Chapter 50: Chapter 5 - You can (not) negotiate
Although the night still held its power over Buranikka, Keyaruga never even dreamed of sleeping in such a moment of crisis and delight. The man, wearing nothing but trousers and boots, sat near Setsuna and Freia, they were both loudly napping on the field blanket, holding onto the healer's legs.
The red-eyed lad took it for granted. Both the sorceress and the she-wolf remained completely defenseless beside him, and the hero would never betray their trust. That courtesy extended toward the black-haired maiden, who spent her night in a weird sitting position, covering herself with her dark feathered wings in the corner of the room. All that time, Keyaruga kept a jade eye on her, glancing through the walls in case someone would find their way toward their small hideout. Should that happen, the saber of alloyed bulat and adamantine would strike down every one who would dare to disturb them.
"Hmm, she's quite capable, indeed. How the hell did she get to such a high level while still being so young and naïve?" The man murmured, gazing toward the very same girl he had struck down at the end of the first world. He… wasn't the only awake person there. "Hey, do you have any ideas, my pocket miraculous savior?"
That's right; even though the healer couldn't get a good look at the mysterious entity Takemikazuchi warned him about, he sometimes felt the warm hands resting on his shoulders at the moment. And that was the first time he tried to have a talk with it.
"…" Surprisingly, it... responded. Somehow. With a barely comprehensible noise in the hero's head.
"Kala… drius's blessing? Wait, you mean she was born with a high level? That's just ridiculous, even for a ma-zok. Even if it makes her a perfect candidate for a me-ua. Although… yeah, it doesn't explain how she survived all on her own without me. Maybe you know something about it?"
"…" The creature, clearly of divine nature, answered with a high-pitched telepathic shriek. Despite its form, it seemed quite… unambiguous.
"You could have just said `no` instead of `heck you`, you ghost giggle." Keyaruga sneered, fighting an urge to chuckle. "Listen, thanks for saving me. Thrice. That sword god said we'd meet soon enough. Suppose the time has come. Now, how can I thank you?" The lad inquired, giving a quick look toward all of his girls. Kelly included.
"…" The voice didn't ask much.
"Watch her back… and eat tasty meat? Hold on, are you… wait, are you somehow possessing me?"
"…" Just as the previous time, the spirit gave him an answer, even if it wasn't a full one.
"Oh, that's how? Anyway, I hope you like what you see through my eyes without tasting my pain, you little cheat." The hero grinned, imagining how the deity would react to his... usual sensual activities.
"…" As it turned out, the spirit completely ignored it. Instead, it was much more interested in the role that the healer played in the grand scheme of the celestial hegemons.
"Damn, you're so boring…." Keyaruga admonished, then proceeded to do a simple mana-shaping exercise, which made a small ball of whiteness dance in his palm. He had successfully stolen Eve's mastery of light magic. Or abilities, at least, because the maiden still has a long way to go toward mastering her own powers. The lad could replicate every skill listed in the Laws of Deimos, except for monsters', after all. "Tell me, have you been watching me since my shitty first attempt? What's your goal here? Do you know what that necromancy shit that Margurth pulled was all about? What-?.."
"!.."
"Well, fuck you too. If you want me to fight that thing, would you be so kind as to feed me at least some intel?" The healer pondered, double-checking the rune traps he carved all around the dilapidated home. Nothing seemed to be out of order. He was so moved that he extinguished the piercing gleam and lay down on the pillow.
"…"
"Not the right time, pff. More like you're just being a jerk." Keyaruga sneered, but before he could enjoy more of his gloating, another suppressed wail reached his ears. It was Eve. Unfortunately, even if the man could heal her wounds, his miraculous powers could do nothing to relieve the pain in her heart. "Hey, what's your name?"
"…"
"A pity. Nobody should forget how they're called."
"…"
"Sorry, friend. I'm terrible at naming. But I'll think of something."
"…"
"What, already leaving? Ghh, have it your way, then. I suppose we'll meet again, either way."
And so, after a seemingly inadequate talk with an imaginary guarding deity, Keyaruga finally let himself close his heavy eyelids. The day was long, and the next one didn't promise to be much easier, so the lad required clarity. The boy needed some rest.
…
And he got it. Quite a bit, actually. The man felt like he slept for two more hours than he usually does, but that didn't change much. Rather, Keyaruga got his chance to reflect on all his current predicaments. Especially since his mysterious companion (or parasite) had gone silent.
