We approached the town and I wasn't surprised that there were several large beings out front. My auto-identifier told me they were a type of oxen, as if the long horns sticking out a foot on each side of their heads wasn't enough of a giveaway. The thing was, even though they weren't wearing revealing clothing, they were definitely female. It was the first time that I had seen females of any species that were over a foot taller than me. They had always been equal size or smaller.

We came to a stop near them and the lead badger quickly hopped out of the cart and ran over to talk to them. They must have talked in code names, because I didn't understand a single thing. It was quite the ingenious way to get around the language skill that was granted by the goddess, since proper names didn't get translated.

Two of the oxen women came over to the cart and they sniffed at me. One let out a huff and almost choked.

“I haven't had a chance to take a bath in a while.” I said and her head turned to me. Her face was covered and I still knew she was sneering at me.

“You've laid with them.” She said and waved at the cat women.

“Them and about a hundred and fifty others.” I bragged and she let out another startled huff.

“Is it true you carry the Melindae's property?” The other oxen woman asked.

“That's what I'm here to discuss with her.” I said.

“How do you know she is a her?” She asked.

“It was just a guess.” I said. “I have yet to find one of you to be in charge, so it was about time.”

She huffed and stepped around to look in the cart. “The wolfling and the cats need to stay out.”

“I don't suppose asking why will make you tell me, will it?” I asked and she shook her head. “I'll leave the Freemartin here as well.”

“She is exempt, as per the treaty signed by the Tup of her settlement.” The oxen woman said and waved at the cat women and the young wolf woman. “Their clan and pack leaders have not agreed to freedom of passage for business.”

“That's because we know what that business is.” My favorite said.

“Not your business to know.” The oxen woman said and looked at the Freemartin. “The choice to stay or come is yours.”

“My new Tup will want me along.” The Freemartin said.

The oxen woman looked at me, shrugged, and stepped back.

“I'm hoping this won't be long.” I said as I stepped off of the cart. The Freemartin pulled it off the road and tied the reins to a tree. “I don't know what's going to happen inside, so be prepared to wait for a while.” I gave each of them a scratch and a hug and the Freemartin walked beside me as the twelve badgers led us past the guards. One of the oxen women came with us, too.

I used Search and updated my map with everything in the area, including all of the red dots of the oxen and badgers inside the town. I looked around with my eyes and saw that the place was a lot more modern than everywhere else. That was surprising, considering we were on a world that was set in medieval times.

The male oxen, not surprisingly, were about two feet taller than the women and overly muscular. I tried to not stare at the muscles on muscles they had and it was difficult. They looked like those professional bodybuilders that overdid the workouts and steroids. The females on the other hand, looked like the fitness women that were training to compete professionally. They had well defined muscles and were very close to having it be a little too much.

Our group approached a very nice building... an actual modern building with five floors and windows... and the two male oxen there nodded to the female and let her pass. The doors were sized for them, so I felt like a kid as she led us through the huge things. In fact, everything inside was sized for the largest oxen. There were fifteen foot high ceilings, extra high counters and desks with chairs to match, and even the stairs to go up were spaced for their longer legs and wider strides.

I really did feel like a kid having to take two steps on each stair to take the next one. “Are all the buildings like this?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.

“Only the main ones.” The female oxen said as she slowed her pace to let me keep up.

I didn't complain, because it gave me a very nice view of her ass as it swayed and her tail didn't obstruct the view at all. I felt my erection grow and tried to avert my gaze. Whoa, down boy. I thought and tried to look at just her back. I immediately realized that it would be the same sight I would see if I was mounting her from behind and I grew hard. Goddammit.

There was a deep intake of breath through the female oxen's nose and then she huffed in surprise.

Double goddammit. I thought. She can smell it when I'm horny!

To my surprise, she didn't say anything and kept walking up the stairs. I gave up trying to fight it, since she already knew about me being excited by the sight, and I stared at her ass the entire time. We went all the way up to the fifth floor and I enjoyed every moment. The female oxen came to a stop in front of a set of large double doors with two male oxen guards.

The two guards opened the doors for us and the female oxen led us inside. It was the most opulent space I had ever seen. Gold was everywhere. Expensive silks and cloth adorned the walls, tables, and even the floor in some spots. Velvet covered pedestals with expensive vases and ornaments on them, were scattered almost haphazardly all over the open area. There were even statues of different beast people near the walls.

