King Leonard approved the plan without consulting his prime minister or the others. I don't know how things run here, but I think that's not how it should go. I guess he's just that—an impulsive person.
As he claimed, it didn't take long for everything else to be approved. Not only was our travel to the Cleaver Kingdom sealed, he even provided us with extra protection.
"Take these with you."
He said this as he passed a square box, about a foot in width, to me. Curious, I took it and quickly opened it to check what was inside.
"An... Earring?"
It was a cute pair of earrings. Maybe too cute for a man to wear. One was the color of the blue sky, peaceful and radiating with a cool and gentle light. While the other was as deep red as fresh blood.
"Yes, that's something called a proxy earring. Similar to Zeshion's rings, it can protect your life once."
Each of these can protect my life once. That means, adding what Zeshion gave me, I'd have three stacks of life already. However...
"... Aren't there earrings that are less feminine in design?"
Although it's a helpful trinket, I just can't imagine myself wearing it. Well, I could, technically, but just imagining was enough to make my skin crawl. Betraying my expectations, King Leonard shook his head in denial.
"No, that's the only design it has. The colors may change, but that's it."
"..."
Hearing that, I can only sigh in grief. I passed the red ones to Fang, who was more feminine compared to the blue ones that I kept. Without wasting time, I quickly tried to wear them on my ears... But I don't have holes for earrings... Unlike the Unicorn Earrings that I had in the past, this one isn't a clip-on but rather pierced.
"Oh, I can handle that."
As I was thinking about how to wear these earrings without putting a hole in my ears, Zeshion's voice echoed from behind me. As soon as his words finished, I saw two beams of light pass like an illusion, followed by a slightly hot sensation around my earlobes.
"...!"
In a panic, I touched my ears, but I immediately felt pain spreading from the edges. From both ears, even. Even without the need to look in a mirror, I could guess that Zeshion punctured a hole in my ears without waiting for my opinion.
"There, you can wear the earrings now."
Zehsion smiled as he added. Although I know that he did that in good spirits, I can't help but glare at him a little. I wasn't planning to put holes in my body after all!
Having no choice, I wore the earrings and let them dangle for a short while. However, the pain from the wound was still stinging, making me feel slight discomfort from it.
Just as I was about to remove the earrings, Zeshion tapped my shoulders. As he did, the pain vanished like a lie. This guy opened holes in my body and waited for me to insert a foreign object through them before f*cking healing me! As expected, the earrings became stuck to my flesh, almost unremovable unless I prepared myself to face a little pain.
"Damn it, at least wait for my input, man!"
Although it was too late, I still raised the words I had been holding in since earlier. Zeshion just grinned as he tapped my shoulders twice more before walking ahead, heading out of the room.
That guy—was he venting out on me? I'm not sure, but that somewhat pisses me off...
Anyway, as I turned to Fang, I noticed that the earrings on her ears matched her perfectly. The flashy design with the blood-red gem shining behind her glossy black hair is a perfect setup, I believe.
I guess that's one bonus point for the designer, though I wish they made a unisex model. This dangly thing hanging on my ears is definitely something that'll take a while to get used to.
After that, the king talked to us about this and that regarding our infiltration mission. It was wordy and time-consuming, enough to let the afternoon turn into nighttime before we finished it all. Zeshion wasn't present during the whole fiasco, probably because he went to check up on Goddess Zeta.
I doubt the king did all the planning alone, so this must be part of some sort of manual or something. After all, the plan he gave was almost foolproof, enough to make me think I could get out of this mission without dying once.
In the end, we didn't finish the briefing until midnight. The sun inside the Royal Palace's space turned to night a few hours ago, indicating that this time should be the time when everyone else is asleep.
This moment, on the other hand, was the perfect timing for an infiltration mission. Zeshion, who met up with us along the way, took me to one corner and whispered.
"Will, take note of Noir's movements. I don't think he's there just to mess with us; he must be planning something else."
"You mean, there's something in Cleaver Kingdom that he wants to get his hands on, and that I watch his movements if I ever see him?"
"... How did you guess that? Right, that's what I want to ask of you."
I just nodded my head in response to his query. Well, I've had a lot of "Cliche" encounters with him before, after all. It's easy to guess what'll come next... No, just kidding. It's actually because I can't see someone as perceptive as Noir going there just to help a kingdom attack us.
If it's just for that, then he can gather another wave of 9th-stage Demons himself and let them siege us again. The last time was already a close call; a second time would definitely be fatal to this kingdom.
I'm not sure what he's cooking for us, but I'll definitely be prepared for whatever it is!
---
While Will was chatting with Zeshion, Fang was dragged by the other girls toward another corner. There, they all huddled together and chatted in low voices.
"Fang, we leave Master's care to you, alright? Protect him from all dangers!"
Ember's voice was full of determination. Although she couldn't accompany them because she lacked stealth abilities, she was still able to pass a few of her "inventions" to Fang in case of an emergency.
"I will! I'll make doubly sure to cover for Leader's blindspots!"
Hearing Fang's hearty reply, the rest of them nodded their heads. However, an instant later, their faces turned more serious than before.
"Also, as agreed, make sure to not let other pretty girls, may they be human, beast, or monster, to My Lord! We can't let the same thing that happened earlier today repeat itself!"
"Of course!"
Fang's reply was stronger this time, as if telling them to trust her on this matter.
The matter earlier that day that they were talking about was none other than Will's short rendezvous with the pretty 8th-stage cat girl out in the capital's cafe. The details would be redacted, but Ember has a special tracker stuck on Will, unable to be removed, undetectable, capable of marking his location, transmitting voice, and even relaying video feeds. It was even more advanced than a spy camera!
The only drawback was that it was constantly draining her energy when activated. It consumes around 1% for every hour of continuous usage, and that increases with distance for up to 20% energy consumption for an hour.
Using that, Ember watched the entire excursion that Will took. As soon as she found the cat girl and learned that Will shared seats with her at a cafe, Ember almost stood up and rushed to his side to drag him back.
Unfortunately, she was in the middle of lessons with Goddess Zeta then, so she just shared the video and audio feeds with the rest using the clones she had attached to each of them. This caused them extreme distraction during their sparring with God Zeshion, leading to a quick and clean wipeout... But none of them fainted, through sheer will of wanting to watch over their tamer talking to another girl that wasn't part of their group.
Will thought he still had privacy, but Ember and the girls could actually peek at him any time they wanted!
"I'll make sure no b*tches can come close to Leader! I'll keep them one hundred meters away!"
Her words were definitely not something one would use when saying you'll protect someone, but the rest of the girls nodded their heads firmly. Will, the main target of their avid obstruction plans, was still together with Zeshion and talking about something. Taking this chance, Fina pulled at Fang's ears lightly, whispering a few encouraging words.
"Also, you two would be alone for a while. You can take this chance for, you know~?"
Fang, realizing her meaning, had her ears perk up as her tail wagged vigorously. A shy grin crept up her face before she replied. "I'll try!"
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