—Please rub my head like you used to!
"W-wha?"
David tore the sword out of the spider, and slowly stood up.
"David! How the hell are you— oh..."
Thomas realized why, and cried out for his younger brother, who limped over to him.
"David, how are you able to move?"
"I'm not sure. When I could still move, it took a bit before I decided to use it to my advantage, and pretend to be paralyzed."
After a few minutes, the paralysis came undone, and they could all move again.
As the three spiders died, they couldn't feel any more spiders down the area, and when Thomas offered to check, there was nothing.
The party called it a job well done, and walked back to the guild.
"Good boy, David! If you hadn't done that, we would've been screwed!"
David smiled at Alkaline's comment, and rubbed the back of his head, just like his brother.
"Thank you."
Sitting down at the same table from yesterday, one of the members of the guild handed them their money.
200 gold coins.
20 percent of the overall bill they had to pay.
Thomas looked down at the table with both despair and melancholy.
This meant that they would likely have to go through 4 more quests, potentially risking their lives, especially David's, to pay off their debt.
Alkaline noticed Thomas' melancholic expression, and raised an eyebrow.
"What's wrong, Thomas?"
Thomas hesitated to speak about his financial issues for a bit, before deciding to let them know.
"Of course, I'm grateful for the money and all, but this is only 20 percent of the bill I have to pay off."
"Hm."
Alkaline raised her hand up to her chin, and rested her elbow on the table.
Her eyes looked into the air, seemingly lost in thought, until she stopped, with an "aha!" and a smile on her face.
"Does it have to be you who pays the debt?"
"Huh? Yeah, since I don't want my brother to have to pay off both of our debts."
"Well, what about me? Can I help you?"
Thomas looked at Alkaline with confusion, before finally putting together the meaning of her words.
He smiled slightly, and rubbed the back of his head.
"If you really are offering, then I accept. Of course, I don't expect this to be for free, so don't worry, I'll do whatever work I have to."
Alkaline smiled, and nodded her head with an "Alright!"
Alkaline went with them to the doctor, where they paid off the debt fully.
Now freed from their debt, Thomas continued to show his gratitude, until they reached the guild, where everyone in the entire guild was standing, and leaving.
"W-what the?"
"Oh, crap, was that today? Alright guys, we should head to the royal castle!"
Alkaline took the brothers by the hand, and ran to the royal castle with them.
The brothers were caught off guard, but followed her, and once they reached the royal castle, they waited for a bit.
Looking around, Thomas saw a woman being mugged a little bit away.
"Well, old David would want me to be heroic, so I'll have to make him proud!"
Thinking something like that, Thomas turned around and excused himself, running towards the mugging.
The woman was dressed in a purple dress, as 2 men were next to her with knives out.
Thomas jumped into the air, and punched one of the men in the back of the head, knocking him out.
Thomas immediately grabbed the man's knife, and as the other turned around, David socked him as well, knocking him out.
"Eh?!"
"Why did you run so far? Well, if we punch these people, then we punch them."
Yeah, that's how things work.
If you do something, then you do it.
You can't unpunch someone.
"Hohoho!"
The brothers turned their attention towards the woman, who laughed.
"My, my! Very well, you two have passed the test! What guild are you from?"
Both Thomas and David were left speechless, looking at the woman.
"W-what test?"
"Hmph! The test to see if anyone would save the princess, of course!"
Thomas tilted his head in confusion, but then thought deeper about the beautiful purple dress the woman wore.
From what he knew, purple was expensive to make in the old days, so it was mostly worn by the rich and noble.
"Uh, the Death Worshippers."
Hearing that name, the woman snickered, and walked away.
The brothers were left confused, and walked back to the royal castle with the woman, not entering.
However, the woman was able to enter early, due to being a princess.
Seeing the princess, Alkaline stood up straight, and began to spout words of admiration, before the princess finally entered the royal castle.
"Wait, so that really was the princess?"
Alkaline turned her head, and looked as though she had seen a ghost.
"D-did you not know that was the princess?"
Being complete strangers to this new world, they didn't have a clue on how things really worked, or the system.
The only knowledge Thomas wielded were assumptions about a fantasy world, as well as little scraps of knowledge, with David knowing even less.
"Nope."
With those words, the other guilds finally arrived, and the 3 rejoined with the Death Worshippers, finally seeing their captain.
It was a blond haired, muscular man wearing a white tank top, and red shorts.
Now that all of the guilds came together, the gates opened, and the 3 guilds walked inside of the castle, entering the throne room, which was quite large.
Thomas looked around, and saw the princess sitting near the throne, winking at him and his brother.
Thomas looked away, and saw it.
The wolf from that night, the one who struck him down with lightning.
Thomas' eyes widened, as he backed up, walking into his brother.
"Is something wrong, Thomas?"
David asked if his brother was okay, but Thomas didn't respond, instead choosing to take a defensive stance, trying to protect his brother.
The wolf smiled, and walked off, leaving Thomas' line of sight.
With that, the king made an announcement.
"You guilds have gathered here today to perform a test of skill, to prove you are worth paying! Head to the courtyard, where we will test your magic and strength!"
Hearing those words, Thomas got slightly nervous, but trusted that he and his brother would make it through.
The guilds walked to the courtyard, and were asked what their magic type was, with the boys responding with healing magic and anti magic.
Thomas was made to heal wounded soldiers, and David was made to stop a fireball which was launched at him.
The brothers passed their tests respectively, and were sent back to the throne room.
They were offered drinks for passing the test, and the princess walked up to them.
"Hello, boys."
"Uh, hi."
"Say, it seems Dante has taken quite a liking to you specifically, Thomas."
