SHINJI'S NEW LIFE
By Gunman and Reisfriend

Disclaimer: We still own nothing and very likely never will.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 23
Foes From Below

Shinji woke up, feeling Tia and Hana clinging on to him in their sleep. The combined smell, weight and warmth of his two lovers felt amazing in such a way that he felt like falling asleep again.

'Do you find this amusing Lianna-sama?' He thought as he stared at the ceiling.

And sure enough, Lianna and the Goddess of Love did find the scene amusing, but they also felt jealous.

As he looked at his lovers sleeping faces, he was thankful that they didn't do a threesome, since he doubted that he could survive such a thing, at least for now.

Not wanting to wake them, he thought back to the previous day when they had a rather tasty dinner after the bath.

Ayl did most of the talking, but Aelene occasionally asked the others some questions, like where they were from, how they met and what they did together.

But the way Aelene had sneaked glances at Shinji from the corner of her eyes made him think that she might be on to him about something. He wondered what would happen if she knew that he was from another world. Best case scenario was that she would only want to know more about his world and keep it to herself.

When he told his story to Aelene, he wasn't sure if she bought it, since it was a bit difficult to read the older she-elf.

But so far Ayl didn't tell her mother that Shinji had two blessings from the Gods, though he wondered if they would tell her. He just hoped that Aelene didn't raise a fuss about it.

He closed his eyes, trying to fall back to sleep in the comfortable warmth of Tia and Hana.

Half an hour later, he had almost fallen asleep, until Hana woke up and shook him awake.

"Shinji, wake up." She said sleepily.

"Hnn, Hana." Shinji groaned.

"Time to wake up." She said as he opened his eyes.

Before he could say anything, Hana kissed him lightly.

"Today we are going to go sightseeing the elven village." Hana said after the kiss.

"And get a souvenir for Juna." He added.

"You are not going anywhere without me." Tia said as she woke up.

"Can't you let me go alone with Shinji?" Hana asked the lancer.

"No. Me and Lilia also get to have Shinji, since we are not in Ithalan right now." Tia replied before she kissed him.

'Getting kissed by two beauties right after waking up. What luxury.' He thought.

The trio went downstairs after dressing up and found Ayl and Lilia sitting at the dinner table, eating bread and fruits.

"So you finally woke up." Ayl commented.

"Well, I was tired and sleeping with these two was very comfortable." Shinji countered as they sat down. Tia smiled lightly while Hana blushed.

Lilia seemed to be displeased as she ate the bread. Tia noticed this and said: "You can sleep with Shinji tonight."

The demi-humans expression softened when she heard that.

"Thanks Tia." She said.

During the meal, Shinji asked Ayl about why her mother didn't hug her or anything, since he was curious. Ayl answered that elves don't generally touch each other, only lovers and close friends touch each other in some way. Shinji thought that they had a similar custom like in Japan.

Hana asked if there was a blacksmith or a trader who sold something and Ayl answered that there was a trader and a blacksmith and they both sold stuff that could be used in daily life and decorations as well.

Lilia asked where Aelene was and Ayl replied that she was training the elven warriors in archery.

When they were done with the meal, Ayl offered to show them the village and they agreed.

When they left to tour the village, Ayl showed them the residential area, which mainly had just homes where elves lived and they noticed only three elven children running around, playing tag. Hana thought that the kids looked really cute. Shinji thought that one didn't see elven kids in movies but now that he saw actual elven kids, they did look like they would grow either handsome or beautiful, which was a common trait in elves.

Then Ayl lead them to the farmland, where several elves were seamlessly working together. The elven method of working the field looked more efficient then the way humans worked the fields in Lilia's opinion. Ayl explained that the fields had no owner and all the food went to everyone instead of selling them to inn's and food markets. They also noticed that the elves were using water magic quite a lot to water the crops, unlike humans.

The tour continued to the area that overlooked the grounds where the elven warriors were trained. They saw about 400 elves in armors practicing with swords,spears and shields, but no axes or hammers. They also saw Ayl's mother instructing elves on archery as they were shooting their arrows at training dummies and some elves were even riding on horses and shooting the said dummies from horseback. Some were also practicing offensive and defensive magic.

Tia and Lilia looked quite impressed by the level of discipline the elves displayed, as well as the elegant fighting style they displayed with their spears. Lilia looked enviously at the bows they were using and wanted one, deciding to look for one at the blacksmith. Brighid thought that humans could only win against these warriors with superior numbers.

