Oh, no. She’s already here. I knew I wouldn’t make it in time. Huh? Oh, wow. She looks… pretty. Narias stopped for a second to look at Belinda from a distance.

Narias would’ve rushed to the campus gates from his dorm to get there sooner, but he didn’t want to run and then get sweaty as a result of it. That would’ve been bad, especially while going on a date. He was also wearing his yellow with golden stripes suit that Milenna had bought him during their date, so he didn’t want to mess it up. When he arrived, he found Belinda talking to some other students who were probably waiting for the transport to go to El’Roonst too.

Belinda was wearing white pants that looked to be quite tight around Belinda’s hips but were becoming wider the lower they went down Belinda’s legs, especially below her knees. She had black belt and black lady’s shoes which helped accentuate how long her legs were and how curvy her ass was. Narias could definitely appreciate the view since he was looking at her from behind. As her top, Belind had a very dark navy blue color blouse which had long sleeves and short neck. Her violet color hair was short, but it was combed to one side and Belinda had a small hairpin to help keep her hair in place.

“Ah, hello. Sorry I am late,” Narias came closer to say hi.

“Huh? Oh, please excuse me now and we can talk about it once I am back from the Magic Dungeon,” Belinda spoke to the two girl students that she was talking to before turning to face Narias. “Now that’s quite rude to keep a lady- Wow… You are… Damn… me…” Belinda definitely had something to say to put Narias on the spot for keeping her wait, but she became flustered the moment she turned to face Narias and her sparkling red cheeks showed it.

“S… sorry for being late,” Narias apologized again.

“Ah… ahem,” Belinda lifted her right hand which was squeezed in a half fist close to her mouth while clearing her throat. “You’re… forgiven.” She said while averting her eyes away.

“Thank you. By the way, you look very pretty, Belinda,” Narias said.

“Look who’s talking. Eh? I mean… thanks,” Belinda couldn’t help but snap at Narias’s compliment but then remembered he could hear her too. She turned away from him again in order to hide her flushed face. “Holy damn. He looks totally hot. Why did we have to meet in public? I would so jump on him right now.” She mumbled in a half-whisper under her nose.

“Ah, sorry. I couldn’t hear that,” Narias said, not catching what was the last thing that Belinda has said.

“Oh, it was… nothing. I’m… glad you’re finally here,” Belinda turned around, trying not to stare at Narias like a fox would stare at a rabbit that it was about to jump on but she was.

“Ok. Oh look, the transport is coming. Shall we go?” Narias asked, offering his arm to Belinda.

“Humph,” Belinda smirked before sliding her hand around Narias’s arm.

With Narias looking the way he did, the other students who rode the carriage to go to El’Roonst didn’t recognize him. If you didn’t know it, you’d easily mistake Narias being twenty years of age or even slightly older, especially because of the way he was dressed, his current hairstyle adding to it as well. Narias has combed his hair in a similar way to how it was combed when he got his haircut during the date with Milenna which made him look sleek and affluent. Seeing Belinda being accompanied by a mysterious handsome and upstart looking young man certainly invoked quite the discussions among all other passengers riding the carriage. In the meantime, Narias and Belinda tried to stay quiet, with Belinda doing everything she could to suppress the redness on her face and pretend she couldn’t hear or notice other students whispering among themselves about her and Narias.

“That was… the longest ride to El’Roonst I have ever had,” Belinda said, letting out a sigh of relief after her and Narias were finally walking down the street in El’Roonst.

“Yeah, I guess you looking so attractive made other people stare,” Narias said.

“Are you serious?” Belinda gave him a glaring stare, also making a frown.

“Well, I…” Narias knew what her look meant, not that he didn’t think Belinda looked attractive, but he didn’t want to make it all about him. “Are you hungry? Would you like to go eat something?” He thought focusing on their date would be the best option right now.

“Maybe, but didn’t you say you needed to visit some shop? How about we go there first before doing anything else?” Belinda suggested.

