Cthulhu Gonfalon

“What…what has happened to me?”

Sui Xiong had done a good job transforming her body. Steele immediately stumbled a bit after trying to stand up, feeling very weak and confused. She looked around and cast her eyes on Ray, who was very nervous, and then the jellyfish floating in front of her. She then asked Ray, “Am I delusional? Why do I see a sea jelly floating in the air in front of me? Your Majesty, is it your pet?”

Hearing this, Ray began to laugh, while Sui Xiong was quite annoyed.

This silly woman…a sea jelly?! That was a snack for me! I am a jellyfish damnit! Yes, it’s true that a sea jelly is a jellyfish in a way, but a jellyfish is certainly not a sea jelly! They are different!

Not to mention…a pet! Ray is my follower. How can she be so ridiculous that she sees me as a pet, and Ray as the master! Saving her was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made in my whole life!

When Steele finally knew what had transpired, she was so excited and cried out, “Your Majesty, even the sun is shadowed by your righteousness and mercy! To return your favor, I can only—”

“You don’t need to return my favor! I simply did the right thing, and that is all. And now we’ll say goodbye!” Sui Xiong instantly interrupted her, since he thought what she was going to say would be “I would do anything for you” or something along those lines. Although Steele was very sincere, Sui Xiong still felt she was plotting something.

What if she said “I can only return the favor by giving myself to you”, how embarrassing would that be! And then I’d definitely get grief about it from Ray too.

“Even if you don’t want me to return the favor, please allow me to follow you!” Steele’s eyes were watering as she pleaded, as if she was ready to burst into tears at any moment. “Since the King of Sex and Lust does not want me, with this appearance, I will never be able to live among normal people again. If I don’t follow you, I don’t know where I can go!”

“We are about to cross the Wild Marsh of Ancient Woods, the Broken Cloud Mountains, and the Ancient Forest, and then we’ll arrive at the Commonwealth of Mifata. If you, a weak creature, come with us, you will be nothing but a burden,” Ray said, refusing her request instantly.

Obviously, he underestimated Steele’s intelligence and moral integrity. Hearing this, Steele quickly responded with an idea.

“Your Majesty, don’t you think there are certain kinds of people that you do not have among your followers?” she said coyly.

“Certain kinds of people that you don’t have…?” Sui Xiong then looked at Ray and looked at Steele. “Who are they?”

“We have everyone we need,” Ray said. In case he hadn’t been persuasive enough, he emphasized, “WE HAVE EVERYONE WE NEED!”

“See? We have everyone we need,” Sui Xiong said, “as Ray says.”

Steele smiled, and said, “Men are all quite thoughtless, which is normal. But from my point of view, there should be a cook, a servant and other personnel who are in charge of reconnaissance.”

“Don’t tell me you are versatile and can do all these things…” Ray spat out, mouth twitching. “I am not that stupid!”

“Who would dare lie in front of a god? I am a good cook and know how to please a man, and it is my life that has forced me to learn all these things.”

Sui Xiong was amazed by what she had said and responded, “Forced by your life? How can an aristocrat like you be forced to learn all these things?”

Steele sighed and slowly said, “Some men with principles like neither money nor women; they are brave and strong-minded. In order to seduce them, I had to learn other skills…”

Hearing this, Sui Xiong nodded.

“Besides, men always have some peculiar interests. There were some men who couldn’t even be seduced with a naked woman standing right in front of him, but if you wore an apron or dress like a housemaid and called him ‘master’, all of a sudden he’d be out of breath.”

Sui Xiong kept nodding.

Steele was laughing and said, “Especially when I dress like a housemaid, and said to a man ‘Welcome back, my darling. Do you want to take a shower first? Or eat dinner first? Or eat me first?’ Almost every man would act like a beast, it was a marvelous feeling really. Over time, I learned how to be a cook as well as a housemaid.”

Hearing Steele’s words, Ray was speechless, and Sui could only continue nodding. They were totally persuaded by her.

This woman was…really something!

