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"Arya, you can join us if you like," I say to the elf with a teasing smile, getting a little payback for all the irritating comments she's made to me today.
"Don't tease her, Emir. You know perfectly well how she feels about it…" says Melisa, giving me a light tap on the head with her open hand as she watches the elf's pale face turn an even paler shade whilst she stares at me without saying a word.
She then turns to Arya and continues, "... Go to your room and get some rest, Arya. Don't worry. I'll take care of punishing him for this."
"OK, boss. Thanks…" says the elf, looking gratefully at the farmer.
"… You can call me if you need my help… To punish Master, I mean."
"Hahaha… I won't need your help for this task. I don't think you'd be too keen on taking part in the sort of punishment I have in mind," says Melisa, looking at me with a mischievous smile.
"Are you going to punish me, love?" I ask, returning her smile just as the elf gets up and heads off to her room.
"Just a little bit," says Melisa, a bit unsure of how to proceed.
"Hahaha, OK. I'm in your hands…" I say, holding out my hands in a gesture of surrender, still smiling.
"…But you seem a bit lost. Next time you should ask Alessia for some advice. She's… quite well-versed in the subject, so to speak. However, don't worry, today we can rely on our inspiration."
"Ohhh… I'll bear that in mind. Let's go to bed. I think I've already come up with the perfect way to punish you. You've been behaving like a naughty child, despite your age, so I think I'm going to punish you as if you were one," she says, pulling me by my hands and dragging me into her bedroom.
"Are you going to punish me, Mummy?" I ask, imitating a childish voice.
Hearing me, Melisa trips over her own feet and nearly falls to the floor, but I hold her up to stop her from falling.
"Yes…" says Melisa, looking at me with a very red face.
"...I'm going to have to give you a few smacks on the bottom so you learn to behave like a good boy."
'This is going to be sooo much fun... Who would have thought Melisa could come up with ideas like this?'
...
After a few hours of sex, Melisa is fast asleep next to me in bed, so I'm taking the opportunity to edit her status, Arya's and mine one last time today.
'Yes… I think Melisa's status is ready.'
[Melisa] [Farmer Lvl 67] [Harem member Lvl 53] [Swordsman Lvl 37] [Lancer Lvl 35] [Archer Lvl 33] [Adventurer Lvl 39] [Explorer Lvl 35] [Mage Lvl 31] [Warrior Lvl 34]
[(Exhibitionist Lvl 3)]
HP= 30 || MP=23
Agility=37|| Strength=37
Intelligence=37 || Luck=17
[Resistance]
Physical=19 || Magic=19
Poison=19 || Curse=19
Melisa's stats are still a long way from matching those of Alessia and Delia, but they're starting to reach a level that will put my mind much more at ease if she decides to return to Drial Cenit.
'Now it's the turn of that loud-mouthed elf'
[Arya] [Magic Archer Lvl 28] [Mage Lvl 22] [Adventurer Lvl 23] [Sniper Lvl 21] [Great Adventurer Lvl 11] [Explorer Lvl 13] [Leader Lvl 17] [Strategist Lvl 13] [Merchant Lvl 8]
HP=16 || MP=20
Agility=30 || Strength=25
Intelligence=19 || Luck=7
[Resistance]
Physical=5 || Magic=5
Poison=5 || Curse=5
Arya's stats have also undergone a lot of changes, but most of her stat points went towards unlocking all possible extra classes, as that will be best in the long run.
'And as always, I'm in last place'
[Emir] [Great Adventurer Lvl 53] [Sniper Lvl 49] [Sword Demon Lvl 45] [Assassin Lvl 50] [Harem Lord Lvl 47] [Traveller Lvl 50] [Hero Lvl 27] [Explorer Lvl 45] [Strategist Lvl 46]
HP=100 || MP=100
Agility=100|| Strength=100
Intelligence=100 || Luck=19
[Resistance]
Physical=84 || Magic=84
Poison=84 || Curse=84
My stats have also increased significantly over the last few months, but that's mainly down to the Hero class.
