He realized that he was in a dimly-lit cell as he opened his eyes slowly, warily, while his gigantic headache wasn't making the influx of the faint yet harsh light any easier.
His eyes felt heavy, his head hurt…
A droplet of water fell on his head…
"WARK!" Eclair snapped awake with a panicked sound. "I… I swear I saw something terrifying… Owww, my beak hurts… eeh… is that masonry dust on my beak? I thought I got thrown to the Sixth Floor's ceiling by the Guardians…"
"...But of course that was just a dream! I must have gotten too drunk on my own majesty and accidentally stumbled! Of course the Guardians would recognize the True Ruler of Nazarick!" Eclair tried to reach for his comb in order to adjust his toupee in a majestic, glittering and glorious fashion befitting the True Lord of All Things Nazarick-Related.
However…
"Wark?" Eclair looked down to see that his fins had been tied down with chains. And now that he looked closer into it, he had been chained into the chair on which he sat. "This… This is the Frozen Prison -wark?"
"Indeed. It seems that your memory of superficial things is indeed still intact." A voice came from somewhere, causing Eclair to jump a bit even if the motion was heavily restricted by the chains. "You'll forgive the chains… Our dearest mole."
"D-Demiurge-sama! This is creepy! Please remove these chains! It is damaging my fins! Indeed, moreover, you are mistaken! How can I be a mole when I am a penguin-"
"Oh, but the chains are for your protection. After all, Cocytus-san is quite angry with you, and I believe that he might… filet you if he got his hands on you." Demiurge walked into Eclair's sight, and the penguin realized that the demon had been standing behind him like some sort of sharp-dressed portent of doom.
"Whhw- whwhw- wh-what did I do?!" Eclair tried to wave his fins in panic but failed, although the chains didn't prevent him from sweating buckets's worth of liquid.
Granted, the sweat turned to ice almost instantly, causing Eclair to turn into an icicle for a split second before he managed to crack out with herculean effort… Or rather, Eclair tried to delicately move the ice away, but it broke instantly when he touched it with his fin.
"Oh, so you say that you don't recall your treachery… Hm, let me refresh you, then. You have been identified by our… or, should I say, my lord as the traitor responsible for getting our lord's enemy into the Ninth Floor." Demiurge looked at Eclair, and Eclair felt as if he had paled from a black-coloured penguin into a white-coloured penguin from the sudden terror that ran throgh his head. "Would you like to… Elaborate?"
"I don't know anything-wark! I just knew that I was to be the lord, so I figured that I answered the call when Guardians wanted to meet their lord-wark! Or something like that-wark!"
"'Something like that'? Dear Eclair… You leave no options. I am ashamed that I have to use this… But I will get answers out of you, one way or the other."
Eclair's panic only increased as Demiurge brought out a torture-implement.
"Wark! Please wait! I- In fact, I was eavesdropping while I was cleaning the toilets with a toothbrush -wark! It was my own toothbrush because I dropped the one that was assigned to me -wark!" Eclair shook like a bush in a windstorm as he saw the torture-device. "Please no, anything but that!"
Demiurge's smirk widened to sickening degree, making Eclair almost pass out from terror.
"I swear I know nothing -wark! Or- No, I know that I was made to clean Ninth Floor's toilets as a joke! That's right, I'm just a joke! I don't want to be the Ultimate Ruler of Nazarick! Well, if Lord Momonga left then I'd kinda want- wark! No- disregard that-wark!"
Demiurge took a step towards Eclair with the torture implement in his hand, the sharp blades of it glinting the harsh, faint light of the Frozen Prison's cell.
"Wark- wark wark!" Eclair froze still as he heard the 'schling'-sound of the implement unfolding itself, and the babbling that left the penguin grew ever more intense. "I was justwatchingaroundtheninthfloorandthebarhadallsortsofstuffandImighthavewantedasmoothiebut-"
The demon slowed his approach. "Oh? You were going for a smoothie, you say?"
Eclair nodded his head tens of times in a second, causing nervous sweat to fly all over the place. "I was not actually cleaning the Ninth Floor! I was slacking off because all of the toilets had been cleaned to such a sparkle that they reflected my fair visage from the seats! That's when I heard Sebas when he instructed Sous-Chef to prepare refreshments for Lord Issei's meeting with the Guardians, and I didn't know who Lord Issei was, and heard that the lord of Nazarick was about to meet the Guardians, so I figured that… wark…"
"Hm, indeed… That would explain how you came across the information of the meeting. However…" Demiurge's dangerous glint didn't disappear from his eyes as he stopped in front of Eclair. "That was our lord's trap springing upon you. You have not told me anything of value… So now you shall face torment."
