There’s a few more people than last time, Joram thought as the Study Group gathered in his back yard.
Kassandra seemed to have two maids wither her this time, not counting Jezira who seemed to stick to Kassandra like glue since the summer trip. He wasn’t sure if it would be considered a cliché that the maids looked to be twins, but at this point nothing really surprised him anymore.
Faenwyn also had an attendant of some sort with her and, from what he could see, also of the Silver Wolf Tribe. Once again, he was terrible at gauging someone’s age, not only because of how a person’s cultivation interfered with that, but also because of the various races. They all aged differently, so he was constantly second-guessing himself. Which, frankly, was par for the course.
Megami had also come along, much to Wentian’s obvious delight. Joram was happy for the guy, as he’d seemed a bit lonely with every other woman he was surrounded by being on “Team Joram”. Sure, he’d claimed to be focussed on his cultivation and sparring, but he knew that Wentian was no celibate buddha who would forgo intimate relations for the rest of his life. He’d just needed to find the right person, and Megami seemed to be that person for him.
Nodding to himself, he quickly organized everyone, learning that the two maids’ names were Vylryss and Nemora, while Faenwyn’s attendant’s name was Lucia. The maids seemed to be in the early stages of Tier 3, while Lucia was in the late 4th Tier, making him wonder what Faenwyn’s family was thinking by sending such a powerful cultivator along with her.
As far as he knew, Faenwyn was just from a minor noble house, so sending along a 4th Tier mage as an attendant was pretty extravagant. He shrugged.
Once everyone was organized and off to the side, he brought out the Soyokaze and got everyone boarded. He couldn’t help but take amusement from the three new people’s reactions to everything, though. It was just so refreshing.
It took him a few minutes to get used to the upgrades that Avi had made on the Soyokaze though. She’d had the shields upgraded to a full deflector array, as well as getting a ridiculous upgrade to the ship’s sensor array installed. The resolution was fantastic, allowing for a sharp image of something even several thousand kilometres away. Which make the VR helmet even more fun to use.
Then something much closer caught his attention and made him gape in surprise at the waving figures standing in his back yard.
* * *
“I’m so glad that we caught you before you left,” Layla said, giving Joram a bright smile as Aenwyn stood at her side, smiling politely.
“I- ah, um,” Joram eloquently stuttered as he took them in. She really couldn’t blame him, especially given how they were dressed.
They’d arrived in their adventuring gear, loaded up to the nines. Layla had come in black leather armour that had straps criss-crossing almost every part of it, including her greaves. She also had a narrow longsword at her hip that was balanced on the other side with a short sword of the same design. Her hair was tied up into a tight bun that allowed a bit of her hair to fall down the back of her slender neck.
Aenwyn was similarly garbed, though she had an impressive bow somehow clinging to her back, though with no quiver in sight. Layla was proud of the weapon, as it would form its own ammunition as its string was drawn back. She also had a pair of mêlée weapons on her belt, a short sword and long dirk in her case.
“Sorry for the late notice,” she continued, giving an apologetic smile this time. “My vacation time was just approved, you see. I didn’t want to raise expectations just in case I couldn’t make it in time,” she finished, still taking in her surroundings.
Joram’s flight artifact was… unique. She’d never seen anything like it, proving to her that Joram was indeed an incredibly unique, powerful, and interesting person. Not only that, but given everything around her, she was now more convinced than ever that he was indeed a Reincarnator, and possibly an Outworlder given the strange design elements of… everything.
“Ah, well, glad to see you too,” Joram said, still obviously caught off balance by their presence. “But, why would someone of your stature want to come on a mundane questing excursion?” he asked, impressing her with how he’d managed to phrase his question.
“Since we’re business partners, I thought that we should get to know one another better,” she replied automatically. “Besides, we still haven’t had a chance to go over things, and I thought it would be best to get that done sooner, rather than later.”
“On a quest…?” Joram asked, obviously suspecting something was up, proving that he wasn’t as simple as he tried to come off as.
“What better way to get to know someone?” she asked with another disarming smile. “The thrill of the fight, entrusting your safety to those around you as everyone contributes to the ultimate victory. Each person constantly honing their skills, living on the edge as we struggle to survive out in the wild,” she said, getting a bit caught up in the moment as she imagined the struggles they’d all go through together, then overcoming them with teamwork and coming out of it all as fast friends. Perhaps even bosom buddies, brothers and sisters for life! The romance of it nearly swept her away.
Joram just blinked at her for a moment with an odd expression on his face before he eventually spoke.
