Chapter 342: How was she?

"Go away before I kill you."Lor raised both hands in a lazy gesture of surrender.

"I mean no harm. Especially after the good time we just had." His tone stayed light. "I’m tired and thirsty. Can I get some water?"

Kuri stared at him. Suspicion tightened her expression.

Why would he want to come to her house?

The thought surfaced immediately — maybe he wanted to fuck her again.

The moment it formed, her pussy twitched hard inside the wet panties. A fresh pulse of heat ran down her legs. She kept her face blank through pure force of will.

"...Fine," she said after a moment. "I tried to kill you this afternoon. Least I can do is give you water."

Lor smiled. "Thanks."

She turned and started walking. He followed without comment.

Her house sat on a quieter street near the edge of the district — a small, secluded place with a plain wooden door and no fancy markings.

Nothing about it looked like it belonged to someone who took assassination jobs or maybe it did.

She unlocked it and went inside.

Lor stepped in after her and closed the door behind them.

The main room was simple. A dining table took up most of the space near the kitchen.

Books and papers were scattered across it in messy piles.

Open notebooks showed rows of equations and spell theory diagrams.

A half-used ink pot sat near the edge.

She was clearly studying — mathematics and basic spell theory, the same things Class D students struggled with.

Lor’s eyes moved over the table once. He said nothing.

He pulled out a chair and sat.

Kuri disappeared into the kitchen.

She returned a minute later with a plain glass of water for him and a taller glass of something darker and more expensive-looking for herself.

She set the water in front of him without ceremony and took the seat across from him.

One leg crossed over the other. She leaned back slightly and watched him, waiting.

Her mind was already running.

Was he going to try something here?

On the table?

On the chair?

The kitchen floor?

The wetness between her legs still clung to her skin. She kept her expression flat and waited for whatever move he would make.

Lor took a sip of the water. Then he looked at her over the rim of the glass.

"How long have you known Ameth?"

Kuri blinked.

The question caught her off guard. She had been braced for something else entirely.

"...Over a decade," she answered after a short pause. "We were childhood friends."

Lor nodded once, as if that matched something he had already guessed.

"What kind of person was she as a child?"

Kuri stared at him for a moment, still slightly thrown by the direction of the conversation.

She had expected him to try something physical again.

Instead he asked about Ameth.

She crossed her legs tighter. The sticky feeling between them had not gone away.

Every small shift of her thighs reminded her of the alley.

She ignored it as best she could and kept her expression flat.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked. Her voice was sharp. "You don’t need that information. You could use it against her later. I’m not telling you anything that could hurt Ameth. She’s my best friend."

Lor took another sip of water and set the glass down. His face stayed calm.

"I don’t want to hurt her," he said. "I want to help her. She is my classmate and a really hard shell to crack. I want to understand her better."

Kuri’s eyes narrowed for a second. Then her shoulders dropped a little.

"...Yeah. She is." She looked down at her glass of juice, turning it slowly between her fingers. "She’s been like that since we were kids."

Lor stayed quiet. He simply watched her and waited.

Kuri exhaled through her nose. The words started coming out almost without her deciding to say them.

"After her father died. She used to live in a small house with just her mother. It wasn’t bad. We played together a lot. Running around the back streets, stealing fruit from carts, hiding from the older kids. She smiled more back then. Laughed even. Sometimes. She had this quiet little laugh that only came out when we were alone."

She paused, took a drink, and kept going.

"Then her mother got sick. Really sick. No one helped them. They didn’t have money for a proper healer. The woman just got weaker every day until she died. Ameth cried for days after that. Wouldn’t eat. Wouldn’t talk. Just sat there on the floor of that empty house."

Kuri’s fingers tightened around the glass.

"I was already an orphan by then. Living at the east district orphanage. So I brought her with me. We shared a bed for years. Same room, same food, same everything. She was quiet at first, but she still talked to me. Still reacted to things. Still let herself feel."

Lor nodded once, encouraging her without interrupting.

"Then one day it just... stopped." Kuri’s voice lowered.

"She stopped showing anything on her face. Stopped talking unless she had to. Started thinking about money all the time. How to get it. How to keep it. How never to be in that position again. Even now she sells vegetables every single day and tries to save almost everything she earns. Ninety-nine percent, I swear. And I still don’t fully understand why she keeps living like that."

She finally looked up at him again.

"I know her better than anyone. That’s why I protect her past. Her secrets. I’m not handing them over to anyone. Not even you."

"hmm..."

"..."

The room went quiet for several seconds.

The only sound was the soft creak of the old wooden floor under the table.

Kuri’s eyes stayed on Lor’s face. His expression had been calm the entire time she spoke.

Now the corner of his mouth slowly curved upward. The smile that formed was small, sharp, and distinctly wicked.

Kuri’s stomach dropped.

She replayed the last few minutes in her head.

The way she had kept talking.

Her face went pale, then flushed hard with anger and embarrassment.

"...You fucking bastard," she whispered. "You tricked me again!!!."