Author Notes:
You know, people wouldn't think to interrupt a war to go on a date, only to then going to war once more, only Yuki can do it, now that I think about it.
Not much else to say because I am severely lacking some sleep right now. Feels kinda bad these days and I have no clue why that's the case.
As per usual, however, don't forget to enjoy this acid trip of mine, alright? It does bring us joy seeing you all coming to read and comment on it.
Peace, and have a great weekend to all!
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For my fics:
https://www.scribblehub.com/series/55793/reich-marshal-of-the-belkan-reich/
https://www.webnovel.com/book/reich-marshal-of-the-belkan-reich_23809095505377305
https://photos.app.goo.gl/waZgkRa3UQhqKQBi9
https://www.scribblehub.com/series/1375924/in-the-grimdark-sector-with-a-system/
Casual Lu: https://postimg.cc/4YPRYV1H
Casual Yuki: https://postimg.cc/SXt0r43j
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"Mama~!" I greet one of my adopted mothers, who is the Devil herself.
Mama is as sinfully inviting as ever, and Yggdra knows just how many times this mother of mine has tempted me so. Unlike her usual dark-colored regalia, however, Mama opts for a more casual, youthful look. A pair of black heels, black dress pants, a black belt with a gold buckle, a white shirt with its sleeves rolled up, and a black necktie. Additionally, Mama wears an elaborate gold mechanical watch on her left hand. It's a custom design, made by yours truly. In fact, everyone in the family has one such custom timepiece, handcrafted with love and care by me. Each piece reflects the wearer's personality, symbolism, and sense of style nicely. For Mama Lu, it's a largely obsidian black design, inlaid with precious materials in gold and silver to form an elegantly stylized draconic motif. Suffice to say, Mama, and so are the others, are swept off their feet by the gifts of Time, which is quite literal in a poetic way.
As for why I know how to craft custom mechanical watches, well, I am or was a Primordial Goddess with Time as one of my Divinities. For a God of Time to be unable to create timepieces would be a transgression of the highest order to the very aspect that forms our existence. That just means that whoever that is won't be able to know or control their power over Time, effectively making it straight up useless or self-destructive. Coincidentally, the art of making timepieces is a lucrative and highly competitive business in Belka. Divines with a smidgen of power over the domain of Time invest good money and effort into perfecting the craft of making mechanical watches that are durable, long-lasting, accurate, and beautiful. These handcrafted watches are most certainly one-off pieces, with prices going as low as hundreds of thousands to millions in Reichsmarks, depending on the build quality and the brand names. Suffice to say, having a timepiece crafted personally by a God or Goddess is something worth paying good money for, either for collection or flaunting purposes. And since each watch is very much unique, people will unironically steal, maim, and kill to get their hands on one of them. Such a case doesn't happen much in Belka, but when the timepieces make their way overseas, unfortunate things tend to happen to the unguarded owners of these precious artifacts. Mind you, this is something that has happened even before the Reich's rise to prominence in recent years. The allure of divine craftsmanship was and is still too hard to resist for those with money to throw about. One can't consider oneself to be noveau riche if they don't own a unique Belkan timepiece. Suffice to say, this very rich people mentality does wonders for the Belkan Reich's luxurious goods and tourism sectors. Nonetheless, this digression is not the point for today's outing.
It's a date. More specifically, it's our kind of date. It may sound cryptic and confusing at first since there's only so much you can do in a date as normal people. But given that I, and by extension the rest of my family, are anything but normal, our dates tend to take more interesting turns than most.
Lost in my thoughts, I find myself being enveloped by Mama's truly wonderful bosom in greeting. I gladly return her embrace, briefly, before we both separate with Mama giving me a good look over. By chance, I am mirroring largely the same getup as Mama: white shirt and black pants.
"My, you look as charmingly beautiful as ever, Yuki. A shame that you tend to hide behind your Marshal uniform for most of the day." Mama comments with a smile, linking her arms with me as we make our way to the motorcade prepared by the Reichsguards.
I giggle softly, replying.
