3rd Person POV
Kazuki slowly opened his eyes with a groan, feeling his entire body as if he'd been hit by a truck or rather, as if he'd been isekai'd by one.
Well...
He survived.
For now...
His vision was still blurry as he started looking around and finally realized that he was tied to a chair.
"What the..."
He tried to shake himself free, attempting to loosen the ropes around his hands, which were tied behind the chair.
But they didn't budge at all.
"Oh." Someone entered the room. "You're already awake."
It was Raynare, or Sister Ray.
She walked calmly into the room wearing her dark blue nun's habit, her long black hair swaying behind her. A book was tucked beneath her arm.
She then took a seat in front of Kazuki.
"It was quite a surprise," she said as she opened the book and began reading. "An ordinary human would have died within thirty minutes. Even someone strong enough to serve as a Church investigator would normally die within three hours."
Raynare stopped at a particular page before raising her eyes toward Kazuki.
"Yet you're still alive."
She paused before beginning to read again.
"Interesting, isn't it, Kazuki-kun?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kazuki said. "But is this kind of thing your fetish? Tying a man to a chair and doing whatever you want with him?"
Raynare stopped reading.
She looked at Kazuki with one eyebrow raised before chuckling under her breath.
The sound was almost melodic.
But it wasn't a pleasant one.
It was a strange mixture of beauty with something deadly lurking underneath.
"That's funny," she said with a small smile. "You're trying to undermine your own anxiety while observing your situation."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Or perhaps you're observing me, trying to determine what I'll do next."
She once again resumed reading.
"A good strategy." A faint smile appeared on her lips. "But an easy one to catch."
"Well..." Kazuki mentally shrugged, since he couldn't physically do it. "That's worth a try, isn't it?"
He stared at Raynare.
"I mean, what the hell else can I do in this situation?"
"Asia Argento..."
Those words felt like a final sentence passed by a court between them.
Kazuki, who had remained calm and even somewhat playful until now, suddenly fell silent.
His hair shadowed his eyes.
Raynare stopped flipping through the pages of her book as she watched him.
She could see it clearly.
Kazuki was glaring at her with eyes full of bloodlust.
His teeth were clenched tightly, but he held himself back enough not to make a sound.
His hands struggled against the ropes, desperately trying to free themselves.
The ropes tightened around his wrists, digging into his skin hard enough to leave wounds.
Raynare smiled with satisfaction.
"There it is..."
"What are you going to do with her?"
His voice wasn't like before.
It wasn't the Kazuki that Raynare had been observing.
It was something closer to an animal hungry for vengeance, not hunting for food, but driven by the desire to tear apart whatever stood before it.
"Nothing..." Raynare said simply. "For now..."
She suddenly closed her book and stood up before beginning to walk in circles around Kazuki.
"She was..." Raynare began. "As you know, too affectionate toward the people she holds dear, those she trusts, or anyone who shows her kindness. Either way..."
Raynare stopped behind Kazuki and whispered directly into his ear.
"She's that kind of person."
She then leaned away and began circling him again.
"The Cathedral once regarded her highly as a Holy Maiden."
Raynare stopped in front of him.
"Do you know why?"
"It's because of her miracle of healing others."
"Is that how you humans describe it?" Raynare placed a finger against her chin. "A miracle?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"Not exactly correct... but not entirely wrong, either."
"Human?" Kazuki asked, tilting his head. "You said it in a way that makes it sound like you're not one."
Raynare smiled.
That was exactly what she had been observing about him.
Kazuki didn't simply listen to what people said.
He listened to the implications behind their words and asked the right questions.
"You're right," she said. "I'm not human."
Then she revealed a pair of black wings behind her back, resembling the wings of a crow.
Kazuki's eyes widened for a split second before returning to their usual calm state.
"Fallen Angel?" he muttered. "They're real?"
"Of course they are." Raynare retracted her wings and turned around. "For someone raised in a Church orphanage, you must have heard about us from the Sisters there. Bedtime stories, perhaps. Or Biblical stories."
"You said that as if you know what they teach."
"Hahaha." Raynare laughed for a moment.
It was surprisingly easy to steer the conversation in the direction she wanted.
"Yes, I know. I've infiltrated the Church for years. Of course I know some of their information on a rather intimate level."
"I see..." Kazuki said. "As I thought, Asia's circumstances, being expelled and called a witch, only to get a chance to rebuild a church, are too convenient."
He raised his head, his eyes sharpening as they locked onto Raynare's.
"Was that all because of you?"
Raynare glanced back at him but stopped for a moment.
Should she lie?
It might make the Sacred Gear extraction smoother, especially since one of the requirements was emotional volatility, according to the notes Kalawarner had compiled from what Azazel had taught her.
But there was a risk.
If Kazuki caught the lie, she could lose control of the conversation.
Then again...
Should she simply tell him the truth?
"Not everything."
She decided to tell him the truth. Everything she was about to say would be true, even if it wasn't the whole truth.
A lie could be caught by Kazuki, and even a half-truth carried its own risks with someone this observant.
"Asia once healed a person," she continued. "It turned out that person was a Devil. And I'm sure you don't need me to confirm whether they're real or not, since you've already seen my wings."
"Yeah, I don't need confirmation about Devils," Kazuki said. "Surprisingly, those black wings suit you pretty well."
"Oh my~ You're using flirtation this time?" Raynare chuckled. "As I expected, I can't get enough of you, Kazuki-kun."
"And why do I feel like that's a bad idea...?"