Shadow Slave

Effie wisely chose that moment to disappear and join the dancing crowd below. Sunny ground his teeth for a few moments, then shook his head and walked to the table, landing on a luxurious lounge chair with a sigh.

Kai briefly glanced at him and smiled.

"Where are Effie and Lady Nephis?"

Sunny stared at him for a few moments, then looked away.

"Effie went to dance. Neph is in the bathroom. Also, will you cut it out with the "lady" stuff? The two of you spent months traversing the Forgotten Shore together, back when we were returning from the Hollow Mountains. She is also younger than you. That is more than enough to drop the formalities, don't you think?"

The archer coughed.

"Oh. Well… I'll try."

He didn't sound very convincing, forcing Sunny to roll his eyes.

"Anyway, what do we have here?"

At some point, a waiter had entered the lounge and placed a tray of various foods on the table... while trying very hard not to throw reverent looks at the distinguished guests. Knowing that there would be no chance for him to taste anything once Effie returned, Sunny used the opportunity to try a few.

As he chewed on a piece of cheese that had been dipped into a sweet, viscous amber liquid, Sunny smiled in delight and asked:

"Wow. What's that sugary syrup?"

Cassie turned to him, then smelled the air.

"I... I think it's honey."

Sunny blinked a couple of times. The word was familiar, but he usually heard it used as a term of endearment. Who knew that it had actually come from something this delicious?

"What is honey, though?"

then said with a bit of

is... a sort of liquid that special insects produce by ingesting and regurgitating

slowly pushed the cheese

see. I see. Good

champagne and tried to discreetly rinse his

even sustained himself on raw, rotting mimic meat for an

he had

people… what are they

acting as if nothing had happened, and her face was perfectly composed. However,

down, Kai hesitated for a moment, and then

Did anything happen… uh…

no attention to the lack of "lady" and

VIP lounge

small bowl of honey

objections. They are free to gobble it up, as far as

Sunny took a sip of champagne and relaxed a little. That was the point of today's outing, anyway. After days of serving as a punching bag for an

returned. The huntress was practically beaming with delight. She quickly destroyed

is fun! We should

her in horror, while Kai

It's just a shame that

with a bit

living like this. I mean, my goal was always to become a Master. But

The archer smiled wistfully.

Forgotten Shore, I had a clear picture of what my future would look like. Then, for years, I tried not to think about the future at all. And now that I reached that future, it's not like what I thought it would be. Not even a little

out a small

look back on my younger self and think about what she expected from the future, I… I can't believe how naive and shortsighted she was. She... feels

He raised his

how I imagined my life would go, actually. After I returned from the First Nightmare, I thought that I would soon be a full citizen, super rich, and have unlimited access to tasty food. So I don't know what you're talking about. For