Chapter 133: Game On

River Boat

“LOOOSE!!!”

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

Dozens of arrows shot into the air. A moment later they rained down onto the river boat. Several of Ximba’s soldiers cried out as arrows struck them. One collapsed instantly, another staggered back clutching his shoulder.

Ximba himself barely noticed. Because at that exact moment–

THUD—THUD—THUD

Several arrows slammed into the massive shield raised in front of him. Poomba stood firmly in front of the prince, holding his large shield that now looked like a wooden porcupine.

Chaos had erupted across the vessel. They were supposed to arrive in Nyanjara Town in less than an hour. But instead, they had sailed directly into an ambush. Now arrows were no longer the only problem since attackers had already boarded the ship.

Several lizardman warriors climbed onto the front deck where Ximba and Poomba were standing. Their claws gripped the railings as they vaulted onto the deck with terrifying speed.

“DEFEND THE PRINCE!” one of Ximba’s soldiers shouted.

Steel clashed immediately as the guards rushed forward to meet the attackers. But the problem became obvious almost instantly. There were too many enemies.

Ximba glanced toward the rear deck. The situation there looked even worse. His soldiers were being pushed back step by step as more mercenaries climbed aboard.

“WHERE’S KING MUSAFA?!” Ximba shouted over the chaos. “WE NEED HIS STRENGTH!”

“I DON’T KNOW, SIRE!” one of the wolf soldiers shouted back while blocking a spear strike. “HE HASN’T SHOWN UP!”

“What the hell…” Ximba muttered.

His father loved fights. Any fight. The fact that Musafa had not appeared yet made no sense.

“Sir,” Poomba said while slamming his shield into a lizardman attacker, sending the enemy stumbling backward. “Go check His Majesty. I will hold the deck.”

Ximba nodded immediately.

He turned and rushed toward the interior of the ship.

He sprinted down the corridor as the sounds of battle echoed behind him—steel, shouting, splintering wood. Finally he reached Musafa’s cabin. Without even knocking, he threw the door open.

“Father?! What are you do—”

Ximba stopped. His words died instantly.

Inside the cabin, three bodies lay motionless on the floor. King Musafa, and two of his mistresses.

Standing nearby was the third. Shaba. She sat calmly in a chair as if she had simply been waiting.

Shock flooded Ximba’s face, then fury replaced it. He drew his longsword in one swift motion.

“Aunt Shaba! What’s the meaning of this?!” Ximba growled. “Did you kill your own king?!”

“Kill?” Shaba said calmly.

She tilted her head slightly.

“Don’t be so crude, Ximba. His Majesty and the others are merely sleeping.”

Ximba’s eyes shifted to the floor. A spilled wine glass lay nearby. Wine had soaked into the carpet. Understanding dawned to him immediately. They had been drugged.

“You work with Scarf?!” Ximba demanded.

“Yes,” Shaba replied without hesitation.

“How could you?!” Ximba shouted. “Father always took good care of you! You were his favorite!”

“Hmph.”

Shaba scoffed.

“If I was the favorite,” she said coldly, “then it should have been me who became the Alpha female. Not your mother.”

Ximba stared at her in disbelief.

“All this time…” he said quietly. “You tricked father… and me… all this time?!”

His grip tightened on his sword.

“Get ready to receive your punishment!”

He stepped forward, raising the blade. Ready to strike her down.

Then—

THUD.

A crushing blow struck the back of his head. Making him collapsed forward onto the floor. Several lizardman warriors had already entered the cabin behind him.

Ximba tried to push himself up, but his body refused to cooperate. His vision swam. He forced his head up slightly and glared at Shaba. She was still sitting calmly in the chair.

“You… bitch…” Ximba muttered weakly.

Shaba simply smiled. Then darkness swallowed his vision as he lost consciousness.

---

Nyanjara Town, Alleyway

Meanwhile, back in Nyanjara Town. Solo and Candy walked through a narrow alleyway. Candy walked in front while Solo followed a few steps behind her. The alley was quiet, dimly lit by a few lanterns hanging crookedly on the walls. The stone path twisted between old buildings that leaned inward as if trying to block the sky.

“So in the end Kovalski only paid you five gold coins to lure me out?” Solo said casually from behind her. “Hahahah. I guess they really are running out of money right now.”

Candy didn’t reply. She simply turned right into another alley, and Solo followed. This new alley was even narrower and darker.

