"Mm, yes. There should do nicely."
Lizel Himekami, Lovers' Queen, was strolling about doing a little bit of "redecoration".
However, she was not at Lovers' Palace or even her own home. Rather, she was at Aspite's, the World's Candidate's, mansion.
On her hands were chains with cuffs on them. She was looking for a suitable place to put those on. Lizel was currently in the living room of Aspite's mansion.
"What's the meaning of this, Lizel?"
Aspite, the mansion's lord, arrived. He had called Lizel to his mansion hours before, but their conversation had long since ended, yet she still stayed.
"Aspite. I imagine Yuuto will be here sometime tomorrow. I can't very well be sitting on the sofa drinking tea when he arrives. So I thought I'd prepare a few things to play my part as a prisoner."
"You don't have to play the part of a prisoner. I seem to remember calling you to apologize to Lovers."
Indeed, the reason why Aspite had called Lizel to his mansion was to make a truce with Yuuto and apologize for his former Cards' behavior.
Aspite was not dumb. He saw Yuuto defeating Haida, that meant not one of Aspite's remaining Cards could beat Yuuto. Aspite himself didn't think he'd lose, but there's no reason to pick this fight.
So he called Lizel in order to ask her to prepare a meeting with Yuuto so he could apologize. He didn't know Yuuto personally, but Aspite figured he also didn't want this fight, so it should all work out well.
Of course, publicly, he would pin the blame on his former Cards and say that he and Yuuto reached an understanding. Aspite would never be able to face the remaining Candidates if they even thought he was afraid of Lovers.
But, rather than going back after hearing his message, Lizel stuck around. That was fine by Aspite, he still hoped to win her to his newly opened Ace spot, but he was also prepared to give her up, and most importantly he had no plans to take her prisoner.
Yet Lizel imprisoned herself as casually as one would be buying groceries for home. It was something Aspite was unable to understand.
"Didn't you hear me correctly, Lizel? Why are you so intent on stirring conflict between me and your Candidate?"
"Yuuto met with Devil's Candidate during the Unveiling. Call it women's intuition, but something tells me us Lovers will be fighting Devil very soon."
Aspite almost shuddered at the name. If he had to name Candidates he absolutely didn't want to fight now, Devil would definitely be amongst them.
He was amazed at how calmly Lizel basically declared Lovers' loss, at least as far as Aspite was concerned. But he still didn't understand what that had to do with what she was doing now.
"Your call came just as I was troubled over what to do to make Yuuto stronger, Aspite. Since you said you wanted peace with Yuuto, I thought you wouldn't mind also helping against Devil."
"An alliance with Lovers? Don't make me laugh. If you've convinced Star and Chariot to help, then I suppose I could also lend my strength. But there's no difference between me fighting alone and fighting with the help of Lovers."
"No, no. I didn't mean it like that."
At least you're not insane yet, Aspite thought. He didn't expect Lizel's next words to make him question her sanity even more.
"You'll be a stepping stone for Yuuto, Aspite."
"… What?!"
"As Yuuto is right now, he can't hope to win against you, much less Devil. But that's only the case if he was fighting to defeat his opponent. Once he learns I'm here, he'll fight to save me, that will unlock even more of his power which he'll use to defeat you. Aspite, you're a good person, but you really can't be on top, you need someone to knock you down a bit. I can't be that person for you, but Yuuto will be. That's how you two will help each other."
Aspite was stunned. He didn't even know what to do after hearing such a thing.
Should he laugh at her stupidity? Get angry at her for calling him a stepping stone? Feel amused at the mere idea?
After a good 30 seconds of inaction, Aspite finally settled on something.
He gritted his teeth so hard one could almost hear it. He was angry, more than he thought possible.
"Fine then, have it your way. If your Candidate comes here seeking a fight, that's what he'll find. Just don't come crying with his dead corpse later."
With that, Aspite left Lizel to her own devices. He would make sure she regretted her choice as soon as Yuuto appeared in front of him.
/
Lizel-senpai really never showed up again no matter how much I waited. I called Miyabi and Reina and they said we should wait until the next day in case she shows up for classes.
So the first thing we did was go to Lizel-senpai's class. We waited until after classes started, but she didn't show up here as well.
"So something really must have happened to senpai. What did she do the last time you saw her, Yuuto?"
"She took a phone call. I don't know who was calling though."
"That doesn't help much desu…"
What could we do to find Lizel-senpai? Had we really been so dependent on her that all we can do when she isn't here is run around like headless chickens?
While I was thinking about what we could do, I heard someone call out to me.
"Yuuto-kun."
I turned to see a brown-skinned girl with the world's current top idol following right behind her. Neith and Stella.
Yeah, they're Lizel-senpai's friends. Surely they'll help us.
"Neith, Stella, please listen. Yesterday, Lizel-senpai was-"
"We know, did you forget I was there? We've also found her already."
"Y-you did? That's great. Then, let's go imme-"
"Hold on now. We'll go save Lizel, but we have to settle some terms first."
"Stella, don't…"
"You don't have to get involved if you don't want to, Neith. But I'm absolutely not missing this chance."
Miyabi and Reina seemed a bit at a loss, but I could understand what Stella was talking about.
I remembered yesterday, when we met after Lizel-senpai had left. She offered to help me for a certain price then, and I'm sure it'll be the same now. She will offer to save Lizel-senpai, but for a price.
"Yuuto, we figured out Lizel is at Aspite's place. All you have to do is ask, and I'll save her for you. In exchange, I want to trade Cards with you."
