Stehy woke me up in the morning by tugging my right foot the wrong direction. I rolled off the bed, trying to free myself from the loafer loli who drooled shamelessly. I grabbed her arms wrapped around my leg like a vise. At first, I tried to gently remove them. The arms of the loli proved formidable: I had no idea her strength stat was this high. I'll take another look at her Adventurer's Card later.

It took several minutes of wrestling across the wooden floor to keep Stehy separated from my foot. I'd wrench her off, then she'd half open her eyes, then dive back onto my foot. It finally occurred to me in my morning stupor I could just order her back into her loafer form. That did the trick.

She turned into a loafer and rolled away from my foot. I breathed a sigh of relief and massaged my foot, then stood up as I felt the muscle tense uncomfortably. Dancing around the floor, I leaned against a dresser and stuck my right leg out, stretching it, trying to free my muscles from the cramp.

I stared furtively down at the loafer known as Stehy. A formidable opponent. My hand ran through my hair, resting on my forehead briefly before I flopped back onto my bed.

"uwah~"

I said it out loud on purpose to express my frustration. Some isekai protagonists wake up covered in lolis like a bed sheet. It's never a problem. There's no morning cramps. It's "ASA DESU YO~" with the protagonist face first in breasts. Hey. I was face first in breasts a few days ago. Anime Girl! Come to my aid!

[Hai~]

With that, Anime Girl's Stand form floated out from my body. She put her hand in front of her mouth and yawned in midair, her long silver hair reaching her butt. My hand went to my head again, testing the short length of my hair. Is there a spell to lengthen it? No, no, I have bigger problems than trying to grow my hair back with magic.

[Ohaiyo~ ogenki deska?]

Anime Girl asked, rubbing her eyes. I'm fine. I'm just fine. Assemble the troops— later. I'm going back to sleep. Or so I said. What actually happened was me rolling around in bed for several hours, thinking of what I would do to today. Light streamed in from the windows, and I paid it no mind. The events of yesterday's entry into Nephilz surfaced as I rolled around listlessly in bed.

There are seven hills in Nephilz, all connected by long, low bridges with vast rivers running under them. I saw wide entryways into the sewers, huge gaping holes along the bottom of the seven hills and the bridges. Something moved in the dark, and I looked away. The homunculi were down there, Ouji said. The other homunculi. I thought of the shapes hidden in the shadows of the Magic Egg cave.

Low elves clogged the streets. Pretty, long low drooping ears with pathetic looks on their faces, meandering about doing odd jobs. Some were carrying sacks, some were dressed in armor, some in robes. They all looked downright miserable. The happiest one I saw was one who was talking animatedly to another low elf about his last bullying. That one, that low elf? It happened to be the one I beat up. I got a bad feeling seeing the other low elf's face light up as the mythic bullying I delivered was recounted. I was already on my way deeper into Nephilz tailing Ouji, so I gratefully left the low elf behind.

So, let's see. Artist's Mount. One the center hills of Nephilz, surrounded by the four Commoner Hills. I made my entry on Adventurer's Mount. The concept of an 'Artist' wasn't clear to me, and I wasn't in the mood at the time to clarify it with Ouji.

I don't understand this culture well. If I want to change it, I'd need to start with understanding more of what I read from Kirei's Tome. I left it back at the pillow rat tree. Good thing Anime Girl has such a great memory. There's more than few mysteries bothering me. The Artists. The Moon Elves. Valahir. The Low Elves, especially, with that bullying ritual. And, Ouji talked about the Commoner Hills, four of them, where the vast majority of the population lived in large buildings circling the hill. They didn't work, he said. How do they eat? Why don't they work? I didn't see much in the way of farms on the way here. There's plenty of greenery throughout the city, melting in with the stone structures in a patchwork, the blue of the rivers below.

I'm at Adventurer's Mount, staying in the Laughing Dragon. Imouto, one of the world's strongest and legal loli, lives here. So it's safe to say this is a safe zone, if even Ouji is hiding out from assassins here. Just because I'm SSS+ doesn't mean I'm going to rush in— after all, this isekai isn't easy. And, I'm worried about my clothes.

