"...Do you need pen and paper?"
The other party's fingers moved far too quickly for Aponia to keep up. After thinking for a moment, she asked softly.
Aponia felt the other party squeeze her hand.
"Please wait a moment."
Compatibility +5% You proved your existence to Aponia through slightly aggressive actions without provoking her disgust. Current compatibility: 15%
"So, you are my Guardian Spirit?" Aponia asked softly as she looked at the air before her.
"..."
Liu Bai had nothing to say to that. He was not surprised that Aponia had come to that conclusion; after all, during the first simulation, she had still regarded him as a god.
--But there was no Guardian Spirit as weak as me.
Liu Bai left those words on the last sheet of blank paper in his hand.
Compatibility +15% You and Aponia completed a successful exchange. From then on, Aponia developed the habit of carrying pen and paper with her. Current compatibility: 30%
He had achieved at the very start what he had only managed midway through the previous simulation.
Then time flew past before Liu Bai's eyes. During this period, Aponia remained an ordinary nun, while Liu Bai remained a... well, not-so-ordinary spirit behind her.
As time passed, the two of you became increasingly familiar with one another. Current compatibility: 40%
"Aponia, what are you holding?"
"An offering table. It was an artwork that made its way into Dusk Alley. It seems to be some kind of Eastern ritual implement?"
"Uh..."
"I also bought some fruit and meat. Lord God, tonight we'll have roasted pork leg, steak, and mutton soup."
You were clearly trying to put together the three sacrificial animals, weren't you!?
...Though I really was getting hungry.
Aponia suddenly had the idea of making offerings to him. He agreed, but even after making every preparation, the offering still failed—he was not a god. After Aponia finished eating, the remaining food was used to aid the poor.
Compatibility +15% Compatibility: 55%. It has already surpassed the previous attempt.
Honkai erupted, and Aponia began sheltering and protecting those infected with Honkai disease in the sanatorium.
It was coming. That meant Aponia did not have much time left in Dusk Alley.
Liu Bai could not help sinking into thought. If he allowed the plot to proceed like this, Sakura would infiltrate the sanatorium and kill every child infected with Honkai. She would then fight Kalpas to a draw, and both Aponia and Kalpas would be taken by Sakura to the Moth Chasers to Fire to become Fusion Warriors.
But if he intervened... his intervention last time had led to Sakura casually killing Aponia while she was keeping watch.
No, the previous method had been wrong.
Liu Bai looked at the holy nun caring for the patients before him and silently came up with a plan.
After Aponia finished a day of work, Liu Bai skillfully took the pen and paper from her waist.
"Lord God?"
Aponia froze slightly when she felt the touch at her waist.
The fountain pen floating in the air danced across the page, leaving behind a line of words:
"Aponia, I have an idea..."
You began offering advice for Aponia's actions. Your support made Aponia even more confident.
Compatibility +15%
During Aponia's efforts, you met Pardofelis—though she did not know you.
Not long after, Aponia rescued a man named Kalpas. Soon afterward, the sanatorium gained a porter who was very good at fighting.
Then Honkai erupted in Dusk Alley. The Moth Chasers to Fire sent the Fusion Warrior Sakura to investigate Dusk Alley. During that time, Sakura accidentally discovered a sanatorium hiding patients with Honkai disease—yet you had seen through it all.
"So it has finally come to this?"
Liu Bai floated beside a bed in the sanatorium, watching the increasingly chaotic streets outside.
This chaos had little to do with the Moth Chasers to Fire. Honkai disease had merely made the already disorderly Dusk Alley even more chaotic.
This kind of disorder made Liu Bai, who had always lived in civilized society, deeply uncomfortable.
Aponia was sitting behind Liu Bai, softly praying toward the offering table laden with fruit.
Creak...
The door was pushed open, and a pink-haired swordswoman with fox ears silently appeared in the doorway.
This was a Fusion Warrior. If she wanted to start slaughtering, no one in all of Dusk Alley except Kalpas could stop her.
"...Where are the sources of infection?"
Sakura immediately spotted Aponia, who was praying... To be honest, a nun praying before an offering table was an indescribably incongruous sight.
"They are not sources of infection. They are only patients."
Aponia stood up and met the pink-haired swordswoman's gaze.
"If possible, I would like to make a deal with you—or rather, with the 'Moth Chasers to Fire' behind you—for the sake of those children."
Aponia slowly recited the lines Liu Bai had prepared for her.
Seeing the compassionate yet resolute expression on the nun's face, Sakura put away her weapon after a brief silence and nodded.
"...All right."
Dusk Alley: Aponia, Cleared!
"However, before we discuss the deal, I have a question."
Sakura gave the room a strange once-over.
She could only see Aponia, and the only presence she could sense was Aponia's. So why did she keep feeling a chilly presence behind her?
"Please ask."
"Uh..." When it came time to ask, Sakura found it a little hard to say.
She could not exactly ask, "Is there something unclean in your house?" could she?
