112. Stella: "'Tsun, Kuu, Yan' you named it"
"What do you want to eat?" Lex asked Stella as he looked at the menu.
Stella didn't immediately reply. Instead, she stared at the person in front of her speechlessly.
"Mm? Didn't you say you haven't eaten dinner yet?" Lex asked again.
"You see, it's not that I'm saying this place is unclean, or the food isn't tasty like that but isn't this the first time we've eaten out," Stella said with a strange note as if holding something inside her.
"Hmm..." Lex thought for a moment, then, "you're not wrong about that." he said
"Then it's our First Date!!" Stella exclaimed.
Lex's eyebrows twitched, hearing it "you remember that we're here to talk about a serious matter and not having fun, right," he said exasperatedly.
"But this isn't the right place either! It wasn't even a quiet place!!" Stella retorted. After Lex left with Stella. They looked for a place to have a conversation and ended up at some small vendor beside the road.
Lex rolled his eyes. "Then what kind of place that you mean an 'appropriate' place?"
"Well, for secret conversations, A small secret room or some kind of VIP room from high-class places or like under the building's shadow in the back alley, even a badly-lit park at night is also acceptable! And not in this kind of place!!" Stella slammed the table and took a deep breath, then she continued.
"As for our first date, we can go to a fancy restaurant and have a steak with a vintage wine for dinner," Stella replied as she imagined it in her head. "If we want a more budget-free date, then we can play on the beach and sit side by side watching the sunset~ Oh! Oh! I heard a date at the gaming center is good too! So we can try that too~~, and then~ and then..."
"..." Lex was left speechless. His expression was exactly the same as Stella's when he brought her here.
"Aa-" Stella finally woke up after a few moments realizing Lex stared at her intensely the whole time. She lost herself in her imagination. She shyly avoided eye contact with him while calming down her fidgety face.
Lex had to admit she was so cute at this moment! He thought Stella's embarrassed nerve had broken off long ago. He never expected her to act like this. The way she was embarrassed by his stare was addictive (So this is a real-life 'Gap Moe'... This is addicting,) Lex thought.
They said if you stared inside the abyss, the abyss stares back at you. If a glimpse of that abyss were what he saw just now, Lex would unhesitatingly stare straight into that abyss. However, Lex had his priority. He held down his feeling to tease her more. There was something much more essential for him to do now.
Lex ordered a few random foods that seemed delicious and easy to eat to the owner. The food also came out quite fast as there were few customers. And what Lex ordered is also easy to make, like fried tofu, rice, etc.
After everything was served and when Stella also got back to normal. "So, you're also with them," Lex asked
Stella shrugged her shoulders, still a bit dissatisfied with the place.
"If you're talking about the recent missing and kidnapping crime..." Stella stopped a moment to pick a bite-size fried tofu "...then it's a yes," Stella answered
*Ahm "Mm~ a bit oily but still delicious."
Lex also took a bite without saying anything. He knew that Stella knew what he wanted to ask from her then before long, Stella continued her story.
"Well~ you know, me as Mana Race succubus, it's not necessary for me to suck others Mana to live. But it's still like an instinct for me. So if I don't take some regularly, I'll feel annoyed all day like a drug addict without drugs." Stella explained.
"Normally, It wasn't a problem; however, you also knew how the Hidden World treated us, Mana Race." Stella took a bite-size of fried Tempe covered with flour *Crunch *Crunch she chewed it strongly
"Mm," Lex also nodded softly.
"It's hard for me to absorb it from normal people, and it's even harder to absorb it from someone on this side." She lamented.
"I'm living like a little thief from the side road. At that time, a group of people invited me to achieve a goal"
"A goal?"
Stella nodded and looked straight at Lex, then opened her arms wide.
"A world where someone like us doesn't have to live in hiding, a world where we can be free..."
"We have the power to destroy a fucking city in a day, massacre thousands of those vermin they called normal humans in a night. But we have to hide those power and follow their rule just because of some stupid ancient rule?"
"It's Ridiculous!! It's BULLSHIT!!" *Bamm Stella slammed the table, bringing the attention of a few other customers.
Lex and Stella didn't mind the other's attention and stared into each other's eyes without breaking. While the other customers also didn't stare for a long time after seeing Lex and Stella's uniform, they only shook their heads' youth these days,' they thought with a little sigh.
Then Stella once again spread her arms wide" that's why we, The Vetus Orbis, will save the world! Save our lost companion! That's Right! This is a journey of SALVATION!!"
*Ahem, Stella ended it with a fake cough
"Well, that's how they preach their beliefs," Stella said with a smug face, proud of herself for being able to act that similar to the real one while expecting some praises from Lex.
"Vetus Orbis? Is that what they called themselves?" Lex asked.
*Pout
Stella sulked a bit as she stabbed the bite-sized food with strength. "I don't know much either. However, from what they told me, it seemed Mana was known to all in ancient times."
"Hee~" Lex was quite amused by that. Actually, he didn't understand why they hid Mana's existence from the populace. He expected centralized power, and it looks like it was true. Then suddenly...
