---
title: "Chapter IV - Suspicion · Vol 1 - Failed Experiment"
url: https://deovandski.github.io/HusbandOutWorld/novel/vol-1/chapter-4/
section: Light Novel
spoilers: public layer first, Behind The Scenes after
sources: [Legacy/Behind The Scenes/Light Novel/Arc #1 - Dubious Contract/Vol 1 - Failed Experiment.md]
---

<!-- PUBLIC LAYER: as published for readers -->

# Chapter IV - Suspicion

*Vol 1 - Failed Experiment*


## 1

![Subchapter illustration](Vol1/4_1.png)

Harry’s eyes were treated to eye candy from yet another maid. Her unnaturally bright cyan eyes and red lips were unavoidable to look at. Her dark brown hair shone in the dusky glow of the dying afternoon, while her almond skin added a mysterious beauty to her aura. The tight blue corset on top of the black clothing enhanced her natural curviness, and the attention-grabbing power of her breasts—of which Harry’s eyes could not help themselves.

The alluring smile on the maid’s red lips quickly waned to a frown and a pout. “You're gonna stare at my rack all day or what? I’m carrying stuff.” A cutesy female voice slipped out of her, but the words within stinged like a wasp’s. Her hands held a jug and a blue basket with brown paper bags poking through the open top.

“S—sorry” Fumbling through his delivery, Harry stepped aside, giving way to her as he scratched his head—the shit eating grin on him proved he was sorry, but not that sorry.

The maid entered the room as if she owned the place, with chin up, and hips swinging. Leaving Harry behind her, she headed towards a circular coffee table that stood between a greenish leathery couch and a few bookcases. Pushing a lone existing half-drunk cup, and a mostly empty jug aside, she slowly placed down her metal jug and a blue fish scale basket.

With his eyes widened, Harry saw her bending over, just enough to show a hint of exposed private skin. Harry squinted his eyes as hard as he could, trying to sharpen his vision even if just a smidge.

Enjoyingly taking her time emptying the blue basket, her hands coincidentally became clumsy at one point, and she happened to drop an empty cup on the floor. Quickly picking it up, she arched her back along the way.

Pausing his breath, Harry, still standing by the open door, focused his mind completely on acquiring the mental imagery of that “raw” instant. His mind went into imagination land, and he clearly saw himself closing the door, approaching her with full-handed butt slap, then sticking it into her right there and then until the sun went down. In reality, he stood by the open door, salivating at the thought as his hand gripped the handle.

The maid grabbed an open book from atop the couch, and sat in its place with no finesse, or femininity, at all. Adjusting her hair, she crossed her legs, locking away her jewel box from potential prying male fingers and eyes.

Noticing the maid making herself at home, Harry was still at the door, quite motionless, while his brain kept on processing the pantyless-ness of her situation. His mouth semi-opened, he vaguely stared at the maid, interlocking her fingers through her beautifully smooth dark brown hair, and sending them away from her face, all while perusing the book Harry was previously trying to read. Her crossed legs brought attention to her foot, slowly, but rhythmically kicking the air, but the longer Harry watched them dance around, the more intense its rhythm became.

The maid quickly flipped a few more pages, chewing her lips. Suddenly, her serious eyes focused on Harry. “Are you a new doorman, or what? Just close it already, and come sit down by me—” Letting out a sigh, she sized Harry up and down, then a promiscuous tone took over her stinging words. “—I promise I won’t bite\!”

With his internal intuition screaming at him—or maybe it was just a shot of adrenaline that sped up his heartbeat, Harry looked to the spiraling stairs, devoid of life, then back at her seductive red lips. *Do it\! Do it\!* An even higher voice inside him told to be a man. His mind, racing with possibilities, followed after this maid’s request, and saw the stairs disappear behind the door closing, by his own eager, but skittish hand.

The room, now with only a man and a woman was a true realm of possibilities—just like an amusement park, but more physically demanding. The maid’s smirk shone once again as her predator’s eyes saw her prey willingly make his way towards her, tensed up as if he was a male praying mantis mindlessly making a move to mate even though he knew the consequences thereafter.

Sitting by her, Harry’s tightened clothes were again nearly exploding at the seams. His hairy gut was poking through the stretched fabric, including his belly button which shone through one of the holes—truly what a girl of cultured taste would consider a true panty-dropping sex appeal. Harry could not speak simply because the words weren’t coming up in his hectic brain. He felt his heart steadily grow faster, and his breathing erratic.

“Are you a cartography buff?” The maid, curling up her hair with her finger, asked point blank, holding one of the half-turned pages as she glanced at Harry. One of the visible pages had a drawn picture of a large black castle with accents in red, blue, green, and yellow that poked the blue sky—at least that’s the feel it was given by whoever drew it from the ground angle.

“N–no.” Harry focused his attention on the book laying on her lap.

“I visited the Forway castle once, nothing out of this world—it’s just a large black tower with a bunch of self-important people. But who cares about them?” The maid quickly flipped through several pages, stopping on a bird’s eye view of a specific map. “I'd rather know about my special guest\!” The maid squished her breasts against Harry’s arm, placing the open book in his lap.

