Chapter 29: 1-29 Novel

Seemingly refused to be subdued by a woman, Freed reined in his poise and retorted with a smug. “Why good morning to you too, Lyra,” he greeted with confidence but his trembling lips betrayed his efforts.

“Freed,” Lyra uttered with a hint of antipathy.

“What’s with the enmity?” He flashed her a grin, intending to hide his shivering composure. “Did I accidentally try to poach an acquaintance of yours?”

Lyra took a step closer to Freed. “You already know she’s my acquaintance. Yet, you make a move. You sure have some guts or is it just a pose?”

“Now you’re just being unfair, Lyra. I truly did not know but then again, I should have known better. After all, I would have a better chance at drawing the raffle than laying my hands on a woman that you haven’t tried to seduce.”

“That says more about the frivolous you than me. Maybe your wiles would work on those city women but in this town, even a goat has better chances at courting a female than you.”

“Is that so?” Freed too took a step forward. He had been intimidated but now, he was galled.

“Oh, have I struck a nerve?”

“I have seen you with a bow. You’re not going to strike anything. You wouldn’t be able to hit a rabbit even if it’s laying dead.”

“Perhaps you should volunteer yourself as a target to see if that’s true.”

Erin moved in between the two just as Lyra’s hands curled into fists.

“That’s enough, both of you.” Erin fought down an exasperated sigh that threatened to escape her lips. She appraised Lyra and found that her status was back to normal. Erin was relieved but her ire was piqued when she caught the scent of an unfamiliar woman drenched all over her body. Of course, Erin didn’t let her vexation known to Lyra.

Freed on the other hand was stunned speechless at the speed of Erin and also her strength. He had heard the rumors of Erin’s prowess but he took it with a grain of salt. Due to his pride as a man, he refused to believe she was as good as the rumor spoke of her. Which was why Erin’s sudden appearance between him and Lyra shook his foundation greatly. What’s more, Erin had put a hand on his shoulder when she stepped in. Normally, Freed would draw witty remarks from such a small blunder but this time, he froze when he realized the gap between his strength and hers. He would need to exert a degree of force in order to even make a bulge.

Lyra narrowed her eyes at Erin. “Is this despicable person your companion of prior night?” While Lyra didn’t know who Erin had bedded with, she knew for certain that Erin did bed with someone. No matter how hard she tried to delude herself, the refreshed demeanor Erin had was more than an indication.

“W-what?” Erin blurted out. She was surprised Lyra knew she had shared her bed with someone. As far as she knew, Lyra didn’t have a sensitive nose nor some appraisal-esque skill but somehow, she knew.

“Is he?” Lyra peered.

Erin recognized this kind of look. In her past life, she had received this kind of look whenever an infatuated female companion pried into her romance history. “S-surely you jest, Lyra. Of course not. That would never in any incarnation to be the case.”

A string of winces echoed from the peanut gallery. Freed himself had a despondent gaze.

“Besides, I don’t even like men.”

This time, the male troupe of the peanut gallery gave off various crestfallen sounds but for the female troupe, quite a few exuded sighs of admiration and infatuation. Unbeknownst to Erin herself, her proclamation had raised a series of new rumors. While venereal affection between the same gender wasn’t uncommon, it was neither a subject that anyone would blatantly talk about, much less admit it.

“I-I see…” Lyra stuttered. While she was still vexed that Erin copulated with someone else, she was relieved that her partner had been a woman. Due to her past affection, Lyra couldn’t get over even a touch from a man. She wasn’t sure she would be able to control herself if Erin’s “illicit” partner had been a man.

“Lyra, I would like to take this chance to make something clear between us. I—” Erin paused in the middle of her sentence. Noticing the increasing gaze and the dumbfoundedly staring Freed, Erin grabbed Lyra by her hand and promptly left The Guild with Lyra in tow.

****

“Where’s Nivia?” Lyra asked.

“She had some business to take care of, so it’s just me,” Erin answered honestly.

An awkward silent loomed over them. 

They were walking down the still vacant street as dawn had just broken through the veil of the night. Side by side, they strolled with a heavy heart. Both of them had something to say to each but neither of them were good with words. They both had the initiative but they didn’t wish to worsen the strain that had already taken root in their relationship.

