“Ahhh, hmmmm… Hnnn!”
Maya let out her final moans of ecstasy. She smiled after assuming that I’m still asleep, and began to whip off the remaining love juices on the hem of her clothes. She giggled as she tried to snuggle herself towards my chest.
Half an hour later, I got out of bed. My sweatshirt has dried already, so I put it on along with my cloak. I grabbed my shoes and sat next to Maya. She’s pretending to be asleep. While I was tying my shoes, I spoke to her.
“Let’s go.”
“...”
“You promise that you’ll guide me to one of the ports of the Kingdom.”
“...”
“Let’s go already...”
“...”
“...”
“**Ah-choo**”
“You do realize people don’t sneeze when sleeping.”
“...”
“I see... I’ll go ask Clara instead.”
I stood up after tying my shoes. She quickly raised her body.
“Wait! I’m going, I’m going...”
“I’ll wait downstairs.”
As I walked out of the room, she quickly grabbed her cloak and tied her shoes. While I’m waiting downstairs, Clara is carrying food for breakfast. She said it was meant for us but seeing me dress already, she looks a bit sad. I humbly told her that I’m not in a rush, so I requested a table for us to eat.
Clara and I both heard someone running downstairs, when she was about to scold that person she quickly changed her mind after seeing it was Maya. Maya gulped after she saw the food on the table. There's hot chicken soup, spicy steamed meat , mashed potatoes, and a glass of juice. Saliva is starting to drip out of Maya’s mouth. Clara let out a grin beaming at me after she made such cuisine in the middle of the forest. I do hope she’s aware I’m blind.
I thanked her for the food and for letting us stay for the night. Maya, on the other hand, remained silent as she looked at the food in front of her. Clara went back to the kitchen to deliver the rest of the food meant for the other customers.
Maya gnawed all over the food in front of her with bare hands. Beads of tears are coming out of her eyes. I just remembered, she likes spicy food paired with soup. She has a habit of eating loudly without even considering the people around her, she has never been like this before. It’s completely different from my perspective. She used to gracefully and elegantly eat the food in front of her with a fancy spoon and fork, added with a commentary if she finds it new and delicious.
Clara finished the rest of her deliveries and was soon disappointed after seeing Maya take away my food like an animal. She’s glaring behind Maya while crossing her arms. I didn’t react to her actions, but I don’t want her to be disappointed after making an entire meal for me, so I grabbed some mashed potatoes and took a bite. Clara smiled and went back inside the kitchen after seeing my satisfied face, though her brows furrowed whenever she glanced at Maya.
Minutes later, while Maya was busy gnawing everything, even the papers around the mashed potatoes, I wondered why the humans changed the name of the Great Floating City of Arcadia to just...
“Kingdom of Arcadia.”
I was scratching my chin when I realized I voice out my thoughts.
“Are you two going to the Kingdom of Arcadia?”
Clara appeared beside me, I didn’t sense her presence coming towards me, she just appeared instantly. This is the second time it happened. I do not know if she has some kind of hidden powers that I am yet to discover or if it's just her huge melons deflecting the sound waves for me not to determine her location. I’d like to stay to prove my hypothesis, but I’m afraid I have other priorities.
“Yes.”
I answered with a nod.
“I see. Want me to guide you there, just by the port?”
She smiled at me. Maya stopped from eating and glared at Clara with bloodlust. She went blue after seeing Maya glaring at her and looked back to me again.
“Ahh.. ehhh. Uhmm..”
She scratched her cheeks and her eyes started swimming around.
“O-on second thought! I just remembered I have other important things to do… G-good luck on your journey!”
She gave a wryly smile before leaving. Mmmmm, I can sense her moving away but I can’t sense her moving towards me… Interesting. I must find another way to see my surroundings before someone could exploit this possible weakness of mine.
Maya left a mess on the table after we left. I really want to scold her but it won’t do anything good since we just met and acting superior to her will only make things worse. I’ll let her be for the meantime.
Right now, we are in Elves’ Cabin - It’s the village I just entered. Our current destination is Valle Verde, it’s a port on the side of the lake with active routes towards the Kingdom of Arcadia. Maya told me before that we have to travel down south to get there, travel time would take three to six hours by wagon.
We had to ride in with the merchants passing by the village to get there.
But after an hour, we’re still in the village. The merchants back away whenever they see Maya beside me. Since we’re not getting anywhere, I have to look for another way to get there by asking some merchants to sell one of their horses.
