Leisure

With nothing scheduled till his meeting with Baroness Lawrence the following day, Paul decided to take it easy. It felt like he had been doing nothing but taking it easy since his departure from the Demon Continent, but there was a reason for that. He needed time to adapt to the powers he obtained during his time abroad.

Though his greatest boons were his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and the immortality of the Immortal Demon Tribe, they were far from the only traits Paul acquired during his stay in the Demon Continent. At the behest of the two Kishirikas, Atofe had 'collected' female demons from more than a dozen rare and declining tribes to allow him to acquire their traits. There was even a member of the 'King Slime' race mixed in, integrating with the attributes of the Immortal Demon Tribe to give Paul a pseudo-amorphous body.

In an effort to familiarize himself with the aforementioned trait, Paul was standing in front of a standing mirror in nothing but his skivvies, willfully altering the structure of his face and body. A thick layer of sweat covered him from head to toe, but Paul kept going despite the pain of having his nerves and musculoskeletal structure rearranged.

Fortunately, while Paul focused intently on controlling his powers, he had Noelle dutifully wiping away his sweat. His half-naked form caused a red hue to stain her cheeks, but she maintained a fairly calm and professional demeanor as she dabbed his brow and chest with a cool towel.

After compressing and increasing the density of his bones and muscles, Paul looked a little more like the fifteen-year-old boy he was supposed to be. Unfortunately, the moment he lost his focus, he experienced a painful rebound as his body reverted to its original form.

To avoid screaming aloud, Paul grit his teeth and inhaled a sharp breath. The pain was fleeting, thanks to his enhanced regeneration, but for a brief moment, it felt like all the skin on his body had been ripped off. Afterward, literal steam exuded from his pores as his internal temperature shot up to more than a hundred degrees Celsius.

Fortunately, while an internal temperature of 103°C would have been fatal to an ordinary human, Paul could even soak in Atofe's 'boiling blood pond' without experiencing too much discomfort due to his affinity with Fire and Pyro Energy. Murata was nearly as voracious as Venti, both in bed and on the battlefield, so flames and heat were among the things Paul feared the least.

Exhaling a steamy sigh that caused a layer of condensation to cover the mirror's surface, Paul groaned, "I should wait until I visit the north before attempting this kind of training..."

Accepting the fresh towel offered by Noelle, Paul wiped away the sweat from his face before heading over and submerging in the nearby ice bath. His entrance produced a loud hissing sound and a tremendous plume of steam, but it settled fairly quickly as his temperature decreased to a fairly normal level.

"You've worked hard. Would you like me to cradle your head and face in my bosom?" asked the icy-haired woman across from Paul, the source of the frigid waters.

Adopting a faint smile, Paul opened his eyes to meet Eula's gaze, asking, "Have I ever refused such an invitation?"

"I suppose not," replied Eula, returning a smile before spreading her arms invitingly. Her breasts were fairly modest, but their shape, combined with Eula's snowy complexion, gave them an irresistible allure.

"Ah..."

As Paul's head was still a bit warm, Eula was startled when he abruptly face-planted into her breasts. However, instead of pushing or pulling away from him, she embraced his head and rested her cheek against his crown, remarking, "You're so warm..." in a whispering tone.

Instead of pointing out that Eula's tits were like satiny bags of ice, Paul responded by hugging her waist and drawing her closer tower him. His actions nearly caused them to submerge beneath the icy water, but Eula didn't protest. Instead, she closed her eyes and spread her legs, placing herself in a precarious position if not for Paul's briefs.

As tempted as he was by Eula's actions, Paul eventually released his hold on her waist and sat upright. His resistance to the cold wasn't nearly as high as his other tolerances, so it was difficult for him to get excited when his balls were shriveling up like dried persimmons.

Returning to his original position on the opposite end of the tub, Paul asked Eula and Noelle the question they had been expecting since earlier that morning, specifically, "Tell me, Eula, Noelle, is there anything I could be doing to make you happier?"

Having prepared her answer in advance, Eula responded by closing her eyes and stating, "Once things calm down, I would like to establish a new Lawrence Clan. Ningguang intends to establish a new Mondstadt in the western region of Teyvat, so I would like to continue my family's legacy there. This time, we will not make the same mistakes..."

Realizing that Eula was essentially asking him to impregnate her, albeit in the 'distant' future, Paul's brows perked up. He knew quite a few of the girls were concerned with having children, but he didn't expect Eula to be one of them. However, considering she should be around 27-28, it wasn't too surprising. Even in the world of Genshin Impact, 28 was pretty late to start a family.

Nodding his head, Paul asserted, "I will obviously support you. Just let me know when you're ready." in a decisive tone.

Returning a nod of her own, a faint smile developed across Eula's face as she replied, "I shall." with a hint of gratitude in her voice. She never once thought Paul would refuse her, but it was still a relief hearing him declare his support without hesitation...

