"Forget it. Let's just start over."
The moment the words left her lips, Lyra was already moving.
Outside the door, Ryuu hovered in tortured indecision. She didn't want to intrude, yet she felt strangely reluctant to leave. Eventually, her ears flushed pink, her blue eyes growing hazy. Hugging her arms close, she turned away and stumbled back to her room.
Morning came softly, pale light spilling through the window.
Kaguya slept with her face buried in the pillow, her silk nightgown's collar loose, long black hair cascading over her shoulders. She looked far more serene in sleep than she ever did while teasing.
Akira's gaze shifted slightly, catching the soft curves revealed and hidden with each breath.
On his other side, the petite Lyra slept soundly, a faint smile on her lips as though she were in the middle of a sweet dream. Half-lidded eyes fluttered open, and she gave him a lazy grin.
"Oh? Awake already?"
Her morning voice was low and husky, carrying an oddly intimate charm in the quiet room.
Kaguya stirred as well, rubbing her eyes with a languid motion. When her gaze fell upon Lyra beside her, she paused, momentarily taken aback.
After a brief pause, she suddenly remembered that this wasn't even her room.
"Why are you still here?" Kaguya asked dryly, running her fingers through her long, messy hair.
Lyra stretched lazily, her tone filled with mockery. "If you can be here, why can't I?"
"Tsk." Kaguya clicked her tongue in annoyance but didn't argue further.
Akira got up and walked toward the closet. Opening the door, he pulled out a clean, neatly folded shirt, slipped it on, then turned back to the two women still glaring at each other.
"Alright, Kaguya. Didn't you say you wanted to see if this kind of… activity could really increase your stats? Then go wash up before seeing Astraea-sama."
'Can I really face Astraea-sama looking like this?'
A faint trace of discomfort flashed across Kaguya's face. Then she straightened up and said, "Of course I'm going. I've been keeping that in mind."
With that, she tugged her nightgown into place and hurried off toward her room.
That's the strength of a Level 3 adventurer? Seriously impressive.
Akira watched her retreating back disappear around the corner, the thin fabric of her coat swaying as she moved.
Lyra, still sprawled on the bed, suddenly sat up and shot him a sly smile. "Why are you in such a rush for Kaguya to go and verify things? You're not harboring any suspicious motives, are you?"
'Do you really think I'm that easy to read?'
"Don't overthink it. I just believe that if this really increase stats, the sooner we verify it, the better." Akira replied, keeping his voice even despite the faint heat creeping into his cheeks.
'Really, you see right through me but still insist on teasing. Lyra, one of these days I swear I'll go three hundred rounds with you.'
"Only you could say something like that." Lyra hopped down from the bed and sauntered over, jabbing him in the side with her elbow.
"You're so pompous, it's really not a good look."
Her pink hair swayed as she tilted her head, eyes sparkling mischievously. The deliberately sweet tone in her voice was the final touch.
'You little devil…'
Akira could only grumble inwardly, utterly at a loss for a comeback. His gaze drifted toward the brightening sky outside the window. Golden sunlight spilled into the room, driving away the shadows and wrapping everything in a warm glow.
The encirclement against evilus' stronghold would begin in two days.
"It's not as complicated as you make it sound." Akira said, looking back at Lyra. "I really do think this is important for our familia's growth."
And if even that sort of thing can boost stats, maybe he can even create stat boost potions for everyone. But would that be the only method? Or would other ways work too? He'd have to experiment.
Lyra's eyes narrowed, catching his thoughtful expression.
Then she smirked. "Alright, keep talking big. But if it works, we'll just have to 'fight' more often, won't we? The familia will be incredibly lively then."
Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, as if envisioning the scene. "No other familia will be able to match us in that kind of spectacle."
"Stop with the nonsense." Akira hit her lightly on the head with his knuckles.
"We'll wait for Kaguya's results first. And don't go talking about this casually, this needs careful thought."
Lyra continued, "I still think you're hiding something. Maybe you're just hoping for more girls to—"
Before she could finish, Akira clamped a hand over her mouth. "Shh! Keep your voice down."
"Okay, okay, I'll stop." Lyra said, pulling away, laughter bubbling from her lips. "But I'm dying to see Kaguya's face if it does work."
Her eyes glimmered with wicked amusement. "If that happens, what path will our oh-so-righteous familia take, I wonder?"
Akira sighed, half-amused and half-exasperated. He patted her head as he said, "Come on. Wash up and head to the kitchen. We'll wait for Kaguya's answer there."
"Besides, we still have a mission to prepare for. The Evilus operation isn't something we can just sit back and wait on."
Meanwhile, walking out of Astraea's room, Kaguya glanced at the parchment in her hand. The corner of her lips twitched.
Unbelievable. It actually worked, and not just a little.
Her magic stat had jumped by more than fifty points, and the rest of her stats by more than ten. In total, she gained over a hundred points in stats.
For a normal adventurer, that was days, if not weeks, of dungeon grinding condensed into one night.
If she were lucky, she might gain less than fifty points in total in a day. On bad days, barely any at all. But this… this was something else.
Her magic was even approaching its limit of 999. As for breaking past the bottleneck like Akira, she wasn't going to hold any high hopes.
Carefully tucking the parchment away, Kaguya drew a deep breath and tried to compose herself. She quickened her steps, the numbers replaying in her mind again and again. Excitement swelled in her chest at the thought of their familia's potential growth, but beneath it was a seed of worry.
Would using such a strange method cause Akira to face more dangers?
She didn't have the answer.
In Akira's room.
After Kaguya handed Akira and Lyra the parchment, the subtle changes in the data displayed upon it caused both recipients to fall silent.
Time seemed to freeze in that moment. The stillness in the air was so profound that one could hear nothing but the faint rhythm of each other's breathing, steady yet laced with unspoken tension.
"Ahahaha…"
After a long pause, Akira finally broke the oppressive silence with a dry, awkward laugh, raising his hands in a vague, flustered gesture as if trying to swat away the strange atmosphere hanging over them.
"It seems to be really effective. Not bad at all." He said with forced nonchalance.
Yet, despite the words, a faint trace of fear flickered in his eyes.
'Am I going to be in trouble for the next two days?'
He could almost feel a chill creep down his spine as he noticed the subtle glint lighting up in the eyes of the two women before him. A sudden and very real concern for the longevity of his kidneys gnawed at him.
Just then—
Click.
(End of Chapter)
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