"Lady Elise will definitely be delighted!"
Holding five cups of milk tea, Mana thanked the girl, then immediately ran toward the Saintess with a cheerful smile.
It had been such a long time since she had spent time with Lady Elise. Sharing milk tea with her this time would surely create a different kind of memory.
But behind her, the girl who had just helped Mana retrieve the milk tea suddenly froze.
The girl turned her head with a slight tremble, and sure enough, she saw that golden figure playing with the children not far away.
As expected of Elise...
She's completely become one of the kids.
After marveling inwardly for a moment, the girl lifted her foot as though intending to head over there, but she couldn't bring herself to take the first step.
She simply stood where she was, watching the young nun draw closer and closer to Elise.
"No!"
Sylvia raised both hands and slapped her cheeks hard.
"If you keep hesitating like this, you'll only get farther and farther away from her, Sylvia!"
"You have to act right now!"
"Even if you've had a falling-out, you can still make up!"
After calming herself down a little, Sylvia made up her mind. She had to find out exactly what was going on.
However, just as she was about to head over to Elise, she suddenly realized that quite a few people around her had started staring.
This is bad!
Realizing the situation was turning troublesome, Sylvia quickly left the area, while the surrounding passersby began discussing her among themselves.
"Hey, did you see that girl just now?"
"She was gorgeous. And she looked kind of familiar too. I feel like I've seen her somewhere before?"
"Oh, give me a break! Don't you say that about every woman you see? Any woman you look at becomes your wife, huh?"
"If she's not my wife, what, is she yours?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"Then take this!"
Some rather discordant noises seemed to come from behind her, but Sylvia no longer had time to care about any of that.
Elise was right in front of her. She couldn't possibly lose her nerve now!
Meanwhile, on Elise's side...
"Everyone, come back!"
Looking at Est, Ren, and Ophis playing together in the distance, Elise suddenly had a strange illusion.
It really felt as though she had become the mother of three children.
If Ais were here too, that would make four!
After hearing Elise call them, the three beings who looked like children despite all being older than Elise on the inside—the two spirits and the snake—ran back over.
"Lady Elise, the milk tea is here!"
Coincidentally, Mana returned at that moment as well, carrying five cups of milk tea.
"Thank you very much, Mana."
Elise smiled too, but immediately afterward, she sensed that something was off.
With her absurdly powerful perception, it was extremely easy for her to notice someone staring at her from afar. Someone walking directly toward her was even more obvious.
Right behind Mana!
Elise leaned to the side and immediately spotted that incomparably familiar figure.
Although Sylvia was disguised, Elise didn't rely solely on her eyes to perceive the world. With her eyes closed, she could actually see even more.
She could even perceive Sylvia's rapidly accelerating heartbeat with perfect clarity!
"Sylvia, I didn't expect to run into you here. Did you come specifically to find me?"
"You don't look quite right. Are you feeling unwell?"
Elise spoke first because she could tell that Sylvia's emotions seemed somewhat unusual.
Could she be on her period?
No. She probably ran into something upsetting.
Because Elise possessed a special body, it had always remained as it was, and she didn't have a monthly visitor. That had spared her a great deal of trouble.
After briefly examining the inside of Sylvia's body, Elise reached her conclusion and also decided to help her friend.
After becoming the God of the Bible, Elise was capable of far more than before, and she didn't mind spending some resources on Sylvia at all.
"Long time no see, Elise."
"I came here specifically to find you this time..."
A smile appeared on Sylvia's somewhat pale face, but at the same time, she became nervous again.
Although she had made up her mind and hadn't immediately fled, actually standing in front of Elise gave her an entirely different feeling.
There seemed to be something different about Elise now.
Sylvia pressed a hand tightly against her chest, feeling the strong, powerful pounding of her heart.
Is it just my imagination?
Somehow... she seems almost impossibly beautiful now.
"Sylvia?"
Seeing her friend remain dazed for so long, Elise hurriedly called out to remind her.
