Suzuno Kamazuki, her comrade-in-arms, stood poised with a massive war scythe on her backsharp-eyed and gallant as ever. But when her gaze fell on Emilia, it held trustand a glimmer of anticipation for the journey ahead.
"Emeralda, Suzunoready?" Emilia asked, a subtle urgency in her voice.
"Of course, Emilia-sama," Emeralda replied with a small, warm nod.
"Hmph. I've been itching to see that world that's been living rent-free in your head," Suzuno said.
A flush touched Emilia's cheeks, but she didn't argue. She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes; power surged through her. She raised both hands, palms facing, and slowly drew them apart
Vmmm.
A spatial passage rippling like water and glowing with soft white light opened in front of them. From the far end drifted the distinct din of a modern metropolis.
"Until we meet again, Albert!" Emilia called.
"Take care, Albert!" Emeralda and Suzuno added, bowing.
Albert bowed his head deeply. "May the holy light guide your way home, Emilia-sama!"
Without further hesitation, Emilia stepped into the shimmering passage first. Emeralda and Suzuno followed close behind. The three figures were quickly swallowed by the white glow.
The portal sealed behind them and vanished as if it had never been, leaving Albert alone on the wide plaza before the hall, guarding the peace and hope the hero had left behind.
Morning sunlight slipped through the gap in the curtains, scattering mottled light across the rumpled bed.
Rei Ao opened his eyes.
There was no trace of drowsiness in the deep black of themclear and steady as a still pool.
He tilted his head slightly, taking in the scene at his side.
Mafuyu Kirisu was curled against his chest, her long red hair spread messily over the pillow, hiding most of her face, which still carried a lingering flush and the tracks of tears. Her breathing was even, though her long lashes trembled now and then.
On his other side lay Fumino Furuhashi. A few strands of her blue hair clung to her sweat-dampened temple; the refined face that usually carried a bookish air now looked tired.
Her brows knit faintly, as if some dream-borne emotion still tugged at her, and she instinctively burrowed deeper beneath the covers.
Rizu Ogata lay with her back to Rei Ao at the edge of the bed, her petite figure bundled in the quilt so that only a soft crown of hair showed.
She seemed to be sleeping the soundestbut the slight stiffness of her posture gave away the fact that she was "pretending," just like the others.
Rei Ao's mouth curved in a quiet, satisfied, and playful smile as he looked at the three very different women, all now caught in the same tangle of embarrassment and exhaustion because of him. He could feel their uneven heartbeats and the way they were consciously slowing their breathingstill feigning sleep.
Last night had been intense.
In the end, the three of them and he had dropped their guards under his lead and, with mutual consent, let themselves be swept up together.
The awkwardness and blush that lingered now were only natural aftershocks. He didn't intend to call them out; there was a certain charm in this silent, shared aftertaste.
Suddenly, his brows lifted slightly. His gaze seemed to pass through walls and distance, sensing something.
"Heh Emilia and the others are back," he murmured, a hint of pleasure in his voice.
Letting go of the lingering warmth of the bed, he sat up with care. The clean lines of his build caught the morning light. For a moment he allowed himself a look at the three sleeping figuresone elegant and mature, one youthful and graceful, one small and delicateand at the faint traces left by the night.
Then, gently, he drew the covers up for each of them, tucking away those blood-stirring sights. He bent and placed a soft, unmistakable kiss on each smooth forehead.
"Get some good rest," he said, voice low and warm, yet quietly authoritative. "I'll head out first."
With that, he swung his legs over the side of the bed, slipped on the loungewear scattered on the floor, and left the bedroom that still held the afterglow of the night.
Click.
The door closed softly.
Almost the moment it latched, all three women's eyes flew open. In the morning light, their gazes crashed into one anotherstill glossy with the wildness of the night, and flaring with fresh, inescapable embarrassment.
Mafuyu's cheeks went scarlet in an instant; mortified, she turned her face aside, wishing she could disappear under the covers. Fumino let out a tiny whimper and covered her burning face with both hands. Rizu, like a startled rabbit, yanked the quilt over her head, leaving only a few brown strands peeking out.
The air went still as stone.
Images from the nightmemories that had once obeyed strict lines between a mentor and her now-grown former studentsspun through their minds like a lantern reel, dizzying and impossible to ignore.
