The Red Tower Lord's Vulgar Grin
Lucas, the Red Tower Lord, bared his yellowed teeth in a grin.
"Finally got the urge to fuck her, huh? Heh heh, and here you were telling me not to talk dirty. What a funny bastard."
Lucas made a ring with one hand and jabbed a finger from the other through it in a crude gesture. He'd dropped by my lab a few times, so Terria knew his face too. With the quick wit she'd shown so far, she might've already sized up his asshole personality.
"Filthy trash. Is that the best you can come up with right after we meet?"
"Hey, it's my first time seeing you drag around a bitch like that. A beastkin, no less? Didn't know you had a taste for that."
Lucas eyed me like a kid curious about a new toy, but the lust lurking beneath was plain as day. It made my skin crawl like bugs were marching over it. Women had an innate knack for spotting desire in a man's gaze.
"Taste? Nothing like that. I just wanted to focus on the conference. Figured it'd be convenient to have someone waiting on me."
"Tch. Just admit it. You fucked her in the same room and you're still playing dumb."
Just deny it, I wanted to scream at Terria. Who the hell are you, Lucas, to ask that shit? What reason do we have to give a damn about your curiosity?
"That red choker around her neck—is that your 'dedicated cocksleeve' mark? Suits her well. So, is it true?"
I flinched and yanked my collar up. Too late, I realized it might fuel the misunderstanding. Pacing in place, I racked my brain. What should I say here? Deny it? Snap back in anger? Change the subject? Hell, could I even get a word in?
Imagining it was easy enough. I'd never seen a slave butt into nobles' chatter. But staying silent grated on me. If this trash got the wrong idea, he'd blab it everywhere. Even the great mage is just a guy with a dick after all. Obvious, sure. What else would you call a man with a cock? But if it reached Clechia's ears, she'd be heartbroken for some reason. Treading carefully, I spoke up.
"The Master and I aren't like that."
"Who knows. Maybe not."
At the same time, Terria drawled in a bored, flat tone. I whipped around to stare at her, startled. Was that her true feelings bubbling up from deep inside? Or a calculated lie to defuse the situation? Stunned into silence, I barely registered as she added,
"But that's none of your business anyway. Let's go, Terria."
Terria brushed past Lucas. I hurried after her a step behind. From behind us came Lucas's short, exasperated sigh. "Huuh."
"See you at the conference. Look forward to it."
I couldn't even guess what he meant by that as we headed to the restaurant.
"Are you insane? Why the hell did you say it like that?!"
The hotel restaurant was nearly empty at this hour. Once the waiter delivered our food and vanished, and I was sure no one was listening, I tore into her.
"What's the problem? The important thing is that nothing happened between us. Did I do anything last night or what?"
"No, fuck—that asshole's getting the wrong idea. He'll definitely go blab to his underlings."
But Terria seemed unconcerned, leisurely spearing her food with a fork and bringing it to her mouth. Her nonchalance left me speechless; I took a sip of water.
Who knows. Maybe not.
That line from earlier suddenly felt all too real, and a chill fear washed over me, draining the color from my face.
"You... you don't mean you actually..."
"Whatever. First, what do we do about this."
Terria pointed just above my head.
"We gotta put out the urgent fire first. Didn't think it'd draw this much aggro."
"Uh, yeah. Right."
Fair point—the fox ears and tail were total magnets for attention. We needed to hide them ASAP.
"Should I ask another mage to cast humanization magic on me? But why'd it wear off in the first place?"
"Because you fed me that potion. You joking right now?"
"No, no—I didn't know it'd dispel the existing spell either. Sorry about that."
"Sorry? Like sorry fixes it... Hah. Whatever, since you're not planning to swap back anyway. That drug dispels all magic on the target. End of story."
I reflected again. If I hadn't been so thorough back then and just tossed her the Magic Restraint Choker without more, this wouldn't have happened. Should've used a mana-binding spell instead. Then it would've lifted on the swap, and she'd at least have magic now.
Water under the bridge. I kept explaining to Terria.
"Humanization magic is way more advanced than you think, and it has zero to do with alchemy. Probably no one at the hotel can even do it."
Even if someone could, would they? My social circle was trash; I barely had any mage friends. Terria in my old body asking would raise eyebrows. Why ask me when you can do it yourself? Does that mean Terria can't use magic? Cursed? Fucked up an experiment? Horrifying just to imagine. A mage who couldn't cast? Instant laughingstock.
"Ariel was a way more impressive mage than I thought."
"You gonna say that...?"
"So what now? No other options?"
"Let's grab a perception-disruption artifact for now. Beastkin used 'em all the time in the Empire; should be easy to find."
We finished eating and left the restaurant. The conference city was big enough to have plenty of magic shops. Ignoring the shopkeeper's lecherous stare, we snagged our target quick and headed back to the room. Barely any time till the afternoon schedule.
Then Terria's face turned sly. She hid the artifact behind her back—that scheming look she got when plotting.
I felt uneasy. "What? Why? What're you up to?"
"Nah. I was thinking—this is actually good for you, right? You gonna hole up in the hotel room all day? The whole week?"
"...No."
"Then think of something that benefits me too. Deals need compensation."
She saw this as a transaction, huh. Trading what we each wanted. But what could I offer Terria?
I pondered. "Uh... can't you just give it to me?"
"Nope. Slaves can't have anything without their master's permission."
I'd forgotten in the relaxed mood. I was the slave, she the master. Terria's face hardened; no freebies.
Sneaky bitch.
"Gotta go to the lectures now, so think it over. I'll hold onto this."
Ariel's presentation was next week per the timetable, but the conference had tons of talks to attend. Terria pocketed the fresh artifact in my body and left the room.
Suddenly, I was alone.
What did Terria want? What could I give her?
Who knows. Maybe not.
Her words to Lucas flashed back, sending chills down my spine. No way. I focused on what I was good at.
Ariel was the top authority in alchemy across all magic fields. Even without casting spells, I could whip up high-grade potions no problem. Strength enhancers? Curse antidotes? Self-defense reagents? Cupid's elixir? Or maybe drugs?
But Terria wouldn't want that stuff. It was all commercially available. Tricky to get sometimes, sure, but doable with effort.
I thought bigger. This conference was the biggest yet. Maybe some mage had a wild idea I hadn't considered. Or a lecture might spark something new. Alchemy thrived on tweaking existing research for wild results.
Before I knew it, I was getting ready to head out.
Sure, I'd lived like human trash, but I was a mage. New spells, advanced alchemy—they set my heart racing.
There'd be empty labs without reservations. The hotel had converted spaces into alchemy workshops for the event. Impatient mages often used the crude setups after feedback sessions.
I threw on a huge cloak, fumbling to hide my tail and ears. Hmm, might pass for some unremarkable female mage.
Body changed or not, noticed or not—I was a mage.
I cracked the door, slipped into the hall. One hand mashed down my hat, the other clutched the cloak tight around me as I descended the stairs.
At that moment, I was deluded. Still thinking I was Ariel gave me baseless confidence.