The Simulacrum - Chapter 99 - Part 1 (Patreon)

"So Leo's been playing an Abyssal so much, he's becoming one," Elly mused aloud as she casually lifted the wooden crate in front of the door. "I didn't know that's how it works."

"Because it isn't," I objected just a hint sourly. "It's just Judy's hypothesis. Don't take it for granted."

"She's usually right about these things though, isn't she?"

"That's a fallacy, I think," I grumbled, and in the meantime, the princess put the box back where she originally found it and dusted her hands.

"Doesn't mean I'm wrong though," my dear assistant pointed out, pocketing her phone, and all I could muster in response was an ambivalent shrug.

"I don't know how to feel about that," Elly continued her previous train of thought. "Leo being the Knights' leader was already a tricky situation, but if he's also an Abyssal, my grandmas might make a fuss about it. Mom and dad probably won't mind though."

"Abram might even boast about it," Judy added. "A self-made millionaire is probably not that remarkable in the family, but a self-made Abyssal Lord? That's a great conversation piece at the dinner table if I've ever heard one."

"Cut it out, you two. I'm not turning into an Abyssal, and that's final."

That was the end of that topic, as I unceremoniously opened the door and headed out. Technically there was nothing stopping us from just Phasing out of the room as is, but Judy left her coat in Fred's lab, and I figured I'd check on everyone while she retrieved it.

"Ah? Blackloak. Faster than expected."

The moment I was back in the main hall, I ran into Brang sweeping the floor. Let's not even ask the question of what the venerable scout-general of a magically engineered shock-trooper race was doing with an old-school broom better suited in the hands of a witch with a pointy hat. At this point, I was so used to the Fauns just casually performing any and all household chores, I would've barely even raised a brow if he did it while wearing a floral-print apron. His comment, on the other hand, did give me a pause.

"[I call for further illumination of your intent, general,]" I responded a touch suspiciously, and the old Faun's ears swiveled in apprehension.

"[Were thou not endeavoring towards the creation of an heir with thine lovers?]"

"[... No?]" I uttered in surprise, and I'd like to point out that this single word was somehow longer than his question. The Faun language was, as always, a mystery. [What manner of delusion had you in its grasp to even envisage such an occurrence?]"

"[Thine lover's countenance appeared most heated upon pulling thine group into the room. This old one presumed her heart was set ablaze once more by thine actions in thine disguise. If I was mistaken, I offer my sincerest apologies.]"

"[Such is not a matter you should lower your head for, general. It is but soft ice running beneath a connection of stone and metal.]"

"[Soft ice?]" Brang echoed me with his ears swiveling the other way.

"I meant to say 'water under the bridge' just now."

"Ah. Understood."

The old Faun flashed a grin and, since I didn't add anything else, excused himself to continue his work.

"What were you two talking about?" Judy inquired, so I shook my head.

"Nothing you should worry about."

"Then I won't," she declared and pointed to our left. "Let's go and get my coat."

"That's another thing you could delegate," Elly pointed out. "In fact, it's high time we hired a butler and a few domestics."

"Princess, I know you're used to having servants around, but we don't exactly need them," I responded as we walked along, and her eyes were immediately drawn to Brang.

"You can't expect the Fauns to do all the housekeeping! Soon this will be the base of the Ordo Draconis; you can't have them go around cleaning floors and greeting guests."

"Why can't we?" I shot back, though I was only half-serious. "I think Karukk would look great in a butler uniform, and as for the rest…"

"Elly? We have a problem," Judy suddenly declared, drawing out attention. "The Chief's maid fetish has reached the stage where he wants to put even the Fauns into maid costumes. We have to do something."

"No, you don't, and no, I don't have a maid fetish," I explained for what felt like the millionth time, but my dearest assistant only looked at me funny.

"Our first night tells me otherwise."

"Correlation doesn't equal causation," I said, then glanced back at Elly, who looked like she was about to explode from holding her giggles in for too long.

