Chapter 138: Days in the Narmer Kingdom (10)

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I figured she might be asleep since it was so late, but Karura was still up, waiting for me.

"You're back. I waited."

"...You didn't have to go that far."

"We made a promise, didn't we? That you'd finish it when you returned."

True enough.

But...

"Sorry, can we do that next time?"

I'd come back, sure.

But I hadn't had time to wash up, so my dick was still fresh from pounding another client's pussy just a bit ago. Even for a piece of trash like me, asking her to suck it like that felt a bit much.

"I see."

Karura nodded at my words.

I felt a little bad for her—she'd waited all this time to keep her promise—but there was no helping it.

"Oh, have you eaten? It's gone cold, but I can heat some up quick if you want."

Come to think of it, I hadn't eaten.

But I wasn't really hungry.

Lately, I'd been like this.

It wasn't that I had no appetite; I just wasn't starving. I'd eat if told to, but it felt like I could skip it just fine.

Anyway, I shook my head and said,

"I'm good. Thanks for worrying, but no need."

Karura nodded again, murmuring, "I see."

A short silence followed, neither of us saying much. It felt stifling.

Fucking awkward.

I was about to ask what her duties as a great warrior entailed just to say something, but Karura beat me to it.

"If you're worried because you were with other women, there's no need."

Uh...

Her words shut me up instantly.

"...You knew?"

"When I returned, I heard some fellows near the house talking about it. Missing their chance to embrace the man chosen by the great warrior."

Fair enough.

Three had already come by, but there was no rule saying more wouldn't show up.

Besides, in the Narmer Kingdom with its sparse population, any event probably spread like wildfire the moment it happened.

"And I am the great warrior who serves the pharaoh. Just as the pharaoh knows of your women, I already knew of them too. What you do for a living, and that you've gathered only the most exceptional among those who do such work."

She knew everything.

As I sat there speechless, Karura continued,

"If it's not that... but the pharaoh's words that trouble you, put that aside too. I am Narmer's greatest warrior. Though I lack experience raising children—and by the time I came of age, there was no one around me worth calling kin, just as my mother raised me alone—I can manage that much. So I have no intention of demanding anything of you as a husband."

No.

I wasn't planning to argue that far.

Besides, the child she carried was mine too.

Not born yet, but just like with Liliana's kids on the way, I was fully prepared to take responsibility for Karura's.

What's one more amid hundreds already? No big deal.

Just...

"...Or are you bothered by that kiss?"

I had no answer for that either.

Kids and such? I'd sorted that out, more or less.

Given my line of work, more kids could pop up anytime. ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠With so many already incoming, I'd made my peace.

No matter the race or circumstances, if it's mine, I'd do the bare minimum.

And if they wanted more, I'd step up— that was my rule.

I wasn't sure about "dad" yet, but I'd figure it out somehow.

But.

Lovers, girlfriends, wives.

That side? Still a blank.

I'd thought about it in lumps.

Sure, I'd imagined someday meeting someone I love, marrying her, living happily ever after.

Having kids with someone who loves only me. That future.

Vaguely.

I'd daydreamed it.

But nothing came to mind.

No matter how I tried, that future just blurred into afterimages and faded away.

Meeting someone I love, loving each other, having kids, building a family, living happily—I couldn't picture it.

Try as I might, even imagining the happiest home, I couldn't fit myself in there.

Abandoned at birth by parents who should have loved me most, how could a bastard like me picture someone loving me?

Let alone.

Could I even properly love someone?

'Did you even like me?'

Why was that surfacing now? The last words from my ex, the final girlfriend I'd had.

Back when the world hadn't gone to shit yet.

When humans were the only race I knew. My girlfriend then—the one who'd never had proper sex because my dick was too fucking huge—said ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that when she dumped me.

I didn't answer her then.

I'd meant to, but my mouth wouldn't move.

Now? I could.

'Probably not.'

I'd dated her just to try what everyone else did: dating, love.

And I'd picked her because she seemed easy to date.

That was the result.

The world turned to this ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mess, and now I couldn't even get news of her—total wreckage.

It was like that then too.

Unlike then, now all I had going for me was my dick, whoring it out. Could I make someone happy?

I'd failed back then.

Taking payment from women of breeding age, fucking them.

Taking payment from women in heat, fucking them.

"You."

With eyes the color of her dark brown feathers.

Karura stared straight at me, then spoke.

"You've been hurt. Deeply wounded, carrying it still, unhealed even by time."

In the darkness, her dark eyes gleamed.

Her gaze on me felt like it pierced through to something else.

Like looking down at someone low.

"...I'm sorry. I poked at your wound. Touched a scar not yet healed."

She reached out, pulling my head into her embrace.

Why the hell was she apologizing to me?

Shouldn't I be the one sorry for breaking our promise on my own whim?

Wound? What wound?

I didn't remember getting hurt.

"...Best to set this aside for now."

"Huh?"

Whoosh—her wings unfurled.

"—May the night bring you rest."

Murmuring that, she enveloped me with her wings.

But...

"......"

Fucking mental shit's got immunity, me.

I'd shot thirty loads, but with my dick still raging hard thanks to the active Gift, whatever she'd tried was fucking useless.

But.

"...I'm sorry."

She gazed at me so wistfully, saying that.

This...

I didn't get it, but pretending to be affected seemed right.

"Lehu...?"

"I didn't go that hard...? My lord, are you alright?"

I was fine.

No clue what she'd tried, but zero effect.

But I played along longer.

"Lehung..."

"My lord? My lord! Pull yourself together...!"

That felt better, somehow.

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A few more days passed in the Narmer Kingdom.

I worked hard.

Already over thirty coins earned, and I learned each could be exchanged for ten million won back home.

No matter how good the pay, even hustling multiple rounds a day, hitting ten million daily was rare back home. Made sense why the drafted dispensers worked without complaint.

The other dispensers weren't faring so well, though.

Me? Folks kept coming thanks to that "radiance" or whatever.

Anyway, days to late nights handling clients, then crashing at Karura's. She'd doubled down on guilt, thinking she'd dulled my wits, showering me with stuff. Felt like a total deadbeat househusband trash vibe.

Lucky or not, Karura was still the only one knocked up with my kid so far.

Anyway, geared up for another hard day when I got summoned outta nowhere.

Went where told, and there was Hanyujin—the one who'd left day one.

"Didn't you go back?"

"I did. But we rotate to check on things here. Today's my shift."

Got it.

But why me?

I had three booked clients already.

Busy as fuck—get to the point. I said,

"So, what's up?"

"Just a few quick questions, nothing to worry about. First... how's your health?"

Healthy? Overflowing with energy.

"Why?"

"Precautionary check. Narmer's newly arrived—could have diseases from that world."

Wait.

Why bring it up now?

"No such diseases in prelim scans, so rest easy. Just reconfirming."

"...I'm fine."

"Good. Then..."

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Chapter 138: Days in the Narmer Kingdom (10)

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