Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1819, 1791. Bed Partner
Both Kirin and Euphneus are excellent horses capable of easily reaching high-speed rail speeds, and in Velen, they should be able to cross mountains and rivers with ease.

Even considering that the land is covered with trees and shrubs, and that speeding on the highway can be dangerous, it should take less than an hour or two to reach High Hill Fortress, located in the south-central hills of Velen.

However, in order to accommodate Alexios's ordinary horse, the journey was naturally prolonged.

Alexios kept muttering to himself the whole way, keeping his voice just loud enough for his sister to hear.

Cassandra handled the situation like any older sister in the world: she ignored her brother's grumbling and happily nurtured her relationship with Euphneus.

To be honest, Lan En had some doubts. Did this Hades warhorse, created by the Isu people using technological means, really need to be trained to have an emotional bond?

Generally speaking, technological products either work or they don't. Emotions shouldn't have any place in this process.

However, considering the horse's previous animal behavior, it's difficult to draw a conclusion.

"Suck~"

While Lan En's mind was blank and his thoughts were wandering, Margarita, who was pressed against his chest, took a deep breath.

Although Velen was barren and poor, its swampy environment was lush with vegetation. Many trees, as thick as a person's embrace, stood tall and straight, swaying like ghosts and rustling in the cold winds blowing from the sea.

The air was filled with the damp, fishy smell of the sea and the grassy smell of vegetation.

For people who live in the city, this smell can be described as 'natural'.

But Margarita wasn't smelling Velen's 'natural scent' through her nose... she was smelling it against Lann's chest.

"You've been feeling really unwell these past few days," the sorceress asked in a muffled voice without looking up, "but why don't you smell like a sick person at all? You actually smell quite fresh."

People with health problems often have a strange odor, something that most people with common sense have encountered.

However, Lan En's situation was different. Since his surgery two days ago, although his body had been in a state of adaptation, he had not taken a bath or wiped his body.

But his scent always remained natural.

“And his skin…” Margarita’s fingers gently traced Lann’s exposed neck, “It’s like a glowing opal!”

Lan En smirked, "I didn't know that what you cared about most was this, rather than that we haven't slept together for two days?"

“Sex is important,” Margarita said as boldly and nonchalantly as ever, “but beauty is also irresistible.”

"Don't let Tisaya's serious demeanor fool you. The potions she uses to preserve her youth and beauty are enough to make a kingdom's treasury tremble with fear."

"But the great mentor said that maintaining beauty is an important part of maintaining the dignity and prestige of a sorceress, and the two can even be directly equated."

"Great Mentor" is the title of respect given to Tishaya among the sorcerers, representing the profound seniority of both she and Gedimitis.

Margarita winked and smiled mischievously: "And many of the great teacher's students also agree with this theory."

“Then it seems I should thank my great mentor,” Lan En said with a smile. “Thank her for teaching her students to become the beautiful people they are today.”

Margarita shrugged: "Didn't you already 'thank' her? Although the coup in Aretusa had a huge impact, it's clear to anyone with eyes that Tisaya is in good shape."

The sorceress was strong-willed and assertive, and she had no secrets or taboos about maintaining her beauty.

Unfortunately, Lan En's current situation is not due to any beauty secrets or life hacks.

It's because his body's pigment control spheres and sweat gland improvement organs are at work.

The Pigment Control Ball can detect the intensity and type of radiation hitting the skin and, when necessary, activate a chemical reaction to regulate the way pigment accumulates on the skin, giving Space Marines resistance to different types of radiation.

Many unique Space Marines are distinguished from other Space Marines because of this organ.

For example, the Salamander Legion that Lan En learned about from [Deep Dive into Memories]—each of them had skin so black it was almost obsidian, while their eyes were bright red like fire.

However, the gene expression of this organ in Lan En is clearly different.

As Margarita described, his skin now has a healthy and vibrant radiance, like polished opal or white jade.

The sweat gland improvement organ's main function is to turn the Space Marine's sweat into a natural cleaning agent to maintain the hygiene and cleanliness of the fully enclosed power armor interior during long-term combat.

It can also provide some protection in extreme temperature environments, and is a standard feature that must be operated at full power when fighting in the vacuum of space.

Although Lan En hasn't tried it yet, he feels that if he were to use the spells "Intense Sweating" or "Intense Oily Sweating" now, the effect would probably be greatly enhanced.

"Hey, Alexios!" Margarita waved and called out to him as she reluctantly withdrew her hand from Lann's skin.

