[DCI] Chapter 85 - Dream Job (Patreon)

Turning my attention away from the officer and the troublesome duo, I checked back with Shuri. She had stood up in the meanwhile and was examining the damage our sudden scuffle caused. Hopefully, we wouldn’t end up banned from the story for this mess. The agent was most likely going to have a chat with the staff, but that didn’t mean I shouldn’t apologize on my own.

Sighing to myself, I walked up to the shoe the other guy had been taunting our friend with and brought it back to the box. I waited for Shuri to place the second one inside and closed the lid, putting the product in her hands.

“Would you still like to get those?” I asked.

She looked at the other boxes next to the sofa. “Ummm…”

“You should get them all,” Levia advised her calmly, showing off her own small pile. “We picked a few so it is only natural you should not leave with just a single thing.”

Our princess nodded and lifted her spoils of war. Literally, considering what we had to go through to secure them.

Finished with the selection phase, we strolled towards the checkout and spotted the same lady who had brought in the security. She didn’t look utterly mad at us, which I took as a good sign. When our turn came, I apologized honestly for everything and politely asked to ring us up, also offering to help with the shelves if they would let me.

Admitting that she wasn’t happy about all the trouble they would now have to face with the management, she declined my goodwill, reasoning it by saying that she didn’t want to give the people above even more reasons to find fault in her and her colleagues. That felt like bullshit to me, but I wasn’t oblivious to how the corporate mindset worked. 

The kind lady assured us that we weren’t the ones at fault as she had witnessed the entire thing from start to finish and thanked me for the offer. I rejected the discount for the difficulties we had faced and paid in full so that she could cash in on that bonus I had promised her. As we made it out of the shop, the trio was already gone.

“Sorry…” Shuri muttered an apology as we stood outside.

“You have nothing to apologize for.” Surprisingly, Aisha came to her defense in a flash. “That bastard was lucky Lucas got to him first. I would have cracked that empty skull of his open.”

“She’s right about at least one thing.” I chuckled. “They were the ones pestering you. The rest is on us. But honestly, for fantasy races living on Earth, I didn’t expect them to be so racist, especially from an orc with an elf.”

“It’s because I’m different,” the scarlet-skinned oni replied.

“How so?” I raised a brow at her.

“Females of our species are known for being tall, boasting muscular builds, and impressive long legs. In my case, even though I’m fairly over the age of maturity, my height is comparable to that of a teenager. Our people grow really fast. Yet, as you can see, my forehead barely reaches the line of your shoulders. It’s not the first time I’ve been teased about it,” she explained with a gloomy sigh.

“Hey, from what I’ve glimpsed, you have gorgeous legs and a fairly athletic figure perfectly suitable for your build. As for your height, I’d say it’s something that makes you unique, that causes you to stand out amongst the crowd. The others are just jealous, I tell you. How could they not be, seeing such a fierce yet at the same time petite warrior princess.” I patted her on the shoulder with my free hand.

“Thanks…” Shuri whispered to the side, her red cheeks gaining a darker shade.

“He’s right, so you better not let some idiots belittle you. Or was all that feistiness you showed me just an act?” My drakan mate snorted amusedly. “Worry not and don’t let them look down upon you. It looks like Lucas can get us out of most trouble by just existing.”

“Right. That’s something we need to explore as soon as we can.” I shook my head with a wry smile. “Though, I’m surprised it took us this long to run into other races. After all that talk about MirageLink from J’s first messages, I expected more of them.”

“I mean, we haven’t exactly gotten out that much since the beginning, but they’ve always been out there?” Aisha scrunched her nose. “The numbers certainly are dominated by humans, but just take a look anywhere and you can spot a person or two.”

Following her advice, I roamed my gaze over the hallways of the mall. And to my surprise, the more I thought about the others, the more varying individuals I spotted. An elf there, a group of animal-eared beastfolk there, even a dwarf hanging out with a gnome perhaps. As she had said, they were a minority but also felt like part of a whole. Additionally, being much more numerous than I had seen moments before.

“There were plenty of different species we passed on our way here while in the car,” Levia added. “Did you not see them?”

“Or even on our first date.” Aisha hummed.

“Somehow, I didn’t. Not until they messed with Shuri,” I answered, slightly taken aback.

“Those might be the lasting effects of being under that worldwide spell,” my wise Witch suggested. “This has always been the norm for you. Your brain was already accustomed to the existence of other races, just taught to view them as normal humans. Now that this influence is gone, that programming hasn’t changed, and your perception subconsciously slips over the now unmasked races as if they are a normal occurrence.”

