Vol. 1 Epilogue 2: The others that were left behind

A/N: And the Epilogue continues! I don't care if I bore some of you with a 4k+ word long chapter that isn't about Alex! I'll do what I like. It's all for the greater good of world and character building. :D Well, unless you guys decide to skip it, haha.... oh no.

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[Sharon's POV]

Dawning her cloak, Sharon walked after her shopping trip to her destination, the slums.

'Hmm. Let's see~'

She mused internally, not showing any outward expression.

'I have delivered darling's letter already. He's so cute… and apparently headstrong. Fufu.'

She had, obviously, read the contents and was quite fascinated. He was amusing to her. From the way he was unreadable, to his lack of fear of her antics, to his attempt at taking control of the situation, and more. She wanted to follow him in his little adventure in the cold outside world, hoping to give him some much-needed "support" and maybe exact a little payment—with his body, perhaps. But alas, she had work to finish here.

She didn't seem to care about her actions causing a stir in Marquis's household. But she did wonder how they'll take the news.

Hopefully, the guard was sensible enough to do what she told him to do. That was her only concern.

'It'll likely be a sight to see, fufu.'

A smile momentarily leaked on her face, but she quickly hid it away.

'Next. I bought food and some clothing for my little kitty. Hmm, I still need to do the reporting. But, I'll do it after I feed her… Speaking of, I should—'

"Shasha."

Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice from nearby.

She smiled as she looked at a similarly cloaked figure, standing in the shady alleyway, their features completely hidden. Though it was clearly a female, judging from their voice.

She carefreely turned to the alleyway, without showing any signs of nervousness or wariness. She was too calm and composed, in fact. Happy, even.

'I was hoping to meet her soon. I guess it's now. Oh well.'

"You do realize the knights have been patrolling and searching for suspicious people, right? You'll draw their attention like this, fufu."

"Hah, same to you, miss "adventurer". And I don't care. I have means to justify my presence here or I can easily run away if things went wrong. Anyway, I needed to talk to you. This is important."

She had now followed the figure deep inside the alley, away from any prying eyes or ears.

"My, to what do I owe the pleasure, miss "Guild Official.""

Her smile widened when the cloaked figure finally removed her hood once they were deep enough, revealing her identity that Sharon had already found out.

The female "guild official," looked back at her, narrowed her eyes, and then instantly her façade broke.

She smiled amicably as she replied.

"Geez, Sharon! Stop revealing my character like that~! I was really in the flow of it."

She pouted cutely, but her face remained brightened up.

Sharon smiled back. This woman in front of her, the one behind the figurative and literal mask she was wearing, was her best friend in this whole world. And the only person she really adored and cared for.

She reached out and pulled the woman's hair and face.

"Aaah! No! Don't! It took so much time to perfect this getup!"

And the brown wig and face mask the "guild official" wore came out, revealing the short, bright, and curly ginger hair and a small and cute face, matching her petite body.

Sharon still pitied the men who simply judged her friend's character solely from her cute appearance(s) and cute personality. Her friend was quite vicious in truth and she hid it well from others behind that bubbly façade. She had proved so time and time again as Sharon and she did missions together in the past many years.

But Sharon didn't care. She was, after all, the same. Her hands too were dyed in the blood of many. And she was an open sadist.

"This is much better, though. I prefer to see my cute younger sister and not some fake."

Her comment made the other female blush and leak a smile. But on the contrary, she huffed and replied.

"Oh, geez! You don't have to butter me up!"

Her friend and sworn sister shook it off but was certainly enjoying the compliment. And she didn't have to read her mind to know so. She could tell by the fact that her friend was now subconsciously grabbing her waist and was almost hugging her. Her hands now rested on Sharon's bottom, even groping them at times.

If one didn't know better, one would think her ginger friend was a lesbian. But she was just overly touchy-feely like that.

"And it won't save you from the scolding."

She added.

That brought Sharon out of her carefree and joyful mood. Her calm smile faltered a little as she asked.

