"Hmmm~hmm~hmmm..."
Slady was at La Taberna, tasting a new wine that Raizer Fainer had made to sell.
"This is quite sweet, I like it."
He put the wine glass back on the counter. Raizer laughed, pouring more for Slady.
"Of course you like it, Slady. This wine was made especially for you."
He gave Slady a friendly pat on the head, who just remained impassive, observing the tavern around.
Since it was night time, the place was crowded with men and women. But mostly, it was men.
Elisa Fainer was helping her father, serving drinks and food to people, wearing a waitress outfit.
But suddenly, as he moved on to the next customer, a drunk man slapped the young woman hard on the buttocks, who turned red and turned to question him.
"W-what did you do?!"
She didn't like that at all, the man gave a hoarse laugh, trying to touch Elisa's thighs.
"Come on, girl. Your father isn't seeing this..."
That was a fact, Raizer hadn't noticed that harassment, but Slady noticed right away. So when the man tried to touch Elisa, Slady stood up and held his hand firmly with his bionic arm.
"Let her go, now." Slady said in a cold tone.
Elisa sat down relieved and safe with Slady, moving away to tell Raizer. The drunk man got irritated and stood up, he was bigger than Slady (like most people).
"Say it again, but only if you're too much of a man for it!!"
Due to the man's raised voice, this ended up drawing the attention of the people at La Taberna, who looked at the scene.
Some men had laughed, supporting the drunk man. Others had been irritated, but didn't want to interfere.
The women completely disapproved of the drunk man's actions, but they didn't seem to trust Slady to handle the situation, finding him physically small and delicate compared to the other man.
Hearing Elisa's words, Raizer had been very angry, but when he saw Slady dealing with the man... he let him deal with it.
"What is a weakling like you going to do to me?" The drunk man smiled evilly.
He tried to put his hand in Slady's long hair to pull it, as if he were treating a woman.
"Or rather, such a delicate young lady-"
But suddenly, Slady punched the man in the chest with his mechanical arm, breaking all the bones in the area, making the drunk man fall to the ground, unconscious.
"..."
The men who were laughing, lost their smiles in an instant. The others were surprised, but silently approved. The women were shocked, but when they recovered, they clapped for Slady.
"That's right!"
"That's how you treat a guy like that!"
Slady ignored the attention she received, turning towards Raizer and Elisa, approaching them and speaking in a neutral tone.
"Can you clean up this mess, Raizer?"
"Hehe, sure."
The old man laughed approvingly, giving Slady a friendly slap on the back and going to remove the man from the place. Elisa looked at Slady, nervous but grateful.
"Thank you, Uncle Slady."
She picked up the trays to go back to work, even though she was afraid of the men there, she knew that Slady and Raizer would protect her.
**a while later**
A few hours later, Slady had said goodbye to Raizer and Elisa, leaving La Taberna and starting to walk around Libretanhya at night. She seemed to enjoy that moment of peace.
But suddenly, she heard a snore, as if someone was sleeping nearby. Like a curious child, Slady went to the sound and came across a somewhat... unexpected scene. It was Rin Yuang, who was sleeping on a bench, she was still wearing her investor outfit. She probably worked so hard that she didn't have the energy to get back to the department or home.
"..."
Slady sat next to her, watching her innocently. Maybe to not let anyone take advantage of that vulnerability. But he couldn't take it anymore, putting his hand on her temple and applying pressure, wanting to wake her up.
As a reflex, the woman pulled out the pistol and pointed it at Slady, who didn't react, just stared at her with a neutral and innocent look.
"Ah... it's you."
She sat up, putting the pistol away, looking curious.
"Sorry about that, but... what are you doing at these hours, Slady?"
"I should ask you the same thing. But to answer you, I was visiting a friend, what about you?"
Rin Yuang let out a sigh, followed by a yawn.
"I was working all day, I couldn't handle the tiredness..."
She stopped talking, just kept rocking her body, as if in a failed attempt to stay awake.
"... Let me help you."
Slady stood up, extending her hand to Rin Yuang.
"Hmmm?"
She was hesitant, but Slady seemed like someone she could trust. She held Slady's hand and leaned on him. She didn't want to trust someone who was potentially dangerous and whom she hadn't known for so long, but she had no choice but to trust Slady. So Rin Yuang ended up falling into his arms, falling asleep.
**the next day...**
Rin woke up, realizing that she was in her dorm. Somehow, Slady had figured out where her dorm was and carefully placed her on the bed.
She got up, seeming to have a lot more energy to work. But maybe... just maybe it wouldn't hurt to have a day off, would it?
That actually worked! She asked for a day off, and got what she wanted. So she takes a long shower to celebrate.
After the shower, she put on some comfortable clothes (shorts and a tank top), going to get a snack from her food cupboard...
"Son of a bitch..."
Two snacks she had disappeared, indicating that of all the opportunities Slady had to take advantage of Rin's vulnerability and trust, he took advantage of it to steal two snacks from her.
