Merligan (1)
We hired a carriage from a city near Pista Castle and made our way to the Paniotipa Granary.
"Wow... it's so beautiful..."
"Whoooaaaah~!"
"Hmm... it is certainly lovely."
My companions couldn't help but marvel at the plains steeped in gold. The vast golden earth rippled like a sea beneath the wind, a sight magnificent enough to steal the breath.
"....."
"Um... Master?"
"...What?"
"Are you... all right?"
Aquaril asked me carefully. Was I all right?
"I'll... be fine. Probably."
I was not fine at all.
I hadn't looked in a mirror these past few days of nonstop carriage travel, but I didn't need one to guess what kind of wreck I had become.
Fuck... as of today, I hereby abdicate the throne of Sex Emperor.
Every night I had secretly summoned Nemea away from the rest of the party and waged sex battles with her. After packing five solid hours of pounding into her every single day, I had gotten to the point where I could last a decent while even inside Nemea's pussy — the same pussy that used to make me come the instant I pushed in.
Every time my cock sank into her, Nemea would howl like a beast, drowning in pleasure, tears pouring from both ends of her. Every night her belly swelled like a woman on the verge of giving birth.
Nemea, you vicious bitch...
But the moment I couldn't get it up anymore, she would snap right back to her senses and look disappointed, as if the fun had ended too soon.
Watching Nemea get unsummoned looking perfectly, infuriatingly fine, I had to drown in a deep sense of defeat every single night.
Fine. You win. You're the second Sex Emperor, Nemea.
"Champion? Sex Emperor? I know not what those words mean. Wilt thou explain?"
Nemea's clear voice rang out inside my head. She lived within me, and she could feel my thoughts and emotions exactly as they were.
At first she hadn't been able to speak to me while unsummoned, but as time passed we had become able to converse like this.
You're insanely good at sex.
"Insanely good at sex? What doth 'sex' mean, and what doth 'insanely' mean?"
...Sex is what you and I do every day, and insanely just means a whole lot.
"Hmm... so thou art saying I am exceedingly skilled at mating?"
Uh... huh? Yeah. That's it.
After a moment's thought I agreed inwardly. The word "mating" instead of "sex" threw me off for a second.
"I am not skilled at mating. Thou art the first with whom I have ever mated, to begin with."
No. You fuck insanely well. That's why I get my cum wrung out of me to the limit and lose to you every time. Anyway, as of today you're the second Sex Emperor. Be happy about it.
"I am to be happy?"
Yeah. Because Sex Emperor is an honorable title.
"Hmm... then I understand. I thank thee. As of this day, I am the second Sex Emperor."
The second Sex Emperor, Nemea.
"Indeed. The second Sex Emperor, Neme... Hm? Why art thou laughing?"
Pfft! Ah, it's nothing! Pffhht!
I burst out laughing inwardly at Nemea innocently parroting my words.
So what if I lost? Nemea was mine anyway.
And strictly speaking, I hadn't lost. The second Sex Emperor who had beaten me was mine, which meant her victory was my victory too. Therefore I had basically won.
For the record, I absolutely did not think this just to cope. I mean it.
"Hmm... a spectacle is a spectacle, I'll give it that."
I patted Aquaril's shoulder to tell her not to worry, then gazed out beside her at the Paniotipa Granary dyed in gold. Endless golden ears of grain swayed with the wind.
"Which makes it all the more of a shame."
Admiring that beautiful scenery, I muttered under my breath.
"Because nothing but ashes will be left of this place."
The golden earth would burn and vanish.
The Paniotipa Granary lived up to the word in its name. It was the largest grain-producing region in the East, yielding vast quantities of rice, barley, wheat, and other crops every year.
Whoever ruled this land of gold could build a force greater than anyone else's — a true king who surpassed the kings and queens that sprouted up like weeds. That was why so many ambitious warlords had been eyeing this golden land with hungry eyes.
The current master of the Paniotipa Granary was Agan Tapoa, the Blood King, lord of Merligan.
Year after year he had built a powerful force on the food the granary produced, and he had defended his territory admirably against every enemy who coveted the land of gold. The Blood King was one of the few 8-Star Transcendents on the Gaiarium continent, and under his command were 6-Star and 7-Star fairies. Masters of exceptional ability followed him as well.
Countless kings and queens had challenged the Blood King for ownership of the Paniotipa Granary. Every last one of them had knelt before his overwhelming power.
He was one of the kings whose name resounded throughout the East, and many believed that if he grew any stronger, he would become the true King who ruled the entire eastern region.
But not a single one of those many people had predicted this:
That even this mighty Blood King was, in the end, someone else's subordinate.
"The Beast King is dead?"
"That is correct, Master."
"Hmm... He was an empty-headed bastard, but not the type to die easily. Have you found out who killed him?"
"We are currently investigating."
"Is that so?"
At his fairy's reply, a man with hair as red as blood stroked his chin.
