As Hugo was enjoying his "date" with Amelie, a certain person was watching them for a safe distance. Not directly, of course. That would be too risky. Instead, she used one of her familiars, a Sky Fish, to observe him from above. It was pretty much impossible for him to notice, as it was just a tiny fish about the size of a human hand, and it was completely invisible. Using it, she could see what he was doing, even if she wasn’t there in person. In fact, she was in a completely different location entirely. She was outside of town, at its outskirts in the woods nearby. Such was the range of her fishes. They were the perfect tool for spying and observation.

And there he is. Just casually going on a date with his girlfriend.

Hmm, might he think we won’t actually be coming for him? How naive. Does he truly believe he can get away with killing one of the Council?

Then again, he’s just a kid. He might be a talented mage, but he lacks the maturity and experience that comes with age.

Quite the shame that I most likely would have to end his life. What are the chances of him actually allowing himself to be captured and ferried back to the Magocracy? Even then, they would just kill him there. Public execution. The Council would want to show their authority after all.

As for his friends…

She switched her attention to a different fish. This one was following his other friends—the two adventurers named Anne and Anton. She had studied them quite attentively, personally and from all the rumors that reached her ears. She knew that the girl had been saved by the boy, and that he might have done it while fighting against a Forest Treant. She even knew that he somehow managed to temporarily subdue the blizzard that battered the region that night. And of course, she knew about his new, custom spells. That gnome was quite excited to tell her all about them.

She now has no doubt he was a magic prodigy, equal or even better than her. If he was as old as her, who knew what kind of amazing spells he might have invented?

All the more reason to finish him right now, before he became a real threat to the Magocracy.

How unfortunate. I might actually be interested in him.

Indeed, the bubble mage was somewhat considering making him her husband. He's pretty good-looking, and he's talented in magic. His personality wasn't bad either. She always had a soft spot for naive young men who liked playing the hero. Usually, those guys were easy to manipulate after all.

Perhaps if she promised him that they would leave his sister alone? Not a promise she could keep, of course. That would depend on her mother and the other bigwigs at the Council.

No, she knew perfectly well it would never happen. His sister would have to be under their thumb as well. Maybe she would have to marry that creep. Naturally, he wouldn't stand for that.

"Lady Elun, the preparations are ready."

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the voice of one of her subordinates. Her sight returning back to those her own eyes produced, she looked behind her to see a young teal-haired man standing in front of her. He was dressed in a garment an adventurer would wear—leather armor, cloth pants, and the hilt of a serrated sword attached to his belt. However, one would no doubt notice the fins he had jutting out near his ears.

His name was Faust, and he was one of Elun's subordinate that she brought with her from the Magocracy.

"Good." Elun smiled. "They're going to arrive here soon."

Faust was her second-in-command. He was a seafolk who had come to the surface and settled in the Magocracy. Or rather, his father did. He married a human woman and he came into being as a result. Unlike her, he was a swordsman, trained in the arts by his own father—at least, until said father passed away fighting against a sea monster who had terrorized the coastline of the eastern Magocracy.

"Milady, please, allow me to challenge him in one-on-one combat. I swear I can handle him."

This sudden proclamation from her subordinate turned her smile into a frown.

"You can't. You have no chance against him alone. He's too strong for you."

She didn't hesitate as she spoke those words. Her expression had gone cold, showing that his statement was unwelcome to her ears.

"Please, Milady! I—"

"Ooh, what's this? Dear ol' Fausty is still trying to impress Elun!"

His words were interrupted by the arrival of another person. Immediately you could tell that she didn't belong to the human race, as her humanoid body was made not out of flesh, but out of a dark blue liquid. Unlike him, she had no clothes whatsoever—completely naked. Not that it mattered, for a slimekin doesn't reproduce the way a human does. Thus, her breasts had no nipples while her crotch was smooth and featureless.

Her name was Yulon, the third-in-command of Elun's squad.

"You know, I'll be more than happy to be your girlfriend. Elun's not interested in you. So why don't you just relax and let me take care of you, alright?"

The slime woman slithered and wrapped around the man like a snake would. She didn't stop there however, as her tongue licked his left ear while her now amorphous lower body went to assault what lay between his legs.

...

No response. He didn't even acknowledge her presence.

"Aww, you're no fun, Fausty!"

With a pout, she retreated.

The slimekin was a well-known flirt in the squad. She pretty much would try to sleep with every man she found attractive. She was originally an adventurer from the Demon Continent. One thing led to another and she ended up being recruited by Selendia to serve under her daughter's unit.

"Hey, Elun!" She clasped her hands together. "Fausty here has been all grumpy ever since you said you are interested in this Hugo boy."

"Oh?" Elun smirked. "Then perhaps you should start considering learning to be a mage, if you want to be my husband that badly."

