Ball of Nothing

Chapter 561: Altear's Greatest Shame

The guards saw their king and saluted in greeting. King Sharo merely nodded to his royal guards and told them that he was bringing guests.

Seeing a busty woman wasn't an uncommon sight. In fact, the king's private property housed many beautiful women to serve only one purpose. They were long used to seeing King Sharo bring many beautiful women to his private residence. None of them who entered ever left this place and it was how King Sharo gained his lady-killer reputation. However, none of his most trusted elven guards had seen a man enter it before. Not to mention, King Sharo was bringing in a human lady and her wood elf companion.

"What are you staring at? Open the gates!" King Sharo snapped when his guards didn't react automatically. He was the king, and this was his private property. Who were they to judge his guests?!

Zero and Truen didn't say anything and let King Sharo lead them into his well-protected sanctuary. Little did they know about the dirty secrets hidden within the royal villa waiting for them.

The magic barrier was almost as powerful as the one that Zero passed through. Truen could hardly believe that this wasn't created by the world tree but by her spriggan. The world tree and her spriggan didn't just share souls and lifespan. They also shared abilities. This barrier that Truen couldn't disable when he was scouting with Torran was evidence that Spriggan Alex was more powerful than Truen estimated him to be.

Zero didn't feel the difference. However, he could understand why the Weeping Willow didn't turn up on the radar even after reconnaissance. They were looking in the wrong place.

The royal private property reminded Zero of Lilith's inner courtyard for some reason. There was a very luxurious outdoor bath that was kept heated with magic. The steam made it difficult to see just how many people were frolicking in it, but Zero heard the sound of laughter before he saw them.

Truen wanted to cover Zero's eyes when he saw the nude figures prancing around the outdoor bath. What was this indecent villa?! No wonder King Sharo had to guard it so tightly. For someone obsessed with perfection, this must be the darkest stain in his pristine history. Spriggan Alex must be that man sitting in the middle of the bath with a blindfold over his eyes, running around in a silly manner trying to catch any of those teasing beauties. The very adult version of hide-and-seek made Truen want to bring Zero far away.

King Sharo clicked his tongue at the sight. They came at the wrong timing. He'd forgotten that the spriggan often indulged in bath time late in the afternoon before a luxurious dinner with the harem. Thanks to Truen and Zero's distraction earlier, this completely slipped his mind, and the elven king wondered if he should turn around and bring his guests over later at a more appropriate time. Still, he didn't understand why Alex wasn't more careful. The King sent word earlier that there would be esteemed guests coming for a visit on official business. Shouldn't the spriggan have a little more sense and postpone fooling around for another day?

"Ahem!" King Sharo cleared his throat loudly on purpose. At first, nobody paid him any attention, too engrossed in their game of indecent tag until the elven king could tolerate no more.

"Am I, the king, invisible to all of you? Should I execute a few of you to demonstrate what happens to those who do not respect me?"

His threat was very effective, and the ladies who were laughing just a moment ago now dropped to their knees and bowed in fear. Only the spriggan remained standing in all his naked glory as he removed the blindfold in a very casual manner, slightly ticked that his fun was ruined.

"Why did you have to come at such a time? I didn't teach you to ruin other people's fun, did I? You're so mean, Sharo!"

King Sharo's frown deepened when Alex addressed him so nonchalantly. The spriggan never changed his ways even after so many years, and King Sharo quickly dismissed the rest of Alex's harem so that they could discuss some more important matters.

The elven maidens scrammed quickly, not wanting to displease their king any further. The atmosphere was tense, and King Sharo threw a bathrobe at the spriggan.

"Cover yourself up," he told the lazy spriggan. "We have some important guests."

At the mention of guests, Alex took a look at the two people standing silently behind his stubborn child and grinned. The spriggan whistled and checked Zero out without shame, commenting on her figure.

Truen looked ready to kill, but Zero stopped him. With a smile, Zero introduced himself as an envoy from Smargdas and King Sharo decided to watch how this would unfold. Honestly, he didn't know what would happen if Alex lost it completely. Any mentions about the Weeping Willow was forbidden in Alex's private sanctuary, and he didn't care what other people said about him as long as he had his fun. For this very purpose, King Sharo built the private villa and employed only the most skilled of elven fighters to guard the secret. Nobody could know about the great shame of Altear.

"Where are my manners!" Alex laughed as he tied the sash of his bathrobe. He quickly invited Zero in and treated her like a gentleman even if the look in his eyes said otherwise. Truen and King Sharo were about to follow them inside when Alex turned around abruptly. The smile on his face previously was nowhere to be found, and he looked at the men in the eyes with a levelled scowl.

"Sorry, this house exists only for beauties and not prudes. If you want to, you can wait outside. Also, take any one of those girls to enjoy but remember to dispose of them after you're done. I don't need used goods."

The words were cold, and Truen found himself flinching when Alex referred to the women earlier as goods. King Sharo remained unfazed and nodded before leaving with Truen in tow. The wood elf wanted to barge his way in, but the barrier Alex erected prevented him from doing so. He didn't think that his magic would be less powerful than anyone on Earth, but spriggans and World Trees were clearly on a different level from what Truen was capable of handling.

Without a better option, Truen followed King Sharo and tapped onto the party call to let Zero know that he would be waiting outside the room.

"Don't worry," Zero assured his reliable friend. "Alex isn't more powerful than me. We'll just have a little chat for now. I might need more time to convince him, but I won't spend the night here. We still have to hurry to Lycantopia to meet Monoman and Jermine. Bob told me the situation there gets worse with each passing day, so if I cannot conclude it by today, I will leave Altear and return after I settle the emergency in Lycantopia."

Hearing that Zero knew what he was going to do, Truen felt more relieved.

"How about a tour of this place?" he asked the elven king who raised a brow.

"Are you really going to leave the chosen one with the perverted spriggan alone?" For such a worrisome guard, King Sharo couldn't believe how quickly Truen left the two alone.

Truen shrugged. "There's nothing I can do about that barrier even if I wanted to. Besides, Zero is stronger than me. He should be able to handle Alex with ease. Instead, I want to know more about the king's private property. What kind of secrets are you hiding here that you need the best elven fighters to guard it so strictly."

King Sharo didn't answer and walked away to the backyard. Truen only followed in silence as they entered a huge garden. The elven king refused to play tour guide. He wasn't a fan of those ladies either, so the only option he had was to wait for Zero to finish his business with Alex. Truen understood King Sharo's intention and left to explore the property on his own. The prideful elf wasn't stopping him, so Truen took it as an approval to do whatever he pleased. If he found the Moss Giant Orb, Truen would steal it and kiss goodbye to this messed-up country.