"This ... surprisingly tastes just like my mother’s pie," Lucian murmured, his voice laced with nostalgia.
They were curled up on the couch together, Medeia lazily leaning against his arm while Lucian fed her another spoonful of blueberry pie. He took a bite himself, savoring the flavor.
Harry had told them to get to the soldiers’ jail quickly since the prisoners would be waking up soon, but neither of them showed any sign of moving.
Instead, they silently agreed: they weren’t going anywhere until every last crumb of pie was gone.
"The system gave me your mom’s recipe," Medeia said, licking a stray bit of filling from her lips. "But I didn’t expect it to taste that spot-on." She opened her mouth as Lucian playfully hovered another spoonful in front of her lips. "Was your mother a good cook?"
"She didn’t cook often," Lucian admitted. "But when she did, we never left the table with empty plates. We’d always go back for more." His lips curled into a small smile. "So yeah, she was amazing."
Medeia found herself smiling too. "I wish I could’ve tasted it firsthand." She nudged him lightly before adding, "But hey, we can always recreate her dishes later. I bet the system can hand me all the recipes ... as long as I pay, of course."
That damn greedy system was probably having the time of its life, rubbing its greedy little hands together at the thought of draining her bank balance even more.
Speaking of the devil, hadn’t it been about to announce her level-up earlier?
’Hey, system, announce my achievement again,’ Medeia ordered, tapping her fingers impatiently against her thigh.
Without a moment’s delay, the system obediently chimed in.
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 32!]
[Stat increase: +3,100 MP (Total: 57,600), +1,450 HP (Total: 20,800), Defense: +45 (Total: 200)]
[Reward Item: Titan’s Aegis (Grade-SS) – Effect: A shield infused with unbreakable magic, absorbing 60% of incoming damage and reflecting 35% back to the attacker.]
A shield? Seriously? Medeia had never needed one. Every single enemy she’d faced crumbled at her feet before they could even land a hit.
[Don’t be so full of yourself, Host!]
[You might encounter someone stronger than you in the future! And this shield could be the only thing keeping you alive!]
’I have Lucian. He’s more useful than any shield.’
Before she could argue further, the system chimed in again.
[New Romance Quest: Make Love with Lucian in Demon Form (Grade-SSS)]
[Time Limit: 7 Days.]
Medeia immediately bolted upright. "Are you kidding me?!" she shouted.
Lucian, startled by her sudden outburst, turned to her. "What’s wrong?"
"I’m sorry," she sighed heavily, pressing her fingers to her temples. "The system just gave me the most ridiculous quest."
She had just promised Lucian that she’d let him fuck her in her demon form, but that was supposed to be something they could do whenever they felt like it. Now, the system had thrown a bus at her by turning it into a damn quest.
Now, he had to fuck her in seven days!
Lucian arched an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. "A quest like what?"
If Medeia told Lucian about her romance quest now, he’d absolutely take it as an invitation for round two. And that was not an option because everyone was already waiting for them.
Besides, she had just transformed into her demon form a few hours ago. There was no way they could just sit around and wait for her to recover.
Waiting before sex? That killed the mood! It had to be spontaneous, like a bomb ready to explode at any second.
"Nothing." Medeia groaned. "I’ll tell you later."
Thankfully, Lucian didn’t press her for answers. He just nodded in response.
Once they finished the last of the blueberry pie, they had no more excuses to stay holed up in their room. Sure, other people could handle the situation outside, but they still needed to monitor things to make sure nothing unexpected happened.
Medeia groaned the entire way down the corridor as her stomach started acting up again. Was it because Lucian pounded her too hard on the table? Well, she had asked for it, so it wasn’t his fault.
"If your stomach still hurts later, let’s go see Dr. Joy," Lucian suggested.
They could have asked Sister Jeanne to heal her, but since Medeia’s level had skyrocketed past hers, Jeanne’s abilities wouldn’t do much for her anymore.
’If only I could level up other people’s grades ...’ Then their base could be a hell of a lot stronger in the future.
"I’m fine," Medeia said. "It’s just a stomachache, not a stab wound."
