Creatures Lurking in the Dark

It was another peaceful day in Lutenburg.

 

The sky was clear, and the sunlight was gentle enough not to cause any irritable heatwave to people with sensitive skin. And occasionally, a breeze would gently blow through the bustling street.

 

It could be said that today was a perfect day for families to deepen their bonds and for couples to enjoy their dates.

 

It should have been.

 

However, right now, inside his favorite restaurant, Bano Gremhandlr, the heir of the distinctive Gremhandlr household, was not happy.

 

He planned to make a blast out of this day by taking the woman in front of him on a date.

 

Jenna was easily considered to be one of the top beauties in Lutenburg. Not only that, but she was also a skillful fighter too. The phrase' flower with thorns' was perfect to describe her. Her looks could even make the most beautiful flower shy away, and her strength made her the target of admiration.

 

Such a person was now his woman, and he wanted to show the world that she only belonged to him. What man wouldn't want to boast about being in a relationship with such a high-spec woman? He wanted to make all the men bleed out in tears as he made out with Jenna.

 

Or so he thought. There was just one problem. He underestimated Jenna's popularity. In front of him was the trophy woman, but she was surrounded by a group of admirers as they followed them to the restaurant and crowded the poor eatery. He could see the face of the owner of the restaurant turned pale white, yet his eyes were glittering with money signs.

 

As the crowd kept on surrounding and talking to Jenna, he felt that his existence had just vanished into thin air. And so he begrudgingly finished his much-desired breakfast in a silent corner.

 

In short, he shot his own foot, trying to show off his woman.

 

"Fucking hell... It's not supposed to be like this..." Bano rubbed his forehead.

 

He quickly finished up his meal and took Jenna's hand to drag her out from the middle of the ground.

 

"Okay, change of plan. Let's go get something to cover up your face." Bano took him to a nearby clothing store and bought a new change of clothes for Jenna and himself.

 

Their appearance changed after stepping out of the store. Bano now wore ordinary clothes to disguise himself as a regular peasant. It was a pair of grey shirts and black pants ones could find anywhere.

 

As for Jenna, she had changed into a light green one-piece dress. Originally, the dress was long enough to cover just below her knees, but the moment Jenna wore it, it only managed to cover only up to her thighs. The reason was because of her height, combined with the massive knockers on her chest that pushed the length of the dress up. She also wore a large-brim sun hat to cover most of her face.

 

"Kuh! They don't have a longer dress..." Jenna complained as she felt breezy on her lower half.

 

"Why? It fits you well. You are beautiful, but the dress makes you more gorgeous." (Bano)

 

"T-Thanks." Jenna flushed.

 

"It's a little cramped in here, so wait for me outside. I'll tell the clerk to send our clothes back to the castle." Bano walked to the counter.

 

Jenna exited the store and waited for him at the small alley next to the store. Her face was still flushing. Although the clothes were a little revealing, especially on the chest part and the lower half, she was happy when someone praised her. She played with her hair to hide her embarrassment.

 

While Jenna was waiting, a short distance away, there were three men talking and laughing loudly. Then, one of them spotted Jenna standing in front of the alley between the buildings.

 

"Bro, check that out! Look at those massive tits." (Man 1)

 

"Holy shit. They are huge. That size could potentially suffocate a man. Such a deadly weapon." (Man 2)

 

"And that's why we have to show her how to handle those lethal weapons, hehehe. I couldn't see her face clearly due to the hat, but no doubt that's a beauty right there." (Man 3)

 

And then, the three men approached her. As the two were in the downtown area, riff-raffs like these three would occasionally appear and try to pick up girls. Jenna had also noticed them the moment they approached her.

 

"Her there, beauty~ Why are you here alone? Wanna hang out with us? We know some good places to have fun." The man in the middle, who was seemingly the leader of the three, talked.

 

"I'm sorry. I'm waiting for someone." Jenna pulled her hat lower to hide her face.

 

"Heh, what kind of guy would make a beauty like you waiting in places like this? Just leave him and come have some fun with us. We know how to treat women well, and we also know how to make them melt on a bed, hehehe." The man said.

