Author's note.
1). Feedback from my readers is my fuel to keep writing. If you enjoy my work, please take the time to let me know in the comments. It does wonders for my motivation to write.
2). If you read the chapter, please take the time to rate it. It's just a few clicks of the screen.
***
All Characters in the story are 18 years of age and above...
***
Chapter Twenty Eight: Send-off Party...
Greg felt nervous even as the day started. The reason Greg had been looking forward to this day wasn't the actual event itself. Yes, part of him did feel the need to honor Roka's father and give him a proper send-off as was customary in this town. The larger part of him, however, was only looking forward to greeting everyone that attended the event, especially the women. This way, he'd get every single one of them recognized by the system and have missions attached to them. It wasn't a very charitable way of looking at them, but, in truth, they were all potential lust points that he'd been missing out on simply because he'd never had the occasion to interact with them. Just by greeting them as they walked into the compound he would change that state of affairs and start earning lust points from them.
However, after the talk he'd had with his familiar the previous night, the event had taken on a new meaning. Rather than just honoring his father, he would also be deciding where in the power hierarchy of this town he would place himself. Whether on the side of the town head or the side of one of the three families remained to be seen. Part of Greg couldn't help but feel ridiculous. Just two days prior, he had fought and killed a tier-zero mage. Now, he was nervous about being part of the town's leadership. One would think that after experiencing the first, the second wouldn't be so scary. Part of it was because Greg still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that he was now important enough to be dragged into this arena. Another part, however, was simply because he couldn't blow the whole problem away like he tried to do with his uncle.
Despite his nervousness, Greg hadn't forgotten his main purpose for the day, to get as many of the town's women recognized by the system as possible. To prepare for this, he had taken out and put on all the title items he currently had. The TEMPTING pendant, ADDICTIVE bangle, and DISCERNING ring were all on his person before the first person even arrived. With the CHARMING mask, Greg had done things a little differently. Rather than have the CHARMING mask take the look of his wooden mask, Greg instead had it merge with his face and simply put on his mundane wooden mask over it. Part of the reason for this was a test. Greg wanted to know if the mask would lose its effect when covered. Another part, however, was that if there was an occasion where he had to take off his mask, he would take off the normal wooden mask. That way, he wouldn't lose the title that the CHARMING mask granted to him.
Greg had even gone a step further and bought the SENSUAL TOUCH bangle from the Eros shop and put it on. The beauty of all the title items was that they had specific targets. Rather than affect everyone, they only worked on members of the opposite sex. As such, Greg wouldn't have to take anything off to remain undetected. He could firmly shake the hand of a man and they wouldn't be affected in the least. Meanwhile, his wife beside him would be experiencing a strong desire due to both his CHARMING mask, the TEMPTING pendant, and the AROUSING title that he innately had. The SENSUAL TOUCH bangle that he'd just bought would make a handshake feel like Greg was touching on all their erogenous zones and the ADDICTIVE bangle would make them desire to experience it all the more in the future. The only title item that Greg had that wouldn't affect the women was the DISCERNING ring. This, however, would grant Greg the knowledge of exactly what the woman would be turned on by and just how acutely they were experiencing the lust.
A smile crossed Greg's face as the first group of the day arrived at the gate. This was a group of almost fifteen people and comprised entirely of women. At the head of the group was his mother. Given the size of the party that Greg envisioned, there was no way just his mother and sister would be able to do everything that needed to be done to ensure that the event ran smoothly. As such, she had gone around speaking to the other women in the neighborhood to come and help in the work. This was the group that was now following behind her. As was expected in this town, Greg first greeted his parent.
"Mother," He called out as he walked before her. "How are you?" He greeted her even as he allowed her to place her hand on both sides of his face.
Greg didn't resist as she pulled him down and placed a kiss on his mask where his forehead would be. "Roka, my child," She said with a smile. "You've done right by your father. The send-off he will have today, few men in our town could ever lay claim to," She said. "I couldn't be happier," She added in answer to his question, a smile gracing her lips. Greg couldn't help but notice that this was the first time that he'd seen his mother smile without some pain hidden in her eyes. Perhaps being able to prepare all the animals that he hunted had been the catharsis that she had needed to work through her pain. With this send-off ceremony, his mother would begin to get over her grief at his father's death. "How about you, my child? How are you?" She asked.
"Happy to see you smiling once more," Greg answered truthfully. It wasn't just an empty platitude. Greg was genuinely happy to see the woman smiling. He wasn't fooled in any way that the pain was completely gone. How could it be when he was still hurt by the loss, and he wasn't even Roka? Seeing the genuine smile on his mother's face, however, clearly showed that she was moving past the initial grief that people usually felt after the passing of someone close to them. "And grateful to see all these women who've come to help us on this special day," Greg continued turning to gaze at the other women that were present with a smile.
His mother smiled, needing no further encouragement to start introductions. "This is Eniya, she's the smith's wife," She introduced a woman that was close in age to her, but nowhere near as attractive. The woman had been staring at Greg's mask for a while now almost like a moth enamored by the light from a lamp. There was a hint of confusion in her eyes as she looked at him. It was almost as if she was wondering why she was so taken in by him when she couldn't even see his face to begin with. Greg reached forward for the woman's hand in greeting. The woman actually blushed like a little girl as she reached forward and received his greeting. As soon as their hands touched, the woman let out a gasp as she looked down at his hand, her other hand rising to her chest. The other women around seemed too enamored with his face to notice anything out of the ordinary. His mother, on the other hand, had been looking at him as she introduced her so she didn't pick up on the odd reaction of her friend.
"She has a daughter your age," His mother continued. The woman holding Greg's hand unconsciously sent his mother a dirty look, almost as if she was introducing a love rival to the man she was after. A second later, however, she seemed to catch herself and remembered who she was and where she was. There was a slight look of sadness as she seemed to realize that nothing could ever happen between herself and this charming young man that seemed to have cast a spell on her. Greg, noting this, allowed the thumb of the hand holding hers to trace a circle on the back of her hand. His touch, augmented by the SENSUAL TOUCH title, caused the woman to forget about her sadness as she looked at her hand, almost as of she couldn't believe what a simple touch was doing to her
"her daughter will be coming over later," His mother continued to speak. "I'll introduce you. I think the two of you would make a nice couple," She declared.