Chapter 44

With the blonde finally channelling demi-ki into Durandal, the sword finally stopped shaking and willingly accepted Igor.

Feeling the sword's acquiescence, Igor pointed it towards Vasco.

"Die." 

Tswii!

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|DxD|

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Kuoh Town, Japan

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It was almost nighttime in town. The evening breeze flowed in in and the streets gradually emptied. Husbands and fathers were coming home from work to a home filled with the warmth of their wives and families and a warm meal.

Yet among the people who lived alone, Cleria once again spent another day alone at her home. As for her peerage, they were either in the underworld conducting various business or patrolling Kuoh for any stray or unauthorised supernatural entity. Cleria, as the overseer of Kuoh, acted as the brains behind everything and so was responsible for coordinating all of her peerage's movements. 

While a few pawns would patrol, most of her other pieces would form new contacts or maintain existing contacts. Cleria took her job as the Overseer of Kuoh very seriously. As such, she needed to keep up to date with the latest news on whatever happens in the supernatural world and whether it would affect her territory.

Right now in her office, Cleria was mulling in her head about how to handle the church. With the aid of Azazel, she had received intelligence depicting that an unknown holy sword had been transported into town. She had no idea if the church was planning to attack her or had a greater plan in mind. She had been monitoring their movements for the past few days yet nothing of note happened.

Looking at the latest report of the church's movements in her hand, Cleria dropped the paper before burying her head in her arms.

"I'm really tired of playing this game. Just what is the church up to?" 

The fact that a weapon that could literally erase her from existence is in such close proximity to her made her restless. The fact that she couldn't decipher the church's intentions made her even more restless. Even when she personally tailed a few of their exorcists, they never said anything of note. 

All of this became an immensely frustrating experience for her.

"Should I increase the surveillance? Or should I maybe-"

It was then that she suddenly felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her body. She was about to panic but when she heard the voice of the owner…

"-ask Azazel for help?"

…she panicked even further. But this time, for a complete different reason.

"W-w-what are…"

"Ssshh"

Silencing her, Azazel stretched out his hand towards one of the documents and picked them up to examine. Meanwhile, Cleria was already blushing up to her ears, the feeling of his hot breath on her neck making her body shiver. She silently endured the 'torture' while Azazel made occasional hums as he read through different documents.

Cleria trapped the hems of her skirt between her fists, her head lowered to the point that her chin touched her chest. Yet even though her shyness level was rising through the roof, she made no move to try and escape the enclosure of his arms.

[They-they feel…warm.]

But Cleria would never say that out loud since it was too embarrassing to admit. So while Azazel seemingly read through the documents, she quietly waited for him to speak, not daring to speak first. She knew that if she spoke first, her voice would crack like before. She lifted her head to sneak a glance at him, yet as she saw the seriousness his gaze, she was instantly entrapped by how calm he appeared. With his eyes calmly scanning through each of the documents she got headaches from…

*Badump* *Badump* *Badump*

...her heart began beating so loud she feared Azazel could hear it. And judging by the sudden smirk on his face, he clearly did. Quickly lowering her head again, she felt so hot that she wouldn't be surprised if steam began escaping through her skin.

Her fists tightened on her skirt.

[Wawawawawa! This is embarrassing!]

As for Azazel, he peered through each document, a grin forming on his mouth every few moments he read Cleria's intelligence reports. 

[No wonder Cleria couldn't see through their movements. They covered their tracks quite well. Well…not well enough.]

In the end, he neatly placed the documents on the desk before moving his hands to massage Cleria's shoulders.

"Leave this to me. I'll handle it."

Hearing those same words again, Cleria's embarrassment was replaced by guilt. She remembered how he said the same words to her when she first came with the issue of the influx of exorcists. She rejected his advances and yet he didn't renege on his deal. S

Even now with his appearance again, she couldn't bring herself to accept his help like nothing ever happened.

"N-no…I-"

"Ssshhh. I said leave this to me. I can feel that you're tired and stressed."

But Cleria couldn't relent. She felt completely ashamed that even after pushing him away, he still came to help.

"But-"

"Cleria."

The vibrations caused by his deep voice penetrated into her neck. The way he said her name made her shiver to the point that her ears turned red.

Yet his next words made her heart flutter in ways she never thought were possible.

"You are a very important person to me. That is why I am helping you. When I am here, I do not want you to face unnecessary difficulties, not while I am still alive. Do you understand?"

"..."

She couldn't find any words to say. All she focused on was the first part of the sentence. It went on and on like a replay in her mind. The complete confidence when he said those words made her trust him.

And it was also because she trusted him that she felt inferior.

"A-Azazel. I can't. We can't."

Although her words seemed ambiguous, Azazel understood them. She was still referring to the implications of what would happen if they furthered their relationship. But Azazel was not going to tolerate that kind of nonsense. 

Gripping her shoulders, he turned her around to face him before looking straight into her eyes.

"Cleria. I love you."

"?!"

His sudden declaration caught her completely off guard. The firmness in his gaze and the assurance in his words made her eyes widen. Every strand of conviction she mustered up to refuse Azazel…

*Snap* *Snap* *Snap*

…was breaking apart. She couldn't hold herself back anymore. Standing up, she wrapped her arms around his neck and…

Chuu~