[Spirit of Lust] Chapter 151: Final preparations. (Patreon)

In the basement of the now empty apartment building, Aoi rubbed the bridge of her nose and as well as her eyes. The scent of that man’s aether, even diluted as it was, gave her some nausea. Her magic resistance was more than enough against weak enchantments, which the weakened potion definitely counted as, but this scent made her body remember what it was to lose her own free will, what it was like to see her body move and not be able to stop it. She felt she could throw up at any minute.

“I’ll give you ten minutes, then,” she told William, who was standing in front of her. “Talk to the incubi and succubi on the other side, see if they agree to the plan, and come back to confirm it. Once you do, I’ll give that guy a call and tell him to come.”

He looked at her warily. Not of her, but of what was happening to her. Could his mind-reading tell him even of her nausea? She wouldn’t put it past Ishtar’s powers. If it wasn’t, though, then the boy was sharper than she gave him credit for. Aoi was as stoic as one could be in this situation.

“If you fall under his control again,” he started.

“You have my permission to do whatever you need to to bring me back,” she finished for him. “If it happens. I won’t let myself fall twice.”

“I hope so. I’m not looking forward to doing that again.”

Aoi’s heart skipped a beat. Why wasn’t he looking forward to it? Was she that unattractive? No, what an idiotic thing to worry about. It wasn’t the time for such things. And besides, Ishtar had already told him he wanted her. No.

Her nausea left her for a moment as she wrestled with those thoughts, watching William step into the portal to that other world.

She texted that redheaded girl, Anna, to confirm Cynthia’s status. Apparently the blonde woman was complaining of strong headaches. If Nanami’s theory was correct, Cynthia’s developing magic resistance may be pushing against Jack’s mind control. Better not tell William that’s the cause of the headaches. He’ll only feel responsible. And besides, this’ll be good for her. When she overcomes her husband’s mind control, she’ll only grow stronger for it. A woman with wealth and power could do with some high magic resistance.

They were lucky that the building’s inspection was due for the day after tomorrow. No one would be barging in on them, but to make absolutely sure of that…

“Aunty, it’s done,” said Nanami, walking down the stairs.

Aoi smiled wryly at her. “Sorry for overworking you.”

The girl shook her head. “At least I feel like I’m doing something. You and Will are the ones who’ll be in the most direct danger. I have to help however I can.”

Aoi sighed. Nanami was too good a girl. Her dislike for this… line of work was completely separate to her fear of people being in danger. Even now, after working all night and not getting a wink of sleep, she had finished getting the wards set up.

They were a simple thing, the wards. Simple, she said, but she couldn’t do such delicate work. Nanami could, though, even with only a couple of years of training. Set around the perimeter of the building, the enchantment on the wards was meant to protect normal people. Once they stepped into the area, they would lose some of their consciousness, walking in autopilot until they were past the building and without noticing a thing. It was basic, and a minimum amount of magic resistance would be enough to realize what was happening, but this was the highest level of wards Nanami could pull off. Since it was meant to keep innocents out of harm, the girl had put the effort in until she learned that, at least.

“I’ll activate it after you’re all inside,” Nanami said.

“Thank you. Don’t worry. This’ll work.”

Wordlessly, Nanami nodded.

Some minutes later, William returned. He wore a frown and his mouth was slightly twisted.

“What happened?” Aoi asked. “Did they not agree?”

“Oh, they agreed, alright.” William sighed. “They agreed to everything I asked and more. They said they’d throw themselves at my enemies and pierce them with spear or dick, whichever I chose. Their words, not mine.”

Nanami winced along Aoi. She’d heard the incubi and succubi felt indebted to William and had sworn loyalty. They were counting on that. But none of that made the boy comfortable at all.

“At least they didn’t seem any happier at the casual offer to rape at my orders,” he groaned. “I just can’t with them. That… strong loyalty of theirs throws me off, and that’s only the start. I’d leave them to Ishtar, but she’d probably agree to anything they offered if she thought it sounded fun.” After a moment of silence, he groaned again and spoke to no one. “Oh, you know you would. Don’t deny it.”

Nanami said he sometimes slipped, and Aoi had seen it a couple of times, too. He had conversations with Ishtar in his head, conversations that didn’t seem to need spoken words. Sometimes, though, he would say them out loud. To anyone else, he would look insane. Aoi could spare some sympathy for his situation.

“I’ll make the call, then. You go inside, William,” she told him, taking out her phone. “Nanami, stay away for at least five minutes after you see us going in. Then activate the wards. William, you know what to do. Do your… soldiers?”

She felt slightly more comfortable thinking of them as simple footmen instead of magical sex creatures. William didn’t, apparently, but probably didn’t enjoy thinking about them at all.

“They do. We’ll be ready. Don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

Well, there was no delaying it any longer. Aoi understood Jack’s desire for the crystal. A powerful source of aether that would let him expand his influence without much work on his part. He would come the moment she called.

This was it. William looked ready to get this over with.

She could only hope she was, too.