I feel like I should retort, but I don't look convincing at all II

Part 3

MC's POV

Stressful as it was, I managed to settle down after that disastrous meeting. My team was unusually uncooperative to the point I wondered if they hated me as well. Forget Lavinia-tan who is an airhead and would be willing to do many of the crazy stuns I ask. Even the well-mannered Nanadaru-san and Toujou-san were against me. Natsume, well, I was certain that she would raise objections. When Ikuse-san whom I appointed as the leader is not present, she has the second largest authority so from several points of view, adding a potential threat to our lives to our roster is a bad idea.

From that point onwards, she 'fixed' the spectators' memories, while I had Lavinia fix the barrier. Unwilling as she was, I made Lisa take care of the damage done to the building. Simple as that, we found ourselves having a tactical meeting, in my room for some reason. Calling Ikuse-san, I called him back. Samejima-san had something to do it seems so he just gave a simple ok to whatever we decided. He did not seem to mind our choice in the matter after I mentioned Lisa. I have the feeling that I should smack his head when he mumbled 'I saw that one coming sooner or later...', but it will have to wait.

Answering any questions they had was exhausting given how Natsume kept asking about the real reason why I brought her to the inn.

Honestly, that lady just followed me here so I can't do much about that.

Nonetheless, after mentioning the Book of Rituals, they were not against the idea of working together, at least on the outside.

-------------------------------

3rd Person POV

"You know... the meeting is over, you guys can go back to your rooms." Nora mumbled.

"No, well, I wanted to ask you a few questions..." Natsume muttered.

"...what about the rest of you?" Nora asked.

"Nora-kun, thank you for the snacks." Lavinia said.

"Mugu, thanks, mugu." Shigune uttered.

While Natsume was perfectly fine sitting in one corner, without trying to interfere with who was doing push-ups. Lavinia was happily eating the snack Nora brought along with Shigune. Tobio and Sae were on another corner in their own world.

"...you are welcome." Nora sighed.

"Why did you start exercising all of sudden?" Natsume asked.

"It feels strange not doing anything at all." Nora said. "I feel... restless. Normally, if I stayed idle, Shishou would sneak attack me and trash me around."

With her lips twitching, Natsume did not want to retort so she swallowed the words she was about to say.

"I-Is that so?" Natsume smiled awkwardly. "But why are you... Eh... reading as well?"

As Natsume pointed out, as he used one arm to do push-ups, there was a book below Nora. A small crystal spider and a small white snake were fighting over the right to turn the page over when Nora finished reading, which was rather fast.

"Well... because I can?" Nora replied in an uncertain tone.

"No, no." Natsume face-palmed. "Ok, I am an understanding woman so I have to let it go. *Sigh* Then tell me, what is it with those shikigamis frolicking around the room?"

As she said, there were several shikigami moving around in the room. Upon closer inspection, they were not frolicking, but rather, working. They were writing, in fancy and clean handwriting, several pages of some sort of story.

"I have told you guys that I write novels. I am controlling them to write them for me while I am busy with this." Nora nonchalantly said. "Oh, so it was like this..."

Half-paying attention to Natsume, Nora was rather focused on what he was reading.

"...that one is reading though?" Natsume pointed out.

Gesturing, she saw a humanoid shikigami of a simple design, lacking any features, wearing glasses as it was checking a book in detail. For some reason, Natsume got a bad feeling coming from that book.

"Oh, those are your grades. I am checking how you are doing in college." Nora mumbled.

Immediately, everyone except Lavinia froze. It was such a piece of shocking news that Shigune dropped the snack she was going to eat on the tatami mat.

"...what?" Natsume doubted her ears.

"I am your boss. Technically speaking, I am the one you have to respond to. Depending on your academic performance, I will have to adjust your schedule. At this point, I have more people to send on missions so you guys will have more leeway." Nora mumbled. "I was debating whether you needed more free time or not, but I did not expect that the last mission would affect you all so much. My apologies, I have failed to foresee these results..."

Slightly flustered, the group did not dare to look Nora in the eye.

"Nora-kun, can we go together to buy more of these?" Lavinia mumbled.

The only one who did not seem bothered by Nora's words simply acted like there was nothing wrong.

"...You know, I am not even sure how you do it, but you have gotten a perfect score in college, no matter the subject." Nora continued his push-ups. "Even subjects related to the Japanese language are without a single mistake. I know that you have been living here for a while, but..."

