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A New Sun Chapter 77
🕑 Added 2024-12-20 22:47:56 +0000 UTCChapter 77
~ A New Sun ~
I have made a terrible mistake.
Now, granted, I probably should have expected this.
After all, everything up until this point has been going swimmingly!
Far too swimmingly.
It wouldn't be an anime world if something didn't come along and put a bump in the path so to speak.
In this case…
I sit now on my couch, in the living room of my home right outside Kuoh, leaning as far into the back cushions as much as I possibly can.
Before me, the living room has been turned into essentially a makeshift dining room, as the actual kitchen doesn't really have one…
Well, it does, technically. One of those bar-style dining areas.
The problem with that though, although it has enough seats for four people, is that it doesn't have anywhere near enough room for food for more than double that.
So, in the center of the living room is a cobbled-together dining table formed from a few different, but of similar height tables, which combined are large enough to hold the veritable feast stacked upon it.
Or the half-eaten feast, I should say now, with the four hungry hippos gathered around it.
"Delicious…Japanese cuisine is delicious~!" Xenovia practically moaned while scarfing down on her, I believe third, bowl of rice.
It had some sauce on it, I think. Not like I know what kind, I pulled everything out of the fridge and cabinets and just started…throwing stuff together.
"Mhmm~! Mhmm~!" Irina exuberantly agreed, while inhaling a second plate of- oh, shit, she ate it so fast I couldn't even catch what it was, "This is the taste of food from my homeland!"
Xenovia lowered her bowl slightly, and gave her a slightly narrowed side eye, "...homeland? Right."
She was trying to say that silently.
Unfortunately, she failed hilariously. The whole table heard it.
Irina perked up, and immediately slammed down her bowl, glaring back at her partner with fury in her eyes, "For the last time! I really am-"
I immediately zone out her and Xenovia's bickering before it can even start up again.
Had enough of that earlier today, thank you very much.
On the other side, Asia is munching with far more respect and care for the dining ware and food, as with every bite she makes exacerbated noises of wonder and awe instead of making me question whether or not I'm blasting porn on the TV.
Next to her is Lint, who I can best describe as 'power-eating' if that makes any sort of sense.
She isn't making noises, but she's going at it just as hard as Xenovia and Irina are.
All in all, so far, this experience has told me that there are indeed people with worse eating habits than even Kuroka.
Really, just how starved are these girls?
I'm pushed back into the couch as I am purely because I'm trying to avoid a potential splash zone!
It's slightly eerie how there hasn't been any splash so to speak, but at this point, I'm taking the precaution just in case.
I know I was going to leave a clone for this and head back to Kyoto, but see, I never even got the chance.
I put the offer of food out earlier, and all four pretty much immediately agreed.
I'm pretty sure I started hearing rumbling from at least half of them about 'taking patronage from a pagan' and justifying it with 'it's for the mission' and shit like that, but I wasn't paying attention to their words.
No, haha, no.
What I was far more concerned about was how clingy the four became on our way here.
I took them to my old home here to keep an eye on them. That was the main reason, the second being there wouldn't be a food place open at this hour that would take any order made by them seriously.
Well, without some judicious use of mind whammying, but I kind of figured that'd be a terrible idea to show them I could do off the cuff.
In any event, on the way here, these four practically clung to me…and I mean very close to literal clinging.
They practically hid behind me. Xenovia did it first, reasoning that it'd be a good idea to follow me very closely since I knew what I was doing, was from here, and so on.
You know, just in case.
Sound reasoning for Xenovia, I admit. The others evidently agreed, because by the time we made it to the outskirts of town, I had pretty much a backpack of girls stacked up behind me.
Then as soon as we got inside, and I got to cooking, the girls then proceeded to crowd around and watch with rapt attention.
I couldn't get away, at all. It was insane.
Luckily though, it looks like they should be settling down here soon.
With mostly full bellies, I know the exhaustion of today will catch up with them quickly, and I can leave a clone to watch over the place before heading back.
A pointed sigh of relief breaches through the bickering and munching going on in the background, enough to draw my attention away from my thoughts.
Probably because it came from Lint, the only one who's been silent up until now.
With the stated sound, she placed down an attempt plate and leaned back into her chair.
"I can see why Duli is taking so long trying to contact us…he's so busy running around eating food like this." She waves at the assorted empty dishes, clearly satisfied, but with not a small amount of annoyance.
I perk up at her words.
I'm not supposed to know who exactly their chaperone is yet, though I know they have one because Asia mentioned it.
Still, Dulio is a big name, so I kind of have to react to that.
I lean forward, raising an eyebrow slightly, "Duli? Is that your guy's chaperone? His name kind of sounds…familiar."
