As I entered the house, now accompanied by three in place of just Arxibiela, I met with an interesting sight, the tall and somewhat bulky redheaded merchant shaking hands with the girls, one after another.

"So they already sealed the deal, huh?" Arx's half-whisper didn't escape me, but I trusted the girls to be smart enough not to get into anything shady or too dangerous, so I maintained my calm.

As for later, after learning the deal contents, I actually voiced my support for it, even if inwardly promising to myself to keep an eye on them so they don't get involved in something above the issues a simple store should have.

When at first, he talked to them about his plans to open a store in the region, and after relating how he wanted to find someone to work at it, he suddenly asked if they would be interested in managing it for him, Kierra and Angelique were surprised by such an offer, especially right of the bat. But Welo showed confidence they were the right people for the job and only sweetened the deal without explaining further.

Not that he didn't, later, say that all of his confidence stemmed from Arxibiela's words, as surprisingly, she had already recommended them to Welo even before the last night's fire.

Now, with the events of the past night and Welo learning all of the happenings in the city, all of the late ones related to the followers of the [One] God, he had decided to ask the girls to actually manage the store in place of working in it.

And well, as I found out when I entered the house, Kierra and Angelique accepted it, although I couldn't be sure which of the two took the decision.

"Well, I am looking forward to working with you. Tomorrow drop by the store, and we will discuss the details. As for today, I think you two should rest a bit more. After all, the night was anything but easy." Even more surprising, at least to me, Welo didn't pay any attention to either my return or the non-human visitors behind me, excusing himself and then promptly leaving after giving a bow to the girls, Arx, and then, by the door, to me, the latter accompanied by a quick thank you for the meal.

***

"Just what the fuck was that?" With Welo taking his leave like that, I couldn't word anything but these words as I looked at the girls and then at Arxibiela.

"Lithandia people have the custom of leaving when a new visitor arrives. And well, Welo also stayed over the amount of time he could as he has several other appointments." Arx took the hint and explained, but seeing that I was still somewhat dumbfounded about something, she laughed while asking as if in joke, "Surprised he paid no attention to your guests? Or their race?"

"Mmm." I nodded, as indeed, with Welo's surprise about me being a mage, I would have expected him to react at least somewhat to the fact my two new guests were far from human. "I mean, look at the girls!" With Arx's joking tone snapping me back to reality, I joked myself, even though at the expense of the girls, who stood there with widened eyes while looking at the one they didn't know, Dart.

"Well, staring like that would be rude for anyone but the host, wouldn't it?" Arx laughed again, pointing to the fact that the girls didn't even respond to Welo's farewells!

_______

While I was more resistant to things like Dart's looks, mainly thanks to the amount of fantasy consumed by me on Earth, I also stared at him for a good time during our first meeting, even if my reasons and thoughts were probably a bit different from the ones crossing he girls' heads right now.

In any case, I couldn't blame the girls at all. After all, no one could deny that an [Attus-re] appearance was fascinating.

[Attus-re], nothing else than [Greywolf-people] in elfish, were a race of beings that resembled their namesake grey wolves in many ways. They had rough, patchy hair, with tufts of fur visible below their clothing. They also had the furry ears, tail, and piercing yellow eyes of the kemonomimi I invoked in my thoughts. It was an intriguing combination - with his eyes and fur-like hair giving a wild look to what otherwise could pass as a pretty handsome face, even if overly sharp. Oh well, and if one ignored his three canines, about twice the size of a human's.

Despite his animal-like features, Dart's figure was not very far from mine, with a slim build and standing at some 185 cm. He also wore clothing that looked nearly like the usual villager, linen pants, and a shirt decorated with a simple fur trim around his neck, which looked nearly like a mane around the almost human skin of the latter.

His stats, which the girls could see, were also pretty impressive, even if a couple of them revealed some details about his unfortunate life.

NAME (AS SEEN BY ME) LEVEL (IF APPLIES) (ONLY ABOVE AVERAGE) Strength 17 Body 15 Agility 15 Willpower 22 Plants 13 Labor 14 Housekeeping 11 Camping 18 Orientation 16 Mapping 16 Danger-Sense 19 Crafting 12 Hunting 13 Fishing 11 Terrain: Forest 15 Terrain: Plains 14 Quick 17 Force 18 Close-Quarters 21 Unarmed 19 Dodge 15 Nature 11 Battle Trance (So it's not unique to me?) - Slave of - Beast Person: Grey Wolf - Other: Mutilated Tongue, Permanent. Left Upper Canine, Removed.

_______

It took Kierra and Angelique over a damn minute to return to normal after staring at Dart as if they had seen something otherwordly. Still, I have to say that they quickly composed themselves, welcoming the new guests and Kierra even apologizing to the [Attus-re] for their staring.

"I actually thought you saw each other before, with Dart being with us as we left Traders Street." As Soni and Dart took the offered seats, I suddenly replayed the events from the last night and looked at the girls with some surprise, as I was sure they had seen him move through the soldiers' post with us.

"He was?" But as I saw Kierra's eyes widen in surprise in response to mine, I more or less understood what was happening. {They were damn tired to give a damn fuck, weren't they? Ok, maybe it can be worded better, but that is definitively the gist of the matter.}

"Mmm, he was. And he is also the guy I told you about during our talk." Making fun of them because of something like tiredness, especially knowing the reasons for such a state, would be just damn low, so I stopped on just confirming the fact while jogging their memory a bit.

"But you didn't say he was an [Attus-re]!" Angelique's outburst was funny as she nearly jumped from the chair, her eyes half-angry and half-excited as they jumped back and forth between me and Dart, who maintained his stoic silence and emotionless face.

