"I'm back!"
Cid slammed the front door shut and let out a long sigh as he thought about everything that had happened today.
He had worked hard all day doing good deeds to set up his Eminence in Shadow play, only for all that buildup to be completely useless. The fish had not even noticed the bait he put out.
The plan failing was not really the issue. He still had a month left to set the stage. As long as he figured out what had caused today's failure, the plan itself would still be fine.
But seriously, who could explain why he had run into a Dragon God-level powerhouse just walking down the street?
And then, of all times, a bunch of bizarre thugs had to jump out and block his way, making him slip up and drawing the attention of one of the world's strongest. It was just...
"What rotten luck..."
With a mournful sigh, Cid could not help wondering whether he simply was not suited for Eminence in Shadow plans.
Thinking about it carefully, every Eminence in Shadow plan he came up with did succeed in the end, but somehow every single one either started off as a disaster or was on its way to becoming one...
Just as Cid was feeling crushed by the day's setbacks and starting to doubt whether he had any talent for planning at all, footsteps sounded from inside the house. The moment Asia heard his voice, she came hurrying over, her footsteps quick and light as she appeared in front of him.
"Cid-san, welcome back."
As soon as she said that, Asia lowered her head with an apologetic look on her face and spoke awkwardly.
"I'm sorry, Cid-san. Something unexpected happened on my side today, so I wasn't able to guide Xenovia and the others to the place you mentioned."
"Well, it's not a big deal. We've still got a month. If today didn't work out, then we'll just try again tomorrow."
Cid casually comforted her and was about to crouch down to change his shoes when he suddenly froze. He shot a sharp look at Asia and frowned.
"Wait, Asia. Who's that behind you?"
The evening sun, already sinking low, shone in through the balcony, casting a dim reddish glow over Asia. Her pure white nun's habit looked almost crimson under the sunset.
And because of that, the figure walking behind her looked even more unsettling. Wrapped from head to toe in bandages, with only a tiny tuft of blue hair poking out through a gap near the top, the mummy-like figure seemed especially eerie in the reddish light and the stillness of the house.
Hearing Cid's question, Asia blinked in surprise and instinctively turned around. The moment she saw the walking mummy, her face lit up.
"Thank goodness, Xenovia, you're finally awake."
At the sound of her voice, the mummy, Xenovia, turned to look at Asia, clearly excited as she made muffled "mmph mmph" noises.
As though she had forgotten the bandages wrapped all over her body, Xenovia instinctively stepped forward, trying to walk toward Asia.
Thud!
With a heavy crash, Xenovia tripped over the bandages and fell flat on the floor.
"Xenovia, you can't undo those bandages!"
Asia cried out in alarm and rushed over in a panic to help Xenovia back up, then hurried her toward the room, leaving Cid standing there alone, still completely dumbfounded.
"That mummy is Xenovia???"
...
Cid sat quietly on the sofa, poured himself a cup of tea, and took a sip. Across from him sat Asia, visibly restless.
Several times, Asia opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but whenever she saw Cid gesture for her to stay quiet, she obediently shut it again.
It was not until the front door opened once more that Cid set down his teacup and calmly looked toward the entrance, watching the bedraggled Irina Shidou walk in.
The moment Irina Shidou stepped inside, her eyes met Cid's.
For some reason, her heart tightened, and the exhaustion on her face vanished at once.
She did not understand why. Over the past few days, she had observed him enough to know that Cid was just an ordinary Magic Swordsman, with neither overwhelming strength nor any powerful background. And yet, the instant their eyes met, she still felt an inexplicable tension.
After a long silence, Cid finally looked away and gestured for Irina Shidou to sit beside Asia.
She hesitated a little, then obediently did as she was told.
Cid poured a cup of tea and set it in front of Irina Shidou. Then he took out a pair of glasses, put them on, and struck Commander Ikari's classic pose.
"Well then. What exactly happened?"
Irina Shidou knew what he was asking. She struggled for a moment, but under that strange pressure she had been feeling, she finally began to speak.
"Today..."
After listening to Irina Shidou's explanation, Cid got a general idea of what had happened.
