Chapter 011: No Bitches?

Author: WolfSpatial

Co-Author: Lucifer

[As long as there are two people on Earth, someone is gonna want someone dead.]

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I had been in Elgade for a little over a day when Lorence offered to buy me a new set of clothes so I didn't stand out amongst the citizens. I took him up on his offer, carrying my robes in a black bag as I thought to make my way to his estate to offer my thanks.

The suit I had picked out was fairly high-priced – Lorence had given me stuff to trade and that took all of it – but I didn't get as many looks as before. Of course, people were still curious about the man with green hair and an eye patch, but they kept to themselves after seeing the quality of my suit.

It was a three-piece suit made of a durable dark material that was resistant to blades but provided no protection from bludgeoning weapons.

I didn't really mind it though, despite it not being as free-flowing as my robes. It wasn't as restricting as I'd expected, not being really tight around my neck or shoulders as I had come to believe suits were.

It was a simple thing, a light gray long-sleeved shirt under a charcoal vest with a space gray jacket covering it. The cuffs off the shirt extended past the edge of the jacket slightly, showing off two silver cufflinks in the shape of shields.

My black tie was also accompanied by a shield with a white slash through it in the form of a tie clip that held it close to my shirt. I wasn't sure why I needed a tie clip with a vest, but I wasn't a fashion designer in any matter.

My black pants reached down to a pair of dark gray socks and a surprising shoe combination. I hadn't noticed it on others before, but the shoes that came with the suit were more akin to combat boots than dress shoes.

The black boots came up about a quarter of my calves, tightly tied with thin laces that were then tucked into the boot. My dark gray socks extended up to my mid-calves and felt soft to the touch despite their assured durability.

They gave me two extra sets of socks and underwear, the latter of which was form-fitting and definitely gave more room for my delicate areas.

I had noticed that I grew slightly when I leveled up, I was about an inch or two taller, and my small muscles had become much more abundant and pronounced.

They had tried to switch out the ring on my right hand, but I vehemently refused. They had no choice but to leave the gilded ring, but I did gain a necklace from them.

It wasn't anything special, a silver necklace that looked like it should be worn by a girl. It had a small blue gem in the center of its pendant, attached by a small piece of bent metal to the thin chain around my neck.

Leaving the establishment, I glanced down at the Flame-Tosser Ring and saw the Spirit still lying dormant. I somewhat regretted using him as I did, but if I hadn't then I couldn't have displayed my strength and gotten the City Lord's attention.

I wasn't originally planning to garner his attention at all, but seeing such a good opportunity I couldn't let it go. With the Spirit ready to confine himself again for my sake, I also couldn't let his sacrifice be in vain. If I had my staff at the time, I wouldn't have needed to waste the Spirit's conviction at all.

Holding my robes in the bag in my left hand, I caught a few eyes still but nowhere near as many as before. It surprised me, though, as I was much more attractive now after cleaning up and getting setting-appropriate clothes.

I was stopped at the entrance to the estate by two guards in iron armor with halberds. They tightened their grip on the wooden shafts of their weapons as the one to the right of the metal gate spoke, "Why are you here?"

I was taken aback by his nonchalant attitude, most of the knights in the other world were pompous asshats who thought they were better than everyone except their boss.

Regardless, I looked over at the knight and started, "Jayce Fateweaver, here to speak with Lorence D'Elgade. Fetch him for me."

"Excuse me?" The knight brought his halberd down to point it at me, followed by his partner, "You dare disrespect the City Lord?"

"Who's being disrespectful?" Stifling a yawn, I pointed to one of them and then the other, "Seems like it's the two of you, to me. Go get your master, my patience grows thin."

Despite using the yawning action to show my boredom, I found myself uncharacteristically tired. Watching the duo exchange looks, the one to the left of the gate went inside and disappeared into the main building.

It was a large brown building with large windows set in even numbers on either side of the large centered door. It was raised from the ground by about three feet with five steps leading up to the front door.

I could see three floors from where I was with a clock tower going up about two more floors above the entrance. I couldn't, however, see very much due to the tall stone wall around the estate and the well-trimmed garden that had bushes lined up along the edge of the path to the cul-de-sac in front of the five steps.

The knight returned shortly after, whispering into his companion's ear and returning to his spot in front of the gate. Knight number one looked at me and sighed, "The Duke will see you now. Please leave any weapons at the front door."

Giving a small hum, I walked through the gate and started toward the cul-de-sac. As I reached the center of the circle, the tiredness I had felt before came back in droves, knocking me to one knee.

Shaking my head, I opened my character sheet to see what was wrong but found nothing amiss. I held my head with my right hand as a splitting sensation cascaded across it and flashes of a dark room filled my mind until they became all I could see.

The room had only a single candle which somehow provided dim light to the entire area from behind me. In front of me, I found the Duke and a young girl on their knees, praying to something.

I looked down at my body but found that I didn't have hands, legs, or even a torso. I called out to them, but my voice never left my throat.

Taking a moment, I scanned the Duke and girl again, finding that I couldn't open their character sheets. However, the Duke looked a few years younger. It was safe to say that this ten-year-old girl would be around my age now – if this was truly a vision of the past.

She looked up at me – or through me, I couldn't tell – and I saw a distinct scar across the right side of her face. It became obvious that this girl was Catheine, a younger version of her at least.

The room began to darken and I found myself sitting up on a bed in a wooden room. I had my body and the clothes I had gotten in Elgade, but I didn't feel a connection below me.

There was another connection, however, and I looked to my left to see my staff hovering near a nightstand. It seemed to feel me look over at it, and I felt… – I think – happiness from it.

