The next morning, I spent the whole day meeting with Ars and Lisbeth, looking for a suitable quest, but for some reason, there were nothing but some mundane, recurring quests. They were all low-level solo adventurers who could take them. While we were struggling with this, I suggested that since they didn't need my share of the reward, why not just treat it as an experience and choose an easy quest? After a brief consideration, they agreed. Then Sera explained that under no circumstances could a contract be signed without compensation, so after signing a contract with one fairy tale as a symbolic amount, we accepted what seemed like a simple mushroom-gathering quest in the forest near the city (plus, incidentally, eliminating any monsters encountered in the forest).
Although they didn't know if monsters would appear, they'd heard the guild would buy materials or magic stones encountered during gathering.
Magic stones were something they'd never heard of before. After inquiring, they learned that monsters sometimes had crystallized magic stones attached to their hearts, and this material had many uses.
So they decided to carry out the mission the next day. The two sat down at the table, exchanging their adventurer cards to gather information.
After all, they were entrusting each other with their lives, so they needed to know each other's weapons.
Then they carefully examined each other's cards.
............
Name: Tania Lisbeth
Guild: Light of Madel
Level: 18
Aethel Possession: 12640
HP: 108 / Strength: 21 / Magic: 248 / Agility: 26
Skills: [Magic Conversion] [Aethel Shield]
Magic: [Flame Shot LV.3] [Flame Arrow LV.2] [Fireball LV.2] [Flame Shot LV.2] [Flame Burst LV.1]
Special Items and Achievements: —Graduated first in the intermediate class of the Magic Academy—Vice Guild Leader of Light of Madel
............
Name: Ryan Ars
Guild: Light of Madel
Level: 20
Aethel Possession: ∞
HP: 88 / Strength: 144 / Magic: 24 / Agility: 118
Skills: [Aura Conversion] [Hero's Aura LV.2] [Heavy Strike LV.3] Special Items and Achievements: —Graduated from the short course at the Adventurer Training Institute, Madel Branch—Hero—Guild Master of the Guild Madel's Light
............
Hmm.
These attribute values feel a bit strange.
Lisbeth's magic power does seem high, but her Ether's holdings are quite low compared to mine.
This is the level of a highly regarded mage? Am I abnormal?
No wonder people are surprised by my Ether's holdings… Besides, is it special or appropriate that I only learned fire magic?
Judging from the separate display of skills and spells, the spells displayed separately seem to require learning magic conversion to use.
As for Ars, because the special items section clearly states "Hero," his Ether's holdings are displayed as infinite.
But in comparison, his attribute values seem quite low.
Even a novice is supposed to be a hero, so why are they so low?
Just as I was thinking this, the two people in front of me were looking at my card with very shocked expressions.
"Ether's power level is 516,000!? Stamina 723...!? And Strength 282...!?"
"This is incredible... It's unbelievable that it's level 12. It can only be a divine beast!"
"Impossible, how could this happen..." After exchanging cards in shock, they briefly inquired and learned that Lisbeth's situation was due to her innate magical power, which earned her an invitation to a magic school. Although uncommon, occasionally a mage like Lisbeth is born with magical power, considered to have the potential to become a great mage, and the magic school will proactively extend an invitation.
As for Ars, his lack of skills seemed unusual. After inquiring, they learned that warrior-type adventurers who master aura usually have no other skills besides aura, or at most one or two.
Aura is originally a buff to attack and defense; using aura alone can make one quite powerful, without even needing additional skills.
Attributes like muscle strength have certain limits during human growth, therefore human adventurers focus more on developing aura and skills rather than muscle strength.
Ars, as a hero, seems to lack muscle mass, which appears to be due to this reason.
Is the flat physique of city men also for this reason? In short, warrior-type characters cannot be judged solely by the attribute values of their adventurer cards; a comprehensive consideration of aura and skill prowess is necessary. Therefore, when recruiting guild members, actual combat experience and performance are used as criteria. "I see...it seems my stats are indeed a bit abnormal."
"Of course they're abnormal. Putting everything else aside, your Aether and stamina are far beyond the level of a high-level adventurer."
