After he got back to the inn and meditated in his room, dinnertime finally came. He went downstairs and found himself a table in the corner. Soon enough, the poster girl came to get his order.

“Hello, here’s the menu, the special orders will cost extra. What can… the toilet man?” [Inn lady’s daughter]

Looking at her surprised expression, Ryner was happy that he was still good at hiding in plain sight, that or he had a weak presence.

“So that’s my nickname. You have a pretty bad first impression of me inn lady.” [Ryner]

“Ah! Sorry! I mean back then you only talked about toilets so… It just…” [Inn lady’s daughter]

The girl was flustered and apologized while trying to explain that she didn’t mean anything bad by it.

“Don’t worry inn lady. It’s better than some of the nicknames other people call me with. Anyway, let’s see… I’ll have the meal set A.” [Ryner]

The man before her casually brushed it off before checking the menu and making his order.

“Ah! Right away! And what would you like to drink? We have a small variety of alcohol to choose from.” [Inn lady’s daughter]

“No thanks inn lady. I don’t really drink. Just get me milk.” [Ryner]

“Got it! Then I’ll be right back!” [Inn lady’s daughter]

The girl then quickly rushed off to the kitchen with the customers’ eyes on her, mostly the men. Ryner also caught some attention as he was known as the toilet guy by those who saw his earlier conversation with her. A few minutes later, she came back with his meal: sliced potatoes and carrots, green peas, chunks of pork in a thick brown meat sauce and a glass of milk.

“Here’s your meal and your drink. Milk, right?” [Inn lady’s daughter]

“Yup. Thanks inn lady.” [Ryner]

While Ryner was digging in, the girl stood there chuckling to herself while holding the tray to her chest with both hands.

“You know, it’s actually the first time I gave milk to a grown man. Normally it’s always alcohol at this time.” [Inn lady’s daughter]

Ryner answered her while eating his potatoes.

“The world is vast inn lady. There might be a milk drinking, toilet loving man out there.” [Ryner]

The poster girl frowned a bit at his answer.

“You should stop calling me inn lady, you know? My name is Trish.” [Trish]

At this response, Ryner stopped eating and turned towards her, talking while holding his right hand out for a handshake.

“Ohh! That so? Nice to meet you Trish. I’m Toile *cough cough* Ryner.” [Ryner]

“… Just now, you were about to say toilet, weren’t you?” [Trish]

“No. You must have heard wrong inn lady, I mean Trish.” [Ryner]

Trish just looked at this sleepy looking man that was making fun of her with half closed eyes. She didn’t have the same sleepy eyes as him though, she was scrutinizing him. But under this intense stare, the guy just casually waited with his hand stretched out. Eventually, she sighed and shook his hand.

“Nice to meet you… Toilet man.” [Trish]

Seeing her fight back, Ryner’s small smile changed into a smirk, while Trish had a huge grin on her face. The men on the side, however, were looking at them with both curious and envious stares. Some were also glaring at the weird fellow who managed to befriend the poster girl by drinking milk and praising toilets.

After the meal, Ryner meditated again in his room until night. Doing so allowed him to better check his condition. It also helped to calm him down, a skill that allowed him to retain his sanity on multiple occasions. Then, late at night, he left the inn and headed to the red light district.

Despite the time, it wasn’t dark at all as there were lamp posts everywhere. After asking Trish about his modern looking lamp, it turned out that magic stones were used to light up the city. They could be excavated in specific places or obtained from mana beasts, monsters that could use magic.

While looking at the pseudo lamp posts, he arrived in a part of the city that had red lights hanging on the buildings. Men were walking about and some couples were also present, entering suspicious looking buildings while cuddling. In front of some of them, women in skimpy dresses were waving to the single men, using all of their womanly charms to draw them in.

There were also some on balconies, looking down and seductively raising the hem of their already short dresses to show off their legs. Ryner randomly picked one of the buildings and went inside. He followed the corridor and went deeper into the brothel until he reached a huge room. Stairs were leading up to the many floors and doors lined the corridors.

