The moon loomed over the grassy plains outside Guerraway, bathing me in its midnight glow. It was so long into the night that I should have been finishing off the first of many dreams and gearing up for the next, but I was conscious enough to see the moonlight raining down, flickering and reflecting off each and every blade of grass like millions of little stars. It was as if the Milky Way had been reincarnated here with me, but instead of running off to the nearest city as I had, it chose to kick back here and enjoy the night life.

It was so striking; I was sure the sight had to be magical in some way.

But even more striking was the fact that I was naked and completely at the mercy of the chilly night air.

“Goddess, damn it…”

After Mana and I embraced for the first time, and I made up my mind, I’d jumped out of the inn so fast that I’d completely forgotten to get dressed first. Remembering that I’d left my clothes on the floor before assaulting Yua earlier, I pulled a spare outfit from my item box. Unfortunately, all I had in there was what I bought the girls in the city. Meaning, I was suddenly a naked creep holding a bunch of women’s clothes.

Unwilling to let my lingering buzz become a reason for crossdressing, I memorized the shape of a few pieces of clothing and used Material Destruction and Creation to reshape them into something a little more manly, all while the moon and stars above chuckled at my expense.

As a show of love to my new wife, I chose to turn one of her skirts into a pair of boxer-briefs, instead of the article of clothing that first popped into my mind when I thought of underwear. I’d just return them to their original shape later. After cleaning them, of course.

With the abundance of heat my own cheeks were providing me warding off the chill, and a quick confirmation that nobody was around to see me, I searched the surrounding area for life. It was just as empty as it had been on our way through here.

“At least I have that small victory…”

I opened my map menu and placed a marker right where I remembered the barrier to be, so I didn’t get lost in the forest. An arrow appeared on my HUD’s compass and I said a silent prayer of thanks to the Goddess. Even with my memory, trying to navigate the forest at night was going to be trouble without Yua.

Stopping a moment to consider going back for her, I instead teleported to the edge of the forest. This was going to have to be my last Dimensional Step for a while. More so than with the girls at the inn, the light show it produced would attract too much attention. The thieves may still be on high-alert after what happened the other day.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

Staring into the dark of the forest, where barely any of the abundant moonlight could reach the ground, I instantly lamented the fact that my Fairy’s Light spell was also going to have to be kept on the backburner. Sucking it up, I started walking.

Though most of the wildlife seemed to be asleep, the forest was full of noises of all sorts. Leaves rustling. Calm footsteps that somehow sounded as though they were shaking the planet. And a heavy breathing that felt all too out of place. In other words, all the noises I was making myself.

One of the few nocturnal animals I’d passed, a raccoon-looking thing, fled so fast that I didn’t even have a chance to read its info box.

Seems my Sneak ability wasn’t doing anything. Or maybe I really have to crouch while I walk to make it work?

Regardless, this time, I wasn’t pitting this ability up against Tama’s bullshit, overly sensitive ears, just a bunch of humans and a dwarf. Meaning I should have a chance, but every time I stepped on a fallen branch or leaf, I couldn’t stop myself from flinching at the thought of being found, not by the thieves, but by that gym-rat cat-kin. I could see it now…

I’d be walking, or maybe crouching, minding my own business on this dangerous spying mission and suddenly the forest would go quiet. No, it was already quiet, but it’d be worse. Way worse. I’d be able to feel the lack of sound on my skin, as his menacing glare would have scared off all other forms of life.

Then, just when I’d taken notice of something being off, he would appear behind me, emerging from within the blanket of shadow that now turned the grass black. And he’d wait.

He’d let slip just enough of his killing intent, not to frighten me, but to get me to sense him and turn around. There I’d find him, standing in a clearing devoid of light, save for the gleam of his fanged teeth and the burning glow of his eyes. His tail would flick with pleasure, but the strength of that furry appendage would fell a nearby tree without any effort at all. He’d lower himself, readying to pounce and on instinct, I’d back away, pleading. But my pleas would be ignored entirely, for the crime of deflowering his precious daughter was too much to bear.

And then he’d punch me in the gut and knock me out again.

I shuddered. After attempting to reflect on our fight for a while, pointlessly trying to think up how I’d respond to his violence if he actually showed up, screaming revenge for having stolen his daughter now that she wasn’t here to pacify him, I gave up. I settled into the fact that I wouldn’t stand a chance.

If that was his intent, if he was searching the forest for me, he probably already knew exactly where I was and was biding his time to strike at the perfect moment.

“Goddess… What does it say about me if the scariest thing I can think of while wondering a forest late at night is my father-in-law?”

I shook my head, then stopped walking for a moment because I was getting a little dizzy.

Supporting myself by leaning on a tree, I used Material Creation to make myself a cup using the surrounding trees as material and filled it with a cast of Water Ball. I poured it down my throat so fast its taste barely even registered.

After what I’d done with Mana, I was wide awake, but was starting to regret not asking for some sort of anti-drunk potion when I went drinking earlier. Surely the barkeep had something like that, right? This was a fantasy world with both potions and alcohol. There had to be something that could have cleared my mind. It only makes sense that there would be, right?

I wasn’t even half way to the barrier yet. Hell, checking the map, I wasn’t even a quarter the way there and the world was already spinning.

How long does it usually take for this to wear off? Or am I just so weak that it’s gonna persist all night? Or is this new body of mine just extra susceptible to alcohol?

Remembering enough about drinking to know that cold water was supposed to do, well, something to help, I drank a few more cups and tried to catch my breath. As I did, I tried to dredge more memories of how other people recovered from a night of drinking, but the only thought that kept popping up was how amazingly tight Mana was.

… Maybe letting Elane get me drunk wasn’t such a good idea after all. Now is definitely not the time for this.

Maybe I should try the Cure Poison Potion we got from Kimiko. Alcohol is sort of like a poison, right? It should work, maybe. It might.

No, I should save it. We only have the one potion. In this forest, who knows when one of us might get truly poisoned? I’d rather deal with this dizziness than risk the life of one of my girls.

Deciding it best to just power through, I pushed off the tree and continued.

With my compass leading the way through the thicket, it didn’t take long to find what I was looking for as a bright light stretched across the trees, leaving nothing hidden and making it seem as though the dawn had arrived early.

Deep inside the Dumort Forest was an enormous dome of light the same shade of orange as the sun and, in the middle of the night, it shined just as bright. It was so easy to find in the darkness that it might as well have been calling out for me. The sight of its radiance and the comparably frigid chill on my back helped to sober me, but it also reinforced the idea that the thieves may not be attempting to hide.

Seeing the spectacle of half a star arcing over the trees to protect its thieving innards, it took me a grand total of five seconds to not only question why we didn’t search for this big ball of light in the darkness like this, but also why the cat-kin had failed to notice it sooner.

However, it being easy-to-find had quickly become a double-edge sword. As I feared, the thieves were still on alert and as I hid behind the trees, I counted no less than three different men making the rounds. With two on the outside with me and another under the dome, I couldn’t see a chance for me to slip inside.

Apparently, Arthur’s blunder the other day had forced them to step up security. Fantastic

Channeling everything I learned playing stealth games, which in realistic setting seemed entirely inconsequential, I waited for a gap in their patrol and circled the perimeter in search for an opening.

