“Cleaning spell…?” Eleanor murmurs, panting slightly and using his shoulder to remain standing as he leans down and helps both of their pants back to their original position.

  “Sorry; If Daniel’s tail is a mage, it is possible they’d notice something like that being cast… You’ll have to walk with my cum in your panties for now.”

  Eleanor grimaces. “You could’ve used your own underwear to clean yourself, rather than mine…”

  As he stands up, Sincir smiles at her. “And where would be the fun in that…?”

  Eleanor grimaces further. “I should take it off and shove it in your mouth.”

  “Then you’d have to walk without it for the rest of the day…” he points out, to which she sighs.

  “Forget it.”

  “Naw, I’d be thinking about how you’re walking with my cum in underwear the whole time… I wouldn’t be able to forget it even if I wanted to.”

  Eleanor chuckles, looking as though she did it in spite of herself, then shakes her head. “Fine, I suppose I can’t bme a dog for marking its territory…”

  “…Don’t give me ideas.”

  Eleanor pauses, then throws him a look. “I’m telling you this right now, but I’m not letting you piss on me; Ever.”

  “…Shame.”

  She rolls her eyes.

  “Can we not talk about fucking for a second…?”

  Sincir shrugs. “You were the one who started, but sure. Actually, now that I think on it, I never asked you how your talk with Ena went... I know how nervous you were about it.”

  Eleanor sighs, ughing humorlessly as she does so. “Our talk about you? It was the most pathetic moment in my life. I kept waiting for her to call me a whore, but she never did… She waited for me to finish, staring at me with that stupidly nice look on her face the whole time… And once I was done, she hugged me, saying it was stupid I tried to leave the house because of this.”

  Sincir nods. “Do you still think she has it for me?”

  Eleanor shrugs. “Maybe? I think she is in denial, especially now that she knows we’re together, and how you are with women… But deep-down, I think she regrets not having made her move before I did.”

  “And you feel terrible about that.”

  Eleanor lowers her gaze, frowning as she does so.

  “Let me guess; You bme yourself for having me kicked out of her room, for creating a rift in our retionship, for stealing her beloved… Not to mention the perverted fantasies you have about her.”

  She gres at him. “Shut up.”

  Sincir smiles. “If you feel so bad and horny, why not offer yourself as her sve, for fucking up her childhood? I bet she’d love seeing you begging on your knees…”

  Eleanor grimaces. “I didn’t fuck up her childhood. I just… Added to her misery somewhat. And why are we back to talking about sex again?”

  “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself…”

  As he continues to stare at her expectantly, in spite of his apology, Eleanor averts her gaze, cursing under her breath.

  “It’s not like I have never thought about it, okay? But knowing her, she’d probably just hug me and tell me she’d rather be friends.”

  Sincir blinks. “No, wait, I was joking… Did you actually consider offering yourself as a sve to her?”

  Eleanor clenches her teeth, cheeks growing redder at a visible rate as she turns to stare at him with murder in her eyes.

  “You try living in the same house as the girl you used to torment,” Eleanor murmurs, hoarsely and slowly, “Becoming her sve seemed a better fate at times, as long as it’d stop me from feeling like shit for one goddamn day… I masturbated about it, but it didn’t help. I masturbated about turning her into my sve instead, and it still didn’t help… Every time she’d look at me, I’d feel my skin crawl… But then she’d keep being nice to me, trying to make emends, until I felt like pulling my eyes out…”

  Sincir swallows, staring at her apologetically. “I didn’t realize it was this bad for you. I’m sorry.”

  Eleanor sighs. “There is nothing you could’ve done, even if you knew about it… It’s in the past now.”

  Is it really?

  “So, you don’t feel like that anymore?”

  Eleanor averts her gaze. “Isn’t this important? Neither of us is even watching the entrance anymore.”

  “Eleanor…”

  “Stop.”

  “You know, it’s not too te, as long as you’re both still alive… I don’t think Ena would reject an honest apology from you.”

  “Shut it...”

  Seeing her face crunching up as though she is about to start crying, Sincir decides not to push it.

  “Fine, I won’t say anything more, if you don’t want me to… But in return, I want an honest answer from you about how you’ve been doing since we started this whole thing.”

  “I’m fine.”

  Sincir groans, causing Eleanor to clench her teeth as she turns and gres at him once more.