 

"I'm really sorry. But I must decline. Please find someone else." (Jenna)

 

"Tsk, don't be such a killjoy. Just shut up and follow us." The man dropped his act and forcefully reached out with his hand to grab Jenna's.

 

However, before his hand could touch hers, another hand gripped his wrist and stopped his advance.

 

"What are you doing to my woman?" It was Bano who gripped the man's hand.

 

"Huh? Who the fuck are you, fucker?" The man yanked back his hand.

 

Judging from his grimaced face and the way he was rubbing his wrist, Bano's grip must have been painfully strong.

 

"I should be the one asking you that. The fuck are you messing with my woman?" Bano fixed his collar.

 

"Pfft, you don't even know about us? We are the Zelak brothers. This area is our territory here." The man said

 

"That's right! Now, you'd better scram and let us escort the woman." One of the men at the back said.

 

"Yeah! We'll at least let you walk out of her scot-free as long as you leave the woman behind." The other man said.

 

"Hah? A bunch of riff-raffs like you trying to act like you are the boss here?" Bano smirked.

 

"Tsk. Fucker! I've already warned you. Guys, let's fuck him up, but don't kill him. We'll fuck the woman in from of him later." (Man 1)

 

"Want a go? Come get some, then." Bano showed his middle finger at them.

 

"Fucker! Surround him!" (Man 1)

 

""Oh!"" (Man 2 & 3)

 

With the leader in front of Bano, the other two men circled to his side.

 

"Eat this!" The leader pulled back his arm to throw a punch at Bano.

 

"Are you joking? Too slow." Bano smacked the punch aiming at his face with the back of his hand. Then he stepped on his foot and jumped up to knee him back in the face.

 

"Kkoogh!" The leader fell backward. His front teeth were broken from the impactful kneeing.

 

"Bro! How dare you?! Fuck you!" The man on the left rushed in. He reached out with his hands to grab the collar of his shirt. But Bano was a step faster than him. He took two steps closer than the rushing man, throwing off the distance before slamming his own fist into the man's abdomen.

 

"Uurgh." The man collapsed.

 

"Sorry, but I'm not interested in being hugged by a man. Only women are allowed to hug me." He spat at the man on the ground.

 

"Now you've done it!" The third man took a folding knife out of his pocket and slashed at him.

 

"Woah there, bringing a knife to a fistfight? I take that you know the consequence?" Bano easily dodged it by moving his body to the side.

 

"Shut up and die!" The man thrust his knife.

 

"Tch, at least learn how to use it properly. Torah!" Bano turned his body and performed a roundhouse kick to disarm the man. Then he grabbed the dumbfounded man with his hands and pulled him down before sending his knee to meet him in the face.

 

"Gyargh!" The man collapsed with a bloody nose.

 

"Oof. Felt a crack there. I guess that's a broken nose. Suck to be you. At least a little blood makes your face more handsome, though nowhere near mine. Hehehe." Bano patted his clothes to straighten the few wrinkles from the fight. Then he turned back and walked toward Jenna before bowing down like he had just finished performing a show.

 

"How was I, milady?"  (Bano)

 

"I'd say 10 points." (Jenna)

 

"Hehe, obviously." Bano flicked his hair and smirked

 

"Out of 20." (Jenna)

 

"Nonono. That's some weird scoring you have there. I deserve a perfect score right there." Her words made the smirking face on his face crack.

 

"How is that a perfect score? First of all, the first man you knocked down. You could have punched him in his solar plexus like the second man just now instead of jumping like that. You could have messed up your landing and risked injuring yourself. As for the second man, It was better to punch him on his chin. He was fatter than the other two, so your punch might not be enough to knock him out. And lastly..." Jenna walked over to Bano.

 

Her next action surprised Bano as she leaned over and kissed his cheek.

 

"But you were very cool there." Jenna blushed and separated from him.

 

"Erm... Yeah... Thanks. Let's go." Bano took her hand and left the alley.

 

Aside from the scuffle in the alleyway, their outing was relatively peaceful. Despite the disguise, people were still mesmerized by Jenna's look. She was like a noble lady or a daughter of a rich merchant. Thankfully, it was not as bad as before she put on her disguise. They went to watch a performance in a theater, sightsee the tourist spots that Bano knew, visited the flea market, and had some light snacks for lunch, and then they went out to have their dinner at the restaurant Jenna recommended.

