Klein speaks to us from atop the carriage, "We've barely seen anything in Escanso. We could have gone to the theaters; watched the street dancers and performers; visited the public hanging gardens; walked along the wall of the castle; seen the main street of the nobles' quarter, which is extremely beautiful, by the way; dined in a dancing restaurant; visited the libraries-…"

"I thought you didn't like to read," Hana interrupts Klein.

Klein continues as if nothing happened, "played games in the taverns-…"

"Gambling would be a bad idea," Hana interrupts again and Klein ignores her.

"Elves have other games that don't involve gambling. Anyway, there's still the art galleries-…"

"Oh right, I saw them once, very pretty," Roxanne comments.

"There's the Colosseum, obviously, but there are a few other places where we can watch fighting-…"

"Is it elven fighting or normal fighting?" Hana asks.

"Normal."

"Nice."

"There are periodic costume parties-…"

"Costumes? What kind of costumes do they use?" I interrupt.

"Well… playing wereanimal is always popular. There's the body paint ones that like to walk almost naked and mimic one of the demon races with colorful designs. Then there are the novels' character copies."

"The what?"

"Uh, people who try to copy how the characters in novels look."

Elves are cosplayers!

"How interesting…" I smile and look at the girls.

We have a variety of body types here, there are plenty of "interesting" costumes that the girls could try out.

"And finally there's the brothels…"

Laertes' pointy Husky ears twitch repeatedly, but he doesn't turn to look at us.

"You know that we could only sleep with women?" Alissa asks.

"I know, but it's an elven brothel. It's worth trying out at least once," Klein answers with a shrug.

We turn around to Alissa and she gets uncharacteristically shy. "I like it more when Wolfy lays with someone that I know. It feels so much dirtier," she says.

I shrug. "We can have some fun in Goloria, but I'm not in a hurry."

"Goldport has a wider variety of women than Goloria," Roxanne says with a wicked smile, and Klein agrees with her.

Laertes finally turns around looking very annoyed. "Is she not enough for you? You just have to get all the women you can and rub it in everyone's faces, huh?" He spews at me, his glacial eyes open wide in extreme annoyance.

"I'm not rubbing it in, we are just having a casual conversation," I defend myself.

"And it's something you could talk about in private, away from me so that I don't have to hear about your stupid addiction to it."

"It's not my problem if you find it annoying while eavesdropping on our conversation," I state matter-of-factly and narrow my eyes.

"Which is why I said that you enjoy rubbing it in!" He hisses and scowls.

"How am I supposed to defend myself from that?! Of course, I don't!" I hiss back, controlling my voice so I don't attract the attention of the carriage of nobles behind us.

"Well, I do enjoy rubbing it in. It's not a crime," Osaria chimes in and then smiles with a little shame. "Sorry for intruding and eavesdropping," she adds.

"You are both obnoxious pricks," he grumbles and turns his back to us. Osaria merely shrugs and lays back in her seat.

"Screw you," I growl.

"Don't push this any further, both of you," Ciel warns us.

Feeling bitter, I spur my horse forward to leave the ruined atmosphere behind.

Ciel and Roxanne appease the other girls so they don't add to the fire, then they spur their horses forward and come closer to us. Klein drops down from the carriage and walks beside Anton, who's frowning and confused in how to act.

Sure, I do enjoy it a little, but it's not my fault that he's so in love with Klein. As far as I know, she never even responded to him.

Alissa turns into a small fox and jumps off her horse, then lands on my lap.

Thinking with my sword isn't the best thing, but what else could I have done? Not going after Klein just because he can't deal with rejection is completely off the table.

Alissa's ears flop and she approaches her snout to my face. She gives me kind little licks just like a pet.

I pat her head and kiss her forehead, making her tail wag furiously.

Lately, even Ciel has been thinking with her… - ? We might need to be a little more careful with our actions.

