Chapter 219: A Hero's choice - A night visit!
Once the knights were all booked into the tavern, it seemed Asmodeus and his group were the only customers in the entire inn.
He paid a little extra just in case because sometimes it would hurt business to turn away clients and regulars. However, the mistress didn't mind due to him paying up front and instead used the extra money for improved meals with more meat and side dishes for the entire group.
'Thank god I told her we would stay for at least two months. It's a relief to know we won't be disrupting her business,' Asmodeus thought to himself, content watching the room with his warm blue eyes.
'If we travel in the future, I'd like to stay at all the same places and experience everything once again when I'm older and married to them all...'
Meanwhile, the knights were led by Fredricka and stuck together with Vinea, who seemed over the moon, her face rosy while drinking with them all. Asmodeus sat in a room on the second floor, a small meeting room with none other than Fuuka with Yumiko and Erika beside him.
'I wonder if Sariel and Liana are okay. Those two have started bickering from time to time...'
"So, Fuuka, was it?" Asmodeus spoke first because it felt awkward for both Erika and Yumiko, both of them being closer to Fuuka in the past, making it hard for them to react to the current situation.
"Ah.... Y-Yes! I am Fuuka, Suzuhara Fuuka!"
He expected her shy, or rather nervous, atmosphere and didn't mind it. After all, he just killed her party members or was the main cause of their deaths, likely also causing her a great deal of trouble and hatred.
"Do you really want to travel with me? You know I am a demon, right, and that I might not always work for good reasons or save people. Won't that hurt a kind soul like yours?"
Asmodeus didn't know Fuuka at all apart from her dedication to training and that she would sometimes ask him for practice in secret.
'That reminds me, I need to train with Alice... That woman, why can she use her mother's martial arts? But since that night, she's been avoiding me.'
"It's okay, and there could never be blame towards you. If anything, it was due to myself and that damn goddess causing their deaths. If I was stronger, I could have done more, maybe saved more than just a handful that we lost in the past few months. However, I am not the sole issue, so I will not dwell on it."
Fuuka sounded strong, and her confidence felt inspiring, even though he could see her slightly red eyes and the small tears building in the corners.
Asmodeus didn't judge her or feel she wasn't telling the truth. He instead felt admiration for her, not telling him she would do this and that, but admitting she had faults. But even if she could become strong, she might have failed.
'A good woman, though I think she's cute, right now she feels more like a useful person than a woman. Like Alex, or Simon.'
"Understood, then I won't ask you stupid and dull questions. I will tell you now, I don't plan on a simple journey, and we will suffer hardships and loss; there might be times we cannot do anything but flee, knowing that innocent people will be killed. I want you to accept that my people are all that matter to me. I don't care about anything more."
Asmodeus didn't consider becoming a king or ruling the world, nor did he want to save the whole human race. However, he wouldn't forgive those who destroyed his home, killed his family, or threatened those who mattered to him.
If he became a king in the process, that would be fine; however, he would only do that if it was needed to protect the women he loved and his friends.
"Yes! I agree; please let me travel with you."
"Very well, you can join us. However, for now, you are on trial and will become part of the knights that serve Vinea. We will have training every morning, and there is a rota that each of us will follow. Now that we have enough people, we will form individual parties for the next two or three months and train to reach a level where even the weakest member can leave a heavy wound on my body."
"Of course."
Asmodeus grinned after hearing her reply because the only thing he knew about Fuuka was that she loved the sword and was becoming stronger.
So from now on, he would make Vinea use her skills to make this rookie sword master into a true master of the blade, not some half-baked hero wannabe.
"Now that this is settled, I will leave everything to these two as they both wish to speak with you."
Before leaving, he looked back and said a few final words. "If you have a problem or want comfort, come to me. If you try to hurt them, I will cut your head off without hesitation."
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His handsome yet devilish smile and like a true demon king before he vanished downstairs, the girls all squealing and shouting his name as he left.
"Ahem..." Yumiko coughed, her blood-red eyes watching the confused Fuuka blushing from his words, before she tapped the ground with her three tails angrily.
'Damn Asmodeus, why does he always flirt or make women interested in him?! He already has me and the others... how many does he need? As many as I have tails?'
Though she hid her anger and upset behind an icy face, coughing once more.
