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"A World Tree has no need to eat." Celestine shook her head, then nodded again. "But as the tree-spirit, I don't have many reservations on that front."
"Good, then." With Celestine's answer in hand, Luke understood. "Although, before we head out, you'd do well to change your clothes first."
It was because of Mana. Back when he'd first taken her in, Luke had once intended to buy her a set of ordinary clothes. But thanks to the wonders of mana, the equipment on Mana's body could transform into all manner of styles at will, far more convenient than any fixed outfit. The same went for Blanc later on; her white-rabbit nun robe could likewise channel mana to shift into any number of styles. So Luke's original plan back then had quietly come to nothing.
As a result, there wasn't a single article of women's clothing in Luke's home at present, but he figured Celestine's power was more than enough to manage something similar to what Mana did.
Celestine's appearance didn't differ much from an ordinary woman's, except that her peerless looks and explosive figure rivaled Lilith's. If she went out in those priestess robes, she'd become everyone's focal point in an instant.
If anything, she'd outdo even the Lilith of a few days ago. At least to Luke, Celestine's priestess robe was hardly any different from a special combat outfit.
"Clothes?" Hearing Luke's reminder, Celestine lowered her head and cast a glance at the blood-stirring, attack-boosting ensemble she had on. "You're the first person to see me in this form. Do you have any suggestions?"
"Come again?" Now it was Luke's turn to be dumbfounded. By his reckoning, he wasn't the first Card Master to receive a Crescent Moon Blessing, so by rights he shouldn't have been the first to encounter Celestine either.
But as it stood now, the actual situation seemed to differ from what he'd assumed.
"Every other Card Master who entered Crescent Moon Land was fixated solely on obtaining the Crescent Moon Blessing. Not one of them ever thought to carry off my main body." Seeming to grasp Luke's line of thought, Celestine treated him to a generous eye-roll and once again delivered a remark that left him red-faced. "You alone are the exception, setting your sights directly on my main body."
"Drawing the memory fragments and converting the Crescent Moon Blessing can both be accomplished through the Ancient Spirit Tree alone, so in the past, I never showed myself. I simply observed quietly from the shadows."
"All right." Since Celestine had put it that way, what more could Luke say? He could only quietly search up some clothing on his terminal for Celestine to use as reference.
After all, eyeing someone's main body at the very first meeting, intent on packing up the entire Ancient Spirit Tree and hauling it away. Never mind that Celestine, as the tree-spirit, had opinions about it; Luke figured Lilith and Selene would both be struck speechless if they ever found out.
A moment later, Celestine's priestess robe began to change. The overall style was still predominantly white, but the snow-white skin she'd left exposed was now wrapped in a faint layer of thin gauze. The gauze seemed to carry a special mana to it. Even staring straight at it, there was no way to see through to the view beneath, which was rather marvelous.
Though it was only a subtle change, Celestine's attire now looked far less arresting than it had a moment ago, no great departure from how an ordinary woman might dress.
"Will this do?" Having finished all of it, Celestine looked up to ask.
"That works. Much better than before." Luke nodded. "Then let's get going."
---
"A very strong aura of life." On Ashenvale's main thoroughfare, walking shoulder to shoulder with Luke, Celestine spoke up suddenly.
"There are a lot of people packed in here, after all." Luke answered offhandedly. By his senses, there were gazes landing on the two of them from every direction, almost without pause.
He didn't need to think hard to know that most of those gazes were aimed at Celestine. Even with her flawless figure concealed, Celestine, on the strength of that ceiling-tier face alone, had become the focal point of the entire street the very moment she appeared.
"So beautiful, so pure. I feel like I'm looking at a saintess."
"I'd say that's more than just a saintess. This has to be a true goddess."
"That guy walking beside the goddess, doesn't he look kind of familiar?"
"I remember the one walking beside that guy a few days back was this seductive woman. Not as pure as this girl, but somehow alluring all the same..."
"More than that. I knew that guy looked familiar. He's our Eastern Region exam champion this year!"
"Damn. So our exam champion turns out to be a fickle playboy after all."
"So what if he is? If you went and scored first in the Eastern Region exam yourself, never mind a playboy, even a full-blown Casanova would have plenty of people throwing themselves at him."
The whispers from all around drifted into his ears, and the "fickle playboy" and "Casanova" labels in particular set Luke's eyelid twitching.
"Luke? What's a Casanova?" Celestine had likewise heard the whispers around them, and seemed rather intrigued by that so-called Casanova business.
"A Casanova, well, that's nothing good. Good kids shouldn't go learning too much about that sort of thing." His mouth twitched as Luke offered an offhand explanation. He finally understood, in this moment, why jealous gossips were so universally disliked.
"Luke?" From not far off, a familiar voice abruptly rang out, and the figure of Geoffrey Falk came into view a moment later.
But the instant Geoffrey laid eyes on Celestine beside Luke, his body went taut on reflex, cold sweat breaking out down his back. It was the instinctive reaction of prey encountering a hunter, a crisis instinct he'd honed on the battlefield.
And yet, since leaving the battlefield, it had been a very long time since he'd had a reaction like this. If not for running into Celestine right now, Geoffrey would have forgotten what it felt like to stand face to face with a top-tier existence.
When did a powerhouse like this turn up in Ashenvale, and more importantly, her relationship with Luke seems anything but ordinary! In that moment, the shock in Geoffrey's eyes could not have run deeper.
Luke was a touch surprised to run into Geoffrey just then, but he seized the opportunity to escape the jealous crowd, taking Celestine by the hand and heading in Geoffrey's direction.
He was genuinely afraid that lingering here any longer would prompt the gossips around them to blurt out something even more startling. As for Celestine, being pulled along, she showed no displeasure whatsoever, simply trailing quietly behind Luke like an obedient young bride.
Taking in the sight, Geoffrey couldn't help sucking in a breath. Luke and this top-tier powerhouse were on such intimate terms. What in the world was the relationship between these two?
This kid has far too many secrets!
"Principal, what a coincidence." In a blink, Luke had drawn Celestine over to stand before Geoffrey.
"Luke, aren't you going to introduce us?" Gazing at Luke right in front of him, Geoffrey recovered his usual composure, pulled him aside, and asked in a low voice, steering the topic, with deliberate casualness, toward Celestine.