[EX] Where is this? (3)

What has this got to do with the frog anyways?

I stared at the stars up in the sky. There were clouds here and there, but for the most part, the sky was clear. The two moons high up in different colours– it was midnight.

There weren't any suspicious red dots around.. actually, I can't be too sure about that because I haven't explored part of this world yet. I'm sure there are a lot of enemies. Parts I hadn't explored usually won't show any info, so I can't discern hostiles anywhere.

"200 points.. should I just quit?"

Was this worth it? What has it got to do with the frog?

I remember hearing about war.. I remember hearing something about saving the princess.. I remember..

"Noel-san."

"Your Highness," I got up from the floor.

Sea sickness wasn't a problem for me. It normally should but I guess my demon lord constitution has something to do with it.

"I want to express my thanks once again," he bowed.

"No, it's alright."

"I heard from my wife.. that you came from the unfortunate future to see us succeed this time."

"Um.. those are just speculations though?"

"You mean.. you were lying?" his tone turned sharp.

"No.. that's not it.. I mean, about whether or not this is the real world or just a dream of mine."

"This can't possibly be a dream.. if it was, perhaps you need something to wake you up?"

Slam.

Ksshh–

He slammed the base of a bottle of wine down, and the impact caused the cork to explode upwards. The bubbly contents flowed out.

"I don't drink.."

"One must experience something new in life one in a while, else, what is the purpose of life, don't you agree?"

He poured a glass for me– all the way to the brim.

"A toast to meeting you, another one of our kind."

"Cheers."

Another one of our kind huh? Do demon lords have good camaraderie or something? I found myself complying with his words.

We clinked glasses...

I sipped the wine. It had a nice grape punch, it stung my tongue and the heat traveled down my oesophagus.

The two of us, sitting on the deck with a small flickering flame of the kerosene lamp, enjoying a bottle or wine.

I breathed out cold air.

"I've been curious to ask. You've already been taken haven't you?"

"Taken?"

"Married."

"Huh? What do you mean? You mean being bound to another demon lord? If that's what you're referring to then.. yeah. I've already been bound to someone else."

"So you're already married," His Highness nodded.. I don't comprehend.

"The two of us aren't married though?"

"How are you two not? The ritual alone is the marriage. Do you not know?"

"What.."

"I understand your confusion. I've met others that didn't know about it either. There's a great difference between a simple kiss and the kiss of blood."

Kiss if blood? Okay, so there's another terminology for being bound to another demon lord.

"Out of curiosity, who is she?"

"Liliath. Liliath Toren."

Oh yeah.. speaking of which, her sir name changed to Bougainvillea after we had this 'kiss of blood', isn't it?

Crap. I can't let Liliath find out this.. we're already married? That's insane.. i thought being married and being bound to each other are two different things.. but LIliath did say once before that you can only become a true demon lord through matrimony.. ugh..

"Toren?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Odd. As in Toren Kingdom? Could you be his descendent?" His HIghness spun his wine glass before taking a sip. I took that as a sign and took another sip myself.

"Actually, my surname is Bougainvillea, Toren is Liliath's family.. and yes, she's from royalty.. but in the future."

"Had you not realized that she's already yours? Don't you think you're putting a little too much distance between yourselves by saying that?"

"Not really?"

"Suit yourself."

"You're Highness, so this means you've met other demon lords before?"

"I have. I heard there are 5 demon lords for this cycle. I've already met three, there's one more I had not come into contact– that is unless you are the fifth. Though, you yourself said you came from the future?"

"Yea. But why did you trust my statement? Of course I'm from the future but normally.. shouldn't you be skeptical?"

"Well, think of it as a demon's intuition. You don't feel like you're from this era. You're conducts could very well be said of too be queer. So is the aura you're exhibiting."

"Okay. I get it."

We drank in silence. The hum of the sea; the crashing of waves. The ship rocked gently, back and forth, the sails flapped and ropes swayed. There were small lights that acted as the marker for the few other ships behind us.

"How is progress? With solving the conflict between demon lords and humans?" I spoke.

"Very well. It has gotten quite the revolt however, looking at the big picture, the revolt is but a sign of progress. Quite a number of domains have come to acknowledge the demons."

"That's actually great."

"I was fortunate to have survived, fortunate that my parents had raised me even though they knew of my misfortune. It's very unfortunate that due to my existence, our entire village had to be burnt to the ground."

"My condolences."

"I did what I could to survive with whatever nature provided, those were some tough times. Then I met this young girl, unfortunately she wasn't my wife. She took me in and cared for me in her hideout. She was also my master– a witch."

Oh. So even witches exist?

"She taught me about magic, humans and their ruling– how conflict was like a flame, and that small inevitable embers will light up into a conflagration. And how news of this had no relevance. Whatever bad things that happen in the world, a million good exist. It is that we tend to view things through blood tinted glass. As you know, people love conspiracies and gossip. That's how rumors spread."

I nodded.

"I graduated and set off to achieve an era or peace that would last centuries.. that was just wistful thinking. I aim to at least stop this cycle of demon lord killings. War is inevitable, I just wish for demon lords to be able to participate in society without being seen as cursed objects."

"Yeah.."

