Koji Fights The World - Chapter 25 Secret History Of The Lamias

Seeing the strange look on Koji’s face, Princess Zelea spoke up again. “If you must know, we have hostile relations with the Southern Kingdom of Aarri. We’ve gone to war with them thrice in the past fifty years,” she explained.

“Why?”

“Because we fight over natural resources such as water and wild game. Nephosia is relatively dry, with deserts in several parts of the kingdom. Occasionally, villagers in the outskirts of Aarri become greedy and build dams to cut off the flow of water, or divert it to their farmland. When that happens, we bring our army into Aarri and destroy their dams and irrigation canals.”

Koji frowned. “What creatures live in the south? And do they need more water than lamias?” he inquired.

Upon hearing this question, Zelea made a face. She stared at Koji with her reptilian eyes as the lamia pondered whether to discuss this taboo subject with a human. Finally, Zelea gathered her thoughts and sighed aloud. “This is a difficult topic for the lamias to discuss. But you are my Bonder, and it’s important for you to understand my racial heritage,” she began her lecture.

“According to legend, there was a Serpent God who descended from the Heavenly Realms to this Mortal Realm. Her name became lost over time. Initially, she lived in the south, and her children became sea serpents. They developed gills to breathe underwater, and they lived in the freshwater. But somewhere in their history, one of them encountered a human sailor who fell into the water and was drowning. She saved him and somehow, the two fell in love. They consummated their love and miraculously produced a half-human-half-serpent child who became the first Nagi.”

“The other serpents became jealous and started hunting humans to create more Nagis. But the humans could not live in the water due to their lack of gills. The Nagis, on the other hand, possessed both lungs and gills. They chose to live amongst the humans and left the south en mass. Eventually, the Nagis lost their gills and became Lamias. Thus, every lamia in existence had a Nagian ancestor.”

“The Nagis which remained in the south became shocked at the existence of lamias. They feared to lose their gills, and each nagi spends a considerable amount of time in fresh water daily. They call this practice following ‘The True Way.’ However, they still see the Lamias as family and call us ‘Cousins.’”

Koji raised his hand. “You mentioned that the Nagis live in freshwater, and human villagers also need fresh water for their farmland. Then Nephosia also receives this supply of water via rivers and stream, correct?”

“Yes,” she nodded.

“There’s no technology to turn saltwater into freshwater?” he inquired. If people from Earth come to the Four Winds periodically, then Koji couldn’t understand why desalination isn’t used to meet the population’s needs for fresh water.

Zelea smiled at the question because there were several implicit inquiries buried within this question. “Yes, people from your world also arrive in Aarri. And no, they don’t participate in Deathmatches. The scientists are rounded up and tasked with advancing technology within the country. Yes, they introduced desalination plants to Aarri. But they also try to dump the byproducts in our deserts, and we fight to keep them from doing so.”

“Aarri rations it freshwater, but some farmers try to use other means to attain more than their share. Water thieves face severe punishment including execution. But the villagers are blinded by greed, and they try to divert the flow of the Umu River now and then. Our skirmishes also serve as inspection checks along the river to ensure the farmers don’t build secret dams or irrigation canals.”

Koji shook his head. As an outsider, he felt uncomfortable with the outsized influence of scientists from Earth and the conflicts they brought to the Four Winds.

“The Aarrians often dump their desalination waste into the forests of Sinys as well. Thus, the Centurions are our natural allies, and they help us invade Aarri for our water checks,” Zelea added. She stretched her arms and yawned. “Spending so much time in the water is making me sleepy. Let’s leave.” She stood up and climbed out of the water. However, her bath towel came loose and dropped, revealing her naked body.

Koji received a closeup view of her striking figure. Blood spurted from his nose, and he felt dizzy. “KOJI!” he heard her yell, and he lost consciousness.

***

Koji slowly opened his eyes. He was back in his room and laying in bed. Suddenly, he realized something warm wrapped around his body, which was naked. Koji slowly turned and saw the sleeping face of his wife.

Koji remembered what happened in the bathhouse and he felt embarrassed. It wasn’t the first time he saw Zelea naked. But he lost control of his emotions and became overly excited when she accidentally dropped her towel. The sudden flood of blood into his brain made him dizzy, and he fainted. From appearances, it seemed that Zelea princess carried Koji back to his bed. And she decided to join him.

Koji decided to stay in bed and enjoy this moment. He felt her perky nipple pressed his arm. It tickled his skin as she breathed and her chest rose up and down periodically. He thought that Zelea had a tsundere personality; she acted cold toward him initially, but under the gruff exterior was a loving and caring person. Koji felt blessed to discover this aspect of his wife as this made it easier for him to love her back as her husband.

Koji glanced at the window and saw the rays of sunlight were turning pink. When nightfall arrived, he heard a loud knock on the door.

“His Highness has summoned you to the banquet hall for dinner,” the servant girl said.

“We’ll be out soon,” he yelled, awakening his wife in the process.

When Zelea realized that her arms and legs had wrapped around Koji like a body pillow, she screamed and slapped his face! WHAM!

“Is everything alright?” the servant asked frantically.

“It’s fine. We just had a misunderstanding,” Koji replied as his wife blushed furiously and desperately untangled from him.

