Happy New Year, fellow degenerates! And here's to a few more years of Rupegia!
Also, next week will be Ealy Chapter Review Week, so no new main story chapters, but you can check the discord server to know the small changes that I'm doing on the chapters. I need a few days to rest, but I should at least finish one chapter of the review.
--
--
"FUCK YEAH!" Hana roars spiritedly, and the knights reflexively cheer along with her like well-trained cheerleaders.
In my soul space, I feel a familiar pair of warm arms hug me from behind, making me pause. At first, I get the impression that it's the Goddess of Knowledge, but then Alissa's presence appears in my mind and does the same motion, leaving me with a feeling of déjà vu.
Wha-…
"This, I can support," Alissa whispers lovingly through our connection, dispelling my confusion, and I can't help but smile at the warmth of her presence.
Ciel closes her eyes, struggling to accept the audacity of my declaration, but then she nods as she accepts her role in this endeavor. She opens her eyes again and serenely affirms, "Perhaps it's time for humanoids to bring about an end to this failing of the Sins that the Gods refuse to right themselves. I pray that they listen to us, that they accept our desire for change and progress."
Aoi raises her sleek draconic head. She understands that a lot of my conviction comes from my love for her, so she feels compelled to chime in, "I know we can't convert every monster, but they don't deserve to suffer. It's not their fault that the God of Destruction made them that way." Her words are pure, and her wish is genuine. All she wants is less pain.
Roxanne stiffly adjusts her glasses as she becomes increasingly shaken. "My experiments… I-I should revise them, I should… do them differently," she dazedly affirms, the memories of what she did for her research flooding back into her mind. Though she often did use herself to test her antidotes, that wasn't always so, and it was because finding specimens was too difficult, not because of any sense of empathy or ethics.
But she's not paying attention to the nuance here. What Cleinias is doing is sadistic evil, which is different from her desire to save lives. "You're not part of the problem. All I want is for the Sins to apply regardless of who the victim is," I reassure her.
"For all of the humanoids to be held to a higher standard," Ciel adds as she grabs her hands to comfort her.
Lina smiles softly, her usual gloomy air gone for a moment. "This is what we do: we drag the Realm forward even though it's screaming that it doesn't want to," she confidently states.
"Gih," Gify soberly joins in. She's here because she believes in us.
Then all of our attention turns to Yunia as she stares at the abused monsters. She wants to use [Mask] to clamp down on the various feelings making a mess of her thoughts, but she doesn't need it as she still hasn't lost sight of her goal.
"Start the attack on Katasko," her cold voice echoes in my mind.
"What?" I hum reflexively.
She looks away from the dragon, unable to bear its unyielding gaze. "The kidnapping of their commanders, that's the one thing we can't screw up. Start it before they're alerted that we're plotting against Cleinias!"
My bold smile becomes strained as my idealism starts to deflate.
Yes, she's right.
Not even a minute after my declaration, and I'm already forced to compromise my values.
Nothing is ever simple, and being an obstinate, inflexible, righteous idealist only works in novels with plot armor. My life is obviously a cliché isekai story, but clearly not the innocent and pure kind. I'll never win through the power of friendship, or by being so uncompromising with my ideals that it's borderline suicidal. No, my struggle is about how to balance out all of my values without losing my sanity or being outsmarted by someone less scrupulous than me.
So, I send a message to Escanso to begin the attack.
--
I sit down on the sofa and have my wives cuddle with me while I collect my thoughts. No matter how enraged I am, there's nothing we can do but wait.
Ciel goes back to find Cleinias while Yunia sends the flasks with the mysterious fluids through my [Gate], and Roxanne immediately goes to work on the flasks.
She immediately confirms that their primary purpose is to increase fertility, giving me flashbacks of the lizard monsters practicing genetic engineering under Gnomeria, but there's no evidence linking the two… yet.
Yunia decides to use [Animal Tongue] to understand what the monsters went through. They don't speak very clearly, except for the dragon, who's smart enough to understand what's going on.
"What did they do to you?" Yunia asks the Amethyst dragon, and the spell translates her meaning into something that the monster can understand.
The snout of the beautiful purple beast is muzzled to prevent her from breathing fire, but she can open her jaws wide enough to speak growl-like words that the spell translates in Yunia's mind.
