The next morning.
It's morning, and right now, Ollie and Nina are currently laying on the bed, nuzzling against each other.
The previous night had been very wild as Ollie made sure that Nina would never be able to forget her first time for years to come.
The rattling from the door knob being twisted open wakes Ollie while Nina stirs but remains asleep.
Eris walks in.
She looks around the room, then settles her gaze on the bed where the two lies.
"Eris?"
She looks at Ollie with an indecipherable expression.
Wordlessly, she walks over to him who has sat up, and holds his wrist, pulling him up as she drags him away, out of the room.
Ollie whose clothes has appeared on his body doesn't say anything, content with observing her. He is curious how this would go but he is not really worried.
Stepping into her room and shutting the door, she sits him on her bed then straddles him, face now sporting a deep shade of red.
"Eris-san, you are a bit assertive today." Ollie comments.
"Wh-what? I-is that bad?" She asks.
"Hmmhmm…" Ollie shakes his head in denial. "Not at all. If anything, you look terribly cute right now that I'm burning this image into my memory." Says Ollie as Eris' blush deepens.
"Sh-shut up." She says then whispers. "How was it?"
"Hmm? How was what?"
"You did it with Nina right? How was it?" She asks, looking away.
"Oya, oya, oya…" Ollie says smugly. "Could it be that you are jealous, Eris-san?" He teases.
"Ah! Why the heck would I be jealous. It's not like we are d-dating right?"
"Hmm, you are right about that. We are not dating…" Eris frowns a bit at Ollie's response. "We are practically married."
"Huh… what are you saying? M-married? N-no way!" She stutters blushing.
"Hahahaha." Ollie laughs as he wraps his arms behind her back. "Anyway, you don't need to be jealous of anyone, you know?"
"Re-really?" She asks in a soft voice.
"Really… you are my number one after all…"
"Is that true? Mmmmnnnnn." Wrapping her arms around his neck, she moans as Ollie's hands roam her body.
"Yes, you're the reason I'm here in the first place, you know.." He kisses her neck.
"Ahn… stop lyinnhngg…"
"It's not a lie, you know…"
More kisses on her neck as his hands continue roaming.
"So, relax okay? I'll make you feel good."
•••
Watching Eris walking with a spring on her step, Ollie smiles to himself thinking how cute she looks. Eris is someone who wears her heart on her sleeve and Ollie likes that about her.
"You seem happy Eris." Ollie says as they walk towards the training area, around them, other Sword God Stylist go about their day.
"Does it look like that?" She asks.
"Yeah."
"Is that so? Well, I am a bit happy, I guess."
"Well, that's fine. A happy Eris is the best after all." Ollie says.
"There you go again, saying whatever you like." Although Eris says that in a nonchalant way, she's smiling a bit and her face is a little red.
As they continue walking. "Ollie!" A voice calls out before Ollie was tackled from behind in a hug.
"Hmm? Oh if it isn't Nina, good morning." He says to her. "Sorry I was not there when you woke up."
"Good morning Ollie… and you as well Eris…" Looking at the peppy Nina, one can tell she's in a good mood.
"What happened? It would have been nice to wake up in your arms." Nina says without hesitation as some of the swordsmen walking around do a double take at her words.
To Nina who knows less than nothing about courtship, sleeping with Ollie is akin to them being a couple already.
"Eh, you're acting cute this morning… I guess you enjoyed last night then." Ollie chuckles as Nina blushes, looking away.
"D-don't say it out loud!" She says in embarrassment.
"Sorry, sorry, I have a habit of teasing girls I like. Anyways, Eris came to get me from your room while you were asleep."
"Ollie, did you really need to tell her that?" Eris says from the right side of Ollie.
"Hah?!! Eris came to my room? Why didn't you wake me up? Wait, doesn't that mean she saw us?" The blush returns.
"Well, you were sleeping peacefully, so I didn't want to disturb your rest."
She sighs. "That's fine then." Looking at Eris, Nina smiles triumphantly, she has finally lost her virginity and it was amazing, so she wouldn't be left out for in kind of topic anymore.
Eris returns a smug smile as she asks. "What are you smiling like an idiot for?"
Nina realizes something. "Wait a minute, what did you need Ollie for anyways? I'm pretty sure it was still too early for training"
"I'll leave that to your imagination." Eris says as they arrive at the training area to find Isolte there.
Watching the back of Eris, Nina looks at Ollie. "Ollie, you have done it with Eris, haven't you?"
"Yep." He replies popping the p.
"Ahhh, I should have expected that. I was hoping I would beat her to it."
"Well, you can still beat her to the styles she has not tried though."
"Styles? What are you talking about?"
