Rupegia Novel Chapter 198: Acceleration – Part 1

Chapter 198: Acceleration – Part 1

Oops, this is a bit too much.

I hold back on my regal aura to not scare everyone off. I'm trying to look more "kingly," but I went overboard here. The people in Escanso are used to us, I believe, but these humble Titans and villagers haven't felt my Presence in a while.

"{Rise}; {Rise}," I command in both Ingua (for the elven villagers) and Reo (for the Titan villagers) after a tasteful couple of seconds. Now that they've already done it, hastily telling them to rise would've been improper.

Anyway, once everyone is standing, we have a short greeting and move on to the private eting chamber.

"How have things been, Elder Echo of Bliss?" I kindly ask in Reo as Poosh serves us coffee with milk to go with gently sweetened bread.

The old, wrinkly, and surprisingly muscular man finishes taking a small (for him) sip of the curious brown liquid and then politely answers, "Our group continues united, but I still sense that there will be problems in our ways of living."

Yeah, I know because I saw through the girls' eyes, but that's too hard to explain so we'll start from the beginning. "That's expected. Our kinds are too different to integrate so easily," I reply in kind.

But Elder Echo shows concern and humbleness by asking, "Your Highness, do you truly believe we'll ever succeed?"

While they're godless and "broken"? I don't find it likely. Aoi didn't really light up the fires of her own determination until [Bind] started filling her soul, so the Exiles will need a lot more work and ti.

"I believe," I answer honestly. We have our whole lives to fulfill our promise to The Throat, so there's no need to be impatient.

First, we'll keep them safe and smooth out any problems before they cause tension among our races, then we'll gently introduce them to the Massive Cock of Developed Society. Once they're all mindbroken from pleasure, they simply won't be able to stop craving for more, and then you just let the whores loose. They'll gobble up everything they can, but even that won't be enough, so they'll build their own perfect Cock.

Really, it's the perfect plan. I'm an expert on whores and whoremaking, so I'm confident I can convert them, too.

I need to talk to Teresina about this… and also about other things.

And the Elder lowers his head submissively. "I can only put my trust in your judgnt, Your Highness."

This level of obsequiousness doesn't do anything to , so I just move on with the eting, "Please tell

more about your life here."

The Exiles had a simpler life as they never had to contend with monsters before, so the villagers are feeling a bit stressed lately. There's also more work to be done to maintain things, especially as the Titans are quite big and wear their tools out faster, so we have a Celestial Horn as a liaison always on standby to help things out. We're providing them with anything they want for now as we have resources to spare, but, of course, it won't last forever.

They really don't have anything special about their way of life, and I'm starting to think that they'd be more comfortable around imperials than elves, but I don't feel like that way of life would inspire them into sucking the Cock of Society. They'll do better over here as there's an incentive towards improving their own condition, but the only thing that bothers

is how their knowledge of Sky Island maintenance is going to be squandered here.

"Have you ever heard of Drifting Islands?" I curiously ask.

"Your Highness…" Oritiki cautiously interjects, perfectly silent until now.

"What is it?" I curiously reply. She only speaks when she has sothing very important to say.

And she wisely cautions , "These are dangerous, Your Highness. To create a gem worthy of an island takes great skill, but any failure will bring it down, and then it'll fall too fast for any sort of repairs."

Indeed, she's right, but I know how to mitigate that, and I'm not afraid of paying for that safety. "I understand the risk, but we have the resources to create redundancies. We have all that we need to begin this project, and instead of copying old Hauhuri technology, we'll make our own."

"Bold, Your Highness," she answers with a nod, pleased with my response. She knows how to perfectly thread the line of flattery and skepticism, as expected of soone who dealt with the old Hauhuri "Divines" directly.

And I follow up with so eager encouragent, "We've been getting comfortable in our seats. It's ti for

to do my part of my bargain with the Goddess of Knowledge."

Echo of Bliss gives

a curious look, and I get the sense he wants to say sothing, but I think his humble nature stops him from speaking.

"Are you curious about what you an?" I gently inquire.

And he lowers his head submissively again. "Forgive , Your Highness, but yes, I am. A 'bargain' seems to be a term used for exchanges of equal value, but when dealing with a God, that shouldn't be possible."

