The next week, Kand challenged Luka to hunt game in Tirli Forest outside the city. A nearby village issued a request at the Adventurers Guild to pursue a large wolf pack, which frequently attacked their livestock. Luka quickly agreed because of noblesse oblige; he strongly desired to protect the villagers from these animals.
Kand stipulated that each side could have up to five helpers -- human or nonhuman. The challenger had hired the best hunters and trackers available in Tirli; therefore, Kand believed he would win easily. The match would take place the following weekend, and whoever returned to the village with the most wolves at sunset after two days would be the winner.
When the weekend arrived, many supporters appeared in the village at sunrise to send off the two hunting parties. The witnesses were surprised to see Luka leave with only his two pets as assistants. Moreover, they saw the sleek, elven longbow slung over his shoulder and wondered how Luka obtained such a rare item.
Princess Camellia wrapped a dark brown mantle around Luka's shoulders and affixed it in place. "Stay warm!" she smiled and kissed his cheeks.
Luka blushed and wordlessly departed for the woods. He allowed Kand's group to enter the forest before him because Luka wanted them to receive a headstart. He felt that the hunters accompanying Kand weren't very skilled. Luka spent time with elvish hunters in Langerlan village, and they were much sharper compared to the four humans. Also, Luka's Spatial Sense covered a wide area, and it allowed him to locate the wolf pack more quickly than his opponents.
Finally, he worried that Kand's group would engage in foul play while inside the woods. Luka couldn't dismiss the possibility that these four helpers were assassins masquerading as hunters to attack him from behind. Therefore, Luka intended to keep a wide berth from them.
Once he entered the forest, Luka extended his detection net to the maximum range. He quickly located the wolf pack in the eastern region. Luckily, Kand's party headed north and won't come near the animals.
Luka quietly trekked in the easterly direction. He was five miles away from his targets, and the wolf pack was feeding on a deer near a creek.
Luka freely used his teleportation magic to cross the distance. The running stream masked the sound of his approach. When the hunter was a mere twenty feet away, he bound their legs with Earth Bind!
Bel and Gripper immediately pounced at the trapped wolves, and a bloody slaughter-fest ensued!
Luka focused his attack on the alpha male because its quick demise would demoralize the remaining wolves. He activated his Critical Insight and shot several arrows at weak spots, blinding the wolf leader before a third shot pierced his throat!
Meanwhile, his pets took down three wolves each while Luka's magic entangled them. The two bullies pounded the captives with mighty fists. Bel and Gripper callously ignored the whimpering and submissive postures; the wolves died painfully.
After the one-way massacre ended, Luka cut the wolves' throats and drained their blood into the river stream. Bel and Gripper also entered the running water to wash out the blood matting their fur.
[Are we going back?] Bel asked.
Luka shook his head. "There might be other wolf packs roaming around the woods. I want to do a thorough job hunting them during this weekend," he replied.
[Fair enough.] The demon didn't mind because he hadn't been in the forest in a long time.
Using Spatial Sense, Luka found four more packs; his group killed a total of 45 wolves. He was shocked to discover so many predators living close to Tirli City! Luka felt relieved that he spent the weekend combing through the forest to hunt them, or else the wolves would infringe upon the human settlements again sooner or later.
When he finally returned to the village at the deadline, Kand's group blocked the entrance. The bodies of 8 wolves laid near their feet.
"Oh, are my eyes deceiving me? You returned emptyhanded?" Kand taunted. His entourage laughed.
Luka sidestepped Kand's group and greeted the village chief. The hunter started taking his kills out of magic storage.
Gripper placed the bodies on the ground in a neat row while Bel glared at Kand's companions.
The villagers were shocked as Luka continued to take dead wolves out of thin air.
Kand's face turned pale because he couldn't fathom how Luka could kill a few dozen wolves in only two days!
"We thank you both for completing our request to kill the wolves in the forest. Unfortunately, we don't have enough funds to reward your efforts fully. May I invite your parties to a banquet this evening?" the chief proposed. The village elder also wished to introduce some attractive girls to these nobles; if any girl caught their fancy, then the noble would provide for her hometown.
Luka shook his head. "I need to return to the academy. Please sell these carcasses at the city to pay for the lost livestock," he replied.
Kand became upset because Luka was throwing money away! But his noble pride prevented Kand from castigating Luka for his foolishness. "You can keep ours too," he said while maintaining a calm voice.
"Thank you both for your generosity!" the village elder replied and knelt on the ground.
The other villagers copied his gesture.
Luka motioned for his fiancée to come closer; Camellia remained in the village to observe his victory since the duel's outcome affected her personally. "Everyone, please touch me." Once the royal entourage followed his command, the mage teleported back to Tirli City.
The next morning, the village chief visited the Adventurers Guild to confirm the completion of his quest. His men showed off the dead wolves while he gave proper credit to Luka and Kand.
Adventurers witnessed this exchange and began to spread the news about the competition. They praised both Luka and Kand for assisting the commoners without remuneration. The royal academy also gained an admirable reputation for teaching noble students to act generously toward commoners.
