The next day, 7:58 a.m.
Inside the hotel, in Room 0721.
A blonde girl named Erica lay sprawled across the most luxurious bed, wearing her favorite white lace lingerie.
Normally, Erica's preferred way to sleep was nude. She loved the sense of freedom—unrestrained, unbound.
But yesterday had been a special case.
Yesterday, Erica had used Akuto and Saint Raphael as "casting materials" to perform prolonged, chantless water magic, and she had overdrawn her stamina and focus.
So after her maid Arianna said goodnight and left, Erica simply fell asleep without even taking off her lingerie.
"Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep!!"
A sudden alarm jolted the blonde beauty—like a living painting—awake, and she instantly sprang upright on the white bed.
"Hm? It's eight already? Why didn't Arianna wake me up?"
Erica found it strange. Under normal circumstances, her maid Arianna should wake her at six every morning.
"Arianna? …Arianna? …"
After calling out several times with no response, Erica could only get up herself and brew herself a cup of strong coffee.
"Honestly, did Arianna oversleep?"
Erica glanced at the mountain of books piled on the table and decided to forgive Arianna for sleeping in today.
After all, if Erica hadn't been digging through materials related to "the Holy Son" and "Akuto," neither of them would have slept in so late compared to usual.
…
Half an hour later, Erica finished her cappuccino and frowned at the clock.
"Still not up? What is Arianna doing?"
"Fine. I'll wake her up myself. If she doesn't get up soon, we'll miss the hotel breakfast."
Feeling magnanimous, Erica decided to wake her maid personally.
Because she truly did not dare to wake Akuto herself.
She had witnessed the "battlefield" between Akuto and Saint Raphael with her own eyes last night. If she went to wake Akuto today and saw something even more depraved, what would she do?
Last night's scene had already been mortifying enough, but at least Akuto did not know she had seen it.
If she had to stand there in front of him, eyes wide open, staring straight at it… Erica feared she would want to crawl into a crack in the floor and disappear.
In moments like this, Arianna was essential.
If Arianna went to wake Akuto, Erica could avoid that humiliation.
Therefore, Erica swiftly reached a decision: wake Arianna, then have Arianna go wake Akuto and Saint Raphael.
…
[Come to think of it, Saint Raphael-sama said Akuto-kun isn't a Heretic God. He's always been himself…]
[If he's always been himself, how could he possibly possess power that rivals a god? Unless… he really became an "Awakened One," or some kind of "post-born Holy Son," as an ordinary human?]
Holding those doubts, Erica walked next door. Her maid Arianna was staying in the room beside hers.
"Knock knock knock~"
No response.
"Knock knock knock! Knock knock knock!"
Still no response.
"Honestly, Arianna's sleeping far too deeply, isn't she?"
With a sigh, Erica directly used "Unlocking" magic to open Arianna's door.
Click.
The door swung open—and Arianna's figure entered Erica's view.
But Arianna's state was not quite what Erica had expected.
Erica saw that Arianna was sleeping fully dressed. In other words, Arianna was still wearing her maid uniform.
Not only had she not taken off her maid outfit—she had not even removed her black leather shoes. She was still wearing them, standing right on the pristine white bed.
The only thing that looked different from usual was that Arianna's one-piece purple stockings had been torn open by a small slit, just a few centimeters long.
After taking in those still "mostly normal" details, the truly abnormal information froze Erica on the spot.
Because beneath Arianna lay a stunningly handsome boy.
That boy was Akuto—the "suspected god or Holy Son" abnormal existence Erica had encountered yesterday.
But now that "Holy Son" was in her maid's room?
Holding her maid in the most intimate posture?
Still kissing her?
Erica's mouth twitched.
What kind of state did you have to be in to maintain a pose like that all the way until morning?
Just then, Arianna seemed to sense something and slowly opened her eyes.
"Hm?"
Looking at Akuto in front of her, Arianna first revealed a tender, affectionate expression—then was immediately swallowed by an unprecedented wave of shyness.
Because last night, Akuto had deliberately brought her here, saying that as punishment, he would make her stay right beside Erica's room, but she was not allowed to make too much noise and wake Erica.
If it had only been a normal wall separating them, that would have been one thing.
But at the time, Akuto had directly altered the wall between the two rooms into something like "one-way glass," allowing Arianna to see Erica while ensuring Erica could not see Arianna.
And so, in that feverish mixture of excitement and embarrassment, Arianna lost consciousness while still kissing Akuto.
