Chapter 1305: New Party Members

"I suppose... As expected of Aster?" Delmare commented after I explained everything to them back at home.

Behind me were Tsara and Ira, both of them still glaring at each other ever since I left the underground shrine with them.

Katsuki had merely narrowed her eyes upon seeing them but said nothing aside from offering me a cookie.

Ehehehe~ Katsuki knows me the best!

Lisa tapped on her chin thoughtfully, "Hmm... I’m not too sure about this, Aster... Wasn’t this one the crazy bitch?"

That caught Ira’s attention as she turned to narrow her eyes at Lisa, "What did you just say?"

Instead of being intimidated, Lisa just gave her a genuinely confused look, "What? Are you going to tell me that you aren’t a crazy bitch?"

Ira did not respond and merely stared at Lisa who stared back at her in return.

Not wanting a fight to break out amongst my girls, I cleared my throat hurriedly, "Ahem, ahem! Let’s not fight, ok? Umm... I will admit that both Tsara and Ira here have umm... Very different opinions on how the World should work but... Since I would prefer that the World doesn’t undergo a drastic change while I’m trying to explore it... I thought it would be a good idea to get both of them together so that they can at least talk and find common ground, you know?"

Odeta punched her palm with her fist, "Why bother, Sister Aster? Just let them fight it out! Then the winner can do whatever they want!"

I grimaced, "Yeah err... One side has people that want to wipe out Off-Worlders and another one has people who want to change the entire world order. I honestly don’t think I want either of them to get their way..."

"Hmm? Then we just kill both sides?" Odeta suggested as casually as I might suggest having some sweets.

Both Tsara and Ira turned towards Odeta and gave her a particular look which she completely ignored in favour of staring at me.

I sucked in a breath, "Umm... I don’t really want to kill either of them, ok?"

Lisa huffed, "It’s because you want to fuck them, don’t you, Aster?"

Ahh... Well...

I turned to the two women and... What the heck? Why are the both of you suddenly acting shy?

Ira was squirming and giving me a coquettish look while Tsara was blushing and looking around trying to avert her gaze.

I looked back at Lisa and she was already grinning at me with a knowing look.

I raised my hands, "Wait, wait... I have not slept with either of them yet!"

Lisa wiggled her eyebrows, "Yet~ Ehehehe~ Should we arrange a room then?"

"Lisa..." I groaned.

"What? I’m serious! If they want to be one of us, then they have to do the same thing that we do as well~"

Ok, I know you’re just saying that because you want to watch me fuck them, Lisa... Because we all know this wasn’t a rule for joining our group in the first place.

I ignored her suggestion and turned to Tsara and Ira, "I’m just saying this first... She’s joking, ok? And I’m only agreeing to your requests to join because I think it benefits me from doing so."

Yeah... The part that I’m not speaking out loud was that I believe both cults would leave us alone if their leaders were here and I also believe in the saying ’keep your friends close and your enemies closer’.

It’s precisely the fact that I don’t know what Ira is doing that makes me worried she might show up randomly with another plan or something so if I have her nearby, I could stop it before it gets out of hand.

Ira turned to me, "Hmm... I’m honestly not against it, Aster. Wasn’t that what dates are for anyway? I was under the impression that at the end of the date, we would just go to a hotel room and then you would fuck me. That’s why I invited you on another date today actually."

...

Did she just admit that she basically wants to sleep with me indirectly?

Tsara clasped her hands together, "Lady Nilm... If you are ok with me... I would also offer myself to the Apostle of my Goddess as well!"

Nah girl... You’re only saying that because you want to be closer to your goddess through me. I see through you.

Right then, the door behind them opened and Mother walked in with a smile on her face, the smile clueing me in that she already knows about what is going on here before she even entered the room.

"Ara, ara~ You should have told Mama that you had friends coming here, my little one~"

"It’s not like I planned for this, Mommy..."

Both Tsara and Ira jerked a little when they heard me.

"Mommy?" Both of them muttered.

Hey! For your information, Mother is the one who insisted I call her that, ok?! She won’t respond to anything else!

Well... Not that I’m complaining anyway since I already got used to it.

Mother giggled, "Ufufufu~ They look like lovely girls to me, my little one~ I assume they will also be part of your harem too?"

Before I could answer, Tsara let out a gasp, "Wait... You are Madam Nilm?!!"

Mother tilted her head at her, "Ara, ara~ Do I know you, little Tsara?"

Tsara looked like she had been physically hit by how she took a few steps back, "No... Doesn’t that mean... That means..."

"Ufufufu~ That’s right~ Most of the people in your inner circle are all part of the Nilm Family~ So I would strongly suggest that you don’t plan anything to hurt my little one~"

"I... I would never, Madam Nilm! I never had such a thought from the start! To begin with, she’s the apostle of my the Great Goddess Srii! I could never even think about wanting to do any harm to such an esteemed being!"

"Ara? I don’t really care about any of the Goddesses, little Tsara. Even if your Goddess were to appear before me right now to harm my little one, I would stop her as well and kick her out of my home."

Damn, Mother... I never knew you could talk like that.

Ira perked up, "Oh? Aster’s mother, are you? How would you like to join my little group in overthrowing the useless Gods of this World?"

"Ufufufu~ What are you talking about, little Ira? Wasn’t it me who told you about that little hideout in between the mountains?"

Ira frowned for a moment before her eyes also widened as she most probably realised what Mother was talking about.

I would have said that I was surprised by Mother’s revelation that she was already playing both sides and had her thumb in both of their groups but... I would have been more surprised if Mother were to tell me that she didn’t have anyone watching over both of them.

At this point, I genuinely wonder if there was any group that Mother might not be aware of... And just how deep does our information network go?

And as though those revelations had been completely trivial, Mother turned to me and pulled me into her embrace.

"Ufufufu~ When will you be leaving again, my little one? If you’re going to stay for a few more days, Mama wants to spend all the time with you~ Once you leave, Mama’s womb is going to be a little lonely again, you know?"

Mother... At least don’t say that in front of my new friends...

Ok, ’friends’ is pushing it a little... Let’s just call them party members for now.

I managed to pry myself out of Mother’s bosoms before I suffocated and I looked up at Mother, "Stop embarrassing me, Mommy..."

"Ufufufu~ Mama will be waiting for you tonight~ Have fun my little one~"

She then walked off like nothing happened.

I turned back to see both Ira and Tsara looking quite shaken by the exchange and I don’t blame them. Mother practically just came over and revealed that their entire cause might even have been manufactured by Mother and everything they had done so far might have just been Mother pulling the strings.

If they hadn’t chosen to follow me here, they would not have even realised this until their death bed.

The only reason Mother even came here to tell them was to hang a guillotine over their necks because now I was involved with them.

I then reached up and removed my mask, seeing that it was pretty pointless to hide my face at this point.

Tsara immediately noticed and she spun to face me, her mouth slowly dropping as she gaped at me.

What? Was it something that I did? Does she recognise me from somewhere as well?

The Trasif priestess reached out her hand towards me, "So... So this is what it’s like... To be touched by the Gods? Perfection..."

Ok, maybe I should have kept the mask on...