The Sixth School.

Chapter Twenty Eight: Send-off Party…

Greg felt nervous even as the day started. The reason Greg had been looking forward to this day wasn’t the actual event itself. Yes, part of him did feel the need to honor Roka’s father and give him a proper send-off as was customary in this town. The larger part of him, however, was only looking forward to greeting everyone that attended the event, especially the women. This way, he’d get every single one of them recognized by the system and have missions attached to them. It wasn’t a very charitable way of looking at them, but, in truth, they were all potential lust points that he’d been missing out on simply because he’d never had the occasion to interact with them. Just by greeting them as they walked into the compound he would change that state of affairs and start earning lust points from them.

However, after the talk he’d had with his familiar the previous night, the event had taken on a new meaning. Rather than just honoring his father, he would also be deciding where in the power hierarchy of this town he would place himself. Whether on the side of the town head or the side of one of the three families remained to be seen. Part of Greg couldn’t help but feel ridiculous. Just two days prior, he had fought and killed a tier-zero mage. Now, he was nervous about being part of the town’s leadership. One would think that after experiencing the first, the second wouldn’t be so scary. Part of it was because Greg still couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that he was now important enough to be dragged into this arena. Another part, however, was simply because he couldn’t blow the whole problem away like he tried to do with his uncle.

Despite his nervousness, Greg hadn’t forgotten his main purpose for the day, to get as many of the town’s women recognized by the system as possible. To prepare for this, he had taken out and put on all the title items he currently had. The TEMPTING pendant, ADDICTIVE bangle, and DISCERNING ring were all on his person before the first person even arrived. With the CHARMING mask, Greg had done things a little differently. Rather than have the CHARMING mask take the look of his wooden mask, Greg instead had it merge with his face and simply put on his mundane wooden mask over it. Part of the reason for this was a test. Greg wanted to know if the mask would lose its effect when covered. Another part, however, was that if there was an occasion where he had to take off his mask, he would take off the normal wooden mask. That way, he wouldn’t lose the title that the CHARMING mask granted to him.

Greg had even gone a step further and bought the SENSUAL TOUCH bangle from the Eros shop and put it on. The beauty of all the title items was that they had specific targets. Rather than affect everyone, they only worked on members of the opposite sex. As such, Greg wouldn’t have to take anything off to remain undetected. He could firmly shake the hand of a man and they wouldn’t be affected in the least. Meanwhile, his wife beside him would be experiencing a strong desire due to both his CHARMING mask, the TEMPTING pendant, and the AROUSING title that he innately had. The SENSUAL TOUCH bangle that he’d just bought would make a handshake feel like Greg was touching on all their erogenous zones and the ADDICTIVE bangle would make them desire to experience it all the more in the future. The only title item that Greg had that wouldn’t affect the women was the DISCERNING ring. This, however, would grant Greg the knowledge of exactly what the woman would be turned on by and just how acutely they were experiencing the lust.

A smile crossed Greg’s face as the first group of the day arrived at the gate. This was a group of almost fifteen people and comprised entirely of women. At the head of the group was his mother. Given the size of the party that Greg envisioned, there was no way just his mother and sister would be able to do everything that needed to be done to ensure that the event ran smoothly. As such, she had gone around speaking to the other women in the neighborhood to come and help in the work. This was the group that was now following behind her. As was expected in this town, Greg first greeted his parent.

“Mother,” He called out as he walked before her. “How are you?” He greeted her even as he allowed her to place her hand on both sides of his face.

Greg didn’t resist as she pulled him down and placed a kiss on his mask where his forehead would be. “Roka, my child,” She said with a smile. “You’ve done right by your father. The send-off he will have today, few men in our town could ever lay claim to,” She said. “I couldn’t be happier,” She added in answer to his question, a smile gracing her lips. Greg couldn’t help but notice that this was the first time that he’d seen his mother smile without some pain hidden in her eyes. Perhaps being able to prepare all the animals that he hunted had been the catharsis that she had needed to work through her pain. With this send-off ceremony, his mother would begin to get over her grief at his father’s death. “How about you, my child? How are you?” She asked.

