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"So, did you girls buy anything?" I asked later during dinner.

They all shook their heads. "Splurging just because you have money now is the best way to become poor, you know," said Elze.

/"She is completely correct, Player."/

"My needs are sufficiently met," Yae noted.

"Did you buy something, Mister Zah?" asked Linze.

I nodded. "I got you this!"

I then held up a simple gold ring with a green band running down the center. Linze blinked. And stared. Her eyes widened, she sat up straight on her seat and began to explosively blush.

Elze quirked an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "You better have a good reason to be offering my sister a ring…" she said in a mildly threatening tone.

"Poison resistance."

"That's a pretty good reason." Elze nodded and uncrossed her arms. "Do I get one too?"

"Well of course I bought enough for all of us. It will stop most mild poisons, and while it won't save you from the more virulent toxins and poisons, it should at least slow the damage enough that it won't be instdeath."

I nudged the ring over and Linze hesitantly accepted. She also looked disappointed. I smirked a little bit and couldn't help but to say "Of course I wouldn't be so casual like this when giving you the engagement ring. I'd wait until we're alone."

"Eeep!"

Linze.exe has crashed. Seduction stack overflow in module shyness caused the program to stop working correctly.

Monika will now close the program and notify you if a dumba.s.s needs a dope slap.

While Linze was frozen in the middle of taking the ring, I casually reached into my pocket and handed over Elze's own poison resistance ring. She gave me a perfunctory "Thank you" before sliding it onto the ring finger of her left hand.

Linze woke up abruptly and turned towards her sister. "Sis, that's not where you put that!" she complained in a small voice.

"Then why is it called the ring finger?!"

Elze's smug face showed that she understood why that was so and was just teasing her sister.

Yae, by contrast, just stared at her ring rather than put it on.

"A magical item. Interesting…" she said. "These are rare in Eashen, that they are. Even if we are closer to Felzen Magic Kingdom, they are still expensive. It is too generous a gift, Playdono. May I refuse?"

"I suppose," I answered. Then I said to the air, "Monika?"

"/I command you to take the silly thing and not to die from silly easily preventable reasons before your a.s.signed time,"/ said Monika. /"Do you not prefer to die in glorious battle rather than weak treachery?"/

"As you wish, Moniksama." Yae bowed. She obediently put on the ring. On her left hand ring finger.

Elze snorted and laughed.

"…Yae! Not you too…!" Linze moaned. She looked up and glared at me. "If these things weren't so expensive, I would think… that you set all of this up to play a j-joke on me!"

Ahahaha.

I coughed. "Okay, more seriously. There are no obligations to this. Don't even think about trying to pay me back. Working with the Ortlinde family is demonstrably unsafe. Wear it however you want it, hide it away as a toe ring if you have to. It's just a simple magic item."

I glanced over to Elze and said "Though I certainly wouldn't mind if you wear that on your ring finger."

She nodded in return, still with completely clear eyes and a mien of fullest confidence. "Because it would cut down on random boys trying to chat us up. Who's got the time for that? No one's got any time for that!"

"… no… now… do I actually have to w-wear this here too?" Linze whimpered.

"I would caution you about trying to build your harem, Player, but I would LAUGH watching you crash and burn from having more than one waifu ruining your laifu."

I coughed again. "I was just joking."

Elze grinned menacingly.

-

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And so early the next day, we all trooped back to the Ortlinde mansion.

"Sir Playaa! Elze, Linze, Yae, and Lady Monikaaa!" Sue happily bounded over and greeted us by the door.

"Oh you even remembered all our names. Good work, remembering names to faces is important for making people like you," I said as I patted her head. Which was hugely hypocritical of me, since I was still going around with floating names on top of people's heads in augmented reality.

"Eheheh," she grinned. "Miss Charlotte's already here too. She actually arrived last night. When she heard about someone who could do something about mother's illness with a learned common magic when everyone's attempts failed – she said she couldn't risk not meeting that person!"

"Really? So she stayed overnight? Huh. That's interesting… even your father can be pushed like that by a common magician?"

"Umm. She… kinda begged. Really hard. So… I mean… please don't think too badly of Miss Charlotte. She just really really likes learning about magic. I know some people think she can be a bit… too much… because of that."

"Ominous."

/"I feel somewhat unsafe,"/ said Monika.

"I keep telling you, she's not a bad person!" Sue insisted. "Please… be patient, that's all…"

We followed her into the mansion. Duke Alfred Ernes Ortlinde sat in the western parlor with its tall windows and simplistic but boldly vivid enameled teal walls, and Sue vivaciously plonked down to sit next to him on the long couch. The Duke sat in a way that announced he aimed to be just a spectator in his own house.

He mentioned that Charlotte, after having received word of our arrival, was preparing her learning materials and should be out shortly.

The maids brought out some tea and snacks. Elze, who had little interest in talking about magic, asked for permission to spar and learn with the guards. That was granted easily enough, and after having a few moments to sit and sip tea and much on a scone for energy, she went off with the chief of the house guards.

Not Maldon, because he was given leave to visit his family tell them the sad news of his brother's death.

After some more time, the inside door to the parlor opened. At first cautiously, with someone trying to peek into the room, and then suddenly and impudently. A young woman with long green hair and long white clothes strode into the room.

Her cheeks were red and she was panting for breath from running. Her bounteous bosoms heaved very noticeably. The swell of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s exposed from a low-cut black bodice covered by a short cropped white jacket. Even with my eyes covered, it was quite obvious from my head movement that my attention flicked down, and then back up. Her white skirt was long, and reached down to her ankles.

Our eyes met. Or rather, her lime green eyes and my lack of discernible vision.

"Is it YOUUU?!!!" she huffed and pointed accusingly at me.

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