前のエピソード――Chapter 9: Royal Blood? Priestess of the Goddess Vita!

[Thud]

My steps resounded loudly in the pavement as I made my way away from Olga and Laura who had sent us in our merry way, both of us Monica and I were heading towards our lodging where I could stay the night. I do hope the beds are better quality than the ones in the village chief's house back there. Laura and Olga were now headed towards The Pastoria Grill by themselves where they had planned to buy food for the whole party. However, something strange had happened since a woman with emerald, green hair had come up behind them as we were putting distance between us and very much started talking to them in a very familiar manner. the woman even from this distance was quite the banger. she was an Elf and just about anyone could tell that she was an Elf given her pointy ears but unlike Olga this Elf had what looked to be Church clothes, white with gold embroidery accents throughout the cloth.

Whomever she was it was quite clear she was very much important to whatever clergy she belonged to, despite the elegance the woman exuded both Olga and Laura had stiffened when she had approached them, don't tell me she was the priestess whose Church we had landed on thanks to Olga's teleport Crystal? I thought amazed how fast she had gotten to us but no matter. we weren't at her church anymore and I doubt she has the means to accuse us of anything at all I reassured myself.

[Tug]

I felt my arm pulled very strongly by a very serious Monica who wasn't looking back at me despite almost pulling my arm out of my socket, I could do nothing but soothe my shoulder.

[Thud]

Our footsteps kept echoing in the many cobblestones laid out all throughout the city despite the bustling all over the place. The city of Pastoria was filled to the brim with life with many humans sprawled about everywhere. the city's vibrance didn't lose to the metropolis from back on Earth. this Kingdom despite not having access to any electricity had managed to keep the kingdom alight with unknown magical artifacts from unknown precedence.

There were also many Elves here and there not to the same degree as humans of course, but many of them weren't citizens, this is as not to say there weren't adventurers of their race here and there but rather you could tell most of them were business owners of some sort as I had seen many shops and the like being ran by the elves which not only were in the Light variety but also the Dark which were fewer than their light counterparts. I could tell that the elves had a very good business relationship with the Kingdom of Nosfalt.

"Heya Girlie! Want to buy some of my wares? You can impress your girls with them, I assure you of their quality!" ???

A upbeat woman on her early twenties approached us as we walked wading through the very populous city square to offer up her products but this one was a human merchant and not a Elf which were all over the place in Pastoria.

"No thanks!" Monica replied curtly and bluntly towards the merchant that had approached us in my instead to prevent me from talking, Crap! I had forgotten that Olga had casted a spell on me to keep me from being openly noticed by the people of Pastoria. Monica gripped my hand tighter by the wrist and pulled me at a faster speed barreling towards the place of our stay. apparently, The Starry Lodge was a famous lodge here in this city ran by a renowned person of some kind and Olga and Laura had both assured me that the place was of good standing and the food what free with the stay. the proprietress of the lodge was apparently a very skilled cook who knew her way around the stove and could prepare fantastic meals.

The merchant had been a young woman in her early twenties and for some reason the majority of people were wearing white clothes, the merchants' clothes were of good quality though. she had long dirty blonde hair and it reached all the way down to her waist and despite being unable to see her face due to the hood she was wearing, I could tell she was one of those people who were a bundle of joy everywhere they went. despite the harshness in the voice of Monica, the merchant got right back in that horse as the saying goes and went on to approach other women in the surrounding.

That fact brought some sense of relief to me since it meant that the spell Olga had casted on me hasn't been seen through by the merchant and I almost foolishly gave away my position by almost engaging her in a conversation. the customer service worker in me almost came out to play when I heard such a bubbly high-spirited voice. I have to learn from this experience I thought, what if the people here for some reason were aiming for my life? I could have gotten little Mónica in trouble by my lonesome and I wouldn't be able to face the ire of that pervert Paula nor the Gentle giant Laura and the shrewd Olga who had protected me using her precious magic.

I wonder if I can learn it too! I thought but I quickly shook my head which didn't go unnoticed by Monica, and she moved her little hand down from my wrist toward my hand and she gripped it reassuringly without ever looking back towards me she spoke. "Don't worry Prince! I won't allow any filth to touch you. I Monica alone is more than enough to keep you safe from the perverts that inhabit this city. your honor is here to stay and I'll make sure of it".

Umm, I think she had misunderstood something here and what's that about protecting my honor? Doesn't she remember I was the one who saved her friends back there in the woods. plus, does it look like I want to be a permanent virgin to her? hell no! I've been with the case of the blue balls ever since Shima had straddled me back in the Village's chief house and almost physically crossed into the regions of adulthood. also don't say things like I'll protect you to a guy! what if my buddies back on school had heard that? I would be called Princess Peach for the rest of my life and a High School reunion would be more than off the table.

