The next question that had to be asked was about the rescue itself. From what? From whom?

  Forgive me, but a tavern filled to the brim with people closer to the definition of failures did not seem like the kind of place one would struggle to escape from. I escaped from a godlike being; she ought to be able to escape drunkards. She could fly, goddamnit.

  Not to even mention her miniature size, could you even imagine a drunkard catching such a bite-sized woman? I think not. The fuckers can’t even walk straight.

  But I did not ask such questions yet.

  I received the Directive. She asked me for help. She could very well damn wait for a few minutes.

  “Fine. I’ll ask you the details later,” I whispered back. “Now go. I’ve got stuff to do at the moment. I’ll call you when I’m done.”

  “Yipee!” she jumped around on my shoulder. “Thank you, mister!”

  That ought to have been the end of that. However, in her endless joy at my accepting her request, before leaving, she flew up and… kissed me on the lip. I guess.

  I felt only what could best be described as a small pinch in the middle of my lower lip before she darted away, giggling to herself.

  Did I just… cheat on my wife? Miniature cheating? Does that even count??

  To be fair, I wasn’t planning on risking it.

  So before anything else, I threw three "I’m sorrys" toward Julia in the Heavens before turning to my confused companions, who had just watched me get assaulted by a bloody fairy.

  “So,” I coughed, “As I was saying, I was brought here by William, that old… where is the fucking guy?”

  William was gone from our table. And so were the two… ladies he had ordered.

  Before I could receive an answer, a loud “Yahoo!” reached all our ears from somewhere upstairs, making me sigh in disbelief at both the old bastard’s lack of patience and the frankly concerning noises he was capable of producing.

  “Yahoo!” little Arthur echoed happily, earning an immediate scolding from Melsa about never, ever imitating that man.

  She was a good mother. With good morals to teach her kid.

  Better listen well, little dog boy.

  “…Either way,” I continued, “I’ll be returning to the mansion soon. What will all of you do?”

  “What do you mean?” Enna asked, tilting her head.

  “I’m no fool, Enna,” I replied, “Seeing you all here a day later instead of back at the mansion means that you are deciding if it is even worth returning. And I will not judge you for that; after all, I wanted to leave too, after what happened. So if you wish to leave, settle down, or return to your homes, let us first split the Guild’s reward so that each of you gets your fair share.”

  They blinked at my words, baffled and expectantly confused. I knew they must have felt exactly what I did, and having told the events of last night to Melsa and Arther meant that they, too, were first thinking of their own survival.

  Even without the events of last night into consideration, Stevin’s situation and getting involved in a noble strife felt like a dumb idea. Stevin was brought back safely, which meant that for all, if not most of the people at this table, their duty was done, and any bond with Stevin was severed.

  Whatever happened afterward to him was his and his decisions alone. Not theirs.

  I could not judge such a thing. I only acted out of desperation to forget my own issues, but if I didn’t have them, I was sure I would’ve done the same thing.

  “Is that really fine?” Airina asked, her blue eyes studying mine.

  “You are your own people, with your own lives and thoughts,” I replied, pulling out the coin purse I was holding on me, “I cannot stop free people from acting in their own interests. I am no tyrant. I will just go back to my forest, to my own castle, and live my life as I did until now. What point is for me to get angry at those who want to do the same thing, but elsewhere?”

  “Forgive me, Your Grace,” Melsa muttered, “I owe you my life for saving us from our situation, but I cannot get involved with nobles when I have a son to raise.”

  “And I…” Arther continued, embarrassed, “Unknowingly to what happened, I… proposed to Melsa last night.”

  “Did you?” I asked, surprised as I looked at the embarrassed expressions of the two, “Congratulations. I hope you will live a happy life then.”

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  My words of congratulations seemed to take them all aback slightly, which seemed to only make the two even more embarrassed as each of them gave me a sheepish, “Thank you.”

  “Any idea where you are heading towards?” I asked curiously.

  “None,” Arther smiled, disappointed, “Nowhere seems to be safe in this place.”

  At his words, a certain shadow between my clothes woke up, suddenly acting up as if trying to tell me something. But what could… Ah, I see.

  “I have a spot,” I replied. “As long as you can handle me a bit longer, I know someone who can take you to a place free of… humans.”

  Despite the obvious racism against an entire species of mankind, it was to be expected that such a thing existed in this world, one way or another. They have been slaves to humans, lived under humans, suffered at human hands, and have been rescued, not by humans, but by a so-called vampire, courtesy of Stevin’s propaganda.