“Wait a moment, I have a question!” Ray exclaimed. “Since you have managed to seduce many successful men, why didn’t any of them come to help you when you were fighting for the title of Viscount?”

Steele sighed and said, “They were all just a bunch of playboys; they could never be serious with a one night stand. Besides, I didn’t dare get involved with crazy men; as for decent men, when they had sex with me, they usually thought they were responsible for me, asking me to change how I managed the Geerteng Manor. But changing in this manner was out of the question, so they had no choice but to leave me.”

Ray sighed and shook his head, “You are the one who is to blame for your own misery. If you had found a good man and gotten married, maybe you would have become the next Viscount.”

“I don’t think so. If I can’t live a happy life, what’s the point of being Viscount?” Steele said. “If I could only be Viscount on the condition that I must live a common and boring life, then I would choose not to be Viscount!”

Hearing this, Sui Xiong and Ray finally understood why her relationships with others were so bad, even if she had been chosen as candidate for the next Viscount.

“Fine, let’s drop this subject,” Ray said, changing the topic of conversation to a subject he was interested in. “You said that there should be personnel in charge of conducting reconnaissance. Are you suggesting that you can do that?”

“I know how to hunt,” Steele said. “As for scouting…if you can stand high enough, I think that’s all you’ll need to see what’s ahead.”

“Stand high enough? Can you stand higher than me?” the floating jellyfish complained.

Steele said rather confidently, “If I can learn to be a good cook, then I can certainly learn how to fly! When I am flying in the air, I shall see as far ahead as necessary. Won’t that make me qualified to be a scout?”

Watching her confident face, both Sui Xiong and Ray were speechless and found themselves totally agreeing with her. Like she’d said, she was a good cook, servant and scout. Sui Xiong didn’t want to get rid of her in the first place, and even Ray, who had been determined to get rid of her, could no longer think of an excuse to do so.

Thus, Steele, a “night hag” who flew rather clumsily and carried a heavy bag on her back, became the third member of this unlikely group.

This experience greatly affected Steele and made her become very tough. The journey to the Commonwealth of Mifata was really tiring, but she made it through and never gave up, without any complaints.

Sui Xiong guessed that the transformation of her soul had changed her personality as well. Of course, he was quite happy with this, since a powerful and capable companion was so much better than a random slutty woman. The former was someone you could trust and rely on when times commanded, while the latter…well, he knew that meant only trouble.

Still, they hadn’t gotten used to her abrupt change in character.

Before, Steele had been nothing more than a slutty woman, but now it seemed that she had become a powerful and capable partner. This metamorphosis was as striking as a primary school student leveling up from bronze to diamond status in an online game.

If this were an online game, Sui Xiong would definitely ask, ” Hey buddy, are you cheating or is someone playing for you?”

In fact, Steele was cheating, but it was Sui Xiong who’d caused all this to happen. Did this mean Sui Xiong could also help someone cheat and turn him from a newbie into a powerful hacker online?

If I can go back to modern society, I can even make a living from this! For professional gamers who are too old and have lost their edge, I just need to increase the amount of blood that flows to their brains and make their fingers more flexible. Then they’ll perform as if they’re young again, and they’ll no longer need to make a living by selling baked goods or spare machine parts…wait a minute, I’ve actually heard that selling baked goods can be much more profitable than being a professional online gamer…would they be willing to make the sacrifice?”

“Maybe I should consider helping athletes instead. For example, I can help a basketball player whose height is 170cm to play as well as one whose height is 210cm; I can also help a slim man become so strong that he can fight the biggest bodybuilder; I can help a man with poor stamina sustain four quarters on the court, and still have the strength to dance with the cheerleaders afterward; for those athletes who retire due to injury, I will heal their injuries so they can return to the pitch…”

“Or maybe I should improve the strength, stamina, and skill of some international soccer players! I don’t care if they are willing or not…I will make them lift the World Cup!”

The jellyfish that was covering Ray’s head like a hat could no longer contain his laughter.