Did not proofread. Sorry if theres any errors.

Eiffel was a prosperous town that benefited from trade with nearby towns occasionally. Farmland covered a majority of the region. It was quiet and suited those that enjoyed a humble living.

It didn’t have the hustle and bustle of Helgathor, but these women needed something new and Eiffel was a good place to start considering its distance from Helgathor. Without the slave contract’s magic seal, claims of their previous slavery would not be verified. Even then, only adventurers, merchants, and nobles had the means to cross Kandor forest despite it being E Rank territory and they came and went like the wind.

As the wagon neared the gate, they couldn’t help but exclaim at its grandeur. The gate seemed to stretch around the entirety of Eiffel and all its land. Ares could guess that it was to bar any magical beasts from entering through Kandor Forest, but for it to be this big and sturdy, he became curious, but as the guards let them through, his interest lay in the people of Eiffel. Everyone dressed simply, the material from the cloth undeniably cotton. Some, obviously warriors, equipped worn leather that experienced the might of magical beasts. The ground was wet and had a deep light earthen color, leaving a print as one laid their feet upon it. The brisk wind caressed their faces, but the darkening clouds caused them to hurry through the gate.

“We’re finally here!” Sapphire said, rubbing her head against Eiffel’s fertile ground. Her mouth curled up like a cat, her body ungracefully groveling on the ground, the others laughed as they slowly disembarked the wagon. She was originally a farmer near the border and the smell of a daily harvest entered her nostrils as if welcoming her. She already made plans to buy some land, confident in her ability to make a profitable yield. Her blue eyes were clear like the sky and her blond hair dropped on her shoulders as she stood up, inhaling the air.

Annabelle sighed at Sapphire’s uncouth behavior, but could not hide the tremendous relief she felt stepping onto Eiffel’s soil. Annabelle’s red hair was just as long as Sapphire’s and her eyes were dark brown. She wore an earring with a small bell attached to it, though it would rarely ring. When she was bought by Gulliver, she refused to remove it for more luxurious jewelry to better please the eyes of his guests. No matter how much he beat her, she didn’t relinquish it. More importantly, no one dared to ask her why it was important. “Everyone has their secrets.” Ares said when he learned of this from Sapphire.

Annabelle was the last to get off and her earring let out an angelic vibration that quickly caught the attention of everyone in her vicinity, as well as some of the guards. Beautiful women left the wagon one by one. Seeing them aggregate towards Ares, the sole man among them, the guards trotted towards them after letting them past the gate, but was quickly stopped by a man nearly a head taller than the rest.

“Can we help you ladies with anything?” The taller guard said, displeased with the way they caused his guards to react.

“No thanks—“ Silver began, but was immediately interrupted by Sapphire.

“Please. Can you show us where we can purchase some land and a home?” Sapphire walked towards the guard with a bright smile and pretended to trip, landing right into his arms. A sweet scent filled his nostrils immediately. She lifted her head and stared into his flushed face. “Ugh. I’m sorry. This trip has been so hard on my body.” She let out panted breaths onto his chest and her disheveled hair began to stick to his chest. Her eyes screamed a sense of vulnerability and she pushed the guard away. Before he could take another step, she tripped over another rock unable to be seen by the naked eye.

The others were flabbergasted by her performance. Though they had been used by men close to their whole lives, with that came an ability to control them. If Silver was the prettiest among them, but Sapphire was definitely the most skilled given her level of beauty.

The guard pulled her into his grasp as she fell and her breasts slammed into his body. ‘Hehe. Too easy.’ She thought. She looked up to the guard once more and to her surprise the guard’s face was filled with genuine worry. She was planning to manipulate him to help the women integrate into the town without difficulty. She easily identified him as the captain of the guards and made her move on him. Before she could finish her thoughts, the guard bent down and reached him arms around her legs, picking her up with ease. “Eh?” Looking closely, the captain had a masculine aura. His brown eyes shone with a chivalrous light that enraptured a few of the women. Sapphire blushed genuinely. Looking up to him, the sun gave his hair a golden edge. As he lifted her up, her dress fell to her thighs and continued. She quickly pushed the dress to her knees, suddenly gaining a sense of modesty. ‘This brute.’ Sapphire thought angrily.

“You need to see a healer, now! Thomas, guide these women to the chief.” The captain said in a deep voice that commanded authority.

“Y-Yes, Captain Fellzat!” Thomas said, saluting him and regaining his composure.

