Tenth author's journal 2: Mikhail

8_Uncanny resemblance

Chapter 8: Demon kingdom

"How long have you been standing there?" asks Blood Claw, who looks perplexed as he tries to divert this little angel's attention away from his and his prince's unwanted conversation. He waits for my reaction like a child waiting for a reprimand.

"Long enough, Eugen." Blood Claw recoils at the mention of his mortal name. He makes a hand motion to keep me from going any further. This will be a funny memory to have in the future.

"Not you, too." Blood Claw weeps in defeat. He is too exhausted to argue and powerless to forbid me from ever mentioning his name.

"Your prince appears to be courteous. Not to mention that he addressed me as a maiden." According to the earlier comment, the prince has caught a glimpse of my appearance, just a strained of hair, and yet determined me to be a fair maiden. I used to despise my silver hair because of how much mana it condensed in every part of my body. This vessel truly boosts Pa's ego in terms of bodily engineering expertise. Pa was attempting to recreate how God created the angel with these yellow eyes and silver hair. Only I emerged from those failures, and it was fortunate that I was able to retain the memory of the previous "Mikhail"s. Gabriel, I said that one was a byproduct of that production, and the other was not thrown away despite not meeting standards. Only Gabriel emerges from countless "Mikhail"s with his own identity, whereas I am merely a reproduction of Lord Michael's legacy. Our race, the archangels, is unique in that we are the only two who have only the soul fragments of pa and ma. The only homunculus twin in the world.

"Please forgive him; he was only being playful." You appear quite lovely to me. or is that strength you are going after?” Blood Claw appears perplexed as he tries to figure out what gender I am. What nonsense! But recall the first "Mikhail" ever designed to resemble Lord Michael and how quickly Pa decided not to assemble gender to homunculus as those born with male traits only grow later to resemble Pa and not Lord Michael.

“Either was fine; my parents had given up on my gender after a few failed attempts." They claimed that the act of giving gender would be overcomplicated because of Lord Micheal's resemblance." I say this while attempting to conceal the nature of my body.

"If that's what you're saying, I'm done arguing." This time, Blood Claw understands how pointless it is to bring up an uncomfortable subject. It's the weakness of a name that I hold against him.

"Was he supposed to come here and pick us up?" I inquire. It would save us time and allow me to settle in better than simply having Blood Claw escort me as an important guest.

"Are you referring to the prince?" Yes, he became impatient after your initial vow, but consider his unfinished business. I've already turned down his offer." As of his mention, the prince is rarely seen at court performing his royal duties. This is most likely due to the retainers being hand-picked by the prince rather than their power or authority. but how they clashed with the prince's personality. Blood Claw claims that he was chosen solely for his "efficiency" in battle, which is just another way of saying how the prince liked to battle by Blood Claw while the prince was concealing his identity.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but..." I trip over my words. Trying to put it as simply as possible. Gabriel will not show mercy upon seeing me here, muttering apologies and attempting to retrieve my corpse before "rebirth" can take effect. At that point, a new "Mikhail" will take my place without knowing what will happen to them. Coming clean is not something I intend to do right now.

"Is there anything bothering you?" Blood Claw inquires, fearful of making me uncomfortable in the past. Sweat covered my face, yet this face has been unable to show emotion; remembering the creation script pa had noted how controlling the emotion of a homunculus is quite useful in this situation.

"It would be best if I spoke with the prince first." "I'm afraid the 12th will arrive soon." At this point, we should accept the prince's escort. The world is a vast and unknown place, but what I need right now is a place to call home and settle down without the constant threat of death.

"Is he powerful enough to cause a commotion?" Should you rely on me instead if you get tired of fighting?" Blood Claw completely avoids the subject, as if it were forbidden, or is he concerned that the prince will lose interest in employing me?

"You should not hurt him because he is a kind soul." As always, I have a reason for meeting the prince. "Can you put your trust in me?" Just confronting Gabriel is enough for Blood Claw, who is dying for that request alone. Gabriel is rumored to be one of the demon exterminators, yet Blood Claw placed himself without hesitation. I'm beginning to believe that prophecy isn't all that cryptic after all, and that Blood Claw is actively diving into his doom out of loyalty.