Harry felt the softness of her breasts teasing him, while her perfume, with notes of bubblegum mixed with grapes, softly tickled his nose.

The maid tapped her finger on the map, showing a bird’s-eye view of an inland harbor region with a large, roundish estuary in the middle where a sprawling city surrounded the inland-most part of the estuary. From those spread-out outports, large roads from near the ends headed inland, all merging in a triangle shape far inland. From that inland triangle vertice, an even larger road arose from the edge of the city, and went off the map to the west. She tapped her fingers at the eastern section of the city, near the east vertice of the triangle, close to the ports, where a small road randomly went to the right. “Are you from the Sanbi East slum?”

Squinting towards the book, his eyes could make a bit of sense of what the map was, but it clearly looked foreigner to him. “I’m—I’m not sure—I didn’t know there were multiple of them.” With a heavy breath, Harry tried his best to look at the maid’s rather unnaturally bright cyan eyes, rather than her breasts, but there’s only so much willpower a man could muster before his soul caved in.

The maid’s face grew closer, wetting her lips. “Is that so?” Her voice shifted into stinging again. “So did you also forget that you need to ask people their name?”

Harry could feel her breath, her warmth, and the softness of her breasts still teasing him to no end. Unable to muster a complete sentence, all he could do was to mumble “Yeah—”

“I’m Arukia—” Arukia smiled, interrupting herself mid-sentence. “—and I’ve been told you're Harry Sanbi, right?”

“Yeah— That’s my name—I think.” Harry felt like he wanted to get up, and get some fresh air. His adrenaline was like drinking five cups of coffee, and feeling an urge to walk about all day long.

“You think? That’s—” A snappy, yet girly response ensued, but Arukia seemed to catch herself with a breath. Changing back to a more persuasive tone, she continued. “Is that because Nina gave you that name?”

With a weak nod, Harry agreed as he remembered the whole monkey around thing Nina was doing.

“Poor you—it must be tough dealing with a soul death.” The maid flipped a few more pages, looking for something specific: A house-sized red wooden statue of three corpulent ladies seated by one another in the middle of a roundabout, looking cheerful to passerby. They wore pink bikinis, except the middle one also had a pink hat with a bright reddish tree on it. Even though it was a statue, one could still feel a welcome warmth from them—like visiting grandma, and she tells you that your favorite dessert is ready for you in the kitchen. “This ring any bells?” Arukia tapped on the drawing of the sisters.

Harry quickly, but firmly shook his head. “I saw the three sisters in the book, but it did not feel familiar at all.”

“No? But you reminded me a bit of some Toleridemians I knew—but you have no memories from there, or from Sanbi—even the slums. Sora told me about you. She wants to help you too, but she doesn’t know how—but I do\! So, tell me anything you know\! I promise I won’t tell anyone else.” She slowly blinked, caressing Harry with her hand.

“I—I—don’t know. Everything feels murky—I looked through a few books, but none of the drawings feels familiar\!” Harry slouched his posture, his drooly eyes looked as if had finally given up.

“Really? Then if you don’t mind my curiosity—how do you know what an hour is?” Arukia pressed her boobs further against Harry as she came closer.

Feeling her breath and warmth encroaching him from the side, Harry snapped his neck towards her. “You—you know it as well?” His spirits seemed to have renewed itself, no longer paying as much attention to the pleasures of the flesh.

Biting her lips with a grin, Arukia followed with a sensual tone as she poked her finger on Harry’s cheek. “You could say I heard about it before—”

“Where?” Harry widened eyes and suspenseful face accompanied his suddenly demanding tone.

With a teasing laugh, the maid pushed Harry away. “Sora—you dummy\!” She leaned forward, and poured the hot blackish tea into the two white porcelain cups she had brought. The tea itself had a rather thick, sandy sloppy consistency to it, just like the bottom of a muddy river. The steam coming out had a strong tangy, citrusy fragrance with sweet grass notes—not far from resembling an air refresher. She served a cup to Harry, then grabbed another one for herself, leaning back on the couch.

*So nobody knows about that after all?* With an estranged smile, Harry felt something odd with the tea—maybe the strong smell akin to air fresheners was to blame, but as he watched Arukia take a sip, he followed along; his palate first noticed the chunkiness of the tea—like drinking poorly mixed chocolate syrup and milk, followed by a diabetic knockout punch on his tongue, throat, and stomach. The aftertaste felt like a slap in the face by a citrusy flavor that was close to chewing on multiple fresh orange crusts. Harry soured his face, waiting for his stomach to survive the storm, teetering on the edge of transforming his esophagus into a hose, and destroying any goodwill he had for daring to drink the tea in the first place.

“Don’t give me that look\!” The maid snapped at Harry, taking a shallow sip of her own tea, somehow enjoying its complex flavors.

With a repressed groan, Harry felt repulsed from seeing how much tea was left—like a child seeing he still needs to eat all his veggies. “*Hmmm*—but another maid brought tea already. Do I have to drink more?”

Looking at the half-empty solo cup of tea, and mostly empty jug by the coffee table, the maid let out an audible “tsk” with her tongue. She placed down her cup, and picked that one up to take a whiff. “There's not even Black Honey here\! Who gave this to you?”

