Wait around until the tournament

"So, Fenri, any ideas on how to find Tristiana now that we know Varrick's guy wasn't helpful?" Verdi asked as they wandered the streets of Olskroya once more, a soft gust of wind sending a small dustcloud into their faces as they walked.

"No point in trying to catch her if Pelrin's hiding her. We're sticking with our initial plan of having you and Fenri compete in the tournament and watching out for her." Varrick answered flatly.

"And what happens if she makes a move to steal the artifacts?" Fenri asked as Verdi chimed in.

"The artifacts are protected by godly enchantments, so they physically can't be stolen." Verdi answered, the trivia fact popping into his head at her question.

"Correct. Eren once tried to steal them as a joke. After being hit 8 times by holy lightning, he decided not to push his luck." Varrick chimed in, his voice equal parts weary and nostalgic at the former hero's shenanigans. "Also, we aren't staying at the inn anymore. If the Company's around, they'll probably set a trap, and they'll probably know we're in the city when the tournament starts considering Fenri's famous."

"Good going Fenri." Verdi mumbled.

"Sorry, the gods saw fit to curse me with beauty, charisma, and intelligence. It is my burden to bear." Fenri said sarcastically.

"Actually, what if they decided to ambush us in the city or while we're walking to the tournament?" Citrinas asked.

"Stay with Belsach whenever possible. You have my word that as long as you're with him, nothing can hurt you." Varrick said, his distaste for the hobgoblin's hobbies doing little to sway his opinion on the monster's combat ability. "I need to make some preparations in case of the worst. We'll meet back at Belsach's bar. Try not to attract too much attention" He advised before leaving the party, unwilling to deliberate further on just what he was doing. Despite his bulky size and ashen armor, he disappeared into the crowd with surprising speed, leaving the trio alone as they looked to each other awkwardly.

"Well, that's reassuring." Verdi noted, worried at just how cautious Varrick was of his former mercenary outfit. Fenri would sooner die than say it aloud, but they all knew Varrick was the strongest member of the party, having greater experience than the trio combined. If he was this jumpy, then it meant the Company of Roses was that dangerous.

"So... What do you guys wanna do now?" Citrinas asked, unable to detect the awkward atmosphere and more interested in getting something done for the day.

"Well, I'm gonna go empty my inventory. Right now, it's full of Verdi's jizz and monster cores." Fenri said with an annoyed voice, throwing a cold glare at Verdi.

"What?" He asked as her glare intensified.

"Ever hear about pulling out!?" Fenri asked as Verdi snorted at her.

"I dunno, why don't we ask Eris if she's heard about it?" Verdi snapped back, reminding Fenri of her tryst with the hellhound. The only time she didn't finish inside Eris was at the end to drench the poor hellhound in his seed.

"Fair enough." She grumbled, her night with Verdi giving her some empathy to his plight. The sensation of knotting someone and spewing gallons of sperm into them was comparable only to receiving it. She couldn't scold him for being unable to resist such a sensation considering she couldn't resist the primal urge herself.

"What are monster cores used for anyway?" Verdi asked as they walked through the city with no real direction in particular.

"Usually magic weaponry, but some nobles or rich merchants use them for basic appliances, fridges, or lighting since they can store and release magic power." Citrinas answered.

"Do they need to be recharged on a regular basis?" Verdi asked, interested in the use of magical equipment. He was naturally weaker than standard mages in attack power, so having magic gear might help offset his lack of firepower.

"Of course. You can either recharge it with magic power from a magic caster or leave it in a dungeon to let the ambient magic in the air diffuse into it. Of course, the former requires a high level sorcerer or tracking down the few people who become alchemists to recharge while the latter risks having your weapon stolen by someone else." Citrinas answered casually, accidentally throwing a minor verbal jab at Verdi.

"Is there anything alchemists are good at outside of high magic capacity?" He asked.

"Well, they're bad for combat, but if you plan to make money, they're one of the best classes since you can make magical gear." Citrinas answered, perking Verdi up. He did have a talent for making money, and making magic gear to sell was enticing. "Also, you can reinforce things far stronger than other classes. Your ice is probably 10 to 20 times harder than steel right now." She added as Verdi sighed, realizing just how impossible it was for him to win or even place highly in the tournament. Even with the city's equalizing effect, the many buffs from pure land, Final Enoch, and his dungeon's buff conpounded together, his magic attack power was a little less than half of Citrinas' due to their classes havung different specializations. Arch-imagos were a pure offensive specialization, and alchemists were a support class. It seemed the only thing he outclassed her in was sheer amount of magic and his defensive ability.

"Fuck. I think I got arrogant signing up for the tournament." He mumbled, his mood worsening as Fenri bopped him on the head to scold him.

