"Good morning, Mr. Conquest. How did you sleep last night?"
Inside an upscale nursing home, a caregiver knocked on the door with practiced ease, then entered with a trolley carrying a carefully prepared breakfast.
"Breakfast this morning is milk oatmeal with pan-seared salmon, and a slice of carrot and pumpkin cake for dessert. Everything should be just right to eat now, but I can warm it up again if you need me to."
The old man in bed had intended to ignore the caregiver's easy familiarity, but in the end, he sighed.
"No need. Just leave it on the table."
"All right. It sounds like you slept quite well last night."
It was only a single sentence, but the caregiver was still delighted.
When the old man had first arrived, he had refused to cooperate with anything. Not only had he constantly cursed at people, he had even tried to get violent at one point.
Now, however, he not only cooperated but was even willing to exchange a few words occasionally. It really was a tremendous improvement.
"Well, if there's nothing else, I'll leave you to it. Have a lovely day."
After setting out breakfast, the caregiver left the room as usual, leaving him alone once more.
He glanced at the bright sunlight outside the window, then at the steaming food on the table. After hesitating for a while, he finally sat down in the chair, picked up a spoon, and began eating a little at a time.
"Can I really still call myself a Viltrumite like this?"
As he ate, Conquest gave a self-mocking chuckle.
He had suffered a crushing defeat when he encountered that bizarre magician last time, knocked unconscious without the slightest chance to resist.
If that had been all, or even if the magician had killed