Fortunately, Sylvia reacted quickly. Her face immediately flushed red as she averted her gaze, no longer daring to look directly at Elise.
That unusual reaction instantly caught Elise's attention, and her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly.
That's strange. Didn't I use an ability to reduce my presence? Why is Sylvia reacting like this?
Having spent so long in a world of gods and devils, Elise had always been careful about the effects caused by her own charm.
It might not have mattered much to races such as gods and devils, but in the eyes of humans, that charm possessed a fatal attraction!
That was why, here in the human world of Asterisk War, Elise used a few minor tricks to interfere with other people's perception and reduce the impact of her charm.
Neither Mana nor the ordinary people around them had shown any unusual reaction, so why was Sylvia acting so...
Gradually, Elise discovered the crucial point!
Perhaps the reason Sylvia was acting this way was somewhat different from what Elise had originally imagined.
When ordinary people saw Elise, the emotion they felt was attraction. Elise only needed to block that sensation and prevent them from recognizing who she was, and the problem would be solved.
As for people like Mana who already knew Elise, the vast majority felt emotions such as respect and faith toward her. After all, would you really feel lust toward the very being you worshiped?
So dealing with those people was simple as well.
But the final type was much more troublesome, because the emotion they held toward Elise was love!
Love was an extremely mysterious emotion, because it contained infinite possibilities!
The abnormal charm Elise possessed didn't come solely from herself. Some of it also came from Freya of the DanMachi world!
And who was Freya?
The Goddess of Love and Beauty!
Even if Elise deliberately tried to suppress that love, she couldn't necessarily block it every single time.
That seemed to be exactly what was happening now. Elise finally sorted out the situation, only to immediately realize that something was wrong.
Wait!
Sylvia... loves me?
At that moment, even Elise was so shocked that her eyes widened.
Elise opened her eyes and carefully examined Sylvia once more.
Her face was bright red, she couldn't bring herself to look at Elise, and her hands were clasped together as she fidgeted nervously... Wasn't this exactly what a maiden in love looked like?
The atmosphere around them immediately became strange.
...
"The weather's really nice today, Ely."
"Yeah, Sylvia."
In Mana's eyes, the girl who had just arrived simply sat down in her spot and started chatting with Elise.
Although she felt somewhat unhappy about it, Mana still moved to stand behind Elise. After all, as a subordinate, she couldn't embarrass her Lady Saintess!
But why were these two making such painfully awkward small talk?
"You must be thirsty after coming all the way here, right? I just had Mana buy some milk tea. I can give you a cup!"
"Then I won't stand on ceremony, Ely!"
Seeing this, Mana immediately nodded, but then suddenly realized something was wrong.
Wait, give her a cup of milk tea?
Mana's eyes immediately shifted toward Est and the other two. Perfectly normal. One cup each...
And there was one cup beside Elise, as well as one beside this girl.
At that moment, Mana desperately wanted to ask Elise one question.
Then where's mine?
But she also knew that Elise wouldn't answer her right now.
And so, the somewhat aggrieved Miss Mana could only remain standing there and practice what one might call endurance.
"So, what did you come to see me about this time, Sylvia?"
"Well... you'll find out in a little while!"
Sylvia lightly tapped her lips. Although she was currently disguised, she still looked exceptionally alluring.
But it was precisely because of Sylvia's gesture that quite a few people nearby started looking over again.
"So, let's leave this crowded place first!"
...
As Elise's good friend, Sylvia had naturally been invited to the Church headquarters before, so she was quite familiar with the place.
"It's really nice. Everyone here is smiling, and they can live their lives properly. It's completely different from where I am..."
"I'm so jealous."
Looking at the Church members around them, Sylvia seemed genuinely envious.
"That's because this is the Church's policy. We all help each other in everyday life, so naturally, everyone can live happily."
Elise had already revised some of the Church's rules long ago, removing all those unnecessary and troublesome restrictions so that its members could live more happily.
Of course, faith was still necessary. Otherwise, Elise wouldn't be able to obtain the Power of Faith she wanted.
