Chapter 359: The

Asking Lucille to remove her armor... naturally, that wasn't going to happen.

After all, the Young Lady Fallen Angel wasn't some gullible, hungry dragon you could lure away with food—she wouldn't obediently comply like that.

She wasn't stupid!

Facing Herbert's unreasonable request, Lucille simply curled the corners of her lips slightly, silently gazing at him.

So, let me ask.

Have you listened to the nonsense you're spouting?

Until Herbert finally gave a light cough and smoothly changed the subject: "Oh right, Lucille, did you know? I got some news about the Church of the Sun while I was out this time."

He brought up the topic Lucille was most interested in, but the Fallen Angel's reaction wasn't as excited as he'd imagined.

"Mm."

She merely nodded slightly, smiled faintly, hummed an acknowledgment, and waited for him to continue.

Herbert found this a little strange and asked: "Aren't you curious?"

That can't be right—why is her reaction so flat?

In Herbert's memory, Lucille had always harbored quite complicated feelings toward the Sun.

Although she had betrayed the Sun God, she didn't hate Him all that much—at most she'd mock His arrogance a few times with her words.

Her fall was simply a matter of differing ideals that led her to forsake her deity.

And toward the Church of the Sun, Lucille likewise held a complicated mix of love and hate.

Even though she no longer belonged there, she'd constantly forget this fact, often slipping into the Church of the Sun's stance during conversations.

And here he was, clearly bringing her something she was most interested in, yet she was acting this rational... truly cold.

Lucille looked at Herbert's puzzled expression with a faint smile, shook her head, and said: "I am curious, but I already guessed it before you even said it."

"Guessed it?"

Herbert, bewildered, asked strangely: "What's your basis for thinking that?"

"The smell."

The wings behind the Fallen Angel trembled lightly, stirring up a faint current of air that blew Herbert's hair.

That current of air blew past Herbert, then circled around the sanctuary before blowing back toward the Fallen Angel.

As the breeze washed over her, Lucille gently inhaled through her nose and nodded slightly.

"You carry the scent of the Sun on you."

She explained calmly: "There's the lingering scent of the blazing sun on you—others wouldn't notice this, but I wouldn't overlook it."

"I'm simply far too familiar with it."

Lucille finished her calm explanation, but Herbert wasn't quite so calm.

"Hm?"

Smell?

No way, is your nose really that sharp?

It's been over ten days and you can still smell it—is your nose a dog's nose or what?

Besides, there's another problem here.

If your nose really is that sharp, then what you smell shouldn't be only the Sun's scent.

Vampire scent, dragon scent, mermaid scent... couldn't you smell all of those too?

No, actually—midnight's scent, the sky's scent, the ocean's scent... ahem.

Wouldn't that mean you know far too much?

Herbert looked at the Fallen Angel with a subtle expression, his lips moving slightly as if to speak but then holding back.

"You... ah, forget it, pretend I said nothing."

Better not bring it up.

I'll wait until Lucille asks about it, otherwise this would feel like a self-destruct truck.

You won't say it, then I won't either.

Let's see how long you can hold out without asking!

And just as Herbert made up his mind to play dumb, Lucille made a move on her end as well.

Instead of curiously asking Herbert about his "friendly social relations involving deep exchanges between different races," she slowly spread her four arms toward him.

Lucille reached her hands out toward Herbert, made a "hug me" gesture, and asked gently: "May I?"

?

Hm? What's this? Hey, you...

Herbert was a bit dumbfounded by the Young Lady Fallen Angel's sudden ambush, not knowing why she'd suddenly do this.

Which line from earlier just now leads to this action?

"..."

However, although Herbert was full of confusion, faced with the Young Lady Fallen Angel's request, he hesitated for less than half a second before gladly nodding.

Although I'm not the timid type—I'm usually the one in the attacker's position.

But you know, faced with a hug request from a heroic yet gentle monster girl... it's really hard to refuse.

I don't believe anyone could hold out!

Herbert calmly stepped forward, spread his arms as well, and let the angel pull him into her embrace.

"Thank you."

Lucille softly thanked him, her four arms holding Herbert tightly as she slowly floated upward with him.

