Petrisha took Pheobe with her into another room, and Yamato's office was used for a quickie briefing by Lucy, who arrived shortly after Petrisha's departure. Both Marneras and Amael were with her, even though they did not get along from what Yamato had heard. Though that explained why they were kneeling in a somewhat competitive manner.
"Lordship, I came as soon as I've heard! The insolence, the disrespect, for them to use your success for their own selfish reasons!"
"I agree with the demon! These elves… Arrogant creatures, no doubt about it! God, you need only speak the words, and I, your most devoted servant Amael will take it upon myself to eradicate them at once."
Marneras gave Amael a glance of annoyance, clearly frustrated that he did not get to offer his help first.
"…From the fact that you two are so worked up, I presume their is more to this then I am currently aware of. If I had to guess, I'd say the evles are also headed towards the Holy Empire of Humanity, thus are stealing from me in your eyes?"
"That's right, Sir.", Lucy said, trying to ignore the rivalry between Marneras and Amael.
"But I doubt they could have acted that fast if they had only just learned of Hana's passing, and the resulting weakness of the Holy Empire…"
"Correct again, Sir. It appears our conflict was monitored by the Naru Empire for a while, or even since the beginning. Though their current cause of action seems a bit rushed, so I would assume they did not expect our victory in the latest battle, and thus chose to act on the opportunity. Their original plan likely consisted of waiting longer before overthrowing the royal family, which seemed to be against conflict with the Holy Empire without room for negotiation."
"That checks out… When Yuki and I visited their capital, I had felt hostility towards outsiders first hand, as well as kindness, which made me question the stability of their society for various reasons… The fact that they were not at war with humanity back then suggested someone powerful was calming them down, while I heard Musami Ryo being someone to rile them up."
"I did not know you visited their capital, Sir. Was it a happy occasion?"
"Not really… More just circumstantial. Anyway… If they try to invade the Holy Empire they are welcome to try, I suppose."
"Are we not gonna stop them?"
"Not right away. Let's wait and see how far they get. If they manage reach the imperial capital, depending on the situation we might attack them too when their forces are spread across the region. They are awfully organized for having just overtaken their former head of state, if they manage to successfully invade another country right away, even if it's weakened…"
"Understood, Sir. I believe that would be everything essential, unless you have any further questions or instructions."
"No, you three are free to leave."
After the three had left, Yuki, who had remained silent and observing behind him the entire time wrapped around him now, her hand resting in his chest right above his heart.
"I knew it, boo… You're loving this, are you not?"
"Complications are nothing to be happy about… Why would you think I felt otherwise? The sooner the war ends the better, after all…"
"Mhm~… Perhaps… But maybe now that we are alone you drop that and show me your actual thoughts?"
She whispered into his ear, swiftly walking over from behind him to straddle him on the chair. Their eyes met as her other hand gently grabbed his and pulled it toward her chest, where he felt her heart racing as much as his own.
Meanwhile outside the office Lucy, Marneras and Amael were arguing.
"You stupid demon, have you no idea how to properly behave in front of a god?"
"His lordship has no need for a second angel by his side, I'm sure he prefers myself as something different from a Yuki wannabe."
"You…!"
"…Get a grip you two. What makes you think he even has a favorite between the two of you?"
"Ha, it is quite elementary, actually. Since my God has an obvious preference for angelic beings such as myself, supported by the fact that milady Yuki and he are so close, it is only natural for anyone to assume he would prefer me over a mere demon!"
"It is quite the opposite, actually! I am a great archdemon that has lived for thousands of years, and as such am truly unique! His Lordship naturally finds my unwavering, completely natural and exclusive devotion to be more valuable than that of a only recently summoned angel that has been serving a different master all his life!"
"You two are really weird… I'm just gonna leave. If you fight and break something, I'm gonna tell on you. Bye."
"If this demon dares attack me, I will be sure to protect all of my glorious God's precious property near by with my life from him if necessary!"
"I would never dare damage anything owned by his Lordship, let alone let you stain it with your lesser devoted protection!"
"…Right. Have fun, I guess."
Lucy left while the two continued arguing, until Yuki came out of the room as well.
"What are you two doing…? Don't you have some work to do or whatever?"
