The meal ended on a loud, merry note with Luka slipping away while the knights began chanting tales about Gerard. He rushed to visit Furia and Reina, who were both left in the Outpost’s north-eastern district.

’I hope they’re doing okay...’

Though Furia was feisty and nothing like the other horses.

She was facing Reina, a mutated dire wolf that enjoyed eating horses and other large animals to sustain itself in the wild.

"Hey."

A familiar smoky voice drifted in the air as if speaking on either side of him at once.

"Luvia?!"

He stomped and slid several inches before coming to a halt, then raised his arms like a fighter, fists clenched, as black steel encased them, with sharp claws and spikes growing from his elbows.

She traced her fingernails across his abdomen and chest.

"Oh, so you haven’t just forgotten about me?"

Despite her sultry tone, there was no trace of affection as they stood halfway to the stables.

Her hidden body pressed against his back, stroking her fingers along the sharp spines growing from his elbows, so close he could feel the warmth of her breath blowing down the back of his neck.

"How could I forget about you, don’t be so ridiculous—!"

"—Luka de Babylon!" Her voice became sharp, like the tips of her nails digging into his exposed flesh. "I know we are enemies, that I should’ve died the moment I stabbed your chest, but... aren’t we even now?" Her plump red lips curved into a smile as she stood on her tiptoes to reach his ear. "Haven’t you stabbed me too...? Nine inches deep in fact."

With each word, her hands spread across his chest and body, squeezing and fondling every inch of his flesh.

’The Skill didn’t activate?!’

Her fingers danced along his stomach before reaching the waistband of his pants.

He struggled to breathe as the gradual mixture of Lust and wrath overflowed from Luvia’s touch. Though she couldn’t hurt him, these small pokes and prods appeared exempt from the title and skill effects.

"Hey~ why don’t you respond?"

Luvia’s warm fingers slipped beneath his gambeson, unfastened the string of his pants as they pushed inside, ever closer to his manhood.

"Hey! W-What’re you doing!?"

Until a voice came from behind them.

’Finally!’

Galatea’s voice forced Luvia away.

She slipped off his body, but remained invisible to the naked eye; even Luka struggled to see her outline. ’Has she been practising non-stop?!’ Otherwise, he couldn’t imagine how her skill level had grown so dramatically.

He couldn’t worry Galatea, or draw her into their argument.

So he quickly turned to face her with a shaky smile, pointing to the makeshift sign for the stables. "I was going to check on Furia and Reina."

The rosy-cheeked female knight nodded back, her hand still holding a tankard of sweetly scented wine made with berries and hops.

He observed her face, trying to keep the thumping of his chest under control. The sudden attack from Luvia awoke his Lust, as if she were the key to his lock.

’Though it’s the other way around in reality...’

Galatea’s eyes narrowed slightly as she huffed. "Oh, I see~ Haha, I thought you’d run off to see another woman again." His chest fluttered at the way she chewed her lips and shook the tankard between her hands while struggling to remain still and swaying on the spot.

"After all, you look best when smiling."

He suddenly let slip his honest thoughts, quickly covering his mouth.

Galatea’s mouth opened wide as she blinked rapidly, fluttering her long blonde lashes while staring at him. She recovered quickly, pointing at him while pressing her lips together, forming the strangest smile.

Crack!

’Shit!?’

Beside them, a piece of wood snapped, with five sharp holes.

’I can still feel her hovering around...’

He wanted to curse his loose mouth, but the way Galatea looked at that specific moment was just too captivating.

"Oh my, something broke." Galatea didn’t seem to care, nonchalantly ignoring the fallen plank with clear handprints. Instead, she shimmied forward and grasped his arm. "Luka~ Let’s go see Reina, I like how fluffy her fur is, ehehe."

The warmth of her body felt like a furnace.

Much different from when they slept naked together, he could feel a faint pulsing beat tapping against his biscep as she held his arm tightly with her delicate hands.

The beat of her heart was irregular, fluttering in twos, sometimes threes, as she leaned closer, letting her weight rest against his shoulder.

"Let’s go~~"

’Where did Luvia go?’

He shook his head and pulled her unsteady body towards the stable.

