Chapter 42 (1/2)

It was a little after midnight. The only light in my room came from the monitor of my PC, and my face probably looked pretty spooky in its light as I frowned at it in dissatisfaction.

Ugh, fine. I might as well be honest here and admit that I wasn't really frowning at the screen; I'd been doing that for a while even before I turned on the PC. The reason behind my sour mood was actually quite simple, and it was related to a certain lovely yet decidedly naggy girlfriend of mine. She was pretty angry at me when I returned covered in blood, but after I cleaned up and I let her confirm that I was unharmed (or at the very least I had no more injuries than before I left) she calmed down a little.

That calm before the storm naturally lasted precisely until the moment I explained to her that I would be accompanying the weird huntress and her even weirder sword on starlit strolls through the most scenic and romantic parts of the city every night from now on. Her words, not mine, and from that it was easy to understand why I was currently feeling more than a little down. Some might say it was our first outright lover's quarrel, but the way she left, it felt more like a lover's cold war, which was not nearly as benign or amusing.

Anyhow, I shook my head and put the topic aside for the moment. I was sure I'd have to come back to it when I tried to convince Judy that my interest in Rinne was about far from romantic as Proxima Centaury, but for the time being, I had more important things to do. Such as replying to the message right in front of me.

”Admin: Are you serious? No Research Society activity whatsoever?”

After I typed that into the chatbox, it took less than three seconds for someone to respond.

”Morosemoose: I was surprised too.”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: THEY MUST BE AFRAID OF THE ARCHMAGE OF THE ISLAND TOO! ＼(º □ º l|l)/”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: I WOULD KNOW, I LIVE HERE! HE IS SCAAAAARY!!! ( ≧Д≦)”

”Morosemoose: Yeah, I know. The man has a reputation for not tolerating anyone else on his territory.”

”Admin: Are you sure we are talking about the same guy?”

”Morosemoose: Pretty sure? The post of the arch-mage is one for life.”

”Admin: That still makes no sense. His 'territory' has a mansion full of Draconians in it, and he was making sneaky deals with the Abyssals.”

”Admin: Plus, I've heard from a first-hand source that the Research Society was not only on the island, but he's in contact with them.”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: WUT MATE!? SERIOUSLY!!!??? ∑(O_O')”

”Morosemoose: I'm a little skeptical too. I've never read anything about that on the forums.”

”Admin: You must've heard of the incident at the School a few weeks ago.”

”Morosemoose: … Yes?”

”Admin: Did you think the Abyssals causing a ruckus materialized out of nowhere?”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: HE GOT YOU THERE! (─‿‿─)”

”Morosemoose: To be fair, the mages clamped down on the island pretty hard after the incident, so it's obvious I would be out of the loop. I'm not even on Critias.”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: BUT I AM! I AM RIGHT HERE! (Oω<>

”Admin: And you didn't provide a single report to the database about what happened.”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: SOWWWY…

⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄”

”Morosemoose: Actually, how do YOU know about what happened over there?”

”Admin: I just told you, I have an informant with first-hand information on the events.”

”Morosemoose: One of ours?”

”Morosemoose: I've read there was an asset involved in what happened.”

”Admin: No, not her. Let's just say it's a third party not directly affiliated with us.”

”Morosemoose: ... Is that safe?”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: YEAH!! BE CAREFUL, ADMIN!!!!!!!”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: THE HIGHER UPS ARE ALLERGIC TO OUTSIDERS! (ó﹏ò｡)”

”Admin: Don't worry; my source of information is about as reliable and confidential as I am.”

”Morosemoose: Then why didn't you add the info you got from them to the database yet?”

”Admin: Because first I have to come up with a reasonable explanation for how I received the intel in the first place.”

