"Money, huh?"

Flicking a coin into the air, Christoph caught the small silver piece as it spun.

"That's right," Emilia said with a nod. "Money."

"Money..." Pocketing the coin, he kicked off the wall he had been leaning against and reached for the sack he carried at his side. The dwarves had confiscated the small amount of supplies they'd carried from the skimmer back then, but they'd been returned after the audience with King Zachariah. The two of them had wandered the underground city for a while before settling on an inn and booking a room. "It's four silvers a night, and we eat about that much again each day in food, so... we can't stay here for long."

"Dwarves ask for too much gold." Grumbling under her breath, Emilia flopped down on the bed and stretched out over the soft mattress. Judging from the sounds she was making, the room seemed like it would be worth the money after sleeping in a jail cell for the better part of a month. Twisting around, the cat-girl's satisfied sighs gave way to small noises of frustration as she struggled with the fastenings on her dress. "Hey, get... get off already!"

"Hold up," Christoph said, dropping his pack to clamber onto the bed next to his lover. Leaning over her, he frowned as he saw that the garment's cord was already untied. "What-"

"Gotcha!" Springing up from the mattress, Emilia somehow managed to roll him over and pin him down, pulling his shirt half off while discarding her own clothing in the process. "Ahaha, a bed! Look, the room even has a bath as well! Come on, let's go already!"

"Yeah, yeah," Christoph replied, raising his arms and letting the energetic beast-woman strip him half-naked. A bath did sound good right now. "Still, don't get too used to it. We'll leave for the upper mountains within the next two days, we're only here as long as it takes us to gather supplie-"

Christoph was interrupted by a heavy knock on the door, and after a moment he realized that someone had just run into it. There was another thump and then a small pause before the repetitive rap of actual knocks were heard.

"Go away!" Emilia called out, focussing on the task at hand. "We're busy!"

"Hey, wait a second," Christoph said, pushing her hands away from the fastenings to his pants and standing up from the bed. "Who is it?"

"It's Leila," a voice replied. "Open this door before I break it down."

"Leila?" Hesitating for a moment, Christoph stepped forward to undo the latch. "Calm down, I'm opening it now-"

"Damned door and thei damned locks." The Lord of the Greater Paw pushed past him without a word of greeting, taking in the sight of her naked sister on the bed before glancing over the two with a sneer. Raising a hand, she tapped a finger into Christoph's chest to punctuate her words. "Are you an idiot? Don't. Bet. With dwarves."

"What?" Brushing her arm away, Christoph looked past the larger beast-woman to where Gideon was busy averting his eyes in the doorway. Turning towards the bed, he called out to his lover instead. "Emilia dear, please cover up with something. You're making sir Executioner here quite uncomfortable."

"Listen to me." Leaning down in front of Christoph's face, Leila locked her eyes onto his. "Zachariah isn't the king because he was born into it, he's the king because he's rich. Richer than any ten other dwarves combined. He makes bets with Charter himself. Do not. Bet. With dwarves."

"I know that," Christoph replied, "but I've already done it once before, and here we are. In any case, this is less of a bet and more of an agreement. No matter who wins, nobody loses anything."

"Nobody loses anything?" Seizing the shorter man in powerful hands, the beast woman lifted him up against the wall by his neck. "Bastias has made it clear you aren't a target for violence, but the two of you are godless from now on. Let me be clear, the dwarves are not your friends. They care for your value as a dragon slayer, and nothing more. And the treasures that the dragons guard will always belong to them."

"Leila." Forgoing her clothing in favor of her weapons, Emilia was standing on the other side of the room with her naked body pressed up against the back of her sister's hapless slave. Tapping a dagger against his neck, the younger cat-girl pulled Gideon's head to the side. "Let Christoph go."

"It doesn't matter whether you win or lose." Dropping the adventurer back onto his feet, Leila turned towards her sister as Emilia pushed the former Executioner towards her. Checking his neck for blood, the larger beast-woman patted her partner on the head and sent him from the room. "In fact, losing would be the better option of the two. In Charter's Chains, wealth begets enemies, and you two aren't exactly in need of more of those. Either of you."

"I know that," Christoph said, stepping between the sisters as Emilia bounded across the room towards him. "I don't intend to keep the treasure. I'll eat any of the crystals that still hold mana, and send the rest back to Zachariah as tribute."

"If you do that, the king's enemies will become your own!" Leila's hackles were raised now, her eyes narrowing at the stupidity of the duo before her. "King Zachariah wouldn't even settle for that much in the first place! Dwarves crave wealth, and there is never enough for them to have! And you, you want to plunder the treasures of their ancient ancestors and send them the scraps?"

"The dwarves don't move as one," Christoph replied, glancing towards where Gideon stood on the other side of the wooden door. "I'll find someone to support me while I'm here, even if it means going against the king. It wouldn't be the first time I've had an army come to kill me."

