Chapter 73: Chapter 73: (Do not) take responsibility
"Hmm…" 'Momonga', that was the skeletal representation of Momonga's 'Overlord' side, poked a dead critter with a long stick.
The dead critter twitched which told him that Ddraig, who was lying on his back and had his front and back legs up in the air like a dead squirrel, was still alive even though it was foaming from the sides of its long mouth and its eyes looked like if it had gone on a week-long drug-binge.
Insane babbling coming from the dragon's mouth seemed to support the theory that Ddraig had been affected by the black 'ink' that Gasper had produced, which meant that Momonga was free of his constant stalker's interruptions for a while.
In other words, good news.
'Life is good, life is good…' Momonga took a celebratory step to the side, and then to the other side, and then stopped before he could burst out into a full-blown 'skeleton' shuffle'. He checked his surroundings, made sure that no-one saw him perform such an embarrassing act, and saw that his surroundings in the overgrown forest in the Phenix territory were clear except for his 'familiar' who was perched on a tree nearby.
He lifted his arm and spoke to the three-legged crow that landed on it. "Lead me to Koneko."
The crow created by [Lead of Yatagarasu] nodded and took off again.
Momonga couldn't help but to feel mirth from the whole sequence of events- not only had Gasper proven 'his' loyalty again, but also 'his' strength was growing while 'his' loyalty to Momonga was quite high, and Momonga even had a feeling that if his true nature came to light, Gasper would likely stay on his side. Plus, Ddraig wasn't there to pester him about 'his' female form, or what had happened between Gasper's female form and Momonga's host body.
A familiar rune seemed to materialize in the air and Momonga took a step back out of both instinct and habit. And then put his hands up to stabilize a now-familiar white-haired girl that would have impacted against Momonga at full speed had he not taken the step back.
"Greetings, Rossweisse-san. How are you?" Momonga greeted cordially as the stalker-slash-ambusher woman seemed to double-check her surroundings, and then noticed that Momonga was holding her by her shoulders and blushed. "Are you sure you are feeling well enough to be doing, umu, whatever you're doing here?"
"Ahe- ahem. Greetings, Momon-sama. I feel… f-fine, thank you for asking." Rossweisse seemed to bite her tongue mid-sentence. "I, um, asked Lady Phenix about your lordship's whereabouts, and found out that according to her you had gone to take your Peerage, um, 'out for a walk', and when I asked for specifics, she said that you had gone to train. S-so I decided to join you-"
"Absolutely not. You're pregnant, and training might cause complications." Momonga instantly shot the woman down, causing her to jump a bit and her lower lip to tremble a bit.
"Y-yes, Momon-sama. H-however, that was not exactly why I am here…" The woman looked a bit taken… but also a bit guilty.
Momonga then noticed a basket on the girl's arm, and saw that it contained food. "Ah. I apologize for jumping to conclusions. You're delivering food, correct?"
"Yes. And, um, your worry is perfectly understandable, you're worried since t-this c-child is y-yours…" Rossweisse blushed to her eyebrows and stammered as she put her free hand against her stomach. And once again Momonga felt that there was something a bit dishonest in the girl's actions, as they were a bit too… 'overacted'.
Momonga realized something horrifying. 'Is… Is my Chuuni leveling up as well?! Can it be used to detect when people are putting up an act?! This- this can't be- it's impossible!'
"A-ahem. Yes, indeed. May I touch it?" Momonga rattled out some empty words as he tried to recover from the mind-shattering revelations and their consequences.
"Um… M-my lord, I don't think the child is developed enough for that. And it's inappro- ahem. But certainly." Rossweisse seemed to be struggling internally against something but finally reached to take Momonga's host body's hand and guide it against her stomach.
"Ah, true. I must still be in shock from learning about it." Momonga quickly sidestepped the issue. "Ahem, but are you alright, Rossweisse-san? Moreover, how did you find me this quickly?"
He already knew about the 'tag' that the woman had likely placed on him, but Momonga wanted to check if the woman would actually come forward with the information.
"A-ahem… I'm sorry… B-back when you rescued me from Lord Phenix's… ahem, misunderstanding, I actually placed a tracking rune on your neck when you hugged me…" Rossweisse seemed troubled. "You see, just in case Lord Phenix captured me so I could teleport myself to you and… um… well, I recall that you promised to help me..."
