Chapter 24

“Tobias, Zoe,” a soft voice woke me up from my dreams.

I opened my eyes slowly and noticed Samara, who stood over us next to the bed. She was already dressed and watched me with a slight frown.

“I’m sorry that I woke you up, but I need to open my stall.”

“No problem,” I replied and yawned. Zoe tightened her hug around my chest.

“I made breakfast. And if you would help me with moving the clothes to the stall, I would be really grateful,” Sam said. Her gaze jumped between me and Zoe.

I nodded. “Sure.”

Sam smiled widely. “I washed your old clothes, but I left you the new ones there,” she said, pointing to one of the cabinets under the wall.

“Thanks,” I replied, smiling.

Sam smirked, leaving the room.

I stroked Zoe’s hair slowly. It was in much better condition after just a single bath, and it was really pleasant and soft to the touch.

Zoe mumbled something and then licked my chest. I chuckled, and her head bounced up and down on my chest because of it. She must have realized what she had done because she squealed and slid off me to hide her face in the pillow.

Her tail was still wrapped around my thigh. I stroked her back gently.

“It's time to get up, sweetheart,” I said.

Zoe lifted her gaze, looking at me with a faint blush.

“Sweetheart?” she asked, whispering.

I kissed her briefly. “You’re my little sweetheart.”

Zoe smiled, averting her eyes.

I got off the bed and put on the clothes from Samara. They fit perfectly, and more importantly, she had left me a pair of shoes. Traveling through the forest without them was painful, but at least from that moment, I wouldn't need to walk barefoot.

Zoe put on a skirt, which was shorter than the previous one, barely reaching her knees, but still long enough to hide her tail when she wrapped it around her thigh for a test.

Together, we walked to the kitchen, where Samara placed two bowls in front of a single chair. She had prepared scrambled eggs with some meat, tomato, and onion, and added a piece of bread and a glass of water for both me and Zoe.

Zoe stopped by the chair and looked at me expectantly. I chuckled and sat down. She sat in my lap sideways.

I glanced at Samara, but when our eyes met, she quickly averted them to her food.

“It was delicious, thank you,” I said as we finished our food. Samara was collecting our bowls. Zoe was still sitting in my lap, cuddling against my chest, with her tail wrapped around my hips.

“No problem,” Samara replied. “Umm… I’m not throwing you out, guys, but I got up a little late, and then this breakfast…”

“Sure,” I said, spanking Zoe lightly. “We’ll help you with everything.”

All three of us took care of setting up her stall. It didn’t take much time, as I was moving the chests while Zoe and Samara arranged the clothes on the tables.

Repeating this every morning and evening was inconvenient and wasted a lot of time. A shop instead of a stall would be a much better choice, but from what I could see around, everyone sold their items like that—at least on the main street. I didn't want to meddle in Samara’s business, especially since I didn't have anything to offer except telling her something she already knew.

“Thanks for the help,” Samara said as I put the last chest under the table.

“No problem,” I replied.

“What are you going to do today?” she asked.

“I was thinking of going to the posting hall to see if they have anything new or look at the job offers, but I’m not sure what I would want to do. And maybe move around the city and look around.”

Sam nodded. It seemed like she wanted to say something but was hesitating.

I grabbed her and pulled toward me. Her hands rested on my chest as our lips met, and my hands landed on her ass. I squeezed her big ass cheeks in both hands, making her gasp, and leaned back as she lightly slapped my chest.

“Not here,” she said indignantly but couldn't hold back a smile.

“See you later,” I said and turned toward the city center. Zoe walked next to me, grabbing my hand.

We walked in silence for a moment as I watched the items on the stalls, but I didn't notice anything interesting, so I decided to focus on Zoe’s status. There were no changes except her mana.

Yesterday, I had filled her up to her limit, and after a night, she had one hundred sixty-three points. Assuming we had slept around eight hours, with full mana, she had enough for two days. Not a lot of time before she’d need another refill, but luckily, I had more than enough mana for her.

We reached the posting hall and entered. Behind the main desk sat the same guy. His gaze lifted to us for a brief moment, then focused back on the papers in front of him. I walked to the board with local quests and noticed that two quests were no longer there, and there weren’t any new ones. Transporting the package and killing a monster that was attacking animals on a farm had been accepted by someone. So there was nothing here, and I was going to look at the job offers.

“You’re late if you wanted that package,” the man said. “Just a moment ago, a woman took those two quests and left.”

“How long ago?” I asked.

“You almost passed her in the doorway.”

“Thank you,” I said, moving toward the exit.

A woman traveling to a town I planned to visit sooner or later. A perfect opportunity to have a guide and stay safe on the road. Definitely worth checking out—both to see what she looked like and whether I might be interested in something more.

Leaving the building, I glanced around, and my gaze stopped on a pair who stood a small distance away, talking. They had big bags with them and swords by their belts.

