Lin says "Well, I guess that makes sense since you are a beast. So, how many is several?"

I sit down and start telling her about all of my kids and how I met each of them. While I am talking I take some food for the both of us from my food pouch. At this point I don't see any reason to hide anything from Lin, I trust her a little.

Besides, at this point if she does something, she doesn't stand much of a chance to escape. Unless she somehow disables me, which I doubt she is strong enough to. Just from how beautiful she is, I believe her stories about the men pursuing her.

As one, I am well aware that men are pigs, when you add the arrogance of a noble you get a monster. If he is a mage his arrogance will only become worse, a monster in human skin. In Lin's case, death would probably be preferable to falling into his hands.

Considering that, I can't really blame her for gambling on running away with a beast like me. As long as she has no ulterior motives, it is a gamble that is going to pay off. I have no problem with teaching her my magic, if she is capable of learning it.

First though, she is going to have to figure out how to get along with the elves. Stillwater and the other leaders don't worry me, but the rest of the elves might be a problem. Considering what they have been through I really can't blame them for hating humans.

Lin says "How long are we going to stay here?"

"Just until I am sure that no one is tracking us. We will be leaving by gate, but I have to be sure none of the mages can learn from it."

Lin says "By gate?! Sounds interesting!!"

"Since we need to wait a bit, how did your meditation go last night?"

Lin says "I managed to enter the state you spoke of, but nothing else happened. Although, this morning I was far more rested than normal!"

"That's pretty good for your first attempt. Especially since I was rushed in teaching you. Let's fix that first."

Having taught Grimgar previously makes teaching Lin much easier for me. It also helps that Lin is extremely intelligent, she only needs to be taught something once. It really isn't fair that she has both beauty and brains, not to mention a good personality.

As I am teaching her I get to learn another side of her personality, a childlike side. She shows it to me when she gets excited about learning something new. Her thirst for knowledge is even stronger than mine, especially about magic.

She has endless questions, but they are intelligent and never repeat, so they don't annoy me. In fact, once she learns the basics, some of her questions give me new ideas to explore. I am also learning more about human magic from her as I am teaching her.

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The entire time we are talking I scan the area around us with mana, looking for mages. We talk for a few hours, but there is no sign of any mages following us. At this point I am as sure as I can be that we are safe, so I go ahead and open a gate to the ship.

The baby phoenix is still asleep on my paw, so I simply lift it up and walk on the other three. I made the gate big enough that Lin can walk through by my side so I can protect her. When we step through the gate into my cabin we find it occupied by Stillwater.

He is sitting reading a book, Albion is currently acting as his backrest and Nala's head is in his lap. Stillwater looks surprised and embarrassed when he sees me come out of the gate. He then gets dumped onto his back as Albion and Nala rush to greet me.

Considering how long I have been gone, their excitement to see me is understandable. I am careful of the baby phoenix, but I still pet the two of them in greeting. Lin stands off to the side and watches us with a bright smile on her face.

Stillwater says "Ash! Welcome back! Who is this?"

"Hi, Stillwater. This is Lin, a human mage, but she is not an enemy."

Stillwater says "I already guessed that since she came with you. However, some of my people are not going to be happy about this."

"I already figured that would be the case. However, I am going to be keeping her here and teaching her for a while. I will keep her with me as much as I can, but I will not treat her like a prisoner!"

Stillwater says "Actually, you keeping her close might cause even more problems!"

"What do you mean?!"

Instead of answering me directly, Stillwater takes out a scroll and lets it unfurl. With Stillwater standing and holding the top of the scroll the bottom still hits the floor. I notice that the scroll is covered in writing, but each line only contains a word or two.

"What is this?!"

Stillwater says "This is a petition that I was forced to present to you. This is the name of every woman on this ship that wants to be your partner."

"Partner? What is that supposed to mean?!"

Stillwater says "You are going to make me spell it out for you? They all want to be your bed partner!"

While I just stand and stare at Stillwater in shock, Lin busts up laughing at me. Stillwater has a rather disgruntled look on his face, this obviously isn't his idea. The length of the scroll on its own is intimidating and I don't even want to look at the names.

"Just tell them all they are rejected! I don't need a partner like that!"

Stillwater says "Oh no! I am not getting any more involved! You can reject them yourself! I don't want to get torn apart!"

Lin says "Do you want to use me as a shield? They are probably going to hate me anyway!"

"I don't know yet, maybe. I will deal with it later, for now we need to get the ship underway."

Stillwater says "I will go summon everyone back to the ship!"

"Alright, let's plan to set sail in the morning. We still have one more city to raid before we reach the northern coast."

Stillwater says "You still plan to continue the raids?"

"Yes, I do. Although, the last city on the northern coast will be spared."

Stillwater says "Why so?"

"Lin gave me some money to hire a human merchant group. They are going to gather as many elven slaves as they can. They will deliver them to that city in two months."

Stillwater says "Really? That's great! Thank you, Lin!"

Lin says "I just loaned him some money. It was no big deal!"

"While that is true, we should spread the word as Stillwater stated it. It might help you get along with the rest of the elves."

Stillwater says "I guarantee it will!"

Lin says "If you say so. I will do whatever you want, master."

"For now, just go ahead and spread the word about her help. Don't mention anything about the stupid scroll."

Stillwater says "Sure thing!"