There came a heavy knock at the door, and an unknown guest walked right in without waiting for a response.  

“Ah, Klee, is it time already?” asked Nicholas, who stood up. He pulled a cloth from a desk drawer and wiped his flushed face. “Captain Fisher, this is Klee. He’s the curate of this fine establishment. In other words, he’s my second in command.” 

Klee was a large, muscular, and undoubtedly physically strong man over two meters tall. His tanned arms were thick like a log, his tall legs were about the width of a tree trunk, but it was all hidden underneath that pure, white robe. A necklace hung down from his powerful neck, which contained the church’s symbol. He was a beast of a man who did not look like he had practiced any kind of faith in his life.  

His bald head looked down at Fisher and nodded. The captain returned it and extended a hand. “It’s good to meet you, Klee,” he said. Remaining silent, Klee shook Fisher’s hand and turned to Nicholas. His rough, coarse hands alone were nearly 50% larger than Fisher’s. The grip was solid and firm, and it couldn’t have come from anyone else that didn’t have a background in fighting on the front lines of battle.  

“You’ll have to forgive him because he’s not much of a talker,” mentioned the bishop. He walked around his desk and grabbed his scepter from the display case with his slightly wrinkled hands. After turning back to the captain, he offered a final handshake. “Captain, this is where I must leave you. I have a sermon I must do, but I wish I could have talked with you a bit more. You have a good day, you hear? Oh, and remember this. The church is open for anyone that wishes to be braced by the love of our creators. That obviously includes you and your family, captain. If you come to us, I’ll personally teach all of you the proper way to devote yourselves to the Heavens Above. Well, take care now.” 

 Before Fisher could respond, Nicholas strolled out of his office with his scepter in tow as a smile plastered itself across his face. That surprised the captain. He believed that if something was so sentimental, which was the feeling he had received from the way the bishop spoke about his past, then it would have been better to keep that remembrance of the past under lock and key.   

Klee raised a giant hand towards the open door. Fisher took it as a sign for him to leave, and he did just that. He made his way through the hallways, bypassing a worship room that was becoming very full, very fast. Elegant men, women, and children, dressed in their Sunday best, eagerly listened to the ramblings of Bishop Constantius, spoke feverishly into the Voice Loudner. His loud, whimsical words of devotion and faith followed the captain out into the waiting room. That was when he saw that empty chairs were becoming a scarce resource.  

The woman behind the desk was hard at work in helping first-timers fill out the correct forms. The three altar boys were missing, but service was starting soon. They were probably busy with things behind the scene. A building of this size, let alone a church, had to have serious manpower to make sure everything flowed like a well-oiled machine.

What was all that about having to make an appointment? Did this many people all make one for here and now?

Fisher waved a friendly hand as he walked outside, where he blasted across the face with a tremendous dry heart. He slightly frowned and reached for a cloth inside his Dimensional Storage. Wiping his face, Fisher sighed and started to walk back to the headquarters. It would be a somewhat long journey, but he needed the time to analyze what he had learned.  

Okay, I need to organize my thoughts…What do I know for sure? Jeri and Sea were two guards that had a drastic change of personality. Some time ago, something happened that caused them to go to the church helmed by the sapphire-scaled Kobold. Then he led them and the others of his congregation to the main church in the noble district. There, they listened to a sermon from Nicholas.  

With all of that in mind, the question becomes this… What exactly happened in that sermon? Whatever occurred didn’t drastically influence Jeri and Sea until much later, which would have been when they encountered Servi and Momo. That was only a few days ago, and it was at least a week since the sermon… 

Anyone with half a mind would obviously suspect Nicholas to be the culprit. I guess the Kobold could be a suspect, but he strikes me as someone who truly values his newfound status as a priest. I didn't detect a gram of falsehood from his desire to make the world a better place.  

Nicholas, on the other hand… His words, ideals, and heavy feelings for the Gods and Goddesses correlate with what happened to Jeri and Sea. But I read through that book of Gods and Goddesses… There was nothing in there that even resembled mind control. And that scepter looked as normal as any other scepter. Really, all I have now is something less than circumstantial evidence. I don’t have any hard proof other than simple occurrences. Correlation does not imply causation.  

Just because ‘B’ happened after ‘A’ does not mean that ‘A’ caused ‘B.’ But this instinct is shouting that Nicholas is behind it all… It’s saying that he has something that can forcibly control the minds of others… 

But I need evidence… I don’t know how to get it… Ah, shit… My head hurts now… And it’s too hot… I just need to get back to my office and read those reports… 

---

“Roland, were there any problems?” asked Fisher when he stepped through the doors of the guards’ headquarters. Feeling that blast of cold air smack him in the face was as refreshing as downing a liter of ice water.  