At that, Xenovia takes a short break from agitating Irina to chip in, "Ah, I suppose his name would be at least somewhat recognizable out here, huh?"
…Of course it was only to just jab at Irina again.
"HEY! Don't talk about my homeland like it's some backwater!" Irina snaps at her.
"...Isn't it though?" Xenovia tilts her head, looking legitimately confused by Irina's reaction.
"No! Japan is-"
I zone them out again.
…I'm starting to regret giving them food.
But it's for the plan, Nori, stay the course!
Lint rolls her eyes in the two's direction, while Asia looks on in concern, before the former looks back at me, and nods, "It is, though, yeah…there's probably a reason it sounds familiar. Does the name Dulio Gesualdo ring a bell to you?"
I make a show of widening my eyes, "..the strongest Exorcist, Dulio Gesualdo? The one with the second strongest Longinus? He's your chaperone?"
Lint sighs, and pinches the bridge of her nose, "Yeah, don't let his strength fool you though, he's a bit of an…hnn." She trails off with a hum, unable to find a proper descriptor.
Asia frowns and promptly defends the man who isn't here to do so himself. "Hey now, Brother Dulio isn't that bad, he cares, he just gets…lost, easily."
Lint snorts at that, "Yeah, in food, maybe-"
"For the children back at the Church!" Asia pipes up enough to interject.
"Besides," Lint powers on through regardless though, "how many times have you tried calling him now?"
"Not that many-" Asia pulls a smartphone-looking device from her habit as she speaks, and almost as soon as she powers it on, her words die in her throat, replaced by a weak and slow, "...46? Eheh…" followed by a very short, dim and embarrassed laugh.
Lint simply deadpans at the blonde, as she shrinks into her seat. "My point stands."
To be fair, he probably would have picked up a while ago had Kuroka not messed with all their communication devices.
…Then again, his acting this way doesn't sound shocking to them, so I guess the guy already has a reputation, huh?
I hum, and seeking to move this conversation along, as well as maybe get some more info out of them, I interject to ask, "Still, the Strongest Exorcist, here? In this country? The blonde here said you lot were looking for something…what could the Church possibly want that's out here?"
Rather predictably, Lint's face became stern and stoic, "...I'm not liable to disclose the exact details…Church business. Sorry."
A shame that, but I should have suspected.
She didn't sound genuinely apologetic though.
I put on an understanding, yet pointed, stare, which Lint expressly looked away from.
Meanwhile, Asia darted between looking at the two of us, sensing the tension, but clearly struggling to find something to break it with.
It takes a moment, but she finds it, perking up in her seat before speaking out, "Blonde…? Oh, right!" She stands, very abruptly, getting almost everyone's attention, "We never actually introduced ourselves, did we? Umm…" Asia looks at me and tries to do a formal bow.
I think.
Or maybe a nod?
I don't know, she almost kind of bent over at the same time.
"I am Asia…" she paused, her face turning red rapidly, "err, last name first here, right? Argento, Asia!" She raised back up, pointedly looking away from me, face blazing with an embarrassed red, "Thanks for having us, um, M-Mr. Kusanagi…"
…She's really, really cute.
Almost makes me want to keep her, not going to lie.
Lint chuckled, causing Asia's face to glow harder before the pale girl stood up herself.
She didn't bow, instead giving a relaxed wave my way, "Lint." She paused, briefly considering, before correcting herself, "Sellzen, Lint." She smiles slightly, before turning…and kicking under the table.
"OW!" Irina jolted, crying out in pain.
Once.
"Hnn!?" Xenovia grunted out at the same time, twitching in her seat.
Twice.
Those two were still arguing, of course.
Irina looks at the two standing up, and specifically, sees Lint's glare, and quickly manages to put two and two together.
"A-Ah!? Right, right!" She scrambles onto her feet, and does an actual proper respectful bow my way, "Shido, Irina! Thank you for the food, Kusanagi-san!"
Xenovia blinks, looking incredibly confused at everyone, before standing up slowly, "Introduction, huh…" she turns to me, and nods, "Xenovia Quarta."
That's it. That's all she says.
"X-Xenovia. That's not…hnnnn!" Irina facepalms while fuming.
I snort, watching Xenovia look back at Irina with not a small amount of cheek.
She knows full well what she's doing, in this case, she's just playing it up to mess with her partner.
You know what? I can respect the petty.
Regardless, I'd rather not have Irina try and strangle the girl right now, so!
I quickly waved them off, "Don't mention it you four…even if you did clean out my entire kitchen in a few hours." I dejectedly add on, almost as an afterthought.
At that, the girls at least looked a little ashamed.
