Well, just like how the name "Compulsory Education Room" can lead to strange misunderstandings depending on where you pause while reading, how a person's words are interpreted is often beyond their control.
For instance, when Lin said that a demon was more likely to fall from the sky than an angel, he was actually trying to show a bit of humor—after all, the probability of something good falling from the sky is much lower than something bad.
...He swore he absolutely never thought a demon girl would actually fall from the sky.
So, when Einstein looked at him and the unconscious girl he was holding with an odd expression, he really didn't know how to explain.
Was he supposed to say he was very sorry, but he was actually a messenger sent from Hell and someone had come to take him back?
Fortunately, just as Lin was running out of ways to explain that this was an accident, the girl who fell woke up.
"Ugh..." She let out an unconscious soft moan. Lin and Einstein exchanged a look. Einstein turned to get a mat from the tent that was intended for sleeping and placed it on the ground. Lin supported the girl's back and slowly laid her down.
"I'll check her."
Einstein stepped forward to check the girl's vital signs.
Placing a hand on the wrist: "Pulse is normal."
Pressing an ear to the chest: "Heartbeat is normal."
Swiping a finger under the nose: "Breathing is normal."
Pulling back the eyelid: "Pupils... awake."
Lin suddenly pulled Einstein behind him and deployed the Oath of Judah, staring at the girl who was slowly standing up with a charming smile on her lips.
He hadn't noticed just now, but after she stood up, Lin saw she was wearing a maid-like outfit. Her headpiece resembled demon horns, she had long, intellectual hair, and a beauty mark at the corner of her right eye added a touch of seductive softness to her.
A "person" falling out of a rift in the Sea of Quanta... even if they looked unremarkable, Lin would still be wary, let alone this one who looked even more unusual than Yama.
Neither side made a move. They scrutinized each other. The girl's gaze lingered for a moment on Lin face and the Oath of Judah beside him.
Then, she offered a polite, flawless smile. "Hello. It is a pleasure to meet you for the first time."
"Hello." Einstein watched the fabric of the other person's clothes with great interest. To her trained eye, the material of the girl's clothes was not simple—it looked somewhat like a Fire Moth combat suit...
Lin didn't offer a greeting. His focus was different from Einstein's; he was focused on her small movements and her physique.
Just now, her placing her hands in front of her abdomen and bowing slightly was a standard maid's gesture. It seemed fine, but her feet made a slight backward adjustment that would allow her to exert force most rapidly.
And her physique... although he didn't know if all maids had perfect bodies, from what Lin observed, this person didn't have a gram of excess fat.
That wasn't a figure maintained by diet alone. Her tight-fitting top revealed the beautiful lines of her abdominal muscles. This person was a warrior.
"Excuse me, could your Excellency be a bit more subtle when looking at my figure?" The maid's polite smile didn't waver even under Lin blatant gaze.
Lin retorted coldly, "Aren't you observing me as well?"
"Oh? Could it be that your Excellency is not a gentleman?"
"I am a supporter of gender equality."
Einstein stepped in just in time to stop the conversation from spiraling out of control. She also asked politely, "Excuse me, Miss Maid, who are you? And why did you fall from... that place?"
She pointed to the rift in the sky, her meaning obvious.
The maid glanced imperceptibly at the rift and gave a professional smile. "How rude of me. You may call me... Rita. As you can see, I am a maid. As for why I appeared here..."
She paused for half a second before continuing with a smile: "Because my ship has broken down."
A ship... broken down?
Before Einstein could follow up, Rita turned the question around: "And who might you two be? And why are you in this world bubble?"
Lin frowned. This maid named Rita had seen that they didn't belong to this world bubble? How did she tell? Did she have a method or tool to confirm it, or was it because of the Oath of Judah?
Einstein took on the role of negotiator. "I am Einstein, and this is Lin. We had a small accident and arrived in this world bubble."
Einstein was also airtight. The other party seemed to know more about the Sea of Quanta than they did, but whether she was good or evil was yet to be determined. She hoped to get some information about the Sea of Quanta from her.
Rita tilted her chin and gave Lin a meaningful look.
"An accident, I see..."
"I have a question."
"Do you want to talk about problems or gossip?"
"..."
Mei's expression was a bit awkward. Had she really asked so much gossip that even the woman was getting impatient?
Fortunately, even without her helmet, the woman was much the same as when she wore it—she rarely showed emotion on her face... though her verbal attacks were frequent. But while her tongue was sharp, her actions weren't particularly out of line.
...The problem was that what Mei wanted to ask this time was still gossip.
She felt it wasn't her fault. After all, the relationships between the MANTISes seemed far more complex than they appeared. The stories of the people from the Previous Era—whether heroes or sinners—were truly easy to be curious about. And the woman happened to know a lot...
"About Lin?"
"Yes..."
As expected, at the mention of Lin, the woman's brow furrowed in distaste. Did she really hate him that much?
"Ask."
...But as expected, she agreed. Was this what they called... a tsundere?
Then Mei asked the question she had been most looking forward to: "The women closely related to Lin... aren't there a bit too many of them?"
Then she was hit by a death stare.
The woman's gaze was truly terrifying, as if she would slice Mei into pieces at the slightest dissatisfaction. And now, Mei could feel that her dissatisfaction was practically overflowing from her eyes.
"That really is... haha... unexpected." Mei considered her relationship with the woman quite good; they had shared many heartfelt conversations. "He doesn't look like a playboy from the outside."
"Hmph... 'playboy' might be an exaggeration. That guy never even thought about those things until the day he died. It's just that he was indeed popular with quite a few women around him."
"Did he not leave any descendants or anything?"
"How could he?"
At that moment, the woman sneered—
"I forgot to mention. There were indeed many women he was close with, but almost all of those who could have taken a step further died, one after another."
"After all, with that guy's personality, the people he attracted would naturally be carved from the same mold."