Chapter 23

"How about this one?" Buku asked Aura, showing her a cute yellow sundress. In order to encourage her daughter to at least try more girly outfits, Buku was dressed in a short airy dress herself.

"I don't know mom. Shouldn't Mare wear it?" Aura said dismissively from where she was sitting on the windowsill in her room, while her mother was rummaging through a large pile of different clothes.

Buku had once used the twins as dress-up dolls back when they were just game characters, and with that came an unhealthy amount of various articles of clothing collected during her more active gaming years.

However, her decision back then to make them crossdressers came now to haunt Buku, as Aura didn't want to wear anything girly and Mare needed to be convinced to wear more boyish clothes.

"I know you like boyish clothes just like me, but sometimes you can dress to look cute, you know. Can you at least try it on for me?"

Seeing her mother's pleading expression, Aura let out an exasperated sigh and jumped down from the windowsill, taking the dress from Buku's hands. She quickly took off her usual white suit and put on the dress.

"See, cute as fuu…You look so pretty in this." Buku said. 'Shit, I almost slipped up. I really need to stop swearing around them.'

"I don't know, it's a bit tight and windy. I don't understand how you and Mare can wear something like this. Mom, can't I just wear pants?" Aura pleaded with a sour expression.

"There is no winning with you. Oh, I know, this one!" Buku fished out pants and a sweater combo from the pile.

Seeing pants, Aura practically tore the dress off and grabbed them. However, once she put them on, it was pretty obvious that they were too tight and short for her.

"Mom, they don't fit!"

"How is that possible? All these costumes were made for you. Even the non-enchanted ones should fit perfectly." The fact that some of Aura's clothes would not fit came as a genuine surprise to Buku.

"Maybe it's because I'm growing up! Uncle Pero measured me and Mare. Turn's out I'm already taller than him." Aura said while getting out of the tight clothing and putting on her usual white suit, which was enchanted to always fit her.

"Wait! What? You are taller than Mare?"

"Uncle Pero said so. He also told me that girls of my age grow faster than boys."

Buku gave Aura a weak smile and then contacted her brother. { You little shit! }

{ What's got your panties in a twist? } Pero messaged back, sounding genuinely confused.

{ You didn't tell me Aura and Mare were growing! } Buku growled.

{ So? You knew they would be growing up. I have bigger problems to worry about. }

{ Yes, but they shouldn't be growing up so fast. Elves should grow up about nine times slower than humans, I think. }

{ Beats me. Probably that changed to whatever this world's standards are when the voice was talking. You already knew they would be growing up at some point. Instead, I have been caught completely unprepared here. }

{ Huh? }

{ Shalltear! She is not an undead anymore and I'm pretty sure she can get pregnant now. } Pero said, sounding defeated.

{ And how do you know that? } Buku asked him, trying not to sound condescending. Out of all her brother's kinks that she was aware of, Buku was rather sure incest wasn't a thing that Pero was into.

{ Well, she is starting to have… you know… }

{ Oh! }

{ Yeah. Sis, I need a solid one from you? }

{ Fine, I will talk about these things with her. }

{ Sometimes you aren't so bad. }

{ Don't push it! }

It seemed that both her children and Pero's daughter were affected by the rules of this world. 'Wait a minute, we have an elf visiting. I can go ask her how fast they grow up and how long they live! Shit, does it mean that Aura and Mare can die from old age? I need to ask Momonga about some age reversal magic just in case!'

Without hesitation, she said. "Aura I have a business to attend to, can we look through your clothing later?"

"Sure…" Aura said, sounding relieved but at the same time looking saddened.

"Don't worry, I will make it up to you." Buku said. Seeing Aura smiling was enough to know she wasn't angry about her sudden departure. To not waste time, Buku teleported to the mansion where the three guests were staying, and was promptly greeted by one of goblina's who bowed deeply. "Lady Bukubukuchagama."

"Just Buku will do. I need to talk with Eren." Buku said, impatiently.

"Of course." Goblina said as she then led her to the second floor where Eren was drinking tea on the balcony, overlooking the street below.

"There you are. I have a few questions about elves if you don't mind." Buku said.

Eren turned her head recognizing the voice, but the woman she saw stunned her for a moment. She stared at her for a good five seconds and then blurted out. "Lady Buku…You look just like a… A hero I know."

'I forgot to put on the plate set! Fuck! Fuck! What should I do? Can I still off her? No, Momonga will get mad at me for disturbing his plans. Play it off, play it off. It's fine!'

