After the night spent drinking at the Damash cost, Mike and Xyenna went back to sleep. Considering only slight repercussions that the young merchant had to face after being poisoned, this form of apology was sufficient for him. Unsurprisingly, after a good night of rest, he was fully revitalised.

Waking up with the sunrise was a habit that Mike attained shortly after becoming a merchant. Time won't wait for anyone, and where everyone else could happily sleep, traders and peddlers were in full swing of their work. Securing assets, planning the routes, taking care of the animals… Despite living currently in the Inn where designated personnel would take care of those mundane tasks, Mike still woke up as usual.

Not bothering to even dress, he stood up from the bed and moved to the window. Thankfully, it was located high enough to hide his bottom parts. Not worrying about his appearance at all, merchant opened the shutters and took in a huge mouthful of air.

While he was only on the second floor, the view that extended from his position was breathtaking. The city basked in the sunrise, the smell of freshly baked breed coming from a nearby bakery, lazy voices of people slowly waking up and starting their daily routine. Despite changing his profession to a rather boring one, he only occasionally was free enough to enjoy the morning.

After a long while of simply leaning through the window and staring into the distance, Mike finally gathered himself back together. Not bothering to even close the shutters, he walked to the chair where he left his clothes previously. Hastily putting all his robes on, he was finally able to start working.

Before moving on, Mike swiftly packed a few of his belongings and exited the room. Just a few steps later, he stood before yet another wooden blockade, knocking on it to wake Xyenna up.

He could understand her lack of response after knocking once, but after the second and third attempt, he took a deep breath and pushed the door open. While he knew Xyenna's habit of sleeping, up to this time they always either spent the night in separate rooms or out in the open. He really wasn't prepared for the sight that welcomed him!

In theory, when sleeping in bed one should be covered by a blanket. Contrary to men, women also used to wear nightgowns to sleep. On this day, Mike learned that both of those barriers didn't necessarily protect woman charms!

With the quilt lying on the floor and the thin gown rolled right up the upper part of her thighs, Xyenna was truly a picture to remember. Starting from the top, her bed hair covered half of her face, wearing a dreamlike expression. Down the line, her delicate collarbone was rising along with her supple breast as she breathed through her sleep. Not even the temples at the top of her two mountains hid from the merchant's sight!

As his eyes travelled downwards, velvet-like skin covered her waist, with regular, slight bulges on her delicate belly muscles. Just when he was about to check out her most precious part, he finally came back to his mind!

Recovering from his stunned stance, he swiftly came to her side, grabbed the quilt from the floor, and throw it on the girl's body. No matter how great she looked, he was allowed to see those parts only after she consciously let him do so! If he couldn't handle his libido, he could always go and visit a brothel after all!

"Wake the hell up, swordmistress. We have a duel to win!"

Not daring to come close to the asleep girl, Mike limited himself to shout those words from a close distance. His decision soon proved right, when the startled Xyenna jumped from her bed, pulled the sword from the scabbard lying nearby and tried to cut him down. Only by stepping away did he avoid getting hurt by her outburst!

"Oh, my… If I should treat this as a reckless invitation to some kind of play, don't you think we should wait before the duel ends?"

By leaving her bed to execute this attack, Xyenna lost the only shield that covered her charms again! Even with his earlier decision, Mike couldn't help but send a glance to her breast, jiggling from the sudden movement.

After a second of admiring the sight, he reluctantly turned around to give the girl some privacy.

"Dress up, we have work to do!"

After saying his piece, he didn't dare to wait for Xyenna answer. Who knows what kind of idea might appear in her flustered mind? Swiftly leaving the room, he immediately closed the doors behind him and rested his back against the wall. This decision did payout yet again when he heard a delayed scream and saw the tip of the blade piercing the doors he just closed!

'Let's hope she will come to her senses soon…' Reluctant to fight his own guardian, Mike didn't wish for any conflict to arise between them. After calming her head, she couldn't blame him either!

When she finally opened the doors, the girl passed the Mike with a harrumph and moved to the stairs. While pouting, her disposition didn't betray any funny ideas. Lamenting at the fate that paired him with this fiery girl, Mike exhaled deeply and followed her steps.

After a short while later, they arrived at the Inn's doorstep, where Damash carriage was already waiting for them. Mike's earlier reminder wasn't a lie. Even before the duel, they had to complete a few of the formal jobs to make sure that any potential outcome of the fight wouldn't hinder the business!

"How was your night guys?"

Unaware of the current acid between the duo, the burly man tried to strike a conversation with them.

"Humph!"

Sadly to him, a loud pout was all that he received in the form of a response from the girl. Scratching his head in confusion, he looked at Mike.

