Chapter Thirty-Two: Playing House
Tengu City Mall
Women's Clothing Store
In front of the Store
Who would have thought it would be this stressful.
Following a girl shopping that is.
12:46 P.M.
That was the time.
Numbers that felt both absurdly specific and annoyingly familiar.
Morgan leaned back against the pillar, rubbing the back of his neck.
He stared all the way to the other side of the mall where a men's wear store was positioned.
"...there goes my plans of getting home early."
Once more, he spat those words out in a mix of resignation.
Really, he had no idea today would turn out like this.
While his mental map had included a few simple "here and there" with some downtime, and the bliss thereafter…
Certainly, it didn't include any of this.
Going by this, he'd estimated them to spend a little bit more here, after all, this was only the first stop.
Not to mention,
Maya herself hadn't returned.
"Did she get lost?"
The thought crossed his mind.
Morgan tilted his head back against the pillar, feeling the cold edge against his skin.
Again, he let out another exasperated breath.
Was this what it was like to shop with a girl? Was it this chaotic every time?
No, this was no exaggeration.
Sure, he'd mentally braced himself for Maya since he knew her, after all.
But Kurumi, on the other hand, was more like a curveball.
Rather, it was more accurate to say that she was the consequence of his own actions.
In the end, despite him flexing his Black Card,
Kurumi rejected his kindness and paid for the clothes he liked among the ones she displayed for him.
No surprise there.
Morgan mused.
But what followed was less predictable: Maya nearly lost her mind when she saw it.
According to her:
"You wench, are you looking down on Clair's kindness."
Or something along those lines, to his absolute lack of surprise.
She nearly lunged at Kurumi before the clerks had to physically hold her back.
He'd done the only sensible thing any man would do in such a situation.
Flee.
Thus, he left there and came to cool off.
With that in mind, Morgan dipped his hand into his pockets, brushing the soft fabric.
Then, with a tug, he pulled out his phone and his right earbud, inserting it into his ear.
Pressing the sides, the phone automatically unlocked itself.
When it did, an avatar appeared on the screen, sitting down with her chin resting on her hand.
«I see someone's happily playing house»
Beta said, turning her head side to side before continuing.
«Aaah~ ah. All the while I'm here, carrying out every single one of your plans like this»
Morgan nearly tripped when that voice hit his earbuds.
"E–excuse me? I didn't quite catch that."
His lips twitched as he stared down at his phone, gripping it tightly.
«According to my readings, Master's heartbeat spiked earlier»
«It's kind of refreshing to see that my stone-cold Master is still a youthful teenager»
Once more, his lips twitched.
By the way, if he didn't miss the tone in her voice.
…was she sulking?
The way she tossed those jabs almost made it sound like she was deliberately throwing shade at him or something.
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Morgan raised an eyebrow at the avatar on his screen.
"Beta, you mad?"
Whenever Beta was active, she could access any of the device's functions.
Camera and other sensors included.
So she definitely saw the look on his face.
Initially.
Morgan would have said "jealous," but he refrained from saying that, and sure enough—
She tilted her head in mock offense, her holographic hair bouncing with the motion.
«Wow. How bold of Master to assume Beta is»
Yep. Definitely throwing shade.
Morgan thought.
'But… you think I don't know about that module you copied from Fraxinus, huh?'
Tilting his head with a wry smile, he thought to himself.
He might not have been a full-fledged programmer, but he'd kept close tabs on the AI's evolution.
And he could only think—
'...as expected of Ratatoskr.'
Beta's [Personality Module] was partially built from fragments of [Maria]'s data.
..who, by every account, had been as sharp-tongued and sassy as they came.
It got even worse after she gained her humanoid form, which, if he thought about it…
Could be possible for Beta if he used the concept of a Hologram.
But, for now, however, he decided not to indulge his AI's passive-aggressive antics.
«Still, if Master keeps this up, not only Master's Aunt, but even Nightmare will end up conquered by Master»
«Beta always knew Master was a proud resident of the Alabama city.
«Yet Beta guesses that the only thing saving Master is that neither Master or Master's aunt are blood-related»
Guh!
Those words alone were enough to make any man cough up blood.
"Bullshit! Those are allegations!"
«Can Master confidently beat his chest and say he wasn't getting turned on by them?»
«Fine, maybe turned on might be a stretch, but surely, Master felt something»
Morgan's expression darkened.
