bookbashuk Page 315
Page 315
"Me?" Seeing the guard awkwardly point at you, you fell into deep thought, filled with confusion. Weren't you only here as his guardian to take care of Serfalj's mind?
[After a dozen seconds, your expression suddenly changed drastically, and a thought that instantly chilled you to the bone appeared in your mind.]
"Wait... the lord of Hines City, is Jennifer's father... is my... father-in-law??"
"Holy crap!" you exclaimed in surprise. You'd been so focused on settling things with Serfa and getting her back to retrieve the dragon crystal that you'd completely forgotten you were bound to meet her parents on this journey!
[You didn't even mention Moutai, or even a carton of Huazi cigarettes!]
"...Jennifer." You looked at Jennifer with a look of despair and said, "Why didn't you remind me that I was going to see your father?"
Jennifer's expression changed slightly. She glanced at the guard beside her who was covering his ears, remained silent for a moment, then gave an awkward laugh and muttered softly, "I forgot too..."
【"?"】
[Your mood instantly calmed down. Well, this filial daughter has probably screwed over her father countless times. Since Jennifer is so unreliable, her father probably isn't much better. You'll just have to deal with her as things unfold.]
Ten minutes later, you looked at the place the guard had led you to, your brow furrowing slightly. You glanced at him discreetly and asked, "Have we gone to the wrong place?"
"You didn't go the wrong way." The guard's expression was strained. He didn't dare look at you, gave you a curt salute with a furrowed brow, and ran away as if fleeing.
You paused for a moment, then looked up at the words "Men's Bathhouse" on the building's sign and fell into deep thought.
"Something's not right. Is this really the place a son-in-law should go to when meeting his father-in-law?" You couldn't help but mentally complain. You took a deep breath, glanced down at the kidney-tonifying herb you'd just dug out of your savings, thought for a moment, and then put it back.
"Since things have come to this, let's just say we'll give you a token gesture."
You strode into the men's bathhouse and, led by the owner, arrived at the changing room. Gazing at the large group of middle-aged and elderly men with their bottoms exposed, you once again fell into deep thought.
[You spent thirty years with flying cockroaches in your past life, but you're a true southerner! Asking you to take a bath naked with everyone else is simply impossible!]
After mentally preparing yourself while leaning against the locker, a passing uncle patted you on the shoulder with concern and handed you two skewers of lamb kidneys.
You're holding a skewer of meat, staring at the kind-looking uncle, and you're instantly stunned.
"I understand, young man." The older man mimicked your posture, then rubbed his lower back and whispered, "Kidney deficiency, always after overexertion."
["..." You were completely stunned for a moment, your mind blank, until the kind-looking man put on his clothes and left the locker room, and then you came back to your senses.]
"Damn it, why are there barbecue skewers in the bathhouse?!" You couldn't take it anymore, devouring two skewers of lamb kidneys in one bite, and complained with tears in your eyes, "Wait, the point is, I don't have kidney deficiency at all!"
Under the concerned gazes of the people of Hines, you angrily tossed the metal skewer into the trash can, ripped off your clothes, wrapped a towel around your neck, and headed towards the bathtub.
A few minutes later, you followed a guard holding a huge "Latis" sign through the numerous baths, calmly making your way to the deepest part of the bathhouse amidst the curious gazes of middle-aged men enjoying their evening leisure.
[For a moment, you felt that perhaps you shouldn't have come to see Lord Hines at this time. Maybe if you had come two hours later, you wouldn't have faced this bizarre and inexplicable event. Even if someone can take a bath, they can't stay in one for two hours, can they?]
Not long after, you met Lord Hines. He had a peaceful, slightly weathered face, and a gleaming bald patch was faintly visible on top of his brown hair. Perhaps from being in the water for too long, the bald patch was slick with sweat.
