"Nyo~!"
After Zeno had breakfast and cleaned his lips with a napkin, the impatient Kuroka, who had been waiting for him to finish his breakfast near his legs under the dining table after she had stuffed herself with cat food, jumped up on his lap before she quickly climbed up to his neck and then clung to him like a cicada. It seems like she is determined to not let go of him no matter what, afraid that he might go back on his promise and continue to ignore her just like before.
"..."
Zeno glances at the desperate Nekoshou clinging to his neck in amusement before he stands up from his seat with Kuroka still clinging to him as he holds her like a baby while patting her back like he is comforting a scared child.
"N-Nyaa...!"
Kuroka tries to protest as she feels a bit embarrassed being treated like she is a spoiled baby, but Zeno is of course ignoring her protest.
"I will be in my office talking with Kuroka about her adoption; you girls have fun."
"Yes, Master~!"
He informed the other girls at the table as they responded to him in their own ways before Zeno brought the embarrassed Kuroka out of the dining room to his office, much to Kuroka's relief that he really intended to talk to her like he promised.
"..."
White Dream watched Zeno go out of the dining room silently as she held the giggling Ziah in her lap carefully while the baby was being entertained by Himiko and Charmie. White Dream turned her head back to the baby in her lap and then imagined what her and Zeno's baby would be like. She doesn't know if she is capable of having a child, but it strangely feels very appealing to her at the thought of holding her child with Zeno by her side one day.
( AN: Charmie is the clone of Mittelt. )
"Kya~! Kya~!"
"Ehehe, here are butterflies for you~!"
Charmie giggles as she conjures up a bunch of beautiful butterflies that are made out of light as it flies towards the excited Ziah, who tries to catch them with her grabby hands.
"So cute~!"
"Ahh-!"
Himiko can't help but coo at the adorable baby as she pushes her cheek against Ziah's cheek before Himiko begins rubbing their cheeks together while the baby cries out in protest as she can't play with the butterflies.
"Mmm, interesting..."
At the same time, on the far end of the dining table, the recent addition to the Zavior household, Krisha, who was dressed in a white lab coat over a maroon blouse and black pants with a brown leather belt and a pair of red high heels, mumbles to herself as she reads the information about the DXD world in her HMT. There are so many outlandish and fascinating things for Krisha to learn that she can't help but want to know more, especially about magic and how it works exactly.
( AN: Krisha is the clone of Rakshata Chawla. )
Next to Krisha is Ruth, who is making a strange expression and also staring at her HMT that displays a woman with red hair and purple eyes singing passionately on the street. Ruth is quite confused by this as she doesn't remember her friend being such a singer.
"What on earth happened to you?"
She wonders how her serious and grumpy friend has turned into this. Did she lose her memories or something? Ruth thought to herself.
"I'll meet you soon, Baeta..."
Ruth muttered her friend's name with a bit of longing in her voice. When she was serving under the Asmodeus house, it can be said that only Baeta was the only one she cared about at that time. Ever since Baeta disappeared, Ruth has fallen into depression and has just been living like a robot that only follows orders until she met with Zeno on that fateful night.
"Although, it's nothing that romantic..."
She chided herself with a wry smile; she was scared silly and got forcefully recruited by him after all, although that domineering Zeno is still making her heart beat accelerate when she recalls that night.
"Hah..."
Ruth released a heat sigh with a little blush on her cheeks. She will have to do "research" again tonight.
÷×÷×÷
At Zeno's office, Zeno with Kuroka in his arms finally arrived in his office as he walked inside the room before he went to his desk, and then he put Kuroka down on top of his desk.
"Well, first let me unlock your ability to speak."
Zeno says as he taps on the white collar of Kuroka to command it to let her speak in her cat form. Nothing seems to happen, but Kuroka can feel that she can finally speak human language now.
"Nyaaa! Finally!"
With joy visible on her face, Kuroka cried out before she suddenly turned to glare at Zeno, who is currently sitting in his chair with resentment in her yellow eyes. She has so many things she wants to say to him.
"You! What are you thinking, nyaa-?! Do you know what you did to me is kidnapping, nya?! I'm not a normal stray cat you can adopt just like that! Also release me from this collar this instant!"
Kuroka immediately started bombarding Zeno with her grievances and demands while her tails wagged agitatedly. She even forgets that she is currently still just a powerless cat under Zeno's mercy, which he intends to remind her of.
"You talk a lot for a wanted fugitive, huh?"
"N-Nya...!"
Zeno said the magic words with a smirk as he leaned forward in his seat towards the surprised Kuroka on the desk. The Nekoshou now frozen stiff with her eyes bulging as she now realized that she might be in a very bad position right now.
