Cid felt like something about the current situation was a little off.
Looking ahead, he saw the gothic loli scrutinizing him. To his left were the expressionless Ophis and Lilith. To his right, Asia and Astarte were watching him with worried faces.
How did things end up like this? Cid could not help but think back.
"Well, well, Cid. You and these two by your side really have been getting up to some wild things..."
Natsuki Minamiya spoke with meaningful sarcasm, keeping that terrifying smile on her face as her eerie, lifeless eyes moved back and forth between Cid, Ophis, and Lilith.
Oh, right. He remembered now. After Azazel left, Natsuki Minamiya had originally just been complaining while going through the usual motions of asking him how he had managed to provoke Azazel, to see if there was any way to help resolve it.
Everything had been going fine. If nothing unexpected happened, he would soon be able to fool Natsuki-chan and get through this. But the moment you said "if nothing unexpected happened," something unexpected was definitely going to happen.
"So annoying. Does Father-sama hate her that much? Should Lilith get rid of her?"
Lilith's short sentence shocked everyone present except Ophis. Ophis simply thought the situation was not chaotic enough.
"Lilith-chan, you can't do that. Good girls can't just go around killing people whenever they feel like it..."
Asia's miserable cry rang beside him. Unlike Natsuki Minamiya, Asia knew very well how powerful Lilith was, so she had no doubt that if she did not stop her, Lilith really would slap Natsuki-chan to death.
"Asia, Mom? Why can't I kill her? This woman is such a bother."
Lilith spoke in confusion. She did not understand. Natsuki Minamiya was clearly the one causing trouble, so why was Asia stopping her from slapping that trouble dead?
"But killing people is wrong, right?"
Asia clasped her hands together and tried to teach Lilith. Cid supported that part. Personalities like Ophis and Lilith's, where they wanted to kill at the drop of a hat, really did need to be corrected.
"I'm asking you a question. Turn your head back here, Cid. Are you bold enough to ignore me now?"
Natsuki Minamiya's furious voice rang out while Cid was thinking, followed by the loud sound of her small palm slapping the table. Yes, very loud.
"I'm sorry, Natsuki-sensei..."
Cid admitted fault and apologized decisively. Although he did not know what he had done wrong, apologizing first was always the right move.
"You..."
Cid's swift, clean apology instead left Natsuki Minamiya at a loss. She stalled for a moment, looked at him with a strange expression, then sighed after a long while.
"Forget it. It's probably another stroke of bad luck, or some important figure came looking for you again. What's going on with these two?"
Natsuki Minamiya rubbed her forehead, sounding exhausted as she turned to look at Ophis and Lilith, who had already gotten close to Asia and were now sitting obediently on the sofa listening to her talk.
It was not that she had failed to notice these two identical little lolis earlier, but because they looked so young and she could not sense any power fluctuations from them at all, she had simply let Asia keep an eye on them. Their testimonies would be more or less the same anyway, so adding these two little lolis would not make any difference. They might not even be able to speak clearly.
But now, it seemed her decision back then might have been a little too hasty.
Natsuki Minamiya narrowed her eyes slightly, opened the folding fan in her hand, and fanned herself while repeatedly sizing up the two little ones before her. Yet after observing them several times, all she could see was how seriously they were listening to Asia. There was nothing abnormal about them, as if Lilith's words just now were nothing more than a thoughtless remark from a naughty child.
"Talking about killing me so casually. I really have been underestimated, haven't I?"
Cid glanced at Natsuki Minamiya strangely. Why did it feel like Natsuki-chan had just raised a flag with that line?
"Hey, Cid, who exactly are these two? Don't tell me they're ordinary people. Ordinary people don't talk about killing someone every time they open their mouths."
"Maybe it really was just a thoughtless remark from a brat?"
Cid casually stated the truth. He was certain what he had said was the right answer, because Lilith really was a brat who had been born less than half a day ago. That was why, when she felt Natsuki Minamiya was bothering her, she wanted to imitate Ophis and take action directly. That was the truth, but whether Natsuki-chan would believe it was another matter.
