MI144: Change of Plans (Patreon)

"Wake up. We've got company."

Hearing the sound of Reida's voice, Paul stirred just as a faint knocking emanated from the door. 

Without Paul needing to ask, Reida explained, "It's that Noble-looking lass with the golden hair. I think her name was Jean...?"

Rolling his eyes, Paul remarked, "It's been three weeks. We both know you've memorized their names by now..."

With Reida rising from the sofa, Paul attempted to do the same before she pushed him back down and stated, "I'll take care of it. If I'm not mistaken, she just wants to confirm you're not in any danger."

Raising his left brow, Paul questioned, "Then wouldn't it be better for me to answer?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Reida didn't respond to Paul's words. Instead, she made her way over to the door, opening it to find Jean staring back at her with a hint of caution in her cerulean blue eyes.

Preempting anything Jean might have said, Reida asked, "What's with the hostility? Do I strike you as the kind of person to seek revenge? If you're that worried, feel free to come inside."

Without waiting for Jean's response, Reida turned around and made her way back to the living room. Jean immediately followed suit, the tensions in her body increasing until she saw Paul raise his hand, an awkward smile on his face as he said, "Yo. Sorry for not stopping by earlier. I intended to, but something came up..."

Contributing to Paul's case, Reida surprised both him and Jean by stating, "I was drunk and in a bad mood. Your beloved little Master here came to comfort me..."

Though she was half-tempted to point out the reason for her dour mood, even Reida wasn't entirely sure why she was upset. She might not be the most intelligent person in the world, but she could imagine what her son had come to the Citadel to do. If Paul's companions weren't monsters in the guise of people, a far more terrible tragedy would have occurred...

Shaking such thoughts from her mind, Reida plopped down next to Paul and questioned, "Did you finish your business with that brat from House Boreas...?"

While making a so-so gesture with his hand, Paul replied, "We managed to reach an accord, but things are up in the air until the King approves of his nomination as Heir Apparent. I can't imagine his brother just sitting on his hands as his 'birthright' is stripped from him."

Shaking her head, Reida assured, "So long as the two of you have worked something out, the King will take care of the rest. He has been looking for a way to make 'amends' after being forced to strip away your Noble status and title. Not with you, specifically, but House Notos..."

Before continuing, Reida gave Jean a look questioning look as she asked, "How much longer are you going to keep standing there? Either sit down or make yourself useful by telling the others to pack their things. You'll be leaving the Capital before dawn."

Furrowing her brows, Jean was about to protest before Reida added, "I didn't mean just you girls. Your Master will be leaving alongside you. The death of a Sword King isn't easily covered up. Even if you're acquitted of all charges, the trial could drag for months, potentially even years. Paul's reputation isn't exactly clean, either, so there are going to be a lot of fools seeking to curry favor with the Prince by making accusations and pointing fingers."

Adopting a frown of his own, Paul suppressed his other questions to ask, "Won't fleeing the city lend credibility to their accusations...?"

Rolling her eyes, Reida retorted, "Yeah, and? You have no land or titles for the First Prince and his cronies to demand, and the King isn't going to risk making you an enemy unless he could guarantee your friends in the East wouldn't come seeking retribution. You just need to do your duty and stay away from the Asura Kingdom for a while. As for your training, well, you're plenty strong as is. You also have a ludicrous amount of Touki, so you just need to learn how to use it. If you can't figure it out on your own, just fight that purple-haired monster until something sticks."

Finished with what she had to say, Reida gave Jean a 'are you seriously still standing there' kind of look before subsequently shaking her head and rising to her feet. She had wanted to have sex one last time before Paul departed but figured it was probably for the best if they hastened things along. The King wouldn't be awake at this time, but if someone got to him before her, it would cause a lot of unnecessary headaches.

With such thoughts on her mind, Reida said, "Grab your girls and be ready to leave within ten minutes. The sooner we can get you out of the Capital, the better."

Rising to his feet, Paul found himself suppressing a sigh as Reida walked with purpose toward her room. She had clearly made up her mind, so he just shook his head, looked toward Jean, and teased, "It's a shame, really. I was kind of looking forward to kicking your would-be suitor's teeth in..."

Exhaling a sigh, Jean crossed her arms as she remarked, "I understand your need to fool around when you feel uneasy, but I'd prefer if you didn't make jokes that call into question my feelings or resolve. Having that man and several others ogle me every day was unpleasant enough as is. Let's  just forget about them and move on."

"..."

Realizing he had crossed a line, Paul's expression turned apologetic as he said, "Sorry...I didn't mean to imply anything..."

Nodding her head, Jean expressed, "I am well aware of that. I just don't want such off-handed remarks to become a habit. You know full well how I...how many of us feel about you. Never make light of that..."

"Right..."

