Chapter 4: Hearth, Home and Family

The four of us arrive outside the door of the so-called Heroes Spire. It’s a towering spire in the central wing of the castle designed to be a living and operations base for the Heroes. Apparently this place has been here for hundreds of years and every batch of heroes lives here for most of their stay. The attendant has mentioned that this place is equipped with every amenity and luxury that the Kingdom could provide. There were apparently many levels, a war room for planning, a barracks for the Heroes chosen subordinates, a leisure room, a dining area and a private bath.

“So this is where we will be living, let’s go check it out.” Jacob says as he throws open the door and walks in. The door swings back and Ivan catches in before following after him.

I move to follow and catch the door that was swinging back at me. As I walk through I hold the door open for Charlotte, she gives me a warm smile as she steps over the threshold. I guess the other two’s worlds never really thought them any manners.

“Thank you.” Charlotte says.

“Don’t mention it.” I reply as I turn and examine the room.

It’s a large room with what looks to be four connected personal rooms. The walls were made of stone and the floor is made of a warm coloured wood. A large plush red carpet covers the centre of the room, on the carpet are several red couches. In the middle of the couches is a large hardwood table and in front of the table is a large hearth with crackling logs warming the room. The personal rooms are positioned on the left and right with the hearth at the back of the room. Next to the hearth is a floor to ceiling window that shows a view overlooking the city. It looks like the windows can be opened like a door and on the other side is a stone balcony lit by glowing orbs. All things considered this is a lot of room for four people, I can fit at least twenty people here. Quite the luxurious upgrade from a bombed out ruin of a supermarket.

“Thank you Life Hero sama but there is no need to hold the door for one such as me.” I hear the attendant say from behind him.

I turn to see Charlotte holding the door for the attendant. The attendant is a young woman with plain brown hair, she is shapely in figure and rather pretty. Not as pretty as Charlotte or that princess but definitely nice on the eyes. I have no idea why but every woman I meet seems to be pretty to a greater or lesser extent. Maybe it’s because I’m in a royal palace and everyone here is either noble ladies or needs a certain level of attractiveness to work here. Either way it didn’t matter much to him, he wasn’t here to find a girl.

“Nonsense, common courtesy must be extended to everyone. I am Charlotte von Holstein, if I treated you as my lesser it would dishonour my house.” Charlotte replied kindly.

I see the attendant’s eyes widen for a moment at those words. Then she bows again reverently.

“The legends are true, truly your benevolence is boundless.” the attendant says.

“Please raise your head…” Charlotte says now with a strained smile on her face.

Sensing this exchange is probably going to take awhile, I turn around and continue deeper into the room. I notice Jacob open one of the rooms and his body stiffens.

“Erm… why is it completely empty except for this weird blue cube?” Jacob asks as he turns his head to look at the attendant.

“Ah yes! My apologies Light Hero sama.” the attendant says as she briskly walks over to the door but not before she gives Charlotte one last bow.

“That is the Room Personaliser, it is an arcane construct from ages past. We do not know how it is made nor how it’s internal functions work. But we do know what it does. When a Hero touches the cube, the room will be transformed into the ideal living space for said Hero.” the attendant said.

“Oh really? That’s convenient.” Jacob said as he turned to look at the cube.

“Let's give it a go shall we.” Jacob says as he approaches the cube and touches it.

In an instant the room transforms. The grey stone walls are gone, replaced with modern white plaster walls, the floor is made of a dark blue carpet and the furniture is all of a modern design. I look up to see many things plastered on the wall, the first thing that catches my eye is the flag on the wall. It’s the American flag with it’s red and white stripes but there were no 13 white stars. Instead where the stars were supposed to be was a picture of Earth drawn in white.

So all the world is America in his world…

There were other things as well, American football jerseys, pictures of people I recognised as famous in America’s history, the giant words, Freedom, Liberty, Equality... It seems he is quite the patriot, even his bed is in the red, white and blue…

“Yes this will do.” Jacob says with a satisfied nod.

“I am pleased you are satisfied with your accommodations Light Hero sama.” the attendant said.

“Yeah, I’ve never slept in a king size bed before.” Jacob says with a laugh.

