《Meliar》 At least I dont have a test anymore -Hello, could someone tell me where I am? Said the strange clothed youth standing on the summoning circle -This¡­ what is this?! Who are you? This summoning array should have summoned the great hero and him only, explain yourself! Exclaimed a old man with bags under his eyes, some gray robes and disheveled hair. He was also emanating a scary presence, but Aki ignored that. -I''m sorry sir, but I have no idea why I am here either. My name is Aki by the way, nice to meet everyone. I am not a bad human, so could you point the hailbards to another place, please? -Ji Hao, what is this? You promised to summon a hero, a champion for my kingdom that would expel the demons, all I see is a strangely dressed youth with no power or potential. Said a scowling woman covered in thin cloth stopping all from seeing but the idea of her figure. That one could still guess how angry she was just by her voice was saying enough about the situation. She was not tall or short, her feet, the only part showing besides the tip of her finger, showed a jade white skin and suggested a petite frame that followed her sweet and calm voice. -Your majesty, I¡­ The old man tried to say, but he suddenly started choking. -I gave you many rare materials, resources, and even gave you authority over my tower, yet this is what you show me as a result. You will be executed for high treason in the morning. Guards. Her voice did not even raise a pitch, but the pressure was tremendous and the guards naturally noticed how pissed their queen was, so they immediately took the mage to the lowest catacombs. -Now, tell me boy, what should I do with you? The pressure lifted from Aki as the woman turned to him, her tone suggesting he should talk before she changes her mind. -First of all, I''d like to apologize for not greeting your majesty properly, for this lowly one did not understand your rank and was still in shock to recognize such aura of power. He said while bowing 90 degrees. -That does not matter now. It is not expected of an otherworlder to know such things to begin with, otherwise you would already have been decapitated. She nodded and her tone seemed a little calmer. -Many thank for your generosity. As for her majesty¡¯s previous question, while this one would never dare say to know better than the queen herself, but I can only say that I may still be of plenty of use for your govern, but I am afraid such words are better left for a more private situation. -You think my throne room to be under protected? Rest assured, none from outside can hear a thing if I don''t will so. -I trust your majesty to be well protected and so her secrets, but as you see, I am no hero, and your majesty herself has just admitted to an equivoc which cost greatly and allowed that man inside, I am afraid a backdoor has already been installed in this room. At that the queen¡¯s face darkened under her veil, but so did every other person who could guess the meaning of ¡°backdoor¡±. -Court dismissed! Feng, Ling, search the room and report anything unusual to me. You, come with me! Her voice was raised this time. No noble-looking man or women dared stay, but they all left with decorum. Two small figures immediately appeared out of nowhere while kneeling when the queen called the two names and after nodding they disappeared again. Aki also immediately smiled and followed after her and her entourage of four. ¡­ -Do you have any idea what you just did? Asked the queen. -Your majesty, can I have your permission to speak without all this decorum? -I don''t care already! Yeah, she was pissed today. -Thank you, it''s a pain to talk like this. Before anything else, please make sure that man who summonned me doesn''t kill himself. Besides, I know your majesty isn''t stupid and had already noticed something was wrong, all I did was spare you some moments of thinking, but just to make sure, do those you sent know how to disarm bombs? He quickly sighed and spilled his thoughts over. -You¡­ send someone to warn The shadow guard. Who are you? -Your majesty, while fear can help with normal interrogations, fear just makes me angry and less willing to cooperate. Not like I am not almost in need for a change of clothes though, hahaha. Anyway, I am not someone special. Just a normal student who was going for a admission test in a university when¡­ -How''s his spirit root? The Queen decided to ignore the rambling of a mad man after noticing the boy in front of her wasn''t as unshakable as he tried to pretend to be. Yeah, she''s that sharp. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. -A little below average talent in body refining and average in magic. A very chaotic type of soul vessel with all attributes. Here''s the¡­ -Put your will in this. Said the Queen after interrupting her minister. -You will never find a loving husband with that attitude. And Aki automatically answered bitterly while obeying. As he did so, a bright red light flashed from the slab he put his hand over. -Should it be like this or¡­ while he mumbled about the right way to use the thing in front of him, the light got a shade darker and turned to crimson, there was a small moment where a flicker of gold appeared, but that doesn''t mean much in the grand scheme, and everyone in the room looked at him in shock. -Even if you look at me like that, I won''t be happy about being popular with old men. What does the color mean? Aki said while back to his serious tone. -Second highest grade understanding, you are almost perfect for training in magic. In the whole kingdom only 20 people have it, and that''s already considered very good. Explained the queen while taking her veil off. Behind the expensive cloth, there hidden was a majestic woman. Soft small lips, a bewitching smile, deep obsidian eyes and hair black like a crow¡¯s feathers. Oh, she was pretty, gorgeous enough that a Mc with a system would have to go through various charm authentifications to not kneel down and beg to serve her. Aki though¡­ -What now? His voice was rasp and his eyes full of mistrust. The only visual difference in him was a scowl in his face and a small flinch. While he seems to simply be unfazed, it was actually the sight of the Queen that got him pissed. First he totally fell for her charm, them came the thoughts of servitude followed closely by his self loathing and depression flooding insults to his person. Them came fear and anger, jealousy, greed and lust, which were stopped by sloth and careful thinking, AKA, not wanting to die the worst way possible. And that''s the summarized version. Not like anyone in the room understood it that way though. ¡°Does he think I just used charm magic¡± *coff*-We will get you to cultivate with the best resources and¡­ -I''d like to tell this to all of you right now, but I know many ways of suicide, and I won''t be afraid of using them in desperate situations. Everyone''s faces darkened at that. The bluntness of the previous hero was as know as his hunger for women, but this¡­ -And also that I am willing to serve, but I will not be your pawn to abandon whenever you feel like it. I am sorry for interrupting your majesty, but this is very important to me. He finished grimly. *sigh* -Why couldn''t I have summoned a frog or something? Leave, your room was prepared beforehand. Tiredly said the goddess. -Understood. Excuse me. And so he left. Silence filled the room for a while, but all present were seasoned politicians and rapidly started discussing the repercussions of today. ¡­ -My Lord, excuse me. As her ears twitched, a small dog-kin girl in a maid uniform opened the decorated door. -Hello, am I right to assume you are Bei, my personal maid? Asked a half naked Aki. -Yes, my lord. She said with a bow, her brown hair falling on her small face. -Don''t call me lord while in private, just Aki. I am not a noble in any sense of the word anyway. Come here. He had no fantasies about being a beauty, didn''t even have a six pack, just slim and took care of himself. If this was a manwa he would still be a pretty boy, but if you compare him to all the beauties around the palace, he would still be one of the the ugliest servant. Not like beauty isn''t a requirement to be employed here, so that doesn''t say much, but still. -Try to take what I say seriously, ok? How do you sleep? Even though he warned her, confusion still appeared in her face. He wasn''t complaining about that though, she was very cute. -I am sorry? -That was a trick question. What I want to ask is: Do you want to sleep with me? Not in the sexual meaning, I just feel lonely and thought hugging something fluffy and cute would help. -I¡­ ok. She confirmed after a slight period of shock. He nodded and walked to the sit on the bed and looked out of the window and the moonlight. The dog-kin murmured an ¡°excuse me¡± and started striping in front of him, stopping when she was only on her undergarments. He said nothing and just watched, lust and appreciation present in his eyes. After the little show they just laid there in bed and slept. No embarrassing situation involving hard-ons or anything. No sarcasm there either. Well, neither of them really slept much actually. Aki had nightmares and kept grunting while tears periodically fell from his eyes, but Bei was actually somewhat happy about that. It would be easier to think of this as freeing him from a far worse destiny. When she actually tried to stab him though: -I am sorry. May your next life be better. As the inexperienced woman plunged the knife to the neck, his eyes opened wide and he rolled out of bed. He had seen scenes like this some tunes before, and he always had a light sleep while outside his house, so he woke up as she started talking and reacted immediately to the knife out of instinct. Not like it would matter much if she hadn''t woken him though. -Did you kill her? Asked the teen leaning against the nightstand. -No. A raspy voice answered back after a minute. *thunk* That was Aki hitting his head on the nightstand. -Well, fuck. I guess this taste isn''t going to get out of my mouth for some time, uh? Did you have something you liked to do before turning into an awesome fighter mister assassin? For when the bitterness of your life being in the hands of others got too strong I mean. -... -Yeah, I know you shouldn''t interact with me. Assassin stuff. It''s ok. If you''re working for the queen, would it be okay if I help with her interrogation? Just grunt for confirmation. Or you can just disappear, sure. Urg, cultivators, always doing shit like they own the universe. Cooold! I already miss my flip-flops so much! As he said, the assailants seemingly teleported out of the room together with the maid. Aki wasn''t simply rambling though. He wouldn''t have those idiots ruin a perfectly good tool! Talking talks -So, you mean to say that you can figure out most of my palace''s hidden structures because these are the norm in your world''s castle building? Asked a very tired queen. -Well, yes, but no. You guys just have the incorporation of a very common fictional contraption. Castles have turned very outdated nowadays. Too many corridors, not enough space for circulation, sky scrapers are much more amazing. And customizable. -How can you be so calm?! You are literally inside a mind terror formation! -Oh, I''ve learned to let my anger overshadow my fears since I was young. I must say, autism and paranoia do not go well together in a six years old child. I start talking a lot more when that happens too, but you might have already noticed. Can you get me out of this chair now? -Why would I? She said with a sneer. -Because if I was a cultivator in disguise, I would have already have exploded my soul, even if it was to torch some of your clothes. The only other people in the room are a shadow and a prisoner, and what do you care for a dead woman''s opinion on you? You''re the queen! If you gave a rat''s fart about being a snobbish lady all the time, I would''ve been dead already. He said with a huge smirk, as if she had just told him a joke. -... -Even if you don''t like other people reading or labeling you, that is not something royalty can run away from. You want to keep going or would you prefer to mutilate me so I can be systematically made to ingest¡­ -Stop! You win. Just shut up, you gross piece of shit. What did you even want here to begin with? Wang Bai Fang screamed