Thomas returned to town, frowning slightly after his… successful? hunt. He didn't realize how hard it was to actually get the core from a Rune Beast. Or at least, get the core with any significant amount of energy still inside. See, the problem was that when the Rune Beast died, any energy outside the core would dissipate, which, since you're freaking fighting the damn thing, was pretty much all of it, because what creature fighting for its life wouldn't use all it had? The key was to either kill it instantly, which wouldn't let him study their abilities, or subdue it and drain the energy while it was still alive, which, as one could expect, was pretty fucking difficult! Rune Beasts struggled when they were dying, but they became suicidal when their energy started draining. Literally. They would explode their energy cores. Still, despite all the difficulties, Thomas got about a thousand points out of it, since all the Rune Beasts were between stage four and six of Core Strengthening.

As for his attempts to gain insight into how energy worked by studying the Rune Beasts abilities, that was also mixed. He definitely saw some unique skills used, but much like Ursa's Spirit claws, he had no idea how to replicate them. It was clear it wasn't just intent involved, but something extra, some next step he was missing… but he'd need to be able to study one in much more detail if he wanted to figure that out.

"I think I'm going to keep this fox pelt." Tiffany commented as they walked into town, brushing the smooth fur of the body she had draped over her shoulders.

"Are you going to pay for it?" Thomas asked with a smirk.

Tiffany snorted. "Please, like you need the money."

"Hey, every cent counts, don't you know?" Thomas retorted. "Plus, what if Ursa needs the money? He's a part of this too, you know."

Tiffany turned to Ursa, batting her eyelashes at him. "You wouldn't begrudge me an itty bitty fox pelt, now would you?" Ursa just grunted noncommittally, which Tiffany took as a yes, turning to beam at Thomas. "See! He doesn't care! So it's mine."

"Fine, fine, you can have the fox." Thomas rolled his eyes, grinning slightly. The hunting trip seemed to have actually helped diffuse the tension between the two of them somewhat. He still wouldn't say they were getting along, but they were no longer constantly on the verge of a fight.

After handing in the missions and dealing with the corpses, the two of them made about ten silver each, which was decent? He wasn't actually sure what level of profit they were supposed to expect, but money wasn't a huge concern for them, so it didn't particularly matter. But he'd made back the money he'd given to Elena, so that was nice. Thomas paused as he left the Hunters Guild. What was he supposed to do now? He supposed he could head back to the castle, but… he shook his head. That'd be awkward. It wasn't like he could invite himself over to family dinners or sleep in Victoria's room. He'd just be another random person in the castle for no reason. No, he needed to find some place to live in town. Plus, he'd be closer to the Hunters Guild, which was a bonus. But where should he look? "Hey, Tiff, do you know anywhere I could find a room or something? At least for the night, but long-term would be better."

Tiffany frowned at him. "We need to talk about this 'Tiff' nickname. Tiffany is already a nickname for Theophania! You can't shorten it again!"

Thomas blinked. "How do you get Tiffany from Theophania?"

"How do you get Dick from Richard?" Tiffany shot back.

"You ask nicely." Thomas replied almost instinctively. He'd had a friend named Richard in High School and that joke had come up way too often.

Tiffany froze, giving Thomas an incredulous look, while Ursa just looked confused. "I don't get it."

Thomas coughed awkwardly. "Dick is another word for penis." He quickly explained, before changing the subject. "So about a place to stay?"

Tiffany narrowed her eyes at him, before snorting. "You can find a cheap room in a Hunter bar pretty easily, but if you want something more long-term, you should check out the Barracks."

Thomas frowned. "Like, for the guards?"

Tiffany gave him a weird look. "Do you even live in this town? No, the Barracks is a housing company that serves the local Hunters. They either own or know of any housing opportunity in the area."

"Ah, they're like a real estate agency." Thomas nodded in understanding. "Sure, let's check it out."

Tiffany shook her head. "It's too late for today. You'll need to go tomorrow."

Thomas frowned, before shrugging. It was getting a little late. "Fair enough. I guess I'll see what the Hunter bars have available then. Plus we can get dinner, eh?" He grinned, shaking the coins they'd just received.

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "Right, because of course we'd rather pay for the local slop, rather than take advantage of the Marquis' generous spread made of the finest ingredients for free."

