Ball of Nothing

Chapter 628 - Royal Date and Stalkers (1)

Life was good in Indra Seagloo. Truen and Bob kept their guard up, but the sea folks didn’t seem hostile. They couldn’t read Priscilla’s intention, but they had to admit, the head maid was very good at what she did.

"I have to apologise in advance," the pufferfish mermaid informed them in the evening after spending a day giving them a tour of Indra Seagloo’s famous coral factory and craftsmen workshop. "I am unable to accompany you for the tour tomorrow. If there is somewhere in particular that you would like to visit, you can let the innkeeper know."

Surprised that the head maid had something more important to attend to ever since their arrival as guests, Bob asked what the occasion was. During the last week, Priscilla had always been their coordinator. It was a little odd to have someone else show them around. The Eternal Dragon had started liking this expressionless head maid a little more with her vast knowledge and ability to talk about any topic. The intellectual conversation was something he looked forward to.

"Her Majesty and the prince consort are going on a date. We’re a little short-staffed, so I have to make preparations."

Hearing how Zero was already going on a date with Queen Leah, Truen spilt his tea a little, and Bob choked on his spit. They knew that the contract between Zero and Queen Leah wasn’t for a very long time. Zero wanted out of Indra Seagloo by three months, if not sooner. They spent almost a week idling away and learning more about the mysterious Indra Seagloo. It was easy to forget their real objective when they were slowly pulled into the happy and carefree vibes of the Indra Seagloo culture.

Contrary to the horrific image that land-dwellers had about Indra Seagloo, the guests here thought it could be considered one of the better kingdoms. Queen Leah had elves’ wisdom, King Brice’s compassion, Princess Dorothy’s tenacity, and even King Gaon’s charisma. It was hard to find another ruler who could best her in what she did. No wonder the merfolks would willingly die at her command. She knew exactly what she was doing. That was if she wasn’t crazy from heartache or hopelessly in love.

"Understood," Truen told the head maid. "We will take the time to remain in our rooms tomorrow. It’s been a while since we had any alone time. Right?"

Bob took the cue and agreed. They sure as hell weren’t going to let Zero handle that crazy queen all alone. Date?! Does Zero even know how to treat a woman well? Not that they had any experience to know better. However, Zero’s method of courting a woman was very peculiar. If Eros’ dating history was anything to reference, Zero might find himself in a bad spot.

Thankfully, the pufferfish head maid was still in the area, and they tailed her tirelessly all the way into the coral palace. For such an advanced country, their intruder security was very lax. It was also something very strange about Indra Seagloo. They had many farmers but very few guards. Not to mention, any merfolk who wanted to leave could do so at any time. The dock was probably the busiest place in Indra Seagloo, always accepting new merfolks and escorting merfolks who wished to go.

The first place Priscilla stopped by after leaving the palace with a less flashy attire was the docks. Neither of them knew why she was leaving Indra Seagloo, but the pufferfish head maid tapped out quickly, leaving them speechless. Wasn’t she meant to prepare for the royal date?

Speechless and clueless now that they lost their only lead, Zero and Truen returned to the coral palace. Maybe they can find an itinerary for tomorrow’s date or something.

Zero was in his room getting fitted for his clothing in King Charo’s appearance. The merfolks were skilful seamstresses even if they didn’t have dexterous fingers. Zero was fascinated by how they measured using fins and tails. He was more curious how these merfolk seamstresses sewed clothes together.

Unlike Jynx’s fashion label that used Penelope’s fine silk, the merfolk combed through premium seaweeds and mixed kelp fibres into their threads. The thread was processed repeatedly under heat magic to make them dry and strong before they were woven and dyed into different colours. As merfolks didn’t have fingers, they built a machine that helped them weave fabrics and sew. Zero was highly impressed by the royal tailor’s explanation. If Jynx knew about this production method, she would be able to hasten her clothing production by at least fifty percent of its current mana powered speed.

Once the tailor and seamstresses left, Zero sighed and undid his transformation. "You’re both finally here. Why didn’t you visit earlier? Was touring Indra Seagloo that fun?"

Zero was in a sulky mood because nobody visited him all week. Mii told him that Truen and Bob were given private tours by Priscilla while he was stuck in the Coral Palace with Queen Leah. The poor doctor only had books to entertain himself within this place and couldn’t even sneak outside because the servants would follow him around enthusiastically, not allowing him to do anything by himself. The royal treatment made him miserable, and Queen Leah finally cleared her schedule to bring him outside this place for a grand tour.

Truen quickly undid his invisibility, and Bob ran to his master in his human form, checking him over for any signs of corruption. Seeing that Queen Leah hasn’t tried to make a move on Zero, he sighed in relief.

"Indra Seagloo has a very interesting system," Truen told Zero and made himself comfortable, telling Zero what he and Bob experienced.

"I didn’t think that you would be taking Queen Leah out on a date so soon. What does she want to do?"

Zero blinked. "Uh, a date? It was a tour request by me. She simply cleared her schedule so that she could bring me around tomorrow."

Bob looked at Truen, who froze with a smile on his face that looked very off. Truen put a hand on Zero shoulders with a very bright smile and told him, "I see. In that case, you wouldn’t mind if we followed you on that tour as well, right?"

Zero shook his head. The more, the merrier. Why would he reject their company? However, Queen Leah might dislike it, so he told them to follow discreetly. Bob transformed into a lizard and proposed to remain behind as Truen returned for tonight.

"See you tomorrow!" Zero grinned, happy that he caught a glimpse of his best friend for a while before he had to return. At least Bob was still around to keep him company.

Excited, Zero wondered where they would go tomorrow.