As I said to Yasaka, I went to her office, but on the way to her office, I saw the first-year students leave their classrooms to go for their break. They looked at me but walked by with curiosity. Some of those cute girls introduced themselves to me and asked my name.
But one of them didn't, she looked at me and gasped. However, after a long stare-down, she bowed and walked past me.
"Kunou-chan...?" I called her, wondering why she hadn't said a word.
"Uhm, sensei..." Kunou stopped, turned around and fidgeted as if she wasn't expecting me to address her.
"It is me, Ray".
Indeed, I came back to this world unannounced for many reasons, and after so long, I certainly wasn't expecting her to call me dad, but... this reaction was a bit hurtful.
"How have you been? I am going to your mom's office, do you want to come?" I invited her.
"U-Uhmn" She shook her head, she didn't have her ears exposed, but I could almost see them wiggling cutely, "I will go and play with my friends... can I?".
"Of course you can, sweetheart" I didn't want to stop her, but I did hope she'd come with me to see Yasaka.
She bowed and left with hurried steps. I sighed and was about to go on my way when I saw a pair of eyes that were looking at me from a corner. She saw that I noticed her and concealed herself again. It wasn't until I reached the corner and pulled her out that she smiled.
"Ray~".
I embraced the girl who also embraced me back. I was shocked at how tall she was... her beautiful, long hair was also quite silky.
"Shirone, it has been a while".
"Why didn't you say you were coming back?" She poked my nose a few times.
"I wanted it to be a surprise, you have gotten so big~ are you going to play with your friends?"
She nodded, "I will go to the occult research club with Rias-neesama".
"Occult research club...? Is that the club you guys are in?".
"Hmn. Do you want to come and see? I think they would like to see you..."
"I have something to do now, but I'll pop up. Do you guys meet after class?".
"Yes, then, we will see you there~".
She ran off in the same direction as Kunou went.
"..."
Such a sweet girl. I wonder why Kunou-chan was not like that... even though we didn't meet often because she was always in Takamagahara, the times that we met, she'd always be stuck to me like glue.
'I guess kids do grow up'.
I went to Yasaka's office and got in. I found her doing some paperwork. She smiled at me, but then her countenance fell when she saw me dejected.
"Dear, what happened?".
"I just spoke with Kunou-chan".
She bit her lips, "What did she say?".
"Nothing, we just greet each other... but it was almost like she didn't like seeing me".
"Dear, that's not true... come".
I sat on the couch, and she sat next to me.
"It must be because we have been rather absent from her life. Don't you think?".
"Shouldn't she be living with us instead of living in Takamagahara?".
"... dear, you know the kind of life we live... she can't leave with us unless".
"Don't say it".
I sighed. The girls and I have too much of hypersexual a lifestyle for someone like Kunou to be living there.
"You understand what I mean? But if you can come spend some days with us in the palace, that may help".
That sounded like a good idea to me, even if it meant that sometimes I wouldn't go back home. Kunou is still my stepdaughter; I should be able to do that much for her. Some other days, when there is no one in the house, she can come visit, too.
"I don't have a problem. If this doesn't bother you..." I divagated, as if she didn't really care that much that Kunou was being distant with me, "I thought you wanted me to be Kunou's dad".
Yasaka's ears wiggled, "Dear, I wouldn't request that of you... Kunou-chan is very smart, and she has been smart since she was a child. If you want to play with her, that's perfectly okay, but if she wants to call you dad, it's up to her, don't you think?".
"But you always tried to stop me from playing with her..."
Yasaka flinched, "That's because I didn't want this to impact her... I-I never thought I would love someone again, you know? So I'd preferred if she approached you on her own accord".
"Is that how is supposed to be?"
"That's right~".
Yasaka is the mother; she's the expert here... so it is better if I just do what she says. She hugged me, "It will be okay, Kunou-chan is doing very well, she has a lot of friends, is more social... we spend a lot of time together, so I have been able to teach her a lot of things".
"But Yasaka... Kunou-chan is that big already? Why are you still lactating?".
I know Kunou looks a lot older than she is, but still even the way she behaves and goes around, I can't imagine her still eating from Yasaka's boobs. The reason is that their real form is their kitsune form... not this humanoid form.
The kitsune looked at her shirt, which had two dark spots. Then she looked at me and pouted.
"Who knows? Maybe because someone keeps sucking all that milk... my breasts think I am still raising a baby~"
I rolled my eyes, "And I don't plan to stop even after our baby is born... we will have to share".
"You can't be selfish, dear~ you will have plenty of milk to drink the way things have gone".
She leaned against me and kissed my cheek.
I thought about what she said and caressed my forehead in exasperation. She just brought up another interesting topic.
"So? Have you decided who it's going to be?".
"..."
Let's move back to the past a little bit to answer that question.
...
Last night, we completed a ritual of fertility to refill another chalice. With the last chalice, I let Galadriel, Leone and Amaterasu drink it to get their crest. I thought about Tsunade and Azrael, but there was only one person left who could drink, so I couldn't go to her with only that much. So I decided to just ask who wanted it and then make another chalice later on.
