The process of accepting gifts rolled on. Although Tre and Akane had expressed their concerns for him, in all honesty, Kaito wasn't feeling even a hint of mental fatigue. He was simply having fun chatting and receiving presents, so he felt as though he could keep going without a single break.
Tiamat.
...Then again, perhaps it was time to step away for a moment. He had let his guard down, thinking that the truly troublesome guests—or rather, the ones who were a drain on his mental energy like Shiro, Machina, and Pandora—were already finished. He had momentarily forgotten that Media and Phoenix were still on the list.
"Hello, Kaito Miyama-san. It is a lovely day. Though this world is often filled with sorrow, today is a celebratory occasion that reminds us life is more than that... Happy birthday."
"Thank you. You've taken your humanized form, Media-san."
Media had informed him previously that she wasn't on an infiltration mission, so it was perfectly fine to use her real name even in a crowded venue. Thus, he addressed her as Media as he usually did.
She had appeared earlier in a live performance alongside Phoenix, during which she had maintained her usual lamia form, but she was currently appearing as a human.
"My true physique is quite massive, after all. If I remained as I was, I might block the view of others and inadvertently give rise to sorrow. Above all, they say that speaking while meeting another's eyes is the first step toward intimacy. Wonderful encounters are born in places like this, and I did not wish to miss the opportunity to make new friends."
"I-I see... Well, just keep it in moderation..."
To a casual listener, her words would have sounded like those of someone simply wanting to socialize at a party full of strangers. However, in Media’s case, the combination of her particular fetish and her ecstatic expression made it feel as though she was plotting something wicked.
Even though she spoke that way, Kaito doubted she would actually go around making many new friends. Despite appearing to run wild with her madness, she was actually someone who knew exactly when to hit the brakes. Still, seeing her expression—one that looked as though she might start drooling at any second—made him feel uneasy.
"Fufu, please rest assured. I understand that mindlessly flaunting my sexual preferences in this venue would be nothing short of suicide. These uncontrollable thoughts are merely overflowing from within; I have no intention of acting upon them."
"Well, I figured as much. I know you're someone who can exercise proper self-restraint when the situation calls for it."
"Indeed, please be at ease. However, as joyous as it is, the world has been quite peaceful lately. It saddens me that I have no opportunities for fateful meetings and partings with new friends. Phoenix allows me to kill her frequently, which keeps my heart satisfied, but still..."
"You two certainly are close."
As he thought, Media was essentially a person capable of objective self-reflection. It was because she understood that her fetishes were socially unacceptable that she could claim that while she found the lack of opportunities to indulge them sad, she was still genuinely happy the world was at peace. Aside from her abnormal sexual preferences, she was a remarkably common-sensical person.
Of course, those fetishes were her only and greatest problem... but for the time being, she seemed content enough as long as she could play around with Phoenix, given their compatible kinks.
"Now then, regarding your birthday gift... When you visited my home in the forest previously, Kaito Miyama-san, it seemed the chair was not particularly comfortable. I have experimented with building chairs myself since then, and I have brought the one that turned out most successfully today."
"A chair? Thank you... It’s wrapped so beautifully, but what kind of chair is it?"
The last time he had visited Tiamat’s dwelling in the Black Forest, she had offered him a chair made of skeletons. Apparently, Rasal had been the creator, but regardless, the bone chair had prompted a sharp retort from Pandora. It seemed that incident had inspired Media to take up furniture making.
"It is a snakeskin chair."
"..."
"Ah, please do not worry. I did not make it out of my own skin. I used the skin of a snake called a Gray Python, which is commonly used for luxury leather products."
"O-Oh, I see. My apologies, I had a bit of a misunderstanding..."
When she said snakeskin, Kaito had momentarily panicked, wondering if she had peeled her own skin to make him a gift.
"Please do not give it a second thought. In truth, I had initially intended to gift you a chair crafted from my own skin, but Alice appeared out of nowhere and told me, 'Stop that, it'll be totally off-putting,' so I prepared this instead."
"I-I see..."
Alice really was a lifesaver. Technically, Media’s lower half was that of a snake, but Kaito wouldn't have known how to react if an acquaintance handed him a chair made from their own body. He was truly glad Alice had intervened.
Serious-senpai: "By the way, is Kaito taking mental damage from any of this...?"
???: "Not really. When he's listening to our perverts, or Ein's maid theories, or Kuro's baby castella rants, he just feels exasperated because he's not interested in the topic. He thinks he's mentally tired, but his actual sanity hasn't dropped a bit. He probably won't even take a break."
Serious-senpai: "Feeling of Fatigue <<No Damage>>... I'm impressed."
???: "I mean, Kaito-san deals with Machina visiting him or pulling him into dreams about five times a week and walks away unfazed. His mental power is monstrous."
Serious-senpai: "I skipped over it because it was just mentioned in passing in the narration, but this mental monster is so used to Machina's rampages that he can distinguish the signs of her going out of control by stage... Poor guy."