"O God, I thank you."
"For allowing me to eat such delicious food."
Ten minutes later, Asia put down her chopsticks, clasped her hands together in front of her, and offered a prayer of thanks.
But just then, a finger extended from the girl's right side and tapped her on the forehead.
Bonk—!
"Ow!"
"Good, it should hurt."
Lynn withdrew his hand: "Stop praising your broken god. The one who invited you to eat isn't your god, it's me."
"S-sorry, that was rude of me." Asia came to her senses and hurriedly replied: "The food you made, Lynn, is incredibly delicious. It's the first time in my life I've eaten something so tasty."
Saying this, Asia racked her brains before finally thinking of an apt description: "Divine feast! Yes, this is a divine feast! Food that only a god could eat!"
"That's more like it."
Lynn nodded in satisfaction: "Alright, now that your stomach is full, it's time to talk business."
"Business?"
"Of course. I went to great lengths to rescue you from Diodora's hands and even treated you to a meal. You didn't think all of that was free, did you?"
"Um... I don't have any money."
Asia's expression suddenly became tense.
As a heretic who healed demons, the church not killing her was already lenient; naturally, they didn't give her any money.
After being expelled by the church, the money Asia spent traveling was given by the Fallen Angels, and the amount wasn't much either.
Coupled with the Fallen Angels losing contact midway, she had run out of funds by the time she reached Kuoh Town and was now penniless.
"Lynn, can you give me some time? I'll find a way to earn money to repay this kindness."
"I don't need money." Lynn willed it, summoning the boosted gear.
"What I need is your Sacred Gear, Twilight Healing."
"Sacred Gear?" Asia's body stiffened.
For some reason, she suddenly remembered what Diodora had said to her not long ago when he made his move.
[I originally intended for that Fallen Angel to take your Sacred Gear, then step in to save you when you were in despair. ]
[It's a pity that those Fallen Angels somehow offended some big shot and all disappeared overnight. My plan was affected and fell apart along with them. How unfortunate. ]
As a holy maiden of the church, Asia naturally understood what having her Sacred Gear taken away represented.
From Diodora's words, she had already realized that the group of Fallen Angels who originally contacted her weren't good people.
The reason they invited her was purely because they coveted the Sacred Gear within her.
But before she arrived, those Fallen Angels were killed.
As the one who killed the Fallen Angels, Lynn was now making the same demand.
Looking at the black-haired young man before her, Asia's hands, unbeknownst to her, had clenched her nun's habit.
"Lynn, did you save me because you coveted the Sacred Gear within me?"
"Mhm."
"Then why did you invite me to eat?"
"I have a kind heart. I can't stand to see someone go hungry."
"..."
So it was my last meal.
Asia silently lowered her little head.
She had indeed heard before that there was a special tradition in the East.
Before executing a prisoner, let them have a full meal so they can leave this world without regrets.
She never thought she would experience it one day.
Recalling the hardships she had endured these past days and the delicious food she had just eaten, Asia felt at peace.
She clasped her hands together in front of her, her expression gradually becoming serene.
"I am ready. Take my Sacred Gear."
"You don't need to tell me; I already took it."
"Eh?!"
Asia's eyes snapped open.
Looking at the boy in front of her whose aura was churning, vaguely emitting a terrifying presence, a look of confusion crossed her face.
Wait, this isn't right.
Didn't the people from the Church say that you die if your Sacred Gear is taken away?
Why is she still alive?
"Could it be... this is the afterlife?"
"Pfft! Little Asia, you're too cute, how can someone be this adorably silly, nya!"
Kuroka, who was standing nearby holding up her phone to record, finally reached her limit, clutching her stomach and bursting into loud laughter.
With a loud clatter, Kuroka, due to her exaggerated movements, knocked over the chair and crashed directly onto the floor.
But even so, she continued to roll around on the ground clutching her stomach, even her tail spinning incessantly like a top.
Hearing the laughter ringing in her ears, Asia finally snapped back to reality and realized the truth.
"I'm not dead?"
"Yeah, you're not dead, nya."
Kuroka climbed up from the ground, a smile still lingering on her lips.
"How does it feel to escape death, little Asia?"
Asia hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping herself.
"..."
Didn't the people from the Church say that you die if your Sacred Gear is taken away? Why was she still alive now?
All sorts of doubts flashed through her mind; the girl's brain couldn't handle the load and immediately crashed.
Fortunately, at this moment, Lynn's voice sounded.
"This is my special ability."
"Weren't you wondering before why I have Fallen Angel wings?"
"This is the reason. I can grow stronger by taking away others' power through Sacred Gears."
"I see."
Asia suddenly understood.
Although there were still some parts she didn't quite grasp, the result was that she had survived.
As she relaxed, Asia suddenly felt a bit embarrassed; she realized just how funny her previous statement had been.
