"...You're quite the cheapskate, you know?"

Kai shrugged at Syl's remark.

"I've been running low on funds recently."

"...If you're running low on funds, then the whole kingdom is on the brink of poverty."

Amelia concealed the smile that crept up her face with a fan that she had taken from who knows where. Syl's remark had caused her normally calm and collected face to loosen.

"Come on, Lion is the best blacksmith in the entire kingdom, isn't he? He already holds enough gold to rival a kingdom."

"You're exaggerating, he's a beastkin. Dwarves are a lot better than him when it comes to blacksmithing. You, yourself were taught by an elder dwarf about blacksmithing weren't you? Besides, you have enough fortune to rival three kingdoms yet you're still so stingy when it comes to money."

"And why do you think I have that much money?"

"Well, isn't your lover over here the owner of Superbia?"

Amelia's eyes widened but she quickly returned to her normal expression and folded her fan.

"What might you be talking about, Syl?"

"It wasn't easy, I managed to finally gain some information though we lost quite a bit of fortune in the process."

Kai smirked and Syl clicked her tongue at the careless remark.

"I see, so that's why you're so desperate for money today."

"...30,000 gold."

"Hooh~ I'll only pay 20,000 gold if you don't answer my questions. Numbers of people who know?"

"Only me and the informants which total five people."

"Which kingdom do the informants work for?"

"They're from the underground guild, Nightshade."

Kai leaned his head on his hand.

"I see, if it's them then it's certainly possible given the resources. Alright, 30 thousand it is."

Kai offered his hand for a handshake and Syl took it albeit reluctantly.

"Can you contact Cthulhu for me? Tell him I'm there for the dragon."

"I'll do so. Can you heal Lion now?"

"Yes, yes."

Kai opened the door and revealed two maids holding Lion's unconscious body.

"[Heal]."

The bruises and cuts on Lion's body quickly faded and his eyes slowly opened.

"The negotiations are over, I'll send over the payment later through Superbia."

Kai activated [Soul Call] and found everyone's locations before picking them up one by one. Or at least, he wanted to.

"...What are you three doing?"

He found Umi, Kazuki, and Arata in the yard. There, a red sword was chained down on the floor and they all took turns trying to pull it out. Umi kept using water to burst it out from under the floor while the two relied on their physical strength. The earth around the sword couldn't be manipulated by Arata.

"Haa...haa... the maid over there... told us that this sword is a national treasure and we get to keep it if we pull it out."

Kai's face went blank and looked at the maid.

"Fufufu... I apologize, Mr. Tatsuya."

"Yoriko, I know you didn't lie but at least tell them the whole truth."

Yoriko continued chuckling which made Kai sigh and walk over towards the sword.

"Kai, can you pull it out?"

Kazuki asked with rough breathing.

"Pull it out? It's not even really stuck."

Kai placed a hand on the sword.

"[Ungroup]."

The sword and the rocks separated as easily as a sword from its sheath.

"It was my spell. I have a spell that allows me to temporarily bind living objects and permanently bind inanimate objects. Of course, I can release them at anytime as well. There are a lot of restrictions but it's a strong skill nonetheless."

I placed this here because I was annoyed by Lion and decided to pester him by placing a sword and stone inside his yard which he planned to decorate. Needless to say, his decoration plans were canceled. I still remember the look on his face pleading me to remove it. Heh.

"Kai has an evil smirk on his face."

"That he does. I'm actually scared now."

Kazuki shuddered because of Umi's observation.

"No, I'm not really planning anything..."

"Hm? Oh, it's Sir Tatsuya!"

Kai turned around and standing there were half a dozen knights with blue crests on the sides of the shoulders on their armor. The one who had called out to him had his helmet off and had blue hair tied in a ponytail.

"As I recall... you all are the elite knights of Cthulhu."

"As you recall?! We've fought together on the battlefield more than a dozen times!"

"Ah, right. You're... Darwin?"

"Dale!"

"That's right, I was just testing to see if you still knew your own name. What are you all doing here?"

"He just lied so obviously that he didn't even try to conceal it..."

Arata looked at Kai with utter disbelief.

Although Dale grumbled at Kai's remark, he still answered properly.

"We're here for business reasons with Sir Lion but heard he had just been knocked out cold by Sir Tatsuya."

"Perfect timing, my message should probably have been given by now. Dale, you come with me to Cthulhu, the rest of you can continue with what you were doing before."

Dale nodded and escorted the five of them out.

"Erina."

"Oh, you finished? Aya, let's go."

"Nn."

Aya nodded and held Erina's hand.

"...Looks like she's become quite attached to you."

Amelia's remark made Erina look at Kai for answers.

"It took quite awhile for Aya to warm up with Amelia, it took her half a year to become that close yet you managed to bridge that gap in a day, she's just jealous."

"Hey, Kai!"

"Don't worry, Mama! You'll always be my number one!"

"Fufufu... Thank you, Aya."

Amelia had flushed red for a moment but regained it because of Aya.

"Master."

Angelina appeared from the side.

"Ah, she actually disappeared when we arrived here."

"Yeah, I gave her a mission."

Erina placed a hand on her mouth to cover her surprise.

"I've gained the support required from the other black gold members save for Cthulhu."

"That was too fast! Kai took awhile trying to convince Lion's party!"

"Well, Ms. Erina, the other black gold members actually owe quite a lot to master. In fact, if master wanted their homes and companies, he'd be able to take them due to the amount of debt they owe him so simply lending a hand in this dragon subjugation which could reduce their debts would be very beneficial, nobody would deny them. The black gold members also have to take my reputation as the strongest adventurer into account, though nobody knows that he's actually my master. If they do, they'd probably do all sorts of things to curry my favor. Huh, Darrel, you were here too?"

