章 559: 69
After the War Chapter 17
The nausea caused by her being able to smell everything was not lessening. Lakyus sat at the end of the dinner table with a miserable expression while tearing into her breakfast that now was much more meat-oriented than before.
Additional aggravation came with the greatly increased hearing.
Every bite, every chew, and every sip of a drink was as distracting as someone hitting the table with a hammer. Worst of all, she couldn't call them out. They weren't doing anything wrong.
The tradition of eating breakfast together with her team was not broken after her transformation. The rest of the women ate as quietly as possible. Even the otherwise crude Gagaran was on her best behavior.
After not being able to take it anymore, she looked up from the plate with a quiet snarl.
"You'll get used to it after a while." Seeing her friend getting aggravated again, Keno said to her matter-of-factly.
"When? How long does it take?" Lakyus looked up, clutching the gold-covered fork tighter.
All the silverware had to be replaced with a golden one since silver now caused mild irritation even in her human form.
"It depends on you. Maybe a month, maybe more." Keno replied and took a sip from her coffee mug.
"A month!?" The fork, Lakyus was holding, snapped in half. "I can't live like this."
"Easy there. We don't want to call the Goddess to calm you down again, Evil Boss." Tia said hastily putting down the spoon she was holding and raising her hands.
"I won't… I'm not that angry." Lakyus said with a sharp inhale. "I just…" She didn't finish the sentence.
After another sharp inhale, Lakyus let out a long exhale with her eyes closed and then addressed the maid who was standing beside the table. "Can I please get another one?"
The young elven woman took out a fork from her front pocket and quickly replaced the broken one without saying a word.
"Thank you." Lakyus said with a faint smile. The maid was already scared of her recent outbursts as is. Taking out her frustrations on the poor woman would not do anyone any favors.
"I just…" she stabbed the piece of meat with a fork and cut off a small enough piece aggressively. "I need to figure out how to not be overwhelmed all the time."
"You can just drown your senses in sweets like Lady Ankoro." Tina remarked.
"Remember what happened last time?" Keno shut her down.
"I told you it wasn't because of sweets." Lakyus said with her face reddening.
"Tearing apart half of your wardrobe at three in the morning by accident? And it wasn't even a full moon." Keno said.
Before Lakyus could try to explain herself once again, a knock on the door interrupted them.
The maid let in one of the messengers, who wasted no time and started speaking immediately with a bow. "Lady Lakyus, Lady Neia calls for a meeting of all available apostles at noon. She wishes to know if your transformation has stabilized enough for you to attend?"
"Please inform Neia that I will be attending."
"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Gagaran, who was silent until now, asked.
"I can keep myself in control. I can't put my duties aside any longer." Lakyus dismissed her concerns.
Yet a nagging feeling that she might be too hasty crept up.
When noon came, she arrived at the apostle meeting hall with Tia and Tina as her guards, and after a polite greeting, sat down in her spot.
Most of the apostles were already present and chatting among themselves.
'Ugh, Gazef and Climb didn't wash long enough after their morning training.' Her senses started to torment Lakyus right away.
The mild stench of sweat at least was tolerable. In a sense, it was even beneficial as she could easily tell everyone apart by the faint traces of body odor.
But as usual, things needed to get worse. The moment Clementine entered the room, Lakyus clenched her hands into fists. 'Raw meat! She has eaten raw meat.'
Lakyus swallowed saliva and took a long breath and repeated a mantra. 'I am myself. I can control the rage within. The beast side of me is not going to take over.'
The recital of the words gave the necessary calming effect. While the Apostle of Murder took her seat and exchanged a few words with Zesshi, Lakyus repeated the mantra a few more times until she was sure the wolf side would not come out in an explosive manner.
Finally, with the arrival of Renner and Neia, the meeting began.
Unfortunately, it was one of those long and tedious ones with everyone discussing small technicalities of how Earth's takeover would go.
