"Fine. Let us say I did do all those terrible things to you... and your daughter," he tried to peel her off himself with both hands, pushing against her shoulders, but she stayed glued to his body like a limpet, refusing to be removed no matter how much force he used. "What do you want from me as an apology? What would make you forgive me and leave me alone?"

She suddenly went shy and flustered, unable to meet his gaze, her pale cheeks flushing with color as she looked down at the ground. "Eh? Oh, uhm... Well, I do not want to impose on your eminence or demand too much from someone of your status..."

"M-My eminence?! What are you even talking about?" Benjamin sputtered, confused by the sudden shift in her tone.

Rahab continued, her voice growing more confident as she spoke: "I want you to assume responsibility of taking care of me for the rest of my existence. Become my master and I will become your loyal pet who serves you faithfully!"

[Why is she so keen on this pet thing? What is her obsession with being owned by someone?] Benjamin sighed inwardly, his thoughts racing with confusion and exasperation. [Is this another kink our perverted author wants to establish? I would not be surprised at this point. Well, she seems to want that arrangement very badly. So if it stops her from accusing me of terrible crimes and spreading rumors about me, let us just turn her into a pet. She is mega hot and pretty after all, with that pale skin and those yellow eyes. Most men would kill to have her standing next to them.]

"Alright, alright! Fine! I will accept your request!" Benjamin tried to peel her off himself with both hands, pushing against her shoulders, but she stayed glued to his body again, refusing to budge even an inch. "But if you become my pet, you would have to do as I say and obey my commands, correct?"

Gasps began to move through the women gathered there as Benjamin said those words, shock and surprise rippling across their faces.

And even Rahab herself started blushing even more and squirming in his arms, her pale cheeks turning a deep shade of pink.

"Of course, Master! I will do anything you ask me to do, no matter how difficult, dangerous, or degrading!" She replied immediately, her voice filled with enthusiasm and devotion. "From getting down and dirty on your bed, to obliterating entire kingdoms that stand against you!"

"None of that now, you better stay calm and behave yourself! I do not need any kingdoms obliterated!"

"Woof, Master! I understand!" Rahab happily barked like a dog, rubbing her cheeks profusely against Benjamin’s body like she wanted to merge herself with him completely and become one flesh.

"...Disgusting..." Was the small violent mutter Benjamin barely picked from the crowd, a whisper so quiet that he almost missed it entirely.

[Eh?] He immediately turned his face to the person responsible for the comment, his eyes scanning the gathered women until they landed on Marina.

She was giving him an incredibly dark stare, her dark hazel eyes cold and unblinking, her expression unreadable but clearly unhappy about something.

[Marina, is everything alright with you?! You seem upset about something!] He immediately asked her with telepathy, his mental voice carrying concern.

She immediately bled her disdain with a motherly professional smile that did not reach her eyes; [Nothing is wrong at all, Benjamin. Everything is perfectly fine. I just... was momentarily annoyed with this new stranger coming into our lives and disrupting our peace so casually. That is all.]

Benjamin still thought her displeasure was directed at him personally, that she was angry with him for accepting Rahab so easily, but he decided to leave it at that rather than push the issue further.

She would talk to him when she was ready.

He soon harbored the idea that he had not been good friends with Marina since forever, that their relationship had been distant and professional rather than warm or personal.

And he planned to change that as soon as possible, to build a bridge between them.

As the tension finally died down and the crisis passed, the Amazons returned to their daily lives, going back to their chores and their training, their weapons not tasting a single drop of blood or violence that day.

The confrontation had ended without bloodshed, which was the best possible outcome.

But... Benjamin and the others never found out who Rahab truly was... not until five days from that moment, when a strange discovery would change everything.

******

***

*

Benjamin was taking an evening walk through the high grasses of the Whispering Wilds, the sun setting coolly in the distance, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple and red.

He had just left Verdant Spire after enduring an hour of Rahab blowing a horn instrument without any expertise whatsoever, producing sounds that could wake the dead and drive the living insane.

Walking only some meters away from the edge of the forest, his eyes caught something unusual in the distance, a small figure standing alone on the swaying grasses.

A small girl was standing on her own some distance away from him, her body still and her gaze fixed in his direction.

She was mostly naked, her pale skin exposed to the evening air.

But some black whips or strips of dark fabric wrapped her body in a way that hid everything important from sight, covering her chest and her lower body while leaving her arms and legs bare.

"Cosplay? Some kind of costume?" Benjamin muttered to himself, then turned his full attention to the small girl, his brow furrowing. "What is such a small girl doing out here in this dangerous place all by herself? And what is she, twelve years old?"

He stopped at a safe distance from her, about a few feet away so as not to scare her.

Then he spoke in a gentle and friendly tone, confident in his god-touched ability to understand all languages and communicate with any being:

"How are you doing, little missy?" He waved a little, his blue eyes warm and non-threatening. "Are you lost or something? Do you need help finding your way back home?"

She had short dark hair that framed her face in messy strands, bright yellow eyes that seemed to glow faintly in the fading light, extremely pale skin that almost looked like porcelain, and long dark nails that bordered on claws rather than ordinary fingernails.

And the girl, now that Benjamin looked closely at her expression and her posture, was glaring directly at him with undisguised hostility and resentment.