"It's alright, don't worry about it." Momonga reassured the woman. 'Hm, that sounded like an excuse, but I shouldn't have expected much else… After all, she's a mole planted by Odin, if my theory is correct… which means he is likely using her to spy on me indirectly either through her reports or through some magical means. I could activate my anti-divination countermeasures but Odin would likely take that as a formal declaration of hostilities, so I'll just have to play along for now… Perhaps I should play the 'happy family' act with Rossweisse to confuse Odin, as he's likely gauging me as a fellow Player and seeing if he should try to PvP me, while also gathering information on what class I am, and what kind of build I have. So that explains why she came here to observe my training, and that bread basket is likely just to serve as her cover. That's what I would do anyway… And I'll have to see about returning the favor and planting my own spy within Odin's ranks… '
"I was planning on going to see Koneko-san and check up on her. But I suppose we could have a small break before we resume our training." Momonga told Rossweisse who blushed a bit.
"A-ahem, I'd like that. Moreover, I'm perfectly fine if it's just the- t-tw- two of us." Rossweisse seemed to panic mid-speech but caught herself anyway. Moreover her blush was starting to reach Rias-levels which made Momonga a bit worried.
"I've asked you this just now, but I'll ask you again. Are you alright?" Momonga placed his hand on the woman's temple as she seemed to have a small panic attack. "Listen, if you're feeling unwell I can take you back…"
"No, no, I'm perfectly alright. I'm in full health." Rossweisse blurted out.
"I see. Very well." Momonga pulled away as he noticed the woman's mistake- She had used a 'YGGDRASIL' term. 'Hm, referring to herself as 'full health'... It might be just her way of speaking, but with the possibility of Odin being a Player… Small slights like that might reveal her true nature as well…'
He took the woman's hand, just in case as it allowed him a degree of control over her movements as well as the possibility of disabling her with [Negative Energy Touch], and led her through the forest after the Crow.
The two, or three if the 'bird' was counted in, finally came to a small clearing with a huge oak in the center. And saw three people within the clearing.
"Alright, Koneko-san!" Momonga called out for the white-haired girl who was on all fours, had her cat-ears and cat-tail visible, and was chasing after a pair of girls whom Momonga remembered to be in Sona's Peerage, and who looked quite frightened by Koneko.
The two girls noticed Momonga and instantly beelined for him… and then ran past him.
"I'm sorry, Momon-samaaa….!" One of the girls screamed when she ran past him.
"We didn't mean to! It was an accident I sweaaarr!" The second girl with twin-tails screamed as she dove into a bush and disappeared from sight.
"Mrrrow." Koneko paused to stare at Momonga.
Momonga felt a bit awkward as he held to Rossweisse's hand, the white-haired woman having frozen in place, and stared at Koneko who was on all fours twenty feet or so away from him, and had her back arched and tail up like a spooked and territorial cat.
'What is going on… Ah!' Momonga realized something. 'Koneko mentioned that 'Senjutsu' caused her to lose control over herself and she was afraid she'd hurt her friends using it… Well, I suppose that might have come to pass if she had caught up to those two just now… This is a good opportunity to see how this 'Senjutsu' works.'
Indeed, Momonga remembered Yuuto's and Koneko's cases, and noted in his mind that the two were quite similar, except mirrored- Yuuto had been consumed by rage towards Holy Swords, and was eager to resort to violence. And it looked like that by attacking Momonga in anger Yuuto had seen the consequences of his rage, or at least that's the conclusion Momonga had come to after thinking about it for a while, and the boy had calmed down afterwards.
So, Momonga figured that he could do the same for Koneko, except that instead of getting hurt, he'd do the opposite as Koneko was too shy to use her powers in fear of hurting others. '...With hope, Koneko will see that I wasn't hurt by her powers and can use them more confidently, and hopefully become a more effective part of my Peerage. So, all I have to do is just not get hurt or let Koneko hurt others… Good. Finally something that doesn't require ero.'
He sighed in relief and then took a step towards Koneko, and she took a crawling step backwards.
"It's alright. You won't hurt me, or Rossweisse. I won't let you. So let's have lunch, eh?" Momonga offered his hand to Koneko who hissed like a lynx. 'Hm, unusual hostility… Concerning. But I expected as much.'
He took a sandwich from Rossweisse's basket and offered it to Koneko, who sniffed the air once and gagged.