As his toes left the ground, Herbert's full weight settled into Lucille's arms, yet he felt no discomfort at all—instead he experienced what could only be called a top-tier, near-weightless indulgence.

His chin, even the entire lower half of his face, was being cradled up.

Herbert felt as though he had sunk into a soft great bed, embedded within it.

In that instant, Herbert's mind held only one thought — damn, this is seriously soft!

Although Valentina certainly had plenty of assets, in terms of size in her human form she couldn't compare to Lucille.

The ten-centimetre difference in height between them looked small on paper, but you'd know the truth once you actually tried.

Moreover, the Young Lady Fallen Angel's body was far softer than people imagined — very, very soft.

It was a rather absurd contrast.

Lucille had clearly once been the sharpest blade in a deity's hand, yet her body was softer than that water-made mermaid.

It was just like a pastry that would shatter at a touch, melting away the moment a tongue pressed against it.

Of course, if anyone really dared to treat her as a pastry, then he probably wasn't far from becoming one himself.

"……"

Herbert's tongue stirred restlessly inside his mouth, wondering whether to take the reckless gamble and court death for a moment.

To be, or not to be — that is the question worth considering.

At this very moment he was being held in someone's arms completely undefended; he ought not to be entertaining any suicidal thoughts at all.

But the trouble was that not long ago he had just pulled such a stunt on an epic monster girl, and escaped without a single hair harmed.

Right now Herbert was at his most inflated, his courage wildly, recklessly bold.

Life, too, is what I desire; righteousness, too, is what I desire.

When the two cannot both be obtained, one abandons life and chooses righteousness.

Charge!

What courting death?

I'm nothing more than a child who wants to know the taste of the candy right before him.

But just as Herbert was preparing to sacrifice himself for science, sticking out his tongue to appraise the Young Lady Fallen Angel's quality, a deep breath sounded from above his head.

"Sniff—"

The Young Lady Fallen Angel, who was holding Herbert tightly, sniffed hard at the top of his head and let out a satisfied breath.

"Ha!"

At that moment, Herbert froze.

He slowly raised his head, looked at Lucille, who had her eyes closed in rapture, and his mouth twitched.

"……Huh?"

Wait a moment!

Are you sure you're not holding my script?

Isn't it supposed to be me sniffing your scent?

How did it turn into you sniffing me?!

Between us, just who is the hunter here?

……Hiss!

Could it be that I was the prey all along?

Only at this moment did he suddenly realise that he seemed to have become the lamb that delivered itself into the wolf's jaws.

Y-yamete!

Herbert put up a token struggle, then gave up and went limp, abandoning himself with an easy conscience.

Folks, I'm done for.

Everyone saw it — it's not that I didn't struggle, it's that I really can't escape.

I did struggle, but it was no use.

I gave it everything, and I still can't win!

So I just obediently lay down.

He revelled in the softness he deserved, letting himself be "frantically sniffed" by the Young Lady Fallen Angel, and for a moment empathised with those little animals tormented by humans.

So this is the price one pays after "not wanting to try anymore"…… it's, it's not bad?

And after being sniffed for half a day, Herbert felt that doing nothing at all didn't quite suit his temperament.

So he refused to be outdone, exposed his nose, and started sniffing too.

Sniff—ha!

The two of them quietly "snuggled intimately" for a while, and after the Young Lady Fallen Angel had her fill of blissful sniffing, she finally stopped her presumptuous behaviour.

"Herbert, thank you for tolerating this rather offensive…… hmm?"

Lucille was in the middle of giving thanks when she suddenly noticed a cool sensation on her chest.

What had happened?

"Mmm-mmm-mmm…… ha!"

Herbert tried to open his mouth to answer, but the mouth buried inside didn't "pull out" at first, and only after great difficulty did he manage to open it.

He smiled, didn't ask Lucille why she wanted to savour his scent like that, and instead said mysteriously: "Lucille, let me tell you a secret."

"Actually, you guessed wrong."

"The scent on me, in fact, doesn't come from the Church of the Sun."

"Want to take a guess at whose it really is?"

