About half an hour later...
The initial tension had eased somewhat, but the atmosphere around the breakfast table remained heavy. The three girls watched Nobunaga with attentive and suspicious gazes, while the newcomer acted as if she were in her own home. Sitting in a relaxed manner with one leg crossed over the other, she calmly drank sake from a cup Alear had served her while explaining to the girls who—or rather, what—she was.
After exchanging a few glances with Ravel and Maria, Mio finally broke the silence with a confused expression.
"So she's basically your new familiar, is that it?"
Maria tilted her head slightly, still analyzing Nobunaga with a mixture of curiosity and irritation.
"I've never heard of a familiar that's so... human. And so ill-mannered. Usually they're more obedient and cute... or, at the very least, they don't ignore people as if they were furniture..."
"Watch your words, little girl. Just because I'm this boy's familiar doesn't mean I'll stay quiet while someone tries to insult me. I still have my own dignity, understand?"
Nobunaga let out a low, husky chuckle before bringing the cup to her lips and taking another generous sip of sake, as if the tension in the room were nothing more than an amusing distraction. She cast a glance at Maria, and the girl immediately paled under that invisible pressure. Then, her blood-red eyes casually shifted toward Ravel, who was seated beside her. A teasing smile appeared on her lips as she leaned slightly forward, examining the blonde from head to toe without the slightest attempt to hide her curiosity.
"Heh... Just look at you. Skin as pale as porcelain, refined posture... you look like a true hime from ancient times. One of those noble princesses who never had to touch the world outside."
She swirled the sake cup between her fingers, her eyes narrowing with amusement.
"Elegant, well-mannered, and far too proper... I bet you've never had to deal with someone truly troublesome before, have you, princess?"
Ravel was visibly flustered. Her cheeks turned bright red as she lowered her gaze to her teacup, trying to regain her composure.
"W-What...?! I... I didn't..."
she murmured, unable to formulate a coherent response in the face of the Archer's direct and provocative approach....
Alear, who had been watching the scene with the patience of a saint, let out a soft sigh and decided to intervene before things got out of hand.
"Mio, Maria... yes, she's something similar to a familiar, but on a much higher level. She isn't exactly an ordinary servant, so don't expect her to behave like an obedient pet..."
He then turned his gaze toward Nobunaga. His tone remained calm, but there was undeniable firmness in his voice.
"Nobunaga. Behave yourself. They're important to me. Stop teasing Ravel just because you find it amusing..."
Nobunaga tilted her head to the side, displaying an amused and defiant smile without the slightest sign of remorse.
"Hah! How boring. I was just testing how easily she blushes. It's cute..."
She took another sip of sake before shrugging as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
"But fine, fine. I'll behave... for now..."
Maria crossed her arms, still visibly pouting.
"'For now'? This shorty is going to give us headaches. I can already feel it..."
Mio, meanwhile, observed the entire situation with a complicated mixture of curiosity, caution, and a faint jealousy that even she didn't fully understand. Ravel, on the other hand, was still trying to regain her composure, holding her teacup with both hands while her face remained slightly flushed. For the first time in a long while, the young heiress of the Phenex family felt completely lost in the face of that servant's troublesome personality. It wasn't fear—far from it. It was something much harder to explain. Talking to Nobunaga caused strange palpitations in her heart and weakened her resolve, making her feel as though she were speaking to someone of the same stature and authority as her father. It was a strange and unsettling feeling, especially because that short woman exuded a presence worthy of an absolute ruler....
Alear sighed before speaking in his usual calm and indifferent voice:
"Anyway, now that you know Archer is my 'familiar' and that she'll be living in the mansion from now on, I want you all to get along with her..."
The moment he finished speaking, Nobunaga flashed a wide and dangerous smile. Her blood-red eyes swept over the three girls one by one, lingering especially on Mio and Ravel. She slowly licked her lips, displaying an expression filled with amusement and provocation.
"Heh... I'm going to get along very well with the three of you too. I promise we'll have lots of fun together~"
she said in an ambiguous tone, impossible to interpret with certainty.
