Chapter 553

One person was lying on the ground, and the other was lying in their arms. It wasn't impossible that something was about to happen in the next second.

"Oh, Lord, you're awake."

Groggy as he awoke, Metatron shook his drooping head, then looked up expectantly at Erice by the door.

"Ah, it's Erice. You're back! Did you buy the Cream Puff I asked you to buy?"

Upon recognizing that the person who had returned was Erice, whom he had asked to buy Cream Puffs, Metatron's always tired face immediately showed a weak, simple, and gentle smile.

It's like trying really hard to make yourself laugh.

"I bought it. By the way, can't this be delivered by food delivery service?"

"Because of my Sloth, I think Erice has excellent taste."

Metatron acted as if nothing had happened, getting off Novia with complete ease.

Seeing Erice still walked into the Hall and handed the twenty Cream Puff in the bag in her hand to the blonde Angel was eagerly waiting, but before that, she took out three more and held them in her hand.

Erice doesn't really like Cream Puff. She only took three so she could give one to Kuonji, and keep one for herself in case Metatron came looking for her late at night asking for one. As for the last one...

"Here, no matter what, you're still my elder."

She gave it to Novia.

Although Erice always thought that the man in front of her was a true playboy.

Not only is his relationship with his own Servant ambiguous, and he's still entangled with the Chitose wolf Chitose, but now he's even targeting the Angel who's Ignorance because she's such a shut-in. It's truly despicable. Moreover, he seems to have designs on her. Most importantly, Erice really can't understand why Luce, who's such a 'little Angel,' has such a high level of affection for him?

During the time Novia and Tiamat traveled to Tallahassee, Erice, who was idly performing her Night Watch duties, would sometimes be followed by Luce.

"The AIs say that the sea level is gradually dropping recently, and many marine animals that were thought to be extinct have reappeared. It's a biological explosion!"

"That's right."

Even the sky seems much more normal now.

"Yes."

"Is this why Miss Alice has been staying indoors lately?"

I guess so.

Servant and human people dressed in casual clothes and swimsuits came and went on the sidewalk, while Luce, wearing a yellow raincoat, and Erice, wearing a Black Leather Jacket, stood out from the crowd.

However, compared to Aoko Aozaki, who sometimes walks around in a penguin costume, the two might actually be slightly better.

"Erice, you must be tired. Would you like something to drink?"

"Mineral Water... wait a minute."

After Erice said those words, Luce strode to the other end of the road and bought two bottles of Mineral Water from a vending machine there.

"Luce, I'll treat you to a drink."

Even in the sweltering Akihabara, the Blue-Haired Girl, still wearing her yellow raincoat, addressed the bewildered Erice with an attitude that seemed to say, "Well, I'm being nice to you, aren't I? You'd better get along with me."

The two of them leaned against the roadside railing and opened their Mineral Water.

"So icy."

After taking a sip, Luce muttered to himself, then brought the Mineral Water bottle to his lips again, making a 'glug glug' sound of enjoyment.

It was just a simple drink of water, but he gulped it down like someone who had been thirsty for a long time in the desert...

Erice looked at Luce, who seemed quite happy, as he gulped down water with a helpless gaze, and she also gulped down her water.

Normally, even though both of them are girls, they should find a Coffee shop or bubble tea shop to sit and rest in this situation, but the Blue-Haired Girl in front of them doesn't seem to have this idea.

But it seems I came here myself.

After finishing her water and wiping her mouth, Erice looked down casually.

The vast, unchanging blue sea.

The waves they churned up seemed distant, and sometimes they stirred up a melancholy Nostalgia...

Wait a minute, Nostalgia? Doesn't that make me sound just like that guy, Chitose?

Thinking of this, Erice's mood suddenly plummeted, and she became inexplicably melancholic.

"Speaking of Erice, you've been Night Watch for so many years, have you always been working alone?"

"Pretty much, mostly it's just me alone."

"So it really is like that."

Ignoring Erice's melancholy expression, Luce dipped her finger in water and placed it on Erice's forehead. Sensing something amiss Erice couldn't help but frown, but Luce meant no harm, so she didn't stop her.

"Erice, don't you ever want to rely on someone else?"

"No, because I'm very strong. I can survive well even if I'm all alone."

That's a lie, isn't it?

But actually, that's not quite right. Erice was indeed not very good at living alone when she was young, she is now fourteen years old and perfectly capable of it.

"Hmm, I see. That makes sense, after all, it's Erice. Oh, I see!" Luce flashed a V sign at Erice and laughed happily. "The reason she doesn't have Servant is because no Servant thinks Erice needs to rely on others, right? Because Erice. How about that, am I smart?"

"Smart my foot! What nonsense are you spouting?" Erice retorted mercilessly, but then muttered, "I did have, in the past, Servant who could be considered Servant, but I was too strong, and now they can't keep up with me, so they abandoned them."

If the Demon King were to appear before Erice now and jokingly ask her a question, Erice would probably show an annoyed expression.

But given that she had been missing for so long and hadn't reappeared, Erice felt she had nothing more to say to him.

What else could she say? Should she cry and beg him not to leave?

Utsumi Erice would never say such a thing.

Of course, this is on the premise that it never appears.

"Oh, I see. If it's Erice, it makes sense." Luce rested his chin on his hand on the railing. "But Erice, aren't humans social animals?"

"... What's wrong? Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

"Hey, it's a secret." Luce then patted Erice the shoulder, "Erice, do you have someone you like?"

Since the topic suddenly shifted to this, Erice was momentarily at a loss for words.

