Alistair woke up groggily the next day and checked his phone. It was already 10:30 AM. He had several missed calls: two from Mina Morita and two from Chiaki.
Hah~
Alistair yawned. Good thing I told Chiaki last night that I might not come home. Otherwise, his phone would have been blown up. Even though she was an unpleasant character, she never skimped on caring for Alistair.
Alistair stretched his neck and pulled at his school uniform. It felt a little tighter again. Did I grow again? Probably.
"Oh, you're awake. I have some food here. Would you like some?" Hikari Hyakkiya asked, approaching him with a few loaves of bread.
"Oh, thank you."
Alistair took the bread, chewing it while considering whether he should go to school that afternoon.
"By the way, where did you get this mask? I can sense a very powerful aura on it. It's a truly formidable strange object. But it gives me a weird feeling."
Hikari Hyakkiya was holding the Stone Mask Alistair had drawn, turning it over and over. She felt it was very potent but had a strange, indescribable feeling about it.
With her abilities, she shouldn't be unable to distinguish between an abnormal aura and a genuinely evil one. This thing felt intensely evil, yet somehow normal, which confused Hikari Hyakkiya.
"When did that get to you?"
Alistair looked at his empty hand. He remembered it being in his hand when he woke up. Was I too drowsy?
"That is a Vampire's Stone Mask, something that can turn people into vampires. But those vampires are afraid of UV light, so they have no freedom nowadays. That's why it's useless to me." Alistair immediately changed the subject, ignoring Hikari Hyakkiya's question about the source.
"A vampire? That sounds quite formidable. Do you always carry around things that can change your race?"
Whether she was simple-minded or simply had no concept of strange items, after saying, "That sounds quite formidable," she immediately lost interest in the Stone Mask and tossed it onto the round table.
"..."
I think you're more casual than I am, Alistair muttered inwardly while munching on his bread.
"Do you just watch TV here all day when you don't have a case? Or do you read detective novels?" Alistair asked, looking at the turned-off TV and the open detective novel on the table.
"Yes. When I don't have cases, I love reading detective novels. That's why I opened this agency." Hikari Hyakkiya stated matter-of-factly.
"Forget it. Maybe you demi-humans are different. I have to go to school today, so I'm leaving."
Alistair picked up the Stone Mask, stretched a little, and walked out.
Alistair didn't go home but headed straight for school. There was nothing for him to do at home, and no food either. He might as well go to school; Mina Morita would surely have prepared his lunch.
What day of school is this again? Doesn't matter. He could always catch up on sleep at school.
On the way, Alistair couldn't count how many times he found money. He kept finding a wallet here and there, and the money inside wasn't small change. This immediately boosted Alistair's liquid funds significantly, making him praise the usefulness of the Golden Rule (Fate).
After returning to the classroom, class time slowly passed as Alistair slept, and soon it was lunchtime.
"Here! Alistair, this is your lunch!"
Shortly after class ended, Mina Morita arrived in Alistair's classroom with two lunch boxes.
If Alistair remembered correctly, Mina Morita's class was at the opposite end of the same floor, directly opposite Alistair's layout.
This woman is really great. She must have rushed straight here the moment class let out. If this weren't an R-rated world, Alistair would definitely marry this woman. Someone who treats him like a total invalid, works hard without complaint, and allows him to cheat casually—Fantastic!
"Alistair, is this your girlfriend? What... what an amazing body." Yui Morita looked at Mina Morita beside Alistair, utterly amazed.
Mina Morita indeed had an excellent figure. She was among the best in the entire freshman class, if not the whole school. Per Alistair's request, her makeup was less deliberate, and her clothes weren't as revealing, but her voluptuous figure was even more accentuated, immediately drawing the attention of the entire class the moment she walked in.
"Something like that. You can think of it that way."
Alistair took his double-layered lunch box and glanced at the yellow-haired students. They immediately withdrew their gazes in fear. The recent experience of that one guy was still fresh in their minds. It had become common knowledge that it was best not to provoke Alistair; otherwise, they wouldn't know what killed them.
Alistair stood up, planning to take his lunch to the convenience store to warm it up.
Truthfully, he didn't like cold rice. Some dishes were acceptable, but cold, hard rice was genuinely difficult for him to swallow. Unless it was some special rice that remained soft and delicious even when cold, he wouldn't have asked Mina to heat up the sushi before. That rice was seriously hard; Mina was probably fooled before.
"Alistair, where should we eat?" Mina followed obediently behind Alistair and asked.
"The convenience store. I'm going to heat up the rice. I don't know how you can eat cold rice. Get yours heated up with mine, too; you don't want to get sick." Alistair said lazily.
The convenience store wasn't far; it was just down the stairs and a few steps away, around a couple of corners.
The convenience store was currently packed with students who hadn't brought lunch and were buying meals or bread.
"Alistair, maybe we should wait a bit?" Mina suggested softly, looking at the crowded people in front of them.
Alistair glanced at Mina. He was now half a head taller than her, probably around 170 cm (5'7"), but that was only average height in this crowd. If he tried to squeeze through normally, there would be little hope. But was Alistair a normal case?
"Move."
Alistair simply yanked a few people aside. Those people were about to get angry when they saw Alistair's expression, but one look from his eyes immediately made them deflate and scurried away.
Heh. People here are like that. If you're powerful, even if it's feigned power, others will fear you.
Alistair repeated the process, clearing the way, and led Mina directly to the counter. He handed both lunch boxes to the store manager and bought two cartons of strawberry milk. He then leaned against the counter, looking at the crowd provocatively, but not a single person dared to approach.
It had to be said that the convenience store manager was a woman. She was still attractive and well-preserved, looking close to forty but maintaining an excellent figure and appearance. Alistair, however, wasn't interested in her. With a plethora of beautiful girls around him, why would he think about the manager?