‘This is just a nightmare…’ Momonga exhaled sadly, as he brought Issei's mother back to her bed, Miki, or so he had managed to hear during her fight with her husband. So, Miki Hyoudou.

‘This has gone completely off plan…’ Of course, Momonga wanted to introduce himself as Issei's older brother – however, what happened back there was not how he planned to do it at all!

He wanted, if it worked, to introduce himself as some distant relative of the Hyoudou family, telling them that he had come to find his relatives. Something like a third cousin or even further, then try to convince Issei's parents to let him stay with them for a few days, using his friendship with Issei as a reason. And if that didn't work, use [Control Amnesia] on Issei's parents, convincing them that they had recently arranged for Momonga to come and stay with them for a few days until he could find a suitable house for himself.

After all, he didn't want to upset Issei's parents and didn't plan on enjoying their hospitality for long. He was palling on finding some simple job and getting one legally once he figured out exactly what documents he needed to have with him in this world and how he could get a work permit.

However, in the end – his first encounter with Issei's parents turned into a complete disaster…

‘Pandora's Actor!’ Momonga cast an angry glance toward the front door, as if to glare at the Pandora’s Actor beyond the door as he placed Miki on the bed. She looked uncomfortable with her wet clothes, but Momonga couldn’t undress her! He was embarrassed enough thinking of such actions, before his emotions and anger were forcibly extinguished, and he could balance his emotions again.

‘No, it's stupid to be angry at Pandora’s Actor when he only acted according to my own orders and was created by myself. If there's one person in the world I should be mad at, it's myself, for creating him as such. And for not telling him my plan right away, relying on the possibility that Pandora’s Actor would be able to guess my thoughts simply because he was made by me… Besides, reasoning logically – Pandora's Actor did exactly what I wanted him to do, and did it all in the best way. Gorou was simply an unintended collateral – well, he’s now in a better place, I think that Pandora’s Actor shouldn’t have trouble following such a simple order. Living a full life without any worries should be recompense enough, right?’

Momonga shook his head, clearing his mind, putting Gorou’s fate out of his mind, it’s not like as his ‘illegitimate child’ he should interact much with him. ‘Pandora’s Actor was able to put together a realistic and self-explanatory explanation on the fly, saying that I am Gorou's illegitimate son… Umu, I have drawn parallels for myself with Gorou before, but now I don't even know what to think about having 'illegitimate children'… Ha, I’m not even married, let alone have children, so how would I have illegitimate ones!? God, I'm still a virgin! What am I even thinking about?!’

Momonga shook his head, then looked at Miki again, at her calm expression, thanks to magic no longer distorted by pain or sadness, as surely her sleep would be altered if she fell asleep in the usual way… Ha, if she could fall asleep at all after having her life turned upside-down.

‘Okay, what's done is done, I gave orders to Actor to take care of Gorou, so he's no longer a problem and send him somewhere else. Hell, maybe I should have sent the money with him, otherwise he'll have trouble surviving in Neo-Tokyo or somewhere else… Or, ahem, is there a Neo-Tokyo in this world? Maybe it's just Tokyo for now? Things shouldn’t be as bad as in the future, right?’

Momonga dismissed these thoughts after a short nod. ‘Okay, I think Gorou can handle it, he still has his job and savings after all… I'm sorry, Gorou, I didn't mean for it to turn out this way! I really, really apologize! But anyway – Pandora’s Actor has created a good cover for me, even if not what I originally intended.’

Momonga raised his hand, then scratched his chin. ‘A child out of wedlock is a simple, believable story, plus, if my supposed mother is really dead, then that takes away Miki's ability to verify the information, since she clearly has no resurrection spells… hopefully. This can also serve as a fairly simple but strong and realistic shield against many questions, explaining why I suddenly appeared in this town without any knowledge about it or money. All without any prior information about my appearance, and why no one even suspected my existence until I arrived in town…’

Momonga tilted his head, then sighed. ‘Okay, Pandora’s Actor did accomplish what I wanted very well, if not in the way I originally intended. So, the only one I can be offended or angry with what happened, is myself.’