Ducking behind bushes, slipping past trees, waiting for the thieves on patrol to close their eyes in a yawn, I dashed as quietly as I could. As I moved, I counted each and every man I saw, making an effort to memorize their faces, builds and their weapons, so I knew what I was up against. But this information didn’t do me much good.

Stopping only to watch and learn the patrol’s movements before exploiting any gaps I found to continue, I eventually circled around the dome and stopped to catch my breath right back where I’d started. As I pretty much expected, sneaking inside like this was never going to work. The thieves, or rather Tillmann, was too smart.

While the men outside the barrier acted in your typical stealth game NPC ways by walking back and forth along predetermined paths, the men on the inside all remained rooted in place at fixed intervals. Because of this, none of the forest went unwatched.

This fact combined with how the area around the dome offered nothing but the occasional tree to cover my approach, and the abundance of light, meant that approaching the barrier unseen might actually be impossible.

…If only I could just teleport inside.

Tillmann must have really put the scare in them, but their presence and the number on patrol did shed some light on why the last shipment of crystals had been delayed: they were so worried about being caught that they put up a bunch of guards, meaning they couldn’t mine the cave in shifts anymore. Or they’d at least have to do so in smaller groups.

Either way, they were moving slower and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. The sooner they were gone, the sooner I’d have the rights to the reward I already accepted. Conversely, the longer they took, the more damage they’d do to the cat-kin. And knowing that Essence Crystals were used in the enchanting process made me weary of letting them get away with stealing them.

What if they didn’t sell the crystals, but used them? The thought of an endless stream of enchanted goodies flooding the black market, with each one containing some overpowered effect, made me shudder. Wouldn’t that be like giving every criminal in the world access to reality-warping weapons and armor?

Maybe, if I can’t sneak inside, I could just wait here for them to leave the barrier. I could jump onto their carts and steal the crystals back. If they technically belong to the cat-kin, and I’m working for the cat-kin, I shouldn’t be turned into a thief, right?

I shook my head at my own question. I had no way of knowing how trying that would affect me. The cat-kin didn’t even know the crystals were there, so who’s to say they even belong to them? I’m only here to get rid of the thieves, not take back the crystals.

Perhaps a better plan would be to wait until the carts were far enough from the barrier to no longer be visible and attack them, incapacitating the thieves one by one until none were left and Tillmann was forced to leave empty-handed.

Arthur did say Tillmann always stays in the barrier, so I’d just be up against his men, meaning my chances in a fight would be higher. Much higher if I played my cards right and ambushed them with my abilities and my magic. Direct combat would be too much of a risk otherwise.

Impaired as my mind was, I still felt as though that was the safest option I had.

“Uggh,” I sighed, wondering if the confusion I was feeling was my mind finally clearing up or if the indecision was just killing me. “That plan could work, but I should get Tama involved, shouldn’t I… Shit!”

Before I could resign myself to calling in the cat-eared cavalry, a hand thudded on my shoulder and my heart shot up into my throat.

Turning on my heel, unintentionally putting my back against the tree I’d been hiding behind, I met my attacker. Suddenly face-to-face with a wall of moving tree bark and branch-like limbs, my breath caught. The image of me being slammed through a dungeon wall by a treant kept my mouth still.

Before me stood two people. No, two creatures. Covered head to toe in chunks of jagged bark, their bodies looked neither entirely masculine nor entirely feminine. An incomplete mix of both, they looked only slightly humanoid.

Their arms were like several thin coils of wood that braided in on themselves, as if simulating muscle. These coils came out to two long fingers, but their lower halves looked only half-formed. Made of what looked like scraps of bark that had been pasted together on an invisible frame, their legs were held together by the same dull, green light that burned in their chest and behind their skull-less faces.

They straddled the line between human and monster so closely that, from afar, you might be inclined to call out to them for a friendly chat, but see them up close and you’d only be inspired to run away in terror.

That is, if the vague contours of what I assumed to be their faces had not looked so concerned.

The one that touched my shoulder, the one that looked slightly more feminine than the other, stooped, its limbs creaking with the movement as it knelt beside me. It said nothing, for it had no mouth to speak from, so when it reached for my feet, I jumped.

However, what the twig-like fingers squeezed was not my ankle, but the neck of a bright green snake I hadn’t noticed slithering up to me. The animal wriggled and wrapped around the creature’s thin arm to squeeze it, but its bark was too thick to be concerned with it. Instead, it walked the snake away a short distance before releasing it back into the forest.

Meanwhile, its friend took over watching the barrier for the three of us.

Confused, I checked their info boxes and…

“Spriggans? Are you Mana’s friends?”

The feminine one cocked her head for a moment, gazing curiously at me, then nodded.

“Wow… I was kind of hoping to meet you.”

Another fantasy creature! Thank the Goddess it wasn’t the attack-on-sight sort of spriggan often found in video games!

It cocked its head again, its lack of a mouth leaving its reactions limited.

“Sorry about that,” I whispered. “You scared me. And Mana, too, you know? She’s been worried about you… Wait, can you understand me?”

It nodded and, if I wasn’t mistaken, it looked happy to hear of Mana’s concern.

Before I could say any more, it pointed to me, to my chest, then off into the forest and then to itself before doing the unthinkable and mimicking a pair of cat ears atop its head. Realizing it pointed towards the village, I had a good idea of what it was trying to say.

“… Are you asking me how I know the cat-kin?”

It hesitated, but nodded. I must have only been partially right.

“I’m both Mana and Yua’s husband… er, their mate.”

This statement not only made me smile like an idiot, knowing that it was true still didn’t make it feel any less fantastic, but it made the faces of both spriggans practically lit up at my answer. Or at least the dents resembling eyes in their faces doubled in size.

The one standing nodded almost proudly before returning to watching the barrier, but the more feminine one reached around and hugged me tight, as if thanking me.

Geez, Mana. Were even the forest creatures left waiting for you to find a mate? You should apologize for making everyone worry.

I laughed, but the vaguely breast-like shape of the spriggan’s chest was anything but soft. As hard as the bark of a tree, it practically crushed my face as it hugged me. The worry of waking up tomorrow to find splinters in my cheeks was now very real.

Goddess, how did I let myself be scared of these two? Well, no. Sneaking up on me like that in the middle of the night would be scary no matter who did it.

“Thanks for being happy for her. I’ll let her know you’re okay.”

Patting its arm until it let go, I stood and, after a quick check on the barrier to make sure none of the patrol heard me, I pointed to it.

“Your cave is in there, right? Your home?”

The feminine one nodded, casting a somewhat somber look in its direction.

“Listen, the cat-kin asked me to help clear these guys out of the forest. That means helping you guys get your home back. But to do that, I need to get inside the barrier without them seeing me. I can’t promise to kick them out tonight, but it will help.”

This time both of them tilted their heads in open confusion.

Am I speaking too much? Exactly how much English do these two mouthless spriggans know?

“Um… Okay. The cat-kin want the humans inside your cave gone, too. I can help with that, but I need to get inside. Do you understand?”

They nodded in unison, but the confusion on their faces didn’t fade. This time, the more masculine one pointed to me, then to one of the thieves patrolling the barrier. Then it curled its twig-like fingers over its chest, its heart.

I considered the meaning behind these gestures while attempting to suppress the wonder of having a midnight sign-language conversation with what might as well be a mythical creature to me.

They understood me just fine. But my presence here must be confusing them.

