Three Requests

"Listen, Requaniel. You should always follow your Father, okay? He's a Supreme Angel. Whatever he does will always be for our welfare."

A lady in a white astral dress smiled at Eden.

"Mhm. Okay, mother."

Eden, with the physical appearance of a five-year-old boy, nodded.

That lady was none other than Eden's mother.

She had flowing silver hair that cascaded down her back, and her eyes gleamed a striking shade of oceanic blue.

Her slender figure was complemented by fair, snow-white skin. Her physical appearance reflected her age, which was around her early 25s.

"That's my boy!"

His mother giggled and patted his head, adding,

"Don't worry; as long as your father is here, everything will be fine."

"Mhm."

With a smile on his face, Eden nodded.

*Some years later*

"NO!! My mother is not a sinner!! Father!! Please don't punish her!!"

Sobbing in tears, Eden yelled at the top of his lungs while the guards were grabbing him and preventing him from moving forward.

"Re…Requaniel…"

His mother, who was about to get exiled, looked at her son with her swollen eyes.

A tearful smile shaped her face as she opened her mouth, letting out.

"I'm sorry…"

Momentarily, Michael dragged her, his own wife towards the holy lake and glanced at her.

She realized that Michael didn't want to forcefully toss her, so she got up and walked towards the holy lake, and before jumping, she glanced back towards Eden.

"No…mother, please…"

Eden only murmured, wishing that she wouldn't jump. But his mother wiped the tears from her eyes, saying,

"Requaniel, Be your master. Never follow anyone. Instead, create your own unique pathway."

Her words were directed at Michael for some reason.

She then glanced at Michael, who had some tears in his eyes.

"At least... Please take care of him."

"I will."

Trying to hold back his tears, Michael nodded.

Then she just smiled, closed her eyes, and pushed herself off the cliff.

*Splash*

Shortly after, she drowned without any traces left of her.

"M-MOTHER!!!!"

Eden screamed and tried to run, but suddenly his eyes started getting blurry. Seeing the death of his mother deeply shocked him as he fell to the ground, completely motionless.

****

"Mother…"

Calling out for his mother, Eden started gaining consciousness.

As he opened his teary eyes, he noticed a white ceiling in front of him.

"Where…am I?"

He wondered and slowly rose from the bed.

Looking around, he realized that he was in the nurse's office. He remembered the fight he had with Miss Erika.

Sigh.

He let out a sigh and outstretched his arms.

'Now that I think about it, why exactly did my mother get exiled? Hmmm...because of being in contact with demons, no? Well, whatever.'

He wondered and let out another sigh, adding,

'My lifetime, if it weren't for my lady, there was nothing other than hell. It's good that I got free, I guess.'

"Hmm?"

At once, his gaze shifted to his left side as his palm touched something.

He noticed Emilie, who was resting in the chair with her head placed on the bed, sleeping peacefully.

Seeing her bring a smile to his face, he gently caressed her head, trying not to wake her up, mumbling,

"Sorry for making you worry."

*Creak.*

"?"

After noticing the opening of the gate, Eden directed his attention to the front.

"Oh, you're awake. That's good."

With a little smile, Miss Erika walked inside.

Even though she was smiling a little, her face already had an apologetic expression, as if she felt bad for hurting Eden more than she had planned.

"..."

Eden, however, didn't reply but averted his gaze.

"I'm sorry."

Realizing Eden's negligence, Miss Erika apologized while bending her head down a little, adding,

"I didn't mean to hurt you that way; I'm just trying to find out whether you have any divinity left in you or not."

Sigh.

After noticing her apologetic face, Eden sighed, replying,

"I won't forgive you."

"?!"

Hearing his words stunned Miss Erika as she bites her lips, asking,

"Why?"

"You nearly killed me, and now you think I'll forgive you just with a mere apology? Hell no."

Eden replied while averting his eyes again.

"Then…what do you want?"

Miss Erika asked with a slightly annoyed look.

"Hmph."

A grin shaped Eden's face after getting this delightful chance to get something from Miss Erika.

He raised his three fingers, saying,

"I need three things from you."

