Orange_Rain Hello, everyone. Thank you for your patience and understanding for me taking that break last week. I still got stuff going on, but I'm a little more relaxed now with a better mindset to get back into the swing of things.
During that break, though, I made a survey through google forms to gather your opinions on this story. I had one for Great Sage a few weeks ago and that went quite well, so I figured I might as well make one here. When you have the time after reading this chapter, please check it out here and let me know what you think! I would greatly appreciate your input so I'll have a better idea on what to do moving forward.
Thank you very much for your time and patience. Please enjoy the chapter.
Noire’s violet eyes widened and her pupils shrunk to pin needles as she quickly patted herself down, confirming she had nothing on underneath, before her face flushed red, “H-How … when did you …?” She then caught something in her view and turned to the thing that was wiggling beside me in a sort of victory dance, one of my faithful shadow tendrils.
While I was conjuring that giant ball of water earlier, I also summoned a tendril from Noire’s shadow below her with my [Darkness Manipulation]. I had actually put that tendril into position before I even started making the water above us. It was difficult, trying to get into a good angle for snatching without Noire noticing, but it seemed she was more occupied with me than I thought. Then, just as I released my hold on the waterball, the tendril quickly pulled the panties down and used the split second Noire jumped in surprise to slip the fabric beneath her feet and move away from the scene before it got wet with us.
I then held up my prize to the light, “Black lace panties, though, and with such a beautiful design, too, as expected of a classy lady. These will be perfect to keep as my trophy. Thanks for the help, little guy, give me one down low.”
Though I was controlling the tendril myself, it was fun patting myself on the back in a creative manner. I manipulated the tendril’s end to form a hand before slapping it against my real one I had lowered.
Sighing in disappointment and coming to her senses, Noire deconstructed her crimson scythe back to its liquid form and flowed it back into the jar she had set down from the start, “Quite the dirty trick you pulled there, Jinma, but clever, I will give you that much. As agreed, this battle is yours, and you may keep—”
“Huh, odd, I thought these were dry, but they’re actually quite wet … and slippery?” I interrupted I rubbed my thumb over the fabric, “I was sure I pulled these out before I dunked water on us, too … wait a minute, could they have gotten wet from—”
“Well! I have certainly gotten hungry after that!” Noire interrupted desperately, “Who is up for lunch?! I made sure to gather enough ingredients to prepare for everyone here! Maids, prepare our lunches immediately and bring a fresh pair of panties while you are at it!”
Catching their mistress’s hint, the maids who stood by bowed, confirming her order, and started directing the majority of the audience back inside the cottage. Ume, Ren, Sue, and my familiars were still standing by, probably waiting for me.
“Oh, and can someone please bring me a towel and dry clothes?!” Noire added to her demands.
“I think I can actually take care of that. [Clean],” I chanted while pointing a hand at Noire.
Within seconds, the Vampire lady was totally dry like no water splashed on her in the first place. Noire checked herself and confirmed nothing was out of place. She cleared her throat, “To use [Portal], [Lubricate], and [Clean], how convenient. And I suppose next you will tell me you can use [Storage] as well.”
“... Well, since you asked, and I was planning on stowing this away for later. [Storage, In],” I chanted, putting away Noire’s used panties that will be preserved in its current condition for a long time. I was putting this away first to prevent it from getting caught in using [Clean] on myself, as such a treasure will lose all its value if the markings of the original owner were wiped away.
Noire stood in place with widened eyes after witnessing what just happened, “... How much can you put in that spell, if I may ask?”
I shrugged, “A lot. I can’t really express it any better than that.”
I mean, I still have all those bodies from the White Rapture and the monsters from this morning’s dungeon trial run. I gotta find the time to put all of those things to use and not take up all my space.
“Hmm, I do have means of sleeping in the dungeon, but if you can perhaps store my coffin in there … no, on second thought, forget I said anything,” Noire said.
Wow! Sleeping in coffins! That really is a thing for Vampires in this world! I kind of want to see what it’s like sleeping inside it!
Nyra asked, reading my thoughts.
“Are you sure, Noire? I have no problems carrying it for you if you want to take it with us,” I said, trying to ignore Nyra’s quip.