“I may be a human like them, but I’m not working with them. They’re causing trouble for Mana’s family and her people. I want to help the cat-kin.”

This made the masculine one raise its chin in a sort of “ah-ha!” gesture before he slammed, pat my shoulder. Smiling and wincing, hoping I wasn’t going to return the inn with a new bruise I couldn’t explain to the girls, I continued.

“Glad you understand. Think you can help me?”

They nodded again, looking pumped.

“Great. Great. Okay, all I need you to do is distract them so I can slip through the barrier. You don’t need to fight or anything, just draw their attention. Once I’m inside, run away and let me handle the rest.”

They nodded once more and, suddenly, the joy I’d sensed in their expressions vanished. Turning, almost ignoring me, they faced the barrier again. The want to defend their home burned so fiercely in them, that they didn’t need faces to express it.

For as long as these thieves have been here, clogging up the forest with their greed, these two have been unable to return home.

However….

“Now we just have to…Wait! I wasn’t done…!”

My strained whisper fell on deaf ears, assuming they even had ears. They’d taken off running, their branch-like legs digging deep into the soil with each step that carried them forwards. They were too far to stop without yelling by the time I noticed. As simple as my plan already was, they took to it as though all I said was go get ‘em!

And it wasn’t long before they were caught.

“Oi! We got trespassers!”

“They cat-kin?”

“It’s those tree-things again!”

“Shit! Why did they have to show up during my shift?”

A man, a level 11 Swordsman, drew his blade. When this didn’t stop the two running at him, another of the thieves clenched his spear and ran to help. Meanwhile, a third must have chanted the passphrase to open part of the barrier, because he ran into the dome’s protective embrace. Only, his retreat looked planned, not cowardice.

“Dammit…”

My nails bit into the bark of the tree I hid behind.

These two had apparently made themselves known to these guys before meeting me, so every thief that heard the warning was on full alert. It was almost like getting caught during a stealth mission in a video game, but there would be no resets for screwing it up.

They did their job in distracting the guards, but not enough of them. The one inside the barrier overlooking my side of the forest was rooted. Watching the creatures rush his comrades, he did not move. Surely, a human like him had nothing to worry about behind the protection of the barrier.

“Wait… why aren’t they all inside then?”

They were expecting the cat-kin, which were known for their martial prowess and, if Mana’s assumed skills were to be believed, their archery. Leaving so many men outside the protection of the barrier was just inviting a sneak attack.

The barrier only allowed humans to pass, and even then, they needed the passphrase. Even the dwarf Tillmann isn’t able to get through it despite being in charge. After all the time they spent hiding here, why take the risk knowing the cat-kin were on to them?

“Could it be…”

Still too drunk, or too stupid to have seen it before, it dawned on me that they might have been baiting an attack when the spriggans and thieves clashed.

“…!”

A voiceless sound of force propelled a whip of bark and leaves at the Swordsman. He blocked it with a flourish of his blade, but then a second came at him. Then a third. A series of metallic clangs rang throughout the forest, each one making my teeth itch. The memory of the treant in the dungeon and the intimate knowledge of how hard its vines could hit made me sweat.

And unlike those mindless dungeon monsters, these two worked together perfectly. While the masculine one continued barraging its whips on the swordsman, the feminine one circled around them all to his blind spot.

“…!”

It lashed out with its branches, but not to hit. The coil of branches making up its right arm snaked around the Swordsman’s leg. Unable to block the attacks of both, the Swordsman deflected another strike before immediately attempting to slash at the limb that bound him. Only, he wasn’t fast enough.

The spriggan’s inhuman bodies gave them no need to recoil and pull back before striking again. The masculine spriggan’s whip flew through the air like it had a mind of its own before it crashed into the Swordsman’s face, dazing him enough to almost drop his sword.

The feminine one began to pull, dragging him closer. He tried to cut its branch with his sword again, but the spriggan’s free arm caught his wrist mid-swing. Despite this, he continued to writhe, trying to wrench himself free on strength alone.

“You bastard! Let go! Let go of me or I’ll… burn you and….”

Suddenly, he stopped his struggling and gaped at the spriggan. I had to squint to see why the man’s faced paled. The spriggan’s hard, bark-like chest had begun to ripple and spread open.

The Swordsman struggled with all his might to free himself, even tossing his blade into his free hand to try and cut himself free, but the hole in the spriggan’s chest widened. From withing the dull green light, a thick cloud of locus spewed forth, like a flamethrower made of buzzing insects.

The wave of insects crashed against the man, filling his mouth and silencing his screams. They latched onto his flesh where it was bare and tunneled under his clothes where it wasn’t. His writhing muffled by the cacophony of tiny wings beating against him, he tried swatting the bugs away, but for each he managed to hit, two more took its place. They were endless. Soon enough, the burst of strength adrenaline had given him had faded. His body quickly grew lethargic and he collapsed to his knees. His life bar was slowly draining away.

One by one, the locus returned to their host and latched onto its bark. They stayed for not even a second before flying back to the man again and with each return trip, the gaps in the spriggan’s legs slowly began to expand. No, it was regrowing. The spriggan was stealing his health, likely restoring what was lost in a previous attempt to retake their home.

They must have come here tonight because they planned this attack with or without me.

Realizing this as I did, the thief running to aid his comrade skidded to a stop and tried to flee, only for another crack of a whip to lash out, wrapping around his ankle as he cried for help. He tried to jab at the spriggan with his spear, but another crack of a whip snapped its tip off.

With the both of them having secured their prisoners, the spriggans relentlessly dragged their prey back into the forest, away from me. The spear-wielding thief kicked and screamed and pleaded for help long after I lost sight of him. The swordsman’s body, however, was very still.

I blinked, but the scene didn’t change. I was told this forest was dangerous, but that was…

With a shake of my head, I decided to just be thankful they gave me a chance to prove I wasn’t with the thieves when they snuck up on me.

“Hell no. I ain’t going into the forest. Not at night. I-I’ll get the boss!”

The man behind the barrier, who had ben standing there in slack-jawed awe moments ago, answered his comrade’s cries for aid by running away back to their camp. His post unguarded, I checked for more guards one last time before bolting to the barrier as fast as my feet would carry me.

Sliding to a stop before I slammed into the dome, I checked my surroundings again to be safe. Secure in the fact that I was alone, I repeated Arthur’s instructions and raised my right hand.

“Saint Mejula, warden of peace, I beckon thee. Stay your watch and allow me safe passage into your loving embrace.”

With all my teleporting experience as an example, I willed the barrier to open just enough for me to slip inside without being noticed. It obeyed my command before I could even doubt Arthur’s words and a short doorway cut itself into the side of the dome. The moment it took shape and a section of the orange light split open like a curtain, I dropped to my knees and crawled.

Ducking lower than was strictly necessary to make sure the barrier’s edge didn’t shave my head, I hurried. Success had my heart pounding, but the stale air inside the barrier had me a little winded. It was cool outside tonight, but inside the barrier felt oddly warm. I guess even the breeze couldn’t make it through the light.

Kneeling beside the dome, I realized the hole I made in it was way too obvious. A human-sized chunk of darkness cut straight into the wall of bright orange light was going to be hard to miss. Especially if that thief came back to his post.

