Ted had not lied. The actual dinner came well after the initial buffet, and it was massive. There were predisposed seating arrangements at the various tables, and we ended up close to the dwarf. By "we," I meant that I was sitting beside him at the main table, while the girls were sitting behind me like all the other people's slaves, eating from small trays.
It was weird, but then again it was much less demeaning than what I had seen in the rest of the city by a good margin. They got plenty of food, even though it was less than what we got, and nobody tried to bother them.
While I ate, I tried to follow the random chitchatter happening at the table but soon found it too inane to really listen to. People talked about nothing and everything, either speaking in platitudes or talking about random gossip I had no idea about.
Ted and I were the only silent ones. It probably had to do with the fact that we were different from the others: I, with how I treated my 'slaves,' and he, who had no slaves at all. So, I thought, why not talk to him?
"I met Lee, the apothecary, the other day," I began. Ted looked at me. "I think he got the wrong impression that I was already in the club, and it spooked him a little. Sorry if that causes any trouble."
The dwarf shrugged. "No problem at all, lad. You'll be in soon enough, after all."
"What makes you think so?"
He turned towards me, rotating his chair in a way that made its legs get stuck in the dirt. We were eating in the middle of the garden, near the main gazebo but not quite at the VIP table, close to a large tree that almost touched the ceiling of the lithos block and had been filled with little lantern lights.
"Let's see," he began. "The club opens doors. Just by virtue of being a member, you can enjoy immense benefits. You've already seen that with Lee, haven't you?"
"So he is a member," I said. I looked around, searching for him, but I hadn't seen him and I doubted I was going to find him now.
Seeing this, Ted said, "He's a member of another district. This one is the 4090; he's in the 4091."
I nodded. I had no idea what the numbers meant.
"On the surface," the dwarf continued, "the club is just this—exactly what you see. You go to the dinners; it doesn't really matter if you miss one every now and again, but try not to miss too many. You eat to your heart's content, and you better, because even though they look free, you actually pay for them with the membership fees. And you talk to people, if you want. That's it."
"That's it?" I asked. It didn't seem right. "What about the oaths?"
"They are quite generic, and they don't really bind you that much. Secrecy, helping each other, working for the betterment of civilization. All that stone-rumble. It's a secret society like any other, except it ain't really secret. If you look around the city, you'll see all sorts of things realized with our kind donations. We advertise our existence, but not what we do."
"I feel like there's a 'but,'" I said.
Ted smiled evilly. "There always be a 'but.' You come here because it allows you to talk to people you wouldn't be able to talk to otherwise. It allows you to be seen. You have something, you can pitch it to the right person. Or to someone who knows someone. Here, you can listen to all the gossip. You are no longer an outsider. But be mindful, lad, who you ask for favors."
My eyes narrowed. "But, if I want, I can keep it down to just the dinners. And listening."
"Sure," he said. "That's what everyone does at first."
So, that's what I did. I listened and watched, talking with the girls in secret thanks to our telepathic abilities. We watched people cut deals, shake hands, exchange money and cores. Soon enough, the people at my table had warmed up to my presence and were talking to me about their jobs in the city, what they needed, and what they could offer. It was just random chatter, but there was always the hidden second layer of meaning, telling me that should I have something they need, they were willing to talk terms.
Likewise, if I wanted something from them… well, they were here, were they not? People I would never talk to otherwise. People who didn't care, right now, that outside I was a nobody. I was important just by virtue of being here, being Ted's guest, and being a prospective member of the club.
It made me think of the Freemasons back in my old world. Ted had mentioned something similar earlier, saying that they were not freebuilders. I wondered if he meant the same thing, just transmigrated and adapted for this new world. I know it sounded a bit weird, but there were a lot of strange coincidences and similarities between this world and my old life, or Earth at least.
It also reminded me that I still didn't know what this world was called.
"Ted confuses me," Elyra said through the bond. "His stance about the club he just invited us to is quite ambivalent."
"Understatement of the century!" Vespera chuckled. "Or of the last fifteen millennia?"