Ciel appeases Lina while Roxanne tends to Hana. Aoi also helps mollify Hana by copying Alissa.

The cute little fox curls up in my lap and stares at me from behind her tail with mischievous eyes.

"You really know how to be cute when you want to," I say with a warm smile and her tail wags a little.

"You haven't even seen me try yet," she says.

"Hm… I would love to see that."

"It's my weapon! If you grow resistant to it, how will I get what I want from you?"

"How shrewd." I pout playfully.

"Don't worry, I haven't had the need for it, yet."

"Wouldn't calming my heart be a good reason to use it?"

"Hm… fine."

She suddenly shows me her belly and leaves her mouth open in an almost-smile. She covers her eyes with the back of her paws and wiggles her body.

I feel compelled to pat her furry belly and succumb to it immediately. When I touch her, four paws and a fanged mouth latch on my arm and prickle me painfully.

I resist the instinct to back out and pat her belly. Her legs tremble as her body is tickled and overstimulated.

"You forgot that I used to have dogs. I know all about their tricks," I say with a smirk.

"Oh, no! You're already resistant to me!" She exclaims in a cutesy voice.

I pat her harder and she closes her eyes in delight. Then I start to slow my petting and we calm down.

She suddenly climbs up to my shoulder and then jumps behind me. After a short glow, she returns to normal and hugs me from behind.

"Thanks for this," I say and close my eyes since I'm now the one being petted. Her soft hands glide through my hair and caress my scalp. Her lips softly touch the back of my neck and send small jolts of happiness through me. She certainly knows how to give me the most pleasure.

"I felt your frustration and thought that getting angry at Laertes would just make things worse," she says.

"It certainly would."

"And playing with you would be much more pleasing than yelling at someone."

"That's a given."

I lean back into her embrace even more and relax in her arms.

I'm not a jerk, am I…?

Well, I actually am starting to feel a little bad for Laertes.

We don't have any elderly or children commoners with us, so we move at a much faster rate than before. The cries of the Weepers can just be ignored for now while the Hollys search for them.

The houses inside the gigantic trees become fewer and fewer until suddenly, they stop completely. Even before lunch, we've already left Escanso's circle of safety and entered the wilderness proper. Soon after, the number of monsters shoots up drastically.

I notice something odd and say, "You know, this place is quite a good environment for insects. Back on Earth, we would have annoying little mosquitoes that would suck blood from us and leave itchy marks on the skin. So far in this world, I haven't seen any that do that. In fact, I've seen very few bugs at all."

"Blood-sucking insects and monsters are exterminated by the temple for free," Ciel says.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Why?"

"They tend to become very powerful since there's too much mana in the blood. And they were also used by heretics to become undead."

I open my eyes wide. "So you just… exterminated entire species of insects?"

She shrugs. "Nobody has missed them so far. The last of them were in Bestiaram and we exterminated those a few thousand years ago."

"Amazing! Screw those mosquitoes!" I exclaim and she chuckles softly. "How did they do it?"

"Potions and incenses. It's a poison for the mosquitoes that was slow-acting and highly contagious. The Emperor ordered a sweep of the continent and after a few generations they had died out completely. We still use it in certain ceremonies to immunize the commoners from them in case they return."

Rupegia's first biological war was waged against blood-sucking mosquitoes.

Lunch comes around and Krista prepares a selection of sausages and sandwiches for us. She gives a wink to Hana, who seems lost at which sausage to eat first.

Insert - joke here.

Unfortunately, the table's arrangement has changed. Rande and his family eat at a separate table with the nobles. Nito looks like a scared, cute little animal, completely out of his depth; Oura seems very stiff and sends repeated glances to us and Lina, likely silently asking for help that will never come; Osaria seems very calm, but doesn't participate much; Rande talks the most, a natural at this sort of thing.

On the nobles' side, it's mostly the Noblewoman Silvina talking; the other nobles show some small amount of interest, but they don't speak a lot.

