After their journey through the prolonged path, Aoki and Lilith had arrived on their destination. The place had wooden signage beside the gate, Balc Village. There were farmlands, a variety of fruit trees, thatched houses, and several carriages which were rolling around the village. Lilith parked the carriage within the similar-looking station back at where they departed from. Then, she hopped down from the driver's seat while Aoki was opening and rubbing his eyes when he felt no gust and jiggle.
Lilith went to the rental conductor for the proof of return by showing her license card. Aoki got out from behind the carriage and saw her. He approached her for track. After getting through the process, she raised her hand and waved at him to signal him for coming along, and he stood beside her while sauntering to her designated house.
Aoki started the conversation, "So is this your homeland?"
"Yes. The villagers here are friendly, and this place is an agricultural production for fruits."
"I wonder if chocolates are a thing here."
"You mean…. Coco? If you talk about the fruit with bitter and moldy taste, you might refer to that one."
"That one!" Aoki grinned. "I want to taste it."
He entwined and quivered his palms. The bittersweet of the dark chocolate came to his mind back when he enjoyed it from his origin. Although he didn't want the sugary chocolate, he still preferred to try it here if it was different or not. For now, he looked forward to it whether it had it.
He gazed around to sense familiar peace. Some kids were playing while the adults were busy doing their productive business. It was the normal day with no sign of trouble.
Lilith observed his looks as being in a peaceful place was fresh to him. His head was turning around to carry his gaze. His eyes amused her to remark with wondrous feeling.
"You look like you came from an urban place."
"Sometimes boredom hit me up from out of nowhere, but I also realized that it happened—ironically."
"Have you always had unpleasant days?"
"It doesn't seem to be like that."
Lilith rubbed her chin and flicked to her neck. Humid air filled her lungs, soothing her chest.. Every gust relaxed her rough hormones. From the time of the wild night, she restored back to normal amid the morning breeze. Seeing Aoki's smile reminded her with a throb. Her giggling chest and shoulders satisfied her smiling gape without his attention. Her eyes went narrow to gaze at the clouds. Then, she went back to the trail to her home.
Looking at the sun, the time was approaching noon, but she had to send him into her house before the start of preparations. So they escorted him to the place until they reached it.
She found her house with a two-leveled size and concrete roof, compared to every thatched house. The walls of roses around the fence dazzled their eyes. He marveled from top to bottom and gaped with no sense left. Until she called him for an invitation. He then got his conscious back and followed her as she entered through the door.
She knocked on the door, for someone had safeguarded it with favor.
"Hello," She called someone. "It's me, Lilith Rose. I have someone who might be your new roommate."
"Oh..."
They heard the cheering accent from inside. Every rushing step pattered from indistinct to clear by distance. The click of the door caught them as someone pulled and opened the door with no trouble.
It was the little chestnut-haired girl in a red lehenga blouse, carrying a broom. She pouted her left-sided cheek and narrowed her eyes at Lilith. Lilith was looking down, smiling for appreciation.
"Lilith.... It's... been... two... days.... I... thought... you... died... in... the... middle... of... the... work..."
The little girl had a puffy and steady accent upon speaking every single word. Aoki gasped at her cute vocal, although she might have the speech problem. At first, it sounded adorable, but thinking about it made him pity her. Lilith patted her head, but the little girl swayed it back to shove her pat away.
The little girl berated, "I'm... not... a... little... kid... anymore.... How... many... times... do... I... have... to... say... it... again?.."
Lilith giggled and replied, "Even though you said that over again, your face, height, and voice looks adorable to me."
Aoki flinched from his gaping mouth and shuddered his head. Although it was awful to hear, he could tell that Lilith was always being honest, based on what he heard from their share of words. There was nothing to consider it offensively since she described the little girl without convulsion. So she instead smiled as a light-hearted angel.
Lilith palmed indirectly at Aoki to introduce him to the little girl.
"This is Aoki Sasaki. He will be our new housemate from now on."
The little girl bowed at him, "Pleased... to... meet... you..."
Lilith stared at him, "Her name is Spica. She's my adoptive little sister. I should say this to you on behalf of her since she needed to regain her vocal energy more."
