I told her everything, reminding her how my fairies called her a fairy as well, and how I could peer into her mana network, affirming that she had both a human one and a fairy one.

When I finished, she was standing up straight once more with a wide open mouth, not caring or even noticing that her breasts were visible yet again.

"T-that… that can't be…"

"I'm sorry. But it's the truth. I won't lie to you, would I?"

Stage 1: Denial. She would no doubt try to present counter arguments to the revelation.

"A-a fairy?! But I… I don't even have wings!"

"Not all fey have wings. You can be a sprite. Or a dryad. All I know is that you're half-fey. That pointy ears of yours—that's not because you're an elf."

"B-but, Father said… my real father was an elven butler that seduced Mother."

"No." Felicia interjected. "You don't know what happens if a human has a child with a fey, do you?"

I paused. Come to think of it, I don't know either. If fairies are just like demons, then the child should be fairies too.

"The child they have—it won't come out of the mother's womb. Instead, it will replace the unborn baby of a normal human marriage somewhere else. If you've ever heard of the changeling myth, that's basically it."

Whoa, really?

"And so, your parents—I'm sorry to say this—aren't your parents at all."

Victoria's face turned ghastly pale. Her body began to tremble from toe to bottom and she looked like she could faint at any moment.

"That's—that's a lie!"

She bolted, running out of the bath and to the door in a surprisingly fast speed.

"Wait, Victoria!"

I quickly chased after her. Damn it! I know she'll do something stupid if I leave her on her own!

I caught her right as she left our private room. Hugging her abdomen, I kept her in place.

"Let me go! Let me go!"

"No! Not until you calm down!"

"I'm going back to them! I-I'll prove that I am their daughter and that I'm not a fairy or a changeling!"

"We'll do that together! Tomorrow! You think you'll run all the way through town naked like this?!"

Silence. It seemed she recognized the truth in my words.

And then, sobs.

"Uwaahhhh!"

She turned around and hugged me as tightly as she could, burying her face on my chest.

This girl… she really is like a fairy… fragile and innocent. This must be really hard on her…

All I can do now is comfort her.

Patting her head, I let her cry as much as she wanted.

Or I would, if I wasn't getting a hard-on down there.

D-damn it, Hugo Jr! Not now!

Her massive breasts were pressing onto me and her pleasant scent was tickling my nostrils. Of course my perverted neurons would activate!

Crap! It's poking her stomach now!

Thankfully, her tears didn't last long. Releasing my body, she gave a forced smile as she rubbed the tears in her eyes. "You're right, Sir Hugo. Even if… even if I'm not really Father's and Mother's… even if I'm just some fairy from somewhere… you will still be here with me…"

Well, I'll be here until I know where Sherry's village is. But after that…

"S-Sir Hugo. I-I have a confession to make."

Huh? A confession?

"All this time, I've always—kyaaahhh! W-what is that?!"

She pointed down, right at my erect penis.

Fuck! I forgot to cover it up!

With movement as swift as the wind, I moved my hands to that region.

"I-is that..  is that what a man's… it's so big…"

B-big! She says it's big!

"That's enough! How dare you seduce Milord like this?! Out in the open too?!"

Felicia finally arrived to the rescue, quickly dragging the half-fairy back inside. I followed as well, fetching the nearest towel to hide the still raging hard-on I got. Didn't work that well though, judging by the tent.

Is it really big for real? Or is she just saying that because she's completely clueless in such things? Felicia never said it's big and she already saw other men's manhood before mine…

W-wait, this is no time to be thinking that stuff! I have to defuse the bomb right in front of me first!

"Seduce? I-I don't—"

"You think it's fine to show off your body to a guy who already has a lover?! You even dared to hug him! While you're both naked! If I hadn't stepped in, you two would've—"

"That's enough, Felicia. You know she can't seduce anyone, even if she tries."

I grabbed her hands and looked her right in the eyes. That's it, Hugo. Maintain eye contact. Do not cower.

"I know you're upset that our bath together was interrupted but that doesn't mean you can treat Victoria like that."

"B-but Milord, I was just—"

Her voice escaped her as I showed her a frown. If you're going to have a harem, or even when you get married in general, you have to know how to scold your wife. Not by yelling or hitting her, but by giving her a firm, grave look. Alan told me this a long time ago, probably when he realized I was being pushed around by Sherry too much.

