Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

At this moment, Yumina's smiling expression was less indifferent and more like she was angry.

"So it does seem that way. But, Ayumi, I am, after all, on you right now."

I don't know how long they remained silent.

As time ticked by, Yuzhu put down her pen.

The witch stared at the words that had been rewritten in the book.

If it were the old her, she would have torn that page out without hesitation.

She actually understood, but now that Yumina had pointed it out, how could she put it...? Perhaps she was also confused by the overly hot black tea that hadn't been brewed properly. For some reason, this made Yuzhu feel extremely unwilling and unable to accept it.

With such a profound feeling, the witch honestly took another sip of black tea and quietly spoke again.

"This is wrong, and I am only reaping what I have made. Servants always belong to their Masters, and I am just Eri's neighbor or friend. I have no right to do anything to her servants. Besides, the two of them are very much in love, and no one should interfere."

Kuonji Yuzu knew that what she said was actually unreasonable. After all, if that were the case, she should have hated Novia and Tiamat the moment she saw them.

But the truth is that he did not. Instead, he continued to hide the truth from Eri, allowing Eri to develop a dislike for him.

"Hehe, I'll take it that way then, but you're such a kind little Yuju. Let's put your proper behavior up in the corner of our memories. Let's end this cheap show here and just get rid of all the troublesome guys without leaving a trace, isn't that enough? After all... hehe, this is what you crave, isn't it? I'll help you like in a fairy tale, mischievously and cruelly."

"I'm telling you, Yumina, you absolutely cannot use my body to do anything. That's my bottom line."

Silence again.

Kuonji Yuju showed no interest in the comfortable sofa and walked to the window with her half-finished cup of black tea.

In the distance, the waves of the Akihabara beach sometimes advance and sometimes retreat, never ceasing. The bubbles rising from the white sand that seems to emit a pale blue light are like a large number of pearls washed ashore by the waves, dyeing the sea and horizon a dark blue. The crescent moon, radiating a silvery glow, hangs high in the night sky.

Kuonji Yuzu rarely goes to appreciate the scenery like this, but the scenery in front of her is so inexplicably beautiful that she feels it would be a great loss in her life if she didn't come and appreciate it properly.

One bite at a time.

As if reluctant to finish her tea, Kuonji Yuju sipped her black tea absentmindedly, recalling her earlier conversation with Yumina while gazing at the scenery before her.

As the witch looked out the window, the childlike innocence she had lost over the years rekindled within her.

Although it only lasted a few seconds.

But she still felt happy that "Erise was written into her own name even after all that".

Happiness is found at Kuonji Temple.

I don't know how much time has passed—

"Little Youzhu, you really did something very annoying, but wouldn't it be too easy for you to just let it go like this?"

Yuju quietly raised her head to listen to Yumina's voice.

"How incredible, beautiful yet dangerous little pearl! How could such a perfect material exist among my direct descendants? Ha, I feel like my long-dormant internal organs are being licked by a lizard's tongue, and even my long-rotten flesh seems to be leaping with joy... Is there anything strange about saying that?"

"If you have any opinions, you can speak them directly."

"Although it's just a temporary idea, it feels quite realistic to do it. Maybe it's even a little bit interesting."

Yumina casually uttered words that sounded like a threat, "Alright, since that's the case, I'll back down. I won't ask for anything in return, but I require that you read out your wish in front of him. That's it. How about that? Pretty good deal, right?"

"...I can't understand it. If that's really the case, then what is the reason for the birth of this feeling in me? Am I the kind of person who finds things that belong to others interesting and wants to take them away? Is that ugly?"

"Eh?"

Yumina seemed shocked by Arisu's reaction and subconsciously asked, "Does liking something need a reason? Is something without a reason a lie?"

After she finished speaking, Kuonji Yuzu bit her lip, searching for a rebuttal, but couldn't find one for a long time.

Therefore, after a slight sigh, the witch answered, "What will you do if I refuse?"

"In that case, I would be very grateful to you, Yuzhu."

Yumina's voice was tinged with laughter as she impulsively proposed, "I will truly come into your body, little Yuzhu, and place your kind nature and upright conduct into an inconspicuous corner of my memory. At that time, I will use the fairy tale monster wishing box you created to fulfill your wish. Think about it, since your wish has been fulfilled, little Yuzhu, in exchange, I will become you, okay? After all, the witch you craved is me, right? So I will cruelly accept your fate."

"...There's no need. I've already said it's not mine."

Kuonji Yuju remained stubborn, her face still expressionless, showing no change in emotion.

"I never expected that this perseverance could last so long. It's truly an experience I've never had before."

Yumina said calmly, "That's not up to you, Yuzhu. Unlike what you think, I, Yumina, am a witch with excellent interpersonal skills. If you really don't listen, Yuzhu, then I'll have to force you to proceed with the second proposal. Since you're a failed witch, just pretend you don't exist."

