The cobblestone streets were completely deserted. It was far too early—barely 6:50 AM—and the sun was just beginning to stain the horizon, leaving no trace of daily routines or merchants.
«Every man has used this trick since time immemorial, you have absolutely no reason to feel guilty... you just went out to get milk, just like your old man,» Joseph—now Alaster—thought as his boots pounded against the pavement in sheer desperation.
Run. Run with elegance before the situation got any worse.
He had left behind an Arya who was literally choking on her own laughter, and a B-Rank mage ready to do absolutely anything for his elven seed. He honestly thought he would end up sold at some slave market if he didn't move.
—I can't believe they actually bought that. "A dragon outside the window?" —he muttered, his mouth feeling dry and cold—. And they actually turned to look! I feel terrible and relieved at the same time.
Rounding the corners of Sibar with his newly acquired elven agility was a breeze, but the echoing shouts in the distance warned him that his pursuers wouldn't give up so easily.
Just as he dashed past the alleyway of the secondary market, Alaster spotted a silhouette he didn't recognize, but which undoubtedly stood out in the midst of the desolate dawn.
It was a feline beastgirl, moving heavy wooden barrels around with an enviable, casual ease.
She wore a tiny pair of pajamas that seemed a bit tight on her: charcoal-grey short-shorts that hugged her firm thighs, and a matching cotton top so short it left a sculpted waist and a flat, flawlessly smooth stomach completely exposed.
Her ears and tail, both midnight black, twitched to the rhythm of the wind. Every single one of her movements carried an intrinsic, dangerous feline grace.
Hearing the rushed footsteps, she paused and turned around. Her slanted, emerald-green cat eyes widened with genuine curiosity upon seeing the exhausted elf sprinting toward her.
—Meow? My, what's the rush...
—Help me! —he cut her off, gently grabbing her by the shoulders. Glancing back and seeing the dust cloud kicking up at the end of the street made him panic instantly—. Please, help me hide from... from a pack of elven-sodomizing bandits. They're coming right this way!
Mirage let out a wicked little giggle at the ridiculous description, but her instincts kicked in immediately. Without a second thought, she shoved him toward a massive, cornered wooden barrel she had just moved.
—Inside! —she ordered—. I used to keep my little fishies in there, but it's empty now. Don't breathe too loud!
Alaster dove headfirst into the barrel, curling up as tightly as humanly possible. His enhanced elven senses regretted it instantly.
The barrel was technically empty of physical contents, but the ghost of a hundred rotting fish violently assaulted his nostrils, making his eyes water instantly. He had to clamp his hand over his mouth to keep from gagging.
The second Mirage slammed the heavy wooden lid into place, she hopped up in a clean jump and sat right on top of the barrel, leisurely crossing her shapely legs.
She rested her hands at her sides and instantly adopted her best face of absolute, pure innocence, humming a little tune as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
Right at that moment, the sound of rushed stomping and furious shouting flooded the alley.
Not only were Deinderatrix and Liena hot on his trail, but Jinneth had also joined the chase. Having overheard the scandalous conversation back at the tavern, she was now leading the charge with a broken heart and a bright red face.
—Alaster! You bastard! You liar! —Jinneth screamed, looking wildly in every direction with her fists clenched tight.
The three girls ground to a halt right in front of the catgirl resting atop the hiding spot.
—Hey, you, Guild girl! —Deinderatrix panted, adjusting her purple robes, which had become disheveled during the sprint—. Did you see an outrageously sensual elf run through here?
Mirage tilted her head, biting back a laugh as she felt the muffled thuds Alaster was accidentally making against the wooden walls, right beneath her crossed legs.
—An outrageously sensual elf? Meow... And what exactly did he do to have you searching for him like this?
Jinneth stepped forward, her grey eyes brimming with dramatic tears and her lips forming a heavy pout.
—He's a liar! He promised to make her... to make me his first wife! But he already has someone else when we haven't even kissed yet!
—Worse than that! —Deinderatrix added, waving her hand in sheer indignation—. He's a certified heartbreaker. He charms lonely, unsuspecting women with his... his sexy way of breathing, and then he rejects them in public! He's an absolute, hopeless womanizer!
Liena, who remained a step back watching the absolute circus her companions were making in the middle of the deserted street, simply shook her head.
She placed a hand over her face, completely mortified by the level of insanity unleashed so early in the morning.
—I'm sorry... —the scout murmured in a tragic sigh—. This is my fault. I should have never introduced him to you.
Mirage broke into a hearty laugh, tolerating the thuds Alaster kept making from inside the barrel.
«And here I thought today was going to be boring!» the catgirl thought, squeezing her eyes and mouth shut to stifle her giggles.
—Ohhh, and what are you going to do to him, meow? —she asked mischievously, swaying her crossed legs off the edge of the barrel.
Before she could get an answer, a slender figure rounded the corner in a hurry with a bow slung across her back. Mirage recognized the person instantly, who was running while laughing uncontrollably.
—Arya, meow?
