The eight of them walked through town, barely making any eye contact with the locals as they traveled to Carlem’s home. He waved at the people he knew and didn’t make himself look awkward to not draw any attention.
Around them, the people were staring, but then they quickly looked away, some walking faster to avoid them, while others pulled their children back into their homes to avoid any unwanted problems.
"I guess we’re not getting a warm welcome." Kai joked, trying to wave at someone, but they closed their blinds instead.
"They look...afraid. Did something happen here?" Kyana asked
"Not here. Not on the street. We’ll talk more at my home. Just wait."
Something that they all noticed was that there wasn’t a guard at the front gate of the town, well, to be more specific, the guard was sleeping on the job, not caring who or what entered.
There were also guards stationed around the town, but instead of doing their duties, they were harassing people.
’Hmmm. I think I might understand what’s going on here. Gracia said that the power dynamic is messed up on this continent, so my guess is that these guards were paid to do whatever they want by the new person in charge, or these are new people the new ruler put in place. Well, I’m assuming there is a new ruler of this land, but it’s pretty obvious that there is. A usurper.’
"Well, well, well. Look who we have here. Carlmen and his...wait, where are the rest of you? And who are these people?" One of the guards walked over to them, clearly trying to start some drama.
"Hello, good sir. Thank you for protecting our town." Carlmen gave the guard a gold coin.
Kai noticed that the guard had a greedy look on his face, so he quickly acted as if he had gotten gold coins from his girls and handed 7 more to the guard. It was safe to say that he was extremely satisfied.
"Ahem, it’s great that you understand how hard we’re working to keep you all safe. But, I must know who these people are." The guard was staring at Kai as if he could feel something on him.
"Yes, of course. As you can see, the catkin is my sister in law, my wife’s sister. The man is the best friend of my late brother, and these three, the Elf, the dwarf, and the human, are his wives. As for the foxkin and the dragonkin, those are people we found along our journey. We did come from the north after all."
The others had no clue what Carlmen was talking about, but it was obvious that he was giving them a backstory. So, they went along with it, greeting the guard and introducing themselves.
"Hahahaha! Very well, but you should take some of your friends to the doctor, their skin is looking kind of pale. They could be unwell from your travels."
Carlmen nodded. "Thank you for your concern. I shall see to that after getting them settled."
The guard nodded, then went about his way.
"Thank Rauna, you all can act." Carlmen sighed with relief.
"It comes with the job." Kai smiled
They continued walking, making their way to Carlem’s home. It was a pretty spacious open concept home with a wall around the place. There was enough room to house at least 12 people, judging by the size and rooms. Though some might have to share a room.
"Honey, I’m home!" Carlmen shouted
"Great, now I have to deal with you! Whatever, dinner is ready, hurry up and get in here." A woman shouted back from further in the house.
"I’ve brought guests."
"Nothing new."
Carlmen rubbed the back of his head, took off his shoes, and then headed to the dining room.
"Hello, dear." He smiled. "You’re looking as beautiful as you normally do."
"I appreciate your flattery, but I’m still upset with you." She pointed at his seat, telling him to sit down. His wife was a beautiful woman with brown skin and white hair. She had hazel eyes and wore light, thin clothing, most likely because of how hot this continent can get. Her body was also very attractive.
"Who are your guests, Dad? I’ve never seen them before." The daughter looked just like her mother, except younger. However, her body was more womanlike than her mother’s, at least to Kai.
The same could be said about her twin sister, who sat next to her.
"Are they your work friends?" The other Twin asked
"Don’t lie, Carlem, remember, no more secrets, especially during this crisis we’re going through." The wife looked at him dead in the eyes as if she was going to purge his soul.
He sighed. "Yes, no more secrets. I was out with the...bad people again. Bandits."
"Come on, Carlem!"
"Dad."
"I knew it."
They all sounded very disappointed in him.
"Hear me out. I actually left them. We needed the money, but I had a bad feeling about these seven, so I left. I didn’t want any part of them. But...well...they caught up with me and here we are."
The three women gulped, looking at Kai and his girls as if they were going to eat them. Well, Kai did plan to, just in a different way.
Kai facepalmed himself. "Dude. When you explain it like that, it makes it seem like we’re extorting you or something."
"R-Right! So what happened was..." Carlmen explained everything while Kai would pop in to add context to his side of the story.
"The other continents really exist?!" One of the twins stood up from her chair, her face beaming with excitement upon hearing that Kai and co were from another land.
"Yup. What’s your name?" Kai asked
"Oh! Please forgive me. I forgot to introduce my family. This is my wife, Tamra. This is my eldest daughter, Temera, and this is her twin, Temara."
All three of them were Catkins, well, Tamra was at least. She had a tail. The daughters were only half, so they only had the ears, not the tail.
"Nice to meet you all." Kai introduced himself and his girls.
’So Temera is the one with the bigger tits, and Temara has the bigger ass.’ Kai kept that in his head.
"So, now can you tell us what’s going on?"