Chapter 5
Brain approached the duo who was happily remembering something of old. In the human's hand there was a small cream white scroll, all made of silk. A decadent and wasteful use of expensive material, if ever Oshiku had seen one. Whoever they are, they're trying very hard to impress before we even meet. He thought as he slid the white silk bow off of the document.
Unrolling the silk, he used his bad eye to read out loud the local language. It was an invitation to dinner at the neighbours' house.
"See? I told you problems would chase us even here. It was a waste of money to get this huge mansion. And for just a few days!"
"Chill, Ainz-san. First of all, I used my money. Second, we don't have any more adventurers trying to learn our secrets or banging on our hotel's door to ask to join our team. And last but not least, I'm glad we received an invitation to a fancy dinner. Why aren't you?"
"… Well, what are we even supposed to say? We don't know that much about the Empire!"
"That's another reason why we're here. To learn more about it."
"Fine, but… what should I be wearing? I can't possibly use this armour… or my robes."
"Hm, that's right, you don't have any clothes that don't say 'bow before the Supreme Leader of Nazarick!' Not that it's a bad thing. Alright then, I'll go by myself…" He suddenly turned around.
"… Or do you want to join, Brain?"
"If I can, I always want to be by your side, master. But I'm not sure what this invitation means…
Flies to honey, perhaps?" He asked with a disdainful smirk on her face.
"Most likely, yes." Oshiku answered and slowly rose to his feet.
"Do you want me to give a formal response?" Brain asked, her eyes unconsciously darted in the direction of the house of Furt?"
"No, let them sweat." He chuckled. "But let's get ready to go. Lucky, I have plenty of clothes of all kinds, unlike our Supreme—ouch!"
"One time's enough." Declared Ainz after punching on his friend's head.
"Well, if you guys are leaving, then I'll get back to Nazarick, I want to take a slime bath. See you guys later!"
"Aye, we'll tell you what happens."
Ainz casted [Gate] and disappeared into it, leaving behind the other two.
Oshikuru smiled. "Perfect. When the cat's away, the mice will play. Let's go have some fun, my disciple!"
"Where are they!" Sir Furt growled and hunched over, he tugged at his hair. He hunched over so far that his forehead almost touched the dinner table.
"This is the House of Furt! We're a noble family whose legacy stretches back to the dawn of the Baharuth Empire! An invitation here should be beyond honored!" He said with bulbous eyes that bugged out of his head.
At his side, Madam Furt put a hand on his thigh. "Now dear, they are adventurers, probably from abroad. Besides, being fashionably late is to be expected." Her words seemed wise, but there was a squeaky catch to her own voice that betrayed her own anxious nerves, her eyes darted over to her daughter and looked Arche up and down again as if appraising whether the offered gift was good enough.
Arche did her best not to shudder, it was not an unfamiliar look. Her short hair was combed clean, and her dress tight to show off her youthful figure, though to a small degree of embarrassment, her bust was deemphasized in favor of her contours. Her mother's words still rang in her head. We have duties.
At her left and right side, Kuuderika and Ureirika were subdued, they wore flowing childish clothing of golden silk, a contrast to Arche's virginal white with its vibrant red ruffles that ran in patterns that came to a peak at her breasts, concealing her… relative smallness.
"Everything will be fine, mother, father, just fine." Arche spoke to her parents, but her hands beneath the table went to the uncomfortably shifting subdued sisters. I'm responsible for them, I have to save them from that blistering idiot. House of Furt, what a joke! What a joke! What a joke! We're nothing now, but he's acting like we're just back from the Bloody Emperor's palace.
Bitter frustration ripped through Arche's body like a blade she recalled being stabbed by during a quest. It tore through her arm and came out the other side, and stayed lodged there till the end of the fight when Hekkeran pulled it free and Roberdyck healed the wound. She recalled the way her body had shaken from the pain and then gentle hands had embraced her.
"This will hurt, but not for long." Hekkeran's promise had proved true in both parts, her yowl of pain as the hobgoblin's sword when withdrawn had been accompanied by her body's response to fear, and then the warm healing light from a warm, chubby faced Roberdyck had eased it all.
This moment at the table of her fallen house with a foolish father and a desperate mother and two oblivious little girls filled her with the same dread and trembling as the sword being pulled out of her body. This is like the calm before a battle, Arche thought.
