A/N: Not much to say here that I hadn't last time around. This is the heist chapter, and it'll have a few lemons. Go to Ao3 or QQ if you want to see those. Btw I think I fixed the CG issue. Apparently you need a good image hosting website. Imgur's tos won't allow them, I have a pixiv but that didn't work, and I don't know if my other social media would have worked. Eventually I just started a private discord server, hopefully that works.

Also, someone requested an index on Archive. If anyone knows how to make something like that, could you tell me? For now, here's a quick key to all the names, at least for the people with a ton of them.

Leon Fou [now Rapha] Barfort: Renowned adventurer and current crown prince. / previously: Hiro (pre:isekai)—Lea of Bart's Fort (The true founder of Holfort and lover to the Saintess Ann and Mary)—JOU_MOU_ (someone who used to work in Luxion's facility.)

Angelica Rapha Redgrave: Daughter of Duke Redgrave and ex-fiancé to Julius/ Previously: Ann of Bart's Fort (aka Saintess Ann and lover of Lea of Bart's fort). / Also goes by Angie to close friends and loved ones.

Olivia: Commoner from the Kagenou Barony. / previously: Mary (lover and companion to Ann and Lea. What happened to her is a mystery). / Is also known as Livia by her close friends and loved ones.

Cid Kagenou: fiancé to several famous elves but just a regular mob you'd find anywhere / previously: Minoru Kagenou (Pre:isekai and possibly post[this fanfic only, details on that to come]) / Also dons the secret identity of "Lord Shadow." Leader and founder of The Shadow Garden.

Alice [Kagenou]: Cid's personal elf servant, lover, and childhood friend / previously: Beatrice (this is non canon, but all of Shadow Garden had identities before joining so I made a name up for her.) / Dons the secret identity of "Alpha" or "Lady Shade." Co-leader and second founder of The Shadow Garden, first of the Seven Shades. The name "Alpha" is only used by those in Shadow Garden.

Other Shadow Garden Members: All of the seven shades have secret identities. They see their Shadow Garden names as their true names and will use that in their own thoughts. But to everyone not in Shadow Garden that sees them as their secret identities will use those names.

Beta: Natsume Kafka, renowned writer.

Gamma: Luna of Mitsugoshi, owner of said store and many others, richest Woman in the world.

Delta: Sara, certified good girl.

Epsilon: Shiron, amazing musician known internationally.

Zeta: Zetan. Previously known as Lilim, named after the therianthrope hero, who was Lili.

Eta: Goes by Eta Lloyd Wright, renowned Architect.

Disclaimer: I don't own Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs, nor The Eminence in Shadow. The only Beta reader here is the elf.

-Leon(?)-

"Mi..no…ru?"

Before me lies a boy in a white blazer and shirt, black slacks, and unkempt hair. Truthfully, I'm not much better off. But the main difference between our states of disparity is the fact that all that blood that covers me is my own.

The boy, he kneels on the ground while holding a blonde elf and surrounded by many others. All of the other women are dead. And the elven woman in the boy's hands is seconds away from joining her friends.

"Olly… please… you can't *sob* you can't…!" cries the boy.

"I'm… sorry…" groans the elven woman.

I can't move.

I want to go and help.

But I'm lying on the ground feeling like I'm going to die if I do so much as breathe.

I can't move.

"Olly, please, just… just wait until Mary and Ann get back up!" begs the boy.

"Is…that… an… order…?" asked the elven woman.

Tears streaming down his face, the boy screams, "Yes! That's an order! *Sob* I can't lose you too!"

Although my vision is fading, I try to look to my side; I see two women approach.

…

They aren't going to come in time.

I look back to the pair surrounded by corpses of their friends.

The elven woman smiles. I get the impression that this is the first time I've seen her do so.

"I… apologize…" began the Elven woman.

The boy begins to panic, "No…! No! Just a little longer, please! I can see Ann and Mary coming, please Olly!"

Two women get closer.

"Lea!" they cry.

No, I want to say.

Go help them, I want to say.

But I can't.

I can't move.

I feel lights begin to heal my wounds. I can breathe.

I can't move.

The elven woman reaches for the boy's face stating, "I…love…y…"

Her hand drops.

I can't move.

The boy holds the woman close.

I'm helped up.

"Lea!" cry the two women that could only have saved me or the woman.

"Olly…" cries the boy. "Olly…!"

The two woman look to see our friends. We see the boy. He's alone. He's alone with the corpses of his loved ones surrounding him. The people that have been a part of his life for years. The people he had held at arms length for as long as he could. He was so surrounded by people that loved him he used to complain that he never had time for himself.

Now he's alone.

I can't move.

"Olly…" cries the boy. My partners and I just stare, unable to do anything.

But then, the boy's hair starts to turn white.

"Olly…Olivier…Olivier…!OLIVIER!"

A burst of violet mana sweeps up the entire field, and I see nothing but white.

-Leon-

I wake up, not quite feeling like I had a nightmare but disturbed all the same. In an attempt to calm myself I quickly take in my surroundings.

I'm in my office. I fell asleep here last night.

I'm on a bed, I had Luxion take it here so that I wouldn't have to carry Angie and Livia in front of a bunch of people.

I look to my right. Angie's not here.

I very quickly look to my left, Livia is. She's also rolled over to her other side, I think I was hugging her that way in my sleep before I woke up and lay on my back.

I look up and see Luxion floating by with a note, grabbing I see Angie's handwriting:

Good morning, Dear, Honey, Darling, Leon,

Some of the students were beginning to become unruly so I decided to get up early and handle the situation. Do not worry I made sure to take Cid, Alice, and Zetan with me as well as some of Luxion's robots. It was nothing major to begin with, just some spat over a boy that apparently looked rather heroic or something during the invasion. Not that I would know, considering I was busy watching you. As you had stayed up late last night to help My, Milaine with her paperwork, I thought I should let you sleep in for now. I also left Livia there since she looked much too adorable to wake up, especially once you rolled over and began to hug her.

Forever Yours,

Angelica.

I smile. Okay. If I remember correctly, we should reach Lindwurm by the afternoon. Because that place is also known as the Sacred Land, I'll probably only have this morning to relax, so I should take the lazy Sunday morning for what it is. Besides, Shadow should be contacting me at some point too, so I should get some rest.

I take a deep breath, however, since I am cuddling my lovely lover Livia, this means I get hit with her perfume. This also means that I am reminded of the fact I have my "sexy as she is adorable" lover in my arms.

Hm…

I think I should maybe tire myself out a bit before going back to sleep.

A/N: This is one of the lemons.

Leon wakes up Livia to have some fun.

A/N: Lemon ends here.

As Livia was now asleep, I decided to get ready for the day. Some part of me is tempted to just chase the other two girls on the ship I'm in a relationship with, but-

[Master, we are an hour away from docking at Lindwurm's port. I recommend you act accordingly.]

I nod at Luxion's voice. Okay, gotta do my best job to look like a respectable person.

-Cid-

Although I did appreciate the luxury cruise life for the past week, I'm glad to be back to action. Don't get me wrong, cuddling and kissing with Alpha and Zeta was great, even if they did squabble a bit, but still. I want to further my goals.

