But the moment Inaba Tsukuyo appeared in the first-floor hall—
The atmosphere in the hall shifted subtly.
Onigawara Rin, who had still been cradling a cup of hot milk, instantly caught sight of the approaching Inaba Tsukuyo out of the corner of her eye.
She set down her cup. Her gaze locked in place. After all, as a swordswoman who had long trained in the way of the sword, Onigawara Rin had a viciously sharp eye. She saw it at a glance.
On Inaba Tsukuyo's cheeks—which normally looked pale and sickly all year round—there now inexplicably floated an extremely unnatural, one might even say abnormally alluring, flush.
That kind of red. It absolutely wasn't merely a lingering trace from having just taken a hot bath.
Not to mention—right now, even the buttons at Inaba Tsukuyo's collar were fastened all wrong. Clearly thrown on in a fluster.
"Tsukuyo?"
At this thought, Onigawara Rin narrowed her eyes and looked her up and down, her tone carrying a probing edge.
On the other side, Kikakujou Mary also sensed something was off. She paused mid-motion as she lifted her cup, her gaze likewise falling on this girl—the youngest of them all, yet the most terrifyingly powerful.
Especially when she saw that Inaba Tsukuyo—who, on account of her blindness, always gave off an aloof, otherworldly air—was now brimming with the guilty unease of a little girl who couldn't keep a secret.
Seeing this, the corner of Kikakujou Mary's eye couldn't help but twitch. A thought she absolutely refused to acknowledge sprang almost instantly into her mind.
Could it be. Leaving Tsukuyo alone in the master bedroom just now. Did Kami-sama not only counsel her, but also... do something else?
But she's so tiny! Even if her dexterity and agility defy all common sense, her stamina is ultimately no good.
At this thought, a powerful sense of crisis welled up in the depths of Kikakujou Mary's eyes. The competition around Kami-sama really was too fierce.
It was one thing that Amou Kirukiru burrowed toward Kami-sama's side all day like a beast in heat. But now even Tsukuyo, who usually seemed as harmless as could be, had actually learned to seize the advantage of being close at hand?
"Are you all right?"
Onigawara Rin leaned in a step closer, her whole face full of suspicion.
"Just now, when Kami-sama kept you behind—what exactly did he say to you?"
Inaba Tsukuyo's hearing far surpassed that of an ordinary person to begin with.
At this moment she could clearly catch the shift in these two's breathing rhythms, and even faintly hear their gradually quickening heartbeats. This meant everyone was waiting for her answer.
"N-nothing really..."
Inaba Tsukuyo turned her face away.
Out of guilt her voice dropped low without her meaning it to, yet she gritted her teeth and forced herself to maintain her usual composure. "Kami-sama just saw that Tsukuyo's endurance kept refusing to rise... and worried Tsukuyo was under too much pressure."
"So he kept Tsukuyo behind, and cleaned—cleaned out Tsukuyo's ears a little..."
"And said a couple of comforting words along the way, that's all."
Cleaned her ears?! The instant those words came out. It wasn't just Onigawara Rin and Kikakujou Mary. Even Hestia, seated at the far other end of the sofa, spat out a mouthful of half-cooled milk. It all splattered across the carpet.
That was simply an extremely intimate act! That guy! What in the world was he doing up there!?
Hestia's eyelid twitched, and she cursed inwardly, "Haimer, that big idiot!"
At the same time. Inaba Tsukuyo seemed afraid that a few more words would make her blurt out everything that had followed.
Relying on instinct, she hurriedly skirted around the teeth-gritting Hestia.
She strode quickly to the little round table where the tea and drinks were set, picked up an untouched cup of hot milk, tipped her head back, and poured it straight down her throat.
"Gulp, gulp."
Because she drank too fast, a few drops of the milky-white liquid slid down Inaba Tsukuyo's dainty chin and dripped onto the front of her collar, over her collarbone.
"There." "Tsukuyo's finished!" "Tsukuyo's going back to her room to sleep—Kami-sama said there's special training again tomorrow!"
With that, Inaba Tsukuyo set down the glass, its bottom clinking against the glass tabletop with a sharp clink.
Then, like a startled little rabbit, she darted swiftly down the first-floor guest-room corridor. She yanked her door open, ducked inside, and locked it up tight.
The whole thing happened so fast it gave no one any time to react.
But this very reaction only made her look all the more suspicious.
The hall fell quiet once more.
A faint tension smoldered in the air.
Nomura Satori, hands clasped behind her head, watched with a grin the door panel behind which Inaba Tsukuyo had fled in disarray. "Whoa."
"Who'd have guessed—Tsukuyo usually acts like a tight-lipped clam, but it turns out she's got her tricks too."
"Come to think of it, Kami-sama probably quite likes how well-behaved and sensible Tsukuyo usually is."
"At this rate." "Maybe Rin and Mary are the ones who'll end up at the bottom of the pile, hmm?"
