Boreas POV
"Don't lie to me, I came to that conclusion on my own since heroes in the past were also said to think beyond their age during their younger years," Laurel said, "Besides, I'm very loyal to the goddess, I would never betray her expectations of me."
"Oh, I can easily shut you up if you were to try to reveal it."
"How?"
"I'll just kiss you every time you try to ."
"That's...isn't that assault?"
"And you won't do anything to stop someone from revealing your secret?"
"...from how you look for a moment, you weren't even that old, it's not like I care that much, I'm like a hundred."
"Does this mean I can continue calling you Laurel due to me being an adult on the inside?"
"Maybe in private, I do not want to be fired over misunderstandings...you clearly like me, and I don't know enough people who casually call me by name other than family and Marianna. it's so obvious."
"I already have a girlfriend."
"Right."
"Do you want to meet her?"
"Wait, you're serious?"
"Why would I lie? For attention? Something that I already have?"
"I don't know." Laurel shrugged, "I just thought you were trying to make me jealous...wait, so why are you hitting on me when you already have someone? That's what nobles or royalties do."
"And what's wrong with what I want? I came from a world where that's wrong, and now that I can have fun, and live longer, why can't I have more spouses when I can have more time to give everyone equal attention? besides, I know commoners with multiple spouses, the baker has 2 husbands and her brother has 4 wives...I'm surprised that the latter only have 5 children."
"Wait, you came from another world?"
"Fuck."
"You know...for a guy whose whole purpose and identity is the protagonist, you sure do have your secrets revealed way too early." Mari said as we got back into my bedroom where Eve and Matt joined us with Laurel, "You ruined the suspense, the revelation episode is usually the best episode."
"Aren't we all the protagonists of our own lives?" Matt asked
"Tch, shut up, I did the most and yet why do I get the least girls but you got the most? This world isn't fair."
"Where did that come from?"
I'm too lazy just to describe my jealous feelings, but Matt basically secured his family a lot of alliances while my village didn't even receive any offers of investments, I did the least damage to the surroundings and I killed the most demons, heck, they criticized me for having Kai as my future butler/bodyguard, but didn't say shit when matt asked to spare the demons, he literally didn't have one single demon kill even when the very demons he spared killed some of the attending nobles.
I think some blamed the sparing of demons on me instead of him as well. Eve was 50/50, she said to spare some but she also got blood on her hands.
"Ok, since that's all out of the way...were you a conman in your previous life?" Laurel asked
"Wow, do you seriously have no trust in me?"
"I don't know you for that long, and even if I work with the student council, you're never the first person I'd approach when I contact you guys."
"He was a drug dealer." Mari revealed
"Hey, I was 14, I've made mistakes."
"And the hero who's supposed to save us is a drug addict, great, my faith in the goddess just decreased." Laurel exclaimed
"Why would I taste my own product? One line equals one less zero in my bank account, I'm not stupid, but I did smoke."
Smoking in this world isn't looked down upon, simply because healing magic exists, of course, such serious diseases are still much harder to heal, but it's not impossible, though it does cost a bit of money. It's the reason why many commoners die, even though everyone does technically possess the ability to heal magic, their knowledge and limits would hinder them, causing many people to die. It is definitely different for the nobles though.
Drugs though...in this world, the minor drugs that originated in our are treatable, but here, the drugs are very very deadly, some even have side effects where it will stop your body from healing entirely or make you immune to healing magic.
"What kind of school did you go to? And why did the teachers not stop students from doing drugs? Even if you weren't an addict, you had to sell it to someone." Eve pointed out
"No, I learned it from a guy who was recommended by another guy I met in jail."
"What the hell?"
"Please, I wasn't a criminal, I was raised by cops and a nun."
"If they raised you and you turned out like that, I can't imagine a world where they didn't."
"What's a cop?" Laurel asked
News spread quickly. The terrorist group known as the Blood Ravens had once again interfered with the empire's efforts, blocking reinforcements from reaching the ceremony in time. Their involvement had allowed the demon to deal more significant damage as the reinforcements couldn't arrive on time.
As investigations progressed, it became clear that a few nobles had known about the demon infiltration. These individuals had either been complicit or coerced into silence. Their identities were being kept secret for now as the public would have targeted the innocent parties who are connected with those particular nobles. The royal palace issued statements to calm the public, assuring them that the situation was under control and that measures were being taken to prevent future incidents.
Though the public was now just scrutinizing every noble as any of them could be the culprit, even if they weren't, the fact that some of the top nobles having demons successfully infiltrating their ranks, the employees working for these nobles suffered worse.
"You know, you're getting a lot of criticism."