Then every head turned when their head butler entered. A stiff, formal man with graying hair, he had served the Furt house since the current Sir Furt's father had been the family head. Though he always kept his own thoughts to himself, Arche had seen his eyes linger on her father's back more than once. He wishes grandfather was still alive and in charge. Or so Arche believed, and more than once she herself had thought that if that were the case, they wouldn't be worse off.
"Announcing the Sirs Oshiku and Brain Unglaus from the adamantite-ranked adventuring team Thunder & Lightning." The old butler's dignified ringing voice carried to the table and Sir Furt immediately composed himself, giving a light tug on the green vest he wore and clearing his throat. The waif thin butler stepped aside and Arche got her first look at the two men she was supposed to seduce, thinking about which one would be easier to get. Well, they both look good and very strong. To be expected from adamantite-ranked adventurers… shouldn't they be three though?
One had a charming smile and seemed to be completely at ease, while the other looked like he was expecting a trap. And from the way his eyes went to his associate, it was clear he admired that man. Arche saw that immediately. So green-hair's the leader. I must try to seduce him.
That man seemed to have been carved out of steel, she admitted. He wore a richly embroidered shirt of golden thread patterns that seemed to follow muscle contours on a solid ruby fabric. He was the epitome of high fashion. Despite the dyed hair, he had a distinguished air about him that screamed noble ancestry and absolute strength. I doubt this guy's ever been defeated, thought Arche who was now seriously considering him to be a catch.
"Thank you for having us. I apologise on behalf of my friend who sadly couldn't make it." Oshiku said inclining his head politely.
"I hope it's nothing serious... Anyway, it's our pleasure to have our neighbors as the guests of the n—ancient house of Furt." Her father said with such politeness that Arche could be forgiven for forgetting the frantic state he was in only minutes earlier.
The butler saw the guests to their seats. He took care to make sure Oshiku sat right next to Arche.
In the meantime, the head of the family extended his hand out across the table to each of the trio in turn, "This is my wife, Madam Furt, my daughters Kuuderika, Ureirika and the oldest, Arche."
The women at the table, down to the youngest two, stood as they were introduced and curtseyed to their esteemed guests before reseating themselves properly on the dark wooden seats.
The first course was wheeled out and silver trays laid down in the center of the table between the hosts and their guest. The server began to quietly ladle soup into small silver bowls while Sir Furt ignored her to speak to his visitor. Conversation danced around inanities about Arwintar, politics and other matters for some time before at last the broke noble turned the subject to the guests. "So, Sir Oshiku, where do you and your friend come from?"
He decided to play mysterious. "A far off country, unknown here, in search of fresh opportunities which we have thankfully found in abundance." From the way he spoke, Sir Furt was immediately interested.
"I see, well the Empire is rich in opportunities for those with the… right connections, and the right names." Sir Furt replied with a little smile, supposedly clever, adorning his slender face.
Subtle he is not, Oshiku noted. "Of course, you're right, the right name can be worth more than gold itself."
"So true." Madam Furt said with a flash of pearl white teeth when she smiled and placed a hand on her husband's wrist. A delicate, more subtle gesture.
"Have you left you wife in your own country, dear Sir Oshiku?" Madam Furt asked, keeping the hopeful edge from her voice.
"That's… quite difficult to answer." He said with a cool, dry voice, and the older couple felt the bottom fall out of their box of hopes.
"Oh, is she… ill, perhaps?" Madam Furt asked.
So this is what this is about. Let's see how it goes. Oshiku gave a teasing little understated smile in return, "No, it's that doesn't exist. I never married." He replied, and with their sudden hopes restored, the table let out loud laughs.
The little ones giggled uproariously, unable to understand the joke, they were nonetheless charming in their own way. "So, are you rich?" Kuuderika asked with a big smile on her face.
"Kuuderika, that's rude." Arche said and rapped her sister lightly on the knuckles with her palm.
Oshiku laughed a little when the girl's lower lip trembled. He reached out and patted her head with an affectionate, forgiving gesture and she immediately calmed.
Sir and Madam Furt looked briefly aghast at their overly direct young daughter, but Oshiku politely waved it away. "It's fine, that's not the normal sort of question but, children are quite direct, aren't they. No guile at all." Sebas gave the parents an indulgent, forgiving look.