"Milady, I have already finished my tasks for the day. Diligent as I am, I woke up early after staying up late yesterday to maximize efficiency!"
"I did the same as him! I probably woke up even earlier than him!"
"Wha— He most certainly did not!"
"Well, congratulations, I guess… In that case why don't you two help me with something."
""Of course, we are at your disposal!""
They both said, annoyed by each other for saying it at the same time.
"Great. Thing is, I need inspiration. Not that I don't have any ideas myself, but I'm giving you two the chance of a life time to contribute to possible greatness, out of the kindness of my heart!"
"Inspiration for what, Milady?"
"I'm not sure. Something artistic, I guess."
"Uhm… Could you be a little more specific perhaps?"
"No."
"Oh, okay… Well, I'm bot sure if I can give you advice if I don't fully understand context…"
"I'm afraid I am equally at a loss…", Marneras said, for once having to agree with Amael.
"Urgh, then get lost. I have some paperwork for you that I was supposed to—… You were supposed to do but accidentally were sent to me. Here, knock yourself out."
As Yuki turned around and left, a mountain of papers appeared in the air and buried both of them underneath. She could probably finish it in less than an hour, but why do it if someone else could do it for her? By now, she was somewhat frustrated regarding her project, so she decided to put it on a hold for now and instead focus on more important matters. Going back into Yamato's office, she pulled him outside to go on a date.
"If we're lucky we might find that pianist carriage somewhere!"
"You know we can't get too couply outside, Yuki… People aready staring at us."
"I've been thinking about that a lot today… The reason as to why we have to remain separate is to make it seem as if we both lead two separate power structures within the town… But did we not just need that for the start so we could settle in? I feel like we hold a firm enough grip on the town for us to implement a system where church and government become one."
"Theoretically, yes. However, it's not just the town that needs to feel safe and secure with our regime, but potential new additions to our territory as well."
"But I really wannna…"
"…"
"Like, really, really, reeeaaaally wannna…"
"I will think about it, okay…"
"Mhm, yay~!"
Just as Yuki began humming to herself in contempt, she heard that same music playing in the distance again. Yamato seemed to have noticed it as well, so they went to see it together right away.
"I'm surprised they are still performing… It's been an hour or two since I found them the first time."
"It's actually quite common for street performers to perform for multiple hours. Especially if they have high maintenance costs, like the food and care for horses that pull their carriage in this case."
"I see… Hiw come you know that?"
"It's common sense… But I did consider it as a last resort when we first arrived in this world."
"Being two lone street performers would have been romantic~…"
"It would only have been temporary."
"Still~…"
As they listened to the performance, which still managed to attract a rather impressive crowd, it suddenly stopped and a hooded figure stepped out of the carriage and rushed towards Yamato and Yuki. They hesitantly asked in a female voice, loud enough to hear despite the confusion in the crowd.
"Y-Yamato and Yuki? Is that really you?"
"I'm sorry, do we know you…?"
The woman took her hood off, familiar green eyes meeting their surprised gaze, as her long pointy ears were revealed.
"It's me, Satomi, do you remember? We met back when—"
"—In the forest, right? I remember. You really helped us out a lot back then. I don't know what we would have done without you."
"Ah, you have no idea how happy I am to see familiar faces! I've been wandering from town to town with no idea what to do next for days now! To think I'd actually meet someone I know, I'm so glad…!"
"How come you ended up here in the first place?"
"That's a long story… More importantly, you wouldn't happen to know where I find the highest authority figure of this town? I'd love to tell you two more, but I'm kind of in a hurry… I also heard this town has been taken over by some maniac that declared it his empire, and himself emperor! Can you believe that? All rumors though, judging from the lively state of the town."
"…Maniac? Where did you hear that from?"
"Some traders outside of town talked about it and I happened to overhear it, so I thought it might be a good place to not draw too much attention to me! Which is very important, for secret reasons!"
"I see…"
"Lucy mentioned the royal family of the elves has been on the run since the coup… I suppose it make sense if she were part of that, for her to stay low. But why travel with a piano… What kind of escape plan is that?"
Yuki, who could not help but make a mental note of said traders, was also mildly irritated at the fact that her date was ruined by this semi-happy reunion. Not to mention the fact that Satomi seemed to have no idea who she was talking to, which Yuki found annoying but somewhat cute too.