Shifting over to the dresser nearby, I pulled out the Adventurer's Cards. Staring at them blankly, I read over the spell names and stats again. It's not like anyone here is weak. What Stehy said last night was eating at my brain. If there was a weakness here, it's poor communication. I'm not sure I can trust them, but, I learned in my last life that if I don't give first, without expecting anything, it's a no-go. Too many people give fully expecting the other party to give them sex, gifts, adoration. The internet and anime taught me how foolish it is to expect people to dance to your imagination. Oh, wait. These aren't real people. They are clothes. Well. Shit.

I'll treat them like real people anyways! Even if you teleported me into an anime, would I talk to an anime girl? No! Never! She's fourteen to sixteen! What could we possibly talk about! Although. I am an Anime Girl now. Even if that's true, I still feel like I'd have nothing to say. I'd go full kuudere. No, if I could go full kuudere, and be the quiet one in the back who says nothing, that would be ideal. Which means, I really need a genki character.

One always full of smiles and ready to start a conversation no matter wha- oh that's Hohemi, isn't it. Damn it all. I won't do it! Just to have a genki in my party? I'd have to talk to her? No! I won't do it! But, my mind was already arguing against the point. "Stehy's strict. She pushed you around like a pawn last night. At this rate, you might become a decent person."

I shuddered.

First things first. Combat power. There's a much higher chance I'll get caught off guard again. Negi attacked me when I didn't have my scarf or left shoe on. I was down two units, and what's worse, Stehy didn't act right away. Looking at her Adventurer's Card again, I remembered she said she had no combat ability when I first introduced myself to everyone. Yet her card here clearly shows high status and combat ability. So I am indeed upset. Drop an aircraft carrier on him, next time, please? I scowled over at Stehy, who was rolled up in a sleeping ball on the floor of the inn room.

There's rifts in these ranks. Yarko and Niji were summoned at the time Stehy denied her combat ability. Was Stehy afraid of them? Of me? Eh. This will go nowhere, suspecting my own clothing of treasonous acts. Nothing to do but do it, I guess.

"[Minna~ Shu~go!]" (Everyone, assemble!)

With puffs of light filling the room, and Stehy unfurling her body from the floor, two loafer lolis and a bishoujo populated my room. Stehy moved off to the side, opposite Yarko and to my right. Yarko leaned against a wall to my left with a Cheshire grin. Niji sat on the wooden floor in front of me in seiza. Shaking.

Reaching for my only piece of clothing left on the dresser, I pulled on my blazer, buttoning up for extra armor. Niji looked towards Yarko, then looked away. She's shivering. Her blonde twintails are trembling. Okay. I can do this.

Rising from my bed, I stepped over to the loli. Towering over her, I crouched down. I reached my hand forward. I can do this.

[ikke!]

Thanks Anime Girl. My hand hovered over her head. I started shivering myself. My face felt hot. Her head! The top of her head is right there! My hand is right above her head! I only need to lower it, and! I pulled back. Reaching into my blazer, I retrieved four Adventurer's Cards. I put mine back, and selected Niji's, holding it out to her as an offering. I mimicked the way I saw japanese businessmen offer their business cards. Knelt my head, held out the Adventurer's Card in neat presentation with both hand and thumb facing forward. This is another way to communicate. Equal exchange.

Niji snuck a glance towards what I was handing her. She snatched the Adventurer's Card from me then escaped into a corner of the inn room. Butting up her knees against her chest, she pushed against a dresser next to her and the wall behind her. She stared greedily at the tiny card in her hands, her eyes scanning the letters. Niji peeked at Yarko, Stehy and I before going back to reading. I rose.

That's enough for today. I think I'll take the rest of the day off. This is about 30% of my day's workload, so it's fine to rest—

「Shall we head out? Nephilz won't be conquered in a day。」Stehy objected. She sensed my laziness aura. As if she could read my mind. Stehy can't read my mind if you're not in loafer form, right Stehy? It shouldn't count if you're not being worn, right? I squinted at her, trying to read a response. Anime Girl should have picked something up. Approaching the brown on brown clothed girl, I handed Stehy her Adventurer's Card as well.