This man was none other than Agan Tapoa, the Blood King — one of the most famous kings in the East. He ran a hand along his smooth, beardless jaw and wore a look of genuine regret.
"I wanted to kill that arrogant little beast with my own hands. What a shame."
The Beast King had been eyeing the Blood King's position for some time. And for good reason — the Blood King had become master of the Paniotipa Granary because he was the Master most trusted by Falcon, the eastern administrator of Palos's Bird.
It was only after becoming master of the granary that the Blood King had begun to grow truly powerful and make a name for himself. He had to tithe a full fifty percent of the grain produced in Paniotipa to Falcon, but even so he had amassed considerable wealth.
With that wealth, the Blood King had swept up every Growth Stone and skill stone he could find, growing himself and his fairies. And by endlessly raiding the dungeons near Merligan, the city he ruled, he had achieved his current strength.
Pista Castle, which the Beast King had ruled, was a prosperous city lacking for nothing — but it paled in comparison to Merligan and its granary. That was why the Beast King, though a member of Palos's Bird, had nursed a grand ambition in his heart. Unsatisfied with Pista Castle, he had set his sights on Merligan and the Paniotipa Granary as well.
Of course, the Beast King could never have defeated the Blood King by force. But Merligan was a city ruled by Falcon's appointee — which meant that if the right political winds blew, the Beast King could have become its master without shedding a single drop of blood.
The Blood King had never liked that about him, and he had been waiting for any opportunity to teach the man a lesson.
"Such a shame..."
Still regretting that he hadn't killed the Beast King with his own hands, the Blood King looked at his fairy.
"By the way — our Lord won't get any strange ideas, will he?"
"Pardon? What sort of ideas do you mean?"
"Our Lord might suspect that I was the one who killed the Beast King."
"He will not. On the day the Beast King's death became known, were you not raiding a dungeon, Master?"
"I was. The problem is that the only people who know that are you, me, and the other girls."
The only ones who knew the Blood King had been raiding a dungeon on the day the Beast King died were his own fairies. No matter how many times those fairies recited his alibi, no one would believe them. Fairies were beings who would lie as much as necessary for their Master's sake.
"Hmm... well. Our Lord won't suspect me."
After a moment's thought, the Blood King shrugged as if the matter weren't worth worrying about. It was such a complete reversal of attitude that one might have doubted this was the same man who had just been fretting about being framed for the Beast King's murder.
And it was only natural. A firm trust existed between Falcon, the eastern administrator, and the Blood King. Falcon had not appointed him ruler of Merligan — one of the East's key strongholds — for no reason. And even setting trust aside, Falcon could not afford to discard an 8-Star Blood King. Casting him aside would come at a tremendous cost.
"Hmm... Caroline, are the ones we're sending to our Lord all prepared?"
"Yes. They are scheduled to depart in two days."
"Let's send more."
"Pardon? Even more than this?"
"Yes. The Beast King is dead, so we'll cover the personnel he was supposed to send. Besides, did that bastard even have anyone 6-Star or above besides himself and Bunny? Sending two extra 6-Stars isn't hard for us."
"That is true, but... no. Yes. I shall have them prepared."
After a brief hesitation, the Blood King's fairy Caroline nodded. Losing two 6-Stars would weaken Merligan's defenses by that much, but in the current situation there was no one who would dare attack them.
"Wow~ this place is nice~"
Since we had arrived a day early, we decided to rest for a day in Merligan, the city ruled by the Blood King, current master of the Paniotipa Granary. No matter how high your stamina stat was, riding a carriage for hours on end was exhausting, so we needed to rest somewhere nice and comfortable.
"Yeah? You like it?"
"Yeah! This place is really great."
Canisia looked around the suite and nodded with a satisfied face. I felt the same way.
I had stayed at quite a few hotels by now, and the best one had been in Baidu, the wealthiest city in the South — but this hotel we had rented a room in had a similar level of splendor and elegance.
"Let's actually rest well today. Starting tomorrow we'll be busy again."
"Right. I'm gonna rest so hard! Ujaja!"
Letting out a weird battle cry, Canisia launched herself onto the bed. True to a quality mattress, even with Canisia throwing her whole body onto it, the bed barely shook and made no sound at all.
"Haaang~ it's so soft, I love it~"
Canisia rolled around on the bed, grinning from ear to ear. Her trademark pink hair spread out across the sheets.
"...Hmm."
Arms folded, I watched her for a moment, then casually turned and shut the door.
Then a voice in my mind.
"Dost thou intend to mate with that woman?"
No — it was Nemea's voice.
Yeah. I'm about to have sex with Canisia, so don't talk to me.
"Understood. I should like to take this opportunity to observe how humans mate."
.....
Ah... suddenly I really don't feel like havin—
—g sex, my ass! There's no way I can hold back with Canisia!
Whether Nemea watched or not, I wasn't about to pass up a chance to have sex with Canisia.