"You're right. I've been acting irrational. I'm sorry." She shifted her gaze to Victoria. "But you have to realize it's not fine to do things like this to another woman's man. Find your own and you can hug him all you want."

“A-alright. I understand, Miss Felicia.”

“And get dressed. We’re finished here.”

With a nod of a wounded puppy, Victoria retreated back to her own private room, though not before taking a towel to cover herself. Thank God there weren’t any other customers on the hallway outside or else we could’ve gotten kicked out from the establishment. Probably. Demons tend to be more lax about sexual stuff after all.

“You know, she’s going through a lot. Being a half-fairy and all that, not knowing who her real parents are… of course she’s going to seek comfort from someone. I wish you would be kinder to her, Felicia.”

“...I can’t. Not with this jealousy burning in my heart. I know it’s ugly, but after finally finding someone like you, I don’t want to share you with anyone else, Milord.”

Well, that’s surprisingly honest of her.

“And I don’t want you to be too kind to her either. Or else she might just fall for you. And then what? You’re going to marry her too? You’re both kind and powerful. That makes you easily popular with the fairer sex.”

Me? Popular with women?

Heh, I guess I am now. No point in pretending otherwise.

Not that I’m going to go around picking up chicks, mind you. Two women are already hard enough to handle. I can just imagine all the clashes that will happen once Felicia meets up with Sherry. And I have to be there to defuse the situation, or else everything will fall apart as quickly as a jenga tower.

Too bad being popular doesn’t automatically make you a harem master as well, like the protagonists of those harem stories. No jealousy, every girl is supportive to each other, ah, what bliss...

“Just so you know, I’m not being kind to get more women. I’m doing it because I want to. That’s all there is to it. That’s why I saved you back then too.”

“And that’s why so many girls liked you, Milord. To be strong yet compassionate, to do something completely foolish and foolhardy for little to no personal gain, those are the qualities of a hero.”

“Or a fool.” I chuckled.

The room fell silent afterwards as we both dressed back up. Somehow, after our conversation, I was no longer in the mood to peek at her. Facing away, I put on my smallclothes and pants, then my shirt and the coat over it. To be honest, she’d probably be disappointed, knowing her.

Once we were finished, we exited the room, finding Victoria already waiting with her full armor. I was still impressed by how quickly she could put that on.

We made our way back to the entrance, where we met with the kimono-clad ogress once again.

“You have finished, honored guests?”

“Yes, we have,” I answered her with a smile. “I’d say, it’s quite refreshing. Though I have to ask, my friend here apparently met a ghost in her room.” I gestured towards Victoria.

“A ghost?” She blinked. “...Ah, I believe one of my co-workers might be playing a prank on her. Please, accept our apologies.” Before saying anything else, she bowed as deeply as she could. “I assure you that she would be reprimanded and chided for her untoward behavior.”

Seeing no reason to press the issue further, as Victoria herself seemed to be ready to forgive and forget, as they say, we left the bathhouse right away.

--------

Once they left, the ogress made her way to the inner bathhouse where she met her “ghostly” friend.

Felicia’s prediction was correct. She was indeed a slimegirl.

“Well done. Thank you for your good work, as always.”

“No problem! That girl was really cute, you know! I can’t believe how big her boobs were!”

Little did Hugo know that the two were working together. The ogress was the one who ordered the slimegirl to harass Victoria, so she would come running after him.

“That boy… he must be blind if he cannot see how much she likes him.”

“It can’t be helped, can it?” The slimegirl grinned. “That redhead really has him under her thumb. Can’t say I’m surprised, seeing how much older she is from him. Cougars these days…” She shook her head in an exaggerated know-it-all manner.

“It’s truly a shame.” The ogress nodded in agreement. “I would never understand humans’ obsession with monogamy. Do their females simply not know how to share?”

“Oh, those silly humans!” The slimegirl giggled. “You have to matchmake them a lot more than us demons for sure!”

“Indeed. As a woman who knows the joys of a polygamic relationship, I wish they would realize there’s nothing wrong with sharing your man with another.”

“Preach!”

The ogress, the slimegirl, and a harpy who weren’t there—they were all wives of the owner of the place.

Would they be able to convince Felicia on the joys of polygamy if they were all to sit and have a chat with her? Probably not.

But, to the ogress, it’s the man’s job to make his harem get along. And so, she wouldn’t bother being a preacher. She would simply give the forlorn elf girl a little push, so she would also declare her love to him.

All in the days’ work for the head manager.