“Right, yes. Good idea. Thank you for reminding me. It’s this way then,” Narias pointed with his left hand before offering his right arm to Belinda again.

“Thank you,” said Belinda, being pleased to be able to hug his arm, a satisfied smirk showing on her face when she noticed a few people staring at them.

{at Growla’s shop}

“Hello Mrs. Ferpaw,” Narias greeted the female shop owner the moment he and Belinda entered the shop.

“Why hello Narias. Wow, you look so handsome today,” Mrs. Ferpaw couldn’t help but add a compliment to her greeting.

“Thank you, Mrs. Ferpaw. This is Belinda Salroze. She’s a teacher at Reina’s Magic Academy and my date today,” Narias introduced his date too since it was the first time for Belinda to visit the shop.

“Hello, Miss Salroze. My name is Meska Ferpaw. It is a pleasure to meet you,” Meska Ferpaw was very polite.

“It’s nice meeting you too, Mrs. Ferpaw. And Belinda is totally fine,” Belinda said, feeling slightly out of place.

“Is that so? Belinda it is then,” Meska said, showing a kind smile.

“Is your husband available, Mrs. Ferpaw? I’ve brought some materials from the Magic Dungeon for him,” Narias told her.

“Yes, yes, of course. Let me just go get him for you,” Mrs. Ferpaw said. She was on the way to get her husband but was stopped by a customer before she could do that, unfortunately, so Narias had to wait a short while for Mrs. Ferpaw to finish talking to the customer before going to tell Growla Narias was waiting for him.

“She seems to know you well. Is this the shop you usually sell your Magic Crystals at?” Belinda wondered, deciding to have a chat while they waited.

“Yes. Mr. and Mrs. Ferpaws are Growly’s parents and we always sell the materials we find inside the Magic Dungeon here,” Narias said.

“I see. I thought the name sounded familiar,” Belinda said before giving a look around. “Is it ok for us to look around?”

“Of course,” he said, him and Belinda walking to go look at the wares displayed inside the shop.

“Hmph,” Belinda tilted her head to the side, inspecting yet another item offered for sale.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Did you find something you like, Belinda?” Narias asked.

“Ah, no. I was just looking. This shop has some good stuff, but I don’t see many high-quality magic items offered here. Sorry, I didn’t mean to bash the shop or anything,” Belinda caught herself speaking a little too openly.

“It’s ok. I know there are shops out there that offer many more magic items. Growly’s dad can’t use magic the way other crafters can and maybe I could get a slightly better price selling materials at some other shop also, but the items Mr. Ferpaw crafts are of a very high quality and he is very honest and treats me fairly all the time. All of us, actually. It was Growly’s dad who crafted the Crystal Hornhead’s Armor for Growly and the Crystal Sword for me, among some other stuff in the past,” Narias explained.

“Sounds like he’s quite a decent craftsman,” Belinda smiled.

“Yes, he is,” Narias smiled back.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Narias. My husband will come see you in a short while,” Mrs. Ferpaw came to inform Narias after she got back.

“Ok, thank you, Mrs. Ferpaw,” said Narias.

Narias and Belinda had to wait another five or ten minutes until Growla showed up. He probably needed to finish some work he has started and that’s why it took him a while to come over.

“Yo’, kiddo. Looking sharp today, eh?” Growla showed a cheesy grin upon greeting him.

“Hello, Mr. Ferpaw and thank you,” Narias said.

“So, where’s your date?” Growla asked, giving a look around.

“Ah, sorry. She is checking out some wares in your shop. I’ll go get her for you to meet,” Narias said before going to get Belinda, both of them coming back to where Growla was. “This is Belinda Salroze, my date for today. This is Growla Ferpaw.” Narias made introductions.

“Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ferpaw. Narias speaks very highly of you and the wares offered in your shop attest to what great craftsman you are,” Belinda threw in an additional compliment after greeting him.

“The pleasure is all mine and thank you for your kind words. You’re quite lucky having him all by yourself today, Belinda,” Growla was respectful and polite yet he couldn’t miss to make a snappy comment, more so to put Narias on the spot.

