Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
The war in Lapland had ended. With the help of the Fear Demon King, all resistance in Kalunka’s Royal City was swiftly and completely annihilated.
It was a boisterous night. As Xi Wei reclaimed Lapland, the players and residents returned to the city. Only the altar area in front of the royal palace remained off-limits. Fortunately, the central plaza of Lapland City was far from the altar, so the players held a lively celebration feast there.
Many residents were still unaware of what had transpired.
It wasn’t until the bonfire party lasted into the deep night that some people dared to approach the singing and dancing players and learn the full story.
It was quite fantastical, to say the least.
Their King of the Kalunka Empire had sided with an evil god. Then, this group of foreign individuals from the distant North Continent happened upon the situation and, adhering to the basic principle of helping those in need, ultimately thwarted the evil god’s descent with their extraordinary wisdom and formidable strength.
Of course, the players didn’t forget to bring up the King of Winter when bragging.
They had already discovered Xi Wei’s true identity during his decisive battle with Suvenas. That sword strike that cleaved the roaring golden lion, along with his ferocious combat style, was too conspicuous. It would be hard to find another like him in the entire Wintery Empire.
Upon learning that the players were the heroes of this battle, the residents also joined the bonfire feast to celebrate Lapland’s new beginning. Especially the parents whose daughters had been taken away were deeply shocked to hear about their daughters’ experiences in the royal palace, and they were naturally filled with immense gratitude towards the players.
As for Suvenas, who cared about him? These residents and mages were only concerned about their future well-being.
…
In the majestic royal palace of Lapland.
Xi Wei was seated on the King’s throne, with a table placed incongruously in front of him, piled with treasures found within the palace.
Frankly, he still disliked such a spacious palace and was accustomed to working in a room.
But Suvenas was incredibly wealthy; even his toilets were built as large as dining rooms, adorned with exquisite oil paintings all around. The first time Xi Wei entered the toilet for convenience, he even thought he had stumbled into a museum!
The bedroom was even more so. That velvet bed was so large that three carriages could have driven side by side on it, and it could accommodate an entire group of maids without any issue. Xi Wei planned to have the artisans in Winter City craft a similar bed to Suvenas’s when he returned to the Wintery Empire.
The palace had poor lighting, and the surrounding facilities appeared somewhat eerie. However, it was evident that these gloomy arrangements had been recently acquired. After the Old Ones’ descent into Suvenas’s bedroom, Suvenas’s aesthetic had also shifted, making him prefer a cold and dark style.
But soon, the gloom was replaced by warm light—Loli emerged from the corner behind Xi Wei, carrying a magic lamp.
“Master, the dim light is bad for your eyes.”
After Loli fixed the magic lamp on the table in front of Xi Wei, she walked behind him and gently massaged his shoulders.
“What are you doing, Master?”
Upon hearing this, Xi Wei took out a hammer emanating the divinity of the Earth Goddess from his Space Ring and placed it on the table. Loli also curiously focused her gaze on the hammer.
“This is the divine artifact of the Earth Goddess, the Hammer of Earth. This thing should correspond to Nina. Besides this, I also found these…”
As Xi Wei spoke, he took out a shield, a drum, and two statues of the Earth Goddess. All of these were divine artifacts of the Earth Goddess. Among them, the shield was a Semi-Artifact—the Shield of Earth. Notably, the statue of the Earth Goddess surprisingly depicted a female dwarf.
“I really didn’t expect the Earth Goddess to be a dwarf…” Xi Wei sighed, full of emotion. He had always imagined the Earth Goddess to be a mature and steady old woman or a sexy and charming adult woman, on par with the Goddess of Order. Yet, the statue before him depicted a drunken dwarf holding a gemstone in her left hand and a wine bottle in her right, which was utterly unexpected.
“Pfft—” Loli couldn’t help but laugh upon seeing the statue of the Earth Goddess.
“Master, do you know? Nina has learned to drink since hanging out with Groin, and her tolerance is quite good, you know~”
“What? That’s a thing?” Xi Wei looked up, his eyes wide. In his mind, Nina had always been the most serious and well-behaved among the maids, a model example for all maids, the most standard and maid-like, well-versed in all maid etiquette, often striking fear into the hearts of many little radishes.
“Hehe, you didn’t know, did you?” Loli said, continuing to rub Xi Wei’s shoulders and laughing. “Perhaps it’s because Nina doesn’t appear before you often that you’re not familiar with her daily life.”
“Why haven’t I heard about this?” Xi Wei frowned, beginning to doubt the capabilities of his scouts.
“Because Nina’s identity is special, and she doesn’t want you to know about her fondness for drinking, so no one reported it to you. Now that I’ve told you, you won’t sell me out, right?” Loli walked around to the front of Xi Wei, nestling into his embrace like a docile cat, her big eyes blinking as she looked up at him, her hands gently resting on his chest, an expression of pleading and fawning in her eyes.
Facing Loli like this, Xi Wei’s anger vanished.
“Alright, I won’t sell you out.” He reached out and squeezed Loli’s soft, pretty face. “But Groin will have to be dealt with for leading my maid astray, and Nina must also be disciplined. They’re not adults, why are they drinking? This is unacceptable!”
“Oh ho…” Loli covered her mouth, a flicker of pity in her big eyes. It was clear that the little loli who often drank with the Dwarf Grandmaster was in for trouble.
“But speaking of which… Loli, if you want me to keep this a secret, shouldn’t you give me some hush money?” Xi Wei lifted Loli’s chin, his large hand already around her slender waist, subtly exploring.
“Wuwuwu… Master, Loli doesn’t have any money…” Loli cried sadly, looking pathetic.
“I