The soldiers of both Rande and the nobles mingle and eat with each other without prejudice. They're just grunts who have a rather cushy job thanks to us, they aren't knights.

When we are finishing our meal, suddenly, I and the girls go quiet, attracting the attention of the others. Out of the nobles' carriage, a small, shiny black dragon comes out, perched on the arm of a servant. It's let onto the table and eats a small meal which was set out for it.

Nobleman Ento sends a few nervous glances towards us and Aoi. Our own "little" dragon observes her counterpart with curious eyes.

When the black dragon notices Aoi, it stops eating and they have a staring contest. After a few seconds, it breaks the stare and resumes eating. I notice how the other dragon has a much rougher body. Its scales shine, but they're not flat like Aoi's; they are also not arranged perfectly on top of each other, making them protrude slightly out of its body.

That dragon is a male.

We might have a problem.

"What do you think of him?" I ask Aoi.

"Looks dumb. Don't want him," she says flatly and resumes eating.

The caravan continues to move without incident. Klein returns to stay on top of the carriage with Laertes and they resume ignoring each other.

A few monsters start to appear. The usual goblins, a few orcs, small Uspidors and a single Watchful Ton creating a thick mist around a small area.

Alissa stands at the edge of the mist and holds her chin in thought. Then she turns around and asks, "Can you summon a nature elemental for me? I think that I can hit it if I have more height."

"I can cast [Fly] and carry you up there," I say.

"That spell disrupts my arrows, not a good idea."

Disappointing.

I use [Telekinesis] on myself and follow them as they climb a nearby gigantic tree. The elemental gently deposits Alissa in a small nook and I huddle up with her inside it.

She breathes in and her eyes become sharp. Her soft and calm expression disappears, and it instead becomes cold and emotionless. This side of Alissa is odd to see, it's as if she's turned into a total stranger.

Her eyes narrow and suddenly, she draws her bow and looses her arrow. She looks intently along the arrow's path. She sees something that I don't, as she clicks her tongue softly and draws another arrow from the quiver at her waist.

Her breathing slows and stops fully, then she draws her bow again and lets loose another arrow. This time she nods in satisfaction and draws a third arrow.

She waits again and I see the mist move away from us slowly. She scoffs and fires the arrow.

When the mist starts to disappear, she returns to normal and smiles adorably like always. "Got him!" She says proudly and her tail wags.

I kiss her nose and we make our way down from the tree.

"So… you didn't - do it up there?" Hana asks with a frown, as if there's something wrong with us.

"Right, the fear of heights would have enhanced the pleasure…" I say as I grab my chin in thought.

"Yeah, that shit is amazing." She smirks.

The day ends without much excitement.

During our bath time, it's Ciel's turn for affection, which she initiates without a second word. -.

-

"You are quite happy lately," I comment.

"Am I?" She questions innocently and cups her own cheek.

Oh, her pose looks perfect for this!

"Say 'ara ara,'" I request.

She leans back and looks at me oddly.

"Please," I insist.

"Ara ara," she says calmly and chuckles.

Innocent - appeal.

Lina blinks blankly at Ciel.

"Put a little sass and warmth into it," I say.

"Hm…" She pouts playfully and narrows her eyes at me with suspicion. Then she breathes in and gets in character, "Ara ara!" She tilts her head from side to side with each word, like a mother who caught her son with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Oh…" Lina mutters.

"Again, please!" I plead.

"Ara ara!" She does it again -. "W-what?" She looks at herself in confusion -.

"Ara ara," Alissa says, but the effect is small.

"Those are the wrong words for you," I say.

"Ara ara…" Hana says with a predatory smile -.

An aggressive - predator.

"Ara ara," Roxanne says with a soft, sensual tone and a sharp, intense gaze -.

Mean and - older sister.

Her expression quickly crumbles when she sees the reaction it had on me. "Ahahahah, what is that?"

