Chapter 50

~ A Sudden Participation ~

SW/SW/SW

Kail stared at the sleeping figure next to him. Slowly he moved his hand to caress that soft, tattooed cheek and down to those inviting lips. How beautiful, how perfect. She was the very definition of what a succubus would be.

Finally she was able to get a good night sleep after causing a commotion yesterday. She was angry. Angry of being left alone. Her battle instinct had been gnawing at her mind and her pride as his queen had foolishly made her jealous at others who had risked their lives for him. Despite the ever growing instinct of protecting him, she was unable to do anything. She was forced to lie on the bed, listening to the sounds of battle that continued to trample her pride.

She was a mighty warrior, but in the end… she was but a woman.

Kail placed his hand on her forehead to see if she caught a cold. Absentmindedly, Kail shifted his line of sight to her tattoo and was slowly lost in thought. His mind recalled the event he had gone through yesterday…

“...what is the meaning of this?” Kail gestured towards Hathor, who was leaning against the wall. One of her guards carried her oversized greataxe.

“I will fight them. No one can stop me…” Hathor spoke. She sounded angry for no apparent reason.

“You could barely stand upright and you want to kill those adventurers? Are you drunk?”

Kail didn’t know why, but the atmosphere turned several degrees colder. It might have something to do with what he had said, but seriously? He didn’t mean to insult her.

To his surprise, Hathor let out a single drop of tear. She stared at him, dejected painted in her dark-colored eyes. She was not even batting her eyelashes.

Kail held the urge to slap his own face. Was this the infamous PMS, a time in which women became feral, emotionally unstable, and wild?

“…how could you say that to me?” her squeaky, pitiful voice scratched his patience. “I’m your wife! We’re bound together for eternity! You and I are one, yet you… you broke the sacred vow and hurt me…”

Everything was deadly quiet. No one moved a finger.

With such a tremendous speed, Kail rushed to Hathor, encircling an arm around her stomach. She yelped when her body was easily lifted in the air. Kail hauled her like she was a sack of grain.

“Put me down, you beast…! Is this how you treat me, your own wife?!” Kail paid her no heed and kept walking. He felt poundings at his heavy armor but he pretended not to feel anything. “Put… me down, you unsightly, disgusting, rotten sausage! I swear if you don’t put me down, I’ll skin you alive…!”

She was quite vocal for someone who was supposed to be sick.

“You shut up, Hathor,” Kail spoke curtly. “I have no use of you right now.”

Kail felt the shocked stare of the servants nearby as he passed by them. Great, he just created a huge commotion. Hope there would be no trouble tomorrow.

Hathor still made a fuss even when they have arrived in their private chambers. Without an inch of pity, Kail tossed her on the bed and then closed the curtain. By the time Kail turned around, Hathor was already on the ground, trying to crawl at the door. Kail grimaced and grabbed her hair, ultimately keeping her in place. He was very rough, but it did the job well.

“Where do you think you are going?” he asked threateningly, releasing her hair briefly to deposit her back to the bed.

“…unhand me…” she weakly demanded and pushed his hands away, but her power was nearly useless in her state as of now.

“You’re sick,” Kail spat, “stop struggling and accept it, you bitch!”

She was quite a stubborn one and kept fighting him as if he was some kind of deranged rapist. Annoyed, Kail tossed his helmet and kissed her right on her lips. Since he was quite inexperienced, it was but a simple kiss. Still it was effective. Hathor ceased struggling and exhaled through the kiss.

They separated, each had their eyes on each other’s.

“…my stomach hurts…” Hathor whined and lay on her side facing him.

“What about that potion? Is it effective?”

Hathor sighed, bending her body so that she could hug her left leg. “…it’s to lessen the pain. There’s no potion to alter this cycle… but I feel much better if lie down like this...”

“Then do that until you’ve recovered,” Kail spoke with the tone of finality and went to retrieve his helmet.

“…are you angry?”slowly came her weak voice.

“I am. You are sick, but you’re pushing yourself as if you’re blinded with pride. Sick person should stay in bed, not in the battlefield.”

To his surprise she giggled.

“What’s so funny?”he snarled.

“…no, nothing. It’s just that… you have such a sharp tongue. Careful so that you won’t tear someone’s heart in half. Oh, well… that’s what I like about you.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” he reminded, “just sleep and recover already. You’re beginning to look like a hindrance.”

Kail felt that she was smiling behind the curtains, “All right, I will…”

After that, Kail had to check hundreds reports and make decision based on what had been written there. It was quite easy because the reports mainly had something to do with improving the castle’s defense. If only they had heavy weapons such as cannon, equipped with cannon ball imbued with status attacks… it would be fun if it went kablaam on the enemies. Sadly there weren’t.

Based on the previous battle, Kail assumed that the players would’ve needed to ride their pets to reach this place. In some games he played, aerial troops were weak to arrows and other ranged attacks. If that was true, then it would be a perfect moment to shoot them all down before they arrived. With arrowheads tipped with deadly status attacks such as poison, paralysis, sleep, and, if possible, confusion to the enemies, this battle would be piece of cake…

“Oh,” Kail spoke out loud, remembering something important.

He had the perfect slave for that purpose, hadn’t he?

0000

“Lady Annelotte, His Majesty requires your presence in the Alchemy Room.”

