This chapter is now rewritten. Enjoy.

Church trudged wearily along a beaten dirt path alongside his two companions, his current relationship with both of them quite at odds with one another. On one hand, Airi had turned completely from what she had been feeling the other day, being cheerful and happy and kind, or in short, the person she usually was when nothing was bothering her. Melona on the other hand seemed as nonchalant as usual, but only in the sense that she had been more or less ignoring Church all day.

It was strange, since the two of them hadn't exactly had a fight, but the air between them was definitely awkward. Or at least, it felt that way to Church at any rate. Maybe Melona felt just fine? After all, she had seemed pretty nonchalant about all the things she had said in the first place.

Either way, it was a strange situation he found himself in considering that it was the first time he had been on potentially bad terms with Melona. Throughout their brief experience together she had usually been her bubbly, eccentric self, teasing and joking and being the girl Church had first pegged her as, aesthetic weirdness notwithstanding. But now she had revealed that he allegedly meant pretty much nothing to her and that he was baggage brought along for fun. Church still didn't totally believe that considering the whole 'spend over two weeks searching for him in a forest' deal, but the words had still hurt.

Not as much as his body though. Church had been delighted to learn that no, Echidna had not fractured his sternum. But that did not mean it didn't hurt like all hell. Closer inspection of his chest had revealed a disgusting bluish purple bruise that looked like the impact of a crowbar rather than a human limb. Indeed, without the cybernetic implants of the Legion, the bone would've been broken, leading Church to wonder how the hell Echidna hadn't broken her elbow. If stronger bones was an Elven feature in this world, that would have been nice information for Alleyne or Nowa to share with him.

In an effort to distract himself from from the more than dull pain that plagued him with every breath, Church turned to talk with Airi. If he had been paying closer attention, he would have found it strange that she was already without the bandage that had encompassed her forearm a mere day ago, and she bore no sign of any recent injury at all. As it were, Church had figured in passing that perhaps the injury had looked much worse than it truly was.

"I don't know if Melona actually cares to reconcile..."

Airi shrugged and whispered back to him. "She's just in denial. She doesn't like to admit to really caring about stuff. Especially people."

Glancing back over at the pinkette that was seemingly out of eavesdropping distance, Church lowered his voice further anyway. "Sorry if this is a weird question Airi, but is Melona... human?"

Initially worried about this query, Airi decided it was better to stay calm. After all, Melona didn't even look human really, only an idiot wouldn't have wondered something like this by now. "Why do you ask?"

"Airi, c'mon, she's got bunny ears growing out of her head. And that's the most subtle thing out of all of them. And after meeting Elves I'm willing to consider other races."

For the first time, Airi questioned something she hadn't really cared to before: Church's origin. He acted as though the existence of Elves was the most bizarre thing in the whole world. And aside from his strange attire, he had always been overly fascinated by the world around him, as if it was completely foreign to him.

Before, Airi had not cared to investigate because she had considered Church more of a nuisance than a friend. But now she was genuinely curious. Even so, she had to divert his question first.

It was a matter of whether or not it mattered to tell the truth on this particular note. He had accepted the fact that there were species other than human, but that didn't mean anything really. After all, most people in the world knew of other races yet still detested one species or another for some reason. Even now, Airi didn't think the whole 'wraith' and 'slime' deal would go over well. They were essentially monsters as far as normal society was concerned.

But she had to tell him something. Thankfully Airi wasn't completely incompetent when it came to thinking quick on her feet. "She's... uh, beastkin."

Church offered no verbal response, instead opting for an incredulous look at his redheaded companion. Apparently she needed to elaborate. "You know, beastkin? Like... human animal hybrid?"

"And she's... half bunny?"

"Exactly."

Church turned his gaze on Melona for another moment before turning back to Airi again. "Where's her tail?"

"What?"

"Her tail. I though beastkin always had the ears and the tail."

Honestly Airi didn't know if that was true or not. She just had to pretend she knew the answer. "Well, not all of them have tails."

Church decided to leave it at that, inwardly dwelling on what he had learned (its merit notwithstanding).

Guess those Japanese bastards have been lying to us this whole time.

