Hello Scrolls and Followers of Justice, Mr. Bones bringing chapter 15 of my fanfic.
The investigation leads Sebas to the worst place in the Draconic Kingdom, how will this affect the Iron Butler?
Help improve my writing by commenting, thank you.
With you
The One Who Came Back
Chapter 15: Fleur-de-Lis
Despite never having seen a copper coin from Yggdrasil, it was impossible for Sebas not to recognize it. There was the World Tree, with its branches and points representing the nine kingdoms that composed it, and written in an language other than Japanese, YGGDRASIL
"Can I inspect it?", Sebas asked.
"Umm… See, Jorge told us not to let anyone take it, otherwise luck would run out, so only Skull and I have it until now".
"Yes, and it has helped us a lot! If it weren't for it, I wouldn't have been able to work with Bulk again".
Sebas watched intently, then did something strange, really strange, he approached the coin and gave it a light sniff.
Interesting fact is that dragons are the animals with the best sense of smell that ever existed. A dragon that returned to its lair after years and found it emptied of its hoard would be able to locate by scent every coin scattered across the realms and the thief who took them. Logically, that person would be devoured, along with his family, the neighbors, the old lady on the street and probably the entire city.
Unexpectedly, the only two scents Sebas noticed were those of the guards.
"Could you talk more about him?", asked Tuare, "How was he, where did you go, how was life? You know, I haven't heard from him for a long time…"
"Well, like I said, we just kind of went out for drinks. He was very talkative, telling a lot of stories of a group of adventurers fighting a giant winged chimera."
"Fighting WITH a chimera", Skull corrected.
"AGAINST", replied Bulk, "Where have you ever seen yourself fight alongside a chimera the size of a castle?"
"A chimera of that size! Never heard of it, must be something worthy of the Kings of Greed!", Tuare tried to sound impressed.
"I don't know anything about that, lady, I think it's all made up. A monster that is part dragon, lion, gorilla, and other animals that size would be remembered by many people."
"Oh! I see then, it must be so", said Tuare.
"So we were going from one tavern to another. He was really fun, just at one point he got weird."
"Weird how?"
"He stopped laughing out of nowhere, got serious, even seemed sober, stared at a mansion in the upscale neighborhood, the Fleur-de-Lis, which is actually a brothel for the rich and only invited guests can enter. We told him that there was no way he was going to go there, and he just said 'let's see', but he didn't look happy, and I think that was it. We kind of passed out in the next tavern and we didn't see him anymore."
"Oh! Thank you so much for your help, gentlemen! It brings comfort to my heart to know that my brother is doing well. I hope you gentlemen have a good service", thanked Tuare.
"Here, for the help.", said Sebas handing over a small bag of coins.
"Now, no need to thank us!", chimed Bulk, quickly putting the coins away, "If you need anything else, just look for us".
As Sebas and Tuare withdrew, Skull spoke.
"Hey Bulk, do you think we should have talked about how the beastmen thing happened? Like, what if they think we locked ourselves out?"
"Ummm… HEY YOU, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO TELL ANYONE, RIGHT!?"
Tuare just turned her face away smiling and made a gesture of locking her mouth with a key and throwing it away.
"See, alright Skull, you worry too much."
During the return to the castle, Sebas requested that the coachman pass in front of the mansion known as Fleur-de-Lis. This was not the Sorcerer Kingdom's carriage, as it would draw too much attention to ride with something pulled by a Soul Eater, so while they were in the Dragon Kingdom they were using a carriage borrowed from the palace.
Sebas knew that it helped to be monitored by the nobles, so when he requested such a diversion, someone would already have ideas on how to please the ambassador at the next reception.
That same night, a few hours before another party in honor of the ambassador, a group of nobles gathered.
"So our ambassador is more human than we thought", said the noble with a slight smile.
"HMPF!", snorted another, "After weeks of following him, we didn't get any information about his thoughts. All he talked about at parties were generic things and vague praise about the kingdom, nothing escaped about his land."
"No indiscretion this whole time, not even from the entourage, I mean, that maid, she just asks about a missing brother. I wonder if we found him we'd have something."
"I don't think so, she's just a maid. Even if the ambassador is sleeping with her, as we suspect, who would put themselves at risk for her?"
"The wall guards they talked to didn't say anything useful, two idiots by the way, so we didn't have anything... until now".
"It seems to me that the ambassador decided to show his true colors at the last minute hahahaha!"
