Okhema, in front of the city gate, at the resting place of the Dromas.
"Ah, what a coincidence, Sister Castorice, and Sister Polyxia, to actually meet you here."
Arriving here, the figures of Castorice and Polyxia coincidentally appeared in Lumina's sight.
Without any hesitation, as if arriving at her destination, Lumina walked straight toward Castorice and greeted her.
"Eh? Sister Lumina?!" Seeing Lumina arrive, Castorice and Polyxia were a little surprised, but they didn't think much of it, and their faces bloomed with sincere smiles as they greeted Lumina.
Between the brows of the two, a lot of joyful emotions were revealed.
They had originally wanted to find Lumina to thank her, after all, in Styxia, the help they received was simply too great.
But perhaps because the two went to sleep too late, resulting in them waking up too late, by the time they went to Lumina's room, she had already left for some time.
Although they hadn't seen Lumina, the gratitude in their hearts still hadn't been relieved at all.
The weight of this help was very heavy, just how heavy was it?
So heavy that even if the two were Chrysos Heirs, even if they were Demigods, they wouldn't be able to pay it back for a lifetime...
The two simply didn't know what to do about this kind of gratitude, so they could only take it one step at a time and observe whether there was anything Lumina liked.
Actually, actually Castorice knew what Sister Lumina liked, but she couldn't be sure. Even if she were sure, she wouldn't dare say it directly.
That would be... beautiful girls.
Giving herself and Polyxia to Lumina might be the greatest thank-you gift of all.
But even if she were certain that Sister Lumina liked beautiful girls, she would absolutely never be able to say such words...
It was simply too embarrassing.
Besides, what if Sister Lumina didn't like beautiful girls, but simply, simply liked her and Hyacine? How awkward would it be to say such a thing then?
Although this was a bit narcissistic, in order to maintain the status quo, this way was quite good.
"Sister Lumina, hello." Compared to Castorice, because Polyxia and Lumina had just met, her words were much colder.
Of course, her words were much colder because they were being compared to Castorice.
If she were compared with other people, she would definitely seem very passionate.
"Mm, Sister Castorice, Sister Polyxia, you..." Lumina looked at the Red Earth in their hands. "Are you feeding the Dromas?"
"Mm-hmm." Castorice nodded, then raised her small hand. Seeing this, the Dromas in front of her lowered its little head, and Castorice took the opportunity to gently rest her hand on its head and start stroking it tenderfully.
"After becoming the Demigod of [Death], the [Curse] of being a Chrysos Heir naturally vanished. Now, I can personally experience things that I could only watch from afar, as a mere bystander."
Her words were filled with joy, the joy of being able to touch living beings.
For her, this had already become one of the most important things in her life.
"...Sister, I'm sorry." Hearing Castorice's words, Polyxia couldn't help but lower her head.
Castorice's hundreds of years of loneliness were basically caused by Polyxia herself.
She felt very guilty, and also very sad.
This was completely different from what Polyxia had originally imagined...
In her imagination, Castorice should have been born happily, then had many friends, and grown up happily.
"It's okay, Polyxia." Sensing Polyxia's emotions, Castorice fed all the Red Earth in her hand to the Dromas, then crouched down and gently hugged Polyxia, who was sitting in her wheelchair.
"At least, the outcome is good, isn't it?"
Castorice conveyed the warmth of her body to Polyxia, signaling that she didn't mind.
Even... Castorice wanted to thank Polyxia.
If things had truly gone according to Polyxia's wishes, and she had lived a plain but happy life, Castorice would never have met Sister Lumina...
Castorice couldn't even imagine a future without meeting Sister Lumina...
"Um... Thank you, Sister." Polyxia could tell that Castorice didn't mind, but Polyxia definitely couldn't just let it go.
She buried this emotion deep within her heart, not wanting Castorice to notice.
But to Lumina, this was definitely no different from being transparent.
Since they were both beautiful girls, there was no need to distinguish between you, me, and him.
At worst, Lumina would help Polyxia repay this guilt to Castorice.
As for how to repay it?
