Chapter 452: Sapphire's Decision (Part 2)
When Haruto spoke, Liala stopped targeting Celis, though she didn't bother to properly dress herself either.
Celis, who had been confused throughout the entire ordeal, finally breathed a sigh of relief and quietly stepped back a few paces to give Haruto and Liala space to conduct their research.
Surrounded by two provocatively dressed blonde beauties, even with Haruto's firm resolve, this research session ended much sooner than usual.
He did suggest at one point that both Celis and Liala should put their clothes on properly. Celis insisted she couldn't leave alone and needed Haruto to accompany her.
Truth be told, Celis desperately wanted to change back into her own clothes. Ravel's outfit was already quite revealing, and being several sizes too small on her, it became downright indecent.
If they were outside dressed like this, the righteous brave magical girl would have likely been too embarrassed and begged Haruto to accompany her to change much earlier.
Naturally, Liala didn't want Haruto to leave either. Since Celis couldn't change her clothes, Liala refused to properly dress herself as well.
After making about five percent progress in their communication magic research, well before lunchtime, Haruto began his cultivation practice again.
His partner was Liala, who had been prepared and waiting.
As for Celis, not to mention the life energy gained from morning exercises, she still hadn't fully digested what she received yesterday. Even if she wanted to cultivate, she couldn't think of a suitable excuse at the moment.
However, after Liala became unable to continue, Celis finally got to enjoy her turn.
Because they had cut the research short to begin cultivation early, none of the three went for lunch, which made Sapphire - who had just started to warm up to them this morning - sulk with anger again.
Fortunately, thanks to Haruto's direct approach, she didn't entertain any thoughts of leaving this time.
Women are strange creatures. Even when they already have certain desires in their hearts, they insist on finding appropriate excuses for those desires before taking action.
All to avoid appearing as if they're acting out of shameful or clichéd reasons.
As long as they aren't completely shameless women, or those who have been thoroughly trained, even the most promiscuous by nature follow this principle.
If they're more introverted, they might even feel too embarrassed to directly ask for intimacy from their own husbands or boyfriends.
Even when desperately wanting it, they'd rather hint through ambiguous behavior or seduction to make the man take initiative first.
This was a principle Haruto had deduced after eliminating all external influences and experiencing numerous beauties.
Virgins almost always fit this pattern perfectly, while experienced married women conform about eighty to ninety percent of the time.
Understanding this is crucial when pursuing women.
Many men become overconfident due to certain advantages - like wealth or good looks - and approach women with a condescending, boastful attitude.
Others enjoy making crude jokes or telling dirty stories directly to women, hoping to achieve their goals this way.
But these approaches actually decrease their chances of success significantly.
Even the most promiscuous women won't directly express "I want a man" or "fuck me, brother" in front of someone they're not intimately familiar with.
Women generally don't directly express their desires, instead concealing them behind more pleasant-sounding justifications.
For instance, they won't openly admit to liking wealthy men, handsome men, or those well-endowed with great skills in bed.
Instead, they'll use expressions that subtly convey their intentions while making themselves appear less vulgar.
When encountering wealthy men, they'll say "he can provide stability for my life." For exceptionally handsome men, they'll claim "he's pleasing to the eye" or "we have good chemistry." For those well-endowed with great skills, they'll mention "good health" and "ability to bring me happiness."
They always find self-justifying reasons that even deceive themselves, let alone others.
Of course, this isn't necessarily a bad trait.
Everyone cares about face-saving, and the more noble and beautiful the woman, the more importance she places on dignity - this is perfectly normal.
Both men and women instinctively pursue excellent partners of the opposite sex.
While shared experiences and emotional connections might compensate to some extent, overall, external conditions still dominate.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many simps.
Even for Haruto, his starting point was his exceptionally handsome and refined appearance, along with his innate charm aura.
Later came his special dual cultivation abilities and rapidly progressing strength.