Momonga paused and looked into the sandwich, trying his best to recall whatever knowledge he had of cats. Which wasn't much, as the creatures had gone extinct by 2135 and thus what was left was just folk-lore and popular history references. "Hm, beef, tomato and cheese, right? Do you happen to have chicken? I heard cats like eating birds."
The crow that had come to perch on Momonga's shoulder blanched a bit from the words and Momonga glanced at it. "Don't worry. I won't feed you to Koneko… Actually, can you fly off for a while?"
The Crow let out a reassured sigh, then turned around on Momonga's shoulder in a dramatic way that caused Momonga to die a little inside as he recognized the act from his 'chuuni' side, and the bird flew off.
Koneko tracked the bird's flight with her now-cat-like eyes.
Rossweisse seemed to procure a chicken sandwich and Momonga offered it to Koneko with reassuring motions. And then Momonga caught a fish-like scent from the girl and noticed breadcrumbs and some fishy substance around the girl's front, which told him that the girl had likely eaten. 'Damn. She might be full already… Well then. Plan B.'
'[Silent ma- no.' Momonga was halfway casting a [Hold Species], but withdrew the idea as he remembered Rossweisse's presence. 'Odin likely knows I can cast that, from the Rating Game, but I should try to avoid further solidifying the idea… I should probably try to make Odin think I'm a pyromancer, a venomancer or something like that, as it'd help give Odin a wrong impression of my abilities…'
"Right, Koneko-san… Stay there, alright?" Momonga glanced to the side. "Hm Rossweisse-san? Do you happen to know about restraining magic?"
"A- Yes, of course." Rossweisse coughed, and then cast a rune in the air.
A white band appeared around Rossweisse, disappeared, and then reappeared around Koneko. The band was joined by ten other bands of similar colour and size, and then bands tightened around the girl to constrain her movements.
Momonga moved in instantly as he was fairly sure Koneko could break the bonds fairly quickly, like how strong opponents could reduce the duration of [Hold Species]. He still remembered the lesson his brief 'fight' against Vali had gone, and the lessons he had taken home from it.
Indeed, Momonga grappled with Koneko as she broke off from the bonds and turned into a hellcat on his lap, hissing, screeching and clawing all around.
'Right, this is going nowhere… I suppose this spell is common enough, plus it's low-level so if Odin recognizes it then he might assume I'm low level… [Silent Magic: Weaken].' Momonga grabbed Koneko as she became wobbly and put her on the grass so her back was against the huge oak in the center of the clearing.
He noticed that there was a crumpled-up picnic cloth and a torn-up bread basket nearby, making Momonga think that something had happened between Koneko and the two girls who had fled the scene. The leftovers of sandwiches that smelled like fish supported that fact.
"I suppose we can commandeer this space, no?" Momonga told Rossweisse as the commotion seemed to die down a bit. "I'll re-lay the cloth, so can you get the sandwiches out…"
Rossweisse seemed to shake off the oddness of Koneko's behaviour and started to lay down a picnic lunch, and then sat down so Koneko was between her and Momonga.
'Hm… The duration of 'debuffs' might correlate to the strength difference between the user and the target, ergo more powerful foes can reduce the duration of the magic… which means that even if I used [Weaken], a low-level spell, but if it lasted for a long time then Odin could derive that I'm actually a high-level player using low-level spells…' Momonga strategized as he undid the debuff while keeping his hand on Koneko's shoulder to keep her in place.
"Mrrroww… Meow?" Koneko seemed a bit delirious after the [Weaken] was taken off.
'Hm… It's almost as if she was drugged… Did whatever drugs those two girls serve to her activate her Senjutsu accidentally? She was resisting quite hard…' Momonga observed the girl.
"Um, is that catnip?" Rossweisse sniffed the air. "Ahem… And judging from those ears… Is Koneko-san a nekomata of some sort?"
"She might be, but I haven't asked. I have attempted to keep her privacy." Momonga dodged. "Catnip?"
"It's a plant that has mild psychedelic effects on felines…" Rossweisse explained. "Um, although, I'm not sure if it's supposed to affect nekomata… Unless..."
'Huh. didn't know that…' Momonga wondered as Rossweisse seemed to fall into deep thought. "Ahem. Well, we should probably put it away for the time being."
He scooped up most of the leaves that had fallen from a bag and closed the bag, and then put it in his pocket.
