I looked up at the evening twilight looming above the skies of Songrande. It had been about a half an hour since we had left Brago in the King’s chambers, but I felt no remorse for the man. He had taken Dantae from me, and even used her to expose the king to radiation. Whether his guilt earlier was an act or reality, I couldn’t care less. I had gotten Dantae back, and now my only problem was that I needed to fix her.

“Stop staring at the sky, we’re almost there.” Hazeel slapped my back from behind, causing Bella to giggle. I turned my gaze downwards to the wood elf who had joined my journey earlier in the month. She smiled at my gaze and pointed behind me.

“There’s the guild of Lust. Now all we have to do is wait for Bella to be in and out to fix your weapon. I still can’t believe that a sword can transform into a human, or vice-versa, but if it’s the guild of Lust, they should possess the knowledge of a master craftsman to reforge your blade.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be in and out soon. Just sit tight.” Bella waved at us and hurriedly went inside the building, leaving Hazeel and I to stand outside ourselves.

After a few minutes of silence, Hazeel shifted closer to me and started speaking. “So the girl in the sword was your lover, correct?” I nodded, but said nothing to her inquiry.

“Even so, you slept with other women while you were together with her, no?” I sighed at her accusation, but she was correct.

“It wasn’t because I had an insatiable lust, if you’re wondering anything like that. It’s because Dantae was bi.” Hazeel cocked her head and I mentally sighed as I came to the realization that that term probably hadn’t been conceptualized here yet.

“It means bisexual. Dantae lusted for men, and at times, women.” Hazeel’s eyes widened in shock, but she still came closer to me, until our shoulders were touching.

“You enjoyed dominating them though, right?” I sighed once more, and turned to face her head on.

“That was also Dantae’s hobby, at first. Despite being a powerful person in her own right, she was a masochist at heart, and wanted to be dominated… which I eventually grew into and started enjoying myself. I never understood her. She said she enjoyed the “gap” that came from being dominated by a younger man.”

“Hmm.” Only a sound came out of Hazeel to voice her thoughts. After another moment of silence, it was her who turned to me and asked, “Do you think your lover would have like me in that way?”

I looked the wood elf up and down. Her green shins, calves, and forearms were the only sign that she was a wood elf. Apart from that, her tan skin, showed just how active, and constantly exposed to sunlight she was. Like almost every adult in this world, she was almost a full head taller than I was, and her long white hair rested on her shoulders. She had curves where it mattered the most, and a beautiful face to boot. However, the thing that drew my attention the most were her purple eyes that radiated lust and longing.

I tried to find a reason for the contrary, but reluctantly I admitted, “She would have loved having you as a sister slave.” Hazeel seemingly twitched at the word “slave”, but it had happened so quickly I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination or not.

Hazeel said nothing, and instead let her beaming smile speak for her. “Sorry to interrupt your lover’s talk, but we have some questions for you.” We were snapped out of our conversation by three men who had come from the direction of the guild.

Hazeel glanced at me, and I stepped forward. “And if I were to refuse?” The man glanced between each other and the one in the center stepped forward and looked down at me.

“Then we’d have to detain you by force, boy. Your friend’s guild membership would also be forfeit.” I started preparing myself for battle at his first sentence, but the second gave me pause. Even if we were to kill the people in front of us, we’d have to exterminate the entire guild to be rid of that nuisance for good, and even then we’d turn the other guilds against us, all because we didn’t want to talk? After thinking about it, I decided that I’d only kill if they gave me reason to.

“Very well, we’ll follow you.” I waved my hand at the trio, who flinched at the action. I did nothing else, and a few seconds passed before they stirred.

Opening his eyes, the center man chuckled. “Ha, just a feint I see.” I pointed behind him, to which he turned and saw that his comrades had vanished.

I gave the man a cold, emotionless stare and said, “Just because we are cooperating without resistance, don’t take that as a sign of weakness on our part. Rather, take it as a sign of restraint.”

The man audibly gulped and gestured for us to follow behind him. I heard him mutter, “This is Tavion. Please search the city perimeters for Don and Draig. They might need some help with photon poisoning after that.”

My eyes widened. These were the first people I have encountered in this world who knew of photons. As expected of the guild that had been amassing knowledge since their inception. I made a mental note to be a bit more cautious in the future, and followed the man into the Guild of Lust.

---

Tavion shivered as he imagined the gaze of the strange boy on him. The child couldn’t have been older than his son, yet already had the aura and poise of a killer. The fact that he was that way at such a young age shook Tavion to his core, and called into question one of his basic beliefs: the fact that all children deserve a loving home, no matter what mentality the children had.

Seeing such a child just made Tavion sad, but that sadness was completely overturned by the fear that such a child held considerable power, and right now that cannonlike power was aimed squarely at the guild.

Although judging by the conversation those two were having before he arrived, could the boy actually be a small man? Tavion paused in thought and stopped walking as he reached the doors to the guild.

“No… that can’t be it.” He heard a cough from behind him, and turned to look at the wood elf. He had seen many before the King had outlawed them from major cities, but never one so advanced in age, or physique.

She must just have ‘those’ kinds of kinks, poor boy. Tavion thought sagely to himself as he led the pair deeper into the guild. What the guild leader thought that bringing someone akin to a bomb into the guild would accomplish was anyone’s guess.

The doors to the guild opened, and all the activity that had been happening when Tavion had left seemed like nothing more than a distant memory. ‘What the hell is going on?’ Tavion thought to himself as he guided the two through the empty building.

Finally reaching the door to the guildmaster’s office, Tavion tried to open the doors but found them locked shut. “What the?” Tavion only had time to spit out those short words before a loud crash shook the floor that they were standing on.

“Welcome to my palace.” A somber voice echoed throughout the hollow guild. The doors began to slowly open, revealing a young woman inside. “Heads to the floor, maggots! Prostrate before the might of the 6th Coat of Arms, Regin Xandra!”