Deciding that his mental capacity could be better spent on other things, Church sighed and turned his thoughts to something that would distract him from his plight. He didn't have a hard time keeping up with his two traveling friends anymore: Alleyne's workouts and conditioning had made sure of that. Unfortunately, thinking of that made him think of her, and thinking of her made him think of Nowa, and both of those combined reminded him of how much he missed those two even so soon after separating from them.

Church appreciated his friendship with Airi and Melona, but the relations he had with Alleyne and Nowa were not the same. Theirs was more... well, he couldn't think of an actual word for it, but Church knew that all of his time in Syrinidell, minus the day of the fight with Echidna and his subsequent flight from the forest, had been less stressful than his last few days with his old company. Alleyne and Nowa had been much more gentle and caring than Airi and Melona had ever been...

He berated himself vehemently as he realized just what he was thinking. What was he saying? Of course Airi and Melona cared about him, in their own less obvious way. They had sacrificed weeks of their valuable time to 'rescue' him. How could he even think such a negative thing about two people who obviously cared enough about him to spend valuable time and effort on his safety?

Church shook his head in disgust at his own thoughts. When he finally returned his attention to his surroundings, he noticed that Airi had fallen behind her two companions. He turned his head to look back down the road, and saw Airi firmly rooted in place several feet back, a look of consternation plastered on her face as she stared at the ground.

"Airi? Is something wrong?"

The redhead snapped out of her temporary attention lapse and looked up at him. "Huh? Oh... it's... it's nothing. I have to go do something real quick, why don't you two keep going?"

Church cocked an eyebrow at her, finding her answer to be less than satisfactory. "What could you possibly need to do that requires you to hang back here?"

His tone didn't exactly score him a friendly look from Airi. "Whatever I want it to be."

"That is literally the most obvious evasive answer you could have given."

Airi clenched her hands in frustration and offered Church a slight glare, hoping he would get the hint sooner than later. "Look Church, this is kind of a personal thing..."

"How personal?"

At this last question, Airi simply leveled a withering glare in his direction. "Church. Use your brain and make an assumption. What do you think?"

The man she accosted said nothing as he felt himself blush because of the awkward implication. Airi stared at him irritably, waiting for the info to sink in.

"Ah...I-I see... Well, um... have at it then?"

Airi sighed, somehow losing the will to be angry at him. "Just shut up, Church. Just stop talking."

Having been completely in the wrong, Church simply nodded his agreement. "Good idea."

At that the redhead turned to walk off the road and into the trees that lined it.

Church turned back towards Melona and left Airi to her 'business.' He cast a brief glance in Melona's direction, finding an amused smirk on her face. At least that was more like her in all honesty.

More surprising than that though was the fact that she actually had something to say to him now, for the first time that day. "Well, I guess I may as well go too. Don't wait up or anything, we can catch up to your slow ass real easy anyway."

With that the girl Church had been led to believe was a beastkin of some sort disappeared into the trees just like Airi had, leaving Church alone on the road. He wasn't sure what to think, but somehow one distinctive thought still formed in his mind anyway.

Even in this world girls go to the bathroom in packs, huh?

Airi sighed as she searched for a pond, stream, or some other body of water out in the woods. She would need such a surface if she were going to contact the Swamp Witch.

She had lied to Church again: of course she wasn't out here to relieve herself. In fact, being a spirit that didn't need to eat in the first place, she literally had no need for such things.

Airi had sensed the vague mental intrusion back on the road that meant her Master wished to speak with her. Obviously Melona had not, or she would have come as well, but that was for the best. With Melona around to distract Church, he was less likely to snoop on her while she was contacting her Master.

After a few minutes of fruitless searching, coupled with an annoying itch at the base of her skull that signified Master's impatience, Airi came upon a small brook that would suffice for what she needed. The wraith stopped a few feet away from it, an unfamiliar conflict arising within her conscience.

What if Master asks about something I don't want her to know? I'm supposed to tell her everything, but if she asks a question that puts Church in danger...

The conflict between Airi's loyalty and her newly formed personal feelings lasted for several moments, before the itch in her mind became too powerful to ignore. The Swamp Witch was done waiting: Airi's audience was required immediately.

