Lewd King's Bucket List-Chapter 58: Hope. It’s a Beautiful Thing.

Ixion looked over his shoulder at the wide-eyed Dave.

He muttered to Dia:

"So, uh... Still think only thugs visit taverns?"

Dia looked over at the stalkers.

"They may not be thugs, but..."

Dia motioned her head toward the group.

’Fair point.’

Dia smiled, then added:

"I’d assumed you’d visited this tavern before. Yet, you apparently haven’t."

Ixion took a sip of Joe’s Water, gulping down the cold refreshment.

"I only found this place on one of my wanderings."

"What are you doing traveling down random back alleys?"

Ixion chuckled and said:

"Looking for a lost hope."

Dia’s eyes narrowed.

"Hope? From what I’ve heard from father, he’s long gone."

Ixion laughed.

"There’s a movement in the slums where people are praying to Hope as if it will bring him back to do ’something’. You can infer what I mean. But, the point is, his name is now being used as a word."

Dia’s eyes narrowed as she sipped Joe’s Tea.

"So... you were looking for a word? What does it even mean?"

Ixion smiled and took a spoonful of Joe’s Pottage.

"Pretty much everything Hope stands for. It’s what people say when things are terrible, and they still want to believe things will turn out all right. It can also mean a general good wish. For example, I hope we survive. Or, I hope you like your food."

Dia bit into the mutton and then swallowed.

"What a beautiful word. Are they going to make his brother a word?"

Ixion swiveled his head and took another sip of water.

"Despair? He left so long ago that people have half forgotten about him, with how much Hope overshadowed him and all. Besides, I don’t think it’s a particularly good thing if that man were to be worshiped any more than he already is."

Dia leaned back in the wooden chair.

"Oh? That’s odd. You have the same view as my father... Yet he has his reasons. But you dislike Despair? Why? From what I know, everyone loves the guy."

’Huh?’

A general who disliked Despair?

Few even knew of his true nature, and only two of them that he knew of were generals. Neither even had a daughter.

’Perhaps someone came to their own conclusion, even if ignorant of what he did.’

"I wouldn’t say I dislike him, but my brother told me something was off about him. And, it was after meeting Despair that my brother went crazy. It’s more like suspicion. Suspicion if he’s truly as good-natured as they claim."

The woman’s face paled for a moment, and she nearly choked on her mutton.

Joe almost screamed at the sight, perhaps fearful it was too dry and she’d never return.

Dia waved at him, signaling she was okay, and smiled.

"Strangely, my father noted a similar phenomenon. That people associated with him slowly became cultists, blindly worshipping him. While such action isn’t too far out of the ordinary in this day and age, my father detailed a loyalty that went beyond mere reveration — it was sheer unconditional devotion."

Ixion’s eyes narrowed, then he took a sip of water.

"This seems like a topic way above our standing. Should probably shelve it before someone overhears and reports us to a patrol."

Dia’s head twisted slightly.

"Are you not concerned for your brother, given the implications?"

Ixion took another scoop of pottage.

"Well, I would have been at one point, but I’ve come to realize it doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme of everything. In fact, I pray he lost his mind — that makes accepting the impending end easier."

Dia’s expression grew quite curious.

"Oh? Would you care to expand on that?"

Ixion paused for a few moments, then slowly said:

"King Ixion. I heard in his youth he fought the Scourge day in and day out. I know he’s a bit crazy at the moment, but the truth is his word, when it comes to the matter of survival, isn’t baseless."

Ixion took another sip of water and scarfed some pottage.

Dia’s eyes slightly widened, then she laughed and said:

"Someone who shares the same views on the King as I? How rare."

Ixion’s eyes widened, and it was his turn to nearly choke on the chicken in his pottage. After two coughs, he said:

"Same views? What do you mean?"

Dia sipped her tea and set it down. She drew her eyes at the onlookers, then whispered:

"Everyone seems to think he’s some nonsensical idiot driven crazy by the Scourge. But, from what I’ve heard, he’s simply living his best life knowing he won’t have the leisure to do so much longer. ’Five years left at best’? That’s his motto or something, isn’t it? It’s a big reason why I defied my father and went on this outing. I want to see the world before it crumbles."

Ixion remained silent for a moment, studying the beautiful woman’s slender face.

"What a pessimistic thing to slip from such a beautiful lady’s mouth."

Ixion felt an odd, warm feeling in his heart. One he hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

Maybe the world’s hatred was finally wearing him down. Maybe he was truly happy to find someone who genuinely didn’t want his guts to be on the outside.

Someone who understood even a fraction of him.

Yet...

That wasn’t allowed to happen.

Such solace would never be allowed to the King of Treachery.

"I know I was a bit nihilistic myself, but I didn’t mean we’re absolutely done for. I believe King Ixion is a true idiot for counting humans out. We’re a lot more resilient than we seem. All I meant was that his words about how bad the situation is matter much more than people think. I’m not saying the people aren’t taking the threat seriously, but that nobody is taking the right measures. Not that I know what we should do. But whatever it is, we’re not doing it." Ixion sipped water, then added, "But, it is absolutely undeniable that he is simply making the situation worse."

Dia laughed.

"Baha! Of course! Did you think I actually thought there was a shred of sanity left in that man’s skull? A method contained within his madness? He may be living his best life, but how do you think a man like that sleeps at night? Knowing his actions and inactions kill tens, sometimes hundreds or thousands, daily."

Ixion felt a slight pain in his chest.

’I’ve heard those words a hundred times.’

So why did it hurt coming from this stranger he’d just met?

Her laughter died down as she leaned forward over the table.

"Though I am quite jealous of his freedom."

Ixion laughed.

"Who wouldn’t be?"

A slight gloomy look appeared on the ’puppet’s’ face.

’Freedom...’

It was quite a word that left an awful aftertaste in his mouth.

’If only you knew.’

’If only you all knew.’

Ixion chugged the rest of his water, then called Jojo over and ordered Joe’s Super Ale.

Ixion wasn’t even close to free

He was a slave to fate.

Just like the rest of the world.