Chapter 159: Chapter 158: The Start of Another Bad Luck Streak

With our business in Dondegarm's church finished, I used [Portal] to take us back to Palocaesy in one of its alleyways. We unexpectedly have more time in our hands than I expected, so until Noire gives me the call through the Messaging Crystals for me to meet her, we decided to head back to the inn and regroup. I took us to a different part of the city so we could walk for leisure, and with my [Intuitive Mapping] skill, I’m able to plot out directions that would take us to a longer route back to the inn. Everyone in my group agreed with what I wanted to do, and so with me in the lead, we took our time walking back to the inn. Sue was walking next to me while Ume and Ren were at the rear, creating a square formation so we don’t take up most of the space on the road. The road I plotted led through a district with multiple two-story buildings, and while part of my mind was keeping track of our path, I was mostly occupied with my thoughts than checking out our surroundings. I used [Hyper Thought Processing] to speed up my thinking.

After seeing how emotional Sue can be by herself, I can't tell what she's thinking without Nyra's help reading her mood, I thought, Is she emotionally unstable? Did she choke back her feelings often before meeting me?

And then there was her request. To see and treat Sue the same as she is now after the revelation … that just further proves her true identity is that big of a deal. She could very well be the illegitimate sibling of the Demon King, much less the very monarch herself. Though, I could be totally wrong on either of those guesses and she turns out to be a high-class noble like Noire. That might be the best-case scenario for me. No matter how good that may sound, though, I can't turn away from what may be the likelier, yet dreadful truth.

Still, even after she reveals herself, it will be difficult to treat Sue as 'normally' as I have up to now with everything going on. It's only been a day since we met, right? I thought she was cute and quite affectionate as a 'fan', at first, and I just took those feelings at face value. Is that the 'normal' she wants between us? Gah, is she trying to make this more complicated than it already is?

<Well, Sue did say you could help yourself to do anything with her body, even sex, if you’re on edge,> Nyra pointed out, <Though, you're probably not thinking of taking it that far for a while, huh?>

<Obviously, especially with the possibility of her being royalty on the table. Just poking her tits would be pushing it at this point.>

<Even though she went as far as giving you a blowjob last night?> she argued.

<She kind of took control at that time, and she was being careful back then, too. I'm talking about when I'm on top,> I defended.

<And what if she tries to take control again, but taking it further than before?> Nyra asked.

<... I highly doubt that will happen with her like this right now, but if she did, I'll keep cool and push her away, of course. She's clearly not thinking straight with the stress going on right now,> I answered.

I glanced at Sue's direction, who was keeping herself at about arm’s length from me. Occasionally, she’d stare at my hand, and at one point looked like she wanted to touch it, but then jerked back, stopping herself before looking away.

<Yeaaah, she’s got a lot of complicated stuff mixed up in her head right now. By the way, look at the top of her head,> Nyra instructed.

Confused, I looked to where she was directing before I found myself in shock, “W-When did you ...”

“Something wrong, Jin?” Ume asked from behind. 

Ren straightened up attentively, looking ready to receive orders. Meanwhile, Sue looked back to me in confusion.

I shifted glances between the three of them, “Um, can you not see …” I then looked back to Sue’s head, seeing a shrunken Nyra chilling on it like it was the most natural thing in the world. I waved and patted a hand over where the tiny Arch Pixie sat, only to see it phase through her like an illusion.

“Was there a bug on Sue’s head just now?” Ume asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“Ah! Rude! How dare she put me on the same level as a bug!” the tiny Nyra cried as she stood up in protest, still phasing through my hand that was laid down. 

None of them seemed to have seen or heard her.

“... Yeah, a bug, that’s probably what it was. I guess it's gone now,” I answered Ume while patting the ‘empty’ space.

“Et tu, Jinma?!” Nyra exclaimed before flying up close to my face, glaring at me. I tried not to react too much and not come off as strange seeing this weird development.

“Master, I think you can stop patting Sue’s head now,” Ren said.

It wasn’t until after hearing Ren’s statement that I realized I was basically patting Sue’s head right now. When I looked down at her, her eyes were directed to the ground while her face flushed red. Though I could only see her profile, she had a complicated expression on her face.

“... Uh, my bad, Sue,” I said before pulling my hand away.

Still totally red, Sue covered her face with both hands. “Itsh no broblem. Dankuu fo da dreet,” she muttered while turning her back to me, her wings and tail moving erratically.

“Well, someone’s rather happy, despite being embarrassed at the same time,” Nyra said while she watched the scene from above the giddy(?) disguised Devil.

