This is not the date I wanted.

"But is it really okay to refuse my invitation?"

Suddenly, Nia's tone suddenly changed, and she looked at Shidou with a meaningful smile.

"——Isn't it your mission to make the elves embarrassed, boy? No... Itsuka Shido."

Just as Mengyue predicted, Honjo Nia - confessed his identity to the two.

05 Mengyue’s welfare banner cannot be established

==============================

So cold.

Patton thought with trembling teeth.

Although it was winter, the indoor heating was turned on very well, so the temperature was not low. But Barton still felt a chill spreading from the soles of his feet to his whole body.

However, even though it felt so cold, the sweat glands in the skin all over the body continued to evaporate sweat. The vest under the loose uniform had already been soaked, and the throat felt unusually dry due to lack of moisture.

Beside him, his reliable and steady old friend, Knox, also had a nervous look on his face and stood there without saying a word.

As for the reason, it's actually very simple.

"Well……"

At the desk in front of them, their president, Westcott, was reading the review report they had submitted with great interest.

The transport plane crashed after being hit by an unknown attack that suddenly appeared on the ground, and the elves transported inside also ran away when they parachuted to escape.

Although it was not that they let the elves go on purpose, but it was caused by a series of unexpected accidents, but when you think about how obsessed Westcott is with elves, you can understand that the cause of the incident has nothing to do with the punishment of the two.

"..."

Barton raised his head with a little uneasiness, bypassing Westcott and looking at Allen behind him. But after feeling the other party's sharp and piercing gaze, he lowered his head in a hurry.

In the worst case scenario, he and his old friend would probably die here. Barton didn't think Westcott would worry about any legal troubles. For this man who could shake the economy of a country with just a flick of his finger, it would be easy for him to make two unknown people disappear from society.

If being dismissed from his job was the only solution, he should be thankful. Barton prayed silently in his heart and lowered his head to wait for Westcott's decision.

"--I see."

——!

The moment Westcott opened his mouth, Barton felt his heart skip a beat.

As he spoke, Westcott raised his head, looked away from the report, and stared at Barton and Knox with his cloudy and cold eyes.

Nausea. Barton resisted the urge to vomit rising from his stomach.

Westcott's sight was not as sharp as Allen's, but it seemed to be filled with countless tiny barbs, as if a rough abrasive cloth was rubbing slowly against the heart, and the blood and flesh were mixed into fragments and peeled off bit by bit.

This boss, who was a dozen years younger than them, walked slowly towards them like the Grim Reaper holding a sickle. Nosk seemed to have made up his mind and closed his eyes.

However, the other party's reaction was beyond their expectations.

"You have worked hard. Your injuries can be healed immediately with the manifestation device. Take a good rest and you can return to work again."

"……Eh?"

“That’s it…?”

The unexpected answer made Barton and Nosk open their eyes wide in astonishment.

"Hmm? I know what you mean. I will give you workers' compensation. Don't worry—"

"No, no, no, that's not what we're talking about... We let 'Material A' escape, so the punishment is..."

Hearing Westcott's words, Knox hurriedly shook his head, as if he couldn't help but ask the question in his heart.

"Eh? But according to the report, this is not your fault. On the contrary, I think you deserve praise for remaining calm when facing the nightmare. I won't be stupid enough to lose a capable person because of my personal feelings.

"

"This, this is it..."

Barton couldn't help swallowing. To be honest, Westcott's considerate attitude not only did not make him feel at ease, but instead gave him goose bumps.

"and……"

After a short pause, Westcott showed a meaningful smile on his face.

"I'll have to release 'Material A' sooner or later, so I'll just let her play with it for a while this time. Thank you for not doing unnecessary things."

"——!?"

Barton almost couldn't help but exclaim.

Release Material A? Did they ship her to Japan just to release the Pokémon they had finally caught?

"Boss, what exactly do you want to--"

Seeing that Knox was about to ask unnecessary questions, Barton's face turned pale, and he quickly pulled his sleeve and shook his head to signal him not to talk too much. Nosk immediately understood and quickly changed his words.

"Is that so? Then I'll take my leave now."

"Ah."

After getting Westcott's permission, the two of them quickly left the office.

The automatic door behind them slowly closed. Only after they left the building where Westcott was did the two of them heave a long sigh of relief and wipe the cold sweat from their foreheads.

"...I don't know. His brain structure is completely different from ours. Anyway..."

"By the way...what do you mean?"

"Forget it, it's okay."

Knox was halfway through his words when he suddenly evaded the question.

Barton understood his thoughts, so he did not ask further questions. After all, no one could guarantee that Westcott's eyes and ears were not here. As if to ease the depressing atmosphere, Barton quickly changed the subject.

"Well, at least everything is fine. I didn't expect the boss to be just like what the new guy said..."

As soon as he opened his mouth, Barton realized that he had chosen the wrong topic.

"Yeah, that new guy..."

As expected, Knox's expression became even more serious.

