“Kari and I were never officially married.” I reached over and placed one of my hands on top of hers. “But I have loved her ever since I was seventeen years old. She and I have been together for several years now, and I can say that she is the woman I intend to spend the rest of my life with.”
Kari’s cheeks turned a startling shade of pink at my shameless announcement, but she gripped my hand back and gave me a wide smile. I knew we weren’t connected spiritually or anything like that. We hadn’t even gone through the traditional wedding ceremony that involved tying our lives together with blood. However, I liked to think our bond was much stronger than most traditionally married couples, forged as it was from life, death, and constantly supporting each other as we struggled to survive.
Erica released a dreamy sigh as she leaned back in her chair and cupped her cheeks. She really did remind me of a love-struck teenager dreaming of romance.
“That’s so lovely. I knew you two were a couple the moment I laid eyes on you. There’s a strong connection between you both that is hard for someone like myself to miss.” She suddenly glanced at Kari. “To be honest, I am very envious of you.”
“Um… thank you?” Kari’s words sounded more like a question than an expression of gratitude.
“And now that you have answered my question, please allow me to answer yours.” Erica paused for a moment to look at the ceiling, nodded to herself, and then resumed smiling at us. “The Northern Plains is a land composed mainly of sects, and Midgard is the city where many of those sects do business. Thousands of sects that have a branch office located inside of it, and each sect tends to focus on employing people for specific jobs, research into Spiritual Techniques, alchemy, or the gathering of knowledge. For example, my Battling Valkyrie Sect has a heavy focus on combining Spiritual Techniques with powerful weapons that use monster cores to enhance our Spiritual Powers. There is also the Poison Sect, which uses poisons; the Alchemy Association, which is all about refining alchemy pills; and so on.”
Kari and I listened to the woman as she talked. There were far more than just the sects she listed. According to her, there were thousands of sects. The Northern Plains was a vast place filled with cities and people, and it sounded like these sects were powerful groups who gathered like-minded individuals together. However, there was something else about all this that I wanted to know.
“And what is the purpose of these sects?” I asked.
“I suppose that depends on the sect in question and the sect leader.” Erica tapped her chin in thought for several seconds. “Some sects are all about the pursuit of knowledge, while others like to focus on the practical applications of a specific spiritual ability. However, most sects are formed in order to provide groups of people with a method of employment.”
“Employment? So it’s like a job?” Kari asked.
“More like a family who takes on jobs.” A soft clinking sound issued from Erica’s armor as she shrugged, the segmented plates shifting together. “People who form sects are very close-knit—at least, that is how it is for my sect. We gather people together who share our ideals, and then we advertise our services to others. When someone needs something done but can’t do it themselves, they can hire a sect to get the job done for them.”
“And what kind of jobs do sects get hired to do?” I asked.
“That also depends on the sect.” For some reason, my question brought a bright smile to Erica’s face. I had a suspicion she was enjoying teaching us for some reason. “The Battling Valkyrie Sect is obviously a sect whose primary purpose is combat. When someone needs to hire a group to take care of Demon Beasts, mercenaries, or bandits, they can hire my sect. That’s actually what I was doing outside of Midgard. I just finished a solo job to take care of some mysterious individuals who were hanging around some ruins and kidnapping people.”
The two of us were startled when Erica told us what she had been hired for. We looked at each other and, seeing how startled the other person appeared, turned back to Erica.
“These people… were they wearing black cloaks?” I asked.
Erica gained a pensive frown as she looked at me. “They were.”
“And did they have a weakness to the light element?” asked Kari, leaning forward.
“Um… that is a good question. No one in my sect has an affinity for the light element, so I don’t know, but I can say they had a very strong affinity for darkness.” Erica’s expression grew grave as she stared at the two of us. “Do you two… have some knowledge on these strange individuals?”
Given that this woman had fought against the same group of people we had, Kari and I didn’t have a problem sharing what happened to the girls we had rescued. We told her about how a group of teenage girls had been kidnapped and taken to a ruin, how we rescued them, and how we had discovered a rune array in the area where the girls were going to be sacrificed. By the time we had finished, Erica’s expression had become even more pensive.
“Those individuals you fought definitely belong to the same group of individuals I fought,” she said at last. “We don’t know exactly who they are, but Midgard and the surrounding cities have taken to calling them the Cult of the Great Overlord. According to what I have heard from rumors, these people seem to worship a being called the Great Overlord. They had been inhabiting one of the larger ruins inside of the Misty Forest. My job had been to go in and clear them out.”
“The Great Overlord…” I muttered. For some reason, that name sent a chill through my heart. It was as if an icy arrow had pierced my chest.
“Who is this Great Overlord?” asked Kari.
“No one really knows.” Erica’s long hair swayed as she shook her head and sighed. She crossed her arms, a concerned frown causing her pretty features to gain a more mature quality. “There are some historical texts that refer to this Great Overlord, claiming that he is a god-like being who came to our world before the Great Catastrophe. However, all of the texts are unclear on just who or what this figure is, and what they came here for. Some texts claim he tried to save our world, while others claim he was directly responsible for the Great Catastrophe.”