The obedient servant made her way to the bank of the brook, crouched down and muttered a few incantations that the Swamp Witch had provided her with. Once she was done with it, the water of the brook in front of her began to shift abnormally, swirling to and fro for several moments, until it became still and turned pitch black. It took only a brief moment for the ghostly red, flaming apparition of the Swamp Witch to appear in the altered water.

"Airi."

"Yes, Master?"

The flaming face flared momentarily, an obvious sign that her Master was displeased. The seemingly innocent tone Airi tried to use probably didn't help. "You dare dawdle in following my commands? You were to return to me weeks ago."

Airi averted her gaze, ashamed of failing her Master in something so simple. "There were...delays, Master. Several unfortunate accidents that-"

"I have no interest in hearing your excuses."

The Witch's foremost servant flinched, the anger from the Witch's ghastly voice easily detectable even from across this magic link. "M-my apologies, Master..."

The Witch went on unperturbed. "However, your pathetic failure may yet prove convenient... since you are already abroad, I have a task that you three may perform."

Airi's eyes widened in surprise and more than a little bit of fear. Was it possible that the Swamp Witch already knew about Church? But how? "T-three?"

The Witch responded irritably, as if Airi's question was completely nonsensical. "Yes, three, now that Menace has returned: there are three of you, are there not?"

Airi had a brief moment of inward relief, as she realized that her master had simply assumed that Menace was once again under her thumb. "O-of course. What would you have us do?"

"There is a message that I must have delivered. I must garner more powerful allies if I am to succeed in the future... make your way to the Vance lands. You will deliver a message to their Count."

The green eyed maid couldn't help but wonder what her master was thinking. Surely she didn't think that the Vance family would actually join forces with her? "Master, are you sure? Maybe our efforts would be better spent elsewhere..."

"You dare question me?"

Well aware of what nasty repercussions there could be if she angered the Witch, Airi attempted to placate her master. "N-no! I was merely suggesting-"

"I did not release you from Hades to suggest things to me! You are here only to obey!"

Only concerned with staying in the Witch's good graces, Airi bowed apologetically. "Y-yes Master, I'll go right away!"

"Stay where you are."

Airi froze midway through getting up. She could hear something threatening in her master's voice, something she was eager to avoid. Already scared, she said nothing as she obeyed her master and stayed still.

"...there is something unusual about your demeanor. There is something you are not telling me, Airi."

Dammit! How did she know?

"Master, I would never hide anything from you."

"You lie. If you wish for your punishment to be less severe, then I suggest you tell me the truth."

Airi's mind raced with inward arguments defending both positions.

On one hand she felt the strong desire to tell the Witch everything. Her loyalty to the being that had saved her from an eternity of suffering was strong. But on the other, even no longer being human did not rid Airi of her humanity, and who she was conflicted wildly with what she was. She was gentle, and kind, and considerate. She was a good person. And the good person in her told her that condemning one of the few people she thought of as a friend by revealing his existence to the Witch was wrong.

"Speak Airi! Do not defy me!"

Her mind racing with options to fulfill her loyalty to either her master or her friends, Airi settled on what was more important to her. "Menace isn't with us! We couldn't get her to come back! I'm sorry..."

Airi could practically feel the Swamp Witch seething with anger. "Utterly useless... can you not do anything?!"

"I'm sorry, M-"

"Silence."

Airi silenced herself immediately, lest she incur her master's wrath any more than she already had. The Swamp Witch continued, the rage barely contained within her voice. "I suggest you not fail your new task. If you prove to be as worthless as I feel you are becoming, I will simply return you to hell."

The servant in question did not need a reminder of the horrors she had experienced during her brief existence in the underworld. Being sent back there terrified her more than anything else. "No! Please Master, I can't... I'll do anything, but please, spare me that at least!"

"Then succeed, if you are so fearful. Let your terror drive you to competence. Now begone from my sight."

Airi said nothing as the connection with her Master was finally severed. It wasn't until then that she realized she had tears streaming down her face. She wiped them away, knowing that the sheer terror at the thought of being returned to Hades had been the cause of them. Hell had been absolute torture beyond imagination. The experience plagued her every nightmare. She was literally scared of nothing else, having experienced the worst possible terrors in existence already.

She knelt alongside the brook for a few minutes in order to regain her composure, but she had no time to herself as one extremely familiar voice made itself known from behind. "You lied to her."

