Rupegia Novel Chapter 47: Paranoia – Part 3

Chapter 47: Paranoia – Part 3

Today is the 17th.

Hana wakes

up while Klein keeps my mouth busy.

As my tongue leaves Klein's mouth, I give her one more kiss on the lips and ask, "Well, aren't you a hungry little monkey?"

She gives

a pouty smile and gives

another kiss, "If I'm 'hungry,' then what does that make you?"

"A Ravager of Won," Roxanne answers.

"Gih."

"My appetite still has limits," I defend myself.

"For now," Roxanne says.

"What will happen when you level up that [Enhanced Sen Recharge] again?" Alissa asks, legitimately curious.

Sothing amazing, I'm sure.

"No idea, but I don't think it will level up that easily anymore."

We ask for breakfast to be delivered right outside our door so we can remain completely naked.

We eat delicious fruit cakes and mousses with soft, herbal teas to cleanse our palates of the sweetness.

Klein stretches and even her tail shoots straight up, then she yawns, then I yawn, then Alissa yawns, and then everyone else yawns.

I chuckle at the silly mont but my excitent quickly dies down imdiately afterwards.

We are under watch by soone, I think. If only they actually attacked us I could use [Godly Language] on them.

That's a stupid thought, thinking so lightly about killing soone.

Rembering the thugs we killed in Goldcross makes my stomach churn. Rembering the bandits we killed makes

sad and slightly angry.

Stupid, but effective. Soone is planning sothing and I don't know what. I need an opportunity to learn more about my enemies. I hate to be passive, to just wait for sothing to happen and hope for the best, but that's the only thing I can do right now.

"Wolfy?" Alissa brings

out of my depressive musings, most likely because my emotions spilled through the [Bind].

"Hm?"

"What do you all want to do today?"

Klein is the first to speak, "I want to spend so more ti… with you all for the morning. In the afternoon, my Da' wants to buy more equipnt for us."

"I want to et with Oura, she said she would lend

so books," Lina says.

Good.

"I'll go with you," Roxanne says.

Ciel looks at her with a tinge of suspicion but lets it go. "I'll pay a visit to the temple here. They're not very big in comparison to Rabanara," she says.

"We can donate so gold," I say and Ciel nods with a wide smile.

"Is there an orphanage there? I'll go with you," Alissa says, her tail wagging excitedly.

I look at Hana and she shrugs.

"Let's just play around, then," I say.

"Gih."

Today is Fis, the day of Nature, so he wants to play with the other nature spirits again.

"So it's just , Hana, and Aoi?"

"Yes, it's a date!" Aoi exclaims.

"A what?" Ciel asks and looks at the calendar.

"It's sothing from my holand, two lovers or lovers-to-be spending ti together is called a date," I explain.

"Why is there a specific na for it?" Hana asks.

"Well, there are certain expectations that co from calling an encounter a 'date,'" I say with a shrug.

"So it's like courtship, but for the commoners?" Ciel asks.

"Yes…? Yeah, it's kind of like that. It was being used in such a broad sense that it was becoming hard to define it properly."

"Your holand is really odd," Klein comnts.

"You have no idea," Hana says.

"Anyway. For the morning, let's visit the market," Roxanne says and claps the tips of her fingers.

We finally put on so clothes and leave our room.

Without the mist to block our view, we can now see how truly comfy and cute the town is. There are hundreds of flowers spread around the town: they are in the crowns of the trees, mixed in with the leaves; randomly growing in the walls of the buildings; neatly arranged on the sidewalks and in the holes in the middle of the streets; and also on the clothes and in the hair of the people, including the beards.

First, we go to the Row of Statues, a famous street full of wooden mannequins wearing all kinds of clothes.

We properly fit and buy elven not-bikinis for all of the girls and the uncomfortably tight pants and vest for . Not that the cloth itself is uncomfortable, it's just that I feel very "exposed" in it.

"Oh, yes, I look amazing," Hana says as she pushes up her two large distractions. Then she strikes poses like a body-builder would. Roxanne hugs Hana from behind and feels up her lean muscles.

Ciel looks uncomfortable in hers, likely suffering from the sa problem as I am.

Lina's is so thin that you can make out the shape of her nipples and cal toe if you pay attention. Ciel raises her eyebrows and the others smile suggestively.

The female attendant coughs uncomfortably and picks a similar black not-bikini for Lina but with a piece of cloth that can be tied to cover the important areas.

Aoi looks at us with curiosity. "Should I wear, clothes too?" She asks.

"Well, no," Hana answers.

Aoi looks at her own blue scales and I feel her conflicted heart through the [Bind].

"Maybe we should make clothes for her, one day. Sothing that befits a true dragon," I say.