Stehy looked it over, bafflement obscuring her face. She folded it into a brown sleeve of hers, apparently content to let the mystery of what was written on the Adventurer's Card later. I debated challenging her, sneaking a glance over to Yarko. It might not be the best idea. Caution. After all, Yarko, of the everyone, feels like she has actual potential to be dangerous. Yarko took advantage of my contemplative waffling, walking over, she took the Adventurer's Card as I handed it to her, and pocketed it without question.

"You're not going to look at it?"

「Why would I。」

Does she not even know what it is? She was reading my mind when I was at the Adventurer's Guild, right? I tried to confirm it with her, did she understand what an Adventurer's Card is? But, she was already halfway out the door.

「I heard enough in the [Yume Shibai]。」

I followed after her, glancing at Stehy and Niji. Stehy nodded to me, not moving. I don't know what she's trying to convey, but she made no move to follow. I left Stehy and Niji behind in the room, following Yarko.

Walking down the hall with Yarko alone, I stared at her wild grey hair. A pretty shine greeted me.

"[Yume Shibai]?"

「Anime Girl's spell。She has a private house inside your head she setup with magic。Everyone has a room。

Right now I'm the only one living there besides Anime Girl。She made it to keep all our voices from overwhelming you soon after we were summoned。」

Sounds nice. I'll assume it's a 'girl's only, keep out!' treehouse for now. After all, even if I am a girl, we're sharing space here. Anime Girl needs her privacy too. I wonder what the house in my head looks like? Is it pink. I'm worried it's pink.

We descended the stairs. I figured it might make more sense to leave Stehy alone with Niji. After all, my social skill level is nothing compared to Stehy. I could have ordered Niji to return to loafer loli form and left with both of them in tow, but eh, for today it should be fine. It's not like there's going to be an ambush or anything, it's only my first day here, if there were notable events they would be evenly spaced out to give me breathing room to explore the town. I'm sure.

Imouto shop opened up before me below. A tall lanky guy lodged in a corner dressed in a long black garment with dead eyes ate something red and white mechanically. The dining room was full of barren wooden chairs. Imouto was busy cooking tentacles behind the counter while Ouji sat across from her. A butler entered, making a beeline for the casual clothing Ouji. The butler gave a snide glance to the lanky guy in the corner, disgust etched on his face.

Ouji turned in his seat and greeted the butler behind him taking a sack and a letter.

"Another triple S plus rank has been uncovered. The King demands your presence."

Ouji ripped the letter in two, tossing it to the floor. "Tell him the usual." Ouji looked at me. I think he's blaming me already. It's not my fault I'm OP. This is how isekai's are supposed to go. If anything, the whole part where I fought you was were everything went wrong!

"The letter," the butler collected the scraps and opened them for Ouji. "is not from the King. It is from Miss Cheru."

Ah, Ouji's evil gay sister. I'm curious what she wants. She's trying to kill him after all. Maybe it's a poison letter?

"Read it." Ouji said. Imouto delivered a plate of hot tentacle with a white sauce and a glass of brown and fizzy liquid. I sat left from Ouji at the counter, Yarko taking a seat herself on Ouji's right, leaning back into the counter. Yarko sat all the wrong ways, legs splayed out, slouching, a grin implying delivish action. The butler ignored our fresh presence as he read the note.

"'There will be a tournament this night to decide the current world's strongest. I'll put aside your transgressions for now, we may have to ally against a common enemy soon.'"

Ouji looked at me with tempered meaning as he sipped his drink. Yes, I am the common enemy. Don't look at me like I did something wrong.

"Tell her I'm fine." Ouji dismissed the butler with a wave, who left without a bow, then Ouji pushed the sack to me. Huge. "You're the type who is easily bought, I'm assuming. Have your go at my fortune, I have plenty of my dad's money to spend."

Stupid silly rich kids can't appreciate the hard work the common class have to put in to make it in this world! I think. No, wait, most of the population of Nephilz doesn't work. I brought up the topic, but Ouji dismissed me with a handwave. Ouji crouched his body closer to me. Please die far away from me.

"Another time. Imouto is one of the strongest in the world. Currently. The, triple S plus adventurer may be fighting against her tonight. I wonder how it will go."

