âHello, miss. Donât you look extraordinarily beautiful today?â
âT, That, weâre f-first time meeting todayâŠâ
âItâs not important. The important thing is that we were meant to be met.â
Gis gently stroked the womanâs cheeks. That alone made her cheeks turn red.
âWhat are you doing to my fianceeâŠ!â
A sword suddenly emerged in front of the young man who was about to rush in rage, blocking his path.
âW, Wh-What?! Who dares to point a sword at⊠Lorian!?â
What stood in the way of the young man was a handsome man with neatly combed brown hair.
The First Prince as well as the Hero of the Kingdom of Carta, Lorian.
Even as the son of an Imperial nobleman he couldnât be reckless.
âDonât be afraid. This sword is just an unedged ceremonial sword.â
âW-Who are you saying was afraid!? And why did you stop me?! Canât you see what that bastard is doing to my fiancee?!!â
âThereâs a misunderstanding here. I did stop youâbecause I was afraid that you would get hurt.â
âWhat?â
Lorian sighed at the young manâs baffled tone.
âCan you fight with Gis and win?â
âT, ThatâŠ.!â
The young man closed his mouth. Growing up as a pampered young master, there was no possibility of him defeating the Hero, Gis.
âI had no intention of fighting in the first place! This is the Imperial Social Banquet. Thereâs no way one initiate a fight here, right? Even if itâs a Hero!â
âHmm, putting it that way youâre right, but once you leave, youâre going to be targeted by his enmity.â
âWhat about it? You donât know, but my fatherâŠâ
âI know, I know. Count Cortell. The wine from his estate is famous all over the continent. I have also heard that the income from the wine produce is quite large.â
âYou know it well, huh? ThenâŠâ
âI know, there will be a lot of people in your estate who will be there to protect you. But letâs guess. Do you really believe they can actually protect you?â
âWhat..?â
âGis is a master of stealth. Even though he is a Hero, it doesnât mean that he canât be shady. If he makes up his mind, can he do nothing about you?â
ââŠ!â
The young manâs eyes, lost for words, turned to the floor. He felt the resentment with the increasing force in his clenched fists.
âAnd the anger at being defeated as a male, and to lose a manâs pride!
âFuhaha~â
Gis laughed teasingly and tried to kiss the woman between her lips. However, the ceremonial sword dug in between.
âYou too, keep it in moderation. This is not a market street. This place is where the giants who lead the continent gather. That kind of behavior doesnât look good.â
âSheesh, you straight headed fellow at it again. Okay~ I honestly didnât mean to do it either. Goodbye then, ugly girl. I hope I never see you again.â
Gis removed his arm from the woman.
The woman was startled by the sudden change in Gisâs attitude, but had no choice but to be dragged away along by the young man by her wrist.
âWhat will happen to those two in the future? Iâm really curious about that.â
âYou really donât change no matter what others say. Itâs your that sick behavior again.â
âWell, how about it? This is how people live. How about you nobles, ha?â
âAt least I think Iâm much much better than you.â
âReally? Then why did you come this way? Didnât you come here for the same purpose as me?â
At Gisâs sarcastic remark, Lorian remained silent. As he said, their purpose was the same.
Gis smiled and walked over to Cloudâs side.
Until then, Cloud had been eating his smoked pork.
âHey, Mr. Hero! Whatâs up?â
Gis placed his arm around Cloudâs shoulder as if he was meeting an old friend. Of course, the two were surely not friends. It was an action that Gis did because he took Cloud lightly.
But Cloud was not in a situation to care about that now.
""
âSalty.â
âYes?â
âItâs salty.â
Cloud threw the fork with an annoyed face.
Chin! Clang! Cling!
The bowl and fork rattled, making an unpleasant noise.
At that action, not only Gis, but also Lorian and Cloudâs party members looked at Cloud blankly.
Meanwhile, Cloud looked at Gis and said.
âHey, let me ask you one thing.â
âSure?â
âArenât the Imperial palace chefs one of the best chefs on the whole continent?â
âUh⊠thatâs right?â
âThen why is the food so salty? No, itâs not just salty. This is a fucking jumbled mishmash, I just sprinkled some pepper. Not just one, twice or thrice. Bloody Hell, this screwed up taste just doesnât go away!â
âIs there no thing such as moderation in this world? Eating at a private inn tastes bland, and eating at a palace tastes too salty. If so, where should I eat!? Should I now buy the ingredients and learn to cook it myself?!â
Gis is a person who has been rolling in the slums for years. He could read most of the emotions of most of the people, and now what he read was thatâCloudâs anger was bloody real.
So he couldnât help but feel a little awkward.
