"There he is," Sam whispered into Ben's ear once she spotted the twink mage. They stood awkwardly at the front of the mage guild branch, a wooden building outfitted with a strange blue glow. Every wall, floorboard, and countertop were carved with deep runic inlays, each radiating magic.
This branch was in the inner district and was incredibly popular. Countless men and woman shuffled around the interior, talking to people about magical jobs or exploring possible solutions. There, interestingly enough, was no sex here, only business--though, that didn't stop people from dressing like sluts. Skimpy tank tops were apparently a mage's best friend, not over encumbered robes.
Ben traced Sam's pointed finger, finding a young man sitting in the corner alone, eating a meal. The table was sprawling with loose papers, each depicting runic graphs or summoning circle diagrams. He stared at the pages, occasionally marking mistakes or correcting partially correct areas.
"He's the youngest tutor for the local mage college," Sam explained. "Here in Orgylandia, sex is very popular, magical research not so much. But there's still need for mages, whether it be quests or commission work."
"Is that why Molly went out of the city for school?" Ben asked, referring to Sam's friend and the second woman he'd gone balls deep into since coming to this world. Molly had just returned from college, unexpectedly.
"Yeah, but she wasn't going for magic, but business. The city doesn't have a good business school, yet."
"I guess we should go introduce ourselves, then," Ben said, taking her hand. He pushed through the crowded room, Syrn following behind.
The mage was small. A few inches shorter than Syrn, the lad didn't so much as have a chin hair. He squinted at his work and pursed his lips in disbelief at some of the answers he was grading. He wore a long sleeve shirt and a checked vest. He was skinny but wore a brimmed wizard hat that extended wide double his waistline.
"Just how young is he?" Ben asked, getting better look.
"Twenty-one," Sam replied. "Why?"
He shook his head and came to a stop a foot away from the table. The mage didn't so much as look up, even when Ben cleared his throat. "If you want a grade change," he said coldly, "then send an official appeal to my office."
Ben recoiled from his tone but then thawed. The young man was obviously stressed, overworked, and likely underpaid. There was no doubt students begged him for grade changes, if Ben's own schooling was anything to go by.
"We're not students," he said. "But we are looking for someone to tutor us in magic."
Sam flicked her eyes toward her boss. "Us?" she mouthed. Ben smiled at her.
Only now did the mage look up. He had silky, dark, unkept hair and a frown that could freeze a running river. His eyes sparkled neon orange, and his ears ended in stunted tips. He was a half-elf, and a pretty one at that.
"What do you want?" he asked. "Can't you see that I'm busy?"
"I can, so I won't take up a lot of your time." Ben slid into the open seat across from him. "I'm new to this world and I want to learn magic. I've heard you're the man to talk to."
The mage searched Ben's eyes before looking him up and down. "You're 'new' to this world?"
"I sure am." He stuck out his hand. "Sex Ambassador Ben, at your service. I come from a world without magic, so I'm very interested to learn about magic."
The mage hesitantly shook his hand before eyeing Sam and Syrn. "I'm Grand Magi Arco. Are these your harem members?"
"They are--we'll sort of. I haven't officially made my harem, but I do have some prospecting members. This is Sam, my liaison, and Syrn, my servant." Ben then added something small, something to test the waters. "Aren't they cute?"
Arco tensed at the question, then glanced at Sam again. "Yeah, I guess."
"Good, good. Because I need to fill my harem somehow, and I given the suggestion of you."
"Me!?"
"Why not? You're the youngest tutor in the mage guild and on a fast track for professorship, right? Because of your age, you're unaffiliated with any noble house or ambassador harem. You're going to be swept up by one of them any time now, might as well be my start up harem."
"But you're--"
"A guy?" Ben inferred. "I saw you look at Sam and ignore Syrn. Don't worry, he like that." Alco made a face, Syrn did too, but the exact opposite of the mage. "Look, if you have reservations about joining a male-owned harem, don't. My harem will be different than the others. We'll be more like a group of friends than a political or sexual team. Sure, we might have sex or even orgies, but no one is required to come to them. Hell, no one is required to do anything they don't want to do."