"It doesn't really matter to me." Isabella shrugged, "I suggested yearly checkups and harsher inspection rules, but they rejected it as I was trying to violate their privacy, I know that I'm not perfect when it comes to politics or security, but those were basic rules, a regular monthly blood test could have saved us so much time. Especially when we're in a period of time where there are demons everywhere."
"Do you 2 not do intimate things?" Jett asked, "I've read books and you're supposed to do that, especially after our Boreas went and got himself in a coma for a very long time."
"Oh we do, but off-screen, because there's people stalking us, so I can't have myself being vulnerable. She's actually pretty sweet."
"Let's not reveal too much details." Isabella responded, "But I would recommend you to go get Kai out of his cell while you can, I know that the hate against demons is at an all-time high, but all the higher-ranking officials are gone, so you can easily get past the lower ranking ones as soon as you give them my letter."
"You've been a great help, thanks."
"Just give me a kiss on your 16th birthday and we can consider ourselves even."
The air was damp and cold as I descended the stone steps down the dungeon, while there were the occasional clinking of chains and the occasional groan of a prisoner echoed through the narrow passageway. I approached the cell at the far end, where Kai, the demon knight I had spared, sat in silence. Without his helmet on, he had these sharp features with crimson eyes and dark blue hair, his skin was also the color of copper. He looked very human, but he had visible white horns sprouting out of his head.
Kai's crimson eyes glinted in the low light as he looked up, acknowledging my presence with a slight nod.
"I didn't expect to see you so soon," Kai said
"Well, I need a butler."
"I am a knight, I would be very much better suited to be a bodyguard."
"But I love cool butlers, if a slime can get one, why can't I?"
"What kind of demon would serve under a slime?"
"You'll be surprised."
"Why do you need me to betray the demon lord?" he asked bluntly. "You know my honor binds me to keep my word, and the demon lord ordered me to follow your command as part of that deal...but how would you trust me?"
"You're the type to keep his words, so I'm relying on that."
"Will I be getting a slave crest?"
"No, not unless you started to pose a threat."
"So, the demon lord's word and mine binds me to your service, and now you ask me to turn that service against my own lord. How delightfully ironic."
"Will you do it?" I asked
"I don't have much of a choice, do I? My honor compels me to follow your command, even if it means going against the demon lord himself." Kai said as he stood and approached the bars.
Boreas POV
"Don't lie to me, I came to that conclusion on my own since heroes in the past were also said to think beyond their age during their younger years," Laurel said, "Besides, I'm very loyal to the goddess, I would never betray her expectations of me."
"Oh, I can easily shut you up if you were to try to reveal it."
"How?"
"I'll just kiss you every time you try to ."
"That's...isn't that assault?"
"And you won't do anything to stop someone from revealing your secret?"
"...from how you look for a moment, you weren't even that old, it's not like I care that much, I'm like a hundred."
"Does this mean I can continue calling you Laurel due to me being an adult on the inside?"
"Maybe in private, I do not want to be fired over misunderstandings...you clearly like me, and I don't know enough people who casually call me by name other than family and Marianna. it's so obvious."
"I already have a girlfriend."
"Right."
"Do you want to meet her?"
"Wait, you're serious?"
"Why would I lie? For attention? Something that I already have?"
"I don't know." Laurel shrugged, "I just thought you were trying to make me jealous...wait, so why are you hitting on me when you already have someone? That's what nobles or royalties do."
"And what's wrong with what I want? I came from a world where that's wrong, and now that I can have fun, and live longer, why can't I have more spouses when I can have more time to give everyone equal attention? besides, I know commoners with multiple spouses, the baker has 2 husbands and her brother has 4 wives...I'm surprised that the latter only have 5 children."
"Wait, you came from another world?"
"Fuck."
"You know...for a guy whose whole purpose and identity is the protagonist, you sure do have your secrets revealed way too early." Mari said as we got back into my bedroom where Eve and Matt joined us with Laurel, "You ruined the suspense, the revelation episode is usually the best episode."
"Aren't we all the protagonists of our own lives?" Matt asked
"Tch, shut up, I did the most and yet why do I get the least girls but you got the most? This world isn't fair."
"Where did that come from?"
I'm too lazy just to describe my jealous feelings, but Matt basically secured his family a lot of alliances while my village didn't even receive any offers of investments, I did the least damage to the surroundings and I killed the most demons, heck, they criticized me for having Kai as my future butler/bodyguard, but didn't say shit when matt asked to spare the demons, he literally didn't have one single demon kill even when the very demons he spared killed some of the attending nobles.
I think some blamed the sparing of demons on me instead of him as well. Eve was 50/50, she said to spare some but she also got blood on her hands.
