So Angelina didn't say goodbye to her parents or her friends. She just slipped away on her own.
But what Lucian admired came after that.
It's far too easy for someone to fall apart. Once you're diagnosed with Oripathy—an incurable disease everyone despises—there's no limit to how far someone can sink.
But Angelina didn't give up on herself. She didn't give up on life.
She used her newly awakened Originium Arts to run through the streets, searching desperately for things an Infected girl could do on her own.
And thanks to a bit of luck, she met a kind courier who taught her that there was still a way for her to survive.
Angelina giggled. "You know, Lucian, couriers work with Originium products all the time, and they've got to observe Catastrophes up close too. The rate of Infected among couriers is really high! But everyone's super nice—they never discriminate! A lot of Infected rely on couriers to deliver daily necessities to their settlements. That's an important part of our job!"
When she said that, her face practically sparkled with pride.
This girl had found meaning in helping others and finally started learning how to use her talent.
You could call it "hard work pays off," but Lucian felt that phrase didn't do Angelina justice.
There's no god in this world—no heavenly justice.
Her tiny bit of luck in all that misfortune was something she earned through her own effort.
Lucian smiled. "Your Originium Arts really do suit being a courier. It's gravity manipulation, right?"
Originium Arts—put simply, magic. It's how people in this world harness the extraordinary power of Originium.
Talent plays a big role in it. Some Arts can be learned, while others are unique to the individual, innate from birth.
Since everyone has a bit of Originium in their body, even healthy ordinary people can use Arts.
Most people believe that the deeper the infection, the lower the barrier to using Arts.
Some only awaken their first technique after becoming Infected—Angelina was one of those.
The first time he met her, she was jumping across rooftops with that ability.
She'd messed up her control and affected everything in a wide radius, but that only proved how large her area of influence was. With proper training, she could become something incredible.
Lucian stroked his chin. "If you secretly used your ability during checkups, no one would ever know your real weight. So, how much do you actually weigh? Ever cheated?"
"I—I have not! Why would you jump to that!?"
Angelina flailed in panic, sounding exactly like someone with a guilty conscience.
After her Arts awakened, she worked hard as a courier—and eventually made her way to Lungmen.
With a bit more experience and better control, traveling between Siracusa and Yan could be easy for her. Lucian believed in her temperament—she'd definitely succeed.
He shook his head theatrically. "When you get to one of the Mobile Cities someday, make sure you stay sharp. Otherwise some sleazy local might trick you. You might even end up signing a contract you can't escape, and some scumbag will kidnap you and drag you home."
"Lucian!"
Realizing he was teasing her, Angelina blushed bright red and smacked his arm.
And Lucian was practically moved to tears. It had been ages since he'd been around someone so pure.
The women of Penguin Logistics were all basically built like his bros. Ch'en and Swire from the Lungmen Guard Department were technically comrades, but both of them were violent and… not exactly approachable.
To Lucian, Hoshiguma was like a big brother, and Oni as a race came with its own seniority—he couldn't treat her casually.
Yuxia was fun to coax and easy to trick, sure. But she was even more rebellious than Angelina, who was an actual high school girl. She was a full-blown spoiled rich girl—annoy her and you'd regret it.
All things considered, out of the women he could flirt with, none were cuter than Angelina.
It made Lucian almost reluctant to let her go. He wanted to keep her by his side forever.
And he really did say it out loud: "Angelina, why don't you just stay in Lungmen?"
". Huh?"
Angelina froze, not expecting that at all.
Lucian continued, "You've seen it yourself—Penguin Logistics doesn't care that you're Infected. As long as you're careful, it's not easy to expose. And if you really mind it, I have other ways to deal with it—we can talk about that later. Honestly… I want you here. I want you by my side."
He said it sincerely.
Besides genuinely liking her, he also had a reason involving Texas.
After Croissant had barged in on them earlier, Texas had whispered to him before running back to her room:
"Don't let that girl go back to Siracusa. They'll silence her."
Angelina clearly wasn't mafia. The only reason she'd delivered that letter to Texas was because someone had used her.
According to Texas, the writer was the kind of person who'd love to shove her back into the bloodstained life she'd once lived.
If Angelina delivered that letter and then Texas simply killed her on the spot—that would've fit that person's intentions perfectly.
Texas concluded that if Angelina went back to Siracusa, even if they didn't kill her outright, she'd absolutely be captured and interrogated. For a sweet, naive high school girl, that kind of fate would be unbearable.
Lucian didn't tell Angelina any of this. He didn't want to terrify her.
Unfortunately… language works in funny ways.
Lucian had expressed his affection with total sincerity. That emotion really did reach her.
But because his… shameless—correction: his bottomless, indecent level of affection—came through so clearly, Angelina interpreted it exactly like that.
A fiery blush swept across her cheeks. Even her pointed fox-like ears puffed up. Her big eyes welled with tears.
"L-Lucian… a-are you… c-confess—confessing to me…!?"
"Huh? You can interpret it that way?"
Lucian was stunned.
His 1024-core brain kicked into overdrive, scrolling through their conversation, reviewing every line.
After confirming it, he took a deep breath and said seriously:
"Yeah. I'm confessing. Angelina, I like you. Will you stay with Penguin Logistics?"
"Sorry Lucian you're a good person but we've known each other too short and you should say something like that after getting to know each other better also you literally kissed Texas and now you're confessing to me that's way too shameless being the third wheel is way too early for me please wait until I grow up more I'm sorry Exusiai!"
The girl showed the dramatic flair of a true Siracusan—firing off a perfect machine-gun rejection—before sprinting away so fast her shoes nearly caught fire, fleeing into Croissant's room.