An excellent matchmaking system

The Lightless Prison.

Herbert strolled slowly through the darkness.

This time, for some reason, Svanney did not interfere with him again, and he was in no hurry to look for her.

He simply walked slowly through the darkness, silently conversing with the Evil God in his mind.

"Nenasya, does Freime's singing have some special ability? Does it hurt ordinary people who hear it?"

Herbert was not so dense that he failed to realize Freime's agitation had something to do with her singing.

["Probably? It doesn't affect me, anyway. I think it sounds pretty nice!"]

"Right, shouldn't have bothered asking you. Go play."

Recalling Freime's flustered expression when she first noticed him, he raised his eyebrows slightly and remembered her title, [Death Howl].

Singing and death-surely the two were connected. Did her singing have a lethal effect?

Could most people not withstand it, dying horribly on the spot?

If that was the case... wow, what a death-metal Sea Monster!

That rocked!

Ahem, no, wait. If that's true, then did Freime really destroy those ports on purpose when she committed her crimes?

Could there be something behind it that she couldn't explain?

Herbert mulled it over, feeling that his approach to winning Freime over was becoming clearer.

Their relationship had now shifted from its initial state of "mild hostility" to "better than neutral, but not quite friendly."

A little more effort. Start with the circumstances of that incident and see whether these "truths" can bring us closer...

Just as Herbert was quietly thinking, Nenasya suddenly seemed to lose her mind and remarked in a coy, insinuating voice:

["Oh my! Come to think of it, you two really are sooo close!"]

["The girl even invited you herself. She wants to sing for~ you~ again~"]

"Hm?"

His train of thought interrupted, Herbert's right eyelid twitched incessantly. He had no idea what she was playing at this time, but his instincts told him it was nothing good.

...What the hell are you doing?

He raised an eyebrow and asked warily, "What, are you jealous of her?"

Spit it out!

Did that get under your skin?

["Pfft!"]

["Me, jealous? Hehe, my adorable ally, you really do know how to joke~"]

The Harmonic God let out a disdainful chuckle, flatly denying it and declaring the whole idea utterly ridiculous.

["I can't wait for you to get closer to them. Ideally, you'd have some intimate exchanges with them soon, gain power, and free me as early as possible!"]

What would I be jealous of?

What a joke!

"Heh. You'd better mean that."

Herbert curled his lip with a scoff. Over the past couple of days, he had gradually gotten the hang of dealing with Nenasya.

This self-proclaimed great Evil God was a complete drama queen who periodically went off the rails, put on a performance anytime and anywhere, and spouted so much nonsense that the punctuation was the only believable part of anything she said.

The bad news was that dealing with her was exhausting. He had to stay on guard at all times.

Without enough cunning, he really could fall straight into one of her verbal traps and end up like Tom, a pitiful plaything in a wicked woman's hands.

But there was good news, too.

He was the same sort of player, every bit as much of a handful.

They had the same type of Stand, and his brand of insanity was no less pure than Nenasya's!

When it came to leaving people speechless, their talents were pretty much evenly matched...

It was like the child of a spud and a potato meeting the offspring of a tater and a potayto. Neither had the slightest edge over the other.

He had to admit it.

This was one fucking excellent matchmaking system!

The two bickered back and forth for a while longer. Knowing he would get nothing out of her, Herbert was the first to call a retreat and wait for their next bout.

Finally, he added, seemingly offhandedly, ["Come to think of it, I really would like to hear you sing."]

Herbert genuinely had not thought much of the remark. It was merely a casual pleasantry prompted by the mood.

Unexpectedly, however, it seemed to punch straight through her sturdy defenses, silencing the endlessly chattering Nenasya.

["...Hear me sing?"]

After a somewhat prolonged silence, Nenasya chuckled, then gave a meaningful hum and said:

["If you want to listen, I could sing. It's just... if I sing, quite a few people will die, you know."]

["So, do you want to hear it right now?"]

Hm?

Herbert's eyebrows shifted. He felt as though he had vaguely brushed against something crucial.

At the same time, however, a sense of danger kept warning him that everything could fall apart and blow up at any moment-take it easy. Don't mess around!

One wrong move, and the whole thing might explode.

After a moment's hesitation, Herbert ultimately chose to play it safe. Rather than answering directly, he changed tack and asked:

"Uh, I'm not asking you to sing to anyone else. If you only sing inside my head, it shouldn't hurt anyone, right?"

I'd be the only one listening. I'm not some asshole who blasts everything on speaker!

["Well~ that's hard to say."] The Evil God's laughter carried a peculiar nuance that left Herbert deeply uneasy.

I can't keep probing.

"Then let's wait until we get another chance!"

Herbert decisively chose to dodge the issue for now, but he refused to simply cower. Turning the tables, he said, "We'll talk about it when you feel like singing for me yourself!"

"Honestly, you're an Evil God. You need to show a little more initiative and offer on your own. You can't always make me ask, can you?"

Herbert became a crusader, wielding the power of Little Pink Book to turn the emotional blackmail back on the Evil God.

Listen, comrade. You need to learn to read the room and provide emotional support!

It really made one marvel-magic was so damn useful!

["Pfft, hahaha! In your dreams!"]

Nenasya burst out laughing at his antics. Her mood returned to normal, and she teased him, ["Hehe, you're so funny~ Choosing you really was the right decision."]

"Right? I think I'm pretty funny, too."

Herbert silently breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he had muddled his way through this hurdle.

Then, relaxing, he said with a casual laugh, "Of course you had to choose me! Just look at what you've done to everyone else."

A perfectly good Penitent, and you went and turned him into Grass Carp.

How cruel.

Ah, Evil Gods. Honestly.

But to Herbert's surprise, Nenasya responded to his words with a question mark.

["Hm?"]

"...Hm?"

Herbert abruptly realized something was wrong. He stopped dead, his eyes widening.

"You weren't the one who bewitched that Penitent!?"

["What are you talking about? When have I ever bewitched anyone other than you?"]

Herbert: ?

"Huh!!?"

Meanwhile, Valentina, who had been silently sulking all this time, suddenly showed a slight change of expression.

Hm?

She twitched her nose and muttered in puzzlement:

"That's strange. Where's that fishy smell coming from?"