Chapter 123: Lucille and the Dryads

When Strawberry saw the look on Byron’s face, she burst out laughing. "You don’t think it’s Queen Otrera who farted, do you? Haha! I can’t wait to tell her and see her reaction."

After all the things Byron had done to her moments ago, he could never have expected she would still be able to make him blush. Was it because they were talking about farts?

He looked away from her as he said, "That’s what I wanna know. I asked you if this stench is a baby’s fart and you said no. That it’s Queen Otrera. What did you mean?"

Strawberry was still laughing as she explained to him how they use that stench as a repellent against the Tusked-wolves and other beasts when they go out looking for him.

"Then why are the girls still fighting the Tusked-wolves instead of using the repellent?" he asked.

"Go to the window and see for yourself."

Reluctantly, Byron got up and walked to the window, regretting leaving behind the warmth from having Strawberry’s body pressed against his.

He still held Berrek who had fallen asleep after a few sips of his momma’s milk.

Holding the baby close to his chest, Byron looked at the scenes below him. The Tusked-wolves were fleeing back into the forest. Most had bitten a chunk off a dead brethren and fled with it between their fangs. Some were even trying to drag an entire carcass with them.

The injured ones who couldn’t stand and flee with the others were desperately crawling. He had never seen animals so scared.

"What does the stench do to them? Does it kill them, or it’s because they just don’t like it?"

"Yeah! It can kill them. But only when they are close."

"Then they will die when Queen Otrera gets closer," he pointed out.

"No. The stench won’t get closer. It would kill the babies and the weak Amazons. Even the strong ones won’t get off easily. It would make them hallucinate or worse."

Byron was taken aback. "Oh! So that’s why the girls didn’t use it?"

"Yeah! It’s taken almost a mile from the fortress before it’s prepared."

Now he was intrigued.

What is it like? Does the one who prepares it not die? How come Queen Otrera and her entourage not get affected by it while travelling with it?

He turned back to look at Strawberry when he asked her all that.

She let out a chuckle. "You ask a lot of questions. It’s like a pumpkin made of iron. No. The one who prepares it doesn’t die. She doesn’t touch it or get near it when preparing it. The same goes for Queen Otrera and her expedition. They don’t get near Munuuko. Before you ask, yes. It’s called Munuuko. It means what it is. A strong bad smell."

Byron chuckled to himself. "You got me. I was gonna ask exactly that. Haha! But I still have questions."

"Of course you do. Ask them!"

"How does one prepare it without getting close to it? How do they use it to repel beasts if they don’t travel near it?"

"Good questions! Well, it is tied to a long chain. And it has a lot of tiny holes in it. They make a fire a few feet from it, ride a long distance and then tag on the chain to pull it into the fire. Quickly they ride their horses over a mile and rest for a few minutes to let the fire heat it up."

"When the stench reaches them, they go on with the expedition, always while pulling Munuuko a mile behind them. On the way back they use another path and leave it at least a mile from the fortress. We make a new Munuuko for each expedition. Still have questions?"

Now it all made sense, but of course he still had questions. What substance was put in the Munuuko to produce such a stench? Where did they get it from? When did they start using it? Questions. Questions.

He would have asked were it not for the cheering and the shouting of the Amazons below.

"Queen Otrera is back!" they shouted.

He turned his focus back on them and followed their line of sight. A dozen horsewomen were galloping toward the gate.

He recognized Queen Otrera right away. Even if it had been his first time seeing her, he would have instantly figured out that she was a person of rank. Whereas others were clad in black and rode brown or black horses, her beast was majestic, as white as snow, so was everything else about her, even her hair. She looked a different being compared to those who rode with her.

By the time she reached the drawbridge, Alcippe and her girls had already set it in place and raised the gate. Queen Otrera rode through without slowing down for even a second.

Alcippe was waiting for her in the courtyard. Instead of dismounting when she reached her, Queen Otrera shouted something at her. Alcippe shouted something else back. Something along the lines of Byron is back and more, but Byron didn’t catch the last sentences due to the shouting by the girls on the battlements as they told those who had just come with Queen Otrera about him being back.

As expected, the news had Queen Otrera dismounting quickly. She ran into the castle, no doubt to climb those spiraling stairs up to Strawberry’s room.

"The Queen is coming up the stairs," he said.

Strawberry scoffed. "You know what she’s after. Better prepare, I guess. Hehe!"

Byron walked back toward the bed to lay Berrek there.

Strawberry was right. Queen Otrera would want some dick right away. Will I ever get to rest? He wondered.

Strawberry must have thought the same thing because she said, "There’s no way you are going to fuck her right away. Aren’t you tired? Or hungry?"

Her mentioning it made Byron realize that he, indeed, was super hungry.

And super tired.

’Never in a million years had I thought I would get too tired to fuck. Now I understand what they meant when they said that some men die of thirst while others drown. I’m drowning in horny beauties. Crazy.’

’I just need food and a nap, then I’m good as new.’

The last meal he took was hours ago when he left Lucille and the dryads. Even then, it was not a proper meal. Just eggs and meat. Plus, it was after another long session of fucking. If things continued like this, he would either have dropped dead by the evening or disappointed a lot of horny Amazons by denying them playtime while he slept.

’They can touch me and play with themselves while I sleep. That should be enough.’

He didn’t mention any of this to Strawberry. He just looked for his clothes and started putting them on. He had decided he would eat first before doing any more fucking.

Of course, unless the system forced him to do otherwise. Since the system was yet to give him any quests, he might as well recuperate.

With this plan, being naked while he welcomed Queen Otrera was not a great idea.

Strawberry watched him for a moment, then, as if to herself, said, "You won’t be able to travel to Themiscyra today. Hypolyta is going to get angry for not going to her the instant you returned."

This reminded Byron of Hypolyta’s miscarriage and the pain he had felt. He imagined the sorrow in her heart and winced.

"She doesn’t know that I’m back. Another day of not knowing won’t kill her."

Even as he said this, he wished he could teleport to Themiscyra. He was trying to convince himself that his presence would remedy Hypolyta’s sorrows when the door was pushed wide open.

Queen Otrera stormed in with...

Byron had thought there would be lust and excitement on her face, but not even a smile was there, let alone such positive strong feelings.

She looked angry.

She didn’t greet him, didn’t hug him, didn’t... She just straight up said, "Alcippe told me you were with a nymph and some dryads on the island."

Byron furrowed his eyebrows. Why was Queen Otrera angry about that? Was she jealous?

He prepared himself for an argument and said, "Yeah! They are the ones who rescued me. What of it? What’s wrong with that?"

"Well, your dryad fought with us and kidnapped one of my girls."