B6 Chapter 18: A Familiar Pervert

“You know, Cyrus. I have treated some rather injury-prone villagers in my time. Adventurers included. But none exceed your excessive bias towards injuring yourself,” Khrem said as he slapped a palm against my collar.

There was the smell of mint mixed with berries and antiseptics. The purple sludge was fast-acting as it seeped into my skin. Within seconds, a warm feeling trickled down my front and soothed the jolting under my skin.

I accepted the help and stabilized myself. Sereza was shaking her head while Zog looked at me funny. 

“Listen, it’s not by choice. She tricked me and shoved me out,” I groaned.

“I always considered my relationship with my god to be less formal, but it seems you are on an entirely different level,” Zog commented.

I flipped him off and stretched, welcoming the sun as a breeze picked up, carrying with it the smell of salt from the ocean. I lowered my gaze, scanning the horizon and finding the dock packed to the brim. 

Sedetra was a small village, but it was not a city. Its main draw was that it was a port village that had access to the sea and allowed swift trade through Soluve then it would take on land. It had its walls and even a few good inns. 

Although the last time we saw it, we were very firmly yet kindly asked to leave, thanks to causing what the guards called an explosive disturbance. 

I eyed Zog and pulled something out of my inventory. I tossed it over and Zog caught it, raising a brow.

“A mask?” He placed it on his face and the enchantment activated, sticking to his skin without a strap. “Ahh, I see. I’m delighted to know you had one prepared for me.”

I really didn’t. It was one of a dozen identical masks I had made. Originally, I was going to experiment my enchanting work with them and see if I could impart effects into my own mask. That was why they were blank and made of smooth bone with only pinpoint eyeholes and nose holes.

“Yeah, no problem,” I said. After a beat, I pulled out another one and turned to Teldrin. “Here you go. You might as well have one too.”

I started handing the mask over, but found the boy frozen with a strange expression. He stared at me with wide eyes.

“Uhhh, everything okay?” I probed.

Teldrin shook himself and nodded vigorously before nearly prying the mask out of my hands. He rushed to put it on his face as well and I almost expected it to fall, but he instinctively channeled mana into the bone and activated the enchantment.

I guess that makes sense. Even if he doesn’t have access to his system, children can still use mana.

The boy stood straighter and he held his spear in a death grip. “Thank you!”

I snorted and tapped his shoulder with my tail, knocking him off balance. “Don’t thank me yet. Also, put the spear away. Guards tend to frown upon armed visitors approaching the gate.”

The boy froze once more but he made the spear disappear into his storage ring. With that covered, I eyed the docks once more and spotted a familiar ship.

“It looks like we aren't the only ones here early,” Sereza said.

“I guess not.”

“It is not surprising,” Khrem interjected. “With the brand, the captain will be cautious.”

“Or so we hope. We’ve seen people do terrible, stupid things when they are desperate,” Sereza said bitterly.

I tapped her tail and she smiled back. 

“Uhm, excuse me,” came Teldrin’s hesitant voice. “What’s a brand?”

I winced. That… would be hard to explain. How exactly did I justify to the kid who agreed to upend his entire life and leave his family, city, and friends that his boss used blood magic to essentially enslave someone to do his bidding?

“A brand or sometimes known as a soul contract. A slave mark. It’s used to anchor part of your soul and enforce rules that restrict or tie you to the brand’s owner. In this case, I assume it to be a physical carving against this person’s flesh that helps Cyrus control them,” Zog explained.

I wanted to stab him. I nearly did. Instead, I groaned and waited for Teldrin’s reaction. To my surprise, he didn’t look that upset about it.

“Oh, okay,” he said.

“Aaaah, hold up. You’re not weirded out by it? That doesn’t concern you?” I asked.

Teldrin shook his head. “A little, but I trust in you. If you did that, it must be for a good reason.”

I clicked my fangs and turned away. 

“Come on, let’s go. Best we make contact now before something happens. There’s a small church here. We don’t need another lunatic to show up and ruin things.”

Teldrin turned to Khrem and then Sereza but they ushered him along. When we stepped toward the gate the guards greeted us with their hands near their weapons, but they relaxed once we flashed our adventurer’s badges. They gave us the usual warning about not committing crimes before they let us through.

The village was busy, people crowded the streets as pop-up stalls lined the road. Everything from fish to potions and even a select amount of weaponry was on display. I knew the port was full but there were twice the amount of people here then the last time we were in the village. A good number of beastkin were here, nearly overtaking the elven population.

