Chapter 181

Natalie returned to the dorm well into the evening, her newly crafted armor stored inside monster cores. The team had chosen not to head into the dungeon today. Even the most active teams needed some evenings to themselves, whether to handle daily tasks, extracurriculars, or whatever else.

As she walked into her apartment, Natalie’s thoughts were preoccupied. Primarily with what the set bonus would turn out to be, but also with other things: worries of the week, like the lingering concern over the whole Elida situation, who had yet to track Natalie down for a second talk. Natalie hadn’t found even a hint of how the woman had learned about the Bestower—or what she knew about Natalie’s class at all.

“Jay?” Natalie called out idly. “You back yet?”

Walking through the entry hall, Natalie peeked her head into their room. As the lack of response suggested, Jordan hadn’t made her way home. She was out handling her own business, probably dealing with poisons or identifying and refining the plants she’d found in the dungeon. And other daily tasks.

“She hasn’t,” Sofia called from the living room. “It’s just us.”

Natalie grunted in reply. She dropped her things off in her room, then wandered out into the living area. Sofia, indeed, sat there on the armchair, knees tucked to the side as she read from a textbook laying on the armrest. Studying. Natalie rolled her eyes, seeing that, but didn’t comment.

She plopped down on the sofa, stretched out her muscles, then lounged back. Propping her cheek on her fist, she took in the sight of Sofia. She wasn’t wearing her Tenet uniform like Natalie still was; she’d changed into her pajamas, settling down early for the night. Her long white hair cascaded around her, not pinned or tied up like it usually was throughout the day. It made her look gentler. Domestic.

Blue eyes peeked up from the textbook, meeting Natalie’s own. An annoyingly perfect eyebrow quirked in silent question.

“So, you’re just staring at people, now?”

“Not ‘people’. You. I’m staring at you.”

Sofia’s cheeks colored, Natalie’s unabashed directness working as flawlessly as ever. Natalie doubted she’d ever get tired of that. How easy it was to make Sofia blush. Really, for the unassailable, way-too-perfect image Natalie had built up of her over the years, Sofia was a lot ... softer than she remembered.

“Well, do you mind?”

“Not at all. Please, continue.”

“It’s distracting.”

“That sounds like a you problem.”

“Heavens save me,” Sofia muttered, closing her textbook. “Don’t you have something else to do, besides harass me? Weren’t you getting your armor?”

Natalie blinked. “Oh, right.” She wanted to see what the set bonus was, but Sofia had briefly taken over her thoughts. Each of the four monster cores were cradled in-between her fingers; she’d been idly playing with them. She held up her hand and waved the four orbs at Sofia. “Got a full set. Don’t think you’ll be surprised by how the design ended up.”

“Armor made from ‘erotite’?” Sofia asked dryly. “No, I don’t think I will be. Is it strong, at least?”

“Dunno. Decent, at worst. But it comes with a set bonus I haven’t checked out. It’ll make or break the set.”

“Oh?”

A grin slipped onto Natalie’s lips, which instantly put a wary look on Sofia’s face. “I was gonna put it on myself, but seeing how you don’t look busy, I have a better idea.”

It didn’t take long for Sofia to understand Natalie’s implication. “I’m not your doll to play dress up with, Natalie.”

“Until the week is up, actually, you are.”

Sofia didn’t have a retort to that.

“And honestly,” Natalie said, “I haven’t been taking enough advantage of you.” She let out an overly dramatic sigh. “It’s a shame all of us are so busy. I’d definitely be leveraging it more. But I guess I don’t want to scare the poor blushing virgin away by taking things too fast, anyway.”

“Blushing virgin?” Sofia asked, affronted.

“What? That’s literally what you are. You come off as very delicate. Fragile. I wouldn’t want to traumatize you.” Natalie smirked, running her eyes pointedly up and down Sofia. “Why do you think I haven’t bent you over, yet? It’s not because I don’t want a taste of that pussy—I’ll tell you that.”

Sofia’s eyes went wide at the crudity of the sentence, cheeks quickly burning red.

“I mean, if anyone else just gave themselves away to me for a week,” Natalie kept going, keeping her tone overly casual, “I’d be using them a lot more thoroughly than I am you. But, delicate, blushing virgins need to be treated with care.”