You mentally prepared a conversation, then slowly walked behind him, squatted down on the shore, and said, "Lord City Lord, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"I've heard so much about you." Lord Hines's opening line left you completely bewildered. He wet his hand, wiped his face, and said, "I'm deeply grateful for your care of my daughter."
Your eye twitched twice. After a moment's consideration, you said, "Jennifer actually has a very good personality. We get along very easily."
"Then you've really had a rough life," the Lord of Hines said with a sigh. "I remember when she was little, there wasn't a single family in Hines that she hadn't caused trouble for. When someone was forging iron, she would go over and smash things with a couple of hammer blows. When the civil engineers were building a house, she would get involved and break the mortar. She was just too damn active. So when we discovered that she had a talent for divine magic, we immediately sent her to the Church of Light."
"...Surely it can't be that bad?" You quickly recalled your interactions with Jennifer and said, "She's usually pretty well-behaved, isn't she?"
"Oh, really? So this is the route she's taking now..." Lord Hines muttered to himself, glanced at you, and said, "Don't worry, you'll know I wasn't lying after your child is born."
[A child? You suddenly thought of your daughter from the previous simulation, that wretched little devil Livs. Could it be that this awful personality really was inherited from her mother, Jennifer?]
"Our city of Hines may not be extremely wealthy, but we can certainly support the two of you," the city lord of Hines said with a slight, benevolent smile, before quickly regaining his composure.
"But distance makes the heart grow fonder. Staying together for too long will affect my lifespan and mental health. So if you two are going to have a few deaths in the future, it's best to find a place outside to build your own house and only come back two or three times a year."
"Are you guys really that inconsiderate?" you couldn't help but scratch your head and complain, "Won't you get lonely when you're old?"
"What's there to be lonely about?" Lord Hines gave you a strange look and said, "If you're lonely, can't you just turn on the stove yourself?"
You were speechless; you always felt that Jennifer's personality wasn't something that had developed overnight.
You chatted casually with Lord Hines for half an hour. Although he didn't reveal much, you vaguely gleaned some information from his words: it seemed the lower-ranking families on the floating islands were changing much faster than before, and some unknown forces were attempting to infiltrate the floating island system.
[You know this might be related to the capital, but there are still many clues involved that you haven't explored, so you haven't made any further comments.]
However, from Lord Hines' words, you seem to have discovered a very crucial piece of information—due to frequent changes in the families within the lower levels of the floating islands, the power of the lower islands has weakened to some extent. Their arrangement and distances are gradually dispersing, potentially ushering in the most fragmented period in the history of the floating island system.
You narrowed your eyes, guessing that this was also one of the Queen's goals. Once the floating islands became more fragmented, she could launch a magic network landing campaign to gradually incorporate these independent floating islands.
But then, a thought suddenly occurred to you.
You recall that you possess a "Floating Island Family Certificate." If, at this moment, you were to quietly raise a new floating island... surely not many people would know?
[And at that time, you, "Latis Titania," will no longer be just a mysterious wild mage.]
Chapter 315 Too Clever, Serfal
Although Lord Hines has provided you with a lot of information about the current state of the floating islands, he surprisingly hasn't done any investigation into your character, which has left you puzzled and even somewhat apprehensive.
[You should know that in your past life, you suffered greatly from the torment of [the "xxn" phenomenon]. Dating was a constant barrage of tests of patience, perseverance, willpower, and financial resources; you were practically driven crazy by [xxn], who acted as both the test-maker and the examiner.]
[So after much deliberation, you still raised this question with Lord Haynes. After all, you really want to take Jennifer away, so no matter what this middle-aged man in front of you is like, you have to give him an explanation.]
"What inspection? Do I look like a layabout?" Lord Haynes, who had been idly soaking in the bath for two hours, pointed to his nose and complained.
"I'll be thankful as long as you don't let Jennifer cause any major trouble. You seem to be in good spirits, young man. How about you be my acting city lord for a couple of days? I need to take a vacation."
