We took a quick look around in the junkyard and found a couch and a chair that looked good enough to use during our talk. They were sitting in difficult positions, but I found this situation a good opportunity to try the [Levitation] Null Spell I learned earlier. Since how much I could move depended on the Strength's rank in my Innate Status, I had no problem lifting the furniture off their difficult positions and setting them on the ground next to us. Though I had to do it one at a time, Ren got ecstatic as she watched me, at least according to her tail's erratic movements. Ume and Sue, meanwhile, only shrugged, not too surprised I was able to do this.
Once I leveled the furniture decently, I cast [Clean] to make them less gross to sit on. The difference before and after the spell was like night and day. They looked like new furniture that got into unfortunate wreckages after I was done. With that, I sat on the couch with Ume and Ren sitting on each side of me, while Sue took the chair across from us. The cushions were quite worn out as I was almost sinking to the very bottom, but it would have to do.
After we were settled in, I cast [Soundproof] to keep our conversation private, "Now, before we go any further, there is something you must know, Ren. I admit that this is something Ume, my familiars, and I have been keeping from the rest of the party, but it looked like you were catching onto our secret. Let me first apologize for keeping this from you and the others." I then bowed my head to my Werewolf slave with guilt.
"... I had a feeling that something was going on," Ren said, "I wanted to believe you're keeping quiet for a good reason, Master, but I couldn't help but get worried."
For the sake of both our comforts, I lightly petted Ren's head, "I'm sorry I made you feel that way, Ren. After taking deep consideration and getting some second opinions, though, I decided to fill you in on what's going on. What I'm about to reveal, however, is very important. I need you to promise me that you won't say this to any of the others in the party until further notice, and that even after hearing this truth, you'll stay calm and won't take reckless action unless I say so."
"... Wouldn't it be simpler to change the Command level in your slave settings?" Ren asked while tilting her head in confusion, "Even at its lowest setting, while I still have freedom to move and voice my opinion, I couldn't go against many orders you'd give me."
I nodded in understanding, "That may be true, but as your Master, as your Alpha Male, I don't want to force you into something you don't want to. I want to put my trust into you not as a slave, but as my mate, my ally. I'm limiting the number of people who know this secret not only to reduce chances of this being leaked, but to avoid the others being targeted to extract that information. Not many would even think of confronting me or Ume after they know our powers, but I couldn't say the same for the others in our party. I'm entrusting this secret to you because I believe you have the strength to carry the burden that comes with it. Does that make sense?"
Ren looked down in thought for a moment before coming back up and nodding to me, "I understand, Master. I'm honored to know you have so much faith in me, and I won't let you down. I'm ready to learn this secret whenever you are."
With that confirmation, using Nyra's assistance, I implanted the memories of my times with Sue into Ren's mind, mainly the interrogation and our agreement from earlier. It was the fastest way to get everything out there in a short amount of time. The process only took a couple seconds.
When I was done, Ren's eyes widened before turning to Sue with disbelief, "Y-You … did that to Master and Nyra … why?"
Sue sighed, "I honestly wanted to avoid it, if I could, but I needed to see my mission through. I'm sorry for deceiving you and everyone else, Ren."
"That isn't the point!" Ren yelled in anger, surprising me, "Was everything up to now a lie?! Being Master's fan, getting close to him, all so you take him to the Demon King?!"
"Of course, not," Sue answered, keeping calm while resting a hand on her large bosom, "I do want to help Jinma see Her Highness, and I like to think I'm a fan of his, too. Heck, the Demon King has also grown a liking to him after hearing his exploits."
"... Lies," Ren said with a shaky breath, "I don't care what my [Intuition] says, what you're saying right now has to be a lie."
"And what makes you so sure of that?" Sue asked, looking curious.
"What kind of person says they like someone and then messes with their heads after that, huh?!" Ren yelled, "Do you have any idea how much pain you've made to my master, to Nyra, who were both taking a liking to you?!"
Sue's expression was blank, but her grips on the arms of her chair were very strong. I think they even pierced through the fabric as she dug her fingers into them.
I'm not liking where this is going.
