Before Noire and I called our meeting finished, I checked to see if I could put her coffin in my [Storage]. Though that was an excuse I used to be alone with her, I partially did want to make sure if that was possible, and it looks like we’re clear on that. She then asked if I could cast [Clean] on her again before we left. When I asked why, she apparently got a little damp down there as she tasted my blood. If licking blood off my finger was enough to get this girl turned on and moist, I can’t imagine how she’d be after biting me, and the Vampires call that an ‘exchange of vows’? Still, someone might suspect something if they smell arousal or blood, so I better be thorough with my cleaning.

After getting Noire’s permission on using [Clean] on her entire room, I did just that while cleaning ourselves up. We then shared one last peck of a kiss, promising each other that we’ll do more fun things together soon, before I took down the [Soundproof] spell and opened the door. I scared someone who I expected was trying to eavesdrop in our conversation from the hallway.

“J-Jinma! Lady Krauss! So you were in there!” Yukino exclaimed in genuine surprise, according to Nyra’s [Psyche Magic].

“Of course, we were. This is my room, after all,” Noire answered in her formal way of speaking, coming up from behind me, “What were you doing out in the hallway, Yukino?”

“I just finished checking in with Gabriella and Lady Beelzebub before I came here to do the same. You both seemed so quiet, I thought no one was inside and thought something had happened,” Yukino explained. My [Intuition] skill kicked in when she mentioned Gabriella and Beelzebub, meaning her implied ‘concern’ on their condition was total bullcrap.

Nyra confirmed for me.

“Oh, I just happened to have a Soundproof Crystal on me and activated it in my closed room,” Noire answered, my [Intuition] activating again immediately, “Jinma and I wanted to talk while we were inside and lost track of time. You know how we nobles are and our need for privacy.”

Yukino bowed her head apologetically, “Yes, of course, and I apologize if I may have intruded.”

Damn, even though I know it’s a lie, Noire couldn’t make this up if it wasn’t possible, right? Does that mean there are crystals in this world that work similarly to existing Null Spells?

Noire then gave her default lady smile, “Quite all right, Yukino. We should be rather close in finishing our business for now, yes? Shall we regroup with the others?”

“Would you please allow me a moment with Jinma here? I promise it won’t be long,” the female Kitsune said.

“Very well, I will see you momentarily, Jinma,” Noire said before I felt something grabbing my ass, but it was only for a moment. Her lady smile was unchanging as she left the room first and headed downstairs, giving off a seductive, coy glance my way before disappearing.

Nyra stated.

I answered in my mind.

I said.

“I imagine you won’t tell me what you and Lady Krauss were talking about in her room?” Yukino then asked me with arms crossed, her ice-blue eyes hardening and turning colder as she directed her attention at me.

“It was nothing of great importance if that’s what you’re wondering,” I lied.

Yukino huffed, “Very well, be that way. Just come with me.”

Without waiting for my response, she grabbed my collar and practically dragged me to the next closest room that was vacant, further away from the stairs, and quietly shut the door behind us. Unlike Noire’s girly room, this one was plainer in color, but there was still a fair amount of decor and finesse for a guest room that exemplifies her family’s social and economic standing.

Yukino’s glare then turned harsh as she grabbed my collar with both hands and pulled me close, locking her eyes on mine, “Okay, you bastard, I want you to cease what you’re doing up to now immediately.”

I was briefly surprised by the sudden shift of her tone, but I wasn’t intimidated by her threatening gesture. I was only confused, “I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

“I’m not in the mood for your playing dumb, human. Your skill, magic, ability, whatever it is you’re doing that’s making me frustratingly strange whenever I look at you, a human, when I shouldn’t be, I want you to cease it at once,” she clarified before giving a sneer. The way she emphasized my race oozed with toxicity.

I couldn’t help but raise a brow at her tone in this development, “Is me being a human that big of a problem for you?”

“Damn right,” she spat, “You’re all a bunch of egocentric savages who don’t know who among the existing kin is truly superior, even if it hits you in the face. You as a Demongenerate are especially a problem as you seem to be in constant heat and will fuck anything who possesses a hole, and any demon who has fallen for whatever charm-like spell you put on them are at the bottom of hierarchical power.”

Well, someone has a superiority complex. Also, aren’t you making an enemy of every female-only demon race that needs human males to reproduce?

What makes this annoying is that I didn’t sense my [Intuition] kicking. Why this fact is important is that I believe what someone thinks is the truth without a doubt, despite what the source material may really say, then they believe they are telling the truth. Sometimes, even if there’s evidence that counters their argument, they won’t submit themselves to the actual truth. Why that is is if what they learned up to that point had been a lie, then they’ll question everything else and fall into great stress and disarray in the mind. I had unfortunately met a few of these sorts of people when I was working for Heaven’s Cerberus. What’s unsettling is that I’ve overheard stories of how some people can basically get mind controlled into thinking what’s true and false.

With Yukino, though, she must have gone through some kind of spoiled life up to now where one’s power and social standing as a certain kin or race is as distinguishable as black and white. Looking at her stats with my [Size Up], she’s a surprisingly formidable foe that can challenge Beelzebub and Noire thanks to her secondary classes. This was made possible because of her title as a [Demon-Kin Noble] and possessing a [Noble’s 2nd Peerage]. Guess that explains where her ‘high and mighty’ personality came from.

“It’s even more baffling to see a Lizardman of all things to be a human’s wife, knowing their general preferences,” Yukino continued.

“Is it that strange for a female Lizardman like Ume to be married to me?” I asked.