“It is not that. While I do prefer to sleep in a coffin, I want to see what living the adventurer way is like during our dungeon crawl. This will be a good change of pace as well as a valuable learning experience for me,” Noire explained, crossing her arms and nodding to herself with eyes closed, as if thinking her reason was sound. She then perked up like an idea came to her, looking to the side pondering seriously for a moment. “Although, the coffin I am sleeping in right now is big enough to fit two people, and with that added privacy …”
Unable to hear her muttering, I tilted my head in wonder, “Noire? Are you thinking of—?”
Just as I was bringing up a question, a gust of wind suddenly blew, strong enough to suddenly blow up the Vampire’s skirt, and I was able to see everything. Somehow, my primal instincts made use of my [Hyper Thought Processing] and [Hyper Perception] skills to speed up my reaction time and slow down the sense of time around me. This gave me a chance to see what was under Noire Scarletine Krauss’ skirt in slow-motion, taking advantage of every millisecond I had to burn the image into my brain.
Soft, porcelain white thighs … a full, round ass that shone like a full moon … and a trimmed, well-groomed garden of scarlet …
“... I apologize for my indecisiveness, Jinma, but I believe I will require your [Storage] Null Spell to carry my coffin for me … for emergencies, of course, in case the conditions were just too severe for proper sleep,” Noire said, the wind settling down enough for her skirt to flutter back down, “I am aware the space inside [Storage] is like my Magic Item Pouch that it keeps items well preserved and the coffin I am currently using is not very expensive and quite sturdy, so I have no issues entrusting this to you.” She then turned back and gave me her full attention again with the graceful smile I was used to seeing, far different from the one she had during our spar.
It seemed the Vampire was so engrossed in her thoughts moments ago that she had no idea her skirt was flipped. If any of the guild masters, Beelzebub, or really anyone outside our group were here to see that happen, I can’t imagine the scandal that would ensue.
I think … I had just witnessed a miracle.
Remembering Noire was waiting for my response, I cleared my throat, “Uh, yeah, I should have plenty of room in my [Storage] to keep your coffin safe, so you can leave it to me. I can come back tomorrow before we leave for the dungeon crawl to pick it up.”
Noire’s violet eyes gleamed at my response, “Splendid! Let us have our lunch now so we can discuss what the rest of your party can do and our plan for the dungeon crawl after that.”
“Sure, you head on in first, we’ll catch up later,” I suggested.
After nodding, Noire headed back inside first with that same noble gait in her step as I have seen so far from her.
Just when I knew the lady had left, I turned my back to the remainder of my party, clapped my hands together, and bowed deeply. GODDESS OBINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GOCHICHOUSAMAAAAAAA! I prayed to my Goddess of Lust for providing this miracle to me today.
Nyra exclaimed.
I exclaimed while giving an imaginary thumbs up.
“Congratulations on your victory, Master,” Ren said as she and the other remaining party members approached me from behind, “I took the liberty of patching up the hole Lady Umeiyon made earlier with my [Earth Magic], but Lady Krauss will still need to hire some help to get it properly repaired. I made sure to let her maids know about that.”
I looked back to the hole Ume made and, just as my Werewolf Slave said, I could see some contrast between the wall and the earth used to patch up its hole. I didn’t even know you could use [Earth Magic] for something like that, so Ren must have some experience making patch-ups like this.
I petted Ren’s head with a smirk, “That so? Well done, Ren.”
“It’s not much, Master,” so Ren said, but her erratically wagging tail spoke how happy she was to receive the praise.
“Still, Noire proved to be quite a formidable foe,” Ume then said, crossing her arms as she recalled the battle in her mind, “Yes, she could definitely hold herself better than that fly, and with her pristine lower half and how hard you stared at it, I can see her to be a fine addition to your harem. It seemed my [Storm Magic] proved useful in this little experiment.”
“Wait, you did that?!” I exclaimed in shock. She must have conjured wind with magic to blow up Noire’s skirt like that.
Ume shrugged, “I didn’t think about it earlier, but since there weren’t many important people around and she looked so deep in thought, I figured I might as well see what she had while her guard was down. I didn’t anticipate her not noticing it at all, though.”