“Yes, the size is intentional, in addition to my duties such as cleaning the main common room outside, escorting you to summons by important individuals and delivering your meals. I am also available to warm your beds if you so require.” the attendant said calmly.

“What?” I ask, stunned at that last part.

“Pardon?” Charlotte asks her face going scarlet.

“Huh?” Jacob asks slack jawed.

“Sorry?” Ivan asks furrowing his brows.

“It is expected in this world for servants to tend to their lords and ladies, every need.” the attendant replies seemingly unbothered with the fact that her job included sleeping with any of us if we so requested.

There is an awkward pause as the four of us just stared at each other, gazes darting form one to the other.

“I don’t think that will be necessary.” I reply dryly.

“Yes, thank you we will be needing such services.” Charlotte said uncomfortably.

“Agreed.” Ivan says stiffly.

“Hang on, doesn’t this deal not work for Charlotte? This only works for her unless she bats the other way.” Jacob said.

“It is unbecoming for a woman to call another man to her bedchamber, it is considered a sign of harlotry. Thus it is established that another woman must fill the role. It is common for the ladies to call their female servants to their chambers when the need arises.” the attendant explains patiently.

So a man can sleep with whoever he wishes, but a woman can’t and has settle for the same sex? So much for gender equality… Then again this world is something like an medieval era, many past civilisations treated women like property. Luckily it seems all our worlds seem to have moved on from that. Judging by what I have read about it, the abolishment of that world view is definitely a good thing.

“I… you…” Charlotte sputtered, her face going so red I swear if it gets any reder steam would be coming out of her ears.

“Thank you miss, but we will not need such services. I think we can keep our urges in check.” I say as I cast a glance at the other three.

“Yeah, making a girl sleep with you because it’s her job just doesn’t feel right.” Jacob said, stiffly.

So he’s open to the idea if she is willing? Well I have heard that the people in the west are more sexually open as compared to the people in the east. Well at least on the outside, the Japanese don’t talk about it as openly but I am sure it still happens. Whether which culture is more open towards it… well I'm a 16 year old child soldier. I don’t exactly have access to global census data on something like that.

“Agreed.” Ivan grunted.

Charlotte is now reduced to biting her lip and staring at the floor. Her face is still as red as a tomato, although less so as compared to when Jacob asked that question.

“I suggest we all exercise some self control, you don’t want to get a surprise in nine months.” I say with a sigh, so it is the Dark Hero that is the voice of reason eh?

“That is not a concern if that is the reason for the hesitation. There are potions that have a contraceptive effect. There is also a potion of the opposite effect when attempting to sire a child. The potions do this by increasing the or decreasing the volume of seed relea…” the attendant said.

“Ok ok ok, thank you Madam. We understand.” I say cutting her off. I don’t need those kinds of details.

“Then do any of you require my…” the attendant began again.

“No, that’s ok. Thank you for the offer but we do not require any of those kinds of services at the moment or the foreseeable future.” I reply again, cutting her off. Charlotte by now is so red I’m starting to get worried she’s going to burst a blood vessel.

“Well… yea.” Jacob said awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head.

I looked to the other three and noted the awkward silence now permeating the room.

“That will be all Madam. If you don’t mind it’s getting late we would like to rest.” I say to the attendant.

“As you wish Dark Hero sama. There is an enchanted bell near the door, feel free to ring it any hour of the day if you require anything. In addition there is a book on the table in the centre of the room, it details some of the information you are required to know. Tomorrow at dawn you will be attending a training session to help you get accustomed to combat.” the attendant said and with a bow she left the room.

“Guess we should set up our rooms and have a look at that book.” I offer as a suggestion.

“Yes, let’s do that…” Charlotte replies softly as she shuffles out of the room and moves to take an unoccupied room on the other side of the room.

I see Ivan take the room next to Jacob’s leaving the only room available the one next to Charlotte’s. Well I guess that one's mine.

