In Terra, she is a hunter and a bad woman.

That delicate incense scent that I can't imitate.

That elegant posture seemed to be engraved in the bones.

That hidden, suppressed violent power.

Maria... the last legend of Syracuse, the family's night watchman, the silent judge...

She was standing right in front of him!

Why should I be afraid?

Although Maria in front of him tried her best to deny that she was the legend, but... Texas was absolutely sure that this was the same person!

But...why would she hide something like this?

Texas couldn't understand.

However, after seeing people around who also came from Syracuse eavesdropping on her, she seemed to understand something.

Ms. Maria... doesn't want the past to continue to haunt her?

Like... me now?

Texas lowered his head, feeling the stirrings in his heart.

"You...want to know the stories of Syracuse?"

"If you're willing to talk, I'm naturally willing to listen."

Maria nodded silently.

After receiving Maria's affirmation, Texas took a deep breath.

But she didn't even have time to finish her first sentence.

On the glass window beside them, a yellow shadow suddenly appeared in front of the two people...

Maria and Texas turned their heads at the same time.

Outside the glass window stood a strange figure wearing sunglasses and a mask that covered his entire face.

Although I can't see his face clearly, judging by his extremely unique yellow hair...

"null?"

……

Outside the cafe, on a distant building, Exia and Croissant were holding binoculars.

"Not good... Not good, Croissant. I've never seen Sora with such an expression before. It's so dark, Sora. Your idol image is about to collapse~"

"Oh my, is this going to be a Shura field? The slow-witted male protagonist Texas, the childhood sweetheart Maria, and now the enthusiastic popular idol Miss Sora?"

"I don't think it's Croissant. I think Maria and Texas' relationship is actually a bit weird..."

"For example?"

“Have you seen The Godfather?”

"You mean that gangster movie?"

"No, I mean the romance movie called The Godfather."

"Um?!"

Chapter 37 Competitive Pressure!

"That's it... the movie you said was interesting last time."

Croissant was chewing on a croissant while staring at Maria and Texas who were talking over there through a telescope.

Although we seldom play together on weekdays, we are still friends who have been through thick and thin together.

Naturally, they would not ignore the strangeness that has been happening in Texas these days.

However, facing Texas who hesitated and said nothing, they also knew that simply asking would not produce any results.

In this case, why don’t we try a different approach and test the attitudes of both sides.

As of now, Miss Maria's attitude remains the same as always, calm and unfathomable.

As for Texas, they couldn't stand his strange behavior.

"I heard there's a tradition like this in Syracuse. Some families find a godfather when their child is born, to act as a guide for their child's future life... I heard it originated from the Lateran."

"Latlan? Oh, it seems there is such a tradition." After thinking for a while, Archangel nodded.

As an angel from Lateran, the Angel of Energy remembers many details of life in his hometown.

"It's just that our godfather is more like the head of the family, not the guiding light in life that you mentioned... although that bearded guy does help a lot of people occasionally."

While munching on an egg tart, Exia sat cross-legged on the ground and looked at Texas in the distance.

"But what does this have to do with the Godfather movie you mentioned? I remember the Godfather I watched was a gangster story."

"Croissant, I'm watching a love story... It's about a homeless girl who gets adopted by a godfather and develops feelings for him when she grows up, but never expresses them out loud."

"..."

"what happened?"

"That sounds weird."

"It's quite strange, but the last time I saw you, Exia, you were crying~"

The two of them were joking around idly while staring at Maria and Texas over there.

Although the story told by Croissant was a bit confusing, it did remind Exia of how she felt when she first watched the movie.

And if you put this feeling into practice, it is indeed a bit similar to the present.

"I remember that little girl started to rebel after she reached puberty, right? She ran away from home for a long time... It seems like Texas never contacted her family or anything."

"Then, the childhood friend finds the other person and persuades him to go home... Lapland fits this role."

"Then the seriously ill old godfather came to visit his children... So Miss Maria is the godfather of Texas?."

Exia muttered, staring at the cafe again.

After Kong found out that his idol was resting with Maria in the cafe, he rushed over without saying a word. Soon, Exia could see Kong entering the cafe, sitting face to face with Maria, leaning against Texas.

……

"Good afternoon, stewardess."

