"You know, Husband, while I enjoyed the show, I think we might have been better off if you finished instantly. Gino might have given up and left."

"It's fine," I said, shifting the wicker basket I made to keep up the ruse to my free hand.

While I didn't want to say so out loud – not that Mana would have minded – I had been keeping track of the time. Our little display of rapid passion only lasted a couple minutes. And I cleaned us up perfectly. Nobody will suspect a thing. We were just some adventurers that took their time donning their armor.

"He's right," Yua whispered, though she didn't look like she wanted to agree. "Gino's still here. I can hear him talking to someone."

She gestured to the hall door before pulling it open.

The Moonlit Garden's lobby was packed with people still dressed in their church best as they sipped their tea and snacked on baked goods. Freshly inspired by the word of their god, those that didn't need to return to work just yet were living it up.

"Come on, it's my turn!"

"Hahaha. Gotta catch me first!"

Elane had to sidestep and push the head of her axe out of the way when a couple of kids dashed about the room, weaving around tables and people alike, but the sounds of their playing was overshadowed by the litany of conversations keeping the room alive.

Seems we'd stumbled into another tea time we weren't invited to.

Thankfully, our return to public view didn't earn us any ire this time. Although, given the contented smile Mana wore as she hung off my arm, it might have been warranted. We'd hardly earned more than a look or two when we stepped into the room.

Although, perhaps this was due to the fact that a small majority of the patrons were women. Women whose attentions were fixated on something, someone, else.

Sat in front of a window, with his bronzed skin bathed warmly in sunlight, was Giulio, as Yua promised. With a devilishly-charming smile curling his lips, he bit into a cookie before choking on a laugh.

"We should sit," Yua said, guiding us to an empty table before any of us could protest.

I set my basket under the table and slid into a seat facing Giulio. Since she didn't need to see him to hear him, Yua sat opposite me. Elane and Mana flanked my sides, but only Mana pulled my arm around her waist to cuddle as we waited.

"What are we doing?" Elane asked.

"Listening. And keep your voice down. He hasn't noticed us yet."

"Are they talking about something important?"

"I don't know, but we may not get a chance like this again. Might as well have a listen."

He may be altering the way he speaks when we adventurers are around. Might as well have a listen to what he thinks when he doesn't know we're here.

Giulio pounded his fist against his chest and, coughing, he brought a cup of tea to his lips. Downing it in a couple of big gulps, he quickly cleared the sugary-blockage. Once he could breathe again, the old man across from him sighed. Though, he did so with a smile.

"Gino, you need to chew your food," Peter said. "I can't tell you how many times my wife got onto me about that. She was always going on and on with her, Peter, stop shoveling my cooking down your throat and actually taste it for once."

"And did you ever listen?"

"Not a chance. Margaret was a wonderful woman. In many ways, but her cooking was horrendous. It was all I could do to keep it down."

"Hahaha. Really? A homecooked meal made by the one you love should be a cherished thing."

"Oh, it was. I cherished it all the way to the outhouse."

"Hahaha!"

Giulio laughed and laughed, struggling to bring his tea back to his lips before giving up and reaching for the pot to refill both their cups.

"Ahem…"

As he did this, the gruff sound of an older woman clearing her throat yanked my eyes off him. Griselda stood next to our table, holding a serving tray piled high with cookies and tea cups in one hand and a tea pot in the other. The moment she had my attention, she took her time setting all she carried on the table. She eyed me all over, her impatient gaze saying what are you waiting for?

Guess we weren't allowed to sit here without buying something. Though, given the price she gave, I had to guess that being closer to Dragma meant the sugar shortage didn't hit Villeverdure as hard as it did Amoranth.

Reluctantly, I set a small stack of copper coins on the table and, after dumping them in her apron, Griselda wandered off. The moment she had the chance, and before I could so much as tilt the tea pot over my cup, Mana slipped out of her self-imposed cuddling and lunged for the snacks.

Grabbing a cookie in either hand, she took a big bite out of one before Yua could stop her. Not that she would have, as she was still focused on Giulio and Peter.

Letting out a heavy breath that ruffled his thick white beard, Peter levied his arm on his walking stick. His shoulders shook mirthfully, but as he watched the steaming tea fill his cup, he tried to fight off the melancholy deepening the wrinkles in his face. It was a fight he was slowly losing, and something he must have been holding back for a while now, as Giulio's chuckling stopped when he noticed.

"Tallow be merciful, I wish my dear Margaret didn't leave. I'd chew up every morsel of food she'd cook if she came back to me. I'd lick the plate too. Instead, I'm stuck coming here for my meals."

Giulio set the pot back on its tray and sipped his tea calmly, though a painful furrow arched across his brow. He closed his eyes for a breath or two, and when he opened them again, there was a sharpness in his gaze that wasn't there a moment ago.

"Where'd she go?"

"Oh, to visit some family in the city. Her sister, I think it was. Said she was sick and that she had to go take care of her. She was gone before I could offer to go with. Not that I could have. My hip, you know? But it was strange. Margaret was never the sort to let something like that bother me. She would have complained and nagged, but she would have helped me into the cart before handing me the reins. Hmm… Say, what do you think about…"

"You know," Giulio said, his gaze fixated on his tea. "You remind me a lot of my father. The way you talk about her, I mean."

"That so? What about us is so similar?"

Nodding, a small smile reappeared on Giulio's lips as he leaned back into his chair.

"Father used to complain about my mother's cooking as well. And her cleaning. And just about everything else, but whenever she was around, he was all smiles and compliments. Ha! I don't think mother ever knew he thought her stew was horrid. Then again, how could she? He always slurped it up with a smile."

"Sounds like he's a good man."

"Yea… He was like that right up until he passed."

The tea cup Peter had been about to drink from hesitated in front of his lips, but only for a second as understanding sank in. A soft, sympathetic turn to his brow turned into the sort of nod only a man who'd seen the same sort of loss a dozen times over could give.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be," Giulio said, chomping another cookie. "He died with honor, protecting the woman he loved. Dragma invaded. He picked up his sword. He fought. And he lost. But that was years ago. I never held it against him for leaving us on our own. Mother, though… She was a handful."