”Admin: I don't want to appear compromised to the higher-ups either.”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: DON'T WORRY BOSS-MAN!!!!”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: IF YOU GET BUSTED, I WILL TAKE CARE OF YOUR ASSISTANT FOR YOU!!! (❤ω❤)”

”Admin: I won't be, but even if I somehow was busted, you better not.”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: (｡T ω T｡)”

I let out a small sigh and readjusted my posture in my seat, and after some hesitation, I also patted down and lightly massaged my injured side. It didn't really hurt per se, but it was itching like crazy, and I didn't dare to actually scratch it lest I would accidentally tear off some scabs and ruin all of Snowy's hard work. The kneading didn't help a lot, so I diverted my attention back to the screen instead.

”Admin: That aside, have you guys found anything related to my other query?”

”Morosemoose: About the woman with the Japanese sword?”

”Morosemoose: I tried to PM some guys I know, but they didn't answer yet. Nothing on my end, sorry.”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: OH! OH! I ACTUALLY HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU!!! (´｡• ω •｡`)”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: I FOUND THIS IN THE ARCHIVED POSTS! I’M SENDING IT OVER!!!! ⊂( ･∀･) 彡=͟͟͞͞ ⌧ ”

A few seconds after he wrote that, there was a new notification about a message in my PM box. I opened it, and it contained a single link pointing at one of the archived forum threads of the Hub's slightly more public section, where the average Celestial users, plus some of the more socially active agents, congregated.

I quickly skimmed what was written there, and it turned out to be a fairly straightforward back-and-forth discussion between a handful of users about an encounter one of them had in the past. It was in that user's posts where the keyword 'Onikiri' appeared in relation to… wait for it… a secret clan of demon-hunting ninjas. Yes, I'm dead serious.

From what little information the posts provided, it appeared that they were an off-shoot of some kind of minor, neutral supernatural faction based in the Far East. There was no mention of sentient swords in the discussion, but Onikiri was mentioned as some kind of sacred weapon used for hunting demons, youkai, and whatever other supernatural nasties they came across. If we are at that, apparently the 'clan' mainly consisted of a handful of individuals centered around the current generation's wielder of Onikiri, and when they ran out of monsters to slay in the area they currently occupied, the entire clan would move on to greener pastures.

In conclusion, they were nomadic, monster-exterminating, highly visible ninjas. At least that was new. It would also explain what Rinne was doing here. Or rather, it would clarify some of her motivations, as I already knew she was here to hunt the stray Chimera. Speaking of which, I made a mental note to ask her about where she learned about the Chimera in the first place, as unless this clan of hers had some pretty amazing intelligence network, she showed up too fast for my liking. My bet was on the Arch-mage once again, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and ask anyway. Not that he deserved it.

Anyhow, since it was just a short discussion with some dead links strewn in for good measure, I didn't learn a lot, but it was still better than nothing.

”Admin: It's second-hand information, but it seems trustworthy enough to act as a starting point.”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: HE-HE-HE! DON'T WORRY ADMIN! I ALREADY HAVE ANOTHER LEAD!! (￣ω￣)”

”Morosemoose: You do?”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: YUP! I KNOW A GUY WHO KNOWS A GAL WHO KNOWS A GUY WHO SHOULD KNOW AAAAAAALL ABOUT THEM!!!”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: I WILL ASK MY CONTACT TO INTRODUCE ME, AND THEN I WILL INTERROGATE HIM ALL SECRET AGENT LIKE! COOL, HUH? o(>ω

”Admin: Yes, yes, very cool. Good luck with that, and thank you for your hard work.”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: I WAS PRAISED!! YAY!!!! ଘ(੭ˊ꒳ˋ)੭✧”

I let out a shallow sigh and stretched my back. Maybe it was because of my superficial injuries that were not a big deal at all in any way, but I was already feeling uncomfortably numb in my seat even though it's been less than an hour since I sat down. Because of that, and since it didn't seem like they could show me anything new, I typed:

”Admin: I suppose that's it for today. Thanks for the help, guys.”

”Morosemoose: You're welcome, though I couldn't help much.”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: YOU ARE WELCOME, ADMIN!!”

