He smiled, “Well, I’ll ask after everyone’s done with their meals. After all, it’s bad manners to talk while eating.”

“Very well,” the Queen went back to eating. After fifteen minutes, all of them were done eating and were sipping wine out of goblets.

“Care for some wine?” the Queen offered, and a servant held the wine bottle near him.

Before he could refuse, Janet laughed, “Hah! He can’t even handle a pint of scotch! Don’t force it on him, Queen!”

“I see…” the Queen giggled, “you know, I like a man who can handle his alcohol!” Her sultry voice, coupled with her lustful figure, pushed almost every man to lose control. Issac, himself, felt that she was captivating. If only he couldn’t feel her malice, he’d want to jump on her too.

At times like these, he’d remember the wise words of one of his seniors in university, “Don’t stick your dick in crazy.” He would remember this sage advice whenever he was on a date or about to have a one-night stand. And it was this advice that let him keep his cool in many frisky situations, including this one.

As soon as the Queen uttered those words, he could see a pink mist oozing out of her. This pink mist immediately moved and covered Ray, Ethan, and Janet. The pink mist seemed to hover around their eyes.

However, the three looked captivated by Queen Veronica’s subtle gesture in real-time.

“Did she use some sort of hypnosis spell? Does it only work on those who are attracted to her or the opposite gender? No, since it didn’t come to me, it must be the former.” Under Issac’s gaze, the Queen talked to the enthusiastic Ray and Janet while Ethan and June sprinkled some questions in.

“So, are there any other races except Humans and Demons?” Ray asked.

“There are. Elves, Dwarfs, Beastmen, Angels, and-” the Queen’s beautiful face contorted in anger, “-the utterly deplorable Devils.”

“Oh?” Janet’s interest was piqued, “You have a bone to pick with the Devils?”

“Of course! Everyone in this world has some conflicts with the Devils.”

“What did they do?”

“Every crime imaginable. And it’s not even an exaggeration when I say this. They are that bad. To the extent that, thousands of years ago, Humans actually allied with the Demons to eradicate the Devils.”

“And were they eradicated?” Issac asked.

“Yes, after the ‘End of Devilry’ period, and till now, no Devils have been spotted.”

“Yeah…I have a feeling that the Devils are very much alive.” Issac swallowed his words. With how angry the Queen looks, mentioning that would attract unwanted trouble. ”Though I wonder why the Queen hates the Devils who were supposedly eradicated thousands of years ago? Why raise children to hate Devils still when they no longer exist?”

“Your highness, I would like to ask-” Ray spoke with an insatiable curiosity, “-can we do magic?”

“Magic?” the Queen blinked her upturned eyes. “Yes, you can. But not immediately. Since you came from a world without magic, you must stay here for a while for your mana veins to develop.”

June frowned, “How did you know our world doesn’t have magic?”

The Queen chuckled softly, “If not, then Ray wouldn’t have asked such a question.”

“Oh, I see….” June nodded understandingly.

The Queen continued, “After your mana veins develop, we’ll get Imperial Mage Fritz to teach you 『Heroes』. He’s one of the best mages of the human race. You’ll also be learning swordsmanship.”

“Then how long does it take to grow a mana vein? And how do we grow mana veins?” Ethan asked.

The Queen bit her lips in embarrassment, “Forgive us, but our knowledge isn’t that extensive. But we believe that it’s a trait of all Otherworlders. They can grow mana veins, whereas inhabitants of this world are born with mana veins.”

“Are mana veins all you need to cast magic?” Ethan asked again.

“No, you also need 『Affinity』 or 『Talent』 to cast magic.”

“Are those the same thing or two different things?”

“They are the same thing. And before you ask, 『Affinity』 is simply the degree or natural proficiency at which you can control the different elements. The elements are also categorized into types. The 『Common Elements』- Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. The 『Variant Elements』- Ice, Lightning, Metal, and Sound. And lastly, the 『Intangible Elements』- Light and Dark.”

“Those are a lot of elements. Can all races use that?” Ray chimed in.

“No,” The Queen smiled gently, “Humans have the greatest affinity towards the 『Common Elements』 and then the 『Variant Elements』. However, only 1 in 1 million has an affinity for the 『Intangible Elements』. And even then, there have only been 10 Light Mages in the past thousand years and only 1 Dark Mage.

