About twenty minutes later I was all finished unloading my inventory, looking back at Tammy who was shivering a bit from the cold, despite standing directly in-front of the roaring fire next to her. She had on that summer styled loose-fitting dress, something I was curious about since earlier. Having spent enough time in Ameliah's shop, I could tell it was made with fairly expensive materials. It was only that the cloth was so thin I could even see that her nipples were erect from the cold, her tiny twin peaks pressing against the dress. 

"Say, Tammy, why are you wearing that? You look a little cold there." I said to her.

She grinned, clearly having been waiting for someone to ask about it.

"Do you like it?" She said, twirling about. It was certainly much short and thinner than anything that should be worn at this season, spring was just around the corner, but it was still somewhat cold out. 

"It's very pretty on you." I said, sounding impressed, before continuing on.

"It also looks fairly expensive. Did you buy that?" 

She still grinned while holding the ends of her dress with her hands, showing off her legs as she played with the hem. 

"I was saving up for it. Isn't it pretty? I was so excited to wear it today but nobody commented on it. You're the first to notice." She said, pouting a little bit playfully. 

"Well I'm flattered to be the first..." I commented, a question popping into my head.

"Say Tammy, you're not an adventurer are you? How did you ever become a clerk?"

Guild clerks were usually injured adventurers who still needed to make a living, it was typically a form of welfare the guild to people that could no longer venture out. But Tammy was never an adventurer to my knowledge, she was probably my age, and to my knowledge had been working since she was even younger. 

Tammy was around the same age as me from what I could tell, when I first visited the guild a few years earlier she had already been the clerk,  several years having passed since then. She always seemed so stand-offish before that I never really felt I should ask. But today she was really opening up to me. 

She hesitated at my question. Considering it before answering. 

"My family's from here, nobody in my family's an adventurer."

I looked at her some more, examining her face. 

"Then how?"

"My father's a farmer. We've always had a really hard time. But when I heard that the adventurers guild was opening in town I went to see. I ended up catching the guild master's eye when he was in town and he gave me this position as a reward."

I understood now, she seduced the guild master. This was such a personal revelation that I didn't expect to hear it. 

"I- I see." I said, not sure what to say about it.

"..."

We stood around awkwardly for a moment.

"Are you doing alright? I know you were saving up for that dress, but you seemed really hungry earlier... you're doing okay now, aren't you?"

I asked somewhat concernedly.  No matter how you look at it, guild clerks weren't making much money. Even skilled labor wouldn't be making more than a few silver a month, a clerk certainly earned more than a peasant farmer, but it couldn't be any more than a few silver a month. That dress was at least worth a few gold. Did she scrimp on food to save up for it? Only to have nobody notice...

I did feel somewhat bad for her. 

"..."

Her eyes were watering before she turned around, looking a little shy. I heard a few sniffles like she was crying. 

That shouldn't have made her cry, I frowned to myself, thinking I had done something wrong. This was somewhat awkward for me as I wasn't particularly sure what I should do for her. I wasn't the closest to Tammy, but I at least thought of her as something like a friend. 

"...Tammy."

I moved towards her, resting my hands around her waist. Not knowing what to say, I ended up not saying anything at all, just staying like this while she sniffled quietly. Looking back at me every once in a while. 

After a while, she spoke up in a soft voice. 

"Keaton, do you like me?"

The question surprised me somewhat. Before today I'd only spoken to her casually, never interacting much outside the guild. She never expressed any interest in me and as a result neither did I of her. 

"Do you want me to like you?" I whispered back into her ear, pressing my body directly to hers.

She put placed her own hands over mine, still resting at her hips. Guiding my hands up to where her breasts were. She didn't have much there, but I could feel an impression under the thin dress, her nipples erect from the cold. 

"I could be yours..." 

Glancing to the side, I was reminded at how unromantic a location this was. Literal hundreds of freshly deceased muckrats lying bleeding only a few paces away. Killing my erection before it even began. Still, she had earned my attention. 

I was perfectly clear now about what she was doing, and her intentions. Never before had she expressed interest in me, speaking with her dozens of times, but the week that I come out as a mage, a particularly valuable one even, she is grabbing all over me. Tammy basically said so herself, she seduced the guildmaster for her current position. A ruthless social climber. born into a poor family but not content with her station in life. 

I could grant her wish, I could even make her a mistress of mine. It's not as if I was completely uninterested in her after all. 

Still holding my hands to her breasts with one hand, she used her other to grope behind herself. Feeling for my crotch as I pressed up against her.

"I would like that... but not now." I broke away, stopping her there. 

I talked it over with Tammy, making arrangements so that I could pick her up when she got off work and I would follow her back home. She worked until dark usually, so we had well over two hours left to burn. Which was good I supposed, because she needed to find some people to deal with processing the goods I had just delivered and I needed to escort Belle back home. Apparently it would be normal for Tammy to stay overnight for something like this, ensuring that the work was done properly. But there really wasn't a risk of theft and I didn't mind too much even if there was. Given that the guild was practically the only buyer of these materials, it would be foolish for anybody to try to steal, especially given that the punishments for theft were either slavery or death. Not to mention with dozens of people working together they would self-police on these matters. 

Tammy was excited to seal this deal, as was I.

I kissed her on the mouth before heading out to find Belle and bring her home early.