Today marks exactly one month since classes started. In the first few weeks of trying to change Shido's mindset,
I had to choose my words carefully, since I'm not sure how far I can go.
I'm not exactly sure if it's working, after all, it's something mental and it's a slow process. As for his body, so far,
there are no issues. Even though he doesn't have any features that indicate something is wrong.
I can feel my ability in him, like a poison that's slowly changing him. I made it so that it only activates when he's near me,
so I can see the changes myself. Since it's my ability, given by the Goddess, I doubt it could be detected by the machines from Ratatoskr.
Of course, although I'm quite focused on molding Shido to my liking, I haven't forgotten what I need to do.
So, during the nights of the past month, I've spent my time looking for an "important" person.
During lunch, I go with Shido to the rooftop. In the first few days, Origami tried to come and spy on Shido, but I made it so that she couldn't find us.
I chose the rooftop because it's usually empty.
Now, Shido and I could be called "friends." In my view, there's no way to become friends in such a short time, but to Shido,
it seems like I am his friend, so I have no complaints.
At the moment, we are heading to the cafeteria to buy lunch, and I notice a girl carrying several books. She looks like she's struggling,
almost like she's about to fall because of the weight, but I ignore her. "I wonder what to buy for lunch today."
I take a few steps and notice that Shido isn't following me.
He's now trying to help the girl, and she seems to accept his assistance.
"Aurélio-san, you can go ahead. I'll help her carry these books to the library. I'll pay for lunch tomorrow," he says, as I nod and give my response.
"Sure, Shido-san, I'll meet you at our usual spot."
As he walks away, I click my tongue. "Tsk," I mutter. Why waste time with that? I can't understand it; she didn't even ask for help.
I buy lunch in the cafeteria and head up to the rooftop. On the way, I see Origami sitting alone in the cafeteria,
but I don't care and just leave things as they are.
Shido arrives a few minutes later, and we start our conversation. Generally, it's about simple topics—the kind of
things you talk about with someone just to pass the time.
Then I say,
"Shido-san," at this moment, I activate my ability.
"Why did you help that girl?" I ask in a genuinely curious tone.
"Well... she seemed to need help, so I helped because it was the right thing to do," he hesitates at first but soon responds with conviction.
"But she didn't ask for help," I say to him in a tone that doesn't reveal any emotion.
"Yes?" he replies, looking confused, as if he doesn't understand what I said.
"I said that she didn't ask for help, so there was no reason to do it," I respond as if what I said was common sense.
"But she needed help," he says a little louder.
"Yeah, she needed it, but she didn't ask, which means she could handle it on her own."
"But she accepted…"
"Of course she did, Shido-san. You offered to help, so there was no reason for her to refuse. But Shido-san,
just because someone seems to need help doesn't mean they actually do."
"She might have accepted simply because refusing would make her seem too proud to accept help."
"I don't understand..."
"Shido-san, people need to go through challenges to become a better version of themselves. These challenges must be faced alone.
When someone tries to help, even if they didn't ask for it, it might just end up hindering them or even being humiliating."
"That girl could've done it alone, but by stepping in, you basically judged her as someone who couldn't even carry books by herself,"
I say as if explaining common sense to a child.
"So, am I wrong to try to help?" he asks, sounding a bit dejected.
"Shido-san, you shouldn't waste kindness on strangers. You should use everything you have to help those you love and who are important to you.
Soon, I will be the most important thing in your life, so I don't need you wasting time on pointless things."
"If someone asks for help, you see if you can help. If you can't, then simply do nothing, because you might end up making things worse."
This kind of conversation is normal between us. It's a way to change his values to what will be best for me in the future.
Initially, when we had these kinds of conversations in the first few days, he rejected what I said. But now, he accepts it to some extent.
"I guess that's progress."
"So, you're saying I should just ignore someone who seems to need help until they ask for it, is that it?"
"Almost, Shido-san. Sometimes there are situations where this doesn't apply, like when a person doesn't have the ability to
ask for help or when the request comes from someone important to you."
"Hmmm," he makes a sound like he's thinking.
