Walking from the abbey all the way to the inn took less walking that what I had anticipated. Safir was not a big town. Given the amount of wooden houses, a fair estimate of the total population would be around five thousand people.

“Pretty town, isn’t it?” Belfar asked.

“I guess,” I responded. How would I even know?

Belfar was pretty cordial for someone who had just admitted their guilt at a crime. He was hiding something. When I pressed him for answers, he ignored me.

As we reached the entrance of the inn, two cat-girls hissed at me and lowered their poleaxes.

They looked like adventurers in their long-sleeved white shirts, brown leather vests, black trousers, and black leather boots.

“Hey!” Belfar yelled. “She is my guest.”

Upon saying that, they returned their poleaxes to a resting position and allowed us entry into the inn.

“They thought I was replacing Leah,” Belfar said. “You see, Cat-Girls can be very overprotective of one another. More so than other Demi-Humans. It is silly I know, I would never abandon Leah for any other girl.”

Leah did not seem to understand what Belfar was saying, but when he kissed her on the neck, her cheeks turned red.

***

The common room was well lit.

When we arrived, a blonde girl began folding a map that was laying at top of the dining table. Without a doubt, it was a dungeon map.

“Feel free to sit down, Allisa will be done in a moment.”

Without a doubt, she was an elf. Long blonde hair, green eyes, petite, bushy eyebrows, and most importantly, a refined and symmetrical face.

“You are really pretty,” I said.

Allisa paused for a second before nodding politely. “Thank you.”

However, as pretty as she was, it was impossible to ignore the ugly slave collar that covered part of her neck.

It was so distasteful that I stared at Belfar in the eyes. Leah responded by hugging him possessively. Hissing once and then looking away, as if averting her gaze in indignation.

This only made Belfar smile.

“Make no mistake,” he said, wagging his fingers. “I find slavery to be distasteful too. But what are you going to do about it? What can YOU do about it? You can kill as many slavers as you want, but they are like roaches. Once one of them is gone, another two take their place. If you were hoping to point your finger at me, and say ‘that is the bad guy’ then you are deeply mistaken.”

“Are you not supposed to be a noble? Where is your honor?”

“Noble? Where did you hear that?”

“Leo…”

Belfar laughed. “You seem to know more about me than I thought. But I still do not know anything about you. How about we begin with your name and where are you from?”

“Name…”

I could not use my masculine human name. No, that would be weird. But… as a goat, I never had a name.

Dammit, if only I didn’t have brain damage, maybe coming up with a name would be easier.

“Berry,” I said. That name sounded gender-neutral enough.

“Berry the goat?” Belfar asked, trying not to chuckle.

“How cute,” Allisa said.

The embarrassment got to my cheeks.

“Ah, ‘Berry’ indeed fits you well,” Belfar said. “But, it is time to get down to business.”

Allisa nodded, and after leaving for a few seconds, returned with a handful of cat girls and a chef.

Food and drinks were provided, with a huge barrel of lemonade being placed near the table.

We all ate roasted pork, except Leah. She was served two fat slices of salmon.

While taking a sip from my cup. Belfar leaned closer to my ear and whispered;

“Make no mistake Berry, I am not a good person.”

I almost choked on my drink.

When I was at last able to talk again. He pretended he never said that.

“Tomorrow, we’ll raid the dungeon at dawn. Have your answer ready by then,” Belfar said.

Fritzer

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