"How interesting, I have this appearance based on an old friend, Shizue Izawa. Maybe you knew her?"

The girl's face lit up in surprise. "Lady Buku, you know the Conquer of Flames?"

"Knew. I am sorry to tell you, but she died recently." Buku said solemnly.

"Died! How?" Eren asked with her voice breaking.

"Old age. She may have looked young but she had lived a long life."

"Oh. I thought… I could meet her again. She was my idol."

"I'm sorry."

"Was her death peaceful?" Eren asked quietly.

Buku hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Yes."

Eren offered a weak smile and then said. "You wanted to ask me about elves?"

"Yes. I was wondering about the lifespan of elves and how fast they grow up?"

"We grow up at the same rate as humans and age until about the age of twenty when our aging mostly stops. On average we remain like this for centuries, but some of the more magically inclined ones live much longer. Our Empress is over two thousand years old…" Eren then suddenly stopped and remarked. "Sorry I shouldn't have said how old she is. It's considered a grave offense to talk about her age, but she looks as young as me."

'This girl is clearly not a spy. She couldn't keep a secret even if her life depended on it.' Buku mused. 'They stop aging right after they are grown up. That's a relief. Considering the magicule amount my twins have, they should pretty much be immortal.'

"Thank you for the information and let's keep the age of your Empress a secret between us." Buku said with a sly smile to which Eren nodded enthusiastically.

While Buku returned to Nazarick a realization dawned on her. 'Aura and Mare will be teenagers in a few years. Mare is a good boy, but Aura is a younger version of me…' She shuddered at the horror of remembering how she was in her teens. Of course, she would have some practice with Shalltear, but that was a small solace considering what was about to come.

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Lupus leaned to the side as a chair flew by her and dropped another piece of popcorn in her mouth. Lord Peroroncino's concubines were having another fight for the position of the head concubine. By all means, the recently added black-haired kijin girl should have been their leader, by the merit of being personally the most powerful one, but she just stood aside confused about how to deal with the situation.

Yoseijoo, with strong support from Yosina, was having a screaming match with the head goblina, who had the support of her three peers. As it was the custom in the battle for dominance, flying objects were also involved.

'This gets better every time.' Lupus watched the show, amused to no end.

"Hey Yoseijoo, what kind of Queen are you? If I were in the Lord's harem I would get you all in line in no time!" Lupus shouted with laughter, adding fuel to the fire.

The Sprite Queen let out a growl and shouted as she turned her head. "Lord would never take someone in his harem with a fat ass like y…" She froze in place.

Suspecting the reason for her sudden reaction, Lupus gulped and slowly turned around coming face to face with Pero. The avian picked up a piece of popcorn from the bowl she was holding and stared at her down.

"So you would get all of them in line?" He asked in an amused tone as he dropped the small snack in his mouth.

"Well, I… but I'm not…I mean I would be honored, but you are a Supreme Being my Lord and I'm just a maid…" She stammered as she looked down.

Pero leaned in and whispered. "You are a gorgeous young lady and any man would be happy to have you. We could discuss details over a nice dinner if you are interested?"

Lupus looked up with her cheeks acquiring a noticeable red tint, nodding silently.

"Do you have free time this evening?"

She nodded again with a smile.

"Then it's a date. You better go prepare, I'll call in another maid meanwhile." Pero said as Lupus enthusiastically nodded and quickly left his quarters.

The moment doors closed Pero turned his attention to his ladies. "Now what is all this?" He asked in a stern tone to his concubines who had turned the guest area of his quarters into a battle zone once again.

"My beloved, they are not accepting my authority." Yoseijoo said with a small voice as she looked down.

"I don't recall telling you that you are the leader of my girls."

"No, but that… Alysa was trying to command me." Yoseijoo continued speaking in a small voice playing up her cuteness.

"She was the one who started it!" Alysa defended herself mimicking her rival's mannerisms.

"This is the fourth time the both of you are at each other's throats! Just because I adore you both doesn't mean I will put up with shit like this! If I manage to get Lupus in, she will be in charge!"

Both, the sprite and goblina, shuddered at the prospect of having the sadistic maid being in charge of the Peroroncoino's harem, but she, undeniably, was a lot stronger than any of them, and in case of any conflict, would easily wipe the floor with the entirety of the harem.

'Why am I putting up with this? Sometimes I think Momo is the smart one by avoiding all this bullshit. I could not imagine what a nightmare it would be to deal with the trio that have their eyes set on him.'

He, and Buku, saw it clear as day that Albedo, Shalltear, and even Shion were fighting for Momonga's attention, but their friend was oblivious to their advances. However, the prospect of dealing with the fight between these three made the idea of celibacy sound appealing.

