“The name is Brad, kid,” the man squeezed his hand in a handshake. “Take care of the fine, pretty girls or I will,” the man laughed.

“I’m Artus,” he replied while trying not to wince. “You don’t have to worry about them.”

“A girly like you would always run around screaming at the first sign of monsters,” Brad laughed. “I’ll slap you silly myself if I see that.”

“Thanks for the warning, Brad,” he returned the squeeze.

“Oof, now you're talking like a man,” Brad said as their hands were in a silent competition between men. “You are right Chad, he’s a fighter when he wants to be.”

The other’s coarse skin was grating his skin like sandpapers and Brad knew it. His five days old smooth skin didn’t stand a chance, but his ego forced him to endure. Both of them had red faces before Brad eased.

Artus was relieved but he didn’t show it to his challenger.

Another young man around his age came from behind Brad.

“I’m Chad, good not to have another wussy here,” the young man said. The scar across his face was enough proof that the young man had seen some action.

“We’ll take good care of your animal,” he continued while offering his palm to Brad.

The other man huffed and placed a few bits on the opened palm.

“And thanks to your mighty effort, I might have enough for a night with real ladies,” he laughed as he pocketed the copper bits.

“Well, whores would do fine if nothing else sticks,” Brad added. The two laughed.

“Good luck with that,” Artus said before he turned around.

He winced at the lingering pain from the handshake. Brad’s grip was no joke, but he knew those guys weren’t that bad. The guys just wanted to have some fun. He had no idea the simple handshake offer had turned into whatever that was.

Artus shook his head before he headed towards the girls who were waiting for him. Other than the tall stone wall and its overkill gravity-powered stone-slab gate, the town had reminded him of a mining town.

Shops and other buildings stood on each side of a single curved road that led to the other only gate outside. Townspeople walked around the small town, doing whatever they were doing to get on with their life.

A few carriages parked in front and side of random shops that had a wide berth between them. The waste of space between the shops made no sense to Artus, but that was just his old world view talking. There should be a reason for that.

Simple symbols were used to label the shops, and it ranged from a monster limb with large claws, armors, and swords, to inns with its bed and pillows. There were also a few shops that had a plate with a fork and knife on its wooden plate hanging upfront.

Most of the buildings had a lower floor made of stone with a wooden upper floor. They reminded him of his old world except for one obvious thing.

Each and every buildings’ stonework or woodwork had no sign of being put together or cut in the first place. The connection between the columns to the walls or any other structure parts weren’t using nails or screws.

They were more like merged or melted together. It almost made him stop to feel his hand over the smooth, organic curve between the parts. The few tables and chairs found outside these buildings also had the same kind of wooden/stone fusion.

He could imagine these parts arranged before were joined together by shaping the wood, or maybe the buildings simply had been shaped from the ground up. Sadly enough, there was no ongoing construction that he could take a look at.

Of course, it wouldn’t be simple by any means, but these buildings made the farmhouses look outdated by its construction technique. The farmhouses might have meld-joined wood behind those dried soil plastered on its walls for all he knew.

Artus hadn’t focused on the structures mainly because he hadn’t had the leisure as he had now. He didn’t even need to watch where he was going.

A forest of large trees and its green-blue foliage left untouched behind the existing buildings, no doubt would become a part of the town if it grew any bigger. Regardless, the undeveloped space made it feel like the stone walls were raised from the ground first before the town itself was built.

A very typical thing in the magical world, perhaps.

But rather than mining for precious metal or material, the town was built to mine a dungeon of its spoils among other things. A sign with the word and an arrow pointing the way was all he needed.

“Isn’t it dangerous to have a town so close to the dungeon?” He asked his escorts.

Cindy hugged his arm tighter as if she was cold. “Yes, of course, it is dangerous,” she agreed with a pout. “But its existence made the lands around town more fertile. Crops grow much faster around a dungeon.”

“Between the long nights and long winter, farms have very little time to grow crops,” Jane added as if she was expected to give him an answer.

She was on his other side, hand tugging on his arm, separated by the fur roll in his arm as they walked. They had been switching places almost naturally ever since Cindy had parked the wagon just inside the wall.

All the animals were gathered in one place as if their existence would attract monsters which would lead to a more manageable defense. The logic was sound even if he had only assumed the fact, but he didn’t think these girls knew anything about it.

They are more interested in getting used to men by using him, a safe test subject. It was obvious by the way the girls flinched at any other man’s approach, intended or not. There were enough of the small reactions to make it obvious to him who was called dense plenty of times before.

Teams of three and fives had made the most of the people around. Armed to the teeth and mostly in all kinds of armors. These were the kind of people the girls were afraid the most as even a glance would make them flinch.

This was the real reason why they were so clingy to him all of a sudden. There were tough-looking women in those groups, but most of these people were brutish men. Gender equality didn’t even come into question when it comes to fighting monsters.

They had made it past the stares and the grunts to the specific building in town. One of the largest buildings with the bed and pillow sign. Of course, they would need a place to stay while in town, the thought had completely slipped from his mind.

“Who’s this fine young man you brought with you, Cindy?” asked the lady behind the bar counter as they got close.

