"You… Pendragon-san?"
"Huh? Oh, yes, that's me."
Hearing a voice from behind, Artoria quickly turned and responded. "I remember you… Miss Sajyou, who sits across from me, right?"
"Yes, what a coincidence to meet you here. Are you also shopping for dinner ingredients?"
"Uh… you could say that."
Artoria's response was a bit stiff—obviously, she wasn't here to buy dinner ingredients. As a consciousness entity, she didn't feel hunger. She was here solely to keep an eye on Naoki and Manaka.
Though Rei had said Manaka had no harmful intentions toward Naoki, and Artoria was willing to believe it, that didn't mean there were no dangers in this world of consciousness.
Naoki currently had no powers. To ensure her Master's safety, Artoria felt the need to always stay by his side.
In fact, since school ended, she had been tailing them, hiding behind various objects and buildings. Even now, she appeared to be browsing a shelf while secretly glancing at Naoki.
[You're like a creepy stalker, Lia.]
[No mistake, Father King. Even if she gets caught tailing, she can handle it calmly.]
[This is behavior that should be reported to the police…]
Ignoring the teasing from the group in her mind, Artoria turned the question back to Manaka. "Did you come alone, Miss Sajyou?"
"No, I came with Naoki. He's cooking tonight, and he's over there." Manaka pointed toward Naoki, who was picking out meat nearby.
"Natsukawa's cooking… Do you two live together?"
"No, just neighbors. But since both our parents are rarely home, it gets lonely alone, so we always have dinner together. Usually at my place, but since Naoki's cooking tonight, it'll be at his."
Whoever cooks, they eat at their house?
"By the way, what are you having tonight, Pendragon-san? From this shelf… Instant meals?"
"Uh…"
Artoria quickly glanced at the shelf behind her and grabbed a random instant meal pack. "I'm not great at cooking myself. If I bought ingredients and cooked, it probably wouldn't be edible, so I usually eat these."
"I recall you moved here for family business, right? Can't your family cook?"
"I live alone, hmm… They're usually away for work."
The somewhat similar living situation made Manaka pause, then she grabbed Artoria's hand. "In that case… Pendragon-san, would you like to join us for dinner tonight?"
"Huh?"
"Naoki and I are the same, no one's home, so we eat together. Since you're like us, why not come along? Eating alone, no matter how tasty the food, just doesn't feel good."
Manaka's sudden invitation left Artoria stunned.
(Merry, this invitation… should I accept?)
[Go for it, no harm in accepting. It's a good chance to observe the King's current life situation—there might be clues to help him recover his memories. Plus, you can interact with him up close. It's all benefits, no drawbacks.]
(I understand.)
Receiving a positive response, Artoria quickly asked, "Is that okay? Won't Natsukawa mind?"
"Let's go talk to him now."
"Talk about what—Huh? Pendragon?"
Carrying a bag of ingredients, Naoki, who overheard their conversation, was about to ask when he saw Artoria standing beside Manaka, slightly surprised. "You're shopping too?"
"Naoki, can Pendragon-san join us for dinner tonight? She's like us, living alone."
"I don't mind, just means buying a bit more ingredients… By the way, Pendragon, where do you live? If we eat at my place, will it be a long way home for you?"
"It shouldn't be. I live in the Miyama-chou area."
Artoria thought for a moment and gave the address of her base in the real world. Hearing the address, Manaka and Naoki exchanged surprised glances.
"That's… isn't that near my place?"
"I think it's just a two-minute walk. What a coincidence, Pendragon-san," Manaka said with a smile. "But if that's the case, just omurice won't be enough. I'll grab more ingredients and make some side dishes. Naoki, stay here."
"Don't get too much, or we won't finish it."
Watching Manaka hurry off, Naoki sighed in resignation. "Sorry, Pendragon. Manaka's like that, a bit too enthusiastic with people. Don't mind her."
"It's fine. Compared to some people I knew before, she's very normal. If anything, I'm the one who should apologize. I'll be troubling you tonight."
"Having one more person is nice. Like Manaka said, eating alone feels lonely. Both she and I feel that deeply. So for someone like you, in the same situation as us, if the roles were reversed, I'd say the same to you."
Naoki said with a smile.
It was a smile that felt somewhat unfamiliar to Artoria. Even in the real world, through her perspective, Merry and the others also found Naoki's smile a bit strange.
So this is how Naoki smiled in his school days?
There was an innocence to it that the current, mature, dependable Naoki lacked.
"By the way, you're pretty normal this time."
"Normal? Are you saying I wasn't normal before?"
Naoki's sudden remark made Artoria frown.
"I should always be normal."
"Oh, I mean… earlier today, didn't you say a bunch of weird stuff to me? This time you didn't."
"The monster thing? I was perfectly normal then too, Master. If anything, from my perspective, you're the one who's not normal. Of course, I know you have your own circumstances, so I understand."
Here we go again.
Naoki gave a wry smile. "Yeah, yeah, monsters, right? The ones appearing tonight. I just said you were normal, and you're back to being chunibyo."
"It's not chunibyo, Master. You won't believe me now no matter what I say, so I'll explain the details tonight after the monster appears and we defeat it."
"Now you're adding a 'comrade-in-arms' setting? Sorry, I'm not interested in chunibyo stuff or the like."
"It's not chunibyo."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Lady Knight."