According to Arthur, the opening was supposed to last five minutes. That was more than enough time to get in, but it was also way too long to risk someone noticing. So, I used Material Destruction to dig around and uproot a nearby bush and set it in front of the hole to hide it.

Refusing to clap myself on the back, I took a moment to catch my breath. I was now in the most active part of the forest, but it felt impossibly quiet. There were no animals to speak of, no tiny eyes sneakily watching me from within their nests to see what I might do next. They’d all been chased away a long time ago. And with the breeze removed from existence, the leaves fluffing the branches overhead were all completely still, as if frozen in time.

It was too quiet. Surely, the pounding of my heart would have deafened Yua if she were here to listen. Every particle of the surrounding foliage could have been one big illusion, a hallucination, had I not leaned on a tree and felt its rough bark against my flesh as I checked my surroundings.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Thankfully, the spriggans’ attack had thrown several wrenches in the thieves’ operation. Every man that was guarding this side of the dome was either dragged deeper into the forest or they ran back to camp to get help. Now the area was completely empty.

Crossing my fingers, I cast Dimensional Step, hoping for an easy escape route, but the blue lights fizzled away before they even had a chance to form. Can’t teleport into the barrier, can’t teleport out of it. I really wish that didn’t make sense.

Turning my back to the tree, I opened my menu and, thanks to the exquisite detail of the map Elane drew, I was able to plot a path through the trees that would take me around their camp as discretely as possible. The barrier itself kept everything as bright as though the sun had never set. Thanks to this, there were plenty of shadows to work with, but I could see everything. And that meant everything could see me if I wasn’t careful.

I closed my menu, focused on the first of several map markers I’d made and took a breath. Summoning my cup again, I filled it with another water ball and savored every drop as it slid down my throat. Hopefully, this would be enough to put my drunken haze to rest.

Ducking low, I sprinted from tree to tree, from shadow to shadow. Stopping only to confirm the location of my next marker and to make sure I was still alone, I pressed on.

I’d played plenty of stealth-based games in my day, but this was different. Strafing straight into enemy lines, ducking behind every slight pixel of shadow that was still in plain sight was never going to keep me hidden. The thieves were not mindless NPCs with poorly constructed AI that was ready and willing to be exploited. They were real people. Meaning that most all of what those games taught me was going to be useless.

I kept my distance from the center of their camp. Skirting around the edge of the barrier, obeying the order of my markers as though each were a divine revelation sent directly from the Goddess to guide me, I circled around to what I knew to be the backside of the large tent the thieves called home. Even though I couldn’t see it from this distance.

Hot on their tail and swimming in their blind spot, I slowly trekked towards the camp. They had no beast-kin with sensitive ears to aid in spotting intruders, but the continued stillness of the forest kept me cautiously avoiding touching anything that could make noise like it’d been infected with the plague.

Slowly, signs of life faded into existence. First it was the smell of the bonfire they kept burning. Then it was the sight of the large tent looming in the distance. Then it was the sounds of men rushing about. I stopped behind a large tree.

They had been on guard before, but now they couldn’t have been any more alert if an air raid siren was blaring into the night sky. Everyone was awake now, all running about obeying the strict directions of one man. A dwarf.

“Ye three go tell the rest to come back inside the barrier,” Tillmann said, his voice imposing in its calmness. He pointed his thick arm at a group of men. “Ye two head back to where the sprouts were seen and keep yer dammed eyes open. The rest of ye spread out. See anyone, or anything, ye come back to me. I’ll take care of it. Now ship off! Ain’t nobody sleepin’ tonight!”

It was the first time I’d heard it for myself and it had me sweating. All he did was direct his men, but my heart thudded against my ribcage as if every syllable was a threat directed at me. His voice was deep, almost like he had to forcefully project his voice through a layer of sediment us tot be heard. It was nothing like the sweet mimicking Yua had done of him. If all the scares, running and water hadn’t sobered me up, his voice certainly had.

And thankfully so, as one of the thieves darted right past me on his way to the edge of the barrier.

Clutching the hilt of his sword as he ran, he brushed past me without stopping on his way to the barrier. The only reason he hadn’t seen me could have been my Luck stat, but reason suggested it was the heavy helmet he wore that obscured his vision. My breath caught and wouldn’t come back to me until he was well out of earshot.

As clarity struck me dead, my knees grew weak at the thought of how my actions had left me surrounded by enemies ready and willing to flip off the world itself, just to satiate their greed. Even more so when I chanced a peek around the tree and Tillmann’s info box reminded me of just how outmatched I was.

I slid down the tree.

What the hell did I just get myself into?

These were thieves. Real thieves who’d staked their lives on the risk of slavery, imprisonment or death. It’s not hard to imagine they’d kill anyone that got in the way of their freedom. And Tillmann’s hammer was tied to his hip. The thought of the explosive force he could put behind it was deafening.

I’d been careful of my sword, worrying that carrying it on my hip might cause it to strike a tree or rock and alert them to my presence. I’d left it in my item box. Thankfully I hadn’t tossed it to the floor when I got back to the inn. Maybe the reminder of Tama’s warning to always keep my weapon at the ready managed to cut through the drunkenness. Now, the thought of the gleaming white of its blade almost felt comforting.

But when I hesitantly reached into the purple miasma to pull it out, I paused.

Big Bro, I can feel your white stuff coming back out… Hehehe. It tickles.

“Pfft…”

Suppressing a laugh, I shook my head as my reason for being here so rudely interrupted my fear.

Calm down, me. Remember that you’re not here to fight. Just need to focus on my objectives, not my panic. Just think. Think logically and make up for the mistake you’ve made in coming here alone.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I ran through the memories of my conversation with Arthur. He knew the limitations of the barrier, but he never mentioned who cast it. Meaning he either didn’t know, or didn’t think it was important enough to mention. And it was easy to see why.

It must not be a spell. At least, not the kind a Mage would typically cast.

Aside from Tillmann, they were all only human. They had to sleep sometime, but the barrier never went away. A loss of concentration was not enough to break it and a barrier this big no doubt would take a great deal of focus to maintain if it were a normal spell. Something else must be keeping it going.

My number one objective was finding out what that something was. Second in line would be breaking or removing that something. If I can manage that, nothing else really mattered. I could head back to the inn and bask in my success with my girls.

Removing my empty hand from my item box, I carefully peeked around the tree again just in time to see Tillmann heading back into the main tent. Likewise, Erhard, the man I’d designated as the dwarf’s right-hand man, followed behind him.

I took a breath to steady myself as my objective became clear.

If the thieves’ strongest fighter retreated into the tent right after they’d been attack, then it should be fairly safe to assume that’s where the something creating the barrier would be. If not, then it was still a good place to start looking. The question of how I’d do that answered itself when I spotted an empty splotch of dry soil behind the tent.

Checking over my shoulder for the thief that ran past me, then all around to see if any of the others were around, I crept around the tree I hid behind and started towards the tent.

Unlike before when I rushed to use up the time the spriggans gave me, I made sure each and every step I made was calculated and quiet. Even in the commotion that woke the thieves, I moved as though each of them wore ears as sensitive as a dog-kin. I could hear the crackle of the bonfire now, but they could not hear me. I was sure of it.

Taking a knee behind the tent, I was surprised to see how tall it truly was up close. The damn thing really was big enough to be a circus tent. But it being so big only hurt my cause as, while I could hear muffled voices within, they were so far away from me that all I could hear was a mumbling. I got to work.

