Despite it being the Evening, Megumin was still asleep.

At this time, we decided to have dinner on a very small table. And when I say small table, I mean, elbow to elbow kind of small table. You know, the kind of table that's meant for 4 and not 8.

We were having hotpot in wooden carved wooden bowls with some of the ingredients that Kazuma brought with us.

"Dear you should really eat more vegetables. I heard that it's good for your skin, so just leave all the meat to me and Komekko." The Father said.

"Dear, I think you've had enough meat. Your muscles have enough meat and your hair seems to be thinning, so you should eat more Vegetables to better your hair." The Mother retorted back.

While the Parents were fighting for the plentiful meat that was brought, Komekko was ignoring their voices and was excited enough to see meat on her plate Aqua was even generous enough to share some of her wine that she brought (or smuggled into Kazuma's bag) for the parents.

The only thing that was off, aside from Megumin still sleeping and not joining in on dinner, was the Fact that Darkness looked a bit nervous and on edge.

"Hey, you alright? You seem tense." I asked her.

"Hmm? O-oh, it's nothing, I was just spacing out a bit." Darkness replied back.

Right, well, I don't buy that so I'll just ask her about it in private.

While we ate, Komekko was sneaking glances towards Aqua and Kazuma.

By the time she finished eating, she was telling her parents about some kind of cheap trick Aqua probably pulled.

While she told that story, my focus was fixed on Darkness. Something is off about her, I don't know what and why, but I want to help.

"So what if she did? It was probably just a cheap illusion trick just to make it seem like it was bigger." Kazuma commented.

"Huh!? Are you saying my Entertainment is just some cheap trick? How dare you say that to a Goddess like me!" Aqua complained.

"Komekko, take it from Big Bro Kazuma here, do not end up like little miss blue hair here, she's crazy!" Kazuma jokingly said.

"Oh? Komekko~ Take it from Big Sis Aqua here! Don't end up like a deadbeat like Kazuma! Make sure to study hard in school and actually do something with your life, like a certain shut-in that recently got kicked out!" Aqua retorted.

"Aqua~ Please don't teach Komekko weird things, the youth are very impressionable!" Kazuma said gently.

"Oh my, I could say the same to you too Kazuma!" Aqua said, "I mean we have to let the mistakes of the old not infect the souls of the young!"

"Komekko, don't listen to either of these people. They're both horrible role models." I told her.

"Look who's talking…" Kazuma mumbled.

"Yeah, aren't you the worst one of all? I mean you can barely survive without major healing after every battle…" Aqua added.

Yeah, Dinnertime was fun, unironically.

Having a dinner like this sorta feels nostalgic, in a way. Reminds me of hanging out with my Family and just cracking jokes for no reason.

By the time everyone had finished their food, we were making some preparations to sleep in for the night. All the women went in first making me, Kazumz, and Megumin's Dad last.

While I was waiting for Kazuma to get out of the bath, or makeshift bath, I took a look at my Adventurer Card and noticed a couple of important changes, especially since I now "own" the Force Edge.

! New Main Weapon has been Registered !

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Force Edge -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Damage multiplier - x3.0 (Max. x6.0) Upgrade: 1 point per x0.1

Range - 2 meters (FIXED)

Swing speed - 200% (MAX)

Knockback - x3.0 (FIXED)

Forced Edge: High Impact and High Damage in exchange for a fixed Lower Range.

Quicksilver: 100% increase in Attack speed.

Sparda's Guidance: Better controllability over Magic/Spectral Attacks.

Awakening (0/2): Awaken the true Potential of the Sparda.

Warning! This is an Irreversible change!

*66.6% increase in Atk, Range, and Knockback

*Multiple Form changes

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

I'm not gonna lie there are a lot of good things when it comes to using the Force Edge. Yeah, it's no Red Queen with the Exceed function making things fun and unpredictable for the enemy, but with the amount of speed and power this sword has, it's almost like it was meant to be overwhelming on purpose towards the enemy…

...Just like Sparda himself probably…

Strangely enough, just as I was about to put my card away I noticed something strange in my Stats Page…

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

General Stats.