"It's Dale! Why do both you and Sir Tatsuya both not remember me?! We've been fighting together for years!"

"Yes, of course I remember your name. I was just checking to see if you still knew your own name. Nn."

"Didn't Kai just use the same line a few minutes ago?"

"Nn..."

Arata and Kazuki conversed while simultaneously pitying Dale who had his name forgotten by the duo of master and disciple.

"Well, Dante, lead the way to Cthulhu!"

"I just told you my name a second ago, don't go using some other peoples' names!"

Dale grumbled while manning his horse.

"I'm sure Lion won't mind if we take a few horses."

"Sir Tatsuya..."

Dale hesitated to stop him but sighed, Kai's influential power was so high that he could even commit murder in broad daylight without trouble, stealing horses would at most make the other party mad.

"Erina, come here."

Erina walked up to Kai and tried to get up the horse but before she could, Kai lifted her up in a princess carry and placed her behind him. Then, Kai took a carriage out of his pendant which needless to say, shocked everyone.

"A carriage!"

"How did he fit something so large in a dimensional storage?!"

Kazuki tried to board it but was blocked by a flick of air.

"No boys, let the girls ride it. You two can ride on horseback."

Amelia laughed at the tyranny of Kai and stepped inside while carrying Aya, Natsumi followed suit while Umi looked apologetic before boarding as well. Angelina boarded the carriage last.

Yoko decided to ride on horseback as well. That was a total of six horses taken away from Lion's mansion without permission.

Inside the carriage, the four ladies conversed.

"Hey, Amelia, aren't you jealous that Kai personally took Erina?"

Natsumi asked.

"I can't say I'm not jealous but I had prepared myself for this years ago. In the first place, I had placed myself in the heart of a man which already held another. But, it's not Kai's intention to hurt me or anything, he wants to talk to Erina alone."

"Oh, did you already talk to him about it?"

"We had just conversed with telepathy before he called Erina. He figured out that I would most likely feel sad if he didn't tell me of his intentions before doing them, such a caring man, isn't he? Despite the fact that we're both his lovers, he makes sure not to pay any less attention to me. I love that about him."

Amelia said so as she rubbed Aya's head. Aya immediately began to fall asleep on Amelia's bosom.

"How long before we arrive?"

"I'd say half an hour, Cthulhu's mansion is quite far."

Angelina answered Umi's inquiry.

"Although it makes me suuuper jealous that master is paying special attention to another girl, I bet that milady is a lot more jealous though she doesn't show it much."

"Hey, Angie!"

Amelia flushed as her mature woman act was seen through.

"Milady, you don't have to act like that in front of them, you know? Master told me that you should loosen up like when you two are alone together."

"No, that's a bit..."

"I was joking, milady. You're a different person when alone with master so act like you're with me and Aya. If you were to act like you were with master, you'd be called a genuine pervert by everyone."

"So Ms. Amelia is a pervert?"

"Wait a second Umi, I'm pretty sure that a lady must have two sides to her. One to show in front of others and one to show in bed, we must not pry any further because of our inexperience on the subject."

Natsumi very seriously scolded Umi which gave Amelia some more damage.

"I also noticed earlier that master has a hickey on his neck."

"What's a hickey?"

Aya, with sleepy eyes asked Angelina who began to smile.

"A love bite. Milady bit into master's neck to show her love, it look like it was done at least an hour before our meeting too."

""...""

Umi and Natsumi who heard that explanation quieted down.

"No, don't believe her-"

"Ah, biting? Mama does that all the time! I remember one time where papa had at least four red marks spread across his neck."

Aya immediately woke up.

"Aya, I love you but please don't talk anymore."

"MMMmmmMmm-"

(A/N: Muffled voice, can't really find a better way to write it out.)

Amelia placed her hand over Aya's mouth as the awkward atmosphere between a lady, two inexperienced girls, and an airhead spread through the carriage.

Meanwhile, Erina was red all the way to her ears as she hugged Kai.

"Erina."

"Yes?!"

Erina jumped up and let go of Kai while nearly falling down in the process. She stopped in mid-air because Kai had caught her then pulled her back to her seat.

"I'm sure that even though I was there, you couldn't talk about many things in Amelia's presence. That's why, let me say this one thing before we arrive."

Kai purposely led his horse away from the others, just enough that they couldn't be heard.

"You are special to me. I don't want to lose you, I don't have a logical reason but that's how I feel. I may not be good at showing my emotions because I've already been damaged in that department but remember that everytime you feel pain, I feel pain, everytime you feel sad, I feel sad, and everytime you smile, I'm contented. So, let me say it again however cheesy this may be, I love you. It's not too late to back out from me, I won't touch you at all until you see the true me and decide whether you want to stay with me. Even though I don't believe in the concept of a God, I pray that I get to hide that side of me from your eyes."

"...No matter what your other side is, I'll accept you. I've already decided this long ago."

"I don't want you to be influenced by the fact I saved your life, if you're disgusted or repulsed by me, say so immediately. I don't want you to feel sadness."

"I won't. Why do you keep warning me about this? Are you suspicious of me still having feelings for you?"

"...I'm afraid."

"Afraid...?"

"That's right."

Erina waited a bit more but it was evident that Kai would not speak so she hugged him from behind once more.

"I love you, that won't change now or ever. Even though Amelia gave you a hickey that is very visible from my position, I won't be mad."

"Ugh."

While being passive-aggressively scolded by Erina, they arrived at Cthulhu's mansion.