Joan of Arc did not touch the instrument immediately. Instead, she turned to look at Aiou.
She could sense no goodwill from the man in white, nor could she be certain the instrument was safe. After all, Aiou had eaten a piece of fruit and his head had turned into a horse's. Who knew what would happen if she touched this instrument?
This was not the real world, but the Dream of All Beings. Human logic would not necessarily apply here.
When Aiou saw Joan of Arc looking at him, his enormous horse head immediately bared its pearly white teeth. Then he gave her a thumbs-up, seemingly encouraging her.
"You do it."
Joan of Arc did not trust Aiou in the slightest. Seeing him encourage her to touch the instrument, her first reaction was suspicion, her second was even greater suspicion, and her third was the conviction that something was definitely wrong with it. She could not touch it.
In any case, she would not believe a single word Aiou said.
It was entirely his fault that she had ended up here.
"You really don't want it? You're giving it to me?" Aiou looked delighted.
Joan of Arc eyed him suspiciously without answering right away. She felt certain something was wrong with him, but she could not put her finger on what.
One thing was certain: Aiou knew what the instrument did. The problem was that even if she asked, he would never tell her the truth.
Aiou loved deceiving people. Although most of it came from a prankster's mentality rather than outright malice, being on the receiving end was never pleasant. Take her "transmigration," for example. Now, she did not even want to recall those memories.
"If you don't want it, I'll take it," Aiou said happily.
Joan of