[Spirit of Lust] Chapter 191: Everyone’s goals. (Patreon)

Ishtar was overreacting. It wasn’t so much that they’d forgotten that Belphegor may have answers to their question, but more that they weren’t sure if going to him was a good idea. After all, the man didn’t just give things away. The embodiment of sloth wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to get things he wanted with minimal effort and he did say his next favor wouldn’t be free. But maybe…

“How much does he usually ask for?” Will asked Cynthia.

“Hm? Depends on what  questions I ask,” she said. “Sometimes it’s a bottle of expensive liquor, sometimes it’s some item he’s interested in, like a massage chair. Most of the time paying for his hotel is enough. Why? Is there something you want to ask him?”

Will swallowed. “Yes. See… Ishtar wants to have a body of her own.”

The girls all gasped.

“She wants to leave you?” Reina asked.

“Not exactly. She wants a temporary body, something she can possess for a while without breaking our connection.”

“Is that even possible?” Ruth asked. “I mean, I know magic can do a lot, but… Creating a body?”

“Or is she going to… use another person’s body?” Anna asked nervously.

Will sighed and sank on his seat. “She wants her own body. A shapeshifting body, even. Like it wasn’t hard enough of a task already.”

“Shapeshifting?” Nanami asked. “Ah, like a doppelganger’s?”

Will blinked. “Dopp… Huh? Those exist?”

“Isn’t a doppelganger like your demonic double?” Anna asked.

“Yes, I’ve heard that too,” Amelia said. “They look exactly like you, and if you meet them they kill you and take your place.” Her eyebrows shot up and she shivered in fear. “D-Don’t tell me those are real!”

“Well… Yes and no?” Nanami said with a sheepish smile. “When I say doppelgangers I mean mirrorkin, a race of creatures from that other world. They were similar enough to our world’s doppelganger legends that the terms are used interchangeably. They weren’t exactly anyone’s double, but they could change their shape and size to look exactly like any other person. I’ve heard they were also quite crafty and used their powers to take advantage of others, so in that sense, they were still creatures to be wary of.”

“Wait, past tense?” Reina asked.

“The general consensus is that doppelgangers went extinct. At least, there are no records of sightings in the last 20 years. But then again, since they’re shapeshifters, it wouldn’t be surprising if some were hiding in plain sight.”

“Maybe asking Belphegor would be worth it,” Will said. “I just hope he doesn’t ask for much. Thanks, Nanami. This is the best lead we’ve gotten. If we can find a doppelganger, we can ask what kind of magic they use to shapeshift. Here’s hoping they really didn’t go extinct.”

“No problem, but… um…” Nanami uncomfortably shifted in place. “W-What does Ishtar want a body for?”

Will smiled. “If we were confined to living inside someone else’s head, we’d want to be free too, don’t you think?”

“Ah. W-Well, yes.”

“Relax. She doesn’t want to do anything too wild. She just wants to… Well… You know.”

“Sleep with you?” Ruth asked.

“Y-Yeah.”

Reina nodded. “Okay, I can understand that, but why shapeshift?”

“She can’t pick a body type, so she wants it all.”

Nanami chuckled and her shoulders relaxed. “That does sound like her. So that’s her goal right now, huh?”

“And mine,” Will said. “I don’t know how long it will take, but it’s good to have something to work towards. Keeps us focused.”

“Agreed,” Cynthia said. “A goal helps you move forward. Stagnation is dangerous.”

“Oh? And what’s your goal now, Cynthia?” Amelia asked her. “You’re free to do whatever you want now.”

Cynthia smiled. “As always, I want to keep my business growing. Right now I’m looking at my stocks in other companies, reevaluating my investments and trying to make back what Jack wasted. Other than that, I want to enjoy myself. I’ve been working myself to the bone for years. Now I want to play as hard as I work.” She turned to Will and kissed his cheek. “I’ll be counting on you for that, okay?”

Will smiled and pecked her lips. “Of course.”

