The dragon's harem

Chapter 776 Dusk and Dawn

”See? We got kicked out thanks to you.” Jack stared at Lydia.

”It wasnʼt my fault. Youʼre the one who started first.” She growled, but then giggled, ”Yeah, we donʼt get along.”

Jack smiled, ”Want something from the bakery?”

”Donʼt go stealing anything.” She growled, ”But that one cake there looks nice.”

”Got it, give me a minute.” He stood and walked back inside.

”You better not steal it.” She growled and he waved his hand. After several minutes he came out, ”Weʼre allowed back inside. Come on,”

”Allowed? You talked to him?” She stood.

”Yeah, I know my way around words. Rogues are usually meant to be the faces of adventuring parties alongside bards.” He smiled as he approached and grabbed her hand. ”Letʼs go inside. The cake is waiting,”

Lydia smiled, ”I can really count on you.”

”Not always, Iʼm pretty useless most of the time.” He smiled.

As the two sat down to eat the cakes, Lydia looked at the people flocking inside, ”This place looks lively, it must be nice to live here.”

One of the waiters there stopped and looked at her. ”I wonʼt say that. It was pretty rough around here until two days ago. We could barely sell anything.”

The owner came walking in and looked at the waiter. ”They need help in the kitchen, Iʼll keep the two guests company, go help them.”

”What did happen?”

”Thugs, we were forced to pay a protection fee for the last several years. I do remember that being a thing since I was but a young little boy.” He said, ”Weʼll start losing money due to the extortion which made me raise the prices to remain in business. And when the thugs found that I increased my prices, they asked for a bigger fee, it was a downward spiral.”

”The guards did nothing?”

”The guards caught thugs daily, but always kept showing back up. Some even say they had a secret escape tunnel in the guardʼs jail. Or even a rat that was letting them go, the bastard.” He whispered.

”So what changed two days ago?” Lydia asked.

”Divine punishment. Puff!” He said, ”All the thugs disappeared without a trace and several of their corpses were found dead in abandoned houses, and the warehouse they used as a base went into flames.” He said with an enthusiastic voice, ”No man couldʼve done that, it was a punishment from the gods, an angel mustʼve flown down from heaven and burned them to ash.”

He took a deep breath, ”We arenʼt extorted anymore and the prices started returning to a reasonable state. More people could afford food and clothes, and business was slowly coming back to life. The rush you just saw wasnʼt because my cake is good but instead because those people didnʼt have any cake in the past years.”

Lydiaʼs eyes slowly turned toward Jack. Itʼs him, those thugs he wiped out before. They were the ones terrorizing the city.

”Amaterasuʼs church has been flooded by people bringing in offerings and coins to her altar. You must go check it out. Itʼs the first time in decades that I saw that statue clean of bird droppings.” The owner said with a smile.

”Jack…” Lydia stared at him.

Jack shoved a piece of cake into her mouth with a fork, ”Eat for now, weʼll check it later.”

As the two left, Lydia stared at Jack. ”Why didnʼt you say anything? There was no angel, only you.”

”I donʼt care. Iʼve got enough money from killing those thugs. Itʼs a nice bonus to have the city becoming safer, but it was never my goal.” Jack replied with a yawn, ”But, Iʼm still salty about something.”

”What is it?” Lydia asked.

”That goddess is stealing my money. Iʼll go take it back.” He said, about to rush forward.

”Wait!” Lydia caught him, ”Donʼt run, you canʼt steal offerings, youʼll get struck with a divine punishment.”

”Let me go… if that puny goddess of you couldnʼt even take down some thugs. She wonʼt be able to strike me down; I have no intention of working for her as a hero for free.” He kept trying to run away.

”I said donʼt! Doing good deeds doesnʼt require a reward.” Lydia growled as she tried to stop him.

”Itʼll be acceptable if that was it. I canʼt even take my wifeʼs virginity without her losing power, what shit is that? Iʼll go make sure her statue is a prime pigeon toilet.” He grunted.

”Those arenʼt the words of a hero! Stop, youʼll get killed by a lightning bolt.”

”Nah, Iʼll do it!”

Several minutes later, the two were standing in Amaterasuʼs church. Lydia kept a close eye on Jack so he wouldnʼt do anything absurd.

A nun approached them. ”I havenʼt seen your faces around, are you travelers, no, probably students from the university. Are you here to pray for our…”

Lydia showed her Amaterasuʼs emblem, ”I am primarily a paladin of Amaterasu, but Iʼm also a cleric of Jemima and Lath.”

The nun gasped, taking a few steps back, ”The holy trinity of sun, earth, and life. And a high paladin at that. Sorry for not recognizing you.”

