When they entered the town of Beausqueek, it had already been close to nightfall. Everywhere they walked, the houses and commercial buildings seemed awfully quiet. Rennia didn't hear or see anything weird—or at least anything resembling what Maeve had alluded to.
She still didn't understand what exactly they were supposed to do here, where this spirit resided. She knew the problem was affecting the villagers, but without seeing the symptoms up close, she didn't know how.
Though she had suspicions.
As they passed along the streets, Rennia spotted a woman a bit younger than her standing in one of the doorways, peering outside. She stood still, her hair messy, nightgown showing more skin and cleavage than one would expect from someone ready for sleep. And a pair of eyes that seemed almost delirious.
"What's wrong with her? She can barely stand up straight. I don't think she's drunk, though."
"It must be the issue affecting her. Maybe we should go and ask her—"
"She's barely clothed Maeve. Maybe we ought not to disturb anyone here. Which way is the client supposed to be again? This town is already starting to look weird."
"This way," Maeve moaned. "You know, you could be a bit more fun, Rennia."
"Fun is for when I get paid."
Maeve seemed almost disappointed with Rennia's decision. She gripped her chin and looked into her eyes intrusively. Rennia ignored her. But she didn't ignore the weird sounds emanating from the shuttered buildings—very loud groans and houses that were seemingly creaking. Which was either the town committing to ritual murder or some town-wide orgy, both of which she wanted to be left out of either way.
The townees that did come into view seemed to recognize the pair as adventurers and made sure to avoid them. Standing in front of a plaza, the pair stopped at the fountain. They were supposed to meet the village head, but there was no sign of the woman.
This was the problem with interim and informal arrangements, people had places to be.
So they waited. And then they waited. And then they waited some more. They had waited until a pair came out of the shadows—a man and a woman. They had been dressed in nothing but undergarments, arms around each other, and they approached them, walking like snails, antsy.
It was here that Rennia's sexuality came to a crossroads. It had never happened like this before. Did it? Yes, she had always been mildly bisexual, but she wasn't this conflicted before her transformation. She found the man attractive, but most of her attention had been on the young woman in front of her—on the cleavage that barely obscured her breasts, the plump thighs of the stranger that seemed to smile at her. She seemed invited, the dude not so much, he had too much wrinkles, and she doubted he wanted to see what was beneath pants.
Maeve was elbowing her, almost in a panic, and Rennia snapped out of her trance. The man spoke to her, his dark brooding hair obscuring his face. "Ahem… as I was saying, ladies, we're throwing a major party in the sewers. Most of the outsiders in the town have joined us down there. We're doing something 'special' if you're interested."
"The sewers?" Maeve exclaimed.
Rennia shook her head, it wasn't that strange to her. She knew what happened at these parties, and judging by their facial expressions, they seemed abnormal, almost amped up. In fact, the dude in front of her seemed oblivious to the fact that his dick was rock hard stiff. That was a red flag.
"I'm going to have to decline. We're adventurers here on official business. Besides, it's late and kind of unsafe."
The male started laughing to himself, then analyzed the both of them. Maeve was clearly uncomfortable, judging by the way she was clinging to Rennia. "I see, you two play for the other team, the other way around. I've heard adventurers do what they have to do on the road. It's something else. I can tell you that"
The young woman perked forward, excited by the prospect. "So are you two? And are you willing to swing?"
Heat was beginning to rise within Rennia's body. The promise of infinite sexual activities could satiate her, maybe even level her up, but to join up with strangers in the middle of nowhere—it didn't sit right with her. She felt her own arousal shift when the young woman pressed forward.
"What… we… uh, we're just here on business. As a matter of fact, can you direct us to the village head? We have an important meeting with her. She appears to be absent."
The male scoffed. "Who cares about that hag? You two wanna fuck or not? We have several boosters made from the spirit's essence. Come on, it'll be a fun night. I'm sure you can scissor, while one of you suck me off."
Maeve raised her face, not intimated. "Thank you, but no. I don't share bed with commoners."