"I'll have to count on you. This very life of mine will very much depend on how you will defend my life?"

"I think I should cheat a little," I tethered my widget onto His HIghness, "Now try to think of a status window."

He was surprised initially but seemed to grasp the function of the system quite quickly. I attached a basic autocasting widget with defensive spells and a messaging system. I made sure to only select the few spells that were useful and.. avoided the destructive ones.

[Absolute End], the sleep spell, was a great spell for single targets.

I also just realized that every time you activate a spell from the system, it actually drains your own mana so.. I don't know how much it'll help His HIghness but that's that. I don't know if editing his stat value is a good idea. He has some pretty beefed up skills too.

"You can activate it in a thought.. it's quite convenient."

His Highness already grasped the remote activation method for the protective barrier already.. this'll help decrease the probability of any accidents.

===

I just realized.. I can't take a proper bath here. Crap.

I was provided with a bucket of warm water and cloth to wipe down myself.. I guess I'll just have to make do with this. I didn't have any replacement of clothes so I could only wear the same until we reached our destination and got new ones.

Apparently.. the money from the 18th cycle is different from the 11th cycle.

I'm doomed. Penniless.. if not for His Highness' generosity.

Oh well.

Accompanying Charlotte is also fine.

But I'm starting to miss Liliath and the rest.. has this quest not ended yet?

"Noel-san."

"Yeah?"

"Cookie man," she showed me her drawing

"That's cute," I think I had a cramp smile on my face. It's like attaching a drawing of Earth on top of a distorted body.

She beamed at my compliment and continued to draw. I guess she's artistic.. or just plain bored.

"When are we arriving again?" I asked. It's been two nights.

The food here is.. it's got a weird historic aroma but for the most part, it was decent.. probably because His Highness is sharing with me the higher end food they eat. I don't know what the crew eats on a daily basis.

By the way, I did give Charlotte another ice cream sandwich out of guilt.

"It should be today, based on schedule.. today is," Quile reached over and picked up a journal. It's got a messily drawn map with the mark of a compass. "Yes, it's today."

"Alright.. a little longer tean.. by the way, are you really alright with me calling you Quile-san? Maybe I should call you Her Highness or.. Quile-sama?"

"Quile-san is good enough, you've given us so much after all."

"Hm.." I took out more snacks from the inventory. This time, it's a tub of ice cream. Half-eaten cause I had another drinking session with His Highness last night and I brought out ice cream to share. And I swear, wine and ice cream is an amazing combination. It's like drinking an alcoholic float. "Do you have plates?"

"Mn.. please give me a moment, I'll go get it."

"What's that?" Charlotte asked.

"Ice cream."

She gawked.

Quile came back with bowls and spoons. I divided the ice cream and stored the rest into the inventory. I'm pretty sure four big scoops is enough for Charlotte right?

"Yummy," holding the spoon with her fist, Charlotte ate with glee.

"These are.. nuts?"

"Hazel nuts.. or almond nuts. I'm not too sure."

"Never heard of it, but it must be good. Again, many thanks."

"Well.. I'm just sitting around while His Highness does the work.. I actually feel bad."

Ah.. I'm just like Liliath back when she was summoned. So this was how she felt back then? This guilt? Just that, unlike her, I had premium snacks I could give.

"Quile-san. Just a question because well.. you know, I have someone I'm already bound to Liliath.. is it possible to be bound to another demon lords?"

"Were you perhaps thinking about my daughter?"

"Of course not."

Quile chuckled.. not me. This is another one of those unrealistic developments.

"That's I'm not too sure, but it's important to respect the first wife's wishes, you understand?"

"I'm against it, she's telling me to do it."

Quile showed me a perplexed expression.

"I don't want another demon lord, she alone is enough but.. she wants me to take in another one and.. I don't really know what to do. "

"Personally, this other girl, how do you feel about her?"

Huh..

How do I feel about Rin?

That's quite a difficult question to answer.. for one, I know I'm denying the fact that I'm attracted to her.. but I also kinda learnt that.. you could be attracted to quite a number of people. The separation between attraction and actually becoming a couple is: choice.

"She's.. I guess, to put it, someone I don't want to marry?"

"What does your heart say?"

Heart say.. oh come on. Love isn't something you should consult your heart about.. The heart isn't the organ that causes a compulsive desire to build a harem and breed, it's the lizard brain. God, how dramatic are some of the character quotes going to get?

"I don't think I really want to listen to that.. it isn't the heart.."

"You can't deny the truth. What exactly it is you want.. you know it yourself, you know it very well."

No I don't. I know many books tell you to trust your guts or intuition.. some books tell you to use your intellect and rationale instead.. but If I went with my guts.. it's obviously telling me that I should try not to fall for Rin unless somehow.. well.. because that's going down the direction..

If I went with my intellect.. obviously I shouldn't fall for Rin. So where exactly is this.. 'desire' coming from?

My gut? My gut is contradicting itself?

By no means I'm I saying that it's bad to trust your gut.. just that it can sometimes be tangled up in very close decisions.. like the current me.

What exactly should I do?

"Noel-san, your ice cream is going to melt if you don't do something about it."

"Oh right.."

I fell deep into thought. I better eat up.