Current Level : 75

Strength : 210 Status--Normal

Vitality : 4,450/4,450 (Increases by 50 for each level up)

MP : 4,000

Stamina : 200

Defense : 198

Agility : 187

Luck : 182

Faith : 40

Dexterity : 186

Will : 184

Intelligence : 175

Shooting : 93% / 100%

B̸͈̝͚̦̤̈̈͂̍̃̋̿r̸̨̢̲̯̟̫͖̉̇̇͐͐̋͊͒̄̑̾e̷͇̫̣̮̪͈̔͑̈͘͠a̴̰̓̉̄͆ǩ̸̢͕̲͗̅͗:̶̨͎͖̟̫̪̙̝̥͛̇͑̄͜ ̸̂͋͊̍̓̚͠ͅ?̴̧̡̭̥͈͓͕̿͆̂̈̔͒͆͘?̴̡̼̖͖̭͇̪͕̓ͅ%̵̬̤̭̖̱͍̥̃͂̓͝

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

What the hell is that? Is my Card actually glitching?

I've...never seen this kind of stat before...Compared to all the other stats that slightly glow when you hover over them, this one is dim and tapping on it just gives me an error message…

I might have to check in with Linda back in the Tavern to see what this is...

"Ma'am, I just don't think it's a good idea even if you plan on making Kazuma an in-law." I overheard Darkness say in the Hallway, "This kind of action shouldn't be forced. It'll lead to all kinds of complications."

"Even if you say that, the five of you have been living under the same roof for over a year with no actual activity, am I wrong? Besides, it's already clear that both of them have feelings for each other, so this is a win-win situation for both parties even if something does happen; Megumin is at a Marriageable age and Kazuma is...enough of a sensible adult to take responsibility. I can't object to this even if I am her parent." Megumin's mother said.

"Besides, don't you already have Tsukiyo with you? How would you benefit stopping Kazuma from sleeping with Megumin?"

"I….can't reveal too much information about me, but I just don't like the idea of forcing two people together in a room and expecting them to get together." Darkness told her, coming from her perspective I can understand how she feels especially with all the Marriage interviews.

...but it's a bit different in this situation…

"If you think that this is similar to a Marriage interview then you don't have to worry too much about either party. Megumin has known Kazuma for over a year at this point, they both have gotten along with each other and have even crossed some lines, but I would never marry off my Daughter to some random person that she wouldn't know. Especially if it was someone who had enough money to pull us out of this shack and let us live a life of comfort and normality…" Megumin's mother said.

Though, she did just admit her motive a bit with that last sentence…

"Even so--" Darkness tried to argue back.

"Shh! Time to Sleep!" Megumin's mother said before a thud was heard from the room.

"Oh Tsukiyo! Could you lend this old woman a hand? I don't think I have the strength to lift up a toned warrior!" Megumin's mom called out.

I got up from where I was sitting and acted like I didn't hear anything.

"Thank you Tsukiyo, you're such a dear. The Bath should be empty so go ahead and take your time!" Megumin's Mother said sweetly.

"Sure…" I said as I put Darkness up against the wall and headed off the bath.

After taking my bath and getting dressed up, I stepped into the hallway and was ambushed by Megumin's mom with her putting me to sleep.

I don't think I hit the floor, but I do know that whatever happened after was a complete blank since I managed to sleep right next to Darkness with her head leaning on my shoulder.

At least I was sleeping with her until I was hit in the face with a sword cover.

"Tsukiyo, come outside. We need to talk." Vergil said.

"Good morning to you too…" I told him before I got up.

Noticing that Darkness was leaning on me while I slept, I gently moved her over to the other side where she was able to lean against the wall and covered her more with her blanket.

I snuck out of the Shack with its slightly creaky door and slipped out without anyone noticing.

