The shelter for the night was, in actuality…nothing but a small church. Usually it would be a dangerous place to stay, considering the amount of Abnormalities that could be found in a place like this…
But thanks to the Saintess's recently empowered 'divine' ability, places like this tended to be more advantageous to us now.
I remembered what she had said about her ability in the first dungeon. Even at lesser levels, it would passively repel any low level Abnormality, if she willed it.
We were set up in a back room. I was lazily leaning against a chair, while Alyssa and Jay spoke in hushed whispers from someplace nearby. I was busy relaxing with my eyes closed, so I had no idea what was going on with them, really.
Well, I wasn't fully relaxing. I was thinking of what I'd do in the next Regression already. Piecing together all of the information that may be useful to defeating the Flood Dragon, everything I had learned over these past few Regressions.
First, the fact that it was intangible at the beginning of the battle.
Second, the fact that it likely had some kind of weakness or some way to fight it, especially when I considered the things it was related to: flooding stories and stories of dragons.
Third, I could now use the knowledge I had of Materials to help boost our fighting power and defenses even more.
And fourth…my master, Viola, herself, was a variable.
If I could somehow bring all of these things together, including the alliance, I figured that I finally had a real shot of taking that apocalyptic monster down.
"And what's the big Manager thinkin' about so hard over here?"
Alyssa's voice broke me from my thoughts, leading me to look up at her. There was a faint light cast on her silhouette as she stood over me, a smug grin on her face.
I could also see a light blush on her cheeks, but I figured that was just the lighting of the candle we had in the room.
"Dunno. Maybe you could take a guess and I'll let you take a potshot at me if you're right?"
Alyssa huffed, but sat down next to me nonetheless. "I'm not always gun-crazy, you know. You and Jay just make it hard not to keep a finger on the trigger."
I rolled my eyes. "Suuure. I'm just going to pretend that I didn't see you going wild over fighting a damn dinosaur today."
She punched me shoulder lightly.
"Ah, shut it, you big baby. You could've joined in too, you know? Instead of chaperoning me like you're my…"
She trailed off. She seemed hesitant to utter any word related to 'parents', even for a joke.
"Well, you get it." Alyssa stared forward now, her smile lightened a little bit.
I stared forward as well, seeing Jay meticulously tidy the area like they were a part of the church's congregation.
Their moves were practiced, quick and efficient. It was like they'd been at home in this place for months already.
"So, what do you think?" I asked, turning my gaze to Alyssa.
"...about what?"
"About Jay."
I wasn't beating around the bush. Jay was certainly mysterious. They still refused to reveal their gender, their real name, or anything much about their past in detail.
They also claimed to know Alyssa and owe her some great debt, but neither of us knew anything about that.
More suspiciously than anything else, they called Alyssa 'Saintess' before even knowing her real name.
Alyssa sighed, turning her gaze to the side, away from me.
"...I'm usually able to see pretty easily into people's hearts. It's not an ability or anything, but if you've seen enough of the dark shit that goes on in this world, in people, you can tell."
Alyssa looked back at Jay.
"But…I just can't read 'em." She admitted, staring blankly at Jay. "Jay's like…this void of a person. There's obviously something there, but most of it is…empty. Disturbingly empty."
I couldn't help but agree.
I could tell some things about Jay. They were an analytical, calm person. They didn't have a lot of self-worth or self-esteem. And, to a point, they could act playful.
But I couldn't tell you whether all of that was really 'Jay', or just an act.
Not to mention, what still disturbed me the most, was that even with my perfect memory, Jay's face, voice, and personality had been a complete blank in my head.
"Plus, how did he know all that stuff about using Materials? He said he nabbed the info from a Pixie, but since when did those little shits cooperate with humans?"
"...ha…"
I sighed. Alyssa's words were harsh, but as always, brutally honest.
Jay was incredibly suspicious. Still…
"Still, I trust 'em."
Alyssa murmured, her gaze softening as she stared at Jay's form, breezing through the building with an extra pep in their step.
"I don't know why, but…maybe there's just a little sparkle of 'purity' in there I feel I can trust. Something…I feel like I can relate to."