Ouji is a master of deception. In front of the little girl, he brazenly wondered aloud to the new challenger for the title of world's strongest how the fight would pan out. I'm not going. If I don't go, then maybe they won't fight? Or, am I going to get dragged into it no matter what? Can someone hunt me down and pull me kicking and screaming into a tournament arc? Assuredly. I'm just going to assume with how this life has been going that I'll be in a life or death fight by the time the night is out. But, I have no objective proof. It's not Anime Girl Instinct either. Haaah.

I stared up at the ceiling, wondering if Stehy managed to penetrate Niji's defense. Teamwork would be nice.

I'll put off information gathering and go train outside the city today with my clothing. Play it safe. I don't want a repeat of Hohemi's ambush where I was caught with my guard down. All my training during that week under the pillow rat tree didn't amount to much in my fight against Negi, but the bar is much lower here. With three more units and Anime Girl's Stand form, I should be able to survive. It would be reasonable, considering shounen manga logic, that I'll lose here and swear to become stronger. That's fine for me.

"Where is Negi ranked on the world's strongest?" I asked Ouji.

"Negi? He's a kid."

"Imouto is young, too." I stared over at her. "Are you really three thousand years of age?" I had no evidence, so I went with my guess.

Imouto gave me a stony glare and put a plate in front of Yarko. Yarko set herself to eating with gusto. The barbarity of her manners need education. By someone other than me. Wait, does this count as cannibalism? Eh, it's too early to worry in the morning to worry about ethics.

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"Do you want to eat?" Imouto's tone dropped heavily. "Isn't filling your stomach more important than filling your head?"

Something felt incredibly off about that statement. I'll leave the mystery of Imouto's age alone. We might end up in a fight tonight, against my will, so, I don't want to give her a reason to get angry before the fight we may or may not be having. I yawned.

Wrapping my arms on the counter, I dug my head into the dark nook created by the gap between my forearms, enjoying the self-made darkness, I groaned, long and low. There are three others around, but I would have done it alone. I didn't need an audience for that groan.

Can't I have a more non non biyori-ish introduction to this city and it's culture? I could question Ouji more. I could. I don't want to. Sleeping more sounded hard, talking sounded hard. Living is hard.

I reviewed the problems at hand in my head. Possible tournament arc. Moon elves. Conquering Nephilz to eradicate illicit sexual cultural practices. I want to buy a sword. Is it better to defend Ouji for the sole sake of using him as a personal wallet? After all, I have two standing job offers, and I fear that if Ouji dies I'll end up working, somehow. Should I grit my teeth and befriend Hohemi so I have a genki to balance out the group, a kuudere role is desirable, here. And, I'm an Adventurer now. There should be plenty of quests around here, this is the Laughing Dragon, a Tavern, where they post quests, so maybe I can pick a quick and easy quest to boost my party's teamwork before the maybe-tournament.

Buying a sword. I want to buy it. There is Ouji's money in a sack near my head. I want to buy a sword. Eh. I suppose I'll do both. Quest, buy sword. But, both are really procrastination on my part. Improving my magic and teamwork to fight with my clothes is priority one. I don't want to do it.

"Isn't there a fast and easy way to master magic?" I wondered aloud.

Ouji shook me. I rose, his face came too close to mine so I scooted away, but his whisper reached me anyways.

"The tall guy eating the Mapo Tofu."

"Yeah?"

"Him."

What? Yarko leaned forward, closing in on Ouji's side, she added to the whispering.

「That is 'him', isn't it。」

Her voice seems more tense and blood coated than usual. I'm worried.

"Him who?"

"The best magic teacher on Errera." Ouji said. "I wouldn't have told you if the circumstances for you weren't dire. If you fight for the title of world's strongest tonight, I'm sure you will die."

"I'd win. I'd win with no training. Just you wait. I'll show you how I'll asspull a victory using one of the many as of yet unrevealed skills my clothing has, or I'll get serious and do it myself. I'm the main character, how can I lose? What kind of story do you think this is?"

"I have no idea what you just said. I fought you myself, remember? If you can get a high rank like that and still be so weak—"

"I went easy on you!" I told Ouji. I really did. I could have Tentacle Beam'd him.

