“How much gold were we at again?” I questioned.

“You really are forgetful, aren’t you?” Velariah asked as she got behind me.

I placed myself on the pile of pillows and relaxed while the elf was about to start.

“After dividing up the loot from the cave, we are now at 37 gold. Speaking of loot, let’s get those saddlebags off of you first.”

I looked behind me.

“I’d totally forgotten those. There’s not much in them of value, anyway.”

“Hopefully next time. I’ll still need to give the others their share of the money we found. I already counted our share in that thirty-seven gold.”

“Yeah, that quest sure sucked, didn’t it?” I replied.

I looked over to the small wolf who was looking on with curiosity as Velariah unstrapped the saddlebags and placed them in the corner, next to the crate of sulfur.

“I think this little guy was about the most interesting thing that happened to us.”

“He is kind of cute, isn’t he?” Velariah asked.

“Hm, for sure.”

“I’m going to work now,” Velariah warned me.

“Go for it.”

My eyes were locked on the pup who now sat next to the pillow pile on the ground to the right of me. I was dangling a pedipalp in front of him and he was eagerly playing with it.

I wondered what a good name would be. I was thinking about ‘Gray’ since he was completely gray.

I sure sucked at naming things. It would fit him, though.

A small moan escaped my lips. I could feel Velariah’s amusement as she was ‘working’ behind me. She was fondling my spinnerets gently and the feeling wasn’t all too unpleasant.

“Vel, you said you were getting to work. You didn’t say you were going to seduce me by stroking my sensitive parts.”

I could hear a grin from behind me.

“I’m sorry, El. I wanted to know how you’d react to it, and apparently, you seem to like it.”

My face flushed red slightly. She was absolutely right. The feeling was strange but nice. I didn’t know how to reply.

“Your silence confirms my suspicion.” Velariah laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t do that again. Unless you want me to, of course.”

“Vel!” I let out, embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, I’ll get to work now.”

Velariah got to work, for real this time. She was pulling out the silk carefully but rapidly while rotating the spool. I didn’t pay much attention to the feeling. Instead, I was playing with the pup.

“What do you think about Gray?” I asked.

“Girl, you sure suck at naming, don’t you?”

I shrugged. “I thought it was fitting.”

“By all means, go for it.”

I looked at the pup who was still looking at me with curiosity in his eyes.

“Gray, eh?”

I’d have to make him get used to this name. Well, it would probably be Elly who did the heavy lifting. I wondered if she was going to be disappointed at not naming it.

Velariah steadily progressed through the spools as my mind wandered off again.

I was thinking about more questions I could ask Arch. Would there be others of my race? What was my race called anyway?

Then another question struck me like lightning.

Was I an actual monster? Would people hunt me for Corium?

Those questions would probably take priority as they would directly affect my survival.

Then again, at this point, it might be better to get this inherity thing out of the way first. Hopefully, it would cross many a question off the list. Given the limited amount of time that Arch had to communicate with me, that would probably be the most logical course of action.

I found it hard to prioritize things at the moment. There were questions regarding the forest which could potentially impact Dawnleaf as a whole, and then there were questions regarding myself that could impact my own survival.

Did Arch have to use a lot of energy to access the answers to the questions or something?

He did talk quite some last time. I imagined he could answer multiple questions within the same time.

He probably had his reasons.

“How many are you at?” I called out to Velariah.

“I’m at five right now. How are you feeling?”

“I’m perfectly fine. I’m trying to think of the silk as being durable, do you notice any difference?”

“A bit, but not much. It seems they are slightly whiter, but that’s about it. It could just be the lighting in the room though.”

“Hm, I do wonder if there are certain properties that would be preferable when it’s used for clothing. I thought durable was a good idea, but I don’t know how my body interprets that. Sticky and non-sticky are fairly simple to grasp, after all.”

“Heh.” Velariah chuckled. “This is where we find out you can make non-flammable or super water-resistant silk.”

I thought about that for a second.

“That… might actually be good to try sometime. I imagine waterproof or fire-resistant clothing would be ideal for adventurers, no? It would also allow the tailor to expand his market for high-quality clothing to adventurers.”

“Which in turn would mean he would need a larger supply, which means we could potentially ask for more money,” Velariah replied.

“You got it,” I confirmed.

“You’re pretty smart, Elania. But we do need to test it out.”

“You’re up to six, seven, spools right now? When you get to eight, let me know. We can try it out with the last two.”

“Sure.” The elf replied.

I continued playing with the newly-dubbed Gray. It seemed I’d found another being that wasn’t the least bit scared by giant spider parts. He actually seemed to enjoy playing with them.

“You having fun?” Velariah called.

“I am, and I know you are too.”

“Hehe, I sure am.” Velariah grinned.

I could feel a hand run over my behind and I shuddered. The feeling was followed by intense giggling from a certain elf.

“I am done with eight spools,” Velariah said before I could comment. “Do you want me to just start number nine while you do… whatever you do?”