Still chewing, his gaze fell to the cookie in his hand and his brow twisted. A slight sneer appeared on his lips and it was as though he suddenly found it disgusting. He tossed the half-eaten thing back onto the plate.

"Dear old mother was quick to jump into another man's bed after we got the news about my father. I knew she only did that because she had no other way to support me, but I could never accept her decision to just move on like that."

"What did you do?"

"What any other boy my age could do. I fought against them whenever I could. As often as I could. I cut loose the chickens and let them run off. I spilled all their dirty secrets to the neighbors. I even spit in his ale when he wasn't looking."

"Sounds like you were quite the little devil."

"Ha, yea, maybe. But eventually, dear old mother stopped defending my actions and started taking his side. How could she not? His house was small. They both made sure I knew when they were making me my little brother, and when her belly got all big and round, she had a reason to stand with him."

With a grimace, Giulio downed his tea with all the vigor of a man drowning his tongue in tequila.

"After that, after my brother was born, it was like I never existed to her. She just… stopped caring, I guess. All her time went to tending the baby and to flirting with her new man. She stopped making excuses for me, stopped spending time with me. She even stopped trying to get me to call him Dad. Hell, after a couple years, it started to feel like she only kept me fed because they needed someone to do the chores."

Pausing for a moment to take a breath, Giulio noticed the sympathy etched into Peter's face and he cleared his throat. A hint of red took to his cheeks, as though he hadn't realized he'd said too much.

"Anyway, in the end, I grew tired of being ignored and left to join the army. And as luck would have it, I was too stupid to realize the truth until it was too late. That is, that us losing the war with Dragma meant that I was joining Dragma's army. The same army that took my real father from me."

"And now you're here," Peter said, slapping a reassuring hand on Giulio's knee. "You're away from all that and you've made a life for yourself."

"And I don't regret a thing."

"You shouldn't. But how did you leave the army? I figure they'd want to keep a Swordsman like you around."

"Oh, well that's actually…"

I stood up faster than I meant to and the legs of my seat scraped loudly across the floor. Mana flinched, bringing a swift end to her assault on the plate of cookies on our table. A few pairs of eyes shifted to me, but I didn't care. I'd had enough eavesdropping.

We had to get on with this pretend guild quest before I started to sympathize with the man the way Peter already was.

Giulio's eyes wondered, searching for the right thing to say, when he noticed us. Mid-sip, he lurched, nearly spilling tea on his lap. Then a wide smile spread across his lips and he jumped to his feet to shake my hand.

"Alex, mio amico. Are you all ready?"

"Yup. Sorry we took so long."

"Ehh, no worries, no worries," he said and turned to Peter. "I hope you'll excuse me. I promised Alex here I'd escort him and his into the forest."

"I won't keep you then," Peter said and tried to stand. When he failed and plopped back into his seat, Giulio let go of my hand to help him up. "I think it's about time I get going myself."

Leaning a good deal of weight on his walking stick, Peter slowly but surely made for the door.

"Do you need a hand getting home?"

"No, no," Peter assured, though the hand he placed on his hip didn't look too reassuring. "I don't want to get in the way of your work. Just make sure you come again tomorrow. I got some stories that'll knock your socks off."

Giulio grinned happily, "You bet!"

As he saw the old man off, Giulio leaned through the doorway to keep an eye on him for a moment before coming back inside. The moment he did, I felt my belt pouch pop open and turned to see Mana stuffing the cookies she hadn't finished inside for safe keeping. Yua thumped the flower basket down on the girl's head.

"Alright then," Giulio said and, after he gave the girls and myself a once over, he clapped his hands. "Shall we get going?"

"Is there anything we'll need to pick up in the market first?" Elane asked.

"No, I don't think so. I can't imagine we'll be out there long, so…"

He gave the question only a moment of serious thought, then his gaze shifted down to my side, where Mana clung to my shirt. Her big blue eyes were darting between him and the cookies he and Peter left on their plate. She'd already shoveled a good handful of the sweets into her mouth, but she still wore a hungry, drooling smile.

"Go ahead," he said, a wry smile crinkling his brow. "I wasn't going to finish them anyways."

"Thanks!"

Zipping to the table, she snatched every cookie that wasn't nailed down, save for the one he bit into, and brought them back to me. I forced myself to keep up a smile as she crammed the cookies into my pouch. Giulio, too, smiled at her, though his was decidedly more genuine.

I know we made it clear the threat this man posed and how he was related to why we were here, but now I found myself wondering if Mana was even capable of taking this seriously.

Yua, too, sighed through her nose and thumped the basket on Mana's head again, this time leaving it for her to carry. No doubt, she wanted her hands, or rather her fists, free in case Giulio tried anything.

Elane, too, flip-flopped between suppressing a smile that Mana's cuteness was threatening her with and keeping a watchful eye on the swordsman.

Giulio, however, was composed. Whatever shock or embarrassment he'd been inflicted with when he spotted us had already vanished without a trace. And in its place, if I weren't mistaken, was the joyous look of a man wanting to show a friend something cool.

"Let's get going! It's not a long walk, but don't fall behind!"

With a pep in his step, Giulio was the first through the door. Unable to hide my confusion as Yua and I shared a look, we followed.

After first taking us back through Villeverdure's main gate, Giulio took a moment to check the position of the sun and turned North-East, as he had told us earlier. Without the need for a compass, Elane nodded along with his estimation and walked on.

It wasn't long before we breached the tree line and after only ten minutes of walking, the city was no longer in sight.

The trees here were taller and their branches bushier than those in the Amoranth or Dumort Forests. The sun's light was nearly blotted out entirely, leaving little to see by as endless shadows cascaded off the branches.

Dead leaves and fallen branches were everywhere, crunching beneath our every step as Giulio led the way. With his back to us and with an overly-easy-going stride, he would have looked completely defenseless, were it not for how he kept his hand on the pommel of his sword.

Whatever beasts were supposed to exist here must not be all that threatening if this was all the caution he bothered with.

Repeatedly, I considered drawing my sword and striking him down then and there. Surely, the girls wouldn't call me a coward for literally stabbing him in the back, what with him being a Bandit and all, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

My hesitation did not come from a want to keep my hands clean – I was mindful of the need to dirty them if it meant keeping us alive.

