Once Sincir heads down, Victory is nowhere to be seen, which he assumes means she has gone to cause trouble elsewhere.

  Meanwhile, he finds Ena sitting near Esme at the couch, whispering comforting words for the girl who seems to have just woken up. Once he shows up at the stairs, they both turn on his direction, and Esme’s panicked expression slowly subsides.

  “Sincir, w-where…?” she murmurs, voice slightly hoarse.

  “This is my house. You were out for a while, so I brought you here… You’ll be staying with me for now, until the vampire situation has been dealt with.”

  Esme grimaces. “I can’t just not work… And my things are still at Inquiry.”

  “Collin will care for your things. Anything you might need meanwhile, ask one of the girls, and they’ll get it for you.”

  “I’m not staying-”

  “I wasn’t asking, Esme. You’re staying tied to one of our beds, or of your own will.”

  Esme presses her lips together, facing his gaze for a whole five seconds, before finally tightening her jaw as she averts her eyes and curses.

  “…They better take me back once this is over, Sincir,” she murmurs.

  Sincir sighs. “I’m sorry. Here, let me heal your throat.”

  Under Ena’s curious gaze, Sincir approaches an obviously upset Esme as he runs his hands through her shoulders gently, causing them to rex ever so slightly, before casting a water healing spell over her throat, then evaporating the water.

  “…Gods, I know nothing about you, do I?” Esme murmurs bitterly once he is done, voice teary.

  “Ena, is dinner ready?”

  Ena nods toward the entrance leading into their kitchen, and following her gaze, Sincir realizes Eleanor is once more leaning against it. She nods.

  Sincir sighs. “That, I can at least help you with. Come; Eleanor is a good cook, and you can ask whatever you want during dinner.”

  Esme sniffs, wiping her face, as Sincir helps her stand and leads her to their dinner table, which is already prepared for the night.

  Once she is sitting, Esme finally throws gnces at Ena and Eleanor, who followed them in. Ena smiles lightly at her, while Eleanor simply nods politely.

  “So, I’m already the third one?” Esme asks drily, “You could’ve told me that, Sincir.”

  Sincir grimaces. “Esme, these are Ena and Eleanor... We grew up together, sort of. Ena and Eleanor, this is Esme… I guess you could call her my girlfriend.”

  Ena drops her fork, jaw falling slightly. “Since when?!”

  “About three hours ago,” Sincir retorts, sitting and grabbing his own pte as he begins to serve himself unceremoniously. “…Though I suppose she could’ve changed her mind since then.”

  Esme blinks. Her eyes tell Sincir she’s still trying to process her current situation, just as Ena is still having trouble with the word girlfriend.

  “Eleanor, could you serve her a pte? She was fed on by a vampire, and I’m not sure her limbs are working properly yet.”

  Eleanor nods. Apparently, she wasn’t affected one way or another by the news of Esme’s status.

  “…Wait, does this mean she’ll become the queen?” Ena asks, having finally recovered enough from the shock to grab a pte for herself.

  “Naw, Esme is more like a concubine,” Sincir expins in between bites, “She doesn’t have it in her to be queen.”

  Eyes widening with anger, Esme kicks his shin, causing Sincir to nearly choke on his food.

  “It was a joke, woman!” he excims, facing her gre with one of his own as he rubs his leg. Who’d think she had this much strength in her, still? “And you did agree to an open retionship…”

  Esme humphs. “Thank you for the food… Eleanor, was it?” she murmurs once the nephilim pces a pte in front of her. “Is he always like this?”

  “An ass?” Ena asks.

  “Yes,” Eleanor confirms simply as she begins to serve her own food.

  As Sincir rolls his eyes, Esme chuckles. “I guessed as much. I’m sorry for intruding… And for assuming you were my rivals.”

  Ena and Eleanor exchange a gnce across the table.

  “Go ahead, tell her everything. She’s trustworthy,” Sincir tells them, causing Esme to sweep the table curiously.

  “Am I… Am I the first girl he brings home?”

  “You’re the first person, period,” Ena says, pointing her fork at Esme as she does so, “Yesterday, he was really worried about his friend, who was with the vampires… I guess now I know why. Sincir, you could’ve told us she was more than a friend.”

  Sincir shrugs. “Like I said, Esme has been recently promoted. Yesterday, she really was just a friend, or I’d have brought her over sooner.”

  “…Tell us what happened,” Eleanor says. Unlike Ena’s, her table manners are perfect, so she makes sure to swallow before speaking.