“Yeah, let’s do that. We can test its properties after we have them done.”

“Let me just put these ones away first.” She said as she put the filled spools in her pack.

“You’re still fine right?” She checked again.

“Slightly drained but no more than that. I’ll be fine, especially after Elly’s cooking tonight.”

“I won’t let her take you from me!” Velariah said with a smile.

“Tee-hee,” I replied. “Better start practicing that cooking.” I grinned.

“Which do you want to do first?” Velariah asked. “Fireproof or waterproof?”

“Let’s start with water,” I said.

I thought about how water would simply glide off the silk instead of being soaked up as Velariah started her work. I kept up the focus and felt my strength being drained at a much faster rate than before as the silk left my body.

It started to get hard to focus near the end of it. I was glad Velariah called that she was done when it was about to become too hard.

“Thanks, Vel. It was getting painful to stay focused. I am pretty sure that did at least something.”

“You want a break?” She suggested.

“Let’s see if this works first,” I said as I stood up.

Gray took that as a signal and started circling my legs. It made walking over to the sink quite a bit harder since I had to avoid him.

“Stay!” I said while looking at him with a stern face.

The pup in turn sat down on his rear and cocked his head to the side while sticking out his tongue.

I’ll take that as a win.

I lowered myself to pet him. “Good boy.”

“Hmmm, I wouldn’t mind some affection either,” Velariah said, standing next to the sink already.

“There’s plenty of time for that, after,” I replied. “Let’s get this out of the way first.”

“Yay!” The elf responded with glee, to which I rolled my eyes.

She let the water run and simply held the spool of silk under the running water and pulled it out a few seconds later. She then ran her fingers over the silken threads.

“And?” I inquired.

“Feel for yourself.” She replied as she handed the spool to me.

I ran my fingers over the threads as well and mild shock hit me.

“It’s completely dry.”

“Yep,” Velariah responded happily. “I don’t know how you did it, but you pulled it off.”

“Heh. I am amazed at it as well. Though, it does seem to drain me quite a bit more than usual.”

“I imagine the value of it is a fair amount higher as well. We’d have to check if it’s actually worth it though. If it does exhaust you that much more, it might be worth sticking to the simple thread.” She paused for a second as a smile formed on her face. “Heh, unintended pun.”

“Nice one.” I smiled.

“You want to take some time to rest, seeing as you seem quite tired after that? We could cuddle!” Velariah said happily.

“Fine.”

This elf was such a sucker for cuddles. I guessed the prospect of having four arms to be cuddled by only strengthened the elf’s need.

I hugged her from behind while she still faced the sink.

Hm, four arms and two pedipalps to join in really did make for the best hugs. I couldn’t imagine Velariah’s enjoyment if it already felt this nice for me.

Velariah turned around and brought her face to me but wasn’t able to reach that high up.

“This is so awkward...” She said while looking up at me.

“Awww, poor Vel can’t even reach her girlfriend.” I looked down into her eyes.

“Did you just call me your girlfriend?” She said with a shine in her eyes.

“Huh, I guess so.”

The elf jumped and put her arms around my neck. While holding herself up she planted her mouth on mine. I let myself get lost in the kiss while I carefully lowered myself down so her feet would be back on the ground.

“El...” She said, a tear in her eye. “I wouldn’t mind more of that...”

She reached out to put her hands behind my head and slowly moved in to kiss me again. I let her do as she pleased and enjoyed the warmth building up in my core as our lips met.

“You did close the door right?” I asked out of fear of Elly walking in.

Having the maid see us like this… I didn’t know what I would do.

“Of course,” Velariah said while looking at me eagerly.

“Good,” I planted my lips on hers again and took the elf in for a tight hug. I then lifted her up with the help of four arms and two pedipalps and brought her over to the pile of pillows where I laid her down without ever breaking the kiss.

“Hm, El, you’re so direct,” Velariah mumbled between two kisses.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, Vel. It’s just that you make my legs tremble. I actually have trouble staying on my feet when we kiss.”

“That sounds quite annoying.” The elf said with a smile. “I have to admit I’m slightly disappointed.”

“Hmmm, I have to be honest,” I said as I kissed her again. “I have zero experience in that field. At least, I think so. I don’t remember anything, so I guess that counts as zero?”

“I don’t have any either. We could find out together?” The elf said between two kisses.

I broke away and looked down at the elf, my legs lifting me up slightly.

“No fucking way,” I said. “I don’t believe a word of that.”

“I can imagine. It’s true though, I’ve never had a relationship until you.”

“You’re good at joking, Vel. Succubus Vel has never had a relationship?”

As I said that and looked into her eyes I could see that she was actually speaking the truth. It honestly had me shaken.

“No way...” I let out as I continued to look into her eyes.

“It’s true...” She said softly.

I laughed slightly. “Unbelievable,” I said before kissing her again.

I broke away for the last time and let myself drop onto her side, my right set of legs enveloped her frame about halfway. I continued giving her small kisses on her cheeks and ears.

