Beta Testing the Apocalypse 090 (Patreon)

"You want to host a festival?" asked Mordred, seated behind Leon as she lathered up his hair and body in preparation to enter the palace's colossal communal bath.

Nodding in affirmation, Leon explained, "Approval Rating was one of the most important metrics we were evaluated on last year. Since we've only managed to reach the Seventeenth Floor, I was hoping to pad our stats a bit by hosting a culture festival and fighting competition."

"What's your current Approval Rating...?" asked Mordred.

"It dropped to 77% after I decreed that people couldn't own televisions and personal computers, but it's been steadily increasing thanks to the Colosseum and the drones the R&D Bureau developed to track people's progress in the Tower," answered Leon. 

"I honestly don't get why people are so obsessed with those gadgets," said Mordred. "Why would anyone want to sit and stare at a stationary screen all day when you can get up and move your body? Seems like an easy way for people to become fat and lazy."

"Eh, people from different ages have different values," contended Leon, shrugging. "But I empathize with that sentiment. That's why I made it so that only taverns, libraries, and other communal hubs could have TVs and computers. I'll probably rescind that in a few years, but it's too early to let people fall into sedentary habits and lifestyles that don't contribute to the community somehow..."

"I still think we ought to mandate military service so people can repay you for bringing them back to life..." muttered Mordred, punctuating her words by pouring warm water over Leon's head.

"Hmmm..."

Though he had vetoed the proposal in the past, Leon wasn't incapable of seeing the 'reasoning' behind mandated service. Finding purpose in a new world wasn't easy, especially after you had just died, so many floundered about for weeks or even months before resolving themselves to enter the Tower or find a job. Rosanna had proposed a two-year mandatory service period to help new arrivals acclimate to life in Purgatoria and give them a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves.

"I'll consider it once this year's Grand Banquet has concluded," said Leon, rising from the square-shaped bath stool he had been seated on, water dripping from his golden locks as he stated, "If nothing else, we can have new arrivals attend a 3-6 month boot camp to break them from the habits of their previous worlds and better prepare them for entering the Tower. If we provide a basic salary and increase it based on their achievements, we should be able to retain at least a few talents. After all, it's much easier to hold onto a job you 'know' will reward you than to seek employment in an unfamiliar environment..."

Entering the bath ahead of Mordred, Leon waited for her to enter and sit down before sitting between her legs, taking advantage of his small size to enjoy being the one doing the reclining rather than being the one who was reclined against. Having to relive infancy and early childhood was an extraordinary inconvenience, but it wasn't without its perks.

"What did you have in mind for the festival...?" asked Mordred, sporting a faint smile as she sat with her arms resting on the edge of the bath.

"I know many still feel homesick, so I want to spend two to three weeks celebrating the cultures and traditions of the many people of Purgatoria," explained Leon. "We'll host a competition to create the best kiosk or stall along the main and side roads surrounding the Colosseum. It's a bit last minute, but if we promise a hefty reward, I'm sure people will pull out all the stops. At the same time, we'll host preliminary matches to determine the eight to sixteen people who will participate in the main tournament on the final day..."

Leaning his head back against Mordred's diaphragm, Leon added, "To make things fair, we'll restrict participation to those of Yellow Grade or lower. Then, to show people how incredible Grade increases are, we'll promote the winner to Green and have them participate in an exhibition match against someone of the same Grade. If they prevail, we'll promote them to Blue and wrap things up by having them face you..."

Though she was excited by the prospect of a good fight, a frown marred Mordred's face as she asked, "Isn't that a bit excessive? We only have a handful of Blue Crystals, and they're supposed to be used as rewards for members of the FES or to elevate me to Indigo..."

"This is the first of what I hope to be an annual tradition, so the reward should reflect that," maintained Leon. "Also, the crystal I'll be offering as a reward is the one Tatsumaki repaid me for helping to summon her sister. I wouldn't tap into the Principality's reserves to sponsor an event I came up with on a whim..."

"Mmm...well, if you're willing to go that far, we'll place our exploration of the Seventeenth Floor on hold to help organize and provide security for the festival," said Mordred, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around Leon in a way that caused her breasts to squish against his shoulders and the back of his neck. Then, as he had prohibited any 'explicit' acts until his body had matured, she kissed his cheek and mused, "Now I'm hoping the tournament winner gets promoted to Blue. It would be a good warm-up if this year's Grand Banquet requires us to fight..."

"That's a good point..." muttered Leon. "We'll have Wil overhaul your gear before the banquet begins. And while we're there, I would prefer it if you didn't remove your helmet. If the other Beta Testers all originate from my world, at least a few would be able to recognize you at a glance. Keeping your identity a secret should afford us at least a slight edge..."