  “Not much, really. I went in half expecting a fight, but it turned out their second in command is a nice enough guy, so we were able to reach an understanding fairly easily.”

  All of a sudden, Esme seems to find her pte of food rather interesting, cheeks burning as she focuses on putting her fork to work.

  “Although, I can only cim half the credit, since Esme was fundamental for our negotiations in the end. Isn’t that so, love?”

  Esme curses under her breath, her face now a whole tone darker.

  Ena chuckles. “C’mon, I know you’re being vague on purpose. Esme, tell us what really happened… This idiot didn’t even tell us when he was going out or coming back, so we were worrying this whole time.”

  Eleanor doesn’t say anything, but she watches Esme intently enough to make clear she is also interested in her answer.

  “It was… I was nothing,” Esme murmurs in the end.

  “Esme and I made a deal,” Sincir supplies, “I’d make her my girl, and in her return, she’d convince the vampires’ second in command to work for me.”

  Ena finishes chewing, swallows, then asks, “So, you pimped her out?”

  “Yep.”

  Ena is the one to kick his chin this time, causing Sincir curse out loud as he nearly jumps from his seat; Ena is a lot stronger than Esme, and so he immediately casts a healing spell on himself.

  “I’m sorry you’ve fallen for a guy like this,” Ena tells Esme, who smiles at the table coyly.

  “Thank you… I guess I should point out he didn’t force me to do anything,” Esme murmurs.

  “It’s how he operates,” Eleanor expins, “He takes away all of your choices, then waits for the right opportunity to offer you a deal you can’t refuse. In the end, he’ll say he never forced you to do anything…”

  “Typical manipution tactic,” Ena adds, with a nod.

  ...Ungrateful brats; They’ll pay for this, during training tomorrow.

  From there, Esme begins to ask question about how the three of them met, which led the girls to talk about the orphanage and their journey thus far, as well as Sincir’s true identity. Ironically, the person in question found himself speaking very little.

  “Unbelievable, right?” Ena says, having long cleaned her pte.

  Esme scowls. “Weirdly enough, I can see it, though I don’t know how I feel about dating a two-thousand-years-old demon.”

  “You’ll get used to it. Sincir might be an ass, but he pulls through, when it counts.”

  Sincir rolls his eyes. “You’re welcomed, Ena.”

  Ena chuckles. “I’m sorry, Sin… In truth, Eleanor would be dead if it wasn’t for him, and I… I’d probably had drown without his help. He might often not look like it, but he’s a good guy, deep down.”

  “You’re making me blush,” Sincir murmurs drily, causing Ena to kick him once more, though this time he manages to dodge it, having predict it was coming. “Anyway, I can tell your eyes are about to close by themselves, Esme, so keep the rest of your questions for tomorrow.”

  “I’ll take her up,” Ena offers, smiling at Esme as she does so, “On the way, you can tell me a little about yourself, Esme.”

  Esme nods, and she smiles back, though her expression is still slightly reticent.

  “I’ll help you with the dishes,” Sincir offers Eleanor, who nods.

  As the girls walk away, with Ena pushing Esme by her hand, Sincir begins to clear the table with Eleanor.

  “…What?”he asks once he notices the nephilim staring. “Is there something on my face?”

  “…What did Victoria want?”

  “To ask for a favor,” he expins simply.

  “Something dangerous?”

  “Of course.”

  “Something we can help with?”

  Sincir pauses. “…Maybe. Do you know something about Leon Dristine?”

  Eleanor frowns. “The duke’s son?”

  “The one and only.”

  “I guess… But nothing other than rumors,” Eleanor expins as she grabs a small bucket of water with soap and begins to wash their ptes. “People say he had a nasty reputation since he was child. Hurting maids, picking on other kids… When I was still working at the tavern, I used to hear that he’d force himself on a different woman every week. That’s about it. Why?”

  “Victoria got himself involved with him, and now he’s obsessed with her… I’ll probably end up killing him, but there’s a nonzero chance that I might get caught doing it, and the duke is not exactly an enemy I want to have, at the moment.”

  “Can’t your new vampire friend help?”

  Collin? Not a bad idea, actually, so long as it doesn’t lead to a war in between the vampires and the city, as Victoria fears.

  “...I guess I can ask him. Victoria seemed certain that everything would go to shit if Inquiry got involved, but if it’s just Collin and me, then we might somehow manage to keep the whole thing under wraps... Pretending some sort of accident would be the ideal... Or maybe I could brew a bit of poison... But first we need to make sure Leon hasn’t made counter measures against Victoria.”