  “You want to hear it?” she murmurs under her breath, “Then here it is: In spite of your shit, I’ve been the happiest these couple of days than ever since I...”

  As Eleanor’s voice trails off and she shakes her head, smiling humorlessly, Sincir stares at her with wide eyes.

  “Was that… That wasn’t sarcasm, was it?”

  Eleanor looks at him in disgust. “I so wish I could strangle you right now…”

  “No, look, you have a really weird way of showing gratitude, you know that…? So I wasn’t sure…”

  Eleanor clenches her jaw. “What do you expect, for me to grovel and beg for your cock?”

  Sincir meets her gaze and smiles. “Only if you want to… But I wouldn’t say no.”

  Eleanor groans. “It’s like talking to a rock…”

  “A handsome rock?”

  “A dumb rock...”

  Ignoring her gre, Sincir chuckles and steps forward, approaching his face from hers.

  “So much pride…” he whispers at her, “Is it so hard to admit you need me?”

  “I don’t.”

  “Really…?”

  Eleanor doesn’t resist him as he presses his lips against hers, or when he invades her mouth with his tongue, causing her to shudder… She does grab his hand as he is about to feel her breast, however, biting his lower lip lightly as she does so.

  Pulling away slightly, Sincir meets her gre and chuckles. “Tell me,” he murmurs against her lips, “Or I’m fucking you, right here, right now.”

  Eleanor grimaces. “You’re so impossible.”

  “I could say the same.”

  She takes a small breath, then sighs. “It… It feels nice to have someone’s attention. To not feel so horny all the time that I’m about to blow up, and… And to sleep, for once in my life. Is this what you wanted to hear?”

  He smiles. “It does make me happy to know you’re doing better, Eleanor; Never doubt that for a second.”

  “That makes for one of-”

  Spotting something out of the corner of his eyes, Sincir quickly presses a finger against Eleanor’s lips, cutting her off.

  “That’s our man,” he whispers at her, “I need you to hide from view until I tell you to come out, okay?”

  Recognizing the seriousness in her voice, Eleanor immediately nods, pulling away from him as she heads further down the alley.

  Meanwhile, Sincir doesn’t waste time before walking toward the tavern’s back entrance, hurriedly fixing his hair and clothes as he goes.

  Recognizing Daniel isn’t hard; As No described, he is tall, blond, and wears the colors of her house, which makes for a dead giveaway at first gnce from the man who just walked out into the alley, hunched over, stumbling, and with his cheeks reddened.

  Luckily, no one else seems to be using the stalls at the moment, and so Sincir approaches Daniel directly, causing the knight to quickly raise his gaze in his direction.

  As they meet his, the man’s clear blue eyes gleam much sharply than Sincir expected, given his conduct, leading him to believe Daniel is exaggerating his drunkenness at least somewhat... The knight’s eyes widen once he recognizes him, having been the one to deliver him No’s letter a couple of days prior, and most likely also the one who hired the man who tried to have him walk home naked… However, Sincir quickly presses a finger against his own lips in order to keep Daniel from speaking before he can do so.

  “Sorry, this is going to hurt a bit now, and a lot more ter…”

  Having whispered as much, he presses one hand against Daniel’s forehead, casting a mind clearing mental spell which has so the man immediately grows pale, blinking as he does so.

  “No time to expin,” Sincir murmurs at him, “I need you to enter one of the stalls away from the door. Now.”

  Daniel hesitates for a brief second, inspecting the alley around them for a moment, then nods curtly, quickly heading for one of the stalls.

  Seeing him go obediently, Sincir releases a small sigh of relief, then takes a quick peek inside the tavern, making sure their interaction wasn’t seen by anyone, before heading toward the stall Daniel chose and hiding behind it.

  “Can you fake vomiting noises?” Sincir asks in a whisper, hoping the man will be able to hear him through the wood.

  “…Now?” he hears Daniel’s hushed voice after a moment.

  “Wait for my signal… Maybe you won’t need to,” he whispers back.

  The spell he used should be subtly enough not to be perceived by a mediocre mage more than a few meters away, so Sincir assumes it was a safe bet to make sure Daniel is clear minded for their talk... Of course, it is possible Daniel doesn’t have a tail, or that even if he does, they’ll be too zy to follow him in his toilet break…

  However, Sincir doesn’t have to wait for long before hearing the noise of dragged footsteps coming from the tavern’s back entrance.