Eve Reese, the future queen of the entire Confederation, was in his hands, sleeping within three meters of him. But instead of her regal crimson dress, the maiden carried a worn-down purple rag in dire need of washing, her little shoes had at least a dozen of small holes in them, and the throne contender's forearms were covered under the tattered bandages. She… wasn't that powerhouse the Hero of Healing expected her to be. On the contrary, the lad had to deal with a small hunted girl with the whole army of enemies. Of course, they would either step away or die by Keyaruga's hands.
Yet, the question remained. Particularly, what allowed Eve to not only survive in the first world but also ascend to the Obsidian Throne of Kinacrith? Presumably, not `what` but `who`. And that `who` was about to make themselves known soon enough. Then… either the lad makes them his ally, or eliminates them as a threat to his new world. After all, who could guarantee they wouldn't use the clueless child for their own goals before destroying the Confederation from inside? In the end of a day, it was the inner tensions that allowed Norn a quick way towards the ma-zok kind's extinction. From the few memories Keyaruga actually read, Eve Reese's education proved rather… rudimentary in the face of what she would have to tackle.
"What're you thinking, master?" Setsuna asked, feeling her man's penis promptly softening in her mouth. Freia, by the way, had been loudly sleeping beside them.
"Sorry, I've been thinking of the other girl. But don't worry, I'll only be thinking about you now." The lad responded, giving his loyal companion a gentle pet on the head.
"Can you really see the future?" The huntress inquired, lying on Keyaruga's torso. While at it, her hand was rubbing his manhood, and the gray hair scratching his skin made the man shiver a bit.
"Yes. And no. That's complicated. The only thing I know for sure is that if left alone, Eve would die in four years, Tenanulic will cease to exist, and Jioral will become even stronger than it is now. Fuck me, if I let this happen."
"Uh-huh. That's why you sent Kureha away?" Setsuna wondered, raising her sweet face toward the healer's eyes. They were almost empty. For a couple of moments, his head swung like a pendulum, before…
"Enough of that, let's get you warm and happy."
Keyaruga smirked and pushed his willful slave onto her back. She shuddered out of surprise, but after that, a kind mirth overtook her lips. Setsuna grabbed her nipple with one hand, and the hero's rod with the other. A second later, the man plunged his salivated erected dick right into the she-wolf's hot vagina, which she had been rubbing in order to accept her master.
As Setsuna moaned and gasped, as her little yet sturdy body trembled with pleasure, Keyaruga felt his glutes shudder, his back pleasantly twitched, as the lad's hips time and time again rammed the ice warrior's sticky hole. With each second passing, the man was drowning in a shear wave of pleasure, coming from his crotch and spreading throughout the entire body.
"Keya… ruga…" The huntress moaned, reaching for the man's face. The latter couldn't resist. In a moment, his tongue passionately intertwined with Setsuna's. Everything was nice and smooth, just a few seconds remained until his coveted ejaculation, but then…
"Hey-hey-hey-hey! What're you doing here?!" Right when the lad came, Eve started yelling and throwing tantrums.
"Morning routine, nothing more. Now, cease your screaming, or you'll wake Freia up." The man sneered, gently putting Setsuna on the blanket. Not like she got tired or anything, but treating his girls like that filled Keyaruga's soul with a genuine warmth.
"Cease my screaming?! You've been… sutchuuim (fucking), and I'm to blame? Get out of here!"
"And go where, dolly? Are you suggesting we go beyond our protective wards and leave you defenseless just because you feel like it? You do know that's the only relatively sealed room here, don't you?" Keyaruga answered with a note of annoyance. He would have been much more imposing if not for the fact that Setsuna was cleaning his rod from their fluids while he was sitting still. "Also, don't think I didn't notice how you woke up ages ago. You like watching, right? That's fine, I like being watched."
"S… SHUT UP!!!" Eve dashed toward the door while covering her eyes with her fingers. Nothing could be seen at that point because the red-eyed lad had put on his pants and was pulling on his boots. And the huntress put on her fur robe (aside from her hair, there wasn't much to tie). "That's it! I know… You… You want to do the same to me!.."
"I won't. I never repress my women, nor do I make them do anything they don't like, so why would I force myself upon you?" The hero admonished, proudly patting Freia's butt. "Unless you ask me yourself, that is."