"Just for a chat, I hope there isn't too much disagreement between you two to break our agreement." Blood Claw retrieves the communicator from his pocket dimension, this time in the form of a crystal ball. Unrecognized character bestowing mana on it  “α ω δ”

"Nuntium" the crystal ball shines as the character “α” lights up this time as the character “δ” lights up. The illusion of a dark chamber lights up, but there is no one on the other side except for a voice.

"Eugen, it's only been a minute and you've missed me that much?" An incubus appears before the crystal ball's screen; however, the enchantment on the crystal ball is so weak that it only displays a faint illusion of the true image.

"Mikhail wants to meet you personally; I was initially opposed, but they insisted on meeting you." Blood Claw wiggles his brow.

"All right, our little friends can meet me if they want." The prince scoffs monotonously. The image becomes increasingly clear. The incubus appears before the scenes, with fine short golden hair, eyes that shine like living rubies split between goat pupils, and two small horns on the forehead. He is sitting on a bed's red velvet mattress. Is this a seductive act?

"Your Majesty, good evening." I hold up the white robe to make a bow like a lady would with a dress. Blood Claw notices my sudden change in demeanor, while the prince looks amusingly. His goat-like eyes on me are distinctive from before.

"Eugen, you have found yourself a fair maiden." Tell me your name, girl; be courteous in front of me, and I will grant you the greatest pleasure that can be found nowhere else." The prince is truly lustful, with no redeeming qualities. Blood Claw looks away, knowing better than to try to calm my rage at this time.

"I am not here to be anyone's concubine, Your Majesty." Mikhail, the third archangel, is my name. I hope to serve under you for more than just a pleasure." The prince recoils at my words, possibly because Blood Claw told him about them. It says a lot about how much should he respect me. Or, at the very least, not seeing me as a mere harlot is a better place to start.

"Oh, you're the friend mentioned by Blood Claw." I am ashamed of my previous behavior. Please forgive my instinct, but only those who are so beautiful that I can't help but praise them." The prince apologized with a smile, as someone who teases Blood Claw to that extent should not be ashamed. He deserves to bring this much wilfully jesting because he is a prince, a "duke" to that extent.

"I see something more than a simple praise but covet my eyes of such, I would like, but that is most undesirable in our current terms." Both Blood Claw and the prince have curious expressions on their faces when I express my thoughts on the matter. Is it some kind of a fallen myth?

"So what should I own the pleasure of meeting you before your official court appearance?" The prince inquires, his finger pressed against one of his fangs.

"I'd like to request a huge favor from your Majesty. If you find it absurd, you can decline." An opening like this should result in a significant disadvantage in the negotiation, but we're talking about Blood Claw's safety here. When Gabriel sees Blood Claw walking beside me, he will not hesitate to maul him; mercy is not something I would consider when it comes to his twin brother.

"That depends on whether it piques my interest or not." "Speak up, little friend." The prince began with an agreement, implying that this matter is not out of the question.

"I request that your Majesty come to this location and teleport me and Blood Claw to your kingdom." When I said that, Blood Claw immediately protested, but the prince intervened. Those goat eyes are on me; would something like that harm the prince's pride? According to Blood Claw's stories, the prince would have been careless for the attention of his court, much less want to do his duty.

"Our little friend doesn't want to take the long route back?" Why should I do that? Teleportation would cost me a lot of mana, so how will you make up for it?" The prince grins. It is true that accepting this request from me would be pointless because Blood Claw will deliver me regardless. However, there is something that neither of them can provide that I can.

"I've heard you don't want to do boring things like paperwork and court appearances." Would you allow me to remove it completely in less than a week?" After reading as many as a thousand books between dawn and dusk, tasks like paperwork and court records seem like child's play.

"Deal, you've got me at paperwork." I can't have as much fun with those around me. I'll draft the contract and arrive at high noon. "Archangel, remember what you said." As the character “ω” lit up, the prince closed the communication completely.

This is going much better than I expected. It's three o'clock at night, and Blood Claw has been using his mana to continue this telegraph conversation between me and the prince. I, too, should rest because tomorrow will bring more than just exhaustion.

The end

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Strolling through the street of mortals.

Whereas those lurking in the shadow.

Somehow are nowhere to be seen.