  Not to mention that Enna’s show around little Arthur all the more sealed the hate they might have had for humans. If they could not accept her child, then it would be obvious she would not accept them.

  But this idea that Relia gave me was the perfect situation for them all, in my opinion.

  “Does that work for you two?” I asked.

  “I-It does,” Arther stuttered, perhaps feeling bad for fearing me to that extent.

  “Thank you, Your Grace,” Melsa muttered, her eyes teary, “You may have saved us again.”

  I shook my head, “Don’t thank me yet. Come to my room tonight so you can speak with the person who will take you there. Decide and offer thanks then, alright?”

  To my words, both of them nodded in appreciation, allowing me to turn to the next in line.

  “You, Silvien? Will you be going with them?” I questioned, seeing the cat lady as she looked down toward the table, before realizing I was talking with her.

  “I-I don’t know,” she managed to reply.

  A former slave could still feel the weight of the chains that held them back once. Melsa and Arther had a purpose, things to fight and live for. But Silvien? She had nothing besides her own life.

  So I didn’t linger on her, not wanting to put pressure, turning my head toward the priestess and the elven lady standing before me.

  “I made a promise to my father,” Airina shook her head, “I will be walking with you, Your Grace, even though…”

  “I know,” I nodded, not having her explain the situation further. It was obvious enough what her issues were. Despite knowing that I could kill, despite how much she taunted and flirted around, she, at the moment, was scared of me, and it would take a while until that could change.

  As for Enna, the moment I looked at her, the moment she opened her mouth to speak, laughter from upstairs drew our attention, watching William walk toward the table, a slight pep in his step.

  “That was fast,” I pointed out.

  “Shut up,” William clicked his tongue, “Having to take care of the woman I paid for you, took more out of me than expected. But do you remember that guard at the gates?”

  “Who? The one who tried to stop us, and you told him you would fuck his mother… William…”

  “Ye,” William grinned, sitting down on the chair next to me, “That older human woman… Gods, she knew how to use her tongue.”

  “There is a child here, you old man,” I pointed out, hissing at the man.

  “Aye, aye,” William groaned, stretching his back slightly before pulling out the pipes he ordered earlier, “Here. You ran away from women, at least smoke with me.”

  For a moment, I blinked at the man, baffled, but to be fair, seeing that everyone was ready to run away without even saying goodbye had slightly hurt me despite my earlier words.

  So... fuck it.

  With a nod, I took out the pipe from William’s hand and placed it in my mouth. But now came the realization… I didn’t know how to smoke this shit.

  “Uh…”

  “For fuck’s sake,” William sighed, pulling out a weird artifact, striking it against the wooden table, and creating a small flame that he used to light up his own pipe with before placing the flame above my own tobacco. “Breathe in deeply.”

  At his words, I nodded before doing as instructed.

  Safe to say, I almost choked to death right then and there, all the while half the tavern started laughing at me like dumbasses, including William himself.

  “But tell me,” William spoke after ten minutes of straight laughter, turning toward Enna, “Have you run to your High Temples, telling them of our blood-sucker over here and his spikes? And don’t lie to me.”

  “Of course,” Enna nodded casually, “I am a Priestess first.”

  Huh? What does that mean?

  William smirked, “And?”

  “No answer has arrived yet.”

  “Best to get going then,” William replied, slapping me across my chest, “You don’t want to fight the Templars, regardless of how strong you think you are.”

  “What do you mean?” I frowned, turning from William to Enna and back to William again.

  “It means that, at the very least, your Priestess over here has snitched you and who you are to her superiors,” William explained, “Which means that, at the very least, they will be coming to have a quick talk with you, discern if you are a threat or not.”

  I blinked at Enna for a few seconds, seeing her nod apologetically to me.

  Judas… you traitorous woman…

  “On that matter,” Arther spoke out, “The guild did not tell us much of anything. They said they wish to discuss with you…Your Grace.”

  “Well,” William chuckled, getting to his feet, “Not getting involved with that one. Best of luck, vampire buddy.”

  And just like that, he threw a few crowns at the beastfolk clerk before he left the tavern with frightening casualness.

  So I blinked, turned to Enna, then to the rest of my companions, then back inside my head.

  ‘Ephe.’

  [Yes?]

  ‘Help me.’

  [Say please.]

  Are you turning into fucking William? Why are you learning from such poor examples, you mental illness?

  ‘Please, help me.’ I replied instead, surrendering myself to my fate.

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