To his right was many waiting rooms hidden by red curtains as well as a counter and standing behind it was an old woman with grey hair that reached her shoulders. She was chubby, wore a nice looking black dress and had deep red lips. Once she saw him, she stopped smoking her pipe and gestured for him to come closer.

“Welcome darling. You’re a new face huh. I’m the owner, Madame. Do you have any girl in mind or would you like me to present those who are free?” [Madame]

“I’m new, but I’m sure all your girls are gorgeous. Just tell me which room is free.” [Ryner]

Hearing this, the old lady asked him to pay up front before taking him to one of the waiting rooms. Behind the curtains were three sofas lined up on each side of the wall as well as a table in the middle of the room. She then asked him to wait here for a bit before leaving. 5 minutes later, she came back and told him he could go on ahead.

“Third floor, fourth room down the corridor. Remember, if you play rough, my boys will kick you out.” [Madame]

Going up to the room and passing through the door, he saw a young, red-haired, green-eyed beauty with an hourglass shaped body. She was sitting naked on the bed with her legs crossed, her smile inviting him.

“Hi there handsome. My name’s Red. What can I do for you?” [Red]

She said seductively while uncrossing her legs, her most private part visible to see. Ryner, without batting an eyelash, walked in, closed the door and greeted her with sleepy eyes.

“Yo, well I’d like you to lie down on your stomach on top of the bed.” [Ryner]

Seeing no reaction whatsoever, the woman was shocked, but as a professional, she quickly regained her senses. Doing as she was told, she got on all fours and slowly lied down on the bed while smiling at him, her chest first before her butt, sticking it out to emphasize her figure.

Her long red hair draping her lower back, she moved it aside to show off her smooth, pale skin. Ryner then walked up to the bed, took his shoes off and got on top of her. Knowing what was about to happen, she waited with closed eyes, wondering if this sleepy idiot even knew about foreplay.

Inside the castle, in the queen’s bedchamber, the king and his eldest daughter stood by the bedside, looking sadly at the person sleeping on it. The king, Adrian Welston, was in his fifties, had long blond hair with strands of gray, a well-trimmed beard and he wore luxurious clothing with a red cloak. His blue eyes filled with grief were staring at his beloved wife, Clara welston.

She was nearing her fifties, had blue hair that reached her shoulders and wore a simple white gown. She was skinny with extremely pale skin, showing her weak state. She was the mother of Leila and the first princess, Tiffany Welston, who stood next to her.

This one had inherited her mother’s trait, sporting long blue hair that reached her lower back, brown eyes with a mole under the right one. Her wonderful figure was cloaked in an expensive pale blue dress with lines of white. The king passed a hand through his wife’s hair, gently patting her.

“Father…” [Tiffany]

Tiffany gripped onto her father’s sleeve, her sad voice sounded out her worry. Her father had cried by her mother’s bedside more than once, a sight that a king shouldn’t show to anyone.

“I’m alright.” [Adrian]

He said to reassure his daughter while smiling, but he couldn’t disguise his sorrow. At this moment, a knock on the door resounded, followed by someone entering right away. It was Leila whose serious expression changed to a sad one the moment she saw her mother.

“Father, Tiffany, I’m back” [Leila]

“Welcome back. How was your patrol?” [Adrian]

“Yes, there was a small disturbance, but I quickly took care of it.” [Leila]

Leila answered her father while thinking about the strange man from today.

“I really don’t think you need to keep patrolling the noble district Leila. Security can handle it.” [Tiffany]

Tiffany said to her younger sister, worried about her. But the blond haired girl shook her head.

“No, it’s alright. I want to do it and you know how strong I am. I can defend myself… and catch any intruders.” [Leila]

She tried to reassure her kind elder sister, who was exactly like their mother, but the latter half of her speech was laced with hatred. The queen had suddenly fallen ill months ago. The healers did all that they could, but she showed no signs of getting any better. It was a miracle that she hadn’t died yet considering how weak she became as the days passed.

