I hungout with everyone for a bit longer, but after about another half an hour, we all decided to split. I had to go to the Adventurer's Guild, which had me feeling pretty excited. Benji and Serena said they were going to prepare themselves, and Benji's face looked troubled as they left. Valerie had gave me an incredibly cute face as she looked after them, and I almost sighed as I nodded to her, and she promptly got up and followed them. She didn't need to ask for my permission... I hoped we could help her to be more independent. I was really grateful to Serena and her brother for being such good friends to her already nevertheless.
"You go ahead, darling. I'm going to help Clarissa get ready for her big night." Cici said, practically bouncing in place, "This is so exciting!"
Clarissa just blushed furiously as she smiled at Cici. I could not get over how goddamn cute she was.
"That's fine. I can handle this on my own. Just let me know if you need me." I said, and Cici nodded at me as she smiled.
"I... don't have anything going on..." Sheila said hesitantly, and I looked over at her, "I could go with you... if you want."
I couldn't help but smile at her. The strong and beautiful wolf-girl looked so damn cute when she was shy.
"I'd appreciate the company." I said, making the woman actually blush a bit, and Cici actually cheered inside my head.
"Great!" Sheila said, more than a little excited, before she realized how much enthusiasm she had in her voice, and her blush only deepened. I had to struggle not to laugh.
We made our way out soon after that, but not before I gave a goodbye kiss to Cici, and I even gave one to Clarissa. I thought she was going to pass out with how her legs wobbled as our lips met, but god did she have soft and inviting lips. My heart was rapidly filling with more and more affection for her the more time I spent around her, despite not truly getting to know her until more recently. I had tried to keep my distance and keep a friendly relationship beforehand, but I had falsely assumed that I was going to be in a monogamous relationship. How truly silly of me.
I quickly summoned a pair of simple black shoes from my storage, and put them on. I was currently dressed in a simple black shirt, and a pair of black denim pants that were pretty much just jeans. Truly, my color palette was impeccable.
"Ready to head out?" I asked Sheila, and the gorgeous wolf-girl nodded, her blush barely noticeable if you weren't paying attention.
Her color pallette was a bit better than mine was. The outfit itself was nice though, wearing a dark brown sleeveless shirt that cut off mid stomach, and a pair of shorts of the same color that cut off just past mid thigh. Both looked to be made of some kind of animal hide, and she looked damn good in it. Her toned arms and legs were strong looking, and her six-pack abdominal muscles were even further proof of how much she worked and trained for her physique. Some people might be turned off by this, but I wasn't those people. She was a gorgeous woman, and her large chest, wide hips, and round ass would put many other women to shame.
"Ready when you are." She said, and I smiled at her as we both waved goodbye to the other girls.
I was honestly glad she was coming with me, because I did not know this city very well. I had paid attention, and could probably retrace my steps back to the guild, but that was about it. We walked through the manor towards the exit, greeting and waving at many of the maids and manservents as we went. Once we were outside, Sheila walked next to me as we began to make our way down the crowded streets.
I noticed many people looking at us, or namely, at me, as we made our way towards the guild. Many of these people were probably present at the arena when I decimated Delvin, so I couldn't really blame them. The arena was actually on the way to the guild, as I could see the very large structure coming up on us.
"You're certainly popular." Sheila said with a smirk, and I snorted.
"Yeah. Kill one powerful asshole, and suddenly everyone knows who you are. Honestly, none of this was my intention." I said with a sigh.
"Maybe not," Sheila said, then looked at me, "But you did a good thing, Eli. I don't know exactly how many people your actions saved, but you did save them. You saved people from a life of torment and eventual death by killing that asshole, and the rest of his party are basically dead too."
Her words made me think of that big asshole Morgan, and the fact that Martin said he would allow me to pass judgement on him. I clenched my fist as I thought about what Delvin had told me about him. I was going to make it fucking hurt.
We were now passing by the arena, and it looked about the same as usual. Not many people were outside, but I could hear plenty of cheering and yelling coming from the inside.