"Hehe, I learned everything I could to understand more about Nora-kun. This is your land so I am doing my best to be able to understand your customs." Lavinia smiled. "I told you that I wanted to learn more about you."

Trembling slightly, Nora paused for a second before continuing.

"...I see." Nora mumbled in a gentle tone.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Natsume sighed. She did not want to get in the way of Lavinia's moment with Nora. Nonetheless, inwardly, she felt like she lost a little. Studying had not been a priority for the last months given the difficulty of their missions, and no matter what she said, Nora would just blame himself.

"Sorry, I will make arrangements in your stead. As your senpai in college studies, I will lend a hand in any subject you have trouble with." Nora suddenly said.

"Wait a moment." Tobio called out. "I could not say anything back due to the guilt, but just now, I heard something I can't ignore."

"O-Our senpai? H-Him as my senpai? Awawa." Shigune's imagination took off.

"...I believe it will cause me a headache, but do tell me what is this about." Natsume sighed.

"Nothing much, I got a fake ID, changed my appearance somewhat, and graduated already. I already had the knowledge that surpassed your average doctor easily and by pulling a few strings, I got a fake past for that ID. I am now working sometimes as a doctor in a hospital in Kyoto. That said, I have made several covers for my absence such as working as a consultant that travels a lot." Nora nonchalantly said.

"No, no, no." Tobio shook his head. "...you serious?"

"I think he is..." Sae mumbled. "I recall hearing about a young doctor that caused nurses to go crazy one time. They called it the Nurse War and it was a huge conflict that was on TV for quite some time."

"...oh, so it was Shiki-san's fault. I am convinced." Tobio nodded.

Despite his initial denial, after Sae's explanation, the youth was convinced at once.

"...why do you accept it so easily after hearing I caused a commotion?" Nora glared at Tobio.

"Hahaha." Tobio looked away.

"Wait, wait! The main issue, don't ignore the main issue here." Natsume spoke out. "Since when did you have time to do that?"

Still doing his push-ups, Nora pondered for a moment.

"Well, I do not get involved in every single case so I have a lot of leeways, but I do use Shikigamis with my appearance as substitutes to make it seem like I am traveling around. It would be strange if I disappeared from one place and appeared in another without anyone finding traces of my travels after all. I take the shikigami's place if things get difficult. Otherwise, I have the ninja squad keep the shikigami running and contact me once it is time for my debut." Nora simply said. "Since I have him affiliated with Sakamoto-san's Yorozuya, I can get away with some suspicious behavior until a certain point, but I take my job seriously so my reputation is good enough."

"You never told us..." Natsume sulkily said.

"Huh? What do you mean? I clearly told you guys." Nora quizzically mumbled. "Remember that time we were training and I said that I would become a doctor?"

Tilting their heads, the group, minus Lavinia and Shigune, briefly recalled the event.

"Wait, you were serious!?" Natsume exclaimed.

"...I honestly thought he was joking." Tobio mumbled.

"I thought he wanted to become one when he was older but..." Sae sighed.

"Huh? Why did you doubt him? Nora-kun is the type to fulfill his words." Lavinia suddenly asked.

Noticing the sheer trust she had in Nora, the others felt like they lost a little.

"...hehe, senpai~" Shigune foolishly laughed.

Ignored by all, Shigune continued to fantasize alone.

"I think it is because it is hard to imagine him as a doctor since he is usually the first one going to hit people when there is a fight."

A nonchalant voice made everyone glare at the entrance.

Standing there, Lisa simply entered the room and went over to Nora while ignoring the unfriendly gazes everyone gave her.

"Give it to me." Lisa kneeled in front of Nora and demanded with a smile.

"Dear, certain parts that should not be flashed are being shown to me if you assume that position." Nora bitterly said.

Despite the hissing snake and the ready-to-pounce spider, Lisa just kept a composed attitude, not caring one bit about what Nora could be seeing.

"Ara? Is Nora actually embarrassed by something of this level? How cute~" Lisa giggled. "Consider it a service on my part and the way I am repaying you for all the HELP you provided."

"Oh, boy." Tobio moved Sae behind him. "Things are about to get ugly."

"...for her, that is." Sae sighed.

Ready to stand up and drag the witch of the west away, Natsume took a deep breath and did not try anything at the end. She could feel how the woman was glancing at her and Lavinia so she intended to make them angry.

