Volume 5 – Chapter 11 – Part 5 – Familial Duel and Struggles with Life

Thine Ifreann Réimse

Jin Skyward

It was the next day, and I hadn't gotten any sleep at all. Although that didn't really affect me, the girls were worried about both me and Scathach. I decided to skip breakfast and let them enjoy it with Aífe, Maeve, the Millstein family, Minerva and Alice.

"I'm waiting so, it would be appropriate if I smoked—"

Cúntóir: Answer: No.

'No.'

Bzt! Bzt! Bzt!

What the hell…? I took my phone out and saw a bunch of texts telling me not to smoke… I was mostly joking, holy fuck Cúntóir, chill… I texted most of them back saying I wasn't serious and it was just a passing thought…

[Jin? Where are you?]

[On top of the castle, why?]

Gabriel had contacted me through the [Communication Function], and yes, I was on top of the castle. I had a relatively wide view of the entire place from here. I was able to see Scathach if I "zoomed in" with my eyes, but I hadn't spoken with her yet... I was waiting for when I actually had to step in to speak with her.

[Someone named… Alice wants to speak with you? When did you two meet?]

[Ahhh… Yeah, I met her last night in the library before reading a book all night long. You're all in the dining room, right?]

[Mmm! We're all here!]

[Alright, I'll be there then.]

The transceiver disappeared and I sighed. Time to go over there then. I wonder what she wants to speak to me about?

…

"You wanted to speak to me?"

"Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!"

Bonk!

As soon as I teleported there, I asked Alice, but was immediately smacked by Minerva. My [Infinity] activated, however, and she was stopped. What she 'attacked' me with was just her spoon. It wouldn't have done any damage, but eh…

"Good morning to you too, Minerva."

"…I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, so—"

I turned to Alice again, but she grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the room. Once outside she summoned a book, flipped to a certain page and showed it to me. What I saw was some kind of ancient text? Wha the hell is this?

"Wait… Millstein?"

"Yes, can you read it?"

"Well, no, but I saw their surname there…"

"I see… I thought you would be interested since you'll be their husband soon."

"......…What?"

[Bruh, hol' up!]

{Um… Ah, the necklace perhaps?}

'...W-Why did she choose you of all people?! That old loli hag!'

'Vel— Wait— Calm down!'

[She left… You really triggered her there, Partner.]

I did nothing! What the hell?! I thought it was a gift for helping them. I'm innocent! I didn't know that it was some kind of marriage/proposal symbol, also—!

"W-What? Come again?"

Alice stared at me confused, but chuckled to herself.

"You didn't know, did you? Who was the one that put it on you?"

"Roselia?"

"Ah, granny, huh? Well, she's quite eccentric and does whatever she wants. I feel bad for you, Jin…"

She puts a comforting yet sympathetic hand on my shoulder. I don't need to be put into random marriages! I turned around and kicked the door open while pointing at the necklace Roselia gave me. She then burst into laughter. Emma was the only one blushing and the rest didn't seem to be bothered by it!

"Why me?!"

"Why not?"

"That's not a reason!"

"It is for me."

I facepalmed and sighed. Alice apparently joined us and patted me on the back again.

"Um… What's going on?"

Asia asked, as she was quite confused. No, not just her, but both Xenovia and Gabriel too. The one who answered her was Celine.

"That necklace on Jin is a symbol of our clan, the Millsteins. Whoever the head puts the necklace on, they will be their husband until his death… And this stupid old hag just chose him at random without consulting us yesterday!"

Celine turned and glared at Roselia as she laughed at her with no remorse. All of the girls just froze and stared at Roselia in disbelief.

"…Jin!! Make love to me now!"

Xenovia demanded, she got up from her seat, and pulled apart her top revealing her blue bra! You dumb muscle-head, what the hell are you doing?! Don't randomly strip here! I quickly appeared behind her, repaired her shirt and smacked her on the head.

"Stop! Behave! Bad Nova!"

It felt like I was scolding a dog since she put her head down, sat down and apologized. I sighed and shot Roselia a glare as she turned away and pretended to whistle. I took off the necklace and placed it on the table shocking her.

"But you have a harem!"

"I'm not just going to add every living thing I see, Roselia… Anyway, you're done reading the documents, right? Can I hear your answer now?"

Queen Halloween looked at me a bit stunned but nodded.

"Y-Yes we're going to—"

"Great."

I snapped my fingers and teleported the documents back into my ring. I summoned the document she was supposed to sign and made it float to her and explained what it was. Finally, I sighed and left the room. I'm kind of getting annoyed with this assumption everyone is making, although I can kind of see why, but I can still be annoyed by it.

[Troubles of a harem king…]

Ignoring the Oppai Dragon—

[Hey!]

I went back up to the very top of the castle and waited there. I sent a text to Asia telling her to text me when they're ready to leave. I got an immediate response saying she would. Usually I have a high tolerance for people's shit, but I dunno, Scathach's thing is wearing me out.

[Don't blow up now.]

I won't…

…

|We're down and ready, Jin!|

I received the text from Scathach and I felt Aífe running towards the spot where Scathach was. We can't waste time then. I appeared in front of them, and it seemed like everyone in the dining room was leaving.

"Need a hand?"

I put my hand out to Maeve and she took it, so I carried her with me and instantly appeared at the spot confusing her.

"You certainly are quick…"

"Thanks?"

I let her down and everyone else caught up to us around a few seconds later. The two sisters stared each other down seemingly waiting for the spectators. Someone should be the arbiter. Although it's a 'death duel' no one is going to die today… I eventually made eye contact with Vita and she nodded.

"I'll be the arbitrator if you're both fine with it."

She said while stepping forward. They glanced at her and nodded. I moved to the left and took my own position. I'm very obvious, but... Scathach saw me doing this, but didn't say anything.

…

Third Person Point of View

Both Scathach and Aífe took out their weapon of choice—both of them spears. Scathach wielded the legendary Gael Bolt, while Aífe wielded an unknown spear of origin. However, it also let out a mysterious aura making the Queen of the Land of Shadows squint her eyes at it.

"Are both fighters ready?" asked Vita and they both nodded. "Begin!" she tapped her staff on the ground and the death duel started.

Ting! Boom!

The two sisters clashed. The force of both of their weapons produced large amounts of sparks, but the one who had superior strength pushed the other back—Scathach, the Witch of Dún Scáith overpowered her sister and rival.

'Weak!' Scathach thought and kicked Aífe in the stomach sending her flying backwards. However, the woman quickly recovered and glared at Scathach.

Aífe rushed back towards the woman while cloaking her body in power touki! 'I've trained myself to death since that time! I won't lose!' she shouted at herself and tried to stab her sister, but to her surprise she disappeared. "Wha—?!"

Bang!

"Ugh?!" Aífe yelped as she was kicked in the side and crashed into a tree.

The difference in strength was too great. Even with all the training that Aífe undertook, she stood no chance against the Scathach of today. The Queen of the Land of Shadows had undergone very rigorous training herself over the years, and very recently—her lover, Jin helped her attain new strength.

If Scathach was [Universal – B], then Aífe was merely [Middle-Tier God-class – C]. Normally that wouldn't be anything to scoff at, but in front of Scathach, it meant nothing. She was merely toying with her sister.

With each clash of their weapons, she felt it. She knew that her sister wasn't taking her seriously, if that wasn't enough, Scathach looked indifferently at Aífe, she had no emotions in those eyes, they were hollow, cold, yet—yet—they burned with desire to win, and also…it wished to apologize to her.

Ting! Tang! Bang! Kachiiing!

Aífe jumped away and scowled. "Why do you look down on me?! Why did you spare me that day?!" she screamed at her sister, however—Scathach did not answer.

"You do not deserve to know that answer yet. Show me your full power and maybe then I will tell you…" Scathach muttered while gazing at her foe.

"Fine!" Aífe screamed and her power surged! The ground beneath her cracked, the trees around her were blown away, and the grip of her spear made her hands bleed. "If you want everything I have, then have it!!" she bellowed out and charged back at her sister!

Boom!!!

"Khhhhh!!"

But…even with her full power, Scathach stood there unfazed. She did not move from her spot. The power produced by Aífe was too weak, however, she acknowledged her fighting spirit. "Is this it?" Scathach muttered in a rather disappointed tone.

But that made Aífe even more furious, but—

Bang!

Aífe blacked out, she didn't know what had happened, but all she knew was that her spear had shattered. 'W-what happened…? I can't feel anything…I can't see anything…did I lose again…? I can't beat her…she's too strong…I didn't want to believe those rumors, but…do the people around the Duel Dragon Emperor really jump up in strength…?'

Thud!

Aífe fell to the ground unconscious. A large part of her shoulder was missing, as well as a chunk of her thigh. Scathach simply increased her strength and punched her. However, the punch was too powerful, so Jin created a barrier around them to stop it from hitting the town and destroying it.

"Control yourself, Jesus Christ," muttered Jin. But he looked over at Aífe and she wasn't dead yet. However, if she didn't get up and deal with those wounds, she would bleed to death.

"Aífe!!" screamed Queen Maeve, however, she was stopped by Jin as she tried to run over to her body, butler and friend. "Why?!" she screamed at Jin.

"She won't die that easily. Aren't you underestimating your butler's will power?" he asked her.

"…"

Queen Maeve stopped struggling and stood stiff. But she still looked at Aífe with worry. "Please get up…" she muttered.

…

Aífe's mindscape

Aífe watched as two young sisters played in a field near their home. Both looked very happy as both of their parents looked on. Right now, scenes of her past were playing in her head. Aífe watched this play out with a sorrowful expression on her face.

