The day was clear and cloudless, warm with a cool breeze rolling in from the sea. Cannoli and Keke remained within two steps of my stride at all times, exchanging worried looks behind my back. It was impossible not to notice the concern on their faces. But we would never see Nyarlothep if my world was confined to the inside of Keke’s house. I steeled my disposition and continued in the direction Keke pointed me to.

Ni island’s marketplace was bustling with vendors lined on either side of a stretch of dirt road. And every stall was managed by a catgirl. Tall, petite, dark-skinned, ivory-skinned, long and short hair painted in every color of the rainbow. Most wore similar, nautically-themed attire as Keke and Cannoli, but a handful were in leathers, armor, or expensive-looking cloth.

I barely made it three steps into the shopping district before an idling brunette catgirl with bright blue eyes looked up from a fruit stall and saw me.

“Oh— Oh my!” she whispered, dropping the pineapple in her hands. She chanced a cautious step forward, then another. “You— You’re—!”

“Calm down, Saphira. We found him first,” Keke said.

This prompted the attention of another girl. Then another. Before I could register what was happening, they rushed us.

“No! Wait! Please!” Cannoli cried as they approached en masse.

I had never felt so simultaneously terrified or excited in my life. I found myself surrounded by a few dozen breathtaking girls with twitching ears and tails, studying me like the most interesting thing they’d ever seen.

“I, um, hm. Well. Hello,” I stammered. Real damn suave, Matt.

Saphira brushed her fingertips against my cheek—her face was inches from mine and I could hardly breathe. Freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheeks and her lips were so full and soft. She smelled warm and sweet.

“You’re real,” she whispered.

I felt the blood rush to my face and tension squeeze my gut. It took everything in me not to cup her hand in mine. “I am,” I murmured.

“Yes! He’s real! Now get. Back!” Keke swatted Saphira’s arm away, bringing me back to my senses. I shook my head.

“You can’t just claim him!” someone cried.

“Too late! Stay back!” Keke yelled, but she was pushed back by the swarm.

“A man!”

“A real man!”

“Matt!” Cannoli’s voice wavered as the hoard overtook her.

“You can stay with me! I have plenty of room!”

“I’m the best cook in town!”

A hand slipped over my thigh, and a heated voice murmured into my ear, “I know what you really want.”

I swallowed hard against the building lump in my throat and my pants. No. You promised Keke and Cannoli. Do not mess this up.

I grabbed the wrist on my thigh and, regretfully, pulled it away. “Ladies, please!”

But they were adamant. More wandering hands and prying eyes and escalating offers of cohabitating drifted from every angle. I could hear Cannoli and Keke’s strangled wails from beyond the back of the circle. This is not how I imagined this would go. Despite the girls’ warnings, I’d imagined something a little more…organized, I guess.

“Why would he stay with you, Sirah? Your house is a dump.”

“Says the girl that kills everything she grows.”

“No! You’re all wrong! We all agreed that if this day should come, I should get him!”

“No one agreed to that!”

“Hey! Just stop!” I bellowed in my best baritone. It echoed against the houses closest to the market, and the girls paused in unison, looking at me with weary eyes. “I’m staying with Keke and Cannoli. That’s not changing.”

A few of the girls frowned and turned to leave.

Wow, okay then. “I need gear. And potions.” I lifted my [Cat Pack] and shook it. The Bells and everything else inside jingled together. It sounded less like I had money and more like I was jangling around my hobo cart. So much for effect. “I have Bells to spend,” I added, trying to save some face.

“Oh,” Saphira said, her stunning eyes drifting to the ground. “Alright.”

“B-but, maybe you can help me?” I stammered. Jesus, grow a backbone. “Can you tell me where to purchase equipment?”

Saphira nodded as the other girls dissipated.

“Jeez, what a disappointment,” one muttered.

“Not at all what we were promised.”

“All the girls on Ni, and he picked them?”

I flushed and bit my tongue. By that time, Keke and Cannoli had rejoined me. Keke brushed her hands against her thighs.

“Um. You can buy gear from her.” Saphira pointed toward a stall near the end.

A woman nearly a head taller than me with muscles that would make any guy blush swung a thick hammer against metal on an anvil. Her dark hair was tied back from her face, and she wore a slick apron over a simple tunic and shorts. She hadn’t joined in on the commotion—her eyes were only for her work.

“Who’s that?” I asked no one in particular.

“That’s Espada,” Cannoli supplied. “She’s scary.”