The guy looked at her up and down. "so you're some rich bitch, with robe. Big deal, you'll change your mind until you see what I'm packing. Last I heard those old bloodlines of yours were dwindling because of near-blooded interconjugal issues. Anyway, just come with me, and i'll so you a good time."
"No!" Maeve exclaimed, her hands was on her grimoire. That was bad, very bad. Lose your license if you end up murdering a civilian bad but, this dude apparently didn't have ears.
The man pressed forward, and Rennia pressed her hand on her hilt. That seemed to make him hesitate, and the young woman turned frightened. Rennia eyed them warily. If the annoying dude was absent, then yeah, maybe it could have been fun, but—
"Woah, calm down. Don't get your knickers in a twist. Diplomacy, right? This isn't how adults talk." He changed his tune, lowered his postured and retreated.
Rennia did not let go of her blade.
A flying whip seemed to strike the air out of nowhere, lapping the air and clapping back, causing everyone to jump. Rennia drew her sword instantly to block whatever seemed to be the issue. Maeve drew her grimoire like a dagger and pointed.
A woman wearing a dark skirt, a light blouse, and high heels stood across from them, her attention centered on the pair of civilians. Then she brought the whip out again. "Aren't you lot supposed to be indoors? The town is still under curfew. Get lost!"
"Miss Eugenia?" the frightened girl exclaimed. " We—"
The whip cracked again.
The pair started running. The male had looked back at the woman and shoved his finger at her. Rennia didn't know what to do. The woman lowered her whip, and her expression seemed to somber. She turned toward them, and Rennia lowered her weapon as the woman offered an apologetic look.
"Apologies about that." She bowed her head slightly. "You must be the adventurers the guild hired. I sure hope you do a better job than the previous three groups."
Rennia raised her brow. When multiple companies and individual groups tended to opt out of a job, it either meant it wasn't worth it or it was a death sentence. The urge to hike her way back seemed much more appropriate now. Maeve was a rookie—how dumb was she to let herself be tagged along? On the other hand, she didn't want Maeve to face things alone.
"Three groups? I'm sorry, I'm barely even aware of what I'm supposed to be doing here. And assuming you are our client, where have you been for the last hour?"
The woman couldn't look her in the eye. "I apologize, Miss…"
"Perillion. Rennia."
"Miss Rennia. You may call me Eugenia. It's not easy running a town by myself, especially with the majority gone mad."
"Gone mad? What exactly is the issue here?" Maeve asked.
The woman shook her head. "Not here, lest I anger some of the old patriarchs. Please follow me—the inn is this way."
Was this a closed off town? Rennia had thought, but didn't have the time to ask
Eugenia started walking very fast. Maeve and a reluctant Rennia followed her.
They were taken to the local inn right after. The innkeeper there gave them strange looks—pupils dilated and a robe that kept slipping from her shoulders. Rennia tried not to stare at her indecent composure. The headwoman ignored all of it and dragged them into a room upstairs. She was rushed and nearly out of breath. She locked the door behind them as they entered, then gathered a few chairs to sit and speak.
"Well?" Maeve inquired, mildly irritated they got moved from place to place.
"Indeed, we did not come here to sit in silence. What exactly is wrong with the town? Why are we here?"
Eugenia, who spent her moments scrutinizing the pair, cleared her throat. "Very well. Cut and dry, practical. So i'll get to it. A few days ago, a nasty spirit moved into the local mountains. Specifically, it occupied the mountain pass we typically use to leave for Ivarcant."
"And that's got your people acting like they have ants in their pants?" Maeve joked. Rennia did find it a bit childish. Your typical monster did not cause an entire town to experience a state of psychological phenomena.
"A spirit, you say. And what exactly did this spirit do?" the pathfinder asked the woman.
"If I'm not mistaken, the spirit is quite childish and irritable, but I suspect it's been coming into the town, casting spells on the townsfolk, making them… I have no better words to phrase this, but hypersexual."
Rennia's interest was piqued. A few days ago would almost cleanly line up with her own [hex] she'd experienced, and this wasn't far from Ivarcant. If there was a possibility that this spirit may have been the source, then she was interested.