"Ayl, does the blacksmith sell bows?" Lilia asked as they left the training area.

"He does, but they can be expensive, depending on the material used." She replied.

"How about spears?" Tia asked.

"Same thing as with the bows." Ayl answered.

"I still would like to see if there is something that would suit me." Tia said.

"Well then, let's go see if there is something." Ayl said and started leading them to the blacksmith.

The blacksmiths forge was located near an open area with a stream next to the building and there was a blond haired elven male banging on a piece of metal outside next to a small forge. And he was assisted by a blond elven woman.

Ayl explained that the blacksmiths name was Rados and the apprentice was Runon and they made the smaller items outside, like knives and other small decorative things while they made the bigger and more complicated things in the basement which was ventilated with wind magic stones and windows. And the forge inside was also bigger.

Shinji noted that they had stuffed cloth in their ears. He figured that was what they used for hearing protection.

Rados told Runon something and handed him the tongs she was using to hold the piece of metal. The apprentice came over to the team and greeted them.

"Ayl, it has been a while since you visited." Runon said.

"It certainly has. How have you been doing Runon?" Ayl replied.

"Same old. I'm getting better and now I can make swords and shields." Runon said.

Shinji and the other girls took a look at the elven woman and noted that she had a cute face and a lean body with muscles developing and she had small breasts, about Lilia's size.

"Good for you. Maybe one day you get to repair my sword." Ayl complimented.

"Perhaps. And this time you brought friends with you as well. Are they going to buy something?" She asked.

"I would like to buy a bow." Lilia joined the conversation.

"And I would like a new spear." Tia added.

"We have some that might suit you. Follow me." Runon said and lead them inside the house that was bigger then the regular houses they viewed at the residential area.

Inside there was a variety of swords, spears, bows and a few shields on display. Lilia and Tia went to look over their weapons of choice with starry eyes.

Hana looked around and saw that there was nothing that would make a good souvenier for her aunt. But then again she wasn't sure what she should get for her, since she wasn't good at picking presents or souvenirs.

Tia had picked up a spear which had a black shaft and the blade was curved and made from metal Shinji didn't recognize. But the weapon itself reminded him of a naginata.

Lilia had picked up a bow that looked like any elven bow one saw in fantasy movies. The bow had two small mana stones embedded on the backside of the belly.

He decided to look around the store and check if there was anything he could use with his powers. There were several knives on display, but he thought that he already had enough knives. He hoped that there would be shurikens, but he also thought that most likely those didn't exist in this world.

Brighid was looking over the short swords, but so far nothing had caught her eye, since her sword was made from Brightsteel and none of the swords on display were made from better materials.

Tia and Lilia went over to buy the weapons they picked out. Lilia had to pay 3 gold coins for the bow and Tia had to pay 24 gold coin for the spear. Runon then showed Lilia how to change the mana stones in the bow and showed the special feature the bow had. The bow could change color to blend in to the environment, which was a common feature in the elven hunters bows, as well as the border guards bows.

After leaving the blacksmith, Ayl lead the group to the traders house which was a two-storey house. The merchant was a fairly good looking elven man with black hair, green eyes and was wearing an expensive looking outfit made from silk. Shinji had to suppress his laughter, since he thought that the outfit looked pointlessly flashy.

"Welcome Ayl. How can I help you?" The merchant spoke.

"Hello Gael. I just brought my friends over to see your wares." Ayl replied.

"Feel free to browse. I offer quality goods at fair prices." Gael said in salesman-like manner, which almost made Shinji explode from laughter. And the flashy outfit didn't help.

The wares on display were clothes, kitchenware, vases, spices, alcoholic drinks, preserved food and a few saddles for the horses.

Hana found a wooden wine jug with a landscape carving on it and decided to bring it to her aunt as a souvenier.

Tia and Lilia went over to look at the clothes, along with Shinji. Lilia picked out a hooded hunters jacket, which was enchanted to blend into the environment. Tia picked out a pair of boots that, in her opinion, matched with her leather pants. Shinji picked out a pair of leather gloves which were made from cut resistant leather he had seen Gallus wear when he worked. He figured that if he had to move monster corpses, the gloves would protect his hands to some degree at least.

