The morning comes once again upon Dustin’s study. He’s continuing his research, looking into books on the mind and body. The research fully grasps him, scribbling down every note he found interesting.

“The male body is really something…” He says to himself, giggling quite happily.

Ignis comes in with tea, serving his master with the grace that he does. He looks over the notes Dustin has been working on and wiggles his ears in piqued curiosity.

“That’s a lot of naked men you’re looking at, Master.” He says, chuckling.

Dustin responds with a huff and a roll of his eyes, knowing Ignis is just trying to get under his skin.

“I’m only studying the body. There’s nothing lewd about that.” Dustin says, pointing to a diagram of the different muscles. “I won’t be able to visualize how to enchant my lovers with pleasure if I don’t understand the working parts.”

Ignis senses a tiny blush on the cat’s face, trying to hide the little embarrassment he feels with that statement. He, of course, doesn’t buy it, pouring tea for the boy as he shakes his head.

“Since when have you had dignity?” Ignis says with a playful snide. “With how you carried yourself last night, an upstanding noble doesn’t suit your image anymore.”

Dustin pouts and tries to retort with a comeback, but he’s interrupted when Ignis comes close to his face and kisses him deeply. The cat’s words are swallowed up by the wolf, tasting the bitter brew on the feline’s tongue.

“That’s not fair, Ignis,” Dustin says, going back for another passionate exchange.

Ignis starts feeling up the cat, holding his Master’s head gently in their kiss. His hands go down Dustin’s body, outlining his frame, until they bump into something unexpected.

“Is this how you study, Master?” Ignis asks.

Dustin giggles and leans back, revealing a hyena slumped between his legs. The hyena’s head sits right between the cat’s thighs, muzzle buried deep in the feline’s groin.

“A little company doesn’t hurt, does it?” Dustin says with a cheeky grin.

He looks down at the hyena, petting the poor boy’s head. He’s been dead for a few days, and his eyes give a look as dull as a corpse, yet his complexion looks so young.

“Oh?” Ignis says inquisitively. “Have you been practicing necromancy?”

Dustin responds with a cheeky smile, continuing to pet the dead hyena, but on closer inspection, his hands faintly glow with mana, and the magic passes through the slumped body.

“Better to start early, right?” Dustin says. “My Mother always said to test your theories yourself while studying.”

Ignis laughs and crouches down to take a closer look at what his Master has done to the hyena. He sees his mana mixing with his Master’s with surprising ease. The colors of Ignis’s dark purple mana swirl with Dustin’s deep blue magic, and the two complement each other, showing their codependency from the sigil on the hyena’s chest.

“I see what you’ve been trying to do,” Ignis says. “The mind of the magician heavily influences magic, and you wanted to imitate how I preserved your toys for you.”

Ignis slides his hand down the hyena, examining closely how Dustin’s magic flows inside the corpse. The demon is genuinely impressed, watching Dustin’s mana course through the body so naturally, much better than what Ignis has done.

“Your studies seem to have gotten you far in manipulating the mana flow of a person,” Ignis says. “It’s leagues better than mine.”

The butler goes and pets the cat on the head, rewarding the student for his accomplishment.

“However…” Ignis looks down at Dustin, still smiling playfully as he always does. “Your idea of necromancy is far different from the ideal. It’s more akin to restoration magic than true necromancy.”

The cat giggles as he looks at his hyena so fondly, holding the head with a warm expression.

“That’s because I don’t really want to control my lovers, Ignis. I just can’t stand the idea of them rotting away. It’s too horrible a fate to leave them to decay.”

The cat’s eyes stay locked on the hyena, so deeply entranced with the hyena’s blank stare. Ignis could sense the heat rising on the cat’s face, once again petting the hyena’s head. The servant laughs, pouring more tea for the cat.

“That’s quite ironic, seeing your mastery in magic is aligned with the harsh cold,” Ignis says.

Dustin’s smile sort of falters into a frown. His loving attitude turns into a blank, unnerving stare. The air around him seems to turn to mist, temperature dropping as he chants.

“The cold is the absence of energy. It is stillness. It is unfeeling. It is death.”

The words Dustin speaks are mechanical. They sound recited and practiced, yet despite his lack of emotion in his words, Ignis cheers in delight in response to them.

“What a show of power!” Ignis says excitedly. “Your parents must have trained you hard in cryomancy. I wonder what they would think if they saw you now.”