There was a lot of information that Erica had given us, but none of it seemed conducive to anything. This Great Overlord seemed to have existed in the far past. However, the Great Catastrophe was something that happened over one thousand years ago, so there was no telling whether or not this person actually existed. I also had doubts about whether any historical text from that time survived.
That said, I could not help but think this person was real. Something about that name caused my heart to shake. I didn’t know why, but that name—or perhaps it was a title?—sent chills through my heart and caused my body to shudder with an emotion I wouldn’t recognize until much later as terror.
* * *
The day after Lin and I moved into the house I bought, I went back to the Eieren Family’s business center, where the movers were waiting to help me move everything in my old lodgings to this new home.
These movers consisted of three burly men. They had thick chests, brawny arms, and legs that reminded me of tree trunks. I wondered how they were able to move with all that extra weight on them. It seemed excessive to me.
Surprisingly enough, they were quite good at delicately handling furniture.
I watched in slight surprise as the group of men carried my furniture onto a flatbed cart with no roof, set each piece down with a gentleness that was shocking, and then headed back up to my room and grabbed the next piece. It was fortunate that I only had a few pieces of furniture. There was just my bed, my bookshelf, the bathtub, and a dresser. Outside of that, the only things I had were my clothes and my alchemy set, which I grabbed myself.
Once everything was loaded into the cart, I was asked to sit in front with the man driving and direct him to my house. I worried on the way there. Before leaving this morning to begin the moving process, I asked Lin to keep herself hidden when the movers arrived. She had given me this aff
ronted look like I had insulted her, but she did agree to hide herself. My problem was that I wasn’t sure if she even could hide. How did a person hide when they were an over six meter long snake-girl?
We arrived at my house in about fifteen minutes. I unlocked the gate and the front door, checked inside to make sure Lin wasn’t present, and then allowed the men to begin unloading the furniture.
“Where would you like us to put everything?” one of the men asked.
“Put it all in this room.” I pointed to the second bedroom, which was going to be my room.
“All right.”
The man nodded as he and his partner first grabbed the bookshelf and moved it into the secondary bedroom. They had to be careful about knocking it against the door, but I could tell from how they gently maneuvered themselves that they had experience with this sort of thing. I entered the room after them… and then I froze.
Lin was plastered to the ceiling.
The two men responsible for unloading hadn’t noticed her yet because they weren’t looking up. The ceiling was also quite high and there were several rafters that partially obscured the girl from view, but I noticed her right away. She was literally right above them. All they had to do was look up to spot her.
I wanted to scream. Out of all the places she could have chosen to hide, why did she have to choose my room?
Lin glanced at me, and for the first time since she and I met, I could see her breaking out in a cold sweat. She was clearly aware of what would happen should these two spot her. I felt a little vindictive, but I knew this was a dangerous situation.
“H-hey,” I said to the two movers. “Actually, why don’t you both put the rest of my furniture in the living room? I’m sure it’ll be easier.”
While the two men looked a little confused, neither of them refused my request. I was the client, after all.
“We can do that,” the blond man with a thick beard said.
“Thank you.”
I watched the pair go without even glancing at the ceiling, sighed in relief when they walked out of the room, and then closed the door behind me and turned around. I glared up at the ceiling where Lin was hiding.
“What possessed you to hide in this room?” I asked with a hiss.
After slithering down from the ceiling, Lin crossed her arms and looked a little indignant. “You told this princess to hide. She could not think of anywhere to hide, so she thought the ceiling was the best option.”
“But why the ceiling in this room?” I asked.
Lin suddenly blushed a little. The light pink hue on her dark skin created a wonderful contrast that made my heartbeat accelerate… just a bit.
“…” she mumbled.
“You are going to have to speak up,” I said. “I can’t hear you.”
“This room has your scent,” she muttered in a louder voice.
Her words caused me to freeze, but it only lasted for a moment before my own skin began feeling hot. It wasn’t just my face that felt warm either. I was pretty sure my whole body was blushing.
I recalled that back when Lin had been transformed into a snake, she had often buried her head in my pillow and flicked out her tongue, which was the organ Lamia used to smell with. Of course, she had a nose just like a human and it could smell things. However, Lin had told me that a Lamia’s tongue was able to pick up tiny particles from the air. Knowing this, I realized she had probably been using her tongue to take in my scent within this room.
“Oh…” I placed my hand against my chest and forced myself to calm down. I wasn’t some blushing virgin who got excited just because of the things a girl said to me, but I also couldn’t deny that a girl admitting she had gone into my room because it smelled like me was a bit embarrassing. “In that case, please stay here. Don’t come out while the movers are moving everything.”
“This princess will remain in your room,” Lin said with a nod.
“Good.” I sighed, though whether in relief or resignation, not even I knew. “I’ll be back once they are gone.”
