Testing My Luck in the New World

Once I had properly guided all my girls back to consciousness – and after Mana rushed us out the room for breakfast – we headed straight for the inn's dining area. Yua hung off my right arm with a happy swish to her tail, enjoying her newly increased Vigor stat thanks to the Casanova system, while Mana claimed my left arm and dragged us along, guiding us to the food with her nose. Close behind us was Elane, wearing a strange smile as she moved along with a slight limp.

On the opposite side of the inn, I pushed open the door to the dining area before Mana could kick it in. I laughed when she abandoned my arm to dash over to the first empty table she could.

Drawn by the noise, all the other patrons enjoying their meals looked from her to us and all sound died in the room. The morning chatter that had seemed so vibrant out in the hall vanished without a trace. My smile cracked and faded as well once I noticed how every single set of eyes in the room stared hard at us.

With all three of my wives looking extra beautiful and glossy-skinned this morning, it was no surprise that the men at least would want a look, but the women too stopped ferrying food into their mouths to gawk. One, a raccoon-kin, if I were to guess by the black and white ringed tail floating behind her, loudly dropped her fork onto her plate to cover her mouth. Her eyes widened the more her cheeks burned.

The silence our entrance garnered persisted well past the point of being awkward, so I gave them all a short wave and we joined Mana at the table. Yua took the spot on the bench next to Mana to keep her from fidgeting about. Meanwhile, Elane plopped down on the opposite side of the table and inhaled sharply through her nose once her butt hit the seat. A wide smile appeared on her lips all the same.

"Hey," I whispered, leaning in to sit next to the blonde. "Is there some sort of morning greeting custom here that we missed? Elane?"

"Huh? Oh, no. Nothing like that. Why?"

"No reason."

A glance around at all the info boxes in the room told me there was nobody worth worrying about. In fact, many of the face still gawking at us were the inn goers we'd met here yesterday. And yet, they all continued to stare up until our eyes met, to which they quietly resumed their meals.

At first, I thought that their stares might have had something to do with the disappearances, unfamiliar faces like ours were always suspect, but I quickly thought better of it. Lucielle mentioned the people's strange disregard towards the issue. Besides, our weapons and armor were hidden away in my item box. We shouldn't look all that threatening to anyone.

Shrugging it off, I decided to keep on my toes anyways and raised a hand and called the waitress over. She was an older woman, in her mid-forties, but had a curvy body that was still distinctly youthful enough to want to flaunt it. And with her skin being the same shade of light grey as Gideon's, and with the presence of the ring on her finger, had me wondering if the two were married. Not that she seemed to want to gossip about herself.

She too had been staring, and when I called to her, she responded by rolling her eyes. The half-hearted sneer that played across her lips only deepened the closer she got.

"Good morning," she said dryly. "I'm Griselda. What can I get you this morning. Also, my eyes are up here, sir."

"Oh, uh, sorry," I said and Elane playfully kicked my shin under the table. "We'll each have one of whatever is for breakfast."

"But I want extra meat!" cheered Mana, her tail excitedly thumping the air behind her as she gripped the table.

"And something to drink, please," Yua added. "Anything is fine."

Slowly, Griselda drew a breath and, without bothering to write down our simple order, she nodded and turned on her heel.

"Yea… I bet you lot need something to drink."

"Um, okay?" I forced a smile as I pulled out my coin purse. "How much do I owe you?"

"Breakfast comes with your lodging fee. Anything else is extra. Now, it won't be long before the food's done, so don't go wondering off."

Yua tilted her head, ears flicking in confusion, but Griselda was gone before she could question what she meant. What wonderful customer service.

"Hey, Yua."

As I settled in to wait and bided my time by replaying our conversation with Lucielle in my mind, Elane leaned forwards. Letting the table bear the weight of her bust to spare her bra, she levied her chin in her palm and smirked at Yua.

"I'm surprised you haven't become a picky eater. What, with how good of a cook you are."

"Mm. Well, back in the village, we could only eat what was hunted or brought by traveling merchants. So, being picky isn't really an option if you want to get stronger And, honestly, after living in the slave house, anything I eat tastes wonderful to me."

"Mhmm. I bet," Elane said, turning her smirk to me, but I didn't play along. Her question was clearly leading and Yua was falling for her trap.

"I see. I see. Speaking of eating something tasty, I'm surprised you're still thirsty."

"What do you mean?"

Under the table, I put a hand on Yua's thigh and shook my head to get her to stop. Despite her experiences as a woman, the conversation was a little above her naivete's paygrade.

Besides, that she willingly reciprocated my morning tongue lashing while I was in the middle of waking Mana, and without my needing to ask her to, was a fact that should be praised, not made fun of.