No medicine or magic could treat her. It was evident to everyone that someone was after her life as she suddenly fell unconscious despite being the picture of health. The king, furious, issued a wanted notice for the criminal that dared harm the queen, but he hadn’t been caught yet.

The second princess who followed the path of a warrior had been patrolling the noble district day and night, looking for her mother’s enemy. While the three exchanged a few words and powerlessly watched their loved one slowly wither away, a new person entered the room without knocking.

“There you are Tiffany, I was looking everywhere for you.” [???]

A handsome man with a well-toned body and shoulder length brown hair said towards the first princess. His bright blue eyes were looking at her disapprovingly.

“Sirius…” [Tiffany]

Tiffany weakly said her husband’s name. He was the third prince of an allied country, the Stornith empire. The two were joined in a political marriage to solidify the alliance and the prince went to live with his wife, renouncing his right to the throne. Sirius went over to his wife and put a hand on her shoulder, which made her flinch, before addressing the other two.

“Father-in-law, do not worry so much, I’m sure mother-in-law will recover. Isn’t that so Leila?” [Sirius]

The son-in-law spoke with a serious expression to the king before using a bright tone with Leila and showed her his best smile.

“You’re… right.” [Adrian]

The king dispiritedly said while Leila glanced at him before nodding. His smile made her feel uncomfortable, or rather, being near him made her feel uncomfortable. But, he wasn’t a bad person, neither rude nor violent. Although the first princess wasn’t happy with her marriage, she never received ill treatment from him. But just like her little sister, being around him put her ill at ease. However, now wasn’t the time to mind this trivial issue. They had to find a way to cure the queen and bring the culprit to justice.

Ryner left the red light district, feeling refreshed. It was still the middle of the night as it only took twenty minutes before Red fell asleep from his massage. Suddenly, he felt a few people secretly watching him with hostility.

Curious as to what he did to pique their interest, he went down an alley and kept going until he reached a small squared space where three alleys intersected. It was big enough for nine men to stand inside. Waiting in the middle for a while, his stalkers soon showed up: nine men armed with swords, daggers, knuckles and clubs. Walking forward was one man with a dagger and a bandage on his forehead.

“Told ya we’d find you, brat. The Green Crowns never let go of their prey and soon, you’re gonna wish you were never born.” [Thug]

The leader-like thug spoke with a smirk on his face. It was the guy from before that Ryner flicked coins at, the one that screamed threats at him before he left.

“… Do I know you?” [Ryner]

Unfortunately, Ryner didn’t bother with remembering every thugs and punks that came to pick fights with him. This caused a vein to pop on the corner of the man’s forehead.

“You won’t be able to speak like that for long. After I beat you to death, I’ll slice your tongue off and keep it as a trophy.” [Thug]

While he was talking, Ryner was trying to think where he met him before finally realizing who he was, which caused him to tap his right fist in his left hand.

“Ah! You’re the king from before. I see you’ve treated your wound… sniff sniff… but didn’t buy any soap.” [Ryner]

He shamelessly conversed with the man, which only rubbed salt in the fuming thug’s wounds. Losing control, he yelled loudly to all the gang members around him.

“KILL HIM!!!” [Thug]

Six men rushed out at his cry, two from each of the alleys, surrounding Ryner. As the men attacked, Ryner dodged with paper thin margins before simultaneously knocking out two enemies in front with a palm strike to their chin, rattling their brain.

He then rushed towards a club wielder and grabbed his raised weapon, giving the man a quick headbutt to stun him. One guy tried to rush him from behind with a raised sword, but he kicked him away without letting the other one go. He then twisted the man’s arm while going to his back, dislocating his shoulder in the process and stealing his weapon before kicking him towards the other attackers.

While they were dodging their fallen comrade, Ryner charged at a distracted enemy and hit him on the face with the club. He then quickly went on to strike another one down before being attacked by a dagger wielder. In response to the stab, Ryner hit the dagger away with the club and dropped it down on the man’s head.

All six men were beaten in seconds, groaning in pain. Seeing this, the leader-like thug ordered the other two to attack, nervous but still confident in his victory, for these two were accomplished magic users.