For Demons, it’s a bit different. They have the best affinity towards the 『Variant Elements』, then the 『Common Elements』, and lastly, the 『Intangible Elements』 with more Dark Mages than Light. There are also some race-specific elements like the Elves’ ability to manipulate plants.”

“Then do you know where Elves and Dwarves live, and can we meet them?”

“Ah, that might not be possible,” the Queen shook her head. “Both of those races are very xenophobic, well, except Beastmen.”

Throughout this exchange, Issac was sipping on his water periodically. The Queen had sent the servants out once they began asking questions, so he couldn’t even ask for a refill. Once he saw that there wasn’t any water left in his goblet, he asked, “Will we be able to roam around the city?”

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“Yes,” The Queen replied without hesitation. “We hope that by looking around and interacting with the citizens, you can come to appreciate the lives they are living here. We’ll even let you run around alone!”

“That’s bullshit. She’s probably going to keep an eye on us from afar. And her last line already gave away her intention. She’s going to use the sympathy card, huh?” Issac rested his chin on his hand and thought, ”But my main concern is to figure out what this aura is.” He looked at his friends, unaware they were surrounded by something so disgusting. Just looking at the aura made Issac’s nose wrinkle.

The Queen spread her palms, “We’ll let you have fun around the city for five days. Both to help you integrate with my kingdom and its people faster and to let you do something while your mana veins grow.”

“Then does that mean-” just as Ethan was about to ask something, Issac cut him off and asked, “Your highness, would you tell me what language we are speaking?”

As soon as he asked, the other four jolted. Seemingly realizing there was some discrepancy, Issac’s friends looked at the Queen.

She smiled, “Why, you’re speaking the common language, 『Alphrida』.”

“Wait, that’s not right!” Janet slammed the table with her palms, “We’re clearly speaking English.”

“Oh no, that’s one of the Otherworlders’ skills 『Translation』. It simply translates what you speak and what you hear.”

"You have it too, your highness?" Ray asked.

"No, it's a skill exclusive to Otherworlders."

“Oh?” Issac grinned. “Then does that mean you can’t understand this, you bitch?” His friends cringed when he said that in English and looked at him incredulously. The Queen’s left eye twitched slightly, and the masked man seemed to grasp her emotions and began to take out a dagger that was holstered on his waist.

Before he could act, the Queen simply smiled and replied, “Is that the language of your world? If you have a chance, please teach it to me. It sounds very novel~.”

“She fucking knows!” Issac, stared intently at the Queen so as not to accidentally look at the dagger wielding masked man before slumping back into the chair. Nodding slightly, he agreed with the Queen, “Absolutely. When our work here is done, we’ll teach you.”

“If you’ll excuse me-” the Queen wiped her hand with a napkin before placing it on the table and getting up. She continued, “-I need to get going. The state affairs aren’t going to do themselves.”

After bidding farewell, she left out the doors with the masked man close behind. As soon as the doors closed behind them, the masked man seemed to materialize behind her.

He had a hoarse voice as he said, “My Queen, shall I eliminate that insolent man?”

“Pfft!” The Queen laughed, “Look at you getting worked up when you don’t even know what he said!”

He snarled, “Judging from my liege’s expression, it was nothing good!”

“Well, it’s just a child acting out,” she giggled softly. “Nothing to pay attention to.”

“My Queen, another thing to note-” the masked man rubbed his hands, “-it seems that Issac hasn’t fallen to 『Malice』.”

“That’s not really a problem,” the Queen shook her head. Her sneer looked menacing, “Sooner or later, he’ll be in my palm anyway.”

“My liege, did you see how intently he was looking at you? Didn’t he also-?” he swallowed his words. It was best not to worry the Queen over something so trivial and unconfirmed. Feeling a sigh leaking out of his lips, he followed the Queen back to her room.

Back in the dining room, Issac was getting criticized by Ray. “Why the fuck did you call her a ‘bitch’?”

“Dude…” Issac held his head and sighed, “You still don’t get the situation we’re in, do you?”

“I’m perfectly clear!” Ray countered.

“Oh, do explain,” Issac sneered.

