Arad looked around, “It’s hard to focus on the smell,” scratching his nose.
Alcott took a big whiff and frowned, “I smell more than one scent. This is going to be tricky to deal with.” He sighed, scratching the back of his head.
“Let’s keep it up. We should look where the head priest got attacked,” They approached the scene, and Alcott sniffed the ground. “I picked all the smells. Let’s move.”
“I can pick something familiar. But I can’t tell what it is.” Arad looked at him.
“You might have passed him in the street. A Dragon’s nose is powerful, but you must train it.”
The two walked outside, “Did you find the beast?” One of the nuns approached Arad with a frown.
“No, but we got all the strange smells inside. I should be able to identify the beast in the human form.” Alcott smiled, patting her on the head.
“We should head back to the inn. It’s almost nighttime.” Aella said with a smile. 𝙚𝙙𝙤𝒗𝒆𝒍．𝒄𝙤𝙢
“You’re right,” Alcott sighed, “The beast won’t attack with us sitting here.” He looked at the nuns, “We will sleep together,” He said with a smile.
“What?” One of the nuns gasped, taking a step back.
“For protection, of course,” Alcott smiled, “The beast won’t attack you like that,”
“Ginger will kill you.” Merida stared at him from the side.
“It isn’t the first time. And won’t be the last.” Alcott laughed, “It would be great to say I once slept with…” He counted the nuns, “Twenty-five nuns in one room.” He laughed, “That’s more sisters than King Baltos,” SMACK! One of the nuns punched him in the guts, “That’s a bad joke,”
“King Baltos?” Arad looked at Jack.
“An ancient king ruled the humans once in the past. His first wife was the pope, and he slept with all the nuns of the capital in one night.” Jack explained, “He was both a great king and a man,”
“I can’t see that,” Arad sighed, “The nuns have sworn to god, right?”
“Hell, I know? That was in the age of chaos before the great collapse. Nuns might have been something else,” Jack waved his hands,
“The great collapse?”
“That’s another story,” Jack walked beside Arad as they walked to the inn. “One day, a great mage appeared in the kingdom. All the nobles wanted to kill him as a threat, but the king ordered all his daughters to please the man.” Jack smiled, “I don’t know what he saw in him, but it was enough for him to send all the princesses to his bed,”
“That’s crazy,”
“Yes, even the mage thought it was stupid at the start,” Jack smiled, “I will tell you the full story another time,” They reached the inn quickly, “Rest, Alcott might call us in the middle of the night if the beast attacked.” Jack smiled, walking into the inn.
Arad sighed, looking at Aella and Merida, “We need an extra room,” He approached the bartender, “Another room for the lady, please,”
“There is an extra room tonight,” The bartender smiled, taking a key from under his desk and handing it to Arad.
“Thank you,” Arad handed the key to Merida, “Your room, rest,” Merida stared at the key for a moment, “Lucky that there is a room empty?”
“Aella and I are staying in the same room. Jack and Lydia are the same,” Arad replied, and Merida frowned, “Can’t the girls take the same room?”
“I will sleep with Arad,” Aella glared at her,
“I didn’t mean to question that,” Merida stepped back. “Fine, I’m heading to my room,”
“Don’t forget dinner,” Arad stared at her back, “I might hate you being at the party, but that doesn’t mean we won’t work together in the time we’re forced to do it.”
“I will call you if I need something,” Merida replied, “And sorry for attacking you earlier. I just needed to get something from you.” She sighed.
“What was it?” Arad asked as he stepped toward her, “The spell book you found. It has some family secrets that I needed to retrieve.” She explained briefly before leaving.
Arad looked at Aella, confused. “Should we see if dinner is ready?” He asked with a smile.
“Yeah, I’m hungry.” She smiled, looking at the bartender, “What do you have for tonight?”
***
Back in the church, Alcott took his armor off and stretched, sitting in the corner as he brought a towel and oil. One of the nuns saw him, “Why did you take the armor off?” She stared at him. Alcott only wore his casual clothes.