------------

Hugo

After having our dinner, we made our way back to our inn.

As usual, Felicia and I would share a room while Victoria slept on her own.

And of course, I couldn't just sleep right away. Not before I satisfied Felicia. With her doe eyes, she sat beside me on the bed and proceeded to fondle my junk right away.

"I didn't get to finish, you know. Back there." She pouted. "Thanks to that idiot elf. How about you, Milord? Did you finish? If not, I could help you with that."

"Yeah, I finished." Better not tell her it was Victoria's knee who did it.

"Hmph, and yet, you got all big again right away when you saw her naked."

Before I could do anything, she pushed me down to the bed. Her face was now merely centimeters away from mine and I could feel her breath clearly.

Yep. Here we go.

"Finish me off. You owe me that, Milord."

Haah. I'm starting to wonder if one day, I'll actually get tired of doing lewd things with girls.

Not today, though. Not today.

---------

The next morning, I once again woke up with a pair of wondrous naked breasts right in front of my face. Really, they should be considered the eighth wonder of the world.

After I fingered her and made her cum all over, she just snuggled onto me and fell asleep, not even bothering to clean herself up first.

And yes, I did taste her love juice. It's… not what I had expected, to be honest. Those porn books really gave us men an unrealistic view on sex.

I wonder how she liked my taste though.

Nope, not going to taste my own jizz.

Placing my hands on those breasts, I began fondling them. By size, they certainly were smaller than VIctoria’s, but they were definitely still what you would call large. If breasts were drinks, then Victoria’s would be jumbo compared to her large.

...Goddamnit. I’ll never get the image of her naked breasts bouncing up and down out of my head, will I? Not to mention her smooth, hairless skin, that long hair, and of course, her elf ears… I know she’s not an elf but dammnit, she’s the ideal elven waifu any fantasy otaku would want to marry and sleep with!

"U-uuhhh…"

Her eyes slowly fluttered open. Well, seems like my fondling has brought her back to the world of living.

"Good morning, Milord. Please, feel free to play with them more if you wish."

Giving them one last squeeze, I climbed off the bed and grinned. "Nah. I'm just waking you up. Better than shaking or yelling, right? And besides, we have something to do today, remember?"

Her smile disappeared. "Victoria, isn't it?" She sighed. "Well, I suppose it's time we visit her family. With any luck, they won't hand us over to the Church. It's only a matter of time until they realize we're here."

"Heh, you’re right. After what we did to that boss monster, it's only a matter of time until our name spreads around." I can just imagine it! The super-powerful genius young mage named Hugo Greenwood! It’d be just like back at Fiania!

And then, with any luck, Myrilla will come to us.

-------

After waking Victoria up and having our breakfast, we told her that we intended to go to her home right after.

“N-now? R-right away? Must it be so soon?”

“What? You’re the one who wanted to meet them, don’t you? You wanted to ask them the truth so badly you almost walked through town naked for it.”

“W-well, that was just… I was just… in the heat of the moment, I wasn’t thinking straight… But after sleeping it off, I… I don’t know if I want to…”

I sighed. Well, this is to be expected. She never really got along with them after all. Not to mention her whole running away sthick. I imagine they didn’t give her they blessing when she departed.

“Alright, that’s enough stuttering from you. You promised, remember? You’re going to introduce us to your family? Don’t forget. Don’t tell them anything odd. Just tell them we’re your adventurer bodyguards.”

Hey, Felicia. Didn’t I tell you to be gentler to her?

She’s absolutely right though. If we don’t want a bunch of Church assassins going after our life, or, the more likely outcome, a whole battalion of the Church templars and inquisitors demanding our heads on the pike, we’ll need her family’s protection.

Though I wonder if it’s wise to hide from them about Felicia’s “used-to-be-a-necromancer” status.

You know what? I need to gauge them first. Judging by their treatment of Victoria, calling her useless and all that, they seem to be a pretty power-hungry kind of folk. That means they’d be more willing to help us if we help them back with our power.

I don’t like it, but as long as they don’t ask us to do something really evil like killing orphans, I’ll be willing to lend my strength to their political machinations.

“Alright… I suppose do owe you and Sir Hugo in that department…”

With a defeated nod, the half-fairy knightness relented.

-------------

Her family’s house was located in the city’s noble district, located in the center of the town. We had been steering away from the place so far since it was actually kept inside its own set of walls. Not as tall as the city walls, but walls nonetheless. Clearly, the nobles showed that they didn’t want to mingle with the commoners in the slightest.

