On the bustling street, Cid walked along with Asia, stopping now and then to step into shops by the road and pretend to browse.
"Um… Cid-san?"
"Mm? What is it, Asia?"
Asia's uneasy voice came from behind him, making Cid stop and turn back. Seeing the girl's face filled with discomfort, he asked curiously.
"You… weren't you going to ask me about Diodora-san?"
Faced with Cid's confusion, Asia spoke anxiously.
"Huh? Why would you think that?"
Because that was where the conversation had already gone, and you even specifically asked me if I knew Diodora-san…
Asia could not bring herself to say that. She could not even properly describe the strange, awkward feeling left behind by a conversation that had been cut off halfway.
Back at home, the atmosphere had been so heavy that Asia felt like she was about to suffocate. But after Cid only asked whether she knew Diodora, she nodded, and he silently pulled her out of the house without another word. That eerie silence only made Asia even more frightened.
"Mm… how should I put it? Personally, I don't really care who that guy is or what he does. Since I don't care, why would I go out of my way to ask you?"
"But if you want to talk about it, Asia, I don't mind listening. Just make it quick. It's Sunday, and I need to buy some daily necessities and collectibles that suit my taste."
Cid casually found a bench and sat down while answering Asia's question. Still, he figured there was a ninety percent chance Asia would tell him anyway. After all, if she really did not want to say anything, she would not look so miserable. He had already summed up plenty of experience in that regard. They were all just a bunch of tsundere.
"…Cid-san, the Devil named Diodora that Rias-san mentioned came to see me several times after he first arrived on Itogami Island."
After hesitating for a while, Asia, just as Cid expected, finally spilled the troubles that had been bothering her recently.
"?"
"Well… Cid-san, you know this, right? Back when I was with the Church, I left because I used my Sacred Gear to heal a Devil."
"The Devil I healed with my Sacred Gear was Diodora-san. A while ago, he came to see me and said he wanted to repay me, so he wanted me to stay at his place…"
No, I had no idea you were driven out of the Church because you healed a Devil. In fact, before Xenovia and the others told me, I didn't even know you used to be a Saintess.
Cid silently complained in his heart, but on the surface, he kept up an expression that said everything was under control, listening to Asia's story.
"Ah, don't worry, Cid-san. I refused his invitation back then. I promised you, Cid-san, that I would always stay by your side."
Actually, you don't need to do that. I really don't care that much whether you stay or leave. I only took you in back then on a whim.
No one knew what Cid was thinking. At the very least, Asia, who was feeling guilty, could not tell. She only continued timidly describing what had happened over the past few days.
"Then… yesterday, Diodora came to see me again. He said that to repay the kindness I showed him, he wanted me to attend his banquet so he could thank me in person. Cid-san, what should I do?"
She spoke with distress. Clearly, this goodwill he kept expressing had already become a serious burden for Asia. But with Asia's soft personality, one that was not good at refusing others, she could not use especially harsh words to reject him.
"So… Asia, do you want to go?"
After sorting through Asia's explanation and thinking for a moment, Cid asked her that question.
He would not interfere too much with Asia's choices. After all, they were only friends. If she wanted advice from him as a friend, then Asia first had to figure out what she herself wanted.
"Me? I don't want to go."
Asia froze for a moment, then quickly gave her answer, almost without thinking.
"Mm-hmm. Since you don't want to go, just refuse directly. At most, phrase it a little more gently."
With a small hum, Cid picked up the milk tea he had ordered earlier, stuck in the straw, and started drinking.
"But he said that if I go this one time, he'll never come to see me again. He also said that the Astaroth House doesn't have the custom of leaving something like this unsettled, and that at the very least, he should hold a banquet and thank me in public to properly repay my help."
It sounded reasonable enough, but Cid stopped drinking his milk tea. He frowned at the troubled Asia, then set the cup down.
"Isn't that just moral blackmail?!"
"Huh!?"
"Don't react like that, Asia. This is moral blackmail…"
Cid narrowed his eyes and spoke in a low voice.
"No wonder Rias said she doesn't like that guy Diodora. People who use moral blackmail really are hard to like."
"…I don't really understand, Cid-san."
Cid glanced at Asia with a look of exasperation, then sighed. After thinking it over in his head for a moment, he began analyzing it for her.
"Wake up, Asia. You said you were the one who healed that guy named Diodora, right?"
"Yes. Is there something wrong with that, Cid-san?"
"How is there not? Asia, get this straight. You saved that guy's life. He didn't save yours."
"In that situation, once you made it clear that you didn't need him to repay you, he should have had the sense to stop bothering you. Instead, he keeps coming to bother you every few days, and in the end, he's even using the condition that he'll stop harassing you as a threat."
Cid spoke with disgust. Although he generally had an indifferent attitude toward people like this, he still could not help feeling a natural revulsion toward that type.
"But… but Cid-san, why would he do something like that? I helped him, and besides, this doesn't benefit him either…"
After Cid explained it, Asia also realized that something was wrong. But when she thought about how this did not seem to bring Diodora any benefit, she could not help asking in confusion.
"Who knows…"
Half-reclining in his chair, Cid shrugged and spoke in an unserious tone.
"There are too many possible reasons. Maybe he was tempted by your looks, maybe there's another plot, or maybe it's something else. If anything, the fact that the heir of a noble house would show up on his archenemy's turf is suspicious enough by itself."
"In any case, one thing is certain…"
As the saying went, traveling ten thousand miles was better than reading ten thousand books. During Cid's occasional hunting trips, he always ran into all kinds of bizarre people, and he had encountered this type a few times before.