"Ok, since that's all out of the way...were you a conman in your previous life?" Laurel asked
"Wow, do you seriously have no trust in me?"
"I don't know you for that long, and even if I work with the student council, you're never the first person I'd approach when I contact you guys."
"He was a drug dealer." Mari revealed
"Hey, I was 14, I've made mistakes."
"And the hero who's supposed to save us is a drug addict, great, my faith in the goddess just decreased." Laurel exclaimed
"Why would I taste my own product? One line equals one less zero in my bank account, I'm not stupid, but I did smoke."
Smoking in this world isn't looked down upon, simply because healing magic exists, of course, such serious diseases are still much harder to heal, but it's not impossible, though it does cost a bit of money. It's the reason why many commoners die, even though everyone does technically possess the ability to heal magic, their knowledge and limits would hinder them, causing many people to die. It is definitely different for the nobles though.
Drugs though...in this world, the minor drugs that originated in our are treatable, but here, the drugs are very very deadly, some even have side effects where it will stop your body from healing entirely or make you immune to healing magic.
"What kind of school did you go to? And why did the teachers not stop students from doing drugs? Even if you weren't an addict, you had to sell it to someone." Eve pointed out
"No, I learned it from a guy who was recommended by another guy I met in jail."
"What the hell?"
"Please, I wasn't a criminal, I was raised by cops and a nun."
"If they raised you and you turned out like that, I can't imagine a world where they didn't."
"What's a cop?" Laurel asked
News spread quickly. The terrorist group known as the Blood Ravens had once again interfered with the empire's efforts, blocking reinforcements from reaching the ceremony in time. Their involvement had allowed the demon to deal more significant damage as the reinforcements couldn't arrive on time.
As investigations progressed, it became clear that a few nobles had known about the demon infiltration. These individuals had either been complicit or coerced into silence. Their identities were being kept secret for now as the public would have targeted the innocent parties who are connected with those particular nobles. The royal palace issued statements to calm the public, assuring them that the situation was under control and that measures were being taken to prevent future incidents.
Though the public was now just scrutinizing every noble as any of them could be the culprit, even if they weren't, the fact that some of the top nobles having demons successfully infiltrating their ranks, the employees working for these nobles suffered worse.
"You know, you're getting a lot of criticism."
"It doesn't really matter to me." Isabella shrugged, "I suggested yearly checkups and harsher inspection rules, but they rejected it as I was trying to violate their privacy, I know that I'm not perfect when it comes to politics or security, but those were basic rules, a regular monthly blood test could have saved us so much time. Especially when we're in a period of time where there are demons everywhere."
"Do you 2 not do intimate things?" Jett asked, "I've read books and you're supposed to do that, especially after our Boreas went and got himself in a coma for a very long time."
"Oh we do, but off-screen, because there's people stalking us, so I can't have myself being vulnerable. She's actually pretty sweet."
"Let's not reveal too much details." Isabella responded, "But I would recommend you to go get Kai out of his cell while you can, I know that the hate against demons is at an all-time high, but all the higher-ranking officials are gone, so you can easily get past the lower ranking ones as soon as you give them my letter."
"You've been a great help, thanks."
"Just give me a kiss on your 16th birthday and we can consider ourselves even."
The air was damp and cold as I descended the stone steps down the dungeon, while there were the occasional clinking of chains and the occasional groan of a prisoner echoed through the narrow passageway. I approached the cell at the far end, where Kai, the demon knight I had spared, sat in silence. Without his helmet on, he had these sharp features with crimson eyes and dark blue hair, his skin was also the color of copper. He looked very human, but he had visible white horns sprouting out of his head.
Kai's crimson eyes glinted in the low light as he looked up, acknowledging my presence with a slight nod.
"I didn't expect to see you so soon," Kai said
"Well, I need a butler."
"I am a knight, I would be very much better suited to be a bodyguard."
"But I love cool butlers, if a slime can get one, why can't I?"
"What kind of demon would serve under a slime?"
"You'll be surprised."
"Why do you need me to betray the demon lord?" he asked bluntly. "You know my honor binds me to keep my word, and the demon lord ordered me to follow your command as part of that deal...but how would you trust me?"
"You're the type to keep his words, so I'm relying on that."
"Will I be getting a slave crest?"
"No, not unless you started to pose a threat."
"So, the demon lord's word and mine binds me to your service, and now you ask me to turn that service against my own lord. How delightfully ironic."
"Will you do it?" I asked
"I don't have much of a choice, do I? My honor compels me to follow your command, even if it means going against the demon lord himself." Kai said as he stood and approached the bars.