Nor was my hesitation spawned from any sort of sympathy I might have felt after hearing about his past. I wasn't about to let that cloud my judgment.

Seen that nonsense more than enough times in the stories I read back on Earth to know I'd be asking for trouble if I showed mercy here. Troubled past or not, that didn't excuse him from being a murderer.

Sure, lending him an ear or beating the evil out of him could have led to him becoming a life-long friend, but I'd never risk the girl's safety on that small chance.

Finally, it was also not because I feared him hearing me draw my sword, only for him to retaliate faster than I could strike him down. Thanks to my training with the girls, and my Material Creation-made leather and steel armor, I was sure that at least a few of my spells could penetrate the thin armor he wore. Honestly, thanks to silent casting, I didn't even need my sword.

The reason why I stopped myself was Peter. He was friendly enough with the man to say he'd report his absence before we could find the rest of the bandits. And with him outright telling the man he was escorting us, we'd be the first ones to be questioned.

This was just the first on a list of annoyances I had to suppress as we walked.

Elane's idea of having him escort us so I could visualize a spot near the fort to teleport us in later was one thing, but she could find it on her own. Right now, Giulio was full of openings and we couldn't act on a single one!

She joked about me thirsting for blood, but this was honestly infuriating. It's like the world was laughing at my resolve and testing my will by forcing me to wait. All while knowing he could act the moment it became convenient for him.

If he already knew the truth about why we were here, or if he learned of it, he likely would not show hesitation. Like me, he would kill to defend what he held dear, only instead of defending his wives, he'd defend himself.

He'd have no choice. And neither would I.

And yet, no matter how far into the forest we went, he made no moves to draw his sword. His hand was at the ready, but his shoulders were sturdy. Sweat dripped down my temples all the same.

I slowed my pace and waited until he was a bit further ahead of us before whispering low to Yua.

"Was any of what he told Peter earlier true?"

Brow furrowed, she nodded as she watched him. "All of it. He wasn't lying this time."

I put a knuckle to my chin to absorb this fact.

He was visibly startled when he found us there, so he had no reason to fake us out by skirting around the weaknesses of the cat-kin's ear for catching liars.

This means he really did join Dragma's army at some point. And if he's as skilled with a blade as the others and his class level suggest, then he was professionally trained by soldiers.

My mind then wondered to the whole set up the bandits had here. There were still plenty of blanks left to be filled in, but they were smart enough to not get caught after months of methodical murder.

If he was trained as a soldier, it wouldn't be hard to assume he knew a bit of strategy, too. Like the sort of strategy one might make before leading a group of Adventurers into the forest where nobody would hear them die.

"…"

Deciding it best not to leave it up to chance, I tapped my finger to the side of my head – a silent tell to the girls that I was going to cast the Thought Steal spell on him. Yua nodded, moving slightly closer to me. I may not need to close my eyes like with the Mind Vision spell, but it was going to be harder for me to react to things while reading someone else's mind.

Focusing on the long black hair he kept slicked back, I pointed a finger at him and cast my spell. Instantly, my mind overlapped with his and he was none the wiser.

Smirking to myself, I focused on searching for whatever ambush he had planned for us in his thoughts. Only, what I found was nothing of the sort…

These plants they're after are flowers, right? If they look nice, I should bring some back for Elara. Bet that might make her day. Spending her hours getting ogled by every man that walks into her tavern must be a hassle, and then some. Having something pretty to look at herself for once might soften her up a bit.

Stunned by how decidedly non-threatening his thoughts were, I nearly tripped over a thick tree root. Acting discretely so she didn't draw his attention, Yua grabbed my shoulder and steadied me.

What the hell is this man thinking? Forget ambushes, he himself said just venturing this far into the forest was supposed to be dangerous. Why is he thinking about collecting flowers when his life was potentially at risk.

I mean, we are searching for flowers, but we're the adventurers to his bandit. A match made to end in bloodshed. How is he not even slightly on edge?

Yua tapped my shoulder again. The cautious glint in her eyes was asking if we were in danger. I squinted at the man in disbelief, but shook my head.

His thoughts were only getting more and more ridiculous as I listened.

Actually, now that I think about it, Peter did say he eats at the inn a lot. Men should have a proper meal once in a while. One made by a woman. Elara's cooking is pretty damn tasty, too. Maybe I should see if she'd make something for the both of us tonight.

I strained my eyes, as if looking at him harder would clear up the doubts of what I heard. His head tilted to the side and I caught a glimpse of the honest smile tugging at his lips. He was considering potential meal plans, instead of trying to think up a way to hide our bodies.

Come to think of it, his thoughts continued, if I do good, Elara might even let me get a little extra handsy before bed tonight. Having to hold back when she's at work is always such a pain, but if I slip in through the back of the tavern… Hmm. Well, I'm sure she wouldn't mind a little rough petting between orders.

I blinked again, wondering if I was somehow mishearing him. I mean, I either wasn't reading the right mind, or the man was so dedicated to his role-playing as the friendly city guardsman, that even his thoughts weren't in his native tongue.

Deciding I'd lose nothing by trying again, I cut my spell and recast it, only to hear more of the same.

I wonder, I wonder. So long as nobody else bothers us, I bet I could make her cum just by sucking on those icy pink nipples of hers. And once we'd had our fun, she'll have no choice but to finish her shift with those little buds poking through her dress. Erm… No. The others would definitely notice. Fools can't keep their eyes off her. Off my woman. Alex, too, probably.

I jumped at the sound (thought) of my own name. Yua shot me a concerned look, but I waved her off.

That man has fine taste in women, but even with three of them at his side, he couldn't keep his eyes off my Elara. He chuckled lightly to himself. Fine taste is fine taste, after all. But she's mine, mio amico!

I palmed my face. Even the bad guy knows I can't keep my eyes to myself. And I'm not sure how to feel knowing that his thoughts of sex with Elara immediately led to thoughts with me.

Although, I suppose I do get to tell Elane that Elara is officially off the table where I'm concerned. At least she won't have any more reason to tease me about her.

Actually, now that I think about it, she might be in danger with Alex around. From what the people heard of those women of his this morning, maybe I should ask her to keep her distance. She did seem to take an odd interest in him, after all. Here I am trying to spend some free time with her after church and all she wants to talk about is him.