Leon has been a pretty good friend by setting up some stuff. So, from what I've been able to figure out, we're in a game that he used to play. Seeing as how I did end up being reborn in a different world, I don't really have any reason to doubt that setting. If anything, that just lets me have more to work with since I can predict everything that's going to happen.

For starters, we're probably at the midgame right now. See, after the big events that just happened, I get the feeling that it's about time for stuff to start changing for real. That's probably why Leon was talking about that big monster that can end the world or whatever it was. Personally, I feel like he's exaggerating, but it would be cool if something that strong existed.

I could use a decent conversation partner.

In any case, this heist where the hero has to work with someone who isn't the villain but can't be trusted. Can't believe I didn't come up with it myself, honestly. But that's not going to happen till tonight.

For now, I'll enjoy some of the scenery. I think I heard there's some hot springs nearby. Also, Beta, Epsilon, Victoria, and Delta should be nearby for a mission. I forget what that's about though.

"Cid." Beckons Alpha in her maid outfit, "Are you ready to go?"

I look down to my lap and see Zeta laying down on it. Seeing as how she's awake I pat her on the shoulder to tell her it's time to get up. She pouts but acquiesces.

"Yup. Is everyone already heading out?" I asked as we began to head out as well.

Alpha nods, "Yes. It took some time to make sure that everyone had left and that Luxion would not force them out, but it's about time for the other ships to arrive as well."

Geh, that means Claire's on her way here.

Trying not to think about it I turn to Zeta, who swapped her kimono that tastefully hung at her shoulders, to a key hole turtleneck and pencil skirt.

"Is there anything you have planned?" I asked her.

Zeta shook her head, although she appeared a bit confused by my question, "…No? Not until The Goddess Trial. Why?"

As we exited Partner, and out of most of Luxion's surveillance, I let myself let more of that Lord Shadow come out.

"There's something I want to do later that may require your help." I say.

Zeta glances briefly in the direction of the ship before nodding, "Whatever you need Cid."

I smile and glance forward.

I'm greeted by the heartwarming sight of Clarice running up to Angelica and Olivia, enveloping them in a tear-filled hug as Leon watches with a smile. I know that Clarice used to be a rather pure girl, or rather she still is. She just put up the delinquent act to get her ex-fiancé's attention. I can respect how she still holds up the character as well.

I then enjoy the sight of my sister flying through the air and tackling Leon to the ground. As he has her distracted by allowing her to all but devour his face, I begin to look around.

I cup my mouth and say "Luxion? Uh, you around here?"

[Yes, you called?]

Zeta and Alpha do their best to mimic my fake surprise at how Luxion appears out of nowhere next to my head. I feel like this robot has a bit of a sadistic streak.

"Grah! Warn a guy why don't you!" I yell before calming down, "Look, I kinda don't want to have my trip be thrown off the rails by Claire, especially with how we ended up getting invaded by Fanoss. Do you think you could just let her know we went somewhere?"

[I believe it would help a lot if you were to tell her where you planned on going.]

I scratch the back of my head, "Er. Just couple stuff, you know?"

[Should I accompany you to alleviate any potential fears then?]

My eye twitches in frustration but thankfully Alpha does as she does and picks up my slack, "Apologies, but we also plan on doing official and confidential Mitsugoshi business. So, we would appreciate it if you didn't."

[I see. Very well. I shall deliver the message later.]

Luxion then disappears.

I glance back to see Claire getting kisses from Deirdre. Claire's a bit flustered but isn't stopping her. Huh, Claire's into girls too? That's cool, I didn't know that.

"Cid, Alice!"

-Alpha-

I suppose that the Kagenou family tends to attract a certain type of woman. Claire has Deirdre, and now Cid apparently has seduced Rose Oriana. Actually, come to think of it, he did manage to charm the heir to anther kingdom in Alexia Midgar… and Claire did manage to charm Leon who is the heir to the kingdom of Holfort.

…

Something to consider later, I suppose.

In any case, as our groups had met up again Rose had managed to chase us down. Originally, I was nice enough to simply listen to her, however the longer she went on about how our actions had moved her heart more than any play I started to get the impression that she was feeling something other than appreciation towards Cid and I.

Cid seemed to make no move to stop her from holding our hands and leading us around, which I suppose as a mere baron and his elf servant (ignoring Mitsugoshi which is still just a store at the end of the day, for as affluent as it is), we had no real right to. I would argue that as friends of Rose, and several other royals that we could ask her politely to leave us to go on a date by ourselves, but Cid must have some kind of plan in mind. Although with how he's merely playing along, I imagine that he's playing a long game rather than doing anything short term.

I do think that perhaps Rose could include a little less mentions of fate in her statements of how we were destined to meet. About how Cid's feelings reached her and mine moved her. That we represented some kind of change in her life that she needed… It's a little uncomfortable, to be honest.

Zeta seemed rather content to hold Cid's other hand when I was stuck holding Rose's. I know she shot me a few smug looks, but I didn't react until we got to the booths where Beta is holding a book signing. Rose had to hold our entire arms, and Zeta had to walk behind us.

I reveled in the way she fumed as I looked back at her.

However, that was short lived as Cid would separate from Rose, leaving her to just hold onto me.

"Oh? What's this?" said Cid as he glanced at a few keychains. He looks at the one depicting the left arm of diabolos being impaled by a sword with particular interest. "I wonder why they're all left arms?"

Because of Cid's act of someone who knows nothing of religion and history, Rose decides to explain, "This land is said to be where the hero Olivier severed the left arm of the vile Diabolos. Within the surface of the steep mountains surrounding the Sacred Land are some ruins called the Sanctuary where Diabolos' left arm is supposedly sealed away."

Cid of course knew that already, but smiles gratefully, and responds with, "Huh. Guess that explains the swords and arms."

"Do you want one Cid?" asked Zeta, "I've heard they're pretty popular for men."

"Yeah, thanks." Said Cid.

…I should've asked first.

"Come to think of it…" said Cid as he looks around, "Is this being a prominent place for Olivier and their story why there's so many elves? I don't think I've seen so many outside of Mitsugoshi."

That's right. For the most part elves will stick to their villages and hidden sanctuaries. Lindwurm is one of the few actual places where there is an actual city of elves. I'll admit it through me for a loop when I first learned about it. Beatrix even had a few accounts of having looked for me here, either directly or going through info brokers.

It's a city of mostly dirt roads and full of flowers on the streets, with the main exception to the general aesthetic being a large cathedral and some surrounding buildings in the center of the city. The church is in fact one that worships the goddess Beatrix, with its patron saint being that of the Saintess of Holfort, as apparently this was also the town that the Saintess grew up in.

In reality it's a front for the cult, so I don't find it in myself to appreciate anything about it.

"Ah!" gasps Rose happily as she hugs my arm tightly, "There's a book-signing session with Natsume Kafka! I'm a huge fan of hers!"

All three of us stare at Rose.

"Rose…" started Cid, "You've met her before. She's one of my fiancés."

Rose burrows into me embarrassed and I awkwardly pat her back.