as she dealt with the insufferable boy she was supposed to Intimidate. -To help, of course! While admiring your beauty is certainly a good benefit, I don''t want this to turn into a story of a lustful clown and an incompetent queen. Seriously, you''d be surprised how stupid some historical figures of my world were for all their knowledge. Now, could you turn this thing off? Thank you. Let''s start again, I am Aki, former law student and summoned hero. I come in peace and bring three gifts. -What would those be? Said the now serious and composed queen. -First, I''d like to say that while I am certainly not combat ready, I am a smart guy who has a new point or view and knowledge over many unusual things you might find fairly useful in a multitude of situations. I offer you my advices. *Crack x2* Those were his thumbs. -Fuck! You''re a bdsm master or something! He said while looking at the man who had bound him. His plan actually worked halfway, but the rope had suddenly knotted itself around his arms while falling from his wrists. -Arrgh, no, no, it''s fine, I can free myself. The second gift¡­ He jumped in place and fell on his back. Which means the chair broke, because he actually used force against it and broke the back out. His arms hurt, but they didn''t break, so he reached into his jacket. -Is knowledge from another world. This, is a kindle. It has about 500 books inside. At least a quarter of that are about philosophy, marketing, sociology, war, law making, half is for my own amusement and other quarter about history, geography, calligraphy, art and programming, which is very similar to enchanting and spell formation for all I know. The rest is filled with chemistry, biology, psychology, medicine, civil engineering, mathematics, physics, and other things you might not find so useful in the short term. As he presented the small piece of technology the size of a small book, it''s cover was a leathery brown with a black inside.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. -It''s only downside is that it should only have energy for a week or two of continuous use, but I assure you that it should not be too hard to copy it''s contents so I can latter translate it. Depends on how long I take to learn to write in your¡­ -You have two hundred fifty useful books from earth in this tiny thing!?! Why didn''t you say anything earlier? The queen started shaking him by the collar as she said so. -Because I trust those ministers even less than you, now please stop before I vomit! He said in a rush. -What do you mean with that? She said with a frown. -Just that you seem less like a corrupt politician and I have nothing but myself to trust in a totally foreign world. While I understand the tactic of not putting all of your eggs in one basket, it is just that much more useful if I am seem as a less valuable resource by people that don''t remember how it is to be human anymore, and since you are the youngest and¡­ are you really going to get pissed at me because I said you look younger than your politicians? Now, that''s childish. -I am not angry. Just disappointed as to how you view those I deem trustable. -Yeah, sure, I will just have to reevaluate them by their actions later them. Are we good? He asked while rolling his eyes. -Fine, what is your third gift? -My friendship. I am surrounded by the unknown and people who look at me as a thing, I''d like to fix that. In return I will not stab you in the back at every opportunity, be by your side and actually be less of a bother as I stay in your castle. I don''t mean it like a stiff, political way either, just someone to share laughter and insecurities with. What do you say? Said the young man while extending a hand at a perplexed queen. ¡­ The young master of the Feng family was considered a great genius since birth, after all, he was born on the night of a moon eclipse together with an earthquake that happened as a flock of dragons flew over his family manor. Even before the laws of the world allowed him to start cultivating, he surprised many with his compression ability and dedication to martial arts since young. In the day his talents were measured it was found he had a pure water spirit root, the highest talent in magic and the semi-divine level of crimson compression! For three days and three nights a party was commemorated to his future prospects in his their territory. He didn''t let that get to his head though. His efforts only got more and more obvious, with him reaching core formation at the tender age of 90. So why was he doing this? -I mean, it''s just the second rank, it can''t be that hard? Right? Asked a confused Aki. -You literally just skept the first realm. No one ever did that! Screamed the queen. -So what? It''s the second realm, if you just eat enough good quality food you will be able to reach it. Some people are rich enough to do that without even meditating! Rebutted the summoned hero in his yet again loose robes. -Yeah, but they stack a ton of other things to get such effect. Like being a baby and having an easier time molding your body or having a special physic or something. Allow this narrator to go back in time a little. Not like you have a choice. You see, the queen asked a great genius with a known patience to teach the Aki while promising a handsome reward. Which didn''t convince him, so then this happened: -If you teach him I will support your lover. Said a frowning queen behind her veil. Young Feng was immediately surprised in the inside. Politics and intrigue having hardened him, his face stayed the same in the outside. -What do you mean? His white eyebrows scrounging together to form a line in his perfect face. Like you''d expect, that gave him an even more serious air and did nothing to diminish his¡­ anything. Aki rapidly signaled for the queen not to speak and started grinning. -Now this is on me, don''t say a word. I am so glad you asked. First, I noticed how you have this brave, very loyal and handsome hunk with you, so I thought, hey, they look like a cute couple, but that is just my imagination, or so I thought until I saw him secretly look at your butt sometimes, you look uncomfortable sitting here in seiza, or whatever you chinese call it, then I turned to him and saw how well you treat him compared to the queen¡­ don''t look at me like that, I''ve seen people like you before and I know how you expressionless beauties express their love. Now, don''t you agree that whatever plan you had will be a lot easier with queenie''s help? Also, I think none of us are dense enough to not know the excuse you''d need to give here would get a bigger damage on your relationship than me in any way you try. -... -... -... Killing with a word Silence reigned over the room for a full minute while everyone processed what they''d heard. "I am going to kill you if you are wrong." The queen said with her aura. "I will not be taken advantage of, even if the other part is a hero from another world." Resolved Feng Chen Bao. "It''s all my fault. I have to take responsibility and¡­" Chang Chun''s thoughts were stopped about there by Aki abruptly speaking again. -You''re not suiciding. Neither are we going to take advantage of you. Neither the queen nor I have told this to other people nor do we care much for court intrigue. It is actually very good that a golden boy like you is actually gay and has a partner, since I was thinking of forcing a law for same sex marriage in the middle stages of my project. He explained. -"Are you serious?" The queen and young Feng said at the same time for entirely different reasons. Naturally the queen spoke first after that -Do you even get how hard that will be? How many asshats I have to convince for something like that!? Look at me while I am talking to you! Which totally shocked the men in the room. The guests because it was unthinkable for the queen to swear and Aki because Bai Fang was shaking him by the shoulders. -I''mmmm dyyyiiiinnnnggg¡­ *huff* OK, back to it. Aki said while looking pale and leaning on the ground table. -You, were you serious about what you just said? Asked the beauty. -Uhm? Well, yeah, we have plenty of reasons to do that. Can''t tell you why before you sign a soul bidding contract though. Of course, him too. If you''re turning into our golden gay couple, than he can''t be just a guy who stands there and let''s you do all the talking while simply nodding. That''s only for couple fights where he is in the wrong. And so they started negotiating the details with the couple constantly being embarrassed at the vulgarities spoken by Aki. Shesh, hand holding in public? Perverted! Eh? What is it Bao Bao, you don''t mind trying it? ¡­ And so it was agreed that the queen and An Bao here would teach Aki about cultivation. They didn''t expect him to suddenly have three epiphanies in a row just from a single six hours session. Even these two geniuses had no idea where did this guy get these cabag¡­ epiphanies. -Seeing it from the bright side we can at least say I wasn''t a total failure and already reached the first major realm of cultivation or something, right Bei? Said Aki after calming the grieving queen. -It is as master says. But it is already time for the court reunion. Said Bei with a smiling face. -Ah, I almost forgot about that. I shall trouble you with this again then. Said Aki while The dog-kin already approached him to fix his clothes. -Learn how to do it yourself at once, we need to get there at the right time and this will cause problems in the future. An Bao, you are dismissed. Seriously said an already fixed Bai Fang. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. -If that means not being helped by a beauty every time, them I refuse. Said Aki with a smile. -That''s sexual harassment. Replied Bei while still smiling. -That''s laying a foundation for when you''re not working here anymore. This is going to take an year at max, so why not get to¡­ yeah, you''re right, that wouldn''t work. Said Aki after remembering he was talking to a woman who hated most men she knew. -If you''re done then let''s go. And so Aki¡¯s first time in court commenced. Well, it''s also the first time he is using the actual corridors in the castle, but that is less exciting, so you may ignore it. In a a well decorated and carved wooden room, full of elderly sitting on their feet. -Her majesty the queen has arrived. Said the royal announcer, a plain looking lady who could make anyone melt with her voice. The nobles important enough to be there weren''t talking loudly for a mater of manners, but they all shushed when hearing her voice. It''s that, when you silence a whole room without raising your voice. Calmly walking in and taking her chair in front of everyone else, the queen exuded an aura of power and dignity even while seated. Aki would not even have been noticed had everyone in the room except for him having reached the fifth stage. Before anyone, a good looking old man got up and slightly bowed to the queen before speaking and "staring" at Aki. -Elder Cui salutes her majesty. As this is a meeting of outmost importance and secrecy¡­ -If you do not believe me or my capabilities, than just say so, we are not here to show who can best imitate a bird or who can best decorate their words. Now, the queen has something important to say. Said Aki with disdain in his eyes. -Aki, I do not need introductions in front of my own men. The queen had a little anger in her tone. -Apologies, your majesty. He now sounded meek and even bowed. To all these nobleman, Aki¡¯s public position was obvious, but they still had not fallen for his words thanks to their old skin. -To business. As you might remember, I have apprehended The mage responsible for the summoning, and after three days of questioning, my agents have reported a very unsettling Intel to me. In the first round of interrogation he talked about his mage group, how their travels led them to finding an isolated realm sealed in an ice cage and how this ritual brought them here through a curse. Aki them asked what did the last hero do to be sealed in a cage like that. After he explained that the summoning circle was written in the hero''s language and he could read it, I got some doubts. We all know the stories after all. Seeing the man in the room all nod, the queen continued. -After disarming some traps, we found out the man was actually an homunculi. All but