บท 233: Aftermath

Several hours after the conflict with the church ended, Alex and the rest were relaxing in one of the spare rooms in the Dukes manor. They were resting for the night before resuming the treatments thanks to the fact that Kaori and Asia were able to relieve the symptoms that people were suffering from in mass, prolonging the time until their condition was once again fatal. When one thought about how there were already even adventurers that had left to collect Serene Stone, the entire disaster now seemed like it was already behind them and they were simply cleaning up the last of the mess. Currently while also relaxing, everyone was waiting for the Dukes servant to return after leaving to make the room arrangements for the night, while the Duke himself was still dealing with the high priest and the temple Knights. A moment later the duke himself walked in and was about to say something, but froze when he saw them there, or at least Alex.

"Is there news?" Alex asked nonchalantly, which made the Dukes brow twitch in annoyance. Currently Alex was sitting on a couch while having Anne and Asia clinging onto each side of him, while Koneko took her long time seat on his lap. He was pampering them a bit since they had been working so hard the past several hours, but everyone couldn't help wondering who was pampering who, coincidently Kaori and Valerie were doing the same thing to Hajime and Gasper. After taking a deep breath, the duke started discussing what he came to tell them.

"We've set aside rooms for all of you to use while staying in Ankaji, but maybe more of you will end up sharing than we thought? Plus I already dealt with the high priest and the others from the church, so there shouldn't be any more issues while you're here." While ignoring the quip he made about their room arrangements, everyone's eyes sharpened when he mentioned the people from the church. Seeing their interest the duke explained,

"I had the high priest and the captain of the temple Knights executed and their heads mounted on the city gate; meanwhile the two hundred temple Knights were given a choice, join the high priest and captain in execution or be given a chance to work off their crimes for ten years." Shizuku tilted her head in confusion at the Dukes words and asked,

"Is that a normal punishment in Tortus?" The duke smiled mischievously and answered,

"No, but I'm planning to have a serious discussion with the various slave owners in the city in order to grant the goddess's wish for peace between her children, now there's two hundred able bodied men who it'd be a waste to simply execute." Everyone nodded in understanding as they realized the duke was planning to use the temple Knights to ease the burden of suddenly losing their slave workers. After telling them the layouts of their rooms, the duke then took his leave to deal with his seemingly never ending supply of work. After he left everyone didn't go immediately to their rooms, but instead resumed the conversation they were having before the duke arrived.

"So Asia, Valerie, and Gasper are challenging the next labyrinth with us as well?" Anne asked Alex curiously. Alex nodded and replied,

"The next age of gods magic is really useful for healing so I want them to be able to have an alternate form of healing just in case, and Gasper didn't want to be left behind by Valerie. Instead of going through when someone else does for training I figured why not just have them go through with us, but we'll still have to stop at Myuu's hometown Erisen first." Grayfia then asked,

"Is this one only good for healing, or can it be applied to other uses as well?" Alex nodded and explained,

"This age of gods magic is called 'Regeneration magic' and it actually allows one to reverse time to an extent. It's initial application is reversing time on a wound to heal it, but as we become more proficient with it then we should be able to apply it to other uses as well." Everyone then started talking amongst themselves excitedly at the concept of being able to reverse time, even though some ideas they mentioned were a little out there. At that moment Kuroka piped up,

"But Shirone will return to Asora once we're done here at Ankaji~Nyan. After all a great labyrinth is no place for someone in her condition." At Kuroka's words everyone turned towards the white haired girl sitting on Alex's lap, or more specifically towards her belly.

"I still can't believe you didn't tell me Koneko! Aren't we friends?" Gasper whined at her as he had just learned that day that she was pregnant along with Asia and Valerie. Koneko rubbed her belly lightly before saying,

"... I cheated by using my mating season to get pregnant before almost everyone else, so I didn't want to say yet." Everyone just sighed at Koneko's words as they never considered her mating season "cheating", though maybe it was a bit unfair. Alex smiled as he wrapped his hands around her and also started rubbing her belly gently. He was conflicted since he ultimately wouldn't see his children as often as he would want in the future due to whatever was going on in the world he was in, but he would try to make up for it whenever he could. They then continued discussing their plans and various other things, until Asia let out a cute yawn that alerted everyone to how tired she was and how tired they all were. After Koneko moved to let him stand, Alex said to everyone,

"A lot happened today, so everyone go and get some sleep for now. I'm gonna return to Asora and check on things there as well as Myuu since I didn't get a chance to earlier." Everyone nodded in affirmation at Alex's words, while also understanding he intended to go check on Gabriel as well. After escorting the women to their shared room for the sake of appearances, Alex then disappeared into the mist.

***

"Gabriel..."

"..."

"I said there was no other choice, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to clean the oasis."

"Hmph. I'm not talking to you."