A long sigh leaves Dustin’s mouth, clearly unamused by the wolf’s carefree comment about his parents.

“I wouldn’t doubt that they’d yell at me,” Dustin says plainly. “They expected nothing less than perfection, and I had to follow in their footsteps.”

Now the cat looks annoyed, pouting and huffing.

“Too many lessons and not enough playtime, I say. It’s their fault that I like looking into things now.”

The cat gestures to all the books and notes on the desk, emphasizing his point. The butler laughs at the pouting cat, yet his mind wanders a thought.

“You’re such a strange kid,” Ignis says.

Dustin tilts his head in curiosity, hearing what Ignis accidentally says out loud. “What do you mean by that?” Dustin asks.
Surprised by Dustin, the wolf coughs as he tries to cover himself on his slip-up. “Haha…Well, I suppose you are more interesting than I had initially thought.” The cat stares at him blankly, unsatisfied with Ignis’s answer.
“Elaborate.” He says.

For a moment, the wolf tries his best to come up with a nice way to put his thoughts together. He paces around to stall for time, yet he fails to think of anything to soften the blow.

“I’ll say it frankly, Master. The faces you put up are by far the most disturbing part about you.” He says. “You smile and laugh like a kid, but it clearly isn’t the face you like to wear. I’ve seen you smile, and it’s in bed with your toys.”

Dustin laughs, but it’s a dry laugh. Ignis expected him to be mad, but his face showed none of that. Dustin looks at Ignis with an empty expression, an expression Ignis has seen before, back to when he was trapped in the basement.

“Your emotions aren’t real, are they?” Ignis asks.

Dustin doesn’t answer him. He simply closes his eyes, unamused with this interrogation. “…Are you done?” Dustin plainly says.
If it were anyone else, the tension would make the accuser fold and apologize, but Ignis does no such thing. Instead, he gives Dustin a few pats on the back, laughing hysterically.

“I’m just trying to understand, Master. The more I do, the better I can serve you,” Ignis says.

“I’m sure you can figure out how and why I’m like this,” Dustin replies. “I am half the reason why you were captured instead of killed, demon.”

A bit of ire is caught with that last sentence. The tone doesn’t go unnoticed by the wolf, yet he chuckles, grinning as he looks fondly at his Master.

“How scary,” Ignis says.

A sigh leaves the cat as he stands up from his desk. The body of the hyena leaning against him crumples onto the floorboards with a soft thud, and he leaves the study with a stern expression.

“Clean that up and prepare yourself to head into town.” Dustin commands. “Finally getting ready for your quest?” Ignis asks.
“Of course.” The cat replies. “We can’t keep our new friend waiting.”

The two make preparations to head into town and meet up with Wolfy in the guild. They had promised to act as Wolfy’s support in his quest to take out some troublesome bandits and help him rank up to a D-rank adventurer.

“Do you think that young boy is strong, Master?”

Ignis asks as they walk down the forestry path. The question catches the cat so off guard that he almost loses his footing as he jumps from rock to rock.

“Where is this coming from?” Dustin replies.

“I was just wondering,” Ignis says. “The boy said that this quest would be the test of whether he can rank up, and taking on bandits is a risky task for a young man like him.”

Dustin hums in thought. It’s not like he knows the wolf very well, so he can’t really comment on his strength.

“I’m not sure,” Dustin says. “E-rank adventurers are only a step above gatherers and local guardsmen, so it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say his power level might be lacking.”

Dustin jumps off the rocks and lands back on the path, turning swiftly around to face his servant. “Though it’s unfair to compare him to us,” Dustin adds.
“A demon and the son of two powerful mages is quite a jump in strength,” Ignis says, nodding along. “At least his victory is sure to be obtained with us around.”

Dustin gives a single laugh to that last statement.

“Yes, we would make it easy, but I’m looking for… something more exciting. Don’t you know?”

An expression of wistful dreaming comes to Dustin, thinking of the adventures and stories he had heard from his parents when they were adventurers.

“They gave me tales of grandeur and fights of epic proportions.” He says with great enthusiasm. “I want to see what made them want to do something dangerous.”

Dustin’s face shows all smiles and excitement, but Ignis looks at it with scrutiny. He doesn’t believe the face Dustin wears and quickly questions him for it.

