The same time. The Nazarick Spa Resort.
"O-o-o-oh," a damnably beautiful girl with golden hair closed her eyes blissfully, savoring the way flows of enchanted water caressed her body while bubbles rising from the bottom tickled her skin. The fragrant foam brought a sense of peace, and overall, the priestess felt as though she had ascended to Heaven and was reclining on a cloud—it felt that good. "I swear by the Four Gods, no such miracle exists even in the royal palace!"
"I wonder if it's possible to enter Lord Zellos's service?" the voice of one of the sisters rang out nearby. Judging by the relaxed, dreamy intonations, Lakyus wasn't the only one in Paradise.
"I'd agree to any position, even dusting those hundreds of bone freaks, if it meant access to this marvel," the other sister chimed in.
"To which marvel, runts?" Gagaran boomed, taking a swig of a strange dark-blue liqueur from an exquisitely carved crystal chalice. The girls who had brought them their bath supplies, salts, and shampoos, as well as "light snacks and refreshing drinks"—each of whom could have competed for the top spots in the kingdom's rankings of the most beautiful women—had introduced the drink as "Ice Wine of Jotunheim." Gagaran had no idea what or who Jotunheim was, or where it might be located, but the tart taste and the sensation of being in the middle of a fierce frost while wearing only undergarments paired perfectly with the hot bath, allowing her to stay in it almost indefinitely without fear of overheating.
"The more the better!" the twins assured in unison, plucking large, juicy grapes from a cluster resting on a golden platter. And no seeds! As for the taste, there were no words.
"Ho, even if our esteemed host offers for you to warm his bed?" Opening one eye and lazily scanning her companions, the priestess tried to tease them.
"Our demonic leader is once again trying to shift her dark predilections onto accidental victims..."
"What else to expect from a tyrant?"
"Oh, you lot," Lakyus snorted without malice; she felt too good to bicker with those two.
"Tian and Tina raised an interesting topic, though," Gagaran's sudden voice pulled the priestess out of her lazy reverie.
"Mmm?"
"Not about the service," the warrior continued to develop the thought. "He's strange, this Lord Zellos. I've seen all kinds of aristocrats, but something here doesn't add up."
"Go on..." the blonde sat up slightly. She, too, had felt some strangeness in their hospitable host but hadn't been able to formulate the sensation.
"I've known decent nobles who don't speak to commoners through a sneer—look at you, for instance," the largest lady of their party waved her chalice toward her friend, "but... fine, to hell with the fact that people like you can be counted on one hand. To hell with the fact that others might maintain politeness, but you can see that you're a second-class being to them, just like for the esteemed Marquis and the Prince. But this guy... I just don't understand how one can sit calmly in an utterly average tavern one day and flirt with an entire squad of mercenaries at once..."
"Ahem..."
"Fine," she corrected herself, "not flirt, but... just talk like that and toss back wine... ahem, milk... oh, Gods... with commoners, and the next day sit on a throne and radiate... hell knows what he was radiating, but I'm certain that against his backdrop, even the Blood Emperor would look like a snot-nosed brat. And I feel it in my gut—he wasn't acting in either place! How is that possible? If the latter can be expected from a man living in such luxury," the warrior tapped the chalice, which by the humblest estimates cost at least five hundred gold—an item of this size and exquisite craftsmanship carved from a single piece of rock crystal was never found for less. It wouldn't be shameful to serve wine to a king in such a thing, let alone a simple mercenary. And every item here was of that caliber. "Then the former..." she continued her thought, "I just can't believe it."
"Hey, I wasn't raised in a convent either, you know!" the priestess protested.
"Yeah, but we both know that if it weren't for your uncle's example, you would have turned into the same kind of capital-city bitch as the rest of your relatives. Anyway, don't sweat it," the warrior took another sip from her cup. "Brrr... chills you to the bone. Oh! Shorty!" Gagaran's joyful exclamation caused Alvein to look in the same direction the warrior was watching. A devious smirk immediately spread across the priestess's face.