“She didn't say?” Harry promptly replied, holding his diabetic-inducing citrusy tea.

“Argh. Whatever\! How is this supposed to even help you?” She caught herself slipping again into a sharpened tongue. “—I knew you would be feeling meh after the resuscitation\! Eiri told us all about it\!”

“Eiri told you everything?” Harry looked at the muddy tea in his cup, imagining Eiri giving her pinky promise to him. *Did she already break it?*

Taking a long, slow sip of her muddy tea, Arukia’s cyan eyes narrowed towards Harry, taking umbrage as she watched his hesitancy to drink. Shuffling her hair like she didn’t care, Arukia followed up, “Maybe it was unrelated—anyway, now drink it up\!”

With a deep breath, Harry went bottoms up on the cup, gulping it all down, while trying to ignore his tongue being waterboarded by this runny slope of muddy water.

“Shesh—I didn’t tell you to gulp it down.” The maid took Harry’s empty cup.

Holding his cramping stomach, Harry felt a violent urge to vomit as the tea ran down his esophagus and punched his gut, but as the seconds passed the urge dialed back, just enough for him to open his watery eyes to Arukia offering him her cup. Even though it had a red lipstick stain tantalizing him to drink it as well, his body shuddered in pure revolt.

With another “tsk,” Arukia peeked behind her, towards the window where the sun was quickly dying down, leaving orangish hard shadows throughout the room. Leaning forward, she placed down her cup and opened a bag of bagels.

Like a rat smelling a trap, Harry felt a sense of doom, carefully grabbing a bagel out of her hands, and bringing it to his nose. He assumed an aggressive smell would slap his senses away, but this time a faint smell of recently baked bread infused with cream cheese and smoked salmon gently came through instead. Carefully taking a bite out of it, he prepared himself for the worst, but instead was presented with a pleasurable soft bread experience that cradled his tongue with gentle flavors from the spread, making him forget the previous flavor punch.

“This is too fishy\! Next time I will make it myself with gyut and bacon\!” Arukia handed over the mostly intact bagel to Harry.

Harry, with pink cream cheese and breadcrumbs on the sides of his mouth, chowed down the last piece of his filling bagel, and accepted Arukia’s.

“You really liked that? Ewww.” Arukia cleaned her lips with a small towel from the bag, sitting back, and ensuring she was scooching skin-to-skin with Harry.

Arukia took another sip of her muddy tea, enjoying its somehow delectable flavors when a knock in the door interrupted their moment of Zen.

A tall maid with black hair and freckles opened a sliver of the door. “Harry—oh Arukia. Since you’re here glued to him, clean it up, and bring him down for dinner.” Her monotone voice sounded like it was her final words. “—Unless you want Maiara to find out.”

“Itanema\!” Arukia angrily tried to call the maid at the door, but it was too late. She already closed it without giving a chance for rebuttal.

Meanwhile, with a quick gulp to clear his throat, Harry pointed at the closed door where his eyes saw someone familiar. “I think it was her\! The maid that gave me tea earlier in the day.”

Arukia stood up. “I figured—even her food is bland. Now help me clean this up\!” she pointed at the coffee table “I’m going to go get the fost lamp up instead\!”

*Okay?* Harry chowed down the bagel quickly, and did as told.

## 2

![Subchapter illustration](Vol1/4_2.png)

*I just don’t get it. Itanema barely spoke to me earlier today, but then Arukia was really friendly—wait\! Was she actually into me after all? SHIT\! Maybe she was giving signs all along, and I just never realized?* Harry mindlessly took a bite of his food even though he was already kinda feeling full. In his mind he pictured the moment Itagiba told him about marrying a princess. *But—but I’m supposed to marry a princess\! I actually completely forgot that\!* Harry looked towards Itagiba, finishing up eating a purple meat, discussing something about a new deal with Waterfall City amongst the other people at the table. *I guess I am glad I did not do anything stupid after all—I just hope Maiara is as hot as Arukia, or at least as cute as Sora.* Harry glanced at tiny Sora before checking outside for the quickly encroaching night, now being bathed in a sea of white lights amongst the buildings poking above the castle walls.

*I wonder where Maiara is right now? They haven’t said anything about her yet.* Avoiding making too much eye contact with the people at the table, he directed his attention towards the strange metal flatware he was holding, playing close attention to its odd shape, a two-prong fork on one end, and a spoon on the other with wavy carvings in the middle that spelled out two words: *Donas’ Picker? Oh\! So that’s what a picker is\!* Harry remembered seeing that mentioned somewhere in one of the books he had glanced at. *So it really is like a fork and spoon combined\!*

Picking at the food on his plate, Harry brought a piece of a purple meat sausage to his mouth. There was a burst of chicken flavor, specifically from dark meat mixed with bone marrow. The fat within the sausage balanced the other spices out to create this smooth meaty goodness palate. *Kinda tastes like chicken, but there is something different. Was it always purple? Hmmm—what about this? Kinda tastes a bit gamey—a little tough too. Oh? Is that mushroom?* Harry picked at another meat that looked like corned brisket. He smelled it, then took another bite. *It is definitely kinda salty, a bit peppery too—but is the mushroom smell from the meat itself? Hmmm. Never had this before. Would be nice inside a taco—*

“HARRY\! RAKUJA\!” A sweet, energetic child’s voice echoed above the normal murmurs at the dinner table.

