A little while later...
"Urgh..."
"I told you not to mix popcorn with ice cream, didn't I?" Opera shook her head, amused but resigned, her hand patting gently up and down.
In her arms and with her head resting against her neck, the curly-haired Jerry grunted with a grimace. Evidence of her crime still lingered at the corners of her lips.
"Grrr...Butr... It was chocolate..."
Another sigh escaped the planter, "And look at how you ended up? Was it worth it?"
The girl straightened up lazily, looking directly at her with tired but bright eyes. "Yes."
Shaking her head, Opera pressed the girl back against her chest. "Sigh, this child...
"Sleep a little, I'll give you some medicine for your tummy ache when we get home."
"Mmm… okay…" Having no complaints, Jerry closed her eyes, the rhythm of the woman's heartbeat very soothing in her ears.
"…"
A head of orange-blonde hair peeked out from above the planter's head. Sasha raised an interested eyebrow. "It seems that Father Utravsky taught you the practices of the church well."
Only a faithful member of the Church of Earth Mother could calm a child so quickly.
Making sure the little girl wouldn't fall from her arms, Opera smiled apologetically at the giant and whispered, "It was the first thing he taught me when I started working there."
Sasha grimaced as she scratched her neck. "I'm more surprised that you learned so well from him. His teaching methods... aren't exactly the best."
The cotton and seed method was never very useful in her eyes.
Nathan, interested, couldn't help but join the conversation. "You're not only taught about plants and medicine, but also childcare?"
Being from the capital of Intis, Trier, he never had much contact with the Church of the Earth Mother. He only knew a little about it from word of mouth, along with the most basic of basics.
Somewhat amused by that question, Opera laughed softly, "Doesn't the name make it obvious? Besides, people are plants too so of course I have to know how to care of the young ones."
Nathan blinked a couple of times, confused, "Excuse me?"
What did that have to do with his question?
Opera was about to respond when the girl in her arms began to stir, disturbed from her sleep.
"Umm…"
Realizing this, Nathan pressed his lips together with a chill running down his spine, "Pardon me, Miss Opera, I didn't mean to—"
"Shh." Opera raised a finger to her lips, her crimson gaze reaching deep into his soul.
Understanding the message, the Clown nodded. Unconsciously taking a step back.
Tap...
The man's blue eyes looked to his side, not understanding what he was seeing, 'What are you doing?'
Sasha said nothing as she stood beside him, her lips tightly pressed together and trembling slightly. Her attention was fixed straight ahead, firm and unmoving, like a soldier on the march.
Never disturb a sleeping child with a woman from the Church of the Earth Mother nearby.
She learned that the hard way in her days as an official Beyonder...
Opera did not look at the pugilist's strange movement, nor did she care. Once she asked for silence, she focused all her attention on the girl.
Slowly and gently, her hand began to rub the little girl's back as she hummed softly.
"Mmm~ Mmm~" With that, Opera began to rock her body back and forth.
Neither Sasha nor Nathan interrupted, both standing still a few steps in front of her, not daring to move.
Soon, Jerry's trembling eyelids stopped, and her breathing returned to normal. The humming gradually stopped along with the rocking. A soft smile appeared on the lips of the dark-haired, crimson-eyed woman.
Those eyes looked deeply into the girl's face, making sure she was truly asleep now.
Taking a few seconds and seeing that the danger had passed, Opera sighed silently. Looking up, she whispered with narrowed eyes, "Please mind your tone."
"Understood, ma'am." Giving a respectful bow, Nathan and Sasha apologized quietly.
The woman with hair as black as night nodded in response, then her gaze relaxed.
"Thank you," she said.
Feeling that this was the permission they needed, the duo straightened up carefully.
Not wanting to continue disturbing her, Nathan took the orange-haired woman's hand and led her away.
"Regarding your previous question, Mr Nathan, I can tell you if you are still interested."
Those words stopped the Clown, who had just completed the first part of his escape plan.
Looking at the sleeping Jerry and the now calm Opera, Nathan took three seconds of silence.
It was now that he cursed his upbringing in his heart... If a woman asked him to listen to her, it was his duty as a gentleman to listen.
'Besides, I was the one who asked... Sigh, I have to watch what I say...'
The Clown broke his silence with a slight nod as he let go of the giant's hand.