Brighid had picked out 3 bottles of different whiskeys and one bottle of ale. Ayl picked out 2 bottles of mead.

Gael thanked them all for the purchases they made as they paid and left the house.

"So what do you think about my village." Ayl asked suddenly.

"It's quite peaceful." Shinji said.

"A good place to retire." Tia commented.

"The forest looks like a good hunting ground." Lilia said.

"I think it's boring." Brighid said.

Everyone except Ayl turned to look at Brighid.

"I mean there is nothing to do here. No entertainment at all. Not even a bar." The Ranger explained.

"That's true. One of the reasons I became an adventurer was because I wanted excitement." Ayl agreed.

Everyone gave Ayl a puzzled expression.

"Since we elves live longer then humans, we are more used to slow life without excitement. But there are those who want to experience excitement and danger." Ayl clarified.

"And one of the reasons why you don't see many elves in human towns or cities is because the number of thrill seeking elves is low?" Brighid asked.

"Exactly." Ayl replied.

GUUUUUUUU! Hana's stomach growled, which embarrassed her so much that she buried her face to Shinji's shoulder.

"Looks like it's lunch time." Ayl said, but she was secretly glad that this time her appetite didn't embarrass her.

She lead her friends back to her house, where they ate sandwiches and some chicken that was left over from yesterday, which was preserved in a cabinet with a preservative magic, same as the one Shinji saw in the chest he found on his first day.

During the meal, Shinji asked Ayl if there was a library and Ayl replied that there was, but all the texts were in elven, so he couldn't read them. Ayl didn't know that Shinji could read and understand all the languages of this world, thanks to his patron Gods.

When the meal was eaten, the others decided to take a nap, since they were bored and feeling lethargic. Shinji and Ayl left the house on her request.

Ayl lead Shinji to a secluded area near the stables, where there was a table and some chairs.

"Shinji, are you bored?" Ayl asked.

"Well, if I'm being honest, then yes. I would like to have something to do to pass the time." He replied.

"I understand. Even I'm getting bored now. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I just thought that you could all use a break and rest." She said.

"Well, Hana is at least a little bit happy because she got to go on journey with us." Shinji said, trying to comfort her.

"Well there's that. What kind of entertainment is there in your world Shinji?" Ayl asked.

"That's an even taller order then the vehicles, but we have things like this." Shinji started telling her about his world's entertainment.

Ayl listened for the past 4 hours how her apprentice explained to her about the things the people did for fun in his world. Board games, sports, billiard, darts, horse races, card games. Ayl stopped him after the card games. Shinji decided not to try and explain video games and movies, since she most likely wouldn't understand.

"The more I hear about your world, this world seems so primitive by comparison." Ayl commented jealously.

Shinji started laughing at her expression. Her face looked hilarious when she was jealous.

"Why are you laughing?" Ayl asked, confused.

"Your face just looks so funny when you're jealous." He answered.

Ayl suddenly grabbed him and started giving him a noogie. "This is payback."

"Oww oww!" Shinji whined as Ayl ground her knuckles against his head.

After Ayl stopped, she said: "A little bit of payback for making fun of me."

"Yeah, well now it's my turn." Shinji said suddenly attacked her by starting to tickle her sides.

"Aaaahhh! NO! Hahahhaaaahaaa!" She started laughing and tried to back away from him but she fell on the table.

Shinji continued to tickle her mercilessly as she laid on the table. "Staaaahwp Shini aahhhahahhaaa!" Ayl babbled as she tried and failed to suppress her laughter.

He stopped tickling her and waited for her to calm down.

"You are so evil Shinji." Ayl grumbled at him.

"Tickling you is just too much fun." Shinji said, smirking at her frowning face.

"You know, my parents used to wake me up by tickling me, since I was a heavy sleeper when I was a kid. It was one of their ways of amusing themselves." Ayl said.

"Parents do have a tendency to do that. My parents sometimes woke me up by yanking my blanket off of me when I overslept." Shinji said.

"They didn't tickle you?" Ayl asked.

"I'm not that ticklish." He answered.

"Too bad. I was thinking that maybe I would torture you with tickling." Ayl said.

Shinji started laughing as did Ayl. When they stopped, Shinji said: "Ayl, just talking with you like this is quite fun. But is there a carpenter in this village who could make a dartboard and could we ask the blacksmith to make some darts? I think that it would be a popular game anywhere."

