After parting ways with Gallus and his men, I began to make my way back to the farm. The current time was most likely a few hours after noon. When I arrived at the farm, I saw Anna feeding the hogs with food scraps. 

“Are the others back yet?” I asked Anna when I got closer. 

“They’re not,” Anna informed me. “Would you like some food?” 

“I’m good,” I replied. 

Suffice to say, that was not enough to placate Anna. Thus I ended up waiting until she got me a fresh bacon sandwich, which I ate as I journey down the southern road to meet Sekh and Zeph. 

The trek along the southern road was a nice change of pace. All alone, I rode with the sun beaming over me. It wasn’t a scorching summer sun, but a feeble autumn or early winter sun, the light only gently tickling my skin. The lonesome journey reminded me of the days before I had met Sekh. Being lost in thought by oneself was certainly an enjoyable feeling. However, I would much rather prefer the company of my two companions. 

After continuing down the road for a little while, I came into sight of a large fishery that sat on the lazy river. The stream that the fishery presided over was a branch channel of the Chrysor river, though the distributary was one of the largest offshoots. 

As I got closer to the fishery, a familiar sight appeared before my eyes. Dancing around on the river were two slim girls. Though dance might not be the best way to describe a monster extermination. With the aid of Zeph’s wind magic, Sekh was violently piercing the shells of some remarkably large crabs. Zeph was also contributing to the melee, since she was also murdering the crustaceans with one of Sekh’s javelins. 

I thought it would be a bad idea to throw off their rhythm, so I decided to walk towards the entrance of the fishery without notifying them. When I arrived at the entrance, I was greeted by one of the workers. 

“Do you have any business with us?” she asked, somewhat concerned.

Right, I do look a bit too heavily armed to be a regular customer. 

“I’m here to help with the marauder crab infestation,” I informed her. “My two companions, Sekh and Zeph, should be taking care of the issue right now.”

“Oh you mean the two cute girls,” she replied. “You certainly look like the person they described.” 

“What do you mean by that?” I asked as she led me towards my companions. 

“One of them told me to expect a handsome young man with golden eyes,” she informed me.

I believe Sekh was the one that gave the woman this information. However, there is still a small possibility that the culprit was the white haired archer instead of the leopard girl.

Shortly after, I arrived at the place where Sekh and Zeph were murdering the hapless monsters. Though I might be giving those crabs too little credit. If the girls weren’t careful, they could easily lose a finger, possibly more. Had the workers tried to remove the crabs, there might have even been a death if the crabs managed to swarmed an individual.  

“You came really early,” Sekh remarked when she saw me. 

“That's a first then,” I replied. “Anyways, you need any help with these crabs?”

“We would really appreciate any help,” Zeph replied tiredly. “We’ve taken care of around two dozen, but there’s still more than a dozen left.”

“Sure, sure,” I answered before going to retrieve my spear. 

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to transform my spear for quite a while. Though it might be too much of a precaution, since I’ve been volunteering a lot of my personal history recently. Personally, I would like to use my winged spear for these crabs. Still, my glaive is made of high quality steel so I should be able to deal with these crabs without too much of an issue. 

That proved to be the case when my blade tore through the greenish black shell of one of those monsters. These creatures were mostly around five kilograms in weight, though some were slightly larger. Considering their size, these things were probably tearing through the fish population. Maybe even birds and medium sized mammals as well. 

“Sekh, are these things edible?” I asked after slaying another shellfish. 

“The claws and legs are,” Sekh replied. “But feel free smashing the body apart. None of that is edible.”

For the next half hour or so, the three of us continued to carefully stab the marauder crabs to death. After we killed one, we would attempt to retrieve the body and dump it on dry land before proceeding to murder its relatives. Sekh and I had an easy time avoiding injury, though Zeph had to rely quite a bit on her magic. 

“We’re done,” Sekh told the overseer once we had finished cleaning up. “Even the smaller ones are taken care of. However, there’s a possibility that a few newborns may have survived. Just make sure to take care of them before they get large.”

“Thank you very much,” the overseer replied. “You did an excellent job today, very fast and efficient. Take as many of the legs and claws as you like. I’d also like to raise your payment to 5 denarii.”

“You’re far too generous,” Zeph said with fake humility. “But we can’t possibly accept your offer.”

“No, please take it,” he insisted. “Your performance more than warranted it.”

After some hesitation, Zeph accepted the offer with hesitation. Well it might have been an act, though I can’t tell at all. 

But now that I think about it, I’ve rarely had a client offer better pay than listed. Normally that would only happen if I ended up having to do extra work during a job. Even when I did perform spectacularly, I would almost never get an increase. I guess pretty girls really do have an advantage. Or maybe I just have bad luck with clients. 

“So how are we going to split the award?” Zeph asked as we journeyed back to the farm. 

“How about a three to one split between you and Sekh?” I suggested. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll get paid for taking care of the fogling problem. I also intend to give Sekh a share of my earnings as well.”

“Are you sure?” Zeph asked in confusion. “You did help us a lot in the end.”

