Chapter 176 Beast Companions for the Girls
The first person to find Jack wasn't who he had expected, but the person he had forgotten about many times.
She silently sat beside him, going unnoticed until she asked, "So, when do we leave?"
Finally sensing her, Jack was startled and looked up. When he saw Daliea, he chuckled, "Wow, you don't leave any room to argue, do you?"
"Nope."
"We leave tomorrow morning," replied Jack. "I still want to say my goodbyes and we also have something to do before we leave."
"Right, you still need to give me your seed."
"Pfffew!!"
Spitting out his drink and almost coughing up his lunch, Jack was caught off guard with Daliea's bluntness. He knew she was like that, but this was the first time that she had done so out in the open.
Also, unlike in the past, Daliea was no longer hiding her true appearance. Ever since the battle with the syndicate, the goblin city had been named as allies of Reinolt.
Most of the goblins would never come here, but Daliea and her captains were different. The captains would commonly be going back and forth, trading azure crystals for different supplies to help the goblin city grow. Daliea hadn't even gone back yet, not since she had to wait for Jack.
The worst part was that Jack didn't really see Daliea as a goblin. She looked far too human, other than the light gray color of her skin and her pointed ears. If it wasn't for her skin, Daliea could possibly pass for a young elf even. Jack attributed that to her being from the rare shadow goblin race, but he wasn't sure why they were like that.
"Jack, you no longer have the same problem as before, so why can't you give me your seed?" asked Daliea, not giving up in the least.
"Daliea, I'm married now. How could I do that?"
"You've already married both Maura and Eliza, so why not me too? I already told you, I'll give you everything."
He sighed and rubbed his forehead, trying not to get a headache. "Daliea…"
"I've already talked with your wives, and they agreed," added the goblin queen.
"What?!"
Daliea continued, "Yup, so long as you do the same with them, they are fine with it. So why not?"
Backed into a corner, Jack pouted on the inside. Looking her in the eyes, Jack admitted, "Daliea, please don't keep bringing this up. I'm flattered but I'm just not ready for any of that, not even with my wives. I only want to go that far with someone I love."
"So you don't love your wives?"
That question grated hard on Jack's ears because he never thought he would be asked such a thing. "Well… At the moment, not enough to go so far."
"So in the future, you won't be against it? Then I will wait till you're ready," stated Daliea, smiling happily.
Defeated, Jack finished his food in silence as the rest of his new party trickled toward the bar.
"Alright everyone, we'll be leaving tomorrow morning and I'll explain the plan on the road. For now, just make sure you're ready to leave." Jack then looked to Maura, Eliza, Keela, and Daliea. "Ladies, you're all coming with me to go see Tridon, so please, no fighting along the way."
"Tridon?" Eliza had no clue who that was.
"Let's go!"
Jack left with girls behind him, leaving Rydel and Maynard to finish the preparations for the trip.
Jack's group caught everyone's attention as they walked through the street. After being gone so long, it was natural for the citizens of Reinolt City to find their hero's appearance so sudden. And with so many beautiful women beside him, including the goblin queen they had all heard about, the party was a sight to behold.
Before long, Jack and the girls reached the Salendar Manor, but Jack was startled by what he found.
There were many new buildings and it looked like the stables had almost quadrupled in size. More guards could be found everywhere, showing that the family's security had greatly increased.
Curious about the recent changes, Jack asked the guards if he could speak with Tridon.
At first, they refused, but after learning that they were speaking with Jack, Reinolt's hero, they quickly passed the message to Tridon and were allowed inside. It didn't take long for Tridon to appear personally and welcome them.
"It's been a while! How've you been?"
"There's too much to explain, but I do need your help," replied Jack.
With a mischievous laugh, Tridon smile. "Oh, so you're too busy with your wives to explain anything to me, an old friend?"
Jack sighed, "Let me guess, Maynard?"
"And Rydel. They both visited yesterday and filled me in. Let me guess, you're wanting to take some beasts as gifts to your wives?"
"Tridon--"
"Oh, that would be great!" shouted Eliza. "What kind of beasts do you have? Anything that's both powerful and cute?"
"I've got all kinds of beasts, but his time I'm not giving any away."
"What do you want?" asked Jack.