“But is that truly what your face says?” Ignis asks blatantly.

His servant’s questioning makes the cat snap, and the area around him suffers for it. A flash of ice covers the ground and trees, pathing their way towards the wolf and spiking up into lances. They don’t reach the butler, but the points are ever so close to piercing his body.

“Enough about my character,” Dustin says sternly. “Another word of it, and I’ll make you pay.”

Dustin threatens, yet his expression doesn’t look angry. That blank stare looks at him, and Ignis all but laughs at it.

“Yes, of course, Master. My apologies.” He says.

Ignis casually walks away from the icicles and continues down the path. Dustin watches him for a moment. The anger the cat holds is fake, yet he has to show it somehow. Confused and frustrated, the cat leaves the icy ground he made, and the trip downhill becomes a silent one.

They reach the town and the guild with no trouble, save for the few comments on Ignis’s pink disguise. The guild is bustling as ever, and conversations and arguments fill the wooden walls. Wolfy is there waiting for them at a table and beckons both of them over.

“It’s Dustin and the other guy!” He says. “Other guy!” Ignis yells. “I do have a name.”
The young wolf rolls his eyes and waves at him dismissively. “Yeah, yeah. It’s Firecracker or something, right?”
Ignis wants to punch the kid so badly, and he looks towards his master for permission. Dustin ignores him and sits by the wolf with a gentle smile, betraying his servant.

“How could you!” Ignis thinks.

“It’s good to see you again, Wolfy. I’m guessing you’re ready for your trial?” Dustin asks. The wolf pounds his chest in confidence, puffing it out and grinning widely.
“Yep! I’ve had enough of taking up boring gathering quests. I want to be a hero and fight bad guys!”

“But fighting is dangerous,” Ignis interjects. “Are you sure you’re prepared?”

“Yeah, duh!” Wolfy yells as he slams the table. “I might not look it, but I’ve fought two rihorns and beat them unscathed!”

“Rihorns are gray beasts with large horns,” Dustin adds. “Their skin is quite tough, too, so taking them down is quite a feat. How did you take them down?”

“With this!” Wolfy puts his sword on the table, showing it off with immense pride.

Dustin and Ignis look at the blade Wolfy presents and are mildly underwhelmed. The blade is just an iron short sword and looks completely ordinary. A few chips and dents are there to show that it’s been well used, but beyond that, it’s nothing of note.

“So?” Wolfy asks with pride. “Cool blade, right? I got it from the blacksmith with all the money I could scrounge up, and he told me that this blade can cut down anything! It works pretty well, and I haven’t had any problems with it.”

Ignis opens his mouth to correct him, but Dustin shakes his head to spare the young wolf’s feelings.

“If what you say is true, then taking down two rihorns is impressive,” Dustin says.

“Heheh! What about you guys?” Wolfy asks. “You’re rank C, so you gotta have some cool abilities!”

Wolfy excitedly waits for Dustin and Ignis to show off, jumping up and down in his seat with his tail wagging.

“I’m a mage, and I specialize in the cold,” Dustin says, showing off first.

He conjures ice from his hand, floating as a pristine crystal. Wolfy gasps and looks at it with such enthusiasm.

“That’s amazing! I’ve never seen magic this cool before!”

Dustin laughs, and the young wolf laughs with him, glad that his pun was successful. “What does the other guy do?” Wolfy asks with a less-than-amused look.
Ignis grimaces and growls at the adventurer, but Dustin pokes his side to keep him in check. “Just show him,” Dustin says plainly.
Defeated, Ignis opens his palm and conjures a flame. Its warmth and light shine on the two of them, yet the young wolf is less than interested in looking at it.

“Ah, so you’re the opposite of cool.” Wolfy bluntly says.

Ignis grabs Dustin by the shoulders and looks at him with pleasing eyes. “Please let me punch him.”
Dustin just looks at him blankly and shakes his head. “No.”
The three talk for a while longer, getting acquainted with their abilities and forming a plan for the mission.

“Okay, guys!” Wolfy yells. “Now that we know what we can do, let’s look at the quest!” He pulls out a map and lays it across the table, pointing to a tower outside the village.

“The quest says a few bandits have been spotted in this area. The guild thinks that they’re trying to occupy this abandoned tower to expand and pressure this village, so we need to keep them in check and stop that from happening.”