"Oh, Nina, my sweet vanilla baby…" Ollie rests his hand on her shoulder as he brings his mouth to her ear. "I am going to teach you so many things."
Ollie's breath and whisper on her ear almost makes Nina's knees buckle.
Leaning back, Ollie looks at the red faced Nina with a smirk. "I hope you can keep up."
She gulps.
With those words, Ollie walks further into the training hall.
"Yo, Iso-chan, you are up early, did you sleep well?" He says to Isolte.
"Iso-chan?" She asks, she has never been called like that before.
"It's a nickname, we are tight aren't we?"
"Ah, I don't know about that." She replies honestly.
"No way…" Ollie falls to his hands and knees. "So you were just leading me on then? How cruel, so that is why you have that surname."
"This…" Isolte is at a loss for words.
"Quit playing around Ollie…" Eris chastises as she walks over. "He is just teasing you." She says to Isolte.
"Here." Eris hands a wooden sword to Ollie.
"Ah, even if you say that…" Ollie says, receiving the sword. "Anyway, let's get along yeah? So you don't have to act polite with me at least"
Hearing his words, Isolte realizes that Ollie was trying to be considerate for her. Maybe because she is the odd one out amongst them while the three seem to be familiar with one another.
"Yes, thank you for your consideration."
Ollie sighs with a little smile. "It seems it would take some time huh… Anyway, get over here Nina."
"What is it all of a sudden?" Nina replies walking over with a wooden sword in hand.
"You're training with me today before I meet the granny later." Ollie replies.
"Seriously?" Nina questions, she was going to request that Ollie spars with her sometimes but she didn't think he would make the suggestion himself.
"Yeah, while your strikes are fast, your body is not fast enough, so I'll be fixing that for you."
"Hey! Aren't we supposed to train together?!" Eris has a look of betrayal on her face.
"Come on, don't look at me like that… I'll be alternating between every one of you as we train okay? And Eris, why don't you train with Isolte? You need to learn how to counter the Water God Style and Isolte needs to learn how to deal with someone who is very fast." Ollie easily points out the weaknesses of everyone.
"Fine… I see your point." Eris relents.
"You are very observant." Isolte notes.
"I'm surprised as well, I thought you were not interested in the sword Ollie." Nina adds.
"He is not? Even though he is a sword King?"
Isolte is surprised, becoming a Sword King even though you are not interested in the sword is something that sounds ridiculous. It's a situation that makes one wonder something like 'Then how far would he reach if he was interested in it?'
"Well, learning the sword is just a means to an end, even though I'm not going out of my way to improve my skill, it's inevitable that I improve just from sparring or even watching. I am the physical manifestation of why life is unfair… even though I do not put efforts, I find myself growing stronger every time I hold a blade."
The hall goes silent as Ollie says that.
"Stop acting sentimental all of a sudden! I don't like it. You're strong right? Then there is nothing wrong with that." Eris breaks the silence, displeasure on her face.
"Eris-san is right… I think you should be proud of your skills as well, you made Oshishou-sama take a step back after all." Isolte says.
"That's right, if you are acting like that, then what are we who are training earnestly supposed to do? So hold your head high a bit." Nina adds.
"Haa? Aren't you guys misunderstanding me here?"
Ollie is certainly proud of his skills, both the ones he bought from the company and the ones he has learnt since he arrived in this world. Who wouldn't? Something like this was fictional to him just some months back after all, so it's only natural he would be proud of the things he has access to.
Ollie sighs. "Well, I guess it's fine, seeing as you girls are trying to comfort me." Ollie says, his tail swaying behind him.
Seeing such display, Eris feels a strong urge to go pet him but she restrains herself, she can do that later.
"Hmph, anyway let's start." Eris says.
"Ah, yes." Isolte who is sporting a small blush replies.
"Alright Nina, to me!"
"Yes, I'll be in your care." Nina says earnestly, now bearing the countenance of a serious student.
And so the training went.
•••
"How… are… you… not… sweating… Ollie?" Nina says between pants as she lays sweating on the dojo floor.
"I have… never seen… Ollie break… a sweat during sparring." Eris who is also lying on the floor says, although she is not panting as hard as Nina.
"Haaaa… I'm a… little… frustrated…" Isolte lying on the floor as well, says.
They had all sparred among themselves and had a bout with Ollie who easily defeated each of them.
"Well, apart from the bedroom, sweating might be impossible for me…" Ollie says, enjoying the blush on the girls face. "Anyway, you don't have to be frustrated Iso-chan, Nina wins against you because of her attacks that lack any intent and although you won against Eris once, her physical abilities is a problem for you. Since you can obviously see where she would strike, Eris uses enough strength and speed for it not to matter. So what you need is to improve your physical stats before we move to reflexes."
