Indolent Overlord

Chapter 12

Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix wasn't in good mood.

Around the office, his subjects wore nervous expressions as they avoided looking directly at his brooding form seated on the lounge. As much as he tried to maintain a cool, nonchalant appearance, the purplish bags underneath his eyes and the heavy scowl engraved deep on his forehead were a clear giveaway of his terrible mood.

Added to the fact that he has not been sleeping well as of late, an incident popped up not too long ago that caused him to wake up earlier than the sun. The commoners at the Central Market had been caught in a wave of sleep magic, heavy enough that his elite-trained magic casters weren't able to investigate without succumbing to its prowess. Even his Imperial Court Wizard, Fluder Paradyne, was not able to stay for long before he was forced to leave the area, lest he succumbed to the abnormal spell that put everyone to sleep.

Jircniv had been unsure if this was a terrorist attack done by another nation or a magical disease of some kind, but he wouldn't and couldn't rest until he manages to dispel the abnormal state his people were in. In his hands were the investigation papers. He had read through it enough to memorize the entire text, but he still continued to scan it to see if he could spot anything he had previously missed.

To sum up the content, the Central Market's residents have been put to sleep due to something nefarious and were unable to wake on their own. The magic seems to have an area of effect of 100 yards and the primary evidence that it was magic and not a simple disease was due to the otherworldly smell in the air. His people described the smell as something pleasant yet unpleasant, and it hasn't dissipated despite having been hours since they've discovered this incident.

Ironic enough, due to being very sleep-deprived, Jircniv somewhat wished that he could make the smell into a candle to cure his insomnia. But that was just wishful thinking. For now, his only solution to this issue was to move the people out of the area of effect and allow Fluder to find a cure.

Jircniv, after many hours of pondering, finally nodded his consent to the old wizard. It took time for them to brainstorm precautions in case this was a magical disease they were facing, one that could be spread by skin contact or droplets. Hence, he did not allow his subjects to move until now. With a bow, the wizard scuttled off to his tower.

Jircniv, the emperor of the Baharuth Empire, gave a rueful look at the setting sun before he dismissed the people in his office and stood up for a stretch. It has been a long day.

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Whilst the unfortunate emperor was busy yawning and secretly pinching his thigh to fight the sleep away, Adalbert was 'busy' drooling in his sleep, unaware of the chaos ensued by his nonchalant transformation back to his demi-human form. The sloth demon was curled on a gigantic beanbag and had Victim in his clutches, the NPC used as a plushie to further accommodate a pleasant time sleeping.

It was only when the sun was starting to set did the demonic being rouse from his slumber, refreshed to the point of wanting to take a nap because of it. Before he could succumb to the temptation, his stomach gave a warning growl. Adalbert grunted unhappily and decided to obey his body's unfortunate need for sustenance.

Looking down at the still sleeping Victim, Adalbert gently settled the angel down on the beanbag and pulled out a pack of biltong from his inventory to fight the persistent hunger. With sluggish movements, he sauntered to the window and peered down onto the street to ponder on what food would catch his fancy.

Blinking in confusion, Adalbert turned his eyes to the sun and back to the street. "Why aren't there any humans running food stalls in the plaza?" He murmured to himself.