Chapter 190: Saviors of the Sky Lands – Part 1

Chapter 190: Saviors of the Sky Lands – Part 1

Intermission – Elder of Exiles

The deafening sounds of those dreadful "weapons" become muffled once we enter the flying construct of these humanoids, and we're immediately slapped in the face by a lavish interior. They're not that different from the Wretches, after all, and I start to worry about our future.

The corridors are also uncomfortably small, even for someone of my age and lack of size, so the men have an awkward time not bumping into the other little humanoids that pass us by. I don't think bringing the strong men with me was necessary, after all, but I do feel more comfortable with them here as these humanoids are rather intimidating.

Thankfully, the chosen room is spacious enough to comfortably fit everyone... suspiciously spacious, actually. I've seen the Guardian alter space at will, and though this magic seems very underwhelming, I can't ever underestimate these humanoids after having seen the "invisible killers."

There are seats for everyone, though they're slightly too small for the men. Then an armored woman whispers something to the... young humanoid leader, and he nods as he flashes her a smile. She blushes and stiffens, confusing me about the reason for the flirting, but then she leaves the room with a perfectly collected gait, and I wonder what that was all about.

"Now, what is your name?" the young... "human" leader kindly asks.

His voice has a sweet undertone to it that makes me feel at ease, yet his questions feel like orders, and my knees weaken the closer I get to him. I'm not sure if I like him or not, as he reminds me too much of the Guardian, but I can't find any fault in his attitude.

"My name is Echo of Bliss," I collectedly answer.

He seems to be confused for a second, but then he snaps out of it and continues, "My name is Wolf Ryder. I'm the Crown Lord of the Western High Forest and the chosen inheritor of the elven royal line."

Royalty...? But they don't look like elves. Actually, I have no idea what race the young royal is, which is very odd.

The other royals also give their names, and then the armored woman that left comes back with a robed soldier, who starts to chant something peaceful. The spell quickly completes, and the chairs suddenly widen to a comfortable size for the men, who murmur in delight.

But while they rejoice, there's something that confuses me. So I frown and carefully choose my words, then slowly ask, "What is the meaning of your name, Royal Ryder?"

"'Your Highness' is the correct honorific," another armored woman sternly corrects.

I breathe in deeply and show no reaction to not encourage the men to become dangerously belligerent in front of royalty, then calmly repeat, "Forgiveness. What is the meaning of your name, Your Highness?"

He gives me a curious look as he replies with a gentle tone, slightly soothing the men again, "There's... no meaning to it. Do yours have meaning?"

I slowly nod to not hurt my neck. "Yes, my birth reminded my parents of their own childhood, so they wished for mine to be at least as happy as theirs were."

"Names with meanings were more popular a long time ago, but that has gone out of fashion," Royal Ciel states. Her voice is even more alluring than young Wolf's, but I find her tone less commanding, though I'm not sure which of the two is more dangerous.

"Why?" I blurt out, my curiosity about these odd humanoids getting the better of me.

"Because uniqueness is both bad and good," the quiet dragon speaks, and her voice is as fearsome as her gaze is penetrating. I feel little "danger" from her, but I know very well that she's the one you really don't want to anger. "Names can have hidden meanings, or they're picked just because they sound pretty. But what you're called should have no influence on your Fate, so we don't normally give meaningful names to avoid creating wrong expectations."

"That's true," Royal Wolf casually remarks with a bright chuckle, and the female dragon seems to give him a kind gaze, sharing an understanding that I'm not part of.

"I see. How curious..." I remark, trying to glean some meaning from their actions.

But Royal Wolf waves his clawed hand dismissively, creating tinkling sounds as his shiny scales hit each other. "Let's get to the main topic. We need to agree on a way to transport your people, and it'll likely involve flying on an airship."

"'Airship'?" I question curiously.

He motions to the walls. "This is an airship."

And I frown concernedly. "It's... small."

But he soothingly replies, "Indeed, but we can borrow more from the Sky Landers. Still, it'll be a bit of a journey, so you'll need to prepare for it."

"I see..." I hum as I'm suddenly overwhelmed with thoughts of everything that we'll need to do.

But we're completely at their mercy...

And I let out a long sigh. One moment, I was enjoying afternoon tea, and in the next, I have to start preparing us for a migration as our homes are now under threat of oblivion.

"I understand this can be difficult," Royal Wolf kindly states with a sympathetic smile.

But I'm frustrated. What does he know of us?!

"Do you...?" I blurt out against my better judgment. Then I realize how rude that sounds, so I hastily add to mask it, "... Your Highness?"

And his intense gaze becomes surprisingly wistful. "I have a home that I can't return to. I believe it still exists, but I can't get any information on it."

Maybe I was hasty. I know nothing about these... "unique" humanoids.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Your Highness," I earnestly apologize. Then I glance at the men and see that they've been completely enthralled by his charisma.

We're more than just at their mercy now...

And I already feel my resistance slipping away as his kind gaze pierces my heart. "And I'm sorry for yours, but we'll try to help ease things for you."

"I thank you for your kindness, Your Highness," I reply and lower my head in guilt.

I don't know why humanoids would ever be kind to us; that's why I'm so suspicious, but I can't find it in me to resist his benevolence.

But I'm suddenly pulled back from my thoughts. "Were you happy living in your village?" the dragoness curiously asks.

What a... curious question.

"I believe so..." I answer truthfully.

"Believe?" she repeats intensely.

We're proud of our lifestyle, so I defend it, "Life isn't easy, but we were blessed with peace." But there's something about my tone that feels... empty.

