Meeting in the Imperial Pagoda

Kiyomi had left to fulfill his orders, leaving Shuten Dōji alone in his room, this was what he wanted, being left alone for a while.

"Haa... finally... I am truly able to live again..." He mumbled to himself, as he sat on the railing of the balcony.

"Being able to move my body however I want again...it feels so unbelievably good!" truk one wouldn't understand what he felt right now if one hadn't gone through something similar.

Being unable to move for who knows how long, clearly taking in everything that was happening around oneself, but not being able to express anything at all.

It was a horrifying experience, he wouldn't want anyone ever to go through, even his worst enemy.

Though he didn't have something like that, "I'm really free to move again..." He said it for a third time, still unable to fully grasp reality again.

After all that had happened to him, dying suddenly after answering something simple on the phone, being reborn as an NPC, and living as such for a very long time, it was understandable.

But he needed to get back to reality again, or better said, get on with his new reality.

"Haa... Albedo will definitely come to get me later, I don't believe that Lord Momonga will not call me to the meeting of the Floor Guardians..."

"I have sent Kiyomi to order Enmei and Hisahito to wait at both entrances to wait for her..."

"So this is already accounted for."

"And I have sent for both, Shiro and Yoru to gather here, so as to leave them in charge here when I leave with Albedo later..."

"Anyway... I should try some small things while waiting for them..."

Thinking about it, he decided to try some small abilities, which should generally be available to him.

"Let's start with the inventory..."

Trying to feel for it, Shuten Dōji slowly stretched his hand while trying to open his inventory.

Soon his arm disappeared into a small void-like hole in the air, inside lay his inventory, it was of course rather small if set against that of Momonga, but there were still a lot of things inside, given to him by his Creators.

"My weapons, armor, potions, and many more things..." He went through the things inside his inventory, suddenly stopping at a black Guardbottle.

*Gulp* gulping down the saliva that had gathered in his mouth since he saw this bottle, he felt somehow drawn to it.

Gripping the bottle and taking it out of his inventory, an unknown urge overcame him as he opened the Guardbottle slowly and carefully.

When it was opened, an aroma flooded into his nostrils, which made him unable to hold back at all, putting the Guardbottle onto his eager lips, he took a deep long gulp of the content contained inside of it.

"Haaaaaa..." exhaling after setting it away from his lips again, a genuine smile appeared on his face, "It's been so long since I had the pleasure of drinking wine..."

"And this is probably by far the best wine I have ever tasted..." It was astonishing how good it tasted.

"Wait... wasn't there something about this in my classes..." Remembering one of his classes, it explained why he had such a Guardbottle in his inventory, "Drunken Calamity was it? ai shouldn't indulge in it right now, but... I want to take another sip..."

Struggling with his own desire and the knowledge of what was to come, he at the end put the Guardbottle back into his inventory, knowing full well that if he continued to take more sips, he probably wouldn't be able to stop at all.

Going through his inventory again, he took out his main weapon next.

Asura's Kanabo, a Japanese weapon which could be said to take a club as its base. Its whole length lay at 1.80m, with the handle being around 0.40m, wrapped in black cloth for a better grip and probably a third of the thickness of the rest of the weapon. At the bottom of the grip was an eyelet that seamlessly bent into the hilt.

The upper thicker part of the Kanabo was covered with thick metal spikes, though this whole weapon wasn't made of simple metal but with one of the rarest ore in Yggdrasil, prismatic ore.

"Ha... it looks pretty nice... and it feels so good in my hand..." He didn't have magic to analyze his weapon but the information about it had been given to him by the Players.

"Enhanced strength, blunt damage, Area of effect attacks, and many more similar buffs..." This was a Divine class weapon specially made only for himself.

"It is very different from Shaltear's Spuit Lance, which focuses on the effect of Lifesteal..."

Swinging it in the air he had a satisfied smile on his face, "But it's really perfect for me."

Putting the weapon back again, as he had nowhere to test the weapon at the moment, without destroying part of the 9th Floor.