“Happy to see you smiling once more,” Greg answered truthfully. It wasn’t just an empty platitude. Greg was genuinely happy to see the woman smiling. He wasn’t fooled in any way that the pain was completely gone. How could it be when he was still hurt by the loss, and he wasn’t even Roka? Seeing the genuine smile on his mother’s face, however, clearly showed that she was moving past the initial grief that people usually felt after the passing of someone close to them. “And grateful to see all these women who’ve come to help us on this special day,” Greg continued turning to gaze at the other women that were present with a smile.

His mother smiled, needing no further encouragement to start introductions. “This is Eniya, she’s the smith’s wife,” She introduced a woman that was close in age to her, but nowhere near as attractive. The woman had been staring at Greg’s mask for a while now almost like a moth enamored by the light from a lamp. There was a hint of confusion in her eyes as she looked at him. It was almost as if she was wondering why she was so taken in by him when she couldn’t even see his face to begin with. Greg reached forward for the woman’s hand in greeting. The woman actually blushed like a little girl as she reached forward and received his greeting. As soon as their hands touched, the woman let out a gasp as she looked down at his hand, her other hand rising to her chest. The other women around seemed too enamored with his face to notice anything out of the ordinary. His mother, on the other hand, had been looking at him as she introduced her so she didn’t pick up on the odd reaction of her friend.

“She has a daughter your age,” His mother continued. The woman holding Greg’s hand unconsciously sent his mother a dirty look, almost as if she was introducing a love rival to the man she was after. A second later, however, she seemed to catch herself and remembered who she was and where she was. There was a slight look of sadness as she seemed to realize that nothing could ever happen between herself and this charming young man that seemed to have cast a spell on her. Greg, noting this, allowed the thumb of the hand holding hers to trace a circle on the back of her hand. His touch, augmented by the SENSUAL TOUCH title, caused the woman to forget about her sadness as she looked at her hand, almost as of she couldn’t believe what a simple touch was doing to her 

“her daughter will be coming over later,” His mother continued to speak. “I’ll introduce you. I think the two of you would make a nice couple,” She declared.

Greg almost choked when he heard his mother say this. He turned to her, letting go of the hand belonging to the smith’s wife in the process. For about an inch or two, her hand followed after his, almost as if she didn’t want to let go just yet. Despite noticing, Greg turned his attention to his mother. The woman’s words weren’t subtle in any way, she was clearly thinking of pairing the two of them. From the look in the woman’s eyes, she was probably already counting her grandkids. “Mother,” Greg called out in protest. “I am far too young to be thinking about getting married,” he declared in a firm tone.

His mother, however, would have none of it. “Nonsense,” She huffed, waving his words away dismissively. “When I was your age, your father had already been chasing me for several seasons already,” She declared as if this settled the matter. “I was barely a cycle of seasons older than you are when I had you,” She added. Her tone, which had started out as firm, quickly took on a wistful air as she drifted down memory lane.

Before she could sink into a melancholic mood, Greg spoke up. “I’m sure you have a very busy day ahead of you Mother,” He said bringing her back to the present. “Why don’t you introduce me to the others?” He prompted.

“You’re right,” She conceded, forcing herself to turn her attention to the other women present. “This is…

When all the introductions were done, there were a lot more blushing women in the group as they looked at him. Greg was also smiling under the mask, and seeing as the mask didn’t cover his entire face, anyone who closely studied his face would notice this. Unbeknownst to anyone, he had been conducting an experiment thus far. Greg didn’t want the effects of the title items to be too noticeable. As such, he had tried it on this group. The first to be tested was his own mother.