"Can't be helped, Mama. I am the most comfortable with my duty uniform. It is an ingrained habit at this point, and it doesn't help that Eden has a surprising knack for tailoring on top of her already impressive portfolio of skills. If this were a story somewhere, Eden may as well be a Main Character who can never seem to fail at picking up anything and doing it well."
Mama smiles softly as she very considerately paces her strides to match mine. "I can't argue with that, my dear. Although I have a feeling that Eden only truly picked up tailoring because of Elysia's constant need for cute clothes, even though our pink elf can basically conjure anything she wants with her power."
"What can I say, Elysia is just special." I shrug as we reach the limousine.
The door to the limo is opened by none other than Erika, my ever dutiful bodyguard. Honestly, she and her unit frankly deserve all the praises and benefits in the world for maintaining a protective dome around me and my temporal clones. For the most part, Erika and her subordinates are escorted to Overlord, but when circumstances require, they will protect Overseers as well. This means Erika and her group never stay in one place for long and are forced to constantly adapt to an ever-changing schedule, location, and even timezone. They're ceaseless in maintaining an impeccable overwatch, and their endurance matches that of an entire Raven Team, even if they don't have access to comparable firepower or power armor. And frankly, the only reason they aren't made Ravens yet is because Erika personally thinks her unit is best acting as an overt protection detail; being Ravens means they will have to hunker in the shadows, a position already fulfilled perfectly by others. It is a very humble opinion from my long-time friend and Chief of Security, and I respect her wishes. But that doesn't mean I can't give her the best gear available. Discounting the very expensive Mjolnir Power Armor, Erika and her unit have access to everything else.
And yes, if need be, Erika can even requisition some very, very big guns.
"Marshal. Your Majesty, the Empress." Erika and her second-in-command, Lola, salute us as we approach.
Mama chuckles, signalling them to stand down. "At ease, ladies. Today, I will be counting on you to watch over us as we enjoy this rare day off."
I, for once, wink at the pair of a human and a dwarf. Erika and Lola put a hand over their heart, vowing. "Nothing will interrupt your outing, Your Majesty!"
"Fufu, I am glad to hear you're confident. I believe I have said it before, but I will say it again, Minister Hartman's pride in you isn't unwarranted, Miss Hartmann." Erika, being very professional, doesn't beam up at the praise, but she does stand straighter.
Mama hums understandingly at that before turning back to me. With a gentlemanly bow and an offered hand, Mama says. "Well then, after you, milady."
I chuckle, a minor blush creeping up my cheeks. Can you blame me, though, when the Devil herself is acting so courteously with that body of hers?
"Thank you, Mama..." I take the offered hand before I am led to board the limo. "It would have been a picturesque scene if I had worn a dress instead. That would have made you look like a certified mob boss picking up her ward, Mama."
"Now, ain't that an interesting thought?" Mama says as she steps into the limo after me. "Having said that, I think you make a fine mob boss yourself, Yuki. You basically have the entirety of South America's underground world in your grasp already."
Mama then smirks, leaning in conspiratorily as Erika and Lola board the limo after us. "For the record, I would like to taste you all grow up like that mob boss persona of yours, my dear. And I'm sure others feel the same as well."
I blush, coughing into my fist as Erika considerately ignores Mama's promiscuity and radios for the motorcade to set off. The limo is well-furnished and has more than enough room for Mama Lu and me to share with Erika and Lola, our bodyguards. While I don't mind the sensual teasing from Mama, I am glad when she keeps it mild and spares Erika and Lola from seeing a full makeout session. I really don't want to traumatize either of them with what Mama can do with my body in the heat of the moment.
