It’s been a few weeks now since we started to go questing again, gradually taking more quests until we got back to our previous level. We probably could’ve gone faster than that, but there wasn’t any need for us to rush.

The biggest change to our party dynamic was that Jade tended to be a bit more mid-range now. This was so that if someone was injured, she could get to them faster.

Since Jade could use mana now, Sanor and I tried to cast a spell through her, but it didn’t work. Her mana is tied strictly to her slime abilities. We’re not experts when it comes to doing things with other people’s mana, though.

Regarding those abilities, Jade would use her pellets as something to draw an enemy’s attention without wasting arrows. She would just have to aim for a place that was close to them.

On some occasions, she even used it as a first strike. Just because it healed didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. Plus the enemy’s confusion over being healed by an attack could help. It was still a very situational thing, though.

Other than questing, we—mostly me—spent a lot of time with Jade visiting various places around the city. It seemed like she wanted to try doing everything, but that was fine. Also adorable. She was starting to get more serious about questing again, though.

We also had sex, but surprisingly, neither of us seemed to care about it all that much. We both agreed that it feels good, but also that it’s not worth obsessing over the way so many other people seem to. Not even the discoveries we’d made changed that.

I had discovered that if Jade had recently put something in her body, grapes for example, then she would taste like that for a while after. I also discovered that my tail could do some interesting things. The final discovery was Jade having the sudden idea to extend her tongue.

But even with all that, we still didn’t seem to desire sex very much, if at all. We finally decided to ask the others for advice, and they were surprisingly mature about it. Well, Mallok was. Sanor wasn’t too bad, either, but he still felt the need to make at least one joke.

In the end, we both just enjoy cuddling and snuggling a lot more. When we talked about our lives and how we both desired closeness with someone else, we realized that neither of us seemed to be people who ever cared about sex very much.

Whatever the case may be, it’s fine as long as we’re both happy. Maybe we’ll figure something out in the future.

———

“Anything you want to do before we leave tomorrow?” Jade asked me. We were standing in line at the Questing Guild, as it was our turn to turn in the quest.

“Hmm… I heard about an interesting performance at the theater a while ago. Tonight’s their last showing, I think,” I replied.

“Would we still have the time to make it there?”

“Not sure. If not, I can think of a few other things.”

“Okay. It’s up to you what we do tonight,” she said. She felt a little guilty about dragging me around to so many places, but I told her it was fine. She still insisted that we should do something that I want to do, but I honestly don’t mind. I just want to hug her all the time. I want to hug her right now.

Finally, it was our turn at the turn-in desk.

In a voice that exemplified just how routine this had become for me, I stated, “Broken Song Party, turning in a quest to investigate the Milshek Mines.”

“Understood. One moment, please.” The worker had to rifle through a pile of active quest documents before finding the right one. After reading it to confirm its details and prepare a report, he said, “Please give me the details of your investigation.”

“The only monsters we encountered in the mine were rockworms, though the nest had become rather large.” Rockworms are massive worms that live in areas of dense stone, and can become a real threat if not eliminated. “There were about 120 young ones, 30 or so adults, and 4 evolved steelworms.

“We explored every tunnel, both man and monster-made, and believe we got most of them. Two of the old mining tunnels had caved in, so we can’t be completely sure. The monster and cave-in locations have been marked on this map,” I finished, handing him the map we’d made and indicating the different areas. While he was busy looking it over, I pulled out the weightless space pack containing all the harvested materials and proofs of our kills.

I’m so glad these reports can be this short. I honestly feel like our reports are more detailed than what most questers give.

The worker gave a single, sharp nod and said, “Very well. Examining the materials will likely take at least half an hour. You will be called to the payment desk with the results when completed.”

I’ll miss the much shorter wait times that the larger cities like this one have.

As we were about to walk away to sit somewhere and wait, he added, “Allamyne, before you leave, a messenger is waiting for you in privacy room 2. He will leave at 5 pm, and has been here for one hour the previous two days as well.”

I halted in my tracks. This can’t be good. “What’s this about?”

“You’ll have to ask him.”

“Can Jade come with?”

“He didn’t specify that you come alone.”

I sighed. “Thanks.”

Jade looked at me with concern. “Do you know what’s going on?”

“The only people I can think of that would send a messenger for me would be my parents.” I looked at the hallway that led to the privacy rooms. I sighed again. “Let’s just get this shit over with. I’ll tell them they can fuck right off with whatever they want, and then we’ll get the hells out of this city first thing in the morning.”

She rubbed my back consolingly. “If they want something from you, they’ll have to face off against all the slime people in the world.”

I snorted. “Thanks.”

I entered the room with Jade close behind me. A well-dressed flame tiefling was sitting at the table, calmly reading a book. Upon seeing us enter, he snapped it shut. “Allamyne Soervnuic?” he asked, though he clearly already knew who I was.

I haven’t heard my last name in years. Why did it have to follow me all the way out here?

“That’s me,” I said coldly as I shut the door. “You don’t mind my friend being here, do you?”

“Actually, this concerns her, too.”

Shit! Did they find out we’re dating?! Fuck fucking fuck shit!