And now that the class is starting to reach relatively high levels, it's become increasingly difficult to level up.
This time I've decided to boost my Luck a little, given how well it worked when I created my shield, but not by much because I don't have much faith in that stat and I don't want crazy things to suddenly start happening around me, like what happened with the Zombie Dragon.
'Good... Now that I've finished this, I think I'm going to enjoy a well-deserved rest...
But first...
I should write that list I promised Melisa...
Just in case I get distracted by other things tomorrow morning and forget...
Hmm, I think I'll leave it on the bedside table.'
***
'This is infuriating... We can't go on like this,' I think to myself as I look at the clinic's facade and see that the pavement and the street nearby are littered with rotting, foul-smelling rubbish.
For the past few days, several groups of strangers have started appearing near the clinic, who daily litter the entrance and the surrounding area with excrement, rotten food, and other similar items.
When we looked into it a bit, we discovered that those responsible are homeless people who have been promised a little food every day, provided they carry out their task.
My first reaction upon discovering this was to threaten to harm them if they didn't stop, but Delia objected to the idea, as they are innocent people.
She has decided on a policy to deal with the situation: to stoically ignore the state of the clinic's exterior, saying that people who really need her help won't be put off by that sort of nonsense.
And she's partly right, as the clinic's clientele hasn't dwindled in the slightest.
In fact, it has gradually increased.
Some even go to the trouble of cleaning the place in gratitude for the Saint's services.
However, creating a mess is significantly easier and less time-consuming than cleaning it up, making it a challenging task for those who wish to maintain cleanliness.
I hate this situation, as I don't know what to do to fix it.
'The solution is simple, you brat. You just have to be man enough to do it,' says Zariche's voice in my mind with an amused tone.
'Killing them wouldn't solve anything, you idiot. Those pulling the strings would just have to find other people, as is already happening to us now.'
So, as violence was out of the question, I decided to buy the homeless people's loyalty with food so they'd stop littering the area around the clinic, which worked for a while.
This time, Delia loved my idea and put some of her assistants in charge of the task in the buildings adjacent to the clinic.
But all this effort has done is create an ever-growing group of homeless people who come to the clinic every day to receive food.
And what's worse, it doesn't solve the real problem, because as soon as I speak to some of them to get them to stop, new people to whom we haven't spoken yet arrive to litter the area.
We have told the homeless to spread the word about our offer, but most of them don't listen to us, as they prefer to keep it a secret for fear of losing their share if too many people find out about it.
And I can't blame them for their decision, as it's truly astonishing how many homeless people there can be in a city as large as Altamira.
'Aha, but… what if we tackle the root of the problem instead of trying to deal with its consequences?' suggests the sword.
'You know perfectly well that we haven't managed to find out who's hiring these people. They always do it in a different place and leave no clue as to how to track them down,' I say mentally, irritated.
'And you know perfectly well who's behind all this. You just have to go from temple to temple and mow down every wretched life you find inside them,' says the cursed sword, gleeful at the idea.
'It's just a hunch, but you're right. There really aren't many other options… Haa… At this point, one could almost say I'd love to do what you're suggesting almost as much as you do. But I can't do that. And not just because of Delia… I no longer have a Royal Note to get me out of any potential trouble with the city authorities,' I say with a sigh.
'You're a coward. My bearers shouldn't have to worry about that sort of nonsense. Authorities… Ha!' says Zariche contemptuously, in a mocking tone.
'You can say whatever you want. I don't care… I know how I can sort this out without falling into the Solus Temple's trap… I just need to find one person,' I say as I finish scanning the war zone area via my interface, searching for a certain blue dot that's difficult to locate.
But this time, when I finish my search and move the map on my interface back to show the capital area, to my surprise, I finally find the blue dot I've been looking for every now and then.
Emir: !!!
However, it seems I've been looking in the wrong place all this time.
"I've found you," I say quietly with a smile, watching Cael's blue dot in a part of the capital not far from where I am.