The Simulacrum - Chapter 99 - Part 2 (Patreon)

This is probably going to be a controversial opinion, but sex is kind of overrated.

I mean, it's not unpleasant by any means, but it wasn't the be-all-end-all of human experience it's sometimes hyped up to be. It's just an intimate, mostly exciting, mildly exhausting recreational activity. If anything, the best part of it was the cuddling in the afterglow. Of course, that always had to be followed by some awkward cleaning up, but that's just unavoidable.

"Nyhuuuh…"

The princess shifted in her sleep but didn't wake up, so I let out a sigh of my own and continued to stare at the ceiling. If there was one major issue with my sex life, it was the fact that after doing it, the girls were clingier than usual, even in their sleep, which made escaping the bed pretty difficult. Glancing down, I looked them over in turn. Judy, ever the forward-thinker, had a set of pajamas stashed away in my room for occasions like this, while the princess opted to use one of my T-shirts for sleepwear.

On the surface, it appeared they were fast asleep, but I knew the moment I started moving, it would trigger their baby-koala instincts and they would hold onto me even harder, making getting away even more difficult. I mean, being embraced by two pretty girls definitely wasn't a terrible experience, but the novelty of the sensation tended to wear off over the night.

In any case, I had a feeling I would be stuck here a while longer, so I did the one thing I could and used Far Sight to peek at whoever was still awake at this hour. Well, I say that, but it wasn't that late, so I had high hopes for catching at least one or two interesting scenes. Needless to say, my first target was a complete dud, with all the Abyssals already sleeping.

My next target, thankfully, was more successful.

"… and then you put mana into it, and bam!" Penny exclaimed, and a flash of ethereal light later she struck a pose to show off her uniform.

"And these clothes have the same properties as our armors?" Morgana inquired as she took a closer look.

Since the last time I'd seen her, she finally got some proper clothes in the form of a knit turtleneck sweater and a pair of jeans. With her bun undone, her straight dark-green hair reached past her shoulder blades and gave her a more approachable look.

At the moment, they were inside the same chamber where Penny and co. spent their first couple of days after being apprehended after the Arbitration duel, in a fairly spacious guest room with a couple of extra beds and amenities.

"They aren't up to par yet, but Leonard is constantly improving them," Roland commented, sitting on a nearby bed with an open beer can in hand. "More importantly, he can produce more of these Uniformer devices."

"Really? As expected of his majesty."

"Expected mah bahookie!" Duncan grumbled, sitting by a nearby table and carefully honing his newly recovered sword. Seeing the disapproving glances surrounding him, he paused and forcefully pointed at no one in particular. "Whit? Ye ken a'm richt!  He juist pulls hings oot o' malinky air lik' it mak's perfect sense, 'n' ne'er explains jobby!"

"W-Well, it's true that brother rarely explains himself, but that doesn't mean you can talk about him like that!" Penny reprimanded him, and the big guy shrank back with an annoyed 'Bah!' and continued working on his blade.

"Speaking of his majesty, didn't he already undergo the test of Caledfwlch when he joined our ranks? How come he wasn't chosen back then?" Morgana asked, diverting the attention from the fuming Mr. Minotaur, and the other two Knights shared an awkward glance between each other.

"Leonard claims he lost most of his memories not too long ago. He is vague on the details, but I believe it might've changed him enough where the Kingmaker re-evaluated him again and found him worthy," Roland explained, and Ms. Gorgon raised an intrigued brow.

"That would certainly explain the change in his demeanor. I do not believe he possessed such leadership qualities the last time I met him."

"Leadership mah crease…" Duncan growled in the background, but it only took a glare from Penny to make him pretend he said nothing and focus all of his attention on the sword in his hands again.

In the meantime, the door of the makeshift barracks opened wide, and in walked Arnwald, closely followed by Raven Boy. The former was pushing a packed food cart, while the latter had two large bags full of various canned beverages, from sodas and beers to ice teas and mineral water. Like Morgana, he also ditched the surgical gown and was wearing a pair of loose black trousers and a dark grey sports hoodie.

"Sorry for the wait," Mr. Eagle apologized as he came closer. "We met some familiar faces on the way to the kitchen, and I lost my sense of time."

"I told you I didn't need introductions," the younger Knight grumbled and put his bags down onto one of the free beds. "They are wyrmbloods."

"Watch the language," Penny chastised him on the spot. "We don't use the w-word anymore. Brother doesn't like it."

