"Gulp... that's insanely strong."
Watching the black figure on the screen effortlessly overpower the Fourth Primogenitor, Asagi Aiba could not help but sigh in amazement.
"He really is strong, but the camerawork is kind of bad. At this part they could have shifted to a close up to match the atmosphere. If they used the Fourth Primogenitor's perspective here, they could have emphasized Shadow's oppressive presence. And also here..."
"Stop, stop, stop. Are you treating this like a movie? You're actually critiquing it.
This is footage of a top level battle in the world. And unlike the Netheril Emperor's fight with the Lost Warlord, which ended in a single move with no sense of artistry, this one fully shows the power of both sides. We're lucky we even get to watch it."
Hearing Cid's commentary beside her, Asagi Aiba's mouth twitched.
That critique completely ruined the atmosphere.
"...That's true. Still, it's a shame such a battle couldn't be recorded perfectly."
Cid turned his head slightly so Asagi Aiba would not see his expression. Not that he thought his face would reveal anything that might expose his identity, but after reflecting on earlier events, he felt he should be more careful and improve his mob acting.
"What are you daydreaming about? Pack up and let's go eat. If we don't head to the cafeteria now, we'll miss it. And don't lose to me again in the match this afternoon. It'll be embarrassing."
Not embarrassing at all. Losing to you really isn't embarrassing.
You're basically a cheating player who can jump two or even three major tiers in a deathmatch. Is it really fair to fight a mob character like me?
Cid secretly glanced at Asagi Aiba as she packed her bag and complained silently in his mind.
He had come to Itogami Island because he believed that once the three worlds merged, all kinds of crises would appear, creating the perfect stage for an Eminence in Shadow.
And everyone knew that where there were villains, there would also be protagonists.
Asagi Aiba was one of the people he suspected might be the protagonist.
Her luck was simply too strange.
Once during a practical training exercise, he ended up matched against Asagi Aiba.
Do not ask why a mage would be matched against a magic swordsman in training. The school's explanation was simple.
Because enemies will always target you first in battle, you must have experience dealing with magic swordsmen.
As a spellcaster, he thought that reasoning made sense. So he stayed up all night creating several automatic defense spells, short range teleportation spells, and magic reflection spells, then gave them to Gamma and the witches of Netheril.
As for himself, he did not need those things.
Even if someone managed to break through his magic and get close to him, he would not mind punching their head off.
Back to the main point.
Normally, when a spellcaster fights a magic swordsman, it might be hard to say at high levels, but at low levels the magic swordsman almost always wins.
But during that fight, he discovered something strange about Asagi Aiba.
Every time he launched an attack at her, the trajectory would be subtly altered by some mysterious force, redirecting the attack in a strange way so she would not suffer any serious damage.
That mysterious force was very powerful. Extremely powerful.
It could openly help Asagi Aiba cheat right in front of Natsuki-chan. At the very least, it had to be at the SS level.
Of course, he could ignore that mysterious force and forcibly correct the trajectory of his attacks.
But that was not something a mob character like Cid should be capable of.
So he simply allowed the force to alter his attacks.
After observing it later, he concluded that the power was probably a protective spell related to fate and luck.
The strange thing was that Asagi Aiba herself seemed completely unaware that she had such a protective spell on her.
Someone with a mysterious identity even she did not know about.
Someone hiding her real strength.
Someone who had a working relationship with official authorities.
Her actual combat performance was middle to lower tier, just like his.
Yet after only one year of training, she had already reached C+ or even B- level strength, something that took him seventeen years of hard training.
With a setup like that, in a light novel she would at least be a heroine, even if she was not the protagonist.
At this point he had to complain a little.
The talents of Asagi Aiba and Nagisa Akatsuki were truly ridiculous.
As humans, they were comparable to the descendants of gods or demons.
Especially Nagisa Akatsuki.
Gamma had once shown him the school's talent evaluations for students. In those records, Nagisa Akatsuki's talent was listed as roughly equal to Asagi Aiba's.
But the truth was that Nagisa Akatsuki's talent was actually one level higher.
For some reason, the spiritual power inside Nagisa Akatsuki was always slightly lower than it should be, as if something was constantly draining it. That was why the evaluation listed her talent as equal to Asagi Aiba's.
It was not that Asagi Aiba's talent was weak.
Both of them were absurdly talented.
Even if they did not train seriously, they would still reach at least A or A+ in the future. Some pure blood mythical races with weaker talent probably could not match them.
Which raised a question.
How did these two manage to live as ordinary humans before the worlds merged?
Because the merging of worlds does not increase someone's natural talent.
"Wait a second, let me pack my bag... uh, Asagi, you don't have to wait for me. You can go eat first."
"Huh? Why?"
Hearing that, Asagi Aiba, who had been walking ahead, turned around to look at Cid.
She saw him standing there with his head slightly lowered, looking out the window with a painfully fake smile on his face.
Following his gaze out of instinct, she saw a long haired black haired woman standing not far away. The woman stood there radiating a powerful presence, smiling as she waved at Cid and gestured for him to come over.
"Zip."
The sound of a zipper reached Asagi Aiba's ears.
When she turned back, she saw Cid pulling a set of very expensive looking formal clothes out of his backpack.
"Cid, what are you doing?"
"My sister is taking me to meet someone and told me to dress properly."
He answered casually, then turned and walked away.
"So that's... your sister."
...
"Nee-san, who exactly are you taking me to meet? At this point you're still keeping it a secret. Isn't that a bit much?"
