We returned to the city in no less than a day, we were ready to report the problem when the carriage suddenly stopped midway the middle-class area. Brunhilde and Gram were in the coachman's seat so I don't know what was happening, I stepped out and was surprised to see Astarotia blocking the way.

"What are you doing here?" I asked

"I came here for you~" She smiled as she showed me a marriage form with my name, and Astarotia's, only the spot for my signature was left blank

"Haha, no" I replied as I took the form and gave to Cynthia who just left the carriage

Cynthia read the contents and instantly tore the form in shreds

Astarotia's smile turned into a frown as she stared daggers at Cynthia, Cynthia shrugged her stare off. I was thinking of a way to mediate the two when a hooker walked past me, her eyes caught my attention. I felt like I was she was the one for me, I want to be with her, I want to make love with her... WAIT, what the hell am I thinking?!

I grabbed the woman by her hands and pushed her against the wall, I inspected her eyes and was shocked to see that she's infected with Leucochloridium paradoxum

"Zeno?! why would you go with a slut instead of me?!" Astarotia was so surprised by my actions

"Zeno... if you're frustrated... I can" Cynthia started holding both her cheeks as she blushed from ear to ear

I can understand Astarotia's reaction but why is Cynthia acting like that

"Oh boy" Gram chuckled

"I won't judge" Brunhilde nodded, seeming to understand something

"You're misunderstanding something!" I'd love to joke with them but this is a serious matter

"What's wrong?" Gram noticed my anger and stepped down

"Ah~ so strong, so manly~ hey, want to mate with me~" The woman ran her hands over my body before landing on my the side of my helm

The woman was breathing hard, she was also sweating and without any warning, used her other hand to raise her skirt and show us her soaked underwear

"ugh how disgusting" Brunhilde turned away

"Hands off my man!" Astarotia pulled away the hand that was touching me

"Zeno, I'd love to take you seriously but are you showing off how much of a lady killer you are?" Gram stifled his laughter

"I am not a womanizer, wait, that's not the point! her eyes, look at her eyes!" I stated

"Her eyes are pretty, it's gold and I just want to look at them all day" Brunhilde turned around and inspected the woman

"Tch, for a bitch, I do have to accept the fact that she's got good eyes" Astarotia spat on the ground

"Ah... I want... to mate with her..." Gram muttered

"FATHER?!" Brunhilde shouted out

Gram looked at Brunhilde and slapped himself

"I'm sorry! I didn't want to be unfaithful to your mother! it was just a spurt of the moment!" Gram kept slapping himself afterward

"This is what I was talking about! she's infected with the third parasite I was talking to you about!" I stated as the woman turned from in-heat to an animal that struggled to set herself free

She kept struggling but I held her hands and pinned her against the wall, she tried kicking my body but to no effect

"Their eyes are a weapon, if a woman is infected, she will aim for men and if men are infected, they will aim for women. This is a parasite that is spread through sexual intercourse. I don't know what their aim is but they will keep mating with more and more people until they infect their target" I explained

"That explains! we've been tricked!" Astarotia seems to have come to a revelation and left on a hurry

"Indeed, what she said is right, we must warn the King!" Gram spoke out

"I'll take her with us as evidence" Brunhilde stated

"Alright, give me some rope to restrain her" I asked

I was given a spare rope from the carriage and I tied the woman up before covering her eyes and tossing her in the carriage

We made our way through the high-class area and entered the castle gates, we left the carriage and took the woman inside, we had a few troubles talking to the guards but in the end, we were allowed to see the King

We entered the throne room, the entire room was decorated with statues of the King, not to mention those statues were made out of gold. The King was sitting on a throne that was decorated with lions, he held his head high and with an overbearing voice he announced

"Welcome my guests, I am the King of this kingdom, Gram has told me of your exploits and I am happy to see that there are warriors like you in my Kingdom" He smiled

I held Cynthia as I kneeled and greeted him

"I am known as Zeno, this is my partner here... Mira" I stated

"Hmm, I see but isn't it common courtesy to remove your helmets?" He replied

"I am sorry but from where I am from, we only show our faces to our loved ones" I reasoned with him

"So you do not love me?"

