Chapter 469: Petra and Wanda

"I’m really sorry about that, but I actually had fun with all of this. I honestly didn’t think I would be that entertained for such a short amount of time, but you really didn’t have to leave at this point, you know? It’s already getting dark outside."

Kouhei, Yuuna, and Yuka were standing outside Petra’s estate, preparing to leave after everything that had happened inside. Petra herself had come outside to see them off, and judging from the expression on her face, she seemed far more amused by the whole situation than someone in her position probably should have been.

She had looked like she was having the time of her life while making that comment, but now her attitude seemed to have shifted slightly. Her expression had become more composed, and her voice carried a tone that almost made it sound as though she was genuinely trying to repair whatever damage she had done to her relationship with Kouhei.

It was almost convincing.

Almost.

"I’m sorry, but after everything you’ve done, I don’t think it’s going to be that easy for me to trust you," Kouhei said, making sure that his response was straightforward enough that Petra couldn’t misunderstand him.

"I see..." Petra replied.

She scratched the back of her head afterward, looking almost like someone who had just realized that their brilliant idea had somehow created more problems than expected.

"Well, I suppose what I did was something that offended you, so I’m sorry about that. I genuinely was only trying to test something, and I wasn’t intending to make things this complicated. Hopefully, this won’t affect our relationship all that much from here on."

Petra sounded apologetic while she spoke, and if Kouhei had only been listening to her voice, he might have believed that she genuinely regretted what she had done.

Unfortunately for her, her expression told a slightly different story.

She didn’t exactly look guilty.

She looked more like someone who had accepted that she had caused trouble and had decided that apologizing was probably the easiest way to move forward.

"Hopefully, that will be the case," Petra added, "since you still need me to get to Aegis, after all."

Kouhei’s expression became slightly more complicated after hearing that.

He still didn’t trust Petra.

After everything she had done, trusting her again wasn’t something he could simply switch on whenever she gave him an apology. Unfortunately, that didn’t change the fact that he needed her assistance if he wanted to reach Aegis.

That left him in an annoying position.

He had to continue dealing with Petra even though he didn’t particularly like the idea of doing so.

In other words, he had to dance around her palm for the time being.

Kouhei didn’t enjoy that thought in the slightest, but he also knew that he didn’t have many alternatives. Sometimes having a plan was less important than having the right person available to make the plan possible, and Petra was currently one of those people he couldn’t afford to lose.

With that settled, Kouhei, Yuuna, and Yuka finally left Petra’s mansion.

Petra remained outside for a while, watching them leave until they were far enough away that she could no longer see them clearly.

A short while later, Wanda walked over and stopped beside her mistress.

"It seems that he doesn’t trust you anymore," Wanda said. "Is that really going to be okay?"

"You don’t have to worry about it," Petra answered calmly.

She continued watching the road for a moment before finally turning her attention toward Wanda.

"He’ll come around eventually. I don’t think there is going to be anyone else who can be as useful to him with his current problem as I can be. Right now, he doesn’t really have anyone else to rely on for that particular matter."

Petra paused briefly, thinking about what had happened.

"More than anything, though, I think I gained a pretty good gauge of his personality from all of this."

"I see..." Wanda replied.

She continued looking at her mistress with an expression that was difficult to interpret.

Petra noticed it almost immediately.

A faint smile appeared on her face.

"Are you jealous again, Wanda?" Petra asked. "I already told you that you don’t have to be jealous."

"I-I’m not jealous," Wanda quickly answered.

Her hesitation ruined the denial almost immediately.

Petra stared at her for a moment before letting out a small laugh.

"You really can’t hide your feelings very well, can you?" Petra said. "I can tell just by looking at your face. Besides, I’ll tell you again so you can stop worrying about it. I don’t have that kind of interest in the Child of Anti-Prophecy."

Wanda remained quiet.

Petra continued with a slightly amused expression.

"Didn’t I already tell you that I was only interested in him because of Yui? There isn’t anything more to it than that."

"W-Well..."

Wanda still didn’t seem entirely convinced.

Perhaps she understood what Petra was saying but simply didn’t know how to respond, or perhaps she was still trying to process everything in her own way. Either way, her reaction was enough to make Petra laugh again.

