[Lustburg]

“Are you sure it’s here?”

“Argh! Stop asking already. I said I don’t know. I am just following the fucking map.”

In a forest that was a few hundred kilometers away from the capital, two people were observing the surroundings while the shorter of the two was holding a map in their hands.

The shorter among the duo had two guns attached to his hips, placed inside their respective holsters, and a scowl was etched on his face as he gazed at the map with such intensity that it looked like he wished to tear literal holes through the poor map.

“The treasure should be somewhere in our surroundings. Back then, the dwarves were fleeing from the control of the elves and used one of the places here as their stronghold. From the information that is contained in this map, it’s made clear that they left many of their treasures inside the stronghold. On the list of lost treasures, I found one that could slightly heal one’s soul. This might help us in solving the affliction of the boss.”

Dwarves were great blacksmiths. Some even boasted of being blessed by the goddesses of Creation herself as they had such a great form of talent that they could even bring forth extraordinary results while dealing with the most ordinary materials.

He knew that the saying was utter bullshit. But this didn’t change the fact that the midget race had extraordinary talent and what they needed now was a soul-healing medicine for their leader. The shape of the medicine didn’t matter to them.

The treasure in question was a pill that had been stolen from the elf queen of those times as they fled from their grasp.

“The greed of dwarves is really legendary. Even when fleeing for their lives they still stole something from the enemies.”

“Heh. Greed is necessary for evolution and success.”

He said so as he looked at his companion. It was a blue-haired wolf woman with a sword hanging on her hips. She had accompanied him as a bodyguard as he couldn’t really use his full power as he was now.

“I guess this is why you only revealed you had this map after you were sure we would keep your share and help you heal, huh…”

“What can I say? I would rather protect myself than anyone else. As long as the boss is asleep we aren’t all that scary, you know. I don’t want to die after being disposed of.”

They gazed at each other as a short clash of energy ensued between them before everything calmed down as though nothing happened in the first place.

“Acht, listen very well… The Wings of Freedom won’t give up on you. But as you have already stated we are in dire need of that remedy. If we can accelerate her awakening even by a year or two, it will be more than enough for us to accelerate our plans. We need her in order to realize our ideals.”

“Ideal huh…”

Acht nodded before smirking at Neun, “I wonder what you feel, you know… Your country is about to wage war soon. If the power of that prince is real… I am pretty sure Wratharis will lose before they are even able to know what hit them.”

His grin stretched further as he spoke in a jeering tone, “You sacrificed so much. But in the end…”

“Watch what you are about to say, Acht.”

The edge of the blade was placed against his throat and a voice colder than the edge of the blade registered in the man’s ears. “I find it quite baffling of you to provoke the one who is supposed to protect you…”

“I like living in the thrill of the moment.”

“Suits you, I guess. But let me say it clearly… My ambition does not stop at disposing of the Traitor King. I want to get rid of this unfair system where people are chosen because of the whim of 14 crazy women that are simply uncaring of the mortals that they themselves created.”

Her eyes were blazing like a slumbering inferno, waiting to erupt at any moment, and Acht lifted his hands in surrender immediately when he noticed that.

“Sorry, sorry… Anyways enough with the jokes. We should find it fast while we are still in the dark. A vast majority of my information network was exterminated and we don’t have Drei anymore for trying out a mission to gather intel behind enemy lines. But I know that the princess of Lustburg is not far from this place as she’s on a mission of her own.”

His arm twitched as he placed a hand on his chest. Even now, a deep throbbing pain was constantly bothering him. It had become an afterthought by now. But whenever he used his Zone, the pain came back at full strength.

He would never forget how he nearly died that day because of his carelessness.

‘This treasure trove also has many powerful weapons the dwarves were forced to create by the elves in the past. Obviously, they also stole back those weapons when they fled their confinements. If I can get any of those weapons or even a blueprint then…’

Those weapons might be old now but some of them were near the level of Divine Weapons. As long as he could get even one, it would be more than enough for him to become even stronger, and if he could heal himself on top of that…

‘Reaching a level near that of a King wouldn’t be impossible.’