"...If it's not too much trouble, ma'am."
The Planter smiled and, closing her eyes, spoke calmly and serenely, taking care not to raise her voice.
"In the beginning, we are all seeds that must be planted in our mother's womb. It is in that fertile soil that we grow day by day, nourished and cared for by our mother, who ensures that we develop properly, something that does not stop even after we are born...
"We are not ready to face the world when we first emerge from the womb; we still need our mothers' care to grow strong.
"Therefore, it is my duty to ensure that the little ones can grow to maturity until they can leave their homes, make their own lives, and repeat the cycle of planting the seed and cultivating it..."
Her cheek rested against the girl's head, her eyes opening slightly.
"So when we return to the earth, we will be good fertilizer that gives back what it has given us."
'Like the water cycle then? At the end of our days, we humans become food for plants as fertilizer...' Nathan nodded slowly, a deep look on his face as he understood what she was trying to say.
From the earth we come, to the earth we return.
"I see..." Nathan placed a hand on his chest and bowed. "Thank you for explaining, Miss Opera."
"It's no problem," the older woman said with a gentle smile.
"I think that's enough for today. I'll see you this Sunday, Miss Sasha, Mr Nathan. If I want to get home before midnight, I'd better leave now."
"Let us escort you." Sasha quickly stepped forward, fist on her chest and eyes shining with determination.
"It's on our way, so allow us to accompany you."
At this hour, she would not allow one of her friends to walk alone with a child in her arms.
Knowing his companion and having an idea of what she was thinking, Nathan did not comment on the matter. He just stood beside her, silently supporting her.
"Oh?" The Planter's eyebrows rose slightly, but she soon smiled and nodded, "Then I'll be in your care."
"We'll follow you." From the side, Charlotte walked up to them, accompanied by Serena.
The woman in black and red clothes just looked down from under her hood, nodding occasionally at their words.
Following them, the yellow-haired duo also approached. They came in a somewhat curious manner.
"We too." Arbiter Xio entered the conversation with a blank expression, followed by Fors.
The writer didn't even look up from her notebook, nor did she seem to notice that she had moved. Or if she had, she didn't care in the least.
The only reason she was walking was that one of the tunics of her clothing was being pulled by Xio.
The latter raised the thumb of her free hand and, pointing behind her, said, "When she's like this, it's horrible to move her, so I apologize for the inconvenience."
"N-no, it's fine. Don't worry about it." Sasha blinked dazedly at the scene, unsure how to react.
'It looks like she's on a leash...' The giantess couldn't help but make the mental comparison, the corners of her lips twitching.
Shaking those thoughts from her mind, Sasha raised a hand and waved it toward the back of the room.
"We'll be leaving now, Boss. Have a good night."
Adryan Kenway, who was sitting at the poker table, raised a hand in response, a slight smile on his face as he waved it casually. "Take care of yourselves, too."
After a brief farewell, the improvised group left the room, escorted by the 'workers.'
Now there were only five people left in the room, a number that did not remain that way for long.
Putting down her empty ice cream cup and placing the spoon to one side, the green-haired noblewoman wiped her lips with a handkerchief.
Calmly, Hazel rose from her place at the table and, grasping the edges of her dress, curtsied.
"I'll be leaving now, Teachers."
The redhead nodded without haste, "Are you going alone? We can accompany you."
The noblewoman shook her head, unconcerned. "Thank you, but I'll be fine, you don't need to worry."
The route she planned to take back was relatively safe, and by carriage, it would only take 20 minutes at this hour.
It might sound arrogant, but apart from mid-sequence beyonders and above, Hazel wasn't worried about normal people. She already had experience in avoiding them and in combat. If there were a firearm, it could cause her problems, but again, she wasn't worried.
Besides, it's not like she didn't have safety measures in place in case problems arose.
The various charms in several of the hidden pockets of her dress would not only ensure her escape but could also directly injure or even eliminate the problem.
Adryan looked at his student for two seconds before closing his eyes, "I see... Alright."
Unconsciously, the young woman's back straightened a little more, her eyes shining.
This freedom she now had certainly felt good—
"Still, one of my soldiers will follow you."
The noblewoman's left eyelid twitched, but her expression remained unchanged.
'I should have seen it coming. I'm sure Miss Sasha's group is also being followed by one of them...'
