Ch.152

At the blink of an eye, a slender figure approached within easy reach, taking advantage of the fact that if there were just one arm, it could easily cover the distance. The figure, with a slender silhouette, extended a delicately thin arm and snatched the freshly lit cigarette from his mouth.

The silhouette, now clasping the cigarette between well-shaped lips, Crow, noticed that Moore was leaning against the alley wall and deliberately positioned himself with his back against the same wall on his left side.

Feeling the inconvenience of lacking a left arm, he pondered while biting a new cigarette into his lonely mouth, and lit it again with an oil lighter.

Unintentionally, both emitted purple smoke simultaneously. As purple smoke rose from the alley to the Eternal Sky night, the silenced barrel of a pistol was aimed at his side from Moore's left.

"─It would be better not to make any strange moves. I may not be able to kill you with this... even though you're under the care of a hospital, you wouldn't want another hole in your stomach, would you?"

"─That time, my intestines spilled out."

Although it's uncertain where he obtained information about the injuries that occurred during the all-out battle, Crow nodded silently in response to Moore, who was likely recounting it.

The faint sound of cigarettes burning echoed. Crow, having inhaled the purple smoke into his lungs, exhaled it gently to the opposite side, then turned his gaze sideways.

"...So? What do you want? Unfortunately, I don't have anything for you right now."

"I just wanted to see your face for a moment. ─You are both an obstructive presence that ruined my plans and a collaborator who helped me not to collapse."

"...Collaborator?"

He furrowed his brow deeply, as if not understanding what she was saying. Crow, captured in that state even in the dimness of the alley, slightly shrugged his bare shoulders.

"─I went all the way to the surface, changed my IP, and created public opinion, but... to end up like this."

"─It wasn't John Doe but Jane Doe."

"What? Aren't you surprised?"

"Surprisingly, no. I can't help but be convinced that you might do something like that, especially after being shot."

Jane Doe, the colloquial term for an unidentified female corpse, was Crow's first statement indirectly warning the public of the danger of NIMPH's non-existence.

Although Crow had confessed that, surprisingly, Moore did not feel much emotion or shock. Quite the opposite, it was strangely unremarkable to him.

"...It was really disappointing this time."

Without diverting the gun barrel aimed at her side, Crow exhaled purple smoke and a sigh.

"I thought if I provocatively stimulated the Nikkes, I could take away the most precious thing from Syuen, but..."

Crow pinched the cigarette, which was about half-smoked, with her fingertips and threw it to the ground. She, who had discarded it, crushed the ember with the sole of her shoe, then looked up at Crow with bright emerald eyes.

"I'm someone who judged you who's the most dangerous existence──and even after being shot in the head and falling into the night sea, managed to come back, ruining everything."

"Well, that was a mistake. I genuinely apologize."

"No, no... It was truly wonderful. An extremely remarkable hero show. I'm in the mood to applaud, honestly."

With lips that had lost their cigarette, Crow spoke, twisting them as she continued. While Moore pondered whether it was sarcasm or sincerity, she continued.

"─However, do you think it's over now? Despite putting on a splendid hero show, you still can't control Nikke without NIMPH. ─Distrust, fear, and suspicion."

"...I am aware that the spark still lingers. Just because the fire has gone out doesn't mean the smoldering embers will disappear so easily."

A single cigarette──the spark that could ignite a conflagration. Crow, pinching the cigarette between her right-hand fingertips, looked at him with a thin smile on his well-arranged face, as if affirming.

"No, we don't even need the spark. Like your lighter... someday, even if just a small spark scatters..."

──It will ignite faster and larger than this time.

"...It will become a massive conflagration."

"...Yeah, that's right. Exactly. But I don't really like the expression 'conflagration.' ...Fireworks are preferable."

There were indeed some bloody fireworks. Moore sniffed, and re-clenched the cigarette in her mouth, but her slender fingertips reached up, removing it, and she threw it to the ground.

"Injured people need to take care of their bodies. Forbidden to consume anything harmful."

"...Do you think this is a job where you can live a long life?"

The average lifespan is 30 years──that is the life expectancy given to a servant in the role of a commander. Probably convinced that he will die even sooner, he sighed while watching Crow seemingly regret the crushed cigarette.

"Long life? No, that's not it. ─The day when a glorious firework shoots up again, I'll send you to heaven once more."

"...If you think I can go to heaven, you have an optimistic view."

Responding with irony, Moore's slender hand reached out to his cheek, and the touch turned his face to the side.

──Beside them, Crow, who had risen to his tiptoes, had his well-arranged face right in front of him.

"Until that time, ─don't fall into hell, okay?"

Gradually, she──with the gun barrel still pressed against his side, gently pressed her well-defined lips against his dry ones.

The hand that had been resting on the cheek was moved to the back of the head, where the white hair had begun to stand out. In a hugging position, she savored his lips. As soon as the red tip of her tongue entered, she traced his dental alignment.

Responding to Crow's attempt to aim for the tongue behind his dental alignment, Moore opened her previously closed teeth as requested.

Crow's red tongue extended from the gaps in his dental alignment, reminiscent of a sturdy castle gate. Due to the influence of smoking, the mucous membrane had a strong bitterness— a taste that seemed to become addictive.

As the lower abdomen heated up, there was a sudden dull sound in Moore's oral cavity.

The pain sensors activated, and Crow instinctively pulled her face away. Sensing the catalytic overflow on his lips, Moore, in front of him, used her tongue that had peeked out to lick it away, wiping it off on the back of her hand.

"...Even if it's Nikke, a woman kissed you.As a man, isn't it shameful to be embarrassed like this? You lack manners, Shou."

"Too bad for you. I'm the type who decides for myself which woman I allow to kiss and which one I embrace."