My Servant System

Sitting beside the fire, I continued to ignore the pleas coming from the Demoness beside me, focusing instead on the large bird monster that was currently getting roasted above the flames; what little seasonings we had were sprinkled onto its juicy, tender flesh to make this even more palatable than normal.

The reason for this 'extravagance' was entirely because we were preparing to leave tomorrow or the day after, meaning we were going to be traveling all the way back to the Empire with as few stops as we could possibly make... and those stops weren't going to be wasting time with good food.

So we were going 'all out' for this meal, something that was even more rewarding thanks to us being completely done here and no longer under much of a threat... and since Jillian and Ayla were up in this new world with no way back down, well...

Why not celebrate?

As for the Demoness beside me, she hadn't stopped pestering me ever since she had awoken again, and despite it being almost two hours now she was adamant about figuring out the root cause for my anger.

How it was taking this long for her to do that was unknown to me, but I figured that she was smart enough to eventually realize it and begin talking it through with me then; until that point I was letting her 'suffer' as she just wrung her hands out and poured far more energy into this then she did that ridiculous fight.

"Brat, seriously? I thought I had a severe lacking of 'emotional intelligence' or whatever you uppity idiots call it, but... damn. You can't see what made the busty puppy mad?"

With the others all clustered around us waiting for the bird to be ready Jahi was subjected to some 'ridicule' as well, with both of our other wives sitting this one out and just leaving her to fend for herself.

Glaring at the Demon Wolf, I mentally made the note that she would get as undesirable pieces as I could possibly manage to scrounge up for her, though all my glare did was spur her on as she grinned at me smugly and used that moment to flirt... continuing her streak of being shameless and annoying.

"Why don't you come on over and let me make you happy, puppy~? We can talk it over back at my tent... maybe you need a massage for that heavy weight you're carrying, hm~?"

Very irritating, and phrased in a way that could either be viewed literally - my shoulders and back were usually tense and needed relief thanks to the twin prides adorning my torso - or taken as a token of good will since she recognized that I was stressed and anxious.

We all knew it was primarily that first point and barely any of the second, but that helped Jahi clear some of her mind as she glared at the Demon Wolf as well, her possessiveness coming out for a moment before she crouched down beside me.

"Kat..? C'mon, you know I had to give it a try... Leaving her alive and knowing that I had the chance to kill her would just be... it would eat at me a little, y'know? Besides, after what she made me go through, made us go through... made you go through..? She needed to die."

"But she didn't, did she?"

That one little quip made Jahi grit her teeth, the Demoness falling silent at the slight before taking a deep, calming breath as she draped her arm around my shoulder and leaned in close, resting her head against mine.

"She didn't, no. Ten seconds isn't that much time, and you saw it too; if I had another second I could have killed her. Did she injure me? Yeah, and maybe she could've gotten more from that second as well, but I was winning."

Hearing that she still didn't really get it, I let out a sigh and turned the bird one more time, gauging the nice char on its flesh before nodding to myself as I raised it from the fire and began to carve it into pieces.

Remaining just beside me, Jahi took another breath and gingerly prodded me with our Soul Bond, causing me to stiffen as I wondered if she was going to use it on me; completely irrational and barely a fleeting fear, but it was there, and she sensed it.

For a brief second I thought she might get incensed at what I had just thought, but instead she chuckled wryly and murmured "Yeah... again it seems like I'm not the emotionally intelligent one, huh?", giving me pause as I looked back at her.

"Sorry... I... It slipped my mind; I wasn't just risking myself for something selfish, but I was risking you too. If I died... you died..."

Just staring at her for a few more seconds, I watched as she finally got to a part of what had me angry before seeing her become confused again as I just turned back around, focusing on the bird.

Dividing it up efficiently and quietly, I plated the meat and began to serve everyone, leaving the Demoness standing there for a few moments on her own as she was made to think on it a little more, during which Mom walked on over to whisper something into her pointed ears.

What mattered was that it was over, and I knew that in another hour or two this would be relatively forgiven and we would move on, but until that point I was going to make her suffer almost as much as I had.

Ignoring the Demon Wolf who happily accepted her plate of meat and 'accidentally' brushed her hand against mine, I eventually found myself sitting beside the older Demoness as I began to eat, leaving Jahi with Mom and nodding to Anput and Leone as they both made their way over to her as well.

Things would be fine in an hour, so until then I was going to talk with the others about what was coming up and what had happened, since this was likely the last time I would see them for a little while... especially Lilith.