“Well, I saw a side of her I didn’t think I’d ever see, so thank you for the pleasant treat, Umeiyon,” Sue said while giving a light bow.
Just as Ume shot a sour glare at the fake Arch Imp, as if saying, ‘I didn’t do that for you,’ I placed my hands on her shoulders, surprising her, “Ume … you are not only the MVP to this whole thing, but you just proved to be a hell of a wingwoman today. I don’t think I could ever be more grateful to be your husband as I am right now.”
“Aww, I may not know what ‘MVP’ or ‘wingwoman’ means, but I’m more than happy to help you find suitable mates for your harem at any time,” Ume said before giving me a peck on the lips, “Still, we should see what the significance to her biting your neck is at some point, and I’ve been thinking we should warn her about her possible involvement in Rowling’s scheme. If you’re really interested in her enough and we help her out, we could have her on our side pretty quickly putting your … ‘unique’ charm in the works.”
“You’re only saying that because my weird slip made her laugh so hard. While we’re on that subject, did anybody else think it was that funny? Be honest with me here, I won’t bite,” I asked the others here.
“Uhhh …” Kenaka said while averting his gaze.
Mametama only cleared her throat.
“I thought how Lady Krauss laughed was interesting,” Ren said, not answering my question.
“I don’t really know much about panties or underwear to get the joke,” Ume said, “I don’t even know why keeping a piece of fabric that someone just wore is such a big deal.”
“It really just comes down to a person’s tastes, be they male or female,” Sue explained to Ume while shrugging, “From the … books, that I’ve read, liking freshly worn underwear makes Jinma out as a character of culture that’s destined for greatness.”
Nyra said.
What kind of ‘books’ did she read to come to that conclusion?
After a bit more small talk, we went back into Noire’s cottage and got ready for lunch. The Vampire probably took the nutritional needs of the larger guests like Eugus, Kalline, and Erizora into consideration as there was a surprisingly wider variety of food and refreshments to choose from. During our meal, Noire congratulated me and Ume on our spar victories and announced that she deemed our party qualified to escort her through Palocaesy’s Dungeon. This got us in a good mood, especially me, as I was a bit worried she may take back what she said in our small exchange during the spar, considering how I turned her down. It could be my experience in dealing with the important clients and higher-ups from my former employer on Earth that made me think like that, though.
All of us in my party talked about ourselves as we ate, like what our classes are, what skills and spells we can do, and our experience as adventurers and taking on dungeons. I tried to keep my explanations to a minimum to not risk any possible info to be used against me, especially my new [Shady Style] fighting I learned after watching Noire’s [Bloody Style] at work. I didn’t want word getting out on how I can instantly learn new skills after watching someone do them once thanks to the effects of my ‘Natural-Born Brawler’ title. If Konjiro really was conspiring with Rowling for a coup, it would be best that I keep this a secret.
Sue also took this chance to explain what she could contribute to the dungeon crawl while not being a hindrance to everyone. Generally, despite possessing the Pugilist class, one that focuses on close-combat, she can also use magic pretty well to fend for herself. That was in line with what she told me in the restroom back at the inn. When I asked Sue through [Telepathy] for confirmation, though, she said she did have the Pugilist class, but she already leveled it up to max level and promoted it to an advanced class a while ago. She also answered truthfully that that wasn’t the only class she has, meaning like the nobles, the guild masters, and myself, this fake Arch Imp is also capable of wielding multiple classes. While it was a good hint of how strong Sue really was, it wasn’t really the kind of news I could be happy over. In the end, I just kept that tidbit in the back of my head to reference for later.
Gabriella was still out cold from the spar, so her former party member-turned-Harpy Slave, Tyvera, spoke of what she knew about her capabilities in her place. Like how I saw in her status, Gabriella was capable of casting [Cursed Magic]. It was one of her perks of being a Dark Knight, and while she can fight with her head on her shoulders, since she can use the [Levitate] Null Spell, she’d prefer to fight while having a good view of her surroundings from above.