"So you say. Your swordsmanship is sloppy."

"I almost beat you one on one."

"'Almost.' You're not going to be fighting me tonight." Ouji snuck a glance towards Imouto. Eh. He's right. So, best magic teacher in the world, huh? I glanced over at the guy in the corner. He looked back at me. Those dead fish eyes reminded me of my own. There was a sense of nostalgia there. And then—

[Otou-san!]

Anime Girl leaped out of my body in Stand form, crossing the distance across the tavern floor, she went for a full-on glomp. Otou-san? Oh. Wait. What is. This guy, then, would be. Kirei? No wait, he's a mass murder! Stop liking him! He's just sitting over there eating Mapo Tofu like a normal person but he's worse than Hitler! He's like an inverted helix constructed of Hitlers! And Hitler was on a lot of drugs, too, so he has the realistic understandable pathos to his story with the whole ruling a nation and frustation of no one liking his painting of dogs. Kirei has clear minded evil goals he acts on regularly with discipline and calculated malice, how can he just be calmly eating Mapo Tofu like he's a normal person!

I felt my face fold in. A moosh feeling. I looked over at Anime Girl's Stand form. Kirei's had his fist placed in Anime Girl's face. Anime Girl's Stand form transmitted the feeling of Kirei's steel-like knuckles digging into my face. Anime Girl's Stand form fell to the floor, dissipating like ash in the wind.

[Mataku. Mo. Dai kidai!]

I don't think she appreciated Kirei's sentiment. Kirei didn't stop eating. He's like a robot. Looking at his wispy eyed face, I'm not sure he realized he hit something. His body must have reacted by itself. Or something. I ran my fingers over my face, testing where the knuckles landed. It doesn't hurt, physically. I felt sad, though. Anger. Why. I wonder if there is a child abuse hotline in this world. I would gladly public services you.

Is it like: "Otou-san, you created me and now you don't even recognize your own homunculi!? Aren't I special! I may be only one out of a whole cave of Magic Eggs, but take a look at how huge my mana pool is! I read your book! Notice me, Senpai!"

Something like that? Eh. I don't want this kind of villain. Kind of a Darth Vader-ish level? "Wizard, I am your father." "Yeah, it's true. But that doesn't mean much, you weren't around to Mindsnare me like you were supposed to. Wasn't I supposed to be one of you many shock-troops? You don't care about me at all!"

And, yeah, he is the best magic teacher in the world. So. Am I going to enter a training arc with him? Is that how it's supposed to go? He's a villain, though. Villains don't train the heroes of a story. I don't remember an anime like that. I told Stehy I'm going to at least play Hero-ish, Hero-poi, for now, so I really shouldn't.

And more importantly I don't want to talk to someone so evil. I looked away from him, disgust plaguing me.

"Are you okay?" Ouji said. Despite saying that, he was eating just fine. Yarko too, had no interest. It seems I am the only one who cares the guy who created me and is a walking Helix of Hitlers is right there stuffing his face with Mapo Tofu.

"I'm fine." I leaned forward a little, talking to Imouto as she set out a plate in front of me. "Isn't that guy, Kirei, really evil? Why would you let him eat here?"

"What? He's my teacher. But, yeah." She shifted across her kitchen behind the counter, cleaning up. "Sure, he's evil. Compared to some other people I know, though, he's a saint."

I looked down at my cooked tentacle breakfast. I'm worried. Kirei? That guy I read about in the book? He's not as bad as some of the other people one of the world's strongest knows?

"Who could be worse?" I persisted.

Imouto was fairly dry in her tone, cleaning a glass like it was a casual conversation. Her eyes raised to the ceiling high above her tiny form.

"Well. This world is... yeah."

Yeah?! No, give me exposition! I want exposition! I need it!

"It's? Errera, this world is?"

Imouto let out a verbalized stalling groan. She's thinking. Let the little girl think.

"Imagine it like this. What if the people who ran the world were always at war, to the point where they decided war is the natural state of affairs and planned it out by the seasons. The people who run the world, on the regular, don't mind spilling blood and... being unspeakable to other people, as they are from time to time. So, Kirei's 'just another one of those' to me."

