Chapter 195 ~ A Small Respite
As the sun set into the horizon, the group managed to pass the dangerous area near the forest line and set camp in a known safe space.
The group shared a meal and told stories. Though, not all were listening attentively.
After her meal, Aika leaned her head on Yuuji’s shoulder and rested, ignoring the conversations and stories that were being shared. While Ninya was similarly distracted, but not by the fatigue of a day’s worth of journey.
Since they were eating and resting, Yuuji naturally removed his helmet, revealing his countenance. And to a pure, innocent, young village girl who had never experienced romance, the sight of his face alone made the poor girl’s heart palpitate. She would stare at him in a daze, and wouldn’t even react when her friends tried to snap her out of it. She was sure to see his face throughout the night, even in her dreams.
After cleaning up, the group went to their respective tents to rest for the night.
Then, after casting a spell to make sure the Swords of Darkness and Nfirea wouldn’t wake up from their slumber, Yuuji and Aika returned to their original form and equipment. And after equipping the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown, they made their return to Nazarick hand in hand.
The two appeared within a gilded hallway with massive double doors right before them. It was a familiar sight which confirmed that they’ve arrived right in front of Yuuji’s office within the ninth floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.
“Alright~ Hubby, I’ll be going now to find Yuri Alpha and turn her into a succubus~! You go have some fun in the meantime, okay~?”
Her mischievous wink and wide grin elicited a helpless sigh from Yuuji as he smiled at her.
Before returning, they’ve sent messages about their return to Nazarick and what they intend to do. And Aika meant to say that last part as a double entendre, knowing exactly who he will meet in his office.
“Mm. You go have fun as well. I love you.”
“Love you too, hubby~ Muach~!”
Their lips connected in a chaste, loving kiss. Then, Aika went her own way to meet up with Yuri Alpha in her own office.
Yuuji returned his attention to the door. A sense of anticipation, excitement, and longing for the one behind it filled his heart.
He placed a hand on it, and pushed.
The massive, mahogany double doors opened with little effort, despite its tremendous size and weight. And behind it, he could see the figure he had dearly missed.
“Welcome home, Yuuji-sama~”
With a beautiful, sweet, loving smile on her luscious pink lips, Albedo stood with her hands clasped just above her womb. Her golden, slitted eyes looked right into his crimson and gold eyes with immense affection and a longing that made it seemed like she hadn’t seen him for hundreds of years.
Her eyes curved into a pair of crescent moons, delighted. And her wings trembled also trembled behind her, as if ready to spread open as she lunged right into his embrace.
Ever since the dreamy date she had with Yuuji, when they both affirmed their feelings for each other, Albedo had been gritting her teeth and biting her lips all day, holding herself back from not storming off to Yuuji’s side and be with him.
It had been a cruel and excruciating day. So now that he was right before her, she could barely hold herself back from actually lunging into him.
Upon witnessing the beautiful figure and seeing the deep, intense love and longing in her eyes, Yuuji felt his heart flutter.
And hearing her voice in person… No matter how frequently he heard her through the messages they shared throughout the day and night they were separated or in person, he still preferred hearing her in person.
Yuuji approached her slowly, raised a hand, and caressed her cheek with it. And the simple touch sent a shiver of delight and euphoria through her spine.
Her face reddened, and her lips curled into a delighted grin as her eyes shined with unconcealed lust.
“I’m home, Albedo.”
“Yes~”
He offered his arm, which Albedo happily took and wrapped around with a delighted giggle, and walked to the couch.
Yuuji sat down, his body relaxing when he smelled the sweet, relaxing scent of jasmine tea wafting in the air as Albedo poured a cup of tea for him, and another one to herself.
The menial task of preparing tea was normally done by the maids of Nazarick. However, Albedo especially instructed the current maid-in-duty, Decrement, to let her take over the task.
She did not want anyone to disturb their private time alone. Moreover, by pouring him tea, she would be able to show her domestic side to him and appeal herself as a wonderful wife.
Placing down the pot, she sat down by his side, and took a sip along with Yuuji.
The warm, fragrant liquid slid down her throat, warming and washing away her nerves, leaving only bliss and comfort for being by his side.
Silence filled the room. But it was a comfortable silence as the two simply enjoyed each other’s presence.
A few moments later, Yuuji broke the silence as he turned towards Albedo to speak.
“How was everything? Did anything happen during my absence?”
