Today was just another boring day for Claire. Solis might be a lot safer than other towns, but it was just a pit stop town for travelers along the road. There was no dungeon or something interesting here to liven up her life and the copper mine didn’t count as something interesting. The long night was the town’s sole reason for its existence, but even at that time monster attacks were lacking.

There were a few towns like Solis along the roads and most of them started as just walls built by the kingdom mages. After some time, travelers would decide to make it home as the land here didn’t cost as much. What money they made was mostly theirs.

That was the story of her family. A boring, common one. Just like today. The dumb Holt still tried to woo her to bed again while Terry still continued to daydream on the job. Nothing really different than every other day.

Her deal with Holt was embarrassing at most. She was drunk and never had anyone before, the curiosity and toxication had resulted in the awful realization the next morning. Claire didn’t inherit her mother’s [Racial Trait] and so she couldn’t blame that also.

She was so devastated she didn’t want to mention it inside her head, ever. She wanted to forget it, but it was hard when everybody kept reminding her of their jeers.

Holt wasn’t that ugly to be truthful while Terry wasn’t as bad, but no one knew that fact except her. She was labeled as the ‘easy’ girl after that one night, and it took months of self-discipline to get rid of the label.

Regardless, the past is in the past. There was nothing she could do about it but ignore the jabs other girls still threw at her. They were just as desperate as her because all the handsome and talented young men had left the town.

Without a dungeon or something else interesting nearby, no good young men wanted to stay here forever. They dreamed of glory and wealth before the news of their death was notified by the Guild to the family.

It was a big waste, really. They should have given her a few good times to remember before going for a suicide adventure. Who was left were idiots like Holt and cowards like Terry.

The coward’s paled face foretold something interesting might happen today. Claire turned around and checked her makeup when she saw the tall rugged man with his huge sword trailing behind Terry.

She almost forgot to breathe when she saw what or who was behind them. Everyone turned quiet as they noticed the mage floating inside a shell.

The mage dispelled his moving shield when he got close. Those purple eyes looked hauntingly beautiful, but her approach halted when she saw another woman.

The woman in a white fluffy fur cloak, covering almost everything but her massive cleavage. She closed them up in a hurry when the young mage turned his head towards the lady behind him. He might have noticed that the men were salivating already.

One thing is for sure, these are no ordinary visitors. The purple eyes wink at her and her face grew hot ablaze. She didn’t realize that she was staring at him.

Holt was still arguing with the swordsman for extra entrance fees. He’s definitely a dolt.

“Holt! What are you doing!?” she yelled at the idiot.

She walked towards the visitors with a big smile and just hoped they didn’t decide to cut the idiot into two for insulting them. She elbowed the head-scratching guard and nosed the man away to other waiting visitors.

She bowed a little and cursed that she hadn’t unbuttoned down. Claire knew that she was no challenge to the lady but every pair had their own charm. She might have a ticket to get far from here if she played it well.

“My name’s Claire, welcome to Solis,” she said.

“I’m Jake, the young mage is Artus while the lady back there is Eliane Proudwater, as I already told the good man before you.”

‘Nine-fucking-tail,’ Claire cursed inside after hearing the family name.

“Ah! Yes, I’ve heard of your arrival, everything is ready for your convenience, but I have to ask, you are a little early, not that is a problem in any way. And there are so few...”

‘Fox-shit,’ she cursed inside again.

The man laughed bitterly. “We faced an insurmountable problem last night, but thanks to the mage, the lady is still alive when the carriage broke apart.”

“The carriage broke apart!!? Was it the gizlards?”

“Yes, they came in quite a huge number, and I like to report it immediately.”

“Yes, yes, of course. Terry, bring the man to the Templar office. I’ll lead the lady to her accommodation here. Holt, try not to hold the line anymore,” she yelled.

The swordsman Jake nodded at the two before the mage nodded back. The lady hugged Artus’s arm tighter while her face showed some concern. Claire wondered if the lady had both of the men under her palms, that would be a bummer.

“Please follow me, Sir Mage, My lady,” she said politely.

“Thank you, Claire, and call me by name is enough, I’m not a mage just yet. Just a commoner like you,” he sighed tiredly.

Hope blossomed when she heard that. “Well, Artus, nice to meet you and follow me, please.” Her steps became a bit springier than usual as she guided them to the cottage.

The cottage was specially prepared for these kinds of people as most of them didn’t want to mingle with commoners. A few of her friends saw her escorting the handsome young man and looked at her in envy.

They shouldn’t have when the gorgeous lady hadn’t let go of his arm at all. Claire could only imagine what kind of horror she had seen.

Kelly was already waiting at the cottage as they arrived. News traveled faster than they had walked. The girl smiled slyly as they approached. The cottage caretaker was showing off her chest like never before. Rud would pull his hair off if he saw Kelly like this.

“Thank you for bringing them here, Claire, I’m sure you are busy with guard duty,” the girl said. “I’ll take him from here.”

No mage had come to these parts ever before as most of them would take the teleport shortcut before the great river. Artus' existence was a golden chance for many of them.

-

The staredown between the girls was quite scary, but he was already beginning to grow tired of everything. He just wanted to rest in peace for an hour or two. The longer he let them bicker, the slower he’d get to rest.

The shortstop by the river didn’t count at all.

