Spending time with Isis-san and Fate-san was a delight. We enjoyed ourselves in a peaceful, harmonious atmosphere from start to finish without any major incidents. Even the crafts Fate-san and I had been struggling with turned out reasonably well in the end, thanks to the pointers Isis-san gave us.
To be honest, after the non-stop "happenings" and chaos that had followed the Shiro-san/Lilia-san and Kuro/Sieg-san pairings, I was feeling socially drained. Finding such a low-stress environment where we could just indulge in gentle small talk was a massive relief for my soul.
Beyond that, Isis-san and Fate-san actually possessed a surprisingly high level of conversational compatibility. Fate-san was a talker, while Isis-san leaned toward the quiet side; the dynamic where Fate-san provided a topic and Isis-san responded felt perfectly natural.
In fact, there were moments when their conversation grew so lively that I didn't even have a chance to interject. It might sound rude to say it was unexpected, but I honestly felt like this pair was getting along better than any of the others.
I would have loved to stay right there, sipping cold drinks and enjoying the breeze, but if I lingered any longer, I wouldn't have enough time to visit the final pair—Alice and Anima—before lunch. So, despite a lingering feeling of reluctance, I said my goodbyes to Isis-san and Fate-san and set off to find the last group.
Alice and Anima had already emerged from the water and were busy working on something—or rather, preparing lunch.
I was still too far away to catch their conversation, but I could see Anima holding a kitchen knife while Alice stood with a finger raised, lecturing her. It looked like Alice had taken it upon herself to teach Anima some culinary skills.
It seemed these two were also deepening their bond without any trouble. Satisfied with that observation, I finally reached them.
"Are you two already starting on lunch?"
"Yeah. I did talk a big game about handling it this time, after all. Not that it’ll take long, so we could have started later... but Anima-san asked for some pointers, so I'm giving her a quick lesson while we prep."
Alice explained all this without even turning to look at me. Knowing her, she had undoubtedly sensed me approaching. The fact that she refused to turn around was a clear sign—she was definitely blushing.
"Oh, really? Anima?"
"Yes! Although I have some experience, I am still far from proficient. Since I have the chance to learn from someone with world-class skills, I am currently absorbing her teachings!"
Anima spoke with stars in her eyes, looking at Alice with pure adoration. Alice, meanwhile, looked somewhat exhausted. I could empathize. Being blasted with that much "respect aura" was enough to wear anyone down. In Alice’s case, it probably meant she felt like she couldn't goof around as much as she wanted to.
I let out a wry smile, prompting Alice to sigh and turn back to Anima.
"Listen up, Anima-san. In the world of cooking, there is one thing that matters more than anything else. Toss aside love, secret techniques, and all that clever fluff... and focus on 'taste-testing'!"
"Taste-testing? But that is... common sense, is it not?"
"Exactly. It’s the most basic rule, and that’s why it’s the most important. Listen, people who serve someone god-awful food without intending to are either people who don't taste-test or people whose sense of taste is broken! If you taste-test, you’ll know whether you've succeeded or failed long before you put it in front of someone."
Alice paused her lecture and shouted toward a different part of the beach.
"Do you hear me, Kuro-san?! Taste-testing is everything!! If you had just tasted your food, ninety-nine percent of the hell Kaito-san has endured could have been avoided!!"
"Eh? Me?!"
Kuro, who was standing some distance away, looked genuinely shocked to be dragged into the conversation. For my part, I felt like giving Alice a standing ovation. Tell her more... actually, tell her a lot more. It was vital for my future health.
As I cheered her on internally, Alice turned her attention back to Anima.
"Anyway, Anima-san... take that person as a cautionary tale. Whatever you do, don't end up like her—someone who produces Dark Matter with terrifying regularity under the guise of 'pursuing the potential of Baby Castellas.'"
"I-I see."
"I’m begging you as well, Anima. Please, don't become like that."
"If Master says so, I will be extremely vigilant!"
It was an unexpected development, but I was grateful she had been so blunt about it. In moments like this, Alice was truly a reliable ally.
That said, Kuro was currently tilting her head in confusion as if she didn't quite understand the criticism... so the hope for actual improvement remained slim.
Bonus: Teach Me, Machina-chan
Machina: "And so, in this segment, I shall answer questions from my beloved children! Let's start with the first one..."
[Who is stronger, Pandora or Ozma?]
Machina: "That would be Ozma. Though the gap isn't enormous, and Pandora actually has a tactical advantage against close-quarters fighters. If they were to fight for real, Pandora might win depending on the momentum of the battle. Still, in general, the odds are about 7:3 in Ozma's favor."
[Does anyone besides Illness think she's a pervert?]
Machina: "Illness is certainly the most sensible of the Ten Demons in terms of personality, and I believe the other members acknowledge that. However, we mustn't forget that when she acts as Pandemonium, her 'uniform' consists of bandages wrapped around her entire body except her right eye, topped with a dress. Furthermore, that one visible eye is always unfocused... So, while her personality is sane, you can't blame the others for thinking she's a weirdo."
[What are the details of Factory Gear's ability?]
Machina: "A question about my Heart Tool? My child is so curious about their mother, aren't they? Fufufu, I'm delighted. I'll explain."
- Factory Gear: A gear-shaped Heart Tool. By attaching a gear to a non-living object, it can be replicated. However, the speed of replication depends on the target's magic power amount and complexity. Some items can take a hundred or even a thousand years. It cannot replicate things that are intangible.
Machina: "That's about it. Honestly, it's mediocre. Painfully mediocre... at least for me, since I can just create whatever I want. Oh, but this Factory Gear does have an Ultimate War-Form. I'll tell you about that too."
- Factory Gear Ultimate War-Form: Soldier Gear: Generates mechanical soldiers every ten seconds that obey the user's will. The user can specify 'Quantity,' 'Strength,' or 'Size.' Every time a new soldier is generated, the specified value doubles. (Example: If Quantity is chosen, it goes 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc.) The category can be changed, but doing so resets the current progress to the initial values.
Machina: "Again, quite mediocre. It might be strong in a war of attrition, but for the omniscient and omnipotent me, it's unnecessary. It takes far too long to ramp up. It's only slightly useful for anyone else depending on the scenario. Well, that's all for today. I'll teach you more later! Until then..."
Serious-senpai: "My role! My role is being stolen!"
Machina: "Eh? What? What is?"
Serious-senpai: "What do you think you're doing?! Answering reader questions in an easy-to-understand way is my job!"
Machina: "Oh? Is it? But Serious-senpai, you're only knowledgeable about trivial nonsense. When it comes to the actual setting of this work... you usually just 'fake it with momentum' because you don't actually know, right? Most of the time, ??? has been the one answering for you anyway. Isn't it better for the omniscient me to handle it?"
Serious-senpai: "Stop... stop using logic... it's effective... it's super effective..."