I told Maya to stay put for a while and let me do the talking alone. She agreed, and waited under the tree.
After half an hour of convincing I managed to buy a horse.
Maya assisted me before she mounted the horse, and sat in front. She’ll be driving from here on out. When I held onto her waist, she began to lean and snuggle her shoulders towards me. I can sense she’s smiling.
Three hours have passed, and we suddenly stopped in the middle of nowhere, alone in the forest.
“Why did we stop?”
“...”
“...”
She slowly leans and looks at me with her lustful eyes, breathing intensely as she looks at my lips.
“Can I have a kiss?”
“No.”
“I’m not going anywhere if you don’t kiss me.”
She crossed her arms and leaned on me acting like a child.
So this is how she plays it huh. If I give it to her right now, she’ll abuse it on the way, we’ll stop again and again until she gulps my entire body, and if she’s still not satisfied yet, we’ll be taking a long detour without my knowledge.
“No.”
She pursed her lips and tilted her head down.
“But you can kiss me on the cheeks.”
“Really?!”
Her eyes began to sparkle.
“Yes.”
“Mmmhhh!”
She’s about to kiss me but I immediately held her mouth, swaying her away.
“Only if we get there.”
She puffed her cheeks but we soon resumed our journey.
Two hours have passed. Something new came to my nose.
“What’s this smell?”
“What smell?”
“This fog-like scent, with… I can’t describe it well…”
“Oh, you mean the breeze from the lake, it means we’re getting closer.”
“I see.”
An hour later, we arrived at the border of Valle Verde.
“This is as far as I go.”
Maya stretched the reins, and the horse neighs as we stopped.
When I attempt to get down on my own Maya stops me.
“op, op, op.”
“??”
I tilted my head sideways at her. She looks back at me.
“The payment...”
“You do realize I can't see and I won’t run away.”
“You do look like you’re about to run away.”
“I don’t break my own promises.”
“Really? Then why aren’t you giving it to me right now?”
We have not yet entered the port and she’s already demanding a payment.
“Fine, I’ll let you kiss me on the cheek.”
“...”
“...”
“** slurp. **”
She licked me.
“That’s not a kiss.”
“Really?! I didn’t know.... Can you teach me?”
“I just realized, I do not know either. I’m going down.”
“Hey!... At least let me assist you. You always act like you can see.”
I thank her afterwards; and look back again, waving at her before I go inside the town. She stared at me with her racoon eyes the whole time until she lost me in the crowd.
--
Valle Verde, one of the ports of the Kingdom of Arcadia. Surrounded by thick logs tied with ropes. Guards are patrolling from above and a few of them are on the ground. The place here is much livelier than the Elves’ Cabin. Commercial establishments are common around here. Though the ground is still made out of dirt, tracks of wagons and footprints are everywhere; Judging from it, I have arrived at a less crowded time of the day.
I still can’t visualize where I am, specifically in this region. The environment around here has changed a lot. The Forest of Fero along with the lake didn’t exist by the time I went to sleep, especially this town as well. I can tell I’ve been here before, but this sudden change makes me doubt my senses.
I need to find a map.
As I strolled around the town, I finally found the shop I was looking for. The door chimes as I enter. The smell of parchments, ink and antiques lingers in my nose.
“Welcom…”
A man welcomed me from the counter, he’s wearing a beret with rounded glasses - a middle aged human cartographer. He’s surprised after noticing my blindfold.
“Are you lost, Mr?”
“No. I’m here to buy a map.”
“A map? What for?”
“A friend of mine will use it.”
“Why didn’t he come here instead of you?”
He has a knack for prying into someone else's business, he’ll get killed if he continues this kind of attitude.
“I do not know either.”
“...”
He shook his head and scratched his right temple.
“Anyway, what kind of map do you need?”
“The entire region of this place.”
“Ha! Are you a spy or something?”
“No.”
“Well, I can’t give you that much, the Kingdom doesn’t allow it.”
He scratched his head as he said those words - he’s telling the truth, I could tell it from his heartbeat.
“I see. But do you have at least something closer to that?”
“Yes, we do have one… But it doesn’t include any human settlements, just the land of it.”
“I’ll buy one.”
The cartographer smirked and took a scroll from the cabinet behind him.
“That would be 20 silver coins.”
I opened the map and looked at it.
“This is too expensive for just a blank map.”
“!! No, It’s not blank! How can you tell anyway?”