Eclair saw as the torture-instrument approached his head. "No, no! No! Anything but that! Anything! Please! PLEASE-WARK!"
Demiurge took a single strand of hair from Eclair's toupee… And cut it with the grooming scissors on his other hand.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO-WARK!"
The pitiful cry of loss echoed around the hallways of Frozen Prison.
.
.
"..." Issei sighed while he had his arms bunched up and was sitting in a cross-legged pose, like some sensei looking over a failed student.
'Out of all possible ways to learn how to stay cool under pressure…' Issei felt quite exasperated, annoyed and relieved… And sighed again to calm himself.
Indeed, Solution had assaulted him and had drawn him into the glob of slime that she had turned into- Issei had been told that Solution was supposedly a 'predatory slime' when the Pleiades had introduced themselves to him, but at the time he hadn't really thought that it was possible. Or rather, he had thought that he had just misheard her.
The sudden assault had made Issei incredibly scared, but after some time 'in' Solution, far more literally than he ever would have wanted, he had realized that he wasn't actually 'dying' so much as just getting squished and feeling tingly all over, like if he submerged in water that was simultaneously too hot and too cold.
Still, he had been utterly terrified, and Solution had not heeded any of Issei's desperate pleas… Until he collected his wits, calmed himself down with herculean effort, and said 'Enough' with what he hoped was a strong yet calm tone, mimicking how his father had told Issei to calm down when he had gone over the line.
When Solution had heard it, it was as if she had come back into her senses in one fell swoop… And as a result…
"I am deeply sorry for my unsightly appearance, for my inability to control myself and carry out my given task when faced with temptation, and I beg that I be removed from Pleiades and exiled in disgrace, or killed in a way where I cannot be revived." Solution was shaking as she was once again in her human form, but clad in a featureless black robe, while prostrating deeply towards Momonga, her legs pulled under her in a perfect seiza-style prostration complete with her temple and palms against the wooden floor.
Her maid-clothes and maid-armor were folded neatly in front of her alongside daggers, as if she was handing her resignation notice alongside her company-given equipment.
Issei sighed deep, causing Solution to shudder, not so much like how a human would but more like how a human-shaped jelly would quake. "It's alright. I'm not angry. Just… Haa, let's call us even and forget about what just happened, alright?"
"M-my lord, but… How can we be even? I have failed in all my given tasks, and I assaulted my lord…" Solution's quaking was intensified further, making Issei feel a bit exasperated as he thought how to get out of the situation intact.
'...Well, she did attack me, albeit she didn't hurt me… Hm, if I asked to fondle her breasts could I then say that we were even? Although, I feel as if I'd get sucked right in like last time if I touched her, so maybe that isn't a good idea… haaa, truly this is hell. Not only will I not be able to 'feel' breasts even if I can 'touch' them, some of the boobs are booby-trapped.' Issei felt slightly depressed, but shook it off as he'd have time to self-flagellate later. 'I need to find some positive side in this, or Solution will probably do something drastic… Sheesh, just what kind of person was 'Momonga' if his maids are on the verge of suicide over doing something as minor as that, specifically as I didn't actually get hurt or anything… I was terrified, sure, but… Eh, I feel as if it's a bit of an overkill… Or am I falling for evil breasts again?'
Issei shook his head to clear it of rogue thoughts regarding rogue evil breasts, but it seemed that Solution took it the wrong way and her pose became quite fatalistic.
"No, I wasn't shaking my head at you, I was… Um… admiring how well you cleaned me!" Issei noticed that his bones were white and practically sparkling after being 'submerged' in 'cleaning' 'Solution', and realized that he could probably use it to 'even' the transgressions in order to keep Solution from offing herself- Issei had considered telling Solution that someone as well endowed as her offing herself would be the greatest possible crime against breasts, but seeing that it would be post-death crime, he felt as if it wouldn't work nearly as well.
"M-my lord?" Solution's emotionless, creepy stare lifted from the floor and turned to look at Issei, who made a grand show of admiring his 'body', or at least the bones that remained from 'Momonga's body.