**meanwhile**
In the forest, Shaphira was in the library room, eating a snack that Slady had given her while he himself was making lunch.
"Hmmm! This is very good. Where did you get it, dad?" Shaphira asked.
"I just got it from a friend, that's all." Slady finished making the food, putting it on the table.
"Go eat lunch, girl."
Shaphira dropped the snack and ran to the table, eager to eat lunch.
"Thank you, father."
Slady just nodded, getting ready to leave.
"I'll get you more clothes because of the change in your body. Take care of the house."
Slady patted Shaphira on the head in a fatherly manner, who just nodded, going back to eating.
***
In the city of Libretanhya, Slady had already bought the clothes. So she went back to walking through the streets and neighborhoods... but when she turned onto another street, she accidentally bumped into a man's chest.
"Hmph!"
Slady fell on her butt when she raised her head...
"Watch where you're going!"
It was Roger, who thought he had come across a drunk or drug addict. But when he realized it was Slady, he kept quiet, not wanting to anger that man.
"Sorry... I hadn't seen him."
Roger's younger sister, who was wearing a schoolgirl outfit, looked at her brother, confused.
"Who is he?" She asked innocently.
"He's just an acquaintance, nothing important."
Roger held his hands and intertwined them with his younger sister while Slady stood up and adjusted her clothes.
"Hmmm..."
He picks up the shopping bag, not irritated.
"Just don't curse me without seeing who I am." Slady says, without emotion.
He gets ready to leave, but suddenly, he feels his coat being pulled lightly. When he turns around, he sees that it is Roger's little sister, who is looking at Slady innocently.
"Are you my brother's friend?"
Roger tries to stop his sister from intruding, but Slady says calmly.
"Yes."
Roger is confused at first, but accepts Slady's words.
"That's right, he's my soul brother!"
Roger goes to Slady, putting his arm around his shoulder, messing up Slady's hair, who remains impassive.
"That's cool!"
The girl goes to Slady, clinging to his legs.
"Can you pick me up?" She raises her small arms.
Roger was surprised, he hadn't thought his little sister was so naive. So he tried to stop her and teach her that she couldn't trust strangers.
"Calm down! You can't-"
"Okay."
Slady bent down, wrapping her mechanical arm around the little girl, lifting her up and holding her in her arms.
Roger was a little shocked by this, he didn't know Slady well, nor did he know her name.
"You're not going to hurt her, are you?"
Roger asked, feeling insecure with Slady, who just shook her head, looking at the little girl in his arms.
"I have limits."
The little girl, on the other hand, was quite happy to be in Slady's arms, starting to guide him to take her to school.
"We have to go this way, then to the left..."
During this time, Roger kept looking at Slady from time to time, suspicious of himself. But Slady didn't seem to care at all, following the girl's instructions to take her to school.
Upon arriving at the elementary school, Slady carefully let go of the little girl, who picked up her childish backpack and smiled at Slady.
"Thank you!"
Roger took advantage of that moment to take the little girl in his arms and kiss her face, making her laugh sweetly. Roger was definitely a wonderful brother to the little girl.
After leaving the girl in the care of the teacher, Roger turned around to see and maybe question Slady... but he was no longer there.
***
In the dormitory, Rin Yuang was sitting on the sofa, watching the news on TV.
The journalists said that there was a Forest Inferius in one of the neighborhoods of Libretanhya, many Demon Hunters entered the Inferius to do their work, some Criminal Investors from Libretanhya stayed around the portal to prevent any unqualified person from entering the dimension.
Suddenly, Rin Yuang had widened his eyes, seeing that someone very familiar had entered the dimension without being seen by the Investors.
It was Slady...
***
Upon entering the dimension, Slady observes several Demon Hunters exploring the Inferius, searching for Renkatas and obviously, hunting Renkai Creatures.
The dimension was similar to a forest, but much more frightening and dangerous. The trees had sinister smiles and the plants were carnivorous, some small, others large.
As he walked through the dimension, Slady heard a creaking sound. When he turned around, a giant Dionaea tried to consume Slady while shooting acid from its glands.
Slady pulled out a pistol that was in his pocket and fired at the carnivorous plant, causing electrifying damage and burning the plant, which despite being very resistant, ended up falling in front of Slady.
"..."
But before he could think, one of the Demonic Trees tried to hit Slady with a wooden hand, but Slady dodged it and started shooting at the tree, which started to let out a kind of scream.
Then some roots of the tree tried to hit Slady underground, but he jumped towards the tree's hand, causing the roots to sting the Demonic Tree itself, making it let out the kind of scream again while its hand began to go into a state of necrosis. (like a brown spider bite, but much worse)
So the tree ended up rotting and dying from its own poison while Slady was leaning on one of the tree trunks.
"That was close."
Slady jumped, walking through the Forest Inferius again, but now with the goal in mind: to blow up that dimension.