Fellzat quickly ran through Eiffel with blinding speed, leaving the other women along with Ares in a daze. Seeing their lost expressions as they saw Fellzat run off with a member of their group, Thomas coughed trying to get their attention.

“Please excuse our captain. R-Right this way.” Thomas said nervously, he was always left to clean up Fellzat’s mess. Explaining to them that the woman would be fine with the captain, the group hesitantly followed Thomas.

Walking through the town, Thomas mentioned many of the town’s important structures. Pointing at the nearby library, Thomas began.

“This is one of three libraries in Eiffel, The Easton Library” Thomas said excitedly. He was definitely an avid reader, or a fervent visitor at the least. “The previous owner retired and lives near the center of town. Irusus runs it now as well as a small school for children.” Thomas bragged. “Our town is very blessed to have him. There are rumors that he’s a retired instructor from a school, but he’s way too young.”

Annabelle was rather indifferent towards Eiffel’s attractions as Thomas called them. However, this piqued her interest. She didn’t expect a library so soon and she ran out of books to read on the way here. Stopping for a few seconds, she made her decision.

“I’m going. Pick me up when we’ve established our residence.” She told Silver. Before she could answer, she hurried off to the entrance and saw its humble aesthetic. Reading its small sign above the double doors, Annabelle went in. Expecting a small collection, her mouth agape with surprise she saw the numerous bookshelves in its glorious uniformity. The scent of aged paper and flecks of dust that shone in the light coming down from its circular window was inspiring. Her body flew to the nearest bookshelf and she shuddered in ecstasy.

“Renlo, Haverpatch, Jinusen… They’re all here…” Her eyes stared wildly at the books in front of her. She had heard about these classic writers from scholarly men that bedded her, but she never dreamed she would be able to read their work one day. Just as her fingers reached out towards the spine of Renlo’s Eve Of A Moonlight Romance, a light voice reached her ears from afar along with the shuffling of paper.

“I-I’ll be right with you! Just give me a moment!” The man said, his long blond hair tied at the base of his neck and draping over his collarbone. He had a lean build, not common for a scholar and would occasionally adjust his glasses.

She pulled her hand back not paying much attention to the man, but she nearly lost her voice looking at the author of the book the man was holding.

“N-N-Neraptus…” She muttered, trembling as she nearly lost her footing.

“A young man who died before his best years. Who knows what other masterpieces he would have created had he survived The Great War.” The man let out a sigh and silently paid respect to the author before giving Annabelle his attention. “Now, how may I—“ Before he could finish, the red-haired woman charged him, reaching her hand out to grab the treasure before her eyes. As he pulled back, he slipped on a book and the girl’s weight came crashing down on him.

****

“Did you hear something?” Silver asked, a slight furrow in her brow. As she was about to pace back towards the Easton Library, she felt a blanket of warmth envelop her hand. “Huh?” Ares clumsily held a firm grip on her hand, but trembled in a rhythm that synched with his heart.

He was looking for this chance as they neared what Thomas said was the butcher’s shop, Furrowing Pigs. He violently pulled her to his side, but didn’t dare look into her eyes. Stiffening as they walked, a few of the women quickly occupied Thomas’s attention and led him astray while one forcefully pulled Marie away from the budding couple.

He himself had no money and he left the gold Ryner had given him with the rest of the group, telling them to find him and Silver once they bought the house before pulling the small girl away. He secretly bought a silver earring with the little gold he slipped from the bag. As he readied hi heart, his ears perked up at the mention at the mention of Gillius’s name from the butcher’s customer.

“C’mon Vallen. There’s no way you used to sell meat to General Gillius.” The young man began to tease. “You’re telling me he chose to buy meat from you when he could have any meat in Helgathor.”

“You ignorant lad! I owned the best meat shop in Helgathor!” Vallen screamed back, fuming with anger, his face taking on a red flush. He slammed his hairy hands on the counter ready to pounce on the young man. “I’ll let you know that heroic man bought meat from me alone!”

“Whatever.” The young man said digging for ear wax with his pinky. Blowing towards the butchered cow hanging near the shop’s counter, he continued with a face of annoyance. “He’s not even that great. I heard he bought a slave right after leaving that other kid he took in to die on an island. Everyone praised him for his generosity, yet buying a slave right after he found out the other was a criminal. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the reason he took the first one in the first place.” The young man sneered, seeing Vallen gritting his teeth, silent before his words. “Anyway, give me my bunny.”

“I won’t sell to anyone that besmirches our beloved general! Find another butcher, you ingrate!” Vallen shouted angrily at the young man and pointed towards another butcher far from his establishments. “I don’t need customers like you!”

