Gigolo Diaries-Chapter 9: Leaving Home

There was a deep quiet after Eros explained the situation to the old man. He seemed to be digesting the information and Eros was thinking of something else to say.

"You sure you’re going to be fine alone?"

"Oi, kid, that’s my line. What do you take me for, some old man who can’t help himself?

"Besides, with the amount of trouble you usually attract, I should be the one worrying for you."

Eros opened his mouth to debunk the statement, but he soon realised that the old man wasn’t wrong. Whether it was the time he went to a mountain village and they chased after him with spears and pitchforks for sleeping with their chief’s daughter.

Or the time when he was kicked out of the orphans’ special care program for, quote, causing the spread of intolerable depravity—He hadn’t even fucked anyone there.

All these events just went to show how much of a trouble magnet he was.

"I get your point. But you gotta promise me that you wouldn’t try peeking at Grandma Aoki while she’s bathing."

An exaggerated expression of innocence appeared on Kodu’s face. "When have I ever done that?"

Eros squinted his eyes into two slits and took a good look at the old man.

"Okay fine, let’s not get into that right now." Seeing the look on the kid’s face, he had probably caught him peeking a few times.

After that, Eros let out a sigh and went to pack up a few things for the trip.

The sun dipped past the horizon, and the day finally burned out.

When Eros was done, he smelled the savoury scent of food beneath the underlying mask of chemicals.

Getting to the dining table he found that the old man had already made something and immediately dived in. He had to say, Kodu was a very good cook, the best he had ever seen. Anytime Eros asked him where he got his skills from he just replied with: "Hmm, when you’re unable to leave your house for a hundred years you pick up a few skills without knowing it."

Obviously, Eros didn’t believe he had lived here for a hundred years, but the more he thought about it the more he realised that the old man had never left this house.

Even when he had been supplying talismans for the Yin and Yang sect, they always came to his house to receive them, never the other way around.

"Oi, this Elina girl, how cute is she?"

Eros, brought back to reality by the question, raised a brow.

"I don’t know, why did you ask?"

"Just wanna know if it’s worth the risk."

"Meaning?"

Old man Kodu pushed a piece of meat into his mouth and, after a moment of chewing, swallowed it, dropping the fork.

"The Glygen forest ain’t no funny place. Back when I was still a kid I saw things there, things that shouldn’t be there."

"You’re saying that I shouldn’t go."

"Ahh, nothing like that lad." Kodu waved him off. "Just don’t stray too far down the paths.

"Lest I forget, you can find a few herbs that can increase your... dual cultivation performance over there, in case you plan on doing something indecent along the way."

Watching the old man wink at him, Eros couldn’t help but cringe a bit. While he had gotten used to his dirty talk it still didn’t feel right.

After they finished up at the dining table, Kodu gave him a list of the maximum performance herbs.

Even though Eros didn’t wanna admit it, he was a bit curious. After all dual cultivation was his path, anything that would help him in that aspect needed to be studied.

He went to bed early that night and soon enough the first glimmer of sunlight cut through the sky.

The old man was still sleeping so he didn’t bother to wake him up. A few talismans were lying around in the living area so he picked some that he thought would prove useful and headed out while carrying a large backpack.

He had stuck a weight-reduction talisman onto it so it wasn’t that heavy.

Before he left though, he took one last thing.

________

Kodu got up from his bed and pushed himself into his wheelchair. Even though he had trouble walking he wasn’t fully a cripple, he could take a few steps without the wheelchair.

The sun wasn’t fully up, and he would’ve liked to get some more sleep, but if he did he would miss his chance.

He concentrated his mind and could already hear the sound of flowing water from the next house.

The view from his room wasn’t that good so he decided to head to the kitchen. But even then he couldn’t make out anything. He had expected this, so he went to the living area to get his trusty binoculars.

However, where they ought to be was empty, with only a piece of paper occupying the spot.

A bad feeling welled up in his heart as he opened the paper. It was Eros’ handwriting and it read: "Stop being a pervert, old man."

Pricia, who was having her bath was shocked when she heard a loud scream from the house next to them, from what she knew the person living there was a very eccentric man, but she still wondered if he needed some help.

_____

Eros looked through the window of the carriage, and with the aid of a pair of binoculars, he was able to get a clear look at the Glygen Border.

It was a really large gate that looked like it was made for titans.

Although it was hard to make out, he could see a group of people, preparing some things and their carriages had a crest on them that made him realise it was the holy knights.

The crest was an image of eleven golden swords aimed at a pure white crystal heart in a circular manner.

"They’re still here," he muttered to himself with a smirk on his face.

Even without the letter he would’ve still made his way into the Glygen Forest, considering that he couldn’t take the tribulation in the city. This just made things easier.