As for emotional connections and shared experiences, those only developed afterward.
Understanding this helped Haruto know how to more easily win over women, without affecting him in other aspects.
Overall, the key to conquest lies in seeing through superficial appearances to identify what women truly want, then fulfilling those needs.
What Sapphire currently needs is someone who can help her resolve the issue with Toujou Basara. It would be even better if this person were powerful enough to help rescue Raphaeline together.
Sapphire feels somewhat guilty about Raphaeline's predicament.
If not for helping her, Raphaeline wouldn't have needed to be a surrogate, wouldn't have returned to the celestial realm to face punishment, and wouldn't have been imprisoned until now.
Though she feels guilty, she hasn't hesitated to call Raphaeline stubborn and brainless.
Haruto is now the person who can best meet Sapphire's needs, and he's excellent enough to perfectly match her criteria for a partner.
If not for Haruto's overly philandering nature, even with her burdens and even sharing with Liala, Sapphire would have taken the initiative by now.
Unfortunately, it's not just Liala - there are also her two nieces Mio and Maria.
Her friend and former sister-in-law Sheila is involved too, along with countless beauties that could barely fit in a classroom, making Sapphire unable to commit.
But after hearing Haruto's words, she has become aware of her true feelings.
Yet she still has many reservations, not wanting to burden herself with guilt and other complications.
Like not knowing how to explain things to Toujou Basara, or whether Haruto would truly let her take the lead...
The most crucial issue remains Toujou Basara. No matter how much magic was involved, they are ultimately biological mother and son.
Without resolving this nearly twenty-year-old problem, Sapphire can never seriously consider partnership matters.
...
Sapphire's worries didn't last long. Within days, Toujou Basara returned together with Toujou Jin.
The Toujou residence being next door meant Haruto received news of their return immediately.
But just as he planned to bring Sapphire to meet them, she began hesitating instead.
"This is... too sudden. I'm not ready yet."
"You've been preparing for years, and you're still not ready?"
Haruto retorted with annoyance, but no matter what he said, the usually decisive Valkyrie refused to take a single step forward.
"Sigh... women are so troublesome."
Haruto scratched his head and gave up on persuading her.
It seemed women would always be women—when it came to matters of emotion, they'd inexplicably become difficult.
"Then I'll go talk to Basara first and have him come see you tomorrow. That should be fine, right?"
"To...tomorrow? Isn't that too rushed?"
"I don't know if you're in a hurry, but I certainly am."
Haruto said impatiently, "You don't have to see him if you don't want to, but I won't have time to keep dawdling over this with you."
In his view, this matter was really quite simple to resolve.
Blood ties might be intimate, but having never met, their relationship wasn't all that close.
If they had actively abandoned him, there might be some sense of debt.
Meeting now would be like those mothers who abandoned their infants—not raising them, then waiting until the child grew up to reunite and expect support...
But Sapphire and Raphaeline had been forced into their situation back then. They just needed to explain things clearly to Toujou Basara.
However, Sapphire clearly didn't see it that way. As a mother, she felt deeply indebted—despite having the ability, she hadn't raised Toujou Basara all these years due to her own plans.
True to being a Valkyrie, Sapphire was shrewd when it came to fighting and killing, but faced with something like this, she became even more flustered than ordinary women.
After speaking, Haruto pushed the door open and left. He didn't plan to seek her opinion anymore—if he didn't take a firm stance, there was no hope of resolving this.
Watching Haruto's retreating figure, Sapphire bit her pink lips and returned to her room with both anxiety and anticipation.
She genuinely wanted to resolve this matter, but she equally had no idea how to face it.
"Uncle Toujou, Basara, good afternoon."
Passing through the iron gate of the courtyard, Haruto immediately spotted the Toujou father and son cleaning the entryway.
"Good afternoon, Haruto."
"You're here to see Basara, right? I won't bother you two chatting as the adult."