"But isn't that more reliable?" After exchanging information and chatting for a while, we left the guild office to inspect the shops and check the stock of medicine and equipment, just in case.
Although every shopkeeper was surprised to see me, the rumors had already spread, and they all gave me a 'Ah, you're that legendary beast!' look.
As a horse, I couldn't really prepare anything, but watching Lisbeth and Ars's seemingly date-like scene, I accompanied them on their shopping trip with a bittersweet mix of warmth and inexplicable anger.
When we were almost done shopping, we agreed to meet at the East Gate the next morning and then parted ways.
The next morning.
After opening my eyes, I casually shook myself off, hastily filled my stomach with some hay piled up in the corner, then drew water from the well in front of the warehouse to wet my face and shake it dry.
Surprisingly, this other world was brimming with high technology. The well dispensed water simply by pressing a button, a fortunate convenience even for someone in horse form.
Of course, it was still incredibly inconvenient.
The most frustrating thing was not being able to bathe freely.
During the two-week investigation, I asked if I could bathe during my physical examination. The soldiers splashed some water for a quick rinse, but that was it.
In the forest, I could often bathe in the river, but not in this city.
It had been almost ten days since I'd had a proper wash. Putting everything else aside, I was worried about my body odor… I definitely smelled like a horse.
"Hmm… if only there were a river in the forest today. I only took this mission to familiarize myself with the area, so I should have enough time to take a bath." Thinking that if there wasn't a river, I'd have to apologize and go back to Ars for a wash, I headed towards the eastern city gate I'd spotted yesterday.
............ Although it was still some distance from the gate, fortunately, it was only about a 30-minute walk from my warehouse to the nearest eastern gate.
It's said that the furthest gate, the west gate, takes about two hours to walk from, making me realize the city's scale far exceeded my expectations.
No wonder there's so much open space.
Even considering the winding roads, the straight-line distance from west to east is probably 5-6 kilometers.
Building this city wall must have required a massive amount of manpower.
Besides the gates, the wall is about three stories high, and towering buildings of 4-8 stories are everywhere around. It seems the construction technology of this other world is quite advanced.
Could it be due to magical power?
It's intriguing that they possess such advanced technology yet still maintain royal power.
Just as I reached the east city wall, I saw two people seemingly arguing.
Strange, they were fine yesterday, why are they arguing?
"No, no, no! Why do I have to go with that guy alone?!"
"So, Liz..."
"Why are you two arguing so early in the morning? What happened?" When I moved closer to Lizbet, who was still angry, and Ars, who looked helpless, Lizbet turned away abruptly, while Ars gave me a troubled smile. "Actually, something happened after I parted ways with you yesterday, Shimo. A soldier came to our lodgings with a message saying that all the heroes of Ladia have been urgently summoned. Apparently, a veteran hero, quite powerful among the heroes, sacrificed himself in the newly appeared dungeon not long ago. And because of this, there's some information that needs to be shared with the heroes, requiring everyone to cancel their plans today and gather at the lord's castle."
"Uh… so I can just cancel today's plans and go directly there, right?" "That's true... but as mentioned the day before yesterday, we formed a guild just the two of us to become renowned adventurers. We've completed every quest we've taken on so far perfectly. If we were to cancel even a simple task like this, it would probably tarnish our reputation."
Hmm... so could rumors spread that 'those two highly touted geniuses can't even handle a gathering quest,' which is completely unrealistic?
Speaking of which, even veteran heroes—and strong ones at that level—could die. This otherworldly dungeon must be incredibly terrifying! "Uh…can't we make an exception for this special situation?" "If it were the Lone Wolf Guild, they would cancel the commission due to insufficient personnel, but there are only two of us… We confirmed before coming today that even if I'm not here, Lisbeth is still here, so that reason doesn't hold water. It's not a dangerous mission, so Lisbeth has to complete the commission. Besides, Shimo was included as a temporary contractor when the order was accepted, so Shimo must come along too."
As expected.
Ars now has to withdraw, but Lisbeth has to accompany me without Ars. No wonder she's complaining so irritably.
