Chapter 109 - Rochdale aftermatch (1)

That day marked a turning point for the world of magic. Destruction of an unprecedented scale had happened near a populated area, and an angel (although fallen) was complealty beaten. Dax, the visitor qiton from another world instantly took responsibility through the hunter's guild and used the event to establish the Galactic Empire to the world. 'Yeah I did that, no I won't compensate anyone for that, annoy me and I'll do it again' was the tl;dr of the statement that went around the world through the hunter's guild. The city of Rochdale was in a state of uproar after the qiton's statement reached them through the local hunter's guild and there was talk among the nobles to declare war on such a rude newcomer to their world, but after multiple mysterious 'polite suggestions' found their way to the key supporters behind such notions it was quickly abandoned. A entire week passed and the city started calming down again, shattered glass was replaced and farmers settled on new ground to regrow their fields, but the capital's nightlife was still eagerly discussing the events. Inside one of the more popular bars of the outermost city 2 monster hunter where talking about the events after they had had a few too many beers.

"I'm telling you it's true! Whoever that was he took out a entire squad of inner guards with ease before killing two hunters and retreating out of the city!"

While the first one truly believes the rumors he had heard to be true, the second was more doubtful about the rumors circulating.

"Really? That sounds really unlikely…"

"I'm telling you it's true! There was a mass service burial for the guards yesterday, all the caskets were closed."

"Are you for real?"

"Yeah, I heard it directly from my buddy that works at the temple."

A few tables behind the 2 monster hunters a pair of long ears picked up the conversation as their owner put on a thesing smile before she asked her drinking companion.

"How does it feel to be famous?"

"Don't you mean infamous? I just did my job, same as the guards."

Lux wore quite a complex facial expression as she said that before putting on a forced smile as she downed her beer, making Lilly drop the subject.

"How the hell did Dax stop Deltas from starting a war against him/us anyway?"

Ever since Lilly first heard of the operation to crush the operatives trying to interfere with them she was certain it would end in all out conflict with Deltas, but to her surprise it didn't end like that, in fact she had heard rumors of some nobles in Deltas wanting to reach out to Dax and welcome him in the kingdom's upper echelon.

"Ah, that? It's was properly due to the 'polite suggestions' he left any of the nobles that wanted to go to war."

Showing a far off look in her eyes as she smiled wryly Lux proved she had at least an inkling to what exactly had happened while purposely avoiding the subject, making Lilly that was interested in knowing more about Dax even more interested.

"Polite suggestions?"

"Yeah… At home in the Galactic Empire Dax basically rose from a expendable operative to the leader of the armed forces in the matter of a day. While the upper echelon of the Empire was quite happy with that it caused a lot of powerful people a lot of money and a entire slew of high ranking military officials to lose their job, so he was quite hated for some time. Those events were before my time but I've heard the legends.."

"Such as?"

"A high ranking military official woke up to find a prototype armor pricing railgun round from a company he had secretly taking bribes from on his night table along with a note. The note said 'be careful not to lose your head in ambition'."

"That's cold."

"Yep, that's where the therm 'polite suggestion' came from. In some way, somehow, Dax would immediately find out where to squeeze his opponents, then instead of doing it he would just show that he could while leaving some philosophical and vaguely treating advice along with it. Of course I only know about that example because the military official was dumb enough to try and fight against Dax. Nothing was ever proven but that and other examples were a clear indicator for people to get with the program, it's impossible to know exactly he and my older sisters have in their palms at this point."

"I see…"

Learning something new about the person she admired Lilly initially overlooked something important Lux had just sheared, realizing that a few seconds later she almost choked on her beer.

"W-wait you have older sisters? I thought your only living family was Dax that adopted you?"

"That's because I never talked about them."

"Why?"

"I'm not supposed to."

"Please tell me."

Not taking no for an answer Lilly showed a determined expression while deciding that she absolutely needed to know more about Lux's sisters, seeing as they might be competition. A period of silence followed between the 2 friends, until Lux finally caved.

"I guess it's fine to tell you, seeing how Dax's trusts you…. Ra and Mu are their names, Dax saved them long before I was born and they helped him gain the power he has now."

Leaving it purposely vague Lux hoped Lilly wouldn't dig further into their identities as she put a pause to the conversation by getting up to get more drinks for the two.

"So are they his women?"

Immediately bringing up the topic again Lux saw she was unwilling to drop that subject, but for other reasons than she had suspected.

"Not exactly… They're more like accomplices?"

"You're not sure yourself!?"

Almost facepalming at Lux's answer Lilly was unable to keep her cool in front of the airhead-like behavior her superior suddenly displayed.

"It is kind of hard to explain okay?.. They're definitely close to be sure, but I've never seen them doing anything romantic. If anything they're the only people I think that Dax is legitimately afraid of."

"Is that his kink?"

"Now you're just being rude."

Exchanging warm smiles the 2 friends shared a short laugh before Lux brought up the topic again.

"So what exactly is it you like about Dax?"

"W-why do you want to know that all of a sudden?"

"He is my parent, technically."

Showing a frank smile that slightly dazed Lilly she decided to ignore the more problematic parts of that sentence and pressed on, if only a little bit embarrassed.

"H-he's reliable, I guess."

"Hmmm~"

"W-what?"

"Nothing. It's just surprising that so many people here find him attractive."

With sad tone Lux showed a complicated expression as her smile mostly disappeared that made Lilly forget her own embarrassment as she put down her glass and put a slight damper on her expression as she asked.

"Why wouldn't that be the case?"

"You know what he is right?"

"A military official?"

"There's that too, but first and foremost he's a qiton."

"And?"

Showing confusion to her statement Lux realized that the elver in front of her might actually be a good fit for Dax as she breathed a sigh before explaining.

"Qiton's are genetically engineered weapons of war, their bodies and minds are made stronger and more enduring than any other race in the empire, forget attraction or admiration, most normal people look at them with only fear."

"Then what about female qiton's? If there are any."

"Of course there are, but that's its own issue due to his cybernetic augments…"

"Ah…"

Having heard a tiny bit about qiton culture from Dax himself Lilly understood that they strongly favored tradition and worshiped their creators that created perfect bodies for them.

"But the biggest factor might be his own attitude.. You must have noticed by now but Dax is not really….-"

"Interested?"

"That would be the best way to put it yeah… Good luck."