“Well, what is that you wish to say to me?” Lyra prodded with a tone that accented their distance.

“I was with Nivia last night,” Erin revealed.

“Ah, so that’s how it is.” Lyra shrugged. “Not that I didn’t see this coming but I didn’t expect Nivia to be so bold to go against Fae’s ethics.”

 “Eh? Wh— No no! You got it all wrong.” Realizing her terrible phrasing, Erin responded in a panic. “We slept in different rooms. Nothing happened between us.”

“Then...” She eyed Erin. “Who did you share your bed with?”

Erin raised an eyebrow. Of all the questions Lyra could ask, she chose this. Erin hadn’t grasped the common sense of this world but she was willing to bet this was no common question to ask.

“Someone I know?”

Knowing the futility in feigning ignorance, Erin answered truthfully, “M-Maria. You know, the proprietress of Emerald Inn. Well, what about you? Who did you sl—?” Erin stopped her question when she saw the astonishment painted on Lyra’s face.

“Maria?”

Erin had a premonition. “...yes?” She didn’t have a good feeling when even the unchaste Lyra was shaken.

“The chief’s wife?”

“C-chief? What chief?”

“The town’s chief,” Lyra answered. Not a trace of jest could be found on her expression.

Erin’s face fell in horror.

Oh my god. I just slept with the wife of the town’s chief. Furthermore, I was the one who initiated it.... What have I done…?

With a saddened smile, Lyra spoke, “I left you alone for a single day and this is what you got yourself in...”

“W-w-w-wait! Why is someone like the town chief’s wife running an inn?”

Lyra was confused at Erin’s question but then she remembered her undisclosed circumstances. “How else are they going to put food on the table?”

“Tax?”

Lyra laughed. “This is just a small town. The only tax imposed in this town is the entry tax and all of those go right into the guards’ pockets.”

Erin recalled how seldom she had seen an outsider entering the town. If an entry toll is only a copper per person, it wasn’t possible to pay all of the guards. No matter how she calculated it, the numbers just weren’t feasible.

“The entry tax is enough to pay the whole dozen of guards?” Erin asked.

“Oh right, you wouldn’t know this. The Guild doesn't exactly want to tell everyone about this to avoid exploitations. Well, the thing is... outsiders have to pay the taxes and actually, adventurers are also considered as such.”

“We are?”

Lyra nodded. “Yes but The Guild pays the taxes for us. I don’t know the exact arrangement but overall, that’s how it is.”

Although Erin was never interested in economies, knowing things like these were certainly beneficial to continue striving and thriving in this world, or any world for that matter.

“Still, you fucked the wife of the town’s chief and you haven’t even been in Green Scar for a week.”

Erin knew Lyra was brusque but hearing a curse straight out of her mouth was almost too surreal.

Noticing the Fox-kin’s shock face, Lyra smirked. “Don’t be so surprised. I have been restraining myself all this while.”

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“Why?”

“Why?” Lyra scoffed. “You’re a Fox-kin, a Fae, that’s why. Faerie-kin shunned themselves from brash and brisk peoples. And… um… I really want to have you then.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Erin said. 

“What are you sorry for?” Lyra asked.

“You were holding yourself back because of me. It must have not been easy.”

Lyra cast her gaze down, kicking the pebbles that lay in her path. “You did nothing wrong, Erin. We’re not children here. With someone like me, we both know where our relationship will eventually lead to.”

“I suppose so…”

Silence ensued. They received gazes from the town folks who started their day early. Erin was sure this would spark another pile of rumor.

“A-anyways… about me sleeping with Maria.... is that really bad? I mean, I’m not going to get kicked out of town, am I?”

“...maybe not?” Lyra answered after pondering for a few seconds. “Her infidelity is not exactly out in the open but it was neither in the closet.” 

“Her husband knows?”

“Aye, he does.” Lyra’s response was quick, as if the matter wasn’t something needed to be subtle about.

“And he just let it be?”

“Well… the town’s chief didn’t have much to say in that regard because he’s… um... what’s the word again? I believed it closely resembles the word “important”….”

“Impotent?”

“Ah, yes. That’s the word. If the whispers held any truth, our dear chief wasn’t able to get it up for a few years now.”