"Hm, never!" The throne contestant protested, pushing herself into the corner. Despite that, though, the maiden got pretty interested, even if her anxiety wouldn't allow her to admit it.
"Suit yourself." At that point, Keyaruga almost finished with his shirt. "Now, Setsuna, wake up Freia. It's time for training. Just don't wander off where I won't find you." The man spoke, remembering an embarrassing scene of Eve vomiting everything she ate the previous night. She wasn't complaining much about that, but the issue remained. The queen-to-be remained scared, troubled, and malnourished. And Keyaruga could help her with the latter, at least.
"Uh-huh. If Setsuna feels something off, we go back." The gray-haired girl replied. Then she went on to shake the lazy sorceress by her shoulders.
"Yeah, I'm relying on you." Keyaruga nodded, not even sparing a glance toward the princess.
"Ngh… What… Setty, what's going-?.. WAIT!!!" Barely did the Hero of Magic open her eyes; the pink-haired prodigy felt the smell of sex in the air. "How dare you! I said I'd be the first!"
"Don't know; don't care. You slept." The ice warrior shrugged, gleaming with self-satisfaction. "Don't worry, you have strength, and Setsuna will put it into your training." The huntress spoke coldly, literally pulling the magician by her collar. Whatever present her master prepared for her, the girl wouldn't miss it.
(https://preview.redd.it/fuye7k6m8p2a1.jpg?width=1444&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57d149e071f93af4b2ee9346fa3d8a485f850b23
SFW Illustration)
"Release me, or else I…
"Go on, try."
"Then, don't cry, when…"
"You already cry."
And so, both of them went out. Although Setsuna and Freia remained friendly enough, when it came to the lad and training, there was apparent tension between them. Of course, provided that rivalry allowed them to improve gradually, the hero didn't mind. He would step in if things got dire, but not before that.
"Karu okshine (this's so weird)." Ultimately, only Eve and Keyaruga remained under the roof, so the maiden exploited the chance to get a better look at her savior. "Keyaruga… You're Keyaruga, yes? What is that leather belt you're wearing?"
"Hm." The lad smirked at Eve's embarrassing attempt to start a conversation.
"My vest. Specifically made to sustain one's posture when you do heavy lifting. Some claim it's what makes their power grow, but it's not actually enchanted or anything. Why?"
"Just… wondered. About you, I mean."
"How interesting. Isn't there anything else I can do to enlighten you, then?"
"Yes… Are you good or bad?"
"Of course I'm good!" The man responded without a moment of delay or hesitation. "There's nobody better than me in that world. I'm a kind and disciplined knight, fighting for the peace of the whole world." The healer replied, barely holding back his laughter.
"Yeah, sure… Do you even have a patch of land, `knight`?"
"I do, actually." For a split second, the man raised his head and remembered his garden. In a way, he was the feudal lord of his own small county. "I'll get back there once my war is won."
"Sure…" Eve murmured in disbelief. "You know, Keyaruga, if life has taught me anything, it's the fact that anyone who boasts about being good is actually bad." The maiden said this while pointing her finger at the hero.
"This is where you're wrong, Eve Reese of kokuyoku. Words hold power. If I state my commitment to good, my thoughts will turn into ideas, and ideas are the basis for actions. My… mentor taught me that." Keyaruga revealed, as his thoughts turned toward Bullet Hashlant. The man he both hated to the core and respected in the same way. "There's also a point of relativism to be taken into account. For example, from the perspective of rikash gi, the gentlemen I kindly saved you from, I'm a bad person. But from Freia's and Setsuna's point of view I'm good. Let's just say, I'd like to see you in the latter category."
"Does all of your sophism make sense, or you're just trying to deceive me into believing you?" No matter how kind the man tried to appear, the black-winged heir saw nothing but a cruel, ambitious cutthroat in him. Too powerful to resist without a plan or place to run away, so she had to play along.
"I'm trying to persuade you into believing me, Eve." Keyaruga shrugged, making his way toward the half-rotten door.
"Where're you going?"
"Follow me, and you'll get your answers."
And she did. The dark-haired maiden cautiously followed the hero in his grandiose march toward… the dilapidated storeroom.
"Hello, Kelly." The red-haired lad greeted the raptor before taking one of the heavy saddlebags lying next to her. "Goodbye, Kelly."
"I still can't believe you ran while carrying this… beast." Eve pointed this out while petting the reptile steed, which mostly ignored them both.
