The next morning was tense, we all gathered at the table for breakfast, apart from the oblivious Lilia, no one talked much. After a while my eyes met Elizabeth's for a brief moment. She was about to speak, but then stopped herself and lowered her gaze. Yeah, I messed up big time.
I looked at Alpha, she nodded in confirmation. I sighed and addressed Elizabeth. "I'm sorry for bullying you as much as I did."
"No, it's not bullying, it's just that..."
"It's bullying, a bad habit of mine that I've developed to push away those that I kind of, sort of care about, I guess. This way they tend to stay neither too far, nor too close to me."
"You care about me?" Elizabeth blushed.
"Now don't get the wrong idea, it's fun being with you, but care... Is a strong word. Besides, you know about my curse, I'm not allowed to care for anyone, so there's that." I scratched my head. "I'm leaving the Zagria kingdom. Today..." Our eyes met. "I know that I've bullied you a lot in the past and I will bully you even more in the future and I know how much you like it here, after all, this place is your home, but... Will you still come with me?"
She thought for a bit. "Do you still want me with you? Or are you just indulging my desires by letting me tag along?"
"I..." I lowered my eyes. "I want you with me... But I won't force you or anything and I will bully you non stop if you actually decide to come with me."
Elizabeth gave me the most genuine smile. "Then I'll gladly tag along." She added. "Just, could your bullying not exceed a gold coin a day?"
"100 and we have a deal."
"1."
"50."
"1."
"25."
"1."
I sighed. "You drive a hard bargain... Fine, one platinum coin a day, is that good with you?"
She smiled. "Yeah!" We shook hands. "By the way, how many platinum coins can you buy with a gold coin?" She asked. "I've never heard of platinum coins before."
"Ha, ha, ha, ha! You foolish mortal, did you think that platinum is worth less than gold?!" I laughed. "One platinum coin is worth 100 gold coins, in other words, the bullying continues!"
"What? No! That's not fair, you should have told me before." She panicked.
"Wha, ha, ha, ha, hah! We already shook hands, the deal is made, the die is cast, no way for you to back out now!"
Alpha shook her head. "So immature."
"Shut it, 'Dragon'."
Elizabeth sighed. "Okay, it is what it is... Where are you going now?"
"We are going to the front lines..." I said. "I wish to see the progress of the others and hunt a few demons. We'll travel through the kingdom of Greenwood - the elven kingdom on our way there.
"By the others, do you mean the ones summoned from your world?" Elizabeth asked. "Why? I thought that you are keeping your face hidden so that they would not recognize you." Her eyes widened in horror. "Are you going to fight and kill them?"
"I might. If they're strong enough, that is. Otherwise it would just be a meaningless slaughter. But that isn't the goal, I'm merely curious as to their growth and if they found any leads about a way to go back home. As for my face and identity, it stays hidden."
"Home..." Elizabeth's face darkened. "If you find a way home, will you leave?"
"That's the plan, there's someone that I have to protect and a certain family that I have to destroy." Elizabeth looked upset. I continued. "Do you... Want to see my world, Elizabeth? Will you travel with me to the other side?"
"Can I really?" She seemed genuinely happy.
"If it's possible, I'd like you to come with me."
"O-okay, I will!"
"What's all this about another world?" Pain interjected. "You're not thinking about excluding me and Alpha, are you?"
"Why would I take the two of you?"
"In that case, who's going to protect your precious, little Elizabeth on the other side?"
"S-she's not precious to me, you're overthinking!" I shouted, attracting the attention of everyone else in the inn.
"You do know that I can read minds, right? If you think that there's something that you can hide from me..."
"Alright, fine! You can come! Just shut up already!" I sighed and addressed Alpha. "You're going too, I guess?"
"Affirmative."
"Do I have any say in this as your lord and master?"
"You'll need a healer."
"That's not what I asked." I scratch my head. "Never mind, you can come too. It's useless to reason with 'Dragons' anyway."
I felt a slight tug on my coat, turned and saw Lilia. "Can I... Can I come as well?"
"I kinda assumed that you and your big sis are a package deal so yeah." I looked at her cat ears and patted her head. She smiled. "These are going to be a problem, though."
She jumped back and ran to hide behind Elizabeth. "Don't... Don't cut them off!"
Wow, I have a really good reputation it seems, even in my own circle... I smiled inwardly. Let's play with her a bit. "Sorry, little one, I have no choice. In my world there are no beast men. You would get hunted down and experimented on if they ever found out about you, so come here for a bit, it won't be excruciatingly painful. It won't be as painful as getting all your bones broken or getting skinned alive, it..."
"Sir Adam!" Elizabeth shouted. "Enough, please. Look, she's already crying." Fuck, too far again. I should keep my teasing to a minimum for a while.