"Why should I care?"

"He's our liege."/"He's your king." the two senior Knights responded in unison, and all he could muster was a disgruntled huff in return.

"Oh? We have wine?" Roland noted after he walked over to the food cart.

"It's a gift." Arnwald sounded a touch sheepish, but after a long beat, he quietly explained, "When I told her we were celebrating our reunion, the lady in charge of the night shift in the kitchen gave it to me, and it would've been rude to refuse."

"What's worth celebrating about this situation?" Raven Boy continued to be a party pooper, yet Morgana casually disregarded his attitude and responded like she was already used to this.

"It's not only the first time in years we have all gathered together, it's also the day when our King brokered peace with the Draconians."

"But all of this is a ruse! It's all because of… erm…" Raven Boy's face flushed red, and he hesitated. "It's… because of Bel!"

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Roland commented, without looking up from the wine bottle in his hands.

"No, not just in a matter of speaking! He is a vile, conniving asshole who set this whole thing up!"

"Yes, uncle Roland already explained that during the meeting," Penny noted, earning her a scathing glare.

"No, I don't mean that! Auntie, you know what I mean!"

"I don't think I do."

Morgana's response was a touch wooden, but nobody seemed to notice. Duncan was still too busy oiling his sword, while Roland and Arnwald were in the middle of searching for a corkscrew. That left only Penny, who was still locked in a glaring contest with Raven Boy.

"But you do! All of you should already realize it too! Leonard is… I mean… Bel is the mastermind behind this all!"

"Yes, as I just said, uncle—"

"No, not like that! That bastard set everything up, and you didn't realize it at all! We are all dancing in his palm!"

"Sister Morgana? Could it be that Brother Agrawain was traumatized by his encounter with Bel of the Abyss?" Arnwald whispered to Miss Gorgon, but before she could answer, Raven Boy raised his voice again.

"I'm not traumatized! How can you not see it? That conniving snake is… is… obviously Bel!" Seeing the pitiful glances around him, Raven Boy exhaled a lung-rattling groan and threw his hands into the air. "Goddamit, I give up! You'll see it for yourself, and then you'll see what I'm talking about!"

"Yeah, suuure…" my knightly sister teased him, earning her another glare.

"Shut up. I need a beer."

"Hey, you can't!" Penny walked over and tried to stop him from opening a beer can, but she was too slow. Since she had her Uniformer on, it meant she probably wasn't trying that hard. "Stop it! Brother told me to follow the law! You're too young to drink!"

"So are you!"

"And that's why I'm not drinking!"

Penny sent a glance at Morgana, asking for support, but by this point, Arnwald was already in the process of pouring a tall glass of wine for her, so she only shrugged.

"A single can won't kill him, and we're celebrating. I allow it, but no more than that."

"I'm not celebrating! I'm drowning my sorrows!" Raven Boy protested while running away from my sister, much to the amusement of the older Knights. I observed them a little longer, just to be safe, but they were mainly just horsing around and discussing the events leading up to this point, which was something I was already well aware. As such, I moved on to my next target, and after a few more duds, I landed in the trophy room of the Dracis mansion.

The only light in the room came from the fire in the fancy hearth serving as the centerpiece of the room. It was a nostalgic place, as this was where I had my first meeting with Abram. Speaking of dad-in-law, he was currently seated on an antique leather sofa in the company of mom-in-law, while another sofa on the other side of the glass-topped wrought iron coffee table was occupied by Naoren, currently leisurely yet elegantly sipping something from a large mug.

"Yes, my son is quite a character, isn't he, honey?" the Dracis patriarch said in response to something I didn't quite catch, and Emese agreed with a quiet hum, without lifting the head resting on her husband's shoulder.

"He's certainly unique in more than one sense of the word," the bespectacled clan head spoke in a level tone that made it hard for me to decide if he was taking the piss out of me. "But to stay on topic, I believe he has no desire for power, so I doubt he would mind if he isn't given a position on the council of the Draconic Federation."

"But he was the one who originally proposed the idea, and he worked hard behind the scenes to make it a reality," Emese pointed out. "Considering he's already the leader of the Knights and our son-in-law, being on the council should be the bare minimum."

"Maybe from our perspective, but I believe Leonard might not think so," Naroen responded between two sips of his beverage. "Whenever we talk, it always feels like he is looking far ahead and thinking on a much bigger scope than any of us. We can't tie him down."

