An Unexpected Encounter
"Ooh, oooh, wow..."
Bilena covered her flushed face with both hands, peeking through her fingers with sparkling eyes. She panted rapidly, like she was hyperventilating. I sank into a pathetic mood.
"Kids. You shouldn't spy on other people's love lives like this."
"Shut your trap, brat. Gonna keep yapping boring crap?"
"Hitting it from that angle? This is getting juicy."
A couple with pants and underwear tossed on the ground, bumping hips shallowly while breathing raggedly. The other three party members covered their mouths, eyes glued to that riveting lower-half action. Meanwhile, I studied their heads. Angular horns poking cutely through their hair—definitely human-form dragons. Which meant if we got caught peeking, a double dose of draconic fury might rain down on us.
...I'd probably lost my qualifications by now, but as a former A-rank porter, I had a duty to protect my party members cleverly. Keep them from clashing with locals. No duels with dragons. And thinking about it, I was likely the oldest of the four here, so it fell to me to teach proper public decency—
"Mouth."
I ditched my elder authority fast. That tigress grip shaking my head felt just as chilling now as it had back then.
The baby-faced Reni nodded solemnly. "That's it exactly."
"What is?"
"Don't you get it, Bilena? Life's wisdom is right there."
As Bilena whipped her head around—her face ready to burst—Reni, who always seemed so prim, twisted her lips into a sly grin.
"Get yourself a boyfriend."
"W-what?!"
"Not that I was eavesdropping or anything, but didn't you ask our porter earlier if the leader brought along some sex-management bitch-trainer?"
Bilena unleashed a bizarre, high-pitched wail like a malfunctioning machine. Lucky for us, it barely sounded human.
"Haah. Haak. Honey, you hear anything?"
"Yeah. Dolphin? Or did someone eat a bat?"
I hugged Bilena tight, clamping her mouth, and belly-flopped into the underbrush. Her face felt scorching under my palms—like my hands were getting seared. While they sizzled, Esen and Reni, who'd dropped prone in a flash, flashed me thumbs-ups.
The couple tilted their heads, then shrugged it off like some rare migratory bird species had flown onto the island after centuries. They decided to investigate after finishing their business. Soon, those warm, lewd moans echoed again.
Prone and giggling, Reni whispered, "And right in front of your house in the City of All Gods, you yelled at those Mitra paladins picking a fight—'Don't touch my boyfriend!'"
"Mmph...! Mmmph—!"
Bilena shuddered in shame, thrashing in my arms. I clamped down harder to keep her quiet, plunging into panic with her. Did that mean Reni knew about me, Esen, and the sisters...?
I shot her a pale look. Over Reni's shoulder, Esen sneaked another thumbs-up and mouthed, 'Handled it.'
...For real?
"Think about it. Rational, cool-headed Tena Everlight wouldn't recruit a top-tier porter just to play stud. All those fantasies are the same. Impressive you sniffed out a guy disguised in the party, but getting chummy with the girls doesn't mean pink vibes are flowing."
Reni shook her head like a stern teacher, cutting it off clean. "So quit half-ass eavesdropping, spinning wild tales, and pairing us up like some romance novel. The Monica sisters aren't sluts. Neither are Esen or our porter. The world doesn't spin like your dirty books."
Relief washed over me. Reni chalked it all up to a shut-in romance junkie's delusions. I hadn't exactly denied anything.
Of course, sharp Bilena knew the truth. Muffled in my grip, she just kept groaning. She probably wanted to protest that she didn't look like some fool jumping to conclusions—but no way I'd let go. Dragons might hear. Plus, it kept rumors from spreading.
Esen flashed another thumbs-up—like, problem solved. When Reni glanced back, sensing something, Esen played dumb.
Esen smoothly pivoted to Bilena. "What was that book in your room again? 'Devoured by the Wolf at Spring's End'. Author: Kargo Romantica."
"You bitches—! Mmph—! Grrph—!"
"Heh, serves you right. That muffled noise sounds just like my voice when I was bound in those restraints—"
"Restraints?"
"Uh, back in the City of All Gods. Bilena wanted to test her capture gadgets on me."
Esen shuddered at the memory but ad-libbed like a pro. Reni bought it with a nod.
"Anyway, you hug those novels and shut out the world, so you spout crap like calling our reliable model porter your 'boyfriend' while starving for dick. I just want Bilena to gain some confidence."
"Hey. Don't dish advice like that to a lifelong virgin."
"Even party members less pretty than you have boyfriends in tourist spots. Bilena, your looks hold up anywhere. No need for serious dating—just try a date sometime."
"What about you? Single, right?"