"You two sure are cute kids," said a voice beside her. Aífe turned to see who it was out of shock and saw—

"Jin Skyward, Middleman…how are you here?" she asked rather confused.

Jin grinned and said, "Oh, just sight-seeing, I guess?" then chuckled to himself. However, to Aífe this didn't answer anything, but…she accepted it as fact and moved on.

The scene in front of them changed to when Aífe and Scathach were adults. This time, they were sparring. Both of them had grins on their faces.

Tang! Tang!

"You've improved again, Aífe!" shouted Scathach as she jumped away from her sister.

"You too, Scathach! I can't fall behind you anymore, so I'll keep on climbing up!" replied Aífe with equal vigor. However, the scene changed again.

"You two look pretty happy," commented Jin.

Aífe just snorted at his comment. "Yeah...we were..." she replied, sounding quite dejected in the end. "Where did it all go wrong?" she asked no one in particular.

The scene in front of them now was of Aífe running away, heavily injured, a look of horror on her face. "W-what was that monster?!" her memory shouted.

"W-what? When did this happen…?" Aífe muttered confused at the scene.

'She doesn't remember this? A key to the puzzle perhaps?' Jin thought and watched the scene with interest.

However, what happened next even shocked Jin. As the memory of Aífe was backed up to a corner, the pursuer finally revealed themselves…and it was—

"He's alive…? Lucifer…" he muttered as his eyes widened. 'He's alive?! And how is he this strong? Shit, did they…wait does that mean the original Satans are alive then? No…how many more of the past descendants are alive then…?'

Lucifer, THE Lucifer, the original ruler of the Underworld. They saw him alive and well, and even more powerful than before. Jin tried to scan the memory and it worked for him.

'Cúntóir, what is it?' he asked her a bit impatiently.

Cúntóir: Answer: Many of the devils that perished during the Great War and Civil War have been revived by Khaos Brigade. They are now leading the new devil faction of Khaos Brigade. All original Satans are on the same level of power as Rizevim Livan Lucifer in 'canon'. They are all at the peak of Super Devil.

'Then what about Rizevim Livan Lucifer?'

Cúntóir Answer: He is on par with Shiva, in terms of raw power alone. He may perhaps be on the level of a Dragon God. I am only speculating because I cannot detect him.

Jin focused back on the memory that was playing, and Aífe was being tortured, killed, revived and was violated by monsters that Lucifer had. The original Lucifer laughed manically during all of this.

"O-oi, are you okay?" Jin asked as he caught Aífe as she had begun to fall.

However, the memory in front of them kept going. This repeated for Aífe until she was eventually just…let go, dumped like a used toy no one wanted. But her memory of this was wiped by the original Lucifer.

The memory then changed to a few years later when she was very mentally unstable. She attacked anyone that came near her, it didn't matter who, and then…

"I challenge you to a death duel, witch!" the memory of Aífe shouted at both Scathach and Cú Chulainn.

Both of them were stunned by what she had said. Even the current Aífe who was being supported by Jin looked bewildered by this. "You weren't in the right mind space," Jin said to her.

"I-I…" she muttered, unable to accept or process what was taking place in front of her.

The memories finally ended with Aífe laying on the ground bleeding to death. She had been pierced in multiple places and her life was slowly draining. But…her saving grace came when Queen Halloween appeared above her.

"…she saved me that day. Even if I hated her for it initially, I am forever grateful to her," muttered Aífe. Tears started to fall from her eyes. "I didn't know all of those things were done to me…I feel so defiled, so…wrong. Because of that, I challenged my sister to that stupid battle…and now our relationship—"

"Stop," Jin said in an authoritative tone. This made the woman turn to look at him. "It's salvageable. None of it was your fault. You were not in the right headspace at the time. Even if you personally didn't remember it, your body did, and it left emotional scars." Jin turned around and looked at where the memory previously was.

"I can show Scathach what happened. She's a changed person so…just trust me in this. I can convince her, and you two can slowly repair your relationship, but…" Jin frowned, 'that piece of work is back and stronger than ever. Scathach will be pissed about this and will probably try to hunt him down. I need to convince her to wait until I either evolve or if they show themselves again…'

"But—"

"No buts! Shut up and follow me, Aífe!" Jin shouted at the vulnerable woman. She looked at the ground and wiped her tears away.

"…please help me, I will dedicate my life to you if you do!" she declared, a deep burning passion lit in her.

Jin laughed and waved her off. "You don't need to do that. You're Scathach's sister, your family…so I'll obviously help. I also hate people like that. I promise, me or Scathach will kick his ass—no, kill him," Jin said firmly to her.

"No," she replied, confusing him.

"I want to fight alongside her and we'll kill that piece of shit together," Aífe said with conviction. "I won't let him get away with that...!" Her shock and sadness turned into rage towards the original Lucifer.

"Good, but—"

"I know, the current devils aren't like him, I don't hate them..." Aífe stopped Jin and said it bluntly, which caused the young man to laugh.

"Alright, I'm glad to know. Let's go back then and explain everything."

"Yeah."

With a new resolve in her heart, Aífe was ready to make amends with her sister. She was also ready to train and hunt down the scum that did that to her. However, Jin didn't know that what she said to him—she was quite serious about it.

…

Jin Skyward

That sure was something…

[Yeah it was, but to think that the past Satans were revived and powered up to Super Devil levels of strength… I wonder why they hadn't made their move yet.]

'Surely, they're biding their time to attack the Underworld, Heaven and Grigori? That is the only logical conclusion I can think of. They must have the same mind-set as the Anti-Satan faction, so they will surely try to destroy the current Underworld, and peace between the three factions.'

Rudra told us and I agree with him. The Anti-Satan faction shared the same ideologies as the original Satans, so this would make sense.

"Stoooooooooop!!"

I screamed and everyone turned to me. I dashed over to Aífe, and healed her up.

"Jin—"

"Shut the fuck up and check this out."

I told Scathach to shut up and then summoned a hologram and played what just happened in Aífe's mindscape, it showed them our conversation, and Aífe's own history. Everyone watched in silence as they saw her struggle, and until the bit with the original Lucifer happened, then finally to Aífe challenging Scathach during her psychotic break.

It's safe to say that Scathach was furious with the original Satan. She rushed over to Aífe as she was waking up.

"Aífe, I—"

"…Let's kill him together, sister."

Scathach was a bit surprised but nodded.

"…Yeah."

The two shared a hug as Aífe glanced at the hologram I showed. She just sighed at me as I got up and walked away from them.

"T-The original Lucifer is alive…? W-We have to tell Rias-Onee-sama!"

I patted Asia on the head when she said she was a bit panicked.

"Yes, we will. But I'll do it since I want to show it to everyone we're in alliance with, so just wait for a little bit, alright? It would be more beneficial that way."

She looked uneasy but agreed in the end. This also included Xenovia and Gabriel. However, the Seraph walked over to the sisters and hugged them both, confusing them.

"Families should look after each other and love each other. I'm glad you two could make amends! But it seems like the original Lucifer is back. I will help you two since I feel partially responsible for some reason!"

Gabriel declared while clenching her right hand and puffing her chest. They both looked at her a little stunned, but agreed with her.

"I appreciate it, Gabriel."

"Thank you, Lady Gabriel."

"I'll help too, Shishō!"

"M-Me too!"

Xenovia and Asia declared beside me. I felt someone else grab my arm and saw that it was Queen Maeve looking very relieved while silently crying. I guess she wanted this to happen too, and couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Thank you…"

"Mmm."

…

After a few more minutes of talking and catching up, everyone had gathered up.

"Alright, one more time—"

"Trust us already, Jin, geez. We won't say anything until you have another meeting!"

Roselia said a little bit annoyed, but I just glared at her. You lost the right to say that the second you put a fucking marriage necklace around me!

"Necklace…"

"Ugh…"

"I'll still keep it as a souvenir though."

I grinned and waved it at her making her mouth drop open. The other Millstein family just laughed at her. I glanced at Minerva and Alice. The blonde girl was still wiping away tears from her eyes and Alice just smiled at me.

"Jin… Here is the signed document…"

"Ah, right, thanks…"

I forgot I gave it to her. I looked over it and she definitely signed it along with Orla's name, so I guess she went over there, huh? I stored it back in my ring and looked back at all of them.

"Thanks anyway, we overstayed our welcome. I need to go back to— Whatever, let's go, the Slavic Gods are waiting for us! I'll see you all soon."

I waved at them and teleported back to the Land of Heaven Falls.

…

Land of Heaven Falls

"Yo!"

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!"

Áine immediately crouched on the ground while hugging herself. It seemed that we teleported back to her home after she finished bathing/showering… Oops…?

"Get out, you pervert!"

"Stop throwing things at me, fuck!"

I waddled out of the living room and headed outside. I sighed and rubbed my head. It seems like the girls are staying there... Whatever, I'm here for Danu, so it doesn't really matter... Locating Danu's aura I flash stepped my way to her. Once I was just behind her, and she was just looking at a bunch of flowers—

"Danu ~"

I called out to her and she turned around. She quickly ran over to me and we shared a quick hug.

"Welcome back."

"Yeah, I'm back. Sorry for the delay, something happened…"

"No… You're fine…"

While still hugging, we fell silent. I knew in the back of my mind that Danu was planning to say something, confess or something along those lines, so I waited for her to say something. It took her around a full minute to finally push herself a bit away from me and look up.

"J-Jin…"

"Yeah?"

I answered her and looked down. She seemed a bit hesitant at first, but finally said it.

"I-I… I love you. I… Please let me be with you. This might sound strange bu— Mmm…"

I didn't need to hear it, so I just kissed her, and she reciprocated.

"Woah ~ so cute Danu ~"

Hearing someone's voice we separated, turned around and saw… Cana who was grinning at us. I was so distracted by Danu that I didn't even feel her. Danu turned red and buried her head in my chest.

