Page 347

The waters were calm. The air was serene. The lake was peaceful.

In the shallow parts of such a tranquil lake, there was a woman, a lady. She was blessed with a stature better than most men and a shapely body that overshadowed most women. Her long, silky white hair, tinged with hints of violet, cascaded down to her waist, glistening with wetness much like her entire body. She sported a pair of eyes that one could easily mistake as emeralds or sapphires, depending on how the lights fared upon her.

A pair of furry ears sprouted from atop her head, twitching with every blow of the cool breeze that occasionally swept through the lake. Seven tails of unimaginable softness and smoothness swayed gently and mesmerising behind her. Such a beauty was bathing in the lake. Her garments were nowhere to be seen even on the shore. Her delicate appearance would easily invoke the thirst and greed of the wicked.

However, the beasts and creatures distanced themselves from her. There was a quadrupedal monster lurking by the shores of the lake. It had skin as black as a raven but with scales resembling a reptile. It had feasted on countless poor animals who came to the lake for a drink. It was feasting on its latest victim when it saw the white-haired beauty in the distance. The monster was tempted but only for a second. Its primal instinct reeled its thirst back. The Fox-kin was no prey.

The monster shivered at the realisation. It quickly turned tail and fled— or at least it tried to. The monster did not run far. A group of men appeared in its path. The men were all armed and armoured, albeit not fully. Regardless, it was enough for the four men to fell the creature. The creature had fought back but under a storm of four swords, the creature’s struggle was short.

“Well, that was easy enough,” said the man who dealt the last blow to the creature. He had a scar that ran down his face. “So much for the village’s fuss. This monster killed four men, they said.”

“Fishermen and farmers, they are,” said the bearded man who towered over all of his companions. “We are warriors.”

“That is true,” the scarred man agreed with a nod. “This is a steal. With all those stories they told us, I assumed it would be a Wulver or something but it’s just a Serk and the last ones were a mere small group of goblins. We sure got more than what we expected. This is why I love taking on requests in these remote villages. It’s certainly easier than robbing travellers. Safer too. Save us from having our faces on bills Those knights are a pain in the arse.”

“You would think that they would implore the adventurers.”

“The nearest town is days away. The paths to and from are treacherous. Moreover, they have no special trade. Just a nameless village. It’s not worth the time and hassle. Fortunately for us, we stumbled upon this opportunity before anyone else did. The village chief even offered one of his daughters to us, can you believe that?”

“What’s there not to believe? Have you seen their faces? They are desperate. Men responsible for feeding the village were dying off one by one. Wouldn’t surprise me if the men even start selling off their wives too.”

The four men laughed at the village’s circumstances. They had been mere bandits just weeks before. However, after soldiers started patrolling these parts of the region in great volume, they were forced to retreat deep into the forest where little to no travellers wandered. In turn, they had no one to rob.

Then, they stumbled upon this village. It was a godsend to these former bandits. Days spent wandering in the forest had culled their numbers to just four due to the elements and the wild beasts. The village agreed to accommodate them on the condition that they protect them from the unusual increase in monster activity.

“Hey, look there.”

Suddenly, one of the men beckoned for his companions to look towards the lake. Their gazes peered into the distance. They were confused for a while but then, they all saw it, they saw a woman with white hair, bathing in the lake. Even from this distance, they could tell she was an amazing beauty. The woman was nude, which was a given seeing as how she was bathing.

Being violators of statutes, the men’s first thought was to capture the woman and force themselves on her. It wasn’t the first time they did such a thing after all. One would say the bandits were resorting to their primal instincts but if they had any, they would run. These were not docile and peaceful parts of the region. No way a vulnerable and helpless damsel could and would venture so deep into the forest just to take a bath.

The four men couldn’t help but salivate. They haven't had any women for weeks now. If they weren’t short of men, they would have pillaged the village instead of whatever they were doing right now. With such an opportunity in front of them, they couldn’t help themselves. They decided to ambush the woman once she returned to shore. To do that, they looked for where she had shed her garments.

They searched for tens of minutes but no garments were found on the shores that were close to the woman. Just when they thought the wild creatures had already snatched the woman’s garments, the woman had disappeared. She was no longer in the lake.

“Where did she go?” asked the bearded man. Since the area was so quiet, it was impossible for them not to hear the woman moving into the lake. Yet, she was gone without a trace.

As the four men began looking around, the woman reappeared in front of them. The four men shrieked in fright and backed away from the woman.

The beauty was now clothed, albeit in a simple robe, but enough to cover herself up and leave plenty to their imaginations. Her hair and body were still wet but the robe functioned as a towel, absorbing all the moisture and water that dripped from her hair and body.

“Can I help you four?” asked the woman.