"A Devil who uses his own reputation to threaten the very person who saved his life, acting like it's your fault if you don't come, definitely isn't a good person with any moral bottom line. That's very Devil-like too…"
"I never expected Cid Kagenou, rumored to possess a unique charisma under Rias, to be such a filthy Human who badmouths others behind their backs. How disappointing…"
Before he could finish, a gentle male voice came from behind Cid. At the same time, Asia's face showed the panic of someone caught red-handed.
Cid silently turned his head. Standing before him was a man who looked refined and courteous. To be honest, at first glance, Cid thought the other man seemed quite gentle.
"Ah… Asia. I went to look for you today and found you weren't there. I never expected that by simply trying my luck, I would find you here. This must be fate, unable to bear our separation and regrets…"
You seem to have said something pretty outrageous without changing expression. Don't think saying it romantically can hide the fact that you're a stalker.
Finding the sheer number of things to criticize absurd, Cid watched coldly as the man, who was probably Diodora, walked up to them.
"I, Diodora, heir of the Astaroth House, hereby formally invite you. Asia, please be my partner for tonight's banquet."
Diodora dropped to one knee before Asia in an extremely exaggerated pose. The sudden movement startled Asia so badly that she stood up from her chair, and even the attention of everyone else in the shop was drawn toward them.
"Please believe me, Asia. From the moment we first met, I knew you were my destined partner. I will definitely make you happy, and I will make up for all the pain I caused you back then."
He spoke with deep affection. A handsome man and a beautiful girl, paired with words that sounded as though there was a story behind them, made the customers who had been drawn in by the sudden turn of events immediately start cheering.
"Say yes! Say yes…"
Amid the lively commotion, Cid swept his gaze around and noticed a few oddities, such as several people quietly watching the show, and several mysterious hooded women who had been the first to stir up the crowd.
So strong. So despicable…
Cid sighed in admiration. The people around them had been completely manipulated. All he could say was that people remembered the food but forgot the beating. It had been the same with the Genki Dama last time. If he had not recovered his full strength at the crucial moment, he might really have overturned.
Seeing Asia frightened by the crowd, her face clearly full of rejection while she had no idea how to speak up in public, Cid tilted his head.
But it works well, doesn't it?
As Cid thought that, Diodora, still kneeling on one knee, saw Asia had been frightened and reached out to grab her.
"Wah…"
Asia cried out and tried to step back, but with the chairs and narrow space limiting her movement, she could not match the other party's speed.
Just as she was about to be grabbed, a force tugged at Asia's hand, pulling her away from Diodora's palm.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I believe your invitation to Asia is sincere, but I still have something to do, so I'll reject it on Asia's behalf."
Pulling Asia along, Cid gave a perfunctory reply and walked around Diodora, whose expression had suddenly stiffened, heading straight for the street outside.
Although he had been silently commenting the whole time and seemed as if he did not particularly dislike the other party, that was actually false. The moment they met, he had checked the fluctuations Diodora gave off. In just a few minutes, the malice, greed, destructive impulses, and other emotions radiating from Diodora had gone off the charts.
"Wait a moment. I don't care if you want to leave, but I invited Asia-san. Please let Asia answer me, not some random person like you."
His voice still sounded gentle, but judging from the hostility in those words, he was clearly starting to lose his composure. At the same time, Cid noticed that the people who had been cheering earlier were now leaving the shop in a daze.
Oh, there's a good show coming.
As Cid thought that, he felt Asia move in his grip. She looked at Diodora with a serious expression.
"I'm grateful for your invitation, but I just don't like you. And I've already promised Cid-san, so please don't come looking for me anymore."
In that instant, within Cid's field of vision, both the quality and quantity of the negative emotions pouring out of Diodora multiplied several times over.
"I see. Then I understand…"
Almost instantly, Diodora appeared in front of Cid and blocked his path. He still wore a bright smile on his face. As for Cid's opinion of it, see, he's panicking again.
"You're nothing more than a filthy male Human. You got lucky, used a little cleverness, and managed to stand on the stage of the important people, yet you don't know your own worth. And now you keep getting in my way, over and over again…"
Thank you very much for your evaluation. I like you. That's right, I'm just an extra who got lucky and managed to be slightly useful through a little cleverness. Can those people with no eye for talent please stop coming to find me?
Because it was rare for someone to give an assessment that suited an extra so perfectly, Cid felt like crying without tears. At that moment, he even felt a bit of goodwill toward Diodora.
Diodora mistook Cid's expression for fear and kept his cheerful smile as he walked toward him step by step.
To be fair, Cid thought it was a little stupid to keep smiling when they had practically already fallen out. One glance was enough. Confirmed, a third-rate villain.
"You're weak, and you don't understand hierarchy. Even if I beat a filthy Human like you half to death, or kill you, Rias won't fall out with me over it…"
As he spoke, Diodora raised his arm high, then swung it down heavily toward Cid at tremendous speed.
He really stepped on every landmine.
Watching the attack draw closer and closer, Cid did not particularly care. He even had the leisure to comment on it. Not because the other party's attack could not break through his defense, but because…
"Smack!"
"I seem to have heard a certain filthy race say something rather outrageous just now…"
At some point, Cao Cao, dressed in an ancient robe, had appeared beside Cid. His hand caught the arm swinging toward Cid, and he spoke slowly to the astonished Diodora with a gentle smile on his face and an icy look in his eyes.
I got rescued by a hero. Well, that makes sense. A hero can't just stand by and watch the weak being bullied, especially when it comes to Cao Cao, a guy who is something of a racist. Diodora had basically stepped on all of Cao Cao's landmines at once.
"Ah, what?!"
Diodora's wrist twisted under Cao Cao's strength, making him scream. As his body swayed, he saw the two Peerage Members he had brought with him being lifted into the air by a swordsman and a burly man, their necks gripped tightly, their feet off the ground as they struggled desperately.