A Brief Respite (3)

On top of a tree, outside the city of Selvenia, Arthur was taking her sweet time of rest. She was tired. From all the shit, and shit and more shit that happened lately. And perhaps a bit more of bullshit.

She rested her back on the trunk as her butt sat on the branch that was at least wide enough to accommodate its rapidly increasing size. Due to the rapid increase of her Levels, she was now a few inches taller than half a month ago, her chest had grown a bit too, and her voices became even more clearer.

Her silky black hair had already grown a beneath shoulder lever, and her crimson eyes had longer lashes.

As annoying as she thought it may be, she was getting more and more beautiful.

Her eyelids fluttered as she then gently opened her eyes. Her hair was a bit unkempt from the proper lack of care, but nonetheless, she always fixes her hair decently from her point of view.

She opened her mouth widely as she yawned, revealing her well shaped canines, and cast her droopy eyes upon the world.

'Yep. Same as usual. It looks like shit.'

The sight of the countless monster carcasses, and people's body parts rotting outside didn't give her any feeling of disgust. She was way used to it, or at least she had seen it countless time before, so she couldn't care less. Dead people after all, are dead.

"Not that I'm one to speak though..." she muttered with a resigned smile.

She let out a light sigh, as she then looked below. It wasn't tall. Only about 20 meters. So she jumped down, and landed on her feet without any trouble. If there was a victim here, it was the soil which had a small depression on it. But who cares! Or at least Arthur didn't.

She yawned again, and then started walking back into the city.

The walk didn't take long as Arthur didn't actually walk at all. She hopped instead. Hopping was a nice way to practice instantaneous movements, so she did it quite often. Of course, in places people didn't see. Hopping, after all, looked childish.

She walked the lively, killing intent-laden streets of the Slum District. Home sweet home.

As it was only half a month since she last remembered her own death, no matter how she observed, everything felt surreal. The bright light of sunlight, the yells of yelling Joes, the laughter of the laughing crazies, and the cries of the crying ladies. Perhaps her death had affected her mind in certain places, but it was change brought by necessity. It was decided by her own deepest self that this was necessary, so it changed something. There was no need to deny that.

Arthur smiled. This was the place that she called home, and it was slowly resembling the Selvenia she remembered. The first kingdom to go insane. As crazy as it may sound, she actually felt at home. Home sweet home, she thought again.

However, as she was trekking her way back to the palace, she saw an unexpected person. A girl, and one she was quite familiar with. The girl walked, wearing a tense expression as she looked around, as if trying to spot a stalker. They then passed each other, but Arthur stopped.

"Hm? Aerym?" She called out.

Aerym jolted with a "Eek!", she then turned, while shaking lightly, and looked at Arthur. Arthur grinned at her familiar reactions. It was Aerym after all.

Arthur waved her hand, "Where's Lancell?" she asked. Still having the grin on her face.

"L-Lancell?" Aerym asked back. She had a confused look on her face. She was pretending to be dumb? How nostalgic.

With a deeper grin, Arthur chuckled. She loved this game. At the very least, it gave her a 'valid' reason to curse Lancell. However, she completely forgot that she had yet to meet Aerym in this lifetime.

"Oh? I was just asking about your master." Arthur said. "You know, the black-hearted asshole who has sword for brains."

She dissed her disciple casually. It was satisfying.

However, contrary to what she thought, it seems that Aerym was intent on playing the game even more. Perhaps Lancell had pissed her off, more than the usual.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about. I d-don't have a master." She said as she stuttered.

Arthur laughed. It was gonna be a good way to vent for both of them. "Ahahaha. Oh come on! It's the guy with the grumpy face! Yellow hair, the colour of shit. Greenish-blue eyes, the colour of shit when you ate something strange, and he talks like everyone else other than him is shit!"

"Ah." Aerym uttered. She had an enlightened expression. It seems she was already satisfied, and was planning to end the 'Who?' game.

"Ahahaha. Thanks, Aerym. This was a pretty satisfying talk. See ya!" And so, Arthur started to walk. The fact that she had just dropped a bombshell to a complete bystander didn't cross her mind in the slightest. Dissing an annoying asshole was damn satisfying.

◇◇◇

After a bit of while, of occasional hopping, jumping, and walking and running, Arthur finally reached the castle grounds.

She went through the gate, and passed by the guards. The guards recognized her, and let her pass. She ignored them, and just proceeded like usual. However...

'Huh? Killing intent?'

She almost paused in her steps, but she continued. It was very brief, but she definitely sensed it. She discretely scanned the place with her senses, but didn't find anything out of place. Perhaps she was imagining it.

'Guess it was just leftover from yesterday, huh?'

Thinking that it wasn't a big deal, she continued on.

She then continued on as she saw the busy place. Interesting, the maids have all been laid. Looks like people have been busy, huh? Well, it was certainly not her concern. Normies should just die.

However, now that she was inside, she finally realized.

'Okay...now what am I supposed to do?'

She didn't have anything to do. And she was bored too. She brought a hand to her chin, as she contemplated. And a short while later, she decided. To bully the poor soldiers on the training grounds. They should just curse their own luck.

And so, she headed for the training grounds.