The bath was less than relaxing. However, we still have an actual bed at an inn, so I'm looking forward to a quiet night of rest.

Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to have that either.

"You absolutely cannot sleep with him!" Agnes tugged at Felandria, who was now digging her claws into the large bed.

"Why not?!" Felandria whined, "it's just sleeping."

How did we get here, exactly?

I had walked into the room I was supposed to share with Akil, only to find Agnes and Felandria stripping down into their PJs.

Of course, I was hit by a blast of divine energy almost instantaneously.

"Ow, what the hell? Why are you two in my room?"

"W-what are you talking about? This is our room!" Agnes said, quickly putting on her sleepwear.

"You're going sleep with us?" Felandria's eyes were sparkling, "in that case..."

She began taking off her pajamas.

"Absolutely not!" Agnes grabbed her arms.

Akil appeared into the doorway. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I want to enjoy a quiet night, so I rented my own room. You three get to share." He held out his own room key, grinning. "Have fun!"

"Get back here!" I lunged at him, but he slipped away from me, locking himself in his room.

"God damn it..." I muttered.

Anyway, that's how I got into this situation.

"I am going to sleep on the floor." I said, taking out my bedroll.

Felandria flew towards me. "I will also sleep on the floor."

"No, you won't." Agnes grabbed Felandria's wing and pulled her back.

She then looked at me. "You don't have to sleep on the floor if you want. I will take Felandria and we will sleep on the floor."

"I won't let that happen." I said, "I would be a failure of a man if I let two women sleep on the hard ground instead of a bed."

"Then sleep with us!" Felandria said, "come on, we don't mind! You can even touch us, if you want..." she wrapped her arms around Agnes, squishing her chest together.

A Thunderwave sent Felandria flying backwards into the wall.

"Y-you cannot touch us-"

"You can touch me."

"You CANNOT touch us, but I don't want you to sleep on the floor either... so if you want, you can sleep on the bed..." Agnes said, her face flushing a bit.

I was on the left side of the bed, Agnes was in the middle, pointedly separating me from Felandria, and I gathered a few pillows to make a wall between me and Agnes.

That being said, even with a pillow wall and Agnes separating the two of us, I woke up late that night to Felandria snuggling up to me.

She smiled up at me from under the covers, her head pressing up against my chest.

"Resist and I'll scream." She whispered.

"And then Agnes will get mad at you." I whispered back, preparing to push her off of me.

"Will she? Or will she get mad at you? Are you sure you want to take that risk? Hm?" She smiled at me.

She nuzzled into my chest, sighing contently.

Aw, that's kinda cute.

She then ground her groin against me, making more soft noises.

That's less cute.

"Stop it or I'll wake Agnes." I whispered.

"Do it, then." Felandria whispered back.

I reached towards Agnes's shoulder, about to shake her awake.

"Stop stop stop stop stop!" Felandria whisper-screamed.

I smiled a little. Of course she's bluffing. If I woke Agnes, she'd be separated even further from me.

"Okay, I won't do that anymore, but just let me sleep here." She looked up at me.

"Alright then... but don't try anything."

"Fine..."

She snuggled up against me, her body pressing up against me.

"You know, it's still weird for me, sleeping right now..." Felandria murmured.

"Is it?"

"Yeah. I always slept while the sun was up before... this is different."

"Is it bad?"

"Honestly it was hard at first. I hate the light... but now, when I'm with you, it isn't so scary anymore..."

That'd be adorable coming from a person who hasn't tried to assault me a few times. That being said, it is still cute.

"I just want to show you how much I love you." Felandria whispered, "please, let me show you."

"I can't... I'm sorry, but I just don't feel ready for this kind of commitment. It's nothing against you, but where I come from, you don't just jump straight into sex in a relationship."

"I know... you humans are weird..." she raised her pajama top, "but if you need me, for anything, I'll give you these, and everything else."

"Okay..." I gently set my hand on her head. She smiled. "Now, can we go to sleep?"


Facing away from them, Agnes's lip quivered a bit, and her grip on her holy symbol tightened. Her eyes grew teary, and she was barely holding back sniffles. The symbol began to glow dark blue.


The next morning, I woke up, stretching. Felandria was already up and moving, and she turned over to look at me.

"Good morning." She smiled at me.

"Morning." I said.

Agnes was sitting on the floor, apparently doing her morning prayers. Her holy symbol was slightly glowing a deep blue as she clutched it tightly in her hands. As she opened her eyes, the light faded.

"Alright then, let's get moving!" Agnes said quickly, standing up. Felandria tilted her head at her, and shrugged.

We left our room and met up with Akil.

"Morning sleepyheads! Enjoy that rest?" He asked me.

"What time is it?"

"I'd say late morning. I didn't feel like barging in on you all. Have a wild night?"

I narrowed my eyes, and he laughed.

"I'm kidding. That being said, you guys missed the tearful reunion!"

"Hm?"

"The refugees. I managed to find some of their family members by asking around town. You know, while you guys were all snuggled up and cozy, there was work to be done, you know?"

I'm a little relieved, but also annoyed. As a Rogue, he probably would be able to find connections easier, but I mean, he was kinda stealing my spotlight. You know, I'm the main character here.

"So, now what?" Akil asked me.

"I would like to get some more equipment. My longsword was shattered, you know, and I'd like to get a new one, cause lugging around this giant greatsword isn't working for me as well."

"Aw, you don't want to set out immediately?" Akil joked.

"I agree. I want to go shopping too!" Felandria said.

"Me too." Agnes said.

"Okay then! Let's go shopping!" Akil smiled.

So we went shopping.

