Chapter 281 – Re: Ading

Day 16

John woke up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day. He was surrounded by warm bodies, Ee and Mi to his sides, and Riana... was between his legs, making the blanket move up and down rapidly.

Oh! That's why I feel so good.

The blanket hid everything, but he could feel her between his legs, working on getting a dose of essence out of him. He left his Ejaculation Control skill active and enjoyed the feeling for a while before giving her her morning meal. 

Once she had cleaned him up, she shimmied up his body and popped out from under the covers.

"Good morning." He whispered.

"Good morning! I hope you don't mind that I helped myself, but I'm eating for four now." She replied cheerfully, her voice at her normal, exuberant volume. 

"Take whatever you need. You did say you needed a lot of essence to do things."

"Urgh... why are you both so loud? It's still dark out. Go back to sleep." Mi said groggily, apparently having woken up from the noise Riana was making, but still half asleep.

"Good morning, Mi. I just gave him- Urk!"

"She gave me a good morning kiss. We are both early risers, but didn't want to get out of bed yet." John said, jamming a Ki-laced finger into Riana's mouth. He wasn’t ready for a possible confused question about what a blow job was.

"Mmm...I want one too, but... sleep now... kiss later... Zzzz," She mumbled and fell back asleep. 

John waited a minute to be sure she had conked back out, feeding his needy Dryad more of his essence. Activating his Ki had the side effect of bringing life back into Little John, which started to poke Riana in the belly. She noticed the change, and after giving him a saucy little grin, dove back under the covers. 

John just shook his head and moved his Ki to that other appendage, and enjoyed the extra pampering he was receiving this morning.

I'm sure there is some joke I could make about fertilizing my new house plant with my morning wood, but I'll just let it lie and enjoy the moment.

"Keep running, Mi! If you don't pick up the pace, Sui is going to lap you!" John shouted, trying to get Mi to push herself as she jogged around their little training yard.

She and the rest of their little village had both the bonuses from his system and Substance X in them right now, so whatever training he could put them through should give them even more explosive growth than they normally would. Both she and Ee were just much slower than he expected; Aqua had already lapped Ee as she loped along the small track, and was quickly gaining on Mi. 

"I'm trying! How is she faster than a hobgoblin!?!?"

"The real question is, why are you slower than a goblin? Use those long legs of yours and push yourself! That goes for the rest of you slackers, too. Do I need to set a few horned rabbits on the track so your asses are in actual danger if you don't run? C'mon, twenty more laps!"

"Yes, Rou!" "Yes, Milord!" "Aww!!!"

He wasn't running with them but was doing crunches, as he did in Rumi's dojo, using the makeshift chin-up bar he'd built. He was holding two of his Dig bricks strapped to his arms with his Threads skill, doing his best to exercise within the limitations of having half an arm and access to a bunch of magic and skills.

Jean was exercising beside him, the Guardian doing bodyweight exercises while everyone else ran. Since he was booked up with Mi all day, she was using this time to tell him a little history of the nearby nations and a bunch of general knowledge he should have for this world.

"Sorry, Jean. What were you saying about my blessings?" He asked.

"How did you get blessings from both the Great God of Origin and Demise and the Great God of Birth and Wisdom? They are polar opposite deities."

"Are they? Just by the name, it sounds like two sides of the same coin to me. One brings life into the world, and the other takes it away. You could even take it a step further. Birth is the beginning of your life, Origin is your home and how you were raised. Demise is how your life will end, and Wisdom is to know that it is okay."

"That is... oddly insightful."

"It's just an observation based on the names of the blessings, don't read too much into it. As to why I have both? No idea. Maybe because I both heal people in need and put the ones who caused the problem in the ground, but that is just a guess. In a different world, I was a paladin; in another, I was called the Twilight Knight... though, to be fair, I gave myself that name to hide my identity while I was trying to get my bearings when I arrived there. Now, I'm a hobgoblin, an evil race with a power that could be abused very easily. It's a delicate balance of good and evil, light and dark, that I'm walking, so that nickname now seems quite apt."

"Yes, it does. Would you do us the honour of sitting down with a few of us later? I would like to go over the structure of the religion we will set up in your name."

"Jean. Due to what is happening in my life, I won't turn your offer down. However, are you sure that is what you and the other women really want to do? I'm not a god, yet."