"Hehe, look at her being shy ~ way to go, Mister Skyward, you got another Goddess into your harem, I wonder who's next ~?"

"Hmm ~ who knows ~? Maybe you ~?"

I answered back in the same way making her laugh.

"Great joke, but we aren't close ~ but… I'm happy for you Danu! I can't wait to be an auntie! I'll spoil them by using my music!"

She summoned her harp and started to play a short melody. Danu and I listened to her before she finally finished and looked at me then at Danu. We were confused by this but…

"Hey, I know this is selfish but… Can I speak to him for a second, Danu?"

"Yes, of course."

As usual, she doesn't hesitate to answer and separates from me without hesitation. She skipped over to me and gestured for me to bend over to her level, so I did.

"Thank you for helping Mae and Aífe. They didn't tell you I frequently visited them, did they?"

I pulled away and she winked at me before finally leaving while humming to herself. Okay, I wasn't expecting that… But I didn't see her in Aífe's memories though? Unless the memories skipped those parts and only showed what was relevant at the time. Maybe they were being controlled by Aífe, albeit subconsciously?

"Um…"

"Welcome aboard, Danu!"

I saluted her and she just smiled at me then hugged me again.

"I appreciate the affection but I have to go home… I feel terrible for saying that, but I still need to go to the—"

"I know… I'll wait for you, perhaps I could move in with you in the future…"

"Yeah, that's a possibility…"

Again, she smiled at me and touched her nose against mine, surprising me a bit. I don't think I've done that in front of Danu before, so she couldn't know about it… Unless she's—

Cúntóir: Answer: …Peanut butter.

Don't avoid my question by saying something random! But Cúntóir didn't say anything back to me.

"Haaa…"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing… Let's go back, Áine called me a pervert after teleporting into her home. She was just done showering/bathing when we arrived there."

Danu just smiled at me before we walked back to Áine's home, Danu hugged my arm the entire time and we got a few looks from the townspeople. Once we got to Áine's home, she was already dressed and sighed at us as soon as she saw us.

"So you got her, huh? Goddess catcher!"

She said while pointing at me.

"Don't give me weird names… Anyway, we'll be going back. I just wanted to check up on you before going, well… You also kicked me out, bu—"

"Shut up, no more monologues, go!"

Áine started to shoo me out of her house, but Danu stayed. The others also joined me. Well we were essentially done here, so I waved at them one more time before leaving.

…

Japan, Kuoh

Skyward Household

When we got there, the girls that were coming with me were waiting for me. But the next thing I knew, Lavinia pounced on me. I was ready for this and caught her. She wasn't planning on letting me go anytime soon.

I looked over at Natsume who was with Shigune and Kanami. All of them gave me tired thumbs up. I wonder what happened to them to make them that tired…

"I'm back, and I'm gone... Come over here, everyone who was going with me to Prawia. Oh, right."

I gestured for Grayfia who was watching from the kitchen door to come over to me too. She seemed confused but complied. I whispered to her what I had found out and she looked utterly shocked.

"Don't tell anyone yet. I plan on having a meeting soon, alright?"

"Yes, of course, Jin. But to think… It's concerning. Shall I inform everyone else here?"

"Yeah please do, but it seems like everyone is still scattered so I can't do it now…"

[I mean, you could do it via telepathy or [Communication Function], Partner.]

Ddraig, there are some things better said face to face rather than using those. I mean an example is breaking up via text or face-to-face, which is better?

[I guess?]

"Alri— Kanami? You want to come to? Actually, where's Irina and Griselda?"

"Y-Yeah! I wanna see the Slavic Gods and stuff… Um… They were called away to a mission, so Irina couldn't come, so I decided to take Irina's place! She was really upset though…"

Oh, that's unfortunate then… I'll try to make it up to her then. We finally left. Ravel, Valerie, Lavinia and Kanami. I wonder how these four will interact with each other…? But as we left, I saw Scathach looking at me rather strangely.

…

Prawia

"I have to say, I am thankful for those enchantments you made, Jin. Otherwise, I'd be freezing my butt off!"

As soon as we arrived in the realm, Kanami shouted. I had discussed with Celestin beforehand where I should teleport to, and he suggested the spot where you first enter the realm, so I did and the view here was pretty breathtaking. Below us we could see the main city.

"What are those giant ice spikes…?"

Ravel pointed at them, so I told her.

"Apparently they have some unique looking 'space-like thing' in there. Celestin didn't go in there yet so I'm not entirely sure either, but let's go to one and check it out when we have time. I still have to do the request here."

"Well, let's not wait any longer then. Let's get your request done and then we can enjoy our time here."

Valerie said and I chuckled at her. If it were that simple… I mean, I didn't need to fight that much in my last few requests, but that didn't mean I had it easy, especially what I found out in Ireland…

"Sure thing, let's go."

I started walking followed by everyone else. We all started looking at anything that caught our interest. I didn't spend that much time here last time, so I was also curious about the place. However, when we arrived at the gates, someone was there waiting.

He had white hair and a long red jacket… Why is Archer Emiya here…?

[Jin-sama, that's Ollopa, he's Dazhbog's servant.]

Ollopa…? Wait, isn't that just Apollo backwards? Is this world fucking with me? But he saw us and waved at us. So we quickly walked over to him.

"Sir Middleman, we've been expecting you. One of the Irish Gods contacted us saying we might see you in a few days, so I've waited here for the last two. Anyway, I'm Ollopa, and Master Perun wishes to meet you right away."

"Lead the way then…"

He nodded, turned around and walked away. We followed him and he explained the city to us, and what the unique structures and buildings were. Celestin added his own bits since he had looked at a few of them himself.

But we quickly arrived at a place where I felt their auras were gathered up in. Upon entering the building, we were promptly ushered into the room where they were staying, and he pushed the door open for us.

"Hmm? Ah, the Middleman has finally graced us with his presence!"

A large man with long white hair and glowing blue eyes answered with a smile. There were also others with him, and I used [Observe] on all of them. The one that greeted me was Perun, the Chief God of the pantheon, next to him was Mokosh, one of his wives, on the other side, was Dodola his other wife.

Dodola has long silver hair, orange eyes and she wore some kind of flowing dark-blue dress that looked like there were stars on it. She also wore long gloves and had earrings on both her ears.

Beside Dodola was Yarilo, Perun's son. Yarilo has medium-length hair that is silver-blonde with fringes long enough to pass his eyebrows. It is shorter beneath his ears and longer up top and has been styled in slight variations of the same cut ever since he was a toddler. His eyes are crystal blue. He wore a blue and white coat, blue pants with some sort of blue cloak and had a sword on his waist.

The rest that I saw were Dazhbog, Svarog, Zorya, Belobog, Chernobog, Stribog, and Lada.

Belobog had long blonde hair and calm yet reassuring green eyes, and he wore very little clothing, save for a large white and green coat. He wore many ornaments around his body, a black glove on his right hand and a white glove on his left. He also had large earrings.

Chernobog had long black hair, calm yet mischievous blue eyes. He also wore glasses and he wore a long black shirt, and a black-blue coat much like Belobog. He had long earrings on him and he seemed rather close to Belobog, although something about them nagged at me.

Stribog also had long green hair, yellow eyes, and was wearing some kind of Indian clothing which kind of confused me. Does he leave the pantheon often…? His clothing was mostly blue, yellow and purple in color, and much like the rest, he had a lot of ornaments around his body.

Finally, Lada. She had long blonde hair, purple eyes and wore a white and purple dress. Just like Zorya, she had been staring at me more than the others were doing, and I was kind of put off by it.

"Jin! Middleman! We are missing a few more Gods and Goddesses, but the one that's in our realm is in a small town helping them rebuild, but it seems like you would like to get down to business, yes?"

"Yeah, so what request do you have?"

Perun grinned and so did the other male Gods, Mokosh and Dodola just sighed confusing me.

"The request we have is for you to… Help with rebuilding some destroyed towns in our realm, the other part is…"

Boom! Fwosh!

"Have a feast with us! In celebration and thanks to you and your subordinates for saving our realm!"

Mini fireworks played and we stared at them in shock. P-Party…? A feast? Are you serious…? Seeing my confusion, Yarilo walked over to me and just dragged me to a chair. The girls joined the other females as they had just sighed at us guys…

"But the request—"

"Bah! It can wait! Like I said it isn't too serious, our people can live with a few damages. This may sound selfish, but we have checked with them and Veles is over there helping them. So it's not that terrible! Now, drink, drink!"

Perun shoved a large wooden bottle of ale with vodka in it towards me. I looked at the drink and shivered… Ale and vodka…? If I weren't, well, ME, I would probably die and pass. Sighing and resigning myself to this, I chugged it down in one go making them cheer.

"Will he be okay?"

I heard one of the Goddesses ask the girls.

"Yes, he can't get drunk, well, none of us can so it's fine…"

Valerie answered them, but—

"What?! You can't get drunk?! How can that— You are losing one of the best feelings in the world, Jin! Being intoxicated is part of drinking. If you can't get drunk… Is… Is life worth living?!"

Perun asked and chugged his own drink. Why do I feel like he's already drunk…? He then turned back to look at me.

"Jin, I must ask, how many women do you plan on having? I myself am married to TWO fine women! They are the lo—"

Smack!

"Stop! I don't need people hearing your declaration of love for us right now!"

One of his wives, Mokosh got up from her seat and smacked the Thunder God on the head making him fall back on his seat. Is… Is this my future? To be man-handled by my wives?