As I enter the room I see the cube and I touch it. I look around and see a simple japanese room. The floor is made of tatami and the walls painted in calm green with bamboo accents and there on the side is a large bed. Not a traditional futon but a modern king size bed with beige sheets matching the color scheme for the rest of the room. I expected it to look like my old room, with its modern furniture. This looks like a hybrid, there was a modern single seating sofa with a standing lamp and an empty bookshelf behind it. This must be my reading corner, it used to be a favourite pastime of mine, before everything went to shit.

I walk over to the lamp and see no wire. I notice a switch. I flick it and it turns on with an orange glow. I see the light bulb glowing, I have no idea it’s on with no electricity. Probably magic…

Then I notice at the corner of the room is a large ornate wooden cabinet, though it is large it isn’t that tall and in front of it on the floor is a cushion. At least that’s what it would look like to an unaware observer. That’s Batsuden, a shrine for deceased family members, the cushion is a dead giveaway. I approach it shakily and kneel on the cushion facing the wooden surface. I open it’s wooden doors, they swing open easily and I see the typical fare of Batsuden. In the middle a fine bowl filled with ash and sticks of incense unlit sitting perpendicular to the bowl. On the side are food offerings, rock melon for my father, strawberries for Shuji and on the flanks beautiful white flowers arranged with the same care as my mother did when we first added my father’s picture to our Batsuden. I look up to see a black and white pictures of Shuji and my father.

I reach for the incense and light them placing them into the bowl. The smell of the incense permeates the room. I place my hands together and shut my eyes offering a prayer to my family. My mother isn’t dead as far as I know, probably why her picture isn’t there. I end my prayer, that is if you can call it one. I was never overly religious and barely know the words so I just speak in my head hoping that they can hear me in another world. That done, I place both hands on my lap and stare at the shrine, watching the thin wisps of smoke float up past the pictures.

Katsuro? Can you hear me?

I hear a voice say from the side, I turn to see Charlotte standing there looking at me quizzically. No doubt in her eyes I’m a strange sight, kneeling on the ground in front of a wooden cabinet, sitting as still as a statue.

“The door was open and I tried calling you from the doorway but you didn’t respond.” Charlotte said as she walked over.

“I hope I’m not intruding, but…” Charlotte falters as she walks closer and gets a good look at what’s inside the Batsuden.

“Is that… oh… Katsuro I’m so sorry…” her trembling voice says.

“It’s fine... just a tradition from back home.” I say as I reach for the Batsuden and close it’s wooden doors.

“If you want to be alone, it’s fine… I’ll just…” Charlotte stammers as she takes a step back.

“No, it’s ok.” I say as I get to my feet.

“What is it?” I ask, my voice calm and neutral. The time for heart wrenching grief is over, now all that remains is the dull ache from old wounds. Though some are still fresh but humans eventually get used to things like this… or at least that’s what I like to tell myself.

“It’s just that… well we were reading the book the attendant was talking about and…” Charlotte stammered.

“Charlotte it’s fine, come on.” I say as I place a hand on her shoulder and notice it was trembling ever so slightly.

“Are you sure? I don’t know your traditions, did I interrupt anything sacred? I didn’t mean any disrespect.” Charlotte stammered.

“It’s fine, I’m Japanese, we are traditionally a spiritual people. We like to keep our family close, that’s why we have shrines like that. It’s like a spiritual link to our ancestors.” I explain patiently.

This poor girl she’s acting like she defiled a grave, well that’s part of her charm I suppose. Her empathy is the strongest I have ever seen, no wonder the God of Life, Love and Music chose her. A perfect example of how a woman should be. Though she does have her strength and courage as seen when she stood her ground against me in the audience chamber earlier. Her god chose well…

“Come on, let’s see this book.” I say with a reassuring smile.

“Right...” Charlotte said as she averted her gaze.

I chuckle as I walk past her and I hear her light footsteps tapping on the tatami floor as she follows.

When I exit the room I see Ivan and Jacob perusing an old tome on the centre table. The tome was open and it appears they were reading the first few pages.

“Anything interesting?” I ask as I take a seat on the sofa.

“Yeah it says we have some sort of companion that is within us or something… it’s supposed to help us keep track of our powers or something.” Jacob replies, not looking up from the book, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

I peer over at the book and see japanese letters written on the page in perfect penmanship. It was then that I realised something.