”Iʼm not on an official business, Iʼm only here to pray and leave an offering,” Lydia said with a smile.

”Then you…” As the nun turned, the two of them could see Jack standing over the offering pedestal and glaring at the statue.

”What are you doing, JACK!” Lydia gasped with a cry, rushing at him.

Lydia reached Jack and grabbed him by the wrist, trying to pull him away. She couldnʼt he was as hard as a statue. ”Jack…” She gasped, looking at his face to see his eyes taking the shape of an eclipsed sun.

[My little Lydia…I was talking with the hero, donʼt you see?] A voice came from above the statue, and Lydia slowly lifted her head, seeing a pale woman with long black hair, a sun-like right eye, and an eclipse-like left one staring at her, wigging her feet down the statueʼs head.

[No, heʼs your husband. You wouldnʼt want him talking to me alone.]

”You are…”Lydia gasped.

”Lydia!” Jack turned toward her, ”You came here as well?”

[I let her in.] Amaterasu said. [I donʼt have much time here so Iʼll talk quickly. Even if I have a thing for making the overgod angry at me, this isnʼt the way to do it.] She giggled.

”I came to take the offerings; this knife of yours canʼt provide anything besides stinging a bit with holy magic.” Jack growled.

”Jack… sheʼs a goddess…” Lydia screamed silently at his ear.

[Thatʼs because you donʼt have enough mana. Itʼs not within my hands.] She pointed at Jack with her toe. [But I can grant you an ability that you can use once a day. While carrying the Darakuʼs wakizashi on yourself, you can forbid any number of people within a hundred meters from the sunʼs grace.]

”What does that even mean?” He growled.

[They wonʼt be able to use the sunlight as a medium of sight so theyʼll get blinded, and they start burning in the sunlight like vampires.]

Amaterasu smiled with her blood-red lips, turning toward Lydia, [And you… Youʼve already met my Archon, Asmodeus.]

”I did…Is she really your archon? The rulers of the hells?” Lydia gasped.

[She is indeed my Archon. The only one to ever fully master my divine magic. Iʼm what you call a god with a duality, the bright sun, and the eclipsed sun. Dusk and down, and thus I can grant both holy magic and its opposite form.]

Lydia stared at her own hand and a purplish black spark flashed.

[Asmodeus is acting as a medium between me and you now. Feel free to use that power against your enemies, but make sure itʼs away from the churchʼs eyes.]

”Hoi! Useless goddess, whatʼs up with this ability? Once a day? Do you know how hard itʼll be to get a use out of it?” Jack shouted at her, and Lydia couldnʼt be more scared.

[Again, thatʼs a problem with you. You lack faith in me, I canʼt force my divine energy into a non-believer, and theyʼll burn and die.] She looked at him with a thinking face.

”Jack… calm down.”

”Youʼre a goddess so do a goddess thing and fix it!” Jack yelled at her.

[Fine, you two were talking about Kali earlier, so I probably should go with her example.] Amaterasu sighed, [You can use it more than once, but to achieve that, youʼll have to recharge from a source thatʼs rich with my divine magic.]

”Huh? Do you want me to come here and lick your statue each day to recharge that ability? Itʼs no better than it not being rechargeable at all.” He growled.

[You can do that…but I wasnʼt talking about my statue.] She pointed at Lydia with her toes. [You can recharge from her.]

”Wait! Me?!” Lydia gasped.

”Lydia…” Jack looked at Lydia, ”Keep going…” he looked back at Amaterasu.

[Any physical contact will do. Just touch her and itʼll be charged right up, but…Itʼll be better if you kiss her.]

”What are you saying!” Lydia was the one screaming now.

”And what benefit would that provide?” Jack asked with an interested face.

[Nothing, itʼll be more fun for me to watch.]

Jack thought about it for a second and then turned toward Amaterasu. ”On a more serious note…there was something I wanted to ask.”

[What is it? My little hero?]

”Why does Lydia need to remain a virgin?” He asked.

”JACK!” Lydia cried at his side.

[Good question. She actually doesnʼt now. Ever since Asmodeus became a medium between us that requirement has dropped.]

”Then doesnʼt need to anymore!”

[No, she still needs to remain a virgin for now. Iʼll remove all of her powers if she loses hers.] Amaterasu stared at Jack.

”Why?”

[Cause youʼll stop being a hero.]

”Wait! That doesnʼt make sense!” Jack growled.

[Next time, youʼll talk with Asmodeus. Be careful, she isnʼt as gentle as I am…She hates women like Lydia, so be careful…

careful, careful…] Amaterasu disappeared into the godrays.