Her own part was not fully devised yet, save for the full takeover and reorganization of various charity institutions, which would only start when the takeover of the other world was made public.
Despite how boring the meeting was, her upbringing as a noble lady prevented her from dozing off like Clementine or working on some side project like Nfirea.
When the official part was over, the Apostles mingled among themselves to either discuss mutual projects or just catch up. Lakyus was about to leave when the last person she wanted to speak with approached her.
Renner sat down in the empty chair beside her and turned to face her.
"Congratulations on ascending beyond a mere human." Renner said with a smile. "It's thrilling to be so much more, isn't it."
Lakyus did her best to not snarl at her former friend. "Did you need anything?" She asked, trying to sound polite.
"Can't I approach an old friend without any ulterior motive?"
'Friend? She dares to call herself my friend!?' The monster had tossed her aside the moment she wasn't of use and only started to pay any attention to her when she came in service of her Goddess. 'I should wipe that fake smile off her face!'
"You forgot all about me when you became a demon. I was nothing more than a tool to you." Lakyus said bitterly.
"And now we both serve the Gods you wanted to fight. Tell me, would you have been a friend to me if you knew the real me? I did let glimpses through, you just chose to ignore them." Renner replied, her tone growing colder.
"I would have fought the crown for you, and you…" Lakyus snarled and dug her nails into the table as they grew ticker and more clawlike.
"I did enjoy your company. Let's make bygones be bygones and start anew." Renner said, leaning closer. "We both are monsters now."
'Monster!? I'll show you a monster!' Lakyus took a swipe at the former princess' face, letting her wolf side take over.
Renner's eyes widened as she barely managed to dodge the attack.
Before anyone even understood what was going on, Lakyus had tackled Renner to the ground in her werewolf form.
But before she managed to do any damage, Renner transformed into her natural winged serpent form and pushed her opponent off.
Lakyus hit the massive table, shattering one corner of it, and without any delay lunged at Renner with a growl.
As both former friends exchanged blows with bestial ferocity, the onlookers finally realized what was happening.
Climb was about to jump in the middle of them but Gazef and Pavel grabbed him.
"Don't be stupid, you'll just die." Gazef shouted at the boy.
"But we must get them apart!" Climb shouted back, struggling against the grip of both men.
"And we will." Neia had snapped out of her surprise. She quickly waved over Zesshi. "Grab Lakyus, I'll take Renner!"
Considering the massive level difference, Zesshi easily grabbed Lakyus and held her off like a small puppy while the werewolf raged at both her and Renner.
Neia, meanwhile, held back Renner, who in her natural demon form, was just as aggressive and tried to stab her opponent with the spike at the end of her snakelike tail.
"Let me go, that bitch tried to kill me!" Renner shouted, getting an aggressive howl from Lakyus.
"Calm down! I don't know what you said to provoke her but you, unlike her, are in control of yourself right now." Neia scolded her peer, addressing Nfirea right after "Put Lakyus in some sort of stasis or calming state."
"Fine! Fine." Renner hissed and slowly reverted back to her human form while Nfirea cast a sleeping spell on Lakyus. It took four attempts for the spell to have enough of an effect to knock out the enraged Apostle of Protection.
Once she was sound asleep, Tia and Tina carried her off to their quarters.
‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›
Renner entered her God's office, leaving Climb in the hallway. The incident was reported to everyone, including the Emperor himself, and now Lord Ulbert wanted to see her.
She immediately bowed and waited for Ulbert to speak.
"Just sit down." Ulbert said impatiently.
Renner followed orders and sat down in the guest chair while holding her hands.
"Lord Ulbert, it wasn't my intention to start a conflict with Lakyus. My goal was to end the animosity with her." Renner spoke with her voice shaking.
Ulbert stared at her in silence as color slowly drained from Renner's face. "I wanted to use her vulnerable mental state to befriend her again. A feud between Apostles could cause long-term problems, so I used, in my opinion, the most opportune moment to fix the situation." She continued to explain her reasoning.
