108(1) – Zenyo! (IV)
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PART 1 – Jerla!
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The nausea passed, and the trio left the resting area. It seems this type of prolonged nausea is quite normal.
They find themselves in the capital of the Country of Jerla. A powerful nation that, according to the books, possesses advanced magic.
Apparently, the main magical teleportation technologies were provided by the Country of Jerla. A democratic and quite elitist nation.
Curiously, Lina, with her dark skin tone, didn't become a strong target of contempt and prejudice as she did in the Empire. People didn't spit the instant she passed by them.
Of course, they look at her strangely, but they don't seem interested in causing trouble. Perhaps it's the 2-meter-tall woman beside her, along with the intimidating axe at her waist.
Or perhaps the people here are more aware that there are species besides humans that possess naturally dark skin.
Whatever the case, Jerla is more relaxed without all that animosity.
…
“Okay, what did we come here to do?” Jerla asked, clapping her hands.
“We’re looking for a demigoddess who originates from this region. She has a power we need,” Verna said without hesitation.
Jerla blinked, then nodded. “Okay, we just need to find a demigoddess and apparently ask her for something. Sounds super easy, except for the part about her being a demigoddess who could kill me with a snap of her fingers.” She laughed and… didn’t like the fact that she was the only one laughing.
“Are we serious? It must take a lot to go looking for demigods. I don’t know exactly how it is in this world, but in mine, besides demigods being scarce and slaves of the gods, interacting with any of them requires extreme care and a willingness to pay high prices. I never tried it; I wasn’t crazy.”
“The authority of the Demigods in their world was absurdly high, because they were few in number. Here there are thousands of Demigods and probably hundreds of thousands of Legends scattered throughout the world. Demigods naturally control themselves, establishing an internal hierarchy and, of course, unspoken rules.” – Verna stretches, cracking her arms. – “So a Demigod who ends up causing a lot of trouble might end up being visited by half a dozen others and become food for them.”
Lina nodded. – “So can I know for sure what we’ll do when we find this Demigoddess? I hope it’s not some kind of crazy murder. I’m even in favor of adventures and a little chaos, but this… I didn’t flee my world to end up dying stupidly in another.”
Verna laughs. – “It’s nothing like that. The Demigoddess we’re looking for is said to have a special ability that allows her to nullify any curse. We need her.”
“You don’t seem cursed to me, but what do I know? Maybe it’s you?” – Lina looks at Zenyo. – “Small penis curse? That would explain a lot, but wouldn’t a priest or bishop be able to handle it?”
Zenyo growls at Lina’s mockery.
“Zenyo has been cursed since birth. He’s a half-elf, half-dwarf, but the curse was passed down to him by his father who impregnated his mother. Due to various factors, the curse became part of him, growing stronger and impossible to undo through conventional means. That’s how we found out about this demigoddess and came personally to find and pay for her treatment.”
“I was just kidding…” – Lina put her hand to her mouth. – “You really got the small penis curse?”
“Go fuck yourself!” – Zenyo growled, he’s not usually the type to swear, but Lina is getting on his nerves.
Lina laughs. – “Okay, what do you need? I guess information, or do you already know where it is?”
“Yes, we need information. We only know that she’s probably here, but we don’t have the details, especially since she’s a demigoddess. So let’s rest a bit and then look for details,” Verna said calmly.
Lina nodded.
…
The trio went to an inn and paid for two rooms. It was supposed to be three, but Lina said she wanted to share one with Verna, who didn’t mind.
But with the room paid for, Lina said she had something to do and with a mysterious smile she left and disappeared.
Verna knows she probably went to look for information.
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PART 2 – Lina!
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Since arriving in this world, Lina's life has been very difficult. Even eating a decent meal was a huge sacrifice. When walking alone outside of cities, groups took advantage to attack and try to enslave her.
She has been constantly fighting. So, to relieve all the stress, she, a beautiful and muscular woman with huge breasts and a perfect backside, tried to have sex.
She, who previously only managed sex with subtle insinuations, found herself met with disgust and disdain from men who would have previously begged to sleep with her. But here… people saw her as an insect.
Lina even had to sleep on the streets because of all this prejudice, where naturally she ended up having problems, almost being captured dozens of times.
In the midst of so much heartache and hardship, a woman, and a great woman at that, appeared: Verna. She came at the perfect moment, like a lifesaver. She promised she would stick to this woman.