Over the past few days, Cassandra's brother has also met and gotten to know Gos Willen's friends. Although they hadn't met before, with Lann as the central figure in their social network, they were able to interact amicably.

Everyone felt that Lan En seemed to make friends very easily, and these friends were all nice people. Moreover, Lan En was able to handle the relationships between friends very well, making people feel comfortable.

Lan En didn't know what Margarita was up to, but he still made the Qilin slow down and run alongside Alexios.

Compared to the super-small ancient dragons of the New World, the horses next to them look like foals, and the size contrast is quite amusing.

Alexios sighed in displeasure, while Margarita leaned out from the back of the Qilin to look down.

"What do you need me for, Margarita?"

“It’s nothing,” the sorceress waved her hand casually. “I just wanted to ask if you’d be interested in finding a non-clingy bed partner who can satisfy your individual physical needs.”

Margarita shrugged. "To put it bluntly, it's Maddie Sordgren, the sorceress who runs a clinic in Goth Willen. She's getting envious of you wandering around town."

Alexios's appearance and robust physique were inherently very attractive to men. Combined with the exotic, magical medieval atmosphere of the ancient Greeks, his appeal was undeniably strong.

“Maddie?” Lann finally interjected, “I thought someone with her personality would just casually ask a question after she’d slept with someone and been satisfied.”

“That’s how it was originally,” Margarita explained with a sigh. “But during the time she was a medic on the Little Fish River battlefield, she had a few days of romance with an officer. She thought she was just satisfying her physical needs, but the officer was serious.”

"When she tried to break up with him later, she almost got her throat slit by that agitated officer if she hadn't chosen a crowded place. After experiencing something like that, even if Maddie was promiscuous, she would have been scared into being a little more cautious."

When Margarita spoke of this, there was none of the usual sarcasm she used when mentioning Mattie Södergren. Instead, her tone was heavy with sorrow and pity.

In the high-pressure environment of the battlefield, relationships between men and women are the most common way to relieve stress. That officer couldn't possibly be unaware of this, but he was probably driven to the brink of madness by the pressure, which is why he wanted to kill someone during a peaceful breakup.

The torment and distortion that war inflicts on people does not stop at the direct victims.

This torment and distortion will spread.

This matter is also related to Lan En.

After his victory and departure from the Little Fish River battlefield, he had warned Mattie Sodergren about this situation.

It seems she finally listened; the place she chose for the peaceful breakup was crowded enough to stop an officer from suddenly killing her.

Maddie wasn't a combat-skilled sorcerer to begin with; she primarily practiced healing magic. Given their breakup at the time, they must have been living very close to each other.

If no one had stopped her, she would have been killed almost certainly.

Alexios, of course, had no reason to refuse such a request: "A lady who needs someone to keep her company at night? No problem!"

If we're talking about who could agree with the ancient Greeks on openness and gameplay, it's probably the sorcerers and nobles.

And to be honest, given the customs of ancient Greece, Alexios may have had his lovers not only women, but also handsome men.

In those days, people considered male-male love to be far more refined than male-female love.

They traveled at a rapid pace, even though Velen had not been actually invaded during the Second Northern War.

The Nilfgaardian army didn't even manage to reach Hidaris, but the deterioration of public order caused by the war still left its mark on this already barren and impoverished land.

Beside a roadside stream, Lan En and his companions discovered a cart that had been completely robbed. The animals pulling the cart and all the items inside had been stolen, leaving only the original owner's corpse, already rotting and stinking, haphazardly stuffed into the cart.

The smell of rotting corpses attracted a group of ghouls to the area.

Their numbers had grown to the point where they dared to attack passersby, so Lan En and his group decided to clear them out.

Alexios made his move; the chosen ones from the ancient Greek world had long been eager to see those 'legendary monsters'.

But after Alexios used the glittering Isu artifact to quickly and easily eliminate the group of ghouls, he became puzzled.

"What the hell?" The Chosen One frowned, swinging the Sword of Damocles in the air as if he had suddenly lost his grip. "Are those ghouls so durable?"

A skilled warrior can get a general sense of the ghoul's strength just by observing its movements.

Although Alexios was still wielding his Greek dagger, he realized that the resistance he encountered when he swung his sword was far greater than he had anticipated.

"You should prepare a silver sword here," a veteran demon hunter advised. "Silver swords are very effective against monsters, especially when you encounter spirits or ghosts in the future."

You will thank me.

(End of this chapter)