Alyssa's words were cryptic. But it was the first time I had ever heard her speaking so softly about another person.
"Well…now you've got me feeling a little jealous." I joked, to which Alyssa huffed again, tapping her fist against my shoulder, more gently this time.
"Shut it, Manager. You…" She brushed a strand of hair behind her head, blushing. "You should know by now you'll always be my number one. Dumbass."
I couldn't help but smile. Our Saintess really was cute, wasn't she?
"By the way, uhh…can you see me in the back room once Jay's out for the night…? There's something else I wanted to talk to you about."
The Saintess's voice was low, even softer than before. To say I had no idea what was on her mind would be a lie…but I wasn't going to poke fun at her when she was gathering up her courage and feelings like this.
"Sure. Not sure Jay's gonna be happy to see us sneaking off together, though, huh?" I lightly pressed my shoulders against hers, to which she almost jumped up at.
Compared to her usual carefree nature, she seemed totally tense right now.
"U-Uh, yeah…but whatever, they can relax for one night, huh?" She couldn't meet my eyes, still trying to play it cool.
'Ha…even if it's just in this Regression…I have to make Alyssa mine.'
I'm not sure where the possessive thought suddenly came from. Maybe it was seeing her fidget so uncharacteristically, or the way she tried her best to just subtly allow me to peek at her small cleavage through her habit…
She was cute. Just too cute…
I did say she was like an angry little puppy, didn't I? Well, I guess tonight was a better time than ever to do a little bit of taming…
-----
It was the dead of night. Jay had long since fallen asleep.
I slipped away first, considering that Jay would have definitely woken up right away if Alyssa was the one to leave.
I waited in the comfortable darkness of the room, the only light being a bit of moonlight that filtered in through nearby closed curtains.
I heard light footsteps, and then, the door stood open. There stood Alyssa, looking completely different from her usual self.
She was fidgeting, the blush she had was only more pronounced, and I could see her resisting the urge to rub her legs together.
Still, there was a mysterious darkness around her body. Maybe because of the curtains blocking out most of the moonlight, I couldn't actually see her too well at first.
"W-well…the thing I wanted to talk to you about was, um…I was really grateful for how hard you worked to help me. So…I thought that I should…give you a little bit of my gratitude."
Her words sounded a little bit stiff…and definitely not in character for her. I was sure that someone had planted them in her mind…
Jay's smiling face came to mind.
"So…how about it? If…only if you want to, I mean."
She crossed the room, and I saw that she wasn't wearing her habit anymore.
Her slightly conservative, form-fitting habit had been switched out for lacy, stringy black lingerie.
I could see her small, but still perfectly plump breasts and pert, round ass cupped tightly in the hold of the lace.
Her nipples peeked through a hole in the outfit, perfectly pink and round, already stiff like she was just inviting me to suck on them.
And in-between her legs, perfectly framed by the black lace, was her hairless, dripping-wet virginal slit.
How did I know she was a virgin…? I just could tell, alright.
Her face was inches away from mine now, as she stopped just close enough where her breath could be felt on my face.
I could see her for what she was in this moment…a blushing, expectant woman.
And I wasn't going to let her down.
"Well, if it's gratitude, I can't just turn it down, right? Come here, Alyssa."
She was surprisingly meek, closing the distance between us and sticking out her tongue for me.
I saw her bright pink lips, her tongue lolling out and waiting for mine…it really was a slutty sight.
I wrapped my arm around her waist, and she placed her hands on my shoulders, as our lips pressed together, and our bodies began to intertwine…
For how shy and nervous she was, I could feel Alyssa's dominance coming through in the kiss. She eagerly pressed against me, greedy to deepen
It felt like an eternity of our lips mingling, tongues crashing against one another, before she finally pulled back, panting.
I could see a hazy cloud in her eyes, and tears pooling at the edge of her vision.
"J-just, ugh…j-just fuck me already, damn it!"
She yelled, her body trembling with barely restrained lust.
"Not just yet…don't be in so much of a rush, Alyssa. We have all night…"
I reached a hand between her legs, causing her to immediately stiffen up, her voice hitching in her throat.
With Viola, I had given over control to her. But with Alyssa, I was going to enjoy her at my own pace.