“Ah, sure. I’m not sure if it’ll be as exciting as all that, but I hope you’ll enjoy yourselves,” he said, looking a bit unsure.
“I’m sure that we’ll have a splendid time,” she said, giving him another winning smile.
Joram nodded at that, then directed them to take a seat as they needed to take off.
Layla took a seat at what appeared to be a kitchen table, followed closely by Aenwyn.
“Where’s Alicia?” Aenwyn asked after looking around a bit more.
“She’s in seclusion, trying to break through to the 3rd Tier,” Emily answered them as she took the seat on Layla’s left, opposite Aenwyn.
“Oh, that’s amazing!” she exclaimed, astonished at her progress given that she, herself, was already at Tier 3, Rank 8.
“Isn’t it?” Emily asked, a smile curling her lips in a way that reminded Layla of a cat that was eyeing a treat. “If I’m not wrong, she’s also pushing for Tier 3 as a Mentalist as well.”
Both Layla and Aenwyn blinked at that, astonished. It was hard enough to reach Tier 3 at her age in any sort of cultivation, but to be breaking through to Tier 3 in both areas at the same time was virtually unheard of, especially at her age.
“I suddenly feel as though I’ve been slacking off all my life,” Aenwyn said dejectedly from her other side.
“Don’t be,” Emily said, smiling enough to show off her pointy incisors. “There’s no use in comparing yourself to a monster like her.”
“Or Joram?” Layla asked slyly, then enjoyed Emily’s brief look of surprise. “Already being in the 4th Tier as a Mentalist is beyond incredible, especially at his age,” she finished, throwing Emily a proverbial bag of catnip to play with.
From there, Layla was impressed with just how taken Emily was with Joram. She could admit, Joram was an attractive young man, more so than most of her unwanted suitors. Though, having had more time to get a better look at him, she realized that he and Kinkade shared a remarkable resemblance. It wasn’t so much physical, as their features and physiques weren’t at all similar, but how they stood, their mannerisms, and even their facial expressions.
Grinning, Layla continued to speak with Emily, then Renna when she joined in on the conversation. She didn’t fail to notice the looks she was getting, however. From the other two princesses and their escorts to the other members of Joram’s “Study Group”, she could practically feel them weighing her and Aenwyn, trying to decide how they should feel about their presence.
Just as they were getting into discussing their preferred combat styles, she felt a minor tremor run through the vessel through the soles of her feet. She glanced over and saw that they were now in a forest, and from what she could see out the front window, surrounded by absolutely massive trees.
“We’re here,” Joram announced as he removed an odd helmet and placed it on a stand on the back of the chair that he’d been sitting in. “Did anyone explain the accommodations to our guests?” he asked, looking around at everyone.
After a few shakes of a few heads, Joram sighed as he led the way to the weird door and opened it by touching a smooth panel as he began explaining about his small dimensional shelter. They filed out of the vessel and into a wide and somewhat rocky clearing. The air was fresh and filled with the scent of the wet season, bringing out earthy elements that were more pleasant than not.
She noticed Joram take another look around before retrieving what looked like a white six-sided die and tapping one side of it. She nearly gasped when an opaque portal appeared beside him even though he’d explained what he’d be doing.
It wasn’t every day that someone showed off a dimensional shelter like that, and her brain automatically started pricing out what such an artifact would fetch at auction.
“Come on, everyone in,” he said, waving the Study Group through the portal.
Not that they seemed to need encouragement to go through, for they all seemed unusually eager to enter. She wondered at that, mostly because dimensional shelters weren’t terribly well known for their appealing interiors, mostly consisting of a standard room with few features. And little comfort to be had.
“What about your flying artifact?” she asked, then turned slightly to indicate his vessel before gaping at the empty space where it had been a few moments before.
“Taken care of,” Joram said, shrugging. “You should probably head in, as I’m not terribly sure that the magical beasts in the area will stay away for very long,” he said, pointing over his shoulder with a thumb at the treeline.
“Thank you, Joram,” Aenwyn said as she gave him a slight bow, then took Layla’s hand in hers and pulled her to the portal.
Passing through it, she felt that familiar flipping of her stomach that indicated she’d stepped through a dimensional portal. Then stopped dead at the sight in front of her.
“Whaaaaaaat?” she asked Aenwyn who also appeared to be just as stunned as she was.
The place must have been several hundred yards on each side, though the space didn’t end with the walls that she expected to see. Instead, she saw blue skies, as though they were on a floating island in the middle of the sky. The green grass looked to be well-cared for, the trees healthy and vibrant.
