Kai walked through the halls of the academy but he didn't go to check on Yoko and the others over at Combat Class before heading to his own class for the day. Because of the tournament just the day prior, classes will end early and the students can use that time to rest.
As expected of the biggest school in the world, they don't give day offs that easily.
On the way to his classroom, not just one or two, there were several eyes watching him. Some of them had fear in their eyes while some of them gave curious looks at him but most of them weren't included in the ones he punished in the tournament.
A majority of the student body participated in the interclass competition, this meant that almost every student now knew of Kai's true power and how he was merciless against his enemies. Because of this, many students took the initiative to avoid their group while a brave few decided to form connections with them and began striking up conversations here and there.
Some also began actively investigating their backgrounds but Anne personally hid the information they used to enroll.
Without any obstructions, Kai reached the room the class he to go to today, Rejuvenation 101 but as soon as he stepped into the door, Anne walked by and dragged him out.
They walked for quite a bit until they reached a place with nobody around.
"Anne, if this is a confession, then I accept."
Kai jokingly told Anne.
"Satou Kenji, sooner or later, you're going to be called to talk to some of the executives. There are a number of matters of which they need to address but I assume that they'll try and confiscate your armor made out of living metal and after your two week period in the school ends, assassinate you."
Anne ignored Kai's remarks and directly told him the reason why she dragged him out there. Looking at her actually care for someone's well-being for once, Kai smiled.
"Hmm? Anne, could it be that you're worried about me?"
Anne turned slightly red and turned her head to the side.
"You're a classmate, after all..."
Kai couldn't help but laugh. The woman who would eventually sacrifice millions of lives just for her own actually cared about someone because they were a classmate? He'd rather swallow a bucket of nails than believe that. It's obvious that even if Anne hasn't fallen for him yet, she still had favorable feelings towards him.
And maybe... she can change too.
After all, they were enemies in the future but in this timeline, not only had she helped him, she hadn't asked for anything in return.
"And, why did none of the students surrender despite being able to speak?"
Anne asked, remembering yesterday's matters.
I implanted fear into them so badly that they forgot about everything else.
"You don't have to worry about it."
Kai placed a hand on Anne's head but was immediately punched in the stomach.
"Ugh..."
Kai, who had not protected his body in time slouched down on the floor.
"Don't touch me so casually!"
Leaving behind those words, Anne ran away from the scene. It was so obvious that just by looking at her, you could tell she was embarrassed.
As soon as her back was out of view, another girl appeared beside Kai.
"Mio."
"Listen, I have something to say..."
After looking around for a bit and confirming with Kai that there were no others in the vicinity, she whispered.
"Kai, I won't get jealous if you flirt with other girls anymore. I don't even mind if you take them as brides as well but my condition is that you won't neglect me or Amelia, got it?"
From her face, Kai could tell that she was absolutely serious.
"What brought this on all of a sudden?"
Erina turned away from him and spoke.
"I've seen you flirting with the student council president for the past few days and... after a talk with Amelia, I decided to be more open to your future relationships. With your strength, I doubt there'd just be one or two more additions anyway... Of course, it's still impossible for me to completely not feel jealous but I won't lash out as I did before."
Although Kai wanted to deny her statement, the future really was unknown. If he refuses her now and then takes another girl in the future, wouldn't it come back to bite him?
"Alright, thanks."
Of course, Kai didn't realize that accepting it was also just as worse. Seeing him accept without the slightest hesitation, Erina's face darkened.
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"So there was someone in mind..."
Kai immediately tried to stop her but he couldn't do so in time.
"Who is it? Yoko? I can accept her or is it the Empress of the Garnet Empire? If it's her, perhaps I can accept as well... or don't tell me, did you really fall for the president?!"
"No! Erina, just calm down."
Sighing, Kai just decided to go on with her misunderstanding.
"Didn't you say you won't be jealous anymore?"'
"I-I did but..."
"Then why are you chewing me out now?"
"...Because you already chose a woman before I even gave you permission..."
Seeing Erina fall into his trap so easily, Kai smirked but it disappeared as soon as it formed on his face. There, by Erina's back, Amelia stood.
"..."
Guess my fun's over for now.
"Erina, he's trying to tease you, no need to mind him. Couldn't you just have used your magic eye during the conversation? Actually, do so right now. Kai, say the words 'I like no other women than Mariko Erina and Amelia Tepes.'"
"Okay..."
Although Kai was bewildered why Amelia began inspecting him so suddenly, he still complied. Since they already talked it out then that meant that even if he did like someone, they would give their support.
"I like no other women than Mariko Erina and Amelia Tepes..."
Almost as soon as the words left Kai's mouth, he immediately regretted it.
"...?"
Erina's reaction became strange.
"What is it?"
Amelia asked when seeing Erina tilt her head.
"It's just that... he didn't say a lie but it felt as if it wasn't the truth."
"A half-truth, huh?"
Kai felt his back drenched in cold sweat. Various thoughts began forming in his head how to get out of this situation. He didn't want them to know about the future.
"Ah, I have to go now."
