Chapter 43: 34: Eccentrics – Part 1

Today is the 7th. Fis, day of Nature.

Alissa silently wakes me up before Ciel and Lina awaken. She silently leaves the room after that, I sigh as the blessing makes the world blander again.

My [Space Magic] increased by 2 (now 11+22). Productive theory class strikes again.

I wake up the naked beauties with a kiss. Lina smiles and gets up to help Alissa. I hold Ciel back and she raises an eyebrow.

"Feeling lonely, old man?" She asks.

"Not really, more like feeling that someone is not being honest."

Gify pops into my shoulder.

"Gih."

Ciel breathes in deeply and lets out a long sigh. She sprawls back on the bed and looks to the ceiling.

"I, uh... You changed me, Wolfy, and I'm getting scared," she looks at me and I see she doubts her own words.

"Ohohoh? You think it's bad?" I lay down beside her and play with her hair.

"No. Well, maybe just a little. I told you I wasn't depraved and now I can't see Alissa naked without getting horny."

"That doesn't mean you are depraved."

"But I don't love her, all I want is to... Fuck her," she lifts her arms in the air and drops them on the bed with a flop.

"And why is that bad?"

"I may be a follower of the Goddess of Love but I don't sleep around. It's why I was a virgin for so long, I don't really lack suitors," she smirks at me, then she frowns and her ears turn slightly darker as she sees that her words didn't have an effect on me. "It's just that I don't want to have sex without love."

"Isn't it just some other kind of love?"

"That's the thing I... I don't know. Ever since I met you my life never stopped changing, it's just scary sometimes."

I stroke my chin in thought.

"So that's why Gify doesn't nudge you or Lina forward, you might both be unsure of what you want."

"Gih."

"Lina? Wait you mean th-, oh..." Her mouth hangs open as realization kicks in.

"I don't know what she feels for you but she definitely shows some affection and some budding jealousy."

She covers her eyes with her hand and laughs. "You are loving this, aren't you?" She asks.

"Yes, deeply."

"That's enough teasing for me, you depraved old geezer. Let's go downstairs."

I give a peck on her fleshy lips and we get up.

Ciel sits besides Lina and pats her head, making the little girl beam with a smile. Ciel's gaze turns warm and we choke on tears at the sight of such a beautiful scene.

"Let's go meet Arantos," Ciel says.

Oh shit, moment ruined. She knows it, she's smirking at me.

There's an unusual amount of nature spirits on the streets. Gify drops from my shoulders and runs towards a group of bird-like spirits, then they start playing tag.

Gih.

Yeah, I still feel you.

Me, Lina, Alissa, and Ciel reach the temple. Ciel breathes in deeply when she sees the orphanage.

"Getting wistful?" I ask

She glares at me with the corner of her eyes.

"Now, seriously, do you miss this place?" Alissa asks.

"Of course I do, this is my home, my birthplace," she answers. "One of those children playing was me one day, until the priests discovered my healing affinity and decided to train me," she smiles nostalgically. "I once said that helping the clinic was boring, Arantos answered by bringing me outside and having me watch as they hunted goblins."

I lift an eyebrow. That sounds traumatic.

"I knew it then that I wanted to travel this dangerous world, but I would have to get stronger first," she continues.

Okay, not traumatic, actually totally normal for the people of this world.

"Arantos used to fight?" Alissa asks, incredulous.

"He's a mage, even someone like him can keep up. Though he used to only be slightly chubby, marrying made him get, uh, rounder," she smiles wryly.

"I'll definitely not become like that," I say.

"Hana won't let you," Alissa says.

Lina nods repeatedly.

We cross the orphanage and one of the children stares at us, wide eyed.

"Ciel!" He exclaims.

"Ciel?"

"Ciel...?"

"Ciel!"

"Ciel!"

"CIEEL!"

Oh Gods. A swarm of children run out of the orphanage and surrounds her.

She smiles at us wryly and starts to appease the mob.

"I'm only here to visit. I'm sorry, I have some business with Arantos, I have to leave," she says patting as many heads as she can.

"Awn..."

"Awn..."

"Noo..."

A minute later and with a few priestesses helping, the children are appeased. Ciel finally walks free and rejoins us.

"You really are popular," Lina says.

Ciel shrugs. "The other priestesses say I'm too soft," she says, "I guess I'm just not a cranky old woman who wants her own army of child soldiers.

