Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

It has been two weeks since Aleph lived a life of having three girlfriends. It was a scummy thought, for sure, but he gained the ability to judge what his girlfriends would do.

For Mobius, it was control.

'I lost the initiative again.'

The hectic urge scratched Aleph's heart. They were very displaced. These emotions weren't something that purely came from him.

It was a matter of a dragon's pride.

Even in the original story, Albion was arrogant enough to think he could survive the decline of mysteries. It was a vain attitude as it cost Albion its life.

Nevertheless, a portion of this attitude seeped onto Aleph. It was up to him whether to adopt it or not—akin to an opinion.

In this case…

"Hm?!"

…Aleph accepted it.

His arms were wrapped around her waist. He took the initiative to return Mobius' kiss with his own.

They were now tied on the scoreboard.

The kiss lasted longer than before. Their eyes met as they separated.

'It's different…' Aleph thought. 'Was this the payback?'

Kurumi did not do anything too far with him during their sleep. Mei took the initiative, though she was careful of their boundaries.

It was only Mobius. She did not care about these boundaries. The occasional trembling of her body did not feel like anxiousness.

Seeing a smile appearing on her lips, coupled with her inexplicable gaze, Aleph felt how it was to be constricted by a snake.

'Since it is a payback…'

Aleph played along with Mobius.

Both of her palms were placed on his chest. Her next kiss forcefully pried his mouth open. Her 'slightly' thin tongue contacted his. 

'Mn..?!'

Aleph was caught off guard by Mobius' tongue. It was still akin to a human's, but longer and slightly thinner. 

In short, its flexibility was on another level.

Blood swiftly crept up to Aleph's face. His composure began to be lost the moment Mobius launched her attack. 

Although her tongue went stiff several times—perhaps due to her own embarrassment—she did not miss out. The advantage brought by her snake-like tongue overwhelmed Aleph.

The deep kiss lasted for five entire minutes before Mobius decided to let go.

"Huff…"

Aleph could not help but take several deep breaths. A couple of silver strings connected their mouths before falling down.

Throughout the entire spectacle, Mobius looked at him in an interested gaze. Her fingers started playing around his chest, sliding it through his Fire MOTH uniform. She was still sitting sideways on his lap.

If it weren't for her office skirt getting in the way, she would have directly found an even more dangerous position to sit at.

'...How am I supposed to keep calm with this..?!'

The itch on Aleph's heart worsened. Her playful stare, her fingers, and her mouth…

He was locked in with no way out.

'Albion. Albion. Albion. Why are you like this..?'

A strong urge to retaliate began brewing in his mind.

'That smile… just because she couldn't totally beat me in teasing..!'

The moment Mobius became his girlfriend, it was as if a bonus stage was unlocked—one where he would always lose.

Just when the silence between them ensued, they heard the clicking of Mobius' office doors. 

A vague sense of deja vu swept through Aleph.

Click.

Sou-!

Klein's small figure came from the door. She gave both Mobius and Aleph a dumbfounded look. It was completely different from the time she interrupted Aleph and Mei's time together. She knew what was going on now compared to before.

Klein did not say anything else and swiftly retraced her steps.

All that was left was the two of them and a broken atmosphere.

"I see, I see."

A wide cunning smile suddenly appeared on Mobius' lips. She stared at the slowly disappearing shadow on the door.

'I was mistaken. It wasn't only me.'

Mobius locked the door the moment Aleph entered the office. She was extremely thorough with her preparations. She was determined to take a big step today.

Mobius almost succeeded if it weren't for Klein—no, another girl's interruption.

Though they all agreed to never create a conflict, the three of them wanted to outsmart one another. It was akin to a subtle game of chess with no negative consequences.

Well, except for Aleph's frustrations building up over the last few days.

It was clear the three needed to confront each other once and for all.

Mobius stood up in front of his gaze. She then slowly walked away from him, with her legs positioned in a weird manner.

It was also at this moment did Aleph's hectic thoughts die down.

Fizzle.

The reversed curse technique ran on his body. It removed all the small effects of what they did now.

"You still have a lot of unfinished work to do, Aleph."

Mobius called him by his name.

"You were planning to keep it a secret, right?" She teasingly paused before she clarified, "I was talking about the black cube."

"...Yes. The higher-ups shouldn't get wind of this… ever."

Thinking of the possible outcomes it would have, more so when a fully-sentient Herrscher was out in the open, Aleph did not want to take unnecessary risks.

Little did he know…

He was completely right.

*****

"Back then..! That damned director!"

Shatter-!

A bottle of whiskey was thrown to the ground. The carpet became messy as the smell of alcohol began to spread into the entire room.

"If it weren't for her! And that damned doctor!"

Shatter-!

Shatter-!

…

The man walked around the room, which was now full of shattered glass and spilled alcohol.

Darius was one of Fire MOTH's senior councilors. 

He was there when the world government convened the most influential people on Earth. He was one of Fire MOTH's founding members.

However, things started to change recently.

First was the elected director of the five institutes, Mei.

Most of the councilors knew she would not be able to shake their status. Even if she was allied with Elysia or other strong combatants, it wasn't enough.

That remained true in the 'world' Aleph knew. The councilors were able to barely keep their hands on their status, going as far as rejecting the Flamechasers' establishment.

Simply put, they were able to have a bit of 'threatening power' that forced them to compromise. It would've been bad had these rogues turned their backs on humanity during a critical fight.

Unfortunately, such a situation did not happen now due to one variable: Aleph.

"If it weren't for him..! Damn it! All the records were deleted! Of course he had someone else's support!"

The councilors were scared of Aleph's true capabilities.

Eleven months ago, he was only fighting chariot-class honkai beasts.

Now, he faced off against a Herrscher and won.

It wasn't just his combat power that scared them, but his potential.

Coupled with the mysterious fall of Fire MOTH's 'black gloves' as well as the disappearance of private laboratories related to them, they were pinned into a wall.

"You were right. Mister Aleph did have support."

"Ye—"

Darius was startled by the sudden voice. He looked at its source and found a purple-haired woman standing on the corner of the room.

He swiftly placed his hands on his pockets, ready to press the distress button.

But—

"Ack..!"

—his entire right arm disintegrated into brown dust. The pain converged in one go, sending enough feedback to his brain to make him kneel.

"Argh!"

His remaining left hand grasped his empty arm, his eyes widening at the sudden turn of events.

"It is best we talk this over properly… scum."

Half a month after her last appearance, the sixth Herrscher presented herself to the world yet again.

*****

A/N: Welp, here it is. Intelligent Herrschers who know how to use their authorities. There's more conflict coming in the future chapters.

The sudden interruptions (i.e., blueballing) between the three girls will also come to an end once they talk it out upfront. I mean, there's no reason to let it be when they could fix this with one talk; something no slice-of-life story riddled with misunderstandings could do. It's a 1-0 for this fic and typical slice-of-life novels, I guess (*shrugs*).

Anyways, there should be bonus chapters for the next three days.

Happy Reading~!