“I don’t smell any ink in here.”
“!!”
“...”
I sensed someone coming out of the back of the store.
“What’s going on there?”
The cartographer went blue after seeing the owner of the store. A tall person with a lion’s face came out. He wears a chaperon and rounded glasses.
“I’m here to buy a map.”
I looked at him as soon as I sensed him nearby.
“!! I see.”
The owner has the same reaction as the first one but he didn’t pry much about it. I later informed him about what I’m looking for and after I showed the map I was holding, he grabbed a scroll from the cabinet and smacked the cartographer’s head. The cartographer ran off behind the store.
The price for it is 10 silver coins. It’s still expensive considering the horse I bought was just 3 silver coins.
In this region, 1 gold coin is worth 20 silver coins, 1 silver coin is worth 100 copper coins.
Deducting my recent expenses, I may still be able to last for another six days before I start camping outside. I’ll have to convert some of my assets before it happens. I’ll do that after I get to the Kingdom.
I opened the scroll to sense the contents of it.
Just as the man said earlier, it’s just a land without any human settlements nor structures drawn into it.
There’s a legend section at the bottom, describing the meaning of each letter alphabetically.
A - Kingdom of Arcadia
B - …
C - …
D - …
E - …
F - Forest of Fero
H - Haruno’s Sword
I - …
V - Valle Verde
The lake surrounding the Valle Verde is called Dream lake.
The owner leaned closer to me from the counter, twitching his nose, sniffing me from a safe distance.
“May I know how big this region is?”
“!!”
I put down the map and looked at him. He was surprised, and he immediately backed off. Some of the pens and scrolls on the counter fell off as he accidentally hit them with his elbow. He picks them up on the ground before answering.
“The area of it is around 3,500 km².”
“I see... Thank you.”
“Before you go… May I ask… Can you see what’s written on it?”
“No. But I can smell there's ink in it.”
“So you don’t know if there’s a drawing of a map in that?”
“Yes, I do not know.”
“I’m sorry, I’m just curious.”
“It’s okay… Thank you once again.”
“You’re welcome...”
I slightly bowed my head before leaving. The map I bought just fits perfectly inside my satchel after I rolled it up.
At the port, besides the boats and ships parked around the docks, there are also dragons transporting the goods. They also transport passengers, but most passengers are too afraid to ride them. Seagulls are all over the place, some of them were eaten by dragons.
Soon after, I bought a ticket. I’ll be riding one of the flying ships, Class C. The ship is divided into three different classes - Class A, Class B, and Class C.
Class C costs 1 silver coin, Class B costs 3 silver coins, while class A is only for aristocrats.
With this expensive ticket, they really want the visitors to stay for a while before leaving the city, and avoid as many commoners from entering… interesting.
I manage to board the ship before it flies away. At the deck, I sensed different people around me wearing colorful clothes. Few of them are commoners, wearing plain clothes.
“All Aboard!”
The captain rang the bell several times after the passengers had boarded the ship. Moments later, it began flying up in the air.
People started shouting in awe as we flew away from the port. A couple just kissed beside me after getting overwhelmed by this feeling. Some seagulls followed the ship but they soon flew away. Different emotions surrounded me in an instant.
But after an hour, those who already got used to it went to their cabins and enjoyed the view from there.
I remained at the deck, standing and enjoying the wind breeze blowing my hair. The travel time to get to the Kingdom of Arcadia is around two to three hours. The people around here kept on describing how huge the Kingdom of Arcadia is, considering that it’s already visible from the ground. All I can do is listen and smile from their exaggerations as I can’t see it from here nor sense the entirety of it. I can only sense things a few meters away from me due to the seal I put on my body.
Soon after, people started going out again as we got closer to the Kingdom of Arcadia. They were waving to their loved ones, others jumped in excitement but they were scolded by some of the crew members. While some cried in joy. The aristocrats didn’t bother to come out again until we arrived at the docks.
The captain rang the bell, informing everyone that they could now disembark. The first one to disembark were commoners, followed by merchants. The aristocrats came out late from their cabins as they didn’t want to walk with the rest of the commoners, even though there are just a few of them.
--
For the first time, after 3000 thousand years, I’ve finally returned to the Kingdom of Arcadia that I onced ruled. Not as a Demon King, but rather as a commoner. I only ruled this place for five years, before I left it to the rest of them.
My people used to celebrate whenever I came back...
but that was when I ruled the world.
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