Chapter 37: Lilith's Strength

"What?" Venn was so stunned that his jaw dropped. Not from Ysera's otherworldly beauty, but what she had just said. The new information revealed in Ysera's sentence had sent Venn's heart into great turmoil.

"If the Oni clan is just a vassal clan to Lilith, then how many other vassal clans had Lilith subjugated? Furthermore, just how low of importance is the Oni clan, if she paid so little heed to them that she sent him, a complete newcomer to the guild to help them? "

"Two? Ten? Hundreds?"

Venn couldn't help but shuddered at the thought of it. And what's more, Lilith was just one of the regular members in Blood Serpents. Aside from her, there were at least ten others.

"It looks like Blood Serpent is much more mysterious than I originally thought." Venn contemplated.

Nonetheless, with such an amazing opportunity in front of him, he decides to seize it. 

Changing his tone to a much distainful one, he spoke to Ysera as if he was above her. "Why? Of course. Lilith sent me here to solve your little problem. Now, before you explain to me what's the general situation here, shouldn't you invite me to a much more hospitable place where we can discuss? Do you agree, princess of the Oni clan?"

***

Inside a large manor built with sturdy graphite and natural stone blocks as its foundation, Venn was impatiently sitting on a wooden chair made from expensive oak wood.

A day had passed since the dredged fight with the altered goblin scout. After meeting the princess, he was given a horse to ride and was guided back to the capital city of the Oni clan, Kersaru. 

Luckily for him, the horse was rather cooperative to him, thus he did not make an embarrassment of himself amongst the Oni warriors. Successfully tamed the unfamiliar horse, he was even able to gain a passive skill.

[Horseback Riding Learned. (Level 10 Max Mastery) Riding a horse gives the user the ability to comfortably and confidently walk, trot, canter and gallop across all terrain.]

The long riding journey enabled him to max out his skill mastery to level 10, something he was delighted to see. Along the way, he even shared his saddle with the Oni twins and gave them a ride as well.

After the rest of the goblins were killed by the reinforcement and had confirmed that there were no more survivors, the warriors and the villagers went on with the return trip.

With no village to return to, the villagers followed the princess's convoy back to Kersaru, where they would find proper shelter and food after their encounter with tragedy.

Venn had actually arrived in the city during the night. However, instead of being led to discuss with the princess, he was given a place to rest and left alone after arriving.

It was not until the sun had reached noon did a messenger look for him and led him to the manor and by this time, Venn was extremely anxious watching the remaining time left for him to complete the quest counting down while he did absolutely nothing.

Just as he was about to get up from his seat, Princess Ysera finally entered the manor except this time, she was wearing a red dress that further enhances the crimson color of her large eyes. Following behind her were several Oni warriors as well, each of them well-equipped with either a polearm or spear.

"Apologies for the delay, my lord. Many things had to be settled at my end. With the constant ransacking of the villages by the goblins recently, time is something I wish I had more." Ysera earnestly apologised to Venn before taking a seat directly next to Venn.

Having Ysera so close to Venn was tempting to him. Observing every spore of her skin with only inches between them, even Venn couldn't help but mentally gulp at the sight. If it was real life, there could never exist a reality where Venn would talk to such a nation-ruining beauty.

He could even smell the citrus aroma permeated from her body.

However, Venn's good mood was spoiled when Ysera subsequently asked him to spar with one of her underlings.

"What is the meaning of this? What are you implying?" Venn said angrily. Being level 11, there was no chance of him winning in a spar against one of the Oni warriors. More importantly, there must be a reason why the princess wanted to test his strength.

"Don't take this the wrong way. It's like this. One of the villagers had told me that you had trouble fighting against a goblin. Although it's unlikely that he was telling the truth, it would be better to be safer than sorry to verify the claim for our clan, especially when we are at war with the goblin." The princess explained in earnest.

Venn's eyebrows furrowed heavily whilst he listened to Princess Ysera's reason. He was in a dilemma on what to do.

To be truthful or lie? It was an important decision to make as his reply would affect the quest's progress and he had no way to predict whether his choice would result in a positive outcome or a negative outcome.

Laying his eyes on Ysera who was pursing her lips awaiting his reply, he truthfully answered. If he was in her position, he would want to hear the truth as well.

"I might not be the strongest in fighting goblins, but I am the right man for the job. As proven by this sword given to me by Lilith. I was entrusted this case by her personally. Besides, didn't you guys fail in solving the issue that you asked for our help?" Venn said mockingly.

"Rest assured. I swore on my life that I will end all of this in ten days. Now, can you tell me the exact situation, so I can get to work? Venn looked directly into Princess Ysera's eyes and smiled, placing his index finger underneath her chin with great confidence.