one member of his group were too, but that one was a blood mage controlling them. He was already in the run, but we got him after attacking him through his connection to the homunculi in our possession. Some time later we found irrefutable proof of nobles colluding with a terrorist organization. -And so all of you shall renew your oath. So as to prove myself, I will take on an even more strict oath. Aki got up and kneeled in front of the queen. -I, Aki, swear upon the heavens to uphold the laws as I know them or as my queen orders, swear to be by your side and follow your will to my death. After saying the last word, a golden light parted from his chest and flew to the queen¡¯s heart. Everyone was surprised by this, not the light, that was normal and happened whenever someone swore loyalty to a monarch out of their own will, no, they were surprised by the deep, life biding oat the young man in front of them just did. Bai Fang didn''t know about this either though. Those words were almost like¡­ "Please do notice that only the last two things are actually targeted at you. I don''t know the laws of this land, the only woman I recognize as queen is my grandmother and wills are the last wishes of someone, from where I come from that is. It''s a word play on all that, but I did promise to be your friend." "Don''t make such shocking displays without telling me, idiot!" The queen said through the newly opened telepathic link formed between the two. Seeing a young man do what they didn''t dare to gave the nobles various impression, but none forgot what this meant and what would come next. -So, who wants to go first? Just so you know, your oath must be "I have never heard or worked in anyway with the Hearts of gold, The devil''s sword, Seven headed dragon god of fury, Blood resonance¡­" It''s him. *BOOOOM* A normal walk For those less intellectually gifted, allow me to explain. After twelve hours of torture, the mage "talked" quite a lot. All those "suspicious" sounding names were not just taken out of Aki¡¯s ass, they''re actual associations and groups. It may seem strange that said "seemingly" low ranked mage in the starting kingdom''s capital would know that lots of small organizations in the continent are "seemingly" working toward the same goal without knowing each other, knew that certain nobles high rank are working with them, didn''t know their identity and still informed the royals of various important places¡­ No, yeah, he was just very much hated and considered semi useless thanks to his personality, so when deciding who to send as the blood magician, the villains were like: "I mean, it''s very risky, so he will need certain level of ability." "It could be a she!" "No, it cannot because none of your girls know how to keep it In their pants! Now, that leaves us with four candidates for the position, so if you would look at¡­" "More like, isn''t this perfect for Li? I am sure he''d screw up right after completing his task, and he is so arrogant he would never say anything." "That''s what we have vows for, idiot." "So what? They have a soul torturer, they''d just get the info out of his dead body, so it''s best if he doesn''t know anything crippling." "Mako wouldn''t even be captured." "But she would leave a bloody giant trail of destruction leading anywhere she goes, and that''s why we don''t send her anywhere without teleportation. So everyone agrees that Li is the perfect scape goat? Great, let''s eat." That''s basically the gist of it. As a result, Aki just had to make a scene with a lot of nobles and voila. -Outrageous! How dare they! -The Lin family were traitors all along? -I (Add self important to family name the Mc totally did not hear) represent my family and say that we shaw cooperate with the crown in any way possible so as to bring these criminals to justice! After one of the nobles self destructed, only four people in the room remained unscathed. Aki, the queen, the announcer, who had pounced back in the room in time to make a barrier in front of the queen, and another noble, who had a line of nobleman and their treasures between himself and the explosion. That, infuriated most nobles, and even the ones smart enough to see the bigger picture agreed that at the moment they all had a common enemy, further options can be considered later. With that, everything proceeded smoothly and accordingly to plan after that. The nobles swore their oaths, no one else exploded from destroying their own soul and the Lin family had all their riches confiscated. And that''s why Aki finally got his first reward. ¡­ -This is the attributeless cultivation manual you asked for, but are you sure? These are practically useless. Asked the queen with doubt. -Yeah, of course. I will use it till I get a better one that is more suited for my tastes. For now I shall be going them. -Eh? Going, you mean¡­ -I am going to have a look at the city. Eat some regional food, find a bookstore, stop to look at the sun set, go to a brothel and lose my virginity¡­ Normal things. -What?! No, you''re the hero! You can''t just walk around like that. Complained the queen. -Dear, it''s a city with millions of people and I haven''t even walked around the palace, that means it won''t matter so much with your shadow guard following me, will it? Relax, one day we''ll find out a way to cure you of your beauty. Said Aki while putting a hand in her shoulder. -Don''t touch me! Said a pouting queen who forgot to put her veil back while walking away, what caused everyone who passed through her to feint. You could basically see the hearts in their pupils. It took five minutes for the queen to notice this, but that still meant lots of feinted servants. While at that, Aki had already teleported to the outer city together with Bei. It was actually harder to find a taxi then to get there. -Where to young master? Asked a sweating bald old man who looked kind of scared. He was simply the owner of a mule driven open carriage, he was afraid for the well being of his family. Nobles change opinion for the slightest mistakes after all. -How much for a tour through the outer city? Aki directly asked with a poker face. -Eh? Well¡­ that much would be¡­ 5 plus six, four, fifteen¡­ twenty silver. It would be twenty silver young master, though I can¡­ The old man made the count with his fingers and tried to say something about lowering the price in case the noble in front of him got angry, but before he could do so Bei already pushed a pouch with twenty silver to him. -I will pay you the same amount again if you get me through a certain series of locations I have in a list and give me some information on the places you know of something. Even rumors will suffice. We may need to stop and gather some people suddenly, so please wait for me on those occasions, understood? Aki explained and they went on. In total they spent twelve hours going around the outer city. At breakfast they paid for the driver as well. During lunch there were two kids who were apparently siblings shoving the food down their gullets like the simple soup and steak with salad was the best thing they ever ate. In the middle of a snack at 4 pm there were now a dog kin that apparently didn''t know how to speak and could only bark, growl and cry, a prostitute that was helping Bei take care of the boy and a little, very pale and anorexic girl that ate all of Aki¡¯s rice while he combed her hair. The old man was even showing how to play chess to the elder brother that appeared first. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡­ On a not so narrow side street stood Aki, a disheveled eleven year old boy and three tugs. -Clear off punk! Don''t think just because you''re from some family we won''t beat you. Said the first tug. -I am sure you will. Actually, I''d like you to beat me. Said Aki with a smile. Is this guy some drunk perverted? -Get out of here. Another guy tried to get to him by the collar to throw him out of the alley, but he dodged it and threw his body at him. Hitting the guy with a palm and a knee basically threw him back some meters as well, but Aki was actually just trying to get himself away from the guy he put a explosion talisman on. Muttering some chants while his enemies were hit by the explosion bought him some seconds, but Aki wanted the boy and wasn''t letting some idiots get him. Running into the dust cloud, he was rapidly attacked by one tug, but he finished the chant he was elongating and cut the man''s sword hand clean off with a wind blade. Proceeding to use two fingers to hit the idiot''s eyes, our hero used the chance to grab the man and judo throw him, which almost hit the other guy, but he still barely evaded it. The thug was trying to get the boy and run, but he didn''t know if he could outrun the guy in front of him while carrying the boy. While making a motion to get a blade, Aki threw the sand he was holding in his other hand in the enemy''s eyes, got the blade and them stabbed the man''s neck. Just to make sure he rapidly stabbed the other man in the neck with his shortsword. Now, as for his reward¡­ It was trying to sneak away. -Boy, you are coming with me. Aki said. -Senior, I am grateful but¡­ The boy was fearful and didn''t want to mix with this troublesome man, so he tried to get out of there. -Don''t be ridiculous boy. I saved you, so it''s my responsibility to see it to the end. Besides, you''re hurt. My maid knows some healing arts, so she can help you. While at it you could answer some questions of mine. Aki didn''t say anymore and turned to leave. Of course, he was not stupid, just making it harder to see the earth wall talisman that he was using to hit the back of the boy''s knees. They got out of that alley only after Aki held him like a potato sack. He was also screaming of pain, but it was mostly fake. -Don''t run, ok? Said Aki before setting him on the wagon. The mule was not actually being mistreated, but buffed and well fed by the way. After all, one normal animal carrying nine people is something that does not work so well. -Stay still. Said Bei while slowly healing the boy with her usual smile. -Now, I''ve only bought ten of these questionnaires and I screwed it up a little bit twice already, so you only have two chances. You''ve got to answer truthfully, because I don''t like the sound this artifact does when someone lies, we clear? Asked Aki while summoning a piece of paper, a pencil and a wooden slab so he could do the formulary. He pointed at a ring he had on his left thumb when talking about the truth thing. By the way, since starting to cultivate the day before, Aki¡¯s fingers had actually started to slim out and his nails kind of self polished themselves, so he doesn''t have any visible signs of actually coming from earth at the moment, except maybe the silver ring he has on his right thumb, which has a serial number on it, but it would normally be unnoticeable. For you that did not understand, please remember cultivators have to expel tons of impurities from their bodies and pass through rigorous torture as energy opens and forms channels in their bodies. That is to say he doesn''t have even a pimple mark or vaccine mark anymore! By the way, cultivators who stagnate or get poisoned can still have acne and other things, it''s just that advancing is quite cleansing. -An easy one first. How old are you? -Eleven years old. -Have you cultivated before? -... Yes. -Did you learn lock picking? -Learning. -Shucks, oh well. Choose a number from 1 to 10. -9? -Do you have a family you wish to return to? -I am an orphan. -... Aki didn''t even raise his head to that and just waited. -No, my only family remaining is my thief of an uncle. -Good, then would you be interested in becoming my sect disciple? -I prefer to go solo. -Ok, then let me ask you, do you remember any of your last reincarnations, and if yes, how many? Aki said, finally raising his head. -... -You know, literally everyone that has ever used a reincarnations technique pics nine as the number, doesn''t seem interested in secular life, are self centered, don''t want to be beneath someone else and normally go "solo". -... Even Bei stopped what she was doing and prepared to restrain the boy to the best of her ability. -Do you want to run now or are you going to attack me? By the way, good luck getting Bei as a hostage. I will say this now and only this time, but I don''t give a flying fuck about