With that, under Basara's exasperated glare, Toujou Jin leisurely lit a cigarette and slipped into the yard, seizing the chance to slack off.
After learning about this world's Toujou Basara's background, even though he intended to make a move on Sapphire, Haruto felt no emotional turmoil facing Toujou Jin.
It was completely different from when he had seduced Uzaki Tsuki and Obata Natsumi—there was no excitement at all, nor any sense of awkwardness.
Toujou Jin probably had some interest in Sapphire and Raphaeline—what man wouldn't be intrigued by beautiful, powerful women?
But even if he knew Haruto's intentions now, he'd at most feel a bit sour, not twisted enough to think he was being NTR'd.
If Toujou Jin didn't have that level of mental fortitude, he wouldn't have cultivated to the point of being called the God of War.
However, Toujou Jin was unequivocally Basara's father both by blood and upbringing, so Haruto had to show respect for his close friend Basara's sake.
He politely nodded and waited until Toujou Jin left before whispering to Basara.
"Basara, how's the special training going? Want me to spar with you to test your progress?"
Haruto examined Basara's more muscular build and slightly sharper facial features with a smile.
"Forget it..."
Basara waved his hand dismissively, "No matter how much I improve, I can't keep up with your growth speed."
"Oh? Why say that so suddenly?"
Basara shot Haruto a sidelong glance and said flatly, "I can't even defeat half of my father's strength, let alone someone who casually eliminated a Child of Chaos like you."
Haruto asked in surprise, "Did Uncle Toujou tell you?"
He had assumed the father and son wouldn't receive outside information during the special training period, but he had underestimated Toujou Jin, known as the War God.
Even while conducting closed training for Basara, he still kept track of external developments.
Though there were actually some interferences - the news had been significantly delayed.
Otherwise, Toujou Jin wouldn't have learned about such major events nearly a month later.
"Yeah, I originally planned to train until reaching Satan-Class, then go to the Underworld to assist you all..."
Basara sighed helplessly, "But while I was still searching for the second gate within me, you had already resolved everything."
The so-called second gate was part of the customized training program Toujou Jin designed for Basara.
There were three gates in total: body, will, and soul.
Upon successful breakthrough, given Basara's excellent bloodline, reaching Satan-Class would come naturally, and finally completing the soul transformation would qualify him as a god-level powerhouse.
Unfortunately, even with what seemed like supreme talent and rapid progress to outsiders, he still couldn't keep up with Haruto.
After a month, Basara had just glimpsed the threshold of Satan-Class when Toujou Jin received the latest intelligence.
After analyzing the information, they discovered the matter had been concluded shortly after their training began.
The entire incident had only lasted three days from start to finish.
It was precisely because it happened so quickly that it seemed unbelievable, leaving many factions unprepared and magnifying the subsequent impact.
With the target gone, Basara lost his motivation.
After discussing it, they decided to return, just in time for the final exams.
Basara wasn't from the Hero Clan and would need to live in society like ordinary people. If he wanted to be more independent without relying on his parents or supernatural powers, he'd likely end up as an office worker, so having good academic credentials was still necessary.
In Haruto's view, not using available power was foolish - even without using supernatural abilities for unearned gains, he could still use them to earn easy money and live comfortably.
But some people genuinely desired ordinary lives, especially someone like Basara who had been special since childhood.
This was a personal psychological issue Haruto couldn't be bothered to comment on.
After catching up for a while and confirming that Basara didn't want to spar - even showing signs of giving up - Haruto brought up matters concerning Sapphire and Raphaeline.
Chisato Hasegawa confirmed that Raphaeline was still imprisoned, so the main issue was about Sapphire.
Although Sapphire had intervened, her and Liala's presence was known only to Haruto and his group, with no one else aware.
When Toujou Basara heard the related news from Haruto, he visibly froze.
Even after Haruto finished speaking, he hadn't fully regained his composure.
He had considered meeting his two biological mothers he'd never seen, and even planned to rescue Raphaeline, but suddenly hearing that one of his mothers was right across from him still caught him off guard.