"I think I understand, Aurélio-san, but isn't that a bit selfish?" Of course, it is, but that's how the world works.
"Maybe a little, but it's a fact that we can't always meddle in other people's business. Besides, interfering in other people's
affairs without permission is also selfish."
"What do you think of the lunch?" He looks a little surprised by the sudden change of subject but decides to go along.
"It's great." I must be careful with how much I try to change his values. If I go too fast, it could end up badly for me.
Fortunately, my voice helps to persuade others more easily. I deactivate the ability while continuing trivial conversations with Shido.
It's nighttime now, and I'm heading to my meeting point. The "important" person I spent a month looking for was one of the most influential
people in the Underworld. It was extremely difficult to get in touch with him.
I don't even know his name because he had so many names spread around. There are so many that some think it's multiple people, while it's actually just one.
To make contact with him, at first, I went after criminals and tortured them for answers, of course, without showing my powers as a Spirit,
just a certain level of superhuman strength, reflexes, and fighting skills.
But this approach didn't work at all. The guy is extremely well-hidden. In the end, the only reason I made contact was because one of his
goons came to me while I was torturing a random criminal.
I had a brief conversation with this guy over the phone, and in the end, to create a business bridge, I would have to pay 500 million yen.
Honestly, that's a huge hit to my finances since it's basically a quarter of my money.
Initially, I didn't agree, because there was no proof that he was the one I was looking for. Until he started reciting various information,
even the fact that I am a Spirit. I also noticed that under the suit of the guy who brought the phone, there was a Realizer.
I decided to agree. Even though it was a lot of money, I can recover it from other criminals.
I arrive at the meeting point and get into the car as it drives into a tunnel. Instead of continuing, it stops, and the driver presses a button,
opening a passage that we go through.
Getting out of the car, we walk a bit and enter through a door. After passing through several hallways, we reach a door.
I enter calmly, knowing that even if they know about me, I can just put on my Astral Dress and Angel, and kill them or escape.
I noticed that all the guards walking through the corridors are equipped with the latest generation Realizer.
This shows that this guy has some pretty high contacts in the government.
"Hello, Aurélio-kun. May I know to what I owe the honor of your visit?" A guy in a black suit who looks about 26 years old
says as soon as I enter. He has black hair and brown eyes.
"What should I call you?" I ask, since I don't know his name, after all, there were so many I found over the last month.
"Call me whatever you like," he says with a smile.
"Sure, Lars, let's start our business," I say, using the first name I found.
"So, what does Aurélio-kun want with me? I heard you were looking for me," he says as if I were an old friend of his.
"And don't worry, you're one of our VIP clients, so any information about you won't be sold to anyone, even if they pay much more than you." I'm a VIP client?
"I'm a VIP client? This is my first time here."
"Yes, because you paid to be a VIP client. Only VIP clients can have a conversation with me."
"Going back to what you said before, why wouldn't you sell my information?"
"Simple, because it's bad for business. All my clients need to trust that they are safe," he says in a professional tone.
"And why do you think I wouldn't kill you?" I ask, knowing that he knows I'm a Spirit.
"For several reasons. You need me. No one who doesn't know the other side and wants to kill the other would spend 500 million yen,
don't you think?" He's not entirely wrong.
"So, what do you need?" He asks with a smile on his face.
"Many things, but not all of them are for now."
"Of course, I'll leave you a way to contact me if you need anything." He never takes the smile off his face, but his eyes don't lie.
He only cares about profit, even if I am a Spirit. He doesn't care, as long as I have money.
"What do you need today?" he asks with curiosity.
"I want you to send a team to my house to create a secret passage in the basement. Make it so it's 500 meters underground.
In this passage, I want it to have 20 different rooms, with 10 of them being similar to a regular house,
5 being a prison capable of withstanding attacks from multiple Realizers, and 3 being storage rooms.
The last 2 should be torture rooms. I also want everything furnished. As you already know what my
house is like, furnish everything with a design similar to it," I say, detailing my request.
"Of course, we can do all of this in 3 days. It could be faster, but I guess you don't want to draw attention, right?"
"Yes."