"Don't ask me about it. All of us should pretend that nothing happened at all…"

While those words attracted a furious Xyenna gaze, Mike's current priority was to cut this topic and focus on work. After the duel, she could vent her fury on him, but before, she had to stay in the top condition!

"Okay then. Cutting the crap, we have found a few warehouses that might interest you. Later on, there is a visit to our headquarters and finally the duel. We need to hurry a bit since no one wants you to be late!"

While Damash was puzzled, he obediently ignored Xyenna's strange attitude. There was no need to dig deeper into this matter as it didn't involve him at all!

Travelling in carriage allowed them to reach the city outskirts in just a few minutes short of half an hour. Be it Noble's mindfulness or just sheer luck; all the proposed warehouses were located in the same vicinity!

It took them only a short trip through all the proposed locations to let Mike decide. All of them had a similar capacity and size; The only thing that differed between them was the accessibility to the main city road. By exchanging the letter of introduction from Noble's faction and giving a few gold coins away, Mike became a proud rentier of the said warehouse!

Since they saved a lot of time thanks to his quick decision, on the way to Noble's headquarters, they stopped by the street stalls and eat their breakfast. While all of them were used to meat - Mike and Xyen from hunting while travelling and Damash from dining in the Inn daily - the taste of boar skewers were way over the top! At that time Mike even tried to acquire either the recipe or the spice mix they were using, only to completely fail his task.

While that was truly a pity, he could still comfort himself with the small box of Virviruta safely kept in the Burgen warehouse they rented a few days ago. All he had to do to eat something even more delicious was finishing his task and returning there!

After eating the dinner on the go, Mike's party resumed their travel to Noble's headquarters. While the duel was supposed to be just local strife between Xyenna and a random guard, Noble faction involvement turned the situation around into a grand fight between their political opponents! Even now there were people in heated discussions about who would in their opinion win!

"Don't worry about the duel. Our people are already manning the site. I know it turned out to be rather an ugly thing, so at least we will do our best to keep it fair and as easy as it is supposed to be!"

Noticing the anxious looks that Mike was sending outside the wagon they were travelling in, Damash proclaimed.

"Don't even try to convince me that you are as influential in the city area as the guards. While the chosen place is outside the town, those fields are still considered City Hall territory. There is no way they won't try to play some tricks!"

Annoyed by Damash's words, Mike lashed out at him. While the fight in itself should not be a problem at all, since it turned into a prestige war between factions, some real problems were bound to appear!

That was one of the reasons why he didn't hold back at the meeting with Ritzy. It was obvious that disgraced youth would try his best to get back at him and the easiest way to do so was by supporting the opposing faction. But he was powerless by himself. If he wanted to try to meddle in the matters, he had to call for help from the Xantia family. That was what Mike was betting on in case of trouble! As to why he didn't rely on the guards to deliver the message first… Even such a stupid manager was bound to have some means of contacting the headquarters at his disposal!

When they finally arrived at Noble's mansion, the whole lounge was already cleared out of the people. Right when they stepped through the carriage doors and entered the building, they were greeted by a variety of maps lying everywhere around!

With the help of multiple attendants running around providing the best help they could, the future layout of the distribution pavilions was quickly drawn. While it sounded hard on the surface, the whole idea was based on investing in the biggest villages in the area, since they mostly already had various connections to the other settlements!

After tuning the details out and shaking the hands with the Lord that came to visit them himself, they were finally free! With about three hours remaining before the duel, Xyenna decided that she wants to take a rest in the quiet Inn instead of heading for the arena right away.

The road back took them only about twenty minutes, leaving them with a nice buffer before the fight. While the girl intended to just take a quick rest, drink small bout of alcohol to heat her body before the fight, Mike had another idea!

Quickly running to his room, he brought out a sizeable bag with him and entered Xyenna's place. Uncovering elaborate armour he sneakily bought and enchanted recently, Mike could admire his bodyguard's an amazed expression.

The whole set compromised of single armlet, intricate metal glove, two inner tight plates, chain-mail shirt for the armour, long pants made with hardened leather, special belts to bind all the protection equipment in place and a long dress to cover it all.

"I want you to wear it. While it cost quite a bit, I don't want to lose my guard to some shitty schemes of stupid faction. I only enchanted the dress and the chain-mail last night, but I hope that will be enough."

Mike exhaled deeply, only now expressing his worry for his friend. While they had a fair bit of quarrels in the past, the time they spent together still made him treasure her a lot.

"You didn't need to do it though!"

Seeing the amazing set that she would never hope to get by herself, Xyenna couldn't help but feel stunned. While it looked rather ordinary for female armour, she could feel a strange tingle as she touched the pieces. While he might enchant himself only two parts of it, she was sure that someone else already enchanted the whole thing!