"I figured so." Isolte says sitting up.
"Don't worry too much about it, as long as it's me you're sparring with, you'll improve."
"I want to argue with that logic but I can't, learning from you does seem easy." Isolte says.
"It's a talent." Ollie says smiling. "Well, since it's past midday, this is where we part. Nina you're training with your teacher right?"
"Yes…" Nina replies, sitting up.
"And Iso-chan with the Water God, although I have to learn under the granny as well, I'll be going with Eris to train with the old man today… would you look at that? somehow it feels like my responsibilities are piling up." Ollie sighs.
"Well anyway, give me your hand Iso-chan." Ollie walks to the sitting Isolte and says this.
"My hand?"
"Yep."
She doesn't know what he needs her hand for but she gives it to him anyway.
"Ah, this."
A green aura surrounds her and she feels her fatigue washing away.
"…You are a mage?" She asks surprised, face flushed.
"Of course, well, It's true that I don't look like it since I'm learning the sword but I'm a very talented mage." Ollie replies confidently.
"That's amazing, you don't look older than I do but you seem very capable already. That's reliable." Isolte compliments genuinely.
"Well, I'll eventually teach you guys healing magic…" Ollie says, a mischievous smile appearing on his face, one that would not look out of place on a swindler with his tail swaying behind him. "Swordswomen who can use healing magic without a moment's notice, kukukuku, I pity whoever is going against that."
Isolte sweat drops a bit.
"Ollie, you're making a scary face." Nina says.
"It can't be helped… the idea is very appealing to me that's why… anyway, you too Nina." Ollie takes the hand of Nina and her fatigue washes away as well.
"Ahhhhh, that felt good." Nina says in a voice that would not sound out of place in a bedroom.
Ollie can see that Isolte looks embarrassed by it, even though she felt the same way, she held back from reacting like Nina did.
"And then Eriri." Ollie holds both hands of Eris smiling at her as he uses the same healing spell on her.
"D-don't call me that." She says, blush on her face.
"Ehh, no way, not when you always make a cute face like that when I do."
"S-stupid…"
"Alright! Good job everyone… let's meet here again tomorrow."
"Thank you all for today." Isolte says as she stands up.
"You as well, Isolte-san" Nina says while Eris just nods to her.
And so they separate, Isolte going to meet the Water God, Nina going to meet the Sword Emperor while Eris and Ollie going to meet the Sword God.
•••
Right now, it's night and Ollie is in his room, he has had the room for a few months and while it's not as spartan as Eris' own, it doesn't look all that appealing to the eyes either.
Which is why he has done what he did.
"Yup, now this place is a bit pretty."
Hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room is a chandelier made using ice magic, and in the core of that chandelier is a ball of light made using light magic, which also helps to regulate the room temperature.
The ball of light moves slowly around the chandelier, thereby creating a beautiful image of refracting light.
All in all, It has an ethereal feeling to it which makes the room look pleasing.
Content with a job well done, he lies on his bed as a smartphone appears on his hand.
What he currently holds is the company issued smartphone.
"Huh, this might be the first time I'm summoning this right?"
Unlocking the phone, he browses through the catalog.
The reason he even summoned it in the first place is because he planned to purchase a new template.
Ollie is someone who prefers to purchase his money's worth, or in this case credit's worth, so he is not going to purchase an ability that is limited to a particular thing as versatility is always ideal.
And he knows exactly what he wants.
"Ohhhhh…"
After purchasing the template, he had thought he would get a headache as it integrates itself but that wasn't the case. It happened as naturally as he breathed.
Right now, he can feel the new senses in a metaphysical way, although the template is still T4, there are a lot he can still do with it.
First thing.
"Alright, you have served your usefulness."
Ollie puts a hand on his bed and with a pulse of energy, the bed sinks into darkness that manifested underneath it.
Placing a hand where his previous bed had been, a new one forms gradually in the space. Apart from the big bed looking out of place in the small space of his room, it also has expensive looking bed covers.
Ollie lies on the bed and breaths a sigh of contentment.
Just nice.
"Ollie…" The soft voice of Eris accompanies the rapping of the door.
Standing up from the bed, he walks to the door and opens it. "Eris… what a pleasant surprise." He says.
"C-can I come in?" She asks, a small blush on her face.
Stepping aside, Ollie invites her in. "Of course, mi casa, su casa and all that."
"Mecasa— what? What language is that supposed to be?" She asks confused as she steps in.
"It's Spanish…" Ollie replies as he locks the door.
"I… don't know what that is."