Harry looked towards the source of the voice, Nina, but all he saw was ball-shaped fruit flying towards his face, right before it squashed itself like an egg being dropped onto the floor. The fruit exploded on him, revealing black seeds wrapped in a sack of yellow, slightly tangy and sweet juice. Gravity then finished the job by pulling it down towards his nose, before it slumped on his belly, landing on his lap.

Harry did not feel much of the ball-shaped mark left on his forehead, for his eyes started burning as if he had spilled lime juice on it. He dropped his picker, and wiped away the juice and seeds with his hands, but the viscous and sticky nature of it prevented him from making any meaningful progress. Rather, he was mostly spreading the juice around his face.

Itagiba, the king dressed in gold with blue fish scales, belly laughed, but quickly choked on his half eaten meat, and had to resort to gulping it down with beer.

Meanwhile, the person beside Harry, a tall girl with a ponytail that kinda looked like Itagiba, but more female, let out a disappointed “Pffft.”

Neferteri, the queen, beside Itagiba, lost her elegant smile and restful expression. In its place, arose a stare like daggers against Nina. “No more rakujas until next Sannday.”

“WHAT?” Pure sadness coursed through Nina's teary eyes as she stared back at her mother, using her grubby little hands to pull on her arm. “WHY, MOMMA?”

“We will talk later. Now apologize to him, and clean your hands.” Neferteri took a small bite of her food.

“That’s what you get\!” A low, but audible girly voice came from the corner end of the table, from a princess in purple hair called Eori, right as she took another bite of a decently sized chunk of coal-grilled fish.

Meanwhile, Eiri, in a fancy maid dress sitting across from Harry, put down her beer pitcher. “You okay, Harry? Itanema, please get him two wet towels.”

A groan came out of Harry, still trying to clean away the juices. In his blurry vision, he saw the two maids at the end of the table. Sora looked like she just had seen an accident, and was moments away from sprinting to help, while the other maid stood up as if nothing had happened.

“Yes, king-maid.” The tall maid with long black hair and freckles by the name of Itanema grabbed the wet towels from a nearby basket, approached Harry, and handed it to him in a shoving motion.

The moisty warmth of the towel on his face felt like salvation. Harry’s reddened eyes were able to see something again, albeit they still burned, just like when you cut onions. He saw Eiri wrinkling her brow, worriedly looking back at him, while the rest of the table continually drank and ate. Amongst the voices, he heard Itagiba’s voice saying something along the lines of Gabiro fucking it up across the table to the girl in purple, and a guy in gray hair and horizontal-striped blue and gold clothing saying something back.

“I’m sorry\!” Nina, the small child in pink, caught his attention away from the conversation. Her teary eyes looked back and forth between Harry and her mother, the queen. She grabbed a picker with each hand, eagerly awaiting what was gonna come next from her mother, Neferteri.

“Thank you, princess Nina—” The queen took a small glance at Harry and Nina as the elegance of her expression remained.

“Sorry for what? It’s his fault for being a fat pussy\!” A womanly voice, sounding like a female version of Itagiba, spoke loudly in the room, tearing through all the ongoing conversations.

Harry, finishing wiping his face and parts of his hair, opened his reddened blurry eyes towards her, taken aback by the coarseness unexpectedly coming out of someone who didn’t look like they would say such a thing. Her long dark purple hair with blue strands, held into a large ponytail, was tied by a red and pink butterfly hair tie. Her gentle purple eyes and fair skin made her pretty to look at, but with a few more blinks one could see clear hints of Itagiba’s characteristics, especially when she started speaking.

“Is that how you planned to introduce yourself—dear princess Maiara?” Neferteri softly, and elegantly remarked without looking at the pony-tailed princess. She instead took another small bite of her food, oozing elegance with her pinky finger raised, and careful and calculated demeanor as if she was from the Victorian times.

“—Maiara?” Harry's vision of a princess like Eori, maybe sexier like Arukia, or cuter like Sora all crumbled in front of his eyes. In the shattered expectations, he felt his heart sinking.

Maiara sulked as her purple eyes stared back at Neferteri’s, enjoying her wine. “You want an introduction? Okay.” The sulk in her lips transformed into a sure Itagiba-like smirk, her eyes now impishly glared towards Harry’s, appreciating his apparent immeasurable sex appeal: his faint neckbeard, barely visible mustache complemented the unconfident look in his face. His large gut, nearly exploding out of his shirt, drew enough attention to itself, but then there was the exposed hairy belly button also fighting for attention. Finally, the wet towel with yellow stains and black seeds resting on his lap showing a bulge in his tight pants was the final touch in creating this vision of a dream man—for someone, maybe a very specific individual somewhere in the four corners of the world.

Embarrassedly smiling back, Harry felt this odd aura coming from her—something akin to Arukia, but far more aggressive than playful. His hand held a picker with food, unsure whether to put it in his mouth, or place it back in the plate.