Ayl seemed to think about his suggestion. "Not a bad idea actually. The dartboard sounds easy enough, but you would have to draw a picture of it as a model for the carpenter. And a sketch of the darts for the blacksmith."

"I think I can do that. I'm a pretty good drawer." He said.

"I'll bring you some paper and ink later. But I have to go now Shinji." Ayl said.

"Go where?" He asked curiously.

"I have to go see Vanir's parents and inform them that their son is avenged." She answered.

"Do you want me to come with you?" He asked.

"No. This is my concern. Just go to the others." She said and started walking away.

He watched her walking towards the residential area for a while before he decided to just go back to the house.

'I just hope that it goes well.' He thought, thinking how painful it must be for her.

Thinking what Ayl had to go through, he hoped that he wouldn't have to do something what his mentor had to do right now.

Sitting at the porch, he started thinking what he would do right now. In the elven village, there wasn't much to do for entertainment. People worked until late at night and then they would just rest and eat and wash up. And repeat. The idea was quite depressing to him. Just work all day long thoughout the year.

"Shinji." He was snapped out of his musings when someone shook him.

"Lilia." He said as he turned to look.

"What are you doing just sitting out here?" She asked.

"Just thinking." He answered.

"What were you thinking?" She asked as she sat next to him.

"The people here don't do anything for fun. So I was trying to think up something that would be entertaining and fun for everyone." He explained.

"And did you come up with something?" The archer asked.

"I think so. What would you think about a game like this?" He started explaining the dartboard to her.

"What a marvelous idea Shinji! I want to try it!" Lilia exclaimed excitedly.

"You like the idea?" He asked, surprised by her excited reaction.

"A game where you compete which one can achieve a required amount of points and it requires accuracy to hit the specific target. Of course I like the idea." She answered.

"Then I just have to make a good drawing for the carpenter and the blacksmith." He said.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"I talked about this with Ayl and she said that she would bring me paper and ink so I can draw the board and darts required." He explained.

"Oh. I can't wait." She said and suddenly moved to sit on his lap, facing him.

"Lilia?" He asked, surprised that his cute archer friend suddenly straddled him.

"Could we make out for a bit? I couldn't sleep." She asked.

"Sure." He answered, only mildly surprised by her suggestion, since out of all of his lovers, Lilia was the most enthusiastic when it came to being intimate. The others weren't holding back, but Lilia seemed to be ready to go at it at any time.

"But could you bring out your ears and tail first?" He asked before she could kiss him.

She didn't answer, but she made her ears and tail visible.

"You're so cute Lilia." He managed to say before she pressed her lips against his.

Her arms wrapped around his neck and his left hand went down to her firm ass as his right hand went to her back. She squirmed against his left hand as she felt him touching her rear as they continued kissing and grinding their tongues against each other.

'Oh God her body feels so good.' He thought as he felt his dick getting harder.

Lilia pulled back, a thin thread of saliva connecting them as she panted for air.

"Shinji, this feels so good." She said quietly.

"I also like this Lilia." He said, groping her ass a bit harder.

"Mnn." Lilia moaned.

"Can I touch your ears Lilia?" He asked suddenly.

"Eh? You want to touch them?" She asked in surprise.

"Is it bad?" He asked.

"No, you can touch them. Just be gentle, they're sensitive." She said and waited for him to touch them.

His hands went up to her ears as he started to caress them as gently as he could.

"Oh!" Lilia moaned cutely.

'They're so soft and fluffy.' He thought, loving the soft feeling in his fingers as he continued to touch her ears.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ayl was walking back from her meeting with Vanir's parents. While they were upset at having to be reminded of their sons death, they finally had closure to the matter since their sons killer was finally confirmed dead.

She didn't like having to be reminded of her past lovers death, but she was glad that it was over. And she had Shinji to thank for it.

Ayl had to smile at how much better her life had been since Shinji had come into her life. If not for him, Mirian would have had the last laugh.

Suddenly, her ears twitched. She looked around, a sense of dread welling up inside her. Her years of adventuring had given her a heightened instinct about danger.

'Something is coming' she thought as she looked out towards the forests, hearing the clomping hooves of a horse. Then two horses, then three.

"AYL!" Lord Aranel shouted, riding a brown horse ahead of two others.

"Father?" Ayl gasped when she saw her father.

"Grab On!" He shouted as he passed her, grabbing her hand and hoisting her up behind him.