"But…but…! She's a popular novelist with the most wonderfully inventive ideas and a unique worldview that I find very compelling. She can write romance, mysteries, action, fairytales…and even pure literature! Her talents span all genres, giving her so much diversity it's almost like a different person is writing each book!" gushed Rose. I find myself and my two fellow members of Shadow Garden puffing up with a bit of pride at this. Beta truly has come a long way since the small girl that needed bedtime stories all the time.

"You…do remember you're a princess, right?" teased Zeta.

Rose began to poke her fingers together cutely, "But…But… I just can't help it. Even when I shook hands with her at our celebrations I couldn't help but be nervous…"

"Well," I said, "perhaps you could start by talking to her now? These autograph sessions are in part for the fans to show their appreciation after all."

Rose beamed and we all got in line. As we were waiting, I saw Cid begin to look at the books that accompanied the entire line.

The Midsummer Natsume Collection, I Am a Dragon, Romeo and Julietta, Asherella, Little Crimson Riding Hood, Star Trap, One Peace, Dragon Beer, The Eminences.

Cid's eye twitches.

…Ah… right… I suppose he never really was told just how much of his Shadow Wisdom we had sto-borrowed. How much of his Shadow Wisdom we borrowed.

Oh dear… Beta I may have doomed you to sleeping on the couch.

…

I'll make sure to bring you a warm blanket should that happen. Or take any spankings he may deliver in your place.

We finally arrive to the front of the line, and Beta's face beams with happiness before becoming frozen upon seeing the expression on Cid's face. Zeta does her best to look away and I only just barely force myself to watch the confrontation.

"Hello Natsume, you seem to be doing well for yourself!" said Cid in a tone of voice he normally reserves for Alexia.

I'm so sorry Beta!

Beta's smile twitches, "Y-Yes! I owe it all to my dearest!"

Cid nods, his tone of voice not changing, "Wow! I'm sure they would love to hear that! But you know, since you can write so many stories I have to ask, is there anything new you have written lately?"

Beta nods as fast as she can, her chest moving quickly as well, although that only seems to distract some of the other people in line. "H-here! As my, er, 665th visitor why don't you take a copy of a novel that I published the other week! I'll go ahead and autograph it!"

Beta quickly takes out a copy of the book that she had ghost written for Leon, Alto Liebe Vol 1. Cid takes it, stares at it for a few seconds, before going back to his more natural voice, "Thank you, I'll gladly read this."

"O-of course!" nervously said Beta, "Please enjoy!"

Rose immediately took her turn next, in which she also had a stiff expression in which she asked for a custom note with her name in it.

Eventually we all check into the hotel. I breathe a little easier knowing that Beta should be fine.

-Leon-

After everyone had calmed down from seeing each other again, I was left with Clarice. Why? Well according to her, she's the only one that hasn't gotten any one-on-one time with me since this whole thing started. Technically, none of the girls have had one on one time with me in a romantic setting, but I wasn't in a position to talk about anything. So, I just let the girls talk it out while I worked on something.

See, during the trip to the island that reminded me of Japan, I had somehow gotten a letter from Shadow. Luxion's finest cameras had caught some bright white blur. Unfortunately, that doesn't really tell us much.

What did that letter say, you ask?

Well:

As the night falls, the moon rises, and with it, the shadows shall grow.

I am Shadow, and I've come to fulfill an agreement.

The relic that lies within the church shall soon be ours.

So, while I do think that just letting Shadow handle everything would be fine, his use of 'ours' makes me think that he wants to steal it together.

Which is fine for the most part, since I do sorta need to make sure he doesn't pull a fast one on me. But, since he sent me a letter, I think maybe I can use it to my advantage.

I'll have plenty of time to do that later today though, the church is in the center of the city after all. For now I'm going from stall to stall with Clarice, feeling like a boyfriend from a romcom with how I'm tasked with carrying an ever-growing pile of bags, with the only assistance I get being Luxion passing by with Clarice's hoverbike. However, this just means Clarice has the opportunity to get more items.

"Leon," said Clarice as she hugged my arm and batted her eyelashes, "How about we get something to drink now?"

Given the heat and the mind numbing experience of shopping with a girl that's a little angry at you, I can only nod.

This just causes Clarice to pout. "Jeez. It's almost like you don't want to spend time with me."

…I know she's kidding…but-

"I'm enjoying seeing you try on all the different outfits and accessories," I admit with a tired grin, "I just don't like carrying all the bags."

Clarice pinches my cheek, "Oh I bet you just came up with that on the spot. You only ever said I looked good whenever I tried something on!"

I mean, yeah, I could barely see her behind the pile of stuff she had me carry and the pain the strain of carrying it all caused. However, saying that will do me no favors.

"I liked that white dress," I said as I did my best to recall it, "the flowy one with the frilly top and lace bottom. You looked… pure I guess. Like an angel or a fairy… er, you looked… happy, I guess. Or, uh, comfortable maybe?"

I of course say all that without looking straight at Clarice so the only reaction I know I get in response is her squeezing harder onto my arm as we go through the line.

"…Thanks." She mumbled.

I know she didn't mean for me to hear that, but it was hard not to given how close she was to me. So, I smile and kiss her on the forehead.

She squeezes my arm even harder.

Pfft. And this pure girl thought that she could ever give off the delinquent vibe. It looked hot in some ways… But I think I liked how she looked in that white dress more.

"Leon-kun?" called out a familiar voice.

Clarice and I look over to the side to see Milaine accompanied by a short black-haired girl with light blue, grey-ish eyes.

A/N: I know she's depicted with gray hair like Mylene but apparently, Erica's hair is supposed to be black.

"Oh, Milaine!" I say as I recognize her. I turn to the girl, "Who is this?"

Milaine opens her mouth before she is cut off by the girl curtsying and saying, "Greetings, I am… Himawari. It's nice to meet you."

Something tells me that's a fake name, but I'll play along. How can I tell? Well for one she looks a lot like Milaine, and two, Milaine is wearing a ring on her left hand that wasn't there before.

"It's nice to meet you Himawari, I'm Leon Rapha Barfort, and this is one is a dear one of mine, Clarice." I say as I gesture to the unresponsive ginger holding onto me for dear life.

"It's nice to meet you Clarice," said Milaine before quickly taking Clarice's hands, "Sorry but I have to powder my nose, could you walk with me there?"

Clarice nods, and is dragged unceremoniously by Milaine, leaving me with Himawari.

As I'm still in line for drinks, I have nothing to do but talk with her.

"So, Milaine's married?" I asked.

Himawari looked me dead in the eyes and said, "Please take her."

…I'm glad I didn't have my drink yet; I would've spat it out.

"I'm sorry?" I asked.

"I like my dad, but he isn't that great of a father, and he's an absolutely atrocious husband to mother and probably couldn't care less if she had a new partner." Said Himawari, "But you make her happy, and were able to let her spend more time with me. So, please, take her. Make her happy… I'm not going to call you dad though."

"…Milaine's your mom, not your big sister." I said while trying to process the information.

"Yeah, she had me young though… by the way, do you not know who we really are, or…?" questioned Himawari.