"I'm not talking about their heads, either!" Ren continued, "Their hearts, their souls, the pain of learning someone you know is not who you think they are, you have no idea what that feeling is really like! The Demon King is no better if she even gave you permission to do that! Hell, she has no idea what she's doing as a ruler if she allows people's minds to be abused like this!"
"Ren," I said calmly, trying to stop her, but she didn't listen.
"I don't agree with what Chaos Barrage is doing, but maybe the Demon King should step down, because anyone, even Master, would be a better Demon King than she is at this point!" Ren continued, "The Demon King may be trying to bring the three territories together, but she doesn't know the first thing about trust if she can't even release her fucking name to her own people!"
"That's enough, Ren!" I yelled while jumping in front of her, arms spread wide as I faced Sue.
Whether I know the controversy or not, Ren's outburst would surely be taken as an offensive against royalty. I don't know how strong Sue really is, or how much privilege she has to kill anyone under the Demon King's name. If Sue's loyal enough to her king, Ren's execution for her offense could be taken place right here in the junkyard. I had to get in between them and act as a shield because this fake Arch Imp was tasked to keep me alive until I got to the Demon King. I had to use this chance to defend Ren, and should the worse-case happen, I'll have to hope Sue doesn't have anything that would pierce through my stupidly high defenses.
"I know this may be taken as a high offense, but Ren's only emotional after experiencing that influx of memories I put into her," I reasoned calmly, "I'll make sure she calms down, and as her master, I will take responsibility for her outburst. I'll bear whatever punishment is necessary, but please, Sue, spare Ren's life!"
Sue sat there blinking, dumbstruck, trying to absorb what was happening in front of her, "... Oh, right. Jinma, please stand down. I won't harm Ren."
It was my turn to be surprised, "... Ren's off the hook?"
"She has done nothing wrong, and neither have you," Sue calmly explained while shaking her head, "It was shocking and gutsy of her to speak up like that, yes, but I understand her anger. I won't condemn her or you for something like that."
I was stiff while standing in place, still holding my pose. I wasn't sure if Sue was going to suddenly go back on her word if I moved.
Nyra said, reading my thoughts,
We took a quick look around in the junkyard and found a couch and a chair that looked good enough to use during our talk. They were sitting in difficult positions, but I found this situation a good opportunity to try the [Levitation] Null Spell I learned earlier. Since how much I could move depended on the Strength's rank in my Innate Status, I had no problem lifting the furniture off their difficult positions and setting them on the ground next to us. Though I had to do it one at a time, Ren got ecstatic as she watched me, at least according to her tail's erratic movements. Ume and Sue, meanwhile, only shrugged, not too surprised I was able to do this.
Once I leveled the furniture decently, I cast [Clean] to make them less gross to sit on. The difference before and after the spell was like night and day. They looked like new furniture that got into unfortunate wreckages after I was done. With that, I sat on the couch with Ume and Ren sitting on each side of me, while Sue took the chair across from us. The cushions were quite worn out as I was almost sinking to the very bottom, but it would have to do.
After we were settled in, I cast [Soundproof] to keep our conversation private, "Now, before we go any further, there is something you must know, Ren. I admit that this is something Ume, my familiars, and I have been keeping from the rest of the party, but it looked like you were catching onto our secret. Let me first apologize for keeping this from you and the others." I then bowed my head to my Werewolf slave with guilt.
"... I had a feeling that something was going on," Ren said, "I wanted to believe you're keeping quiet for a good reason, Master, but I couldn't help but get worried."
For the sake of both our comforts, I lightly petted Ren's head, "I'm sorry I made you feel that way, Ren. After taking deep consideration and getting some second opinions, though, I decided to fill you in on what's going on. What I'm about to reveal, however, is very important. I need you to promise me that you won't say this to any of the others in the party until further notice, and that even after hearing this truth, you'll stay calm and won't take reckless action unless I say so."
"... Wouldn't it be simpler to change the Command level in your slave settings?" Ren asked while tilting her head in confusion, "Even at its lowest setting, while I still have freedom to move and voice my opinion, I couldn't go against many orders you'd give me."