  Eleanor nods. “Be careful.”

  Sincir smiles at her. “How are you doing? Did seeing Victoria again make your heart beat a little faster? The matchmaker offer is still up, you know?”

  Eleanor grimaces. “I told you, it isn’t like that.”

  “Really? Because after I deal with Leon for her, Victoria will own me big time… And I bet you she swings both ways, at least a little,” Sincir tells Eleanor as he leans against their dinner table and crosses his arms. “Even if you don’t want to date her, I doubt she would mind a hot night with you.”

  Eleanor sighs. “Dating her or not is not the problem… I’ll confess I find her attractive, but there’s already somebody else I’m interested on… And I don’t like the idea of relying on a returned favor to have a ‘hot night’.”

  Sincir rises his eyebrow. That’s the first he hears of Eleanor having a love interest... Could it be somebody from the guild? But from what Mary said this morning, it doesn’t seem like Eleanor has mingled much, during this past year...

  “Well, in this case, I won’t insist anymore… Whoever they are, they’re lucky to have attracted your eye.”

  Eleanor throws him a look, causing Sincir to cock his head.

  “...What? Am I missing something?”

  She sighs. “Nothing. I was wondering if you stayed just to pester me, or if you were actually going to help.”

  Sincir chuckles. “Fine, I’ll put these away for you.”

  Together, they put the kitchen back in working order for the day, at which point Sincir goes up to check up on the girls…

  Except, he finds the door to his room closed by the time he finishes climbing up.

  “Ena?” he calls, knocking against it.

  “Shh!” Ena murmurs, opening the door enough to gre at him as she does, “Esme has just managed to sleep again.”

  Sincir grimaces. “Yes, but why is she sleeping in our bed?”

  “She’s scared and shocked; It’d be cruel to make her sleep by herself, on a strange room.”

  ...Is she serious? What type of logic even is that?

  Sincir sighs. “Fine. Then, where are you going to sleep tonight?”

  Ena snorts, throwing him an incredulous look as she does so. “In here, of course. Night.”

  And with that, she closes the door softly in his face.

  ...Sincir blinks, then groans. Of course; He should’ve known she’d wouldn’t have gone over her rebellious phase just because of what happened the previous night, and being allowed back in the guild.

  Ena is not a kid anymore, and she obviously knows what a boyfriend and girlfriend do when they’re left alone, which means she’s blue balling him on purpose… This is probably her way of punishing him for having left without saying anything earlier, or for having refused to buy her a stupid war hammer…

  Sincir goes back down while shaking his head, finding Eleanor sitting on the couch as she flips through her new magical tome.

  “She locked you out?” she asks.

  “Forget it. I guess it’ll be just the two of us tonight.”

  Eleanor throws him a gnce. “We’re training?”

  “Well, you’re supervising, but yeah, no need to waste the night.”

  As Eleanor nods and rises, Sincir sits on the floor with his legs crossed.

  “Ready?” he asks her, to which Eleanor nods again.

  Immediately as he activates both a strength and a speed buff at the maximum output he is currently capable of, Sincir feels his mind becoming strained.

  His expression showcases nothing, however, even as he continues to push himself beyond the limit at a stead pace, feeling a burning sensation spreading through his muscles as he does so.

  As he reaches what would probably be considered the output of two A-grade buffs, Sincir takes a slow, deep breath, forcing himself not to let up; With two of them active at the same time, he feels his mana draining an at exorbitant rate, and it isn’t long before his skin is covered in sweat…

  It happens suddenly, both spells snapping from existence at once, and Sincir intakes a sharp breath of air, then quickly forces his legs to move from underneath his body, rising as the room spins around him.

  “U-up,” he murmurs, and Eleanor nods.

  Fuck, he forgot to get a room ready for himself… Should he take the couch tonight?

  Shaking his head, Sincir heads for the staircase with unstable steps.

  “Don’t let me fall…” he reminds Eleanor as she follows after him dutifully.

  Climbing up is a slow struggle, but he manages, though he stops once he reaches the top, gncing at his and Ena’s room closed door.

  Maybe if he begs them on his knees, they’ll let him in…?

  Sincir hears a sigh, and then Eleanor grabs his hand, gently leading him down the corridor.

  “Here,” she murmurs, while opening the door to her own room.

  As they stand in front of it, Sincir throws her a confused gnce. “That’s your room,” he reminds her.