"Shut the fuck up. If you beat me, it means you're the strongest until I kick your ass and take the title back." She said, perking Verdi up as he took in her compliment. She pulled a monster core from her inventory and held it in front of Verdi's face, the marble sized gem pulsing weakly in her fingers as rolled it between her fingers. "Now be useful and find me a place to sell this at a good price." She demanded as Verdi wracked his brain for information.

Suddenly, a set of directions popped into his head, another latent memory activating due to him actively searching for it. They were just a series of words and he didn't remember any images or specific people, but he did know of the perfect place to sell their monster cores. Sadly, he remembered nothing outside of the vague set of directions, his mind unable to conjure any real images of his past. It seemed his mind couldn't conjure up images of his past, only factual data. Rather than remembering, it felt like somebody else was telling him about this information.

"If you wanna earn a little bit more cash, there's a black market that'll probably buy this stuff up." Verdi offered as Fenri grinned.

"Lead the way." She said eagerly as Citrinas grabbed both their wrists.

"We should stay in the public eye to avoid trouble." She said, unwilling to let her sister or the band of thugs she'd hired take them from some dark alleyway.

"Don't worry princess, we'll be fine. If everyone's the same level, then she can't pull any funny stuff like Kolderia." Fenri said as Verdi beganleading the party through the streets of Olskroya. To his surprise, his sense of direction wasn't anywhere near as good as when he found Belsach's bar, leading the entire party on a blind goose chase through the city.

"Go to market square, down the road, bunch of shops, look for the patisserie with the knife on it." Verdi mumbled to himself, leaving the sultry red light district for the commercial district. Entering a vast street laden with restaurants and food carts, they entered a patisserie and walked up to the counter where a cheery looking male elf was waiting, his fair skin and blonde hair almost glowing in the hot, desert city. As they entered, a gust of cool wind blew past their faces, the building kept chilled by the use of ice magic.

"Hello! Welcome to the Sunset Caramels! What would you like?" The elf asked as Verdi cleared his throat.

"Three orders of Jacharae and a plate of Helisk please." He said, handing over some silver coins he'd won from Belsach's bar. The elf smiled, taking the coins while gesturing to a nearby table in the corner.

"Oh, of course. Please, take a seat." He said as Verdi closed his eyes, removing his sense of sight as he focused on his surroundings. Unsurprisingly, the table the elf gestured to was an illusion, the corner being a set of stairs leading underground with a magic artifact maintaining the illusion. Grabbing both girls by the arm, he led them underground, the duo stumbling at the first step of the stairs as Fenri clicked her tongue.

"Knew the place smelled too dank to be a pastry shop." Fenri mumbled, her superhuman senses also giving her some insight into the hidden passageway. "So what does this black market sell?" She asked as they continued descending the set of stairs.

"Same thing as the normal market. We just won't pay taxes when we sell our shit." Verdi answered as Fenri frowned.

"... Someone made an underground dungeon just to avoid taxes?" She asked in disbelief.

"Why is that strange to you?" Citrinas asked.

"Because back home, black markets are where you sold sex slaves and illegal magic artifacts." Fenri answered.

"Pretty sure the normal market sells those here." Verdi said, admittedly unsure whether the women on the surface were sex slaves or just normal prostitutes.

"I'd advise against buying those. Sex slaves are usually not worth the hassle." Citrinas chimed in, causing Verdi to raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, sex slaves need to be kept healthy and well groomed or else they get ugly and you risk losing your investment. Plus, you gotta keep an eye out in case they slit your throat in your sleep. Better to hire a maid and get a prostitute than a ****." Citrinas said as both Verdi and Fenri looked at her waiting for her to break out into laughter or react. Sadly, she retained her usual deadpan expression as a silence fell over them. "What?"

"... So how many sex slaves did you own before you decided to halt altogether?" Fenri asked as Verdi made a choked noise as he realized something.

"Wait. Citrinas, was I your last sex ****!? Was dealing with me so bad that you swore off owning them forever!?" Verdi asked, visibly hurt by her words as Fenri whistled in respect.

"Fuck princess. You're more hardcore than I thought. All this time I thought he wore the pants in the relationship." She noted while giving Citrinas a round of applause.

"He's not my sex **** and I've never owned sex slaves! I'm just saying what Tomoko told me one time!" Citrinas said, her words serving to confuse them even more.

"... You're telling me that out of all heroes, Bonds was the one who owned sex slaves?" Fenri asked as Citrinas bit her lip.

"She doesn't really talk much about herself, but she does have a soft spot for worshippers of Carnachias. She's... Probably into some **** stuff." She said sheepishly, nervous about talking about her friend behind her back. "Look, let's justsell the cores, buy some stuff, and get out of here." She said, **** to change the topic ASAP as they reached the base of the stairs and found themselves within a vast underground market. Small stones enchanted with weak light magic studded the ceiling, the light imitating a starry sky while the stands and local shops were crafted by the dungeon itself and defended by countless kobolds clad in steel armor. Unlike the sweltering heat of the surface, the underground market was pleasantly cool, the underground dungeon insulated from the sun's harsh rays.

