our hands. We deflect the blow and our blades pierce the man attempting to kill us at the same time.

Things quickly grow much more hectic and we enter a much livelier dance. I pull Shino towards myself to help her dodge another swing and she makes a few pirouettes while letting herself be reeled in. Her skirt lifts up a little as she spins while her arm wraps around her own body. She ends up in my embrace, cutting a few people during the motion by sending arcs of sharp darkness into the crowd.

We exchange a peck and I shove the bottom end of my polearm into the ground. Turning myself around with a lot of strength, I fling Shino towards the same direction and she makes a few much faster spins as she unravels herself from my embrace. After reaching the furthest point, she makes a powerful dropkick while still holding onto my hand, sending some poor dude flying with the accumulated force.

I start running in a circle before she falls to the ground and Shino proceeds to kick all the bastards that have ventured a little bit too close in their ugly mugs while I pull her around the dancing pole in the middle.

Finishing a full turn, I throw her towards the sky and we finally let go of each other’s hands. Shino makes a few spins in the air while curled into herself and stops abruptly. Black, ominous, demonic-looking wings sprout from her back and cause an ear-piercing shriek to travel through the air.

Being somehow immune to her technique, perhaps thanks to the Demonification, I pull my naginata out of the ground and rush towards the stunned enemies, who are trying to frantically cover their ears.

Only seven of them are left, excluding the leader. I jump from one to another while spinning my polearm and killing them off with minimal effort. One, two, three, four and I finish my danse macabre, bringing my naginata horizontally above my head and extending it to the side as I grab it closer to the bottom end.

Shino comes down and catches onto it with one hand, using it like a sports bar from all those athletics competitions. Making a few flips, she sends herself forward and plunges her blade into the fifth opponent, crouching on his chest.

I quickly follow her and swipe horizontally, cutting him in half. Shino does a back somersault and lands behind me. With the last of the enemies in front of us, already recollected from her previous ability and trying to make an awkward swing, I hit him with the butt of my weapon and lean forward.

Shino rolls over my back and slices through him diagonally with no resistance on the path of her pitch-black blade surrounded by dark ominous mist. She sighs softly and so do I. We chuckle together after glancing at each other.

A weak thud reaches our ears and we turn towards the source. The leader of the completely annihilated band is down on the ground on his sorry ass. His face is fully drained of any blood and his expression is filled with anything but understanding. A quite sizable wet spot is visible above his crotch, expanding gradually.

Shino scrunches her nose. “Ewww. That man was the leader?”

I chuckle while plopping a hand on her hair.

“Well, at least he is still consci—”

The moment I aim the tip of my naginata at his throat, his eyes roll to the back and he drops onto the ground.

“Nevermind…”

Now that everything is finished, we take a glance around.  Blood. Flesh. Corpses. Mutilated body parts. And a few damaged trees in the distance that suffered from our ranged abilities. I'm most sorry for them. They did nothing to deserve that.

What about all that carnage around us and tens of fragmented Human bodies? Honestly, not much. I’ve already resolved myself to fight seriously against anyone who would dare to threaten my life or the life of my close ones. The girls helped me with that a lot. And it’s not like this is the first time I have killed someone in this world.

Judging by Shino’s neutral gaze that attentively sweeps over the battlefield, it definitely isn’t for her either. Just to be sure, I step closer to her and brush over her cheek with my thumb, wiping away a bit of blood that found its way onto her pretty face. She glances up at me.

“You okay?” I ask.

“Mhm.” She nods. “You don’t have to worry about me, Sensei. I know what you are thinking. It’s not my first time. Don’t forget that the King helped us a lot to prepare for such situations. And we did encounter bandits twice during our travels. My hands were already stained with blood before today.”

I smile at her and lean down to peck her lips. “Then let’s make sure to wash them properly after we are done here. I prefer my food without any exotic spices.”