A quick cast of Material Destruction made a wide hole appear in the soil beside me. A second cast made it deep enough for me to stand in and then some. Thanking the Goddess that this ability didn’t make any sort of sound, I mentally mapped out how far I’d have to dig by setting another map marker on the center of the tent. Ready to get started, I checked around me again before quietly slipping into the hole.

Unable to see my HUD in the darkness that swallowed me, I cast the Fairy’s Light spell and turned towards the tent marker and started digging. Filling my item box with dirt, I dug and dug and didn’t stop until I was standing directly beneath my marker. Then I started upwards.

Using my exact memory of how deep I made this tunnel, I stopped digging when there was only a few inches of soil left between me and the inside of the tent. Quickly, I used Material Creation to line the tunnel and cap off the top with the dungeon stone in my item box so it wouldn’t collapse.

Done with the construction, I waited for Fairy’s Light to fade and when it did, I poked a finger-sized hole through the roof of the tunnel so I could hear what was happening.

“… How many did we lose?”

“Just the two, Boss.”

“Damned fools,” Tillmann growled. “I told ‘em to hide under the barrier if them sprouts came back.”

“They must have gotten full of themselves after how easily you beat them before.”

“How I beat them! Them fools didn’t lift a finger ta help! And now they’re dead. If’n they’re thinkin’ I’d send for them, they’re greater fools than I thought!”

“Boss…”

“Quiet yer gobbin’. The only reason why I beat them so handedly was ‘cause we snuck up on ‘em. Had they called on the forest animals ta help, none of us’d be standing here now.”

Tillmann let out a gruff grunt of annoyance and I heard what sounded like the sharp creak of a bed being sat on. This mess must have woken him up.

“You may be right,” Erhard said, then hesitated to continue. “Boss, we’re risking too much by staying here. The cat-kin on one side. The forest on the other. The mine’s just about barren now. Shouldn’t we just leave?”

“We ain’t leaving ‘til we dug up every crystal from that cave’s bosom.”

“But the men we sent with the delivery haven’t come back.”

Cloaked in the darkness of the tunnel, I winced.

They made the delivery tonight of all nights? The delay Arthur mentioned must have been quick to clear up. But if the crystals were sent to Lord Argento tonight, the same night Elane was supposed to be meeting with him, then…

“They should have been back hours ago,” Erhard continued before I could worry over Elane getting caught up in this. “What if they were caught?”

“And what if they’re wastin’ their time on the city whores? I’m not going to give up our profits just cuz a couple idiots are wastin’ their coin and my time on some cheap pussy. They’ll be back come mornin’ once they realize their purses are empty again.”

“And what if they just run off with our profits?” Erhard said, his tone colored with fear and impatience. “That was our biggest haul yet. What if their greed got the better of them when that bag of gold was given to them?”

“Are ye doubting our hands? If memory serves, ye were the one to pick who we took with us.”

“Boss, we brought thieves with us. The world itself has shunned their greed. You’d be a fool to ignore that possibility.”

Another creak, the sound of someone heavy rocketing off the bed. Feet shuffled back desperately, just as a single earthquaking stomp made the tunnel shake. Cracks rippled across the thin ceiling I made and I hurried to seal them with Material Creation.

“Erk!”

A pained gasp escaped one of the men, likely Erhard. It immediately reminded of when Elane choked me and I found myself comforting my own neck.

“Ye listen here, boy. I ain’t any kind a fool. I been dealin’ with humans longer than you been breathin’. I know what’s in their heart more than you ever will. I know those two I sent will come back, because they know there’s more coin ta be had. And they’ve fooled themselves inta thinkin’ that diggin’ in that there cave is how they can make up for their past mistakes. By putting in the effort with a day’s honest work. That’s why I sent them alone. They want ta come back because it lines their pockets, and because it feels righteous. It’s the same for you isn’t it, child thief?”

Another gasp and the sound of someone hitting the floor sounded. Erhard coughed roughly.

“How did you…”

“I ain’t no fool. I’ve done my research on the lot of ye before bringin’ ye in on this. And I know ye took that boy from his master.”

“He’s my son! My bitch of an ex-wife sold him into slavery just to spite me.”

“Matters not. He wasn’t yers anymore, was he?”

“…”

“It was yer guilt in letting that happen that brings ye here. You want to earn enough to buy him back, right?”

“…”

“Don’t be makin’ that face. That’s fine with me. I don’t care what any of ye use yer coin on. Ye wanna buy him back, buy a boat and sail away into the sunset together, maybe even save a little coin on the side to hire an assassin and send em after yer wife, then by all means, go right ahead. I don’t care. But don’t worry yerself ‘bout the delivery. It’s being handled by trusty hands. Same as the next one will be.”

“… If they’re found out…”

“What? Ye think they’re gonna bring Guerraway’s army down on us? Thanks ta me, they’re too scared of the cat-kin to set foot in this here forest. And thanks ta their own reputation as fierce warriors and their complete lack of morals, all it took was a little nudge in the wrong direction ta make the people think they be a constant threat.”

I clenched my teeth, suppressing a violent urge to burst through the ground and break his nose. It would be futile. Even if I got a good surprise attack in, he’d easily overpower me. So, I stayed my rage and kept hidden, but the thought of either Yua or Mana being insulted like that made my chest burn.

The cat-kin clearly weren’t amoral. Aside from the nudism, they were just like everyone else. Sure, most of them liked to fight for fun, but they also held the very concept of love so dear that they didn’t mind proving their feelings for their mate right in front of others.

Strange as it may be, it’s also endearing. This bastard is just using that against them. And it was their reputation that kept him inside this barrier, hiding from them like a child hiding under a blanket after a nightmare.

“You leave the worryin’ and plannin’ ta me,” Tillmann continued. “Do yer job, trade the rest of the crystals to Guerraway’s Enchanter tomorrow like we talked about, and I’ll get ya back home ta yer boy safe and sound. Anything ya could think of has been planned for already. Now, get outta here. Go keep watch somewhere.”

At that, Erhard’s footsteps receded from the tent. I didn’t have the sense of the cat-kin to know if he fled in terror or haste, but he moved quickly. The bed creaked above me again, sounding much closer now that they’d gone quiet. I must have tunneled right under where he slept.

“Damned humans. Worthless, the lot of ‘em. If them fools didn’t go around confusin’ gems for crystals, we’d be done with this cave already and on to the next. If only I coulda brought my brothers… No. No. Wouldn’ta mattered. They’re a bunch of knuckleheads too.

“What cowards would turn on their own kin just because the king said they was guilty? And without so much as thinking the accuser was drunk off his arse? Tillmann Ruchenbrecher, the hero of Ursprung, a thief! Bullshit! After all I did fer him, DeGarmo should be lickin’ my boot, but he’s got me running between countries just so I can keep my head on.”

Another creak and a sigh mixed with a grumble. Assuming he’d laid down, I stood to listen better as he muttered to himself, but it seemed he was finished.

It didn’t take long for the same silence I felt before to come back. As rock like as he seemed to be at a glance, apparently not even his men actually being attacked and killed could prevent him from catching up on his beauty sleep.