The dragon's voice sounds wounded, tired, but most of all, outraged. "Toy. Rape. Steal children. Hurt for fun. Corrupt our wombs. Birth strong children. Steal children. Steal children. STEAL CHILDREN!"
She rattles against her chains and breathes fire into her enchanted muzzle, then she winces in pain as her wounds reopen, and she bleeds steamy, red blood.
Yunia then turns to the other monsters. There are countless reasons for why someone would want dragon eggs, but not the children of other monsters. Are they just test subjects? What about the slime? It seems to be barely more intelligent than an amoeba.
This is also too small of an operation for it to be about money unless the dragon's eggs are extremely valuable, and I start to feel sick and tired just thinking about how we'll solve this abhorrent mystery. We can't even release them from this pain, not until we have Cleinias' head.
Ciel returns to the gathering, and she quickly finds out that Cleinias has left, so she makes a beeline for Alcander and asks him where the evil old fuck is now.
The pompous imperial hides his concern as he answers, "He left a moment ago. Considering how slow he walks, you should be able to catch up if you go through the main corridor."
"Thank you…" Ciel tiredly replies.
Alcander leans closer and whispers concernedly, "My Lord, is everything alright?"
She lowers her voice and does her best to remain impassive as she explains, "We're making our 'move,' but we'll explain everything later, so don't concern yourself with it."
He nods diligently. "Very well…"
She doesn't have anything to do, so she glances at Alcander's group of friends. "Do you think they'd be receptive to us?"
And he smirks proudly. "For sure. These nobles aren't afraid of a little scheming."
Our two sneaky/assassin girls are busy, so I give Lina some points in [Sense Presence] and [Hide Presence], then I send her to go after Cleinias. True to Alcander's words, she quickly finds the dried-up cunt in the main corridor, leaving the Emperor's Throne at a snail's pace.
Now, when do we kill him?
Alissa and Yunia still have things to do in the mansion, so I can't leave yet because I have to keep watch on them, and nobody else has any useful assassination skills. We also can't kill him in the Emperor's Throne, and neither can it be done in the open, so we have to follow him until the opportunity arises.
But what I feared soon happens. Once he reaches the entrance to the main hall, he meets up with Sebastian, and the butler opens up a [Gate] for him and his knight, then the three of them disappear as they step onto it.
Dammit!
To avoid activating any alarms in the Emperor's residence, I quickly return to the embassy through [Gate] and summon a Holly there, then I tell it to observe Cleinias' mansion from afar and warn us when it spots the old fuck.
Alissa knows that he doesn't use [Hide Presence], so she'll likely detect him the moment he steps into the mansion, and once he does, I'll invade and finish him off myself.
Meanwhile, she continues the exploration of his office, and the information she collects starts to become slightly valuable as (with the help of the other golems) she begins assembling a picture of who Katasko's enemies and allies are. We're targeting the commanders that operate in the east of the Mainland and the elven territories nearby, but Alissa is also learning about Katasko's operations in the west of the Mainland.
We wait for several tense seconds, which stretch into minutes, then become half an hour of waiting with no sign of Cleinias anywhere.
He must've gone somewhere else, like a meeting with his allies.
It does seem that people are expecting shit to hit the fan after this gathering, so it makes sense for him to have a meeting right now. Everyone was waiting to see where our allegiances would fall, and after that incident with the handshake between him and Ciel, it's quite clear on which side we stand. So, now that the uncertainties have been resolved, everyone will be eager to start the Purification.
Little do they know that our kidnapping of the commanders will fuck everything up. There isn't a clear group that's made up of "Katasko nobles" because most of them have kept their links with Katasko a secret, so the cockroaches are expected to be spread out across multiple groups.
And I start to realize how sweet this will all be. Destroying Katasko in one move while killing the biggest villain among them in the next.
--
Yunia finishes her interrogation, then leaves the small dungeon and rejoins us.
"We should return to the gathering," she calmly suggests, her tone containing a chilly prickle that shows both her revulsion at what she saw and also how strong her mind is. She's not completely heartless, but it'll take a lot more before the ugly side of this world is able to wound her.