  “Now!” he immediately whispers toward Daniel, who, Creator bless his soul, doesn’t hesitate in hurling his guts out… Or, at least, making a good enough impression of it that Sincir can’t tell if he is actually throwing up or not.

  At this moment, Sincir really wants to take a peek at the door, but he contains himself… Getting spotted here would spell far too much trouble. At least, from the silence, he can tell the newcomer isn’t heading for any of the stalls, having most likely stopped at the door.

  Is he going to…?

  Finally, Sincir once more detects the noise of dragged footsteps, this time moving away, causing him to release a small sigh of relief.

  “…Okay, you can stop and come out now,” he murmurs, knocking lightly against the wood of the stall as he does so.

  Past the immediate danger, Sincir circles the stall to wait for Daniel, who doesn’t take long in exiting, looking pale and disheveled as he shifts a pair of clear, alert blue eyes to meet Sincir’s.

  Sincir smiles at him. “Our ruse has probably given us a couple of minutes, but it’s best if we don’t dwell here for long, lest someone else comes to use the stalls.”

  “I…I heard the steps,” Daniel murmurs, slightly hoarsely, “Was that…?”

  Sincir nods. “A tail, most likely-”

  “No, that doesn’t matter!” Daniel says, abruptly stepping forward and grabbing Sincir’s shoulder, his eyes now wide and desperate, “Is it true?! Is she…?!”

  Sincir raises his palms in the knight’s direction, but doesn’t push Daniel away, in spite of the pain caused by the tall man’s firm grip over his shoulder.

  “First, how much do you know about No’s situation?”

  “I… I should know everything My Lady knows…” Daniel murmurs, “I know she feared for her life, and I helped with the investigation about Lord Barnett’s disappearance…”

  “Were you the knight who handed me that letter?”

  Daniel nods.

  “Then, you should know that in it, No asked for a secret meeting in between us… In which she asked for help finding the people responsible for her father’s disappearance. I won’t go into details, but in spite of my age, I’m a competent mage, so No thought I’d make for a good ally, and during our talk, I realized it’d be dangerous to have her return home as things stood, so I helped her move to a safe location undetected.”

  “Is she-”

  “She is fine, if a bit depressed. Don’t worry; No harm will come to her while she remains in my care, physical or otherwise… Oh, right, she asked me to show you this.”

  Having said as much, Sincir showcases Daniel the crested ring No entrusted him with, which finally causes the knight to step way, staring fixedly at the piece of jewelry as he does so.

  After a moment of allowing the knight to inspect it, Sincir puts the ring away.

  “Sorry, time is ticking, and I can’t afford to be seen near No’s people right now, for obvious reasons.”

  Daniel swallows, his expression distressed as he steps back and leans against the stall’s door behind him. “I… What am I…? I should’ve been out there, conducting a search party! Instead, after her cloak was found near the river, I…”

  As Daniel’s runs his hands through his hair, Sincir sighs.

  “Look, No was certain you’d be here, so I wouldn’t dwell too much on it... First, you need to make sure she’ll remain safe from now on, right?”

  Looking like a drowning man who has find a floating pnk to grab, Daniel quickly shifts his eyes to meet his once more. “That’s… That’s right, I shouldn’t dwell on unimportant things when My Lady is still at danger. Please, Sir Sincir, tell me how I can be of use.”

  Under the man’s expectant gaze, Sincir scratches his head. “Sorry, but No is the one who insisted that I fill you in on what happened… Truth to be told, she’d probably be safer with you knowing nothing of her fate.”

  Daniel sighs. “I see… They were watching us. Most likely, some of the servants have sold themselves… I understand. I won’t do anything, and I will pretend I know nothing.”

  Sincir smiles; It is a good thing Daniel is the smart sort.

  “I’m gd we’re on the same page. Now, I’m sorry, but I really do need to go before we’re spotted together.”

  Daniel nods. “If I need to contact Sir Sincir, how should I go about it, Sir?”

  Sincir considers it for a moment. “I’d strongly advise you against sticking your neck out right now, but if you happen to come across something important by accident, you can find me at this address… Obviously, if you’re spotted there, it wouldn’t take a genius to then make the connection of No and me, so write a letter and put it under the door. I can’t stress this enough, but make sure not to be seen.”