"That said, you have to do your share Prince, don't dawdle here. We have to make it to the Starry Lodge, the sooner the better" reprimanded me Monica as she briefly took a look at my stomach, and it made me remember my shame. her grip only strengthened and was honestly quite monstrous. if I hadn't been strengthened to the degree that I had when I arrived at this world it's more than possible that my wrist would have more than just as easily separated from the rest of my forearm. the very thought sent a lot of shivers down my spine when I realize that perhaps my superpower wasn't as super as I had thought, here was this little girl despite being around my age strong enough to bring tears to my eyes in a contest of strength which would have been unheard off back on earth.

I can't but feel bad for the fools who could have possibly cross paths with this girl if she had been back on Earth. I shook my head to clear up my thoughts and keep the ever-growing fear for this girl in check. I did so by looking at the city.

as we headed closer to the famous lodge, I kept looking around the city escape that looked a lot like old Denmark in Scandinavia back on Earth. the buildings and structures had that sort of gothic architecture anywhere you looked. I may have been a student that wanted to into the field of robotics, but I still admired medieval architecture in all its glory, it's truly a shame that for the sake of efficiency cubes and squares with no sense of elegance have taken over our cities back on Earth.

had those great architects of old taken a look at modern architecture they would surely rip the modern ones a new hole and tear them to pieces without a shred of remorse.

"Hey sweetie! how about some roast beef eh!? I am the best when it comes to meat!" ??? came another voice from the side, Monica had taken me off the city square and we had now involved ourselves with the entangling streets of the city. the ones aspect I don't like of Europe, getting directions in this place probably requires some advance degrees. why do they got to build someone just built a bunch of legos all over the place. this is legitimately psychological warfare I tell you,

"No, thank you!" answered Monica once again in a curt and blunt response that paid no heed towards the merchants trying to make a living, this kind of thing although normal for many hits home with me. during my time as a Sales Rep in my part time job I had to give out flyers to get people to visit my job so we could build a larger clientele.

I shook my head once again remembering the cold looks, I got from the people who saw me like some old car salesman at the time, hey we salespeople have feeling you know? Do you think we like being turned down? I fumed at the memories when suddenly.

[Gurgle]

Oh no! my stomach did it again without permission, I very stiffly looked ahead, and Monica looked back briefly apologetic and said "I'm sorry my prince, we haven't gotten paid yet for our quest so I couldn't buy you that beef that woman was selling. do not fret though! Olga and Laura will be back soon with our meals and that pervert Paula will be back with our income okay!" she talked to me like a child, I haven't said anything though? Is there any more of a failure of a man than to be apologized to for not being fed unilaterally as if you were some kind of king?

thinking back on it? wouldn't a woman in my position be also apologized to by the man instead? Ph shit! is this one of those moments? I feel weird. I felt goosebumps all over my skins at the eeriness of the reassurance but to no avail Monica backed up a little and said "Just a little more, okay?".

Please kill me now! I slightly bit down on my lip and thought this wouldn't do, but there are more important matters to attend so I need to move away from this now I thought desperately and thought back to a certain someone who had left prior to Olga and Laura leaving with that con man vibe giving woman in the expensive white robes. I wonder if those two would be fine with her given that she was like Olga, an Elf.

that aside, I need to address the party's fearless leader, I tuned them towards our resident pervert Paula, who on the other hand was a different breed in all aspects to the rest of her party who ranged from super competent, somewhat anti-social and quirky but honest to a fault, despite the differences Paula wasn't to be underestimated. she was the plotting type and although she had already left for the Adventurer's Guild to report on her parity's quest results, I do wonder how I was going to handle their questions.

they weren't' as aggressive as Rhea and Shima had been with me the first day nor did I expect them to be rough given the fact that I had saved their lives. after I had arrived at this wacky world and experienced that village, and most importantly that cunning woman Pam I felt that to some degree i was prepared for any sly old fox. that alone gave me good leverage into how much I should share with this group and analyze whether I should join them or as a last resort approach the Royal Family seeking answers in regards to that portal in the middle of the forest that had brought me here, it is also to my favor that I had gotten so much stronger than I believed I was when I got here so there is that even if people like Monica and Laura are so monstrously powerful, no thinking about it carefully women in this world are said to be many times more stronger than their male counterparts so that should keep my bubbling ego in check.

In regard to making money on my own I thought It was unfortunate that this world doesn't have one of those magic bags like in the Light Novels where you can storage a infinite amount of goods in another space in a completely different dimension, otherwise I would have gotten pretty good money for those two giant boars I slayed or at the very least worked out a deal to cook it and eat it. given the way that restaurant looked it's more than apparent that the boar meat of that particular monster it's quite pricey and that means there is money to be made. that way I could establish some income right away and I could probably lose this bunch i thought seriously but i soon discarded the idea since I had gone out of my way to rescue this lot and abandoning them wasn't right.

