Darkness.
It was an adamantite-ranked adventurer group that had risen to prominence only a few months after the appearance of the tal Vessels.
"Darkness, huh?"
Shido rubbed his chin as he listened to the chatter of people on the streets. Of course, he knew of Darkness, it was, after all, the adventurer group ford by Ainz and Narberal Gamma under the aliases Momon and Nabe.
Even so, his relationship with them, at least in their disguised identities, wasn’t exactly good. They’d had conflicts before. Still, Shido couldn’t say it was entirely bad, especially when he recalled the look Nabe had given him the day Shido secretly stole her precious possession.
However, he had to admit, Ainz was truly impressive. Despite Shido stealing most of the opportunities for him to gain fa and achievents, Ainz had still managed to rise swiftly, building his group with Nabe into an adamantite-ranked adventurer team. To Shido, it was remarkable that Ainz could catch up so quickly and beco the fourth adamantite-ranked adventurer group.
Unlike Red Drop, which operated in the northern part of the kingdom, or Lakyus’s Blue Rose and his own tal Vessels, both based in the capital, Darkness had first appeared in E-Rantel. Because of that, most of their missions ca from that city, and they eventually made it their base of operations.
While Shido was intrigued by Darkness, his real interest lay in Nabe. It had been a while since he last saw her. She wasn’t present in Nazarick when he appeared there, and he found himself missing her, especially the way she used to look at him with that cold, annoyed expression, utterly helpless to do anything about him which made him amuse.
However, that was all there was to it, if they t, he would be happy; if not, then so be it. Shido still needed to return ho, knowing the girls might be worried about him.
With that thought, he ignored the chatter of the people around him and headed straight toward his domain.
A few minutes later, he stood in front of his house. Without hesitation, he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open, only to be t with an unexpected sight.
"Oh, you’re back."
...
Sitting in the living room, Shido’s gaze went straight to Frieren, who was calmly reading a book about magic in this world while enjoying a dessert, likely made by Tuare, who was busy sweeping the backyard.
He didn’t announce his return; after what had happened with Frieren earlier, it seed better to explain things later. As for Rumia, she was also in the backyard, practicing a mana-concealnt technique similar to Frieren’s.
Still, Shido couldn’t help but twitch his lips at the sight of how carefree Frieren looked. After all, he had just seen her earlier wearing nothing but a bath towel, wrapped snugly around her petite fra, accentuating her modest curves.
Now he understood why Himl had been so crazy with Frieren, so much so that he died without ever marrying or starting a family. Still, Shido couldn’t bla him, love was, after all, an irrational thing.
What surprised him more was that she didn’t seem to mind being seen like that by him. She hadn’t even reacted, simply drying her hair in front of him as if he weren’t a man at all.
Though her figure wasn’t particularly big, he had to admit there was a certain charm to Frieren, sothing that made her alluring despite her lack of overt womanly appeal. However, it seed that Frieren wasn’t aware of her own charm that could ensnare any man if she wanted to.
Though speechless, Shido knew better than to apply normal logic to Frieren’s way of thinking.
"How are you? Everything okay here?"
Frieren was always hard to read, and with a sigh, Shido decided not to dwell on it any longer. Instead, he asked about what had happened during his absence.
"Hmm... nothing interesting, really." Frieren popped a spoonful of dessert into her small mouth, glanced at Shido, and continued, "I taught Rumia magic as usual, and Tuare joined in from ti to ti. I also took care of both of them while you were gone, so... you don’t need to thank ."
Still, her eyes lingered on Shido a mont longer. Sothing about him felt... different than usual. To her, he seed more handso than before, enough to make her heart skip a beat. She quickly masked the feeling, as she had no experience with such things and wasn’t sure how to handle it.
"..." Shido
Shido didn’t notice her unusual gaze. He simply listened, nodding as he thought she was quite the diligent teacher. But when she added that she had taken care of both Rumia and Tuare, he was left speechless at her shalessness.
"You took care of them," he said, eyeing her suspiciously, "or did they take care of you?"
As expected, even Frieren who could control her emotion well break her character for a mont. A faint blush appeared on her cheeks before she glared at Shido.
"Isn’t that the sa?"
’What’s the sa about that?’
Shido was left speechless but chose not to push further. He understood all too well how unreasonable the creature known as "woman" could be.
Shido decided to change the topic and the two went on to talk about many things, what he had been doing over the past two days, the magic of this world, even food. But the topic they lingered on the most was Rumia’s progress.
Rumia was a fast learner with an imnse amount of mana, blessed with the innate talent of an Amplifier. Even Frieren had to admit she was comparable to her own disciple back in her world, a once-in-a-millennium talent which made her quite proud.
As the two of them talk, the sound of footstep could be heard in the corridor slowly approaching them. Shido didn’t have to guess who it was as he had already sense their presence the mont they entered the house.
Shido looked at the two girls, both frozen in surprise at the sight of him.
"Yo, it’s been a while, you two."
His greeting seed to jolt them from their daze. In the next mont, both exclaid in unison and leapt into his arms.
"Acheval-san!" ×2
"Geez, don’t do that, alright? What if I couldn’t catch you?" Shido said with a helpless smile as he looked down at the two adorable blonde girls clinging tightly to him.
However, Tuare and Rumia didn’t respond, they simply continued hugging him, having missed him far too much. Rumia was one thing, but Tuare was still a little embarrassed to be this close to Shido. Even so, her excitent won out, and she ended up leaping into his arms just like Rumia.
Shido gently patted their backs, reassuring them with his presence. It took a while before they finally pulled away.
When they looked up at him, however, their cute faces flushed pink. For so reason, they both thought Shido looked more handso and charming than before.
anwhile, Frieren simply watched them, a trace of interest in her eyes. She stayed silent, observing the emotions and closeness the three shared. In truth, Frieren lacked experience with relationships, having always been absorbed in her own research. Even here, in this world, she had spent ti studying this worlds magic and other things, while also teaching Rumia magic.
Frieren was beginning to grow curious about the thing called emotion. In her own world, the only ti she had truly broken down and cried was when her friends left her, leaving her to wander the world alone.
After Himl’s funeral, however, she had resolved to understand humans better. And when she thought back to her first arrival in this world, eting the person the system had designated as her master, Frieren knew she would discover sothing new through him.
Now, watching Shido, Rumia, and Tuare openly express their emotions toward one another, a strange sensation stirred in her chest, making her heart beat faster. She didn’t know what it was, but she had to admit, she didn’t dislike it. In fact, she was curious about it.
Frieren wanted to study this feeling, but she knew she would need soone capable of triggering it. Her gaze fell on Shido, who was still coaxing the two girls. Deep down, she understood, the answers she sought could only be found through him. And so, she decided, she would ask Shido about it later.
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