I grimace, thinking that the monsters are being left to suffer for a while longer, but I smother the disgust. I need balance, and this time, their suffering is justified, for it'll ensure we achieve our higher goals.
Most of the girls leave with Yunia as she returns to the gathering, and I'm left with Roxanne, Klein, and Anton.
"These potions are really complex, Wolfy," Roxanne suddenly remarks, and I walk over to her to observe. She points to a piece of paper where she's recording her notes. It looks like a puzzle, where most of the pieces are unknown, but you can kind of get an idea of what it's about. "This is clearly a fertility potion, but it seems to target the blood rather than the womb itself."
I hum and deliberate, "I don't know much about pregnancy, but I know that the mother and fetus share nutrients through the placenta, which is like a barrier preventing their blood from mixing."
She knits her thin eyebrows. "Placenta?"
"The piece of red tissue between the umbilical cord and the mother's womb."
Her mind processes that for a couple of seconds before she finally understands. "Oh, that. Well, these potions seem to use the blood circulation system to spread out the healing magic, which seems to speed up the natural healing of the body."
I grimace as I realize something. "Gods, don't tell me that they justify their torture as a way of confirming that the potion is effective?"
Her gorgeous, pale face stiffens as she remembers some things she did in the past, then she swallows hard and hesitantly explains, "It'd be justifiable if the wounds were more… systematic. But from what Yunia sensed of the butler's actions, it was just meaningless torture."
Klein turns her head away and takes a step closer to her father as she's having trouble accepting what we uncovered. Anton is a tough man with a strong stomach, so he isn't showing any signs that he's been too affected by the revelations, making me glad I have him as a knight. While he doesn't have the appropriate education to train Klein into a fully-fledged knight, he'll definitely have a positive impact on her since they're always working together.
I observe Roxanne's senses as she investigates the potions' mana signatures, but all I get is that a signature might as well be an abstract painting. She can derive some overall theme of what the signature is about when looking at it as a whole, like how you can guess an abstract painting is about violence if it's full of red in strong brush strokes.
There are some small "patterns" she recognizes, but it doesn't tell her much without knowing how it all fits together. It's like having only a few words of a paragraph, with most of them just articles, and trying to guess what it's about.
She sighs as she puts down her Signature Interpreter monocle, then she begins explaining, "Fertility isn't a popular area of study, even in Maoka, where few pray to the Goddess of Fertility. Healing magic deals with most of the problems that could arise during pregnancy, so I never really had any reason to study fertility itself."
An idea suddenly occurs to me, and I reflexively reply, "Then we have to take these potions to the temple."
--
Alissa and Ted finish their exploration of Cleinias' office, which doesn't seem to have any secrets that are safe for us to investigate. There are some gems being used in the decorations that could be hiding a secret enchantment, but randomly feeding your mana into unknown gems is a good way to either trigger an alarm or spring a trap that kills the would-be thief. Not to mention that it's possible to enchant a gem to only recognize the specific type of mana that belongs to an individual, like a fingerprint, and though we did once mimic a signature with [Redirect Mana], we don't have anything that belongs to Cleinias on hand to repeat that.
I summon Alissa and Ted back, then we return to the gathering.
All I want right now is to eat something since I didn't have the time earlier, so I immediately make my way to the walls where the food is laid out. My disgust with the abhorrent dungeon doesn't dampen my appetite; in fact, the anger just makes it bigger.
Finger food is a staple of casual gatherings, but it's rude to cast spells in front of nobility, not to mention how it's almost a death sentence to do that in front of the Emperor,-…
He was actually quite lenient with us considering Hana and I used a couple.
… so the food here is made with the intent of being eaten with either toothpicks or a mini fork to not dirty our hands. They give us plates so that we don't have to return to the buffet all the time, and I fill mine up with pastries, the imperial specialty.
I'm surprised to find mini-pastel, which are deep-fried, square crust pies filled with goodies. Like a spring roll, but squared, and with a thicker crust. Then I also find a condensed milk bonbon covered in grated not-coconut along with a chocolate version. These are not-beijinho and not-brigadeiro.
I cry internally as I suddenly find myself a lot more sympathetic to imperials. I start to feel like calling them honorary Brazilians considering all of the good food they enjoy. They just need an unhealthy obsession with a single sport and an overly friendly attitude peppered with candid banter.