“Hang on I just realised, all of you can read Japanese?” I ask.

“Huh?” The three of them say in unison.

“Wait, you guys aren’t speaking english?” Jacob asks.

“I thought all of you were speaking Rus.” Ivan says.

“I’m guessing you think we are speaking German?” I say to Charlotte.

“Yes… I just assumed all of you knew the language because your pronunciation is perfect. I assumed the gods chose only German speaking people because everyone else is speaking in perfect German.” Charlotte replied with eyes wide.

“Yeah, in my world everyone speaks English, America controls the planet after all. I just assumed all of you knew how to speak it.” Jacob said.

“Same situation in my world, over there everyone speaks Rus, the Tsarina’s territory spans the globe.” Ivan added.

“And I just didn’t notice…” I mutter to myself, with my near death experience, the meeting with a god and all the happenings in this world I just never thought of it. Which is also probably why I’m the first one to notice.

“So you don’t see English on this page?” Jacob mutters.

“No, not exactly.” Charlotte replies with a sigh.

“Wait, then does my name sound Japanese?” I ask Charlotte.

“Yes, that’s why I didn’t question it. I could hear your name in Japanese. If all of you had German sounding names I would definitely have asked.” Charlotte replied with a frown.

“I was wondering about that for a while but with things happening so quickly I just never got the chance to ask.” Charlotte replied.

“Hang on, Ivan what’s the name of your Tsarina again?” I ask.

“Yekaterina.” Ivan replied, skipping over the honorific completely.

“Yekaterina, the Slavic pronunciation of the word Catherine.” Charlotte said.

“Catherine?” Ivan asked.

“So our names sound normal, is it just words that only exist in our native languages?” I ask.

“Then what about, Yugen.” I say, remembering that this word is said to be a word unique to the Japanese language.

“Bless you.” Jacob replied.

“No... he’s speaking Japanese, aren’t you Katsuro?” Charlotte said with a roll of her eyes.

“Yes the word Yugen is said to only exist in the Japanese language. It means the mysterious beauty of a large universe and the sad beauty of human suffering… more or less.” I explain.

“That is quite morbid…” Ivan replied.

“Yeah we don’t have a word for that…” Jacob deadpans.

“So something is translating for us… but when no suitable translation exists it just sounds like the original.” Charlotte said as she tilted her head slightly.

“I think so too.” I say with a nod.

“It makes sense too, it takes years to master a language, years this world doesn’t have. We won’t be able to do much of anything if everyone speaks a different language that we can’t understand. I know a few languages so I know this quite well, for example. Hello my name is Charlotte.” Charlotte says.

“Erm Charlotte, it's translating that too if you spoke a different language.” I say.

“Oh right… I just said: Hello my name is Charlotte in French.” Charlotte said blushing.

“Yes we heard you.” Ivan replied calmly.

“Ugh this is so weird...” Charlotte said as she pouted.

“I think we should just ignore it, the more we think about it the weirder it’s going to be.” I offer helpfully.

“Yes I think that would be best.” Ivan concurred.

“Alright now that we got that settled, what's with this book?” I ask. But before anyone could answer I heard a knock on the door.

I turn to look at the door, who the hell is knocking on the door at this hour. I swear if it’s that attendant again asking if we wanted her “service” I am going to slam the door in her face.

I rise to my feet and walk over to the door, I hear the rest rise from their seats as well. As I open the door the first thing that catches my eye is the platinum hair. I do a double take and see the Princess Filianoreh standing at the door.

“Good evening Dark Hero.” Filianoreh greets politely.

“Can I help you?” I ask, suspicious of her intentions.

“May I come in?” Filianoreh says ignoring my question.

“Sure…” I say as I stand back and let her in.

“Lady Filianoreh what brings you here at this hour.” Charlotte greets with a curtsy.

“A few things, Heroes.” Filianoreh replies with a curtsy of her own.

“I assume the attendant has told you about the book?” Filianoreh asks.

“Yes.” I reply.

“And also about her duties?” Filianoreh asks coyly.

“Oh not you too…” I say exasperated.