I shrug, "I have my suspicions, but I think… I can save that stuff for later."

Himawari smiles, "fair enough. Make her happy, yeah?"

I nod.

-Clarice-

Whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck!

I was enjoying a nice shopping date with Leon. I was a little mad since he spends the least amount of time with me compared to the rest of the girls, so I was forcing him to carry all my bags. I was going to go with him to get a drink and then maybe take him to an underwear store as a reward, I heard he likes corsets and stuff. Then maybe he'd get a bit too excited and…

Hehehe…

Perfect plan, right?

But then!

Out of nowhere Queen Mylene and Princess Erica show up out of nowhere! And apparently Queen Mylene also has the hots for Leon?! What is with this asshole and his freaking magnetic dick!?

I mean, I like Mylene. I'm not as close to her as Angie was, but she was always nice to me. If anything, I wanted another opportunity to talk to her, since I never did again once I found out the truth about Green and the chew toy. But…

"Whoa, careful!" said Leon as he caught Mylene before she could trip.

"L-Leon-kun" the Queen of Holfort gasped and blushed like a schoolgirl as Leon held her, "T-thank you…"

Gah! I'm so jealous! I should've tried that!

Next to me, Erica cups her chin and nods in approval, muttering, "Wow, nice technique mother."

Part of me is worried that Erica is so okay with her mother being so close to Leon, but then again, I've seen Roland hit on some of the maids… and some of the students at the academy… and Dan said he saw him once in a village.

Yeah, this is probably for the best. Go get her Leon.

…

Although I don't think that a church is the best place to seduce someone, why are we going here? I mean it's pretty and all, but not somewhere I'd go on a date.

Leon turns to us, "Hey, I'd hate to end things early, but I actually have some important business with the church. If you girls would like, I could try and meet you right after."

I pout, "Ehhhh!? But it's barely been 5 hours! I need more Leon time!"

I make sure to drape myself over Leon and begin biting his ear to make sure he understands how angry I am.

"Ow! Hey, this is important! And like you said it's been 5 hours!" complained Leon.

Mylene gently pulls me off of Leon, "Er, Leon-kun. Is this something confidential, or could we help?"

Leon rubbed the spot I had been biting, "…Look, I just don't want to involve you in anything dangerous."

"Leon," said Erica, "I appreciate it, but as people who often work within the palace we are well aware of all the hoops we have to jump through to get things done. If anything, wouldn't we be better knowing what's going on then not? Especially since we've likely been seen interacting with you all day."

Leon pursed his lips and folded his arms, thinking about it hard. However, eventually he caved in, "I'd hate to admit it, but you're right, just by talking to me I've likely put you in danger… I'm sorry."

I shake my head so I can show how vehemently I protest, "Don't you dare apologize! I'm the daughter of an Earl, Leon, I know what life has in store for me just because of how I was born. Besides, what's going to happen in a church?"

Leon smiles and puts his hands up in mock surrender, "Alright, alright. I just need to see something and drop something else off. Hopefully it won't take too long."

-Leon-

You know, the sight of a wooden church shouldn't be surprising, but the way this cathedral is built… it reminds me a lot of a tree. I guess it makes sense, this place is full of elves. Come to think of it I think I saw Kyle with Marie earlier, but he was grumbling a lot. I wonder if something was going on with him.

"Wow…" said Clarice as she admired the interior, "How beautiful…"

Milaine chuckled, "Yes, elves are rather aesthetically inclined as a whole, despite the fact that most of them couldn't care less about looks."

"Oh? Is that true mother?" asked Himawari.

Milaine nodded, "Yes, for instance, it's said that most elves will judge a person based on the magical power one holds, due to that they have almost no preference in terms of looks."

Hmm…

Thinking back to all the elf servants I've seen over the course of my life, Zola's included, that makes a lot of sense… then again It's not like Cid's bad looking or anything, so maybe it's a generational or gender based difference.

…Unless… Cid really is a lot stronger than he lets on.

"E-excuse me…" called out a timid but sweet voice. "Er, the archbishop is busy right now, we're not supposed to let a-anyone in, even if they're nobles."

Before I can look over to the source of said voice, I find my eyes covered.

"Clarice?" I asked.

"No." she replied.

"No what?" I asked.

"You're not allowed." She replies.

I roll my eyes and pry her hands off of me. I see a cute nun standing in front of us wearing a habit that may a bit small for her. You know something about her eyes seems familiar though… and now my eyes are covered again.

"You're staring Leon-kun" grumbled Milaine.

I pried off her hands too, "Because she looks familiar."

I look back to the pouting women, even Himawari although she seems more like she's just playing along and seconds away from bursting with laughter.

I look back to the elven nun and ask, "Sorry. But do you happen to have a relative working for a student of the academy?"

The nun beams, clapping her hands as she confirms, "Ah, yes! My son Kyle! He's working for some girl that had about 5 lovers I believe? Do you know him?"

All of us chuckled a bit, not knowing quite what to say.

"You… could say that." Said Clarice as she twirled her hair and looked anywhere but the nun.

Seeing as how Kyle isn't here, and this woman apparently hasn't seen him, there's probably some kind of drama there that we need to move on from for now, "Well Miss.."

"Oh! Yumeria, please, call me Yumeria." Said Yumeria with a friendly closed eyes smile that reminded me of Milaline. I look over to the woman who I learned is a mother a few hours ago… must be the 'ara-ara' 'ufufufu' vibes. Were I not happy with my own partners I'd think about this more in depth.

"Yumeria, I'd be glad to send a long a message to Kyle so long as you help me send one to the Archbishop." I offered.

Yumeria seemed a bit discontent, "…No, I don't think you need to do that… There's a reason Kyle doesn't like talking to a misfit like me."

Misfit?

Before I can ask Yumeria continues, "But I'd be glad to take a letter to the Archbishop! That's actually my job, checking the letters and passing them along!" Yumeria says this with a proud look, but I can't help but be worried about her. An archbishop likely receives all manner of dangerous things.

I hum, take out Shadow's letter, and hand it to Yumeria. She takes it, reads it, and then turns pale.

"I'll… go to him immediately!" shouted Yumeria as she ran off.

I felt my eyes covered again.

"Pervert." Accused Clarice.

I mean I admit I understand Cid a bit better now. Like I wasn't going to do anything, I'm not some perv looking to build an army sized harem. But Cid, I understand.

"I was imagining Livia in the outfit." I add, not absolving me of the accusation lying at my feet.

However, as Clarice is also a young woman who can appreciate Livia's charms, she takes a few seconds to think about what I said before adding, "Damn, now that's an image. Think we can make one for her?"

I hear Milaine sigh and Himawari laugh.

Oh well, I did my job.

Especially since Luxion should be searching for the place top to bottom for now.

-Cid-

As the night falls, the moon rises, and with it, the shadows shall grow.

I am Shadow, and I've come to fulfill an agreement…

Damn, those were some good lines. Not great though, I feel like they could use some work.

I stood on the roof of the hotel that Leon was going to stay in. With me is Zeta and Victoria. I know that Victoria used to be part of a church so she's probably a good person to have on this heist and Zeta's the best when it comes to stealth. Epsilon's good at it too, but she's more of a hide in plain sight type so I told her to go with Alpha, Beta, and Delta.