"Ok, ok, no need to fight! The night was hard, and I am sure not even Dart noticed you two little beauties." While the first part was for both, the second was for Kierra and Angelique, Soni sending them a smile before turning towards Dart and asking, "Isn't that true?"

Dart's ears perked up as she spoke, and he turned his eyes towards Soni, somewhat surprised by the question, his head slightly inclined in doubt about what she could mean. Still, he probably got the clue, as a moment later, he turned towards the girls and shrugged while shaking his head and giving them a little smile.

***

To my surprise, the girls agreed nearly immediately as soon as, between Soni and Arx, they learned of Dart's situation and my words from the previous day. In fact, I believe they didn't even think about it, and that's when we were literally taking someone to live in our house for who knows how many weeks!

"Well, with that cleared, I think I will take my leave now." With what she intended to do (if it was all) done, Arxibiela stood up and, excusing herself, citing stuff to do, then started towards the door. But she stopped midway, turned towards me, and asked if I could accompany her, "Let's leave them to speak a bit and get to know each other, as I am pretty sure Soni will be a frequent guest now that Dart will spend some time around."

{I knew there was something else!} But while being right usually felt nice, it was far from so this time. And damn, I didn't even have any reason to refuse. Not without revealing something I probably shouldn't.

***

To my surprise, Arxibiela wouldn't ask me to do something but would spend the walk down to her shop informing me about all of the incidents that happened around lately, centering on the ones related to the followers of the fire god, the [One], the Holy State of Lithandia official religion's deity.

And incidents there were many, far more than the assassination I had heard of or the arson incident from yesterday.

In just a week, there have been six attacks, four of which ended in the death of known preachers or temple staff, all related to the [Ten]. And while yesterday's fire was on another scale, a couple of smaller ones had taken place. And during one of them, the small shrine dedicated to [Zihet] was heavily damaged.

And while this part Arx considered to be criminal and not religious in nature, several sizable robberies happened while the guards rushed toward the site of the incidents.

"Even yesterday, sometime close to when you and the girls were leaving the Traders' Steet? Maester Zols, a jeweler living and trading in the aristocratic area, was knocked out and woke to see himself robbed of everything not stored in his [Gold Room]."

Arxibiela also commented on how she even started to suspect someone from the guards or city authorities to be involved with one of the sides of this story. Otherwise, how could the robbers know that the street and that area were the ones devoid of guards at that moment?

But she didn't linger much on the robberies, changing the topic to what was happening and how it affected the city.

Megvuroz was on the brink of chaos, with tensions simmering below the surface. Whispers had begun to spread that the followers of The One God were responsible for the recent incidents of violence and destruction, and many in the town were becoming increasingly fearful and suspicious.

Small acts of aggression and hostility had already occurred, with people being targeted and harassed simply for being followers of the [One God]. It had even affected the ones living or even born in Megvuroz. The authorities were trying to keep the peace, and the apparent calm was thanks to their efforts, but..?

"If it all continues like this, without someone managing to nip out the root of the trouble, it is only a matter of time for actual violence to start, which, as you found out from Welo's offer, is already something merchants and some nobles are expecting to happen."

At this point of her long monologue, and with us closing to our destination, I expected her to ask me for help or something like that. And the truth was that I was even unsure if I would say no. After all, Megvuroz was basically my city now, even if I had barely spent time here. Or on [Lieade] as a whole, to be frank. Thus, her following words, essentially the end of her narrative, they really took me by surprise!

"For a couple of days I will not ask the girls to come to my shop, citing the need to check details and else with Welo. And I also will post a couple of my guys to look after them in case you or Dart can not be there when they meet him or have to leave the house. And..." She suddenly winked and gave me a playful smile, "Don't be surprised if I come over to visit a couple of times more, just to check on them, you know."

"Wait, you think they are in danger?" Now that was the only thing that could prompt her to come over. Or wasn't it?

"Direct one? No. Neither from the culprits of all this shit. But with them meeting and being around a follower of the [One God] could attract unwanted problems." Turning severe by the end, she scowled as she added, "I only worry about our own local troublemakers and thrill seekers. They are calling themselves names like [Dousing Brigade] and gathering in groups to, as they say, protect everyone from the evil fire god worshippers."

"I see. Thank you then." Noting the name to myself, I nodded in actual thanks, considering that a couple of extra eyes on the girls was anything but bad.

"Well, we arrived. So, see you shortly. Very shortly!" Arx laughed and winked as she joked, nothing of the previous seriousness remaining on her face. Still, her eyes were cold, with none of the specks of laughter from when she usually joked or played around. How did I know? It was easy to guess. After all, I again felt the chills from something dangerous as an apex predator looking at me. The same sensation that I had when I first met her.

The returned feeling of danger, her seriousness, or maybe her words; I don't know what prompted me to say it, but as she turned away to enter her shop, I spoke two things, neither of which I could have expected myself to. An offer of help if she required it. And a quick tip.

One that appeared random and without any basis. Hell, anyone else would think I was lying or tricking them! After all, who would actually say that they would investigate a Captain of the Guard, a respected one as well, just because I muttered a name? But Arx did, and even thanked me for that few words, "You know? I personally would take a closer look at Captain Esme."

***

{At least some calm..?} As I walked back home, taking just a quick detour to approach a small bar-like stall and buy a small barrel of light wine, there was nothing on my mind but the desire to relax. After all, today was too eventful, and Arxibiela's words and opinions stressed and worried me a lot. Even as I walked, I returned to them several times, only the thought of returning home to relax allowing me to retain some semblance of calm.

But it seemed that all the gods, or a specifical Goddess I had the fortune (or misfortune) to know, had decided that I shouldn't relax yet. After all, I had not even touched the door handle on the house's door when someone called me from behind!