As for the itinerary of our date today, Mama and I are heading to the innermost part of the Berlin Sanctuary, a special sector in Berlin dedicated to the spiritual guidance of the Reich citizens. The Sanctuary is named thus due to its highly sanctified nature, being situated around the physical roots of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. It is also one of, if not the most, pollution-free areas on Gaia and is also where the headquarters of the Yggdrasil Pantheon is placed. Being a complex and all-encompassing religion, the Yggdrasil Pantheon hosts a variety of churches, mosques, temples, and pagodas in the sanctuary, with the most important of all being the Grand Cathedral of Yggdrasil, or the Cathedral for short. Suffice to say, you will be seeing worshippers attending to their pious duty 24/7 in the Sanctuary area. If there's a place that never truly sleeps in the world, and for the right reason, then it is the Berlin Sanctuary and nowhere else.
Our motorcade travels out of the Obsidian Castle's premises and onto the wide streets that lead to the Sanctuary proper. Despite my best efforts, I can't stop Erika and the Reichsguards from committing to a no-traffic corridor for our transit to the Cathedral. In their opinion, it's not an assassination attempt that is to be worried about, but an actual accident that may or may not involve an out-of-control civilian car. Better to be safe than sorry, according to Erika. So, the journey, as brief as it is, proceeds in relative peace, with only the curious citizens lining up the sides of the road either in cheering or salutations when they realize who deserves such an escort line-up. But whatever curiosity they hold will soon abate, and they return to their daily matters. It is, after all, not an occasion like Victory Day where it's festivity all around for a week or so.
As we ride, Mama and I chat about a few lighthearted topics, which do not correlate with the ongoing war at all. We even involve Erika and Lola in our conversation, while not exactly girls' talk, Mama is keen to know more about the shadows that are responsible for keeping me safe in the line of duty. Our discussion continues even as we cross into the Sanctuary, where there's a noticeable shift in the surrounding building's aesthetic and in the very air itself. For lack of a better word, everything is more... holy. Ironically, this very holiness is not at all uncomfortable to Mama, even though she is the Devil. In fact, Mama relishes this positively charged energy in the air. Unironically, Mama is the Devil, but she is not Evil, hence there's no rejection by the very Sanctuary that is blessed by priests, months, cultivators, and even Yggdra herself. If a truly foul person comes to the Sanctuary, it is said that they will do so wearing their sins in all of their obscenity. And if they seek harm for anything inside the Sanctuary, they will be accosted immediately by the appointed Guardians. Again, it's something which have happened a few times in the past. A few come to seek forgiveness and a chance at redemption. A few seek to cheat the system, only to be punished by the multiple divine providences inside the Sanctuary.
On our way to the Cathedral, we pass through two temples, a mosque, a church, and even an open-air altar that is occupied by the Native American people. Mama and I pan our gaze to see that the Native Americans are dedicating their chosen, and perfectly legal sacrifices, to the Divines that they worship in exchange for good tidings. In response, the called-upon Divines light up the scented torches around the altar, causing the Native Americans to proceed to the next stage of the ritual. It is fascinating, but it's unfortunate that we can't see the rest as we have places to be and someone to pick up.
When our convoy stops, it does so after coming through one of the side gates of the Cathedral that leads to a private parking space. There, Erika and Lola disembark to secure the area before opening the door for Mama and me. Mama steps out first before very politely offering me her hand. Once again, I happily accept the offer, feeling her fingers warming up my own as she leads me to the inside of the Cathedral. Eventually, and under escort, we arrived at a private chamber that is situated above the sprawling aisle below, where my other adopted mother is hosting a sermon. Unlike Mama Lu, Mommy Hel is wearing her usual getup of black and gray regalia. Her hand is holding a scepter with the symbol of the Yggdrasil Pantheon.
"Hel looks pretty when she is focused on leading her flock." Mama says while she sits on a cushioned chair, pulling me down onto her lap in the process.
Behind us, Erika and Lola stand guard watchfully in the chamber.
"Mom is the Spiritual Empress of our nation." I add, looking down at the procession, especially at Mom, with a proud gaze. "With her around, our people will never be corrupted by false ideologies."
Mama nuzzles my hair with her chin. "If Hel hears you say that, she will no doubt give you a wild cuddle when we get back home. For now, let's make ourselves comfortable while waiting for Hel to finish up the ceremony. Then we can go out and play."
"Un." Let's stop worrying about how and who to kill for our future... For now.