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Ruler Vol 6 Chapter 19

Author: Anit666

Editor: Weasalopes

【Sam’s POV】

“Don’t worry, I’m already satisfied with this.”

Wow, that just broke my already non-existent heart. She’s satisfied with this much; the sentence itself is not noteworthy, but the implication of being spoken by Phiria sure is.

Phiria possesses an indomitable will when it comes to her love for me; the entire universe could be flipped over and her love would be the only constant thing. To make her give up, one would have to overturn reality itself and make it so that I never met her (a feat which can only be achieved by Schrodinger).

Her saying that she’s completely satisfied with a date where I put just a little bit of effort shows just how little she truly expects of me. Her love for me and her desire for me to love her back are unshakeable, but perhaps deep down she believes that her wish will never be fulfilled.

Well, if I was in her place, I would have believed the same. It has been five millennia since she declared her love for me. While I did accept her feelings, I never reciprocated them. I’ve always made sure to maintain a certain distance from her, all the while taking advantage of her feelings to use her as a pawn, just to fulfil my own love.

Of course, a woman of her calibre would realise that she’s being used, no matter how blinded by love she is. She has accepted that in the name of her love, but over time, she has begun to expect only that of me.

And that, my dear Phiria, is where you have failed.

“Good for you, I guess.”

Of course, my inner thoughts remain unknown to her; it’s not like I don’t have any way of stopping her from reading my mind. That’s what I excel in, in fact.

“Yes, it is.” She gave a slight smile.

“Anyway, I would be troubled if you’re satisfied with just this.”

Like, seriously. I dunno what she’ll end up doing in her ecstasy if the following date events turn out to be far better than what she had imagined. Even after all that analysis, the chaotic part of Phiria- that isn’t reliant on her rational one- can never be ignored.

“I can’t wait to see what you have in store for me.”

I let go of my embrace.

We were currently in a flying fortress (though it’s smaller so I should call it a mansion, I guess?) way above the market we had just been in. We were brought here by a teleportation portal when we walked through that door in the alley. Of course, it was set up by Faultier beforehand while making several miniscule manipulations to ensure that Phiria wouldn’t recognise the owner of that portal or where it opened. The surprise would have been ruined if she knew, after all.

“To think you would bring out the Bolzman. I’m impressed.” She commented while we were going upstairs.

“I couldn’t have anything less than the best for a lady who is nothing but the best.”

“Quite the charmer, aren’t we?” She giggled.

This small flying castle, Bolzman, was a gift I once gave to Stolz for winning a competition. It had three floors, and the top floor had a lavish bedroom accompanied with a large balcony. A table and two chairs had been set-up there to be our destination today.

Of course, the Bolzman was a fortress which could defend on its own against attacks and sieges, and also had the special capability which made it- and its inhabitants- invisible against all senses and abilities.

Like, it would be beyond troublesome if someone saw me with a flying fortress.

Soon enough, we reached the topmost floor of the fortress, right in front of the bedroom.

“After you, my lady.” I opened the door for her.

She stepped in and I followed, and this time, what greeted us wasn’t a distortion in space-time, but Stolz. Donned in a black suit and white gloves, he courteously bowed to welcome us.

⟦I’ve been meaning to ask this, but aren’t the Knights of Sins usable only with that piano?⟧ Simone interjected.

⟦The Devil’s Enchanter has a function where it can autonomously play music to let those bound to it do simple tasks. Of course, they cannot battle in that mode.⟧

It’s not Malphas’ trump card for nothing.

⟦That’s really convenient… wait, so casting magic doesn’t come under fighting?⟧

⟦It’s fine as long as they don’t use attack or defence magic.⟧

Support and everyday magic are allowed under the automatic mode of the Enchanter.

Stolz led us towards the balcony where, as I had stated earlier, was a table and two chairs set up. A candelabra sat atop the centre of the table, silhouetted by the moon shining in the dark sky. Stolz lit up the candles for us, and left with a nod. I pulled a chair for Phiria.

“Thank you.” She took her seat with a smile.

I circled around and took my own seat. The moment I sat, lightning crackled and thunder boomed. Within an instant, dark stormy clouds gathered above and below the fortress. In the next instant, it began to pour, with occasional strikes of lightning lighting up our surroundings.