Then the large manor house that reminded her of some styles found in Zhizun Zhanshi nearly took her breath away. It certainly wasn’t something that would have been made with the space. No, it had been added afterwards, likely at another great expense.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Joram began giving them a tour of the grounds as the others followed along behind quietly chatting amongst themselves.
“The front yard can be used to various activities. Practice, games, and all that. The back yard, here, is mostly for leisure,” he said, motioning as they came around the corner of the manor.
A second building made in the same style as the manor greeted them, but also a small gazebo, paved paths, well cared-for trees, a small stream, a couple of low bridges over said streams, and even a small pond.
“This is the bath house,” he said as he brought them to it, then inside.
It was quite the sight, blowing her expectations right out of the water with how well it was made, but also just how extravagant and massive the hot spring baths were. But her favourite was the flavoured milk afterwards.
“Can we sell these?” she asked, eyes sparking as she held and empty glass of chocolate milk in her hands, practically vibrating with enthusiasm.
“Ah, well, maybe we could add a small restaurant at the department store,” Joram replied, looking a bit embarrassed. “Or maybe Alicia can add them to the menu at Starfall Café when she’s all done.”
Layla nodded at that, already making plans to visit the café in the near future.
“All right,” Joram said, leading them back to the manor. “I’m sure that everyone is likely to take the rooms that they used before, so just feel free to grab any open room and settle in. Once everyone is settled in, we’ll go over the schedule before lunch,” he said, motioning for her and Aenwyn to follow the other young women.
Layla followed Renna through the manor, then up the stairs. She was continually impressed by both how simple everything was, yet how much detail had gone into making everything. There were simple patterns carved into all of the woodwork, from the trim along the floor to the trim along the walls at the ceiling, all the way to the banister.
Though, given how large the manor was, it still had a simple setup where the top of the stairs led to a long hallway with two other hallways interesting it, leading to the various rooms. Simple. Yet each room was large enough to be more than comfortable if more than one person chose to stay in a room.
“Why only one bed?” Aenwyn asked, looking around the room that they’d chosen near the end of the second hallway.
“Perhaps he only expected one occupant per room?” Layla mused as she went around inspecting the well-made furniture.
“I guess with so many rooms, he assumed that everyone would just take one,” Aenwyn said, now looking at the bedroom door while thinking.
“Feel free to get your own room,” she said, encouraging her friend. “It’s not like we’re in a foreign city and need to watch out for each other.”
“Aren’t we, though?” Aenwyn asked, raising a delicate eyebrow.
“Oh?” she asked, wanting her friend to explain her thoughts.
“We’re in a secluded space with a man that we arguably know very little about. Surrounded by others who’ve attached themselves to him, rather aggressively, I might add. Who knows what they’ll do if we say the wrong thing,” her friend said, shaking her head. “Who knows what they might do if they perceive us as competition going after Joram?”
Layla smiled as her friend laid out the very same thoughts that she’d had, went over to her, and then gave her a light hug.
“You’re the best,” she said, startling her friend. “I’ve had the very same thoughts, but have already discarded them,” she said, confusing Aenwyn further.
“But, why?”
Before answering, Layla touched one of her rings, activating a privacy ward.
“Have you been paying attention to Joram?” she asked with more than a little bit of curiosity.
“In what way?” Aenwyn hedged, making Layla smile.
“Oh, it’s fine if you were checking him out, he’s quite handsome,” she said, eliciting a slight blush from her friend. “But no, not in that way. Have you been paying attention to his body language? His mannerisms?”
Aenwyn paused to think about what she’d observed of Joram so far, applying the training she’d received, and continued to receive, at Heaven’s Bounty. Each employee was required to take, and pass, various courses related to interaction. Be it basic diplomacy or advanced negotiations all the way to body language and picking up on a person’s various tones as they spoke.
It was very comprehensive, and expensive, but the management had found that with a solid grounding in such training, their profits increased as their employees learned how to better accommodate their clients, and how to read them. Especially when it came to encouraging supplemental purchases. That’s where the big money was at.
“He does remind me a bit of Kinkade, now that you mention it,” Aenwyn finally said, her brows coming down at the end. “But, Kinkade isn’t nearly as… comfortable with so many beautiful women around him. Or, should I say, isn’t as familiar with other women as Joram seems to be,” she finished, obviously preferring Kinkade’s obvious devotion to Asura.
“Well, here’s the thing,” she said, then explained how she suspected that Kinkade was merely an alter ego of Joram’s. From how they both acted, spoke, and moved, all the way to how she thought that Kinkade was merely a projection that was controlled remotely.