“All I know is that we’ve been sent to another world and given another chance! Another chance to leave our boring lives!”

As soon as those last words, June immediately panicked, “W-Wait, Ray. What the fuck are you saying? Are you crazy!?” She turned around and raised her hands to stop Issac, “He didn’t mean that! Don’t jump to conclusions, Issac!”

But it was no use. Issac had already jumped forward and landed a clean hit on Ray’s face. The chair leaned back towards the force and fell to the ground with Ray on it. Rubbing his cheek, he glared at Issac, who said furiously, “Boring lives? Boring lives!? Motherfucker, do you understand the words coming out of your mouth? My sister is still lying in the hospital, and our family- your families, must be in hysterics right now searching for you. And you want to give all that up because some shitty Queen wants you to defend the world? Are you retarded?”

Ray shot back, “Then tell us a way to go back! Instead of preaching like you always do, give us a fucking answer! How can we leave if we don’t know how to leave!?”

“Then have you tried to figure out how to do that? Instead of being busy sucking the Queen off, how about you ask the real questions? Instead of asking about Elves and Beastmen, ask why they still haven’t researched a way to send us back in thousands of fucking years!? But even if I tell you, you won’t ask, right? You like it here. Decided to abandon family at the slightest hesitation, right?”

“Wha- did you really say that!?” Ray’s eyes widened furiously. “Bastard, why the fuck are you acting like you’re the only one with family problems? We’ve all been separated from our families, but none of us are lashing out like you!”

“And that’s the fucking problem! You should be lashing out. You should be in hysterics! You shouldn’t be eager to save humanity, and you shouldn’t be eager to go on a fucking adventure!”

“Again, find a way back home first. Then berate me!” Ray got up and left the room with Ethan behind him. Janet hesitated as she alternated, looking at Issac and in the direction of Ray; however, she still chose to chase after Ray.

June stayed behind and looked at Issac with a helpless and depressed expression. Issac slumped back down in a chair and held his head. He could feel his brain heating up.

June bit her lips, “W-Why did you say that, Issac?”

A sigh leaked from his lips, “Listen, June, I know I spoke too harshly. But out of everyone here, you should understand how I’m feeling right now. Right now, I just…I just want to go back home.” Exposing a moment of weakness, he stuttered with his words.

“We all want to return home, Issac,” June sat down next to him and tried to soothe him. “While I don’t think your worries are unreasonable, please don’t lash out. In a strange place like this, we must stick together.”

“Yeah…” Issac sighed, “Don’t worry about me. I…just have a lot to think about.” He peered over in the direction of a crystal flower. Inside of it rested a bouquet of Willows, Forget-me-nots, Cyclamens, and Zinnias. But he was not concerned with the flowers but rather the illusion of an eye and an ear floating above them.

June followed his gaze, and her eyes lit up. She approached the bouquet and smelled them, “What a curious combination of flowers! Wouldn’t you agree, Issac?”

“Ah? Y-Yeah.”

“You still remember what these are called?” she smiled in reminiscence.

“I do; after all, you’re the one who taught me.” Issac focused on the flowers and listed them as “Willows, Forget-me-nots, Cyclamens, and Zinnias. Am I right?”

“Yeah, you’re right!” a smile bloomed on her face like a lily.

Issac paused for a bit. He smiled resignedly, “…thanks for cheering me up. But I…want to go to sleep. I’m so incredibly tired.”

June, clearly taken aback, must have seen the apparent exhaustion in his eyes. Without letting him say anything more, she walked him back to his room and left, promising to return later.

Issac glanced around his room. A new crystal figurine was placed where the previous one was. This time it was a crystal figurine in the shape of a sword stuck inside a stone slab. The same illusionary symbol of an eye and an ear were also above it.

Issac took off his jacket and threw it on the table carelessly. It drew an arc in the air and landed on the figurine, covering it. The illusions didn’t penetrate the jacket, so he hoped he was safe. Well, maybe safe from the ‘eye,’ but the ‘ear’ could still hear him.

He walked towards the bed and fell into its softness. The velvety softness of the bed seemed so inviting. He placed his head on a pillow and sunk into it. With a head full of worries, he soon fell fast asleep.