Chapter 10: A Plan in the Works

Authors notes :

When I first heard this song it made me remember what I wrote before. It would have been awesome to listen to this song instead of the other one. Haruka (Far away) Dragon ball super. I made improvements to this part.

It was night time, on top of Excalibur's highest peak overlooking all of Avalon with the full moon shining down on them. Morgan looking at him and smiled. Merlin looking down at the valley happy. The fairies were dancing and playing. Merlin said something to Morgan and then he logged out. Morgan was left alone with Nimue and Morgana. They silently looked at her, waiting for her command. She looked up at the moon and remembering all the good times they had playing together. She said something softly with a lone tear falling. The wind blew softly as if to caress her face and hair one last time. Behind her the ncps eyes wavered for a second, then they went back to normal as if nothing happened. She went into her room for the last time and left a message for Merlin. She sent out a longing look at the door. She arrived at the throne room and softly touched the thrones then she turned around getting one last look around her and logged out forever.

The two made their way through the halls of Castle Excalibur in relative silence going to the transporting circle on the third floor. Merlin took note of the maids that he occasionally passed by. He recognized most of them. How could he not? After all, they were Morgan's NPCs.

Unlike with a regular castle, the maids that worked here did not wear matching uniforms. Instead, they each wore a sexy maid uniform, designed in such a way to reflect their unique points. So far, none of them made a move to talk to him, a fact that he was inwardly grateful for. They arrived at a flight of stairs going up. Although he could have used the rings to move around the castle, he just wanted to spend some time with morgan. It was a good thing that he had personally designed it, though right now, he felt nothing but regret. Merlin cursed himself for making this too complex. Who needed a hundred bedrooms? 'Well, now it is being used to give them their room. Thank god, I have enough rooms for them, I hope.'

If he hadn't been so knowledgeable with the castle's layout, then he would have surely gotten lost by now. The duo had been walking for over five minutes, yet they were still a few minutes away from reaching their destination. The silence was nice. Merlin looked over to Morgan. She has a small smile on her face while looking at me. Our eyes met and she flushed a little and moved her eyes away hurriedly. Just as they reached the ground floor, a voice close by making him stop him.

"Master, where are you going?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin. The voice, while unmistakably feminine, was too taciturn for his liking. It was the same type of voice that a mother would use while admonishing her child. It brought up bad memories. Merlin slowly turned his head around, only to see a beautiful silver-haired woman. Grayfia Lucifuge is a beautiful young woman appearing to be in her early twenties with back-length silver hair that features a long braid on each side with small blue bows at the ends, while the rest is let down which ends in twin braids and red eyes. Her eyes were a dusty grey that reminded him of starlight. She was full-figured, and dressed in a navy-blue french maid uniform with a corset style mini dress with ruffled top, satin bow, rhinestone detail, sparkle skirt with faux apron, and oversized satin bow in back, matching ruffled neck piece and head piece.

She was not smiling, although he didn't expect her to. Her character was the kind to rarely show signs of open affection.

"Ah, Grayfia…"

Once he realized who she was, Merlin's shoulders unconsciously tensed. Like the others, she was another powerful NPC. The last thing he wanted was any unnecessary trouble, especially if said trouble led to bodily harm or punishment. Grayfia Lucifuge was another character from the series High School DxD.

As one might expect, Grayfia was a level 100 NPC. She also happened to be the designated head maid of Castle Excalibur. The silver-haired beauty was at about the same level of strength as Morgan and her position in the guild wasn't that far behind either. Speaking of which…

A cold sweat ran down his back. The situation was delicate, made more so by the looks the two were exchanging. Did they have some sort of grudge with each other or something? Why was Grayfia glaring at Morgan like that? And Morgan, why are you glaring back!?

Still, despite the stressful situation he found himself in, he managed to maintain a calm facade.

He opened his mouth to tell her where we are going, but Morgan beat him to it.

"Grayfia, move aside. My husband and I have something important to do." Her voice was cold, far colder than anything he had ever heard before.

"Something important? I do not recall anything like that in Merlin's agenda for the evening. Not counting what transported us to this place." Grayfia responded in an equally chilling tone.

'I have a schedule?' He thougght. Merlin really wanted to ask about that, but it pretty clear that now wasn't exactly the best time for questions.

