Ch 271: Harems do not work, but…

Noah left the training room where the three Valkyrie clones, named Ein, Tveir and Prir, were being "entertained" by Raynare, Mittelt and Kalawarna. Since they had killed a lot of civilians, they were getting the Bad Girl treatment.

However, since they had also been "raised" from birth by Loki, and might had not known any better, Noah had decided to be lenient with them and made them wear special collars. It wouldn't be long before they learned to enjoy their "reeducation".

He thought for a few seconds about training another of the four Goddesses' followers but decided otherwise. They could wait, and he looked forward to some sweet and innocent time with Asia. His "fiancée" had waited quietly for a long time, and she deserved his attention more than.

His phone rang, and his eyebrow rose as he saw Erin's name on it.

Noah teleported to the room he had converted into his office before answering.

"Hi, Erin. How are you doing?"

"Hi, Noah. I'm doing fine, mostly. Although I'm envious of you having twenty thousand plus subordinates. I only have a few dozens I can trust, and that's not much to oversee the rebuilding of the Evangelion world and keep an eye on the Genshin one. How are you doing?"

"Just stopped a war between the Asgard and Greek Pantheons on the DxD world. And because some excessively prideful Greek Goddesses saw fit to insult Lilith, I now have the local versions of Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena and Hestia captives in my basement, and Lilith is keeping in stasis all of their armed followers, over six thousand of them, for me to subjugate when I have time."

"Tell me you're joking! You have captured the local Athena?" blurted Erin incredulously.

"And thousands of their servants. I wouldn't mind giving you some of them to help with your manpower issue."

"Ah, liar! You would mind, even if you would still be willing to give some to me, and I appreciate your offer." chuckled Erin. "Actually, I have a favor to ask you… Well, two favors, really."

"I'm all ears."

"The first is about Lumine, Aether's sister."

"I know about her. In the version of the world you got, is Lumine the protagonist, or the antagonist?"

"The antagonist, and I captured her some time ago. But even in jail, she's trouble. The Abyss Order keeps trying to break her out, and those guys adapted to my abilities. They use magic to erase from their minds all critical information before they make their attempts, and I have yet to find out the locations of their most important bases."

"And you couldn't get that information from Lumine?"

"No. She, too, knows how my lie detection ability works, so whenever I visit her, she just clams up, closes her eyes, doesn't say a word, and keeps thinking about things unrelated to my questions. Analyzing her body language only works for yes or no questions, and it's unreliable even then."

"I think I know where this is going. You wish for me to give her higher priorities than to protect the Abyss Order's secrets. Like obtaining my approval."

"What a politically correct way to call enslaving her." replied Erin, but Noah could hear the relief in her voice. "Yes, it's exactly that. Since she's Aether's sister, I can't subject her to the brutal sort of interrogation, even if I could heal her afterward. Not that I could stomach real torture in the first place. And after telling Aether about you, he too thinks that sending Lumine to you is the best option, as long as you allow her to visit him on occasion."

"He doesn't like the idea of Lumine becoming your slave, but if you can make her happy, and both Asuka and Aria assured me that you would, he can accept it. Her information would let us finish the Abyss Order once and for all, and even if we fail, showing her acting on our side would crush their morale."

"But is that possible now?" frowned Noah. "I was under the impression that we would have to wait until the Fate world was saved before we can meet in person."

"Actually, there is a way, and you conveniently unlocked the possibility when you allowed us to contact each other by phone. It is possible for a Champion to invite another, or even give that Champion permission to enter and leave a world under their responsibility whenever they want."

"Nice. I do not have anything truly urgent right now, so I can start on your favor today if you wish. I won't give you an estimate of the time it will take to make her compliant, however, since she sounds like a challenge, and if the Abyss Order is smart, those guys will already have abandoned the bases Lumine knows about."

"That would be great, thanks." smiled Erin.

"And your second favor?"

"Well… I need advice on some personal matters, and Aria suggested I get your input."

"Oh?"

"…Basically, it's like this. I have three lovers. Aether, Zhongli, and Childe... The problem is that they're jealous and keep bickering for my attention. I have my eyes on a few more of those handsome guys, but it's already chaos with three lovers, so I don't want to make a move on them. So my question is, how in the name of all that is holy do you manage your harem?"

"…How about I invite you to tea in ten minutes? I'll get Aria and Elisabeth Phenex, who already has experience handling her husband."

"Elisabeth Phenex… I know Ravel Phenex, but…"

"Elisabeth is Ravel's mother, and the actual ruler of House Phenex. She has her husband wrapped around her finger."

"Ah? The daughter wasn't enough, you got your hands on the mother as well? The married mother?" chuckled Erin.