At the far side of the room was another set of double doors, only without guards. The female oxen led us over to the doors and opened them, then she knelt on one knee and spoke. “Great Melindae, I have brought the Coon retrieval party.”

“So soon?” A melodious woman's voice asked.

I looked around for her and couldn't see anything. Her dot wasn't showing up on my Map, so I cast Search again to try and find her.

“That won't work on me.” The woman's voice said with a laugh and then something stood up across the room. She had been sitting right there in front of us in a chair. In plain sight. She hadn't been hiding somewhere or projecting her voice like I had first thought.

“Would it be unfair of me if I asked what that skill was?” I asked and she laughed.

“Unfair? All I am is unfair.” She said and waved for the oxen woman to stand and move out of the way. “Your identify spell won't work on me, either.”

“It's an auto-identifier, actually. I don't have to consciously cast it.”

“Very nice.” She said and looked at my armor with an appraising eye. “That was not made here.”

“No.” I said. “I brought it with me when I was summoned.”

Her smile widened and she walked over to us. “So, she finally decided to give up on the rest of us.”

“I'm sure she had a good reason.” I said and pointed with a thumb over my shoulder at all of the stuff in the other room. “You must have given up on the mission a long time ago to gather that much loot.”

“It was a pointless quest. No one has ever found the source of all this madness.” She responded.

“How long did you look?” I asked, curious.

“Two years.” She said.

“Is that all?” I asked and she frowned. “Don't you want to go home?”

Her frown was replaced by a scowl. “I can't go home!”

I looked at her human face and understood. “You're a carrier.”

She made her hands into fists and let out a growl. Her visage of humanity disappeared with her anger and I saw what she really looked like. A badger. A Honey Badger to be exact. One of the most vicious animals to exist on earth, and since the beast virus made you become a reflection of your inherent traits, she must have been a real piece of work after being summoned.

“You killed my people and have my property.” She said and took a step forward. “Hand it all over. Now.”

“Actually, I killed all the Coons that had gathered all that loot, which means I own it, not you.” I said.

She let out a loud growl and the badgers around me and the Freemartin growled, too. The female oxen stepped close and looked ready to fight as well. The tension ratcheted up for several seconds as we all stood there, then I held up my hands in surrender and burst out laughing. Everyone seemed to relax and Melindae lost her angry look and the growl.

“I'm not here to cause trouble.” I said. “I even had one of the badgers come around with me and keep track of the loot he claimed was yours.”

“You... did?” She looked at the head badger, who nodded.

“I don't mind handing most of it over...” I started to say and she growled. “...minus a carrying fee for bring it all this way.”

She looked at the badgers and back at me. “You killed my gatherers. No fee.”

“That was kind of an accident.” I said and chuckled. “I had just woken up from sleeping with the cat princess and the guards said they were fighting off intruders that were trying to steal my loot.”

She looked at the lead badger. “You didn't declare why you were there?”

“No one guarded first hut. We gather and then we attacked. I said why we there. They kill rest.”

“I stopped the fight as soon as I arrived.” I said. “I even brought their bodies back in case you wanted them, or their families wanted them.”

She gave me a weird look, as if trying to determine if I was lying or not.

I put a blanket down and took out the bodies of the dead badgers. “I didn't even loot them.”

Melindae looked at them and nodded. “All right. I will believe you for now.”

“Whew, that's a relief.” I said. “So, do you have a room where I can drop off all this stuff? It's a pain in the ass carrying it all.”

She gave me that same look.

“I can't do anything with it. I can't sell it or give it away, so it's just taking up a ton of space.” I said and tapped the side of my helm. “I want to dump it as soon as possible.”

“We need to discuss the fee.” She said.

“We can do that on the way.” I looked at the female oxen. “Lead the way, please.”

“You want to stare at my ass again?” She asked and took in a sniff. “You are still hard for me.”

“It's really not fair that you can tell.” I said.

“You do realize that the males have penis bones that are over two feet long.” Melindae said.

“That just means I can't go deep enough to get her pregnant.” I said as a joke. The Freemartin let out a bleat of laughter, the badgers let out surprised squeaks, and the female oxen let out a huff of surprise.

“Would you really try to have sex with her, even knowing the danger?” Melindae asked.