"Of course you wouldn't know," Morgan retorted back with a large smug smile on her lips. "Merlin saw no desire to notify you."

Grayfia's eyes narrowed. "As the head maid of Castle Excalibur, I serve as Master's closest and most prominent aide. It is my duty to see to his every need and keep track of his every movement. You are hindering my job."

"It is my job as his wife to do that, especially not one like you who is just a maid."

"Do not demean my position with such an inane title." She took a step forward, her face inching closer to Morgan's as sparks crackled within her eyes. "Maybe you should do a better job as the queen, then? At the rate things are going, it won't take long before all Layers devolve into chaos."

"I am managing it just fine," she responded back with equal fervor. The tension in the air was practically palpable.

"It was Merlin who assigned me the position and I do not plan to disappoint him anytime soon."

"Then I find your efforts inadequate. Your presence near him is unneeded and quite frankly, it is detrimental to the sanctity of the guild."

"Detrimental?" Morgan tilted her head in confusion.

"Master has no need for a pervert like you by his side."

Morgan bristled at the comment. "I-I am no pervert! You are the perverted one wearing that slutty outfit."

"Really?" Grayfia stared at her with half-lidded eyes, hiding her anger at being called slutty by that hussy.

Her gaze moved down to Morgan's chest. She felt proud for a moment, having a bigger chest than her. "Your exposed flesh says otherwise."

"It's a combat uniform!" Despite her words, Morgan subconsciously covered herself. "And it was my other half who gifted me and your outfit!"

She scoffed. "Please do not lay blame on the venerable creator for your sick perversions, you hussy."

'Though the real Morgan was really perverted.' Merlin thought remembering all the magaizes she hid in his room before she left. His mom got really really mad at him for some of them.

"H-hussy!? That's it, I've had it up to here with your—"

"Grayfia, we were just on our way to the guild house." Merlin decided now was the time to step in after enjoying the verbal cat fight for some reason. Fortunately, the situation had yet to escalate to anything physical. 'Sadly.' Though it could be the absolute worst scenario. The castle probably wouldn't survive a battle between two level 100 powerhouses.

With his interjection, the fire that was practically emanating from both women died down. After a short pause, Grayfia turned towards him. She ignored the still fuming Morgan and stared at him with a look that could only be described as soft and peaceful.

They softened in a way that was unmistakable and with that really small smile. Those were the type where only you reserved it for one person and one person only, and they were currently directed at him.

Unfortunately, that gentleness did not last long. In less time it took to blink, her eyes reverted back to the same steely glare from before.

"What are you planning to do there?" Her question seemed a bit too interrogating, but Merlin didn't hold it against her. Besides, he was still caught up in that look from before. A large part of him wanted to see it again.

"Um, there was something we needto do. It involves what we should do." Merlin shook his head and answered as calmly as he could manage.

"And you did not see it fit to inform me beforehand?" The silver-haired devil scowled at him.

Merlin did not want to admit it, but being on the receiving end of such tangible fury was quite scary. Fortunately, he was able to maintain his poker face, if only slightly.

"Well, it was a bit of a last-minute kind of thing that they found…" He sheepishly responded as he scratched the back of his head.

His words did little to placate her. In fact, her scowl only seemed to worsen.

The two maintained eye contact for what felt like an eternity. Due to the height different, Grayfia had to look up at him, but that did not make the situation any less harrowing. Merlin was tempted to break it off several times, but something in him told him to keep going, that stopping now would only lead to more trouble in the future. He decided to listen to that instinct inside his head.

Eventually, Grayfia was the first to break. She shook her head and breathed out a resigned sigh.

"Very well. I do not like it, but I will let the matter slide. Next time though, please inform me whenever you wish to do something outside of your schedule. We can't have the guild leader suddenly go missing like what happened today. It's bad for morale."

Instead of replying, Merlin simply nodded his head, inwardly sighing to himself in relief. He had somehow avoided the ire of a level 100 NPC. The Incubus was immensely grateful, things could have ended up a whole lot worse had the situation been any different.

Before he could start celebrating in his head though, Grayfia suddenly said something completely unexpected.

