[A few moments ago]
The meeting with Hathor was set to happen in her own city.
After seeing the beautiful city of Nephthys and the structured city of Nent, Sol had some expectations about what kind of city would be created under the orders of Hathor.
This was why, when he looked at the city from the sky,
“It’s…”
He was left speechless.
Floating next to him, Nefertiti winced. One thing to note about her was that her wings were different from the natural phoenix wings he saw from Nent. They were wings entirely made out of metal.
Nefertiti, while extremely talented, was not a perfect hybrid like Sol and Isis. She had inherited more from her charms, spirit, and metal spirit heritage than the phoenix one.
“It’s quite the sight, right?”
Trying to find the right words, Nefertiti let out an awkward laugh.
“I guess so?”
Sol did not really know how to describe this city. In the first place,
‘Could this really be called a city?’
Normally, a city would always follow a certain plan for construction and expansion. As such, looking down on a city from above would give a certain uniformity, be it with the roads or the architecture.
This wasn’t the case here.
Houses of different height and width with no uniformities. Shops where roads should be and roads where houses should be. The city was expanding on one side and leaving another side. Some places that could be exploited weren’t, and some places without enough space were overcrowded.
It was pure chaos and anarchism. In short—It was a mess.
Of course, if Sol had to be lenient, it wasn’t that bad. The only problem was when it was compared to the other cities in this territory.
“Is the city under Neit like that?”
Nefertiti shook her head, “Her city is the least inhabited and looks more like a fortress than anything else, but it’s pretty well under order.”
“I see…”
Sol wasn’t just looking at the architecture because he had nothing better to do. As the supreme ruler of this place, this city was the manifestation of Hathor’s vision. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that looking at the layout of this city was the same as looking at her dreams or hopes.
From what he saw, Hathor did not seem to really care about the city or if she did, it meant that she was pretty bad at management.
“Well...Shall we go?”
“Sorry my Lord. I can only advance up to here. Hathor has only allowed you to enter. I will wait for you here.”
Sol hesitated for a moment before nodding, “Okay. Her house, her rules. But don’t wait for me here. Go back to your home. I will visit you when I finish here.”
The way he eyed her up and down made pretty clear what he would do once he came back.
Flushing and blushing, Nefertiti nodded hurriedly before flying away.
She hoped he would come back fast. There were many new things she wanted to try.
While the city was the very definition of chaos and the inhabitants gave him the feeling of airheads with no worries, finding the palace of Hathor had not been complicated.
It seemed that even if they all had different personalities, their taste in houses was the same. Or perhaps, the one who created those palaces was Gabriel.
Slowly landing, he was surprised to feel only one presence in the whole palace.
[I was waiting for you. Follow my aura.]
‘That's a king rank for you. Sending a whisper without even having to be close.’
Smiling wryly, he decided to erase any prejudice that might have arisen because of the shock her city brought him.
Even if this woman was the worst leader in the world, it wouldn’t change the fact that she was powerful enough.
It took him a few minutes, but he finally reached what looked like a balcony with a great view of the city, though the city wasn’t really a sight to behold.
Sitting there, with a table full of liquor facing her, a dark-skinned woman, whose attire only consisted of a white bra-like top barely covering her massive breasts and a white pair of panties to cover her intimate place, was looking at her glass with dissatisfaction.
‘Well, I guess this is pretty normal attire here.’
He was already used to the way everyone was open about what they wore. Then again, with three suns above your heads and a desert below your feet, being modest and wearing heavy clothes was the least of anyone's problems.
Raising her head at his arrival, the woman gave him a toothy grin as she indicated the chair facing her.
Once he took place.
“What would you like to drink? As you can see, you have a pretty big catalog.”
He took a look at the many liquors whose name he didn’t even know before his gaze landed on a particular bottle,
“This one.”
“Oh? Blue Pegasus. Good choice. Nent must have served you some beforehand”
“Indeed. She told me it was a wine created with special water from undines.”
“Yep. One of my greatest passions is making all sorts of alcohol. Though this one was commissioned by Nent herself. She is my greatest customer.”
Chuckling, she took the bottle and filled Sol’s glass with the wine before doing the same with hers.
“Let’s drink.”
Just as Sol put the wine in his mouth,
“So….I heard you bonned my sister and grandniece? Way to go, young man.”
Sol did not spit his wine. He had already received such startling news while drinking many times and now was ready for it at any moment.
Once he finished gulping down the wine, he answered, “I would not call it 'bonning', but your sister did indeed have a physical relationship.”
“Heh, you are calmer than I thought. This is a little disappointing.”
Saying so, she shrugged and seemingly lost interest in him, and began to test her wine with relish which was honestly quite curious for Sol.
After all, one of the most important reasons people drank was because of the slight buzz it brought. Some others even drank in order to completely smash themselves.
But it was different for divine beasts. Sol could not get drunk, and he was a hybrid.
"You must be wondering why I like alcohol so much even though I am a divine beast?"
"Was I that obvious?"
"Nah, your poker face is quite sturdy. It's just that everyone wonders the same when they see me drinking."
"The reason for that was because divine beasts were naturally immune to sickness and most poison. When drinking alcohol, the organism would consider it as a poison and purge it from their system."
"True and as a pure divine beast, Your immune system should be even stronger."
"Yes, but actually no. I have perfect control over my own body. I simply tricked my body into not recognizing alcohol as poison before a certain level."
"I see. So you can get slightly drunk but not outright so."
"Yep."
'Just how much does this woman love alcohol?'
“I love drinking. Drinking makes me unable to think. I do not like thinking. If I could, I would simply go hibernating like you dragons do."
She seemed a little dejected, her gaze dark. This was the gaze of someone with a heavy past and things she did not wish to remember.
Sol sometimes forgot it, but those phoenixes, despite their young appearance, were not simple women.
They were warriors, soldiers who participated in wars that lasted thousands of years.
The things they lost.
The regrets they carried.
It was something he could never imagine.
Shaking her head, the impish smile on her face came back as she looked at Sol.
"But enough of that. You didn't come here to listen to me prattle. Ment said that you have something to ask me. What is it?"
This was it.
This was the moment of truth.
"I would like to ask for your help in healing someone."
"Oh? Could you elaborate?"
Sol hesitated a little bit but, in the end, explained Lilith's situation.
If he tried to lie to her now, it would affect their cooperation in the future.
"I see…"
"..."
"Yeah. I understand the situation. If I use Nirvana and some of my skills, it would be possible to correct the defects of your aunt. Of course I would need to see her myself to be sure. Still, it's pretty guaranteed."
Sol was jubilant. More than even having the possibility to form a contract with Isis or forming a relationship with Nefertiti, this was the best news he got since coming into this territory.
"Don't be happy so fast. I am sorry but…"
"..."
"I refuse."
‘Welp, this isn’t going well.’
(AN: Not much happened in this chapter honestly. But it was necessary to introduce Hathor's personality. She will be pretty important in the later part of the story, mainly during the war. Though that will happen in vol 10 or 11)