He took Claire’s hand and kissed on the back of her hand, “thank you, Claire, we’ll meet again. I don’t want to waste your time any longer.”

Her face turned crimson as she realized what just happened. The naive girl placed her hand at her back after he let her go.

“Yes, I understand, we meet later, ya?” she said before walking backward shyly.

She turned around and again sprung on her feet as she walked away. The long blond tail waving around behind her round butt reminded him why he found her so cute. The extra length at her feet told him that she even might have cat legs.

Well, at least based on her cat eyes. He wasn’t lying when he said it, he was looking forward to seeing her in a more casual outfit.

“Sir Mage- “

“Just Artus, please,” he interrupted her. “And please let us in, the lady would need her rest after the stressful night.”

“Yes, this way please,” the brunette said.

Eliane plays the part well. Other than the clingy attitude which could have contributed to her shock, she had said nothing or showed any reaction to others. She grabbed his arm when offered and they proceeded to follow the other girl into the wooden house.

The girl didn’t have any tail behind her and it was a disappointment to him as she had such a nice pair of racks. He could tell that after what he had been through, he was beginning to accept his role in this world while becoming more immune to female charms.

He enjoyed the feel and the sight but not as mesmerized as before. The easiest example was Julee as her death was merely a bad memory. He didn’t feel the pain of losing her. Not anymore. Nor he could care about the women he had slept with. Is he becoming a little like his lord-father? The thought scared him.

“And finally, this is the lady’s room,” said the girl. “The second floor had a beautiful view of the surrounding forest. A perfect place for her to rest.”

“Thank you, Kelly, can leave us for a moment? I’ll be down in just a minute.”

“Yes, take your time, I’ll be waiting downstairs,” she bow took her exit.

Eliane jumped on him as soon as the door closed. She planted a kiss after a kiss until she was satisfied.

“Good job, ma’am, holding yourself back,” he quipped.

“You were flirting with every girl you saw,” she pouted.

“I have to play my role, remember? A skirt-chasing mage would give us a better chance of succeeding in the plan. Am I right?”

“Yes, but -” Eliane moaned when he squeezed the luscious womanly glands.

He grew tired listening to her other than her moanings. Artus gave her plenty of attention until she was laid on the bed helplessly entranced. His abrupt stop earned him a hateful stare.

He kissed her forehead, “sleep, or you’ll get wrinkles. I promise, I’ll be around when you wake up,” he smiled.

He continued the soft massage until the girl fell asleep. She couldn’t have faked it when whimpers stopped and the light snore began. Artus went downstairs only to meet the girl still waiting with her hands and back on the wall.

“That took a while,” she quipped with all formalities dropped.

Artus chuckled and shrugged, “the poor girl is terrified and exhausted even if she didn’t realize it herself.”

“She’s hooked on you, it seems, you are lucky, Artus,” the girl said as she hooked his arm and pressed her chest into his arm.

‘Everyone fucking one of them,’ he cursed inside.

He let his eyes lingered at the wide and deep cleavage longer than he felt comfortable. Their eyes met and she smiled at him knowingly.

“I’m lucky, for now,” he sighed.

“What do you mean?” the girl asked.

“She’ll forget all about me when she returned to her family, you know how it is,” he said and he didn’t need to lie about it.

“You are saying she has the savior crush?”

Artus was taken aback but he didn’t let it show. Not by much at least. He had never heard that term used before. If only he had someone to talk freely, but the only one was married and had kids already.

It would be troublesome to talk to her in private. He didn’t want to be a wife stealer… he could be. For hiding his true nature’s sake.

He shook his head.

“Yes, something like that,” he said with regret. “I rather have someone like you,” he pushed her to the wall. “Of the lower class,” he said looming over her.

Her body shook in his hand. Her chest heaved as her eyes darted from side to side. She stopped trembling when his hand went for her breast. He grabbed and pitched the peak, and the girl lost a little strength on her knees.

He stopped when she showed another hesitation.

“But I would rather not force anyone,” he said chuckling while letting her go. “I’m sorry. You can go.”

The girl was spooked as he had expected and she slowly backed away. He turned around and headed to the kitchen ignoring the girl. Her hurried steps confirmed it.

The best way to chase away a girl is to overstep her welcome.

It would work every time.

Artus went to the kitchen and took a glass and filled it with tap water. He wasn’t sure it was tap water or something magical but he could care less at the time.

He wanted some time alone and having her hanging around trying to win his favor was troublesome. The young mage might have a bad reputation later or she kept it quiet, but either way, he didn’t really care.

His message was clear to the girl. Don’t pretend to be willing if you don’t. If she did tell anyone, the message would spread and no girls would be pretending around him.

The reverse psychology was needless, but he felt like scaring the shit out of the girl. He decided to do that more often. Do what he feel like doing.

It could turn ugly when girls who were willing began throwing themselves at him, but Eliane's existence would not allow that to happen.

‘It’s simply perfect,’ Artus chuckled.

He went upstairs with a jug and two glasses and entered her room. The oblivious girl is still sleeping as he placed them on the side table. She looked very delicious and defenseless on the bed, but he didn’t have any urge.

Not anymore.

He sat by the huge open sliding door facing the trees and meditated. Reviewing his spoils during the journey was the first thing he should do. Artus was surprised by his Essence count.