who you were, right now you are just a brat that thinks too much and are coming with me. -And if I refuse? A cold glint passed the eyes of the boy and a snap sound was heard. -Is something the matter? Said a voice coming from nowhere in particular. -Just show yourself a little. A fraction of a second is enough. Reason of threat assimilation. May be a valuable resource for the future of the kingdom. Aki said while shrugging. -Understood. Said the monotone voice before releasing it''s eighth stage soul pressure. It wasn''t even directed at him, but Aki unconsciously gritted his teeth. As for the reincarnated immortal, he just turned pale as a sheet and his browns formed a line. -Yes, I am a reincarnated expert. Immortal emperor¡­ He bit his tongue when Aki hit the wood plank he held on the boy''s head. -Again, I don''t care much as for who you were. Right now you''ve got to re cultivate in a body that apparently wasn''t so well prepared. How long do you think it would take for you to reach immortality again? A thousand years? Were you at least a sword immortal or body immortal to have such confidence that with a body like this you won''t just be an average cultivator? Or were you planning on living as a hermit? Also, you don''t need to lie to me, I know it takes at least a celestial emperor to consider using a reincarnation technique. Every time Aki finished a sentence, everyone around him looked like they''d either had been punched on the gut or sucked a bag of lemons dry. "A thousand year to reach immortality in a body without talent?!? What have I been slaving away my years for them?" Thought Bei. "Body immortal? Do those even exist?" The thought flashed through the former emperor''s mind. "A celestial emperor is the highest grade of cultivation ever recorded. His threat level and potential value to the kingdom is immeasurable." thought the elite shadow guard. -I will remember this. Said the boy through gritted teeth. -You won''t. I will either be a great helping hand or just a stepping stone. That''s how it works with you cultivators. Said Aki with a sign. -Children, we''re going! Bei, keep healing him. The moment everyone was close enough, Aki activated the talisman to teleport them to the palace. Some "ohhs" and "ahhs" later, everyone reached Aki¡¯s new palace. *clap clap* -Everyone, attention. We''re going to enter a wing of the royal palace, so there''s some rules. First, don''t speak about the queen in a bad tone. If you must swear at her no matter what, say something really embarrassing like "I hope the queen will let me lick her feet today" or "The queen¡¯s hair is so lustrous and soft, I could die for a strand" The reason being that she can always hear when she is being mentioned. Second, you don''t disrespect any nobles in a direct manner. be sure to be able to say everything while smiling or with a straight face, otherwise they can call for your blood and head, so I''d have to pay some absurd price or destroy them entirely, but that is for later. Third, any of your ideas may be coined by me as inventions of the sect during your stay. In compensation I will see to it you are paid for that and the sect will help with production, innovation and upgrading your ideas. Fourth, I will help everyone here cultivate, some more than others, but for now there is no superior or Inferior. That will be decided by your effort. Fifth, have fun and remember why you are dedicating yourself. That''s about it, so does anyone have any questions? -En. The little white girl raised her hand. -What is it dear? Said Aki without any of the seriousness from before. -What is this place called? Cutely said the six years old girl while looking around with her big eyes. -Thank you for asking, because I almost forgot this. Everyone, welcome to the Saint Bloodwood orphanage, your new home! Orphanage -So you mean this guy who you swear was a true master went alone and killed a battle kings and two true masters, proceeded to have a chat with our special debitor and disappeared with some kids, a prostitute and a maid by using a fucking talisman? Asked a very scary man with a extremely chiseled face that showed he was a berserker of certain repute and had several body enchantments tattooed in his body. -Yes sir. Answered an extremely average looking man without changing his face in the slightest. Which is pretty creepy, because that means he didn''t open his lips either. -We''re better be careful. Lay low for some time. The idiot knew of some troublesome things, so we are going to move over. Shit, just my luck! Right when that profitable contract knocked our doorstep. Differently from what''d be expected, this mafia boss looking guy was pretty smart. -At best we will have to bribe some sect to leave us alone, at worst¡­ well, I''ve heard the queen has been trying real hard to summon a hero, and those aren''t exactly known for their love to bandits. He was quite right actually. Aki had just peaked at those criminals organizations so that he could come in later and take everything in there as war funds. Luckily not every bandit boss was so smart, or all the loot boxes would''ve just escaped while Aki did something else. Of course, they''ve escaped Aki, not the general. Our dear Mc most obviously reported what he saw and that some especially suspicious organizations might be linked to the hero summoning idiots. That mainly makes a difference because they are in a desperate need of money. In case you didn''t know, teaching old farts about the concept behind machine power, physics and science doesn''t make those guys instantly able to fork out the money to test and produce said ideas. The kingdom unfortunately doesn''t have anyone who could just copy and paste the theory into reality either. For the moment. Those kind of artisans normally come right when there is some kind of innovation. Besides, it''s not like the queen is just going to let a potential money source slide. Right now Aki¡¯s schedule consists mostly of teaching old man for six hours, spending two hours playing with his loli, four hours of weapon teaching, two hours learning magic and two hours cultivating in between. Since that is boring let''s see another''s point of view. ¡­ Gang Jiahao, that is officially my new name, given to me by the queen herself in person and chosen by that bastard Min Qiu Jiahao. If you thought of all the names and ceremony, at the very least notice the names are written in the wrong order before giving them out! I can only thank the queen for asking for ours new names before the presentation. It took me a while to notice why she was so determined to have him say it out loud as well, but I certainly would''ve done the same in her case. It was beautiful, flowers of all kinds in the garden in a lovely pattern used to bring the most of out of their forms and using a color pallet of purple that grew deeper the closer you got to the main entrance, where the queen awaited in the end of the stairs with a veil letting her lips appear. As we walked forward to her and the several cultivators of renown, bells chimed in a soothing melody and cherry blossoms flew around in our way. After paying our respects, He went first and the queen spoke of the hopes of the kingdom for him in the future. He apparently is a hero. A hero, uh? Of the few I''ve met I could match none of them no matter how much higher was my cultivation. Figures he doesn''t give a crap about me having been a celestial emperor. -The matron of Saint Bloodwood orphanage, Jiahao Na Lian, I ask of you to take care of our children, so that the only future they see in front of themselves is one made by their own hands, one where they can happily smile from the bottom of their hearts. Even such a bastard can say words like that with a warm face, hum? It''s not bad though. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The former prostitute walked up the stairs and kneeled before the queen and the hero. -Rise friend, for only those who suffered can understand the suffering of others, not many have suffered as much as you, and even less have stood firm before fate. Rise, for if you do not look up by the end of the path you''ve chosen, no other will. He said while lifting her by the shoulders. -Receive my blessing child, and bring glory to our country. Said the Queen as she kissed the woman''s forehead. Due to a difference of height of about ten centimeters, she actually had to step on air a couple of times to do so, but she did it with the gracefulness of a goddess. After offering her thanks and cupping her hands while bowing, the newly annointed matron stood respectfully behind the hero. -Children, step forward and embrace your new home. I won''t lie, evil will look to cause you trouble, and I am incapable of shielding you of all with my power alone. That''s why I wish to make you all able to be strong enough to surpass any who threaten you or your loved ones. Wise enough to use that strength. Humane enough to be able to wield all of your power and not regret the choices you''ve made. As for how someone as weak as me can make anyone strong¡­ that is very simple. I am a genius, and that means I learn from the mistakes of others. Even if I never saw an attack, I will know I can''t stand it. Let this be my first real lesson as a teacher and hero. If a man is not strong enough, he needs the power of others, but what if his power is to flow the power of others to do his bidding? Would he them not be the strongest? No. To be strong is to protect yourself! To be the strongest is to protect all! That is who I expire to be and who I will be. If I can''t even protect a few kids until they grow up, them may heaven strike me down! As proof of my words, I shaw capture the rats infiltrating in this happy ceremony! As he said so, numerous golden circles appeared all around and in most of them were man wearing black. I asked him about it afterwards, but his answer was: -That? It was just for show. Suppose there is an invisible enemy you are unable to pinpoint. The correct strategy is to either entrap him or just attack everything around you, so you''d be sure to hit him, but there is also the strategy of predicting where your opponents will attack, so I just left myself and the sect seemingly open to spionage and them activated the traps after the man had already stepped in. With the formation core the queen gave me I''ve made quite a lot of interesting things. I''d love to brag about them, but that isn''t fun at all, so you''re just going to have to wait and see. When the queen came over the next day she said that thanks to his theory on souls they were able to extract plenty of good information on the other countries, some darmic sects and of the fiend sects. I didn''t expect that my interrogation methods would be useless right now, but oh well, there will be other chances to curry favor. But what is this strange feeling I have on her? -Say, Fang, you''ve had an epiphany didn''t you? My my, what could have possibly happened between now and the yesterday that would make an at the peak have an epiphany? He said with a totally smug face and zero respect. That''s it, even if you have some friendship with her and are the hero, there''s no way¡­ -Shut it, you idiot! I was holding back my cultivation for some time now and just saw an opportunity, so I just did it, understood!? Even if you helped me have a minor epiphanie it doesn''t mean it was all that big a deal. The queen said while pointing at him like it was an accusation. Uh? -Are you sure it was a minor one? My my, how talented is her majesty, to cross a realm barrier with a simple minor epiphany. I am most honored to be your sworn hero and friend! He said with fake air of admiration while bowing a perfect 90 degrees. -HOI! The queen¡¯s veil flew and¡­ ¡­ Thanks to our ass of a main character, station brat is having some technical difficulties, station cuteness activating. ¡­ -Little monkey, brother Gang is having some problems, could you come and get him to the infirmary?! As I trained in my room, master called from the front door, so I got up and quickly got there. Master was being Berated by the important auntie from before, so I was surprised and thought she had turned against master, so I was prepared to attack her, but master stopped me. -Now now Xiao Rong, friends do this sometimes, she''s not really angry at me. You can''t attack every pretty sister around