WHAT IS WITH THESE PEOPLE! I know porn probably hasn’t been invented but for the love of god, is sex really all they think about? I can feel the beginnings of a headache appear as I look at her...

“We don’t need that, if that’s what you are implying.” I reply with a sigh as I pinch the bridge of my nose.

“Truly? I understand if you find a mere servant unsatisfying…” Filianoreh said in a sultry voice as she slowly walked up to me.

“You know, it is not everyday you get to make love to a princess…” Filiaroeh coos at me as she places her left hand on my chest.

In all honesty it probably lacks her desired effect considering she’s touching my tactical vest. I can barely feel her touch through the five or six layers of fabric...

“You know, they say I am quite bewitching when laid bare…” Filianoreh says her voice wet with desire as she places her right hand on her chest a gently tugs the fabric down revealing more of her cleavage.

Ok it’s official...

I am in a world full of sexual deviants...

Is it something in the water?

Like aphrodisiac magic mushrooms spores that get dissolved in the water or something?

A year ago I would have bedded her without hesitation. But now… frankly sex is the furthest thing from my mind.

I turn my head and as expected I see Charlotte looking like she’s been scandalised. Jacob and Ivan are gawking like a pair of goldfish, although to Ivan’s credit he is at least trying to hide it even if not very effectively.

“I’ll pass.” I say calmly at Filianoreh.

“Hmmm, how cold. Not surprising even if it is slightly insulting.” Filianoreh says as she takes a step back with a sly grin on her face.

“Insulting?” Charlotte sputters red faced.

“How would you feel Lady Charlotte if you offer yourself to a man and he rejects you with cold indifference. How cruel...” Filianoreh said with a pout.

“What do you want?” I ask, my tone cold. She’s playing games with us, there’s a reason she did that to me and not the other two. She doesn’t really want to sleep with me or either of them.

“Hmmm, perceptive aren’t you? But no in truth I do want you, in fact every unmarried woman in this city wants the three of you… even some of the married ones” Filianoreh said slyly.

“What?” I ask, my voice lowering dangerously.

“And every man in this city wants to get in between your legs Lady Charlotte.” Filianoreh said as she cast a glance at Charlotte.

“Excuse me?” Charlotte asks aghast.

“Well more precisely they want to put a child in you.” Filianoreh said with a shrug.

At those words I narrow my eyes and I look to Charlotte who has gone very pale.

“Don’t worry Lady Charlotte, they will not force themselves onto you. You are the Life Hero, if they were to defile you the Goddess of Life will be ruthless in her punishment. You will never get pregnant from being defiled, your virgin rose will heal itself and you will be physically unchanged. You are physically incapable of being affected by such an act. Mentally however… is a completely different matter. If someone attempts the act all their children will die mysteriously and the children for both them and their family will be stillborn. Not only that their soul will be hurled into the Dark God’s abyss rather than ascend to the light of the seven… or so the priests say. It’s called the [Maiden’s Curse], a few in the distant past have felt it’s sting. A single act of lust and your line ends, your blood ends. Your family fades into the void. Quite the punishment if I do say so myself. There’s even a saying among the people of this world: I would rather defile the Life Hero than do this.” Filianoeh says matter of factly as she looks at Charlotte.

“Such an act is profane beyond comprehension in this world, the Church of the Seven will hunt the perpetrator down and burn him alive as an example to the people. It is likely even if a bunch of bandits capture you they will just ransom you back to us unharmed.” Filianoreh said with a small shrug.

“Oh I see…” Charlotte replied, sounding relieved and a little unnerved.

“You said children? Why do they want our children?” I ask, that was an oddly specific piece of information.

“Have you read the book?” Filianoreh asked, ignoring my question.

“We were about to.” I reply.

“Well in that ancient book it mentions that all of you have a companion. It’s actually a fragment of your patron god, it will assist you with your power growth.” Filianoreh explains calmly as she walks over to the table and picks up the book.

“You need only say in your mind, CODEX Command Execute and it will appear.” Filianoreh said.

“That’s it?” I ask.

“That’s it.” Filianoreh replied with a smile. I just look at her smiling face, I honestly expect myself to do it, nothing happens and Filianoreh will just laugh in my face.