“So, I’ve pretty much been looking without seeing, that’s what you mean to say?” I stroked my chin ponderingly. “I guess that’s not wrong. Now that I consciously wish to notice them, they are pretty much everywhere. It’s been like this for you all the time, hasn’t it?”

“Yep.” The draconic beauty nodded. “We were never under the influence of that spell and also used to seeing mixed communities. Though, it’s been a bit of a challenge to get used to humans dominating the demographic so much.”

“I concur,” Shuri agreed. “I’ve been surrounded only by my kin for most of my life, with sporadic exceptions. But, it’s alright. To some extent, it’s a breath of fresh air.”

“Good.” I rubbed her arm comfortingly. “We got what we came here for. Anything you girls want to do next?”

“Let’s hit a few more shops and get back to your friend?” Aisha suggested. “We should have given him enough time to wake up.”

“Fair. I kind of wished to show you a better time, but it all went to hell.” I sighed heavily.

“That’s not true.” The lithe princess whipped around to face me, hugging the cardboard boxes to her chest. “I had a great time. I enjoyed the park, and the shopping too, even if it was interrupted. Your world is very interesting and I’m hoping to see more of it during our downtime.”

“I think that can be arranged.” I smiled at her. “We should see how much of today’s time we can still salvage. Ladies? Would you like to lead?”

Aisha didn’t need to be told twice and Levia joined her with the faintest spark of eagerness in her enchanting violet eyes. Leaving the boxes to me, they dragged Shuri around while explaining the stores we passed by on our way back to the car, taking the longer path.

We spent a while in the prop shop, where my melee warriors seemed to bond over the quality of the products offered there, shit-talking the weapons on the display a lot. Since I hoped this would mend the crack between Aisha and Shuri a tiny bit, I let them be for today, trying my best to placate the owner on the side.

Another eventful stop was in a clothing shop, of course. The girls went around and discussed various articles, each of them attracted to different styles of fashion. Our oni princess seemed most fascinated by the oriental corner, perhaps all those kimonos, yukatas, and their Chinese equivalents striking it somewhat close to home.

When they got to the lingerie section, I conveniently lost myself somewhere else. Shuri already looked embarrassed when my much bolder mates pointed at the shelves and mannequins, Aisha being her usual shameless self and Levia keeping up the silent and unfazed expression. Having a random guy around while she browsed fancy underwear might be a bit too much for now. 

And I didn’t doubt that at least one person would be hoping to drag me into the changing room to check for my approval.

Judging by the glow visible on Shuri’s lovely face as we regrouped, she had been forced to pick something bolder than she would usually choose for herself. I did my best to lessen her burden and not look in the direction of the paper bag she was hiding, especially when the clerk was examining the contents, an amused smirk on the checkout girl’s lips.

I honestly wasn’t sure if this kind of thing was better than them bickering around since it had definitely been Aisha’s doing, but I guess I would see for myself soon.

We made it to the car in relative silence and threw everything into the trunk. Aisha reclaimed her rightful spot at my side and we drove back to Zeke’s place while listening to the radio. It was dark outside and the speeding colors visible through the windows fascinated the ladies quite a bit. Especially our newest friend.

Finding a spot to park, we hopped out of the vehicle and headed to the apartment. The door wasn’t locked, unsurprisingly, and we slipped inside. The moment I stepped into the common room, something slammed into me hard enough to knock the breath out of my lungs.

“Lucas, my dude, finally back!” Zeke jumped up and down while holding onto me tightly. “What the hell did you bring me, brother?!”

“Chill, man, chill!” I tried to bring us further in as the ladies chuckled. “I take it you managed to figure out a thing or two?”

He let go of me while cackling like mad and grabbed my wrist. “It’s so much better than that!”

His fingers swiped over the face of my watch quicker than I could follow them, switching through multiple screens and menus, until he tapped some button I didn’t even know existed. A loading symbol appeared and he lunged for his PC, hitting the ENTER key louder than necessary. I watched a progress bar fill up in a blink and my smartwatch buzzed with some new notification.

The device emitted a weird pulse that tickled my entire body, making me and the girls flinch lightly. Zeke seemed unaffected for some reason, staring at the watch intently. I jumped when the illusion projector activated and a three-dimensional mesh of the room we were currently in appeared. It was made of see-through squares with blue edges and differing in size, representing everything from the walls down to the furniture.

“Sweet! It works!” My friend pumped his fist victoriously.

“What exactly am I looking at?” I glanced between the magical hologram and Zeke.