Hearing this, you're completely overwhelmed. Lord Hines is practically a super-maximum version of Jennifer! Making you the acting lord? Does he really not fear Hines City collapsing tomorrow?!
In short, you righteously rejected his suggestion, which was full of the desire to slack off, and stood up to leave to check on Serfar, but unexpectedly he suddenly called you back.
"Young man, you've come to the bathhouse but haven't even taken a bath?" City Lord Hines asked, frowning. "We've been chatting for so long, surely we shouldn't be so distant? Or... do you perhaps have some hidden ailment?"
You glanced at the towel wrapped around your waist, then at the people still watching you curiously in the nearby bath, took a deep breath, and asked, "Are you sure you want me to join you?"
"What do you mean by 'certain' or 'uncertain'..." City Lord Hines looked utterly bewildered. "Do you think you're so great that you can undermine our confidence?"
"It's not that bad, I'm only 20." You said modestly, then sighed, grabbed the towel around your waist, and explained, "It's just that I was wearing a pair of underwear that were fading a bit today..."
[As soon as you finished speaking, you calmly tossed aside your towel, and the entire men's bathhouse was instantly enveloped in a blinding flash of light. A golden beam shot into the sky, dazzling everyone's eyes.]
"Holy shit! What the hell was that?!" Lord Hines screamed, clutching his eyes as if struck by a massive shockwave, and crashed backward onto the shore.
This isn't some golden legend, nor is it some kind of "Master Chef" game; it's Brother Bull! It's the Golden Brother Bull after you've "built up your strength"!
Lord Haynes, his hands trembling, fumbled for his bath towel and covered his face three times before saying fearfully, "Young man, what kind of crappy technique are you practicing? You're not some kind of crappy bloodline warrior, are you?"
[“…” In a sense, he guessed quite correctly, but you don’t want to admit that you’re a bloodline warrior, after all, the name doesn’t sound very good.]
So you simply picked up the towel and wrapped it around your waist, calmly explaining, "My bloodline comes from the Titans; I don't know if you've ever heard of them."
"Titan...?" Lord Hines, who had just removed the towel from his head, fell into deep thought. He vaguely remembered that in the stories passed down from his ancestors, Titan was an extremely powerful and ferocious demon king who had been wreaking havoc on the continent. That was why his ancestors had resolutely moved to the floating islands as soon as they appeared.
He glanced at you impassively, and suddenly felt that you and Jennifer were a perfect match.
For some reason, you suddenly feel a chill run down your spine, as if you've been maliciously suspected. However, looking at Lord Hines's pensive face, you wonder if you're just imagining things.
"Anyway, let's stop here for today. I'm practically soaking in the bath." Lord Hines stood up, wrapped a towel around himself like you, nodded, and said, "We Hines people do have some experience with treating mental retardation. You should go back and rest; perhaps you'll be cured by tomorrow."
You hesitated for a moment, a sudden unease creeping into your heart about what would become of Serfal. While the cure of the mental weakness spell was ultimately a good thing, you weren't sure if, given the current situation, you could truly entrust a portion of the plan to Serfal.
With this feeling, you walked out of the men's bathhouse amidst the admiring gazes of everyone in the bathhouse.
Guided by a guard, you travel alone to Jennifer's residence. Surprisingly, she doesn't live in the city lord's mansion, but rather in an inconspicuous bungalow within the city of Hines.
You didn't wait outside for long. After greeting Leafa, who was cleaning, you went straight to Jennifer's bedroom.
[Knock knock knock...]
You knocked a few times, only to find the door ajar. As you pushed it open, you saw Jennifer standing on the ladder in front of the bookshelf, looking at you in surprise.
"Hey, Jennifer, what are you doing...?" Your gaze swept over the notebooks piled on her bed, and you froze, "What are you doing...?"
After being subjected to some kind of torture, Jennifer finally told you, somewhat embarrassed, that she had come back with an important purpose: to destroy her old notebooks...