Hearing these words so obviously meant to stir the pot—
Kikakujou Mary flung her long golden hair back hard.
She was, by nature, an intensely proud mixed-blood young lady—outwardly elegant on any ordinary day, but with a frighteningly strong pride underneath. "Hmph." "What's the big deal."
"A trifling little reward, some petty favor."
Kikakujou Mary folded her arms across her chest.
Yet her gaze still couldn't help but drift up toward the top of the staircase for a glance.
After all, she knew perfectly well that she didn't actually hold much of an advantage.
During this whole stretch of time, she hadn't just failed to actively seize any chance to prove herself—at best she'd merely been going through the motions.
She had originally believed that, with the figure she took such pride in, she could at least secure a place for herself.
But Kami-sama's gaze always seemed to linger on the pure sword demon, or on the little girl.
This alone dealt a heavy blow to the heart of a girl who, back at school, had always been the center of everyone's adoration, like stars cradling the moon.
"If I can't manage to become a little stronger... I'm afraid it really will turn out just the way Satori said," Kikakujou Mary muttered to herself in a low voice.
Onigawara Rin was harboring the very same thoughts.
Everyone knew it in their hearts.
At a time like this, Lili was naturally the most flustered one of them all.
There she was, cradling a cup of milk a whole size bigger than her own face. Curled up on the sofa, her little body all but sinking into that wide, plush cloud-silk cotton cushion.
Taking in the current state of the hall— "Everyone seems to really care a lot about Kami-sama."
Lili quietly slurped a mouthful of milk.
This was probably just what it meant to belong to Kami-sama's Familia.
At this thought, Lili lowered her head and looked at the feedback from the dismal stat panel on her parchment.
Even though she had just obtained 『Poisoned Chalice Sprout』, an absolutely rare privileged skill granting immunity to control effects—her actual numbers were still teetering on the edge of collapse.
Without enough strength to protect herself. Even under Kami-sama's protection, could she really stay here with any peace of mind, in a place where geniuses walked around at every turn?
But no matter what, from today onward she was officially a member of Kami-sama's Familia, and she had to do everything she possibly could to contribute her share.
Lili secretly clenched her little fists in the depths of her heart.
As for the other side of things—Inaba Tsukuyo's little touch earlier had not, to Haimer, really been anything out of line.
But for such boldness to spring from someone with a temperament as timid as Inaba Tsukuyo's was indeed rather surprising. It had probably burned through every ounce of courage she'd amassed in her entire life.
Listening to those small, pattering footsteps gradually fading away beyond the door, Haimer sat at the edge of the bed, his gaze coming to rest on the very spot where Inaba Tsukuyo had lain just now, lost in thought.
Inaba Tsukuyo's physical constitution truly was a hidden danger.
The skill 『Ill-Fated Sword Demon』 really did come at a steep price.
At the cost of completely forsaking all endurance growth, it had bought the ultimate sublimation of hearing, perception, and speed.
This kind of extreme, unorthodox path.
At low levels she could still rely on technique to dodge damage.
But once she later ventured down to the fiftieth floor of the Dungeon, or even the frigid glacial domain of the sixtieth—
the cruel atmospheric pressure and biting cold inherent to such an environment alone would be enough to shatter, in a single instant, a body unsupported by endurance.
To say nothing of also having to face the frenzied sweeping assaults of the Floor Boss.
But as for this problem of endurance—
he truly hadn't yet thought of a way to solve it.
He couldn't just keep relying on the Holy Emperor's 『Gensokyo』 hanging over her head to keep her alive by a thread—that was, in the end, no long-term plan.
At this thought, Haimer gave his head a slight shake and set the matter aside for the time being.
"Let's go take a bath first."
Haimer murmured to himself. He rose to his feet.
He rolled his shoulders, which had grown a little stiff from holding one posture for so long.
Then, treading over the soft carpet, he headed for the door.
The wall lamps along the corridor cast down a warm, pale-yellow glow. He descended the solid-wood staircase.
In the first-floor hall, several tall Magic Stone lamps lit the entire high-ceilinged space bright and clear, giving off a gentle radiance.
Tap. Tap. And then. Steady footsteps came down from the stairs.
The tension that had hung in the hall only moments ago was scattered in an instant, as though blown away by a gust of wind. The several girls immediately reined in their thoughts and looked up.
There they saw Haimer coming down the solid-wood staircase from the second floor.
His black hair hung down in casual disarray. Haimer's gaze swept across the hall.
Hestia's fixed, glaring stare was so intense it could almost burn a hole clean through his clothes. Even Lili was hugging her cup, gazing at him with pleading, longing eyes.
It seemed he'd come down at a bad time.
"What, does drinking a cup of milk require holding a meeting in the living room?"
Helpless, Haimer casually changed the subject.
