(Jamie)

"So let me get this straight," Max says as we create a clearing for us to sit in after reaching the Eight Floor. "You were approached by a seventh god? And he made you a Paladin? And you didn't even accept it?"

"Yeah."

"That's kind of breaking professional courtesy among the gods, for starters," he says. "But I've never heard even a rumor of a seventh god."

"I got the impression," I say. "That the other gods didn't like him. And I'm pretty sure I know why."

He's a god of mysteries. There are a lot of unknowns about him, and it seems that though he has a smaller following, his following might be a lot more unpredictable.

Unpredictable in a way that might annoy the God of Chaos.

"This could be problematic."

"How so?" I glance at Cole, who's eating lunch while watching our conversation. "It's not like we're already having our share of problems.

The beastborn has on a dark blue vest tied together at the front with leather cords, no sleeves, and a pair of black pants, as well as a leather belt, but nothing else. It's all he'd agree to let me get for him, and getting the clerk to sell them for him was a pain in the ass.

I may have smashed her counter in my anger. She agreed to the sale after that. Apparently, that stone is known for being particularly resistant to strong adventurers.

So yeah, we're dealing with problems already, yet his tone implied that these issues are serious.

"Because," he sighs. "I'm the son of a god different from the one you now serve. It's seen as a conflict of interest for me to train you without my father and your patron communicating and saying it's okay. Technically, I should only treat you in a professional manner, now, unless we were working as a team to deal with an issue. And other complicated shit. It's complicated. Basically, I can't train you anymore, and we can't have sex anymore, either."

Ah. Well, that sucks, then. Bastard probably did this for fun, just to mess with us. Or Max. Or Itimar.

Probably them.

"So what, now?" I ask.

"Now?" He sighs, holding his hands up in front of him. An orb of light forms, and he peers into it. "Father?"

"Yes?" Itimar's voice floats from the light. "Why are you contacting me?"

"How many gods are there?"

"Six, why?"

"So there's not a seventh god?" Max asks. "One of riddles and-"

"Shit," Itimar says. "Trickster showed up? What did he do?"

"Trickster?" Max asks.

"Okay, so there are seven gods," Itimar says. "But we seriously try to forget about him. He's too chaotic, even for me. Him and his whole damn following. Thankfully, it's rather small, so the damage dealt is often minimal. It's been a long time since he appointed a Hero, thank us, and a long time since he's gathered his order for war… or something. Oh, dear. That last incident… it took us six hundred years to clean up that mess. I don't even want to know why his order gave pudding sentience."

What?

"What did he do this time?" Itimar asks. "How is it affecting you?"

"So there really is a seventh god?"

"We try to forget about him."

We got that.

"Well, he apparently came to Jamie in a dream last night and made him a Paladin."

Itimar sighs heavily.

"The fact that he didn't inform me of this," Itimar says. "Means that he'll probably be evasive about allowing you to train him. Come back home. Give Jamie some excuse or something, and that you don't know when you'll be back."

I mouth to Max, "Can he hear me?"

"Father," Max sighs. "I'm sitting right in front of him."

Itimar doesn't respond to that.

"Hello, Lord Itimar."

"Did he at least allow you to accept the Class?" Itimar asks. "Or did he just dump it on you, like usual?"

"That's common?"

"I don't think he's ever had a single Paladin who ever actually agreed to become one," he sighs. "Whatever you do, don't use Die of Mystery. It can be beneficial… or cause utter chaos. Trust me on that. There was this one time, a Priest of Riddles used it, and everything within a hundred yards turned pink. Permanently. It's actually spawned a cult… and that was two hundred years ago. The cult still lives.

A cult of what? Pink things?

"Anyway," Itimar says. "Max, I need you to come home until we can sort this shit out. That means you can't beg Jamie for his dick anymore."

Cole looks surprisingly disinterested in what's going on. He does understand we're talking to a god, doesn't he? He's focused entirely on his lunch as this point.

"Understood," Max looks irritated by the comment, though I'm pretty sure it's more from that reminder than anything.

"Is that Cole Goldring I sense there?" Itimar asks curiously. "It is! Hello, Cole. I promise you that I do not hold what you did against you. You were acting on your master's orders. Honestly, it serves him right, getting that Taboo. Koomoo was staring him down up until the moment it became obvious he intended on ignoring the rules. Heh. It's not often we give the Taboos directly, but Koomoo didn't want to wait the extra eighty-seven seconds. Anyway. So I don't hold that against you. We'll put the little incident behind us, shall we?

"Max," the god's voice turns more serious once more. "Time to go."

The Demigod and the orb vanish.

I look at Cole, whose cheeks are crimson as he stares at his sandwich.

"What did you do?" I ask.

"I'd rather forget about it," he mumbles. "Though it's good to know that Lord Itimar doesn't… doesn't hold it against me. I think."

"Pretty sure he was being honest."