There's a lot to unpack here, but I'll just focus on the most glaring part. "I… think I understand what you an, but even with Gods, such a one-sided relationship is abusive, and that's not a good thing."

"But the God rules, and we obey," he replies reflexively like a drone.

"But can you deny that such a way of ruling causes unhappiness?" I question further, staring just a little bit to pressure him into breaking from his conditioning.

The old man glances away, unable to take in my intensity. "I… I rely obey," he mumbles, but he's embarrassed by his response, so I just need to push him a bit further.

"And wouldn't you more readily obey if you were happy while doing it?" I continue, my tone a bit gentler to tickle him instead of bullying him.

Still, he falls silent and tenses up so much I can almost hear him gulp, then he lowers his head once again. "I apologize for trying to argue with you, Your Highness. I forgot my place, but your superior intelligence has reminded ."

So submissive, and not in a sexy way.

I'll reject his behavior no matter how many tis I need to break their conditioning. "You don't need to apologize like that. I'm a believer of Knowledge, so it wouldn't be very pious of

to not answer your questions."

It feels a bit weird to admit that I'm a "believer," but it works for this situation, so whatever.

He slowly raises his head again, looking a bit reassured, and the budding signs of independent thought appear in his tone as he cautiously remarks, "That sounds… noble."

"The Humanoid Gods are noble," Oritiki smoothly chis in. I wish I could kiss this woman because she's the best. Really, they're the most competent soldiers we have… though I do worry about letting such a powerful and elite force run loose, sotis.

Ciel isn't paying attention to these thoughts, so she prods

to question the Elder, "What's your opinion of the God of Destruction?"

He answers with an indifferent tone, though I do sense a clear sign of scorn, "What is there to say about a God that I've never felt the touch of? Even those bound to Its Will have been abandoned."

And I fall silent as I reflect on his words. The monsters have always seed like hostages of their God, and this pretty much confirms it for , though most monsters aren't intelligent enough to co to this realization.

Then sothing catches my attention. "This is unrelated, but I'm impressed with your eloquence," I remark with a soothing tone to lighten the mood.

"For good or bad, The Throat taught

how to speak with dignity," the Elder answers, slightly amused. It's good that they can laugh about themselves, at least.

So I take the chance to lightly preach again, "Very well. Just know that the sa kind of relationship that I have with my Goddess is what we want with you. Equal exchange of benefits with positive interactions."

"We're… forever grateful for Your magnanimous kindness," he answers and gently smiles without bowing for once.

We'll get there, one day…

They've been morally beaten and abused until they beca almost nothing, but I'll bring them up again, not just to fulfill my promise to The Throat, but also to spite him. It actually makes sense to , really.

The final topic we need to talk about is opening the Exile part of the village for visitors so that their shops can actually make a proper profit. Adventurers and other snoopers are already starting to gather and annoy the elven villagers because everyone wants to take a look at my "pet monsters," as the anest of the nosy snoopers would say.

"Our shops survived rely through selling to our own people, they'll do fine for longer," the Elder replies, now calm enough to sip more of his coffee and eat the sweetened bread.

This is sothing Lina and Yunia thought about after their visits. "Perhaps the shops will survive, but will the villagers be able to make money to compete with the elves? The previous balance of your village has been shattered by the presence and need for elven goods, and I'm not sure if you'll be able to maintain it."

"I understand," the Elder replies after a short pause. I don't think he's being obsequious right now; he seems to understand what I'm getting at.

So I smoothly continue, "It's a priority to open up the village, so we'll have one of our Townsguard officers train the Enforcer, and we should also begin to look at candidates to join the Townsguard from among you."

"We've… never fought before," Enforcer Long Howl remarks hesitantly. He's just another Chad-chinned, light-blue man, but there's a more intelligent air to him that makes him look even more stern than the others.

"You'll learn, don't worry. Soon, you'll even feel pride in being able to defend yourselves," I reassure him, which is an odd situation to be considering how both of us look.

And the Enforcer nods. Of all the Titans, he's the one showing the most progress. He was just another hot-blooded youth who followed the Elder's every word, but now he's starting to think for himself and beco more proactive, as Alissa has noticed. It's good that he's already being grood into becoming the next Elder as he seems to have the drive for it at least.

Really, that's a thing lacking among the Exiles, drive. Their little corner of the village is quiet, slow, and idyllic, but even though it's similar to the elven way of life, the Titans are just… depressed. Their hos really don't look too inviting as they aren't putting any effort into decorations, unlike the elves.

