Chapter 66: The Capital

Nero, Emilia, and Sophia had reached the capital weeks ago. However, Nero spent most of the time sleeping in his room.

Nero had reset his core in 'Astrared', and after the incident with Laira, his demon core had corrupted his body cores. His body couldn't apprehend the sudden influx in his body, so Nero needed to rest.

If the cores were corrupted, Nero had to destroy those cores and make new ones. And the easiest way to do that was to rest. However, he was still sad about Laira's death and wasn't in the mood to do anything.

He slept for weeks without eating or drinking, but it wasn't as though he was in a slumber. He would wake up whenever he sensed Emilia and Sophia and asked them what they have been doing.

Sometimes they would sleep beside Nero so he wouldn't feel lonely— although his sessions with Emilia never stopped.

Nero recovered around the time Hera renamed Laira and evolved her to make Laira her servant.

Emilia was walking to the inn from her daily stroll around the area. While Sophia and Elise stopped at the market to get some fruits.

Emilia was humming some unknown song while hopping and murmuring the broken lyrics of the song.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a hooded figure and a girl with white hair walked past her. Emilia froze as if she had seen a ghost and immediately turned around, but no one was there.

'What was that feeling?' Emilia felt her heartbeat rise.

She heard a 'clink' sound and looked at the ground to see a white ring in front of her feet.

"Hmm?" Emilia crouched down to pick up the ring but stopped midway and stared intensely at the ring.

She remembered what Nero taught her about curses and cursed items and how they work.

'There are some curses that could kill one just by touching them.'

Emilia glanced around to look for something to touch the ring but couldn't find anything— and she was attracting passersby's attention.

'What should I do? If it's someone's precious ring, they must be looking for it, and I should submit it to the guildhall. But if it's a cursed item, then I need to take it to Nero so he can examine it.

Emilia was sure the ring wasn't there before, and she was certain of it as she heard the sound of the ring falling.

Emilia closed her eyes, and a black glove covered her hand. 'Now it should be safe.'

Emilia picked up the ring and inspected it. 'I don't see anything weird, but I should still ask Nero to examine it.'

On their stay here at the capital, Sophia had taught many things to Emilia. They would go to the grand library every day and learn some new magic and spells— although Sophia knew most of them.

They still hadn't gone to the guildhall because Nero wasn't with them. And Elise originally only planned to stay at the capital for two weeks and go back, but she still wasn't over Laira's death.

Once Emilia reached the inn, she found a crowd— both males and females— gathered in the dining room. She could hear yells full of cheers.

It piqued Emilia's interest, and she rushed to the dining room. Once she reached there, she saw the crowd gathered around a certain table.

Emilia passed the crowd and saw the table covered with empty plates— blocking Emilia's view. She walked around the table and saw Nero drinking rum from the barrel.

Nero threw the empty barrel, then picked up another full barrel and chugged it down within a minute.

"Hooo!" The crowd applauded loudly.

Emilia stared at Nero in disbelief; not only was he making a commotion, but he was drunk too, while he shouldn't be able to get drunk.

"One more! One more!" The crowd was full of adventurers and travelers.

"One? I will drink two more!" Nero stumbled on his feet and fall on the barrel.

The crowd got silent until Nero stood up and gulped another barrel.

"Damn! This guy is amazing. Who is he?" one of the adventurers asked as he paid Nero's bill.

"I am Nero, and I am here to… to…" Nero glanced around as his gaze fell on the barrel. He picked up the barrel as she spoke, "I am here to drink!"

"I can't believe it. Even though he drank 70 barrels full of rums, he is standing on his feet." someone from the crowd commented.

"Don't forget the 143 dishes he ate before," someone added.

"Nero," Emilia called Nero in a gentle voice.

Everyones' gazes turned to Emilia, and one of the adventurers asked, "Do you know him?"

"Let me answer!" Nero trudged at Emilia and hugged her.

"Oooh!" Everyone cheered excitedly.

"Who is she?" a tanned girl asked as she leaned on the table in a relaxed manner.

"Hmm," Nero squinted his eyes and hugged Emilia again, "She is my sister."

"Oooh!"

"And we have wild sex every night," he added.

"Oooooooh!"

The crowd got even more excited, but Emilia was feeling embarrassed for the first time in her life.

"Zeus," a voice called out from behind the crowd.

Everyone turned around and reacted the same way they reacted when they saw Emilia.

"Oooh!"

It was Sophia and Elise.

Sophia stood in front of Nero and folded her arms below her bosom. "The last time I remember you getting drunk was when 'she' agreed to marry you."

'Huh? 'She'? 'Marry'? Who is she talking about?' Emilia wondered as she came back to her senses.

Emilia still didn't know that Nero had a lover in this life too. She assumed he didn't have any lover before because he was a virgin.

"Hey! Hey! Who is this girl?" the tanned girl leaning on the table asked again.

Nero hugged Sophia and rubbed his face on her breasts, "She is my mother."

"Ooooooooh!"

"And…" the girl pointed her finger at Elise— who was holding a bag full of fruits, "Who is she?"

"She is… uh… she is…" Nero felt dizzy, and his vision got blurry as Nero's power was purifying the alcohol in his body.

"She is…" Nero saw a hooded figure and a girl with a white air that had a similar face as Laira— standing in the crowd.

Nero's eyes widened as he rubbed his eyes and glanced back but didn't see anyone.

He had sobered up instantly.