It seemed that Koneko was still feral, but she had regained a degree of sanity as she wasn't prowling anymore and instead was weakly wobbling and sitting on the spot, almost as if she was phasing in and out of consciousness.
Momonga shook the girl gently by the shoulders, and she flopped over to his lap.
"Well… Anyway. So, can you tell me something about yourself, Rossweisse-san? You're carrying my child, yet we don't know much of… well, anything about each other." Momonga opened the conversation while he reached for a sandwich with one hand and began scratching behind Koneko's ears with the other. "I feel that we should converse a bit. Moreover, I'm sure that you feel quite violated, and perhaps angry over the whole situation. I thoroughly apologize, and again, I vow to take responsibility."
He nodded his head slightly to Rossweisse's direction who seemed to panic a bit. "Not at all! Everything is quite alright, um… I'm not angry at all. In fact, I'm thoroughly satisfied and happy that you have chosen to extend your mercy and compassion to me."
"I… see." Momonga nodded. 'Hm, so 'she's determined to stick with me regardless of what happened to her. Or rather, she's been ordered to stick to me. I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything less from Odin's mole.'
"And, well… It may be inappropriate for me to say this, but I've been somewhat unlucky in love." Rossweisse blushed as she reached to scratch Koneko's head as well as the girl started to purr. "In truth, while I'm aware that this situation will reflect badly on my career, I feel that it's a good thing that I can distance myself away from my professional life as a Valkyrie and focus on something else for a while. I've always been career-focused and I haven't really had much time or interest in going out or finding a boyfriend or… well, getting a boyfriend to stick with me for a long… erm. Ahem. N-not that there was anything wrong with me, I just dislike doing indecent things inappropriately."
"I see. I feel the same." Momonga could appreciate that kind of sentiment, to an extent, as Rossweisse recounted her life story. 'Hm, she sounds a bit like me, back then… Except that I had YGGDRASIL… I don't suppose I had much life outside that either. I wonder if Odin knew that, and sent Rossweisse specifically because he knew I'd be able to relate to her? How much does he know about me? Wait, does that mean… could it be…'
'Since I'm no longer in my 'Overlord' avatar, and my true nature is cloaked from view… Not to mention that the Norse pantheon would be the closest to YGGDRASIL as it was based on that myth...' Some pieces were starting to match, and a picture was slowly starting to form. 'Could it be… Odin is someone from Ainz Ooal Gown?'
He contemplated the possibility for the briefest time, and then discarded the theory outright. 'No way. I knew everyone in Ainz Ooal Gown, even knew the first names of most of the players, and Odin doesn't remind me of anyone... '
However, the doubt lingered, all the while Rossweisse was talking about someone named 'Bryndhildr' and was taking swigs from a bottle that Momonga vaguely recalled to be from his new quarters. Momonga just listened and let Rossweisse pour her heart out while she seemed to replace the void with red wine.
Koneko let out a purr as Momonga kept patting her head, and the girl's cat-ears slowly faded from sight as she seemed to calm down. 'Hm, good, good… This should help Koneko's fear of using Senjutsu…'
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Odin shivered. "Something foul lurks. It speaks of me. We need to be wary."
"Are you sure you don't need a blanket, Odin-sama?" A busty valkyrie that had been assigned to bodyguard Odin asked while scrolling something in her phone.
'Ugh… Rossweisse would have asked if I was feeling ill and asked if she should dismiss my appointments for the day, and apologize on my behalf…' Odin was feeling a bit guilty for dismissing his previous Valkyrie so, but he soldiered on. Not to mention that the old god had been forced to do his own laundry for the first time in hundreds of years. Of course, he had developed runes that would take care of that for him on the spot, but it was the thought that mattered.
So, while his new Valkyrie was proper S-tier eye-candy… he was starting to realize how much Rossweisse had done except just being A-tier eye-candy.
Brynhildr sent Odin a flat look back as Odin gave the de-facto chief of the valkyries a begging look.
"Perhaps you are feeling coooolldd~ oh almighty Oddiiinnn~" Loki mocked from the side while pretending to shiver and shake. "Alas, perhaps you should say 'Oh, how cold are my old bones! And these stone seats are hurting my backside! Oh, Thor, my son, pleaaase warm my dusty buttcheeks with your almighty hamme'- ow."
Thor whacked the mischievous brother in the back of his head. "Focus."
