Night On The Town

Kei followed Satori down the cobbled roads of Telwin. The sky had already darkened. People were out in droves of all kinds—humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, beastmen, and even a few orcs.

Kei glanced at Satori as he followed him.

“I’ve been meaning to ask… why don’t you have any female employees? I haven’t seen a single maid.”

A smug grin spread across Satori’s face. “I think you know why, pal.”
Kei rolled his eyes.

Soon, Satori stopped outside the Adventurers’ Guild.

“We’re drinking here?”

Satori carefully observed everyone coming and going.

“Well, Hanako objects when I drink here. But since you’re going to become an adventurer, this isn’t a bad place to start.”

Satori abruptly turned heel and faced Kei.

“Name one thing I have that you don't have, besides money, natural good looks, and an amazing body.”

“Uh…” Kei stuttered, trying to think.

Satori cut him off. “Presence. You have the same presence as a cockroach. You walk into the room, no one notices you. I walk into the room, and everyone turns and looks.”

Did he just imply I have no aura? Kei blinked back to attention.

“Right, presence. How do I get that? Is there a trick?”

Satori placed a hand on Kei’s shoulder and looked directly into his eyes.

“Confidence. It’s all about confidence. Women are naturally repelled by weak men. While your body may be stronger, your mind isn’t. The reason you lost to Kent is confidence.”

Kei clenched his fists just hearing that name. He gritted his teeth and swallowed. Satori observed this.

“I realize this is a sore spot for you. But the only person you have to blame for your misfortune on the farm is you. If you made a move two or three months sooner, you’d be the one with Heidi. It’s an ugly truth, but you have to face it.”

Kei let out a low sigh. “Right, confidence.” His eyes looked downward, thinking about Heidi.

Satori lifted his chin up. He spoke as he corrected Kei’s posture.

“Eyes forward, shoulders straight, back straight, chin up. Follow me.”

Satori burst through the guild doors. All eyes shifted onto him as he entered. Keisuke followed shortly after. Eyes remained on Satori the entire time. He led Kei into the tavern section of the guild and took a seat.

“Satori! How many times do I have to tell you! This isn’t a place to pick up your usual bimbos,” yelled Hanako, stomping toward the table.

She stopped and looked at both Satori and Keisuke.

“This is the guy with the twenty-one affinities from a few weeks back?”

She glanced at his face; the bruises and swelling had gone down significantly.
“He’s kind of cute now that he isn’t all beat up,” she thought.

She shook her head and turned toward Satori, slamming her hands down on their table.

“You better not be teaching him your ways of debauchery. We don’t need another playboy in this city.”

Satori chortled. “Relax, Hanako. I’m just teaching him some things.”

Hanako bristled. “Teaching him how to pick up women, I bet. Seriously, can you go a day without corrupting some poor guy’s mind or a woman’s purity?”

Kei awkwardly shifted in his seat, looking anywhere but at Hanako and Satori.

“Just get us some ale. You are working tonight, aren’t you?”

Hanako huffed. “I’ll get you some damned ale, but if I see you trying to pick up some fresh adventurers, I’m kicking your ass out!”

She turned and stormed off. Satori laughed. “She’s a real firecracker.”

Kei brought his hand up to his face and rested his elbow on the table.

“Did you hump her too? Or does she just hate pretty boys as much as the rest of us guys?”

Satori bellowed out a laugh. “Hell no. I mean, first off, she has way too much self-respect. Second, I know her old man, and he would not approve.”

Hanako soon returned with two wooden tankards of ale. She slammed one down in front of Satori and placed one in front of Keisuke.

“Don’t let this idiot pervert you,” she said before returning to serve the other customers.

Satori took a sip of his ale and glanced at Keisuke.

“Alright, let’s get started.” He looked around the room and pointed to a couple of female adventurers—one, an elven woman with long blonde hair, pointy ears, alabaster skin, and a soft smile; the other, one from the beastman tribe—a cat girl with fluffy black ears, a soft black tail, and an hourglass figure.

“Go talk to them. You don’t have to flirt with them, but learning to talk to women without blushing like crazy is your first step.”

Kei blinked. Crimson slowly spread across his face.

“I… uh… what? Me… talk to them… huh?”

He tried to form a proper sentence, but all he did was fidget awkwardly in his seat while Satori’s smug grin spread.

“You heard me, loverboy. Go talk to them.”

Kei stuttered and twitched in his seat. He slammed back his pint of ale and stood up, his chair sliding out.

“I’ll go try.”

Hanako rolled her eyes and approached Satori.

“Seriously, wasn’t one warning enough?”

Satori glanced at her.

“What are you talking about? I’m just sitting here enjoying my drink.”
Hanako’s eyes bored into the back of his head.

“You’re honestly the worst.” She huffed and stormed off again.

Meanwhile, Keisuke approached the table. His cheeks were completely flushed crimson up to his ears.

“Uh, hi.”

Both of them looked at him and blinked. The cat girl’s ears perked up.

“I saw you sitting with Satori. Do you know him?”

Kei cleared his throat.

“Uh, yeah, he’s my friend. He’s helping me through a tough time.”

A slow, smug grin crossed her face.

“Let me guess—he’s teaching you how to be a piece of shit too?”

Kei’s eyes drifted toward the floor.

“Uh, no. He just said I should talk to you.”

The cat girl chuckled, her tail wagging to and fro.

“Ain’t you just precious, nyan.”

Her elf friend started to chuckle too. Kei quickly turned around and returned to his table.

“That was so fucking awkward. How do you do it? Everyone thinks I’m out to get some because they see me with you!”

Satori laughed out loud.

“Man, you are so awkward. Seriously, how did you get this way?”

Kei slumped forward, his head hitting the table. “I’m completely hopeless, aren’t I?”

Satori finished his ale and shouted, “Hanako, another!”

Hanako stomped over. “Well, your friend looks like he’s had it.”

“Oh yeah, totally. He’s completely done with this.”

Hanako’s jaw tightened. “Then what are you doing? The poor guy must feel like an idiot.”

She placed a hand on Kei’s shoulder.

“Don’t try to emulate this idiot. He’s naturally charismatic, but he’s a complete moron. Just be yourself.”

She grabbed their tankards for refills.

Satori hummed.

“That’s pretty solid advice, actually. You want to be confident, of course, but you should always be yourself.”

Kei looked up and grumbled.

“Great advice, like I haven’t heard that a million times. I’m just naturally awkward around the opposite sex—that is me being me.”

Satori let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

“Seriously, you’re too hard on yourself. One failure talking to women and you think it’s game over. Few people are actually good at talking to women—you just gotta practice. Get up, get out there, and try to talk to another woman.”

Kei grumbled. “Again? Seriously?”

“Yes, again.” Satori pointed to a table with three women. “Go talk to them.”

Kei groaned as he got up.

“This night is never going to end,” he thought as he trudged over to the women.