Chapter 35

  Of all the things that crossed my mind with that big reveal… my stupid mouth only managed to blurt out one thing. “Your dad let me borrow some of your clothes…” Not really my best one liner. But, she’d just dropped more than a bombshell on me. This felt more like a nuke. Was her joining the Disciples what made the Mayor embark in the plan to summon a Traveler to the town? Also, with a title like that, I had no doubt she was some big shot for the cult. And yet, she’d already said she didn’t plan to actively recruit me? Could I trust her on that?

  Sasha stared at me, and for the first time, that calm, confident air around her waivered. The smile she’d been giving me, one of a hunter, closing in on their prey, but… in a sexy way? Shifted. Now her eyes actually lit up, her lips spread slightly open, and she let out an actual laugh. A genuine, caught off guard, laugh.

  “You can go ahead and keep them,” she said, shaking her head as worked to regain her previous composure, “I’m sure you’ve been putting them to good use.” She took a drink, and eyed me, a smirk on her face, “did you happen to sleep in my bed too?”

  “I, uh,” the way she looked at me made me blush, and I tried to hide my own reaction in my drink. “I did.”

  “Would you like to again?” She said, in such an offhanded, nonchalant way that I lost all my cool and choked on my sip. Before I could sputter any sort of response, she laughed and waved away my reaction. “I’m only teasing you, Taylor,” she said, “for now,” she added, with a wink, that left me even more red faced.

  “I,” I swallowed, trying to regain my cool, “how about we change the subject away from me sleeping in your bed, yeah?” I took a steadying breath, “is your dad in trouble then? Is Cogni in trouble?”

  “Do you care?” She asked, “if you’re just here to capture and train Mun’s up, does it really matter what happens to them?”

  I shrugged, “I mean, it’s not really any of my concern, but still, your dad was kind to me.” I said softly, “and, the people of town seemed happy. I don’t like the idea of something bad happening to them.” Sure, I wasn’t a white knight. And I wasn’t this world’s hero. But it didn’t mean I liked the idea of unnecessary pain and harm. The world I’d left had plenty of that.

  “If I said I was going to burn the entire town to the ground,” Sasha started, looking at me, “to make an example out of them, what would you do?”

  I looked at her, and her gauntlet, well aware I didn’t have any chance in hell of stopping her, even if I’d wanted to. And I really didn’t want to get myself embroiled with the Cult nonsense. “I guess I’d decline any future offers from you?” I said with a shrug, “not really keen to spend the night with someone who’d destroy their whole town. Especially when their sin is what?” I pointed to myself, “summoning someone to the world that has no intention of even attempting to do what they wanted?” Did that make me a bad person? It was clear, their actions were potentially about to have major consequences, and for what? I was no savoir. I was no hero.

  “You’re cute,” Sasha said with a laugh, “not change my ways cute, but,” she swirled her drink, “maybe I’ll take that into consideration when I go say hi to dear old dad.” She took a drink, “but, if you do promise me that you don’t plan on interfering with the Disciples in any way, I suppose that does mean I can be lenient. Liz did give me permission to handle the situation as I saw fit, considering my… history with Cogni.”

  I smiled, my cheeks red, as I felt a bit of warmth waking up within me, like a small ember sparking to life deep in my stomach. She’d called me cute. When was the last time someone I’d actually wanted to, had complimented me? There was a reason I’d taken to just gaming on VR in my room as loner back home…

  “I can certainly promise you that,” I said with a smile that climbed a little higher. Hopefully my cheeks weren’t too red at the slight praise she’d given me, “it has always been my intention to steer clear of the Disciples, from the moment your dad told me about them. Which,” I added, “I was doing perfectly well before your two members decided to attack me.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “If you’re intent on keeping your promise, I’ll make sure to ensure those two are… kindly encouraged to leave you alone if they cross paths with you in the future.” Her drink was nearly empty, and I wondered if she would order another. My mind was already a little warm and fuzzy, and I could tell this once drink was more than enough to get me just past buzzed. Was it the same for her?

  “I’d like that,” I said, toasting to her with my drink, “like I said, I really don’t need any extra stress in my life. I just want to do my own thing, and have fun.”

