The dragon's harem

The thief growled, watching Zia toss away his pocket, laughing at how little money he had. But that wasn’t the part that hurt his pride; it was the fact that she stole his pocket while he was trying to pickpocket her. He was a level 120, having leveled only his rogue class to be a stealth thief with extreme dexterity and hand agility.

Out of all the adventurer classes and skills, this was the easiest and safest way to make money. It was to rob other people without them ever finding out.

This new city, new empire, was a fast-growing society with countless new people and nobles moving in and out, mountains of gold and money flowing everywhere.

Thieves like him could make a fortune, as in those days, even lower-rank nobles around here were carrying buckets of money to spend on whatever noble expenses they had.

The catch was to pick lower-ranked nobles and not take too much, to make it seem like they dropped their pocket or something. Take some of the money, then throw the pocket into the streets.

That woman here with the silky black hair and blue eyes looked like the spoiled young lady of some lower-ranking nobles. Her clothes were decent, a bit expensive, but lacked all of the aspects a noble would look for.

No frills, no gold, and not a single piece of jewelry on her body. What made it worse was that she looked as ugly as a pig. She was as pale as a corpse, and those freckles on her face made her look like a rotting carcass of a woman.

He would make her regret mocking him like that. But the clear threat didn’t escape his senses; she wasn’t alone. That woman in common clothes beside her must be a disguised bodyguard. The poor bastards don’t even have money to buy leather armor for their bodyguard, and they call themselves nobles. What a joke.

He snatched his pocket, counted the gold inside, and then left to bring his friends. He already had a plan in his head to make Zia regret insulting him.

Will he kill her? Will he do something to her? No, all he wants is to beat her face to the ground, make it even uglier than it is now, and then throw her in the nearest dumpster where she belongs.

Later, Zia and Eris reached one of the largest shops in Arad’s city, a new establishment funded and led by none other than Merida herself. Of course, Merida herself wasn’t here; she founded the place, owns it, and makes many of the clothes sold here, but she rarely visits.

Merida spends most of her time either training, making clothes, or in Arad’s room. Even her trips to the abyss are rare and far apart, as she leaves most of that work to Kino, her fungus self.

Eris and Zia opened the door, ringing the chime and drawing the attention of the workers inside. The clerk looked at them and smiled, quickly walking around her counter and approaching them.

“Welcome, what can I help you with today?”

She didn’t seem to recognize Eris or Zia, which was mostly normal. Zia was a vampire maid, and almost no one sees her unless they are either going to die or be turned into a bottle of human juice.

Eris, on the other hand, should’ve been recognized. But with her common clothes, most people would think she looks like the queen, not the real deal.

Really, why would the wife of the most powerful man in this empire, the woman who can blow mountains and had faced armies, spawning purple suns out of her hands, be walking around the city in old, common clothes?

“Give me something nice and fresh. I don’t like my clothes too revealing, but I also want them to be easy to move in.” Zia looked at the clerk with a smile, “Like that one over there.” She pointed at one dress that was too simple and boring for a noble lady, which made the clerk frown.

Eris looked around, then asked with a passive face. “I’ve heard Queen Merida’s clothes are sold here. Can we check those?”

The clerk’s face lit with a large smile. She now understands who those two are. Zia was a noble lady of some family, too outgoing and lacking the manners of nobility, so her family sent Eris with her, a maid and a bodyguard to ensure the young lady didn’t embarrass herself too much.

In normal cases, the clerk would’ve followed Zia’s wishes as the customer, but as she doesn’t want any trouble with nobles, she should follow Eris’s words in the situation.

This would be a hard order to fulfill. Satisfy the young lady’s desires while keeping to the strict guidelines the maids inform her of. The clerk already got her first guideline.

Eris, the maid, asked about the clothes made by Queen Merida. Which made sense since, as long as they were made by the queen, even if they were ugly, the noble family could say they wanted to show off Queen Merida’s art.

The two gleefully looked through the whole shop, picking anything that they liked, all while awake, fully aware of the thieves encircling the place, slowly closing all escape routes.

Zia had considered going out for a walk, but Eris was getting in her way, stepping on her toes, and even broke one of her ribs with an elbow jab.

The clerk showed them around, even giving them a glance at the clothes Merida sent, but didn’t allow them to sell yet, because Eris and Zia had already spent a lot of money and were now expected to be big spenders and a possible future customer with deep pockets.

The girl didn’t even think for a second that the whole shop was already besieged by over thirty armed thieves. That her two customers were a divine goddess and a vampire lord. That if Eris didn’t keep Zia in check, the shop’s wall would’ve already gotten a new coat of scarlet red paint.

Eris had many reasons to stop Zia, one of which was that she could sense that the thieves didn’t want to kill them, because she was the goddess of murder and could tell. They only wanted to beat Zia up for that trick she pulled on the thief earlier.

Which was debatably an overreaction in her book. She said debatably because she, as well, was going to overreact and use them to fulfill her twisted desires.

They overreacted and wanted to beat Zia, so Eris was going to overreact and wait. If they dared attack them, she was certain Arad would show up to save them, and she wanted him to come with her to the city in the first place.

Sadly, her plan quickly fell apart when the shop’s door opened and a tall woman with blond hair, golden eyes, and a strong build strolled in with a thin and shifty-looking man with white hair and grey eyes.

“Oh, look who we have here.” Jack gave Eris and Zia a gentle bow, pretending to be some noble gentleman. His eyes then shifted to Lydia by his side, “I’ll leave you to them, my love. I have something to take care of outside.”

Lydia’s eyes slowly moved, looking at the walls. “Do you need help?”

Jack smiled, looked at the stunned clerk in the back, and smiled before turning back to Lydia.

He reached forward and grabbed her palm with one hand, “No need to worry, my fair lady.” He kissed her hand and took a step back with a gentle bow. “I’ll excuse myself now, enjoy your time here.” Before the clerk could come to her senses from seeing him kiss Lydia’s hand, he had already disappeared.

Behind the shop, one of the thieves spotted Jack approaching, walking through the dark back alley like a ghostly shadow in a neat and classic leather jacket and with a tasteful hat, a long, thin dagger glistened in his hand, shining faintly in the shadows.