Currently, Eris and Cornelia's thought processes had ground to a halt. And that was only to be expected. They had been heading toward the Forest Castle attraction, where they happened to encounter Kaito's party.
That in itself was surprising, and there was no doubt that both of them had stared off into the distance with Far-off Eyes... but that much was still within their expectations.
It was true that before heading to the Forest Castle, the two had been speaking optimistically, but that wasn't because they genuinely believed it—they had merely voiced a faint hope. Given that Kaito was at this amusement park, they had considered a chance encounter to be entirely possible.
The timing being far too early was a shock, but they had braced themselves for an encounter with Kaito to some degree, so they recovered quickly.
As expected, the ones accompanying Kaito were Lilia and the others, and at the very least, beings of extremely high standing such as the Six Kings or a Supreme God were not traveling with him.
If anything, then, running into him at this timing was fortunate. If they simply exchanged a quick greeting here, they could at least get past the encounter with Kaito for now. Since both groups were moving with a considerable number of people, it was highly unlikely they would end up traveling together, and once the greeting was done, even if a tremendous figure appeared later, they could simply distance themselves under the pretext of not interrupting Kaito's conversation.
However, fate laughed at the two women's reasoning. As they approached Kaito to greet him, at the very moment they were just a few steps away from calling out to him, Fate suddenly appeared between them and Kaito, throwing herself at him.
It was truly the worst possible timing for her appearance. Naturally, they couldn't interrupt Fate and Kaito's conversation, but having come this close, they couldn't just leave without greeting him either, so the two of them found themselves frozen in place with Kaito and Fate right before their eyes.
Their stomachs were already throbbing with pain.
"......cough... Fate-san? H-How should I put it... it's a little unexpected that you're here."
Even as he coughed slightly from Fate's headbutt striking his solar plexus, Kaito called out to her. Speaking honestly, Fate being here was unexpected.
It was true that compared to before, Fate had become significantly more interested in many things, and depending on the situation, she had increasingly chosen to take action even when it was a hassle.
However, Fate fundamentally only moved when it involved Kaito-related matters; for anything else, she exhibited her inherent extreme laziness. That such a Fate had come to the amusement park's pre-opening was genuinely surprising.
"Well, you see, Shaltan said... she wanted to use it for promotion, so she told me to at least try one attraction, and that once I was done I could go home, so she asked me to just come for now... Shaltan is my Soul Friend, after all. So I channeled my friendship with Shaltan as my driving force, came, got through the Entrance Gate... and managed to move about 'five steps at a normal human's stride,' but I couldn't do any more than that, so I was going to leave it to the proxy I brought and head home."
"...No, wait, our friendship is only worth five steps...?"
"Look, I tried really hard, okay..."
"I really want to complain, but thinking about how Fate-san usually is... u-umm."
Alice, who had been standing behind Kaito, instinctively threw in a retort, but when she considered that the extremely lazy Fate had actually shown up in person, gone through the admission procedures, entered the amusement park, and moved even just a few steps... the tragic part was that it wasn't entirely inaccurate to say she had been trying hard.
"So I was fully ready to go home, but... then I remembered, Kai-chan's here too, so I came to see you!"
"I see... I understand the general situation."
"Well, I got to see Kai-chan and I'm satisfied, so I could just go home now... hmm?"
""!!""
Fate, wearing a somewhat loose smile while clinging to Kaito, seemed to notice Eris and Cornelia at that moment and turned toward them, wearing a puzzled expression.
It goes without saying that the spines of the two who had a Supreme God's gaze suddenly turned toward them went rigid.
"...Umm... I've seen you before. W-Wait a minute, I'm trying to remember... Things related to Kai-chan, I've gotten better at remembering even without consciously trying... Let's see, the Arclesia Empire's Founding Anniversary Festival, and then Kai-chan's birthday party... Oh! I remember, it's Eririn!!"
"E-Eririn!?"
"That's right, right. You were a noble of the Arclesia Empire... right?"
At Fate's words as she looked at Eris's face, Eris spun her thoughts at the speed of light. Since Fate was the one asking whether she was a noble, Eris judged that introducing herself with her house name would pose no problem and bowed politely.
"Y-Yes. I am the Heir of the Hamilton Marquis House, Eris Dia Hamilton."
"Good, good, I got it right! Kai-cha~n, aren't I amazing? Praise me, praise me~!"
"It's true that compared to before, it's impressive how you naturally remember people you haven't even been introduced to."
"Right~? Ehehe."
Compared to how she previously had almost no interest in most people, the fact that she could remember the names and faces of those she hadn't directly spoken to or been introduced to—even if only those related to Kaito—was a sign of Fate's growth.
"...Ah, but I don't know this one."
Cornelia, who received Fate's gaze as she said that, had her spine snap rigid once more, and it was perhaps inevitable that sweat began to drip down her forehead from the tension.
Serious-senpai: "Just as she herself said—that she has a good memory and simply lacks any intention to remember—she clearly recalls meeting Eris at the Founding Anniversary Festival..."
???: "It's seriously just that she has zero interest so she doesn't bother recalling, but her memory is good enough that she never forgets something once she's seen it, Fate-san."
Serious-senpai: "But that aside, there was a concerning word in there... 'the proxy I brought'... Does this mean there's another incident brewing?"