“Sounds simple enough,” Dustin says. “Do you know the specific terrain around the tower?”

Wolfy nods, taking out a different map, one drawn in charcoal. The details of this map are extremely crude. Icons of the enemies are relegated to stick figures, and details of walls and hills are scratched out and redrawn. Ignis frowns and makes a face seeing such incompetence, yet when he looks towards Dustin, he seems to be taking it in stride.

“Yeah! I scouted and mapped the place just after I met you.” Wolfy says excitedly. “The tower is on a hill with four or five-ish enemies. I think there’ll be at least one archer because of that.”

Dustin nods along, listening intently. “Smart thinking.” He says. “The enemy will probably use the high ground to their advantage, so we must be cautious about that. Do we have any countermeasures?”

Wolfy takes out a small buckler and smacks the wooden front. “Got a shield I can hide behind!”
“I see. Then Ignis and I will support you from behind while you take aggro.” Dustin says. “Wait, wait!” Ignis interjects. “What are we supposed to do if they fire at us instead?” Dustin looks at him plainly and responds with just the same expression.
“Simply take out the enemy before they get the chance. That isn’t too hard, isn’t it?”

Ignis is in disbelief with how reckless his master is being. His earlier comments about Dustin’s character probably set him off, and now they’re going to pay the price for it.

“Master… I suggest that we shouldn’t-“

“Ooh! The big pink wolf is scared!” Wolfy taunts. “I am not scared!” Ignis yells back.
The young adventurer sticks his tongue out, and he successfully gets a snarl out of the butler. Dustin has to put himself between the two to make sure they don’t throw down right there.

“Hmph! Alright, we’ll disregard my advice and just go in blazing.” Ignis says with a huff.

“Then it seems we’re ready.” Dustin proclaims. “Shall we head off?” Wolfy nods excitedly, jumping out of the seat to stand on the table. “Yes! Let’s get to it!”
And so, the three make their way out of town to handle these bandits. Wolfy takes the front as planned, and the other two hang back. While they trek their way there, Ignis strikes a question to Dustin.

“You’re being awfully difficult today.” He says. “Is it because of all the things I said before?” The cat stays silent for a moment before laughing at his servant.
“That’s part of it, but wouldn’t anyone be mad if you were questioned like that?”

“I suppose,” Ignis admits. “But I must keep you safe at all costs, as per the contract. Risking your safety like this does not do wonders for that.”

Dustin giggles and laughs, getting cheeky with his tone.

“Not feeling confident, Ignis? You’re a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

A huff comes out of Ignis, and it gets another laugh out of the cat. The demon knows that he’s just trying to get a rise out of him, yet he can’t stop himself from enjoying it.

“Hmph. Flattery will get you everywhere, but my point still stands.”

“I know,” Dustin says. “And I told you before. I’m looking for some excitement.”

Dustin suddenly grabs Ignis’s hand and puts it over his chest. He can feel the cat’s heart beating fast, pumping with excitement. Ignis wasn’t expecting him to be so forward, and when his eyes met with Dustin, he understood what he was looking for.

Those eyes were perverted, itching for an experience that could take him over the edge. This face was a real one, completely genuine in its entirety. His mouth waters in thirst, and his cheeks blush with awkward heat. He was enamored with the feeling of death coming at him.

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if an arrow pierced my heart?” He says, whispering in Ignis’s ear. “I thought you’d like that sort of thing.”

For a brief moment, Ignis is stunned and speechless, pulling away as soon as he regains his composure.

“Ahem! Y-You’re just messing with me!” Says the wolf, yet his body says otherwise. His cock certainly liked the idea, and Dustin could see the excitement growing in his pants. The cat giggles, certainly having fun saying such things.

“Call it revenge, Ignis,” Dustin says, grinning widely. “Keep it in mind the next time you want to mess with me.”

Before Ignis can retaliate, Dustin runs up to Wolfy upfront to get away from him, quickly striking up a conversation to make himself busy.

Ignis, yet again, doesn’t know what Dustin is thinking. The moment he tries to understand him, the further away he feels like he’s getting, but at least he isn’t trying to distance himself from him.

A while later, they finally have the tower come into view. Wolfy beckons the others to hide behind some bushes and examine the situation.

“From the looks of it, it seems like five men are manning the station,” Dustin says quietly.