"You make it seem odd to be worshiping a person rather than a god. That is not the case in this world, and in fact, it's a fairly common practice. For example, in Osvel, the capital of the nearby Sternbild Kingdom, we worship the heroes who have been blessed by the gods rather than the gods themselves. We see them as the avatars of the gods, as they walk the land among us instead of staying hidden in heaven or wherever else they may be."

"Okay... Yeah, I have heard of something similar before." He replied, thinking about how many dictators seemed to believe they were choosen by gods or were a god themselves, and had their people worship them, or else. 

It is said that the most effective government is a benevolent dictatorship, but absolute power corrupts absolutely. I need to be very cautious and mind my hubris both here and as I start travelling back to a few of these other worlds. The government is all but gone in HOTD, and I'm leading the survivors to safety. In TGC, Brod wants me to unite the separate nations to fight against the demons. WC will probably be the same once I heal the people of that city, and I'm already a prince of that nation.

Gods, going back to DXD as a principal of an academy full of devils will feel like a break compared to that. I really want to know what Rias did with Gasper... that poor kid... now that is a girl that really needs to have a smack on the ass- ahh damn it, Little John! You were doing so well.

"So you see, it's not so odd to worship you. It is just a matter of how we will build our tenants and doctrine since you have blessings from two very different gods. I have never heard of such a thing before." Jean continued

"Love and family. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And to be prepared to defend our freedoms, our way of life, at any cost." He said reflexively. A bird cried nearby that sounded suspiciously like a bald eagle. "Ahh... I'll mull on it for a day or so and get back to you."

"At your convenience, my Lord. We are here for you and will take care of all your needs." She said. The words were respectful, but her tone almost sounded jealous. He ignored it for now, though he would bring it up when they were in a more private setting. 

"Speaking of needs, let's go over how everyone is doing. I'm more concerned with their welfare and healing than anything else."

The two of them continued to discuss what was going on in the village while he was away, and how she thought the survivors were handling things. She believed that more structure in their days would help them recover better than just relaxing, citing the doctrine many religious sects used to help people who had gone through something horrific, as they had. That was why she was pushing him to help create this religion around him.

"Evil always finds work for idle hands and mouths. That is why I have most of them training with the goblins now, even if it is just some light exercises for the non-combatant ladies. That and we are praying twice a day as a group to you, my Lord. To keep them focused on something positive rather than allowing our minds to spiral back to our time in the hole. I never knew my time training to be a Templar Knight would have resulted in needing these skills for myself, but... it is effective."

John just nodded. He had no real experience in dealing with the aftermath of something like this, so as draconian as it sounded, he would listen to her advice. This wasn't a modern world after all, but a fantasy one filled with magic and monsters, ruled over by a hundred different gods. These people were more accustomed to daily hardships that were unthinkable where he was from. He would just watch for now and prepare to veto things if he thought she went too far. 

"What are these things?" Mi asked him, sitting on his lap and holding up a picture from the magazine she was leafing through. It was a photo in a sports-hunting magazine that showed a man holding a rifle and the elk he had just shot.

"That is a gun, a .308 Winchester to be exact. It's like a bow in that you can kill things from a distance, but it works very differently." John replied, then explained to her what firearms were. 

They were sitting in the office library as he translated some of the books into the local language; it was pretty easy, as he just had to write it down on paper, and his chicken scratches turned from English into what they called Common. He had been teaching Mi more magic, but they were taking a break because she didn't have a large mana pool to work with. While waiting for her mana to regenerate, she had been pulling random books off the shelves, going through the pictures for things that seemed interesting, and having him explain them in detail.

He was surprised that this was all she wanted to do with her day with him, but he didn't complain. They took a few breaks to kiss and talk about what was happening in the mansion, but for the most part, she just wanted to learn as much as she could from the books in here. In any other world, he would think she was a bookworm, but one who is extroverted, not introverted.    

"Do you think you can make me one? I'd rather be hunting from a distance than trying to stab things directly."

"A rifle? I can't make you one, though maybe someday I can get one for you. That said, we might be able to cast a barrel for a musket with what we have now, but we would need to be able to make black powder for those rounds. And unless the information is somewhere in here on how to actually make black powder, that would be difficult. And the trigger mechanism is well- let's just say that there is a lot of technology needed to make even a basic rifle, let alone one like the one in that picture.