"... Of course not. I rarely interact with others. My life is basically a monotonous routine, going between two points all day long. Besides, I don't need to like anyone."

"Hmm, but that expression on your face just now looked so lonely."

"Lonely..."

Why should I answer a question from someone I'm not even that close to?

A sense of defiance surged within Erice, and then, as if she had nothing to lose, she retorted, "You're asking me? Luce, do you have someone you like?"

"Yes, I have."

"... Eh?"

After letting out a surprised exclamation, Erice couldn't help but blink.

A sense of defeat suddenly welled up inside me. It was really strange; no matter what, Luce couldn't possibly like the Demon King.

But the name that Luce then uttered made Erice roll her eyes.

"Novia, I like her very much."

Scumbag.

This was Erice's first reaction when she heard Luce say those words.

Then,

Let's go back to the present.

"Cream Puff don't keep well and need to be eaten quickly. Instant noodles can be stored for a long time, but they get cloying after a while. Compressed biscuits make me want to drink water, and I don't want to throw away the trash because I eat takeout every day..."

While eating Cream Puff, Metatron began to comment on his thoughts on homemade food.

"Isn't it me who takes out the trash?"

Erice rolled her eyes at the otaku-like Angel.

To be honest, she thought that being lazy like this would anger Aoko Aozaki, but recently, for some reason, not only was she not angry, but she was also holed up in another room doing... something that looked like Witch potion research, not coming out for 24 hours a day.

Although Magecraft are indeed like that, Erice couldn't help but admire them in her heart; they were truly dedicated to their craft.

A few minutes later, just as Erice was thinking, "It's about time I left, to give the two of them a good environment," Metatron spoke up in his usual lazy tone:

"You just took away what's most important to me, Novia."

Back when they first met at the Kuonji residence, Novia had asked Metatron to address her by her first name when others were present, but to do so freely when they were alone.

Therefore, since Erice was present, Metatron did not call himself the host.

That makes sense, after all, if Erice heard this, she might think to herself that the two of them are really going all out, getting into a master-servant relationship so quickly... Wait a minute, isn't Sloth Angel? The God of the Bible would be furious... She might actually think that.

Because of the words "something very important," "lost," and "just now," which evoked a lot of thoughts, coupled with what she had just seen, Erice hesitated for a moment, wondering whether she should sit back down on the Sofa, even though she was already preparing to get up and leave.

What do you mean by "important things"?

Would I really harm Metatron? Not even while he's sleeping.

This was Novia's idea.

In his view, even if Metatron became Sloth, he didn't really want to have much contact with him.

"Uh, well, let's just say it's very important, but for you... it's not that important."

"Doesn't that mean it's completely unimportant?" Erice couldn't help but retort.

"What you say doesn't matter... that's not true at all!" Metatron squeezed the Cream Puff in his hand, accidentally crushing it, and then licked his fingers of the cream. "It's something extremely, incredibly, super important to me; I could hardly live without it."

If you put down your fifteenth Cream Puff first, you might be more convincing.

Novia and Erice had the same thought at the same time.

"Let me think... the important thing you mentioned that I took away..." Novia shrugged, recalling the instant noodle smell she'd caught earlier, "Could it be the instant noodles you made?"

"Of course! I really can't give up instant noodles anymore. What could be more important than instant noodles? I can't think of anything..."

Upon hearing this, Novia wanted to both laugh and ignore Metatron's changed state.

Therefore, he rarely had the urge to tease her.

"I see. Then let me be your important possession."

Metatron, with a half-eaten Cream Puff in his mouth, looked up in confusion with a "Huh?" and blinked, a look of disbelief on his face.

Novia found her reaction quite amusing; in fact, he found it rather interesting to see Metatron so surprised.

"This kind of thing doesn't require much effort, right? It's just greeting each other when we meet, chatting occasionally, having meals together, isn't that all? But then again, it's already like that, isn't it? Because you've already gone this far."

Novia continued speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and as he expected, Metatron's eyes widened in surprise.

"You really are, Lord..."

A slight blush crept onto her fair cheeks. The Sloth Scribe of Kingdom of Heaven was completely unaware that the Cream Puff in her mouth had fallen onto her body. Her expression, movements, tone of voice, and even the aura she exuded had changed. She even broke the rule that she shouldn't call out "Lord" in front of outsiders. Fortunately, she spoke very softly, so Erice didn't hear it.

Seeing Metatron become like this Erice was completely stunned, and she couldn't suppress her Desire to make sarcastic remarks.

Damn it, this is clearly a complete conquest!

What's so great about this scumbag named Novia?

Could there be some hidden story in this conversation that I don't know about? But isn't this just a simple conversation? Are the Angel from the Bible so easy to win over? They're won over in just a few words!?

Metatron's eyebrows drooped shyly, his eyes blinked several times, his lips pursed slightly, and he blinked repeatedly in a flustered manner. After his gaze wandered left and right for a while, he finally raised his eyes slightly to look at the two people present.

"I'm so tired, I'm going to rest."

After saying that, Metatron squinted and slumped onto the fully automated massage Holy Seat like a dead fish, then returned to his room at an extremely fast pace.

So, only Erice and Novia remained in the Hall.

"I must say, your methods are truly extraordinary."

"I'm very strong."

Erice felt like she'd heard that phrase somewhere before, but she maintained a nonchalant expression. "So it refers to being good at flirting with the opposite sex, huh? That does fit your image."

"Since you, Erice, think that's what I am, then so be it."

Please don't misunderstand --