Fortunately, Lynn didn't mock her thoughts.
As for Kuroka, she had finished laughing by now.
Repeatedly watching the recording she just took on her phone, her eyes suddenly darted, and an idea struck her.
"Speaking of which, little Asia, you're homeless now, right? Want to stay here?"
"Stay here?"
"Yeah, the house is short of a maid to clean up, and I think little Asia is quite suitable, nya."
Kuroka's tail lifted up behind her, poking Lynn beside her.
"What do you think?"
"I think you just want to be lazy," Lynn exposed the lazy cat's thoughts without mercy.
Kuroka disagreed: "What I'm doing is creating job opportunities. In the words of your Dragon Country, I'm an entrepreneur, the provider of food and clothing for the workers, nya!"
"It's amazing you can say something like that," Lynn gave her a look and didn't continue to argue.
That head of hers, only knowing how to eat, drink, and play, always spoke whatever came to mind.
If they kept talking, she might say something even more earth-shattering, inviting misfortune.
Ending the sensitive conversation, Lynn looked towards Asia.
"Since you have nowhere else to go, then stay here from now on."
"There are plenty of empty rooms, pick whichever one you like. Tell me if you need anything."
Although she was penniless, Asia had actually generated quite a bit of revenue for him.
By using Diodora, whom she had lured, he not only earned ransom money from Ajuka but also gained an opportunity to contact the Khaos Brigade.
Compared to these gains, providing accommodation was nothing.
On the other side, after receiving Lynn's reply, before Asia could say anything, Kuroka, with a glint in her eyes, suddenly grabbed her arm.
"Come on, little Asia."
"Sister will help you pick a good room."
"O-Okay..."
Before leaving, Asia only managed to say thank you to Lynn before being pulled upstairs.
Under Kuroka's guidance, she arrived in front of a room on the right side of the corridor.
"It's here."
Kuroka reached out and pushed the door open.
The next second, a huge room filled with household items appeared in Asia's line of sight.
"How is it? It's huge, right?"
Kuroka's tail swayed, and a smug smile appeared on her face.
"I learned a bit of spatial magic when I was bored before. Although I can't use it for combat, it's more than enough to renovate a house."
"That's amazing."
Asia let out an exclamation of admiration.
Although she hadn't studied magic, she had heard how difficult spatial magic was.
It was only at this moment that Asia clearly realized just how powerful Kuroka was, despite always acting so frivolous since their first meeting.
"This room was originally prepared for little Shirone. But I won't be needing it for a while, so I'll let little Asia use it."
Kuroka raised a hand and pointed to the double bed not far away.
"I'll tell you a little secret, little Asia. That bed has been modified; as long as you lie on it and inject magic power to activate it, you can eavesdrop on the sounds in Lynn's room."
"Eh?" Asia's eyes instantly widened, and her thoughts stopped for a moment.
Click—!
A dazzling camera flash sounded.
When Asia came to her senses, Kuroka was already taking a series of photos of her with her phone, going 'click click click'.
"Hmm, little Asia's expression is indeed very interesting. It would be even better if Shirone was here, nya."
Contentedly putting away her phone, Kuroka pulled out a manual from her bosom and handed it to Asia.
"This room has some other mechanisms, look through it slowly. I'm going to find Lynn to play with, nya~"
As soon as she finished speaking, Kuroka left Asia alone and turned, skipping away from the room.
Seeing this, Asia hesitated, not walking towards the double bed, but instead sitting down on a nearby chair.
[Shirone's Room User Manual]
Looking at the manual in her hand, Asia quietly opened the first page.
[. The wooden desk near the room door is equipped with a projection mechanism. Press the third book from the left on the bookshelf and inject magic power into the book to open the switch. ]
"The wooden desk near the room door?"
Asia blinked and looked forward.
She was currently sitting on the chair right in front of the wooden desk.
Out of curiosity, her gaze fell on the bookshelf, found the mechanism mentioned in the manual, and injected magic power into it.
The next second, a 'swish' sounded.
The bedroom curtains closed from both sides, blocking the light source.
Darkness enveloped the room, and a projection shot out from nowhere, landing on the wall directly in front of the double bed.
Asia curiously walked over to take a look and found that the projected scene was also a room.
Just then, the sound of the door opening echoed.
Kuroka pulled Lynn's arm and walked into the room.
As if she knew someone was spying, she suddenly turned her head to meet Asia's gaze, displaying a malicious smile.
After that, she slowly raised her hand towards Lynn.
"This is..."
Asia tilted her head in confusion.
Having been raised as a Holy Maiden since childhood, she still didn't know Kuroka's true objective at this moment.
It wasn't until a minute later, when a passionate symphony sounded through the screen, that the girl's eyes widened in astonishment.
...