Diego ran away.
From the Hori household, he returned to the house SPW had provided for him.
The reason was simple: he didn't know how to face the questions from people who cared about him, so he made an excuse and left.
Diego felt very confused.
Why did everyone think he was in a bad mood, yet he himself couldn't feel anything…
Why, as someone strong, was he being cared for by people countless times weaker than himself…
Why, after arriving in a completely unfamiliar world, did he instead feel at ease…
Why did he always inexplicably soften his heart, when in the past he had been a murderer wanted across the entire continent…
He completely couldn't understand. He didn't even understand why he had run away.
He had never attended school before. His mother's education had stopped abruptly once his values had begun to take shape.
Even Serie, the only person who cared about him, had only reminded him not to die.
Everything else was something Diego had learned on his own by fumbling through a cruel world.
Diego lay on the bed and turned over. Not only did the questions in his heart not decrease—they increased even more.
He couldn't figure it out.
Why had Sui saved him when he was unconscious, even though he hated her…
Why did Mabel, despite being so powerful, like to nestle by his side like a pet…
Why did Alicia always stay by his side, unconsciously supporting his every decision…
Why did Frieren, who was clearly very slow on the uptake, suddenly seem to have had an epiphany and begun to understand human emotions…
Yeah, of course Diego wouldn't understand. After all, when everything was added up, he was still just a twenty-year-old young man.
Twenty years was very long.
Long enough for the notoriety of Scary Monsters to spread throughout the entire continent.
Long enough for the little dinosaurs to occupy every corner of the continent.
Long enough for the Demon King who had ruled the demon race for thousands of years to be killed because of Diego.
Twenty years was very short.
Short enough that even today, Diego had very few friends.
Short enough that if Diego wasn't careful, time would slip by day after day.
Short enough that Diego still hadn't reached the Land of Soul's Rest.
Diego could no longer sleep. The sound of the coffee machine grinding beans rang out again and again. The moon moved from east to west.
The sky gradually brightened, yet Diego still sat there, motionless, like a statue.
Sunlight broke through the curtains and shone on the clusters of fresh, dew-covered forget-me-nots, reflecting onto Diego's face—warm and endearing.
Only then did Diego shift his gaze to those carefully tended forget-me-nots.
"Tell me the answer…"
"Mom…"
The always-strong Diego couldn't help but seek an answer.
But how could flowers speak? They only swayed with the flow of the air.
Day and night reversed, time flowed on endlessly. The clumsy Diego still couldn't figure anything out.
...
A few days later, inside a certain dim room where no light could enter, a group of people sat nervously around a long table.
The person at the head wore frameless glasses, held a pointer, and tapped the blackboard.
Tap tap tap…
"Everyone's here, death! Then, as the master of the 『Master of the Thunder Warhammer』———— the wielder of the 『Evil King's True Eye』 announces, the Holy Round Table Conference officially begins! death!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Dekomori Sanae picked up a flashlight, aimed it at her own face, and flipped the switch. Under the light, her appearance as a little devil girl with an evil smile was fully revealed.
"Then, regarding Dio becoming strange—"
Takanashi Rikka also aimed the flashlight at herself, but accidentally pointed it straight at her eyes.
"—Aaaahhh! My eyes, my eyes!!"
Hayasaka Ai's face was covered in black lines. She pointed at the light switch and interrupted Dekomori Sanae: "Wait a second, why do we have to hold the meeting in such a dark environment?"
"Cough cough…"
Assistant Dekomori Sanae knocked on the blackboard again. Written on it was a rule: Given the sacred nature of the meeting, conference members must illuminate themselves with holy light to expel dark energy before speaking.
(This refers to shining a flashlight on one's own face when speaking.)
"..."
Hayasaka Ai sighed and decided to let the two sisters fool around, provided it didn't affect the discussion of what exactly had happened to Diego.
Freed from the stinging in her eyes, Takanashi Rikka quickly continued hosting: "Cough cough, have you all noticed that Dio has become more and more silent lately?"
"I! Me!! Me!!!" Fujiwara Chika turned on her flashlight, raised her hand excitedly, and was the first to jump out.
"Please speak."
When it was her turn, Fujiwara Chika instead played coy, putting on a profound and mysterious expression: "This matter is a long story. It's simple if you say it's simple, and not simple if you say it's not. It has to start from when I first met Diego-kun… Ouch!"
Thud!
Shinomiya Kaguya, sitting next to her, knocked her on the head.
"Kaguya-san~~!"
"Please keep it short, Fujiwara-san. This is not an occasion for fooling around."
Although Shinomiya Kaguya maintained a smile and even used polite language, the killing intent in her eyes seemed to say this person wouldn't live many more days.
"Okay~~~" Fujiwara Chika pitifully poked her fingers and began to get serious. She took a deep breath without any pause:
"The first time I noticed something was wrong with Diego-kun was three days ago. I suggested Diego-kun play a Three Kingdoms-style card game with me that had a lot of bad reviews.
This was originally a very ordinary thing. I had already prepared to be harshly rejected and then scolded while secretly enjoying it, but!