The elf, who was wheezing more from the laughter than the actual running, reached the alley. Between loud chuckles, she managed to ask:
—Did... did you catch him yet? —She looked at the girls and kept laughing, bending over double, until Mirage's puzzled voice interrupted her.
—Arya, what is going on, meow?
Arya calmed herself as much as she could, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, and said:
—Long story short: I was talking to that naive, blue-haired elf at the tavern when the halfling and the human mage suddenly burst in. Then, out of nowhere, that human goes and tells him to... —Arya cut herself off, bursting into roaring laughter all over again.
—To what? —Jinneth asked, impatient and with her fists clenched tight.
Arya took a deep breath, composed herself, and continued:
—Out of nowhere, the mage asked him to fill her with elven babies! And the elf's face went completely pale with panic... I swear to you, his expression was the funniest thing I've ever seen!
—Whataaaat?! —Jinneth shrieked, her eyes widening to the size of saucers—. But I thought he was the one who asked her for babies!
—Nah, you just totally misinterpreted everything from afar, and I got you to scream "unfaithful" at him while the poor guy fled in absolute terror.
—But... I thought! —Jinneth covered her face with her hands, utterly mortified—. I should have known he wouldn't do something like that!
Arya smirked with pure satisfaction, while Deinderatrix scratched the back of her neck, saying sheepishly:
—Well... maybe I shouldn't have blurted that out so suddenly. Hehe, my bad.
—Your bad?! —Jinneth yelled, completely outraged—. By now, the poor guy must be running toward the neighboring kingdom without looking back!
Jinneth glared at the mage with pure venom in her eyes, but Deinderatrix only smiled back defiantly. Before they could start pulling hair in the deserted street, Mirage stopped them with a sly grin.
—Relax, meow. He isn't that far...
—Where is he? —Arya asked with a mocking smile, sensing something.
—Dead, or so it seems —the catgirl dropped entirely casually.
Jinneth turned completely pale, clutching her hands to her chest. —That can't be true!
The catgirl continued with pure malice:
—He stopped moving inside here about a minute ago. This barrel has been sitting out here for a week waiting for me to clean it... I was planning to do it today, until that very... cute elf asked me for help, and I just couldn't say no.
While Mirage was speaking, the barrel she was sitting on began to shake violently.
The catgirl planted her slippers firmly on the wooden edges and executed a clean leap, landing nimbly a few meters away.
—Meow, looks like he's alive!
The barrel's lid flew into the air. Alaster emerged from the bottom, his face looking a bit blue from holding his breath to the absolute limit.
Desperate for pure oxygen, he threw himself out of the container right as a massive jet of water—conjured by himself out of sheer panic—drenched him from head to toe, washing away the filthy residue but leaving him soaking wet.
A few minutes later, Deinderatrix, Jinneth, Liena, Arya, and Mirage were comfortably settled inside the latter's house, sitting on plush sofas.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the enclosed backyard, Alaster was submerged in a large tub full of soapy water, scrubbing his skin with desperate intensity.
In the living room, the girls drank tea and chatted over biscuits, looking completely relaxed.
All except Deinderatrix, who fidgeted nervously in her seat, and Jinneth, who was internally praying to the gods that Alaster hadn't heard her calling him a lying bastard out in the street.
—Did you see that, meow? —Mirage broke the silence, taking a sip from her cup.
Arya nodded, looking serious for the first time all day. —Yes. It gave me chills just watching it. He did it so casually...
—What are you guys talking about? —Liena asked, blinking her blue eyes in complete confusion.
—Alaster's spell —Mirage replied.
—The spell... What spell? —Deinderatrix chimed in, arching an eyebrow—. Didn't you see it? —Arya asked her.
—No —Detrix answered—. It’s just a common spell to create water. Nothing special about it.
—That is not the issue, human mage —Mirage snapped with a mocking tone—. What was shocking was what the spell was missing.
—What it was missing? What... it... was...
Suddenly, Deinderatrix's eyes went wide as dinner plates, nearly dropping her teacup. —The incantation!
—Bingo, meow! —Mirage said, snapping her fingers—. He just manifested that massive amount of water without uttering a single word.
Arya intervened, crossing her arms:
—Yes, that is incredibly difficult. All mages require years of arduous practice and meditation to achieve chantless magic, and he just does it out of nowhere with a basic spell that almost nobody uses because it's easier to pull water from a well.
—Uhhh... —Jinneth chimed in, tilting her head with total innocence—. But Alaster-dear never uses incantations in the kitchen. Isn't that normal?
Detrix, Arya, and Mirage simultaneously locked eyes, completely flabbergasted by the baker's revelation. In their minds, they shared the exact same terrifying thought: «What kind of monster elf is this?»
Meanwhile, in the outdoor bath, Alaster let out a loud sneeze.
«How strange,» he thought, rubbing his nose. «Elves are supposed to never get sick. Oh well, I guess I'll have to buy some more clothes before heading out on the mission.»
The elf stood up in the catgirl's large bathtub. Fortunately, he had finally stopped smelling the rotten fish after nearly ten minutes of scrubbing with an abundance of soap.