"...We could pay you back with-" Xenovia started to say, but Irina quickly jumped on her back and slapped both her hands over her mouth.
"No, no, NO! Absolutely not!" Irina cried out, shutting down her partner completely.
Xenovia, for her part, looked legitimately confused.
Huh, I don't think she was about to offer up their bodies there.
In any event, I ignore all that, and quickly move on, "Anyhow. Your food situation is sorted…at least for now. I have enough room for your girls to stay the night if you want, and as for your two's clothing situation…" I shrug sort of helplessly as I look at the chestnut and blue-haired girls respectively.
Both of them are still wearing their cloaks, of course. Doing their best to cover up their indecency.
Well, one of them is. Xenovia couldn't care less I think.
If it got in the way of her eating earlier, it was getting out of the way. Meanwhile, Irina tried her best to maintain her cover even at the cost of dexterity.
This is probably the one thing I can't help with. I don't have any spare clothes in either of the two sizes, so shit out of luck there.
Even if any of my girls did share their sizes, I still wouldn't give them away. One because they aren't mine to give, and two because doing so would bring questions I don't think I could answer without coming off incredibly suspicious.
The point is to keep an eye on them, not make them leave in the middle of the night under suspicion I might kidnap them or some shit.
At the mention of totally not bondage suits being messed up, only Irina reacts, that being flushing, getting off Xenovia, and pulling her cloak tighter against her.
Xenovia, hilariously enough, just sort of shrugs along with me.
Though it's Lint who actually speaks up, providing a solution, "Eh, don't worry about it," she waves off, "there's a headquarters next town over, we'll stop by there in the morning to get those two's suits fixed."
Heh. How vague.
She continues, "As for spending the night…well, if you wanted to do something, you could have done so when Xen here offered, so…maybe for a pagan, you aren't that bad."
I deadpanned at the white-haired girl.
She sends a small cheeky smile and shrugs, before looking at the others, "So, I don't mind giving resting here a shot. What about the rest of you?"
Xenovia nods curtly, "I see no reason to refuse, personally." and agrees rather easily.
Asia gives a sweet smile and nods along, while Irina looks back and forth between everyone and sighs.
"Taking so much patronage from a pagan god…our poor souls…" she decries quietly, but still heard by literally everyone, clasping her hands together in silent prayer.
Oi. You just ate all this pagan gods' food. Don't act like you're the one facing any sort of ruin for this!
Lint shakes her head as Irina starts praying, and turns back to me, "Don't mind her, Iri can be a drama queen sometimes."
"H-Hey! This is the salvation of our souls I'm talking about here!" Irina breaks from her prayer to try and refute Lint.
But Lint ignores her as easily as one ignores a breeze, and continues, much to the chestnut-haired girl's pouting.
"Anyhow. Got a room big enough for us all to bunk together?" She then proceeds to ask.
"Easily." I reply, with Lint nodding back simply and happily.
"Actually-" Xenovia starts speaking up, only to once again be silenced by a much more serious looking Irina, who doesn't utter even a sound.
Xenovia, of course though, still looks incredibly confused.
If I had to guess, she was going to ask for her own room or something, which…jeez, Xenovia, think for at least a few seconds before speaking won't you?
I stood up, ignoring Xenovia with practiced ease by this point, "I'll make sure your room is good then."
And by that, I mean I'm going to go upstairs, and as soon as I'm out of sight, I'm going to make a clone do it while I get the hell out of here already.
"Ah?" Asia spoke up, "Well if you're going to do that…then the least we can do is put away the dishes!"
I blinked at the blonde, as she started picking stuff up the plates and such.
Lint chuckled and slowly began to do the same, "Not a bad idea there. It'd be wrong of us to continue taking advantage of his kindness while doing nothing in return, wouldn't it?"
For once, Xenovia and Irina didn't have contrasting things to say, instead, they both nodded and began to follow along with the others with a smile.
I couldn't help the small smile that spread across my face, and I also couldn't turn down the offer.
"Heh. Well, alright. I'll be right back then." I nodded whilst technically lying at the girls, before walking off.
"...You know, I was going to suggest something like this earlier." I heard Xenovia suddenly speak up behind me, as she started talking to the others, "But Irina stopped me. For some reason."
"...Eh?" I couldn't almost feel the disbelief in that noise Irina made back from here.
I chortled to myself as I made my way up the stairs, and out of their sight.
Not long after I make it to the second floor, I jump off it via a window, but not to visit my grandmother for the final time, instead, I take to the skies…as a very sassy clone of me checks the room those four are going to stay in tonight with a pout.
Seriously, little shit dared to try and ask for pay! Pay!
Sure, he's going to watch over a bunch of church girls, but really, he should be paying me for that privilege! That's like a good chunk of guys' fantasies right there!