Keke snorted. “She’s not scary. She just doesn’t like anyone.”

“Is that the only place to buy gear?” I asked.

“Yes,” Cannoli, Keke, and Saphira said in unison.

Keke’s gaze snapped to Saphira. “What are you still doing here? Don’t you have a pineapple to go pick up?”

“O-oh. Right. S-sorry.” Saphira shuffled away beneath Keke’s glare and returned to the fruit stand.

“That was a little harsh,” I said.

Keke grunted a noncommittal reply.

I smiled. Well, at least I could move freely around the market for the time being. I’d be more prepared for new catgirls assaulting me in the future. Maybe if I had a giant laser pointer—

“Are you going to talk to her?” Cannoli asked.

I pulled myself away from the mental image of thirty catgirls chasing an enormous red dot manned by my hovercraft across the island. “Yeah. We need better gear, and the quest gave us some cash. Let’s go.”

Clang. Clang. Clang.

As we drew closer, Espada’s work in progress came into clearer view. A breathtaking axe with wickedly sharp edges and a dangerous curve. My jaw dropped.

“I want that,” I said, pointing at the weapon.

Espada briefly looked up from her work, her golden eyes lingering on me for only a moment before drifting to Keke and Cannoli. There was a long scar that ran from her eyebrow to the corner of her mouth. A circular chunk was missing from her left ear, and her tail seemed cut short.

Damn, she’s seen some shit.

She smirked and looked back to her work. “You can’t afford it.”

Well, excuse me. “Actually, I’ve got some Bells burning a hole in my pocket. And as it so happens, I need some gear.”

“Is that so?” She quenched the honed blades into a dark, thick liquid. “How much do you have?”

“Matt, wait—” Keke began.

“Sixty Bells!” I announced proudly.

The smirk on Espada’s face grew into a wry grin; then she barked a laugh. “Oh? Sixty whole Bells?” She carefully set the axe to the side and approached the counter. “Let’s see what we have, then.”

Sounds of shuffling leathers, clothes, and metal rose from her digging through the shelves behind her stall. The look on Keke’s face said I was not getting that axe. Not for a long time.

“Here.” She resurfaced and unceremoniously tossed a flap of leather on the table.

“What is this?” I picked it up and inspected it.

“What your sixty Bells will get you.”

The leather seemed to meet at the middle, and I parted it at the center. Is this a hat? It was—one of those ugly, brown aviator caps with the flaps over the ears. No one looked good in an aviator cap. And this one didn’t have the goggles to save it from being a complete mess.

“I can go ten,” I countered. It occurred to me that I had no idea what the market rates were for anything. I hadn’t bothered to ask.

“You can go fuck yourself.” Espada snatched the hat from my grip and tossed it back into the pile of various gear. “Have a nice day.”

“No. Wait. Seriously? That thing’s sixty Bells?” We’d worked so hard. We’d almost died for those Bells. That’s what it was going to buy us?

“Unless you have some minotaur parts to trade. Those roaches are hard to find.” Espada licked her lips and narrowed her eyes. “But somehow I doubt that.”

“Wait!” My stomach shot to my throat. “Keke, what did you carve from the minotaurs?”

Keke’s eyes dropped, and she shuffled from one foot to the other. “Um. Well…”

“You carved them, right? Like you did the first roach we killed?” I set a hand on her shoulder. “Because you have that [Scout] Skill? [Encroacher Lore]?”

Keke’s face turned a deep red, and her tone descended to barely a whisper. “They— They disappeared.”

My heart stopped. “Excuse me?”

“Cannoli and I were worried about you. A-and I forgot to carve the roaches.” Her voice seemed quieter with every word she said.

I dropped my hand. “And they disappeared?”

“Yes. Roaches do that,” Cannoli supplied.

“Why?” I asked.

“Encroachers disappear after they’re killed. Everyone knows that.” Espada shrugged. “Tough luck, shrimp.”

I felt like the breath was swiped from my lungs. Like Espada’s epic axe had been swiped from my hand. I opened the [Cat Pack] and extracted the coin purse, staring at the table. “I’ll take the hat.”

Espada chuckled and picked the hat from the top of her pile, setting it on the table. “I’m in a good mood today. You can have it for forty.”

“You’re too kind,” I replied. My fingers felt numb as I counted out the Bells.

Maybe I’d have more luck with the alchemist.

New Equipment!

Matt has gained: Leather Hat!

Resistance +1