"I knew you'd be on board." Thomas chuckled, shooting her a wink as he sauntered off to find the scummiest bar he could, just to rub it in.

"Right, you have fun with that." Tiffany snorted, beginning to head towards the castle until she noticed Ursa following after Thomas. "Hey, wait, where are you going?!?"

Ursa gestured towards Thomas. "Local slop. Isn't that what you suggested?"

"I was being sarcastic!" Tiffany protested.

Ursa shrugged. "You made a good point."

"I didn't make any point at all!" Tiffany retorted, but Ursa just ignored her, continuing to follow Thomas. Tiffany hesitated for a moment, before stomping after them. "If this crap gives me food poisoning, I am murdering the both of you." She growled as she caught up, causing them both to chuckle.

*

Thomas had no idea where he was going, so he let Ursa take over, which… may have been a mistake. "Hey there, how can I help you?" A cheery waitress asked, bouncing slightly as Thomas struggled to keep his eyes above her neckline, failing more than he'd like to admit. At least he wasn't leering like Ursa was. The man had zero chill.

"We, uh, we're just gonna do three meals. Oh, and a room for me if that's possible?" Thomas replied.

"Sure thing!" The waitress smiled, subtly shifting herself a little more towards him, though he wasn't sure whether that was actually because of him or just to get away from Ursa. The death glare Tiffany was shooting her might have had something to do with it as well. "That'll be nine copper."

Thomas nodded, going to fish through his pouch, before pausing as he encountered a problem. He didn't have copper… all he had was silver and gold. *Oh, fuck, I've become one of those spoiled rich kids who only carries hundreds!* Thomas groaned internally. *Fuck it.* He pulled out a silver and passed it over with an awkward smile. "Keep the change."

The waitress's eyes widened as she caught the glint of silver reflecting in the torch light, looking between it and Thomas a few times with a complicated expression, before nodding, putting her flirty smile back in place. "I'll have your food right out. Just- let me know when you're ready for that room." Her voice hitched slightly, but she covered it with a wink, before heading towards the back with a slight swish to her walk.

Thomas helplessly caught a glance of her not unappealing backside, before turning to Ursa with a groan. "Did you seriously take us to the medieval version of freaking Hooters?!?"

Ursa turned to blink at him blankly. "I don't know what those words mean."

"It's-" Thomas began, before sighing and shaking his head. "Fuck it, I am not explaining. Just- bad bear. Very bad bear."

Ursa just looked even more confused while Tiffany snorted. "Like you're one to talk. You seemed perfectly content to enjoy our pretty little server's generous… assets."

Thomas flushed in embarrassment. "I couldn't resist!" He protested defensively. "The male mind is naturally drawn to the female form, particularly when displayed so… amply." He finished in a shamed mutter.

"That's just the excuse men give for being pigs." Tiffany scoffed bitterly, before pausing as she remembered Thomas was just Victoria in a male body. "Though… I suppose in your case it makes sense. Except we both know you were interested in the female form way before you had a male mind." She added with a smirk. Thomas's flush deepened, not having a response to that. Thankfully he didn't need one.

"Is this about how all the women here are attractive?" Ursa asked, finally catching up.

Thomas hesitated. "Kinda? But it's less the fact that they're attractive, and more about how they're on display. Their attractiveness is emphasized to draw people- men, in, because men like to look at attractive women. It's an ethically questionable business tactic, because it either encourages men to objectify women or encourages women to manipulate men, probably both, neither of which are positive interactions, no matter who comes out on top. It's all about taking advantage of the desperation on both sides without offering any true solution, and if anything exacerbating the problems so that people get stuck in these shitty situations where they're forced to feed off each other for any form of positive interaction they can get, even if it's mostly an illusion."

Ursa blinked at him. "What does 'objectify' mean?"

"Oy." Thomas groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. This is what he got for sticking a bear into a man's body. Absolutely zero understanding of social niceties with all the usual urges. "Okay, basically, it boils down to the idea that women should only be viewed as sexual objects." Thomas spent the next hour explaining the particulars of the male-female dynamic to Ursa, as well as he understood them, to Ursa, pausing whenever anyone got close because he did not want to explain why they were talking about this. Particularly not to their waitress, who became the subject of many examples. Thankfully, once he got the ball rolling, Tiffany began to help him out. She was definitely more on the 'men are pigs' side, but she was intimately aware of the different ways men could make a woman uncomfortable, which Ursa definitely needed to learn to avoid. The biggest issue was that while Ursa was completely on board for the 'women are people' points, he had trouble getting over the 'women are for sex' point.

