Chapter 95

Chapter 95: Cherish your friends, please! part

Is it my idea or Luke’s rotten personality became even worse?

“Listen Luke... I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you should tone it down a bit”

“He’s been like that since we left Ironwoods!”

Sera complains.

“I can’t help it, I miss my girls”

Luke sighs.

“It doesn’t make you any less of a pervert! taking advantage like that from slaves”

.....

Sera looks in disgust at Luke as if he were a bug.

“Hey Sera, you’re making me sound like a criminal, but I’m a law abiding citizen. It’s not against the law to use your slaves however you see fit”

“That may be so, but they’re still people. Have you taken into account their feelings? You’ve been acting like a playboy”

I can’t avoid to barge in.

“You’re one to talk Ryu, you got Rina back home and Sera follows you wherever, now you even got a succubus! That’s a dream come true for a man! And we haven’t even mentioned Anne and Helena, those two wet their panties whenever they see you. You’re a playboy yourself”

“I’ve been faithful to Rina!”

“Yeah, but have you taken into consideration the feelings of the other girls? Perhaps if you weren’t so uptight...”

I feel heat rising to my face, especially my cheeks. I don’t think I’ve been so embarrassed in my life before. Luke notices and falls silent for a second. Fortunately Claire started serving lunch and we got distracted quickly.

“Mister Ryu, I’ve been practicing my cooking a lot but I’m not that confident in some recipes. If you have any comments I’ll be happy to listen”

“You say that, but this looks amazing!”

The table was soon filled with grilled fish, a clear soup, mixed salads, baked potatoes and roastbeef.

The variety of smells tickles my nose and opens my appetite, I do my best to eat slowly but even the short time it takes for the fork to reach my mouth is like torture.

“I have to say, I’ve been missing this a lot guys. It’s a lot more lively with more people, are you planning to stay?”

I talk directly at Bob since he’s been so quiet.

“I... uhm... we are going to be staying at the inn from last time”

“Oh right, you’re with Veronika now, but I don’t think that place is suitable for you guys. I mean, for us it’s not a big deal but if you’re staying with your girlfriend you should look for a nicer place”

“There’s not need for that mister Ryu. Bob and I are planning on living a frugal life in here until I find something I can do for a living”

“You could work in here, we’re making a killing out of the potions I make”

“I don’t want to trouble mister Ryu, besides, Bob is planning to be working as an adventurer and he’s asked me to take things slow and stay home for a while”

“It’s really not a problem, If both of you stayed in here I’d be less worried about this airhead”

I point at Mia who’s sitting awkwardly without eating. Crap! I forgot she doesn’t eat human food, she’s a succubus after all and she can only drink healing potions. We found out she can eat proper food if mixed with healing potions but even though it satisfies her hunger it’s a lot less effective than drinking the potion directly.

“I’m really sorry Mia I forgot your potion”

“No need to worry master”

Now I think about it, whenever she drinks a healing potion her body responds in a weird manner. It’s like she’s aroused to the limits and, even though it’s quite pleasant to see, she looks too lewd to be appropriate for lunch.

“Mia, if you don’t mind enduring a bit I’ll feed you after lunch and at night too”

Look spits his drink after listening to me with his eyes widely open, even Claire looks really troubled as If I had said something really troublesome but I don’t see anything wrong with it.

“Ryu, just to be sure... you’ve been feeding her daily?”

Luke asks

“Of course, sometimes twice a day depending on her needs, but if I’m not careful she would spend the whole day at it”

“You two double faced third rate party leader I’ll kill you!”

Luke jumps at my throat and everyone tries to stop him, except for Sera who took the chance to hit me once or twice trying to make it look as an accident.

“Come on guys, stop it already! what’s the matter?”

“Mister Ryu, I must say I’m disappointed. When I first met you I thought you were a pervert, then you proved to be quite the gentleman. Not even with me, even with your slaves and employees. It made me believe that not every men was a dirty minded pervert.”

Claire said the last part glaring at Luke with resentful eyes.

“Ok, someone please explain me what’s going on.”

“You said she’s a succubus right?”

I nod as a reply, I can’t take the pressure of everyone looking at me as if I was thrash.

“You rejected miss Anne and miss Helena, which by the way, any sane man would’ve taken them both, only to fall into the hands of a dirty succubus! you’ve been unfaithful to Rina after all. When she hears about it she’s gonna be destroyed. Now I don’t even know if I should give you the letter she sent for you”

“She sent me a letter!? wait, no... I mean, Mia drinks healing potions I thought you knew that”

“Yeah, she sent you a letter, but more important, do you really expect us to believe that you give her healing potions? I would have believed it if you said you don’t feed her at all, but you giving away free potions to someone is not something I can believe”

Everyone nods at her words.

“What do you even mean by that?”

“We all know you’re a cheapskate, especially when it comes to items you craft yourself”

“Im not like that really. Even at the hill massacre I gave away almost everything I had, I pay a salary even to my slaves, I fed everyone at Ironwoods after the freeze and I also gave potions to each and every one of you!”

Mia reacts to my words and jumps in excitement.

“Master you pay a salary to your slaves? will you be paying me a salary too then?”

“Not now Mia! you’re not a slave but my pet”

“Everything you said is true, but still you left people to die at the hill because you didn’t want to spend all your potions. It’s true you pay them a salary, and you pay more than fairly, no one can rebuke that, but it sometimes feel like you’d rather die than take one of your own health potions”

Claire’s words resound on the dining room and everyone nods at her, for a second I thought Sera was going to start clapping her hands.

“Is this how everyone feels? really? nevermind, there’s nothing I can say to prove otherwise. Could you please hand me Rina’s letter please?”

“I’m sorry mister Ryu, but she said you’re not supposed to read it just yet. But I’ll give it to you when the time is right”

After getting excited about Rina’s letter, not being able to read it immediately was a big let down, but we continued eating and having a good time chatting about different matters. Time flew by and I almost forgot to feed Mia, but we went upstairs and I handed her a healing potion. It was necessary for me to go with her because she really can’t control her own impulses. If I handed her the potion at the dining room she would have drank it without even thinking about the presence of other people nearby.

I wanted to drink some tea after lunch but Luke was so hyped up about registering at the adventurer’s guild that he left us with no choice but to go with him.

Since Mia is a succubus she can’t register at the guild, from what she told me, it would have blown her cover instantly, but i decided to bring Sera along with me. She was eager to help me, no, more than that she was really excited about it.

Walking the streets with such a beauty by my side is a bit awkward, my neighbors that usually don’t even spare a second to take a quick glance at me were now staring at me with envious eyes. Sera pressed herself against my arm, it didn’t matter how many times I asked her to let me go she would stick to me nonetheless.

Bob and Luke were a big hit, apparently they are considered really handsome in here. They made a fuss wherever they went and girls would even go straight to them to ask their names or even ask them on a date. Luke’s smile was brighter every second, Bob instead seemed to be shrinking in awkwardness.

And we finally reached the adventurer’s guild.