Then he looked down at the tiny girl next to him and replied, "Yes, luckily I'm very, very rich. Why do you ask?"
"Ah, it's getting late, isn't it? They should get to sleep." Arche said, shooting up to her feet with such force that she had to catch the chair before it could topple over.
"You won't have your servant attend to that?" Brain asked.
Arche froze, like finding an unexpected monster after having believed she'd cleared a dungeon, it was a mistake.
Madam Furt however, jumped in, "My daughter has a deep love for children and her little sisters are very attached to her, it may be improper, but… perhaps there are worse things for a woman to feel for children, before she becomes a mother herself."
Far, far more subtle. Oshiku privately praised the woman whose subtle touches and guided words were clearly meant to direct his attention to the eligibility of their eldest child and the usefulness of the Furt name.
"I suppose that's true. I have to admit, I am a little curious, having never seen a noble heir take care of children herself. Though I suppose it wouldn't be proper of a guest to go unescorted with the daughters of an esteemed house." Oshiku chuckled as if it was a joke, but the more crudely minded Sir Furt waved the matter off.
"Not at all. You're a guest, anything we can do to make your time with us pleasant, is an option." Arche turned away while holding her sisters' hands, desperate to hide her blush at the implied offering of her that her father made.
I have to get these two away from him. Arche felt herself near tears within, what he would do with her, he would do with them. What wouldn't he trade for money or power? She asked herself and did not like that she couldn't think of an answer.
However she kept that to herself as she took tiny hands into her own. Her sisters' palms were soft as velvet, while her own were hard as leather turned into armor. How am I supposed to seduce a man like this?… Well, at least he's an adventurer, he might prefer it this way.
"…You can go home already, Brain, I'll be back soon."
"As you wish, Oshiku-sensei."
He politely greeted the Furt family and then left, escorted by the old butler.
Then, as Arche led the mewling little pair away, Oshiku fell into step nearby. The halls were a little dustier than Oshiku expected, but he let that pass unremarked upon as rude to say. Arche however, didn't let it pass when she sensed his appraising look over the manor. "… We have cut back on our staff lately." She explained when they reached a golden door.
"I see." Sebas answered when Arche released her hold on Kuuderika and opened the door with the little 'click' noise of the catch being withdrawn with the turn of the knob.
She entered with the twins and took them straight to a large bed. "They have their own rooms but…" She shrugged, "… they like to be together."
"Hm, I know a pair of twin children, they're the same way." He said with a brief reserved chuckle when he thought about Aura and Mare.
Arche picked Kuuderika up in both hands and flopped her onto the bed. Then did the same with Ureirika. The pair bounced up and down on the soft fluff, "Be careful, the monsters are coming!"Arche said in a mock threatening voice. The twins immediately snatched each other's hands and began a loud, fake snoring noise.
He cocked his head. Asleep in their regular clothes? The unspoken question found an answer in a rolling of Arche's eyes and she pointed to the door.
She walked out with the stealth that you'd expect of an experienced adventurer. What's her job? I should ask… when Oshiku followed, she gently closed the door. "Later tonight, they'll 'wake up', pretend to have forgotten to change and come to my room. They'll make up some excuse to keep spending time with me, then I'll change them into their night clothes and only then will they finally go to sleep." Arche's eyes rolled again. "It's absurd, I know, but—" She snapped her lips shut.
But you love them as they love you. Oshiku thought ending her sentence.
"Can I… give you a tour of my home, Sir Pshiku?" Arche asked with a demure downward glance.
"Please do." He answered and waved toward the long hall away from the direction they'd come.
Arche took the lead, and when she did, she began to roll her hips with every single step. Oshiku recognized what it was immediately.
It's certainly not the first time I see someone doing that… By the way, Albedo always does it for Ainz. Though far more effectively. Compared to a level 100 succubus, Arche's effort at a seductive walk was clumsy as a chimp. Her steps were too distanced and threw off the rolling motion meant to draw a man's eye. She was clearly uncomfortable with the heels she wore to disguise her short height, everything about her was in conflict. But Arche was obviously trying hard.
"This is the library—" She said when they entered the room, and immediately kicked herself for a fool for showing him. Some of the shelves were empty, and dust was obvious.