Ursa frowned down at the table with an almost constipated look on his face. "So, if I want to mate with a woman, I have to not want to mate with her?"

"No." Thomas groaned, covering his face with his hands. "You can want to be with her, that just isn't the point of the relationship! You don't pursue women just to have sex with them! You can want to, it's just ancillary to getting to know them as a person." Ursa gave him a skeptical look, clearly not getting, or at least not agreeing with, his point. "Fuck it!" Thomas threw up his hands in frustration. "Do whatever you want, I don't fucking care!"

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Tiffany rolled her eyes, standing up and grabbing Ursa's arm, pulling him along with her. "Come on, let's get back to the castle. I believe I can make a few more… persuasive points once we're back in our quarters." Ursa grunted but didn't resist, following after her. Thomas raised an eyebrow at the vaguely suggestive nature of her comment, wondering what kind of points she was suggesting, before abruptly cutting off that line of thought. He was not interested in the specifics of their relationship, particularly not what they got up to behind closed doors.

Thomas shook his head, quickly finishing his drink before waving the waitress down. "I'm ready for that room now."

The waitress froze, before taking a deep breath and smiling wide. "Of course! Right this way." She turned, leading him across the room and up a flight of stairs. "This is it." She muttered softly, opening the door for Thomas to enter.

Thomas walked in, checking out the room a bit curiously. He'd only experienced the rooms in the castle up to this point, so he was a bit curious about what the more common rooms would look like… and the answer was not much. Essentially just a small bed with an end table next to it for a candle. The bed didn't even look all that comfortable. Thomas shook his head. *I really am one of those spoiled rich kids.* He sighed internally.

He heard the door close and started to take off his shirt, before pausing as he noticed something through his point vision. The waitress… wasn't leaving? Why was she just standing there- Thomas froze as he heard the rustling of fabric, turning just in time to watch as the waitress's dress fell to the floor, staring dumbstruck as the waitress shifted nervously, beginning to flush under his scrutiny. "Is- is there something wrong?" She asked hesitantly.

"Is there- why are you naked?!?" Thomas retorted.

The waitress blinked, obviously confused. "How else- oh! Did- did you want to watch me undress? I'm sorry, this- I've never- it's- it's my first time and- I-I can put the dress back on if you like?" She offered tentatively.

"No- I mean, yes, you should, but- okay, hold on, what do you think is going on here?!?" Thomas asked in exasperation.

The waitress gave him a weird look, as if he was trying to trick her or something. "We're… having sex? You gave me a whole silver, asked for a room, sent away your friends… because you want to fuck me, right?"

"No!" Thomas shook his head, hearing Victoria laughing her ass off in his head. "I asked for a room because I need a place to sleep, my friends left because they already have a home, and I gave you a whole ass silver because I forgot to get copper! I wasn't propositioning you, I'm just some rich idiot who doesn't give two shits about a damn silver!"

The waitress's eyes widened. "You- don't want to fuck me?"

"No, I-" Thomas began to protest, before hesitating as he realized his eyes hadn't left her tits this entire time. "Well… I mean, obviously you're attractive, but- I didn't mean to pay you to do it, you know? That is to say, I'm not against the idea, I'm just- I don't like the idea of viewing sex as a transaction. Like, I couldn't say I'm not interested in sleeping with you, but I don't like the idea that the only reason you want to sleep with me is because of money. Maybe if we had a legitimate connection…" Thomas trailed off as the waitress took a step forward.