"Ooh…" Hana seems very pleased with the suggestion.

The elven attendant loses her composure as she inadvertently overhears our conversation.

We end up taking two sets of the not-bikinis. One thin set in the usual colors of the girls, and another in a light green (the most common color) with a more "conservative" design, as if they were sothing that a prude would ever wear.

We leave while wearing our new clothes. We blend in much better now, especially because we are all quite attractive and don't seem out of place among the beautiful elves.

As we enter onto the main road, we see the Lord's castle's wall, the "Shell." It looks like a cracked egg and it's the sa color as the bark shield wall: black with gold inlays. The flowery patterns of the inlays mimic the styles from the "tree-knitting" the elves do. There's also the portraits of the current Lords drawn with gold. They are so big that we can already discern their features from where we are: a man with soft features and a round face in the middle, Lord Mavel Este; two similar-looking won with sharp features and square jaws on each side, his wives; below his portrait is a young girl with a soft face and very sharp eyes, his first daughter; beside the daughter are two twin young boys with very similar faces to the Lord.

From behind the "Shell" we can see the peaks of the branch-like golden towers of the castle proper.

The main road is completely straight and points towards the castle just so that most of the traffic can have a clear view of it. It can also serve to remind the population of who their Lord is.

After having enough of the view, we pass by the Otoro Totoso bakery. There's a tree grown in the shape of a bull in front of it. The place is very high class, with a white and gold interior and so very refined furniture.

The normal desserts, while looking very appetizing, aren't what we're looking for. We browse through the premium items that are so beautiful that they're locked behind a glass display, but also because they're making sounds. To so, they look like a blob of horrors, but, to , they look like the key to heaven.

We've found the Delicious Horrors again: the bizarre balls of squirming tentacles that would trigger a weeb's lewd senses from a mile away. I want it not because it's delicious, but because of the magic behind the tentacles. I must learn it and add it to my body transformation research!

There are also Globin Grapes, small little balls with a goblin's nose that scream when you eat them. I have no real hate for any sort of monster, but a lot of people do, so they get plenty of delight from eating a sweet and hearing the dying screams of a goblin. There's also a whole-body version of the Globin Grapes, but it's way too expensive to be comrcially viable, so it's rarely ever seen.

There are plenty of psychedelic sweets too, though they are magically psychedelic, as if the normal psychedelics weren't enough. We get a set of these for each of us.

"Hmm… now this is nostalgic," Klein says as she holds a pink and purple mushroom that glows softly.

We all turn to Hana and she turns awkward. "Yeah, they are really good," she says.

Roxanne looks at the mushrooms with fascination. "Ohohoh. Just don't eat it while anywhere near family."

"These are really good," Lina says and points to the one in Klein's hand.

"You've tried them before?" Ciel questions with a raised eyebrow.

"No, but mushrooms all have similar biology. If you know one, you know them all."

I don't smoke, in part because there's no need, and also because I might have a problem with regulating pleasure-seeking behavior. But psychedelics are much safer, so the benefits outweigh the risks for .

We see so Everlasting Crunches, which are very odd. They're an infinite pork rind, you eat all but the black part of the rind and it cos back. It cos with a piece of bread along with it and this bread is teleported inside your stomach. The pork rind that was eaten then is traded with the bread, then reattached to the black part of the rind, and finally returns to its uneaten form, all in an instant.

Now, the most popular of the magic foods are certainly the non-caloric ones. Literally. Non-calloric. Sweets. The most popular type of magical food that has ever existed. Eat as much as you like and suffer literally no side-effects except for higher MP regeneration. This is because the food works like a potion, it's turned into mana and absorbed by the body. The only thing that remains is the inert "not-matter," sothing that still fills the stomach but slowly dissipates away as it's "digested."

"H-how much money can we spend on this?" Ciel asks.

"A lot…" I answer.

"How much?"

"You don't want to know."

Ciel swallows heavily while her eyes are glued to the cupcakes.

My heart burns with pain, but I must do this, I must be the mature person here and find the middle ground.

"A gold coin for each of us, that's all we can spend," I say.

Ciel sighs deeply and nods.

We have a second breakfast and eat until our stomachs nearly burst.

"Isn't this stuff supposed to disappear after we eat it?" Alissa asks, holding her belly in pain.

"After a while," I say.

Lina is frozen and her face is pale. She swallows heavily and breathes slowly.

"Lina?" Ciel asks.

"I can't move or…" Lina stops talking and swallows heavily again.

An elven attendant silently deposits a tray with a cup with an odd silvery liquid in front of Lina.

Without another word, Lina drinks the liquid and shudders. In a minute, her skin regains color and she sighs in relief, though her tummy still hurts like Alissa's.