"It would be the first time you've had a god come to hunt you down." Leila's words hissed from between her teeth. Rising to her full height, she turned towards her sister with a shake of her head. "Fine, do as you wish. But remember who you are, and who you used to be. You won't survive out here if you stay as weak as you are now."

"The dragons will bring me strength," Christoph replied. Returning the beast-woman's glare with a scowl of his own, he glanced toward the door and back to her once more. "I appreciate the warning, but don't think I haven't already taken any of this into account. Enemies? I intend to make enemies of everyone, and I intend to defeat them too. Charter will not be the last god to turn his gaze towards me."

"You are a fool," Leila said. Pulling the door open, she strode through with one final shake of her head. "Enjoy your stay in King Zachariah's inn, and for Bastias' sake throw those daggers away and pick up a real weapon. You're going to need one soon."

...

"A fool, huh?"

Flicking the door key into the air, Christoph caught the small steel piece as it spun.

"That's right," Emilia said with a nod. "A fool."

"A fool..." Tossing the key onto the bed, he splashed back against the metal wall of the bath tub. The dwarves had created some sort of semi-sophisticated plumbing system, bringing up water from bore holes deep underground. They'd filled the tub where it sat in the corner of the room, and Christoph was entirely glad it was more than the oversized bucket he had been expecting. "There are eight gods, and Lucius wants to bring over Progress to rule humanity as well, so... if we don't want to be ruled over, we have to get stronger than we are now."

"Leila worries too much." Grumbling under her breath, Emilia slid back against his chest, legs splashing up out of the water at the far end of the bath. Judging from the sounds she was making, the bath seemed like it was well worth the money after sleeping in a jail cell for the better part of a month. Twisting around, the cat-girl's satisfied sighs gave way to small noises of frustration as she struggled with her position on his lap. "Hey, let's... let's go already!"

"Hold up," Christoph said. That was about enough of that. "Let's drop the comedy act for now. Do you think what Leila said is right? The bet with the king and all that."

"It's a good bet," Emilia replied. Sighing disappointedly, she rolled over on his legs and made do with draping her arms around his neck. "You both pick a dragon. If they kill their's first then they get all the treasure. If we kill ours first we get both the dragons. Either way, both dragons die in the end."

"I'm only really worried about what'll happen if we can't kill the dragon at all," Christoph said. "We'd be at Zachariah's mercy until the end of the wager. Other than that, I'm sure we'd be able to handle a couple of avaricious dwarves and their lackeys."

"It'll be fine," Emilia replied, sliding her body over his with a splash. "You were so cute when Leila picked you up, though."

"I'd rather not have my lover telling me that being held up against the wall by her sister is cute," Christoph said, flicking water over her head. An image of a Leila-sized Emilia popped into his head, and he shuddered at the thought. The cat-girl was already uncontrollable in her smaller form, if she maintained her enthusiasm while growing in size it'd be a near disaster for everyone involved. "What about the other thing? Do you think I'm a fool?"

"Of course." Rolling onto her back once more, Emilia leaned her head backward to look up into his eyes. "You wouldn't be with me if you weren't."

"Hey," Christoph replied. "There's nothing wrong with you."

"Not that you know of," Emilia said. "Besides the difference in species, anyway."

"I know more than you think," Christoph replied. "And I'm fine with you the way you are, of course."

"Of course," Emilia said, closing her eyes and pushing off the bath to grind against his body. "Of course."

"Wait a second." Pausing just as he had started reciprocating her movements, Christoph blinked down towards his grey-furred lover. "You met those guys? The Merry Brothers?"

"I saw them in Manitas," Emilia said without opening her eyes. "I tracked you down as best I could. Didn't expect to see Cecilia there, though."

"You know the dog-woman too?" Christoph made a face as he remembered the annoyingly exuberant beast-woman. They were not pleasant memories, even without Liam's anti-beast filter clouding his thoughts. "How?"

"Her sister was Leila's main rival for Bastias' affections," Emilia said. Raising a hand to his face, she urged him into movement once more. "Leila was strong in the end, of course."

"Of course," Christoph replied. "But even the strongest have rivals... I didn't think there was anyone that could stand against her like that, not without the blessing of a god at least."

"Diana, huh?" Emilia's eyes opened, her expression dark. "I still don't like that elf, you know?"

"I know," Christoph replied. Reaching down, he lifted her partway from the water before placing her back down in a more... practical position. Chuckling at the way her eyes began to gleam, he leaned down to scratch her ears and plant a kiss on her upturned forehead. "Now who's the cute one? Still, I wonder what's going on back at the plains. With the brothers, and Diana as well.

"Who cares about them," Emilia said with a moan. Reaching back to loop her arms around his neck, she tilted her head the side and let him nuzzle at the nape of her neck. Moving against him, she rocked her hips for a moment before collapsing bodily into the water. Prodding at her abdomen with a pleasant sigh, the beast-woman twisted over onto her front, feeling her lover slip from inside her with the movement. "Let's move up onto the bed. I need to dry my fur or I'll overheat and pass out before we get to the really good parts."