Somewhere, downstairs, a door opened with a slight creak, then closed, and Momonga could hear someone making their way to the stairs, quickly going upstairs and ending up next to the door leading to Issei's parents' room… Or, well, now it was just Miki's room now.

A moment later the door opened and out of the dark corridor – completely unobstructed to him due to Momonga's racial skill, [Dark Vision], appeared the figure of a young boy with brown eyes and brown short ungroomed hair.

Pandora’s Actor, finding Momonga's gaze, only nodded silently to him – conveying the information that Gorou had been ferried somewhere away, somewhere where he couldn’t obstruct Momonga.

‘Huh, so at least, that's been dealt with.’ Momonga nodded back, then cast one last look at Miki – the middle-aged woman was not young, you could tell that from one look at her, but she was perfectly preserved for her years. Momonga thinks that she was about the same age as his real age – maybe even a little younger… And she looked really good.

‘Maybe it's because she lives in this world where the ecology hasn't been so badly destroyed yet?’ Momonga looked up to the window, looking out through that into the night sky, practically empty except for a few bright stars and the moon – unlike his old world, where such a view is completely obstructed by pollution. ‘Huh, she's probably never been exposed to acid rain, or is she just taking care of herself? Maybe genetic modification? No, ahem, I don't think they use them so massively yet – like cybernetic implants… Maybe it’s simply heredity?’ Momonga thought for a second, then looked away from the peacefully sleeping woman and made his way to the first floor, Pandora’s Actor following silently behind him.

***

Miki Hyoudou slowly opened her eyes, then stretched out, yawning heavily, trying to figure out why exactly she felt so uncomfortable at this moment, covered in sweat.

"What happened…?" Miki tried to remember if Gorou had decided yesterday to repeat their sex escapades, which they had entertained in the past, and whose numbers had invariably begun to dwindle as Issei grew older, and they got older.

Checking herself over, she didn’t feel the expected soreness, instead feeling overall tired. "No, I guess not…"

Miki ran her hand beside her, trying to find Gorou, but feeling nothing but the blankets, which made her situation even weirder. Why would she sleep over the blanket? In fact, the bed looked like it was still made, which meant that she had fallen asleep over the blanket with her sweaty, clammy clothes, and she could still feel the sweat-wet fabric sticking to her.

Miki frowned, looking over the sweaty clothes – she was wearing her favorite cream blouse, along with a dark brown skirt… clothes that she would never wear to sleep.

"Why am I dressed and sleeping so strangely?" Miki's question bursts through her cloudy mind, before a whirlwind of memories and images pierced into her mind, stripped of the saving cloak of sleep. All at once, the memory about Gorou's infidelity, the appearance of Satoru Suzuki, who looked so similar to Issei, the fight, the blow from Gorou, then the crying and the last, confusion along with the painful thoughts.

About how Satoru held her in his arms, said something, and then how she had lost consciousness in the stranger’s arms.

And then, she woke up here, in her bed, alone.

A sob fitted from her chest a moment later, followed by a second and a third. Miki could only raise her hands to her face, trying to press those to her eyes, as if to dam the shed tears coming out against her will. The shivers that ran through her whole body, however, prevented her from doing so, so without holding back, Miki burst into tears, trying to muffle her loud sobs.

Twenty years of marriage… Twenty entire years she'd spent married to Gorou. Everything from romantic dates under the shade of a sakura tree, to hot sex in a love hotel, from meeting her parents to crazy trips with friends to the sea in the middle of the work week. For twenty years, they had lived, hiding nothing from each other, sharing the most intimate, expensive and shameful things. She remembered the time when they barely had enough to rent a small room and when they bought a house together, they had been together all this time.

Twenty long years, time they had spent together sharing everything, and in the end…

Miki didn't know whether she should have burst into tears at Gorou's betrayal – or laughed at how, in retrospect, she could have been so blind? Gorou had never concealed his foolish adolescent ambition to gather a harem, heck, he was even worse than Issei in high school! Which says something!

Miki should have realized at once that such a man could not be a good husband – but she fell in love with Gorou like a fool. She had believed all his promises to be a model family man, to abandon his old habits, to become a responsible adult… Only to be betrayed.

