If someone were to tell her that her life had quite a lot of ups and downs, and overall was a difficult life to live, Seras Evatrice would agree without hesitation.
The Beastkin clanâwhere she grew up inâwas a clan consisting of people who had to make a living by doing battles through secret attacks in the dark. From the fleeting moments and fierce training, everything could be considered extreme experience and every clan member had to accumulate such experiences so that they could survive in life-and-death situations including herself.
However, even if she were to count all those experiences she hadâ¦
She could say that none of them could compare to this âdifficult situationâ that she was currently experiencing.
â...Ngg⦠S-Seniorâ¦â
Even though she had gone through an extreme training where she had to stay dormant, not moving a finger while not eating anything for a few days, it didnât help her with the situation at all.
She couldnât even calm her shaking pupils and stop her stammers.
âA-Are we in the kind of relationship w-where weâre allowed to do something like thisâ¦?â
The absurdity of the situation warranted her to say such things involuntarily.
Because, she could never even imagine that sheâd be doing âsomething like thisâ with the Senior who suddenly knocked on her door this late at night.
âIs there something wrong about this?â
However, he brushed off her concerns with that casual reply, not even batting an eyelid.
âAm I not allowed to do this with my hard-working Junior?â
After she heard his answer while feeling the âpressureâ entering her body, Seras let out another long moan.
She felt as if an electric current was running through her whole body. If she were to relax her body a little more, she was sure that sheâd end up drooling due to the pleasure she felt.
âB-Butâ¦â
Seras quickly tried to cut him off. It seemed like she was barely able to hold everything together.
â...W-Where did you learn how to do massages?â
Currently, she was lying on her belly on the bed. She couldnât see what Dowd was doing, but she could clearly feel his hands pressing on her arms and legs, sending waves of pleasure to her body.
At first, when he said heâd diagnose the twisted muscles on her body while hugging her, she was so startled because she thought heâd kiss her, but it turned out that wasnât the case at all.
âWell, Iâve done all kinds of jobs in the past.â
An abandoned child that was born in a prostitution district that wasnât acknowledged by the government had to learn all the skills they could learn just to live to see another day.
Dowd wasnât an exception to that rule. The âthingâ that he was doing to her now was part of the skills he gained back when he was struggling to survive.
And it was clear that his skill was proved to be effective. Seras was feeling pleasure from this, even though what he was doing was essentially violating all the senses throughout her body.
â...â
As she was basking in that pleasureâ¦
Dowd began to study her condition as she kept letting out loud moans while trembling.
The more intimate and stimulating his massage was, the more the Purple Auraâwhich, at first, he had to put in a lot of effort to see itâwrapped around her body.
From the way it moved, it seemed like Seras wasnât the only one who was affected by this. It seemed like the Purple Devil was also acting the same way as Seras; As if she was drunk in the pleasure.
Then, he narrowed his eyes to give the window before his eyes a glare.
[ The Aura of the âPurple Devilâ is detected! ]
[ Fallenâs Seal reacts! ]
[ Targetâs mood is getting better rapidly! ]
â¦As expectedâ¦
Back when he found out that Yuria had awakened toâ¦strange thingsâ¦after he put the White Devil on a leash and handled her roughly, he formed a hypothesis..
I was right, the Devils and the Vessels share their senses.
It wasnât really the correct way to put it, since the sensation that the Devils received wouldnât be shared to their Vessels, but the opposite held true.
Though, it wasnât always like this. Rather, it seemed that this was a characteristic that was âaddedâ after the Fallenâs Seal was enhanced.
â...â
Still, Dowd couldnât help but find this strange.
Because even though this ability was clearly given by the Gray Devil, somehow it could affect all the Devils as well.
He could say that it was even too much at times.
Since it felt as if their existence was âdefinedâ by him, by the man called Dowd.
The Purple Devilâs Demonic Aura that spread and filled the room proved this conjecture. Though it seemed like she loved it to death to be touched by him, this kind of effect was just too much.
And the way Seras gradually loosened up because of his handsâ movements probably accelerated the progression of such an effect.
â¦Anywayâ¦
This should be enough.
After telling himself that, Dowd called out to Seras in a quiet voice.
âSeras.â
âYeeesshhâ¦?â
The voice she replied in clearly suggested that she couldnât think straight at the moment, as if she was completely melting because of the pleasure, and this was exactly the state he wanted her in.
âAbout that girl, Victoria⦠Sheâs your younger sister, right?â
Originally, that question would have got her to put her guard up immediately.
However, now she just obediently replied to him. In addition to his massage, it seemed like the Demonic Aura that emerged because of him managed to cloud her mind even more.
âYeesshhh⦠We parted wayyss a long time agoooâ¦â
It was as if she just replied out of reflex.
She was clearly in a daze. Anyone could see that her current state wasnât normal as she was just saying whatever came to her mind first, as if she was being hypnotized.
And this current condition of hersâ¦
Could also be seen clearly by âa certain personâ who was watching this scene.
â...I reeeeaaally, reeeaaaaaally think that Iâm fortunate to see her agaaaaiiiinâ¦â
And the moment she said those words in that kind of stateâ¦
Dowd could sense that someone who was hiding near the building had their body turned stiff.
As if they didnât expect to hear those words.
Then again, those words sounded so out of place coming from Serasâ mouth, especially considering that she was talking about the same sister that wished to kill her so badly.
To this, Dowd just smirked inwardly before continuing.
âShe said she wants to kill you, though.â
What he was trying to do was to start a âfall-outâ.
In a sense, these sistersâ relationship was twisted in a complicated way, just like a knot.
The first thing he needed to do to loosen it up was to let out all the truth they were hiding inside.