“I'm pretty sure she can't crush me...” I started to say and the female oxen laughed.

“That's not what I meant.” Melindae said. “Look at what happened to me, just from casual touching and a little nick of a claw when shaking hands. Or paws.”

“I call them 'pawed hands' in my head.” I said and waved the female oxen forward.

“I have a mate.” She said as she walked past.

“He won't mind me admiring you, will he?”

“No. He will see it as a sign of respect and pride.”

“Then give him my compliments on finding such a fine mate.”

The female oxen nodded and walked ahead of us. She swayed her hips a little more and her tail whipped from side to side.

“You're just showing off now because you know I can't get any harder or do anything with it.” I commented and she laughed, which echoed in the large room we passed through.

The badgers followed us and were bewildered at the conversation going on. We went down a floor and entered another room. This one had piles of things that looked unsorted.

“About your fee.” Melindae said.

“Twenty percent.” I said.

“Outrageous!” She growled. “Five percent!”

“The mental strain alone is worth that.” I smiled. “Eighteen.”

She made fists with her pawed hands. “I'll rip you out of that tin can if you keep insulting me.”

I chuckled and walked over to the corner that didn't have much stuff in it. The badgers quickly cleared the other things out of the way and I dropped the first load of stolen goods.

“Fifteen?” I asked as her eyes darted over all the new and shiny things. She let out a growl and I dropped the next load. “Twelve?” I asked and dropped the next load.

“How much did the Coons have?” Melindae asked, surprised at the amount.

“If my guess is right, they've been hoarding a lot more than they've been telling you they've been finding for you.” I said. “If you hadn't noticed, I'm not asking you for their fee, either.”

Melindae looked at the piles of loot. “Ten, and it's limited to coinage and not things.”

“Easily done.” I said and waved my hand around and filled the corner with stuff, right up to the ceiling.

The female oxen let out several huffs of surprise and the badgers staggered back, because they hadn't realized how much loot there had been in all the Coon huts.

“Why?” Melindae asked as she stared at me.

“I already told you. This stuff was just sitting in my inventory and I couldn't do anything with it.” I said.

“No. Why aren't you trying to keep any of it?” She asked.

“For what? I don't live here and can't use it. I also doubt that any of the people I've met so far could afford to buy any of this and the people who could afford it already have it.” I looked at the piles of gold items and laughed. “Or used to have it. Coons are almost as sneaky as you, apparently.”

Melindae gave me a look and then let out a laugh herself. “You must dine with me tonight.”

“I have people waiting for me outside the town.” I said.

“That wasn't a request.” The female oxen said.

“I can't leave them out there and they aren't allowed inside, so I'll go out there and wait, then come back.”

“Alone.” Melindae said.

“You know, you can just be honest with me.” I looked into her beady badger eyes. “You're going to try and seduce me, aren't you?”

Melindae hesitated for a moment, then she spoke. “Yes.”

“You know I'm going to leave, even if that somehow worked.” I said.

“No, you'll become like me and you can stay.”

I chuckled. “You know it doesn't work like that.”

“It has before.” Melindae said and her claws grew out. “It depends on the method of delivery and how many times it happens.”

I held up my hands to stop her. “Look, I don't want any part of whatever this is.”

“You came here...”

“...to drop off your property. That's it.” I said. “That you're a summoned he... person... doesn't change what I've set out to do.”

“Will you still want to do the mission when you're infected?” Melindae asked.

“Especially then.” I said and she gave me a growl. “No, I'm not questioning your choices. I don't have that right, until you try to take my own choices away.”

Melindae withdrew her claws and then her human visage covered her again. “It seems that I'm not very hungry after all.”

I nodded and walked over to her, stored my gauntlet and quickly scratched her chin with my bare fingers. She was so startled by it that she couldn't react before I equipped my gauntlet again.

“I might be back to have that dinner in the future.” I said and walked over to the Freemartin, took her hand, and left the room. We were halfway down the stairs to the ground floor before the female oxen reached us.

She escorted us back through the town to where the cart and the cat women and the wolf woman waited for us. “When you return, my sister would like to meet you.”

“Let me guess. She's shorter than you.” I said with a chuckle.

“She's a runt.” The female oxen said and laughed.

“It's a date.” I said and climbed onto the cart next to the Freemartin. We backtracked several hours to make it back to the main road and then continued on our journey to the west wall.