AN: And so, the romantic litrpg legend continues. Fu fu fu.

Chapter 100: Cinnamon Girl

Scott gazed longingly at his spell list. There were many things that he would love to see appear there, but that would only be possible with a great deal of time and effort. At the moment, he only possessed a small number of system approved spells. Research was simple, but potentially deadly. Learning patterns would be safer, but the actual spells were different.

"Need a spotter, preferably someone who can drag me to a priest if I end up microwaving myself," he mumbled. In short, he'd be waiting for Ero and Rhea to return full-time.

He started to leave the mirror when he noticed something else hanging out in the corner of the screen. Curious, he reached over and tapped the icon.

New Achievements Unlocked!

Imperial Seal

VIP Style

Blowhard

Fairy Lover

"I earned four achievements? Haven't had any in a good while," he said before clicking on the useless little additions. Most achievements did nothing more than provide a good laugh or a sense of accomplishment. If anything, they might cause the locals to act more or less favorably toward a player. Even then, they'd have to actually know the player achieved it. The result came about due more to the fame of the achiever than the actual achievement.

Scott looked over the Imperial Seal achievement then blinked. "So, not all achievements are useless?"

The Imperial Seal was granted to a player who performed an outstanding service to the country. It allowed for the acquisition of special achievements in the area, achievements that did grant minor bonuses and rewards. "So, an achievement that allows me to earn useful achievements? Neat."

There was nothing particularly fancy about the Imperial Seal's appearance. A winged V shape surrounded by a laurel leaf appeared on the screen. Below it, there were five stars. Four of them were white, but the fifth blazed brightly with a golden light. If he collected five of the same achievement, something good would happen. There was nothing shown to indicate that, but he knew how games worked.

He checked the next achievement, VIP Style. Upon doing so, his eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. "Half-cost city services?"

The VIP Style Achievement showed an image of him wearing dark sunglasses, and wearing a business suit. It was the reward for achieving the Imperial Seal. His face was now known throughout town, and granting him a discount in stores and hotels would allow for a small tax break for local business owners. He could even ride buses and the train for half-price.

In high spirits, he checked the next achievement only to grunt. After a moment he started to laugh a little. The Blowhard achievement included an image of him bent over and unleashing a wind that blew against a hill. Trees and debris were shown being blown away under the might of the storm.

"Granted for creating an ill wind of primal destruction," he said with a snort.

"Yeah, that's an achievement alright," groused Scott lightly before unleashing a tired sigh. The system simply refused to let things go. Was it really so humorous that he tried something new and almost died because of it? How was he supposed to know that using his powers would actually turn him into a tornado? It never happened before!

The final achievement honestly perplexed him. "Fairy Lover?" he asked curiously. The image was a lewd scene of him and Ero locked together in a passionate embrace.

"Earned for impregnating a fairy," he said thoughtfully. Wasn't that an odd achievement to get when she was not actually pregnant? "Weird that the screen shot seems to be taken from when we were together at the lake."

Admittedly, the way that they said goodbye to each other when he left to return to Valkovia did prove to be intensely passionate. Ero was forced to return to her normal size not long after and needed quite the cute little fairy nap.

Something about the image caused concern for him. Why would the system choose that specific image for the achievement when she'd been pregnant for a while now?

The strange sense of concern continued to assault him for a brief moment, but in time he regained his focus. Achievements were weird. It was possible that they only showed the lake because most of their trysts were in his dreams or that time one when they joked about going for twins. Of course, there were other pregnancy jokes made as well, like the one about getting her extra pregnant. It was Ero. She always said weird, but cute, little things.

Scott finished his business with the mirror then left the temple. It was time to go check on his furry little brother.

The trip to the hotel did not take long, as he chose to ride the bus. Walking long distances was still difficult and painful, despite his rapidly healing body.

Filled with excitement due to his perceived sudden power-up, Scott walked into the lobby with a spring in his step. While the growth in skills and slight upgrade in his stats was no doubt due more to his lengthy hospital stay than anything else, it was still nice to see that the entire week did not end in a wasted effort. The achievements were an interesting bonus, and he could not wait to try out his discount.

"Cinnamon!" cried out a tiny feminine voice. Scott looked toward the source of the call and saw a little girl lifting up a chair in a nearby waiting area.

"Where are you, Cinnamon?" asked the girl with a pout.

After a moment, she noticed Scott looking in her direction. She called out, "Hey, Mister! Have you seen my guinea pig?"

"I'm sorry. I haven't. What does it look like?" asked Scott.

"She's my little Cinnamon, not an it..." said the girl shyly, before unleashing a pout, "I wanted to take her out to raise her level today, but I can't find her at all."

"If I see a guinea pig, I'll let the front desk know," said Scott. He was tempted to help the cute little girl look, but who knew where her pet would be by now?

"Thank you, mister," said the girl before reaching up to pull on one of her pigtails. After a quick moment of thought, she made a gesture with her hands. "She's about this big and has long blond hair."

