"Thud!"
A pure white figure landed lightly on the balcony. After rushing back from the deserted island in a hurry, he had finally made it home just as the sun began to rise.
He opened the balcony door to the bedroom, but the girl who had been lying on the bed was already gone.
Cid wasn't surprised. Before entering, he had briefly sensed the situation inside the house. Only after confirming there were no human lifeforms inside did he step in so casually.
Walking into the living room, he saw that the thermos he had left in the kitchen before leaving had already been opened, and the porridge inside had been completely eaten.
What surprised Cid a little was that the dishes and the thermos had been washed and neatly placed on the table.
Cid rubbed his chin.
"What a good kid."
After sighing with a bit of admiration, he prepared to head to the bathroom for a bath.
"Wait… I don't think I've ever tried drinking milk while taking a bath. Let's try it today."
Cid glanced at the refrigerator, only to notice that someone had added a few extra lines beneath the note he had originally stuck there.
He raised his arm. A slime tentacle extended from his hand, opening the refrigerator and taking out the milk Eta had given him. At the same time, it pulled down the note and placed it into his hand.
...
"Ah…!"
Cid sank his entire body into the bathtub as warm water enveloped him.
The muscles that had been tense relaxed instantly. The Magical Power training method he maintained twenty-four hours a day finally stopped, and the pressure that had built up inside his body seemed to drain away all at once.
He loved bathing.
If he had to describe how important bathing was to him, it would be something like: "I could live without it, but I absolutely don't want to."
Soaking quietly in the tub, he closed his eyes. There was no noise around him. Only the sound of his heartbeat and the steady flow of blood through his body.
In this quiet environment, the nerves that were constantly stretched tight from playing the role of a background character and searching for stages where he could act as an Eminence in Shadow finally began to loosen.
His mind relaxed.
Everything relaxed.
He didn't have to think about getting stronger.
He could simply enjoy this brief moment of peace and feel the warmth of the water embracing him.
The comfort was so pleasant that even the slime tentacle he had extended outside the tub to hold the milk became limp and relaxed.
Pop.
He controlled the slime tentacle to open the bottle cap. Then, using Magical Power, he lifted the milk out of the bottle. It floated in the air, circled twice, and flowed directly into his mouth.
"Oh!"
The smooth texture allowed him to clearly feel the milk sliding down his throat into his stomach.
The slightly chilled temperature, combined with the hot water surrounding his body, created a sharp contrast of cold and heat that brought an incredible sense of satisfaction.
And that mild sweetness, without even the slightest hint of a gamey smell, was especially satisfying for someone with a sweet tooth like him.
"This is amazing, Eta. You've finally realized that not everyone enjoys bitter flavors the way you do."
Eta was a purple-haired elf. Among his seven childhood friends, she was the one he had met the latest, and she was also a member of the Seven Shadows.
If Gamma was the smartest among the Seven Shadows, then Eta was the wisest.
She liked to be alone, showed little interest in most things, and the only thing that seemed capable of capturing her attention was knowledge itself. She was practically like the stereotypical mad scientist you see in movies.
If one day someone told him that Eta had started conducting human experiments in pursuit of knowledge and ended up being hunted for it, Cid wouldn't be surprised in the slightest.
Because the look in Eta's eyes when she chased after her dreams was very similar to his own, he felt he understood her fairly well.
What troubled him, however, was that Eta seemed to like bitter foods. She often sent him things that looked delicious but tasted incredibly bitter.
The last time Eta treated him to coffee, he had assumed it would just be normal bitter coffee.
But after the first sip, he almost spat it out on the spot.
He forced himself to finish the entire cup while enduring the intense bitterness attacking his taste buds. Even though he had been in Shadow form at the time and had to maintain the dignity of an Eminence in Shadow, he still couldn't help making a complaint afterward.
"This really is quite a refined bitterness."
(Translation: Eta, your taste is very refined. But it's too refined for me. Please give me something more ordinary… like sweet things. Sweet things…)
As expected from a childhood friend who had grown up with him and even played all those chuunibyou games together. She practically came with a built-in translator.
Eta understood immediately. She looked visibly dejected, so much so that he almost softened.
But sorry, Eta. I'm not giving in.
The things you've been giving me have been getting more and more bitter. At this point they're almost comparable to poison.
Fortunately, Eta was a good girl. Instead of pretending not to understand his hint and continuing to bring him food that, in his eyes, might as well have been poison, she started bringing him milk instead.
"This is really great."
Letting your mind wander while soaking in the bath does that. Time passes incredibly fast while you drift through random thoughts.
