The moment Asher took control, the lifeless doll transformed. Its wooden joints moved with an uncanny smoothness, mirroring the grace and fluidity of a living being.
It unsteadily hopped off the shelf, landing on the wooden floor with a soft thud. Despite the diminutive size of the body he was controlling, Asher's every movement exuded an unmistakable authority and dominance, albeit amusing in his present form.
Once on the floor, the doll stood still for a moment, the eerie emerald light in its eyes flickering like tiny, contained infernos, "Why am I in a different room?" Asher mumbled to himself in a voice that sounded like soft wind chimes, the words emanating from the small figure before him.
His bewilderment made him guess, "Did Grace move me for dusting or something?" he mumbled, his voice tiny.
With a determined nod to himself, Asher made the doll's wooden limbs move, beginning the long journey across the vast landscape of the room.
His tiny footfalls echoed in the silent room as he made his way toward the door, a titan's gate from his current perspective.
He looked around with a look of satisfaction upon seeing how well Grace had been taking care of this place.
He knew from the outside, the warehouse looked as abandoned as it was the day he first set her eyes on it.
The wooden boards were worn and weathered, the paint flaking in places. The windows were boarded up, the roof sagging from the weight of years.
It was the perfect disguise, a shell of a building, masking the secrets that it held within its depths.
On the inside, however, it was a different story. Grace, with her sharp eye for detail and ingenious creativity, had transformed the innards of the derelict warehouse into a comfortable living space, a secret sanctuary.
She retained the original brick walls, giving the place a rustic and charming feel, but had the floors and ceilings reinforced for safety and soundproofed for privacy.
The cavernous space was sectioned into living quarters, training areas, and a communal area.
The living quarters consisted of individual rooms for Grace, though Yui and Emiko preferred to stay in the same room.
The most ingenious part of the design, however, was the intricate network of escape tunnels Grace had dug out and fortified. They branched out in all directions, leading to multiple exits scattered across the city, just in case they had to escape.
Asher never thought he would see such an abandoned warehouse being turned into something that was the perfect blend of functionality and comfort.
This made him realize Grace's ingenuity and resourcefulness. She wasn't someone who only knew how to use her brawn.
A minute or two ago,
With a chime of laughter, Yui and Emiko walked into the bathroom, the air around them brimming with warmth.
The steam had already begun to seep into the room, the mirrors fogged up with the humidity, the water droplets trailing down their surfaces like tiny, glistening pearls.
As they unrobed, their clothes crumpled onto the cold tiled floor, their worries and burdens seemingly falling away with them.
Yui was the first to be fully unclothed, her clothes forming a neatly folded pile on the side while her slender naked body was revealed.
Her soft and perky breasts rested on her slender frame while her big black eyes wandered to Emiko, who was just about to slip out of her last piece of clothing.
"Oh, Emiko," Yui suddenly burst out giggling, her fingers finding their way to Emiko's huge breasts. She playfully cupped them and teased as her fingers dipped into her soft skin, "Did these get bigger again?!"
Emiko's cheeks flushed a brilliant shade of crimson, her black eyes wide in surprise.
She instinctively moved her hands to cover herself, a reflex response to the unexpected touch, "Yui! It's all in your head! A-And...your breasts also have grown now that we are almost 19," she protested, her voice strained with embarrassment, the corners of her mouth twitching, hinting at her struggle to suppress her embarrassment.
"Hehe, look at your face," Yui's laughter echoed through the bathroom, blending seamlessly with the soft patter of the warm water from the showerhead.
But unbeknownst to them, in his diminutive doll form, Asher ambled down the same hallway, his soft, rhythmic pitter-patter against the floor almost inaudible.
His painted eyes were glazed as if he was deep in thought. Before he knew it, he suddenly heard laughter and voices coming from the front.
Unthinking, his gaze steered towards the source of the noise, his eyes catching sight of the half-open door of the huge bathroom.
To his surprise, he found himself facing a sight that he had certainly not expected – Yui and Emiko in their unguarded state, their naked bodies glistening under the light and the steamy air lending them another layer of allure.
For a moment, he just stood there, frozen in place, the surprise effectively halting his steps. His painted doll eyes, unable to blink or avert, ended up staring directly at the spectacle before him.
He knew these two were quite beautiful but never expected them to have such a hot and sexy side.
Yui, however, happened to glance towards the door at that very moment as if she felt something.
Seeing the little doll by the door, her eyes widened with surprise and embarrassment, "Kyaaa!~ Hentai!" she squealed, her hand shooting out to grab the nearest towel. With a swift motion, she threw it at the intruding doll, her embarrassed shout echoing off the bathroom walls.