We had a budget of fifty gold pieces each, which Akil generously donated to us from his own pocket. I'm actually surprised how much adventurers make.

I headed straight to the smith, while both Felandria and Agnes went off in separate directions. That could not have been a worse idea. I ran over to Felandria and grabbed her wing.

"Let me go!" She struggled against me.

"What if someone knocks your hat off, or bumps into you? You are aware this disguise is only an illusion, right?"

"I know! I know! I'll be careful, just, let me go get something on my own." She whined, "please?"

"Can't I come with you?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"It's a surprise." She winked.

Now I'm even more afraid.

But oh well. I don't want her to start making a scene in front of everyone... I'll be quick at the the smith's, and then I'll go pick her up.

Anyways, I arrived at the blacksmiths, and saw what appeared to be a typical smith. Large, muscular man with a dark tan and shaggy hair, similar to the first smith I met as well. Some serious Nurse Joy vibes, you get it.

"Hm? Well, it's been a while since I've seen someone like ye around these parts." He said, looking up at me. "Yer a Pally, aren't ye?"

"What's the giveaway?"

"The symbol, mainly, but also... pallies have a... sort of aura to them. It ain't difficult to pick one out of a crowd, you all make yerselves quite apparent."

Huh.

"So... what can I do fer ya?"

I thought for a moment. I could get a new sword, but then I'd probably be back to killing monsters. At least with the greatsword it's impossible to kill someone. But Felandria mentioned the material itself is what gave it its power...

I brought the greatsword out.

The smith's eyes widened. "Great Hephaestus, that thing's huge!"

"Yeah. I got it from an Ogre."

"Ye killed an Ogre, lad?"

"Yep."

He looked at me with awe. I still don't get it. Aren't Ogres just like, mid-tier enemies? Early game bosses but mid-to-late-game trash mobs and stuff?

"Impressive. That being said, that sword looks a little too hefty for a lad like ye."

"Yeah, that's why I'm here. I'm hoping you could reforge this into a smaller sword, preferably a longsword. I'd like to use this same material."

"I see I see. Of course ye would, this thing's made of some form o' silver. Very valuable material indeed. Silver's the only metal that can wound certain creatures, after all. Werewolves, high-ranking Demons and the like."

Well I mean, this isn't technically normal silver, but I'm sure it's similar enough. That being said, that's pretty interesting...

"I'll reforge it into a longsword for ye, then." The smith smiled, "and, in exchange for the rest of that material... I'll even add a bit of juice to that weapon of yers..."

"Juice?"

"Ye know, an enchantment of some sort. Although, since it is already silvered and thus able to surpass normal monster resistances, that means I can focus more on increasing this old girl's damage output."

That's pretty good.

"So... what kind of enchantments are you thinking?"

"Do ye have a preference?"

"Not particularly..."

"Alright. House's choice." He grinned, "I'll give it a good 'un, don't ye worry bout it." He grabbed some tools, "as a Pally... I think this 'un'll be of more use to ye..."

"What is it?"

"I'll tell ye when ye come pick it up later. Come back tonight, and it should be ready for ye."

That fast?

"Trust me. When yer ancestors were trained by Dwarves, ye tend to be pretty skilled at this kind of thing."

So Dwarves exist in this world. Not that I doubted it, but still. Does that means Elves do too? Ooooh, am I gonna meet an Elf some day? That'd be pretty cool!

That being said, is silver really so valuable of a material that it not only covered the cost of reforging, but also had a lot extra? Then again, that sword was HUGE.

Hm. Oh well.

I left the smith up to it. Felandria's been alone for a while at this point, I'm a little worried.

I wandered around town. It wasn't as big as the capital, so I'm not too concerned about getting lost, and that thankfully means Felandria can really only be in so many places.

I ran into Agnes leaving what appeared to be a small church near the center of town.

"Oh, Anon!" She smiled. In her hands were a few vials of what looked like holy water and a few sticks of incense. "I just finished purchasing some components for my rituals, do you want to go look for some supplies?" She slid her components into her pouch.

"Sure."

Hopefully we'll run into Felandria on the way.

We completed our supplies checklist quickly, we just needed some rations, rope, and a few torches, and decided to have lunch. We bought some kabobs from a vendor in the market square and found a place to sit down and eat.

"This is nice." I said, relaxing a bit.

"Just the two of us..." Agnes sighed.

"Yep. No annoying Rogue, no Werebat, it's nice to just be alone together again."

She smiled, and scooted a little closer to me, her face a little flushed.

"Are you alright?" I asked her.

"I'm fine, I'm just enjoying this peace while it lasts." She looked up at me, and my face grew hot. She's quite beautiful. If only she wasn't a nun, then maybe I could...

Nope. Don't think about it.

We enjoyed our lunch together, observing the marketplace and watching people pass by. It was peaceful, in a way.

But these things never last.

"Alright gang!" Akil hopped down from the roof behind us, "finished shopping yet? I'm itching to get going!"

Agnes and I sighed.

"Where's Felandria?" Akil asked.

Oh right.

We searched around for her, and found her at a vegetable stand, holding a heavy looking bag of something.

She turned and saw us, and her smile widened.

"Hubby!" She launched herself at me. I sidestepped out of the way, and she face planted into the ground.

"We're not married."

"Yet." She stood up, dusting herself off.

"What's in the bag?" I asked her.

"It's a secret." She winked at me.

Okay, then I suppose I should be on my guard until further notice.

"So... is everyone ready to go?" Akil asked us, clearly getting a little fidgety. He did say he needed this mission cleared as soon as he could, but I didn't think it was THAT urgent.

But we set off again, this time following a road. Hopefully we'd come across these ruins at some point in the next couple days. But until then, more traveling. Yay...