Of course, it would be by helping Castorice do some things, complete some things she wanted to do~
And Lumina was still very clear about what Castorice wanted to do.
Have her own Sister Lumina eat her!
Although this was a little "embarrassing" for Lumina, it wasn't anything particularly "embarrassing."
If Lumina thought about it a little, struggled with it a little, it wasn't impossible to do.
"Um... S-Sister Lumina." Releasing her embrace of Polyxia, Castorice's gaze fell upon her own Sister Lumina.
A mysterious blush spread across her fair and pretty face, and her hesitant tone suggested she was about to say something presumptuous or embarrassing.
"Little Sister Castorice, whatever it is, you can just say it directly." Although Lumina didn't know what Castorice was about to say, her experience in navigating a thousand blossoms allowed her to see.
Words spoken with such hesitation, a blushing face, and embarrassment were a good thing ninety-nine percent of the time!
Lumina naturally wouldn't let this good thing be swallowed back into her stomach because of Castorice's shyness. So she quickly comforted her softly, gently gesturing for Castorice to just say it.
But this wasn't for her own sake, it was for Castorice's.
Keeping it bottled up inside would one day cause it to burst.
Only by releasing it could the body be satisfied, and only then could the body avoid being "clogged" by this kind of feeling.
Lumina was doing this for Castorice's own good,
It was definitely not because of her own "selfish desires."
"Um... okay." Since Sister Lumina had already said so, Castorice naturally had no reason to back down.
After taking a deep breath, although her small face remained adorably red, her expression became extremely serious.
With her hands clasped at her waist, her hair drifted gently like a willow branch in the breeze. Pressing her lips together, she maintained an utterly earnest posture despite her obvious embarrassment, just like a lovestruck adolescent girl about to confess to her senior, full of youthful exuberance and...
Even Lumina, facing Castorice in this posture, couldn't help but find her breathing becoming a little hurried.
"Ahem." After realizing the atmosphere on the field was a little bit off, Herta quickly choked on her own saliva and coughed, interrupting this serene and beautiful moment that felt like a high school afternoon.
"Little Sister Castorice, you don't need to hesitate or struggle. Just say it."
"Whether Lumina agrees to it or not, I will help you accomplish this."
To prevent further developments between Castorice and Lumina, Herta stepped forward and gave Castorice a promise.
A promise from Madam Herta, this was something extremely precious.
If it were to be auctioned in the Galaxy, it would probably fetch a terrifyingly high price.
How terrifying would this price be?
Roughly speaking, considering the current civilization of Amphoreus, ten Amphoreuses would not be enough to match this price.
This only includes Amphoreus itself, naturally excluding the [Emperor's Scepter] and the [Lord Ravager].
But even so, it still demonstrates just how precious a single promise from Herta truly is.
After all, this is an Emanator of [Erudition], Genius Society #83, Madam Herta herself!
Even Lumina desperately, desperately wanted this promise.
Since it's a promise from Madam Herta, she probably wouldn't refuse to do some slightly "excessive" things to get it, right?
Therefore, when she heard Herta's words, Lumina's gaze toward Castorice couldn't help but be filled with a hint of envy.
"Huh?"
Lumina's emotions were not concealed in the slightest, so when Castorice noticed the "envy" in her Sister Lumina's gaze, she was momentarily bewildered.
Then she blurted out: "How about giving this promise to Sister Lumina instead."
Herta: "?"
"Heh heh heh... heh heh heh..."
Hearing this, the field suddenly fell into a piece of silence, Herta froze for a while, and then instantly burst into laughter from anger.
I'm really such a fool!
Such a fool!
Slap! Slap! Slap!
Herta wanted to give herself three loud, resounding slaps in the face, severely condemning her utterly foolish behavior just now.
Was it Castorice's fault in this matter?
Of course not.
Madam Herta wasn't the kind of person to lack common sense.
Castorice was also a "victim" after all.
The person who truly deserved the blame was, without a doubt, this Lumina guy.
This fellow's playing with the hearts of beautiful girls at will, if the Aeons had not descended to the mortal world, she would have severely punished her long ago.