Brow twitching and cheeks heating, I used Material Creation to create a slip of paper with a message burned into it. Handing it to Elane to avoid him hearing me, she read it and, by the time she reached the bottom of the note and handed it back to destroy, she was smirking. Ready to change the subject for me, but smirking nonetheless. And I hated that I knew why.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Hey, Gino," Elane started, reciting my note word for word. "Lady Nerissa's healing magic was pretty amazing, right? What else can she do?"

"Huh?" he started, clearly only just realizing that we'd all been a little too quiet. "Oh, uh, I don't know much about her myself, but you'd best not call it magic around the people here."

"Why? It is magic."

"I know, but the people here think of her healing as miracles. Blessings from Tallow, and all. And after seeing what she can do, it's not hard to see why."

Trying not to think of the way she'd mended flesh and bone earlier, I focused on his thoughts to try and learn more about our dear priestess. Namely, whether or not they were actually working together, but all I got was....

That damn priestess needs to learn some boundaries.

Giulio shuddered a little at the thought, but kept moving his feet. Confused, I ignored the feeling of Mana digging one of her cookies out of my pouch to nibble at it as we walked.

That's it? Seriously? Wasn't he a devoted follower of hers? Does he even know she's a bandit, or was the both of them ending up in Villeverdure at the same time a freak coincidence?

Just when I was about to ask for more details on the Tallow religion, he stopped in front of a tree. Running his fingers across a small groove in the bark that looked like it'd been with a knife, he turned right.

"It's this way. We're almost there," he took a step, paused and looked back at Elane. "And don't worry, nobody's going to actually make you convert or worship Tallow. You don't need to attend the church if you aren't interested. Lady Nerissa won't mind it if you four just hole up in your room during mass."

"Should a man of faith like you really be saying something like that?"

Giulio let out a short laugh and looked over his shoulder at her one more time before heading deeper into the forest.

"I may be of the faith, but converting people's not my job. As a fighter myself, I just know the value of a good healer, so I try to keep people on her good side."

Seriously, Nerissa. You have enough followers, so keep your hands off!

Wondering if my confusion would ever dry up, I mentally sped through a number of questions to have the girls ask him, but Mana tugged on my shirt. Her big blue eyes were on me, but her finger was pointed between a pair of trees to the left of the one Giulio marked.

Dozens of footprints were dug deep into the soil where the land dipped, likely after a heavy rain. Several of the prints had been walked over multiple times, going both deeper into the forest opposite Giulio, and then back along the same path leading to Villeverdure. Others were smaller, slenderer, like those of a woman or a child, but none showed signs of someone trying to hide them.

With Hunters roaming the forest, it wouldn't have been abnormal to find footprints this far out, but one of the Hunters was who found them strange.

Waiting to make sure he wasn't looking, I pulled out Elane's spyglass and extended it to look around the forest. This helped to fill my map menu with color, but only where I could see. The splotches of black still present were numerous, but comparing what I'd seen to what I couldn't, and the directions of the footprints, I had a rough idea of where Fort Errat might be.

And we were going in the wrong direction. The fort and the flowers were supposed to be North-East from the city, but Giulio was now taking us East.

With my suspicions reignited by the sudden change in direction, I kept my map menu open and to the side to track our progress.

Elane noticed this, bit her lip in a notably sexual manner, and pressed the man with another question of her own.

"Hey, Gino. I heard there was an old Vierre fort around here somewhere. What's it like? Have you seen it?"

To all of our surprise, Giulio looked over his shoulder at her, but his expression was nothing more than indifferent. And so were his thoughts.

"Yea, I've been there a few times. I don't have many words to describe it, really. It's just a few stone walls surrounding a keep. Too simplistic, really. Not much to look at. Oh, and there's nothing to loot, if you were curious. From what I understand, it was cleaned out years ago."

"R-Really?" she stuttered briefly. Had she tried to trip him up now that we were close?

"Why are you interested?"

"No reason, I suppose. I was just thinking we'd do a bit of sight seeing while we were here. I've seen some pretty marvelous forts in my day, you know? Real works of art. Like Fort Grembult in northern Vierre. When you see it from up close, its walls look really plain, flat and boring. But when viewed from the tallest tower in the fort, you can see that the interior walls look almost like a maze. With twists and turns and dead ends and so on."

"That so?" he chirped with a fair bit of interest in his voice. "How does that even work?"

Elane shrugged. "I think it's like that so, if an enemy ever breaches its walls, they'd be slowed enough to allow the occupants to prepare a counter attack. They do live there, so they probably know its layout like the backs of their hands."

"Intriguing. But, unfortunately, Errat is as boring as they come. One of the walls was partially blown away by magic during some war a long time ago and, instead of fixing it, the army abandoned the fort all together."

"Typical."

Elane sighed, but I couldn't tell if it was because she saved herself by diverting the conversation using her absurdly-abundant knowledge of the world, or if she found the fort's treatment lacking.

Meanwhile, Giulio's thoughts remained solely on her conversation.

Regardless, as we walked, I noticed that the cursor representing us on the map slowly arced a path through the forest. We were slowly looping around the splotch of black I assumed to be the fort and were once again heading North-East.

He was taking us down a longer path, likely just to avoid the fort.

This makes no sense. If the fort is the best place to ambush us, why avoid it? And why bother avoiding it if there was nothing there in the first place?

I tried to think up something else that would warrant the detour, like a river or gorge we'd be better of avoiding, but everything I considered sounded unlikely. The forest themselves were mostly flat, and we were close enough to the splotch to have seen signs of flowing water or a shift in the terrain.

The obvious answer was that the fort was full of his bandit buddies. You'd think that'd be all he could think about once it was brought up, but not once did Giulio's mind turn to thoughts of what might be laying in wait for us behind those stoney walls. Not even when he was describing the place!

Had I, we, actually misjudged his intentions?

Given what I know, it sounded insane. The man was a murderer, but… What if he really just wanted to help us with our fake guild quest?

Finding this impossible, I cut my spell again so I could clear up my own thoughts without hearing his.

Just as I did, and just as I felt Mana reach into my pouch for another cookie, Giulio spun on his heel.

