WIEDERGEBURT Act III: Chapter 21

The gathering of people had grown silent as they turned toward our group, watching as Gudmund bowed in front of Fay and requested a spar. Many of them began whispering. It seemed they had no intention of interfering with what was happening.

Should I intervene? I wanted to step in and tell the man to get away from Fay and stop bothering her, but I also didn’t know if that was the appropriate thing to do in this situation.

I looked at Fay, who hadn’t answered the man’s question yet. She looked indecisive. Worrying her lower lip ever so slightly, eyes shaking with uncertainty, she couldn’t seem to figure out how to answer this guy.

I finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“Fay—” I went to her side and placed my hand in hers “—do you want to spar with this guy?”

Gudmund twitched when I called him “this guy,” but I honestly didn’t care whether I upset him or not. This ass had been looking at my fiance. I wasn’t going to let him get away with leering at her so blatantly, but I also knew I couldn’t do anything overt since all he’d done was stare. On the outside, he was acting like the perfect gentleman.

“I…”

Fay still didn’t seem to know what she wanted to do, or what she should do. Throughout most of this party, she’d really just been following me and Kari, so I was sure suddenly being called out like this had left her in a bind.

“I think you should accept his request for a spar,” Kari said suddenly, stepping forward. “There’s nothing wrong with a little sparring match between two people.”

Fay looked at Kari and her eyes finally began shining with determination. She turned back to Gudmund and nodded.

“Okay. I accept your request for a spar.”

“Excellent!” Gudmund smiled. “In that case, just follow me onto the stage and we can begin.”

Gudmund hopped onto the stage in the center of the room. After a moment of hesitation, Fay let go of my hand and jumped on as well. I wondered who was going to be the referee for this match, but then Dante suddenly appeared within the crowd. He leapt onto the stage and looked at the two with a big grin.

“Since you two have decided to spar, I’ll be the referee for this match. Hope that’s okay.”

While Dante didn’t leave Gudmund any room to refuse his decision, the younger man didn’t seem too bothered by it. He smiled at the older man, nodded, and said, “Of course. I’d be honored if you could referee our spar, Lord Dante.”

“Same here,” Fay said.

“Okay then.” Dante rubbed his hands together, looking excited to finally be doing something other than talking to a bunch of snooty nobles, or maybe I was projecting. “Let’s get this match started. Will the two combatants please take their positions?”

I hadn’t realized Dante was attending this party, but now that I knew he was here, I looked around and found Empress Hilda, Rainer, and Valence also in attendance. Thinking on it, there’s no way they wouldn’t the empress and her husbands wouldn’t be at a party hosted by the Eieran family. As they spotted me, Kari, and Lin, the group led by Empress Hilda herself smiled at me.

“It seems you’ve gotten caught up in something excited,” Empress Hilda said by way greeting. Her eyes were glittering with a somewhat mischievous light.

“When are we not?” I asked, joking back.

“This princess doesn’t understand what is going on.” Lin crossed her arms as she looked at the stage where Gudmund and Fay were standing several meters from each other with Dante in between them. “Why did that man pick a fight with Fay?”

“It’s likely because there’s a vacant spot among the Three Heavenly Families,” Empress Hilda informed the girl. “There have always been Three Heavenly Families since Nevaria’s founding. However, the current families were not always members of the Three Heavenly Families. The title of Heavenly Family is given to the most powerful and influential families within Nevaria, so it is subject to change. For example, the Leucht Family had actually not been a Heavenly Family until about two hundred years ago when the Streik Family, who had been a member of the Three Heavenly Families at the time, suddenly vanished.”

“Vanished?” I asked.

“The entire family just disappeared one night,” Empress Hilda said with a shrug. “Nobody knows if they tried to leave Nevaria or if another family somehow managed to slaughter them all over night. There wasn’t a single trace of evidence to suggest either thing happened, and yet, the entire family literally just vanished in a single night and no one heard about them.”

Because I had never been anything more than a simple librarian in my previous life, I didn’t know anything about nobles except the basics. I already learned that there was a lot about Nevaria I’d never known before. Hearing about this new information confirmed that I still had a long way to go.