"Oh, you think I will get embarrassed from catching a glimpse of your risky underwear?" Nora snorted and finally stopped, only to change the hand he was using for the pushups. "As expected of a virgin, you only know this much."

Once again, everyone froze.

Natsume foresaw her death just as she was about to laugh. Lisa sent her a deadly glare that would've caused her to shake fearfully if they were facing each other, but given where they were, Natsume was certain that it was simply a threat. Nonetheless, she did not dare to laugh.

Sae and Shigune blushed, with Tobio covering his face in embarrassment. The biggest shot, Lavinia, did not get bothered by what was said more than Lisa being closer to Nora than her.

"...aren't you the same? These kids are not any different either." Lisa said. "Not to mention... how do you know whether I am or not?"

"Hmph, I can practically smell that you are a virgin." Nora snorted.

Lips twitching, Lisa backed away slightly, but she did not change her position too much. Lisa could tell from the faint smile of the youth. He was bluffing, and she would lose if she backed away completely.

"Fufu, you are really funny." Lisa smiled.

Clicking his tongue, Nora blamed his failure. His plan to make her go away had failed, although the way his comrades were looking at him was rather strange so perhaps he would need to clear up some misunderstandings.

"Can't you see that I am busy? I am paying for your room so go and ask the staff for anything you want." Nora grumbled.

"I don't want to~" Lisa childishly said.

Clicking his tongue once again, Nora decided to ignore the woman. Pouting at that, Lisa tried to look for a way to continue their banter. Observing closely, she caught a glimpse of the book he was reading.

"Oh my. That is a pretty rare book you have there." Lisa mumbled. "Not many books in ancient tongue focus on only one spell."

"You know about it?" Nora asked.

"Long ago, there existed an ancient civilization that would use this particular spell to fuse with certain materials. It would grant their body part of the characteristics of the material used to them." Lisa said. "That said, it was not very popular since the wrong usage would cause a permanent fusion."

"It is indeed like that. However, I have found similarities with a spell that lets you store objects inside your body through the use of runes." Nora muttered.

Feeling like she would leave out if she did not speak now, Lavinia joined the topic.

"Nora-kun has been studying runes under several teachers, right?" Lavinia inquired.

"Well, you could call them 'teachers' but only one has been drilling the use of runes on me." Nora wryly said. "The other two kindly provide pieces of advise whenever I find issues."

"Even though you turned down my offer to learn magic from me..." Lavinia pouted.

Despite not having sweat a single drop during his push-ups, Nora began sweating coldly.

"I will give it a try once I am no longer tormented by my teacher about learning runes." Nora said.

"Is that so? I feel like he is just procrastinating the issue." Lisa happily spoke to Lavinia.

Her words cause the magical girl to look at Nora sadly.

"...you don't want to learn from me?" Lavinia lowered her head pitifully.

"I will do my darnest best to take some time off to learn from you, I promise." Nora hastily spoke.

"Yes~" Lavinia happily nodded.

Ignoring the glare Nora was giving her, Lisa just stuck out her tongue at him playfully.

"So, what are you trying to accomplish?" Lisa asked.

"It is possible to fuse the soul of monsters with your own. It is possible to fuse spirits with your own. I was just wondering what would happen if I did the same with weapons..."

Widening her eyes, Lisa found the idea slightly interesting. Not only to tease him, Lisa now stared at Nora with academic interest.

"Oh? This seems pretty bad, doesn't it?" Nora suddenly stopped doing push-ups.

"What is wrong?" Natsume worriedly asked.

"My shikigami, Nora Mk. II has been kidnapped." Nora spoke with a troubled smile. "Haha, what luck."

"Isn't that pretty bad?" Natsume asked.

"Wait, it has cat form so maybe it is nothing serious." Tobio mumbled.

"That might've been the issue." Lisa intervened.

Keeping a troubled smile, Nora did not seem to mind her intruding in the conversation. Nonetheless, the others were not that happy.

"Lisa, you should leave now. We might be allies right now, but I can't trust you completely. Normally, I would trust Nora's judgment, but your case is..." Natsume glared at the buxom witch.

"Oh my, I wonder how much of that distrust is actually biased by my former identity or by the fact I came together with him." Lisa chuckled.

Gritting her teeth, Natsume was about to pull out her gun.

"Enough." Tobio spoke out. "Minegawa-san. I know how you feel, but it is not the time to fight among ourselves. Right now, we are on a mission, a situation came out and we have to act accordingly. Since he did not try to chase her away, our leader must be ok with her presence."

