The center of the continent.
An imperial banquet that unfurls in the imperial palace.
It is a supreme honor for any family just to get an invitation for participation.
Infinite opportunities open up just by participating.
This is the Imperial Social Banquet.
The paramountcy and dominion of aristocrats leading the continent.
“Did a lot of your friends died while hunting the ogre? That's just so sad~"
And, a frivolous man who did not fit into such a noble place. A handsome man with gorgeous blonde hair and contrasting copper skin.
The Hero of the Kingdom of Alitia, Gis.
He crossed his legs and sat in an unbecoming posture, picking up one of the grapes and put it into his mouth.
“It was a noble sacrifice. Their sacrifices will be recorded in the history and passed on to the future generations.”
Contrastingly, the man sitting opposite to Gis was perfectly well suited to the lavish backdrop of Imperial Social Banquet.
A handsome man with long, curly hair neatly arranged, exuding the atmosphere of an upright nobleman.
The Hero of the Kingdom of Carta, Lorian.
He took a sip from the cup of tea in a gentleman posture.
“Sacrifice… heh heh, you sure know to wrap it up in flowery words. Well, whatever. But these days, rumors say that your party has still not recovered from the damage taken during the Ogre Subjugation… I was thinking, are the rumors true~?”
Gis lampooned while looking at Lorian's party members busy chating with other nobles.
They haven't increased in numbers since the Ogre Subjugation.
Still, 5 people.
Eri is actually for handling luggage, so there are only 4 people in actual sense.
To Gis' sarcasm, Lorian replied with a smile.
“I found out that day. It's better to have a compact, small and qualitative group than to increase numbers with mediocre people."
“Aha, how come your ‘chip-chip' tone sounds sarcastic to me?”
“I didn’t mean to, that’s how you feel.”
“Damn, Lorian. As I have said many times, I hate the way you circle up and talk like little girls of your aristocratic class.”
“Then let me be straightforward. Do it in moderation. Rumor has it that your party already has more than 16 members. Do you just pick up any girl or woman that comes to your liking?”
“Nope, the fit between us should be good too. Honestly, the women that I can like are all over the continent. I can't take all of them with me, so I made a compromise, isn't that rather good enough?"
Lorian frowned.
“Then let me ask you one thing. How many of your party members can actually participate in battles?”
“It’s a lot more than you can fantom. Because everyone is more talented than you think. These b!tches behind me were all in Cloud's party, weren't they?"
Gis pointed his thumb behind his back.
Behind him stood two beauties.
Neria, a beautiful girl with short blue hair and the childhood friend of Cloud.
Ophelia, a beauty with golden blonde hair and emerald eyes, a former teammate of original Cloud's party and a saintess candidate.
Unlike his other party members, they were not allowed to act freely.
In the first place, they had a different status from other party members in Gis' party.
For Gis, they were just trophies.
Lorian looked at the two women and sighed deeply.
“You say that after you erase the bruises on the back of her neck.”
"What?"
Gis turned back to look at his ‘trophies'. As Lorian said, there was a bruise on the back of Neria's neck.
He furrowed his brows.
“Hey, Ophelia.”
“…Yes, Hero."
“Didn't I clearly told you to make the outside intact?”
"I'm sorry. I couldn't see it because of the collar."
“What if you didn’t see it? Do you want to say that it's my mistake? By the way, what if like Lorian saw it, other nobles saw it too? I'm going to be known as a bastard who abuses his party members… Was that really what you were aiming for? Do you want to get revenge in that way, even if you are timid otherwise, huh?”
“…Absolutely not. It was a mistake…”
"Shut up. You are too comfortable these days, eh? Let's go back today."
Ophelia's shoulders trembled. She lowered her eyes and nodded her head.
"Understood… Hero-sama…"
“Aren't you too harsh on them? I may not know about men, but I know you were kind to women.”
“For these back stabbing b!tches who I can’t even f**k?”
Gis wrinkled his brow.
Lorian gave him an interesting expression.
“It’s not like you. I thought you would have already played with them. To be honest, I'm utterly surprised that you still haven't. I had thought you would have already had your share of fun and would have thrown them off somewhere.”
“Playing with a saintess candidate and throwing her off? Ha, you think I'm crazy?”
“Isn’t that so?”
“F**k you, Lorian. I have a head too. I have no intention of turning the church into my enemy.”
A saintess must be a virgin.
If someone steals her virginity before the next saintess is decided, that person will be excommunicated and receive a punishment worthy of his crime.
“So, I will wait until the saintess is decided. After the saintess is decided, I don't have to look at the face of the church."
Saintess candidates who are not selected as the saintess are nothing more than just nuns. And if the church had to choose between a Hero and a nun, it would naturally raise its hand in support of the Hero.
"I see. I think her being a saintess candidate is the reason that stops you, so the other girl… What about her?"
Gis sighed deeply at Lorian's words and scratched his head.
“Damn it, I’ve been busy all this time. Do this, do that. How severe is the interference, you know? Tsk-!”
Moreover, there was also no time to search for that wimpy Cloud.
So he had asked one of his supporters and his adoptive mother, Haley, to catch him… but was turned down.
Haley had also instructed him not to engage against Cloud for the time being, which he simply couldn't comprehend.
‘How interesting it is to make fun of that bastard.’
No matter how much his adoptive mother, Haley, instructed him against it, Gis had no intention of giving up on his own pleasure.
“So, I came with a lot of anticipation for today. He has been missing for the past few months, but won't he come to the Imperial Social Banquet anyway?"
Refusal to attend the Imperial Social Banquet without any good reason is an insult to the Empire and the Emperor who rules it.
Moreover, it is "the Hero Cloud" who has no political foundation.
He wouldn't want to create any further problems for himself. He will probably come unconditionally.
Gis giggled and whispered into Neria's ear.
“Finally, the long-awaited day has come, Neria. The day you will graduate from your virginity status in front of your childhood friend.”
To Gis' words, Neria could no longer pretend to be calm. Her eyes fluttered like crazy. Her teeth clenched and clashed, and her body shook in terror.
Gis smiled brightly as he watched Neria shivering to her terrible future.
Like a child who had received a toy as a gift from his parents.
Lorian was already tired of this, but this time he was more tired of Gis.
Gis wanted to take pleasure in savoring Cloud's expression while depriving the innocence of the person he loved right in front of his eyes.
Not touching her for months just for this show. As always, Gis' obsession with his twisted desires was abnormal.
"Uh? Look, Neria! The audience to watch your wonderful maiden pluck show has arrived~!”
Neria turned her head into the direction Gis was pointing at. To the entrance to the Imperial Social Banquet.
There, a handsome man in a black tailcoat sauntered.
An overwhelming handsome appearance that stood out even in the Imperial Social Banquet where there were a lot of handsome men and women.
It was Cloud.
‘Cloud…'
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