That and the fact that I had made a decision back there to both Shima and Raksha, I can't expose the village by trying to go back. knowing Pam, she would probably give orders to hunt me down at worst and I honestly don't know if Rhea her eldest daughter like me enough to go easy on me if I went back with my metaphorical tail between my legs. what's more is the fact that I don't know much of this Kingdom or world, only that men are very scarce here and are treated differently in human and even elven society but not much else. I had to stick with this lot though, the spells that Elf had casted on those monsters was some serious shit. I maybe strong but i don't know what sort of spells can be casted without my knowledge that can easily put me below ground.

The Starry Lodge was now getting closer than it had been a while back since I could now make sure of the building's shape after wading through the many complex streets in this city, Damn losing yourself in your thought it's really like skipping through time altogether, isn't it? I thought as I was now in a totally different environment, I had been a little while ago. in those short moments it took me to get lost in thought, Monica had accurately zig zagged through the streets and escorted me safely here.

I should be more careful I thought making note to pay attention to the streets more when guided, I could easily be snuffed out and I wouldn't know my way around the place.

I looked down at my arm one more time and it trembled a little reminiscing my short combat with those two massive boars a couple of hours ago, Monica noticed, and she momentarily turned back to look at me to say something but decided not to only to continue forward. to be honest I probably was far more shocked than they were when I slayed them. I had no idea that continuous combat with both Rhea and Shima would have strengthened me to the degree that it had but boy was I happy about that. thanks to that and for some reason my ability to grow in ways I couldn't have back on Earth means that at the very least I can mount some form of resistance if the Royal Guard or similar grow hostile towards me but would they though? I thought thinking back on the nonsense the group had spouted earlier about me being related to Royalty. no matter how much I tried shifting the focus in my mind that unsettling info had me a little rattled not just for me but for the safety of the village that had rescued me on my time of need.

"We're here!" chirped Monica as she just pulled me inside the Lodge with her freakishly brute strength. "Wait! What do I do?" I asked panicked at her blatantly lack of instructions just pulling me inside with no directions on what the detailed plan was, i get that she told me to keep quiet but I'm much taller than Monica is so I can't exactly be a shadow to her while she talks to the proprietress of the place in a closed space, can I really be chill about it? I doubt winging it could even begin to be her plan, could it? "Calm down. Just be quiet and I'll take care of everything, with Olga's spell you won't be notice even if you stand behind me, If the proprietress says yes, we can deal with the spell, and you just pop right in front of her and if she says no then we just go up anyway" answered Monica in a matter of fact like tone.

I was wrong! Winging it was her whole plan all along! I shouted in my mind in a panic. ".... What?" I unintentionally quipped back at what could only be described as a reckless plan with a high prospect of failure looming us and Monica had the look of very care in the world for details. what happened to all that methodical and super serious aura of confidence she had displayed back there with the merchant that approached us?

"Sssh! quiet and wait" said Monica in a firm tone as if trying to reassure me.

The whole thing was surreal, this is the first time I've been handled like a child by someone much younger than me but I'm not in the wrong though, aren't we supposed to plan ahead so I could disguise myself better? but I should give my situation some proper thought now that this silent one it's the only one with me at the moment and I'm not with the other three, Laura aside I don't think Olga or Paula would let me slip through the cracks and they had already warned me that they needed some form of explanation at my gaffe with the statue earlier inside the church.

I give up, I'll just wait and see what this little one comes up with I thought as I saw Monica Little figure drag me inside the lodge, even if I'm captured, I doubt the human's will do anything bad to me anyways, thinking so I just shrugged my shoulders.

-Monica's POV

"Hi Monica! Welcome Back!"

a very warm and mother-like voice welcomed me back into the lodge as it had for several days when we came back from a quest with the party. across the counter stood a large woman at least to my standards with very kind eyes who had greeted me right away with a very joyful voice as I walked into her lodge, brown hair touching her shoulders, about 190cms tall and muscular but with womanly curves which evoked the image of a feline. just like me she was a human and she had grown familiar with the rest of the party for the last two weeks we had indulged in hunting game for very generous rewards all across the city. her name was Stella, and she was the proprietress of the lodge here in the city of Pastoria. she was a former adventurer and a healer of all things which might sound surprising to all who hear it given her very fit body. she never talks much about her adventuring days but she's an unstoppable train when it comes to curiosity in regard to other adventuring parties. her healing it's top notch which is said to be able to regrow limbs and cure any illnesses but I've never needed such a service so I can't comment whether it's true or not, however the city of Pastoria both revere and fear her so there's got to be more to her than extraordinary healing.

"Hi Stella, can we get another room?" I decided to call out to her and be as blunt as possible, but it was from too effective as she immediately raised her head in thought for a little the moment, I addressed her, but something was up. you could see the gears moving in high speed from whatever mundane task she was doing standing behind the counter to immediately then give me her full attention and just looked at me working out whatever she thought I was thinking.

