Chapter 11: Part 3

- Arthas -

"You look tired. Didn't you sleep properly last night?" She asked me, worried.

"Hmm, not really. I was thinking about everything you told me last night."

"Oh my, are you suddenly afraid of me or something?" She asked me with a smile but I could feel that this question was actually a serious one so I responded to her just as seriously.

"It doesn't change anything between us. For me, you are the same person you were yesterday, the person who has fought with me, covered my back and supported me in my time of need. You being a devil or any other race doesn't change this simple fact."

Trusting someone with your back in life and death fights go a long way to establish trust.

A smile bloomed on her face at my answer.

I continued. "I just had some other questions in mind."

"Oh?"

"I was wondering if the Supernatural world is real….and so many people have been trapped inside, was it the work of someone from that side of the world and if so then why hasn't someone tried to do anything yet? From what you have told me, all the creatures from the mythologies are real and they keep each other in line to prevent the existence of the Supernatural world from spreading among the normal humans….then why….hasn't anyone done anything even after so long?"

A frown appeared on her face and then a serious contemplating look took its place. "That, I don't know. I have some guesses but I don't have enough information to make exact conclusions."

"Can you tell me the guesses?" I asked, trying to get some ideas and maybe I could think of something with my own knowledge of the plot.

"Hmm, remember the part when we were creating our characters and we had to agree to a part about putting your mind, body, heart and soul on the line?"

"I nodded."

"Well, there is a high chance that they were not mere words."

"Huh?"

"I think it could be some kind of magical contract and we voluntarily agreed to it. Such contracts have power. I guess I must be slipping to fall for such an obvious trap." She added before shaking her head.

"So…."

"Maybe that's why the Supernatural side hasn't done anything or it could cause us to lose our lives. That's at least one of the reasons."

"Still, what reason could someone have for doing something like this?" I asked. And this guy was a reincarnator too.

Just what the fuck happened that he decided to play Akihiko Kayaba all of a sudden.

"That….I don't know. Sometimes, some people are just mad enough to do something like this. The Old Satan factions that I explained about last night are such people but even they wouldn't be so blatant about it or it would turn the whole world against them. If I am honest, I don't think they have the guts for such a thing….at least not all of them." She added the last part slowly.

Oh, you have no idea about just how crazy those fuckers can be and how much guts they can have. Especially that bastard of Lucifer, Rizevim. That crazy son of a bitch had unsealed the beast of apocalypse and almost caused the world to be destroyed.

Were we really trapped inside by them?

Was this reincarnator guy a member of that Khaos Brigade organisation too?

"Couldn't they find and well….make him break the contract?" I asked after some hesitation.

She shook her head. "He has the lives of almost twenty million players in his hands and there are high chances that some of them could be important people just like me, my daughter and her friends. I know for sure that my family and especially my son would have done something already if he could."

….

"You have a son!" I asked, pretending to be surprised. I still had to play the part.

"Oh my, didn't I tell you? I have a son, daughter and even an adorable grandson."

"You….look very young."

"Thank you. Supernatural races can live for a long time and maintain their youth for as long as they want."

"So, how old are you?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Now now, asking a woman her age is not good manners."

"I am sorry." I apologised.

"Well, I will give you a hint. My son Sirzechs, is almost five hundred years old and I had him two hundred years after my marriage."

….

So at least above seven hundred years….

And then I suddenly realised something….she had let slip her son's name.

"Sirzechs? Isn't that the name of the current Lucifer? Did you name your son after him?"

She chuckled. "No dear. The current Lucifer is named after my son….or rather, my son is the current Lucifer although technically, he is not associated with any houses, it still doesn't change our relationship."

She laughed when seeing my open mouthed look. "What, surprised?"

"Well, what do you think?"

"Oh, could it be that the strongest player on the continent is actually scared?" She teased.

I rolled my eyes. "Put yourself in my place and think. I have been sleeping with the mother of the Devil all this time? Not to mention him, your husband would probably blast off my head the moment we get out. How do you think I should feel?"

She burst out laughing. "Seriously, even after hearing everything, my race, my true identity, the very fact that I was a devil, that is what you are worried about?"

"Excuse me but I think I am perfectly sane to worry about such a thing." I countered.

Sirzechs, from what I remembered, was someone who cared a lot about his family. I had no idea how he would react if he found out that I was staring at his mother's half naked ass and even slept with my face buried in her breasts everyday.

"Silly child. Devils or rather most long lived races, have a very different sense of morality then that of humans. You shouldn't judge people based on your human way of thinking. What might seem common sense or societal norm for you might be completely reversed for the other races. It's one of the results of having such a long life to be honest."

