I spent a while chatting with the high-spirited Amel-san. Normally, I would have moved on to my next greeting by now, but since she seemed to be lingering by herself, I felt a bit bad just leaving her there. I wanted to do something for her, but introducing her to someone else was a daunting prospect.
If it had been someone like Rosmiel-san, for instance, the problem could be solved simply by having Camellia-san stay by her side. There were even others who could communicate using that "method of conversing through gazes" Nebula had devised.
However, Amel-san’s issues lay in a different realm entirely than mere social skills. Even if I introduced her to someone and explained the reason behind her peculiar way of speaking, it wouldn't guarantee they could carry on a friendly conversation without misunderstandings. Unfortunately, it just wasn't that simple.
For example, if I told Aoi-chan or Hina-chan—fellow otherworlders—that it was a case of "Chunibyo," they would understand the situation well enough. Even so, that wouldn't mean they could suddenly decipher Amel-san's cryptic phrasing.
"Amel-san, do you know many of the guests here today?"
"I, too, am One Burdened with a Mission," she replied. "While there are those I encounter at the Hero Festival as if dictated by the Law of the Cycle, others I have relegated to a Momentary Meeting."
"So, there are people you see regularly at things like the Hero Festival, and others you've only greeted once..."
Exactly. If you couldn't wrap your head around those turns of phrase, a conversation with Amel-san was a non-starter. To make matters worse, there wasn't even a set pattern to her expressions. It wasn't like specific words mapped to specific phrases; she just chose whatever sounded cool at the moment. There was no consistency whatsoever.
Sometimes she used phrasing that even a newcomer could grasp, but other times she threw out such obscure expressions that even I had to stop and think for a few seconds.
Besides, I had my Sympathy Magic, which let me sense the gist of what she wanted to say. I couldn't read minds like Lilie-san, but... wait. If it were Lilie-san, she could probably read Amel-san’s heart and converse with her without being tripped up by the dialogue at all.
"By the way, who are the people you see most often?"
"I encounter the Apostle of Flame frequently at festivals. They are often in the company of the Fierce War King. However, our bonds have not increased in brilliance alongside the frequency of our meetings. I also have opportunities to meet the Spirit of the Red Flower, but... she is... since she reads hearts, she makes me a bit uneasy. N-no, our wavelengths simply do not mesh."
That didn't seem promising. She was clearly uncomfortable with the thought of Lilie-san—or rather, her face was screaming that she didn't want to meet her. I was so used to Shiro-san and the others reading my heart that I didn't think twice about it, but as Lilie-san herself had said, most people genuinely disliked having their minds read.
In Amel-san’s case, she probably hated the fact that her attempts to act cool were being neutralized.
"...Oh, I know. Amel-san, did you drop by Isis-san's area yet?"
"The Frozen Death King? No, I don't recall speaking with the Frozen Death King much at festivals. In the past, she was quite sca—I mean, she radiated such an unapproachable pressure that even I could not carelessly draw near."
The version of Isis-san Amel-san was picturing was likely the one from her more volatile days. Alice and the others had mentioned that back then, Isis-san had been in a near-constant state of intimidating everyone around her. Even I, when I first encountered her at a considerable distance, had glimpsed a vision of my own demise thanks to her Magic Power of Death.
At that time, it was highly likely that even those with Peerage-class strength would have been overwhelmed. However, with the current Isis-san, Amel-san—who was Peerage-class herself—should be perfectly fine.
"The manager of the basement bar at my house... Iris-san is Isis-san's top subordinate. I think you two would get along quite well."
"That manager! Yes, she understood my words perfectly, and we were on the verge of becoming frien—ahem! Indeed, I felt a kindred power within her. Could it be that she, too, is One Who Harbors Black Within...?"
"...Possibly."
I really hoped that "she, too" part didn't include me. Phrases like "harboring the black" threatened to dredge up the Black History I'd desperately tried to bury in the back of my mind. Ever since I arrived in this world, those memories have had a horrifying habit of resurfacing at the worst possible moments.
Serious-senpai: "...I was just thinking, but that epithet 'Black Tyrant Star' for Iris that appeared in the Extra Chapter... I bet Amel was the one who came up with it..."