“There wasn’t anything too major except a few fights between day drunks. A night or two in the cells will straighten them out. I think Mire’s down there getting them checked in,” replied Roland. He stretched his arms and turned back to a document he was reading.

Fisher thanked him, then waved to those waiting to be seen. He shared a few words with the people he was obligated to protect with his life, then traveled down the recently cleaned hallways until he reached his office.  

He saw down with a loud think, his chair slightly moaning underneath the weight of him and his armor. “Shit… Don’t you need breaking on me now…” Leaning back, his eyes stared up at the ceiling for a moment or two before he realized he couldn’t push off his reports any longer. A glance at the stack of intimidating papers sent a startling revelation down his back. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I think I’ll be getting home late tonight…” 

And stay late he did. The documents he had to read concerned requests for armed guards during the upcoming festival. It wouldn’t be for another month or so, but as the one in charge of Canary’s defense, it was up to the captain to make the schedule. And then there was a document concerning information about a change in the tax brackets. While it was nice to know, the piece of paper must’ve been misplaced into the gigantic pile. But most of the things he had to read were regular written reports from his guards.  

There was one from Tim that relayed what had happened when Jeri’s and Sea’s family came to visit. As he probably already expected, Fisher didn’t look one bit surprised when it turned out that Sea’s brother had started a brawl. That earned him a week in prison. There was also a report for Mire, who stated that her patrol went off without a hitch.  

Huh… She must’ve exchanged prisoner duty with someone else… Ah, she swapped with Tobba… That’s fine. Let’s see… Yeah, nothing out of the ordinary. That’s good… Really good… 

And so, the immortal aspect of time turned its eternal head. The everlasting sun came to a quiet rest as it fell beyond the horizon, and a rich darkness blanked the sky. Sparkles of white littered the dark abyss above like sugar against black paint, and a frigid breeze saw fit to tickle the city. With an exasperated tone, Fisher checked his pocket watch and realized it was nearly midnight. He had worked right through lunch and dinner, but his trained stomach didn’t whisper a word of protest. This isn’t the first time I’ve gone without two meals…but when did I use Lux Sphere? He thought as he stared at a floating ball of light.  

The chirping of crickets managed to invade even his office, and that gracefully followed Fisher as he tidied his desk. He didn’t get done because there was a meeting he had forgotten about, and that lasted about forty-five minutes, but it was fine. As long as he didn’t abuse his power and brush off essential work, he was sure his fellow guards would forgive him. But as much as he wanted to continue thinking about work, he stepped outside his office and locked the door.  

The quiet, eerily empty hallways reverberated his loud footsteps. His heavy boots thumped and thumped, giving away his position. Fisher did pass by a few soldiers who had the night shift, and they all greeted their captain with a well-practiced salute. Of course, he returned each and everyone one of them.  

Once he was outside the headquarters, he chatted a quick moment with the young man on door duty and reassured the meager Elf that he was doing a fine job. All it took was a few simple words of encouragement to cast away his obvious nervousness.  

And then all that was left was a quiet stroll through the city. The beautiful night sky kept many adventurers company during a time of solace, and for Fisher, it wasn’t any different. He was captivated by how his city looked when the majority of its citizens were buried underneath a comfortable blanket. The bustling streets that were so often filled with the joyous cries of laughing children were no more.  

Fisher took a turn and mentally noted a location where Mari had once fallen. She had taken off in a mad dash – as mad as a three-year-old girl could run – to give her dear old father a hug. He fondly recalled the weight of his pride and joy as she wrapped her hands around his neck when he picked her up. He held her close enough to his chest that he felt her tiny heart pound against her body.  

Yeah… I had been off on a mission and couldn’t come back for about two weeks… My poor girl nearly cried herself to sleep in my arms, and she wouldn’t let me put her down… 

“…What a terrible father I am…” Fisher’s moment of remembrance served to only shatter his spirit. He had a lifetime of serving the cruel mistress known as revenge, and now he had two bundles of joy and a loving wife to lead him to the world of happiness…Tears beget more tears as salty water streamed down his face. It was undoubtedly a good thing there was no one around him, or the stern, strong, immovable image of the Justice Captain might have been shattered.  

It really was a Goddess’s luck that allowed him to get home without meeting anyone. It was past midnight by that point, and Fisher had to fight with the door because it liked to squeak and cry. After that battle was won, he used a faint Lux Sphere to light his way up the stairs. Once up them, he killed the source of his light and gingerly peeked his head into his daughters’ room.