Before any of us could react, he dashed, ramming his shoulder into Mana's gut, knocking her to the ground. She gaped, eyes widening in shock as he landed on top of her.

My sword flew from its sheath and straight for his neck, but he was faster.

Daring to straddle my Mana, his hand shot to his hip for his sword. He drew it in a motion so smooth, it felt almost machine-like before it picked up speed and blurred.

His blade arced through the air, bounced off mine and then crashed into… the beak of a large bird.

His blade gouged a deep crevice into the beast's bone-white beak before pushing it away. Forced to veer off from its intended path, it rocketed through the air between us before any of the girls could react. It flew low to the ground, its dagger-like talons cutting through the forest floor before its wings expanded to catch the air. Slowing itself, it turned back to us.

The thing was enormous. Feathers black as coal, its wingspan and body were both as long as a fully-grown human man. It flapped its giant wings again and again, buffeting us with a spray of wind and dust, but it did not fly away. Instead, it hovered in the air, watching us.

Its beak opened wide, then wider, wider than should have been possible, and a sound mimicking the manic shrieks of hell's deepest, most vile of monstrosities spilled forth into the world.

Its shriek carved up my eardrums in waves that only grew more and more painful as they continued. Suddenly, my strength started to slip away from me.

Yua's knees almost buckled under the sound, but she held firm. Teeth clenched harder than her fists, her gaze remained locked on the creature's. Mana, though, was unable to lift herself off the ground even after Giulio jumped off her. She covered her ears and pressed her eyes shut.

But the bird didn't strike. It continued to hover, suspended in mid-air for a fraction of a second, as if it were evaluating us. Then, with a single beat of its powerful wings, it shot straight up into the canopy of trees like a missile without making a sound.

I lost track of it the moment it slipped through the leaves.

"You made me miss, mio amico."

"Sorry?"

"What the hell is that thing?" Elane asked, grabbing Mana's collar to pull her away from Giulio.

"And how did it sneak up on us like that?" Yua added, ears twitching. "I never even heard it coming."

Scanning the tree tops, Giulio said, "You wouldn't. Not even a beast-kin's ear can hear a Skullraven's approach. They are masters at sneaking up on their prey."

"Why didn't you tell us something like that was here?"

"Because it isn't supposed to be here! They're smart. They usually only go for weaker prey they know they can kill. And they never attack groups. Our very presence should have deterred it."

Weaker prey?

That phrase echoed in my mind as I retraced the path it'd been flying before Giulio struck it. It'd been flying straight for Mana. And, had it succeeded in reaching her, well… The thing was large enough to carry her off. It was targeting her because she was the smallest of us.

Which means, Giulio protected her…?

"Forget about that for now!" he shouted. "All of you, slap yourself on the cheek! Do it now, before it comes back!"

"What, why?"

"When they miss a kill shot, they shriek. The shriek weakens their prey's body for their next attack, but pain will set you right."

At this, Giulio slapped himself hard across the face, shook off the daze he himself caused and returned to scanning the trees.

Seeing the girls all still struggling, especially Mana, who, knees wobbling, had to grab onto Elane just to keep on her feet, I checked all our status pages. All our Strength stats had only dropped five points, but it felt like way more than that.

Clenching my teeth, and keeping an eye on him, I did as he said and slapped myself across the cheek. Instantly, my eyes flew open and my fatigue was gone. A second check of my status page showed that the points I'd lost were back.

"Girls, do as he said."

"Shit…"

With Mana in one hand and her axe in the other, Elane opted for thumping the flat of her axehead against her forehead, restoring her stats. Seeing that Mana was unable to summon the strength to do the same, she flicked the girl's forehead hard enough to whip her head backwards.

"Owwy…!! You didn't have to do it that hard."

"Focus, Mana," Yua said, pinching her bare thigh until she winced and sucked in a relieved breath. "Are you sure it's coming back?"

"Yes. Once a Skullraven picks a target, it won't ever let up. We'll have to kill it. And don't let your guard down. These things tend to hunt in pairs."

"Fantastic… Everyone, form up around Mana and watch for movement!"

"Eh? Why me?"

"It's targeting you, lass."

As he said this, he dashed over to Mana and Elane, turned his back to them and faced North. His eyes were alight with danger, but his breathing was shallow and measured.

Clicking her tongue as she gripped her axe, Elane took the Eastern side. Yua balled her fists and prepared her usual fighting stance facing South. I took West and, from over my shoulder, I found that Mana was spinning back and forth, looking between the four of us with a look of deep confusion and worry ruining her cuteness.

"Mana, get ready," I said. "If you see it first, don't hesitate to shoot it."

"Just hit its wing if you can," Giulio added. "If you can cripple it, we'll handle the rest. And to both you cat-kin, forget your ears. I promise you won't hear them coming. Consider them useless and just focus on your eyes."

"O-Okay?"

Satisfied with the sound of Mana nocking an arrow, I focused on the trees.

Once we stopped talking, the forest was dead quiet again. There was not a sound to be heard but for our breathing. Even the wind fled – not a single leaf budged on its branch.

The Skullraven must be why we hadn't stumbled upon any other animals so far – unlike them, we failed to sense the danger and fled. It had to be circling above, searching for a vantage point to swoop down and dig its claws into Mana to rip her away from us.

And all we could do was wait for it to strike again.

I focused on the gaps between the leaves where sunlight filtered to the ground. If the bird planned on attacking from the air, it should be visible as it circled around us. A mere glimpse of it rushing through the sky would be enough to tell where it was going to attack from, but I got nothing after what felt like hours of watching.

As the minutes slowly passed, my already tensed muscles started to feel more and more like they were coiling into knots. The longer I stood still, the harder it felt like it'd be to move again.

And yet, I could do nothing. Disgusted by how we were essentially using Mana as bait, I had to fight off every urge to keep from looking over my shoulder to check on her. Knowing that a moment's distraction could lead to the Skullraven choosing me instead, I had to trust Mana was being vigilant.

Still, I squeezed the hilt of my sword. The sweat wetting my palms soaked into its leather wrappings. I was ready to wait for as long as needed, but the Skullraven proved to be impatient.

"Iron Fist!"

We all turned just as Yua jumped into the air. At the same time the Skullraven swooped down, once more aiming for Mana, Yua spun into a kick that smashed her glowing foot into the side of the bird's head.