"I… just imagined Brang… in maid's clothes…"

Sighing, I lightly patted her on the back.

"Go on, princess. Get it out of your system."

Even though she had my permission, my draconic girlfriend continued to stifle her chuckles even as we reached Fred's workshop. As we stepped inside, my nose was prickled by the acrid smell of ozone. Its source was easy to see, as our chief resident mad scientist was in the process of welding two pieces of complex metal structures together with a tool that kind of reminded me of a giant, metallic cellar spider than an industrial machine.

"Kihihi! Good evening, boss!" He greeted me once we came closer, and canted his familiar welding mask up so that we could see his face. Not his eyes though, as he was also wearing goggles under his mask, but his toothy grin was visible all the same. "I've heard things went great! Congratulations on becoming one of the most powerful people in the world of mystics!"

"It was neither as smooth nor as great as you say, but thanks anyway."

"Kihihi! So, now that we're backed by the Draconians and all their wealth, can we discuss our workshop's budget for next quarter?" I had a feeling I might've frowned without even realizing it, as the guy froze up, and then backpedaled harder than a politician at the sight of a polygraph. "On second thought, never mind. You must be tired, so let's discuss this another time."

Nodding, I waited for Judy to grab her things, and while we waited, I couldn't help but admit that Fred was actually right. While it wasn't the reason why our discussion was 'postponed', I really did feel pretty damn tired. It wasn't as bad as when I knocked myself out after the three-way encounter at the end of October, but I still felt exhausted, both mentally and physically, even though I didn't even move that much this time around.

Anyhow, in the meantime, Judy returned to our side, and after a short discussion, we decided to go the extra mile and head home via the fake teleport closet, just to be prudent. I had a sneaking suspicion Judy just liked it when we cuddled in the dark before Phasing, but I kept that opinion to myself.

"Oh? You came home early," Snowy noted quite casually as we appeared in the living room. My Abyssal sister was already in her pajamas, even though it was still pretty early, and she was curled up under a blue rabbit-print blanket on the couch in front of the TV. Normally you'd think a girl her age would be more interested in romantic movies or soap operas, but instead she was watching an old 80s-style action movie, with lots of big guns and bigger explosions.

"We had less to discuss than I thought," I told her and walked over to take a closer look at the screen. "What'cha watching?"

"Cyber Commando Three: The Revengeancer," she told me without looking up from the movie.

"Is it any good?"

"So-so. The protagonist has a boring catchphrase, and the plot about the communist spies trying to destroy the rainforest to make more potato farms doesn't make much sense, but the pyrotechnics are really good, and I like the soundtrack."

"So long as you like it."

"More importantly," Judy spoke up as she looked at each of us in turn. "What are the plans for tonight?"

"I didn't really have any plans," Elly stated a tad self-consciously. "The tournament was supposed to end around this time, and then I wanted to rest, but that's off the table now."

"I didn't have any plans either, so… Dinner, and then cuddle?"

"Sounds great!" the princess agreed with my off-the-cuff proposal in the company of an enormous grin. "Actually, I told mom I'd be staying over, so we could do more than just cuddling."

"Aren't you tired?" I asked.

"A little," my draconic girlfriend said while shaking her hands with a 'so-so' gesture. "But we're going to eat first, and then we cuddle, and once I'm charged up with Leonium, I'll be ready for all kinds of lewding!"

"You can't," Judy deadpanned with a tinge of disapproval. "Only Judybot operates using Leonium."

"In that case, call me Ellybot," the princess declared like it was self-explanatory.

"Chief, please do something. She's stealing my identity."

"Calm down, you two," I chided them and simultaneously rubbed both their heads. "Also, could we please not discuss our sex-life in front of my sister?"

"I-I'm not bothered," Snowy denied with ears redder than a ripe tomato. "I-I'm just watching my movie over here, there's no need to mind me."

"Actually, should we watch a movie too?" Elly proposed in the spur of the moment, and my dear assistant considered the possibility with the kind of solemnity one would expect from a life-changing decision.