Shino giggles while shaking her head. She kisses me back. “I thought it would be harder for you instead, Sensei. But you seem fine. Not that I would want you to not be okay. I’m glad.”

“What can I say? I’ve gone through the same training as you guys and also stumbled on my fair share of scum after we split up. And besides, I’ve never been normal. Something might have broken in there when I was little.” I knock on the side of my head a few times.

“That’s not true! Everything is in the right place in your head! I know it!”

I chuckle and brush through her hair a little more. “Thanks. Now, let’s wrap up this flirting. Don’t forget that we aren’t exactly alone.”

We glance towards the rest of the team standing on the side, near the rocky cliff. All their faces are painted with different expressions but at the same time very similar. It's mostly surprise and shock.

They did witness us decimate like thirty people with minimal effort, even if they all were trash level-wise. Especially Ghilerie looks the most amazed and I can’t exactly blame her. She’s the only one who didn’t see any part of my strength or abilities yet.

We deactivate the skill with Shino at the same moment and our bodies revert to their original states.

“How do you feel?” I ask.

“Only a little bit spent, Sensei. Your Class is truly amazing. Previously, I always pretty much collapsed after using this ability for a short time. Now, with your support and stats, it’s so much stronger and much less draining. It’s incredible.”

“I’m glad to hear that. The stronger you grow, the less I have to worry about you. Not that you were weak without my bonuses. You are an incredible warrior on your own.”

Shino blushes slightly and nods. “Thank you, Sensei. But it’s true that I can go this far only thanks to you. I feel like I can stay demonized for so long.”

Her eyes then widen a little and Shino shifts her face a bit to the side, whispering to herself while rubbing her chin. “I wonder if… if it can last long enough… for me and Sensei to have s-sex without it deactivating…”

I shake my head and approach her from behind, leaning towards her ear.

“We can test that later,” I whisper.

She jumps a little, most likely surprised that I heard her. I smile at her and leave a quick peck on her rosy cheek before walking towards the others.

“Everyone okay? Did any of those bastards try to run?” I ask while sweeping over them with my gaze.

Teffith points to the side with her own naginata and I spot two corpses a bit further.

“Right. Fewer than I expected, honestly. Good job. And, thank you, Teffith.”

She blinks a few times. “Me? For what?”

“For all the training and practice. Almost everything I know about polearms came from you. I truly appreciate it. As you have seen, it proved to be quite useful. I look forward to more of our lessons.”

A faint but still discernible blush surfaces on her cheeks, perfectly fitting with the sporadic crimson scales around the edges of her face and Teffith nods. “You are welcome, Master. I’m extremely proud to see you doing well with my guidance. This fight was incredible.”

“I had an incredible dance partner.” I glance over my shoulder at Shino and wink at her. “Now then, what do we do with all of this?”

Natalie steps closer and raises her hand. A small flame appears above her palm.

“I can burn the bodies so that no trace is left and no monsters get lured near the village.”

“Thank you, but that’s not what I meant. I’m pretty sure all of you have already caught on.”

“What do you mean? Can’t we like grab our horses and get the fuck out of here?” Kamil asks with one brow raised.

I sigh and Shino reaches my side. “It definitely won’t be that easy, Kamil-san. When we were going around the village, I felt like the people’s stares weren’t exactly welcoming. I think Sensei means that they are involved in the actions of the guild and the adventurers too. It would be hard to hide something like that from this many people. So, just us showing up back there alive could be an issue.”

Paul rubs his chin. “I see. I noticed the not-so-friendly glances too. That would mean the whole village is rotten to the core. Assuming the common people weren’t coerced to comply and keep silent.”

I shake my head. “I’m pretty good with people and emotions. And my senses are much sharper now. I’m sure I would have noticed at least one person looking like they were in need of help just from their eyes. Instead, they all had the same scheming gaze.”

“Ah, fuck me! Just our fucking luck! Do we have to wipe the whole place clean now?” Kamil groans while flailing his arms around.

