James had 'punished' Emily until she was 'happy' last night, but in the middle of it he had heard a grunt and noticed his door was slightly open.
When he checked it out, a pile of liquid was staining the wood floors and walls in an arc.
James put on his clothes for the day and thought, 'This is kinda embarrassing.. I bet a maid came delivering drinks and saw. The whole staff probably knows what I was doing by now.. I bet I look like a colossal pervert to everyone.'
As he stepped out of his room, Veronica and Emily had turned to him and bowed. James wondered what they doing until they both said something that left him confused.
"Happy birthday!"
His mind instantly understood when recalled his character sheet from the day before, his age had displayed a 15.
'I really didn't even notice honestly, birthdays have always just been another day.'
James hadn't celebrated a single birthday growing up back on earth, bouncing from one foster family to another never staying in one place long enough for the occasion to be brought up. When he turned 17 and enlisted into the army early, he had already stopped caring about stuff like that long ago.
James wasn't entirely speechless and a strange feeling welled up in his gut as he muttered a quiet thank you.
Footsteps echoed to the side as James saw Lady Justine, who had weird flush, walking towards him.
"Happy birthday, Sir James." She smiled.
"Umm.. uh.. thank you."
Before the silence turned awkward Justine eyes bulged as she said, "What hell!? You're level 8! And [Dauntless]! That's for killing something 20 levels higher than you! Explain this now."
James scratched his head while saying, "Actually it's for defeating someone 30 levels higher…" as he looked away and whistled.
Lady Justine's eye twitched as her mouth opened and closed.
"My office, now. You will explain what you have been up to the past couple days." Saying this, Justine walked over to the door and impatiently tapped her foot.
James looked at Veronica and Emily and shrugged.
———————————————————
"That still doesn't explain how you gained 7 LEVELS. 7. You're a man, you're exp gain is limited."
"That's actually related to a perk I have, it-" James explanation halted when Justine put her hand up.
"While I don't understand how a perk could allow you to do that, I'll accept it as fact for now. James perks are personal, two people rarely have the same one. Never tell someone about your perks unless you trust them with your life and I still wouldn't do it then."
"Oh.. okay."
"I now kind of understand what happened, so that makes this easier to say. James you are not allowed to leave the town walls, I was going to tell you to come back early today for some special news, but I cannot have you getting hurt under my supervision." She said with a sigh, James story had somehow frazzled her perfect blue braids.
With a sigh of his own James asked, "I understand Lady Justine and I don't want to put you in an awkward position. But what special news are you talking about?"
Leaning back in her chair she said, "It's about your family, if my hunch is correct then you'll be reunited soon. There's still a chance I'm wrong however, so don't be disappointed if I am."
'My family.. but I was isekai'd? How could I have a family here, she's definitely got me mixed up with someone else.'
"Oh that's good. I promise to keep my expectations low then haha." James said with a forced chuckle.
Justine looked out the window and smiled, "We just heard about your birthday last night so everything's a little rushed, but they should be finished by now."
"What should be finished by now?" James asked confused.
"Go outside and head to the square, it's not much but everyone worked hard on it." Seeing James was still sitting she shooed him away, "Just go, it's a surprise."
'That went a bit better than I thought it would honestly, I figured she would've tied me to the bed after hearing about the ogre. Now then, what's happening at the square? Is there a holiday today or something.'
———————————————————
The couple streets leading over to the square were fairly empty, but they're was an excited buzz in the air. Being carried by Veronica, he noticed banners hanging up in the distance and stalls that had sprung up haphazardly overnight.
As he got closer, people noticed him excitedly and eventually a few commanding looking women stepped towards them. These ladies seemed to be in charge of whatever was happening and stopped a short distance away from him.
A gruff voice came from the middle one, she had short brown curly hair and a impressively muscular frame that belonged in a bodybuilding competition.
"Happy birthday, Sir James. We know it's not much but everyone did their best to throw you an okay birthday party. Everyone has been in high spirits since a man has come here and they wanted to do something for you."
"A birthday party… for me?" That strange feeling formed in his gut again.
"Yes Sir, if you wait over there for a moment we can begin." The woman said pointing to a singular chair on the edge of the street on the inside of the square.
Numbly and bewildered by this development James responded, "Uh alright."
Walking over, all around he heard greetings and cheers of happy birthday.
'It's just another day, why are they so happy for me?'
Sitting down, a minute passed as everyone cleared to either side of the street. Soon a clapping and stomping rhythm entered his ears.
Looking to his left where the sound had come from, he saw a rows of women marching and holding flags. When they got closer his face went black as he made out what was displayed on each.
Each flag seemed like a personal creation and proudly displayed their artistic talent. Each flag had an image of James depicted in a suggestive pose.