"Time spent imprisoned doesn't count," I said, following her joke. "Anyway, yeah, I still don't understand if he likes it, loathes it, thinks it's a necessary evil, or what. One moment he talks about it like he's a salesman, the other he warns us about all sorts of stuff that, had I known before…"
"…you would have stayed away. So would I," Elyra said.
Vespera hummed. "Perhaps he did it on purpose. This place, no matter how strange it is, might be a goldmine. So what if the people are weird or shitty? They always are. But being here means that we can use them."
"So long as we don't get used in turn," I said.
After a while, the meal wound down and they served some sort of after-dinner digestif that tasted like it had been made from the walked-over grass beneath our feet. I took a sip of mine, then declined to have more. My eyes were elsewhere. In the main gazebo, they were moving the table away to make room for a sort of stage, setting up banners and decorations.
"Ah, there comes the boring speech," a low rumbling voice said from beside me, on the other side of Ted.
I turned around to see a huge bear of a man, with balding grey hair and thick arms, accompanied by a tiny owlish woman sitting behind him. No. I looked again and noticed that his slave was an owl-woman, with delicate avian features, soft feathers, and round yellow eyes on an otherwise human face.
"Apologies. Name's Bob," the man said. "You must be Sol."
"You know me?" I asked.
The man's chuckle sounded like mountains tumbling. It reminded me of dwarves more than Ted ever did, save for his stature. Except this man was huge. "I sure do. Asked about you the moment I saw your name on the seat. Ted invited you, so you must be good. Heh. You're new, but already making waves."
He offered his hand and we shook.
"A… pleasure?" I tried.
"Pleasure is mine," the man said. "Say, Ted might have mentioned that you've been looking for a fighting instructor? Mayhaps even a weapon and some armor? I happen to be a retired guild instructor. Well, retired against my will. Ted can vouch for me, though."
Hearing his name, the dwarf nodded but didn't take his eyes from the main gazebo. The speech was, like Bob had said, rather boring.
"Did you have problems with the guild?" I asked, not knowing how else to continue the conversation. But I had smelled animosity there, and following the emotions was always a good way to keep people talking.
"Still a member, just no longer an instructor. I heard you had some problems yourself. Let's just say that when Bib taunted me, I didn't handle it nearly as well as you did. Had to call in some favors to get out of that particular pickle."
I nodded. "Bib didn't seem to like that I got invited to the club. In fact, how did he know? I didn't tell him."
"No worries, kid. The guild has their ways. We know it wasn't you. As for Bib? Let's just say that his name wasn't always three-lettered, and leave it at that. Draw your own conclusions."
Interesting. So, Bib wanted to enter the club, changed his name, and then got denied. No wonder he was salty about it.
I nodded to Bob. "Are you freelancing as an instructor now?"
The man sighed. "Not much work for us outside the guild. Workers don't trust anyone, let alone unaffiliated instructors."
As he said that, he pulled his owl-girl slave to him, making her yelp a little. She settled quickly, wrapping herself around his arm.
"Say," the man said. "How about I show you some basic moves, how to handle a weapon and such, completely for free, and then you see if you like it? What's your weapon of choice?"
"I was thinking a sword," I said after mulling about it for a moment. "To leverage Strength."
The man hummed. "Not Dexterity, eh? I see. What about your 'slaves'?"
He actually made air quotes. Seeing my face, he laughed.
"Now, now," he said. "Look around. No need to keep up pretenses here."
I suppressed a frown at hearing the same thing for the—what was it?—third time today. Every time in different variations, too. I also noticed that Bob was touching his girl all over, making her shiver. On the surface, it was similar to how Elyra would react if I touched her like that, except Elyra wouldn't want to be touched like that in public, would she?
Desire and arousal flooded through the bond.
Oops. Perhaps I was wrong.
"Not now, little angel," I told her.
"I know," she replied. "Besides, even though it turns me on, it is only because it is you. I do not think the owl-woman shares the same desire when it comes to her master."
Bob, perhaps feeling watched, smirked at me. "The guilders don't get it, do they? You treat your girls right, they'll be all over you in no time." Then, leaning in, he added, "Just don't tell them you're going to consume their cores. They tend not to take it very well."
