Yesterday, Stella suddenly appeared all burned and beat up in front of me. I was shocked at first, but I called Michael and everyone else as soon as I could. After some time healing, Stella was mostly back to normal.
She was still unconscious though, so Ruki and Rumi took her to a room. Meanwhile, we tried to find out what had happened to her.
I've never seen Stella fight with my own eyes, but Lizel-senpai said she was strong. So much in fact that some people believed she'd win even against the Triumph. Of course, that only made the question mark hovering over my head grow even bigger.
All we were able to find on the internet was that she was supposed to have a show, but we couldn't find anything else. It was as if she went from the world's top idol to someone no one cared about.
In the end, all we could really do was wait for Stella to wake up and ask her directly. She woke up in the middle of the night, Lizel-senpai was in the room with her, so she'd see a friend's face once she woke up.
Lizel-senpai said Stella was in a panic at first, but she eventually calmed down. Lizel-senpai told Stella how she arrived here and asked her to explain what had happened. Once Stella had calmed down enough to do that, Lizel-senpai called for us.
"Before that, I just want to say, thanks for healing me."
"It was no problem. Now, if it's not too much for you right now, could you please tell us what happened?"
Stella thanked Michael. Of course, Rumi and Michael had introduced themselves to Stella. Stella seemed to have some trouble believing Michael was Ruki's father, which I found entirely understandable, but them both being angels leaves little room for doubt.
Anyway, Stella recounted what happened to her. She told us how she was performing her show like normal when she was attacked by Death's Group. It seems she got mana from her fans, and without that she was helpless against her attackers.
She was able to save herself because of the magic crystal she gave me a good while back. I remember it was right before Lizel-senpai faked her kidnapping. Thank god she remembered it.
That was the gist of it, basically. She also told us some more stuff, how it seems some Characteristic Magic was used to make her fans forget her, how her Cards and some of the staff weren't affected, how she Released her Cards, how she was attacked by Lost and Summers in specific. There was also some stuff I didn't quite get, about her family and some man, but I think I got the general idea.
After that, we decided to let Stella rest a bit more. Morning came not long after, so another day of training began.
Me, Ruki, Michael, Miyabi and Reina went on our usual way and then divided into 2 groups. I was curious as to how Miyabi and Reina's training was going, but they wouldn't tell me and even swore Michael to secrecy, so I knew to not even try asking.
Of course, Ruki and I also continued our training. We had made considerable progress so far, but still we hadn't managed to land a single hit on Michael.
"Haaa!"
"Mm, not bad."
Ruki was a magician type of fighter, so she mostly stayed back and gave me support as I went after Michael. But, if I'm going to be honest, her attacks seemed closer to dealing damage than mine.
I was still messing with 3 fighting styles: hand-to-hand, magic and sword. My sword was still made by Ruki with light, but it was much stronger now. I could even use it for defense when Michael counterattacked, though it usually broke right after.
And so another day went with me not even landing a single hit. But I have to admit, I do feel like I'm getting stronger, and Michael also thinks so. I feel like I'm on the edge of landing a good hit on Michael, which he said would mark the end of my training.
But, even though I didn't land a single hit, I sure did get beaten up a lot. My next stop was the healing bath.
"Oh, Yuuto. Good timing, I wanted to talk with you."
"Lizel-senpai?"
I happened to meet Lizel-senpai on the way to the healing bath. After Rumi got her chastity belt, I've been mostly bathing alone. Even during our Healing Lovers at night, she kinda switched from trying to seduce me to actually trying to teach me stuff. We were done in just a couple of nights, so then I Released her and went back to doing Healing Lovers with Lizel-senpai, Miyabi and Reina.
But things were different from before. For one, we've been keeping stuff mostly 1-on-1 for now, and we tried to apply what Rumi taught us as best we could. For example, one of these nights, I went on a night date with Miyabi. It was a whole different atmosphere from going out during the day.
