A night of wild revelry left Alan, the guild president, exhausted. By dawn, guild members had gone home one by one. But Alan still had to handle the four drunk girls: Haina, Medi, Emma, and Sia.
Before getting drunk, Haina and Medi could control their words and actions. After drinking? Forget it. Medi clung to Alan, roaring at Haina, "Alan is my fiancé! I’ll sleep with him, ride him, whip him every night!" Nine out of ten drunken words were like this. The remaining one: "You blue-haired bitch, you’re a seductive slut, a mistress!"
Haina was no better. When Medi shouted about sleeping with Alan, Haina retorted, "Alan and I slept together since childhood! I’ve touched everything—appropriate or not. I even peed on him while riding him!"
Trapped between them, Alan sighed repeatedly. In his heart, he vowed: next time anyone dared to get these two drunk, he’d beat that bastard to death.
"Waaah waaah, Alan-bro, I want to sleep with you tonight!" Sia hugged his leg, her cheeks flushed red, babbling wildly. "You promised to marry me! If you break your word, I’ll smash you with a hammer! Waaah... I want to sleep with you..."
Emma hung on Alan’s back, rubbing her little head against him. If only she didn’t lick his face with her tongue, Alan would think drunk Emma was the cutest.
After using every trick to settle the four girls, Alan sealed them in their rooms with magic. Then, he grimaced and headed to the bathroom for a hot soak.
His face didn’t need washing—it had been licked by Emma at least ten times. Washing it again might peel off a layer of skin, Alan thought. Still, he scooped some warm water and rinsed his face.
After cleaning his sticky face, Alan leaned back in the tub. He placed a damp pink towel over his face. He needed to plan his work for the next three days.
The quest to explore the Bipedal Wyvern’s nest couldn’t be postponed. Before leaving the guild, he had to hand over important tasks to Haina. Also, his novel manuscript—he needed to write about 70,000 words for Magic Weekly to avoid a publication gap.
As he thought, drowsiness crept in. Alan’s consciousness grew fuzzy.
Meanwhile, in Emma’s bedroom on the second floor, the sleeping Emma underwent a transformation. Her cyan fur instantly turned fiery red. Her pajamas changed to crimson. Her petite body visibly elongated.
In mere moments, the petite Emma vanished. In her place stood the tall, slender CrimsonLotus.
She rose, stretched lazily, and let out a languid moan. "You’re just a lightweight, yet you try to drink like a pro. You’ve shamed the Wolf Clan’s honor, little girl. Huh? That DarkMage’s scent... so strong. Is she next door?"
CrimsonLotus’s fiery red tail swayed. She walked toward the living room. But when her slender white hand touched the doorknob, her crimson pupils flickered with surprise. Magic fluctuation? A minor sealing spell?
Next moment, her hand gripped the knob. Fiery threads spread like a spiderweb across the door. Pop! A soft sound—the sealing magic Alan had placed vanished. The door swung open.
In the bathroom, Alan, who had been dozing off, snapped awake. The pink towel slipped from his face into the tub.
"Fire element? Could Haina be awake?"
Splash! Alan stood up, grabbed a towel from the rack, and wrapped it around his waist. Under the light, his six-pack abs gleamed with a faint coppery sheen.
In the second-floor hallway, CrimsonLotus, just out of the bedroom, bumped into Alan fresh from the bathroom. Alan, dripping wet, froze. Who was this girl in his house? And she seemed to come from his bedroom—his bedroom?
Alan thought of Emma. Damn it! Was this woman after Emma? Peeking through the gap, he saw Emma’s bed empty. A dark glint flickered in Alan’s black pupils. "Where did you put the girl in the bedroom?"
Facing Alan, CrimsonLotus felt her hair stand on end. Her instincts screamed: this human was dangerous. Lethally dangerous.
"I don’t care about your motives," Alan’s icy voice cut through. "But if you dare harm that girl, I swear—you’ll regret ever being born." The dark glint in his eyes deepened.
"The girl you mean—is that the Little Wolf Girl?" CrimsonLotus smirked, her crimson eyes glinting with amusement. So this boy was the little girl’s fiancé. Interesting. He thought she’d harmed the girl, hence this terrifying aura?
"As fellow Beastmen, I doubt you’d do anything extreme to her. Still, I prefer keeping that girl under my watch. So, kindly return her."
Alan stepped forward, ready to fight at any moment. CrimsonLotus—this girl’s name. First meeting, she was hunting Medi. Now, she’d made Emma vanish. He didn’t care about Medi, but Emma was different. If she dared hurt Emma, Alan wouldn’t mind staining his hands with blood again.
"Heh heh heh," CrimsonLotus laughed lightly. "Human, your expression is truly frightening. For a lowly Beastman unrelated to you, you’d draw swords against me? Is she worth it?"
Alan remained stern. "Lowly Beastman? If I’m not blind, hearing you say that, I’d think you’re a high-and-mighty Elf or human. But your fiery tail and beast ears tell me—you’re a Beastman. I’ve never seen a Beastman call herself lowly before."
As he spoke, Alan closed the distance. Now only three steps apart—close enough for a lethal sneak attack.
"Heh, human, your words are sharp," CrimsonLotus purred, her crimson eyes narrowing. Though no war had broken out between humans and Beastmen recently, relations were strained. Human trafficking of Beastmen had nearly turned them into enemies.
"I’m no lowly Beastman," she declared. "I’m of the Spirit Clan—a race nobler than Elves."
"Hmph." Alan snorted. Beast ears, beast tail—such obvious signs. And she claimed to be Spirit Clan? Did she think he was blind?
