It was a peaceful afternoon, and I was drinking tea at a small table I had
recently purchased.
Incidentally, this is already a common scene. The concept of weeks
doesn't exist in this world, but if I had to use my world's standards, I'd
say that the frequency of Eden-san's visit is about 6 times a week… In
other words, she visits almost every day.
In a way, chatting and drinking tea with Eden-san may have become
one of my daily routines.
Well, though I say that… It doesn't really take a very long time, for it
takes "about 1 second at the shortest, and half an hour at the longest"
for her to start rampaging and end up being blown away by Kuro.
By the way, as a side note, as we've been together for a while, I've also
come to understand some of the omens of Eden-san's rampage.
Although I had first imagined Eden-san that she would go berserk as
soon as the switch is turned on, in reality, there are several phases
before she goes berserk.
First, Phase 1: She starts calling me "her beloved child" when she
usually calls me "Miyama Kaito" or "her child".
This is a danger signal, because it's a sign that Eden-san is getting
excited.
However, if she's just at this phase, she's still relatively safe, as there's
no other change other than the way she calls me.
Phase 2: The words Eden-san says begin to increase.
It's a little surprising, perhaps because the times when she was out of
control just had too strong an impression in my mind… but in normal
times, Eden-san tends to be more of a listener.
She asks me what I've been up to, listens to my stories with a smile, and
occasionally gives me some advice, but she doesn't say much.
However, as Eden-san's excitement increases, she starts to talk more
and more, and gradually starts to speak faster and faster. With her like
that, I should treat it as the ready signal starting to flash.
Phase 3: A deep smile creeps on Eden-san's face.
This is also unexpected considering that Eden-san was usually out of
control, but she's usually smiling calmly and her expression is gentle.
And when her smile turns deeper, looking just like a predator aiming at
its prey, it's already a red light. Pouring a light amount of magic power
into my necklace, I tell Kuro that Eden-san is about to go berserk.
She will come to help me even if I don't tell her, but it will be faster if I
do this in advance.
Phase 4: The final phase, Eden-san's eyes become muddy and a black
heart begins to appear.
With her like that, she's only seconds before she goes out of control, or
she's almost out of control already. How should I say this… When Edensan's eyes, which are usually as beautiful as rainbows, start to get
muddy, her excitement is almost at its maximum, which is extremely
dangerous.
But well, even though I say there are such phases… It doesn't mean I
can always detect the signs of Eden-san's rampage.
This is because those four phases I just mentioned don't necessarily
move from one phase to another. Those phases… all of them may be
triggered all at once, even directly going to the final phase, so I can't be
too careful around her.
To make matters worse, although it isn't that frequent… There were
times when "she's already at phase 4 when she appears", out of control
right from the very start. The only thing that's scary about this is that I
can't predict when that happens because it was a complete mystery.
Incidentally, when she's not out of control, Eden-san isn't dangerous at
all, and most of her conversations are about asking about my current
circumstances and my health. The expressions she had at those times
were gentle and her mood was calm.
As long as she doesn't get out of control, she really was just as she calls
herself, a magnanimous mother gently looking over her child. No,
seriously, the impression her rampages had is just so strong that it
overrides everything, but she is a kind person as long as she doesn't go
on a rampage. Unnn, well, there's about a 99% chance that she'll go out
of control within 30 minutes though…
[…And that's why, I sometimes feel like eating some junk foods.]
[I can understand how you feel. I guess changes like this brought the
enjoyment of food.]
[That's right.]
Although it was just idle chit-chat, Eden-san smiled happily and agreed
with me. No, seriously, how much better it would be if she's always like
this…
[Speaking of which, Eden-san, do you have a favorite food?]
[Let's see. I don't really require meals… but I like burgers.]
[…Eh?]
Going with the flow of the conversation, I asked, but the answer I
received was just too unexpected. Eden-san's favorite food is burger?
How should I say this… I don't mean to be rude, but that was really
unexpected.
I mean, I can't imagine her eating a burger at all in my mind. Though I
say that, I think it would be rude for me to be too shaken about this, so I
retracted my surprised expression and spoke.
[…I see. I like burgers too. There are many kinds of burgers, but what
kind of burgers do you like, Eden-san?]
It was rare for Eden-san to talk about herself. No, of course, if I asked
her about something, she would answer me, but I hadn't had much of a
chance to ask her about her preferences, as she often just listened to me
talk about myself.
I wonder if that's why, as when I agreed and curiously asked her… Edensan's eyes seemed to light up for a moment.
[Really!? My child likes burgers too huh! I'm glad, we're the same!!!]
[…Huh?]
Arehh? "Her voice changed"? It's not her usual composed voice, but a
cute voice that sounds a little young… Rather, hasn't her tone of voice
changed too?
[As for what kind of burger I like… Hmmm. That's a very difficult
question. There are so many different kinds of burgers, and all of them
have different deliciousness, so it's hard to choose just one.]
[T- That's true.]
