The next morning, Rudy had barely stepped out of his bedroom when he headed for Allen's room. They had agreed yesterday to get up early and review the previous day's battle in the courtyard, summarizing what they had learned and improving.
Rubbing his face, he shuffled sleepily down the hallway. For some reason, the downstairs area sounded livelier than usual today. Zenith and Lilia were bustling about making breakfast, seemingly chatting happily about something.
Rudy paid it no mind. Reaching Allen's door, he pushed it open without hesitation.
The door opened easily—Allen did not usually lock it.
The curtains were not drawn open as they normally were in the morning. Instead, they were tightly shut, leaving the room dim.
Rudy looked toward the bed and saw that Allen's usual thin blanket had been rolled into a bundle, rising and falling slightly.
Allen actually slept in for once. Did yesterday's battle drain all his energy?
And he was the one who suggested getting up early, yet he was sleeping in himself. Hehehe.
With that thought, Rudy crept quietly to the bedside, grabbed a corner of the blanket, and yanked it up!
"Get up! Naked-ass man!"
He flung the blanket into the air. At that moment, a breeze from outside stirred the curtains slightly.
Light fell over Lokkishi's hazy sleeping face on the bed.
Rudy stared at Lokkishi's face with bleary eyes, falling silent for a long while.
Then he swung his hand and slapped himself across the face.
Am I still half-asleep? I actually mistook Allen for Lokkishi. Hehehe, how strange.
But why is Allen wearing Lokkishi's clothes?
He rubbed his face hard and looked at the bed again.
Lokkishi—or rather, Allen—seemed to have been disturbed by the slap. His beautiful eyelashes trembled slightly as he began to open his eyes.
Footsteps sounded at the door, and someone pushed it open.
"Lokkishi, you really should get up. If you don't, Rudy will be here soon."
Rudy looked at the familiar figure of Allen entering through the door, slowly turned toward the drowsy Lokkishi opening her eyes, then slowly turned back toward Allen, whose face had gone pale with horror.
The air froze.
Allen looked at Rudy and went completely numb, blinking rapidly.
"Rudy. Calm down, I can explain."
Rudy stared at Allen expressionlessly, radiating the sort of killing intent that could only emerge when a child called the Dragon God "Dad" in the original work. He forced out a smile devoid of warmth and spoke.
"...Please do. I'm listening."
"Ah, Rudy. Where's Allen?"
But Lokkishi opened her eyes just then. Propping herself up, she turned her sleepy face toward Allen at the door.
"Ah, Allen, you're here. Good morning, and thank you for last night. If you hadn't woken me this morning, I wouldn't even know when I got into bed last night. Though I still remember us being by the table... Anyway, it's been so long since I slept this comfortably... You really helped me out. And you even helped heat my bathwater this morning."
Blue Mom, do you even hear what you're saying?!
A massive danger sign seemed to appear over Allen's head.
Help me, help me!
The next moment, Rudy's furious roar shook the Greyrat Family home.
"ALLEN!!!"
"Listen to my explanation!! First of all, she's wearing clothes!! Wait! Wait!"
"Water Ball Spell!"
"Flow Arcana! H-Hey, hey, hey, hey!! Wait! The bed will get wet! Lokkishi is still on it!!"
"Water?"
The two of them stiffly turned their necks in unison toward Lokkishi, who had been drenched from head to toe by the redirected Water Ball Spell. She hugged her head and blinked, still not fully awake enough to understand what had happened.
Just then, Zenith and Lilia, whom Allen had informed that morning about Lokkishi's return, had already run to the doorway.
After seeing the soaking-wet Lokkishi, Zenith looked at the two "children" with their spectacular expressions. Narrowing her eyes and clenching her fists, she spoke gently through gritted teeth.
"Allen, Rudy, you two seem to get along very well. That really puts my mind at ease."
At breakfast, Allen and Rudy sat obediently at the table, both sporting black eyes.
Zenith was still unable to let it go and kept muttering under her breath.
"Before Allen came, I always thought Rudy was such a worry-free, well-behaved child. Turns out he just lacked someone his own age to play with. Hehe. And you, Allen—you're four years older than Rudy, so why do you act like a child too?"
"Sorry!" they said in unison.
The two, who truly were the same age, exchanged a silent glance before looking across the table at Lokkishi. What had started as her voluntarily asking to bathe had turned into a bath she had no choice but to take. She had changed into a set of casual clothes from her suitcase and was drinking tea with her eyes on her nose and her nose on her heart, though the faint amusement at the corners of her eyes revealed what she really thought.
Paul, on the other hand, cheerfully said,
"Since Lokkishi happened to be passing through, stay a few more days. Today, we'll clear out the storage room next door for... uh, for Allen to stay in."
Lokkishi glanced at Allen. This was the story they had agreed on that morning when Allen had forcibly booted her awake. On one hand, they did not want Paul's family to worry too much. On the other, Rudy still did not know Allen's true identity. In Lokkishi's mind, Rudy was still young, and it was better that he did not know about this sort of family conflict.
Allen, meanwhile, was simply worried that if Rudy learned he was Eris's brother, he might accidentally let it slip later when he entered the Tutoring Period and went to Roa City.
His identity being exposed and drawing James's attention did not really matter much, but causing a Butterfly Effect from it would be a huge disaster.
"So your money was stolen by thieves, leaving you no choice but to walk all the way here, and you arrived in the middle of the night. Hmm, that does sound very much like something Lokkishi would do."
Lokkishi choked with a sputter, and Zenith naturally reached out to pat her back.
Lokkishi rubbed her chest and shot Allen a half-lidded glare.
That awful excuse had been Allen's idea too. He had even said it suited her character.
What? Am I really that careless?
"Oh, darling, being careless is one of the things that makes Lokkishi so lovable~"
"Oh, I suppose that's true."
Lokkishi: ...
Allen: ...
Rudy watched Allen and Lokkishi exchange meaningful glances, his face filled with grief.
Why is Allen so popular with girls? I'm so jealous. My god. I have to get revenge on Allen—wait.
As that thought crossed his mind, he suddenly froze and widened his eyes at Allen.
He has leverage over me because of the shrine. Damn it. What a devious man!
Allen sensed Rudy's burning stare, but there was really nothing else he could say. He could only rub his forehead helplessly.
Still, as he put food into his mouth, he had the feeling that he had forgotten something.
Yet he could not remember what it was.
Allen shook his head and continued eating.
...Forget it. I'll remember when the time comes, I guess.
Thank you to the god on the left for the 3,000-point donation.
I'm overwhelmed, sweating buckets, and deeply humbled.
Before you continue