Did they- just bounce!?

Straight through the crowd, straight in the middle of the soldiers and the bandits- I stood. "Don't know who's who and why this is a thing- but what's the big idea clogging the whole road like this?"

I had no reason to interfere other than just to spread my name and perhaps gain an even bigger reward.

At least on the surface.

However-

"AH, you sir! Sir Gain! They're bandits- trying to steal away the slaves of- they're trying to kidnap people and-" One of the guards explained.

'Almost kid… almost…'

It was a newbie guard- about fifteen?

Anyway- "I see," I turned towards the bandits. "Trying to kidnap people? You should know better."

Their faces were covered.

Just the eyes were out.

But even with just that- I could tell-

The five people before me- were all demons.

And one of those demons-

Was a Harpy.

Amiya.

Yeah, I should have known when she was talking about slaves and freedom and all that crap.

The woman was definitely into some sort of underground resistance. Not mercenary and all that crap.

"Tch!" One of the guys clicked his tongue. "So, you're the hero everyone's keep gurgling about… Somana- Bara do it!"

The crowd had mixed feelings about the whole thing. Some of them went awfully quiet while some others were heavily pleading to me to let these guys go.

Odd- really odd.

"With pleasure!" One of the bandits clapped her hands while another one ripped his clothes, flexing?

Wha?

Crack!

Something exploded and smoke spread.

Good, because I didn't want that large man ripping his muscles and putting on a show…

"I'm a woman of many surprises, you see," a whisper.

The smoke cleared and they were gone.

All gone.

"They retreated!" The guards weren't done, however.

"Thank you for your assistance, Sir Gain!"

And they went about their day anyway.

Sigh- what help?

As for the people?

Some glaring- others singing my praises.

'I didn't do anything, people…'

Other than just maybe stir up things a bit more…

'What the hell was she doing anyway?'

Oh well.

***

I went into the guild.

It was kind of empty.

Everyone was probably out there, doing whatever.

The front desk was kind of empty so-

"Anyone here?" I yelled.

A woman came out.

Kind of dark skin and wait- 'Even underwear back at the castle covered more stuff you know…' I couldn't say it out loud though…

Definitely hard to keep my eyes focused.

Fluffy fox ears- crimson hair….

And damn those were big stuff….

'Focus, focus!'

Yeah, I couldn't focus.

"You needed something?" She said, taking a seat behind the counter.

Did they-

Did they- just bounce!!?

'Calm down Bren… Calm down…' "OH yeah, I wanted to turn in these three quests." My voice came out a bit too smooth- flirtatious even.

"You completed them? All three?"

"Yes."

"Name and card please-"

"Right." I gave her my copper card and- "I'm Gain Benebough."

Even to her, I had to do a noble introduction.

Kind of wasted as there weren't enough people here.

Oh well.

I was definitely glad to have lost that large burly man though.

"I see." Her focus was on the quests. "You completed them alone?"

"Not quite. My cats were there with me."

Fit, well-endowed, and kind of unbelievably charming…

Was it weird that I kind of had a thing for her?

"Cats?" She stared at the kitties behind me. "I see, they are indeed cats… just not the species I was expecting…" She took the quests, and the materials, checked the materials, confirming, and put them in a drawer, while giving me three separate pouches with 32, 47, and 29 gold coins respectively.

Quite the haul.

'Wait, aren't I rich…?'

Finally, I was rich enough to actually pass for a knight!

But she wasn't done. "Alright, then Sir Gain, would you mind telling me more about yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

Was she hitting on me?

YESHH!

Given the tone and the calculating stare- didn't seem like it.

Shit.

"I mean, why did you choose to become an adventurer? Clearly, your strength is at least Ruby Tier or maybe even higher. So why pretend to be a newbie?" And she certainly wasn't messing around either.

Straight to the point.

"Cause I am one. I was in a war recently and somehow escaped with my life. So, I thought- why not start anew?"

"I see. So, any goals?"

It was kind of quiet in here.

Three- four guys in the back, one- two in front of the quest board, drinking and stuff.

Not really lively.

"Right now? Not much. Get stronger, earn money and maybe live happily. That's about it." I smiled. "I did have another one though-"

"And what would that be?"

"I don't know, maybe have a Harem full of wondrous women, like you?"

'Oh damn…' Yeah, I meant- have a family with a wondrous woman, not a Harem!

Oh boy.

Oh boy oh boy.

Sigh-

The woman behind the counter stared at me for a second, and then laughed.

She laughed hard.

Damn, the whole place almost shook just from the intensity of that damn laugh!

A hand on the table and a swift take off- twirl! She jumped off, straight in front of me, and held me, tilted me, pressing her lips against mine- thunderously slipping her tongue in my mouth.

She squeezed me, I squeezed her-

Breaths' wild- heart pounding-

Stuff rising.

She reeked of sweat- heck, I reeked too and maybe more than her.

Sure didn't stop us.

The incoming stares didn't either.

We kissed- and boy did we kiss hard!

Breathless-

Panting, she moved back a bit. "I like your style. Not being satisfied- always greedy. The very core attribute of an adventurer!"

Her eyes were innocent.

Her smile was not-

Upward curving. The smile basically stated- 'I'm about to do things to do you…'

Damn- I was already started sweating. And ready to do things to her too!

"Unfortunately, he's mine." The voice came from behind me and then- a woman locked her soft arm over my neck and pulled me along. "And I'm not handing him over." Her feathers kind of tickled…

Also- she smelled way nicer than before- 'Wow, you took a shower too….' My shower wasn't a shower though…

Apparently, the resident Harpy had arrived. 'The hell did you come from?'

Wasn't she supposed to be with the bandits!