"I would be surprised if you did… anyway it means "my house is your house" like an expression of hospitality." Ollie replies as he goes to seat on the bed.
"Oh… is that so?" Eris replies distractedly as she looks at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
"Wow, this is very pretty…" She says with sparkling eyes.
"It is, isn't it? I think I did a good job." Ollie replies, pride in his voice.
"You made this, Ollie?" Eris asks as she reaches a hand to touch it, noticing it's cold.
"Yep." He replies popping the p.
"Hmmmm… It's ice right? wouldn't it melt?" She asks.
"Normally it would but that is not ordinary ice. That is…" He pauses for dramatic effect as Eris looks at him intently. "…magic ice!"
She stares.
She sighs.
"You're always playing around." Saying that, Eris sits on the bed beside him.
"Well, I try not to take life too seriously."
"I noticed." Eris replies.
Companionable silence surrounds them as they sit beside each other and it is only broken as Eris rests her head on Ollie's lap.
"Eris?"
"…I told Ghislaine about Rudeus…" She says, her voice a bit withdrawn.
"Err, Ghislaine is my first sword teacher, she's of the beast race like you. She has been with me since I was a child. She is… family."
Listening to Eris talk, Ollie begins to stroke her hair.
"She was not happy." She sighs, leaning into his touch. "I told her that I was fine but she didn't believe me… such a worrywart, that Ghislaine." A small smile can be seen on Eris face.
"Are you?" Ollie asks.
"Am I what?"
"Fine… are you fine?"
"I… think I am. At the very least, I am a lot better than before." She says as she turns, now facing his stomach.
"I see… well, you can always talk to me if you are troubled. The usual Eris who acts without restraint is my favorite after all."
Eris face reddens and her heart flutters from his casual words.
"Thank you, Ollie." She responds to Ollie who continues to stroke her hair as she wonders how he always knows the right things to say.
Perhaps Ollie's words might be casual but to Eris, who only has Ghislaine left in her life, his words means a lot, a reminder that someone else cares about her well-being.
And it is at that, that she realizes something.
"Hey Ollie, can you tell me about yourself?"
"Eh, what brought this on?"
"I guess I'm curious. It feels like you know almost everything about me, but I don't know much about you. How did you get so good at magic even though you're young? Why are you learning the sword? What are your favorite meals, do you like spicy food? Sweets? Where were you born? What about your family? You're always spending time with me, what do you like to do when you are on your own? I just… want to know more about you."
Eris realizes that when she talks to Ollie sometimes, even though he should be missing some contexts, he always seemed to know what she was talking about.
It's not fair that he knows so much about her while she doesn't know much about him.
"Eris… isn't that the type of line a girl tells her crush?" Ollie teases.
"Wh-what are you talking about?! D-don't be silly. As if I woul—"
"You don't?"
"Eh?"
"Eris, you don't like me?… I see. That's very sad for me… my heart is actually aching."
"…"
"Did you say something Eris?"
"I said I like you, idiot!" She yells in embarrassment, fist reflexively reaching for Ollie's face.
"Ow."
"Ah, are you okay?" She asks with worry.
"Hahaha, I'm fine, I'm fine. You have such cute reactions that I can't help but want to tease you."
"Hmph…" Although Eris sounds annoyed, a fond smile is displayed on her face.
"Anyway, , answer my question Ollie."
"Ah, then…"
And so Ollie tells her about himself… within reason. How he was born in a faraway place as an orphan. His favorite meals, things he enjoys doing and so on.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ollie asks.
"Well, after hearing all that, I somehow now see you in a new light. So you weren't always that strong huh, Ollie?" Eris says, wondering just what sort of training he went through to get as strong as that.
"Hmm? I guess not. I'm pretty amazing aren't I?" Ollie laughs.
"Yeah… you are."
"…I didn't think you would agree with me."
"Well, it's true that you are amazing right?… You even managed to teach me a magic spell in the span of a day, I might not know a lot about magic, but even I can tell that's pretty amazing, you know." Eris says.
"Well, that might be true but I don't want to be amazing in your eyes, I just want to be "Ollie."" He says to her.
Raising her head up from Ollie's lap, Eris places her hands on his chest as she pushes him down in the bed, now resting her head on his chest.
"What wrong with being "Ollie" and "amazing?"" She asks.
"…nothing." Ollie who is staring at the ceiling replies.
"Then it's fine right? You can be Ollie and amazing… don't worry, I won't treat you any different." Eris says softly.
A smile on his face, Ollie chuckles as he rests a hand on Eris' head.
"That's fine then…"
And so they continue to talk into the night until they fall asleep in each other's arms.