In simple terms, the two of them had gone out as usual to search for the Child of God. But while they were asking passersby for information, someone suddenly jumped out and attacked them.
Caught completely off guard, Xenovia was stabbed, and the attacker also snatched away the King's Sword, Excalibur Destruction, from her.
Because Xenovia had been the attacker's first target, Irina Shidou had managed to react in time and draw her Holy Sword to block the second thrust.
The sudden ambush, Xenovia collapsing, and the fact that she could tell the attacker's true strength was below her own. All of it combined to make her lose herself to rage in that moment. All she could think about was killing the attacker and taking back the Holy Sword.
By the time she came back to her senses, the attacker had already escaped. Xenovia was left lying in a pool of blood, her body covered in black blotches, with her life steadily slipping away, sustained only by Asia's healing.
But the treatment did not help much. On the contrary, whenever Asia and Irina Shidou tried to touch Xenovia, the black spots would spread from the point of contact onto their bodies.
Left with no other choice, the two of them bought a huge pile of bandages, wrapped Xenovia up from head to toe, and then spent a large amount of Magical Power removing the black spots.
"After bringing Xenovia home and giving her emergency treatment, I contacted the Church. After reporting our situation, I learned that all the major cathedrals were attacked today, and the three Excaliburs stored there were all stolen..."
At that point, Irina Shidou could not help clutching her head and collapsing onto the table. The image of Xenovia lying in a pool of blood earlier that day kept replaying in her mind. Her body began to tremble, and tears welled up in her eyes.
"It's my fault. I didn't notice what that person was trying to do in time..."
"You don't need to blame yourself like that. You already did well."
Cid spoke softly to comfort her as he poured another cup of tea.
"Don't put all the blame on yourself. It'll crush you.
Look at it another way. If you hadn't been there today, Xenovia might already have died in the enemy's ambush. She never would have had the chance to receive Asia's treatment."
"Cid-san is right. If you hadn't driven the enemy back, Irina, Xenovia and I would both have been killed by that bad guy, so please don't blame yourself.
Oh, right, Irina, you probably don't know yet, but Xenovia already woke up. She fell asleep again pretty quickly, but I think in a few more days she should be able to move around again. Hehehe..."
Asia had meant to share some good news to comfort Irina Shidou, but instead, hearing that only made Irina Shidou even sadder, and tears started spilling down uncontrollably.
"It's no use. When the enemy attacked the Church today, everyone who was injured ended up afflicted with the black spots. As time passes, the spots spread farther and farther across the body.
And once the black spots cover most of the body, even if Michael-sama himself came, he could only barely suppress them. He wouldn't be able to remove them."
"Ah, sorry, I'm so sorry, I said the wrong thing..."
Thinking of how most of Xenovia's body was already covered in black spots, and realizing she might have hit Irina Shidou right where it hurt, Asia frantically apologized.
"It's not your fault, Asia. The enemy was just too despicable..."
Letting out a breath, Irina Shidou did not take it out on Asia. She only clenched her fists in anger.
"I mean... since we can't come up with a solution, why don't we go see Xenovia first?"
Watching all this, Cid stroked his chin and suddenly said that.
Boom!
Almost immediately, a loud crash came from the room where Xenovia was resting.
The moment she heard it, Irina Shidou, who had clearly been tempted by Cid's suggestion but had been troubled by not knowing how, or whether, she should tell Xenovia the truth, stopped hesitating and jumped to her feet, running toward Xenovia's room with Asia right behind her.
Only Cid stayed where he was, an unsettling possibility surfacing in his mind that made the corner of his mouth twitch.
This plot... it cannot really be this melodramatic, can it?
...
Well, it really was that melodramatic.
When Cid walked into the room and saw Irina Shidou forcing a smile while talking to Xenovia, who looked like she had just woken up, he could not help complaining inwardly.
The people involved are blind to it, but an outsider sees clearly.
Irina Shidou and Xenovia might have thought they were acting naturally, but from Cid's perspective, it was obvious how absentminded both of them were during the conversation. In fact, even Asia, standing off to the side, had a strange look on her face. She had probably noticed that something was off too.