[Heh—]

I heard Ddraig chuckle at me, but then a large thud and silence… I don't want to know what happened. I looked back at the couple and Dodola had also gotten up, and the two women were smacking the Chief God around like some kind of rag doll…

{It's almost pitiful. This is why I will stay single…}

Don't just lump all women as the same Albion, even if you have met very violent ones so far…

'Excuse you?!'

{See? Velgrynd immediately snapped back like that…}

'…'

And I'm out. I refocused on what was in front of me. The girls were happily chatting with the other female Goddesses, as Mokosh and Dodola had rejoined them. Perun's head was on the table, appearing to have passed out. The other Gods were quietly drinking, but—

"Hey, Jin, we also want to know the answer before our Chief God got smacked around by his wives."

Stribog asked and added a little wink. I awkwardly smiled at him since I had no idea what the answer was… I mean—

{Didn't you mention forty-seven at one point?}

'But he has met more women since then, Albion.'

{Point taken, Rudra… Let's double it then.}

'So, ninety-four women?'

Please don't just do the math for me! Also, there is no guarantee that the women I meet will end up with me. What the hell? However, the two ignore me and start going through a list of names, so I too choose to ignore them.

"Uh, I don't know?"

They obviously didn't believe me, so Chernobog got way too close to my face and said—

"Well, those four are definitely part of it, are they not?"

He asked and glanced at Lavinia, Valerie, Ravel and Kanami. All of the women looked over at us, and of course, the only one to turn completely red was Ravel. Both Valerie and Lavinia agreed, but Kanami just awkwardly laughed.

"Well my younger sister is part of his harem, so I guess so!"

Kanami answered, but Chernobog looked back at me with a sly grin.

"See? She's in denial. You cannot fool someone who has been alive for a long time. I'm the God of Darkness, sometimes referred to as the 'Black God' of our pantheon. I know about things that no normal mortal can see or understand."

He turned around and looked at Kanami who was sporting a blush now.

"You can try to keep it a secret girl, but you hear—"

Smack!

"Stop! Stop! Stop! Why are you doing this to the poor thing? We're here to celebrate and enjoy ourselves. Can't you shut up about those things for a little while?"

Belobog stood up to smack Chernobog. He looked rather angry at him and sighed. Chernobog looked back at Belobog and the two glared at each other for a few seconds before the Black God sighed and sat back down.

"Forgive me, I will tone it down."

"Good!"

This will be a long day…

…

Lavinia Reni

After a quick glance at Jin, he resigned himself to his fate and just sat back as the other male Gods started to ask him other questions. I think Jin knows the answer to that question, even if partially, but refuses to say it for reasons known only to him.

But…

"Lavinia-sama, do you want to go back to Jin-sama?"

Ravel-chan asked me. I wanted to say yes since I'd barely been with him for the last few days. I feel like my own energy supplies are slowly draining. I miss him so much, but…

"I-It's okay, Ravel-chan, I-I'm fine."

I told her, but they didn't believe me. Was I too unconvincing? I feel like anytime anything involves Ji— Aaron… My feelings are always on my sleeve and everyone can tell quite easily. I know I have to change, but it's hard… Even back then, when I first met Slash/Dog and Tobi…

"It seems Miss Lavinia is quite fond of Jin. Why is that?"

Miss Lada asked everyone, but they all turned to me waiting for an answer. Normally someone would be hesitant to answer but…

"I love him. He gave me a new reason to live for, but ultimately I discovered my own reason to keep on living, and that's for myself and for my late parents. It didn't start there, it started with my team, after that… I-I guess Jin just pushed me even more…"

As I said those words, I felt my entire face get warmer. I didn't think telling someone I had just met how much I loved someone would be so embarrassing. But I also felt warm inside when I told them that the rest of Aaron's harem already knew about this, but—

"My, my, so much love, how sweet. I know that feeling all too well, young one. I fell in love with a human a long time ago. I even asked him to try to reach Godhood but, in the end, he refused. I've never been in a relationship since then. I just haven't found anyone else that's suitable."

She said it in a bit of a nostalgic way. Even now, I could see she held a lot of love for that person. I couldn't imagine a life without Aaron. When I do a pit forms in my stomach. But to think the Goddess of spring, love and fertility would be single… Although Aaron did say even Aphrodite is single, so it's not too surprising.

"What do you mean by that, Lada-sama? Is no other God here or hero in the supernatural world good enough or up to your standards?"

Ravel-chan asked her, but Lada shook her head.

"Many of the male Gods in our pantheon are great men, but… It's difficult to describe, take Lavinia for example, the love she feels for Jin is different to the one you feel, is it not?"

She asked, but Ravel-chan just blushed.

"I-I-I— W-What do you mean by t-that? I—"

"Forgive me, it seems you're not at that stage of your feelings yet. But you will eventually understand, then… Valerie, was it? What about you? I can see it in your eyes that you want to do or say something to Jin, do you not?"

This time, Valerie-chan was the one to sheepishly look away and awkwardly laugh. So she was planning on saying something to Aaron! Is it…? It has to be, it's the only thing left, well apart from getting married…

"M-Maybe, I'm not entirely sure on how to do it, so I'm just waiting…"

Kanami then grinned and wrapped her arm around Valerie's shoulder.

"Don't worry Valerie, we'll help you get that alone time with Jin, hehe ~"

She added a wink at the end but—

"You are the same, Kanami was it? Your feelings are everywhere. What do you want to do? What do you want to happen? You said that your younger sister was one of his lovers, was she not? Are you jealous? Are you hesitant because of her being one of them?"

"Uhh…"

This time, it was Kanami who looked quite awkward about it as she started to fiddle with her hair. She then looked at me again.

"What if Jin died? How would you feel?"

Eh? Aaron… Dying? I felt panic rising within me and fear that I hadn't felt in a long time. I looked over at Jin as the Chief God had woken up and was carrying Aaron on his shoulder while laughing quite loudly. Aaron sat there looking very awkward but was smiling to be courteous.

I felt a bit of peace and calmed down seeing this… But I don't like the idea of him dying. I've always wanted to approach Aaron about it— No, Cúntóir… I wanted to ask her… Will he die during his evolution? I've always had that thought and often felt uneasy.

It's not unrealistic to think that, right? Aaron didn't know what happened to himself when he first 'evolved' into an Outer God. All he said was that he had blacked out. Cúntóir didn't say how the evolution process went either…

I have told others about this thought, and some were worried about it. However, only a few took me seriously, like Rossweisse, Akeno, Suzaku, Rias, Ingvild, Gabriel, Grayfia and a few more. But most of them said that Aaron was, well, Aaron. He can't die. I want to believe that but at the same time I just feel uneasy about it.

But Aaron is looking forward to evolving, so I have to support him…

"Hmm, it seems you do not like such a topic being discussed. That was insensitive of me, my apologies."

"A-Ah, n-no it's fine… But to answer your question, I would hate it. Thinking about it just doesn't sit right with me, no matter how hard I try to change it."

"It's understandable, it's not a topic most people would want to speak about. Death is an uncomfortable subject for anyone after all."

I nodded, but my gaze landed on Zorya, another Goddess… She had been intently and silently watching Aaron the entire time. She only nodded to us earlier, but then resumed watching him… Why? It's like what Grayfia said… Aaron attracts a lot of strange people around him.

…

Jin Skyward

What the hell is going on here? Peru woke up and placed me on his shoulder. The guy is a hulking giant. Hell, I think he's taller than some of the giants in T.L.O.H.A.G. and they're at least 9"11' and up.

"Ah, yes, yes, Jin! My boy Yarilo looks up to you, actually."

"F-Father! Stop!"

"Bahahaha! No need to be shy, come, come. Tell him how you shouted [Boost]! As if you had the Sacred Gear."

Yarilo turned red and Perun laughed even harder at him. I didn't think I'd have a God as a fan, but hey, why not? I'll take it.

[Hehehe.]

When did you wake up?

[Hehehehe.]

{He's grinning like an idiot, ignore him.}

I shrugged my shoulders and was finally let down. I do want to check those giant ice things… Let's just wait it out…

…

It didn't take long, honestly. These Gods sure do drink a lot. Even after I told them I couldn't drink they kept pouring me shot after shot, giving me bottle after bottle and now all of them were passed out. The door suddenly opened and Ollopa came in sighing.

"They passed out again, didn't they?"

The room nodded in agreement as he asked.

"I will deal with them like always, Lady Mokosh, Dodola, everyone. You can leave for the time being. I and the other staff will clean up. Ah, yes, please come back for dinner, Sir Jin. We will have another feast by then and most likely more drinking…"

Dinner, huh? I guess we're staying here for the night too.

"Sure thing, and thanks Ollopa."

He smiled and nodded. What a reliable guy. As expected from Mama Emiya. Together with everyone else, I left the building. It appeared the girls had made a quick friendship with the Goddesses, although they had already done so with a few others they had met before. But I'm more surprised by Ravel. I guess her usual 'tsundere' or even 'high-class' attitude is changing, to some degree...

The first place they all wanted to see once we were outside was the 'space-ice' place. I was curious about it, so I didn't mind going. But—

"Hey, I want to at least help fix one village before the end of the day. It didn't feel right to me to just party like that while they still needed some help."

I told them and they didn't seem to have a problem with that, but—

"I… I will go with you… As a guide…"

Zorya said in a very low voice, but that was probably the first time I'd heard her speak, no, not just me, but the girls too. During the short 'party' she had been staring me down the entire time and she didn't speak to them even once. Even after they tried to, but were told by Lada she was 'shy', but I doubted that.

"Um, sure I don't mind."

A small smile flashed across her face and she nodded. Lada, who had been beside her patted her on the head. Geez, what is this adorable creature? Should I compare her to Gabriel or something? Despite being a little quieter than her, they both feel the same.