Furrowing her brows, Mordred briefly deliberated before smiling as she revealed, "Then you should consider yourself lucky. In my previous life, after I finally revealed my identity, I vowed to never again conceal it for as long as I lived. But, since I had to die to end up here, that oath is no longer in effect..."

"I've considered myself fortunate from the moment you first appeared," proclaimed Leon, adopting a faint smile of his own as Mordred fell and remained silent for several seconds. She nearly drowned him afterward, but Leon felt it was worth it to see her flush up to her ears...

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Since food was the foundation of any good festival, Leon met with the leaders of the 'Purgatoria Cooking Alliance' to ensure there would be a wide array of foods present at little to no cost. The festival was basically a PR stunt to increase his Approval Rating, so the last thing Leon wanted was people stressing about costs. Thus, rather than charging money, the festival attendees would be provided tickets that could be used to acquire food or drinks from participating vendors. The vendors would then receive prizes and glory based on the number of tickets they assembled, so those originating from the world of Shokugeki no Soma were particularly excited as the format was similar to the Moon Banquet Festival, which was a fairly major event back at Totsuki Culinary Academy...

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*tok* *tok* *tok*

"It's open..." responded Leon, his voice low and lazy as he lay atop the sofa in his study, enjoying a lap pillow from Rem as he read an original manga written and drawn by one of Purgatoria's five resident Mangaka. Three of them drew Fujoshi and Yaoi manga, but as one of his summons was Eiji Niizuma from the world of Bakuman, Leon was reading an original story created by the genius Mangaka, who was understandably obsessed with the idea of seeing a character he created summoned to Purgatoria.

Entering Leon's study pushing a food cart, Erina approached the sofa with a determined expression, stating, "I would like to open a food stall for the festival..." once she got close.

"Sure," responded Leon, surprising Erina as she expected at least a little pushback. After all, she and her team currently had a five-year exclusivity contract with the Principality of Asheford, so it wasn't an exaggeration to say she was overstepping her bounds by making such a request.

Rising to a seated position, Leon adopted a genuine, guileless smile and said, "The most important things to me are the happiness and well-being of my people and those I care about. You fall into both categories, Erina, so if there's something you'd earnestly like to do, you have my complete and total support."

"Leon..."

Following a moment of being taken aback, Erina adopted a smile of her own, a faint blush coloring her cheeks as she folded her hands over her lap and gave a steep bow, offering a sincere "Thank you..." before raising her head and removing the first cloche from the items she had prepared. Leon had to eat upwards of twenty small meals a day, roughly 20,000cal, to support his rampant growth, but he only ate Erina's food once a day as it was so good that if he ate it too often, everything else would taste like ass. It was also embarrassing, so whenever he ate her meals, he did so in private, often with Erina herself feeding him...

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'So hungry...' thought Leon, waking after around two and a half hours of sleep with his stomach grumbling. With his accelerated metabolism, a full eight to ten hours of sleep would translate to roughly 56-70 hours without food, so he rarely slept more than two before waking up to suckle the teet of Almeida and whoever else was sharing his bed. That night happened to be Daetta, so Leon was wearing a matching Rabear-themed onesie since she and the other girls liked to dress him up quite a bit...

As he had fallen asleep on top of her, using her breasts to cushion his face, Leon didn't need to wake Daetta or ask for permission before he began suckling her left nipple, creating a seal with his mouth and sucking to extract the warm and sweet milk within. Each Draph's breast milk had a unique flavor based on their eating habits, and since Daetta needed to be forced to eat anything but sweets, hers was like sweet cream with a hint of a nutty flavor.

"Hmmnnh...?"

Though she could be incredibly dense sometimes, not even Daetta could remain sleeping when someone was suckling her teet. However, as it was far from the first time, she just adopted a very motherly smile and hugged Leon closely, kissing the top of his head and whispering, "Be sure to grow up big and strong..." before closing her eyes and falling back asleep. Leon felt a peculiar sense of 'guilt' whenever she or another woman treated him like an actual child, but as maternal instincts were a very real thing, he did his best to take it in stride and not think too deeply about the mother and family he left behind on Earth. Would he return to them if he could? Not a chance. But that didn't stop him from thinking about them and wondering what he would do if they one day appeared in his Tower...

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(A/N: Sorry for the late posts. I've been preoccupied with something unrelated to writing for the past few days. I should be back to publishing 3-4 chapters by Tuesday or Wednesday. In the meantime, I wouldn't mind a bit of feedback. I already have something prepared for the Grand Banquet, but if you'd like to see me cover the festival and tournament, I wouldn't mind doing a mini-arc covering them.)