"Huh? Three things? What is it? Again, I won't do anything inappropriate, even if you will never forgive me."

She replied with a cautious look shaped across her face.

"Ah, fret not. I'm not a scumbag to ask anything like this."

Eden shook his head, then glanced back at Miss Erika, commenting,

"There are three things that I need from you because I know you can do it."

"At least, tell me, what is it? I just hope it won't be something troublesome."

She sighed.

Eden grinned and proffered,

"First, I need you to give me some extra training for sword art. Since you're an S-rank swordswoman, no one can teach me better than you. Our training will continue until I surpass you."

"Seriously? You're the first person I've seen who wants intense training; others usually run away."

Miss Erika was left slightly bemused by Eden's request as she lifted her eyebrows and folded her arms.

"Yeah, I know that I'm weird. Anyway, my second request is that I want to make sure that you harbor no ill intention towards me, and no matter what, you won't let anyone, absolutely no one, know that there's an angel in this human realm."

Sigh.

Hearing his second request, Miss Erika just sighed, replying,

"What do you take me for? I'm not evil, alright?"

"As I said, still saying, I don't believe you. You have to promise me that, but again, in this world, promises are meant to be broken. So what if you break your promise?"

Eden folded his arms with a suspicious look on his face.

"Seriously…? You have got a trust issue, kid."

With a tired look, Miss Erika paced towards Eden.

She noticed that Emilie was still sleeping, so she gently caressed her head, and a white aura surrounded Emilie's body.

"?!"

Eden got alert after noticing this, but before he could say or do anything, Miss Erika placed her right finger on Eden's lips, adding,

"I'm not harming her. I'm just putting her to sleep in case she wakes up and hears our conversation."

"Ah, alright."

Eden nodded. His mind was already in such a mess that he had almost forgotten about it.

After putting Emilie to deep sleep, Miss Erika picked up a red pendant from her pocket and forwarded her right arm towards Eden, saying,

"This pendant will serve as a pact."

Claiming this, she took a deep breath and started vowing,

"I, Erika Wood, on the name of the Demon of Extinction, hereby make a pact with Eden White, that no matter what, I shall never let his real identity be known to anyone who causes trouble to him, and I'll never cause any harm to him. Instead, I'll try my best to give him as much support as I can."

As she completed her words, the pendant in her hand started disintegrating into tiny particles, and soon, a red triangular crest appeared on her right palm.

"See?"

She showed the crest to Eden, informing him,

"If I ever try to break my promise, then it will break me. I mean, it will kill me. So, don't worry. I value my life more than anything else."

"Hmmm…okay then."

Eden nodded, but he was still a little suspicious, so he asked inwardly.

'System, is she telling the truth?'

[Yes, host. She's right. The pact that she made with you always stays active until she dies.]

The system reported.

'Okay then.'

Eden took a sigh of relief and then shifted his attention to Miss Erika, asking,

"But it's strange. I'm sure you're a divine being, no? How do you get in contact with the demons?"

"Well, I have a friend who is a demon. It's not a problem to have demon friends, since on this planet, it's not taboo to be friends with demons."

Miss Erika replied, adding,

"Also, you know? Demons aren't bad, as they're told to us in the Land of Honour."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Consider yourself lucky, or else those idiots in the Land of Honour might kill you for having a demon friend."

Eden waved his hand since he wasn't even interested in prying anymore.

"..." In response to Eden's words, Miss Erika just nervously smiled.

Then shortly, Eden's gaze sharpened, and he shifted it back to Miss Erika, asking,

"And there's only one request left now."

"Yeah, I know. Go on, ask it already."

Miss Erika said that since he felt that the first two were already hard, she overcame it somehow, so she thought that the last one might be the easiest.

Eden's gaze got glued to Miss Erika. He opened his mouth and asked,

"Tell me… who exactly are you?"

"?!"

Miss Erika jolted after hearing Eden's question.

"W-who am I… you ask?"

She repeated the question as she lowered her gaze.

"Yes," Eden nodded as he rested his head on his palm, adding,

"This is my third request. Tell me who exactly you are and what you are doing here on Earth?"