They willed the mana in their bodies and augmented their strength many times over, jumping at their sole enemy at incredible speed. Ryner threw the club at one of them, but he easily dodged it by moving his head to the side. The two then swung their swords at him, forcing him to jump back to dodge.

He kept moving backwards, dodging left and right. Although he could keep up with their enhanced speed, they believed that he couldn’t fight back before their might, but Ryner was leading them out of that box and towards one of the alleys. The narrow space forced them to attack one at a time since they needed room to swing their swords.

Jumping backwards to make space between them, the magic user in front lunged at Ryner to stab him. Expecting this, Ryner jumped on the side of the wall and kicked it to gain more height, jumping over the man and pushing him forward on the back of his head. The one behind, seeing this perfect opportunity, attacked him who was spinning in the air, but his blade was kicked on the side, diverting the trajectory and making him stumble forward.

Ryner then grabbed the man’s head, landed behind him and snapped the man’s neck by making him bend backward. The last fighter tried to cut him down but Ryner used the dead man’s body as a shield. While the corpse’s blood was flying, the swordsman quickly stab through his ally, hoping to pierce his foe as well. He then saw the face of his enemy twist with pain which made him believe he won, so he relaxed his guard.

The sword was actually right underneath Ryner’s armpit. The corpse was suddenly pushed towards him until it was in his face, shoving the blade in all the way to the hilt. Before he could try to pull it out, another blade suddenly stab him. Ryner had grabbed the sword of the first magic user and skewered them together, using the exact same strategy as his now dead opponent.

He then turned toward the only standing thug left who saw it all happened. He couldn’t believe how easily those two lost, and they didn’t even manage to scratch him.

“Sorry your Smelliness, but could you leave now? I really don’t want to litter too much. It’ll make the place smell even worse.” [Ryner]

His hated enemy, with that damn sleepy looking face, once again made fun of them as he walked away… made fun of him! Forgetting his fear and being driven by anger, he charged at his back, intending to stab him with his dagger. As if he had eyes in the back of his eyes, Ryner spun around while sidestepping, grabbing the armed hand at the wrist and snapping it.

He quickly stole the dagger from the loose grip and spun around again, stabbing the thug in the back of the neck just as he ran passed him. The unfortunate criminal fell face down on the ground, his weapon embedded in him.

“Ah… oops.” [Ryner]

He looked at his handiwork before continuing on his way, but then he turned around and shouted to the ones writhing on the floor of the squared open space.

“Guys! Make sure you pick them up before leaving alright? Don’t leave any trash lying around.” [Ryner]

After getting back to his room in the inn, he then meditated again and checked his current state. There weren’t any fluctuations with his healing progress since he didn’t use any powers during his fight. His specially made body was at the peak condition that he reached when he was still human after deadly training.

The only time he reinforced his body was when he dashed out of the forest and to the city. It dropped his recovery rate, but it was still within acceptable margins, Even so, he still decided to minimize the use of his powers. Losing was not an option.

Luckily, accessing a personal pocket dimension didn’t take too much effort, so he could freely use any of his equipment to get him out of trouble. If it was still not enough to defeat his enemies, then he’ll get serious and blow away a mountain or two.

Three hours before sunrise, he stopped meditating and slept until breakfast. This was the part he hated the most, but his body needed sleep. His nightmares then came surging up from the deepest corners of his soul. The losses and betrayals he went through, the dark side of the world that he grew up in, and the ugliness of humanity.

But not just them, every sentient race that could lie was there to greet him. They looked at him with twisted smiles as they stabbed him. Then, the slaves he saw today finally appeared, sporting black holes for eyes and carrying spiked chains. They tied him up, ripping his flesh and spilling his blood, yelling in his ears to come join them. He saw it all in his dreams before abruptly waking up while shouting someone’s name or begging another to stop, tears spilling from his eyes.

“The usual… This is just the usual.” [Ryner]

Lying down on the bed and covering his face with his arm, he said to himself the usual line, a habit he developed to deal with his pain.