Chapter 226: Kotori's Shock
Locking eyes with Kurumi Tokisaki's clock-shaped heterochromatic pupils, Franklin saw a trace of confusion and worry about the future deep within her gaze.
Slowly stepping back, Franklin casually conjured a cute black kitten charm and placed it on the wooden table.
"I took up quite a bit of your time this afternoon, and I also scared away all the kittens you were feeding. Consider this a bit of compensation.
As for when the deal officially begins, you can decide that yourself. I'll probably be pretty busy lately, so you might not find me that easily."
Kurumi Tokisaki looked at Franklin in surprise. In the end, all he left her with was a faint smile, and then he vanished from the spot.
Lightly touching the chin Franklin had lifted, Kurumi Tokisaki's gaze darkened for a moment.
But when she saw the still-steaming black tea on the wooden table, along with the adorable black kitten charm, her expression softened slightly. She lifted the cup Franklin had refilled for her.
Kurumi Tokisaki slowly savored it, feeling the spiritual energy fill her body with a sense of comfort, and she couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
This spiritual energy felt far purer than what she obtained by killing those evildoers, and much gentler—far easier to absorb.
The amount of spiritual energy gained from just this one cup was even noticeably more than what she got from killing a single evildoer.
After finishing the cup, Kurumi Tokisaki poured herself another.
Looking at the kitten charm on the table, curiosity led her to pick it up. Instantly, she felt a stream of pure spiritual energy slowly and evenly gathering into her palm.
"He really thought things through. Very considerate, too. And he's handsome as well.
It's a pity my life already has a predetermined direction—killing the Origin Spirit is my goal."
Murmuring to herself, Kurumi Tokisaki raised the teacup again and drank it all in one go, then refilled it once more.
Only after the very last drop fell did the teapot become completely empty.
Curious, she opened the lid. She had originally thought it was the tea leaves that were special, but upon seeing inside, she was surprised to find that there was nothing there at all—as if nothing had ever existed within it.
"How amazing. Not only are his methods mysterious, his identity is shrouded in mystery as well.
He's said to be a spirit, yet he's not a spirit. Said to be human, yet he can appear in the neighboring realm.
What an unbelievable guy."
Suppressing her curiosity, Kurumi Tokisaki gently patted her cheeks.
"No curiosity. No curiosity. This is all a trap he set. I can't think about him—if I do, I really will slowly be drawn in."
As she kept patting, she suddenly stopped.
"Come to think of it, why does he want to play this love-conquest game with me?
Could it really be that he wants to date ten spirits at once? That would be way too boring, wouldn't it?
Well, whatever. Since he wants to play, then I'll give it a try.
Let's see whether I fall into your love trap—or whether you end up dancing in the palm of my hand.
Time is under my control, and my clones are countless. Even if a few of them fall, I can just treat them as expendable.
Franklin… you're destined to lose."
After psyching herself up, Kurumi Tokisaki drank the last of the tea in one gulp and gently placed the teacup back onto the wooden table.
At that very moment, the barrier concealing the area shattered instantly. Sensing this, Kurumi Tokisaki immediately sank into the shadows.
At this moment aboard the Fraxinus, an enraged Kotori was scolding the personnel below her. At the same time, the signal that had long vanished from the main screen suddenly reappeared.
She hurriedly connected to Franklin's earpiece.
"Big brother, where did you run off to just now? Why did you suddenly reappear near the AST training base?"
Listening to Kotori's questioning voice—sharp, yet tinged with concern—Franklin took a large bundle of goods from Origami Tobiichi's back and slung it over his own.
After gesturing for silence, he smiled and explained through the earpiece.
"Didn't you tell me to conquer spirits? I just went to make contact with another one.
Um… she carries a long gun and a short gun, wears a gothic dress in black and blood-red.
She's very pretty, very elegant in her mannerisms, just a bit hot-tempered sometimes. She keeps wanting to fight me."
As the described features were uploaded into the Fraxinus AI database, Kurumi Tokisaki's image instantly appeared on the main screen of the control room.
When she saw the blood-red codename Nightmare, Kotori screamed outright.
"Big brother, are you insane?! Why would you recklessly approach something that dangerous?! What if you got killed?!"
Hearing Kotori's agitated yet concerned voice, Franklin smiled.
"I already convinced her to be my girlfriend for a year.
As for whether it's dangerous or not—given your dear big brother's current strength, there really aren't any spirits who can do much to me.
So don't worry about it."
Kotori, who had been about to continue scolding him, suddenly fell silent. Her incredulous voice came through the earpiece again.
"W-what did you just say? You said you convinced Nightmare to be your girlfriend for a year???"
"That's right. Not only that—she also has to try to conquer me and raise my favorability toward her.
The only uncertainty is whether her favorability toward me will increase at all."
At this moment, Kotori was completely stunned by Franklin's words.
Even the so-called veteran emotion experts in the control room were at a loss.
They simply could not imagine how Franklin had managed to pull all of this off.
"...That's already incredible. After all, she's known as the most evil spirit, one who's killed over ten thousand humans.
Big brother, being able to do this much is already amazing."
"I think so too. Alright, we won't chat anymore for now.
Come home early tonight. Dinner will be so lavish you won't even dare imagine it."
Watching the connection cut off by Franklin, Kotori remained frozen, unable to recover from the shocking news she had just received.
After a long while, she finally looked down at the others again.
"Pull up the footage of that park again. All nearby surveillance too.
Oh, and bring up big brother's current location as well."
Watching the suddenly appearing parasol block everything, then disappear, and then reappear again, Kotori was left speechless for a moment.
"Captain, do you want us to bring those things aboard?"
"No need. They're all things big brother casually created—bringing them back wouldn't be useful anyway.
Let's first investigate Origami Tobiichi's information.
Why does she like big brother? Why did she agree to his cohabitation request without any hesitation at all?
It feels like she wouldn't even refuse if he made even more outrageous demands.
This is completely unlike a normal girl. We have to find the underlying reason.
Who knows—we might even uncover some big secret."
Origami Tobiichi, who had been staying silent, stepped directly in front of Franklin the moment he cut off the earpiece.
"You contacted Nightmare? And you even made her your girlfriend? Why?
Am I not acceptable?"