"We still have that movie we couldn't watch the last time it was only the three of us," I mused aloud, finding the proposition of an impromptu movie night with the girls quite agreeable.

"The one with the boobs?" Elly asked, and I couldn't stop a sigh escaping my throat.

"It's a two and a half hours long fantasy epic, and you just summarized it as 'the one with the boobs'," my dear assistant voiced my misgiving better (or at least, flatter) than I ever could.

"But… But they're literally on the front cover!" Elly whined and signaled to me for support, but unfortunately for her, I shared Judy's sentiment.

"I think it's settled then. How much longer does your movie last?" Judy inquired, and it took a second for the girl on the couch to realize it was aimed at her.

"A-About twenty more minutes, I think?"

"That should be enough to make some snacks," my dear assistant declared and turned to me. "Any requests?"

"Something light."

"Then sandwiches."

"What's with you and sandwiches?" she asked back yet followed her into the kitchen all the same.

"Have I never told you the story? It all began on a rooftop on the first day of school, and…"

I could only listen that far before the two left the living room, and yet I already found myself smiling. It was a nostalgic memory, even though it only happened a couple of months ago. My sense of time was kind of messed up, as usual.

In any case, now that my girlfriends were out of the picture, I turned my attention back to my sister and said, "What about you, sis? Do you want to watch?"

"Y-You mean… the movie?"

"… What else could I have meant?"

"N-Never mind that!" Shaking her head, Snowy explained, "I was planning to go to bed early today. I promised Angie that we would meet up in the morning."

"Are you two going on an outing?"

"That's the plan." She smiled at me, if a touch awkwardly. "I think she wants to ask for advice about something but didn't tell me the details."

"In that case, make sure she'll pay you for the desserts."

Snowy blinked in surprise, and asked, "How did you know we were going to sample a new confectionery?"

"It's Angie we're talking about," I pointed out, and she whispered a soft ‘Oh, right,' in revelation.

"By the by, aren't you curious about what happened at the tournament?" I asked the question that's been on the tip of my tongue for a while, and my sister flashed me an amused smile in return and playfully shook her phone in front of me.

"I've already heard the details from Josh, Angie, and Amelia. In that order."

"Right. I should've never underestimated the high-school intelligence network…"

That stray comment earned me a tinkling little giggle. It only lasted until there was a harsh noise coming from the TV.  Her eyes jumped back to the screen and she dejectedly muttered, "Aw. Not the cyber-doggie…"

Glancing over, I just caught the last couple of frames of a big CGI robot dog getting cut in half by some kind of industrial equipment by the hero. That was unnecessarily gory, but if that's what my sister liked, who was I to complain? In the end, I lightly rubbed her noggin and headed up the stairs.

Since the girls were busy preparing our evening snacks, I figured I might as well spend my time effectively as well. First off, while I had already wiped myself off when I changed my clothes before the meeting, I was still pretty sweaty, so I took a quick shower. Once refreshed, I went back into my room and turned on the computer.

First things first, I checked our supplies in the nightstand, and then fixed up the bed a little. I never used it, so there was no reason to change the sheets or anything of the like, but I fluffed up the pillows and smoothed out the sheets, just for appearances' sake. After that, I prepared some nightwear for the girls, so that we wouldn't have to search for them in the middle of the night, and placed them onto the dresser by the window.

I figured that was more than enough preparation for the coming lewding activities, so I put the topic out of my mind and sat down by the PC. Since Snowy already reminded me of information networks, I figured I might as well jot down my super-secret report for Mike. It's been a while since the last time I drip-fed the guy some intel, and I was pretty sure the Celestial Intelligence Networks was very, very interested in today's events.

In the first place, the reason why I agreed to ‘collaborate' with Mike was so that I could sneakily insert some well-placed misinformation into the Celestial spy network, and this was pretty much the best opportunity to do so. As such, I opened up a new document and started typing.

