304 Vol. 5 pt. 12 (2/2)

”All of it?”

”All of it.”

”Then, those goblin hybrids back at Port Tugator…”

”There's a reason why branch offices have rooms that nobody else is ever allowed in.”

Another mental image of Thelmes pops into Fenrir's mind. If the cat-goblin-thing was able to turn himself into a cat-goblin-thing, then… what if there were even more parts of his body belonging to different parts that were hidden by clothes?

Fenrir slaps his cheeks before the mysterious beams of light covering Thelmes' waist in his mind disappears.

”Smart decision,” Eva says, knowing exactly what was threatening to enter Fenrir's mind.

”Thanks,” Fenrir says. ”Anyways, care to share anything about the dragons that you're going to help me meet after we find this insect?”

”Hmm. Well, they're—”

”Found it,” Serra says. ”I think.”

Eva and Fenrir turn their attention to where Serra is.

She's crouching down and pointing at a small, grey insect that almost perfectly blends in with the rock undearneath it.

There's only one problem.

”I think it's dead,” Serra says.

The insect is only visible because of its lighter underside facing upward. Its legs – what are left of its legs, are curled upward and there is some yellow liquid coming out of a small hole in its side. It looks as if a tiny piece of rock might have crashed into it.

”Ah… I wonder if we did that,” Fenrir says.

”I wonder,” Eva says. ”It's almost as if it might have gotten caught in the crossfire when a giant explosion sent rocks everywhere.”

”N-nah… maybe it just… I don't know… maybe its side spontaneously imploded.”

”And the broken and missing legs?”

”Spontaneous breaking and disappearing.”

”You're lucky that it doesn't matter whether it's alive or dead.”

”Wait, seriously?”

”Mhm. All they'll really need are its wings. So, you better hope that they're fine. If they're even slightly damaged, then we're going to have to keep on looking until we find another one.”

”Please be okay,” he says, looking down at the dead insect and holding his hands up together in front of his face to offer it a prayer.

Eva crouches down, picks it up, and flips it over.

”Well?” Fenrir asks.

”Hmm. This is definitely a different one from the one I found earlier since its wings are so much smaller… but, they're safe. This will be good enough,” Eva explains before delicately pulling the wings off from the insect's back.

Then she pops the rest of the dead insect into her mouth.

”Hey! I thought you said that these things were super rare? Weren't you upset about not getting to eat it?” Fenrir asks.

”I did. I also said that all we need are their wings and that I wouldn't get to eat the part I really want to eat. The rest of their body isn't really useful at all, so I thought I'd find out how they taste,” Eva explains and closes her mouth.

Serra goes even more pale than she already is as soon as she hears the pop come from within Eva's mouth.

While Serra would normally think of adding a new girl to their relationship, especially one as unique and as attractive as Eva, the thought of kissing Eva and then getting insect legs in her mouth from the kiss is enough to make Serra—for once—not want to lewd another woman.

”You have a bit of uh,” Fenrir says, pausing and pointing at her chin where some of fluids from inside of the insect have gotten to somehow.

Eva sticks out her long, thick tongue—one that looks almost as long as Nell's but thicker—and licks at her chin before holding up one finger.

The next second, her cheeks puff out and glow as if there is a raging fire inside of her mouth. Then, when she parts her lips, smoke flows out from between them.

”One of the best parts about being able to breathe fire is that I can use it to clean my mouth. Never have to make sure that I have any food stuck to my teeth thanks to it!” Eva explains as Fenrir and Serra look at each other.

Neither of them knows how to feel about what Eva just did. Sure, she cleaned the inside of her mouth via fire, but she still just ate a dead insect in front of them – a dead insect that popped and that she dribbled a bit of onto her chin.

At least they can both be confident that the other is not currently thinking about adding her to their relationship. After turning most girls on their own who they have met into their girlfriends, they have finally found one who grosses them out just enough to keep their thoughts completely loyal to their current girlfriends.

Even if it's just a game, it's an extremely realistic game which means that eating a bug is every bit as realistic as it would be in real life. The only difference there might be, since what Eva ate was a fantasy bug, is that it might have had a different texture and could have tasted better than a real bug.

Neither of them has any plans to find out.

”Alright. So, you have your insect. Can you tell us how to get to the dragons now?” Fenrir asks Eva.

”Oh, sure,” Eva replies. ”Uhh, they're… kind of really far into the mountains. There's no way that your wagon is going to be able to make it.”

”We don't plan on taking the wagon. We figured that we'll just climb and walk our way there.”

”I don't think you understand. I mean like, they're really far into the mountains. It would probably take you a couple of weeks of in-game time to get there, and that's if you survive. The areas you would have to climb through are extremely dangerous. Even if you're a pro at mountain climbing, there would still be monsters trying to attack you while you're climbing. They'll be happy as long as they can make you fall and go splat!” she explains, dramatically splaying her fingers out to illustrate her point.

”I see. Well, there are two in our group who can fly, so we could always just take turns going over.”

”Hmm. Good luck. The shredder eagles would probably, you know, tear you to shreds. Even an armored mount would probably get shredded to strips, and I wouldn't feel safe without a group of at least five ranged fighters on mounts who could defend themselves.”

”We have… a serpent girl and a flying fox.”

Eva looks away and covers up her mouth.

”You're totally thinking that we'd get wrecked, aren't you?” Fenrir asks.

”Are you sure you should be looking for dragons?” Eva asks back, still covering up her curled lips from his sight.

”Well, I mean, it's probably our best bet right now. We need dragon allies.”

”It's not that easy. You can't just hope that you'll get to befriend dragons by meeting them.”

”It's a game and trying is better than not. Besides, they like flying down to the ocean for some fishing, right?”

