"...You're kidding, right?"
Lily could hardly believe her ears when Medea said, "Let's give tonight to Esdeath first." Even Anna, who had been analyzing the relationships between everyone, was momentarily stunned.
She had originally planned to sneak a bite tonight, but Medea's sudden polite concession made Anna feel that her enjoyment of sneaking around would be greatly diminished.
Seeing Medea approach, Kisaragi Rin also prudently released Shizuka Marikawa from his embrace.
The airhead, whether intentionally or not, kept changing her sitting posture underwater.
"Why?" Kisaragi Rin asked.
He had also overheard Medea and Lily's exchange.
Medea blinked her eyes and replied with a smile, "Because I'm sure that Esdeath won't back down. To prevent Master from being in a difficult position, I can take a step back first."
Kisaragi Rin: "..."
Words like that should only be listened to.
Seeing Kisaragi Rin's disbelieving expression, Medea helplessly wiggled her ears. "Alright, actually, I want Esdeath to owe me a favor. Through this, we can slowly improve our relationship and eventually team up."
As she spoke, Medea clenched her fists. Kisaragi Rin didn't need her to say anything more to know what she intended to do.
"No creating any factions."
Kisaragi Rin bit Medea's ear, which was her weak spot. Under the sudden attack, the sensation of electricity coursing through her made her breath catch, emitting a shy whimper.
Harem factions were simply melodramatic plots only seen in Qing Dynasty palace dramas.
Kisaragi Rin chose to explicitly tell Medea that such a thing was impossible.
"Mmm, let go first."
Medea only felt her ears burning, unable to comprehend what Kisaragi Rin was saying.
Her moist eyes shimmered with water, and Medea even felt a little aroused.
Her ears were truly a weakness... The two reasons Kisaragi Rin gave were just excuses. Medea's real thoughts were actually very simple: she just had a slight urge to change herself.
Having seen Busujima Saeko, Mitsuri Kanroji, and Shizuka Marikawa, and watching Kisaragi Rin laugh and bicker with these girls while lying quietly in the hot spring, Medea suddenly realized that her personality seemed less cute compared to theirs.
She had known this before... She had already frankly accepted the existence of these "companions" when she was pursuing Master, but Medea sometimes still harbored the desire to monopolize Kisaragi Rin.
And the result of such thoughts, she knew without even thinking, would eventually lead to an intractable problem.
"Why did you have to save me?"
Medea recalled waking up during Time Stop and seeing Kisaragi Rin covered in injuries.
In that instant, her fiercely burning love-struck mind forgot that she had just recently scorned Kisaragi Rin for having so many lovers. Medea only knew that her heart was pounding, making her blush.
"Of course you should always protect... me."
Medea thought seriously, and then her eyes became even more glazed over by the sensation of her elven ear being touched.
"...What if I suddenly regret it? Esdeath should really wait until tomorrow."
Kisaragi Rin: "..."
As the atmosphere around Kisaragi Rin gradually changed, the casual chat in the hot spring didn't last too long, and several tenants had already left.
Regarding topics from the past, it was impossible to talk about them. Kisaragi Rin was very afraid that she would mention something embarrassing about him.
Mitsuri Kanroji, who hadn't finished her story, felt a little unsatisfied. She hinted with her eyes to the others that they could chat next time, then regained her spirits and rubbed her soft body against Kisaragi Rin.
"Mr. Kisaragi, Mr. Kisaragi..."
Murmuring his name, Mitsuri Kanroji made a cute sound like a kitten.
"Mitsuri, please don't casually believe Auntie Tsubakihara's stories," Kisaragi Rin said helplessly.
As for Tsubakihara Mira, Kisaragi Rin still didn't know how to deal with her.
He simply put it aside and let nature take its course.
A considerable amount of time had passed, and he had deepened his bond with Lily and the others, so Kisaragi Rin stood up and said, "I'll be leaving first."
Medea had finally agreed to give tonight to Esdeath. Before she changed her mind, Kisaragi Rin intended to 'devour' Esdeath as soon as possible.
Moreover, Esdeath hadn't appeared in the hot spring, and Kisaragi Rin was curious where she had gone.
Watching Kisaragi Rin's retreating figure, Anna, who had always been quiet, also disappeared into the water... Since he needed to find someone, Kisaragi Rin directly contacted his Little Spider.
"Spider Mother, where did Esdeath go?"
"She's currently fighting me, wow."
Kisaragi Rin: "Fighting?"
The entrance to the Infinity Castle, originally in the apartment's changing room, had now been moved to a room on the first floor to the left. This room only had a single layer of flooring and could be used for minor training.
Without going through the Workshop, Kisaragi Rin directly arrived at this place via the Infinity Castle's gate.
As soon as he reached the Infinity Castle, he saw Esdeath's frost clashing with Spider Mother's spider silk, which was imbued with spatial slashes. The former's cold air could even freeze most Energy, and Spider Mother, who had been cultivated for the longest time, was not an easy opponent to deal with.
Although dreams, curses, and manipulation had little effect on the Blood of the Ice Demon God within Esdeath, she still possessed powers like Energy absorption and spatial manipulation.
Kisaragi Rin observed for a while, confirming that without using Mahapadma, Esdeath would find it difficult to threaten Spider Mother, who possessed the attribute of immortality.
In a battle of this intensity, it would be hard to tell who had the upper hand unless it was a true fight to the death.
"When will you two finish? If not, I'll just go back and find Medea..."
Kisaragi Rin grumbled inwardly, then shouted, "Esdeath, want to take a bath?"
The next moment, the chillingly windy Infinity Castle fell silent.
Esdeath put away her Noble Chariot, a completely undisguised smile now on her face.
"Tonight is just me and Kisaragi-kun's world..."
Walking up to Kisaragi Rin, Esdeath immediately tried to pull him away.
As for why it was her tonight, and not Medea?
Esdeath was too lazy to think, refusing internal conflict.
In just over ten minutes, Esdeath, who had showered at light speed, changed into brand new pajamas.
"Master, are you ready?"
"...Shouldn't I be the one asking that question?"
Gazing into Esdeath's ice-blue eyes, Kisaragi Rin was about to kiss Esdeath's cheek when he found that she had already exerted her subjective initiative as the Ice Queen.
"Esdeath?"
"What's wrong? Mmm... I remember Master really liked it last time."
Esdeath's cherry lips parted slightly, and she brushed a strand of hair from her ear, saying strangely, "After no longer being a Heroic Spirit, I seem to be unable to replenish my Magical Energy through this anymore."