Facing the sudden appearance of Kong, Maria still maintained her usual calm attitude. After nodding to him, she called the waiter again, took the order and handed it to the other party.

"Seeing you as lively and beautiful as ever, I am filled with joy from the bottom of my heart..."

"Ah?" Hearing Maria's sudden praise, Kong was stunned for a moment and his face turned slightly red.

It’s not like she had never heard of others praising her, but Maria did this right from the start... She was also a little shy.

But... an invitation?

What invitation?

Texas explained on the side.

"Ms. Maria invited us yesterday...but you were preparing for the charity concert at the time, so we didn't inform you because we thought you might not have time."

"Ah~ So that's how it is."

Sora nodded, not quite understanding.

"What about the Angels?"

"They have other things to do, so they will come later... Of course, they may not come at all."

Texas spoke calmly, then picked up the coffee cup in front of him and asked calmly, "By the way, the charity concert is today, right? Why are you..."

"Don't worry~" Sora smiled confidently, "My singing part has just ended. The next one will be the chorus at around 4 o'clock. It's still over an hour away, so there's no rush!"

Sora said confidently, and took off his mask with a smile.

Maria, who was standing by, became curious about this.

"Charity...concert?"

"Oh, Miss Maria, you don't know yet." After realizing that Maria and Texas were not secretly dating, Sora's mood improved visibly. "Sora, I'm an idol~"

"Idol?"

Tilting their heads, the two girls could clearly sense the doubts revealed by Maria in front of them.

Maria, who was obviously a traditionalist, did not quite understand many of the professions in this world.

Fortunately, after Kong explained for a long time, Maria finally came to a conclusion.

"travelling poet?"

“…Yeah, probably.”

Sora listened to Maria's question and nodded in agreement helplessly.

Let the bard be the bard.

It's better than the jester I just mentioned.

"Is bard also a profession now?" Maria sighed.

In her time, bards were actually more inclined to make helpless choices... After all, who would want to live a life of displacement when they have a stable life?

But rather than the fact that her companion was a bard, she was actually more curious about something else.

"What is a charity concert?"

"It's actually a free concert to raise funds for those infected."

Sora shook his head helplessly and continued.

"Miss Maria, you may not be aware of this, but... in Longmen, those infected with Originium disease have a very difficult time surviving. They face discrimination, suppression, exclusion, and even persecution. Even if they live together with their fellow Originium patients, once one of them is infected with the Originium disease, the others will expel them from their group without hesitation. Their lives are insecure, and they can't even get the most basic food and clothing."

"So, Kuuga... I want to help them..."

"I know I can't help them all, but... I still want to do something. It doesn't have to be too much, but at least, within my ability, to give more people a chance to survive..."

Sora said, smiling at Maria.

Her smile was forced.

Obviously, this act of kindness towards the infected must have brought her many unknown problems...

Maria didn't know the extent of the world's attitude towards the infected, but from what she could see, those infected were indeed treated differently in many places.

And under such a trend, the girl in front of him chose to sympathize with the other party...

This made her silent for a while, and then she nodded affirmatively.

"You are a kind person, beautiful stewardess... Kind people will always be blessed."

"Hehehe..." Kong felt a little embarrassed.

What she just said was actually what had been hidden in her heart for a long time. She rarely mentioned it to others on weekdays... because she also knew that the people in this world, even in Longmen, a city with a large floating population, had normalized the exclusion of people with Originium patients.

As an idol, it is unlikely for her to go against the trend. Therefore, even if she sympathizes with the Originium patients, she cannot say it out loud and can only silently use her actions to explain something.

However, what she didn't expect was that Maria in front of her would actually support her... Although Maria didn't express her opinion, her words were tantamount to agreeing with her.

This made Kong feel more favorable towards the woman in front of him.

As a result, her smile became brighter.

……

"Could it be... Miss Maria is some kind of succubus? She seems to have successfully conquered Sora?"

After finishing the croissant, Croissant stared at the three people in the telescope in surprise.

After seeing Kong's expression, she was also surprised.

It's only been a few words! Sora has already lost his hostility towards Maria and even smiled like this...

"It's over. The competitive pressure in Texas is going to increase..."

“Whose competition?”