Chapter 33
Why the hell is bro showing up there? Morning. The chirping of birds filled the air. Gentle sunlight streamed through the window, mingling with the sweet aroma of coffee in a peaceful, idyllic atmosphere.
"Sob sob... ugh."
I was crying. My body felt utterly limp. Shouldn't I just call in sick today? Last night... just how many times did we go at it? It felt like I'd wrung out every last drop from my body and soul.
"What are you sniffling about? We both wanted it. Even your wriggling was adorable."
Mirien sat beside me, casually sipping her coffee with an air of supreme nonchalance. Why did it feel like the genders were reversed? Shouldn't I be the one leaping up, slapping her cheek, and yelling, 'You beast who stole my purity! Take responsibility!'?
"My body... it won't move."
Slap her? As if. I couldn't even twitch a finger. Right now, I knew exactly how a rag feels after being squeezed to its limit.
At my words, Mirien's shadow stretched long and parted like a gaping maw.
"Here, drink this."
She pulled something from the shadow and handed it to me. A small black glass vial.
"I can't even lift a finger. My tongue's the only thing still working."
Mirien chuckled, uncorked the vial, and boldly downed the contents herself. Wait, why are you drinking it? Before the thought fully formed, she leaned in and pressed her lips to mine.
Ah... that commanding presence, that charisma. Who was the sex slave here, and who was the master?
"Want more?"
Whatever it was, the effect was miraculous. Strength flooded back into my limbs in an instant. I finally managed to sit up.
Mirien handed me the black vial, and I chugged the rest without needing a lip-lock this time.
"What is this stuff? It's insane."
"It's given to newlyweds in Kaien on their wedding night. An aphrodisiac and fatigue recoverer all in one. Tastes awful, but the effects are guaranteed. I'll stock a few bottles at your place. Looks like we'll need them."
My face paled at her words, and Mirien smirked.
"That dumbstruck look is adorable too. What am I to do with you? Everything you do is starting to look cute."
"If I'm so cute, spare me."
"I'll go easy from now on. Last night, even yeo lost control once the fire started. Partly your fault too. Who knew you'd wield the words of a sex slave so well?"
The Blood Oath mark on my forearm. Its effects were no joke. Memories of last night's frenzy flashed back, heating my cheeks.
Mirien laughed heartily at my reaction and planted kisses on my cheek and lips.
"Time for yeo to head back. I'll visit again tonight."
She dressed using her shadows, her movements radiating power.
"Mirien."
I approached cautiously and took her hand.
"We're officially dating now, right?"
"Yes."
Terms like "love novice" and "eternal singleton" were made for me. Still, I poured my heart into it.
"I'll work hard to make you happy from now on. No straying to other women—I'll only have eyes for you."
My heart pounded. If I ever got a girlfriend, these were the words I wanted to say.
"I... I love you."
Mirien burst into laughter, so hearty it embarrassed me.
"What?! Why are you laughing!"
At my indignant tone, she grabbed my neck with commanding force and kissed me deeply. Then she stroked my hair like I was a child.
"You're too cute; yeo can't help it. Fine. Yeo will lavish you with love from now on. But yeo can't accept that promise to look only at yeo."
What?
"I have no plans to cheat. I'm serious."
"Yeo knows. With your personality, yeo doubts you'd stray. So go ahead and cheat a little."
"Pardon?"
"Cheating with yeo's permission is fine."
Cheating with permission? What kind of logic was this?
"In Kaien, capable men take multiple wives—it's the law. Not a single one doesn't."
"But I'm human. Do I have to follow Kaien's laws...?"
"Fast or slow, our relationship will become known in Kaien. If it turns out your only wife is yeo, your reputation might survive, but yeo's will hit rock bottom. They'll say, 'How incompetent is that queen to have just one wife?'"
Wait, that could happen?
"For yeo's sake, take multiple wives. Of course, yeo will be the principal wife. If you want a new one, bring her to yeo for permission. Take one without yeo's approval, and yeo will be furious."
"You're telling me to build a harem?"
"Yes. Ideally, beautiful faces and figures. Dark elf women don't mind sharing beds with other women much. Yeo lived in suspicion all these years, never enjoying such pleasures. Now that yeo knows ecstasy, yeo has no intention of abstaining."
Was I hearing this right? Not only was my first love openly telling me to build a harem, but she was declaring she'd join in with the others?
"Why that face? I hear men get thrilled watching beautiful women entangled together. Yeo will let you enjoy that luxury."
A mischievous smile played on Mirien's lips, and for a split second, the beastly expression from last night flickered in her eyes. The terror of being wrung dry resurfaced, making me shudder—until she pulled me into a tight embrace.
"My love, shall yeo give you a prophecy?"
"A prophecy? From you, Mirien?"
She looked up, staring intently, then giggled.
"You're fated to have many women. Yeo can see it plainly. So when they come, no need to refuse. As long as you get yeo's permission, yeo won't care who."
She kissed me again, her eyes gleaming with sticky desire.
"Shall we go another round?"
"...I'll die."
"You might. Yeo will stock up on that aphrodisiac. See you tonight."
She patted my crotch lightly and left the room.
Ahh. If even her commanding aura felt lovable... was I in deep trouble? Yeah, probably.
Time to work. I dressed and prepared to head out.
Before leaving the fortune shop...
"Please wash the bedding and sheets. Thanks."
Calling room service for cleanup was a must.
Another peaceful day began.
"Here are yesterday's ten winners, Great Sage."
"Send them in one by one."
Yurtel's daily visitors fluctuated, but as Count Albio had said, it averaged around 30,000. Out of those, ten lucky ones each day—a 1 in 3,000 chance. People seemed to accept it as decent odds.