I nodded in understanding, "That may be true, but as your Master, as your Alpha Male, I don't want to force you into something you don't want to. I want to put my trust into you not as a slave, but as my mate, my ally. I'm limiting the number of people who know this secret not only to reduce chances of this being leaked, but to avoid the others being targeted to extract that information. Not many would even think of confronting me or Ume after they know our powers, but I couldn't say the same for the others in our party. I'm entrusting this secret to you because I believe you have the strength to carry the burden that comes with it. Does that make sense?"
Ren looked down in thought for a moment before coming back up and nodding to me, "I understand, Master. I'm honored to know you have so much faith in me, and I won't let you down. I'm ready to learn this secret whenever you are."
With that confirmation, using Nyra's assistance, I implanted the memories of my times with Sue into Ren's mind, mainly the interrogation and our agreement from earlier. It was the fastest way to get everything out there in a short amount of time. The process only took a couple seconds.
When I was done, Ren's eyes widened before turning to Sue with disbelief, "Y-You … did that to Master and Nyra … why?"
Sue sighed, "I honestly wanted to avoid it, if I could, but I needed to see my mission through. I'm sorry for deceiving you and everyone else, Ren."
"That isn't the point!" Ren yelled in anger, surprising me, "Was everything up to now a lie?! Being Master's fan, getting close to him, all so you take him to the Demon King?!"
"Of course, not," Sue answered, keeping calm while resting a hand on her large bosom, "I do want to help Jinma see Her Highness, and I like to think I'm a fan of his, too. Heck, the Demon King has also grown a liking to him after hearing his exploits."
"... Lies," Ren said with a shaky breath, "I don't care what my [Intuition] says, what you're saying right now has to be a lie."
"And what makes you so sure of that?" Sue asked, looking curious.
"What kind of person says they like someone and then messes with their heads after that, huh?!" Ren yelled, "Do you have any idea how much pain you've made to my master, to Nyra, who were both taking a liking to you?!"
Sue's expression was blank, but her grips on the arms of her chair were very strong. I think they even pierced through the fabric as she dug her fingers into them.
I'm not liking where this is going.
"I'm not talking about their heads, either!" Ren continued, "Their hearts, their souls, the pain of learning someone you know is not who you think they are, you have no idea what that feeling is really like! The Demon King is no better if she even gave you permission to do that! Hell, she has no idea what she's doing as a ruler if she allows people's minds to be abused like this!"
"Ren," I said calmly, trying to stop her, but she didn't listen.
"I don't agree with what Chaos Barrage is doing, but maybe the Demon King should step down, because anyone, even Master, would be a better Demon King than she is at this point!" Ren continued, "The Demon King may be trying to bring the three territories together, but she doesn't know the first thing about trust if she can't even release her fucking name to her own people!"
"That's enough, Ren!" I yelled while jumping in front of her, arms spread wide as I faced Sue.
Whether I know the controversy or not, Ren's outburst would surely be taken as an offensive against royalty. I don't know how strong Sue really is, or how much privilege she has to kill anyone under the Demon King's name. If Sue's loyal enough to her king, Ren's execution for her offense could be taken place right here in the junkyard. I had to get in between them and act as a shield because this fake Arch Imp was tasked to keep me alive until I got to the Demon King. I had to use this chance to defend Ren, and should the worse-case happen, I'll have to hope Sue doesn't have anything that would pierce through my stupidly high defenses.
"I know this may be taken as a high offense, but Ren's only emotional after experiencing that influx of memories I put into her," I reasoned calmly, "I'll make sure she calms down, and as her master, I will take responsibility for her outburst. I'll bear whatever punishment is necessary, but please, Sue, spare Ren's life!"
Sue sat there blinking, dumbstruck, trying to absorb what was happening in front of her, "... Oh, right. Jinma, please stand down. I won't harm Ren."
It was my turn to be surprised, "... Ren's off the hook?"
"She has done nothing wrong, and neither have you," Sue calmly explained while shaking her head, "It was shocking and gutsy of her to speak up like that, yes, but I understand her anger. I won't condemn her or you for something like that."
I was stiff while standing in place, still holding my pose. I wasn't sure if Sue was going to suddenly go back on her word if I moved.
Nyra said, reading my thoughts,