Lilia, still sniffling, approached me. "If, if you have to cut my ears for me to come with sister and you, t-then please do it as painlessly as possible." The death stares that I received from the other guests were burning a hole through my skull. The curses, death treats and cups flying and colliding with my head, were a good indicator of just how much I was liked by these people at the moment.
I was about to apologize to Lilia and tell her that I was only joking, when a huge, burly bear man - a beast man with the ears of a bear - crushed his wooden cup in his hand, stood up from the table and approached me. Without a word, he put his hand on my shoulder, lifted me in the air and threw me through the wall like the trash that I am. The 'Dragon' girls remained seated, Pain was probably amused that I got a good thrashing and Alpha was probably worried about the destruction yet to come.
The cat girls looked horrified. The bear man lowered himself so that his eyes were at the level of Lilia's eyes, put a massive hand on her head and, with a smile, said. "Don't worry, little one, I won't let that thing touch a single hair on your head, not to mention your ears."
Elizabeth was about to say something, but a voice cut through the room. A voice filled with arrogance and malice, my voice. "How presumptuous... You really think that you can protect someone from me? You're courting death."
The bear man looked at Lilia with a smile. "Don't worry, little one, I'll deal with him in a jiffy and then take you and your sister somewhere safe." He turned to me, eyes blazing with fury. "I heard your argument yesterday and I've been keeping an eye on you today. You are scum that thinks he can buy the world with money, someone that thinks that morals are beneath him, someone that thinks that he can do whatever he wants with no consequences." He cracked his knuckles. "Today, here and now, I'll show you that you're wrong!"
"Bring it on, old man."
The bear man charged, fist ready to strike, I dodged the strike, but he immediately went for a bear hug into a German suplex combo, forcing my head through the floorboards. "Humph, what an amateur." He scoffed and pulled me out by the leg, lifted me and landed a devastating punch on my stomach, sending me flying.
Slowly and deliberately the man approached and lifted my limp body by the neck. "Release their slave contracts."
"Or what?"
"Or I'll make you."
I laughed. "You'll need a lot more strength than that to make me do anything!" I squeezed the arm that was holding me up with my hand. The bear man screamed, but kept holding me, I squeezed tighter and kept squeezing until I heard a satisfying crunch. His forearm broke and bent unnaturally. He let me go.
"It... It seems that you're stronger than you look." The man groaned. "Good, in that case I won't hold back either." A powerful aura covered his body and he took a low battle stance.
"Hah! You can be as serious as you want, you can use any weapon or trick at your disposal, but the outcome of this battle has already been decided. YOU DIE! That is the price for trying to take what is mine."
"It seems that it's useless trying to reason with a human - someone that thinks that the lives of others belong to him. No more talk, we'll finish this my way. "We began approaching each other, every step - deliberate and calculated. We were in striking distance, fists raised until a voice cut through the tension.
"Enough! Stop this now!" Elizabeth shouted. We stopped mid swing, our fists mere inches away from each other's faces.
"Or what?" I asked.
"Or... Or I won't travel with you anymore!"
"I thought for a second and lowered my fist. "Congrads, you get to live another day, mister bear."
"It's you that are lucky." The bear man replied, then turned to Elizabeth. "What did you mean when you said that you weren't going to travel with him anymore? Aren't you his slave? Do you have any choice in the matter?"
"Sir Adam destroyed our colors, freeing us in doing so, so we are free." Elizabeth answered.
"Then why did he say that you two are his?"
"Well, that... I don't know why he said that." Elizabeth turned to me. "Why did you say that we're yours?"
"Well... I, um..." I stuttered, "You are my companions, that's all there is to it." I turned to the bear man. "You have a problem with that?"
"If they are merely your companions, then there's no problem in me taking care of them. I'm sure that I would take far better care of them than some human ever could. If you care about them, you should hand them over to me."
I thought for a long moment. Maybe he's right, this is where those two belong, who am I to take it from them. Then again, I'd really love to continue to travel with them, but no matter how I slice it, they would be safer with him. He's strong and seems reliable, he didn't lie once while we spoke. It's better...
"No!" Elizabeth startled me out of my thoughts. "While I truly appreciate that you care for us, mister, we would rather continue with sir Adam. Isn't that right, Lilia?" She turned to her little sister, Lilia nodded.
"I don't understand, he's a human, why would you want to stay with him?"
"He's nice to us..." Elizabeth answered. "He was the first one to ever show compassion to us in our lives. And I... Well I..."
"Let's cut the conversation here." I interrupted. "Hey Alpha, heal the old man, will ya?"
"Yes." She approached the bear man and took his broken arm in her hand. The beast man seemed weary, but Lilia reassured him that Alpha is a nice person. It took mere moments for a previously destroyed arm to go back to normal.
"Just what are you guys?" The amazed bear man asked.
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