Chapter 879: A Kiss is all that Needed
Awkwardunbearably awkward.
Shamebone-deep, searing shame.
No words could capture how they felt right now.
None of the three dared look at one another, much less speak.
After the frenzy came only wreckage strewn everywhere and a soundless wave of mortification and silence thick enough to choke on.
Bodies under the quilt went rigid; even their breathing was careful, careful.
They let the tide of shame wash over them and drown them whole.
When Rei Ao returned to his residence, the living room was already lively.
Sakurajima Mai, moving with the ease of a hostess, was gracefully serving black tea and delicate pastries to two guests who'd come a long way.
Tohru circled the newcomers in fascination, dragon eyes glinting with curiosity.
Sora and Illya sat a little farther off on another couch, murmuring to each other.
On the center sofa sat three striking women, each with a very different vibe.
Emilia had shed her hero's armor for a simple off-white dress. Her long red hair flowed like sunlight. A touch of travel-weariness softened her flawless features, but her blue eyes were brightblazing, evenfixed on the doorway with undisguised longing and expectation.
Emerada looked much steadier: a plain scholar's robe, both hands cupping a teacup, a gentle, curious smile on her face as she listened closely to Mai's quick primer on the basics of this world. Now and then her gaze slid to unfamiliar appliances and decorations, and awe slipped through her calm like light through a curtain.
Kamazuki Suzuno leaned against the armrest with her signature massive scythe, a little out of place, relaxed yet alert. Her sharp eyes swept the room like a scanner, full of a warrior's wariness and the wonder of a stranger in a strange land.
The moment Rei Ao pushed the door open, every eye in the room snapped to him.
Emilia's eyes flared like the brightest star in the night.
She practically sprang off the couch on reflexA golden whirlwindracing straight into Rei Ao's arms.
"Rei Ao!"
Her call was thick with joy and homesick longing.
He opened his arms and caught the blonde hero as she flew into him. Like a weary bird finally home, she tucked her face into his broad chest and breathed in his familiar scent, holding him tight, as if she could press herself into him and never let go.
"I missed you. I missed you so, so much!"
She tipped her face up, blue eyes misting. Emotion crested and broke. She rose on her toes and kissed himhot, direct, heady with reunion's ecstasy and months of pent-up yearning, all the frankness and warmth of a hero laid bare. Emilia took and answered without hesitation, as if to make up for every lost minute.
Mai froze with the tea tray halfway up, eyebrows shooting high as she watched the two in the center of the room act like there was no one else alive. Her red lips skewed, and her tone turned tart and teasing.
"Tsk. We're here playing host to your guests, and youthe man of the houseroll in at daybreak because you were 'busy' with other women? What a grand entrance."
She leaned on the word "busy," her gaze making a point as it slid over him: the thrown-on loungewear, the messy hair, and that stubborn haze clinging to himan overripe mix of several women's perfume undercut by his own heavy, electric incense of testosterone. Like someone had knocked over a perfume shop. Proof enough of a long, hard "battle."
Rei Ao didn't answer her jab right away. One arm held Emilia's slim, strong waist as he kissed her back; the other flicked lazily toward Mai.
Mai felt an irresistible tug.
"Wah!"
With a yelp she and the tray were lifted clean off the ground and drawn through the air. The tray hung there, steady as a rock, while Rei Ao's other arm hauled her, possessive and sure, against his chest.
"Mmph!"
Buried in that familiar warmth, Mai's nose filled with the layered scent of other women and the raw charge of him. She started to bristleonly for Rei Ao to dip his head and find her mouth first, a kiss that soothed even as it staked a claim.
She struggledjust enough to register the protestand then melted, undone by the feel and smell she knew too well. Her legs went weak, color flared across her cheeks, and jealousy melted away like frost in the sun. All that escaped her were a few small, breathy sounds as her arms looped of their own accord around his neck.
When the kiss finally broke, Mai leaned against him, panting, eyes hazy, every bit of her earlier sharp tongue gone. She shot him a flustered glare, voice soft and sulky from being kissed breathless.
"Okay, okaylet me go. We've got guests watching. Go entertain them already!"
She gave him a little push. There was still a hint of complaint in her tone, but the sourness had evaporated.