Greg had long noticed that the system was very particular with the language that it used. For example, with the flashing missions. So long as he was the one that uncovered himself, it would count as being done. However, when Shalia had been the one to uncover him, even though he’d been naked under the covers, it still didn’t count as him flashing the girl. In the same way, the SENSUAL TOUCH bangle made his touch very arousing and pleasurable to the opposite sex. This was the first thing he tested. When greeting his mother, he had allowed her to be the one touching him and not the other way around. And just like he suspected, there was no effect on her. The SENSUAL TOUCH title didn’t turn him into a turn-on machine that would arouse any woman that touched him. He had to be the one doing the touching for the effect to be felt. As such, his mother had remained unaffected whereas the other women that he had greeted were all either looking at him or their hands as if they couldn’t believe that a simple touch could be so arousing or pleasurable. Add on top of that the fact that the AROUSING title had been working on them for a few minutes now, Greg could tell that most of them were probably wet in their lady parts. If they weren’t in the middle of a group and afraid of the social consequences, Greg was certain that more than a few of them would have thrown caution to the wind and jumped his bones.

But even more exciting to Greg than the fact that they were aroused by him, was the fact that they could still maintain control. This was the other thing that Greg had been testing. He wanted to see if the cumulative effect of all the titles was too much. If the effect was strong to the point that it became immediately noticeable, then he’d have to get rid of some items. He didn’t want people’s wives figuratively dropping their panties at the sight of him. Greg wasn’t anywhere near powerful enough to face the consequences that would follow if that happened. From what he’d seen of the group of women, someone who was looking for it would notice the changes. Someone who wasn’t, however, would have no way of knowing that anything had changed with the person. Despite all of them being victims to the items none of them seemed to be suspecting those around them of being under the same effects as they were.

With these two facts established, Greg was confident enough to start receiving his guests. And as a nice bonus, when Greg opened the COMPLETED MISSIONS tab on his system, he found that he had completed all the BASIC missions and one INTERMEDIATE mission for all the women present. The BASIC missions were easy to achieve, as the name itself suggested. The one INTERMEDIATE mission that he had completed was turning on the woman. Every one of the women before him apart from his mother was currently turned on. The familiar had estimated that it wouldn’t take more than seven days of being around him before the AROUSING title began to work on his mother. This was the seventh day since Greg had come home and still, there wasn’t any sign that his mother was being affected by his title in any way. Greg wasn’t sure whether it was because he was usually out of the house most of the day or because she had higher-than-average willpower. Either way, Greg didn’t really care. She would come around when she would come around. Until then, there was a whole bevy of women before him that were probably soaked below and craving his touch.

Greg was really tempted to find an excuse to get some alone time with one of the women. It took quite a bit of willpower to not follow through on this desire. To some, his reason for resisting this impulse may have sounded dumb. To him, however, it didn’t, and that’s all that mattered to him. The reason Greg didn’t pick a random woman among those present to get down and dirty with was because he was a virgin. Or, at least, Roka had been.

Greg knew that the system would require him to sleep with as many women as possible if he was going to earn lust points. Eventually, the very act would no longer hold the novelty it currently had. The faces would blur and he wouldn’t be able to tell who had been in his bed before. He didn’t want his first time to also be a random fling that he’d engaged in on a whim. His first time would be unique. Something he could look back on even after all the other faces had become a blur. It was more of a sentimental reason as opposed to a logical one and not many in his position would make the same decision. Still, Greg was resolute on this and planned to see it through.

“I won’t hold you up any longer,” Greg spoke up turning to his mother. “Please tell Tayani to prepare the dining room,” he said to his mother. “We might have some special guests today,” he added enigmatically.

From the slight frown on her face, Greg knew his mother couldn’t make heads or tails of the instruction. Still, she didn’t question him. With a nod, she turned around and walked off, leading the other women towards the smokehouse where most of the meat had been preserved.

And so began the most wildly exciting and fun day that Greg had had since he came into this world. He began receiving guests to the compound as they trickled in. Men sometimes came in alone. Women, however, didn’t. In the prudish society that was this town, women almost never attended social events alone. They were either together with their husbands, or a male member of their family. And if that wasn’t an option, then they’d be in the company of an older woman who acted as chaperone. Regardless of who attended, however, Greg was all too happy to meet them.

