“Considering the value of each jewel, the craftsmanship, and rarity… I’d say around 600,000 gold coins.”
“Six hundred thousand? If you factor in practical use, it could go a bit higher, don’t you think?”
“That’s just an estimate, but… let’s call it 630,000 and a half.”
At Trident Arms, a weapons shop under the umbrella of the Construction Workers’ Union Trident, a lizardman clerk with a three-horned Viking helm slung over his shoulder by its chin strap, peered at the items through his small pupils before stating the appraisal.
Ariel gasped at the amount, while Rose and Zeke frowned slightly.
“I think I can go up to 880,000.”
“Me… well, even if I concede a bit, it’s still 800,000.”
The lizardman clerk licked his lips with an expressionless face. It was hard to tell without familiarity, but this was the equivalent of a troubled look.
“Please, have mercy. We’re nearing the end of the fiscal year. At this time of year, I’m in trouble if I don’t get rid of things at a price that’s easy to move. Sure, I could drum up some collectors when it comes time to dispose of it and maybe get a bit more, but if there’s too much of a gap before disposal, all of this value gets written off as a loss, and I’ll be held responsible.”
“Just pretend I bought it out of spite. I’ll sell it off later at my leisure.”
“Boss… well, okay then.”
“880,000.”
“Alright, alright. Honestly, I don’t know what kind of obligation you have, but I didn’t think I’d be taking the same item twice in one day.”
The jewel knife, once taken from Lila as a drinking tab at the tavern, had now circled back to Trident Arms for purchase.
“By the way, just for reference, how much did you buy it for from the tavern?”
“…180,000.”
“Not such a bad guy, after all.”
Zeke nudged the lizardman clerk. He wanted to believe that being bought by someone who didn’t understand its value was better than nothing.
“U-um, that… uh… 880,000 is… g-gold coins… right?”
Ariel looked up at Zeke and Rose with a worried expression.
For reference, one Celestial gold coin buys a drink without alcohol, and ten can get you a decent meal at most diners.
Eight hundred eighty thousand gold coins could buy a fairly large house with land in a city the size of Taruk.
Of course, Ariel’s debt was peanuts by comparison.
“Goodbye, my jewel knife…”
“A-Are you sure about this, Zeke!?”
“I’m sure. I’m one of those people who can do it if they try. It’s just a hobby item anyway; no one will care if I sell it… Ugh.”
Zeke was trying to act tough while clearly on the verge of tears. For some reason, the lizardman clerk was tearing up too.
“How much is Ariel’s debt?”
“Four thousand and two thousand… gold coins…”
“Well, they’ll probably tack on interest anyway. Clerk, make 70,000 standard gems and give it to me now.”
“Alright, alright. You’re a real man, old timer.”
“Yeah. I’m becoming a man. But becoming a man… that hurts.”
Zeke was full of regrets, but he wouldn’t back down from his actions. The lizardman clerk looked at him with respect (though he had no expression) and patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.
”…It’s almost like a bride price.”
Rose watched Ariel, her eyes wide as she gawked at the easy money. She teased him. “Don’t be so crude. First, I’ll sever Ariel’s bad ties and then we can have a proper relationship.”
“I get it, I get it… But you really need to understand what giving and receiving a sword means.”
“Huh?”
“Are you going to hand over the money you sold it for now? Or are you going to give him the sword and let that dark elf take the blame for selling it? The meaning is completely different, you know.”
“Hmm…”
Zig knew the customs, but how well he understood their weight was questionable at best.
He ran his thumb over his scruffy stubble and looked at Ariel. Giving money directly felt cheap and distasteful, but binding him to a custom he barely understood wasn’t appealing either. “Well, you can do whatever you want, Ariel. I’ll take full responsibility for the debt, at least. You can think of this as just a crazy move from a man who’s fallen for you. But if you’d still like to be with me after that… I’d be happy. A dark elf might only offer fleeting affection, but give me love in my life. Please.”
”…Even if you say that…”
Ariel looked troubled. Being dumped with the decision about the knife, and Zig’s cavalier attitude towards such a huge favor, was too much good fortune for Ariel, who had been headed straight for misfortune for so long.