"I told you not to joke around, Cid. You may have gotten yourself dragged into something extremely troublesome..."
Cid tilted his head and dodged the fan Natsuki Minamiya swung at him, then twitched the corner of his mouth. People were just like that. No one believed you when you told the truth.
"What are these two really? I asked you in the office before and you wouldn't tell me. I could give you a pass then, Cid, but not now. Their values are far too dangerous..."
Listening to Natsuki Minamiya's grave voice, Cid merely glanced at her suspicious face from the corner of his eye before immediately looking away. At the same time, he spoke without the slightest burden on his conscience.
"Infinite Dragon God."
"..."
"I know you might not believe me, Natsuki-sensei, but Ophis really is the Infinite Dragon God, the top wanted criminal who leads the terrorist organization Hero Faction and has attacked locations all over the world..."
Cid spoke calmly, but suddenly seemed to sense something. His voice stopped, and he stepped left, avoiding Natsuki Minamiya's folding fan attack.
"Nice reflexes. But that's no reason for you to toy with your teacher, Cid. I'm not joking. Tell me their true identities. As long as there aren't any major problems, I can overlook what they said earlier and the issue of their identities."
Natsuki Minamiya praised Cid once, but her face was dark as she stared at him. The ordinary fan she had just used to attack him was now trembling in her hand, before finally snapping in two with a crack.
Yeah, it was obvious Natsuki-chan was really angry this time. Fair enough. Natsuki-chan had already gone above and beyond for me as her student. But...
I'm telling the truth, Natsuki-sensei. Why won't you believe me? The two in front of you really are the Infinite Dragon Gods.
Cid sighed helplessly and said nothing more. Natsuki-chan had already formed a bias. Until she saw proof, she would not believe it.
"I don't know."
"Huh? You don't know, Cid?"
"That's right, Natsuki-sensei. If they aren't the Infinite Dragon Gods, then I don't know who Ophis and Lilith are either."
Cid spoke expressionlessly. He felt his meaning was clear enough, but he had still underestimated Ophis and Lilith's current ability to hide themselves.
"Cid, I admit I was the one who started this joke, but can you stop obsessing over the Infinite Dragon God every single day? Whether she's even alive right now is still up in the air."
"No, even if the Infinite Dragon God is still alive, can you please point out which of the two in front of me is the Infinite Dragon God? I'll report it right now and have every faction come together to surround and eliminate her."
Natsuki Minamiya complained irritably, suspecting that Cid had taken a grudge over her careless complaint from before and now brought up the Infinite Dragon God every so often just to annoy her.
Damn it, everyone knows there is only one Infinite Dragon God in this world. What are these two in front of me supposed to be? Did the Infinite Dragon God reproduce asexually?
And now she appears as a loli? Everyone knows the Infinite Dragon God appears as an old man. If you are going to trick someone, at least gather the proper information first.
"Well, Natsuki-sensei, although Ophis was split in two by someone else, she should be able to transform, right?"
"..."
Natsuki Minamiya glanced at Cid, shaken by his stubborn persistence. After thinking it over, she still examined Ophis on the floor, mainly just in case.
"So this is the Infinite Dragon God? Then that Magical Power fluctuation is really hilarious... I really got played..."
Natsuki Minamiya sighed. Having failed to sense any significant Magical Power fluctuations from either Ophis or Lilith, the corner of her mouth twitched as she mocked herself, then swung her fan at Cid again. Cid dodged again.
"Forget it, Cid. Aren't you going to explain why that little girl called you Father-sama earlier?"
Natsuki Minamiya looked away, no longer wanting to bother with Ophis and Lilith's identities. Judging from Cid and Asia's attitudes, they probably were not going to tell her.
Even if something really happened, it did not matter. She had already checked. They would be a little troublesome, but she could win. So if something did happen, she would simply take action and throw these two into the Prison Barrier.
"That... I don't know."
"You don't know again?"
Natsuki Minamiya cried out in disbelief. Looking at Cid's face, she was honestly almost laughed out of anger.