[However, if I had to think about it, I would say that burgers can be
roughly divided into two categories: meat-based and non-meat-based.
Of course, there are other complex types of burgers, such as crispy fried
fish burgers and veggie burgers, but I guess I like meat-based burgers
more! There are three main types of meat-based burgers: beef burgers,
pork burgers, and chicken burgers. This is just my personal opinion, but
consider each burger's advantages… Chicken goes extremely well with
sour sauces and spicy seasonings, doesn't it? Doing it teriyaki-style is
also delicious, and if you think about it, it goes well with burgers that
have a strong sauce flavor. Pork is inferior to beef and chicken in terms
of depth, but it also has its own unique strength. Especially when it
comes to fried food such as cutlets, I think pork is the best choice. It
goes without saying, but beef is the primary representative of burgers,
and it has a solid and stable feel. It's the perfect meat, making me feel
happy when I eat it.]
She started talking like crazy!? However, rather than her usual
craziness, I got the impression that she was just genuinely excited
about the topic being her favorite food.
In any case, Eden-san had a happy expression on her face from start to
finish, and combined with her more innocent expression than usual,
she seemed to feel young suitable for her appearance.
[…but well, we can't exclude the limited-time burgers, right? The word
"limited" just really feels intriguing, and it makes me happy to find new
and challenging flavors. However, if I were to be asked what my favorite
burger is, I would have to say the simplest and most orthodox one. I
guess you could call it the taste of memories, but as it's the flavor that I
fell in love with first, it would have to be… my favorite…]
[...]
Eden-san had been going on and on about burgers, but as she was
about to wrap it up, she seemed to have suddenly realized something
and her voice dropped to a whisper.
Then, moving like she was a broken tine doll, she turned towards me.
Eden-san's face was turning pale, sweat dripping from her face like a
waterfall, and her rainbow-colored eyes were moving around at an
unbelievable speed.
How should I say this… Yes… It's as if she was flusteredness given form.
[…Ummm, Eden-san?]
[…E- Errr, y- y- y- you see… c- can we… just say… just now didn't
happen?]
Seeing Eden-san's expression as she femininely told me this, my heart
couldn't help but skip a beat.
I don't know if it's because Eden-san is the God of a world or that she's
usually somewhat dignified… but yes, she usually has a sense of
confidence around her. If I had to describe it, I'd say that her selfconfidence and awareness of her overwhelming superiority is evident
in the atmosphere around her.
But now, that atmosphere has disappeared, and the way she anxiously
asked me if I could somehow forget about her current blunder, the gap
between her and her usual self was so great that it made her look really
cute.
[Ahh, errr… It's not like I would pursue you about this, so if you'd rather
forget about it, I'll do that.]
[I- I see… Thanks.]
To be honest, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious. After all, she was
completely different from the image I had of Eden-san… but yes, how
should I say this… It was more like "she accidentally showed her true
colors" or something like that.
However, I felt too bad to ask Eden-san, who looked like she was about
to cry, about this, so I chose not to pursue the matter after all.
Thereupon, Eden-san looked really relieved from the bottom of her
heart and patted her chest. I tend to see her usual insanity, but looking
at her like this made me see that Eden-san is also incredibly wellgroomed, which somehow made my heart strangely beat faster.
[…Now then, it would be troubling if I talked too long, so I think I'd
better take my leave.]
Ahh, her usual voice returned. It's understandable if I think that the
way she sounded earlier was an accidental expression of her true self,
but why is it that her voice is clearly different from her usual voice? No,
I'm sure it's easy for Eden-san to change her own voice… but I don't
understand why she would do that.
However, I had just promised that I wouldn't pursue it, so although I
was curious, I would just keep this to myself.
Also, this is quite the rare pattern where Eden-san left without being
kicked out by Kuro. Looking closely, I can see that her cheeks are
slightly blushing red, so she must have been embarrassed.
[I- Is that so, I understand.]
[I'll make up for this blunder in some way, shape or form… I have some
"omnipotent spheres that are useful as watchdogs", so should I give you
about "a trillion" of them?]
[…No thanks.]
Omnipotent spheres? The heck is that, those sound really dangerous…
At the very least, I don't think they're something you can just throw out
as an apology for your blunder… Also, I think I heard something about
her having trillions of those, but that was just my imagination, right?
Unnn, it's just too scary, so let's just say it was my imagination.
[I see, then I'll think about some other way… Well then, if you'll excuse
me.]
[Ah, yes. Later then.]
After watching Eden-san get wrapped in light and disappear from the
room, I tilted my head once more. I don't feel like I've seen a new side of
her, though I might have just been mistaken, but it was shocking in
many ways.
But speaking of which, even though we've been together for a while, I
don't really know Eden-san that much… Hmmm, it might be a good idea
to ask Eden-san a little more about her hobbies and preferences in the
future.
Rather, I think it's a little late for me to say this now but… Eden-san, the
fact that you like burgers so much that you talk about them so much
makes me think that you're more of a commoner than I imagined.