“I need to maintain the armor and weapons,” Alcott smiled, pulling a dagger from his picked and attempting to slash his own neck. Nothing happened, “My skin is hard enough. I only wear armor for extra weight to help me with balance.”
The nun approached Aclott, poking his think neck with her skinny finger, “It’s rock hard,”
“That what you had to say?” Alcott laughed, “Don’t worry, I can protect you all like this.” He smiled, looking at the door as the other nuns flocked in.
“Jessica, what are you doing?” Another nun asked with a frown.
“Come check how hard this man is.” The nun exclaimed, “I bet the walls are softer than him.”
“What are you saying?” The nuns walked to inspect Alcott, “You’re right,” they gasped one after the other.
“Come on, go to sleep,” Alcott said with a smile, “Don’t worry about anything,”
The nuns looked at him momentarily and then turned around. They didn’t use beds, only a bunch of old rags, mattresses, and clothes spread vaguely like bedding.
“Can you sleep like this?” Alcott asked.
“Yeah, it isn’t a problem.” One of the nuns replied, smiling, “It will be a lot of work to move all the beds down here, so this is the fastest way.”
“I see,” Alcott replied, “I’m worried about you,” Then nun sighed, “Can you sit like that in the corner?”
“I slept in the forest and floated in the sea. You don’t have to worry about me,” Alcott smiled.
After a while, the nuns put off the candles and got in bed. Alcott watched them with a smile, one eye open and the other close like a wolf. After just an hour, one of the nuns woke up, sitting up and sighting, “What’s the matter?” Alcott asked.
“AH!” She gasped. “You’re awake?”
“Of course,” Alcott replied, “I’m guarding you, remember?” He smiled.
“I just need to get something done,” she stood, approaching the door. “Stop,” Alcott called her.
“What is it?”
Alcott looked back and took a small bowl, “Use this in the room next door. The beast might take this chance to attack. So I can react quickly.”
The nun stared at the bowl with a red face, “I can’t do that,”
“And I can’t go with you,” Alcott stared at her, “Do it in there this time,”
The nun took a deep breath and looked at him, “How will you know if the beast attacked me? He can be silent, you know?”
Alcott looked at her, “I can know,” He smiled, “It’s best for you to get it done quickly,”
The nun glared at him for a moment before leaving. Alcott sighed. ^I can’t tell her I can hear and smell everything from here.^ He then stared at the sleeping nuns. ^Half of them are masturbating right now, thinking I can’t hear or see them. But I can.^ He sighed again.
The nun returned after a short while, “Nothing happened. It would have been better if I just…”
“No,” Alcott replied immediately, “The beast might have many reasons not to attack, and one of them is you being in my attack range,” Alcott explained that his mere existence close by was enough to fend off the beast.
The nun returned to her bed, staring at him from under her blanket. Alcott closed one eye and left the other, his blade in his hand.
“You sleep weird,” She mumbled, “I’m not asleep, just resting.” He replied, “You’re the one who usually sleeps weirdly.”
“What?” She replied.
“From how much you flip. I can say you aren’t used to sleeping with clothes.” Alcott smiled, and the nun’s face turned red, “Don’t worry, most of you here do the same.”
They glared at him, “What are you?”
“Don’t worry. I know that since my wife does the same.” Alcott smiled, “She flips a lot when we’re in missions since she gets uncomfortable.”
The nun stared at him, “You take your wife to missions?” She asked with a puzzled face.
“Of course, she’s strong enough to protect herself.” Alcott smiled, “She even saved my life countless times.”
“She might get upset seeing you like this with us,” The nun mumbled.
“Worry not,” Alcott smiled, “She won’t even care if you flocked around me naked.”
“You’re a strange one,” The nun smiled, closing her eyes.
^To her, humans are mere animals after all. Who gets upset if their husband slept with a couple of kittens on his bed?^