"Hi, mind if I sit here?"
Just as Dark Amber was listlessly tasting food that held little significance to her, a clear, oriole-like voice sounded beside her.
From her peripheral vision, she could see it was Miku speaking.
"This is a public area. You may sit wherever you like."
Dark Amber slightly raised her brows. Her faintly dangerous, eerie vertical pupils and her somewhat lazy tone gave off an indescribable, thrilling aura. In any case, Miku secretly swallowed.
"Then I'll sit right here."
Suppressing the excitement in her heart, Miku didn't sit across from Dark Amber but instead took the seat right beside her.
This made Dark Amber raise an eyebrow. "Where you sit is your freedom, but the premise of freedom is that you don't disturb others."
The other clearly disliked close contact, yet she wasn't outright refusing.
It seemed her voice was having an effect. Even though it was their first meeting, the other must already have some foundation of goodwill toward her—or at least a favorable first impression.
In such a situation, Miku naturally aimed to push her luck a little. But she knew well that pushing one's luck required a method.
So, she put on an expression of hopefulness tinged with disappointment. "Sorry... I... I just wanted to feel a bit closer to you!"
With acting skills like that, it was almost a waste of talent to be a singer instead of an actress.
Dark Amber sneered inwardly. Good, this little mouse would be more fun to toy with.
"You're the Spirit Durandal brought back, aren't you?"
A contemplative glint flashed in Dark Amber's eyes.
"Yes. Those two girls earlier were Spirits too, right? They looked really happy."
Miku's expression gradually turned sorrowful. "Ever since... I became a Spirit, I've had to live so cautiously. It's only in the last couple of days that I've finally felt a sense of relief."
That wasn't entirely a lie.
After all, she'd never been discovered before, so she'd always lived on edge. But now that the cat was out of the bag, and the other side showed no intention of killing her—even extending an olive branch—it really didn't matter anymore.
"Those two are only so cheerfully foolish because they're idiots."
Dark Amber's gaze turned somewhat complicated, her tone dismissive.
"I don't think so. Spirits are very perceptive."
Miku didn't hesitate to spout empty, comforting words. "To me, it seems they've sensed Bishop Mobius's kindness, which is why they can be so carefree."
"..."
Dark Amber appropriately signaled that she had no intention of continuing this topic.
Seeing this, Miku carefully considered her next words.
To her, this meant she'd touched on a sore point. But the issue wasn't just that she'd touched it—the real question was why it was a sore point.
Based on what Miku had seen and heard, Mobius was undoubtedly a genuinely good person.
So why wouldn't she want to discuss this? Miku was quietly arriving at an answer: guilt.
Since the other was a Doctor, she would certainly conduct research on Spirits. Probably for that very reason, she'd placed the Spirits right under her own watch.
And since Mobius was the type to talk tough but have a soft heart, she must feel some guilt and a sense of debt over researching Spirits, believing her intentions toward them were ulterior.
That's why she didn't want to accept their friendliness.
If Miku had her normal wits about her, she'd have realized that you don't learn what the top brass are really like from inside their own organization.
She'd have signed the release documents to go back and sought other channels to learn about Schicksal and Mobius. But alas, the current Miku had been intelligence-diminished by pretty faces.
The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became. The curve of Miku's lips threatened to widen, and she hurriedly suppressed it.
Guilt is good. Having ulterior motives toward me is good—after all, I have ulterior motives toward you too.
Having figured this out, Miku wasn't in a hurry to press the attack now.
The two finally settled into a quiet meal. Aside from Miku occasionally making small talk, there was no further conversation, but it only strengthened Miku's resolve to join Schicksal.
--+--
Meanwhile, on the other side, Yoshino—who had stayed up late watching TV last night and struggled to get up this morning—had just opened her eyes when she saw a girl in a black-and-red gothic lolita dress examining her by the bedside.
She was so startled she nearly froze the entire room into an ice sculpture.
Even though she quickly regained control and stopped herself, the air had already dropped several degrees in temperature.
"My, even your timidness is as rabbit-like as you are cute. Truly adorable."
Kurumi narrowed her heterochromatic gold and red eyes, her tone teasing.
"Sneaking and crouching by Yoshino's bedside—even if you're a beautiful girl, that's pretty perverted behavior, Miss Kurumi! Though part of it is because Yoshino is just too cute. After all, seeing Yoshino's sleeping face up close, anyone would find it hard to look away!"
As Yoshino woke up, Yoshinon naturally woke up too.
Seeing the hand puppet that hadn't been removed even while sleeping, Kurumi didn't look surprised.
Instead, she finally stood up. "My apologies for the rudeness. But if you want to blame someone, blame yourself for staying up late, little rabbit."
She wasn't opposed to cute things—on the contrary, she liked them quite a bit.
Previously, a heavy weight had been pressing down on her, making it hard to breathe. It had been a long time since Kurumi had actively done something she wanted to do.
Though 'observing a little girl sleeping' as a 'want-to-do' activity did sound a bit perverted, replacing 'little girl' with 'cute creature' was closer to Kurumi's actual thoughts.
This kind of impulsive, utterly illogical behavior made Kurumi feel surprisingly at ease, and the corners of her mouth lifted.
"Miss Kurumi shows no sign of reflection at all. Could you really be a pervert?"
Seeing that her subtle hint for the other to show some self-awareness was ignored, Yoshinon immediately became blunt.
A blush rose to Yoshino's cheeks.
"Since you've said that, it seems I'd be losing out if I didn't actually do something 'perverted'."
Kurumi had heard every curse imaginable.
She'd killed so many people—did those people smile and say, 'About to die, yay!'? No matter the curse, she was long used to it. A harmless label like 'pervert' was just scratching the surface.
Yoshinon was a bit shocked by the other's thick skin. In her limited experience and understanding, anyone called that ought to feel deeply ashamed.
As for Yoshino, she bundled herself up in the blanket, her watery eyes clearly conveying 'stay away from me'.
"Just joking, no need to be so tense, little rabbit, and you too, puppet."
Kurumi didn't mind, but she didn't actually plan to cement the 'pervert' title. Seeing that she'd successfully intimidated the two, she finally relented. "Bishop Mobius and the Yamai Sisters have already gone out. If you don't want to go hungry, follow me."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.