Although her gaze occasionally drifted toward Alear, the true reason behind her provocations seemed to be him. Even she didn't fully understand her own motives. Perhaps she was curious. Perhaps she wanted to test the limits of that extraordinarily calm young man. Or perhaps she simply wanted to draw some reaction from him other than that serene and unwavering expression.
Why?
Even she didn't know the answer.
But she was the kind of person who acted according to her desires. If something piqued her interest, she saw no reason to hold herself back. And at that moment, teasing those girls and observing Alear's reaction seemed extremely entertaining.
Mio and Ravel visibly tensed. Maria narrowed her eyes, clearly irritated by the newcomer's provocative tone.
Alear cast a resigned glance at Nobunaga before commenting in a slightly ironic tone:
"As you can see, she's a bit... troublesome to deal with. But I'm sure you'll get used to her over time..."
The moment he finished speaking, Nobunaga narrowed her eyes, displaying an expression that mixed amusement and irritation.
"Troublesome, huh? Look who's talking..."
In an almost casual motion, she drew one of her matchlock pistols and fired a blackish-red beam directly toward Alear's head without the slightest warning.
Bang!
Alear didn't even rise from his chair. With absolute indifference, he raised his left hand, and a translucent shield of demonic energy instantly appeared before him. The shot collided with the barrier, producing a pink-magenta glow before being completely dissipated into the air.
"And she's also quite challenging, as you can see..." he continued with a faint smile, as though that attempted shot were nothing more than a tasteless joke.
The three girls watched the scene with strange expressions, a mixture of shock, confusion, and disbelief. Mio's eyes were wide open. Ravel blinked repeatedly, as if trying to convince herself she hadn't imagined what she had just seen. Meanwhile, Maria alternated her gaze between the two as though watching a completely absurd play.
"...Uwa, Alear-sama brought a crazy woman home..."
Maria finally murmured while still holding her fork suspended in midair.
Nobunaga put her weapon away with a low laugh, clearly satisfied with the reaction—or rather, the lack of one.
"Hah! At least you're not a boring Master. That's already something..."
she said, raising her cup of sake before taking another sip, as though shooting at her own Master during breakfast were the most natural thing in the world.
After that little "introduction," an hour passed in the blink of an eye. Breakfast ended amid a strange combination of tension, teasing, and casual conversation. Nobunaga continued drinking sake while making sharp remarks from time to time, while the three girls alternated between suspicious glances and deliberate attempts to ignore her. Alear observed everything with the patience of someone who had already expected exactly that kind of situation, occasionally intervening to maintain order.
When they finished, he rose from his chair.
"Let's train..."
Nobunaga, still seated with the bottle nearly empty beside her, lazily waved a hand through the air.
"I'll pass. I want to keep exploring this Underworld. There are too many interesting things around here. Don't expect me back anytime soon..."
The moment she finished speaking, her body began dissolving into particles of spiritual light before disappearing completely, returning to her spiritual form. The sight caused Mio, Maria, and Ravel, who had already stood up to follow Alear, to raise their eyebrows in curiosity.
Faced with their questioning looks, Alear gave a brief explanation about the spiritual nature of Servants and how their materialization functioned. After hearing the explanation, the three nodded in understanding.
Without wasting any more time, the group left the dining room and headed toward training.
.
.
.
.
.
Time within the accelerated dimension passed intensely.
The days were filled with brutal training, while the nights ended in an entirely different way: sweaty, intertwined bodies, with moans echoing across the large bed or the floor of the resting area he had created. Mio, Ravel, and Maria openly competed for his attention, and Alear never refused to satisfy them.
When the two weeks came to an end, the four of them appeared in the garden behind the Häagenti mansion. The three girls were visibly exhausted....
He gave each of them a lingering kiss—first Mio, then Ravel, and finally Maria, who tried to deepen the kiss with her tongue.
After saying goodbye to them, Alear headed toward the main bathroom. He took a long and relaxing bath, washing away the accumulated sweat and fluids. He put on an immaculate white dress shirt, elegant black pants, and carefully arranged his pink-magenta hair.
When he looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes shone with calculated coldness.
"Time to deal with the Gremory family...."
He was ready for the meeting.
_______________
(A/N: Want to get ahead?
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