infodatos Chapter 166 - 144: Burdens
Chapter 166 - 144: Burdens
Chapter 166: Chapter 144: Burdens"—We have conquered the mountains, men! We took back the lands that was taken from us by those filthy barbarians! Enjoy this feast to your hearts' content!" the king's voice boomed in the palace dining hall.
The soldiers who fought bravely in the war hit the floor with their boots as they bellowed in joy.
Servants rushed to all the tables and placed down mountains of food for the soldiers. The king funded most of the event but the common people donated their food as well to give to the soldiers who fought for their nation. They were this land's heroes.
"I am grateful to have such splendid warriors fighting under my banner!" the king lifted his mug which prompted the soldiers to do the same, "Though our day has been met with victory, we must say goodbye to a very special person. He is a warrior who brings a white light that symbolizes hope to my people! He is none other than Lord Arthur Tivurgian!"
The king pointed towards Arthur who was sitting with all his classmates at one of the many big tables. Arthur smiled and lifted his mug.
"I couldn't have killed the chief if not for my comrades who stopped the other barbarians from ambushing me. The ones who fought with their lives on the line deserve this feast more than I do."
"Must you go, Lord Arthur?" the dining hall went quiet as everyone's eyes landed on Arthur.
"I am afraid so, King Flued. However," Arthur looked towards the eldest princess who was sitting next to her father, "I will live on through my child. No, through all my children. I hope you look after them, boy or girl."
The princess smiled, "It was an honor warming your bed and receiving your love, Lord Arthur."
"OOOOOHHHH!" The people went into a frenzy when the princess blushed.
They'll welcome new warriors into this world in a year.
"Gyahahaha! Let us forget about his departure and focus on spending this time celebrating our victory! We must focus on spending this time together with him instead of brooding!"
The music—which stopped due to the king's speech—started playing again. The women dressed in fancy dresses who stood by the walls went towards the tables to serve the male soldiers. Local brothels sent their workers towards the palace to entertain the men and women.
Arthur could spot some of the soldiers leaving with their partners for the night.
'They should enjoy themselves. They've earned it.'
"Honorable elder brother Arthur," a cold voice came from Arthur's side whilst he was remembering the battle from earlier today, "May I ask what that harlot meant by warming your bed and receiving your love?"
Anais' blank eyes stared deep into Arthur's soul. Her mouth was slowly curling upwards into a smile.
"I-I had no choice, Anais. These people are desperate for strong warriors. I had to impregnate a lot of women because of this."
"How many did you sleep with!?" Anais hit Arthur's arm, "Tell me!" she hit him repeatedly after yelling that he should tell her.
"Calm down, Anais. It's true that these people are in dire straits. The women have no choice but to throw themselves at the men in hopes of receiving a child," Castacia intervened, "Most of our boys seem to take advantage of that, though."
Castacia looked towards a certain group of noble girls who were surrounding a few of her students.
"It seems we can't leave anytime soon."
"I guess they're helping in their own way... Anyway, have any of you seen Arnold?" Arthur hadn't seen Arnold ever since yesterday before they left Castacia's side.
"I left his side when he finished telling me everything. He was with Flora, I believe." Castacia said.
"He left the kingdom," Shirley, who was sitting across the table, spoke, "His scent disappeared not too long ago."
"You can smell him?" Sabrina looked at Shirley in astonishment.
Silverwolf demihumans have one of the strongest noses. Their senses have developed so far in the last thousands of years that they can distinguish between different scents.
"His scent is particularly strong. I don't know what it is though but it's different from any of the men here."
"Different? In what way?" asked Arthur.
"A sinister scent. It's not something I smelled on his body, though. You smelled it too, right Fecius?"
Fecius—who was sitting right next to Shirley—nodded.
"The scent on him disturbs all my five senses. My instincts always tells me to run whenever I'm near him. Standing next to him was like standing next to a monster beyond comprehension. I dare say it felt like being near a demon."
The table went silent.
'It seems like Fecius is... afraid?'
Though his face wasn't showing it, Arthur could feel a gloominess radiating from Fecius.
Arthur spoke to Castacia in an attempt to change the subject.
"I couldn't quite find the sword I was looking for on this world but I managed to find some useful information. Going by what the angel said, we can find the sword on the 99th floor."
"What are you going to do from now on? We can't just climb the dungeon up to the 99th floor. I know the sword will benefit humanity but it just sounds like suicide. We should leave it in the hands of capable explorers. Or you should at least wait until you're strong enough to come back on your own."
Arthur smiled. He took out something from his pocket and slid it over to Castacia.
"....?" Castacia looked at the object curiously.
It was the notebook Arnold gave Arthur. Inside it were the descriptions of about ten worlds.
"Arnold gave me this to help with our chances of survival. He said that this will also give us a rough idea of what we can expect from these worlds. The best part is that they're like the second and third floor. Meaning that we can find humans or any other humanoid lifeforms. If we can find stronger equipment for everyone then advancing through the dungeon will be bearable at the very least."
If these worlds have civilizations then there should be places to get artifacts like relic tombs and even artificial dungeons.
"How does he know all this?" Castacia's eyes widened when she glanced through the contents of the worlds in the notebook.
"It's obviously because he has an informant. I suspect he's here to find some valuable item that he heard about from this informant. He was rather sketchy whenever I asked him what he was doing in the dungeon so we should assume that it's very valuable."
"Hmm... an informant. Someone with access to these kinds of secrets shouldn't be from some low-ranking information guild, right? No one wants to go and study a dungeon they have no knowledge of. The academy took the risk but look at how it turned out. I think that Serz is the only organization capable of exploring ahead."
"That's exactly what Fecius told me as well. Shirley's father also has a contract with a member from Serz. What did you think about this person, Fecius?"
"I met the person a few times so that they can relay information to me. They're very thorough with their re
Arthur went a little further as he pushed his tongue into her mouth. She flinched a little but she didn't do anything else.
Arthur wanted to go a step further so he inserted his hand up her skirt. He felt her soft butt but the next moment...
"Ow!" Arthur exclaimed when Shirley crushed his hand with her gorilla strength.
"Just because I accept your confession doesn't mean we should go that far yet!"
Arthur laughed awkwardly, "S-Sorry. Uhm, can you let go? It really hurts."
He wasn't in the best shape so having her crush his hand like that was painful. Shirley already had dummy strength due to her demihuman blood.
"....." Shirley stepped back after letting go. "Just... Just wait for me, okay?"
"Wait for you?"
He only understood after a few seconds what she meant by that.
"...Okay." He nodded.
She averted her eyes before squeezing out her next words:
"You don't have to bear your burdens alone so... share them with me from now on, okay?"
"Eh?"
Shirley didn't stay any longer. She only fled from the balcony with flushed cheeks.
Arthur was about to call her but stopped. He thought back to what just transpired.
He could still smell her scent on him. It was sweet and flowery.
...You don't have to bear your burdens alone so... share them with me from now on, okay?
"....Thanks, Shirley."
A piece of the feelings he had for Olivia broke apart that day.