just because they seem angry, ok? Now say sorry to the queen for launching yourself at her and turn off your void element. -I am sorry auntie. I curved my back to bow while being held by master''s hands and turned the cold feeling off. -A¡­ auntie?!? I am still only seven hundred years old, I am not that old! She screamed while stuttering for some reason. Was she trying to do that thing she was doing with master and being friendly? -Pffff, Fang, she is six years old, even I am an old uncle in her point of view, and I am sixteen! Hahaha¡­ now look at this cute face and tell me you can stay angry at her. You can''t right? Now, little monkey, master is going to talk about business with the queen, you might hear screaming, but that is because we are friends and she is a person that naturally talks loudly¡­ -Oi! -Just like that. But she doesn''t have many chances to be herself, that''s why she''s like this around her good friend. She''s a rare specimen, so if you ever find someone who can be themselves around you, be sure to cherish them, ok? For now go get brother Gang to the infirmary and ask Na Lian to stop his nose from bleeding. That should teach him not to spy on me for a while. -Understood. This is normal The days passed quietly. Master would always teach me how to refine myself while grumbling that those bad man were idiots for some reason. Although I agree, whenever I asked why he''d say some really complicated words. The training was the only moment when I felt pain, but besides that it was always fun. I hope we can stay longer like this. ¡­ Changing from supreme ball of cuteness to maniac station. ¡­ As I stood there, watching the little girl enveloping herself in an abyss like black, the nausea hit me again. No matter how much I ignored and resisted, there was always this feeling on the back of my mind telling me I''d be eaten by the coldness. -Focus Na Lian, if you space out now I will have to add 700 more to the amount in our daily training! -711¡­ 704¡­ 697¡­ You freaking sadic of a bastard! -I know how it looks, but I really didn''t invent this technique. I will even do 300 more seconds on my end. Endure it. As the blood fell from my nose in droplets I kept healing myself. Each moment was hell and it felt like an eternity. If not for the obvious improvements, little Rong experiencing something much worse than physical pain and this idiot being beaten till his bones pop out just so they can be toyed with¡­ Is it really healthy to let a child watch this? -This fEarrrr¡­ this TERROR¡­ MINE! ALL MINE!... A sssoul like thisss¡­ It''s safe this way, come! The blows got stronger again and I coughed blood. It was very little compared to what I assumed was the blood on the ground, but every wound made it harder to concentrate. The hair sticking to my head because of the blood and sweat did not help with the discomfort, but neither did the actual array keeping me alive. I don''t know who had the brilliant idea of making an array that can cage a soul and divine perception inside one''s body, but I sure as hell want to punch him. -It was actually a worried father trying to save his daughter. I touching story. We''re reading it later today. Really, to think the other only person that likes books would be that brat¡­ I hate story time as well! -C''mon, even if you''re embarrassed to learn, think of the children that will come. It will be you reading for then one day. Each of those little eyes filled with innocence and hope, their praise for the beautiful big sister with eloquent words, how they will be inspired to learn, how their futures will be brighter, how many of then will be teachers and keep this chain going forward. Is a little embarrassment going to stop you from that? -I hate you. -Even letting go of the soul form, I knew I choose the right woman for the job. At this rate you will be the most powerful healer ever. -Shut it. ¡­ After the morning torture ended, everyone had lunch. As normal, everyone prayed before eating, even though I again had to remember little Jing. -You already look like a strict mother lecturing your children right now, when your uniform gets done them¡­ Said Min Qiu before being hit in the forehead by a little stone. -Don''t talk during the meals. -That! Another thing from this culture I prohibit in my orphanage! How can a true family not share their thoughts when together! He screamed back with indignation in his eyes. Why does he actually have arguments for these kinds of things? -Does anyone want to talk about their day? Rong? That''s why I love you, little one. -I actually wanted to ask who is that pretty miss that got out of the array you train in and why she is eating with us while making a mean face and crying. -See?! That''s the important type of thing we talk about during meals, I would never remember to introduce Bibi if someone didn''t ask. He said with a proud face. -Bibi, introduce yourself to the children. Remember what we talked about. -I am Bibi, a demon. Said the purple haired woman who suddenly had an even more lovely face, black sclera and horns that went backwards. Besides that she looked like any human. Gang started choking, got up and started pointing between the demon and Bibi. Jing''s ears perked up and he tried to get to her through the table, but I stopped him. Heng hugged Jia and prepared to get away. Rong just nodded and continued to eat her fish. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. -As I was saying, I am a demon, a fire spitting succubus to be exact. After an unfortunate encounter I was sealed inside a world prison array and master Min Qiu offered me a contract so I''d get out and serve him till his death. For now I shall be his secretary. She said it all with a business face before getting to devour her bowl of food, then notice she has finished it and look at Aki with puppy eyes. -You know, I don''t really care for you being a demon, that''s the reason you''re even eating and using my second knife and fork set I had specially made for myself, go ahead and ask the servant for more. For a moment both Gang and her gapped at that, then she had a glint of evil in her eyes that I''d seen many times in him, but then something must have gone in her head, because that disappeared and she gently asked the servant for another bowl. -Good. If you had fallen for something so simple them I''d have turned you into my lab rat and killed you off after some time. Please take notice that I know how to obliterate souls. He said that and everyone went quiet. Rong was still eating and Jing was actually using signals to ask for food as well, but I¡­ -She''s a demon. Remember they are all prone to chaos and evil ideas. They must be dealt with caution, but if proven to be more than mindless beast, then they must be treated as beings worth the same respect as a normal person. That means that as long as she is good, sister Bibi is equal in position to sister Na Lian. Before either of you two raise any complaints, remember that also means she will be training with us and will be demoted if she can''t keep up. If it''s like that, then I guess there won''t be a problem. ... -Always had high high hopes! -He is finally stopping¡­ -Now, this one''s called seven nations army! -Nooooooooooo¡­ -"You get used to it." ¡­ After a highly secret weapon training session, everyone had already forgotten the new arrival was a demon and just considered her as a new comrade in suffering. Little Rong was even doing braids in her hair, after Aki teached her how to by doing it at said demon first. -A little less strength and¡­ done. My cute disciple is such a talent, haha! -Wretched demon, are you done playing around? -What is it Gang, ya need something? -Not you, idiot! The succubus! -Uh, me? You want a blow job or something, kid? -For fuck¡¯s sake, what''s wrong with this place?! No, I want to challenge you to a duel!. -Oi, I know that right now I am only rank 2, but is that brat ok in the head? He''s only just about halfway through the first rank? -Of course he is not, but you should accept the duel. It''s good to put sense in arrogant brats early on. Said Aki with a mischievous smile. -Yeah, sure. Is there an arena around here or something? Said the uninterested succubus. -Nah, why do you think I keep repairing the training grounds? It''s multi purpose. A slate of sand. The possibilities are limitless. ¡­ At the same time, in a far, far away place. -We should be able to see the village in a couple of minutes. Said a woman with a serious and beautiful face, people would call her a cold beauty wherever she went. -Big sister, are you sure you want to try this? Those monsters can hardly think, much less¡­ Said her cute junior. -It''s a personal order from the queen, don''t you dare think of not accomplishing it! The cold beauty immediately got angry and the ice cold anger in her tone could be felt before heard. Again, this is in the literal sense, she is an ice mage of high talent. -Ma''an, we''re here. Said the leading scout. -Good, I shall activate the communication artifact and contact her majesty, everyone stay quiet. *kacha* "And that''s how you activate the flaming pillars of ten thousand deaths. I know the name isn''t original, or good at all, but if someone asks you about it when you hear something like this, you must use your angel like face to say it is a really amazing and fitting name. What floating ball? Ohhhhh, so this is what a butt dial is like. Hello, which squadron are you from? Before you ask, this is Jiahao Min Qiu, the summoned hero and current leader of the monster diplomacy efforts, appointed by the queen herself." -Eh, yes, this is embasador Feng An Chen, from the first team in the diplomacy mission. We have reached the goblin village assigned to us and await further instructions. She was a little taken aback by the start, but realized that''s not something you should be commenting with your superior and ignored it. "First of all, have you been detected?" -No sir. "Good, then transmit my voice or repeat after me so your teammates hear what I have to say." He gave a little pause so she could do it and started talking again "I want you guys to see if it''s possible to infiltrate into the village and find out who is the strongest guy in there. If you can invade and beat him, then do so fast and overwhelmingly. If you''re unable to stealthily enter the village, then attract some beasts to it and wait until the warrior reach them. The stronger the beasts the better, but be sure you can defeat it. When the goblin¡¯s morale starts turning low or they see the beast of much higher strength, you guys come in and help. No matter what, don''t attack or look arrogantly towards the goblins, but be sure to display the strength and fiber of soldiers of our country. The one who disobeys this part, I have permission to torture for a whole week before publicly executing them in the capital''s square. Any questions? Aki suddenly lost the playfulness in his voice he had while talking to little Rong and had it exchanged with pure, icy bloodlust. Although the ambassador knew this man to be weaker than her, she did not believe she could escape his ire. An Chen gritted her teeth when she caught herself thinking so. -Sir, if I may, what if none of that works? Asked the junior sister from before. "Than you''re either incompetent or unfortunate. If you can''t persuade this village within a week, then you have to destroy it one way or another within the next month. In this case, each one of you will put down a report of the happenings on my table. No remains. If one of you is found to have "misinterpreted" my orders, the punishment mentioned before will be executed. If more than one is lying or someone lies to cover the other, I will have your families incur the fine for military obstruction. Be happy that slavery is being banished. Now, if any of you has doubts about me or this mission, please remember, whoever comes out clean will receive a hefty compensation and whoever succeeds will be showered in honors, together with a direct gift from the crown for your efforts in helping the kingdom reaching new heights. As the leading team in this expedition I expect nothing short of a resounding success from you all. Make sure to have them feel the same you feel right now, because even if they want to revolt later, it will be too late. If there is any developments, call me. By the end of his