The towel soared through the air and landed with a soft thud, falling on Asher's face and completely covering his doll body.
Emiko quickly reacted with a beet-red startled face and thrust her hand forward. With a quick invocation, she summoned a gust of wind that slammed the door shut.
As the bathroom door closed with a resounding thud, Asher was left standing outside in the hallway, now covered by a fluffy bath towel, slowly removing it with his small hand.
Throwing the towel away, he shook his head as he continued walking, "Who takes a bath with the door open? Silly girls…"
Dwarfed by the oversized chairs and tables, Asher's doll form managed to clamber onto a chair in the dining hall where Grace sat leisurely, sipping her morning tea. His painted eyes stared at the old woman, who had paused in surprise at his sudden appearance.
"Well...," Grace began, her eyebrows raised in surprise, "wasn't expecting the royal demon consort to suddenly show up."
Asher shook his head as he asked, the mouth parts of his doll moving, "You address me as if I am the only demon consort in the realm."
Asher knew the reason people in this world call the Bloodburn Queen as the Demon Queen because only the Bloodburn Kingdom had ever tried to conquer Earth in history and was the only kingdom in the demon realm to have so many demon races under their rule.
It soon became a understanding among humans that they posed the highest threat and addressed them as such.
"But don't tell me you are still feeling bitter because you never saw it coming?" Asher knew it would only be a matter of time before she learned who he was since the more his fame spread in the demon world, the easier it was for humans to learn who he really was. And he already knew how she must have felt.
Grace smiled as she said, "Bitter? I am not that touchy. But I have to admit you had this old woman fooled. Still, I suppose I should feel honored that I am the first Soulservant of the husband of the demon queen."
Asher gave a casual shrug upon hearing her sarcastic remark.
"Besides that, I thought you'd be preparing for that Quest for the Worthy that's coming up," Grace asked as she took another sip from her cup.
In his tiny, childlike voice, Asher responded with a nonchalant shrug, "Well, I'm on the brink of leveling up and had some important things to make sure of as you know. That is why I took on an easy quest to not gain too much refined mana."
Grace watched him, her eyes narrowing slightly before she placed her tea cup back onto its saucer with a soft clink, "Makes sense. But this Quest for the Worthy," she began, her tone taking on a curious edge, "do you know much about it?"
"Well," Asher began, his small hands gesturing animatedly, "not really. That's why I'm here, thought you might know something."
Grace gave a short, mirthless chuckle, "Ah, that was a long time ago, about ten years before I was even born. One thing I know is that the format of the quest never stays the same, it keeps changing."
"Hmm," Asher hummed, his painted eyes staring thoughtfully at the old woman, "that's to be expected from such an important quest. But I already knew this."
"Then do you know that…" Grace's eyes glimmered as she asked in a low voice, "...people say if you die inside the quest, you would forever become a ghost in whatever realm the quest is taking place?"
"Ghost? What are you talking about?" Asher asked with a confused tilt of his head.
Grace cleared her throat as she said with a glazed look, as if remembering an old memory, "My parents had taken part in this quest. And they said…some of the dangers they had to fight and survive against, resembled people of the past…the ones that had never returned from the very same quest. They said maybe the Angels and Devils turned the ones who died into ghosts as a form of punishment or for their own amusement. Who knows…"
Asher had his mouth parted for a moment before letting out a chuckle, "You know Grace…I never thought you had such creativity when it came to bedtime stories. But seriously, if its true, I don't think it matters."
Grace finished her tea with a loud, satisfied exhale as she said with a smile, "Maybe not. But I am looking forward to seeing if you will survive the quest."
"You want me to or…" Asher asked with a raised brow as he met Grace's gaze, who smirked and answered, "It doesn't matter what I want. But let's say your survival is important for certain people."
Asher knew Grace was hinting at the survival of Emiko and Yui. If he dies, then they die as well.
As they conversed, a soft rustle of clothing echoed through the quiet hall, making both Asher and Grace turned to see Yui and Emiko shyly entering the room, their hair still slightly damp from their bath and dressed in simple yet comfortable garments yet sticking to their moistened bodies.
Emiko, who usually had an upright gaze, had hers lowered now with a faint reddish hue in her cheeks.
But the next moment, Yui suddenly took a step forward. With a swift motion, she dropped to her knees on the stone floor, her head bowed in an act of deep contrition.
"I-I am sorry, Master!" she blurted out in a trembling voice, her face flushed and her eyes tightly shut. She didn't know if her Master got angry for throwing the towel in his face while the embarrassment was still killing her from within.
