Chapter 17 – Down Time

"Hey, why are you following me around"

"I'm under orders to escort you around Miss Ikarus"

"I already told you, drop the Miss. It's infuriating"

"Okay"

I'm currently wandering around the city trying to figure out what to actually do being followed around by knight Nathan. Clearly, I'm a bit stuck on this.

"Have you any suggestions on what we can do? If you say go and see succubus-sama, then I'll punch you"

"Succubus-sama?"

"Forget it, it's a joke you wouldn't understand. Suggestions?"

I've got to be careful with that, her name is priestess-sama, not succubus-sama. That might end up getting me in trouble.

"What type of things do you like"

"Anything really, I've basically got unlimited money"

"I really don't know, the opera perhaps? I really don't know what people do in their free time though"

Okay, my face just sunk hearing that, this guy isn't going to be any help. The opera? You really think I've got the patience for something like that?

Wait, opera isn't even medieval era though, it's slightly after. Maybe I was a little off in my estimation on how advanced this world is, everything still looks medieval like but there are a few slight differences. The glass in this world looks quite modern and- oh, speak of the devil, the streetlights literally just came on. There is working streetlights as well.

"Are you curious on how they work?"

He must have seen me staring at the light, it is interesting to know how they power it though.

"Let me guess, something stupid like magic?"

"No actually, it's a rare type of metal that gets mined in the mountains. It lasts for decades before expiring and it only ever lights up when darkness is approaching"

I guess that's some pointless information saved for future use then, no idea what I can use it for.

"Still don't know what to do… why am I overthinking this? I know exactly what to do"

A sly grin appears on my face, my mother really isn't going to approve of this.

__________

"*Gulp*, Haaaa… it's so freaking refreshing!"

"You should really slow down Ikarus"

"I haven't had a drink in over a year and a half, I've got make up for all the time lost not drinking"

Me and Nathan are currently sitting at a table in a loud bar filled with people, there's easily over a dozen empty bottles on my table alone.

I've already drunk half a bottle of whiskey, several bottles of wine, meads, ales, ciders, basically, any type of alcohol this place sells, I've probably tried it by now.

'This may taste nice but I really don't understand why I don't feel drunk yet, is this all watered down?'

[<Phoenix species have extremely high tolerance to alcohol>]

"Now you tell me this!? You're telling me I can't even get wasted in this freaking world? If this didn't taste so good, I'd be going mad right now"

"Ikarus, who are you talking to?"

Oh, I said that out loud. Maybe the alcohol does have an effect, just it's extremely minor. I do feel quite happy right now though.

"Hehe… a voice in my head"

Heh, he actually looks confused at my response, I've finally found someone who might think I'm crazy.

"Erm… what does the voice say?"

Does he believe me as well? This is just pointless.

"Just imagine a nagging wife in your ear who gives me information sometimes. She's not actually that irritating, just her personality can be at times"

"That doesn't sound that bad, I guess?"

Thinking about it, Aesa system isn't all that bad, she did inform me I'm slowly dying after all. If it wasn't for her, I would probably never have known till it was too late. She literally might be the sole existence responsible for saving the entire world for giving me that information.

[<Heh>]

"Was that a laugh Aesa!? Ah forget it, I'm too tipsy to give a damn. Do you not plan on drinking knight? You'll be surprised just how well booze can go with food as well"

Seriously though, stuff like salted peanuts and pretzels go so well with a stiff drink. Unfortunately, they don't have my favourite in this world though. Potato chips or crisps as we call them from the island I called home back on Earth.

Damn, if I had the time and patience, I should try making stuff like that. It's basically only fried potato after all. Oh, fizzy drink as well, that goes brilliant mixed with alcohol! I'm missing Earth's food and drink now a lot.

"Drinking isn't really my thing, not the biggest fan of having my senses nulled. You can continue though"

Well, he's just ruined my fun. Screw it, I can continue my drinking later, my stamina is still more than high enough to last throughout the night. I can take a take a quick break and do something else for a bit.

"Let's just leave knight, you've ruined my buzz"

Getting up and leaving the bar with the knight, we go out the front door and I notice something, Nathan's face looks slightly uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?"

