Immortal Freeloader 93 (Patreon)

When Aisnam returned, it was already noon, and she was once again in her servant's disguise. Physically, she looked fine, which didn’t surprise me.

Cultivators had far bigger explosive potential, but one thing they lagged behind was endurance. It took a lot of time to absorb Qi, and even longer to actually subdue it enough that it could be used for their techniques, limiting the amount of fighting they could do under limited circumstances. On the contrary, martial arts essence was far easier to recover, allowing them to fight longer.

That would have affected Aisnam, considering she had spent the whole night fighting as a cultivator, if it wasn’t for one important difference. She fought while disguising herself as an injured Second Stage cultivator rather than an Eight Stage one, which meant she was in tip-top shape.

That didn’t mean it hadn’t been difficult mentally. All night, she had been walking a tightrope as she pulled a double-bluff, trying to convince any direct observer that she was at her last rope, injured and about to die, while also trying to convince the large Tiger Fist army that they were dealing with a cultivator that wasn’t as weak as the stories suggested.

I emphasized her difficulties. I had dealt with similar challenges, but unlike me, she didn’t have a System to help her smooth out any mistakes.

So, the moment she entered, I greeted her with a hug. “Thank the immortals you’re not injured,” I muttered as I hugged her. “I was worried.”

“There’s no reason to worry. I was with Her Highness, and no harm could come to me,” she answered, but made no move to stop my hug.

“It’s the battlefield. There are always accidents,” I answered as I explained my worry. We said nothing while I hugged her, letting her relax. She needed it.

While she experienced no physical danger during the battle, that didn’t mean that it had been easy. She had spent almost a day putting an act, where a mistake might bring more trouble than she could handle. And, her stress was evident. I started rubbing her back, once again putting my massage talent to good use.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” I said once I led her to a seat, stood at her back, and started rubbing her shoulders. But, I asked that question only after the worst of her stress had been drained.

“Nothing much to tell. We have managed to deal with the assassins, but most of the royal family had already been killed. Luckily, one of the young princes was alive, and Her Highness deigned to take the role of the regent until the prince grew up.”

“Very good,” I said as I continued rubbing her shoulders, not asking any inconvenient questions like whether there was actually a surviving prince, or why a cultivator of Eight Stage took hours before he could reach the inner circle.

Politics was not my problem, nor something I was capable of. The system didn’t count the local political knowledge as a skill — why it was different from others, I didn’t know — so I couldn’t cheat. And, I didn’t want to waste months as I tried to learn the complicated political structure of the mortal kingdoms.

Aisnam was capable enough to handle the rest, especially since she could always receive some assistance from her mysterious allies in case of an emergency.

“There will be a coronation ceremony the next morning. You should come and be rewarded.”

“Thanks, but I rather not,” I said, and she looked up, shocked. I leaned down to kiss her, and pulled back after a considerable delay.

“Why?” she stammered, blushing after the kiss. “It’s a great honor, and the Queen will be very generous.”

“I don’t need anything but your company,” I said before kissing her again. This time, she responded even more passionately. I continued talking once we stopped. “I’m guessing you’re going to live here to take care of the security of that stone gate,” I said.

“Yes,” she said.

”Good. I can stay here and accompany you,” I said, and then a naughty smirk spread only my face. “And, without the Queen here to ruin our fun, we can use the whole palace for our fun. I had my eye on one of the balconies for a long time —” I continued, interrupted by a poke to my side.

“You’re so bad,” she said, but her giggles didn’t sound particularly argumentative.

Her thoughts were easy to read. I had no doubt that, with her taking the role of the Regent, she would not only be extremely busy, but she would have to spend all her public appearances playing the role of the sickly yet valiant Queen. Boring and stressful.

“I would have to stay with Her Highness to serve her,” she said reluctantly.

“Good. Then, I could serve you during the night, balancing things out—” I started, earning another playful slap, followed by a giggle.

She sighed. “At least you won’t need to risk yourself communicating with the mysterious apothecaries. The Queen will be sending her servants to deal with the trade.”

“Good. It means more time for training,” I said. It would have been inconvenient before I had received my formation skill, but now that reached Perfection, I could easily set an exchange location that would keep my identity hidden even against her.

I feared no Qi Gathering cultivator as long as I had the luxury of setting up the field beforehand. It was already challenging for cultivators to fight against an ordinary formation master, who was limited by the amount of Qi that they could channel during an emergency. Channeling Qi of spirit stones or other sources took a longer time.

With my Inventory, my constraints were much laxer.

After she informed me of the change in the trade, the silence fell to the palace for a while. I was the one to break it. “So, what are the next steps?” I asked.

“We don’t know. It depends on what Tiger Fist army does, and how the other cities would react. Markas will support us, but with Tiger Fist army between us, there was a limit on how much they could support.”

“Can’t the Queen just go out and deal with them? She’s strong enough.”

“No. She doesn’t have much freedom. The Covenant forbids cultivators from interfering with the mortal battles. The last night was alright, because they attacked her home. Regency is a bit more problematic, but unless the sects decide to intervene directly, she could use that temporary position as an excuse to defend the royal residence. Even operating the rest of the capital would be problematic … anywhere else, it would bring punishment to her.”

“Sounds complicated.”

She sighed. “I haven’t even started. There are still martial artists quotas, taxes to the cultivation families and sects, the relationship with the other cities, generals … it’ll be a mess. I don’t know what we’ll do if our trade partners decide to stop providing us or change the prices. We need a lot of essence pills.”

I shrugged. “We’ll figure a way if it comes to that. There’s no need to borrow trouble from the future.” It was easy to console her when I was the one responsible for those decisions.

“You’re right,” she said as she pulled a letter and stood up.

“Another delivery?” I asked.

“The last one,” she said. “Her Highness explained the procedures for the new trade deliveries, so you don’t have to worry about it anymore. You don’t have to do anything but rest.”

As she said that, she prepared to leave. That would not do. “Sounds like a fun time. I need to work on my techniques as well,” I said. “Watching you practice that palm technique, in particular, taught me a lot.”

“I’m happy that it could help,” she said. “Unfortunately, with everything, we won’t have much time together. Even now, I have to go and deal with the political mess.”

“Not immediately, right?” I asked as I rubbed the small of her back.

“Well, Her Highness is waiting for me…” she murmured, but her whisper was far more suggestive than determined. It was easier to ignore one’s boss when said boss was actually imaginary. Or, was it her job that was the imaginary one … acting multiple roles was complicated.

“Then, tell her we had some emergency about the trade or something. It’s not like she can’t handle your absence for some time.” As I said that, the hug started to turn into … more.

“Well, there’s no harm in a few minutes —” she started, which turned into a playful yelp soon enough.

I chuckled. “It’s cute that you think you can get away with just a few minutes.” She blushed. I continued. “Since the Queen is not here anymore, why don’t we play some games. Maybe make some noise.”

“I don’t know…” she whispered, then pushed me back with a big smile. “You have to catch me first.”

She ran.

I chased…