After recovering enough to move again, we leave the bakery and return to the market. It's getting close to midday so the bustling of the population is increasing.

The stares of the commoners make

tense again. Now that there's no mist, they can't stare at us as freely, but they still stare at us from behind. Holly also noticed people following us, mostly elves this ti, though.

I'm starting to feel tense. Every ti we leave a shop I'm reminded of the danger outside.

"Is there a problem?" Alissa asks inside my head.

"Kweh!" Aoi noticed it too.

"There are people following us," I answer.

"Stare at them, it will make them paranoid and you can also write down their nas," Alissa suggests.

"Sounds like a good idea."

Better to show that we notice them than to look like sitting ducks and get attacked again.

At any mont that we stop, I look back and et the eyes of our stalkers. A few have imdiate reactions and leave, while others play the fool and just smile cordially, then after a while they leave, too.

I pull out a small piece of paper and discreetly write down their nas.

"What are you doing?" Klein asks.

"Just making ntal notes for research," I say.

We buy a dozen crossbows for Ted and Suzy since they can easily manipulate and even reload the weapons with [Telekinesis].

"We can use, bigger," Ted says.

"Nobody will sell

a ballista," I say.

"We create one, then," Suzy says.

"Can you?" I frown.

"With trial and, error, we can learn, to build," Ted says.

"thodical re-search," Suzy says.

Well, I think that I could learn to build a ballista, so maybe they think they can, too.

"Sure, I might build a mobile workshop for the two of you one day," I say.

Now that we've seen the effectiveness of them, we buy caltrops of our own; the ones we previously used belong to Rande.

We see so flammable oil and buy it, too. It'll make for a good basis of research for pseudo-napalm and gunpowder. I have so reservations over recreating sothing like napalm, but I'll use any weapons that I have if the need arises.

We buy so high quality Hearthtree shields for Lina to enchant and a new shaft for her war hamr. The heartwood from that kind of tree is as nearly as tough as tal, which is why it's used in shields and also for the shaft of Hana's enchanted spear.

That spear's blade is from the bark of the Tree of the Stalwart, which we now know is a type of bark that retains a razor sharp edge when broken, just like obsidian.

The elven rchants also gave us tips on how to maintain the weapons. They sold us fertilizer that can be mixed with the earth of the High Forest, so it has the appropriate nutrients for

to cast [Grow] on our weapons and allow for them to be properly maintained.

Just before lunch, we notice that the main street gets eerily loud with the murmuring of the commoners. We stop and join the growing crowd near the sidewalk and find the source of the commotion.

Like the caravan we crossed yesterday, we see the light coming from them before we can actually see it properly: two n wearing a complete set of armor that covers all visible openings. A scary mask of a stoic man covers their faces. Their golden armor is filled with enchanted gems of all colors, and it glows white so brightly that it hurts to look at them when they get closer. A sun is carved in the chest of the armor and the rays spread out from it to cover every surface. A heavy golden cape with a blood red lining hangs from their shoulders and it seems to flutter in the wind even though there's barely a breeze.

They are the Hands of the Emperor and they are here to give the Lord a small spanking. The Hands are not good news. We can all easily see why the Emperor would send his proxy to the High Forest and so blatantly display them for the populace: the Emperor is not pleased.

"I felt a chill," Klein says.

Hana nods. " too."

"May this problem finally end," Alissa says.

"It won't end today, the Emperor won't kill Lord Este so easily," Lina says.

"The other elves will take it upon their own hands before the empire has the chance to ddle," I say.

We move on and search for the hunter's guild.

The guild's outer wall is decorated with very fine and intricate carvings of the monsters found in the High Forest. It gets an approving nod from Lina.

The inside looks similar to Ostodos: scented logs being burned; upholstered furniture covered in Uspidor skin; displays of Proofs of Extermination embedded in the interior walls; an enchanted fireplace lightly warming the air and giving off the calming sounds of crackling wood burning. Though, everything looks so much more elegant and grandiose that I feel like I entered a pseudo-baroque building with a nature the.

"Let's taste so booze," Hana says and walks towards the bar. Klein, Roxanne, and Ciel follow her.

I look at Lina with questioning eyes. "You don't want to go?" I ask.

"I don't feel like it," she answers.

"Gih."

She looks away and fiddles with her leather slave collar. "I would rather stay with you than drink."

"Awn…" I grab her hand and give it a kiss.

With a flower on each arm, we walk to the boards to see the news.

There's a heavy bounty for our Aberrant, 70 gold coins.

Oof.

There are multiple warnings about a variety of dangerous monsters about. I take note of a few of them so we know what to watch out for.