  Eleanor sighs again. “I’m aware, obviously. You can sleep here, for tonight.”

  Sincir blinks. Admittedly, his brain is working at a very small capacity at the moment.

  “...Oh. Thank you, but there’s no need. I wouldn’t feel good about making you sleep somewhere else for-”

  “It’s my room, and I can do what I want with it,” Eleanor cuts him off, while all but pushing him inside.

  Damn it, he’s too tired to argue…

  “I’ll put out the lights and handle the runes. Take your clothes off for now... I’ll be back soon.”

  Sincir is about to tell her he can find a different room again when his eyes meet Eleanor’s cold blue ones, causing his voice to die in his throat.

  “…Okay.”

  Eleanor nods.

  Once she is gone, Sincir releases a sigh as he begins to squeeze himself out of his sweat-drenched shirt and pants.

  Why is he always surrounded by unreasonable women? Why can’t any of them ever give him a break…?

  Of course, Sincir has the presence of mind to keep his underwear on, though he can’t resist lying on top of Eleanor’s bed once it becomes clear she won’t be coming back for a while.

  It smells like her…

  Fuck, he is so horny…

  Was it always this bad? Lately, it seems as though he is less and less capable of resisting his perverted urges…

  Puberty?

  Well, his body is that of a thirteen-year-old-boy…

  Maybe it was a good thing Ena took Esme to sleep on their bed, because Sincir isn’t sure he’d have survived the night if he had to sleep next to one of them without doing anything tonight.

  “Fuck, what is she thinking…? This is torture…”

  Sincir blinks once he hears the room’s door opening and closing, then Eleanor’s footsteps, approaching the bed.

  She must have come to say goodnight and put out the light… He should remember to thank her tomorrow.

  And to make sure to tell her she has become a nice girl, during these past five years.

  A nice girl…

  Still, once a long moment goes by and Eleanor still hasn’t said anything or put out the light, Sincir blinks again. Then, forcing his head to turn and his vision to focus, he realizes Eleanor is standing next to her bed with a strange look on her face, blue eyes fixated on his body.

  Sincir gnces down, following her gaze, and then curses out loud as he realizes his erection is very evident, against his underwear.

  As he hurries to cover himself, Eleanor shifts her eyes to his burning face, expression revealing nothing. “…You didn’t leave any space for me,” she says, as though nothing happened.

  The bed he usually sleeps in with Ena is a couple’s one, but Eleanor’s bed is not. Evidently, he thought she was going to sleep somewhere else for the night…

  “Eleanor, wait, remember what I told you yesterday about-”

  “It’s okay, I understand you’re a boy, at least in body... It’d be stupid to ask you to control how your body reacts,” Eleanor says, as she begins to remove her shirt, and then her pants.

  Dumbass! That’s not the problem! He’s is the one who is suffering!

  Now in her underwear as well, Eleanor heads toward the rooms mp to put it out, turning into a silhouette in Sincir’s vision

  “E-Eleanor, you’re going to sleep on the ground, right? Like I said, there’s no need-”

  “Have you moved aside yet?”

  Sincir groans out loud. “C’mon, be reasonable, I’m trying to… No, forget that, I’m actually begging you, please…”

  HIs voice disappears as Eleanor climbs over the bed, blue eyes meeting his coldly enough to cause a shudder.

  “Move,” she orders.

  Sincir does so.

  As she lies next to him, Eleanor releases a sigh. “For how long do you pn on covering your thing? The light is already off, and I doubt you’ll be able to sleep like this.”

  No shit! He won’t be able to sleep, period!

  Eleanor sighs again, then she turns to him, wrapping her right arm over his chest, and her right leg over his body. “That idiot does it every night…” she mumbles as she presses her face against his neck, her voice suddenly fragile sounding, “Can’t I do it just once? Am I that repulsive, to you?”

  Once Eleanor touches him, Sincir realizes her skin is warm, but that she is shaking slightly.

  “…Eleanor, any man to find you repulsive would be insane,” he murmurs.

  “So I keep hearing… But I can’t bring myself to care about any of them… They know nothing… They’re weak willed… And I feel they’d break, were I to look at them wrong…”

  “You’re an amazing woman, and I don’t bme you for being picky… But I didn’t bring you with me to take advantage of you like this.”

  “I remember what you told me… Now shut up and tell me how to do it.”

  Sincir grimaces. “Eleanor-”

  “Tell me how to get you off, or I’m just leaving you like this,” she says, cutting him off again.

