Seeing as Attie was ignoring him, Baiyi left the room to do some shopping.
Hearing his footsteps fading into the distance, Attie's head poked out of the blanket and scanned the surrounding. Her eyes caught the homeothermal formation on the wall, and suddenly, she felt a little warm and fuzzy in her heart…
No! She slapped herself lightly on her two cheeks. Banish that thought!
"O Lord War God! Why is this demon so sly?" The girl muttered under her breath. "He carried me in his arms while I was sick, then he had so gently patted my head when I was awake… D-damn it! He's trying to ingratiate himself to me and if I don't keep being vigilant, I will fall for him!"
Although she was unconscious back then, she was not completely unaware. She could feel herself cuddling in Baiyi's arms— and more importantly, she could feel a sense of security rising within her. For someone who grew up without a skirt to hold on to or a security blanket provided by her parents, the feeling had turned into one of her most cherished memories.
The almighty, benevolent (Attie was told) War God might have given her the power to rise above her lowly status but he had also so quietly yet quickly abandoned her. On the other hand, the demon himself was vile and wicked and could even be called a bastard (Attie thought), but he was also gentle and seemed to have a soft spot for her…
It was silent but a schism had formed in her faith in the War God.
The mattress was soft and welcoming.
The room temperature was just right.
The medicine had an effect of drowsiness.
Her vision started blurring…
She was in a very bizarre world. The skies were occasionally potted with gigantic, metallic birds. The roads were filled with odd-shaped boxes made out of metals And the sky! The sky was made closer to her by so many majestic, towering edifices like citadels!
And she? She was the daughter of a wealthy, Forbes-magazine-featured tycoon, her wealth beyond measure. She enjoyed only the best that money could offer, and most of all--- she was never lonely. She was surrounded by gentle, good, handsome men of different flavors all trying their hardest to vie for her affection.
A few of them were even manly, gallant executives and CEOs. She just had to pick the right man for the happy ending that was rightfully hers…
A pair of chilly hands touched her forehead, sending shivers to her mind.
She woke up reluctantly.
Baiyi's hand retracted from her forehead when he saw her finally waking. "How are you feeling?" He asked. "It seems like you have recovered."
There was big paper bag in his arms and the aroma of food leaked out from time to time. The food were bought by the shop assistant upon Baiyi's request without a dime, and even till now no one had asked him to pay for it.
"Dinner's already prepared. If you're fine with it, let's go home."
His voice was low and firm, as usual. But it reminded Attie of a specific man in her dream— a ruthless executive when he had stripped off his cold front for her.
She nodded, but she was feeling too embarrassed to look at Baiyi. She lifted her cover preparing to leave and realized that her shoes and her silk socks were already removed. Even her white apron was taken away.
She frantically retracted her arms close to her chest reactively, but her fingers— and later her eyes—informed her that her clothes were still intact.
"You'll sleep more comfortably with those things removed," Baiyi explained.
"R-right. Thank you, Master." She looked down, her mind remembering a similar scene in her dream. She was red thinking about it, so she willed herself to focus on wearing her socks and apron before standing back up.
"Eh?" She let out a cry of surprise. Far from what she had expected, there was not a single sign of lethargy and weakness from her body, even when she had just recovered from a serious fever.
"The medicines Southerners use are so powerful!" She could not help but exclaimed. "Way better than the shaman knocking on your head!"
Yea, just as wealth equals power, I suppose. Do you know how much money you just drank? Of course it's fucking powerful, Baiyi thought.
"Well, there are other equally powerful things here too," He said. "Come on. Let's go home." He turned and started walking.
"Right!" Attie nodded firmly as she rushed to catch up. A full recovery from a fever, coupled with her sweet but sort-of-embarrassing dream, had done wonders to her mood. She felt so good, she obediently tailed the 'demon', just like a real servant girl
For all that talk and mental preparation to assassinate or kill him, Attie had failed to see that instead of gaining Baiyi's trust, things were completely the other way around.
Once the two had reached the Aegis Mansion, their ears were immediately treated to the sound of hastening footsteps coming towards their direction.
Mia and Tisdale burst out of the front door. When they saw Attie in full, healthy colors, their worried expression finall unraveled into relief.
"I'm soooo glad that you're okay, Attie! You scared me!" Little Mia cried as she ran towards her to give her a welcome embrace in her Mr. Bear slippers.
However, Mia slipped, and instantly, her running hug turned into a sprinting ram— right at Attie's chest.
Two different voices let out the same cry of pain.
Attie gritted her teeth as she helped Mia get up. Then, when she was alright, she rubbed her flat chest to ease the impact.