"Does she run away a lot?" asked Scott, curiously.

"Every night this week!" cried the little girl, heatedly.

The little girl pouted cutely, then continued, "She always came back early in the morning, covered in glitter for some reason, and she'd end up sleeping most of the day. This time she didn't come back at all."

"If I see her, I'll let someone know," said Scott.

"Thank you..." said the little blond girl before blushing a little and turning to the side.

Scott smiled at her briefly and she giggled a little before turning from side-to-side. 'What a cute little girl. I bet Ero's baby would have—' thought Scott, before he caught himself. A sense of sadness and loss overtook him for a moment. He offered the girl a tentative wave and another smile before walking away. He hoped that she would find her pet, but he had his own rodent friend to check on.

He fought the depressing thoughts creeping through his mind while he rode the elevator up to his floor. It was still weird, the fact that he'd lost a child that never existed. It was difficult to know what to think about it. The only thing really lost was the possibility, not an actual child. Yet, it still hurt.

Scott stepped out onto his floor and yawned a little. The exertion of moving around so much wore on him. He needed a few more days of bedrest at least, but there was a lot to do.

He arrived at his room only to notice something was amiss. Rather, something was ajar. His door stood slightly open. Music, a sound reminiscent of the romantic slow jazz that Kenny G might play, was heard from the other side. Strangled cries echoed through the thin crack. His eyes widened, Scott opened the door carefully in full expectation that someone had broken into the room and begun an impromptu jazz session.

No one appeared to be playing a saxophone in the living room, but he noticed a trail of glitter and flower petals leading to the bedroom.

Scott's left eyelid twitched a little. "No..." he said softly.

He rolled his eyes and tried to fight down a chuckle as he realized what was going on. "Tired every morning, huh?" he asked lightly while eyeing the glitter trail.

Convinced of what he'd see in the bedroom, Scott went to the refrigerator and searched until he found something to eat. "A carrot.... perfect."

His vegetable prop in hand, Scott casually walked over to the bedroom and opened the door. On the bed there were no less than four rodents. Two were passed out on their backs, but Herbert and a guinea pig who could only be cinnamon were quite busy.

While the romantic jazz music played in the background, Herbert pulled Cinnamon's head back by her long flowing hair. She squeaked and squealed delightedly as her grass rate lover showed her the ways of interspecies romance with every thrust of his mighty rodent hips.

Scott nibbled on his carrot while watching the show. He didn't want to cock block his rodent brother, but he did want to see how long it would take to them to notice that he was in the room.

Herbert slapped Cinnamon on her furry bottom. She threw her head back and squealed loudly in her guinea pig fashion. Surprisingly, she began to twinkle in the light. It took Scott a moment to realize that the glitter was the culprit.

The jazz music tempo quickened and so did Herbert. Scott loudly crunched down on his carrot, an action that caused the Grassrat to glance toward the door.

Herbert continued pumping away for a brief moment then blinked. After another few seconds passed, he looked to his right and then quickly turned his head back to the left. Yes, Scott was still standing at the door eating a carrot.

Scott casually pointed his veggie at Herbert then grinned. "I'll be back in an hour..."

Herbert blinked once more then nodded and threw up his left paw, one digit raised into the air. He squeaked something that sounded suspiciously similar to, "Thanks bro," before getting back to business.

Cinnamon, in her own little world of pleasure, knew nothing of what transpired. Her eyes never bothered to open.

After he turned away, Scott said, "By the way, there's a sad little girl wandering the hotel looking for your girlfriend."

Herbert had the good manners to look down briefly before nodding his head. Scott heard another little smack after taking a step forward, and he laughed a little. "Hell yeah, punish that furry ass."

It was only right that Cinnamon be punished. After all, there was a cute little girl desperately looking for her in the lobby. "Man, hope I can get out of here without seeing her. I'd hate to have to lie to the kid."

Scott re-entered the elevator and managed to reach both the ground floor, and the exit without sign of the girl. "How to kill an hour?"

He looked around briefly then shrugged. He was tired, but a light stroll would not be bad.

After walking around for a few minutes, he happened to notice the back of his hand. Scott blinked then lifted it up to his face. "You know, I never did check to see if I gained any contribution."

He checked to see what he'd earned, but received a message instead. "Come to the municipal building between eight in the morning and noon?" he asked. There was no way to check his contribution since the message was the only thing to pop-up when he tried it a few more times. "Wonder that this is about?"

"It's too late to go today. Guess I'll have to find some other way to kill time," he said, before continuing on his way.

Eventually, he made his way to the bus stop and he opted to catch a ride. His bus pass expired while he was in the hospital, so he paid the fare. He grinned like a fool when he realized it was half price. "Discount Get!" he said happily, before finding a seat in the back.

Time passed slowly while he rode the bus around town. Scott thought of many things, and considered his plans for the future. A lot happened recently, but at least everyone was alright. That was the thing that mattered most.