"Since I've got time today, I should deal with Rikka's situation."
The moment Takumi thought that, he turned a corner and spotted two girls in white robes.
They were standing by the roadside praying, making them incredibly conspicuous.
"Please, show mercy to these lost lambs~~"
"Please, in the Heavenly Father's place, have pity on us and show us some charity!!"
Irina and Xenovia were... apparently begging for food.
Passing pedestrians kept shooting them strange looks, but no one actually went near the two women who clearly looked like they had something wrong with them.
"Why is no one giving us anything? Japan really is awful. This country has absolutely no atmosphere of faith."
"Don't say that, Xenovia. We're out of travel money, so begging heathens for mercy like this is the only thing we can do. Otherwise we won't have anything to eat. Ahh, we can't even afford a loaf of bread!"
"Hmph. That said, this is all because you bought that weird painting. You were obviously scammed."
Pointing at a terribly drawn picture, Xenovia glared at Irina in utter disbelief.
Faced with her companion's accusation, Irina somehow looked completely justified.
"What are you talking about? That painting had a saint on it! The exhibition staff said so too!"
"Then do you even know who it was supposed to be? Because I have no idea."
Xenovia's retort instantly left Irina speechless.
By the end of it, the two of them were a long way from the harmony they'd started with.
Finally unable to take it anymore, Xenovia launched straight into a faith-based attack and started shouting, "Cut the crap! It's new-Protestant heretics like you who are the real problem! Your values are completely different from those of the Catholic Church! You should show the saints more reverence!"
"What the hell? The real problem is Catholics like you who let outdated rules tie you up hand and foot!"
Irina immediately fired back, pointing right at Xenovia as she snapped at her.
"What did you say, you damned heretic!?"
"Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do about it, heretic!?"
Right as the fight escalated, both of their stomachs let out loud growls.
The next second, their bodies went limp and they slumped to the ground.
"We should figure out how to fill our stomachs first. Otherwise there's no way we can take Excalibur back."
"You're right. In that case, should we threaten some heathens for money? If the target's a heathen, I'm sure the Lord would forgive us."
"You want to raid a temple? Or steal one of those offertory boxes? Forget it. We'd be better off doing sword tricks on the street for money. That's universal entertainment in any country."
Faced with Irina's suggestion of straight-up robbery, Xenovia proposed a new plan instead.
Seeing all this, Takumi was genuinely amused by the two idiots.
"If your God saw you acting like this, He'd probably cry."
"Takumi-kun!?"
The second she saw him, Irina looked like she'd spotted her savior.
Without hesitation, she rushed up and grabbed his arm.
"Waaah~~Takumi-kun, we're childhood friends, aren't we? Can't you spare me a little travel money?"
"There's no childhood friend on earth shameless enough to show up and straight-up ask for cash like this."
Takumi pinched Irina's cheek, but in the end he still went soft on her.
Xenovia shamelessly moved closer too and said on her own, "This must be the will of the Heavenly Father~"
"What, you want me to play Heavenly Father and bestow charity on you?"
Takumi shot Xenovia a glance and spoke with absolutely no mercy.
Xenovia instantly looked annoyed. "That's not what I meant, you demon. I meant this whole situation is the will of the Heavenly Father."
"If you trust the Heavenly Father that much, then don't eat anything I buy you later."
"..."
One line from Takumi was enough to shut Xenovia right up.
The Heavenly Father was the Heavenly Father, but being hungry was still being hungry.
Looking at the obediently silent Xenovia, Takumi could only sigh inwardly at how fast she folded.
Her faith really wasn't as rock-solid as she liked to claim.
As Takumi led the two of them toward a restaurant, two familiar figures entered his line of sight: Koneko and a black-haired beauty beside her.
The tall beauty was a textbook long-haired black-haired goddess.
Her curvy, voluptuous figure looked even more seductive under the outline of her school uniform.
Her delicate, beautiful face was framed by a pair of green-rimmed glasses, giving her a polished, intellectual air.
Takumi recognized her at a glance. She was Sona's peerage member, Tsubaki Shinra.
The instant her eyes met his amber gaze, a flush spread across Tsubaki's creamy skin.
"So you're Lady Sona's fiancé. Hello Takumi-sama, I'm Sona's peerage member, Tsubaki~"
The moment she saw Takumi, she quickened her pace and came over to introduce herself.
Tsubaki had heard about Takumi long ago. Once she found out he was Sona's fiancé, her curiosity only grew stronger.
And now that she'd met him in person, her heart was pounding.
If her mistress was his fiancée, didn't that mean she was...
The more she thought about it, the harder her heart pounded.
Her full, heavy breasts swayed with the motion.
Facing Tsubaki, Takumi remained perfectly warm and refined.
"So you're Sona's very first peerage member, Tsubaki. I guess that makes you Tsubaki-senpai to me."
"Mm~~ now that's embarrassing."
With her face flushed red, Tsubaki laughed so hard her body trembled, those lush curves bouncing in a way that was hard to ignore.
Beside her, Koneko saw how quickly Takumi and Tsubaki had fallen into easy flirtation, and her eyes narrowed slightly.
As much as she hated to admit it, Koneko realized Takumi seemed even more handsome now.
Just being close to him was enough to stir the instincts of her Nekomata blood.
Forcing those feelings down, she spoke up immediately, steering the topic toward Irina and Xenovia behind him.
"Takumi-senpai, we came to find these two and pass along a message."
"We?"
Irina and Xenovia frowned as they looked at Tsubaki and Koneko.
Of course they could tell those two were demons.
But with Takumi standing here, and with them both so hungry they were starting to feel faint, they didn't have the energy to argue.
Realizing the two of them had come with a purpose, Takumi simply brought them along too.
The moment the food hit the table at the restaurant, Irina and Xenovia immediately started wolfing it down.
"We sold our souls to demons."
"This is all for the sake of fulfilling our faith."
...
They kept muttering under their breath the whole time, but their hands never stopped moving.
After they'd eaten their fill, Irina drew a cross over her chest.
"Phew~~ thank you for the meal. O Lord, please bless these kindhearted demons."
"Ugh."
At once, both Koneko and Tsubaki frowned and pressed a hand to their heads.
Seeing that, Irina gave a playful smile and quickly apologized.
"Ah, sorry, sorry. I accidentally made the sign of the cross."
After apologizing, Irina looked at Takumi in surprise.
"It had no effect on you at all. Looks like you're not actually a demon after all."
The moment she said that, Koneko and Tsubaki both turned toward him curiously.
...
For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.