“Then, Asura…?” Aenwyn asked, seeming a bit stunned at the revelation.
“Given how alike Alicia and Asura are, I’m thinking that Asura is Alicia’s alter ego as well,” she surmised, feeling very proud of herself.
“But, they were all at the dinner together. How would that work?”
“Remember, they’re both very strong Mentalists. Something like having a projection going wouldn’t likely be too hard for someone like that,” she said, nodding to herself.
Aenwyn looked a bit stricken at that and had to take a seat to process things.
Layla could understand the feeling very well. When she’d finally come to her conclusions two nights ago, she’d been too distracted to even sleep. In fact, she’d only managed to get a bit of sleep the night before, but only because she’d taken a sleeping pill. She’d been too excited to calm down, especially with what the revelation likely meant.
“So, they’ve been tricking us this entire time?” Aenwyn asked, sounding despondent.
“I don’t blame them,” she replied, getting a sharp look from her friend. “Given how old they are, do you think they’d have been able to even enter the auction house in the first place?”
“Well, no,” Aenwyn replied, sounding a bit grudging in her admission.
“Not only that, but how likely would it have been that they’d have been robbed after an auction? Or, perhaps even taken advantage of because of their age?”
“Well, things like that have certainly happened in the past,” Aenwyn admitted, not sounding happy about that at all.
“Especially given what they’d brought for sale,” Layla added, giving her friend a significant look. “And I very much suspect that Joram was the one who made those gems in the first place,” she said, dropping her last [Wall Breaker] on her friend.
“No…”
Layla just waited a bit for Aenwyn to process things a bit more. It was understandable that she’d be reeling from her words, as Layla herself hadn’t taken those thoughts and realizations easily either.
Eventually Aenwyn collected herself enough to look at her friend again, though she was still frowning.
“I still don’t like being lied to like that,” she said, sounding cross.
“I don’t either. But, again, I understand why they did. But. That they felt comfortable enough to meet with us in person, let alone start up a lucrative business together, tells me that they’re at least starting to trust us more than they did at the beginning of our acquaintanceship.”
“But they still lied to m-us, a lot,” she said, now looking hurt.
“Then let’s talk with Joram about it,” she said, sitting beside her friend on the bed while taking her hands in hers.
“You don’t think that he’ll, I don’t know, freak out and kick us out or something?” Aenwyn asked, now looking more worried than hurt.
“Well, that’s a possibility,” she said, but overtalked Aenwyn as she tried to say something else. “But I doubt it. I very much suspect that his gift of that topaz on his birthday was a hint, one that he probably hoped that I’d pick up on. Otherwise, why else would he have given me such a thing?” she asked, giving her friend an earnest, and searching look.
“I don’t know,” Aenwyn said, still frowning. “But, if he wanted to share, why hasn’t he done it sooner?”
“I have no idea. But I’m glad that he gave that little clue that tipped things for me. I’ve known for quite a while now that Kinkade and Asura are both projections, but I didn’t want to risk alienating or pushing them away by bringing it up with them,” she said, giving her friend a rueful smile.
“But, why didn’t you tell me?!” Aenwyn asked indignantly as her back straightened like a rod.
“Because, my dear friend, you’re too honest,” she said, giving her friend her best smile. “I wanted to make sure of things before I shared, because you wear your thoughts on your sleeve.”
“I do not!” Aenwyn protested, now looking as though she’d been slapped. “I was one of the best in my classes! Not a single customer has ever complained!”
“Well, be that as it may. I can, at least, read you like a book,” she said, then pulled her friend into a warm hug. “You’re amazing, but I couldn’t risk letting them know that I suspected something; they’re just too big a fish to risk letting get away.”
Aenwyn harumphed at that, but eventually returned the hug before they both straightened out again to regard one another.
“So? What now?”
“Hmm, we do as we said we would,” Layla said, barely even thinking about it. “We do requests with them, share meals with them… explore that heavenly bath…” she said, now thinking about how lovely it would be to soak in such a spacious bath.
“Mmnmmm,” Aenwyn agreed, nodding more at the end. “I suppose that I can give him the benefit of the doubt,” she said, then murmured. “Especially for that bath…”
Layla smiled, glad that she’d calmed her best friend.
* * *
Joram stopped as he was heading to the hot springs after the strategy meeting and suppressed a sigh.
“Miss Layla, Aenwyn,” he said, giving each of them a nod. “Are there any other questions that I can help you with?”