Seeing the 'relief' in Eula's two-toned, purple-gold eyes, Paul felt his heart skip a beat. He had always considered himself fortunate to have such a cool and breathtakingly beautiful girl among his women, but that one look was enough to make his mind completely blank, his expression becoming one of stupefied awe.

Amused by Paul's reaction, Eula's faint smile became marginally more prominent as she closed her eyes and said, "I believe there is still one more person waiting to answer your question..."

Coming to his senses, Paul promptly shifted his attention to Noelle, an awkward smile developing across his face as he scratched the back of his head. Fortunately, Noelle didn't seem to mind his momentary distraction, smiling as she said, "If each of us is allowed to make a request, I would like to become an official Knight and the leader of an Order that protects Master's family and loved ones. I enjoy being a Maid, but being an official Knight has always been my dream."

Regaining his composure, Paul nodded his head and said, "Sure. With my status as the King's Greatsword, I doubt His Majesty will have a problem with me establishing an Order or two. We can even call it the Knights of Favonius if you want."

Catching Paul by surprise, Noelle shook her head, a mischievous glimmer appearing in her pale green eyes as she revealed, "After discussing the matter with Lady Jean, we already came up with a few names we thought might be suitable."

Raising his brows, Paul issued a curious "Oh...?" before asking, "And what did you come up with?"

Narrowing her eyes slightly, Noelle nearly caused Paul to perform a spit take as she answered, "Rose Fourreau, meaning Pink Scabbards. Since we would be an all-female Knight Order serving Master Paul, we concluded it would be best to choose something a little on the nose."

Feeling a sudden urge to laugh, Paul did exactly that. With his nickname being the King's Greatsword, it wasn't difficult to intuit why the girls had chosen to call themselves scabbards. Fortunately, no one but themselves would know the true meaning behind the name of their Order. To the rest of the world, they would be the Rose Fourreau; an all-female group filled to the brim with elite Swordswomen and Mages.

Nodding his head several times, Paul couldn't help smiling as he said, "I love it. Once we get back, I'll petition the King as soon as possible. He'll probably ask for something in return but just leave that to me. I won't rest until the Rose Fourreau becomes a reality."

Bowing low and respectfully, Noelle's smile became especially prominent as she replied, "Then I shall do my best to become one of Master's finest scabbards..."

Understanding the not-so-hidden meaning of Noelle's words, Paul's eyes glistened with a hungry light, compelling him to rise from the tub and say, "I'll make sure of it..."

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Since he didn't want to be accused of playing favorites, Paul eventually asked each of his women what he could do to make them happy. Most of them had fairly straightforward requests, like Venti wanting to have more sex, while others had more demanding appeals. Klee, in particular, asked if he could summon her mother, so Paul had little choice but to prepare for what he anticipated to be his biggest gacha spree ever.

Fortunately, while there were a few other 'big' requests, Klee's was the only one Paul was genuinely concerned about. Xinyan wanted to open a music studio, Xiangling wanted to open a restaurant, and Ghislaine asked if they could transfer some of the flora, fauna, and soil of the Great Forest to Teyvat. These were all fairly easy to achieve, so Paul promised to make them a reality. Far more troublesome was the request of Diona, who, after learning he had promised to impregnate Eula, wanted children of her own. Not just one, but 'dozens.'

Though he managed to talk Diona down from a few dozen to just two or three, it was a fact that Paul would be fathering many more children than he expected. He had thought that the girls from the Intersection of Fate would wait until the completion of their mission before having kids, but while that was certainly the case at the time of their summoning, time had a way of changing people's mentalities. With more than a hundred years until Laplace's resurrection, they needed something more than training to occupy their time.

Including Barbara, though he had yet to ask her directly, Paul had agreed to have children with a total of five women. Eula and Diona were the most eager, but Jean and Lilia had also expressed an interest in having at least one child. The latter was initially surprised when Paul asked her the same question as the other girls, but she eventually summoned the courage to make two requests. She wanted a child of her own but wanted to hold off until everyone else had given birth.

Though none of them treated her as their 'lesser,' Lilia had developed a bit of an inferiority complex due to how talented and beautiful everyone from the Intersection of Fate was. She managed to step into the realm of a Saint thanks to the Dendro Vision given to her by Paul, but that did little to bolster her confidence. Rather, it caused her to feel even more indebted to him.

Similar to her novel and anime counterparts, Lilia was a 'very' obstinant woman. When Paul absolved her of her responsibilities as a Maid and told her to do as she pleased, she abruptly gave up on her sword training and focused entirely on taking care of him. He thought this was because she was afraid of being 'discarded,' but after discussing the matter with Lilia directly, she informed him that serving him is what gave her life meaning. From the moment he informed her of his foreknowledge and entrusted her with the truth about the IoF, she resolved to serve him for the rest of her life. She may have been just a little girl when she made that vow, but she intended to see it through until the end...

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(A/N: I guess this means we'll be seeing Aisha at some point in the future O w O...)