"I want three peak-tier weapons; lv. 25, lv. 35, and lv. 40. I've heard that you're plenty wealthy and married a rich girl from Federal City, so that shouldn't be difficult, right?" reasoned Tridon.
"Tell you what, I'll see what beasts you can offer us and then we'll discuss the price. Is that fair?"
"Makes sense," Tridon stroked his beard and chuckled. "Come, I'll show you everything I've got, including the new stock."
"By the way, what happened here?" asked Jack.
Sticking his chest out with pride, Tridon replied, "You're now talking to the Reinolt Beastmaster, head of the nation's Beast Manor, the newest national power. In terms of strength, we're almost equal to the Royal Court thanks to all the new recruits who want to tame their own beast and join the ranks."
Surprised that King Leodoro was supporting Tridon so much, Jack smiled. He was happy that the Reinolt Kingdom was growing stronger after almost falling apart. It made him feel more comfortable about leaving them all behind.
Soon, they were all inside the stables and the girls were all looking at the many different beasts. Each of them was searching for what would become their personal beast and possibly one of their best friends.
Jack looked to Maura and said, "You should go after one of the strongest Cetuses. Wouldn't it be perfect to compliment your water magic?"
"But aren't those too strong to control? I'm only--"
"Remember, as soon as we leave, you're level will change," added Jack, reminding her of the EXP pots he planned to give them all.
Though she was hesitant to think Jack would give them all something so priceless, Jack wouldn't flinch at all. In his eyes, they would only become mid-level adventurers and that wouldn't even qualify them as experts in his eyes. For the rest of the world, reaching lv. 30 was an amazing accomplishment. But for Jack, reaching level thirty was only a milestone that would allow him to travel and start the true grind, the push to become a high-level expert.
"If you say so."
Maura made her way to a Cetus' pen, catching the attention of the other girls who hadn't chosen one yet. On Maura's shoulder was Bowzer, who Jack had woken up specifically to help them tame the strongest beasts.
With Bowzer activating his flame body, the cetus easily agreed and allowed Tridon to give it a mutual seal with Maura.
"That one was worth a lv. 35 weapon on its own, pretty fair for a lv. 34 cetus, right?" Tridon laughed as he started to name his prices. He knew that Jack was only going to take his best beasts, so he was sure to set a good price.
"That's fair." Like it was nothing, Jack took out a pair of claw-like gauntlets and threw them to Tridon. "These should be useful to you, right?"
"Perfect!" Tridon happily stored the new weapons which fit his fighting style perfectly. "What's next?"
Jack looked at the other girls. "Make sure to pick a beast who shared similar abilities with yourself. Trust me, I'll explain why later."
"Okay!" Excited that Jack was finally doing something so special for her, Eliza didn't hold back. "I want that one!"
Not wanting to be outdone, Keela hurried to her favorite beast. "And I want this one!"
When Jack saw the beast the girls were pointing at, he shook his head and laughed. They were going to make him spend a lot.
"Wow, they want my only dryad and my only fairy. That'll cost you." Tridon shrugged and smiled at the same time. Though they were rare types of beasts, he only had them as a part of his collection. They weren't too useful to him.
"How much?"
"Since the Forest Dryad is lv. 31 and the Light Fairy is lv. 33, how about a trade for those lv. 40 and lv. 25 weapons?"
Though it wasn't much to Jack, he couldn't help but feel like they were trying to get him to spend as much money as possible. But he couldn't argue because they had chosen the ones he thought were best for them.
"What kind of weapons do you want?"
"I need a sword for Troni and something else for me."
Taking a moment to think, Jack retrieved two items. One was a sword and the other was claw type weapon, commonly used by strikers. "Will these work?"
"Sure!" Tridon smiled wide, happy to now own a lv. 40 weapon. "They're all yours!"
For the dryad, Bowzer didn't even have to use his flame body to tame her. The Forest Dryad had a feminine figure but didn't have a human face. They were plant-type beasts and were known for their control abilities, perfect for Eliza as an enchanter.
The Light Fairy actually took a liking to Keela without any help, probably due to the magic they shared. Both of the only used holy type magic and the fairy would much rather travel with Keela than stay in a pen all her life.
Glancing at Daliea, Jack asked, "And you? Which do you want?"