"Elane, stop it. We should be focusing on why we're here."

Elane shrugged, but relented.

"Fine, fine. What should we do first?"

That was the question. A simple one on paper, yes, and yet, it unfortunately wasn't so easy. We'd already discussed as much back in the privacy of our room while we all got dressed, but not much had changed in our plans.

Our main goal was still finding the bandits, as taking care of them should solve the string of murders happening here, but now investigating said murders seemed the best way to find them. The only question was how exactly we should get started.

"I thought about that," I started, but when I remembered the presence of other beast-kin, I reluctantly tempered my wording to be more discrete. "We could ask around ourselves. My and Yua's abilities could help with finding answers."

It's not that I couldn't trust Lucielle's testimony, but the fact that nobody believes her, and how the few that did wound up dead, was odd enough to say we should look into it personally. With Yua being our humanoid lie-detector, we could find out if the people really believed the nonsensical stories about the ongoing deaths.

Also, my Thought Steal spell would be able to read whatever was currently on the surface of their mind. And since the conversation would put their minds on the incidents, then the limitations of that spell would be moot.

Either way, it'd be better than running around like chickens with our head's cut off while trying to scope the info boxes of everyone in the city.

"I think we should visit that fort. You know, the one Kitty mentioned yesterday."

I sighed. "Well, an abandoned fort does seem like the most…"

"Ahem!"

… the most video-game-esque spot for a bunch of bandits to be holed up, is what I was going to say when a man from the next table over loudly cleared his throat. With his wrinkled face bordered by a thick set of brown muttonchops, it was easy to see the deep frown on his lips and the heated tinge to his cheeks.

Once he had our attention, he stood from his table and, leaving behind a blushing woman the same age as him, he slammed himself into the seat beside Elane, nearly knocking her over in the process.

"Hey!"

"Quiet, blondie," the man, Matias according to his info box, said. "If you lot aren't from around here and you want somewhere to visit, I suggest the church."

"Tch…"

With a click of her tongue, Elane pulled her coat back up over her shoulders to cover up a little, not that the man was looking at anything but her eyes. She fought back by leaning an elbow on the table as she faced him.

"Thanks, but we're not exactly here on a pilgrimage."

"Mhmm. I suppose not. But after what I heard, what we all heard, I think you lot should do yourselves some good and get right with Tallow."

"And what exactly do we have to get right with Tallow for?"

At this, Matias's cheeks reddened a little further as his gaze shifted from me and back to her. Then, after glancing back at the woman he left behind, he cleared his throat again.

"I won't do my wife the disservice of mentioning it directly. But whatever it was you all were doing in your room this morning makes me think you're not exactly god-fearing-folk."

"God-fearing…?"

Not particularly enjoying the tone he used against my wife, and after remembering the church's potential connection to the bandits, I readied my Thought Steal spell to get a head start on our investigation, but was cut off when his glare shifted to me.

"And you. I bet you're all proud and full of yourself, but around these parts, we don't go disturbing the peace so early in the morning."

"Disturbing the peace? We've been nothing but quiet and respectful since we got here."

Well, except Mana running through the room, but she was surely cute enough to not count that.

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"Quiet?!" he repeated, almost laughing. "Son, you were about as quiet as a thunder storm. Ya got my poor wife all bothered and shaking. Ain't you know that a muffling enchantment only works if all the exits to the room are sealed? Tallow, have mercy on this poor fool."

"What...? What do you mean?"

Feeling my cheeks start to burn as what he said set in, I tried to refute him, but I was cut off again when a plate of food was set in front of me. Griselda had come back and was already finishing up setting out breakfast, all while not-so-discreetly side-eyeing me.

"What he means to say is that the muffling enchantment on your room only works if both the window and the door are closed. Or, in other words, everyone in the inn heard these girls screaming and moaning. All morning long… Anything else I can get you?"

At this, I reluctantly wrenched my eyes away from the both of them to look at the others in the room. As she said, every single one of them were trying their best not to look at us. And every single one of them were red in the cheeks.

"I can't believe you'd just cut loose like that in public," Matias said, shaking his head before locking eyes with Elane, who flinched back. "Especially you. Control your voice, blondie. You shame your parents by screaming out like that."

"Wh-Wha… But I… What?!"

Elane, whose moans had actually been muffled by the pillow she'd bit into earlier, turned to the real culprit for backup, but all Yua did was smile sympathetically back at her as she quietly stuffed a bit of bread into her mouth.

Meanwhile, Mana, who looked entirely unconcerned with the conversation, chomped into a thick slice of bacon. The look on her face was nothing more than pure rapture as she chewed.