There they were, quiet and sleeping as if the sandman himself had dabbed them with his dust. One was curled up into a ball, while the other had somehow turned around her sleep. Half of her little body was hanging off the bed, and any self-respecting father couldn’t have left after seeing that. Fisher eased himself into the playful room, bypassing dolls and stuffed animals that were thrown about like traps, and carefully tucked Meri into bed. He kissed her forehead, then moved on to do the same for Mari.  

“Goodnight, girls. I love you both,” Fisher whispered as he closed the door. He waited for a few seconds to see if he had accidentally woken them up, then breathed a sigh of relief when their slumber hadn’t been disturbed.  

“Darling, is that you?” whispered a wifely, feminine voice. It couldn’t have belonged to anyone but Fisher’s loving wife. He turned to the left and stared at a beautiful woman. Her body was a feast for his brown eyes, with her lavish hips and adorable face. Her breasts filled out the much too small cotton robe she so elegantly had on. It wasn’t tied tightly at all, and all it would take was one iota of force to free the pair of busty treasures within.

She was almost like the very striking image of what beauty should have been. Her right hand held a small white cube, which was enchanted with Lux Sphere. A Flash Stone, it was called. Like the Wash Stone, it was another type of Skill Item, though one that was far cheaper than a Wash Stone since it wasn’t that difficult to manufacture.  

“I’m sorry I’m home so late,” replied Fisher. He walked to his wife, who held her arms open. Her robe came undone, and her partial nakedness was on display for her husband.  

“Don’t worry about that, sweetie. Here, let’s get you out of that armor. I know you must be tired…” She led her husband by the hand to the bedroom, where she started undressing him in front of a mirror. She started with his thick gauntlets, then tackled his boots and gloves. “Hehe,” she giggled slightly after a blast from the past flashed across her eyes. “Do you remember our first date? I’m recalling that it went a little something like this…” 

“Yeah, I do. We were supposed to meet up in a park in the noble district. I was running late, so I didn’t have time to change out of my armor…” 

“Hmm…” Marissa rubbed her hands down Fisher’s hand. The sweat dripping down his fingers rubbed off on her, and she brought it to her face to smell it. The scent of her husband always calmed her down, even if there was nothing bothering her. “It felt like I was a princess, and you were my loyal guard. Remember how we danced under the stars? And our first kiss? It all happened on that magical night… And if I’m remembering it right, that night ended just like this… We went to my father’s house… I snuck you up to my room… I helped you undress, grabbed your hand, and led you into the bath…” she whispered.  

Marissa allowed Fisher to take off the rest of his black armor because it was a tad too heavy for her. Right when his scarred backside was devoured by her eyes, her loose robe slid down to the floor. She confidently walked forward until her chest was pressing against his sweaty back. A set of soft hands wrapped around his stomach, and then ever so slowly, started to descend downward. But before they reached his penis, Marissa stopped and turned her husband around.  

He looked down at his wife, staring at her lovely breasts. Her nipples were stiff, ready to be played with. That, and her cute, adorable squirms, meant she was feeling the passion of lust in her naughty bits. “Darling, let’s recreate that night…” 

When the wife led her husband through the doorway to the master bathroom, it was like the two lovers were transported through time to when their love was just starting to blossom. 

---

Marissa Fairhold was her name back then, and she was just a young maiden that loafed around the sprawling city of Adenaford. Her days consisted of enjoying the luxurious reality that came with being the daughter of a wealthy noble. While that included having a spot of tea with the elegant ladies of the neighborhood, dressing in the finest silks, and attending lavish parties, it also had the annoyance of a pestering father. In order to expand his influence, he had ordered Marissa to meet with potential husbands day after day. She was even required to do that when they went on vacation to Canary, a town in southeastern Lando that was really starting to make a name for itself.  

But as luck would have it, the moment her carriage entered through those city gates, she happened to laid eyes on the man who would soon have the honor of being her husband. A young recruit he was, Fisher had just gotten accepted to the city guard. He didn’t have eyes for love, and the younger Marissa became flustered when her affectionate glances weren’t returned. That guard was all she could think about while enduring yet another marriage interview. Her potential suitor was thin and sickly, bordering on the category of ‘old’ and ‘ancient.’ The maiden didn’t give up, though, and she soon came up with an excuse to galavant around the town in search of that brown-headed guard who caught her heart.  

Once she spotted him, Marissa put what  acting abilities she had to work and timidly walked towards her target. After lying about being lost, she soon forged up a hasty friendship with Fisher, who offered to escort her back to her house. And the same thing happened the next day, the next day, and every day for the following two weeks until finally, the poor girl couldn’t take the waiting.  

Fine! I guess I have to be the one to ask! 