Following Claire as she walked toward the back of the school, Cid looked at the magic circles scattered all over the ground and asked curiously.
Yesterday he had reviewed the intelligence Gamma had recently sent him.
According to Gamma, the area behind the school served as the gathering place for different teams. After all, the members of a team would not all come from the same class.
In other words, the place had effectively become a playground for the children of the elite.
At this stage, anyone who could assemble a full team was almost certainly not a commoner.
"Didn't I already tell you?"
Claire sounded confused.
Cid blinked while looking at her. Claire blinked back.
"Nee-san, the reason you didn't tell me earlier wasn't because you wanted to keep me in suspense, right? You simply forgot about it."
"Start over."
"I forgot, so could you please tell me again, dear sister?"
"That's more like it."
Claire nodded with satisfaction as they continued walking.
"Listen carefully, Cid. The person we're meeting this time is called Rias. She is the heir of the Gremory family, a Devil clan from the Underworld."
"Actually, I only met her yesterday. Before that, I didn't know her either."
"Huh? Then how did you meet her?"
Cid put on a puzzled expression.
"She was introduced to me by her older brother. Her brother is one of the Four Great Satans of the Underworld. He once helped me on the world battlefield.
After I left the world battlefield, he heard I was coming here. So he recommended his sister to me and hoped that, since he helped me once before, I would give his sister a chance."
"A chance?"
"That's right. He wants me to become his sister's peerage."
As she said this, Claire revealed a proud expression.
Normally, situations where a peerage gets to choose their own king only happen when the peerage member's potential is so extraordinary that many people are competing for them.
The fact that one of the Four Great Satans allowed her to make that choice indirectly proved just how incredible her potential was.
"Hmm... this is really suspicious.
Nee-san, are you sure you didn't get scammed?
I'm not trying to put you down, but what do you have that would make the heir of a Devil family treat you like this?"
"Cid, what exactly is that supposed to mean? Are you saying I'm not worthy of this treatment?
Hm... tsk. Anyway, that's none of your concern. You just need to know that I really am that impressive."
"Fine, fine. But if her brother recommended you, why did you bring me along? I'm not the one her brother recommended. Don't tell me you just wanted to show off how amazing you are. If that's all, then I can head back right now."
Cid frowned.
No matter how he looked at it, Claire suddenly showing up like this felt very bad.
"Heh heh heh, but I recommended you. I told her that if she wants me to join, then my little brother has to join too.
Cid, if you can seize this chance, then forget just getting a decent job in the future. Even getting yourself a new noble title would be no problem."
Cid's expression changed.
"W-wait, wait, wait, wait!!! Nee-san, you really don't need to worry that much about me. I already have my future planned out. In the future, I, I, I... I'll go to the world battlefield and fight the other worlds to protect this world."
Hearing Cid blurt that out in a rush, Claire stopped walking.
Seeing that, Cid thought his words might actually be working and was just about to continue, but then Claire's hand came down heavily on his shoulder.
Cid could clearly feel the terrifying strength in the hand pressing on his shoulder, and even more terrifying was the control behind it. She was using that much force and yet had not hurt him at all.
"Cid, I know you're kind. I know you want to fight for this world.
But promise me.
Don't go to the world battlefield.
Leave the responsibility of fighting the enemy to your Nee-san, okay?"
Claire's presence pressed down on Cid.
The wind around them began to stir. Her low voice entered his ears, and her eyes seemed to carry both anger and sorrow.
Under that overwhelming pressure, combined with the sincerity in her voice, an ordinary person's mind would probably have gone blank already and simply agreed to whatever Claire said.
Cid only blinked.
"Sigh. Even though I already knew I could never talk you out of it with your personality, why am I this stupid?"
The pressure in the air vanished, and Claire began sighing to herself.
This woman definitely imagined something again.
Whatever.
Watching Claire sigh, that was all Cid could think.
"Cid, you don't have to agree to what I said just now. With your personality, if you really wanted to go, then even if I locked you in the house, you'd still find some way to sneak out.
But if one day, one day you really do end up on the world battlefield, then don't trust anyone. Remember this clearly. Anyone. Whether it's the enemy or... your teammates.
If you can't remember that, then even if I have to break your legs to stop you, I won't hesitate."
She forcibly held Cid's face so the two of them were directly facing each other, each able to see themselves reflected in the other's eyes.
After saying those heavy words, she held that position without moving.
Only after Cid gave a slight nod did Claire finally lower her hands from the sides of his face.
Thanks to that sudden topic and Claire's abrupt outburst, the cheerful mood from earlier completely disappeared. After that, it was mostly just Claire explaining things on her own.
"Since I brought this up so suddenly, Rias said she wants to meet you first. After she discusses it with the others, she'll decide whether to accept you or not. Of course, if she refuses, then that only proves she has no eye for talent. In that case, I won't join either. Who cares about her anyway?"
Cid felt he might have been too hasty earlier.
What Rias said was obviously a rejection. His sister just had not noticed. There was really no need for him to panic so much.
Still, the name Rias sounded strangely familiar.
He felt like he had heard it somewhere before.
"We're here."
Claire stopped in front of a door engraved with a Magic Circle and knocked on it three times.
A while later, a red haired girl opened the door.
The moment he saw the red haired girl, Cid's pupils shook violently and his movements froze.
He suddenly remembered where he had heard that name before.
Wasn't Rias the master Yuuto, Koneko, and Akeno were always talking about?