Just so I don’t get looked at as crazy, I used my [Telepathy], <Nyra, how the heck are you doing this?>

“Well, knowing I was going to turn back into a tanto, I figured you’d miss seeing me and my bad, sexy self until you set me free,” Nyra explained, “So, after I did some thinking and paid careful detail to my new voluptuous body while we were in Goddess Obina’s room, I did some digging around in my status while experimenting and found I could conjure an illusion of myself with my improved magic as an Arch Pixie. It looks like you’ll be the only one who can see and hear me like this, and if I did this correctly … you should be able to feel me as well if I do this.” The small Arch Pixie then planted her whole body on my cheek. Suddenly, out of the strange new sensation in that area, I felt a pair of soft bumps standing out to me from everything else.

<I can feel something … weird, so I can’t touch you, but you can touch me?> I asked her telepathically.

“That’s right!” she exclaimed while flying back in front of my face, “I’m using my magic to do some stuff with your senses, and right now, I can only do this much while I'm this size. What I’m aiming for, though, is that you’ll experience all of me in my true size with your five senses. From the taste of my kiss to the touch of your dick getting swallowed by my pussy. As an experienced female of the sexual arts, I should be able to reenact those sensations and have you experience them for yourself. For now, though, you’ll have to settle with this little bit of eye candy of yours truly.”

<That is … really incredible, honestly,> I said.

“Unfortunately, focusing my magic to do this much will rob me of the 360 degrees of observation I can perceive around us,” Nyra said while shrugging, “While I’m like this, I have as many blind spots as a normal person and won’t see stuff coming as well as before.”

“Look out!” a woman suddenly screamed from above.

Before I had time to react, I felt something tap my head and a loud crash of ceramic pottery sounded. Immediately after that, my vision turned dark brown briefly and something crumbled and spilled all over my head and shoulders before falling to the ground.

“... Like that flower pot falling from the sky and hitting your head, for example. Holy shit, what are the odds of that happening?” Nyra asked, looking surprised at what just transpired in front of her. The other girls around me looked just as shocked. There were other people around us, all Demons of different races, who were near enough to hear the crash and looking to see where it came from.

“... A flower pot? Is that what hit me?” I asked in confusion while rubbing my head. More brown stuff that I assumed to be soil spilled down from above.

“Oh my gosh! Sir! Are you alright?!” the woman from before cried in panic. That woman turned out to be an Imp who flew down from above in a panic. She hovered in place while her light lavender complexion paled, having no idea what to do as she scanned my form.

After seeing the panicked Imp, whose name was Mincy after checking the name and bars above her head with my [Size Up], I looked above me where she flew from. The closest thing was a balcony with other potted plants sitting on the rail. There was a spot that was oddly vacant, and that was when I quickly put the pieces together.

“... Was that your flower pot that fell just now?” I asked the Imp lady.

“Yes! And I’m so sorry for this happening to you! Are you hurt?! Are you bleeding anywhere?!” she asked as she briskly brushed off the soil and plant leftover on my head and shoulders.

I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. What about you three? Did any of the shards scratch you or something?” I asked the other girls.

“N-No, I’m good,” Ume answered, still in shock.

“I’m also not hurt,” Ren followed.

“... Same,” Sue said last, but her tone didn’t sound surprised. No, she seemed seething.

I turned back to Mincy, “I guess we’re all good, then. Can’t say the same for your plant, I’m afraid.”

“F-Forget about the plant, are you really sure you’re okay? You don’t feel strange, do you?” Mincy asked in surprise.

I shook my head again, "No, I feel totally normal."

Seeing that I was okay, Mincy breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness. Erm, would you like to step into my home and get cleaned up? I could wash your clothes for you."

"Ah, I appreciate the offer, ma'am, but that won't be necessary. [Clean]," I chanted before all the soil on my head and clothes were cleaned off, "See? Totally fine."

"My, that is certainly fortunate! Um, is there something I can do to repay you for the inconvenience? I have to make it up to you with something," Mincy said.

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"If I may ask, ma'am, why did a flower pot fall in the first place?" Sue asked accusingly with a furrowed brow, arms crossed under her large chest.

Mincy sighed with regret, "I have no excuse. I was watering the plants like normal, but then a bug frightened me enough to bump one of the flower pots off the rail. I'll need to rethink my placement for the plants after this."

Sue's hardened expression didn't let up, "As you should. If it wasn't Jinma here, someone could have gotten really hurt. He seems forgiving to you, so I won't press this any further, but I would be careful of not bringing harm to the wrong person, if I were you …"

"Whoa, Sue's really doing all she can to repress that anger. She's a lot more pissed and ready to dole out punishment than she looks," Nyra's small self informed me.

<Yeah, I could feel it from over here,> I said through [Telepathy].

Mincy looked intimidated by Sue's pressure as she bowed to her, "Y-Yes, I'll be more careful."

