The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was Sylph suggesting that she could run away.
“Oh, no, you don’t.”
I grabbed her just as she was about to fly away.
“Oof!”
“You ready for your punishment?” I asked, straightening a finger so I could point it at her chest.
“Wait. No, don’t!” she pleaded.
As I began dexterously flicking the protrusions on her chest, I looked around to try to figure out what had happened. I’d lost consciousness, and my head was currently being supported by something soft. Looking up, I saw Ariya’s head not too far from my own.
“Please don’t read too much into this. I was merely performing first aid...” Ariya said, her cheeks tinged with pink.
As much as I wanted to ask how resting on her lap had anything to do with first aid, I decided to stay quiet and instead enjoy the sensation of my head on her thighs.
“Thanks. Let me stay like this a little longer.”
“Um, okay.”
“Inori, your body was pretty much suspended in time, so there shouldn’t be any damage that would require you to keep—” I used Sexual Prowess again to shut Sylph up so she wouldn’t say anything unnecessary.
Anyway, since things had calmed down, I could take the time to look at my notifications log and find out what had changed with my stats.
Notifications
Demon Rank change complete. Skills and abilities have been adjusted and improved accordingly.
Growth Boost: Effect has been doubled.
5x Exp Multiplier: Changed to 10x Exp Multiplier.
½ Required Exp: Changed to ¼ Required Exp.
Eye of True Sight: Omniscience range has been increased.
Eye of Sigils: Required MP cost reduced by half.
Contempt for the Sun God: Stat decrease reduced to ⅕.
Vampirism: Speed of draining blood increased.
Baron-Class Authority: Changed to Viscount-Class Authority.
Skill Pilfer: Guaranteed to pilfer two Skills.
True Dark Magic: Conqueror speed increased.
Armament Craft: Atomic Manipulation ability added.
Detect: Effective range increased.
Level Up: Effect doubled.
Skill Acquisition: Effect doubled.
Monarch Caliber: Stats of underlings increased.
Martial Arts: Ability to accumulate experience points and self-develop techniques added.
Swordsmanship: Level increased.
Stealth: Level increased.
Throwing Arts: Level increased.
Dagger Arts: Level increased.
And on and on it went. In general, all the levels of my Skills had increased. I wanted to take my time and go through my Skills one by one, with commentary, so I went to open my stats, but just as I did, Detect picked up on something.
Whatever it was, it was really strong, and it had appeared in close proximity to us. It was as if it had teleported directly here. This wasn’t the time to be lying around. I jumped to my feet and assumed a battle stance. Ariya immediately followed suit. She had good instincts and was quick to follow up. Sylph was still squirming around in my hand. She was kinda in the way, so I just tossed her aside.
“Ahhh!” She let out a scream as she tumbled away, but I chose to ignore her and focus on the approaching threat.
“Who’s there?” I called out.
“It’s me,” said a figure, emerging from the shadows. I recognized the voice. Oh, it’s my drinking buddy. “Looks like you’re having a grand old time.”
The demon king Ighnoa had appeared before us. It probably should have come as more of a surprise that he could teleport, but then again, he had insane stats.
“Do you know him?” Ariya asked nervously.
“You mind filling her in?” I asked him.
I’d kept his identity a secret from Ariya so that she wouldn’t act strangely and tip him off to the fact that I knew who he was.
“I’m the previous-previous demon king, and also now the current demon king, Ighnoa. Nice to meet you.”
“Uh... I’m Ariya. Nice to meet you?” Her confusion made it clear she didn’t really understand who he was.
“You gotta explain better than that,” I told Ighnoa.
“I’m not sure how I could’ve been any clearer.”
“By demon king...you mean the demon king?” Ariya asked.
“Okay, look, I’ll explain later.” I judged that it’d be better to take the time to explain things later, because it looked like she really wasn’t getting it, and I had some questions for Ighnoa. “Something you need?”
“Nah. I just heard all this noise and wanted to check it out. Sounded like fun.”
“So basically, you’re here to rubberneck.”
“Yeah, pretty much. Oh, I guess I did have one other reason. I wanted to find out what you’re gonna do about all that.” He pointed down at the craters. “I could hear that all the way from town. It’s only a matter of time before someone comes to check things out. Half the people thought it was just thunder, though.”
We were a pretty good distance away from town, but it seemed they could still hear the rumblings of what had gone down here. I guess I hadn’t really known how strong this attack was going to be in the first place, but I certainly hadn’t expected it to have been this strong. If I had, maybe I would’ve come up with a plan for what to do next.
“Would anyone really come all the way out here in the middle of the night?” I asked. “I doubt any investigation requests would arrive at the guild before tomorrow at the earliest. That should give us enough time to maybe have everything cleaned up by the day after next.”
“Sure, that logic checks out—if you’re only thinking about the guild. The church, however, is already putting together a team to come out here.”
“Hm... The church, huh?”
“Yeah. It’s almost as if they knew what was happening tonight.”
“Interesting.” The church again? Something’s definitely fishy. “Yeah, this is certainly a problem.”
“You don’t wanna leave any evidence, right?”
“I don’t.”
“Well, that’s why I’m here. I can fix this place up in no time with magic.”
I had no doubt he could. I might’ve been able to cover up the craters using Armament Craft, but I’d essentially just be creating a field of pitfalls. It’d make things even more suspicious.
“You okay helping out?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’ll hardly break a sweat.”
“Okay then. Go ahead.”
“Sure thing. You should head back to town.”
I was surprised by his consideration, although I guess it was better for him if I was able to move around freely without the church watching my every move because they suspected me of something.
“You two seem very friendly,” Ariya pointed out.
“You think so?” I asked.
“From where I’m standing, you two are a lot closer. Are you two an item?” Ighnoa asked Ariya.
“A-An item?!” Ariya froze.
“Nah,” I answered in her stead.
“Technically, I serve him.”
“You...serve him? Really?” Ighnoa was genuinely surprised by this. What’s there to be surprised about?
I scooped up Sylph, who’d been lying on the ground, and put her in my pocket. “We’re gonna head back then,” I said, waving my hand at him.
“Ah, wait a minute. Could you leave her here?” He indicated Ariya.
“Huh?” Is he interested in her or something? Seriously? Depending on your intentions, we might become enemies. “She’s mine. Hands off.”
“Don’t give me that look. I’m not trying to do anything funny with her—I just have a few questions.”
A few questions? But why Ariya? I looked at Ariya, who’d turned red when I’d said that she was mine. She’d been acting like a lovestruck maiden or something this entire time.
“I swear, I won’t do anything. I’m not lookin’ to start something with you. You know that, right?”
“Yeah... Okay, bring her back to me in one piece then. Also, be sure to properly introduce yourself.”
With that, I left Ariya, who was still confused, and returned to town. I knew he wasn’t the type to lie. If he’d really wanted Ariya, he could’ve taken her whenever he wanted. Leaving her with him shouldn’t have been a problem.
As much as I wanted to simply teleport back to town, I couldn’t with Sylph in my pocket, which meant I had to run back. Maybe I’d wake her up when we got to the gates and have her turn us invisible, at least. Ugh, what a pain.