Harbingers of Change

Peroroncino woke up to the sounds of someone cleaning his quarters while trying to be as quiet as possible. A gentle fragrance hit his nostrils like a siren's call. One of the homunculus maids was hard at work, already unknowingly teasing the avian with her presence. His now much sharper senses were both a blessing and a curse.

Pero got out of bed with a quick, graceful motion, put on his morning robe and lazily walked out of the bedroom. The maid dusted off a table for a short while before realizing that she was being watched, flipped around, startled, and bowed.

"Good morning Lord Peroroncino."

"And good morning to you too, cutie."

The maid's face became a deep shade of red as Pero walked past her with a chuckle. The girl was just his type, slender body, short blonde hair, and big green eyes. A mischievous thought of asking the maid if she wanted to join him in the bath crossed the avian's mind, but he was a lord here and it could be seen as him abusing his position of power.

The bath was prepared for him and already awaited his arrival, kept at a perfect temperature. It was so good to be among the nobility in this place. Today, however, Pero didn't plan to soak for long as he had plans.

Once he had bathed and put on his armor that waited in the dressing room, which was of course polished to perfection, only one thing remained to do. Naturally, it was the most important part of any morning, a big and tasty breakfast.

The same cute maid had already put a plate with a rare steak on the table. His new form enforced a rather carnivorous diet and a bloody piece of meat was the tastiest thing in the entire world at this, and any other, moment. The meat had been seared for just a minute on each side and seasoned to divine perfection. There was a large cup of coffee on the side, something he dearly wished he had access to while still on Earth.

He had to drink it through a straw, as using the beak to drink still caused minor difficulties.

The first order of business was to acquire manga and a shogi board from the library and then visit his new friend. The items he requested yesterday were already prepared. An enormous pile of his favorite manga, which was about a scantily clad heroine fighting for justice, sat at the head librarian's table next to the game board, which was made of bone and decorated with golden accents.

Although he could just teleport to the entrance and take the fifteen-minute walk to the spot where Veldora sat imprisoned in an unbreakable barrier, Momonga had advised to coordinate outside activities with Albedo to avoid needlessly aggravating Nazarick's denizens with careless actions.

{ Hey, I will go visit Veldora. } Peros used |Message| to contact the Guardian Overseer.

{ Of course, Lord Peroroncino, I will prepare your escort immediately. }

{ Can you please just send one or two people instead of half of the Nazarick? }

After a moment of prolonged silence, Albedo responded.

{ Of course, my lord. }

{ Oh, one more thing. Can you find someone who could turn pages of manga for Veldora? With him being imprisoned and all. }

{ Will a vampire bride be suitable for this role? }

{ I guess. They don't need to eat and sleep, right? }

{ Correct, my Lord. }

{ Ok, then I'm heading towards the entrance. }

Having the ability to teleport within the Great Tomb, Pero was at the entrance a moment later and had to wait for his escort. No big deal. To not be bored, he took out the first volume of the manga and started to read it. The physical recreation of what once was just a bunch of data gave that extra immersion and his attention was consumed by the pages right away.

"Lord Peroroncino, I am here to be your shield."

That voice! For a moment, the avian stood frozen in panic. The memories came back like an avalanche. Shalltear, his most prized creation within Nazarick. The creation that he gave more fetishes to than any person reasonably should have. The creation that he hadn't bothered to visit after returning to Nazarick.

With shaky hands, Peroroncino looked up to see three kneeling figures. His Shalltear and two of her vampire brides. The avian gulped hard and for a moment considered hiding behind manga and pretending that he wasn't there, as stupid as that idea was.

"S-Shalltear… It's good to see you."

She was breathing hard. Panic rose inside Pero's heart. As perfect as Shalltear was, the idea of having anything improper with her felt just as disgusting as having sexual thoughts about his sister. Why he felt that way was a mystery even to him, but the feeling itself was undeniable. A sound of a drop of water hitting the floor interrupted his internal panic. And then another drop and another.

