Kingdom Building: Civilization Starts with Divinity-Chapter 63: Gravana’s Concubine

"Quick, get ready. Lord Gravana is coming," One bear said.

"Look! There are some monsters with him. And is that... A human?" A mother pondered, a bit of panic appearing in her voice.

"Eh? A human? Surely not! Did lord Gravana lose to them and now has to follow orders for his life?"

"Obviously not! Lord Gravana is the strongest. It must have been the other way around, and he had taken her as a concubine! He’d never bring such a danger straight to us. Those two behind them look like their followers. Is she perhaps a Witch?"

"Yeah! No human champion is strong enough to beat Lord Gravana! Even if the Gods bless them!"

Their chattering made Gravana’s ears twitch.

"They’re talking about you, Disciple." He chuckled.

’His hearing is insane. We’re still about half a mile or so away, and he can hear them?’ Alchemy questioned to herself.

"Are they talking about me being a human?" Alchemy responded, her eyes not leaving the group of bears.

"Correct! How’d you know? Lucky guess?"

"A guess, yes. A lucky one... Not really. Your wolves and Rio’s monkeys did basically the same thing. Are they bad-mouthing me?"

"They said I beat you and turned you into a concubine! Grahahaha!"

Alchemy stopped dead in her tracks and nearly vomited.

Nera and Sapphire called out to their master in unison.

"Mother Goddess, are you okay?!"

"Master Alchemy!"

"Oh, come on! I can’t be that bad! You surround yourself with b-"

Nera’s glare found her way to Gravana before he could finish talking, shutting him up.

Somehow, the daggers of the little girl managed to stop his crass words.

"Ugh... There are so many things wrong with that. I don’t even know where to begin." Alchemy lamented

"Do you even have a wife?"

"No time. Loving someone would take time away from training myself or training you!"

’That’s so real of you, Teacher. Can you even have a concubine if you don’t have a wife? Is that how that works?’

"Sorry, it’s no slight against you, Teacher. Romance as a concept doesn’t mesh well with me. I’m just the same as you. Time better spent taking care of my children."

Alchemy’s visceral reaction didn’t match her dismissive words, but Gravana decided not to push that further. There was a chance something in her past caused such disdain toward the thought, and he didn’t want to risk stepping on her toes for no reason.

"Whatever. They get a pass because they’re cute. Let’s keep moving." Alchemy sighed.

After that, it didn’t take long for the group to reach the bears.

"Ah ah! Welcome Lord Gravana! We have prepared food and accommodations for your long journey." The largest of the bears said.

"Sevi! It’s been too long! You’ve been doing those exercises I taught you, right?"

"Every morning after breakfast, just as you’ve instructed, Lord Gravana!"

|<Name: Sevi>|

|<Species: Ore Dweller Matriarch(Hero!)

|<Inclination: Omnivore, Neutral(Lawful), Curious>

|<Estimated Level: 31>l

|<Highest Stat: CON>|

|<Estimated Danger: S->|

|<Notice: It has come to our attention that the Estimated Danger may not be correct. Please be extra wary around foes until we troubleshoot the reason!>|

’Even in reality, your code still sucks. How does that even happen?’ Alchemy made fun of the system.

Her antics aside, Alchemy looked at the large bear with sparkling eyes.

She was about triple the size of an adult brown bear. Large and sturdy plates of unrefined metals covered parts of her fur. Underneath, her skin was as tough as iron, and her claws were made of metal, too.

As far as Alchemy could see, the larger bears, matriarch included, all had upwards of Tier 3 materials on their back.

Unlike the other forces of Gravana and Rio, the adult bears were relatively similar in strength. Most ranged from B+ to A+, and two others shared the S-danger rating with Sevi. The only difference was that they were Elites and not Heroes.

If this Sevi were as strong as Gravana and Rio, the bears would be far more challenging to deal with.

"Though... If I may ask... Who are these? And this... Human?"

"Grahaha! Well, Monarch, introduce yourself!"

"Honestly. I’m sure I look closer to an adult faerie than a human. I have wings!" Alchemy rolled her eyes.

Tiny, barely noticeable wings. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Clearing her throat, Alchemy bowed.

"I am Alchemy Ennis, Goddess of the Insecta and Arachnida. These two behind me are my daughters and my aides, Nera and Sapphire."

"Yo," Nera said.

"H-hello!" Sapphire also gave a little bow.

"A Goddess? Surely you jest! How could a Goddess walk the mortal plane so freely." Sevi gasped.

"You’re guess is as good as mine." Alchemy shrugged.

"Grahahaha! No jests here! I’ve seen her create a miracle right in front of me! Who else besides I, the great Gravana, can say they have a true bonafide Goddess as their Disciple?"

"Disciple? So that girl is Lord Gravana’s Pupil?" One bear in the back mumbled.

"He took in a protege? I wish it could’ve been me!"

"You? I’m not worthy of being his student, much less you. But if that scrawny little girl could become his disciple, then doesn’t that mean we’d have a chance to learn from him like Sevi did?"

"Shh, he’ll hear you!"

The traveling group heard everything.

The entire crowd was shocked by Gravana’s words. Truthfully, none of them believed that Alchemy was a Goddess, which she could tell. She considered proving them wrong because it’d be funny, but she ultimately decided against wasting her Divine Power for such a pointless reason.

Perhaps another time.

"I-I’m so sorry then! I didn’t mean to be so disrespectful, Lord Goddess, Apostles of God." Sevi said in a bit of a panic, bowing back.

Sevi was with the crowd, not believing Alchemy was a Goddess, but she had to put up airs as a leader with an official relationship with Gravana. While she couldn’t possibly understand why this delusional human girl thought she was a Goddess, nor could she understand why Gravana was humoring her delusions, it didn’t matter.

"Well, you can be forgiven. It can even be forgotten completely... That is, of course." Alchemy paused for dramatic effect.

Sevi tensed her muscles as she waited for what outrageous request this young, self-proclaimed Goddess was about to say.

"If you let me hug your fluffy self!"