Wolfy nods, pointing out one of the bandits in the crowd. The one he points to is a tall dalmatian with light blue spots, ordering around the other bandits.

“That one is the boss, I think.” Wolfy comments. “I’m not sure what they’re doing here, but it looks like they’re prepping for something.”

It’s hard to see, but the dalmatian seems to be directing the other bandits. He points out where to stand and which way to face. It’s an odd sight for sure.

“What is he trying to do…?” Dustin asks.

The cat questions the oddity of the situation, but his thoughts are interrupted by Ignis’s hand on his shoulder.

“Something isn’t right.”

Ignis says it with such seriousness that it takes Dustin by surprise. Ignis’s eyes glow a fiery orange, signaling that he’s been using magic, but Dustin doesn’t know what spell he’s casting.

“What’s wrong?” He asks.

Ignis doesn’t answer and immediately goes up running at high speed towards the dalmatian. Wolfy yells at him to come back, but he doesn’t stop. The dalmatian sees Ignis come running up the hill and panics, telling everyone to attack.

“A-Archers! Fire!” He commands.

The two archers on the tower fire arrows down at Ignis, but the wolf is quick to dodge and deflect them. The foot soldiers don’t even have a chance to swing at him as he grabs the dalmatian by the shirt and takes him away.

“Hey! Where is he going?” Wolfy yells.

They watch as Ignis takes the dog to someone unknown and out of sight. The two of them don’t know what to make of what just happened.

“Uh… Did something happen?” Wolfy asks.

Dustin could only look at him with the same amount of surprise. “I’m not sure.”
Despite the confusion, Dustin quickly realizes that the bandits are left confused. Now is the perfect time to attack!

“We should get in there and clear them out while they’re confused!”

Wolfy looks to the bandits, looking around, lost and confused, and understands immediately. “You’re right! Let’s get in there!”
The two then go charging up the hill with blades and spells in hand. As predicted, the archers aim their shots at Wolfy in the front, Wolfy easily blocking them with his buckler. Dustin takes this downtime to shoot icicles at the archers, landing his shots at both of them.

“Archer's down!” Dustin yells. “Aye!”
Wolfy acknowledges the threat dealt with and goes toe to toe with the other two bandits. He runs up to one of them and quickly disarms him. That bandit stumbles back, open for the attack, and he takes it, striking him down in a single blow!

“Gotcha!” Wolfy celebrates his quick kill, but he lets his guard down too quickly. The other bandit comes towards him with an axe overhead to come down on him.

“Crap!”

Suddenly, the bandit stops, or rather, gets stuck. Dustin is quick to assist and freezes the bandit’s feet in place.

“Go ahead and finish it!” The cat yells. “Alright! Have at it!”
And Wolfy goes and stabs the bandit clean through the chest. The bandit gives a pitiful grunt and drops to the ground with a hefty thud. The battle ends with all the enemies downed, and the fighting is finished. Wolfy and Dustin had succeeded in the quest.

“Yes! We did it!” The wolf jumps up for joy and hugs Dustin. “That was really scary, but we managed to get through it! Thanks a lot for the assistance!”

Dustin gives a soft smile back to Wolfy, but he turns his attention to the fallen bandits. “Wolfy, did you feel like these bandits were a little weird?”
Wolfy tilts his head.

“Huh? Something weird about them? I guess they’re a little young to be bandits. Looks to be my age.”

Dustin shakes his head.

“No, no! That’s not what I meant.”

The cat crouches down to examine the fallen bandits more closely. He sees that they’re not bleeding out much. The blood actually looks pretty dark, and when he touches the bodies, it’s surprisingly cold.

“Could it be…?”

Dustin is about to reach a conclusion, but Wolfy screams out to him. “Look out!”
Wolfy suddenly shields Dustin with his whole body, taking an arrow shot to the back. “Argh!”
Wolfy cries out in pain, quickly losing footing and dropping to the ground. Dustin tries reaching out to help him, but he quickly has to dodge a surprise sword swing. It nearly misses his cheek,

and he stumbles back, falling onto the ground. Dustin watches as the bandits they defeated rise back up and point their weapons at him. They celebrated their victory too early.

“Undead…” Dustin‘s fear is realized, and he quickly readies himself. Wolfy is bleeding out, and the bandits separate him from Wolfy.

“Don’t think I’ll go lie down and die!”