As the man young man left in embarrassment, seeing the crowd gather around him, Vallen crossed his arms. “Hmph.” He went to back of his shop, loud chopping and sound of falling limbs filling the air.

Hearing the conversation, the seed of doubt placed within all those years on Diatie began to grow rapidly. “Another slave?” Ares heart almost burst through his chest and he began to genuinely panic. In the end, he was still only fifteen years old. A boy seeking his family.

His thoughts rushed to Myra’s face, Vivian and Astercoth, and Krystal’s soft whines as the light enveloped him. Was he truly abandoned? Had he been played for a fool this whole time? Ares broke out into a cold sweat, his hand losing all the strength and courage he exuded previously.

Silver didn’t say anything. She too heard the conversation and knew Ares was looking for his Gillius. She quietly pulled him away and headed in the opposite direction.

Ares was in a daze and felt a piece of his soul leave him. After Silver dragged him to a few open stalls in their area, he could see trying so hard for him, but his mind was in disaray. Silver tried to shift his mind to other places, but his mind was too occupied.

“Silver… Should I stop here?” Ares asked, stopping dead in his tracks. Silver felt like she was pulling a tree and the words she had been holding since Ares told her of his situation burst out.

“You don’t owe him anything!” Silver reprimanded, punching his chest. “You’ve done well enough without him. You don’t need him.” She clenched her fists at her sides, looking down on the ground in seething anger. “… You don’t need him…” It wasn’t her place to denounce him. She hated Gillius from the bottom of her heart. How could she not? She left the only man she’s ever loved on an island to fend for himself when he was a boy to protect himself and his family. The fact that Ares would eventually leave her to chase after such a man was something she could not accept, tasting the pending happiness she would experience should he stay. How could she let him go?

There was a strange stillness in the air that was pierced by the crackling of thunder and light raindrops began to putter the ground, increasing in number steadily.

“I see…” Ares stared into the dark clouds, his hair sticking to his face from its wetness. “I guess this is why Myra called me an idiot.” He said lightly before chuckling with resignation and disappointment, ridiculing himself and his blind actions to fulfill a promise ten years ago that the other party might not even welcome. But in his heart, he still didn’t hate Gillius. He treated him well and prevented his immediate execution. Even moreso, without his encouragement, Ares would have resigned himself to death the moment he swam to the shores of Diatie. He would’ve never made the bonds he forged there and become such a strong and knowledgeable young man. But did Gillius do him a favor worth chasing across the continent? He wasn’t even his biological father… After some solid thought, Ares decided that ending it here would be okay. He had done enough. He survived and that was all that Gillius wished for. ‘Was it merely because I had no direction in my life? Nothing else to live for?” He asked himself.

As he looked to the dark sky, he lightly smiled and turned to Silver. “… I’ve… done enough. This is okay. I can stop here.”

He pulled an earring from the cuff of his sleeve while Silver hung her head low. He hoped to surprise her. He took a deep breath, gathering his courage, only to be surprised himself moments later. Silver grabbed his arm and wrapped it around her neck. She shifted her weight onto his chest and placed both her hands delicately on his side. Seeing his expression, Silver lightly chuckled slyly and drew her body closer to his before continuing to look around.

“Where should we go next?” Silver excitedly asked, trying to lighten the mood. But Ares focused his attention on her beautiful and hair and lust-inducing eyes. A heavenly scent reached his nose and he began to grasp locks of her hair, only to see them slip away between his fingers.

“How about—“ Silver couldn’t continue speaking. Ares eyes were locked onto hers in a mature fashion that exceeded his age.

Ares clumsily grabbed her head and pressed his lips against hers. She could barely breathe and the kiss grew deeper and deeper, their tongues interlocking like coiling snakes. Their hair tangled into each other made it more difficult As she pushed him away to catch her breath, he pulled her in once more, wrapping his arm around her slim waist. Their lips parted, and Silver was speechless. Her whole face was tomato-red, but Ares solemn eyes brought her back to reality.

“Ares, you’re leaving. You shouldn’t give me hope—“ Silver said, turning her head away.

“Bel. Just call me Bel.” He said in a clear mind. His thoughts her like a still sea. Tranquil. He skillfully put the earring on her with one hand. It was the shape of a diamond that hung from her lobe, a crimson sphere in the very center.

Seeing Thomas in the distance, Ares locked his fingers into hers, smiling coolly under the now battering rain that hid her tears too well. “Let’s go home.”