D-Rank Task - An Distant Quest!

Aella made restoring his stolen mercenary group so easily.

She curled her lips into a seductive arc and tapped the desk with her quill pen. "So, what else do you need me for, Leonhardt?" Her gaze flicked towards Erina, the priestess standing behind him, with curious emerald eyes scanning the pair. 

"Perhaps some alone time would be appropriate here, Priestess?" Aella leaned forward in her chair and parted the tight uniform around her chest just slightly so that her cleavage popped into view. 

"I am here with Leonhardt. We would like to assign this task." Erina held a sheet from the wall and placed it on the counter, ignoring Aella's aggression.

Leonhardt's Dungeon screen flashed, showing the quest details in a neat and easy-to-read fashion, causing him to stroke his chin. 

'She picked the quest I wanted…'

[D-Rank Quest: Hunting Spiders in the Munat Mountains]

Posted by: Horace Grant, Astrea Guild Representative

Location: Munat Mountains, Eastern Astrea Basin, Munat Village.

"Damn spiders are breeding faster than we can squash 'em. Travellers keep reporting ambushes along the mountain trails—some even vanish without a trace. We need capable hunters to thin their numbers before they become a plague. Bring back their venom sacs as proof, and you'll earn extra coin for every one."

Reward: 10 silvers per person (Up to 4 People)

Bonus: 1 silver per venom sac

"I see, Munat village is a five-day carriage ride from this village, and the carriage only comes once a week. If you want to take this quest, you should probably leave on today's carriage or choose another before it's too late."

Despite knowing that, Aella wanted to seduce and take him to bed. Leonhardt knew Aella would carefully and sincerely explain the quests and dangers to him. So he ignored the delicate fingers stroking along his arm with a smile. 

[You act all honourable, but you have a swollen crotch! Hmph~ Men!]

[But it's strange… why are you suddenly interested in females?]

"Hey! Don't you get it?" She paused, drawing close enough that her hot breath caressed his neck. Her voice lowered to a seductive murmur, her words flowing like honey. "It's going to be troublesome to travel with this flat-chested woman. How about you have a meal with this big sister instead?"

"Haha." Leonhardt chuckled, his hand gently grasping Aella's hand and pulling it away, leaving a surprised expression etched upon her face.

Although she had repeatedly made passes at Leonhardt, he still needed a competent advisor, so he leaned closer, this time his breath tickling her long brown ear and sending a shiver through her slender frame.

"Aella…"

"What, what do you need me for?" The elf gulped.

His mind wandered back to Nyxara and Zafira and their charisma and seduction skills. He then whispered in a low but commanding tone that hints at mischief.

"I'll buy you a meal when I return, so stop bullying the priestess, you'll ruin those pretty violet eyes of yours."

'I seem to have learned these strange feelings and desires after summoning the dark elves and growing closer to Zafira.'

She gaped as a smile crossed her face, and the alluring woman pulled back. A visible blush spread across her cheeks as she patted down her uniform while pretending not to hear anything. She turned around and slumped into her chair, looking defeated. "Whatever…"

The young woman seemed satisfied, and with a wet gaze, pulled back from Leonhardt. She whispered so only he might hear.

"I'll be waiting, don't get hurt."

Leonhardt nodded, quickly gathering the information. His smile vanished, and his seriousness took over as his brain calculated everything he needed to know about the new quest.

With this information, he faced Erina and gestured towards the door.

"Why did you flirt with her, she's clearly too old for you." Erina's voice sounded a little bitter and sharp, but she was a saintess candidate, so this reaction confused him.

"It wasn't flirting." He replied dismissively, glancing over his shoulder at the blonde Priestess.

In truth, he just enjoyed the tingles and sensations that filled his body when teasing or flirting with pretty females.

[Hmph! What about me?]

'I don't know what you look like!'

Leonhardt mocked Ifrit in his mind, imagining a flame with a stupid face, but she didn't respond.

"This way!" Erina pointed down the road and guided him toward another shop within the small village of wooden huts. It was a two-story structure built beside an expansive barn.

"What are we here for?" Leonhardt inquired, scanning the building and noting its stables.

"This is the best merchant in the city for produce, dried foods and long-distance travel." Erina's tone became calmer, closing one eye as she spoke, with a slight grin on her lips. "They are also the only place in the village to book carriages to the capital and, of course, Munat village." 

The moment they entered, they found a spacious lobby with rows of counters occupied by staff members in elegant brown uniforms—elegant for a small village, at least.

Behind the workers, large red banners displaying a gold dragon hung from the ceiling.

'Red Dragon Trading company?'

Instead of the exposed fruit in the market, he noticed most of the items were in black sacks with the red emblem with a dragon on the front. "Erina, what's in the bags?"

"Spices from across the sea, grains from farmers, tea, and coffee, mostly dried apricots, raisins, and some bread," the priestess responded.

She led Leonhardt towards an available counter, and he followed behind, his mind focused on the various goods around him.

"Greetings customer, oh it's Erina, isn't your Dragonoid friend here today… Oh, my~ it's a handsome male today, such a sinful priestess!"

The woman at the counter was a little plump, with short brown hair and dark brown eyes. Her voice was deep and melodic, like that of an opera singer.

"Hello, Aunt Mabel. We're heading to Munat for a long quest, maybe twenty days total. I need food and camping supplies, and I want the best goods."

"I'll pay," Leonhardt remembered his goal. He needed to win the three women over.

"Okay, then we will give you half of our combined earnings." Erina wasn't selfish, especially when she experienced Kaito demanding his cut.

It was a breath of fresh air when Leonhardt offered to cover the entire cost of their journey.

"Well, well, this is your boyfriend, Erina?"

Mable leaned forward, her dark brown eyes scanning Leonhardt. He saw a playful smile on her lips and felt a chill run up his spine.

"B-Boyfriend?! I am a priestess!"

"But your boobs are quite nice and filled out, not like Sylvie…" Mabel smiled teasingly.

"That doesn't matter! Sylvie might grow!"

"Really?" A doubtful voice left Erina's lips.

Leonhardt enjoyed the two women speaking in whispered voices, louder than their normal tones.

Erina's reactions and expressions brought a smile to his lips. They reminded him of how Ifrit bickered with him all the time, and then he truly wondered what she might look like.

'I wonder what the mother of all flames looks like, maybe a midget with no tits?'

[…]

'Huh?' Leonhardt felt odd, since Ifrit usually retaliated immediately. He glanced upward and noticed a screen appeared, the colour red, with chains across the surface before an image appeared, causing him to gulp.

A beautiful figure appeared, a short woman with a full-bodied figure breasts, thighs, and hips comparable to Zafira, flickering with flames as her orange hair danced around her body, almost like liquid flames.

Her beauty left Leonhardt without words or thoughts. His mouth parted as he took in her stunning appearance. But suddenly, she vanished from view.

The memory of her pitch-black eyes, with huge amber irises like a raging fire.

"Leonhardt!" Erina shook his arm, waking him from whatever just occurred.

"The village of Munat is only accessible by carriage, and that's through the mountains, which may be even more dangerous," Mabel added, showing him a list of items. He just nodded, the eyes of the beautiful woman lingering in his mind.

He couldn't forget her big eyes peering at him, with such a small face with plump lips that matched her V-shaped jaw. 

'Despite the adult figure, she was super short… like 5ft4 (1.63 metres) at most.'

'Probably equal to Zafira… maybe a little more my type, and her rump was shaped like a delicious peach.'

[!!!]