"Were they hexed or bewitched in any way?"
"I couldn't tell you. Besides, I'm not a mage—I'm an administrator. I have zero knowledge on monsterdom. All I want is for the thing to go away. The town has become unsafe for travelers, particularly because of the denizens' behavior. Local production has gone down, and i'm pretty sure the birthrate is going up."
"Are you saying people are pouncing on each other? Seems like a law problem," Maeve said.
The woman sank her shoulders. "Well, the whole town is affected by this problem, I'm afraid. Even the enforcement has been affected. Only seniors like me were left without the effect, so we established a curfew."
"And the adventurers prior to us haven't solved it? That's strange."
"I've deliberately asked the Ivarcant guild master to keep it under wraps. It's why we're paying a bit more. The problem is the adventurers don't finish the job. They enter the hot spring—"
Maeve jumped up, overly excited. "Hot spring? There's a hot spring here? I've always wanted to see one."
Rennia flicked her face. "Simmer down."
The woman nodded. "Indeed, but… I'm afraid it's inaccessible, at least until the spirit clears out."
"So it's a simple extermination job?" Maeve inquired. "Kill the monster."
Both of them looked at her, concerned. "No, Maeve. Spirits of nature are typically protected by law on this side of the continent. You don't know that? Their not treated like monsters on this continent."
Maeve's cheeks flushed, but Rennia didn't press her about it.
"Uh… no, we don't have that problem back home."
The head lady started tapping her heels regardless. "If you could somehow satisfy this spirit, we'd be willing to pay more than the aforementioned price. The town survives via tourism, I'm afraid. If this goes on, Ivarcant might pressure us. But we don't have the reserve to pay a silver-ranked group, as we're unable to access the bank."
Rennia raised a brow. "Really?"
"Unfortunately, but that's a separate story. My problem, so to speak."
Maeve leaned her head forward. "So is there a chance we might occupy the springs for ourselves?"
The woman shrugged. "I don't see why not, that is, if you can solve the problem. Both of you are bronze-ranked, yes?"
Maeve's shoulders slowly sank lower, and Rennia cringed inward. Confidentiality was standard practice—she wasn't going to lie. "We're tin-rank, ma'am. However, I'm not new to the game. I have some experience from over the border. I'm from—"
"Osteria, yes, I recognize the accent. And you, you come from across the sea." She pointed at Maeve.
"Two foreign girls, how strange. At any rate, will you two be able to do it by tomorrow afternoon? You're welcome to take a room for the night."
"No need. We'll take care of the problem straight away!" Rennia stated.
Maeve started kicking her feet. "What, are you nuts? I'm not camping outside. We just hiked half a day to get here. I'm not getting my feet needlessly dirty again."
"Maeve, the sooner we finish this, the sooner we go home."
"isn't the whole point the adventure?"
"A adventuress that wants to sleep inside a inn, and not camp."
They had started bickering, and Eugenia cleared her throat. "I'd advise against going now as well. Monster activity has been escalating at night. Besides, your companion might be right. I'm no expert, but facing a monster on half energy is a mistake."
Rennia shook her head. Maeve nodded hers. "Acting swiftly is what gets a job done, but maybe you're right. I'll admit i walked far today. And carried some extra weight."
She gave Maeve a side-eye. "Don't pretend you don't like to see my curves. Now you can witness it within the confines of a fine establishment and not some peasant in the dirt."
The woman cleared her throat.
The town head looked uncomfortable by Maeve's statement but expressed a face of joy. "Excellent. Then, would the pair of you be comfortable sharing one room and a bed? Unfortunately, the other rooms have been occupied."
Of course they were.
Rennia stared at Maeve, mildly irritated. Maeve was smiling mischievously.
"Certainly!"
Whether it was the impulse to find out if the spirit was the source of the hex or if it meant she'd gain a few levels, her sense of adventure had started kicking into gear, for some reason Rennia knew she was going to be restless for the rest of the night.