While I was thinking about how much I still didn’t know, Lin remained unconvinced of something.

“That’s interesting, but what does that have to do with the reason this guy is challenging Fay?” she asked.

“It’s because with the Leucht Family gone, there is now an open seat amongst the Three Heavenly Families,” Kari explained. “The Three Heavenly Families is more than just a title. They hold real power within Nevaria. While Mother is the empress and sets down all the rules, she doesn’t have complete control over every matter within Nevaria. The Three Heavenly Families could easily cause trouble if she does something they don’t approve of. Just imagine how much chaos would spread if even one of them decided to rebel against the Astralia Royal Family. You’ve already seen what happened with the Leucht Family.”

“This princess does remember what they did.” Lin shuddered from her head all the way to her tail. “However, what will fighting Fay accomplish? This princess still fails to see how fighting her will give this man and his family any power.”

“It’s because Fay is strong,” I was finally able to answer her. “Strength is everything in Nevaria. The strong rule the weak. That is how it’s always been. If Gudmund can prove that he’s strong, then he can elevate his family’s reputation within Nevaria and this will give them a higher chance of taking over the Leucht Family’s position.”

“That is exactly it,” Empress Hilda said, sounding impressed.

Lin furrowed her brow. “But if this man wants to prove his strength, wouldn’t he be better off fighting you? Fay is really strong. She might even be the strongest among us three. But she’s nowhere near as strong as you are, Darling.”

I smiled at this, but it wasn’t a very nice smile. My lips twisted into a sardonic grin that made Lin furrow her brow even more.

“It is because I’m so strong that he won’t fight me,” I answered her.

Lin didn’t look like she understood at first, but after another half a second had passed, her eyes lit up with comprehension. She smiled, nodded, and puffed out her small chest.

“He knows he would lose,” she said with pride in her voice. “That makes sense. There’s no way this man has the strength to defeat this princess’s darling.”

“Yes.” Kari smiled, her eyes twinkling with a mischievous light. “’Darling’ is a little too powerful for him, so he picked a fight with the next strongest person he can afford to beat without offending anyone.”

As we were talking, Dante stood between the two combatants. Fay had removed her shoulder cape so it wouldn’t get in the way of her movements, which meant everyone could see her bare back. I didn’t want to brag or anything. However, Fay had some of the nicest back muscles I’d ever seen. They were slender, but rippling with power and strength. One of my favorite activities after having sex with her was kissing her back.

“Since we’re in the middle of a ballroom, let’s keep this fight to simple martial arts,” Dante said. “The use of Spiritual Techniques is prohibited. That said, you can use your Spiritual Aura.”

“I believe that will be fine,” Gudmund said as he suddenly released his Spiritual Power. A bright green aura surrounded him. The ethereal flames flickered around his body and cast a green glow upon his surroundings.

“So he has a wind affinity,” I muttered. “That’s pretty rare in Nevaria. I think most people have fire affinities, though a few also have lightning and water. Earth is another rare affinity for here.”

“Is a wind affinity strong?” asked Lin.

“It’s not so much that a wind affinity is strong,” I began with a frown. “Each element has its own strengths and weaknesses. Wind is an element that can be used to either create powerful cutting blades or cause damage via blunt force trauma. It’s one of the more offensive elements like fire and lightning. That said, a lot of people underestimate wind because it isn’t as flashy as the other two elements, which is a big mistake. Wind isn’t something you should underestimate.”

Lin nodded. “In the Endless Desert, the wind is harsh and can cut into your flesh if you aren’t careful. Wind also brings sandstorms that can last for months. This princess understands.”

While we were talking, a bright red Spiritual Aura appeared around Fay, but just before it could fully erupt, the aura was quickly sucked back into her body. Now instead of ethereal flames erupting around her, a soft red glow permeated her body.

Gudmund sucked in a deep breath. “You’ve reached the Second State of Spiritualism.”

It wasn’t a question, but Fay answered anyway.

“I have.”