Dustin yells out his war cry and goes on the offensive. He stamps the ground with his fist, and ice spreads across the ground. It reaches the two bandits nearby and starts growing at their feet. They swing at the ice coming up their bodies, but it grows too quickly and encases them. Arrows fly towards the cat, but Dustin is quick, conjuring ice in front of himself to catch the arrows at his face. He then shatters that wall with a kick, sending ice chunks flying at the tower. Those chucks crash into the archers, exploding the top into a giant cold crystal. Everything is left in ice, and a long sigh leaves Dustin’s mouth as his breath turns to fog.

Dustin doesn’t have time to celebrate his victory as he goes to Wolfy on the ground. “Wolfy! You…”
Dustin sees that a lot of blood has pooled under him. Too much has been lost, and surviving doesn’t seem plausible for him. He's going to die.

“You were incredible…” Wolfy suddenly speaks, incredibly weak and soft. “If I had that kind of power, I’d be able to be a hero people wanted me to be.”

Wolfy’s quivering eyes look up at Dustin, tearing up from the disappointment in his heart. “Sorry, I couldn’t be one…” He says.
Dustin, however, shakes his head and smiles softly at him.

“You protected me. That’s what heroes do.” Dustin says. “You are, and will always be a hero. My hero.”

A tiny laugh leaves Wolfy, and he closes his eyes. “…Thanks.”
And he never opens them again.

Moments pass, and Ignis finally returns to Dustin. He comes with the body of the dalmatian, carrying it over his shoulder.

“Master Dustin!”

There’s urgency when he calls out to him, but when he sees Wolfy lying cold and unresponsive, he quickly swallows his words. Dustin, however, turns and responds to his call.

“Yes, Ignis?”

When Dustin turned to look at him, Ignis was expecting to see Dustin in tears, yet there wasn’t any. In fact, it was a smile that he saw. A genuine smile.

“O-Oh! Excuse me. I wasn’t expecting you to be so… elated about this.”

“Ah…” Dustin says. “You’re right. People are supposed to cry when someone dies. Don’t they?”

The cat keeps his smile on his face, soft and loving, at his fallen friend. He keeps petting his head, staring at the sleeping expression on his lap.

“I’m sorry,” Dustin says. “I just can’t find myself to cry. Wolfy gave me such a wonderful experience that my heart just feels so light.”

The cat holds his own cheek to feel the warmth radiating from it. “I think I’ve fallen in love with him.”
The words strike awe into Ignis. No way in a million years that he would have expected this to be his reaction. He just looks at his master with disbelief, unable to process the words he said.

“Ignis,” Dustin calls out to him. “Huh?”
“What did you want?”

The smile fades from his face, and the fear lessens inside of Ignis. He takes a deep breath and recomposes himself to speak seriously.

“I’ve learned quite a bit from this bandit here. It’s something that we must discuss.” He then looks at the mayhem Dustin left behind, seeing all the bandits stuck in ice. “Though it seems there’s a lot to do before that.”

The cat laughs lightly, that gentle smile coming back to his face. “We’ll have six new friends to play with! Isn’t that exciting?” He says.

Ignis can only sigh as he is the one who's going to do most of the work.

“Yes, but you'd better help me out. This ice isn’t going to melt any time soon.”

A long and busy day is left ahead of Dustin and Ignis as they both retrieve and clean up the bodies at the manor. They lay out each one in a line in the foyer, undressing them and laying their belongings next to them.

“We have a brown bear, a red fox, a dalmatian, two blue-scaled lizards, and Wolfy. That’s quite the haul for today!”

Dustin wipes his forehead, proud of the work he’s done. He looks at each cute boy laid out in front of him, seeing their blank stares. He especially locks his eyes on Wolfy’s figure. His heart races when he stares at his body, and the soft purring does not go unnoticed.

“I’m so happy that Wolfy gets to join us tonight!” Dustin says. “You must be feeling great too, since you got another fill of souls today, Ignis.”

The demon doesn’t respond until his name is called. “Hm? Oh, well, I only had the one.”
Ignis responds dismissively. He seemed to be lost in thought about something, completely uninterested in the boys displayed.

“Something on your mind?” Dustin asks.

“Hm? Oh, yes. It’s about what I wanted to tell you before.”

The cat gives a soft realization as he examines one of the bodies. He gestures for Ignis to continue, touching Wolfy’s abs to keep himself busy.