"Imagine my surprise when I picked up a random cat in the park and it turned out she is a wanted criminal from the underworld..."
Zeno lied to Kuroka as if he did not know her in the first place with an obviously fake disappointed expression as he shook his head.
"N-Nyaa..."
Kuroka managed to let out a nervous meowing sound as she averted her eyes away from Zeno with her ears flopping meekly. This is bad! Really bad! Kuroka thought.
"Well, I can only give you two choices in this situation."
Zeno smirked as he patted Kuroka's head. The Nekoshou looks up at him with a doubtful expression on her feline face after hearing what he said.
"The first option is you can join my faction, and I will clear your name with the devil since I have quite an influence with the medical products I am currently selling to them, or the second option, which means I will simply deliver you to the devil and take your bounty reward. Well, which one do you like?"
"..."
After hearing what Zeno said, Kuroka can only glare at him since he actually gave her only one choice from what he said. But then again, she really can't refuse to pick the first choice.
"Fine, nya! I will join you, but I will not be a pet, you hear me?!"
"Very well, I'm glad that you choose wisely, and welcome to the Liberty, Kuroka."
Zeno smirked at the Nekoshou answer, and then he removed her collar but not the Godblood in her body for safety measures. Finally Kuroka can feel her Touki and demonic energy in her body once again. She will never forget how powerless she feels without them.
Kuroka then jumped down from the desk as her body glowed before she transformed into a beautiful young woman with a voluptuous figure, long black hair with split bangs, a pair of black cat ears, a pair of black cat tails, and yellow eyes with cat-like pupils as she dressed in a black kimono with a red interior and is open at her shoulders while exposing the top of her large breasts, a yellow obi, a set of golden beads, a pair of black sandals, and an ornately detailed headband.
"Mmmm-nyaa~!"
As soon as she returns to her humanoid form, Kuroka immediately stretches her body; she moans in relief as she feels unrestricted from her cat form. It has been a while since she turned into humanoid form after all. Now she can be free from both the tyrannical affection of Himiko and cat food!
"Yatta-nya!"
Zeno watched Kuroka celebrating by herself with an amused smirk before she finally remembered that she was in the middle of something important and turned her face towards him with a reluctant pout. She will definitely be holding a grudge against this man forever for blackmailing her into joining his faction.
"Now let's talk about your job and the basics of what you can and can't do around here, shall we?"
"Hmph, fine, nya~!"
Then Zeno began telling her that she would be his first agent of the Intelligence Analysis Department in the Liberty that will be responsible for espionage and counterespionage with a two million dollar monthly salary. She would also receive his faction welfare package/privileges just like other girls so she can get stronger and the equipment for her job.
As for what she can't do, it is pretty basic things, such as no treasonous action of any kind against his faction; other than that, she is free to do anything or go anywhere as she wishes when there is no mission since Godblood will monitor her actions, so Zeno is pretty lax about her restrictions.
After hearing Zeno describe her job, Kuroka is pleasantly surprised, as it is a very good job offer compared to others. The salary is also alright for an Ultimate-class like her, considering she will be paid even if she is not working every day. It will definitely sound too good to be true if she doesn't know what absurd things his faction is capable of.
"You're awfully generous, nya!"
Kuroka is looking at Zeno with an inquiring gaze as the job he gives her is pretty good; she wants to ask if there's any catch for such generous benefits that he will give her for this job by her gaze.
"It's just a standard for every new recruit, you know? It's not like it's going to make a dent in my faction resources."
Zeno shrugged his shoulders, much to Kuroka's exasperation at how wealthy the Liberty seems to be.
"Hmph! Whatever, nya!"
Kuroka crossed her arms under her large breasts as she turned her face away from him with her eyes closed. If he can give, then she has no problem taking what is being given to her.
÷×÷×÷
On the afternoon of the same day, Kalawarna finally arrived at the front of the palace with a reluctant expression as Layla waited for her at the large gate to the palace that was being guarded by ten Geborgs and two God-Takers.
( AN: Layla is the clone of Kalawarna. )
"You're not late; good."
Layla said with a nod as she saw Kalawarna arrive on time while Kalawarna unknowingly avoided another beating/discipline by her doppelganger.
"Hmph..."
Kalawarna snorted with displeasure as Layla thinks she will fail such a simple thing.
"Now follow me; we will go to the place where you can train without displaying your pathetic appearance for the others to see."
"Yeah, yeah..."
Layla said to Kalawarna with a mocking undertone before she led her disgruntled origin template inside the palace for training.
Kalawarna still doesn't know that she soon would be in a world of pain.