After teasing Yukino Yukinoshita, Luo Shu went straight back to his third-floor office, pushing the door open without ceremony.
Upon entering, he loosened his collar for comfort, then glanced at Kurumi Tokisaki, who was sitting on the office sofa, eating a sandwich.
"Want some?"
Noticing Luo Shu's gaze, Kurumi Tokisaki waved the partially eaten sandwich in her hand and said cheerfully:
"If it's for you, Luo Shu, I'd be happy to share."
Luo Shu didn't respond to the offer; instead, he asked as he approached the sofa, "Did you order takeout?"
"No, I bought it from a nearby convenience store. It's not quite to my taste."
Kurumi Tokisaki casually spoke of forbidden matters.
Upon hearing this, Luo Shu merely glanced at her and said:
"According to our agreed conditions, you shouldn't be able to leave the base. So did you have another clone deliver breakfast?"
"Who knows~" Kurumi Tokisaki curled her lips, speaking ambiguously: "Perhaps I really did sneak out."
Luo Shu's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this. After all, he couldn't determine whether Kurumi Tokisaki's words were truthful—or perhaps this woman never spoke a single honest word.
"Fine. As long as you don't cause trouble, you can roam the nearby streets freely."
With a thud, Luo Shu sat on the sofa and crossed his legs:
"Moreover, I never intended to restrict your clones' movements."
Kurumi nibbled at her sandwich in small bites, her eyes smiling as she watched Luo Shu:
"Does that mean I'm even allowed to enter that special area downstairs?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu gave Kurumi a somewhat surprised look:
"You've been down there to look around?"
Kurumi smiled at this: "Not yet. After all, you haven't given me permission to go down there, have you, Luo Shu?"
Luo Shu believed those words because the Hidden Management Zone at the very bottom was essentially directly connected to the Astronomy Club's space.
And that space was Luo Shu's Divine Kingdom, where the system resided.
If Kurumi Tokisaki had truly gone there, it would be strange if he hadn't noticed.
"If you want to go in, feel free—just don't touch anything there. Though, to be honest, there isn't much to touch at the moment."
Hearing this, Kurumi Tokisaki gradually lost her smile and gave Luo Shu a strange look.
Seeing her expression, Luo couldn't help but ask in surprise:
"What? Are you surprised? I should have said I'm willing to give you a certain degree of trust, right?"
"No, that's not what I'm concerned about."
Kurumi shook her head, then looked at Luo Shu with a peculiar gaze:
"Luo Shu, do you know the origin of that underground area?"
"I do." Luo Shu nodded. More than just knowing—he had created that place himself, every inch of land carved out by his own hand. How could he not understand its origin?
What he truly didn't understand was the system's origins.
Yet upon hearing Luo Shu's response, Kurumi sighed and said:
"It seems you don't know."
"???" Luo Shu might as well have had question marks floating above his head.
'What, does Kurumi Tokisaki know more about my Divine Kingdom than I do?'
At that moment, Kurumi quickly finished the remaining sandwich and then warned:
"If you knew the origin of that place, you wouldn't allow me inside."
She picked up the carton of pasteurised milk from the table, took a sip, and sighed:
"Though I don't know the exact reason, the underground area beneath this base feels to me like the entrance to a hell that's ready to swallow me whole at any moment."
Kurumi didn't hold back now, spreading her hands openly:
"In fact, when Luo Shu let me stay here yesterday, my true self came by once—but after one look, she ran away."
"After all, the feeling of a beast lurking nearby is far too terrifying."
At this, Kurumi blinked at Luo Shu:
"Originally, I thought Luo Shu knew the origin of that place and deliberately chose it as my confinement site. But it turns out... You didn't know?"
"You're saying the underground area wants to... devour you?" Luo Shu now looked at Kurumi with an odd expression. "Are you sure?"
Kurumi didn't answer directly, only smiling as she said:
"Luo Shu just said you'd give me a certain degree of trust."
The implication was clear—if he trusted her, he should believe her words. The opposite was also true.
Seeing Kurumi's attitude, Luo Shu didn't hide anything either. After a moment of consideration, he explained in terms she could understand:
"Contrary to your guess, I do know that underground area very well."
"To put it in terms you'd grasp—you can think of that place as my Angel Zafkiel."
Kurumi's pupils contracted violently.
Angel Zafkiel.
The source of Kurumi Tokisaki's power, symbolising the third Sephirah of Kabbalah, Binah—her greatest trump card.
Precisely because of this, when Luo Shu said the underground area was equivalent to his Angel, Kurumi immediately realised she had been mistaken.
The man before her indeed knew the secrets of the area below, but was unaware that the place had a desire to devour her.
"My, my, doesn't this mean we have the worst possible compatibility?"
Kurumi Tokisaki lightly touched her cheek, speaking with evident distress.
She had left a clone with Luo Shu partly due to circumstances, and partly out of curiosity about the SDS, wanting to learn more about the organisation.
But most crucially, she was somewhat covetous of the vast yet seemingly stagnant time surrounding Luo Shu.
Simply put, in Kurumi's eyes, Luo Shu's lifespan remained constant, as if it couldn't be normally depleted.
This was precisely why she was curious about his origins.
Yet she never expected that while scheming for Luo Shu's time, his Angel would turn out to be the type capable of devouring her.
This was truly the worst possible compatibility!
At this moment, Luo Shu also asked with some surprise:
"Kurumi, are you certain the danger you sensed comes from my Angel?"
Seeing this, Kurumi rolled her eyes, unwilling to respond.
After being tricked by his underhanded tactics last time, and now facing an Angel that countered her, Kurumi was beginning to suspect this man might be her natural nemesis.
From Kurumi's reaction, Luo Shu understood her meaning.
Crossing his legs and leaning back on the sofa, he smiled and silently inquired:
'My devout God's Servant, is there something you wish to say?'