I got a little sidetracked there. In short, this time with Lizel-senpai marked the first time I bathed with someone in a good while. I was even a little nervous for some reason.
Tonight was the night I'm supposed to spend with Lizel-senpai. Maybe we can get Healing Lovers started early.
"Yuuto, I think we shouldn't do Healing Lovers tonight."
"W-what?!"
The world around me shattered and all became dark. Who knew that the end of everything would come so quickly. Aah, so many regrets, but it's all gone now.
But then, before despair could completely take over me. I felt a goddess hug me from behind. Her ample breasts pressing on my back.
What was actually going on was that I had sat down because Lizel-senpai asked to wash my back. She said that while washing me, and it was a bit shocking. But then, soon after, she hugged me.
"I also wanted to spend the night with Yuuto, but I think this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Yuuto should make Stella into a Card."
Oh, is that it? I suppose it does make sense.
If Stella becomes my Card, we can do Healing Lovers, which will get her the mana she lost from her fans. She seemed a bit down last I saw her, so this could give her a good sense of security.
As expected of Lizel-senpai, she's really worried about her friend. I suppose I can ask Stella if she wants to become my Card after. Of course, I'll remember to explain how I can turn her, a Candidate, into a Card and what the consequences of that will be. It wouldn't be good to trick her.
"Yuuto should probably keep quiet about the consequences… no, that would only bring problems later. Be honest with her, but if she refuses just demand it as payment for saving her life."
Lizel-senpai is surprisingly dark! Or rather, it's probably because I don't want to believe she's a bad person that I'm surprised when she does something like this.
Still, I do think that at least part of her worries for Stella. It might not be the main reason why Lizel-senpai suggested making her a Card, but it's surely part of it.
"Alright, I'll talk with Stella right after this."
"Mm, that's good. I wanted to take this chance to do Healing Lovers with Yuuto, but you'll probably do it with Stella later, so I'll refrain for now."
She said that, but, after we sat beside each other in the bath for a bit, we began kissing. At first, it was just a normal kiss, but then we got our tongues involved, then we made it a deep kiss.
If I'm being honest it took a lot to not start Healing Lovers there. If only I had the stamina of a hentai protagonist, I'd be able to do both, one right after the other. But alas, the sadness of reality reared its ugly head again.
Anyway, after I got dressed, I headed to the room Stella was staying in. It seems she hadn't left it for the entire day, not even to eat.
Of course, I wasn't about to just barge in her room. I knocked on the door and waited for Stella to let me in, though I'm pretty sure I heard a little scream.
"W-who's there?"
"Yuuto. Can I come in?"
"O-oh, fine."
I entered Stella's room. To be honest, if not for it being a different time of day, I wouldn't have been able to tell anything different from earlier. It didn't even look like Stella had moved a bit.
I asked if I could sit next to her on the bed and she let me, so I took my place there.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like shit. I feel so weak."
Stella then tried to punch me, but I barely felt it. She said that was all the strength she could muster up now.
That's a little too weak. Just from all the exercising for being an idol and being a devil, Stella should be considerably strong. It's probably a side-effect of losing so much mana at once.
"So there you have it, I'm not worth anything anymore. If word that I'm still alive reaches Summers' ears, I'm as good as dead. Maybe I'll just hole up somewhere and disappear off the face of the Earth."
"About that, there's something Lizel-senpai asked me to discuss with Stella."
I tried my best to explain how Healing Lovers worked to Stella. By the way, I mentioned Lizel-senpai's name because I figure it would make it easier for Stella to believe it. After all, it came from a longtime friend.
"Ah, I get it."
Oh, she got it already? I haven't even told her how I can make a Candidate into a Card yet. She must be really smart.
"Yuuto wants my body as payment for saving me, right? You didn't have to make up that whole thing, you just had to say it. I did say that whoever used the crystal would pay the other with everything they have, and the only thing I have now is my body. So just do as you please."
"That's not it!"
After Nagasawa-sensei, now Stella misunderstood me. At some point, I'm probably just going to give up fighting these false images people have of me. But not today.