"In my defense, she started it by trying to hypnotize me and make me a trained husband for Ravel. And I don't normally break couples. The only exceptions that comes to mind are her and Akeno's mother. Akeno herself asked me to."

"Yeah, sure. I'm not going to scold you or whatever, this is none of my business, and your actions are for your Goddess to judge, not me. I'll request permission to teleport to you in ten minutes with Lumine, is that okay?"

"Yes, see you soon."

Erin hung up, and Noah teleported in the garden, near the gazebo. Grayfia was there with one of the Sisters and Seekvaira.

"Master?" asked Grayfia with a smile. "How may we be of service?"

"I am sorry, everyone, but I would like to requisition this spot for a while. A fellow Champion will be coming for a semi-private chat."

"Of course, Master. Should we prepare the table for tea?" nodded Grayfia, already standing.

"Yes, please, for four people. To make it up to you girls, come see me in my room after dinner."

Grayfia, Seekvaira and Misaka 19253 grinned as they hurried to set up tea and snacks as instructed and teleported away. Meanwhile, Noah made a short call to Aria and Elisabeth, and used Item Creation to make yet another Sanctuary, this one themed around a wooden house in a forest of American great sequoia trees.

The basement and house would be empty of furniture and training tools for now, but he could add to it little by little later. What mattered most was the time compression ability, and with his current power, he could push the time ratio to thirty, compared to the twenty that those he had given to Akeno and Olga-Marie could achieve.

Aria and Elisabeth had both teleported while he was creating the Sanctuary, but they simply sat without interrupting him.

"Who are we expecting, Noah?" asked Aria when he was done.

"Erin Adams." smiled Noah.

"What? There's a way for her to come? Is Athena-sama coming as well?"

"I do not think so. According to Erin, She can send me a request, and if I accept it, she can teleport in."

"Oh! I am going to ask Torri to invite me into her worlds!" grinned Aria.

Noah nodded with a smile, as he too was tempted. Torri, Eir's Champion, had both the Danmachi and the Arifureta worlds under her supervision. There were quite a few people over there that he would like to meet.

But he had way too much to do right now.

"She is coming to deliver Lumine to me, so I can straighten her out, and to discuss a personal issue. But I will wait until she's here to speak about it."

Aria nodded while Elisabeth sipped her tea, curious about the reason Noah had requested her presence.

Noah didn't have to wait long but he received a notification.

[Erin Adams is requesting permission to teleport to User. Allow once, Allow until Revoked, or Decline?]

[Allow once.]

Erin appeared along with Lumine, and Noah, Aria and Elisabeth stood politely. Erin was a gorgeous young woman (or maybe not so young, as Champions could change their biological age, and Noah wouldn't be so crude as to ask), with large green eyes and long black hair styled in a ponytail. She was dressed in black pants and a blue top with a fantasy design that wouldn't look out of place in the Genshin impact world.

She had her right hand around the arm of Lumine, a beautiful blonde girl with amber eyes, two flowers on the left side of her head, and two feathers on the right side. However, where the Protagonist version of lumine was dressed in an elaborate white dress with blue trims and white flowers and feathers, the Lumine standing before him was dressed in black and red trims, with red-tipped black feathers and flowers.

A silver collar with studded blue gems was around Lumine's neck, and she wore similar bracelets around her wrists, linked by a short chain.

"Hi, Erin. It is nice to see you in person at last." smiled Noah, extending his hand.

"Likewise. Aria too, and you must be Lady Phenex." grinned Erin after shaking it.

"Yes. It is a pleasure to meet one of Noah-sama's peers."

"Hi, Erin." nodded Aria, exchanging a handshake as well. "Noah didn't say anything about the reason for your visit, aside from transferring Lumine's custody to him. I assume this is about the issues you mentioned last week?"

"Yes." sighed Erin.

"Before we start speaking about this personal matter, I should get Lumine away." said Noah. "Those are magic-sealing cuffs and collars?"

"Yes. Aria told me you use another method to depower your captives."

"Runes, yes." nodded Noah. "They are generally more difficult to remove than physical items. I will just draw a few on her skin."

Lumine glared as he walked behind her and used the open back of her dress to draw a few Stop Runes along her spine. Noah knew that one should be enough in theory, but he believed in redundancy.

"I'll be back in a moment." smiled Noah, taking Lumine and disappearing into a cell in the palace's basement.

He would need to charge and equip the new sanctuary before taking her inside.

Lumine looked around the cell she was now in and sat on the bed.

