Chapter 261: Your Assignment Is...
The Mayor of this quaint coastal town was a rather surprising figure, because instead of the olive skin we had seen outside she was instead deep blue, with violet eyes and a row of sharpened teeth that made her appear... deadly.
Beautiful but definitely deadly, and yet that was to be expected by someone with the nearly imperceptible scales that sharks had, as well as the striking black and almost gold eyes that shone with predatory intelligence.
No top and an ornate white and purple skirt was all she wore, allowing her impressive musculature and plump breasts to be bare to the world, though what was more noticeable were the numerous scars and old bite marks that littered her body.
She gave us all an ’easy’ smile when we entered the hall, her teeth shining beneath the lights as she watched us closely from her shell clad throne; seated on either side of her were the other two we were meant to meet, and both of them were tanned and just as ’eager’ as she was.
On her left was a rather ’overdressed’ woman who was giving us a relaxed and warm smile, her black robes looking rather... ’priestly’, as did the golden staff resting in the nook of her arm; the only ’shocking’ thing about her clothing was the necklace made from various teeth around her neck, though honestly... it was quite the accessory.
Her blue eyes were alight with warmth as she bowed her head to us, greeting us just as warmly as she spoke in a melodious and soothing voice "Welcome to our humble town~! I am Bishop Korri~!", getting a chorus of nods and murmured greetings back.
On the Mayor’s right was a ripped and smirking futanari that was adorned in scale ’armor’, by which I mean she had her breasts and groin covered and nothing else; considering the scales were engraved and everything was polished, I was making the assumption now that this was ceremonial... because otherwise, Goddess help her if a fight broke out...
Her muscles were chiseled out of her body and rippled whenever she moved, which she did quite a bit of as she shifted in her seat constantly whenever she wanted to look at someone new; her lust was undisguised and her arrogance left open as she stated "Captain M’Koli Valigeaux." in a scratchy voice.
"And I am Mayor Akheila, the one who agreed to host such illustrious prodigies in our not so glamours town. I trust you found the journey here agreeable?"
Mayor Akheila’s voice was smooth and suave, tickling the ears just right and causing most of us to stop looking at either the gorgeous Bishop or the handsome Guard Captain, if we weren’t already so damn focused on her.
"It was agreeable, Mayor Akheila, and you sell your town short; it is a lovely place, one I am familiar with. It is why I asked if you would be willing to host us on such short notice."
Her lips curled a little more at our Professor’s words, though that smile never really reached her eyes as she just leaned back, looking us all over once again as she said "Many thanks for that, Professor."
The three continued to stare for a few moments longer, clearly judging in various ways as they mulled over something; Captain M’Koli Valigeaux clicked her tongue and crossed her arms while Bishop Korri nodded a few times.
"Pirates are becoming a bit too much of a problem. The seas are calm otherwise, but because of that we have a surge of hungry and depraved bastards prowling around looking for easy scores. A few here and there we can handle. A bit more than that and we just send word up and down the coast about our coalition."
Placing her hands on the table and pushing a map forwards, the Mayor’s smile widened again as she said "But it’s more than a bit, and since the Academy is offering its services for cheap, who am I to decline? Saves me the coin and hopefully spurs on my Guard to try a bit harder."
"That’s likely..."
Captain M’Koli Valigeaux’s snide comment was ignored, while Bishop Korri added "And it helps smooth things over with our people. We aren’t asking for our ’friends’ to come and help us for a price. We aren’t bringing in a bunch of adventurers to solve one problem and raise a plethora of others. We are instead receiving aid from one of the greatest bastions of knowledge and-!"
"Save it, Korri. You can make that nose of yours browner later, ’kay? We need you to help us knock a few ships, hit a few encampments, and make the people feel safe. You get the experience, we get the safety and the guarantee. Damn good deal, ain’t it?"
Before anything else could be said by anyone else, the Mayor sighed and added "You will be accommodated appropriately, I assure you. Many of the townsfolk were already rather excited upon hearing of your eventual arrival, so I’m certain you’ll be more than well taken care of."
Her smile became a bit more genuine at that, while the Captain smirked even more as she looked at a few of us with a very lustful gaze; ignoring that, our Professor nodded and looked down at the map, tapping each of the locations slowly.
"Twelve known encampments... that’s a lot. How many ships? You have... fifteen markers, but..?"
Sensing that the lewd stuff was to be shelved, the Captain reached over and tapped the map as well, her smile fading as she said "Fifteen groups. None of them are fleets, only a couple are flying the same colors. Unimpressive boats individually, but they’re never alone."
Soon the discussion went into the strategic decisions that would shape our upcoming days, ranging from who would be heading where at what time to what specific things we needed to worry about at which areas.
The loose and informal structure that the Mayor had in place made things go rather smoothly, so by the time we were done we knew which members of the Guard were worth a damn, which members of the Clergy were coming with us, and when we were going to be heading out to deal with some pirates...
And we were also informed that the Captain had a thing for women with big tits many a time as she made passes at our Professor, who remained professional the entire time... with her tail swishing side to side just like before.
I really wanted to know if that meant she was intrigued or irritated... but I wasn’t able to find out just yet.
