"That's right, Arianna. Don't you think we ought to stay tightly united?"
Karen stroked Arianna's soft, fair cheek, and a trace of wariness flashed through her teal-blue eyes.
The one she was wary of was none other than the goddess Athena.
Originally, she had only planned to stand together with Liliana.
But after witnessing Athena's terrifying presence, Karen resolutely decided to bring Erica and Arianna into the fold as well.
After all, Athena was simply far too overwhelming.
If they wanted to secure their place in Akuto's heart, then Karen had decided without hesitation that they needed to join forces with Erica and Arianna.
"I... I guess that does make sense."
Arianna, too, had been deeply impressed by the goddess's wisdom and sheer pressure. The fact that Athena had swept in and made both Erica and Liliana her shrine maidens in a single move was honestly beyond excessive.
And so, another formidable alliance was about to make its debut.
Once she confirmed Arianna's answer, Karen pulled out a small mirror as well.
"In any case, we should first study Lord Akuto's tastes a little more, shouldn't we?"
"What Lord Akuto shows toward each of us is ultimately his fondness for our individual traits."
"But if we truly want to earn Lord Akuto's favor, then we need to understand all of his preferences."
"Wow... Karen, that makes so much sense!"
Arianna expressed wholehearted agreement with Karen's opinion.
And just like that, the two maids began their little strategy meeting in Erica's room.
Karen said, "Mm... Lady Erica truly is Lady Erica. She made full use of her qualities as a knight. Still, I suppose only someone with a waist and core as strong and well-trained as hers could have that kind of explosive force and endurance."
Arianna nodded. "Yes. Lady Erica told me before what Lord Akuto's preferences might be. She said that, based on the images she received from him, he most likely likes her waist and thighs best. Slim, but still with just the right softness. Looking at it now, Lady Erica's judgment was completely correct."
Arianna herself had once been held by the waist and restrained by Akuto, but she knew very well that what he liked in her case was mainly the one-piece purple silk stockings that extended over her waist.
Erica was different. Arianna could tell that what Akuto liked there was Erica's shapely waist itself.
"Hm? Lady Erica aside, why has Lady Liliana suddenly become so proactive?" Karen noticed something strange as she watched.
"Uh... it's probably because Lady Liliana already liked Lord Akuto very much to begin with. It's just all coming out completely now," Arianna said, tilting her head.
Though it was only Arianna's personal guess, she happened to be entirely correct.
After the Succubus Bloodline evolved into Red, besides gaining the ability to even charm inorganic matter, its original traits were also greatly strengthened.
Now, Akuto could keep the emotions of any girl in contact with him in a constantly heightened state.
That heightened state would not suddenly increase her affection, but it would cause her to express whatever level of affection she already felt without reservation.
And after wildly pouring out those feelings once, that affection would often rise a little further on its own.
In a sense, this had already formed a positive cycle.
Contact -> explosive response based on current affection -> affection rises -> contact again.
With that loop in place, so long as the contact and emotional surges happened enough times, winning someone over could be accomplished at incredible speed.
Karen said, "Well, in any case, Lady Liliana is doing rather well. She knows that while her slender figure isn't a flaw, it also isn't her most striking point of charm. So she shifted the focus to showing the beauty of her lower body instead."
Karen was quite pleased. It seemed the crash course she had given Liliana beforehand had not been wasted.
Arianna nodded. "Yes, exactly. Lady Liliana's thighs and calves really do have a kind of natural perfection to them. Instead of relying on a single standout point, using the harmony of the whole to win is the right strategy."
When it came to softness and fullness, Liliana obviously could not compare to Erica.
No matter what, she could never create that perfect degree of voluptuousness, where any more would feel too much and any less would feel too little.
But Liliana had her own strengths.
Her perfectly balanced thighs, calves, and those lovely little feet in white stockings came together like a flawless painting.
Thunk.
With a soft sound, Liliana followed Erica's example and collapsed down beside her.
Just as Karen and Arianna were wondering what Akuto would do next, his voice rang out in both their minds at the same time.
Karen. Arianna. How does it feel, watching for so long?
Since Erica and Liliana can't last much longer, shouldn't the two of you, as their maids, help your mistresses finish the task?
The moment they heard Akuto's call, both Karen and Arianna lowered their heads with flushed cheeks.
"Yes. Please be gentle with us, Lord Akuto."
Coming back to themselves, the two of them made their way toward Akuto's room in quick little steps.
