The next day.
After a whole night of fighting, in Buer's room—besides the fresh, leafy scent—there was also a lingering pheromone-like smell.
A soft, boneless body really was the best pillow in the world, and that was without even mentioning the built-in botanical fragrance that made you not want to let go.
"Mmh…"
Buer opened her slightly hazy emerald eyes and found her face pressed against Koji's broad chest, his steady, powerful heartbeat thumping right by her ear.
And… abs?
Buer's hand touched Koji's abdomen, and she stroked it in amazement—such great texture. Even, symmetrical proportions, like nature's own masterpiece.
The more she touched, the more addicted she got.
"How does it feel?"
A teasing voice sounded at that moment.
Hearing that, Buer answered without even thinking, "It's very hard—sk—"
In the next instant, she snapped back to her senses. Seeing the smile filling Koji's eyes, her pale cheeks flushed red all over again.
Ahhh, this is so mortifying… he noticed.
"No need to be shy. We're people who already know each other's… depth," Koji said.
"Don't say it like that." Buer, very rarely, glared with an adorably pouty look, last night's scenes flashing through her mind.
"How many people have you done it with? How do you even know so many weird positions?"
Thinking about it now was pure humiliation—how did she even agree at the time?
"Not many. And I feel like you were pretty immersed too," Koji said meaningfully.
Buer stopped talking and immediately went full ostrich mode. Her skin wasn't that thick.
"Nahida won't know, right?"
All of a sudden, as if she'd remembered something, Buer became even more embarrassed.
Nahida had been watching at first. Even if she hadn't kept stalking them afterward, Koji hadn't left all night—anyone with half a brain would know what a lone man and woman sharing a room would be doing.
Just imagining having to face Nahida's strange gaze made her want to vanish into the ground.
Rustle, rustle, rustle…
The two of them got dressed. There was no need for morning exercise—mainly because Buer was worried Nahida would be waiting at the door for her.
…
"Yo, Buer. Looks like you really enjoyed yourself last night."
Nabu teased her. Seeing Buer looking all radiant, she really did feel a little tempted—she was basically a shamelessly greedy girl.
She didn't know what doing that kind of thing felt like. She was still an old virgin.
"If you want him, I can let you have him tonight. It's not like I can't," Buer shot back, glaring at Nabu.
"Ahem… let's not."
Nabu cleared her throat—she still didn't want to become a woman that early.
So she wasn't getting involved.
"Does Koji count as Sumeru's new king now?" Nabu asked.
"I don't care about that sort of thing."
Koji didn't mind picking up an extra title, so there wasn't any real impact either way.
"If Koji is willing, I can announce it right now. Besides me—the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata—and the Lesser Lord Kusanali, we'll add a third king," Buer said.
"Let's forget that. Even if you and I have that kind of relationship, I'm still not some famous god. If I suddenly become Sumeru's third king, the people of Sumeru will be completely baffled," Koji said, shaking his head.
All along, he hadn't acted too showy—mainly because he didn't want to make himself too famous.
Compared to being stared at wherever he went, he preferred a quieter life—like Venti and Zhongli. Even though they were gods, they didn't care about that stuff. Wandering the mortal world was the kind of "holy heart" they actually liked.
"Buer, hasn't Apep come back?" Nabu asked curiously.
"She won't be back for now. Even though the Abyss's power has been eroded, after so many years she's accumulated plenty of internal injuries. She opened up a secret realm in Sumeru's rainforest to recover," Buer said.
She wasn't worried. Even if Apep was very weak, that was still a dragon's body—never mind that she was a Dendro Dragon King with extremely vigorous vitality. It wouldn't take long for her to recover to her peak.
Nabu's eyes turned—so that's how it is. But adventurers seemed to love exploring secret realms. If someone stumbled into the one Apep made… there was a high chance they'd die on the spot.
Koji felt a complicated gaze resting on him. He couldn't help lowering his head to look at the "badminton shuttlecock."
Nahida was silent. The problem was already right in front of her, but she didn't know where to start.
"If you don't mind, you can call me Dad," Koji said with a grin, teasing her.
"?"
Nahida blanked. She knew every word… but why did they become this sentence when you put them together?
In a certain sense, Koji could be considered her "dad" because of the relationship. But making her say something that embarrassing… there was no way.
"Nope. Not happening." Nahida put her hands on her hips. Even if she was only a five-hundred-year-old child, Koji wasn't even thirty yet.
"Alright, alright, stop teasing Nahida. She's still little," Buer said with a helpless smile. Her own husband really did have a nasty little hobby for this kind of thing.
Still… she was also kind of curious what it would feel like to have Nahida call her "Mother."
Nahida had a sudden feeling and looked at Buer—why did it feel like the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was thinking about something bad?
"Buer, you didn't use any protection, right? What if you…" Nabu suddenly wiggled her brows and asked.
Like, seriously—what if it actually happened? A god's offspring was an extremely rare existence.
Even back during the Archon War when gods were everywhere, you rarely heard of gods producing descendants. Couples like Osial and his wife were already considered exceptionally rare.
When gods "love people," they really do love people—they don't go looking for other gods to date.
"How could I? Don't talk nonsense." Buer's mouth twitched as she poked Nabu's forehead.
She was a god—one born from Irminsul. Her constitution was even more special. How could she possibly get pregnant that easily?
Nabu rubbed her head—why hit so hard? You'll knock her clever little brain stupid.
"Speaking of it… aside from meeting that guy Barbatos, I haven't seen the other old friends at all."
"Nabu, I'll leave Sumeru to you for a while. I'm taking Nahida and leaving for a bit," Buer said.
All of a sudden she felt like visiting friends. Perfect timing to drop in, catch up, and reminisce.
"Huh?"
"Buer, fine, you're not taking me with you—but you're also making me work?!"
Nabu was dumbfounded. Leaving her behind to guard the house and handle Sumeru's affairs—she might not be human, but she wasn't a draft animal either.
"That's right. You're idle all day anyway. I'm finding you something to do," Buer said with a smile.
In fact, there wasn't much happening in Sumeru lately, so there was no need to worry that Nabu would mess things up.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]