Seeing the evil god and the tyrant standing in front of him, Cid suddenly understood why people kept misunderstanding him.
Bete had literally just warned him to stay in the rear, and not even that long after they split up, Cid got snagged by the enemy boss in person.
Even though Cid wasn't actually in danger, it was hard not to suspect Bete had a cursed mouth.
That was probably how everyone looked at him too, just with the interpretation flipped in a more favorable direction.
Before Erebus could say anything, Alfia spoke first.
"You?"
At first, when Erebus said he wanted to bring her to see some weak Level 2, Alfia had been openly annoyed.
She was busy preparing to face Shadow. She didn't have time to deal with irrelevant noise.
If Erebus was truly worried about safety, he could have disguised himself and asked a Level 4 like Vitteaux to escort him. That would have been more than enough.
But after gathering information along the way, Alfia's perspective shifted.
A Level 2 who survived Chaldea's sword, repeatedly disrupted the Dark Faction's plots, and was rumored to be a behind-the-scenes cornerstone of Orario…
Someone like that might not be impressive on the front line, but they could absolutely be the kind of contributor who kept heroes alive. Not "noise."
Alfia came because she wanted to see what that contributor was really worth.
She hadn't expected the face she found to belong to that shameless young man.
Could this kid really be that capable?
Her first instinct was disbelief, but thinking about how Orario spoke of him, something clicked.
"So that day… you were acting?"
If he truly was acting, then she'd been played.
Erebus tilted his head, delighted.
"You two know each other? There's a story here I don't know?"
He could hear the tension in Alfia's voice.
Alfia rarely showed such obvious emotion.
Which only made him more curious.
A Level 2 who lived through Chaldea's blade, and left enough of an impression to stir Alfia like this, wasn't normal. Not even close.
Erebus had already been interested in Cid's talent. Now he was invested.
Cid didn't answer Alfia.
With a god standing right there, lying would be pointless.
But changing the subject was its own kind of answer.
"Did you need something from me?" Cid asked calmly.
Alfia stared at him for a long moment.
"…This is the first time I've ever been humiliated like that. I won't forget you, Cid Rafeal."
The way she said it carried real weight.
This young man had used sharp perception and absurdly convincing acting to ensure both he and his goddess walked away safely.
As a tyrant, she should have been furious.
Because he'd made her misunderstand the situation and believe, for a moment, that her "charm" was the reason that whole incident happened.
Now it was obvious.
She hadn't been admired. She'd been fooled.
And by someone so much weaker than her, no less.
It was the first humiliation of her life.
Even getting punished for stealing her sister's dessert hadn't made her this angry.
And yet, beneath the anger, there was something close to approval.
No matter how strange the method, she had been "defeated" in that moment.
In her own way.
Erebus looked like a cat being denied its favorite toy.
"Can someone explain? Please?"
But Alfia clearly wasn't going to spell it out, and Cid wasn't volunteering either.
So Erebus returned to the question he'd originally come to ask.
"Once-righteous boy. Why are you so weak, and yet so confident?"
He genuinely didn't understand.
In this world, only the strong controlled their fate.
Gods were sealed and weaker down here, but they didn't truly die.
A human who was weak, and mortal, and still not afraid of death?
Cid looked shy, but the shyness felt manufactured.
Facing an evil god and a tyrant, his heartbeat didn't even seem to rise.
Otherwise, his voice wouldn't be this steady.
Erebus had imagined many reactions.
This one wasn't on the list.
It was as if Cid was treating them like ordinary people.
Someone with that attitude was either an invincible apex being who feared nothing… or a madman who simply didn't value his own life.
Cid didn't seem to fit either category.
Erebus had never met someone like him.
"Confident?" Cid scratched his cheek. "I'm just doing what I like."
Maybe some of his composure came from his real strength, but that was not something he could say out loud.
Erebus's smile widened in delight.
"I see. You're arrogant."
He looked genuinely happy, as if he'd found a rare specimen.
A human who only cared about his own feelings would be terrifying if he ever chose evil.
But Cid's inclination leaned toward "good," so people praised him.
Still, in an era where good and evil were clashing and people were dying by the thousands, this human was simply… doing what he liked.
As if the world's ending, and everyone else's fate, had no effect on him at all.
Erebus had never seen someone so self-contained, so unapologetically centered on his own will.
"That makes you a born king," Erebus said, almost reverently.
Not a king in status.
A king in mindset.
No human, no god, no despair could truly shake someone like this.
He would experience the world on his terms alone.
It could look cold from the outside, but to Erebus, it was perfection.
Someone like Ryuu, who could be torn apart by the meaning of justice, would never happen to Cid.
If Cid's power ever matched his mindset, then perhaps he really could become the singular hero the tyrants kept chasing.
And if Shadow possessed the same kind of mindset, then Erebus could finally understand why those two had made their choice.
Either way, meeting such an interesting human made the trip worthwhile.
"A king?" Cid frowned. "No thanks."
He liked playing a background extra and acting as the eminence in shadow.
Being a "king" sounded like a job.
And Cid hated jobs.
Erebus laughed.
"I meant a king of temperament. Sorry for taking your time, and thank you for humoring a conversation."
With that, he turned and left.
As if he truly had only come to chat.
Alfia followed, but before she went, she looked back at Cid once more, her gaze lingering.
Cid waved, casual as ever.
"Bye. Try not to die."
Then he returned to his familia's base like nothing happened.
He didn't understand why they'd bothered blocking his way in the first place, but since it was over, he didn't feel like thinking too hard.
The moment he stepped inside, the goddess with the blue ribbon launched herself at him.
"Cid! Welcome home!"
Cid caught her cleanly, absorbing the full force of the hug.
He used to think having Astraea wait at the door for her children was already special.
But Hestia took it to another level.
If nothing else, it was deep into the night.
Cid steadied himself under the impact.
"I'm home."
....
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