"And you can leave any time," Sam quickly added. They hadn't discussed that detail, but Ben found himself agreeing.
"Do other harems not allow people to leave?" he asked.
"Some, yes," she answered. "Some make you sign contracts or magically bind you to the owner."
Ben's eyebrows furled. "Yeah, I don't like that. We're not doing that."
The mage looked between them like they were crazy. "I'm not gay."
"I'm not either," Ben quickly said. "In fact, I don't think any of us." Sam and Syrn shook their heads, agreeing. "Again, Alco, my harem will not be like that. We'll be friends that try to push each other up, not a questionable business that uses their members for the goals of the owner."
The mage still wasn't sure.
"How about this," Ben suggested. "Me and you hang out one evening just the two of us. No sex at all. Just two guys becoming friends--heck, I could use a friend. Didn't have many back in my world and while I'm meeting plenty of new people here, I can understand if some of them only see me as a piece of meat to fuck. If you want to join my harem after, then great. If not, then no harm done."
Alco regarded him like he was stupid. "Why would I ever agree to that? At least the other harems have something to offer me. Your group sounds like the manipulative one."
Ben shrugged. "And you'll never know if those harems invited you because of your accomplishments or because they like who you are."
"And you're not here because of my accomplishments?"
"Sort of. While it is true I only found out about you because I was interested in learning magic, that won't be why you'd be allowed to join my harem. See, I have a test that every member will have to go through. Me and the potential member go on a 'date,' or in your case, a friendly hang out. If I approve of them, then they get voted on by the other harem members. If even one of them disagrees with the member joining, then they're not joining. Again, my harem is going to be different. I don't want politics or jealousy. We're all going to be friends, people we can explicitly trust and love."
"Love," Alco echoed, something dark stirring behind his eyes.
"Look, if you're not interested, I'd still love to hire you for magic tutoring."
The mage looked up. "Your world doesn't have any magic?"
"None at all."
Alco conceded that was interesting. "Fine, I'll tutor you. But you're paying."
"Of course. How much, just tell me and I'll send you the money."
The mage studied him, really truly studied him. "You're being serious."
"Yeah? Did you not think I was at the start."
"I thought you were trying to smooth talk me into joining your harem."
Ben sighed. "You know what? Obviously, there's a point of contention here. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought up the harem thing. You're right, and I can see where you might think I'm being manipulative. Just... forget about the membership offer. Let's stick to a professional relationship."
"Wait..." the word came out of Alco's mouth before he thought about it. He glanced at Sam, blushing a little.
"Wait?"
"I'm not adverse to your harem, but I'll have to see how the inner mechanics of your membership approval process goes first."
Ben quirked an eyebrow. "Oh. Well, I've got a few people already lined up. How about this, next week we'll start our magic lessons, and I'll bring everyone in my harem. You can talk to each of them, alone, and ask any questions about me, the others, and what the harem requires of them. I'm sure you'll see I'm being honest after that."
"...and I can use a truth detection spell?" Alco asked.
"Is that a thing? Oh, well, sure. Whatever you need to do."
"And I can always just walk away?" He received nods from the trio. "I can live with that then."
***
"What do we do now?" Ben asked. "We're done with everything until tonight with the princess."
The group was walking through the city, slowly. They didn't have any places to be and had hours until they had to get ready. They could eat lunch, but they just had brunch.
"We could go sightseeing," Sam suggested. "Or shopping."
"Sir, we should visit the apothecary I know," Syrn said.
"Oh, right. I completely forgot. Lead the way." They started off toward the middle district. "How do you know an apothecary?"
Syrn glanced up before bashfully looking at the ground. "She used to be my mistress before I got a job at the castle."
"Oh, really now? What kind of stuff did she do to you?" Sam asked, nudging him with her elbow.
"Come on you perv." Ben gave her a scowl. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to."
"It's okay," Syrn meekly muttered. "She used to test potions on me."
"She what now?"
"She would brew a batch of potions, then order me to drink them."
"What kind of potions?"