“It’s fine,” I answered. “I’m doing pretty well financially, particularly after winning the archery competition.” 

“Then I’ll do a half and half split with Sekh,” Zeph said firmly. “Without her help, I wouldn’t have been able to do the job. So please take the money, I’ll feel guilty if you don’t.”

Without warning, Sekh pounced on the other girl and pulled her into a tight hug. I’ve actually noticed that Sekh is pretty open with hugs, since she occasionally embraces Minerva and now Zeph. However, I have private access to her nuzzles. At least for now. 

“Come on Sekh, there’s no need for this,” Zeph muttered nervously. “I just split the pay like a normal person would.”

“You’re forgetting that normal people don’t end up as mercenaries,” I told her. “Besides, you’re a good person.”

“You don’t have to flatter me,” she replied in an embarrassed manner. “But I appreciate it.”

“Let’s go home then,” Sekh declared before the conversation could stagnate. 

Well we would be stopping by the farm first, but close enough. Perhaps we could stay the night there. Though I don’t want to impose too much on the family. So I plan to just run off with as few gifts as possible. 

When we arrived at the farm, it was just an hour or so before evening. In other words, it was the perfect time for dinner. 

“Those must have been some massive crabs,” Anna observed when she saw us hauling our prize back. “Are we going to eat them for dinner?”

“Yup,” Sekh replied. “They’ll go great in an omelette with onions.”

“Don’t worry, Sekh and I will cook them,” I added. 

“Got it,” Anan said in response. 

Thus Anna and her family would take care of the bread, salad, and drinks while Sekh and I would take care of the crab. Zeph’s job is to take a nice break in the living room. But she did say that she would help clean with her magic once she recovered enough energy. 

The first step to taking care of the crab was boiling them en masse. Since the marauder crabs are surprisingly sweet in taste, we didn't have to add any spice to the boil. 

“You know, I really like cooking with you,” Sekh said as we were waiting for the crab to cook. “It almost feels like we’re a married couple.”

“It’s certainly a nice feeling,” I replied happily. “Now that I think about it, I’ll take care of the onions while we wait for the crab to cook. Besides, we can’t just take the meat out while it’s piping hot.”

“Mmhmm,” Sekh hummed in a satisfied tone.

Due to the large amount of crab that was being cooked, I ended up having to chop quite a few yellow onions. It’s also good to know that heroes aren’t afforded any protection from onions. 

“You’re finished already?” Sekh asked me when I had chopped all the necessary onions. “The crab is still really hot right now, so we have some time to wait.”

“Then I’ll take care of the eggs,” I told her.

“We’ll take care of the eggs,” Sekh corrected. 

No matter how fond I am of Sekh, cracking eggs just isn’t romantic. Though we did have a fun time cracking and whisking more than two dozen eggs. Once we were finished, we moved onto removing the crab meat from the shell. We divided the crab into a three to one split. The greater portion would be used for the omelettes while the rest would be eaten with a butter garlic sauce. 

The omelettes weren't particularly hard to make. Sekh and I just whisked the crab meat, black pepper, and onions into the eggs. Once we finished with the mixture, we fried the eggs until the outside was nice and crunchy, while the insides remained soft and fluffy.  

“Nicely done,” Sekh commented when we were finished. “I hate to say it, but you already got better at this recipe than me.”

“Don’t worry, I still enjoy cooking with you regardless,” I replied while rubbing her head. 

In response, Sekh’s ears began to perk up while her tail waved about happily. She even gave my chest a nice nuzzle before getting back to work. Soon after, we finally got to dinner. 

“These are really good,” Zeph said after eating one of the omelettes. “It's crunchy on the outside and deliciously sweet with the saltiness of the crab.”

“It goes a lot better with rice,” Sekh told her. “But the bread is really good in this case.”

“Do you like it?” Leanne asked eagerly. “Please take some in that case. It's the least we could do for you.”

I knew it. I knew that we wouldn’t be able to escape without gifts. But now is just a matter of how little we can receive.

“Oh and I heard that you really like these eggs,” Leo said to Sekh. “We have way too much, so we would like you to take some with you.”

Now I really hope that they don’t remember me complimenting the bacon this morning. 

“We also have a lot of extra bacon in our storage,” Anna told me. “Feel free to take some when you leave.” 

“No thank you,” I replied courageously.

And now I’m getting stared down by an entire family. But I intend to win this match. I don’t want my mind to create an imaginary debt that the family won’t acknowledge.

“Come on,” Sekh chided me. “Just accept their hospitality, you’re making them feel bad.”

“But,” I said before getting cut off.

“No buts,” Sekh asserted. “We can always visit them and pay them back later.” 

“You don’t have to pay us back,” Anna said hurriedly.

Perhaps I am overreacting. We did save their daughter from an extremely dangerous situation, so it's only natural that they wanted to repay us in what way that they could. After some very polite arguing, I finally reached a compromise with everyone. Our party would receive two loaves of fresh bread, four dozen eggs, and a kilo of bacon. However, we promised that we would come back to buy more produce in the future. Though I’m certain that we’ll get discounts.