“Yes!” she answered immediately, “Lizardmen are one of the upper-class Demon races in terms of physical strength who are known for their strong scale hides to provide sturdy and powerful defenses. They’re said to be the distant descendants of Dragons, and when you consider special cases like Umeiyon who can use magic, it isn’t hard to understand why they shouldn’t be messed with. The females in particular seek strong, physically capable males to bear potentially powerful offspring. You’d likely see the more powerful male Lizardmen to have multiple mates because of those preferences. One Lizardman from the Duke of Demons’ Disciples is a fine example of that, Krigeran, and he has a small party under his command who revere him for his strength. I’d figure Umeiyon would be with someone like him and not you.”

Considering why Ume wanted to be my mate to begin with, I guess I can understand why the Lizardmen are said to be relatives to Dragons, even if their mana auras are different.

I shrugged at Yukino’s statement, “If Ume picked me over this Krigeran guy, then that means she’s confident I could kick his ass. You’ve seen me spar twice today, isn’t that enough to show how strong I am?”

Yukino rolled her eyes, “Ha! You call those spars? I’ll acknowledge you can hold yourself against Lady Krauss, and I’ve heard from my husband you have an unusually high Vitality from your Innate Status Rankings, but those and your cheap tricks are all that you can do. I can’t even believe how you pulled off stopping that raid in Dondegarm and taking out all those White Rapture spies by yourself.

“All of those things, how you have all those Demon females in your harem, they’re all due to whatever conniving human tricks you pulled to turn the odds in your favor,” she said while stabbing a finger at my chest, “You don’t know what true strength really is, you never had it from the beginning. Even how your Charm stat aimed at Demons is ranked so high in your Innate Status is also due to whatever trickery you’re pulling, because none of those females would see and ‘love’ you as the male you are without it.”

Uh, did she not get the memo that I whooped Eugus’ ass in a duel? Whether or not that’s the case, this girl’s annoyingly stubborn. Can I even convince her to spill what Konjiro and Rowling are planning with my [Seduction] skill at its current level?

Nyra argued, reading my thoughts.

I asked out of curiosity.

the Pixie explained,

As I listened to Nyra’s explanation, I suddenly felt an unpleasant feeling of nostalgia involving my former coworker, Kazumi. Specifically, his methods to seduce a woman who’s already in a relationship. He said he has successfully done it in the past, though I had never seen it, so he could have been lying out of his ass. Still, I was curious as to why he was more persistent to woo those girls instead of those who were single and available, so I asked him one night while we were out drinking, and that somehow turned into a weird, unpleasant lesson on how it was done. I even remembered his ‘philosophy’ on how ‘hate’ was born from ‘love’, why they’re one and the same, and the tells women give that send the message, “I’m lonely and need a man’s attention,” despite what they may say vocally.

“When a girl pretties herself up and is alone in a bar having a drink, despite them having a boyfriend, that means she’s dealing with some romantic troubles,” I remembered Kazumi saying, “She’s mad and frustrated at her partner for not giving her the attention she craves, so what does she do? She tries filling that craving from someone else, even if it’s lustful gazes. It’s when she’s in this sort of state that she wants some crazy hot sex, that she’s wanting to try things that she couldn’t with her boyfriend around. When you realize that’s what she’s looking for, Kotori-chan, that’s when it’s time to be her ‘knight in shining armor’ for one night, and it will be a hell of a night to remember for both of you.”

I had a number of comebacks for whatever logic he was shitting out, but I was trying to keep myself sober at the time, so I let Kazumi prattle on. In the end, for better or worse, I learned this scumbag’s ‘unique’ way of seducing girls who already have a partner in their life. I never saw him succeed with what he taught me and I was too occupied taking care of my bedridden mother at the time to even think about using those techniques on girls. It wasn’t until recently that girls became such a big deal to me.

Up to now in this new world, not that I’m trying to brag, but I never really needed to use those techniques as I seemed to naturally draw in Ume and demon girls with my ridiculous strength and innate charms. It was the complete opposite of scaring away the human girls back home on Earth. Now, here I was with a demon girl, Yukino the Kitsune, who seemingly hates my guts on the surface, but Nyra’s been informing me how she’s been fighting an internal battle between reason and emotion since she first saw me.

“These are the ideal techniques to snag a one-night stand with any ‘taken’ girl in your sight, Kotori-chan, and with your bad boy looks and charm? You’ll have them melting in the palm of your hand in no time,” I remembered Kazumi telling me in my uneasy trip down memory lane. Even the way he usually gave that shit-eating grin with those near black eyes and medium-length charcoal hair styled in a messy mohawk was vividly clear in my mind. It was a face you wouldn’t expect to see from someone old enough to be my dad, and the thought of that image made me want to cave it in with my fist.

Nyra asked in confusion. I wondered if she heard my previous conversation with Kazumi in my memories.

... I can’t believe I’m doing this.

I schemed with Nyra in my mind.

she said.

After I received Nyra’s permission, I turned on my [Demon Pheromones] skill to give me an edge. I’ll admit that I’m basically pulling off a trick like what Yukino has suspected me of doing to get where I am now, but I’m not ashamed of using it against someone like her. I’m not even sure if I want this prideful, condescending vixen to join my harem after I change her viewpoint of me. Maybe my lack of interest in her was why I thought I’d give Kazumi’s ‘teachings’ a shot when I knew I had nothing to lose, but I was aiming to get something out of this exchange.

If I could get Yukino to tell me what Rowling and the rest of Chaos Barrage are planning with the coup, I’ll gain a bit of Demon King D’s favor after reporting it. Maybe I can also get Sue to trust in me more, enough that she’ll be more willing to answer some questions that she couldn’t before. Hell, maybe I could use Kazumi’s techniques to convince her a bit, though I really don’t want to think the scumbag’s helping me out too much in this difficult situation.

All right, Kazumi, let’s see if I can put those ‘techniques’ of yours to use here, and maybe one-up them while I’m at it.