"Indeed, it looks like I have been cleaned quite thoroughly. You have asked for me to exile you- I refuse that. Instead, I'd like to ask you to clean me… Um… d-daily?" Issei tried to boost Solution's self-confidence by praising her, but realized halfway into the sentence that he was asking something utterly lewd, which normally wouldn't phase him but this time he was saying such a thing to a girl-looking slime who had just moments ago tried to turn him into a bone jelly in a way that was not what Issei intended, not to mention that he wasn't sure if his sanity could survive daily 'skeleton washing machine' baths 'inside' Solution's actual body.
"L-Lord Issei? W-what are you saying?"
However, words once said couldn't be taken back, so Issei doubled down on it because he had a hunch that if he changed his opinion now, Solution would feel as if a rug had been pulled from under her and would probably actually go through with the self-harm that she mentioned. "Indeed, I'd like if you took over the task of cleaning me. I tried washing myself earlier, I had to use a toothbrush to get into all the nooks and crannies, but you didn't have any problems reaching all of those. I feel refreshed and clean, so… eh?"
Issei was staring at a small pool of acidic-looking jelly where Solution had just been, and the jelly was quaking in a worrisome manner. 'Oh no. Not again-'
However, instead of lunging at him, the jelly drooped between the floorboards and disappeared from sight. 'Er…'
Solution's maid-dress was still on the wooden floor, so Issei figured that she had just gone to think about the offer… Or had been shocked somehow, and he took the opportunity to slip out.
However, just in case Solution was just waiting in ambush… "If you want to have a moment to think about it, then feel free. I'll be waiting."
Issei pat the floorboards a bit before rising up, tossing the black billowy robe back on his body as Solution had quite effectively stripped him out of it, and then walked to the door leading out of the Shrine-room with as much calmness and confidence that he could muster.
He walked out of the door like a king, at least in his own head, and closed the door behind himself… before slumping against the door while holding his hand against his ribcage. 'T-That was so scary! I thought I was going to die! I was a goner for sure! Solution snapped, and… This place is dangerous! I need to get out! Mom, come pick me up, I'm terrified!'
However, no such luxury would come, so Issei forced himself to calm down with great effort… And with equally great effort, resisted the urge to sit down and start cradling his knees against his chest in despair, fear and terror.
'I… I should probably get out of the Ninth Floor. There's… a lot of worrisome things here. I, um, think I saw that the exit was in… er, that direction? I saw it by glance when Albedo snatched me and flew me through the floors…'
.
.
Roughly an hour later, or at least it felt like an hour for Issei, he had wandered off into a hallway and had come across a huge double-door that led into a wilderness of some sort.
'Huh.' Issei looked around the place. 'It's like one of those 'training areas' in the anime shows… Sand and compacted dirt all around, with rocks pointing out to make convenient islands to break with the protagonist's 'super moves' while he trains in to make the skills look more epic than they actually are… That's why hentai is better, it gets to the point much faster…'
Issei realized that he was getting off-track so he took a step forwards-
He realized that something was off mid-step and paused.
The near-death experience with Solution had primed Issei to stay aware of anything that might move and try to kill him… Which is why he realized that the ground was not completely still.
Rather, the sand was slowly moving towards a center-point-
The solid-looking ground gave and flooded into a center-point like if it was being drained, and a pair of pincer-like chitinous appendages rose to snap at where Issei would have stepped!
'Eeeeh?! A trap-spider?! The trap-spiders grow that large?!' Issei let a small 'eep' of terror while jumping back, and it seemed that the motion was enough to convey to whatever that preyed under the sand to stop waving it's jaws around and re-form it's trap before going still in preparation to lunge again once a prey approached it.
Issei managed to balance his steps, most likely thanks to how Rias had ingrained the basics of combat-related body movement into him, even if his 'actual' training with Rias's Peerage had been fairly limited.
However, now that Issei was aware of what was going on, he realized that the entire place around himself was chock-full of traps.
Or at least, what he perceived as traps.
'That shrubbery bush… I swear, it looks like some sort of porcupine that'll shoot its spikes if I get close… There are scorpions under those rocks… I swear that branch is an antennae of some sort of insect…' Issei sweated internally as he realized that he might have wandered into a dangerous place. 'Er, I should probably get back to the Ninth Floor…'
However, now that he looked around, he realized that his panicked jump had landed him some steps further into the wilderness-like area, and to get back to the door he'd need to move past a few traps-
And more importantly, the tall double-doors had slammed closed, and Issei had a guess that the doors had locked themselves as well. Or, at least, that was something that he assumed considering that the door looked fatalistic and impassable somehow.