“How come you didn’t want to stay overnight?” Sekh asked me as we were traveling after dinner.

“I didn’t want to bother them too much,” I answered. “If we stay the night, we’ll at least get trapped into breakfast.”

“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” Sekh replied.

“It is though,” Zeph commented. "Overstaying one's welcome is certainly a bad thing."

“You’re just scared of sharing a bed with us,” Sekh teased.

“I’m not,” Zeph asserted indignantly.

“Sounds like something a coward would say," I said to Zeph.  

“I said I’m not sleeping with you!” Zeph exclaimed before realizing her mistake and turning a bright red.

A certain military mind had once said that the best victory is when the enemy is defeated without fighting. Though I believe this time Zeph just metaphorically killed herself. Actually, I didn't even know there was a battle until Zeph waved the flag of defeat.

The rest of our trip was unremarkable. We just rode quickly towards Damask without interruption. Along the way, Zeph and I shot a few rabbits which we skinned as we traveled. Our pace was so fast that we arrived in Damask in the late evening. 

When we arrived at the Labor Bureau, Minerva was nowhere in sight. However, I quickly noticed that Edwin was beckoning for me to come over.

“Glad to see that you're safe,” the orc said when I got closer. “If you're wondering where our boss is, she's on the third floor right now. You should definitely pay her a visit soon, she seemed really worried about you all.”

“How come?” I wondered.

“We got news that you guys participated in a search and rescue that involved some sort of greater monsters,” Edwin informed me. 

“Thanks for the info then,” I replied before ascending the stairs.

But when I got onto the third floor, I heard a considerable amount of yelling and frustration.

“What do you mean you don't remember?” Minerva shouted at a clerk. “There’s no way you forgot to update something as important as a worker deliberate sabotaging their employer. Did you forget to use your brain? Nevermind, it’s actually a miracle that you remember how to breathe.” 

The clerk that was being scolded could do nothing more than cower at the sight of the angry dark elf. However, I recall that this specific worker was quite the dumbass. I think I might have called this clerk an inbred once or twice. Anyhow, I waited until Minerva was finished laying into the clerk before I approached her.

“Good to see that you’re doing well,” I said as I came up on her from behind.

“Oh, you’re back,” Minerva said in a tone completely opposite to the one before. “And so are the other two. If it’s possible, I’d like to talk to you three in my room.” 

Knowing Minerva, I’m almost certain that she’s going to break character when we’re out of sight. She does this every once in a while with her workers. It's mostly me and Sekh, though Edwin and some of the other clerks also get to see nice Minerva from time to time. 

Once we arrived on the fifth floor, Minerva continued to lead us into her office like room. The moment we crossed the threshold, our boss spun around and pulled all of us into a big hug. Even though she just met us five days ago, Zeph was not spared from the dark elf’s embrace. I should also mention that I could feel Minerva’s breasts pressing against my chest, though I’m not going to vocalize that thought. 

“I’m so glad you’re all safe,” Minerva sobbed as she squeezed the three of us. “When I heard that you three got involved with some greater monsters, I got really worried.”

“We appreciate it,” I said in exasperation. “Now I know you were concerned about us, but please stop killing Zeph.”

“I’m so sorry,” Minerva said as she hurriedly pulled away. “I overreacted a bit.”

“Anyways, I’m going to start making dinner now,” I informed her while checking if Zeph needed proper medical attention.

“I'd love that,” Minerva replied with a smile.

Dinner was a simple affair. By the time that the Bureau closed, I had finished making herb roasted rabbit with bacon, garlic bread, and a tossed salad. I doubt my cooking is better than some of the restaurants in the city, but Minerva seemed to really enjoy our company. 

“I know this is late, but would you two like to move out?” Minerva asked me and Sekh during dinner. “I recently found an affordable option in the city. The rent is 28 nummi a month and it’s big enough for two people. I already went to check out the place and I think it’s quite nice.”

“Do you normally find housing for the Bureau employees?” I asked her curiously. 

“Of course,” she answered. “Because the Bureau is tied to the government, we can offer tax deductions for real estate groups so they offer better prices for our workers. Pretty much every employee here is going through the Bureau for housing.”

“That makes sense,” I remarked. “What do you think about this, Sekh?” 

In response, Sekh made a sort of thinking face while scratching her cheek. 

“No need,” Sekh finally answered. “I like staying at the Bureau more. Plus we don’t have to pay rent if we stay here.”

“I agree,” I added while nodding my head. “Besides, if we leave, Minerva is going to get all lonely.”

“Don’t worry about that, I don’t want to impose anything on you two,” Minerva said awkwardly. 

“You’re not,” I assured her with an easy smile. “You might not be able to tell, but we do enjoy having you for company.”

“Th-thanks,” Minerva stuttered shyly. “I...also like having you two around.”

Meanwhile, Zeph just continued eating her dinner as though the three of us didn’t exist. No looks of second hand embarrassment or questions about our sanity were present. I guess she’s already started to become desensitized.