With a sweeping motion, Maiara grabbed one of the Rakujas away from Nina’s tiny slimy hands, right as she was about to perform an incision to extract the tangy goodness.

“MOM\! MY RAKUJA\!” Nina pointed towards Maiara with the picker in her hand. Her mouth slacking, she openly stared at what Maiara was about to do as if someone was about to crush her own soul—

Lifting the rakuja above her head, right above her open wide mouth, Maiara squeezed the life out of it. Her forearm and hand muscles contracted hard enough to make the rakuja explode everywhere.

The area surrounding Maiara became a splash zone of a theme park attraction; Harry and Kibe were the biggest casualties aside from Maiara's own hair and clothes.

“MY RAKUJA\! AHHHH\!” Nina exclaimed with despair as Maiara chucked the remains of the rakuja right in front of her, making a sloppy wet sound. She picked it up with teary eyes as if it were the remains of her own son. Lifting it off the table, the remains then broke in half, and splashed back on the table—Nina lost it, and started bawling like a little baby.

“Urgh. That’s my backup uniform\!” Kibe touched his uniform, stained all over with the yellow juice and seeds. He touched his hair next, and felt the same stickiness. With a grunt, he moved his chair back, and walked off mumbling to himself.

“Courtroom scientist Kibe\! Do you want the rest of your dinner delivered to your room?” a higher pitched, fast hip hop speech came out of Sora.

Harry opened his eyes again as he saw the stranger in gray hair walk past, ignoring Sora. He then saw Maiara, his future would-be wife, proudly smile at Neferteri with rakuja juice running down her cheeks like she was a happy pig after feeding from a trough. He looked down to his lap, and picked up the wet dirty towel resting on it to once again clean himself.

A small eerie silence claimed the room. Neferteri cleaned her throat as her head barely shook, subtly closing her eyes to go back to enjoy her wine.

“—still not as good as Yacamim\!” A mischievous low voice came from the princess in purple, Eori, as she slowly took another bite of her food, appearing to imitate Neferteri’s grace, but somehow looking more forced than natural. Normally the voice would go unheard, but the momentary silence in the room allowed it to propagate further than normal.

Maiara bent backwards on the table to take a good look at Princess Eori. “Bitch—what did you say?”

“Princess Eori—” Neferteri slowly glanced at her, sipping her wine.

“What? I didn’t say anything\!” Eori took another bite of her food, and lifted a towel to hide her mouth—trying to hide a wide grin based on the wrinkle in her eyes.

With a sudden thirst for blood, Maiara’s hands searched the table for something, stopping to focus on the Rakujas.

Nina, feeling Maiara’s intention, stood up, and bent over the table, protecting her rakujas with her hands like a chicken protecting its chicklings from the rain. However, it was to no avail as Maiara’s hands firmly reached towards her rakujas. “NO\! MAIARA\! NO\!” Nina struggled with all her might, making loud, yet cute grunts against Maiara’s sticky wet hands, trying to reach for one of the tennis-ball-sized rakujas. “NO\! LEAVE THEM ALONE\!” As the struggle kept going, Nina saw one last way to defend her precious children, and jabbed the fork side of a picker deep into Maiara’s arm.

“Motherfucker\!” In the struggle, Maiara managed to grab a rakuja, then stood up and quickly threw it like a professional pitcher—arching her arm, and all—against Eori’s head right as she was about to enjoyingly take another bite.

The fruit made a loud thud as it exploded on Eori’s soft, spotless cheek like a good punch. Eori’s body slumped to the empty seat beside her, giving Maiara a win by a technical knockout—at least for a few seconds before Eori wobblily sat back up, getting her bearings of where she was.

Itanema, the maid with long black hair and freckles, was now in the splash zone, as her upper uniform got soaked with juices. She looked at it, then ignored the griminess as if it wasn’t her first rodeo.

“MOOOOM\! My rakuja—” Nina’s voice cracked, and tears poured again from her eyes. She stood there in her seat, as if she had lost her babies.

Eori’s cheek was red like a tomato, and she started to swallow. “Fucking bitch\!” Eori forcefully took the towel from Sora’s hand, who rushed to her aid, and began cleaning after herself, including the blood slowly surging from within the side of her lips.

“You two are paying for her rakujas,” Itagiba’s fatherly, but iron-strong willed voice sliced through Nina’s cries towards both princesses, pointing at them with a half-eaten purple meat thigh as if it was his gavel.

Removing the picker with a swift pull, Maiara responded to Itagiba by throwing it on the table towards Nina. With her arm now bleeding profusely from what appeared to be a snake bite, she stained her own clothes, and the floor, as she took out a small sack from inside her leather garment, and threw it across the table, right on Nina’s rakuja plate, making a metallic, rocky sound as it struck. “Take your fucking rakujas then—” Maiara made her way out of the dining room, stomping out as she held her profusely bleeding arm, leaving a trail of dripped blood in the floor.

Nina, like the flip of a switch, stopped crying, and opened the sack. A sudden smile shone on her face, immediately jumping out of the chair, and taking off towards the door as well, only for them to slip on the trailing blood, and fall backwards, knocking her head. Instead of crying, she firmly stood up, with the leather bag still tightly held in hands, and charged towards the door—her pink uniform, and hair messy with blood.