"I have a girlfriend. Makes me the only real couple here, I guess."
Reni lifted her chin proudly. Kinda shocking.
Esen rolled her eyes in annoyance and dropped a bigger bomb. "You and that yellowed-granny elf? That's no romance to me. Just kids' playdate. Can't even kiss right."
"If the people involved call it romance, it is. Whatever."
...Yellowed-granny elf. Had to be Nenya, the blonde one. Guess those two sticking together like twins wasn't just chemistry.
Reni patted a stunned Bilena's shoulder, chuckling comfortingly. "Anyway, chin up, Bilena. Half-joking, but you don't even need a boyfriend. Just don't shove away the nice folks around you—hang out a bit. I get something in your past made you push people away, but you're still young—"
"Gah...❤"
Reni's pep talk got cut off—accidentally sounding way too lewd. Esen and Reni snapped their heads up like predators.
The secret dragon couple they'd shown off to cheer up mopey Bilena? Looked like it was barreling toward climax.
Esen wiped drool from her lips, glancing my way. She snagged my nape as I tried to slip away, dragging me across the sand while smacking her lips.
I gave in and let her haul me off.
"Tch, peeking's no fun without a guy. Hey, go catch some fish to roast?"
"...I'll tag along. Gotta ID any poisonous ones."
"Sure thing."
Reni gulped and nodded without looking back.
Bilena shot Reni a glare like, Who's the dense one here? She watched me and my predator vanish anxiously, then mumbled something about forgetting stuff and trailed after.
But what Bilena stumbled upon, running back with a despairing face, panting hard—
"No pulling out. Five shots, like we promised?"
"...Later."
"Gotta be, right?"
Esen, my pants half-down, leaning on my 'fish' inside, shuddered like she hated ditching cornered prey.
"Even if I wanna chow down first, checking what it is comes first, yeah?"
Not us tangled up, sweating it out for show. We were soaked in seawater, pounding a shipwrecked castaway's chest.
Embers on a log. Half-corpses bobbing in.
That suspicious shape Esen spotted first through the dawn fog? Wreckage from a drifting ship.
And the sole survivor who'd clung to the debris, somehow holding onto life...
"Wake up! Don't fade out! Bilena, fire! Tinder from my bag!"
"Shit, I'll fetch Monica sis! Help Tan, Bilena!"
"I, I..."
"Get up, Florica!"
Lucky those dragon lovers were nearby. They heard the beach screams, raced over, shifted to dragon form, and flew us straight to medical facilities kilometers away.
The dragons with Healer Aptitude and the Monica sisters barely clung Florica's life thread. Diagnosis: severe dehydration, hypothermia, and deep bruises all over they hadn't checked yet.
Someone had beaten her to a pulp and dumped her in the water, but she'd held on amid the ship debris.
"Pure hero luck she survived. Like Adamanthon—legs blasted off by gunfire, no shock death."
"Can she recover?"
"We hope, but even heroes... no guarantees in this state."
"Maybe better if she doesn't wake. Got Mitra's sun seal on her chest. Pure coincidence running into her here?"
"What kinda talk is that, Dad? She's reformed."
"Quiet, Morgan. Bigger problems than that bitch."
Cleaned up and dapper now, Captain Tomco cut in. Even Morgan shot her dad a reproving look, but unlike on deck, he returned only a stern glare. Morgan averted her eyes and bowed her head.
"Those ship chunks washing up. Hull painted black."
"...Like our attackers'?"
"You're a pain every time, but sharp as hell. That storm ambush ship wasn't the only one. We might be in deep shit again. Some could've docked safe on a coast somewhere. Hell, this patient might be tracking us for the hunt."
"No."
"Why not?"
Monica sisters shook their heads once, then pointed at the smirking dragons around. "Not saying she's definitely friendly—people deceive. But this is no ordinary spot. It's the Dragon's Nest. Most dragons in the world right here."
"Right. One full-grown dragon crushes ten mediocre heroes into retirement easy. No sweat, hero kid. Cookie?"
The dragon—Nidroga's cousin—offered those suspicious treats. Even in the sickroom, that decadent rot-stink wafted. Tomco grimaced and passed.
"We faced death with dragons right here? Strong don't mean invincible. Never—"
"—No place is ever truly safe. You're right, hero Tomco."
Florica's clear voice rang out. Everyone whipped around.
Trembling like a branch in the wind, she glared at us.
"I'd beg you to trust me, but sadly, no wisdom or time for that. Believe me or not—I don't care. I'll give my all. Just like I resolved: someday, I'll help you all."
"Your all?"
"That man's here. Baldenhart. He's gunning for the succubus queen now."