After that, we walked over to the giant ice structure. As we arrived at the entrance we could see the inside was pitch black, but… I stopped. They all looked at me confused. I wanted to make sure that they hadn't set up any bases in this realm, and if they did. I'll find them now and destroy them.

So, I ordered around a thousand shadows to set about searching this realm. They would inform me if they found anything, and if they did, I would just order them to capture or kill the occupants of that base.

"Jin?"

"Hmm? Ah, no just checking something. Let's go."

…

"Woah! This place is amazing. It's like we were transported to another world!

Kanami was still in awe of the place when she said this. I agree with her, this place was something. The ground beneath us had changed. I looked behind me and saw that the entrance was still there, but stepping into this place was a surreal experience.

The ground beneath us had turned into grass, however, above us was… Well, the galaxy! Space! It was kind of amazing. Even though I've flown in it, fought in it, I still can't help but be amazed by it, no matter how many times I see it…

I felt someone hug both my arms and saw that it was Lavinia and Valerie. Both of them looked stunning in this place. Maybe it's just the mood of the place, but it felt very 'magical'. I have to give it to Perun; he made something amazing here.

"Amazing…"

Ravel muttered. She was in front of me, but reached back to grab the hem of my shirt while looking around. The Goddesses with us just smiled at them.

"I heard from Celestin that Perun made this as a 'prank', but why?"

The Goddesses shrugged.

"We really don't know. That man, when he was younger was very eccentric, although that still is quite present in him even now. So we cannot give you an answer to that question, Jin. I doubt Perun would know the answer since he may have forgotten it."

Mokosh answered my question and Dodola agreed with her. However, the two other Goddesses were still looking at it. Both of them had a nostalgic look on them. While I wasn't really listening to their conversation earlier, I can assume Lada was thinking of her late husband. As for Zorya… I don't know…

"That would be wrong, my love."

We turned around to see Perun there, and only him. I'm surprised he was already up and sober after drinking all of that alcohol. Is he so used to it that it's just normal to him…?

"What do you mean, Perun?"

Mokosh asked confused. He just smiled a loving smile at her and walked over to both his wives and pulled them towards him.

"Do you remember a few days before this was built?"

"…Did something significant happen?"

Still confused, she asked again, but Perun laughed this time.

"Did you not tell me to surprise you? We were coming up on our three-year anniversary of marriage, so I created this! Although the effect was much greater than I anticipated, but it worked out well in the end."

Mokosh stared at Perun in shock. It was clear the woman wasn't expecting that kind of answer from him. However, she ended up blushing at him and becoming a bit flustered. I looked away since it obviously hit her quite hard and I didn't want to see them flirting.

"It's amazing that he did this for her."

Lavinia said beside me, and Valerie agreed with her.

"It's really romantic, even if this part was kind of an accident."

Valerie added. I feel like they're pressuring me to do something now! God dammit man! However, Perun suddenly called my name.

"Jin. Before I came here I went and booked you an inn to stay in for tonight. Here is the key."

He threw a key at me and I caught it. I thanked him and we resumed watching the sky above us for the next few minutes. From the outside, this place appeared small, but it seemed Perun made the inside seem much larger. This is because there were different sections, and it showed different parts of the 'space' overhead, and they all looked equally stunning.

…

"Sustroma is the name of the closest town you can reach today, that's both ways back. If you leave in the next few minutes, and do the repairs, then you will reach our city before dinner starts."

Perun informed us of the town we were traveling to, and of course Zorya was our 'guide' to it. Everyone else was going to stay here. Everyone was rather excited. I kind of wish Irina was here to experience it. Really terrible timing made her miss it.

"Alright we'll get going then, see you tonight."

I looked up at the sky as I spoke to him. It was around two or something, and we ate a lot during the short party so none of us should be hungry. Actually, I can—

Vzzhhwsh!

Suddenly a pair of futuristic and metallic wings came out of Zorya's back and she floated up. Well fuck, I wasn't expecting that, but that was pretty cool. She looked at me confused but I joined her and used [Divine Dividing] to fly up. The other also joined us, however, Lavinia jumped off her broom and hugged me. I guess she still wanted to be spoiled.

"After you."

I told her, Zorya nodded, and off we went.

…

As per my prodding, we were heading south, where Sustroma was located, a quiet town hit hard by the Khaos Brigade attacks. While much of the damage has been fixed, there are still some areas that need additional assistance.

Of course, I got this all from Zorya, and with significant difficulty! She has always been very quiet, very reserved. I don't have a problem with these types, but Zorya took that to 10,000 and was very slow in her speech. I don't know if she did it on purpose or not, but speaking with her in the future will be difficult.

We were flying side-by-side and she glanced at me again. It seemed like she wanted to say something. Finally—

"Veles…is…in…Sustroma…he…will…meet…us."

"Veles? The God of earth, water and livestock?"

She nodded after I asked, and that was the end of the conversation. I wanted to ask more, but knowing her it'd take quite a bit to get the answer that I wanted. But is Veles the God that Perun was talking about earlier? The one helping them?

But what I left out was— In my old world, he was also the God of the Underworld, and his powers were apparently similar to Loki and Hermes. In other words—

[A fast, speedy and trickster boi.]

…Thank you, Ddraig… But yeah, something like that. I do wonder if he's as bad as Hades, or the complete opposite? Although there is supposed to be another God that's also the 'God of the Dead', and that's… Uh… I believe, M-Morana?

She's apparently associated with seasonal rites based on the idea of death and rebirth of nature. She is an ancient goddess associated with winter's death, rebirth and dreams.

[Dreams…]

Irene?

[Don't mind me, Aaron.]

Miss you hunbun ~

[…]

Pinch ~

"Wah ah ya yoin?" (What are you doing?)

I asked Lavinia as she pinched my face while huffing. But instead of answering me, she let go of my cheeks and gave me a peck on the lips.

"…There."

"Hmm?"

I looked forward and saw a town in the distance, and it appeared quite modern unlike the main city that we just left. I'm willing to guess that the others vary in style then… Well, at least there's more variety so I ain't complaining, unlike how some human cities and towns look.

We landed in a large open field and looked around the town. There were a few people walking around, and I could see some of them carrying wood and other items to a certain place. I wonder who was in charge here? Or is it like in Egypt? Do the Gods here govern over these tiny cities?

"…Veles…"

"Ah, Zorya, you're here… So you brought the Middleman and his harem, did you? I thought Perun said you would be partying all day… Let me guess, they passed out?"

Zorya nodded, and the man called Veles laughed. But…

Veles has the appearance of an elderly butler and he is dressed gracefully in his traditional black uniform. Veles' hair is entirely white, just like his immaculate beard. He has visible wrinkles on his hollow face, which makes him seem gentle in appearance, but his eyes are as sharp as an eagle's.

He looks like Sebas from Overlord… He comes over to me and shakes my hand.

"Jin."

"Veles. I'm sorry if this is a bit sudden, but please follow me. The mayor of this town is waiting."

"Mayor? So the Gods don't govern or look over it?"

"No we do not. I heard that some of the Egyptian Gods do it, do they not? We want to give our people freedom. We may come over and visit them to make sure nothing is wrong, but generally, they're left to their own devices, and they've done all so far!"

He said quite cheerfully. Seeing 'Sebas' act like this is so… Unnerving, but it's not him, it's a different person, a God called Veles…

We passed by many houses that looked like they had been recently repaired. As we did, Veles was greeted by many of the people here. It seemed like he was quite popular, but I doubt he was like Loki, Hermes and Hades. He seemed like a genuinely chill dude, and using [Observe] on him… He didn't have any strange titles.

Eventually we arrived near a lake and many of the houses here were destroyed. It seemed there was a lot of construction still happening here, and the lake itself had a large hole in the middle. I'm guessing they want me to fix that too.

Veles walked over to a man. He had long black hair tied in a bun, black eyes, wore a monocle and was smoking. He wore a professional black business suit and had some kind of white scarf on his shoulder.

"Anisimov, I'm back, and Zorya brought over a helper."

The middle-aged man named Anisimov turned around and looked at Veles before shaking his hand. He then looked over at us, and nodded.

"Anisimov Vikentiy Yermolayevich. Mayor of Sustroma, it's a pleasure to meet you, Dual Dragon."

We shook hands after his introduction, and wow, that's one long name there dude.

"This… Request has turned into two parts, unfortunately."

"Two parts?"

My question was answered with a nod from him. He then looked over to our left, in front of us and beyond the houses was a large dense wooded area. I felt some people in there with other auras…

"Several Leshys kidnapped the builders. Night is also falling… And you know how they are at night. If we don't rescue them soon, then they'll be killed and eaten."

"Leshy… Oh, those fairy-looking dudes? Aren't they just, you know, mischievous creatures and tend to have a neutral stance on people?"

I asked. All the Slavic Gods looked at me with amused expressions. Finally, Anisimov spoke up.

"The Nezhit, and in this case the Leshy have been recorded in human history. However, since they don't know the real Leshy, and have only made stories up because they think of them as fiction, they do not know their true nature."

"The Leshy is masculine and humanoid in appearance, can assume any shape, and can change in size and height."

"They are known by some to have a propensity to lead travelers astray and abduct children, which would lead some to believe they are evil entities."

"They are, however, also known to have a more neutral disposition towards humans, dependent on the attitudes and behaviors of an individual person, or local population, towards the forest. Leshy could take children who were cursed by their relatives, in particular, parents, away to the forest people."

"Some would therefore describe him as more of a temperamental being, like a fairy. Just as you have. But the truth is much darker than that. While they may act like that during the day, at night, they use the people abducted, in our case, the male workers as nourishment."

He pointed to the sky, and the sun was slowly sinking down.