Airi glanced over her shoulder to spy Melona leaning against a tree there. She had no idea when she had shown up, but apparently it had been long enough. "I told her the truth. I told her that we didn't get Menace back."

"But you used that truth to hide the real one you actually cared about."

The redhead knew Melona was right about that. She had cleverly told one truth to conceal the existence of a second one. She had willingly withheld information from her Master: did that mean that her obedience spell had worn off without her knowing it? A few moments of soul-searching for the binding curse confirmed otherwise. The influence of the obedience spell had indeed waned, but it was definitely still there, which meant that Airi must have found a loophole in the weakened spell.

The wraith smiled to herself: something about blatant disobedience was... exhilarating. However, the curse still had power over her for the moment, and Airi currently had an incredibly irritating itch in the back of her mind that urged her to proceed to the Vance estate as her master had ordered.

"We're heading to Vance territory."

Needless to say, Melona was not happy about this change of plans. "Seriously?! We're like, two thirds of the way to the Swamp! Vance country is in the total opposite direction!"

"And this bothers you because...? I thought you wanted to spend as much time away from the Swamp as possible?"

This truth caused Melona to calm down. "Oh. I guess you have a point there. Whatever, the Swamp Bitch is still being a crabby boss."

Airi forced down an amused snort at Melona's words. It would be really unbecoming to find such a name amusing for her master.

"Hey! I think he's waking up, get over here!"

Church groaned, keeping his eyes as he tried to recall the immediate past that he could. After Melona had traipsed off into the woods with Airi, he had taken Melona's advice and kept walking at a leisurely pace, sure that the duo would be able to catch up with him later. He hadn't been walking long when he had just... passed out. There had been no warning or anything. He had been perfectly fine one moment, and the next he was face planting into the dirt.

Now awake, his first suspicion was that maybe he had been more fatigued than even he knew, but as he recalled that weird dream he had the other day in which a mysterious voice claimed credit for creating a rockslide, he couldn't help but wonder if that same voice could just whisk his consciousness away at a moment's notice. He couldn't imagine why said being would want to, but the implication was still unsettling.

Either way, Church got the feeling he wasn't waking up in the same place he had passed out, but that may have just been the pair of unfamiliar legs that were currently within his view.

He traced these unknown steel-clad feet up a pair of equally unknown steel-clad legs, until he laid eyes upon two obviously unknown people. Two girls in stark white clothing with blue and pink hair (It just now occurred to him that hair could apparently be any color of the spectrum in this world), with a very distinctive feature that demanded immediate attention in the form of feathery white wings with respective blue and pink hues.

Naturally this sight provided Church with a fair amount of confusion, but ultimately he rationalized. Either one, he was dead and Heaven was full of cuties, or two, the existence of angels in a world that already had elves and beastkin wasn't that far-fetched.

But Church decided that his second conclusion was the correct one when the blue-haired angel kicked him in the ribs. That didn't seem like a very friendly thing for an angel to do and he was pretty sure violence wasn't supposed to exist in Heaven. "Could you get up any slower?"

Her companion immediately swatted her on the shoulder. "Don't do that Nanael! I just got done healing all of his injuries! You're making more work for me!"

The other angel shrugged. "Who cares? You like to work anyway, Hachi: you're always bragging about it."

Church cut into the conversation as he sat up and rubbed his side. "I agree with the pink one, don't do that."

The blue one supposedly called Nanael humphed. "Of course you would agree with her. Everyone agrees with her. Why doesn't anyone ever agree with me?"

Her angelic friend smirked. "Because, they know you better than this human does: they have a good reason to not agree with you. Also, you kicked him in the side just now."

The clearly more aggressive angel frowned. "C'mon Hachi, that's not true. I mean, yeah I kicked him in the ribs but-"

Church interrupted the little quarrel with a tone of annoyance. There was something distinctly human about bickering that detracted from whatever holy awe he may have been feeling at the sight of angels. "Look, as curious as I am to watch angels argue with each other, I have questions that need answering. Where am I, and who are you?"

The blue one cast him an irritated glance for interrupting her. However, her pink counterpart bowed apologetically and said, "Oh, forgive us for our rudeness. I am Hachiel, ninth of Heaven's angels."

Not quite sure what that meant, Church decided to ask. "Ninth? Like... ninth what?"

