Emperor's Reckoning

The glass hit the table with a loud thock. Lyon found the bubbly of his drink with furrowed brows. Red was not the color he used to see inside a durian before.

"That's, a watermelon," muttered Lyon.

"It's a durian, young master," said Assid. "The fruit had spikes on the outer layer and the meat of the fruit was red. I was there and saw how the old man skillfully hacked it."

( The durian in this world is red? ) Lyon raised his brows before he shrugged ( Might as well try it, sure as hell it's better than plain water ).

Lyon took the chug full of bubbly goodness and drank it. The moment the liquid touched his tongue, the flavor burst through the sourness side and the sweetness like that of light nectar. His eyes snapped open before he gulped it all down under the stun of the others.

"Puah~!" He let out a satisfied grin. His eyes hardly opened as he smiled the brightest for the day. "I want second!"

"Got it," said the old man as he went back and got ready to synthesize another one.

"Hehe," Cecile chuckled. "Very rare of you to take down a gulp of juice that excitedly, perhaps we finally find the thing that can replace that Monkey King Wine."

"Nothing can beat the epitome of wine," said Lyon as he shook his head. "Though, I very much want to try it again."

"Me too," Sun sighed.

The two lamented their fates but it brought yet another wry smile for Nafail.

( They are really something else, aren't they, a party this big and yet they still get together ) He pursed his lips before a glimmer of flash from his tears made him squint. He immediately rubbed his eyes before taking a deep breath and giving them a strong smile.

"You can ask me anything you want, I will answer the best that I can," said Nafail albeit with the obvious pain-red of his eyes.

The others spared their sympathy under their hoods, but Lumina was the first to let out a word. "First, don't go to the brothel as he advised."

"Hey, my advice is legit!" said Lyon as he smacked his chest.

"You don't do that," said Lumina firmly at Nafail despite Lyon's eventual low grunt.

"Haha, I'm sure that I won't do that anytime soon," said Nafail as he scratched the back of his head.

"You got no money?" asked Lyon.

"Lyon!"

"What?"

"Don't lure him to the dark path!"

Lyon furrowed his brows before darting over his new pal, "Just make sure they lit the room, the ugly ones usually hid under the dark."

"Lyon!" Lumina stomped her foot.

"Alright, alright, I stop," said Lyon with his hands showing his palm on top of his chest, and his back straightened.

"Thank you for your advice," answered Nafail.

"Alright, with that done, I guess we can ask you some questions in the middle of the food. Nobody likes being questioned with an empty stomach," said Cecile before the first batch of the meal was served.

"Well said, haha!" Lyon laughed heartily before he grabbed an empty plate and dug in the food before the rest of them.

"I-I guess it can't be helped then," Lumina made a light cough before she grabbed an empty plate.

"Luna, pass me the rice!" said Lyon.

"Yes, yes, calm down you hungry beast," Luna chuckled before the rest was into laughter.

( Woah, they really are like a family, aren't they? The warm atmosphere even basks me, an outsider of their party ) thought Nafail as he gave a warm smile.

"What are you zooming out about, eat," said Kesya before she offered him an empty plate. She got a chunk full of meat in her mouth before she made a dry swallow.

"Y-Yes!" ( At least, for now, let me be in this party ) Nafail grabbed a plate.

The group feasted as the old man soloed the kitchen. Despite the worrisome arc of his back, the old man with his weary eyes and nose was still sharp about the timing, flavor, and aroma of the food.

The tavern might not be the most pleasing in the eyes of a newcomer, but it was home for the regular. The food warmth their tummy and their heart. It was even better that there was no one else inside the tavern. The laughter was from their own and for their own. No drunkard roaming around seeking a fight, and no hustle and bustle of the others to disrupt their discussion.

"You've heard how Avi explained things," said Cecile out of the blue.

"Huh?" Nafail raised his brows. "I'm sorry but I don't understand what you mean by that."

