The two maidens and the innkeeper were earnestly pretending to be very busy cleaning the freed tables, acting as if they were both deaf and blind.

Of course, I could start talking, but I feel it would be inappropriate right now. So, folding my arms across my chest, I simply wait.

One minute.

Two.

Three.

Finally, Miranda lifts her head and looks at me intently, as if seeing me for the first time. Now it's the time:

"I need your help," I say, my tone strictly business.

"You? Need? My? Help? You?!!" She's on the edge. One mistake, and she'll stand up and leave. Walk out of this establishment, considering me her main enemy. Knowing her temperament, it's not a joke.

"I can handle it without you, but what I'm planning will turn out much better with your help." I'm hoping I've chosen the right words. Really hoping.

"Now, that is something I can believe." I didn't hit the mark, but I haven't failed yet. She hasn't made up her mind and is in doubt. "Go on."

"You mentioned at Unudo that you're good with manicures and even did one for Ilona."

"Yes, I did." The girl nods, unnaturally calm.

"Need to fix this." I put my hands on the table - battered, nails torn, littered with tiny scars.

"An hour of work and a few potions," Miranda replies. "I'll do it. Is that all?"

"No. If you agree to help, we'll pay up right now and head to Gianni's shop, where you'll pick the best dress. The most luxurious and elegant, your choice. Moreover, this dress will be yours forever."

"A dress, huh," for the first time since she lifted her head from her hands, something resembling interest flickers in her eyes. But it's certainly not an interest in the item, it's something else. "Continue."

"After the training session I announced in the inn's courtyard, we'll go to the exam together. As far as I remember from Gianni's story, it starts at sunset today."

"At sunset, correct," Miranda nods. "Arien loves symbolism. It's symbolic for her to start the last day of the exam at sunset."

"We'll go there together."

"As a couple?" the girl clarifies.

"As a couple that doesn't exist yet but could form."

Her reaction to my words is somewhat frightening. The girl bursts into laughter, but it's not hysterical; it's a sincere and joyful chime. She laughs until tears come. After composing herself, Miranda gives me an amazingly clear look, impressive considering how much she has drunk.

"Oh, Raven-Raven, you're such a schemer! You can't stand the thought that someone might be better than you. And you want to put this Arien in her place. And you plan to do it in that typical male manner! You plan to sleep with her! You haven't even seen her yet, but you desire it with every fiber of your being... I guessed it! I can tell by your look that I guessed it! I just don't understand why you need a manicure?"

"She has a fetish for men's palms: strong yet well-groomed."

I slipped up, mentioning something I clearly couldn't have known, but Miranda didn't catch the mistake. She only responded with a smirk.

"And you managed to find that out already! Knowing that she gets turned on by competition, you want to use me as bait," Miranda's smile turns quite normal, tinged with a hint of malice.

"She's a powerful mage, and she's beautiful. You're a powerful mage, and you're beautiful," I confirm her suspicion, looking straight into her eyes.

"She's way more powerful as a mage!" Miranda objects.

"But you're more beautiful," I assure her, speaking nothing but the truth.

"You haven't even seen her to claim that!" She scoffs.

She then fills two goblets, hands one to me, and we clink them together. After a small sip of wine, she continues.

"Thank you, by the way."

"For what?" I'm lost; her train of thought derailed me.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"You know, I had begun to think that you and Arien aren't exactly human."

"And what are we then?" My confusion is genuine.

"Creations of the questers. So cool and lucky that other people are drawn to you. That people like me aspire to raise our ranks not just out of punishment or the threat of being erased, but also in the desire to resemble unattainable ideals. Ideals like Arien and you, with all your accomplishments, feats, and Achievements. Not humans, but bait..." She speaks with grave seriousness. "Bait for everyone else. And you have to admit, it's a solid theory." Miranda laughs again. "It was. It was a solid theory. But your typically male chauvinistic wish... To sleep with a girl you've never even laid eyes on, and all your desire stems solely from a thirst to prove that you'll be 'on top,' hence, you're cooler. You just multiplied that solid theory by zero. Ideals don't behave like that! But guys, who think with what's below their belt, absolutely." She laughs again. "With this, you've proved to me that you're just a regular man, not a questers' puppet. I'm not even sure if that's good or bad."

"I'm just a human. Except that, because of my past, I'm well-prepared for everything that happened to us all. Perhaps better prepared than anyone else. But that's it."

"Sometimes, very rarely, I can tell if someone is lying or telling the truth," Miranda smiles. "And right now, you're not lying."

"I need an answer. Are you with me or not?" I'm losing control of the conversation and resort to pressuring her.