"In rank. It's measured in competence and performance."

The blue angel pushed her friend out of the way as she introduced herself. "And I'm Nanael, the most beautiful, amazing, and powerful angel in all of the universe! Oh, and let's not forget about how smart I am. The smartest, just so you know."

Hachiel rolled her eyes and shook her head, and since it seemed to Church that she was the more reasonable of the two, he took this to mean that Nanael was in fact none of those things, and was actually just over-glorifying herself. Of course, Hachiel did a good job of cementing that notion with her next words.

"Yes, Nanael is quite an interesting one. She neglected to mention that she's fifty-third among the angels."

Naturally Church was capable of seeing the disparity between nine and fifty-three. But before he could comment on it Nanael grumbled a defense to her best friend. "And you forgot to mention that there are literally hundreds of angels. Fifty-three isn't that bad..."

Being one that only teased Nanael in good spirit, Hachiel decided not to mention that the many hundreds of angels that didn't actually go to the mortal plane on missions weren't ranked in the first place, making fifty-three pretty downright awful. Instead she focused on the matter at hand, which was answering Church's question as to where he was.

"You are not very far off from where we found you: merely a few leagues from the road you were traveling on when you collapsed."

Nanael built off of her answer. "Speaking of which, what was up with that? You were walking just fine and then bam, face full of dirt."

Church shifted his focus to Nanael when she started speaking again, and he got the feeling that something about her was peculiar. After a few brief moments comparing her to her pink-haired companion, he saw an obvious contrast, and could not help but voice the concern that this difference brought forward.

"Have you been hurt? I think there's something wrong with your right wing..."

Hachiel blanched as Nanael's face filled with a mixture of hurt and anger. "There's nothing wrong with my damn wing! I was created that way, and why does it make a difference to you!? You've got a messed up knee don't you? You're no better than me!"

Her angelic companion stepped between her friend and Church. "Nanael, calm down! You know he didn't mean it that way!"

Unsure of how troublesome it could be to be on the wrong side of an angel's fury, Church likewise tried to placate her. "I'm sorry, Nanael. That was insensitive of me, and I didn't mean to offend you."

The asymmetrical angel calmed herself to some degree, quickly burying the pain Church had seen in her eyes, but even so she was still seething a bit. However, he could tell that her anger wasn't necessarily directed at him, which was obviously good. She muttered under her breath, "Well you're pretty good-looking, so I guess I'll let it slide..."

Church realized something Nanael had said in her outburst that surprised him. "Hold on, how did you know about my knee?"

It was Hachiel that answered him. "It was merely something I came across while tending to your many wounds. I am honestly surprised you were up and about without pain."

Church looked at her incredulously. "Without pain? Hardly. I'm just used to having to operate while feeling like crap. That said, I don't really feel bad at all now..."

Hachiel smiled at him with genuine joy. "I took the liberty of mending all of your wounds while you were unconscious, save your knee: that wound has already had a flawed recovery, and it is too late for me to mend entirely, though I believe I may have alleviated some of its symptoms. But excluding that, you should be one-hundred percent healthy. Even any fatigue you were suffering from has been taken care of."

Church almost didn't believe what he was being told. It sounded too much like a biblical miracle. "W-wow...I don't really know how to thank you..."

The moment was ruined when Nanael jabbed a finger at him. "Well you can start by telling us everything we want to know! First off, why do you work for the Sw-!"

Hachiel cut off her friend by placing a hand over her mouth, clearly displeased with how bluntly her friend intended to handle the situation. "I'll handle this, Nanael."

Shot down, Nanael scowled, but offered no argument. "Pfft. Fine."

Hachiel crouched down so that she would be eye-level with Church, who had decided against standing because the grass he found himself on was pretty darn comfortable. "I just have a few questions for you. You don't have to answer them if you don't want to. Is that acceptable?"

Church nodded: sounded like fair terms to him, especially since Hachiel had done him a huge favor. "Sure."

The serenely attractive pinkette smiled, no doubt pleased with his ready cooperation. "Great! So first off, where are you from?"

Strangely enough, this was the first time Church had been asked this question by someone in this world. No one else had seemed to care. That said, he wasn't sure how to answer. If he told the truth, it would hardly make any sense to the person he was talking to. But then again, what purpose would lying about it serve? "Uh... America I guess?"

