Bwahahaha!

Saints, the looks on those idiots’ faces! I didn’t expect things to escalate so quickly. All I wanted was to drive the greedy bastards away but the way he sauntered about with complete confidence and set his pet on me pissed me off. He has the gall to try to steal from me and drive me off like some pest.

He's lucky he’s alive. Too many people watching him. With these decrees hanging over my head, I don’t need to draw that kind of attention.

Doesn’t mean I can’t bully him a little, heh.

I change back to my prime form, not at all bothered by the fact that I’m nude. Geneva, give me an update.

[William and the others have returned to the shelter in one piece. Alana has ceased her hunt and is returning with the corpses of three mamaroons.]

Good for them. When Alana gets back, let her take a quick break and then send them all to me with one of the blankets. I’m going to need help carrying my haul.

[Very well.]

I lay on the ground, head propped up by one hand as I wait for my team to arrive, enjoying the sun while my thoughts wander. With this, the qualifiers are over. What else can we do? I should ask Cloud if we can leave early. Maybe invite her back to the house to celebrate. Sigh. Wish I’d brought a deck of cards. Tomorrow’s going to be boring.

At some point, as I’m almost drifting off, voices catch my attention. A team, far off but heading in my direction. I listen with mounting interest as they approach. Mostly, they’re bickering, but it’s interrupted when a girl exclaims, “Oh saints, why is she lying there naked?!”

The shout was quickly followed by, “Stop looking perverts!” by the same voice.

A man tries to defend himself. “I wasn’t looking at her, idiot! I’m looking at the giant pile of weasels next to her. Fuck! Do you know how many points that’s worth?”

“Those are hers.”

“And?” another girl’s voice sneers. “There’s a reason the instructors didn’t ban violence. It’s all part of the test.”

“I’m not assaulting a naked girl and robbing her like a common bandit!”

“Come on! There’s never going to be a better time.”

“No!”

“Wait! Saints, women…”

“What’d you say?!”

The team changes direction, still bickering. You all should thank that principled young lady. She just saved you. Ah ah, there goes my entertainment.

The next group to approach is my own team, heralded by the excited coos of Bell as she races ahead of them. I watch the reddish-orange blur dash over the ground before she throws herself at me. I catch her with one hand, rolling onto my back as I cuddle her close. “Hey there, my little saint.”

“Coo~” [You have gotten bold, Master Lou.]

That I have. Haha, I can’t imagine myself being so shameless before my prime form. Or, saints, before I met my wife. This body is a sculpted work of art. I should be getting paid for giving people the pleasure to see it, heh.

“Oh, for saints’ sake!”

The lovely sound of Alana cursing as she runs toward me makes me smile. I look up to see her stomping over to me with a scowl, the rest of the team jogging to catch up. I wave. “Hey.”

“Why are you naked?!”

“These things happen.”

“Losing your clothes doesn’t just happen!”

I sigh heavily. “You really have been spending all of your time with a bunch of muscleheads.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re staring at a naked woman and can’t spare a word of compliment before getting to business. It’s hard to imagine you were raised with manners at all.”

At the mention of my nakedness, she can’t stop her gaze from moving down my body, her face steadily reddening. “That’s…”

“Uh-huh. Don’t worry, I like women who are a little slow to catch on too.”

“Slow? Who are you calling slow? Stop messing around and get up.”

I just raise a brow. She grits her teeth, fighting to keep her angry eyes on my face. “Lou.”

“Oh, alright.” I put Bell on the ground and get to my feet, stretching languidly. Alana loses the battle to keep her eyes off me, swearing softly as she turns away. With a few steps, I’m in front of her, my fingers on her chin forcing her to look at me. “You sure you’re not the one who just wants me for your carnal desires?”

She bites her lower lip. This close, I can see her pupils dilate. A sure sign of arousal according to the icon of lust herself, Geneva.

But it’s not time. I’ve got to chip away that doubt in her heart before I do anything or she might really think I’m only interested in her for sex.

As soon as possible. It takes a strong will to turn away the woman I love when she’s giving me a look that’s practically begging me to kiss her. I somehow manage, letting her go and facing the rest of the team that’s finally caught up.

Marthe doesn’t seem at all bothered by my state of undress, tossing me the blanket in her hands. William is firmly embarrassed, his eyes glued to the ground. Arthur and Cloud are staring without a hint of shame, though I only appreciate one of the lustful gazes.

“No one’s going to ask anything?”

“It’ll just encourage you, pervert,” Marthe scoffs. “Can we get on with it? I’m starving.”

“Yeah, yeah. Here. You and Arthur take one end. William and Alana can take the other.” I spread the blanket out next to the pile of dead mamaroons and carelessly throw them onto it.

“How’d you do it anyway?” Arthur asks, unabashedly staring at my ass as I bend over.

“I squeezed into their tunnel and pulled them out.”

“Not with those cheeks, heh.”

I throw the last mamaroon on the blanket and dust off my hands. “I’m trying to be understanding because I know you can’t control yourself and I wouldn’t be able to keep my eyes off a woman as sexy as me either. Don’t make me hurt you. Get to work.”

Arthur clicked his tongue and lifted his corner of the blanket. The others follow and we’re on our way back to camp.