A sigh escaped her lips, but remembering her manners, Hazel nodded.
"Thank you, Teacher."
...
With the noblewoman's departure, only four people remained in the room. All of them were sitting at the poker table, with no cards on it.
Adryan Kenway had his legs crossed, his elbow on the table, and his cheek resting on his left palm. And an empty ice cream cup in front of him that still smelled of coconut.
To his right, Flora Jacob ate with her eyes closed from her cup, a half-finished scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
In front of them, Maric and Sharron had their own cups.
Maric, who was surprisingly eating a strawberry-flavored one, had a blank expression on his face.
'This is a first...' The zombie glanced sideways at his partner, bringing his spoon to his lips.
Sharron, dressed in black, ate her vanilla ice cream slowly, much more slowly than usual.
Typically, given how long she was taking to eat her dessert, it should have been soup by now. But thanks to the control she had over ice as a Wraith, keeping her dessert cold was no problem.
Her expressionless blue eyes did not move from the front, trembling almost imperceptibly.
With all the years he had spent with her, Maric knew well what that meant.
She was very excited, ecstatic even.
And he knew precisely why.
After all, now that they were so close, the kiss mark on the redhead's neck was impossible to ignore.
'This...' Barely holding back his sigh, Maric shook his head to himself as he lowered his spoon.
His partner would never ask directly, so in these instances, he had to take the extra step.
Calmly, he looked at the duo in front of him.
"I guess you finally took the next step, huh?"
"Is it that obvious?" Jokingly, the redhead chuckled a little, "I didn't expect you to say it so bluntly, Mr Zombie."
"You're not exactly discreet, Mr Kenway." With his gaze, Maric pointed unspokenly to the purple mark on the man's neck.
Adryan smiled knowingly and winked, "Oh come on, can't I show off the affection my wife gives me? Is that a sin?"
"Princess, seriously?" Finally opening her gray eyes, Flora looked sideways at the man, the tips of her ears slightly red.
"What?" Confused, Adryan raised an eyebrow, "What did I do now?"
The Jacob didn't respond immediately, but took out a handkerchief and elegantly wiped her mouth. With the handkerchief covering her mouth, she looked at him calmly.
"You call a peck on the neck the affection of a wife?"
The smile on the redhead's face froze. "Huh?"
In a swift movement, the handkerchief was dropped, and the hand that held it shot to the collar of his shirt, pulling.
Their lips connected in an instant, and she wasted no time in forcing the man's mouth open. Adryan was unable to react before the woman's tongue almost reached his throat.
"Mmm?!"
The taste of mint filled his palate, while coconut filled Flora's.
After 5 seconds, she finally let go. A thread of saliva still connected them.
Another handkerchief appeared in the white-haired woman's hand as she calmly wiped her mouth.
Flora smiled smugly behind it, the red in her ears a little stronger.
"That, Princess, is a wife's kiss."
A slight blush appeared on the redhead's cheeks, who had not expected such a move. "And you call me cheeky."
In response, Flora rolled her eyes.
This was her revenge for always kissing her out of the blue.
Adryan was about to complain when he remembered that they weren't in his apartment.
Recalling that they had an audience, his red eyes returned to the front, and his lips tightened into an apologetic smile.
With their mouths half open, Maric and Sharron were completely frozen, stunned by what had just happened in front of them.
The hands of the woman in the black dress now held a block of ice, the vanilla ice cream cup trapped inside like modern art.
"Sorry you saw that," Adryan readjusted his shirt collar.
"It's fine. There's nothing to apologize for, Mr Kenway," Sharron replied calmly, her closed eyes returning to her doll-like appearance. Completely unaffected.
The only evidence that something even happened was the block of ice that used to be her ice cream.
"Mmm, if you say so." Having no intention of pointing it out, the redhead sighed internally.
That was something he hadn't expected.
Shaking his head and putting what had happened behind him, the question he so badly wanted to ask was finally asked.
"Mr Zombie, Miss Casper, did you smell something strange today?"
"Is this another one of your jokes?" Maric narrowed his eyes as he raised an eyebrow.
Adryan didn't feel bad about those words; he even understood them.
He didn't have a reputation for saying things without hidden intentions.