A scumbag woman! A scumbag woman! A pure scumbag woman!
Although she hadn't done anything to the beautiful girls' bodies, as the saying goes.
The physical pain one suffers is not even one ten-thousandth of the pain of the heart.
Lumina plays with the hearts of beautiful girls so willfully, she will definitely face retribution one day!
As for when the retribution will come, who knows.
Herta's only wish was that the person who would bring this retribution down on Lumina would be herself.
In other words, Herta would represent justice, represent all the beautiful girls, and punish Lumina severely on behalf of the heavens.
"Alright, thank you, little sister Castorice. I will accept this promise from Madam Herta without hesitation."
No one noticed Herta's inner thoughts, and after hearing Castorice's utterly exasperating words, Herta completely shut her mouth.
She decided not to say a single word while Castorice and Lumina were interacting intimately.
And this, in turn, played right into Lumina's hands.
Since Herta didn't speak up to stop this behavior, Lumina would take it as Herta's consent~
A gentle smile was reflected in Castorice's eyes, and a soft voice flowed into her ears like water, making Castorice's heart tremble. While feeling warm and comfortable, her body also involuntarily radiated waves of heat.
"..." Herta glanced at Castorice with a look full of pity, as if she were extremely worried about Castorice's dark future.
Then, Herta fixed her gaze on Lumina and snorted coldly.
"Isn't Madam Herta's promise something that Madam Herta decides?"
"Then Little Herta, can you transfer this promise from Castorice to me?" Hearing this, Lumina's expression remained unchanged as she turned to look at Herta, her gentle gaze filled with anticipation.
"Of course... uh." Meeting Lumina's gaze, Herta was momentarily stunned, her small mouth slightly open, about to blurt out her agreement to Lumina's "anticipation."
But Madam Herta was Madam Herta after all, and her willpower was naturally superior to that of ordinary people.
Before she could even finish the sentence, Herta snapped back to her senses.
She realized she had almost been seduced by Lumina's flawless, delicate, breathtakingly beautiful... and so on, a face full of a series of complimentary idioms.
Herta quickly averted her gaze, slightly shifting her position so she wouldn't look directly into Lumina's eyes and that stunningly beautiful face.
"Hmph!" After calming down, she snorted coldly, "What? Does Miss Lumina think there's any reason to transfer a so-called promise?"
"If a promise could still be transferred, then what kind of promise would that even be?"
"A promise is a promise, not an object, so Miss Lumina, please give up on your delusions."
"Unless..." At this point, Herta drew out the word, using a common technique to build anticipation.
Even without Herta saying it, Lumina already knew what she was about to say.
This Little Herta had always been thinking about acting defiantly toward her superiors. After so much time, if Lumina still couldn't figure it out, she might as well be blind.
"Unless you also give me a promise."
"Deal."
Herta: "?"
Without the slightest hesitation, Lumina made her decision and agreed decisively.
Seeing Lumina's decisiveness, without thinking for even a moment, a big question mark immediately popped up over Herta's head.
At the same time, a terrible thought arose in her heart.
Could this... could this be a trap set by Lumina?
And now, she had just jumped straight into this very trap...
No, no, I have to take that back.
Even if I lose face, I have to take that back.
"Wait, I think..."
At this thought, Herta hesitated no longer and spoke up immediately, wanting to retract her mistaken decision.
"Little sister Castorice, just say whatever is on your mind. Given our relationship, I'll definitely help you."
Herta realized this, but unfortunately, the moment the words left her mouth, it was already too late.
Lumina interrupted Herta directly and addressed Castorice.
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Herta's expression constantly change, and a smile spread across her face.
This Little Herta is just too young.
A promise from the strong to the weak depends entirely on the strong one's mood, doesn't it?
If I'm in a bad mood, the promise is rejected.
If the request is too high, the promise is rejected.
And a promise from the weak to the strong still depends entirely on the strong one's mood, doesn't it?
You dare not fulfill it? Then I'll force you to!
So, you see,
Exchanging promises seems like a win-win.
But in reality, this is a one-sided victory for Lumina!