The men that came alone provided cover. The fact that he greeted them just as enthusiastically made it impossible to tell that he was targeting the women. The women that came with their husbands, brothers, or fathers weren’t in any way protected from his charm. It took a bit of practice, but Greg slowly figured out that the longer he engaged in greeting the man, the longer he could get away with greeting the woman as they would just think that it was how he greeted everyone. With the SENSUAL TOUCH title, however, the longer he could remain in contact with the women, the more a bright pink flush would spread over their features. At first, Greg was afraid that the guys would pick up on this. He, however, was kept safe by two unexpected factors.

The first was simply just how clueless the guys were. Greg already knew that guys were less sensitive to social cues compared to girls. And given how good most women were at hiding their true feelings when they didn’t want them known, a majority of the guys didn’t notice anything odd. On the few occasions that the guys did notice something, however, he was saved by something else that he hadn’t even accounted for. His disfigured face. The wooden mask on his face wasn’t fooling anyone. Even though it covered the worst of it, the sides of Greg’s face were still uncovered. Anyone who bothered to look could see the extensive damage that his visage had suffered. And seeing as the title items didn’t work on the men, they just simply couldn’t see how any of their women could be attracted to such an ogre. Perhaps they even attributed the blush on their faces to being embarrassed at being greeted so warmly by someone so ugly. Whatever the case, Greg didn’t care.

If anything, Greg got a perverse thrill from wordlessly seducing the women right from under their husband’s, dad’s, or brother's noses. It quickly became a game for him to see just how quickly he could turn on the women that came with a man to the party. When Greg only employed the AROUSING title alone, it would usually take anywhere between five and ten minutes to get the women aroused, as had been the case back at his welcome home party. With the other titles coming into play, however, Greg noted that the time it took to get the women aroused was shrunk down to a quarter of what it previously was. Now, within two minutes or less, the women would usually have fallen victim to his charms. Greg could easily tell whether the women were turned on or not. Not because he was super-perceptive or anything, but simply because it was the only INTERMEDIATE mission that he repeatedly pursued that day with the women. Greg didn’t have to repeatedly check the system to check whether the mission was completed or not. With Olivia able to interact with the system on his behalf, she would tell him the moment the mission was complete. Once that happened, Greg would usually let the woman stew in it for about a minute before he found an excuse to extricate himself from the situation. He wasn’t looking to start any feuds at this party.

Surprisingly, it was the groups that came with a woman chaperone that were hardest to talk to, and not for a reason Greg had accounted for. The reason wasn’t because the chaperones were overly-strict or any such thing. Instead, the reason it was so difficult was because of how jealous and catty women could be. The title items worked just as well on the chaperones as they did on the ones they were supposed to take care of. However, if Greg paid too much attention to the younger lady, the older lady would usually become insecure and increasingly hostile. On the other hand, if he paid too much attention to the older woman, then the younger women would also dislike this and tried to intervene. Greg had tried to strike a balance between the two groups whenever he came across a lady with a female chaperone. The more he did this, however, the more competitive the women became. Greg had been forced to slowly back away from one of the conversations when a woman who by appearances was in her early twenties told a woman in her mid-thirties that they should probably find a seat for her to rest her old bones. Greg could only imagine that this was probably how one felt when standing next to a live bomb.

Of course, Greg didn’t spend the whole day by the door like some doorman at his own house. Occasionally, he would walk around the compound, interacting with the guests, thanking them for coming, making jokes and light-hearted comments, and most importantly, keeping the flames of lust burning in the women. The ADDICTIVE title worked on frequency, unlike the others. The more times the women experienced anything of a sexual nature with the holder of the title, the more they would crave it. Greg knew that a few interactions at a party wouldn’t be enough to get anyone hooked on him. It, however, would plant the seed and leave a little craving for him in them. Not every single woman would act on this craving, but Greg was certain that some of them would, and, for now, that was enough.

