131: Victory, but a new battle awaits me?

When I woke up I found myself in an extravagant bed. And… my girls were all sleeping around the bed. How long was I out?

"Lady Yurishia!!"

"Boss, you're awake!"

"Ugh. My head still kinda hurts. What happened?"

"We won! No… you won. You defeated father fair and square. And as promised, father is going to keep his word. I can continue to stay by your side."

"Woa woa. Take it a little more slowly. My memory is still fuzzy."

One by one the girls started to clear things up for me. About how I went beyond my limits and managed to surpass the Beast Emperor. Although Leona did lecture me. My body didn't undergo enough training for that stunt. Even my Cure All took it's time in order to fully fix me.

And of course, with our victory comes the reward. First and foremost, Bessie gets to continue being my servant. Because of the changes in the Contract Roll, technically the demi-humans would also be under my rule if I wanted. But I don't. I am not interested in something like that. I'll continue to allow them to self rule. An alliance and friendly relationship between us is all I want I need to properly state it. Then… there's the other issue.

"Umm… Sylvia, what's she doing here."

I was pointed towards Erina. The master swordsman. She was curled up in a corner sleeping.

"Well… she said she wanted to come with us back. She's tired of the demi-humans land so she wants to see other places too. And besides, she promised she'd tutor me a bit. Can we keep her?"

Err… she's not a stray cat you just take home as a pet, you know. But, there isn't any harm in it. Having more firepower on my side never hurts. Now then, I'm curious how did the Beast Emperor take this news? Is he also awake?

------

“…..I see, so I was defeated, huh?”

Regulus remembered everything.

He exhaled a big breath. Though he could consent that he lost while he gambled his everything on it, there was something he felt uneasy about.

Why was his body slightly in pain? He thought he received a large wound that time as his physical strength faded from him in that one strike.

And yet, the wide wound that he thought was there, and the heavy load that should have wearied his muscles, most of the damage he surely sustained from the battle had almost healed to normal.

To that perplexed expression of the Emperor, Mimi opened her mouth.

“Papa, you got another debt from that girl. That spider girl lend us a potion that stabilized you. Our own healers managed to tend to you after.”

Everything clicked in place just from those words alone.

“….I see, I seemed to have yet again increased my debt.”

“Haa, so now I not h only have to pay the debt of our wager, but a personal one too two, huh?”

As he thought of his consequences, he unconsciously leaked a sigh. His consciousness seemed to have returned to normal, so he raised his upper body upright.

As the ruler and as the person whom they all entrusted their future, he was not able to carry out everyone's expectations.

“I was not able to snatch victory to our race. Although it’s a bit hard to accept it, after the Mazoku will likely claim us as their territory….”

“We won’t take your territory Beast Emperor.”

Yeah… it my be rude of me to barge in their conversation, but it's better to make things clear now.

"Hmm. This is an interesting visit. What do you mean by that Maou-sama?”

“I mean what I said. We, have no intention of depriving your territory.”

“….Then, what do you hope for?”

“….an Alliance!”

Again, I took the time explaining properly what I had in mind with this. After all, I only wanted Bessie, to be honest, but making friends isn't bad either.

And after hearing my offer…

"Hahaha!!! Amazing. You're truly a remarkable person! There's only one thing that can be done at this point. Let's have a feast!!!"

------

A large party was held to celebrate our alliance. Since we weren't planning on taking over them, the demi-humans warmed up to us. But after a couple of days, it was really time to hit the road. My absence can't be too long.

"Yarina, you have grown into a wonderful woman. Although it still ticks me that you chose another woman as your mate, a bet is a bet. Your feelings are also genuine so I can't retort to that."

"Onee-chan, make sure you visit more often. I want to play more games with you."

"Yeah. Don't worry. Mimi, father. I'll make sure to visit when I can."

"As for you, lady Yurishia, I will await an emissary so that we can put our alliance in motion."

"Yeah, I'll make sure to send someone."

I then turned around to my girls.

"Let's go home, everyone!"

Or so I thought. We were all holding hands but…

"Is something wrong, Yuri-nee."

"It's weird… I can't teleport back to Vilethorne. Something is jamming my power. But I think I can still reach outside of it."

What the hell happened in my absence?