”…”
Rose had been silently watching Zig’s advances, but seeing the silence settle over Ariel, she straightened up and spoke. “Can we table that discussion for later?”
”…Yes.”
She confirmed with Ariel before turning to Zig. “Then let’s deal with me first. I’m not going to let you gloss over the fact that I accepted your knife, Becker.”
”…Y-yeah.”
“You were gentle with that dark elf, but don’t expect that from me… Zig Becker, you’ve accepted my proposal. You know you can’t return it now, right?”
”…Yeah.”
In stark contrast to Ariel, who carried the weight of distrust in humanity and men, and acted like a small animal, was Rose Alderia, the once-captive princess, coming at him with a fastball straight down the middle.
She’d been kidnapped by a band of thieves when she was seventeen, or so. Now she was twenty-seven, practically an old maid among Orc women, where early marriage is common.
But her status, her spirit, and her beauty, now matured and composed, were not something an Orc could simply ignore. She wasn’t some plain woman who was destined to be left behind.
Though petite for an Orc, the strength of her body, capable of sending Zig flying with a single punch, would easily meet an Orc’s standards for a “good woman,” and she had undoubtedly turned down many suitors, waiting for the chance to propose to Zig.
“I could even give you that jeweled knife again. No, either way, if you’re going to be my husband, it’ll be yours again. Now, Zig Becker, do you understand that the time for paying your dues has come?”
“U-uh…”
But Zig wasn’t an Andy, someone who would recklessly embrace love with abandon.
He was a normal man who wanted to run when chased and chase when running.
Is this really okay?
Is it really okay to be tied to this woman?
Are you really, really okay with this, Zig Becker?
And then, a voice without any basis in reality began to stir anxiety within him.
Zig retreated slowly. Rose watched him.
The lizardman clerk was watching with a mix of confusion and excitement, not really understanding the situation.
And then—
”…Answer me already, you scum!"
"Eh, ch-choo!?”
Rose’s fist suddenly burst into flames.
Zig, taking aim for his cheekbone, was sent flying about three meters away.
He slid across the wooden floor with a thud.
Leaving the stunned lizardman and Ariel behind, Rose grabbed Becker’s belt from behind and hauled him up.
“Sorry for the interruption. Deliver the knife to my place.”
She swaggered out of the store, dragging the folded-up Zig along.
“A-ah, wait, don’t leave me behind!?”
Ariel hurried after them.
The lizardman watched with a slack-jawed expression, tongue lolling out in a vacant stare.
”…Guess I’m not too keen on a wife who hits people.”
He muttered a complaint to the group leader, thankfully unheard by anyone.
Zig woke up in a dimly lit room.
“Ugh…”
“You’re awake.”
The ceiling.
The color of a sunset sky.
A bed.
And three horns.
”…Rose?”
“Sorry about that. But I made it easier for you to decide.”
He took stock of the situation.
The dim room was probably an inn—likely one of Tark’s fancy hotels, judging by the furnishings.
In the bed were himself and Rose. Judging by the shoulders peeking out from under the sheets, she was half-naked.
Ariel was perched on the edge of the bed, looking sideways at him with a slightly downcast gaze.
“So, Becker. They say a man should eat what’s put in front of him, right? …I don’t know what made you do it back then, but it hurt me pretty bad.”
”…Sorry.”
”…Though, to be honest, I’m not that mad. Maybe… maybe the song touched something about your old love life?”
”…………”
Having his trauma become public knowledge was a real pain.
And he’d been mostly right.
”…Yeah, that’s it. I’m just not great with affection from someone I don’t fully understand. Makes me worry what kind of crap they’re hiding on the other side.”
“I… I—"
"…No, it’s not that I doubted you or anything. It was just too damn good. Yeah, when I was obsessed with that other woman, things got really intense, and I thought the same thing. Ugh, gross, I’m getting a bad feeling.”
That’s right. Sieg was just an orphan, a prodigy who passed his exams without defeating a single enemy—a paper ace with no real achievements.
Stripped of pretense, Sieg was just a kid trying too hard, but Elsa loved him—or pretended to love him.
Behind that love lay espionage, and Sieg had been thoroughly probed by her; he couldn’t pretend ignorance anymore.
