Chapter 57—Sweetness

Chapter 57: 57—Sweetness Castaway buzzed with life that even infected Lucen. Bright lights and confetti livened up the previously empty street. Loud cheers and music chased away the silence. The reserve troops were tasked with hunting down the remaining Bull wolves, and Lucen wasn’t sure if he wanted to join them. A couple more kills would get him closer to completing the system’s mission, and getting a new skill. The scent of alcohol and roasted meat made it a bit easier to sit back though. But he once again had to greet the Guildmasters that were sponsoring this. Their creepy smiles and layered words irritated him. Lost Street was turned into a dazzling celebration. Colorful ribbons and banners were strung between houses, and long banquet tables were set along the streets to feed the soldiers. Lucen’s head rested against the wooden table as he waited for them to serve him. Puppeteers and a troupe of musicians put on an exciting show, but he wasn’t really as interested as Helie and the others. His eyes did occasionally follow a line of dancers, clad in colorful silk dresses. A particular woman caught his eye. Her toned belly in a half-top, hips swinging hypnotically, face hidden behind silk cloth covered in tiny crystals. Their eyes met every once in a while—dark, alluring black eyes—but Lucen quickly looked away, feeling his belly heat up. She probably wasn’t even looking at him. His teenage body was just catching up to him. She looked a bit older than him, but it was way better like that. The air was electric. The merry sounds sank into his skin. But there was still that non-existent ringing in his head. He was fully healed though, [Blood Rebirth] washing away his injuries. He hadn’t noticed it till after the battle—despite taking the bone-rattling charge from the Mid-rank wolf, and a dozen other heavy blows, he was perfectly fine. Its drain on his mana was insane , but he could cast it beforehand and let it activate mid-battle. He glanced at Kon, who sat across from him, telling the story of how he survived. "Then Lucen picked me up, and we both looked at my arm. It still feels unreal. I couldn’t understand how that was my hand," Kon said, shivering. "The Bull wolf slammed into us, and I blacked out. When I woke up, I was being treated. They strapped me to the bed, while the healer reversed my injuries—wasn’t even thinking about my arm, she was so fucking hot." Helie punched him, making them all laugh as she glared at him. "Can you take this seriously? You almost died." "It feels so unreal." He flexed his fingers. "She told me if I had come too late, she wouldn’t have had enough mana to restore the damage, or too much time would have passed and my fingers might not return." They all gulped. Lucen raised his glass to his lips and downed some beer. Helie wrinkled her nose. "How can you drink that?" "You’re just not cool enough, Helie." Kon grabbed Lucen’s glass, while meeting his eyes to make sure it was okay, and chugged down some of the orange alcohol. His face went through ten expressions of pain and discomfort. Lucen’s laugh shocked everyone. Kon dropped the glass in front of Lucen, gasping. "Eugh, Helie, see what you did? Your lame energy has infected—" Helie wrapped her hand around his throat, and the others cheered on Kon’s second near-death experience today. "Aren’t you a bit loud for someone who bowed out early?" one of the Knights down the table said. The other Knights laughed as Kon turned pink. "Battle would have been too easy with him around," Elle bit back. "Just Lucen and I easily killed two wolves." The Knights gave Lucen an uncomfortable look and went back to talking among themselves. No one ever liked talking about him. He was the ultimate conversation killer. The food came shortly after. The warm stew and fragrant meat made staying behind so much more worth it. He got up to leave, wanting to see Selene one more time, then he would go to sleep. "You’re leaving?" Helie said, eyes worried. "The night’s still young. There’s a drama for Agremenan and the Silver City coming up." "Yes, you have to stay!" Elle pleaded. "We all survived, so we have to celebrate together." Lucen was thinking. More alcohol, and maybe he’d try talking to that woman. Nope, that wouldn’t happen. But he could watch her dance more. "Let me find my mom," he said, forcing a smile. "Keep my seat." ■——■ He crossed the long, wide street that cut through the entire city, and turned at an intersection. On this avenue, they were preparing food. He’d met Selene here an hour or two ago. He couldn’t find her, but he found Liam, furiously turning meat in a large frying pan. He was sweating profusely and swearing under his breath. "Why are you working here?" Lucen said, drawing Liam’s angry blue eyes. "Mom," he muttered back simply. Lucen sighed and grabbed a ladle. "How many do you have to fry before you’re free?" They fried some of the meat and packed it into a bowl. Then ran away. Too much damn work for two kids that were meant to be celebrating. They made sure to steal enough meat to compensate Liam’s labour, though. He handed Liam a magic crystal. "Made this with my own mana, so I don’t have to spend hours looking for you. I’ll give my mom one, too." "Ohhh, how’d you make it?" "Water, obsidian, a bit of Arcia I bought, and some other trace minerals. I’m testing it to make a caster." Casters store magic for a Knight, and then you could use it when you had no mana. But they had to be specially made for the Knight using their own mana. Lucen sighed. "I’m still waiting for some materials to come to town." They climbed up a roof with a pitcher of sweeter wine that Liam could handle, and ate while they talked. "Kibara?" Liam gaped as Lucen pointed out the woman that had been catching his eyes. "I’m proud of you for finally unlocking your cock, but let’s not point it at heaven yet." He resisted the urge to hit him, and asked, "Is she really popular? Can’t really see under that veil but she seemed pretty, and that body..." "You and everyone else know that. I can’t count how many of my friends are waiting for her choosing season. That rich prick I told you about? He’s rejected like two proposals to wait for her." Choosing season was the age that most people got married. Men and women were advised to choose at twenty-two years. "She’s not twenty-two?" Lucen asked, baffled. Maybe it was because he was still fifteen, but she looked so much older than him. A bit taller too, and he was tall for his age. "Crazy, right?" Liam snickered. "She’s tall and well-endowed, but I think she’s twenty. I don’t know, she came here about two years ago." Lucen was about to say something when his eyes widened. He clamped his hand over Liam’s mouth, and they exchanged a brief, urgent glance. He let go, and they crawled to the edge of the roof. A voice broke away from the noise of the celebration. It was gruff and tired. "What do you want?" Koril said. He was down in the alleyway beside the house they were crouched on. "Well, I needed to speak to today’s hero, but he wasn’t at the head table," Chester’s voice teased, airy and musical.