"Nobody can be as holy as he wanted to appear! He courted no daughter…"
"Or wife…"
"Or maid. Now he casually shows interest in our… private club, so we'll have to show him around town!", said one of the nobles slyly.
"How will we do this?"
"During the party, I'll approach him and invite him to the re-inauguration of the Fleur-de-Lis, which will take place tomorrow."
"Be careful, be subtle. We can't waste this chance."
"I'm subtlety personified hahahahaha!"
As they laughed, something stalked them.
'Everything goes as planned, Lord Sebas' Said the hanzo finishing the message.
As he had imagined, Sebas was approached by one of the nobles that night. It took a terribly long time to get to the subject, full of intricacies and fears, until they took the final step, handing Sebas a black card, a special invitation, on which there were writings that only appeared in a certain light.
The following night, Sebas arrived at the mansion. In fact, it was quite inconspicuous from the outside, not giving the impression that it was anything much more than a townhouse in an upscale neighborhood, even very close to the castle.
Sebas was, as usual, accompanied by Tuare. She would stay by the carriage so she could try to get more information from the other servants.
As he entered the manor, Sebas was greeted by the owner, a minor noble who was making a profit from selling more…adult entertainment.
"Welcome to my humble abode Lord Sebas, I'm glad you were able to attend the reopening of my house. Do you want anything to drink?", said the noble offering a cup to Sebas.
"Ah yes, the invitation came at the last minute, but I could not fail to be present. It seems to me that your residence has had some misfortune in recent months?"
"Yes, yes, a series of minor misadventures forced it to be… *ahem, reformed".
"I don't think a fire can be considered a 'little misadventure'."
"I see you learned more about me than I expected, you are really full of surprises! I believe you would feel more comfortable in our VIP room, please follow me."
Leaving the entrance hall, where all the guests could enjoy was luxury, they passed to the back of the mansion, where lust was: half-naked servants circulated and offered drinks, gambling was readily available, as well as the servants themselves.
Sebas didn't show the slightest bit of interest. All he was looking for was some clue left by the player, as it was obvious that he was guiding him. As one of the Supreme Beings said, "the universe hates coincidence, but loves irony", and it was no accident that he had found the guards or the coin, or even the fact that he was there at that moment. The traveler planned something, dropping small crumbs along the way, but discovering the crumbs was the big problem.
Seeing Sebas's bored expression, the host thought he had discovered what would appeal to the ambassador. Games didn't interest him, women didn't seem to hold his attention, nor men by the looks of it, and in this business, he generally knew what someone as old as the ambassador might like. All those old nobles liked it and this was the only place in the kingdom that could provide that kind of…attention.
"Lord Sebas, I notice that nothing here appeals to you. Apparently you are a gentleman of refined tastes, so I would like to invite you to visit our most exclusive area."
"How exclusive?"
"Very exclusive, only a few have access, after all we are specialists in this area. Some could go to Bleeding Thorn or Madame Buffon to have 'differentiated' services, but only we provide something of this caliber", narrated the host while guiding Sebas to the floors below
Sebas was already fed up with this. He'd already seen enough depravity going through rooms after rooms filled with abject desires and lust, and it wasn't helping his mood. He rescued Tuare from a similar place, it's a good thing she didn't follow him.
"Lord Sebas, I hope this is to your liking", said the host as he opened the last door. Inside a richly furnished room, on a large four-poster bed, sat a little girl.
"Why is there a child here-…", Sebas didn't finish the sentence when reality hit him.
Normally, NPCs only know what was programmed by their creators. However, for some reason, after the change of world, this knowledge was extrapolated, as well as the spells and part of the personal characteristics of its creators also passed to them, completing their personalities. In this way, Demiurge was programmed to be an Archdemon who hates humans and delights in their suffering (all for the glory of Nazarick, of course) just because Ulbert hated the people from his old world.
The butler knew what people could do to each other behind closed doors, Peroroncino himself programmed most of those fetishes into Shalltear, but even he had limits.
Sebas is probably the most innocent NPC after the twins, as Touch Me programmed him with a high sense of justice, but never got around to programming all kinds of crimes that he considered wrong. It would be impossible to do that and a waste of time for a game's lore, so Sebas was having, for the first time, the revelation of how monstrous a human being can be.
That's when the sound started. A vibration that rose, making the walls shake. "A thunder? Earthquake!!" thought the host, until he realized that the sound was coming from the ambassador.
That wasn't a tremor, it was the snarl of a dragon in rage.
