First Light of a New Age

Chapter 64: Green Troubles

Austronesia Empire, Imperial Majahapit, Jayapura Papua, Jayapura Mining Station

1st Year of God, Monday, 2nd Week, Month Of Abraham.

The celebration party reached its zenith just past midnight. Miners, workers, and off-duty soldiers drank and feasted on alcohol and fresh ant meat. Professor Penelope sat next to Odysseus, listening to one soldier’s version of his experiences in the dungeon. The female researcher dropped the finished piece of ant leg on the side, which looked and tasted remarkably like snow crab, and set the shell aside.

Odysseus happily dug out the fleshy meat and dropped the shell next to a growing pile of empty leg casings. The ant legs had been boiled in seawater and served with soy sauce.

"This is delicious!" he exclaimed, wiping his mouth with a napkin and settling back into his seat with satisfaction.

"Yes," Penelope agreed, before asking, "Haven't your people tried ant meat before?"

Odysseus shook his head. "No, this type of monster cuisine is hard to find in my country." He grinned happily and gave a small burp. "This is my first time trying it. It's really good!"

“Hahaha,” Penelope laughed at his satisfied expression. "This is my first time having ant meat too, but it turned out surprisingly well." She remembered the chef's confidence during the tasting, and him insisting the meat was as tasty as crab. The volunteers had been skeptical until one brave soul confirmed the chef's claim. "It's great that it could add some variety to our food supply in this healing country."

Odysseus chuckled and glanced around, observing how the humans celebrated. Compared to the noble banquets he had attended, this party was more modest and filled with genuine camaraderie.

…without, of course, the whole orgy at the end.

He sighed, shaking his head to dispel the unpleasant memories of all of the nasty hedonism in his head, and turned to Penelope's bright face. For a moment, he couldn't help but admire it regardless, despite having seen countless world-class beauties among the noble female elves.

But with Penelope…

'For a human, she really is beautiful.'

At that moment, the music in the background shifted to a lively cha-cha tune, or perhaps authentic Cuban music.

"Oh, I like this song," Penelope said with a bright smile, turning to Odysseus. "Sir Odysseus, would you care to dance with me?"

Surprised by the invitation, Odysseus smiled at the young woman before him and moved closer to her.

"Sure, why not? If you are inexperienced, I can assist you if you like."

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Moments after the music began and the two started a type of dance that humans called "Tango", and Odysseus was taken aback by Penelope’s unexpected dancing skills. He could feel every beat and rhythm through her body as they moved and held on together with their steps perfectly in sync.

As they effortlessly took the center stage, the crowd instinctively parted to make way for them. In an instant, they became the focus of everyone’s attention.

The tempo of the music suddenly quickened, and as Odysseus and Penelope moved faster, the rest of the other dancers seemed to slow down.

In fact, everyone else stopped dancing altogether.

"Everyone is looking at us," Penelope said with a smile, her purple eyes glowing as she stared straight into his blue ones.

"I know."