The following week, Kand appeared with a new challenge: a student survey on whether Kand or Luka was more suitable to marry Princess Camellia! For whatever reason, she agreed on Luka's behalf with several stipulations.
The survey will be distributed and collected during homeroom. Second, the school administration would tally up the total and publicly announce the result. Third, the loser would pay for the material costs of printing the survey and labor costs for tallying the results. Finally, the school will distribute these surveys next week, giving each side time to persuade students to support Kand or Luka. In other words, this survey will turn into a popularity contest between the two!
Half the seniors supported Kand, a third wanted Luka to marry Camellia, and the rest had no opinion before the survey distribution. The freshmen students similarly approved of Luka's engagement. A quarter of the juniors supported each side, while the remainder expressed no preference.
Princess Camellia began to apply pressure, through her followers, on the student body to support her engagement with Luka. She spent the week holding tea parties with influential students and telling them why Camellia preferred Luka over Kand. She spoke of her fiance's courage and humility despite his family background and Luka's concerns for his subjects and well-being.
Camellia also provided horror stories from her childhood where Kand bullied her and made her cry. She described his boorish behavior in treating housemaids and horses during her visits. The princess conjured Kand as a tyrant who will ruin the kingdom if Kand ever ascends to the throne. In providing a vivid contrast between the two candidates, Camellia demonstrated why she favored Luka and chose to marry him.
The attendees took Camellia's words to heart because they knew she cared deeply about the kingdom and realized that the princess saw Kand as a threat to its stability if he joined the royal family.
The listeners developed poor impressions of Kand's character and elevated their opinions of Luka. The noble daughters began to share Camellia's stories with other students. When the homeroom teachers distributed the surveys the following week, 80% of the student body t
hrew their support behind Luka.
Once the school published the results on the public bulletin board, Kand was so shocked and frustrated by the outcome that he fainted. The next day, a servant from the Yalong family informed the school that Kand became ill and had to leave the school for an extended period.
His followers soon took leaves of absence because a dark rumor had spread that Queen Marmlova poisoned Kand and would target them next. Camellia's mother was a notorious schemer who held grudges and acted on them even decades later. Thus, nobody wished to cross the daughter and incur the spider queen's wrath.
Luka wasn't aware of the efforts Camellia made to garner support for him in the student survey. All he knew was that she skipped her usual lunches with him to spend more time with her friends. Luka didn't mind because now he could use up some meal tickets at the mess hall.
When Matty joined his table, Orella openly glared at him from her post behind Luka. The knight knew that the church assigned him to serve as Luka's escort. Orella felt that Matty shouldn't sit at the same table as her liege even if Luka didn't mind.
Luka turned around and said, "Orella, please sit down. I hate the feeling of having a person hovering behind my back."
Orella shook her head. "Your Grace, I must decline. If I sit at the table, then I won't be able to perform my duty as your protector properly."
"Oh? You're refusing a direct order from your lord?" Matty mused aloud.
The knight glared at him. "The code of knighthood mandates that I prioritize my liege's safety and disregard orders that impede this duty," Orella explained.
"Fine, do whatever you want." Luka shrugged in surrender. He didn't want to make a big deal out of this. Instead, his discomfort motivated Luka to finish his meal sooner and leave. Another reason for his haste was that the students were paying extra attention to him. Even the older students were behaving strangely and made him feel uncomfortable.
When Luka left the mess hall, he grabbed his pets (while abandoning Orella) and teleported directly to his room. He used the remainder of his lunch period to resume his light magic practice. The mage wanted to max out his proficiency ASAP. Luka sensed that he was close to achieving this feat.
Once the lunch break ended, Luka opened his door to leave. However, Orella stood in the hallway and blocked his path. She glowered at him and said, "Your Grace, you should not use your magic to ditch your escort," the knight admonished.
"I was in a hurry to leave and forgot to grab you," Luka grinned. He knew his excuse was feeble but didn't care what she thought.
Orella wordlessly grabbed his arm. "Let's go."
Luka used his magic beacon and teleported in front of the school building. Once she released him, he strolled through the hallway and entered his classroom, leaving Orella to guard outside.
Another week passed, with neither Kand nor Camellia appearing before him. Luka enjoyed the respite to focus on magic training during his spare time. He also used bathroom trips to make brief visits to his two dungeons and refuel their cores with Alraune's divine energy.
Orella stood outside the restroom to give her liege privacy; she wasn't aware of his quick trips to the dungeon.
Luka avoided revealing their existence to Orella, who would surely pass this information to his fiancée. Although he appreciated her help, Luka didn't fully trust the flower knight yet. A controllable dungeon was a great resource, and its presence in his dukedom could invite invasions from hostile nobles and their armies. Hence, Luka cautiously guarded information about the dungeons.
When the school released the student survey result, Luka was shocked that he won by such a large margin with 80% support from the student body. The winner immediately suspected Camellia's involvement.
The princess took him to a new restaurant, The Cat's Toy, for a celebratory lunch. But she never brought up the survey during their conversation. Instead, Camellia wanted to know how he spent the past week in her absence.
"I practiced magic at my dorm," Luka answered.
"Orella, is this true?" the princess called out.
