"Miss, would you please slap me hard?" Nick asked Cana. He was convinced this was a nightmare; he couldn't process the reality of the situation until some physical pain hit him.
Solari—the notorious, cruel woman-hater—was sitting right in front of him, showing genuine care for a woman they barely knew. Nick wanted to ask the gods if this was real. Had his brother actually changed for the better?
Meanwhile, Erus rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Would you rather I punch you, Nick? My physical strength is well-controlled," Erus offered. "I'll make sure you don't lose a tooth," he added.
Cana was lost in confusion. She understood why they might be surprised to see the curse-bearer with her, but they didn't seem to hate Erus. Instead, she saw pure horror on their faces, as if they were witnessing something dreadful.
And this guy with Erus was acting just as bizarre.
"Have I somehow offended them?" She asked Erus.
The crowd's collective thought was: She asked the wrong guy! Gods, have mercy on her!
"No," Erus answered simply. "By the way, this is Nick. He's the Guild Master of the Castle of Lions—the guild I belong to. I brought him here because he wanted to see you."
"Oh. He doesn't look very happy to see me," Cana said hesitantly, though it was a straightforward observation. She noticed Nick's dumbfounded, shell-shocked expression.
"Don't mind him. He's still in shock that I have an apprentice," Erus replied.
"You having an apprentice is shocking enough, but her?" Nick exclaimed. "Did you actually see a god during the trials? Or has her beauty bewitched you? I could understand if you chose a slime as an apprentice, but her?"
"Why? What's wrong with me being his apprentice? Do you have an objection?" Cana's tone shifted instantly from sweet to deadly serious.
A shiver ran down Nick's spine, effectively shutting him up.
Erus grinned. "She asked you a question, Nick," he teased.
Nick pointed between the two of them, unable to believe he had just encountered someone who could match Erus' terrifying aura. Or was he just losing his mind?
"No, I got no objections to that," Nick answered, but he immediately began scratching his head thoroughly. He still couldn't process it. "Nikolas, is this for real? I mean, how? How did you find such a beauty and actually make her your apprentice? Did you use some forbidden spells on her? Man, that was rude."
Cana and Erus exchanged looks, both thinking the same thing: just how unbelievable they must seem to everyone else.
"I seduced him," Cana answered, her voice cool and intentional—a direct strike meant to silence Nick's endless blabbering.
The effect was instantaneous, though not quite what she expected. Even Erus was caught off guard, coughing roughly as the words hit him like a physical blow.
He remembered she was a fan of his abs. Was that the seduction she was referring to?
"Did you choke?" Cana asked, then she directly patted Erus' back like she was his mother.
Nick was so stunned at what he was witnessing. He had to look around just to make sure he wasn't the only one having this reaction. He was not mistaken; everyone in the room had the same expression.
Solari—the untouchable man who would cut off a woman's limb just for touching him—was casually allowing this beautiful girl to treat him like a toddler.
Then, Erus stood up.
"If you want a peaceful dinner, just fucking enjoy your meals and drinks. Stop the blabbering. You're disturbing my meal too much," he announced, causing the crowd to disperse instantly.
Even Nick was snapped back to reality. Now, that was the real Solari they thought had been lost to a beauty.
Though, that was just Erus' way of reclaiming his ego after being called a seduced man.
He sat back down and picked up his chopsticks. He continued sharing his food onto Cana's plate, completely ignoring Nick.
"Do you want the grains?" He asked Cana.
"Only if you aren't eating them. I could ask Letty for another serving, though."
"Just have mine."
"Okay. Thanks."
Everything went quiet at Erus' table. The only thing breaking the silence was the sound of the crackling chicharon when Nick finally tried it. He did his best to chew quietly, careful not to make any more noise.
As minutes passed, everything returned to normal in the pub. Even Nick became busy, fully enjoying the newly discovered food paired with his booze.
"You can actually dip it in vinegar, Sir. It will taste even better," Cana said, noticing Nick was eating the chicharon like a madman.
He had the exact same reaction as Letty's husband and son when she first gave them a taste.
"Really? Can I try it?" Nick asked, glancing toward Erus as he spoke. He still had no idea if talking to Cana would drive the man mad again.
But Erus was completely immersed, savoring Cana's cooking.
Meanwhile in the Lustful Brothel...
Under the dim light of the moon hiding behind the clouds, a shadow moved fast, leaving a trail of an unfamiliar dark aura. Something glinted, yet was barely visible to the naked eye. It leaped from one roof to another, its movement blended with the silence of the night.
In the distance stood the house, flickering with mismatched lights—the shadow's target. It could smell, even at such a long range, the scent of combined perfumes, honey, and old parchments drifting from the brothel. Even the stench of the mortals' lustful desires grated against its nose. But that did not hinder its craving for the shiny objects and beautiful ornaments kept inside.
In a dark room, perched on a roof beam, Ryden sat quietly. A thin black curtain hid his presence, refracting the light from outside and casting a dim, dramatic atmosphere over the space.
He was assigned to guard the room on the owner's orders. They had been told a wealthy patron was visiting tonight and had chosen this exclusive suite. Meanwhile, Akiro was assigned to keep watch from the building's exterior.
