"Say, Frieren?"
"Hmm?"
"What did you buy again?" Shido asked, noticing the elf fiddling with sothing in her hands. He could only sigh helplessly as this elf was falling deeper and deeper down to the path of becoming a NEET. He wanted to be strict with her, but every ti she looked at him with those pleading eyes... and compensated him in bed... he always ended up letting it slide.
’If she wanted to buy things, then just buy it, I am rich anyway.’ That had been Shido’s thought earlier.
Now, watching Frieren play with yet another new toy in her hand, he couldn’t help but feel curious about what she had bought this ti. Her collection had grown so large that so of the items were left on display in the living room and kitchen. Still, it didn’t really get in the way, in fact, they made the apartnt feel more lively, so Shido didn’t mind at all.
"This is a Kalimba." Frieren have a smug look on her face when Shido asked that. She them began plucking the tines of kalimba creating a soothing and llow lody which was quite relaxing on its own right.
"Another musical instrunt, huh?" Shido said with a wry smile. He recalled how she had previously bought all sorts of instrunts, flute, guitar, violin, erhu, shamisen, and countless others. Yet her favorite remained the authentic jade zither she had sohow managed to purchase from who knows where.
In truth, it was Shido’s fault that Frieren had beco so fascinated with musical instrunts. He had once told her that they could be a powerful weapon. At first, Frieren was skeptical, but after watching a few Chinese xianxia dramas, donghua, and even reading manhua, her eyes lit up with excitent. Before long, she had already bought all sorts of instrunts.
It was after all, already in Frieren’s nature to collect spells, explore, and dive into dungeons back in her world. But in this world, her current obsession had shifted to online shopping and expanding her growing collection of musical instrunts.
"Oh, can you play sothing?" Shido asked, curious whether Frieren actually knew how to handle the instrunt.
"I can play it." Frieren nodded but she puffed her cheeks since she thought Shido was making fun of her. Determined to impress him, she resolved to make him eat his words. With that thought, her fingers began to move elegantly across the kalimba, as though she had already mastered the instrunt.
Yet, the truth was far from reality.
Shido’s mouth twitched as Frieren started playing her piece with a happy, ignorant smile on her face. What she played was ’Twinkle twinkle little star’ which was a children’s song. It wasn’t bad, but her lack of familiarity with the kalimba made the notes sound a little off.
The song only lasted barely a minute before Frieren finished. She then look at Shido, arms folded in akimbo and gave Shido a smug look. "Hehe, aren’t I amazing? You don’t need to be shy about praising the great Frieren-sama."
"..." Shido.
He was left speechless by her smug expression, but since it was her first ti playing the kalimba, he held his tongue.
"...Yes, you’re amazing. Great! Fantastic!"
"Hmph."
While the two of them enjoyed their little mont in the living room, Rumia and Mahiru were busy washing the dishes. They had insisted on taking care of it themselves, and Shido had agreed, after all, it would’ve felt hypocritical to refuse their earnest request.
The two of them watched the funny exchange between Shido and Frieren, feeling as if they were watching a scene straight out of a movie.
"Mahiru-chan, do you want to stay the night again?" Rumia asked, turning her head toward Mahiru, who was washing dishes beside her.
Mahiru was caught off guard. She hesitated before replying softly, "Is that really alright? Won’t I be a bother?"
"No, of course not. We’ve already had a sleepover before, right? So you don’t need to be nervous," Rumia said with a hopeful expression. As she ntioned, Mahiru had stayed over at their apartnt once before, but that was back when Shido wasn’t ho, since he had been away visiting his company (or rather, visiting Hiratsuka).
But it was different today since Shido was here. While she wasn’t afraid that Shido might do sothing since she believe in him. Still, the thought of sleeping under the sa roof as a guy left her feeling shy and embarrassed.
Even though they wouldn’t be sharing the sa bed, the idea alone made her both nervous yet excited.
"...What about Shido-san? Will he agree?" Mahiru asked after taking a deep breath.
Rumia smiled reassuringly. "Don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll be happy to have a cute girl like you staying in the apartnt."
"Rumia-chan!" Mahiru felt her face was burning red when Rumia said those words playfully.
"Fufufu, you’re so cute, Mahiru-chan." Rumia said with a giggle.
"Ugh..." Mahiru pouted, though she couldn’t help sneaking a quick glance at Shido, who was still busy with Frieren. Her heart fluttered nervously as she wondered what might happen tonight.
...
"Shido, you can play musical instrunts too, right?" Frieren suddenly asked. She knew of his [Music Mastery] and because of that, Shido was knowledgeable in this area.
"I can."
"Oh, what instrunt do you play? Guitar? Bass? Keyboard? Trumpet?" Frieren asked, her eyes flickering with faint curiosity beneath her deadpan expression. She raised an eyebrow, wondering which one Shido preferred.
"Well, I can play most instrunts, but I’m best with the guitar, piano and zither." Shido replied with a casual shrug. With [Music Mastery], he was practically a god of anything related to music whether it was composing, playing instrunt or singing. Still, he had didn’t have one in this world, and back in the world of Overlord, he never felt like singing or playing. Because of that, Frieren and Rumia had yet to see his skills in action.
Now that Frieren had asked, Shido thought it might be the perfect chance to make use of his [Music Mastery].
"Oh! Okay, wait here, I’ll get the guitar." Frieren said eagerly. She leapt from the sofa and hurried off to her room.
anwhile, while Frieren was fetching the guitar, Rumia and Mahiru had just finished washing the dishes and returned to the living room. Taking a seat on the sofa beside Shido, Rumia spoke up straightforwardly.
"Shido-san, is it okay if Mahiru-chan stays over tonight?"
Shido raised an eyebrow at Rumia’s sudden request, wondering why they had suddenly decided on a sleepover. Still, he saw no reason to object, so he agreed without hesitation. He gave a small nod and said, "Well, why not?"
"...Thank you, please take care of ," Mahiru murmured, lowering her head in a shy bow. Embarrassnt colored her cheeks a deep red, and though she tried, there was no way to hide it.
Shido chuckled at the sight of her pink cheeks. "You don’t have to be so formal, we’re friends, right?"
"Friends...?" Mahiru repeated softly, montarily dazed by his words. Then, as if sothing inside her clicked, she returned to her senses and showed a smile unlike her usual polite one. This smile was bright, warm, and genuine, free of any pretense, carrying only her true feelings.
"Un, friends." Rumia, sitting beside her, nodded and flashed a dazzling, pure smile that ward Mahiru’s heart.
The feeling was completely different from what Mahiru experienced with her so-called friends at school. Unlike them, the neighbor next door to her unit were lively, genuine, and fun to be around. Being with Shido felt even more special, so much so that she found herself wishing their relationship could beco sothing more than just friends, just like when he was with Rumia and Frieren.
But before her thoughts could wander further, Frieren returned to the living room, carrying an acoustic guitar that was almost as big as she was.
"Shido, I brought it."
"Hmm? A guitar?" Rumia and Mahiru exchanged looks and wondered why Frieren suddenly brought a guitar.
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