Erin gave a cramped smile. “How do you know all these?”

“Loads of coins with the right women and ladies, and the right poison, they would even spill out their sizes, age, and weight.”

“So you’re saying that the chief knows but he does nothing about it because he lost functionality with his pecker?”

“What can he do? It was either ignore it or confront it. The result won’t be that much different. This is a small town. His options are limited and having a limp down there isn’t going to help much with the already limited choices.”

“Then, have you done it with her too?”

Lyra froze in her steps.

Erin had asked in a half-jest manner. She did not fully expect such a reaction from Lyra.

“T-there’s nothing between us,” Lyra answered stiffly.

Erin didn’t need to hear her reply to know the answer. “Nevermind that, but what about last night? Who did you sleep with? I’m sure I’m not the only one being “unfaithful” here.” 

Lyra chuckled dryly in turn. “A local wife with an adventurer for a husband that hadn’t been home for about two years. No letters, nothing.”

“You were there to fill the hole in her heart, I presume.”

“Won’t be the first and you kinda did the same thing too.”

“I guess we’re both fickle.”

“I guess we are.” Lyra smiled wryly. “Never thought I’ll hear that from a Fae.”

“I never thought I'd hear it from myself either.”

They smiled at each other. It was brief but it was an exchange of understanding.

“You know, I meant what I said.” 

Erin stared. She appraised Lyra again. There was not much change to her stats and she made doubly sure that the Withdrawal status ailment was gone.

“I know my actions haven’t been telling but I am willing to change if I can be with you.”

While she didn’t doubt Lyra’s words, Erin had doubts herself, about how she felt towards Lyra. She was new to the whole affairs of love. Erin knew she undoubtedly held a degree of affection for Lyra but her inexperience wasn’t able to discern the category of her affection. It could be just an intimate platonic affection but being the greenhorn of love affairs that Erin was, she wouldn’t know. Be that as it may, Lyra was without a doubt someone she cared for.

“Am I no good?” Lyra cast an upward glance.

Before answering her difficult questions, Erin pulled Lyra into an alley, away from the prying eyes that followed them into the backstreet.

“It’s not about you, Lyra.” Erin told her. 

Lyra didn’t have anything to say to that. Or rather, she couldn’t say as she was gently slammed against the wall with both of Erin’s hands by the side of her head. Lyra was always the top. This was something she had done to others but never being done to herself. Just like the two occasions they shared a bed, Lyra found herself intoxicated when she was the one being dominated.

Of course, such absurd wondering by Lyra did not register in Erin’s notice. 

“It’s me, alright? The problem is me. I’m not just a virgin in bed. I’m a virgin to the whole idea. I don’t know what I’m feeling. I know I had feelings for you but… I’m not sure if you can call it love.” Erin let it out but not all of them. She was still dubious on the notion of revealing her innate skill, Lust Deviant.

“So... you’re saying that I’m your first?.... You don’t have anyone else before? Not even briefly?”

“There were pashes but… you are only one who has been this close to me. You are the only one who has seen me writhed. You are the only one who has seen me in tears. The only person who has seen me… disheveled. The only person I have shared a bed with. You’re important to me, Lyra. That’s undeniable.”

“What about Nivia?” Asking so, Lyra entwined her fingers behind Erin’s head.

“She’s just a friend and a fellow kin.”

“Then what about me? Am I just a friend too?”

Noticing Lyra’s arms around her, Erin began to stutter. “W-what are you saying…? I told you, haven’t I? You’re important to me.”

“But do you truly see me as just a friend?” Lyra pulled Erin closer. “Do you?” she asked softly.

“I-I don’t know...”

Lyra chuckled. “Silly little fox. You know the answer. You’re just afraid but that’s okay, I’m afraid too.”

“I—” Erin tried to push Lyra away who was reeling her closer but she didn’t even manage to make Lyra bulge. Erin appraised both Lyra and herself. Neither of them were under any special status effect. This had nothing to do with their physical condition, Erin understood. This was a matter of their hearts.

“Don’t fight it, Erin.” Lyra was now closed enough to feel the quickening warm breaths of Erin. “Please.”

“W-wait, Lyra. Not here.”

“Shut... up,” Lyra said and sealed the Fox-kin’s lips deeply with her own.  

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