"But Sylvia, you're a songstress famous across the entire world. And you're actually envious of the way we live here?"
Noticing Sylvia's tone, Elise turned toward her with a half-joking expression.
"Of course. Life here in the Church is genuinely so simple and peaceful!"
"How about we swap identities sometime? You become a world-class songstress, and I'll become the Saintess of the Church. What do you think?"
Sylvia certainly had some interesting ideas. If the two of them really exchanged identities like that, all sorts of amusing things would undoubtedly happen.
"But that would definitely cause a massive impact across the world, wouldn't it?"
One was a religious Saintess, the other a world-famous songstress. News about both of them circulated everywhere. If they actually swapped identities, there was no telling how much trouble it would cause.
So Elise naturally refused.
"What a shame!"
"Then can you tell me now? Did you come here because you need my help with something? Did something happen to your teacher again?"
Elise thought that the only thing capable of making Sylvia react this strongly would be someone connected to her.
Sylvia knew her own situation perfectly well, so there really wasn't much to say about that.
That meant the only other person capable of provoking such a strong reaction from Sylvia was her teacher, Ursula.
"That's a little too much, Ely..."
Sylvia sighed and was just about to explain when an untimely sound suddenly came from Elise's side.
Because Asterisk War was set in the near future, it possessed a great deal of advanced technology.
The virtual screens everyone could use were simply far too convenient. Wouldn't shut-ins absolutely love this?
With one of those, anywhere could become home!
When Elise had first returned to this world, she had reconnected to the system and could once again browse the internet, watch videos, and read books normally.
But she truly hadn't expected something to go wrong here of all places.
As a traveler from the Lord God Space, Elise could create things like divine artifacts, but she was genuinely terrible at computer programming, so she usually left most of that work to her subordinates.
But now...
"How is the plan progressing?"
A panel displaying [SOUND ONLY] suddenly appeared beside Elise, and a cold male voice came from it, immediately attracting everyone's attention.
The three little ones playing off to the side, Mana, and Sylvia all looked over.
Mana and the others were surprised, while Sylvia remained silent.
In their eyes, Elise did interact with men from time to time, but those interactions were always completely open and aboveboard, nothing like this kind of secretive contact.
Miss Mana immediately became furious. Some man actually had Elise's private account?
If she found him, she'd beat him so badly even his own mother wouldn't recognize him!
"Was it really necessary to contact me at this exact moment?"
Elise replied normally, though judging from her tone, she sounded rather helpless.
But the voice on the other end ignored that and continued asking, "The situation is urgent. Valda came to see me, so I contacted you immediately."
"We haven't been discovered, have we?"
"Of course not."
"Good. I'll hang up now."
The instant those words fell, the panel beside Elise vanished just as quickly, like an antelope fleeing the moment it spotted a lion.
"Who was that just now, Ely?"
Sylvia's voice was extremely soft, yet her tone carried an unimaginable sense of pressure.
At that moment, Elise felt like a husband who had just been caught cheating and was now about to face the fury of his wife, Sylvia.
"Just a friend I'm working with. We're investing in a new project. If it succeeds, it could benefit even more people."
"I see..."
Sylvia stared fixedly at Elise with dead-fish eyes, but soon relaxed, and an enchanting smile returned to her face.
"Sorry, Elise. It's been such a long time since I've seen you look flustered. Since the opportunity was so rare, of course I couldn't let it slip away!"
"Huh? That's a little too much, Sylvia!"
"Same to you. Didn't you just bring up my teacher too?"
The occasional bickering between the two of them could deepen their relationship as well!
But...
Was Sylvia really only joking?
Naturally, the answer was no.
Sylvia had already realized that Elise had lied to her.
So she immediately adjusted her tone and pretended that she had merely been joking.
But in reality, as a world-class songstress, Sylvia had already memorized that voice. As long as she went looking, she would definitely be able to find its owner.
And besides that, there was another name she didn't recognize at all...
Valda!