Anom lowered his head, resting it on the goddess' soft peaks while digesting the bunch of information she had thrown out.
Taking a whiff of the divine fragrance, Anom lifted his head slightly and asked, "Did they also get affected due to my presence?"
After clearing all of his doubts, the only worrying thing left was whether his soul could affect those around him or not. Even if it's unintentional, he doesn't want to keep creating deviations everywhere he goes.
"No, you silly thief." Della hugged his head and comforted him. "Those two are special cases. You don't have to worry about affecting anybody else. Besides, it won't be long before you gain some basic control over your soul and then you won't have to worry about something or someone affecting you either."
After Della finished clearing up his doubts, they both talked for a while more as Della explained a bit more about the situation with Loreana before Anom got ready to leave.
"Are you sure about this though?" He suddenly asked.
Della smiled with a playful look on her face. "Let me think." With a beautiful frown on her forehead, she caressed her chin, pretending to be thinking hard about something.
"I got it." Snapping her slim fingers, Della exclaimed. "I want to be the Head Wife."
Her words made Anom's heart skip a beat as he hurriedly asked, "Hey! What nonsense are you talking about? What main wife?"
"Tsk!" Della put on a dignified expression as she spoke, "Don't act ignorant now. And don't even think about changing my position. Only I can be the Head Wife. The latecomers will have to choose from the position of wives and mistresses."
"Mis-Mistresses?!" Anom wiped his sweat as he wondered what was going on with this wild goddess today. "Ahem. We'll do as you like. Besides, it's too early to talk about that." He didn't want to continue this topic as it made his mind feel like a mess.
"I'll be going now. See you later." Taking a step forward, he grabbed her in a hug and gave her smooth forehead a kiss before the Soul World dissipated.
In her God's Dimension, Della opened her eyes and looked into the distance.
"It'll take some time before you reach me… Till then, I don't want you to spend even a single day where you lack warmth and love." She muttered with a soft smile. "All your sufferings have been left behind. Now, this is my world… and yours too."
...
Anom opened his eyes to see nothing but darkness. The dark room was still in the same state. The stuffiness in his chest also allowed him to remember the presence of some extra weight above him.
He moved his arms a bit to check the condition of his body. His movements were light as he didn't want to wake the girl up yet.
'Almost at the peak.' Clenching his fist, Anom observed the energy coursing through his body. Not only was it recovered, the intense situation earlier had also made him push his body to its limits, resulting in a slight improvement in control over his internal energy.
'Looks like my knowledge of this world is still lacking.' He had thought the knowledge he gained from the Safaira family library to be sufficient. But the situation with the Muscle Contraction powder earlier had made him aware of his weakness. A drug or a poison which can travel through the air and enter through your skin was something he had only heard of before. Even among the dark organizations he worked with on Earth, such a drug had the potential to become the number one in demand. But maybe its absence was also a good thing — that place was already chaotic enough.
'Maybe it's not only about knowledge, I have to change my perspective too… This is not the same world I'm familiar with after all.' Renewing his outlook, Anom felt a bit more confident to tackle the upcoming events.
"Hyan~"
As he was in his thoughts, a soft but cute yawn grabbed his attention. Anom raised his head and saw the assassin girl rubbing her eyes with a sleepy look on her face.
"Remember to wipe your drool from my chest, too." He teased.
After he finished speaking, there was a moment of pause before…
"Urgh!" The girl, who had regained her strength, moved quickly. Sinking her elbow into Anom's chest, she used the force to stand up in a single movement.
"And here I thought I was comfy enough." Anom muttered while rubbing his chest.
Ignoring him, the girl straightened out her clothes before moving towards the bed.
Now that she was mostly sure that Anom had no bad intentions, her next priority was to ensure the safety of her friend.
"By the way, I'm Anom… What's your name, Miss Rookie Assassin?"
Her footsteps didn't pause as she once again ignored him. Arriving near the bed, she bent down to check up on the unconscious blonde.
"You two… must be from the Capital, right?" The annoying sound was heard once again, but the content this time made her flinch.
Grabbing her dagger that she had retrieved earlier, she turned to face him in a cautious stance.
"What do you want?" She asked in a cold and wary tone.
"Hey, hey! Do you need to get so worked up every time? I'm just trying to have a conversation here. Besides, you know you can't beat me, even if you… Alright, alright. Don't give me that look." Seeing her hand holding the dagger shake, Anom decided not to push her further.