Naturally, Beta saw this by accessing the camera function.
So far, from everything she had gathered, she knew her dear Master's weakness..
Using the logic he loves so much against him.
Guess even her almighty Master had his own weakness too.
«In case Master denies it»
[Pulse Monitor]:
- [HeartRate - 83bpm]
- [Body Condition: Slightly Stable]
- [Blood Sugar: 86mg/dL]
Who would've guessed?
Her sass was already practically on par with that sentient AI who called Kannazuki the Itsuka residence's doormat.
If that were the case—
"Hou? So, about those modules of yours."
Shadows from the mall's corridor cast over his face, hiding everything,
…but the faint, eerie glow of his dull grey eyes as he looked down at his phone.
Beta froze on screen.
«…!?»
Even through the line separating her digital existence from his reality, she felt it.
She had screwed up.
Morgan knew about those Modules already.
«M–aem. Beta would like to—uh—appeal to the Creator.»
Her holographic self immediately raised both hands in surrender, eyes darting side to side.
Morgan finally let out a slow sigh.
"Good girl."
She puffed her cheeks in a pout, but Morgan ignored her this time.
After all, he was beginning to worry about Mana.
Just as that thought crossed him, a familiar figure appeared from a distance.
That familiar figure's gait of hers was slow with her posture, slouched, and her eyes… hollow.
No doubt.
It was Mana.
But the way she walked, like someone who'd just had their soul extracted, made him wonder:
'By any chance… has she also lost it?'
Morgan could almost sigh once more.
Her footsteps neared, stopping in front of him, outstretching her hand forward.
When she finally reached him, she extended a hand forward wordlessly.
He looked down.
She was holding a small slip of paper.
"Payment… and delivery cost," she muttered lifelessly.
"Mana?"
She didn't answer. Instead, she simply dropped down beside him, curling into herself as she rocked back and forth, head buried in her arms.
After a moment, she spoke, voice muffled but clear enough.
"Are they still inside?"
Ah. So that's what this was about.
Morgan nodded quietly. Immediately, she buried her head deeper into her arms.
Poor girl.
Watching her, Morgan suddenly had an idea.
It was going to do thek no good if they continued getting dragged by Maya and Kurumi.
"Say Mana, I know a store over there that sells good Ice Cream, wanna get some."
[Translation: Let's ditch them]
Slowly, she raised her head to meet his, seeing him also nod alongside her.
Not only was he doing this for her, he too was of course, nearing his mental limits.
"Lets."
With that single word, her expression softened ever so slightly.
And just like that, the two of them slipped away, leaving Kurumi and Maya to their own devices.
It wasn't long, just as Morgan had said.
Only a few stores away, they reached their destination.
Ding~!
The chime above the door rang softly as they stepped into the shop.
It was the same ice cream parlor Morgan and Kurumi had visited weeks ago.
Since then, he'd been too occupied to drop by.
But since the chances now presented itself, he decided to indulge in it.
They made their way to the counter.
"Welcome, custome—oh…"
The girl behind the counter froze midway through her greeting.
Both she and Morgan exchanged glances for a brief moment.
Morgan remembered her.
"It's good to see you here again."
A faint smile bloomed on her face.
While her tone was polite, her eyes said something else entirely.
[Translation: So you've brought another girl, huh? And this one looks even younger. It can't be—]
Of course, Morgan could see it.
He could see the thoughts hidden behind that business smile she was putting on.
There was no need of a superpower or a mind-reading ability to see that.
"You misunderstand, she's a friend."
With a perfect deadpan expression and an even tone, he replied.
Still, there was no escaping the faint awkwardness in his voice.
Being too self-aware always made these situations worse.
After all, he didn't want to act overly familiar with Mana.
"Is that so? What a shame."
The waitress sighed theatrically, resting a hand against her cheek in mock disappointment.
"Mrs. Girlfriend has been dropping in from time to time, you know. She even asks about—oops~!"
Her hand shot up to cover her mouth the instant she realized what she'd said.
Without wasting a single moment more.
Perhaps simply looking for the perfect chance to escape after what she had just said.
She darted toward the backroom, mumbling something about preparing their order.
"We haven't even ordered…"
Maya's voice trailed off with a flat tone as she stared at the space the waitress had vanished into.
She was also listening in but decided to act clueless.
"Forget it."