Inside, Karen and Arianna very skillfully lifted their delicate little feet, one wrapped in black silk stockings and the other in purple silk stockings, as though presenting themselves to him like exquisite delicacies waiting to be savored.
Akuto found the practiced, adorable sight of the two maids immensely endearing.
...
Meanwhile, in Fusou, outside a shrine in Tokyo, a girl named Mariya Yuri finished a day of study and walked toward the shrine on the small hill.
As she walked, Yuri cast a worried glance toward Southern Europe.
Thanks to Princess Alice's disclosure, the upper ranks of the entire hidden world already knew that Akuto had most likely become a Godslayer. Yuri had learned the same through Saya Mikage.
Though Yuri could not be counted among the true upper ranks of Fusou's hidden world, she possessed the highest caliber of shrine maiden aptitude. On top of that, she and Akuto had a particularly close connection. So the moment Saya learned Akuto had become a Godslayer, she informed Yuri at once.
Because events had changed from the original course, Yuri did not fear Godslayers the way she once might have.
Still, she retained certain prejudices against that group.
Except for Akuto.
He was the one who had saved her in her darkest hour. He was also the person she had always wanted to repay, and the "Holy Prince" of Fusou's hidden world.
Yuri believed that even if Akuto had become a Godslayer, he was not like the others.
Even so, out of concern for him, she had been using the protective charm Akuto gave her to perform a targeted spirit vision on him every single hour.
But she had received no response at all.
In truth, even before this, whenever Akuto went away on missions, Yuri would often use spirit vision to check on him.
At the time, her reasoning had been simple: if anything happened to him during a mission, she might be able to support him quickly.
But now she had discovered that ever since Akuto went to Italy, she could no longer reach him at all.
At first, Yuri thought he might have entered some divine ruin that blocked off outside perception.
Only later did she learn that Akuto had already become a Godslayer.
Blocking spirit vision was not an ability unique to Godslayers, of course. But if he had become one, then awakening some special means of cutting off spirit sight would not be strange at all.
"Akuto-kun... are you all right now?"
The moment she thought about how Saya had told her at noon that the dragon qi barrier over Southern Europe had been shattered by the King of Swords, Yuri grew even more worried for Akuto.
If the barrier had remained intact, that would have meant Akuto still had enough strength to maintain it, and that he had not yet encountered anything forcing him into an all-out battle.
But if the barrier had broken, then no matter what, the authority that had been destroyed would certainly have caused some level of damage to him, putting him at a disadvantage in the battles to come.
"The moment Seishuuin arrives, I'll head to Italy with her immediately to support Akuto!"
Back at noon, the instant she learned Akuto's dragon qi barrier had been shattered, Yuri contacted Seishuuin Ena and asked her to go to Italy with her to help him.
Ena's reply was that she was already on her way to Yuri's shrine. If no good news had arrived by the time she got there, then the two of them would leave for Italy together.
"For now, before Seishuuin gets here, I should at least pack my things first..."
With mixed feelings in her heart, Yuri slowly made her way back into the family shrine.
She had only just changed out of her little shoes and slipped her white-stockinged feet into her house slippers when a small figure threw herself into Yuri's arms.
"Big Sis! Is there any new news about Shuni-chan today?!"
Mariya Hikari looked up at Yuri with bright, hopeful eyes.
Hearing that, Yuri helplessly scooped the girl up into her arms.
"No. I've been using spirit vision on Akuto-kun every hour, but there's still no news about him."
"And Hikari, didn't I tell you already? You're not allowed to call Akuto-kun 'Shuni-chan.' Calling him '-chan' like that is far too childish. From now on, you should use things like 'my king' or 'Lord Akuto' instead. Well... if Akuto-kun agrees, then at most you may call him something like 'Big Brother Akuto.'"
"But in any case, absolutely no more '-chan.'"
Yuri was as motherly as ever.
"Eh? But... Big Sis, don't you call Big Brother Akuto 'Akuto-kun' too, instead of 'Lord Akuto'?"
Even so, Hikari still changed the way she addressed him from "Shuni-chan" to "Shuni-san." "Shuni-san," or "Big Brother Shuni," did indeed sound a little more proper than "Shuni-chan."
"Well, that... I... I'm just used to calling him that."
Yuri lowered her head, blushing.
Beep beep beep beep beep!
At that moment, Hikari's phone suddenly began to ring.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]