Arcueid's shopping spree continued until dusk, from ten in the morning to half-past five in the evening—a full seven and a half hours.
Compared to Arcueid, who was still brimming with energy and showed no signs of fatigue, Naoki and Ayaka looked utterly exhausted, both physically and in their expressions. Following Arcueid for seven and a half hours had worn out even Naoki, who was practically a superhuman, let alone Ayaka, who was relatively normal.
Now, she was completely limp, just as she had predicted earlier—she didn't want to move a single finger.
"Here, dinner."
At that moment, Naoki brought three servings of dinner and placed them on the table.
The three were now at a restaurant on a culinary street in the heart of Misaki City. Since it was dinnertime, Naoki had forcibly dragged Arcueid, who wanted to keep wandering, and half-coerced her into eating dinner.
As for Ayaka, he had carried her. Wandering through three streets all afternoon was truly grueling for an ordinary girl like her.
"I already called Touko and Ciel. They'll have dinner on their own. After we finish eating, we'll head back and meet up with them."
"Mm…"
Replying weakly, Ayaka picked up her spoon and scooped some rice, but before she could eat, her hand went limp.
"Ugh… I can't. I'm so exhausted from walking all day that I don't even have an appetite."
Physically and mentally drained—that was the only way Ayaka could describe herself. The physical exhaustion from walking wasn't actually that bad. The main issue was Arcueid's actions, which caused her mental stress to skyrocket. Essentially, Arcueid would enter every shop just to look around, then leave, never lingering long.
Normally, that would be fine, but the problem was she looked around the entire shop—not just the front, but also the back storage areas and even restaurant kitchens.
["Because I was curious about what's back there."]
That was Arcueid's reasoning. As a result, she was forcibly kicked out by shop owners. Fortunately, Ayaka and Naoki were there to mediate, or else, with Arcueid's personality, there would've been some bloody incidents.
She was close to Naoki and the others, but that didn't mean she'd be friendly with strangers.
Staring at Arcueid, who was eating voraciously beside her, Ayaka let out a tired sigh. "Miss Arcueid… are you always like this?"
"Yup."
"Why do you wander around like this? Normal sightseeing doesn't involve going into the back of other people's shops. Only the public front areas are meant for visitors."
"Hmm—actually, I don't really like wandering around." Arcueid said after thinking for a moment. "You guys know, right? In the past, almost all my waking time was spent hunting Roa, so I didn't care much about changes in the world. But now that I'm free, I'm really curious about the state of the world, so I want to visit every place."
"There's another way, like asking Gaia, but compared to being told in broad strokes, seeing it with my own eyes feels more real."
Naoki sighed. "But you can't just barge in without considering other people's feelings. I told you this morning—humans have a sense of shame. There are some places they don't want others to touch carelessly."
"Huh? The back rooms of shops count too?"
"In some ways, yeah. So, from now on, please be more mindful. Not everyone will always be there to clean up your messes."
Hearing Naoki's advice, Arcueid laughed optimistically. "No problem, no problem. If there's an issue, I'll just use my Mystic Eyes."
Her Mystic Eyes of Enchantment had abilities like locking, brainwashing, and memory manipulation. Arcueid's innate Mystic Eyes.
Indeed, with those Mystic Eyes, no matter what trouble she encountered, Arcueid could walk away easily without leaving any evidence or consequences—at most, the memories of those involved would be a bit scrambled.
"But since Naoki says not to trouble others, I'll hold back more from now on."
"Good. Here, eat this."
As he spoke, Naoki transferred a large piece of chicken thigh from his rice to Arcueid's bowl. Though Arcueid didn't actually need to eat, Naoki's kindness toward her genuinely lifted her mood.
Seeing Arcueid start eating happily like a child, Naoki smiled, then turned to Ayaka. "Ayaka, if you can't eat on your own, want me to feed you?"
"Huh? Feed me? Is that okay?"
"Just feeding you food. It's not a big deal."
As he spoke, Naoki took a spoon, scooped some rice, and brought it to Ayaka's mouth. "Come on, open your mouth, aaaa~"
Ayaka's cheeks flushed slightly. She pursed her lips. "I'm not a kid. Just feed me normally."
"But aren't you eating really slowly?"
Naoki continued scooping rice and feeding it to Ayaka.
Beside them, Arcueid, who was eating, suddenly stopped, pushed her rice bowl toward Naoki, and handed him her spoon.
Naoki blinked. "You want me to feed you too?"
"Yup!"
"Don't you have the energy to eat on your own?"
"No favoritism. You're feeding Ayaka, so you have to feed me too. It looks like Ayaka's really happy being fed by you. I want to know if I'll feel happy too."
Happy?
Hearing Arcueid's words, Ayaka hurriedly turned her head away. Her cheeks felt hot and were bright red.
Being fed by Naoki with his own hands did make her feel a little happy. But why did Arcueid have to say it out loud?
(Naoki won't think I'm weird, right?)
"Isn't it normal to feel happy when eating? Good food naturally makes you happy."
(…)
(Of course he'd say that.)
Letting out a soft sigh, Ayaka took her spoon back. "I've got my strength back. I can eat on my own now. Thanks for feeding me earlier, Naoki."
"Huh? You recovered that fast?"
"Naoki, now feed me!"
"Alright, alright…"
Naoki genuinely felt like he was dealing with another Mordred.
By the way, whether it was just his imagination or not, Naoki felt like several people in the restaurant were staring at him strangely, mostly men.
Was there something weird on his face?