"Wh-wh-wha… I… But I didn't…"

In mere seconds of her confused stammering, the entirety of Elane's face turned bright red, but she was nowhere near going berserk.

"B-but the window and door were closed," I stammered right along with her.

"No they weren't!" called a voice from the other side of the room, only to be followed by a chorus of agreements that made me jump with each jab.

"Who does something like that in the morning anyways?!"

"The inn isn't a brothel!"

"My husband wouldn't let me leave the room because of you!"

"Lucky! Mine wouldn't let me leave the bed!"

I blinked. I blinked hard, suddenly wishing we were back in the isolated confines of our home back in the middle of nowhere. But a hand laid itself on my shoulder, drawing me back to reality. Matias had switched seats to sit beside me.

"I-I…"

"Son, I get you have your needs, but do us a favor and keep them between yourself and Tallow, would ya?"

"B-But, the window was… Yua?"

"I made sure the window was shut tight last night," she said with a shrug and her emerald eyes were filled with nothing but the utmost sympathy.

Yua would have been concerned if she was made to break my orders by being seen this morning, but being heard wasn't an issue at all for her. And with Mana sharing the same upbringing as her, it was easy to say that, as the petite girl devoured her food, she didn't care either way.

"But if the window wasn't open, how did the enchantment fail?"

My memory of closing and locking the door behind us as we left last night was perfect. I recalled every single detail from how cool the doorknob felt in my palm, to the inane conversations we'd heard as we left the inn to map the city.

The door was, in fact, closed. And we'd teleported back into the room after speaking with Lucielle, so it was never reopened. Knowing this, I was midway between wondering if teleporting into the room somehow broke the enchantment or if the inn staff let themselves into the room with a spare key, when a petite, greedy hand stretched across the table to grab a piece of bacon off my plate.

And somehow, it all clicked.

"Mana… do you know how the enchantment failed?"

Her cheeks swelling with her thoroughly-enjoyed breakfast, Mana tilted her head at me, as if in confusion, but then…

"Hmmf?... Fo, fea," she started, then swallowed the bite she'd been lingering on before continuing. "I woke up early because I had to pee. Maybe I left the door open a little when I came back…? Oh, oh! But don't worry! I remembered to put my clothes on before I left the room!"

I stared at her. Elane stared at her. The whole room stared at her in disbelief as she puffed up her tiny chest, her tail swishing proudly.

"Kitty… no…" Elane, her cheeks now dangerously red, pulled the sides of her coat up to cover her face. It was a show of embarrassment I'd never seen on her before. And it was only getting worse.

"Did you hear that?"

"He doesn't even let the poor girl wear clothes to bed."

"Doesn't she look a little young, too?"

"She can't be any older than my little girl."

"He must be a deviant!"

"I knew he was going to be trouble when he walked in here with three women."

"…"

Feeling as though I'd have to pass on and meet the Goddess again if I met anyone else's eyes, I buried my face in my hands. Yua rubbed my back for me, but then I felt a manlier hand pat my shoulder.

"Yup. Son, I don't see a ring on any of your or your women's fingers, but don't fret. This little indiscretion can be fixed so long as you let Tallow's light shine upon you. There's still plenty of time to make things right."

Seeing that the torture was only going to continue if I let it, and feeling myself on the verge of running to the church just to rid myself of this situation, I politely pushed his hand away.

"Okay, I'm sorry we caused everyone trouble. We really didn't mean…"

Before I could finish my apology, Yua's fingernails dug into my back right before the doors leading out into the city pushed open. A wall of morning light flooded in that I might have let burn my inner sinner alive, had it not been for the figure standing in the doorway surveying the scene. A few excited gasps sounded off one after another in obvious appreciation for his comely visage, but my breath caught.

Wearing a set of leather armor that was several times more fine than the other guards, and with a gleaming saber at his hip and an equally gleaming smile on his lips, was none other than Giulio. He spotted us instantly and his smile grew almost gleeful.

"Ah, Alex! Mio amico, somehow, I knew the noise complaint about some overly-passionate lovers had to be about you."

"S-Someone reported us?!"

Equally incensed and embarrassed, I snapped my attention back to the room full of people, who were all quick to look away, but then Giulio laughed uproariously.

"Hahaha! It was not them that called on me. It was a random passerby who overheard some, shall we say, loudly-effeminate voices, and mistook them for cries of duress until someone a little older explained it to them properly."

"Oh…"

I buried my face in my palms again. Of course, if the enchantment failed too, then our room's window failed to contain the moans. The damn thing might as well have been wide open.