"Wolfy…" Alissa calls my attention and points to a specific note.

A new dungeon was found at the border of the Western and the Eastern High Forest, a dungeon called "Legado."

"Damnable brats!" A voice yells from so ways behind us.

Fuck yes! We found it! And it looks like it's a lost tomb that resurfaced… Around five months ago, roughly the ti that I ca into this world. As if I needed any more reason to explore it.

Heavy footsteps co closer to us.

If it's at the border between the two regions, then Goloria is closer to it than Escanso. I'll keep a [Gate] "coordinate" outside the town when we reach there, then. It's unfortunate that we still have to complete this job, but it seems there hasn't been much progr-…

Alissa's ear twitches and from Shad's sight, I see a tall man quickly approaching us.

A heavy hand falls on mine and Lina's shoulders and spins us in place. While we spin, us three reach for our daggers below our shirts and draw them, then we imdiately point it towards the man behind us.

The mature golden elf man quickly takes his hand off our shoulders and shows us his palms, displaying non-aggression.

"Who are you?!" I yell at him.

"Uh… I'm Ardian… you are not from the Academy?" The man asks, very unsure of himself.

"Academy? Do we look like we are from there?!"

"Uh, kind of?"

I look at Alissa and Lina.

Okay, we look like young, high-class foreigners with a pet dragon and nature spirit, I guess we fit the profile.

Hana and the others appear behind the man, looking very serious. I pull back my dagger and we relax a little.

"I'm Wolf Ryder, leader of the Helios fellowship." I point to the girls behind him and he takes a look. Hana gives him a fearso smile and he swallows heavily.

Ardian's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "S-sorry to bother you, Sir. I mistook you from one of the… young warriors of the Academy who overestimate themselves and take requests they are not ready for."

I clearly rember you calling us "damnable brats."

"It's fine. Let's just move on and continue with our days," I say with a diplomatic smile. I would like to swear at him but the guards of the guild have their hands on their batons and I still want to use the Dismantling Room.

"Sure, sure. Again, forgive , Sir Ryder." Ardian bows, then he turns around and quickly walks out of the guild with a rigid posture.

"Odd man," Ciel says, eyeing him up with a sharp gaze.

I sigh and shake my head. The tension from being stalked all day is making

tired.

I enter the Dismantling Room and greet the burly butcher.

"I'm Alto, pleasure to et you," he says.

"Wolf Ryder, leader of Helios." I shake his hand and he looks slightly pensive.

While he tries to rember where he heard about us, I pull out the Aberrant, the Watchful Tons, and the Proofs of Extermination of the other monsters.

He jumps and gasps in surprise and his assistant imdiately shoots up, suddenly wide awake.

"You got the fucking Aberrant?!" Alto exclaims.

"Yes. Quite the hard fight, if I must say," I say, smugly.

"H-how? These wounds… h-how?!"

I shrug. "Don't ask

for my secrets."

It's ti for lunch, so I don't spend ti chit-chatting with them. I get my rewards and leave. Then we dawdle a little until the "Notable Hunts" board is updated.

"Fellowship Helios: Masked Aberrant - stone and thunder quadruped. 70 gold coins bounty."

A few people exclaim when they see the update on the board and soon, a small crowd forms as people make comnts about us. Quite a few notice us and make the connection.

Hiding our accomplishnts would look too suspicious. We don't want to participate in politics, but we can't fully avoid garnering fa.

We leave after that and go have lunch in our room at the inn.

There's a delicious mix of roasted vegetables. They are mostly sweet and each has been browned slightly, then a small amount of at sauce is applied to add to the taste. It reminds

of Ratatouille.

"Hmm… this is nice." Klein stretches on Hana's lap as the dragonkin's fingers massage her brain.

I play with Ciel's silky hair and let my mind wander.

"Right, it's ti to go." Klein gets out from Hana's lap and looks at us sadly. "Have to et my parents, now."

Awn…

"You know where they are?" Ciel asks.

"Yeah, we three are in a fellowship."

"Does it have a na?" Roxanne asks.

Klein blinks twice. "No," she answers, flatly.

"Okay…" Roxanne smiles mischievously.

I summon three Hollys and three Shads. One pair is given to Klein without her knowing. Now that she's temporarily part of my harem, I fear that she might also get targeted.

Soon after the girls leave, Holly already identifies several people stalking the three groups.

"Gih."

Thanks, Gify.

He pops out of existence to go play around, but he will keep an eye on the girls, too.

"Right, so what do we do on this 'date' thing?" Hana asks.

"Sothing interesting, but mostly just spend ti together."

"Fuck

silly."

I smile wryly. "Maybe sothing that we don't usually have ti to do."

"Lets spar and play around, then."