Then he would have far more speaking right in the organization. After all, they already lost two Kings and their Demigods were in a coma.

“Let’s not bother with the royal family of Lustburg. We already obtained the divine weapon we needed from them.”

“Heh…”

Acht didn’t bother to uncover the hypocrisy in the word of his companion. Even though they all joined the Wings of Freedom for seemingly the same goal, they all had different small objectives for themselves.

“Very well. Let’s go. Anyway, the chances of us meeting anyone from the royal family in this place is close to non-existent.”

The two moved and advanced deeper into the forest, well intent on finding the treasure and leaving the place as fast as possible.

———

The next day, after Sol had a very enjoyable night with both Setsuna and Persephone, he looked up at the rising sun with a thoughtful expression on his face.

His mind was serene as if he was devoid of all worldly desires, a saintly aura could even be seen behind him as he stood with his hands behind his back.

The night before had ended in his victory after a long and arduous fight.

Persephone had used the power of life to constantly enhance her stamina and Setsuna had surprised Sol by telling him how she had prepared herself for some deep exploration in her ass in lieu of her secret garden.

Facing those two had forced Sol to use all the skills he had learned over the years.

He had to summon the deepest parts of his strength and it was only after remembering all the steamy nights he went through that he was able to defeat those two formidable enemies.

Now, he was effectively a sage in all but title. One above all worldly desires.

“Oh. Your Highness. You rose up early.”

It was such a Sol that Milia witnessed as she prepared the food for breakfast.

Hearing her voice, Sol did not turn around and spoke solemnly. His voice was grave, showing how important the current situation was.

“Milia… I believe I have been enlightened on the way of this world. Indeed. Women have many treasures. But it’s necessary to exercise control and not indulge in the desire of the flesh. Only then can one reach true peace. Amitabah…”

Milia tilted her head in confusion at the sudden words. But once she understood what was happening she covered her mouth with the back of her hand and let out a quiet laugh before answering in tandem.

“My… Is that so? I guess I need to put back the clothes I had prepared for Lady Medea then.”

Time seemingly stilled. Even Medea's time stop would have not given such an impression to Sol.

“....Elaborate.”

“Since Miss Persephone had such a hobby, I have taken it upon myself to prepare a few costumes. One of which was maid costumes. That would fit Lady Medea, Setsuna, and Persephone. There were also a few bunny girl costumes in the lot too.”

Sol gulped quietly as if he was suddenly a thirsty man walking in the desert without any signs of water.

His sage mode was being overwhelmed by the powerful pictures that were filling his mind.

“...”

“Lady Medea already accepted putting them on tonight. But since Your Highness believes in abstinence, I will just have to burn them.”

Sol turned around and shouted at the top of his lungs like a bereaved victim…

"Unhand those innocent costumes you criminal!"

He stopped as he saw Milia looking at him with a smile at the corner of her mouth and Medea covering her face in utter embarrassment.

Sol coughed slightly before silently looking at the sky and mourned by himself…

“The ways of heaven are broad and multiple. It seems like the path of non-indulgence is not the road I must take. Ahem~ Now then, about those costumes…"

Like this, a new day full of adventure began for Sol and his group.

(AN: For those who forgot, Acht is the dwarf that fought Lilin and Nuwa. Neun is the wolf that raised Setsuna when she was young and stole the Divine Weapon of Lustburg after beating her. She was also Setsuna’s teacher.)

(AN: I have sad news(for me mostly). WN did a new update that basically took away all the links made in non-exclusive stories. This isn’t just something like censoring but outright erasing them all. You can go to my main page on WN with Son of the Hero King and take a look. So yeah, it's a little complicated. Anyways I am trying to test something to see how the new regulation can be avoided. Let’s see if this works.