"What- what would it take to build this… legitimate connection?" She asked, subtly posing to make certain parts of her anatomy more noticeable. She'd been nervous on the way up here, but now that she knew he was, as he said, a 'rich idiot', how could she let him get away? This could be her ticket out of this dead end life! Her chance at being more than eye candy and a quick fuck! Even if he just took her as a mistress, it'd be better than being pawed at by the endless stream of perverts that frequented the bar. Besides, who would fit a rich idiot better than a pretty idiot? Her expression twisted slightly at the thought. She wasn't under any illusions about who she was. Men pursued her for her looks, but she couldn't hold a conversation to save her life. At first she was offended by how men's expressions would simply glaze over whenever she began to talk, how they simply tolerated her, but after driving man after man away for not taking her 'seriously', leaving her all alone, it became clear that the problem wasn't them, it was her. The best she could hope for was that someone would be so enamored by her body that they'd ignore the fact they couldn't actually talk to each other.

"W-well, for starters, how about you tell me your name?" Thomas offered.

"Jade." She replied, slightly bitterly. A name associated with beauty, one that she'd loved, before realizing it was all she had. "And you?"

"Thomas. Nice to meet you, Jade." Thomas began to stretch out his hand, before hesitating as he thought better of it. Best to limit his physical contact with the naked woman who was obviously still on the 'let's fuck' train. He should probably just kick her out, right? Yeah, that'd be smart. Too bad he was an idiot.

*Can you pause for a moment? I need to make popcorn.* Victoria commented with a slight snicker.

Thomas sent her a mental scowl. *You're not helping!*

*Not trying to.* Victoria chuckled. *Besides, why not go for it? Isn't that what you're thinking? You're obviously interested, she's obviously up for it, you cleared up the money issues, so you know it isn't about that, so what's holding you back?*

*Because she obviously wants something, and she's trying to use her body to get it.* Thomas sent back uncomfortably.

*That sounds like a her problem, not a you problem.* Victoria shrugged.

Thomas frowned. *Isn't that a little callous?*

*Is it any more callous than sending her away just because she has ulterior motives? Yes, it's obvious she wants something, but it's also obvious she's desperate. If she's willing to throw herself at some random dude she just met, then her situation can't be pretty. You're obviously her hope for escaping that, and you want to just push her away without even giving her a chance? Shame on you.* Victoria chastised him.

Thomas blinked. *Did you seriously just twist it so that I'd be a bad guy for not taking advantage of a girl's shitty situation to sleep with her?*

*You called me callous, I showed you morality is subjective. There are no hard and fast rules for what is appropriate, there's simply the best you can do given the situation. The girl obviously needs help. What are you going to do about it? Help her for nothing? I'm sure she's not the only one dealing with crap like this. Are you going to support every working girl in town? Can you? Or are you going to let her work for it in a way that benefits both of you?* Victoria prodded.

Thomas scowled. *I'm not a huge fan of these 'every option sucks' scenarios.*

*Yet life seems to love throwing them at us.* Victoria sighed.

*Maybe if we were better people…* Thomas wondered.

*But we're not.* Victoria shook her head. *We can only worry about our own responsibilities. We can't fix the world.*

*I still feel like we could do a little, make the world around us a slightly better place.* Thomas muttered.

*Where does it end? How much can you give of yourself before it's enough? Giving away things that mean nothing to you is one thing, but once you start making sacrifices… you can always sacrifice more, can't you? You don't need to have savings. You don't need a new phone or a new car. You don't need to take a vacation. You could work more so you have more to give. You could dedicate your life to helping as many people as you can, giving up any life you could have lived in the process. And once you start to think that people deserve to be helped, then how can you justify doing anything less?* Victoria countered. *I agree that we should do what we can, but we should define what we can as only what we're willing to give up.*

Thomas frowned. *I think we're a little off topic.*

Victoria nodded. *Right, let's lay this out then. Jade is obviously desperate enough to offer up her body for a chance at a better life. You have the ability to offer her that better life. The question is whether it is right to exchange her body for a better life.*

Thomas sighed. *My gut says no, but logically, if I just send her away, then there's someone else who would be willing to take her up on that offer. I mean, look at her… damn!*

*Maybe we're being too binary about this?* Victoria suggested. *There are more options than just sleep with her or abandon her.*

*Yeah, but every other option is just charity and I'm not that good a person.* Thomas shook his head. *I mean, if it was just giving her a few silver, whatever, I'm down, but helping her is going to take a long-term investment that I just don't want to make. At least, not without getting something out of it. Especially not for some random woman I just met.*

*Fair, but does what you get out of it have to be sexual?* Victoria asked.

