Time flies faster than an arrow when one enjoys it. Valeria had stayed in Antares for five days, so it was already her time to return. She might look like she wasn't busy but she was. After all, she was the advisor of the Demon King—his right hand. It would be bewildering if she didn't have anything to do.
It was morning when Valeria decided to leave for the Verniculos Kingdom. Layland was sitting on his bed as he watched Valeria dress up. It was unfortunate that they couldn't spend more time together but he couldn't do anything about it. Therefore, for the past five days, he had tried his best to spend most of his time with her.
"Quick question. Should I leave for a thousand years and promise you that I will return, will you keep your heart for me?" Layland asked, only to cringe soon after.
Valeria who was putting on her dress, let go of it and let it drop to the ground. She turned to Layland with a light frown on her face, also allowing Layland to see her lingerie at the same time.
"It depends on the purpose of your long journey," she said. "If you are leaving for another person, I shall forfeit my love. After all, your action means that you choose the other one than me."
"I…don't know how to react, honestly. Do you find yourself unable to believe in me these days?" Layland asked, mildly concerned. Fortunately, he saw Valeria's smirk soon. "This girl…you have gotten better at bantering, haven't you?" He shook his head faintly.
"Now, as for your question…yes. Even if it will be my last time to see you, my heart will still be yours. Though, I hope such a scenario will never happen."
Valeria quirked an eyebrow at Layland, causing him to shake his head faintly. Valeria seemed to have misunderstood him. She thought he had a crazy plan that might involve him in an endless war with some 'beings.' Fortunately, it was a mere tangent. Still, Valeria hoped that situation wouldn't happen.
Turning around, Valeria continued putting on her dress. As she put on her gloves, Layland wrapped his arms around her waist, causing her to smile faintly but sweetly. When she no longer had anything to put on anymore, she turned around and hugged Layland's head. They remained that way for a few minutes before she said her farewell.
Layland watched as his girlfriend vanished into thin air. He hummed to himself as he observed the Mana Flow in the air. He had been asking Valeria to teach her that but she had always refused. She told him that he would be able to figure it out himself and she wasn't wrong.
Looking at how the Mana affected the space, he believed he was already close to figuring out how it works. He only needed some discussion with Teanosvera and he would be able to do what Valeria did, even though not as well.
Shaking his head in amusement, he stood up and then put on his pants using his Spatial Storage. It had been some time since he last used his office's open-spaced bathroom, so he wanted to try it this time.
Opening the door of his bedroom, he was met with his secretary, Maxine who was about to knock on his chest. Maxine looked up at him in confusion before blushing madly. Looking down at the flustered Succubus, he wondered what she had to inform him about. It was seven in the morning, which was early for her to come to his room.
A light frown found its way to his face. He wondered if Hadrian had missed an important event.
"What do you have to say, Maxine?"
"Uh…uh… Can we talk about this after I cool myself down?" the Succubus stuttered. "I can't seem to think straight."
Maxine looked concerned and it alerted Layland. He thought something had happened; alas, it was but his misunderstanding. Putting his hand on Maxine's shoulder, he looked at her solemnly. The intensity of his gaze made Maxine gulp, but not for the reason he thought about.
In the blink of an eye, they appeared at the open-spaced bath. There were two pools on the ground—one was hot and one was cold—and Layland chose the right one, which was not letting out steam.
With a snap of his finger, Layland's pants disappeared. He stepped into the pool under Maxine's bewildered gaze, causing her to almost pass out. Unaware of what Maxine had in her head, Layland immersed himself in the cold pool. He took time to enjoy the coldness of the water before looking to his side.
Finding no Maxine, he turned his head around and shouted, "You want to cool your head, don't you? It cools every part of your body. Get in!"
"Y-Yes…"
Seeing Maxine's flustered look, Layland contemplated his decision. He had assumed that every woman in this world was Valeria and Millonia who weren't fazed looking at a naked man, so he chastised himself for that. There were women like Lunea and Winerva too. What if Maxine was one of them? She must consider it sexual harassment.