After Yumina made that conclusion on her own, Kuonji Yuju picked up her black tea and began to sip it slowly again.

...It's really unbelievable. This is black tea brewed from tea bags whose names I don't even bother to figure out, but for some reason, it tastes just as good as top-quality black tea.

It seemed as if the witch herself was secretly anticipating Yumina's suggestion, but—

“I won’t do anything, Yumina. I won’t choose either of the two options.”

In the midst of a long silence and inner turmoil, Yuzhu recalled seeing the Demon King on Erise in the past, and thus she finally expressed her refusal.

No matter what, she could never agree to it—the witch was so instinctively self-disciplined.

"...Heh, it seems I really have to teach you a lesson, Yumina. Damn it, I was being so humble to you, Yumina! You're such a disobedient witch."

Then, in the next moment, the witch's breathing became rapid, and she subconsciously closed her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, the aura emanating from the witch had changed completely.

"Sigh, really... what a troublesome child. How did I end up with such a stubborn descendant? Does he really have to force me to do my best before letting you take the stage? Or is it a fait accompli? Besides, we have exactly the same face, so it's fine for you to play around outside. If I wanted to devour you, I would have done it long ago. After all, we're not some human's partner. I could kill them all without a care."

Yumina sighed.

Because until the very end, Kuonji Aratama inexplicably believed that her decision was completely correct, which worried the matriarch Yumina a lot, but she put that worry aside in her playful mood.

"Fine, I'll go change first... Let me think about Akihabara, a tourist city. Since everyone's wearing swimsuits, I'll just wear one too! You chose this yourself, so don't blame me, Ayumi~"

Chapter 543 You don't want to be found out by outsiders, do you?

Outside the window, all I could see were endless waves of blue.

Across the glass, where Novia's fingers touched, the somewhat lonely sea flowed on, almost like a kind of solitude.

This is the only train in Mosaic City that runs to Tokyo.

Unlike the old days, the seating hierarchy has been abolished, and spaces are now divided according to the number of people. Novia is currently in a space for four people, separated by curtains.

"Damn it, Lord Lucius is rambling on and on, we haven't gotten any meaningful information at all..."

Luce put the notebook into the pocket of his yellow raincoat, muttering to himself.

There were actually only four people on the huge tram: Novia, Eri, Tiamat, and Luce.

After all, Tokyo has been a hellish place for so long, and reconstruction has only recently begun, so it's normal that there aren't many people coming and going. As for others like Chitose and Lucius, as the undisputed representatives of the new era, they naturally have to stay in Tokyo and speed up the reconstruction. Since the destruction of Tokyo, Mosaic City in Japan has stopped taking in disaster victims from outside. Chitose and Lucius also plan to take this opportunity to allow Mosaic City in Japan to take in disaster victims again.

As for Little Mugel, although Novia tried to persuade her to stay, she probably couldn't let go of her anger, and since she was summoned by Dee herself, she chose to return.

However, the mention of the Storm Daughter that she spoke of did give Novia a small shock.

In the Middle East, near the Armenian region, this name can be associated with Lilith, the storm-incarnation of Mesopotamia, Arat, the Canaanite goddess of war, and Lilith in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Because Novia thought of his cheap 'mother' Shekina, whom Yahweh had mentioned, he subconsciously thought of the name Lilith.

The early Lilith was simply a very simple demon, and she is only described once in the Bible. It wasn't until the tenth-century "Alphabet of Ben-Sila" that the setting of her as the first woman in the world was added. In the dispute between Adam and Lilith, because she openly uttered the four-letter name of God, there is a claim that she accused Jehovah (YHWH) of splitting the four-letter name of God.

This is because in that era, only the high priest could utter this word aloud in the Temple in Jerusalem, and only once a year, on the Day of Atonement.

The story of Lilith that follows is the 13th-century "Zohar," in which Lilith instills strong lust and forces Shedina into exile. In "Zohar," Shedina transforms from the Kingdom of Heaven in the Old Testament into the feminine aspect of God. In short, to express her dissatisfaction with God, Lilith declares that her lust will continue until the day God destroys all evil.

Most of the settings that connect Lilith with Samael or Asmodeus to date are innovations from Zohar.

And there is another story where Lilith disguised herself as the Queen of Sheba to deceive King Solomon, who was under the watchful eye of God. However, Solomon immediately saw that her ears were not hairy, so he realized that she was a fraud and ruthlessly drove her away.

Therefore, in Old Testament studies, if Shejina is the mother of the Kingdom of Heaven in the Old Testament, then Lilith is the mother of treason in the Old Testament.

