Chapter 56

~ Once Again to That Place ~

SW/SW/SW

Kail slept on a soft cushion, which strangely emitted heat. It was so warm that he felt it through his bones towards his brain, calming him, making him at ease. With a sigh, he snuggled to the warm thing. To his surprise, the thing embraced him closer as if it could not live without him.

Slowly he opened his eyes to see pale, unblemished skin. Lifting his head, his vision was met by familiar bottomless eyes. Red slit replaced what would a cornea normally be. He did not protest when the owner of the eyes grasped his cheeks to seal his mouth in an ardent kiss.

This felt wrong.

This felt amoral.

He, a high school student, was engaging in an intimate act with a woman way older than him, not to mention that she was not human. He should’ve been studying, not whoring.

What was he doing?

Despite the turbulent emotions deep in the bowel of his mind, he replied her kiss. He had gotten better at it, using his tongue to fuel her lust all the more. Hathor sighed in her kiss as he groped her jiggling rump.

This felt so wrong…

…yet this felt so right.

They parted, gasping for breath. The edge of her lips slowly curved upwards to make a smile. “…good evening. Feeling better?”

He collapsed onto his own pillow, staring at the ceiling. His mouth opened a little to catch his breath. How long had he been sleeping? One day? Two days? He did not remember anything ever since he had returned from Dragonis.

“I’m sorry I had to use a sleeping potion. You weren’t quite all right in the head after the accident in Dragonis, muttering and mumbling something weird. You scared me.”

He shifted his stare and looked straight into her eyes. She averted her vision, feeling uncomfortable under his sharp, scrutinizing gaze. “You’ve been sleeping for six hours. How are you feeling?”

To be honest he didn’t feel so good, which was weird, “…I feel tired somehow.”

She covered her mouth with the end of her fingers in an attempt to suppress her evil giggle. It failed considerably. “Thank you for the meal. You are tasty as always.”

Looking down, he found out that he was stripped bare.

Damn her! He should have known this…

Hathor let out a self-satisfied chuckle and rested her body on his chest. He hated to admit it, but her melons felt so deliciously good against his skin. Leaning her head against her hand, she flashed him her usual smirk. Her fangs added more plus point to her malevolent appearance. But somehow he felt that those sharp teeth made her beautiful all the more.

“Don’t forget to read it,” she reminded. “It will help you remember who you are, and the people around you.”

Hathor was referring to the book she gave him. It was entitled ‘people’. Most likely it contained the floating castle’s residents. He hadn’t had the time to read it, given how chaotic that event in Dragonis was.

As much as he wanted to read it, though, reading wasn’t his strong suit. What was more, the book reminded him of his English dictionary… thick and boring.

“I’ve added pictures just in case,” Hathor seemed to know what he was thinking about and casually remarked. “Ah, don’t forget about the meeting in two days from now. Use your time reading so that you’d know how to act in front of our subordinates.”

Before he knew what was going on, she had her sharp nails on his neck. Her gaze was fierce as she hissed, “…and do not mess this up. No one has to know that you are not what you once were. Do you understand?”

The sudden change of her attitude caught him off guard, “Y-Yeah…”

“Do you understand?” she repeated; this time with a higher, much deadlier tone.

“…yes.”

“Good,” she withdrew her hands with a sultry smile, back to her usual self, before she captured his lips into yet another enflaming kiss.

0000

The dinner was, as usual, lavish. Meats, fruits, breads, alcohols—he could almost find anything on the table. It was supposed to be called a feast rather than dinner. Over time, he began to see it as a ritual to throw out valuable food since it was just them who partake in it. Even though the concubine had started to show up, there would always be untouched dishes.

To make the matter worse, the foods were all tasteless.

Kail sighed as he opened his inventory. Now that he had a moment to think, he had stopped taking care of his inventory and now it was full of trash: cheap rations and bottles of water, the rest were healing and other items. He had several low-ranked items, such as a couple of Minor Healing Potions, three Minor Mana Potions, and several Scrolls of Return. Now that he was no longer a Travonka member, he had stopped receiving the scroll.

Oh, it seemed that his inventory was not fully cluttered with trash. He still had the potion Maria gave him after he joined Travonka and other high-ranking potions. What was it called again? Aqua… something. Supposedly it would temporarily bolster his defense, but he had completely forgotten about the detail. It was such a long time ago.

That reminded him… he should do something about his item list. Almost eighty percent of it was labeled as ‘???’. He just could not go on like this forever if he wanted to stay alive. Everything should be identified and besides he’d like to try Alchemy for the first time, unless he wanted the gift from that person go to waste.