"I think I know what you mean…" Abram mused, rubbing his jaw. "To us, the unification of all Draconian bloodlines and the peace with the Knights are both monumental developments that completely overturned our world, but when I look at him, he wasn't moved at all. It was as if he thought it was all just a mundane task."

"So I wasn't the only one who thought that?" Emese uttered in surprise, raising her head from Abram's shoulder. "That's exactly how I felt every time he did something. When he cured my wound, I thought he would at least try to use it as leverage, but he never did. It was almost as if he didn't think it was anything special."

"Maybe to him, it just wasn't," Naoren proposed with a shrug. "He certainly strikes me as the kind of person who regularly does the impossible on a whim."

Oy. Mister sworn brother. You're starting to piss me off.

…

But then again, I ended a centuries-long feud and created a globe-spanning supernatural organization just so that my girlfriend could pursue her passion and safely become a singer, so… maybe he wasn't completely off the mark?

In any case, Emese closed the topic with a slightly trite, "That boy is like an enigma wrapped up in a mystery."

I was fairly sure that was a quote, but before I could devote any brainpower to figure out where it came from, Abram clicked his tongue and said, "Speaking of which, we really need to find out more about this Bel of the Abyss! We know practically nothing about him!"

Naoren nodded, with a slight frown.

"I'm also curious about his identity." For the record, while Naoren knew that I was leaving to orchestrate the incident during the tournament, I never explicitly told him that I was Bel. "In any case, I believe the testimony of the Knight from today's meeting should not be taken for granted."

"Do you think he didn't tell the truth?"

He shook his head at Emese's question.

"I didn't say that. I simply believe that this Bel might have a more ancient background than we can imagine."

My in-laws looked really intrigued by his words, and so was I, so I waited for him to elaborate. As if to tease us, he finished his drink first, placed the mug onto the table, and slowly linked his fingers before he finally continued.

"In the aftermath of the battle between Xiao Xiao and Bel of the Abyss, he said something peculiar to her. I do not believe anyone else could hear it at the time, and she only shared this with me. I believe you've heard about how he neutralized Xiao Xiao's dragonfire, right?" The Dracis couple nodded in unison. "After that, he told Xiao Xiao that he was hoping to see true dragonfire, and that it had been a long time since he encountered someone who could use it."

"By true dragonfire, do you mean the golden flame, or…"

"Xiao Xiao told me she breathed golden flame, yet Bel found it lacking."

"He couldn't have meant the prismatic fire of the ancients…" mom-in-law muttered, positively slack-jawed, and she was entirely right. I was only heckling her at the time, because that's what Bel does.

"In this day and age, few know of the true fire of the dragons of old, let alone the art to produce it. Yet, Bel of the Abyss referred to it as something he had seen with his own eyes. This could mean two things: he was either lying, or he's an ancient grandmaster of eons past returning to the present."

"That's a troubling thought," Emese whispered, and I once again had to agree.

While the way Bel's lore was getting steadily expanded told me the Simulacrum was definitely doing its best to integrate him into the narrative, the fact that it was happening so haphazardly and without my input was getting a little annoying. Not only that, but this whole thing about 'true true dragonfire' was sounding like some kind of plot point, but one that I'd never heard of before. If anything, this just proved once again that I had to be really, really careful about what I said as Bel, as I could apparently stumble into plot points by accident.

But back to the scene at hand. I listened to the discussion between the Draconian leadership a little longer, but after discussing Bel a little longer, during which nothing especially important came up, they started discussing less important things, such as gossip about other families, at which point I completely tuned out and decided to look for greener pastures. As such, I quickly Far Glanced through all the remaining marks, and…

"… a real dragon! Like, a totally real one!" Sahi's voice filled out Lord Grandpa's office, prompting the haggard old man to raise a skeptical brow.

"A dragon? On my island?"

"Yeah! Like, she was tiny, and I didn't see her dragon form, but she was totally a dragon! Everyone said so, right, Paz?"

"According to Penelope Dunning, Xiao Feilong is indeed a dragon," Armband Guy explained, and he sounded about as tired as he looked.

"So the Draconians not only decided to unite, on my island, but they are also joined by the Brotherhood of the Most Heroic Bloodlines, whose leader was Leonard Dunning all along, and then on top of that, they also have a flesh and blood dragon," Lord Grandpa summarized things with an expression that said he couldn't believe his own words, and the other two people in the room nodded in unison.