"That will be 91,542,500 yen." He's definitely a mercenary; those 500 million yen were just to meet him, and now he's charging again.
"If I find out that information about me is out there because of you, you can be sure you won't survive, even if you have all the luck in the world."
"Of course, I know that, Aurélio-kun. I sincerely hope our partnership lasts a long time," he says with a chuckle at the end.
"I'm leaving." As I stand up to leave the table, he hands me a number.
"Call whenever you like; this is a number for VIP clients, and you can contact me directly through it. Have a safe trip home."
When I walk out after a few minutes, I hear a boom.
Lars destroyed the area where we were just to make sure there was no evidence of our meeting. But I ignore it, since it has nothing to do with me.
I decide to go to a hotel for the next few days. I don't think Lars will need a key. His team will invade my house and leave as if they'd never been there.
I can deduce this from what I saw here. His guards were all strong. Of course, nothing that could be a problem, but they weren't novices with Realizers.
They were definitely strong by human standards.
I find a hotel and go to the reception.
"Good evening, how can I help you?" The receptionist says with a smile.
"I'll be staying in a room for 5 days. I want everything included. I'll pay in advance." I pay and head to my room.
I throw myself on the bed to get some sleep. Even though my body doesn't need it, it's been almost a whole month since I last slept, and it's mentally exhausting.
POV Change:
On the Fraxinus, the entire crew is reviewing reports and noting down data on the Spirits with the most appearances in recent months.
"Commander, after the last appearance of the
Although we obtained a lot of information about him last time, we still don't have a concrete method to help him,"
says Kannazuki, who is currently responsible for
"Yes, even though we obtained a lot, that 'a lot' is still almost nothing because the
thought we knew about Spirits," Kotori replies.
"We don't have a specific way to help him yet, but we'll try to communicate with him when Shido joins Ratatoskr," Kotori tells her Vice Commander.
"The Commander is always so kind," says Kannazuki with a smug smile, while Kotori breaks her lollipop with her teeth.
"Reine, any progress?" Kotori asks Reine, who is analyzing the Spirit's energy and his Angel.
"Nothing too relevant. His energy is still fluctuating a lot, and his current weapon is his Angel, not a Demon King,
which indicates that he's probably not fully Inverted yet, even though the energy he emits is completely Inverted."
"The only thing not Inverted about him is his Angel."
Kotori is a little worried about Reine, who, for some reason, keeps analyzing this Spirit nonstop. Even though he is something new,
she is pushing herself much more than usual.
"Reine, are you okay? Lately, you've been resting even less," Kotori asks with concern.
"I'm fine, just..." She doesn't finish the sentence, and Kotori drops the question, knowing she won't get more of an answer.
"Alright, just don't overdo it."
"Okay," Reine responds in a tired voice.
The
a real threat to her plans, as he has proven to be strong and considerably aggressive, and he possesses an
"Natanael," she whispers.
She doesn't even know his true power because the computers can't identify what he is doing; they only know he used energy for something.
Meanwhile, Shido is thinking about his friend.
"Could he be right? Am I really wrong for meddling in other people's affairs? Am I being selfish by getting involved where I'm not called?"
Shido questions himself. His friend Aurélio is a really nice guy.
But he always says some things that are strange.
"Could my common sense be wrong?" The more he thinks about it, the more he feels like he's the one in the wrong.
"Aurélio-san is intelligent, talented, handsome, and popular in class, to the point where girls from other classes talk about him."
"Someone like that says I'm living the wrong way, and the most complicated thing is that I can't find a flaw in his words." Shido, who is slowly being
brainwashed while listening to Aurélio's voice, which has a certain degree of mental influence, is changing without even realizing it.
"Maybe I should listen to what Aurélio-san says. He seems to know what he's talking about." Even though both are 17 years old, Aurélio seems
like someone experienced, who matured early in life. In Shido's eyes, his friend Aurélio is someone who has much more life experience,
and thus his advice tends to seem wiser than it really is.
As he thinks about these conversations, he ends up falling asleep, not noticing his changes and how he's slowly letting Aurélio into his life in ways he shouldn't.