He could feel the milk in his stomach being digested, its nutrients carried throughout his body by the accelerated blood circulation caused by the hot bath.
For some reason, even though the milk he drank had been cold, he could feel warmth spreading through his body.
Well, it was probably just the illusion created by soaking in hot water.
Cid stood up, drained the bathtub, got dressed, and walked out of the bathroom, preparing to head to school and continue playing his background character role.
Oh, right.
Remembering something, Cid returned to the bedroom. From among the scattered Devil summoning flyers in the drawer, he picked out a student ID and placed it on the table.
It belonged to Yukina Himeragi.
"Seriously… I actually forgot to write down where I put the student ID on the note last night. At this hour she's probably already on her way to school. I'll just give it back to her once we get there."
After making up his mind, Cid grabbed his things and prepared to head next door to call Nagisa Akatsuki so they could go to school together.
But the moment he opened the door, someone called out to him.
"Cid."
"Senpai."
? ×2
Cid turned around and saw Yukina Himeragi and Nagisa Akatsuki standing together.
After calling out to him at the same time, the two girls looked at each other, surprise written across their faces, both seemingly wondering why the other one also knew Cid.
"Senpai? Yukina-chan, didn't you just transfer here? How do you know Cid? Are you and Cid already acquainted?"
Nagisa Akatsuki was the first to react. A hint of tension appeared on her face as she asked Yukina Himeragi.
"Um… well… that…"
Yukina Himeragi stammered, unsure how to respond. After all, quite a lot had happened yesterday.
It would be far too embarrassing to say that she met him because she lost her wallet, nearly fainted from hunger on the street, and was rescued by Cid.
And if she said they met because of the incident with the Armed Apostle, it might drag Nagisa Akatsuki into the matter and also reveal that she belonged to the Lion King Organization.
Although Cid had already told her that her identity didn't really need to be kept secret at school. Among the children of high-ranking figures from various factions, someone like her wasn't particularly special. Some people might have already uncovered her background back when she first enrolled.
Even so, she still felt it was better to keep it secret if possible.
At the very least, Nagisa Akatsuki didn't look like someone from the upper ranks of any faction. She seemed more like the type of naturally gifted student from an ordinary background.
"Yukina-chan, how exactly do you know Cid? Did you meet him even earlier than I did?"
Seeing Yukina Himeragi remain silent, Nagisa Akatsuki's imagination began running wild. If this continued, there was no telling what kind of story she might come up with.
"Nagisa-chan, it's not what you're thinking. I met Senpai because he helped me on the street yesterday. That's how we got acquainted. It's really nothing like what you're imagining."
Feeling the pressure mounting, Yukina Himeragi realized she had to explain something, but she still tried to gloss over the events of yesterday as much as possible.
"Really?"
Nagisa Akatsuki looked skeptical.
"Really."
Yukina Himeragi nodded firmly.
"Then what happened, Yukina-chan?"
Nagisa Akatsuki's curiosity was clearly piqued.
"Well…"
Yukina Himeragi's gaze drifted awkwardly.
"Sorry, sorry. That must be Yukina-chan's private matter. I shouldn't pry."
Nagisa Akatsuki quickly regained her composure. Noticing Yukina Himeragi's discomfort, and believing her explanation for the most part, she immediately apologized. After all, Yukina Himeragi had no reason to lie to her.
"No, it's not really private. I just need Cid-senpai's permission before I can talk about it."
Now it was Yukina Himeragi who felt a little embarrassed. After thinking for a moment, she decided to ask Cid for help.
"Really? Cid, can you tell me about what happened between you and Yukina-chan yesterday? Is that okay?"
Both girls turned their eyes toward Cid again.
But Cid was currently lost in thought.
His senses were rather dull, and he knew it himself. His Atomic Radar could detect what others were doing, but it couldn't sense their emotions toward him. Things people described as presence, killing intent, or hatred were completely undetectable to him unless someone openly displayed them right in front of him.
After all, when someone walks down the street, do they pay attention to how the ants by the roadside are looking at them?
Why bother?
They're just ants. If they jump out, you simply crush them.
Compared to that, he actually considered himself relatively restrained. At the very least, he still cared about malicious intent directed toward him. If someone openly showed ill will in front of him, he would simply find an opportunity to deal with them.
But right now, he was wondering if he should train his perception a bit more.
For example, just earlier, the two of them had been waiting right behind the door and he hadn't noticed at all. A normal person could at least sense someone's gaze. They wouldn't be like him, unable to detect anything.
He couldn't possibly keep his Atomic Radar running twenty-four hours a day.