Nanael immediately commented on his reply. "What the heck is 'America'? I've never heard of a place like that."

Church struggled to come up with a plausible explanation. "Um...well it's gone now, but it was a really large nation in the western hemisphere, home of democracy, hamburgers, and freedom. I guess it's like a really really big island, if you counted Canada and Mexico as a single land mass..."

Hachiel pondered over this for a brief moment. Nothing this man was saying made any sense to her. "An island nation? Like Hinomoto?"

Of course Church had no idea what a Hinomoto was, but it sounded Japanese, so he would assume that it was an oriental country or something. "Uh, yeah sure, I guess?"

Hachiel nodded, but she had a confused look on her face. She was clearly still wondering about his land of origin, which she had obviously never heard of.

"I see... well then, how old are you?"

Church cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why do you need to know that?"

Nanael answered him before her friend could. "Just answer the question, would you?"

"Fine. I'm twenty-one."

For some reason Hachiel frowned at this. "Only twenty-one? That's only a year older than the current Queen..."

The way she said it, it sounded like a bad thing. "Is it wrong for me to be on the young side?"

The angel shook her head. "No, it's just that we expected one of your... 'profession' to be older."

Church must've lost track of things somewhere along the line of this conversation. "And what exactly is my... 'profession'?"

Nanael pointed a gloved finger at him accusingly. "Don't play dumb with us! We know what you are!"

As for Hachiel, she looked at her friend with annoyance. "We don't know that for sure yet. Don't jump to conclusions so readily, Nanael."

Finished reprimanding her, Hachiel turned back towards Church. "Hold still for a few moments, and then we can return you to your friends, alright?"

Church nodded, unsure of what was about to happen but feeling confident in the fact that it wouldn't be bad. "Alright. As long as you don't suck out my soul or anything."

Nanael snorted in ironic amusement. "We wouldn't be the ones to do that..."

Hachiel placed her fingers on Church's forehead, sending a pulse of energy through his skull that knocked him out cold immediately. She continued to hold the physical connection with him after gently lowering him to the ground. After several moments spent sifting through his memories and knowledge, Hachiel severed the connection and rose from the ground, a confused frown on her face.

"How strange..."

Nanael glanced at her questioningly. "What is it?"

Hachiel shook her head. "I'll tell you later. For now, we had better get him back to his companions before they notice his absence. Let's go."

When Airi finally caught up with Church on the dirt road they had been traveling on, she did it without Melona at her side. The Slime had been suitably irritated after learning of the change in plans at the behest of the Swamp Witch, and had stormed off to sulk or something. Airi hadn't really cared to get onto her about it, certain that Melona would catch up on her own time.

Besides, she stopped caring for the Slime's whereabouts immediately when she discovered the only other member of their little band flat on his back in the middle of the road.

Naturally there was an initial degree of panic for the ghostly maid to endure. For obvious reasons they were on roads less traveled, but that didn't rule out the possibility of bandits or worse, which didn't rule out the possibility that Church could be dead. Needless to say, by now Airi was not fond of that particular outcome from any situation.

Thankfully, as she drew near enough for closer inspection, Airi was relieved by the sight of steady breathing and a visible lack of any injuries.

This of course begged the question of why he was out cold on the road, but the servant of the Swamp Witch figured the only way to figure that out was to ask, which prompted her to shake the person in question awake. He awoke calmly, a definite contrast to the woman above him.

"Oh, Airi... what's wrong? You look bothered."

Airi found his answer irritating for numerous reasons. Chief among them that he was taking her concern so lightly. "You were lying unconscious in the road, Church. That's something that would bother me."

The man furrowed his brow in thought, seemingly finding her answer nonsensical. A following look of revelation made it obvious that he was only just now aware of having been unconscious. "Right... I must've passed out or something. Although I can't remember why..."

Naturally this explanation didn't answer any of the questions Airi wanted answered, but she supposed if he didn't remember there was nothing to be gleaned. It still seemed strange that he would just flop over while walking though. Airi had noticed some of his pains in the past few days, but they hadn't appeared all that bad at a glance. Church hadn't complained about anything and he certainly hadn't passed out before now.