Since he didn't know what else to say, Paul tentatively approached Jean for a hug. She immediately returned the favor, but before they could enjoy each others' warmth, Reida emerged from her room with an annoyed look on her face, half-shouting, "What the hell are you still doing here!? You'll have plenty of time to fuck around once you escape the Capital. Now get a move on...!"

Without waiting for the duo to respond, Reida grabbed Paul by the back of his collar before giving Jean a firm kick in the backside. She was a little surprised by how springy and toned the golden-haired woman's butt was, but that was a matter for the future. For now, she threw the not-so-young but still naive couple out of her room, shouting, "Seven minutes...!" before slamming the door behind them...

"..." x2

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With Reida leading the way, Paul, Jean, Ei, Eula, Ghislaine, Xinyan, and Lilia were escorted through more than a hundred kilometers of tunnels before emerging less than 400m from the main city gate. In the past, the tunnel would have brought them to the center of a forest, but the Capital had expanded quite a bit over the last four hundred years. Now, the only thing preventing people from freely accessing the tunnel was a massive metal statue of Ars, the legendary hero for whom the city was named.

Once everyone had climbed out of the small hatch concealed beneath the statue's cloak, Reida preempted any questions by explaining, "There is a Saint-Ranked Illusion Barrier in place to prevent vandals and malicious actors from approaching or seeing anyone emerge from the statue. As for the hatch, the mechanism to open it only triggers from the inside, so don't go thinking you can use it as a means to bypass the gate during your next visit to the Capital. Understood...?"

Nodding his head, Paul replied, "Don't worry. We're not going to get you in trouble by sneaking in and out of the Capital."

Snorting through her nose, Reida violently ruffled Paul's hair as she said, "Say things like that when I'm not helping you escape the city. Also, if you aren't at least a King by the time you return, don't blame me if I shove the pommel of my sword up your ass."

"..."

Taking advantage of Paul's silence, Reida surprised him by hugging his face to her breasts, deliberately smothering him as she whispered, "Don't get yourself killed in the Demon Continent..."

Leaving Paul no opportunity to respond, Reida shoved him toward Jean before casually bounding several hundred meters up and away from the group. She wasn't particularly good at goodbyes, and the sun had already begun its ascent from the horizon. The King was early to rise, so she had to hurry if she wanted to catch him before his daily routine...

"There she goes..."

"Indeed..."

Helping Paul to his feet, Jean took a moment to fix his hair and clothes as he stared in the direction Reida had departed. When he realized what she was doing, a wry smile developed across his face as he waited for her to finish. Once she had, he turned toward his group to find Ei standing with her head and shoulders slumped.

"Hey, no need to be so glum. I doubt any of us were enjoying our stay in the Capital, so this is probably for the best. Now we just need to wait for Ganyu to track us down. After that, we'll make a quick stop at the Notos Estate before heading up to Sharia. I still need to deliver Roxy her Hydro Vision, and there's a reasonably high chance she'll want to accompany us to the Demon Continent."

Unaware of Ganyu's ability to track Paul virtually anywhere, Xinyan asked, "I was meaning to ask about that. How's Ganyu supposed to find us now that we've left the Capital...?"

Though he shrugged his shoulders, a tender smile expanded across Paul's face as he replied, "She mentioned something about our souls becoming linked after we had sex for the first time. Unless I'm dead or sealed away somewhere, she can apparently track me to the ends of the world."

"That...certainly sounds like Ganyu..."

Nodding his head in agreement, Paul mused, "Doesn't it...?" before shifting his attention to the still glum Ei and saying, "Tell me what do I need to do to get you to stop sulking. And be warned, if you suggest I need to punish you, I'm going to spank you in front of everyone present."

With Paul seeing through her intentions, Ei found herself swallowing the words she was just about to speak. She frankly didn't mind if he spanked her, but the notion of being spanked in front of others gave her all manner of conflicting emotions.

Taking advantage of Ei's silence, Paul adopted a helpless smile that gradually transitioned into a ruthless look as he said, "Listen, Ei. It's okay to apologize and simply let people forgive you. However, that's beside the point. In this particular instance, you didn't actually do anything wrong. Hell, if I had been present, I would have continued beating that piece of shit until his face was shaped like a bowl..."

Having heard the details during their long trek through the tunnels, Paul would be lying if he said he wasn't a little disappointed in Ei's actions. Not because she had killed Reida's son, but because she had done it in such a 'clean' manner.

While Paul didn't consider himself a particularly malicious person, certain things triggered him more than others. People like Vuldar didn't deserve a quick death. They deserved to be strung up with tourniquets tied around their arms and legs while someone used a dull knife to peel their dick like a potato. Then, once their arms and legs were amputated, they should be thrown into a pit with a bunch of goblins. Maybe then he would regret his actions...

Though girls like Xinyan and Lilia were a little unnerved by the bloodlust exuding from Paul's body, Ei had the opposite reaction by exhaling a sigh of relief. So long as Paul wasn't disappointed in her, she didn't really care about anything else. At least, not in this world...

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