But men are different from women—after calming down slightly, he adjusted his mindset and agreed to meet Sapphire the next day.
Haruto didn't use magic to shield their conversation either; if Toujou Jin wanted to listen, he could easily hear everything.
Because whether Toujou Jin heard it or not, he would have to learn about tomorrow's meeting with Sapphire eventually—it was just a matter of sooner or later.
Resolving Sapphire's emotional knots would inevitably involve Toujou Jin.
The next evening, the Toujou father and son came visiting.
Not only did they bring gifts, but they had also dressed up properly.
Mio Naruse and Maria led them to the living room, then instructed Burent, who was acting as a maid, to begin preparing dinner.
Because of this matter, the living room had been specially reserved for the evening.
Only Mio Naruse, Maria, and Haruto were present. Even Sheila, Lucia, and Liala remained in their rooms, while Rias and the others naturally wouldn't come to disturb.
Haruto sat in the host's seat, gazing at the slightly nervous beautiful Valkyrie on his left, and gently held her soft, slender jade-like hand.
"Don't be nervous. Regardless of what Toujou Jin is like, his parenting hasn't been bad—Basara has a good personality."
"Hmm..."
Under Haruto's reassurance, Sapphire finally calmed down somewhat.
But this composure shattered completely when she saw the Toujou father and son in formal attire.
Mainly because of Toujou Basara—she only glanced at Toujou Jin before completely ignoring him.
"Oh no, I forgot to change clothes..."
Looking down at her sexy combat outfit, Sapphire instantly panicked. First impressions were important, yet she hadn't even changed her clothes.
No matter how dashing she was, as a beautiful goddess, she still owned several elegant dresses. But Sapphire didn't possess Yuuma Amano's talent for instant outfit changes, and changing clothes now was clearly too late.
Haruto chuckled at this moment: "Basara, it's just coming to my place for a meal—no need to dress like this, right?"
Besides Sapphire, Haruto, Mio Naruse, and Maria were all wearing casual clothes, making the Toujou father and son seem somewhat out of place.
Toujou Basara was an honest kid and promptly threw his father under the bus.
"I thought this outfit felt awkward too, but Dad insisted I wear it, saying something about making a good impression..."
Ahem!
Toujou Jin reached out and vigorously ruffled Toujou Basara's spiky hair, forcibly cutting him off.
"Sapphire, long time no see."
He set down the gifts, took off his suit jacket, and feigned nonchalance as he said, "It's not like we dressed up deliberately. It's just that as an elder, I shouldn't be too casual when visiting for a meal."
"Yes, long time no see."
Sapphire showed no interest in Toujou Jin's performance, responding indifferently before focusing her attention back on Toujou Basara.
Only when she saw that Toujou Basara showed no signs of dissatisfaction or disdain did she slightly relax.
Given her figure and attire, she would never look unattractive no matter what, but facing the son she felt indebted to, she was somewhat overly anxious due to concern.
Haruto noticed Sapphire's demeanor—he had never seen her this nervous around him.
This thought only flashed through his mind briefly, and he didn't indulge in irrational jealousy.
He could tell that the way Sapphire looked at Toujou Basara was different from how she looked at him—there was only concern and guilt, nothing more.
At most, there was a bit of familial affection mixed in.
Not to mention, at this moment, her small hand was still held by his under the table, and her long, fair stocking-clad legs were pressed against his thigh.
As the dishes were served, Toujou Basara and Toujou Jin also took their seats on the other side of the dining table.
Toujou Basara sat to Haruto's right, directly across from Sapphire.
Naruse Mio and Maria sat below Sapphire, with Toujou Jin across from them.
The main characters of the evening were Sapphire and Toujou Basara, while Haruto, due to his special status, could be considered half a protagonist.
What special status?
Of course, the status of a "bad man" who wanted to pursue his friend's mother...