The sky was gradually darkening.
After school, Gabriel took the subway toward the nearest Flower and Bird Market.
Miko Yotsuya, Hana Yurikawa, and Yuria, who had followed along, were all full of questions.
They didn't understand why Gabriel wanted to go to a Flower and Bird Market.
"Does Gabriel want to buy a pet to raise? If it's a pet bird, I think a Java Sparrow is quite cute."
As Hana Yurikawa spoke, she searched for a photo of a Java Sparrow on her phone and showed it to everyone.
"It's so tiny..."
"It really is cute!"
After a glance, Yuria and Miko Yotsuya were both drawn to the small, adorable Java Sparrow.
Then Miko Yotsuya glanced at Gabriel.
Based on her understanding of Gabriel, there was a high probability that she wasn't going there with the intention of raising a pet.
After all, Gabriel acted like she didn't even want to take care of herself, let alone a pet.
Sure enough, Gabriel's words confirmed Miko's suspicion.
Gabriel glanced at the photo, then shook her head and said, "No, the Feathers on a Java Sparrow are too small. They'd be easy to lose if I bought one."
Her purpose for going to the Flower and Bird Market this time was to acquire some shed bird Feathers or items made from them.
However, that wasn't Gabriel's primary goal. She actually wanted to visit the Computer City to purchase some Peripherals to upgrade her setup and improve her gaming experience.
"Eh? Just Feathers?"
Hana Yurikawa was stunned. She scratched the back of her head and asked in confusion, "You're really not here to buy a bird?"
"Raising pets is a huge hassle. I definitely don't want to be a maid to a bird!"
Gabriel had a look of pure resistance.
"That way of putting it seems a bit extreme... You really don't want to touch anything troublesome, do you?"
Hana Yurikawa gave a few dry laughs.
Perhaps the only thing Gabriel could fully devote herself to was online games.
"Sigh, Gabriel is already so lazy that she isn't even willing to let me help her manage her hair."
"What does that matter? My hair doesn't get dirty anyway, and this fluffy look has its own charm. It's called style! You still have a lot to learn, Miko."
"I don't think so. Looking like that, people will only take you for a Delinquent girl."
Miko Yotsuya looked at Gabriel, who was too lazy to even tend to her own hair, and sighed silently.
Gabriel was like a wild horse that had broken its reins. No matter how much she and Yuria pulled, they couldn't stop Gabriel from sprinting toward Falling from Grace.
She and Yuria were at their wits' end.
The only good news was that Gabriel's halo was still very clean.
However, Miko Yotsuya always had a doubt in her heart.
She had seen Gabriel's halo several times now. Occasionally, it was clearly stained with pitch-black Defilement, yet it would suddenly vanish later on.
Miko didn't know how the Defilement disappeared, but she once saw a very peculiar hallucination.
One time, when she returned to her bedroom, she caught sight of Gabriel using her small hands to grab the golden halo and reposition it on top of her head.
Because it was so absurd, Miko Yotsuya had assumed she was just hallucinating.
"But then again, most Feathers on the market aren't worth much. You probably won't find Feathers with high collection value at a Flower and Bird Market."
Yuria brought the topic back on track.
She thought Gabriel was looking for Feathers that were both beautiful and collectible.
Gabriel shook her head and said, "As long as they are white Feathers, it's fine. The quality just needs to be decent. I have a use for them. Yuria, you can look forward to it."
In her hands, even garbage could be remodeled into a work of art.
Hearing this, Yuria's confusion only grew.
Was there any necessary connection there?
When the subway arrived at the station, the group got off.
After taking a long detour inside the station, Gabriel successfully found her target.
She took a folded piece of paper from her pocket, attached Angelic Power to it, and casually applied Invisibility.
With a flick of her finger, the paper turned into a streak of golden light and flew out, finally floating steadily in front of a man.
After finishing this, Gabriel turned to the group behind her and said, "Let's exit through this gate."
Miko Yotsuya and Yuria looked toward the golden light. When they saw Ax Guy swinging his large axe and hacking at people over ten meters away, they swallowed hard.
They didn't want to experience the feeling of having their heads split by a giant axe, even if the victims currently seemed unharmed.
Clearly, the one with the large axe was no ordinary Evil Spirit; otherwise, Gabriel wouldn't have gone out of her way to deliver something to it.
Miko Yotsuya and Yuria glanced at each other. To avoid dragging Hana Yurikawa into it, they tacitly pretended they hadn't seen anything and followed Gabriel out of the station.
The Spirit guarding the most crowded subway station watched Gabriel's departing back. Only after she had completely left did its grip on his axe loosen slightly.
It had felt a long-lost sense of crisis from Gabriel. Even if it was only for a moment, it was enough for it to take her seriously.
What was even more concerning was her aura—it was exactly the same as the person who had snatched twelve of its Evil Spirits!
However, she was not someone to be trifled with, so he could only swallow his grievances.
"..."
The Train Spirit then turned its attention to the paper floating in front of it. After hesitating for a few seconds, it raised his axe and gently tapped it.
The moment it was touched, the paper underwent spontaneous combustion.
Seeing this, the Train Spirit quickly retreated several steps, holding its giant axe in a defensive stance.
But the expected attack never came.
Instead, the burning paper gradually released translucent golden text into the air.
The characters shifted continuously until they became a language it could understand.
Seeing no danger, the Train Spirit slowly lowered its guard and looked at the golden text floating in mid-air.
As it finished reading, a thoughtful light appeared in its eyes.
This was a Covenant.
The content of the Covenant was simple: the other party's people could send it an invitation, summoning it to resolve certain Evil Spirits that endangered humans.
Once the job was done, it would be sent back to its original location, with a guaranteed return trip.
It could refuse the invitation. Though if it accepted, there were no mandatory constraints on it other than the strict requirement that it could not harm the summoner.
If it accepted an invitation and found it was no match for the enemy, it could choose to leave midway, and the power of the Covenant would return it to its starting point.
"...This part isn't necessary at all."
The Train Spirit looked disdainfully at the final clause of the Covenant.
Although the other party's intention was good, it felt somewhat insulted.
Overall, however, the content of this Covenant was very much to the Train Spirit's liking, but it didn't want to give in immediately.
Since it could sign this Covenant later, it might as well observe for a while longer...
If it fell into a trap, it would be the one suffering.
It was best to be cautious.
★ ★ ★
T/N: I'm noticing increasing mistakes on my translation lately, and no one seems to be pointing them out either, which is why I will be slowing down on releases to review the chapters more thoroughly. Thank you for your understanding.