You frowned as you flipped through the photocopied copies of doujinshi (books featuring women in drag, men in drag, gender-swapped characters, futa characters, GB characters, and the "Four Loves" series). Your gaze grew increasingly serious, and cold sweat involuntarily beaded on your forehead.
"I...I've truly reformed!" Jennifer cried out in anguish, throwing herself at the book, shielding you from your inspection with her body. She weakly raised her hand and said, "Now I only understand pure love stories! Even my sacrifices are only for pure love stories! And I even commissioned those myself!..."
"You commissioned this yourself?" Your mind immediately flashed back to the time you discovered Yaya was secretly drawing you. A cold laugh escaped your lips; you knew it—this guy was definitely the culprit!
"Hiss..." Realizing her slip of the tongue, Jennifer gasped and quickly explained, "No, no, no, I misspoke..."
However, under your unwavering gaze, she still succumbed, dejectedly raising the flag of the United States and honestly confessing to her misdeeds.
[It turns out that Jennifer eventually discovered that pure love stories that allowed her to immerse herself in the relationship between the two of you were her favorite type of story. Other stories, while good, couldn't evoke any real feelings. Therefore, she believed that a truly immersive pure love story was the best offering to the God of Light.]
"So you just had Yaya draw a doujinshi with the two of us as the main characters, right?" You looked at Jennifer, who was covering her head guiltily, and couldn't help but give her a few hard spanks on her bottom, complaining, "Are you really a genius?"
"Waaah..." Jennifer said pitifully under your torture, "I didn't have a choice before, but now I want to be a good person..."
"It's truly a blessing for the God of Light to have you as a believer..." you muttered, your head throbbing with pain, and sighed helplessly.
Jennifer glanced at you furtively, and seeing you speechless for a moment, she guiltily turned her head back, touched her slightly stinging bottom, hesitated for a moment, and whispered:
"Lazi...should we hit him a few more times?"
"?" You glanced at Jennifer, whose face was flushed, and asked in surprise, as if you had suddenly realized something, "So you like this?"
"Damn it!" Jennifer rolled angrily to the other side of the bed, muttering, "Fine, if you won't hit me, then so be it."
You remained silent for a few seconds, then a cold smile appeared on your face.
[You're pulling on someone, aren't you? They're supposed to be a stock market expert!]
The next morning, Jennifer, walking with a hesitant gait, led you out of the house, gave a soft hum, and straightened your collar.
Last night, you were in high spirits and played a piece called "Senbonzakura" on the drum set. However, towards the end, Jennifer seemed to be enjoying it, and you noticed that the drum set in your hands felt a little damp and warm.
After much hesitation, you finally chose to try and end the night using a method you'd heard about in your past life: the "plain bed" method. In the dark, unlit bed, your body temperatures gradually rose, as intense as the campfire of the previous night.
However, this also resulted in Little Leafa, who was supposed to report to her master about the evening lesson, spending the entire night listening in outside the door, her head spinning.
You bastard, you should be shot!
In a slightly awkward atmosphere, you quickly finished breakfast and headed to the treatment area to check on Serfar's condition.
According to the mages on duty, after testing the remaining magical energy, they discovered that if the mental depletion spell on Serfar were to dissipate normally, it would take at least 2,400 days, or nearly seven years.
Although Serfal appears relatively normal in human form, in her dragon form, due to her enormous size, the concentration of the Mindlessness spell is actually quite large when it affects her dragon form.
According to estimates by the mages of Haynes City, even disregarding the red dragon's magic resistance, based on the residual magical aftershocks, Serfal is estimated to have been hit by over a thousand Mind-Reducing spells...
[The genealogy of the ancient Kingdom of Hines records that a king from the same era as Lekmor lost his autonomy after being struck by a spell that weakened his mind. Even after being given a series of resistance spells by mages, he could not withstand two spells that weakened his mind.]