“Itanema, can you go with her?” Eiri looked at the tall maid, just chilling, waiting for instructions as she didn’t seem to care whatever was happening.

“Yes, king-maid,” the maid excused herself.

Taking a sip of her wine, Neferteri, spoke softly. “Bathe her first.''

“Yes, my queen.” The tall maid at the door turned back towards the queen to excuse herself again.

“I’m aware of your actions, please cease them.” Neferteri placed her wine glass on the table, and looked at Eori, enjoying herself with a large smirk from ear to ear despite her red swollen cheek, and still cleaning away rakuja seeds from her long purple hair.

“Cease for what? She’s the one throwing rakujas around like a maniac\!” Eori's voice sounded like she had her cheek full of food—like a squirrel prepping for winter.

Itagiba pointed to a half-eaten purple thigh towards Eori “True dat, but you poked her first, so that’s why you’re paying back half of what she gave to Nina.”

Cursing under her own breath, Eori stood up, and walked away as well. “No—Sora, I do not want the rest of my dinner delivered to my room,” she said without looking back at Sora.

Sora, with her hand reaching out, was about to speak when she got shut down. Her head dropped, and she flimsily played with her hands, reddening in the face.

Eiri looked around the table, then towards Harry. Her lips formed an estranged smile, “Need anything else, Harry? We do have desserts too, even rakujas if you want to try them.” She looked at Nina’s unprotected plate, with some untouched rakujas.

“I’m good, thank you.” Harry slightly smiled back, imagining Nina stabbing his arm if he dared to take one. Plus, his belly felt full to the brim from two dinners in a row—he couldn’t help himself to a few more bagels.

“Yo\! Wanna check out the contract now? It’s gonna be good\!” Itagiba’s voice cheered, gulping down another beer.

Harry looked at Eiri, who looked right back at him with a flat smile, and a stalled rigid posture. Feeling like the time had come, he dry gulped. “I—yes, please.”

Eiri whistled twice, and soon after a gleeful older lady with thicker proportions, and well-endowed breasts—which she was not afraid to show off—appeared. She also wore the usual black and blue maid clothing, but she also had a red thatch hat, and caramel-colored short hair. She extended her empty hand towards Harry while carrying a large bucket with the other. “Need another towel, honey?”

“No—thank you.” Harry felt a grandmotherly vibe as he handed the towel back to her. Soon after, he saw another maid come in—one with a familiar face, and name: Arukia. Her sensual hips walking past him still stoked something primal inside him. However, she did not even make eye contact, or acknowledge him, let alone speak a word.

“What did you like the most?” Itagiba caught Harry’s attention.

“Ahh. I think the sausage. It was really good, but the meat was good too. Did you prepare it with mushrooms?” Harry pointed at the mostly empty plate right by the mess of rakujas left by Nina.

A loud burp came out of Itagiba. “—mushrooms? What’s that?” Itagiba poured another one for himself.

“I’m not sure exactly. Like slightly earthy, comes in a blue thing wrapped in plastic wrap? Yeah\! Kinda whitish, but I can’t quite remember the shape of the mushroom inside.” Harry saw himself picking up a blue box from a supermarket shelf, knowing it was mushrooms, but didn’t know its shape.

“That’s—different. Hurgh,” Itagiba looked more confused than before, burping a bit loudly before downing another pitch of beer, perhaps trying to make sense of what just came out of Harry’s mouth.

“Sora, did you use my mother’s recipe on the Bagarisa?” Eiri glanced towards Sora.

Sora was waking the big black bird up, calling it towards the table. “Y–yes\! King-maid\! Salted Bagarisa, marinated for half timehunk in butter, salt, nica pepper, and Yabuca juice, slow cooked for two timehunks, then flash fried at the end.” The cutesy small maid, blushing as always, flawlessly recited the recipe as she brought a plate closer for the bird to peck at.

## 3

![Subchapter illustration](Vol1/4_3.png)

With all the maids gone, except for Sora, Eiri picked up a scroll from a red with golden accents couch that fit four people, and unrolled it in front of Harry. It was a fancy glossy paper, with a highly detailed blue border that made the handwritten wall of text in red fancier, albeit contrasting what appeared to be blood spatter mixed with a translucent grain in the bottom left; the bottom right looked eerily spotless though.

Neferteri brought out her badge, and handed it over to Eiri. Eiri, in turn, placed the badge on top of the splattered blood, making the base of the thermometer-like apparatus, where one would put his or her thumb, faintly glow.

A small hum came out of Harry, connecting the dots in his head. He looked at Eiri’s worrying eyes, seeking salvation.

Neferteri keenly observed his puppy eyes towards Eiri. “Would you like us to give you a summary of it, or would you rather read for yourself?”

Harry, glancing through the contract, saw many unrecognizable words with what appeared to be a flowery language. Some words popped out like *Gandew Common Duel Rights & Duties* and *Forway Duel* “I—guess so—can you summarize it, please?”

