After dinner was over, Allisa was kind enough to escort me to my accommodations.

“I’ll prepare you a bath,” she said.

“Hey, you make it sound as if I was dirty.”

Well, apparently dipping into the river did not count as proper hygiene. I left my sandals at the door before following a cold-eyed Allisa into the room’s private bathroom.

“This inn is rather luxurious for what it is,” I said.

It seemed funny that an inn in a small town had porcelain bathtubs.

Allisa did not respond. She just filled the tub with water and, through the use of a red gem, made the water warm.

The gem, for sure, had to be some form of magical device.

“I can take it from here,” I said.

Allisa shook her head.

“I have orders from master to ensure that you take a proper bath,” she said, with an emphasize in the word proper. “Your intelligence is rather… questionable.”

“Hey! I am not retarded.”

I was barely done speaking when, with one clean swoop, Allisa stripped me and pushed me into the tub.

The warm embrace of the water made my toes curl. I tried to regain my posture, but soapy water got into my eyes and they began to burn. Allisa mercilessly rubbed by soft skin with a sponge.

“Stop moving,” she said.

The more merciless she was, the more I fought and the more foam formed.

“I am not a child, I can clean m-”

I blew bubbles into the water as I half-drowned. Allisa had decided to rinse my head without warning.

Once she was done having her way with me. She pulled me out of the bathtub and dried me up with a towel.

When we returned to the room, we were met with light hissing. Around six half-naked cat-girls were loitering just outside of the bathroom.

“Huh? What are THEY doing here?” I asked.

Allisa looked at the cat-girls and then back at me. It did not seem like she thought anything was wrong.

“You are sharing the room with them,” Allisa said.

“What!”

I looked at the bed. I could see maybe four people fitting there, but not eight!

“Arrangements needed to be made to accommodate for the limited number of rooms. Be glad that Master is generous and you are not forced to sleep outside.”

There was a certain degree of satisfaction in her voice. It annoyed me.

“Do you enjoy being that man’s slave?”

Allisa looked at me as if I was dumb.

“Wait, where are you going?” I asked.

“Hmm? to my room,” she said. Her smile seemed malicious.

Stupid elf.

Sleeping in the middle of the bed turned out to be a bad idea. For, soon after all the cat-girls were done with their bath, all of us were tightly pressed together into a pile.

To make matters worse, the girl to my right pressed her nose against my neck as she hug me like a pillow, while the girl to my left periodically dig her toes into my cheeks as she twitch on her sleep.

****

My body jerked itself out of a deep sleep, as cold water sent a shock through my body. I only heard pissed off groans as I rolled my way out of bed.

“Wake up, it's dawn!” Allisa shouted.

When I stood up, there she was. That dirty blonde elf, with a gray bucket of water in her hands.

The cat-girls bickered among themselves in a cat dialect that I am sure only they could understand.

They looked at Allisa with hatred. But said nothing, and quickly got dressed.

“Will you be coming with us?” Allisa asked. Her eyes were fixated on me.

I was already awake…

“Sure,”

When we all went downstairs, we joined another three groups of Demi-humans, bringing the number of cat-girls to around fifteen. Everyone but me was in an adventurer gear, with weapons at hand and ready to kill.

At last, Lord Belfar made his appearance, with Leah by his side.

“Will you be joining us today?” Belfar asked, as if his entourage of armed Demi-humans was not enough.

“It seems so,” I said. “You did offer to grant me a wish if I did.”

Belfar nodded. His violet eyes looked ever more menacing as they contrasted with his dark green trousers and luxurious black breastplate.

“Here, have this,” he said. Pulling a small staff out of his inventory. “This fire staff still has around two hundred charges left,”

The staff did not feel heavy, while the small red stone at the top of it looked expensive.

“Why me?” I asked.

“Because I doubt you know how to use a sword,” Belfar said.

“No… not that,” I responded.

“Well, it is of no use to me,” Belfar said. “None of my cat-girls have been trained to use offensive magic.”

“How about Allisa?”

Belfar smiled. “Her affinity is not compatible with fire magic.”

****

We made our way north from Safir, but not so far. The dungeon was located in the forest nearby.

Upon entering, there was absolutely no light.

Dozens of orbs of white light began floating around us. Both Belfar and Allisa did not seem to shy away from using utility spells.

This expedition seemed well planned. Allisa carried a map in her hands and discussed with Belfar about the routes to take and where to camp during small breaks.

“Do not be scared,” Belfar said. “The creatures that you will see might look horrible. But they are not a threat if you are careful.”

But despite his warning, we made it to the third floor without encountering any.

“Is this normal?” I asked. Based on my video game experiences, every floor was meant to be protected by mobs. Yet, we already had made our way across two floors and nothing had appeared.

“The dungeon core must be learning, adapting perhaps,” Belfar said.

A droplet of icy water fell into my skin, numbing it. Then another. Then the hissing began.

“Look up!” Belfar yelled.

What was falling from the ceiling… was not water. But small octopus-like worms. Upon being spotted, they began falling like spores.

In a panic, I raised my staff and crouched. Then a small fireball flung up. The little critters turned into dust.

Just then, the system appeared in my field of view.

[As the result of trauma, you are now a [Pyromaniac] ]

Oh no…

“Stay in formation!” Belfar yelled.

We were winning. But seeing cat-girls rolling in the floor, as others stomped on their face to kill the flesh-eating worms… did not seem like so.

I pulled two worms out of my cheek, and the numbness went away. Only to be replaced by a hot and sharp pain.

“To hell with you guys!” I yelled and began discharging my staff onto the mobs.

Seeing the little fucks reduced to ash put a smile on my face.

At some point the battle was over, but I did not realize it until Allisa shook me out of my fire blasting frenzy.

“Stupid, you wasted twenty charges,” she said.

“But it was fun!”