And yes, guards were stationed in each of the four gates to the district. Perfect way to keep the riffraffs out.

And they naturally blocked our path.

“Halt! You’re adventurers? What business you hooligans have in the central district?”

The central district was another name for the noble district. The nobles call it the former while the rest of the city called it the latter.

And hooligans? Do you have to be so rude, Mr. Guard?

“W-we’re here to visit the residence of Lord Relfatia. We’re his… ah, m-manservants!”

Oh, Victoria. You really aren’t good at lying, do you? Do we look like servants to you? The guards won’t buy that if they have any common sense in them.

She showed him the brooch, which, really, was all she needed to do in the first place.

“T-this is… Y-you…"

Aaand, the jig is up.

"Apologies for my rudeness, Milady! Please! Go right in!" The guard bowed.

Huh. That's a more muted reaction than I thought. He's not going to beg her to return, citing how her father is sick with worry and all that?

"T-thank you." With a nervous smile, she took the brooch back.

---------

The noble district was everything you'd expect a noble district to be. Lavish houses, nearly empty streets since everyone would go around in fancy carriages, and questioning stares at our direction. They didn't really welcome adventurers, I imagined.

Funnily enough, these nobles weren't even nobles originally. Their ancestral families were just wealthy landowners from the Demon Continent colonization era. They swore fealty to Victoria's great-great-great grandfather, the sage, and in return, he gave them his protection. It was how humanity managed to steal a small portion of the Continent for its own.

But then again, aren't all nobility like that in the end? Just side with the biggest guy in the room while being big yourself.

Logically speaking, they shouldn't be scoffing at adventurers, seeing how their lord sage was an adventurer himself. Hell, their own  great-great-great grandfathers might be adventurers as well, who eventually settled down and became landowners instead.

My train of thought soon stopped as I realized we were now standing in the entrance of a communal garden. Remembering the layout of the city from the map we bought, this should be right in the middle of it all.

And inside it was where the base of the Enchiridion was.

Remember that? The giant obelisk thing that went up as high as a ten-story building? We were at its base now. It was placed smack dab in the centre of the city. So, if I had to guess, its protection mechanism was a shield of some sort.

We couldn’t be bothered to go inside and take a closer look though. But if I found it odd that there were no soldiers around and that the park was open to the public. Shouldn’t important stuff like this be guarded diligently? Or were they just that confident that no one could break or tamper with it in any way?

Passing over the park, we made our way to the eastern part of the district, where Victoria’s home was.

And what a home it was.

Wow. They really can build a mansion this large in the middle of a city?

The place was as large as a city by itself, surrounded by walls from all directions. And inside, from what I could see from the gate anyway, were a large courtyard that surrounded the house itself. We had passed through multiple rich people houses on our way here, and this was easily the most impressive that we found. “The 1% of the 1%” as they said.

Just like before, we let Victoria handle the single guard standing in front of the gate. They should recognize her on sight, right? So this should be easy.

“Halt! What business do you have with Lord Relfatia?”

Huh? That’s odd. They don’t recognize her?

Victoria opted not to say anything, Instead, she just showed them the brooch she showed the other guards before.

“This is...  Oh, you’re that—” The guard opened his mouth, but no words came out. “Welcome back, Milady.” The guard bowed before yelling at his friends on the inside to open the gate.

As we passed through, I could feel the gazes of him and the other guards on my back.

It’s only natural that they would be this suspicious. We’re complete strangers that have attached ourselves to their mistress. They probably think we have deceived her in some way.

Inside, I finally got to see just how massive the courtyard really was. There were two hedge mazes to our left and right and to our front was a fountain, with a statue of a bearded old man who very much looked like the archetypical wizard. If I had to guess, it was the statue of the sage. Made sense that they would proudly show off their lineage.

Passing the statue, the view changed into a bed of flowers to our left and right. Some gazebos could be seen in the distance, no doubt to be used in their fancy tea parties.

After all that, we finally reached the main building. There were also two other smaller buildings to its east and west, which I would imagine to be either a guest house or a servant's quarter.

Hmm? That's odd. No servants to greet us? I saw one of the guards rushing inside when we came in. Shouldn't they already know we're coming?

Suddenly, the front door opened, revealing an old man in a butler's outfit. His wrinkled face was covered by his thick white mustache and beard and his forehead looked like it was two sizes too big for the rest of his face. He also had a monocle on his left eye.