"What I'm trying to say is that I can make Stella into my Card, then we can do Healing Lovers for you to gain back your mana. Or at least some of it."
"Haha, very funny. Even if Healing Lovers works like you told me, I'm still Star's Candidate, so I can't become a Card."
"But I have a way to make even a Candidate into a Card. I even made Neith into my Suit Card VII."
"Neith… Neith Carnac, Chariot's Candidate?!"
I guess it was a bit hard for Stella to just accept it as is, so I had another idea. I thought I'd call Neith and have her confirm it herself. Besides, Neith is also an old friend of Stella, so it'll be easier for her to believe her than me.
But, right after I pressed the call button, I wondered what time it was where Neith was. I hoped I hadn't called at a bad time, but my worries proved unfounded.
{Yuuto-kun?}
Neith picked up. I gave her a brief explanation that I was telling Stella about how I could make her into my Card, and Neith confirmed what I said. We then began talking about what consequences there would be if she chose to become my Card, and also about how Healing Lovers even made Neith's Characteristic Magic better.
By the way, I learned from Neith that the effect had already passed. It seems it's not a permanent upgrade, but it'll last for a good while after Healing Lovers. A full day from Neith's estimations.
Anyway, she and Stella talked for a good while. By the time they finished, it was already dark. Though the sun was already setting when I came in, so it wasn't that long. Once they finished, Stella gave me my phone back.
"Thanks Neith, I'm going to end the call now."
{Okay… I love you, Yuuto-kun…}
… Well, that was a little embarrassing, especially since Stella heard it as well. … But I can't say it didn't make me happy.
I let the red of my cheeks settle down a bit before I turned to face Stella again. Now was the time to ask the most important question.
"So, what does Stella want to do? I won't force Stella, so even if you refuse, I'll still do my best to keep you safe."
"… Just tell me something: is it really true I can get mana from doing perverted stuff with you?"
"Well, yeah. I don't know how it'll compare to the mana you got from your fans. But, come to think of it, I never heard any of my Cards complain about lack of mana."
The only time I can remember something like that was right after Miyabi got Galactic Strike. But nowadays she just fires that thing left and right while training with Michael's light clone, sometimes I see 1 or 2 flying off into space.
Does Sein also increase their mana capacity?
[Yuuto's is the only capacity I can increase. Healing Lovers does perform improvements to the magic circuits, the mana is of better quality, and her body has adapted to it better, that is why Princess can now use her Bloodline Magic better than before.]
Eeh, that's interesting. I never really stopped to think about it, but Healing Lovers really is good for everyone involved. In multiple ways.
"So my choices are to either sit on the sidelines doing nothing or try to win as Yuuto's woman, huh… it's obvious what I'm going to do. Even if I can't become Devil King anymore, I won't just quietly retire from the war. So I'll do it, under a condition."
"What is it?"
Depending on what she asks, I simply won't be able to do it. But I don't expect her to ask for anything too unreasonable.
"I'm the Ace. If I'm going to do something, I always give it my all. So just you wait, I'll become your favorite woman, I'll win the Devil King War for you and I'll make you Devil King. So put me in the Ace spot where I belong."
"… Alright."
I mean… it's not like I really differentiate between my Cards, but I guess it's good that she's excited. Even if just a little bit, the former Stella is back.
So I figured we should just get to making the contract, but Stella got a bit nervous, which was cute. It seems this was her first kiss, so I tried my best to make it good for her.
I figured we'd keep it light, just pecking the lips, but Stella seemed to have other plans. She opened her mouth and tried getting her tongue out. If she wanted it, I might as well give it to her.
So I kissed Stella, tongue and all. It was hard to hear, but she started moaning. If you focused on just the sound, you'd think we were doing more than just kissing. Either Stella's really inexperienced or I just leveled up a lot. Maybe both.
Anyway with this…
[Stella Hoshigaoka has become an Ace Card.]
I got my Ace.