"I stayed here to keep an eye out for more and stop them, and I was hoping for Veles to do it, but since you're here, could I make a request for you to rescue them?"

After he asked that, they were all staring at me. I mean, sure… I am here to do requests, even if I initially were to just fix buildings. I sighed and agreed.

"Fine. I'll make it quick though. Albion, Balance Break."

[Why?!]

{Vanishing Dragon Balance Breaker!!}

After donning my white armor, I immediately changed into [Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive] and flew into the air.

"You guys—"

"I'm coming with you!"

Lavinia flew up using magic and wasn't going to take no for an answer. I sighed and agreed.

"Then the rest of you stay here. It won't take too long."

'My liege.'

'Hmm? Did you find something?'

I was contacted by one of my shadows. I also felt them in the area I was about to go to with Lavinia.

'There seems to be a base that has been abandoned by Khaos Brigade, however, there are strange creatures that use it as a home. What should we do?'

'Are there humans among them?'

'Yes, my liege.'

This makes it easier then. I'll just have them do the work for me. But I still need to go there and check if there's anything important.

'Kill the creatures, save the humans. Leave the items alone until I see them for myself.'

'At once!'

I turned to Lavinia and told her what I had just found and she seemed even more interested in joining me. Once we were above the spot where I felt the auras of those monsters, they started to slowly fade away. It seemed like they were being killed off quickly. I landed on the ground surrounded by many snow-covered trees.

"Illusion magic, let me…"

Lavinia walked over to the spot where she felt the illusion magic and instantly broke it. After it was broken, a bunker-like structure was revealed, and she pulled it open.

"It goes underground, let—"

"I'm going first, Nia."

I pulled her back and stopped her. Maybe I'm just being overprotective, but yeah… I didn't want anything happening to her. But her reaction wasn't the one I was expecting. She was instead blushing at me. Did I say something weird?

"N-Nia…? I-I like it… P-Please keep calling me that."

"Ah… Oh yeah sure, I don't mind. Anyway, let's go."

She nodded and I entered first. Looking down it was a long way down, so I sighed and grabbed Lavinia. There was enough room so I could still carry her. She didn't mind and kind of cheered when I grabbed her.

In the middle of the staircase was a small opening that dropped all the way down, so… I jumped down it.

"Kyaa ~ so scary ~"

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you…?"

I smiled wearily at her as she quickly fell down, and I eventually landed on the ground, but before I did, I stopped myself so I wouldn't accidentally destroy the place.

"Are you intending to stay in your [Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive], Jin?"

I looked at her, and then at my own body. Oh crap, I forgot about that... The shadows had already killed them all, so there was no need to keep this form on. Therefore, I dismissed it.

[Ha! You didn't get used! You glorified airplane!]

Boom! Boom!

[Fuck you!]

{Fuck you too!}

Ignoring the explosions in my head, I let Lavinia down and we started walking around the place. It wasn't designed like the last one in Ireland. It was a lot more… Er, white, I guess? Like those typical labs you would see in sci-fi movies, the floor, the walls, the ceilings were just white. Even the lights were pure white.

"Man, this place is whiter than fucking heaven."

"…You seem to curse a lot, Aaron. Is your Irish blood taking effect?"

She giggled at me. I mean, maybe? I've been holding back on putting a curse word in every sentence I say to not sound rude to Japanese people. I mean they don't curse that much and I've been going to school for a couple of months now.

"It better fucking be."

I replied and laughed. She just shook her head and lightly smacked me on the shoulder. As we walked through the hallways, we saw many of the same equipment from the base I found with Xenovia not too long ago.

My shadows also walked around the entire place. I was already following the auras of where the humans were, and a few shadows were there guarding them, so we sped up our—

[I-Is this how it works? U-Um, Jin-sama?]

[Ravel? Do you need something?]

Ravel suddenly called me on the [Communication Function]. I gave her a ring and the enchantments not too long ago, and she's been trying to get used to the ring. She was quite happy after getting it after all.

[T-Those Leshy things are attacking the entire town of Sustroma! Apparently after one of them dies, they are alerted and go into a frenzy, so they're not attacking the entire town!]

There were some small spots where there were a lot of trees in this town, they probably also stay there too. I wonder if they have a barrier or does Anisimov's presence alone scare them off? Well, whatever, we need to hurry this up then. No, I can leave it to them…

[I'll leave it to you guys, but I'll try to hurry up down here.]

[Y-Yes, I will tell the others!]

Shing!

After the communication was cut, Selene came out of my ring. She smirked at me and looked at Lavinia.

"Jin-sama, I heard everything. Allow me to help them."

"…Alright, hold back."

"Yes, of course."

Fwosh ~

Selene left right away, and Lavinia apparently heard everything, so we immediately arrived at the humans who were saved by my shadows.

"M-Middleman?! A-Are these yours…?"

"Yeah, you're all unharmed, right?"

"Y-Yes, it wasn't time yet, so we are all fine… But…"

"But?"

"The man over there, his son came with us because he was quite stubborn… A-Anyway, he was taken somewhere else by something else! Some… Some snake thing! He was very tall and had long black hair!"

Snake thing… Is it Nagendra again? But why would he be here? Shit, it doesn't matter, now I have to try to save that brat, unless he was already turned into an experiment by that Orochimaru wannabe.

"Nia…"

"I'll take them back. Go, Aaron."

"Thanks."

Looks like we're getting into some action, both of you get ready.

[W-Wait, both of us? Is it…?!]

{Shut up, just be ready.}

Lavinia started to guide the people back while summoning her Ice dolls. Since I can't sense that Nagendra, I'll just use my fucking eyes! Using light speed is like a drug to me, so I'll do that. I walked away from them before covering my body in that shield and dashing around the entire town of Sustroma to find—

"Got you, you piece of shit!"

I screamed as I was above ground again and he was running away with the boy in his hands. I glanced back at the town and it seemed like all out war was happening since those Leshy were attacking them, but everyone seemed to be doing okay, even Ravel who had reached peak Ultimate-class.

Doom! Boom!

I appeared and crashed into the ground in front of Nagendra. He seemed surprised to see me, but grinned, yeah no, I won't let you speak much…

"Nice to see you again, Dual—"

Don!

I punched him in the gut and sent him away. He had let go of the boy and I caught him. I used [Observe] on him and it's apparently just a clone, so this fucking asshole won't fight me with his main body. Just you wait… When I evolve, I'm going to enjoy killing all those lives of yours!

I create an avatar and throw the kid at him.

"Look after him!"

"Yes, boss!"

He saluted me after I instructed him.

"Ddraig, Albion."

"Dual Dragon!"

Boom!!

Nagendra's clone erupted in power and transformed into a large snake. I'll make this quick. I hadn't used that Balance Breaker in a while, so I'll let these two enjoy themselves. Remember it's quick!

{[We know!!]}

[Welsh Dragon!]

{Vanishing Dragon!}

{[Balance Breaker!!]}

Donning my Dual Balance Breaker, I quickly flew towards the snake version of Nagendra. Despite trying to swipe his tail at me and spout venom, I avoided them all and destroyed them as they passed me. Can't have them ruin the scenery around here, can I?

"I will win—"

Don!!!

{Divide!}

"Let's try that…"

After punching Nagendra into the sky, I cupped my hands and brought them to my side. Ddraig, Albion, channel your energies into it too.

[Wait what?]

Do it!

A red ball of draconic energy appeared, followed by a white ball that mixed with it. Finally, I added my own energy. This was based on my own 'Outer God' energy and I created a small ball with it. I quickly charged it up.

[God Partner, if Rias was here she would be screaming that line again.]

{Definitely.}

Rumble! Rumble!

[Uhhhhh, Partner!! You better unleash it otherwise this realm might actually collapse!! How much do you plan on adding?!]

I had held onto it for too long. I wanted to see how much this place could take, but I guess it had reached its limit. I thrust my hands forward and unleashed a large draconic energy blast! Nagendra hadn't recovered yet, so the large attack hit him full force!

Boooooooooom!!

Cúntóir—

Cúntóir: Answer: I am already on it, dear.

In effect, I felt the realm was on the verge of destroying itself as my attack hit its 'wall.' Although this place was vast, my attack's range had hit the 'wall' that kept this realm intact. Cúntóir had been instantly repairing it as my attack kept on pummeling it. So, I also decided to help her— No, screw it, I'll just destroy my own attack.

So I teleported to it and saw it smashing into the 'wall', so I punched it, destroying it in the process.

"Phew, job well done!"

Smack!

"You used too much! Tell me beforehand so I can prepare!"

I turned to see Cúntóir had come out of my soul and hit me.

"My bad… But this asshole's clone is dead, so we can rest easy for now. Why would he want that kid though?"

Cúntóir didn't answer me and just returned back into my soul. I shrugged and teleported back down. I gave my clone a thumbs up and he handed me the kid back. Once that was done, he vanished and I undid my Balance Breaker.

I used [Observe] on the kid but he had nothing special about him. Oh god, he wasn't planning to do a 'Kabuto' on him, was he? Unless he already has someone like that, then shit man… I shake these thoughts out of my mind and flew back to the town. I'll drop his kid off, kill the Leshy that are attacking, go back to the base and finally, and hopefully go back to the calm that was before all of this kicked off.

[Nia, are they all nearly out?]

[Eh? N-No, around half are starting to walk back now… Were you the cause of that earthquake?]

[Er, yeah I was, sorry about that. Anyway, I'll get rid of those Leshy, just keep doing that and I'll—]

[Mmm! Spoil me ~!]

I just chuckled at her and increased my speed and landed near Anisimov. He hadn't joined the fight, but stayed to protect the workers who were still here.

"Hey."