  Daniel nods again. “I know some trustworthy people, and I’ll be able to deliver the letter in secret, if necessary… Thank you, Sir Sincir.”

  “Just Sincir will do. Take care… Oh, and if you pn on having her take you seriously, you should probably stop with the drinking. I know very few noble dies who find it attractive.”

  Without waiting for an answer from the shocked knight, Sincir walks away, waving over his shoulder as he goes.

  Eleanor is waiting for him with a raised eyebrow as he turns the corner.

  “Let’s talk while walking,” he tells her, “The sooner we leave this pce, the better.”

  She nods, falling after him. “You were right about the tail,” she says.

  Sincir her a look. “You saw them?”

  She nods. “Average looking fellow… Has a limp. I saw him inside the tavern, too, sitting with a couple of friends. I’d have sworn he was a regur.”

  “Tell me what happened when he come outside,” Sincir says.

  “He stared at the stall you had Daniel take, an expression of disgust on his face... Seemed to consider something for a moment, then shook his head and went back inside.”

  “It could be a coincidence, I suppose.”

  “Unlikely,” Eleanor says, “He had this look on his face when he looked at the stall… I doubt he was just a common customer.”

  “Could you point him out from a crowd?”

  At this point, they’ve left the alley and entered Elderspire’s busy afternoon streets, so Sincir makes sure to keep his voice low.

  “From his face? Not really, but the limp would be a dead giveaway.”

  Sincir hums, considering this new piece of information...

  “...I see. In this case, we’re probably dealing with a rge group, most likely composed of locals. Even with the use of magic, they’d have to know the city well to perform so many kidnappings… They also must have something terribly inciting to offer, if they’re able to pull so many people to do their bidding.”

  “Money?” Eleanor guesses.

  Sincir shakes his head. “I doubt it. The type of people to betray someone for money would do so again… They make for poor underlings, and I don’t think things wouldn’t have gotten this out of hand if money was their only leveraging tool; Last I heard from No, the number of disappearances numbered in the thirties, and yet, no bodies have been found.”

  Eleanor frowns. “Shouldn’t the duke be doing something about this? The Barnetts may have fallen out of grace, but they’re still one of the noble families directly under his rule.”

  Sincir shrugs. “There’s a bounty for information about the disappearances, and the city’s guard is on the lookout… But without any hints, I suppose there’s not much they can do.”

  “…What now?”

  “We’ll visit Hanna, like I told you earlier.”

  Eleanor snorts. “What for? Have you finally decided to do something about her eyesh batting?”

  “I see you’re in a good mood… But unfortunately, no, I’m not going there to flirt with her. I suspect she has been trying to poison my retionship with Ena for a while now.”

  Eleanor raises her eyebrows. “Wait, really?”

  He nods. “Ena let it escape this morning that she has been fed these ideas she keeps throwing at me about being a better man, respecting women more, and so on… When I pushed her on it, she admitted Hanna was the one to do it.”

  Eleanor nods. At least about this much, she doesn’t seem surprised... Well, she did work with Hanna for about a year before joining the guild.

  “I more or less figured as much a while ago… But do you really think Hanna has been doing it on purpose? To make sure you and Ena don’t get together?”

  “That’s my guess… We’re about to find out if I’m right or not.”

  The Smiling Horse, as a daily stopping point in his life for the past two years, is a more than familiar sight for Sincir. He does feel a tad weird coming to the tavern now that neither of the girls work in it anymore, but not enough to hesitate before walking in, which he does with a half-smile, reminded of his st visit and the scene Ena made because of Victoria when they were about to go home.

  At this time of the afternoon, the tavern is still mostly empty, and most of the barmaids have yet to show up for work, Hanna included, so Sincir heads to a vacant table after a friendly wave toward the pce’s owner, a middle-aged, heavily bearded man currently tending the tavern’s counter.

  He releases a tired sigh after sitting.

  “I hate this pce,” Eleanor murmurs grumpily, taking the seat across the table from his as she does so.

  Sincir chuckles. “Really? From that expression of disgust in your face, I’d never have guessed as much…”

  “Shut up.”