The blonde-haired woman stared nervously at the female demoness before her. It had been two days since her residing in this place and she did not feel comfortable at all. For a human to live in the nest of the demons was beyond any sane person’s understanding. However, for a better future for her family, she was forced to sell her soul to the devil.

And this devil is the infamous master of the floating castle, who was rumored to be a man-eater.

Since she was sold to this demon, she had considered herself dead. There was no point in struggling. Her family’s fate rested on her shoulders alone and that was why she could not fight. She could not afford to make mistakes either…

If she accidentally did, then…

…then everyone would be dead.

“Y-Yes, I… I will ready myself. I will arrive in thirty minutes,” she spoke rather nervously. To be honest, it was her first time seeing a demoness and she couldn’t help but stare. Annelotte didn’t know what kind of demon the servant was, but she had a dog tail and a pair of horns. How weird.

Being lead by the demoness, it took her around fifteen minutes to reach the said Alchemy Room. It was spacious and, of course, full of alchemical stuff such as cauldron, shelves packed with materials and books, and much more. Annelotte took a glance towards the sealed jars on the shelves and nearly fainted in shock. They were full of high-grade materials.

In the far reach of the room, there was a familiar person. The flickering flame of the torches cast malignant shadow over his already black armor. His three evil eyes were staring ahead, the red pupils were dilated and looked feral. One would mistake him as a fire-breathing monster at a glance.

Annelotte looked down in an instant. Those eyes were so wrong in many ways…

“You sure took your time, huh?”

She held herself strong from the bestial voice and bowed down, “F-Forgive me, Your Majesty! I prepared too long and I… I wished to look presentable and certainly did not see the time…! I-I… f-forgive me…!”

“That was a joke, so stop blabbering.”

Annelotte felt that somewhere a vein exploded. This monster… if only he weren’t so strong, she’d have him punished!

“Let’s get to the point,” finally he said after an uncomfortable silence, “I want your Alchemy skill.”

“I-I’m sorry…?” Annelotte tilted her head in confusion, but keeping her gaze on his chest armor. She didn’t dare to look up. She wasn’t sure if she heard it right, but he told her to give up her Alchemy skill. It could not be passed on, unfortunately. Skills existed to be learnt.

“Ah, let me rephrase it… I want every single Alchemy recipes you’ve obtained so far. It’s not hard for you to do it, right, considering how high your Alchemy skill is.”

She gulped. She could do what she was told, but it wasn’t about her skill level! It wasn’t about whether it was hard or easy for her to do so. It was about the sacrifices and the effort she’d put into it. Creating Minor Healing Potion took her only two tries, but creating others advanced healing potions took her forever! Saying that it was easy for her to share the recipes so calmly was… was… absolutely rude.

Annelotte calmed herself slowly. Patience would bring victory. The time to turn the table would surely arrive to those who waited calmly.

“As you command, Your Majesty,” Annelotte opened her inventory and took out the Alchemy flask and the burner. She tapped the air to summon her Alchemy recipes and put the flash and the burner in place.

“…isn’t that the Erlenmeyer flask…?”

As much as she wanted to look at him in the face, Annelotte couldn’t. She prevented herself from looking above his chest area. Tilting her head, she slowly asked, “…Er-Erlen…? This is a Portable Alchemy Station, Your Majesty.”

“Ah, you’re right…” he sounded hesitated, which she found strange. “Continue…”

There is something definitely wrong with this man… the woman thought. Howver, she swallowed her curiosity and began her demonstration on how to create Minor Healing Potion.

0000

It was eleven o’clock when Kail decided that it was enough. He had learned seventeen good recipes, which include poison and restorative potions. Twelve recipes were practiced on the spot, while the rest were given. He had one recipe that was quite potent for paralyzing the target for fifteen seconds upon being ingested. However, the problem was that he did not have the necessary materials and did not recognize the materials needed at all. They were all displayed as ??? herb or ??? scale or even ??? blood. Should he identify them all to be fully understood what they really were?

This world was beginning to give him headache…

As usual, the servants were hiding when he was near. Kail was getting used to it, but somewhere in his mind he hoped that they did not flee. He wanted someone (normal) to talk to, preferably (normal) human who had healthy (and normal) thought, unlike a certain succubus he knew…

Kail took off his helmet with a sigh. He placed his helmet on the bed and then stared into his own reflection in the mirror.

He wasn’t dreaming.

…he was indeed a king now.

The once weak, wimpy Kail was no more, only a cruel boy remained. The once kind boy was gone, being corrupted by the reality, and was turned into some kind of loathsome, sick-minded boy.

Was the change a sign that he was weak?

…or was it because of his strong will to survive and get stronger?

Kail didn’t understand.

He obtained power and authority that he could manipulate to his liking, yet there was something amiss that he could not comprehend.

He did not understand.

Kail took a deep sigh and went to his study. If he really got reincarnated or transported into the world of game, then might as well live in this world to its fullest. He should look for information about this world. It would be nice to look for blackmailing materials for future use…

…and no, he wouldn’t join a guild and set for adventures. No.

Kail picked a book about demons and opened it, still standing before the shelf. However, before he could take a glimpse of that was inside, a notification popped up and in an instant he was gone.

The book he was holding fell to the ground with a thud.

The last message Kail saw was…

[The Guild War will begin in fifteen minutes. Muhehehe and Travonka members will be teleported to respective guild’s waiting room.]