Neferteri was about to speak when a wet gurgle came from Itagiba, accompanied by an audible clap of a wooden mug hitting the table “It’s easy, bud\! Hic\! You sign the contract, and will duel Maiara tomorrow. If you win, you get her hand, and a life of riches—*arrggghhh.*” A wet burp came out of him. He held his mouth with a fist while the other hand gave a wait signal. A few seconds later, he followed up “—but if you lose, you will work for us.” Itagiba drunkenly opened his hands wide and far from his body. “I—mean—C’MON. That’s a fucking win either way right there\!” He grabbed his empty cup, and pointed at Harry. “Do you know how many people would be dying for this?”

*I guess I don’t.* Harry felt those words sting him, as he watched Itagiba about to pour the rest of the beer from the jug into the pitcher, but then just throw the pitcher aside, and drink straight from the jug like a frat boy. Shifting his attention towards Eiri, he saw a tense smile shine on her face, but Harry could feel her eyes had much to say—but they weren’t saying anything, not even a hint. Looking at Sora, Harry only saw that she actively avoided making eye-contact with him, even as to turn her head away when Harry kept on looking. *Do I just sign it? But Eiri told me to consider it carefully, but I can’t really understand it—why can’t she just help me?* Harry glanced back at the king and queen, waiting for him to simply comply. His muscles were all tensed up, with a large frown mixed with a peaked eyebrow. He felt like he triggered a quick time event, but he didn’t know how long he had to act. His breath was somewhat deep, but his heart pulsated strongly on his chest. He wanted to say *yes*, but he just couldn’t bring himself to actually do it; such a simple word to say got wedged in his throat, refusing to get out.

“I understand where you are. I truly do,” Neferteri placed her hand on the table, making a soft chimney sound as the metallic golden rings in her hands clashed on it. “We do acknowledge you have eyesight issues. For that, I’ve requested a nari gel from Princess Eori—for she can make some gels just as good as veteran scientists. And do not worry, you do not need to partake in the contract for that benefit.” Neferteri made deep eye contact with Harry as the corners of her mouth formed a small smile. “Think of it as a token of our gratitude for indulging in our request. As soon as it is ready, a maid will deliver it to your room.”

With his elbows on the table, Harry slowly rubbed one palm on the back of the other hand, looking back at the contract, “Thank you—it’s just that I—need some time. I want to read it carefully, but—”

“That’s what a big fat pussy would say\!” Itagiba moved his chair back with his feet, making a scratching noise on the floor. Standing up, he pointed the empty glass jug to himself “*Hic.* Maiara is my daughter\! and I gave you permission to fuck her. *Hic.* What more do you fucking want? Ahhhhhhh—” Itagiba suddenly threw himself into a laughing fit. “Hol’ up\! Do you like men instead? Is that what you are trying to holler?”

“Ahhh—no?” Harry felt his heart rate pound on the back of his throat. Moving his hand close to his body, Harry held them tightly, away from the towering drunk king on the other side of the table.

Neferteri stood up, closing her eyes tightly, taking a deep breath, as the rest of her body remained elegant and courteous. “Dear—you had too much to drink.”

Itagiba shooed Neferteri’s hand away. “Nah—I’m fine. It’s my fault I did not have a cute son for Harry. I FUCKING TRIED, ALL RIGHT?” Itagiba cleaned away a manly tear running down his cheek.

Frozen, Harry speechlessly looked at the king of Sanbi kingdom, looking at him with flaring nostrils and bulging eyes.

“We talked about this. Dear\!—please go to bed.” Neferteri placed her hand on his shoulder, and squeezed tightly.

Itagiba looked at her hand, his body shuffling away from her in what appeared to be an acute shoulder pinch, “Ohh—one of those nights\! Sanbi shit\!—Okay—okay\! I’m going\!” Itagiba placed down the empty glass jug, then his hand on the table as he walked around it, drunkenly making his way towards Harry. Almost falling on him as came closer, he then also propped himself on Harry’s chair, putting his face towards Harry's ear.

Harry saw a plethora of purple meat fibers stuck in the teeth of this towering man. Next, a strong beer breath came out as he further approached, looking as if the king was about to kiss him on the cheeks. Harry stood there, still paralyzed, with a shock to his face as if he was about to be shot. Meanwhile, his hands clenched tightly against his body, failing to even try to defend himself.

Itagiba whispered, or rather tried to whisper, but he was still quite loud. Saliva flew towards Harry’s ear, landing on his cheeks, “Don’t worry, bud\! *Hic*—tonight I will try again\! If a son comes out, I will make sure you will have the first dibs when he’s ready\!” Itagiba mischievous snarked, then slapped Harry’s back three times, quite hard, appearing to save Harry from a non-existent choking hazard.

Still having no words, Harry cleaned Itagiba’s saliva from his ear as he saw the king happily stumble his way out of the room.

“Apologies for my husband, as he overindulges on occasion.” Neferteri, standing behind her own chair, gripped the top as if she was about to snap a piece right off, yet her expression remained just as peaceful, and elegant as one would expect.

“Awww—fuck\!” The sounds of someone tumbling down the stairs followed by a splat on the floor echoed from outside the room. “—ahhhhhh—my back—I’m fine\! I’m fine\!—ow—my back.” Itagiba’s not-as-strong-willed voice echoed from afar.