  “An admirable way to live life,” she said. She paused, as if weighing something on her mind, and then another drink appeared before her. A second later, another, which she pushed towards me. “Onto happier subjects though, yeah?” I took the drink, though I was only halfway done with the first. I could sense the shift in her energy, in the air between. From behind her, I saw Guy watching, though he was smiling in a way that reassured me to. If Sasha was a danger to me, I figured he would step in by now, right?

  “Happier subjects are always preferred,” I said as I downed the remainder of my first drink in a single go. Probably a life choice I may regret in the morning, but for now, I didn’t want to be rude.

  “Guy mentioned you’ve got yourself an abnormal Mun.” Sasha said with a smile, “an Abnormal Pride Cub right?”

  “That’s right,” I said, “he told me if I leveled it up, I could sell it for a decent bit of Muney.”

  “Were you planning to get it to 20 then, on your way to Silver Springs?”

  “That’s right,” it wasn’t a secret. “He said doing so would increase the value when I sold it.”

  “He’s given you good advice,” Sasha said with a cool smile, “Traveling Guys usually do. And you’d be a fool not to heed his advice.” She reached across the table, and gently touched my left hand, her eyes looking deep into mine. “How much did he say you could get for it?’

  I swallowed, trying really hard not to focus on the warmth of her touch, nor the excitement in her eyes. “At level 20, he said probably 2000 Muney.”

  Sasha smiled, her silver eyes fixed on mine. I held them for a moment, before my eyes drifted to her lips, wondering what it would feel like to press mine against hers. To feel her bite mine… I immediately looked back into her eyes when I saw her smile as if she’d read my thoughts.

  “I’ll gladly buy it from you right here and now,” she said, her fingers lightly sliding down mine as she retracted her hand, “for 1800 Muney.”

  I swallowed hard. That was 1800 dollars. She didn’t even blink when she’d offered it, either. Then again, considering how strong she was… it was probably nothing to her.

  “But, he said he I could get 2000…” I trailed off, once again drawn to her lips, and my mind, definitely buzzing now from the liquor, thinking about how nice her touch had felt. Focus Taylor. My inner voice yelled at me. Had she gotten me tipsy to get a better deal on my Mun? How diabolical.

  “You could, possibly,” she said, “but it might take a little while. And who knows if it would happen or not. Or… you could sell it to me, right now, guaranteed 1800 Muney, and” she leaned closer, holding her drink up to her lips, her eyes still fixated on mine, “we start our budding friendship off on even better terms.”

  Did I want to be friends with someone really high up in the very organization that I’d been told was essentially an evil cult hellbent on going after other worlds. Not really. But did I want to be friends with Sasha? Drunk me definitely said yes.

  “Alright,” I said, swallowing as I watched her throat work as she swallowed a long sip, “you’ve got yourself a deal.” What could I say? Sasha was hot, charismatic, and honestly, being on good terms with her could, who knows, serve me in the future. In what ways was definitely still to be determined though. And if all it cost me was 200 Muney that I wasn’t even guaranteed I’d make, well, that seemed a relatively easy deal to make. Not to mention, she’d already bought me to two drinks… So, was I really losing out on much? Not at all.

  I pulled the abnormal crystal from my pouch. Sasha’s eyes gleamed with excitement, no, obsession, as she eyed it. She reached for it with her right hand, trying to remain calm, though I could see the sheer glee on her face as she took hold of it. At the same time, she held her left hand out to me, a crystal appearing on it.

  “I’m really glad I got to meet you,” Sasha says, her tone genuine, though a slight bit… breathy. “And I really look forward to getting to know you better.”

  I took the crystal she’d presented to me, and my mind immediately warmed with a buzz, the gauntlet’s magic telling me that crystal contained 1800 Muney. Immediately it was absorbed into my gauntlet, and I saw my internal wealth grow by that very amount. I couldn’t help but smile. I’d made 2700 Muney today… it was impossible not to smile.

  “I can honestly say,” I said as I sat back, taking another sip of the delicious drink as I watched her turn the crystal this way and that, her eyes sparkling with innocent, pure joy. It was a different side of her, and one I wanted to see more of, “same.”