"I got in on my fourth try! Great Sage!"
"Took me twenty! No biggie—I planned to stay a month anyway! Haha!"
More folks were extending trips, lounging in Yurtel while waiting for their number to hit.
Mornings for tourists, afternoons for VIPs back at the inn. A relaxed schedule with high satisfaction.
"Thank you, Great Sage. That helped a lot."
"As long as you remember my advice, no major issues. Enjoy the rest of your time in Yurtel."
"Haha! You bet! Thanks!"
After the ninth winner left, I stretched.
One guard knight poured me tea just right.
"You look extra tired today."
Blame Kaien's chocolate panther for testing the limits of my dry towel last night. Time for better self-care.
“I suppose it's because I've been busy lately. Thank you, Sir Knight.”
“Today's final winner is waiting. Please see him and then take some rest.”
“I should do that. Please send him in.”
At my words, the employee near the door nodded and called in today's final winner. A moment later, a warm-looking elderly gentleman entered the room.
4. The Final Customer
“Oh my. Great Sage. It is a pleasure to meet you.” The man sat down with a pleasant smile.
“Yes. It's a pleasu—”
I was about to return the smile and greet him when I stopped dead in my tracks. My expression changed second by second. From a bright smile to rigid stiffness. And soon, it morphed into shock and terror.
“Oh dear. Your expression doesn't look too good. Are you feeling unwell?”
The old gentleman looked at me in surprise, but I remained frozen stiff, unable to do anything. After a long while...
“Knights.”
“Yes, Great Sage.”
“Could the two of you please step outside for a moment?”
The two knights providing close protection beside me stiffened slightly at my words. However, they didn't object, immediately bowing in greeting before heading straight out of the room. The door closed, leaving only me and the elderly gentleman inside the consultation room.
The elderly gentleman wore a bewildered expression.
“What's going on here? Sending the knights out so suddenly. And your expression is so stiff. Did I do something wrong?”
Staring at me, the old man's appearance was, to anyone's eyes, that of a clueless civilian. But I knew. I knew exactly who the entity in front of me was.
“I greet the Director of the Empire's Central Intelligence Agency, Argos. Your disguise is truly excellent. Anyone other than me would have been completely fooled.”
I swallowed dryly without realizing it.
It was true that I had dealt with big shots before. Dukes. Grand Dukes. High-ranking officials of the Empire—I had met all sorts of people. But the person in front of my eyes right now was on a completely different level.
The Kadran Empire I lived in was a dictatorship ruled by an Emperor. Separation of powers? Presumption of innocence? There was no such thing. It was a society where a single word from the Emperor could send the heads of any high-ranking or noble person flying instantly. And among the blades the Emperor swung when taking a person's head, the largest, longest, and heaviest blade was the organization led by the entity right in front of me.
Assassination. Interrogation. A black-ops exclusive organization possessing numerous knights and mages renowned as the Empire's strongest fighting force. The head of the organization that the Imperial citizens feared the most, alongside the Taltas Prison Camp, was right in front of my eyes.
No matter how much I tried to calm down, it wasn't easy.
“Haha. Well, this is.”
The elderly gentleman flashed an innocent-looking smile. The gap between the information displayed on my status window and the old man in front of me was so massive that it gave me goosebumps. Nausea rose in my throat. I couldn't hold it back for long.
“Urk!”
I hurriedly jumped up from my seat, but unable to even make it to the bathroom, I threw up everything I ate for breakfast right onto the floor.
Knowing from start to finish exactly how the Central Intelligence Agency handled people, how they interrogated them, and how they destroyed them was too massive of a blow to my psyche. Knowing everything was sometimes a curse.
The old gentleman patted my back as I continued to retch. His tone remained calm and quiet.
“I've never seen anyone decent among those who use grandiose titles like 'Great Sage'. But seeing you figure it out immediately, it seems your abilities aren't fake. I can roughly guess the reason for your vomiting. To an ordinary person, there might have been some scenes that were a little too... gruesome.”
His polite and gentle tone only made him even more terrifying.
“Please, sit down. Great Sage Aiden.”
The old gentleman smiled softly and returned to his seat. I stumbled over and sat across from him.
“If your abilities are real, you must also know why I am here?”
I nodded. “You came under His Imperial Majesty's orders to test me.”
“Haha! To know even that. This is truly remarkable. I heard you were a being who could see the future and the past, but seeing it for myself, it's not just on that level. There seem to be limitations, but the moment you face a target, you seem to possess an ability akin to omniscience, knowing everything about them.”
The old gentleman's smile deepened. My hands trembled violently. Why?
“It is an amazing ability, Mr. Aiden. It's an ability so incredible that even I, who have seen all sorts of Awakened, am shocked.”
Because the order the Emperor had given the entity before me wasn't just on the level of 'go get your fortune told'.
“Which is why it's dangerous. You know far too much. From the information of the Empire's elites to now even all of my past history. You have too many dangerous things in your head to just be called a simple tourist attraction fortune teller.”
The entity in front of me was strong. He was someone with enough martial prowess to easily neutralize the highest-tier dark spirit Mirien had enveloped my body with. No, perhaps he even possessed a level of power capable of holding his own against Mirien herself to some extent.
“Since you are someone who can see the future, let me ask you a question. Will you become an entity harmful to the Empire? Or will you become an entity beneficial to it? Depending on your answer, the purpose of my visit today will be decided.”
The smile on the old gentleman's lips remained calm and warm. And that warm smile was the most spine-chilling and terrifying thing I had ever experienced in my life.