  “You’re going to offend Miguel if you keep this up,” Sincir warns, signaling the tavern’s owner with a nod.

  Eleanor leans back in her chair, crossing her legs and arms as she inspects the tavern coldly. “Who cares? Ena is not one of the girls anymore.”

  “I like him…”

  “Of course you do; You didn’t have to work for the bastard.”

  Sincir raises an eyebrow. “Was he a bad boss? Neither of you ever compined about anything.”

  Eleanor shrugs. “What for? Putting up with shit is part for the course in the life of a barmaid. We’d look pathetic if went looking for you every time something happened.”

  After waving one of the girls to bring them drinks, Sincir sighs. “Tell me what happened, and I’ll tell you if you’re an idiot for just putting up with or not.”

  Eleanor throws him a measuring look.

  “C’mon, it’s not like we have something to do other than talk until Hanna shows up…”

  She sighs. “At the very least, I have to give him credit for having never done anything inappropriate with the girls, and for standing up for them whenever one of the clients tries to... But he’ll throw a fit if anything is ever out of pce, or dusty.”

  Sincir chuckles. “So, he’ll scold you for not doing your job?”

  Eleanor grimaces, gring at him. “He is too strict, and too rough about it. It’s so bad that at least one of the girls hides in the back to cry, every other night.”

  Sincir whistles softly. “I always saw him as the rough type, but damn, it takes some talent to be this tactless… How many times did he make you cry?”

  “…Is that a joke?”

  “Ena?”

  “More times than I bothered to count, and that was when I was still stuck here.”

  “I see… So, in between you and him, who do you think is the running champion for making her cry? It’s gotta be close, right?”

  Eleanor clenches her teeth, throwing him a look murderous enough to have the barmaid who brought their drinks stutter her words.

  “Hey, I was just wondering,” Sincir murmurs, sustaining her gre as he takes a first sip from his mug, only to then immediately grimace.

  Ugh. Compared to elven wine, most drinks from human making might as well be piss…

  “Aren’t you angry?” Eleanor asks.

  “About what…? Ena crying? She doesn’t work here anymore, so everything is already over… Had one of you come to me at the time, I’d have done something about it.”

  Her anger seemingly forgotten, Eleanor looks at him curiously. “Like what?”

  Sincir taps his fingers against the table thoughtfully, then shrugs. “A ck of social skills is a fixable fw. I suspect Miguel might be willing to change his ways, with the right incentive…”

  “Like what?” Eleanor repeats, raising her eyebrow this time.

  Sincir chuckles. “Since he is single, I’d probably convince one of the girls to make the sacrifice… I bet I can find at least one of them who finds him attractive, and from there, I’d just have to instruct her on what to do and say to solve the issue.”

  Eleanor frowns.

  “...What? You don’t like me deceiving him like this?”

  “No, I just wish I had thought of it at the time… I actually know several of the girls who have it for the man, though I can’t understand why, considering how he treats them. I could probably have convinced one of them to go for it, if I put my mind to it.”

  “…Did you ever-?”

  “No, I never fucked any of them,” Eleanor cuts in, grimacing at him. “Is fucking the only thing you ever think of?”

  “I feel like you asked me that earlier already.” Facing Eleanor’s cold gaze, Sincir grins. “But if you must know, I’m thinking about fucking a certain nephilim girl right now…”

  She rolls her eyes. “Don’t let it keep you up at night.”

  He raises an eyebrow at her. “Shouldn’t I be the one saying that…?”

  “…Shut up.”

  Sincir and Eleanor spend the next couple of hours making small talk. He enjoys their banter, and he knows Eleanor also does so, even if she’d never admit as much out loud, so time goes by fast.

  He wouldn’t mind spending the entire day like this, except that after long enough of having her gaze against his, his blood begins to rush downwards, and talking coherently becomes a problem.

  Damn, he really can’t think of anything but sex, can he…?

  Well, they do say one shouldn’t repress their own nature too much…

  “…Why are you suddenly looking at me like this?”

  “Inn room. Now.”

  Eleanor grimaces. “Did you at least listen to-”

  Eleanor pauses mid-sentence, and Sincir is in the midst of rising from his seat, when they both hear shouting coming from outside the tavern.

  A moment ter, Eleanor throws him a look.

  “…Isn’t that Hanna’s voice?”