“In that case…” Gudmund took another deep breath, gritted his teeth, and then sucked his Spiritual Aura back into his body. The process was much slower than when Fay did it. Also, his Spiritual Aura was occasionally leaking out. It looked like he’d only recently reached the Second State of Spiritualism. “I haven’t mastered the Second State of Spiritualism as you have, so I hope you’ll go easy on me.”

The words were said in something of a joking manner, but I had the feeling he was being quite serious. I glanced from Gudmund to Fay. She didn’t seem any different than before, not to anyone who didn’t know her, but I could see the very small smile that had caused her lips to curl. While Fay might have expressed uncertainty before, now she was actually looking forward to this match.

“I can’t make any promises,” Fay said.

“Ah ha ha ha. I guess I can’t expect any less than that.”

“It seems both of you are ready,” Dante said with a soft chuckle. “In that case, let the match begin in three… two… one… start!”

Dante quickly hopped back to the edge of the stage. Meanwhile, Fay wasted no time in rushing forward. She didn’t use the Flash Step since Spiritual Techniques were currently prohibited, but that didn’t mean much on such a small stage. Fay was faster than most people even without the Flash Step, and that was when she hadn’t entered the Second State of Spiritualism. With all of her physical abilities increased several times over, she was even faster now.

She attacked quickly with a powerful jab from the left. Gudmund raised his forearm to block the attack, but a loud bang like an explosion going off echoed from where he was hit, and he stumbled backward. I could already tell from a glance at his arm that while his bones weren’t broken, he probably had a hairline fracture. It was swollen and red.

Despite injuring her opponent, Fay didn’t relent as she lifted her foot high into the air, until it was over her head, and then let it fall. The heel drop was so sudden and swift that Gudmund was barely able to avoid the attack. I was pretty sure Fay’s heel scraped off several epidermal layers of skin from his nose. Her attack slammed into the platform floor with such force and power that cracks spread across the stone.

Murmurs went up among the audience.

“I never knew Fay Valstine was so powerful!”

“She wasn’t this strong during the Spiritualist Grand Tournament!”

“I heard she’s been training with Lord Eryk and Princess Kari. Is it any wonder she’s that strong?”

“She’s also a part of the new group that Eryk Veiger created, right?”

“Yes, the Nevarian Braves is what they are being called. I wonder if everyone in the group is that strong?”

“Probably not, but even if they only have half the strength that Fay does, they’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

I couldn’t help but smile as I listened to the people as they talked. Whether Fay realized it or not, she was doing an excellent job of representing the Nevarian Braves. People were becoming interested. I didn’t doubt that this sparring match would bring in even more customers who wanted to file quests with our sect.

Taking a single step forward, Fay launched two very fast straight jabs that nearly caught Gudmund in the chest. He took a stumbling step back, which allowed him to barely avoid being struck hard, but one of the punches clipped his shoulder. I almost winced when a loud crack echoed from the blow. Fay’s strike was so powerful that even just being struck in the shoulder broke his bones and sent him sprawling to the floor.

“I declare this match over!” Dante announced. “The winner is Fay Valstine!”

As Dante declared a winner, the audience began clapping. Fay, whose breath had barely gotten heavy, blushed as the audience began cheering for her. She looked around with an uncertain and embarrassed gaze. Then her eyes landed on me.

I began walking toward the platform. However, I wasn’t the only one. A blur whizzed past me, which I soon realized was Kari. The blonde girl’s hair trailed behind her like streamers trapped in a breeze as she leapt onto the platform and raced toward Fay.

“You did it!” she cheered seconds before bowling over the poor redhead. Fay squawked as she went down under her friend’s assault. She landed on her back as Kari landed on top of her. The blonde girl placed her chin in the valley of Fay’s breasts and grinned at her. “You were really amazing, Fay! I’m so proud of how strong you’ve become!”

“T-thank you…” Fay muttered with an embarrassed blush.

A Spiritualist with a water affinity had gone over to Gudmund and was healing his broken shoulder and the hairline fracture in his arm. Meanwhile, I grabbed the cape that Fay had discarded before the fight began. As I walked over to Fay and Kari, my first fiance climbed off her best friend and future sister, then grabbed Fay’s hand and pulled her up.

“Fay,” I said when I stopped in front of her.