Unlike with Giulio's sword, the full weight of Yua's kick countered the bird's momentum, knocking it to the ground with a heavy metallic clang that cracked its beak. The bird hit the forest floor just as hard and bounced once, twice, but managed to spread its wings to catch itself again before the third.

"Raaah!"

Elane lunged for it, her axe raised high overhead, but the Skullraven shook off Yua's punch and once more shot into the air, leaving her axe to bury itself in the dirt. Almost instantly, she ripped the axe head out of the soil and jumped back into formation.

"Dammit!"

"Don't yell as you attack," Giulio said, eyes still darting through the trees. "Our ears may be useless, but not theirs. Let it focus on whoever hits it first, then attack as quietly as possible once it's distracted."

"Tch. You fight these things a lot?"

"No. All of Villeverdure's guards were taught how to handle them by the city's Hunters, just in case."

"Anything else we should know about fighting them, then?"

"Just that there isn't any hope in trying to scare them off. To them, it's do or die. They either leave with their meal, or they don't leave at all."

"It wasn't the one Gino cut," Yua said. "Its beak wasn't damaged until I kicked it."

"Then there really is a second. Persistent little shits, attacking my Kitty… Yua, if you can knock it my way again, I'll…"

Before she could finish, my eyes fell on one of the gaps in the leaves I'd been watching as they started to shift. Quickly, as if an invisible ball were rapidly expanding in the gap, the branches were forced to widen without a sound.

The moment I realized the Skullraven's must have been using some sort of ability to widen the gap, it appeared.

Aiming high over my head, it rocketed straight towards Mana as though the rest of us weren't even here.

Squeezing the life out of my sword's hilt, I pulled my arms back. The bird's single-minded nature gave me free range to wait for the perfect chance to strike. And it came faster than expected.

"Sure Shot!"

An arrow zipped right over my head, piercing the Skullraven's wing, forcing it to dip lower. I stepped forward, aimed and swung my sword for all I was worth.

The parundum blade pierced the meat of the bird's neck and cleaved straight through it with barely any resistance, cutting its pained squawk short and setting its feathers on fire.

As its head tumbled through the air, the enchantment on my sword causing its feathers to burst into flame, I noticed the mass of its body was still flying towards Mana.

The moment it passed me; I grabbed its leg and gripped it hard before locking my hand in place by silently casting Iron Fist on it.

Grip locked, my feet skidded through the dirt for a step or two before I wrenched the Skullraven's body back, spun and threw it over my shoulder.

As it burst into a bright white light and vanished along with the fire searing its feathers, and as I turned on my heel to make sure its severed head hadn't struck Mana, the second Skullraven dropped down from within the shadows of the trees.

Using the death of its friend as a distraction, it bolted straight for Giulio. It unfurled its talons and opened its beak again to hit us with another of its blood-curdling shrieks.

It tried to start round two by handicapping us, but Giulio grit his teeth and, in a flash, ducked beneath its beak and talons, pulled a jewel-studded dagger from behind his back and sliced it across the bird's stomach.

The wound looked shallow, but it might as well have been nothing at all as the bird kept flying past him towards Mana.

With a quick cast of telekinesis, I wrapped an invisible hand around Mana's waist and pulled her to the ground beside me. Her ass hit the soil with a loud "oof" that caused Yua to turn just in time to see the wounded Skullraven flying, now straight at her. She sidestepped it easily and sent a fist crashing into it.

This one hit the ground only once before correcting itself and shooting into the air.

I smacked myself to be rid of the status ailment, but before I could help Mana to do the same, a relieved sigh stole my attention.

Giulio's shoulders slackened and he sheathed his sword before lifting the back of his shirt. There, hidden on the back of his belt, was the dagger's sheath. With both hands, he carefully guided the dagger's tip into the sheath without bothering to wipe off the blood.

As the dagger slid into place with a click, its info box appeared in front of me.

[Silver Dagger of Malignant Toxin]

Is that… a poison enchantment?

Stretching his neck side to side before cracking it with a good loud pop, the tension that had been keeping Giulio on guard quickly eased out of his body. He turned to me, eyes widening a little when he saw Mana in my arms, but he smiled that big smile of his anyways.

"Why'd you sheath your sword?"

"No worries, mio amico. I cut one of its arteries when it flew over. It won't be bothering us anymore."

His response came smooth and easy, almost too easy, but not five seconds after he gave it, the second Skullraven dropped out of the sky. It landed in a heap of feathers on the ground and didn't move a muscle.

I brought up its life bar and, just before it reached zero and burst into white light, I saw a "Poisoned" status ailment under its name. All the same, it burst and faded away, leaving behind a large white lump – its beak.

Unconcerned with how the lack of blood beneath the bird essentially ousted him as a liar, Giulio broke formation to go pick up the beak.

"Since we both took one down, why don't we just split the drops evenly? Their beaks should catch us an easy silver if we take them to a blacksmith."

"Sure…"

As I helped Mana back to her feet and looked her over for wounds, Yua and Elane belatedly lowered, but not sheathed, their guards.

"Isn't it a bit early to say we're safe? How can you be sure there's not another one flying over us?"

"Because," Giulio said, tossing his beak into the air and catching it. "I told you, they hunt in pairs. Unless you go searching for more, two is all you'll ever see at the same time."

At this, Elane huffed, but slung her axe back over her shoulder. Only then did Yua finally let her fists drop.

"Speaking of," I started, standing in front of Mana as she dusted off her butt. "Warning us to wear armor is one thing, but why didn't you tell us we could be attacked from the sky?"

"Again, like I said, they aren't supposed to be here. The Skullravens' hunting ground is the mountains to the west. Those two must have just strayed from their territory."

"And why would they do that?"

"I don't know. I'm not a bird, mio amico. But all is well now, no?"

With a shrug, Giulio strode past us and started back on the path he'd been leading us down when he stopped again.

"Though, I suppose I do owe you an apology. The Skullravens likely only attacked because they saw little Mana here as the runt amongst us. Easy pickings to them. It might have been best if I had you leave her at the inn. Petite little girls like her really shouldn't be out…"

"I'm not small!!"