“Considering that Al and Shino must have taken care of the majority of their forces, it shouldn’t be a problem now, right? Especially if all of us joined,” Marcia comments.

“These thugs are fine but would you be okay with raising your weapon against common folks even if they are wicked and corrupt?” I ask the redhead.

Marcia scrunches her face a bit in slight indecision. She’s always been a happy and friendly person. Killing thugs armed with swords and axes is completely different from going after peasants armed with pitchforks and hoes even if both are cases of self-defence. I should be fine if they give me just the smallest reason, but I don’t want to force them to do the same. Especially Marcia and Natalie.

The latter meets my gaze and I swear there was the faintest smile on her lips for a fraction of a second but her expression is back to neutral when I try to catch it with my eyes.

“You want the two of you to go back alone. Or with your companions. Right?” she asks.

“I thought about suggesting something like that. You guys are accompanying me on this journey and it’s naturally my responsibility to make sure you all are fine. But, anyway, I have something else in mind first.”

“Which is?”

“I can get in touch with Cornelia and she can let the King know about our unusual encounter. I’m pretty sure he would like to get to the bottom of this. Who knows how deep this disease runs. Wiping out the village could alert others. There’s only so many of us and we can’t be sure that someone won’t escape our attention.”

Paul ponders visibly. “Hmmm… If we chose to wait for the King’s men to arrive here, that would delay us quite a bit. Is that fine with you and your companions?”

“I don’t mind. I’ve been away from my home for months. A few more days or weeks can’t hurt,” Ghilerie answers before me. “Besides, even if they are Humans, I can’t just walk away without doing anything after learning about this. They were committing atrocities towards their own kind. It’s horrible.”

“Same here,” Teffith agrees with her.

“I appreciate that, girls, but staying here and waiting for them to arrive wasn’t part of my plan. The other people will realize something went wrong after their comrades don't return anytime soon.”

“What are we supposed to do then, Sensei?” Shino asks.

“In my opinion, two things. First, interrogate that guy over there to learn as much as we can about the village’s situation. Second, make them aware that we have barely survived their ambush, grab our horses and run away. If they are at least somewhat smart, people at the guild should brand us as criminals in the interguild system to keep their cover safe.”

Natalie nods. “I see. And the King should be able to clear our name pretty quickly so our journey shouldn’t be hindered by it. And just to stay safe, we could always avoid towns and villages until then. Out of all the choices we have, from just running away, through wiping out the village, to faking our escape, the last one seems to have the highest chance of going according to the plan.”

“I agree. And it would be a waste to abandon the horses. I vote for the last option,” Paul joins in.

His opinion starts a round of voting and everyone unanimously supports my initial plan.

“Alright. We need to get some info from that guy and clean up the bodies first,” I say after we wrap the voting up.

Ghilerie and Teffith exchange glances, nod at each other and step forward.

“We will take care of the interrogation if you allow it,” the former suggests. “It should be easier for us considering that you are all Humans. Torturing your own people might be too tough for your friends.”

I look at the others but no one has any objections. I help the girls drag that fucker out of the sight and place Hall of Serenity at the interrogation spot to make it a bit easier for them. They thank me and I return to the rest of the team.

We check the pockets of all dead adventurers, which proves to be a little bit difficult with the level of fragmentation of most of the bodies. Those pockets aren’t exactly near their owners anymore in some cases. Shino’s initial lunge was quite devastating.

We finish after around half an hour and then pile the bodies in one spot to get rid of them. Natalie uses her Fire Magic to completely incinerate the mass of flesh and bones, turning it into dust. We show proper respect to the deceased with a moment of silence and a nod.

There is nothing of importance in their possession. Medium-quality weapons that survived the onslaught, some trinkets, jewellery and a bit of money. We don't bother taking off their armour with how bad its state was and it ends up burnt to ashes too.