Ha-ha, she could only laugh at how short-sighted she was, but now before her eyes was the confirmation. A trip to Kyoto, a pilgrimage to the temples for the birth of a child… Isn't she a fool? How could she see all the humble young man, looking for the last member of his family that had abandoned him, and still close her eyes. To believe Gorou, no matter what!?

Now before her eyes was only one, but the most important, confirmation of his infidelity, his son by another woman… How many other sons did Gorou have? How many more trips did he use as an excuse for his infidelity, were the business trips, visiting his mother in the village, corporate holidays, actually just that? And how many more she didn't know about!

Miki couldn't help herself but to continue crying, sobbing out loud, unable to even move out of her seat and pull off her sweaty, sticky clothes.

Miki felt dirty, the feeling of betrayal, treachery, overwhelming her, Miki didn't even know if she was actually awake and was not just having a bad dream. If she was, she wanted to wake up from this nightmare…

But the clothes clinging to her body, and the clarity of her thoughts, told Miki that she was awake. Miki lifted her fingers, then dug one into her other hand, hissing a moment later as she felt the pain.

It wasn't a dream. It wasn't a dream – it was a nightmare, one that she has to live through.

Miki lifted her head, looking at the clock hanging in front of her bed, and it was very late in the day already. She always woke up a little earlier than everyone else – she would make breakfast for her husband and son, saw them off to work and school… And as the clock in front of her told her, she was already a little late with her usual routine, it was six forty-five in the morning.

Yet Miki could not find it in herself to get out of bed, even to move her hands and pull off her sticky clothes or wipe away her tears. Miki just kept lying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling, as if trying to find signs on it, an answer of exactly what she was supposed to do with herself now that her whole life had collapsed overnight.

But the ceiling was silent, leaving Miki lying there alone with no answer.

Minute after minute passed, but Miki could not get her thoughts together, before the natural needs of her body forced her to slowly get up. That is, unless she wanted to continue lying not only in sweat and dried tears that stung her skin unpleasantly, but in something even more physiological and disgusting.

Slowly Miki lifted one arm, then the other, and, bending those, lifted herself above her bed before exhaling.

The events of yesterday were still swirling around in her mind, but she had no way to form a coherent picture. She remembered Issei returning, the shocking news, Gorou's punch, the pain, and the slight metallic taste in her mouth, and in between one blink and the next, she was in Satoru's hands. Then, she tasted a light taste, as if she were drinking fresh spring water, then the pain was gone – and she closed her eyes. She opened her eyes much later, lying in her bed with no idea what happened in the intervening hours.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Well, at least now I know the threshold of news before I would pass out… What a bad joke…" Miki sighed, defeatedly – not that anyone could blame her after such information surfaced. "Ah… Right, shouldn’t there be some pain and swelling?"

Miki felt her eyes fill with tears again after she remembered Gorou's punch, as she lifted her hand, groping her face to check for any swelling. Only to find one devoid of any damage whatsoever.

"Was I actually dreaming all that? How I wish it were so…" Miki took a step toward the door of her bedroom, her legs still slightly wobbly.

"No, I remember the pain and the blood. But where did it all go? Is my nose still broken?” Touching her face again, Miki noted that her nose was just as usual.

“Or not? I don't know what's real and what's not anymore…"

After making her way through slowly, Miki opened the door – after which she smelt an incredible smell coming from the kitchen that made her bladder retreat for a moment and her stomach rumble piercingly. She couldn't eat anything last night, worrying about Issei not returning for so long after school, and after that… Her appetite was the last thing on her mind, suddenly falling asleep or not.

Miki made her way to the bathroom before closing the door and dumping her clothes in the laundry basket, and she stepped into the shower as if trying to wash herself of everything that had happened yesterday. Minute after minute, Miki desperately tried to wipe off all the dirt that she couldn't stop feeling on her body. Before, finally giving up after washing her hair and brushing her teeth a third time, and feeling a little better but still not fully clean, she got out of the shower, quickly putting on a change of clothes

After her shower, the clock showed a little after seven. Usually, by this time, Gorou and Issei would start waking up, then spend ten or twenty minutes cleaning up, and then they would go down to breakfast, gathering around the same table as a family.