"Oh, look who decided to join us! Come on, hop in and tell us everything!" Her eyes burned with impatience and anticipation. The poor little vampire hiccuped convulsively at the sight and took a small step back. Only...
"Sister Evileye absolutely must appreciate the baths," the girl appearing to her left, clad in nothing but a bath towel, made a "snatch."
"And enjoy the local wine," her nearly identical copy appeared on the right and mirrored her sister's movement. Half a minute later, the most miniature member of the team had already been stripped and dragged into the pool, which the servants here for some reason called only a bath.
"So, where did you disappear to after the reception? We didn't even notice you were gone at first."
"W-well... Lord Zellos invited me for a private talk and..."
"Right, right, from this moment on, we need details!" Synchronously, they descended upon her... actually, everyone descended!
"You only think about one thing!" Evileye pouted.
"Well, what else can we think about if the mage you're interested in is surrounded by so many beauties?" Lakyus chuckled, watching her friend's face begin to turn red, and not at all from the hot water.
"Ah, that..." the little one hesitated. "It's complicated and..."
"Just don't tell me he's into men! No, I understand that the mage in question looks too perfect to be true, and such a vice would explain everything, but... I just don't believe it."
"You... you... you read those novels from the Theocracy too much!" the vampire cried out indignantly. "And for your information, he called me cute and said he likes me, so there!"
"Oh! Congratulations, when's the wedding?" the priestess was unstoppable. Besides, while the wine served to them was light, it still contained alcohol. The girl was fully in control of herself, but a certain relaxation and lightness of thought had already appeared.
"L-lakyus!" Her friend's indignation only amused the blonde more.
"Evi," she smiled, "I really am happy for you, but that crowd of girls hovering around him..." She shook her head. "I won't believe they're just servants. 'Just servants' don't look at their employer with that kind of gaze."
"Yes, but..." the little one sighed, "there's nothing to be done about it, however..." A bottle of wine resting on the edge was opened with a resonant "pop," and the ruby-red liquid slid down the sides of a glass, which was soon brought to the vampire's lips. A couple of greedy gulps later. "It's not all that bad..." and, hunching slightly and speaking more to her own nose, Evileye continued, "besides, I can't be greedy and I'll have to share..."
"O-o-oh! Now that's something I didn't expect from our modest little thing! Perhaps, since Lord Zellos is so... communicative, you'll share him with us too?" Only after saying this did the priestess realize she had overstepped a bit; the innocent teasing had come too close to mockery, especially given her friend's insecurity about her appearance. And that made the vampire's reaction all the more astonishing.
"Hmm..." she actually considered it, "it's possible I'll have to look for allies... and I know and trust you, unlike..." the girl faltered, "the others."
"You found something out, didn't you?" The priestess sensed the unspoken words and even cast a light healing spell on herself to chase away the intoxication.
"..."
"Evileye!"
"It's..." the vampire hesitated, "it's not particularly important right now. And it's quite personal. And it's not my secret to tell, so please, don't ask," she finished almost pleadingly.
"... Fine," the leader of Blue Rose agreed, pursing her lips. The fact that Evileye had developed secrets from them after one private conversation with a necromancer wasn't very pleasing. However, Lakyus was certain of her friend—if it truly threatened them or the kingdom, Evi wouldn't remain silent, and if that were the case, she wouldn't insist. After all, this was the first time she had seen her friend so agitated and... happy. "But at least tell me, did you manage to ask to be his apprentice?"
"Or did you never even get around to talking, eh, Shorty?" Gagaran chuckled loudly, finally dispelling the tension that had begun to form.
"Stupid Muscle-Head!" The girl flared up as expected. "For your information, not everyone thinks only about that."
"About what?" Tina tilted her head.
"About that thing!" The vampire began to flush again.
"About what you're thinking so hard about?" Tia continued for her sister.
"Yes, about that! Oh, I mean... glub-glub-glub..." Burning with shame, Evileye went completely underwater.
