"Eh?! Is this flower really as magical as you say, Godmother?"
"I wouldn't be mistaken. Even from a distance, I can clearly feel the astonishing energy contained within this lily."
"How could it..."
Yuria turned her head in shock, her eyes locked onto the lily in Miko Yotsuya's hand.
So that was it. No wonder Miko was so reluctant to put down this bouquet of lilies.
In that case, during the incident at the school's sports equipment storage room, Miko must have activated the power of this lily to successfully save her.
Miko Yotsuya looked at the old woman with a surprised expression.
Because to outsiders, the lily in her hand just looked a bit prettier than usual, with nothing else special about it.
Yet the old woman in front of her could sense its extraordinary nature; it seemed she had some real skills.
The expression on Mitsue Takeda's aged face grew increasingly serious. She looked at Miko Yotsuya and asked:
"Little girl, if it's convenient, could you tell me where you got this flower?"
Having lived for so long, this was her first time seeing something that made her feel such fear.
Because the energy contained within it was far too overwhelming—so overwhelming that she almost thought this thing wasn't a lily at all, but a super bomb capable of leveling a mountain!
In Mitsue Takeda's circles, out of all the exorcism tools she knew of, not a single one could compare to this lily.
This lily was like an incredibly dazzling sun, while the rest were mere firefly sparks, not even worth mentioning.
To the side, Yuria quickly pricked up her ears and held her breath.
"This..."
Miko Yotsuya hesitated for a moment and stealthily glanced at Gabriel.
"I gave it to her."
Gabriel admitted generously.
"You? That's quite surprising, but I can tell you two have a very close relationship, otherwise you wouldn't easily give away something so important."
"It's not really anything valuable."
"Is that so..."
Mitsue Takeda's narrowed eyes slowly widened.
She carefully examined the blonde girl in front of her for a moment.
"She feels... so ordinary. Besides being a bit cute, she's no different from a regular middle school student. Is this flower really connected to her?"
Mitsue Takeda thought to herself, then her gaze swept over Yuria and Miko Yotsuya, finally resting on Hana Yurikawa for a few seconds.
After seeing the rich life energy radiating from Hana Yurikawa's body, she was certain there was nothing wrong with her eyes.
"I get the feeling you guys are talking about things I don't understand, but I can prove that this flower was indeed given to Miko by Gabriel. But besides this lily, we have a lot more in our bags."
As Hana Yurikawa spoke, she picked up her bag, showed a portion of the bouquets inside, and recommended, "These were all planted by Gabriel herself. See if there are any you like; who knows, there might be bouquets containing powerful energy too."
"Oh? They all look quite nice... but unfortunately, they are all ordinary bouquets."
Mitsue Takeda cast her gaze over, carefully looking at the bright bouquets in the bag. After confirming she couldn't find any special bouquets, she sighed regretfully in her heart.
As expected, there was no easy bargain to be found.
"But I quite like this bellflower, can you sell it to me?"
Although she was a bit disappointed, Mitsue Takeda decided to buy a bouquet to form a good connection.
"Of course!"
Hana Yurikawa gladly agreed.
Mitsue Takeda took her wallet from her pocket, sneaking another glance at Gabriel as she paid.
Relying on luck alone, she couldn't have coincidentally found that one special lily.
Perhaps, the other party wasn't an ordinary person at all.
"Please take it."
After accepting the money, Hana Yurikawa gently handed over an already wrapped bellflower bouquet with her right hand.
Mitsue Takeda took it, then turned to Gabriel beside her and asked, "Could we exchange contact information? If you come across any special bouquets in the future, I can buy them at a high price. What do you think?"
Mitsue Takeda originally wanted Miko Yotsuya's contact information, but after thinking about it carefully, she felt it was inappropriate.
Because her target was that special lily.
Although Miko Yotsuya was its current owner, it was a gift given to her by Gabriel.
Mitsue Takeda had her own selfish motives for doing this.
She wanted to use that lily to fulfill a regret she had never been able to resolve before her life ended.
"That kind of special bouquet probably won't show up again..."
Gabriel immediately changed the subject, "However, I'm going to sell some interesting exorcism tools recently. While they can't compare to Miko's lily, they shouldn't disappoint you."
"Exorcism tools..."
Mitsue Takeda quickly caught on and said, "Then that is truly something to look forward to."
Even though Gabriel seemed to be a 'peer' and competitor, if the finished products were really as she claimed, she wouldn't mind buying more.
"Perhaps we can reach a cooperation. Using your connections combined with my exorcism tools, it won't be long before we can definitely make a huge profit. What do you think of this proposal?"
"...Are you serious?"
"Naturally. But don't be in a rush; it won't be too late to consider it after you see my exorcism tools. Miko, give Granny Mitsue your contact info."
"Oh... oh! Okay."
Miko Yotsuya snapped out of her daze and took out her phone.
Watching the two exchange contact information, Gabriel leisurely drank her milk tea.
In the original plot, when Miko Yotsuya was about to fall into the hands of the 'mountain god', it was Mitsue Takeda and Shindou Romm who stepped in just in time to save her.
And together, they exorcised that powerful evil spirit that received incense offerings and was known as the mountain god.
That mountain god possessed immense power and could kill people directly using a bell as a medium.
The most important person in the lives of Mitsue Takeda and Rom had once, in order to save the young and ignorant Rom, actively taken the bell handed to Rom. They died instantly, and their soul fell into the hands of the mountain god, never to find release.
Gabriel was certain that after personally feeling the lily blessed by three divine arts, Mitsue Takeda would definitely seek her or Miko Yotsuya out later.
Because she wanted to seek revenge against the mountain god.
And Gabriel didn't mind lending her a helping hand.
However, before intervening to help, she had to collect some benefits; she couldn't waste her effort for nothing.
By borrowing the connections Mitsue Takeda had accumulated over the years to quickly sell off some of her exorcism tools, and sharing a portion of the profits with Mitsue Takeda when the time came, it would be a complete win-win.
Even though the exorcism tools she planned to sell only had a single guardian-type divine art, it was enough to crush the uneven quality of exorcism tools currently on the market.
She believed that anyone who knew their stuff would certainly recognize their value.
Mitsue Takeda watched the backs of the four people as they left, the palpitations in her heart unable to calm down for a long time.
"..."
After their figures disappeared into the vast sea of people, she looked down at Miko Yotsuya's contact information, her hand gripping the phone slightly tighter.