Chapter 912: Wouldn't You Be Happy?
"By the way, has anything good happened recently?"
Eiji gazed out the window, posing the question as if struck by a sudden thought.
"I don't know... Boss, could you focus a little?"
Kazuma glared at Eiji with clear annoyance.
He was gripping his controller, fiercely battling the final boss, while the character Eiji controlled hid in a corner, completely spaced out.
They were in the middle of a raid—couldn't he at least pay attention?
"I'm giving you a chance to train yourself. If I stepped in, where would the challenge be?"
Eiji lazily yawned, brushing off Kazuma's complaint with a casual remark.
His incredible reflexes and prediction skills allowed him to instantly decipher the boss's attack patterns and counter them. Somehow, his intuition even kicked in during such a situation, and before long, he had completely dominated the boss.
"I'd rather have no challenge at all!"
Kazuma happily followed behind him, picking up the spoils.
"Good morning. Are you two still playing games? Did you pull an all-nighter?"
Megumin came downstairs yawning, staring in disbelief at the two sitting in front of the TV.
"We just skipped a tiny bit of sleep, that's all! It's fine!"
Kazuma declared with unwavering confidence.
In the past, Megumin would have scolded Kazuma at a time like this, but today she wasn't in the mood. Her worried eyes scanned the room.
"Has Darkness not returned yet?"
"Nope."
"Could something have happened to her?"
"What could possibly happen?"
Kazuma didn't seem concerned.
If anything went wrong, the Boss would handle it.
Besides, she was just visiting her family. Was there any danger in her own home? She probably hadn't made it back yet because the journey was long!
Megumin thought it made sense but sighed anyway.
"With Darkness not back, we have nothing to do again today..."
Without their main tank, they had no one to hold off monsters, so they didn't dare take on quests recklessly. It would be a joke if they got killed by monsters by accident.
She had asked Eiji for help, but he showed no interest at all. His level had already reached over 40, and even leveling up gave him no noticeable improvements. Why would he join them on quests? So, leveling up was naturally put on hold.
"Boss! I died! What are you doing?"
Kazuma suddenly let out a cry of despair, looking at Eiji with a resentful expression.
Eiji was lowering his head, lost in thought, his attention completely off the game.
His fingers moved deftly, his character precisely dodging the boss's attacks again and again.
And then Kazuma got caught in the crossfire.
"So cool! How do you do that?"
Kazuma's eyes bulged with envy—he wanted cheat-like abilities like that too!
"I'm heading out."
Eiji suddenly tossed his controller aside and walked toward the door.
Faintly, he could hear Kazuma's agonized cry of "I spent the whole night gathering materials!" from behind.
Leaving the villa, Eiji made his way toward the center of town.
Along the road, people were decorating the trees with floral balls, brightening up the streets considerably. Anyone unaware might have thought some important figure was getting married.
In the center of Axel stood a very spacious mansion, enclosed by courtyard walls. Colorful flower beds peeked out from behind the railings—clearly tended to daily, as they were exceptionally neat and beautiful.
"I'm looking for Darkness."
Eiji arrived at the mansion's entrance and addressed the gatekeeper.
"There's no one by that name in our residence, sir."
The guard, noting Eiji's extraordinary appearance and demeanor, didn't dare neglect him, but racked his brain without recalling anyone named Darkness in the mansion.
"She doesn't go by that name at home, huh... Then I'm looking for Lalatina. Please announce me."
"You're looking for the young mistress? Please wait a moment!"
The guard hurriedly ran inside the mansion.
Soon, the guard returned with a troubled expression.
"I'm sorry... The young mistress says there's no one by that name in our residence..."
"?"
Eiji slowly formed a question mark in his mind. What was Darkness playing at?
"Fine, I'll leave then."
Eiji didn't indulge her either, turning to leave immediately.
Seeing this, the guard seemed to want to say something but hesitated. After a moment, he turned back into the mansion with a frustrated expression.
"Young mistress, that person has left."
"He left?"
Darkness was taken aback, her expression shifting multiple times, her eyes becoming complex.
"Never mind, if he's gone then he's gone... You may return."
The guard obeyed and left, leaving Darkness alone in her room.
She sat at her desk, staring at her reflection in the mirror, silent for a long time.
Unlike her armored attire back at the villa, she had changed into a pure white formal gown that accentuated her curvaceous figure. None of her usual madwoman-like aura remained, presenting instead the image of a dignified lady worthy of her status as a daughter from a prominent family.
"Sigh..."
But what was the use of dressing so beautifully?
If possible, she didn't want to dress up like a caged bird at all—sitting idly in her chambers, forced to put on a smiling face for someone she didn't care for. Instead, she'd rather wear armor and wield a sword, galloping across fields and battling monsters with her companions at the villa.
But unfortunately, her days of freedom no longer belonged to her.
Crack!
A crisp sound suddenly rang out, startling Darkness. Turning around, she witnessed a shocking scene that nearly made her eyes pop out.
"Y-y-y-you... How are you here!"
Eiji stood outside the window, having used his fingertip strength to unlock it from the inside.
"Is this your room?"
He jumped into the room, casually looking around.
"Where else would it be!"
Darkness's face flushed slightly red. Though she felt furious inside, she also experienced intense joy. These conflicting emotions made her expression incredibly complex—wanting to both laugh and get angry.
"How did you get in? This is the third floor!"
"I jumped in. You didn't think a place like this could stop me, did you?"
Well, that was true.
"...Why are you here?"
"I thought you might be having some trouble, so I came to check on you."
Darkness sat back in her chair, averting her gaze.
The corners of her mouth threatened to curl upward, but she suppressed them with formidable willpower.
"I'm not having any trouble here. You can go back now."
"Is that so?"
Eiji gave her a thoughtful look.
"Alright then, I'm leaving."
What?
Wait, wait—you're really leaving?
Darkness quickly turned around just in time to see Eiji heading toward the door.
"Hey!! Where do you think you're going!?"
"Didn't you tell me to leave?"
"Not through the door! What if someone misunderstands!?"
"Isn't that even better?"
"Better...? Wh-what's better about that?"
A blush spread across Darkness's face as her voice inexplicably dropped an octave.
What's better?
Does this guy think it's fine if people misunderstand?
Or... does he actually want people to think we're together?
"If people misunderstand, wouldn't you be happy about it?"