"It's been a long time, student Suzuhara. I am Yumiko, Sakurai Yumiko. Do you remember me well?" Yumiko's identity was told once to the heroes, but she wasn't sure if Alan and the king might have altered her memory as they did with the common folk using spirit magic.
"Teacher! It has been too long; you look like a kitsune princess from those textbooks. I never thought that you were also brought into this world, although it feels strange because your face carries the same features, just more beautiful and lovely... Why didn't we realise before it was too late?"
Fuuka bowed her head and began to shudder. It was at that moment that Yumiko remembered a student meeting once with Fuuka and the pressure that her family put on her to follow in her mother's footsteps as a police officer, though she admired them. Yumiko knew that Fuuka actually wanted to pursue Olympic-level martial arts and fencing.
This posture reminded her of when she was struggling and at her limit, filled with guilt and worry because of expectations... so the teacher in her made Yumiko act, which made Erika gasp.
She stepped forward and placed a hand on Fuuka's head, gently stroking her hair. However, this was only because, in the past, she asked for permission and would often look after Fuuka after school at her mother's request.
"Don't worry. The situation is complicated, and we can't do anything about it, which is why I will take your training into my own hands. So cheer up, and let's go meet our new companions."
"C-Can I really become your companion... I let everyone die.... and didn't feel anything; there's no sorrow or pain; I just feel empty...."
'Asmodeus did mention a skill she had and that it affected her heart; maybe it's because of his power she can cry now. Did he do something on purpose to allow her to ease all that tension? It feels like his magic is inside her body...'
Yumiko wasn't sure what Asmodeus did, but she also thought the way he acted wasn't normal. Even if he had a big heart, Asmodeus wasn't a man to trust just anyone easily. Erika watched the two with a focused gaze. Because to her, Fuuka was a special friend in the past, they would do most things together, yet because she chose her beloved, they became distant.
However, she couldn't be blamed either because of the effect Asmodeus had on any believers of Yumiko or heroes.
'It seems that Asmo is trying to help Fuuka. Should I leave it to a teacher, or should I also help? I also don't want Fuuka to suffer and to be friends again like in the past...'
Erika thought for a while before finally deciding to leave the matter to Yumiko; at least for now, she knew Yumiko could be trusted and cared for them deeply and never allowed the women around Asmodeus to fight for real.
'If by then, Fuuka has shown no signs of change, I will step in and guide her onto the correct path, the one that worships my beloved!'
While Fuuka cried in Yumiko's chest, Asmodeus made a choice and headed to Alice's room.
***
Asmodeus knocked on the large black door, his eyes closing while immersing himself in thought and wondering about the future and reasons she could know.
He didn't plan to search if his mother was reincarnated, or rather, Serena told him that she would not keep her memories of him, which meant she could be living as a man, a cat, a dog, anything right now.
'I want to know more about her...'
"Who is it?" Her beautiful and elegant voice sounded, the sounds of her soft feet tapping on the wooden floor, yet the grace and agility she showed through the movements of just her sounds made Asmodeus feel on edge.
He kept his guard up against someone he felt was as strong as his mother, a natural feeling after her intense training sessions over many years.
"It is I, Asmodeus. Can I come in and talk to you?"
"You can come in, but I hope you don't become a wolf~ alright, Lord Asmodeus?"
"Are you scared?" Asmodeus taunted her, his voice laced with amusement, a small smile on his lips as she opened the door and let him inside, her movements and swaying hips like a metronome perfectly in sync and ready to adjust her posture and stance in an instant.
'The state of war... Mother always tried to teach me that form, but what was it... She would always comment something about me, but I can't remember...'
He only remembered it was too hard for him to learn, no matter how many hours or sessions he devoted to learning this form that his mother created and now, Alice could use while walking and sitting down like a normal woman.... It felt frustrating.
"Wolves are dangerous, and I hate them. Why would I not be scared?" Alice joked, her face showing a faint smile before her eyes narrowed, not showing the slightest chance or weakness, almost as if they were like ice.
"Well, I didn't think I was that scary."
Asmodeus took a seat beside the small table in the room. Since Alice had her room, he didn't need to worry about people disturbing her.
His eyes noticed several bottles of empty yet strong alcohol... a type of alcohol which was rare; it was the rice wine from his homeland... Sake. He was sure it was too expensive to attain in this world, at least in Grigor. 'How does she have so much?'
"What's the matter, Lord Asmodeus? Do you find me too alluring compared to those lovely young girls?"