After we finish delineating a plan of action, I decide to have a heart-to-heart with the Enforcer.

"Long Howl, co have a walk with ," I request as I stand up.

"Yes, Your Highness," he obediently answers like a good child.

We walk out of the eting house and into the streets, then I stroll down the sidewalk, Long Howl awkwardly walking very slowly to match my speed. I just have to force myself to ignore how silly we look together.

"What do you think is going to happen once we let others into your residential area?" I finally ask after waiting a tasteful amount of ti.

"What… do I think?" he repeats out loud, seemingly not understanding the point of the question.

"Yes. Imagine what your work is going to beco like," I expand to help him visualize it.

He looks ahead and becos pensive, his strong voice lowering down along. "It'll… it'll change, but I don't know how. I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I lack knowledge."

I hum, content, and my thick dragon tail waves a bit. "Good answer. I'd be suspicious if you said you knew."

"I know that I know little," he adds, and do I sense a bit of mirth in his tone?

"But do you wish to know more?" I follow up in the only way that I can.

"I do," he hums back while Alissa suffers.

And I clasp my hands, clacking my shiny claws and scales against each other. "Great. This desire, grip it, own it. You need to use it to create your own dream of the perfect village, and then you make that dream into your ambition. You need a fire inside you."

He looks away and becos pensive again. He has a childish air -they all do, really-, but his seems more earnest than the others. "My dream… would be to return."

I'm sure he's big enough to handle being told no, but I still kindly retort, "Doing that is impossible, but it's within your hands to make a new, better ho."

"Better? I don't know what I could even improve," he replies negatively, though his tone becos more energetic.

"There's always sothing that can beco better. The road to perfection is unending," I eloquently encourage him.

Ciel likes my words very much. I'm basically preaching the teachings of the Humanoid Gods to him and also a bit of the ones from the Old Gods, too. They're all always telling us to never give up and never back down, so most encouragents you can give to soone can be taken in a pious way.

"But where do I even start?" he asks earnestly, reminding

that he has a very powerful voice hidden under his depression, and it almost brings a tear to the eye to see an Exile being so energetic.

"Right now, there isn't much that you can do. It's for each individual Titan to find their own fla, but you can keep them safe while they find themselves," I answer vaguely because I don't have an actual answer; I just wanted to fan the flas.

Now he becos childishly curious again. "Find themselves? I think I understand what you an, but it's a whimsical way of saying it."

I shrug. "Life is about having fun, so why not have fun with words, too?"

"You continue to humble us with your noble heart, Your Highness," he answers with a chuckle.

"You flatter ," I hum back with a smirk.

"Still, I'll take your words to my pillow, Your Highness," he solemnly states.

And I nod. "Then I hope the rest of the Titans follow your example."

Intermission – Lina

No matter what I do, there's always sothing bothering . No matter how much praise I get, there's always sothing stopping

from fully enjoying the happiness that rightfully should be mine. I simply can't control my own emotions, and now I'm getting bothered because I'm bothered, and not being able to enjoy my happiness is making

enjoy it even less.

I try to keep this feeling hidden from the others, especially Ciel, because I know that they'll force

to deal with it, but I think that everyone should have a little darkness in them; it's just that mine is being hard to control right now. Really, I'm fine, just a little bit worse than usual, but I should be able to keep working as if nothing was wrong as long as-…

I look to the side and see little Gify staring at

intensely.

"Gih," she accuses . She isn't reading my mind, but she can look into my soul, so there's no way I can hide this from her like I managed to do with everyone else. "Giiih~…" she cryptically chirps.

"Helganst? What does she have to do with this?" I question evasively and attempt to focus on my enchanting again.

"Gih guh gih!" Gify retorts, her little white wings starting to flap with strong emotions.

"I'm not-… I don't care about her!" I exclaim and cross my arms as I pout.

"Gih," she sternly states and steps forward then pecks once at my arm to annoy .

I turn away to get so distance from her and stubbornly retort, "The black in my soul is just frustration. It has nothing to do with her."

But her tone turns serious, and it makes

pause. She's never this serious. "Giih gih."

"Then why aren't you working as a therapist if you know so much?" I grumble back like a brat, making

feel embarrassed with myself.

