Rome.
Keeping my eyes closed to avoid the now chronic twitching of my eyes and eyebrows, and trying to remain calm, I finished another espresso, having lost count after the twentieth shot. I would like to say that the coffee helped me, but it didn't.
Outside the coffee shop window, it was late evening, and Sirzechs had long since left... but not the problem he had brought with him.
- "Lord Romani, would you like anything? I will be happy to fulfill your every request!" one of the demonesses asked optimistically for the umpteenth time.
- "Lady Liliana, can't you see that your attempts are annoying Lord Romani?" another intervened in an aristocratic tone. "Such a distinguished person prefers peace and quiet, which only I can provide."
- "That's a bold statement, Lady Korza," said another. "You are too arrogant to dare say such a thing in Lord Romani's presence!"
- "Lady Vashara is right!" added a fourth demoness. "Not to mention that your family doesn't even have the status to be here!"
- "But I have power, and I will gladly demonstrate it to Lord Romani once again."
- "Yes, let's settle this with force. A weak woman has no right to be near Lord Romani," I heard a new voice say.
- "That's the easiest and quickest method," someone at the end of the room agreed.
- "I was careless last time, but I won't make any mistakes," said another.
With my eyes still closed, I felt the magical power of all the demons present slowly begin to emerge. My ears also picked up sharp, rustling sounds of movement, indicating that a fight was about to break out...
The third time...
- "My father works for the head of the Belial clan! You don't dare touch me!"
- "My mother is the dean of the department at Lucifer's High School! Just try to hurt me!"
- "My brother!.."
- "My uncle!.."
I didn't listen any further, but simply set up another closed field to protect the establishment and prevent any consequences from reaching the outside world, because, after all, the coffee shop employees, who were not here now thanks to my hypnosis, were saints in my eyes, and I didn't want to cause them any inconvenience.
Why was I still here putting up with this? Well, I had to give Goetia and Merlin credit, those bastards had taken quite a few factors into account. Including my possible methods of counteraction.
I could, of course, send the demons away or erase their memories, but what would be the point? Goetia's influence on the demons was in their blood, in their very essence, and any magic I used would be nullified. Kill them or something? I was a bastard, but not that much of one. Just go home?
Heh. They would just gather around the residence and cause even more trouble. Could I just talk to them and ask them to leave? No, damn it! That bastard promised these demons incredible privileges if they managed to sleep with me!
Every member of their family would get a lifetime guarantee of safety, a place in the Pillars, new powers, and a whole bunch of other stuff I found out about!
Of course, I could understand them, because what he promised them was a fucking ticket to a better life, and that's exactly why this whole situation pisses me off so much. After all, they were essentially innocent.
I took a deep breath.
In any case, I had to find a way out of this mess. And at that moment, I couldn't think of anything. But suddenly, the doors to the coffee shop opened, and I couldn't contain my curiosity and opened my eyes.
My body froze, as if refusing to accept the signals from my brain, and the espresso cup fell from my hand and shattered on the floor, spilling its contents at my feet. The reason for this was the person who had arrived, as well as the feeling of danger and uncertainty.
- "Oh, are you so happy to see me that you've lost your sense of awareness, husband?" Berserker asked with a smirk on her face, slowly but confidently walking over to me and sitting down on my lap.
I was still staring blankly at Morgan, not knowing what to say, because this could be either my salvation or the end of the world for me. After all, I hadn't said a word to her when I disappeared for about a month. On the other hand, the demonesses, who froze instantly in various poses and shifted their focus from the fight to Morgan, had a slightly different view of the situation.
- "Who are you?!"
- "How dare you?!"
- "Who gave you the right to touch Lord Romani?!"
Now the demons were glaring at Morgan, and they were definitely not happy about such intimate actions on the part of the Berserker, who, on top of that, had wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her head on my chest. What was I doing? Well, I still didn't understand what to expect from this whole situation.
- "Indeed, who gave me the right to touch you, husband?" Morgan asked me, clearly ignoring the demonesses and looking me straight in the eyes.
- "How dare you ignore us?!"
- "Do you think you're better than us?!"
- "It's noisy, isn't it, husband?" Morgan said, running her finger down my cheek and smiling so that I shuddered. "I'm willing to forgive you for your insubordination a month ago if you tell me what's going on here. And keep in mind that the consequences may vary greatly depending on your answer and whether I like it."
- "Hey! Are you listening to us?!" demanded the demons, starting to boil over. But that was nothing compared to...
- "Well, husband? I'm all ears," said Morgan in a gentle voice, and every word she uttered sounded like the whisper of demons from something forty thousand years ago.
-0-
Some time later.
- "So that's how it is," the Berserker nodded when I told her everything about the demons and their presence here.
- "Yes," I said. "As you can see, I'm not to blame for anything. Now, could you please stop holding your hand on my groin?"
- "Maybe," she replied vaguely, then turned her gaze to the demonesses, who were afraid to make even the slightest movement and were sending Morgan looks of pure anger.
The reason for this was quite obvious. At one point, they couldn't take it anymore and tried to force Morgan off my lap, but in response, glowing spears of black and blue intertwined mana burst out from every inch of the floor beneath their feet, with thorns branching off from them. Now most of the establishment resembled an enchanted forest from a dark fairy tale, and the demonesses were its victims, spared from death by their mistress's command.
- "Is something on your mind, Morgan?" I asked cautiously, but with much less fear than before.
- "It seems that Beast I has forgotten who you belong to."
- "Um... Say that again?"
- "Ladies, I have a proposal," she said, ignoring me and suddenly turning to the demonesses.
- "We're not going to listen to you," they practically spat in response.
- "Oh, really? Then I suppose you don't want to hear a more profitable and effective method of getting what you want, do you? Power, status, and safety, not for one person, but for all of you at once," Morgan asked with a sly smile on her face.
Hearing this, she was met with silence and glances at each other, and then, after about a minute, their eyes turned to Berserker.
- "What do you propose?" they asked with a hint of humility and poorly concealed interest.
- "It will take some time to explain, so..." Morgan began, rising from my lap and heading toward the demonesses, waving her spears. "Go to Yasaka, husband, while I finish here. She, the little fox, and Beast II are starved for your attention, and they deserve to get it."
- "Huh? What, sorry?"
- "Go away," was all she said as I was forcibly teleported out of the coffee shop, still in shock from her last words, which were calm and sincere.
What was that just now? Did she show them attention and really mean what she just said out loud? Like, for real? What happened while I was gone? And... was that embarrassment on her face, m?!
-0-
Yasaka's Palace.
I was thrown into a small guest room, right into Tia's wide open arms. She gently caught me and, turning her back to me, pressed me possessively against her chest, burying her face in the back of my head and inhaling the scent of my hair. It's noteworthy that I was the only one who did that, and apparently she picked up the habit from me. Heh.
- "Aaaaa~," she sang after a moment.
- "Yes, I missed you too," I replied and relaxed in her embrace. "Where are Yasaka and Kunou? I thought they would be here too."
- "Aaaaa~," Tia said a little sadly.
- "Work, I guess? Well, I suppose it's partly my fault for choosing the Avenger and the Berserker," I sighed and closed my eyes. "Anyway, will you tell me what you decided and what happened while I was gone?"
- "Aaaaa~" She immediately brightened up and chirped happily, then began to tell me everything. I started listening to her and making plans, relaxing in Tia's soft and gentle embrace, which I had really missed.
Well, let's see what I missed and... why did I suddenly feel sorry for Goetia, huh?
-0-
A/N: How's the chapter? Give us your opinion. You may well be able to influence future chapters.
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