Only then did Rei Ao release her, passing the suspended tray back into her hands in one smooth, unhurried motion.
And the room went strange.
Emerada and Kamazuki Suzuno were completely petrified, teacups frozen in their hands, eyes saucer-wide, mouths slightly openwearing matching looks of end-of-the-world shock and disbelief.
Emerada didn't even notice her cup tilting, warm tea dripping onto her plain robe and blooming into a small, dark stain.
~~~
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Chapter 880: Plans of Emerada in this New World
Father in Heaven!
What did they just see?!
The hero Emiliarevered by countless believers across the continent of Ente Isla, holy and noble, a symbol of light and justice
was, at this very moment, kissing a man with fiery, unabashed passion like a lovestruck girl!
Emilia was kissing so deeply, so hungrily!
And that man, right there in front of them, was shamelessly getting intimate with another woman toomature, alluring, just as stunning!
So practiced.
So matter-of-fact.
This this was nothing short of a catastrophic blow to their faith and understanding of the world!
Emerada felt her worldview crumbling inch by inch.
A hero how could how could she be so so debased?!
In her conservative church upbringing, this was absolutely depravity.
Her hands shook around the teacup, color flashing hot and cold across her face.
Suzuno Kamazuki's jaw was practically on the floor.
Even the arms holding her scythe had gone stiff.
The Emilia she knew was strong, composed, occasionally a bit airheadedbut always upright and just!
Who was this red-haired siren blazing with public passion, demanding a kiss in front of everyone?
And that man.
Hehe could do both at once?
Even the scythe's edge seemed to hum faintly with the chaos of its owner's emotions.
Mai Sakurajima took one look at the shattered three-views expressions on the two visitors from another world and couldn't help letting out a snort of laughter.
Her mood improved for no good reason.
Carrying the tea tray, she sauntered off, leaving space for Emilia's "fellow countrywomen" to rebuild their broken worldview.
Rei Ao, for his part, ignored the two scorching, incredulous gazes that looked like they might burn a hole through him.
He looked down at Emilia, still clinging tightly to him, blue eyes brimming with love and contentment.
With a low chuckle, he said, "Welcome home, my hero."
Emilia tilted her face up, smiling bright and blissful.
"Mm! I'm back! And I'm not leaving again!"
Emerada stared at the scenebrazenly sweet (decadent, to her)and finally found her voice, a whisper trembling under the weight of a shattered creed:
"M-my lady hero, you really have fallen"
The air in the living room hung in a delicate, frozen hush.
Emerada and Suzuno sat on a sofa a little farther away, their expressions tangled, watching the pair by the floor-to-ceiling windows as if no one else existed.
Emilia's back was to them.
Rei Ao's arm was locked around her slim waist, holding her so close she seemed almost set into his chest.
Her long red hair, fine as woven silk, spilled a little messily across his dark loungewear.
Rei Ao's head was bowed, his chin resting against her fragrant crowna pose both intimate and possessive.
His other hand cupped her face, thumb lazily, teasingly stroking her lips, slightly swollen and dewy.
Emilia's cheeks were painted with the fiercest dawn, scarlet and stunning. Her long, white, butterfly-wing lashes trembled hard, betraying the storm inside.
She could feel the gazes of her former companions burning into her backEmerada's shock and disapproval, Suzuno's scrutiny and confusion. Each look pricked like a needle.
Ashamed?
Of course she was.
To be this shamelessly intimate with a man in front of a church cleric bound to holiness and a strict church warriorthis was practically a betrayal of everything the title "Hero" meant.
And yet
That surging shame was drowned beneath something stronger, more primal, a longing that made her very soul quake.
She missed him too much.
The warmth of his fingertips.
The strength of his embrace.
The rumble of his low voice in her ear.
The exquisite shudder that came with each domineering yet gentle claim.
Every minute away from him had felt like trudging through a sun-blasted desert.
That bone-deep yearning had long since burst the dam called "reserve" and "doctrine."
The Hero's glory? Accusations of depravity?
In the moment she could touch him again, feel that he was real and here
all of it turned feather-light, not worth a thought.
She even rose on her toes of her own accord, fitting her soft body deeper into Rei Ao's arms. She turned her face, nuzzling her burning cheek against his warm, solid chest, like a kitten finally finding its master and the comfort it craved.