"What? Child soldiers?" I turn my head to stare at Ciel slack-jawed.

"That's a joke," she gives me a withering look.

"Hyperbole, actually," Lina adds.

"Oh, right. It's just that in my world there's a small problem with child soldiers and I kind of took you seriously. Anyway, why did you say it like that? I didn't really understand the joke."

"Most orphans join the town guard when they come of age so most priests want to treat them like they are soldier trainees," Ciel says, "but children don't really have the discipline to behave like little soldiers."

"I did," Alissa says, "I was living by my own when I was 13."

"You, uh... You are kind of a special case," I say.

"Yeah, no one is trained to always wake up before your master so you can give him a blowjob," Ciel says with smirk.

Alissa shrugs.

"Just saying..."

"Say, Alissa, don't you want to go play with the children?" Ciel asks.

Alissa's posture stiffens and her eyes lock forward.

"If you want you should. I will be fine," I say.

Alissa looks at me with large puppy eyes that turn into eyes of worry.

"I will be fine," I repeat, I grab her hand and kiss it. "It's annoying to lose the blessing but I can deal with it, go have fun."

She bites her lips and looks back. She gives me a peck on the lips and goes towards the children.

"She likely didn't have much of a normal childhood," I say.

"Yeah..." Ciel agrees and Lina nods along.

We move on to the priests quarters and Ciel takes us to the guest room, still as cozy and humble as ever. Arantos arrives on the room carrying a large tray with some snacks and tea. The chubby man looks quite chipper.

"Good morning, Mr. Ryder, Miss Lina, and Ciel," his gentle voice tickles my ears, we nod back in greeting. "Did you have breakfast yet?"

"Only a light one," Ciel says, she quickly grabs a small sandwich. "Thank you."

"Been a while since we last saw but Ciel has been keeping me up to date with your adventures," he smiles warmly and adjusts his half-circle glasses, "I see you acquired some scars."

I see you lost more hair. His nearly bald head shines on the morning light.

"Mementos from certain battles," I say and pass my hand through the scar in my throat.

He nods, "Certain experiences must not be forgotten..."

"Anyway," Ciel interrupts, "I want to take Lina to the library, can I let her have a look?"

He takes a look at Lina and smiles to her.

"As long as you stay with her," he responds. "Be careful with certain tomes, they are in dire need of being rewritten and will crumble if you are not careful."

Lina nods repeatedly. Ciel grabs her hand and the two go away.

An opportunity to see the temple's books is worthy of skipping a day of her enchanting classes.

As Ciel leaves Aranto's gaze turns sharp and I feel a shiver, making me stop eating mid-bite.

"I see it was not a mistake to entrust Ciel to you," he says. His words and expression are in conflict.

He sighs and his expression relaxes, allowing me to continue eating.

"You are a good choice for her, a little too good," he smiles wryly, "it's hard to dislike you for taking her away when she's like this."

"I understand your feelings," I nod to him.

He sips on his tea and talks, "I hope you do, so you understand what she means to me," he turns his eyes away and sighs again. "What's your plan after you leave Rabanara?"

"Didn't Ciel already tell you?"

"I want to hear it from your mouth."

I finish my Dragolite sandwich and speak, "Once I finish my classes at the university we will move to the High Forest and search for a dungeon to conquer. After that I want to travel the world and visit the homes of my wives. One is in the Maoka continent, another is nearby at the Misty Low Forest, another is in Sommerland, and the last is in Mountainhome."

He finishes his tea and gazes into the distance.

"Conquer a dungeon, huh," he rests his head on his hand, "Are you confident you can do it?"

"Yes. With all of us together, we can."

"Unmanaged dungeons are much more dangerous, you never know what will come out of them."

"Still," I swallow a cookie, "we have been growing quite fast in power, as long as we don't get conceited we can slowly make our progress," I give him the most confident smile I can.

"Growing... I have heard something about your growth, of [Summoning Magic], specifically. A certain Templar had some monsters as allies during the battle with the necromancer."

I'm not really surprised he heard about it.

"If Ciel hasn't told me about this I won't pry but... You are hiding something," he says.

I pour more tea as I speak, "That I am and Ciel knows it."

He maintains his gaze for a moment longer to ascertain if I'm lying.

"You are a mysterious man, Mr. Ryder, and far too young for such mysteries."