"Hm? You got another party member? Tell me who is it? Are they strong or famous? Can I meet her right away?" coming to a definite conclusion Stella barreled towards me full of excitement she normally doesn't allow anyone else to see, she wasn't an old woman in the full sense of the word, despite being 34yr old she was quite youthful and only her eyes gave way to the light of maturity I didn't have. that said she had the curiosity of a cat and once her curiosity was piqued then. you'd best make a run for the hills, otherwise she would get a hold of you no matter what and restrain you until she extracted any amount of potential gossip, she thought you were hiding. I took a quick sweeping view of the lobby at The Starry Lodge to make sure there weren't any other bystanders and noticed that the whole place was very much deserted which probably means she was bored. I thought long and hard before coming here whether the prince would be safe here on this lodge, but I could see why Olga trusted Stella, despite her antics, Stella was a very upstanding citizen of the Nosfalt Kingdom which I guess it's a good thing? I thought.

Olga had mentioned that she was some kind of hero, but that Elf never let slip any more that she needed to say, that secrecy almost did us in back in that forest. it's her loss. I will protect his highness over that giant moron who declared herself his knight without permission. honestly all of her brains have gone to her muscles, I thought and went back to address the now heavy breathing Stella that was in my face almost touching expecting the full extent of the gossip she wanted.

"Yes, I got a new party member, but I don't know if I can let you meet just yet" I quipped testing her resolve to which she made a very displeased face towards my mistrust and was about to say something when.

[CLACK]

""!""

Stella and I jumped startled as we heard a picture frame fall to the ground near the entrance of the Lodge, I looked back, and I spot the prince frozen stiff at the noise he'd just made and guessing by the look of astonishment on Stella's face the spell Olga casted on him became undone all at once.

"Oh my! I didn't see you standing there girl. Do you want to say hello? Could you mind taking down your hood first? It's bad manners to stay with your face covered in a business that allows your paid stay to be secure. Lodge rules dictate I don't allow any costumers in if i can't see their face and/or identify them so either you pull it down or you leave but that would be mean of me so what do you say? do you understand sweetie?" Stella spoke sweetly but firm that she wouldn't allow anyone to come into her business with a hood on, she needed to know everyone who sought to purchase her services as the proprietress of The Starry Lodge. years ago, a serial killer had taken residence in this very lodge and had taken to killing very few boys that work at the Red-Light District meant as a Luxury good from the Nosfalt Royal family to keep the women happy with paid interactions with men and a chance to give natural birth instead of using a offshoot of the holy tree found throughout the world.

Stella had at the time allowed for shady people to stay at the lodge under secrecy and that had majorly backfired on her and had her put under investigation by the Royal Family but because she was a hero of some sort that fought against the savages twenty years ago in a expedition to rescue a noble from a trip that went horribly wrong which almost ended in a disaster. the man in question was the prepared fiancé of the Royal Princess at the time and the Royal Family wasn't happy at all of what transgressions had been perpetrated against the Royal Groom and had initially ordered the extermination of the barbaric tribes but surprisingly Stella had been the one that somehow talked down the Royal Family from eradicating them.

The case with her lodge wasn't' as heroic though, a total of eight men had been sliced to pieces and their intimate organs placed in jars in a sick form of trophy hunting the sick woman had in her room here in this very lodge. she wasn't much to talk about as she was timely with the payment of her lodging, and she avoided all social contact with everyone. Stella being a former adventurer that knew the value of secrecy had let this behavior go and it came back to bite her in the ass later on. I hear that Stella was sick to her stomach and the whole city was in a uproar, the nobles' houses who had ownership of the killed men had threatened and moved into banning contact with males for the entire kingdom in a blanket punishment which only fueled the outrage by the people to hunt down the killer.

none of that had happened though and I don't know how, that pervert Paula I'm sure it's damn thankful otherwise she wouldn't have a place to let out steam from her urges, honestly, they can be quite unsightly.

"Wait Stella, there are special circumstances regarding that person. Do you really need to see their face in this moment now?" coming back to my senses I asked somewhat naively knowing full well that as long as we've known Stella, she's never allowed a total stranger to her property ever again.

"Ah! So, this is inf fact our new costumer whose room you've just requested?" Stella's eyes flashed with understanding and clapped her hands together. "Now I have to see your new party member's face! we can have a celebration and I can hear everything about her adventurers prior to meeting with you girls!". Crap! she wasn't about to let this go it seems. "Quickly now honey, take down your hood and let me see that beautiful face now. Last time they came back with that giant prude Laura, was it? I have a feeling you won't disappoint me at all". like a predator that had set sights on its prey Stella now approached and closed in on the prince which had frozen him in place like a frog being stared at by a snake.

The prince with his hood still on, he hurriedly took at glance at me as if to ask for directions, so I nodded for him to take off his hood off his head and to show Stella his face but he's a little hesitant and..."Wait!" I told him to wait almost shouting which it's not the way I do things, but the prince has run outside the Starry Lodge! seeing so I ran after him in order not to lose him otherwise he might end up lost or worse.

before I could understand it I found myself chasing after him and Stella seem to have similar plans for him.