A few more minutes later, the interrogation squad returns and the girls share with us what they have managed to squeeze out of the leader before he went out. As we have suspected, the whole village seems to be in this scummy operation, including the higher-ups like the chief. All the guild’s staff is filled with corrupt members too. They have effectively chased out any new delegations to keep their ranks clear from outsiders.

I quickly contact Cornelia through Whispers and explain the situation to her, passing onto her all the details we have gathered. She agrees that our current plan seems the best and rushes to speak with Ross about the situation, assuring us that we can move on to the next step without worry. She will make sure Ross takes appropriate action immediately.

So, we do exactly that. To make this situation as believable as possible, only Paul and his party will return to the village. They are the B-ranks. They have the highest chances to survive a mob of thugs. Our party will be counted as casualties. Poor E-ranks that died in the brawl.

Before they leave though, we apply proper stylization. Some cuts in the clothes, some holes in the weaker parts of armour, some blood all over their bodies and the damaged parts of equipment—courtesy of our last remaining blood bag—and some dirt and dust to imitate bruises. Just the perfect image of a heavily wounded party after a fight for their lives.

We briefly discuss the plan and split up. They will run into the village, head straight towards the stables and attempt to get our horses, showing off their state to whoever will be around. Possibly, acting quite angry and aggressive. I’m sure Kamil will have that part covered with no sweat.

Then, with some struggle, they will ride the horses out of the village while Nat sets a few buildings on fire to give them something to do instead of trying to chase after them and we will meet some distance from the settlement to regroup and fuck off towards the setting sun.

My party reaches the meeting point without any issues. Then we wait. I’m really curious and eager to watch the whole play unfold but that would be very irresponsible. We need to be ready to run away exactly as planned.

A little bit later than we have initially assumed but the Five Chosen show up with all our horses in tow and big smiles on their faces. They let us know that there should be no pursuers since Kamil went out of his way to topple two of their wheat silos and completely littered the roads leading to the gate they used. He looks so damn proud of himself. I’m sure he would love to cause more chaos if he was given the chance.

We take a small detour to a nearby river to wash up, led by Ghilerie, and continue with our journey. The further from this cursed village the better. Who knows if they will act according to our expectations.

Cornelia later informs me that Ross was furious and went straight to the highest guild officials to confront them, mobilizing a small army at the same time. They will reach the village in a few days since it’s some kind of magic-boosted cavalry unit with super horses.

Two days later, we reach the vicinity of another town and choose to gain some intel on our current situation. I go alone to minimize the risk. My kit should allow me for an easy escape and, according to our fake story, I was already dead so there should be no reason for them to even think about me.

And I’m proven right after spending a few moments in the local Adventurer’s Guild. I ask about some quests and bounties in the region and learn that a group of cold-blooded murderers, arsonists and anarchists is on the run after slaughtering the good-natured people of Novum, ruining their storages and setting countless homes on fire. They even have their own mugs shown on posters like in those old-school wild west movies. Neat.

We have convinced Cornelia and Ross to leave that as is since it could alert those bastards if the guild had suddenly taken their bounty down moments after it had been submitted and approved. Not gonna lie, this whole on the run theme is making it at least a bit exciting.

Chatting about how far we have fallen, from heroes to criminals, we continue further for a few days while not dropping our guards, of course. I keep checking the villages and towns as we pass them until I learn that the bounty has been revoked.

A short conversation with Cornelia lets us know that the village has been taken care of. Most people have been captured, some judged and executed on the spot, but Ross wanted as many of them alive to investigate it thoroughly.

They have quickly learned about any relationships with other people like this from other places and the cavalry battalion swooped over the whole region while clearing out the criminal organization to the roots. Good stuff.

Ross lets us know to visit a guild when we will be near a bigger city to receive our rewards for the valuable help in cracking down that criminal circle of extreme xenophobes. Supposedly, our ranks might jump up a little from that. I’ll gladly welcome that. First tale-worthy deed on the account of Utopia’s mercenary forces.