“Oh my.” Phiria gasped. “You have my tastes down to perfection.”

Yup, as I had expected.

Just like me, Phiria loved rain and thunder, enough that she’d change the weather herself and soak in the rain whenever she was too bored. So, what better atmosphere than rain for our dinner? Though it’s another story that worsening the weather (that’s how inferior beings classify it when weather changes from sunny to rainy) comes under the attack class of magic, so Faultier needed a little help from someone else.

Of course, to make sure that our conversations wouldn’t be interrupted, a sound barrier had been erected around us that didn’t let sounds above a certain decibel value in. So, while we could hear the pitter-patter of the rain, we couldn’t hear the thunder accompanying the flashes of lightning.

“Anything for you, Phiria.”

Hmm, did I get the tone right?

“…You’re playing boyfriend too perfectly, almost as if you… have done this before.” She squinted.

“Don’t worry, you’re my first.”

“Well, don’t fret, the things you have done in your past to betray me don’t bother me. I’m interested only in the current you.”

No, she’s seriously the first living creature I have ever gone on a proper date with.

Anyway, time for the much-awaited candlelight dinner.

I clapped, and a portal opened from which Lust appeared while pushing a trolley, the top of which was lined up with several dishes.

“So, today’s chefs are the Knights of Sin?”

“Of course. Only the finest of cuisines prepared by the finest of chefs for the… finest of ladies.”

Huh, didn’t I use a similar line before? Gosh, gotta work on my flirting skills.

“I wish you were like that every day.” Phiria giggled.

That would be expecting too much of me.

Today we were going to have God’s Realm traditional 4-course Hochinālta meal. A course of the highest class, it started off with the appetizer which usually consisted of fruits from the End Emptiness, followed by soup, then the main course centred around meat from sheep reared in Heaven and accompanied by wine aged for a million years, then finally dessert. Depending on the diner, a wine drinking session was also customary.

Today’s chef was Lust, who was arguably the best chef in Hell. Her cooking was literally to die for. A classic dinner like this was incomplete without music, but adding that would have made this dinner too formal so I didn’t.

Too many formalities would bind Phiria, which would ultimately stop her from having the most fun and reduce her charm. As her one-day-boyfriend, it’s my duty to ensure that doesn’t happen.

“I can’t wait to start.” She smiled like a child as the hors d’oeuvre were served to us along with two glasses of wine.

Now, time for a little trick.

“Ah, that reminds me. About Chloe-”

“Hey, don’t talk about others when we’re together! If you do, you’ll have to finish an entire glass!” She harrumphed.

Oh? That reaction was better than I expected.

“I understand. Ah, how about a game?”

“What type of game?”

“Whenever I talk about something related to us, I’ll finish a glass. In return, you’ll have to drink whenever you flirt with me. How about it?”

“I’m on.” She gulped down the contents of her glass. “I love you.”

Heh. She has no idea that today’s wine is none other than the Cromali Rosante, a wine that is made by fermenting blood of the Original Valkyries for a hundred thousand years. After being processed, it is then aged for a hundred million years. Rumoured to be delicious beyond compare, only 800 bottles were ever made of this wine, 600 of which were with me.

I’m thankful I took the time to plunder Malphas’ basement after killing him.

The Cromali Rosante had the capability of bypassing all (and I mean all) poison resistance or nullification abilities to directly make a person drunk. Of course, it’d work on the highest-ranking Goddess as well.

Once again, all according to my keikaku. Sometimes, my genius, it almost scares me.

The meal started, and as I had expected, Phiria couldn’t resist flirting with me; she wouldn’t be Phiria if she could do that. It was easy for me to avoid talking about others, so by the end of the main course, she was really drunk while I was dead sober.

“Aahhhh, my head hurts! You should have told me that we were drinking Cromali…”

I’ll keep that in mind next time- not that there’d be one.

She had wandered into the bedroom after finishing her drinks, and was now leaning against the side of the bed.

“Geez, you should sleep on the bed, not the floor.” I tried getting her up, but she grabbed my hand and pulled me down instead.

Due to our position my arm went around her shoulder, and she responded by burying herself deeper into me. Her eyes were closed, while a warm, gentle smile adorned her face.

“You know, Sam…?”

“Yes?”

“I’m really happy.”

Oh?