The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)-Chapter 660: One’s moral compass always ppoints to the world’s norm

Chapter 660: One’s moral compass always ppoints to the world’s norm

After hearing about how Natha Delivery Service transpires from Zarfa, I told her about the consequences of her detailed recounting of the night.

Which made her laughter fill the drawing room from where I called her. What a high-quality stuff Aina made--it felt like she laughed right by my side. I had to cover my baby’s ears in case he heard it and jolted awake--although, as usual, he had a very calm sleep as long as I was around.

[Ahahahahaha! No wonder your master spy was absolutely trembling back then] she cackled and cackled. [Oh, the Doc is such a petty man!]

"He’s a demon."

[A petty demon! Ahahahahah!]

For some reason, she found it even more hilarious.

[Oh, Goddess! I joked about it yesterday with Aina actually; never thought it would really happen!]

[Big Boss never disappoint!] Aina chimed in with a giggle, and I could easily imagine her raising her thumb while at it. [I can definitely see him as a bike-throttling gangster with horned helmet going around town looking for the prick harassing his boyfriend now]

"Will that help you design a motorcycle that fits him?"

[Naturally!]

Eh--at least something good came out of it.

[Well, well--isn’t that just the kind of behavior that your Grandpa would approve, Val?] Zarva snickered, which I could not deny at all.

Yeah; Grandpa would definitely do the same thing--after berating him for not protecting me properly. Hmm...people said we usually ended up with people who were similar to our first love, which was our parents. But in my case, since I wasn’t close with my parents, perhaps I instinctively looking for someone like my Grandpa--someone who always protected me, looked after me, indulged me, and... showered me with money. Teehee.

Oh, but back to this whole necromancy fiasco.

"Is it easy finding Necromancer and Soulmancer over there?" I asked curiously.

[Pfft--of course not! Both of those practices are considered taboo, just like anywhere else. I mean, at least on the surface] Zarfa scoffed. [But even if there are people using the services, they would never disclose it. The practice itself is disgusting in nature, so even the crooks don’t want to be associated with them]

[Still, Big Boss’s network should be able to find those people]

"Hmm...so they do have a bad reputation just like in those fantasy books," I muttered while patting the sleeping baby on my stomach as I laid down lazily on the chaize lounge. "But wasn’t my wet nurse tried to be a Soulmancer before?"

[No, no, Val--she was trying to become a Soul Meister. You can’t get it wrong; it’s like calling a respectable employer a slave owner]

"H-huh?"

What was this dramatic and dreadful analogy?

[You see, Soul Meister is a very difficult, but also respectable art--well, at least some still thought it was respectable, although some also question the morality behind it sometimes] Zarfa started to explain.

From what I got, it seemed like Soul Meister ’communicated’ with the soul and entered some kind of transaction. The Meister would do something in exchange for the soul’s cooperation, like granting the soul’s wishes or giving them food--most were in the form of antiques, relics, or something rich in mana. Most was temporary transactions, but there were also Meisters who performed longtime contracts with a soul.

I understood then, why the nun wanted to be a Soul Meister. She wanted to call the soul of her dead child, wasn’t she? I couldn’t understand her well before, but while holding Shwa like this, I felt like I might be tempted to try something like that too.

On the other hand, soulmancy was a form of enforcement; controlling and submitting a soul by restraint or seal without the soul’s consent. Well, it was a form of ’slavery’ as Zarfa said earlier. As for necromancy...well, there was no way a dead body could give any consent, right?

"Hmm..." I chewed the inside of my cheek uncomfortably. "This gives me complicated feelings."

[Well, this kind of thing is just like killing or robbing] Zarfa said casually. [You don’t feel much guilt doing it to a terrible person]

"..."

[What are you thinking about, Val?] Zarfa asked after a few seconds passed by in silence.

"Something like how used we are to this kind of thing now," I sighed. "I mean...stuff like taking lives and such. It won’t fly if we still live in modern Earth, right?"

[Although you came from that kind of family?] she chuckled amusedly.

"Hey, even my grandpa couldn’t just shot people willy-nilly, you know!"

The girls laughed. [Well, we live in an unfortunate world] Zarfa said. [Perhaps what we’re doing now will bring about a time when things like taking a life have a much dire consequences]

"Yeah..." I sighed and tapped the inter-realm orb. She really knew how to fix my mood. "Thanks, Ceci."

[Aight. We’ll start ruins hopping tomorrow, so...]

[Wish us luck, Boss!]

"Take care," I chuckled and tapped on the orb again, before adding after a second. "Take care of my kids too."