orders, everyone listening was either outraged and impressed or scared and impressed. Men are selfish, scared creatures, when they see a barking dog that bothers them, they kick it, but if someone is watching, they need to make sure to kick that person as well. When said person is the owner of the dog and also way above you, they just stare at the dog with envy, anger and hatred. A cute, lonely, drunk -Did she lose yet? Aki asked his disciple, since he still wasn''t used to using his divine perception or whatever to use the flip phone without buttons that the people around here used, so he had to totally focus on it and didn''t notice anything but some muffled groans of undetermined meaning. -Not yet mas¡­ *BOOOOM¡­* -I suppose *BOOM* watch them. As the explosions occurred, another jet of deviant fire crashed into the barrier Aki set up. Cracks started to show and the sound of glass shattering could be heard, a soft feminine gasp was heard. The jet of flames stopped and Aki lifted the barrier, put Rong on the ground and slowly walked to Gang and started to heal him. Na Ling was healing Bibi. -Look at this, your blood vessels in your left leg all burst, your right upper side is torched and that left arm is cursed, totally unusable to place on the stump. You still have plenty to learn. Aki said while a blue light started so shine all over the wounds on Little Gang, including the missing arm. -What is it that *Coughs blood* you think I forgot? Said the defiant little one. -You forgot to smile in front of all this. That means you haven''t truly won with your ability only. At least you don''t believe that. Calmly said Aki while following the glowing light to reform the nerves, ligaments, vessels, muscles and so on without even changing his expression. Until¡­ -Rong! Would you be a dear and break one of these crystals every five seconds? Thanks. These people have epiphanies all the time! Really, I don''t know why they say these are so hard to have. I change my own point of self, like, every morning. ¡­ It was a beautiful day in the royal city, birds were singing, flowers were magically blooming, most slave traders were having everything they own confiscated, the mafia was bleeding, and ironically enough, the kids started training their fire resistance with Bibi. After almost a month of the hero summoning ceremony, it was clear this hero was very focused in politics and that the queen couldn''t be happier to oblige him. First came the new populational check, now getting anyone that could prove their residence the title of citizen and those in less¡­ "homely" places into probatio for said citizenship. Crafting, reading and writing, cultivation talent, everything that could be useful would give you that extra mile you''d need to turn into a citizen was simply that, an extra. Everyone could become a citizen. This, for basically everyone that heard and believed it, was somewhat one of the most shocking things in their lives. Sure, a bunch of people from this world were considered crazy for suggesting democracy and those without enough power were simply destroyed, snuffed before the idea had any real fruits, the others were "convinced" to keep it in their pants. Now, if the summoned hero suggests a totalitarian government focused on the people''s welfare, he''d normally be shunned as crazy and substituted, but there was thus talk in the royal chambers yesterday and¡­ -For the least I like to say it, you''re the freaking only friend I have, so I will give you this chance, why the actual fuck would any of this work? Said business mode queen while holding her cup and sitting straighter in her cushion. -Easy, because you have someone that has seen the reason for the failure of every government and economical idea documented in my world. By extension of having the books talking about them, but anyways, let me continue. The continent and archipelago have both formed their own kind of burguesy by now, while the major countries in the world are trying to keep each other in check while preparing for war with the demon invasion on the immortal realm. Everything right until there, ok. See, the thing is that during this month I''ve read a lot, I''ve read your whole law constitution and it needs a review, but here''s the way to break a ton of your laws that are most likely to be exploited right now and how to correct it. There''s also¡­ -Aki, I appreciate the help on legislation, but I do not have time for your normal joking around, I won''t risk a war so blatantly to the face of everyone in the continent just because you want war. Interrupted the queen with a very serious face before taking a dip of her cup. -Gahh, ok you coward, just say I came from an impoverished family and you want to give me some face. He filled her cup again even while complaining though. -Do you at least know pain and hunger? She coldly asked as if daring him to lie. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. -What is it? Did I touch a sore spot? If so I apologize, but to your question, I''ve only ever felt those when I was inflicting then to myself. Said Aki a little more seriously. -Haaa, why do you only turn mature when I get really angry? Sighed the queen, relaxing a little before drinking again. -Well yeah, it''s what happens when you are raised in a house full of headstrong people that somehow still love each other. He shrugged. -I still don''t understand how a supposedly normal family gave birth to a psychopath like you. -Sociopath. I still have feelings and emotions, though somehow confused or numbed. That''s why one of my first actions was to¡­ -To try and redeem yourself for abandoning your family by giving one to those without. I guessed as much. You dislike long term plans and the orphanage will require time to produce anything but reputation. Back to the discussion, I can''t simply lie in front of the council of royals like you would. Her eyes were again showing her seriousness. -Urrrg¡­ -Who would know, the golden tongued hero doesn''t have a solution? She said teasingly. -I mean, none that don''t involve war or some time. -The second option is better, but just to be sure, what''s the war option? -We wait for our diplomatic teams to finish their current quests, send about half to that smallish country to our right and flood their market with experimental goods 63. With that we would gain access to the continent''s north coast and¡­ -What''s the other option? -We get a target, I''ve made a list and slave traders seem to be the best option in a cost/benefit scale, and set your spies into forging evidence into them so we can get the actual crimes they definitely commit to light and rob their possessions with some pretext, them employ the acquired slaves to new lines of products and depending on their reasons for being a slave, turn them into citizens after sometime, with a debt to the government of course, and use the suddenly big amount of debtors as the reason to make a bank of our own. -That¡­ might actually just work, will create a precedent for releasing slaves and allow me to finally invest into those public projects rotting in the shelves. -Seriously, what did your court even throw as governmental projects? Asked Aki in curiosity before filling her cup. -Well, they aren''t actually as bad you seem to think. Sure, there''s some incompetent or useless ones, but no one actually that corrupt or suggesting straight out massacres after I assumed the throne. -How''s that by the way? Surviving a massacre inside your family just because no one believed you''d have a good aptitude for the royal legacy, finding out you have a double inheritance and huge specs in the middle of a huge crowd of important people and unlocking supreme beauty at the same time. Really, you''re just straight out a shoujo protagonist. -Shut it! It''s hard to do anything I want at all, you know?! What''s even the use of this damn beauty if almost no one can resist it!? I can''t fucking even look straight at a mirror. *sniff* This¡­ I will just die an old and single woman at this rate, can''t you just become my royal consort and end my suffering? Take responsibility for being the first person to actually look at me! *Thunk* The smashed cup and table Luckily not being destroyed. -Shhhh¡­ It''s ok dear, let me just take this wine out of the way, that was your twelfth cup, your face''s completely red. We both know there would be a lot of problems and I would rapidly be kidnapped if I started to officially bed you. We both also know you still haven''t fully accepted who I say to be, nor do I truly know you, here''s some water. Said Aki as he shouldered the queen to the veranda of her room and gently pressed her back as she seemed to be about to vomit, tough she just gulped it down at the end. -Then just fuck me! She irritably said while getting even redder. -Terrible idea. You''re an immortal and very drunk. It won''t be just be my hips that will break if we do that. Also, we''re both virgins you jackass, we''d just ruin it for each other without some preparation before it. Like, you know, actual ¡­ The pissed Queen decided her hero was too insufferable right now, so she kissed him and locked his head. -Eeeh! She squealed as he squeezed her ass cheeks. -That kiss was terrible and you need to brush up the alcohol, but i most definitely do not regret this being my first kiss. Now, drink this tea and I will tug you in bed, no I won''t¡­ -You are definitely staying until I am asleep. And that''s about it for the decision making that made the suffering of thousands of businessman and woman, the rescuing of hundreds of thousands of slaves, the first big step in a enormous change in all realms. None of that crazy shit about heavens, gods, devils and buddas, or whatever else may be in the way. Seriously, there is nothing here except children in high positions trying to be adults and causing chaos. The difference being that our hero wants to sate his blood lust and the queen wants respect. And love, both want that, sure, but what young man and woman don''t. -Stop poking me. Lazily said the queen. -Then go to the bathroom. I''ve dealt with women too lazy to get up for their own good more than enough to know your bladder''s gonna pop any moment now. -Carry me. -One of your female guards will, now¡­ And he started wrapping a scarf around her face. -Or do one of you want to change her sheets in the morning? No. Don''t answer that. Whoever isn''t lesbian takes her inside, because the idiot isn''t able to hold herself straight anymore. Yes, I know a third of you have a crush on her. Hell if I''ll say who told me though. Said the hero while talking to empty air. Five seconds later a mature lady with the attire of a handmaid with golden lines all over the dress appeared from nowhere and while wordlessly smiling took the queen over her shoulders and went away Plenty of bad ideas -How was it Na Lian? -Mostly everyone agreed to join and the newcomers were sent away. Just like you predicted. Now you have your own harem. Retorted the tall redhead. -We both know that if I had so much nothing to do, I would do my secretary instead of building a harem. Though their job does involve sex somewhat, we can''t just rely on the actual royal maids to keep the house up to noble standards. He said while shrugging but not taking his eyes out of the document on the table. -And I freaking wouldn''t complain! How. Much time do you plan to keep me in this table?! Hissed the succubus. -As I said, their job involves sex, you go and test the whole crew after they pass through the other professors. And there she goes running again. Anyway, here''s your stash of healing core stones, eat only one per day. He said while giving her a pouch. -You do notice these are¡­ *Crunch crunch crunch¡­ * -Yesh, dilicious and acinting. (Yes, delicious and addicting.) *Gulp* -But they also help with affinities and cultivation up to a point. Tell me when they don''t have an effect anymore and I will give you the higher tiered ones. He said before throwing three more shiny stones of different colors in his mouth and moaning. -You know people normally refine these because they cause immense pain in one''s meridians if they''re not digested slowly, right? Said the stunned woman before looking at the sack of stones she was supposed to eat. -Yup, want some others? You can eat one of each element a day after reaching the second rank. I have the