Mac Gantus is a melting pot of cultures, and they aren't really xenophobes, so I guess they're as close to Brazil as it'll get. It even fits as back on Earth, I left the homely but kind of fucked up place for greener pastures.
Then someone approaches me, alerting Klein, but the person doesn't seem to be hostile, just extremely stiff. I turn and see Centum Mako, a red-haired, black-scaled dragonkin with a very pale complexion and such an emotionless demeanor that I bet he can do some mean robotic dance moves.
"I see another has fallen to imperial delights," Mako remarks impassively as he glances at my plate.
I chuckle and smirk as I reply, "Can you blame me? These cooks seem to care for only one thing: is it delicious? And yes, it sure damn is."
But he doesn't show any reaction and simply continues with an indifferent tone, "You don't necessarily have a dragonkin's vices, but you share our draconic addiction to pleasure."
I chuckle again. "Guilty. Life is so much more 'intense' as a dragon; I have no regrets about becoming one."
And the stern way he stares at me tells me his true emotions. "But it's that same 'intensity' that gives us a bad reputation," he slowly asserts.
Ay, fuck you, bitch. I never did anything bad to anyone… maybe aside from cucking Nikolas, but that's debatable since Lolo isn't his girl.
I narrow my eyes at him as my tail tenses up from rising annoyance. "'Bad reputation'? I sincerely disagree. Dragons are respected, feared, and envied precisely because we're so passionate," I proudly state.
"Don't talk to him, Wolfy. He's one of those weird celibates who don't want to admit that they're secretly masochists," Hana advises me through our connection.
And his black scales subtly twitch as he almost fails to control his emotions. "The number of Wicked among my kind tells a different story," the bastard coldly retorts.
"But it doesn't disprove mine," I dismissively reply and casually walk away. Hana is right. I shouldn't bother with his kind.
I return to my girls and try to forget what we saw, but the mood has definitely taken a dip for all of us. Ciel and Hana have fewer problems re-integrating into the gathering, and Queen Vlwind sets Lina at ease, but we're all still forcing ourselves to be social.
Then we notice a subtle shift in the mood of the nobles as a considerable number of them suddenly decide to leave, and their stiff gait makes it clear as day that they're very tense.
Alissa starts paying attention to them, then she notices one of them checking something inside the sleeve of their shirt, which allows a faint red light to shine out. We bet it's an Emergency Ring activating, and they'll soon learn that the Commanders of Katasko have been attacked.
That improves our mood, and Yunia and I even become a bit smug as we savor the fear they try and fail to hide.
Then one of the imperials turns his head towards us and just stares. His expression is blank, and his face seems quite pale, so I'm not sure if he's scared or awe-struck.
--
['Soul Info']
[Name: Faustus Fluminis | Race: Human | Level: 55]
[HP: 100 | MP: 5,210 | Magic Power: 2,730]
[Strength: 11 | Endurance: 10]
--
He's a thin and short imperial man with one of those handlebar mustaches that shines due to excessive use of wax. I'd say he has a bit of a posh air about him that makes him rather punchable, and coupled with his slack-jawed stare, he looks quite pathetic.
I make the dragon roar internally, and he flinches as my aura flares, then he immediately turns away and quickly scurries out of the hall, still looking dazed and/or scared.
Weirdo.
When I'm done eating, I grab Alissa by the waist and land my hand on her fluffy tail, then I gently caress it to soothe my nerves. She does the same with my glorious, scaled, thick tail, and the faint touch of her delicate fingers helps soothe my mind.
The Ladies start to become even bolder with their sexual advances, and a few lucky nobles seem like they're about to get laid, but I don't feel like entertaining any of those sluts. All I want right now are my wives. Then I notice that the Oracle has left.
It might be for the best since fucking with the haughty bitch again would definitely enrage the Emperor. And just as I try to forget his powerful gaze, things become a bit brighter as I sense his unmistakable powerful presence approaching us.
I turn around to receive the shiny sun guy, and he greets me with an infuriatingly handsome and gentle smile, which has the very annoying effect of calming me down. I just don't like being in the presence of a bigger alpha male.
But has he already forgiven me for what I did to the Oracle?