"I don't know, those words feel like… magic?" Lina tilts her head as she tries to understand the power of the "ara ara."

"Say it and laugh softly," I request to Ciel again.

"Ara ara, a-hahah," she obeys and covers the mouth with the back of her hand. Her laugh has that perfect high pitched inflection at the end.

From Aoi, I feel strong emotions broiling within her heart. Klein looks like she's seen the light as she stares at Ciel with wonder. Alissa seems to be affected, but not very much.

"Klein, say 'onii-chan!' in a mischievous tone."

She blinks blankly and the cloud over her mind disappears. She gets up and strikes a pose. "Onii-chan!" She exclaims and smiles mischievously.

The spunky younger sister.

Hana moans, "Ooh, I see it now."

"Alissa, say 'nii-sama' with a dignified tone," I say.

"Nii-sama," she says and nods respectfully.

The perfect and dedicated maid.

-

"Lina, say a cutesy 'onii-chan.'"

"Onii-chan," she gets it right on the first try.

Imouto! Pure innocence!

Ciel's gasps -.

"What are these words?" Roxanne asks.

"They have a nice ring to them," Alissa says.

"Ways of addressing someone, but in a special way."

"Onii-chan!" Lina repeats and throws herself to hug me.

"Nii-sama!" Alissa hugs me from the other side.

"Nii-chan!" Aoi jumps on my face and copies Lina's tone.

I think for now that's the right one for Aoi.

"Just don't overdo it, okay?" I ask with a wry smile.

Dinner is quieter than lunch. Anton and Laertes start talking with the nobles' horsemen and the atmosphere becomes more casual. That is, until Ento approaches us with his dragon on his shoulder.

"Greetings, Helios," he says and smiles cordially. "You must be Wolf Ryder, the leader, correct?"

"Yes, I am, Signeur Ento," I respond and nod cordially to him.

"I see you have a tamable dragon of your own." He glances at Aoi and she immediately stares at him. "She seems quite… aware."

"She is and she was raised with great care by us," Hana says, a little defensively.

Ento turns to Hana for a moment and then returns to me.

"How did you come upon her?" He asks.

"We found her in a dragon's nest while on an extermination request."

"I see… possibly an evolved one, then," he says and looks at Aoi with curiosity.

If only you knew.

I retain my casual expression so I don't give away any information to him.

"What do you plan on doing when she grows?" He asks calmly, but his gaze is intense.

"At that point, we should have the resources to support her. I plan on becoming a noble," I answer with confidence.

His eyes linger on me and show a hint of annoyance.

"You are planning on becoming a noble…?" The chubby elf seems to be containing his displeasure.

"I am," I answer calmly.

"When?"

"After this job is done."

I would prefer to not tell him about this, but it's the best choice right now.

"Are you sure you will have the resources? A fully grown dragon has limited uses and requires a large amount of money to sustain."

"I will deal with it."

His jaw twitches as his annoyance increases.

"You can see that I am a tamer of dragons." He lifts his shoulder and prods the small black dragon. He uncurls and stares at us, his gaze lingers on Aoi, but yet again, he's the one who breaks the mutual stare first, which seems to agitate Ento further. "And I can say with certainty that yours is quite intelligent."

"Kweh!"

Hana smiles ferociously and crosses her arms, pushing her pillows together.

"I certainly have the resources to help her grow appropriately," he continues.

"You may, but we prefer to keep her with us," I answer and try to keep my tone as cordial as possible.

"If in her youth, she's not properly cared for, her maximum growth will be reduced."

"We are taking good care of her," I assure him.

He swallows heavily and controls his emotions. His voice shows a lot of hesitation as he says, "I will give you twenty rose coins for her."

The eavesdropping commoners and soldiers whisper about in complete disbelief. Anton, Krista, and Laertes drop their jaws.

"She's special to us, we will not sell her," I say, still maintaining my calm.

"You will never find a better deal," he says in a dangerous tone.