When Ulbert still didn't say a word, she just looked down at her hands and sat in silence as well, trying to not fill her head with scenarios on how to proceed.
"You know what happens when Ankoro gets upset with something? For example, her still unstable Apostle being provoked into a fight." Ulbert finally spoke in a low cold tone.
Without waiting for her response, he continued, "Buku inevitably finds out. And when Buku finds out her best friend is unhappy she does everything to either make her happy again or retaliate against the offending party. In which case it would be you and me by proxy. Do you think getting cut off from access to Nazarick's armies benefits us?"
Renner sat silently waiting for how she would be punished for such a stupid mistake.
"I'll make it clear to you. If Buku is out for your blood, I'll let her squeeze you quite a lot before stepping in to save your ass."
Even if she wanted to respond she couldn't as Ulbert kept her unable to move. After what felt like an eternity, the silence was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Without waiting for a response, the door opened.
Renner felt Lord Ulbert's hold on her fading and she turned around to see who was coming. 'Lady Ankoro!' She noticed the werewolf first with Lakyus partly hiding behind her Goddess's back.
"It's good to see you despite the circumstances. Let me start by apologizing for my subordinate's actions." Ulbert stood up and motioned at the seats.
"It's nice to see you too. B-but it was Lakyus who attacked." Ankoro replied while sitting down with Lakyus following her example.
"Although Renner's intentions to repair the friendship were genuine, the poor timing of her actions is what caused the incident." Ulbert shook his head. "That said, it would be beneficial for everyone if some sort of solution is found. We can't have our Apostles at each other's throats. Don't you agree?"
"A-absolutely." Ankoro nodded. She nervously shifted as she first glanced at Renner and then at Lakyus both of whom were pale as snow. "L-Lakyus can you be civil with Renner?" She asked her Apostle.
"I will try my best, Lady Ankoro." Lakyus responded quietly, avoiding Ulbert's gaze. Getting her mistress in trouble with the Emperor's right-hand man was the worst possible outcome of her inability to control her bestial side.
The few glances at her former friend told her that Renner likely was just as nervous but then again she was a good actress and maybe just pretended to be scared.
Ulbert, seemingly satisfied with her answer, turned his attention to Renner giving her a nod to speak.
Renner immediately stood up, bowed towards her and Lady Ankoro, and spoke with, at least on the surface, sincere regret. "I apologize for the trouble I have caused. If Lakyus is not interested in restoring our friendship, I will keep a polite distance and interact only about work-related matters."
With both Gods satisfied with their answers Lakyus and Renner were sent out of the office so Ulbert and Ankoro could discuss topics meant only for the ears of Gods.
Lakyus took a deep breath and leaned against the wall waiting for Ankoro. Mistress likely would still be upset and likely would want her company afterward.
Renner meanwhile had a hushed conversation with Climb. The short exchange ended with Renner kissing him on the lips and sending him off. She then turned her attention back to Lakyus, walking towards her at a slow pace.
"I made a promise to control myself around you." Lakyus said, looking away.
"I have no intentions of antagonizing you. It would only make my job difficult if I did." Renner replied.
"Now what?" Lakyus asked.
"I'll leave the decision of what form our future relationship should take to you," Renner said with a sincere smile and teleported away.
'Why should I give that monster another chance? She lied to me.' Lakyus let out a frustrated sigh. Her mistress was a kind Goddess who wanted for everyone to be happy and enjoy life. A Goddess who firmly believed in second chances.
'I should have seen her true side. Her brilliant mind was not appreciated by anyone in her family. She didn't even have any friends besides her bodyguard Climb and me. Maybe I am just as at fault as anyone else that Renner turned into what she is now?'
Could she really blame the princess for turning to the new Gods and betraying everyone? After all, they not only gave her what she truly wanted but let her be herself.
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