Lumina drank her juice before answering in Cecile's stead, "Avi is clearly a powerful woman playing a role of a weak model in front of the others. I mean you saw her dressing as a receptionist lady, seemingly weak and powerless, but she is in fact the woman that has more authority than Doma."

"That's... true... I was surprised that she would be someone like that," Nafail smirked as he shook his head. "Every time I submit my quest, she always greets me with a smile, never thought that she would be the one ruling and pulling the strings from behind."

"She wanted to be looked that way by the public, for whatever reason."

"Maybe because she doesn't want the unwanted attention?" said Lyon.

"Or perhaps, it was because it would attract the wrong kind of attention," said Bapho to Lyon.

"Or perhaps because it would attract the wrong kind of attention," his shameless grandson repeated.

"That's, that would be wild," said Nafail.

"I'm sure that you could find the answer, were you to stick with her for long," said Cecile.

"Hehe, did you use that word on purpose?" Lyon grins.

"No, of course, she is not," said Lumina as she squinted her deadly sharp pupils.

"Alright, alright," Lyon shrugged his shoulder.

"Either way, that's not important," said Cecile. "What I want to tell you, is that her knowing our status as a newcomer, she would use that fact to twist the truth of her answer. She might lie on her smile, she might lie with her bright teeth out."

"Woah..." Nafail gulped. "I never thought about that."

"You should, you were once a leader," said Cecile.

"I...."

"Let's cut him some slack, Cecile," said Lyon before he put his hands over the far shoulder of Nafail. "He was just unlucky, that is all. He build the trust on the foundation that he believed in, but what he believed turned out to be false. That's alright, karma will kiss you sometime later."

"Karma, heh..." Nafail smirked as he saw his face on the glass of water.

"I don't know the true story about what happened to your party and quite frankly, we don't want to partake in any of it," said Cecile. "I want to ask you about Zelena, who is she."

Nafail gulped as he received the sharp glance from Cecile.

"She is a highly respected adventurer and she is really masterful with the curved sword hidden under her cloak," said Nafail.

"And?"

"And she is nothing like any passing swordsman. We can't even keep up with how she drew her sword let alone how she slices and cut with her sword. However, she always left a shockwave after a cut."

"A shockwave after a slash?" Cecile raised one of her brows.

"Oof, the Void Style," Kesya clicked her tongue. "No wonder her footsteps could escape my ears."

"Void Style?" Nafail raised one of his brows.

"Never mind her," said Cecile. "Please continue."

"She mostly appeared in public and people both adored and feared her. She belonged to a grand party that is also both feared and admired."

"A grand party?" Lyon raised her brows.

Nafail nodded. "That's right, she belonged to a very powerful party. They mostly ravaged a lot of undiscovered tombs, thread further into the deep of the unknown, and faced beasts like no other. I heard they took down a Great Hydra once, though, it was a hard win."

"A Great Hydra? Hehe, that's interesting," said Kesya.

"Not bad," smiled Cecile.

( N-Not bad? ) Nafail had yet another wry smile. ( It's a Great Hydra! A flying two-headed dragon that can regenerate two heads every time one falls! And you say it's not bad? ).

"So, what they do call this party then?" asked Lyon.

"They called it over a great beast that was rumored to rule the sea,"

"Loch Ness?" Lyon guessed.

"Err no? It's Leviathan."

"Oh, right, of course, the Leviathan." Lyon nodded. "That's a cool name to use."

"Do they ever faced a Leviathan before?" asked Luna.

"I-I don't know," answered Nafail.

"They clearly haven't, if they did, he would tell us," Cecile chuckled.

Nafail gulped before he muster his strength, "Have you?"

The tavern suddenly turned silent as Nafail's heartbeat raced. He saw Kesya slowly grin and Graham leaned back with his arms crossed. However, all of his senses were courted down by Cecile who let out a smirk as she crossed her legs.