Growling, completely forgetting the attempt on her life and ignoring who it was that saved her, Mana broke past me and leapt at Giulio. Taken aback by the small flying cat girl, he barely had time to react to her sudden assault. And she hit him with the full brunt of her power… by leaping onto him to pinch his cheeks.

"Mana, wait!"

Furiously and dangerously, she pinched and squeezed and tugged his cheeks and, surprising us all again, stopping us mid-step from moving to defend her, Giulio just accepted her punishment.

"Soffy, soffy," he said, his apology garbled. "I didn'f mean fo…"

The three of us watched, utterly dumfounded by what we were seeing.

Giulio, too, attempted to smile as he put his hands up in mock surrender before wrapping his fingers around Mana's pinching hands. He pulled her off him easily and held her out in front of him, but refusing to forgive his unintended insult early, she flailed her feet wildly.

"I didn't mean to insult you."

"You said runt! Let go! I'm not small!"

"Mana, stop it! Now's not the time for this!"

But I was ignored and she kicked. Giulio swung his hips to the side. She missed. Another kick and another miss. Then one foot landed in his stomach, dealing effectively no damage, before another kick landed lower. The toes of her right foot landed straight in a place no man should be kicked. A place that instantly stole away with Giulio's smile and his breath. Reflexively, I lurched forward at the same time.

Dropping her, then dropping to his knees, Giulio's eyes widened as he grabbed his crotch with both hands and fell face-first into the dirt. The low, sickly groan that ruffled the grass beneath him made me feel like barfing.

"Geez, Kitty," Elane said, pulling the girl away from him. "He just saved your life. Why'd you kick him in the cock?"

"I didn't mean to… but he called me runt!"

Seeing Mana's ears flatten as she sheepishly shrank back, I recalled how her people viewed hitting below the belt as a disgraceful cheap-shot. It must have really been an accident.

"Gi… Gino, I'm sorry about that. As you can see, she really hates being called short. Yua, could you heal him?"

Bandit or not, he did save her. Relieving his pain was the least we could do.

Yua looked to me, her eyes asking if I was sure. This was perhaps the best chance to end this particular bandit, but the repercussions of doing so without a proper follow up were still too great.

Giulio, however, removed a hand from his crotch to wave us off.

"It's… It's fine. I'll take this as punishment for insulting your woman. And, woah… And for not.. warning you about the Skullravens."

Having decided this himself, Giulio let go of his crotch and, after a heavy breath, slowly lifted himself back to his feet. Weaker now, his smile still managed to shine through the pain as he then apologized to Mana directly.

Yua stared at him, her ears twitching and her eyes screwed up in disbelief. Wanting to hear a bit of what his heart was telling her, I cast the Thought Steal spell again, only to find more apologies. These were his own thoughts, and he wasn't even trying to make excuses for himself.

What the hell is happening?

First, he saves her, then he forgives her for nearly ending his bloodline?

"Mio amico, what's with the face?" he asked, staggering over to pat my shoulder. "Your woman's fine and nobody got hurt. Well, nobody except me. That's a good thing, no?" He looked over his shoulder at Mana and whispered in my ear. "Or was it… Did you want to be the one to save her?"

A cheeky, wry and painfully forced grin took to his lips and, somehow, I couldn't help but see it as a man trying to help his friend flirt with a girl.

I shook my head and, sighing myself, I belatedly realized I was still holding my sword. Sheathing it, I picked up our half of the loot. Seeing that this beak was the one that Yua's attack had shattered, I highly doubted we'd get a silver for it.

Gesturing to Elane, she let go of Mana and the girl ran over to me. Thumping my hand on her head and applying some pressure, I forced her to bow a little.

"Thanks for saving her."

Still unsure of how to process what had happened, and unable to let myself be friendly with this guy knowing what I know about him, I still felt we owed him this much.

And when I didn't hear Mana say the same, I lightly smacked her butt.

"Th-Thank you for saving me."

"It's fine, really," Giulio said, waving his hands. "It's my job, remember? Now, let's get back to your quest, shall we?"

Refusing to hear any more gratitude, Giulio turned and started back towards the path once again. This time, he didn't stop. And this time, he walked much slower.

Watching him go, seeing the dagger hidden beneath his fluttering shirt, I pulled Mana into a hug. The status ailment affecting her had faded once the bird died, so she happily wrapped her arms around my back, swishing her tail about all the while.

Cute as she was as she grinded her cheek into my chest, all I could think about was why he'd bothered to save her. As a Bandit, one less potential enemy should have been nothing but a boon for him. So, why?

Letting Mana go, I patted her head one more time before we started after him. While I was stuck on why he saved her, Yua had a different question.

"If you didn't know the Skullravens were hunting here, what did you have us gear up for?"

Giulio shrugged again before ducking under a low branch, completely unbothered by the question. Though, his gait was still a little awkward.

"Normally, I would have expected some wolves or other beasties to appear, but even they know to hide from those birds. Though, we may still run into a few now that they've been dealt with… Now, let's hurry. The flower patch is just through here."

With his pointer finger leading the way, Giulio almost looked like he'd start skipping if it meant we'd be done faster. After all the trouble, he probably wanted all this to be done as well. Yua, too, looked about ready to give up her questioning.

At long last, he brought us into a clearing where the endless greens and browns of the forest turned into a bright mixture of blues and purples. The field of bushes laden with hydrangea wasn't very large, but the colored, baseball-sized bulbs of petals stood out so much that they seemed to go on forever.

"Oooh!"

Instantly enticed by the pretty colors, Mana took off to inspect the flowers. The way she managed to switch between being ready to kill and her usual playful self should have been a surprise, but I was more or less used to it at this point.

"If you'll excuse me," Giulio said, sitting to lean against a tree. "I'm going to sit out the picking and just keep watch."

Letting out a long breath, he gripped his thigh. Seeing the tension in his hand as he forced it to sit still, I guessed he wanted to grab and console his crotch, but chose not to in the presence of the women.

Unsure how I should really be feeling about this and, having Yua keep watch as well, the rest of us hurried to fill our basket.

As I knelt down to snip the first from its stock the way Erika instructed, I was amused to find that Hydrangea really was a potion ingredient in this world. Lucky me.