Eva raises her eyebrows and asks, ”Just what is it that you want to befriend dragons for? Why do you need dragon allies?”

”Because it would be awesome. There's also the fact that we're going to need as much help as we can for—”

Eva slips up and smiles, reminding Fenrir to shut his mouth.

”Nice try,” he says, ”but if you want to know anything more than that, then you're going to have to help us get to the dragons.”

”Hm?” Eva pauses and looks right into his eyes, her smile subtle. ”You're smarter than you look. Alright, I know a safe path that can take you from near here to the dragons, but you're going to have to tell me about what you want their help for.”

”The original deal was that that you would us get to them if we helped you find the insect.”

”The deal was that I would point you toward them after helping me find the insect that you scared off in the first place.”

”I see. Well, it's fine. I doubt that you're that interested in what our friendly giant serpent found in depths far deeper than where you and any of your scholars can get to. We'll just have to try our luck with our flying fox and our friend chosen by the Western Serpent since she can fly with the wings she got when she was blessed. Worst case scenario, I have to use Rod's full power,” he says, patting the top of Rod.

”Wa-wait… friendly – friendly giant serpent and… that girl down there is the girl chosen by the Western Serpent?”

Eva's attitude has completely shifted, giving Fenrir the upper hand as he crossed his arms and leans back a bit more.

”Did I say that? Huh. Anyways, you should get back to your scholar friends. Don't worry about us; we'll figure something out on our own. That insect of yours is more important right now.”

”Ha-hang on a minute here…”

”It's fine, I promise. We've always managed to somehow do things on our own in the end. I mean, just like how we managed to combine a branch from Yggdrasil with steel oak for our boat.”

”They were – they were combined?”

Fenrir shrugs and lets out a loud yawn. ”You should really get back with those wings, shouldn't you? It's not like,” he goes in for the killing blow, ”listening to the secrets of the former Divine Briga—I mean, oh, hey, the moon looks pretty. Don't you think, Serra?”

”Yeah,” Serra says, nodding and looking up at it without realizing what Fenrir is trying to do.

Meanwhile, Eva's thick tail has coiled around her calves and she's biting one of her nails as she looks around trying to figure out what bartering information she might have to offer other than the path to the dragons.

”You know,” she says, ”if you're into furries, going by your tail and ears, I know how you could get completely cov—”

”No thanks. Kemonomini isn't the same as furries.”

”Th-then how about how to get your Rod there to talk and—”

”It's fine. A fishing rod that could actually talk to me would probably sass me whenever I fail to reel in a fish, so it's fine if he doesn't learn how to.”

”Then… oh! Did you know that there is a forest of steel oaks down on the coast? They're hard to distinguish from regular trees, so unless you know where to go, you probably won't find the—”

”Oh, Rock there managed to find them and we already cut a bunch of them down. It was a lot of hard work, and now there's a patch in the forest that is just a bunch of stumps, but we already know about that.”

Eva slumps her shoulders as her tail falls to the ground.

”Fine,” she says. ”I promise to take you to the dragons if you answer all of the questions I have now, and I mean actually take you to them with the safe passage and everything.”

”You don't have to actually take us there as long as you show us where the passage is and tell us anything else we need to know to get there.”

”I have too many questions now. I might as well stick around so that I can get proper answers to all of them.”

”Alright. That sounds like a good deal to—”

”Found another,” Serra says.

Fenrir and Eva look over to her and see that one of the elusive insects hass landed directly on the back of her hand. It is alive, healthy, and twice the size of the first one they found. Not only that, but it has a tiny, golden horn sticking out from its head.

Eva's jaw practically drops to the ground when she sees it.

”A – a female?! Are – are you serious?” she asks out of disbelief.

”The females have horns?” Fenrir asks.

”Ye-yeah, and those horns can be used for the permanent ability to change how old you look whenever you want. The wings might be able to change how you look for a short time, but… that horn can make it so that you gain the ability to change at will for as long as you're playing.”

”How did people even discover that that's what these things can be used for? Seriously.”

”I – I don't know, but… the females are extremely rare – beyond rare! They basically give you a brand new ability that can be abused for sexual things and fighting! Imagine being able to freely change how big you are whenever you want in the middle of combat.”

”I see.”

Fenrir walks up to Serra and picks the small insect up by pinching its horn.

”I wonder how much our group could sell this for to the other towns.”

”Don't – don't be ridiculous! The most elite and wealthy players in the game would pay ridiculous amount sof money for a potion made from its own.”

”Maybe I should just let it go. I mean, insects deserve to live their own lives without getting turned into potions and all of that.”

”That's even more ridiculous!”

”Oh, I know. I can use it as bait next time I go fishing.”

Fenrir takes the end of Rod's line and, rather than hook the insect, he wraps the thin line around its horn and body so that it won't be able to escape.

”Or – or you could give it to me and let me turn that in to the others! You know, it would be great for you to have a friend high up in the Hermetic Scholars ranks!”

”I'll let you make your point while you lead us to the dragons.”

”Deal!”

Fenrir, smiling with his arms crossed over his chest like some sort of arrogant villain, has won. Now that the deal has been officially made in exchange for the insect, he can hold onto all the answers to her many questions to use those as a bargaining chip again later on should he need to.

Nobody else appreciates his victory, though. Rock and Shogun aren't paying any attention to anything being said, and Serra has decided to just stare up at the pretty moon and stars since she lost track of what was happening in the conversation a while ago.

Then there is Rod who has been rapidly pulsating his gem ever since Fenrir implied that him being able to talk would be annoying.

Rod is tempted to just loosen the line around the insect to let it fly away.

Fenrir is lucky that his sentient fishing rod is more loyal than he knows.