Miss Layla smiled one of her usual devastatingly beautiful smiles as she stopped with Aenwyn. They were holding each other’s hand while each carried a small basket in the other hand that looked to be filled with various jars.
“Would you mind chatting for a bit?” Miss Layla asked, motioning towards the bathhouse.
“Sure?” he replied, not quite knowing what was up with the bombshell auctioneer before starting off again.
Once inside, he headed off to the men’s changeroom and quickly changed into a pair of swim trunks, anticipating the pair wanting to chat while attending the “shared” bathing area. Once done, he made his way into the shared area and quickly washed off before finding a good spot to relax in. He then leaned back and closed his eyes, enjoying the relaxing feeling of being in water. Ostensibly hot water, though his outright immunity to fire and incredible resistance to heat kind of ruined that part of the experience.
A few minutes later, he noticed the women’s changeroom door open through his FoP and nearly shifted away in a panic. They’d both entered wearing just towels over their torsos, leaving their incredibly shapely legs in full view. Well, he supposed that that should have been expected given that they were in a bathhouse and all.
But still. They were both incredibly beautiful women, so it made things a bit awkward for him. Though, given how much he’d been inoculated over the past months, it wasn’t as bad as it would have been just a year ago. He silently gave thanks to Avi for having helped him with that awkward part of his personality.
“Ooooh, it really is warm,” Aenwyn said, practically purring as she slipped into the pool-like bath just before Miss Layla.
For her part, Miss Layla actually purred her approval of the temperature as she settled in just a few feet to his left, sending ripples to lap against his side due to his arms being extended out to the sides and resting on the lip of the bath, his head resting on the lip so that he could stare up at the open sky. Then he really did just about shift away as they both removed their towels, folded them, and used them as pillows as they, too, leaned back to enjoy the open sky.
“Ah, you don’t…” he started, not at all sure what to say about the two’s choice to in doing… that.
“Mmm?” Miss Layla started, sounding sleepy already. “Isn’t this how it’s done?” she asked as she tilted her head to the side so that she could regard him, then spoke, sounding a bit surprised. “Aren’t your eyes closed?”
“Yep.”
“You’re very perceptive, then,” Miss Layla said as Aenwyn nodded, looking to be a bit uncomfortable with the situation, though she was hiding it remarkably well.
“Hmmm, good proprioception,” he said, shrugging it off as best he could. “That said, would you like more towels?” he asked, not quite sure of everything that was going on.
What are they up to? Are they just doing this to try to fit in with the others somehow? Or are they doing it for another reason? Did Miss Layla figure things out and is trying the legendary “Honey Trap”?
“That would actually be appreciated, thank you,” Miss Layla said after a moments’ pause, sounding genuinely appreciative. “I feel as though we’re not on the same playing field, given your attire,” she said, referring to his swim trunks.
Nodding fractionally, he just plain created a pair of “towels” with [Ectoplasmic Creation], making them to mimic a soft cotton/poly mix. He didn’t want to make them too absorbent, after all. By now, it was easy enough to make the ectoplasm resemble whatever he wanted, so the usual silvery sheen of ectoplasm was nowhere to be seen. For all intents and purposes, the towels were really made out of cotton/poly.
He used a bit of [Telekinesis] to pass them over, keeping his eyes closed the entire time, though that didn’t stop him from sneaking a peak with his FoP, much to his shame.
“Ohhhhh~~?” Miss Layla practically cooed, sounding like the cat who’d gotten into the treat bag. “So, you can still blush. I was starting to think that I’d somehow lost my touch,” she finished with a musical laugh that deepened his blush.
“Well, I’d have to be a eunuch to not react to two such beauties,” he hedged with a bit of honesty as he studiously kept his eyes closed.
“It must be easier to keep your cool when you’re ‘Kinkade’, eh?” she asked, causing him to start slightly, then laugh at his reaction. “Yes, I’ve figured it out. Though, I must say that your reactions in person are much more honest than when you’re visiting as Kinkade,” she said, sounding full of mirth and… happiness?
“Well, I guess that’ll make things easier, going forward,” he said, looking over when they were done wrapping themselves in the new towels. “So, how’re we going to proceed from here, Miss Layla?” he asked, not quite sure of how he wanted to proceed with the pair.
“Well, that all depends on you,” Miss Layla said, smiling at him. “But first, you can drop the honorifics. Just call me Layla,” she said, giving him yet another one of her amazing smiles.
This… is going to get complicated, he thought as he fervently wished that Avi wasn’t in seclusion so that she could help him navigate the minefield that he suddenly found himself blindly treading.