She was perfectly aware of the young man's affection towards her. Of course, she had no plans to reciprocate. After all, men with lacking magical prowess didn't interest her in the slightest. 

It became just another way for her to control him. That's why she made him her second-in-command. He was easily the most loyal of her subordinates. He would die in a heartbeat for her.

Such was the lesson her mother taught.

"Well, enough of the chatter. Get to your positions. They're going to arrive soon." 

She reached upwards to adjust her large hat in place.

Gotta look her best to receive her guests after all.

---------

Anne and Anton were on their way to the outskirts of the small town. They had just taken a quest to help with stacking logs in one of the warehouses there. It was one of those quests where all ranks of adventurers were welcome, simply because they were terribly undermanned. Apparently, an accident that injured a bunch of workers just happened a few days back, so they were in dire need of extra workers.

They arrived in the front of a large wooden building. It was shaped like a rectangle, longer on the length than width. It looked like what you would expect from a warehouse, but just in case, they walked over to the man standing guard near the door.

"Excuse me. Is this Mr. Erdea's warehouse?" Anton spoke.

"Hmm? Yeah. Ye'r adventurers?" The bushy red-bearded man narrowed his eyes.

"Yes. We're from the Flaming Arrows. We're here to help with the warehouse."

"I see. Get inside."

The man then pushed the large doors behind him open, gesturing with his thumb for them to come inside.

Inside, they were greeted by the sight of people moving around logs of wood all over the place. Not only that, but there was a lot of sawing going on as well. The scent of woodworking was unmistakable and the air was filled by shouts of orders from the foreman.

"Go speak with old Rand there. He'll tell ya' yer job." The redbeard pointed at the man in the middle of the room.

"Thank you." Anton gave him a polite smile. "We'll do just that."

---------

The two worked inside the warehouse for a bit, helping with the lifting and transporting of the logs and planks inside. Anne might have a lithe body, but being an archer meant one would have great arm muscles, which she certainly had. So doing work like this was no problem to her. It was also why Amelie didn't go. As a muscleless mage, she couldn't do jobs like this. Not that the person herself would want to, of course.

But then, they were abruptly summoned by the foreman, who told them that there was somebody who wanted to meet them. He only said that she looked like a mage, wearing a big pointy hat and all. The two had no idea who that could be. But they left the building nonetheless.

From a distance, they could see the person, standing underneath a large tree. They exchanged a short look with each other before walking towards her.

When they arrived, she was looking away from them, seemingly admiring the big tree instead. Even though this year’s winter had been somewhat heavier than the usual, its leaves were still as thick and dense as ever. It belonged to the species that was resistant to cold after all. 

"Hey, you're the person who wanted to talk to us?" Anne folded her arms with a scowl. Judging by her attire, she most likely was a fellow adventurer, yet she never saw her in the guild or anywhere else for that matter.

The witch turned to face them with a smile.

"Hello. You're from the Flaming Arrows, right?"

"Yes, that's us," Anton answered with a curious look.

"Great!" She clasped her hands together. "You see, I'm a big fan of your friend, the Divine Tempest! Can you please arrange me a meeting with him? I'll pay you of course!"

Anne's displeasure only grew from her plea. This wasn't the first time someone had come to them to ask about Hugo. Like that elf bard, who had to be the most persistent of them all. When she couldn't get to Hugo, she barraged them with questions instead. Especially her, since the news had spread that she had been saved from him.

It was annoying. Especially since most of them were good-looking girls. She didn't want any of them to circle around Hugo like the vultures they were!

"I'm sorry, but Charles is out of town right now," she lied. "And we don't know where he went. He's not a member of our party, in case you didn't know."

"Oh really? Well, that's a bummer."

"Then, I suppose I'll just have to use you two to lure them in."

In a flash, something launched itself from the branches of the giant tree. It jetted downwards at high speed. Anne managed to dodge, thanks to her agility, but Anton, used to being the tank of the party, was too slow to follow. Before he even knew what was happening, his entire body was immobilized by a sticky, gooey-like substance.

"Y-you… why?" Anton's mouth was sealed before he could speak any further.

"Anton!"

Anne immediately drew her bow, but the mage was faster to do the same with her wand. 

"Water Blade."

With a casual swipe of said wand, the mage cut her bow into two.

“Hehe, too slow, archer girl.” She gave her a mocking smile, before firing two jets of water towards her. Each punctured her knees, earning a yelp of pain from the girl as she collapsed to the ground.

Water Bullet. A simple yet effective Intermediate-level spell.

It was now impossible for her to escape and seek help. Not that she would get any anyways. Every single person in that warehouse was paid handsomely to be part of this little plan of hers. They believed that she came from the capital and that she had an important business with the two adventurers. It was easy to forge a legitimate looking royal seal as part of her scheme.

Thus, whatever she did, they would stay out of her business, lest they would be arrested as criminals who defied the will of their king.

“H-help! Help! We’re under—Ummphhh!”