Not out of attraction, even though she noticed the fact that she was a futanari and had a very large penis, which made her salivate… but no, that wasn't all that made her follow!
Lina didn't want to admit it, but she needs support. No matter how strong she is, the fact that she has dark skin makes everyone ignore it. So she needs someone strong and fair-skinned to protect her, and Verna is exactly that.
Her presence will intimidate others, and even if she might be seen as her slave or something like that, with Verna not treating her that way, Lina doesn't see any problem with how this shitty world sees her.
The fact that Verna is after a demigoddess? Worrying, but interesting.
So she decided to help, to do what she knows best and… to compensate for part of the money she owes. This teleportation cost a lot!
…
Compared to the empire's capital, the people here didn't show as much animosity as she walked among them. She had even been stoned by adults and children before, but here, at most she received ugly stares and spit on the ground.
Curiously, some Black men were scattered around, rare, but present, and… they weren't wearing any collars.
In a short time, she got a basic idea of the city. She knew that the city had an area near the port. This area is where Black people live.
Lina went there and received many lustful glances, finally feeling some normalcy in this world. A beautiful and sexy woman like her should be the target of attention and desire.
But at the moment her standards are high, like a barbaric beauty over 2 meters tall with a flaccid penis that marks her thigh. Lina plans to skin that dick with her pussy.
…
Taking advantage of this area, where people are poorer and subsequently, home to crime. Places of poverty quickly become places for criminals to hide or establish their bases.
When this happens, there are two possibilities.
The first is in favelas, where criminals rule at least once and usually tend to have several groups, which generates constant conflict and fear among the poor people who live in that area. This is the most common scenario.
The second type is the one present here: the community. Because society gives them little or no opportunity, they succumb to crime and subsequently use it to benefit their peers. In this case, Black people under strong prejudice from the world.
And what differentiates the two?
In the first case, gangs of bandits maintain their authority through fear and force. Their enemies are cautious, and ordinary people fear them.
In the second case, gangs continue to maintain their authority through fear and force, but along with that, there is support. They support the community, and the community protects them, making it easier to recruit members and gather information.
While one has the support of their peers, the other has fear.
…
Understanding the structure of crime in the favelas, Lina heads to the bars. Using money, she gets people to talk.
She heard stories about key figures in the community, where to get good information, and so on.
Lina paid a few coins and went to the person who sells information. Here she paid to request details about the city's intelligence organizations, from the best to the worst. The other side wasn't happy, but receiving money, they simply gave her what she asked for.
After that, Lina left, yawning, as she was still very sleepy. She returned to the guesthouse where Verna and Zenyo were staying, found her and handed her the document, then collapsed onto a large, comfortable bed. She needed an hour, but wanted ten.
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PART 3 – Information!
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In less than two hours, Lina had already returned, documents in hand. They contained names and details of organizations or individuals involved in selling information in the capital of Jerla.
“Everything you need is there. Now I’m going to sleep. I’d love to fuck you, but I’m exhausted and wouldn’t appreciate it… okay, I guess so, but I’m exhausted!” – Lina yawned playfully; she really wants to fuck Verna, but she can’t even remember the last time she slept more than a few hours.
She also hadn’t rested much since meeting Verna, especially since she noticed her movements and had to leave the inn to follow her.
Verna thanked her and began reading the documents. She didn’t ask Lina how she obtained such information, because since she doesn’t smell of blood or emit any presence of death, it means no trouble will come knocking.
…
Verna didn’t find [Golden Claw] among the names, showing that they don’t have influence in this country. If they do, it must be in smaller towns or border areas. In any case, Verna saw that Lina had organized the list according to the most reliable sources, along with the method of accessing the information.
She cited some that seemed very good, but which could only be accessed by recommendation, which wasn't the case.
Unconcerned and having rested enough while Lina was away, Verna left while Zenyo was strolling to clear his mind; he's been very stressed lately, as this is the closest they're getting to curing his condition, which he's lived with for over 100 years.
If it weren't for the stress, Zenyo would be eager to obtain various pieces of information. From their agricultural methods to their diverse exotic products that don't exist in his world.
As a merchant, he would see opportunities in everything. But his mind is elsewhere.
…
Verna returned hours later with a document. It was expensive, but much cheaper compared to [Golden Claw].
