Before Kaelia could process the information, the spatial rift pulsed again.

CRASH!

More items violently dropped.

Five massive reinforced sixty-pound mythic cast-iron frying pans dropped directly on top of the cleavers.

Kaelia’s knees immediately buckled.

The sheer weight of the Tier 3 iron was entirely too much for an S-Rank support unit’s physical stats to bear!

The entire pile of heavy culinary weapons violently completely cascaded out of her arms.

They crashed heavily onto the stone floorboards, clattering loudly against the rock with deafening, metallic rings.

"I am so sorry, my Lord!" Kaelia panicked immediately, dropping to her knees to frantically gather the heavy iron pans. "I am too weak to carry my own rewards!"

Silas just sighed, entirely anticipating this failure.

"Leave them," Silas ordered calmly.

He looked up at the heavily armed women in the front row.

"Gunnhild. Maren. Hilda," Silas called out rapidly, assigning the heavy lifters. "Step forward and help Kaelia physically carry this massive haul entirely back to the Culinary Haven."

The three heavily muscled women didn’t hesitate.

They instantly broke formation, sprinting up to the dais.

Kaelia tried to pick up one of the massive cast-iron pans with her slender arms straining against the ridiculous weight.

"I can assist!" Kaelia offered desperately. "I can at least carry one!"

"Absolutely not!" Gunnhild completely shut her down.

The spearwoman effortlessly snatched the massive sixty-pound iron pan entirely out of Kaelia’s hands like it weighed less than a feather.

"You are our primary chef!" Maren added fiercely, grabbing the pile of mythic meat cleavers. "If you completely tear a rotator cuff trying to lift this heavy junk, who the hell is going to cook our premium mana-infused steaks tomorrow? We carry the heavy loads. You just cook."

The girls completely refused to let her carry a single ounce of iron.

They loaded the massive multi-million-credit haul of Tier 3 kitchenware securely into their arms.

"Thank you so much," Kaelia whispered gratefully, heavily bowing to her Lord and her comrades.

She quickly led the small transport detail out of the heavy double doors, heading across the courtyard toward the brightly lit Culinary Haven.

Silas watched them go.

The massive haul was completely distributed as his spatial inventory was practically empty with the sole exception of Eluned.

He turned his golden-ringed gaze back to the remaining women in the hall.

"That was absolutely all of it..." Silas announced firmly with his commanding voice demanding total attention.

He crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"If any of you want any more special, high-tier presents the next time I return from the commercial sector," Silas laid down the law of the territory. "Then you have to actively work hard! You have to bleed for this dirt!"

The entire Garrison completely erupted.

"WE WILL WORK HARD, MY LORD!" the Vanguard screamed interrifying unison as their voices threatening to physically shatter the stone roof.

Silas smiled.

His army’s morale was completely maxed out.

They were entirely ready to slaughter anything that stepped within five miles of his walls.

Before he could officially dismiss the formation and send them to bed, the heavy wooden doors at the back of the Garrison violently slammed open.

BANG!

Silas’s combat instincts flared instantly as he immediately prepared to take hold of his greatsword.

"Let’s completely celebrate!" a loud booming voice roared through the hall.

It was Thora.

The half-naked Dwarven blacksmith completely ran into the Garrison.

She was ignoring military protocol as she was actively smuggling a massive overloaded wooden crate in her muscled arms.

Silas’s eyes narrowed.

He looked directly into the crate.

It was entirely filled to the absolute brim with dozens of large glowing glass bottles of Kaelia’s illegal ninety-proof territorial moonshine.

’This degenerate...’ Silas thought, his eye physically twitching. ’She literally went and raided the hidden distillery while I was passing out gifts!’

"Confiscate that immediately," Silas ordered coldly, pointing directly at the crate. "This is an active military installation, not a corner tavern."

The Vanguard didn’t move.

Silas frowned.

"Did you completely fail to hear me? Confiscate the liquor."

He looked out over the ranks.

The women were currently staring directly up at him though they were not holding their weapons or standing at attention.

They were giving him the most pathetic, emotionally devastating puppy-dog eyes he had ever seen in his entire life.

Even Tamsin, the ruthless cold-blooded Huntress who had just been spinning flaming daggers, was actively pouting her lower lip, staring at him with wide pleading dark eyes.

Silas stood frozen on the dais.

Dealing with the concentrated weaponized psychic damage of seventy incredibly beautiful women actively begging him for a drink?!

’This is unfair,’ Silas surrendered. ’I can’t fight this level of emotional manipulation.’

He let out a defeated sigh as he dragged his hand down his face.

"Fine," Silas muttered, completely relenting. "You can drink... Just don’t burn down the barracks."

The Garrison completely exploded into cheering.

Military discipline instantly collapsed.

The neat immaculate rows of the Vanguard formation broke apart entirely as the hall instantly transformed from a tense installation into a loud roaring frat party.

Thora slammed the heavy wooden crate directly onto the nearest table.

"Step right up, ladies!" the Dwarven smith yelled cheerfully in her element.

She began popping the heavy corks off the glowing bottles with her bare teeth.

"I serve everybody!"

Thora started aggressively pouring massive wooden tankards full of the clear potent moonshine, actively handing them out to the girls.

She completely abandoned their formal military titles, handing out drinks with highly specific degenerate personal nicknames.

"Here you go, Big Boobs!" Thora laughed, handing a massive mug to Brida.

"Drink up, Sharp-Ears!" she handed a cup to a highly offended Aeliana.

She pointed a bottle directly at the tall muscled spearwoman who had just been disciplined.

"And a double shot for you, Phat Asssss!" Thora yelled out loudly, heavily elongating the ’s’.

