They search for clues regarding Tristiana

"You look like you're in a good mood. Did you have fun in the city?" Varrick asked, holding a large slip of paper in front of his face and skimming over the contents as he spoke. Currently, they were sitting in his room, waiting for the paladin to finish the last of his preparations before they left to do some real work. Tristiana was still on the loose, and they had no idea how to catch her outside of whatever Varrick had planned.

"Had a blast. Made a lot of money, found a new clue on who the hell I was, and slept with 3 girls in a row." Verdi said cheerily as Citrinas smacked him upside the head for his last remark, her face beet red as she remembered the past night's events after he had returned to the bar and convinced her to have another passionate night with Fenri.

Rather than just have a normal night of sex, they turned it into a contest on who was better at sex, both parties intent on proving their superiority as Citrinas served as the judge and battlefield for their contest. They took turns kissing her, sucking her breasts, and fucking her to see who could make her scream louder, with Verdi stuffing both his cocks into her while Fenri rode her mutated clit-dick. Of course, it ended with her passing out and the duo fucking to see who would pass out first. Unsurprisingly, Fenri was the loser due to Verdi's odd body giving him an edge over her.

"What are you reading?" Fenri asked as Varrick finished reading the paper and put it into a pouch on his belt.

"Before we left, Harvin gave me a list of active contacts we could reach out to if we needed help finding Tristiana." He answered as Verdi frowned.

" Why does a butler have contacts capable of tracking Tristiana?" Verdi asked as the paladin stiffened at the question. Sweat poured out from every pore, dribbling out of his armor in a thick stream as he glanced around the room, half expecting to have Harvin pop out from the shadows with a cup of tea. He continued to tremble as he took a deep breath, gathering the strength to answer the question.

"... I don't know, I don't wanna know, neither should you. Just go with it." He said, dropping the subject matter entirely. Despite being in the odd butler's party, he seemed to fear him just as much, if not more, than Fenri and Verdi did. It would have been comical to see the towering armored giant that was Varrick tremble in fear at an old man with arthritis had they not known how scary Harvin was. "So, you went gambling last night?" Varrick asked while looking down at the massive coin pouch in Verdi's pocket that jingled with his every step, changing the subject entirely as though his previous outburst never happened.

"Not a gamble when you're a shoe in, right Fenri?" Verdi said with a chuckle as Fenri extended all the fingers in her right hand as though she would chop Verdi's throat, then grabbed her right wrist with her left arm, the gesture likely something rude in her home world.

"Fuck you." She spat at him while maintaining the gesture.

"Sounds like a plan." Verdi said cheerily as they left the inn and began walking the streets of Olskroya, ignoring the town criers telling everyone about the coliseum and the prostitutes offering their services. The sweltering heat seemed to burn everyone as Verdi silently used ice magic on his own sweat, freezing it to stay cool while Citrinas and Fenri slumped forward, the duo unable to use instinctive ice magic as well as him. Eventually, Citrinas began chanting a spell under her breath to cool her own sweat while Fenri clung to Verdi, using him as a makeshift ice pack.

"Tonight you're modding my tongue to be like yours and we're going back to that bar for round two Same bet." Fenri demanded as a gust of wind blew past them, scattering the fine sand littering the city. Varrick suddenly stopped walking as he turned to the trio, his voice quivering ever so slightly as he spoke.

"... Please, please, PLEASE tell me you didn't go to Belsach's bar and do his stupid contest." He begged, the name wholly unrecognizable to the trio.

"Belsach?" Verdi asked with a puzzled voice, the name ringing no bells in his head.

"Last night, did you two go to an underground dungeon bar run by a hobgoblin wearing a stupid robe that had an even stupider eating contest?" He asked, his words dead on as Fenri stared at Varrick in disbelief, shocked that the straight laced paladin knew of such a seedy and dirty bar.

"You've been there?" She asked as the paladin groaned, face palming his helmet as they continued walking.