"There you go again," the priestess sighed with feigned sadness and reached in to save her friend from drowning. Not that it was easy for a two-hundred-year-old vampire to just up and drown in a bath, but... the conversation had only just reached the most interesting part! They had to know the details! Every single one! And so, the poor, modest killing machine didn't have a shadow of a chance. A gentle but thorough and merciless interrogation began.
---
The negotiations went... difficultly. I would say it somewhat resembled the bargaining between natives and colonizers. Except the problem was that here, the "colonizer" wasn't eager to grab a couple of thousand hectares of fertile land for a handful of beads. If you looked at it that way, the "colonizer" required almost nothing from the locals except for the most valuable resource: skilled labor. But even that proverbial "skilled labor" was individual in nature for me—I had no use for crowds of peasants. Even with food supplies, the situation was double-edged. Yes, at first, I thought Nazarick might have a problem with food for its living inhabitants, but during the preliminary discussions with my Guardians about what we should ask from the ambassadors so it didn't look too stupid, it turned out that wasn't quite the case. Firstly, some inhabitants of Nazarick literally had the skill to create food and drink. For example, the Head Chef, by virtue of his class, could produce various juices and elite alcohol of the most phenomenal brands, for which he only needed water and spirit. Those, in turn, could be produced by special items built into the design of his domain by obsessive roleplayers during the creation phase. In general, items that can produce food either for mana or once a day were plentiful in Nazarick, from a simple "Branch of the Ever-Green Apple Tree" that bore a dozen small sweet wild apples once a day—which, according to game mechanics, accelerated mana and health regeneration during consumption—to "Endless Cauldrons" that churned out mediocre porridges and stews through direct mana conversion. But they did so in industrial volumes. And it was quite possible to live on that; though such food was mostly simple and not particularly tasty, various dragonkin, catfolk, arachnids, and other "unnamed" inhabitants of Nazarick were already living on it quite comfortably. They would certainly approve of expanding their diet, but there was no critical need for it. And even if there were... I had Demiurge. And that intellectual mug of his, as soon as the topic of a possible deficit arose, right then and there, without missing a beat, offered a solution plan with a straight face. A simple plan, solid and reliable as a Swiss watch. Like, let's just slaughter captive humans for meat, then heal them and slaughter them for meat again. We just need to refine the technology a bit in practice, but he was ready to throw all his strength into it right now, all for the sake of his beloved Overlord!
I mean, what else? To a demon, ordinary mortals were the same as ordinary sheep; he saw no difference. The captives were right there, already caught and almost completely interrogated, while other livestock still had to be procured from somewhere. Do I need to clarify that practically all my monsters present at the discussion readily admired the brilliance of their colleague's plan, its thoughtfulness, and its convenience?
I had to sharply take the situation into my own hands and settle another bout of subordinate insanity. The prospect of eating human-meat sandwiches didn't appeal to me—what can you do? I'm just a reactionary like that! And since I had to actually resolve it so that a chaotic-evil character would be moved by my motives and understand, rather than just saluting and going off to mindlessly execute the plan only to apply his method somewhere else later where I hadn't forbidden it, I had to choose appropriate arguments. Fortunately, here and now it was simple: a healthy, trained knight or mage weighs about ninety kilos, give or take. You can harvest maybe thirty kilos of meat from him without killing him, and then spend mana on healing. The weight of a cow is half a ton; the "non-fatal" yield is one hundred and fifty to two hundred kilos. And if the animal doesn't experience pain and stress, the meat will be more tender and pleasant than tough human flesh, which had also poisoned itself with all sorts of alcohol and tobacco. Plus milk and everything derived from it. We get a higher quality product, in greater volume, with additional accompanying bonuses and at the same cost! And yes, there will be more skin scraps for parchment for low-rank spells that way too.
As expected, Demiurge and all the other Guardians were collectively moved by my wisdom and froze in spiritual elevation. I, once again, felt a persistent desire to take a shower and nuke Japan.