A sweet mist of berries leaked each time she spoke.

His arm slipped between her two soft mounds when she moved or slipped.

However, Luka couldn’t fully settle and sink into the pleasant atmosphere, knowing that another woman silently seethed in the darkness, waiting for him.

"Oh~ Luka, look! It’s Reina."

Galatea pointed towards the massive black wolf, her head raised to glance back at them, observing them closely with her golden orbs.

"Grrrr...!"

"Ah, she seems a little angry?! Did we do something wrong? Is the food not good?"

’No, it’s not that.’

Luke glanced up and saw the slight movement above Reina’s head. Luvia was sitting on her back, stroking the wolf’s fur. ’Has she said something?’ Though a monster, he’d found Reina understood him when he asked something or spoke to her.

Much like Furia, who stood at the edge of her gate, head proudly lifted and facing off against the massive wolf.

"Galatea, how about you sit down for a moment and finish your ale?"

"Hmmmph?! Latea.... L-a-t-e-a, Call me a nickname... just like you used to."

He quickly scoured all the memories linked to Luka, but he never found the sickly boy call her anything other than Sister or Sister Galatea.

’Hm?’

But then a memory resurfaced.

A memory from far in the distant past, when she drank too much.

’How could I forget...?’

Galatea hooked both arms around his neck, dangling slightly on her heels, dropping the empty tankard while staring at him.

She looked up with wet, glistening eyes. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Then slowly pushed off the ground, her lips crossing the threshold instantly.

Luka snapped out of the memories the moment their lips met.

"Wuuu!?"

Reina bared, as someone shuffled atop her back.

He felt the soft, yet sticky sensation of her warmth pressing against his, attempting to pry open his mouth with her tongue. "Mmmn.... Bleeeerh..." Galatea flicked across his lips, coating them in her sweet scent.

Luka’s hands sank lower, holding the curve of her lower back tightly.

This human woman constantly tested his limits, with a fierce push then a subtle pull.

’Sorry, Luvia, but Galatea is irreplacable.’

Even though he could feel three pairs of eyes burning into his back and sides, Luka extended both hands, grasping Galatea’s cheeks. He applied pressure so that her mouth opened wider and covered her lips with his, before pushing his tongue inside.

The moment his tongue flicked against hers, she shook as if jolted with electricity, her shoulders trembling while clinging to his neck even more.

"Mmmph...Nnn..."

Unlike their previous kiss, she responded immediately.

Her soft tongue attempted to curl around his while she sucked on his lips, gathering their mixed saliva in her mouth.

Luka stroked her lower back, his fingers sinking into her flesh as he sank his teeth into her soft flesh, nibbling the tip of her tongue in response. Her tongue’s unskilled movements stirred a flavour of sweet berries and salty saliva in his mouth.

"L-Luka....Slrrrp... Mmmmn..."

The kiss was passionate, but short, as the pair pulled away, leaving a thin, translucent bridge of saliva connecting their lips, which slowly drooped to the floor.

"Haa....Hu...Haaa... T-That was a good kiss, hehe." She turned to the side as if trying to hide her bright cheeks despite clinging to his neck. Then she dropped her head onto his chest and glanced at him with a mysterious glint in her eyes. "You can’t abandon me for other women, okay?"

"Huh?! W-What?"

Her eyes narrowed as she gently pushed away from his body.

"We both know what I mean, right?"

With another faint chuckle, she squatted to pick up her tankard and glanced over his shoulder with a smirk.

"Well, no matter what tricks they might use. I won’t lose."

After that, she returned her gaze to him for a few moments.

"Goodnight, Luka."

She touched his cheek before brushing her finger along his lips and then pushed that finger into her mouth, forming a wide grin as she turned away, staggering into the darkness.

’Women!’

He didn’t quite get her meaning before turning around to see the source of the burning pain from a short while ago.

Furia glared at him, flaring her nostrils.

Reina continued growing, with her eyes narrowed as if disdaining to look at him.

Then there was Luvia, no longer hidden, wearing a tight pair of black pants and a bra, revealing her abdomen and the tip of her pelvic marking.

However, unlike the two animals, she stared off at the fading back of Galatea while holding a pair of trembling daggers.