“Eryk…” Fay tilted her head down, the bangs shifting to hover around her face as she flicked her eyes to look up at me. “How did I do?”

“You were incredible,” I said as I reattached her shoulder cape. I moved closer than I needed to as I did this, leaned forward until my mouth was pressed to her ear, and whispered, “Seeing you fighting like that was really hot. You don’t know how aroused watching you kick ass made me.”

“R-really?!” Fay asked with a shocked squeak. However, through the shock, I could also sense her heavy breathing.

“Really,” I continued whispering in her ear. “If I could, I’d take you right now.”

I leaned back and smiled at Fay, whose face was so red it looked like her head might explode.

Gudmund walked up to our group and rubbed the back of his head. He was wearing a sheepish smile that made him seem harmless, but his sharp eyes were telling me a completely different story.

“It looks like I really underestimated your strength,” he said. He stuck out his hand. “It was an honor sparring with you. I feel like I learned a lot.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

Fay grabbed his hand. It looked like she was going to shake it, but then Gudmund leaned down like a knight swearing allegiance to a princess and placed a kiss on her knuckles. The world seemed to stand still for me as I watched this. Someone was kissing Fay. It might have been on the back of the hand, but they were still kissing Fay. My Fay. An intense feeling welled up inside of me, and it took everything I had not to break this man’s face in.

The rest of the night passed by in a blur.

***

I heaved a tired sigh as I sat heavily on the couch, my body slumping the moment I touched the soft leather cushions. I honestly felt like I could have gone to sleep right there. I was tired in both mind and body. I didn’t think it was possible for me to feel this tired since I literally didn’t do anything but walk around and talk, but I think having to socialize with so many people was simply an exhausting task… maybe even more so than fighting the Sekbeists.

“You worked really hard today,” Kari said with a small smile as she knelt in front of me.

“I don’t know how you managed to do this every time you went to one of these functions with your mom,” I muttered with a tired sigh.

Kari kept up her smile as she shrugged. “It’s something you get used to.”

“This princess does not believe she will ever get used to attending balls like that,” Lin said as she sat down on my left and cuddled close to me. I shifted my arm so I could give her a one-armed hug. Maybe I was just becoming a pervert, but the feeling of her body pressing against me had a strangely rejuvenating effect.

“I believe I am with Lin on this matter.” Fay sat on my other side, though she didn’t get close like Lin did, being the most reserved of my fiances. “Having all those people come up to us and ask so many personal questions was honestly the most trying experience I’ve ever had. It was especially bad when those girls came up and began asking about our personal life.”

At those words, Fay suddenly blushed. She was probably remembering what happened.

A group of girls around our age had gone up to Fay after she defeated Gudmund. I hadn’t been paying attention at the time because I was still reeling from shock over that man kissing Fay (sure, it was on the hand, but it still pissed me off), so I wasn’t paying much attention when Fay became surrounded by a gaggle of female Spiritualists. They had apparently asked her all kinds of questions. Most of them had been about her training regiment, but a few were apparently far more personal.

“Not interested in telling those women about what you and Eryk have been up to in bed?” asked Kari with a surprisingly salacious smile.

Fay looked appalled by the very idea.

“Please don’t joke around like that,” she said, her cheeks combusting.

“Women love to gossip.” With a helpless shrug, Kari smiled as if saying we had no choice but to accept it. “Whether they are Spiritualists or commoners, a good majority of women love to get all the juicy gossip they can about whoever is popular at the time. Right now, that is us. More specifically, it’s Eryk?”

“Why would I be popular?” I asked.

Kari’s deadpan stare made me look away. “Surely you can guess. You appeared out of nowhere, winning the Spiritualist Grand Tournament with ease, turning around the Alchemist Association into something worthy of being considered a top-ranked group in Nevaria, getting engaged to me, Fay, and Lin, and then saving the entire city from destruction by defeating Hagan Leucht. To top it off, you’ve done all that in less than six months. How can people not be curious about you?”

“Well… when you put it like that, I guess I don’t have any room to argue.”