Then I see a flash of green light and green orb made of twisting vines and flowers appeared next to Charlotte.

“Greetings Charlotte Sama.” an ethereal feminine voice said.

“Oh hello…” Charlotte said to the orb slightly stunned at the sudden appearance.

Then Ivan’s appeared it was made of gemstones that constantly grew and shrunk. It gave off a technicolour glow. Jacob’s orb was made of gold rings that spun in a constant pattern like a gyroscope and it gave off an ethereal white light.

“CODEX Command Execute” I say in my mind.

Then I sense something appear, I open my eyes to see a black orb smiling at me. It’s eyes were blood red just like that god’s were but this one had a mouth. It’s mouth was as red as it’s eyes and it’s smile stretched from ear to ear.

Greetings Dark Champion

“Not you again.” I grumble as I look at the smiling eldritch face.

“Excellent now you need only think it and they will appear and disappear, no need to say those words anymore.” Filianoreh said with a happy clap for her hands.

“But before you do so, tell them to bring up your stat display.” Filianoreh says as she takes a look at me. Reading my mind that I was about to instantly banish this thing.

I think it and lo and behold a screen appears before my eyes. It looked like a strange holographic projection. I look around and see the other three are staring into thin air, so it seems only we can see our screens.

“There should be your level which should be 1 and then a slash with a number that indicates your level cap. Its number should be 100.” Filianoreh explains.

I look up at my screen and see the level number 1 and small bar below it labeled as EXP. It really is like a game, but then I notice something. My level read as follows,

Level: 1 / 150

My level cap isn’t 100… why?

“Mine’s 100.” Jacob says.

“Same for me.” Charlotte added.

“Mine as well.” Ivan followed after.

Why the hell is my level different?

“If you notice you have a section indicating your Skill Class. You can read more about it in the book so for now just see if you have the [Hero] class.” Filianoreh explained.

“Yes, I do, it says [Life Hero] for me.” Charlotte said.

“[Light Hero] for me.” Jacob said.

“[Earth Hero]” Ivan said.

I look to mine and see the text [Dark Champion]. What the hell, why is mine different?

“What does yours say Katrsuo?” Charlotte asks.

“Hmm? Oh the same, just says [Dark Hero]. Level caps the same too.” I say, lying through my teeth. A nail that stands out is hammered down, I should keep this to myself for now. Until I find out why everyone hates me and what all this means it’s best keep it to myself.

“Excellent now then I will explain to you why I told you people desire you children.” Filianoreh said with another sly smile.

“It is because everyone’s level cap is determined at birth. If you have a high level cap you can become stronger. Each level increases your abilities, whether it be mental or physical, combat or mundane. From cooking to magic everything is affected by your level and the Skill Classes you acquire. This means a low level cap dooms you to incompetency. There is no way to fight it or improve yourself once your level cap is reached.” Filianoreh explains as she walks towards me. I get a bad feeling in my stomach as she approaches, her red lips part wetly and I can see the barest hint of desire in her eyes.

“Usually your level cap is decided by your parents. Your level cap is the average of your two parents. Thus powerful parents breed powerful children. Most individuals have at most a level of 40 due to diluting bloodlines over so many years. Every level makes a big difference in abilities. A mere five level difference can make one impervious to the opponents attacks due to the difference in resistances. A single sentence impossible to disobey due to a high charisma stat. Level’s are the great obsession of every soul in this world. You heroes have the largest level caps in existence.” Filianoreh said as she stopped in front of me looking me straight in the eye.

“A high level cap can elevate a peasant to nobility or a low level cap can cause you to be disowned. You see every time a child is conceived your level cap goes down. That is the main way a pregnancy is determined. When your level cap drops it means you are pregnant or you have sired a child. For the line of succession this means…” Filianoreh said.

“The oldest child has the highest level.” I finish, I know where this is going...

“However, if I produce a child of a higher level as compared to my brother…” Filianoreh said as she stood so close to me I could count her eyelashes.

“You would get the throne…” I finish, so we the great heroes are pieces of prized livestock.