"Then, let's go." She even tugged on his sleeve for emphasis. Their eyes widened in surprise.

"Excuse me?" It wasn't him who responded this time, but rather, it was Morgan. Grayfia shot her a wither look before she turned back to face him.

"I shall accompany you also. As the head maid of Castle Excalibur, it is my duty to stay by your side."

Morgan frowned. "Your presence is not needed or required, right honey?." Before I could answer Grayfia said, "I wasn't asking for your opinion."

"You bi…"

"Actually, Morgan's right. I need you to be in charge while we're gone from the castle." He once again interjected before the situation could get any worse. Merlin let out an awkward cough.

Grayfia narrowed her eyes and glared up at him. "I insist on coming along. I dont think she would be able to protect a piece of paper let alone you, my lord."

"No, seriously, that won't be necessary." He was sweating again. Before Morgan could object, Grayfia's glare receded and in its place was a rather cute pout.

"But I want to—"

"Actually, now that I think about it. Fine, I'll be honored to have you accompany us." Merlin quickly followed up, hoping to have her not pouting anymore. After he said that Grayfia's and Morgan's eyes widen. Grayfia's face started bo become red from her checks all the way to her ears and below. Before it could last more than a second, she returned to normal.

Morgan on the other hand started glaring at Merlin so hard before she huffed and went on ahead, ignoring him. They watched her walk away, the sound of clicking heels echoing all throughout the hall. He was honestly quite confused by that last exchange.

He thought she's jealous, but that couldn't be right? Morgan is his wife but she is a woman too though. It was then that he remembered something. Back when the game was still running, Merlin practiced his cooking skill in the kitchen. Although his [Prodigal House Husband] class made leveling up his domestic skills a whole lot easier, there was still quite a bit of grinding involved. So there was too much food made as a result.

Yggdrasil's culinary system was the type where food expired if left out in the open for too long. Since he did not want all of his efforts to go to waste, he decided to give his cooked meals to the NPCs. Although they showed no outward reaction to his food, there was a certain sense of satisfaction in watching them eat. More often than not, it was Grayfia, Morgan and Mylaela who he gave the food to.

It wasn't like he personally went out of his way to look for the silver-haired devil. Due to her preprogrammed wandering patterns, Grayfia could often be found standing idly by in the kitchen. As one of the nearest NPC available, he would usually just go to her whenever he needed to get clear off his supply. There was even that one time where he personally spoon-fed her. Did she perhaps remember those days?

After a moment's pause, Merlin shrugged his shoulders. He would figure it out later. For now, there were things that needed to be done. He caught up to a quietly simmering Morgan to the third floor.

It was a wide, open area located towards the back of the castle. It only had a summoning circle in the middle. Hidden away was a gardian that only let certain people come here. If anyone that is not allowed went inside they would be attacked and subdued.

As they stepped inside the circle, it glowed so bright they had to close their eyes. When they opened it again they were inside the guild house basement. Morgan took 6 steps ahead and stopped suddenly when Grayfia said, "I see, so the wife is not doing her job by staying by her husband and just going up without him."

Morgan became stiff and said, "O-of course not. I'm just making sure there is no enemies here before he can get hurt. Unlike some maid that couldn't even do such a simple thing.''

Grayfia face harden for an instant before relax

ing. ''Ok lets go up everyone. We still need to find out where we are." I said not having time or patience for another cat fight. As they went up to the forst floor, they could the mana becoming weaker and weaker as they went up.

''My lord, it feels familiar to me for some reason. I just cant place where I felt it though.''

They looked surpised. Merlin had a thought. 'Could it be possible that it is in her universe? What did Morgan call it again? Ligh something DxD? Whatever the name was doesn't matter now. Did we travel to their universe? There could be two of Grayfia and the other girls now. If only I knew what would happen in this universe. All I know was that it had a really perverted guy that likes breast. I couldn't watch after the first few minutes of the first episode.''

I hope I dont run into that pervert. Somewhere far away Issei, a female sneezed loudly getting caught peeping on the girls.

When they arrived at the front of the house/tavern they were greated to finding all the captains there with Rias and Akeno. They all nodded at them and stared back out the window. It was a typical small town, with a park and tall buildings. They were located in the housing area with parents walking by with their children happy.