The [Time] Demon Lord asked about Fel.
It was possible to lie but I would rather not do that to a Demon LordPerson who honestly bared their feelings for Marcho.
I have to brace myself.
"I laid my hands on her. I fiddled with her tail and then kissed her. And then, the other day, to discipline her, I made her undress and then spanked her bottom. I"m really sorry."
I said so and bowed my head.
The fiddling of Fel"s tail and kissing her happened when I used [Awakening] within Marcho"s dungeon. And then, the other day, by Fel"s request, I used [Awakening] again. On that second event, I fiddled with her tail again and then afterwards, I spanked her. …when I did so, I felt extremely happy but obviously, that was an awful thing to do.
After hearing me, the [Time] Demon Lord smiled.
"I see, you did that to Fel, huh. …now die."
The world became slower. Or so I thought but it was more accurate to say that time stopped flowing for me.
Such was the ability called [Time]. If things stayed like so, I would die without being able to lift a finger, let alone any kind of resistance.
But then, my consciousness returned.
As it did, I saw a white tail before me.
"Fel, don"t get in the way. I have to give this man his due."
"Father, p-please wait"
Fel was protecting me.
The only ones who could move in a s.p.a.ce governed by the powers of [Time] were the [Time] Demon Lord and the monsters who had the ability to manipulate [Time].
The two subordinates of the [Time] Demon Lord—the flame Qilin Telflare and the mysterious old man—had no inclination to protect me so if it weren"t for Fel, I most probably would have died.
"Chief, let"s do it. If you won"t, I will."
The Qilin said so while being clad in black flames summoned from h.e.l.l. It was the ultimate flame that embodied incineration itself. Unbound by the laws of physics, its flames would continue to burn even while under water.
"M-my Fel-tan, my Fel-tan has been soiled. Grandpa"s going to destroy this city!"
It was only the old man"s face but he transformed nonetheless into a raging dragon. Dragon whiskers appeared and his eyes turned into these fiery reptilian eyes.
"No, stop! Don"t harm master!"
Fel desperately pet.i.tioned so.
However, the [Time] Demon Lord just looked at me as one would at trash.
"Step aside, Fel. Let me kill that man… Or could it be that, by his authority as your Demon Lord, this man has commanded you to do this?"
The [Time] Demon Lord was furious. There was no way he was going to forgive me and, honestly, I deserved that much. Losing myself via [Awakening] was no excuse. To make matters worse, knowing all of the risks, I still used [Awakening] again when Fel requested it.
"I am not being commanded"
Fel shaked her head no.
"What he did is unforgiveable!"
"Even so, please, don"t! I, I…"
Tears began flowing from her eyes.
Fel, you can stop now.
It was painful to let her continue protecting me like this: by going against her father.
"…Felsias, that"s enough. I [Command] you to step aside."
Through a Demon Lord"s authority over a monster, a [Command] given by them must be carried out without exception.
As of the moment, control over Fel was mine.
The [Time] Demon Lord was perfectly aware of such and even though his [Command] had no binding effect, if Fel decided to disobey him, it would mean them parting ways.
"I-I may not be able to disobey you but if you insist on giving me this [Command], know that I will you for it. I will hate you Father, you Tef-niisama, and you Ragna-jii. I will hate all of you."
Seeing Fel act as tough as she could, the [Time] Demon Lord"s party was confused.
Given that, I stood up, grabbed Fel by the shoulder, and hid her behind me. There was no way I could let her act as my shield any more than she has.
"[Time] Demon Lord Dantalian, let me return Fel to you. Kill me after that please. If you kill me right now, I won"t be able to transfer authority over her, after all."
And so, I began the transferring of the authority over Fel.
I then extended my hand. By grabbing it, the [Time] Demon Lord would complete the process.
"Procell, if you release Fel—who has the ability to manipulate [Time]—over to me, there will be nothing you can do to stop me. If you intend to use the monsters behind you, you will find that that is a futile effort. Having unparalleled strength, such is the ability called [Time]."
"Even so, I"m sure. I do have one request though: please don"t break my crystal. These children are innocent in this matter."
Even if I was killed, so long as Wight and Marcho were there, Avalon would be safe.
"Good resolve. Now, return Fel to me."
With that, the transfer was complete. Seeing that, Fel leaked out a sad sigh.
"Now, there is nothing to stop me anymore. Before I kill the [Creation] Demon Lord, Fel, tell me, why are you willing to go that far to protect that man, that lolicon who laid his hands on you?"
Tears in her eyes, Fel fearlessly looked straight at the [Time] Demon Lord.
"Because I love master. It was my wish, my request that he did those things. He was only listening to my selfishness; he"s not at fault!"
"Is that true?"
"It is! So, please, forgive master! Please! I"ll do anything, please!"
Fel said so while her head was lowered.
Meanwhile, the [Time] Demon Lord let out a long, long sigh.
After a while, he then smiled thinly.
"For you to lie to me—for the very first time—must prove how much you love him. I understand that much. My desire to kill him hasn"t changed but I would rather stay my hand than be hated by you."