Aoki paused with his grin since he intended to resist from his honest say. He scratched his head, thinking about what to say for the first impression. Lilith noticed his confusing stare as she approached with her lips closer to his ears. The little girl named Spica gasped with her blushed cheeks.
Lilith smirked and whispered at his ears, "Hey, I got a little tip for you. Just say 'Teddy Bears', and you will grant each other an immediate ticket of affinity."
Aoki nodded with no time for a second thought. He inhaled to soothe his nerves and glanced at the house behind—once again. Spica crossed her arms while drumming her left foot.
"Lilith said to me, you like teddy bears."
Lilith gasped with her gaped mouth while Spica suddenly glared at Lilith and marched towards her. She raised her sole left leg back and vigorously kicked at her crotch. Lilith groaned and palmed into her crotch with her entwined hands. She was receiving the countermove from Aoki's cleverness. Although she still smirked and watched the next movement, Spica then approached him and shared her glare towards him.
He pulled back in a bit from her distance.
"Are you going to scold me too?"
"For… following… her... orders…. Yes..."
Spica expected him to cover his crotch, so she instead kicked with her left foot at his leg apart to make him fall. Then, he fell down to the ground and sobbed from his knocked pain.
"Ouch…"
"I... apologize... but... you... deserve... it... too..."
"For a tiny kid like you... you have a powerful kicking technique."
Hearing his words, Spica stomped on his stomach, and Aoki groaned from his abdominal pain.
"On... the... second... thought... you... bullied... me... again..."
"Argh~ You don't have to kick me for a second time. I swear myself not to be hostile to you."
Lilith giggled, "Now that's the ticket to immediate friendship."
Lilith was grinning over Aoki's defeat. She released her hand from palming her crotch to compose back to normal while he was still settling to rest. Spica walked out from behind him to enter the house, leaving the open door for the two of them with an entrée into the house.
Lilith lent her hand to Aoki, "Come. Lunchtime is approaching."
Aoki grabbed her hand and stood up by pulling it. Lilith walked behind his back and brushed around his rear to clear out some stuck dirts. Afterwards, she patted his shoulder as a sign of an invitation and walked into the house. He followed her footsteps to proceed. Once he stepped on at first, every wall and furniture had a reddish glitter and dye throughout the corner and floor. The sunlight had entered through the open window. His dazzling eyes amused Lilith as he was rolling his head to enjoy the picturesque view.
He continued wandering to satisfy his eyes. Lilith came in front of him to render his attention.
"You can sit on a couch."
"Sure."
"Just wait for me. You can interact with Spica whenever or whatever you want or can."
Spica was returning her room to the proper place while Lilith was stepping outside for her intentions. Aoki sat on the couch and rolled his eyes on every reddish panel. His hands placed onto his laps and entwined the fingers together.
Spica caught at his dazzled look, so she snapped him for a call.
"If... you... want... to... know... why... the... insides... is... filled... with... crimson... think... back... some... special... words... Lilith... mouthed... at... you.... If... you... already... received... it..."
By her clues, Aoki thought from his past conversation with Lilith. As a former wanna-be mangaka, the reddish colors represented something with bloody vibes. Thinking about it, the darker tone within the pure red had provided him with immersion. After he read many mangas with bloody violence back in his origin, he visualized someone with bleeding flesh, cackling in pain, although he felt shuddering around his shoulders and arms. He could figure out one word, which reminded him....
Desire.
Sexual.
He suddenly heard a glamorous echo into his mindful ears, raising his attention.
Lust
He snapped his finger to say his answer.
"It's 'Lust'."
Spica caught his words and gasped from it.
"You're... correct..."
He puffed from his relief and nudged his own shoulder for thanking his mind. Spica headed to the couch and sat on it in front of him. They shared their eyes between each other for a close conversation.
"If I think about it, she mentioned to me about herself, being an 'Envoy of Lust'... and also, other than her, called me an 'Envoy of Sloth'."
"Have... you... heard... of... the... tale... of... Nefastus...?"
"Huh? No. I haven't heard of him."
"Nevermind... don't... dare... to... look... on... it... if... you... don't... bother..."
"Thank you for bothering me for that."
Aoki smirked and chuckled from her question. Spica pressed her forehead and shivered her left leg. Then she rubbed her chin, fidgeting with her fingers. She was glancing around the reddish walls and relieving her guilty throb.