"Have you been waiting for me?" The staff flew at me unexpectedly, leaning against me as if trying to hug me.

Grabbing its shaft, I stored my robes into its subspace and stood up and smiled at the long black and red rod, "I've missed you. I was in a strange place, a place called Cantria where there's no magic but they have advanced enchanted technology using runes."

The staff thrummed in response, a small rumble traveling up my arm, "I don't speak staff, I'm sorry. But, you're much more animated now that I'm back. Did anything fun happen?"

"Where… Are we?" A small voice filled my mind as heat began to build around my finger. It wasn't much heat, but enough to travel my body and keep me warm.

"Look who finally woke up…" I chided the Spirit jokingly, getting a reaction from both him and my staff.

"What the hell kind of…" The Spirit mumbled just loud enough for me to hear, "What kind of being is trapped in that staff of yours? Even with the promotion you gave me, I can't begin to fathom its existence."

"This is the staff I was talking about the other day," Holding up my empty right hand, I held my staff in my left, "Staff, this is an Ignition Spirit I met. He helped me out when I was without you."

I almost thought I felt the staff say 'thank you' but decided I was insane for thinking so. Well, more insane than I already was.

A knock came to my door, confusing me as I didn't even know where I was, let alone who that could be. Just as I was about to answer, the door opened and Itsuki stepped through.

He froze when he saw me, tears filling the eyes of the twink and he rushed forward and was pulled back by a cape he hadn't had before. A delicate hand gripped the back of the cape, the arm of which belonged to none other than Malty S Melromarc.

She bowed to me slightly and pulled Itsuki into a headlock, holding him between her arm and breast, "Sorry for that, Jayce, he gets too excited sometimes."

"Uh," I was at a loss for words. Even after sending the two of them together, I had never expected Malty's personality to take such a turn, "What happened while I was gone?"

"Mal… Mal! I give!" Itsuki tapped Malty's arms in surrender, the girl finally letting go as his face began to turn red, "What was that for!?"

"Jayce just woke up, dummy." She chastised him, flicking him on the nose for some reason, "Don't you think hugging him tightly would hurt him at your level?"

"Oh… I didn't think of that…" She had a good point, which made me scan both of them. Itsuki had hit level eleven and Malty was now level fourteen.

"You didn't answer my question," Giving them both an answer-or-die look, I repeated myself, "What happened while I was gone?"

Malty jumped at the chance to explain, "First, we haven't seen much of Naofumi. He got this Demi-Human girl and has been training with her almost non-stop for a couple of weeks. Second, Itsuki and I have both gotten above level ten, so we're pretty confident about the first wave at least."

"Eleven and fourteen isn't too bad… I guess," Sitting on the edge of my bed, I crossed my right leg over my left and set my hands on my right knee. Their eyes widened as their levels were exposed, clearly not expecting me to still be able to keep tabs on them.

"Jayce…" Itsuki raised his hand, continuing as I nodded to him, "Where did you get those clothes? We didn't buy anything like that? Did we?"

"I'll explain that later," Giving Itsuki a toothy grin, I looked between him and Malty, "When did you two get together? Hmm, almost a week ago, huh?"

"I really shouldn't be surprised…" Malty shook her head with her hands on her hips, "But how do you know even that?"

"If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times," Standing up, I took a few steps and stopped between them, "I'm the Fateweaver."

"Yeah, yeah." Malty didn't seem to like my explanation, but she knew it was the only one she was going to get.

I walked out of the room to find a corridor of matching doors with different numbers. Malty and Itsuki followed behind me, locking the door to my room and handing me the key. The small leather keychain told me I was in room three-o-nine, which I found to be across from Itsuki.

"So," Nudging Itsuki's shoulder as walked, I gave him a smirk, "How far have you gone with Malty?"

"We… We're…" His face turned beet red and lowered his head to hide his embarrassment, perhaps finding something interesting about the wooden stairs we descended, "We haven't…"

"Why not?" I was confused, was he not attracted to her? Or was she the kind of girl who always had a headache?

"We've been busy training," Malty cut in, moving next to Itsuki and holding his hand. It made me sick how close they were. Godamnit, Itsuki! I was supposed to get a waifu before you!

Seeming to sense my temper and gritted teeth, Malty looked over at me, "Is this not why you paired us together?"

"No, I figured it was a matter of time before Stockholm syndrome set in." My eyelid twitched as I looked them over. Their stupid matching outfits; their fighting styles complimenting each other. I needed a waifu badly. Sighing I dropped my shoulders, "I just didn't figure it'd be so soon."

"Hmm, maybe I can send a letter to my si-" Malty was stopped by me shoving a hand in her face.

"I don't need your help!" Glaring at her, I could hear the Ignition Spirit laughing his ass off in my ring, "Don't send any letters to any of your siblings. They're probably just like you used to be."

"Actually, my little sister is very kind and-" Pressing my hand firmer to her mouth I fought the urge to burn her voice box.

"Shut up! Shut up about your family!" I stormed off and looked back at them, "I don't need help getting a waifu, damnit!"

I passed the old lady working at the front counter of the inn and walked toward the dining room with my staff in hand. A deep rumble escaped my hungry stomach as I sat down and looked over the menu of the Silent Knight Inn.

Itsuki and Malty walked in not long after and sat down across from me. Itsuki traced my face with his eyes, "Are you okay? I don't think I've ever seen you get flustered. And why do you seem taller than before? Did something happen while you were in your coma?"

Setting down my menu, I gave Itsuki a confused look, "What coma?"