If Noire’s marriage really is part of Rowling’s plan to stage a coup, then it would actually explain why he wanted so much control over what she could do during the dungeon crawl. The time limit to complete it, who should escort Noire, why Rowling had Gabriella and Tyvera watch over her as ‘bodyguards’, and why he had Konjiro play ‘mediator’ to oversee the quest’s proceedings. Rowling wanted multiple eyes to observe Noire’s movements and react accordingly, making sure it all comes back to his plan of marrying her. Noire said she’d have a message sent to her father about questioning the proposal, but if Rowling managed to stop that from reaching him after hearing Konjiro’s warning, then it’s likely he already knows about my involvement in this quest. It’s possible that he currently sees me as an obstacle in his course, one that suddenly came from the sky and dropped right into the hole he needed to pass through and proceed with his plans.
Rowling currently knows who me and my party are now, aware of how I enslaved Tyvera and helped Noire catch Gabriella red-handed in this tight, covert operation. With Konjiro being the only pair of eyes left to observe proceedings, Rowling would surely try to plan how to eliminate me and my party while taking Noire back, or worse.
A witness … wait a minute.
“Tyvera … worked for Rowling while she was in the ‘Duke of Demons’ Disciples’ before she became my slave. Maybe she might have some input on this?” I asked aloud.
“She doesn’t,” Sue answered while shaking her head, “I actually tried talking to Tyvera last night while you and Umeiyon had dinner with Noire. It sounds like she and Gabriella were two of the few outliers who the others in the party tried to leave alone as much as possible. My guess for why is that those outliers have some association with the humans that the others don’t really approve. Their discrimination on humans is part of why they joined together for this coup in the first place. In fact, it’s because of this radical viewpoint that we believe they’re associated with a group who follows those same values that’s been going around these parts. Have you heard anything about this group that goes by ‘Chaos Barrage’?”
“‘Chaos Barrage’ …” Why do I feel like I heard that name before? I thought.
I nodded in understanding,
“… I might have heard of that group,” I said, answering Sue’s question, “I’d have to look into that further to get a better idea of who we’re dealing with, but that adventurer party’s name, the ‘Duke of Demon’s Disciples’, isn’t that named after ...”
Sue nodded, “The Duke of Demons, yes, who we suspect is the one leading the whole operation on the coup. He goes by Vask Willowing Astroth, who is proclaimed to be the second strongest demon in the kingdom. He hails from the Devil race like Her Highness does.”
Hm … a duke using underhanded means to take the throne. I’ve read similar plots like this in manga and light novels, so it isn’t the strangest thing I’ve heard of. Still, if this is the second strongest demon in the kingdom ...
“You don’t need to worry about crossing swords with him,” Sue said, reading my thoughts, “Once we find some tangible proof that will link back to him, Her Highness will deliver due punishment to him and his cohorts personally. All you need to do is find some dirt on any of the people Vask associates with.”
I scratched my head in thought, “I can understand how they might have some dirt, but you’re asking someone who’s not even from this country to dig it up. Would I need to break into a noble’s home, putting myself at risk for arrest, to find this evidence?”
Then again, considering what Rowling might try to do with me, I may as well be considered heavily involved already, and in the case of him being out of the picture because of me, won’t Vask come after me next?
“It doesn’t have to be an inanimate object to expose them. If you can convince an influential person from inside the group enough, their testimony could be strong enough to blow this case wide open. This is where I think you will shine brightest,” Sue said as she lightly traced a finger down my torso, “With your level of charm towards demons, specifically the females, I’m certain you’ll make someone break down enough to confess their life story for a good time in exchange.”
“You want me to seduce someone to spill the beans …” I trailed off.
“I should probably mention that even though this is a proposal, even if you do accept, nothing bad will happen if you fail,” Sue said, “I don’t even expect you to have something ready before you go on your quest tomorrow. It could be after your quest is done and you coincidentally come across something worthwhile on your way over to Korangar. If needed, I have intel on other people who may contribute to the coup that we have a chance of crossing paths with on the way there. I just want to bring up something for you to keep in mind when an opportunity arises. ‘The Dark Wind’ are already working as we speak by watching our main targets from the shadows, finding an opportunity to take what they can get as physical evidence. I’m doing what I can to find it as well, but it would mean the world to me and Her Highness if you contribute to our cause.”
Even if I took my involvement with Rowling out of the equation, at this point, I didn’t see any reason for why Sue’s and the Demon King’s happiness would matter to me. I was basically getting stalked for reasons I don’t know about. Also, it seems the Demon King was going to use Sue to lead our party down to Korangar so I would eventually meet her. I imagine I wasn’t getting some of the answers I need to know now because the Demon King would rather tell them to me in person later. I suppose if it has something to do with me, I’d be more comfortable learning the truth straight from the source. Still, I didn’t like how the two of them were leading me on and getting other people involved, like Nyra having her memories misplaced.
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Though my [Intuition] told me how the majority of what Sue said up to now was the truth, I can’t guarantee that [Deception] would be the only thing that could fool such a skill. If I couldn’t see Sue’s status with my [Size Up], she would surely have means of blocking the effects of other skills toward her. The same could be said of Nyra reading the Arch Imp’s emotions, if it’s even possible to fake from the inside out.
With that in mind, I didn’t have a reason to fully trust Sue’s words. She could have decided to ‘open up’ and plead her case because she knew I was onto her. Maybe she thought she’d still be viewed as somewhat ‘innocent’ by looking guilty for what she’d done to us, or that she was only following orders from the Demon King. I’ve seen my share of people who wore these masks, one of them being Koyuki Jikan, the coworker who delivered the final stab that brought me to Raiza. I’d rather not put up with them anymore than necessary once I see a peek of what’s underneath their mask.