What Fel said was indeed a lie.
She did request that I use [Awakening] on the second time but on the first one, I simply did what I wanted regardless of her say on the matter.
Upon realizing that she was lying, the [Time] Demon Lord sympathized with what she felt. He then put a hand on her shoulder and asked her something.
"Fel, I"m going to give you a choice to make. Return to my side or be that man"s monster. Whichever you choose, I give you my word that I will not do anything horrible to him."
Fel then began to tremble.
For a young girl like her, it must have been a difficult life choice.
"I-I"ve decided. I love master. I also Kuina who is like an older sister to me. I"ve also made a lot of friends here in master"s very amusing city. The food here is very tasty too."
Recently, Fel has become familiar with Avalon.
She has been adoring Kuina as though the latter truly was an older sister; has been befriending the other monsters; and has been enjoying herself casually in Avalon.
"I see"
The [Time] Demon Lord murmured so, almost with a sigh.
"But the one I love most is Father. I look up to Tef-niisama. Even though Ragna-jii is annoying, I don"t dislike him. I love everyone in the [Chronos Knights] too. It is there that I belong. I love you, master, but I choose to be with Father."
Fel strongly declared so.
Her decision wasn"t out of impulse but rather out of careful deliberation.
The [Time] Demon Lord then brushed Fel"s head with his rea.s.suring, fatherly hand.
"I see. Then, let"s return together. [Creation] Demon Lord, I forgive you. My daughter has said that she loves you and I of all people know what it feels like to lose someone you love. More than anything, every father only ever wishes for their daughter"s happiness."
"You really will forgive me?"
"Under two conditions."
The [Time] Demon Lord shot me a piercing gaze and then help up a finger.
"First, it would be horrible of me to tear Fel apart from the people she has gotten close to. And so, from time to time, allow her to visit this place. Kuina, I believe you were called. It seems like you have been like an older sister to Fel; I leave her in your care."
"Leave it to Kuina! Kuina"ll shower Fel with love!"
The [Time] Demon Lord glanced at Kuina and thanked her.
"For the second one… I"ll be clear here: I"m offended. I was trying to act cool earlier but, what the h.e.l.l? You"ve told me that your feelings for Marcho weren"t anything like romantic love and yet you"ve seduced her. Sure, it might have been necessary to convince her to accept [Rebirth] but… f.u.c.k off! Don"t screw with me! And then, on top of all that, you go and lay your hands on Fel. Are you mad!? Do you even understand how a man who has both a daughter and someone he yearns for feels right now!? This is the first time in my three hundred years of living that I"ve felt this aggravated."
"I am truly sorry"
Apologizing was all I could do.
To him, it must have felt like he was cuckolded twice.
"What aggravates me the most is that both Marcho and Fel are happy with you. They like you, they love you. So, if I kill you, those two that I love will be sad. And there is no way I"m going to deliberately do that… Hah, truly aggravating. And so, I"ve decided to just forget it all with alcohol. In other words, my second condition is that bottles of wine made out of golden apples be delivered to me weekly. I will make Fel go each week to pick up the wine. Do we have an agreement?"
"Are you really okay with this?"
"Don"t misunderstand. I"m offering this for Marcho and Fel"s sake."
"I"m really sorry."
"If you"re truly sorry, then don"t do it the first place. Also, if it helps you accept this, consider this a favor you owe me."
I agreed.
I owed him a large debt of grat.i.tude which I should pay back someday.
At that point, his monsters began to cause an uproar.
"Chief, is this really alright?"
"…Teflare"s respected as a big brother and meanwhile, though I am not disliked, I"m annoying? Such difference! Grandpa will correct this; grandpa will shower you with three times the sweets!"
The old man was totally off the subject.
"It"s fine. I"ve decided on this after seeing Fel"s resolve. Or is it that the two of you wish for her to be unhappy?"
"…got it, chief. But if that Demon Lord makes her cry, I swear I"m going to beat him to death."
"More importantly, Fel-tan, eat these sweets. Here, you"ll see your grandpa is kinder and more handsome than that Demon Lord."
It seemed to me that the [Time] Demon Lord"s monsters were willing to let me off the hook as well.
With that, I thought I could finally take a breath and relax but then I heard some Demon Lords saying some disturbing things.
"I just don"t know anymore. Is he someone who likes older women but pretends to be a lolicon or a lolicon that pretends to be otherwise… Is his taste that varied? Is there room for something in-between? I just can"t understand it anymore."
"Stolas, is he really alright? I"m getting worried."
"Procell is a fantastic Demon LordPerson! It"s just that he"s a mothercon and a lolicon; he"s just fickle!"
"No, you see, that"s what"s getting me worried."
[Wind] Demon Lord Stolas and [Dragon] Demon Lord Astaroth were conversing excitedly.
It"s better for me to not get involved.
Meanwhile, my monsters too were getting lively.
"Oto-san, if you want, you can do to Kuina what you did to Fel."
