"Very good..." Kayal gently withdrew his hand, tossing Jeanne onto the bed, a smile on his face. Although his lower body was already a 'tent,' Kayal's absolute rationality still stopped him at the last moment. Would you dare to use a girl you've XXOOed, who harbors ill will, as your commander? If she leads your troops to their deaths, you wouldn't even have an excuse to deal with her!
So, until Jeanne was willing, Kayal would absolutely not touch her.
Besides, he had so many girls: Bedivere, Holo, Artoria, Teresa, Irene... In Gensokyo, there was also Remilia, Kazami Yuuka, and Patchouli... Why would Kayal bother?
Kayal disdained to make such a low-level mistake.
Kayal was in a good mood. He leaned against the edge of the bed, about to get down. Looking at Jeanne's perky bottom as she lay on the bed, Kayal, still not fully satisfied, slapped her on the butt.
Jeanne let out a muffled shriek, her face buried in the pillow. Her entire body suddenly twitched twice, then she collapsed heavily onto the bed...
"No way..." Kayal stared at the sticky liquid on his hand and the large wet patch on the bedsheet beneath her, muttering in a daze, "That sensitive?"
Kayal covered his face and fled.
After all that effort, it was all for naught. Kayal finally understood what it meant to 'plan in man, succeed in heaven.'
— — — — — — — — — — — — — Afternoon, outskirts of the forest — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Because he had accidentally made Jeanne twitch, and her cries were heard clearly by everyone in the manor, Kayal could only take a basket of "treasures" to the outskirts of the forest to try and mend his relationship with Holo...
"Holo~ I'm here!" Kayal called out into the dense forest in a voice as sweet as a love confession.
Unfortunately, the forest was rustling with the breeze, and there was no response from Holo.
"I brought your favorite treats~" he continued to coax in a honey-sweet voice. Kayal felt a bit like he was coaxing a child.
The ears of a massive brown wolf hidden deep in the dense forest twitched slightly, but it remained motionless, its eyes tightly shut, lying on the ground.
"There's your favorite honey cake~" Kayal took out a fluffy and soft cake, sprinkled with sesame and matsutake mushrooms, and continued to tempt her tirelessly. With current technology, it was difficult to make such things, but Kayal's farm had a huge cooking oven in the back, specifically designed to concentrate heat for gourmet cooking, so...
The massive brown wolf's nose twitched...
"Wow! Look at this! Apple cider! Blended with honey and apple juice! Even softer and more refreshing~ And it's been chilled with ice!" Kayal took out a bottle of golden fruit wine, still radiating coldness, shimmering like gold in the sunlight.
As he uncorked the bottle, a rich aroma immediately spread throughout the forest...
Not only did the brown giant wolf's nose twitch more intensely, but its tail also began to wag gently... That was a sign of wavering resolve.
"Oh oh oh! Raisin cookies! Madam Bayroan's special secret recipe! Smell this aroma and the crisp texture... Truly a delight..." Kayal felt he was getting closer to success...
The brown giant wolf's throat began to rumble...
"What else... what else?" Kayal, like a classic salesman, pulled out his final weapon: "Ta-da! Apple candy! Apple candy!" There were no greenhouses in this world. The greenhouses Kayal made with fish glue could only raise the temperature, making it higher than outside, but not constant.
So, apples were absolutely unavailable before autumn.
This apple candy was preserved in a cold cellar after being coated in syrup. Besides Kayal, who had transitioned to developing civilian life, who else would have thought of such an idea?
And apple candy had become Holo's favorite treat after apples were out of season.
The syrup was made with honey, sweet but not cloying. The apples were carefully selected, crisp and sweet... Smelling this, Holo was going crazy...
Forcibly suppressing her restless heart, Holo kept admonishing herself: "I am the Wise Wolf! I am the Wise Wolf! I am the Wise Wolf! I am the Wise Wolf! I am the Wise Wolf! I am the Wise Wolf! I am the Wise Wolf! I am the Wise Wolf! I am the Wise Wolf!"
Sighing in disappointment, Kayal looked at the completely silent forest, put all the food back into the basket, placed it by the roots of his treehouse, and then slowly walked away.
By the time Kayal's scent had completely vanished from the air, a huge wolf, like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey, crashed into the tree where Kayal's treehouse was, making the treehouse sway precariously.
Holo, transformed into a girl, eagerly began to devour the food. She suddenly thought—if she never "forgave" Kayal, would he keep bringing these things?
Upon returning to the manor, Kayal looked at the atmosphere inside with great surprise.
"What happened, Sherry?" Kayal asked, stopping a Claymore.
"Lord Kai, a guest has arrived," the short-haired, spirited girl with a mysterious smile gestured with her mouth towards Kayal's reception room. Her smile was ambiguous yet mysterious, as if Kayal had been caught cheating outside. Kayal was utterly confused.
When he arrived at the reception hall, he found most of the Claymores there, some peering through the windows, others by the door, watching inside as if something interesting was happening.
Kayal scratched his head, pushed aside the people nearby, and squeezed in.
Inside were two Claymores.
One was familiar: Teresa, who was nominally the elder sister of all the Claymores here, was currently hosting the other.
But Kayal had never seen the other Claymore before. She seemed to be trusted.
Kayal remembered the names of all fifty-two Claymores very clearly, and he never forgot a face. This girl with long, flowing silver hair... he had absolutely never seen her.
This girl had silver hair as flowing as Kayal's, and she responded appropriately to Teresa's questions.
As soon as Kayal entered, their conversation immediately stopped.
Teresa showed sufficient respect to Kayal. She stood up from her seat and smiled at Kayal, "Kay, this is Galatea, she is... a Claymore."
Kayal unceremoniously sat down in the seat Teresa had just occupied, looked at the other party, and nodded with a smile, "Hello..."