Speeches at a party in this town were usually given after everyone had eaten. Giving speeches to people with empty stomachs was at best considered a faux pas and at worst, just plain rude. Unless it was a serious topic that couldn’t wait, people were likely to ignore you or leave the party altogether. Something Greg was all too grateful for as he wouldn’t be bogged down with giving a speech to the attendees while new guests arrived. He could just flitter around keeping everyone happy and reiterating his appreciation for their attendance. But while Greg tried to interact with his guests as much as possible. He was never far from the gate and always had one eye on it just in case someone new walked in. After all, the main purpose of this event was to get as many women recognized by the system as possible.

This attention on whether there was anyone new coming to the party was the reason Greg noticed them a while before most others in attendance did. A pair of brother and sister that were no older than he was. Both were dressed far more elegantly than most people in the town could ever hope to be. They also had a unique set of snow white locks of hair interlaced with their otherwise jet black hair.

Olivia, who could recognize the two by going through his memories, spoke up in his mind with a smile. “So it begins.”

Greg, who had been talking to a burly hunter that had come with his wife to the party, excused himself so that he could greet the new arrivals. Everyone had noticed how welcoming Greg had been to everyone that had attended the party. Unconsciously, it had created a good impression of him in the minds of those present. As such, the ones he was talking to weren’t at all offended and easily let him go so he could greet the new guests. Not that they would have dared refuse either way. Once everyone caught sight of the two approaching, shocked murmurs and whispers spread out through the crowd of attendees. This was Niya and Naiya, a pair of twins that had been born to the Valla household, one of the three major families in the town. While the three families usually attended each other’s parties and those held by the town head, they rarely attended any events held by the other common folk in the town. And even on the few occasions that they did, they usually sent a servant to represent them. As such, it was understandable those present were surprised to see the Valla children in attendance.

With a smile, Greg walked over and greeted them. “My home is happy to welcome our friends from the Valla household,” He spoke. Most others in the town would have been intimidated by the two and would probably have stammered in inviting them in. Greg, however, was from another world where the concept of nobility was an archaic concept that few in the world subscribed to. As such, in his mind, these were just rich kids and nothing more. Besides, even in this world, these two weren’t really all that. Out in the larger world, they were little more than ants. It was only in this small town that they held any sway. This fact, however, seemed lost on the two of them.

The two were sophisticated enough to not let the contempt show on their faces. Greg could see from the subtle upward tilt of their heads and the way their eyes scanned him and the compound behind him, that neither was all too thrilled to be here. Greg had even picked up on the slight twitch in the girl’s eyes when he called them friends. Still, they had probably been sent here to try and win him over to their household, as such, they couldn’t let their displeasure be known. With a smile that couldn’t have appeared faker in Greg’s eyes if it was drawn on, Niya, the brother, spoke up. “How could we miss the send-off of such a key member of our community?” he spoke up loudly. “Your father was a strong hunter and an honorable man,” He said reaching his hand forward.

You’re laying it on a little thick there buddy. Greg couldn’t help but think within himself. Still, he smiled as he accepted the guy’s hand and shook it vigorously. While he hadn’t shouted, Niya had spoken loud enough that some in the crowd had heard it. This sent another wave of murmurs rippling through the crowd. The words were just generic compliments and everyone knew it. Any man in the town could be offered the same banal words. But coming from the mouth of someone associated with one of the major families, however, the words carried a different weight.

“Come in, come in,” Greg called out cordially. Directing them towards the house. All guests that had so far attended the party were hosted outside in the compound. No one had been allowed into the house. This wasn’t out of any privacy concerns or anything. It was out of a simple understanding that if everyone tried to squeeze into the house, it would very quickly become cramped. That these two were the only ones to be led toward the house was a special honor and privilege to them. None of those in attendance thought this to be odd. Given the standing that these two held and the family that they represented, it was only natural that Greg would show them special regard. They’d just about reached the door to his house when a woman in the crowd let out an involuntary cry of surprise. When people turned to her, they found her looking once again in the direction of the gate.