Zelea rolled off the bed and dropped to the ground. THUD! “Ow!” she cried out and rubbed her nose. The princess had fell face first, and her nose hit the ground. She quickly dressed and transformed back to a lamia. “I’ll wait for you outside,” she said in a calm tone of voice and exited his room.

The servant’s eyes popped when she saw Princess Zelea emerge. She bowed low to the lamia and kept her face down to hide her grin. Wait until the others hear of this! The girl’s imagination went wild, and she regretted interrupting the newlyweds’ lovemaking session.

“Nothing happened between us,” Zelea groused.

“Of course not, your HIghness!” the servant quickly agreed.

The end of Zelea’s tail tapped on the floor impatiently until Koji left the room. She immediately approached him to straighten his collar, which was crooked.

The servant girl covered her mouth to stifle her giggle. “Sire is awaiting in the banquet hall,” she reminded the two gently and started walking.

The royal couple followed the attendant with their heads lowered. They knew that the servant would be spreading some embarrassing gossip tonight. Frankly, the only way to stop her from talking was to execute her, but neither person was malicious enough to do so. Koji believed in the sanctity of life, and he refused to take life needlessly. Zelea, as a former commoner, understood the oppression of the commoners and she wouldn’t betray their trust by ordering the servant’s execution to shut her mouth. After all, with great power comes great responsibility, and Zelea strived to act as the ideal princess.

The young servant walked with light steps ahead of the two, totally unaware of how close she came to losing her life.

When Zelea and Koji finally made their appearance in the banquet hall, the king smiled broadly. “Ah, you’re here! I thought you decided to skip dinner.”

“Why would we do that?” Zelea asked with a frown as she took her seat at the table.

“Oh, we thought you were engaged in dual-cultivation,” her father replied casually, but his eyes betrayed his calm exterior.

Daethix giggled on the side.

SLAM! The princess pounded her fist on the table. “No, we haven’t!” she denied vehemently and shot daggers with her eyes.

“Hahaha! Don’t be embarrassed, child! Your Bonder is a young, handsome man. He has many admirers including our ambassador from Sinys,” Aphraphus noted with a nod to the centaur, who had joined the Royal Family for dinner.

Mylia smiled broadly and kept her eyes on Koji, who avoided looking in her direction.

“Dear, let’s save this conversation until after dinner,” Queen Herecia suggested while pinching her husband’s thigh under the table.

He winced and said, “Yes, dear.”

The servants soon arrived and distributed platters of roasted lamb over rice.

King Aphraphus saw Mylia’s frown and asked politely, “Is this food not suitable for centurions?”

The ambassador looked at the host and shook her head. “My apologies. I should have warned you that I’m vegan. I don’t eat meat,” she replied.

Queen Herecia came to the rescue. “How about bok choy with garlic sauce and pork bone soup? Would you eat that?” she inquired.

“Sure,” Mylia nodded.

“In that case, can you push your platter across the table? Koji is only nineteen, and he’s still growing. My son-in-law is too skinny, and he should eat more meat to add more muscles,” the king explained.

“Yes, Sire!” the guest answered and pushed her plate across the table.

Princess Zelea leaned over the table to reach for the platter, but her arm wasn’t long enough. With a huff, she used her Telekinesis to pull the plate toward her and handed the food to Koji.

Queen Herecia’s brows arched at the misuse of Yin Qi in this manner. In her eyes, the princess should have waited for a servant to bring the dish to Koji instead. The queen decided to talk to her daughter privately after dinner instead of making the princess lose face with a public admonishment.

Koji helplessly stared at the two plates of food and sighed inwardly. He wasn’t a big eater. But he couldn’t contradict the king and queen publicly, either, without making them lose face. Thus, Koji decided to eat just meat and leave the rice alone.

While waiting for her food to arrive, Mylia watched with amusement as Koji ate the meat. With his slim build, she thought that Koji couldn’t eat that much food, and he confirmed her suspicion by skipping the rice. When her simple meal of vegetables and soup arrived, the centaur focused on feeding.

After the royal family finished eating, King Aphraphus held up his hand to prevent them from leaving the table. The children looked at him with surprise. But they remained in their seats. The king took a sip of his tea and then started talking. “I heard that Koji was attacked this afternoon by a jealous guard. Now, I realize Daethix has many admirers who dreamed of marrying her, so I don’t think the guard meant to target her. But in light of his action, Daethix and Koji should refrain from showing public displays of affection,” King Aphraphus made his decree.

The two bowed in unison. “Yes, Sire!”

“I also heard the punishment issued by Daethix to round up the traitor’s family and hang them over the wall. I fully support her action as proper and just. Koji is now part of the Royal Family. His life and his blood are precious. An attack on him is an attack on every one of us here. Despite your sibling rivalry, I want you to remember this,” the king reminded his children.

“Yes, Your Highness!” All the children at the table bowed toward him.

The king nodded his approval. “Dismissed!”

Daethix, Heretrios, and Cyreas quickly rose from their seats and left the table.

As Koji and Zelea stood up, King Aphraphus said, “Koji and Zelea, stay for a moment.”

The two sat down again.