When I asked more about the Null Spell, I learned it was apparently something that can only be used on a single target. There isn’t much limit to how high up you can go and the time you can stay up there, though, so long as you have enough MP to do it for extended periods. As for how much you can lift off the ground, it really depends on the user’s Strength rank in their Innate Status that you can find out with a church’s assistance. If you can’t find out what it is through that, your ATK stat is usually a good indicator. So it’s really whether you’re able to lift something by your own power that decides how effective the [Levitate] Null Spell is.
I’d like to say I’m happy to learn a new Null Spell out of this, but with my severe acrophobia, I can only lift myself so high up before I go into a panic attack. Maybe I can use it as a means to beat this fear in the future, but for now, [Levitate] will act as my safety cushion should I find myself at heights too tall for comfort. I’m sure there are other uses I can think of for this Null Spell, too, but I’d have to test it out the next time I’m by myself.
While we’re on the topic of Null Spells, I talked to Nyra over how I knew [Lubricate] during my spar with Gabriella. As I told her earlier, I had no idea. It happened as I was pulling myself back down to the ground while the Dullahan’s severed head was trying to get me into the air. I was in a lapse of fear and frustration during this vertical tug-of-war when I felt a weird … presence, if I had to describe it, inside of me. It was similar to Nyra speaking to me in my mind, and I’m not sure how she didn’t notice, but I guess this ‘presence’ managed to sneak by her to ‘speak’ to me. In fact, this may not be the first time I felt this experience. It had a similar feeling of when I was on my murderous rampage during White Rapture’s raid in Dondegarm. In that instance, I had a small conversation between this ‘presence’—for ease of reference, we’ll name this ‘Creep’ for reasons I’ll explain later—and my subconscious.
“Are you scared?” Creep asked me.
My answer didn’t come from ‘me’, but my subconscious in monotone, “Yes.”
“Do you not like her making you this scared?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to make her taste her own medicine?”
“Yes.”
“Then, take this and make her suffer.”
And that was when I somehow learned the [Lubricate] Null Spell. By itself, the spell was completely harmless, but I just somehow knew how to use it for malicious purposes. After that, I managed to get myself back on the ground, lost my cool, used my sadistic tentacle play on Gabriella’s body, and the rest was history. Admittedly, I was so livid in that moment that my focus became tunnel vision, aiming only to make the Dullahan suffer for almost making me fall into a panic attack. It wasn’t until she cried that I was snapped out of it. I may have acted nonchalant to the end of that spar, but I felt a little uneasy after that strange ‘chat’ I had with Creep.
Nyra summarized.
I mentally nodded,
she asked.
There were two people that came to mind, but their identities were quite hazy. One, for some reason, was the old man in the hospital back in the memory I had as a kid. I think there was something about Creep’s voice that resembled his, which made me think of him first, but he seemed more sympathetic and, dare I say, inspirational in the memory than how Creep displayed. The other one that came to mind, though I didn’t want to consider it, was similar to Creep in its malice and sadistic nature. I only saw him once in the dream I had after the White Rapture raid, the dream where I only saw Mom walking away and I couldn’t follow her because of some strong glass wall stopping me. I was only left alone with this other guy that looked like me, but pulled a horror movie move of spinning his head in a one-eighty and looked at me with demonic eyes and a malicious smile. Somehow, the way Creep spoke to me earlier, as if urging me to scare Gabriella, reminded me of that me in the dream.
It was because of how unsettling that exchange was, thinking how this guy was like an uncanny mix of the old man and the demonic me, that the name ‘Creep’ seemed appropriate to refer to this thing. I explained that much to Nyra.
Nyra asked.
she said.
I commented as an unsettling chill ran down my spine.
To veer away from these thoughts, I remembered Beelzebub was also in the same state as Gabriella to not eat with us too, so I asked where they were. They were currently staying in two of the guest rooms to rest. Apparently, the maids were ordered to leave aside food for both Beelzebub and Gabriella when they both woke up.
Ah, how generous, I thought, After all that dirty talk and her boisterous laughter earlier, I forgot Noire was a noble lady. Thinking how a lady like her was actually following through on what being a noble entails warmed my heart a bit.