Thoughts of Gorou caused pain to bloom from within Miki and, at the same time, resentment and anger.

She wondered if he had ever laughed at the way Miki was busying herself in the kitchen, unaware of what he was doing behind her back. Maybe he even compared Miki to the others? Haha, and what place did she deserve on his list? Probably somewhere high, since he chose to live with her.

Or maybe he just couldn't afford to live with those who were really high on his list? Or maybe they didn't know about his true nature either.

Miki wished she could stop thinking about it, but she couldn't, and she would be happy to take any opportunity to distract herself. So, when her stomach protested again, remembering the great smell from the kitchen, she took control of herself and after putting on her homely yukata, walked down the steps to the first floor.

As she approached the kitchen, the smells became more and more appealing, and as she entered the kitchen, Miki's eyes blurred at the sight of the table.

She could recognize the rice and soy sauce pork by sight, alongside the eel sashimi, and mushroom tempura – but most of the dishes on the table seemed unfamiliar to Miki.

Meat, rice, slathered with sauces she'd never seen in the past. And each of the dishes literally shone, as if prepared for the presentation of a new ultra-expensive three Michelin restaurant in Tokyo. It was as if each of these dishes were the trump card of such an establishment that rich people would pay millions for.

Miki swallowed the saliva that almost ran down her chin before finding the man who had turned her life through no fault of his own, Satoru, who was in the kitchen preparing the incredible food. As soon as Satoru noticed her, he instantly bowed deeply.

“Miki, I would like to apologize for what happened yesterday and… I’ve cooked breakfast." Satoru said softly, maintaining perfect posture even as he bowed before rising.

"I have no money to repay for the opportunity to be here, but I am ready to start working as soon as I, um… get to know the city. Until then, I hope I can repay you with these low-level… I mean, this simple meal.”

Miki froze, feeling her already damaged psyche seek to break free of her control again. ‘No money, ha ha? Then tell me how you bought all this! Heck, even if you are secretly a world-class chef – where the hell did you get those groceries, where did you find the cooking utensils, I don't think you'd even have time for that while I was asleep!’

‘Wait, what did he say…?’ Miki lowered her eyes, as Satoru’s words stuck a chord with her. ‘He didn't say he had 'no money', he said he had 'no money to repay for the opportunity to be here' and an apology for yesterday’. He really sees what happened yesterday as his fault, as if he was to blame for Gorou’s infidelity and the fight that followed. And this is all after his mother died – maybe just a week or less ago… Ha, don't tell me he spent all his money to make this breakfast trying to apologize to me for something that wasn't even his fault?!’

Miki felt her heart ache again – but it wasn't for Gorou, it was about the young man in front of her, the realization of how good a man he really was, and how much he must have suffered. He had only come to Gorou only after he was left without his mother's care, after which he tried to leave when he realized that he had not caused the reaction he had hoped for. And even though it was not his fault – he still tried to apologize, probably after having spent ungodly amounts of money – and even with the inheritance he received from his mother… No, wait, he isn’t yet of legal age! How could he even get here as a minor, all the way from Kyoto?!

Miki thought about it for a second before deciding not to get involved in Satoru's personal life, at least now, while they were still practically strangers to each other, and while she was in this state.

“You shouldn't have…” Miki tried to tell Satoru that he shouldn't have felt bad about what happened yesterday, but he instantly interrupted her words.

“No, Miki, I should.” Satoru exhaled, feeling bad enough by the looks of him, but still keeping himself under control. "I am the cause of what happened yesterday, and you are a fine woman who agreed to shelter me despite everything that happened, I even feel bad about providing you only such low-level… I mean, only food and nothing else. So, please, just try – it may not be much, but with your lev… I mean, in your condition, I'm sure this food will give you a meaningful buff… I mean, give you strength.”

Faced with Satoru's insistence, and still exhausted from yesterday's events, Miki found no strength or ability to resist his words, so after making her way to the small table, to her seat, she sat down, and then looked around. She noticed that Iseei was nowhere to be found, and that Satoru wasn’t going to eat, continuing to stand. “You’re not going to eat? And Issei? Where is he?”