”W1NG3D N1NJ4: I WILL GO TO BED NOW. I HAVE LECTURES IN THE MORNING. BYE-BYE!!! (￣ρ￣)..zzZZ ”

”Admin: Sleep well.”

”Morosemoose: Goodnight. I should also hit the sack. I had a long day at work.”

”Admin: Do that. Admin, out.”

”Morosemoose: Bye.”

With that brief exchange of farewells over, I closed the Celestial Hub and immediately stood up. It only took a few seconds for my vertical orientation to get my blood to flow all nice and proper, and once my joints were no longer stiff, I decided I might as well go for the whole mile and do some light exercises.

I did just that, starting with a few pushups, but I was always an avid advocate of multitasking, so I didn't let my minds stay idle while my body was moving. For a start, I decided to check on Rinne. I went through a lot of trouble to mark her, so I figured it was about time I capitalized on my efforts. I used my Far Sight without any further delay, but much to my disappointment, I found her quietly sleeping under a pile of blankets in what looked like a modest motel bedroom.

In retrospect I don't even know what I was expecting; it was well after midnight after all. Nonetheless, being cautious was my current motto, so I observed her for a short while, just to be sure before I moved on to the others on my roll call list. The members of our merry little gang were also all in dreamland, so there was nothing to see or say on that front either.

As such, I moved on to our irritating antagonists, starting with everyone's favorite(sic!) asshole Abyssal lord… who was still laying in his bed doing his best dead herring impression. Every time I looked at him like this, I was tempted to hop over and liven up his life a little. I wasn't thinking of anything major, just some silly little pranks to get him to stop staring at the ceiling with those glassy eyes; like replacing all of his medicine with industrial-strength laxatives, or releasing a herd of feral skunks into his bed-chamber, or a pipe bomb filled with sneezing powder. And shrapnel. But mostly sneezing powder.

Unfortunately, my recent agreement with Judy prohibited me from engaging in such activities, as traveling into the heart of the Abyss for 'silly' reasons like that was deemed unsafe, so I had no choice but to cancel my order for a pack of skunks from the local animal shelter. You wouldn't believe how easy it is to order even the weirdest things over the internet…

But I'm kidding, of course. I wasn't so evil to trap those poor skunks in the same room as Crowey; it would be just straight-up animal abuse! Anyways, since the pranks were off the table, I proceeded to observe him for a few minutes, just on the off-chance that some of his minions would conveniently show up to give him a report. Unfortunately, nothing of the sort happened, so I switched over to doing situps and then promptly moved on to my next target.

Said target was, of course, no one else but Dr. Labcoat Guy! I've actually observed his activities over the whole evening, and I had a good grasp on his plans and affiliations, but I figured it never hurt to take one more look, just in case.

Once my vision settled, I immediately tried to close my eyes because of the sudden, sharp light coming from the workbench right in front of me. That was, of course, quite impossible considering that there were no eyes or eyelids involved in the process of observing the scenery, but biological habits die hard.

Once I overcame the first surprise, I took a closer look at my unfamiliar environment. It was similar to the underground room where I marked Mr. Labcoat, except about half the size, and most of the space was taken up by various metalworking tools and equipment. In fact, the place was so cramped with them I wondered how anyone could even safely work there.

”Ki-hi-hi! Almost done!” the person actually working there exclaimed in a voice muffled by the large welder's mask in front of his face. At the moment, Labcoat Guy was standing in front of a large vice attached to one of the workbenches with a welding torch in one hand and a metal brush in the other. In the aforementioned vice, there was a weirdly shaped angular piece of metal with a large hole in the middle, and the man was apparently putting the finishing touches on it.

”My assessment remains unchanged,” a second voice chimed in, and when I swiveled my point of view in its direction, I noticed the ridiculously dressed fembot sitting on her heels while facing the corner.

”Silence, Galatea! You are in the timeout corner until you reflect on your behavior,” the guy retorted after raising his welding mask, but since she didn't reply, he turned back to the thing in the vice, let his mask back down and then he continued to weld… well, something on it. To be honest, I still had no idea what it was supposed to be. Maybe a post-modern sculpture?