“Uh… Miss Candy,” Solo said, glancing around the suspicious surroundings, “are you sure this is the shortcut to the brothel?”

“Yes. Just keep following me,” Candy answered quickly.

Her voice came out a little too fast. Solo narrowed his eyes. Candy’s back was stiff and her shoulders looked tense. Solo’s suspicion meter immediately climbed several levels. But unknown to Candy, Solo had already activated his skills.

Floating invisibly in front of him was a small magical window. A G-map page that clearly showed their location. And more importantly, it showed that they were moving in a direction that had absolutely nothing to do with the brothel.

Solo always mapped every new place he visited. It was a habit from his early days wandering through the wild and extremely inconvenient geography of the Demon Territory.

The habit had saved his life many times even though he's an immortal, and now it was telling him something very simple. This was not a shortcut.

The alley ahead became even narrower and the lighting worse. Solo decided he had seen enough. From his subspace bag, he calmly took out a FN Reflex handgun and raised the weapon.

He aimed it at Candy’s back.

Click.

Candy immediately froze. She slowly turned around after hearing the sharp sound. When she saw Solo pointing the weapon at her, her entire body stiffened.

“Miss Candy,” Solo said calmly, “I don’t know if you know about firearms, but this thing here can kill you instantly.”

Candy swallowed nervously.

“Y-Yes… I know what firearms are,” she said. “It’s the terrifying dwarf weapon. But yours is… smaller.”

“Smaller,” Solo replied coldly, “but deadlier.”

He tightened his grip slightly.

“Now tell me. Why are you not taking me to the brothel? Are you trying to mug me?”

“No! Mr. Solo, I—I mean Mr. Boar!” Candy said quickly, correcting herself mid-sentence.

“!!” Solo blinked.

His eyes widened slightly.

“How did you know my name?!” Solo demanded, raising the gun a little higher and taking a more aggressive stance.

“Eek!” Candy yelped and squeezed her eyes shut in fear.

Then—

“Candy? Is that you?”

A female voice came from behind her. A nearby door suddenly opened. Three female beastmen stepped outside, looking confused by the commotion.

Solo glanced past Candy toward them. One of the beastwomen saw Solo. Her expression instantly brightened.

“Candy! Is that him?” she said excitedly. “The one who can save us?”

The other two beastwomen also lit up with hope the moment they saw him.

“Uh…” Solo muttered, “What?”

---

Moments later, Solo was already inside the house. It was a small, shabby building squeezed between two larger structures. The furniture was worn, the walls slightly cracked, and the lighting dim. Yet the house was crowded, and every person inside it was an attractive female beastman.

This, apparently, was the housing for the brothel’s prostitutes. Several of them sat or stood around the room while Solo listened to Candy and a few of the senior prostitutes explain the situation.

“Hmm…” Solo muttered, folding his arms while thinking. “So that dwarf pimp is actually trying to capture me and sell me to the church…”

He clicked his tongue.

“Tch. No wonder I felt like I’d seen him somewhere before. To think he’s actually that annoying dwarf diplomat who made Dwargonia declare war on Murica back then…”

“That’s right…” Candy said hesitantly. “I’ve been eavesdropping on him for a while. When I realized what he was planning… everyone here decided to help you.”

Solo looked around the room.

“…Thank you,” he said slowly.

Then he raised one eyebrow.

“But why do you girls want to help me? If that dwarf treats you badly like you say… wouldn’t this be dangerous for all of you?”

Candy didn’t answer immediately, instead she glanced toward several of the older prostitutes in the room. They all exchanged looks. Then one by one, they nodded.

Candy turned back toward Solo.

“Because…” she said carefully, “we want you to help us.”

Solo blinked.

“How?”

“You’re the leader of the Demon Kingdom, right?” Candy said. “Please take us out of here and let us become citizens in your kingdom.”

She hesitated slightly before continuing.

“We’ve heard that demons actually take care of their citizens. That there’s no slavery… and no hatred toward different races.”

One of the senior prostitutes stepped forward. She was a gazelle beastwoman with tired but determined eyes.

“Please, Mr. Solo,” she said softly. “Everyone here has nowhere else to go.”

She looked down briefly before continuing.

“We don’t want to keep living as slaves and prostitutes.”

“And we can’t return to our tribes. That would be the first place the slave hunters would search for us.”

“Let us live in your kingdom,” Candy pleaded again. “We promise we will work hard. We’ll do honest work there.”

