The Deity Entertainment Network

Chapter 238 – Problems With Memories

"Tonight was perfect. Thank you for asking me out... this is like a dream come true." Luna said. She was leaning on his chest as they slowly danced by the lakeshore. She looked radiant under the glow of the full moon.

"My pleasure, darling." He replied, then lifted her chin up and looked into her soft yellow eyes. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from the wine, but her full lips and light teasing had been tempting him all night. He wasn't intending to take it this far, but they clicked almost instantly, so he decided he was going to follow his lust for once, waiting to get to know each other better be damned.

Her lips trembled as he pressed his own to hers, the inexperienced younger woman letting him set the pace. She tasted of strawberries, and he greedily pushed his tongue into her mouth, wrestling hers into submission. Her breathing quickened, the red moon giving her a bloody tone to her-

Blood? Red Moon?

*Rrrreeeekkkk Tictictic*

"John? What was that?" She asked, breaking away from him nervously. 

"What are they doing here?" He said, more to himself than here. He knew that sound. He knew it all too well.

*Rrrreeeekkkk Tictictic*

*Cuurrrr Cuurrrr*

"What is it? John, I'm scared." She said, trembling beside him.

"Stay close to me." He said, reaching for his sword. It wasn't there.

*Tictictic Rrek-Ki-Ki-Ki*

"John? What is it?" She said, her voice now dripping in terror.

"I don't know how it is here, but it's called a zergling. Stay close to me... where did my sword go?" He said, scrambling to find his blade.

"I don't- Oh god! What is that thing!" She shouted.

*KRRRREEEEE!*

"EEEKKKK!!!-Urgk"

John spun around from their picnic area, just in time to watch the zergling pounce on Luna, piercing both her shoulders and pinning her to the ground with its long upper arms, cutting her scream off as it ripped out her throat. Blood sprayed everywhere, more than should be possible from a human body.

He was covered in her lifeblood, this woman whom he was developing feelings for. 

"NO!" He shouted. Rage filled his body, clouding his vision. He charged the zergling; all thoughts of finding his sword disappeared. He tried to activate his armour, but it didn't materialize. His mana and ki were unresponsive as well. Only his rage remained, consuming his thoughts. He had no idea what was going on, but he was going to destroy that beast; he would eradicate its entire species. 

*KRRRREEEEE!* 

It screamed at him and pounced, leaving the corpse of Luna behind. John grappled with its two upper arms, the two limbs closer to spears than true arms. He caught them in his hands, the serrated edges cutting deeply into his skin, tearing flesh right from the bones. The rest of the beast barreled into him, its two lower arms tearing at his unarmoured belly, its mouth trying to rip his throat out. 

His breath was knocked out of him from the impact, pushing him over and crashing to the ground. Terrible pains wracked his body; he could feel his flesh being eviscerated by the zergling's claws.

"Firebolt! Darkness! Dig!" Between gritted teeth, he chanted spell after spell, trying to find something that would work. Nothing went off. It was like he didn't have any magic at all.

He kicked and thrashed as much as he could, but it was ineffective. His strength waning, he lost whatever grip he had remaining on its upper arms, the zergling piercing his shoulders just like it had to Luna. He couldn't even try to bite the beast with his own teeth.   

"DEN Return!" He growled. He would retreat for now and return once he knew what was going on.

Nothing.

The zergling, seemingly happy to toy with him once it had him helpless, leaned in closer. Its massive jaws opened up, and a bestial voice came from its maw. "Death is inevitable."  

It tore his throat open.

John sat up, his hands immediately going to his throat. His unbroken skin was fine, his shoulders and hands uninjured. He was sweating, his breathing coming in rapid, shallow breaths. Looking around, he was inside the stable again, Aqua sleeping peacefully beside him, cuddling the plush whale he had given her for actually working in the stables all day without further complaint.

"A dream..." He said, spotting his sword nearby. He activated his armour, and it materialized around him like it was supposed to. "Just a bad dream."

Putting his armour away, he got up and buckled his sword to his waist, then climbed down out of the hayloft. A few horses were awake for some reason, watching him with curiosity as he made his way out of the building. He stopped at the last stall and gave the black horse that was in it a few scratches while he was trying to get his bearings. 

The date had gone well; that much about the dream was true, but no zerglings had shown up to attack them. Just the sounds of some giant toad mating calls far in the distance. He thought back to the date as he petted the horse, trying to get his mind back in order.

They had left the guild fairly quickly, before something else happened and delayed her longer. She was happy with a little picnic; she didn't want to worry about being in a busy restaurant full of people, given how hectic the day was. She told him about a few of the problem children she had to deal with, then apologized for burdening him with her issues. He just laughed at that and told her to vent away. 

Once they were outside of the city walls, he pulled out his motorcycle, which amazed her, but she wasn't completely flabbergasted with the vehicle.

"My father... he was reincarnated from Japan. He told me stories when I was a little girl about some of the things from that world. He was the man who designed our magical plumbing systems in Axel and the rest of the kingdom*."