“You wanted an accurate mapping app, right?” He grinned at me proudly. “I got you something better! Using some weird spatial sensors this little guy has, I’m able to get a scan of your surroundings, up to fifty meters currently. It’s extremely detailed and accurate. The green arrow is obviously your position. This thing has gesture recognition or something and I programmed a way to scroll through the saved map, which is generated through the combination of scans. You can do them manually or automatically at set intervals.”

I used my fingers to try playing with the image and it responded to my movements well, allowing me to switch angles, zoom in and out, and so on. It was a huge step up from the two-dimensional drawing he had previously introduced us to.

“Ah, shit. I forgot to add the centering button. One second.” Zeke turned to his computer and started assaulting his keyboard like mad.

Fifteen seconds later, he smashed ENTER again and my watch buzzed once more. It went through the same loading screens before the map rebooted, now with a visible icon resembling a crosshair. My brows raised, I looked at him again.

The smugness radiating off his face was off the charts. “As you might have noticed, thanks to the stuff you brought me, I no longer need your devices for updates. I can deploy new builds remotely from the safety of my cozy apartment whenever I wish to. This rocks, doesn’t it?”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “Yeah, that’s fire. Though, make sure you warn me before doing that. Just so that we can avoid any issues that could occur when I’m actively making use of the software.”

“Of course! I’ll let you know ahead of time!” He nodded eagerly, clearly thinking of different issues than what I had in mind. “So, anyway, that’s all I was able to come up with while you and the ladies snuck out to have some fun. The resources from the flash drive are so thorough that I had to start from scratch, that’s how amateurish my previous attempts were. But, from now on, I’ll be able to introduce new features lightning-fast!”

I rolled my eyes at his obvious implication and knowing smirk, but decided not to correct him. It was a decent step to familiarize the people around me with the unusual changes in my relationships. Judging by the expressions of Aisha and Levia, they completely didn’t mind. I just needed to keep Shuri in mind.

“That’s great to know and already plenty. I guess I’ll be hearing from you much more often now?” I disabled the display and hid the watch.

“Want it or not, I’m really invested now. A guy doesn’t get a chance to work with tech like this and shoves it to the back burner. If this stuff ever comes to market, I’ll be leagues ahead of everyone. And if it doesn’t, well, you still pay me a shitload of gold and it’s exciting to dabble with. I’m starting to consider quitting.” Zeke crossed his arms with a thoughtful look.

“What?” I scoffed to the side. “You can’t be serious? I mean, I’ll be more than happy to employ you full-time, but it will be an empty stain on your experience. As you can imagine, I can’t exactly let you write about this on your resume, at least not in detail.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “Whatever. It’s worth the risk. A gamble I’m willing to take.”

“Think about it a little first,” I suggested. “But, if you don’t change your mind, let me know and we’ll renegotiate the terms of our contract.”

“Gotcha. I’ll contact you in the morning, then.” Zeke snapped his fingers at me. “For now, I want to dive back into this technological miracle. I don’t feel like sleeping tonight, to be honest. You’ll wake up to a slightly more polished app, for sure.”

I shook my head but knew better than to go against him when he was this energetic.

“Since it’s getting late, I won’t keep you here unnecessarily.” He stood up and walked up to me. “Under different circumstances, I would have suggested a sleepover like in the good old times, but I don’t think it’s as enticing of an option as back then. You now have much better company to spend the night with.”

“Drop it.” I smacked him on the side of the head and he snickered gleefully. “I’ll hear from you in the morning, then. Don’t forget to hydrate. I’m not coming back here to scrape your corpse off the desk after your raiding party starts pestering me about your whereabouts.”

He laughed and patted me on the shoulder. “Sure thing. And, thanks, brother. This is the most fun I’ve had since forever.”

“No, thank you.” Aisha stepped forward with her trademark grin. “You’ve been a huge help to some of our projects. I knew some handy people back at home, but no one as adaptable to new information and environment. I’m looking forward to seeing the results of your labor.”

Zeke was a little bit taken aback by the sudden compliment from the gorgeous woman, especially since the ladies had left it mostly to me to interact with my best friend, and I chuckled to myself while shaking his limp hand.

“At this point, I’m starting to wonder if your security job isn’t more about breaking it,” he said awkwardly, glancing at me. “I’m not gonna find meshes of bank lobbies in the device’s memory anytime soon, am I?”

Snorting to the side, I turned towards the exit. “Not really. At least unless they reach out to me first.”

We left it at that note and strolled out of the apartment, my girls waving at Zeke in farewell. Not wasting any time since it was getting late as he had noted, we got into the car and sped back home. Soon enough, we were back inside our precious little nest. A collective sigh escaped us as we stopped in the main area, Aisha faceplanting on the bed.