"Erm… it might be better avoiding that street"

The direction I was heading in seems to be causing him distress, I have no idea why though.

"Why?"

"It's a little bit difficult to explain. We kinda call it a red-light district"

A red-light district? Oh, there's several half naked women coming out of one of the buildings with several men alongside them. Two of the women are elves as well.

"That's a brothel?"

"You understand the term?"

Of course, I'm going to know what a brothel or a red-light district is. Wait, that sounds really suspect, isn't that common knowledge? I swear, I've never been to one! I'm digging myself a grave right now; I should shut it.

"I know more about human stuff than I let on knight"

"*Sigh*, Every city has it's shameful corner, ours just happens to be quite large and popular"

His reaction irritated me a bit, no need to shame such a place.

"Why are you putting it down so much? Everyone has to earn a living somehow, nothing wrong with it"

"You have a point; it just isn't my idea of fun"

"I agree with you but you still shouldn't look at it like that, people have got to put bread on the table somehow"

"Yeah… you are right"

Even though I'm personally not into the idea of paying someone for intimacy, can't understand the reason why someone should be shamed or punished for such an act.

'Oh God, I wonder what that certain act would feel like as a female though? Let's not think about it, that's a scary thought'

[<-User- is getting worked up>]

"A-Anyway… let's move on"

__________

I'm not proud to admit it but I literally spent the next five nights drinking my body weight in booze. Hey, I wasn't joking, I've got make up for lost time. I should be careful though, this body allows me to drink too much, I could end up getting bored of alcohol, that's a horrible thought.

As for the daytimes, they were a little calmer except for one obvious exception, I'll explain that in a little while. Most of the time, I would eat loads of sweets and meat, not together obviously. Also go shopping for loads of random stuff that could prove useful in the future that I've stored in my ring and just exploring the city really, just trying to kill a load of time.

Oh, I also bought some clothes, they look freaking badass! The main part of it is a black and white short dress, combine that with long black socks and boots, it looks epic!

Sure, it isn't exactly reserved looking but who cares about something like that, it's not exactly like I'm walking around half naked. Most of the woman in this world all wear long dresses and stuff like that which would make stuff like getting around and fighting a hell of lot more difficult to do.

Let's not discuss having to buy underwear, okay? I guarantee my face went really red while doing that embarrassing task. Imagine a modern lingerie shop, just even worse. There was so much crap in there, it was way too overwhelming.

It almost seems as if I've seen this picture of me on a novel cover or something like that… Ahem, let's not be doing something like potentially breaking a fake fourth wall. I'm definitely real, right? Or am I just a figment of your imagination? Whooosh…

Getting back on track to the noticeable exception I was talking about, there was an incident in a bath house… No! Not that type of incident! Let me explain… you see, unless you own property and as well as a bath, you have to bathe in large communal bathhouses.

Once I found a decent one and was ready to use it, I was actually slightly looking forward to it. It's not like I'm being a perve or anything, I just wanted to compare my body to others, I swear!

Upon seeing all the naked figures in the bath house, my mind was only filled with disappointment. Why the hell am I such a narcissist? None of those women even come close to comparing to me. Ignoring my narcissistic tendencies, I started cleaning myself and that's when the exception happened.

I may have punched someone in the face, really hard in fact, so much so that it knocked them out and they may have broken their nose.

I'll explain… some random bitch came up and surprised me by grabbing my breasts. Yeah, literally while I was cleaning myself, no warning, she just grabbed them!

There is no way this is a normal thing in a bathhouse so I may have reacted badly to the perverted woman. Seriously though, this can't be a normal thing that women do to random strangers bathing, right?

I'm may be sitting in a prison cell right now. Turns out, knocking someone out cold isn't allowed. It's so bullshit, she assaulted me first!

'I'm getting bored in here, let's take a look at my status'

[Name: Ikarus | Species: Phoenix | Level: 21]

[Health 3,475/3,500]

[Stamina 3,333/3,500]

[Magicka 3,500/3,500]

'Aesa, I thought you said I was close to levelling up? I really want that extra five hundred now'

[<-User- is close to levelling up. 2.4 wolfs or 5.6 goats>]

'I told you not to do that. Just round it up. Three wolfs, or, six goats'

[<Affirmative>]

I'm currently chilling in the cell prison relaxing on the bed.