“Hey, let’s go out on a date,” she had said with no hesitancy. A couple of strands of her brown hair was curling around her finger. Her coarse tone wasn’t anything like the soft-spoken mother she was today, nor was it like her other friends of noble origin. She had trained and signed up for Warden, though perhaps her coarse act was for that? Regardless, she didn’t last long as an adventurer.  

“…” Fisher hadn’t said anything at all, but he did intently listen to the time and location of their rendezvous.  

Of course, the then Captain of the Guard had ordered him to work late on that day, and a part of him didn’t even want to go. By the time I get there, it’s gonna be at least 9:30. We agreed to meet at 8…  

Going against his instincts for the first time, Fisher chose to go past his crummy little shack for a house and walked all the way over to the noble district. The uppity nature of those that lived here rubbed him the wrong way. Their belief that money solved everything only indicated that the sheltered nobles didn’t know anything at all. Suddenly, Fisher started to lean more on the side of leaving because he didn’t think there was anyone on this planet who would wait for him. Arnold was his closest and only companion by this point, but that friendship was being strained to the limit. But it was something he had, though.  

All of that changed, however, when he walked through those brass gates and saw a cheery young woman on the bench. She had on a burgundy, sleeveless high-low dress that showed off her incredible legs. The best pair of heels she owned guarded her feet, and a thin bracelet hugged her left wrist. Along with make-up, red lipstick had been applied to her face, but the former was in such small amounts that it wasn’t even needed. Her hair had been styled in a double braided ponytail, something she had done after hours of practice. It perfectly fit the playful attitude she was known to have.   

The bench Marissa had sat on was in just the right spot that moonlight shined down directly upon her. The annoyance of armor clanking together caused her to turn up towards the noise, and she waved a lovely hand. The smile on her face was one of thankfulness that she hadn’t been stood up.  

With the false arrogance she copied from one of her lady friends, she huffed and teased her man. “I see you’ve finally decided to show. It’s about time! I was starting to think you didn’t care for me… And I do like you, Fishy… If I didn’t, then do you think I would have acted like I needed to be escorted home fifteen times? I might be a dunce, but even I know where I live.” Her big, blue eyes stared up at her man, whose rugged expression softened.  

“…And I like you too… I really do…” He returned her lovely gaze with brown eyes of his own. “I even fought against my instinct to just head home because I hoped you were waiting for me… I’m sorry I had to work late.” Fisher told the truth, something hidden away from his innermost self. He really had come to enjoy spending time with this beautiful girl, even if he didn’t see anything in himself that might have caught her eye.  

After an enjoyable park date, emotional feelings overwhelmed both the maiden and the guard. The two soon shared their first kiss while dancing to the sounds of their heart. A wave of leaves fell down upon them, almost as if Mother Nature had agreed to their tender embrace. Then without speaking, Marissa, with a face flushed with excitement, grabbed Fisher by the hand and ran towards the Fairhold vacation home. His heavy boots drowned out the pleasant noise of her heels stomping against the hard ground. It took time for the two of them to infiltrate the two floors up to her bedroom. With them being virgins, it took some time for anything to actually happen since it was the first time Marissa had seen the form of a naked man.

Or rather, she hadn’t yet seen one by this point. When she first stripped naked, she faced away from Fisher and expected him to do the same. On the count of three, they were supposed to turn and reveal their nakedness to each other.

“Okay… One… Two… Th—Three!” 

He hadn’t stripped at all.  

The arms she was using to playfully hide her breasts fell to her side in a display of faux anger.

“If you’re going to look at me, I want to look at you!” She had said. Charging ahead, she nearly tore off his simple leather armor. By this point, he hadn’t earned the right to wear metal and caught a whiff of his musky scent. It was the male fragrance that halted her stripping rampage. The untold proofs of battle that littered Fisher’s back and arms stole her breath.  

Marissa pressed her hand to his chest, rubbing her thumb down a particularly gruesome dagger wound.  

A man’s body…is really something… Fisher’s so tall… His chest is so broad… And these scars… He has so many of them…  

Her eyes trailed down the front of his body, eventually coming to a stop near his crotch, where a snake-like thing was about ready to attack.  

And that’s… That’s a man’s thing… His penis… It… It looks like it’s hurting… 

“Here… I… I have a pretty big tub, so… So I’ll wash you… It’s the least I can do for being my valiant knight and escorting me home, right?” a flustered Marissa had asked. She grabbed her future husband’s hand and led him to the other side of her bedroom. The door to the bathroom was right past her bed, near the entrance to her closet. Two pairs of feet shuffled along through what felt like the world’s biggest room. The excitement fueling Fisher’s throbbing member had really started to hurt. The glistening liquids dripping from Marissa’s wet crotch were skirting down her legs and onto the recently steamed carpet.  

When her fidgeting hand turned the handle to the bathroom, the rest was history…