Diego-kun not only agreed, he actually downloaded the game and even recharged 1000 yen (about 50 yuan) into it according to the newbie guide. What kind of game teaches people how to spend money in the tutorial, hey! And Diego-kun actually really topped up! This is way too abnormal!"
"Did you all understand?"
"I can't analyze anything at all." Kitagawa Marin was sprawled on the table, her voice low, but then suddenly remembered a certain keyword and lifted her head to ask, "Fujiwara-san… Putting that aside, why do you secretly enjoy being scolded? It's like you're looking forward to that kind of thing happening."
"This… ahaha, next speaker, next…" Fujiwara Chika jumped in surprise and quickly laughed it off.
But except for Hori Kyoko, everyone else's gazes toward her carried a hint of strangeness.
"I think I might know a bit of the inside story."
Just as Fujiwara Chika was wishing she could die, Hori Kyoko turned on her flashlight, diverting attention from the topic.
Hori-san! You're so gentle!
Fujiwara Chika looked at Hori Kyoko with the eyes of someone gazing at a savior.
Hori recalled: "It was also three days ago. When Dio came to my house as a guest, my parents asked the same question. At the time, Dio's answer was: I tied in a match with someone and feel a bit unwilling."
"Just because of tying in a match?"
"Feels more like an excuse."
"But what if it's true?"
The girls began chattering noisily.
"Wait… it was all three days ago?" Unlike the others, what Yamada Ryo noticed was the timing. She blinked rapidly. "Maybe I can provide a clue."
Tap tap tap…
Dekomori Sanae knocked on the blackboard again.
With black lines all over her face, Ryo silently turned on the flashlight and continued: "On the same afternoon, I happened to encounter Dio at the dessert shop. He seemed to have had an argument with the clerk, but I don't really remember the content."
"Why would you not remember something that important?" Ryūju Momo leaned back in her chair, frowning with a hint of accusation.
"Because I was too hungry…" Ryo shifted her gaze a little embarrassedly and continued analyzing, "But at least it's confirmed something happened to Dio that day. Maybe we can go ask the clerk at that shop."
Bang!
The conference room door was pushed open. A middle-aged man wearing a chef's hat and white apron, bathed in light, rushed in carrying a bag.
"No need to go anywhere, I'm here!"
"Uncle, who are you?!!!" ×n
"I'm the baker and manager of that dessert shop." The baker uncle gave a slight bow, then immediately declared with certainty, "I can tell you all for sure that something utterly tragic must have happened to Brando-kun!"
"…Why?"
"Because! My regular customer hasn't bought any small bread for several consecutive days!" As the baker uncle spoke, his voice even carried a hint of crying. "That child loved the small bread I make the most. Every time he would buy dozens of jin of small bread to eat. Seeing how happily he ate it, I was able to get through the most difficult first few months after opening…"
"Finally my shop got on track and life was improving day by day. I thought, at the very least I should repay him, so I made a lot of small bread and sent it over.
But he suddenly disappeared. At first I thought he'd just gotten tired of it and improved the recipe several times, but he never looked at me again…"
"With a result like this, how could I possibly accept it!!"
"I understand the reasoning, but but but how did you find this place?!" Dekomori Sanae, sweating profusely, loudly questioned him. "This is my house, right?!"
By the way, although Dekomori Sanae was very chuunibyou, she was a genuine rich young lady.
In other words, her family's security was very tight. Ordinary people couldn't enter without permission.
"Ah hi ya hi ya, everyone's here…"
The culprit, the person who couldn't refuse others, the pink wriggling maggot, the woman among women (specifically referring to figure). After five minutes of internal struggle, Bocchi-chan finally mustered her courage upon seeing the uncle barge in and only showed half her body as she walked inside.
Of course, the way she greeted everyone was still learned from the anime playing on TV.
"Cough cough, don't mind so many things. We're characters from a daily comedy, relaxed genre."
"You seem to have inadvertently said something quite extraordinary…"
"Anyway, please, you must bring Brando-kun back." The baker uncle opened the bag, which was filled with exquisite desserts. "This is the contract. You must figure out why Brando-kun has become like this."
"Uncle, you… really get it~!" Takanashi Rikka and Dekomori Sanae extended their fists and lightly bumped them, replying with high spirits, "Yoshi, the Cricket Intermediate Contract—we accept it!"
Bocchi-chan's body trembled as she softly said, "Ah, speaking of which…"
"After Nijika-chan heard that Dio was depressed, she already invited him to STARRY. Kita-chan was worried and stayed at STARRY too. Calculating the time, they should be about to meet…"
Boom!!!
"Eh eh, what what, they've already set out?!"
"Can just the two of them really do it?"
"But it's raining really hard outside. Will Dio actually go to the appointment?"
Everyone couldn't help feeling a bit worried.
Yamada Ryo took a small cake from the bag and suddenly interrupted the discussion, her tone flat yet full of confidence: "No problem. When I felt disgusted with the band itself, it was Nijika who found me and pulled me out of that vortex quagmire. It was precisely because of her that I thought maybe I should join a band one more time."
"That is to say…"
"We'll win."
Ryo's declaration of victory after eating the dessert.
To be continued...