Everyone turned around to find a young man with long flowing blond hair that came down to his well-defined shoulders. The whole of the man’s body looked perfectly toned with muscles rippling all across his torso and pushing against the silken tunic he had on. Everything about the guy from his posture to the very way he walked spoke of an athlete. There was a subtle fluidity in the way he moved that would require long hours of continuous training before one could master it and make it as natural as the approaching individual seemed to make it. Not much was known about the three major families as they did try to keep their lives secret from what they probably considered to be the common riffraff. Little snippets, however, did tend to get out here and there. From what little Greg could remember of this guy, he was a training junkie. It was said that he held interesting very little else outside of fighting and honing his body into the most perfect physical condition it could achieve. His body was already a testament to all the effort that he put into it, and the bored look on his face told of the fact that this was probably the last place he wanted to be.

“Excuse me while I welcome my guest,” Greg said as he once again moved towards the gate leaving the twins at the door to his house. The boy seemed annoyed at this, though for whatever reason, Greg got the feeling that he was more annoyed by the new guy than by Greg. Was he jealous of the buff guy? The sister, on the other hand, barely even picked up on Greg’s words. Her gaze was transfixed on the approaching guy. By the look in her eyes, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that she was smitten. Greg walked towards the gate and arrived a moment before the other party did.

“Bran,” Greg called out to him in a cordial tone of voice. “You honor me with your presence,” He politely offered.

“The house of Aria extends its sympathies to you for your loss,” The man spoke perfunctorily. Unlike the twins that came before, there wasn’t even an attempt to pretend that he wanted to be here.

Greg didn’t mind one way or the other. He was aware that to these families, he was a chess piece that they were trying to get on their side of the board. Even if this guy had been genuinely enthusiastic about meeting him, it still wouldn’t have changed this core truth. With a nod of acknowledgment and a warm smile, he was about to welcome him in when he caught sight of three sisters walking towards his gate. Each one of them had flame-red hair that cascaded all the way down to their waists. Their faces were an exact copy of each other. From their large doe eyes, their small button noses, and their plump pink lips that were set in a small amiable smile. Behind them was a large man with a sheathed greatsword hanging off his waist. From the cold expression on his face and the way his hawkish eyes kept moving from side to side surveying everything around, it was clear that he’d been tasked with their safety.

“The house of Ember honors my humble little gathering,” Greg warmly greeted when the three sisters came to a stop before him, beside Bran.

That they looked like each other didn’t strike Greg as odd. Being a twenty-first-century earthling, Greg knew about the existence of triplets. The thing that struck Greg as eerie was how they almost perfectly mirrored each other’s actions. It was almost like all three bodies were acting from one single mind. The smile on all three of their faces widened slightly as they each curtsied at the same time. They each bent their knees at the same time, moved with the same speed, inclined their heads at the same angle, and rose in a perfectly synchronized manner. “News of your father’s untimely demise has reached our house,” the one on the right spoke up.

Greg knew that it was more likely that the news that had reached them was that he had become the healer’s student. Following that, they investigated and found out all that they could about him. This was probably how they’d come to find out about his father’s death and this event he planned to give him a honorable send-off. Still, he didn’t contradict her words.

“We came to offer our house’s sincerest sympathies to you,” the one in the middle spoke in a voice that was perfectly similar in pitch and tone. If one closed their eyes, they’d be forgiven for thinking that the same person was still talking just from a different position.

“And extend our house’s offer of friendship to you, Roka,” The last one on the left stated. It wasn’t a detail he usually picked up on, but with the similarity that they’d shown, Greg couldn’t help but notice it. As he went over what they’d said, it hit him that even the number of words they’d each spoken was the same. The man standing behind the three girls remained silent. His gaze still sought out any potential threats from all around them.

“Please,” Greg spoke in a warm tone of voice, a smile on his face as he indicated toward the door to his house where Niya and Naiya still stood. “Let us not stand on ceremony. Come inside and allow me to host you,” He offered before turning around and leading them toward the house.