"It is not that I don't, I only respect you"

"Really now, guards! hold them and remove their helms!" The King shouted at the top of his lungs

This is not good, I am fine showing my face but what about Cynthia? if they discover that the daughter of the Kingdom they conquered is alive, they will all kill her in fear of a coup

"My King, let's not be hasty, Zeno is from a different land as you know and he has respected our customs, why don't we respect theirs" Gram tried to talk to the King

"No, if he does respect our custom, he must show me his face, also that partners of his" The King stated as he licked his lips, he has his eyes on Cynthia

I was disgusted, this King is just too much

I stood up, two guards pointed their pike at my neck while two guards moved behind me and tried to remove my helm.

In an instant, I pulled out Azazel and just destroyed their weapons

"Oh? disobeying the orders of a king?" He chuckled

Now that I look at him, he has white hair and a wrinkly face, he seems to be about 60-65 years old. A punchable face if I say so myself

"You are not my King" I stated as I switched to strength

"Zeno, no, please" Gram spoke to me

"Gram, I respect you but this man has disrespected an important person to me, I will hold back since we're friends but we're leaving, anyone or anything that stands in my way will be torn to shreds" I stated as I started walking away, Cynthia followed behind me

"Impudence! guards! take that man away, seal him up in the dungeon as for the woman, I'll have to personally interrogate her!"

The doors opened and the two guards from earlier blocked my way, they charged with both weapons aimed at my head. I switched to speed and moved in front, they missed their target so they tried to retreat but I already switched to strength and grabbed both their helms. I crushed their heads without even batting an eye before tossing them to the side

I walked through the castle, heading for the exit. Even if I was hindered by guards, I still kept walking forward, killing anything that dared to block my way

Screw that King, I will just have to find a way to fight off the bugs, maybe I should just go to my old style, assassination, that was what our platoon was for anyway.

I left the castle, covered in blood

'Alissa, negotiations failed, reason, my own pride and beliefs. Please pick us up' I used my radio

'Gotcha, tracking you via GPS... annnnd got your location, move to the forest south-east of you, I will pick you up there in less than 10 minutes' She replied

'Thanks'

"Thank you Zeno" Cynthia stated out of the blue

"Oh that? no worries" I chuckled

She didn't say anything more and just followed behind me, she may have hidden it but that smile on her face has been saved in my memory

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Inside the castle-

"AN ARROGANT MAN! BRING ME MERCENARIES AND ASSASSINS, I'LL HAVE HIS HEAD!" The King kept throwing whatever his hands reached

"My King, calm down" Gram talked to the King

"Gram, I am disappointed, how could you bring such an arrogant and impudent man! and as for you Brunhilde, aren't you a head royal guard?! I ordered the capture of that man and woman, why didn't you stop them?!"

"My King, I apologize but even if all the royal guards worked together, we are just ants compared to his strength, I prefer to stay alive to protect the King from the actual enemies I trained to defeat, the demons" Brunhilde stated coldly

"TCH, so you're like him huh?! well then EXECUTION FOR YOUR IMPUDENCE!" The King was mad

"King, please reconsider!" Gram reasoned

"...Yes, I am sorry, I lost it for a moment there, now, I have reconsidered and I will give Brunhilde, the royal guard two options, either she gets hanged privately or she accompanies me in bed tonight" The King declared

Brunhilde had a look of disgust, she pulled out her rapier and aimed it at her neck, she was about to stab herself when she remembered the man who gave it to her, swiftly she left, chasing after the man

"Get her Gram!" The King shouted

Gram looked at the mad King, he pulled off the badge that he wore, the very badge that shows that he is a general of the Kingdom.

"You are not my King" Gram parroted Zeno and threw the badge away before storming off but before he closed the door, he left a message

"Did you see the pillar of light that descended upon bamboo forest?" Gram asked

"What of it? my councilors stated that it is just the sun gracing the forest with its light"

"Wrong, it was a powerful spell that Zeno used to decimate a threat that would've befall the Kingdom"

Gram left

"Fine! leave! I don't need you! the demons have been very quiet lately anyways! and you! take that filthy slut out of my throne room!" The King pointed at a guard that was still suffering from Zeno's punch