That I am. I let a smile escape as I sip.

"You researched the monsters of the High Forest?" He continues, "Some of them are quite dangerous."

"Yes, it's why I brought Lina here, she's looking for information about the High Forest and some other curiosities I have."

"Food? Do you pretend to live on [Conjure Bland Meal]?"

"You should know I have an affinity with [Space Magic], my [Item Box] is big enough to hold a month's worth of food."

I don't even know how much food I have stored, I only know it's a lot.

"Hmm..." He adjust his half-circle glasses, "Money?"

"We have a few rose coins stored."

He raises his eyebrows in surprise.

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"We are quite the successful fellowship," I smile and grab another cookie.

"Equipment?"

"We have all been fitted with well made Grey Berzerker leather covered in emerald scales and lined with Stal wolf fur. Lina is also studying enchantments for us so she will soon enchant our equipment even more. She already enchanted Alissa's warbow with [Loosen], she's quite talented."

I want [Wind Shield] next.

"Climbing equipment and such for dungeons with unusual environment?"

"I have multiple meters of rope, spikes, hammers, pulleys with a scaffold, and a flying dinghy. Our expedition to the Wisps of the Proud required such things."

He rests his cup on the table.

"Have you ever killed someone?" His expression turns serious, his voice is somber.

I silence the shrieking woman in my head.

"Yes, unfortunately," I frown and look away for a moment. "Didn't you hear? We already collected bounties on criminals twice."

"Yes, but did you kill someone, personally?" His gaze is unwavering.

"Yes, more than once," this time I don't look away.

He smiles sadly, "Good, as a leader you should always keep your wits about you, you will certainly have to kill more people if you plan on traveling the world."

"I know, I have already made my peace with it. I won't disappoint."

"I want grandchildren," his serious expression melts and his soft voice comes back.

"I will give you two, since there's so many women I have to limit the amount of children."

He chuckles and cleans the corner of his eyes. I smile with a pain in my heart, I won't be able to give my parents grandchildren but at least my siblings will.

"I'm sorry for this questioning but you must understand, you are merely sixteen, barely a man and yet..." He opens his arms wide and sighs.

"I know," my smile gets wider.

"Don't let the fame or the power get to you."

"I won't, thanks for the advice," I nod in respect.

"That's the only thing I can do," he smiles bitterly.

We eat more sandwiches and drink the tea in silence.

"Let's go see Lina," he says.

"Sure."

The third floor of the temple is the library. Multiple robed old men and women with glasses and tired eyes move about the lowly lit room reorganizing books, transcribing new ones, or performing maintenance on those not old enough. Rows of study tables with a small magic tool light are put in a circle around the stairs. The shelves of books also follow a circular pattern around the stairs. Even the marble of this room is black to keep the light from damaging the books.

Lina is at a table with Logan at his side. The large black man is hunched over a book and flicking through pages quickly.

"Here," Logan stops on a page and points it to Lina, "the last high elven kings, the last one was twenty thousand years ago, Arreira, the Unyielding. Died to the emperor in single combat, frozen in place with [Absolute Zero], burned by [Star] and entombed by [Fissure]. His army was wiped by another [Fissure] and a [Meteor]. Those spells created the Ultirei's Tomb mountain and the Loyalist Lake, separating most of Antano from Aloresta, the Wetlands and the High Forest."

"That I already know," Lina says.

"This is just the summary, the next pages show more detail."

"Oh, give it to me then."

"Things seem productive?" I ask.

Lina raises her head to me and smiles.

"The details on these books are much deeper than the ones on the university."

"We are historians, after all," Arantos says, "Rabanara is quite focused on combat spells so their library suffers."

"Didn't know you were a historian, Logan," I say to the large black bear. He brings a lot of contrast to the white little girl.

"Not a historian, I just maintain books here. Thought it would be a nice change of pace," he says and then smiles faintly. "The smell here is quite calming too."

I remember some article once said that old books and chocolate share a compound on their smell that has a calming effect. Just another reason why chocolate is love, chocolate is life.

"What's unexpected is your calligraphy, it is enviable," Arantos says.

Logan strokes his puffy beard with a hint of shyness to it. He says, "Father is a librarian, he worked as a scribe and taught me a few things, I even have two levels in [Writing]. Eventually I got big and the guards taught me to fight."

Ciel comes back with a few books. She blows the dust away from one and Lina sneezes.