I couldn’t quite contain my grimace. Of course, I had known that I would become a well-known figure. Not only that, but I had planned on using the resulting fame to catapult my sect’s reputation in order to increase our patronages. After all, the more people we had filing quests with us, the more money we would bring in, which meant more money to further expand the Nevarian Braves and help strengthen Nevaria as a whole. However, while my idea was obviously a good one, seeing how it was clearly working, I had forgotten about the negative aspects that came with fame.

Namely, everyone wants to know your personal business.

“At least the party is over now,” Kari said as if trying to give us the silver lining. “I doubt we’ll have to attend another one in a long time. Even if we get invited, we can decline them with the justification that we’re a new business and can’t afford to step away for too long. That said, you three should be prepared to attend more balls at some point. We can’t avoid them forever.”

Three simultaneous groans erupted from me, Fay, and Lin. Kari’s sympathetic smile let us know she felt our pain. I was sure she felt it better than all three of us combined. She’d probably had to attend many such functions in the past.

Since we couldn’t remain on the couch forever, all four of us traveled downstairs to the private bathing room. Our bath was fairly quick compared to how long we usually took. That said, I wouldn’t have called it short either. We spent a good fifteen minutes luxuriating in the hot waters of the bath, relying on the heat to soothe our weariness and relax our muscles.

After removing ourselves from the bath, we toweled off, got dressed in what we’d been wearing, and made our way back to our living quarters. I thought it kind of sucked that we didn’t have a bath in our room. Thanks to the architecture, baths weren’t placed on the second floors of buildings in Nevaria like they were in the Northern Plains. Of course, the Northern Plains also used showers. Speaking of, just how was I going to introduce that concept to Nevaria?

We made our way upstairs with minimal conversation between us and anyone we passed. Fortunately, only a few of the Spiritualists working for us lived at the headquarters. We didn’t have that many rooms, so we wouldn’t be able to let too many people live here. I was actually thinking we might have to end up buying some complexes close by to house Spiritualists who wanted to live near the headquarters. Thinking on it, we might also need to charge rent…

It was with these thoughts swirling through my head that I entered my bedroom with Kari, Lin, and Fay.

The bedroom was a massive room easily twice the size of the second bedroom, though it wasn’t as large as the living room. It featured a bed that was about eight meters long and four across. The bed didn’t have a size name assigned to it, but I called it epic-sized. The rest of our room was fairly plain at the moment. We had some tapestries for decorations, a few bookshelves, and a place to set our weapons and armor. The Dragon’s Tail Ruler, Kari’s ranseur, and Fay’s gauntlets were all hanging from a rack on the wall.

All of us discarded our clothing and changed into our night wear. My clothes really weren’t much. I didn’t wear a shirt because the girls unanimously decided they liked the warmth of my skin more than the feel of fabric. I was just wearing a pair of long pants made from fleece. It was very comfortable and warm.

The girls looked far more spectacular than me.

Kari had taken to wearing a pair of simple shorts that rode so far up her hips it didn’t even cover her ass. Her shirt, which only had two thin strings keeping it from slipping off, was very light and let me see her nipples poking into the fabric. I was honestly tempted to lean down and take her nipples in my mouth through her clothes.

I glanced over at Fay next. She was the most modest of the group. Her flannel pants went down to the middle of her calves. Meanwhile, she had donned a simple shirt. It was a size too small, so the fabric stretched across her breasts, but she seemed to prefer it that way. I could also see a hint of her stomach. The small glimpse of her six pack would have made me harder than a rock if I wasn’t so tired.

As the least modest of the entire group, Lin was not wearing anything down below. Her plump pussy, covered in soft scales, was completely exposed and actually caused my dick to twitch despite me being so tired. She did wear a top. However, the top only covered the bare necessities. I couldn’t see her nipples, but I could see pretty much everything else.

Despite the incredibly enticing sight, I really was too tired to do anything with them, so I pulled back the covers and crawled into bed. The three of them followed me in. I soon found myself nestled between a bundle of feminine flesh, with Kari taking my right arm and shoulder, Fay taking my left, and Lin lying directly on top of me.

Within the warmth of their embrace, I shut my eyes and immediately fell asleep.