And her interrogation continues, her large, intimidating head starting to seem larger in my eyes, "Why hasn't your kind grown and expanded? Your island has a lot of undeveloped land."

"It was unnecessary. We shouldn't upset the balance as we're... we were exiles," I calmly answer, as I'm already used to being questioned this way by the younger ones.

But she asks me a question that puts me a bit off balance, "Don't you feel envy for the other Titans that were allowed to build a huge civilization?"

And I start to feel defensive. "Why would we? We're content to live our lives in peace and quiet."

Then she makes me pause. "And what about now? Do you think that you'd want to expand now that you aren't under their control?"

"We'll be under your control, Your Highness," I point out after a moment of thought.

"We'll allow you to expand as you wish," the young Royal Wolf answers reassuringly.

Now I'm out of options, and I can't think of a true answer to give. "I... don't know. That's not for me to decide."

"It's better to live as a pious humanoid than to live as a monster under Destruction's merciless will or even as an atheist," Royal Aoi continues, her intensity starting to feel like actual pressure upon my body.

"On the one day we went out, we started an orgy," Hana brags wistfully.

"We don't go around fucking random people," Lily grumbles as her mood starts to shift.

"Yeah, we have two virgins we've gotta protect," Samkelo offhandedly jokes.

Thant just rolls his eyes, mildly annoyed, while Chesa purposely ignores the conversation, but it makes me happy that she doesn't even blush. It's only with me that she really feels shy.

"We've taken friends to brothels before," Hana states and turns to the virgins.

Thant isn't adept enough to hide the excited twitch in his tail, but Chesa continues to ignore things, even more so now that casual sex has been mentioned.

And Samkelo takes the bait, "You in a brothel?"

"Yeah, I fuck other women. Plenty of people have seen me cum, already," she proudly answers and crosses her arms to frame her breasts and make her nipples poke through her dress.

"You really want me to follow you around like a dog, huh?" he remarks with a snort, talking to us in general rather than answering Hana directly.

"I want you to bend over for us and lick our feet," Yunia states sternly, unleashing her queenly aura upon him.

But he smiles wryly. "And then you peg me?"

"No, but I can have someone else do that for me," she follows up even more intensely, and that shuts him up for a second.

I shiver as I feel a few gazes fall on my back, but I simply ignore them because that's not even what she's implying; it's just that the fujos that I've married won't miss a chance to tease me.

"What good is it if I don't get to fuck you?" the gnome attempts to dodge.

But Yunia's blue jewels enthrall him and forbid such cowardice. Her tone is final, like a sentence being delivered, and it spells the doom of his asshole. "It's the closest you'll ever get to me, and you will enjoy it, I'm sure of it."

I sense that a certain someone is getting annoyed by the sex talk, so I masterfully interject in the best way to annoy everyone, "Just smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave."

As for the parade, the Sky Landers have requested to buy our supply of blanks, and we've agreed to it at a cheap price just because we want this party to really bang. And they use it to blow the eardrums of everyone nearby as they have their men showcase the auto rifles to the crowd as we pass by.

And they're going wild from both the gunfire and the sexy women that are throwing coins while free alcohol slowly flows through the streets. That worries me, though, as it could turn into a mess really quickly since they've already been partying all day, but it seems that the Hau-Hou know how to control their population, for the level of chaos remains low.

Which is great for us as we get most of the attention. The dragon in me is loving this parade while the human would rather just go to sleep, but the dragon wins this battle of emotions, and by a lot.

I'm not the only one enjoying this, though. Yunia, Hana, Kaatohe, Urmeie, and Belind are all radiating noble energy, as expected of them, though there's one intruder among them, but that's fine since the vibe she's exuding is basically the same as the others. Looklwind is the only noble "not in his element," and he's doing just as I said: smiling and waving, but there's not much emotion behind it.

And this parade is actually nice because our open carriage is enchanted with a sound-deadening spell, so all we hear are the faint muffled sounds of the craziness going on around us. We don't want the headaches to come back, but the sounds are still loud enough to give us a bit of euphoria.

The Carrier was also brought back from the first level of the dungeon to be displayed above us, but we don't have the airplanes take off and join the parade because most of them are under repair. But the Sky Landers are ready to make up for that, and they use their own planes to fill up the sky.

Trailing the parade are the coffins of the deceased, but instead of creating a solemn mood, the crowd parties even harder once they spot them because their spirits are walking in the flesh alongside their bodies. They'd still party hard regardless since that's the general rupegian way of honoring the dead, but since the crowd can interact with the fallen heroes, they let their fangirl sides come out.

All of this is a nice ego boost, and I even start to feel refreshed, but the real fun is still to come.

Announcement

Hall of Fame of Patrons

The patrons who support Rupegia shall have their names sung by the bards for they deserve the glory and honor. Their names are:

Prince PreownedFIN.

Prince Owldente.

Prince S. R.

Lord Andrew Meyers.

Lord Bakerdea.

Lord Maurice.

Lord Mattirro Draca.

Lord Tenebris Lupus.

Lord Paul Daval.

Lord Paul Daval.

Lord CopeyDunt.

Lord BlindTactic.

Lord Philip.

Lord d3235.

Lord SubJef.

Lord School work.

Lord patrick__starz.

Lord Peter Kraushuber

Lord David England.

Lord Marwin33.

Lord modislaszlo.

Lord Tenebris Lupus.

Noble Aclys.

Noble Carl Baxter.

Noble DND.

Noble Anon A Moose.

Noble GalacticTNT.