"Well? How about this, Cedran? Surely, you can't complain anymore now, right?" Theo declared triumphantly as he stood up, his excitement barely contained after finishing with the smartphone.
"Indeed," Cedran replied calmly from his chair. "Whether or not he's from Earth, it's clear that he's no ordinary person."
"Right? So, there are no objections to us taking responsibility for Damien?" Theo pressed, still riding the wave of his earlier triumph.
"Huh?" Damien, who had been watching their exchange with lowered guard, suddenly realized they were discussing him.
Cedran nodded thoughtfully. "I have no objections. The Dalehaven family can take responsibility for him, and act as his guardians."
"Of course!" Theo replied enthusiastically. "As long as it's under the name of Theo Caelum Rhys Dalehaven, I'll take full responsibility for Damien's future."
"In that case, I'll have the paperwork prepared. Please wait a moment," Cedran said, standing up from his seat and exiting the room, leaving the two of them alone.
Theo was grinning from ear to ear, while Damien sat there, dumbfounded, trying to grasp what had just been decided. The conversation had quickly spiraled beyond his understanding.
Wait... what? Taking responsibility for him? Did that mean Theo was... adopting him?
Damien couldn't wrap his head around the situation. He didn't believe he had any special value beyond being from another world. Why was Theo so interested in him?
Was he going to be some kind of test subject? A bizarre fascination with people from other worlds? Given Theo's peculiar personality—and that was putting it kindly—it didn't seem entirely impossible.
"Um… excuse me…" Damien began, unsure of how to address the increasingly strange turn of events.
Damien realized he had no choice but to ask about what was happening, so he called out to Theo, who was practically dancing with excitement. The sight of Theo being so elated was, frankly, a little unsettling.
"Yes? What is it, Damien?" Theo immediately stopped his little dance and sat beside Damien on the bed once more.
Too close… Damien thought, feeling his personal space shrinking as Theo settled in next to him.
"Um, I don't really understand what's going on… could you explain it to me?"
"Oh? I thought it had been explained… but maybe it didn't come across. My apologies, I got a bit carried away in the excitement," Theo admitted sheepishly.
So he did realize he was getting carried away... Damien was relieved that this wasn't just Theo's usual behavior.
"Well, first of all, as I'm sure you're aware, Damien, you were considered a suspicious person with no known identity. That's why you were imprisoned here, in the knights' outpost. The cell you were in was part of that process."
So… I really was in prison, huh… Damien thought, feeling a mild shock. He nodded quietly, understanding that, from their perspective, he must have looked suspicious.
"At first, you were just dehydrated, so they took you in to help. But when you woke up and no one could understand your language, you were officially labeled a suspicious foreigner and put into the cell."