"It isn't used anymore?" He asked. The large windows that were meant to let light in, revealed a bright night sky outside and an empty city street partially obscured by a low stone wall that kept the estate of the Furt house apart from the rabble and roads.
"Ah, well my father says we should invest in things that show our nobility, and so he began selling off the oldest tomes a long time ago, while I was at school." Arche said with a flush to her face.
The long open room was full of shelves, and at a glance Sebas could tell it had not been properly dusted in months or more, there were chairs of wood with cushy red velvet sewn into the seating and backs, and those were hidden beneath a layer of dust illuminated by glowstones emplaced along the walls that betrayed the abandonment of this part of the home.
"I see." Sebas answered and looked down at her.
Arche felt the look on the back of her head, and felt much like a child in trouble, she wrung her hands in front of her waist. "You disagree?" Sebas asked.
"A good noble's daughter supports her father's goals." Arche followed up, stiffly repeating her earliest lessons.
"But?" The question from Oshiku hung in the air.
Arche felt the stare on the back of her head like it was a burning hot poker. She turned around, looked up at the old man and answered, "But I disagree with him. I learned a lot in the academy, I studied magic there, all that I got for myself, I got because I studied."
"What did you study?" He asked her with curiosity as they began to head toward the door. Her hand touched his arm and traced over its length.
By the four, he really is carved out of steel, he'd probably toss Hekkeran through a room if it came down to a battle of strength. Arche thought when her hand drew away from him.
"This way, I'll show you the solarium on the top floor, it's a beautiful spot." She said with genuine enthusiasm, "Especially at night, which is ironic given that it's supposed to be for sunlight."
"Sure, let's go". He replied with a smile.
Arche did her best to roll her hips, I should have studied 'that' harder. Maybe asked Imina for tips on seduction. Should I have touched his chest? Ugh, if only my fingers weren't like leather. She cursed her hard body a dozen times before they reached the stairs.
When she reached them, she answered his prior question. The stairs creaked a little with age, but the way up was lit by many candles which flickered their orange glow over the room and lit up the shine of the steps that were still properly cared for. Arche tried to catch a glimpse of her company in the reflection to see if he was looking at her with any hint of desire, but his face blurred. Still, she should have seen some hint of manly want. Eyes falling a little too low, catching her swaying hips, or more. There was nothing but a calm and charming expression on it. Who's seducing who? she wondered.
"I studied magic, I had a full scholarship there and I was actually very good." Arche said with a defiant hint of pride she couldn't keep from her voice as they went up to the last floor, bypassing the rest of what she considered a mostly useless house.
"Really? You're quite young, aren't you?" He inquired.
"I'm seventeen, I know I'm a little short, but…" She bit her lip and tried to appeal to the lecherous instincts she felt sure must be beneath the surface, "… Women in my family always look much, much younger than our years."
She couldn't feel a single shift in the watching eyes behind her. Burning frustration roared through her heart. I'm failing! I need to step this up another notch! She thought to herself and tried to remember if the solarium had wine or not. The moon, the stars, a man and woman alone… lots of wine… Arche quailed within, but her mother's admonition hit home once more.
What will become of your sisters when the debts get called in, or if you go on a quest and don't come back? The question haunted Arche so much that just hearing it asked made her want to bawl. Instead, like the worker she was, she steeled her resolve and carried on.
"That is fortunate." Oshiku said to her with neutral praise.
"I—I, yes, I think so." Arche responded and pointed down the long hall. "It's just this way."
Please don't let him be a lolicon… or maybe that would work in my favor… Matter of fact, he looks really nice.
"So, what else can you tell me about your studies?" He asked, and Arche's ears pricked up at the hint of interest. Well, being an adventurer, it's a given he's interested in a magic caster.
"Yes, I can use up to the third tier, and my master thought I had potential to learn more. I studied under Fluder Paradyne, the preeminent magic caster of the Empire, if you're not familiar." Arche's voice rang with obvious pride and she felt the first stirring of interest in her begin at her back.
"Is that so… then, you graduated?" Sebas asked, and Arche felt shame. She held back a relieved sigh when she reached the door she sought and could replace her answer with a simple…
"Here we are."
The door opened to a very short hall, which in turn led to another door.