Having no boyfriend but having to be alone with other men—no, males—of course she's unhappy.
"Ugh, this lord is so annoying... Go to hell, really..."
"Lizbeth. You shouldn't say things like that. I was worried about letting Lizbeth go alone, but isn't this a kind of training? With Shimo around, there won't be any danger."
"I'd rather go alone... Ugh, really..." Looking at Lizbeth's tearful and angry face, I found myself getting increasingly irritated.
The patience I'd gradually built up since being able to talk was slowly running out, and the crazy female values I'd desperately tried to forget since coming to this world were starting to resurface.
Why is this bitch always so mean to me?
Hold on, I must hold on.
Women need to be cared for.
Wake up, my inner Confucian old fogey...
"Understand now? If it's over soon, I'll go to the forest immediately. If you haven't seen me by sunset, let's meet at the guild."
"Haa... I understand..." Seeing Lizbeth finally lower her head in understanding, Ars smiled and patted her head.
Then he told me he was going out and asked me to take care of Lizbeth before heading towards the lord's city. "..." After Ars's figure disappeared, I said to Lisbeth, who was still looking down, "...Shall we go?"
"Haa..." Lisbeth silently followed behind me as I walked slowly forward.
After showing my adventurer's card to the soldier and stating our destination, we had just stepped out of the city gate when the people gathered there began to glance at us sideways.
"What are you looking at, you old men?" "Alright, next is the forest...
Yesterday I heard it would take about an hour?
Would you like to ride a horse to change your mood?
Miss Lisbeth?"
Lisbeth said, turning her back to me, briefly glancing at my back before sighing.
For some reason, ever since the day we first met, Lisbeth's face seemed increasingly weary.
"Okay… I have to go anyway, there's no way around it. It's not like I'm going to be busy until tonight, I just need to finish quickly and come back. Also, we don't need to add 'sir' anymore. It's annoying to emphasize it like that."
Ah, so she knew. The day we first met, she insisted on adding 'sir,' so I deliberately emphasized it like I was teasing her, and it seems she was really annoyed.
"If you want to ride, bend down. You can't ride if you're too tall."
I obediently bent down to lower my waist for Lisbeth to speak.
Looking at it this way, my physique really is as large as a real farm horse; Lisbeth, who seems to be less than 160cm tall, only reached the middle of my back when I was standing.
I realized again that my size would be quite a hindrance in spacious places other than the guild hall.
Then Lisbeth put her legs together and rested her buttocks on my waist. During my first ride, the excitement of being able to speak and the anticipation of going to the city prevented me from fully experiencing it. But when Lisbeth, with her enormous hips like breasts, mounted me, I could feel her soft touch even through the fabric covering her body.
(Ahhh, damn. This is so fucking amazing… Being forced to abstain for two months is killing me…) In fact, once we entered the city, the tension from the forest disappeared, and the inability to masturbate was unbearably painful.
Now I've almost reached my limit. I thought that since I knew about the ability to humanize, I could always restrain myself until I learned it. But every time I see a woman from another world whose appearance and figure far exceed the average, my manhood keeps popping out, causing me anxiety.
No, it's actually popped out and shown off several times already.
Once, I finally managed to put it back in, and looking down, I saw a few drops of what looked like my manhood's fluid on the ground where I had been standing.
If the stall owner in front of me saw what it was, he would definitely be terrified.
Although it's covered by a cloth so no one can see it, without that cloth, just the erection itself is enough to cause trouble.
Exposing that menacing thing on the street—just imagining the stares it might attract is incredibly stressful.
Although I can at least maintain some rationality and control my erection now, I'm really worried that if this continues, I'll lose my mind and grab any wild female monster to satisfy my urges.
Actually, I've never used it on Earth before, and the thought of my first experience being with a monster is terrifying.
With these thoughts in mind, the silent Lisbeth and I arrived at the forest.
Several times along the way, I felt the sway of her hips, causing that guy Mazzaghi to jump out a couple of times.
If Lisbeth, who already has a lover named Ars, saw this, it would definitely cause a huge commotion.
I'm going crazy…