They had a light meal and a good conversation on the lake beach, learning a bit about each other. He didn't tell her about DEN, just that he was a reincarnator like her father, which she took as a given, considering the motorcycle. She asked him about his scars, and he told her about the orc and that this wasn't the first world he had been brought to.

She seemed to take it fine and leaned into his side as they watched the sunset. They danced a little under the moonlight, and they did kiss, though she was more assertive than in his dream, as if she were almost desperate for him. 

"I'm sorry. I am so far beyond marriageable age now that I never thought I would have a date again. I hope you don't think less of me because of it."

"Well, it was unexpected, but I don't mind. What do you mean by marriageable age? You're so young."

"I'm 26, I'm hardly young. I spent so much time working at the guild, always putting my job first, that I missed my window to get a husband six years ago. No one will look at me with more than pity these days. All my friends are married and have several children now. Marriageable age? 14 to 20 is when women get married in this world. We have grandmothers at 28 here. Some households have 7 generations inside of them."

John did the math on that, then shook his head. He would love to have great, great, great, great, great, great-grandchildren someday... but getting married and having kids at 14... that seemed a bit too much. Still, with that fruit he ate, it was a definite possibility to have a ton of grandchildren and beyond. "Do you want children?" He asked.

"More than anything. I made a mistake, choosing this job over having a family, and now I'm paying for it. There is another adventurer that...likes me, but he creeps me the hell out. All he does is talk about my breasts when I have to serve him. I know they are big, but this damn uniform pushes them up even more. He barely listens to me, just drooling over my breasts for some reason, making me have to repeat myself again and again."

"Have you talked to the guild master about it?"

"Guild master? What is that?"

"Sorry, I was thinking this world worked like another world that had guilds. Who is your boss?"

"Well, I'm the boss here in Axel, but I fall under the capital's rules. This is what female receptionists are supposed to wear. The male one is rather revealing as well, though the guys can hide their junk under the counter. I have no idea why it has to be this way."

"If you're the boss, then just change the dress code. You can look professional without showing off the goods to everyone else. The capital is months away; if they have a problem with you making some changes, then tell them the issues you are having. I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing that they would rather the place continue to work instead of shutting down due to their dress code." He offered, knowing only the distance to the capital from the quest board.

"I can. Are... are you serious about being with me, John?"

"Well, this is our first date, but yes, I am. Why? What are you thinking?"

"I'm... going to take your advice, but if they take issue with it and fire me, I'll need some help until I have another job... or a husband who would provide for me."

"Are you... asking me to marry you?"

"Ahh... kind of...  I would rather you did the asking, but we just met. I'm just thinking about the future. If I change how things work here, and they fire me because of it, I just want to know someone has my back and will take care of me until I can get on my feet again."

"You don't need to worry about that, darlin. I'll take care of you if you need help. Once I get myself set up, I'm sure I'll be able to support you easily enough."

"Six."

"What?"

"I want six kids. If you're worried about me getting fat because of it, don't be. My mother had two sets of twins, and a set of triplets, and she is the same size I am, even though she is in her fifties now. I look just like her, so I should be the same."

"I wasn't even thinking about that, though if we have love, I wouldn't care if you got fat. Looks fade, the mind remains. Besides, I'm not exactly handsome right now."

"You emit power and strength. That is sexy as hell... not to mention that your body looks like a god. A few scars just show that you are not afraid of conflict."

"Come here." He said, standing up from their picnic supper. He embraced her and started slowly dancing to the noise of the toads and other animals chirping in the distance. "There is more about me that you don't know, but if you're serious about being in a relationship, we will need to have a chat another day when the wine isn't flowing through our bodies."

"I'm free next week for a few days. I was actually thinking about visiting my parents if you want to come. They live in a village just outside of town."

"You don't beat around the bush, do you?"

"I told you, I'm 26. I don't have time to play games anymore.  That's for teenagers and those women who just want to fool around. The moonlight, the wine, the little gift of my favourite animal... You went to all this effort to make a fun little date for us, I know you're serious. Well, I want you to know that I'm serious, too. Heck, I'd accept you even if you had other women at this point; as long as you made me feel special now and again, I would go against tradition and join a harem."

"Are harems a thing in this world?"

"It's frowned upon by the Church of Eris, but with the population decline, it has become more accepted. You wouldn't know it at first glance, but there has been a severe decline in child births in our kingdom over the last fifteen years. We lost so many men fighting the Devil King; there is a vast surplus of women in most cities. Even here in Axel, where our losses were lower, there is a decline in the number of people getting married and having children. It's like the lust has been taken right out of the male population."

"I see." He said, wondering if that Succubus cafe had anything to do with why the city had this problem as well, but put it out of his mind. It wasn't important right now. He cupped her face with his hand and gazed into her yellow eyes. She had an air of desperation around her, but the look she gave him told him all he needed to know. "I'm not one to rush things, but I think there is a bit of a spark between us, Luna. I'll happily come meet your parents next week, though I want us to get to know each other more first before we solidify anything like marriage. Besides, I still sleep in a stable. I'd rather secure a place for us to live first before I take that particular step."