[Hydrangea: Combine with XXX to Create a Potion of Anti-Inflammation]

Deciding to keep this to myself so I could come back to harvest more if the need ever arose, we made quick work of filling the basket.

Thankfully, none of the beasties he promised bothered us for the rest of our journey.

By the time we got back to Villeverdure, lunch time had already long passed and dinner wasn't far on the horizon.

Giulio escorted us all the way back to the inn, where he nodded proudly at the sight of our basket full of flowers and saluted us goodbye.

"It's been fun, mio amico. A little bit of trouble and a little bit of pain, but fun. I wish you safe travels on your way home. Hopefully we can meet again some time."

"Thanks…"

Wait, on our way home?

Giulio turned to leave and, now that his ability to walk normally had been restored, I had to jog to catch up to him.

"Wait, Gino!"

Turning, confusion on his brow, he stopped and let me catch him.

"I was thinking about taking you up on your offer."

"Offer? What do you mean? We've completed your guild quest, no?"

"Not that. When we met, you offered to spar with me, remember? After seeing your swordsmanship, I wanted to ask if you'd consider training me. Just for a couple of days."

At this, Giulio's eyes widened. For a moment, a look of apprehension crossed his comely face, but after a bit of quiet thought, his confusion quickly turned into a broad, toothy grin that looked strangely full of hope.

Without missing a beat, he thumped a hand on my shoulder and nodded.

"Of course. Of course, mio amico! I'd love to! You know, I may have talked you up at the tavern, but seeing how you handled that Skullraven, I do think you could use some guidance. I mean you no offense, but you swing your sword like it's an axe."

"R-Right," I said. "That's what I mean. The way you drew your sword and your form… it was… captivating. I'd really like to learn from you, if you have the time."

"Of course I do! But what of your quest?"

"Oh, the quest's due date isn't for a while. We don't have to start back for some time."

This fact almost seemed to brighten his mood further. Puffing out his chest, Giulio offered his hand and I shook it.

"Then I would be happy to take you on as a student! It's been a while since I had the chance to spar with someone that could do more than swing a stick. I mean, swinging a sword like an axe isn't much better, but…"

Dude, I get it. Stop rubbing it in. One-half of my normal training partners uses an axe herself, while the other only fights against swords when she has to.

I guess the innate knowledge that comes with the swordsman class doesn't mean shit against someone that's actually been trained to use a sword.

"Anyway, let's see," Giulio said, touching a knuckle to his stubbled chin. "Tomorrow's patrol is in the morning, so why don't we meet behind the tavern around noon?"

"Sounds good to me. How much do you charge?"

"Nothing! Keep your coin. I'm just happy to have the company of you and your sword. Now, until tomorrow!"

We shook hands one more time to seal the deal and, with another, much happier salute, Giulio left the inn and I returned to the girls.

As we watched him saunter off into the city with an almost skip in his step, Elane nudged my arm, but Yua pulled me and Mana into the building before she could say a word. We hurried straight past the guests and the innkeeper to our room.

Shoving Mana through the door and onto the bed, Yua quickly locked it shut and, the moment we were once more under the protection of the sound-muffling enchantment, the questions I was waiting for hit me full force.

"Husband, mind telling us why you're asking the enemy to train you?"

"Why are you asking favors of the man we're supposed to be here to kill?"

"Because," I started, putting my hands up to calm them both. "To him, we've finished our quest and we no longer have any reason to stay in Villeverdure. But, if we have plans to train with him…"

They thought this over for a moment, but the answer was as obvious to them as it was me.

"… Then we can stay longer without looking suspicious," Elane answered with a sigh, letting herself fall back into bed with Mana.

Yua, however, palmed her forehead.

"You know, he might use this as an excuse to kill you."

"I thought about that, but I doubt it. If he wanted us dead, he wouldn't have saved Mana. Though, that's even more confusing."

While the girls changed back into their regular clothes, and while I stuffed our flowers into my item box, I explained everything. From what I read in Giulio's mind to the existence of his poison dagger, I left no detail unspoken. Elane did get a little hooked on the color of Elara's nipples and Giulio's fondness for them, but they weren't as surprised by the information as I was.

Though, that is not to say they weren't surprised at all.

"It's not that strange, is it?" Elane asked. "I mean, you're a pervert, but you don't literally think of sex non-stop, do you? It's not like we should expect murder to be on his mind all the time, either."

"… Maybe so, but even after Mana kicked him, he didn't have a single mean thought in his head. His info box says he's a Bandit, but he almost thinks like a saint."

A saint who spent a great deal of time thinking about what he wanted to do in bed with his woman, but yea.

Yua scratched her head.

"You think your info box could be wrong?"

"I have no idea. To the best of my knowledge, it's never been wrong before. Unless… Elane, is there a way to alter your status to change what shows up on a scrying orb?"

If so, then maybe it'd also affect what I can see on a person's info box.

"Not that I know of. Besides, what good could come of claiming he was a Bandit if he wasn't?"

"True…"

Bandits were essentially wanted dead by the world itself, so there'd have to be a pretty convoluted reason for him to even want to have that tag.

"Maybe we shouldn't get too hung up on his motives right now."

Regardless of the reason, and to the best of any of our knowledge, he was a murderer. Maybe he had some reason for doing whatever it was he did, but worrying about his history when we had the quest to deal with was stupid.

He was hiding something now and we had to figure out what that is.

"I might learn something when we spar. Maybe he might loosen his lips a bit."

"Maybe," Yua said. "But if it starts to look like he's seriously trying to kill you, I'm stepping in and finishing him myself."

"Thanks for assuming I'd lose that fight. I'm not useless, you kn…"

Before I could finish, Yua pressed her lips to mine and gently pushed me back onto the mattress. Climbing on top of me, she started working on taking off my belt. And when I tried to speak again, she pressed a finger to my lips.

"I said I'm stepping in if things get serious. Husband, mate, master, it doesn't matter. I won't take no for an answer."

Pulling me out of my pants, Yua's tongue wrangled my flaccid monster into her mouth and, instantly, I could no longer find the words needed to refute her declaration.

She'd been laying on her side beside us, smirking as she watched, but Elane got up and slipped off the bed. With a very hungry Mana in tow, she went to secure us a spot at the dinner table while Yua worked on her appetizer.

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