The hall was wide enough for only two to pass abreast and, gauging their path, Oshiku guessed they were near the estate's back, making the room they were about to enter into an outcropping.
The room she opened up to him had a few small couches and seats, but it was utterly surrounded by windows, the room was large enough for no more than six to fit comfortably, and it was clearly meant to be intimate. The windows began at waist height and went up to form a dome of glass overhead.
In the center of the room there lay a table and Arche looked over her shoulder. "This is a very nice feature", She said with a knowing smile and placed her hand on the round surface at the center, and the top of the table began to open up. "It's enchanted, it keeps wine bottles cooled to just the right temperature."
"Amazing idea. I'll keep that in mind," Oshiku said with a smile. Let's taste the Empire's wine.
Okay Arche, you can do this, you can do it, you can do it, you can do it! She told herself and she bent far forward and began to bob her legs a little while she pretended to rummage for just the right bottle. She bit her lower lip, grateful for her hidden face. Kuuderika and Ureirika are on the line. She said to herself, and opened her legs a little more, but she didn't feel a tempted hand reach out to touch her.
Instead she only heard him take a step within and seat himself on the couch. "Arwintwar has some beautiful nights." Oshiku said, watching the twinkling stars and the bright white moon above.
"Yes, it does." Arche agreed, though cursing her failure, then she drew out a bottle and a pair of glasses. Oshiku reached for a silk rope, but he was interrupted. "No, no need to pull that and wake up a servant." Arche said in a little lower voice, "I'll pour for us both."
She closed the top of the round table and set the glasses down, then broke open the narrow bottle and poured the red wine into the clear glass, making the only noise in the room, the sound of low sloshing. Fine, last arrow in the quiver, get him good and drunk.
She handed him the glass and sat on the couch as close to him as she could, so that his arm naturally fell behind her on the polished dark wooden rim of the seat. The soft cushion gave under her slight weight and she held out her glass.
"Do they toast where you're from, Sir Oshiku?" She asked.
"Oh, yes, they do." He said with a grin. She's trying very, very hard. I almost feel bad for not giving it to her he thought.
"Then… may we toast to new beginnings? It's a favorite toast of mine." Arche replied.
"As you like, to new beginnings." He said. A suitable one for me as well, all things considered. This new world is going to belong to us.
"To new beginnings." Arche echoed and clinked her glass to his, the faint 'tink' noise followed by them both taking a sip.
"So, your parents must have been proud of your performance at the academy, I imagine you must have graduated near the top of your class, not many magic casters reach the third tier, let alone a greater one." He said, and Arche mentally cursed.
"I… I didn't graduate." She said and looked up at the stars. "I chose to put my talent to use."
"Talent?" Oshiku's ears pricked up again.
"Yes, I can immediately detect the tier of magic that someone or something is able to use, it's a particularly unique and powerful gift. As far as I'm concerned, only the great Fluder Paradyne and I have this talent."
Arche's humility gave way to pride again. "The women in my family… we've always had children born with talents, my mother always knew the exact value of anything she touched. Her mother was always able to know exactly how to get where she wanted to go. Her brother was able to block any blow." Arche's voice was briefly enthusiastic, and then she had to look away to the night beyond the windows again when she felt the man's eyes boring into her like he was seeing her for the first time.
He set his glass down, empty and she refilled it while going on about some of those talents in her family history that she knew of. Each time the glass emptied, she refilled it again.
A line of talent holders, how interesting. And to share that old man's talent… She might be a very useful servant… also, this wine ain't bad at all, Oshiku thought as he memorized every word.
Good, he's starting to see me as a woman, I just had to keep talking while he drank. Time to act, and then when I'm— Arche couldn't bring herself to finish the phrase her father used for wanton noble girls who got caught playing around, 'damaged goods' — he'll have to marry me to make up for tainting a house, even if we are fallen nobles, he wouldn't want that reputation just after getting here.
Arche wasn't sure if she was reminding herself, reassuring herself, or trying to convince herself, but when he set his empty glass down again, she rose, turned to face him, and leaned forward to put her hand on his chest. That's hard too… hopefully the rest…
The fallen noble daughter's intended act was to put on a sultry smile, which she managed a crude imitation of, and to then lower her hand, tracing it down to his waist and undo his belt.