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Orange_Rain Hello, everyone. Thank you for your patience and understanding for me taking that break last week. I still got stuff going on, but I'm a little more relaxed now with a better mindset to get back into the swing of things.
During that break, though, I made a survey through google forms to gather your opinions on this story. I had one for Great Sage a few weeks ago and that went quite well, so I figured I might as well make one here. When you have the time after reading this chapter, please check it out here and let me know what you think! I would greatly appreciate your input so I'll have a better idea on what to do moving forward.
Thank you very much for your time and patience. Please enjoy the chapter.
Noire’s violet eyes widened and her pupils shrunk to pin needles as she quickly patted herself down, confirming she had nothing on underneath, before her face flushed red, “H-How … when did you …?” She then caught something in her view and turned to the thing that was wiggling beside me in a sort of victory dance, one of my faithful shadow tendrils.
While I was conjuring that giant ball of water earlier, I also summoned a tendril from Noire’s shadow below her with my [Darkness Manipulation]. I had actually put that tendril into position before I even started making the water above us. It was difficult, trying to get into a good angle for snatching without Noire noticing, but it seemed she was more occupied with me than I thought. Then, just as I released my hold on the waterball, the tendril quickly pulled the panties down and used the split second Noire jumped in surprise to slip the fabric beneath her feet and move away from the scene before it got wet with us.
I then held up my prize to the light, “Black lace panties, though, and with such a beautiful design, too, as expected of a classy lady. These will be perfect to keep as my trophy. Thanks for the help, little guy, give me one down low.”
Though I was controlling the tendril myself, it was fun patting myself on the back in a creative manner. I manipulated the tendril’s end to form a hand before slapping it against my real one I had lowered.
Sighing in disappointment and coming to her senses, Noire deconstructed her crimson scythe back to its liquid form and flowed it back into the jar she had set down from the start, “Quite the dirty trick you pulled there, Jinma, but clever, I will give you that much. As agreed, this battle is yours, and you may keep—”
“Huh, odd, I thought these were dry, but they’re actually quite wet … and slippery?” I interrupted I rubbed my thumb over the fabric, “I was sure I pulled these out before I dunked water on us, too … wait a minute, could they have gotten wet from—”
“Well! I have certainly gotten hungry after that!” Noire interrupted desperately, “Who is up for lunch?! I made sure to gather enough ingredients to prepare for everyone here! Maids, prepare our lunches immediately and bring a fresh pair of panties while you are at it!”
Catching their mistress’s hint, the maids who stood by bowed, confirming her order, and started directing the majority of the audience back inside the cottage. Ume, Ren, Sue, and my familiars were still standing by, probably waiting for me.
“Oh, and can someone please bring me a towel and dry clothes?!” Noire added to her demands.
“I think I can actually take care of that. [Clean],” I chanted while pointing a hand at Noire.
Within seconds, the Vampire lady was totally dry like no water splashed on her in the first place. Noire checked herself and confirmed nothing was out of place. She cleared her throat, “To use [Portal], [Lubricate], and [Clean], how convenient. And I suppose next you will tell me you can use [Storage] as well.”
“... Well, since you asked, and I was planning on stowing this away for later. [Storage, In],” I chanted, putting away Noire’s used panties that will be preserved in its current condition for a long time. I was putting this away first to prevent it from getting caught in using [Clean] on myself, as such a treasure will lose all its value if the markings of the original owner were wiped away.
Noire stood in place with widened eyes after witnessing what just happened, “... How much can you put in that spell, if I may ask?”
I shrugged, “A lot. I can’t really express it any better than that.”
I mean, I still have all those bodies from the White Rapture and the monsters from this morning’s dungeon trial run. I gotta find the time to put all of those things to use and not take up all my space.
“Hmm, I do have means of sleeping in the dungeon, but if you can perhaps store my coffin in there … no, on second thought, forget I said anything,” Noire said.
Wow! Sleeping in coffins! That really is a thing for Vampires in this world! I kind of want to see what it’s like sleeping inside it!
Nyra asked, reading my thoughts.
“Are you sure, Noire? I have no problems carrying it for you if you want to take it with us,” I said, trying to ignore Nyra’s quip.