Vergil walked out away from the shack towards a tree stump about 10ft away from the shack.

"So, how was the interrogation?" I asked.

"We learned a lot about V, but as infuriating as it may be for me, he is not our enemy." he said.

"So you haven't cut him down yet...I'm surprised." I told him.

"I don't think I can cut him down, not if I value any future advantages for us…" He told me.

"Future Advantages? What do you mean by that?" I asked him.

"He and the Masked Demon, they're colluding with each other but not in a way we expect. He said he got the masked demon to look into the future for him, and he was given a vision of everything that happens from here to that day…" Vergil told me.

"Are you serious?" I asked him, "That's great then! We can ask him how to avoid 'that day' by not doing the things our future selves would've done."

"I'm afraid there's no need to do that anymore, seeing as we already know about the future and the outcome, we've already strayed onto a completely different timeline. The path we were originally meant to follow no longer exists and we're now onto a new path that may or may not lead to 'That Day'." Vergil explained to me, "There's no guaranteed way to know whether or not our efforts have paid off, so we're going to have to see when that day comes…"

"Dammit!" I said, "So who the hell is V anyways? Why does he and Vanir know each other, why go through all this shit for us? Why the hell is involved with us in the first place?"

"This was all he gave us. He didn't tell us who he is, how he got here, or why he has Griffon and Shadow, but the only important thing about him is that he's here 'To stop me at all cost', and that he won't rest until he finishes his mission." Vergil told me.

"Stop you at all costs huh? I wonder how he even knows about you in the first place…" I said.

"As for that...I have a sneaking suspicion on who he might be, but I need a bit more time to figure out if he truly is who I think he is…" Vergil said as he materialized a small book, "I don't know if this can be called Karma, Poetic Justice, or if this is just me facing my own demons…"

"For now, Kosuke will be keeping a close eye in him. V hasn't made a move or tried to escape just yet, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious around him. Oh and he wanted me to tell you to check your card, just in case of any strange issues…" Vergil said.

"He really did see everything in the future huh…" I said as I pulled out my card and handed it to him, "Take a look at the last stat, you think something like that looks normal?"

Vergil took my card and looked at the last stat like I told him, "What's this?" Vergil said.

"That's what I said too, I thought it might've been some sort of glitch in the card system or whatever, but if V somehow managed to point this issue out, then it might be something bigger." I said.

"This didn't appear yesterday when you were training, this has to be a recent addition…" Vergil said as he examined my card for a while.

"I don't like the look of this...Go to the Blond lady back in town, she was the one who made your card right? We'll see if she can figure something out." Vergil told me as he gave me back my card.

"That might be a couple of days though, I don't want to leave Echidna here alive." I said.

"So that wretched Viper is here…" Vergil said.

"Yup, and she's working with one of the Demon King Bosses to take over this Village. So now we have 2 problems to deal with." I said.

"Good, perfect training for you to perfect your skills using the Force Edge and Spectral Magic." Vergil told me, "Using the Force Edge to its full potential is severely different from that old sword you used. You need precise and consistent movements to draw out its power. It might not have the range you're used to, but it has more than enough power to push back if you're getting overwhelmed."

"We'll go over more about it in the morning. For now, go back and rest. I plan to work you to the bone to learn and perfect my Fathers technique." Vergil said before he vanished back into my arm, giving the Devil Bringer it's demonic energy/glow back.

"It really is just one after another..." I said as I took a seat on a nearby tree stump, "First Berial, then V and Vergil, now Echidna…."

I looked up to the stars as I leaned back for a while just to clear my head before I heard my name get called out from the shack.

"Tsukiyo?" Darkness called out sleepily…

"Oh, hey. Sorry If you were getting comfortable back there. I had to have a quick chat with Vergil, I'll come back inside soon." I told her.

"Oh no, It's fine. What did Vergil need?" She asked before taking a seat near me.

"Just telling me about the things he asked V. Still not sure who he is, but at the very least he's not an enemy, but for now, he's an important person with important information." I told her, "But enough about V, are you okay? You looked a bit off during dinner."