"Fufufu. Come here, Wanda," Petra said.

Wanda stepped forward toward her mistress.

Petra then wrapped her arms around Wanda in a reassuring embrace. The sudden closeness caused Wanda to stiffen slightly at first, but she soon relaxed as Petra continued holding her.

"You really don’t have to worry," Petra said quietly.

Wanda looked at her for a moment.

Petra leaned closer, and their lips met in a kiss.

***

Kouhei and the others finally returned to the hotel later that evening.

The moment Kouhei stepped inside, Hina immediately went over to him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

Kouhei blinked.

It had only been a single day since they had last seen each other.

One day.

That was it.

Yet Hina was acting like Kouhei had disappeared for several months and had somehow returned from a dangerous expedition across the world.

"Welcome back, Kouhei," Hina said happily.

"It seems like I got a little too trusting," Kouhei replied.

Hina looked at him for a moment before answering.

"You don’t have to worry about being like that, Kouhei. There are simply too many evil people in the world, so you can’t blame yourself for trusting someone when you thought you had a reason to."

Kouhei couldn’t help but smile faintly after hearing that.

He reached over and rubbed Hina’s head, gently messing up her hair in the process.

Hina seemed pleased with the gesture.

"Are we going back to Japan?" she asked after a moment.

"Well, I don’t think it would be a problem if we stayed here for a while," Kouhei answered. "It’s the weekend back home right now, so I don’t think anyone is going to notice immediately."

He paused before continuing.

"Although, I would actually like to take a break from school for a little while. There is something I need to do here, and I need to figure it out if I’m going to have any chance of finding a way to cure Touyama-san."

His tone became noticeably more serious when he mentioned her.

The change was subtle, but Hina noticed it immediately.

Kouhei wasn’t thinking about himself at that moment.

He was thinking about someone who was relying on him.

Touyama-san had been afflicted with something that could eventually kill her, and Kouhei didn’t want to sit around doing nothing while there was still even a small possibility of finding a cure.

Hina understood that without needing him to explain further.

"I understand," she said.

She then looked at him thoughtfully.

"I can manipulate the memories of the teachers and students so that they won’t realize you’re away from Japan. That way, you won’t have to worry about anyone questioning your absence."

Kouhei looked at her with a slightly troubled expression.

"You don’t have to go that far," he said. "I can just make up an excuse or something."

Even though her method would undoubtedly be much more effective, Kouhei didn’t think it was necessary to manipulate everyone’s memories just because he needed to remain away from school for a while.

Besides, altering memories was a fairly serious thing.

He would rather avoid using that kind of ability unless it was genuinely necessary.

For now, he could simply deal with whatever questions came up later.

***

A day passed.

Eventually, the time came for Kouhei to begin his mission involving the Holy Book.

He still wasn’t entirely sure how he was supposed to accomplish it.

The mission sounded simple enough when described in a single sentence, but actually carrying it out was an entirely different matter.

He had to seduce the Holy Book.

Just thinking about that objective made Kouhei wonder how exactly his life had ended up reaching this point.

He had dealt with monsters, supernatural abilities, dangerous organizations, strange people, and enough bizarre situations to fill several lifetimes.

Yet somehow, this was the mission he was supposed to take seriously.

Kouhei wasn’t even sure where he was supposed to begin.

Still, there was no point standing around complaining about it.

If this was what he needed to do to accomplish his objective, then he would have to give it a try.

"Hop in," Petra said.

Kouhei looked toward her.

Petra was sitting inside a car, already behind the steering wheel and apparently ready to leave.

Kouhei approached the vehicle, but before getting inside, he stopped for a moment.

Something about Petra looked different.

She was wearing a remarkably modern outfit, and the clothes looked so fashionable and contemporary that it was difficult for Kouhei to immediately connect her appearance with the image of a witch he had formed in his mind.

He stared at her for a few seconds.

Petra noticed.

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Did you fall for me after seeing me dressed like this?"

Kouhei continued looking at her for another moment.

Then he shook his head.

"No, I’m just surprised, that’s all," he answered.

Petra smiled as though she had expected that response.

Kouhei finally entered the car and took his seat.

Petra started the engine, and the vehicle soon began moving away.