บท 42: 『Audience』

"Welcome! Our neighbors from Lizea kingdom! It has been a year already, has it not?"

"Greetings!" Several men bowed at the group in front of them.

"Hmm...?"

Ishtar Quaint.

Also known as the "Lover Queen" and is the matriarch of the floating capital city of Quaint. She donned a red dress that accentuated her body—which she had prided herself of.

"Carol..."

"I know what you are thinking, but don't say anything unnecessary—she'll squash you like a bug if you do." Astria warned.

"Hah... it seems that peasants will be peasants."

Naoki's reaction was natural, after all, the men that stood by the Matriarch's side were shirtless—their muscular toned body was for everyone else to see. That's right, this was the sight to be expected of the Lover Queen.

"Good! Good! Also, anyone that can identify me at the masquerade ball will be given a special reward personally from me! So do look forward to that!"

"Oh!"

"Really!?"

*Murmur*

"...?"

"You see, Naoki—the matriarch is known to splurge on gifts, especially when she gives them personally. This is why everyone is excited to receive a present from the Top 1 seat of the Kingdom of Quaint."

That's right, the queen has been known to spend a lot of money on presents—especially for people she likes. You could say that she loves spoiling her loved ones.

"Uh... yeah! That concludes it, I bid everyone good luck" Running out of things to say, the matriarch ended her speech.

"Goodluck!" The men bowed once more.

"..."

<<----------->>

"Everything is so... unique." Naoki commented.

"Unique" might not be the right word to describe it, in fact, everything in the royal capital appeared to be colorful and esoteric in nature. Its design was nothing Naoki had ever encountered before—though nothing came close to how comical one house was, it appears to be a pineapple.

"Oh? If it isn't the young man from that other time?"

"You're..."

"Lacio, Lacio Stanford. I have forgotten to introduce myself last time. I trust you have already resolved the conflict last time?"

In front of Naoki was no other than the man he had met on a stormy evening back in Lizea. The handsome man that had two wives—it seems he was currently here in the Kingdom of Quaint.

"Ah... I forgot to return the Soul Artifact." Naoki realized, handing back the item that he had borrowed last time.

"Haha, keep it. I gave it away without thinking of you returning it."

"But..."

"Ara? Is this the gentleman you spoke of last time, dear?"

"Your intuition is still as sharp as ever, Margaret." Lacio sighed.

Suddenly, the two were greeted by a beautiful mature figure—her aura emanated a motherly feel. Her clothes were only but a simple robe yet her natural beauty was enough to make her look good in any kind of clothing.

"Hmm...?"

Though Naoki was more fixated on another thing—this person was strong, way stronger than any of the students in Lizea he had encountered.

"So, this is my wife, Margaret Stanford, she's the daughter of the president of the Stanford Conglomerate."

"Stanford Conglomerate...?"

"Though that is so, there is no need to change your tone with how you speak." She softly smiled.

That's right, even if Naoki came from another world, he still wasn't oblivious enough to not hear about the Stanford Conglomerate—which was one of the three major corporations in all of Zenia. Their influence has reached a point where they could even command the destruction of a Kingdom if need be.

"..."

"And uh... the one behind her is also my wife, Ignatia Stanford, she adopted the Stanford lineage after our political marriage."

"...hello"

"This guy sure is popular..." Naoki grimacely thought.

Though it appears that they came from great backgrounds—they seem to be good people, and that they prefer to remain living humbly, not flaunting their titles to command respect.

"With that said, what brings you here all over at Quaint? I presume it's about the mock battle between the two kingdoms?"

"How did you...?"

"Well well, don't scare him dear. We just have heard of a new prodigious male that has recently risen from Lizea—so we have deduced that you were it, judging that you are here as of the moment."

Naoki was almost amazed at their information. It appears that they were quite well informed—their connections were nothing to scoff at, it seems.

"That's right, though "prodigy" is an overstatement." Naoki embarrassingly said.

"...no, his soul is... limitless." Ignatia, who was mostly silent in the exchange, spoke up.

"Ara."

"Well, so she said, young man. Perhaps..." Lacio inched closer to Naoki, putting his hand on his shoulder.

Lacio had a grin on his face, the same cunning grin that he, Naoki, sometimes wears. And as he feared, it seems that Lacio was proposing a deal to Naoki—a deal he couldn't refuse.

"Ha... dear, he is still quite young—don't intimidate him." Margaret sternly said at his husband.

"Well, it's not like he is against it, right? young man?"

"Ahaha..." Naoki could only wryly laugh.

To Naoki's surprise, it wasn't anything tricky—in fact, the deal seems to be in favor of him. Apparently, Lacio has proposed to give him any kind of materials he needed to support his cultivation—and all Naoki had to do was to only patronize them and to be their figure if he were to be more well-known someday. In short, they want to advertise through Naoki.

After the details were hashed out, Naoki went on his way—unsure if this was an impulsive decision or not. In any case, he won't have to worry about alchemy or cultivation materials any time soon.

"Lacio... good job."

"Right? That young man has potential, he's going to be one of my best investments yet."

"Ha... I can't argue with that dear, though is it alright to involve him in the affairs of the world...?"

"Well, in any case, he can't continue just like that—sooner or later he will spread his wings, only to be burned into ashes. Worse yet, he will be erased." Lacio nodded to himself, looking in the direction of the bright young man.