Situation Above Ground II
But even as some worried about Nox and others like Loki felt him deserving of a verbal lashing, others just innocently carried out their lives without knowing of the various hidden occurrences that were present around and below Orario.
One such group, was a party of beginner adventurers. They were the Takemikazuchi Familia plus the single member of the Hestia Familia, Haruhime and Nox had introduced them to each other and they began cooperating in their Dungeoneering ever since.
Since they were all Level 1 however, they mostly hunted around the 10th floor with very brief and careful probings on the 11th and 12th floors.
After some cute begging, Haruhime had taken time from her own schedule to look after them as they hunted in the 11th and 12th floors. Mostly to protect them from the more powerful monsters that might wipe their entire party like the Infant Dragon.
"Haruhime-san!" The white haired Bella called out to the blonde renard as they took a break.
"Mhm? Yes?" Haruhime absentmindedly responded.
"Is there something wrong? You seem very . . . distracted." The cute albino bunny like girl pointed out.
The others had noticed it too and were just wondering how to approach her but now that Bella asked the question, they chimed in as well.
"Yes Haruhime! You can tell us." Mikoto said.
"W-Were here for you Haruhime-san." Chigusa followed up.
"You can just lay it on us!" Ouka nodded.
"Well . . . It's sort of a secret so I can tell." Haruhime sheepishly said.
"Not that I don't appreciate your concern!" She quickly added.
He group immediately began nagging her that keeping these things for her friends was unhealthy and such but she didn't budge.
"They're Nox-sama's rules so they're meant to be followed." Haruhime declared.
The group wisely shut up since they were all indebted to Nox and deduced he probably had reasons for his rules of secrecy.
Well, most of them did. The one that hated Nox from day one had no such considerations and saw it a chance to bash him in front of the girl he liked and the newcomer who was quite cute to boot.
All while ignoring the fact that both girls held Nox in much higher regard than him and as such, would almost always take his side in the matter.
"If he's making you unable to share your worries with you're friends that he's just being a paranoid bastard. It's not like we're going to blab about what you tell us right?" Ouka exclaimed with fervor, making everyone freeze in place.
"He's probably just hiding away nasty stuff that would ruin his public image you known! I think we should investigate further." He self righteously added.
"I know exactly what's happening and that's why I'm worried!" Haruhime immediately shouted furiously in response.
"I heard Nox-sama say multiple times that ignorance is bliss but now I know it to be true. If I didn't know what he was doing I wouldn't be so worried!" She continued.
"Is Nox-dono in trouble?" "Is Nox-san in trouble?" Mikoto and Bella immediately asked with worry of their own.
"He's fine . . . At least that's what Nox-sama himself says but I still worry." Haruhime sighed.
"Can we help?" Chigusa asked.
Haruhime smiled.
"Thank you Chigusa-san but even though I'm worrying. I also think Nox-sama has it handled and our little sisterhood is always ready to help him when required." She said.
The girls blushed as they knew that the "sisterhood" was pretty much just Nox's harem. MEanwhile, the guys burned in jealousy.
"Well . . . If you truly want to help though . . ." Haruhime mysteriously started.
"I can always put in a good word for you girls should you want to join." She lured the young maidens into the path of depravity like a true evil fox spirit.
Bella and Mikoto started steaming with delusions as Ouka stared resentfully at it all, ignoring the small girls with a complicated look, staring right at him.
Chigusa cared for Ouka, far more than he realized but the more time it passed, the more she realized her effort and love would never be rewarded.
But that was not even the biggest problem. Chigusa could understand. Haruhime was a beauty she considered far beyond herself and even the newcomer Bella was the personification of cuteness in her eyes.
Chigusa was not looking to be rewarded, her faint hope for that had nearly completely died out. She just wanted to be noticed, wanted her efforts to be noticed.
Even if all she received in return was an apology from Ouka for not being able to respond to her feelings . . . It would still be something.
She could understand Ouka's jealousy but she also knew Nox was just built different. When he entered all of their lives, accompanying Haruhime, even with her long standing crush on Ouka, Chigusa found him a idol for which she had a near instant crush.
But she thought herself unworthy. It was that simple. That's why Nox didn't affect her so much. Chigusa simply believed she never had a chance and that Nox was just one of those legendary figures to admire from afar.
Sure, he had his flaws but at least he paid attention to his girls in the sense he did not let their efforts go unnoticed.
Hell! He even noticed Chigusa's own efforts towards Ouka and looked at her not with pity for that would insulting. But with admiration and respect for her perseverance.
Chigusa just resigned herself to a life of unfulfilled love. She knew Ouka would only ever look at her like a replacement for another woman and she prefered loving him from afar to that. She would rather be a second wife than a replacement wife.
That way, at least she would be seen as herself, a being with her own value and not just a replacement.
The more time passed however, the more dissatisfied she became. She understood Ouka's point but it was about time he stopped being childish.
The Ouka she fell for was someone righteous who always put words into practice and settled favors and enmities with proper measure.
But with Nox, all of that seemed to evaporate.
Nox had never wronged Ouka. After all, how was he to blame when Ouka's crush fell for him so naturally?
Not only that, he had constantly helped the Takemikazuchi Familia just on account of them being important to Haruhime.
Yet, Ouka seemed to always be looking for chances to undermine him and while the others were more mad than Chigusa, they also swiftly dissed it later, no longer caring about the matter. She however, while not feeling so strongly, never forgot and her displeasure was growing.
The question was . . . What exactly did she want to do?
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P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!
The link is: https://www.p.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/lusoba without the extra dots of course.
You'll get to read up to FOUR weeks ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.
There's also my other novels Kage of Kages and FATE of DxD, do check them out!
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