"Trade…?"
"Yeah. I'll get Lizel, you get one of my girls. They're all very beautiful, but don't quite compare to Lizel, so I'm willing to even make it 2 for you. So, what do you say, Yuuto? Better me having Lizel than Aspite, no?"
So that was it huh. Well, it certainly seemed like the better of the 2 options.
But I still don't like it. So I won't take it.
"I'm sorry, but no deal. I won't give any of my Cards to anyone. I'll rescue Lizel-senpai myself. Oh, but I suppose I do owe you for telling me she's at Aspite's. I'll think of a way to repay you some other time."
"Heeh, you're confident. Alright, I'll keep watch over you. If you change your mind, just call my name and I'll take it as if you accepted the deal."
"Fine by me, but I won't be calling you."
Stella laughed as she saw us away. I know I might have just thrown away the easiest chance to save Lizel-senpai, but if the price is giving her away… it's too steep.
Now that we knew Lizel-senpai was at Aspite's place, we just needed to figure out where that was. Luckily, I knew just to ask.
But before that-
"Yuuto-kun, wait."
Neith came up to me. I already had an idea of what she'd ask for.
"Yuuto-kun, let me help you save Lizel."
"Thanks Neith, but-"
"I'm not going to ask for something like Stella… Lizel is my friend, and I also like Yuuto-kun, so I want to help."
I could see it in Neith's uncovered eye, she was serious. She wouldn't try to pull a fast one on me or anything, she really just wanted to help a friend.
There's no way I can just dismiss her, but I also don't want to get her too involved. Something for her to do that fits that criteria… there is.
"… Alright then, I'll be counting on Neith's help, but not for fighting Aspite."
"Yuuto-kun?"
"I don't know how far the news spread yet, but there's a chance other Candidates might try to attack Aspite first or even create a situation where I'm indebted to them. We'll have our hands full dealing with Aspite and his Cards, so I want Neith to keep the other Candidates off our backs."
"But… no, I understand. But if Yuuto-kun needs help when fighting Aspite, please call for me. … I'll rush to you immediately."
Neith really was kind. Hopefully, she won't encounter any trouble. I'd hate to hear she got hurt for doing what I asked her to do.
With that taken care of, it's time to figure out where Aspite's place is. The best way to do that was to ask a former Card.
In other words, Geld. Luckily, he wasn't hard to find, after all, we were in the same class. I asked him to come outside for a bit and gave a brief explanation of the situation.
"So Geld, where do I have to go?"
"T-that's… you know what? Screw it! I'm not one of his Cards anymore. I'll tell you."
"Thanks dude."
"… It's for a friend, after all."
I think Geld meant to say that in a low voice. But I'll pretend I didn't hear him. For a friend.
"Ooh, is that the so-called friendship between men?"
"Reina is so moved desu. *sniff*"
"S-shut up!"
Well… I might have decided to pretend to not hear him, but Miyabi and Reina seemed to have a different idea.
Thankfully, Geld still gave us the address. Of course, Lizel-senpai is more important than classes, so we left immediately.
Luckily, Aspite didn't live in the middle of nowhere, so we were able to make good time once we got to the city.
It was pretty easy finding Aspite's mansion. It's not like there's a lot of those around, so we could hardly make a mistake.
We didn't approach too much though, since Geld told us about the barrier around Aspite's mansion, but we also knew how to beat it.
In short, the barrier warned when there was an unauthorized entry, but didn't give much more than a general direction. So I'll use Transite to send us directly inside.
The barrier will warn of an unauthorized entry, and Aspite will send his Cards to investigate, but they won't expect us already in the mansion. That should buy us some time to find Lizel-senpai.
"Ready?"
"Yup."
"Desu!"
I took Miyabi and Reina's hands. Now I just couldn't screw up. It's only my second time teleporting, but what could go wrong?
"Transite."
The scenario around us changed. We ended up in some room inside Aspite's mansion. Maybe a storage room?
I almost fell down, but Miyabi and Reina caught me. By the time I noticed, I had my head resting on Reina's lap.
"Yuuto-san needs to recover first desu."
"So feel free to go 'mugyuu mugyuu' as much as you want."
Miyabi took my hands and guided them to her breasts. There was an indescribable feeling of guilt about rubbing those funbags as Reina caressed my head.
But it was definitely working. I could feel the mana flowing into me.
"Mmnn."
"*gulp*"
Miyabi was trying to hold back her moans so we wouldn't be found. I heard Reina gulp as she observed Miyabi.
Could the pure and innocent Reina have an interest in such lewd things? No way! … Then again, with the underwear and micro-bikini and swimsuit I saw her wear, maybe she's not as pure and innocent as I'd thought.
[Mana has been fully recharged.]
The Arcana told me after a few minutes. For as much as I would love to continue, I suppose it's time to head to battle.
I told Miyabi and Reina and we prepared ourselves. We left the room and tried to find the center of the mansion so we could get a general sense of direction.
There was no one around, so I guess our plan to trick them worked. Hopefully, saving Lizel-senpai will be this easy.
We eventually ended up finding the living room, and Lizel-senpai was inside it. She was chained down. Aspite, that bastard!
He was sitting close to where Lizel-senpai was. There would be little point in sneaking around anymore, so I just told Miyabi and Reina about Aspite and we entered the living room.
"Welcome, Lovers, Yuuto Morioka. Now then, shall we begin?"
Aspite's greeting would mark my first fight with another Devil King Candidate.