If he’d realized she was a spy sooner, maybe he could’ve given her a chance to escape before the damage became fatal.
That regret had haunted Sieg for years, turning him into someone who wouldn’t forgive such reckless, physical love again.
It all started so wrong. Way too wrong.
To end up kissing a woman and then stabbing her to death—that was just too much. To think he had no choice… it was the worst.
”…I’m not old enough for trauma to make my body lose control anymore. And I figured I shouldn’t wallow forever, so when I met Ariel—"
"And then… you fell for her."
"So, logically, I should be okay?"
"N-no, but, well, I don’t really know you that well now."
"I haven’t changed in ten years. Not since that morning you rescued me—I’ve been the same!”
Rose suddenly sat up with a thud.
Her body was clad in nothing but a single piece of cloth.
”…………"
"…………"
"…Wait, I thought you were wearing fancy clothes that morning."
"Ugh—"
"You weren’t just in an apron!"
"U-uuuugh, shut up!! You were the one who screamed at that woman what you wanted!”
Looking closer, Ariel was also in a naked apron.
…It was hard to take anything seriously in that state.
”…Rewind, you pathetic excuse for a man. I demand we redo my worst memories.”
Rose, sulky and flushed, with teary eyes, aggressively stroked Sieg’s member.
Ariel watched on with nervous anticipation.
”A-are you sure? I’m used to this…"
"Ugh… not yet.”
Sieg’s member wasn’t even fully erect, leaving Rose at a loss.
Frankly, she was terrible at this.
”Could it be… your first time?"
"…Yeah.”
Rose nodded. Ariel snatched the member from her hand, attacking with fingers, tongue, and nipples while chuckling.
”Don’t laugh!”
“N-no, I wasn’t laughing. I just thought Rose was cute…"
"W-well, me too! If I’d had my first time ten years ago, I’d definitely be… well, where I should be by now.”
Zeke ran his fingers along the small horns on Rose’s head as he stroked her hair, imagining.
If Rose had just gone with the flow and lost her virginity that day…
…If she hadn’t ended up getting a soaking from a kicked-off loincloth because of it.
Then she might have kept Zeke as a fond memory tucked away somewhere in her heart, and they’d probably be happily married by now.
“Even though I did something awful, the thought that you got beautiful for me and waited… well, it’s not all bad luck, at least not for me.”
Rose almost let a slightly pleased expression slip but held back.
That little bit of stubbornness made her seem even cuter.
“It was bad luck for me. I spent ten years wondering why you did something so awful to me. Ten years! Pay up, idiot!”
”…Can I pay it off?”
“Ten years, you know? That’s not cheap.”
“Then let’s run away.”
“If you run this time, I’ll really not forgive you.”
”…Then I’ll pay.”
While they were talking, Ariel thrust the hard length he’d cultivated with a courtesan’s skill right under Rose’s nose. Rose was instantly startled, then flipped onto her hands and knees, still wearing that same disgruntled expression as she demanded.
“Don’t run, okay? I won’t forgive you if you do."
"Alright, then… here I go—!”
In those eyes, the remnants of long-held love, once again ignited, held a bittersweet sweetness.
Zeke had never been inside someone who’d waited for him this long.
Never before had he truly connected with someone bound to him by love and affection.
“Ugh… guuuh…?!”
And Zeke lost his virginity for real.
“Nng…!”
Zeke felt an overwhelming urge to climax, so he gripped Rose’s massive breasts under her apron to hold back.
It was fundamentally different.
The pleasure of buying a woman and the pleasure of being enveloped in a woman’s love were completely different.
“Whoa, Rose… you’re really a virgin!?”
Zeke faltered at how good her vagina felt.
He hadn’t been with a virgin since he’d only ever slept with courtesans, but Rose’s was exquisite.
From the start, it gave Zeke’s member intense, warm, and rich pleasure, greedily trying to squeeze every last drop of seed from him.
“Of course I’m a virgin… aren’t you listening?! Don’t compare an ogre’s body to a human’s!!”
“Oh, right, you’re an ogre… W-well, ogres are like this…”
He realized it now. Rose was an ogre, after all.
Ogres have an extremely high vaginal capacity. It’s because ogre men have incredibly large penises, so their women have to adapt.
