Church

Compared to the cold, dim corridor, the dining room was far brighter. More accurately, it was not a dining room at all, but a sunroom. They could enjoy the gentle sunlight while having breakfast, perhaps one of the few ways this mansion kept warm.

Alice Kuonji's breakfast was simple: aside from bread, there was only black tea. It could hardly be called lavish. If the tea were replaced with plain water, it would be no different from the fare of a medieval ascetic.

Aozaki Aoko's breakfast had an extra fried egg, but that was all. Michael sat at the table and casually picked up a fashion magazine, the sort of thing girls their age liked to read. Apparently, Aozaki Aoko and Alice Kuonji were no exceptions.

He poured himself a cup of black tea, feeling its warmth against his palms, then looked outside the sunroom. Withered yellow weeds filled the flowerbeds, lending the place a bleak air. No wonder it was called Misaki Town's haunted mansion.

Breakfast passed in that strange silence, everyone occupied with their own thoughts. Aozaki Aoko absentmindedly dealt with her meal. Too many troublesome matters had piled up, leaving her with no appetite at all.

She pierced the slightly burnt surface with her fork, watched the thick yolk spill out, and unconsciously sighed.

"There's a church here, right?"

Michael set down the fashion magazine in his hands and suddenly asked.

"Yeah, there is a Goda Church. Why do you ask?"

Aozaki Aoko put down her fork, ending her torture of the fried egg.

"I plan to attend a service, and confess my sins while I'm at it."

Michael gave a textbook fake smile, then took a Bible from his Imaginary Pocket and traced a cross over his chest.

"Services are only held on Sundays, aren't they? And someone like you is actually a believer?"

Aozaki Aoko instinctively snarked at him. Nothing Michael did had the slightest connection to a devout believer.

"It's free anyway. Might as well believe a little."

"If you're going to make an excuse, at least make it a convincing one."

"Then I'll tell the truth. I have a connection with the priest here."

Michael smiled, though he had other thoughts in mind.

"..."

Half an hour later

"Why am I going to church with you? I hate places like that."

Aozaki Aoko complained. It was the morning rush hour, and Misaki Central Park was filled not only with people doing morning exercises, but with even more middle-aged office workers hurrying to work.

"You could have chosen not to come. The choice was yours, wasn't it?"

Michael had both hands tucked into his trench coat pockets. His tousled white hair stirred in the morning breeze, and his deep blue eyes resembled a glittering sea beneath the sun. The gentle smile at the corner of his lips made him all the more charming, drawing the gazes of passersby.

"Fine. My brain must have short-circuited."

Aozaki Aoko stroked her forehead and sighed. She was not wearing her usual school uniform, but a red dress with a white cotton jacket. Her long legs were tightly wrapped in black cotton stockings. In weather this cold, she did not have the courage to bare her pale thighs like the girls on the street.

"Besides, I'm your prisoner right now, aren't I? Shouldn't you be keeping a closer watch on me? Are you really fine with letting me walk around alone?"

How do you look anything like a prisoner right now?

Aozaki Aoko muttered inwardly as she looked at Michael's radiant smile.

The two of them walking down the street certainly fit the image of a handsome man and a beautiful woman, so attracting attention from passersby was inevitable.

"President—?!"

A passing boy stared at them in surprise, seemingly suspecting that his eyes were playing tricks on him. He looked again more carefully.

He had messy red hair and looked listless, as though he had pulled an all-nighter. Looking at Michael and Aozaki Aoko, he suddenly realized that he might have uncovered some incredible secret—one serious enough to get him silenced at any moment.

"Sorry, I mistook you for someone else."

Seeing the brilliant smile on Aozaki Aoko's face, Yoshisuke Kinomi's heart sank. He felt as though his life would soon be over. After all, the Demon President's smile was infamous throughout Misaki High School.

He lowered his head and hurried toward the other side of the road, shouting at the same time, "Don't worry, President! I definitely won't tell the other students that you and Michael are out on a date!"

The smile on Aozaki Aoko's face grew even brighter, and her fists clenched instinctively. She could already imagine what rumors would spread through the school. Expecting Yoshisuke Kinomi to keep a secret was less realistic than expecting that person to give up revenge. That loudmouth would definitely spread it everywhere.

"Wasn't that Kinomi? He really is energetic."

Michael was not worried about those rumors. He had even helped fuel some of them himself. In the end, he was simply bored.

Meanwhile, Aozaki Aoko was already thinking about how to silence him.

It was only an insignificant interruption. As they continued on their way, Michael chatted with Aozaki Aoko. Though the questions seemed trivial, the seemingly unimportant information gradually assembled into a complete picture in his mind.

Compared to him, a shut-in who had lived for centuries, Aozaki Aoko was still far too green.

Still, most of their conversation was about which restaurants had the best food, where to find shortcuts when in a hurry, which shops had discounts, and even the history of the city.

Although Michael had only recently arrived in the city, his knowledge of such information was in no way inferior to that of Aozaki Aoko, a local. He was even better informed than she was, making her feel somewhat dejected.

Before long, however, the topic returned to the church.

"Does Aozaki have any connection to the church?"

"Me? None at all. I wish I could change the past and never have anything to do with it. But my father and grandfather were close with people here. When I was little, I was forced to come here every day to help out. It was absolutely appalling."

Aozaki Aoko spoke viciously, her expression growing fiercer. Although Michael did not know what had happened, it had clearly become an unforgettable psychological scar for her.

If that scar could take human form, she would have grabbed it by the collar, slammed its head into the ground with a satisfying suplex, then kicked it several times without mercy.

In short, that experience made her furious. Michael could clearly sense her foul mood.

"Anyway, it's a place I can't bring myself to like. On that point, I especially agree."

Michael shrugged and looked toward the white building in the distance. Compared with the surrounding structures, that white sanctuary was so conspicuous, yet somehow perfectly harmonious.

That was, if one ignored Misaki City First General Hospital right beside it. Situated next to the place where the most people in the entire town died, Goda Church had made a killing. To some extent, the hospital deserved much of the credit for allowing the cramped, shabby church to expand to its present scale in only eight years.

"We're here."

Aozaki Aoko quickened her pace, looking every bit like a general marching into enemy territory.

"The Holy Church's reach really does extend across the whole world. You run into them everywhere."

Sensing that familiar presence, Michael lowered his eyes and followed behind Aozaki Aoko. Dozens of crows circled above the church, silently unfolding a barrier that enveloped the building below.