Slowly rising from her chair, the girl leans across the entire table. She brings her face so close to mine that our lips are almost touching. Is she going to kiss me? No, impossible, she's into girls! And I turn out to be right. Our lips don't touch; instead, Miranda says:

"I'll make sure that this Arien, if she isn't entirely frigid, will jump on you herself. I will!" There's no doubt in her voice, not the slightest. "But everything has a price. My 'help' does too."

"I'm listening."

"As soon as you leave with her, I will leave too. Don't look for me. Don't seek a meeting with me. In half a year or a year, when I'm ready, I'll find you myself. I'll find you and challenge you. And you will accept this challenge. No jokes, no smile full of superiority. And we will fight. Not a training battle, not a fight by rules, not some duel by some code. It will be a dirty fight, as dirty as my life, without any rules. You or I."

"You will die," I simply reply, realizing that she is entirely serious at this moment.

"Fine," She steps back, and there's a trace of sanity in her voice, "The fight will not be to the death."

"Agreed."

"You can't even imagine how much I want to wipe that smile of superiority off your face," hey, I'm not smiling at all now, "you can't even imagine… How. Much. I. Want. This! And. I. Will. Wipe. It. Off. Or die trying. Do you understand me?!"

"So, you're in?" I clarify.

"No." Unexpectedly, the girl turns everything upside down. "Your plan might be good, but it's unfeasible."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. You're a warrior, and she's a mage. And, as much as it pains me to admit, she seems like she's from the Major League compared to me. You won't pass her exam. Or rather, you might formally pass, but to truly impress her and get a chance to share her bed, you need to beat her at her own game. Beat her in magic. And in that, despite all your talents, I don't believe." She shrugs.

"If Armani has relayed to me the exam rules accurately, there's no problem at all. There's a ban on artifacts and magical scrolls, and that's it." This time, I genuinely smile. "Not the slightest problem. I'll grind this Da'Nnan's tower to dust."

"What?"

"You heard me right." I stand up. "So I'll repeat my question: are you in?"

"I'm in, I'm in! Just for the fact that someone will put this 'Magnificent Arien' in her place, and more so in magic, I'm almost ready for anything!" Miranda nods. "Let's go for the dress; I even know which one I'll choose. And believe me, it's going to cost you way more than a copper coin."

Having paid and left a generous tip, we immediately went to Armani's shop. While Gianni was adjusting a truly luxurious dress, in which Miranda looked like a Bond girl, to fit her figure, the mage tended to my hands, bringing my fingers and nails to a perfect state. Knowing the attention Arien pays to male hands, I was pleased with her work.

Actually, Miranda is right. I really was planning to get Arien into bed. She was only wrong about one thing. That I desire this with all my being. In reality, I was scared to the point of trembling. I was afraid to lose myself in Arien's embrace, as it happened to me in the past. As for sex, Arien is having huge issues with it at the moment. She always loved it, but back on Earth, before moving to Ain, she went through a tough breakup and hadn't shared her bed with anyone for a whole year. In this world, everything got even more complicated because, in addition to the Affinities mentioned by Gianni, she also gained an Affinity with Nature. I had already seen firsthand how this affects people, thanks to Scully.

In the Past Cycle, Arien eventually lost control and indulged in a spree with some local. And this led to very big problems. Only just before the Invasion was she able to "recover" from the moral trauma that some local scoundrel had left her with, and for a long time, she fiercely hated Ain's men. And this nuance led to very unpleasant situations and big problems several times.

So, I do indeed plan to get Arien into bed. But not because, as Miranda believes, I want this to the point of losing my mind, but because I want to help. Yes, the method of this help is quite controversial, but I haven't come up with anything better all this time. I haven't come up with it, and now I'm afraid to fall in love again, like a seventeen-year-old boy. Miranda, however, mistakes my fear for the tremor of anticipation. Of course, I have no intention of convincing her otherwise.

We finished with the dress and manicure just in time for the training I scheduled. Walking to the inn, I thought that if Arien showed up for this training, my entire plan could be ruined. But to my considerable relief, the future Goddess of Spontaneous Magic did not come.

The training session itself passed for me as if in a fog. I already regretted scheduling it, but I had to keep my word. Besides, more than a dozen earthlings came to training. Remembering how Ronin conducted his introductory lectures, I didn't so much train or demonstrate new skills as I conveyed my knowledge, using the training as a pretext. However, I also held three demonstration fights, proving to everyone my right to teach.

As the sun leaned towards the sunset, I changed into the new clothes from Gianni. Miranda approached me and, after scrupulously examining my palms, was satisfied.

"Raven," the girl said slyly, pressing her entire body against mine, "if you mess up or don't outdo her in magic as you promised, I'll tie your nuts in a knot," Miranda gently cooed. In the new dress, she looked simply dazzling.