“What a day, huh?” I sat down next to her, receiving muffled groans in response. “I was hoping to take care of Shuri’s workshop still, but I think we are too drained for that. Let’s give it a go tomorrow, alright?”

“So fast?” Shuri’s eyes widened as she stood before us. “Of course, I don’t mind it being tomorrow or later. I have already received so much and it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours.”

She tried to be polite, but I could see the pure excitement in her petite frame. Just like Zeke, she would pull out an all-nighter if it meant setting up her own artisanal lair where she could lose herself in her craft.

“Great. We have over two days of downtime before our next Assignment so it should be enough to go through everything we got and prepare for the upcoming delve.” I smiled at her as Levia plopped down in my lap, unbothered by the fact that the princess was looking. “The only thing left is sleeping arrangements.”

The exhausted drakan tilted her head to poke her face out of the bedding. “The answer is simple, no?”

I smacked her lightly on that thick tail of hers. “Don’t even start. The question is, should we expand manually and quickly throw in a few things from the shop or would Shuri prefer to pick a full bedroom from the reward? Honestly, it would be fine to use it for either that or the forge. Or both since we do have enough tickets.”

“I don’t think it’s necessary to waste your hard-earned reward for something like sleeping quarters,” the princess said, waving her hands. “Just a simple room is fine. But, since we are all tired, a sleeping mat is enough for today.”

“You don’t think I’ll let you sleep on the floor, do you?” I frowned. “I can at least drop a small bed in the middle of the room.”

“It’s alright. My people are used to sleeping close to the ground. It’s part of our culture. I would honestly be more comfortable with that than a mattress. Especially in a new environment,” she explained.

It didn’t feel like she was lying for the sake of my convenience so I nodded. “If that’s what you want, then I don’t see a reason to argue. Let’s pick something from the Shop or Market. I’m sure we can find a seller from your people.”

Levia kindly slid off my lap and allowed me to go to the PC with Shuri. We browsed the available items until I convinced our new companion to pick a set she liked instead of going for the cheapest ones. Aisha had no strength to chase the mailman so we brought the package without any schemes. Soon after, a comfortable mat lay down next to our bed, joined by plush sheets and fluffy pillows.

I let the girls have the bathroom while checking what our sales situation looked like. Aisha went first, taking a quick shower, and climbed into the bed lazily, her breathing evening out in a blink. Levia and Shuri went together, my compassionate elf girlfriend willing to assist the princess with the wonders of modern technology once more. They seemed to be going along rather well.

Our oni guest came back before the wise Witch, wearing a black silk bathrobe with golden details, tied loosely around her waist. I could see that she was a bit embarrassed, although happy to have something familiar in her possession, so I didn’t stare much at how exquisitely it flowed around her enthralling figure, matching her crimson skin and general exotic beauty just so perfectly. She slipped under the sheets without a word.

Grabbing my clean stuff, I entered the bathroom, finding my lovely mate finishing drying her hair with the dryer, sitting completely naked on a stool in front of the mirror. She graced me with a charming smile as I offered to help, unable to stop myself from admiring her enthralling body. It didn’t help that she knew where I was looking and made lots of effort to give me the best view, hiding nothing from my eyes.

I showed her my thanks and appreciation with a chaste kiss and she jumped into her white panties, throwing on one of my shirts too as her sleepwear. After she was gone, I took care of myself and wandered out in my shorts, joining the ladies in the bed. Thankfully, Aisha had enough presence of mind to wear something too, both on top and bottom, for which I was grateful. Turning my back to the muscular drakan so she could embrace me in her sleep, I spooned the delicate elf and we all dozed off.

Unexpectedly, I woke up to the sound of the doorbell. At first, I thought that I wasn’t the first one to rise and someone might have ordered breakfast, but Aisha’s dissatisfied groan dismissed that notion, the pillow disappearing from under my head to cover the face of the disappointed girl. And since Levia stirred in my arms, her nose brushing against mine, she was out of the picture too.

At the second chime, I offered the adorable Witch an apologetic peck and got up, watching not to step on Shuri, who was obviously roused by the unexpected guest too. I nodded at her politely and walked to the door, taking a peek through the peephole.

It was the guy from yesterday, the wolf-eared agent we had met in the mall.

I had no idea how and why he had gotten here, but he wasn’t wearing casual clothes this time. His face was fully visible as he stood there in something akin to a security uniform consisting of dark grey reinforced pants with knee protection, a white shirt with a black tie, and a blue jacket with similar augments as the trousers. Additionally, he had donned a black armored vest to cover his torso which had a patch saying PARSEC over his chest. A handgun hung by his hip, and a shortsword on the opposite side.

Now, the question was, did this mean trouble for us or someone else?