He decided to wait for now while gazing at the increasing moon in the night sky, it somehow calmed him and made him feel good just by looking at it.

"Let's wait for now... I am excited to meet the other Guardians later..."

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.

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It took Kiyomi to complete her order around 20 minutes before she finally came back to the Imperial Palace.

"Finally back... and I was able to not let them notice anything..." wiping off sweat from her forehead which did not exist, Kiyomi breached a breath of relief.

"Let's report to the Lord for now!" making her way through the 9 layers of the pagoda, she soon came in front of the door leading to the room of Shuten Dōji.

Knocking slowly, Kiyomi announced her return, "Lord Shuten Dōji, Kiyomi is here to report on her orders."

"Come in..." The voice coming from inside sounded a bit lazy, seemingly bored, but she didn't mind as it was understandable. After all, her Lord had spent most of his time inside the confined space of his room, even though he was a battle-hungry Warrior.

Opening the door, she found her master lying sprawled out on the ground, stretching all limbs away from him, while making a face that seemed to say that he was about to die of boredom.

"What happened Lord Shuten Dōji?" she was very surprised by her Lord's current appearance. As she had never seen in such a way.

Shuten Dōji's head slowly turned towards her, then his gaze fixed on her, which scared her, especially after his gaze went downwards.

"Lord?" she was frightened by the gaze that he gave her but suddenly his face again grew to boredom as if he lost interest.

"Ah nothing, I just thought that a training match with you wouldn't be enough to warm up properly..." He commented casually while waving his hand at her.

She was utterly stunned, 'Did the lord just think about sparring with me?' a shudder went through her whole body. Although she was a Warrior and loved fighting very much, a duel against her Lord, would always end in her defeat.

As far as she knew the Lord she was serving was the strongest being inside the Great Underground tomb of Nazarick, besides the Supreme Beings.

"M...My Lord, how could I be your opponent? Aren't you the strongest being inside the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick?" she trembled while asking.

"Hmmm... not sure, I think Albedo's little sister Rubedo could probably be on the same level, maybe even a bit stronger. I'm not too sure." He said casually, not caring at all about not being the undisputed first at all.

"But if we are only talking about Floor Guardians, then the answer is yes... but I think a little spar with Cocytus would be able to satisfy me, don't you think?" He asked with interest and anticipation.

'Though I don't think Lord Cocytus, my absolute Warrior Idol would be able to win... he should be able to at least give the lord a challenge, shouldn't he?' She thought to herself, before answering.

"Lord Cocytus is the best Swordsman in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, he will surely be able to satisfy the Lord's desire for a spar."

The eyes of Shuten Dōji seemed to regain some light, "Then it's worth waiting..." mumbling to himself, he sat up.

"Kiyomi, I want you to send servants to welcome Shiro and Yoru when they arrive, after arranging this, I want you to come back here again."

The black fluffy tail behind Kiyomi started to wag again with happiness, 'Finally, I can be helpful to the master!', "Yes Lord, I will arrange it immediately."

She then left again and arranged for some servants to welcome their guests, who would be arriving soon, before going back to her Lord's room again.

Shuten Dōji had sat up upon her return, now sitting against one of the walls, leaning his back against it, and told her to take a seat not too far from him, as they were now waiting for the others.

She could see that her Lord wanted to do something else, but fought very hard against this desire of his, though she didn't know what it was.

'Can't take that bottle out of boredom. Can't take that bottle out of boredom. Can't take that bottle out of boredom.' he repeated this again and again inside his mind, as his desire to take another sip of the delicious wine he had drunk earlier kept increasing as they waited.

'Shit, they made me a fucking alcoholic!!!' He cursed in his mind, if he knew the amount he could take without being drunk, then he might take a few more sips, but he had no idea and didn't want to appear drunk on the first meeting of the Guardians later.

So he could only restrain himself as much as possible.

It didn't take too much time for the first among the guests to appear.

Around 10 minutes after Kiyomi returned, a minion of the Castle knocked on the door, "Lord Shuten Dōji, Lady Shiro has arrived and asked for permission to enter."