“I’m on a similar boat, actually,” Amelia said. “I want to sell most of my stocks and invest in new areas I think are showing promise. I really want to look into the underworld black market and understand more about it before I commit to anything. But what about you younger girls?” she asked, looking at the others. “What are your plans?”

“Hard to say,” Reina admitted. “I want to keep rising as a model. Lately, I’ve found that I enjoy it even more than I used to. I’d like to do more than just underwear modeling. I want commercials, billboards and fashion shows. I’ve never had a head for business like you two,” she told Cynthia and Amelia. “Or like my cousin, even, but I think this is something I’m good at.”

“You are,” Anna told her. “I really think you can go even higher.”

Cynthia chuckled. “I think Anna’s your biggest fan.”

The secretary blushed, but didn’t deny it.

Reina giggled. “Thanks, Anna. It means a lot. You want to earn money, don’t you?”

“Y-Yes…” Anna giggled shyly. “I want to finish my studies and earn good money to support my parents. That’s my main goal, but… I don’t know how I’ll achieve it yet.”

“You know the doors of Ladies Magazine are always open to you,” Cynthia told her. “But a capable girl like you can pretty much find success wherever she goes, so don’t feel pressured to stay with me. It’d be a shame to lose you, though.”

“Thank you, Mrs. E… I mean, C-Cynthia…”

Cynthia snickered. “Okay, yes, it feels weird that you’d call me that now. Still, I don’t hate it.”

“How about you, Nanami?” Will asked. “What’s your goal right now?”

Nanami fidgeted. “For now, I want to keep working with my aunt. The situation in this city seems more unstable than we thought, especially so now without an organization to keep the supernatural in check. Besides that, I… want to keep doing things like this.”

“What do you mean?” Ruth asked her.

Nanami smiled shyly. “Hanging out with friends, going on dates with my b-boyfriend, h-having lunch with you all. I… always wanted to do normal stuff like this, but never could because of how I was raised.”

“Dammit, you’re gonna make me cry again,” Ruth said, giggling softly. “You’re all so ambitious. All I’m thinking of right now is that I want to graduate as soon as possible.”

“What do you want to graduate for, though?” Reina asked. “You can’t tell me you don’t have a goal after that.”

“I don’t know about a goal. So long as I can at least make half my income from dancing, I’ll be happy. I do have a dream, though.”

My ears perked up at that. “A dream, huh? Not a goal?”

“Well, it might be too big for what I can do, so yeah. A dream.”

“And what’s this grand dream that’s so out of your reach?” Amelia asked her.

“I’d like to form my own dance company and tour the world,” Ruth said. She looked up towards the ceiling with a longing smile. “A huge group of 30 or 40 people performing all over the globe at huge, brightly lit events. But I wouldn’t even know how to go about it, anyway. Like I said, it’s just a dream.”

“You’re only just starting your dancing career,” Will told her. “Don’t give up on it before you even try. You don’t need to form a dance company tomorrow, or even next year. You can take things one at a time, little by little. That way you’ll be dancing in Italy before you know it.”

Ruth chuckled. “Wouldn’t that be nice? Thanks, Will, but… It really is something that feels out of my reach. Are you saying you’ve never wanted something that felt so impossible to get it felt like a dream?”

Will chuckled humorlessly. “I guess I have. I used to have a simple wish, but before I knew it I’d given up on it.”

“Given up on it?” Reina asked. “What was it?”

Will looked at his mostly-full glass of wine, took it and downed it in one go before answering. “A family. A wife and maybe two children in a house in the countryside.”

Will’s smile was full of nostalgia, yet mixed with a tinge of bitterness. Memories of ideas and plans he once had with people he believed he would stay with forever. His own fault for thinking so far ahead, for getting so caught up in his own dreams.

The girls around him remained silent. No one rebuked him or questioned him. He didn’t blame them. Will couldn’t, nor would, ask them for something so big.

It was one thing to share a boyfriend, but to share a husband? It was different. And anyway, it was way too soon to even bring that sort of stuff out, especially with two women who had just gotten divorced.

No, Will didn’t have any plans for the future like he once did. He would enjoy whatever he could in the present. That way, no more goals would turn into impossible, painful dreams.