Greg could feel the nervous energy that was now starting to permeate the air. Most of those that had come to the party had done so thinking that it was just a normal send-off party. Many had probably been motivated by the promise Greg had made seven days prior that they’d each get some meat to take back home. At no point had they expected that the equivalent of the town’s nobility would also be in attendance. Sure, these were the children and not the actual heads of the houses, but their presence here was just as good. Greg could feel the way the people around him were looking at him change. His family thus far had been seen as no different from any other in the town. With these three households acknowledging him and doing him the honor of attending his father’s send-off, however, the standing of his household was quickly rising in the eyes of those present.

Greg couldn’t help but wonder if they’d all planned this out as once again, he only made it to the door to his house before exclamations of surprise reached him. This time, he turned around to find a carriage slowly approaching the gate to his home. Being the small, no-name town that it was, there wasn’t anywhere in town that you couldn’t get to with a little less than fifteen minutes of walking, even if you were on the other side of town. As such, there were no carriages to be found anywhere in town for public use. In the town only the heads of the three families used it. To them, it was more of a status symbol as opposed to a means of transport. The three families, however, had already sent their children as a representative. There was no need for any of the heads of the three families to come along. Also, the crest on the carriage didn’t belong to any of the three families. It belonged to the only other household in the town wealthy and powerful enough to hold one. The town head.

First to alight from the carriage when it came to a stop before the gate was a giant of a man. Once or twice in his life, Roka had caught sight of the town head. His memories of how big the man was, however, still didn’t prepare Greg for the almost seven-foot and absurdly ripped man. To call him a mountain of muscle would be to understate the case. Even his muscle seemed to have muscles of their own. Back on earth, even a million dollars wouldn’t have been enough to convince Greg that this man wasn’t on steroids. In this world, however, there was no such thing. There was, however, a vast array of ways that magic can be used and Greg couldn’t help but suspect that there was some magical explanation behind why this man was the way he was.

Next to alight from the carriage was the giant town head’s wife. A woman about the same age as his mother. Years of living in luxury and being waited at hand and foot, however, had left her looking no older than someone in their late twenties. Standing at five foot five, the top of her head didn’t even come up to her husband’s shoulder. She might not have had that much in terms of height, the curves on the woman, however, weren’t anything to scoff at. The way her rack pushed against the plum ree dress that she had on made it a feat of will for Greg not to stare. This, however, was nothing compared to the way her hips flared out from her tiny waist. Greg could almost imagine the view from behind and it just about left him with a tent in his pants. The woman might have been Shalia’s mother, but she was no slouch in the looks department.

The last to alight from the carriage was the heartthrob of most young men in the little town. Greg himself didn’t like her all that much and so only spared her a glance before discretely turning his attention back to the voluptuous wife of the town head. Unlike him, however, most of the guys around were transfixed by Shalia’s allure and could barely turn away. Even Bran from the house of Aria had turned to look in her direction. The three finally stood in a line, with the town head on the rightmost side. His wife stood next to him with a hand looped around his and their daughter off to the side.

Once again, Greg made the first overture and bowed his head before the man. You honor me with your visit, town head,” He said. Greg was about to continue to speak when Olivia reported something that sent cold chills down his back.

“We have a new record,” She declared happily like a kid who’d gotten an early Christmas present. Throughout the day Greg had been mentally keeping a record of the fastest a woman had been charmed by the several title items he had on. The record was only counted when the system marked the mission for turning the target on as complete. At some point in the day, it had become a game to Greg and he’d been trying to see the shortest time it took for the items to work on a woman. The shortest time thus far had been a minute and a few seconds.

Even the Ember sisters had been standing there for far longer than a minute, so they couldn’t have been the ones. Trying to keep from swallowing hard, Greg looked up at the two women beside The town head. Shalia, much like Naiya, had her eyes fixed on Bran, the young Adonis. She hadn’t even bothered to spare a glance in his direction since she’d arrived. Greg didn’t look at her either. Instead, his gaze met with that of the town head’s wife who looking at him with a strange gleam in her eyes…

***