He looked around for the source of it but couldn't find anything until he looked back at Shalltear. Tears silently fell on the floor as she kneeled with her face hidden.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, my lord. I am grateful for you giving me another chance. I will not fail you this time." Shalltear said with a quiet whimper.

For a moment he stood still, as if frozen, unsure what she was talking about. They hadn't interacted before, not counting him just playing around with her a long time ago when she was just a digital model. But she wasn't just a digital model. He all but forgot about once his life priorities shifted away from Yggdrasil. For him it was no big deal, but for her…

Shalltear blamed herself for his departure! Like a child who doesn't understand why their parent left, she blamed herself.

"Sorry… I… it was not your fault. Sweety, you did nothing wrong. I just… look, I will make it up to you. We'll do all the things we couldn't in my absence, OK?"

Shalltear looked up with a tear-stained face to meet her creator's gaze. First Lord Momonga didn't blame her for her mistakes and now her creator was doing the same.

"How can it not be my fault?"

"Shalltear, I was away because of things I needed to do. You are not the reason I left. Please don't blame yourself." Pero said as he approached her and knelt in order to face her.

With a gentle movement, he wiped a tear away from her beautiful face, being extra careful to not scratch her with his talons. The tears just formed and fell, one by one.

She was his little, precious creation, his child. Pero stood up, pulling her up to her feet as well, and hugged her tightly. Her little creation tensed up to a rigidness of a statue for a moment and then hugged him up with a strength that should not be possible for such a small-framed girl, pushing all the air out of his lungs.

At this moment, it simply didn't matter. Pero just stood there, holding her close and letting her cry.

Her creator's embrace was so soothing. His warm, feather clad body and his scent was a new experience. Shalltear held on with all her strength, afraid that it was just a dream and would fade once she let go. Her creator was back and he didn't hate her.

"Lord Peroroncino, thank you for coming back. Thank you for not forgetting about me." She sobbed.

"It's alright sweety. I am here now. I will not leave you again, I promise. You can call me just Pero or daddy, wait, forget about the second one, just Pero, OK?"

Pero? Daddy? Her lips parted to exclaim these words, how much she wished to just be his little creation… But a cruel reminder of her duties came from her cold heart.

"I can't address you so casually, my lord," Shalltear said as she finally let go of her creator and assumed a businesslike demeanor.

"I apologize for wasting your time. I am ready to be your shield."

"It's fine. Let's go play with a dragon."

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"Hey, overgrown lizard, I'm back with entertainment!" Pero shouted once Veldora came into view.

{ You dare to call me an overgrown lizard?! Such insolence! I will destroy you! }

Veldora straightened up to look bigger and more intimidating than he already was. Pero just let out a laugh at the dragon's theatrics and walked up to the barrier, taking out the shogi board.

"Bring it on. But first I will explain the rules."

{ Hah, a divine being like me will crush you in a petty game made for mortals. }

"I will make you cry. I am the best, isn't that right, Shalltear?"

"Indeed, my creator is a Supreme Being and will not lose to a pathetic dragon," The vampire exclaimed with pride, getting the full attention of the dragon on herself.

{ Hmm, that little one reminds me of someone. Rumi… Lum… no, eh, I can't recall her name. Looked almost like your daughter, too. Vampire Queen…} Veldora put his claw to the chin for a moment and then added.

{ If I recall, she wasn't too happy about my last visit. I think fifteen hundred years ago was when we last met. }

"Why is that?"

{ I… may… I kinda burned her kingdom to the ground. }

"Is there a place you haven't burned down? I'm starting to think it is better to keep you in that bubble."

{ It was an accident. Bah, you mortals hold grudges far too long, anyway. "

"Right… By the way, I wanted to ask you more about the inhabitants of this world. What we need to look out for, that kind of thing."

{ A lot may have changed during my imprisonment but my sisters are surely around. } Veldora said while looking away.

Pero knew that expression all too well,

"So they are bossy bitches just like mine, huh?"