Mincy then asked me again if I wanted anything as an apology, but I didn't have anything in mind. The Imp then looked like she remembered something as she flew back into her home and came back moments later with a small paper bag. It contained all the cookies she just made a batch of recently and had another already in the oven. I didn't want to inconvenience her anymore by turning her down, so I accepted the gesture. After apologizing once more, she went back inside to get supplies to clean up the flower pot mess while we continued our way.

"Hmm … butter cookies, huh? These are pretty good," I said after tasting it. The other girls were also eating a few cookies as well.

"I'm amazed that flower pot didn't faze you, though, Master," Ren said.

"Jin does have the defenses of a Dragon, after all. No, at this point, they surpass any Dragon I've seen so far," Ume said while crossing her arms, hefting up her large chest from underneath with pride.

"... More than that, you looked like you were used to such a thing happening," Sue said with a raised brow.

"Well … I get hit somewhere in the head quite often back home. Some of them were accidents like that, others were from fights, a few of which where someone hit me from behind. Honestly, I'm surprised to receive this for the first time since I came to the Demon-Kin's Territory," I said while rubbing my head.

Throughout my school days, I was the most prone to getting hit in the head by stray balls. They hurt from the beginning, of course, but I guess as I got into more fights and received blows to the face as well as my scalp, the pain in my head numbed overtime. Either way, they were moments of bad luck that are outside of my control. I've just learned to deal with it coolly the more I was exposed to it.

"So, whether by accident or hostility, you get hurt often back in your home country?" Sue asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, but I've grown sturdy overtime, and even without Nyra's help, I could just tell whether blows to the head like that were out of accident or hostility. That lady seemed genuinely sorry for dropping that flower pot, so I didn't make as much of a fuss as I would if it were some dude hitting me with a beer bottle, for instance. Then again, it was rare that the people who caused the accidents in the past were as sincere in their apology as that lady, so it was a refreshing change of pace."

Ume and Ren looked at each other with concern. 'Doesn't this seem kind of bad?' I felt their faces spoke that much.

"I see …" Sue trailed off before taking a notepad and charcoal pencil from her [Storage] and jotted some notes. What the notepad consisted of wasn’t the usual parchment paper I’ve seen up to now, but clean, crisp white paper. It seemed out of place in a fantasy world, heck, the existence of the notepad itself was off. I was starting to get used to some of this kingdom’s facilities, cuisine, and public baths that were similar to what I know in Japan. Seeing such an advanced item of stationary so suddenly had me thrown for a loop. To process a paper of that quality in this kingdom … buying it couldn’t be as cheap as one could get from a convenience store.

"What are you writing?" I asked with a raised brow.

"Just some important notes regarding your protection, in the future," Sue said, "I'm aware of your LUCK stat being low, but you're the first I've seen in such a state, so I had no idea how much that would affect your daily life until now."

"Right … I heard if someone's LUCK is closer to '0', they're more likely to die. Is that true?" I asked.

"I've heard of that, as well, but I've yet to see anyone succumbing to such a fate that correlates with their LUCK," Sue answered, "Now that I know how likely you are to stumble into trouble, though, I will be more vigilant in providing your protection moving forward. I'll also see if Her Highness can issue a capable bodyguard once we get to Korangar."

I blinked in surprise, "Uh … seriously? I think my harem is enough to watch my back, though? Am I that big of a deal for the Demon King to go that far?"

"You're a very big deal, yes," Sue answered without hesitation, her gaze at me looking serious, "And I'm not making the recommendation for a bodyguard because I lack trust in your harem's strength, especially Umeiyon's and Ren's. If anything, Her Highness would want to put their worries at ease once she finds someone who's forthright in putting your safety over their own. That way, you all can enjoy yourselves during your stay."

Right, I do recall Sue mentioning that the Demon King will provide ‘royal treatment’ to me and my party when we arrive. I guess that includes staying at the castle? Still, for her to go through all this trouble ...

"Hey, did I ever ask what the Demon King wants with me?" I asked Sue, “Like, why is she going so far for me? There’s gotta be more to it than repaying me and Nyra for messing with our memories, right? Hell, that ‘Champion Hunt’ the Demon King made up four years ago was set up to primarily find me, right? And I’m sure you were also participating in some way. If you know what she has in store for me, can you even tell me a little bit, at least?”

“... Would you be unable to focus on the quest if you didn’t know?” Sue asked while halting her pencil’s movements.

“I don’t know about being ‘unable’ to, but it might give me some peace of mind if I knew what she’s thinking about me to go this far,” I answered, “Hell, even telling me a little of who and what this Demon King is can help give me an idea of who I’m dealing with when I meet her.”

