Chapter 629 - 616: New addition

[Realm: Álfheimr]

[Location: Heart Kingdom]

[Pulchritudo]

Mikoto stared at the red-hooded girl standing before him.

Paimon had an expectant look on her face, the sort of expression that suggested she was genuinely waiting for him to say something rather than simply being polite.

Mikoto could not fathom why she would even want to talk to him.

It was not as though he presented himself as approachable. If anything, he had spent a considerable amount of time making himself as unapproachable as possible. His manner was blunt, his patience was limited, and his usual method of interacting with people consisted of saying precisely what he thought without bothering to soften it for their benefit.

Yet Paimon had approached him anyway.

Then again, this girl seemed like one of those airheads who trusted too easily.

In other words, an idiot.

"Why would you want to talk to me?" Mikoto questioned, his eyes remaining fixed on her. "I don’t exactly make myself seem approachable, do I? What is it that makes you think talking to me is worth your time?"

"Well, there are still some things I’m curious about," Paimon mused, folding her hands idly behind her back. "There are quite a few things about you that I don’t really understand yet. And I’m still curious if you really are an Angel. I mean, you said things before that made it sound like you were, but I never really got a proper answer."

Mikoto’s expression remained unchanged.

("So that’s it, huh? Guess considering what her deal is, it makes sense.")

He had already learned enough about Paimon to understand why that particular question would interest her.

"I’m an incarnation of one," Mikoto clarified. "Taking a human shape, kind of. Something like that."

He did not really care about giving that particular information away.

There was little point in concealing it at this stage. A lot of people seemed aware of his angelic nature in this realm already, and keeping the information secret would accomplish very little. Besides, he had no reason to believe Paimon could do anything particularly troublesome with the knowledge.

Paimon’s expression brightened almost immediately.

"Oh, like God sending His Son in human nature!" she said excitedly.

Mikoto stared at her for a beat.

"Yeah, sure," he said offhandedly.

He had clearly not put much thought into the comparison.

His attention remained on her as he added, "You seem awfully trusting now. What, do I look trustworthy all of a sudden? Did something about me change while I wasn’t looking?"

"Without your armor, kind of?" Paimon shrugged, wearing an innocent expression. "I mean, when you had all that armor on, you looked a lot more intimidating. Now that I can actually see you properly again, it’s a little different. Despite that scary look in your eyes, it’s hard to think that someone like you can be extremely cruel or something."

Mikoto’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Judging people by their looks is a good way to tell me what an idiot you are," he said flatly.

There was no hesitation in the insult, yet Paimon gave a small chuckle despite it.

"Maybe," she admitted, apparently not bothered enough to take offense. "But it’s good to have faith in a person from time to time. You can’t always assume the worst about everyone just because they look intimidating or act unpleasantly."

Her tone told him she was being genuine; there was no sarcasm behind it. It lacked any attempt to win an argument as well; she actually believed what she was saying.

Mikoto’s opinion of her intelligence lowered by the second.

"You have to be some brat to spout nonsense like that," he said dryly. "Seriously. Who actually talks like that and expects it to be convincing?"

"Hey!" Paimon exclaimed, finally sounding offended. "I’ll have you know I’m eighteen! An adult!"

Mikoto paused.

He was somewhat surprised that this was what finally got a rise out of her. He had insulted her intelligence outright, and she had laughed it off. He had called her trusting to the point of stupidity, and she had simply continued explaining her position.

But apparently calling her a brat had crossed some invisible line.

Mikoto regarded her for a moment.

"I hope you know turning eighteen doesn’t magically give you maturity," he said.

Paimon’s expression faltered slightly.

"Maybe..." she mumbled.

She seemed to consider that for a moment before recovering enough to continue her reasoning.

"But if you’re an incarnation of an Angel, then that means you’re not actually as old as one," Paimon reasoned, her expression becoming more satisfied as she pieced together what she apparently considered a rather clever argument. "So I’m probably older than you."

Mikoto’s eyes remained on her.

Paimon looked increasingly pleased with herself.

"And Peter 5:5 encourages younger individuals to submit to elders and clothe themselves in humility," she added, as though that settled the matter completely.

Mikoto’s expression did not change.

"I don’t follow the Bible’s teachings."

Paimon’s satisfaction immediately gave way to confusion.

"Huh?" she asked, staring at him. "But you’re an Angel."

