"You have no friends."
"…What?" Quinlan blinked, genuinely thrown by what the oriental beauty had just said.
"You're surrounded by women," Ayame explained evenly. There was no mockery nor hints of joking in her tone; she was dead serious. "I think you should have a male friend or two as well. Even you told me this earlier in our journey, but you've not been following your own words."
"But I do have male friends."
"Hah!" Ayame's snort was quick, sharp, and merciless. "Yeah? Who? You joked around with Ronan, sure, but he's off in Miri Town doing construction work. And let's be honest, he's your slave, not the kind of friendship I'm talking about. He's also a horny pig, so let's forget him. I don't want you to associate with that human garbage; he could be a very bad influence."
Quinlan's lips curved into a grin. "So your opinion on him hasn't changed, hmm?"
Of course it hadn't. She'd been showing animosity toward the man ever since they bought him.