“... Yes, I think I can give up that much,” Sue muttered to herself before looking up from her notepad, “A little about Her Highness and what she thinks of you, is it? Will that be enough to satisfy you?”

I looked to the side and scratched my head, “To calm me down from all these mind-blowing facts that hit me today? Maybe a little?”

Sue took a deep breath to calm herself. She then looked up in thought, “Very well, then. If I had to summarize it from what I personally know of Her Majesty, she’s very different from how she’s portrayed in public. She has known and anticipated your arrival for longer than you may realize, and … under the best, ideal circumstances, your first meeting with her would be much different than what she’s trying to arrange now.”

“Different … in what way?” I asked hesitantly, “And what ‘circumstances’ did she want to happen?”

“Well … Her Highness wished she would be one of the very first people to meet you in her kingdom, someone before you came in contact with your wife and your harem, of those she’s quite envious of. If that did happen, your life would be much less eventful than it is now, what with all the fighting, quests, stopping the coup, and such getting in the way. Still, whether it be in that case or this, her wish for you to live your best life in this kingdom is still the same. That’s what she told me when I last reported to her,” Sue concluded before giving a smile, but it looked a little sad and lonely.

I was at a loss for what to say. So did the other girls who watched our talk in surprise.

“… She’ll answer whatever other questions you may have for her when you arrive, so please hold them off until then," Sue continued before bringing her notepad and charcoal pencil back up, "Now, getting back on the topic of your safety, are there any other … peculiar instances that we should know about? Coming out of this quest unscathed is asking for the impossible with your LUCK, but it would put Her Majesty at ease if we can prepare the necessary measures to keep damages to a minimum."

It didn't look like Sue was going to budge her position on my 'protection', despite me not really needing it. After hearing what she told me of the Demon King, I wasn’t sure whether to be satisfied or more confused, especially considering how she took my blood sample. Still, it won't do me any good fretting over it if I won't get answers more concrete than this. Whether the Demon King is Sue’s sister or the very person I’m talking to now, I guess I won’t really know what she’s like until I can see her for myself.

I sighed and rubbed my head, taking into consideration Sue's questioning on my ‘peculiar incidents’, "Well … depending on the occasion, sometimes accidents like that flower pot incident would be the beginning of a bad luck streak that would escalate. I would pay close attention to my surroundings during that time until I judge things have calmed down."

"So, that would be the 'calm before the storm' of bad luck, then? Can you tell me how far that streak goes?" Sue asked as she wrote in her notepad.

I checked my surroundings, noting the construction site of a new building being made. "It varies. Sometimes there's an even bigger accident approaching, like a beam or sign from that site over there falling near me, so I'd steer clear of places like that for a bit. I almost got hit by a beam once, and I don't think I'd come out of it unscathed back then like I could now, but I'd rather not take my chances when I can."

"Goodness …" Ren said in amazement while Sue continued writing.

"In fact, what happened on the day of Dondegarm's raid was also something of a bad luck streak," I continued, looking up in thought, "Before even arriving, I encountered Glock the Toxic Troll who was on the wanted list by the adventurer's guild. I walked away with victory and a foul odor before tripping a trap set up by an Arachne. Then, some time after I got down and arrived in Dondegarm, I was attacked by some of White Rapture's cult followers, which led me to participating in resisting their raid. During that time, I ran into the one leading the raid who was possessed by Nyra. After he stabbed me, I pushed him off and got nearly possessed by Nyra's curse, as well. I think you all know what happened after that."

"It uh ... sounds like your bad luck was all over the place back then," Sue commented before looking at me with genuine worry.

I nodded in agreement, "Mm. It may look worrisome at first, but I didn't think too much about it because a lot of good stuff came from it, too. Meeting Ume, Ren, and the others, inheriting Nyra's powers in a powerful blade, wealth and fame, I felt all that good balanced out the bad that started it all."

"True, if Jin didn't demonstrate his power so splendidly that evening, I honestly wouldn't have acknowledged his existence, let alone consider him a candidate to be my mate. After meeting him, my thoughts for many things have changed," Ume said.

"Since so many good things happened at that time, I didn't really think about my bad luck as much as usual," I said, "Now, though, especially with what I've learned today, I feel like the bad luck is finally starting to tip the scale again, and that flower pot was just the catalyst for what may come later."

"If that's the case, maybe it's best that we head back to the inn immediately?" Sue asked, and before I could respond, an aggravated, yet familiar yell sounded.

"Hey! I thought I told you to get the fuck out of this city!"

We all turned to the source and saw the same Devil that was giving Kisaki a hard time yesterday. Just like before, his gang of Imps, Arch Imps, and another Devil gathered behind him, ready for a brawl.

I sighed, "Looks like my bad luck has caught up with us."

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