"Yu has a strange smell. He really ended up with that Yukinoshita after all, didn't he?"
In the afternoon, Nakano Yu returned to the classroom. As soon as he passed by Tachibana Marika and sat down at his seat, Tachibana Marika turned around with a serious expression, looked at Nakano Yu, and asked.
"A strange smell? Is there one?"
Seeing that Tachibana Marika had brought up the topic, Nakano Yu pretended to be confused and asked.
"Of course there is! It's... the smell of hormones!"
Tachibana Marika grabbed Nakano Yu's hand, brought her nose close to his fingers, sniffed them, and then spoke with absolute certainty.
After Tachibana Marika finished speaking, Nakano Yu looked at her with a strange expression, then raised his hand and lightly tapped her forehead.
"What kind of nonsense are you talking about all day? You're a girl, yet you have no sense of propriety at all."
He spoke irritably, then stretched his body, clearly planning to get some sleep during class.
"I do too! And I already have Yu, so don't be so formal. Besides, Yu wouldn't abandon me, right?"
Tachibana Marika snorted, then put on a pitiful expression and asked.
"That's hard to say."
Seeing Tachibana Marika like that, Nakano Yu felt like teasing the young woman. Curling his lips, he replied.
"Hmph! In any case, I'm just going to stick to Yu, and no one will be able to stop me!"
Tachibana Marika did not take Nakano Yu's joke to heart at all. She simply intended to stay by Nakano Yu's side. After all, their relationship was that of childhood friends since they were very young.
Whenever she was with Nakano Yu, Tachibana Marika would always receive his encouragement and praise. At that young age, while she was suffering from illness, every time she met Nakano Yu, Tachibana Marika felt that her body became much lighter for several days.
Since then, Tachibana Marika had regarded that gentle young man as her hero, the lover to whom she could entrust her life. Therefore, even if Nakano Yu tried to drive her away, Tachibana Marika would never leave!
Speaking of which... yesterday at home, her mother had told her how to firmly capture a man's heart.
Things such as the well-known saying that the way to someone's heart is through their stomach were, in the eyes of her mother, Tachibana Chika, the head of the Tachibana family, complete nonsense.
The most effective method when dealing with the opposite sex was one's own body!
Tachibana Chika had told her that as well, but Tachibana Marika was not sure how to bring it up to Nakano Yu.
Although Tachibana Marika felt that she would sooner or later give herself to Nakano Yu—it was only a matter of time—even for Marika, such a thing... was difficult to mention. After all, for something like that, the first time, the atmosphere and surroundings had to be good so that Yu could have a pleasant experience.
Hmm, she remembered that was exactly what her mother had said.
Returning from her thoughts, Tachibana Marika looked at the young man's handsome face, and her cheeks involuntarily turned red.
"Marika, do you have a fever? Why is your face so red?"
At that moment, Nakano Yu also noticed that Tachibana Marika was staring at him, and for some reason her cheeks had turned red. Suspiciously, he placed the back of his hand on Tachibana Marika's arm while his eyes simultaneously glowed with an emerald radiance.
However, after checking, he discovered that Tachibana Marika's body was now extremely healthy.
"I don't have a fever. Ah, right, Yu... do you have any plans for tonight? Father wants to invite you to dinner."
Tachibana Marika waved her hand and pushed the young man's hand away.
If it had been before, she definitely would not have rejected any of Nakano Yu's intimate gestures, but now Tachibana Marika was genuinely worried that she would not be able to control herself and might do something excessive to the young man right in the middle of the classroom.
"Tonight? I have something I need to take care of tonight. How about tomorrow, Marika?"
At Marika's suggestion, Nakano Yu thought for only a moment before politely declining.
Under normal circumstances, Nakano Yu would certainly have agreed, since the invitation came from Tachibana Gen, and Tachibana Gen was, after all, a good friend of Nakano Maruo. At that time, perhaps the Nakano family and the five sisters would also come.
As for the reason he was refusing now, it was not because he already had plans for tonight, but because Nakano Yu had a very important matter to deal with this evening.
Just a moment ago, Nakano Yu had received a message from the Messenger of the Moon God regarding the Heretic God Melqart.
At present, four divine artifacts were required to summon the Heretic God Melqart. The Pursuer and the Heart of Water were already in Nakano Yu's possession. The message just delivered by the Messenger of the Moon God concerned the other two divine artifacts that Nakano Yu still lacked: the Exile and the Box of Gluttony.
It was not that both artifacts had already been gathered. According to the Messenger of the Moon God's report, the Exile was already in the Messenger's possession and was merely waiting for moonlight to cover the earth before being delivered to him...
However, the Box of Gluttony was not so easy to obtain. The description of the situation surrounding the Box of Gluttony provided by the Messenger of the Moon God was far too distorted.
The intelligence of the Messenger of the Moon God was still too low, and some of its observations were extremely abstract, so much so that even Nakano Yu could not understand them.
Because of this, Nakano Yu planned to go personally tonight to see what was happening.
"Alright! Then Yu, don't you dare stand me up!"
Since the young man had gently refused her, Tachibana Marika did not show the slightest sign of sadness.
First, Tachibana Marika knew that Nakano Yu surely had important matters that required his attention. As the good wife and caring mother of her beloved, she absolutely could not create problems for Yu because of her own whims.
Second, what she had just said about her father wanting to invite him to thank him was a complete fabrication. It was not that Tachibana Gen did not wish to thank Nakano Yu, but because, due to the previous events, Tachibana Gen needed rest and should not be disturbed.
Tachibana Gen's idea was to reserve a hotel and specially organize a banquet to thank Nakano Yu, while also announcing her engagement to Nakano Yu.
As for why Tachibana Marika had just said that, the reason was simple: she wanted to bring Nakano Yu to her house, so she simply made up an excuse.
It was a good thing that Nakano Yu had politely declined now; it gave her more time to prepare.
Speaking of which, after recovering, her mother had moved from Kyushu to Tokyo, and now her father and mother were inseparable at home all day long, so she had to find an excuse to send them somewhere else!
While Marika was thinking about this, the bell for class rang throughout the campus.
After looking at Nakano Yu once more, Tachibana Marika turned around in a good mood and began studying.
Seeing that Tachibana Marika appeared to be in an excellent mood, Nakano Yu scratched his head in confusion, then turned toward the window; the Authority of the Moon would soon appear, and he had to hurry and take care of his business.
At the same time, on Sardinia, Italy.
Four Messengers of the Moon God stood upon a massive altar, their four pairs of dull eyes fixed on a black leather box placed atop the altar.
The leather box was sealed with a golden lock, but it was shrouded in a dark purple mist, causing it to exude an ominous aura at first glance.
And that box was one of the divine artifacts necessary to summon the Heretic God Melqart—the Box of Gluttony!