บท 93: Cherish your friends, please! part 1
"Do you really think things will be ok with Ryu?"
Bob says as he grips his mallet and smashes a strange creature. A single hit is not enough to kill them, but it's left staggered long enough for Luke to thrust his dagger through its throat.
"I really think so, he's quite the soft hearted fellow. He even gave me a chance, and you know how I used to treat him back at our village"
"Hahah, yeah, I don't know how did he put up with you for so long"
"See? stop worrying over nothing and focus on the fight ahead"
"Iron strike!"
Bob yells loudly and its weapon shines softly, managing to break the unknown creature's skull in a single hit.
"Stop wasting your mana so early, we still have a long way ahead of us"
"But this things are so disgusting, they look like cockroaches if they were mammals"
"Don't know, don't care. All I know is if we don't kill them they will kill us"
Luke replies coldly as he stabs another one. The creatures are small sized hairy creatures with a hard bony back, they do look like cockroaches but they only have four legs. The most distinctive trait is their vertical maw which opens from side to side.
"Veronika, I need a spear!"
Bob extends his arm towards his girlfriend and she quickly hands him a spear and goes back where the rest of the group is taking cover.
"Eeeek! you're covered in blood"
Claire shouts when Veronika came back to where everyone was hiding.
"My dear is so strong he can't avoid squashing those roaches"
"Uh, uhm yes he's strong but... how can you be so calm when covered in blood?"
"Do you know what I would be doing now if it wasn't for Bob? I'd rather be covered in blood everyday than spend another day at the brothel"
"I'm sorry Veronika, I didn't mean to make you remember nasty things"
Claire apologizes profusely, but Veronika doesn't mind it one bit. She's too focused on Bob's movements. He's fighting like a madman, but on her eyes he's a graceful warrior, the strongest in the world and he looks so handsome she can barely take her eyes out from him.
"The way is clear now girls, you can come"
The girls hurried their pace towards Luke who called them, the scene was grotesque. The most absurd mix between an insect and a mammal was unsettling, but with their innards scattered across the road it looked like the material nightmares were made of.
"Mister Luke, how much until we reach Celarent?"
Sera asked impatiently. She, just like Veronika, didn't mind the corpses lying around and just wanted to see Ryu as soon as possible.
"We should be arriving today, unless we keep encountering this bugs. Why are you in such a hurry to get to the city? are you, perhaps, impatient to have a date with me?"
Sera completely ignored Luke's attempt to flirt and just went back beside her sister. Claire had a wry smile on her face when she realized the extent of Luke's crush on her sister, especially since she had been flirting with him ever since she met him and he has been ignoring her on every occasion.
It's not that she was jealous because of her sister, but she wanted Luke to notice her. It was a big let down for her seeing how Luke easily had flings with all kinds of girls, but he never paid any attention to her.
The group advanced a lot faster than the last time because this time they were traveling in a horse drawn cart. This was necessary to bring all the products they intended to sell and the materials they had to deliver to Ryu, unfortunately, given the amount of goods they brought with them it was impossible for everyone to ride the cart so Bob and Luke had to jog beside it.
"Mister Luke, you seem tired, why don't we take a break on top of that hill? I could cook something delicious"
Claire blushed softly.
"After seeing what's inside those things I don't want to eat food ever again, my appetite was ruined forever!"
"Geez, don't complain so much, we still need to eat and we also need to feed Ryu's pets. I don't know why did we even bring those things with us, if he can't take care of his own pets he shouldn't go around adopting things"
"After seeing his last pet I kind of get it"
Luke sighed at the memory of the succubus he met at Celarent. While it's true she was their enemy at the time, he was there when Mia asked Ryu to be his pet. He had been dreaming of her ever since, it was one thing to have a slave, but keeping a succubus as a pet had a completely different allure for him.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was green with envy at the thought of the things Ryu must have been doing with Sera, but he tried to keep those feelings at bay. He spent most of his past life wasting his time and dreaming of traveling to other worlds and even though his first experience was a completely disappointing, as soon as he set foot into the brothel his way of seeing this new world changed drastically.
Now he was considered wealthy, strong, good looking and he had many slaves to have his share of fun. He even bought Taffy, the slave who rejected being bought by him and the one he had feelings for, but now things were different. He made a clear difference between Taffy and the other girls, he resented her for playing with his feelings and had been making sure she repents dearly.
It's not to the point he mistreated her, at least not to a degree that it could be considered abuse. But he enjoyed making small differences in treatment and looking at her pitiful expression when he did so. Whenever he embraced one of his slaves he would call them cute names or say sweet words. But on the rare occasion he spent time with Taffy, he was cold and distant and made sure Taffy noticed it. He would also buy some clothes for his slaves and other small gifts, but Taffy was still wearing her old dress.
That's why everyone was surprised when he chose to bring her along on this trip. Many of the slaves volunteered to come with him and tend to all of his needs, but since traveling in a big group was too dangerous he was able to bring only one. At first, when Taffy was chosen she was happy and thought maybe he had come around, that maybe he would start treating her even better than before.
But reality was nowhere near that, he just chose her because this trip would be extenuous and tiresome.
"I'm not sure we will be able to catch up to them, it's Anne we're talking about and even with this cart we're still moving too slow"
"Now who's worrying too much Luke! hahah, relax, they should be heading to Celarent to so even if they get there first, it's more than likely they'll meet Ryu"
"That may be so, but you never know"
The road ahead of them open and the vegetation scarce, but the grass was green and the sun was still high up on the sky. It could even be considered a nice vacation if it wasn't for the pace they've been forced to keep. By the time they went back to Ironwoods Anne and Helena had already left town, Helena was desperate to learn more about her class and if there was any workaround for the requisite to keep being a virgin. Anne wanted to become stronger and she could have trained at Ironwoods, there was no real need for her to leave, but since Helena was her friend she didn't want to let her travel alone.
Claire and Sera had a completely different goal in mind. After Ryu left ironwoods Sera had been feeling empty and sad, she didn't find the strength to get up in the mornings and despite everyone's attempt to lift her mood she simply didn't feel like doing anything, it was almost as bad as when she was sickly and famished. Her sister Claire was worried, not to the point to letting her sister travel to another city just to see Ryu, but when she heard that Luke was going back to Celarent to become and adventurer she asked Sera if she would feel better if she was by Ryu's side.
What happened left everyone flabbergasted, it was as if her soul had returned to her body and she started making preparations for the trip hastily with a broad smile on her face.
Hiraku provided them everything they needed to travel, but decided not to come because he missed Ayumi too much.
Rina asked them to take the distiller to Ryu, gave them all the reagents the hunters had been gathering and all the money she had to help Ryu on the other city. She also handed them a letter that needed to be delivered only to Ryu and they were not allowed to read it.
They thought maybe she was mad because Ryu was with another woman, but she didn't show the slightest discontent. She made a quick joke and laughed it off as she patted Sera's back.
"You too take good care of my boyfriend, if he needs anything don't hesitate to provide it to him, especially at night"
She winked at Sera and sent them off. That happened a few days ago, but Sera could hardly contain her excitement. She would soon be reunited with the man she loves and now even his girlfriend had given consent, now the only thing left was to choose the right time.
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