"It was just a guess," he explained. "I know about the forces here… and you don't seem to belong to any of them. Furthermore, your skills and power at your age are not something that a city of this level can train."
"It was only a guess, but your reaction has confirmed it already." Anom shrugged.
"Tch." She knew she had overreacted, but being the weaker party, she had to be cautious.
Taking a deep breath, the girl regained control over her emotions and turned around to continue her work.
"My second guess would have been the City Lord's estate." The annoying voice sounded in her ears once again. But she had already prepared herself mentally. 'It's bad enough that you were defeated by him… Now don't let him get in your head.' Reassuring herself, the girl grabbed the hand of the sleeping blonde and examined her condition.
"But now that I think about it, why didn't you contact him to help you?" Anom didn't care if she was listening or not, he just continued on with his speculation. "I know you are reckless, but seeing your devotion towards your friend, you should have at least considered a measure in case you failed."
"But since you didn't, then it might be because — you couldn't. But why? Could it be that you don't want to accept his help? Or maybe he has no obligation to do so? But someone talented like you, who's also from the capital, should be important enough for the City Lord to assign some guards for protection… If that's the case, then…"
Anom scratched his chin as he contemplated. "Maybe you were too confident in yourself, or… there might be something going on between the forces larger than this city can handle, hmm?"
The calm state she had achieved was already destroyed. The hands which were holding the delicate wrists of the blonde girl, tightened, causing a frown to appear on the sleeping girl's face.
"Ah." The assassin girl realized her loss of composure. Acting quickly, she gently rubbed the blonde's wrists, easing her pain.
She had now realized that her lack of response would only make her situation worsen.
"...It could also be that the City Lord has no idea of my presence at all."
'She's finally willing to talk, huh?' Anom chuckled inwardly and said, "I don't know about it exactly, but I have read enough to know the extent of authority that the City Lord wields."
"You might be from the capital, but unless your ranking is high enough or you belong to royalty, you will still have to act as his junior and report your presence every time you visit."
"After all, being assigned as the guardian of this city only further speaks about how much the King trusts him." Anom smiled.
He then added in a casual tone, "Besides, I don't think that someone as reckless as you could be from the Royal family."
"You!" The girl had had enough of his ramblings. She wanted to give him a good beating, but knowing the position of her friend and herself, she decided to endure it.
"What do you want?" She asked again in a helpless tone.
Anom's smile vanished as he asked with a solemn expression, "I want to know what you are going to do after you leave this place."
Her ears perked up as she was a little surprised and also somewhat relieved. She was still uncertain about his intentions, but his question just now clearly expressed that he was going to allow her to leave.
"You don't have to worry." Suppressing her excitement, she answered quickly. "I won't tell anyone about anything that had happened between us. You can be assured that whatever you're doing here will not get affected due to any reason related to me." She said in a cold but firm tone.
Thinking that it was still not reassuring enough, she wanted to add more…
"I don't care about that." Anom cut her mid-sentence.
"You leaving this place will already alert the forces involved, making the situation more unpredictable. Besides, I don't have any reason to believe anything you guarantee… I wouldn't have cared if not for this role still having its uses."
Seeing his solemn attitude, which he didn't show even when they were fighting, the girl gulped nervously. 'Now I feel that I didn't properly appreciate his attitude earlier.'
Taking a moment to calm her thoughts, she asked carefully. "Then… what are you suggesting?"
"I want both of you to stay with me till my plan is completed," Anom proposed with a calm expression.
The girl frowned, as she didn't feel like agreeing to his arrangement. Every moment there made her feel uncomfortable. After all, the situation was not under her control.
But she also knew that refusing wasn't an option.
"Fine. I agree." The girl said through gritted teeth, acting like she was making a hard decision while inwardly screaming. 'If not for my friend, I would have already escaped by now… Just you wait!'
"Oh, that's good. You are not as stupid as you look, it seems." Anom smiled.
The girl glared at Anom for his words of 'praise', but inwardly she was smiling. 'Hmpf! Keep smiling while you still can.' She had already started to make a plan to leave this place, and she still remembered the layout of this place from when she had infiltrated earlier.
Just as she was brainstorming an escape plan, she heard him mutter. "Hmm… Since you are being so honest, I should make it more comfortable for you."
"Huh?"
Before the girl could understand his words, he spoke. "Alright, pack up. We're going to the 'Main Hideout'." Anom smiled. "I'm sure you'll like it there."
The girl's face froze as all her calculations for escaping got jumbled inside her head. Looking at his harmless smile, the girl suddenly felt uneasy.
'We're done for.'