Ryden hoped Akiro was actually doing his job instead of being snared by one of the hostesses. He desperately wished to switch places; Akiro lived for this kind of environment, while for Ryden's innocent mind, this was pure torture.
The door swung open, revealing the noble. He was already half-undressed, with two hostesses clinging to his arms like snakes. One of them held a glass of wine, tilting it to feed the man as they stumbled inside.
Ryden's brows knitted in disgust. To him, they didn't look like lovers; they looked like a pack of noisy frogs invading the silence.
The hostesses' laughter echoed like the eerie calls of forest birds at night. The man, looking like a starved predator, let his hands crawl hungrily over one woman's body. The other slowly poured wine over the noble's bare chest. To Ryden's absolute dismay, she began to lick the spill from his hairy skin like a crazed animal while she pushed him down onto the bed.
Did he really have to endure this kind of gross display?
His grip on the sheath of his sword tightened, his knuckles turning bone-white as he fought the primal urge to drop from the beam and slash those unnecessary throats just to stop the noise. He had already mentally escaped through the window the moment the two women stood there totally naked. He felt a desperate need to shift his eyes to a more decent sight, but this was a mission, and a mission demanded his focus.
Everyone in this house was a suspect. If their group leader were the one handling this operation, he knew even the owner would be under suspicion. Ryden took a shallow breath, filtering the cloying perfume through his teeth. He had to be a professional. He had to be the ghost on the beam, regardless of the grotesque display unfolding beneath him.
But their noises wouldn't leave his sanity alone. They didn't stir the slightest spark in him; he was just irritated by the flirtatious screams of the women. They were too loud.
"Your sword is as great as ever, Master. Please, fill me with it and drill it deeper until the sun rises," one hostess said. She gripped the man's manhood, moving her hands in a slow rhythm.
Instead of being aroused, Ryden questioned the way the woman described it. How could that be compared to a sword? The length was barely the size of her closed fist and it had no sharpened edge. Besides, swords weren't for drilling. It was a stupid, nonsensical comparison.
As if it weren't enough to trample on Ryden's innocence, he almost drew his sword when the hostess lunged her mouth onto the man's manhood. The noble moaned like a crazed orc. It was disgusting and gross; Ryden finally chose to look away for a second. But his avoidance didn't last.
"Ahhhhhh!"
One of the hostesses screamed. Ryden immediately looked down again, ready to jump and attack a suspect, only to find the scream wasn't from terror. While one woman was licking and sucking the man, the other was shoving her hips into the noble's face.
Ryden's eyes widened. He wasn't watching humans anymore; he was seeing animals in the woods. The room became even noisier.
Minutes later, the sound of wet, rhythmic slapping echoed in the four corners of the room. The squeals and moaning became hoarser from the three. Ryden gritted his teeth to preserve his patience over the noise and the animals in heat.
This was the worst mission he had ever had. No wonder Erus despised this place so much.
Despite what was going on below, Ryden kept his focus clear and his alertness doubled. He had made the right call; he felt a sudden change in the air. It became hot and humid, as if something was coming.
The three animals had no sense for it.
Using his wind ability, he alerted Akiro, who was hiding behind the shadow of a chimney on the roof. Akiro had already seen something approaching. It was moving too fast to identify, but he knew it was a creature hiding within its own trail. He wasn't even familiar with this kind of aura. Akiro suspected it was just a mortal using an ability.
He waited until it landed on the brothel's roof. The dark trail vanished, and Akiro saw the body. He had to blink several times just to make sure he was seeing it right. Before him stood a young boy, about seven or eight years old, but he wasn't a mortal. The boy had ears similar to a cat, but his orange tail belonged to a fox.
Akiro's eyes widened. That definitely was not a normal creature. It was a creature from those old books—the Teumessian Fox! He could not believe he was seeing one now, when everyone thought the lineage of these creatures had been long erased from the mortal world along with the witches. This kind of fox was believed to be a curse-bearer and the harbinger of ruin. Its life alone was a malice and a threat to any mortal.
These creatures did not attack mortals; they didn't need to, as their malevolent aura was enough. They were physically weak, yet incredibly difficult to catch. Their abilities in running and hiding were at their peak. No powerful mortal could beat a mature Teumessian Fox, for they would be exhausted long before they ever laid a hand on one.
But this one, despite being young, could move as fast as a shadow killer in the dark.
Akiro suppressed his aura as hard as he could to hide from the suspicious fox. It was sniffing the air as if it had caught a scent. When it looked in his direction, he stopped breathing.
He could not afford to be seen by those malevolent eyes, or he would be cursed for life. If it so much as stepped in his direction, he would take its head instantly.
Then, he felt it move—only to leap down onto a balcony, heading straight for a specific room. At first, Akiro let out a sigh of relief, but his brain told him to keep moving. The fox was heading to the exclusive suite where the noble patron was currently indulging in his filthy life.
Ryden was inside that room!
"Shit!" He cursed, realizing his friend was in danger. But how could he even warn Ryden? He wasn't a wind-ability user.
Akiro clenched his fist while holding the scabbard of his sword. Whatever happened next, he would not let a friend be harmed while he did nothing.