“Ah, well. That dalmatain… he was a special one.” Dustin raises an eyebrow, curious as to what he means. “Special? What exactly do you mean by that?” He asks.
“Before I charged in and took that boy away, I was casting a few spells on them.” Dustin nods, recalling seeing Ignis trying to do something back then.
“Yes, I remember, but what exactly were you doing?”

“I was crushing his heart,” Ignis says bluntly.

“Crushing his heart?” Dustin parrots. “There’s a spell for that?” Ignis chuckles, amused by the cat’s disbelief.
“There’s a spell for everything, but that’s besides the point.” He says. “When I tried to use that spell on him, it worked, but he didn’t die.”

Dustin gives a light ‘oh’ understanding of the problem there. “That is problematic.” He says.
“Right,” Ignis responds. “So, I knew he was trouble and took him out of the equation. I was hoping to interrogate him and get some information as to how he could achieve this sort of immortality.”

“And what did you find out?” Dustin asks.

“That he somehow separated his body from his soul and mind.”

Dustin gives quite a look at Ignis when he says that, and the demon shares the sentiment with a knowing look.

“It sounds unbelievable, I know, but that is basically what he told me. Having his body separate from the mind and soul means the body could functionally be dead, but the soul and mind could still use it as a vessel.”

“He’s dead on our floor, though.” Dustin obviously points out. “How did you kill him?”

“He may have separated his body from his soul, but that doesn’t stop me from eating it.” Ignis says.

The sort of casual comment gets a snicker out of Dustin, but to Ignis, it was just obvious.

“He wasn’t expecting a demon to be there, so his soul was just up for the taking.” He says, looking pitifully at the dog. “Poor sap didn’t know it was so easy to be killed.”

Dustin laughs at the irony, but the thought of immortality bothers him. “How did he get the idea he was immortal?” Dustin asks.
“Well, I think I can explain that with the other boys.”

Ignis goes and flips the undead bandits over into their fronts, revealing their behinds. He points to their butts and gestures to the lack of tails.

“He mentioned something about these poor boys, but I’ve yet to really understand. But I’ve seen this pattern before, and I’m sure you know what they mean.”

Dustin’s expression turns sour as he sees this sign. It brings back an awful memory. One of torture and pain.

“So it’s related to them, huh?” He says quietly.

Ignis waits for Dustin to respond to his question, but he doesn’t get it. Instead, he gets a pouty cat, crossing his arms defensively.

“I don’t want to talk about this right now. Let’s save it for tomorrow and follow up on this. Alright?” He says.

Ignis nods and bows respectfully, returning to his work on prepping the dead boys. “I’m going to the town now,” Dustin says abruptly.
“Huh? How come?” Ignis asks.

“The death of Wolfy should be reported, as well as this case of necromancy. If it’s as bad as I think it is, this case will be too much to handle on our own.”

Dustin brushes himself off and heads towards the entrance. “I’ll leave the prep to you.”
“Of course,” Ignis replies with a hefty sigh.

“You can have some fun with them,” Dustin says. “But leave Wolfy untouched. That one is mine.”

Dustin leaves with a soft smile on his face, looking longingly at the dead wolf on the floor. That smile still sends shivers down Ignis’s spine, yet he seems relieved about it.

“Looks like I’m finally getting to know you.” He says, working happily with the boys in front of him.

Back in town, the cat comes into the guild late in the day. The sun is setting, and the orange tint of the sky plasters itself through the windows. The receptionist greets him with that business smile and greets him like any other day.

“Welcome back. Was your quest successful? I don’t see Wolfy here with you.”

The inquiry sounded so innocent, yet it was a hard thing to answer. However, Dustin doesn’t react to it at all and answers plainly and clearly.

“The quest was a success, yes, but unfortunately, Wolfy did not survive.” The news gives the receptionist a mini heart attack, gasping in shock. “W-What? What happened?” He asks.
Dustin relays the incident, detailing the situation of necromancy and the undead. The receptionist nods along, noting down the happenings on a piece of paper.

“How terrifying!” The receptionist says. “This has to be reported! The king and the church must know that there’s a group of undead stirring.”

“Yes, I agree,” Dustin replies. “I’ve already done the precaution of burning the bodies so they won’t be used for nefarious means, but I’m afraid that Wolfy’s family won’t have much to remember him by.”