Xenovia had definitely already woken up earlier and had been leaning against the door eavesdropping on the conversation about her condition. As for how much she had heard... by the law of melodrama, Cid felt it was safest to assume she had heard everything.
Had Irina Shidou noticed that? Cid had no idea.
"Xenovia, I... I'm heading out for a bit. I still have some information I need to report to the Church. Get some proper rest here. I'll be back soon."
As if she had realized how awkwardly she was acting, Irina Shidou hastily threw out an excuse and left. She was probably at a loss for how to tell her close friend about it.
Once Irina Shidou was gone, the atmosphere in the room instantly turned awkward.
Asia glanced at the silent Cid, then at Xenovia lying in bed. Her eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had misunderstood something.
"Um... I'm going outside to look for Irina-san.
Cid-san, good luck."
After whispering that encouragement into Cid's ear, Asia left.
Did you misunderstand something?
Watching Asia close the door, Cid ultimately did not say it out loud. He simply stood there quietly, observing the mummy lying on the bed with only a pair of dark golden eyes visible.
No one spoke. The room was silent.
"If you don't want to end up like me, then I suggest you drop whatever you're thinking."
"You're overthinking it. I just want to see what these so-called black spots actually look like."
He casually explained himself, but his hands never stopped moving. He grabbed the bandages and gave them a pull, instantly unraveling all the wrappings around Xenovia's body and revealing her shapely figure encased in a black skintight suit.
The only blemish was the large patches of black spots covering the exposed skin. A faint rotten smell drifted from them, enough to kill any physical desire on the spot.
"Fine. If you want to look, then look. Just don't do anything stupid like touching them."
The weakness brought on by approaching death, together with the fact that Cid was only examining the black spots and there was not the slightest trace of dirty desire in his eyes, made Xenovia too tired to care. A blush rose on her face, and she simply turned her head aside and pretended not to see anything.
"Thanks for the warning."
After thanking her, Cid directed the Magical Power in his body into his pupils, and a purple aura-like effect flared up around his crimson eyes.
"I'm going to die, aren't I?"
Perhaps because the silence felt too heavy, Xenovia took the initiative to speak.
"If I said you're not going to die, would you believe me?"
The Magical Power in his eyes began flowing faster and faster. Fate, life and death, Magical Power, matter... layer after layer of the world's hidden aspects shifted through Cid's vision.
"...No. I heard everything Irina Shidou said outside just now. With how far it's spread over me, even Michael-sama would have to put in a huge amount of effort just to suppress it."
As though she were talking about someone else, Xenovia calmly analyzed her own condition.
"Well, there you have it. If you do not even believe it yourself, then why ask me?"
Cid frowned. It felt like the world layer he had just switched away from had been slightly off, so he shifted his vision back to the previous layer.
"I was an orphan. I was raised in one of the Church's orphanages from childhood, and later I joined the Church..."
As if something had occurred to her, Xenovia suddenly began talking about her past.
"I suggest you stop. They say people start reminiscing about their past before they die. Don't you think what you're doing right now looks exactly like that?"
He found it. In Cid's eyes, Xenovia's Light Core knowledge and Dark Core knowledge were out of balance, and the true nature of the black spots was laid bare.
"Maybe you're right. But sometimes I wonder, besides serving God, is there anything else I want to do? And now that I'm about to die, I've figured it out. I want to have a child."
A look of longing flashed through Xenovia's eyes. Cid had no doubt that if she were not so weak right now, she would already have pinned him down and started mating with him.
"I feel like your brain has just given up on thinking and is now obediently following one of humanity's three great instincts, sex. I just hope you don't end up wanting to strangle your current self later."
That was the truth. Her weakened body had stirred her reproductive instinct, and the imbalance between her Light Core knowledge and Dark Core knowledge had drawn out the darker side of her heart. Put together, the result was that Xenovia's brain had basically short-circuited.
"You make a lot of sense, but whether I'll even live to see tomorrow is already a question. So why bother thinking that much?"
Agreement and total resignation appeared on Xenovia's face. Cid had the distinct feeling she was only one step away from saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."