"You… reported to him already?"

"I-I did."

Her "best friend" suddenly realized the problem and looked away in shame.

Sharon sighed.

"Oh dear, that's going to be a problem. Now I'll have to listen to his lecture. Damn it. I can't believe you ratted me to him, Isla. I was just a little distracted. And for the record, I did finish my job and contacted you. But you were busy yesterday with your mission in the guild."

"Noooooo… Don't call me by that name~! Call me Lily, like you usually do. And I'm really really sorry for ratting you out~ Uuuu, I really didn't know you did that… Pwease, forgive me, Shasha~ Pwease?"

Her ginger friend clung to her like a koala, rubbing her face, and pleaded in a cutesy voice, which was more annoying than anything. Sharon knew her friend, Lily—codename: Isla— was intentionally doing it.

She had to stop herself from chuckling in amusement at her friend's annoying but still cute antics and spoke in mock annoyance.

"Maybe I'll forget you. But you'll have to tell me everything~ Starting with why you reported me to that guy."

Her friend too knew her act, but she still complied.

"Because! You went missing for the almost whole evening and night when you were supposed to report back on those cloaked weirdos! When I tried contacting you later, you didn't respond to my calls and I had, unfortunately, missed yours before it! So, I was getting worried, you know~! So, I accidentally let it slip to the boss and he was reeeaally angry. But he told me to wait for a day before asking for backup.

And color me surprised to find out the next morning that you were with the recently missing children and kidnappers. I had to pull some strings and finish my work here quickly to meet you, even if in disguise. Speaking of, what was that deal with the catgirl. I got goosebumps when you said you're gonna adopt her! Please tell me it was a prank or something. There's no way you're kind enough to simply adopt a random girl, even if she was an orphan. Your heart isn't so soft—Ouuuccch. Swop, ii hurrs!"

A pinch on the ginger's cheeks stopped her barrage of words. But Sharon got the gist of it. She could still handle this situation. A day hadn't passed yet and she was sure their "boss" would let it slide if she gave him the good news. Though, he got cranky and would definitely babble a lot.

He was an annoying asshole.

"Hey! That's not true. I am pretty kind. I did save those children, even if it wasn't really in my plans."

Her "kindest" smile didn't seem to work on her ginger friend, however.

Her friend Lily knew her too well.

She left her cheeks which were tinted slightly pink, leaving the girl to temporarily rub on them.

"Anyway, why were you there?"

The orange-haired girl quickly recovered and was once again holding her closely, their faces were close enough to kiss. She could see the blemishes on her best friend's cheeks which made her look even cuter rather than unattractive.

Too bad Sharon wasn't into women. Or anyone, as a matter of fact. She was never really interested in romantic or sexual relationships until now.

That is, until she met 'him.' He was the sole person whose mind she couldn't read. That boy was just different from ordinary boys. He attracted her for reasons she wasn't sure of. She hadn't cared if he found out she had tried to read his mind. Though, she hid the fact that she tried really hard when he was asleep. In fact, none of the Mind-related spells she prided herself in seemed to work on him. Alexander K. Maximus, as she now knew the boy as, was a complete enigma to her.

And while she lied about a lot of things, including claiming that she was into young boys and that's why she "saved" him—it was just to mess with him, in reality, and in truth, she had found him accidentally while following the suspicious men in cloaks that she was tasked to follow—she found herself quite attracted to him.

Not to mention the monster he hid in his pants. Who would have believed a young boy like him would be so… packed. And he was still in his growth years. He was going to be a real monster in bed. She knew it since she had already had a taste of his goods. She was, much to her surprise, addicted to him.

Sharon momentarily shivered as she felt a little tingle down her stomach, reminding her of the previous night and the morning. Which in turn turned her on and she realized it a second too late.

'Oh, crap. I screwed up—'

She didn't mean to show it on the outside but it was already too late.

"Uhh… what are you doing?"

She asked her friend who was now sniffing her like a wolf.

"Hey, Lily."