“M-Me?” Jade questioned. “Why? I’ve never even been to the Flame Wastes. Not even close.”

“The king has summoned the two of you. The reason why, I do not know. What he did specify is that neither of you are in any trouble, nor does this have anything to do with your past. He is aware that you travel with two others, and said that it is optional whether or not they come with you. You are free to discuss this with them.

“I will await you at the Traveler’s Square three days from now. Be prepared to depart by sunrise. A carriage capable of accommodating all four of you, food, and supplies for travel, have already been prepared.

“Is everything understood?” he finished.

Hells beyond, why does the king of all people want to see me and Jade? “Was there nothing else? No further information?”

“There was not.”

I was about to sigh loudly and exasperatedly, but this was the king’s messenger. He may only be a messenger, but my attitude could still reflect on how we’re treated in the future. Fucking nobility bullshit. And we can’t even refuse because it’s royalty that wants to see us for whatever fucking reason. Ah, if only I were a commoner, then he wouldn’t be able to do this to us. “I understand.”

“Good. I will see you then,” he stated, then abruptly left.

Once he had shut the door, I let out a loud, weary, “Fuuuuuck.”

Jade grabbed my hand. “Do you know what’s going on at all?”

I looked into her eyes, worry clearly visible in them. “If it’s not about my past, then no. The fact that he wants to see you too is creating extra confusion. I’ve stayed far away from anything to do with nobles since I left, so I shouldn’t have caught anyone’s attention,” I sighed. “I just don’t know, Jade. But we aren’t allowed to refuse here.”

She looked down, then back to me. “I’m scared. I really am. But I’ll be with you. Through whatever this is.”

We hugged, and spent several long minutes just holding each other in silence.

I sighed again. “Let’s go tell the others. And I guess we can’t see that play now, either. We’ll be too busy discussing this shit.”

We were nearly out the front door, when someone called out, “Broken Song Party?”

Fuck. What is it now…?

I turned around and saw that it was just the dwarf guy at the payment desk. He counted out our money and explained how much we earned on top of just the investigation, but I didn’t hear a word of it.

With a coin purse of indeterminate amount in hand, we went to hunt down the others. Shouldn’t take too long. Just look for drunk people and music and we’ll find Sanor, and by extension, Mallok.

———

“Did something happen?” Mallok asked.

“Yeah, it has to be serious if you need us sober,” Sanor added, watching Jade put a pellet in his drink.

As expected, we had found Sanor performing and Mallok just sitting and drinking and enjoying his boyfriend’s music. Their usual routine.

“The king of the Flame Wastes has summoned us,” I grimly stated.

“What!? Seriously? What for? Is this about your family?” Sanor asked.

Jade decided to answer for me. “The messenger told us that we aren’t in trouble and that it has nothing to do with her past… But he also said that only me and Alla are required. The two of you don’t have to come with us if you don’t want to. That’s literally all we know.”

“That’s it? Nothing else?” Mallok questioned. He looked at me, but I could only shake my head.

“I really don’t know,” I said. “I’ve stayed far away from the Flame Wastes, and haven’t done anything at all that would draw attention. At least I don’t think I have. I haven’t even used my surname and have just been questing nearly the entire time since I left.” I looked at my girlfriend. “And I honestly don’t know what he wants with Jade.”

Sanor asked, “Can’t you just not go? We’re not even in that country.”

I sighed once again. “Because I’m a former noble from there, I can’t refuse. It’ll be seen as treason. If I don’t go, I’ll be extradited. Jade, as a known close associate of me who was specifically requested to come with, also can’t refuse.”

“That’s… harsh,” Mallok said.

“Why did my bullshit have to follow me all the way out here and all these years later?” I lamented.

“You don’t think it’s about the two of you being together?”

“I can’t see how that would be the case. We haven’t done anything in public that would warrant us being summoned. Not even sharing a room in an inn counts, because that’s common among questers. And even if we weren’t questers but shared a room, it still shouldn’t warrant this.”

Jade and I held hands under the table, dreading our future, while the men discussed the situation.

A few minutes later, Mallok announced, “We’re coming with you.”

“You are?” Jade asked, surprised at the declaration.

For them to come with, I guess that means we really did move beyond just being a party of questers. We’re like an actual family at this point.

“We are,” Sanor replied. “If the king tries anything funny, I’ll just annoy him to death.”

She smiled slightly. “You are pretty annoying.”

He nodded. “It’s true. I could just annoy all our enemies to death, but it entertains me to watch all of you play with your swords, acting like you’re real questers.”

“And there it is. Are you sure it isn’t to your own death that you’ll be annoying him to?”

“Of course not! I’m unannoyable-to-death, I am!”

I decided to join the bantering. “I don’t know about that. You haven’t dealt with nobility before, after all.”

“Hm, so nobles are professional annoyers? Maybe I should become a noble…”

“Ugh, please don’t. I don’t want to think about such a horrible future where you’re in charge of someone else.”

Mallok suddenly chimed in with, “It’s true. He can’t even be in charge of himself. Why do you think I’m with him all the time?”

We all gaped at him. Mallok told a joke!?

Sanor put his hands to his chest and said in a fake, teary voice, “Mal! I’m so proud of you!”