"Soon, the girls will get back, hungry and tired. So it's up to me to feed them. Including you." The healer spoke up, preparing the cauldron. Inside, he would put some preserved monster meat, five potatoes, two carrots and a bunch of cabbage leaves and poured a couple liters of water he had on Kelly in case of emergency. Unfortunately, without a kitchen to operate in, the soup wouldn't look as good as it would otherwise, but even so, as the spark of fire emerged under the cauldron and the salt and spices landed upon the steaming surface of Keyaruga's new culinary masterpiece, Eve couldn't help but loudly gulp. The roof in that room had two big holes in it, so all the smoke effortlessly left the premises. It could potentially reveal the hideout, but in that case the foe would step into Keyaruga's territory, from which they would never leave alive.
"I didn't think you were that good of a cook." The black-winged maiden said.
"And why not? Without being able to take care of your gastronomical needs, your journey is doomed from the beginning. And judging from your thinness… Either way, you can't be happy and healthy." The lad shared a part of his enthusiasm, stirring his soup with a metal ladle. "Although there's one more thing to that."
"Which one?" Eve pondered, circling around the hot kettle. The maiden barely held herself from grabbing the hot chunk of metal. She was that hungry.
"Sex." Keyaruga smirked, giving his new companion a moment to process what he said. And when the black-winged girl did…
"Grrraa!.. Why you-?.." …her face turned to a shade of a fine, ripe tomato. "How can you be so vulgar?"
"It just means `vernacular`, so it's not even an insult." The healer parried with a sinister smile. He knew that type — someone who's been so severely beaten by life that they won't open their hearts that easily.
Whatever the case may be, the more fun it will be when you remove your mask, my precious, hard-to-get queen.
"W-why… are you pushing that far?" The kokuyoku scion asked, rubbing her forehead.
"I just want you to understand one thing, Eve Reese. If you do join us, me, you, and my girls would have to spend our time together almost all the time. That demands trust. Even if you're yet to give your answer, we don't wish to hide anything from you. That would only make things worse for either of us." Keyaruga elaborated, feeling the crust of mistrust slowly crumbling from the maiden's heart.
"I see… You may be scum, but at least you're honest. That's enough for now."
"Good for you." The Hero of Healing shrugged off the insult. "Anyway, you're practically our new comrade, so get comfortable. The breakfast is almost ready."
After that, the man got busy for a while. While the soup cooled down, waiting for two others, the lad did what he could to make at least a somewhat bearable table out of the scraps and nails he could find around. Not the hardest task for someone capable of bending steel with his bare hands, but quite tricky and tedious. Especially when it came to cleaning the premise of dust and dirt. But this had to be done.
Then, in around twenty minutes, Keyaruga sensed the disturbance in his barrier, Two charming ladies entered his territory; both looked pretty battered. Freia even had to use the greenish gel on her right cheek to treat the bruise. In other times, the hero would find it hilarious; now, though, he finds the princess' fighting spirit quite charming. Setsuna avoided such a beating, but it seems her ego got stomped instead.
"Keyaruga, listen!.. I beat her, for the first time!" The sorceress remained pretty elated despite everything. Her friend, though…
"She cheated." The huntress looked dissatisfied. Even if that was a fair result of her training the cocky princess.
"You too tried to backstab me, so consider it a step forward. Now, go on, grab a seat. Sorry, though, our little friend couldn't help herself." Keyaruga invited his girls to sit beside him while pointing at Eve. The latter was eating up her dish like there was no tomorrow. The metaphor was justified, though. So much so, that…
"Hey, Keyaruga, I think…"
"Uh-huh."
Yes, even though Freia and Setsuna were dying for a fine meal, they couldn't help but notice a quiet whimper from the other side of the table.
"Eve, are you crying? What's wrong? Are you in pain? Have I messed up my soup?" The lad, in no small part, got pretty worried for the girl. And the flashbacks from the erased past didn't help.
"N-no, it's… It's okay, Keyaruga. I just… Mero cooked me the same… And now he's dead… All my friends, mom, dad… UA-A-A-A-A-A!!!"
Ultimately, the black-winged maiden burst into a loud and hysterical cry. The damage was done, and almost no power in the world could repair it. But at least she had someone who would protect her now. A mighty hero and two of his lovers, both unceremonious and daring, yet... All Eve needed was a little bit of company.
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