But be that as it may, the fact remained: we didn't require constant food supplies, perhaps only one-offs for something exotic, and even then it was easier to buy everything privately rather than tie it to interstate relations. With mineral resources, it was even worse. I could certainly buy them up—extra supplies don't weigh you down—Но there was no vital necessity for them; I didn't know where to put my own stockpiles as it was. Now, various spells, magical knowledge, potions, artifacts—that was interesting. Even if 99.99% of it was just trash by Yggdrasil standards, a one-hundredth of a percent chance of finding something like Gazef's ring was worth the effort. Only that wasn't enough to cover Nazarick's "possible reciprocal services." A single "Blessing of the Fields" that Mare could cast in about twenty seconds would ensure ten years of harvest and protection from plant diseases and all sorts of boll weevils that are so eager to devour hops supplies. And that is already such an economic "turpentine" and a catalyst for population growth, expansion of habitat, development of new territories, and consolidation of production that any ruler would give his right arm for it without a second thought. Or the trade of spell scrolls. Everything up to the third tier inclusive requires only parchment, magical energy, and craftsmanship to create. Organizing a source of parchment wouldn't take long, and essentially it would be infinite (see above—how), and my lich librarian can craft such low-rank items almost at the speed of a major newspaper's printing press. That is, things that locals sell for hundreds of gold and that recognized masters struggle for a week or two to create, I can dump onto the market by the thousands without touching the game's emergency reserves. In other words, one wrong move on my part and the entire local economy would simply cease to exist as a class. I knew this before, but I thought it only applied to dumping a large amount of gold onto the market. So to speak, letting them play Spain at the time of the discovery of the New World. But the truth turned out to be scarier: I could turn this entire world into my sales market simply by suffocating all local manufacturers with predatory pricing on basic necessities and military consumables with a snap of my fingers. Total world conquest and Absolute Power in less than a decade and without a single shot fired. The natives themselves would sell their souls to me voluntarily, with songs, and they'd even be happy that a kind neighbor supplies so much of everything needed at rock-bottom prices. And then, should something happen, it suddenly turns out that if the neighbor stops doing it, the population will simply die of hunger because their own production is gone—it couldn't withstand the competition from the foreign producer.
And it must be said, Marquis Raeven and Prince Zanac, even if they didn't understand these facts intellectually, clearly felt them on a subconscious level. So it turned out that there was simply nothing to offer them, but it was necessary to offer something, and in a way that at least formally looked like something worthwhile.
Nigredo, after looking at the past and present for a bit (specifically, the box of treaty variants the ambassadors had brought with them), concluded that the locals had intended to negotiate with a loner. A powerful one, but one having at his disposal a daughter-apprentice and at most a couple of dozen servants in a private estate. Certainly not a residence with a throne room that makes even Lanposa III look like a pauper, mastery of long-distance precision teleportation, and a strike force of armored undead that not every Count could afford.
Both the Prince and the Marquis were in a cold sweat at the thought that the master of all this power might suddenly "get upset" and teleport it, say, directly into the royal palace, say, at night, say, into the monarch's bedroom. Therefore, both were feverishly thinking of what kind of offer to make such an esteemed mage so as not to offend or insult him. Especially considering that a certain xenophobia reigned in the kingdom—not on the level of the Theocracy, but still—and half of the esteemed necromancer's inner circle were clearly not human. And after all, there were many other political players around who, upon learning of such a wonderful mage, would also very much want to befriend him. And if he befriended the likes of the Blood Emperor, the Kingdom of Re-Estize might as well just go and hang itself.
To be honest, I didn't envy the ambassadors. Even though they had "extraordinary and plenipotentiary" regalia and were prominent figures in their country, no one had given them the right to do anything truly radical. And by all parameters, only truly radical things would make an agreement possible. Only those had to be confirmed by the King together with the council of the high aristocracy. But leaving without any treaties at all was impossible for the reasons stated above. So the venerable men racked their brains, trying to figure out how to "gift" a wandering Archmage a Duchy without insulting him with a hint that "the King offers service," without getting in trouble for "squandering" a piece of the kingdom, and at the same time preventing the start of my friendship with the Empire or anyone else.