Finally, someone had arrived and his focus could shift away from the desire to drink, "Permission granted." he called out.

The next moment the door opened and the beautiful kitsune entered. Her clothes were different from normal, she now wore a pure white Cheongasm, engraved with a golden nine-tailed fox. It perfectly fit her curves and made her long slender legs even more enchanting, while her 9 snow white fluffy tails danced behind her in a rhythm that seemed to enchant people.

Her snow-white hair is always worn in a large braid draped over her shoulder and reaching her waist, while her silver eyes draw people into them.

If Shuten Dōji didn't have naturally high resistances against such things, then even he might be enchanted to directly lick her feet.

But he was different, this though didn't mean that all present in the room could resist it, Kiyomi beside Shuten Dōji was gazing at Shiro without even blinking.

That was at least until... *Bang*

"Ahhhhhhhh!!! My Lord why?" Kiyomi asked with a tearful shout, holding her head where her Lord had hit her.

Shuten Dōji didn't answer, but shook his head before greeting his fiance, "Welcome Shiro, please excuse my ignorant little Kiyomi." He then offered her, "Please take a seat wherever you desire, the pillows are over there." pointing to a place with a stack of seat pillows, he told her to sit wherever she wanted to.

"Thank you for your welcome, my dear." The corner of Shuten Dōji's mouth twitched a little upon hearing this, "Then I won't be polite."

With those words said, Shiro went to get a pillow and then straight to the side of Shuten Dōji, placing her pillow there and trying to lean as close as possible to Shuten Dōji.

The corners of Shuten Dōji's mouth and eyes twitched even more, but it was his own fault. 'Why did I tell her to take place wherever she wanted?!?!'

Before he could ponder further on this, Shiro addressed him as she took one of his arms in her own hands and pressed it between a rather peculiar place.

"My dear... why is it only now that you have called upon me? I haven't seen you for such a long time... I missed you a lot..."

Shuten Dōji was completely baffled by this situation, 'Idiot! I might have asked you over if I was able to?! But only since half an hour can we even walk by ourselves, so who are you admonishing her for neglecting you?!'

A giant tick mark appeared on Shuten Dōji's forehead, his voice grew heavy and deep as he spoke, "Shiro... Let go..."

A chill went through Shiro's whole body, not only her, Kiyomi on the side was also nearly scared to pee herself when she felt the anger of her Lord for the first time.

Shiro immediately let go of the arm of Shutn Dōji and sat straight on her pillow, while cold sweat covered her back, 'Scary... super scary...' She felt like she had done nothing wrong.

But it seemed that she had tried to push exactly the wrong buttons, to get a positive point with the man she admired and loved since her creation, the man she was destined to marry one day.

Hanging her head, she bit her lower lips and asked, "Don't you like me at all?"

Shuten Dōji immediately calmed down upon hearing these words, 'What's gotten into me?' He had no idea, but he was so annoyed by her words, that his anger came out unconsciously.

Taking a deep breath, Shuten Dōji started to speak, "That's not it. But this is not the time nor the right company for such intimacy. So please don't take it too seriously."

'I hope this gives the girl a bit of relief...' he thought.

'Ah right... Kiyomi said before that he was swatting for important guests today... and she was also present. I mean, I wouldn't mind but if he doesn't want intimacy in front of others... there is nothing I can do about it...'

Before she could think more, she felt a big hand touch her head, it felt warm and caring... startling her for a moment. At least until she realized whose hand it was.

Shuten Dōji was looking at her seriously while patting her head gently, "One day I will take responsibility for the arrangements of the Creators, but currently we have more important issues at hand. So please learn to restrain yourself."

'After all, I am also restraining my desire to drink at the moment to the limit, so this shouldn't be too much, should it?'

"It is good that I didn't do such foolish things, like the little fox..." A gentle and smooth voice came through the door, which was shortly opened after.

Entering was an enchanting black-haired beauty dressed in a traditional white Yukata, with a red sash, wrapping tightly around her body.

Her black hair was bound in a slightly loose bun, while her black feathered wings were held close to her body.