The girls wanted it, but they were not ready... so at that time, Yuna offered herself since she was the only one who had already been a mother, and she didn't mind being a mother again. There was someone who wanted it, though.
Hannah wanted to give birth to my baby... but after talking about it with the girls, we decided that even if her body was ready, her mind wasn't... so I told her that I didn't mind it once she graduated from the academy.
We were looking for an incentive to have her enter school, and somehow that did it.
Elysir, Yasaka, Haku, Kuroka, Albedo, Leone, Galadriel, Amaterasu and Yuna had a fertility crest and were pregnant with my babies. Although we couldn't yet confirm that the star inside them had evolved into an embryo.
Ophis was also obviously pregnant with my baby, but in her case, it was different... she went into hibernation, expecting to hatch her egg soon.
The only way we could keep moving forward with the uncertainty was that I had to keep nourishing their wombs with my energy... which was what I did every day.
In Elysir's case, we couldn't even confirm that she was pregnant... what happened, however, was that she gained a true body and was my avatar no longer. And since that happened, she has been up on her own, doing things that she doesn't tell me about.
However, she does come home every once in and then for her nourishment, to spend time with me, and to make sure that her status as the main wife is not plundered by anybody.
Not that anyone is trying to take it. All my girls are very much satisfied... with their life. They had their responsibilities, they get to see me whenever they want because they can easily come into the mirror world now and travel between worlds without an issue.
And, whenever anyone wants their dose, they come to me directly and ask for it...
Whenever I want them, I go to where they are and ask for them.
You could call it the perfect marriage. There are still matters to sort out, like Solution and Kurumi's hatred... or Albedo's feelings... but we move on little by little, supporting each other as family.
Once I saw myself in that dimensional house surrounded by the people I love. I began feeling like settling down. As in, taking responsibility for them... and stop looking for more lovers when they're not necessary.
Before coming back to Draconic Deus, I had a meeting with my right and left hands. And I don't mean Yasaka and Haku.
My right hand is Anna, the leader of the Elves, and my left hand is Michael, the leader of the Angels. Both are my servant races, and my system is connected to theirs.
In this important meeting, we were to discuss matters of importance for both races, like materials and minerals, faith, merchandise, churches, and a lot of nonsense that I heard but didn't really understand. Leave the politics to the politicians.
Anna brought her priestesses with her, while Michael brought his Great Seraphs and Archangels. It was clear, for starters, that the Angels were way stronger and way more organised than the elves.
It would be a difficult fight, though. Both sides had their trump cards... The Elves had Galadriel, and the Angels had Azrael.
Anna alone was able to overpower all Archangels, although she'd have a hard time dealing with Gabriel, Zariel and Metatron.
Sadly, the Angels severely outstripped the Elves in numbers and organisation. Star Elves and Moon Elves were still not able to efficiently cooperate in an army.
Thankfully, they were both my servant races, so such a fight would never happen. Michael recognised the condition of the Elf Empire straight away after he received a small briefing on the situation. He declared that, given the political and economic situation of the Elf Empire, Anna and Galadriel, even if respected, were not enough to sort it out by themselves.
I formally requested Michael for his assistance, even if the heavens got nothing in return. The Elves could pay with armatista, but I didn't want them to. What would be the point? if they need that armatista to recover financially?
Michael accepted without even questioning me, but he let me know that the result of this assistance would mean that the heavens would weaken as the Elf Empire became stronger, until both societies would be at a standstill.
I didn't think it was fair for them, but there was nothing I could say... I had to help Anna somehow. And I believed the Elf Empire's stability would also bring about blessings for the heavens.
Later, the topic of natality and fertility was touched.
The angel population was about two hundred thousand angels at the time of the meeting. It may have looked like a big number, but the seven heavens were big enough to accommodate twenty million angels, according to Michael, in fact... before the war with the devils, the heavens were overpopulated at around twenty-five million.
And compared to them, hell had around two hundred million devils.
Fallen Angels lived on earth, and they were roughly ten million.
That means the angels were only at 1% of their expected population. That number astonished me and made me realise I had been underestimating this problem. Fewer angels mean less justice in the world, especially when devils and fallen angels are way more dense.
Regarding the elves, the situation was even worse, at least for Star Elves.
There were around thirty thousand Star Elves on the continent, I knew because I am connected to them. But there were twenty million Moon Elves.
And a single Midnight Elf.
The difference was abysmal, if both my beloved moon and star elves joined together under the same banner, Star Elves were slowly going to disappear... There would be a lot of hybrids and a lot of moon elves... but very few Star Elves.
Michael said that, sadly, there was very little that could be done to recover the Star Elf population... mainly because the majority of them were women. For each male, there were ten females. Decem Hougan's regime had massacred the majority of males.
Star Elves were in danger of extinction.