'Oh. Wonderful.' Issei's survival-instincts kicked in instantly, and he realized that he had only one real option outside of trying to make his way to the door and start banging on it- Which, granted, was an option that he seriously considered, but he figured that he'd get better results if he found Victim and asked how to get around the place. 'Victim, that creepy fetus-thing, was supposed to guard this place, right? I took some stairs up so this is probably 'Eight Floor'... And it looks like the traps are arranged in such a manner that it's easier to move away from the Ninth Floor than it is to move towards it.'
And thus, Issei looked around, picked the route that looked least trapped… And started walking.
Three steps in, he stepped on an upward-protruding metal spike that had been camouflaged as a rock… And a rake sprang up to hit him in the face.
'Ow… Seriously? In a pit of monsters and traps, someone put up a rake-trap in case someone tried to flee?! Is that a joke?!' Issei held his nose… Or rather, where his nose might have been if he still had his flesh. 'Right, another direction-'
.
.
Roughly two hours later Issei was panting while holding his bony knees, even though he wasn't actually feeling tired, but his head felt as if it'd burst from exertion and psychological stress. 'S-seriously?! Landslides, the plants are carnivorous or spew acid or try to jump at me?! Not to mention, I haven't seen anyone?! Surely there's got to be someone around here…'
Issei felt as if he was in danger, so he stopped 'acting' tired and moved on… And instantly fell into a punji-trap that was filled to the brim with what looked like venomous spiders.
"HGHYAAAH!"
.
.
"...mH. gnitanicsaF (Hm. Fascinating)." Victim floated behind a traditional Japanese tea-table.
The floating fetus-angel looked at a floating orange holographic panel that was on top the table, showing the sight of a skeleton who had jumped over a sand-pit while a pair of huge chitinous jaws reached up from the put and tried to eat the leaping undead in one bite.
There were three sets of tea cups on the tea-table, one for Victim, one for his host, and one for their master, who had entered the Eighth Floor some time ago.
Yet…
"It seems that Lord Momonga is inspecting the Eighth Floor's traps and surface-level defenses." Aureole Omega noted while holding her tea in her hands, like she had done for the past two hours, without taking a single sip as it would be disrespectful to do so when Lord Issei wasn't present as well.
"tI smees os (It seems so)" Victim agreed. "oslA, droL agnomoM dah detcele ot llac flesmih droL iessI. esaelP esu eht tcerroc eman- nas-egruimeD deveileb taht ti saw etiuq tnatropmi(Also, Lord Momonga had elected to call himself Lord Issei. Please use the correct name- Demiurge-san believed that it was quite important.)
Yet, doubt wracked the minds of the Area Guardian and the Floor Guardian- if their master wished to go and talk with the Guardian or the Area Guardian-slash-Pleiades member of Eight Floor, or any of the other NPC's of the Floor, then surely he'd just go and do so, or send a [Message] to them, or ask one of the NPC's of Ninth Floor to contact them.
Yet both of them had been quite surprised to see that Lord Issei decided to just try to walk through the Eighth Floor alone, considering that Eight Floor's traps and beasts were somewhat hazardous to even NPC's themselves.
Victim had brought up the possibility that their lord's amnesia would hinder his ability to navigate the Eighth Floor, considering that it was quite dangerous even when the NPC's weren't actively trying to kill whoever entered.
However, Aureole had been of the opinion that their lord would be able to figure out the traps easily enough, considering that he was supposed to have a member of Pleiades around him at all times precisely to prevent his amnesia from harming him, and since he was currently walking alone while was inspecting the traps, it had clued Aureole that Lord Issei had likely expressly ordered the Pleiades assigned to him to stay behind while he entered the Eighth Floor alone, ergo he had planned the whole surprise inspection in advance.
Victim had noted the lack of accompanying maid, and had to agree with Aureole's logic, even more so when she noted that walking through the Eighth Floor might even help Lord Issei's amnesia by forcing him to remember things under pressure.
Thus Victim had reluctantly agreed to merely observe their Lord's approach, albeit he had raised a concern that if their lord had not reached them in three hours then he'd contact Lord Issei.
