Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 268 Not What You Expected

"Send another scout ship."

"With all due respect, Ma'am — there is no way Major Wilder could have survived. We have wasted enough resources for—"

"Are you the Commander, or am I?"

"...At once, Ma'am."

Commander Olga and the rest of the group arrived in the territory of Russea a day ago, and during that time, she had already ordered 6 ships to embark across the orange ocean in search of Rhys. As for Katarina and the others…

…they really weren't doing anything.

Not in a way that one would find them depressing, they truly were not doing anything at all. Just relaxing and waiting for something to happen. Commander Olga had an entire warehouse set up for the Amerkan team, complete with all the amenities they could ever want; even some entertainment and a bar.

And the bar was the most popular spot as everyone was there drinking, even Katarina.

"What do you think the Recruit's doing now?"

"Knowing him, he's probably just traveling alone now and trying to make his way to Russea," Katarina just took a sip of her spirit while shaking her head.

"Would you like to bet on that?" Agatha, who was sharing the bottle of spirit, smirked as she looked at Katarina, "I bet that the blackie is currently in bed and having vigorous sex with someone right now."

"Is your mind all about sex?" Katarina rolled her eyes.

"I could actually see that happening," Ayesha pointed at Agatha, "The Recruit's really got to keep it in his pants once in a while or he'll end up with his balls gone someday. But then again, I wouldn't be here if he kept it in his pants, ha!"

"The fuhrer is most probably out there conquering another civilization of people, like what he did with the cenleons," Talia let out a small chuckle as she drank her own mug of beer, "He will come back to us with another army to completely his conquest of world domination."

"Stop it with that," Katarina groaned; her face extremely flushed, "Rhys… Rhys is a good boy, he won't… he won't do anything bad."

"You guys…" As for Dominique, she could even barely drink the cola in her hand as she walked back and forth around the bar, "...You guys really have that much faith in Rhys, huh? I… I can't help but worry. Just the other day when he disappeared in the water, all of you were screaming… but now you're just drinking."

"You need to understand something about Rhys," Katarina let out a very long and deep breath, "He's a survivor, always has been, always will. Just less than 2 years ago, he fell into a Hole that opened up near his school. And you know what he met there…? Arachnea. Arachnea, the God of Spiders. And he didn't only survive, no… he became even more powerful."

"And as someone who trains with him and gobbles his balls every day…" Ayesha raised her bottle, "...the Recruit is strong, incredibly so. He hasn't managed to beat me in close quarters with physical strength alone, sure.

But if he uses all of his neat little tricks, he might have a chance — and that means the things that can kill him in this entire world could be counted in his hands, and he only has one. And none of you know this, but the Recruit can actually just teleport me and the Doc here if he needs help."

"...He can do that?" Dominuque's eyes widened.

"Unless the gods decide to strike down the fuhrer, he will not be stopped," Talia agreed, "But perhaps even then, he would smite the gods himself."

"I'll toast to that," Agatha raised her glass and stood up, "But I still think the blackie's getting it right now. And you know what, I'll double the wager on that…

…Rhys is having a good time."

And perhaps, in a certain perspective, Agatha would be right; perhaps everyone was. There were a lot worse things that could be happening to him right now.

Rhys was currently standing completely naked, with chains binding his wrist to his waist, and a metal choker wrapped around his neck which was attached by a chain locked on the floor. It took him an hour, but he was finally able to balance himself with one leg without even trying or thinking about it — perhaps the only issue now was how long he actually needed to stand.

The man who brought him to the brothel was already gone, and judging by the smile on his face when he left, he was paid a hefty sum for Rhys. It would perhaps be the correct move to find the man once Rhys manages to understand the entire situation and frees himself of his current—

"...Very interesting. Your limb is similar to that of a monkey — you are not deformed at all. You're not one of us, are you?"

—predicament. The woman in front of him right now waving a hand fan had circled around Rhys perhaps for the hundredth time now; the tail of her snake-like limb slightly brushing against him every time.

If Rhys's assumption was right, this lady was the owner of this brothel. The two of them were alone in her room now as she kicked all the other male gorgons out at the same time as the man who sold him.

Like all of the gorgons, her braids were thick and plenty. There were several scales attached around her braids, using them as ties or just accessories — which Rhys found completely weird. After all, would a human use his shredded dry skin as an accessory?

But then again, humans don't have scales… and he should probably stop thinking about random things and focus.

Rhys then let out a short but very deep breath as he finally decided to focus and look at the woman's face. Her skin was like bronze; her face round, and almost unblemished by any marks or imperfections — perhaps even smoother than Lina's face, but not in the way like a doll like Lina… but more of a finely sculpted statue. Her lips were pink, incredibly so.

And it was perhaps the way her thick eyebrows perfectly complemented the rest of her face that made her look seductive.

But for Rhys, the most noticeable was the way her eyes glowed even in the dark.

They were silver, very much like Rhys's.

"Can you even understand me?" The female gorgon then slithered in front of Rhys; the gold petals adorning the metal chain that covered her breasts clicked and clanged as she did so, "If you are from another race, then it doesn't matter even if you are the most beautiful man these scales have ever witnessed, I wasted a lot of gold in you — it is unethical to exploit other people, and I will not have my establishment linked to such.

So please, speak now if you can."

"What do you think I am, Ma'am?"

"!!!"

And as Rhys finally opened his mouth, the woman quickly slithered back and looked at him from head to toe.

"You speak our language, and quite fluently at that. Was I wrong, then…?" The woman tilted her head to the side as she closed her hand fan, "Are you actually one of us and just highly malformed? But you don't even have a touch of scale on you."

"I'm not one of you, Ma'am."

"Polite, the others would like that—no," the woman shook her head, "What are you, then?"

"Right now, I think a slave," Rhys said as he gestured to the chains binding him.

"A slave…?" The woman gasped as soon as she heard that, "You're not a slave, you're a servant. Please, never say that again. And those chains are for your protection — if you so happen to just run away after I have already paid for you, the Shivellans will kill you."

"I won't run away, I don't even know where I am," Rhys let out a small sigh as he looked the woman straight in the eyes, causing her to once again slightly gasp; differently this time.

"...You tell no lie," the woman let out a small hum as she seemed extremely sure that Rhys was not lying at all, "Very well, let me free you of—"

"No need," Rhys shook his head before just casually stretching his hand to the side, completely splitting and shattering the chains binding it to his waist.

"...Are you a god?" The woman quickly bowed her head.

"Do you know of any god that's crippled?" Rhys shook his head as he crushed the metal choker on his neck and pulled it apart, "I'm just… strong. And since you know I'm not one of your people now, can I assume I'm also free to go?"

"...No," the woman blinked a couple of times as she looked at Rhys; her mouth slightly open, "I have paid a lot of gold for you. It would not be right for you to leave."

"I can get your money back," Rhys sighed, "Or since I'm already here, I can just work… but I would need information in return."

"...There is only one work for a man with your face and body here," the woman whispered as she once again looked at Rhys from head to toe, "...Even with your limb deformed."

"I'd… rather not do that kind of work," Rhys shook his head.

"Oh… don't worry about that," the woman let out a small giggle as she once again opened her hand fan, "With the clients that I have, you won't need to do much work."

"I can be a guard, I'm a soldier," Rhys shook his head, "And—"

"But of course..." And before Rhys could say anything, the woman slithered back to her sheets and blankets; removing the gold chains covering her breasts while she smiled at Rhys,

"…I would have to test the merchandise first."

"...You're not listening," Rhys could really only let out a sigh. He did not really have any time for this… but his lower body seemed to think differently as he felt it throb,

"Well, I guess that's fine."