The flower knight entered the private room and bent one knee. "Yes, Your Highness. Luka ate quickly in the mess hall and teleported directly to his room afterward. He's been very diligent in practicing his magic," Orella confirmed with a look of approval.
Camellia breathed a sigh of relief. She feared that other girls would try to flirt with him in the cafeteria. But according to Orella, this didn't happen. Thank Altima!
Chapter 107
Harassment & Seduction
As Luka walked around campus, Orella stuck closely to him. The knight chose to remain at arm's length for two reasons. First, she worried that the disgraced nobleman, Kand, would retaliate and target Luka for assassination. It would be too easy for a child on the street to "accidentally" bump into a person's chest and stab the unwitting victim with a knife in the gut. Hence, Orella prepared to block an attacker with her armored body to protect her liege.
Second, the escort worried that Luka would teleport away and leave her behind again. Whenever Luka activated his magic, a brief, split-second gap occurred between the emission of golden light and his physical disappearance.
Orella believed that if she could lay a finger on him during this intermission, the knight would travel with Luka to his destination. To maximize this opportunity, Orella must physically stay near him.
Luka could feel her hot breath on his neck and felt uncomfortable. But he realized that Orella was stubborn and wouldn't obey his command to step further away. Thus, Luka ignored her and walked faster to return to class.
When the two returned to the shadow realm for their evening practice, Orella made a surprising suggestion. "Let's fight barehanded."
"Why?" Luka asked with skepticism.
"There are times when an assailant attacks you while a weapon isn't within reach, such as when you are sleeping, for example. In those instances, your life is literally in your hands. So come on!" Orella crouched with her feet wide apart, and her hands prepared to grapple him like a sumo wrestler.
"You asked for it," Luka shrugged. He suddenly darted forward at top speed and launched a flying kick at her face!
The defender calmly grabbed his ankle and tried to slam his body to the ground.
But Luka pivoted with his hips and smashed his other heel into her cheek! As her body reeled from the blow, Luka launched a sweep kick into her chest and sent her flying! When Orella landed on her back, he sat on her chest and grinned. "I win." Luka laid his left palm on her chest and cast Light Cure to heal her bruised ribs. Then he healed her cheek, which began to swell with a purple mark.
Orella abruptly twisted his wrist and flipped their bodies around, forcing Luka on his back while she was on top. She roughly grabbed the other wrist and pinned them together above his head.
"What are you doing?" he asked fearfully. Luka saw the crazed look in her eyes and couldn't understand what happened to her.
"My dream has been to lose my virginity to a strong man who could defeat me. And now, I found him." Before Luka could protest, Orella covered his mouth with her lips. Her tongue entered and began to roam. Her right hand snaked into his trousers and grabbed his dick.
Luka tried to turn over his body, but she was heavier than him.
Orella responded to his struggles by stroking his penis while her thumb massaged its tip.
His body involuntarily responded to her ministration until his cock turned rock hard.
The crazed woman pulled down his pants and then hers. "Bon appetite!" Orella cooed and began to lower her body on his meaty stick. She squealed with delight as her pussy walls became stretched to accommodate his large member.
The virgin felt resistance and pushed down with all her might. Orella sucked a deep breath and froze as she felt a sharp pain. After a few deep breaths, she started moving her hips. The pain slowly faded, and her body quivered with sweet delight as the hard cock poked at her womb.
Luka also savored his sexual voyage i
nside Orella. Her innards were like a hot cauldron that scorched his penis and held it tightly with her pussy wall. His hands grabbed her massive tits and squeezed hard.
Orella pressed her hands against his and encouraged him to continue massaging her chest while her hips rocked back and forth.
Luka became lost in the throes of sensual pleasure and felt pressure continually build in his loins until his manhood erupted like a volcano and exploded his entire load.
Orella felt the hot cum gushing out, and her pussy held his cock tightly to squeeze out every drop. When her orgasm faded, Orella reluctantly pulled herself off him.
"Let's go home." Luka tossed their clothes into storage, took out his keystone, and teleported with his lover back to his dorm room.
After he fell asleep, Orella sent a message reporting what happened.
Blanche received the magic text and showed it to Camellia. The maid was shocked when the princess started laughing because Blanche thought Camellia would be angry at this development. "What a playboy! This princess never expected our fiance to turn Orella into his woman!"
"Aren't you upset with her?" Portia asked.
"Not at all. Orella always said she would only give herself to a strong man who could defeat her. The fact that Orella had sex with Luka means that she acknowledged his strength. This princess is very happy for her. We were worried that Orella would leave our service someday."
"We never expected Luka to conquer her. Orella is idealistic and straightforward; she wouldn't dream of stealing Luka from us. Since Orella became his woman, she would never leave his side. Their unexpected affair is wonderful!" Camellia twirled around her room like a little girl.
* * *
Shortly after Kand and his supporters pulled out of school, troublesome events occurred in the Heavensell duchy. Bandits suddenly sprung up to block roads and demand tolls from traveling merchants. Whenever Duchess Silverblade sent knight patrols to these locations, the thieves disappeared into the woods like ghosts to elude capture.
The Divine Summoner: Godson of Altima Page 86