He dressed in the clothes Mirage had kindly left for him on a stool: grey trousers and a white cotton shirt. However, the shirt was a bit snug, heavily emphasizing the firmness of his chest and shoulders.
On his feet, he slipped into a pair of slippers designed with bunny ears, which he decided to completely ignore for the sake of his dignity.
He pushed open the wooden door, leaving the enclosed patio behind, and walked into the living room where the girls were chatting. He stood before them, drying his light blue hair with a towel.
—Is anyone going to tell me what actually happened in the end?
—I'm sorry... —Detrix murmured immediately, pinning her gaze to the floor with genuine regret—or at least, an excellent imitation of it.
Alaster sighed, relieved he wasn't in actual trouble with the authorities or the Guild. Then, his gaze landed on Jinneth. Out of all people, he never expected to see her in the middle of this mess.
—Jinneth? What are you doing here?
«Yes!» the baker thought, celebrating internally as she realized Alaster hadn't heard the insults she screamed earlier.
—I just... found out you... were in trouble and came to see if you were okay, yeah that's it! —she said rapidly, keeping her eyes glued to a side wall to hide her blushing.
Alaster narrowed his eyes. He knew she was hiding something, but he didn't have time to cross-examine her.
—Right, shouldn't I be heading out on a mission now? Well... —Alaster looked directly at Detrix.
The woman was, frankly, sexy as hell. She didn't possess Arya's refined, ethereal beauty, but she emanaded a wild eroticism in that mage outfit which featured far more cleavage than actual fabric.
She wore a magic wand tucked between the laces holding her attire together from her neck to her navel; right at that level, the wand was held firmly, its tip dipping in a very unsubtle manner toward her feminine zone.
Alaster swallowed hard mentally at the sight. Jinneth, who instantly noticed the elf's gaze, shifted uncomfortably and jealously in her chair.
—The next time you want to pull a prank on me, you'd better think about the consequences first —Alaster warned the mage.
—T... the next time? —Detrix whispered, her eyes lighting up with a spark of excitement upon realizing he didn't hate her.
Alaster turned toward the homeowner.
—And Miss Mirage, thank you for the help. You are the prettiest and kindest.
«Unlike a certain elf who only knows how to laugh and enjoys other people's pain,» he added in his mind, shooting a side-eye glance at Arya.
Upon hearing those words, Mirage’s world came to a sudden halt. She no longer saw the blue-haired elf.
In front of her, Alaster’s image completely overlapped with that of her older brother in a painful memory from the past:
—You are the prettiest and kindest, Mirage. Someday someone will see it and be your husband... but now run! Run and don't look back! —the beastman wept, covered in blood—. Don't look back, run!
—No, brother! —she screamed in her memory.
Mirage blinked, returning to the present. It was Alaster standing there, looking at her with genuine warmth.
—Eh? —she let out with her feline gaze.
«Prettiest? Kindest?» the catgirl thought. For her, those were completely foreign words in her vocabulary.
People had always called her a brawler, aggressive, dangerous, or sexy and hot... but kind and pretty? Never. Meow.
She stared intently at the elf and finally took in the details: he was tall, perfectly toned, and his face carried a magnetic charisma when he looked at her that way.
Recalling that he had praised her, a brutal blush painted her cheeks. She buried her face in her hands, dropping her gaze as she felt her heart accelerate to a thousand beats per minute.
«He's an incredibly powerful mage... and with an abdomen like that...» the catgirl thought. Her black tail began to curl and move in a sinuous, provocative rhythm.
She approached Alaster completely silently, practically floating.
Her legs traced smooth arcs as they skimmed the floor with an elegant, dangerous feline sensuality. Her hips swayed from side to side with a hypnotic rhythm, and her gaze, locked onto the elf’s back, began to emit a fierce possessiveness.
Those large, striking green cat eyes reflected the smiling profile of Alaster, who was already preparing to leave.
—Jinneth, I'm heading out now —he said—. I want to finish the mission, I think I should be back a bit after noon. Will there be anything to eat at the inn? Something I can take for lunch?
—I can whip something up real quick in the kitchen! —Jinneth offered immediately.
—I have some bread right here, meow! —Mirage interrupted, sliding right next to him and subtly rubbing her shoulder against Alaster’s arm.
Arya watched them from the sofa with arched eyebrows, thoroughly amused by the blatant competition.
—I'll accompany you on your mission! —Jinneth and Mirage said in unison, glaring at each other in open defiance.
Alaster felt a drop of cold sweat slide down the back of his neck. «I hope I make it out of this alive...» he thought in sheer panic.
—We have a carriage available —Liena and Detrix chimed in, joining the group.
—I can prepare anything quickly on the road and I also know how to defend myself —Jinneth added, stepping forward.
«I can't leave him alone with all these girls!» she told herself, shooting a murderous glare at the feline—. «Especially not with that one...»
Jinneth watched as Mirage practically devoured Alaster with her eyes while stepping dangerously close to him, offering him a cup of tea she had just prepared. «That cat knows exactly how to hunt... she’s a threat!»