Unbothered by his laughter or presence, Mana leaned over the table to steal some more bacon off Elane's plate. Belatedly noticing our visitor, Elane straightened up and gulped down a half a mug of water to cool her cheeks.

Yua, on the other hand, shifted in her seat. Turning half-way towards him, the façade she wore looked calm and easy-going, but I knew her. Her body language was telling that she was ready to pounce if Giulio so much as thought about drawing his sword.

"Hahaha! Don't look so sour," Giulio said. "From the sound of things, you did your job as a man!"

"Look," I sighed, cheeks practically melting off my skull. "It wasn't on purpose. We…"

"It's fine. It's fine," he said, slapping me on the shoulder. "I wouldn't dare get in the way of such passion, but I do have to worry about the people's peace of mind. Just promise me it won't happen again and we can let this all be water under the bridge, yea?"

At this, he leaned back and, without waiting for my answer, surveyed the room. Hooking a thumb under the waistline of his pants and resting his hand on the hilt of his sword, almost like a cop would their belt, except there was no pressure in his gaze.

Yua's brow gave a slight twitch, but she had to bite back her reacting to his politely veiled and borderline non-threatening-threat to keep the peace. Instead, she returned her attention to her plate. Though her ears were clearly still focused on him.

"Gino, my boy," another, much older man called out, waving a cane at him.

Smiling broadly enough to make at least one of the women that had been complaining a moment ago swoon, Giulio, or rather Gino, clapped his hands together.

"Ah, Peter, there you are. I thought you wanted to meet at the tavern."

"I tried," the old man, Peter, said, rubbing his side. "But my hip refused to cooperate this morning. Barely made it to breakfast, I did."

"No worries. No worries, mio amico. Let me help you."

Giulio took a step towards the man, but stopped and turned back.

"Excuse me, Alex, but I must leave you for now," he said and, turning a softer smile towards my girls, he added, "I am terribly sorry for all the embarrassment you've endured. Please, try not to dwell on it so much you can't enjoy the rest of your day."

With a wave, Giulio strode through the room and slipped an arm under Peter's and helped him to his feet. The older gentleman grimaced painfully with the effort, but Giulio's smile never wavered, not even during the lengthy process of his shoulder being used to help steady the man's shaky knees until he managed to prop himself up with his cane.

Taken aback myself, I found Elane and Yua both staring at him mussing their faces. With her ears turned towards nobody but the one man in the room whose info box labeled him a killer, Yua's expression was doubly dubious.

Mana, though, was happily chomping away, her cheeks now smeared with grease.

"Thanks for always doing this," Peter said as they started to slowly head towards the door. "I don't know how I'd ever make it to church without you."

"Think nothing of it. Our dear priestess will fix you up good as new and you'll be running back home once mass is over."

"Ha. If only. I'll just be asking for her help again tomorrow."

"Then I'll convince her to use stronger magic this time!"

Moving at Peter's aged pace, they continued their light banter as they left the inn. Before the doors swung shut, a sizable portion of the inn's guests, mainly the women and the raccoon-kin, got up and followed behind them and, suddenly, the room was quiet again.

Our party – not including Mana – continued to stare after him in disbelief until someone nudged my shoulder.

"You can follow them to the church if you don't know the way," Matias said with a sagely nod before he and his wife joined the crowd leaving the inn.

We remained rooted in disbelief until the casual clinking of silverware on dishes signaled the continuation of breakfast. Taking a bite myself, more to act casual than because I was hungry, I whispered freely to Yua now that she and Mana were the only beast-kin still here.

"Did you get anything from that?"

Fork in mouth, she shook her head. "Not sure… But he sounded sincere."

"Please," Elane said, tearing off a chunk of her bread before popping it into her mouth. "I could practically hear the pussies of every single woman in here get wetter by the second once he started helping the old fart. He had to be acting it up."

"I don't know…" Yua said, then turned to wipe Mana's greasy cheeks with her napkin. "I couldn't hear any ill intent in his heart."

"He didn't exactly say much, though."

"Right," Elane nodded. "Then we should follow him to hear more."

"What happened to checking on the fort?"

"This is more important. With what our benefactor said last night about her father, and now Gino being involved in shepherding people into the church…"

Experience keeping her from repeating Lucielle's name aloud, there was no need for her to explain further. Lucielle's father had been brought to the church by a group of bandits before he died as well. It was hard to ignore the connection she drew up.

Knowing this, the church suddenly felt like the safest option to search first.

"Fine. We'll stick to your lead."

Having our gameplan for the day more or less decided for us, we scarfed down our food and hurried off to church.

… But not for the reason Matias suggested.