It was hard keeping a straight face listening to him complain, though. His info box proved he was a Thief and what he was doing here was a good example of why he held that title. While he could have become one accidentally, or he could have been framed, he’d given himself to the thieving lifestyle. Trying to undo his mistake by repeating the sin that led him here was absurd. Not to mention he was slowly destroying the cat-kin in the process. That alone was enough to say he couldn’t be forgiven.

Still, cringing at the thought of how I must have sounded like him whenever I complained about my problems, I waited a while to make sure the silence continued.

Fearful of waiting too long incase someone came back to the tent, I made sure Tillmann was alone before raising a hand to the tunnel’s ceiling. Slowly removing the stone and soil, I opened a path into the tent. So I didn’t make a bunch of noise climbing out, I conjured a ladder in the stone and started up.

At the top, I confirmed that not only was I under a bed as I thought, but we were alone. And the noticeably still bulge in the bottom of the mattress suggested that Tillmann hadn’t sensed me.

Gulping down my fear and stealing myself, I leaned out of the hole, reached a hand over the bed and grabbed his ankle.

“What the…?!”

Force Sleep!

Still awake enough to react, Tillmann started to pull away, but a silent cast of the sleeping spell that once tormented Yua instantly forced him to fall asleep.

Confirming again that nobody heard him and came running, I climbed out of the hole. Heart beating a mile a minute, I checked to make sure he was completely out and found the bearded man sleeping almost peacefully.

Looking at this strikingly dangerous man slumbering so defenselessly, the knowledge of what he’d done to the cat-kin and thought of how callous he was towards his own men boiled up in me. I admit, I was tempted to cast Slave Binding on him right here and now to put a quick end to all this. It certainly would make this all a lot easier, and in this position, he wouldn’t be able to stop me. But I refused the idea.

Yua accepted what she was and found relief from that reality in being with me. Mana willingly accepted it in part because it’d help her to improve herself, like I was trying to do with my own life. And maybe it would help protect Elane if she chose that path someday.

They were all different. There was no malice in making them my slaves. It was because of this that I could never use that power to hurt someone. Using that spell as a weapon go against the peace I’d promised the girls. The idea alone made me sick. So, I let the dwarf snooze.

Relieved that I was clear-headed enough not to turn to the dark side, I looked around the tent in search of whatever may be creating the barrier, only to find it mostly empty. The back half was filled with boxes, likely food stuffs and other necessities meant to sustain them for a long stay. Other than this, the area leading to the rest of the camp was packed with various sleeping bags and cots, each with their owner’s personal items.

However, set aside from all this was where I stood. In a section of the tent that looked built entirely to facilitate someone that thought a little too highly of themself, was the “Boss’s” quarter.

The only one with an actual bed to sleep on, his disdain for his men seemed fairly apparent, but was also uncontested. A workbench sat beside it was covered several pieces of mining equipment that were clearly broken, while the tools needed to fix them were carefully set aside in boxes nearby. Like the entirety of his contribution to the dig was fixing whatever tools happened to break.

The large treasure chest at the foot of the bed practically called my name with promises of end-of-dungeon loot, but I ignored it and read through the info box of everything I could see. And when nothing stood out, I double checked it all with Appraisal, but the only thing that caught my eye was what I thought to have been a standing candleholder set beside the workbench.

Made pure silver and expertly crafted, the thing held a pretty hefty price tag. Its info box named it The Church’s Shield. Given the purpose of the barrier and the Saint Majula part of the passphrase needed to break through it, I figured the two had to be connected. But it was the Essence Crystal placed atop it that really grabbed my attention.

“I thought the crystals were used for enchanting…!”

Suddenly slapped upside the head with the fact that I was supposed to be quiet, I clapped a hand over my mouth and checked on Tillmann, only to find him still fast asleep.

Maybe I should actually train my Sneak skill instead of ignoring it to play with magic. I have two motion-detecting cat girls by my side now, one of which loves to train. Just gotta practice sneaking up on her and…

Saving the stupid thoughts for later, I refocused on the crystal. Whatever they were used for, this one was in my way now. If logic in and outside the game world ever served me right, I’d have to guess that the crystal was the battery charging this thing, but I was afraid to disarm it. Couldn’t risk touching it directly, anyways.

Not to mention they are camped out right next to a mine full of more crystals.

Still, my job was to disarm the barrier. Might as well see if this works then get out of here. Solving the riddle of the barrier now just means it’d be easier to get around it later.

Contemplating the possibility of just conjuring a stick with Material Creation and poking it until the crystal fell off, I opted for what I hoped to be a more permanent solution.

Priming myself for a cast of Material Destruction to cut the device in half, hopefully rendering it useless, I reached out a finger. As I focused on its center, the bed creaked.

“What in the hells happened?”

My blood froze in its tracks as my pulse died out.

“Who the hells are ye?”

Feeling my neck snap as his words forced me to turn to him, I found Tillmann already on his feet. He reached for his hammer.

“I said who the hells is ye? I know ye ain’t one of mine. How’d ye get in here?”

“… I was sent by Lord Argento,” I gulped, hoping he didn’t hear it. “He was displeased by the delay and has asked me to keep an eye on the operation to make sure he wouldn’t have to wait for the next delivery.”

Tillmann eyed me, his dark pupils like empty black coals ready to burn.

The corners of his thick beard curled up into a wickedly toothy grin. He drew his hammer, spinning it in his palm. I reflexively, cautiously, took a step back.

Goddess… Why did you waste my time with a fake confidence boost instead of giving me a charisma boost?

“Is that what the Lord said ta ye?” he mused, combing his beard. “Tell me, did he also tell ye that we agreed to keep out of each other’s nose hairs while we was here?”

Shit…

Tillmann laughed.

“Thought so. Now, tell me son, who really sent ye?”

“Snow White. She really misses you. She wants you to come home.”

“No idea who that is. Care ta try again?”

“… Is there a point?”

“No. I suppose not.”

Tillmann thumped his hammer into his palm and took a step forward. Under the overwhelming pressure, I had no choice but to take another step away from him. He was smiling and were it honest, he could have passed for the sort of jovial guy that would offer to help you carry your groceries to the car, but what little senses I had all screamed a deep malice. Buckets of sweat had fallen off my brow before I even noticed my shirt was damp.

I owed Tama an apology. When I faced him, I instantly felt overwhelmed, but he’d been holding back so much that I was still able to move. But now my knees were knocking together hard enough to almost hear it.

Tillmann thumped his hammer into his palm again.

“How did you wake up already?”

“Ah? Are ye the one that cast that spell on me? A Mage, eh? Ha. Look over there. At the pillow.”

Gesturing with his chin, he let my attention drift back to the bed where I found an empty glass bottle. A potion of some sort. It’d been drained already, so no name detailing its effects popped up, but the sight of it made my heart hurt.

“It were a Status Restore Potion,” Tillmann said. “I downed it soon as you grabbed me. Didn’t feel no blade comin’, so’s I figured you were up to somethin’ a little more sneaky. Looks like it took a while to kick in, usually does if you take it before yer afflicted, but it put in the work just fine.”

Another laugh and a weighty slap of his palm on his chest, on the pocket hidden beneath his beard, he continued.

“I been around a while, son. I know how ta keep ready for anything. You got the jump on me pretty good. Never would have expected a human to dig a hole under a dwarf to sneak up on him, but the surprise is done, ain’t it?”

Tillmann took another step and let his hammer fall to his side. He almost looked defenseless, but I knew he could crush my skull the instant I let my guard down.