He stopped assuming that to be the case, however, the moment he remembered what Maxine was. Maxine was a Succubus. A Succubus gathered her power by sucking out men's souls through a sexual approach. She shouldn't be embarrassed looking at his unclothed body, should she?
Plink!
The water that just dropped into the pool made Layland look up. He found Maxine staring back at him with red cheeks and teary eyes while covering her nether region and her bountiful assets to the best she could.
Layland immediately stood up, further flustering her. He felt bad for inviting Maxine to deliver her report while they were in a bath.
"I am sorry for forcing you, Maxine. You may leave and cool your head. Once your head is cool, you can—"
"No, it's fine!" she interjected. "I'm just a little bit…embarrassed."
At this moment, Layland smelled something in the air—pheromones. He looked at Maxine in realization and then made sure to keep his pheromone in check. He took it as Maxine trying to politely tell him his pheromone was out of control. He nodded his head afterwards and then immersed himself back in the pool.
Maxine inhaled deeply before joining Layland on his side. She didn't expect much from the water, so she was quite surprised when the cold water managed to cool her body down.
"Then, tell me what happened."
Glancing at Layland, Maxine cleared her throat. "It is about the new mine that we secured. We found something quite…interesting inside. Decima and a couple of her chosen men are there to investigate, but they don't dare to do anything without your permission. How do you think we should proceed?"
"What is this interesting thing?"
"We found a room inside."
Layland quirked an eyebrow. "What is so special about it? We might have just found a prehistoric cave. You will find nothing but fossils and strange characters inside."
"We haven't found any fossils yet, but we did find some strange characters. We don't know what they mean but we are sure they are an ancient human Spell."
Layland cupped his chin and hummed to himself. Maxine's wry smile reminded him that this world's history was different from Earth's. The prehistoric Era wasn't about monkeys finding out about fire in this world. It was about the great war between Gods and Demons. It was an extremely chaotic era. The war reset civilization.
One shouldn't expect a good thing to come from that era. Should one find an old Relic from that era, one should expect a curse to befall oneself or a disaster to befall the world. This was what made Decima reluctant. She didn't want to risk releasing chaos to the world.
"Will it be a stretch to ask for Lord Ilschevar to leave his throne and take a look?" Layland wondered.
"That is ridiculous, Commander," Maxine said instantly. "God may descend and the other Demon Kings will come for his neck, should he leave his throne."
"Well, in that case…"
Layland took out his Scenery Marble and contacted Shanifa. He waited for a few seconds until the said puppeteer answered. Once the call was connected, Shanifa looked at Layland silently. She could see his marvellously sculpted body and something she shouldn't see. She tried to remain unfazed, but she lost in the end.
Looking down while keeping her head straight, she pretended to be unaffected. The blush on her cheek, however, was an obvious indication that she was flustered.
"Let's change our game a little bit, Shanifa."
"…yes?" Shanifa looked up, slightly confused.
"It's hard convincing them to send out their men to conquer a vulnerable Cursed Creation's city with me around, isn't it? They can smell the trap, can't they?" Layland smirked. "Let's bait them with resources. Tell them that we are extracting a Relic from the Ancient God's Era."
Shanifa widened her eyes. "That is quite a bait…but don't you think you will only discourage them by doing this?"
"Humans are arrogant. They think they can beat anything—even the curse of the Great Reset."
"I see. In other words, I have to suggest them to send people to secure the 'Relic' before 'it is too late.' They will comply because it concerns a resource they can't give away." Layland nodded his head at Shanifa's conclusion. "Do I still have to send my men?"
"Let's weed out the weaklings."
"Understood."
Layland waved his hand dismissively, giving Shanifa the permission to end the call. She wanted to ask what would happen if there was indeed a Relic from the Ancient God's Era but held herself back in the end. She knew what Layland's answer would be: the Temple wouldn't get it. As the call ended, the game was reset.
The new game begun right after.
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