{ You could say that. Besides them there is a council of demon lords. I'm not sure how you compare to them in terms of power, but majins usually serve demon lords if they want to live. }

"Noted, I will tell Momonga to look out for them. Anything else?"

{ I guess human heroes and otherworlders can cause a trouble for someone like you. }

"Like me? One of them imprisoned you."

{ I was distracted! }

"Sure…"

{ Don't test my patience majin! Grrr… I got momentary distracted by her fighting abilities. }

"If you say so," Pero said and started to put shogi figures in starting positions on the board.

"Let me explain how it's played while I set up the figures."

The first game, predictably, went in Pero's favor. Same as the second one, with Veldora grew frustrated. The third game turned out to be the breaking point for the mighty dragon as he clearly roared inside the bubble and slammed his paw against it.

With a blink of an eye, Shalltear was between Pero and the bubble in her full valkyrie form, pointing her lance at the dragon. Her accelerated breathing betrayed her emotions. Desperate to not lose or disappoint her creator, she was fully prepared to face a world level enemy and shield her creator.

Veldora blinked and then let out his three-step laughter, adding,

{ Hah, scared you both good. }

Pero just shake his head and said,

"Take it easy Shalltear, Veldora is imprisoned and can't get out of his prison no matter what," then turned to Veldora and said,

"I will go easy on you, as you are scaring people with your tantrums."

{ Don't look down on me. I will be unbeatable within a week. }

"Who would have thought that your ego is even bigger than you? But I'm looking forward to being beaten by you."

Shalltear listened to their banter while still shielding her creator from any potential attack, even though he claimed this dragon was unable to do so. One thing confused her, however. Why did her father and Veldora were so calm and casual despite insulting and threatening each other?

'Wait a minute. I thought of my creator as my father. He wanted me to call him daddy like a proper daughter would. Should I?'

Her inner conflict between her and her father's wishes for a more casual relationship clashed with the rigid protocol of how she should address a Supreme Being.

"Shalltear, sweety, you don't have to shield me from Veldora. We are just joking around."

{ Be at ease, little one. I have no ill will towards your father. If anything, it's refreshing to have a friend. }

Slowly she put away the lance and switched back to her Victorian dress. The hesitation and fear were still there, but her father's casual tone convinced her to follow the order. With a light bow she returned to his side, but not before giving another suspicious glare to Veldora, who just let out another three step laugh in response.

"You are doing a wonderful job, sweety. I am so proud of you." Pero said.

She tried her very best to remain serious like a proper guard should, but her father's praise melted her serious demeanor and a cheerful giggle escaped her.

"Thank you daddy, I try my best."

Despite her duty as guard she simply couldn't hold back anymore. She was her daddy's little daughter and she needed for her creator to know.

"Y-yeah," Pero said. It was too late to tell her not to call him daddy. Only solace was she at least didn't do it in a sexual way. It was strange to think about her as his daughter, especially because he once made her to be his perfect waifu, but he couldn't see her any other way than his precious little daughter.

{ Are we playing another game or you will just adore my magnificent form? }

Pero, snapping out of his contemplation, responded,

"I think it's enough for today. You can think about ways of beating me."

{ Going already? } Veldora asked while trying to not sound disappointed and desperate. The strange new majins from a place called Nazarick had changed his lonely, boring imprisonment. Time spent with Pero in particular was something he looked forward to.

"Don't be so droopy. I will leave one of the vampire brides with you to help you with the manga books I brought with me."

{ Manga? }

"Picture books with a story. You're gonna like them."

{ I will take your word for it. But if it turns out to be boring, you will feel my wrath tomorrow. }

Pero just let out a mocking laugh and waved his new friend goodbye. One of the two vampire brides remained behind and picked up the first volume of the manga and read aloud the text in a somewhat disinterested, neutral tone. Veldora seemed to be drawn into the story either way.

Despite being this ancient, godlike being, he felt more like one of the boys than the world-ending menace he likely was.

Edited by Edgy.