“I’ll ask ye again, who sent ye? And how did ye get in?”

Thoughts of Yua and Mana flashed across my mind. Of the life together that Yua and I had built in that little cabin in the middle of nowhere. And of how Mana hadn’t had a taste of that happiness yet.

It should have been my own life flashing before my eyes as the death-wielding dwarf stared me down, but they were all I could think about. And that was enough.

This life wasn’t just for me anymore.

“Well?” Tillmann said, stroking his beard. “If ye don’t make me force yer mouth to move, I might just knock ye out and leave ye to the forest. Them beasties will gobble ye up without ye ever knowing it was happening.”

I closed my eyes, but only for a second. Just long enough to clear my thoughts.

Then my hand shot out to the side, straight into the purple miasma, the gateway to my item box. I grabbed the handle of my sword.

Tillmann didn’t so much as flinch from the sudden move, just looked on as his stroking turned curious. To him, my hand must have just disappeared, but my lack of pain intrigued him.

“Curious magic, that,” he hummed. “But it won’t do ye any good. My legs may be short, but I can jump ye before ye can call out for yer ma.”

Clenching my jaw and readying my free hand to cast a spell, regretting that I hadn’t stopped to check if the barrier cancelled out all magic or just teleportation, I drew my sword. Suddenly, Tillmann’s smile disappeared.

“Yer makin’ a mistake, son. Ye might want to drop that.”

“I don’t think I will.”

“…”

“I may be new to this, but I’m an Adventurer. And this job is how I’ve chosen to support those I love.”

Tillmann snorted. Not, apparently, because he found it funny, but because he looked off to the side. There was nothing but tent where his coal-like eyes fell, but he seemed to see right through it.

“An Adventurer, eh? Don’t suppose that means yer here to catch me? It’s alright, I get it. I used to be one too. I know how it works. I ain’t gonna fault ye for it.”

“Used to be? What, not enough gold in it?”

Tillmann smirked and, spinning his hammer, shook his head.

“Nah. I didn’t work fer gold then. It were promises that kept me belly full.”

“Those promises must not have tasted very good if you’re wasting away out here.”

“Oh, no, son. They were the tastiest thing a dwarf could ever swallow. Outside a good ale, of course.”

He gestured to a bottle of such on what looked to be his dinner table and I straightened my sword. Unmoved, he took up the bottle and downed whatever was left in it. Sighing as though the ale were a welcomed glass of cool water after a trek through a desert, he smacked his lips before wiping them dry with the back of his wrist. He looked at the bottle almost reverently before continuing.

“See now, ain’t nothing like a good ol’ dwarven brew. Only, it’s hard ta find among the human taverns. Too strong fer the likes of ye, see?”

“Sure.”

My limited drinking experience, all of which was gained just hours ago, didn’t give me a good idea of what he was talking about. But the lore of other worlds I’d played through suggested he wasn’t looking down on humans in saying we couldn’t handle it.

“Then why not leave this place and go home?”

“Ha! If I could, I would. See, King DeGarmo promised us unfettered access to his mines if we sent a fighter and a smith to help him with a little project of his. That was me on both accounts. And I couldn’t refuse. The dwarves of Ursprung needed those ores something awful and our forges were ravenous. Our mines were no longer putting out enough to feed all of us. And what’s a dwarf if they ain’t hammerin’ away at an anvil?”

“And he didn’t fulfil that promise?”

“He did. He weren’t fool enough to go back on a deal he made with us. Not when we’re the ones makin’ his weapons and armor. The problem is that his little project was all hush hush. He cursed me to keep his secrets.”

Tillmann opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue. At the center of it lay what looked like a brand, a black mark left behind by a red-hot poker shaped into a crescent

“I speak so much as a word on what it was we did for him, and my tongue falls right off. But the threat of that weren’t enough for him. No. When we finished his little quest, and I found out the mine I’d been given was full of nothing but tin and the occasional gemstone, I drank until I blacked out. And when I woke, I realized I can’t do nothing with somethin’ as weak as tin or as fancy as gems. My hammer forges tools of war, not gaudy jewelry.

“I tried makin’ that shit,” he continued. “But it felt like my soul was bein’ chipped away every time I failed. And every time I succeeded. I even tried selling them raw, but most dwarves wouldn’t bite and the few other races who did, didn’t pay enough for me to buy real ore. It weren’t ever goin’ ta be enough, but when I went back ta the king ta make a trade, he said no. And when I offered him gold and gems, he said no. So, I reminded him of what I did fer him. Told him that this mark on my tongue weren’t gonna stop my hand from writing about what we did fer him… That were a mistake.”

Tillmann’s knuckles whitened around the handle of his hammer and I could almost feel him imagining the king’s head under it.

“Ta keep it brief, the king took offense ta my threats. But because my work had saved my people and made me famous, he couldn’t just cut my head off. So, he tricked me. Promised me a deed to a iron mine. Not the best ore ta work with for what I was used ta, but it was miles better than what I had. Only, he had no intention of actually handing it over. And when I picked up the deed that weren’t actually mine…”

“You were labeled a Thief.”

“And nobody’s gonna believe a word out of a thief’s mouth. I was kicked out of our territory for fear that the dwarves would hear their hero’s name had been tarnished, that the resentment would grow and fester until relations with the kingdom were broken all together. So I was banned.”

“So, you’re stealing the crystals from the king to make up for it?”

“Not at all. I’m sellin’ the crystals to make enough coin to bribe the head dwarf Eisenast to let me back in. Fool likes to smelt gold coin to turn it into fancy statues for rich folk. The way I sees it, if I can bring him enough gold to make him piss silver, he’ll let me back in and nobody will have to know what really happened.”

He went silent a moment, smiling listlessly at his hammer. He thumped a hand on it, almost like patting the head of a small child impatiently waiting to go play.

“For fifteen years I worked for the king. And for fifteen years I was kept away from Ursprung’s forges. I went and bungled it all when I couldn’t be satisfied with what I had, and I’m payin’ for it. But I want to swing my hammer at a real forge again. The piddly little fires ye humans use to heat yer metals can’t compare to the lava of Mount Eisenhitze. It can’t even warm my hands.”

“You’re doing this just to go home? If you’re willing to break the law, why not just sneak back into your homeland. You managed to sneak past the cat-kin of all people, it should be easy for you. You and this barrier are throwing the entire ecosystem here out of balance and it’s going to cause the cat-kin to starve come winter if you stay.”

“Ah… So, it’s the cat-kin that sent ye.”

“…”

I tightened my grip on my sword. I’d almost forgotten why we were both here. Knowing them, the cat-kin had nothing to fear from this man, other than his continued stay here, so letting that slip wasn’t a big deal. But it almost felt like I’d been tricked into admitting it.

“Matters not,” he said. “I plan on getting’ my hands on one of them beasties here soon anyways. If they come to me, that’ll just make it all the easier.”

“Planning on challenging them to a fight?”

“Ha! No. Why would I waste my time with their nonsense? No. See, I have a good feelin’ that there’s more than one cave of crystal here in this forest. The conditions in the soil, the air and the stones are just right. And I want to know where they’re hiding it.”

In the distance, I heard something over the sound of the roaring fire outside the tent. Something that might have sounded like leaves rustling in the wind, but it had to be one of his men coming back. Had they heard us?

