Isaac and Sword Empress made a few more comments about the upcoming training and the way the new summon recruits were living.
After a while, their talked ended. Sword Empress looked at him.
She didn’t say anything.
The meaning behind her gaze was clear enough. She was asking him to leave.
Isaac coughed into his fist and shifted his weight.
’Alright. Time to ask her about that,’ he thought, taking a quiet breath to steady himself.
"Is there something you want to say?" Sword Empress asked, picking up the cues.
"I do. It’s... a rather personal matter."
"Go ahead. I’m listening," she said, already having an idea about what it was.
Isaac hesitated for half a second, then pushed through it. "I noticed recently that my saliva is... addictive. It increases sensitivity and works like an aphrodisiac. That part isn’t really the problem. The issue is the ’addiction’ part. I don’t want that. Do you know any medicine or potion that can help people build resistance to it?"
"You don’t need a potion. The way to build resistance is rather easy."
"How?" Isaac asked, leaning forward without thinking.
"External absorption," she replied.
"External absorption?" He frowned. "How do you even do that?"
A faint blush crept up her face, even though she had rehearsed those words a lot of time already.
She lowered her head, coughed once, and straightened again, the blush gone, but she still didn’t meet his eyes.
"Licking," she said quietly.
Isaac’s eyebrows shot up.
It took him a second to process what she meant.
Licking, letting the saliva seep in through the skin instead of being swallowed. Normally, that would’ve sounded... unpleasant. But his saliva had changed. There wasn’t really any mess or stickiness to it. And if there was, from the way his wives reacted whenever he did it, they seemed to like it.
Sword Empress noticed his silence and assumed he hadn’t understood.
"Licking over their bodies," she clarified, her voice a little faster now. "Like the abdomen, or... or... wherever you like."
She stared at the floor as she said it.
Seeing her, who was usually stoic or glaring, like that stirred something strange in Isaac.
He’d never seen the Sword Empress look flustered before.
And now she couldn’t even look at him in the eye.
A mischievous thought slipped in.
So, to her, who obviously couldn’t tackle adult things, he asked, rather shamelessly, "Okay. That makes sense. There was one more thing I wanted to ask you. Can you teach me how to seduce other women?"
Her head snapped toward him.
"What?" she said.
For a brief moment, confusion completely wiped the embarrassment off her face.
Then the confusion turned into anger.
Was this bastard poking fun at her?
She just told him she was called Sword Maiden. Why was he asking things related to relationships from her?
And who the hell asks this kind of thing from another woman!?
She wanted to slap Isaac silly.
It didn’t help that this felt familiar.
Her younger brother — Emily’s father — used to do this to her in their past life.
Back when she didn’t know he was a reincarnator, he’d ask questions like this with an innocent face just to make her flustered.
It wasn’t until much later that she realized he wasn’t innocent at all.
He was just a bastard who enjoyed teasing her.
She’d beaten him for it. Thoroughly.
The memory made her glare sharpen.
’Is he trying to pull my leg?’ she thought.
But when she looked at Isaac’s sincere eyes, she hesitated.
’No, never mind. Isaac isn’t like him. He is innocent and sincere.’
"Sword Empress?" Isaac said carefully. "Do you know how I can sed—"
"Leave."
A cold voice left her lips.
"I’m busy."
She straightened, forcing her posture into something stern and unapproachable.
She had no idea how to seduce anyone. Not even a little. And there was no way she was admitting that out loud. Her pride wouldn’t survive it.
So she did the only thing she could.
She decided to throw him out and ignore his question!
What could he do?
Complain?
Let him complain!
It wouldn’t do anything!
Isaac felt the shift in the room instantly. It made the hairs on his arms rise.
He swallowed. "Thank you for your time."
Then he turned and left, closing the door behind him a little faster than necessary, knowing he had pissed off Sword Empress.
The moment he was gone, Sword Empress let out a long breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.
A ripple of space distorted in front of her, and Catherine appeared, sitting in the chair Isaac had just vacated.
"Master, look at you, acting angry just to cover up your embarrassment. Tsk, tsk," Catherine said with a smile, crossing her legs.
Sword Empress narrowed her eyes.
If Isaac was innocent, this one was the exact opposite.
"Isn’t it about time you found a partner? Are you really going to go for the record of staying single for one hundred and fifty years after already hitting one hundred?"
"Catherine," Sword Empress said, smiling in a way that did not reach her eyes. "Are you sure you want to talk like this? You have training coming up."
Catherine laughed. "That’s exactly why I’m saying all this. I’m already doomed. Might as well enjoy myself before that."
She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "So, about your partner. How about—"
Sword Empress clicked her tongue and stood up.
Catherine smile widened, ever so slightly.
It was a strange feeling, seeing how thick-skinned her disciple had become. Once upon a time, just the word "training" would’ve made her pale.
Now, she treated it like a joke.
’Tsk, I need to prepare a special training to remind her the meaning of the word training,’ Sword Empress thought.
...
Isaac walked down the hallway with his hands in his pockets, replaying the conversation in his head.
’Licking,’ he thought, still not quite believing that had been the answer.
He shook his head and let out a quiet laugh.
"This world is ridiculous," he muttered.
A familiar presence caught up to him a few steps later.
Ruby walked beside him, matching his pace.
"Master, the governor from the other human city is here."
"Alright. Let’s meet him. Lead the way."