"Hold on a second Monica dear! If she's with you, why did she run away from me? hmm" Confused, asked Stella as she followed behind me and joined me on the sprint after the prince as casually as taking a small walk, Grr I'm proud of my speed and this woman jus outright caught up to me like it's nothing. the tall woman who was muscular but not in a bulky manner more like a slender kind of musculature with more than big enough breast despite our size difference was keeping up with me.

Wait for me prince! I shall protect you better than orc of a woman that declared herself your knight! I thought as I sped up trying to outrun and catch up to the prince. the resolve was more than visible since without missing a beat Stella also sped up and gave off a wicked grin and murmured "This girl got to be something special if little Monica is showing me this much resolve huh!". saying her piece Stella begun to easily outpace me and got ahead of me. "Hey, don't get ahead of me Stella, I'm catching up to him first!" I blurted out to which Stella stiffened a little and gave out a joyous laugh "Oho! so the new member is a Man isn't he? Ha! It seems you got yourself quite the specimen given how unbelievably tall he was!" Stella continued and licked her lips then finally outpaced me and went after the prince by herself.

Oh no! Crap! I screwed up. I had forgotten I know next to nothing about her about her adventuring days, If knowing the new guy is a Man got her this excited then it can't be a good idea.

-Richard's POV

Damn it! Damn it all! I cursed myself as I ran out the Starry Lodge. I wasn't planning on doing that and I had already settled on staying and explaining everything to that lot but it can't be helped. That woman is bad news! I don't tend to forget faces easily and the moment O laid eyes on that woman I had a feeling of Deja Vu, and I just couldn't put my finger on it but now I remember. one of the books Pam had which she had given to Raksha to read was a history book of the Kingdom of Nosfalt, not all of it's history but there was an unsettling image with that woman's face in there.

The story Rhea told me about that happened 20yrs ago, that woman was one of the people that either killed or was present when they killed Cobalt during the human expedition into the Forest all that long ago. the images of this world aren't as good as Earth photographs but their skill with the paint brush and pencil can't be understated. it was her! she was in that parade hailed as the hero who took back the noble man from the beast girls back in the day. Pam had told me if I ever ran into that woman to run away, Rhea had similar things to say noting that she alone had killed many of the village warriors and when you put the fact that my eyes are mysteriously the same kind as the eyes of the Royal Family of Nosfalt I knew with every single bone in my body that I couldn't allow that woman Stella to get a good look at me.

If she saw my face then-

"Why the hurry darling?" ???

How the hell did she caught up so quickly! Damn it!. I looked back a little making sure my eyes aren't all that visible and I'm wading through the massive amount of people all over the place trying to get lost among the crowd, but she has a good grasp on my dark clothes here where the majority of people are wearing white for some fucking reason. I keep making my way through several alleyways and shady store houses in the city of Pastoria.

"Watch it girl!" yelled a adventurer girl I had just lightly bumped into, but I have no time to entertain her and just mentally apologize to her, I tell you what, If I make it out of this mess and I meet her again I'll buy her one of those frilly dresses since she is at least normal woman sized, at least in comparison to the women of my country.

As I made it deeper into the city a lot of things were hitting me with a sense of abnormality. I knew it to some extent before but I've yet to see a single man here, and they're all pretty big. they're a little to big for being women. there are also small women wearing very cute and small dresses here and there but they're few and far between. not going to lie but seeing young ladies wearing such dresses it's kind of a cross off my bucket list when it comes to going to another world.

"There1" I mildly yelled. up ahead there was a clothing shop, I knew it was one because of all the frilly dresses and armor outfits in display which regardless of world, women always flock to these stores. I hadn't seen that tall woman anymore in a while, so I probably lost her. I went into the Mistress Outfits which turned out to be in fact, the local clothe shop. there was a lot of people here but no matter. I'll bid my time here and hide out in the back, there is nowhere better to hide in a populous city filled with women than a clothe store I thought.

Those damn cobble stones would have been a nightmare to walk if I had been wearing this world's inefficient style of footwear, good thing I kept my sneakers. Pam and Rhea had praised them to high heaven's asking me where they could buy similar footwear but sorry girls, you can't get Earth's footwear in this world. I thought back at the overwhelming amount of people wearing sandals in this place, how don't they get cuts and tolerate all that grime in their foot, yuck! I thought.

Aha! I saw the white robes that a lot of city folk were wearing out in the city, not bad but this will do for me just fine. I grabbed the new robes that were at the back and changed into them as quick as I could. I then went out of the store like a normal costumer, got to love the lack of technology here, had this been back on earth these robes would have set off the anti-theft alarms in the entrance. once outside I proceeded to walk around the city for a while wondering what I should do, I really didn't want to do this but perhaps it's better if I went and talked to that Elf, Olga was it on that restaurant. She looks to be the one with the brains in the group. If that Stella woman saw me, she'd probably want to lead a party into the forest thinking that the beast people had taken males again even if last time they had genuinely rescued that dude from what Rhea had told me.