With the weaponsmiths' and woodworkers' help, we might be able to make something like a bow or crossbow. Once we get more established, we can see about improving the workshops to make more advanced things, but I am more focused on getting our foundational needs in place. Like basic tools for our craftswomen, irrigation, plumbing, and a bunch of little things that will allow us to prosper. Tools like a rifle, while useful, are pretty low on my list of things we need right now."

"Aww... I was hoping to be able to take down those tri-horned horses that chased us off a cliff."

"Well, it's only early afternoon. Do you want to go hunting?" 

She mulled it over for a minute before replying. "Not today. I’m happy spending time with you here. What you're doing is important for the village and our people, and you're also teaching me how to wield magic. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yes. Can you go search the shelves for any yellow books that have 'For Dummies' in the title, or any other books with these words? I didn't see any of the yellow books down here, but that staircase leads to an area with even more books." He asked her. 

He wrote out some keywords for her to look for on a sheet of paper; these were things he might want to translate or have information that might be useful. She was like a sponge with whatever he taught her, and had already gained a grasp of the English alphabet, but they hadn't had a chance to work on her reading and writing skills. That was next on his list today, once he was done translating these couple of pages on how to make a few different types of simple water pumps. 

"Of course!" She said, scooping up the paper and rushing upstairs. A loud yelp was heard a moment later, followed by her speaking. "Sui? What are you doing here?"

"Nothing! Don't mind me!"

"Well, if you're doing nothing, come help me find books on these things for Rou. We haven't spent much time together in the last few days, and I want to hang out with you too."

"Ahh... of course. I'm sorry...it's just..." She said, then started to whisper quietly enough that John couldn't pick it up.

John just shook his head, wondering for a moment why Aqua was hiding upstairs, but quickly put it out of his mind. She had been helping translate some things for Jean and the other women as well, though as far as he understood, she was focused more on translating recipes, cooking methods, preventative medicine, and other random things. Jean also mentioned she was translating a few of the stories from Earth for them to read as entertainment as well.   

I really need to sit down with her and have a talk soon. She isn't avoiding me as much as she did the day after her explosion, but it's only been in public. Actually, I should offer to take her out to level up in a couple of days. If she evolves, she might feel a bit better than being stuck as a blue-haired goblin. Since she is from DEN, she might even get a blessing, too.

"Sui! Can we talk?" He said, making a decision instead of waffling with Aqua any longer.

"Yes, My Lord!" She squeaked, apparently surprised he addressed her. After nearly thirty seconds, she hadn't come downstairs or said anything further.

"Sui?"

"Yes, My Lord?"

"Down here."

"Yes... My Lord."

What is going on? And why is she calling me My Lord?

Aqua dawdled down the stairs and approached him cautiously, like she was worried he was going to bite her head off. She didn't need to worry about that; Jean had already handled her punishment, and he didn't need to add to it unless it happened again. She stopped in front of him, looking down at her feet. 

"Are you okay?"

"Just... just fine, My Lord. I was just focused on my work and didn't notice you two were down here," she said, not meeting his gaze.

He stood up from the desk and walked over to her. He lifted her chin up with his finger, making her look up at him. "You don't seem fine. What's wrong?"

"Hah... ahhh... It's not you, it's you. I mean... It's me. Hah, can we talk about it another day? I... I think I have decided, but I still haven't... hah, come to terms with my decision. I know it's weird, and I'm weird, but everything is weird right now... hah, I'm having a really hard time with this...everything. You, this doesn’t make much sense. I'm sorry. Can I have a hug, My Lord?" She said rapidly between shallow breaths. She looked anxious, like a cornered rabbit about to be eaten by a wolf. 

"Of course." He said, then pulled her in to a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and clung to him tightly, almost desperately. He leaned over and gave the top of her head a soft kiss. 

I'm not sure I want to even activate Scouter to see what is actually going through her mind. The question is, if she wants to be with me, do I accept her? She was adamant about not wanting to be part of a harem, and frankly, I was happy just to be friends. People are allowed to change their minds, but is this her, or something DEN has started to do to her?

"Listen. Let's go hunting in a couple of days, just you and me. It's been a bit, and I think we should have some time to ourselves, okay?"

"If...hah, yes please. I would like that."

"You know you're welcome in our bed still. I didn't want to chase you away."

"I know. Mi has been asking me to come back. Still, I need some more time. Give me a couple of days, okay?"

"Sure. Whatever you need, darlin'." 

"Mmm. Thank you, TK."