"Spoilsport." Loki returned fire and put his legs on the table around which the three norse deities were gathered in a shadowed, warded room in Asgard. "So, you asked us here to peep on this… 'thing' you claim to have found, old man?"
"Be silent if you have nothing of note to speak." Odin told Loki curtly and the mischief-maker rolled his eyes so hard they threatened to bulge out of his head. However, he shut up as ordered. "Good. Now then… As you're aware, there is a threat afoot. You have been made aware of the name of the coming storm, yes?"
"Quite so, father." Thor looked severe, which befitted the deity of thunder. "War is coming. That much is certain from the air, from the water, and from the darkness that looms on the horizon."
"I have sent my most trusted Valkyrie on an important mission." Odin told the four people in the room, which caused Brynhildr to beam a bit while Odin's new bodyguard let out a small 'tsk' sound of annoyance. "As you are aware."
"I am somewhat proud that you'd value Rossweisse so highly, but are you sure she's up to the task? I don't recall her being particularly good at subterfuge or such…" Brynhildr had a mildly concerned expression.
"Don't worry. She's already managed to infiltrate 'his' retinue using an outrageous lie." Odin told the Valkyrie. "In truth, I was quite shocked that Rossweisse would come up with such an excuse, but it seemed to have worked. Although the fact she lied to me when I contacted her means that she must be under observation from 'him', so we'll have to be careful when contacting her as to not blow her cover and expose her to danger."
"Yes, my lord" Brynhilrd nodded. Thor seemed more than a little concerned, while Loki was cleaning his nails and occasionally observing them from the back of the hand-side like a refined lady, a feminine motion which Loki knew would infuriate Odin.
"Ahem, may I ask what lie Rossweisse used to infiltrate 'His' retinue?" Brynhildr continued as Odin worked to contain his ire.
"Oh, that she was pregnant with 'His' child. I'm not certain how that worked, but it might be that Rossweisse has found some hidden weakness." Odin handwaved and Brynhildr chuckled a bit in good nature. "Of course, that sort of conception is impossible… or, we should think that to be impossible, as the alternative is much, much worse for us… Albeit it would make sense why 'He' is seeking brides as I have explained to you."
"Aha, I would have loved to see that prude busybody explain that lie." Brynhilr coughed to her hand to calm herself. "Heh… Still, for her to choose that particular lie… Perhaps she has discovered something?"
"It's possible. But… No, we can't jump to conclusions." Odin shook his head. "I approached 'Him' in person and found out what He was… But enough idling. The time for action is now- Observing Him may put our sanities at risk. He might even retaliate. Keep your guards up- We're dealing with 'them'."
Thor nodded, albeit he looked a bit impatient which Odin attributed to the muscular, sturdy thunder-god's battle-seeking nature. Loki, meanwhile, looked sleepy. Brynhildr and Odin's Valkyrie meanwhile looked severe.
Odin knew that introducing Loki into the meeting was a risk, as he knew that the mischief-maker would possibly even contemplate approaching 'Him' if he knew about 'His' true nature… but keeping it hidden from Loki would be impossible, and attempting to do so would ensure that he'd try to seek 'Him' out. So Odin chose the lesser of two evils… even though it was a close call.
"Behold." Odin poured water into a deep indent in the center of the table, and cast a rune he had taught a long ago to a certain Devil, and a picture began forming on the water's surface.
Brynhildr looked more than a little amused and a bit jealous.
Thor looked disappointed.
Loki looked as if his birthday had come early.
Odin's bodyguard-Valkyrie rolled her eyes and went back to scrolling her phone.
Odin was horrified.
Indeed, the picture showed a grassy clearing in a sun-bathed forest, where a beautiful white-haired woman was sitting beside a tall, decently handsome man with a white-haired early-teen girl sitting between them while the two were patting and stroking the girl's head.
"Pfffft, what a happy family." Loki mocked Odin and then turned to the chief of Valkyries. "My, my, little Rossweisse went and made a family… Before you, Brynhild, might I add…"
"S-silence!" Brynhildr blushed. "T-this is a serious matter!"
Thor put his hands on the table while he was staring at the sight of the happy family in the mirror-like surface of the water. "Odin… Father. Is there something you want to tell us?"
"No… no, this can't be... " Odin was rocking back and forth in his chair as His plan became clear to him. "I- I didn't want to believe the possibility could be true… He is seeking brides to create half-monsters… Did- Rossweisse didn't lie, did she? Was she seduced by evil already? The fact their child could be this grown already… No, those things don't age by our logic. Age means nothing to them- Nor time."