"Still gonna question me about it?" she said.

"You'd do the same almost non-stop if it was me, so I might as well return the favour." I said.

Darkness closed her eyes as deeply sighed, "Promise not to tell anyone else?"

"Promise, though it's not like I plan on telling anyone to begin with…" I said.

Darkness looked a bit serious before she faced me, "Does it make me a bad person if I feel a bit envious towards Megumin and her Parents?"

Ok, that's...a new one.

"No, I don't think so. I mean without any context at all, feeling jealous or Envious is just a normal feeling. Everyone feels that way at one point, so it's pretty normal…" I told her.

"Right, I was afraid to think so…" Darkness said.

"That's honestly a bit strange coming from you. Most times it'd be the other way around with someone from a...not well off family feeling Envious towards the rich…" I said.

"Money and status aren't really important to me, I think I'd rather lose my money and status just to live a normal life and have a normal Family." Darkness said as she leaned her head on my shoulder.

Normal family huh…

Well, I guess she does have that urge to not be idolized and treated like a higher being most times. And I guess me not caring about her status, along with everyone else in the party, is probably a breath of fresh air for her. I guess it's nice for her to be treated like a normal person, I mean who wouldn't…

Hold on...

She did say she was Jealous of Megumin's parents too…

I've seen her father plenty of times, but never her mother…

Does Darkness have any siblings or is she a single child? I don't remember seeing any family portraits in her mansion either…

Shit, I'm sort of scared to ask her about it…

Don't want to step on a landmine…

"I'm sorry if I made things awkward, I guess I was a bit emotional there…" Darkness apologised.

"It's fine, if you ever want to vent, I'm always here you know. I won't be leaving anytime soon (At least I hope I'm not, I haven't seen anything related to me leaving yet…)" I said reassuring her.

"Yeah...I guess…" she said as she started to sniffle.

"You can always cry on my shoulder if you need to, I won't leave you." I told her

"No...no..it's fine. I already cried enough about that issue…" Darkness said "My mother...she died when I was at a young age...from disease…" She said, "Despite being born with high magic power and resistance...she had a weak immune system."

"I always...hated the feeling of envy whenever I saw a child with both of their parents as they enjoyed their normal life...I always hated it so much. Seeing Megumin with both if her parents made some of those horrible feelings come back up...Ugh, I really feel like a bad friend…"

"Yeah, felt the same way before…" I told her.

"I know that feeling of seeing a normal family and feeling jealous that they're a full family instead of a split up one, it really sucks because they were everywhere and you couldn't do much about it. I'll even admit that I tried to curse a couple of them on wanting them to split apart, but my edgelord 12 yr old days are done." I told her.

Darkness chuckled a bit as she heard that, "That's horrible Tsukiyo, I thought my feelings were bad, yours were even worse…"

"Oh yeah, there are even worse things too, but I'll keep those a secret for now. I'm just glad my brother was there to smack some sense into me before things got bad…" I said.

"What's your brother like? I think I've heard you talk about once or twice before." Darkness asked.

"Oh Takumi? He's my older brother by 2 years who somehow looks like he's almost 30. Might've been from all the work he's been doing in the night…" Im told her, "What about you? Any Siblings from the Dustiness Household?"

"No, I'm an only child. The only sibling figure I can think of would be my younger cousin Sylphina and Princess Iris. I guess you could say that I'm always the Older Sister for them." Darkness said.

"An older sister huh? Must be hard." I said.

"No, not entirely. Iris is the Princess of the Kingdom so she can't afford to act out, especially not in front of her Father or any of the body guards…" Darkness said casually.

Wait

WAIT WAIT WAIT

That's not your typical "Younger Sister" you know!

"She's the Princess of the Kingdom? As in This Kingdom…?" I asked

"Of course she is, everyone knows about Princess Iris. We celebrate her Birthday as a National Holiday." Darkness said.

