[James's Pov] - Back to the present time
"So, how long will it take until the essences are here? I'm about to have another breakthrough, so it would be nice if it didn't take too long..."
"Shut up! I don't know how long it will take! And why are you in such a hurry to get stronger? You have almost gone from [C]-rank to [B]-rank already, in just a couple of months! Isn't that enough?"
She did have a point. The progress that I had made during my little stay in the castle was pretty insane. At this point, I was rivaling even the strongest of the seniors at Ainu, barring just one or two outliers. If it wasn't because I was shunned by the allied races, I could probably have easily found a spot in the most prestigious guilds.
All of this was thanks to the power of money, combined with the fact that my body was seemingly incredibly good at absorbing mana. For some reason, I could easily devour more mana in a single day than most people could during a whole week.
"Well, there's no helping it, is there? You already know about my situation, don't you want me to get strong enough so I can leave you as fast as possible? Oh! Maybe you would miss me too much?! Is that it?! I'm so sorry Ezral! I wasn't thinking about how sad you will be when I'm gone!"
Although I was looking forward to seeing her having yet another tantrum, it seems like she didn't want to give me the satisfaction, instead just crossing her arms and looking at me like I was some sort of disgusting creature.
"Sure. Anyway, what are you going to do about that other thing? I mean, they are coming here next month. Are you sure you want to go to that dungeon just to meet them?"
Letting my head fall back, I stared into the ceiling for a bit, thinking about my answer. The people she was talking about were my former classmates, the ones I had personally made sure would come here for a final excursion during their school year.
It was no surprise that Mensch wanted to have a good relationship with Kurat, as the king seemed to think that unity was the only way for the allied races to survive. So, when Adrian, the king of Kurat, sent out a message stating that they would be glad to start working on diplomatic relations, with the beginning being an excursion for the students of Ainu, there was no way he could refuse.
A refusal would mean that he openly didn't trust Kurat, and if that was the case, future cooperation would prove a lot more difficult. So there was little to no choice for that armless king.
So I illustrated the whole visit through the use of my lovely Erzal. And why did I make them come here? Because I needed to make sure that the hero's side was developing fast enough that they wouldn't be overwhelmed by the demons.
"I will go there. If the information about the dungeon is correct, then everything will be fine. Though I have to say, it does warm my heart to know that you are worried about me."
With a small wink, that she couldn't see through my mask, I tried to lighten the mood again, but she didn't bite, "I'm not. For all I care, you can just go there and die. It is just that it would mean that all the work I put in to get you all those essences and resources would be in vain."
It was truly sad that the demoness seemingly hadn't grown too fond of me during our time spent together. In my mind, our differing races hadn't caused any problems at all. I didn't care if she was human, demon, elf, or a beastman, she was just a gorgeous lady that had tried to kill me. Several times.
Still, all of the things she had gotten me made more than up for those assassination attempts during our early days. Just like she said, it wasn't just essences that I had managed to get my hands on during my time here.
First of all, I had gotten another smartwatch, which was, supposedly, untraceable, and with it, I had gotten another bank account, which was now filled with the king's money. "I guess that's true... Though it hurts when you say it like that..."
"Bite me."
Scanning the body of the succubus, I had gotten kind of numb to her extreme charms. Even if my body still had a bit of reaction to seeing that inhuman beauty and seductiveness, my mind didn't care. Now, she was more of an elder sister that I liked to tease more than someone I would want to lay my hands on.
It was pretty surprising, seeing just how similar a demon was to the allied races. How the facial expressions worked the same way, how they also had tempers and habits. That was also one of the greatest gifts this time could have given to me.
Not only did I get all of these things, and a place to stay safe until I grew enough, Erzal was living proof that my thesis didn't just cover humans. Even demons were ruled by their own impulses, delusions, and convictions.
"Don't be like that Ezral... Did all those nights we spent together mean so little? Even that one time when you couldn't hold back your voice..."
*BAM!*
Once again, a huge jiggle went through her bouncy body, as she stomped her foot down. Her red dress was truly impressive, how it could withhold the absolute force that must have been generated from her chest.
"Shut up! Just because we slept in the same room doesn't mean shit! And that time... that time... you promised me you wouldn't tell anyone..."
After having spent a lot of nights together in this room, as I wasn't feeling too keen on walking out and about, risking someone seeing me and exposing my identity. Of course, I had slept in the armchair and she had slept on the bed. However, there had been one night when I woke up because of a very sensual voice ringing out in the room.
Turns out, succubus seemed to have problems of their own, with their body forcing them to go into heat every now and then. Obviously, that had ended in me getting to see something amazing, and her feeling the greatest shame of her life.
However, I wasn't such a degenerate that I would actually tell anyone. It was not that I felt elated to know that I was the only one in the world to have seen the succubus queen taking care of her needs.
A slight smile emerged on my face as I remembered the sights of her pitiful stature, sweating and panting, trying desperately to get rid of her little ailment. "Stop! Don't picture it! You pervert!"
Trembling with anger, it was almost to the point where I could see tears emerging from her eyes when she somehow understood my expression behind my mask. Unfortunately, there was no time for me to stay around and continue our little chat.
Showing that I was on my way by standing up from the armchair that I now called my home, I stretched a bit to get ready for yet another dive. After all, I couldn't let myself get too complacent just because I had a sweet sugar mommy that took care of my every need.
"You going out again? Please don't come back."
"Aww, don't say that. I'll be back soon, ready to get pampered even more!"
****
[Sophie's Pov]
"Hmm... it's an improvement, but you still don't have the fire that you did before... I guess it is good enough. I will allow you to go on the excursion."
"Thank you, sir..."
After two weeks of truly trying my best, or at least the best I could muster with my head still in the gutter, I had finally gained his approval to join the excursion to Kurat.
Although I didn't know why, there was some sort of desperation inside of me that had told me repeatedly that I had to go there, that something important was there. And that desperation had somehow made me at least able to perform a bit, although it was still not even close to the passion I had before the incident.
I couldn't help but be thankful to the person who had helped me through it all, the one I could now proudly call mine, which gave me such a feeling of absolute bliss that I almost began to think that there was something wrong with me.
Now, all that was left was to prepare with the groups that we had assembled, with mine being me, Arthur, Sarah, and Anna. Though I didn't personally care too much about performing during our dive, I knew that the others did. Therefore, I had already made it a point to make sure that I didn't drag them down.