In a glimpse, he saw the sight of his fallen comrade down on the ground in his memory. (Vetus Orbis...) Lex said that name in his heart with hatred. *Suu Haa~ He took a deep breath to calm down the bulking hatred and anger in his body. Then he turned his sight into Stella again…
"Haa~" He sighed a bit, seeing her still sulking and deliberately making a loud noise when she stabbed the food-sized food or chewed the crunchy texture.
Lex thought to share his Mana with her for a moment, but he immediately erased that idea from his mind.
He glanced quickly at the few customers nearby and remembered what happened to Stella each time he shared his Mana with her. 'Yea, that's dangerous.'
Thinking of another way to coax her. the food on the table entered his sight… (Well~ I'll think of another way if I fail) without hesitation, he took a bite-size piece of food and brought it in front of Stella. "Aah~"
Stella flinched, seeing Lex's unexpected reaction. (Oh! It's working) all seen by Lex. Then Stella also saw the grin on Lex's face for a moment. She quickly turned her face away from his hand.
(You think I'm that easy? You wish!) Stella played hard to get. If Lex could hear her thoughts, he would instantly retort to her, (Do you remember how you practically begged your way into my house!?) sadly, Lex was no Mind-reader.
"Are you sure you didn't want to?" Lex said. "isn't this our first date? Feeding each other can't be missed on a couple's date, right?" he coaxed her again.
"Kuh!" Stella flinched again. It was precisely as Lex said. Stella had been waiting for this chance since she read those books!
(All right! One last push) Lex thought. "Well, if you don't like it, it's okay. I'll never try to do it again in the future" then he very slowly retracted his hand from Stella and started to countdown.
(Three... two… one… Gotchu!) *Ahm! Stella took a bite. "Hum! If you think this move of yours works against me, then you are making a big Mistake!" Stella said.
"…" Lex was speechless again by her shamelessness. He looked toward Stella, who opened her cute lips wide "Aah~~" waiting for Lex. "You know what you speak and what your body doesn't match, right?" Lex said.
"AAaahh~~" Stella said with a louder voice.
"…" Lex keeps his silence and feeds her again.
*Ahm "Mhm~ Delicious~."
Lex ignored a bit of glare and killing intent from his surroundings. "Since when do you have this troublesome 'Tsundere' personality?" he asked.
"Don't you know we women can be anything? 'Tsun, Kuu, Yan' you named it," she chirped.
Lex decided to avoid this abyss, "Anyway, why are you betraying them now?" Lex brought back the subject.
"Betray? That's a harsh word," Stella smiled evilly. "In the first place, I'm not exactly joined them. It's something like we have a mutual goal, so we helped each other."
"The one where people like us could live on the surface without hiding?"
"Yup~ but I no longer needed it," Stella replied
"Why?"
"After tasting yours, do you think I can return to those days?" Stella rolled her eyes, then she let out a grin and hugged herself, and acted fragilely "you could even say you TAINTED this body!" she said in a loud voice enough for the other customers to hear.
*Bonk
"Auu~" Stella raised a pained voice when Lex bonked her head. Lex ignored stronger killing intent than before. "Stop pretending. I didn't hit you that hard, or maybe you want me to hit you that hard," Lex said and smiled, a smile he had learned from Layla.
"!!?" Stella shivered and shook her head repeatedly.
"Good. Now then, can you tell me what you know about Vetus Orbis" Lex asked
"…" Stella could feel something different from Lex and stopped playing around. "I'm sorry, as I said before, I'm not exactly joined them, so I didn't know much about them. When they preached their belief, everyone used a mask, so I didn't know about their identity either. The most I knew was the one heading these kidnapping incidents."
"Unlike me, he joined them in body and mind. So he might know much more than me."
"I see…" Lex is slightly disappointed but immediately recovers when he hears that he can just ask the other guy. Then Lex remembered what Stella said when he first met her in that back alley.
"Wait a minute. You expected me to come and find you?" Lex asked.
"Unn~" Stella replied sloppily when she knew Lex was back to normal "I knew you would eventually come to me, so rather than me immediately leaving the organization, it's better for me to look for as much information as I can, no? at least I have the information to solve these kidnapping incidents to an end once and for all."
Lex nodded, agreeing with her decision. It was a wise decision. "You still haven't told me why you knew I would come after the culprits behind these incidents. From the first time we met, you should know that I don't really care about justice or something like that?"
Stella nodded. "The moment you know I don't have any Mana Race ID Card and didn't do anything about it. I knew you didn't care much about it. the reason I knew why you would eventually come to me was…." Stella hesitated a bit.
"What?" Lex was a bit annoyed cliff-hanged like this. However, he realized Stella seemed a bit… 'Afraid?'.
"Just so you know, I didn't say anything about it to them. I realized it after I decided to side with you, Lex. So don't get angry, okay" Stella desperately made her excuse.
"Just say it," Lex replied. "Even if I get angry, I know you weren't my enemy."
*Gulp
Stella gulped and slowly opened her mouth "the primary objective of these kidnapping incidents is to get a hold of your…."