"Know any good stores who'll buy our shit?" Fenri asked as Verdi closed his eyes to think, only to come up with blanks.

"Sorry, I've got nothing." He answered as the trio got wandering around the underground market and browsed the wares. Shortly after they began their search, Verdi regretted taking the girls down to the black market.

There were numerous imported knives that caught Fenri's attention, each one having a distinct design with some even hailing from far east and forged by monsters. They'd spent hours just watching Fenri play with the knives. Meahile, Citrinas was wandering around purchasing high level alchemical ingredients Verdi couldn't produce in his monster form and storing them in her domain for later use. It was only when they found a tailor specialized in making custom adventurer outfits that Verdi vowed to never shop with the girls ever again.

"... So, girls, any chance we, uh, can sell the stupid monster cores and leave?" Verdi asked, regretting every second of his existence as the girls went through the many textiles the tailor owned and debated on just what to make. Had they done something fun like talk about lingerie or new outfits, he'd have been fine. Instead, he was **** to sit and stare at the ceiling as Citrinas and Fenri debated on what outfits and enchantments were optimal. Citrinas believed in optimizing firepower, and that large cloaks which held numerous monster cores was the optimal choice. Fenri believed in mobility and comfort, believed that they should all wear silk and have two monster cores at most imbued within their clothing. Verdi was of the opinion that if he spent another second in this godforsaken shop he'd kill himself. Suddenly, both girls stopped arguing as they spotted a mirror. Upon seeing their reflections, they stared deeply at it before requesting their custom made outfits from the tailor and leaving a down payment.

"Why were you two staring at that mirror?" Verdi asked, slightly worried that the mirror was magical in some way as they left.

"Back home, the only mirror we had was owned by the queen, and I wanted to get a better look at myself." Fenri answered, serving only to confuse Verdi.

"Was the mirror somehow magical?" He asked, unable to follow her.

"No, just a normal mirror. Surprised this world had one for sale." Fenri said as Citrinas nodded, equally excited at the sight of the mirror.

"The elves send one out east every once in a while, but they're incredibly rare and the recipe's still unknown to everyone but the elven craftsmen. Just one mirror could buy a small farm." Citrinas said as Verdi looked to both women, hoping to get some insight as to just why mirrors were so special. He could quite literally craft one with the things they could find in a market.

"Why not make them yourself?" Verdi asked.

"What part of unknown to everyone but elven craftsmen did you not get?" Fenri asked as Verdi frowned, not understanding what was so hard about making a mirror. Silvering was a simple technique, and with magic he could easily craft the reagents to make it.

"Do you know the recipe?" Citrinas asked, suddenly interested as Verdi nodded.

"It's not that complex." He said as Fenri snorted at him.

"Bet you can't." She said arrogantly. Rather than take offense, a malicious smile grew on Verdi's face.

"Alright. Same bet as the bar, but I also wanna mod your body to make it more interesting." He said, already thinking of ways to make Fenri a bit more interesting. The longer he was awake, the more his memories seemed to return. He already had a laundry list of potions that could mutate Fenri's body, and he was excited to test them out.

"How're you gonna change me?" Fenri asked, more interested than scared.

"You've felt how good it feels to have 2 feet of tongue licking at you. My turn. I'd do it to Citrinas, but it's kinda cute watching her gag and drool all over me trying to fit one of my cocks in her mouth." Verdi said, causing Citrinas to blush and whack him on the head to shut him up. Fenri, on the other hand, grinned at the deal. Either she humiliated Verdi and had him eating her out until she fell asleep, or she'd get a two foot long tongue and be able to properly compete with him in Belsach's contest.

"Okay, I'm in." Fenri said before pulling a leather strap from her inventory and holding it to Verdi's neck. "But if you can't finish it by the end of the week, you gotta wear this collar from now on." She said, gently wrapping it around Verdi's neck to gauge the length as she pulled him close. The two made eye contact, both of them exchanging arrogant grins knowing they were going to win.

"What's special about the collar?" Verdi asked as Fenri chuckled.

"Nothing. I just like having my pets wear a collar before I put the leash on." She said as Verdi smirked. Wearing a collar was demeaning, but there was no way he was going to wear it considering how easy this bet was.

"Hope you're thirsty, since you'll be going on an all liquid diet for a while." Verdi said, his loins throbbing as he imagined Fenri's pissed off face gagging on his shaft.

"Man, I love it when my pets are disobedient. Makes it that much more fun to train them." Fenri said, her thoughts equally occupied with having Verdi on a leash and **** to lick her out. While the two of them were intent on asserting dominance, Citrinas was busy trying to ease a growing headache from their competitive attitude.