After I woke from my slumber, I discovered the atrocious offense of my personal space intruded.
Leviathan apparently had somehow forced a Pact on me.
Well, if she wanted to swear servitude to me, then hey, welcome aboard! Free labor is free labor. It's just a relief I'm the master.
But if I overthink it a bit, I start to fear: why I'm I the master of the feared ancient sea monster?
And didn't she have a hand in the destruction of the world, which led to the formation of the four heavenly pieces that we know today?!
A villain!
But of course, I don't feel like going back to sleep, and the Pact has already been made, so why not?
Come aboard!!
And I'm not crying, cursing the Author in my head, at all.
Still in the plush pillow of warm and supple flesh, I turned my gaze toward the appealing abomination in question.
The reaction was instant—she flinched, turned red, and started fidgeting like I'd caught her mid-crime.
I know she—I'm even skeptical about the gender—now looked like some absurdly cute girl, but... But this was the same monster that once glared at us from the depths of the sea, her massive eye beneath our canoe promising an untimely demise, right?
My mind is still struggling to sync them up.
More confusingly, she didn't seem the least bit alarmed by Alicia's magic power.
Speaking of Alicia…
I turned to glance at her.
Eh?
Now that I was really looking… was Alicia not also ridiculously cute?
"Ehehe. Ruby is gazing at me. Amazing," she giggled, her expression bordering on something unholy.
And she just had to ruin everything with that creepy expression, as if she's reaching climax.
But something caught my eye—those beads on her left wrist.
That bead on her left wrist.
That bead... it was a life-ending item.
"What are you giving Alicia?" I had asked Dearth when she extended her hand toward Alicia.
"Hm? Her magical energy is all over the place. At this point, one wouldn't believe she was human, would they?"
…Fair point.
"But what is that object supposed to do?" I pressed.
"This bead… it's meant to kill the wearer instantly. But don't worry, it only works effectively on humans."
'Despite it all, Alicia was human, you know?!' I almost yelled at her.
But wearing a life-ending object on her wrist like an accessory…
And yet, here she was.
Normal. Completely unbothered.
I should be concerned. I really should.
I and Dearth had a little struggle before she explained that said bead killed humans because it absorbed all their magic in a blink of an eye.
That sounded so reassuring.
Still suspicious, so I did the logical thing: I put it on first before handing it over. You know, just to be certain.
The moment I slipped it on, power left me.
…Hold on.
It's probably the reason I lost to Leviathan.
Yeah, that's it!
I was managing just fine until my energy ran out! Something that had never occurred before…!
{...}
Please say something heartless at least. Your silence is painful.
*
Moving on.
Alicia, on the other hand, was still spilling much magic, just not as much as she normally did.
The bead? It was feasting on her power at the rate of about 500 humans' worth every hour.
Seriously, do her wells never run dry?!
Well, when her energy finally runs low, I'll notice and remove the beads. The thing about magic power is that it can be recovered.
Now, back to my new companion.
First things first—Leviathan was an absolute no-go as a name.
It would bring the wrong kind of attention, which I've already had plenty of since leaving Bond's mansion.
People hearing Leviathan and immediately wanting my head on a spike... Yeah, I'll pass.
She was thrilled about getting a new name, swearing she'd accept anything I chose.
Then I suggested Levitation.
Shot down immediately.
Alright, how about Miss Strange?
That one got a glare.
Fine. I'll be considerate and not just call her "Yellow Eyes" or "White-Haired."
What?!
I'm not some genius at naming things! Unlike a certain smooth, cute shapeshifter, I don't have the stomach to brainstorm whimsical names.
Well, I wouldn't have liked it if Pluto had named me Rapunzel instead of Ruben.
So, I settled on Levina.
And thank the heavens, she loved it. Absolutely beamed from ear to ear.
Now, let's address the actual insanity here.
Apparently, Leviathan—now Levina—attacked me because of some silly crush.
"Master Ravenswood, I became enamored by your majesty 200 years ago, and I have since adored you, always waiting and believing you'll—"
Well, you can more or less guess the rest of it. It bordered on worship.
Not that it answers my question of why I got jumped by her, though.
So let's summarize: I am currently wanted by a cosmic-level Principality.
Is this the part where I blush and stammer, "Ah, I've never been told anything like that before... But can we take things slow for now?"
Okay, now let's just get up from this fleshy pillo—whoops, never mind. I was pushed right back down.
Alright, I guess we have all day.
…Isn't her lap sore by now?
Wait.
Haven't I been here since before I woke up?
How long was I even asleep?!
{Four hours, Master.}
…Eh? Only four hours to recharge all my magic power?
{You're filled to the brim now.}
Wow.
I thought it'd take, like, two days or something.
Lucky!
Alright, let's focus. I'll try to ignore Levina's… ahem… jiggling boons for now.
Once we've broken the ice enough, we'll have a small discussion on who the real exhibitionist here is.
Honestly, I'm shocked she's even wearing… clothes. So she had the initiative to copy us?
Even I wanted to go naked at first…
…A sea monster is more civilized than me.
*
Moving on.
I decided to ask some very important questions.
First:
"How did you manage to make a Pact with me?"
It should've been difficult—no, impossible. I didn't consent to it.
Levina, of course, looked way too pleased to be addressed directly.
"My, it's an honor to be spoken to by my master himself."
I've been already speaking to you before now, though… and what was that?
I used to love being called 'Master' and 'Lord' back in the day, but now… I don't know. It just makes me feel embarrassed.
"Uhm, you can drop the 'Master.' Just call me Ruben from now on."
"Oh, I see. Master Raven, it is then!"
…Huh? Where'd the Ruben go? And the "Master" is still there?
Don't these girls hear clearly?!
Was there water in her ears or something?!
And Alicia did the exact same thing, didn't she?!
"...Whatever," I gave up. "Just please, answer the question."
According to Leviathan, she had rearranged the spell of the Pact so that Alicia could stand as a proxy for me.
"..."
Okay.
That's like telling me that since the mother was in a coma and couldn't give birth, the father somehow grew a big tummy and birthed the child AS A PROXY.
Common sense is shattering right now.
Anyway, I moved on to the next burning question:
"How did you know the name Ravenswood?"