“We have already eaten," Satoru replied calmly, after which, Miki shifted her gaze to the sink, where the dishes she usually accumulated, which she washed for each member of the family, and found it to be empty of dirty dishes. And, following her gaze, Satoru immediately added, "Umu, I already washed the dishes.”

Hearing this, Miki shifted her gaze back to the dishes in front of her. All of them are as fresh and incredible looking, meat, rice, mushrooms, the glazes – it all looked so incredible that Miki did not even know if she had the right to destroy this beautiful composition with her actions. Somewhere inside her, Miki was somewhat mad that her son wasn’t with her right now, but Miki quickly extinguished that thought and the flame of resentment inside.

She shouldn't have thought that she was the only one who felt bad right now. For Issei also, his world had also collapsed yesterday, and it was only natural that he wanted to be alone.

It was just strange to Miki that now, in the kitchen, preparing to try some incredible restaurant dish, she was alone.

No, she was not alone, she was together with Satoru – even if she only knew him for the second day, he seemed to her to be a really kind, open, and reliable young man… Even if he appeared in this house at the same time as the tragedy.

Miki shook her head, she didn’t want to think about that again, especially when she was trying to blame an innocent person of another’s sin. She then quickly picked up her chopsticks and, deciding to try the sashimi first, took a small piece and put it in her mouth.

A moment later, the tender eel literally melted in her mouth.

The gentle and delicious taste caused Miki to relax her shoulders, and somewhere inside her a small flame seemed to ignite, filling her body with strength. ‘Ha, it's true what they say, a good breakfast can give you strength for the whole day…’

Almost unknowingly, Miki reached for a second bite, then, as she swallowed it, felt a smile blooming on her face.

She hadn't smiled since the moment Issei had suddenly disappeared yesterday, not returning after school at the usual time, and after the debacle with Gorou, she only smiled now. There were only two reasons for this, either the food she was eating was magical and could strangely empower Miki – and Miki didn't believe that – even if the food tasted magical…

Instead, she believed that the source of her happiness was the atmosphere of the table. The amount of care and sincerity coming from Satoru was almost palpable as she ate the incredible home-cooked meal that must have taken ages to prepare, the young man made for her.

“Would you like to try the pork?” Satoru smiled, then moved the other dish a little closer to Miki. Miki, still unable to wipe the smile off her face, extended her chopsticks to the pork and took a small piece of artistically sliced pork into her mouth. Then she felt her thoughts gradually begin to clear, all her previous fears and doubts slowly began to recede into the background.

And the reason for that was…

“Thank you, Satoru”, Miki smiled slightly at the young man. “For your care.”

What Miki had lacked all these years – but she hadn't even noticed it until now… Someone showed care for her, and it was not her son or husband, but a random man from the street. Well, not really strangers… Ha-ha, her husband's son by his mistress.

Miki only smiled sadly at the thought before returning to her meal.

***

‘Umu, I see,’ Momonga watched as Miki slowly devoured the food on the table, as he looked at her parameters with [Life Essence] and [Mana Essence]. Miki's parameters and characteristics were negligible, so she was the perfect candidate to experiment on – given that the low-level food Momonga pulled out of his inventory gave not a percentage buff, but a fixed one – something like ‘+200 to HP max’.

In other words, it was much more effective for low-level players, whose HP might only be a hundred or two hundred, but for high-level players it was useless garbage. Even throwing such items in the trash would not bother any of them, they would not bother to clutter their Inventory with such low-level items. No one except Momonga himself, of course.

Being a pathological collector, he kept an incredible stockpile of the most useless things in his Inventory, not to mention Nazarick's treasure trove. Low-level food was one of the least bizarre things he kept in his inventory. And, as you could tell, due to her low stats, even slightly below the non-combatant first-level of YGGDRASIL classes – Miki was the perfect specimen for a test.

For one, Momonga could test whether the food from Nazarick and its buffs worked on the inhabitants of this world. Whether the people of the new world were affected by a dish if not eaten completely, which was impossible in the past in YGGDRASIL, and how trying to eat several dishes at once worked.