She looked at me with the widest smile I’d ever seen coming from her.

“You’re really something else,” Velariah giggled.

“I would ask you if I’m a great kisser but I fear your knowledge is limited on that subject,” I said in response.

“Yeah, it really is. I would say ‘unfortunately’, but I am fortunate to have found you.”

“Hm, same here, Vel.” I ran a hand through her beautiful white hair and a finger over her cheek from another hand.

Velariah took one of my left hands and intertwined our fingers. “I really look forward to building a life with you, El. You have no idea how much you’ve given me.”

“Your life?” I half-joked with a smile.

“So much more than that. Not only me but my father as well. I haven’t seen him this energized since that day last year.”

“You mean...”

She nodded. “He drowned himself in work after my mom passed away. Now, he does the same, but he seems to be moving with purpose.”

“I wonder what led him to accept me so easily,” I said. “As a person that is. I don’t deny my… abilities appear to be of great importance to the village, but he seems to be intrigued by everything I do.”

“I can’t blame him. He is a general, he is surrounded by bureaucrats looking to further their own needs. I can imagine you are a welcome distraction and you are probably more useful than all of them combined.”

“I guess there is some truth to that. I guess I am to blame for an incoming coffee addiction too.” I answered.

“Well, I can’t wait to see Dawnleaf blossom because of your combined efforts,” Velariah said softly. “It’s been going downhill for so long. To finally see life return is just… it fills me with joy. A coffee addiction is most definitely worth it all.” She smirked.

“Great, now I want coffee...” I sighed. I looked over to the right of the pillow pile. It would seem that Gray had fallen asleep some time ago.

“Soon...” Velariah foreshadowed.

“What soon? You know I can’t drink coffee.”

“Of course you can, we still need to fill one spool of silk.” She grinned, “Just kidding. No, what I meant was that I believe my father has people working on a way to ‘Decaffeinate’ it as you called it. I believe he called it something like ‘removing the energy’.”

“Oh, that would be lovely indeed,” I replied at the prospect.

I paused for a few moments and brought a pedipalp up to her hair and used it to continue playing with it.

“You’re really enjoying this whole ‘spider thing’, aren’t you?” Velariah asked with a smile.

“It’s getting better,” I replied with as much of a neutral expression as I could. I then moved my set of right legs under her frame and started scratching her back. “I can give proper pats and back scratches now.” I smiled.

“Hmmm. It does feel nice.” Velariah enjoyed the touch.

“Spider part aside, I’m actually surprised by how little I know of my own world.”

“What do you mean?” Velariah asked as she took hold of the right hand that was still near her cheek.

“You know. There are things in our world that are seemingly so simple, but I have no tools or enough knowledge to replicate them. I’m already surprised you have pencils, I wouldn’t know how to make those. You know, this thing I called earlier, a pen it’s called, it’s such an everyday item in our world.” I took some time to think about how to explain how a pen worked.

“Basically there is a thin cylinder containing ink - compare it to a pencil. Then there is a tiny ball at the end of it that gets ink on it. That ball is then used to write, like a pencil. How it works exactly or how it’s made, I have no idea. It’s basically a quill that you can use for many hours in a row and you can easily take it with you.”

“That sounds extremely convenient.” I saw Velariah’s eyes light up at my explanation. “Got any more such items?”

“Hmm,” I started. “Let me think of anything that I could possibly replicate...”

“Lightning magic is a thing, right?” I asked.

Velariah nodded.

“Is it anything like the lightning in the skies during storms?”

“It’s basically a weaker version of it, but yes.”

“Great,” I said. “We have something called a lightbulb, it’s something similar to these orbs.” I pointed to the orbs in the chandelier that illuminated the room. “It would be completely useless for you guys, but here is how it works: we have a glass orb with a thin metal thread in it, we basically send a very weak form of lightning magic through the thin thread which then starts glowing, much like the metal at Coldanus’s forge. We developed those over many years and we have orbs that give a lot of light.”

“Sounds complicated and useless for us, as you said.”

“Yeah,” I replied. “I guess it is, but it’s all we have. We have no magic, so we need to create things such as that instead. Through science and experimenting.”

“Science sounded fun, though.” The elf replied.

“It can be,” I replied. “It can also be dangerous. Some things can cause irreversible harm or even death when handled improperly.”

I was still playing with her hair while thinking about things that may be of interest.

“I could show you gunpowder someday soon, or well, black powder.”

“What was that again?” The elf asked, inquisitively.

Did I tell her before? I wasn’t sure anymore.

“It’s a powder that explodes with extreme force. It revolutionized warfare, but it can also be used for simpler things.”

“I’d surely be interested to see it, but I can see you’re hesitant about it.”

“I am just careful with stuff like that, Vel.”

“That’s fair.” She smiled as she took me in for another kiss.

“I love these stories. I look forward to hearing more.”

“I love telling you about them too. Let’s finish up with the silk and I’ll tell you more. Fireproof right? Let’s see if I can manage that.” I stated.

“I’m sure you can.”