Even as he shook hands with the man that came out of nowhere, Sol couldn’t help but wonder what was going on.
Sol was not blind, nor was he as inexperienced as in the past. He had become way more adept at detecting ill intent after his experience in Tartarus.
That was why, even though it was well hidden, he could feel the veiled hostility of the man in front of him.
This left him quite baffled since he didn't remember offending anyone in the Dragon territory.
In fact, he didn't even remember meeting anyone aside from Kiyohime, Aqua, and Blaze.
‘Is it perhaps because of the Contest for the title of Prince?’
“Excuse me. You are…?”
“Haha. Where are my manners? I am Kaiser. Grandson of Fafnir.”
‘Oh, so this is Kaiser?’
Sol thought as he eyed the man. Kaiser was a tall and lean, but well-built man. He had long black hair tied into a ponytail and a black and gold eye patch on his right eye.
He remembered that Kiyohime had talked to him about Kaiser. From what she said, the man managed to fight against Nabu and reached the 6th Circle, though he was riddled with wounds thereafter and couldn’t continue the trials.
Then again ‘fighting’ was a little too much. From what Sol understood, he was simply trashed beyond belief and survived because Nabu wasn’t going for the kill.
It was only after personally fighting against Nabu that Sol understood just how impressive that feat was.
Nabu was without a doubt a true monster of physical strength. It didn’t help that her ice slowed down the regeneration process.
If Sol didn’t have his dimension, he would have been forced to use his War form or die under her hits.
Even if Nabu didn’t attack Kaiser with the intent to kill, it showed that at least his defense was at quite high.
‘Kiyohime told me Fafnir War Form is geared toward defense. I guess it’s innate.’
“Kaiser! It’s a pleasure to meet you. What are you doing on my island, though?”
On the side, Kiyohime eyed Kaiser suspiciously. It had to be said that dragons didn’t really visit each other regularly.
Kaiser smiled wordlessly as he pointed at the castle.
“I want to meet Aqua, there was a little problem on the plaza and I thought I ought to inform her since I intervened outside of my jurisdiction.”
Sol tilted his head and managed to catch the flustered expression on Sheherazade and Isis’s face.
“Hum…Did something happen to you two?”
Isis hesitated a little, but feeling the concern in Sol’s voice and the curiosity in Kiyohime’s eyes, she shared a glance with Sheherazade and explained the situation.
“I see. You don’t need to inform Aqua. Even though you did overstep, I appreciate that you didn’t use force. Fafnir has a good descendant.”
Kiyohime nodded as she praised Kaiser. She was honestly happy about the way he handled the situation.
She knew that the Kaiser of the past wouldn’t have even tried to help and even if he did, he might have worsened the situation.
‘Truly, nothing better than a throughout beating to destroy the pride of insolent brat.’
She thought jokingly since she knew that it was only after being trashed by Nabu that he began to put his pride in check.
“I also thank you for helping my partner. She can be quite the handful.”
Sol joked as ruffled the head of Isis who meekly tried to fight back.
“Stop! I am not a child, okay? If they continued to bother us I would have burned them to crips.”
She moved her head away and punched in the air as she imagined punching the head of those annoying pricks.
“Pfft! Haha. As feisty as always.”
Sol did not doubt her words. Isis wasn’t someone who would accept getting bullied for no reason.
Looking at the interactions between the two, an unpleasant feeling churned in his guts. It was a sensation quite foreign for Kaiser.
Earlier, while Isis had been quite polite with him, she had still kept a certain invisible distance. A distance that clearly did not exist with Sol, seeing the way he could touch and joke around with her.
Also, there was one word in particular that caught his attention.
“Partner, is it?”
“Yep! Yep! Once Sol become Prince, he and Isis will enter a contract and then they will go kiss kiss and *Ouf*”
Sheherazade was stopped as Isis caught her.
“Hahaha. Well, I believe I will leave you guys, I have a fairy to punish.”
Giving a strained smile with her face was completely red, Isis fled while ignoring the grin Sol was throwing at her.
“Well, I think I will also leave. Nice to have met you, Kaiser.”
Nodding to Kaiser, Sol waved at Kiyohime before chasing after Isis.
If he was bewildered at first at the hostility, now he could understand where it was coming from.
‘So he is jealous?’