"I guess that coward finally realized she couldn't make me talk with her wishy-washy methods and gave up on doing it herself. But you're wasting your time." said Lumine, looking at him with cold, challenging eyes. "I am not going to ever betray my comrades. I will endure whatever torture you throw at me."

Noah smiled and patted her head. She bristled under his touch and jumped away, her face twisting in anger.

"Lumine, you're confusing cowardice with having strong morals and boundaries. Erin wouldn't have achieved all she did if she wasn't brave. But I am far more ruthless than she is."

Noah left her and returned to the garden.

Erin was sitting while Elisabeth was filling her teacup.

"Thanks." smiled Noah as she did the same for him.

"I think I'll regret knowing, but I am too curious." smiled Erin. "What are you going to do with Lumine?"

"I am not sure yet." admitted Noah. "I rather like her looks, and I think she has potential as a dominatrix. I guess I'll make her into a switch, very sweet and submissive to me, while also not having issues using a whip to train or discipline others, like Raynare or Elisabeth."

Elisabeth nodded, satisfied.

"I could easily see her in that role... It's a nice place you have here." nodded Erin as she looked around once again. "I have something similar, but on a smaller scale."

"Thanks. And you're trying to buy yourself time." grinned Noah.

Erin sighed, nodding "It's just… not that easy to speak about my problems face to face. It was easier by phone."

"Believe me, Erin, nothing you can say will shock us. I'll give you a friendly push and start for you. You have issues with your three boyfriends." shrugged Aria.

"Yeah… thanks… They want to monopolize me too much. Aether and Childe almost came to blows a few days ago. Zhongli is giving me the silent treatment for hours after I spend time with the others. He wants for me sign a contract guaranteeing him a set number of hours per week with him. I don't know how to keep things peaceful and harmonious. Asuka and Aria told me before that you had a Council of Heads in the harem to settle issues before they turned into grudges, but I obviously can't copy this system when I only have three lovers."

Noah nodded thoughtfully. The nature of Erin's problem, as well as its answer, seemed obvious to him, but there might be other solutions that his own twisted values were preventing him from finding, so he didn't speak immediately.

"If I may ask, Erin-san, how would you describe your relationship with each of your lovers, separately from the others?" asked Elisabeth. "Are you equal lovers? Who makes the decisions in your relationships?"

"…I would say that we are lovers. Not quite equals, though. I decide who I spend my time with. Aside from that, we generally make the decisions together."

"I see." nodded Elisabeth. "But when you do not agree on something, what happens next?"

"We work out a compromise, of course." immediately replied Erin, and both Elisabeth and Noah nodded.

"And that is your problem, I think." frowned Noah. "Working out a compromise is great when you're a couple. That's how most couples manage to endure for life. But it does not really work for harems. What do you think, Aria?"

"…It worked well enough for me, Chisato and Takina, but I take your point." frowned Aria. "Chisato and Takina fell in love with each other as well as with me, and we are very compatible, so it was fairly easy to work out compromises. But I'm trying to imagine what would have happened if Chisato and Takina had only seen each other as rivals, and… it wouldn't have been pretty."

"I don't need to imagine it, I live it." sighed Erin, slowly moving a spoon inside her cup.

"Yes." nodded Elisabeth. "But, Erin-san, you are misunderstanding something. We members of the Council of Heads are tasked with smoothing out conflicts within the harem, that is true. But we aren't the main reason things are harmonious, and we rarely have to mediate disputes. Nowadays, we mostly act as representatives of the harem members to discuss with Noah-sama matters that impact the harem as a whole. The reason for the harmony is something else. The simple truth is that harems do not work in reality nearly as well as they do in fictions. But slave harems do."

"What do you mean?" asked Erin with a frown.

"To preserve a harmonious relationship, the members of the harem must prioritize the wishes and wellbeing of the person the harem belongs to, rather than their own desires. This is very common in Devil society, where every high-ranking Devil possess a peerage. Many Devils choose their peerage members as harem members just as much as they choose them for being powerful combatants, but the distribution of power is clear. One if the Master, and the others are the Servants."

"A decent Master will go out of their way to make their Servants happy, but at the end of the day, what the Master says, goes. And the Servants do not presume having the authority to decide how the Master spends their time or how much attention they get. They can only appeal to the Master by improving themselves."

Erin stared at Elisabeth for a few seconds, before she turned her head to look at Noah, who shrugged.

"When I got my hands on my first girl, Asuna, I had a choice to make. I could seduce her properly and convince her to become my girlfriend, then get her to accept that I would have relationships with more girls, and then get her to accept my preference for BDSM relationships. Not easy things to do for someone with a modern mindset, as I am sure you can imagine."

