They have stepped out of the forest, but the village gate was still very far. While walking, he was thinking what he should do with these point he got after doing that quest!
‘Can I buy or level up with these points, or something like that?’
As if answering his question, a new screen opened up.
[Do you want to unlock the shop skill?]
Cost: 50 SP
Y/N
He didn’t think much before selecting yes in his mind. And several skills showed up in front of him.
Seeing some of the skills made him grin wider. He almost let out a chuckle.
As he was grinning to himself, Mira asked him, “Are you that happy to be alive, brother?”
He didn’t say anything in response to her question.
Elara’s arm looped tight under his, her shoulder a warm brace against his side as they shuffled along the rutted dirt track. Mira flanked him on the other side, her hand occasionally brushing his elbow, like she couldn’t trust he wouldn’t vanish if she let go completely. The forest hemmed them in, branches clawing at the fading sky, leaves rustling in a breeze that carried the sharp tang of resin and distant cookfires.
Lys, still getting used to his new name after a lifetime of being Alex, felt his legs drag, heavy and tired. Each step kicked up puffs of dust that clung to his worn shoes, if it could be even called a shoe.
He was staring at the sudden new quest he got just as Mira had her hands tightened around his body, making him overly conscious of her softness.
<< Tier 2 Quest: “Sister’s Relief” >>
Objective: Touch [Mira Veyne]’s waist for 30 seconds.
Reward: 120 SP | +4 Affection
Note: Target exhibits heightened emotional vulnerability. Physical contact will deepen trust.
‘So the system triggers whenever I have any desire for any woman in front of me?! What is it, some wish-fulfillment genie, specifically designed for me?!’
Although he mocked the system in his mind, it still glowed in front of his vision, insistent, like a headache you couldn’t rub away. His mind snarled at it. He was in an inner dilemma now, about whether he should do as the quest asks of him, or not.
‘Should I do it? But what if she suspects something?’ These women, propping him up, their breaths syncing with his faltering ones, they weren’t blood. Step-family, the overlay said. Not real kin. Not his, anyway. So the Temptation were taking over him.
Elara’s curves pressed soft against him, Mira’s braid swinging, catching the last light of the sun like fire. Which made his resolve stronger.
‘Yeah. They aren’t even a real family. What’s wrong with me getting intimate with them!’
He blinked hard, focusing on the target. The screen expanded, pulling up Mira’s stats without asking aloud.
<< Target: Mira Veyne (Step-Sister) >>
Difficulty: S-Rank | Status: Protective of Host (Physical contact +60%) | Affection: 81 | Lust: 27%
‘S-Rank.’ His mind chewed on that, his gaze sliding to Elara for a second, her lips parted slightly, she was murmuring to herself, something about the priest or something.
‘If Mira were S, what does that leave the mother with her SS rank? Double the trouble? Do I have to work twice to conquer her?’
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His gut twisted, not sure if it was revulsion or something sharper, hungrier. The number of Mira’s lust shocked him. ‘Huh, her Lust is at 27%. Already? From a hug?’
Mira glanced back, her eyes still rimmed red, a tentative smile cracking her face. "You holding up, Lys? Not too heavy on Mom?"
Elara huffed, adjusting her grip, her breast grazing his arm accidentally. "He’s fine, honey. Light as a sack of feathers after... After everything he had been through, how can he have any weight left in him."
The path narrowed, forcing them closer than they were. Lys’s hand hovered to touch Mira’s waist, then dropped, ‘It is casual, nothing shameful,’ he told himself, while finally settling at Mira’s waist where her dress bunched thin over the dip of her hip. She didn’t flinch. Just leaned in a fraction, her warmth seeping through the fabric.
Quest timer started. Twenty-nine seconds left.
Sweat ran down his head. But the quest’s pull made his hand stick to her waist, like an itch under his skin.
The village lights flickered ahead, faint through the trees. Just as the village was in sight, his system gave him the notification.
<< Quest Complete: "Sister's Relief" >>
Reward Distributed: +120 SP | Affection +4
He pushed the notification aside and focused on the view before him as they reached the village. Its wooden palisade was a jagged silhouette against the twilight sky. The scent of burning pine and damp earth filled his nostrils, mingling with the sweeter smell of sweat from the women flanking him.
A voice cut through the quiet.
"Hold there."
A guard stepped into their path, his hand resting on the hilt of a notched sword. His leather armor was patched in places, the stitching uneven, but his gaze was sharp as he swept over them, lingering a second too long on Elara’s worn dress and Mira’s perk breasts.
"Elara," the guard said, his tone dripping with false politeness. "Didn’t you tell me your boy was dead? That you were taking him out to the woods to burn what was left?"
Elara’s grip on Alex’s arm tightened, it was trembling a little. "I was mistaken, Joren," she said, her voice steady despite the tremor in her fingers. "The gods saw fit to spare him."
Joren’s lips curled. "Spared him, huh? Funny how the gods never spare me a copper when the taxes came due last year." His eyes flicked to Lysander, assessing him. "You sure that’s even him? Didn’t the wolves had made him half-dead already before you found him? I don’t see any wound mark over his body! Are you sure he won’t turn into an undead?!"
Mira’s hand clenched into a fist at her side. "He’s my brother, can’t you see, you pig-eyed…"
"Mira," Elara warned, her voice low but firm. She stepped slightly in front of Lys, as if shielding him. "We’re just passing through. Priest John will want to see him."
Joren snorted but waved them on with a dismissive flick of his wrist. "Fine. But if he starts foaming at the mouth, don’t try to pin the blame on me for allowing you to enter. I won’t take any responsibility for it, when he bites someone."
He let them in.
-----
As they passed beneath the village gates, Lys’s jaw tightened. The guard’s disdain clung to him like the stench of the unwashed streets beyond. The village boundaries walls rough-hewn logs towered overhead, their surfaces blackened by time and weather, the gaps between them were wide enough to glimpse the forest’s encroaching shadows from inside.
As they entered the village, it unfolded in a maze of dirt paths and many sagging structures.
Houses lined the streets like broken teeth, walls of wattle and daub patched with mismatched planks, roofs thatched with brittle straw or sometimes just leaves.
Some men and women were going home after a long day's work from the field, barefoot, and most of the men were too old, they had no shirts on, their body covered in mud and dirt, their laughter faint, like they were too hungry to even hold a proper conversation.
A few paused to stare as Lys and the two woman beside him passed, their eyes wide with the kind of curiosity that bordered on cautiousness.
Elara guided Lys toward a squat building near the village center, its door hung with a faded cloth dyed in the holy sigil of the local priesthood. The air here smelled of incense and damp wool, the murmur of voices spilling from the open windows were like a hymn.
Lys’s fingers twitched at his sides. Only this building was somewhat better built than the other houses he had passed by till now.
"Wait here, Lys," Elara murmured, her voice was barely above a whisper.
Lys looked around at the crumbling huts. He observed everything till now. He connected the dots, the hollow-eyed villagers, and the guards who treated them like dirt beneath their boots.
He understood where his family stood in this village’s hierarchy with just these tiny details.