So, opening his heart, his expression fell a little, and a heavy sigh escaped him.
"Honestly, I wish it were."
"...What kind of smell?" Maric's expression became neutral, but his frown remained.
"It doesn't have a special scent. It's just strange, uncomfortable, and makes the stomach churn." Adryan grimaced as he remembered that smell, his left fist clenching uncomfortably.
'If there's something that makes this guy make that face, then...' The Zombie closed his eyes and searched his memories for something useful.
After about seven seconds, he opened them and shook his head. "No, I haven't smelled anything like what you describe."
The redhead's attention shifted to the woman in black clothes, and she also shook her head.
Crossing his arms, his finger began to tap his bicep as he clicked his tongue. "How annoying."
"Does it have to do with Hazel?"
The man's finger stopped, his red gaze returning to his companion.
Stirring her spoon in circles in her now empty cup, Flora did not look up from him, her voice calm.
"You've been more attentive to her than usual, asking how she was and if there was anything new as soon as she came in. You didn't do that with anyone else."
Her spoon stopped turning, and her gray eyes met his red ones.
"I was going to ask you about it at home, but since you brought it up yourself, it's more problematic than I thought."
After a short pause, she continued. "What's wrong with the brat now?"
"Nothing gets past you, huh?" Sighing, Adryan closed his eyes.
When they opened again, they were like a cold blade piercing the soul.
"I don't know. I don't know what's going on with her, but it bothers me, and a lot."
For a few moments, no one said anything. A suffocating silence settled over the room.
The redhead was the first to break it.
"It doesn't seem to be an illness; Opera would have noticed that when she saw her. The same goes for a mental problem; Jerry would have pointed it out. So it's something else... More information is needed..." Holding his chin with two fingers, Adryan narrowed his eyes.
It could be...
His mind immediately went blank. The mental safe at the back of his mind grew heavier and trembled.
He turned his attention to the side, and his eyes met Flora's, who, like him, was frowning.
With her fingers pressing the bridge of her nose, the Jacob clicked her tongue.
"That girl always gets into trouble." Seeing his expression, the theory running through her mind was confirmed.
Although the most important details had been 'hidden' by hypnosis and her own ability as a Dream Stealer as a security measure, the little she could remember without danger was enough to give birth to a dangerous possibility.
Although the possibility was low, the mere fact that there was one was a bad sign.
Whatever was wrong with Hazel had something to do with the Demoness Set problem!
The same thing crossed the redhead's mind, who turned his attention back to the criminal duo.
"Sharron, I need you to keep an eye on Hazel. Don't let her know you're there, and keep a good distance from her. Maric, support her as much as you can, but stay away, avoid being seen."
Of all the members, they were the best at protecting the girl without being discovered. Flora and he knew too much, so they could potentially worsen the problem if they got too close.
"Understood." The members of the Temperance faction nodded, exchanging glances.
Adryan rarely referred to them by name.
This was more complicated than they thought...
At that moment, the redhead's vision was covered by yellowish smoke.
This smoke quickly condensed, revealing a secluded corner of the theater, separated by the curtain.
There, a man with black hair slicked back and a woman with glasses were talking.
"I know you're not him, so I want you to ask him a question for me."
"What would that be, Miss Vivian?" Although they were offstage, Harvey Wayne's role was still masterfully played by Ignir.
The Barbarian snorted ungraciously, crossed her arms, and looked at him with disdain.
"Seriously, is that guy, Cordis, a normal person? He's too weird."
Harvey showed no change in his expression as he nodded, "I'll pass on the message."
"You bet." The woman pressed a finger hard into the man's chest.
Hitting him a couple of times, forcing him to take a step back, Vivian snorted and shook her hair, turning away.
"I'll accompany Saul to the carriages. If you have no other work for me, I'm leaving. I have a date with a bottle and a weekend I won't remember."
The sound of heels against the floor filled the scene as the woman left Harvey alone, who kept his expression flat.
Once alone, he walked to a part of the stage and, making sure he was alone, prayed quietly.
The scene soon dissolved, and his vision returned to reality...
SMACK!
Those present looked lost at the red-haired man, who had just slapped himself hard across the face.
Flora blinked, "Another one of your episodes, Princess?"
Sighing, Adryan covered his face with both hands and lamented.
'I really am an unlucky bastard...'