"L-Let me show you how h-hospitable the Furt house is…" Arche fumbled the words and tried to blink with heavy lidded seduction that she hoped was aided by the bright lights given to them by the moon and stars.
Although it'd be fun, this has gone far enough, Oshiku decided. He put his hand over hers, and closed it around her wrist in a grip that, even gentle as it was, might as well have been binding chains. "Enough." Sebas said in a voice of command that brooked no disobedience.
At his words, the totality of her situation slammed down on her like the crack of a task master's whip on the backs of a slave. I failed. I failed, humiliated myself for nothing… now it's all over… I can keep being a worker… I can… maybe make enough money or run away with my sisters, but then what?! No… The looming black fate, darker than a starless night, coated her view of the future and made her earlier toast seem all the more bitter.
She wanted to lower her hand, or to rush for his belt with the hand he didn't hold, but his voice was as steel as the rest of him. She knew intuitively it would do no good. The words hit her again. I failed.
Arche's legs grew weak, wobbled, and she fell to her knees in front of the man whose hand still held her wrist, lowered her eyes, and tried not to cry against the waves of humiliation behind, and the growing sense of impending loss ahead. But next came something unexpected.
"I have a proposal for you, Arche Eeb Rile Furt." Oshiku said with an unexpectedly gentle tone.
"A… proposal?" Arche repeated the words with as much dismay as relief.
"You can come up off of your knees first." He said with a smile and she slowly rose in time with the blush to her face.
When she did, she darted her eyes left to right and then, still acutely aware of the hand that had not released her wrist, she sat down on the couch beside him again. Arche had a difficult time meeting his eyes until he released his hold over her wrist. When he did, with a heavy slowness she brought it back and folded her fingers into her palms and set the knuckles against one another. Arche's lower lip quivered as the shame of her forwardness and desperation ran rampant for several seconds before he spoke.
"That is better now, isn't it?" His voice retained its dignity, and yet was somehow warmer. Arche gave him a tiny, fearful nod.
"Why don't you start by telling me everything. Then I'll explain what I mean." Oshiku suggested and, under his penetrating gaze, there was nothing she could do but pour out her heart.
Arche told him everything.
Her family's fall, her father's spending and the rising debts to cover his lost status, her mother's 'slightly' lesser spending that was centered around trying to net a wealthy husband for Arche herself. The risk to her sisters, the slave auctions that had taken nobles who refused to bow to their changing situations, that dark looming fate that was waiting just beyond the hill when her father's debts would be called in.
She spoke of her first connection to Foresight, becoming a worker and leaving the academy, she confessed everything as if he were an interrogator, or as if he were a temple priest to whom she had to unburden herself in safety. He felt like both depending on what Arche was about to say and finally it was done down to that night.
"… So I was supposed to seduce one of you, the hope was that having 'damaged' my worth, or even impregnated me, you would do the proper noble thing and marry me. Then…" She looked away, out into the stars, "Then my sisters would be safe. Life as a worker is hard and dangerous. We don't get the support of guild investigators, we don't have any security. We're disposable. My talent carried me a long way, but there is never a tomorrow promised to people in my position." Arche gave Oshiku a wry, half proud smile and relaxed as if a great weight had lifted from her shoulders. Arche extended a hand outward toward the man again and closed the other into a tight fist that turned her tan fingers white. "That's everything, Sir Oshiku. I tried, I failed and I humiliated myself and disgraced whatever was left of my ruined family name. I guess… I guess all I can say is that I'm sorry. If it had worked, if you really did rescue my sisters, I'd have spent my life trying to make up for trapping you tonight." Her head hung in defeat. "Really, I mean it. Especially because I simply don't look like a noble anymore."
"Hmm. Do you like being a worker?" Sebas asked, interest piqued over her last words.
"Some of it." Arche admitted, though the shiver of excitement suggested it was more than some. "My teammates are more like family than my parents. We lay our lives down for one another, we've saved each other's lives countless times, and there's a satisfaction to getting things for myself. I don't have to bow or scrape to my father, I earn my life. I don't need to depend on someone else. I'm not really fit to be a nobleman's wife anymore, no matter how I was raised."
Arche didn't spit when she said the last sentence, but Sebas felt her scorn for the idea, so it was unsurprising when she laughed. "Look how I messed up tonight! I couldn't even walk in a way to draw your eye, let alone anything else!" When the laughter began to fade she rested her hand on his thigh.