Gunnhild completely choked on her spit with her face turning bright red as the entire hall burst into laughter.

Thora wasn’t done.

The half-naked Dwarf aggressively marched directly up to the raised stone dais.

She held out two massively oversized iron tankards, completely overflowing with the ninety-proof spirit.

"For the Boss, and the Boss’s crazy tree-hugger!" Thora announced, shoving a cup directly into Silas’s hand and handing the other to Eluned, who had somehow managed to shamble over.

Silas looked down at the violently potent alcohol.

He didn’t actually want to drink since needed to remain completely alert in case the Umbral Basin decided to launch a midnight raid on the walls.

But refusing a drink from his own girls would be an insult to the morale he had just meticulously built.

He raised the iron mug.

"To the Blessed Land..." Silas toasted loudly.

"TO THE LORD!" the seventy women screamed back in unison, raising their cups high into the air.

Silas threw his head back and drained the massive iron mug in a single continuous gulp.

The liquid completely burned on the way down.

But the exact second the heavy alcohol hit the lining of his stomach... absolutely nothing happened.

The women partied hard.

The soldiers who had left to help Kaelia completely sprinted back into the hall, seamlessly rejoining the loud, chaotic celebration.

Mugs were slammed against tables. Loud, highly exaggerated war stories from the Novice Trial were shouted across the room.

Everyone was having absolute, unadulterated fun.

Silas stood near the edge of the dais, holding his empty mug, completely and utterly sober.

...

[Two Hours Later]

The heavy reinforced oak door to the master bedroom on the second floor of the Keep completely swung open.

Silas stepped entirely into the quiet room.

He wasn’t walking alone as he was currently carrying Eluned entirely in his right arm.

The SSS-Rank Goddess of Nature was completely limp.

Her arms hung loosely around his thick neck.

Her flawless, silver-green hair cascaded over his broad shoulder and she was breathing heavily, letting out soft snores right against his collarbone.

Silas walked over to the massive folded bed and smoothly dropped her.

Eluned hit the soft mattress with a gentle bounce.

She immediately curled into a tight ball, completely burying her face into the heavy dark pillows.

Silas stood at the edge of the bed.

He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a massive, deeply exhausted sigh.

’Being an awakened Sovereign is cinematic garbage sometimes,’ Silas thought bitterly.

He had completely matched Brida and Thora drink for drink down in the Garrison.

He had consumed enough high-potency ninety-proof moonshine to entirely kill a fully grown adult rhinoceros.

And he felt absolutely nothing....

’My Mythic Gold Core completely hyper-metabolized every single drop of alcohol the exact literal second it hit my bloodstream...’ Silas complained in his head. ’I couldn’t even catch a minor buzz...’

He had been forced to stand in a room full of intoxicated chaotic women for two hours, stone-cold sober, just pretending to have a good time.

He looked down at the "sleeping" Goddess curled up on his bed.

He had felt the exact specific way she had actively adjusted her weight in his arms while he was carrying her up the heavy stone stairs.

He had noticed the fake breathing too, Silas crossed his arms over his chest.

"Eluned," Silas stated flatly, sounding unbothered by her ruse. "You can fully wake up now."

For exactly two seconds, the room remained entirely silent.

The SSS-Rank Goddess of Naturedidn’t move.

She kept her face completely buried in the heavy dark pillows, maintaining a perfectly steady look of deep exhausted sleep-breathing.

It was an Oscar-worthy performance of a blackout drunk.

Silas didn’t buy a single second of it.

He crossed his heavy arms over his broad chest and hedidn’t say another word.

He just stood there, letting the suffocating silence of the master bedroom stretch out.

He knew exactly how to win a battle of attrition against a needy deity...

Slowly, the snoring stopped.

Eluned shifted on the mattress.

She lazily rolled over onto her back, the heavy, expensive fabric of her backwards emerald-green spider-silk dress tangling around her flawless thighs.

She opened her eyes.

The unfocused haze of Kaelia’s ninety-proof bootleg moonshine was entirely gone.

Her violently glowing green eyes were crystal clear, razor-sharp, and completely devoid of any slurred sluggishness. .

She looked up at him with a genuine embarrassed pout forming on her flawless lips.

"My Lord," Eluned asked, her voice entirely clear and melodious. "How did you actually know?"

Silas let out a short, deeply cynical chuckle.

"Well," Silas started, dropping his arms and stepping closer to the edge of the bed. "It was obvious you weren’t actually drunk for a while now. When you leaped entirely across the living room to tackle me, your trajectory was perfect. A drunk person would have completely missed and face-planted into the hearth."

He stared down at her, a knowing smirk touching his lips.

"You really can’t hide things from me, Eluned... You are a literal Goddess of Nature. Your divine biology probably completely purified the alcohol into harmless water the exact second it touched your lips."

Eluned immediately looked away with her pale cheeks flushing a brilliant vibrant shade of pink.

She pulled her knees up to her chest, looking small and entirely embarrassed to be completely caught in her deception.

"I apologize, my Lord," Eluned whispered with her voice dropping softly. "I didn’t actually mean to deceive you."

"Then why fake it?" Silas asked, genuinely curious about the angle she was playing.

Eluned fiddled nervously with the expensive, glowing hem of her dress.

"I... I just wanted you to wrap your hands around me," Eluned confessed softly, refusing to make direct eye contact. "When the other girls were cheering, you were so far away on the dais. I noticed that if I acted completely compromised, you would be forced to carry me all the way up the stairs... I just wanted to be held by you."

Silas stared at the SSS-Rank Goddess currently pouting on his bed like a touch-starved teenager.

’She literally faked liver failure just to get a piggyback ride up the stairs?’ Silas thought and then shook his head. ’I mean it’s Eluned, what should I expect?’