"You can't remember what made you pass out? You weren't feeling tired? Or hurt? Or anything?"

As for Church, he didn't seem concerned at all. Apparently losing consciousness out of the blue didn't seem to bother him at all. "Dunno. But hey, I feel fine and I'm still alive, so let's just forget about it."

He got to his feet at that, seemingly ready to continue on his merry way, but Airi was far from satisfied. "Are you sure you're OK? This isn't exactly normal..."

"Maybe not, but if I can't remember what happened and I appear to be no worse for wear, what can we do about it? There's literally no point fretting about it now..."

As much as she hated to admit it, Airi figured that Church had a point. Nothing could be done if he couldn't remember the cause of the incident, and he appeared to be no worse off than he was before. All she could do was let it rest.

And that being the case, they simply continued on their way, walking down the road that would eventually lead them roughly to the Swamp if followed correctly. Of course, that was in the wrong direction now, but Airi could hardly just turn them around and head back the way they had come, not without rousing far too much suspicion. She would find a way to redirect them properly without bringing it to Church's attention in the next day or so.

Still, she found it a little jarring when Church carried on like nothing strange had happened at all just a few minutes ago, asking her a curious question just a few minutes into walking on their way.

"Hey, Airi? What type of government does this country have?"

Needless to say this query had come from seemingly nowhere, but Airi saw no harm in answering it. "A monarchy. Why?"

Church shrugged nonchalantly, seemingly unsure of why such a thought had even occurred to him. Truthfully he just felt as though it had been brought to his attention recently. "I dunno. Just something I thought of. So who's the current ruler?"

"A young woman named Aldra."

"Is she twenty?"

At this point Airi felt that things were getting more than a little strange. "How'd you know that?"

For his part, Church seemed as equally curious about that answer as Airi did. However, he managed to rationalize it easily enough. "You said 'young woman.' Twenty sounds about right to me."

At this statement, Airi lost interest in the strangeness of Church's knowledge and focused on what he had said. "Is that really your idea of a young woman?"

Church got the feeling that the point of the conversation had shifted, though he wasn't quite sure how or why. "Well yeah, you can't really call twenty anything else..."

Feeling a little self-conscious, Airi calculated her age to compare. The problem was she didn't really know what it was. She'd been twenty-two when she died as a mortal. So physically, she was twenty-two. But she had been resurrected as a spirit three years ago, so life experience wise she was twenty-five. For some reason she imagined there being a hefty gap between twenty and twenty-five and she didn't like the width of that gap at all.

Thankfully Church wasn't completely dense, and he quickly deduced what the problem was. "Airi, I hope you're not under the impression that I think you're old..."

Sporting a bit of a blush being caught red-handed, Airi figured she may as well forego being apologetic about it. "W-well, I'm definitely beyond your consideration for young women at least."

"What? Airi, come on. You're under thirty. That's a young woman."

"How do you know I'm under thirty?"

Church actually stopped moving just so he could level an incredulous look at her. "Any human that looks like you is under thirty Airi."

He specified 'human' since it didn't seem fair to include Elves that looked like goddesses at a thousand years of age, but either way Airi took it for the compliment it was.

And even though she told herself not to be so happy about it, she found that being so attractive in the eyes of a quite attractive man himself felt pretty damn good.

Nanael and Hachiel watched the man they had so carefully tracked from afar as he walked alongside the Swamp Witch's most loyal servant: the two of them seemingly enjoying themselves like ordinary people.

Hachiel rubbed the side of her face. "It's so strange... when I sifted through his memories, he obviously knew nothing about the Swamp Witch nor her servants' true identities. And yet other parts of his memory were shielded by something and I couldn't read them at all. What do you think, Nanael?"

"Hm... I think he's really cute."

The duo's more dutiful member spared one glance of incredulity for her friend, who faltered under her scrutiny, trying to play off her own words as though they had no actual merit for her.

"F-f-for a mortal monkey, I mean..."

Hachiel mentally hoped that making the report to the Seraph could be handled solely by her. Nanael had no chance if she had to fend herself.

But she digressed. While the man they were investigating was an enigma and could potentially be some servant of evil or a force of the supernatural that could only be bad, Nanael had a decent point: he was pretty cute.

Mostly dialogue changes throughout this chapter.