The ogre’s massive cock, the size of a human fist, was more than just a matter of whether or not sex could even be had with a human vagina.
An ogre woman needing to swallow such a monstrous thing on her first time would have a hymen, but it wouldn’t be an issue with a human-sized member.
But that didn’t mean it was loose.
It tightened properly, and she felt intense pleasure.
Granted, being gangbanged by both an ogre and a human in quick succession was one thing, but an ogre woman’s genitals were perfectly compatible with humans.
That mystical sex organ was so legendary it even spawned ogre-themed brothels catering to other races, leaving Sieg at the mercy of its double punch—its natural, perfect form combined with passionate lovemaking fueled by affection.
“Ugh… damn… this is too good…!!”
“A-Ah… I’m happy, so happy, Becker-san…♪”
Rose’s hips swayed as she gradually became more honest.
Gradually, she reverted to the girl she was ten years ago.
Her firm tone softened into that of a young girl, “Becker” becoming “Becker-san,” and she lost herself in the intoxicating reality of being held by Sieg, her mature body writhing as she went straight for his seed with a raw, powerful grind—no finesse, just pure force.
“Guh…!!”
Sieg endured the pleasure.
It was mostly unconscious stubbornness.
And then, after ravaging her insides in every direction, controlling her pleasure through her breath…
“Nnghhhhhhhhh…♪♪”
He managed to bring Rose to climax.
Then he pulled his cock out of her.
Ariel, who had been dumbfounded by Rose’s dynamic sex despite her clumsy technique with hands and mouth, bit her lip as she pinned Sieg down.
“Kyah!?
“…Y-you… I… I want you… haa, haa…”
His head was about to explode with pleasure as he tried to form the words.
Ariel lightly stroked his cheek and smiled.
“…It’s okay.”
“…………!!”
This girl had accepted him too.
At least not just as a prostitute, but as someone willing to accept his embrace.
Sieg, giddy from what was practically his first time, got carried away again, shoving his sticky, lubricated cock mercilessly into her crotch beneath the hem of her apron.
“A-Ah… Fufu, I knew it…”
“W-What do you mean, ‘knew it’…? What…!?”
“…………”
Ariel narrowed her eyes.
“Sex with someone who’s really into it feels different…♪”
Ariel felt the same way as Sieg.
Even if it was crazy. Even if it was a gangbang.
Love truly does accelerate pleasure.
Ariel, for the first time in ages, craved something beyond just physical satisfaction, and despite her posture, she began to drown in ecstasy with an expression that was almost virginal.
”Y-yes, hah… Sieg, san… I… I want you to love me…!?"
"Aah… I want to love you… over and over, forever!!"
"Hehe… is that okay…? Ah… I still… do I deserve it…? ♪"
"Yeah… if you want mine then—!!”
Thwack, thwack, the sound of hips grinding together with each thrust, a fierce sex where they pressed against each other’s pleasure points.
Rose wanted in on that sex again.
”Becker-san, me too… please love me too… Am I no good…?"
"You’re not no good! Damn it, this is happiness!!”
Then, he shoved his hand into Rose’s vagina.
”Kyaa!?"
"Here, here, here!!”
Rose’s vagina, overwhelmed by the sheer presence of Becker’s hand, burst her hymen in multiple places.
Rose recoiled, momentarily shocked by the forceful violation, but even with tears in her eyes, she managed a smile.
”…Idiot… the worst… ♪”
Raping the dark elf between her legs, pounding the ogre with his fist—Sieg finally let go of control over his pleasure.
He connected himself to the two women serving him in their aprons, and climbed higher.
”Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
"Ngh, kuh, aaaa!!"
"Uoooh!!”
Then, he came with a mighty release.
It was late at night when Ariel, accompanied by Sieg, returned to her rented shack deep in the maze-like slums of earthen-walled buildings.
She’d properly repaid the Tower Emblem loan sharks she owed, so there were no more worries behind her back.
The rest of the way home, they whispered about how to change their lives going forward.
”I can’t offer much hospitality, but I can at least make tea."
"Yeah. My throat’s parched.”
They smiled and reached for the door when a letter was wedged in the frame.
”This…”
Ariel opened the letter.