"Welcome back, Lady Victoria. I am overjoyed to see you safe and sound."

He put his hand on his left chest and bowed. The noble's bow.

Hmm… this guy… Why do I get bad vibes from him? He's no ordinary butler, is he?

"I assume these two are your companions?"

"Y-yes, Gam. They're my hired bodyguards."

The butler's gaze snapped right towards us. First, he looked at Felicia. But not in the perverted way as most guys did when they looked at her. He was eyeing her like a fighter. I knew that look. It was the same sharp, focused look Fiora had.

And then, he moved to me. His stare bore into my skull, enough to make me gulp.

A battle butler. He's just like Helen.

He wants to know if we can really be Victoria's bodyguard. Or, he's assessing whether we are a threat. Most likely both.

Well, time to assert our dominance.

"Well met, Gam." I put on my best smile. "I am Hugo Greenwood and my companion here is Felicia Myne. S-rank adventurers at your service."

I bowed the same way as he bowed, showing that I knew my manners.

And then, I met his gaze, sending my aura with it.

Immediately his mustache and upper lip twitched. He didn't show it openly but he must have been caught off-guard. All I did was send an aura of intimidation to him—the same manner a strong swordsman could put fear in the hearts of his opponents without even unsheathing his sword.

Heh. Combined with my smiling visage, he must be confused for sure.

"Father. Is he… is he—"

"He is inside, yes. And he had been informed of your arrival. He gave a short instruction to let you do as you wish as long as you do not disturb him. He is currently quite preoccupied with his work unfortunately, so he can't see you right away."

Wow, that's cold! His daughter just returned for god knows how long and he can't even be bothered to see her? He really thinks she's worthless, huh?

This family… it's all messed up. No wonder she decided to run away.

"I-I see. Then how about Mother?"

"Lady Relfatia is currently resting in her room, and has specifically instructed that no one is to wake her up.”

“B-but surely, when she knows—”

“No. You should very well know that yourself, Milady. She would not be happy to see you. Especially since Lady Marlene isn’t around.”

Denied again. The mother treats her like trash as well.

And I guess that Marlene chick is the older sister, the one who actually gets all the love for her parents. A super-skilled mage, huh? Wonder if she’s just as arrogant as that bubble chick.

And damn, that expression on Victoria’s face. Doesn’t need to say anything to tell me just how hurt she is by this treatment.

Guess I have to step in.

“Excuse me for interrupting, Sir, but we insist that we have to have a meeting with either the Lord or the Lady of the House. Preferably both. You see, we have something really important they should know about. Something regarding Victoria.”

The butler turned to face me and once again, he attacked me with that gaze of his.

“I’m sorry, good sir, but this is a private family matter. As an outsider, you don’t have a say in the—”

“Apologies for the interjection, but I have something to say as well.” All of a sudden, Felicia, who had remained silent all this time, decided to interrupt. “This information we have—it is about that young lady’s true parents.”

A shadow fell over the butler’s face. Felicia, on the other hand, had her lips forming to a grin. Yep, she hits the jackpot, alright.

“You… what do you know about—”

“The Relfatia Family is a family of humans. So why is there an elf in your family tree? The answer, of course, was that she was born to an elven parent. Quite the scandal I imagine. To the point that your master even hid her from the outside world.”

Uhh, Felicia? I don’t think you want to taunt him like this. His hands are going into fists mode.

But she has a point. That’s why none of the guards seem to know her.

“And?” He croaked.

“The truth is, we have a certain knowledge that could absolve your Lady from the unjustified accusation against her. No longer would your Lord see her as an adulterer.”

“Halt your tongue, woman! I will not let you speak ill of Milady like that!”

Felicia stopped but her grin didn’t disappear. She knew she had won after all. There was no way he wouldn’t bring us to his employer now.

And so, the butler, still looking as if he was going to strangle her at any second, replied with, “...Very well. Please. Follow me.”

Without a bow, a sign of his disrespect towards her, I imagine, he turned his back and led us into the house proper.

-------------

A/N:

After seeing the Amazon sisters from Danmachi, I kinda want to add similar characters to this story. Not as any major character, mind you. Not even as a side character. Just people Hugo met.

As for my Patreon chapter, we return to Marina, taking a break from Hugo for a bit after his major incident. Next chapter, another big character is going to make their appearance.