four base elements, poison, wood, death, metal, space, time, blood¡­ actually, take these as well, blood, time, wood and death have a good affinity with healing. Death is kind of bitter, so here''s some coffee candy to mask the taste. That''s about it, so go and train now. He said before shoving the woman out of his office and getting the only book in his cabinet out of its secret compartment. -If one wants to be a master, they should first master the basics. ¡­ -Ok, so I want you guys to start building homes for the stronger goblins and those with more influence or ability, that should get them interested. The same night you should introduce cooking and then activate the one time teleportation device to get the construction team there. You guys leave in two days to get to a drown colony. It is recently founded, only some hundred strong and most are male. These are a more civilized target in our list, but they should actually be easier to convince since they are pretty much normal elves, but instead of being igualitarians, they are matriarchal, so you guys just need to advocate how great our queen is and have the woman lead the efforts. Remember, no matter how gentle they seem, drown have tendencies to violence and trying to break their partners. That''s all, good luck. -You know there''s plenty of normal people in the drown community right? Asked Bibi -And if I told that to normal humans they''d simply fall for the busty dark elves and turn into their kink slaves after one section. Monotoned Aki to the succubus while trying not to wince every time she pulled his hair. Apparently Huang Jia didn''t have any talent when dealing with hair. Suddenly, Aki got another call and grinned at the notice. -This is gonna hurt~. ¡­ In the royal palace, at the royal chambers. -Why can we only ever talk here? Asked a confused Fang who just got inside her own room. -Because it''s the most warded off place in the whole palace. And it''s¡­ *mumble mumble* -Eh, what did you say? -I don''t know if you''re going to like this or not and it''s of kind of personal. He sighed, got up and signed for her to come closer. -Fang, I know this isn''t what you wanted, but it''s something with huge prospects and a huge risk. The plan itself won''t matter if you don''t agree right now, so I won''t bother you with it first. This is not entirely because of the plan, I just¡­ he was almost stammering at this point. -Min Qiu Jiahao, do I need to massaquer thousands for some kind of ritual? She seriously asked. -Well, no. -Are you going to run away from the kingdom? -No, I actually quite like it here. -Do I need to give up the throne to you? -Please don''t! Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. -Then it''s not so bad I can''t take it. Say what you need to say. After a pause and a deep breath, Aki kneeled. He was actually stopped though. -What are you doing? Asked a confused queen. -Well, it''s a ceremony thingy. If I don''t do it now I don''t think any of my ancestors would rest in their graves before hitting me a hundred times. He said with some embarrassment in his voice. -Ok¡­ She said with a raised brown. Kneeling again, Aki took a carved silver ring our of his pocket. -Wang Bai Fang, you are one of the few people to ever respect me and the only to actually try to be with me despite seeing so much of me. You saw the wars I am preparing to cause, the lives I plan to ruin, yet you wish to stay by my side and change me while still accepting what I am. I can say this right now with certainty, even if you were disfigured or returned to your state of plainess, my opinion of you would not diminish, probably grow actually. I am certainly not the most worth of it, but I am willing to make that change, so, will you be my fianc¨¦e? Realization dawned upon her at about half of his word, and now a tomato red woman had to do a decision. -I¡­ I¡­ No. She resolutely said after breathing a few times. -Right? Sorry if it was too sudden, I just wanted to at least try this before going to a do or die situation. He said while smiling at his own silliness and getting up and storing the ring. -Wait, then what if I had said yes?! Asked a confused queen. -I''d have kissed you, swiped you off your feet and carried you to bed before trying my best to satisfy you with¡­ -I get it, I get it! Just don''t play with me like that anymore. Said the annoyed woman while holding her head and a little more. -Fang, I am not playing or planning anything with this. I did just say that there are other ways to get what I wanted to achieve and I was serious. If you had accepted me then I''d not have to go and kill demons to get an apparatus done together with my students, I''d simply be able to do it as your groom. I swear on the heavens that I did not omit or lie in any of the sentences I said after entering this room if not to get your true reaction to my proposal. A ray of gold shined around him as he said that. -What¡­ does that mean. She was baffled in so many ways right now. -That you don''t truly want to forever be with me yet, just that. I can be your secret lover until you''re ready to make it public. That same day, in the morning, they had a similar conversation, one to decide their relationship. It was mostly an awkward talk with one side saying they couldn''t actually commit to a serious relationship because of the state of the worlds and politics while apologizing about giving Aki hope and him simply saying that he understood. After he said he didn''t know what to think about the future, she suggested a they dated without anyone knowing and he asked for time to think. And so he got catatonic until two in the afternoon and found out that the girls were playing with his hair, witch was growing very fast and reached the back of his neck now. He also found out that Gang had tried to wake him up with a punch in the balls, but he broke his hand punching the cursed damascus steel he used to protect his groin. Also, for those that did not guess it yet, while this is the only country to summon a hero to help fight the demons, others have their own ancestral methods of defense. The hero summoning isn''t actually that impressive, this country exists and prospers mostly because it''s area is surrounded by a desert in the South, mountains in the west and the ocean in the east. While they don''t exactly live in luxury or poverty, this big trade hub is a easy connection between places full of natural disasters, including the ocean of monsters, and two of the biggest empires. So no one wants to dispute the land nor does the kingdom tries to expand. Now, you should''ve noticed that I said there are dangerous lands in most directions another kingdom to the north, right? Well, it just so happens that the dragon empire is a fantasy version of Japan and actually has high security maritime trade, needed to transverse even the continental waters, industrial power limited by their small size and resources. With their three big islands and various small ones not being enough, the dragon empire conquered part of the continent on the east. Nope, it''s not a tipo, I said east, not west. Yes, the only continent is to the west of the archipelago. This world is only one out of a hundred in the one hundred immortal worlds. Wait, I said it wrong, oops. There are a hundred mortal worlds inside each immortal world and there at a hundred immortal worlds inside the divine world. 10101 worlds in total if I remember it right. They were originally only three, one of each, but a war happened and the divine world divided the immortal world for trying to invade, somehow someway, they accidentally did the same to the mortal world. No one cared to fix it, so now all worlds are basically a copy and paste of the other with some political and man made differences as exceptions. If you try to fly in a straight line in any direction for too long, you will simply be teleported to the other side of the world. Not really a world, right? Well, that doesn''t matter, we''ll solve the gramatics later. (or not) The other big empire is the Fenix one, the floating land. It''s a very closed place that only keeps relations with three kingdoms, one of then being the current one. While the tariffs, taxes and commerce itself generate plenty of money, there are very big expendings with safety and anti desertification. Yeah, the dessert is not natural. Big surprise. Now, while keeping big tigers with wings, lesser dragons, doppelgangers, krakens, a subaquatic empire of nagas with a expansionist mentality and other shit that comes from the mountains and sea are very expensive endeavors, other countries also contribute somewhat to those as well as they "can", but the desertification is something that people just don''t seem to see as more than a very money intensive project. Well, it is literally throwing money at the problem in this case. Really, the plan happening there is quite good. Well, more that I like it than good actually. Uh? Did she stop beating him till near death already? Oh, now she''s just lecturing him. At least he was allowed to eat some recovery pills. ¡­ At the dragon emperor''s palace. *BOOM* -Track this letter to it''s origins. I don''t care what you need to use, do it. An androgynous man with long black hair and black eyes fought to keep his emotions under control. His most loyal servants were taking all those unable to bear the pressure of his aura away and someone had already even placed the wall back to where it was before the emperor punched it. "Could it be true? No, as the emperor I shan''t let my emotions cloud my judgment. If it''s true then it will be the happiest day of my life, if not, them I shall burn the responsible and all the generations of his family back to hell." Resolution shining in his eyes, the merciless emperor started his own preparations. Interlude #1 2 weeks before the confession. "Thank you for drinking with me, if I had to say you''re the closest to a friend I can rely on for taking care of me while I am drunk for the first time." Said Aki with a soft smile to his Queen. "Just cuss I drink so much doesn''t mean I know how to take care of other drunk people. If you try something inappropriate I will knock you out though." Said the woman who just sat down in front of him while filling their cups. "To your first drink." "Probably one of many!" He hit his cup against hers and gulped it down. "Strange, I thought it was supposed to burn more?" "No, it''s burning jackass, your face and throat are pure red!" She said with some worry, she only ever got like that when deaf drunk, but he just drunk one cup of one of her weaker drinks. Granted it''s¡­ "Oh shit!" looking again, he probably just drunk the equivalent to four bottles of booze for a normal person. *Thunk* He fell on his side and Fang immediately went to him. "Hugs!" And he immediately proceeded to use all his strength to hug her. The good new is that he is apparently good with alcohol so he didn''t immediately vomit or drop out. "You smell just like mom! All that self righteousness, casualness, pride and love that I grew up with! I always told her to try and take a job in the government, but she never listened and just took care of our family you know? That dummy! But it''s fine, if you are like her in this sense then you will be the best queen ever! Your skin is so soft I just want to never let you go! Your hair is so lustrous I want to play with it! You''re¡­" The bad news, if you want to say so, is that Aki apparently gives into his wishes and speaks them out loud while drunk. And he just hit onto some of the queen''s worries. Internally she was like ''I remember him his mother!? Is that why he is always so touchy? He really thinks I am a good queen? Hey, stop chewing my hair, only I can do that!'' "Hey, stop biting my hair, only I can do that!" Is what she said. At this moment, in some other parts of the palace¡­ ''I also want to hug her majesty! Even if he is the hero¡­'' Thought a shadow guard while repeatedly punching an enemy spy in the face while mounting him. ''To be able to freely smell the queen''s hair¡­ Unforgivable!'' Thought another while exchanging hits with four people and suddenly bustling with energy and suppressing all of then. ''That is practically a confession! Even I¡­ even I can do it too!'' Resolved another shadow, who would try and confess tomorrow. Again. By the way, this here is the captain of the