I could have exposed myself but with only Monica there, I doubt she would have been enough to stop Stella if she went into a sort of rampage. Monica might be strong, but I don't want to risk it. I stand more of a change with number and that giant self-proclaimed knight by my side. besides, as strong as I am I doubt i can take that woman on seriously, If she was back there 20yrs ago confronting Rhea it means that Stella it's a fighting veteran. It doesn't matter how strong I've grown in this world; technique will beat out raw strength in a world like this where women are already too strong to begin with. I was already running at a inhuman speed back there and Stella managed to catch up like it was a Sunday ice cream outing.

"Now what was that restaurant's name? Ah! The Pastoria Grill I think it was!" I clapped my hands in understanding and went towards it but this time I was going to in the main streets, not in the back alley like I did running away. there is nothing more suspicious than some weirdo wearing a white robe hiding in the darkness after all. it's better if I hide a tree in a forest.

I think it was that way, I followed my gut and went south. Man, o man do these streets lack any form of cohesion though. the city square is one thing but the streets zig zag to much. what was the city planner thinking when they designed this mess of a place, I thought slightly shaking my head in disapproval. as I made my way through the streets towards the restaurant, I suddenly came to a stop. I could hear a struggle ongoing in one of the less populated streets here, should I go? Nah, one it's too many already.

Last time I did this thinking I heard my sister; I turned out to be wrong and I lost my place to stay a the Heim Village. I was stilling my hear t when suddenly I heard.

"Someone! Please help!" ??

Be still my heart I thought placing my right hand on my left pectoral, I can' t save everyone, I thought honestly as I tried to speed walk my way out of there. It's probably a mugging, she'll be fine I told myself as if to make a sufficient excuse, as long as she gives up her valuables I thought. she'll be fine, a little cry here and there but that will teach her not to go into shady streets like that on her own, besides it's a crime among women, surely it won't be anything more than a muggi-

"Shut up Harlowe! We paid a good sum for you back at that place. you'll do as we say, and we won't be doing any sleeping tonight sweetie. Don't be scared, you'll enjoy your time with us I promise"??

a sickly-sweet voice came out, it was the voice of a woman, perhaps early twenties given the youth you could actually hear on her voice, it was a sweetly yet vulgarly tone of voice. Holy shit, women can actually sound like that? I stopped, a simple mugging was one thing, but I wasn't about to tolerate a rape in my watch, no sir. I calmed myself down and waited for the conversation to follow completely through.

"Harlowe will definitely enjoy it!" Came another voice, slightly huskier but still a womanly voice for sure. "we'll have all sorts of fun together and have all sorts of children, come on sweetie we've learned a lot of literature. we know what to do to make you go wild" continued the husky voice with a dripping excitement that couldn't be missed even by the most oblivious of harem protagonist.

I found myself shocked at the way the women talked but this does it, damn it! this is going to get me killed one day, thinking so I ran towards the altercation deep in the unpopulated streets of Pastoria.

"No! I want to go back home and away from that place! don't get near me, I don't have any interest with your lot! Someone Please Help Me!" Harlowe ardently screamed with both rage and unsettling panic tinged with fear in her voice. whatever it was, it was clear she wasn't into women like the other two undoubtedly were and that was my cue!

"Stay back!" Harlowe bellowed. her screams fueled a sense of justice I didn't know I had but perhaps I'm trying to make it up to my sister who just maybe, I won't ever see again I thought in resignation remembering a few hours ago where I had ditched my safe haven back in the village. when Paula had screamed in horror at the reality of being surrounded by monsters. I had heard my little sisters voice in her screams, and I have had the time to think it over but maybe I'm just selfishly trying to somehow make it up to her now that she's gone, I thought feeling the corners of my eyes growing moist at the memory.

I now head towards myself destruction, and I can't do anything about it, Damn it all. I ran with all I had towards the screaming girl and waded through some of the streets that got in my way. I know I'm going to regret this; it's becoming a pattern now that I just drop my plans and go to help others, but I couldn't just let an innocent be done in by some hooligans. what I saw was startling, there was an Elf with a vulgar smile on her face. she was a blonde with a nice rack wearing magician's robes who was cornering a much smaller girl on a frilly dress.

The small girl was clearly the one named Harlowe and she was wearing a frilly black dress with a lot of embroidery, the dress reached towards her ankles. she was short, much shorter than me, maybe 155cm tall. she was completely flat chested and with light brown hair that covered her cherubic face. she was clearly a kind from where I'm standing and now, I found myself growing angry that these lesbians are thirsty enough to go after young girls to this degree. at the other side on parallel with the elf was a human woman with a dirty blonde hair, she was much taller than the elf but not me. by my estimates she must have been my exact height to which is still too damn tall, Damn what do these women eat to be this tall I thought in awe and frustration.

I know i wasn't the tallest man in the world back on earth by my self-esteem suffers seeing so many tall women, many who exceed my height by a lot. I've heard of prisons going full gay at the absence of the opposite sex, but this kind of open predation is sickening. why don't you lot date each other I thought.