I received the saddest wet kitten look in response from Epsilon, but I didn't want to disrupt whatever Alpha had planned.

"Master Shadow," said Victoria, "Are you sure that you need to be here? Surely, I would be enough, not to mention Lady Zeta."

No way, I'm not going to sit out robbing a church. That's like one of my things in the bucket list. Added just the other day.

"Oh?" I say while only looking at them both with one eye, "Is that something to say when you both are only wearing cloaks to disguise your very recognizable hair?"

Both girls wince.

"Zeta, you in particular would be noticeable, don't you agree?" I point out.

Zeta balls up her fists and looks like she's about to cry. She starts holding her tail like Delta would.

Shit did I go too far?

I walk over to Zeta and hold her hands.

"Zeta?" I whisper. I get no response. Zeta always was the odd one out, so I should try something else. "Lilim?"

Lilim looks at me and whispers, "I… I would do anything for you…know that… it's… just… not that. I can't… ever let go of my pride."

Something tells me this isn't just about hair being a woman's pride, and I think I'm a shitty boyfriend for not really getting why. But I'm not so shitty as to press the issue.

"That's fine." I say immediately, surprising her a little, "But you might not be able to hang out with me as Zetan for a while, you know?"

Lilim…Zeta looks up, "That's fine… I prefer being Zeta anyway."

I kiss her gently and she smiles.

I feel a little bad for Victoria having to just watch that but thankfully the door to the roof opens, and Leon emerges. Zeta and I separate from the intimate position to a much more intimidating looking one. I imagine that on Zeta's part that's due to some frustration.

Although I didn't request that he come alone, all of his other companions have gone to some party, obviously the Baron's son wouldn't have been invited so I had a solid alibi… and a reason to finally ditch Rose and those attempts she had at recruiting me into a religion or whatever it was. Alpha will probably tell me later.

I mean all that talk of 'fate' and 'hearts as one' or whatever could only be that right? Sadly, not for me. If I ever do join a religion it'd be one centered around me.

"No Lady Shade?" asked Leon.

I shook my head. Alpha had some stuff she wanted to look into. Or, in other words, she wanted some girl time with Epsilon, Beta, and Delta. Normally being left out of stuff would make me upset but since I'm doing stuff with so many different people, I feel fine. Sides I hardly ever do anything by myself nowadays…

It's nice.

"Right…" said Leon, clearly nervous. I'm guessing it's mostly because of me, I mean Zeta's a nice cat girl and Victoria's as pretty and harmless as a butterfly. "Well, I guess I should just get straight to the point."

Luxion pulls out some blueprints. I'll admit that it's been a bit since I've seen some that are actually blue. Anyway, he shows me and the girls and the layout of the church, some hidden traps we'll have to look out for, and the location of the staff.

"This seems pretty cut and dry," points out Zeta, "Why do you need our help to do this?"

Leon nods, "Well two things. 1. That's probably not the actual staff, just where I think they're keeping their replica." Leon then shows off a small egg-shaped robot with arms, "and 2, we aren't going to just steal the staff, that'd be too obvious. Instead, with the help of this robot we're going to make a replica and swap it out for the staff."

Oho! That's way more interesting!

Just imagine as the church tries to utilize the remnants of the staff in some kind of sick and twisted experiment, as all churches do, but when they attempt to they'll realize that their precious artifact was long ago stolen by a man behind the scenes!

Not to mention the added intrigue of the 'hero' being one of the people to aid in its theft!

Ooh I can see it now, when that moment ever occurs, I could spout lines like:

"The shadow is darkest underneath the light source…" or "Stare into a single light for too long and find yourself blinded…"

"Master Shadow…?" asked Victoria.

Ah, I was smiling too hard.

Better do my best to look like I know what's going on, "Is there a 3?"

"Yup," confirms Leon, "I sent a calling card."

"A calling card?" questioned Zeta.

"You informed them of our coming arrival." I mention. I mean, it's standard phantom thief stuff, no duh Leon would have sent one for his heist event. When he'd even get the time to make one though?

Leon shakes his head this time before taking out a letter and throwing it my way, I catch it with two fingers before coolly taking out the letters contents with practiced ease.

Oho!

"You guys informed them of your arrival," corrected Leon with a sly grin.

I immediately saw Victoria begin to pout so I calmed her down by patting her head.

"Fweh!?" innocently gasped Victoria.

Zeta narrows her eyes beneath her cloak and mask, "Why would you do that? Doesn't it just make our job more difficult?"

"Normally, yes." Said Leon, "However, like I said earlier, the staff on display in the church isn't the real one."

I finish stating the obvious, "By putting the church on high alert, they will panic and send people to guard the actual relic, thereby showing us its location."

I just chuckle as the girls realize that Leon's pretty smart sometimes.

"Not bad. We'd best get moving…" I say before realizing I had the perfect opportunity for something I wanted to do, "Tell me, do you plan on going as you are?"

Looking at Leon, he is wearing an all-black outfit. Not like he's pretending to be us, but it does stand out from everyone else. There's a little gray too, so he doesn't look straight up like a thief.

"Is there a problem?" asked Leon.

I smirk, you see, with how much I like using the slime suit and how the girls all wear one, I always make sure to have tons of it on me. Just in case anyone needs a spare for some reason.

I take out one such spare.

"Here. You may borrow this." I state as I offer Leon one of the slimes.

I hear Zeta and Victoria gasp in shock.

"Master Shadow! You can't seriously mean to…!" protested Victoria.

I look over to her, "Relax, Victoria. As I said, he is only borrowing this suit for the purposes of the mission. He'll have to return it after."

Leon eyed the blob in my hand nervously, "Uh. Not to turn down a gift—even if it is temporary—but I don't know how to use this."

Oh, yeah, I guess one quick glance at Nu using it wouldn't be enough to do anything cool. Meh, I had few designs in mind incase we got some male members anyway.

I'll just throw in some noble elements…

*FWOOM*

"W-woah!" shouted Leon as the slime I threw at him began to envelop his appearance. He would then emerge clad in a coat (that cooly had its coattails split into three) of the same black we wear, but lacking the hood that's found on my outfit. Instead to hide his appearance he has a black and white domino mask. Underneath the coat was an cravat, metal chest piece, and the under coat/longshirt combo that usually accompanies a lord's wardrobe. Although it's not tucked in for style points.

Leon immediately took off his mask to get a good look at his new duds.

"Welcome to the team." I say with a grin, "Temporary member: Joker."

Victoria would come forward and roughly poke Leon's chest with her finger, "Do not abuse my Lord's kindness. Do you understand?"

Leon bats away Victoria's finger, making her glare at him until I get closer.

"Now, I believe we have a treasure to steal, yes?" I say to get things back on track. Leon nods and I jump off the roof into the night.