shadows, she is currently preparing to infiltrate a highly dangerous and illegal auction. As for her success¡­ well, she didn''t actually confess at the next day, but everyone in the auction that didn''t get captured was killed, so there''s that. ***** Waking up with a headache, dry mouth, foul mood wasn''t something new to Aki, so he simply got up was looked for his flip flops, then he remembered where he was. "Ohhh, I see you woke up boy, care to drink so more with this big sister?" asked the queen while looking a little red. It could be because she noticed "That" after he woke up, but it was more likely to be because of the six bottles of wine she had beside her. *pop* that was her opening a new one after putting the seventh on the pile. "Sure" he said while trying to get up, but he rapidly fell. Pouting at the giggling Queen, he started crawling to her. After reaching her he said "Nya" and rubbed his head to her arm. Just like an actual cat too. "Kitty!" and she scratches his chin while smiling, but he soon said "Nya" again and shook his head, crawled over her legs and got her other hand to his nape. After she started scratching it, he purred, no, like an actual cat too, not a drunk human. "Your hair feels great. And you''re so cold too, it goes well with some drinks in a hot night." She said and found it strange that the feeling in her hand suddenly changed while she talked. "A big kitty! You''re so much fluffier right now!" She said and buried her face in the mane of the lion that suddenly transformed in front of her. Please, do remember these are 2 "adults" that are relatively still conscious of their own actions. "Good kitty!" Said the woman using both her hands to scrub the belly of the lion in front of her, who had a bottle of normal alcohol up his mouth and was gurgling it up in one go. Definitely will remember this on the following day. I''m serious. *Glurrr* It''s not everyday you see a lion vomiting booze in a balcony after all. He did try not to vomit on the floor, but failed halfway through. "You look so dead right now, Hahahaha¡­" said the queen while laughing her ass off. ***** Waking up a second time on that same day, Aki heard the soft snores of a woman who was sleeping while facing the wrong way and groggily got up to shove or push his mother to a better position while trying not to wake her up. "That''s about how I saw things. I didn''t know you were in your undergarments, but if it helps, I am from a country where these could very well be considered normal clothes. It''s just a top, it''s not like I saw your¡­" *Pow* That was a pillow, not a punch. "I know you idiot, but that doesn''t help at all. Just give me some time to calm down." Said the queen before gulping some medicine. "I guess we could use the chance for a talk then. I don''t know if anyone noticed it yet, but I''m bi." He said, not getting a response from the queen nor the two women holding blades up his throat. "There''s no expression that equals what I said, is there? Fair enough. That means I both like man and woman. Any questions?" The woman to his left raised her hand and he nodded at her since he could not tell if Fang wanted to ask something or was having a mute panic attack, since she didn''t say anything and was behind a paper shuttle, for her guards sake, while making various erratic hand movements. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! "How¡­ how can you be so confident with something like that?" Shily asked the deputy constable. You may or not have guessed by the title, she''s part of the that a interrogation and torture department. "My world has what we call a high end pornography industry. That means that coupled with some other technologies, any can have access to recordings, pictures and techniques of several normal or professional people in this industry. That, of course, includes all types of combinations." He swiftly explained. "I think I understand." Said the woman blushing behind the mask. "You sure? I have plenty of material on my cell phone, so if you''d like to test yourself¡­" he tried to offer, but Fang was finally back to herself. "Wait, why''s that relevant? Sure I didn''t expect it, but that isn''t a problem as long as you don''t cause a scene." She said. While it may sound homophobic, do remember they are public figures, so what she thinks doesn''t matter. "Well, it''s mostly because now there''s a chance I may have a boyfriend. Back home I''d simply pass as heterosexual cuss there wasn''t any guy I''d ever be interested in, but if I just walk down the corridor than there will be one or more hot guys in tidy uniforms and a pleasant face and cute face, if I go down to the barracks there will be a hall full of manly guys training weaponry full of resolve in their eyes and big¡­ feet, no need to get another weapon to my face." He explained. Tch, xianxia characters and their androgynous-ness, if that''s a word. "That doesn''t matter, just be sure not to go whoring around." Said the tomato. "I''m a man of romance dear, I would not do something like that unless I was drugged. By the way, shoot one of those hangover medicines to me, it''s like I drank a whole pot of coffee." He said and got a pill thrown down his throat. "By the way, I also prefer strong willed woman with a gentle undertone. Add a six pack and¡­" And he got hit in the head by a hammer, getting knocked out. If only it was a brick instead¡­ By the way, I don''t think I''ve explained it before, but Fang isn''t especially beautiful, if you ignore the magical part of it, course. A cute face that got defined by hard work, lean arms with a few muscles, black straight hair, barely B cup, all in all she''d be considered a tall 8/10 asian in her early twenties. Around 178 cm in height I mean. With a six pack. While very tall for a normal asian woman on earth, breaking through realms does actually make you taller, so she''s just a bit taller than the norm. Aki himself already grew five cm, getting him to 186, and even then he is just on the norm for someone with his built. ***** A week before the confession. In the queen''s study. "Yo, check this out Fang, some people are sending marriage proposals to you again, this one even has a picture of the prince! Seriously, do these pompous idiots not learn? Let me see let me¡­ oh my gods, if you don''t marry this guy than we sure need to kidnapt him. Maybe if we experiment on him we can cure your beauty." He said and showed her the picture of a man that can only be described as the son of heaven. Luckily I am sure not gay, since I am the only one actually seeing him, cause plenty of man who second guess their sexuality. Women? It''s a son of heaven! Rich, smart, talented and handsome. Half the ones on earth would scream and fangirl, the actually smart ones would be enchanted for a while, and only those who have experience or are gay would ask "He sure as hell is pretty, but what of his personality?" And those are the exact words of Queen Wang Bai Fang. "Exactly why I didn''t say I''d marry him instead. He practices the heartless Dao." Aki explained. "Gives a lot of power quickly but takes your feelings away the more you progress. I wonder if he really has pretends. They probably think I need help after all the pressure those idiots are putting through silverlight." Silverlight is the country to the north. "Is that what people think the heartless Dao does? Fang, you don''t lose your emotions because of some Dao, you choose it because you''re a son of a bitch who only thinks about having a nice ass. Being heartless refers to having no loved one besides oneself. It gives lots of power easily because that easy to do for someone that would already choose it." he calmly said. Hearing that, the queen considered and realized he was probably right. "Since we''re talking about it, did you already choose a Dao? The time is nearing for those of power to make a choice." She said seriously. "Sweety, of course I did. And you''re gonna love it. By the way, how does talking with this way change my voice in your language?" He tried to say with a british accent. "You¡­ kind of sound hot? What the¡­ it''s like you''re some bard and I just feel like spending the whole day hearing you talk." Said the confused woman. Do understand that to her this might as well seem like a voice changing or charm technique. Something she is supposed to be immune both cuss of her strength and her constitution. "Perfect, then consider yourself housing this world''s first brit! That''ll be charming for you, I assure. Though I''ll try to rein in the pompous prick part. Not everyone talks like that in the United kingdoms, I swear." He said with a melowy voice. Tch, doing it like this sure makes it sound easy, like he didn''t practice for hours looking at a mirror. "By the way, why are you actually here this early?" Asked the queen for the third time this morning. "Fine, I''m helping Mary with her husband''s birthday present. I got her the key to lock their bedroom and found someone to cover for them. In her case, me. After all, who better than the hero for attending to the queen''s needs." He said with a wink. "Go get me coffee." She said while wearing a pissed face and waving him away." "Here." Without missing a beat he perfectly bowed while serving her a cup. "You can do more than look you know¡­" He said as she looked at his partially exposed chest. Thank the loose dressing. What? Not all secretaries are sluts, but that doesn''t mean they can''t be. Blushing a little, Fang moved her gaze back to her table and took her cup. With a move of his shoulder and bit of Qi, Aki¡¯s clothes were back to normal. "Since we''re here anyway, let''s discuss that university I suggested. I''m sure I can blackmail enough sages, clan masters and merchants to finance and help, so I was thinking that we could first focus on making regional schools for children for free up to a certain level, focusing on the basics, ignoring arts to a certain point as it is inevitable at the start, and use the chance to start our indoctrination program for nationalism by the south most territory. The current relatorries indicate heavy movement from the local forces, especially ''them'', and I already formulated an action plan to make the least casualties from all parties involved. I just need your signature. After you read it I''d like to talk to you about something important though." Getting serious again, the queen took the folder of documents and stared intensively at the thirty pages thick resume in front of her. Five minutes later. "Are you sure about this? There''s a lot of if in here." Asked the queen while giving him a look of ''This doesn''t seem like you at all''. "Fufufu¡­ of course, after all, the ''dame is someone just like me, I know what she think. Besides, she is expecting. And it''s not her husband''s child. When I came to her with my offer¡­ well, she loved the idea of helping her country while giving her child a brighter future. There are no ifs. I made sure of it. A secret is only as well kept as its weakest link. Don''t you agree? Aaah¡­ well, let''s get to a lighter subject. Fang, how many children would you like to have?" "I¡­ I don''t really want children." The queen was got with her guard down on such topic. "Do you just not want to give birth or were you faking it when you played with little Rong?" He asked with a sweet smile while tilting his head to the side a bit. "*sigh* I guess you wouldn''t really care for something like this, would you? I am just afraid of the pain and from how bad a mother I''d be. There, I said it!" "Dear, while I m an hipocrital man, i was raised by three good woman, my grandfather and my uncle. All important to me. My mom wasn''t the best, but she sure tried and she sure made me someone much better than the complete murder hobo I''d be if raised by my father. He''s not that bad a person, just not fit to raise someone like me." He took her left hand between his hands. "And you are very damn much a smarter woman than she was before I put some selfishness into her, so even if you''d be a terrible mother, which would be impossible while all the people that care for you are around, you can always use that genius brain of yours to learn." He took the table between then into his ring and hugged the woman with misty eyes, patting her head when some water fell in his robe. "And there goes another epiphany, fuck this is gonna stink."