NOVEL WEB Aftermath (2) – End Arc 1
In the Underworld, at the entrance of a luxurious mansion, flames surged from the ground and formed into a bright magic circle with Phoenix's crest in its center.
In an instant, two people appeared on top of the magic circle before it slowly faded away.
“Welcome to Phoenix Pillar’s main building, lord Touma.” Ravel said and opened the door of the mansion. “Now please have this before entering, it will allow you to pass through the barrier without any problems.”
Touma looked at the token, it seemed to be made up of gold and precious ruby stones with Phoenix's crest engraved in the middle.
‘I can literally hear the clan head screaming “I AM RICH!” from this object alone.’ Touma thought and he couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.
“Ravel.” The young man called her while he slid the token inside his pocket. “You can just call me Touma, quit the formalities. Isn’t it very tiring for you to speak formally all the time?”
Ravel paused briefly, thinking of a proper answer.
“…As the daughter of Phoenix, I am required to maintain this level of etiquette and formality while talking with my peers.” Ravel said and walked towards the door. “But if you insist, I will call you just Touma when we are alone then.”
“Please do so.” Touma smiled, meanwhile, Ravel pushed the door open and both of them entered together.
As soon as he stepped in, Touma felt he just passed through a barrier.
‘It isn’t just one, there are several barriers activated simultaneously, probably with each having a different function.’ Touma concluded after analyzing briefly.
The interior of the mansion and everything screamed ostentation. Paintings, ceramics and other fancy decorations were present in this mansion.
There were even sculptures of the clan heads made out of pure gold!
‘Can’t wait to milk his wallet dry.’
Ravel looked at him and could swear she just saw the most devilish smirk she had ever seen for a split second before his expression turned neutral.
‘I must be imagining things.’ Ravel thought and decided to ignore it.
“Here we arrived, my elder brother is waiting for you in this room.” Ravel said and a maid who was stationed in front of the door opened it for them.
…
Upon entering the room, Touma saw a lone blond woman sitting on the couch.
‘He’ looked like a grown-up version of Ravel, with some areas more developed than hers.
“So Riser, how does it feel to be a woman?” Touma tried to provoke a reaction from ‘him’ as he sat across ‘him’.
But contrary to his expectations, the once proud Phoenix clenched ‘his’ fists and ‘his’ arms were visibly shaking.
‘Ah, did I perhaps hit the nail "too hard"? Not that I regret it though.’
“Please…just turn me back…” Riser pleaded, with ‘his’ voice trembling as ‘he’ looked directly at Touma.
Touma raised his eyebrows and saw dark circles under ‘his’ eyes and clear signs of stress and tiredness on the Phoenix.
“No.” Riser tensed at his response.
“But you promised that you would turn back our king to normal!?” Shouted Riser as ‘he panicked.
“Indeed, I did promise you that I would turn you back, BUT before I do that, don’t you remember that you still owe me favors? In case you don’t remember, I shall quote your words, “If Rias wins, the Phoenix clan will grant you two requests as long as it doesn’t put the clan in danger or tarnish our reputation”, that sums up what you said when you visited the Human World last time.” Touma said as he looked directly into Riser’s eyes. “Until you fulfil those requests, my end of the deal won't be fulfilled.”
Needless to say that Phoenix's complexion hardened and ‘his’ body shivered at the thought. Riser gulped audibly and felt a severe headache.
“Then…what are your requests?” Riser asked with a sense of dread, intensified by the smirk on Touma’s face.
The human raised his hand and a long list appeared within it. He put it on the table and pushed it towards Riser.
“This is the list of specific materials that I need for a certain project of mine. They need to be specifically from the mentioned region or else it won’t cut it.” Riser picked up the list as Touma explained.
‘...tons of soil, stones, minerals, plants, water, …, from the ruins in the vicinity of Baghdad and Iraq…’
‘This will cost around 30M-50M$ or even a bit more, but it won’t cause much trouble for the Phoenix clan in the long run.’ Riser thought and nodded. “Very well, it will be done.”
“And of course, any disclosure of information related to our little…let’s say exchange is forbidden. Or else don't expect me at your doorsteps, and it won’t end with just a gender change.”
Sweat poured down ‘his’ forehead, but he still nodded nonetheless.
“Finally, I would ask for an ancient artifact that once belonged to a hero in the past.” Touma said, which confused most of them. “Your clan must have them, right? Given the longevity of your race, your ancestors must have lived alongside them and acquired some of their belongings.”
“You’re right, we have a collection of those items, whether they were acquired by ourselves or through purchases, but…why would you need them?” Asked Riser with some hesitation.
“You don’t need to know.” Touma said with an ‘innocent’ smile.
…
In the end, Riser agreed to his requests and finalized their deal with a written contract.
Only after that, Touma turned Riser back to a man and needless to say, the Phoenix let out tears of joy.
Then Touma was escorted by a maid to Phoenix's private collection to choose an artifact of his choice. Each item was displayed in golden glass cases with each having a protective barrier inside. Luckily, each item was properly identifiable and organized by Pantheons.
The young man strolled through the collection until a particular object caught his attention.
It was a shard from the handle of a sword if the description was correct. It had Greek origin but the owner was still unknown.
“Can I see this?”
“Yes.” The maid said and used some type of magic key to open the container. Then she carefully removed the shard and put it in Touma's hand.
‘This has a scaly texture…almost like a snake. Not only that, I can still feel the residue of mana!’
“I will be taking this.” Said Touma as he handed it to her.
“Very well, I will inform Lord Riser.” The maid wrapped it in white cloth and put it inside a container and gave it to Touma, who threw it inside his [Inventory].
‘If my assumption is correct, then I might know to whom it once belonged to.’
Without making a fuss, Touma walked out of the mansion and teleported back to the Human world.
Once he was back at home, Touma put his hand in his pocket and felt something there.
‘Ah, I might have forgotten to return it.’
…
A few days passed and there were some things that changed in their daily life, for example, Ravel’s enrollment at Kuoh Academy and how she started to live in Touma’s house.
Of course, Touma didn’t just let her just live in his house without precaution even if she had given herself to him, so he made her sign a contract with him beforehand.
Rias didn’t turn a blind eye and also moved into his house, with Akeno, Asia and Koneko (who went for the food) tagging alongside her.
And currently…
“Rias.” Touma called his girlfriend, who hummed on his lap. “Which country in Europe do you think it's best to visit?”
“If I had to say, it would be England and Norway. I went there once and it was fun.” Rias said and turned her head towards Touma. “Why do you ask?”
“Nothing, just asking out of curiosity.” He said before kissing Rias on her lips.
Then Touma got up, which made Rias pout.
‘Cute.’ Touma thought. “Sorry, just going to the toilet.”
“Want me to accompany you?”
“I wouldn’t recommend so.” He joked and Rias just made a “shoo shoo” gesture with her hand.
Inside the bathroom, Touma stood there and opened the HUD.
“Use world ticket, world destination: Campione.”
(End Arc 1)
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Just want to say I made a p.a.t.r.e.o.n, but there is nothing there yet so I won’t send the link until I write everything.
Peace :D