Dustin lies about burning the bodies, but he means that last part sincerely. “If I could do anything to help his family, please let me know.”
The receptionist smiles, hearing that, but the smile is bittersweet as the receptionist tells Dustin an unfortunate truth.

“That’s very sweet of you, but I’m afraid there isn’t anything you can do. Wolfy is an orphan. His parents died in the last demon war, so he was taken in at the Lily Orphanage.”

“Oh, I see.”

That bit of news was unexpected, to say the least. To hear such a troubling past and the dream he was meant to fulfill tugged at the cat’s heart.

“That really is unfortunate.” He says softly.

There wasn’t much left to do but leave a sorrowful goodbye. He goes back home thinking about the life Wolfy was meant to live.

“I’m back.”

Dustin comes home to an empty foyer. Seems like Ignis is done with the boys, or at least moved them somewhere else. He doesn’t see the demon around, so Dustin heads to his room immediately.

“Ah, there you are.”

As soon as he comes into the room, he’s greeted with Wolfy lying face up on his bed. The sight of his naked body would have been a nice welcome, but he couldn’t help but think about Wolfy’s unfortunate life.

“Your life was pretty rough, living during the time the demon lord had control over everything.” Dustin starts undressing himself, tossing his clothes to the side as he climbs onto the bed. “They gave you famine, war, and death, taking away your parents on top of that.”
He slides right next to Wolfy, keeping his eyes right on that blank expression. His hands glide down Wolfy’s chest and to his groin, grazing his fingers against his cock.

“And now, you’re gone, unable to live that life you were meant to have.”

Dustin climbs on top of Wolfy’s body and stares down at his blank, blue eyes. He gets lost in them, just feeling so much sadness for his lover tonight.

“At least you accomplished one thing.” He says. “You were a hero. My hero. And I’ll never forget that.”

Dustin’s muzzle tickles against Wolfy’s, teasing a kiss. He’s hesitant at first, but he goes for it, opening his maw and letting his tongue share its heat with him. Wolfy’s mouth is still wet, tasting his tongue as the saliva is shared. Dustin parts as he feels his heart beat, never feeling so enamored with someone before. His cock was already hard when he came in the room, but now it was ready to share its heat.

Dustin puts himself between Wolfy’s legs and folds him. His cock presses up against the young wolf’s taint, and it slides in easily.

“Haaah! You’re still warm…”

Wolfy’s death had only just happened, so the warmth in his corpse was still there. Dustin felt so happy to feel the last of his heat before it’ll all be gone.

“Take it slow. It’s your first time after all.”

Dustin talks to him as if he’s still there, thrusting slowly to be gentle. Soft groans leave Dustin’s mouth, unable to keep himself composed. The cat shifts his weight, leaning in more and going deeper. The sounds of his hips slapping against Wolfy’s dead body ring in his ears, just making him harder and wanting to be rough.

“I… I love…!”

He gasps between his words as he picks up the pace, now slamming himself into the dead wolf. The bed creaks with every thrust, and the bed frame thumps with every move. All he can see is the face of a lovely boy, staring right at him, and every part of him wants to give it to him.

“I…! I love you!”

Dustin proclaims his love as he slams his cock as deep as he can, cumming and giving his warm load to Wolfy. He doesn’t stop fucking him as he keeps unloading his seed, kissing him deeply again as he does. He gives him a few more thrusts until he feels completely spent, cum spilling over inside the dead wolf. He parts and stares lovingly at his mate one more time, licking his snout.

“I love you, Wolfy. I really do.”

Dustin proclaims his love again and collapses on top of his dead lover. His cock slips ou,t and the dead boy’s legs fall back down with a light thud. The cat pants heavily, unusually tired.
Perhaps it’s because of what happened today, but he feels at home just filling him once tonight. He snuggles up to him, kisses him below his neck, falling quickly asleep next to him.

“I’ll make sure your desire lives on. Good night, my hero.” And the night would end for these two.
Yet, it was still young for some. Back in town, where a church lies quiet, the priest is given a letter by the guild receptionist. He opens it and reads its contents, chuckling by the end of it.

“So, the wheel of fate turns. How have they broken it and reshaped it in their unsightly image.”

The priest turns to a glass window, looking upon the image of god before him in the moonlight. The horns of the goat man are both broken in its light.

“It is time to set things right.”