"He's an old acquaintance and, sadly, the informant we're looking for."Varrick said with a sigh, a soft clink being heard as he rubbed his helmet to ease a headache. "I thought he retired, but according to Harvin he's still doing his job." Even with his face covered, they could tell from his slouch and slower walking pace that he was not excited in the slightest to meet the hobgoblin.

"Huh. Small world." Verdi mumbled, surprised that the owner of the bar he remembered was also a friend of Varrick's.

"Fuck Varrick. Didn't realize you had connections that high." Fenri noted, her voice tinged with the slightest hint of respect for the first time. Verdi just waited for the punchline, only to realize that her respect was genuine rather than a show of sarcasm.

"Are hobgoblins that powerful?" Verdi asked, interested in the hero's sudden shift in tone. He was aware of the inherent ability of goblinoids to attain human classes, but he had no real context on why Fenri of all people would respect them.

"Strongest monster there is." Fenri said arrogantly while puffing her chest out as she continued talking. "Not to brag, but my mentor back in Astrial was a hob." She continued, speaking with equal parts nostalgia and trauma while speaking of her old master in her home world. It was upon hearing this proclamation that something in Verdi's head clicked, Fenri's half feral attitude a result of her upbringing by a literal monster.

"Why are goblins the strongest?" Verdi asked, puzzled at the statement. Goblins had the ability to attain human classes, but that was it. All other monster families had direct status buffs that improved their fighting power. Even his erosarkic/verdure body had a benefit over goblinoids. From his point of view, goblins had to be the only thing beneath his sad species. Rather than Fenri answering him, Citrinas spoke up, giving her opinion of the monsters.

"Imagine a monster family with high fertility, the intelligence of a human, no glaring weaknesses, and is capable of getting both monster powers AND human classes at the same time. Any goblin that has survived long enough to evolve into a hobgoblin means it's one of the most powerful things in the continent." Citrinas explained as Verdi glared at her, waiting for her to realize just who she was talking to. He almost wanted to laugh had it not been so insulting that she'd forgotten.

"... Wow, I can scarcely imagine it. Something with monster powers, human classes, high fertility AND human intelligence. Incredible." Verdi said in a flat, monotone voice as he applauded the greatness of goblins with as much sarcasm as possible.

"Yeah, goblins are REALLY dangerous since they get to have the best of both worlds. You should be careful around them." Citrinas said, still not getting the point as Verdi sighed.

"Hey, can we stop by the alchemy guild later? I wanna mix some potions with my alchemy class. Later, can we practice magic in your domain? My ice elemental infusion feels a bit underused." Verdi asked, his voice laden with sarcasm. Rather than get what he was trying to say, Citrinas seemed to perk up, enticed by what she saw as a perfect day.

"Sounds good! I don't know where the guild is in this city, but I'm pretty sure there is one. As for magic practice, yeah, we can go test the local water's minerals to check the crystallization rates and factor those in for today's practice." She said Varrick prepared to intervene and explain the joke, only for Fenri to chuckle and stop the paladin. Verdi felt a vein form on his head as he glared at the airheaded arch-imago, hoping she'd get the joke.

"Great! Hey, can I finish the day by turning off my warmth skill and impregnating you? I'm quite sure our kids will have my classes, monster powers, fertility, and intelligence. Plus, you'll probably give birth to 6 to 18 kids in one day since I'm an erosarkic seedbed optimized for breeding." He warned as Citrinas blushed, her pants tenting slightly as her clit stiffened at the offer.

"If you're telling the truth about me giving birth in one day and everyone else is fine with me taking a day for myself, then we can try tonight." She said as everyone in the party looked at her in disbelief, genuinely stunned at her response. Verdi was the most shocked, completely unable to process her words. He knew that she wasn't capable of maintaining a straight face when she lied and that she wasn't the type to toy around or crack jokes. He assumed that the blatant offer of impregnating her with monster children would be enough of a hint that he was being sarcastic or at least cause her to get flustered.