Hmm?

And sure enough, this topic drew Lucille's attention away.

"You mean to say it's from some Divine Favored? Then that would actually count as a member of the Sun Church."

"Wrong. Guess again." Herbert shook his head with a smile.

It actually wasn't?

"... No, that's impossible."

The Fallen Angel thought it over carefully, and in the end still held firmly to One's Own Thoughts, believing Herbert was mystifying things on purpose to fool her.

"If even this power doesn't belong to the Sun Church, then what kind of person could possibly possess it?"

"The arrogant Sun God would absolutely never tolerate others coveting His authority—no deity would have the audacity to offend Him."

As long as that blazing sun had not fully set, no one would have such courage and strength.

"Still not right—think again?"

"Since you can't even guess this, I'll reveal the answer."

Herbert laughed, no longer keeping her in suspense, and unhurriedly announced the answer to the riddle: "Tell me—is there any chance this aura actually came directly from... Him?"

"Him? Who do you mean? Who would dare... hmm!!?"

Luciel instinctively thought it over for a moment, then instantly realized the true meaning of those words.

Him.

Him!!!

But in an instant, although Luciel showed no outward reaction, Herbert knew her heart was not at peace.

Because he felt the change directly!

It wasn't because he was especially skilled at reading people, but because he physically felt it—the soft body he'd been holding suddenly became hard.

From slick, soft pastry, it suddenly transformed, becoming like steel tempered by the blazing sun's flames and hammered out through endless tribulations!

Hard!

How to put it?

No other meaning—just a bit... chin-jabbing.

As Herbert sighed this, he felt a gaze from above.

"You mean to say you entered His gaze?" The Fallen Angel's voice had lost its earlier calm.

"You... became His Favored?"

Though it still sounded flat, one could taste the turmoil within.

If Herbert truly became the Sun God's Divine Favored, then everything about him would be known to the god.

Her existence would be exposed to the Sun God as well, and all these years of hiding would become meaningless.

So rather than asking whether Herbert had become a Divine Favored, Luciel was really asking whether he had betrayed her...

And Herbert didn't answer right away, but quietly looked at her.

His gaze swept over the Fallen Angel Young Lady's pressed lips and stiff cheeks, and he couldn't help but smile in delight.

"Heh."

See, you've finally shown an expression like that too.

I thought your heart really was made of iron!

Doesn't it break just the same?

And after Herbert laughed teasingly, Luciel suddenly realized something, and she pouted unhappily: "Herbert, are you lying to me?"

She'd caught on.

If Herbert had truly betrayed her, he absolutely would not have handed his own safety into her hands.

He was actually deliberately scaring me!!?

"Lie to you? No, I never tell lies~"

"Can't tell you the details, but I just used some trivial little tricks."

Herbert smiled smugly and said with a grin: "This aura did indeed come 'directly' from the Sun God, but it wasn't given by Him—mm, I picked it up."

To put Luciel's mind at ease, he also 'considerately' comforted her: "Don't worry, I haven't been noticed by Him now, and I won't reveal any information about you to Him in the future either."

After giving the Fallen Angel Young Lady a good fright, Herbert took a deep breath in delight, savoring the sweetness of victory.

So satisfying~

Just that alone still didn't feel like enough, so he deliberately asked: "How was it? Were you a bit scared just now?"

"... Sigh."

Luciel's mouth twitched, then drooped weakly as she complained: "Herbert, has anyone ever told you that sometimes, you're really quite mean-spirited?"

This Holy Knight's personality really is awful.

"Have they? Seems like maybe yes, maybe no~ But it doesn't matter, everyone likes me anyway."

Herbert blinked playfully with a grin, then said seriously: "If I had to choose, rather than baking under the blazing sun, I'd rather stand by your side."

Luciel fell silent at his words, quietly looking at Herbert.

After a long while, she sighed and asked: "Is this mockery?"

"No, it's a promise."

Herbert restrained his playful expression, stared intently into Luciel's eyes, and nodded firmly.

He said:

"I will choose you."

Compared to the lofty god above.

Of course I favor you, right before my eyes, more.

(End of Chapter)