The orc, who was still unnamed had been smiling ever since I let him break the rogue’s hand. It was a bit unsettling actually… Regardless, I invited them both to follow Mochi and me around while we got ourselves sorted. It seemed like they didn’t have a place to go either, and they insisted on giving me all the loot from taking down the bandits… I mean mercenaries…

Either way… I felt really bad for Tooly anyway, I mean she still hadn’t even said a word. And I imagined it would have been awkward for her, seeing as how her only traveling companion was a man. Mochi I knew was just nervous and shy around new people, but I didn’t have a good read of the cute little goblin yet, so I was a bit worried.

“What’s you’re name anyway orc?” I asked, trying to relax. ‘How am I going to cram four people into my house? One of them is a guy too… Well… He’s an orc though so that’s not really a problem. He might not agree though… Also because he’s an orc…

“I am called Hu Li or Kesh, one who wanderers in search of something… An unpleasantly fitting name.”

‘So… What am I supposed to call you…’ “Ok… Well, I’m Chika… But I guess you knew that… In case you didn’t hear my halfling friend here is Mochi.”

He grunted with a nod. “Yes, halflings I admire, they make the most delicious meat.”

Mochi squeaked and flinched so hard it almost looked like she got struck by one of my lightning runes.

‘She’s probably embarrassed she can’t cook… I’ll have to make sure she doesn’t feel guilty about it…’

Tooly finally chuckled a bit, seeing her over-the-top response. “He just meant the way you cook meat, not that he was going to eat you. Don’t worry about that ok?”

I felt my body stiffen slightly as I looked back at her. ‘That’s what she was worried about?’ I let out a soft whine. I was glad Tooly thought it was funny… But… It almost made me want to cry a bit.

Regardless, It was a relief to finally hear the goblin speak, and even more so that she was getting along with Mochi. ‘Tooly and Hu li… Right… I’ll just call him Kesh.’ “Ok Kesh. Since you’re staying at my house tonight, how about I feed you all the meat you can eat, and in exchange, you use your big orc muscles to help me refine some Vethrian steal?”

“Whatever nonmonetary payment you desire is yours so long as the request is chaste.”

My eyebrow twitched. ‘Stay calm… Just…’ “For the record… You should leave things like that last part out until they become relevant…”

He nudged Tooly with the base of his spear making her squeak and jump slightly as he got her attention. “Is it not better to let them know the restrictions first to avoid misunderstandings?” He said softly.

“Y-yes… But… In this case, saying it like that implies you think she is the type of person to request such things…” She squeaked back.

‘Are they really that bad at whispering?’

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Mochi tugged on my pant leg, and I reached down and took her hand. “Chika… What does Chaste mean? I don’t get what he meant?” She asked.

‘Why me…’ “It’s like… Modest I guess. It basically means the same thing…” I opened the door to the house and immediately started to unload my storage space. First was all of my clothes, armor, weapons, and all that I stuffed in the equipment closet. I pulled the misc items like medicine out and just hung them from my bedframe before dumping all that was left from the minotaur onto the counter and immediately drawing the eyes of Kesh. When my storage was finally empty and my mind was able to clear and relax I felt a shudder travel through my whole body like a wave of euphoria, when it passed I stretched my arms and suddenly wanted to fall asleep right on the spot. “Hey… Can either of you cook?”

They looked at each other in a way that told me they could do little more than cook an egg. ‘Figures…’ “I’ll get started then…” I sighed with a heavy yawn.

After I began to cook all the meat in mass, including whatever bits of warg or spider I had on me, the silent air in the room started to get to me. Having Mochi be there quietly waiting was one thing… But now I had three people doing it. Kesh was simply content with silence, and the other two were too nervous to speak unless spoken to. ‘Ugh… I should be relaxing now that my storage is clear… This is stupid…’ “So, Kesh, you know who I am? And you know I killed the minitour in the great forest, right? How did you recognize me?”

“What do you mean? You look the same as you did back then.”

“Right… Were you there though?”

“Only momentarily, but I saw you walk into the tavern and pin the beast's head to the notice board. Not an easy thing to forget.”

“Well… Ok, but I was wearing my armor back then, and my helmet and everything. No one else recognizes me when they see me like that. Although, that’s in part because they assume I’m a guy.”

He snorted. “Absurd…”

I suddenly felt a slight tingly feeling in my chest. “If you say so…” ‘Still, it’s strange that he can recognize me not just from my former self, but my former self when I was in that state.’

“I-I can explain…” Tooly said, timidly raising her hand. “It’s because orcs don’t just see physical things, but spiritual as well. In fact, they tend to pay much more attention to things like aura, rather than physical appearance. The entire concept of attraction based on appearance is foreign to them.”

‘I think I get it…’ “Do guys and girls have different kinds of aura then?”

She shrugged looking at him before quickly turning away and tugging at her hood again.

“How long have you two been traveling together?”

“Six months.” He answered abruptly. “And no. Actually, you have a very manly aura. I can tell by scent.”

“Scent?” I felt myself stiffen again, suddenly feeling conscious of his eyes myself. ‘I shouldn’t have asked…’ “Wait, but I was covered in minitours blood right? How can you smell anything else?”

He slowly glided his fingers across his tusk with a soft groan, looking at Tooly and making her quickly get up and walk toward the door, stopping just before she opened it. “Oh, uhm… Orcs are adaptable by nature, instead of being overwhelmed, they quickly filter out scents that they have already sensed unless we want to smell it.”

“Are you alright?” I asked

“Yea… Just getting some fresh air…”

‘Her face is still red, is something wrong with her?’ She stepped outside. “Why does she seem to know more about orcs than you do?” I asked as I finished stirring the meat in one of the pans and turned around, crossing my arms and leaning back against the counter as it continued to cook.

“It’s not that she knows more. She’s just better at explaining. She’s very energetic and curious, and of course has asked all these same questions, struggling to find the answers with my poor explanations.”

‘Energetic huh…’ “She doesn’t seem very energetic… Do you think she’ll be alright?”

He let out a low hum. “She’ll be fine after a cold bath and a good night's sleep, until then it’s best I keep my distance…”

‘So this is like a normal thing then… I guess that’s a relief.’

“Halfling, Mochi… I want to fight you.”

Her eyes widened, and without so much as moving her mouth, she slowly stood up and methodically walked over to me grabbing onto my shirt. “You can say no…” I muttered. Standing up and gently wrapping an arm around her.

“No…” She said back at him, inching farther behind me.

“It seems you have a talent for making women uncomfortable.” I chuckled.

“Oh? Does that mean you are still a girl, not yet a woman?”

‘What is that supposed to mean…’ I sighed. “No… It just means I don’t let people see how uncomfortable I am… Like right now… When you said that…” Stirring the meat one final time I laid the pans out on the table, using earth magic to create a column of stone to extend it and add another chair. Opening the window I called Tooly and she timidly came back inside like a mouse afraid of getting caught. ‘Energetic huh… Well, maybe compared to him…’