"Seasonal warfare?" It's weird. Planned wars? No, wait, earth had a history like that, too. They used to have stricter codes of fighting in european warfare, to the point where the people who broke those strict rules were able to conquer a great amount of territory. Notably, Joan of Arc, at only fourteen like a proper anime character, imagined new ways of using cannons in warfare citing it as inspiration from God. This gave her a significant advantage and made her a historical figure.

"Yeah. Some people are crazy." Imouto said. "So, 'that' guy doesn't seem so bad. To me, at least."

"Because you're used to despair and suffering?"

"Is it like that?" Imouto asked Ouji. I wonder why she's asking him.

"We live with what get, on Errera. Like I told you, Wizard. We do what we can for each other."

Rather grim for an Ouji. Stop trying to act like you're a real character. Ah, wait, Ouji said that for my benefit. Since I told him I'm from another world, he's setting the expectations low. "Don't shake this boat." I guess. No matter what I do, it'll be working against forces I can't defeat no matter what? I don't like it. I may be lazy, but I also don't like the idea of not being able to win. Reminds me too much of my last life as an autist. I had more than enough of being unable to win and wandering clueless and powerless.

But, if Imouto, one of the strongest of the world, has given up like it's no big deal and accepted these rules as natural, then what chance to I have as a newcomer?

One thing at a time. There's really no way around it, is there? I might as well cave in and go up to Kirei, beg for training, and become stronger. I don't know if the Worldruling Class will be opposed to me taking one little city like Nephilz and messing with it, but I'll definitely never be able to take over the world at this rate. There's also the question of if I could do any better than the Worldruling Class could. Maybe they have perfectly sensible and intelligent reasons for what they are doing, and I'm the idiot who stumbles into the room and messes everything up for everyone. In that case, it might be better to give in to laziness and content myself with more mundane tasks like adventuring, gathering a yuri harem. Etc.

It's tiring. Kirei's right there, he's eating, and now I feel like I have to talk to him. I'm one of his homunculi, after all. I don't know if there's a danger of a Mindsnare or something similar, Anime Girl, you ready with the counterspell?

[Mo.]

She's still upset. I don't want to talk to him either. But, he's the best option. The best! So. Throw your ethics out the door, stand up, and bow your head to him! Do it! Become stronger! It's for the future!

I stood up. I have no shoes on, and Yarko and Ouji are eating, Imouto's cooking and cleaning. I steeled myself. Kirei's eating. All I have to do is casually walk up, say hi, and then, yeah. For now, I will approach and say word. I put one foot after another. I walked outside. The sun is nice. I think I'll wander for a bit. Kirei? Kirei who?

Nearing a stall with apples, I remembered I left the sack of money behind. Damn. If I want to buy a sword I'll need it, I'm not the thieving type. No quest either. Eh, and my clothing squad too. I have to at least train today, so go back, get a quest and— as I walked back, a tall black figure confronted me.

"Are you looking for a magic teacher, by chance?" A sullen face, a sullen voice, Kirei looked down on me from above. It's like he was already dead set on me from the start. How?!

What is he doing, springing the question I wanted to ask on me! Baka baka.

"Please excuse me." I politely declined in a soft voice. I went to slip behind him, but Kirei held out an arm out like a pole to block me. I'd have to do the limbo to get past him.

"You are my homunculi. I have a spell, you see, a small thread of mana connected to every Magic Egg I have created. I can sense the mana and location of my homunculi. Anticipating, one day, there would be one who would surpass my mana greatly."

And that happens to be me, I suppose he's going to say. I sighed. Anime Girl was still mad at him for the punch, I could tell. But, I, well. I'm kind of lost on options here. Might as well cave and become an apprentice to a madman.

"No!" I said. I'm defying for the sake of defying. How carefree is the spring of youth into which I have revisited in this form, in this world. Adolescence comes but once a lifetime, thankfully or not. I was freed of it before. Or not, judging by my maturity level of my last life, I'm not sure I've moved the needle much.

"What? Do you know who I am, homunculi?" Kirei's voice was steady. He's has a sensible tone for someone so evil.