Now that the woman was close to them, the men could see her ears and tails clearly. She was a Fae, a Fox-kin. The four men swallowed the lumps in their throats in fear. There were those who didn’t believe in the rumours and stories about the Faerie-kin, about their prowess and the consequences of their deaths or ruin. And there were those that did. These four men were the latter bunch as they had personally experienced it.

“We meant no harm,” said the scarred man. He raised his hands above his shoulders to show his sincerity.

His companions followed suit. They all raised their hands.

The woman’s nose twitched, taking a quick whiff of them. She grimaced and covered her nose before turning around. Then, a pink mist began to envelope them.

Fear left the four men. Reverence and adoration were now soaked in their expressions. They were suddenly all smiles.

“Jump into the lake and don’t come out until I tell you to,” the woman said and began walking away.

The four men nodded fervently and jumped into the lake as they were told, smiling as they did so.

The woman did not spare them a glance and simply walked into the forest without so much as a care to the fate of those four men.

****

“Mistress, you have returned,” said Siv upon seeing Erin returning from her bath in the lake. Siv was sitting by a fire with a boar roasted on a spit.

Erin gave a simple nod in return and sat down beside Siv. She spared a quick glance around. “Where’s Lyra?”

“Relieving herself,” Siv answered bluntly. “Or flower picking as she calls it.”

“Hmm…” Erin shrugged and snuggled closer to Siv. She even rested her head on the Wolf-kin’s shoulder as the two waited for the boar to be cooked.

“Mistress… are you in heat again?” Siv asked.

“It would be great if I’m not…” Erin sighed. It has been a week and more since they left the nameless village that worshipped the Dragon God, only to stumble upon more nameless villages along their way. The hectic and turbulent recreation was known to all. No one said anything about it as they knew about Erin being the Apostle of Lust. However, the two things have been different since.

Nivia had become more aware of her needs as a woman. She still maintained her prude facade but that was all it was, a facade. Being the pure and proper Fae that she had always wanted to be, she tried her damndest to suppress her desire but being around a walking pheromone of lust, it was simply next to impossible. Throughout their journey, there were many instances where she wanted to just give in and lay bare all her desires to Erin. She persisted but she didn’t know how much longer she could hold herself back.

The other change was that Erin had lost control of her lust to a certain degree. Unlike before, she could no longer withhold her lust much like how no person can withhold their body scent. She herself was almost constantly in heat and her lust kept permeating around her. Aedan chalked the reason up to the absence of the System, which used to help keep her lust contained and suppressed. Now that she had no System to assist her, she could only rely on herself.

To prevent her lust from causing too much trouble, they began to travel in separate parties, though they only maintained a mile of distance between them. They took turns in accompanying her and this time, it was Lyra’s and Siv’s.

“Did you come across people?” Siv asked after noticing the faint scent of strangers on Erin.

“Just some bandits. I told them to drown themselves,” Erin answered without any hesitation.

“This is unlike you, Mistress.”

“Unlike my former self but now… I just don’t care. I don't feel as bas as I thought I would. This... this is what I feared in the past. I’m getting more and more… unsympathetic.”

“That is not true, Mistress. You are not any less sympathetic. The wicked ones do not deserve your sympathy as I’m sure they are just as unsympathetic to their victims. Their reasons be damned.”

Erin smiled wryly and moved away from Siv before she lost control of herself. She sat across from Siv just as Lyra returned.

“You met trouble?” This was the first thing Lyra asked upon her return.

Erin tilted her head. “How did you know?”

“You’re in a plain robe and your hair isn’t tied.”

“Just some foolish obstacle. No real problem.”

“Bandits?”

Erin nodded.

“And what happened to them?”

“Drowned.”

“Ah… Of course,” Lyra said and took a seat adjacent to Siv and Erin. “The border of the capital is just days away if we maintain our current pace. How fares your training?”

“It’s going as well as it can be. At least I won’t be arousing anyone unless I stand close enough to feel their breaths. Still, if I’m stirred, my lust will explode.”

“Well then, it’s best that we keep avoiding villages and towns until you learn to master your control.”

“Or I can travel by myself until then.”

“No,” Lyra responded sternly and immediately. “For the last time, we won’t let you face your difficulties alone. You will do the same for us.”

“I’m slowing you all down.”

“So be it. We’re not in a huge rush. Let the days come and go.”

“And let winter greet us before we are behind strong and sturdy walls?”

“Winter is still months away.”

“That’s only a long time in hindsight. Before we know it, it will be winter.”

“Mistress is right,” said Siv. “Winter may be far away but if we become complacent, it will be here before we know it. Winter is known to be the deadliest season by far.”

“Then I better become the master of my lust quickly or else winter would swallow all of us first.”