  Sincir sighs. Hell, he is not a fucking saint… If the girl is willing to go this far, then who is he to refuse her?

  “…Do you know what a blowjob is?” he finds himself saying.

  Eleanor ughs softly against his neck. “Yeah, I never got to become a nun, remember? Also, I know a handjob would do just fine, but I guess I did ask you to tell me want you wanted.”

  Well, he wants to fuck her, but he wouldn’t have gone that far, even had she offered herself… Why? What happened to being a sex demon? Fuck, he really is growing too soft...

  Sincir sighs. “You know what? Just do whatever you feel like, and we’ll pretend none of this ever happened in the morning… Let’s just say you’re gaining valuable life experience to help you with the real thing one day.”

  Eleanor takes a deep breath, then rises.

  To his surprise, she heads toward to mp, lighting it once more.

  Has she finally come to her senses…?

  But no, Sincir can tell Eleanor is still very much not in her right state of mind as she turns to him again, then begins to unwrap the bandages she usually wears to keep her breasts from moving as she fights.

  “…I never sleep on these,” Eleanor tells him, once the bandages fall at her feet, revealing her naked, well-shaped breasts under the ntern’s light.

  The vision is enough to have Sincir curse under his breath; Obviously, she could’ve taken them off without turning the light on, which means she wanted to give him a show...

  As she stands still for a moment, Eleanor’s eyes shift to his member, which is now hard enough to hurt.

  “…Does it hurt?”

  Sincir grimaces at her. “Now it does.”

  Eleanor’s eyes gleam intensely as she walks back in his direction, leaving the ntern on. “Isn’t a sex demon supposed to be tougher than this?”

  “…It was a long day.”

  “You don’t need to hold back,” Eleanor murmurs as she climbs over the bed again, lying next to him as she meets his gaze and begins to drag her hand toward his erection, her fingers leaving a trail of warmth against his skin as she does so, “But you’ll only get a blowjob if you can st more than me…”

  Sincir feels a jolt of electricity through his spine once Eleanor touches his member, and if her shudder is anything to by, she might’ve felt something simir.

  “Ah… Be nice, okay…?” Sincir murmurs breathlessly.

  Eleanor looks away, hiding her expression from him as she presses her face against his chest. Still, her hand continues to move, jerking his member slowly through his underwear.

  “Be nice...? What are you, a damsel having her first time taken...?”

  He decides to ignore that. “E-Eleanor, are you really sure this is a good idea…?”

  Fuck, his head hurts, and it’s hard to think, but this a bad idea, isn’t it? Eleanor might hate him come morning, or worse, herself… And Ena-

  Suddenly, Eleanor moans softly against his skin, and Sincir realizes he’s not the only one she has been working on.

  Lords.

  Has she been this pent up…?

  Eleanor moans again, increasing the speed of her hands as her breathing begins to grow accelerated.

  “W-wait, take it out, or you’ll hurt me…!” Sincir tells her, causing her to pause momentarily.

  Looking down at their intertwined bodies, Eleanor rubs his member one more time through his underwear, then clumsily pulls the piece of clothing down, freeing his erection to stand to attention.

  Eleanor makes no comments regarding the size one way or another, simply grabbing a firm hold of his cock as she continues to jerk it, while rubbing herself at the same time.

  Since her expression remains hidden from him, he isn’t quite sure what she is feeling other than her obvious craving for release…

  It doesn’t take long before Eleanor is shaking, pressing herself against him even harder as her orgasm assaults her.

  Seeing her toes curling, feeling her breasts and accelerated breathing against his skin, even the promise of a blowjob can’t keep Sincir from blowing his seed over the both of them soon after Eleanor is done; Although the sudden spshes of cum to hit her skin cause Eleanor to jump a little, making it obvious she didn’t expect them, for her credit, she doesn’t stop jerking him until his member has grown soft in her hand.

  A few moments ter, with their heavy breathing filling the room, Eleanor’s stares at the mess he made over her hand, arm, and his own stomach, having finally pulled back enough for him to see her slightly gzed expression.

  “Idiot… If you jerk it that fast, there’s no way I can hold it,” Sincir tells her.

  Eleanor swallows. “I… I’m sorry… I don’t know what I was thinking, I just…”

  Sincir sighs. “Let’s just… Let’s talk about it tomorrow, when we’re both rested, okay?”

  After a moment of hesitation, Eleanor nods. “I’ll clean this mess. Sorry about the blowjob…”

  Sincir groans. Enough, his brain is about to shut down from exhaustion… He’ll think about everything ter…