Of course, he wasnât expecting them to be persuaded immediately. He would already be satisfied if this could become a small âtriggerâ that could leave an impact on a certain someoneâs hatred, which had already turned as hard as a brick at this point.
âI believe that she has her reasons. Victoria isnât the type of girl whoâd do that for no reason⦠She was such a gooood giiiirlâ¦â
Now, he could sense that the body of the certain someone outside the building just stiffened up even more.
He could even swear that he was able to hear the sound of that person grinding their teeth.
âWhatever the reason is, she still said that she wants to kill you. Donât you think thatâs a little too far? Arenât you two families?â
â...I donât think itâs too far...â
She said so in a dazed voice, with eyes that had lost their focus.
âBecause Iâd die for her if she wants me to.â
However, her tone was firm, and her answer came out almost immediately without any hesitation at all.
As if this wasnât a big dealâ¦
And as if it was only natural for her to sacrifice her life for her sisterâ¦
âAll I want is to get along well with herââ
At that momentâ¦
Someone infiltrated the room as if âpermeatingâ it through the tightly closed window.
And that person was Victoria, who appeared like a shadow rising from the dark.
âAre you doing all this so I could hear everything?â
Her growl sounded like that of a beastâs.
Then again, considering that she was a Beastkin, that description was quite accurate.
â
Damn, that murderous look in her eyes was no joke. She probably thought that she had walked right into my trap, huh?
[ The Aura of the âPurple Devilâ is detected! ]
[ Fallenâs Seal reacts! ]
[ Targetâs mood is getting worse rapidly! ]
The same message as before appeared on the window.
Well, almost the same message, because this time the target was Victoria instead of Seras, and unlike Serasâ, her mood was getting worse instead of getting better.
âWell...â
Whatever.
To that, I just calmly told herâ¦
âWhat do you mean? I was just trying to make this punk speak honestly.â
â...I donât know why youâre doing this, but stop with the stupid jokes. Our match is still valid.â
Victoria said while growling again.
At some point, two daggers appeared magically in her hands as she spun them once before grasping them tightly.
âIâll kill her right here, right now. After hearing her spouting all that nonsense, I donât want to hear her voice anymore.â
Now, that wasnât assassin-like of her.
She knew of Serasâ capabilities, yet she still tried for a head-to-head match instead of a surprise attack from the dark, even though she could easily lose against her in this situation.
Anyway, her decision aside, she looked really angry right now. Well, rather than angry, it was more like âagitatedâ.
Which meant I had accomplished my goal for doing all this to Seras.
This punk was now aware that Seras held âaffectionâ for her to some extent. There was no way that this wouldnât end up affecting her decision later.
And most of allâ¦
âIt wonât be so easy, you know?â
Even if she were to pounce on Seras right here, there was no way sheâd be able to kill her for real.
After allâ¦
âI mean, just like you, your older sister is the best assassinââ
Suddenlyâ¦
Before I could finish my own words, I clenched my mouth shut.
Anxiety filled my being. I could tell that something had gone wrong somewhere.
And it was⦠From Seras⦠To be exact, her current conditionâ¦
â¦Oh noâ¦
This punkâ¦
Is still out of her mindâ¦
She was still acting as if she was drunk or hypnotized. It seemed like she had lost her mind âway too muchâ than I expectedâ¦.
[...How good was your massage that she ended up becoming like this?]
...
[Well, it seems like there would be no woman who can beat you in bed later. You could just kill them with a foreâ]
Do you think that kind of shit is important right now?!
Anyway, this was obvious, but it would be stupid of me to expect Seras to dish out her full combat power in this state.
I hurriedly looked at Victoriaâwho had taken out her daggersâand Seras alternately.
Thisâ¦
If something goes wrong, a big incident might occurâ!
Seras and Victoria.
I had already been notified in advance that both of them would play an important role in the upcoming Main Quest. It would be the worst case scenario for me if they were to fight here and ended up seriously hurting or even killing each other.
That meant the possibility of a mishap happening during the Quest would rise up and so would the possibility of me dying.
Which meant, the best scenario for me would be for the two of them to go through this situation without getting hurt. Actually, screw that, that was the only option for me to take!
But how could I suppress a Grand Assassin, who was coming at us with a weapon, with bare hands? Even with Desperation active, I could still end up dying.
Forget about fighting them. Can I even suppress both of them without receiving any scarâ
â...â
âHuh? Yeah, I can.
Yes, there was a wayâ¦
Caliban.
[What.]
Itâs better for me to become a trash human rather than for Seras to die, right?
[...]
Hearing my words, Caliban went silent for a moment.
It seemed he had sensed something ominous from what I said.
[Letâs put aside the fact that youâve been a trash human all along. Iâm going to ask you this. What are you trying to do here?]
â¦Well, I need to suppress them both, right?
[Yeah, but how? Both of them are Grand Assassins. Not only that, they have the Devilâs Fragments inside their bodies. I donât think you canâ]
I can.
Before continuing, I closed my eyes tightly.
Thereâs a wayâ¦
[What?]
You know, theyâre the Purple Devilâs Vesselsâ¦
Fortunatelyâ¦
Both of them possessed the Purple Devilâs Fragmentsâthe closest Devil to a âpetâ.
Which meant, I had a way to make them obey me.
[What are you evenâ]
I just have to train them. Both of them.
[...]
Caliban stayed silent for a while before finally saying his next word.
[...So.]
It seemed like he was unable to believe what he just heard.
[Youâre saying that youâre going toâ¦uhâ¦do thatâ¦? Right now? With those two sisters? At the same time?]
â¦Yeah, pretty muchâ¦
[...]
...
He took a deep breath.
[...You fucking trash heap of a human being...]
...
I had nothing to say to that.