With a crisp laugh, we ended the call, and I lay there silently for a few minutes while staring at the ceiling and listening to my baby’s breathing on my stomach.

Well...perhaps I shouldn’t be feeling too guilty? Seeing how easily those people trying to plunder us just because we looked happy coming out of the ruin, not to mention thinking about defiling us without a second thought...they must have been doing it a lot, right? I was only thinking that they had yet to hurt us, but failed to think about how many victims they had harmed before us.

Yeah. Let’s not waste sympathy for that kind of person, and let Natha do what he wanted to do.

"Are you still thinking about His Lordship’s plan, Young Master?" Mara, who came to deliver my pre-lunch snack, asked.

"Mm...kind of," I smiled wryly. "How do demons see that kind of thing, Mara?"

"Just like any other living being, I suppose," she answered with a graceful smile. "No one wants to be controlled out of their will, no matter in what shape--would you like your usual herbal drink, or something stronger?"

Just like Zarfa, she knew me so well. I guessed there was an advantage to not being able to breastfeed. Well, I didn’t usually drink anyway, but a light wine would be nice.

And she did bring me a light white one with a very low alcohol content--I mean, I was still holding Shwa after all. Still, we called Angwi just to be safe.

Ah...sipping on the wine while enjoying the spring outside was indeed calming my dilemmatic mind. While I could get rid of my guilt, however, I didn’t want Natha to be looked at badly because he employed the service of a necromancer and a soulmancer.

"Haa...you don’t think he’s doing too much?" I asked Mara and Angwi. "I mean, is there really a need to go that far?"

Mara chuckled while Angwi took Shwa from me and she put a piece of chocolate in my hand. "Why do you think His Lordship is doing too much, Young Master? Isn’t it normal to feel angry at someone who was harming his beloved?"

"But that person’s dead."

"But it’s not His Lordship who delivered the blow."

"Must he?"

"Wouldn’t you want to, if those people harm His Lordship or Little Master?" Mara replied with a calmness that pulled my attention.

Oh...

"You probably think it doesn’t matter, Young Master--as usual," she chuckled, expertly feeding me more chococate just when the last one had completely gone in my mouth. "But I think His Lordship is very frustrated."

I glanced at Angwi for confirmation, and she just smiled silently. That was a yes, so I blinked at Mara as a signal to continue.

"His Lordship was constantly worrying about you, Young Master. He worked late to avoid thinking about it too much, but..." She looked around and lowered her voice. "I heard he kept spacing out during work."

"Really?"

"That’s what I heard," she shrugged, before adding with a mischievous smile. "But I can say for sure that His Lordship spaced out a lot during mealtime. He would stare at your empty seat and mumbled things like ’does he eat well?’ or ’does he sleep well?’ and ’he’s not hurt, isn’t he?’...you know, things like that."

I gulped my very light, barely alcoholic grape juice, feeling my face flushing slightly. Must have been a stronger drink than I thought.

"It might be presumptuous of me, but I think...His Lordship was very angry and frustrated at himself," Mara smiled and graciously refilled my glass. "He wanted to protect you from everything, but he was unable to do so. Even if you’re not hurting, the fact that someone attempted such a thing to his precious person would be enough reason to rage."

She stroked my hand and gave me another chocolate. "So please don’t ever think something partaining to your well-being as ’too much’, Young Master."

"Mm..."

I nodded shyly, and sipped the wine mode after finishing my chocolate, feeling immensely better about this whole necromancy-soulmancy thing.

"What? Are you drinking before lunch?" Natha suddenly looked in from the door. "How rare."

I almost hiccuped in surprise. He didn’t hear our conversation before, did he? I stared at him as he walked inside and stroked Shwa’s sleeping face, Mara’s story echoing ceaselessly in my head. I couldn’t help but imagine his dazed face as he thought about me going around in the Human Realm.

Oh, I was truly selfish, wasn’t I?

"Hmm? What is it, sweetheart?" he chuckled when I merely stared at him silently. "Are you drunk already?"

I raised my arms toward him. "Hug me."

He paused, raising his brow, and laughed. "Perhaps you should drink more often."

Mm...the scent of leather within coldness that was so familiar never failed to comfort me further as it enveloped me. I pressed my lips on his cheek, and gave his lips a short peck without caring that Angwi and Mara was still there.

Perhaps I was drunk.

Natha let out a soft, joyful laugh, and was about to kiss me properly when my son stirred and blinked his eyes open, whining about not being in my arms.

Pfft. What an impeccable timing.