“Well,” I said, “Hate to break it to you, but the cat-kin didn’t even know the crystals were in that cave you already dug up. They aren’t going to be able to tell you a thing.”

My mind racing for a way out before I get caught in a pincer attack, I stepped closer to the workbench, instead of towards the exit. Tillmann flinched slightly, but I put everything I had into not showing that I noticed and kept my sword raised at him.

“Bah! You really expect me ta believe they’ve been sitting on all this without knowing?”

“Yea, it’s hard to believe. But it’s the truth. They had no idea. If they did, they would have been able to afford some clothes.”

He snorted derisively, but I kept my ears on the sounds coming from behind me. Now, in the silence under the dome, the sound of footsteps rushing towards us were more vibrant than the barrier itself.

“You know,” I said, masking the steps with my voice. “I bet you could have just asked them to let you mine the crystals. Since they didn’t even know about it, they probably would have agreed if you gave them some of the profits.”

“Unlikely. Son, wars have been started over what we got here.”

“And since what you got here is almost dried up, you can prevent a war by leaving.”

The footsteps grew louder. And it quickly became clear that there was more than one set of them responsible for the noise.

I tensed, but forced myself to relax. My hand was sweating against the handle of my sword, so I gripped it tighter. I was only going to get one chance. Tillmann wouldn’t allow a second attempt.

“Stop fooling around,” the dwarf snarled. “If you know the cat-kin, and ye want me gone, then call one of ‘em here. Have ‘em tell me what I want to hear and, once I clear out that second cave, I’ll be gone that much sooner.”

The footsteps were closer now. Close enough to hear the haggard breath of someone that had run a long distance. Close enough to hear the rattle of their weapons.

“Unfortunately, I can’t do that. They really don’t know anything and I’m not about to put any of them in this sort of danger.”

“Ye don’t know the meanin’ of the word danger, son. If yer friendly with them, I’m sure one or two might come a runnin’ if I can make ye scream loud enough ta…”

“Boss!” shouted a man that burst into the tent behind us. “The spriggans are back and… who’s this?”

“Raah!”

The moment Tillmann’s eyes darted to the men that burst into the tent, I put every ounce of strength I had into my arms and swung my sword. His quick reflexes had him block with his hammer, but I wasn’t aiming for him. Nor was I aiming at the men behind me. My one and only target, the only way I had out of this mess, was The Church’s Shield.

My blade crashed into the silver stand, toppling it. It wasn’t enough to cut it in half, but sparks still flew.

Eyes widening, Tillmann lunged for it, but he was too late. The essence crystal set in its crown fell into the dirt right along with it. He scrambled for the crystal, never letting go of his hammer.

“Bastard!” Tillmann shouted, jumping to his feet. “I don’t care who ye know. Now I’m gonna…!”

A sound of glass cracking overhead stopped his rampage before it could start. The bright orange hue that had been keeping the forest under a simulation of constant mid-day brightness began to flicker before quickly fading.

Darkness claimed the night again and with it came a violent rush of wind that knocked me off my feet. The only source of light left to us being the bonfire in the center of the camp was whipped out of existence by the rush of air pressure trying to right the atmosphere of the forest.

“Ye little shit!”

Under the tent and without so much as a spec of moonlight to grant me vision, I was blind, but Tillmann’s rage was unbuffeted by the gale that made sure my hair could never be straightened again.

Fear heightened right along with my senses, I knew his hammer had to be coming my way. So I dug down.

Material Destruction caused the soil beneath me to vanish. I fell into this new hole and only a second later, something whizzed over my head and the sound of an explosion rocked the forest. Thinking I’d stayed put, he’d thrown his hammer.

The wood beams holding up the tent splintered and before they fell, before Tillmann could reclaim his hammer, I cast Dimensional Step.

Blue lights quickly swirled into existence, but they also lit the area. Tillmann’s face, now shaded in blue but darkened with fury, appeared in the shadow that was the world. He lunged at me and I jumped through the portal.

Landing face-first into the same grasslands I’d started this stupid night trip in, I quickly cut the portal before anyone could come through it.

Sitting in the grass, my chest heaving with the effort it took to breathe, I stared into the spot where the portal had been, half expecting it to open again.

I don’t know how long I sat there, but by the time I started to wish Tillmann had stuck his arm through the portal right before I closed it, I remembered that I’d done what I needed and could call in the cat-kin-cavalry.

Jumping to my feet, I cast Dimensional Step again, not to the village, but up high in the sky as I’d done with Yua before. Sticking just my head through, I cast my gaze over the forest to see if…

“Shit… He already fixed the barrier.”

Leave it to a dwarf to have something fixed that fast. The bright orange dome was back and seemingly brighter than ever. Whatever damage I had done to The Church’s Shield was either fixed or entirely inconsequential. Meaning Tama couldn’t have his fight yet.

I fell back out of the portal and onto my ass.

“… Guess that means I risked my life for nothing.”

And I probably made this even harder.

Tillmann lost a couple of his men tonight, but all I got from it was confirmation that the barrier could be broken. Which sounded good on paper, but I had a pretty good feeling he was going to be even more on guard now that he knows someone other than the cat-kin are after him.

I could have handled this so much better.

“Uggh… I’m never drinking again… Or at least, I’m never letting Elane get me that drunk again.”

Clearheaded enough to fully regret my actions, I rolled onto my stomach and opened another portal. Prepared to act as the boogeyman by crawling out from under someone’s bed for the second time tonight, I connected my portal to the space beneath our bed at the inn so the light didn’t wake the girls. Assuming they hadn’t already noticed my absence.

Prepared for the worst, but hoping for the best, I crawled over the soft grass, through the portal and onto the hard wood floor of the inn. I cut the spell again and stood, careful not to make too much noise.

Glancing over my shoulder for fear of what, or whom, I might find staring back at me if I turned around fully, luck finally decided to throw me a bone. Looking every bit as comfortable as they were when I left, both my wives were fast asleep. Hell, at some point, Mana rolled over and clung to Yua, burying her face into the side of the larger girl’s breast in lieu of the pillow I had vacated and neither seemed even slightly uncomfortable.

I didn’t bother to hide my sigh of relief at seeing them looking so peaceful after nearly getting myself killed.

Once I was sure the girls and I were all safe and I had a chance to breathe, I yawned. I didn’t bother to check the time on my HUD. I was exhausted.

Careful not to move too fast, I pulled the blanket the girls were sharing back and froze when I saw Mana.

Still snoozing peacefully, she didn’t react to the chill the loss of the blanket must have brought her. But looking at her, so small, so weak and still very naked in bed, and at the small blood stain we’d left in the sheets, I was consumed with guilt.

I had taken her purity and, in a drunken stupor, left her. This same girl that cried over the life of loneliness she shared with me. How could I ever have faced her again if she’d woken up only to find me missing after that?

Though she was smiling softly as she dreamed the night away, I climbed into bed and hugged her tight, as though she were crying. It was all I could do to repent for the sin she didn’t even know I’d committed against her.

Her smile widened just a little at my touch and her warmth caused relaxation to nearly knock me out cold. Barely hanging on to consciousness, I pulled the blanket back over the three of us again and, beneath the covers, took hold of Yua’s hand. Deep within the throws of sleep herself, her beautiful face didn’t move a muscle, but her ear flicked, as if to acknowledge my return.