“It is not that. While I do prefer to sleep in a coffin, I want to see what living the adventurer way is like during our dungeon crawl. This will be a good change of pace as well as a valuable learning experience for me,” Noire explained, crossing her arms and nodding to herself with eyes closed, as if thinking her reason was sound. She then perked up like an idea came to her, looking to the side pondering seriously for a moment. “Although, the coffin I am sleeping in right now is big enough to fit two people, and with that added privacy …”
Unable to hear her muttering, I tilted my head in wonder, “Noire? Are you thinking of—?”
Just as I was bringing up a question, a gust of wind suddenly blew, strong enough to suddenly blow up the Vampire’s skirt, and I was able to see everything. Somehow, my primal instincts made use of my [Hyper Thought Processing] and [Hyper Perception] skills to speed up my reaction time and slow down the sense of time around me. This gave me a chance to see what was under Noire Scarletine Krauss’ skirt in slow-motion, taking advantage of every millisecond I had to burn the image into my brain.
Soft, porcelain white thighs … a full, round ass that shone like a full moon … and a trimmed, well-groomed garden of scarlet …
“... I apologize for my indecisiveness, Jinma, but I believe I will require your [Storage] Null Spell to carry my coffin for me … for emergencies, of course, in case the conditions were just too severe for proper sleep,” Noire said, the wind settling down enough for her skirt to flutter back down, “I am aware the space inside [Storage] is like my Magic Item Pouch that it keeps items well preserved and the coffin I am currently using is not very expensive and quite sturdy, so I have no issues entrusting this to you.” She then turned back and gave me her full attention again with the graceful smile I was used to seeing, far different from the one she had during our spar.
It seemed the Vampire was so engrossed in her thoughts moments ago that she had no idea her skirt was flipped. If any of the guild masters, Beelzebub, or really anyone outside our group were here to see that happen, I can’t imagine the scandal that would ensue.
I think … I had just witnessed a miracle.
Remembering Noire was waiting for my response, I cleared my throat, “Uh, yeah, I should have plenty of room in my [Storage] to keep your coffin safe, so you can leave it to me. I can come back tomorrow before we leave for the dungeon crawl to pick it up.”
Noire’s violet eyes gleamed at my response, “Splendid! Let us have our lunch now so we can discuss what the rest of your party can do and our plan for the dungeon crawl after that.”
“Sure, you head on in first, we’ll catch up later,” I suggested.
After nodding, Noire headed back inside first with that same noble gait in her step as I have seen so far from her.
Just when I knew the lady had left, I turned my back to the remainder of my party, clapped my hands together, and bowed deeply. GODDESS OBINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GOCHICHOUSAMAAAAAAA! I prayed to my Goddess of Lust for providing this miracle to me today.
Nyra exclaimed.
I exclaimed while giving an imaginary thumbs up.
“Congratulations on your victory, Master,” Ren said as she and the other remaining party members approached me from behind, “I took the liberty of patching up the hole Lady Umeiyon made earlier with my [Earth Magic], but Lady Krauss will still need to hire some help to get it properly repaired. I made sure to let her maids know about that.”
I looked back to the hole Ume made and, just as my Werewolf Slave said, I could see some contrast between the wall and the earth used to patch up its hole. I didn’t even know you could use [Earth Magic] for something like that, so Ren must have some experience making patch-ups like this.
I petted Ren’s head with a smirk, “That so? Well done, Ren.”
“It’s not much, Master,” so Ren said, but her erratically wagging tail spoke how happy she was to receive the praise.
“Still, Noire proved to be quite a formidable foe,” Ume then said, crossing her arms as she recalled the battle in her mind, “Yes, she could definitely hold herself better than that fly, and with her pristine lower half and how hard you stared at it, I can see her to be a fine addition to your harem. It seemed my [Storm Magic] proved useful in this little experiment.”
“Wait, you did that?!” I exclaimed in shock. She must have conjured wind with magic to blow up Noire’s skirt like that.
Ume shrugged, “I didn’t think about it earlier, but since there weren’t many important people around and she looked so deep in thought, I figured I might as well see what she had while her guard was down. I didn’t anticipate her not noticing it at all, though.”
