Clarissa brought us a lot of supplies. The village alchemist was fully stocked to the point where she didn't have to leave the village for a while to gather ingredients. Those who worked with textiles had plenty of different materials, and every single person in the village had at least one new set of very nice clothes per man, woman, and child. Plenty of food, as well as clean water, and even some really strong alcohol that didn't effect me at all. Pity that.
She also personally gave me a particularly decent amount of bronze, silver, and gold coins. Most people in the village never left, so one really needed coin as most people hunted their own food, got their own water, and either made their own clothes or traded others for them. She thought I might be able to use them in the future. I told her I didn't think I needed it, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. Ultimately, I just kept it, because I didn't have a single coin from this world anyways. I'd probably visit a town or a city in the near future, if only to travel.
Currently, Clarissa was at my home with Marina standing behind her, and also present was Cici, Anya, Warren, and my mother. Talia and Rachel had begun spending a lot more time together by themselves, and Hiago was currently with one of his friends to avoid boring adult talk. Hell, I was right there with him. Clarissa and Marina both had serious looks on their faces, and I began to dread whatever the hell it was that they were about to say.
Currently, we were all sitting in my living room, with Anya, Warren and my mom on the couch. Clarissa was in the chair across from mine, Marina standing dutifully behind her. Meanwhile, I sat in my own chair with a plump little Catgirl's ass planted right on my lap. Cici had insisted, and I wasn't going to stop her. Clarissa's face was a little pink, while Marina just stared like we were the weirdest people she'd ever met. The other 3 actually had just laughed when she sat in my lap, but didn't say anything otherwise. Even my mom had already gotten used to Cici doing stuff like this.
"Soo...." Clarissa said, doing her best to meet my eyes, "I know you don't like people talking in circles, so I'm just going to get to what I wanted to ask you."
"Ask away." I said with a polite smile.
Clarissa seemed to hesitate for a moment, and during that lull, her guard captain decided she had something she wanted to say.
"Don't you think this is a little improper?" Marina asked, frowning at Cici in particular.
"This is our home, so we don't have to be proper. If you don't like it, you can leave." Cici said, and I had to stifle a laugh. God I loved this woman. Her confidence was improving every day.
Marina looked slightly offended, but Clarissa immediately raised her left hand, and Marina closed her mouth.
"It's fine, Marina. We are the ones intruding on their time, and we are not in Bergast. This is their home, like Cici said." Clarissa said, and Marina nodded.
"Of course. Please, forgive me." Marina said, lowering her head.
"It's fine." Cici said with a triumphant smile.
"Can we get back to you asking me something?" I asked, and Clarissa nodded.
"Of course. Sorry about that. So... I need your help. Like, a huge favor." Clarissa said, and that caused me to sit up a bit straighter, and I had to hold Cici's waist to prevent her from sliding.
"What is it?" I asked, noticing the serious tone she had adopted.
"I'm... scared." Clarissa said, and she looked like she was about to cry, "I received a message from the Duke of our territory, Martin Seruud from the city of Arbigold. There's a dispute going on right now involving the Duke of another territory, the Duke of Darumond. He doesn't like how I became Baroness. He claims foul play is involved, and apparently I need to 'face the consequences of my actions' or something like that. He contacted Martin Seruud since my town is in his territory, and now, he is requesting that I travel to Arbigold to meet with this other Duke to settle the matter."
I immediately didn't like what I was hearing. I didn't care about these nobles or their stupid sounding titles. Politics and status were things I couldn't give a fuck less about. What I cared about were the people themselves. I cared about Clarissa, and someone was threatening her to the point that she was terrified, and that pissed me off.
"Who is this other Duke?" I asked, and Clarissa's lips trembled, and her face drained of some of its color.
"His name is Karovac... Osark. He's my father's brother." She finally said, and that was the last fucking thing I expected to hear.
I felt Cici tense under me, her ears and tail going stiff as equal parts fear and equal parts anger overtook her emotions. Warren and Anya looked shocked, while my mom just looked confused. We hadn't told her Baron Osark yet.
That brought back memories of what that asshole did to my Cici, and that combined with the emotions I was also feeling from her, as well as the terror in Clarissa's eyes... it all combined together to piss me right the fuck off. Another one of these fuckers were scaring the people I cared about.
Thankfully, Cici's tail wrapped around my bicep and her hand in mine kept me from losing my cool to badly. I had a much better handle on my emotions these days, but if this fucker really thought he could threaten Clarissa, he had another thing coming. Cici had calmed down quite considerably, and I felt agreement and determination in our bond in response to how I felt.
"You're asking me to go with you?" I asked, and she grimaced, and looked down at the table.
"Y-yes. I know you have no reason to... but-"
"Of course I will." I said, cutting her off, and she looked up at me sharply.
"You will??" She asked in a shout, hope filling her eyes.
"Yes. You're my friend, Clarissa." I said, giving my best reassuring smile, "So don't be scared. I won't let anyone or anything hurt you."
The way her eyes flooded with tears, and how her trembling lips attempted to smile, it caused something to form inside of me for her. A strong protective instinct. I felt the mental equivalent of a smirk from Cici, befors she stood up off of me, and made her way over to Clarissa, and wrapped her arms around the small woman. Clarissa reached up and flung her arms around Clarissa's neck.
I looked over at Anya, Warren, and my mom, and all three of them were looked at me fondly. I would never abandon a friend that needed me. I wasn't doing this for money, or for her to owe me anything. I wanted to help Clarissa and protect her. It's as simple as that.
I walked up to the pair of women, and placed my hand on Clarissa head, rubbing it gently. I then noticed the curious gaze that Marina had on her face, although I saw her clear approval of me in her eyes.
"We greatly appreciate you agreeing, Elias... but..." She said, hesitating on her next words.
"But?" I repeated, and she sighed.
"This man is apparently at minimum, Rank A with his class. All of the nobles have the money to raise their ranks much higher than normal people due to their advantages in training equipment, high quality alchemy pills and mixtures, and rare and unique items and artifacts. My lady has praised your strength, and I've seen some of what you can do already, but... can defeat a man like this if it comes down to that?"
I gave her a savage grin.
"With my eyes closed."