"Middleman, you're back… Wait, isn't that—"

"I'll tell you later. I'll leave him here—"

Boom! Roooooooooooooooar!!

We both looked up and saw… Selene had turned into her dragon form for some reason!! Why?! That's overkill and unnecessary!

[Hah! Do you hear this muppet?]

{Yes, yes, I do… Jin, did you forget—}

Shut up! I get it! I flew back up and stood beside Selene. She who had started to kill more of the Leshy stopped to look at me before reverting back to her human form, blushing a little.

"T-There's a perfectly reasonable explanation, Jin-sama ~"

"I'm waiting…"

"I-I… Love you…?"

"......How's that relevant to you transforming into your dragon form?"

Selene smiled at me, swiped her hand in a three hundred and sixty, killed around seventy percent of the Leshy and slipped back into my ring. What the hell just happened?

[Period. She must be on her period.]

'Have you no tact at all?'

Entering my Dual Balance Breaker again, I flew around quickly eliminating the rest of the Leshy along with the girls. Even Veles was helping as he killed them using water manipulation and earth manipulation. I guess he didn't see the need to use any more than that. With everyone working together, we eventually killed all of them, and in the meantime, Lavinia arrived with the rest of the kidnapped workers.

"Nicely done, Dual Dragon, your woman even got the kidnapped back safely."

After being referred to in that way, Lavinia blushed and hugged my arm. Everyone was mostly fine, with the exception of Ravel who was sitting on the ground exhausted. While those things were in the range of Low to Middle-class, there were still thousands of them attacking, so she had to use a lot of her demonic reserves to fight leaving her tired.

"Yeah… I'll quickly fix this up. I found something that needs to be dealt with quickly."

Both Veles and Anisimov looked at me but didn't ask about it. They just nodded. I really appreciate people like them. As a result, I immediately began working on the houses in this area, as well as the lake in the middle. Once it was done I went back to Anisimov and he told me there were more buildings to fix.

"I see, then this guy will take my place."

I summoned an avatar and told him to help repair the town. They obviously stared at the clone, but quickly accepted it. I turned to Ravel and summoned a notepad and pen then gave it to her.

"Keep—"

"I will!"

I didn't even finish my sentence when she said she would. She's a smart girl, so I'll leave it to her then.

"I'll be done quick, you don't need to come with me."

Lavinia was about to protest, but using the speed of light, I quickly arrived back at the abandoned base. Scanning the whole base, I found that it was slightly more expansive than the last one. However, thankfully everything relevant was already in the middle of the base so I went over to it. Checking over the equipment I couldn't see anything new, but the same things as the other one, so I stored them in my [Inventory].

But I wanted to make sure that this was everything. So I quickly sped around the base, checking all locations, and I found a small room that looked like a shrine... A shrine dedicated to Mard Geer and someone named Kyôka. I'm guessing that's another monster associated with Mard Geer. Using [Observe] or trying to see the objects' memories didn't provide much information, as it was just conversations about what happened before it was abandoned or about the attack.

Since I was the only one left, I returned back to the surface and destroyed the entrance. I also filled up the inside of the base so no one could use it again. I doubt they'd want to use this place since some of them were kidnapped. But if they do, then I will just reverse this.

Now… One last thing to do. Still using light speed, I rushed around the town and gathered up all the dead bodies of the Leshy. In addition, I got rid of the bloodstains and anything related to them that wasn't recoverable. I brought them all to the spot where I killed Nagendra's clone. I wasn't planning on using them as shadows, so instead I just burned them. I sped up the process so it only took around a minute for all of their bodies to fully disappear.

"Phew, finally done… Hmm?"

I turned around as I felt someone appear behind me, and saw Zorya. She stared at the previously burned bodies, then back at me.

"Go…back?"

She asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm done. Let's go back then."

I walked over to her and teleported us back to the spot where they previously were, but not to anyone's surprise, they were gone. I felt them wandering around the town and repairing some of the homes. Some smaller ones got an upgrade. I wonder if that was Ravel's idea or my avatar? Well, whatever the case may be—

"Hmm? Need something?"

I asked Zorya as she grabbed my wrist and she pointed at a nearby house, and I saw Veles and Anisimov in it as they gestured for us to join them. I guess rejoining the others will be delayed a few minutes longer then. So the two of us walked over there, all the while Zorya held my wrist.

"Hello, did you need something from me?"

When we entered the house, I immediately asked them that question. However, Veles gestured for me to join them at the dining table, so I did. However, Zorya didn't let go of my wrist but I wasn't that bothered by it so I let it be. Anisimov came over and poured everyone some tea and then sat down.

"Tomorrow you will be traveling to a town called Menyev. It's a unique town built on a large rock jutting out into the sky and over a frozen lake. The mayor of the town is… Evelina, and to put it bluntly, she hates men."

Veles started, and I sighed. Hates men, huh? Also, a town built on a large rock over a lake? Seems interesting… Although, a woman hating men isn't anything new to me, Áine being a recent example…

"Why does she hate men? Don't tell me she got; you know…"

Veles shook his head. Oh thank god, I mean, she still hates us, but still, at least it's not for that…

"Well to be honest, she hates people in general. She trusts us Gods, but her hatred for men is because of her abusive father. He would mercilessly beat her when she was young, and her mother didn't do anything about it. She actually encouraged it, because it meant the mother wouldn't be beaten."

Oh, now I just feel awful. Childhood abuse, huh? Well from the sound of things, it never turned sexual. Therefore, there might be a silver lining there. However, I just need to tread lightly when speaking to her, huh? Wait, is it repairing things again, or will she have…? I looked at Veles and he nodded.

"Yes, apart from repairing the damages over there, she may make a request to you that may involve the lake, perhaps another thing."

"Another thing…?"

"I myself am not sure, Jin. But Evelina will probably explain it to you. I just wanted to give you an idea of what tomorrow might hold for you. Oh, and while rare, Zorya tends to spend a lot of time over there. She is, dare I say, a 'friend' of Evelina. The only one she lets through her own personal bubble."

He chuckled and looked at Zorya.

"You are his guide for today and tomorrow, are you not? Perhaps you can ease Evelina for when he arrives tomorrow?"

Zorya silently nodded.

"Then that's that. I will head out first, till we meet again Anisimov."

"Yes, you too old friend."

Veles left and I was about to do the same when Anisimov threw something at me and I caught it. I glanced at the item and saw it was a picture of someone. It was a woman. She had long blue hair, and green eyes, however, she looked very… Serious, I guess? She was sternly looking at whoever was taking the picture. She also wore some kind of old Victorian-style dress.

"Who is this?"

I asked Anisimov, and he took out a cigarette, lit it up, took a puff and sighed.

"My brother was the one who beat up Evelina, so her father. Bolshov Vikentiy Yermolayevich, and his wife Siyanko Vikentiy Yermolayevich, they unfortunately, or in her case, fortunately died to an attack from Leshy's years ago. Evelina was only fifteen when it happened, but… That was the first time I saw her smile."

He started and took another puff of his cigarette. So they're related, huh? Familial problems… I never had them since I barely saw my parents after all, so I couldn't exactly complain to them and I think, when I tried to they just kind of ignored it…

"I can't even get close to her without things being tense, but Zorya there, if she's present makes it a little easier, so… I guess all I'm asking is for you to understand her circumstances? Even if she lashes out or… Is distrustful of you, try not to take it too personally, okay?"

"…Are you asking me to help her?"

To this, Anisimov chuckled.

"If it was so easy to heal those types of scars, they would be completely healed already. People who have the privilege of living a normal and happy life don't understand the struggle. Add on top of that, she has her own mental and emotional illnesses…"

"I know that those types of illnesses and traumas can't be healed instantly (Unless I use magic, but I doubt that would do anyone good… It would probably feel cheap.), but what I'm saying is, maybe… The girls probably give her a small push in the right direction."

I turned to Zorya.

"They'll probably need your help too. I'll deal with the actual requests from her, and leave that to you guys."

She looked at me, a small smile appearing on her face and nodded.

"Heh, that kindness of yours is your biggest weakness, you know? People will take advantage of that."

"I know, but I have my own lines I won't cross, but… I guess I want to help people with family or relationship problems…"

"Is that so? Then I'll be forever grateful if you pull it off, Jin Skyward."

I finally turned around and started walking out.

"Yeah, leave it to me— Well, them. I know they can get through to her."

Once we left the home and stood outside, Zorya's grip on my wrist tightened a bit more and I looked at her.

"…Evelina…is…a…nice…person…please…"

I put a hand on her head and patted it.

"Don't worry, we'll do something about it."

When tragedy strikes someone, I think there are two ways a person can react. They'll either be brought down by it and react negatively, creating an endless cycle of hate and negativity, or you rise, struggle and keep moving forward.

The perfect example is Guts from Berserk. I loved reading that back in my previous world, that man couldn't be brought down by anything. Even when I idolized him, I nearly fell. However, I had people here to help me, so if I can repay that just a tiny bit, I think I'm doing alright.

…

"Hey, I'm done, sorry for the wait."

When we arrived in front of them, they were already done. They were waiting in some kind of restaurant where the girls had tea or coffee, and my avatar was just standing there guarding the entrance. I bumped fists with him and he disappeared, and it seemed like they got all the buildings repaired during that time.

"Jin-sama! Here's my report!"

Ravel got up excitedly and started reading from the notepad I gave her. It detailed how long the reconstruction took (almost instantly), which houses were most damaged, which ones got upgraded, and how each resident reacted (all of them were thankful), and she wrote down their names and where to find them.

[Holy shit, what the hell? Isn't that a bit much?]

Well, she likes learning, so I can't fault her for it. She's a reliable junior after all.

"Great job, Ravel."