Ah, well.
It's back to Kyoto I go!
Finally.
~ A New Sun ~
Before I took Lint back to her friends, I sent Kuroka and Shirone to Kyoto to hold down the fort, so to speak.
So I wasn't at all surprised to find myself accosted as soon as I touched down right outside my home by said black cat, who flung herself out a window and straight at me.
"Daarrrlliinnngg~!" Kuroka called out as she fell, and in my head, I imagined her instead making one of those really loud meows that normal cats make when they're looking for their owners.
It fits so well I almost stumble with laughter and don't catch her.
But I don't, so I snatch her up the black-haired shortstack midair, the cat girl almost immediately snuggling up against me after I do.
I chuckle and pet her hair while holding her, and as I do, I look back over her, back at the buildings behind her…and raise an eyebrow.
"No Shirone?" I ask, first thing, unable to sense her white-haired sister within.
Kuroka pouts, her tails and ears twitching, "...She went back to make sure the rest of Gremory's Peerage doesn't interfere with your work."
I wince at that.
I nearly forgot about them, and we were throwing a lot of divine energy around for a little bit there.
Well, whatever she did to keep them occupied, it worked, because I didn't sense anyone whatsoever.
I smile, "Well, she did a great job." I pull one of my hands back, to reach down into my robe, and pull out the shard I stashed away earlier, holding it between my fingers, "I already said it before, but you both did."
Kuroka's eyes sparkled with mischievous mirth as she beheld the shard, and smirked.
Then it fell off almost immediately, and she pouted again, "...Does this mean you're going to run off to your forge now instead of rewarding me and Shirone, nyah~?" She swayed from side to side as she 'asked', though I could tell she already knew the answer.
I rolled my eyes at her, but gave her a small smile before booping her on the nose, "Play after work, you horny cat."
Kuroka blinked, before holding up a finger and continuing to whine, "But that's not how the expression goes! It's work and play, at the same time, nyah!"
…I wasn't referring to an expression though.
Regardless!
I deadpanned down at her, "For the last time, I'm not fucking you in the forge."
She smiled, "It'd be really hot though, nyah~!"
"It would," I answer truthfully, "but also stupidly dangerous for you. So no."
"Hmph!"
Kuroka immediately pouted again, and I took the small victory for what it was and set her down.
Then she blinked, staring off as if trying to remember something, and not a moment later did her eyes widen in recognition.
"Oh, right! Darling!" She exclaims, "I almost forgot nyah!"
I hum and raise an eyebrow at her, she seems suspiciously not horny now, so this has to be somewhat serious.
"That Dulio guy is here in Kyoto now!" She adds, causally.
As though that isn't important at all!
At that, I nearly fall over, and I'm not even moving or anything.
I catch myself before then though, and level a glare right back at the cat girl, "...Why didn't you mention this earlier!?" I quickly, and far more panickedly, asked.
Kuroka blinked at me, nonplussed, "He isn't really…doing anything? Granted, he only got to the city recently. As in tonight. He's been hitting up all the restaurants ever since though, and not doing anything particularly noteworthy beyond tourist stuff."
Well, that explains her demeanor.
Still.
I sigh, partly in relief, partly with exacerbation, and pat the cat on the head.
"Well, shit." I start, "If he's here, then I need you to wake up Rose, and I need the both of you to power up the barrier around here as much as possible while I get to work, alright? I won't take a single risk that he'll sense me working, or, somehow, the real spear, alright?"
Kuroka nodded, all too happy to comply, and bounced as she stood up straight, the rather insane bounce and jiggle of her chest as she saluted was definitely intentional judging by the mischievous smirk plastered across her face as she did it.
I considered slapping her tit for that but decided against it, she'll always be a horny kitty, no need to make her more horny than need be.
Kuroka quickly bound away, and I turned toward the direction of my forge, the shard of Durandal held tightly in my hand.
Dulio has the second-strongest Longinus in the world. Thankfully, the thing isn't a holy relic, and there are plenty of shrines in the city to help mask the holy powers I'm about to work with.
That, alongside Kuroka and Rose's magic, should be enough to let me work in peace.
If I really go at it, I should be able to make what I need tonight. I'll even make more clones to help speed everything up.
Then, when morning comes, and if Dulio is still here…
Well, it wouldn't be odd if I went and made his acquaintance, would it?
For now though.
Time to get to work.
~ A New Sun ~
Chapter 77 End
Holy hell, would you look at the time! And the sun is still (kinda) up!?
I'm gonna be gone pretty much all night tonight, so I had to get this out before then, and it looks like I managed.
Done with the Church girls for now, next up? Dulio.