"Please stop! Leave me alone!" Harlowe cried from the ground now tripped on her own very expensive looking dress, If this doesn't scream event to any gamer out there then you no gamer at all I thought as I ran and jumped in front of the little girl and stared the women down with unbridled fury in my eyes towards the creeps that wanted to take advantage of a little girl.

"To the woodchipper the both of you perverts! how dare you make sexual advances on a child of all people and as a team!" I bellowed angrily towards the women who had frozen in place in shock.

"Don't worry girlie! I looked back at the fallen maiden with a very assuring look despite my face being completely covered by my now white hood and once more stared the women down. the little girl quickly got up and hugged my side from behind and said, "You'll help me big sister?" with an innocent tone that nearly brought a tear to my eyes. why couldn't my dumb sister be this damn cute, she would have been better off than the annoyance she turned out to be.

"Just who are you calling a perverted lesbian! I won't let you take away our property the Elf bellowed as she pointed to the black collar in the neck of the young girl.

"Keep it down Rainaire! and you over there! Your voice is huskier than mine, you must have a hard time attracting the fellas huh?" followed the human woman after her Elven friend had pretty much exploded at my accusation. It seems the elven female name was Rainaire and this one unlike her friend was as cool as a cucumber. she giggled a little at my anger and looked at me as if ridiculing me.

She looked me up and down as if trying to figure me out. "You there! it's best if you leave now you know? That man it's ours we just bought him for 300 gold pieces and even if you offered twice that money back to us, we won't accept it. It's quite clear that Harlowe isn't a girl so your slandering us with the Lesbian nonsense it's pure nonsense."

"Man?" I quipped back in a dry voice, took a look at my sides and saw that no matter how you look at it, that's a girl. I could feel my face growing pale at the comment that human woman had made. "That's a man?" I couldn't hide my shock to which the Elf Rainaire misunderstood with delight and explained.

"That's right! We purchased him for 300 gold pieces fair and square from a high reputable slave trader. Any attempt to try to take him from us will only get you arrested!" sneered the Elf. "You must not be from around here girl! Matilda and I saved for five years for the last of the men that particular slave trader had in stock. she doesn't come around the kingdom very much and wanders all over the place, but all her transactions are legitimately done by paying the appropriate taxes towards the Kingdom. If you want one of your own, then get in line girl!"

Cackled the elf after telling me off. "You heard her! If you want a man, then chase that woman around and maybe she'll find you a partner you know. otherwise, you'll have to pair off with a woman and have a child magically". continued Matilda as she was now approaching me, no she was approaching Harlowe who was now trembling at my side teary eyed.

I grabbed him and put him behind me, and I was thinking of jumping away from here with him. "If you want a man so badly then why do you dress him like a woman? and why a child?" I asked trying to buy time as I looked around at the nearby buildings trying to establish the best getaway route.

"Huh? Where the hell do you come from? That's male attire no matter how you look at it and Harlowe it's 23yrs old as well" cackled Matilda in explosive laughter at my ignorance. "Are you a country girl that far removed?" she continued.

"Wait he's way older than me?" I asked in shock, such as outburst immediately silenced her. Matilda didn't let this go with the laughter she had just moments ago and looked at me seriously after completely calming down. "I've been thinking for a while now but isn't you voice kind of weird? you've seen our faces, and you believe to be in the right, but you cover you face?" asked Matilda genuinely concerned and curious.

Both Rainaire and Matilda were done talking and now were heading towards me. shit I turned around to pick up Harlowe and I was about to jump to the northwest side of the building since I think I could get lost once again in that direction.

"Rainaire!" Yelled Matilda to which without missing a beat, the elf nodded and chanted "Restrictus" fast, and I felt a immediate stiffening of my limbs after a bright white light that flashed from her hands, and I stood there in front of the two women who casually approached me like the way a retired veteran check for mail in his front porch and took Harlowe from me and looked curiously with excitement on their eyes

"you really are a fool!" sneered Matilda and she continued. "If you're going to play hero to a young prince then at least have a countermeasure for the Elf you fool! what did you think was going to happen?".

Damn it, I had just thought of this earlier today, but I walked into it like a turkey to a thanksgiving celebration with an open oven. Calm down I thought, even if they figure out that I'm a dude I really doubt any harm will come of it. as they just said, they steadily saved money for this dude here that despite being a whole five years older than me has almost no grip on him I looked at Harlowe who was shaking like a newborn dear in the hands of the women who had bounded him with a chain to his slave collar.

"I think I'm going to see who the dumb hero was" said Rainaire as she just outright ripped the hood off my face and immediately stiffened alongside Matilda, the latter composed herself and spoke. "Oh my! what we have here?" escaped from Matilda's lips with a stiff smile and Rainaire couldn't keep her composure and screamed "A Man! there is a man walking alone in the Kingdom without any bodyguards and dressed like that?" Rainaire spoke with a appalled attitude seeing me wearing rags then she took a close look at my face and noted "Wait why does he have violet eyes? I feel like I've seen those before?"