"My parents have a fairly significant dowry for me, if that helps sway your decision. We could pretty much live anywhere in town."

He just laughed at that, remembering once again that he was in a medieval world. "Money is great, but I don't want that to be the reason I marry you. Now, let's dance a bit, then I'll take you home. We both have work tomorrow. Speaking of, I need to stop by in the morning to talk about a quest I saw on the board."

"I'll be there shortly after dawn. Thank you, John. This night was wonderful."

"You're welcome, darling." He replied, then leaned down and gave her a kiss. A kiss that she returned eagerly.

Having finally lowered his heart rate enough that he didn't think a zergling was going to jump out at him, John patted the horse on the neck one last time, then meandered towards the public bathhouse. He wanted to dunk himself in the hot water and relax, maybe work on his Ki control while partially submerged. Anything that would let him take his mind off these nightmares he had been having since arriving in this world.

He left the sleeping attendant at the front counter a bronze coin and picked one of the rooms at random. The baths were practically empty at this hour, the rooms having time to build up steam and become very foggy. They were public, open to both men and women bathing together, though there was also a private area for men and women to bathe separately. Apparently, the request for the private areas had come from the men, not the women, in the city. That was one of the random bits of trivia he had learned from Aqua over the last week while they bathed together in here with some of the construction workers.

After washing and rinsing off his body on the side of the bath, he submerged himself in the steamy water, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist and his eyepatch. He started pushing his ki around his body, focusing on moulding it around his muscles and joints. He still had no idea what to do with it other than that, but it was on his to-do list once he returned to the DXD world. Meanwhile, he took stock of what he was learning in this world. Particularly about Aqua.

That goddess was such an oddity. She didn't want others to know she was a goddess, but would belt out that she was one at random times. No one seemed to believe her, so no harm done there, but it was damn inconsistent. She and that other goddess, Eris, had implemented this system that the adventurers' guild uses to power up people. That was something he was interested in, not having their system, but how they made it to begin with. 

He wanted to ask her more about it, but he was more focused on learning about this world right now. As far as he could tell, it would only be useful to him for gaining a few skills he was missing from his jack of all trades build he had going on, and a place he could come train again in relative peace. 

That and he was worried she would try to manipulate him again if he asked her about anything significant. He was keeping her at arm's length in that regard, though if he was going to leave to hunt some wolves today, he wanted to bring her as backup. He should bring someone with him, just in case things went sideways. Maybe a local adventurer would be a better choice.

The door to the bath opened and closed quickly, but John couldn't see through the steam who entered. He didn't say anything; his stuff was stashed over there, so they would know that someone was in here. He still hadn't gotten used to talking to random people while relaxing in the baths, though it seemed fairly common here. 

Wiz was a sweetheart; he couldn't wait to meet her again for tea. He wanted to know what sort of magic she could teach him, and if he changed his class to arch wizard, he could potentially have some powerful magic on hand in some of these worlds, instead of using the magical equivalent of parlour tricks and brute force to win battles. 

Luna was a little intense, but was quite smart. She had shown him her adventurer's card, and it was full of basic spells that any housewife or kept man would love to have. Clean, Cooking, Mending, Minor Repair, to name a few. He had no idea how she hadn't already gotten married, even at her age. He might snag one or two of those as well, as they would come in handy in his travels. 

The image of her throat being torn out flashed in his mind. He closed his eye, willing it to go away. She was fine. There are no zerglings here.

He shoved the thoughts away, sinking deeper into the bath. He knew he needed to face these problems, the zerg, the orcs, the undead, the javarians, all these enemies and problems in multiple different worlds. He would once he returned to those worlds, but Aqua's digging around in his head had brought everything to the front of his mind again, instead of buried where it should be until he was ready to deal with it. 

Water splashed nearby him, bringing him out of his self-reflection. He needed to focus on the problem in front of him right now, not look for other trouble. He needed to take a job that would net him some experience to see how this levelling up worked here, and find someone to bring along with him.

"Excuse me. Are you looking for another party member?" A female voice asked. She sounded dignified, her voice carrying well through the chamber. It reminded him of another voice, one that belonged to someone who had saved him and his party in The Great Cleric so long ago.

He opened his eye, and standing before him was a beautiful blonde-haired woman. She was fairly muscular, with powerful-looking legs and wide shoulders for her middling height. She was wearing a yellow string micro bikini, which did nothing to hide her beautiful, large, perky breasts and the fact that she was shaven clean down below. He didn't notice all of that, as he was focused on her azure blue eyes, eyes that seemed to see right through him.

"Lumina? What are you doing here?"  

* - AU. A bunch of stuff had shown up in the kingdom from reincarnators from Japan, just powered by mana. I'm not sure whether people are aware of Japan and its reincarnators, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were. There is no info on Luna's family, so making my own story with it.