## Chapter 191 – A Midnight Date (1)
Morning dawned, and Ryu, barely awake, instinctively looked beside him, drawn by the warmth he felt. There, Charlotte was fast asleep, nestled in his arms. He wanted to watch her like that forever, but Charlotte, sensing Ryu’s presence, slowly opened her eyes.
Charlotte squinted, her eyes not yet adjusted to the light, and with a smile, she kissed Ryu’s forehead as she asked,
“Did you sleep well?”
He felt a slight pang of regret that she wasn’t using honorifics anymore, but he loved Charlotte as she was. Charlotte stretched languidly, raising her upper body. Her breasts swayed softly with the movement. When Ryu’s gaze lingered on her chest, Charlotte gave a mischievous smile and said playfully,
“By the way, yesterday was amazing, wasn’t it? I never thought I’d hear you say you’d make me yours forever.”
Ryu, caught up in the moment, replayed his words to Charlotte one by one in his mind. His face instantly flushed red. He wished he could disappear into a hole. Charlotte laughed at the sight of Ryu burying his face in the blanket.
“I didn’t mind it. And it was exactly what I wanted to say. You’re mine forever.”
Ryu didn’t lift his face from the blanket, knowing he must look embarrassed. Charlotte gently stroked his hair and horns before getting out of bed.
“I should leave before the Demon Lord sees me like this and starts nagging again.”
With those words, Charlotte gathered the underwear she had carelessly discarded the night before, slipped her maid outfit over her bare body, and left the room. Ryu carefully got out of bed, hoping that no one would see her without her underwear due to a gust of wind or some other reason.
He knew what he had to do first. Ryu quickly began cleaning before the maid came to clean the room or Acer, who occasionally visited in the morning, could see the evidence. He took the bedding, stained with her fluids and his semen, outside, and opened the doors and windows to air out the room.
Living in a mansion where sex was commonplace, this level of cleaning was quickly done. As he cleaned, he almost forgot something.
‘The awards ceremony, was it today?’
No sooner had he thought this than Acer, wearing a flamboyant red dress, came to Ryu’s room.
“Ryu, are you ready?”
The deeply plunging neckline and tight-fitting dress accentuated her femininity. Faced with another wave of stimulation after Charlotte, Ryu was at a loss for words. Noticing his gaze, Acer blushed slightly and asked,
“How is it? Does it suit me?”
He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Ryu blankly nodded, captivated by Acer’s alluring appearance, thinking she was too beautiful to be shown to anyone else. Acer beamed and rejoiced like a child at Ryu’s honest reaction.
“Really? That’s a relief…. It’s the first time I’ve worn something like this in public. More than anything, I’m glad you like it.”
Acer looked at the clock and hurriedly entered Ryu’s room, rummaging through the closet.
“Wait a minute! This isn’t the time. What if the main attraction is late?”
After putting on a suitable suit, they teleported to District 1 in an instant, arriving at the awards ceremony just in time.
The awards ceremony was filled with even more people than the coliseum. Everyone was there to see the face of the winner. As soon as Ryu arrived, the awards ceremony proceeded smoothly. Demon Lord Lahart’s congratulatory speech was delivered in turn to Claire, who had fought a good match against Ryu, and to the person who had unfortunately come in third place.
Finally, it was Ryu’s turn. Even as Lahart personally placed the gold medal around his neck, it didn’t feel real. It was only natural. Ryu had been thoroughly enjoying sex with Charlotte just a few hours before, so he felt nothing but a sense of incongruity with the current situation.
Lahart approached Ryu and whispered in his ear,
“Could you see me for a moment after the awards ceremony?”
Hearing those words, Ryu snapped back to reality. If he was being summoned in this situation, there could only be one reason. Ryu nodded with a noticeably different look in his eyes. Only then did the emcee’s words reach his ears.
“Now, we have the most important prize left, right? First, the winner is guaranteed a promotion in rank, and more than anything, they will receive the reward that many students desire most: the chance to spend time freely with one of the Demon Lords of their choosing! Ah, since this is a special case of admission for Low, is the partner already decided?”
Having to make a decision while being the focus of so many eyes meant that the pressure weighing down on him was greater than in the final match. Moreover, the reality of having to choose between Acer and Low was agonizing. Giving up the reward like Claire was one of many options, but that would be no different from hurting both of them.
Even as he agonized, the moment of choice was drawing nearer.
Jane’s playful words flashed through Ryu’s mind as he pondered.
– Why don’t you just decide by drawing lots?
Ryu didn’t know what he was thinking, but he blurted out those words.
“Wha, what about deciding by drawing lots…?”
The venue instantly fell silent. In some ways, it was an irresponsible statement, but depending on who was looking, it was a statement with the fun of a gamble. Fortunately, the emcee was the latter type of person.
“Deciding by drawing lots, not bad! It’s my first time since I came to this academy, but I knew something like this might happen someday, so I’ve prepared everything!”
No sooner had he finished speaking than the emcee presented Ryu with a wooden container.
What differed from Ryu’s intention was that the container contained the names of all the Demon Lords, not just Acer and Low. In the worst-case scenario, he could end up spending a terrible and painful time with Orca.
He thought it was a punishment for not making a proper choice, for essentially running away because he didn’t want to hurt anyone.
Ryu put his hand into the container and squeezed his eyes shut. He picked the first stick he could grab, choosing his own destiny.
●
Having made a choice he wouldn’t regret, he listened to Lahart’s words and headed to where he was. Lahart’s office, located at the top of the academy. Ryu stood in front of it, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.