Unfortunately, only one food buff could be active at a time in YGGDRASIL -- Momonga had already tested this on himself, and these buffs behaved the same way as in the game. If he ate a new dish while the previous buffs were still active, the new buffs would replace the previous one. Furthermore, the buffs from the dish would not appear until he ate the dish in its entirety, as in YGGDRASIL, if now consuming even more time.

The creatures of this world, however, behaved differently.

As Momonga looked at Miki’s stats, Momonga could see two buffs stacking, from two different dishes – and they both began to act instantly when Miki first tasted the dish. Their effects however were reduced relative to the full effects – Momonga assumed that their effectiveness depended on how much of the total dish Miki ate.

In that case, the YGGDRASIL dishes gave the creatures of this world much more tactical flexibility, but became much more restricted by how much they can stomach. Momonga needed to check exactly how much Miki could eat – could she eat two dishes at once and get two effects at once? And, when she ate a dish in portions – would the effect of that increase with each portion? But did the effect timer reset, or was Miki limited, she had to take some time to dispense with the dish and get its full effect, and in doing so she lost buff time to eat the food? What if she ate two dishes of the same type – would their effect double? Would the timer update? Would the buffs remain if you vomit out the food after eating it?

Momonga saw so many potential experiments before him.

Besides, he was really feeling guilty before Miki, and so he apologized to her – maybe the low-level consumables weren't much like Momonga's sincere remorse, but he wasn't willing to spend anything high-level on Miki. And as it was, while the low-level consumables were practically worthless to Momonga, especially considering how many of them he had accumulated in his inventory and Nazarick, they were extremely tasty.

This Momonga had determined on his own a little earlier, but here Momonga could have been wrong. His tongue was used to chemically treated water and food paste, so for him almost any food was incredibly tasty.

But this one seemed to taste better than usual – so Momonga decided to share these dishes. Plus, it saved Miki from having to cook food for today… Hmm, and maybe for tomorrow as well? At the same time, Momonga would check to see if the food outside his inventory in this world would go bad, and if it would lose its flavor.

However, Miki, who glanced at him a few times, made Momonga stop his experimental planning for a moment before inwardly sighing. ‘Ha, of course, seeing someone just standing there watching you eat is uncomfortable. Hmm, maybe I should have gone somewhere, then come back using [Perfect Unknowable]? Okay, it's too late to fix this – I'll do that next time when I conduct these experiments.’

“I'm sorry, Miki, if I’m making you uncomfortable," Momonga apologized, before grasping the excuse that came to his mind a moment later,

"I just don't know where I should be going right now…”

“No need to apologize, I'm just very grateful for the food and concern," Miki smiled slightly, "Really. And as for what you should be doing…” Miki sighed a little. “Don't you have to get ready for school?”

Momonga blinked. He certainly wanted to go to school, but education was very expensive in his home world, even if it had been cheaper in the past, Momonga didn't think he could afford that without a single bill in his pocket.

Sure, he could spend the gold or sell some of the items in his Inventory – but that would be tantamount to announcing his connection to YGGDRASIL. Anyone with any knowledge of it would instantly get information about Momonga and completely destroy his cover before he could get all the knowledge he needed.

“Umu, I'd be happy to, but…” Momonga spread his hands, as he tried his best to think of excuses in case the school here was affordable to all the people, and being that poor would be strange even for a teenager coming from out of town. “I don't even know where it is…”

“Ah yes, that's right," Miki nodded slowly before setting the sticks away from herself, "I really thank you for the food, Satoru.”

“You're welcome, Miki," Satoru shook his head. Miki hadn't eaten a single dish to the end, and even the total came out to less than one full serving, so he couldn’t really conclude his experiments…

‘Hmm, is that her limitation? Appetite?’ Momonga held back the impulse to put a hand to his chin in a gesture of thoughtfulness. ‘Or is she just lacking stomach volume? Hmm, if you force-feed a person food– or maybe if the food is not in the stomach, but only in the mouth or esophagus, will it give bonuses or… No, not the time to be thinking about it!’

“Really, if you think about it that way – then I guess I need to work out your adoption, if you want to, of course. A young man like you, no matter how mature you are, you still need a family.” Miki sighed and shook her head.

“Umu, that’s right, adoption," Momonga nodded understandingly before he realized what Miki was saying, "Wait, what?!”