I hear Zeta and Victoria follow shortly after but when I look back, I don't see Leon. Come to think of it, we did have to train our legs and use of wind magic so we could fly between islands, but Leon's always had a ship so-

*Thwip*

I see a wire go past my face, latch onto a nearby building's chimney, and then see Leon immediately bee line for it. He then hits a wall kicks off of near it and with another *Thwip* he repeats the process in order to keep up with us.

Gasp, a grappling hook! I can't believe I never thought of having one! I suppose with magic I don't need one… but I need one. I could probably make one out of slime or something later. Or I can fight with wires, not just a grappling hook… Later, later.

Eventually we get to the outskirts of the church only to stop underneath a nearby water tower due to what we see.

"Heh, for the stain glass to be colored still, they must have tons of lights on." Laughed Leon. Indeed, not only are the lights of the church building on, but some search lights from airships are combing the area.

"Sounds like fools who believe that they can free themselves of darkness." I state. I then look over at Victoria who immediately smiles at me. "Victoria, you were once a high ranking official in a church. If you were to pick a route, what would it be?"

Victoria turns to Leon, "Joker, take out the map again."

Leon does so. Victoria takes a few moments to think before pointing out a side entrance, or rather a side entrance that is hidden underneath a nearby bar.

"It's likely that all the patrols they have will cause no issue were we to simply steal the staff and run, but since we need to replicate and then steal the staff with none the wiser, we should use an outside entrance." Said Victoria.

"Hmm…" hummed Zeta, "What are the chances that they'll guard these entrances too?"

Victoria dons a disappointed expression, "Slim, if anything they'll be using these to escape. We can simply eliminate anyone that does."

This startles Leon, "Woah, hey, we're just here to steal one thing. Why the immediate jump to murder?"

"Those rotten heretics deserve it" growls Victoria.

I pat her head again.

"Fwehehehe" giggles Victoria as she begins to cling onto my coat like when she was little.

Leon looks concerned, "Er, so can we not just knock them out?"

"You know you're already asking for a lot," pointed out Zeta. "Besides why shouldn't we do in these people? They're heretics."

"Zeta, Victoria. Only in self-defense." I say, not wanting to draw this out. Besides I'd feel a little bad about killing everyone in the building. I mean, what if there's some cool nuns like Victoria?

Zeta and Victoria both immediately answer with, "Yes Lord Shadow." To which Leon just rolls his eyes.

We descend from the building and go through the back alleys to the bar that Victoria had pointed out earlier. There's a single man here, thankfully he leaves easily enough. Okay, great. Hopefully things don't go this smoothly the entire time, that'd be pretty boring.

-Zeta-

"Hey," whispered crown prince Leon turned temporary Shadow Garden member Joker, "You don't have any male members besides Sha-" Victoria glares at him the hatred of a thousand people, "Lord Shadow?"

I shake my head. "No, Lord Shadow is the only male member."

I of course don't mention why, as that is a secret-

"Most of our members come from the possessed that the others have sentenced to death." Said Lord Shadow, "Where others had seen a lost cause we saw potential. We saw those who needed to be saved. What say you to that, future leader?"

Ah! Of course, as a future leader of a nation Leon would have so much more access to the possessed and could possibly change how people view them! Sasuga Shadow-Sama!

"There's a lot I have to say about that, especially since I didn't even realize that possession could be cured," said Joker. However, he then pointed out a person hiding behind one of the glass displays, "But for now, I don't think that guy is with us or with the church."

Ah, I was so distracted by how cool Lord Shadow looked that I forgot to take in our surroundings. Gah! To be shown up by a newbie! I can't let Delta ever find out about this!

"That man… he doesn't look like any ordinary thief." Said Lord Shadow.

"…You're right as always Master Shadow." Agreed Victoria her eyes glittering though now narrowed as she stared at the intruder that hadn't noticed us yet, "That man looks much more like an assassin."

Leon jumps in surprise, or at least he jolts, I hold him down by his shoulders so he doesn't give us away.

"Lord Shadow, what's the plan?" I ask.

"…Victoria, in your opinion, what would be the safest place to hide should you suspect someone was going to intrude in the church?" questioned Lord Shadow, clearly having figured out the perfect plan but wanting to help us figure it out in ways we could understand.

Victoria smiles, "I believe it'd be the same vault we'd be going after. Seeing as how it is also filled with artifacts the archbishop or any other official could use to defend themselves."

We all nod and begin to follow the likely assassin.

-Angelica-

I would think that for most people sitting with the Queen of Holfort, Princess of Holfort, Princess of Oriana, and Princess of Midgar during a party would leave them feeling intimidated. However, as I sit with most of the power here, I can't help but feel a certain thrill tingling up my spine.

See, both the Queen and Princess of Holfort are here in disguise and attempting to hide from Julius. Meanwhile the princesses of Oriana and Midgar are both kept in check thanks to the fact that I am friends with the man they have an interest in. Although to be more accurate my Leon is friends with Cid while I am friends with Alice, Cid's main lover and the one who's approval they'd need the most to be with him.

I am a bit upset with Leon for doing something dangerous without me and Livia so I am venting my frustrations on these poor girls.

"Is that Julius?" I asked without looking in any direction. However, Mylene and Erica both immediately duck because they don't want to see him nor Marie.

I titter a bit as they glare at me.

I suppose I feel much more mischievous without having to be the responsible one among Livia and Leon. I love them of course, but Livia said she didn't want to attend the event in case Leon would return injured. I suspect there's also the fact that she's still not used to being near nobility. There's no reason to force her quite yet, so I was alright with it. Claire decided to stay back with her, as she is only the daughter of a baron and wouldn't be asked by the church to attend like all of us.

Also speaking of Leon, I do agree that Livia and I are not well suited to stealth, if mostly due to lack of practice. However, did he really need to demonstrate his own skill by scaring us the past couple of days on Partner? I mean his smile when he got us to yelp was rather adorable, as was Livia's reaction to being scared…

Still mad. Hmph.

"Pardon me," said Rose, "But is Leon not going to join us today?"

I shake my head, "He was rather tired out by going out with Clarice today, and with how he is going to participate in the goddess trial tomorrow I figured we should give him time to properly rest."

This seems to interest Alexia somewhat, "Leon's going to participate in the Goddess trial? No offence but doesn't he mainly fight in armor?"

"Leon's rather formidable without it," I insist in his defense… although I have to admit, "But I did manage to get him permission to wear his 'armored angel' set."

I hear Alice lightly giggle behind me, and see Alexia struggle not to before me.

"Well at least this way we'll be able to see some rather interesting spirits summoned, it is based on the challenger's strength after all." I say while taking a sip of tea and snidely continuing with, "Much more interesting than anything Cid could conjure if he competes."

I see Alexia respond with a huff, but strangely Rose decides to correct me by stating, "You mean when."

"Pardon?" I ask.

Rose smiles and says, "I signed Cid up for the goddess trial in order for him to make a name for himself!"

I drop my teacup in surprise. However, the following *CRACK* sound I hear came from behind me.

Oh dear. I'll make sure to have Livia at the ready tomorrow.

-Cid-

You know, when we set out to raid a church vault, I was expecting something like the catacombs of Paris. However our current surroundings seem… sci-fi, like it looks closer to the interior of Partner than anything. I want to blame this on Leon, as he did set this whole thing up, but he seemed surprised too.