The burden put at the enchanter was immense during their working process, making the prices of enchanted stuff skyrocket! A simple sword with an ordinary example could fetch twenty times its usual price!

"Yes, I didn't need to do it. But what's done is done. Don't make me regret this choice though!"

Trying to ease up the tense atmosphere, Mike laughed and turned to leave when he felt a strong grip on his arm.

"I want you to watch."

Xyenna's voice seemed like it was on the verge of breaking, but she still managed to finish this short sentence properly.

"Oh, don't you worry! I will be sure to watch the duel!"

Mike turned his head around and affirmed his bodyguard. Only then did he notice seriousness on her face.

"Oh, cut the crap and just stay put!"

Suddenly annoyed by something, pulled him towards the centre of the room and pushed him on the chair.

"I won't offer it again!"

Just as she spoke those words, she decisively took her jacket off and pulled her tunic over her head. While all the Mike could see was her exposed back, the whole situation instantly startled him!

"I don't think I should be…"

As soon as he tried to interject and move up, Xyenna turned around and smashed him back on the chair. Her exposed breast wiggled along with her movement, instantly attracting Mike's gaze. While pushing him on the seat, her pink tips even brushed past his lips!

"Don't you dare to move!"

Red on her whole face, Xyenna straightened up and continued undressing. Short upper skirt, long everyday pants… In just a few movements all she had left on herself was a set of undergarments covering her most precious part. Her exposed, long legs were as attractive as her bare breast, confusing Mike who was unable to decide where to look like!

"What should I start with?"

Straightening herself back up, Xyenna stared at merchant's eyes with a dark red blush on her face. Despite the obvious nervousness she felt, she didn't break the eye contact!

"What do you even mean, it's not the time…"

"In what order do you want me to put the equipment on!"

Annoyed by Mike indecisiveness, she pointed out at the armour pieces lying on the bed.

"Ugh… I think with the thigh plates?"

Stunned by the whole situation, Mike could only utter the name of the first thing he saw when he followed her palm with his eyes.

"Will do!"

Smiling deviously, Xyenna slowly moved toward the bed and bent over it while keeping her legs straight. Faced with the perfect outline of her bottom, Mike could feel a bout of blood bursting through his veins downwards.

After grabbing two pieces of armour, the girl put them on her legs and stopped.

"How I'm supposed to lock them in place?"

While there were special belts designed for this purpose, the plates were supposed to be worn on top of the pants, not on the bare legs!

"I think I was wrong. The pants should go first…."

Mike's heart was beating faster and faster. While he was a skilled warrior himself and was put through countless life and death situations in the past, this shrewd girl managed to show him his place!

"Okay!"

Passing away the plates to Mike, Xyenna grabbed the pants and started to slowly put them on. When the merchant thought that the worst had already passed, she turned back to him while holding the pants right below her undergarment.

"Would you mind helping me out? I can't hold the cloth while putting the plates on!"

Smiling cheerfully, Xyenna closed on the Mike. Not giving him any time to regain any composure, she embraced his head with her arms and pulled it closer to her abdomen.

Left with no other choice, merchant tried to ignore the sweet smell of her body. Putting first place in its designed place, he strapped both belts around, locking them in the special holders on the pants. When he finally tightened the belts, his face smashed against Xyenna belly as he heard her quiet moan.

"Excuse me, I didn't expect it to be so tight!"

The girl commented with a mischievous voice, letting Mike pull his head away from her belly. This time, he was really careful to not fall into her trap! Thanks to that, the second plate got mounted with no additional stimulant to his crotch.

Just as Mike though that after all the trouble, this elaborate torture was already over, Xyenna finally pulled her pants up all the way…. Only to fasten her belt and raise her hands! With her bust still exposed, her breast nicely stretched, taking on the most arousing form!

"Those belts made me a little light-headed, can you help me put my tunic on?"

This time, Mike only sighed. Turning himself down as to not immediately assault her, he reached for the piece of thin cloth. As he was pulling it down her hands, Xyenna twitched a bit, making his hands come into contact with her straightened up nipples for a second! Thankfully, this lasted for only a fraction of a second. Finally covered up, she didn't pose as much of a treat to the poor merchant sanity.

Next events passed rather quickly. Chain-mall, long skirt, armlet… At least she didn't ask him to help her wear her glove!

Finally, all dressed up, Xyenna attached her beloved blade to her side, while ensuring that the short knife was stably mounted on the right side of her belt.

"That was just my gratitude. As you said yourself, time for the reward will come only after the duel!"