She inhaled and gusted out from her expanded chest.
"If... you... are... that... curious... then... I... shall... present... you... a... book..."
"I'll look forward to it."
Spica stood up from the couch and climbed upstairs to get a book. Aoki was whistling and drumming his right leg. The birds were chirping from outside, and the warm breeze blew through the open window. He looked at the gardens of crimson roses and brushed his hair with his bare hands. The quiet place deserved him to set his rear, reposing against the comfy couch, and crossed his right leg on his left knee.
Until Aoki heard the patter from the stairs above. He finished his hum and steadied his back. Spica brought the hefty-paged book with a dark brownish-rotten cover. The title was Tale of Nefastus. She sat on the couch once again and placed the book on the table in front of their sharing eyes.
"Lilith... already... finished... reading... this... book... years... ago... so... I... will... let... you... read... that... too..."
"This might be an archive, right?"
"Well... even... most... people... called... it... as... an... archive... they... believed... all... in... all... within... this... book..."
"Is this like a scripture?"
Spica nodded, "Yeah... with... no... doubt..."
Aoki protruded his tight lips and shook his head. He was vibrating his one hand to fill his eager nerves. Spica inhaled and puffed out once again. Her hands were sluggish to push the book towards his side, but she hastened her push to avoid the suspicion. However, he observed her peculiar movements. His eyes were wide and narrow, inspecting every inch of her nerves.
He pulled and gripped the book; he flipped the cover and opened the page. The second page had an official code similar to the International Standard Book Number (ISBN). However, Spica palmed on the open page and halted from turning another page.
"Let... me... skip... that... for... you..."
"Why?"
"Let's... read... the... amazing... part..."
Spica pulled the book back to her and leafed through hundreds of pages. Aoki gaped his mouth with clueless eyes. Once she found it, she handed the book back to him. Then he saw something spectacular to his eyes. The page was filled with charcoal illustrations that had many forms which he couldn't specify his judgment, but all he thought about it was messy. However, the tree amid fire caught his attention. A swarm of figures had bathed in lava, but one figure stood on the right cliff and looked at the tree in the middle. It was as if the figure on the cliff in triumph was ignoring others, but its arms were relaxing.
Aoki remarked about the illustration, "That man on the cliff though. Looks like he was... enjoying?"
"If... you... mean... that... way.... That's... Nefastus..."
"You mean the key character in the book?"
"Precisely..."
Although Aoki couldn't read the text which were symbols—like Japanese texts, he could visualize the illustration and immersed it.
However, an abrupt spasm and buzz came into his head. He palmed his hand on his one flinched eye and slightly lowered his head. Spica gasped with her shocking, wide eyes for a moment, but at first, she approached him and clutched his arms to snap it away.
"Are... you... okay...?"
"Looks like I got a headache," He lowered his voice. "But I'm fine, though."
"Thanks... for... being... honest..."
Aoki released his palmed face and relaxed his hands. He shook his head as it trembled, but it was gone, lowering the tension. Spica palmed on her chest and expired for her relief. She grabbed the book from his lap and replaced it on the table.
"What was that, though?"
"I... don't... know... nor... I... am... aware... of... it..."
Spica rubbed her collar from shuddering while Aoki rolled his eyes, viewing around his surroundings. He scratched his head to relieve more of his tension. The normal breeze came to their breathtaking ears, and the birds were chirping with rhythmic patterns. They were waiting for Lilith's arrival.
"I'm here~"
Until they heard the glamorous call, Spica ran towards the door and opened it. It was Lilith Rose who brought several heavy paper bags on her carrying arms.
"I got some cocos for us!"
Aoki grinned as he heard her words. He glanced at the door and stood up from the couch.
He asked, "May I help?"
"Sure," Lilith smiled.
"You... can... carry... some... of... the... bags..."
Aoki approached Lilith and took the bags from her. They helped altogether to carry and set the utensils for their lunch. Everything in the bags were entire ingredients for the ideal recipe. Lilith assigned herself to cook, although Spica had the primary role in cooking, so she considered it as a break.
"Aoki, you can help Spica by wiping away some dust on the table."
Thus, the three housemates, especially Aoki Sasaki, were preparing for lunch with their helping hands.