The guards who arrested me didn't find any possessions I was carrying except the ring and the clothes I was wearing, purposely put everything away hidden. Might be a little paranoid but for all I know, the guards could've taken some coins without me knowing. Never hurts to be safe.

"Let mee outtttttt"

"Oi, shut up already"

I'm only doing this to wind the jailer up, he's currently sitting on a wooden chair watching the several cells. Thing is, I'm extremely bored. When's the prince going to come here of this and sort this out? I bet the knight Nathan is really stressed out as well due to what's going on.

"This bed is sooo uncomfortablleeee!"

"For the love of God. Shut, the hell, UP!"

I'm really giving the jailer a headache. Good, he deserves it. I have already told him putting me in here is a bad idea, none of these idiots believed me when I said the woman grabbed me first.

"--- fucking idiots, --- really don't know --- stupid --- are"

"We we're ---- doing --- job knight. She assaulted -------"

Oh, that first voice sounds familiar. I can't see him yet though. I can hear a bit of what they're saying through.

"If --- said she was attacked -----, then why did --- fucking arrest --- alone but not the ----- woman?"

"We ---- wanted -- ask --- some questions, she --- being uncooperative. --- other woman wasn't"

That's a lie, it's because the bitch had large breasts, these guys took her words over mine. That's the only reason I can think of, she wasn't even all that convincing, just clearly attractive to males, I guess.

"Yet… she --- willing -- be captured --- didn't kill a single --- of --- idiots. --- really ---- know how lucky --- lot are"

Wait, would have been okay for me to kill some of these guys? I should have done that then, would have given me some free EXP. For some reason, killing people isn't really a concern I worry about anymore. I doubt my curse can get any worse doing it, I've already confirmed as such with Aesa.

Thinking about something else as well, I probably could've escaped from here. All I would need to do is make my fire hot enough and it would've easily melted through these metal bars. Don't really see the point when I knew I'd be getting rescued soon.

"Sorry this took a while Ikarus, these bunch of idiots really don't know how stupid they are"

Ah, so it is Nathan, thought so. He's literally just walked around the corner.

"About time, I was slowly going mad in here"

I wasn't, I've literally only been in here for a couple of hours. This prison cell doesn't give me claustrophobia that much compared to the one in the destroyed city, think it's because I still have light and there's always been a jailer on duty.

"We're to return to the palace immediately. There's someone his highness wishes for you to meet"

__________

"Knight, we're both under orders to leave once Miss Ikarus enters the room"

"Fine fine then"

After being led to a small conference room, both the royal guard and the knight leave me alone. I then enter the room and immediately notice someone I've seen before.

"Why is succubus-sa- shit! I erm… mean priestess-sama?"

An uncomfortable feeling surrounds the three other people in the room, clearly from me saying something I shouldn't have.

(Alistair) "Ikarus… you know the priestess?"

(Leone) "You really can be stupid at times Ikarus"

'Damn it, I knew that would get me in trouble, hopefully she doesn't kill me for it'

Listing of the four people now in the room, there's me, Leone the mage, prince Alistair and succubus- no, priestess Charlotte. I don't know why I can't help myself but I keep calling her that.

"You're able to tell my race?"

Despite me revealing her secret, she didn't seem that bothered about it. She still kept the exact same kind, calm and composed behaviour when I first met her. It's kind of irritating me a little, she seems so fake.

"Yeah, my status showed me"

"Apologies but I'm unsure what you mean by that"

"Ikarus is talking about the system inside her head. Just ignore her Charlotte, she finds it hard to be serious"

"Isn't it a pleasure to hear your annoying voice again mage. For the record, I can get serious, I just prefer not to"

"Really?... Tell me Ikarus, you haven't forgotten what you're overdue?"

Ah shit, here we go again. The fake smile on the battlemage returns, I've really got to stop talking around her.