Alex could only shake his head while everyone who was watching the scene couldn't help but giggle. Alex was currently trying to pacify Gabriel who was upset she had to be 'Goddess Gabriel' again due to her devotion towards God of the bible. Though she had long understood the reasons she needed to act like a goddess, that didn't mean she liked it. He was about to try something else to pacify her when there was a sudden pattering of steps and Myuu ran into the room while wearing a nightgown, indicating she was getting ready for bed when she heard he arrived.

"Papa!" She cried out as she immediately ran over and jumped into his lap. Alex smiled at seeing her and said,

"Myuu, have you been having fun here in Asora?" Myuu nodded excitedly and started telling him about everything she saw and the people she met while here.

"First Kunou and Millicas took me to this shrine where I met an actual God! But not a scary or mean one like the people worship back home. Then auntie Yasaka took us on a walk and we actually went to the ocean!" As Myuu excitedly recounted her adventures in Asora to Alex, everyone in the room couldn't help but think of how adorable the scene was and imagine Alex with their own children in the future. Even Gabriel stopped her pouting and after watching him interact with Myuu for a bit, started rubbing her swelling belly with anticipation and a contented smile. This didn't go unnoticed by the other women as they gave her looks of jealousy so intense it was like they were trying to bore a hole in her. Soon Myuu's stories were interrupted when a mature fox woman entered the room along with her daughter.

"Myuu I know you're excited to see your papa, but shouldn't you also be getting ready for bed?" Myuu started pouring as she wanted to spend more time with Alex after being away for over a week, but Alex just kissed the top of her head and said,

"Listen to Yasaka, soon you'll be able to join us and we'll be going straight to your home to see your mother." As Alex mentioned her mother Myuu instantly stopped pouting and said,

"Ok! I'm going to sleep right now so I can see her faster!" After giving an adorable fist pump Myuu immediately leapt off of Alex's lap and took off after Kunou to prepare for bed. Yasaka giggled and was about to follow when Alex said,

"Hold on a second Yasaka, there's something I wanted to ask you." Hearing the seriousness in Alex's tone she closed the door behind her so that Myuu and Kunou wouldn't overhear, and Alex said,

"We'll be in Ankaji dealing with the situation for a couple more days but then we'll be moving straight on towards Erisen which is Myuu's hometown. It is also the home of the demihuman Dagon race which are protected by the kingdom for the sake of gathering seafood. While we're there I want you to negotiate with the chief of the dagons regarding moving them to Asora. I think this would be the best way to establish a permanent seaside town that'll also be able to produce seafood, though we won't be as demanding as the people of Tortus." Everyone was silent at Alex's words as they realized he was discussing another race's migration to their home. Yasaka was also silent for a second before asking,

"While I don't mind, why me?" Alex then explained,

"Because you'll be easier for them to trust and Myuu already knows you. The Dagon race will be very distrustful of humans or any who resemble them due to the issues regarding Myuu, even though I'm not human I look close enough to it that there'll probably be a problem or two when we arrive. You on the other hand are a youkai, and look closer to this worlds Demi humans so they may be more willing to discuss such a topic with you. There's also the fact that negotiations may take a while and I'll have other things I need to do." Understanding that this was a job that would be significantly more difficult for others Yasaka agreed to Alex's request to negotiate on his behalf. She then however adopted a mischievous smile and said,

"I'll do it but I'll expect quite the repayment for this, and it'll probably take several nights before I'll be content." Alex also smiled in anticipation and said,

"I'm very much looking forward to it." She then left to put the girls to bed and Alex turned back to the girls around him before his smiled widened and he said,

"Well I'm tired so I suppose it's time for me to head to bed as well, who's joining me?" Though he said he was going to bed it was only after several sweaty hours that he fell asleep with Ravel, Akeno, Ingvild, and Roygun surrounding him.

***

Nyx groaned once more as she made her way up the stairs to that bastards room to clean it. Though she had been a maid/slave for a couple weeks now she was still far from getting used to this lifestyle of doing manual labor for others. One plus was that she didn't actually see Alex that often since he was busy in whatever world he was currently in, but she still had to deal with that hellish drill haired woman. While imagining what she would do to Ravel if ever given the chance, Nyx opened the door to Alex's room to clean it that morning only to find that her master had actually spent the night there for once.

"OH YES!"

"HARDER!"

Right in front of her Nyx got full view of the same woman she was just thinking about and three others getting drilled first thing in the morning by her master. Nyx's eyes were glued to the massive thing moving in and out of Ravel as she moaned and cried out in ecstasy, before Alex looked up at the one who entered his room and locked eyes with her. He then continued banging away while maintaining eye contact with the goddess of night. Nyx was suddenly fearful as a horrible thought entered her head and she immediately backed out the door and slammed it shut. Her heart was racing as she thought about how easily Alex could've made her join them if he wanted with a single order, regardless of her own intentions. Though she would never admit it to anyone, including herself, she felt some gratitude towards him for not giving her such orders, but only up until she ended up having to change the sheets that were being used for such purposes.