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?"

little, then said with a bit of surprise in her

special insects produce by

grew a little pale, and slowly pushed the cheese plate away from

I see.

of champagne and tried to discreetly rinse

his food. He had even sustained himself on raw, rotting mimic meat for an entire

he had

what are they going to come

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

Kai hesitated for a

Did anything

Star paid no attention to the lack of "lady" and

lounge that those women would want to taste? Odd. Why wouldn't they just order it themselves... well, maybe it is not on

at the small bowl of honey with disgust and

they want it, they can have it. I have no objections. They are free to gobble it up, as

point of today's outing, anyway. After days of serving

with delight. She

fun! We should

her

just a shame that they

meanwhile, looked around with

I mean, my goal was always to

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

let out a small

self and think about what she expected from the future, I… I can't believe how naive and shortsighted she was. She...

Sunny. He raised

exactly 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