“Good to see you too, Mrs. Tilma, do you have a room for us?” asked Cindy, ignoring the question completely. “Or should we look somewhere else?”

The look on the woman’s face told him that he should say something about this. Cindy didn’t sound as friendly as she was before.

“My name is Artus, fine establishment you got here, ma’am,” he said to the lady’s surprised delight.

“Oh, good looking and polite, where did you dig him out, Cindy?”

The girl groaned and turned towards him.

“No harm in being nice,” he said because of the glares. “Especially to our potential patron, even if we are paying good money.”

“Now that’s my kind of man,” the lady chuckled and winked at him. “No harm in being nice, the first time I heard such wise words. I feel like I will use that often. I tell you what, I’ll hook you up with a larger room with half the price, how about that?”

“This many Divers and no one in town had bothered to pay for the room?”

“Many had asked, Jane, honey, but a very important and rich guest in the other room had asked for some peace and quiet, and they had even paid extra for it. I loath to waste space like that, but I’m sure a fine man like Artus here would prefer peace and quiet too, right, young man?”

“Yes, ma’am, that sounds wonderful,” replied Artus with a business smile. “But I’m sure you could nibble the price a little more for us. We are trying to save money.”

“Polite and cunning, I love that in a man,” the lady chuckled. “How about half a slate for the rest of the long night?”

Cindy gasped. “With breakfast?”

“With breakfast, of course.”

“We’ll take it,” said Cindy in a hurry.

“But remember, try to keep it down, if you know what I mean,” the lady winked.

“We don’t- “ Artus was forced to stop when his sides were pinched by stealthy hands. Cindy handed the copper bits while he was still in pain.

“You know where the room is,” quipped the lady as she waved them away to the stairs.

Why they had pinched him was oblivious to him. Cindy decided to talk about the lady behind the counter as they reached the second floor.

“She used to run the redhouse, you know?” Cindy quipped. “And might still do,” she added.

“What redhouse?”

“Her workers used to be whores,” Jane spat. “Shameless dirty whores.”

Artus sighed. No wonder they were so on the edge when he was just being nice with the lady of the fine establishment. They must have thought that he was flirting with the very wrong kind of woman.

But hating those poor women wasn’t right. He had learned a lot as he used to be a regular.

“Not all of them chose to be whores,” he said plainly. “Well, at least, not at the beginning. I’m pretty sure, at one time, they also were disgusted by what they have to do for a living.”

“But- but they- they enjoyed it,” stumbled Jane with cheeks flared red.

Her eyes traced another occupant who walked towards them. Artus waited until the random rich person and her escorts passed by before he gave the naive child her reply.

“That’s the cruel side of it, my sweet child of mine,” he chuckled at the protesting stare she gave. “You’ll enjoy it even when you know that you shouldn’t,” he added in a whisper.

“Now, where did I've heard that before?” said the stranger as she stopped on her feet. “My sweet child of mine,” she repeated after him before the lady shrugged.

The lady had a nice expensive looking dress hugging her very shapely figure which looked more like a robe than an actual dress. Her crimson red hair was tied to a ponytail. The guards glared at him for even looking at her back.

Thankfully, she continued walking down the stairs like they didn’t exist. Getting involved with rich entitled people would be the last thing he ever needed.

“I’m no child,” Jane protested. “And certainly I’m not yours.”

“Yes, I know that,” by the sleekly full breast pressed at him. “I was once called a child in a man’s body once too, you know. It’s not about the outside but what’s inside.”

Cindy shook her head in a small chuckle as she opened the door to their room. Jane went in while still pouting. He stood at the door after he was reminded of something very important. Should he go down and ask for another room?

“We have no budget for a second room,” Cindy said as if she was reading his mind. “I’m sorry, but we have to share. I know that you prefer to be left alone, but bear with us, please.”

“I don’t really mind it,” Artus said honestly. “But you girls should have your privacy, I think.”

“No one would have much privacy during the long nights,” she stated as a fact. “Not even in the farmhouses. We had no money to pay for any kind of room before you came, Artus. We would have needed to beg other farms to take us in if it wasn’t for her.”

Artus sighed. He went into the room and closed the door behind him. He had a suspicion that this was all arranged by someone he knew. Her lack of jealousy did make him a little disappointed.

The night came quickly while the girls unpacked. They changed to nightgowns while he stared out the window and he only turned around when he heard the bed is occupied.

“So where do I sleep?” he asked even if it was obvious.

“In the middle,” Cindy said with a tinge of red on her cheeks.

“Cuddle only, alright?” he said to make sure everyone was on the same page.

“Okay,” the girls chirped.

Laying on the bed with two girls, one on each side was the first to him. He got hard easily but the girls seemed to not mind it at all. He had told them that he was just like any other men and maybe that was why.

He could only guess but only huge liars would say they could cuddle without getting hard. The male’s body is hardwired that way, there is no escaping it.

And if he was right, they were just curious about the man’s body or the opposite gender, or they were just testing him.

Whatever it was, no doubt it was difficult to sleep. He had to pretend to sleep at first, but somehow he did fall asleep eventually. Their warmth and the curious soft small hands around his D might have lulled him to sleep.