“…oh.”

Kail remembered something.

That person.

How could he forget about Helluva, that snake? And speaking of snake, he had almost forgotten the fact that Agriella existed! She was just too weak to be of any use. It was not his fault to forget that she was there in the first place.

That scylla woman looked capable, not to mention her high Alchemy skill. She would definitely make a good alchemist, albeit under level 100. Actually the concubine was a good alchemist, but she was untainted. Her heart was pure and he feared that it would be the end of him. To be honest, he could corrupt her, but he had no confidence in sort of things. That was why he needed someone close to ‘evil’ in nature.

Having two puppets that were familiar with Alchemy was better than one. That meant double production and just in case if he needed to sacrifice one, he still had another. Actually there were many merits of having two alchemists, but those two were quickly come to mind.

He had decided to recruit that snake. That meant he had to go to Dragonis once again and then towards the burned forest. And speaking of Dragonis, had the city be repaired yet? It wasn’t long that he had destroyed it, so it could still be rubbles.

For now he needed to find Hathor and ask for her guidance.

According to his friend list, the succubus was on her own chambers, not too far from his. It took him just ten minutes walk. He did not bother knocking and entered. Turned out it was the antechamber with a lone door at the far side of the room. That must be it.

He pushed the handle and saw something that he could not forget.

Hathor was sitting on a windowsill, a book in her hands. She was absorbed in her reading, whatever that was, and failed to notice his coming.

Kail knocked at the door behind him, earning a sharp look from the redhead. They had a staring competition until she broke the silence.

“I know what you are thinking,” she closed her book. “I need to read every once in a while. It is boring here.”

“…you like reading?”

“Yes, although not as much as sex.”

This woman really had no shame.

“I'm going to Dragonis,” he informed.

“…again? What is it this time? You have turned that place to dust. There is nothing left there.”

“Scouting for potential allies,” he answered curtly and immediately added before Hathor could even open her mouth, “no, I will go alone. Your useless mouth almost had me exposed. You will stay here, guarding this place as punishment.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, “I had overstepped my boundaries, I know, but to go alone to that place… it is adventurers’ hive. You are signing to your doom.”

“…do you think I’d go looking like this?” he referred to Azariel’s three-eyed, menacing, twisted form.

Hathor lifted her right brow, looking amused rather than offended, “No, of course not. Although, to say it bluntly, it would be fun fighting those meatheads. Oh, imagine the thrill, the melodies when you exchange blows….”

Ugh, this woman really needed her head fixed.

“…any thoughts about recruiting competent ally?”

“Hmm, Dragonis, isn’t it? And that means Vandarius continent…” she placed her fingers on her chin. “If it’s Hefpestra or Difterion continent, I’d tell you which person to recruit. Since this is Vandarius… to be honest I have little knowledge about it. Why bother going to Vandarius when you could get powerful allies in Difterion?”

“…let’s say I have my eye on somebody,” he hoped that half-assed reasoning was sufficient enough to convince her. “A perfect piece for my plan.”

When Hathor chuckled, Kail sighed inwardly. It looked like she was convinced, which was good. “See you… tomorrow, I suppose. Ah, don’t forget to remind me of that meeting.”

“Why, of course. After all, we can’t start without you. If you are ever in danger, use the Scroll of Return to go back to any cities you have visited.”

Damn, so that was how it worked. He had misunderstood the usage of Scroll of Return, it seemed. He thought that the scroll would only teleport him to Dragonis. He and his stupidity…

“If you want to go to another continent, then go to Teleportation Room on the underground level. Wait…”

Kail could not believe what he saw. Hathor pushed the air to summon her inventory and produced two scrolls.

…NPCs had inventory, too? Interesting…

“Here, Difterion and underground level maps. Be careful out there. Eat healthy and don’t stay up late.”

To his surprise, Hathor was quite caring, in contrast with her whorish appearance. Sex-crazed and bimbo-brained woman were the first impression Kail had gotten from her. It seemed that there was another side of her that he didn’t know.

Kail began to respect her.

Just a little.

Hathor tilted her head and smirked, “…by the way, do you want to take my panties along? Just in case if you are lonely and need quick relief.”

….he took it back.

She was crazy.

0000

“’I have my eye on somebody’?” Hathor scorned when he was no longer around, “that is not scouting if you have already found someone, you foolish angel! Do you think I’m stupid?! I saw through your lies! Let us see what kind of woman you’d bring home this time.”