"Oh, first off, who's Dante, and second, how do you know my name?"
The princess giggled, and grabbed Thomas' head by the hair, pulling him downwards.
"Dante, the wolf, he says you two met each other while traveling, did you not? As for your second question, I simply asked, since daddy is pretty kind. However, one thing I cannot tolerate is you talking to me in the manner you did."
The princess' face went from a giggly expression to cold in the blink of an eye.
Thomas matched her cold expression with one of his own.
"Let go of my hair. It isn't yours to touch."
The princess' cold expression turned into a laugh, as she pulled him even closer, their faces only a few inches apart.
"There isn't a single thing in this world that is not mine, so I touch what I please, mongrel."
The two continued to stare at each other with cold expressions, as David simply watched.
Thomas grabbed the princess' wrist, and forced it off, and even though her grip was tight, for a brief moment, she had an odd expression on her face, as if thinking.
She let go, and smiled.
"Hm. I like that you aren't a pushover. Very well, you are deserving. Follow me, or else I'll have Dante do something to you."
Thomas scoffed, but ended up complying, since if he refused an order from the princess that seemed to be somewhat reasonable, then his head may come off.
Thomas and David left the throne room for a moment, with Thomas staggering slightly from a hangover.
They walked all the way to the princess' room, and upon entering, the princess hopped on the bed.
"I want to keep this as simple as possible. Come on, take your clothes off."
Thomas was surprised, and blushed, covering his face.
"The hell are you doing?!"
The princess smiled, and teased him.
"Oh? What's wrong, you can't endure for a bit? Surely your brother won't be as weak as you, right?"
Thomas clenched his hand, and looked at the princess with an angry face.
"That's not fair, bringing my brother into this! Shit, hey, David, bros before hoes, right?!"
Thomas turned towards his brother, and looked at his face.
David seemed confused, and Thomas facepalmed, because he should have expected that.
"Ah, shit, now it makes me sound like I'm cockblocking..."
"Cockblocking?"
"Shit! Forget I said that!"
Thomas didn't want his new brother, who seemed to be very innocent, especially because he didn't know things like "bucket", to be dirty.
"Damn it, alright, but just know that I ain't feeling nothing from this, you hear me?! David, can you leave? I don't want you to see this, so I'll let you out of my sight just this once, alright?"
"What are you going to be doing?"
—Damn it, he doesn't even know what sex is! Fuck, if she had sex with him, wouldn't that be rape?! He can't even consent, because he doesn't have a clue what it even is!
"Nothing, nothing, just leave for like, uh, damn, this is embarrassing, and just know this, princess, and David, this isn't my average, alright! Wait for like, a minute, or something, so I can get this over with!"
The princess smiled, and fell backwards onto her back, extending her arms out.
David had a clueless look on his face, and left the room.
The princess smiled, and Thomas got onto the bed, taking off his shirt.
"HELP!"
Thomas looked at the princess with confusion, and his eyes widened once he realized what was happening.
Guards burst into the room, pushing David to the side, and they pointed their spears at Thomas, who was shirtless, and on top of the princess.
"Are you alright, princess?!"
"Please... help me..."
Thomas turned towards the princess, and looked at her face.
She turned her head away, and tensed her lips and eyes, giving a look of fear and sorrow.
One of the guards sprinted at Thomas, impaling him with a spear.
"Argrah!"
The spear was torn out of Thomas, who healed himself.
"W-w-wai-"
"Hey, stop."
The head guard, Dante, walked into the room, with his sword drawn.
"B-but he-"
"I told you, stop it."
Dante smiled, and pushed the guard that had impaled Thomas to the side, looming over him.
"You're too much of a treat to be killed, at least for now."
The princess sat up, and looked at Dante with a look of confused rage.
"B-but why? He tried to-"
"Calm down, princess. For personal reasons, I'm letting him live."
The princess was pissed off, and Dante picked up on that.
"Well, it would be quite the scandal if a member from one of the kingdom's biggest guilds were caught forcing himself upon the princess, would it not? Here, why don't we give him a choice?"
"A choice? Hmph, well, I want it to be either he gets his head cut off or he's burned at the stake!"
Dante laughed it off.
"Tsk tsk, listen, princess. Leave the room, try not to cause a fuss, and I'll give him the choice. Trust me, you'll like both of the choices."
The princess expressed her disappointment with a "Hmph!" before reluctantly agreeing, leaving the room, and bringing the guards along with her.
David looked inside of the room with sadness, but followed the guards.
Now alone, Dante turned his head to look at Thomas with a smug face, or about as smug as a wolf could make.
"So, I'll give you two choices, sinner. Either you become the princess' slave, while your brother gets freed, or you get freed, and your brother-"
"I'll take the first option."
The wolf named Dante snickered, and bent over, looking directly at Thomas' eyes.
"I knew you would do that. After all, you're quite self sacrificing, aren't you? You're overcompensating, aren't you?"
Thomas' eyes widened, as he stood up, and grabbed the wolf's cloak, yanking Dante towards him.
"What the hell do you know?"
Dante smiled like a demon.
"Oh, I know pretty much everything, or at least everything I need to, in relation to your sin. Tell me, how was the earth?"
"You son of a bitch."
Dante could feel death looming over both him and Thomas, and even the powerful Dante felt slight fear for the very first time in his entire life.
Thomas' face went cold, and he calmed his heart, which was formerly beating with the heat of a raging fire, down to a freezing tundra.
"Tell me, do you have children?"
"A loving wife, and plenty of kids."
Thomas got in close, staring deeply, and thoroughly into Dante's eyes.
He spoke his next words with absolute confidence, as though they were not a threat, but a promise.
"If you tell him, someone else will raise your sons and daughters."