Chapter 31

  ~ The Scylla Queen’s Gift ~

  SW/SW/SW

  “It is ‘Queen Hathor’ to you, adventurer. Or you can simply call her Her Majesty,” she admonished. “I will not siy idly by knowing that my queen’s name has been dirtied by your uncouth mouth.”

  “…queen?” Ace asked very, very slowly.

  “Yes. Our queen.”

  “But you are a queen,” he objected.

  “Indeed I am, but only to my race. There is a greater ruler than I am. Someone who rules over the entire races in Tel Nevos.”

  No way. She was lying, right?

  No… looking at her expression, Ace didn’t think that she’d lie. But if that was the truth, then… then who was he when she invaded his dream?

  …I was lying down on the bed, someone atop me. Purple skin, soft and silky-like to the touch and deep, wavy crimson hair caressed my body softly.

  …tattoos on her arm and cheek. They were gleaming faintly, looking eerie as well as sacred. The mouth, it moved as she spoke mutely to me, and I swore I could see fangs behind her luscious upper lip.

  I saw a pale arm, laced with wounds, fly to her face. The hand caressed her cheek…

  Then, who was he? Who was the man underneath her? Was it Kail, AceKivras, or was it someone else?

  “I do not know what kind of circumstance you have against her, but all I can say is… forget her. She isn’t someone you’d mess around with.”

  “Are you afraid of her?”

  Scylla Queen stared at him incredulously, “Fool, everyone is afraid of her! Between His Majesty and her, the real demon is her! Before you ask anything else about the royal family, stop. I will not answer it. Their names bring bad omens.”

  Ace grimaced. She was kind of useless. He was expecting her to divulge any information regarding the stupid succubus, but oh well… Seemed like he had no choice but to go to the forum.

  “Thanks for the information. If there’s nothing to talk about, then I’ll leave,” he stood leisurely. “I’m sure we’ll meet soon.”

  As soon as he turned around, he heard her voice again.

  “Where do you think you are going?”

  Ace growled, his patience was at its limit, “What do you want? I got some business in the city!”

  She pointed a finger to her lower body, which was badly destroyed by Maria’s energy beam. The bleeding had stopped but she could no longer be able to walk.

  “I will not let you go before you heal my legs,” she threatened. “That woman… she was your comrade, was she not?”

  “It was her fault to begin with, not mine!” Ace snarled, “don’t you have Regeneration skill? Use that if you want to walk so much! I’m outta here!”

  “You imbecile!” she hissed. Somehow her figure got bigger and bigger in Ace’s eyes and he trembled. He had forgotten one thing…

  …she was much stronger than he was…

  “Have you no manners? Is that how you talk to a queen? Remember, you and your comrade barged into my home like barbarians and stole my treasures! Do you think I’ll ever forgive you for that?”

  “...what do you want me to do?” Ace crossed his arms over his chest, signaling his hostility.

  “Heal me and I will let you go,” she answered sternly. “That is all I ask for.”

  He stared at her for a long time. Thinking back, she grew back her limbs at a cost of MP and as he remembered it, her MP bar wasn’t empty. She had mana left around 9/10 of the total MP! Why wouldn’t she use magic to heal herself?

  What was she thinking? Was she testing him?

  He snorted, “You can’t fool me. Once you regain your full strength, you’ll lock me in this place. Or worse, eat me alive.”

  The queen laughed at that. It wasn’t a mocking laugh, instead it was an honest one. “Eat you? A human like you? Oh, please. I’d prefer fruits or vegetables than you. You are all bones.”

  Can I hit her? Ace’s fists clenched in fury. He felt something had just exploded inside him.

  After a while, she stopped laughing and was back to her usual aloof persona, “Oh, well. I suppose this is a… rather one-sided coercion. How is this? If you heal me, I will teach you Alchemy. It is a give-and-take world, after all.”

  Wait, what? What did she just say?

  “What are you planning?” Ace asked cautiously. He wouldn’t fall into her trap just like that. He wasn’t the weak Kail. He had grown and he was different than he once was.

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  “Nothing. I offered you Alchemy because I am interested in you. No more than that,” she casually said. Noticing Ace's stiffness, she added, “I offer this chance only once.”

  She smiled rather slyly and spoke, “Well, what say you?”

  0000

  “Thank you,” Scylla Queen patted her new snake-like legs. “This is wonderful.”

  Ace went and healed her. Of course, he used the rarest healing potion he had found from scavenging. Thank god she didn’t recognize the potion or else…

  “As promised, I will share my knowledge of Alchemy with you. Come closer,” she beckoned him with her fingers.

  Ace gulped. Now that he thought about it, he was alone with a woman! Wearing a half-torn gown at that! The worse of it all, Ace could perfectly make out her breasts’ outline. He restrained his lust when he saw something poking on the surface.

  She wore no bra?!

  Agh, he was dead! DEAD!

  Here he was, together with an almost naked woman, no, a monster. Still, she was a beautiful monster. He wondered if she had the same genital as a regular woman… But if she indeed had it, where could it be? Her stomach below was combined with snake bodies…

  Noooo! What was he thinking about?!

  Bad Ace! Really, really bad Ace!

  “Come here,” she repeated and Ace nervously obliged. She caught him by his shoulders and cupped his cheek. Closing her eyes, she planted a chaste kiss on his forehead.

  Everything was enveloped in a bright light for a moment until it faded.

  Holy shit!! The notification system was broken!

  Quickly he opened his status skill and was flabbergasted. He had an Alchemy skill of level 72! He turned to Scylla Queen for enlightenment.

  “Why are you so surprised?” she asked back, “having no one to talk to, I spend my days mixing potions.”

  So that was the reason of the ridiculous amount of potions he had found!

  “Th-Thanks…” he had finally overcome his shock. “This is a great gift. Is it okay for you to share it with me?”

  “You have saved me from death and healed my legs, and I believe the reward is nothing compared to your deeds. Even though you are a philanderer, you have my utmost gratitude, I suppose.”

  “E… you know, that wasn’t very sincere.”

  …and what part of me that’s a philanderer?

  The queen smiled sweetly, “Really? What would you want me to say, then?”

  Ba-dump!

  Ace stared at the woman in front of him. Her shining yellow eyes, her radiant smile, and unique personality… she was beautiful.

  …and he fell in love with her.

  “What…” Ace hesitated for a bit, “what’s your name?”

  She arched her right brow, “Hm? Is it not a common sense to tell your name first before asking mine?”

  “I’m Ace,” he offered a handshake.

  “Helluva," she smiled, though it was more like a sneer rather than a smile. "I know it is a weird name. Regarding your handshake, I regret to say that I’m allergic to thief.”

  Ace wasn’t insulted at all. Instead, he was happy that he got to know her name.

  Spoiler: Status