"Father." Thor put his hand on Odin's wrinkled hand. "Calm down."
"This- he must know I'm watching." Odin realized the grand ploy that He tried to weave against Odin. "Do not be misled by the sight, Thor and Loki! This creature knows that we're observing it, that you are observing it, and is retaliating by doing nothing to break my credibility!"
"Ah-hah." Loki nodded jovially. "Yes, that is precisely what mr. happy father over there is doing… Assuming that kid over there is his, anyway. Which I don't think she is, if little Rossweisse had reported that she had become preggo just today…"
"No, it must be His. But… Why would it show His plan to us? To make us hesitate? To make us know that there is no hope, and we learned of His plan too late?" Odin was racking his brain, and finally sighed out. "No, I can't fall into the trap of overthinking this. We need to continue our observations."
"This feels… Inappropriate, somehow." Brynhildr blushed a bit as the vision showed Rossweisse leaning a bit closer to the man in the picture and the two shared a gentle kiss, while Rossweisse had a faint tint of red on her cheeks.
The white-haired girl between the two seemed to let out some kind of sound, and a pair of cat-ears popped up from her head.
"Is that… Nekomata?" Thor tilted his head. "I recall Japanese pantheons have something like that…"
"...It's possible." Odin had to concede the point, even if he knew that the Being in the view was just putting up an act specifically to confuse Thor. 'It is known that 'they' can take shapes as they wish… Is that his way of confusing me? It's spawn is already taking such a solid shape… Rossweisse is corrupted beyond salvaging. It's a shame, since she was such a bright Valkyrie in retrospect… But we both knew the horrors she'd face when I sent her to her mission. Or at least I knew about them.'
Odin felt a vein pulse in his forehead as he heard crunching from Loki's side of the table as the troublemaker had pulled a tube of popcorn and was eating out of it while looking at the view in the mirror which showed now-furiously blushing Rossweisse and 'Him' kissing in a deep, hungry and passionate way that caused Brynhildr to blush up to her eyebrows out of outrage. And possibly jealousy as well, if the woman's muttering was anything to go by. '...Come to think of it, wasn't Brynhildr as prude and frustrated as Rossweisse, although she had just managed to consistently land on the worst possible guys so she stopped dating altogether and became ultra-prude career fanatic?'
"R-Rossweisse must be reprimanded for indulging in such acts during an important mission." Brynhildr adjusted her collar to hide her own blush, which didn't work to hide it at all.
Odin sighed.
The two in the mirror split apart in an almost shy way as the white-haired girl in the middle seemed to let out a meow of some sort and flop on the boy's lap, whereupon the petting of the child continued.
"Ahem… Father, while this might sound… questioning of your authority... " Thor coughed to his hand. "Are you absolutely certain of your findings?"
"Yes!" A light bulb lit in Odin's head. "Did you not watch the fight- oh. Right."
Odin cursed the fact he had not procured a recording of the 'Momon vs Serafall' Rating Game for the Norse deities, as the Underworld's Rating Games didn't air in Asgard. "Thor, Loki, listen. There is a recording that proves This thing's power, and what it is Truly."
He pointed at the boy who reached to rub Rossweisse's head after she began pouting and wobbling a bit after taking a swig from a bottle of what looked like red wine.
"A family out for a picnic?" Loki suggested while only barely holding back his neighing laughter. "Well, I'm terrified. Think of the horrifying scenarios- What if He ambushed you, dad, and taught you how to be a good father against your will?! The outrage! The horror! The terr- whopsie!"
Loki toppled down from his chair to dodge a bolt of lightning Thor sent his way. "Not cool, brother dearest! Besides, with your muscles blocking your line of sight, there's no way you'd actually hit me in a million years! Unless I expressly wanted to allow you to hit me, that is!"
"Children! Enough!" Odin boomed, causing Thor and Loki to settle down as the old god was starting to use the booming, intimidating voice he had used in his prime. "This is a threat to all we know and love! do not be fooled, and focus! Loki, you are to inform the seedier inhabitants of Asgard, Hel, Valhalla and the rest of Yggdrasil of the coming battle. Thor, the same, but focus on the nobler factions. It looks like that He is aware of our spying and is seeking to sow discord amongst our ranks indirectly, and it is working, so I'll take over observing him. Brynhildr, you'll… Ahem. Brynhildr!"