The woman was tall and slim, with amazing long red hair, but she had her back toward me, so I couldn't see anything more.

The man looked around twenty, he was muscular, had short brown hair, and didn’t seem particularly special—quite average in looks.

The woman passed a package to him, and he started to pack it in his bag.

I glanced around quickly one more time, but there was no one else there. Unfortunately, she was with this man, but I still headed toward them. He looked at me as I approached, his eyes jumping from me to Zoe.

He nodded at us before we reached them, and the woman turned toward us. She seemed to be of a similar age to the man. She had a pretty face, but not as pretty as Zoe. She had green eyes and high cheekbones. Despite her obvious youth, she radiated confidence. Her stance was firm, her movements deliberate, and her sharp green eyes held ours without a hint of uncertainty.

“Yes?” she asked as we stopped in front of them.

“I’m Tobias, and this is Zoe,” I introduced us. “I heard that you accepted the quest to transport a package to Ortas.”

“That’s our quest,” the man said immediately. “We’ll not give it away.”

Smiling lightly, I focused on the woman. “I don't want to take it, but we also want to travel to Ortas, and I thought that maybe, if all of us were moving there, we could travel together. It would be safer.”

“I’m Tori,” the woman said, reaching her hand toward me.

The man grabbed her hand and stopped her. “What are you doing?” he asked.

Tori pulled her hand from his grip. “What’s your problem?”

“You don't know them. You have no idea what they want. It could be a trap or trick.”

Tori looked at me.

I smiled softly, trying to seem embarrassed. “We don't have any bad intentions, except using you as guides and for our safety,” I said.

The woman looked between me and Zoe.

“Why are you traveling to Ortas?” she asked.

“Looking for a job,” I replied.

“Ten ryns,” Tori said.

“Five,” I answered immediately.

“Tori,” the man said.

“Ten, or you are traveling alone,” she said, her gaze shifting briefly to Zoe.

“Tori!” the man repeated louder.

“Fine,” I agreed before he had a chance to convince her to back off.

She extended her hand again, and we shook on it.

“Tori!” the man repeated.

“Marcus, stop behaving like a kid! Do they look to you like people who could do something to us? He is a man, she is a sex ****, and on top of that, they have no weapons,” she replied.

I looked at her, raising my eyebrow.

Tori shrugged. “Would you deny it?”

I shook my head, even if she was wrong about both things.

Marcus looked at us and then at Tori. “Let’s talk alone,” he said.

Tori sighed. “Would you give us a moment?”

“We need to say farewell to our friend, so perhaps we can meet by the gate in twenty to thirty minutes?”

“Fine, don’t be late. We won’t be waiting.”

“Sure,” I replied and headed toward Samara’s stall.

I would have to say goodbye to her rather suddenly, though I still had doubts about whether I really wanted to. Maybe I could stay in this city?

Sex with her—the first time I had a threesome—would forever stay in my memory. She was attractive and seemed enterprising. She cooked well, had money, and rented a house. I could probably convince her to let us stay longer. Maybe I could even try something more with her.

But no. That wasn’t why I had come to this world. Not to find a new wife and tie myself down to one woman again.

I glanced at Zoe, who walked by my side, holding my hand.

She was special.

“That’s her!” someone shouted to our right.

I glanced there and noticed a man walking toward us with his finger pointed at Zoe. Just behind him followed two big men.

“Thief! Give me my money!” the man shouted, quickly closing the distance between us.

Zoe let go of my hand and shifted so she was behind me, trying to hide herself.

“Did you steal the money from him?” I asked, whispering.

“Yes, I’m sorry, Master,” Zoe said, and I could tell that she was close to crying already.

“Don't worry, I will take care of that,” I said as the man stopped in front of us. People around glanced at us but mostly just walked by. They probably didn't want to get involved, or it wasn't anything special here.

“Your **** robbed me yesterday,” the man accused. Both men behind him were taller and bigger than me, and they were watching me carefully. They had some black batons by their belts.

“That's a misunderstanding,” I said, smiling. “Patricia found a pouch with money yesterday. She didn't steal anything. You must have lost it, and I would be happy to give it back.”

“Lies! She robbed me! You will pay for it!” the man shouted. “A hundred ryns, or we will beat the shit out of you and this bitch!”

“I don't have money like that. I can only give you what you lost.”

“I didn't lose anything,” the man shouted and pushed me. Or rather, tried to, because he didn't manage to move me.

In return, I pushed him, so he stumbled back into the men behind him. They caught him, but I had already turned around. “Run!” I hissed and headed toward one of the streets diverging from the main road. Zoe followed just after me.

“Stop! Stop him! Fuck! Follow him!” the man was shouting behind us.

I glanced over my shoulder and noticed that all three of them were running after us, but the shouting man was staying behind.