This was the first time Sol felt true jealousy coming at him because of a woman. The white knight didn’t count since by the time they met, the boy had already given up on Camellia.
It was quite the novel feeling.
‘Well, not like it’s my problem.’
Sol knew it was hypocritical, but he was quite possessive of his women.
…
…
After Sol and Isis left, Kiyohime threw a look at Kaiser.
“You should give up.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
Kiyohime ignored the fake smile plastered on his face as she continued.
“I am saying this for your own good. That girl is trouble incarnate. Don’t meddle in this.”
Kiyohime knew that Isis and Sol were embroiled in the games of the goddesses. She didn’t even want to think about what would happen should Kaiser try to mess with the situation.
Kaiser grew silent as he felt the warning in Kiyohime’s voice. He knew that she wasn’t joking around and was really worried about him.
Even so…
“They will only become partners if Sol wins the contest, right? Then, I just have another incentive to win the fight, or will you ask me to throw the towel?”
Kiyohime gave bitter smile and shook her head.
“I already warned you. Do as you like.”
She had already said what she had to. Whatever happened next had nothing to do with her.
“I will…” Kaiser nodded with a confident smile, “Well then, I think it’s time for me to go. Have a good day.”
Looking at his back as he walked away, Kiyohime shook her head as she wondered if Fafnir was cursed. Not only did Sol take away his crush, but now the same was happening to his grandson.
‘Well, it isn’t my problem.’
Her wings opened as she flew toward the 9th Heaven. Even though she was sure Tiamat had been observing Sol’s training, it was still important to make a report and discuss how to caliber his training from now on.
—--
After Sol and Isis entered the castle, they took different directions. Sol knew that Isis and Sheherazade had much to discuss.
As for Sol, after teasing Isis a little, he went back to his room and was ready to take a long nap but-
“Oh? You are back.”
Lying down on his bed was a beautiful disheveled woman wearing nothing but a see-through short dress.
It was, of course, Nent.
She had been using Sol's room as her own bedroom since the day he left.
When she saw him enter the room, she was briefly stunned before she showed a happy smile.
"Hello."
Sol smiled back as his eyes trailed down the appetizing body of Nent. Sadly he was too mentally tired and wasn't interested in any night activities currently.
"Come here."
Gently patting her laps as she sat down on the bed, Nent called out for Sol.
After laying down on the bed with his head resting on her lap, he released a sigh of relief.
It has been quite some time since he felt so comfortable.
“So, how was your training?”
Nent gently caressed his golden hair.
She could feel the changes in him and couldn't help but wonder just what had happened to him during his training.
Sol closed his eyes as he remembered all the blood, gore, and all those he killed while thinking of the mind-numbing pain he also received before giving a wane smile.
“I honestly nearly gave up a few times. But in the end, I held on.”
Sol did not want to hide his pain and suffering and bear everything alone.
Having someone to confide in was always good and it was even better if it was someone close to you. By sharing your pain and worries, you could become even closer to that person.
It was impossible for two people to truly understand everything about each other. However, it was necessary to make an effort to reach as close as possible.
Sol began to explain everything that happened.
He did not give the exact name of the place nor did he go too much into details, since the information about Tartarus was confidential.
But as for his struggle, his fight, and his mental problem — he did not hesitate to divulge everything.
It was quite weird. He would have never thought that he would one day speak so honestly with Nent.
But perhaps it was precisely because it was Nent.
While they were lovers, the two of them were mainly allies walking towards different yet similar goals.
Hearing his struggles, the normally sharp light in Nent's eyes softened.
What Sol went through was like a mini introduction to the war back then.
She could understand how hard it must have been since he only awakened a few months ago.
"It must have been quite hard. Many people would have given up in your place. Now, you should just sleep."
She continued to caress his hair and gently emanated her holy aura in the room, creating a warm and calming atmosphere.
"I…"
Sol tried to fight back a little but his mind was too worn out and in the end, he closed his eyes as he fell asleep on her laps.
"Fufufu~! He is quite cute when he sleeps like this."
It was the first time she took care of someone in such a way and she had to say that it made her quite giddy.
She was happy to see that Sol had come back stronger than ever and was about to go through another level. But weirdly, she was even happier that he had come back in one piece.
'Sleep well and have a great dream.'
