Wild Dragon of Rome 37

The patrol was boring, with no notable events. In other words, the best kind of patrol, particularly since we had already achieved our mission.

However, when I returned, I was met with a surprise. Lillian and Astrid, sitting side by side, gossiping like idle maids as they giggled while Astrid was braiding Lillian’s hair in a very complicated pattern that looked wild yet regal at the same time.

I was impressed. When Lillian promised to handle Astrid’s hostility, I was expecting a grudging acceptance. Not … whatever that was going on.

“You two look chipper,” I said as I arrived.

Lillian chuckled and waved. “How do I look?” she said as she gestured herself.

“Nice braid,” I said, then paused. Her outfit was different as well.

She noticed my gaze and giggled, which was clearly fake. “Well, since your needlework is horrid, Astrid was kind enough to adjust my clothes a bit,” she said, then stood up to show off her new clothes. She was right about my skills, as while I knew some needlework, I was far from a tailor, and what I created could best be described as oversized sacks.

Astrid clearly had far more skills in that aspect. The clothes were still made of leather and fur, which could hardly count as finery, but whatever Astrid had done managed to elevate them. Right now, those clothes looked less like functional travel clothes, and more like something the captured slaves would wear during a gladiatorial show. The outfit, a midsized skirt with a slit, and a top with strings, which Lillian left loose enough to create a deep cleavage, was sexy enough to show off every curve, while still distinct enough to look like a tribal warrior.

“Amazing work,” I said. Lillian smirked knowingly while Astrid blushed, though I noticed that she was sitting a bit weird, slouching excessively.

“Wait until how my new best friend looks. She looks even better than I do,” Lillian said as she took a step back, and grabbed Astrid’s arm, who slouched even more, her blush rivaling her hair once more. Yet, when Lillian pulled her arm.

Astrid didn’t resist, instead, she stood up, showing that she was wearing a matching outfit, a knee-length skirt with a slit, and a shirt with strings on top. However, unlike Lillian, the strings were tightly tied, leaving no hint of cleavage.

Just as Astrid looked at me, Lillian waved her fingers, and a thin line of water coalesced in the air, cutting the strings.

The first was technical. While a water blade was hardly an impressive trick, the speed she was able to gather the water from the air was incredible, showing that her power once again took a significant leap during her meditation. Every day, she was getting stronger.

Astrid’s reaction was equally shocking. Earlier today, she was treating the mere existence of elemental magic as a rabid beast that needed to be destroyed. Yet, when Lillian used a spell on her as a prank, she blushed shyly as she tried to cover her chest. And, even then, when Lillian grabbed her wrists gently, she stopped, showing that I had underestimated the progress she had made softening Astrid.

Then, there was the last point. Astrid was a beautiful woman with certain assets. And, cutting every string of her top showed those assets in an alluring light. A very alluring light. It would be a lie to say that I wasn’t tempted even discounting my new set of instincts that made those primal desires far stronger.

Yet, it was Lillian’s gaze that surprised me. Instead of an angry glare, I found an expectant one, like she had just given me a present. I caught her gaze, and she smiled, miming me to speak.

“Beautiful dress,” I said with a throaty tone, letting a tempting smirk appear on my face, flirting hard.

Astrid blushed even more under my smirk. “T-thanks,” she managed to mutter before she pulled her hands from Lillian. “I think I’ll check if everything is in order before we start moving.” A very bad excuse, considering our possessions were very limited to make sure we stayed mobile.

I waited for her to walk away for a bit before I turned to look at Lillian. “Mind explaining what was that,” I said.

“You seemed to like her so —” she started with a saucy smile, but under my sharp gaze, she fell silent. “Alright,” she said, her tone serious. “You need to seduce her,” she said, then a mutter followed. “Not that you’ll have to work hard.”

“Why?” I said, but from the way she explained, something tickled me. A soft blush, one that didn’t imply jealousy, but desire.

Intriguing, but I didn’t confront her about it directly.

“Two main reasons,” she said. “It’s a good way to get close to her, so eventually, she will trust us enough to not want to return to her homeland. With that risk gone, we can trust her with some of the trickier aspects of your condition.”

“And, you think we can convince her not to return,” I said.

“Yes,” she said. “She told me her story. Her tribe is basically gone. Apparently, the mage that was chasing her had decided to betray them and join the legion as an auxiliary force. Apparently, he also managed to convince their tribe’s strongest. Anyone that didn’t agree with his decision was dealt with. Astrid managed to escape using the mount of their old chieftain, but most of it was gone. She wants to return back to her lands to convince the other tribes to fight against her old tribe…”

I shook my head. “They will either force her to join them, or just sell her back to her old tribe depending on the situation,” I said. “It’s a suicide mission.”

“Exactly. And, once you seduce her, it won’t be hard to convince her that we are the better option to take revenge.”

“As long as she can help solve my problem,” I said.

“Exactly. I have no idea what’s going on with you, but I don’t think you’re close to your limit. Once we solve your problem, you’ll be strong enough that dealing with a tribe weak enough to sell themselves as an auxiliary force will be trivial.”

“As long as I can survive,” I completed.

Her expression tightened. “We’ll make sure that you can survive. I didn’t question her too much about the details, but from the little she revealed, I’m confident that her information would help to control the transformation at least.”

I sighed. “I hope so. And, what’s the other benefit.”

That made her blush. “We … we need to keep your mana levels low, and I don’t think I can do it alone. If you seduce her, she can help.”

“That would require her to know about mana generation. Not something I will trust her with immediately, if ever,” I said, which was the truth. The last thing I wanted

“Not a problem. I already have an excuse ready. Not every person has the same efficiency in absorbing the environmental mana. We could just say that you have such an ability, and as a side effect, it makes mana easier to control. It’ll have the same effect, but you’ll be doing her a favor … by hugging her every night.”

Her blush was spectacular as she said the last part, confirming my suspicions that, for some reason, she was actually enjoying the idea. Not that her excuses were false, but that didn’t change the reasons she wasn’t ready to voice.

“Alright, you convinced me. If she’s receptive to the idea, I’ll do it.”

She chucked. “Good,” she said as she walked away, chuckling as she did so. As she walked away, she started muttering to herself, forgetting my enhanced hearing. “If she’s receptive to the idea … blind idiot. As if any girl can resist him after he valiantly saves their life. She can hardly stop herself from throwing herself.”

Her words were amusing, but not as much as the desire I could hear in her tone. I had no idea why me and Astrid together excited her so much, but with everything else going on, I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I might be dealing with the chase of a mysterious organization and an even more dangerous disease … but at least it wasn’t a boring adventure.