Anyhow, after a few short seconds he raised the mask again, then he used the metal brush in his other hand to quickly clean off the slag from the welding area before he let out a satisfied grunt. He placed his tools onto the bench, and after struggling with the crank for a moment, he successfully removed the object he produced from the grasp of the vice.

”Ki-hi-hi-hi! Look Galatea! It's finished!” he called out in an excited voice while raising the thing over his head like a certain elven purveyor of master swords and green tunics.

”Negative. Master told me to sit in the corner until I've done reflecting. According to the progress bar, I'm only 68% done,” the fembot answered with an understandably mechanical shaking of her head.

”Stop being obstinate and look over here already!” Saying so, Labcoat Guy swiftly stuck his head through the hole in the object in his hands, and only then did I realized what it was…!

Well, okay, I admit I still didn't know what the actual name of the thing was supposed to be, but in practice, it looked like a rigid combination of a pair of shoulder pads, a literal chest plate that didn't even reach down to the guy's abdomen, and a tall neck guard that was more like an oversized shirt collar made of metal. All of that was a single piece, with no articulation or any moving parts, and on the surface it appeared it was made of a collection of welded together metal triangles, kind of like a low-polygon model from an old video game.

Once he had it over his shoulders, the guy let out a satisfied chuckle and called out, ”You don't have to reflect on things anymore, so turn around already!”

The fembot in the corner let out a series of audible mechanical noises (though I was about ninety percent sure she was making them with her mouth) and then she ultimately replied, ”Negative. I believe it's for my own good that I continue to run reflection.exe to completion.”

”Stop being obstinate!” Labcoat Guy griped as he walked over with a weird gait, probably because of the extra weight on his shoulders, and he gingerly nudged the android with his feet. ”Come on already!”

The absurdly dressed mechanical woman let out a deep sigh and finally stood up and turned around.

”Analyzing new equipment,” she stated in a mechanical voice while looking over her master, after which she added, ”Impractical to the highest degree,” in a truly authoritative tone that managed to bleed through even her synthesized voice.

”It's not impractical!” Labcoat Guy denied with unusual vehemence. ”Look! It has neck protection for any future sneak attacks!”

”Error. No sneak attacks necessitating such protection have been found,” the fembot countered.

”I told you already! Someone hit me in the back of the neck!” Hilariously enough, he tried to point at the affected area, but because of the construction of his 'protective gear', he couldn't raise his arm high enough, so after some struggling, he simply crossed his arms in front of his chest… which was also foiled by the points and edges on the chest-plate segment, so at last he let out a defeated sigh and whispered, ”MkI suffers from some design flaws, I should work them out in MkII…”

In the meantime, the android looked over her master one more time and ultimately asked him, ”Master?”

”Hm? Yes?”

”Do you intend to wear this tomorrow?”

Labcoat Guy didn't answer right away, instead he glanced over to the large clock on the wall.

”It's getting late, so I won't be able to make the MkII version today, which means I'll have to.”

”Understood,” she nodded and extended her hands towards him. ”Please hand over the protective equipment. I will perform the final adjustment so that master can go to bed.”

”You want to do that?” he inquired with a faint hint of suspicion in his voice.

”Affirmative. Sleep deprivation may negatively affect tomorrow's operation.”

”You're not wrong about that…” he muttered as he awkwardly lifted the completely impractical spaulder/neck guard hybrid over his head. ”Can I really leave this to you?”

”Affirmative,” she repeated with a firm nod, and after just a bit more hesitation he handed it over to her.

”All right. To be honest, I'm feeling a little drowsy, and I have to be in my best condition for tomorrow!” As he said that, the corners of Labcoat Guy's lips quickly curled into an eager smile and he simultaneously began to rub his palms together in a very dastardly display. ”Tomorrow Endymonion's granddaughter will be there as well! Ki-hi-hi! I should make sure to leave an impression!”