"And?"

The answer was so immediate and matter-of-fact that Paimon seemed unable to find a response.

Her eyebrows drew together.

The reasoning she had apparently been building toward had simply encountered a conclusion she had not considered. If Mikoto was an Angel, then, to her, there were certain expectations that naturally followed from that.

Mikoto did not seem interested in those expectations.

Paimon’s confusion only seemed to grow.

"Was spouting all this nonsense all you wanted to talk about?" Mikoto asked, folding his arms across himself. His expression remained largely unimpressed, as though the conversation had already gone on longer than he had any intention of entertaining. "You can’t have nothing better to do than stand around bothering me with this."

Paimon shifted slightly where she stood.

"Well, it’s about what you talked about..." she murmured, her voice losing some of its earlier lightness. "About those dragons."

Mikoto’s attention sharpened by a small degree.

"What about them?"

"I never really saw the destruction the two caused," Paimon admitted, her hands remaining behind her back as she looked toward him. "But I heard about it. I heard how they managed to ravish two kingdoms just by clashing with each other. People talked about it everywhere, and they talked about the amount of deaths there were."

Her voice trailed off.

The change in her expression was small, but Mikoto noticed it.

He already had a fairly good idea where she was going with this.

There was no need for him to ask what she had heard. The destruction had become something larger than the event itself. People who had not witnessed it could still speak about the aftermath. Kingdoms had been ruined, and countless people had died. And somewhere in all of that was the unavoidable fact that two beings powerful enough to devastate entire realms were still out there.

Mikoto’s gaze remained fixed on Paimon.

"It ain’t some cake walk or some ’heroic journey,’" he warned.

His tone was blunt, he wanted her to understand what she was asking before she made the mistake of turning it into something noble simply because helping people sounded noble.

"I know that..." Paimon murmured.

She pursed her lips.

"Even so..." For a moment she seemed uncertain whether she should continue, then she looked at him again. "Would you... let me join?"

Mikoto’s expression changed imperceptibly to something closer to genuine curiosity.

"Why would you want to?" Mikoto asked. There was more interest in his voice, even if only a little. "I imagine you have your own problems to deal with. Whatever they are, I doubt they’re going to disappear just because you decide to follow me around while I go looking for two dragons."

"I do." Paimon gave a humorless chuckle. "Trust me, I do."

There was no real amusement behind it. If anything, the laugh seemed to acknowledge how obvious that fact was to her.

"But because of my faith, I don’t think I could turn a blind eye to helping a lot of people," she continued. "If I know there are people who might die and I have the power to do something about it, then just ignoring them doesn’t sit right with me."

Her expression became a little more serious.

"As a Nil, I should use my power for good, right?"

The final word came out less confidently than the rest; it sounded more like a question than a declaration. As though Paimon believed it, but still needed to hear herself say it aloud.

Mikoto watched her quietly.

("Hm. This chick’s not as simple as she seems.")

His first impression of her had been straightforward enough. Too trusting, too cheerful, and too willing to give people the benefit of the doubt.

An idiot.

But this was different.

("I imagine like Robert, she has her own agenda.")

He did not believe for a second that someone joined a dangerous undertaking involving dragons purely because the opportunity happened to present itself. She was not joining the cause for pure altruism. That did not necessarily make her dishonest. It simply meant there was something else beneath the surface.

Mikoto still did not know what it was.

Perhaps it was because of what he was.

Maybe being an incarnation of an Angel made her want to stay close to him. Perhaps she believed there was something she could learn from him, or perhaps her faith had convinced her that remaining near someone like him was somehow important.

Or perhaps the reasoning was much simpler.

He could not tell yet.

And until he knew, he had no reason to trust her completely.

("But the covenant she has... I’m not sure if she’d be more of a danger than someone useful.")

A person could be useful and dangerous at the same time; those things were not mutually exclusive.

Mikoto had learned that much already.

("Even so...")

He turned away from her.

"Do what you want," Mikoto said. "I won’t be responsible if you croak or something."

It was a vulgar way of putting it, but Paimon heard what was underneath it. He had not told her no, but he had not invited her either. He had simply left the choice in her hands and made it clear that whatever happened afterward would be her responsibility.

For someone like Mikoto, that was apparently as close to permission as she was going to get.

Paimon’s expression lit up.