The chief Valkyrie snapped out of her daydream as she had been looking at the view where the brown-haired man was hugging Rossweisse against his side lovingly while the white-haired girl on his lap was playing with a… Black feather that the boy was holding just out of the reach of the girl's pawing hands?
Odin wondered for a while if Brynhildr had been compromised already, and sighed as he realized that she most likely was already drawn to His darkness through Rossweisse.
"P-present! I was just… I-I'll have to pencil in a disciplinary action against Rossweisse when she comes back! For indecent actions during duty!" Brynhildr shook her head. "I am ready for your orders, lord!"
"Right… Gather your troops. There's no doubt that the Supreme Being attacks soon, and you'll need to be ready to intervene." Odin instructed the day-dreaming chief of Valkyries. "Guh… Omniscience doesn't work against foes such as He… How cunning, to strike against the bond between myself and my sons… Well… I expected worse."
Odin sighed as the two bickering sons filed out of the room, alongside the chief of Valkyries. "Right, I'll need to re-contact Beelzebub…"
.
.
Serafall snored loudly as Sirzechs stood beside her bed, alongside Beelzebub and Grayfia.
"So…" Sirzechs opened the conversation.
"The poison is still affecting her." Beelzebub analyzed. "But how deep is a question I don't know the answers to... "
"Bzzz…. zzzz… Mess me up, Mo-kun… Noo… Unicorn-chan, don't go there... " Serafall giggled in her sleep. "Uwaah, I'm overflowing… Noo… Atlantic Ocean-chan… My butt won't close..."
"Quite deeply, it seems." Beelzebub voiced as Sirzechs and Grayfia stared at the sleeping Maou.
"Right… Should we believe Odin's claims?" Sirzechs put the metaphorical rabbit on the table. "Did you find sufficient evidence that supports the claim that Momon-san is… He?"
"...It's unlikely, but possible." Beelzebub told the fellow Maou after a long pause. "Some of the happenings are explained by Odin's theory, but not the others… For instance, while the resurrections could be explained by Him just raising the corpses, it doesn't explain the angels. I suggest we try getting into contact with the Great Red and ask him in person… as dangerous as it might be."
"We'll need Tannin for that. He can walk in the Interdimensional Gap for extended periods of time without disintegrating due to his draconic nature…" Sirzechs agreed. "I hesitated to send Tannin to ask the Great Red first because of the bad blood between the two of them, not to mention that the Great Red hasn't been exactly forthcoming with us in the past. But I suppose we don't have a choice this time."
"We should ask Momon to undo whatever he did to Serafall as well. He hasn't visited her, at least as far as the hospital registry shows." Grayfia interjected.
"I feel he may be intentionally delaying healing her." Sirzechs nodded. "Which… Well, I can't fault him for it. Considering Serafall's bond to Sona-san, and with Sona-san now engaged to Momon-san… It is no stretch to assume that Serafall might be somewhat irate with Momon-san once she learns of Sona's engagement."
"She was present in the engagement ceremony, no?" Grayfia noted.
"I doubt she realized where she was, considering what state she was in…" Sirzechs sighed as he moved to pat Serafall's hand. "We have the peace conference in less than a week from now, and I'm already busy enough trying to get it arranged in Kuoh… We can't afford to appear weak at a time like this. Grayfia? I'm sorry that I have to shoulder this to you, but could you request Momon to come and heal Serafall before her illness worsens?"
"I'll do my best." Grayfia curtsied a bit, and the maid-clothed woman moved away from the three Maous… and was stopped mid-step as Sirzechs grabbed her arm, pulled her close and kissed her before she realized what was going on.
Grayfia returned the kiss, but then pushed Sirzechs away. "A respected Maou kissing his maid in broad daylight, how inappropriate and lewd."
"I know. Be careful, Grayfia-chan." Sirzechs let his hand linger on Grayfia's for a while before letting her go.
"You're becoming such a bag of worries. It's adorable, but it has a time and place." Grayfia admonished Sirzechs before leaving.
Beelzebub adjusted his fake glasses. "Sirzechs-kun. What have I told you about death flags?"
"That you've watched too much anime from the human world." Sirzechs turned around and left the room as well.
.
.