They suffered for a total of a week, parallel to holding "conversations about nothing" with me—or rather, "getting to know each other's culture and customs better"—compiling the lists and explanations I requested, and yes, continuing to think during nervous sleepless nights, periodically pulling Gazef or members of Blue Rose into council when I exchanged a word or two with them during meetings.
In the end, it all resulted in them being able to draft a "treaty of friendship," which on one hand was a document stating that I already act as an independent ruler of a certain territory around Nazarick—defined by a series of landmark points mostly following the border of the Great Forest of Tob—and mutually with the Kingdom of Re-Estize recognize the borders of each other's domains. On the other hand, it was essentially just a beautiful piece of paper that committed no one to anything. A standard treaty of eternal friendship, cordial agreement, and mutual respect, under the general theme: "friends don't attack each other first." Also, I was invited to open a "diplomatic mission" for Nazarick in the kingdom's capital, for which His Majesty was ready to allocate a villa in the noble quarter.
As Nigredo reported, this was originally intended to be a "gift to the mage" as a place of residence should the idea of sitting in a lonely estate in the ass-end of the world seem not very promising to him. So the guys were able to adjust on the fly here.
On that, essentially, the first round of negotiations was over. The ambassadors could only offer something serious after long communication and consultation with the actual government, and that took time. They even recognized the Great Forest of Tob as mine, essentially exceeding their authority, although in fact the Kingdom never controlled it due to the abundance of monsters, but even in that light, they could get a slap on the head for it.
Nevertheless, the pleasantries were observed, the parties assured each other of their utmost respect and joy at the meeting, and I also promised that our representatives would soon take up the required residence. Yeah, as soon as I decide who can be sent there so the capital doesn't get slaughtered. Truth be told, there were essentially no options. Nigredo? Logically, she would fit; after all, it's her job to be an intelligence resident—ideally the head, but for lack of a proper staff... But judging by the fact that Sebas caught her in the company of Shalltear and Aura when they rushed to the baths, removing her from my person would be perceived by her as almost a total disgrace. Hello, new depression, soul-pain, and utter gloom. Send Demiurge to them under a disguise? But the goal was "no massacre!" I certainly believe in my pet Archdemon and his peaceful intentions, but... not that much. The Pleiades... perhaps Yuri Alpha, but she's a maid, not a diplomat. So to speak, there are some doubts about whether she could handle it. Entoma might also fit, since after the reroll her insectoid instincts no longer push her toward her harmless nature, so there would be no aggression toward humans because the main motive—the desire to eat them—had vanished. But her experience and skills needed for a diplomat and political representative are even less than Yuri's. Not to mention that the latter is undead and thus truly hard to annoy, while the former Insect Queen is by no means devoid of emotions and, being effectively a newborn child, could very easily take offense at something. So it turns out there is essentially only one candidate: Sebas. And he could be given Solution Epsilon as a backup. Let her shock everyone with her wings, and once she settles in and gets used to it, she can be put in charge.
In short, it remained to officially say goodbye to the delegation, give them the appropriate gifts, and begin to put all this into practice. As well as the entire list of tasks that continued to pile up and acquire details.
---
The farewell, in the end, turned out moderately pompous and moderately majestic. The delegation, bowing and assuring me almost every second of their gratitude, respect, and admiration for my hospitality, my residence, and so on down the list, finally departed, supplied with the gifts expected from a hospitable host. The most banal gold trinkets decorated with precious stones. They look beautiful and wealthy, but the real utility is zero-point-shit-tenths. Having moved the "dear guests" through a Gate to the central square of E-Rantel, I... No, I didn't rush to my bedroom to arrange a wild orgy with Albedo and Shalltear (plus optional additions from among the maids and other... vampire brides). There were plans for that, I won't deny it, but... even though the fact that they were constantly being postponed made me feel like some stereotypical anime high schooler—which was truly creepy and... fine, let's be honest with ourselves to the end—shameful. Very shameful. In a manly way. But! And that is the key word! I had to finish one more important task. Two, even. And there was no better moment to pick than the one when all my pet monsters hadn't yet recovered from the visit and hadn't had time to come to their senses.
