As the flash of the magic circle faded, I slowly opened my eyes and found myself back in the Occult Research Club room. The familiarity of the surroundings gave me an immediate sense of relief.
The walls filled with books, the large windows, the antique furniture - it all made me feel at home again, even though this wasn't my first home.
Suddenly, I felt a friendly touch on my back.
"You did well, Leonard," Kiba said, as a kind of tacit approval. "The fight against Raiser Phoenix was really one of the most impressive things I've ever seen. I'm serious."
I turned to look at him and saw all the other members of the Occult Research Club as well.
"Anyway, you're still our Leonard. Welcome back, buddy," Kiba said with his hand still on my shoulder.
Before I could answer and greet Rias, Akeno and Asia, Koneko, who was sitting at the window, stood up. Her feline eyes were fixed on me.
"You surprised us, Leonard. Not only with your strength, but also with your determination. You're much stronger than you look. I want to test your strength against mine one day."
A bead of sweat ran down my forehead. "I don't know how good I would be against you."
Kiba gave a short laugh, laughing at my slight fear of Koneko's strength. "If Koneko can do it, I think we should have a duel for training, Leonard."
"Let him rest, guys," Akeno said, walking past Koneko and then Kiba.
Before I could realize it, Akeno wrapped me in a warm embrace. The softness of her generous breasts warmed my heart, and I felt the softness of her hair against my face.
"I'm so glad you came back to me in one piece..." Akeno murmured into my right ear.
Behind Akeno and in front of me, I saw surprise in the eyes of Rias and Asia. But they didn't look jealous, just surprised, as if they had just realized that there was something more between Akeno and me.
"I was only able to do this because of your example of strength and the support of the others."
"It was a hard fight, but you did well. Congratulations."
I wrapped my arms around Akeno and returned the hug. "Thank you, Akeno."
Rias snorted quietly, interrupting the moment. "Khum! Leo, how was your conversation with my brother?"
'Your brother…' I thought, remembering the tense encounter with Sirzechs Lucifer. "He said that everything will be fine. There won't be any severe punishment for me, but I will be under observation. He wants me to learn more about the demon world."
Rias, arms crossed, nodded understandingly with a look of relief on her face. "I'm very glad to hear that. Things could have been a lot worse."
She made an elegant gesture with her hand and her familiar, a bat, appeared with a pile of requests for services.
"Now, let's get down to business. Things should be quiet for a while, and we have a lot of work to do. We must now focus on our responsibilities as the devils of this city."
Rias' familiar landed on the table, scattering the papers. Rias began picking some up and analyzing them to distribute the requests to each of us, explaining the details of each mission.
"Asia, you and I will take an exorcism request."
"Exorcism?" Asia asked. "Isn't that something only church people do?"
"No, we also have some exorcism services. But we're not exercising a devil, we're exercising an evil spirit. I'm relying on your experience as a nun."
"Right! I'll do my best!"
"Kiba, you have an escort mission. Koneko, there's a search request in a nearby forest. Akeno, you and Leo will handle a protection order."
"Protection? What exactly do we have to protect?" I asked.
"It is believed that a famous collector in the city may be the target of a rebellious devil seeking power. This collector keeps many powerful items, so it's impossible to say which item might be stolen. The collector in question is unconcerned, and I truly believe that Akeno or you could handle this job alone, but something doesn't smell right to me, so I'm sending you two as a guarantee".
"Isn't that great?" Akeno hugged me again. "We'll do our best on this mission, Leo." There was a slight blush on her face that almost told me what she had in mind.
Rias looked at both of us and smiled briefly at the corner of her mouth before continuing.
"Before we split up for the missions, I'd like to talk to you about another matter. I've noticed that we're all a little tense because of recent events. A club trip might be just what we need to relax and strengthen our bonds."
Everyone's eyes lit up at the idea.
"We can choose from three destinations: hot springs, the mountains, or the beach."
Internally, I immediately began to ponder which of these options would put me in the most romantic setting.
A trip to the hot springs was a classic, and I'd never been there myself. I had the hotel rooms, the communal baths and everything.
Going to the mountains would also be an excellent choice, because we could play the classic game of chicken in the woods, and then one girl would run around clutching her arms to me.
And the beach... well, the beach would allow me to see them all in tight bikinis. Just imagining it was enough to make me very excited.
"Akeno, what's your choice?" asked Rias.
Akeno looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "I vote for the hot springs. A nice hot bath would be wonderful to relax our bodies."
"Asia?"
"I... I'd like to go to the beach," Asia said shyly.
Rias was a little surprised, considering Asia was a nun. "Oh, really?"
"Yeah... I've never been to the beach before and I think it would be fun to do it with friends."
"Koneko?"
The little white-haired girl thought for a moment before answering. "The mountains. I like the fresh air."
"Kiba?"
"I agree with Asia. The beach seems like a good choice for relaxation."
And then Rias turned to me. "What about you, Leo?"
"I choose the beach," I said smiling. "It looks like the perfect place to relax."
"Well, it looks like the beach has won."
"But what about you, Bucho?" Akeno asked. "Which one do you choose?"
"I'm the one who gave you the options, and I like them all. I was worried about leaving the options open and everyone choosing different places. We'll start planning the trip as soon as we finish the missions. You're dismissed for the day."
*
*
*
Support me to write more and read chapters ahead of all regular readers!
P-atreon.com/palmer1998
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
In chapters R-18, there are original and exclusive images for the patreons!
Discord: https://discord.gg/2pn9Twxrng
NEXT CHAPTERS:
Chapter 47 - Collecting Artifacts
Chapter 48 - New System Challenge!
Chapter 49 - Heating Akeno (R-18)
Chapter 50 - Tight Walls (R-18)
Chapter 51 - Arara~ (R-18)
Chapter 52 - Smell of S*x (R-18)
Chapter 53 - Dawn
Chapter 54 - Artifacts
Chapter 55 - Disguise
Chapter 56 - Kuroka
Chapter 57 - Jealousy
Chapter 58 - Legs Relaxed (R-18)
Chapter 59 - Abandoned Factory
Chapter 60 - The Two Female Exorcists
Chapter 61 - Project Excalibur
Chapter 62 - Surprise from Asia (R-18)
Chapter 63 - A nun with no regrets (R-18)
Chapter 64 - The Servant and the Master (R-18)
Chapter 65 - Rias Gremory's Bottom Lips
Chapter 66 - Search Plan