"While I understand that all land in this continent belongs to Your Highness, I believe I have the right to my own intimacy."
Arachne, who was working on a painting, spoke as she felt Sol enter or rather appear in her room.
She didn't know much about his power but she knew that at his level, he could have been here and observing her for hours.
"Heh. Don't you find this hilarious when it comes from you?"
Arachne gave a bland smile as she stopped working on her painting and turned to face Sol.
Even now, watching him, she continued to be surprised about how much one could change in just a few weeks or months depending on how long he spent in the Astral realm.
She also remembered her conversation with Pandora and how she ended up being devoured helplessly by the prince.
While she complained about some coercion, they both knew that no matter how powerful Sol was, it was impossible for him to truly coerce a King level.
As for his accusations,
"My skill is one of the security systems of Lustburg and it proved to be more than useful during the civil war."
Arachne was Duke class warrior who could share her sight with her creations.
Thanks to how renowned she was and her skills, basically all nobles in the Capital bought her pieces and this meant she could monitor absolutely any nobles she wished to.
The only limit was her own mental capacity as projecting her mind simultaneously to many art pieces was impossible.
"Indeed it's thanks to you that we learned of Gerald Trahison."
Arachne observed Sol's expression with scrutiny before nodding to herself.
"It seems like you managed to walk out of the shadows of betrayal?"
"Did you expect me to crumble and cry at the mention of how Gerald betrayed me?"
"You nearly did the first time. Though while you did not cry, you certainly crumbled a bit."
"Heh. That I cannot deny."
Learning that Gerald was a traitor had been painful and something Sol had tried to deny.
It was only his feeling of caution that made him decide to continue doubting and while Gerald became a triple agent at the end, this did not change the reality of betrayal.
Even so, "I grew up."
Pain was part of the process. Be it physical or emotional.
The pain he received from the betrayal did not erase the happiness he received from the years they spent together.
Sol managed to separate those two and continue his life happily.
He did not let one pitfall stop him from advancing and simply shrugged the pain away.
"It's indeed admirable."
Arachne clapped and while her tone was quite antagonistic, she was not lying about her feeling.
Anyone who could stand up stronger after being backstabbed by someone they trusted was worthy of respect.
It wasn't all.
Throughout the many small meetings they had, Arachne had been able to glean more about the man named Sol Luxuria, and where she had once only seen a spoiled prince who grew up in a golden cage, she was now able to see a respectable king who would lead his Kingdom to new heights.
"Well, as interesting as it is to discuss with you, I would like to know why the prince decided to grace my modest house with your presence."
Now that the time of niceties ended, Arachne wanted to know what brought Sol here.
The two of them were in no way close enough for there to be such a visit.
Politically, the fact that out of the three Dukes she was the most estranged from the king should have been very dangerous.
But she didn't care. Either way, she was just waiting for her niece to grow old enough and strong enough to take the title.
It would be their problem then.
At the very least, she knew that Sol would not harm her family and she simply had to do her duty.
This situation allowed her to rest easily and simply focus on her passion.
Art and creating new masterpieces.
"I came up with a proposal which I believe will make you very happy."
Arachne rose an eyebrow at this. The confidence in his voice was making her curious.
Not that she had ever seen him talk without confidence ever since he came back from the Astral realm.
"I am a very picky woman."
"Trust me."
"Is that so." She muttered and nodded, "Very well, what do you need my help with?"
"I need your talent to bring help in creating a world-changing era."
Since Theresa had brought something as nonsensical as Mecha into existence, Sol decided to start going all out.
With the help of Kali and her knowledge, he wanted to bring forth all sorts of technology from his world.
'Didn't they all say that angels are super advanced?'
Sol didn't know how powerful Angels were exactly but he did know that a big difference between two armies would lead to a massacre.
'It's time to continue the tradition I guess.'
Each of his ancestors brought big or small changes to this world through their knowledge from another world.
Some changes may be small, but they were there and were one of the reasons why Lustburg looked to be such a mismatch between middle age and modern age as well as a mix between numerous traditions.
But what about Sol?
Until now he had simply been content to let things as is.
There was no need to create a gun when people could move at the speed of lightning or Sonic speed at minimum, right?
Wrong!
He had thought about it wrong.
No matter how powerful a Duke was, they could not survive a strike from a nuclear explosion.
A bullet may not kill a Duke but it sure as hell could kill many humans.
Then what if all the weapons from Earth were enhanced with runes, magic, and alchemy?
How powerful would a nuclear bomb buff with Mana and so on explode?
He didn't know.
The unknown was scary.
But — it was also worth exploring.
(AN: Just to be clear, the advancement in technology will not be the main point of this arc or volume. Though I might focus on it in future volumes and arcs if people are interested. Sol's world is already extremely advanced technology-wise, it's simply the most powerful being don't need science.)