Ted squared Bob, and the man laughed, no doubt mistaking the dwarf's stern expression for a warning. It wasn't. It was disdain, disguised as the next best thing that would land Ted in trouble.
Oh boy, I was beginning to regret coming here. But now it was too late.
"I'll think about your offer," I told Bob, and he seemed happy enough with it that he finally focused on the speech.
It was something about pledging their help to defend the city and taking over the repairs of the walls lest they all end up as food for monsters.
"They are all the same, aren't they?" I told Ted right when we were about to leave. Most people had left, or had retreated to the main villa for some after-dinner drinking I wasn't interested in.
The dwarf hummed. "Mm? Who?"
"The members of the guild, and the members of the three-letter."
He hummed again. "You are beginning to get it. I told you they're all rotten. It's consuming the slaves for classes that rots you, lad. I hope you don't end up like them."
"Why bring me here, Ted?"
"If you want to play chess, you gotta know the pieces on the board."
I looked at him. Again with chess?
"Now you know the pieces," he said. "If you decide to get involved, these are your enemies. They are also enemies with each other. And then there's Chasm City."
That left out the obvious question. "Where do you stand in all of this?"
"That be a good question, isn't it? I'd say that for now, I'm your only true ally."
◈◈◈
"We better use them for all they've got, spacer boy," Vespera said as soon as we were out of the city. "'Cause they are all awful people in there."
I chuckled, feeling a rather interesting thing from the bond. "Elyra?"
"I… agree with Vespera, Sol. They are all despicable, but like Vespera said, the club is a gold mine. I dislike the idea of being in close contact with them, but it is too good an opportunity to pass on."
"Very well then," I said. "We'll keep our eyes open and heed Ted's warning, of course."
"Good," the demon said conspiratorially. "And now, I remember quite clearly a certain promise I made to a certain little angel. About kissing her until she was a broken, flustered mess. I intend to do exactly that, right about… now!"
CHAPTER 43.5 NSFW PREVIEW
Ever since Elyra's little heart to heart moment, Vespera had never stopped thinking about her promise to the little angel. She was so horny when we left the city that the emotion was overflowing through the bond, making even the angel girl's cheeks flush red. The moment we crested a hill and the city was out of view, with only the thin veil of the night, the silver light of the moon, and absolutely nobody around, the demon finally lost the battle with herself.
She looked at Elyra like she was a prize to pounce upon, and pounce she did.
"I believe some kisses are in order, little angel," she said. Hugging Elyra, she wrapped an arm around her and pulled her face close. "You said so many sweet things about me back in the city. Now it's my turn to show you just how much I think about you all the time."
She dove in with rabid fury, her eager need making her unable to control herself. The angel girl only managed a muffled "mmf" before her lips were stolen by the other girl, her mouth pried open by the demon's tongue.
The wet sounds of kisses reverberated through the silent night. Vespera had pushed her tongue deep into Elyra's mouth, flooding her with her saliva. The angel's knees wobbled, and the two collapsed on the ground, still tangled together. They made out on the soft grass, with Vespera groping and touching Elyra everywhere.
The angel restrained herself at first, letting the demon lead, but when the demon took her hand and placed it right on her chest, dismissing her own armor at the same time, and Elyra touched Vespera's perfect boobs… that's when her own arousal spiked.
"Oh, fuck it," she moaned in the demon's mouth. Now she took the lead, pushing with her tiny tongue, trying to buy space for herself.
"You taste so sweet and fresh, cat-angel," Vespera said with a smirk, breaking away for a moment just to lick her lips.
Then she dove in again, kissing the angel on the mouth, biting her lips with her fangs, then moving away, kissing her cheeks, then down towards her neck. She gave it a little peck first, then bit at it gently before she began to suck it.
"I'm a vampire!" she whispered, sucking harder. "Your blood is mine, angel!"
Elyra tried to respond, but only moans came out as the demon sucked her skin. When she broke away, there was a hickey already forming there, the tender flesh bruising easily under the demon's ministrations.
Vespera wasn't done. She undid the angel's clothes, pulling away her strange plastic raincoat.
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