"It's a little late for a meeting—everyone go back to your rooms and rest early."
"I'm going to take a bath."
With that. Haimer paid no mind to Hestia's teeth-gritting little gestures as she readied herself to tattle, and walked straight across the hall toward the spacious rock bathhouse.
He left the whole crowd of girls in the hall with nothing but a nonchalant view of his back.
Arriving before the door of the great bathhouse.
Haimer reached out, gripped the brass handle, and pulled it toward himself. He stepped over the threshold. After drawing the door shut behind him with a backhand—
the faint click of the lock sliding home was completely drowned out by the babbling of water within the bath.
Following the curling steam inward, the air was thick with the warmth of water vapor and the faint fragrance of body wash. Haimer walked over to the wooden rack in the changing area and was just about to undo his outer garment.
But then—he suddenly caught a hint of something odd drifting from deep within the mist.
And so. Haimer's hands went still.
His gaze pierced through the swirling white haze.
The great bathhouse was broad, and natural rock partitions divided the pool into several separate areas.
From behind the enormous stone pillar wound with moisture-resistant vines on the inner side, faint ripples of water could be heard.
Two figures were quietly soaking in the pool. The view drew closer.
Rania leaned back against the stone pillar, the greater part of her body submerged beneath the water.
Several spider legs, covered in sharp, glossy-black fuzz, were neatly folded and drawn together at her sides below the surface, leaving only her slender shoulders exposed.
As for Rei, at this moment she kept her head lowered the whole time.
The water rose up over her fair shoulders.
Her magnificent gold-and-blue wings drooped slightly downward, some of the sodden feathers floating limply upon the water's surface. They quivered faintly along with their owner's dejected mood.
Seeing this, Haimer had no wish to intrude further.
After all, though he was a god, he had no particular taste for prying into other people's privacy—especially not when these two were women.
But then. At that very moment, Rania looked at Rei and suddenly let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
"Rei." "What on earth are you thinking?"
"Don't tell me you actually want to win a god's affection?"
Rania's voice was pressed very low, yet it carried the exasperation of someone wishing iron would just become steel.
Hearing these words that seemed to concern him, Haimer's movements froze.
Was this about him?
If that was the case—then he really ought to stand off to the side and listen.
At this thought, Haimer, deep in contemplation, stilled his steps and lingered where he was.
Rania, meanwhile, hadn't noticed a thing, and went on earnestly pleading her case.
"We're a pack of sewer rats, monsters birthed by the Dungeon. Even just baring your feathers out on the street would send a whole crowd of people running."
"The only reason we get to live the way we do now—"
"is entirely because that Kami-sama shouldered all the outside pressure by force, and forcibly took us in under his wing."
"We've received the most precious thing there is, so all the more, we mustn't push our luck."
"I... I'm not pushing my luck..."
Rei kept her head bowed low, seeming to have not the slightest bit of conviction.
"You're not? Every single look you give Kami-sama, I can see it plain as day. And do you really think those few human girls trailing after Kami-sama can't see it either?"
"The reason I'm saying all this out loud today—"
"isn't only for the sake of us Xenos, but for Kami-sama's sake too."
"The reason Kami-sama is able to shelter us, and able to make the Guild and those great Familias back down, is very likely his prestige up in the Heavens."
"But what if you really did go and confess this so-called love of yours to Kami-sama?"
"What would the result be then?"
"Have you truly thought it all through?"
Rania fixed her stare on Rei's exquisite face.
"If Kami-sama, clear-headed and rational, flatly turned you down—"
"then with what face could you go on staying here afterward? What a humiliating end that would be—I hardly need to spell it out for you, do I?"
"But the most terrifying outcome isn't Kami-sama rejecting you."
"The most terrifying thing is if Kami-sama, out of a moment's pity, or out of that long-standing habit of tolerance of his, actually said yes!"
"If Kami-sama really did give a nod, and accepted the feelings of a monster!"
"But then what? You've gotten your answer—so what could you possibly do about it!"
"You have to realize, in this house, it isn't only us."
"Those girls at Kami-sama's side right now—which single one of them doesn't regard Kami-sama as the whole of her life?"
"Those girls are the true humans—gifted with extraordinary talent, their futures utterly boundless, destined to become the most dazzling existences on the entire surface!"
"How do you think they'd feel?"
"Made to watch their own god being intimate with a monster? Would they still follow Kami-sama as willingly as they do now?"
"And even taking ten thousand steps back—even supposing they didn't care."
"You of all people should know especially well how those ordinary humans on the surface, those nobles and commoners who fancy themselves so lofty and above it all, look upon monsters like us, cobbled together out of Magic Stones."
"Our very existence is a kind of original sin."
"And what's more, up on the surface there's even a specific word for it."
"It's called monster-lover fetish."
"As one of the earliest members among us Xenos, you should understand even better than I do exactly what that word means up on the surface."
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