Grumbling, Natsume followed Tobio's orders. It was not simply because he was appointed as the captain of the team by Nora, but rather because she was aware that she was being petty by letting her jealousy speak out. She felt slightly disappointed in her actions since she wanted to be of help to Nora, not a source of headaches.

"Shiki-san, could you explain to us in detail what happened?" Tobio asked.

"Nothing much. The cat was caught, but I am not sure why..." Nora shrugged his shoulders.

"How good are its motor skills?" Tobio inquired.

"I trained hard enough until it could moonwalk with either two or four paws." Nora said. "It should be able to jump three meters easily and its speed is faster than your average adult cat. A normal person would not be able to catch it."

"Why moonwalk?" Natsume retorted.

"Cuz I can?" Nora tilted his head.

Ignoring that exchange, Tobio turned to Lisa.

"Lisa-san. You mentioned something before..." Tobio mumbled. "About the reason why it was caught."

"I am going to take a wild guess and say that he knew about it, but have you not noticed the severe lack of cats in the city?" Lisa said.

Groaning at that, Tobio could only blame his lack of attention to detail despite being reminded of it by Nora earlier that day.

"Do not bully them." Nora muttered. "We should be looking into the cat's issue while we look for info about the other problem. Regardless of what is happening, we should not miss any chance to gather intel. You indeed took a while to find out about it, but you should strive to not make the same mistake again."

Stretching slightly, Nora prepared to leave.

"Huh? That's it? Are you not going to say anything else?" Natsume asked bewildered.

"I am taking a bath and preparing to head out. I won't be here tonight so you guys are free to act as you see fit. Ikuse-san and I will go towards another intel source and get as much as we can." Nora muttered. "As for the shikigami, worry not. I am still keeping track of it. Besides, even if we went after it, we would be just blowing our covers."

"Wait, I am just hearing about me heading out tonight..." Tobio sounded discouraged. "My date plans..."

"...sorry." Nora awkwardly apologized.

"Oh my, a night mission sounds interesting..." Lisa spoke excitedly.

"Huh-uh. No, there is no way we will go together. I feel like I will find myself in a situation where I have to beat up some punks because they wanted to fondle you so it would cause a ruckus." Nora strongly shook his head. "You will stay here at least for today."

"You are not my boss~" Lisa giggled.

"Take this." Nora threw something her way.

Catching it easily, Lisa's eyes widened after just glancing at the book's cover. Soon she began to turn the pages madly, before closing the book again.

"Your orders are my command." Lisa patted her not-so-subtle chest.

Sighing at that, Nora wondered if this mission will be ok.

...

...

...

"Say, Shiki-san. We did not bring Lisa-san to avoid that particular scenario, but why is it that we are now in a back alley surrounded by a group of brutes while protecting a pair of young women?" Tobio asked in an absentminded tone.

"We are not protecting anyone." Nora sighed. "I have set up a barrier so anything that happens here will not be seen by outsiders. Feel free to act as you please, Felis."

"What...?" Tobio doubted his ears.

Before he could wonder what Nora meant, the sound of a gun being fired was heard and the group surrounding them fell to the ground at once.

"Argh!!!"

"My jewels!"

"Guuh."

Sounds that a human body should not make were heard, but Tobio could not feel pity for the guys since they wanted to take advantage of the pair of harmless (?) women behind them.

"You are as merciless as ever." Nora smiled wryly. "It has been a while."

"Indeed." Felis replied. "Thank you for your consideration in letting me deal the finishing blow."

"...it is not like you killed them so don't use those ominous words." Nora mumbled.

"Even if they are insects, no, even insects are more useful than 'these', they are still people of this city. I can't go around reducing the city's population everywhere I go. No matter how annoying these kinds of creatures are." Felis spoke in a flat tone.

"...is that so?" Nora scratched his cheek.

Watching the exchange, Tobio felt that the petite woman talking with Nora was dangerous.

"Who might that person be? Master." Felis directed her eyes towards Tobio. "Is it a friend? No, considering Master's usual roster, he must be an innocent bystander."

Trembling slightly, Tobio was torn between laughing at the sharp-tongued comment that Nora received or trembling fearfully because Felis's grip on the gun in her hand only got tighter.

"Can't you assume that he is my friend like a normal person!?" Nora retorted.

"My apologies." Felis obediently bowed as an apology. "Master is usually surrounded by so many women that he has trouble walking so I thought..."