Sieg read the contents faster than she did—it was a habit from his espionage days—but he immediately regretted glancing at it.
”Eh… that person…”
A letter from her ex-lover, the one who’d vanished without a word.
Finally, the business was on track, and he had enough money to repay his debts, so he wrote that he wanted to come get her.
Looking at the scribbled note in the corner of the envelope, he seemed to have figured out she was around here, but since he didn’t know her exact location, he’d asked someone who lived nearby to deliver it.
“No way…”
Ariel’s eyes flickered.
Zieg could practically feel Ariel’s thoughts.
Even if she’d selfishly disappeared, the time she spent with that lover couldn’t have been just a day or two.
Behind Ariel’s resolve to keep working and not run away must still smolder an undying affection for him.
And Zieg couldn’t do anything about it—couldn’t.
In the first place, Zieg was nothing more than a cad who’d suddenly appeared this morning, suddenly confessed, and wormed his way into the cracks of Ariel’s heart. Just some guy who used money and power to barge in.
If he thought about it calmly, how much weight did such a man even carry?
Yeah.
Just a flashy daydream.
“Zieg…”
Ariel lowered her ears, turned back as if seeking salvation—but there was no one there.
From the start, as if nothing had ever happened, not even a trace remained.
“…………”
Staring at the moon in an alleyway, Zieg was dazed.
And then, a shadow sneered at him.
“Heh heh heh… thought you were sleeping in a woman’s bed tonight?”
“…Oh, you guys.”
The Ace Knight’s three-man bodyguard squad. Their entire bodies were covered in leather armor and masks.
“So lame.”
“Not as much as you, though. After you paid at the Tower office, the actual debtor showed up. And seeing you all sulky by yourself… heh heh heh, hyahahahaha.”
“That’s beside the point.”
“…The boss said you hired us to be taken seriously, not to get looked down on…”
“Ah, right, right. That’s why I was looking for you, Zieg Becker.”
Maito tilted his head sharply, his eyes darting around.
“We won’t stand for being looked down upon. If we can’t take out a vagrant rat like you, we’re fired. …Ah, so even with that spaced-out look, you’ve got caltrops, wires, oil slicks—what kind of traps?”
“It’s a habit. Before I know it, I’m setting them without thinking.”
Zieg’s tone was as if he were talking to an old friend.
Maito drew a new sword and pointed it at Zieg.
“We figured out your tricks, Becker. No more underhanded needles or cheap moves. Tonight, we want you to die a little more spectacularly.”
“Agh? Nah, too much trouble.”
Zieg waved his hands listlessly with a drained look on his face.
“Just die, Zieg Becker.”
Might jumps. Leon runs up the wall, and Davis swings his mace like he’s leveling the ground, smashing through traps as he attacks.
Zeke casually stands up and suddenly decapitates Might.
”!?!”
Just standing up, it looked like Might’s torso and head split apart crying. Davis and Leon freeze in shock.
Zeke cracks his neck and whips out a blood-slicked knife.
“Well, I was saying earlier that even a thug wouldn’t kill civilians, right?”
Zeke grins with his eyes wide open.
“Lies, you bastards. Don’t come to kill me when I’m in a bad mood—it makes me happy!”
The next morning, their bodies were found behind the Tower Emblem office.
“Haaah.”
After only breakfast at the Carlos estate, Zeke slumped and headed toward the shared carriage station.
Originally, it was time to part ways with Diarne and the others, report on Lila’s existence and Andy’s treatment, and get instructions from Minister Ashton regarding future activities.
Being alone at a time like this is nice. Still gotta chill out, Zeke—you’re getting old—my brain endlessly scolds me as I plan to take it easy on this carriage ride for a while.
And then—
“BECKER!!!"
"ZEKE-CHAN!”
Hands reached out from behind and yanked Zeke off the carriage.
It was Rose, and Ariel was next to her. Both were dressed for travel.
“What, trying to run away without permission? Marriage isn’t a one-day event, you know.”
“Um, um… I, uh… I’ll just… count that knife as accepted! Not the money!”
”…Huh? What was that?”
The two laughed at Zeke’s dumbfounded expression.
Proposal accepted!
Now then, it’s time to make up for the worst possible start.