"Making two beautiful girls wait two hours? That's you alright…"
Katou Megumi propped her cheek on one hand, her calm gaze sweeping over Samuel.
It was an ordinary, almost passerby-like glance, yet it seemed to pierce the heart, instinctively stirring unease.
For normal people, that is…
"Oh my! I saw an old lady crossing the street and lent a hand."
"You must've helped thousands of old ladies then."
"Yup!"
"…"
Katou Megumi sighed helplessly at Samuel, who casually threw out a flimsy excuse.
This was Academy City, where eighty percent of the population were students. Across its twenty-plus districts, you'd be lucky to find a few hundred elderly per district.
"Alright, you two keep strolling. I'm off!"
"Wait… Megumi-chan, why not join us?"
"…Why am I not surprised you'd say that in this situation?"
Inviting another pretty girl while already with one.
Even the sleaziest playboy couldn't say that so boldly.
Yet Katou Megumi wasn't shocked at all.
It was as if Samuel was supposed to say it.
"Hm… Come on, Megumi! It's a great chance to thank you for keeping me company while we waited."
Katou glanced at Kaguya Shinomiya, surprised. She always knew Samuel was abnormal, but this girl wasn't exactly normal either.
"Come on, don't say no… Let's get to know each other better!"
"How deeply do you want to know me?"
"Hm…"
Samuel's gaze slid from Katou's lips down to her thighs.
"How deep are you, Megumi?"
"That's straight-up harassment! How is someone like you in charge of public safety in Academy City? And joking like that with girls will make them hate you…"
"Do you hate me?"
"I do!"
"Doesn't seem like it."
Indeed, under normal circumstances, Samuel's behavior would make even childhood friends resent him, let alone someone like Katou, who wasn't that close.
Her two encounters with Samuel weren't exactly pleasant—borderline disastrous, even.
But… she couldn't hate him.
For some reason, she just couldn't.
It wasn't about looks. Even perverts, taught to value morals, instinctively dislike someone with a great appearance but poor character. They might still admire the looks, but the person themselves? Disliked.
Yet… people don't hate gods for minor misdeeds. Everyone knows stories like "God sent a great flood to nearly wipe out humanity to show authority" or "Zeus, a total playboy, swallowed his wife to secure his power."
These acts clash with human morality, yet people don't immediately resent them.
Over time, they might, but not just for those reasons.
Because people see gods as different—special beings not bound by human morals.
And when such beings descend?
In any myth, when gods or higher entities appear, humans and all life instinctively feel fondness. Gods are manifestations of the world, and no one hates the world… It birthed all things, the mother of existence. Life instinctively loves it.
Samuel was the "God of Humanity," a deity born of human reason, a facet of humanity itself.
No matter how flawed, no one… truly hates themselves!
Noble or vile, filthy or proud—no one despises their own essence.
Samuel was a unique mirror. No one could hate the reflection on the other side…
So, no one could hate Samuel.
Even if he did something outrageous to Katou Megumi in the street, she wouldn't hate him.
Of course, Samuel wouldn't do that.
He was filthy, noble, despicable—whatever humans could be, he was the extreme of it.
But some things, like selfishness and curiosity, had no limits for humans.
When utterly selfish, people need no reason. As the saying goes…
"Every man for himself, or heaven and earth will strike him down!"
Samuel was willful. What he liked was his, and that was his selfishness. As his, no one else could take advantage.
"…"
Kaguya Shinomiya trailed behind Samuel and Katou Megumi, feeling like a bystander despite being today's leading lady.
For some reason, Samuel and Katou's chemistry seemed oddly perfect.
"Hm?"
While Kaguya looked down, Samuel took her hand.
"Kaguya, try this on!"
He placed an inexpensive trinket—cheap by his wealth's standards—on her head.
"Very pretty~"
"…Mm!"
Though her heart had felt heavy, when Samuel adorned her with the accessory, a radiant smile lit her face.
"What an easy girl to please."
Katou Megumi watching Kaguya with a shrug.
…
"Look, isn't that the Chairman?"
"Hm?"
Nearby, Uiharu Kazari and Shirai Kuroko passed by on patrol.
"Yup! But… dating two girls at once? Typical scumbag primate!"
"Come on, don't say that! By the way, entrance exams are coming up, right? Where'd you apply, Kuroko?"
"I'm already a Level 4 Esper. I applied to Tokiwadai Middle School!"
"Tokiwadai! So fancy! They say it's full of refined ladies! I'd love to go… but I'm just a Level 1 Weak esper."
"Uiharu, you're amazing too…"
"If you meet any of those refined ladies, you have to introduce me! I heard Tokiwadai has two Level 5s!"
"Hm… The fourth-ranked 'Railgun' and the sixth-ranked 'Mental Out,' I believe."
"Aaah! Level 5s! Super espers! They must be the fanciest of the fancy… I'm so jealous!"
***
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