"We do…?" I asked her.

"Yeah, we do. Oh I forgot, you're not from this Kingdom aren't you?" Darkness said, "What Kingdom did you come from? You and Kazuma are the only two in this Party who aren't from this Kingdom."

"Me and Kazuma come from almost the same Kingdom, but just in far and different parts. When it comes to who ruled the Kingdom, we usually have a King who gets elected every 2-3 years depending on how well he does…" I said giving her the most basic explanation of voting.

Darkness looked very surprised to hear that, "Wow, it isn't ruled by a Noble Family? People choose who they want for king and it's not even permanent…? What's this Kingdom called? I want to know more about them."

"Hehe, I don't think you'll find much about them. It's pretty much an overseas Kingdom…" I said trying to find some excuse to have her stop investigating further.

"That's no problem, ships to cross overseas aren't that expensive for a Noble...Oh, but how did you pay for a ship? I can't imagine it being cheap for a commoner." Darkness continued to ask.

"Uh...I...didn't pay...I sort of snuck aboard and slept in the luggage area." I told her.

Darkness' eyes widened in curiosity and shock as she heard me say that, "Really? Why did you sleep there? Was...it because of your arm?"

"Pretty much yeah." I'll stick with this story for now…

"Well, when we go there back there, you won't have to sleep in the luggage area. It'll be a room just for us…" Darkness said as she lightly blushed.

"Go back?" I said as I made a double take.

"Of course, I bet you're probably homesick after being away from your kingdom for so long. Besides I...want to meet your family…." Darkness said blushing even more.

"Sure, someday you'll meet my family. I promise." I said as I lied again.

Darkness smiled wholeheartedly while I died a little on the inside.

"We should probably go back inside, I have a lot of training by Vergil to look forward to…" I said.

"Yeah, let's go back." Darkness said as both of us got up.

Before I was able to open the door, Darkness stopped me.

"Hey Tsukiyo, before we go inside I just wanted to thank you...I'm glad to have someone like you when I need to talk to someone about my issues…" Darkness told me.

"Hey, it's no problem. It's the least I can do for you." I said.

"No, I really mean it. I want to repay you someday for everything you've do-" Darkness wasn't able to finish her sentence as I brought her close and gently kissed her for a good 5 or so seconds.

By the time I stopped kissing her we were both bright red, "There, now we're even." I told her.

I was about to open the door again before Darkness stopped me...again…

"O-One more time…" She said as her hands trembled.

I turned to Darkness and brought her close one more time to kiss her for another couple of seconds. I tried to stop kissing her, but she wouldn't want to stop kissing me as she tried leaning in to continue.

"O-one more time...please…" She said while now starting to pant.

"What a greedy noble you are…" I said before I held Darkness tightly and started to kiss her a lot longer than before. Darkness did the same as she wrapped her arms around my neck and started kissing me more affectionately, not wanting to let go anytime soon.

It took a little bit longer to stop kissing as both of us didn't want to stop. Every time we tried to stop we went right back to kissing just to feel each other's warmth on our lips, but when we did stop, both of us were panting and somewhat breathless.

"I love you so much Lalatina…" I said pantig just as much as she was.

"Me too, I love you so much Tsukiyo…" She said back to me.

We shared a quick kiss before heading back inside. Going back inside to where we were sleeping, I leaned my back on the corner of the room while Darkness leaned against me.

With the makeshift blanket covering us, we both struggled to fall asleep from the uncomfortable walls and adrenaline rushing through our bodies.

I'm pretty sure we got at least 5 or 6 hours of sleep until Vergil woke me up to train.


Man...

I should've really sent these 2 chapters out back in December...

...I mean I already had boh of them finished by November, but...

My SIMPing...

It's just too strong...

I mean there's also school and life and whatnot, but my SIMPing is just taking over.

and before anyine asks, no I haven't done any money donations yet, im still too broke for that.

I'll probably post another 2 chapters soon, or not...maybe...I don't know...waifu time.