Around the room, every beastwoman looked at Solo. Dozens of hopeful eyes. Pitiful eyes. Eyes that clearly believed their future depended entirely on the green orc standing in front of them.

Solo scratched his head slowly.

“Damn…” he muttered. “You all really want green cards, don’t you.”

---

Hyena’s Office

Meanwhile, somewhere else in Nyanjara Town. The Hyena gang’s office had undergone a dramatic transformation.

Because apparently, if an attractive woman invited someone into a place that looked like a thug hideout, the target definitely will become suspicious. So Ivy and Bella had made adjustments.

The shabby criminal den had been converted into a shabby inn. Now the place looked slightly less criminal. There was a makeshift reception desk. Several chairs and tables had been rearranged to resemble a common guest area.

Hyenas were assigned various roles. One hyena stood awkwardly behind the reception desk pretending to be the receptionist. Another carried luggage back and forth like a bellboy. Several others sat around the room pretending to be ordinary guests.

The acting quality was… questionable.

Ivy, meanwhile, lounged lazily on a couch. Next to her sat the hyena gang leader. She looked extremely obedient and extremely tired. Across the room, Bella was currently busy giving a very important acting lesson to one of the hyenas.

“And now,” Bella muttered, “all you need is just a smile.”

She reached up and used two fingers to physically shape the hyena’s mouth into a smile. The hyena stood completely still as she adjusted his lips like someone positioning a decorative object.

“There!” Bella said cheerfully.

She stepped back and admired her work.

“Keep it like that. And don’t you dare let it disappear.”

The hyena nodded repeatedly. Still smiling. Very unnaturally. He slowly walked back toward the makeshift receptionist desk. The other hyenas watched him return but none of them dared laugh.

Because during the last two days, Ivy and Bella had treated all of them equally. Like pets. Very large, and very nervous pets. The concept of thug dignity had completely disappeared from them.

Suddenly the front door opened. Kovalski and Irving walked in.

“Alright!” Kovalski declared cheerfully. “Our target is en route here!”

“Oh finally,” Ivy said happily from the couch.

“All the hyenas here are also ready,” Bella added. “All smiles and no growl.”

Irving and Kovalski looked around the place, observing the makeover Ivy and Bella had done. The former hyena gang hideout now somehow resembled a cheap inn.

A very cheap inn… Staffed entirely by grinning hyenas.

Irving rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“Well… I guess this is better than before,” he said slowly. “I think.”

“Don’t worry,” Kovalski said confidently. “He’s horny and tipsy. He won’t notice something like this easily.”

“E-excuse me…” the Hyena leader said very carefully.

Everyone turned toward her.

“But… you all really are going to leave us alone after tonight, right?”

“Hey, hey,” Ivy said casually, waving her hand. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

She leaned forward and patted the Hyena leader on the back repeatedly.

“Even though you’re not getting paid, tonight will still be the easiest job you’ve ever had.”

She counted with her fingers.

“No fighting. No shouting. No blood.”

The Hyena leader forced a smile back. She didn’t look reassured. Then Ivy gave him a bright, confident smile.

“Trust me.”

---

Brothel

Meanwhile, the situation at the brothel was very different from the other night. No prostitutes, no customers, no lust. Only tension.

Rondo paced back and forth across the brothel lobby, visibly irritated. Around him, dozens of wolf town guards lounged lazily on the brothel’s sofas and chairs, clearly bored with the whole situation.

Then suddenly the front door opened. Two wolf guards walked in. Rondo immediately turned toward them, his face full of expectation.

“Well?!” he demanded.

“Hey, dwarf pimp,” one of the guards said. “We checked the road from here to the tavern. There’s no boarman and no sign of your girl.”

“This is a waste of time,” the other guard complained.

“SHIT!” Rondo shouted, slamming his hat onto the floor. “WHAT IS THAT STUPID COUGAR DOING?!”

“So does that mean we can go home now?” one of the guards muttered from the sofa.

“NO! WAIT! WAIT!” Rondo shouted quickly. “Let me think for a bit!”

The wolf guards exchanged looks and simply raised their hands in a silent 'not our problem' gesture.

Rondo began thinking intensely. He paced. He bit his fingers nervously, and he paced again.

Then—

“No other choice,” Rondo muttered.

“I have to assume that Candy actually accepted that commission from that person called Kovalski.”

Rondo slowly turned his head toward the wolf guards. His expression hardened.

“We need to storm the Hyena’s hideout.”