The gooey substance had moved towards her, sealing her mouth shut as well. She could only stare in anger as the mage stood in front of her with the smuggest smile on her face.

“I’m sorry, but I really do need your little friend. You see, he has made a terrible mistake—a mistake that he has to pay with his life.”

There, Anne finally realized it—the identity of this woman in front of her.

She was from the Magocracy. And she’s here to kill Hugo, in revenge for him killing one of their leaders.

She immediately tried to roll away from her, only for the sticky substance to hold her in place. In fact, that substance had now transformed into a humanoid form, grinning as she loomed over her as well.

She had heard about them before. Slimekin. A species of the demon race that consisted of slimes that somehow gained human intelligence.

“Shh, don’t worry. I’ll be gentle~”

“U-urmmphphhh!”

The slime forcibly entered her nostrils and mouth, blocking both passages that she used to breathe. She tried pulling her off, only to find that she couldn’t even grab her gooey body properly.

“Sleep now~”

The last thing she saw was before the darkness swallowed here was the slimekin’s grinning visage.

--------

“Well, that was pretty easy, wasn’t it?” Elun smiled.

“They really are no match for our combination!” Yulon put her hands on her waist, grinning. “Hey, Faust, get down here! Too bad you didn’t get to get any action, huh?”

The seafolk jumped down from the tree. Like the slimekin, he too had been waiting there, camouflaged by the thick leaves. Both of them were well-trained in stealth—a skill needed to be part of Elun's Sea Eye squad which specialized in spying and gathering information.

"I don't care." He folded his arms with a neutral expression. "These bunch aren't even worthy to die on my blade."

For the three of them, the elites of the Aquus Corps, taking care of two B-rank adventurers was pretty much child’s play.

“Lift them up,” Elun ordered. “Now that we’ve obtained the bait, we’ll progress to the next phase immediately.”

“Let’s see how the genius wind mage handles us, shall we?”

---------

Hugo

Our “date” didn’t last that long, as there weren’t that many places you could sightsee in this small logging town. It would be much better if we were back in Silheim or Misfon, where there was actually somewhat of an active market going on. Here, it’s just a logging town near the wilderness.

Still, she kept a happy and excited temperament all the way through. Probably because she's with me more than anything.

We finished it off by frequenting the only pastry shop in town. It was a small and unassuming shop with a decoration so quaint that the moment you stepped in, you would feel as if you just stepped into the house of someone’s grandma. Still, the cake was delicious, and isn’t that what really matters for a pastry shop?

“C-Charles…” Amelie suddenly stopped eating her strawberry cake. “C-can I… can I ask you for a favor?”

I, who just finished swallowing my chocolate cake, looked up with raised eyebrows. “Hmm? What is it?”

“C-can I…” Her cheeks were now turning crimson. “Can I ask you to… to feed me my cake? J-just like a couple would…”

I paused. Well, that was unexpected. I didn’t expect her to be this bold.

“Y-you see!” Now tears started to swell in her eyes. “You’re going to leave us soon, right? So I want to make as many pleasant memories with you as I can! I-I know you already have a girlfriend but just one spoonful of cake wouldn’t hurt, right?”

Oh boy. I can’t exactly say no to that face, can I?

A cute girl’s tears. Always my weakness.

Sorry, Sherry. But it’s not a kiss, right?

“Alright, fine.” I sighed. “Here. Let me serve you your cake, my dear princess.”

With a smirk, I took the small plate where her strawberry cake stood, cut a slice with my knife, and then stuck it on my fork before moving it towards her mouth.

“Say aahhhhhh!”

“N-nonono!” She waved her hands around, almost knocking my fork. “Y-you can’t just do that! I-I need to prepare my heart first!”

Heh, she might be acting bold but she really is a shy type at heart. Not that it’s a bad thing, of course.

She looked away for a bit, placing one hand on her chest as she tried to calm her beating heart down.

“A-alright.” She turned back to face me. “Y-you can do it now.”

She closed her eyes and leaned forward, opening her mouth in the process. Her face was now completely red, and I could even notice the nervous sweat traveling down her forehead.

Slowly, I moved my fork back in. "Say aahhhhh!" You gotta do this methodically if it's going to be romantic after all.

And then, it arrived. She closed her mouth and I pulled my fork off her.

Oh right, this is what you would call an indirect kiss, would it? Thank God she didn't realize or else it might take her five minutes to calm herself down.

"Is the taste to your liking, Milady?"

"Y-yes! It's even more delicious now that you're the one who—aaahhhh, n-nevermind!"

I broke out into a grin. I'm usually annoyed by those protagonists who like to tease their shy girlfriends, but now I can see the appeal.

"N-now, i-it's my turn. I'm going to feed you your cake, alright?"

...Welp.

Sorry, Sherry. I promise we'll feed each other lots of cakes when we meet again, alright?