[Ariel Horça]
Estimated Age: 483~493
Gender: Female (Sexual Preference: Women)
Estimated Level: 41~42 (Demigoddess)
Class: White Archmage – Focused on light and healing magic.
Relationships: Closely linked to the high society of the Country of Jerla. It is presumed she has contact with more than 50 different Demigods.
Enemies: No known enemies.
Rating: Ariel is a neutral and good individual.
Beyond this brief dossier, there are pages detailing various aspects of her activities over the last 200 years. Ariel Horça is not the type to make enemies; on the contrary, she has many allies throughout the world, which was to be expected.
Ariel is a "White Archmage," this has no correlation with skin color, but with the nature of her magic. "White Magic" is commonly cited as the opposite of "Black Magic," which technically would be "Sacred Magic" that comes from the gods.
But White Magic doesn't come from the gods; it may be inspired by Sacred Magic, but they are different, even if similar. Not to mention that it's absurdly difficult to master.
Sacred Magic: priests tend to inherit such knowledge or privilege of use from the God they serve. White Magic doesn't originate from any god; consequently, you bear all the costs.
In any case, Ariel has a massive knowledge of White Magic, which gives her abilities far superior to other demigods who specialize in healing through Sacred Magic.
She possesses immense medical knowledge and is constantly cited as constantly seeking knowledge. It gets to the point where she accepts books she's never read before as payment for treatments that would easily cost tons of gold.
Verna expected that contacting her would be easy, since she is so friendly. But no, Ariel Horça doesn't have a fixed address, at least not one that's publicly known or that could be sold.
If any group of informants were to negotiate the location of the residence of a demigod who doesn't want to be disturbed, the resulting damage is obvious.
But the easiest way to try to contact her is through an intermediary or when she goes out to participate in auctions. The problem is that the auction that tends to attract her will take place in a few months, a long time that Verna doesn't have.
As for the intermediary, Verna paid to find out who was most likely to help make contact. Needless to say, the weakest among them is a Legend with an estimated level of 30, possessing power and nobility. None of them are easy to contact.
Of course, in the past there was someone easy to get in touch with who could bring ephemera to Ariel, who tends to heal people practically for free. She was a Priestess, who is said to be his lover, a very faithful member of his church and… Verna wanted to stop reading, she already knew what was coming, but naturally she went to the end.
A few years ago, several churches around the world went mad, their faith corrupting their followers and causing much chaos that was quickly suppressed by other churches and government forces.
Fortunately, only small to medium-sized churches were most affected; the major ones remained strong and steadfast. Unfortunately, Ariel Honça's lover belonged to a medium-sized church.
She was driven mad, but survived. It is said that Ariel took her and she was never seen again, which is no surprise, since all the affected churches were annihilated, without exception.
In other words, her misfortune in Paradise, causing the downfall of so many deities, naturally affected the lover she needs to ask for help. Luckily, she's disguised; otherwise, she would never have a chance to help Zenyo, and even if she did, it would be too low.
…
“Okay, what do we need?” – Zenyo rubbed his hands happily upon returning, knowing that Verna has details.
“Contacting Ariel directly is impossible. We need an intermediary; of those accessible in the capital, we have three. The problem is that they are Legends, nobles, and very influential. We would need to gain their trust to ask them to arrange a meeting with Ariel.”
Zenyo frowned, knowing things were getting complicated. – “What do you suggest?”
“Forcing her isn’t an option. Buying her isn’t either. If her mistress were still active, it would be possible to donate large sums to the church, then we would have the power to request such a meeting. What remains is to act as adventurers and approach them in exchange for our services.”
Zenyo sighed. – “Okay. Who are we going to?” – He asked while reading the documents about the likely targets.
“All three are viable. But the one with the most problems at the moment is this one.” – Verna pointed to the document showing a handsome blond man.
Zenyo observed, then pulled out a document that wasn't among the three. – “And this one? It seems quite easy to access.”
The document is about a dwarf and, as one might imagine, a blacksmith. – “If you give us a technique to improve the quality of metals or something like that, we could gain your favor.”
“No!” – Verna refused without hesitation. – “I won't give away techniques or technologies so important to others. Even if this is another world, you never know how it might affect us.”
Zenyo remained silent and sighed, understanding that this was going too far, but he couldn't be blamed for trying.