He didn't actually expect her to say yes.

"I'm-I'm sorry, did-did you just call my bluff?" He asked, stuttering slightly as he lost the initiative in the conversation to Citrinas of all people.

"Why wouldn't I say yes to having your kids?" She asked while tilting her head and looking at Verdi, her blue eyes staring down at him in confusion as he felt his face burn from her gaze. He looked away from her, shrinking slightly as she continued speaking. "An erosarkic-verdure hybrid is the single greatest combination for alchemy. I could teach them how to do actual alchemy, you could teach them your weird ability to mix potions in your body. In about 20 years they'll be the best alchemists in the continent." She said, already planning out their family life while Verdi went silent, unable to even think of a witty response.

"Okay, you win this round." He muttered, his pride wounded after somehow losing a verbal battle with Citrinas of all people.

"... Wow princess. I should take you out to play cards later tonight." Fenri said, applauding Citrinas' poker face and ability to lie.

"What are you guys talking about?" Citrinas asked with a confused voice, unable to keep up with the conversation as Fenri cleared her throat.

"... Anyway, you know the hob that owned the pussy bar?" Fenri asked while looking to Varrick, returning to the matter at hand.

"He was my superior once. Thought he washed his hands of this stuff when he retired, but I guess I was wrong." Varrick answered as Citrinas stared at him with a puzzled expression.

"Wait, there are monsters other than Ruya working for the forces of light?" Citrinas asked, assuming the dirty hobgoblin to be serving the greater good.

"He isn't aligned with anyone but himself. We'll probably have to pay a pretty penny to get intel from him." Varrick explained.

"You said he was your former superior." Citrinas said indignantly, oddly fixated on proving herself right.

"He was my superior when I was with the Company of Roses. I still respect him considering he taught me how to use holy magic, but I also know he's not gonna help us out of the kindness of his heart." Varrick explained, causing Citrinas' eyes to bulge out as she looked at him in disbelief.

"You were a mercenary!?" She blurted out as Verdi raised an eyebrow, trying to see the kindhearted paladin as a bloodthirsty mercenary working for coin.

"Yeah. Me, Mathias, Harvin, and Isoldi were all members of the Company of Roses before we became hero companions." Varrick said casually, dropping in an unfamiliar name as Fenri scowled upon hearing it, recognizing it instantly.

"Who's Isoldi?" Verdi asked.

"Hero of commerce." Fenri spat between her teeth, the merest mention of the hero's name souring her mood. "Well, this explains why money bitch kicked my ass." She grumbled under her breath, still bitter at her defeat to the hero of commerce at the hero summit.

"Surprised you were a mercenary. They aren't known for their charitable acts or humanity." Verdi noted as Varrick sighed.

"We all do **** things to survive. At the time, it was either starve to **** or work for the company doing odd jobs for a hot meal." Varrick explained as they continued to walk through the streets, leaving the coliseum area and heading towards the red light district. Surprisingly, the once bustling streets were barren, the ladies of the night unwilling to strut their stuff underneath the scorching sun, giving them a semblance of privacy as they continued walking to Belsach's bar.

"What do you mean starve? You're both nobility. Also, you studied in the Halphand Academy before joining the hero of the hearth as companions when you were young." Citrinas said, giving Varrick's backstory to the man in question as though her version were the correct one. Verdi almost wanted to hit her for being this rude had he not known about her personality.

"You believed that nonsense?" Varrick asked, genuinely shocked at Citrinas' naivete. He wasn't even insulted by her words, being amused more than anything else as he made a dry chuckle. He continued to laugh for another minute as though she'd told him a funny joke, clutching his side to stabilize himself before shaking his head in disbelief. "Well, if that's the story they're telling, I'm not gonna even bother correcting it." He said dismissively, dropping the subject entirely as they reached Belsach's bar.