There were still many Demon Hunters nearby, but Slady didn't care. He ended up spotting the Inferius Core, where Renkai Creatures were coming out of there, similar to the beings Slady faced previously.
Slady pulled a sphere from his pocket, it looked like a grenade, but modified by him.
"I hope this works..."
With his mechanical arm, Slady threw the sphere towards the core, then that kind of grenade ended up exploding...
The explosion was insane, destroying all the nearby Renkai Creatures, the surrounding scenery was reduced to ashes, only the Renkatas remained, turning into some medium-sized fragments.
Slady watched the scene as if it were a light show, the Demon Hunters nearby were terrified, fleeing the place immediately, thinking that there was some *Destroyer* in the dimension
***
On TV, Rin Yuang was shocked by the scene, seeing a part of Libretanhya being covered by a brief and quick smoke of earth and Renkai Energy, which luckily, did not infect anyone.
"My god..."
She went to the windows of her dormitory and closed them all, not wanting any dirt in the place
***
After the smoke subsided, Slady had already left the Inferius, carrying a shopping bag with the clothes she had bought for Shaphira and well hidden, there were many Renkatas obtained through that explosion.
"Ending a dimension in a single explosion... that was interesting." He muttered to himself
**hours later**
Shaphira was testing the clothes Slady had bought, Slady was in a room in the library, melting the Renkata and separating some to sell.
Suddenly, Shaphira's voice echoed nearby.
"Dad, can you come here?"
Slady let out a sigh, stopping what he was doing to go to the living room.
Shaphira was wearing a shirt and skirt, under the skirt, there were pants. It was very pretty and suited her.
"What do you think, Dad?"
She spun around.
Slady looked Shaphira up and down, giving a nod of approval.
"It looks nice, I think it's pretty."
Slady noticed an uncomfortable look in Shaphira's eyes, upon closer inspection, he noticed that her tail was inside her pants.
"You want to free him, don't you?"
"Yes! I didn't know how to make that hole you taught me, I was afraid it would look ugly!"
She whines, it must be really uncomfortable for Shaphira to have her tail inside her pants.
**minutes later...**
After changing Shaphira's clothes, Slady hands her clothes to her, who puts them on and lets out a sound of relief.
"Wow! It's much better like this."
She bounces around, as if she enjoys watching the fluid movements of the skirt.
"That's cool! I'll always wear this outfit."
"I noticed."
Slady crosses his arms, watching Shaphira swing her waist to see the movements accompanied by her skirt.
Slady gets up to go back to the room where he was, but is stopped when Shaphira hugs him from behind, spinning him around and making him face Shaphira.
"Did I look pretty?"
She walked away, putting her arms on her waist with a confident smile.
"..."
Slady then took a deeper look at Shaphira's appearance, coming to a final conclusion.
Her fox ears were swaying slightly, almost showing excitement, as was her tail, which was also swaying calmly.
The shirt had long sleeves and a small neckline, not showing her arms, only her wrists and her sharp nails. Her skirt was short, but it didn't show her legs and thighs due to the pants that covered those parts of her.
It was definitely the appearance of a woman who wants to show femininity, sensuality, but without showing too much of her body, it really was very pretty-
"I like it."
Slady just gave a thumbs up sign, despite the simple words, it was a sign that he really found very pretty.
"Thank you..."
Shaphira was a little disappointed, but she knew that this was Slady's way of showing his approval of her, so she went to Slady and hugged him again.
"I like the outfit, thank you, dad."
Slady noticed the disappointment in Shaphira's eyes, he didn't want to cause that feeling in her, but he ended up hurting Shaphira's feelings, something Slady never wanted to do.
So as a way of trying to repay her, Slady wrapped his arms around Shaphira's waist, it was like an apology and a way of showing love to the one he sees as a daughter.
Shaphira didn't expect much from the hug, but she was surprised by Slady's gesture. She gave a more genuine smile, wrapping her tail around Slady, as a way of deepening that hug, that moment.
It was a good feeling for Shaphira, but for Slady, it was like a new experience. It was a way of understanding the feelings of those who love him and understanding his own feelings towards people.
Slady will definitely not forget that hug for a long time.
**hours later**
Night had fallen, Shaphira was sleeping in the room, Slady was in his workshop in the library, he had already managed to sell the Renkatas and made a good amount of money for it.
So Slady took advantage of that night, which was raining heavily, to watch the water falling from the sky and the wind shaking her windows. Many might be afraid of that moment, but for Slady, it was absolute peace.
But suddenly, there was one, two, three knocks on the library door. That was unusual, no one visited the library at night, why would it be today?
When he went to the room and opened the door, Slady came across a woman, who was wearing a blue dress with a very generous neckline, matching her blue hair and blue eyes, like water.
But there was one detail, she was very hurt, her dress was almost tearing, the woman seemed to be someone quite powerful, but she needed help, a lot of help.
"Please... help me."