“Everything is going as planned. We have begun sending doppelgangers posing as merchants and foreign nobles with shadow demons accompanying them to cities within Re-Estize and Baharuth Empire to start sowing seeds, establish an information network, and invest on key businesses within the two nations…”
While not excelling in combat, Doppelgangers were masters of shapeshifting and impersonation, making them an ideal choice for spies.
They were not only capable of copying someone’s appearance, but they were also capable ofusing a form of telepathy during their shapeshifting to read the surface thoughts of the people they are speaking to and those around them in order to extract information related to the target they are impersonating and then apply it to their impersonation act.
This made it so that people closer to the target will instead find it more difficult to see through their disguise, as they would have more information about the target to give the doppelganger, allowing them to act more convincingly as their target.
With the Shadow Demons accompanying them, moving through the shadows to execute plans or collect information while the doppelgangers distract the rest of the populace, they would be able to collect more information and sow the seeds into these nations.
Albedo then began her report, informing Yuuji of the detailed status of the current progress of their plans. She recited everything perfectly as she had memorized all of it by heart, not wanting to bring along her documents and files and ruin the atmosphere.
And as she did, she could not help but feel proud, happy, and a bit shy as Yuuji stared at her with a soft smile.
He seemed to be watching her in a daze, as if simply enjoying watching her work rather than actually listening to her, even though she knew he was capable of easily splitting his attention and focus on both things at the same time.
And just the fact that he was looking at her with such a soft, loving smile, she felt immense happiness filling her heart.
“I see. Good work, Albedo. We can review the information we’ve received from them later on.”
“Yes. I will begin compiling them for you.”
Yuuji nodded gratefully.
“How about Lelouch and Shalltear’s journey? Have they encountered anything?”
Since they were heading to the royal capital of Re-Estize Kingdom by carriage, the journey naturally took more time. However, this was all necessary.
In the anime, Shalltear took the same route and encountered the bandit hideout and Brain Unglaus, a prominent character within the anime, as well as the Black Scripture.
After Momonga and Lelouch thoroughly countered the divination spell cast by the Thousand Mile Astrologer on the captain of the Sunlit Scripture, Nigun, and prevented any divination attempts thereafter, the Black Scripture took it as an indication of a Dragon Lord and was dispatched to the area near E-Rantel for investigation.
Then, Shalltear would encounter them and the person wielding the World Item “Downfall of Castle and Country”, which the Black Scripture attempted to use on the Dragon Lord and take it under their control.
This encounter was pertinent, as it would allow them to obtain a World Item, clearing one of their missions, and have all members of the Black Scripture turned into their spies with Lelouch’s Geass.
This would be their basis for overthrowing the twisted and racist human-centric ideology of Slaine Theocracy, and conquering them.
However, while Yuuji knew where Lelouch and Shalltear’s group would be encountering them, he didn’t know when they would. That’s why he had tasked Solution to send them daily reports and inform them if something out of the ordinary happened immediately.
The moment Solution sent in an emergency message, Yuuji, Aika, and Momonga, as well as all Floor Guardians and Pleiades would be prepared to go to their location at once and handle the situation.
Fortunately, Albedo shook her head this time as well.
“No. I have not received anything out of the ordinary from Solution’s daily reports.”
“That’s good. Then for now, we can relax.”
A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he leaned back to his couch.
Albedo watched his peaceful face affectionately, her expression relaxing into a loving smile.
Then suddenly, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her towards him.
“Hya- Y-Yuuji-sama…?”
Yuuji softly tilted her head so she would be leaning to his shoulder, and rested his head on hers. Her curved horn snugly placed beside his neck.
“You should relax as well, Albedo. You’ve been working hard as well, and I know you haven’t been resting a lot, especially since you have that Ring of Sustenance. So, let’s take this chance to relax together, okay?”
The sweet, affectionate words filled with his feelings and concern for her made her heart flutter. And naturally, being a succubus, she felt her womb tingle as well, yearning for the seed of the man beside her. The unparalleled, peerless Supreme Being, who loved her so dearly and treated with such affection.
His touch, his warmth, and his words were almost dizzying, filling her heart and mind with nothing but overwhelming happiness, pleasure, and love for him.
In the end, only one word escaped her lips as she tried her best to hold back a grin.
“...yes~”
The jet-black, feathered wings fluttered, before spreading out and enveloping Yuuji in its embrace.
‘Ah… So this is how it feels…’
Such warmth… This must be how it felt to have finally found her “Destined One”.
It felt… right. Like she was meant to be where she was right now; by his side and in his embrace.
Her heart beated quickly. But she had never felt so relaxed and safe before. And before she knew it, a comfortable, warm darkness enveloped her consciousness, and fell asleep.