"Aren't you being a little rude!? And what is with that Master talk. I don't recall employing you." Nora said.

Sighing with a tired expression, Felis simply put her gun away.

"Master, I am certain that your luck has led you to meet this child here and have one of those absurd events where you see each other naked, but let me introduce you to..." Felis gestured towards the other figure in the alley.

"It has been a while, Master. Nanamin is present and ready for duty. My apologies for our current conditions, after seeing you in the city from afar, I thought of breaking into your room and when you arrived, I would ask the three golden questions."

With short white hair in a bob cut with long side-locks at each side of her face that reached her rather generous large breasts and part of her hair was over one of her eyes. She had heterochromatic eyes with blue and magenta ones. Her expression was rather lacking in expression until she spoke with Nora and a faint smile could be seen on her face. Wearing a waitress outfit just like Felis, the young woman had trouble hiding her attributes in contrast to the petite woman. Her height was taller than Felis, 165 cm and she struck a pose with a peace sign on her left eye using her left hand.

"...I am certain that your name is..." Felis spoke.

"Na-na-min." Nanami pointed out. "If the master so desires, he can grant his maid a name to symbolize his ownership over her."

Scowling, Felis sent Nora a VERY judgemental gaze.

"I know that you have many questions to ask, but shouldn't you tackle the fact that your kouhai wanted to enter your beloved student's room to do something pointless?" Nora's lips twitched.

"Huh? Beloved?" Felis's scowl only grew bigger.

Thinking that it was a rare situation where Nora was troubled, Tobio stealthily recorded the conversation and decided to save this audio among the recordings he has of Nora and Vali's silliness to tease them later with the team.

"...You don't have to be so shy, but as a gentleman, I know when to read the mood so lower that excessively long-barreled gun. The fact that you loaded it with actual bullets is pretty scary." Nora raised his hands in defeat.

"I don't have time for this." Felis sighed. "I assume you did not come here to sightsee."

"No, I am on a mission." Nora replied.

"Is it a mission to pursue your overly mischievous Nanamin to elope and live a happy life?" Nanami inquired seriously.

"Yes, a small house near the beach. Two lovers spend their days enjoying the tropical weather..." Nora had a faraway look.

"Their almost limitless lives let them enjoy each other's company, and they explore every pleasure life has to offer them." Nanami muttered.

"No matter how much they indulge in each other's bodies, they never get tired of each other, instead, it only works as an accelerator of their lust." Nora mumbled.

Listening to the duo speaking embarrassing lines, Tobio wondered if they did not feel any shame. Nonetheless, he would not waste a chance to gather teasing material.

Fate, however, had other plans.

*Bang* *bang*

Bullets were shot and an apologetic cat and maid were bowing in front of a petite figure.

"Sorry." "My most sincerest apologies, senpai." Nora and Nanami apologized.

"You two never get tired? We are on a mission, and thanks to these insects, our cover might get discovered." Felis scolded.

"About that, could I hear about your mission first?" Nora asked.

"This is too secret information from the Maid Guild, yet you are asking- Nanami, what are you doing?" Felis asked in her characteristic flat tone.

"Handling our Master the details of our mission?" Nanami spoke in a confused tone.

"Why is it a question?" Felis inquired.

"Senpai, he is regarded as the man who no maid can go against in the guild. There is a fierce competition of appeal to working under him, and he has been given special rights by the Acting Guild Master and the other higher-ups to support him." Nanami seriously said. "Do you honestly believe that I can turn down his request?"

Finding no fault with those words at first, Felis was about to nod when-

"...it is just my curiosity speaking, but did you perhaps offer him our mission's info just because you hope for cooperation and you want to see my troubled face after I am forced to deal with both of your antics?" Felis asked.

"Fufufu, oh, senpai, you say the funniest things." Nanami looked away. "There is no way that Nanami being a ball of naughtiness, fit to burst would actually do something so mischievous."

...

...

...

Tearfully rubbing her forehead, Nanami was banned from speaking any further while Felis waited for Nora to read about their mission.

"The responsible that sake is in Hokkaido, huh." Nora said. "You used your own sources to arrive at the possible location of the brewery, but you still need to collect more information."

"Nonetheless, now that these insects made us beat them senseless, our cover is over. Acting like a waitress was a good plan, but while I managed to blend, Nanami was too eye-catching. As for the rest, you know what happened." Felis muttered. "It is a failure on my part to have the thought of using this mission as some sort of training ground for this child to familiarise herself with my type of work."

