While Graham was being enlightened, Dorothy was steeling herself, and Bell was feeling resigned, DarkMel was sitting down at the food court. She was outside, having fun with her friends, whose voices blended into a chorus of chatter.
“Well then, DarkMel-chan, I’ll buy you some limited edition ice cream, so wait for me, okay?”
“No, I’ll do it! I want to buy matching flavors and have us share!”
“No, that’s a terrible idea! If two people are going to feed each other, the flavors should be different! That would double the deliciousness! And there’s no doubt that would make DarkMel happy!”
“You fool! DarkMel doesn’t eat much! It’s doubtful she’d be able to eat a normal amount of ice cream! Thus, the best choice is to get one small size and share it!”
“Uh, erm...everyone?” DarkMel ventured. “Fighting isn’t good, okay?”
“It’ll be fine!” all three of them shouted in reply in unison. “We’re just horsing around!”
As if their argument just now had been an illusion, DarkMel’s friends were perfectly in sync when it came to their reply. With how well they matched each other, they likely weren’t lying. DarkMel had spent a fair amount of time with them, so she of course knew this. As the common saying went, they were close enough to fight.
“DarkMel-chan was worried about me. Sounds like this match is over.”
“No! DarkMel-chan was worried about me! We’re going to feed each other!”
“You’re just talking about your own fantasies now! Then I’m going to have DarkMel-chan sit on my lap! On top of feeding her ice cream!”
“Heh, that’s the extent of your desires? Then I will go directly for DarkMel-chan’s mouth—”
“Ah, nothing that goes against proper morals and modesty,” the other girls replied in unison.
“Oh, sorry...”
It seemed they knew some restraint, at least. This argument was probably partially to treat DarkMel, who was tired after being treated like a dress-up doll all morning. Of course, they were causing a lot of trouble, arguing right in front of the ice cream shop.
“Oh wow, you students sure are enjoying your youth! This is a lot of food for the soul for this old man. Ah, no, not in a lewd way, okay?”
DarkMel let out a surprised and alarmed noise as suddenly, she heard a man’s voice from across the table. She had no idea how long he’d been there, and of course she was deeply shocked. The man seemed familiar, but also not. She couldn’t quite figure it out.
“Uh...er?” she let out.
“Oh, sorry. Anyone’d be surprised if an old man like me suddenly sat across from them, wouldn’t they? But I should be familiar to you—” He paused for a moment. “Ah, wait. Maybe not? Oh well, there’s no point trying to figure that out here.”
While DarkMel was busy being confused, the man had his own thoughts to ponder. He was unshaven and had a beard like thickly growing mugwort on his face. He also had what looked like a katana hanging from his waist. His looks made him hard to approach, and since weapons were not allowed in Lumiest, he stood out even more.
That was when someone else’s voice interjected. “You there! What could you be trying to pull, getting that close to DarkMel-san?!”
“Oh? What’s this?”
“Ah! Hello, Katerina-san,” said DarkMel.
The pair turned to see a female student wearing her uniform with her hair styled into vertical ringlets. She was the young lady of a major noble house and the self-proclaimed first underling of Bell—Katerina of Cielo Dorm, the culprit behind her particular way of speech, which was becoming popular within the school.
“Erm...is she your friend?” the man asked.
“Ah, yes. She’s a friend,” DarkMel confirmed.
“Watch yourself, deviant! A suspicious person like you should not be conversing normally with her!” Katerina shouted, pointing elegantly.
“Well that’s just mean. This old man may be middle-aged, but being insulted like that still hurts!”
“Your looks aside, I believe the fact that you are armed with a weapon is more than enough to qualify you as a dangerous and suspicious deviant!” Katerina shouted.
“Grr...I don’t think I can counter that.” He easily conceded her point. “But this old man and his katana are inseparable. Ah, sorry! I’ll explain properly, so I’d appreciate you not making me stand out even more! Look, DarkMel knows this old man!”
“Again with the obvious lies! How impudent!”
“It’s not a lie! Really! So please, wait just a moment! Please, this old man is begging you!” he pleaded.
He was caught between a rock and a hard place, and so DarkMel once again looked closely at him. He seemed familiar, but also not. DarkMel believed him, though, and so she tried her hardest to rack her memory. The effort bore fruit, and she vaguely remembered his semblance.
“You’re papa’s friend—no, an acquaintance...um, colleague? Erm...uh...maybe? Someone from a previous workplace of someone I know...I think?” she muttered.
Her efforts at recall resulted in very vague and secondhand revelations.
“Uh...buuuh? That’s a fresh way of looking at it, but sadly it seems I’m steadily becoming more and more disconnected from you. This old man is in dismay,” he said.
“So you two are complete strangers! I knew it, you must be a deviant!” Katerina exclaimed.
Certainly, by the letter of DarkMel’s description, the man was sadly a stranger.
“Guards! There is a suspicious person here!” Katerina called out.
“No, no, no, this old man said he wasn’t! This is giving it away too early, but this old man is Nito! Old man Nito! Look, he used to fight with Serge-chan and Ange-chan!”
“U-Uncle Nito?” DarkMel said, sounding confused. She repeated the name a couple times. As she did, the scattered pieces of her memory snapped together. “Ah, right! Uncle Nito! The one who was chasing around Setsuna-san?!” she exclaimed.
“What?! So he is not only a deviant but a stalker too?!” Katerina responded with surprise.
“Would you please not phrase things in a way that would cause more misunderstandings?!” Nito retorted.
After that, Nito, formerly called Survivor and ninth seat of the Apostles, was forced to explain himself with his life on the line. He was barely able to undo the misunderstanding.
“Oh man, that was close. This old man was almost socially destroyed! That was more than just chilling. Make sure not to say those kinds of things from now on, even as a joke, okay? Oh, this doesn’t apply to real suspicious people or deviants, just to Uncle Nito, got it?”
“I... I’m sorry!” DarkMel apologized.
“There is no need for you to apologize, DarkMel-san!” Katerina declared. “No matter how you view it, it is his fault!”
She might have been right.
“Aha ha... Sure, it’s this old man’s fault for coming to surprise you with no warning. And this is the first time we talked one-on-one,” Nito admitted. “This old man is just grateful you remembered, so no harm done.”
Nito continued to mutter to himself, talking about how technically, DarkMel was his boss.
Katerina reacted with slight confusion. “Excuse me, did you say something?”
“Oh no, nothing at all. Just personal stuff,” Nito replied.
Katerina sighed. “Fine then. So, barely-not-a-deviant, what is your business with DarkMel-san? Given your weapon, I assume you have a reason for this?” Katerina had at some point taken a seat and was leading the “meeting.”
“What? The friend is going to question this old man? Well, okay...I guess that’s fine.” Nito coughed to clear his throat and shot a nervous look over at DarkMel. “Do you want to object at all?”
“Erm...what do you mean, ‘object’?” she asked. “Do you mean object to that?”
“Yes,” Nito confirmed. “This old man wanted to confirm if you were planning on using the system they put in place. This does involve your papa, after all.”