Ayl was quick to react, flipping herself up behind her father as he continued to ride hard with his two guards behind him.

"Father, what is happening?" Ayl shouted, wondering why he was so panicked.

"We're being attacked!" he replied.

"Attacked? By who?" she asked.

"Not who, by what!"

SCREEEECH!

Ayl gasped when she heard the roar of a creature.

'No! It can't be!' She gasped when she heard it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shinji and Lilia were sitting underneath a nearby tree, just resting in the shade. Lilia was lying against Shinji like he was a pillow. Lilia had wanted to move somewhere more secluded and with more shade

Something buzzed in Shinji's head.

'What the... metal? Moving... towards us? But where the heck...' he thought as he suddenly heard the heavy hoofbeats of a horse heading towards them.

"SHINJI!" Ayl shouted.

Suddenly, the earth exploded open as a large worm-like creature surprised one of Aranel's guards. It's large tongue wrapped around the guards horse and caused the male elf to be thrown off. He hit the ground hard, his horse was not so lucky.

Shinji and Lilia balked when they saw it.

"What is that?" Lilia gasped as the horse was quickly devoured.

"It's an Iron Worm!" Ayl shouted.

"A What?" Shinji gasped.

"A giant carnivorous creature from the Iron Mountain. It's skin is hard as Dwarf Steel. The only way to kill it is to impale it through the mouth when it tries to eat you." Ayl explained.

Shinji threw out his hands causing the beast to stop. He lifted the worm out of the ground and into the air, getting everyone to get a good look at it. The thing was heavier than it looked.

Aranel and the other elves were stunned by what they were seeing as they stopped the horses and the guards drew their bows as Aranel readied his fire magic along with Ayl.

"Whoa! That thing is huge!" Lilia gasped.

The worm was longer than three horses, and just as tall. It's head seemed to be covered in a dull gray helmet, but Lilia and the others realized that it was it's own skin. The rest of it's body looked like it was made of thick dark brown leather.

"Shinji! Open Its Mouth!" Ayl shouted as she aimed the fireball at the worm.

Shinji did as his mentor instructed, using his metal powers to open the creatures maw. Its tongue lashed out, back and forth, but Ayl was not deterred. She fired the fireball right down it's throat, striking at it's softest inner spots and getting the creature to shriek out in pain.

Suddenly, it stopped moving.

Shinji sighed in relief as he dropped the creature to the ground.

"That was incredible!" Lilia said. "Look at this thing!" She gasped, looking the giant worm over.

"What happened, Ayl?" Shinji asked his mentor.

"It's a long story. My father and his men were attacked on their way back to our village. He lost three men and their horses." she said.

Shinji looked at the worm and got a very bad feeling in his stomach.

'One worm couldn't eat three men and their horses and still be hungry.' He thought as he looked around.

Shinji suddenly felt something was wrong.

"Ayl! There Are More Of Them!" Shinji said.

"What? Are you sure?" She gasped, getting the others to look at him.

"Yes. They're heading right towards us." He said.

"They? How many? Where are they?" Aranel asked.

"That way!" Shinji said, pointing toward the forest. "I sense three of them!"

"THREE?!" The elves gasped.

The elves notched their bows once again, Lilia arming herself this time.

"Shinji, can you handle these other worms too?" Ayl asked.

"If they stay together. If they split up it'll very difficult. I've never directed my powers at three different targets before." He replied.

The worms bursted out of the ground and split off into three directions.

Shinji stretched out his hands and managed to grab two of them with his metal controlling powers. However, the third one managed to break away and attack the other elves, who fired their arrows at the beast. Yet, its hide was too thick for their arrows to penetrate, plus it kept diving underneath the ground where their weapons could not reach.

Shinji had been using his metal powers to hold up two of the worms with one hand, stretching out his other hand to capture the third worm. Dividing his attention between the three worms was hard, but he managed to bring all three of them back into one place.

"Shinji! Open Their Mouths!" Ayl shouted.

Shinji forced their mouths open, Lilia and the other elves aiming their arrows at the worms mouths and firing. Aranel and Ayl fire their fire magic towards the worm on the left while Lilia and the elves fired at the middle one.

Five arrows flew into the worms mouth, striking at the soft insides and killing it. The one Ayl and her father were aiming seemed to burn from the inside because of their magic.