Focusing back on where I was running, I noticed that Zoe was two steps in front of me and was glancing back. It seemed she didn't have a problem with this pace.

“Left,” I said, seeing a smaller street, praying that it wasn't a dead end. But most important for us was to leave the main road and find a place where there would be fewer people. It would be best to just run away, but if that failed, then we would need to fight, and I would prefer not to do this when people were present. Even if those men had little chance against us, I preferred not to use magic and risk something happening to Zoe. And I hadn't trained in fighting in this body. I wasn't sure if I could move as I did in my old body without muscle memory.

Fortunately, the street led into another, and another. There were no people around anymore. I was leading us between streets, hoping that we would lose the men chasing us and avoid confrontation.

Unfortunately, they followed stubbornly after us. The distance was increasing, but slowly, and I wasn't sure that we wouldn't run into a dead-end street soon.

I noticed a smaller alley on the right side between two buildings.

“Stop!” I shouted to Zoe and headed toward the smaller passage. It looked like it was opening onto another street on the other side. Perfect. “Here,” I commanded and pushed Zoe first.

When we entered, I glanced back. Those two men were closer because of our brief stop, but the street was so narrow that they needed to run one after another. Running, I focused on my mana. It was harder when I couldn't stop and focus, but I managed to feel it and summon a large amount of it.

Immediately, I squeezed it as Gemma had instructed me, but instead of forming it into a point, I made a thin line. I glanced over my arm and then moved the line so it was a few inches above the ground just behind me.

When the first man ran into it, his leg hit it, and the mana dispersed, but he stumbled and fell to the ground. The man behind him fell into him and joined him on the ground.

“Left,” I shouted as Zoe and I reached the end of the alley.

I led us through the streets, turning as often as possible, alternating between left and right turns, but the men weren’t running behind us anymore. After a few minutes, I was sure that we had lost them and gained some distance, so we were safe enough.

When we stopped, Zoe immediately threw herself at me, hugging me. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Master, I’m sorry,” she mumbled as I embraced her and noticed that she was crying, pressing her face to my chest.

“It's fine, Zoe. It's okay. Everything’s good,” I said, hugging her tighter as she sobbed. We stood there for a moment as I tried to comfort her, massaging her back gently. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time, especially because we had additional reasons to leave the city, and I didn't want our guides to go without us.

“Zoe,” I said, pulling her back from me. I grabbed her chin and tilted her head so we looked into each other’s eyes. “Everything is fine, okay? Those men couldn't harm us. I have mana, and you have your skills. We would have beaten them in a fight if we needed to, but it was better not to draw any more attention to us, okay?”

Zoe nodded, still looking sad. “I'm sorry…” she murmured.

“It's okay. You meant well. Don't steal anymore. And in general, before you do something illegal, ask me first, okay?”

Zoe nodded slightly.

“Everything will be fine. We will go to Ortas, and there, we will find some way to earn money.”

Zoe lifted her gaze and stared into my eyes. “Are you mad at me?” she whispered so softly that I barely heard her.

“No,” I replied and kissed her again. “But we must go now. We need to say goodbye to Samara and look for Tori.”

Zoe nodded, and I grabbed her hand, which she held tightly, and we headed looking for the main street. Zoe shifted close to me, almost hanging on my arm. Fortunately, it didn't take long to find the main street again, and we quickly approached Samara’s stall as I looked around, making sure that the older man wasn’t nearby.

When Samara noticed us, she immediately looked at Zoe, frowning.

“Is everything alright?” she asked.

“Yeah, it's fine, but we must leave the city, and we came to say goodbye.”

“You’re leaving already?” Sam asked, frowning even deeper.

“Yes.”

“What about your clothes? They're still wet.”

“Will you store them for us? We’ll take them back when we return.”

Sam nodded. “Where are you going?”

“Ortas. Looking for a way to earn money.”

“When… when will you be back?” Samara asked.

I shifted closer to her, embraced her, and pecked her lips, looking deeply into her eyes.

“Samara, thank you for your help. The night was amazing. You’re amazing. But at the moment, I live traveling from city to city. I would want to stay longer, only because of you—to have more time with you and get to know you better—but I can’t. We have an opportunity to travel safely to Ortas, and I can't pass it up. But as soon as I can, I will return here, just for you, okay?”

Samara nodded but then grabbed the nape of my neck and pulled me into a longer kiss. As our lips parted, she stared at me with a slight frown.

“See you soon, Samara,” I said and pulled away from her embrace.

“See you,” she sighed.

I grabbed Zoe’s hand and headed toward the city gate. We needed to move quickly so Tori and Marcus wouldn’t leave without us. I didn't want to leave Samara—I wanted to stay longer with her. But on the other hand, I knew that I shouldn’t get attached to any woman. Ortas was waiting for me—a bigger city, more opportunities, more women. But first, there was Tori, my enticing guide.