“I am indeed,” Belinda smiled.

“That’s right, all of you went to the Magic Dungeon, didn’t you? Is everyone ok?” Growla turned to Narias next, a hint of worry being heard in his words.

“Yes, everyone is fine. I insisted for them to have a good rest since I’ll be taking Ileena, Flavia and Flamiris to the Scarlet Sunset Hot Springs tomorrow,” Narias explained why his other girlfriends weren’t with him.

“Huh?” Belinda perked up upon hearing Narias mention hot springs.

“Scarlet Sunset Hot Springs, eh? Nice. We haven’t been there for a while ourselves. Thanks for the reminder, kiddo,” Growla said, showing a grin while rubbing his chin with his right hand.

“Growly and Nicky will be going too,” added Narias.

“They will? Good. Glad to hear Growly’s not slacking in that department,” Growla laughed out loud, calming down in the next few seconds. “Now then, let’s talk business. My wife said you have something to sell me too?”

“Ah, yes. We’ve come back from the Magic Dungeon today and I have a bunch of Magic Crystals and other materials for you, Mr. Ferpaw,” Narias said.

“Ok, let’s go over there, so we have more space,” Growla said before turning to Belinda to add something. “I promise we won’t take long.”

“It’s ok,” Belinda said, waving her hand.

“Great. This way, kiddo,” Growla spoke to Narias, leading him to the table with more free space and Narias taking out all the materials he wanted to sell to Growly’s dad from his Dungeon Locker right after. “Hey, this one’s new. Crystalized Iron Ore. You actually found one.” Growla picked it up to inspect it.

“Yes, we found it in a chest left by Sabertooth Rhabitspine after we killed it. Can you craft something out of it, Mr. Ferpaw?” Narias wanted to know.

“Sure can. Can make some sort of weapon or a piece of armor, considering it’s quite a nice chunk you have here,” Growla said.

“Would you be able to craft a pair of fighting gloves for Flavia?” Narias asked.

“For Flavia. Right, she is fighting barehanded and could use a pair of fighting gloves. Yes, that’d be possible. I’ll just need her to come over, so I could take her hand measurements before crafting the gloves,” Growla informed him.

“Great, I’ll let Flavia know,” said Narias.

“Ok, the rest is the usual stuff. Give me a minute to calculate how much I need to pay you. I’ll try to be quick. Go join your date so she’s not left alone and I’ll come over,” Growla said before walking away.

“Ok, thank you, Mister Ferpaw,” Narias said, going to where Belinda was waiting for him. “Sorry for it taking so long.”

“It’s ok, as long as you treat me something to make up for it,” Belinda said, a sly smirk showing itself on her face.

“Ah, of course,” said Narias, an awkward smile showing itself on his face.

“Hey, here you go, kiddo,” Growla came back with the payment. “I haven’t taken out the payment for the work yet. Will have to sort it out when Flavia shows up.”

“Ok, thank you, Mr. Ferpaw,” said Narias.

“One last thing before you go. Mr. Remund said you’ll have two ounces of Althyme Dust left for yourself after all the payments are taken off and wondered if you be willing to sell it?” Growla asked.

“Althyme Dust?” Belinda’s eyebrows shot up.

“Yes. Remember I said I found Althyme Ore in the dungeon? Mr. Remund is the jewelcrafter who had extracted two Althyme Crystals from it. I thought of selling one of the crystals as a payment for his work and for crafting a… a time… tracking… magic item, so I could track time… while inside the dungeon. Anyway, Mr. Remund said I can pay for the work with Althyme Dust, but apparently there is still some left over,” Narias explained to her.

“Ah, yes. I remember… you mentioning it,” Belinda said.

“Sorry, Mr. Ferpaw. Yes, it’s ok. I can sell the dust to Mr. Remund,” Narias said, remembering he hadn’t given the answer to his question yet.