Thomas frowned. *What else can she really offer me?*

*You're looking for a new place to stay, right? Why not hire her as a maid? Or would you rather be doing your own laundry?* Victoria countered.

*You realize that we ended up sleeping with our last maid, right?* Thomas replied with a slight grin.

*Which was a natural progression of a deepening relationship facilitated by proximity. She wasn't forced to sleep with me because she was my maid. She wanted to sleep with me because she got to know me as my maid.* Victoria retorted, rolling her eyes. *If the same thing happens between you and Jade, then that's just a happy coincidence, now isn't it?*

Thomas grunted. *Fair. Thanks for playing devil's advocate back there.*

Victoria smirked. *No problem. Though I do have to admit, I wouldn't mind a few memories of tapping that ass…*

Thomas groaned. *Please, woman, this decision is hard enough as it is!*

Victoria snickered. *Just make sure Jade doesn't notice how hard 'it' is or she might get mixed messages.*

Thomas gave her the mental middle finger, before coming out of the weird state they fell into when they talked mentally and refocusing on Jade. "So, Jade, I want to make it clear, we are not sleeping together tonight." Thomas began in a much more… controlled manner than he'd been capable of just a few seconds ago. Talking things through with Victoria had really helped him get his thoughts straight. He wasn't even staring at her tits any more. Though he did still glance occasionally. They were very nice tits. "However… I do have a different offer for you." He continued, causing Jade's falling expression to suddenly brighten. "I'm new in town and once I buy a home, I'll need someone to… maintain it for me. Cleaning, washing clothes, maybe a little cooking, stuff like that. If you're interested, I could pay you… one silver a week? Maybe two, depending on how much you end up doing. Does that sound like something you'd want to do?"

Jade's eyes were wide as saucers. He wanted her to be his maid? To take care of all the housework? And he'd pay her a whole silver a week?!? Possibly two!?! That was- that was insane! Maybe if she was the head maid of a manor, that salary would make sense, but… She hesitated. "How large a home would this be?"

Thomas paused, considering the question. "A few rooms? Maybe a little bigger if you end up staying there. Plan for three bedrooms, a common area, and a kitchen. Plus-" Thomas's eyes widened as he realized the toilets had yet to spread beyond the castle. And without his training yard, where was he supposed to get clean? Suddenly splitting from Victoria didn't seem as good an idea. Maybe he could go back to the castle? It wouldn't be that awkward…

*Fuck off and deal with it.* Victoria growled and Thomas groaned.

"Eh, we'll see what the Barracks has to offer." Thomas finished with a sigh.

"We?" Jade asked hesitantly. This situation was beginning to confuse her. It sounded like she was going to be his live-in mistress, which… Well, she had zero complaints in that department, especially not with that salary. But if that was the case, why would he insist on not sleeping with her tonight? Unless… he did say three bedrooms. If one was for her, and the other for him, then the third… Did he have special interests? Jade flushed as her mind began to conjure exotic scenarios.

"Slip of the tongue." Thomas shrugged. "Though, if you are going to be living there, I suppose it couldn't hurt to get your input…"

"Oh, no, I'll be happy with whatever you decide." Jade immediately insisted.

Thomas raised an eyebrow. "So does that mean you're interested?"

Jade's flush deepened. "I am very interested."

Thomas frowned slightly, before shaking his head. "Well, good then. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to get everything set up, but as soon as it is, you can start." He paused slightly. "Uh, it'll be a pleasure working with you?"

Jade nodded, smiling brightly. "Yes, uh, you too!" She replied happily.

The two of them stood there awkwardly for a moment, just staring at each other, before Thomas started to get uncomfortable. "Uh, would you like to put your clothes back on?" He asked hesitantly.

Jade hesitated, glancing at her clothes, before looking back at Thomas. "Are you sure? We could still-"

"No, please, that will be all for the night." Thomas interrupted, shaking his head.

Jade looked slightly disappointed, but she did finally put her clothes back on, though Thomas did have to admit the exaggerated bending and shimmying did tempt him to get her to stop. She gave him one last look as she finished. "Then… I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked hopefully.

Thomas nodded with a sigh. "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." Jade smiled, before heading out of the room, anticipation burning in her chest. She could already tell this would be the start of something grand.