Unfortunately, according to the map, the closest big settlement is on the other side of the Barren Valley. We reach its vicinity a few days after our last talk with Cornelia and the King. Before we dive into the dangerous lands, we all agree to take a good rest in favourable conditions and set up a camp.

As I’m lying on my back in my tent and chatting with my girls about their progress on the cure through the Whispers, I notice a shadow closing onto my tent, cast by the fire in the middle of our campground.

After reaching the entrance, a hand slightly covered in crimson scales on its back splits the material and Teffith peeks inside.

“Hello there. Please, come in. Can I help you with anything?” I ask the slightly hesitant dragonewt.

She nods and enters my tent as I lift myself up to a sitting position.

“I made up my mind,” she says.

“Oh?”

“After seeing how you and that short girl handled the adventurers with ease, I was, simply speaking, captivated. Especially the part where you used a naginata to control the battlefield and act as a support for your partner. I have to admit that with my current strength, I would have a hard time against so many opponents.”

I nod. “And that’s natural. Don’t forget that I’m slightly broken and Shino is a Hero too. I might be powerful but I certainly lack a lot of skill when compared to you.”

“Of course, what you are saying is true, but skill that is not supported by adequate power can’t show its full potential. That’s why, if your offer is still available, I would like to become one of your intimate partners, Alastair. As I have mentioned before, this promise of strength and growth is very enticing and still my main reason for it. I apologize for that. But, that’s not the only thing I feel towards you and I wanted to let you know about it again. I will be happy to become your mate.”

I smile at her. “I’ve already told you that it’s fine for your main reason to be the pursuit of strength. Relationships can be built on countless different things, not just pure romantic love. And yes, my offer still stands. I would be as happy as you to become closer with you.”

She then reciprocates the smile and nods softly, stepping aside a bit. I curiously raise a brow at her and a moment later notice that there’s another shadow silhouette in front of the tent. I must have missed their arrival while focusing all of my attention on Teffith.

Another hand slides into the gap and parts the cloth entrance. Ghilerie steps inside this time, with a visible blush and a slightly embarrassed expression.

I glance at Teffith, expecting her to explain the arrival of another guest, but the elf speaks by herself before that happens.

“Ummm… I spoke with Teffith about this… and after we talked a little bit… she kind of convinced me that I should ask too… We are soon going to enter a very dangerous place and I feel like I would be dragging you guys down after what you have shown earlier… Back then, you said that you can make your partners stronger, so… If you would be okay with it… I would like to join too… I know that we are going to part ways at the end of this, but I can promise you that I will always come to hel—”

“It’s alright. I’m not necessarily forcing anyone to stay around so you don’t have to feel bad about it, or like you are receiving something from me and then running away. Are you sure though? I know that Dark Elves are quite openly intimate, but aren't Wood Elves and High Elves a bit more dedicated to their partners?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean that we don't split up and then find new ones during our lifetime. A lot of pairs do remain together, especially amongst High Elves, but there’s nothing in our cultures against switching partners. Anyway, that doesn’t really matter. If you would like, I can make a vow to remain yours.”

“That’s not necessary, although I appreciate your words. If you are okay with a Human like me, then I have nothing against it. And just as I said to Teffith, it’s nothing bad to want to get stronger. I can tell that both of you consider how I feel about this and it already shows that neither of you is doing this purely out of greed or malicious intentions.”

She glances at Teffith and then back at me. “Thank you… I will be in your hands then…”

I nod. “So, any more visitors?” I joke and chuckle to myself.

“Actually…” Teffith captures my attention. “That girl, Marcia, was going to come with us, but after we talked for a bit, she said she doesn’t want to intrude on our first times and that she will sneak into your tent another day.”

“That’s just so like her…” I shake my head. “Anyway, don’t just stand there awkwardly. Come, sit down with me.”

They nod and sit on their knees in front of me. Oh, boy. This is going to be something.