Chapter 100: Give up
On the roof of the tower having the king's chamber, Kai stood, watching the black sky turning blue.
Dawn was close. Yet Kai's prospects seemed dark from the sullen expression on his face. His eyes kept coming in and out of focus. Two notifications hovered in front of him, both trying to outdo each other.
The first was the milestone that had come up after leaving Cersei.
[
Congratulations Contestant Kai Stormborn…
You have achieved a Milestone
Milestone: Have consensual sex with Cersei Lannister
Milestone Rewards: Charisma +3
]
Then there was the notification of a new achievable Title.
[
You have unlocked 1 Title
Title: Adulterer
Specification: Have consensual sex with 5 married women (main-storyline) from any random worlds
Status: (1/5)
Effect:
1. Stamina +5
2. Skill: Heart Rhythm
Note: Only 1 Title can be equipped at a time
]
It was the first time Kai was seeing a Title with an innate Skill.
Even that failed to lift his spirits, though.
Cersei hadn't permitted him a second more in her bed, after replying to his questions, and that wouldn't have troubled Kai if he had at least got a favorable answer. But he didn't.
There were three reasons for Kai to approach Cersei after kidnapping Jon Arryn. Foremost, it was to devour her tale. Then, it was to see her, one of the most beautiful women in Westeros, or so the scrolls had described her. Kai now found that statement lacking in adequacy. Last, he wanted to use her authority to get close to a powerful knight, like the black-armored guard with Prince Joffrey.
'The Hound.' Kai recalled the name. 'Though he isn't a knight. Weird.'
"So you have fantasies like other boys too," Cersei had commented upon hearing his request. "You have chosen the wrong time, then. Lord Rykker of Duskendale, that lickspittle fool, has again organized a senseless tourney. And he even had the gall to ask Robert himself to be there. Like the king has time to free himself from whoring, humph! So he sent my brother, Jamie, there instead, to represent the king. The Kingsguards have fallen to this, mere figurines."
'No wonder she wanted me,' Kai thought. 'If her brother was here, things would have turned out way differently.'
The prince had also gone there with his entourage, Cersei had told him later.
Kai had dared not ask Cersei to let him meet a Kingsguard, the strongest knights of the seven kingdoms. With her nature, Kai knew she would have become suspicious. And Cersei's suspicion was no short of a death sentence, he knew. So with a smile on his face, and pain in his heart, Kai had said her goodbye, leaving her naked figure sprawled under the silk.
For a moment, Kai wanted to just go back and lay beside her. But he had more important things to do. One of those important things was the Side Mission to pass Jon Arryn's coded message to the king.
Kai couldn't figure out the hint, no matter how much he thought about it. And asking Cersei wasn't an option either. 'Who knows what the Spider means to these characters?' Kai had thought. It was best to just give the message personally. He would need to be within 10 ft to use The Song of History Skill of the Book, anyway.
Kai turned around. The king rarely slept with the queen, but in another chamber, on his bed full of young whores. He could still see the disgust on Cersei's face whenever she had mentioned the king's name. 'But her feelings have nothing to do with me,' Kai reminded himself. 'If a queen's tale has given me such a potent Skill, I wonder what a king's tale has in store for me.'
Kai grinned. The thought of gaining a new powerful Skill stirred his emotions. The option to go to the king from within the holdfast was a sure death wish. Even if he could somehow deceive Cersei, Kai wouldn't have survived the attack of the Kingsguards. There was something about them that made Kai shudder at the thought. Something incredibly dangerous.
The best and easiest way to reach the king was to go over the holdfast's roofs.
Kai took a step.
Then stopped.
He stood there as if someone had petrified him to the spot. Scenes from his last ambush rewound in his mind like an unforgettable reel.
'The prophecy,' Kai thought. 'Last time, the prophecy had come true at a time like this. And those two had nothing to do with my mission, either.'
By now, Kai was sure of this reasoning. Not one of them had mentioned anything about Jon Arryn to him. They had only come when Kai was following Petyr Baelish. It was like they had their own mission, their own in-world characters, and Kai had intruded on their territory.
'Am I intruding on a foreign territory again?' Kai asked himself. 'Are all important characters surrounded by powerful Contestants?'
Cersei was a live exception to this question, Kai knew. No one had prevented him from approaching Cersei. But would it be the case if he just decided to kill her? Was it worth it to risk his life for the rewards of a Side Mission? 'If there is a powerful Contestant around the queen and the king, then they already know my Levitation Skill,' he thought, frowning. 'But is it worth risking the existence of the Book too for just a Side Mission?'
Then Kai remembered Chaos' words. 'It worked this time. Will it work the next time as well?'
The answer came to him, naturally.
It wasn't.
It wasn't worth it at all.
Kai remembered the fresh Blood Prophecy he had done before coming here. It hadn't changed. So, with a heavy frown on his face, he turned around.
This Side Mission, he would give up.
*
*
As Kai crossed the moat outside the holdfast's wall using Levitation, a figure appeared on the spot he was previously standing.
It was a man.
He was wearing a long white greatcoat lined with black stripes at the edges. Loose white pants and white shoes made him look like a specter under the gray-blue sky. His brown hair was long and curly, and one stray lock of hair dangled on his forehead. On his waist, to his right, there was a long sheathed Katana, whose hilt was decorated with red and gold strings.
"You let him go," a sweet female voice entered his ears from behind. "I was so sure you would act this time."
The man glanced back, but there was no one there. Though, his eyes seemed to look at someone, as if he could see secrets others couldn't. He didn't reply to the voice. He saw Kai landing, his facial changing as the weird protrusions disappeared.
"Which world is it?" he finally asked, but it felt more like a question to himself. "Which world gives such a transformation to the Contestants of the first three floors?"
"Why don't you ask him?" the female prodded. "He is a swordsman too, you know."
The man turned around, his hand lifting, landing on the Katana's hilt. His one raised eyebrow seemed to ask, how does she know this? The unseen woman snickered.
"I saw the guard he had cut," the voice came out of thin air. "The back of his neck had been nicked using a sword. But it was the poison that killed him."
"Poison?" the man said, frowning. "A coward's choice of weapon."
"A coward or not, he sure fucks like a man," the woman said, giggling.
The man's grip on the hilt tightened. "Spare me from the details," he said. "I don't care how you handle your Missions."
"Haha!" the woman laughed. "Very well. Though I wonder. What would you do if this coward were to join your 100 Zanpakuto School someday? Now that would be a sight worth seeing, wouldn't it?"
The man loosened his grip over the Katana as the woman left.
"What will I do?" he asked himself, turning around to see the boy, who was now stealthily hopping through the shadows. "Sword and Poison…"
His voice cut the horizon, letting a red hue descend on the world.
Then he disappeared.
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