"It's so wicked, right?" Sahi spoke with a toothy grin plastered on her face, but the old man didn't seem to share his enthusiasm.

"No, it is most certainly not wicked in any shape or form! Saahira, you of all people should know what all of this could lead to! There is no way the Assembly would quietly accept the forming of a new organization of this scale and power! And all of this is happening on my island!"

"Oh, come on, Endy. Don't be so tense. You're, like, on good terms with the Dracises and Leonard, right? If those old fogeys in the Assembly give you grief, you can totally just jump ship."

"Do not even joke about such a thing," Lord Grandpa glared at her, but after maintaining eye contact for several silent seconds, the tension abruptly drained from his shoulders and he slouched back in his seat. "It is getting late. You are dismissed."

"What? But, like, I didn't even tell you about this Bel of the Abyss guy!"

"I do not care about such a nebulous person when I have the very clear potential of war on my hands. Now go. I have to make my preparations for opening diplomatic channels with a brand new association. On my damn island."

"Yeah, yeah. Sheesh. You can be so lame sometimes," Sahi harrumphed and gestured towards Armband Guy. "Come on Paz, let's go."

Unusually enough, Pascal only gave a shallow nod to the old man before following after the girl, and the two of them left the study. It was only when the door closed behind them that the arch-mage reached into his desk and produced a small metal flask.

"Today is not the day either," he murmured mysteriously, then took a swing from the bottle before grabbing a handful of papers and beginning to work.

This little snipped of discussion served as a wakeup call in a way; while things were proceeding really smoothly, and the Assembly didn't really bother me so far due to my 'agreement' with Lord Grandpa, the possibility of the Magi as a whole turning hostile over the sudden emergence of a new power in global supernatural politics was an acute possibility. Of course, there were ways to mitigate this problem, either through some deft diplomacy (read: let Naoren handle the negotiations) or creating an even bigger incident to draw everyone's attention away from the Draconic Federation (read: Bel). Either way, I just managed to shut down a big source of conflict, so I wasn't going to let another start right away; the solution all depended on how the Assembly would react to the news.

Anyhow, there was nothing to really see in the old man's office anymore, and when I glanced over at the duo that just left the premises, I found them mildly bickering without much substance, so I left them alone. With them out of the picture, it only left me with a handful of further Far Sight targets, however, before I could start peeking at them, I became aware of a strange sensation on my chest.

I exited Far Sight, and when I opened my eyes, I found Judy leaning over me, her modest but supple breasts squashed against my chest while she was observing my face from a few centimeters away.

"Oh. You're awake," she uttered when our eyes met.

"That's my line," I whispered back. "What are you doing?"

"You weren't moving, so I thought you were asleep."

"No, I was only using my Far Sight."

"That makes sense," she responded, yet remained completely still.

"So? Aren't you going to get off me?"

"Give me a second. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to seduce you."

"Why would you need to sed— Hey! Stop rubbing yourself against me! You're going to wake up the princess!"

"Too late," she uttered flatly, and it was at this point that I became aware of the movement on my other side.

"Hauuu! Is it morning already?"

"No, it's not. Go back to sleep," I whispered. "Same goes for you, Dormouse."

"You say that, but aren't you ready for another round?"

"What are y—? Dormouse! Don't just grab onto me without warning!"

"Are we lewding again?" the princess muttered, still half-asleep.

"No, it's only Judy's libido being out of control again. You can go back to sleep."

"Chief, there's absolutely nothing wrong with my libido. You're the only one who's too passive."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's you. I'd bet you're near the top of the bell curve when it comes to sex drive," I objected, but by this point, the princess sat up and casually took off her shirt. This wasn't the first time I saw her naked, but it was hard to get used to just how astonishingly attractive she was. Also, curvy. And perky. Oh, and speaking of hard…

"You seem to be ready," my dear assistant whispered, her hand moving back and forth under the blanket.

"So, are we lewding or not?" Elly followed her up, the cool air on her skin finally waking her up to the point that she got self-conscious enough to cross her arms in front of her chest.

Well, this wasn't how I planned to spend the night, but at this point, going back to sleep was off the table, so I decided to go with the flow and kicked off the blanket in a single motion, eliciting a startled yelp from Judy still sprawled over me. After the first surprise, Elly let out a giggle and leaned in for a kiss, and after this point, things just naturally escalated.

Also, my totally normal Dormouse with the totally normal libido demanded two extra rounds for the audacity of letting the princess be on top first, but that was an intervention for another day…