”I'm sure master will leave a very deep one,” she encouraged him, though I could, probably due to spending so much time with my own deadpan companion, detect a distinct sarcastic edge in her words.

”Very well! I'm going to bed now! See you in the morning!”

”Good night, master,” the fembot replied with a small nod, and the moment her master turned around and headed towards the exit, she immediately walked over to the cabinet in the corner filled with various, brightly colored painting cans.

I had a good idea of what she was planning, but since Labcoat Guy was steadily getting out of 'range', I decided to cut my strategic observation of them for the day. As it happened, this also coincided with the moment I finished with my light workout routine for the day. I actually felt strangely refreshed, and even my wounds didn't itch so much anymore.

I looked over myself, and after a brief moment of hesitation, I decided that, while it meant I would have to change some of my bandages, it was best I cleaned myself up a little. After that… well, today was incredibly long and hectic, so I figured I would try to relax a little, at least as much as I could. Not being able to sleep had its downsides from time to time…

”Good morning!” I was greeted by a sunny smile as I approached the gates of the Dracis mansion in the silent company of Judy and Snowy. The princess skipped over to me and gave me a ribcage-creaking bear hug made only marginally more bearable by her unreservedly pressing her squishier bits against me, completely disregarding the fact that the entire household was watching her. I'm not going to lie, the whole 'being greeted by a small crowd in front of the gates during our morning commute' thing gave me a serious case of déja vu, but I ignored the sentiment and just smiled at my unusually eager girlfriend.

”Good morning,” I responded to her, then turned to the entire extended family and asked, ”Is there a problem?”

Mama and Papa Dracis glanced at each other very meaningfully, but it was the annoying butler standing by their side that eventually spoke up and gave me an answer.

”The young lady told us she had a rather peculiar encounter yesterday,” he told me while making honest to goodness air quotes around the world 'peculiar'. ”We were curious if you wanted to comment on the events.”

I rewarded Sebastian's forthcoming attitude with a curiously raised brow, and after a moment of consideration, I gently separated myself from the girl still hugging my waist and told him, ”You mean the guy in the lab coat and the stupid robots, right? Don't worry, I already got them in my palm.”

”You do?” Elly blurted out in surprise.

”Yup,” I told her with a combination of a wink and a totally charming smile, if I do say myself. She must've appreciated the effort (not that I practiced it in the mirror this morning or anything), as her cheeks actually became a bit flushed, but this time they were more 'rosy' than her usual beet redness. It was a pretty cute reaction, all things considered.

”Are they a threat?” Mama Dracis interrupted in a stern voice, which kind of ruined our moment, but I didn't really blame her.

”Do you want me to be frank?” It was a rhetorical question, but she gave me a pretty intense nod, so I immediately told her, ”They probably pose more threat to themselves than to us. For the time being, they can be safely left alone. If they become an actual hazard to any of us, including you, I'll contact you and we can just smash their base at our convenience.”

Lady Emese blinked in surprise, then stated, ”So they really are in the palm of your hands.”

”Would I lie about this?” I responded with a tiny little smirk.

”What about the swordswoman?” she continued her impromptu interrogation right away.

”Oh, I've got her under control too,” I told her maybe a smidgen too cheekily, as my silent assistant let out an irritated huff behind me. I continued to ignore her for the time being, and instead I said, ”I made contact with her yesterday, and now I'm sure she is not affiliated with the knights. She is more of a nomadic monster slayer ninja or something. I'm still working on the particulars, but the important thing is that I'm keeping her under close surveillance and that she doesn't seem to pose a threat to any of you.”

The lady of the household gave me a long, hard look as if she was trying to determine whether she can trust my word, but she eventually let out a long breath and told me, ”I see you've been working hard.”

”Of course he has!” Papa Dracis suddenly cut in, accompanied by a hearty chuckle. ”I told you there's nothing to worry about!”

”I believe you should actually worry a bit more about this young man's motives and capabilities,” Sebastian chimed in while pointedly shaking his head.