"We will never sell her," Hana says and glares at Ento.

Aoi nods and smiles. Ento notices it and becomes even more agitated.

"Mr. Ryder, I am giving you the deal of a lifetime. It would be wise to accept it," he says through his gritted teeth.

"Please, Signeur Ento, she means to me more than anything in the realm," I say and force some sadness in my voice.

"Dragons are extremely valuable to many people in powerful places. Are you sure that you can provide her with a safe environment to grow?" His eyes narrow in anger as his right hand grabs his belt, where his golden wand is.

The nobles' soldiers tense up and look around nervously. They are outnumbered and surrounded by Rande's soldiers, who stare back at them, also very nervous.

"I can," I answer and then increase the loudness of my voice for all to hear. "As someone aiming to become a noble, I am confident in my strength and that of all of the members of my fellowship." I scowl at Ento and curl my lips in anger. "And I will defend myself with ferocious tenacity."

"Mr. Ryder, my final advice for you is to-…"

"Signeur Ento," the mature voice of Lord Ricardo interrupts our "negotiation." "Please, do not put our protectors in such a delicate position."

Ento's face twitches repeatedly and slowly settles as he controls his anger. "Very well. You know my terms," he says with finality and turns around in a huff. He makes for his tent and disappears inside.

Everyone calms down and a few awkward chuckles escape some of the soldiers.

I look at Lord Ricardo and nod appreciatively. He nods sternly and returns to ignoring us. Rande, Osaria, and Silvina have positive expressions on their faces that gradually relax into more natural and neutral ones. Oura and Nito look pale and continue to fidget for a while.

Hana turns back towards our table and slings an arm over my shoulder, forcing my head to lean against her chest. "That was hot. You are plowing me silly tomorrow," she asserts.

"You're not afraid of him?" I ask, lowly.

"Not anymore. Not with you and the others by my side."

I close my eyes and we enjoy light conversation before we retire to our tents.

Lina works tirelessly while I softly brush her hair. Her silky black bangs are so adorable. They are carefully maintained by Ciel while I make sure that she never skips her hair care. The crate of elven products we received from Vanea for the job we did for her really was a very good reward.

I feel a very strong need to tease Lina and play with her -, but her work prevents me from taking action.

She finally removes the gem from her workstation and raises it upwards. She puts one hand on her waist and forces a smile. "Do-don~! It's done!" She exclaims.

"'Do-don'?" Ciel tilts her head and swallows a laugh.

Lina immediately returns to her more shy demeanor and her skin reddens. "It's something from dwarven stories."

"Is it an onomatopoeia?" I ask.

Damn, even in Andraste it's a hard word to say.

"A what?" Klein asks. "Hm…" She shivers as Alissa brushes her tail.

"Words that imitate a sound," Lina answers.

Klein and Alissa switch places and my fox-girl moans softly when Ciel joins in and plays with her ears.

"And yes, it is. It's for a drum hit," Lina adds.

"Sounds very cute," I say.

"It's from children's stories." She looks down and fidgets.

"Even cuter." I lay my head on her shoulder and give her cheek many kisses.

She giggles and leans away so she can speak. "A-anyway. The gem is done, so now I need to choose a shield to enchant with [Wind Shield]."

"I think it's either Ciel or you," I say.

"Oh." Ciel's mouth breaks off from Alissa's and she looks at us. "Well, I would prefer that you have it," She says to me.

"I have enough spells to protect myself," I say.

"I'm always beside Hana, so I'm covered by her most of the time," Lina says.

"Ciel it is, then."

Lina nods and stands to look for Ciel's shield. She stops midway and looks back at me, sitting on the carpet -.

"It can wait for tomorrow, if you wish."

There's not much time left before we have to go to bed.

Lina puckers her lips in thought for a moment. In the next, she scurries towards me -.

"Tomorrow it is, then," I say and grab her.

-

I wake up in the middle of the night. A Holly is squeaking a warning.