"But you did just get stabbed—"
Lucian immediately shut his mouth when Medeia shot him a glare. He chuckled, slipping an arm around her waist to support her.
"I’m just joking, so please, don’t look at me like that."
As they stepped out of the base building, they saw a crowd had already gathered around the makeshift jail Lucian had built to contain the soldiers with chips implanted in their heads. Meanwhile, the ten young soldiers they had just captured were being held in the meeting room.
"Where the hell have you two been?!" Naomi snapped, pointing the flute in her hand straight at Medeia. The tip nearly jabbed her in the face before she stopped walking. "These soldiers are about to wake up, and you just disappear?!"
"We were fucking," Medeia replied casually.
Naomi and the people around them went completely speechless. The air turned awkward in an instant, but Medeia had no interest in fixing the atmosphere.
"We were just taking a break," Lucian added smoothly, laughing away the tension. "She wasn’t feeling well after pushing herself too hard, so I needed to stay with her." He lowered his head slightly in apology. "Sorry for keeping you all waiting."
Faced with someone as effortlessly polite as Lucian, it was impossible to stay mad. Naomi’s irritation immediately melted, and instead, she patted Medeia’s shoulder. "You should’ve told me if you weren’t feeling well!"
Medeia twitched slightly. Seriously? People rarely raised their voices at Lucian. He didn’t even have a seduction skill, yet his natural kindness never failed to win people over.
People with warm smiles are far scarier than demons.
"Let’s give them some space," Medeia said, motioning for the crowd to step back from the makeshift jail. "We don’t want them to wake up and freak out all over again."
Just like Lucian had said earlier, the soldiers hadn’t eaten anything since being brought to the Red Canyon. Medeia was confident they wouldn’t die from starvation, but she wasn’t sure if using the flute three times would shatter their mental state or not.
"We’ve brought a bunch of blankets," Ren said. "But why even bother? Can’t we just make them wear thick jackets instead?"
Medeia shook her head and clicked her tongue. "Tsk, tsk. Young man, you don’t understand the art of kindness."
Ren frowned. "What? Isn’t giving them a place to stay already an act of kindness?"
"But they don’t feel that kindness yet," Medeia said with a sly smile. "Our goal isn’t just to help them, but we need to convince them that everyone in this base is as kind and generous as an angel."
Naomi crossed her arms. "And what do blankets have to do with that?"
Medeia groaned dramatically before yanking Naomi’s jacket off her shoulders. Before Naomi could even protest, Medeia had already wrapped her in a thick, warm blanket.
"You must be freezing after standing guard for hours, Miss Naomi," Medeia cooed, softening her voice as she gently rubbed Naomi’s arms and shoulders, adding warmth to the gesture. "Here, we’ve prepared a cozy blanket just for you. And our cooks have also made some delicious hot soup to warm you up."
Naomi blinked a few times, her body relaxing against the warmth. For some reason, she really did feel better. "What ... what the hell? Why does this actually feel nice?!"
Medeia grinned before yanking the blanket away just as quickly, leaving Naomi scowling in irritation. "See? That’s how we make them feel cared for. If we play this right, they’ll think twice before assuming we’re the bad guys." She turned toward the makeshift jail. "Oh, and make sure they wake up facing that holy building."
The others followed her gaze to the church, which, day by day, was turning into the most well-maintained structure in the entire base. It seemed like people were pouring all their energy into that building instead of the others.
With its holy presence, the captured soldiers might actually start believing they were saved by some divine force instead of a bunch of questionable rebels.
Tian narrowed his eyes. "Wait ... you want us to talk to them like that?" His face darkened. "Was that supposed to be flirting or what?"
Medeia gasped. "Oh no, Tian, are you scared people will think you’re gay just because you talk nicely to another man? Ding, Dong! The world has ended! Who even cares anymore? Besides, wouldn’t it be nice to have a boyfriend who spoils you?"
Tian’s scowl deepened, his fist twitching like he was about to punch her.
"Alright, alright," Lucian stepped in between them, hands raised in surrender. "No flirting. Let’s just ... talk nicely without making it weird, okay?"