What the hell? You were practically involved in this whole thing from start to finish. You took the benefits, you met the people, and now you're telling me you don't know? Do you think we're idiots?
"Yeah. Lilith just inexplicably started calling me Father-sama after meeting me once. Before that, I didn't even know her. As for why she calls me Father-sama, don't ask me. Even she doesn't know why. It's just that Ophis and Lilith listen to Asia and me more than others."
Cid nodded lightly. Thinking back on everything that had happened today so far, he could only say the theme was pure inexplicability. He did not know how the fight started, but it definitely would have turned into a fight.
But that was normal, wasn't it? In reality, who had that much time to dig into every cause? So he did not need to care at all.
"Inexplicable, huh? Looks like your luck is as bad as ever, Cid..."
Natsuki Minamiya muttered under her breath. For some reason, her expression turned grave and she nodded, making even Cid curious about what she had imagined.
"Did you think of something, Natsuki-sensei?"
"Tsk, nothing. I'm just amazed by your ability to attract trouble, you jinx..."
"No matter how you look at it, this shouldn't be my fault. It should be theirs, right?"
Sensing that Natsuki Minamiya did not want to tell him, Cid did not ask further. He simply followed her train of thought and changed the subject.
"Shut up. Hurry up and leave. Nothing good ever happens when I run into you, Cid..."
As if angry from embarrassment, Natsuki Minamiya glared at Cid. The Magic Circle in her hand flashed, and she vanished from the spot.
"Looks like she left just like that..."
Seeing Natsuki Minamiya disappear, Cid shook his head and walked toward Ophis and the others, who were still listening to Asia speak.
"Why didn't you let us act and prove that my daughter and I are the Infinite Dragon God?"
Noticing Cid's arrival, Ophis shifted her attention from Asia to Cid and asked calmly.
"Don't. That would be too much trouble..."
Cid was not surprised. A distance of a dozen meters was enough for Ophis to hear their whole conversation, so he did not ask. He only shook his head.
Rather than get stuck proving whether Ophis was the Infinite Dragon God, it was better to simply try to bluff through it. After all, he just did not want to lie and end up embarrassed if he got exposed later.
"Besides, there's no point."
Proving Ophis was the Infinite Dragon God was completely meaningless. It would either make a bunch of ambitious people who should not know about this jump out and cause trouble, or get them targeted by a bunch of random people and dragged into fights.
"Cid is really strange."
Ophis looked at Cid for a while, said that, then sat back down and continued watching Asia.
"Am I? I don't think so."
Cid shrugged and asked casually in return, not taking the matter to heart.
"All right, Ophis, Lilith, Asia, we should leave. Natsuki-chan has already kicked us out."
"Oh."
"Mm, understood, Father-sama."
"Huh? Well..."
Ophis and Lilith did not mind. They were fine no matter where they were. Asia, however, did have some questions and wanted to know what exactly had happened. Still, she did not ask and simply followed behind Cid.
After walking out of the Island Guard hall, Cid looked into the void, at the enormous Magic Circle that was already close to taking shape, and the corner of his mouth curved up subtly.
"Cid-san, is something wrong?"
"No, nothing..."
Seeing Asia's worried expression, Cid waved his hand to show that she did not need to worry.
"It's just that something good happened."
I hope Epsilon is okay...
Cid silently prayed for his childhood friend, then left the Island Guard.
"Something good?"
"Don't worry about it, don't worry about it..."
...
On the roof of the building next door, Azazel watched the group below through a pair of sunglasses. He wanted to make contact, but he was worried that Ophis would slap him to death, so all he could do was observe from a distance.
What a pain. How exactly did that Cid make Ophis and Lilith follow him so obediently?
The more Azazel observed Cid, Asia, Ophis, and Lilith's actions, the more confused he became. This was no longer something that could be explained by having nerves of steel, yet in terms of strength, he truly could not see anything special.
"Buzz..."
In the middle of his confusion, the Magic Circle in Azazel's chest suddenly lit up.
"Laugus? You want me to attend an evening banquet you're hosting? That doesn't really seem like your style. Fine, I'll go."