"On the morning of the 27th of December, I entered into a Restricted Space prepared for the duel between me and Naoren Feilong."

Under that heading, I meticulously detailed how we spent half a day engaged in an intense cat-and-mouse game, where I used various illusions and traps to hinder him while he utilized all kinds of mystical martial arts malarkey to take me down. Then, in a last-ditch effort, I locked both of us into a powerful illusion, where we were unable to fight, and so we had to talk it out and reached a compromise.

Re-reading what I wrote, I nodded to myself. That was pretty much how our agreed-upon cover story went, and knowing Naoren's penchant for sticking closely to scripts, I was confident that if someone asked him about the details, he would give the exact same explanation. This part was important, because it was necessary to establish the veracity of the rest of the report.

"The coup d'état attempt at the tournament, and the reappearance of Bel of the Abyss."

Under that, I wrote several paragraphs detailing the plans of the grand elder, how everything was his fault, and most importantly, how Bel appeared and completely dominated the scene. I vacillated over whether I should reveal Xiao's dragonhood here, but that cat was out of the bag now, and I was pretty sure the Celestials would learn about it soon anyway. She was currently being safeguarded by the full might of both Draconian factions, so I figured it wouldn't matter much. More importantly, I needed to talk about her, because the ‘battle' with her was the linchpin of my mini-essay about the all-encompassing menace and perilous threat Bel of the Abyss posed to everyone and everything.

Well, fine. Maybe I was overstating that a little, but that was kind of the point. My talk with the princess reignited my will to make Bel into the big bad, and following her advice, the first step was to use whatever shred of clout I had to hype him up and make others think he was the worst thing since that weird guy with the toothbrush moustache. Writing all of this down also had an extra benefit in that it helped me finalize and set into stone the things I would say to convince the Draconians of the same thing. Put less focus on being mostly non-violent and how his interference helped the formation of the Draconic Federation, and instead emphasize how threatening he was and how his motivations are clouded by secrecy and his erratic behavior and unpredictability means he could turn on anyone at any moment. Those kinds of things.

At last, came the tricky part. I'd spent close to five minutes mulling over this particular one, and in the end, I decided to draw the line here with the following line.

"The Brotherhood of the Most Heroic Bloodlines, now reformed under the name Ordo Draconis, had officially ceased their previous activities. As the leader of said organization, I'm afraid I can't share any further information about our activities through unofficial channels. I will maintain our cooperative agreement until the official announcement of our alliance with the unified Draconic Federation. After that, I would kindly request that for further information, contact me through official channels.

Sincerely,

Leonard Dunning

King of Knights"

I stared at the screen, and was almost tempted to add all my other titles, but decided to be humble and end it there. Sometimes simplicity had its charm, and seeing this would probably already have quite the effect on the Celestials. I knew that there was no point trying to keep my affiliations secret, as I wasn't their only ‘mole', so to speak. I had no idea where the reports came from, but the Celestial Hub had detailed descriptions and even transcripts of every previous closed-door meeting over the past couple of weeks, so I had no illusions about my identity and the formation of the Draconic Federation not getting leaked.

Also, note to self: finish reverse-engineering that lie detector enchantment on Onikiri's shroud. Either that, or have Rinne individually test everyone about Celestial connections. It was best to nip that problem in the bud.

To be safe, I read the whole document over, corrected a few typos, and clarified a few bits and bobs, and once I was satisfied, I uploaded it to the drop-off folder on a random file-sharing site, and then closed the browser.

"Chief! Food's ready!"

Well, well, well. Talk about timing.

"I'll be down in a second!"

Saying so, I put the PC into standby mode, and headed downstairs. Some might call me irresponsible, kicking back after causing so much chaos and new developments in a single day, but before Bel or Blackloak or whatever, I was Leonard S. Dunning, professional boyfriend, and if my girlfriends wanted to crash on the couch and chill with a movie (with some potential lewding thrown in for good measure), then come hell or high water, that's what they were going to get.