“Well, I saw a side of her I didn’t think I’d ever see, so thank you for the pleasant treat, Umeiyon,” Sue said while giving a light bow.
Just as Ume shot a sour glare at the fake Arch Imp, as if saying, ‘I didn’t do that for you,’ I placed my hands on her shoulders, surprising her, “Ume … you are not only the MVP to this whole thing, but you just proved to be a hell of a wingwoman today. I don’t think I could ever be more grateful to be your husband as I am right now.”
“Aww, I may not know what ‘MVP’ or ‘wingwoman’ means, but I’m more than happy to help you find suitable mates for your harem at any time,” Ume said before giving me a peck on the lips, “Still, we should see what the significance to her biting your neck is at some point, and I’ve been thinking we should warn her about her possible involvement in Rowling’s scheme. If you’re really interested in her enough and we help her out, we could have her on our side pretty quickly putting your … ‘unique’ charm in the works.”
“You’re only saying that because my weird slip made her laugh so hard. While we’re on that subject, did anybody else think it was that funny? Be honest with me here, I won’t bite,” I asked the others here.
“Uhhh …” Kenaka said while averting his gaze.
Mametama only cleared her throat.
“I thought how Lady Krauss laughed was interesting,” Ren said, not answering my question.
“I don’t really know much about panties or underwear to get the joke,” Ume said, “I don’t even know why keeping a piece of fabric that someone just wore is such a big deal.”
“It really just comes down to a person’s tastes, be they male or female,” Sue explained to Ume while shrugging, “From the … books, that I’ve read, liking freshly worn underwear makes Jinma out as a character of culture that’s destined for greatness.”
Nyra said.
What kind of ‘books’ did she read to come to that conclusion?
After a bit more small talk, we went back into Noire’s cottage and got ready for lunch. The Vampire probably took the nutritional needs of the larger guests like Eugus, Kalline, and Erizora into consideration as there was a surprisingly wider variety of food and refreshments to choose from. During our meal, Noire congratulated me and Ume on our spar victories and announced that she deemed our party qualified to escort her through Palocaesy’s Dungeon. This got us in a good mood, especially me, as I was a bit worried she may take back what she said in our small exchange during the spar, considering how I turned her down. It could be my experience in dealing with the important clients and higher-ups from my former employer on Earth that made me think like that, though.
All of us in my party talked about ourselves as we ate, like what our classes are, what skills and spells we can do, and our experience as adventurers and taking on dungeons. I tried to keep my explanations to a minimum to not risk any possible info to be used against me, especially my new [Shady Style] fighting I learned after watching Noire’s [Bloody Style] at work. I didn’t want word getting out on how I can instantly learn new skills after watching someone do them once thanks to the effects of my ‘Natural-Born Brawler’ title. If Konjiro really was conspiring with Rowling for a coup, it would be best that I keep this a secret.
Sue also took this chance to explain what she could contribute to the dungeon crawl while not being a hindrance to everyone. Generally, despite possessing the Pugilist class, one that focuses on close-combat, she can also use magic pretty well to fend for herself. That was in line with what she told me in the restroom back at the inn. When I asked Sue through [Telepathy] for confirmation, though, she said she did have the Pugilist class, but she already leveled it up to max level and promoted it to an advanced class a while ago. She also answered truthfully that that wasn’t the only class she has, meaning like the nobles, the guild masters, and myself, this fake Arch Imp is also capable of wielding multiple classes. While it was a good hint of how strong Sue really was, it wasn’t really the kind of news I could be happy over. In the end, I just kept that tidbit in the back of my head to reference for later.
Gabriella was still out cold from the spar, so her former party member-turned-Harpy Slave, Tyvera, spoke of what she knew about her capabilities in her place. Like how I saw in her status, Gabriella was capable of casting [Cursed Magic]. It was one of her perks of being a Dark Knight, and while she can fight with her head on her shoulders, since she can use the [Levitate] Null Spell, she’d prefer to fight while having a good view of her surroundings from above.
