A Faunan Childhood Friend

Another day, another goblin hunting expedition. It ended before it could even truly start, all thanks to Renee's swift movement and her ability to poison the herd before the monsters ever realized what had hit them. Yet her efforts afforded her a scant amount of gold, the very same her party thought best to spend on leisure at the guild instead of saving it to get better equipment. 

Sulking at the table, she was lost in her own world, ignoring the rumbling and chatter all around, she dreamed about the thrilling past. Back then, she would hunt C-rank monsters at the minimum, but now those days felt not even like memories, but a conjured fabrication of her mind.

Despite her downfall, her equipment and her scars were proof that it happened. Hunting giant salamanders with Wolf and chasing them out of their nests–was their favorite pastime. But now looking at an extermination request for the same monster, she wondered if her party could even hurt a single nail on its fingers. Being left to fester in Aestonian forests, the monsters have grown much more resilient than what was allowed of them only a year ago.

Pulling herself back into the real world; the young faunan girl glanced around at the dire state of the other adventurers. Drowning themselves in alcohol and caring for nothing but momentary pleasures, they earned what they could to drink and as soon as they ran out of gold, it was time to hunt only to get back to getting blackout drunk.

They had no drive, no desire to be better themselves than they were. It made her realize why the country rarely had anyone as high-ranking of a citizen as her. 

'Middle class, they're all too comfortable being where they are. Not pushing the boundaries because they might fail and only keeping up what they'd been doing already because it works out the same.' Having lived on the streets as a faunan bush cat, she knew what true hardship was and in her mind, the only way to prevent going back to that dark place was to create as much distance from that horrible existence as possible.

The slamming of a mug in front of her face perked Renee's cat-like ears. Jumping out of her seat, she turned her emerald gaze to their party's leader–Kein Kempr, a blonde-haired human who couldn't keep his mouth shut even if his life depended on doing so.

"W-what with…the gloom, Renee?" Slurring his words from having a little too much to drink, Kein was staring at the faunan, his eyes focused not on her face but on her leather-bound breasts. 

Adjusting her breastplate and the leather strap behind it quickly, Renee leaned back into her chair and glared angrily at their party leader. It wasn't the first time he'd tried to do something sneaky, and being an Alchemancer rogue, she could smell the enhanced intoxicant in that mug of drink. 

"Come on, have some fun!" He said, smiling eerily.

Rolling her eyes, Renee glanced at the only other member of their party–Kein's cuckquean girlfriend, Terra. Smiling upon noticing Renee's gaze on her, she continued to sip on her own mug, acting oblivious to Kein's plans. However, knowing the two full well and how they were trapping young girls into their beds, Renee was no stranger to what they were trying to pull with her.

'Keep wasting your time on me, that way at least no other girl would fall victim to your scummy schemes.' Placing one leg on the table's edge, Renee rocked her chair back and forth and glanced between the two scummy criminals. For some reason, they were allowed to continue their ploys even though the guild was aware of their crimes. Giving a brief look to the receptionist working the desk, Renee clicked her tongue before finally reaching for the mug. 'Just because the girls didn't remember anything doesn't mean the crime didn't happen you idiots!'

As she began to down the ale, the cunning duo watched with a wide grin plastered to their faces. They could already envision Renee laying in their bed and Kein having his way with her while Terra watched her man fucking another girl. To their surprise, however, as Renee slammed the mug back on the table, she didn't have the slightest flash of rosiness rushing to her face.

"I'm immune to poison you idiots…" Renee whispered but being in a drunken stupor the two couldn't make sense of what had been said.

Settling down in their chair while being visibly disappointed, the two turned to order some beer and that's when out of nowhere the front door flung open. Walking in through the door was none other than the greatest living adventurer of Aestonia, Wolf De' Didact, Renee's childhood friend, her ex-party member, but most important of all, the adoptive prince of their kingdom.

"I'll be damned!" Exclaimed a dwarven man, being one of the first to notice Wolf walking in.

The others turned their heads right after, and the moment their eyes landed on him, chatter erupted through the musky halls of the guild. Renee on the other hand, was left in a state of shock. It had been nearly a year since she'd seen him come out of the castle, and for him to just walk in like it was yesterday that he had gone away, felt entirely surreal.

"Bastard's probably back to rank up again, eh?" Exclaimed yet another adventurer with a toss of his mug. 

"Oh by the goddess' grace, let us die in at least some honor, young man!" Complained a rather older-looking mage with a long white beard and druidic branch horns.

Looking at the men, Wolf waved them a hand and heaved with a cackle.

"Too late old man, you might as well hand me your granddaughters once I become king," the same man who'd tossed his mug spewed his beverage at the druid at Wolf's unexpected remark, and the moment his clothes were sprayed, a quarrel broke out between the two.

Laughing at the sight, Wolf shifted his attention to the counter as he hadn't yet seen Renee who was sitting at a table hidden behind a support column for the structure. Leaning against the counter where Felicia, the faunan receptionist was looking up at him in awe. Wolf smiled and flicked her cute cow ears to get her attention off of his masculine charm.

"Where's Renee? I need to talk to her about something," he asked, and the woman stared at him for a while before shaking her head to respond.

'Geez, I had almost forgotten how handsome he was…' She thought, slowly turning her eyes from him to his childhood friend.

Before turning around to see Renee, however, Wolf reached into his pocket and took out a handful of gold. Placing it on the counter along with the basket of pastries the women outside had given him, he leaned closer to Felicia's ears and whispered.

"Get a room ready for me while I talk to her, alright?" As if poisoned by his sweet voice, Felicia's heart began pounding like a piston. Gulping heavily, she nodded in unquestioned compliance and rushed right out of her counter. 

"I-I'll get it ready right away!" Marching off with those words, she left Wolf to talk to Renee. The moment he turned around, it took but a glance for Renee and him to start talking through their eyes.

'Where have you been, you idiot?' Said the faunan with furrowed brows.

'Studying, but that's not what I'm here to discuss today…' As a smile took over his lips, Renee's cheeks were flushed a bright red. A little embarrassed, she looked away with her cheeks puffed in a display of anger for being left behind.

Noticing the redness that had taken over her face, both the scoundrels sitting in front of her were baffled. They wondered how their drug was rendered ineffective when a single look from a man was enough to get her to blush.

Before they could make sense of it all, however, Wolf and Renee were already headed upstairs. Both of them had a lot to talk about, but more importantly, it was time to make up for lost time by conversing through words and the touch of their bodies.