In general, I took Nabe and transported to the Ilantier inn, where the team of stunned adventurers had been waiting all this time. The rent hadn't expired yet, and the training contract wasn't finished. But those were trifles. The main reason was that Evileye and I had agreed to meet exactly here. Immediately as my newly minted Advisor—who didn't quite understand what to actually do in this title yet—"closed the quest" with the Prince and the delegation.
The completion of all formalities took the vampire only half an hour, perhaps a bit more—I wasn't strictly keeping track of time, more focused on the picture of a "hopelessly smitten adventurer who is very glad to see the beautiful Lady Narberal and is interested in how things went for us." The sight was all the more amusing because almost the entire team was trying to "take the womanizer by the scruff of the neck," while the poor Battle Maid was again torn between Duty and the desire to inflict grievous bodily harm on a specific archer. Duty, it must be said, was winning by a huge margin, likely encouraged by the recent reward "for fortitude," but the struggle for the girl was still difficult and full of suffering. But then the waiting process ended, and Blue Rose reappeared at the tavern in full force, apparently having come to say goodbye to their friend. All the better—I wouldn't have to look for a reason to visit them separately. Why? Well, besides the fact that the beautiful priestess and the assassin twins were truly beautiful and pleasing to the eye, my plan for establishing contacts and further attraction, or even permanent hiring of these adventurers, wasn't going anywhere.
"Lord Zellos, I am ready," the little vampire informed me, currently so tense one might think she was going on a raid against at least a world boss, if not something worse.
"Glad to hear it, but there's no need to be so nervous; I'm not going to kidnap you or anything of the sort..." I smiled, clearly sensing that after the words about kidnapping, the formidable warrior had once again retreated somewhere into the depths of her thoughts and imagination. "And you..."
"We came to see Sister Evileye off into adult life!" the twins declared synchronously, causing the adventurers present in the tavern to collectively fake a coughing fit.
"Tia! Tina!" Hmm, how can one growl formidably and bleat piteously at the same time? I don't know, but the most miniature member of the team managed to pull it off. The other ladies of Blue Rose preferred to feign temporary and selective deafness, though I can see from their faces—it was hard for them to do, yes.
"..." Nabe, as always, disapproved and bored into "those vulgar women" with a heavy gaze.
"Ahem... an interesting... interpretation," I was forced to admit, "however, we have strayed from the topic. Ladies. I was happy to meet you and hope that your company will more than once grace my stay in this world. I will always be glad to see you in Nazarick."
"Accept our gratitude for the kind words, Lord Zellos. And to be honest, we would gladly visit you again," the priestess smiled politely, "however, we have some other business to attend to, so for now we are forced to take our leave. Please, take care of our friend."
"You don't need to ask for that. But wait," the girls clearly intended to leave our company, which I didn't wish for just yet, "I would like to present some gifts to you as well."
"You are not at all obliged, Lord..." Lakyus even threw up her hands in a protesting gesture.
"I know that as a Lord, I am indeed not obliged to do so, but as a man who has taken sincere pleasure in our acquaintance, I want to do it and see no reason to refuse myself. I hope these gifts will bring smiles to your charming faces, and you will remember a certain modest mage with a kind word."
"Oh, truly, you have utterly embarrassed us..." the priestess lowered her gaze.
"Lady Gagaran," I addressed the warrior.
"Heh, what kind of 'Lady' am I, your lordship," she simply ran her fingers through the hair at the back of her head.
"Accept this modest gift; I hope it serves you well in your adventures," with these words, I pulled from my inventory a pre-prepared "Dragonfire Hammer"—another epic "junk" piece made in the form of a heavy sledgehammer, the business end of which was cast from Blue Gold, a material that was an order of magnitude stronger and more powerful than local adamantite. The enchantment for additional fire damage was reflected in the flaming maw of the dragon that served as the hammer's head, and its horns served as the point of the pick on the opposite side.
