Chapter 230 [Bonus ] 86: This Empress Likes You [1]



Zell leaned back in his chair, feeling this meeting was boring as the woman continued to speak about mundane things, but many of them were more about different races arranging a mate for their children or relatives; where was this about fighting against the demons?

'Fuck, these people are here just for their benefit.' Zell muttered, looking around to try and find his friend Chris.

"That is why the prosperity of our races protects us from stagnation and failure!" The beautiful woman spoke; her face was calm, but her words were impassioned and respectful as the entire room began to cheer along with her words; the whole hall was now filled with more races than Zell had ever seen before; it was like humans were the minority!

"We will not have the future we desire if we allow our races to be weakened by weakness and ignorance." She finished, bowing once again.

He thought that although her words were passionate and had merit, what good would a bunch of different race children do against the demon onslaught that would begin in less than 2 years? They had 1 year to prepare before everything changed, the game system would become all but useless, and the only way to get stronger was to fight and devour.

'But most of these people would be killed by a mere whelp...' He shuddered at the idea.

The room fell into silence after she left, everyone staring at each other as they waited for someone to say something. 'What was the point of this?' Zell asked himself; he wanted to leave the room immediately.

However, suddenly, there was a pair of orcs beside his seat. They bowed to him respectfully; their clothes were quite fancy, although their bellies were a little plump, and the black waistcoat, white shirts and black striped pants looked pretty good on them as their faces slowly raised.

"Our lord would like to invite you to a private meeting; please accept our kindness and gift." One of the orcs said with a smile as they pointed toward the door behind him.

Zell glanced over to the orc, who seemed like the leader of the two, the big fat guy on stage, Lord Olivander, who gave him a nod and a pleasant smile, indicating that this was probably not about him killing those orcs last night. Since she was invited, he thought, 'Why not?' I might die at any moment, so let's see what the pile of bacon wants to say to me.

The orcs led him through the hall and into an enormous hall; there were even more people, but they seemed of a higher class; in the distance, he could see his close friend Chris and his wife talking to a ground of strange races before meeting eyes.

"Oh! Zell, you finally showed yourself!" Chris laughed as he rushed over with an extra glass of wine he took from the servant's tray.

"Here, drink it. You love red wine. I remember you used to study the tastes like a damn geek... Haha!"

His chest felt a little warm; this guy remembered things like this. It was rather nice to feel known by his friend as he took the glass, gently swilling it as the aroma of tobacco, dark chocolate, and blood orange began to permeate the glass slowly, their smell mixing to tease his palate, causing him to be unable to resist sampling the wine with an elegant motion.

Some distant ladies watched him in the corner of their eyes while Esmera and Chris smiled at each other before she elbowed Chris in the chest and lifted her chin towards Zell.

"Mmmm... this is good..." Zell whispered as he felt Chris tap his shoulder.

"What's up, Chris?" 

Suddenly he noticed the more serious look on his friend's face and could only wait for him to be ready to speak; taking the wine into his mouth, he slowly savoured its taste waiting for Chris to speak.

"Well... you remember about that girl that my wife knew? She doesn't want to meet some strange guy and suddenly starts dating him. Thus Esmera wondered if you could meet her... Not to do anything to show her that someone is always more handsome than the next."

"What's wrong with the guy?" Zell wondered because it didn't seem that important.

"Ah well, she hasn't met him directly but watched him from afar. After learning that her subordinate was now pregnant with fertilized eggs, she grew impatient and seemed to have plans to kidnap the guy, my wife thought a handsome guy might stop her crazy actions, but I just want to see if you can charm her and make the other guy a little cuck, haha!"

Zell almost spat out the wine he was drinking but realized how stupid the idea sounded and managed to swallow it. 'Cuck?' he'd never heard of such a term before...

Chris saw his reaction, chuckled, and continued to explain. "It means that a man lets another man take control of his woman as her husband, letting her sleep with another man, while he can only watch them and jerk himself off. It makes him a submissive wimp, like a dog."

"...Aww, come on, that's fucking disgusting."

"Hahaha, I know, right? If some ugly bastard tried even to touch or breathe my beloved Esmera, then I'd tear their cocks off and slit their throats! Even if it were you, I would kill you!

He found Chris charming at how much he loved a single woman because he could not do that, even if he wanted to. Now thought he wouldn't change himself or his women for the world, agreeing with Chris that Zell would flay them, tear their organs out piece by piece to make sure they die slowly, in the most pain.

"Anyway, let's go meet her, haha! Good luck; she's a bit of an ice queen..!" 

Esmera led the way as they began to move through the vast room filled with hundreds, maybe thousands of people, with countless tables filled with various wines that were rare and more expensive than a small house. Zell secretly took small bottles of all these wines, storing them in his special storage as he wanted to let each of the girls try them because he could use the threads of his metalmancy; it looked like the wine just vanished out of thin air.

'Fufufu! So much good wine, fuck these rich people!'

They began to walk up a massive staircase leading to a long corridor, which caused Zell to become confused and feel awe towards these monoliths; not only were they magical in their insides, but the fact it could change so differently after going through a single door!

"Okay, she reluctantly agreed and will be here in about 10 minutes..." Esmera said sternly as she pushed Zell and Chris onto the sofa and lectured them.

"Be well-mannered! Don't make stupid jokes! This girl seems strong will, tough and quite evil at times, but she has her reasons... we've known each other for years, and she has ties to my family for generations... So Chris, Zell, make sure you treat her without prejudice and try to learn more about her."

"Of course, Mistress Esmera," the two responded simultaneously, making fun of her as she spoke like some kind of dominatrix, her flat chest unable to sway, but she made up for it by being fierce and adorable!

She nodded as the two and felt pleased with their obedience; from the stories Chris shared, she expected Zell to be more wild and naughty, but his manners and etiquette were beyond some of the nobles here. She grinned as she studied the young man in front of her. He was handsome, tall, slim, with attractive black hair, and her red eyes seemed to glisten in the light.

"Phew... Sorry for pushing you into this, Zell, my friend... she's really, sometimes I feel she's under so much pressure she might disappear one day... That's why."

"It's fine, don't worry. I can feel how much you care for her, and it won't hurt to meet her; if she truly loves the man she saw, then wouldn't it mean my charms won't work?"

Knock! Knock!

A soft but resounding sound filled the room, as it seemed her friend was at the door.