I slowed my pace and tapped Sereza’s shoulder. “Have you noticed?”

“Noticed?”

“The beastkin.”

Sereza’s eyes narrowed and she scanned around. “Huh. That is strange. There’s more wolvens around than usual.”

“Wolvens?”

“You really need to brush up on your terminology,” Khrem said with a shake. He pointed at a wolf–headed beastkin with grey fur. “Wolvens are the second most common subrace of beastkin. The first being what we call generus canine.”

“And it’s weird that there are so many wolven because they aren’t as common in Solunaria. The last time I studied this, they tended to keep together near the other tribes as a pack. They nearly rival the current ruling tribe thanks to their penchant for birthing twins or triplets,” Sereza continued.

I shrugged. “So maybe there’s something going on? An event? We can ask the captain when we find her.”

We moved silently after that, slowly pushing our way through the crowded streets as we shifted closer to the dock. When we finally made it through nearly an hour later, I welcomed the fresh sea air. 

Most beastkin in cities groomed themselves well, but it was a different story in villages. A few liberties were taken, and the smell of wet fur permeated the air. Thankfully, my mask could selectively choose to allow scent through.

Enjoying the freshness, I breathed in and took in the sea. Of course, my momentary peace was then shattered by the sound of wretching a few meters away. I slowly turned and the bald man hacked up something blobby and thick before a second round of orange vomit coated a poor door.

He stumbled back, wiped his mouth, and giggled.

“My apologies! Heh! Shto-mac upshet. That's it.”

His voice was hoarse and it sounded like he was actively fighting against the urge to vomit a third time but it rang clear.

Oh you got to be shitting me. 

Sereza cocked her head. “Is that who I think it is?”

“Yep,” I answered.

I channeled mana and with a burst of screaming cafetti, Galarion appeared. He latched onto my ear and pulled himself halfway in but paused as a massive eye formed on his head. 

I reached my tail forward and tapped the man’s shoulder. He slapped my tail away and growled.

“Oh fuck off! I already apol-leg-legized!” he shouted.

I tapped again, less politely this time. When the bald man stumbled forward, his legs blurred as he bent at an odd angle yet remained upright. He then turned around, pulling a dagger from his waist with fluidity that far surpassed what a man this drunk should be able to achieve.

“I said fu–aaaaagh!”

My tail wrapped around his throat and I yanked him forward, crushing his wrist with my hand. With a twist, the dagger clattered against the ground. The bald man tried to pull away in a panic, but I lifted him upward and made my mask smile.

“Just the man we were looking for! Nice to see you again, Rigger,” I said cheerfully.

I loosened my tail just enough for him to speak. He tried to claw at my tail, but the tip placed a shallow cut against his shoulder and slowly inched toward his neck.

“W-wait!” he shouted. “Please, take a shand or some finguurrs. Just not that!”

Wait what?

“What in the hells are you talking about?” 

Mana activated from within the man’s chest and I squeezed tighter, crushing his throat, but the mana had already dispersed within his body. The hazy look in Rigger’s eyes faded, His voice became clearer, no longer sounding garbled.

“Please! Break my nose, my ribs! Just not my beard!”

Silence followed. Luckily we were away from the main street, so the amount of wandering eyes was far less than it could have been. That still left some people staring our way, some frightened but more confused. 

I could feel it, the twitching of my eye. 

My tail subconsciously wrapped together around his throat but then something poked me in the stomach. I looked down and Rigger’s face turned an even darker shade of red. 

“Ugh. Dude, there’s a kid here! Teldrin look away,” I ordered.

Teldrin hesitated but he dutifully turned around as Sereza started snickering.

“You’re a perverted bastard, you know that?”

“I c-can’t help it!”

I closed my eyes and sighed. “Galarion, subdue him… We need to know if there’s a surprise waiting for us on the boat.”

“Okay!” Galarion bubbled.

He stretched from my ear and morphed into a floating cloud of drooling maws. Rigger had enough time to open his mouth and begin a scream before my familiar shoved his tentacles down his throat. The tentacles phased through his body in a squirming mass as Rigger’s head drooped forward.

Sereza tried and failed to stifle her laughter as I started parsing through Galarion’s looted memories.

“Uhm, can I turn around now?” Teldrin asked.

Sereza’s laughter broke the dam and cackled happily into the air as I groaned.