When I asked more about the Null Spell, I learned it was apparently something that can only be used on a single target. There isn’t much limit to how high up you can go and the time you can stay up there, though, so long as you have enough MP to do it for extended periods. As for how much you can lift off the ground, it really depends on the user’s Strength rank in their Innate Status that you can find out with a church’s assistance. If you can’t find out what it is through that, your ATK stat is usually a good indicator. So it’s really whether you’re able to lift something by your own power that decides how effective the [Levitate] Null Spell is.
I’d like to say I’m happy to learn a new Null Spell out of this, but with my severe acrophobia, I can only lift myself so high up before I go into a panic attack. Maybe I can use it as a means to beat this fear in the future, but for now, [Levitate] will act as my safety cushion should I find myself at heights too tall for comfort. I’m sure there are other uses I can think of for this Null Spell, too, but I’d have to test it out the next time I’m by myself.
While we’re on the topic of Null Spells, I talked to Nyra over how I knew [Lubricate] during my spar with Gabriella. As I told her earlier, I had no idea. It happened as I was pulling myself back down to the ground while the Dullahan’s severed head was trying to get me into the air. I was in a lapse of fear and frustration during this vertical tug-of-war when I felt a weird … presence, if I had to describe it, inside of me. It was similar to Nyra speaking to me in my mind, and I’m not sure how she didn’t notice, but I guess this ‘presence’ managed to sneak by her to ‘speak’ to me. In fact, this may not be the first time I felt this experience. It had a similar feeling of when I was on my murderous rampage during White Rapture’s raid in Dondegarm. In that instance, I had a small conversation between this ‘presence’—for ease of reference, we’ll name this ‘Creep’ for reasons I’ll explain later—and my subconscious.
“Are you scared?” Creep asked me.
My answer didn’t come from ‘me’, but my subconscious in monotone, “Yes.”
“Do you not like her making you this scared?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to make her taste her own medicine?”
“Yes.”
“Then, take this and make her suffer.”
And that was when I somehow learned the [Lubricate] Null Spell. By itself, the spell was completely harmless, but I just somehow knew how to use it for malicious purposes. After that, I managed to get myself back on the ground, lost my cool, used my sadistic tentacle play on Gabriella’s body, and the rest was history. Admittedly, I was so livid in that moment that my focus became tunnel vision, aiming only to make the Dullahan suffer for almost making me fall into a panic attack. It wasn’t until she cried that I was snapped out of it. I may have acted nonchalant to the end of that spar, but I felt a little uneasy after that strange ‘chat’ I had with Creep.
Nyra summarized.
I mentally nodded,
she asked.
There were two people that came to mind, but their identities were quite hazy. One, for some reason, was the old man in the hospital back in the memory I had as a kid. I think there was something about Creep’s voice that resembled his, which made me think of him first, but he seemed more sympathetic and, dare I say, inspirational in the memory than how Creep displayed. The other one that came to mind, though I didn’t want to consider it, was similar to Creep in its malice and sadistic nature. I only saw him once in the dream I had after the White Rapture raid, the dream where I only saw Mom walking away and I couldn’t follow her because of some strong glass wall stopping me. I was only left alone with this other guy that looked like me, but pulled a horror movie move of spinning his head in a one-eighty and looked at me with demonic eyes and a malicious smile. Somehow, the way Creep spoke to me earlier, as if urging me to scare Gabriella, reminded me of that me in the dream.
It was because of how unsettling that exchange was, thinking how this guy was like an uncanny mix of the old man and the demonic me, that the name ‘Creep’ seemed appropriate to refer to this thing. I explained that much to Nyra.
Nyra asked.
she said.
I commented as an unsettling chill ran down my spine.
To veer away from these thoughts, I remembered Beelzebub was also in the same state as Gabriella to not eat with us too, so I asked where they were. They were currently staying in two of the guest rooms to rest. Apparently, the maids were ordered to leave aside food for both Beelzebub and Gabriella when they both woke up.
Ah, how generous, I thought, After all that dirty talk and her boisterous laughter earlier, I forgot Noire was a noble lady. Thinking how a lady like her was actually following through on what being a noble entails warmed my heart a bit.
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