Momonga finished his lunch with Rossweisse, feeling as if he had missed something crucial somewhere but nonetheless felt quite satisfied with the general state of affairs… except for Ddraig starting to return to his senses in Momonga's head.
"...Bad, not good, this is so not good… Bad touch, bad touch…" The dragon's babbling was marginally more sensible and the creature was lying on its stomach in the pile of gold. Nonetheless Momonga let the dragon lie.
"Hm… Koneko-san?"
"Purr… Nyah…" Koneko seemed to be content just purring and rubbing herself against the side of Momonga's pants, which in retrospect would contain the bag of catnip.
Momonga sighed and pulled the bag out, and then hid him putting the bag in his Inventory by placing the bag out of sight and opening the rift there.
He then lifted Koneko up by her armpits, and put her on his lap so she faced away from him. "Koneko-san… Wake up."
"N-nyaaah…"
Momonga scratched the girl's cat-ears as she seemed to regain some part of her rational self after the offending substance was removed from the plane of existence entirely.
"Um… I'm glad that my cookingsh was enough to sss- shatiate you, lord…" Rossweisse seemed to take Koneko's place as the intoxicated girl, however, as she slurred her speech and was lying against Momonga's side. "I-if lordsssship watssh… I c-cann s-shatiate you… s-shome other way thoo… in da bussshh nearbyyyhh…"
It seemed that the woman had absolutely no alcohol tolerance, but she was learning quickly as she had glugged down almost a quarter of a red wine bottle as opposed to passing out just after one glass earlier that day.
Koneko let out a shy 'nyaah' and then leaned against Momonga while curling into a ball.
"Hm… Koneko-chan… Wake, wakey…" Momonga hoped that calm, reassuring words would help Koneko snap out of her stupor as he scratched the back of her cat-ears.
The girl let out a slow, quiet 'mrrrow' and Momonga turned her head towards him while petting and stroking her cat-ears… and paused.
'...It's the same face as Ravel when I stuck 'it' to her from behind…' Momonga lamented the fact that Koneko had a small trail of spit running down from the side of her mouth while her lips were curled into an expression that was between a lewd smile and a grit of her teeth, and her yellow eyes seemed hazy and unfocused. '...Come to think of it, could it be that… I've actually...'
Momonga hadn't had the time to think about allocating his newly-acquired job and class slots nor the spell-slot in all the commotion, and he pulled up his 'character sheet' inside his head while feeling internal dread…
And saw that his 'job' slot had been used up and he had gained a level in 'Lover', while his 'class' level had gone to give him a 'level' in 'Actor'.
And neither were classes that Momonga could remember from YGGDRASIL. However, he could already tell why he had gained those particular 'classes'.
'...Oh.' Momonga felt like a student who thought he had aced a test, but it had come back as a severe failure.
Momonga let go of Koneko's cat-ears, causing the girl to let out a protesting meow. He pulled out the bag of catnip out of his inventory to distract her, as he wasn't in the state where he could trust himself to shake the girl from her stupor without it ending lewd in one way or another.
Koneko let out a satisfied purr and she rubbed the bag against her cheek.
Rossweisse batted her eyelashes at Momonga while trying to drag him towards a nearby bush from his arm, although she stumbled in a drunken manner and managed to flop on top of Momonga and Koneko, leaving two intoxicated white-haired girls in his lap.
"Hoo…"
'If you'll make a remark about this I'll go back to Gasper and we'll take another swim in the ink-lake.'
"-P-Please don't make threats like that, Momonga-s-sama…"
"L-lewd acts are not good… but I need taa… I need taaa gew pweggant… I'm sowwyy, nobwe kniwwht… forgib dis lewd m-maideeeenn..." Rossweisse muttered something incomprehensible as she seemed to fall further into her drunken stupor and was trying to snake her hand into Momonga's pants, but only managed halfway through before she passed out, blackout drunk.
'...Well, I suppose objective 'confront Koneko and have her use Senjutsu without becoming too spooked out while also not lewding her' was completed successfully… somehow…' Momonga sighed. 'Still, I wonder why Koneko was so afraid of just, well, going feral like that…'
Koneko, however, was in no mood to argue one way or the other as she cuddled against Rossweisse's unconscious body and looked like she took a nap while holding onto the catnip. 'I suppose I can ask her later… I think I should go and see Yubelluna and Xuelan next… Well, at least this gives me a good chance to ditch Rossweisse so I should be clear of Odin's spying...'
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