The ginger sniffed her some more. And Sharon pulled her away.

"Alright, miss sniffy-sniffer. That's enough of your perversions! I don't fancy such plays if you didn't know."

She was trying to play it off, but a sense of foreboding started building inside her.

'Oh dear no. Please don't tell me she found out. That'll be real bad…'

"Why do you have the smell of a guy all over you?"

The ginger narrowed her eyes, suddenly losing all of her bubbliness and turning into her serious investigator mode.

Sharon held back a groan.

'Goddess, why is her nose so strong?'

Still, she gave her friend a confused head tilt as she reinforced her poker face, not letting her surprise, annoyance, or any unnecessary emotions show at all.

"What are you talking about? I always have the smell of men all over me. You know how my job is~ Though you might be confusing the smell of the catgirl for a boy right now. I was carrying her on my lap not long ago."

Alas, neither her reasoning nor her poker face seemed to work in her friend-turned-detective. The ginger was too good at catching small changes in her.

She knew her too damn well. She could only lament now.

"I'm not talking about your seduction missions. We both know you'd never let anyone other than me, especially a man, touch you in reality. There's never been such a strong scent of a male on you before. It might be covered by the dominant smell of the catgirl and some sort of cleaning magic, but I can tell you were with a man. Now, out with it, Sharon! Why is there the smell of a man on you?! Did you sleep with a man last night?"

The ginger narrowed her eyes and Sharon sighed. It was inevitable that her ginger friend would sniff out that detail, literally, as she did just now. And she wasn't really trying to hide it from her anyway. So, like a good friend, she told her the events she was obviously never going to mention in her report or to anyone else. Minus the identity of the boy, of course.

"Oh. My. GODDESS! YOU SLEPT WIT—Mmph! Mmm!!"

Sharon had to cover her friend's mouth immediately, not letting her scream any longer. Turning around, she was thankful nobody was here to hear this. She couldn't pick any brain activities in the area.

'Sigh, I wasn't expecting 'that' big of a reaction from her, but I guess it is quite shocking. I should be shocked too, I suppose. But I'm not.'

She smiled wryly then roped in her thoughts as she spoke.

"Keep quiet, will you?"

"But! But! You seriously slept with a man? A young boy of 15, no less. Why so young?! I thought you hated men after… ah. I'm sorry. Forget I said that."

"It's alright~ I don't care about that anymore~ You don't have to apologize. As for him… well… How do I say this? Currently, our relationship is just that of two strangers having a one-night stand."

'Though, I did force him to do it.'

"But, I'll make him mine eventually."

He had managed to tick all of her favorite types: Young, Unusually strong, Interesting, Mysterious, and a damn good partner in bed. His stamina and his more than impressive tool were beyond anything she'd seen from someone his age. She couldn't imagine how much he'll "grow up" when he grows up.

'Ah, I did it again. I shouldn't have thought about him.'

Because her façade broke and a smile momentarily escaped her lips whenever she thought of him. And it didn't go unnoticed by her ginger friend.

"Unbelievable! You fell for him!? Just like that!? How is that even possible? … Who was it?! Out with it! I want his every single detail! Don't leave anything out! I know you're hiding his identity on purpose!"

And for the next half an hour or so, she was pestered enough to have to give most of the details about her night and morning. Though she hid a few things still, like his name and actual identity, but other than that, she told everything else, especially about the size and amazing stamina of her new interest. And she didn't forget to be clear about it.

"W-Wow. He came 13 times in a row?! What a monster—no! Before that! You raped a child!? Sharon! That's horrible! You're horrible!!"

"Now, now, hold on a second, there. I don't appreciate that allegation. The sex was consensual and he's an adult from what I know, though he's still much younger than I… and I may have forced him to consent. But it matters not. Everything is fair in lust and missions."

It was a blessing, mostly for him but a little for her too, that he was no ordinary boy and that he did take the lead, meaning he gave her his consent. At least, as far as she was concerned anyway.

