Interlude: Mike's Italy tour 2

"Haa... At last, I will be done with this." Mike said while looking at his final destination.

"Good for you. It seems that this church has a holy maiden. She is a wielder of the sacred gear, Twilight healing." Vasco gave the details.

"Hmm... Interesting." Mike expressed his thoughts. Mike and Vasco were about to enter the church but Mike noticed something else. A girl was crouching at a distance and green light is coming from her hand. "It looks like I found her. You go in, Gramps. I will meet her first."

Vasco nodded and went into the church while Mike went near the girl. Mike observed that the girl was trying to heal an injured bird. Once she healed the injuries, the blond-haired nun let the bird fly freely in the sky again with a bright smile on her face.

"Quite an amazing power you have there." Mike suddenly raised his voice.

"Ah!" The blond-haired nun was surprised by that.

"Umm... Nice to meet you. I am Michaelangelo Strada. I am supposed to visit your church today. Are you informed?" Mike casually asked.

"Cardinal Bishop Michaelangelo-sama! Forgive me! I should have been in the church to invite you but I found a bird injured. It looked like it's suffering. So, I wanted to help it. Please forgive me." Asia bowed in front of Mike multiple times while apologizing.

Mike was a little surprised by that reaction. "What's there to forgive you about? You didn't do anything wrong. You should rather be proud of yourself."

"Huh?" And this made the girl surprised again. She was never really praised for healing someone. So, this was new to her.

"By the way, I don't know your name yet,"

"Ah, forgive me. I am Asia Argento. I am grateful to meet you, Michaelangelo-sama" Asia introduced herself.

"Likewise, It's a good thing that there is a gentle nun like you. Let's go to the church and meet everyone"

"Yes!" Asia followed Mike back to the church.

Once they are in the church, The people cheered after seeing Mike. Mike introduced Asia to Vasco. After a while, Vasco pulled Mike to an isolated place.

"Mike, it seems that the girl is not in a good condition. The people here don't seem to care about her a single bit." Vasco stated what he learned after talking to the church people.

"I see. Hmm... Like I thought, their look towards Asia didn't contain a single bit of affection at all. And it seems that she isn't used to being praised. That explains it." Mike said. "Hmm... Distract the other people for a moment, Gramps. I need to talk with Asia alone."

Vasco nodded and did as Mike said. Then, Mike asked Asia to come to an isolated place and she did as he said.

"What is it, Michaelangelo-sama?" Asia asked.

"You see, Asia Argento, Twilight healing is a very useful sacred gear. So, we are thinking of transferring you from here so that your sacred gear can be of more use. You don't have any problems with that, right?" Mike said.

"Huh?" Asia is surprised. She thought over it for a moment and bowed in front of Mike again "I am sorry, Michaelangelo-sama. I am grateful for the offer but I can't leave this church."

"May I ask why?"

"Umm... People of this town all come to me when they are injured. If I am gone, there won't be a healer for these people. There are no other churches with healers nearby. So, I can't come with you." Asia explained.

"Haa... Even if the said people don't care about you?" Mike sighed.

"Huh?" Asia is surprised again.

"Look here, Asia Argento, anyone can see that they don't even treat you like a human. Their eyes don't have a little bit of affection towards you. It's like you are a stranger to them. So, if you agree, I can make your life better." Mike confessed.

Asia didn't say anything for a moment. But then, she started smiling and shook her head. "I am really happy that Michaelangelo-sama cares about me. But even if they are not grateful, healing people here makes me happy. So, please let me stay." Asia said.

And that's when Mike realized that he met someone even kinder than him. Mike understood that it's no use trying to convince her. He sighed and removed his disguise.

"Haa... In that case, this is the only thing that I can do. Asia Argento, will you be my friend?" Mike asked her while extending his hand, not as the Cardinal Bishop but as a child of the same age.

"Michaelangelo-sama! Showing your face to me is!!" Only a few people have the privilege of knowing Mike's real appearance. So, Asia panicked.

"Well, if I want to be your friend, it won't be good if you don't know my face. Showing you my face is to tell you how much I want to be your friend." Mike smiled.

"Huh? Yes, becoming your friend would be my pleasure but..." Asia took Mike's hand but didn't know what to say.

"Alright then, we are friends from now on. I will call you 'Asia' then. You can call me Mike."

"Huh? But calling Michaelangelo-sama like that..."

"We are friends, right? It's a common thing among friends." Mike casually led the flow of conversation.

"Huh? That's right. We are friends... Wait, I just made my first friend! What are friends supposed to do? I never had a friend in the past!!" Asia's brain is almost close to short-circuiting.

"Hmm... The first thing we need is a way to contact each other. Do you have a phone or do you want me to buy you one?" Mike asked.

"Fueee!! Please don't, Michaelangelo-sama!"

"Call me Mike"

"Please don't, Mike-sama! I don't have a phone but we can just communicate with letters!!" Asia doesn't want more favors from Mike. Becoming her friend was already enough for her.

"Alright, I will give the address where you can send the letters to." Mike sighed. To be honest, Mike just wants to give her a phone. But since Asia decided to stay here, if it is seen that Mike is favoring her, things might get troublesome for Asia. So, Mike gave up. After that, Mike and Vasco said farewell to Asia and went away. And so, Mike's Italy tour ended with him gaining a friend.