"Achi!"

"Sorry," Ciel says and pats the books away from her.

"That was so cute," I say.

"I would have to agree," Arantos says.

Lina keeps her head down and her ears redden slightly. I pick up a book and look at the index, a compilation of messages from the Gods, the basis of their teachings. Quite interesting.

"You are rather thorough in your research, Mr. Ryder," Arantos says.

"I enjoy reading," I say.

Arantos smiles and speaks, "I will leave you to your reading, until later. Pleasure to talk to you."

"Likewise," I smile back and we wave as he leaves.

Logan shows us a few more books and leaves while we copy some notes. I have to put on [Writing] to create something legible.

"My hand hurts," Ciel says and waves her hand.

"You can go play with Alissa if you want, it's fine," I say.

She smiles and continues copying.

A few minutes later another priest comes by. He's tall and has an average build. His face is rather long, with his blue eyes and wild black hair he looks somewhat handsome. Reminds me of a certain actor.

"Oh, Bitar, hello," Ciel says with a kind smile.

"Ciel, heard you will be leaving soon," he says, his voice is on the lower end. He comes with arms open wide.

She gets up and gives him a tight hug, he smiles warmly and hugs back. Me and Lina look at each other.

"Yes, I will be traveling the world," she breaks the hug and pushes him. Then with a little awkwardness she points to me, "This is my fiance, Wolf Ryder, and our slave, Lina."

"Oh?" He looks at me with a frown. "Oh, that Wolf Ryder?"

"Depends on what you heard about me," I say with a smile.

"The man who killed the Symbol of Hate and participated in the goblin village subjugation?," He says and raises and eyebrow at me.

"Yes that's me."

"Who also has a peculiar appetite for the other sex," he frowns again. Quite expressive those eyebrows.

"Not sure about that one but I have three other fiancees."

Now his eyebrows shoot upwards, high into his large forehead. He looks at Ciel and she smiles wryly.

"This is your fiance?" He asks and frowns again.

"We all have quite the interesting relationship, don't we, Lina?" I say before Ciel can respond. I tap her in the back and her eyes dart between me and Ciel.

"Yes, our family is quite united," Ciel says while narrowing her eyes at me.

Come on, you didn't notice it?

Gih.

I know, right? This dude...

"I would rather keep my eyes to a single person," he says, he looks up and gazes into the distance, "I could then easily give her the treatment of a princess."

"I quite like the big family we have," Ciel says and glances at Lina.

"You could have one with a lot of children," Bitar says, his eyebrows in a normal position for a change.

"It wouldn't be the same thing," Ciel says and chuckles.

It certainly wouldn't.

Me and Lina share another look.

"You said you would be traveling around the world?" Bitar asks.

"After this month we will go to the High Forest and look for a dungeon to conquer," Ciel answers.

His eyebrows knit in worry. "What!?" His voice echoes on the library.

"Shh...!" A scholar hisses at him.

Gihihih, guh gah gih.

No, I was never as awkward as someone like him.

"What!?" Bitar whispers.

"What?" Ciel asks.

"Why are you doing this!?" He hisses.

"Because we can, we are strong enough."

Getting the True Noble title will make my life, and destiny, much easier.

"You..." His mouth hangs open, "why do you have to go away? Why fight like this? You can always stay in Rabanara, to fight here and help the people of the town. You get the title and then what?"

"We travel the world," Ciel says calmly.

He hold his hands forward and his eyes open wide with disbelief.

"You..." He mutters.

"Bitar, please," Ciel says in the sweetest tone she can, "It's what I want. I'll be fine, I will be safe, we are strong enough."

"I will never understand you."

"Maybe you won't, maybe you will. I just have a different wish for my life."

Bitar glares at me and frowns at Ciel.

"I will be here for you when you get tired of all the death and danger."

"Bitar..."

He turns around and leaves.

Gih-ger.

Yep.

"You should reject him with certainty," I say.

"What?" Ciel frowns.

"'I will be here for you'. He's clearly in love," I smirk.

"He-he's not like that, he just cares too much for me," her eyes open wide in shock.

"Uh huh..." I look at Lina and she nods, "Denial."

"You...!" She glares at me and clenches her fist in anger, then sits down and continues writing furiously.

"Denial," Lina repeats.

"Not another word!" She hisses.

Gihih.

You too.

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