She looked out at the passing road as the horses pulled the carriage. The coachman stayed completely silent, not even turning around to check on us despite how beaten up we both looked. I wasn’t complaining. I didn’t want any unnecessary conversation right now. I was exhausted and needed a bit of rest. Plus, that bastard was a vulture, taking my last coins even though he knew I was desperate for a ride back to the city.
Mio’s gaze drifted to the fingerless glove on my hand. "Ambly?"
I took a deep breath. "How did you know?"
"That’s incredible," she muttered, her voice still cold but with a hint of awe. "Do you know how lucky you are?"
"How did you know?" I repeated.
"I like to read about the gods," she said. "A fingerless glove. Ironic."
"Why?"
"The Big War," she replied. "Ambly was tortured by Him. First, her fingers were chopped off. Then her hand."
Him? What was she talking about? This seed like common knowledge, so asking would sound strange. I decided to stay quiet and just nod, hoping she’d give more details.
"So say it’s made out of... Ambly’s veins."
"Nah." I tugged at the glove lightly. "I assure you. It’s normal leather."
"May I touch it?"
"Go for it."
She reached out with her index finger and gently brushed the glove.
Her breath hitched.
The mont her index finger brushed the black glove, I felt it, a strange, warm current flowing through the leather and into my skin. It moved like liquid heat, pooling in my palm, then slowly traveling up my arm. It wasn’t painful. It was... intimate. Like sothing alive was stirring inside , eager to be released.
I instinctively knew I could let it flow toward her.
So I did.
I relaxed my will just a fraction, allowing that warm energy to seep through the point of contact. The sensation intensified imdiately. Mio’s finger trembled against the glove. Her breath hitched again, sharper this ti, and a visible shiver ran down her body.
Her nipples hardened noticeably under the thin rag, pressing against the fabric like tight little peaks. A soft flush blood across her cheeks and spread down her neck, coloring her pale skin. Her thighs pressed together slightly, and I caught the faintest dark spot forming between her legs, a small, growing wetness soaking through the worn cloth.
She took a deeper, shakier breath, her chest rising and falling faster now, the thin material clinging to the curves of her breasts with each inhale.
Then she yanked her hand back as if she’d been burned, eyes wide and pupils dilated.
"A-Ambly... she... is a dangerous... goddess..." she muttered, her voice slightly breathless and unsteady. "I... ah..."
"Oh," I said, the realization hitting . "Goddess of Lust. Yikes. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I didn’t know this would happen."
"Did you do it?"
"I felt sothing in my body when you touched the glove," I said. "That thing reacted to you. It wanted to reach you sohow, so I let it."
"So you can control it?" she muttered. "Incredible."
The carriage began to slow, and I looked ahead. The city was finally coming into view, but sothing else caught my attention on the road. Two horses stood there, unattended, still saddled. They were definitely not wild.
The coachman scratched the back of his head, then whistled.
"Oi!" he yelled. "Get your horses off the road!"
A few seconds later, two figures erged from the left side of the forest.
They were guards.
Each of them was dragging a shackled elf behind them as they stepped back onto the road. The elves were in terrible condition. One of them had her hand chopped off, the wound still fresh, while the other had lost an eye. Both looked barely able to stand.
"Scum!" one of the guards spat, ignoring the coachman. "You thought you could escape?"
"My hand!" the elf woman scread. "Gods, my hand!"
"You bastards can probably grow a new one," the sa guard said with a laugh. "Now move!"
"I’ve got sowhere else to be, lads!" the coachman called out. "Hurry it up!"
The guard glanced at him, then shook his head. They mounted their horses after tying ropes tightly around each elf’s waist and fastening the other ends to their saddles.
Then they started moving.
At first, the elves tried to keep up, stumbling forward as they were forced along. Their hands were shackled behind their backs, and there was no way for them to free themselves. It did not last long. The guards urged their horses forward, and the elves lost their footing.
They fell. The guards did not stop. They dragged them across the road, their bodies scraping along the ground as dust rose behind them.
This was cruel.
The coachman flicked the reins lightly, and our horse began to move again. He did not seem bothered at all by what had just happened, which made it worse.
This had to be illegal.
"Just a few minutes more, lads," he said. "Then we reach the city."
The sun was gone, and the moon hung half-full in the sky. There were no stars, only thick clouds gathering overhead, promising heavy rain.
That was a problem. I had nowhere to stay.
"Hey," I muttered, looking ahead. "So you kinda owe , in a sense, right?"
"I owe you for saving you?" Mio replied.
"I saved you too," I said. "And I found twenty gold and removed those devices."
She exhaled slowly. "Tell what you want."
"A place to stay," I said. "I gave all my silver to this vulture of a coachman. I have nothing left. I can’t afford a tavern room."
"You don’t have a place?" she asked. "Where are your parents?"
"They passed away."
She stayed silent for a mont, then nodded slightly. "May Orenthis welco them."
"Y-yeah..."
Was that the god of death or sothing? I could not rember.
"Fine," she said. "But I can’t give you a bed or a pillow."
"That’s fine," I replied. "Thank you. And sorry for... kind of forcing you into this."
She closed her eyes and exhaled. "It’s fine."
The carriage continued forward, the city growing larger in front of us with every passing minute.
"Hey," I said after a mont, breaking the silence. "Are you attending the Northwood Academy?"
She nodded. "I am. Second year."
"Right," I said. "Why were you here?"
"What do you an?"
"You were a prisoner, right?" I asked. "You earned your freedom, sure, but why were you here in the first place?"
She exhaled again, her expression tightening slightly.
"I’d rather not talk about it."
I nodded. "Yeah... I get that."
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