Since Lin had agreed to remain in my room, I walked outside and closed the door behind me. The movers were just coming back with the next set of furniture, my bed, which they moved into the living room as I requested. It was probably a good thing I only had four pieces of furniture. It only took them fifteen minutes to move the bed, the tub, and my dresser into the living room.
I made sure to lock both the front gate and the door after they left. Then I had Lin help me move my furniture into my bedroom. This was a bit more difficult because Lin’s tail kept getting in the way, but we eventually managed to get everything inside.
The secondary bedroom of this house was about twice the size of my original room, which meant the three pieces of furniture I possessed didn’t take up much space. I put my bed in the far corner of the room. My bookshelf was in the other corner. Next to it was my dresser and alchemy set. There was nothing else. I didn’t need the tub anymore since this place had a built-in bath. I’d have to get rid of it, or maybe I could find some use for it other than bathing. I also wanted to add more furniture to this room. A large table or desk where I could perform alchemy would be ideal.
“Now I just need to buy furniture for the rest of the house,” I said as Lin and I sat in the living room. We had no chairs, so we were sitting on the floor. “We will need chairs, a table, maybe a couch… and for your room, we’ll need a large bed at least…” I stared at Lin’s naked chest and then further down at her completely exposed pussy lips. They were very smooth and surrounded by glossy-looking scales. I took a deep breath. Don’t get excited. Don’t get excited. “We also need to buy a dresser where you can store some clothes.”
“Clothing?” Lin frowned at me. “Why would this princess need clothing?”
“Because I refuse to let you walk around naked anymore. It’s distracting.”
Lin stared at me for several seconds before a smile broke out on her face. A single fang poked out of her mouth when she smiled. Her tail thumped against the carpeted floor as her long, scaled ears wiggled.
“Could it be that you find this princess attractive?” she asked at last.
“That goes without saying,” I muttered.
“This princess is a little confused,” Lin admitted as she continued studying me with her narrowed golden gaze. “You find this princess’s body attractive, and yet you have not done anything to her, even though this princess has willingly offered herself to you.”
“Obviously, that is because I’m in love with someone else.” I stood up. “There’s no way I could have sex with you. It would be a betrayal of the woman I love.”
Lin frowned at me. It was clear that she didn’t appreciate my words, and to be honest, I felt bad for saying them, but I needed to draw a clear line. This was the same issue that I had with Fay. Even if I did have some feelings for this Lamia girl, I couldn’t have sex with her. I was in love with Kari.
Those were the words I told myself as I traveled to the Merchant District.
It had been awhile since I’d been to the Merchant District. I didn’t shop much except to buy food, and when I needed alchemy ingredients, I could always head to the Alchemist Association. My current goal was to buy more furniture to fill up my house. I had about 150,000 valis, but I didn’t want to spend more than maybe 100,000, and I’d like to spend even less if at all possible.
The Merchant District had several carpentries that catered to the creation of furniture. Some of the shops did custom work, but most of them sold premade furniture.
I traveled to the carpentry that was owned by Ms. Nadine’s husband, which I had been given directions to after asking my boss if her husband made furniture. He owned a carpentry that was operated by himself, his two sons, and an apprentice. Ms. Nadine told me they did primarily custom work, but they also had a lot of premade furniture.
“So you’re the brat Nadine keeps telling me about,” Ms. Nadine’s husband said the moment I walked in. “My name is Vance. These two
brats are Casius and Kaleb. I think you’ve met them before since they sometimes work at Nadine’s library. My apprentice is currently dealing with our lumber supplier, so he isn’t here right now, but I’ll introduce him to you later.”
Vance was a tall, well-built man. He was maybe a few centimeters taller than myself. His sandy brown hair was cut relatively short on top and formed a short pomp at the front of the hairline. While the hair on his head was relatively short, the beard that traveled along his cheeks and jaw was thick. He wore brown leather pants, an off-white shirt with long sleeves, and a leather vest that matched his pants. Sturdy-looking boots thunked against the floor when he walked.
His two children looked a lot like him, but I could see Ms. Nadine in their cheek bones and nose. Where this man looked rough, they had a slight feminine quality that softened their facial features. The clothing they wore was somewhat similar to their father’s. The only thing they were lacking was his vest.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” I said.
“Phe. Don’t call me ‘sir.’ I’m no ‘sir.’ Just call me Vance.” The man crossed his thick arms, which looked like they could squash my head like a grape. “Since you’re here, I’m guessing you need some furniture. What are you looking for?”
“I need a large bed, preferably one that is at least six or seven meters in length. I would also like a dresser, a nightstand, a desk that’s large enough to fit an alchemy set on it, several chairs, a table for eating dinner, and a couch.”
As I spoke, Vance’s eyes slowly widened as he realized how much I was looking to buy. He uncrossed his arms and let them hang at his side, having gone almost limp. He looked like he’d been struck dumb.
“You looking to fill an entire house or something?” he asked, while his two children looked back and forth between us.
“Yes,” I admitted. “I just bought a house the other day. However, I only have a bit of furniture since the last place I owned was rather small. I’m looking to fill the house with more.”
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