Kai turned around while waving goodbye to the two of them but Amelia stopped him in his tracks.
"Kai, you're nervous, what's going on? I don't think it's about another girl, is it about us?"
As always, her intuition was spot-on.
"It's nothing, I just thought that since I have your blessings, I can go after Yoko now..."
"That's a lie."
Erina suddenly cut in from behind.
"You're panicking, you even forgot that Erina's magic eye was activated. Kai, what are you hiding?"
Kai was cornered.
"It's really nothing, you two. I cherish both of you more than my life after all."
The first part of his words was a lie but not the second part wasn't.
Erina scrutinized Kai's current state. With all of her time spent with Kai, she had never seen him this nervous before. He had gotten nervous several times when they were children but not to this extent. He looked like a killer on the verge of being caught, that was how Erina felt.
"...Alright, Kai, we'll let you go but only if you say the words, 'I love you two.'"
Erina didn't know why but it felt as if that was the question she needed to ask. She had never used her magic eye when Kai had said that in past occasions but now was an exception. He 'cherished' them and he said that he loved them but he used their names and didn't tell them to the actual person.
"...I love you two."
Denying their wishes would make them even more suspicious. Besides, even if they do find out that who Kai loved wasn't 'them' but rather, the other version of them, they still won't find out he came from the future.
"Another half-truth."
After Erina said that, she fell down on her knees, her expression turned into sadness and soon, she began slowly sobbing.
"Erina..."
Kai kneeled down to lift her up but not only did she not respond, she just sobbed even harder.
"...Kai, my feelings for you won't change but... please, I beg you to tell me the truth. Why did Erina detect a half-truth within your words?"
Erina hadn't told Kai prior to this day but her magic eye had already evolved. If she had this evolution when Kai was talking to Amelia about the false God, then she would've realized it too.
In the end, Kai sighed and turned his back away from the two of them.
"Give me some time. I'll tell you about it soon. I just... need to prepare myself for a bit."
"..."
Without waiting for a response, Kai walked away from a sobbing Erina and a despondent Amelia.
----------------------------------------
Kai lost the mood to go to class and decided to skip. He walked to a remote corner of the academy and just sat there for quite a while.
"So in the end, they found out. Just a moment's carelessness from a casual conversation ended up with the thing I wanted to conceal the most nearly revealed."
A half-truth, was it? Erina's magic eye had become stronger now. I've prepared to tell them since way before but... unfortunately, I'm still not ready. What would their reactions be?
'I don't love you two but rather, you two from another timeline.'
Even just imagining himself say that made him feel weird.
"It looks like you're quite troubled."
"..."
It was a girl with silver hair and a hood draped over her head. In her hands was a crystal ball.
"How did you get here?"
"You took quite a while in Ethereal Moon, I had more than enough time to travel here. That aside, I originally didn't come here for you but it looks like I came here at a good time. I just received word from the continent... and you're not going to like this piece of news."
Kai furrowed his brows and sat up straight.
"What do you mean?"
"Give me a list of the events you know that will happen in roughly two years."
"...Demon invasion, partial human extinction, monster numbers surging, angel invasion, and hero summoning."
Kai listed things from the top of his head.
"Then, what would happen if any of those were to happen early?"
Now, Kai's face turned grim from the woman's words. He had an insanely bad feeling about what was to come.
"Chaos is an understatement."
Kai answered her question.
"That's right... chaos is an understatement. Right now, the continent is in a state of chaos and soon, it may be place racked with wars. A kingdom near the Central, Auparith was just destroyed because of a sudden influx of monsters. Their source is unknown but if that was it, then it was fine because the monsters would eventually be subjugated but..."
Now, even the silver-haired woman's face wore a grim expression.
"Hero summoning..."
Kai muttered after thinking through her words. The woman nodded solemnly.
"That's right. To fight back against the monsters, they summoned the heroes. Not just one or two, but all six of them. Who knows how they managed to get a hand on the magic circles but it looks like they didn't hold enough information. They didn't know that heroes arrive in this world as weak beings but they grow stronger and faster than others."
Thinking back to the heroes in the other timeline, he didn't have good feelings towards them. Most of them died during the beginning phases of the war and only one was left when Kai became a God but even that last one was crippled, never able to fight again.
If Kai were to describe the heroes, he would label them as 'incompetent' and 'naive'. Being from Earth, they still had the naive set of thinking that this world was like a game, that they could defeat the Demon King eventually but unfortunately for them, the reality wasn't so forgiving.
Let alone saving people, they even drove people to their deaths with their self-righteous decisions. But, it was true that only the heroes had a big advantage over the demons and angels with their growth speed.
"Then, which heroes died?"
Once heroes were summoned, they couldn't summon any others for a while more because even runes had their limits in tearing apart dimensional boundaries.
"Surprisingly, none. Auparith Kingdom realized the truth that heroes only got stronger over time and sent them away but I received an even more shocking piece of evidence, one that only you, I, and my comrades would understand."
Meaning it was a matter pertaining to the future.
"What is it?"
Kai asked uneasily.
"...The heroes summoned were different people."