“Great, I’ll let him know. And what about the second Althyme Crystal? Although, I am not suggesting you sell it, but Bomrus has a few buyers interested and willing to offer a very lucrative price for it,” Growla said.

“I… shouldn’t sell it?” Narias asked.

“That’s just my opinion. Selling it would definitely set you for life, depending on how lavishly you want to live the rest of your life of course, but if it was me, I wouldn’t part with it even if I was scraping to get by. Althyme Crystal is one of the rarest materials in the world and carries an extremely potent magic within it. I would suggest keeping hold of it even if you have nothing in mind that you would want to be crafted out of it right now. Besides, the price for two ounces of Althyme Dust will net quite a sum on its own,” Growla shared his thoughts.

“Ok, I’ll do just that then. I’ll keep the crystal for now,” Narias made up his mind.

“Ok. That’s all from my part. I’m sorry for keeping your man for so long, Belinda. I’m sure he will be able to make up to you once he gets the money for Althyme Dust,” Growla threw in a cheeky comment, more so to fluster Narias probably.

“I hope he will,” Belinda said, another sly grin entering her lips.

“Well… yeah… I… Huh? Oh, that’s right,” Narias knew he was put on the spot again, but then remembered something all of a sudden.

“Huh?” Belinda squinted her eyes, becoming curious.

“Remember I spoke about building a… flower house in your back garden, Belinda?” Narias asked.

“Oh, that… green… house, as you called it?” Belinda half chuckled when she remembered it.

“Ah, yeah,” Narias said, showing an awkward smile. “Anyway, how about I have it built for you?”

“Huh? What?” Belinda didn’t expect for Narias to offer that. “Wait, you want to use the money that you’ll get for selling Althyme Dust to build a… green-house for me to grow flowers in?”

“Yes,” Narias told her without hesitation.

“I… well… Ok, but… you don’t… have to,” Belinda was hesitant to agree to it.

“But I want to. I know you love flowers, and from what you have told me about your grandmother, I really wish to see you growing all kinds of flowers myself,” Narias looked and sounded to be very excited when he said that.

“Well… Ok… if you insist,” Belinda finally gave in, a charming blush showing on her cheeks.

“Wonderful. Do you know anyone who can make glass, Mr. Ferpaw?” Narias turned to Growla the moment he got Belinda’s agreement to do it.

“Glass?” Growla raised an eyebrow. “Well, I suppose you need windows for a house. Yes, I know a few people.”

“Awesome. I can give you the details about what kind of house needs building and-“ Narias became really excited and wanted to get into the details right there, and then.

“Hold it right there,” but Growla interrupted him, raising his paw and stopping him from speaking.

“Huh? Yes?” Narias asked, looking a little confused why he did that.

“Aren’t you forgetting something, kiddo?” Growla gave him a scolding look.

“Ah… what?” Narias asked again, still looking confused.

“Sigh… Aren’t you on a date right now?” Growla asked him point blank.

“Eh? Oh, yeah…” Narias said, turning to look at Belinda and seeing her standing in her ‘being annoyed’ pose with her arms crossed under her chest, her eyes piercing him with the ‘here you go again’ look. “Ah, sorry. Yes, I apologize, Belinda. I just…”

“Yes, you wanted to go there and start building your green-house right now,” Belinda commented, throwing one hand to the side, not exactly feeling angry with him or anything.

“Ahahaha! You’re still being you, kiddo,” Growla couldn’t help but laugh whole heartily. “Listen, you kept your date waiting for long enough already. Come back next time and we’ll talk about building that flower house for your girlfriend in more details then.” Growla smirked at the end.

“Yes, of course. Thank you, Mr. Ferpaw,” Narias said before turning to Belinda. “Shall we go now? How about we go eat something?” Narias asked, offering his arm to Belinda.

“Sigh…” Belinda shook her head before wrapping her own arm around his. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Ferpaw, and your wife as well.”

“Likewise. Enjoy your date you two,” Growla wished them while grinning to himself.