"…I know we're trying to be quiet, but like, this is weird to you guys too right?" said Leon after the last 30 minutes of silence.

"Quite." I reply. "I already knew this church was hiding something, but even I thought they had limits."

Like aren't churches supposed to be living off of donations? I mean I know that's a lie and they usually play politics, but they could be a bit more subtle, no?

And what's with the faint dup-step I'm hearing?

"The cult of diabolos cares not for morals, to achieve their goals they will discard anything to get their way," said Victoria with venom in her voice. "Heresy! While their people are forced to sell themselves as slaves for decades, they sit upon the technology that could render that unnecessary!"

Oh yeah huh. I always heard that most elf servants did it to make a relatively quick buck. Relatively in that the few decades spent serving a human was nothing compared to their lifespan…

I wonder how the girls would fare if I died too…

A memory flashes through my mind.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

No. I won't let that happen again.

I'm going to find a way to increase my lifespan. I won't compromise on that. Maybe Leon knows something from his knowledge of the game?

"We're here." Said Leon.

Ah, yeah that staff looks important. Why're you so pissed though?

"Master Shadow" said Victoria, "shall we continue going after the assassin? I saw him go into the next room."

Hm… I kinda wanna see what's up with this staff though. It's probably got some important lore. And hey if it does belong to a Saintess then maybe it can help extend my life.

"Take care of it by yourself. Zeta and I shall guard Leon as he procures the Saintess' staff." I ordered. Victoria pouted a bit at being given the grunt work. Yeah I know it sucks, but I kinda want to make sure I get the interesting bit and don't miss anything… Oh, I know. "If you manage to safely kill the assassin alone and capture the others I will reward you."

Victoria gives me the happiest smile I've ever seen on her face. As I watch her leave I feel Zeta tug on my cape.

"Surely I will receive a reward before her, right?" demanded Zeta. I mean I guess I shouldn't be giving gifts to girls before I give them to my actual girlfriends.

I nod and Zeta smirks, giving off a proud and expectant expression. However, given how her tail is curling and twitching a little she's rather happy.

*vrrr*

I look and see the little egg robot Leon's been carrying around has begun to extend and a light is flashing through it's middle. Cool, like some kind of 3D printer from Star Trek. Anyway, now should be as good as a time as any to question Leon.

"Strange." I say while approaching Leon. "We are seconds away from having your requested item and yet you seem so unsatisfied."

"…They broke it." Said Leon. I stay silent but motion for him to go on, "The staff, it's missing the gem. I… Lea spent much more time crafting it compared to the rest of the staff."

Oh what? Lame! Er, not Leon. The fact that the church took out the gem. Like seriously, gems on weaponry are one of the things you keep there. Don't tell me some shmuck just sold it off. Respect the aesthetic damn it!

"I suppose I haven't kept up my end of the bargain then." I said. Leon looks back at me. I mean I agreed to help him acquire the whole thing so it would be lame to just leave it at this. "I'll notify some of my operatives to keep an eye out for the gem. Should I find it, I'll send it your way."

"Really?" questioned Leon

I shrug, after all I'd feel bad for things to just end like this. "I'm a man of my word."

[Printing completed.]

Both of us look back to the printer to see the replica staff completed. I then look to Zeta who cracks her fingers.

"One swap out, coming right up." Said Zeta. She takes the staff and then deploys a technique I've taught to the shades, moving quicker than perception. It's a bit difficult to pull off outside of combat, but with Zeta being a cat she has a unique kinesthetic sense that allows her to do something I haven't yet taught myself to do, move perfectly while moving faster than most people can process.

So Leon blinks and suddenly he's holding the real staff, and no alarms ever go off.

"Damn." Said Leon, making Zeta puff her chest with pride, "I can feel the energy coming from this so I know it's real, but damn."

"We should leave then." I order.

Leon and Zeta nod, and Leon picks up the egg thing again.

"Wait, what about the other woman?" asked Leon.

"I'm here." Said Victoria as she appeared from beneath my coat. I'd call it cute except for the fact she did that without asking.

"Did you accomplish your mission?" I asked.

Victoria nods rapidly, hitting my chest with little *ting*'s as her horn accessories clash with my 'metal' chest armor. I guess she's really looking forward to a reward… wait… she's not going to expect for me to…

Nah, no way.

Nu was a one-time thing… right?

"Hey! Who are you?!"

Luckily I don't have to think too much about that for now since a few church members start to find us.

"Shit." Curses Leon.

I just smirk, "We have what we need, now we just need to leave."

I SLAM my foot on the ground causing the surroundings to shake and several of the knights ahead of us to trip up. Using that I jump on one of the knights heads and kick off to dodge the rest of the crowd. Zeta and Victoria follow up quickly, while Leon-

*Thwip!*

Keeps up in his own way.

We go up the stairs and through the halls, making sure to use our bare hands to push, kick, and punch any knight or templar or whatever you call them in our way. I have to stop Victoria from using her sword sometimes. I mean, not all of them are probably nice, plus there's a lot more people than I suspected so they can probably let a few die and it'd be fine.

A/N: this is one of our protagonists.

Eventually we get into the chapel, surrounded on all sides.

"Shit. How do we get out of this now?" growled Zeta.

Suddenly I feel the light of a searchlight shine on me through the main stain glass at the back of the church. Heh. Now this is the perfect send off.

"Joker. Make sure to leave no trace behind." I state as I begin to walk forward.

"Wha!?" cried Leon, "I'm not going to kill anyone!"

I crouch down and begin to deploy a magic circle underneath all of our feet, making the knights back up in fear.

"I find this fake light to be disgusting." I state for all to hear, "Perhaps it's a good time this house of worship be blessed by the truth."

I then activate the magic circle, a wind spell used for flight that launches all four of us into the sky through the large circle of stain glass, past a ship that was shining a search light and into the outer reaches of a forest surrounding he church town.

I land first, making sure to catch Zeta, Victoria, and use a magic circle to help slow down Leon who lands with a roll before stopping in a superhero pose, with the hand not punching the ground holding the Saintess' staff. Neat, I should do that sometime.

"This is where we part ways" I tell Leon. Before he can say anything else I raise my arm and take back the slime suit.

"Right. Thanks for the help… here's hoping we can stay that way." Said Leon with a polite bow.

「I'd hate to become enemies with a fellow reincarnate. 」I say in perfect Japanese, startling Leon.

He answers back, 「So you are from Japan… I don't suppose we could talk more about this? I have a lot to say to you.」

「Maybe someday. Afterall there's a few things I'd like to have again, such as a computer. 」I say with a shake of my head and small smile.

Leon narrows his gaze before sighing. 「…I'll think about it. Can't have you destroy everything in the world with your knowledge after all. 」

「 Fair enough. We can work out an agreement then. 」I say. Leon then turns and leaves.

"Master Shadow…" said Victoria as soon as Leon was out of sight and likely earshot. "What was that?"

I turn to Zeta and Victoria who seem extremely confused.

I walk up to Zeta and slam my hand next to her head on a tree, "Forbidden knowledge. Speak of it to no one. Especially Eta."