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It was late in the evening. Momonga stood in front of a mirror dressed only in pants that were held up by magical means. The only witness to his new experiment was the maid standing at the door and the eight-edge assassins on the ceiling.

He could already eat and drink with ease and taking a bath in his skeletal form was pleasant, but he yearned for a full body even if it was just temporarily applied over his skeletal form.

One problem arose immediately. His skeletal form was not exactly made with an average human in mind. It was simply impossible to superimpose his old human face over it.

The face that hid most of his clean, white skull turned out to look like some sort of action hero from old movies who could roll up frying pans with ease. With some small adjustments, he could at least make it look Japanese enough for his liking.

"It's not too bad, I guess." Momonga told himself. His pointy chin was still sticking out but luckily could be temporarily reshaped while he wore a human face.

Next was the body itself. As with the face, his skeletal structure was incompatible with how his previous body looked. His first attempt to make a body with not much visible muscle just made it look weird.

'This won't do.'

Somewhere in Buku's part of the library was the answer he needed. She might have denied the existence of such manga, but |Dark Sage| had access to everything that was in the library, even the things hidden in the deepest depths of it.

A quick search with the dutiful skill revealed the image that he could imitate. After quick reshaping of the energy body that now had skin and hair Momonga looked at it critically.

'Isn't this too much? Should I ask Increment? No, asking to give an opinion on a body is likely a textbook case of sexual harassment. What if I just walked around a bit and watched her reaction? I am not forcing her to be here and even offered for her to leave.' That sounded like a better plan.

Surely his new body had a similar amount of muscle to the body Veldora was using, but unlike Momonga, the dragon was much more boisterous and such an over-the-top form fitted him well.

There was one last thing he created and adjusted while looking down the pants but there was no way in hell he would ask anyone's opinion about it.

Momonga reached over for the night robe to put it on, as he heard Increment running over to pick it up for him. She silently helped Momonga to put it on and then stood in front of him straightening out the ripples, while looking down a bit to hide her expression.

She continued adjusting the robe while running her hands over his body. A woman had never touched him like this while he was on the earth and the body was starting to… react.

"Is there something wrong with the robe?" he hastily asked.

"No my Lord, I'm just making sure it looks impeccable." Increment said with a strained voice.

"Thank you, I think this will be good enough." Momonga said to get the maid off him. The last thing he needed was to have a rumor going around of him being inappropriate with his subordinate.

"Of course my Lord." Increment said and returned to her spot by the door.

With the robe making him look much more appropriate he could test out how others would react to it. Increment at least, by the looks of it, found no problem with how he looked.

Momonga sat down at his desk and pressed a button to have some evening tea and snacks, trying to guess if it was Albedo or Shion who would deliver them. Shion was forbidden from making any food or drinks, but she was allowed to deliver them under the strict rule that she does not tamper with them, and the dutiful kijin had followed the rule thus far.

About five minutes later, Shion came in, stopped in her tracks, openly stared at him for a good ten seconds, and turned red in the face.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, unsure if the reaction was very positive or very negative.

"No, Lord Momonga." Shion snapped out of it and quickly walked up to the table. She then proceeded to walk around it and leaned down putting the plate with cookies and a cup of tea in front of him practically pushing her impressive rack in Momonga's face.

His body reacted immediately. "T-thank you. T-this will be all for now."

"As you command, Lord Momonga." Shion said with a smile and walked out but not before subtly trying to glance at him one more time.

She walked out of Momonga's office with a wide grin plastered on her face just as Albedo returned.

"What's with you?" She asked.

"Lord Momonga asked for tea and snacks. He was in his human form!" Shion said and watched her superior's face twist, first in confusion, and then in barely hidden envy.

"You…" She tried to find any reason to retaliate, but there was none. By all means, Shion had done nothing wrong, and there was no reason to punish her. Besides, the kijin, despite being weaker, always fought back with quite a vicious determination and could manage to do some minimal harm even to her. "You may go. I will finish up what is left."

"As you wish, Albedo." Shion said and walked off with the same grin on her face.

The succubus spent the next hours walking back and forth, waiting for a call to go in that never came. There also was no reason for her to go to Momonga's office on her own, as all the work was done for the day.

'Lord Momonga has a human form now. He is preparing to take wives. Why did that ogre have such luck to gaze upon it first?!'

Proofreading by I AM THE STRING CUTTER, Sad_Smiles, Somnium Hypnos, and kamijazz