He came up with a strategy that, although sad, made sense to me.
If there were a total of a thousand male Star Elves, they would have to pair up with a thousand female Star Elves or even better, there could be three thousand females for those thousand males. It meant there would be polygamous relationships, but still a single male elf would be able to impregnate at least three females.
So I made my decision. I told Anna to leave three big regions outside of the capital of the Elf Empire in which only Star Elves would be allowed to live. Moon Elves and Angels were not allowed.
It was a sad measure, but we had to do it until those red numbers recovered. Michael estimated the population could recover in a century. As for the Angels, there was no definite advantage of gender; you could say they were 50% males and 50% females. So what I told Anna was to send fifty thousand moon elves to the Heavens where they could live and thrive.
Even in the heavens, moon elves could still marry each other, but if they fancied angels, or angels fancied them... that union was also possible, and it would help recover the angel's numbers.
Those were the only immediate measures we could take to sort out the problem. And so, unavoidably, Michael and Gabriel went back to his proposition... asking me that I had failed to impregnate the number of angels I had promised, and even Azrael wasn't back yet with her baby after more than a year.
I sweated and told him that even if I wanted, it wasn't that simple... if those angels didn't have a fertility crest, they would never give birth to a baby; instead, they'd create a star. Michael despaired when I said that.
It meant that his plans failed.
Yuna explained to me that she understood why Michael was very adamant. My capability to give birth to powerful children meant there was a prospect of evolution for the species in the future. If I had ten children with angels, those demigods would procreate eventually, creating an entire branch of demigods in the angel race. The same with the elven race.
That was something that any civilisation would sacrifice countless for, and that Michael and Anna would be fools to not go down that path.
Her words were taken so seriously that Anna, my empress, knelt in front of me and begged me to impregnate a lot of elves... I almost pulled my hair because this was precisely what I didn't want.
"Ray, please!".
But I put my foot down and vehemently refused... I even promised myself that I wasn't going to get any more lovers. I told Anna and Michael 'no' a hundred times. In fact, I said that if numbers were the problem, I didn't have an issue having a hundred children with Anna and her priestesses each. I also didn't have a problem having a hundred children with Azrael and Gabriel each.
The angel blushed bullets and said she couldn't have that many children and take care of them all.
"Well, then I guess it can't be done", I shrugged my shoulders, dismissing the matter. I also could only create so many chalices. I couldn't understand at the start why who I have children with is so important, but then...
"I don't believe this is fair, Ray" Anna pointed out something.
"In the future, you will have children with me, Alana, Yuna, Merluna, Nocturna... and Lucilla. That is six of us. But you only have two women in the angel side: Azrael-san and Gabriel-san".
I gasped. Anna just pointed out something that no wife in their right mind would ever think about.
"Ray, you have to marry four more angels for the sake of equality".
"That's right, Ray-sama... how could I not think of that!" Michael went berserk
"I-I-I am not his woman yet!" Gabriel screamed and fidgeted, but we ignored her.
"…"
If Haku and Yasaka had been here, they probably wouldn't have cared… but Amaterasu would have slapped Anna.
They put me in a situation where I couldn't decline, I wouldn't let go of Yuna and the girls. Let alone, the Angels were already at a disadvantage.
"Okay, I accept".
!!!!
"Wonderful!" Michael clamoured, finally getting his end of the deal. This way, I'd have to marry Azrael, Gabriel… and four more Angels.
"Then, I would choose–" I began.
"We will run a world tournament!" Michael slammed the table.
"… eh?"
"We have to choose those among the churches with the greatest potential in the world".
"Michael–"
"If necessary, through the brave saint system, they can become angels. Our church has a wide range of very talented nuns and priestesses, we can't only consider angels".
"…"
"They have devoted their whole life to the ways of the heavens and would surely become saints".
"…"
"Those women are beyond pure—"
"I get it, Michael… do whatever you want". I rolled my eyes. this Archangel was going to get me to marry and defile four women who had totally devoted themselves to their faith. You could tell I tampered with the system... otherwise he'd have fallen straight out of grace.
"Everything shall be on my lord's will" He put his hands together and prayed. Gabriel got nervous and did the same. She had been in her own world, thinking about a hundred cute angels, probably...
"If it's my will, how come I don't get to choose?" I protested, and everyone in the room laughed. Why the hell are you all laughing? Is it not logical?
"Feel free to state any conditions you may have, Ray-sama, we will try to fulfil them to our best capacity. Do you wish for them to be swordswomen, archers...? Perhaps priestesses with high magic talent–".
"Then… if she's a bit older with big boobs… a busty mommy–" I mumbled and didn't realise I was talking out loud.
"..."
Everyone gasped and looked at me like I was the worst scum in the world.
"Sorry, okay!? Anyone is good, do whatever you want!"
"That's perfect to know. You all can keep your meeting, I have things to talk with hubby" Yuna said and pulled me out of the room, "Busty mommies, huh?~ You should have said that sooner".
The rest is history.