Chapter 217 - Checking
Yesterday's chapter. Another two coming tonight...
...
Three hours later, Raven and I left the room and walked towards my office.
I was holding Raven's hand while she blushed and lowered her head. The members of the Red Skull Gang looked at us curiously, but they were already used to Rave closeness with me, so none of them found the fact we were holding hands strange.
Unfortunately for Raven, she did not know it. Every time she felt the gaze of someone on us, she would turn red and lower her face even more. She was incredibly shy after doing the thing between men and women with me.
I could not help but laugh softly. "Relax, Raven. People will suspect more if they see your behavior."
Raven flushed. She could only let out a soft hum of acknowledgment.
"Nn…"
I smiled. This kitten...
Although to be honest, I find the current Raven very tempting.
In fact, the only reason that I did not jump towards her again when she woke up was that Raven was too shy to do anything else. Besides, I was a bit rough this morning, so Raven was still a bit tired.
Although I used my mana to heal her fatigue, she was still mentally tired after such a rough first time.
When we arrived at the office, I was surprised to find four people there.
"Hm? Pr… Clark? What are you doing here?" Elene was surprised when she saw me. But when she saw I was holding hands with Raven, she narrowed her eyes.
But she was not the only one. Marana and Akilah were narrowing their eyes too. As women and sisters of Raven, they seemed to detect something wrong with their sister.
Only Cline stood up and smiled excitedly when he saw me.
"Leader!"
"How are you, Cline?" I greeted him with a smile before replying to Elene. "I arrived this morning to deal with some important things."
Elene nodded, but the suspicious gaze she used to look at me and Raven remained. Akilah seemed as though she wanted to say something, but when she remembered the things we did last time, she swallowed her words.
I ignored their strange gazes and walked towards my chair. To my surprise, though, Raven followed behind me and sat down on my lap.
This girl… Although she had been intimate with me before, she had never been so bold in front of her sisters.
I felt the gazes of the three girls intensifying. For an instant, I could not help but feel a headache.
Fortunately, my skin was thick enough after so many lifetimes. So I just patted Raven's head indifferently and looked at them calmly.
"Marana, give me a report on the situation."
Marana suppressed her doubts and nodded. She then mentioned all the things that had happened lately in the gang.
The rumors about the duel of Dina with the crown prince had been spread through the capital, just like I asked. Moreover, they had been exaggerated to the point where Alan was unable to endure even one attack of Dina.
Strangely, however, people were talking more about my battle with the crown prince. What happened during my battle with Alan had become a very exaggerated story of I stepping in the prince's head while he could do nothing but cry in humiliation.
According to Marana's investigations, someone was behind these rumors. Apparently, there were people interested in increasing my fame.
I was not surprised. After that battle, many nobles had approached me to test my stance. Saintess Safelia was just one of them.
Well, I had shown very strong battle strength that day, so it would be stranger if the nobles, who are always trying to get the greatest interest possible, did not approach.
I'm sure that if I give my word many nobles will come and support me in the struggle for the throne.
Unfortunately, I'm not interested. Of course, I told Dina about these nobles so she could approach them and hint them some things.
After Marana finished her report, I tapped the office desk twice and thought for a moment.
Currently, most of my plans are under way. Now, I just have to wait.
Soon, the school outing will begin. I talked to headmistress Evelyn about it and we decided that we will use it to show Dina as a competitor for the throne.
Besides, I will have to deal with some small troubles that day.
"… You did well. Continue with your work." I praised Marana with a nod. I then patted Raven's head softly.
Raven understood my meaning and stood up. I then left my chair and walked towards the four of them.
I needed to verify something now.
"Elene, I will need to check up something. Please, don't resist."
"Huh?" Although Elene was startled, she trusted my words and did not resist. I nodded and put my hand on her forehead.
Next, I used my soul to search inside her soul.
Elene and I did not have a soul contract like with Raven, so the process of searching for the dark cloud was a bit harder. Fortunately, I was much more proficient now so besides feeling slightly uncomfortable, Elene was unhurt.
Three seconds later, I sighed in relief.
"Everything is fine."
I then continued the process with the other three.
Marana, Akilah, and Cline resisted a bit more the soul search, but I managed to examine them too. Fortunately, none of them had the dark cloud in their souls.
That was good news.
I did not know how far have the dark clouds reached. They might be affecting the entire kingdom already, perhaps even the entire world.
However, I have my hands tied in this situation. It was virtually impossible to scan the souls of every person of the kingdom.
Thus, I can only take care of the people around me.
As for the others, I could only wish them good luck.
I wonder how many of them will die when his plan starts.