 

"You know, I didn't expect you to be such a romanticist. The performance was great, and the places you showed were quite lovely, especially that flower garden." Jenna twirled her glass of wine as she said.

 

"Hehehe, glad that you like it. Let's have a toast." Bano picked up his glass of wine and clinked with Jenna's

 

"Hah~ I've always loved this wine brand. But sadly, I don't usually go out much, as you can see." Jenna looked around to see many eyes were focusing on her subtly despite their hiding effort.

 

"Yeah... I can certainly see that. Wanna go somewhere with me after we finish the meal? I want to get you something as a souvenir for this date." (Bano)

 

"You don't have to. I can pay for it." (Jenna)

 

"Now that goes against my gentleman code, Jenna. What man would let his woman pay the bill? I'm paying, and that's final." (Bano)

 

"You... If only you treat me in bed the same way as this... But then again, your forceful nature was nothing new." Jenna blushed.

 

"But you like that, right?" Bano smirked.

 

"No comment." Jenna finished all the wine in one gulp.

 

The two continued small talks over their meals for a while. Just like what Bano had said, he took Jenna to a store to buy what he called a 'souvenir.'

 

Jenna thought that it would be some kind of romantic item since Bano had been showing her his romantic side throughout their date. She didn't bother to think much about it and let Bano guide her. Her suspicions also dropped when he took her back into the noble district. As far as she was concerned, there shouldn't be any unsavory stores in this area.

 

She was clearly underestimating Bano.

 

"Hey." Jenna asked when they arrived at the store.

 

"Hm? What?" (Bano)

 

"You said that we are going to buy something to commemorate today, right?" (Jenna)

 

"Yeah? That's why we are here." (Bano)

 

"But why here, of all places?" Jenna looked up and took a long and hard look at the store's sign.

 

No matter how many times she read it, the sign wrote:

 

'Lutenburg's best underwear store for women: The art of bed starts with your innerwear.'

 

Although she hadn't gone to shop in this store, she had heard about it before, so she knew. True to its name and slogan, the store was quite classy, even just looking at the sign's design and how well-decorated the front of the store was.

 

"Listen here, Jenna. Now that you are my woman, it is my duty to gift my woman the best of the best. No questions ask. Now let's go." Bano took her hand and went in.

 

The store was three floors tall, and its wall was made out of white-pinkish marble stone. The higher the floor, the more expensive and high-quality their products became.

 

Flashing lights came from the magic stone inlaid inside the frame of the sign. So when night came, the light would create characters of the words in different colorful lights.

 

On the sides of the store's front door, there were showcase areas of their products. And there were similar showcase areas on each floor of the building. Dolls made to mimic the figure of women wearing the products of the store were put there to attract customers.

 

Stepping into the store, Bano and Jenna were greeted by a beautiful and friendly young cat-race receptionist. However, as this was the most luxurious store in the capital, not anyone could come to shop. So the store also had a policy to screen their customers before letting them into the store.

 

"Good evening, dear sir and madam. I am sorry for the inconvenience, but do you have any letters of recommendation on you? If you don't, then it is our store's policy to ask for a deposit of 10 gold coins as a guarantee fee. Please do not worry, as the money will be returned when you are ready to leave." The catgirl said without breaking her smile. It was proof of the professionalism of their customer service.

 

(Geh, like hell, this shabby man has that much money. His face is the only good thing about him. And judging from the beautiful girl next to him, guess she's some daughter of a merchant coming to shop with her servant. Heh, even the wealthiest merchant refrains from visiting our store. Guess I can't expect anything much from them.)  Was what the girl thought as she observed the two in front of her.

 

"Hey, Are you sure you carry that much cash on you? It's not like you have to buy me anything from this store, right? We can just go to another place." Jenna leaned over and whispered into Bano's ear.

 

Bano had yet to go to this store before. It was no surprise since it was especially selling underwear for women. But he knew how they run things in here as he had done some research. Ten gold coins were enough for a family of four to live and eat comfortably for a whole month. However, they were like pocket change for him.

 

"Here you go." Bano took a single coin out of his pocket and flicked it at the receptionist. Then he took Jenna's hand and led her inside the store.