Akuto could not be bothered to move the already fainted girl, so he simply left things as they were until morning.
And just now, Arianna's awakening was not because Erica opened the door.
More precisely, she reacted to Akuto's movement—the "rhythm" that stirred her senses—and only then did she open her heavy eyelids.
After waking, Arianna finally noticed the open doorway.
"Eh…?"
Stiffly, Arianna turned her small head and met Erica's gaze at the door.
"—Gah!!"
The instant she realized Erica was standing there, Arianna's entire body tensed. Her glossy toes curled tightly.
Fortunately, after their eyes met, Erica quietly closed the door again, preventing the situation from collapsing into even greater chaos.
"…"
At that moment, Akuto drew a slow breath and opened his eyes as well.
With Akuto's perception, there was no way he had not sensed Erica's arrival. And without his permission, Erica could not have opened the door.
In other words, everything that had just happened was something Akuto had deliberately arranged.
When Erica arrived, Akuto's body and mind fluctuated sharply. That fluctuation became the dragon-vein cadence of his symbiote, transmitting into Arianna's body—only then did Arianna awaken in response.
…
After Erica left, Arianna turned back to Akuto. Seeing that he was awake, she let out a helpless sigh.
"Akuto-sama, if you ever want to do something that刺激 Erica-sama like this again, please tell me first." Arianna pressed a hand lightly to her chest. "My poor heart can't take it."
"Yes, yes, yes. Next time for sure. Next time for sure." Akuto nodded, then—very naturally—rested his hand at Arianna's waist.
Since Arianna was wearing a high-waisted one-piece stocking, more precisely, Akuto's hand rested over the fabric at the top of it, right at her waistline.
Feeling that familiar rhythm again, Arianna helplessly licked her red lips.
"Honestly, Akuto-sama is such a big bad guy."
Despite the scolding tone, Arianna still leaned into his embrace and offered her lips.
Akuto knew perfectly well that Arianna was only putting on a coquettish act—because back when she rolled her eyes and fainted in his arms last night, he had already heard the System notification.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host. Providence Seizure completed.]
[Providence source: 艾丽安娜·羽山·阿莉阿鲁迪.]
[Blank initial ability slot +1. Current total initial ability slots: 6.]
…
Soon, time reached noon.
During that period, Erica had been waiting in the restaurant.
The longer she waited, the darker her expression became.
She could understand "sleeping in" because of that kind of thing—but sleeping until noon? What was that supposed to mean?
If everyone else stayed in bed while she alone got up early, then wasn't she the one who got played?
Still, Erica could not possibly go to wake Arianna a third time.
On one hand, she was afraid of disturbing Akuto. Regardless of whether Akuto was a god, based on the power he had displayed, she simply did not have the standing to interrupt him.
On the other hand, it was pure embarrassment.
The scene earlier had been indecent enough, but at least it had been… still.
If she saw something in motion, Erica truly did not know what she would do.
Fortunately, a little after eleven, Saint Raphael finally came downstairs, and Erica was able to breathe again.
"Erica, let's eat lunch first. Akuto-kun said he still needs a bit more time." Saint Raphael entered the restaurant and served herself a small portion.
"Saint Raphael-sama, you're only eating a little oatmeal? This is lunch…" Erica could not help but say.
"Mm. This is enough." Saint Raphael nodded, her expression subtly complicated.
The next second—
"Ugh…"
After a small burp, a thin stream of white "snot" ran from Saint Raphael's refined nose.
Erica: "…"
Fine. Now she understood why Saint Raphael only ate that much.
Honestly, how had she not noticed earlier that Saint Raphael's stomach looked a bit more swollen today than it had yesterday?
To spare Saint Raphael from embarrassment, Erica fixed her gaze on the stone that the Copper Black Cross had delivered.
It was said to be the "Gorgon Stone," containing the terrifying divinity of "the Starless Night."
…
After enduring Saint Raphael's bout of nausea, Erica finally eased up a little.
"Saint Raphael-sama, actually, early this morning, the Copper Black Cross sent a report. They found traces of a god."
"But from yesterday until now, Akuto-sama's Dragon Qi Compass hasn't reacted at all. Which means…" Erica looked at Saint Raphael, then glanced toward the restaurant entrance.
When it came to dealing with gods, Erica still found herself thinking of Akuto first.
"Which means the one that appeared is the other god." Saint Raphael completed the thought. "The one that fought the Boy War God to mutual ruin."
(End of Chapter)
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