Piscila, the gorgeous and naked lioness, is nice to look at, so I focus on her as he casually plays with her hard, dark nipples with one of his hands.
"Don't hang your hostilities on your belt, Your Highness Wolf," he magnanimously states, his voice like a velvety chocolate that dares me to question my sexuality, but nobody but me can hear what he's saying, making Alissa a bit annoyed.
"I don't understand your meaning, Your Imperial Radiance," I very politely reply since he's decided to treat me as royalty.
He gracefully explains, "Make allies, not enemies. The less bloodshed, the better for everyone."
I remain impassive to not reveal my true feelings to any onlookers, but I lower my voice as I can't magically project it in the same way he can. "Certain things can't be forgiven. The 'filth' runs deeper than you think."
He stops playing with Piscilla's nipple as he stares intensely at me. Though he looks quite friendly, I get the impression that he's hiding his true feelings. Still, being in his presence is like staying too close to a bonfire, and I'd rather that he toned it down or simply left.
After a few seconds of deliberation, he soberly cautions me, "Do what you must, but remember that the Empire comes first."
I simply nod. For the Empire to progress, people like Cleinias must die.
Then he smiles softly, soothing everyone again, so I focus on the furry hotness beside him, and, noticing my gaze, she purrs seductively as she smirks at me. Her thin tail sways mischievously like a cat's, and we're allowed only a couple of seconds of flirty stares before he takes her away.
"Maybe we need a beastfolk woman for you?" Alissa whispers seductively as she pats the boner in my pants.
I huskily reply, "I'd love that. Hukarere, Kaatohe, and the Chimeras just aren't the same as a fully furry beauty."
She kisses my cheek, and we rejoin the ongoing conversations, but our social energies are running too low, so we soon retire from the gathering.
But there's still one last thing we have to do before we can sleep.
--
Caterina, the milfy golden elf beauty struts into the embassy. Her gait is confident and strong, and the red not-bikini she's wearing shows enough of her body to leave no doubt of her warrior background. But it's her gaze that holds the "danger" of a Punisher, and I lose myself in her eyes as she scans the room. Then her smirk quickly fades as she realizes that Hana didn't call her to party.
"Sorry for lying, but I didn't want people to suspect anything," Hana earnestly apologizes, and Caterina's subtly casual demeanor disappears, allowing for her usual poise to return.
She gives the guilty dragonkin a brief glare as she slowly warns, "I'll forgive you this time, but don't make it a habit. I hate the deceitful behavior of nobles."
I diplomatically interject, "I also apologize, but please, take a seat. I have a favor to ask."
She does as told and sits down, then crosses her legs and assumes a slightly haughty posture, something elves specialize in. "Very well. What scheme do you want me to take part in?"
I point to the fertility potions on the table between us. "First, let me tell you about something we've unveiled…"
--
--
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.
Lord Andrew Meyers.
Lord Novgarod.
Lord Michale Erwin.
Lord Bakerdea.
Lord Maurice.
Lord Mattirro Draca.
Lord Sean Drake.
Lord Mike Bartter.
Lord Warwulfv.
Lord Khristopher Welsh.
Lord DJ.
Lord Tenebris Lupus.
Lord Paul Daval.
Lord Paul Daval.
Lord AndreyUC.
Lord Tmac.
Lord School Work.
Lord Gwendolyn Simmons-LaRose.
Lord CopeyDunt.
Lord James.
Lord BlindTactic.
Lord The Tallest Joshua.
Lord Andrew Hebreard.
Lord litalmexy.
Lord Tyler Mills.
Lord Philip.
Lord Sam.
Lord Warwulfv.
Lord d3235.
Lord Ddraig Wynn.
Noble Salty Panda.
Noble Mild Fracas.
Noble Aclys.
Noble CarlBaxter.
Leave a rating or a review to help me rise to the top or fix my shameful understanding of prose.
Take a look over my blog where all information about the world of Rupegia will be posted: manasongwriting.wordpress.com
Join the Discord and discuss, or rant, or meme, or try and fight me so your waifu gets more screentime: discord.com/invite/3GqMxQc
Become a Patron patr**n.com/manasong and read chapters in advance, or read the side-stories, or leave your mark on the story, or help choose the next artwork or the next side-story.