"I know I don't like you!" I fumed at Kirei. There's no point in talking to him, but, I'm doing it anyways, because emotions.

"Everyone hates me." He waved aside my hatred like a leaf in the wind.

"Then why don't you stop being so, you?!"

Silence reigned. Kirei's tall, lanky skeleton reaching into the sky hanging over me. The entrance to the Laughing Dragon fit tight around his body.

"I am Kirei. Mage of Mysteries, the one who seeks to overturn the cruelties of this existence. I don't obey the laws of men or gods, and because of my desires, intelligence, and skill, I have managed to carve out a pleasant life for myself wherever I go. I am alone. I accept this will always be."

"And what about all those you killed?"

"So you have heard of me. I see. Then, understand. Mysteries are like a black pool. You stare into them, and see nothing. Plunge in your fist into the depths, and there, you will see truths impossible to imagine before. Those who fail to enter the abyss cannot surpass the abyss."

"I'm not interested." Whacko. I've seen his type on youtube. I swear, his book made him sound at least entertainingly evil, not sermon lecture guru evil. I should totally go get my clothes and take him out right here and now, power levels and lack of teamwork be damned.

"Whatever you desire, if you seek it, you will understand in time how few can help you on your path. Your power is too great. Before long, you will become a target of many. You and I will not be treated so differently in others eyes. At the least, please don't register at the Adventurer's Guild. You will doom yourself."

Oh. It's a little late. I'm not going to tell him he's right though. I slipped past him, fuming internally. I don't need no education.

[Shidanai. Shin-ne. Mou. Betsuni. Baka. Baka baka baka!]

Right on, Anime Girl. Who does he think he is, what a stalker. Creepy lanky bastard should just go die. There's a lot of people I could say should die, like everyone, but Kirei honestly deserves it. Kirei should just go die. You don't get to be evil around me.

Or so I say. Yarko was waiting for me, a metal bat slung over her shoulder. She was ready for a fight. I walked past her, heading for my food.

"He's not worth it." I said. It came out angrier than I though. I sounded stuck up to myself. I mad. Who blocks doors and asks if they can become your magic teacher? What kind of manners does this world have? No one should talk to anyone unsolicited! I want a sign. Maybe I'll buy sunglasses, or make them if they don't exist, and have my clothes act as my posse. No one talk to me, ever! Or, I'll find a countryside hamlet and say screw it to taking over Nephilz, and just give up on my wanton quest for power.

What's the point, anyways? Justice? Stehy's sermon burned my mind a little more as I sank into my chair. ehhhhhh. I dunno. Grabbing my fork, I dug in, eating the tentacle breakfast Imouto prepared for me. My face felt tense. The food tastes pretty good. These are tentacles I summoned myself, the oil mixes well with the fishiness. Lobster? Lobster. I want to believe I'm eating lobster anyways. I hunger. Well, I'm not actually hungry, and I haven't been since I became an Anime Girl, but I still want to eat because I like food. No, I love food. What is life without eating? Ah, it was a pain in my autist life.

Let me devour all the breads in the world. "How many breads have you eaten in your life?" I remember Dio saying that in Part 1 of Jojo, a lot, that's how many. Give me all the breads.

This attitude lead to health issues, my eventual death, diabetes, etc. It's food! Why can't I eat it! It's good! I like good! But, eventually I educated myself with the power of the internet.

I was completely taken aback by the ingredients of imitation crab in my last life. Carbs. Soy. Canola oil. But now, I don't have to look at the packages of food and worry about my weight anymore. Right? Well, it's not like they have nutritional information in the first place. Unless the moon elves have something. I'm sure. They must have it! When I get to the moon, I'm going to check, for sure, if there is a calorie counter just like there's a power level scouter! It must exist.

"Does it taste bad?" Imouto said. Her saddened face shocked me back to reality.

"Nah. I'm mad about Kirei existing right now."

"Oh. Is that all? Yeah, that happens." She said brightly.

"Food's good." I complimented her cooking with my mouth full, pointing at her with my fork.

Imouto smiled. She went back to cooking.

