With Crane showing the way, Orsted quickly approached his destination.
"That...." Crane watched Zarestia warily as they walked closer to his house.
"What is it? I told you, I'm going to keep an eye on you till you slip up." Zarestia stared back with a challenging gaze.
"....If you hurt my wife....I will never forgive you." Crane spoke seriously, even with Orsted here, danger wasn't fully resolved yet - in his eyes.
".... Don't worry, I have no interest in your female. In the first place, as a male, shouldn't you be out hunting for the family? Well, with that stomach.... your family must be suffering a lot."
Zarestia stuck out her somewhat busty chest, while answering Crane confidently. Even showing pity in her eyes.
"Kuuh! As I thought, there's no getting along with you!" Crane's chubby lizard face was shaking from fury.
'Sigh...I can smell another lizard man nearby, she should be able to smell it at any moment now too.' Orsted felt tired just hearing them.
Unlike Natsuki Subaru, Orsted was never good with giving emotional speeches - it just wasn't him. Rather than doing something he was bad with, he focused on doing what he did best.
Speak with his actions.
Rather than saying empty words, Orsted always liked showing his intentions with his actions, the efficient way.
'Though a rational part of me says, she would be a pain to travel with. I will just tick her off as a noisy companion, I did like her in the sloth if route anyway.' Orsted adjusted his mood.
He didn't scheme against Zarestia just because he liked her, he did it because the benefits were worth it too.
There might have been a better way, in the future, when he was stronger - to go about winning Zarestia over.
However, Orsted wasn't the kind of person who would ignore benefit right before his eyes. More so when, taking it for himself was possible.
Zarestia's speed visibly slowed down, as she followed them.
'I know exactly how complex a human mind can be...' Orsted suppressed his growing train of thoughts and focused on reality.
"There's no way....I-I can smell another thief! There....." Zarestia pointed right at Crane's house.
It took a while for her to 'differentiate' - since the scent must have felt the same to her. But she still could sense another person of the same scent as Crane right before her.
"I see, so the problem does stems from your nose." Orsted intruded appropriately, his cold voice making Zarestia more doubtful.
"That...shouldn't be...."
Ignoring her, Orsted instead ordered Crane: "Can you tell someone to call upon your tribesman here?"
"What are you...No, I understand." Crane took out a famous Metia and began contacting a few of his friends.
After talking for a while into the Metia, Crane invited Orsted and Zarestia into his house. His eyes were still reluctant as he watched Zarestia enter.
The house was smaller than a villa, but still very spacious and better than the house Orsted rented.
"Oh my, why didn't you tell me there would be guests today? And you shouldn't be roaming around in a windstorm!...." While scolding Crane, his wife's eyes froze as she saw Orsted.
"Are you the [Dragon god]? My husband told me about you. It's a pleasure meeting you, Mister Orsted."
Orsted nodded at her: "A pleasure."
If it were a normal person instead of a lizardman, they would be screaming seeing Orsted in their home by now - thanks to his curse.
"It truly is the same smell as the thief. What is happening...." Zarestia entered into a state of self-doubt.
Noticing the fight marks on Crane's clothes, his wife led him inside immediately in worry. She only came back after making sure Crane was absolutely fine.
"I heard that you healed him, we are very grateful for your help." After bowing to Orsted, Crane's wife brought a few snacks like rice crackers and soybean pods.
"Though it's nothing, please enjoy your time here." The wife watched Zarestia curiously, since her husband said nothing about her.
In a second, her mouth slack open seeing Zarestia sat down while placing her legs on the table.
"Oh, you are better than that male Lizard." Zarestia began digging into the snacks before her without hesitation.
"I'm impressed. The crusty texture and the aftertaste~ I can't stop eating....!"
"E-Eh, Ah, thank you very much." The wife's face was twitching visibly.
"..." Orsted looked out of the window, acting as if he didn't know her.
He could vaguely remember that Rem had drilled the importance of manners into Zarestia, in the sloth if route. Orsted on the other hand, decided to just let her learn by experience.
Not everyone would be as forgiving as Crane's wife after all.
Crane came back with his usual apron soon, sitting beside his wife with a better complexion than a second ago.
"You should learn some manners as you stay with Lord Orsted." Crane immediately frowned looking at Zarestia.
"Huh?"
Ignoring them, Orsted sensed a few people heading towards Crane's house.
"....." Zarestia suddenly froze still.
Knock~
"Ah, they must be here." Crane walked away and soon returned with two unfamiliar lizardmans.
"So, what do you think?" Orsted directly asked Zarestia.
"They....They all smell like the thief. It can't be...." Though having an inclination on what was happening, Zarestia still looked at Orsted, who appeared to have found out something.
"There's a defect in your nose, as per what I saw so far. You can't differentiate the smell between the same species. You should understand it right now too, yes?" Orsted stated facts naturally.
".... That's right." Zarestia's expression grew complicated, guilt, fear and the lingering anger flashed by.
Scratching her head, Zarestia spoke to Crane: "Well, that....I'm sorry."
Seeing her sincere expression, Crane's eyes softened up too.
"I will think it's just my misfortune. But you shouldn't attack others before checking properly."
Zarestia nodded, appearing a little discouraged: "I understand...."
She turned towards Orsted and bowed slightly too: "I'm sorry, I dragged you into this."
From the start, Zarestia thought Crane was the culprit, very confident in her nose. This played a part in her willingness to accept Orsted's contract too. Since in her mind, it would be over once she got the light sphere out of Crane.
"Don't worry about it, I wasn't lying about wanting to help you. It's rare to come across people who are not affected by my curse." Orsted calmly stated.
"Is that so?" Zarestia raised her white brows. In her mind, she thought Orsted wanted to protect the people here, seeing her hold them hostage.
"Yes. I will still fulfill my side of the contract." Orsted spoke in a resolute voice.
Though still a little discouraged, Zarestia appeared to have recovered.
"I see. Then, I will be loading off you as my temporary contractor!"
"Yeah..."
The first phase of Orsted's plan officially came to a close. Though with twists and turns everywhere - the results were very good at first sight.
'Now, I should lead her to the next phase.'