"droL iessI sah edam etiuq a tib fo ssergorp neve tuohtiw sih seiromem dna ,raeg hguohtla eht s'CPN t'nevah neeb ylevitca gnikcatta mih dna eh sah neeb gnicnavda ni .esrever sA detcepxe fo eht emerpuS gnieB (Lord Issei has made quite a bit of progress even without his memories and gear, although the NPC's haven't been actively attacking him and he has been advancing in reverse. As expected of the Supreme Being)."
"Indeed… I am not sure if he's determined to test each trap out for himself, or find each hidden guard, or otherwise alternate playing the role of an invader and a fleeing invader, or if he's genuinely unaware of the traps… Yet has been able to find each of them, pointing out each trap to the NPC's that have been hiding out of sight yet had been observing him." Aureole scrunched her eyebrows while the japanese-looking Immortal in shrine-maidern's outfit looked quite thoughtful. "Your theory may have been correct, Victim-sama, and Lord Issei's amnesia prevents him from reaching us as he may have forgotten where the Cherry Blossom Sanctuary and Sephiroth are, as they are not in obvious places within the Eighth Floor. Yet, Lord Issei seems to be quite high-spirited and thorough in testing the traps, and to me it looks as if he's enjoying his time here. We should make the traps more devious for the next time though, so that next time he can indulge himself to the traps to his heart's content- After all, he has been able to pinpoint each of the traps so far, even when he doesn't have his memories, so he may be starting to feel somewhat bored of them."
Aureole was thinking for a while before she seemed to figure out something. "Perhaps we should ask him if some of the NPC's should try to ambush him as well, just to increase the 'difficulty'? The Eighth Floor was designed as the last line of defense of Nazarick, after all. We need to take our mission seriously."
"deergA (Agreed)." Victim noted. "revewoH, dluohs ew tcatnoc mih won? (However, should we contact him now?)"
Aureole looked at the screen… And nodded. "Indeed, it looks like Lord issei has decided that he has indulged himself enough in the Eighth Floor's traps. See?"
Victim looked at the orange-glowing holographic screen and noted that Lord Issei had stopped running around in apparent panic and indecision, and instead had dusted himself a bit and stood up with his arms crossed over his chest as if he had changed mindsets from that of a bumbling invader to a grand lord, and was clearly waiting for something while not moving from the spot- Moreover, he was looking roughly in the direction from where the 'view' of the hologram came from, signifying that he was aware of the spying and was expecting for Aureole and Victim to come and meet him.
"...I shall contact Sebas and ask him to send his assigned maid here." Aureole noted. "The Transportation Gates between the levels are currently disabled, seeing that some sort of disturbance affected the Tomb some time ago which made me think that we were transported somehow, but I shall ask Lord Issei if he believes that the situation has calmed down enough that expedient inter-Floor teleportation system should be reactivated so that the maid can be sent here swiftly and without issues… I love my sisters and would trust my life to their hands, but I fear they may be hurt by the Eighth Floor's traps if they attempt to follow our lord's tracks- I cannot help but fear that the thief who stole Lord issei's memories and gear has utilized the Teleportation Gate system in some manner that eluded me so I locked them down."
"uoY leef taht uoy era ta tluaf rof droL s'iessI tsol seiromem dna ,raeg hcihw si yhw uoy evah osla deyaled gniteem mih ecaf-ot-ecaf. (You feel that you are at fault for Lord Issei's lost memories and gear, which is why you have also delayed meeting him face-to-face.)" Victim noted gently. "I tonnac enodnoc ruoy noisiced ot yaled eht elbativeni, tub I dnatsrednu ruoy raef. I dluow leef eht emas raef fi I deveileb taht I dah deliaf miH. (I cannot condone your decision to delay the inevitable, but I understand your fear. I would feel the same fear if I believed that I had failed Him.)"
"...Yes." Aureole put her cup to her tea-table, and after her hands were free, she could not hide the way her hands shook.
"droL iessI si eltneg dna dnik ot ,su I eveileb taht eh lliw ton tluaf uoy (Lord Issei is gentle and kind to us, I believe that he will not fault you.)"
"...That, I fear, may be worse torment for me than his anger."
.
.
