YM778.TV Chapter 91: Delinquent and Noble scum
Alan looked over and noticed Ryuji looking at him with a strange smile as he mouthed the words. "You look like a moron."
Ryuji just stroked the arms of Yumiko and Erika, holding them tight, unphased by the words of Alan. Instead, he responded with the first genuine smile Alan saw on Ryuji\'s face.
"I will never let anyone harm them."
The moment he mouthed these words, Alan\'s body trembled as the entire carriage felt as if something smothered it with a strange power.
\'No matter who they might be, I will crush anyone that seeks to harm these women.\'
Meanwhile, Ryuji\'s eyes transformed—his sclera turned black while his ocean sapphire eyes glowed, with his pupils turning into a blue flame.
Ryuji\'s body felt strange. He felt his blood racing as if the amount inside his body doubled while feeling excited before he suddenly noticed his hands growing one size larger.
Before Alan noticed, he took a deep breath and tried to calm his inner feelings.
\'I cannot let Alan see. He must never know I am a demon or a demon lord.\'
This entire moment only lasted a fraction of a second, and the only ones truly awake and focused enough to see what happened were Ryuji and the two women in his arms.
As if he unconsciously used his Demon Eyes of Battle to slow down time for everyone else not in his direct embrace.
"Alan, are you alright?" Ryuji asked as the carriage began to creak and bang along the path, reaching the castle gate while moving towards the meeting place in the upper fort.
"Y-Yeah... I thought I saw something, but maybe I was a little tired."
\'Did he see... I didn\'t know that intense feelings would trigger my demon blood. I should be careful in the future and only practise this when alone or with Yumiko and Erika.\'
While Ryuji felt worried, the soft palms of Erika and Yumiko stroked either side of his face in sync together as Ryuji looked at them. Both of their eyes also seemed to have changed. A flicker of darkness faded from their sclera.
A change that even Ryuji didn\'t notice.
****
With the loud rattle of the carriage wheels, they finally arrived at the strange building of grey stone where the nobles would meet together.
This meeting wouldn\'t involve the king or the royal family. Instead, the knights, most loyal to them, would oversee the meeting.
\'This guy, he\'s so lucky with women... How do they get along like twin sisters for him!? I want to complain to the king!\'
"Ugh....!" Yumiko stretched her arms with a slight pop of her joints when the carriage came to a stop. She looked outside to see the entire road filled with various carriages, some extravagant and others poor and cheap. "Erika, there\'s so many carriages!"
"Mm, it seems that tonight will be quite the event." Erika\'s head leaned against Ryuji\'s chest while smiling at Erika. The two seemed to be closer than before and likely agreed on something in private after she learned of Erika becoming Ryuji\'s woman.
"Okay, I will go and sign you all in. Ryuji, pass me your ID. I know you hate this boring stuff." Alan had already forgotten the strange event and instead worried about meeting the three big nobles tonight and what kind of grudge they would hold against Ryuji.
All because they blamed Alan for his greatest sin...
\'If I didn\'t let them die in the dungeon. Would those three still hold a grudge against me?\'
"Thanks, Alan. In return, I will take all their pressure and hate for you and turn it against me!" The moment Ryuji said those words to Alan, his eyes widened, and his heart thudded. It felt like Ryuji saw through him, yet the calm smile on his new friend\'s face showed no anger or complaints.
"Ryuji..." To Ryuji it might have been the normal thing to say, or him just being himself.
\'If you knew my sins... dear friend, would you still accept me and say the same?\' Alan thought.
However, to Alan, those words were like a signal or oath that triggered a feeling that the noble had lost in the past.
A feeling of genuine friendship that Ryuji and his strange self began reviving inside him.
"Why do you look so stunned, Alan? Even if the world turned against you. I wouldn\'t abandon you, that moment in the dark dungeon when you brought Yumiko to me, returning light to my world and accepting my changed self." Ryuji let the two girls get off the carriage as he leaned close to Alan and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "I will see this to the end as your friend."
\'Do I deserve such a stupid and passionate friend?\'
Alan turned away, his feelings of guilt and happiness colliding as he wiped his eyes. "Idiot, it\'s just a meeting you\'re always so dramatic."
"Hahaha, true. I just felt some kind of hunch that you needed to feel my support and feelings. Not sure why, though."
"Ryuji, you\'re more of a clown than the Blood Tyrant!"