"Welcome Yoru, I'm glad you have arrived earlier than I expected. Please take a pillow and take a place wherever you want." Shiten Dōji greeted her in a similar way to Shiro before.

The girl beside him though was glaring daggers at Yoru, probably because of the words spoken by Yoru just before entering.

Yoru gave Shiro a sly smirk, before taking a pillow and sitting to the other side of Shuten Dōji.

Now Shuten Dōji was sitting in the middle, between two beautiful women, who both desired him and both were already spoken to him.

Yet the only thing he felt at the moment, was a giant headache and a huge desire to take out that wonderful Guardbottle and take it to his lips without ever letting it leave them again.

The glaring contest between the two women didn't seem to stop, so Shuten could only intervene again, "You girls should stop your fighting behavior..."

It was like a wonder had happened, the moment he spoke up, the two stopped glaring at each other.

Before the two realized it a giant hand started to fall on their heads, patting them gently as Shuten Dōji spoke, "Thank you for understanding."

The two looked at each other and seemed to have a conversation with only their eyes.

Shiro: 'We will fight from now on through glares to reserve more head pats when we reconsider.'

Yoru: 'Good idea I fully agree with this tactic. We have never received physical attention from our Dear. Such a wonderful feeling!'

Shiro: 'I agree fully!'

The two nodded at each other and Shuten Dōji felt like he had missed something but he couldn't point his finger at what it was.

On the side Kiyomi was very happy, 'Haa... now I can be patted without fearing the Wrath of these two crazy jealous women...'

She had truly feared that it would come out and that the two would target her afterward. Now such a possibility was rather small.

"My dear, who is the guest you are waiting for?" At this moment, Yoru asked, looking at Shuten Dōji with curiosity shining in her beautiful black eyes.

Shiro also started to gaze at him with a similar curiosity in her crystal-clear eyes.

Shuten Dōji took his hands away. the heads of the two girls, who were clearly disappointed by this, but still listened attentively to his following words.

"Didn't you realize it?" He asked first, to which the two shook their heads, Kiyomi did the same.

'How do I explain it... sorry Lord Momonga, I'm gonna put it on you, don't hate me for it...' he thought before explaining.

"We have been granted the freedom to move outside of simply the orders of the Supreme Beings, probably the last of the Supreme Beings Lord Momonga, granted us this ability for us to be of better use to him."

He paused letting his words settle in the minds of the three of them, going by their expressions, they believed him, but they were utterly shocked to not have realized this until now.

He then continued, "Which is why he will probably call us Floor Guardians for a meeting and the only one who could call us together..."

He was interrupted by Shiro, "Lady Albedo is coming!" She exclaimed in realization.

"It should be big sister..." Yoru also commented.

'OH right... this fits for Tabula, making Yoru also part of the sisters as he made the other three and probably the whole backstory of Yoru as well.'

Shuten Dōji nodded, "The Guardian Overseer, Albedo, will be coming to get me and when that happens, I need you two to stay here and watch over the 9th Floor in my absence."

Explaining his reasons, the two of Shiro and Yoru nodded in understanding, they were programmed to be something like semi-floor Guardians and manage the floor if he wouldn't be able to do it.

The reason for this mostly lay in the fact that Shuten Dōji was designed to hate working and to be lazy as hell when it came to management and the like.

Momonga, Touch-me, and Ulbert decided to inform the groups making Shiro and Yoru about this so that they could take his place and were more adjusted to working and managing the 9th floor.

"I understand dear, though it is rather disappointing that you didn't call us over to simply meet us, we appreciate your trust in us and will not disappoint it." Yoru came to her senses first and smiled at Shuten Dōji with a charming smile.

Shiro nodded as well, "This time I have to agree with Yoru, we can't let the last of the Supreme Beings be disappointed in us, as well as you my dear."

'God bless it worked! Sorry Lord Momonga, but please take this head for me! I will definitely help you in the future and make up for it!' Shuten Dōji apologized to Momonga in his heart countless times for throwing the pot at him, but he currently had no better way to explain it at all.