After leaving Lord Dominic's residence, Leroy and I put our disguise rings back on and returned to the Southside Inn to wait for the others. The moment we returned, I changed into an outfit more suitable for the local climate.

While we waited, I sorted through everything we had discovered so far in my head.

By this point, it was obvious that the demon worshipers were involved with the disappearances here in Eastwatch. The question was: how involved? Were they directly responsible, or did they just have ties with the people who were?

Right now, I leaned more towards the latter. The man I killed earlier hadn't utilized his invisibility bracelet to its full extent. That's how I managed to hear him. Either he hadn't thought it was necessary, or he hadn't known how. The latter suggested that he hadn't been familiar with the invisibility bracelet's true power.

Not only that, but the man I killed hadn't been a fiend or a demon summoner. Demon worshipers viewed demons as divine beings. For them, summoning demons and drinking their blood were sacred acts. Thus, almost all of them were either demon summoners or fiends. Some weren't, for one reason or another, but most of them were.

This train of thought led to a whole new line of questioning. If the people behind the disappearances had ties to the demon worshipers, but weren't demon worshipers themselves, then what was their end goal? Money? I didn't think so. That felt too… Mundane.

Or maybe the disappearances were just about money. Even demon worshipers needed funds in order to accomplish their goals.

In the end, I decided to give up speculating. Right now, we had too little information to work with. We knew the demon worshipers were involved somehow. That was enough for now. Now we could make some preparations.

It would be a good idea to visit the local Church of the Sun and procure some Holy Water. It was effective against demons, demon summoners, and fiends. At least, up to a certain point. Against the more powerful ones, Fourth Tier and above, Holy Water had little to no effect.

Anna and Cally returned about an hour after Leroy and I did. They carried several bags with them, each one letting out a delicious smell.

"Honey," Anna called out as she burst into our shared room. "I'm back!"

I couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm.

"Welcome back," I said.

Saying those words filled me with warmth. In that moment, I wished we were already married so I could say, or hear, those words everyday.

Anna beamed at me, before placing her bags down. I eyed them with wariness.

"What's in the bags?" I asked.

I already had an idea, but I wanted to hear it from Anna.

"Cally and I decided that instead of eating street food by ourselves, we would buy enough for everyone and bring it all back here," she explained.

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Was that really necessary?" I asked. "Jackson was investigating food stalls. This doesn't mean the food itself was important. Perhaps it was the people running the food stalls."

Anna shrugged, before grinning at me.

"Or maybe the food is important," she said. "We won't know until we check for ourselves, won't we?"

I shook my head.

"You just want to eat more of the local cuisine, don't you?" I asked.

"Of course," Anna admitted without shame. "Why wouldn't I? It's delicious. If I can enjoy myself while also working to further our goals, why wouldn't I?"

I mulled it over before shrugging.

"Fair enough," I said. "Bring the others here. We'll eat together. While we do that, we can all share what we found out."

Anna nodded and brought the others in. Our hotel room was large enough to accommodate our entire group. There wasn't enough furniture for all of us to sit down and eat, but that didn't matter since all of it was street food. Leroy and I remained standing while Anna and Cally sat down. Cally cast several spells so we could talk in private.

As we ate, I shared with Anna and Cally what Leroy and I learned from Lord Dominic. I also told them that I commissioned Lord Dominic to make enchanted items that could detect these invisibility bracelets. Afterwards, I shared my speculations with the others.

"What do you think?" I asked when I finished.

Cally frowned.

"I think you're right," she said. "If the demon worshipers were kidnapping people themselves, there would be signs of demonic activity. However, there are none."

Anna, who had a mouthful of food, finished chewing and swallowed.

"Not necessarily," she said. "Back in the Icefall region, there weren't any signs of the demonic incursion until it was almost too late to stop it."

"Yes," Cally said. "However, most of the Icefall region is barren wilderness. Eastwatch and the area surrounding it is far more populated. It's more difficult to hide a massive army of demons here."

"You're assuming that the demon worshipers are planning to summon an army of demons," Anna countered. "Yes, that's their most common strategy. However, it's not their only one. What if their goal is something more secretive and sinister? You and I have seen several instances where they infiltrate a place in order to corrupt it from the inside. That could be happening here."

Cally nodded with a frown on her face.

"You're right," she said. "I was too narrow-minded."

I sighed.

"So, the only thing we know for sure is that the demon worshipers are involved with the disappearances somehow," I said. "Anything beyond that is speculation."

Anna gave me an apologetic look.

"It appears so," she said. "Still, it's a good first step. It won't be long before we figure out the truth and put a stop to it."

"The question is, how many more people will disappear before we do?" I asked.

A heavy silence filled the room at my words.