"Awww oww! That hurts!" Mia rubbed her own forehead. "So weird! I run into Big Sister Dale's embrace all the time but it's always bouncy and soft! But today… Gosh, I thought I ran right into a brick wall—"
Baiyi pinched her cheeks right after he handed the paper bag to Tisdale. Can you spare her another burn especially since she had just recovered from fever? Besides, why is the pot calling the kettle black?!
"Mmm! Waiii ish Mr. Hopff punishheeng mee?" Mia asked through the pinch.
Baiyi ignored her question and had a little fun messing with her face. After a while, after he had his fun, he said to the girls, "Okay. Dinner time."
For dinner, he had bought some animal cupcakes (Little girls' favorite!) for the three of them, and each had one of their own. Mia however, gave hers, a cupcake with the picture of a cat drawn on it, to Attie on her own volition. "Attie missed lunch, right?" She said apologetically. "You can have mine. Sorry for making you sick…"
"No, no, Mia. It's fine," Attie replied good-naturedly. She wasn't at all angered by that magic mishap, frankly— it's Mia's comment about her chest that really hurt her. She was still rubbing her chest from time to time!
You won't rub a hump out from that, you know, Baiyi thought as he watched the girls one final time before retiring to his own room. Once he was inside, he turned his attention inwards to the Void to continue their discussion.
Previously after removing some of Attie's clothes, Baiyi had taken the opportunity to check her body, and especially her Mark that had displayed the ability to reject theurgy.
In order to thoroughly examine her, the ever-so-professional Voidwalker, the Incubus, had volunteered to weave a dream that no teenage girl would be able to resist. Although he did not disclose what was created, Baiyi could tell that it worked just by how deep she was sleeping as well as that stupid grin on her face. Must have been a really good one, then!
The Voidwalkers did not discuss what the girl had dreamt about, of course. They were carefully analyzing the status and nature of the Mark after the day's incidents. As they had observed from the incident earlier in the Church, most of the Walkers agreed that the Mark was a gift from the War God.
Of course, that opinion was met with a few naysayers, such as the Soul Armature Practitioner, Syphrose.
"Thousands of years had passed, and yet the only orthodox religion allowed for the humans is the religion of God's Grace," He said. "And that One True God dude didn't even show grace to his most staunch believer!" He looked at the Cleric before continuing, "This means he's seriously the pettiest of all petty beings. So why did he allow an infidel in to his realm and his own sacred ground?"
"Maybe the two gods are buddies? Maybe the War God is pretty strong, too, so the God of the Church didn't dare retaliate?" The Explorer threw out an idea.
Oh, yea? If that War God is so strong, then why did he allow me to roam around his turf, steal his prized weapon and his chosen woman? Baiyi retorted. If he actually endured all that, maybe he isn't so much the God of War but the God of Forgiveness or even the God of Pussies.
That's why I stand by my opinion that the War God is either in hibernation or seriously dead, Baiyi added. It would explain how I got away scot-free from all the havoc I had caused there. Or the fact that Attie was not seen as a hostile entity when both of us breached the barrier around the Holy Ground because the disciple of the War God posed no threats whatsoever to the One True God.
Unfortunately , Baiyi continued. This would imply that the War God's Sword, which I had put in so much effort into getting, is nowhere close to being the weapon we need.
"I agree with my student," The Archmage chimed in. "But I don't think we should be so quick to deny the power of the War God's Sword. The One True God and his warriors would banish all who breached his Laws... This is the verse in the scripture that we had been using as a reference point to predict The One True God's nature. Judging from the types of people banished here into the Void, I would say this verse about his unforgiving nature may be correct, but not absolute."
"Oh, yes! I guess that's true, seeing how he forgave the existence of the barbarians' Ancestors, or the War God's Sword or even that despicable Fairy's Bow!" The Lich said mockingly. "He forgives everyone who doesn't believe in him, yet dealt his most devout followers with the heaviest of all punishment. Cool."
"This asshole made of unwanted bones! Why are you always so fucking shitty?!" The Cleric started raising his voice.
"Oh, no, no, no, Sir Cleric! I'm just being angry on your behalf! After all, even the Devil acknowledged your strength. I truly lament your God's injustice towards you," The Lich replied with a mirthless grin.
Alright, cut it out. What do you guys say we simulate this Mark? Baiyi jumped in. Let's vote on this.
After all, the reason why Baiyi couldn't wield the sword was because of the Mark. So why not simulate that?
Yet, trying to forge the Mark of a divine power was a devastatingly dangerous action that made even Baiyi cautious.
Thus, a call for a vote was in order…