"I think today they are having team battles. Usually it's groups of people, and even Adventuring parties that come to test their strength against each other." Sheila said, catching my interest, "Killing is prohibited, and it's honestly just like an intense form of training. My party does it every now and then. And people pay to come see it, and all parties involved get a cut, and even more so if you win."
"Smart business strategy." I said, nodding.
If people were going to fight and train with each other, and people would literally pay to watch, why not do it in a big ass arena that could seat thousands?
"Yeah. It's good training, and we make some gold... but it's very rare that people fight to the death." She said, looking at me when she said that, the noises from the arena fading as we kept walking further down the street.
"I'd kill him again if I could." I said without hesitation, and she smiled at me.
"He definitely deserved it... the man was worse than I thought." She said, grimacing at the thought of the man, "I hate people like that, and I'm sure there are plenty more Delvins out there."
I just frowned as I nodded. The Baron had been like Delvin, only much weaker. They were just as bad as one another, but what was worse was that they were both in high positions. The Baron had been the ruler of a town, and Delvin had been a powerful and high ranked Adventurer. It was unfair, and fucking disgusting.
"Anyone like him will get the same treatment if I find them." I said, and Sheila looked at me, and actually smiled at me.
"I see why Cici is so enamored with you. You are strong, and you can be... ruthless... but you're also kind and you do the right thing. You do what some people won't." She said, and that made me smile a bit.
"I do what I have to. I won't just sit by while people suffer when I can do something about it." I said, and then a growl entered my voice, "And I'll do whatever it takes to protect those I care about."
I saw the way Sheila's body shuttered, if ever so slightly. I wasn't trying to rile her up, but thinking about people like this always got my blood boiling, especially since they both tried to go after my Cici, and that damn Baron had almost succeeded. I'd never let that happen again. Sheila took a minute to compose herself, before she looked at me with a soft look in her eyes.
"You're a lot like Terroth in that regard. He's not as strong as you, but he'll stand in front of any foe to protect the people close to him, even if he has trouble admitting it. He's not very good at expressing himself... but I know he cares about me just as much as I do him." She said, a fond smile on her face.
"If you don't mind me asking, what's the story between you two?" I asked, genuinely curious, and she smiled at me.
"I don't mind... although there are some things I won't share without him saying it's okay." She said, and I nodded.
"That's fine. I respect you for that." I said, making her cheeks turn a slight shade of pink. I swear, all of these women blushing around me is bound to give me an inflated ego.
"Well, when I was very young, about 9 or so, my people's settlement was attacked. I was in the woods at the time gathering herbs for my mom... she had gotten really sick at the time." She said, looking as if she was holding back tears, "Well, when I got back... everyone in the village was was dead... including my mom and dad... and well... that's as far as I want to say out here. I'm sorry..."
I put my arm around her shoulder comfortingly as we kept walked, and she tensed for only a moment, before she leaned against me.
"I'm sorry, Sheila. If you ever want to tell me the full story, I'll listen, but if it's too painful, don't worry about it. Just know that I'm here for you, and everyone else is too." I said softly, and she actually rubbed her body against me a bit more.
"You're a sweet guy, Eli." She said, and then surprised me as she leaned up and placed a quick kiss on my cheek, "When there's more time, and if Terroth agrees, I'll tell you. But for right now, we're here."
We were indeed here, the Adventurer's Guild directly before us. I hadn't even been paying that much attention, as I had just focused all of my attention on Sheila. She extracted herself from my side, and walked forward, opening the large double doors to the building. She bowed formally as she swept her hand in front of herself, gesturing me inside.
"After you, good sir." She said, and I snorted. She even acted cute, but two could play that game.
"Why thank you. It must be my lucky day. To have such a lovely woman holding open a door for me." I said, and walked past her, smirking upon seeing the dark red blush of her cheeks.
I decided that there were much worse things in life than having 4 women besides my wife pining after me, and it helped that all of them were absolutely gorgeous. Still, I wanted to do things right, and if I was going to go through with this, I wanted to get to know all of them better, and I felt like I got somewhere with everyone today. I was stil super excited for my date with Clarissa tonight, but for right now?
"Lets go see about talking to this Guild Master." I said, Sheila following behind me as the doors closed behind us.