He released the two dead worms and proceeded to kill the last one by crushing it's head with his powers. The others just stared as blood and innards gushed out of the worms mouth, hitting one of the elves boots as the creatures head looked like something just crushed it. He released the worm when it stopped struggling and screeching.

Shinji started panting when he released his power from the last worm. Lilia and Ayl quickly went up to him and embraced him tightly.

"Are you alright?" Lilia asked her lover.

"I'm fine, just a little shaken up." Shinji said as he shook his head, the adrenaline rush coming down. They noticed Tia and Brighid running towards them and the soldiers from the training grounds rushing at the scene.

Aranel just stared at his daughters apprentice in shock. "Ayl, I think we should talk." He said to her.

Ayl grimaced, knowing where this was going to go.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Authors Notes:

Sorry this took so long to get out. Work, and the current state of affairs (the Covid-19) has been making things tough. Remember to take care of yourselves. Social distancing and washing regularly.

Hope you enjoyed the read. Now please enjoy the omakes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

OMAKE

Shinji had been given his own room while in the Elven Forest. Ayl had been with Isarnia and Jenneh just explaining that Shinji would need some time alone. Though she had been longing to see him after a thousand years, she understood what it meant to be alone to mourn.

Isarnia and Jenneh had seen the hurt and upset looks on his face, and had decided it was better to give him his space.

But while they understood that, two others had been secretly keeping an eye on him.

While Ayl was retelling the details of their adventures and exploits, from her first meeting with Shinji to their battle against the Titans, Isarnia revealed the other reason they had come to the Forest.

"An alliance?" Ayl asked.

"Yes. The last few centuries the Elves and the Human alliance have waned. Our leaders needed a way to get you to speak with us." Isarnia said.

"That's very... political of you." Ayl said.

"I know." the ice sorceress sighed. "But your boarders have been closed to us for a very long time."

"Ever since the failed Conference of Allistar and the Trade Wars..." Ayl said.

"Not to mention the Assassination of King Fortell..." Jenneh added.

"Relations between the Elves and Humans have been tense to say the least." Isarnia said. "There are some of us who want to be allies again."

"And do all your leaders feel the same way?" Ayl asked.

"Not all of them."

Meanwhile...

Shinji couldn't help but reminisce about his friends and lovers that he would never see again.

He wondered if maybe they would be reincarnated, but that was remote at best, especially if they were going to be reborn years or decades from now. Would they even remember him? Would he even recognize them?

He was so lost in thought that he failed to notice two figures sneak into his private room and stand before them.

Shinji looked up and saw the two elves, Kadilen and Belith, standing before him.

The Elf druid Belith had a much more exotic look than the other elves, especially with her spiraled horns just standing straight up. Kadilen the elf warrior had been wearing her armor when he first met her, but now it looked like she was off duty, since she was wearing only her light blue tunic.

"Ms Belith, Ms Kadilen!" he said, surprised to see them.

"We are here to comfort you." Belith said.

"I... really don't..."

"We understand. Most people would prefer to be alone in this time, but..." Kadilen said.

"We also know that such a thing, is not good. Especially for someone who cared for those they have lost." Belith finished for her.

The pair sat on both sides of Shinji, gently rubbing up against him, trapping his arms with their own.

"Allow us to get to know you better." Belith said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

OMAKE 2

Shinji walked into the Silver Eagle, seeing it as more lively than ever before.

Juna was there just taking in the activities that the people were playing.

There were people playing darts, people playing pool, people playing dice, and even people playing cards.

Juna called Shinji over, a smile on her face.

"I have to say Shinji, these ideas you had about new games to play have really been inspiring. And profitable." the older woman said.

"You're welcome."

Shinji had to admit that coming up with the different games was a challenge, but it was nice to be rewarded for his efforts.

After creating the games for the elven village, Shinji and the others had brought them back to Ithalan where Juna got very interested in new forms of entertainment. It took Shinji a long time to explain the different games to her. Since then, both her own Inn near the royal district and the Silver Eagle had been bustling with activity.

The craftsman that he had found was still working on the new 'domino' idea, but Juna assured him it would be worth it. If his other ideas for games were also this profitable.

She was even thinking of hosting a tournament to see just how much could be made on competition between people who liked to play these games.

It was at this point that Shinji wondered if he hadn't unintentionally brought gambling to Ithalan.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX