Why does the atmosphere feel a little off?
After tidying up Eta's room, Cid felt something was wrong the moment he stepped out.
On the surface, Eta and Asia seemed to be getting along well enough, but as someone whose very essence was blending into the background, Cid could clearly sense the distance between them.
Eta was sitting expressionlessly on the sofa, brewing coffee with the coffee machine. That part did not matter. Eta was always like that.
She was a shut-in through and through. Out of each day, aside from the single hour she spent eating, sleeping, and bathing, the remaining twenty-three hours were divided between twelve hours of sleep and eleven hours of experiments.
Because of that extremely irregular schedule, Eta often took coffee to refresh herself and avoid falling asleep in the middle of experiments.
And since she was usually immersed in her own world, Eta had almost no ability to control her facial expressions. She always looked cold and indifferent.
But that was only on the surface. In truth, Eta was quite warm toward people. Every time Cid went to see her, she would excitedly bring out piles of things for him to eat, though they tasted awful, and she often invited him over for physical examinations, though the machines never looked like they were meant for physical examinations at all.
Asia was sitting at the other end of the sofa, head lowered shyly, her face red...
That was also normal. Asia was naturally shy, and the blush on her face was probably because she did not know how to interact with Eta...
So what exactly was wrong?
After checking for a while and finding nothing off, Cid began to wonder. Was his training in reading the atmosphere still lacking, causing him to sense things wrong?
"Eta, I finished tidying your room. Want to go see if it suits you?"
Unable to figure out what was wrong, Cid stopped thinking about it and walked straight up behind Eta.
"No need. As long as Master didn't do it on purpose, there's no way you could make a mistake…"
"Ah, it's ready. Master, do you want some?"
"..."
Cid watched as Eta poured two cups of coffee, then took out something that looked like an effervescent tablet right in front of him and dropped it into one of them. After swirling it around, she handed the cup to him. Cid fell silent.
After meeting Eta's fixed stare with his own dead-fish eyes for a moment, he made a show of sighing, took the coffee, and drank it.
"No matter how delicate the rich aroma is, it can't hide its painful nature. Eta, when will you finally understand that?"
So bitter!
His face nearly frozen blank by the bitterness, Cid patted Eta on the shoulder. The pain level of this coffee was unprecedented. The only thing he could say was that Eta at least had enough conscience to throw in a sugar cube. Otherwise, he really would have put her on his blacklist.
"I'm already trying to fuse them. This time, I just took out the closest-to-success semi-finished product from before, the one I hadn't used yet, and let Master try it. Maybe I already succeeded a long time ago. Huhu..."
Shouldn't you give a semi-finished product to Delta? Why are you giving it to me?
"Then I look forward to your completed work. Maybe it'll even make me feel interested."
Cid was roasting Eta in his heart, but in truth, he could understand her. Developing a revolutionary product that far surpassed the dissolving speed of ordinary coffee sugar cubes had to be extremely difficult.
From the days when powder could still be seen, to now, when it dissolved completely into water in a single second, Eta's research progress had clearly improved. The only downside was that the quality had dropped severely. At this point, the sweetness of one sugar cube was basically negligible.
"Mm. Master will see it. After all, that knowledge came from you."
Eta smiled without really smiling, then turned her interested gaze toward Asia, who was puffing her cheeks and glaring at her from the side.
"Asia is the new helper Master found to replace us, right?"
"That's right. What do you think of her?"
"Not much. In terms of strength... she feels inferior to Delta. In terms of wisdom... she's a vulgar person driven by emotion."
Eta, are you implying that I tricked you all into believing the Cult of Diablos existed so you'd play the Eminence in Shadow game with me?
"From my personal point of view, under the pressure of this world's dark side, she will eventually betray Master and fail your expectations. I still don't understand why Master chose her."
Are you saying that even if I found a relatively innocent child to fool, she would eventually realize the Cult of Diablos was a scam and choose to leave, just like all of you?!
Veins bulged on Cid's forehead. His narrowed eyes opened a slit, and he gave Eta a meaningful glance. He was about to say something, but before he could speak, someone else beat him to it.
"I'm not as awful as you say, and I would never betray Cid-san. Don't lump me in with people like you..."
Under Cid's stunned gaze, Asia's angry voice came to an abrupt stop. Only then did she realize what she had just said.
Her first instinct was to apologize to Eta and bury her head in the sand, but when she saw Eta's calm eyes, unmoved by even the slightest ripple from her words, the fists at Asia's sides clenched. The cowardice carved deep into her bones was pushed down.
She refused. She refused to lower her head to Eta.
She could endure being cursed at by others. She did not care if others slandered her. But the one thing she could not accept was Eta insulting her, Eta saying she would betray Cid-san just like them.
During the days she had lived here, Cid would occasionally tell Asia about his childhood with the Seven Shadows, though not often.
Those were warm stories. He had given the Seven Shadows new lives, taught them how to survive, and cared for them until they could stand on their own.
Any one of those deeds, taken on its own, was a kindness worthy of a saint. That was why Asia could not understand. She could not understand how the Seven Shadows could use reasons like "growing up" or "maturing" to leave.
Asia did not believe Cid truly felt nothing about Shadow Garden's dissolution. Every time Cid mentioned Shadow Garden in front of her, a faint, almost imperceptible trace of regret would flash through his eyes.
Unless there was truly no other choice, who would willingly let the friends they had grown up with, the friends they had built a team with, leave?
To be told by someone who used another person's kindness, who only knew how to take and refused to give anything back, that she would become like them, and even betray her own benefactor, truly made Asia angry.
"I will always stay by Cid-san's side. I will become someone who can support him at his side!"
After practically shouting those words, Asia saw both of them staring at her at the same time, and her face instantly turned red.
"Cid-san, I'm really sorry. I-I got a little carried away and started speaking on my own. Even though you were the one who took in someone homeless like me..."
"No, Asia. I'm happy."
With a gentle smile, Cid interrupted Asia's apology, nudged Eta's shoulder, and raised his eyebrows proudly.
"Eta, I accept everything you said earlier, but people aren't meant to be compared like that. I really like Asia's honesty. Aside from the dog... Delta, all of you only ever bury your feelings deep down..."
The truth was, he had no way to refute Eta, so he could only praise Asia's kindness instead.
He was smiling on the surface, but inside, Cid was mocking himself for saying such a melodramatic line. What was with this familiar scene, where even though someone had power, status, and wealth to rival a nation, they still could not compare to her kindness?
"...It's nothing but the fantasy of a vulgar person who got swept away by emotion and doesn't know her own limits. The pressure from the Cult of Diablos alone would be enough to crush her daydream."
A provocation?
Eta calmly defined Asia's words as a moment of impulse. Although Asia had just fired off a wide-range AoE at the abilities of all Seven Shadows, unfortunately, Eta did not care. Time would prove her right anyway.
If Eta were to stand from an enemy's perspective and fight her Master, she would absolutely go after Asia first. Her Master was far too strong. There was no hope of defeating him on the front lines. The only chance of victory was attacking the people Master cared about.
Eta dared say that the moment Master's true identity was exposed, Asia would inevitably become a target. At that point, even if the whole world did not act, the Cult of Diablos alone could use her to trap her Master.
When things reached that point, Eta believed Asia would tactfully leave on her own, because Asia's existence... would be dragging him down.
"You may be right, Eta. People driven by emotion are bound to be ended by emotion..."
Cid nodded, feeling that Eta's words made a lot of sense. Asia only said that now because she still did not know his true face.
As long as Asia learned the truth, that the Cult of Diablos did not exist anywhere in the world, and that he was not some powerful figure hiding his name for the sake of justice, but someone who simply wiped out every enemy he met along the way and called them members of the Cult of Diablos...
Once Asia learned the whole truth, whether she would leave like the Seven Shadows became a question worth considering.
"I thought Master would say something to refute me."
Eta sounded a little surprised that Cid had agreed with her. She had thought Cid would say something about friendship and bonds to praise Asia.
"Why refute it? What you said is true. The future hasn't happened yet, so anything is possible. Things can still change. If you speak too absolutely, you might get proven wrong."
Cid lowered his voice so Asia would not notice that one moment he had affirmed her conviction, and the next he was belittling her willpower on Eta's side. His expression remained relaxed.
"Since Master understands that so clearly, why did you take her in? Cutting her off like you did with us back then should have been the correct choice, shouldn't it?"
Eta did not understand. If Cid understood his own weakness so well, why would he still accept Asia as a subordinate?
"It doesn't matter. For the sake of fairness in battle, I don't mind putting on shackles before facing the world. Maybe that's where the fun of the game lies."
Are you kidding? It's just maintaining the lie that the Cult of Diablos exists while fooling Asia at the same time. Isn't that a very fun game?
"...As expected of Master. Treating this world like a game is something only you could do. But with such reckless freedom, have you never considered the possibility that you might lose?"
Listening to Cid's confident, arrogant voice, a faint ripple passed through the depths of Eta's otherwise still eyes. She asked the question without showing anything on her face.
"The Cult's tentacles have already begun to spread. The darkness of three worlds has gathered together. The rats who only dared hide in the sewers are now converging. This world is standing on the boundary of destruction..."
You think my lie will be exposed sooner or later?
Too bad, Eta. This time, I'm serious. If the Cult of Diablos doesn't exist in this world, then I'll name every terrorist in the world as part of the Cult of Diablos. Then the Cult of Diablos will become the largest terrorist organization in the world.
If the terrorists refuse to admit they are members of the Cult of Diablos, then that must mean they received strict secrecy training. At a time like that, we should beat them until they confess under duress... no, until they repent and admit they are members of the Cult of Diablos.
If they accidentally die halfway through, that makes things even easier. Just ask whether they are members of the Cult of Diablos, and they will definitely "shyly" default to admitting it.
Maybe the Beast God from a few days ago was the Cult of Diablos's doing. The evil Cult of Diablos deceived the poor Therianthropes and carried out human experiments to create another Diablos. Mm. Whether anyone else believed it or not, Cid believed it.
From that point on, the entire world would fall within the Cult of Diablos's sphere of influence. If they did not admit it, it was because they had undergone secrecy training. If they did admit it, then they were a branch of the Cult of Diablos.
While reciting cool lines aloud, Cid complained inwardly that he had not thought of this method sooner. Fortunately, it was not too late. He would try it in actual combat next time.
"Master really does dote on you."
Eta gazed at the blonde nun in front of her and sighed.
"Huh? Th-that's only because Cid-san feels sorry for me..."
Eta's sudden praise deflated Asia's earlier momentum, leaving her unsure how to respond. Still, she met Eta's eyes without fear. She would not let herself be pushed down by Eta.
"Do you... desire Master?"
"Huh?!"
Eta's question nearly made Asia cry out in shock. She froze, unable to understand how Eta could ask such a thing.
"Don't deny it. I saw it clearly. When Master was comforting you just now, your body was craving Master's affection."
The words Asia had wanted to say froze on her lips. She had to admit that when Cid held her earlier, she had been completely lost in the scent of his body.
"Take this. It can suppress your body..."
Eta took out a Calming Pill and rested a hand against her chin. The corners of her mouth lifted as she looked at Asia coldly.
"You don't want anyone else to know about this either, do you?"