"Gih!" she chirps frustratedly. She isn't a "slut" that "connects" with just anybody, which I find rather funny as it makes her the most "pure" out of everyone in this harem. "Guh gih!" she snootily chirps again.

"I don't want anything to do with Helgasnt," I whine and lower my head in sha.

"Giiiih…" she cryptically replies.

"What would I even-…" But I stop as I imdiately rember sothing, and it fits so perfectly with what Gify was saying that I can't deny it anymore, making my cheeks burn.

"Gihihihih…" she teases

with a smug grin, warping her beak even though it's supposed to be fully solid.

"You should do that," Ciel suddenly whispers inside my head, and I realize that everyone is now paying attention to , so I groan and hide my face in my hands as I wish I could disappear.

But this won't stop them from giving

comforting headpats, so I sigh and get up from my enchanting workstation. Now that they're all pushing

to do sothing, there's no use trying to resist, so I better get on with it, already. You don't get to have gloomy days in this family.

Back when we were dismantling Katasko, we ca upon so information about so "blackmailing" being used against Helganst's family to keep them down. With the rcenary company dismantled, I don't think that they're in trouble anymore, but so of the nobles who benefited from those shady actions are still around.

It's a bit late for the Roth family to get vengeance on their enemies and hide it under the chaos of the Purification, but knowing who they are will still be invaluable. Even though the Templars got the rotten ones, there are still plenty of "sour Millos" in the bunch, and they can spread rot to the rest of the fruits at any mont.

Wolfy's Trivia: millos are not-apples, but they look like colorful balloons and are slightly rubbery.

Now that's enough stalling. I grab the list and et up with my bodyguards. They're all wearing inconspicuous suits of armor to not attract attention, so I've also put on a cute little black dress with a lot fewer frills than usual for . Then we enter the [Eternal Gate] to Goldcross.

The Roth family mansion is still the sa, though I think it looks slightly more well-maintained than when I left. Pretty obvious that the lack of "blackmailing" is doing them good, but I don't rember Helgasnt being the smartest spender.

They only have one guard at the gate, who activates an enchantnt alerting the people inside of guests, and it's Seigneur Friedrich who cos out to see who's there. I'm wearing a hood to not reveal my identity too soon, but it seems Friedrich imdiately realizes who I am for the old man opens his eyes wide once he spots

and then runs back inside.

After an awkward minute in silence as neither the guard nor my bodyguards speak a word, we hear Mada Helgasnt's footsteps as her heels loudly clack against the traditional imperial tiled floor. The fiery woman cos out looking both annoyed and curious about the visitor, but then she stops the mont she sees .

Am I really that easily identifiable…?

"Yes/Gih," everyone whispers in my head at the sa ti.

I don't want to dawdle, so I click my tongue as I pull out the list then quickly lower my hood and announce, "These are the nobles that were conspiring against you." Then I hand it to a bodyguard, who extends it towards her as it'd be awkward for

to give it to such a tall woman.

But she ignores

and frowns in both distaste and confusion. "Lina…? Why are you…? Are you really a Queen now?" she questions, her characteristic scorn completely missing from her tone.

I don't wanna talk to her, so I just deflect, "That doesn't matter. I'm just here to repay sothing that I think I owe to Hilde, so I don't need to answer anything you say."

Her face suddenly starts to beco as red as her hair as she scowls. "Why, y-…" But she catches herself before she says sothing unwise as it's pretty obvious by the number of bodyguards that I'm not soone you can disrespect anymore. "What are you doing?" she "eloquently" asks, almost making

chuckle at how dull her golden tongue is now that she's afraid of .

"I already said it; I'm repaying what I owe to Hilde, but I owe nothing to you," I harshly answer then turn around and start to walk away.

"We found-…!" Friedrich suddenly exclaims, making

stop and turn around. He deserves to be listened to at least once. "We found Dietgard. He's in Mountainho, and… he's happy."

Then the old man gives

a brief, shy smile.

"That's good," is all that I say before I leave. One of my bodyguards is still holding the list, but he can catch up to us later.

Intermission end.

Announcent

Hall of Fa of Patrons

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

Prince Sakari Saastamoinen.

Lord Andrew yers.

Lord Maurice.

Lord Paul Daval.

Lord d3235.

Noble Aclys.