As A Result of Trying To Live An Erotic Slow-Life, I Have Become The Underground Ruler of This Upside-Down Otherworld - Chapter 48: Chapter Two Interlude: Mia’s Awakening

Chapter 48: Chapter Two Interlude: Mia’s Awakening

Mia was feeling a sense of crisis.

Of course, she was keeping a wary eye on the changes in the surrounding environment brought about by the sister restaurant contract with Rongrong, but that wasn’t what was causing her unease.

“Hey… sorry, Mia. Can you call someone for me?”

“Oh, yeah. Got it, I’ll let them know right away.”

Arius poked his head out from the back of the shop, giving Mia an apologetic look as he spoke.

It goes without saying—it’s for “handling” things.

Whether it’s Arius’s increasingly uncontrollable sex drive or the Snakes’ need for their “meal.”

“Phew…”

After watching Arius head upstairs, Mia lets out a small sigh and starts preparing a drink.

Bringing a drink as a “service” is one of the signals.

It’s a code that Arius is requesting someone to come to him.

“I know it’s necessary…”

She casts a spell on the finished drink.

It’s a charm to enhance the body’s ability to absorb semen as magic power, like a sobriety aid, also speeding up recovery from the post-act daze that leaves one immobile for a while.

“Here’s your service.”

“!! Y-Yes! Thank you! I’ll go right now!”

When Mia hands the drink to one of the Snakes in the shop, the girl barely contains her urge to shout with joy.

Even so, unable to hide her excitement, she downs the drink in one gulp to calm herself, then leaves Ronnyan with a light step.

“Sorry, Sonya. That one’s only her second time.”

“No, I have no complaints. Don’t worry about it.”

Sonya, eating with Mia, genuinely seems unbothered.

“Being desired by our lord is the highest honor. Yes, being desired as the collective of the Snakes is the true honor.”

“I see.”

Sure, there’s a part of her that wants to be called, to be chosen, but more than that, Sonya sees their time with Arius as something for the Snakes as a group.

Unlike the Snakes who stayed under Nelba, the ones who came to Arius are like family, having shared hardships that words like “struggle” can’t fully capture. Because of that, they can purely celebrate each other’s joy.

“But it’s different for you, isn’t it, Mia-sama? I know it’s not my place to say, but is that okay?”

“You really hit where it hurts, huh?”

“My apologies. But we were made to understand by Serika-sama.”

Their faces break into wry smiles.

It’s not like Sonya always felt this way.

She used to think she, or they, were the ones who mattered, a mindset close to arrogance when she looks back.

In the end, it was Serika who corrected that thinking.

“Now I get why Towa said to just increase the number if it’s not enough.”

“To increase those who can handle our lord’s seed?”

“Yeah.”

It’s simple but realistic—there’s no other way, Mia nods, but she’s recently realized she doesn’t have the resolve Towa does.

“It’s so… frustrating, or maybe pathetic. If I could’ve handled all of Arius-san’s energy, things would’ve been different. Towa probably knew. She knew I’d end up feeling like this, knew it, and still said it. She could say it.”

“Mia-sama…”

It was a new emotion.

Mia had been thinking practically, but she hadn’t seen the true reality. Or maybe she couldn’t foresee it.

If she’d been able to keep up with Arius’s stamina, she could’ve said, “I’ll handle it,” even in that moment.

Towa foresaw what she couldn’t.

There’s a sense of inferiority, but that’s not the core of the crisis Mia feels.

“No, it’s not that I’m jealous of you or the Snakes. It’s just… I realized the only one who can make me understand myself is Arius-san.”

The parts of herself she didn’t notice, the shape of a happy future she couldn’t see.

It was all through Arius that she saw and learned these things.

“…You’ve changed a lot, Mia-sama.”

“Huh?”

“I know it’s rude, but the Mia-sama I knew was always proud, saying there was nothing she couldn’t do, even calling Eld-sama a fool—a strong person, so to speak.”

“Ugh.”

As she grew drawn to Arius, a blade from her past, now a dark memory, stabbed into Mia’s small chest.

To be precise, Mia wasn’t a member of the Eld Family.

Far from being a member or ally, Eld once sent Towa to assassinate her. In a word, they were enemies.

“You fought the Family’s strongest, Towa-sama, to a draw, then marched straight to the Family’s base. I was terrified back then.”

“Please, forget it…”

Mia slumps into her chair, head bowed, already surrendering.

“I still remember it. You stormed in and said, ‘You’re doing something fun—let Mia in on it!’”

“Nkyaaa!?”

Her bowed head slams into the table with a loud thud, sounding pretty painful.

In the end, she met Eld directly, didn’t join the Family, but agreed to cooperate for mutual benefit.

“So, when I think of that Mia-sama, I can’t believe this is the same woman worrying about not being enough.”

“Gu, guh… Sonya? I-I’ll make sure you’re next in line for Arius-san, okay? Please, forgive me?”

“To think you’d try to bait someone like me with that.”

“Gah…”

Finally, Mia collapses face-first onto the table, motionless.

It’s not just a fatal blow—she’s been revived and killed again. Mia might be done for.

“But as a woman, you’ve grown stronger.”

“…Huh?”

When Mia lifts her head, unable to move before, she sees Sonya’s gentle smile.

“It looks like you’re trying to reconcile reality with your feelings. I know it’s presumptuous, but even now, you could probably force your lord to be yours if you wanted.”

“That might be true, but… I don’t want Arius-san to hate me.”

That’s exactly why Mia feels this crisis.

She doesn’t want Arius to hate her—she wants to know him better.

In the happy world he’ll create, how can she be of help to him?

Arius’s inability to control his sex drive isn’t something he wanted.

To be precise, it’s something that came along uninvited as a result of what he did want.

Even so, he asks Mia to call the Snakes with that apologetic look.

She feels frustrated and pathetic for not being someone who can keep him from making that face.

She even worries that as more women embrace Arius without her doing anything, her reason for being here might keep shrinking.

“That’s what I meant by growing stronger as a woman.”

“Huh?”

“I might get laughed at for talking about womanhood, but if I were in your position, I’d have lost my mind by now. Driven by fear, paranoia, jealousy, or possessiveness that someone might steal my lord’s side, I might’ve tried to kill every other woman.”

“…It’s not like…”

She hasn’t not thought about it.

Many beauties in this world would take such measures without hesitation, and with Mia’s power, equal or greater, it’s possible.

“Mia-sama.”

“Yeah?”

“I said this to Serika-sama too, but… please, teach us, show us what kind of woman should stand by our lord’s side. We’ll give everything to make that happen.”

Sonya’s expression hardens, and she bows deeply.

“…”

Mia, sharp as she is, fully grasps the meaning behind Sonya’s words, front and back.

“Right. Being able to worry about Arius-san… that’s a kind of happiness, isn’t it?”

“Yes. It’s enviable.”

In other words, worry more, suffer more.

Of course, it’s not about wanting her to feel pain out of jealousy or spite.

Simply, they’re certain Mia, Towa, and Serika can do it, and if they can learn from them, they believe they can be of greater help to Arius.

“…Got it. Thanks, Sonya. I’ll make sure to teach you properly, so don’t worry.”

With a slight sense of clarity, Mia says it with a beautiful smile.

“No way. Please forgive my rude words. And I… we have high, truly high expectations, so please do your best.”

Sonya mirrors her with a smile she’s never shown before, bowing again.