"Mhm. We have to verify how safe it is. I don"t know if I"ll like having my bottom spanked but the responsibility of doing it does appeal to me."
"Yeah, right? So, how about it?"
I could sense nothing but bad things.
Just what are these girls asking for?
But then…
"Pro~Cell~"
Marcho clung onto me.
"You"ve proposed to me and yet here I find out that you"re doing whatever you want. I guess I"ll have to educate you in the bedroom to not look at anyone other than me."
Marcho whispered so in my ear. When I heard her say in the bedroom, mult.i.tudes of weird thoughts came to me one after another.
At that point, Kuina and Rorono approached.
"No! You can"t disrupt Oto-san"s day!"
"Mhm. The turn order on which we have it should be preserved."
"Then, I guess I"ll just include myself on that turn order."
Things were gradually getting out of hand. Thinking about the seeds I had sown and their consequences was giving me a headache.
And so, I decided to b.u.t.t in and forcefully announce something.
"Everyone, it isn"t just food that I"ve prepared for you all today. We have plays we can watch, a hot spring to enjoy, and curios from all over the world to shop. I want you to enjoy everything Avalon has to offer. Now, let"s move on to the next one."
Whether what I said had an effect on its own, the group was interested regardless.
There were various hurdles but, in the end, we finished the meal peacefully.
As they were, I believed it was fine to say they were enjoying my city, my Avalon.
As I thought of such things, I guided everyone to our next venue: the stage for a play.
◇
We were having a marvelous time.
We watched a play, sipped some tea while taking a break, and shopped at Avalon"s renowned shopping district. Of course, I took care of the expenses so that they could have as much fun as possible.
At the moment, we were relaxing ourselves at the hot spring which was reserved only for us. Due to the men and women bathing in separate areas, three male Demon Lords and one monster that looked like an old man were stuck together. All thorns and no flowers.
Kuina and the girls always took a bath with me but, for this instance, I had to convince them not to. It took all of my willpower to do so but thanks to the excellent water of the hot spring, the fatigue of both my body and mind were swept away.
Still, I"d rather be in the other area where many beautiful girls are.
"Dan, you"re so mature now. Just the fact that you didn"t kill this guy earlier surprised me."
"I am not my old self. It might only be a little but I"ve learn to sympathize with others… deep down though, I still want to kill him."
"I have nothing to say in my defense."
I felt smaller.
"Fuhahahaha, well, that"s fair enough. Hey, Dan, you were really shrewd on getting those alcohol. Why don"t we go drinking from time to time?"
"Okay, let"s. We"ve wasted a great amount of our lifespan not being in each other"s company so even if by just a little, I"d like to go back to what we were in the old days. Ast, even now, will you not want to extend your life?"
"Yeah, I don"t. I"ve found a successor, after all. I plan to leave it all behind to Stolas. So, Procell, if you make that child cry, know that I"m going to go after you from beyond the grave."
"I"ll keep that in mind."
When I replied so, the [Dragon] Demon Lord slapped my shoulder.
While being submerged in the water and being intoxicated by alcohol, I looked up and admired the stars and moon. Such marvelous things that surpa.s.ses everything else.
Thinking like so, I extended my hand as though to grab the moon.
After that, for some reason, we talked about dirty stuff. We might have been Demon Lords but we were still men. It was my first time to have an innocently perverted conversation and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
We continued to drink, humidity and all. Like that, we pa.s.sed the time in an enjoyable way.
◇
After the hot spring, we rested for a while and then headed to the gates of Avalon.
"Well, I"m heading back. Stolas, will you be staying here?"
"Yes. The day of my [War] is approaching so I"d like to hear various advice."
"That"s good. He did manage to get a win against six old Demon Lords so I"m sure you"ll learn a lot."
The [Dragon] Demon said such, rode his esteemed dragon, and then left.
"We"ll be going as well. I won"t say any further complaints about the matters on Marcho and Fel but I stand by what I declared earlier: I will not give up on Marcho. Someday, I will make her fall for me and take her away. Also, if you make Fel cry, remember that I will kill you."
"I"ll keep those in mind."
At the end of our farewell, the [Time] Demon Lord smiled.
And then, Fel who was beside him spoke as well.
"Master, Kuina, everyone, goodbye! We"ll see each other again so this isn"t really farewell!"
"Fel-chan, we"ll absolutely see each other again! Everyone will be waiting for your return!"
Kuina said so as she energetically waved her hand.
Both Fel and Kuina had tears flowing from their eyes. It was only a short time but the two had become close sisters.
And then, when the [Time] Demon Lord waved his hand, they vanished.
"Kuina, don"t get sad, okay?"
"Yeah, our time might have been limited, but I"m glad I have a new sister."
Fel was good kid.
She has become more irreplaceable for Avalon than she could imagine.
"Let"s go back to the house"
Standing there forever wouldn"t help things one bit.
With all that, I have finished thanking all those that helped in rescuing Marcho.
Things from now on was a step toward a new endeavor.
And as the first step, I"m going to name Wight.