"We can't save everyone," Anna said with a serious expression on her face. "That's something Cally and myself, along with the others, learned in the First Timeline. You need to accept it for yourself. Otherwise, you'll go insane." She gave me a bitter smile. "We lost several comrades who tried to save everyone. When they failed, they went mad with guilt and grief. Don't let that happen to you."

I clenched my jaw. I already knew that it was impossible to save everyone. When demons and monsters were involved, innocent people died. I learned this back on Earth, when I lived as a hunter. Even so, that didn't make it any easier to accept.

"That makes it all more important to save the people we can," Cally said in a gentle voice.

Leroy sighed.

"All this talk of death and madness made me lose my appetite," he said, before setting aside his food.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"That just means more for me," Anna said.

Cally scoffed.

"So you're gluttonous as well as lustful," she said, before looking at me. "Are you sure you want to marry this one? I think you could do a lot better."

"Rude," Anna said.

While it seemed that the two of them were making light of the situation with their banter, I knew that this was the furthest thing from the truth. They were trying to lighten our spirits, and perhaps distract themselves from the nightmarish memories from the First Timeline.

"Thank you," I told them in a quiet voice.

They both gave me meaningful looks.

"What about you two?" I asked, getting us back on topic. "Did you find anything out while…" I paused and glanced at the bags filled with street food. "…investigating the food stalls?"

Anna and Cally looked at each other, before they both shook their heads.

"No," Anna said. "However, we only investigated a fraction of the food stalls here in Eastwatch. We'll need a few more days to take a look at them all."

"Assuming there is anything to find," Cally said. "What if Jackson was just hungry and the food stalls have nothing to do with the disappearance?"

Anna shrugged.

"A lead is a lead," she said. "It's still worth looking into."

Cally gave her a scornful look.

"You're just looking for an excuse to indulge yourself," she said.

Anna snorted.

"Since when have I needed an excuse?" she asked.

As the two of them bickered, I reached into the nearest bag and pulled out a seafood skewer. It looked and smelled delicious. However, something about it seemed odd, though I couldn't put my finger on what.

After a while, I shook my head and started eating. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. Nothing about the seafood skewer stood out. I mean, it was cooked with herbs and spices that I didn't recognize. However, that applied to almost all the food here in Eastwatch. Why would this one skewer be different?

I ate the skewer with relish. It was as delicious as it looked and smelled. The many flavors danced across my tongue, mixing together into a harmonious whole. A heat began to fill me. The more I ate, the stronger the heat became. I didn't think much of it at first, since that was normal for spicy food.

However, a few moments later, I stopped eating. Like most of the food here in Eastwatch, the seafood skewer was spiced but it wasn't spicy. In that case, why was I feeling hot? More than that, this wasn't a spicy food kind of heat. Rather, it felt like…

A current of need and desire surged through me. It was so strong that it took all of my willpower to avoid losing myself completely. My mind became all light and floaty, while my heart started hammering in my chest. My skin became more sensitive, to the point where even wearing clothes became torturous. Worst of all, these feelings grew stronger with each passing second.

I stood there for a few minutes, at war with myself. After a while, the others noticed.

"Gabriel," Anna said with a frown. "What's wrong?"

I looked over at her. From the first moment I saw her, I thought Anna was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. However, right now, she looked more beautiful than ever, even disguised. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to take her and be taken by her, until we had both devoured one another.

"Everyone except Anna leave," I said through gritted teeth.

It was only a matter of time before I lost myself.

"My lord?" Leroy asked with a concerned expression on his face.

"Now!" Despite the situation, I still had enough presence of mind to hand the half-eaten seafood skewer to Leroy. "Find out what's in this."

Leroy took the skewer with a dark look on his face.

"Now go!"

Cally nodded, before grabbing Leroy and leaving the room. Once they were gone, I turned towards Anna. She must've realized what was going on, because she laid down on the bed in a suggestive pose and gave me an inviting gesture.

"I assume this was why you wanted me to stay," she said with a provocative smile on her race. "Well? Are you going to keep me waiting?"

With that, I lost all control and pounced on her.

The next several hours passed by in a blur of lust. I just remembered some vague imagery, all of it focused on Anna. Her voice in my ear, the warmth of her body, the way her lips tasted.

When I came to, I found myself lying in our shared bed, staring up at the ceiling. The glowstone lamps were on, meaning it was past evening by this point. My head throbbed with pain, while my mouth felt dry and tasted foul. Sweat drenched my body and the smell of sex filled the air, mingling with Anna's vanilla scent. I felt wrung out, as if someone squeezed me until there was nothing left.

I tried to sit up and look around, but moving around made my headache worse so I laid back down. Movement from my right caught my attention. I looked over to find a naked Anna laying on her stomach.

