[Matthew's POV]
"Hello, esteemed colleague. My name is Fernand Valenci, owner of the Valenci Company."
A merchant approached to introduce himself. I rose from the rug like a lazy nobleman.
"Pleasure. I'm Matthew, owner of the S&B Company."
My plan was starting to work, I just didn't expect it to work this fast. Valenci... That was the last name of the third Sugar-Mommy on the Rank.
Could this be the cuckold I needed to outplay?
"You've got an excellent product for sale today. 'Pizza,' is it? Is that exclusive to your company or some new trend from another region? If you don't mind me asking."
He went straight to business. Or maybe he was fishing for something else entirely?
"It's just a prototype we're working on," I said, no reason to lie. "The plan is to open a restaurant once we reach Andaluz."
I made that part up on the spot, but hey, not a bad idea.
He smiled when I said that. A smile that said, "I just figured you out." But figured what, exactly?
"You've got a very valuable cook working for your company," he said.
"Very valuable indeed. Cost me 500 gold coins. But honestly? He's worth way more than that."
I let my ego do the talking. Only realized I'd said too much after the words were out.
"500 gold? Then it can't be the succubus. She'd be worth at least 1k gold. The boy doesn't have the finesse, and the others are clearly adventurers."
He figured all that out just by watching us? And for your information, Lilian's worth way more than 1k gold.
"You're a clever man, Mr. Matthew. It's smart to keep your cook hidden in the wagon."
Was that a warning… or a threat?
"If you're thinking of making an offer, know this: my cook isn't for sale."
I wanted to shut that conversation down fast.
"Of course, of course. I assumed as much," he said. "But maybe we could come to another kind of arrangement?"
"Another kind of arrangement? What exactly do you have in mind?"
If I could help him somehow, maybe that would bring me closer to the Sugar-Mommy with the same last name.
"My wife is the cook for our company."
Could it be that easy?
"She was deeply impressed by this 'pizza' of yours. If you'd let her take a few lessons from your cook, I'd be happy to pay. I could offer a fair price for each exclusive recipe he teaches her."
Oh, I would love to teach a few things to your wife, you lucky bastard.
But I had to squeeze as much value from this as possible.
"I'm just a beginner merchant, Mr. Fernand. What I really need right now is connections. You strike me as an experienced man, well connected with the other merchants on this caravan.
So, how about this: you help introduce me to the most important merchants here, and I'll let your wife have lessons with my cook, at a friendly price, of course. Discount included."
"You're a good negotiator, Mr. Matthew. All right, I accept. But you have to teach my wife the recipe for this 'pizza'."
"Deal, Mr. Fernand. May I ask your wife's name?"
"My beautiful Derya. I even carry a portrait of her, take a look, Mr. Matthew."
Bullseye. That was exactly who I'd been looking for. This time, things had really come easily.
And yes, I would take great pleasure in giving 'lessons' to that cuckold's wife. I mean, to Mr. Fernand's lovely Derya.
***
[Luna's POV]
"You look happy," Felicia remarked.
We took the first watch shift. It had been a long day, but somehow, I felt fulfilled.
"You know it's always been my dream to have my own trading company," I replied.
I come from a family of Merchants. Being the third daughter, I wasn't going to inherit the family business. So, I had two choices: marry the son of another family from our clan, or venture out into the world and try to build my own business.
I never once considered the first option. That's why, ever since I was a child, I trained in combat, despite being born into a Merchant family.
My plan was always to become an adventurer, to earn enough money to establish my own trading company.
So, when Mr. Matthew let me take the reins of the sales today, yes—I was very happy.
"What would you think about us working full-time for Mr. Matthew?" I asked.
Maybe it was still the excitement from the day, but I couldn't get that idea out of my head.
Felicia didn't respond.
She just came up behind me and pressed her body against mine—a hug that was firm yet affectionate.
Her lips wandered along my neck, her hands exploring my body.
We weren't lovers, but this same scene happened every time she went into heat. Felicia was a Beastfolk, after all.
I never complained. On the contrary, I loved helping her 'cool off' every time that uncontrollable heat took over.
"You've been like this more and more lately," I said, my breathing already becoming unsteady.
We were on watch, so we couldn't go beyond touching. If she didn't stop soon, it would be hard not to go all the way.
"Matthew and Lilian are with the commander right now," Felicia said.
What did that have to do with her heat?
"They're doing... well, something much hotter than our little game here."
The sensory abilities of the Beastfolk never failed to amaze me.
"Right, I already suspected the commander had fallen into Mr. Matthew's clutches, with the way she's been acting. But what does that have to do with your heat?"
"Do you remember our talk? About the strange smell the commander and I noticed in him?" she asked.
Of course, I remembered. I still hadn't gotten used to the disharmony in his soul.
"Yes. What about it?"
"Matthew is an Alpha. I don't know how that's possible, but I have no doubt."
Seeing that I didn't understand what that meant, she explained.
According to her, in the past, male and female Beastfolk lived apart. The females lived in villages, raising children, tending to the fields, and hunting only small animals or weak monsters.
The males, on the other hand, lived in isolation. Their role was to hunt and keep stronger monsters away from the villages.
Because of that, there was a power gap between males and females. Since the females only fought weak enemies, they couldn't gather enough essence to reach higher ranks.
To compensate and ensure that the females would be strong enough to protect the villages in emergencies, males developed the ability to transfer essence to females during mating.
The males who managed to develop this ability were known as Alphas, and they attracted many more females during mating season.
"So you're saying Mr. Matthew has the ability to transfer essence to women he sleeps with? How is that possible? He's never even fought a monster. And what does this have to do with your heat?" I still couldn't grasp where she was going with all of this.
"I have no idea where he gets his essence. But as for how he affects me, that's a trait of Alphas," she continued. "He can release a pheromone into the air that makes nearby females go into heat."
"I don't think Matthew even realizes what he's doing, but every time he lies with Lilian, and now the Commander, he releases that pheromone naturally."
"So, as long as we're traveling with them, you're going to keep going into heat every time they sleep together?" I asked.
"Which means every day," she replied, still rubbing herself against me.
I reversed our positions. Now she was the one with her back to me.
My hand quickly found its way to the part of her body radiating the most heat.
"Then I guess I'll have to take care of you every night?" I whispered in her ear.
My fingers were instantly drenched upon touching the source of the fire burning inside her. She just gasped, not answering my question.
"I think this trip is going to be very productive," I whispered again.
That night, we had no choice but to let professionalism go.
To hell with the patrol. We'd long passed the point of no return.