She was smiling.
The same beautiful smile she'd worn ever since I met her but this time, everything about that smile screamed danger.
I chose my words carefully because I could tell, if I so much as utter a single lie then I would inevitably meet my end.
So I didn't lie.
"My sponsor is a tainted god." I said, my gaze lingering on her hand which was already resting on the hilt of her katana.
For the first time there was surprise, and a hint of uncertainty when she looked at me.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"You entered a pact with a tainted god?"
"I did."
For a few seconds, there was an unsettling silence between us.
Until she sighed.
"I can tell you're not lying, but then it's unheard of for a tainted god to make a pact with a human."
"Because they possess the body instead?" I asked.
"Yes, that," she replied.
She stared at me thoughtfully then at the surrounding I had destroyed earlier during my battle with the dire king.
"Your fight…"
"What about it? You're not going to lecture me for clearing out mere mutts are you?"
She blinked.
Then she laughed.
"~Fufufu… oh my."
At her reaction I couldn't help but raise a brow.
"Ah sorry, sorry… it's been a while since I've had someone so interesting to talk to, pardon my reactions, huhu."
"Yeah… sure." I replied dryly, feeling my eyes twitch a bit.
But that was just an exterior façade.
I was freaking out badly within my mind.
My brain just refused to process the fact that the same person I was talking to, the same person who was laughing like she had just made a new friend, was someone I was eventually going to have to kill on the tenth floor.
She looked so different.
So normal, I had a hard time connecting the dots to the high level boss of the tenth floor.
It made me wonder what had actually happened for her to take on such a monstrous appearance in the first place.
"What I meant was I caught a glimpse of your technique, you were clearly holding a lot of it back but I could tell, despite the brutal attacks and savagery of your movements, the technique felt like a dance albeit a brutal one."
My hands fiddled around with the sleeves of my tunic, dusting off a bit of dirt, then I took out a lollipop from my pocket.
"You could tell from just a glance?" I asked, unwrapping the candy while feigning indifference.
Lyn had stopped talking.
Her eyes were focused on my candy, an action I noticed too late.
"~What is that?" She asked softly, "it smells so good."
I took a look at the candy within my hand, then returned my gaze to Lyn.
"No… no I'm not giving this to you."
She drew closer.
I took a step back.
"What are you doing?"
"That." Her finger pointed to the candy. "Give it."
"N—"
She vanished.
Her movements became a blur.
My instincts screamed, and the only thing I could do was shove the lollipop into my mouth.
It was a brand which had a limited release rate of ten pieces a month, needless to say it was almost impossible to get.
I thought she would give up after I shoved the candy in my mouth but I severely underestimated how much of a sweet tooth Lyn had.
No… calling it a sweet tooth would be an understatement.
Lyn had lost her marbles.
Her eyes were so unfocused, it was almost frightening.
Something slammed into me.
My back hit the ground knocking the air clean out of my lungs.
Before I could react, her fingers hooked into the stick and pulled.
I froze.
Lyn sat on top of me, completely unbothered, with my lollipop now in her mouth.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
My eyes twitched.
'Ah… indirect kiss?'
No, that wasn't the issue here.
My money.
The damned vixen had not only consumed one month of my patience, which was a lot considering the fact that I had little to none, but she had also devoured an item I spent two thousand won to acquire.
While I was lost in thoughts, something strange happened.
A pair of fox-like ears appeared on her head while a single fluffy tail wagged in excitement.
My face burned a deep shade of crimson.
"G-Get off." I groaned.
Half in embarrassment and the other half in annoyance.
Ever since I was a child, I had never stuttered so much in a single day.
Yet the woman in front of me had made me stutter more times than I cared to admit.
Another reason was the fact that my body was reacting in ways I absolutely did not approve of.
It didn't help matters that the oblivious Fox was sitting on me while snacking happily on the candy in a daze.
"Lyn… what is wrong with you, snap the fuck out of it," I scowled.
At this point I wasn't angry, I was trying to preserve the last bit of dignity I had.
And don't get me started on using the national anthem to distract myself, I didn't bother learning it in school.
My heartbeat was so loud, I was certain she could hear it.
Her eyes seemed to regain a bit of intelligence as she looked around.
Then her gaze met mine.
"Oh?"
"Don't you oh me! Get off!"
It was only then she noticed the awkward situation we were in.
A shade of pink spread across her pale face as she got off.
She was just as flustered as I was but unlike me she had better control over her expression.
"I don't know what came over me" she spoke in an aloof tone, bowing her head slightly. "I'm sorry."
I had to bite back my tongue to stop myself from cursing out loud.
But then, Lyn spoke again.
This time her voice was cold, not the seductive tone her voice carried earlier.
"You just called me Lyn, I never told you my name so how did you know of it?"
I remained silent, battling a life threatening crisis of my own.
Her katana stabbed the ground beside me while her crimson eyes narrowed.
"Get up."
I gulped.
"P-Please… give me five more minutes."