I patted her on the head to praise her. It's like I'm training a dog or something… But she was content with it so I wasn't planning on saying anything else…

"Are we heading back then, Jin?"

"Yeah, let's teleport back instead though, so we'll have time to check out the inn that Perun booked for us."

I dangled the keys and we headed back to the main city.

…

Once we were back… I had no idea where the inn was, but thankfully Zorya was there so I asked her instead.

"Zorya, do you know where this inn is located at?"

She nodded slightly as she pulled me away. To my surprise it wasn't too far from where we were. We had teleported to Sustroma just by the entrance to the 'ice structure', and the inn was just to its right. However, I guess it makes sense that the place would attract tourists, so having an inn nearby will increase the occupancy rate.

We quickly arrived at the inn with Lavinia hugging my other arm to, I guess assert dominance over Zorya? Though, she didn't really care or pay her any mind… I showed the key to the receptionist and she gestured to our right, looking at the key it had 'Z-G-7' on it, why can't they just put normal numbers on it…?

Our room was at the end of the hallway, and I pushed it open, and to my surprise, it was quite large. It looked like they used spatial magic to expand it, and I'm guessing this is the more expensive room that Perun booked for us. Jesus Christ, how much is this…?

But everyone made themselves comfortable rather quickly. Zorya tugged on my wrist again and I looked at her.

"…Two hours, dinner…come?"

"Yeah, we'll be there."

Satisfied with my answer, Zorya nodded and left the room. I still don't get her, but… She's at least nice? But whatever her deal is, I don't think she'll tell me right away.

"There's a shower and a bath in here…"

Kanami shouts from inside the room. We go over there and sure enough, there's a large inside bath and shower in there. This really is a luxurious inn; I'd wager it's equivalent to a five-star hotel…

"Wanna go in?"

Kanami looked back at me and grinned.

"Sure, why not? It'll be better to feel refreshed before having dinner."

So… We went in for a bath, all of us…

…

"Waaaaaah! Don't touch me, Kanami-sama!"

"Ravel-chan, did you know that if you let the man you like touch your chest, it'll grow bigger?"

Kanami asked while occasionally looking back at me. Ravel turned red and also gave me a few glances. Sweet Lord in the heavens, what are you teaching her…?

"That's right, Ravel-chan! Just like this!"

Lavinia who had been sitting beside me, got up, and sat in front of me. She looked up at me, smiled, grabbed my hands and made me grope her from behind.

"Mhm… ~~"

"…Squishy."

Even though I wasn't planning on going along with it, my instincts as a guy kicked in and I started to squeeze, grope and knead her breasts. Of course, this prompted Lavinia to quietly moan in front of me.

Pinch ~

"You shouldn't go along with it."

Valerie pinched me on the side and sighed.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. Nia was too much to resist."

"Hehe ~"

Valerie again sighed at me.

"J-Jin— No, Aaron-sama! Please grope me too!"

"W-Wait, no, Ravel?!"

Ravel declared that and got up. Kanami was shocked and stood up.

"If that's the case, suck on mine instead of just groping them!"

...…What is happening?!

"You guys are stupid…"

"Like you're one to talk!"

Valerie tried to act like the normal one, but… She had grabbed my left hand and made me grope her with it, so she wasn't exactly helping herself in that regard…

"This and that are different things…"

""How?!""

Both Ravel and Kanami shouted at her, but she just shrugged at them. But she opened her eyes and grinned.

"Actually, the difference is we're in a relationship with Jin. You two, on paper, are just roommates."

"Ugh?!"

"Argh?!"

Both fell to the ground clutching their chests. That… That was kind of brutal, I'll be honest with you… I gave Valerie a look and she just smiled at me.

"Valerie-chan is relentless… Do your best, Ravel-chan! Kanami-chan!"

Lavinia encouraged them while still being groped. I mean, I'm not helping either since I kept on groping the two of them so…

Our bath time went like this. Ravel being a little bolder, losing her oujou-sama attitude, and Kanami debating whether to risk it all or not.

…

"Let's leave and stop flirting with him, Lavinia, geez…"

"Mmm ~~"

We were about to go back to the previous location where we met the Gods, for dinner. Our bath ended around thirty minutes ago, and Lavinia has been attached to me even more since. Although… We did sneakily do it while in the bath. How you may ask? I stopped time for the rest of them and we did it twice.

But… They knew, especially Valerie. She had been looking at us quite suspiciously since then.

"Alright let's go."

…

Bang! Slam! Bam!

"Gahaha!"

"...…"

We were two hours into the dinner/party thing, and they were already drunk. Even both Mokosh and Dodola were a bit tipsy, however, the rest of us were sober. However, the male Gods had been… To put it simply rough housing, or fighting. They weren't using their divine powers, otherwise this place would simply blow up. But they weren't holding back too much as the room—

Well, this part of the room was already in complete disarray. I had continuously had my [Infinity] on to avoid being hit by food or alcohol, or even a stray magic attack. On the other side of the room were the women, and I built a barrier to keep them from being hit. Ollopa had joined us but he was over at their side with a dead look on him, just waiting for this to end and he had to clean up.

"Haaa…"

I sighed. I mean, I already ate so I wasn't worried about that, but I don't think I spent much time with drunk people in my previous life. Now don't get me wrong, drinking, hanging out with friends and all that sounds like fun! But excessive drinking weekly until you're black-out drunk… I really can't see the fun in that. You don't even remember that part, so what's the point…?

I sighed again and got up; I left the room since I wanted some air. It was becoming a bit too much; they could beat each other up for now. I teleported outside and walked towards the edge of the road and sat down as the water in front of me glimmered in the moonlight of the night sky.

"Not bad, not bad at all…"

I hadn't seen the night sky here since it's only my second time coming, but it's not bad. It makes me wonder why people don't do this that often? Maybe back in my previous world, the sky was just mostly cloudy or people just get bored too quickly when they do this, but they're missing out…

"Jin?"

"Hmm? Oh Valerie, you need a break from that too, huh?"

Hearing a voice, I turned to my side and saw Valerie. She sat down beside me and we enjoyed the silence for a few minutes.

"Why were you late?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"I noticed you came back earlier to Sustroma, but you stopped by somewhere else."

"Ah, that… Well, I got a request from Anisimov…"

I told her about what we spoke about, and his personal request to me, and how I kind of hoped that they would help Evelina out. I also told her that I was planning to inform them after the party ended.

"Hmm…"

I guess that kind of hit home for her since she was used by her supposed 'family'. We still need to retrieve the other two grails. But that should happen soon enough since I'm going back there and hoping to stop a civil war from happening, unless they approach us first.

"I don't mind, and I don't think the others will mind either, Aaron. But I don't think we'll get through to her much if I'm being honest. A miracle might need to happen in order for that to happen."

Shing!

"Then I can probably help."

We turned to see Cúntóir had come out of me again. She's done that twice today. That's really something…

"What do you mean?"

She smiled—

…

"I mean coming from you, it's easily doable, but do you really think the mother feels that way? You heard it from Anisimov earlier. She didn't do anything and let her husband beat Evelina up."

"Regret is a strong feeling, Jin. The father has passed and is now in purgatory, but the mother still lingers. Regret is what keeps her in this world. If I can bring her back, explain what has happened to Evelina, then we can have them speak to each other…"

She told me, but—

"But, that also requires Evelina to accept her mother's apology, and given how much she hates people…"

It takes two to tango, and Evelina who had to endure that for a long time, and then finally getting the sweet release… She might also— No, definitely hold some grudge and hate towards her mother too.

"Let's give it a try…"

"Will you join them tomorrow then?"

She nodded.

"Yes, I will leave Elsha, Amaris and Velgrynd in charge of tomorrow when you go and do the request."

[Hey! What about us?!]

Ddraig's mark appeared on my hand and asked quite mad.

"You are useless outside of combat."

[...…]

"That was a joke. You already have your role, Ddraig. Just keep doing that."

[Tch, fine…]

After saying that, Cúntóir slipped back into my soul. Turning to Valerie, she agreed with it, but was still a little uncertain about it all.

"We'll do our best, Aaron, but don't expect anything significant to happen. Unless we outright change her mindset using…"

She looked at me. I knew what she was implying but I wouldn't resort to that. So I shook my head. It felt like cheating… Did she really grow or did we force her? Natural vs Artificial, which is right, and which is 'truly healing'? I don't know, and I'll find out by tomorrow.

…

Finally, I felt everyone starting to leave the building. The male Gods probably got too drunk since I felt them powering up. As I got up with Valerie, she grabbed my arm, so I turned around.

"What's up?"

"Make me immortal."

I was a bit stunned by the suddenness of it.

"I don't mind, but are you sure?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about it since I found out from Akeno and Asia. I… It's too embarrassing to say my real reasons, but… Please?"

Valerie blushed harder as she asked. I chuckled at her and kissed her, and at the same time turned her immortal.

"There, done."

"Thank you… Oh, and I wanna do it soon."

"Pfft—"

I coughed as she dropped that bomb on me just now. I was expecting Valerie to be the type to ask for something of that nature in a more subtle way! Although she has been spending time with a lot of different people with different personalities so… I guess it makes sense… She and Ingvild are basically best friends at this point.

"Um… While I don't mind, are you sure?"

"I saw Kuroka and Ingvild sucking your thing in the living room. I've heard you have sex with multiple women in our home, and I'm pretty sure you and Lavinia had sex while we were in the bath earlier tonight. So to answer your question, yes I think I'm ready."

"…Alrighty then."

I started to walk away and wait for her to catch up, and she did, but—

"Oh and I'm sure Rias is also ready, don't keep her waiting."

"...…Duly noted."

Valerie just giggled at me and we waited for everyone to get down here.

…