Zeta nods. I worry that maybe I've scared her but then I notice her tail beginning to curl around my leg and a blush on her face.

"Lord Shadow…" said Zeta through her quickened breath, "Could I ask for my reward now?"

Oh, blackmail? I respect it.

A/N: Here's the second Lemon.

Zeta and Victoria ask for their rewards in the woods underneath the pale moonlight

A/N: Second Lemon ends here.

As they both pull their slime back on, I send Zeta and Victoria off with a smile before I go back to the hotel. Hopefully I can go visit the hot springs or something tomorrow… Should I skip the mixed bath? I got a ton of bite marks on me, and I think the magic Zeta used is going to make it so I can't heal them off.

-Leon/Leon(?)-

After an entire day of watching people fight what I could only describe as heroic spirits from the Nasuverse, I find myself walking—or rather floating—in to the center of the arena myself.

Apparently as punishment for constantly getting myself in danger I was rewarded with more danger. Angie's exact words being "Since you like fighting by yourself so much I've arranged for you to participate in one of the biggest battles known worldwide." Which I guess is fair enough. At least I can still take in some armor.

Now how this works is that the second I take a step onto the arena proper I will be met with a warrior of skill roughly equal to mine if not a little greater.

I take a good look around at the arena, I see everyone that's in the stands. I make sure to wave at my friends in the VIP area, and Cid who's sitting with Alice in the standard seats.

Take a deep breath.

In.

Out.

…

Okay, let's do this. Hopefully this will go easy.

I float onto the Arena, and make contact with the floor.

*Vrrr*

What the fuck the lights just shut off!?

"Luxion, you have a body watching Angie and the other girls, right?" I asked.

[Affirmative. But look alive I'm picking up the arrival of… something.]

"Something!? What do you mean by something!?" I demand from Luxion.

However I immediately find two bright lights be pointed at me. I face the front and what I can see from the hud of my helmet… is that the lights of a truck?

*Twirl*

Suddenly the lights start to flicker as two things spin before them, making the lights disappear the more the objects spin. Finally the spinning stops and the lights disappear entirely.

*Fwoosh!*

The nearby torches the lit the arena before are relit, but this time with a purple flame, bathing the arena in indigo light.

And before me lies a boy in a white blazer and shirt, black slacks, and unkempt hair, holding two crowbars.

""Cid?/Minoru?""

.

.

.

A/N: Okay stopping there. Don't worry next chapter is going to have the Alexia hotspring scene, I just wanted to end this one with a nice call back to the start of the chapter. Honestly this ended up a lot longer than I expected it would. I guess that's just how things go. I hope you guys like the things I ended up changing, such as how Lindwurm is run by elves, and that Cid saw the assassin before he went after the archbishop thanks to Leon's heist instead of after.

For the people on other sites, go to Ao3 or QQ to see the lemons. Ao3, QQ, or SB to see the image I included of what Leon's slime suit looks like. Essentially, it's supposed to be Joker from Persona 5's jacket and pants with a shirt inspired by Itsuki Aoi's Carnage form from Tokyo Mirage Sessions. I would've made it more detailed, but I only had so much motivation for an outfit that's only going to be worn once.

Now onto the comments:

SB:

MWKillKenny84: For once in his life, Leon is glad to be underneath the Female Supremacy… come to think of it his ideal woman was a motherly/dominant woman with a large chest that was a little lewd if I remember correctly, so yeah that checks.

Kaleidoscopesensei: Saw your comment last minute. Sorry. But I do have some plans for that. Might see the next event in master of garden first for some more inspiration.

:

BetweenIandGirl: Yup, I think all churches in EiS are either part of a group referred to as the Templars (which I think are taken care of by the events of The Chronicles of Shadow Garden saga). Here there's also connections to the elves.

EDG1999: Yeah, since I'm just getting into more action basically right away, I felt a slow chapter was needed. Those nobles are going to get so damn raided as soon as Mylene is back from her vacation… probably at the end of the arc by the way, for that last sentence.

Ao3:

Wolfpaladin: Alexia is has her foot in the door, now she just needs to hope no one slams it on her. Like how she slammed her foot onto Beta's in canon…

Alexia is supportive of her sister, just very tsundere about it.

Leon does train with Cid, I mentioned it in the chapter. It's just that Cid doesn't subconsciously train him like he does with Claire since usually Leon will give Cid tips instead of just beat him up like Claire.

Lmao yeah, they're going to have to completely redo it lmao.

Anisomeone: Should be next chapter, and good tastes. I like Aurora she's fun. Although I prefer calling her Violet. That is a funny coincidence though. And weird that it happened twice. I write a summer event with an emphasis on spoiling Cid, and the Alpha/Zeta event happens. I write the Sanctuary arc, and Violet gets a new alt. It's like I'm Cid with these events lining by luck.

BOY4_GOW: She's a grown woman with needs too.

I won't reveal it quite yet, but it's coming.

Yeah… Yeah he's lucky he's about twenty levels above everyone (were this going by game logic, which it is somewhat).

Deathfang1920: Thanks!

Totnotbt: It's increasing, but nowhere near the size of Cid's.

Hopefully I delivered some of what you wanted with Erica this chapter.

I think I fixed the CG's. Apparently it was an issue with a hosting server. I opened a new private discord to do it, and save reference photos instead of spamming one friend.

Also thanks for the index ideas. I think I'll include the index I have starting chapter 3 in the notes with the spoiler like you recommended.

Shadowyguy: Congrats on the account!

I have some ideas on where to use some of those skills, I think there's one I can even use next chapter. But I think I might also use some KH spells. And I'm going to emphasize Kingdom Hearts, because it'd be used as it used there, like Gravity or Magnet type spells mostly.

QQ:

Someone ani: Oh yeah, but I figured I could save that for a later scene. Because if that scene you're talking about is the one where they almost died to bandits when they were young, I do have a plan to use it.

Hope you like Victoria. Thanks for the compliments about the image by the way. Fun fact, I have an OC that's pretty similar to Victoria in appearance, so I had tons of practice drawing her by accident. My OC was inspired by FE fates' Camilla and Narmaya from GBF (which I only played the fighting game). So, when I saw Victoria for the first time, I immediately had a new fave.

I think in canon therianthropes don't like underwear and elves don't really care about it as much. At least that's why Beatrix basically wears nothing but a tube top and hot pants.

Oh, and I fixed the issue with Zeta's name, thanks for that.

28th00:

Yup that's basically what Leon was thinking.

I mean her purpose was to either help Alexia fail or get Alexia to feel indebted to her, a true Xanthos Gambit. Yeah I don't think Alexia was in a good place either, but she didn't really improve as much as she should when it came to treating Cid nicely. I mean he did reject her, but what she'd expect? Zeta's in if it'd piss off Alpha I think. Beatrix doesn't know though.

That should be the start of next chapter, the hot spring scene I mean.

Livia's headache was because of trying to learn how to do the kingdom's taxes, lmao.

No the forest of ladies still exists… for now.

BlackThief12: Made me laugh. Lol. I think I might draw something for that scene actually, I came up with something funny.