As for the other one, it's simple. Lilith is a female demon from Mesopotamia, the Mei demon, who is said to be a descendant of the wind god Enlil. Aratha, the Canaanite goddess of war, is the daughter of El, the biggest driving force behind Baal's rise to godhood, and the god most feared by the god of death, Mot. There is a theory that before the Old Testament was rewritten, Aratha was the wife of Yahweh.

In Latin after the 13th century, Jehovah was commonly spelled as Jehovah, while Jahaveh was spelled as Jahaveh... In short, it's a very controversial spelling.

It's worth mentioning here that the difference between the names Jehovah and Yahweh lies in the differing views within religious and academic circles. After the 13th century, Jehovah was generally used to refer to the God of the church, but academics believe that because vowels are often omitted in Jewish scriptures, the one God should be spelled Yahweh.

As for the Chinese translation of Exodus in the Old Testament, which says "The Lord is my name forever," the original text is actually "This is my name forever," and does not contain the word "Jehovah."

Gathering her thoughts, Novia turned to Tiamat, who was staring out the window and blinking, and asked, "Speaking of which, Tiamat, what impression do you have of Lilith?"

"Hmm? Let me think... She's a good girl."

Okay, we can rule that out, although it was never very likely anyway.

Novia couldn't help but think this upon hearing it. As for Anat, the possibility was still too small. After all, his anger towards 'Jehovah' when he saw El before was obvious. It couldn't be that his daughter betrayed her father for love... Wait, that's not right. Referring to the Canaanite myth, her personality was really like that. She directly led the gods to force the emperor to abdicate and incidentally crippled her own father.

Oh, right, Novia suddenly remembered that according to Yama and Anubis, the Himalayas, which they considered closest to 'heaven,' were now being transformed by Mote into his own temple…

The answer is actually no, and the reason is quite simple.

Because the Star Anchor located in India seems to be Shiva's lingam.

Novia smiled and continued to Tiamat, who was still pressed against the window, "As expected, in your mouth, Tiamat, everyone is a good kid, but after all, it's you."

Uh...

No matter how much time passes, he remains unchanged.

He had just experienced such a 'magnificent' battle, yet he suddenly and inexplicably started to care about a child who wasn't even there at the time and who hadn't been particularly noticeable back then, as if he didn't care about the atmosphere. This might make the children who were there and wanted to hear what he had to say grit their teeth. It's something they'll remember for decades or even centuries to come.

However, Tiamat liked that about him.

In fact, his willingness to care for the unassuming child made the Mother Goddess of Creation somewhat happy, and even made her want to do something impulsive.

"Let me think, she was a succubus."

Eri said coldly.

The cold wind blowing from the tram ruffled her black hair.

"Indeed, the infertility demon attacking a married man, hehe, it's quite suitable for you."

"Is it suitable for me?"

"Yes."

Eri confirmed again, "It may sound harsh, but in my opinion, that's probably what Novia is thinking."

Oh no, Eri, stop saying that! You'll get into big trouble if you say things like that!

Tiamat couldn't understand why Eriel disliked Novia so much. After Tokyo, Novia had grown significantly and her foundation had become more solid, so shouldn't she be trying to get closer to her? Why was she still speaking ill of her like this…? It shouldn't be like this…

"Yes, that's true."

Novia raised her index finger and placed it on the extension line of Eri's outstretched finger. "But who is my wife?"

"Humph."

If I hadn't seen it, I really wouldn't have been able to imagine that such a person existed.

Eri snorted, glancing around as she thought.

There are only four people now.

She, Tiamat, Luce, and the scoundrel... except for the scoundrel, they are all very cute girls.

Even if you don't say it out loud, everyone will definitely sense it. If you just bring it up more often and let them notice, they'll definitely find out.

This man is a scumbag.

"Who cares?"

Eri closed her eyes and waited quietly until they arrived in Akihabara.

……

When Novia and the others arrived, the Akihabara River, which was just a stone's throw away, shimmered in the afternoon sun.

The tourist street, composed of earthen walls and tree-lined streets, exudes a strong seaside atmosphere. All sorts of people and followers are holding drinks or food, chatting happily with their companions or friends they met on the spot. Even in front of the station, all the pedestrians are dressed in casual clothes or swimwear that are typical of Akihabara, and many people are wiping the sweat dripping down their faces with their collars and hems.

Eri was squinting as she wiped the sweat dripping from her temples when suddenly something soft touched her back—

"You're finally back. I've been waiting for you for so long, Eri, and... Novia."

At that moment, Eri opened her eyes wide and stared at the other person.

She almost felt like she was hallucinating. Kuonji Yuzu, that aloof girl who always wore all black and drank red tea, was actually dressed like this?!

Penguin coat.

If it weren't for her expression remaining unchanged, completely blank, Erisema would have thought that Kuonji Aratsumi had become mentally impaired from sleeping.