In fact, both of them understood that Westcott did not forgive them, but simply did not take them seriously. He looked at them with a twisted and strange gaze, as if he was looking at reptiles or insects.

Although the newcomer did not give them the same sense of oppression as Westcott, in essence, there was not much difference.

(Monsters attract monsters...not a funny joke at all.)

After the two looked at each other, they sighed at the same time and began to think about their next job-hopping target.

——————————————————————————————I am the dividing line that diverts attention——————————————————————

"You think I'm an ordinary popular cartoonist, but actually I'm an elf!!!"

"..."

"..."

"Ah, Al...?"

Looking at Shidou and Mengyue who said nothing and showed no surprise at all, Niya, who was posing on the bed, couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"That's really weird. Normally, shouldn't your two reactions be more surprised?"

"Well... I've noticed something."

Shidou scratched his cheek with a wry smile. Rather, he was even more surprised that everything turned out exactly as Meng Yue had expected.

"Well, you didn't try to hide it, did you?"

Meng Yue shrugged helplessly and said,

“Or do you want me to cooperate and pretend to be scared? Wha, what – are you actually an elf? No, impossible! Where’s the evidence?!”

As she spoke, Mengyue suddenly put on a horrified expression, took a few steps back, and then, as if to hide her confusion, she pointed at Erya and shouted.

(By the way… rather than saying that he had discovered an incredible truth, it was more like he was being exposed by a detective.)

Looking at Mengyue's realistic acting, Shidao couldn't help but think with shame.

"Humph - I certainly have evidence for what I said."

However, Erya was unexpectedly impressed by Mengyue's trick and raised his eyebrows with pride.

"Look at this - the Divine Power Spirit Suit. Second Part (Yod)!"

He murmured like a spell. Niya took off her glasses, and the next moment, a vortex of light wrapped around Niya's body. The strong light made Mengyue and Shidao squint their eyes.

As the light gathered, the maid outfit that Erya was originally wearing suddenly disappeared. Instead, there was a black robe that was as hazy as gauze, with a silver cross hanging around her waist and a veil on her head.

The way Niya was dressed reminded Shidou of a nun in a church.

"Sister..."

Meng Yue muttered softly.

That’s right, what Erya was wearing at this moment was the strongest fortress for elves - the spiritual suit.

"Transformation complete. Are you convinced, Bili-chan? No other creature besides elves can make such a magnificent appearance."

As she spoke, Erya proudly puffed out her flat chest.

(Um...it was Meng Yue who first confirmed that Niya was an elf.)

Shidou thought speechlessly. How should I put it? Thanks to these two people playing funny things, this scene, which should have been very serious, became unusually casual, with a feeling that it didn't matter what happened.

“…Aaaah, my carefully planned grand entrance!”

As if he understood something, Erya couldn't help but hold his head and whimper.

"Damn it... The planned development was that the boy was attracted by the contrast brought about by my revealing another identity, and then I used this romantic and interesting spiritual outfit to seduce the boy and develop a welfare plot that the boy would love to see. In the end, it turned out to be like a gag comic."

(Is this what you originally planned?)

The corner of Shidou's mouth twitched slightly.

Indeed, the translucent nun's dress on Nia is very impactful to adult men. Many of the girl's forbidden areas are vaguely visible, and her holiness vaguely reveals a bit of charm, which makes Shidao a little unsure where to put his eyes.

Of course, his personality and appearance are completely opposite.

"You are plotting against me! Bili-chan!"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

However, when saying this, Meng Yue deliberately prolonged her tone and gave a sly smile that looked like it was "as expected".

"Damn it... I noticed it from the beginning. But I couldn't help but play along. Bili-chan is too much. She actually took advantage of my habit of staying at home."

Erya complained with a dissatisfied look on his face.

"Well...even if I didn't mess things up, you probably wouldn't be able to seduce me. Your characters and personalities are totally incompatible."

Meng Yue shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well... never mind. Let's move on to the next topic."

As if realizing that he couldn't win the argument with Mengyue, Erya lowered his shoulders in disappointment, adjusted his attitude and continued speaking.

"Ratziel."

As soon as the words fell, the space in front of Erya suddenly distorted, and the next moment, a thick book appeared in Erya's hands.

Just like the Bible, the cover was covered with a material that was either leather or metal, and like Erya's spiritual attire, it was decorated with a cross.

Ratziel? Shidao looked at Mengyue in surprise. Although they looked completely different, the Angel of Nia and the Sage of Dawn of Mengyue did have the same pronunciation.

(By the way, why are the names completely different when the pronunciation is the same?)

Shidou instinctively told himself not to dwell on these details.

Perhaps she noticed this, or perhaps she realized that Erya had no hostility, so Mengyue did not take any precautions when facing the elf who had already unfolded his spiritual armor and the angel.

"Is this... an angel?"

"Yes, this is my angel, 'Whispering' - an omniscient angel who can see through everything in the world."

Hearing Nia's words, Shidou couldn't help but frown.

"What does omniscience mean?"