Sora ran out of the room as if she was running away from a building on fire, while everybody else remained acting as if nothing happened.

Eiri’s head slowly turned side to side, trying to remain serious, but soon after a chuckle surfaced, breaking her tension. “Take him to his room, please\!” She spoke loudly.

“Yes, king—argh—maid\!” Sora’s voice echoed back, but this time strained. Itagiba’s near audible grunts also came in—it sounded like they were having sumo wrestling.

Grabbing everyone’s attention, neutering the chuckle with the looks of someone down to get business done, Neferteri followed up with a clear of her throat. “As I was saying, we will be giving you nari gels to improve your eyesight. Shall we go to the office to sign?”

Harry’s slight smile disappeared as his eyes watched over the contract, with Neferteri’s badge still glowing faintly at her own blood signature.

Neferteri waited a few seconds, letting the sound of steam coming from the large fost lamps hanging above them fester the room.

Unable to take action, Harry stared at the glow in Neferteri’s badge, devoid of thought as to what to do.

Placing her open hand towards the contract, Neferteri broke the silence. “I will give you until Monnahigh to consider this proposition. If you do not wish to sign, then the guards will escort you back to the slums. King-maid?” Her voice was just as strong-willed, but far more stern than her husband’s.

Eiri grabbed Neferteri’s badge, and gave it back. Rolling up the contract, she asked one thing—insinuating more of a demand than question. “When will you give him the opportunity to read?”

“Whenever the nari gel is finished.” Neferteri opened her hand, and received the contract from Eiri, then displayed it towards Harry. “My husband, even with his savory choice of words, did correctly summarize it.” She shone the faintest smile in the corner of her mouth towards Eiri “—Is there anything else you would like to add?”

Eiri, with thin lips. “No.”

“Then I shall confirm with Princess Eori. I appreciate you indulging us thus far.” Neferteri excused herself as well.

The sound of Nefeteri’s footing echoed in the dining hall, while Harry and Eiri stood in silence, looking at one another.

“What do I do?” Harry spoke under his breath towards Eiri, but her eyes were carefully aimed towards the open door Neferteri just crossed.

Eiri stood up, still looking towards the door, she responded under her breath as well. “Just do what you think is best, I’m sorry—need help going back to your room?”

Standing up as well, Harry felt an idea snap through his brain “Wait. Why can’t I take the contract with me to my room?”

Eiri bit her lips, speaking from what appeared to be a canned response. “Because we trust the kingdom, rather than an individual from tampering with the contract. So—you really didn’t read it?” Her eyes shone with a motherly look as she clenched her gloved hands.

“Not really—I mean, I tried to, but there are so many words I don’t know.” Harry made a culpable smile, his tone growing distant. “I thought you would help me.”

“I’m sorry, Harry. You need to make the call, not me—that’s all I can do right now. If you really want to read it, then go across the hall and knock on the monarchy department. That’s where Neferteri probably went, but be wary of her—” With an anguished look, Eiri moved her hand towards the door, telling Harry to move on.

“Thanks—” Standing up, he crossed eyes with the large black bird chilling by the other seat, apparently looking at him with a “Yo\!—got any more grub?” dead stare and a shuffling head. Ignoring the bird, he made himself out of the room, and saw a large rectangle with stairs going down in the middle, and two walkways on both sides that lead across the open concept room. Scratching his neck beard, Harry stood there, pausing for a second, looking towards the doors on the other side, or the stairs in front of him. *If Eiri is not helping me, then who will?—why did she help me in the first place?*

Harry’s feet moved on their own, but instead of walking towards those doors, he walked downstairs, and out of the castle. In the courtyard, by the two doors he had just come out of, he saw two fost lamps. A bright light in the shape of a stone stood at the bottom of a glass container, emitting a bright white light. Around it, he could see bubbling around the stone constantly forming, releasing constant steam towards the surface. *Those fost lamps are everywhere, but I never saw them before—or I guess I don’t remember them at all—but how would I forget something like that, but remember a bunch of weird crap?*

Walking further along, Harry noticed a large puke, and a black hair piece near it, coincidently about the size of Sora’s. *What am I even doing at this point?* Ignoring the nausea from the smell of the puke mixed with alcohol, he walked away from the lamps, into a darker part of the courtyard. Looking at the stars above, he saw them as hazy and out of focus points of familiar lights in a blanket of dark greenish hues. Somehow the freckles of light, and how they were spread throughout the sky felt normal, but the color of the night did not. Next, he looked at the lone moon, now higher in the horizon, shining a constant green bright green hue, as if protected by a shimmering veil. *That doesn’t feel right—*

With a long-winded sigh, Harry walked back towards the southeast tower. *Am I doing the right thing? Maybe I should have signed it already. I mean, after all, they gave me everything I have right now. But then why did Eiri say all of that? How can I even think carefully when I know jack shit?*

Harry made his way back to his room—well, as much as it was “his” room as someone going back to “his” hostel bed after spending the day walking about in a foreign country. It might feel like a home, relatively speaking, but for sure it isn’t.