"Also, he's not a child… Definitely not a child with that monster in his pants. Fufufufu…"

Her lust was on clear display to her ginger friend, as she did not care to hide it any longer. The cat was out of the bag anyway.

"Still… isn't 15 a bit too young! I never knew you were into young boys. That's so… perverted!"

Sharon shrugged.

"He looks charming enough for me to not care. And 15 is when you reach adulthood anyway. I don't see any problems. Besides, I can smell your arousal from here. You're horny, aren't you~? You want to try it too, don't you? A real cock, I mean."

She slowly pushed her ginger friend onto the wall behind her and started touching her cute and moderate breasts, trying to tease her.

"T-That's… it was admittedly really hot. Did you… really let him do you from behind? I thought you were into dominating others."

Sharon brought her lips to her ginger friend's ears and spoke in a husky voice.

"Oh, but you see~ He wasn't going down so easily, and by the time we started… I was already too fucking horny to care for anything. When we started… I had already forgotten about everything and we were both enjoying ourselves. We did it in a lot of positions and they all left quite good. He was a natural at sex."

She dropped her hands and grabbed a handful of her friend's ass from her tight guild suit. It was soft as a bun.

"E-Enough! Stop molesting me, you sex fiend!"

Finally, the ginger had had enough of her teasing and she pushed her away. Sharon chuckled in delight, seeing her flushed.

They bickered for a while about morality, pedophilia, sex, his cock, and a few other things. And in the end, though, she won the "debate."

She knew how to "handle" her friend. She knew exactly what strings to pull to get her to accept her… 'quirkiness.' After all, they were both quite 'quirky.' Oh, she knew exactly what her friend's kinks were.

"Okay, fine! But you'll have to let me meet with the boy! I'll not give my best friend to some simple little kid!"

Her ginge friend huffed. And she smiled.

"Of course~ I can let you meet him… in the future. Maybe you can enjoy yourself as you watch us enjoy ourselves. Fufufufu~"

"Enough! I'm not into that kind of stuff! And also, we need to talk about 'that catgirl' you just casually adopted. This is the second time you've done that."

The first time was a long time ago when she "adopted" a young ginger-haired girl from the streets.

"I told you it was mostly just on a whim. My 'darling' seemed to like her and I thought it'll be fun to tease him with her. Maybe I could gain his trust too. He was sadly too suspicious of poor old me~"

She spoke in mock sadness.

"I know there's more to it than just you wanting to mess with this 'darling' of yours. I can't believe you won't tell me his name. I'm hurt~!"

Sharon smiled.

True. If it was just that, she wouldn't have mind-wiped the catgirl of her— some happy but mostly painful and sad— memories.

"Well… That catgirl seemed to have a talent for magic and my intuition told me it was going to be a special type. I don't know what, but she's already an adult, so we can find out and see if it's useful to us. I don't mind keeping her as my ward and training her a little in "our" ways. She could become a decent addition to our little group if she was training properly from a young age."

The ginger blinked, then smiled cheerfully.

It was good to see her back to her cheerful personality.

"Tell me more about it!"

"I will. But you'll have to promise to not talk about this with anyone else. And also keep this whole thing about 'darling' between us. I'll make some excuse for my disappearance. I do have some news 'he' will like."

"Okay~"

And so they talked and discussed some things before Lily once again wore her façade and Sharon took her to meet the new possible member of their group.

She had taken longer than she had planned, though. So she hoped the compulsion she'd placed on the catgirl to not leave her room was still active.

Things had become so interesting since she met her darling.

She smiled in delight. Her smile was lovely on the outside, but her thoughts were bordering on "crazed." That's just who she was. A crazy woman who did whatever she wanted and chased whatever kept her amused. This time, it was a boy named Alexander.

[End of Sharon's POV]

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[Kara's POV]

Kara glanced occasionally at the brown-haired young woman dressed in formal clothing as she practically devoured the food in front of her.

"… And so, she's my companion. You can call her Isla."