"Or I could directly train her as my slave, making clear from the start that I was the one calling the shots, and giving her affection and physical pleasure in return for her submission."

"I chose the latter. I did the same choice with many of my girls later on, although a lot of my harem's members chose to enter the harem knowing what they were getting into, and… it works."

"I… see." frowned Erin, a finger absentmindedly taping on the table. She was trying to imagine what would have happened if she had made her three boyfriends into her sex slaves. An image popped into her mind, of her lounging on a luxurious armchair, with Aether, Zhongli and Childe around her, ready to feed her grapes or refill her drink, and most of all, accepting each other's presence without constant glares or thinly disguised jabs.

She couldn't say that she found this hypothetical scene unpleasant.

"…I messed up, right?" realized Erin. "If I had realized this in the beginning… it seems obvious now that you say it that a harem between equals is inherently flawed, but the idea of dominating them was simply too far from my mindset, I never even considered it."

"It's not like you can't course-correct now, Erin." nodded Aria with sympathy.

"Maybe, but I do not know how to dominate someone. If I suddenly came to them and said that from now on, I am their Mistress, they would probably laugh at me. even I wouldn't be able to take myself seriously." sighed Erin.

"I am confident that Noah-sama can teach you, Erin-san." nodded Elisabeth. "There are some people who are naturally inclined to become dominant even before their first sexual interactions, like Noah-sama or me. Others can learn it. But if you want to become a good Dominant worthy to being called 'Mistress' by your Submissives, if you want to learn how to make them into happy and devoted slaves, you first need to learn about being a Submissive yourself. Dominance and Submission isn't something that can be only shown and talked about. It is something that needs to be experienced."

"This is what Takina and Chisato told me as well, Erin." nodded Aria. "Takina was trained as a submissive by Noah, then she trained Chisato, and they both told me that their experience as subs was invaluable now that they both train other girls, and they are very successful at it."

Erin narrowed her eyes, suspicious.

"Are you all trying to manipulate me into becoming Noah's slave?"

"…I would lie if I claimed I would not be happy if this happened, but look at everything I have accomplished so far, Erin." replied Noah. "I haven't gone this far by being stupid. And right now, I cannot think of anything more stupid than doing something that would get Lilith and Athena, both able to read my mind whenever they want without me noticing, angry at me. Heck, this kind of screw-up might even cause Susanoo to take Aria away. I'm not doing anything to you unless you consent to it, and by this, Erin, I mean fully informed consent. I'm not going to play games with other Champions."

"Besides, you can detect lies. Surely you know that Aria and Elisabeth both honestly believe this is the answer to your troubles, right?"

Aria and Elisabeth both nodded, and Erin lifted her hands in surrender.

"Alright, I'm sorry about doubting your intentions. It's just that I am aware you aren't beyond using trickery to get more women not your harem, so…"

"Yes, I deserve that…" smiled Noah. "I'll even admit that if you wish for me to teach you the ins and outs of BDSM, I will go out of my way to make you enjoy the submissive side of it in the hope that you would decide you would rather join my harem after all. But does it have any demerit from your perspective?"

"You either return to your three lovers as a dominant who knows what she is doing, make them into your devoted slaves, and clear the way for you to get more, or you decide that you'll be happier as my sub and stay. You win either way."

Erin didn't answer immediately, and instead blinked, then seemed lost in thought for a minute. Noah didn't press her. He had a hunch that she might be communicating with Athena. Eventually, she nodded.

"…You aren't wrong, there's no real demerit for me. Not when Lady Athena has my back." nodded Erin. "How much time will it take? I can't be away from my worlds for too long."

"We can use the time compression of the Sanctuary, so maybe a few days, and we do not need to start immediately." smiled Noah. "I do not mind if you take some time to think about it. In fact, you should."

"I'll go warn my friends that I'll be away for a little while and be back in a few hours if you do not mind, before I chicken out." nodded Erin.

Noah nodded, and after saying goodbye to Aria and Elisabeth, Erin returned to her own world.

"I'll go prepare a room near mine." chuckled Aria, standing. "Once she gets a taste of your magic dick, she'll have no choice but to join the harem."

"Hey, don't say it like you have gotten a taste of it already." grinned Noah. "But I am thinking about taking care of you after Lumine."

Aria nodded with a slightly forced smile, feeling a little ambivalent. As a lesbian, she wasn't looking forward to it. And as a lesbian, she was looking forward to it, to finally be allowed to have physical interactions with all the cute girls in the harem. Until now, she had to make do with Shino.

Shino was cute and fun to spend time with, but it was like having to be content with the same dish day after day when there was a whole luxurious buffet spread in front of her!