"I can lend you a hand with that if you do not mind hearing me out. However, I will have you helping me out on my end since I feel like we both are after similar objectives." Nora smiled.

Lowing his body to whisper into Felis's ears, Nora seemed obvlious to the slight jump the maid did when he began talking.

As a bystander, Tobio wondered if Nora even had limits. Even the serious-looking Felis reacted in certain ways to Nora's actions. Despite scowling now and then as the youth explained his idea, the petite woman listened to the end.

"Very well, I would rather do this than change and use a more forceful method." Felis said. "It would be better to not alert that person or he might run away."

"Then, the first part of the plan will happen today while I will leave the other part for you to handle tomorrow." Nora spoke.

"I guess I have no choice." Felis gestured towards Nanami and the white-haired woman got closer. "This is the plan..."

As he listened, Tobio could not help but feel troubled. He will become a walking target after today's events.

"Relax, our appearances look different for the regular folk thanks to the spells embed in the clothes and accessories you all wear." Nora reassured.

Not feeling the effects of those words, Tobio vowed to get revenge.

...

...

...

"Hic, this boy here is the strongest, hic." Nora spoke.

Being hugged on both sides by a shy-looking Felis and Nanami, the youth had a red face and trouble walking straight.

"Hic, I assure you, that kicking their butts was no trouble at all, my cute angels." Nora smiled.

"B-But now we got nowhere to live... the bar has a dormitory but they will most likely fire us after they know we refused our customers." Felis spoke in a pitiful tone.

"Hehehe, hic, worry not. I provide my girls with the best, hic." Nora chuckled.

Following from behind, Tobio wondered when did Nora get good at acting. Not only he was acting the part, but his face looked red from drinking even though he had a strong alcohol resistance. Nonetheless, Nora suddenly stopped and blinked.

Rubbing his eyes with one hand, Nora repeated his actions a couple of times. His body stood tall again and he took a serious expression.

"To think that my most troublesome enemy will appear here..." Nora bitterly said.

Hearing his tone, Felis and Nanami also took a serious stance. Tobio narrowed his eyes and tried to locate Nora's enemy but the only thing he could spot was a lonely girl that did not fit the night city ambiance.

For whatever reason, the girl turned to see Nora and her lips curled up in a smile.

Without wasting any time, the girl dashed toward Nora.

"Geh." Nora scowled.

Inwardly wondering if she was a fearsome enemy that was taking the appearance of a girl, Tobio was ready to call out Jin, the large black dog.

"What a coincidence, fancy meeting you here, tiger."

"Kiryuu-san, will you ever stop calling me like that?" Nora asked with a troubled expression.

"Oh my, a new selection of ladies. You do not beat the brush huh."

"...I will say this in advance, you are wrong." Nora spoke.

"Haha, ladies, you are on your lucky day, this guy has one of the biggest-"

"Ahhhh, Ahhhh, I can't hear you!!!" Nora yelled.

Nanami looked clueless but Felis followed with her eyes where the girl was glancing and soon her eyes widened.

"...what are you doing out here?" Nora decided to change the subject.

"Oh, that? Haha, well, it seems I got lost and my parents are nowhere to be seen."

Smiling brightly, the girl tried to act nonchalantly, but the worry in her gaze was hard to hide.

"I can't believe I will say this..." Nora face-palmed. "Follow me..."

"Master, putting aside your usual roster, this child is not legally..." Nanami spoke.

"Do! Not! Say! Another! Word!" Nora's shout was unusually loud.

Seeing his troubled expression, Tobio secretly took a picture and updated the team's gallery.

He thought that he would be getting headaches after Nora dragged him to a bar to gather intel, but Tobio found the night to be very entertaining.

Author's Notes.

This chapter might have some boring parts, but I wanted to portray how Nora is worrying about having a harem. A normal person's point of view can vary on this particular topic, but this is Nora's. He might certainly arrive at the answer for the harem ending on his own, but he is not alone. Not only the slash dog team cares about him, but other people not mentioned in this chapter always try to give him advice. It will be seen in other chapters though.

There are some dark situations that I wanted to convey that do occur. In the canon, Diadora broke the mind of his nuns so other than torture or the like, it might be in another way. My point is, the world there must be darker than it was portrayed.

Let's see if you can guess who the new characters are.