"Whatever your offer might be, Sir Oshiku, thank you for not making a mockery of my disgraceful self tonight. I'm truly thankful, you really are a great man, and you'd make any noblewoman very, very proud as a husband I am sure." Arche said with a well of gratitude that overflowed from her lips.
Oshiku inclined his head in a slight, lordly nod of acceptance. "How far would you go, to save your sisters?"
"I was going to give up the life I liked, to have my mother's life, Sir Oshiku. To stop my father's folly from destroying them, I'd even be a concubine. I'm the only one who can properly protect their happiness." Arche hissed the promise out and rose her eyes to his, he searched her face and found no reservations.
"Would you put your comrades to the test? Even knowing they might not pass? Would you be willing to let them die, for the sake of your sisters?" Oshiku probed.
Arche pursed her lips shut tight.
"I—I don't own their lives, but, but if it is for my sisters, I think they would forgive me for it." Arche responded with a tentative uncertainty.
"Swear your life, your soul, your magic, your talents, your everything, swear to put your comrades to the test, and I will see that you and your sisters have a bright future." He offered.
"What of my… my parents?" Arche asked.
"In a few days, I'll let them decide for themselves. But first, you must ask for it yourself. You must, out of your own strength, ask for the help you need, and put everything on the line for it." Sebas gave the instruction, and Arche searched his face as he had searched her own.
She searched for cruelty, she searched for malice, she searched for plans to hurt those she loved, and found no evil. "Is this what they call, 'a leap of faith', Sir Oshiku?" Arche asked through a pounding heart.
"I believe so, Arche, I believe so. Now, will you make the leap, or do I walk out without your word? I won't offer this a second time, I promise you." Sebas said without any reservation nor hint of compromise.
"You swear, nothing bad will happen to my sisters, no matter what? Will they have happiness?" Arche pressed the question, leaning close enough that she could feel the breath coming past his lips to caress her face.
"I swear on my life." Oshiku made his vow and Arche slowly stood up. She brought her hand up to her forehead and felt the dampness of sweat there, soaking past her glove.
"It's a deal then, I hope to the gods this isn't the biggest mistake of my life. F-Forgive me, Sir Oshiku or… may I- may I call you just Oshiku?" Arche's weak smile revealed the weary spirit that lived inside her flesh in that moment and he stood up as well with a smile.
"You may. Tomorrow, tell your parents that you failed and that you're going on a job, then come to my home and wait there." Oshiku gave the order and Arche could only bow, her throat suddenly dry and her eyes threatening to flood when the stress of the day hit her all at once.
"I'll see myself out." Sebas said, seeing her distress, he reached for the door handle. "Everything will be alright."
With nothing else to do but watch him go, Arche could only give tiny nods and pray to the gods that he was neither lying nor wrong.
When she was alone, she remained seated in silence for a while, staring at the night sky. When she started feeling tired, Arche stood up and started walking to to her room. Gods who watch over us… please… please don't let this be a mistake. Arche prayed, and closed her eyes for a moment.
At that moment, the sound of running was heard within the corridor. Even without looking up, Arche knew who it was. Softening her face, Arche turned around just in time to see two shadows running towards her and leaping at her without slowing down.
The figures that had leapt into Arche's embrace had both a height of less than one meter. While hugging Arche, the twins raised her face and displayed a beaming expression with their pink cheeks.
"We forgot to change clothes!"
She smiled and gently stroked their heads. Seeing the happy face made by her sisters, Arche started to genuinely smile.
"Let's go change them, okay."
"Mm."
Protecting the cheerful smiles of her sisters was Arche's responsibility. Holding Ulei's and Kuude's hands, a warm feeling quickly grew inside Arche. Their small hands were something even Arche's fingers could fully cover.
"Onee-sama's hand is really hard!"
"Yes, it is!"
Arche looked at her hands. Due to injuries received from numerous adventures, these hardened hands could no longer be called hands befitting a girl from a noble family. However, she had no regrets.
"But I still really like it!"
"Me too."
With her hands tightly grasped by both of her sister's Arche could do nothing but smile and thank her pure little sisters. For their safety, she would let the rest of the world burn.