"Oh, your lordship, you know how to please a woman!" As soon as the warrior's hands closed on the weapon's shaft, she felt the full complex of "buffs" that this weapon carried and broke into the happy smile of a person who had received an arch-epic gift for all the birthdays of the past and a good fifty years ahead all at once.
"Tina and Tia," two "Shadow Dancer Headbands" appeared on my hand, slightly modified in accordance with the color scheme preferred by the girls—also epics that increase agility, provide better stealth and crits, and other small things—"this is for you." The girls, without thinking twice, tied back their hair and... fell into a bit of a stupor, from which, however, they quickly emerged and... finding themselves nearby, synchronously kissed me on the cheeks. Left and right respectively. A desire to Kill flared from Nabe, and Evileye clearly didn't approve either, but the assassins themselves, pleased with their prank, whispered something like: "To any position!" and with that quickly vanished, or rather, drifted a bit further away.
"Oh, Lord Zellos, you'll spoil us," Lakyus's mood was elevated.
"I think you can forgive me this small sin and let it go. But for you, milady, I have prepared a gift as well." Actually, I had already prepared a decent pendant, very useful for all sorts of clergy, but... somehow it was... not exactly petty, but somehow utilitarian. Meanwhile, I truly liked the girls from Blue Rose—not so much for their appearance, though very attractive, as for their characters and the magnificent atmosphere that reigned in their squad and which I unashamedly and deviously enjoyed by peeking at them bathi—ahem. I meant to say, by observing potential combat units, yes. In short, my next action was rather on impulse, a soul-stirring urge and... yes, another wish.
Actually, everything with this technique was very ambiguous. I knew I could unashamedly use it twice a week, that it was logical to cast the thing on cooldown, creating gold, artifacts, or just some XP for myself, but... the thought of treating a Miracle so... utilitarianly evoked some irrational disgust. It seemed wrong, vulgar in the worst and foulest sense of the word. And since my entire being resisted such an application, I wasn't in a hurry to break that and start "stamping out" Wishes. Perhaps, were I a rational lich, I would have dismissed such an unreliable argument as feelings and almost "superstition," but I was no longer a lich, and if my divine essence rejected the idea of using a Miracle so utilitarianly, then it wasn't without reason. But right now... I truly desired to give a gift to a beautiful and pleasant girl. Though we had spoken very little, such a circumstance only demanded to be corrected, and so I did not hesitate when a simple-looking rose of a blue tint materialized in my hands from the magical flow. My fingers loosened, and the magical flower flew upward, a moment later weaving itself into the wreath that was already on the priestess's head.
"May this flower protect you in your travels, fair lady. And may it remind you of a modest mage captivated by your beauty and your deeds."
"T-thank you," the girl stammered, endearingly flustered. Oh, it was a good thing Nabe was the only woman from Nazarick present; I would have to ask her not to breathe a word about this particular moment. Otherwise, I feared things would turn ugly.
With that, alas, it was over. The gifts had been distributed, and propriety suggested it was time for the ladies to move out. I truly intended to stay at the tavern and gather whatever knowledge I still could. It was probably foolish—Evileye, with a high degree of certainty, could likely explain and demonstrate things much better than a young sorceress masquerading as a boy. Moreover, the vampire's arsenal was considerably broader. But I was in no hurry now, so why not get the absolute most out of the situation? It would also be good to get some proper rest—the first diplomatic contact had been a success, my subordinates hadn't drowned the world in blood yet, I had acquired a charming and competent advisor, and finally, a full study of the magical arts loomed on the horizon. Life was looking up, and thus, a short break from this eternal mucking out of the Augean stables that was Nazarick's unhinged insanity was something I had fully earned. It would be the perfect time to logically move forward with my relationships with Albedo and Shalltear. What could possibly go wrong?