“Exactly…” Filianoreh said, then suddenly she thrust her lips against mine and felt her tongue hungirly invade my mouth. I could smell her perfume and taste the sweet flavour of her lipstick, even her saliva tastes like cherries. I growl as I grab her shoulders and push her off me. This woman is a snake…

“I would rule as the Queen Mother until my child comes of age at 16.” Filianoreh says her eyes aflame with desire. Now I know however, that hint of desire in her eyes, the hunger in that kiss, it wasn’t for me, it was for that giant gold chair.

“Then why not ask them.” I hiss as I glance over at Ivan and Jacob who were watching slack jawed.

“Is it that wrong that I find you the most attractive?” She replies as she grabs my hands that were on her shoulders and slowly begins pulling them down her arm causing her dress to slowly slip off her shoulders. I wrench my hands free and glare at her.

“A more weak minded man would have taken me right here... Well the legends do say the Dark Hero is the strongest among all the eight.” Filianoreh says cryptically as she takes a step forward and I take a step back from this crazy woman. Whether she refers to strength of will to resist her or she is subtly implying she knows about higher level cap I don’t know.

“But in truth, perhaps it is just my maiden heart…” she says as she presses forward. I back off again until I find my back against the wall.

“Maiden heart?” I hiss sarcastically.

“Why yes you see…” Filianoreh says as she gently takes my hands with her own.

“I like a man with a good head on his shoulders.” Filianoreh finishes.

“Also, you are hated here Dark Hero and I know you have some unknown objective. I am a princess, while my brother has Skill Classes in combat and war. I have Skill Classes in intrigue and manipulation. I can help you achieve what you wish. All I ask…” Filianoreh says as she moves my hands. She puts one on her belly and presses the other hand against her breast.

This harlot isn’t even wearing a bra

“Honour me with a child…” She says wetly as she squeezes my hand causing me to squeeze her breast.

“What say you? Dark Hero?” Filianoreh says breathlessly.

Oh how I want to just back hand her across the face… But I know I can’t… This girl is dangerous. She’s a princess and most of all, she’s right. She can help me just as easily as she can kill me. Poison in my food, a knife in the dark, I can’t guard myself from every angle. If I want that pot of gold at the end of this dark tunnel I have to play her game…

I don’t say a word but I don’t move either as she continues to make me fondle her chest.

“Mmmm excellent choice Dark Hero, I knew you were a smart one.” She says as she brings my other hand to her breast.

“After this invasion is over. I’m not going to risk dying by losing levels because of your ambition.” I hiss at her face, my voice dripping with venom.

“Naturally, how will you trust me to carry out my end of bargain if you give me a child tonight? When the Rifts are closed and peace returns, then I shall collect my reward... Just before. You. Collect. Yours.” Filianoreh says, emphasising her veiled threat. I uphold my end or the bargain or risk losing everything at the final mile. At that point I know there is no reason for me to risk it, I will have to bed her just to be safe.

“Do we have an accord? Dark Hero?” Filianoreh asks as she releases my hand but I don’t move my hands. I know she did that as a test, as the silence dragged on I saw her smile widen.

“Good.” Filinoreh purred as pressed her body against mine. She reaches up and unclips my helmet and it falls off my head clattering onto the floor.

“But first Dark Hero, I would know the name of my future child’s father…” she whispers in my ear as she leans her head in.

“Katsuro.” I reply.

“And?” she prompts.

“Onaga Katsuro.” I reply coldly.

“Mmmm very good.” She says as she places one hand around my neck and runs the other through my hair.

“Now then let’s celebrate this occasion.” She says as she gently presses her lips against mine. I don’t move as she does so and I hear her let out a small laugh.

“Open.” she whispers.

I do as I’m bid and part my lips. I see her lean in, her lips touching mine for just a moment before she pulls away completely. Filianoreh readjust her now disheveled dress and smiles as she gives me one final curtsey. She then without saying a word turned and exited the room.

This snake just did that to tell me that she could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted...

I look over at the other three and I notice Charlotte was staring coldly at the door. She notices my gaze and she bites her lip. In her eyes I see a pang of sympathy as she looks away.

And here I thought maybe this world would be different...

Heroes today, pigs tomorrow…