She was only partially hearing what the woman from before was saying. The food had gotten a bit cold, but it still tasted so good that she almost choked on it a couple of times as she tried to fit in as much as she could.

"Geez! Don't eat so quickly! You're gonna chok—Ah, you're already choking! See! Not to mention you're dropping bits and pieces all over the place! You'll need to learn some manners."

The brown-haired woman patted her back as she cleaned the residue of

She seemed nice, nicer than the other one anyway, but that didn't change the fact that she didn't know her either. She was yet another stranger to her.

…

Now well-fed and well-rested, she was feeling much better. But her confusion was still there.

"Can you tell me why I'm here now? And where is 'here'?"

She asked freely as she looked down in fascination at her cute new attire. It fit her quite well and was really pretty.

(Image)

Though, for some reason, she still didn't want to part away from the oversized T-shirt which she now hugged tightly. It smelled really nice and comfortable. Almost as nice as 'that voice.' Though, she had yet to correlate them.

The burgundy-haired woman replied, causing her to look at her.

"I will tell you later. But right now we need to make a choice. I'll give you two choices, Kara. One. You stay here, alone, in this shabby and sad place in the dangerous and uncaring slums and we'll leave you here on your own with a little bit of money that'll soon run out. And then you'll be on your own in this cold and sad place."

The woman's voice had been stoic and casual until now, though the implication of what she had just said was understood well by Kara.

The woman smiled cheerfully as she continued.

"Or, two. You can come with us as we travel around the country and do fun stuff~ We'll be adventurers, people who roam around the world and do whatever they want, earning money by doing odd jobs we call Quests and spending it on ourselves as wish. Now, decide right now. What's it going to be?"

"Where did I live before?"

Instead of telling her their choice straight away, she asked.

"*Sigh.* In this very place, if you must know."

'Ah.'

No wonder it felt so familiar here… —And gloomy. For some reason, this place felt really gloomy. She didn't want to be here. Why? Was it because she lived alone?

"A-And my family…"

"As I said, they're already dead. You're an orphan now. With no one else that you can call your family. This shabby place is all you've left."

Her heart ached hearing it again and she was teary, but a strange compulsion stopped her from breaking into crying again. After a moment of trying to get her feelings under control, she asked.

"Why are you helping me?"

This time, the brown-haired woman replied as she came closer and hugged her.

"Because you're like us. Alone and lonely. That's all that matters. You can be our little sister. And family. We'll have lots of fun together."

That was right. She was alone and lonely. Very lonely. She wanted some comfort. She needed it desperately. The idea was very enticing to her and she was not wise enough in her current state to question the validity of their statements.

"Mmm. Okay. I'll go with you, aunties—Auuu! Waiii, ii hurrs!"(A/N: Lol, aunties. XD)

She felt pain as her cheeks were pulled tightly by the same brain-haired woman who was being nice to her until now. She might have made a mistake by calling them "aunties."

"Listen here, you little… Just because you're young doesn't mean WE are old. I'm only 21 and Shasha is… well, you can call her aunty. She's pretty old—Ouchie! I-I was kidding, of course! She's quite young too. So, don't call us that. We're like your big sisters."

Kara nodded as the hands pulling her cheeks were now caressing the woman's own head. Smiling at the casual but somehow warm banter of the two older women—no, young women who were still older than her by a fair amount.

"I'm only 24, my dear Isla. Now, it's rude to call me old~ My puppies are still in form."

Though, Kara was really not sure about at least one of these two older sisters. She was too… weird.

Anyway, that was the day that changed the life of Kara, the unfortunate catgirl. She was destined to experience things she had never experienced. Though, for the currently mind-wiped catgirl, almost everything was going to be a new experience now.

She had a clean slate to write whatever she wanted and a new life ahead of her to live… along with these two strange and unknown strangers who for some reason wanted her. She'll find out why in due time.

It was a little jarring, but she decided it was better than 'here'. Any place seemed better than 'here'.

[End of Kara's POV]

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