”Oh Sebastian, don't be so negative!” the Dracis patriarch exclaimed while patting the old butler hard on the back. In fact, he did it so hard that I was pretty sure a normal person would've probably fallen on their face from the impact, but the old butler endured it without moving at all, like an annoying, snooty mountain. ”If you cannot trust your own family, then who can you trust!?”

”He is not part of our family yet,” Mama Dracis countered with a frown, but her husband completely ignored her and he turned to me instead.

”Speaking of which! Son, when are you coming over for dinner? I had my top men put together one of those fancy-pants website things you proposed, and I want to see what you think about it before we make it live!” He stopped here for a very meaningful pause, and then coyly added, ”It's your project after all!”

”Project?”

”What project?”

Elly and her mother both blurted out in surprise at once. Since Abram was too busy chuckling to himself to answer, I decided to do it in his stead.

”After your father complained about how the record company's sales are down, I offered him a business proposal and invested some of my money into an online music distribution service.”

”You invested in our business?” Lady Emese inquired with a somewhat dazed expression.

”Yes. It was the majority of my savings, but I think it's better to invest my money rather than to just let it collect dust in my account.” Now it was my turn to pause meaningfully here, during which I flashed a confident smile at Papa Dracis and finished with, ”And what better place is there to invest in but the family business?”

It was at this point that my self-proclaimed father-in-law stopped chuckling and began straight up hooting with laughter as he walked back to his wife's wheelchair and placed one large hand onto her shoulder.

”I told you, honey! Our daughter has an amazing eye for men! She must have inherited it from you!”

”I don't know about that,” Lady Emese grumbled as she pointedly looked the other way, but at the same time she gently placed her own hand on top of her husband's. Why do I have a feeling these two used to be one of those absurdly adorable clumsy couples when they were younger?

Anyhow, I lightly shrugged my shoulders and told Abram, ”I'll be busy after school, but I think I should be able to come over tonight.”

”Great!” he exclaimed with a toothy grin. ”Sebastian? Tell the staff to prepare a feast!”

I left the Dracis family to their impromptu dinner preparations and said my goodbyes, following which our little group turned around and happily continued on our merry way to school… for about half a minute, until the princess unsubtly tugged on my sleeve.

”Hey, Leo? Why's Judy mad at you?” she inquired with all the innocence of a baby driving a pick-up truck through a china shop.

”What makes you think she is mad at me?” I asked back without giving anything away yet.

”She looks like it,” she answered seriously. ”She also doesn't talk to you. Did you do something to make her angry?”

”Maybe?” I replied a little sheepishly as I theatrically scratched the back of my neck.

”Not maybe, definitely,” Judy, walking a couple of paces ahead of us with Snowy, finally spoke up without looking our way, her voice about as icy as it was the day before. ”Why don't you tell her what happened yesterday?”

”I might as well,” I told her with a cheery grin, even though she couldn't see it. ”Listen, princess, I actually found the base of the guys who attacked you yesterday on the way home.”

”Don't forget to mention that you got severely injured in the process,” my assistant chimed in again while still looking the other way.

”You were?” Elly's voice rose a pitch in alarm as she looked me over and took note of the scuffs on my face.

”Yes, but not severely,” I objected. ”They are just scrapes. I'll have Angie cast a healing spell on me and I'll be as good as new.”

”Oh, that's good,” the princess deflated with a sigh of relief. ”But then why is she angry with you?”

”It's because of the next part,” Judy fumed, urging me to continue.

”Right. After that, I made contact with the huntress we talked about before.”

”And?” Judy prompted me.

”And I resolved our differences,” I responded.

”And then?” Judy prompted me, again.

I let out an exasperated sigh and finally admitted, ”And then I agreed to hunt the stray Chimera with her,” in a morose voice.

”And that is why I'm mad,” my dear assistant concluded before she glanced over to Elly and added, ”And you should be too.”

”Why? You don't want him to hunt the Chimera?” she asked back, genuinely confused, before she looked at me. ”Is it going to be dangerous? Do you need help?”