He heard a voice from inside telling him to come in, and Ryu stepped inside with a nervous heart. The first thing he saw was Lahart. He was standing by the window, basking in the sunlight, and greeted Ryu.
“It’s been a while. You have a good look in your eyes now, don’t you? You have a relieved expression, as if you’ve let go of a lot.”
Lahart pointed to the table as if telling him to sit down. There was a lot of food on it, as before, but he wasn’t in the mood to eat now. Ryu sat down and immediately got to the point.
“You said you called me on purpose….”
Lahart, who had already sat down opposite him, naturally sipped his coffee and replied.
“Well, it’s about the Outer Gods.”
Ryu was sorry to Lahart, but he had something to say about that.
“Actually, I have a promise with Low….”
Before Ryu could finish speaking, Lahart said,
“It’s okay. I’ve heard everything from Low. She said she couldn’t refuse you after you showed her how hard you were working.”
“Low said that?”
“Yes. You may not know it, but she even teared up in the middle of the final match.”
He was finally relieved. It seemed he had passed Low’s test. Only after he felt relieved did he finally notice the food. Ryu hesitated and asked Lahart,
“Can I eat this?”
“You can eat as much as you want.”
As Ryu began to put various snacks in his mouth, Lahart looked at him with a satisfied expression. Soon, his expression changed, and he opened his mouth in a serious voice.
“Ryu, it might sound a little strange for me to say this all of a sudden….”
Lahart trailed off, unlike his usual self. Ryu swallowed the food in his mouth as best he could and said,
“Yes, what is it?”
Lahart lowered his head and opened his mouth with difficulty, as if apologizing.
“I want you to have as many relationships as possible with the women you get to know or become close to in the future.”
It wasn’t just strange. He almost spat out the food that was left in his mouth onto his face. He had said it in the most gentle way possible, but if you translated it directly, wouldn’t it be this? Have sex with every woman you meet in the future. Was it a joke to ease the tension? Looking at Lahart’s expression, it didn’t seem so.
“Wha, what do you mean?”
To be honest, he liked sex. Wasn’t it the act that first introduced him to pleasure? However, sleeping with just any woman would hurt Acer. Seeing Ryu’s hesitant face, Lahart continued,
“Of course, I’m not saying this to tell you to become a playboy. Think of it as giving them the Dragon’s Aura you possess… Would it be easier to think of it that way? When they receive that, which is no different from the source of life, into their bodies, they absorb some of your power, albeit weakly.”
So, the more he ejaculated, the stronger the women would become? Even the romance novels in Acer’s library didn’t have such ridiculous material. Lahart stood up and spoke to Ryu with a serious face, as if appealing to him.
“In other words! The more women you ejaculate into, the more power we, who are trapped in this cage and passively suffering, will have to fight against the Outer Gods.”
“The Outer Gods are strong. I can’t ask the Demon Lord to do such a dangerous thing….”
Ryu had joined this plan because he wanted them to maintain a peaceful life. It would be all the more futile if Acer or Charlotte, whom he had to protect, lost their lives in the fight against the Outer Gods.
“Ryu, I know what you’re worried about. But the Demon Lords of this generation are strong. You could probably call it the golden generation.”
“You probably won’t get a sense of it even if I say this. Well, let’s take Orca, who hasn’t been in the position of Demon Lord for very long, as an example.”
He didn’t like talking about Orca, but he wasn’t stupid enough to say that in front of Lahart. Lahart, taking Ryu’s silence as agreement, began to speak.
“Orca killing the previous Demon Lord and taking his place, that came as a shock to all districts at the time. Until then, the thought of attacking a Demon Lord was unthinkable, their strength was so insurmountable. Just looking at this, it’s proven that Orca is stronger than the previous generation of Demon Lords, and that Orca is the weakest of the Demon Lords. There’s room for her to grow, but as far as I know, there are three Demon Lords who can easily beat her in a fight right now.”
“That crazy… no, there are three more people who can beat the Demon Lord?”
“There are three, excluding me and Low. Jane, Clara, and Acer. In Acer’s case, it’s closer to a difference in compatibility, I guess?”
Acer can easily beat Orca? Acer’s appearance when she was defeated by Orca in District 6 came to mind. He was reminded once again that he had refrained from using his abilities as much as possible at the time because he could get caught up in it.
“If those women become stronger with your power and have the strength to fight back, our destiny won’t be in the distant future.”
Ryu, having heard everything Lahart had to say, thought it made sense.
“I’ll try my best if I get the chance.”
At the same time, one question came to mind.
“Um… I heard that Lahart is the strongest of the Demon Lords, so if it would help, wouldn’t the Demon Lord’s aura be more….”
Ryu trailed off, but Lahart seemed to understand everything he was saying. However, he didn’t look Ryu in the eye. Lahart stood up, walked to the window, looked outside, and said in a small voice.
“I’m no longer able to hold a woman.”
Lahart’s eyes looked sad as he said that. He couldn’t ask any more questions, seeing the look on his face that suggested something was wrong.
“I’ll tell Acer when the time comes, so you should think carefully about what I told you. You’re actually quite popular, aren’t you?”
Lahart instantly erased the expression he had just shown and gave a friendly smile.
“Well, that’s all I have to say. Shouldn’t you go spend some quality time with the person who’s waiting for you now?”
Ryu nodded, got up from his seat, and bowed deeply.
When he opened the door to Lahart’s office and went outside, the woman his destiny had led him to was waiting there.