Matilda not paying any attention came closer examined my haircut and face then put her hand on my crotch and carelessly gripped it tightly, it seems she wasn't acquainted with how sensitive those are, but that doesn't matter. "Ughh!" I let out barely as I was paralyzed, and I couldn't utter a word beyond that. "Yep, he's definitely a man. that's quite a set I felt there you know! want to cup a feel?" asked Matilda with rosy cheeks as she kept her hand between my legs. what the hell it's wrong with this woman! If men in this world are rare, why would you risk injuring the family jewels? I was screaming in my head, I wanted to take her hands off my boy and crouch down in the ground in pain. this bitch had gone and done it, she just gripped the boys like they were a pair of stress balls, and I never felt an urge so powerful to hit a woman, but I swear! I was absolutely dripping with unbridled anger at her carelessness.

Rainaire blushed hard and yelled "Wait Matilda! don't do that you're hurting him! Also look at his eye's you moron! he's clearly related to the Royal Family!" screamed Rainaire with a pale now blue face at the realization to which Matilda also froze in shock and her face also went blue! "I'm sorry she spurted, and she begun panicking, I didn't mean to grab you hard Matilda apologized in a complete change of character she was now in tears in her knee's while Rainaire used some kind of soothing spell that made my boys feel better.

Don't think I've forgiven you just with that I thought when suddenly a small shadow came from the alleyways silently and giving off an incredible intimidating bloodlust filled aura. wait is that, Monica? I thought as I saw directly behind the panicking pair,

Monica was marching here with unbridled fury in her eyes staring daggers at the hands of Matilda and as if from the depths of the earth she said, "Did you just grabbed the prince THERE!?". On her hands she carried what could only be brass knuckles from my perspective and she disappeared from my sight and immediately appeared in front of Matilda and-

[Crack]

The sound of bones breaking resounded in the empty back streets we were, lost in her rage Monica begun pummeling Matilda with so much force I couldn't help but think she was dead. there is so much blood all over the cobblestones and over and over again, the sound of fist hitting a skull resounded in the street to which both Rainaire and my horror was definitely going too far!

[Crack]

"I promised the Prince, I would protect him! I gave him my word and for your transgression you must now die!" screamed Monica for the first time since everyone said she had no emotions in her that she had ever openly displayed for anyone else to see. seeing her partner in crime being killed Rainaire was furious and started casting spell after spell unto Monica but none of the spells worked. All the spells effectively activated since the phenomena of light leaving the hands of the Elf activated but the machine that Monica had turned into ignored the spells and continued to pummel Matilda into the grounds mercilessly.

Matilda despite being hammered down by the monstrously strong Monica fought back and yelled! "Get off me you bitch! Stop!" but the efforts did little to lift Monica of her center of gravity. seeing this panicked Rainaire and she then turned towards me who was frozen in shock and fear at the animalistic decent Monica was currently showing me.

Rainaire paid no mind to my shock and despite crying and yelling towards Monica, she got down in both knees and said "We're sorry! Please let her go!" she once more turned to me coming to a realization and lifted the freeze spell that had restricted my movements and kneeling in the ground she asked for forgiveness and pleaded with me to stop Monica since her magic had all but failed to stop Monica after trying so many times, she was afraid Monica was really going to kill Matilda and I was with her too.

"Monica wait! That's enough!" I yelled with every fiber in my body.

-The Pastoria Grill

on a luxurious table were a woman in white, whose name was Lilia and across from her were Olga and Laura. the priestess Lilia had followed the pair to the restaurant and had sworn up and down that she had good plans for the entire party. in the high-class restaurant in a table filled with dishes and different kinds of meat sprawled about Lilia looked at the pair in the eyes and said:

"How would you feel about purchasing your own husbands? eh?" asked the Priestess Lilia with twinkle in her eyes as the pair directly across looked back at her completely stupefied.

Lilia then continued. "I got friends in the right places, and they got a hold of some men from some other Kingdom we are at war with and they've capture plenty of males with quite the looks to boot" she boasted. "Two of my friends got a hold of one husband today from a slave trader, they must be home enjoying themselves as we speak" said the vulgar Priestess whole entire look of propriety had completely vanished from her visage and now sported a complete lustful and lecherous face.

Lilia sipped her wine alongside her meal and looked back at the pair and said "The time has come ladies! You can have a shot of marrying and carrying a child yourself just as the Goddess Vita intended it instead of that plant alternative everyone else has to put up with, So how about it?" Challenged Lilia in a restaurant filled with Noble ladies with many like Harlowe wearing exquisite dresses eating like fine young ladies would in Richard's view had he seen the way the men in this world behaved.

Laura and Olga could only stare at Lilia in shock at the scheme the Lustful Priestess of Pastoria was cooking up!

[author] Finally Chapter 10 it's out, I'm very slowly crafting this story and I hope the people who read it keep doing so. I have been swamped with school and I've had to do a lot of studying so please understand why I took a month. that aside I've made a page if you guys feel in you to support me at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/DrachenBlitz[/author]