”That's not the problem,” Judy grumbled as she finally slowed down and fell in line next to the two of us, and then she grabbed the princess and told her, ”The Chief arranged to have clandestine meetings with the hunter woman from now on.”

”Wouldn't just the fact that I told you about it mean that they are not clandestine?” I asked while showing off my slowly advancing mastery of raising only a single incredulous eyebrow.

”Hush Chief, I'm incriminating you,” Judy retorted with a hint of impatience in her voice.

”I noticed, that's why I'm interrupting you.”

She finally looked at me, and when I told her I wasn't going to budge on the issue by wiggling my brows a bit more, she ultimately relented and told Elly, ”Fine. The Chief is having non-clandestine dates with the hunter woman from now on.”

”They are not dates either,” I protested once again.

”A man and a woman setting an appointment for going into town together. What do you call that?”

”By our recently developed standards, that would be an 'outing', but in this particular case, it's closer to a hunting trip,” I told her straight away.

”You're just playing with words now,” my assistant huffed before she turned to my other girlfriend. ”What do you think? It's a date, no matter how we look at it.”

”Don't answer your own question,” I chided her, but in the meantime, Elly actually put some thought into her reply.

”Are you attracted to her?” she leveled the question at me, and I immediately shook my head.

”No. There is a slight chance that she is interested in me, but I mainly find her annoying and want her gone. That's why I try to help her hunt down the Chimera, so she would go away.”

”And you're not going to do anything… um… lewd with her, right?” she asked the next question, this time a little more hesitantly.

”Definitely not,” I told her forcefully. ”Even we haven't done any lewding, why would I even think about doing it with someone else?”

”That's still not a word,” Judy whispered beside us, but she was summarily ignored by the dragon girl in our midst.

”It's okay then,” Elly stated with a relieved smile.

”It's okay?” my assistant repeated after her with an extra wooden voice.

”Yes,” she gave a huge nod and explained, ”Leo already promised that he is not interested in anyone else, and he is not physically attracted to her either. I trust his words, so I'm certain he won't cheat on us.”

I gave the beaming blonde girl a surprised look, and after I overcame it I turned to the other girl and told her, ”You see, Judy? Elly actually trusts me. Why can't you do the same?”

”Because…” she began to answer, but her words, probably due to the crossfire of our gazes, got lost somewhere along the way and they came out as a heavy sigh instead.

I decided to capitalize on the moment, hence I carefully pulled Elly away so that I could wedge myself between the two of them and I grabbed hold of Judy's hand.

”Come on Dormouse. I already told you I don't care about other girls. We are going to hunt some Chimera spawn, and once we are done, she'll be out of our collective hair for good. There's absolutely nothing romantic or adulterous in our arrangement. Please stop being jealous for no reason and just give me the benefit of the doubt already.”

”That's right,” Elly unexpectedly backed me up. ”You have to trust your partner. Mother always said that a stable relationship is built upon mutual trust, so you have to trust your partner even if he is a good-for-nothing oaf who cannot read the mood even if it killed him!”

”Wait a sec, she actually said that?” I muttered in surprise, and she responded with a huge nod.

”Yes, word for word!” the princess declared rather proudly for some reason. ”She also told me that for skirt chasers, it is best to give them boundless trust no matter the situation until the point they would feel too guilty to even look at other women, let alone marry them using their family's stupid customs for justification.”

”Wow,” I exhaled with a mix of awe and dread. ”Your mother is a formidable woman.”

”Women have to be formidable themselves to hold onto a formidable man,” she told me with that smug little smirk of hers.

”You see, Judy? You should follow Elly's mother's example and trust me.”

My dear assistant turned to me with conflicted eyes, but at last she squeezed my hand and said, ”No flirting during the dates.”

”They are not dates, and no, I won't be flirting at all. I won't even buy her a snack this time.”

”This time?” Elly suddenly cut in, her brows already in a surprised frown. ”You bought her snacks?”

”Yeah. It was to distract her so that I could get away from her when I first met her.”