"Ah... don\'t say that damn title, or I\'ll beat you down!"
Alan rushed out of the carriage, his abilities still a little higher than Ryuji\'s in speed, but somehow, he felt refreshed.
He looked back at Ryuji, who sat on the stairs of the carriage while looking daunting to the other knights and people who passed him, dark black cloak and hooded tunic with sharp fingertips on his gauntlets... He looked like a devil.
\'Yet to me, he just looks like an idiot... Is that my blessing? To know the real Ryuji and have him as a friend?\'
Alan turned his back, and his lack of confidence vanished; what nobody noticed was the faint crimson glow that linked him to Ryuji, just like Erika and Yumiko, but theirs was brilliant and firm while Alan\'s seemed to be just forming.
His face filled with confidence, and thus, Alan entered the den of his enemies with his back straight and lips curled into a smile.
\'I am the King\'s brother. Why should I act inferior to anyone but the one who believes in me so thoroughly!\'
***
Ryuji watched Alan walking. No longer did he seem insecure or scared. With a nod, he stopped acting menacing as the knights approaching looked terrified.
\'Good, I don\'t know what you carry or how heavy that burden might be, Alan. But I swear as your friend to help you endure it. As you did me.\'
Memories of Alex flowed through Ryuji\'s mind, and he always regretted losing such a close friend. This time, he wouldn\'t commit that despicable sin of making his friend a cuckold. Thanks to the existence of Yumiko and Erika.
However, Ryuji always felt that somewhere deep down, there was always a voice speaking to him. It never stopped.
A voice that said... "Who cares? Do what you want, act how you desire."
"Ryuji, why are you brooding here like a fallen hero?" Yumiko\'s arm wrapped around his as she pulled him close.
Her outfit looked lovely and conservative, but her actions were anything but that. "Do you want me to help you relax?" Yumiko\'s eyes narrowed into crescents before stroking across his crotch, her sharp fangs on display.
"Yumiko, just a hug is enough," Ryuji responded with a rare, wholesome request.
"Oh... I think I might like that better." She pressed her busty figure into his chest as her lips pursed for a kiss. "Don\'t you dare leave me and Erika, okay, our handsome and fierce Master?"
"As if! I feel like I have been waiting for you both all my life, Yumiko."
The two kissed while Erika slipped into the opposite spot—she heard Ryuji\'s and Yumiko\'s voices and knew they didn\'t leave her out anymore; that was enough for now.
She felt Yumiko was like an older sister. "She reminds me of teacher... listening to my worries even on a Saturday night while she drank a can of Asohi 1beer..." Erika\'s eyes grew teary, and her heart clenched.
"Hey, Ryuji, why is my cute apprentice crying!?" Yumiko\'s hands wiped Erika\'s cheeks as she pulled her into their shared embrace.
"Erika, please tell us everything you want, and we will do it."
"Ah... it\'s nothing, just thinking of someone I will never get to meet again because she\'s back in our old world..." Erika sniffled while the pair hugged her tightly against their chests.
"Then I\'ll fill that gap and make you stop being lonely, little Erika." Yumiko joked while Ryuji rubbed her back, his eyes noticing Alan coming back with a slightly irritated face but still walking with his chin up high.
\'Maybe this is why I wanted him to come with me. We\'re all so broken, so lonely and afraid... yet together, we can grow stronger and support each other.\' A rare thought of logic came from Ryuji, who pulled both girls to his sides as if to welcome Alan back.
"Ryuji, take your ID back, everything\'s good. The meeting will start in an hour. Are you ready?" Alan waved his hand and then looked at the three, who embraced one another with a confused expression. "I feel kind of jealous of you all, haha...."
"Then go find a woman, you damn virgin." Ryuji joked while Alan\'s face turned bright red, and he pointed at Ryuji.
"I will, just you wait I will get the best woman in the world!"
Ryuji shook his head and spoke in a condescending voice. "Sorry, Alan. I\'ve already got the best two women... you can settle for someone in the lower hundreds."
"Why\'s that..." Alan looked annoyed by Ryuji, his lips twitching.
"Because all the best women will flock to me, no?"
"Damn you, cocky little bastard! Who would flock to the Blood Tyrant!"
Like this, the four of them lost sight of how important or harsh this meeting might become for them. Instead, their growing bonds and laughter filled the entrance, showing their resistance in a tangible form to the ordeal awaiting them.