CHAPTER 575: CHAPTER 85 PARTING KISS

Eleanor’s oath of allegiance was certainly not a spur-of-the-moment decision but instead the result of careful consideration.

It served as her formal response to that nightmare: if there really came a day when she had to choose between love and her ideals...

She would choose the former.

But no one knew this yet, so they all chuckled and called her "Knight Girl" (Ritter_Mädchen). Aske even joked, calling her "my Knight," causing Eleanor to be unsure whether to feel sad or happy.

Emotions subtly complex, she could only bury everything deep within her heart.

After resolving the sudden crisis of the grown-up Mia, the group continued on their journey. Along the way, Nora and Thira both took the opportunity to have a chat with Aske—although Aske declared his complete trust in them, given that Eleanor had already knelt to swear allegiance, they felt the need to show some form of commitment too.

Nora was actually quite relaxed about it. After all, her crush on the Squad Leader was no secret to anyone, so she simply joked with Aske, "If I ever betray you, it’ll definitely be because you turned into a scumbag that made me lose all hope in you."

Thira, on the other hand, was much more nervous. She didn’t have feelings for Aske, and her relationship with the Squad Leader wasn’t as close as Nora’s, so all she could do during their casual talk was to repeatedly reminisce about the past, desperately hinting at how close they once were.

She was one step away from pounding on her chest to assure him, "As long as I can reclaim my homeland, I’ll make Achilles the most prominent surname in Constantinople."

Aske saw right through their little schemes and couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.

He wasn’t really worried about the accusations made by the grown-up Mia. After all, the plot of a parallel world might not be the same as this world’s, but he found it quite amusing to see them so nervous.

As the group ventured deeper, the deep blue mist around them grew thicker, and the pressure on their spirituality grew stronger.

Finally, the Banshee Queen leading the way stopped flying and turned around gracefully to say,

"Alright, the core is nearby."

"Next, you all should go back inside Fire Island. Keep the Ancient Book with Miel."

"I am about to start the destruction of the Spiritual Tree."

The so-called "keeping it with Miel" essentially meant "hand it over to Minerva," given that the Banshee Queen was currently in Miel’s body.

But Aske did not hesitate and directly handed the Ancient Book to her.

"Heh." The Banshee Queen looked at him with surprise, "Aren’t you afraid I’ll tamper with this book?"

"Minerva, you’re not from our world, and you’ll eventually have to return," Aske said frankly, "Since whatever happens to our world won’t affect your life back home, your actions at this moment will only be influenced by your personnel likes and dislikes."

"As things stand, I think we get along quite well, so why should I suspect you would harm us without a good reason?"

"Hmm, it is quite nice," the Banshee Queen pondered for a moment and agreed with his words, "To be honest, I’m starting to get a little jealous of Miel. Not because she is alive, but because she has a Squad Leader like you, a... interesting man."

"Once I’m done here and go back, I’ll have Miel bring me out now and then, and we’ll find you to have some fun~" She extended her slender index finger, pressed it to her tender lips, and then swiftly placed it on Aske’s lips before he could react.

Aske: ???

The aura of menace! He sensed a sudden rise of killing intent from behind and immediately teleported back to Fire Island.

Peggy went after him right away, seemingly ready to give Aske a piece of her mind. Nora, after seeing the Banshee Queen, softly bade her "farewell" and then followed back to Fire Island as well.

With Nora setting the example, the remaining girls also bid a friendly greeting to the Banshee Queen as if saying goodbye to a comrade, then one by one teleported back to Fire Island.

"Heh." Once everyone had left, the Banshee Queen finally smiled slightly and murmured to herself, "Miel."

"All these companions of yours seem quite nice to you... of course, I mean in terms of friendship, not the sort of thing Mia was talking about."

"Love? Ah... don’t you think that word is rather cruel for an Undead Spirit?"

"Don’t apologize to me. Actually, love aside, I do have quite a few friends, it’s just..."

"... it’s just that they’re all dead, dead for a very, very long time."

She spread her arms and twirled around, light as a butterfly, her face sporting a mask-like, brilliant fake smile.

"Your Majesty Minerva." A voice sounded from behind her.

"Oh? It’s you." Minerva turned around, showing no surprise, "Camellia."

"Do you have a moment to talk?" Medea asked with an equally brilliant fake smile, beaming with enthusiasm.

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In Fire Island, Aske said helplessly:

"I really have never met the Banshee Queen before, and as for that flying kiss you saw... Given her nasty personality, is it strange for her to do something like that before leaving?"

"I find it very suspicious," Peggy stated confidently, with a hint of indignation.

"Nora, what do you think?" Aske looked at Nora, pointing to his own chest, "Come on, read my mind, try it right here. Am I lying about this matter?"

Nora was helpless. Mind reading showed that Aske hadn’t lied, and he was just as astonished, caught off guard, and speechless about Minerva’s last display of affection.

However, now that we’ve caught you, are we really hung up on whether you lied or not?

It’s because you were so affectionate with another woman that we’re very, very, very upset! Would it kill you to say a few nice things to make us feel better?

Of course, Nora was too embarrassed to say all this outright and could only respond with a cool face:

"I don’t know."

"How could you not know!" Aske exclaimed in utter disbelief, "Mind Reading! Mind Reading! Can’t you perform Mind Reading?"

"The Mind Reading failed." Seeing the Squad Leader determinedly obtuse only angered Nora more.

"How could Mind Reading possibly fail!" Aske was incredulous.

"Maybe it’s because I’m feeling unwell today and my Spirituality is a bit Unstable," Nora said angrily, almost talking nonsense, "Anyway, you’ve got to give us a proper explanation this time!"

God damn it, feeling unwell affects Spirituality! Aske had a brainwave and offered solicitously:

"Is it that time of the month? Are you feeling okay? Shall I make you a cup of piping hot sugared water?"

Nora turned her head slightly, only to see from the mansion on Fire Island that two chairs, a table, along with a teapot full of hot tea, cups, and pastries on a small plate, were floating and swaying over.

Aske: ......

Without a doubt, this was also a Spirit Body Ability of the Life Songster, using Spirit Possession on inanimate objects, which could then be manipulated in all sorts of ways. By now, Nora’s skill in this area had become extremely proficient.

She and Peggy sat down on the chairs. The two teacups moved to the edge of the table, and the teapot levitated, automatically filling the cups with black tea.

"There, no need for you to worry." Nora picked up a teacup, sipped elegantly, and with a sidelong glance said, "Continue with the explanation."