 

The cat girl was bewildered the moment she saw the coin she just caught. It wasn't a gold coin; It was a platinum coin which was equal to 100 gold coins. She realized that her initial perception of the two guests was utterly wrong.

 

Thankfully, she was trained to keep her professionalism, so she recovered quickly before calling out to another available personnel to take over the reception table.

 

In this store, they have a unique system where one of the employees would stand at the receptionist. When a customer walked in, that receptionist would become their personal attendance to lead and answer any questions the customers asked. And when they successfully had the customers buy any of the products, they would get a portion of the money as their bonus.

 

So, the moment she saw the platinum coin in her hand, she knew she had hit the jackpot. She carefully put the money into the safe before catching up with Bano and Jenna.

 

"Dear customers. I am sorry for the delay. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rika; today, It is my honor to be your personal attendance during your shopping. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask." (Rika)

 

"The pleasure is mine. I'm sorry, but correct me if I'm wrong. Have we ever met somewhere before?" Jenna asked.

 

"I'm sorry. I think you mistook me for someone else." (Rika)

 

"I see. My apologize." (Jenna)

 

"Please don't mention it. I hope that dear customers will have a wonderful shopping experience with us." Rika smiled

 

"Say... What's the difference between the products on each floor?" Bano asked.

 

Rika pointed to the corner of the spacious room and continued. "Over there is the booth for special orders, which our customers can fill in their requests to be made in a specific style and color after their tour. You can see the sign with the number '1' over there. I recommend dear customers view our lineup from there. It is also similar on other floors. We also have various sizes if you can't find the desired size. You can always ask me to get it for you.

 

"Then I will explain the differences between the products on each floor. This is the first floor. The products on this floor are the most affordable in our store. Not only are they made from the best materials, but they are also very stylish and up to the current trend currently in the circle of the noble ladies. Next to the stairs leading to the upper floor, you can see our catalog book that lists the specifications of each item. Is there any question dear customers would like to ask regarding this floor?" (Rika)

 

"I'm good. What about the next floor?" (Bano)

 

"On the second floor, our products focus more on the uniqueness of our customers' selection. To elaborate, they focus on not only stylish design but also protection and comfort. Instead of general products on this floor, we have seasonal products that you can choose from. Not only that, they also emphasize the shape of women's bodies to bring out more of their charm. Of course, this comes with a slightly higher price compared to this floor, but our slogan is 'you get what you paid for,' so our customers will always be satisfied with their experience here. Are there any questions dear customers would like to ask?" (Rika)

 

"So, in short, the higher the floor, the better the quality of your merchandise?" Bano asked.

 

"Yes, that would be the simplest term to describe our store's layout." (Rika)

 

"Got it. Then let's skip those two floors and head straight to the third one." Bano waved his hand.

 

"Um... Dear customer, since our items on the third floor were a little bit unique, so before we go to the third floor, may I ask what is your relationship with the lady? I'm really sorry if I sound offensive, but you don't look like a servant and his mistress going out to shop." Rika took a peek at Jenna's direction.

 

"Hm? Oh, guess it's hard to tell with these clothes. It's okay; I don't blame you." Bano looked down at his getups.

 

His next action surprised both Jenna and Rika. He put his hand around Jenna's waist and pulled her closer to him. Then he leaned over to her cheek and kissed her right in front of Rika.

 

"Y-You idiot! We are in front of others." Jenna complained, yet she didn't push him away.

 

"Hehehe, sorry. My girl is a little shy. As you can see, we are a couple." Bano laughed it off.

 

"I-I see. The reason I ask this question is because the third floor's products focus more on the art of seduction." Rika said with a faint blush on her face.

 

"Hohoh~ I'm listening. But let's not waste more time; you can explain it to me on the way up." Bano unwrapped himself from Jenna and took her hand.

 

"Of course. Then, please follow me." Rika took the lead and walked upstairs.

 

The moment she heard the guide girl's words, she felt an ominous feeling. The fact that Bano was beaming with a smile as he actively held her hand and walked with light steps only made her ascertain the bad feeling she was getting.

 

She could only walk in silence as she prepared her heart to face the approaching ordeal.

 

......

 

...

 

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