"Huh?"

"Well, for starters, having lovers or even multiple wives is quite normal among devils. Most devils have harems of their own, men more often than women but it is quite normal. After all, the devil race has a very low fertility and we are still trying to get our numbers back up. Do you follow me till this point?"

I nodded.

"Secondly, there are those people who just fall out of love….or well, they just get bored of each other. It can take a few hundred years to even a few thousand years or even more but after a certain time, they just stop having desires for each other. At that point, they just part ways."

"Divorce?" I asked.

"Well, not always. They just separate and live their own lives. My own mother-in-law has been living on her own for a while now. There are obviously exceptions, people who stick with their partners but they are exceptionally rare."

"I see." And then I thought of something before asking. "You told me about your son but nothing about your daughter?"

If I knew her age, it would at least give me an idea of where I stood in the timeline.

Although us being trapped inside would have changed the timeline almost entirely, something was still better than nothing.

I remembered some things about this world but not everything although I knew the deal with Trihexa and then some Alien Gods would come and attack the planet and they would start with Great Red.

Apart from that I didn't know much.

"Oh my, thinking about my daughter while sleeping with me?….How bold, Arthas." She smirked.

"Arthur."

"Hmm?"

"My real name is Arthur Strauss." I replied.

It was only fair to share my real name with her after she came forth with her own.

She paused for a moment and then smiled gently. "Arthur Strauss. Arthas….I see. I get it. It's a good name. Well, since you have opened up to me, I guess I could tell you about my daughter. My daughter is almost the same age as you. Her name is Rias and she had just started her third year in High School and had her eighteenth birthday when she got this game. It was actually her praising this game so much that made me interested so I decided to try my hand at it."

"Devils go to High Schools?" I asked. "Also, five hundred year old son and eighteen year old daughter. You weren't kidding about the low birth rates."

"Well obviously Devils go to school. Knowledge is power and Devils love power. Normally children are homeschooled in their early years and then sent to schools for Noble children but my daughter wanted to experience life in the human world and thus she joined a school in Japan with some friends of hers. I wonder if she is inside this game too." She sighed worriedly.

I put a hand on hers reassuringly. "If she is, then we will find her."

She gave me a light smile. "Thank you."

The topic was becoming sombre so I changed it. "Still, that's a very low birth rate. One child in a five hundred year period. I can see why everyone would be worried about going extinct." Another thought came to my mind and I turned towards her. "And what about your husband?"

"Oh? Why so interested in my husband all of a sudden?" She asked, teasingly.

"I'd like to know if I should expect someone to appear outside my house ready to blast my head for sleeping with his wife." I replied blandly.

She giggled. "You really don't understand the ways of devils."

"I don't. That's why I am asking you. From a human's perspective, I would never want my wife to be like this with anyone else. And that's why, I think it would be incredibly cruel of me to do this with someone else's wife if they feel like me." I asked seriously.

She shook her head and perhaps sensing my seriousness she answered seriously too. "You would really be a great knight, Arthas. I did notice that you have maintained your distance from me from the moment you heard I have a son."

"Obviously, children are the ones most affected in such cases. Even more so than the couples." I answered easily.

She smiled and shook her head. "It's refreshing to see someone keep their calm even in such a situation and think about others first. As for your answer. I don't think he would mind. He has a harem of his own that he spends his time with. Some of them are even my friends. We have been together for almost a millenia and before anything, we are best of friends."

She looked towards the ceiling. "The reason I decided to join this game was because….I was bored. While I am happy with my life, things start to become bland after a certain period of time. When you live for thousands of years, there are very few things you don't experience. Even relationships change. They become less about….physical satisfaction and more about feelings. That doesn't mean we don't need physical satisfaction. Sometimes people just lose their passion for their partners. In such cases, it's better to part ways rather than lead a monotonous life. Both my husband and I understand this."

"So, you have other partners?" I asked, curious.

She smirked. "My my, are you asking me if I am available?"

I shrugged.

"Well no. First of all, if I had partners I wouldn't be in this game."

I don't know why, but I felt an invisible 'get a life, otaku' slap on my face even though it was not her intention there.

"Second, as you said, children are affected when parents separate. My daughter was supposed to get married this year. Any announcements we made would have been after that settled down."

….damn.

Was there something like that in the novels?

She seemed in quite a melancholic mood so I let her have some quiet time.

It was already early morning so we didn't have much time to laze around.

We needed to get to work soon.

The two of us left the room with a much greater understanding of each other.