The dragon's harem

Inside Alcott’s house, Arad stood in the living room, staring at his mother, who was asleep on the couch. He had expected her to be sick in bed, injured, or at least sleeping normally, but instead, he found her looking disheveled and more like a lazy person than an injured one.

Crumbled on the couch like a cat, one leg dangling down, and the other on the headrest. She drooled and was barely covered up with a blanket.

He still didn’t understand the scope of her injuries, but it made sense considering what she faced. Cain Lisworth, the Mad God, mainly attacked the mind, and so she had ended up drained from energy, tired, and seven lifetimes deep into depression.

“She is out.” Gojo looked at her and then sighed. “It’s probably best if we let her rest.”

Arad looked at his mother for a while longer and didn’t agree. Leaving her like this might harm her instead. If the mortal world didn’t crumble, it means that she was healthy in a physical way. That only left hunger, mental exhaustion, and mana deficiency. All of those cannot be healed with sleeping, except the last one.

He walked to the kitchen, grabbed a carafe of water, and then walked back to the living room. Gojo just gave him a stare and smiled, “She’ll kill you.”

“I’d love to see her try,” Arad smiled, because that would mean she got energetic enough to try. He then poured the entire thing on her face. For a moment, she didn’t seem like she would wake up, but then she disappeared, and the water that touched her remained in place, then fell on the couch.

Violet was so skilled with the [Void Step] that, now by nature, when she teleports, she only teleports herself and her clothes, leaving everything else behind. That includes dirt, water, and even diseases. If she uses [Void Step], then all germs inside her body would be left behind.

“What was that?” She yawned, rubbing her eyes. She might look still half asleep, but Arad and Gojo knew that was all an act. Now, Violet is so used to playing a human’s role that she can perfectly mimic their traits without even thinking.

Arad couldn’t even see her move, and she was already standing behind him. From how she spoke, he knew she was quite annoyed that he woke her up.

“I knew it, you’ve got a bit of mana, and you’re healthy.” He turned toward her, “If you’re not feeling well, then sleeping won’t help. Get out and move a bit.”

“Kid, you’re not old enough to tell me that.” She smiled, and he laughed. “Yeah, if I’m not old enough to tell you, then get a grip. I already called father; he should be here soon.” Arad turned around and tapped her on the shoulder. “Go out, explore the area, hunt something, I don’t care. Just get busy doing something you enjoy for a while. Don’t let it spiral out of control, or you’ll never be able to feel better.”

Gojo waved his hands in the back. “I have to agree with Arad. It is like cold, you have to keep moving, no matter how tired you feel. The moment you stop, you’ll freeze.”

Violet sighed, floated up, then reached forward and tapped Arad on the shoulder. Violet could have become as tall as Arad, if not bigger, but she chose to keep herself a bit shorter than Alcott. “I got it, I’ll be fine. You two don’t have to worry about me. Go check on your wives, I bet they need you more than me.”

If this were normal depression, she could’ve easily resisted it, but this was the power of the Overgod Cain, a power that even fell Amaterasu. The fact that she fought him and technically won was a miracle. If she were anyone else, she would’ve already gone insane or at least lost her mind and turned into a vegetable.

From now on, Nyar wasn’t the only threat, but Cain had become a looming horror that hunts the void between the universe’s worlds. When Arad starts traveling between those worlds to save them, he is bound to cross Cain at some point, and what a disaster that would be.

If she ended up like this, her sons would surely end up dead. She had to get herself up quickly and find a way to keep them safe. She didn’t have the luxury of time to sit and wait.

After making sure that their mother was doing somewhat well, Arad and Gojo headed to the castle, where everyone waited. Even though it has just been a few minutes since Nyar attacked, the castle looked awfully calm. That was what should be expected. The regular soldiers and vampires serving him have no way of fighting Nyar; to them, he is just like a natural disaster that cannot be stopped. Even Arad’s wives can’t deal with it, except ffor a few.

The two have teleported directly into the castle’s bailey. The guards patrolling the place immediately saw and greeted them. By this time, they were already used to their emperor not using the front gate. In fact, Arad barely even used the throne room. He had left most of the royal business to Baltos to deal with, and he only focused on things that would need his power.

Arad, for example, won’t deal with any random noble or king that shows up, but if a Titan, a demigod, or anything of that power level showed up, then he’ll take the lead. The reason for that was simple, and it was Arad’s intimidation factor. If he were to take the lead in all of the meetings, his power would stress and force the other parties to give the empire favorable deals. That was good in the short term, but a relationship built on fear cannot last.

Arad, of course, asked if it mattered whether those kings and nobles talked with him or Baltos; it was the same. Arad sitting in the room with them or not won’t change anything. But that’s where he was wrong. Humanoids are stupid, and they won’t fear what they can’t see.

“How are things around?” Arad asked, and the two guards saluted him. “We’re on alert after the halo of light appeared, but we were informed it was Queen Betty.”

“All guards are on duty, but Lord Alcott ordered us to deal only with small monsters and support the rest.”

That was expected; the human guards here weren’t anywhere near the level of weak monsters, let alone divine beings and abominations, so the castle defenses were split into five stages. The guards and soldiers would deal with human threats and small monsters. The vampires and paladins would deal with large monsters. Arad’s wives and their support would deal with any threat on the level of a demigod, then Arad would deal with anything far stronger than that. While in the end, Kali would have to handle any impossible threats.

As they walked inside, a maid approached. Arad recognized her; she was one of Isdis’s maids, a regular one who was hired maybe a month or two ago. She stood in front of Arad and bowed. “Your Majesty, the Queens are waiting in the private quarter.” She then shifted her gaze to Gojo. “Lord Gojo, your people are in a private quarter of their own. We tried to assign some maids, but Her Divinity Lucy already had angels and shrine maidens ready.”

As Arad and Gojo separated, Alcott reached his house and found Violet waiting for him inside. “Arad called said you need to go out.” He walked through the door, still in his armor. “Just give me a minute, I’ll change and we can go.”

She stared at him with a smile. “Ho? Change? No need.” She stood and approached, “I don’t care about what the nobles and the people of this world think of as elegant. For me, an armor looks way better than a noble’s set of fancy clothes.”

Alcott shrugged, “Five. What are you looking for?”

She looked at him with a grin. “A set of thigh-high leather boots, full body leather armor, and some rare herbs.”

“So, the local armorsmith?” He knows the guy, so they should get a decent deal.

“Local? No, we’re going to the dwarven kingdom, then to the sunken citadel of the merfolk, and lastly, we’ll get those herbs from a witch on the other side of the globe.” But at that time, Alcott’s mother walked out of the kitchen.

“Is Ginger around?” She asked, and the two stared at her. “Ginger? She is in the castle training some of Arad’s vampires.” Alcott replied, and his mother pointed at Violet. “Take her with you as well. Don’t worry about me. I’ll go to the castle if I can’t take care of myself on my own.”