Ouji remarked he didn't think the tentacles would taste this good, and Imouto said he'd better like it, because there's plenty of them. She did bring a whole lot back. Eh. Tentacles everyday? I already want to go somewhere else just thinking about it...

"You're staying, aren't you?"

Imouto caught me. What is this, some psychic sense when a customer is thinking of leaving? OP. Why can't I be free to buy and eat what I want? I just so happened to end up here by chance, anyways! You're the one who collected all those tentacles, greedy of you, do you want to expand your thin profit margins naturally present in the food service industry that badly? Is that it!

Heh. I'm tired and all I did was walk downstairs and eat. Oh, and met my 'Otou-san.' It doesn't count. No count! I'll become strong my own way!

"Imouto, any quests you recommend?"

"You're an adventurer? From your stylish clothing, I thought you were an Artist."

"I want something that's about hard enough to keep my attention on it, but not hard enough to actually feel like I'm in any danger at all." I'll go MMO route. Maybe I can grind all day, maybe that will be good enough to buff my teamwork before the maybe-tournament tonight.

Imouto's eyebrows shifted. "What a strangely worded request. What rank are you?"

Eh. I don't like lying. I'll just say it.

"SSS+"

"Oh, another one, huh."

Be more surprised, please! I didn't say it, I held my tongue. There's nothing I can do about her not caring about my power level. I thought I was special. I want to be special.

"There's goblins."

"Awww, I don't want some low grade quest any normal adventurer would be fine with!"

"But, you said you wanted something without 'any' danger. A rank SSS+ is nothing against the Forest King(female) that lives in the forests outside Nephilz. Hunting locally is highly regulated, and the Forest King(female) is a willful enforcer. So, it's goblins or nothing. Unless you're willing to enter into the power games present behind the scenes of Nephilz, and that, I don't recommend."

How dark a setting is this? Bah. "Okay, I want to spar someone that will hold back. Not Ouji."

"Why not?" Imouto looked over to Ouji. "He's a perfectly good target. A goblin is smaller."

"eehhhhh~"

My voice escaped like a balloon deflating. Ouji tanked the comment with a swig of his drink. Not easily rattled socially, this guy. Please go die. Well, I guess there is 'that' option.

"How about a spar, Imouto?"

"Versus me? You'll die. The concept of 'holding back' doesn't exist in my form of combat."

Why am I suddenly extremely afraid of tonight? Should I run? Should I just pack up and run? Or are they going to teleport to me no matter where I go and the only route to survival is kowtowing to the walking helix of hitlers?

I will confirm it. It's a maybe-tournament right now. Imouto should know, as one of the world's strongest, what happens when they hold the tournament!

"Ah, well. The thing is. Imouto. I'm just registered to the Adventurer's Guild yesterday. I got an SSS+ rank, but I have no confidence in my combat ability."

Imouto looked at Ouji, then back to me. "So. You're the reason for the tournament."

"I'm sorry."

"I don't think you need to apologize for this."

"I do."

Imouto sighed, crossing her arms around her flat chest, she wiggled a kitchen knife in her hand.

"Surrender."

"I can? I can't wait! God Bless Surrender!"

"This isn't anything to be happy about."

Ouji put his fork down. He looked at Imouto seriously. Imouto pointed her kitchen knife at me.

"Surrendering during the tournament for world's strongest is the equivalent of saying you don't want to participate in the Moon Elves rule of this world. It's seditious. You'll be taken to the moon, right away, and who knows what they'll do to you there."

"They'll take me away just because I don't want to fight? Then, can I throw the fight?"

"'Throw' a fight?"

"Like, lose on purpose."

Imouto looked at Ouji. Bafflement clouded her face. Ouji shifted in his chair towards me.

"Don't try. From what I've heard from Cheru, there's no danger of death or injury. It's more like a sport. However, if you were to lose on purpose, that may be seen as an offense to the Moon Elves. Even I, as a prince, know very little about their ways of thinking."

"Didn't you say you knew one? Elu? You tried to hit on her, right? Which is why Cheru is sending assassins after you."

"Yes. Elu exists. Why?"

I rested my hand on my cheek. "I'll talk to her. Maybe I can find something out." Ouji laughed, patting me on my back.

"I love this girl." "Please don't." I shot back.