Cole shrugs, then we finish eating lunch. I tell him to practice his knife skills in the clearing while I train some more, and he nods. I exit the clearing, making my way to the mountain pass, where the harem team is walking out. They slay the golems, then dip their heads to me.

"Training alone?" The leader asks.

"Sort of," I answer. "Max, ah, had to go for awhile unexpectedly. I do have another teammate, though. He's a bit too weak to really be up here, so he's training in a flattened area."

"Ah," he says. "So what are you doing all the way out here?"

"Making money," I answer, then get to work returning to the clearing.

I make it to the golems and back twice more before they reach Cole, who's looking a bit nervous with them.

"You didn't tell me he was one of them," the leader looks agitated.

"One of who?" I pretend to not understand his question. I look at Cole, then back at the harem team. "I mean, yeah, he's a rogue, but that doesn't mean much. It's good to have a rogue in the party, right?"

"I meant a Beastborn," he says in a low, almost hostile voice. "How did it get this far into the city?"

"Sorry," I say. "You'll have to explain to this newbie exactly how a Beastborn being here is an issue, because I see him as a valuable member of my team."

"You're one of those freaks that gets off to inhuman shit, aren't you?"

"No," I smile. "I'm one of those freaks that's akin to a power-leveler, but with actual skill."

He draws his sword and rushes in, snarling the Beastborn have no right to be here. I grip my blade, feeling it bite my hand, and in a fluid motion, I block his attack, then strike fast and hard, cutting through the armor on his shoulder deep enough that he loses the use of his arm, dropping his sword.

One-Handed Swords Mastery is Now Level 4! Squire is Now Level 4! +2 STR +1 END

I point the tip of my blade at his throat, my entire movement fast enough that he could likely barely perceive it.

"Let me make one thing clear," I say in a friendly, jovial tone. "You might have more experience than me, but I have more raw Stats. It won't be long before I reach Orange, I'm sure. All I need is a bit more Experience.

"Cole is a valuable member of my team," I continue in the same cheerful tone. "He will remain on it until such a time as he decides to leave or pisses me off to the point I don't want him on it. You've done the latter, and thus will never have a chance of being on my team.

"Now get out of my sight," I growl, my expression turning dangerous. "And never, ever try to attack me or mine again. Next time, I won't give you an injury you can heal. I will kill you. And then, I will kill your team."

I meet the gaze of each member of his team, who all pale the moment I do.

"Now get out of my sight," I say. "And never cause issues for us again."

They scramble past me and through the portal, and I look at Cole, who looks unsure.

"You shouldn't protect me," he says. "It'll only cause problems for you."

"I got thrown out of a city for refusing to part ways with a half-dragon who looks completely human," I tell him. "I have the power to protect you, for now, and I don't intend on never not being able to. You want to be a part of my team, and I think you're a decent person."

"I really just want to be a part of your harem."

"We'll have to get to know each other, first."

"Didn't you fuck Max when you two first met?"

"We also continued to fuck until a few days ago," I say. "That may or may not have been an error in my judgment. However, things are different. Give it a little bit of time, Cole. You're a bit different from Max in that you weren't kept ignorant and away from shit. You never even masturbated before last night, and didn't really socialize in the way you should have. So let us get to know each other, okay?"

He nods, looking disappointed, his tail dropped. I walk over to him and pull him against me in a hug, then tell him that we should get back to work on training.

When we finish, we head back into the city and sell off my loot, then I take him to a restaurant, where we are given absolutely no crap for him being a Wolf Beastborn. Probably because word of my protectiveness of him is spreading, and it's near where I rescued him at.

After dinner, we head back to the inn and bathe, soaking for an hour before drying off and climbing onto the bed.

Cole curls up again, and I touch him on the side. He looks over at me.

"Mind if I ask why you sleep like that?"

"It feels good," he shrugs a little. "If I sleep on my back, my tail goes between my legs, and often rubs, well, you know. That just feels weird. Sleeping on my side, curled up, feels nice and natural to me."

Probably because of the wolf nature in him.

"Alright," I say, then rub his ears. They twitch a little, and his tail swishes. He likes this. "Good night, Cole."

"Good night, Jamie," he says. "And thanks. For everything."

I nod, and he turns his head back so he's facing the other way, and I relax, closing my eyes. Why does he sleep facing away from me, though? I'd think he'd want to face me, both as a protective thing, and so he can ogle me as I sleep.

Or maybe… that's why he doesn't. He's not facing me when he sleeps because he'll be tempted to watch me sleep, and he doesn't want to get hard in bed. At least, not while I'm rejecting him. Just thinking about his own boner causes mine to grow, and I sigh.

Cole shifts a little, still awake. What did he think of my sigh? Hopefully, it's nothing too big. If he mistook it as being because of him in a negative way, I'm sure it'll come to light, and I'll be able to clear it up.