"Haa… Haa…" Issei was sitting on a broken rock while panting once again, even though it was mostly for psychological effect rather than for exhaustion. "What the heck… is this place… I swear there's… eyes everywhere… Even a berry bush shot out devouring maggots from the berries… Sheesh, that would have been bad if I still had flesh… And I feel as if I'm being spied on constantly…"
The spiky grass on which Issei was standing seemed to freeze as Issei spoke and he dove for cover instantly, which had been the correct thing to do as a spike the size of his leg had come up from the dead grass-covered sand in a way where it would have gone right through Issei's skeletal pelvis if he hadn't dodged in time. Or through his 'private' areas if he still had his flesh. 'Sheesh! Who the heck designs places like this?! Or… wait- Am I reacting to this like how I reacted to Solution?'
Issei realized that he had been 'playing along' to the traps by trying to dodge them, avoid them, or stumble into them, much in the same way how he had screamed in terror and tried to squirm out of Solution.
'I managed to get Solution to back off by acting sternly and saying 'Enough'... So, by the same logic, I should stop 'playing along' with the traps and just… Ignore them while having an appropriately stern expression? Or 'expression'? Damn, this is bad… I don't know how a skeleton's body language goes!' Issei nonetheless 'discarded' his fear by standing up and assuming a 'Gym teacher waiting for the last students to arrive by the school-gate before locking it' pose familiar to him from the school, even if he hadn't taken the stance before. 'I think it went like that… Uuuh, I feel awkward… The robes are billowing like some kind of dark lord's…'
Nonetheless, Issei put all his willpower into looking stern and glanced around, looking if there's something interesting he could stare at in order to focus his willpower.
He felt oddly from one direction, as if he was being watched. Granted, that sort of thing had been a constant feeling in the wilderness-like place, so Issei focused his attention to that specific direction while expecting some monster to flee from the underbrush when it had been spotted, like the countless others who had done so once Issei had seen them.
'...This feels really awkward…'
Roughly thirty seconds later Issei's over-clocked and over-stressed mind heard something approaching, and turned his body towards the source of the sound to see a faintly eerie sound of Victim floating in the air… And beside him walked a fairly normal-looking japanese girl in shrine-maiden costume.
It took all of Issei's willpower to maintain the stern stance instead of breaking down and starting to bawl in relief from seeing the gigantic floating skinless angel-haloed fetus- As strange as that thought sounded inside his head.
"...My lord." The shrine-maiden looking woman bowed down, making Issei struggle between the thought of bowing in turn as was expected or just standing still as if he was judging someone or something- But considering the past events, Issei figured that the safer bet would be to stay strong and not start to apologize in order to not trigger another 'Solution Event'.
"Greetings. Victim." Issei turned to address the floating fetus. "Introduce me."
"lleW tem, ym drol. ehS si eloeruA ,agemO eht aerA naidrauG fo hthgiE roolF dna eht CPN fo yrrehC mossolB, yrautcnaS eht naidraug fo noitatropsnarT setaG. (Well met, my lord. She is Aureole Omega, the Area Guardian of Eighth Floor and the NPC of Cherry Blossom Sanctuary, the guardian of Transportation Gates.)"
'What?' Issei blinked internally as he couldn't make heads or tails of Victim's speech. "I see. Indeed… So, what do you have to say for yourself, lady?"
"I am deeply sorry."
'Er, that was not what I was going for, but I suppose it was a stretch that she'd 'confirm' Victim's introduction and blurt her name… But I don't want to make myself look foolish or make Victim look foolish if I asked her name with explicit words right after I asked Victim to introduce her to me… ' Issei sighed, this time externally as his stress gauge was well in red and was threatening to loop over. 'She's pretty flat as well… No, rather, she's 'normal' as far as her breasts go, my scale must have been skewed by seeing Albedo's breasts… I can calm myself somewhat… Haaa, I'd need Rias-buchou's lovely breasts to bring my mind to equilibrium…'
It seemed that the miko flinched from the look Issei gave to her, and he realized that he must have looked quite omnious with the billowing robes, a judgemental pose and downward-look while having his head up high as if he was looking down on the shrine-maiden.
"My lord, would you like it if we continued this conversation in the Cherry Blossom Sanctuary?" The shrine maiden asked, and Issei hesitated for a while before nodding slightly.
'That doesn't sound like an ominous place, but you never know…' Issei was starting to feel like begging someone to bring him back to his room so that he could bury himself under a blanket and shudder under it for at least a week, but at the same time he was keenly aware what might happen if he indulged such urge- Namely, he'd be eaten, and he wasn't sure if Solution's 'vore' being nonlethal was an exception rather than a rule.
'...Here we go again…'