LRAB Chapter 408: An Arrangement
Chapter 408: An Arrangement
Chapter 408: An Arrangement
“Come again?”
Wilhelm stared at Alex like he hadn’t heard her words correctly. Entirely within the realm of possibilities, since the Demon had a strange, multi-tonal vocal dissonance thanks to her unique biology. Unfortunately for the Hero, he hadn’t heard her wrong.
“Sex...” Alex carefully enunciated with all the patience of a schoolteacher explaining a new word to a dim student. “Or fucking... Is Required... For Eir’s Ritual... To work...”
Eir, who was sitting next to Alex, closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh through her nose.
“Thank you, Alex, for your succinct explanation.”
“You are welcome...”
Wilhelm’s face, which had just started to return to normal from his earlier embarrassment, had flushed anew with a fresh and even more extreme blush.
“I—I had no idea, I did not—I did not mean to imply anything—Oh gods, Jocelyn, my sincerest apologies! I didn’t—What did I—”
The cackling laughter coming from Kerr, Amarantha, Tiernan, and Ludger did a good job of drowning out the Hero’s awkward and stuttered apologies. The man really had no tolerance for innuendos. Jadis couldn’t help but smile at his extreme reaction, and she saw that others in both her and his party were doing their best to hide their amusement. The only two who didn’t look entertained were Jocelyn and Lucia. The former because she was too busy trying to shrink into herself out of shared embarrassment, and the latter because the pale therion had a poker face to rival Vraekae.
“Well, well,” Ludger put a big arm around his shorter friend, bringing the Hero in close. “Willy, you finally have a good excuse to lose that chastity you have been holding onto for so long! State sponsored sex!”
“Lud!” Wilhelm shouted while he shoved his laughing friend off of him. “You go too far!”
“Yeah, that ain’t happening,” Dys stated dryly as she folded her arms across her chest. “Not even with the excuse ‘for the good of the empire’ behind it.”
“I am speaking in jest, of course,” Ludger quickly said as he held up both hands in apology. “Such unions should not be so... heartlessly done.”
“The more time I spend around you and your companions, the more fascinating little tidbits I discover,” Amarantha mused, having finally calmed down from her explosive laughter. “A sex-based ritual? For an oracle, no less. May I ask, is that Lyssandria’s influence? I know her aspects can be somewhat naughty at times.”
“No, that’s my influence,” Jay answered after seeing that Eir was still looking a little lost. “I have my own sex-based ritual class and that has a tendency to sway the class options of my close companions. It’s why the high priests have been debating as to whether or not I count as some kind of alternate Hero, just without the title.”
“I have heard some of that debate,” Tiernan said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “From some of the scholars, since coming back to the capital. Not a lot of time to look into it, not with all of the excitement, but I’d like to ask you a few of my own questions about that.”
While Jadis offered her tentative agreement to the gnome’s request, Halvor scoffed and shook his head at the wizard.
“Of course that’s what you focus on. A beautiful woman surrounded by more beautiful women says that they do sex rituals and all you can think about are scholarly debates.”
Switching his attention to Jay, the barbarian raised his mug in mock salute.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
“Skål! Some fools have all the luck. Where are my fucking fuck rituals, eh?”
“I don’t think it’s that worth being envious over,” Ludger shrugged one big shoulder. “Casual sex is nice but finding the love of a woman who cares only for you, that is best.”
“So, what do you think?”
“Congratulations,” Lucia said, breaking the silence on her side of the table. “On becoming a parent.”
Lucia didn’t smile, really, but she wasn’t frowning either. It was hard to get a read on the stony paladin, but the meaning behind her words seemed genuine.
“Thank you,” Jay replied mildly. “I’m still getting used to the idea.”
“Which of your companions is the mother?”
“I am...” Alex answered without any reluctance.
“That makes sense, based on the class description,” the pale therion nodded once. “Congratulations to you as well.”
“Oh my,” Jocelyn chimed in as one delicate hand covered her mouth. “So unexpected... A new species? I’ve never heard of such a thing. I agree with Lucia, though. Congratulations to you both! I... well, I assume Eir already has everything well in hand, but if you are in need of a healer, I can assist with any pregnancy issues you might have. I apprenticed to a midwife when I was much younger. I suppose a demonic pregnancy would not be all that different considering your looks....?”
“Ja, ja, well wishes to the happy couple, your fucking was successful,” Halvor said as he leaned forward on the table. He and Ludger had stopped fighting about halfway through Jadis’ class description explanation and he was now rubbing at the black eye Ludger had given him. “Did that Cycle Break class say multiple gods would lend their power? Hva er det!? That is insanity! How have you not already taken such a class?”
“Hm, I don’t know...” Amarantha mused as she folded her front paws under her body as she lay down on the table. “The other classes on offer are quite enticing as well. I can see why Jadis would have trouble making a choice, especially when you have so many expectations settled on your shoulders.”
“Tell me about it,” Syd grumbled.
“A plight I think we share,” Wilhelm spoke softly, a bemused look on his face as he leaned back in his chair. “I can’t argue. You do indeed have a difficult choice in front of you. Oh, and yes, congratulations to you both.”
“What’s a succubi?” Ludger asked after wiping some blood from his split lip.
“No one would know now, would they?” Tiernan frowned at the big man. “It’s a new species. That means no one has ever seen one before.”
“I did not think that a new species could be made,” Rein murmured as he raked his hawkish gaze across Alex. “But I suppose a mix between a Demon and other life has never happened before. I also did not think that more than one god would lend their power to one class. Has that ever been recorded?”
“I have found a few references to classes like that,” Aila replied to the gray elf. “Usually, they are priests who are dedicated to worshipping all of the Nine equally. However, I have read of a few notable people in history who apparently held classes which were granted by multiple gods, including a few companions to previous Heros.”
“Nothing Aila found really compares to Cycle Breaker, though,” Jay clarified. “Which is, again, why I really do want to ask D some questions about these class options.”
“Maybe we can offer a compromise, then?”
Everyone’s attention turned to Jocelyn. The oracle had one finger held against her chin as she stared off into the middle distance, her mind focused on some internal thought. When she realized that her quiet words had caught the interest of the rest of the room, she folded her hands in her lap and sat up straight while clearing her throat.
“What I mean to say is, my oracle’s ritual will be recharged in six days,” Jocelyn spoke calmly as she nodded towards Eir. “The Emperor has requested that Eir use her ritual right away, since too much time has passed already. The longer we wait, the further any fleeing cultists may go, or the more time they have to enact further atrocities. But six days isn’t too long of a delay to answer your class-related questions, is it, Jadis?”
Six days. Jadis could live with six days.