âNo, this is natural dude. It goes without saying that the dishes eaten in the palace are salty. Itâs a given.â
âWhy is that a given?â
âIsnât that all because of the vanity of some high-ranking people? Look, we are rich enough to waste so many spices and sh!t! Itâs an indirect way of expressing that.â
âOh, extravagance?â
He hadnât thought of that.
In the world where he lived before that Cloud punk summoned him, no matter how extravagant a royal was, they could not afford to indulge in such âscrewed-upâ luxury.
âOkay, so letâs calm down andâŠâ
âThen you are saying that here salty food is served to the guests and the delicious food is eaten among themselves, right? Then where should! I! Go! To! Eat!â
Cloud buried his face in the palms of his hand and screamed.
Not only Gis but now others could also feel the sincerity in that scream. So everyone looked at him in half shock and in half astonishment.
The despair he was experiencing was incomprehensible to those who were born and raised here.
Just a month ago, you can eat delicious food sprinkled with msg with just a few flicks of your finger, but now you are in a situation where even beggars on the street will spit such food on your faceâŠ
Cloud wanted to cut his brain in half if so he could have a face off with the real Cloud who brought him in.
âHaha⊠Sh!tâŠâ
âIf there were even tiny bits of his soul left, I would f*cking grab it and throw it to a Lich.â
Unfortunately, when he possessed this body, the soul of original Cloud had long since disappeared.
Taking a deep breath, he finally turned his head.
âHmm? What are you doingâshouldering me since earlier?â
ââŠare you asking that now?â
âTry and eat this smoked meat. We will together see if you are left with any other thoughts?â
âAh, yes. I will try it next time.â
Not wanting to spend anymore time wasting on smoked meat, without paying any extra attention, he passed Cloudâs words.
âWhy are you asking me dude? Hear it from those girls yourself.â
Gis giggled and pointed his thumb behind his back. Behind him, Eri, Neria, and Ophelia were standing in a row at some point, with him unknown to the fact when they got up.
Neria looked restless like a poopy puppy, Ophelia stuck her gaze at the floor with a guilty expression, meanwhile Eri looked away in the other direction.
âWhat are you guys doing? Should I tell him myself?â
âThat, Cloud weâŠâ
âSoâŠâ
ââŠâ
The three women hesitated and could not speak properly.
Gis looked at the scene with a happy expression, and Lorian waited for them to speak without any expression.
Cloud, on the other hand, spit out as if it was bothersome to wait any longer.
âYou want to go to another party?â
ââââŠ!!!âââ
The faces of the three women displayed various emotions.
Surprise. Embarrassment. Guilt and so on.
âNot so good feelings, I guess.â
Seeing this, Gis smiled cheerfully and tapped on the table.
âHa ha ha! What am I hearing? You knew it, didât you? I thought you were just a dumb fool, but it isnât so, haha. So? Your girls want to go, so what do youâŠâ
âIf you want to go, just go.â
A light, impassive answer that didnât contain even the slightest bit of heaviness.
The faces of the three women hardened.
His reaction was not what they had expected. They thought he would catch them in one way or another, begging with tears and earnestly requesting, that he will scream, shout and curse while showing his anger.
The moments that they had spent together now felt like nothing. While traveling, they crossed the hurdles together, eating, sleep, and saving people as a team.
Moreover, isnât Cloud kind-hearted and has a gentle personality?
They thought he was going to stop them somehow, but they never ever imagined that he would respond so lightly as if they were just simple strangers.
âFuha⊠ha ha ha!â
And it was the same with Gis who didnât anticipate this situation.
He was born in a slum and lived his life looking at all kinds of immoral things, and so he had developed a crooked personality. It was his greatest pleasure to steal what belonged to others while listening to the cries of the loser.
And the situation of stealing from a fellow Hero would have been the most enjoyable entertainment he had ever staged.
âŠor it should have been such.
âAre you deliberately pretending to be shy? Oh dear, you are still thinking for the good of these girls? Whoa, thatâs cool. You are a very indeed a âkindâ Hero.â
The arm resting on Cloudâs shoulder gained strengthâbring Cloudâs head to near his shoulders.
Gis whispered into Cloudâs ear.
âBut you know what? Your girls have already been fucked by me? Thereâs that bitch named Ophelia. She said she had to keep her chastity intact so I pulled my dick out and rammed right in her butt.â
âAnd do you know how many times your childhood friend has sucked my dick? Oh, did she say you two havenât even kissed yet? Iâm sorry. You can kiss her now, itâs not like you are kissing the lips that sucked my dick, uh?â
ââŠâ
âWhy? Have nothing to say? Yes, you have nothing to say. Because youâre an asshole who canât even protect his woman. So donât pretend to be rude in front of me, you bastard.â
All of a sudden, the smile on Gisâs victorious face was gone.
Cloud was looking back at him a pitiful expression.
âYou should go home and suck some more.â
He showed the gesture of putting the thumb between the index and middle finger.