A blanket covered her from the waist down, leaving everything else bare. Almost the entirety of her upper body was covered in love bites and scratches. Her loose hair was strewn about. She wore a satisfied smile on her face.

"That was amazing," she said in a tired voice. "I never knew you could be so… Aggressive."

I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat felt too dry.

"Water," I managed to croak out.

"Right," Anna said, pushing herself up. "After all that, you must be thirsty. Hold on."

She stepped off the bed, the blanket falling away, and disappeared from sight. I heard her rummaging around for a bit, before I felt her sit next to me.

"Here," Anna said. "Let me help you up."

With her help, I managed to sit up. Afterwards, Anna pulled a silver cup and a silver pitcher filled with water out of an inventory ring. She poured water into the cup, before handing it to me. I took it from her and started drinking. The water tasted divine. I took small sips, to avoid overwhelming myself. However, even then, I emptied the cup in no time at all.

"Have some more," Anna said.

She poured me some more water. By the time I finished drinking it, I felt much better. My headache receded and I no longer felt wrung out. Instead, I just felt tired.

"What was in that skewer?" I asked, my voice still a little rough.

Anna shook her head.

"I don't know," she said. "Whatever it was, it turned you into a beast. You just kept going and going. Honestly, you wore me out, which was a first." She grinned. "Not that I'm complaining." Her grin morphed into a soft smile. "Still, while I found it enjoyable, I prefer the usual you."

I let out an amused snort. However, my mirth faded away when I recalled what happened.

"I think that whatever was in that skewer is related to the disappearances," I said. "There's no way it's not. Unless I'm really just that unlucky and this is a massive coincidence."

Anna nodded with a serious expression on her face.

"I agree," she said. "If it was strong enough to affect a Second Star martial artist like yourself, then it must've been potent. Regular people would have no defense against it at all."

"The question is: how? What does an… Aphrodisiac skewer have to do with the disappearances?"

Anna shook her head.

"I don't know," she said. "Though I have a few guesses. However, I'll wait until after the others come back before saying anything, just in case I'm wrong."

I nodded, before I handed the silver cup back to Anna. Afterwards, I laid back down and covered my eyes with my arm.

"No wonder I felt like something was off with the skewer," I said. "I should've listened when my intuition tried to warn me. This isn't the first time I encountered a situation like this." I sighed. "I've gotten sloppy."

"Oh?" Anna said. "Someone drugged you with aphrodisiacs before?"

I nodded.

"Yes," I said. "Rather, they tried to. It happened back on Earth. When I became an S-rank hunter, a lot of people tried to recruit me. A few even resorted to underhanded means. One group tried to entrap me by dosing me with aphrodisiacs and sending a beautiful woman to seduce me. I managed to avoid their trap, but it was a near thing."

This happened while my teammates and I were visiting another guild. I ended up taking the aphrodisiac. However, when my teammates realized what happened, they locked me up until the effects wore off.

"How vile," Anna said, her voice filled with disgust. "Such people deserve to die painful deaths."

I chucked.

"Don't worry," I said. "I got my revenge." I sighed. "Still, after that incident, I trained myself to recognize aphrodisiacs in order to avoid falling into the same trap again. However, it appeared that I only kept some of the training when I transmigrated back to Lumina." I clicked my tongue with disappointment. "I've gotten sloppy."

I made a mental note to never ignore my intuition like this again.

"In your defense," Anna said, sounding amused. "No one would expect random street food to be drugged with a powerful aphrodisiac."

"Even so," I said. "That's no excuse for carelessness."

The bed shifted and I felt Anna's lips on my cheek.

"Would you like me to cheer you up?" she asked.

I lifted my arm from my eyes and looked at her. She leered down at me, making it obvious what she meant.

"Really?" I asked in an incredulous tone. "You're still not satisfied? After everything we did?"

Anna laughed.

"I'm just joking," she said. "As I said earlier, you wore me out." She gave me a warm smile. "Feeling better?"

To my surprise, yes. Anna's lighthearted joke lifted my spirits. I grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it.

"I don't deserve you," I said.

"No, you don't," Anna said in a joking tone. "So you better spend the rest of our life together showing your appreciation."

"Well, obviously. That goes without saying."

The two of us looked at each for a few moments, before we both burst into laughter. Warmth filled me. In that moment, nothing else mattered. Not the disappearances, not the troubles plaguing my family, nothing. It was just me and Anna, sharing a silly moment together.

That moment ended when someone knocked on our door.

"We're back," Cally said. "Get dressed and meet us in my room."

Anna and I looked at each other, before sighing in unison. It was time to get back to work. We didn't have time to wash, so the two of us just got dressed and headed out.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.