Though the other party was an ordinary person incapable of even restraining a chicken, she was still a nun. Asking that kind of question felt like an insult.
Considering the deal between them, Sakura hesitated several times before looking at the offering table bearing fruit.
"Who is this offering table for?"
Setting aside that rude question, what Sakura was most curious about was the offering table placed in the nun's bedroom.
"...It is not for worship, but for offerings. Offerings to my Guardian Spirit."
Aponia lowered her head, revealing a devout expression.
"...What a strange clergywoman." Sakura thought for a moment and realized that she truly could not understand how clergy thought. "Let's discuss the contents of your deal... Ah."
Sakura let out a small cry.
"What is it?" Aponia tilted her head. "Are you feeling unwell?"
Sakura touched her ears. "It has nothing to do with my body... probably."
She felt as though someone had just pinched one of her fox ears.
To Sakura, the fox ears atop her head were as sensitive as human ears. No one had ever pinched them before. That sensation just now... was like a weak current flowing into her body.
Even Sakura could not tell whether it had been pleasure or pain.
"It is probably just because there is a lot of dust in the room."
Sakura took a deep breath, steadied herself, and took out a Moth Chasers to Fire communicator.
"Ahem, Miss Nun, let's discuss the terms of the deal. The higher-ups will consider your conditions."
When Aponia saw Sakura take out the communicator, her expression turned serious.
"My condition is simple. I hope the Moth Chasers to Fire can take in the children in this sanatorium and ensure their safety."
As she finished speaking, Aponia lowered her eyes.
"Impossible."
Sakura rejected that condition without a moment's thought.
"Every one of these sources of infection is a ticking bomb threatening the safety of the world. The higher-ups will never agree to this condition."
"Then someone will take them and flee... Miss Sakura, you do not want to see the patients leave Dusk Alley either, do you?"
"..." Sakura had no answer. That was true, but why did it sound so strange?
"...That will depend on what the higher-ups think."
"No, I agree."
A cool female voice came from the communicator.
"Dr. Mei?" Sakura looked at the communicator in her hand in surprise.
The female voice in the communicator ignored Sakura's surprise and continued, "Just now, Mobius and I submitted and passed a new round of research plans on Honkai. We urgently need some patients with Honkai disease... Sakura, give the communicator to that lady. There are some things I would like to discuss with her."
"Yes... Ngh!"
Just as Sakura was about to hand over the communicator, she suddenly felt her ear being tugged again.
"Though the feel is only average, the essence lies in a girl's surprised and adorable cry."
Liu Bai withdrew his hand in satisfaction.
At that moment, a new prompt appeared in the system—
Simulation complete. Plot segment Dusk Alley: Aponia has been cleared. Aponia compatibility +50%.
The figures of the pink-haired swordswoman and golden-haired nun blurred before Liu Bai's eyes, replaced by the maid sitting in a chair with a thermometer in her mouth.
Simulation Rating: S (Highest rating. Perfect actions—though this was only a beginner simulation.) Final Compatibility: 120%
Well, compatibility could even go over a hundred?
You obtained 3 skill points. You may choose one of the following skills: 1. Theology Lv. 7 (Your theological knowledge is sufficient for you to establish your own sect apart from the church.) 2. Persuasion Lv. 8 (Every word and action of yours carries a convincing charm.) 3. Nursing Lv. 4 (You are an excellent nurse.) 4. Nun Lv. 10 (Are you sure a big man like you, a spirit behind someone, wants to switch careers and become a nun?) 5. Guardian Spirit Lv. 1 (You can negate one fatal injury for your host each day. You can engage in subtle mental communication with your host.)
Liu Bai noticed it at a glance—weren't these skills all things Aponia possessed as a nun?
If it had been Aponia as one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, then things like her Discipline would probably have been placed before him instead.
Still, Liu Bai did not find it much of a pity. There would definitely be chances to simulate again in the future. Dusk Alley was only the beginning.
Liu Bai took a liking to the skill "Guardian Spirit" after looking through the list just once—or rather, the explanation afterward: "can engage in subtle mental communication."
What troubled him most was how to let his host know he existed. Not everyone was like Aponia, someone who would not get angry even if he used slightly more intense methods.
If it were someone else—for example, Rita, who was currently sitting before Liu Bai with a thermometer in her mouth.
If he went over and pinched her cheek, patted her head, and held her hand, his compatibility with Rita would definitely plummet. Her first reaction would surely be to stabilize herself, then call Otto over to prepare to study him.
...Though now that he thought about it, could he even be studied?
At the thought, Liu Bai could not help sinking into contemplation. He seemed to have nothing to do with either Honkai Energy or electromagnetic waves.
If he were related to Honkai Energy, Sakura would definitely have discovered him.
If he had anything to do with electromagnetic waves... then he should have been able to interfere with electronics.
He really did seem to be the paranormal kind of spirit behind someone...
Before you continue