As much as part of me wanted Sue gone to make dealing with this easier, she would surely still follow the Demon King’s orders by other means, and I’m more worried about what she’d do when left alone. That’s partially why I brought up the idea of going places in pairs to my party should we separate, which is what I’ll be bringing up to Sue momentarily.
I took a moment to consider everything Sue had said up to now before coming up with an answer, “I’ll keep this proposal in mind, but know that all this has nothing to do with me or my party. If I’m doing it, it will likely be out of our own benefit instead of making you or the Demon King happy.”
If Rowling plans on taking me out just for getting involved with Noire, I’ll just have to fight back however I can. Maybe I can find this ‘evidence’ Sue and the Demon King are looking for so I can avoid unnecessary trouble. Whether it benefits them doesn’t matter to me right now.
Sue’s face that was bright with joy dimmed down from hearing my answer before she nodded solemnly, “I understand. Just please make sure that the people knowing about this are limited to us, your familiars, and your wife.”
“I’d rather not have the others involved as much as possible, so you don’t need to tell me twice on it,” I answered before furrowing my brow and crossing my arms, “Now, for my guidelines moving forward, there was a reason why I brought up forming pairs should we split up. No matter if our party is together or scattered, you will always be somewhere I can see you. You will not leave my side, you will not go anywhere without me, including the restroom and bath, I won’t even give you privacy if you need to change, which shouldn’t be a problem since I’ve seen you mostly naked anyway.”
“Y-You’re going to watch me … everyday?” Sue asked with a quiver in her voice. Her tail wagged erratically from side to side.
“Every. Day,” I emphasized, my face stern, “This includes the dungeon, whether they agree to let you accompany us or not. I know a way around it should the latter occur.”
“We will go about our travels to Korangar at my pace after the quest is done,” I continued, “If there’s any place you need to go, you tell me first, and I’ll consider whether it’s worth our time. Any questions?”
“Um … does that include sleeping together again tonight? A-And every night after that?” Sue stuttered, her tail still wagging with the same level of energy as earlier.
I nodded, “Yes, and I will not let you off alone in the middle of the night either.”
“O-Okay, fair enough, and … will you also still touch me like you did last night?”
I raised a brow, “Do you want to be touched like last night?”
“Yes,” she answered without hesitation.
Nyra reported.
“... I’ll have to think about that one,” I answered to Sue, keeping my face straight.
If Sue has anything going for her at this point, it was that bombing shortstack body of hers. I may not know how she altered my memories from last night, but I definitely couldn’t forget how incredibly cuddly her body was, possessing a powerful balance of softness, firmness, and perky elasticity. It was especially prevalent in her impossibly huge melons and buns. If I wasn’t so suspicious of Sue while on a schedule right now, I’d hold her in my arms and get handsy on her body for hours.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t giving Sue this much of a second chance because of that body and how cute she still is. I think that moment we shared together last night was more ingrained into my soul than I thought. If this turns out for the worse, I’ll take full responsibility for myself and my insatiable desires. Still, seeing Sue actually being excited for something I may not do while in the middle of an interrogation was really aggravating me. I wondered if she was really aware of her current position.
“Fair enough. I think I learned what I need to know on your guidelines,” Sue said, looking calmer, but still eager for what may happen tonight.
“Just curious of thought, but do you need to make regular reports to the Demon King? Do you have some method to contact her immediately?” I asked.
“Not … regularly, per se, but enough, I guess? And yes, I do have a method of long-distance communication,” she answered both questions.
Huh, she seemed troubled with how to answer the first question. Is she trying to hide how often she contacts the Demon King? But why? If she actually tries something while I’m not looking, I’ll have to catch her in the act and grill her ruler at the first chance I get.
“Alright, then I’m going to give you this one chance of privacy while I fill Ume and my familiars in on what’s going on,” I said with a finger up, “While I’m gone, you tell your king … queen, or whatever, that unless she’s willing to talk with me in the room with you, she won’t be hearing any more reports while you’re stuck with me, and that she’d better be prepared when I come for her.
“And this should go without saying, but I want to make this perfectly clear for you,” I said while placing a hand on Sue’s shoulder, digging all my fingers into her skin that made her wince.
I closed in on her personal space, my eyes directly on her amber ones, unflinching, with my tanto unsheathed and millimeters away from her neck, “If I see, hear, or even smell a hint of you doing anything like that to Nyra or the other girls in my party again, I swear to Goddess Obina that I’ll get into the Demon King’s castle with your head as my ticket inside, and I will expect more than a favor from her in recompense for your fuck-up. You make sure she knows that too. Understand?”
“C-Crystal, Jinma,” Sue answered with a tremble in her voice.
I released my death grip on her shoulder and sheathed my tanto, bruises were left on the spots where my fingers dug in. Just so nobody would get any funny ideas of me hurting Sue for no reason, I cast [Heal] on her shoulder. I was careful with not putting the weapon’s blade against her neck for the same reason.
I tried to calm down as I headed for the door without looking back, “You got ten minutes. Savor these last moments of alone time while you can.”
With that, I left the room and slammed the door behind me harder than necessary. I think I heard something from the door snapping and Kenaka was trying to ask me how things went, but I was too fixated in calming my nerves to give either of them my attention. I was especially bothered by the throbbing pain around my right eye-socket, of which I used my hand to cover it. With how cold that hand was, I hoped it would serve as a decent cold pack for the time being.
If it weren’t for her association with the Demon King, I probably would have cut her open and ended this problem swiftly. I really hope this doesn’t end up becoming a mistake … for all our sakes, including hers.