'These goddamn perverts.'
Quite a few were similar, it showed him on a bed in tighty whiteys holding his arms out for some unseen lover. Others showed him making different expressions while biting his finger or blushing. Some were of him being held in the arms of the woman who created their flag.
As the procession of 100 or so people walked by another group replaced them.
This group was composed of 6 women who wore nothing but underwear and had a wooden weapon in their hands. They turned to him and bowed before a 3v3 melee began.
After one side had finally won, the three victors appeared before James again. At once they started flexing in various poses before shouting happy birthday and leaving.
'Is this how people celebrate birthdays?'
James face was getting more strained with each passing act. Jugglers wielding fire batons preformed as women cartwheeled up and down the street behind them.
'This weird as hell, but it makes me happy knowing they're doing it for me..'
His praise ended there as about 50 women carried a carved stone statue of his almost naked body came into view. He was depicted as frail and shy with a hand covering his privates with a very small washcloth.
'I take it back! I'm not happy about this at all..'
As they passed, James saw the next group appear. 25 women holding staffs stood in front of him and he wondered what their act would be.
Low voices sounded as brilliant lights took form.
'That's magic! This is awesome!'
The magic swirled in a rainbow of colors in the air until an image of James appeared.
'This is so freakin cool'
The magic image began to move and his face went black once again.
Women cheered as the image of James did a striptease. The image now only left James wearing a bulging jockstrap as he blew a kiss. The kiss had transformed into a pink heart and blew towards the biggest crowd of women. They went nuts as the magic washed over them. He saw more than a few faint, foam pouring out their mouths.
'How has my desire to learn magic been destroyed so quickly..'
The mages then stood in a line as women formed ranks behind them. The flag bearers, jugglers, and even the women with the statue getting in line. All the women on street sides had joined in as well, the entire town getting ready for one last display.
'What are they planning now..'
He heard a command ring out from a familiar voice.
'Lady Justine?'
"FORWARD, MAAARCH!" as the townswomen moved, a chant roared out.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES"
'Wow that gave me chills..'
"WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH"
'This is kind of wholesome.'
"WE WANT TO STRIP YOU DOWN AND SNIFF YOUR MANLY MUSK"
'What the fuck man.. is that Galea?'
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES"
'How many verses are there..'
"YOUR'RE OUR ONE TRUE DESIRE"
'Ugh..'
"SO RIP OFF OUR PANTS AND SET OUR CROTCH ON FIRE"
The chant went on and on for several minutes before Justine commanded a halt and the group executed a right face.
Now turned towards them, the women bellowed out one last happy birthday.
A moment of silence passed before Veronica nudged him and Emily whispered,
"Say thank you or something so they can break formation.'
James was overwhelmed by the perverse nature of these women but still felt that strange feeling in his gut which had moved into his chest.
Breathing deeply he yelled back, "THANK YOU SO MUCH, I'M VERY HAPPY!"
And James meant it, that feeling in his chest made him want to do something for these people who were just happy to have him around.
Before the women broke rank he put up a hand to stall them, he then unbuttoned his shirt entirely leading to excited gasps. He then put a finger to his lip and stuck out his tongue like a child who got caught doing something naughty.
Cries of "Kyyahhh" and "Thank you goddess" rang out. He then blew a kiss like the magic show he witnessed earlier, then sat back down.
The silence after the blown kiss was harsh and no body moved.
'That's embarrassing.. I thought they would've liked that-' his thought cut off by a series of thuds.
More than half of the women had fainted while others bent at the knee's clenching their chests.
James whispered up at Veronica and Emily, "Should I have done that?"
Veronica turned her head away while blushing and Emily stated, "That was a little too powerful of a move for regular people.." she had to wipe blood away from her nose as she spoke.
Soon the festivities began in earnest as a town wide party took place.
Lady Justine had found him awhile later, "So, what did you think? It wasn't much but I hope it was a little entertaining at least."
James chuckled lightly as he said, "I'm actually blown away, I wish I could thank everyone individually for putting on such a display on my behalf."
Lady Justine smiled and said, "I think you already did, though that 'move' needs to be used with caution. I'm afraid you already have fans for life now."
———————————————————
Around evening James crew went back to the manor with Lady Justine. It was about time for her promised news to arrive.
They made their way into her office and waited, a few minutes later an envelope popped onto the desk, startling James.
"That's really neat, is that [Instant Message]?"
"Yes Sir James, it's really handy for conversing with people far away if you don't have a relay stone. The only downside is that you can only send it to a place and not a specific person, so you have to set a up a chain of people to talk with someone who's in a place you haven't visited."
"That's really interesting, but we should probably just go ahead and get the bad news out of the way first." James wasn't the least bit concerned about what was written inside that letter.