—Silence—
Megumi stared blankly at Yazuki, who looked utterly serious. She tilted her head slightly, her hair swaying with the motion.
"…Huh?"
She let out a confused yet slightly adorable sound.
What was he even talking about? Her eyes were filled with bafflement.
"Kato, what I mean is, the reason you have such a weak presence might be due to supernatural forces."
Since Kato Megumi had always lived a completely normal and ordinary life, it was natural for her to be confused. Yazuki felt the need to elaborate.
If he hadn't personally experienced being transported to another world, he, too, would have thought his world was just an ordinary place, where things like magic, gods, heroes, and dragons were mere fantasies.
"I suspect that you have some kind of special nature. You might possess a unique power… or an extraordinary identity."
"Huh? A unique power? An extraordinary identity?"
Megumi tilted her head to the other side and pointed at herself with her pale fingers, looking at Yazuki with a slightly puzzled expression.
"Yes, for example, if you possess a power that specifically counters a certain Demon God, Evil God, or Trash God—some sort of threatening force against them—or if you can be used as a medium for sacrifices to unseal certain sealed entities... In short, to protect you from being discovered, captured, or harmed, someone might have sealed you and done their best to erase your presence, making you live as an ordinary, inconspicuous girl!"
This was one of Yazuki's hypotheses regarding Megumi's situation.
Unfortunately, at his current state, he had reverted to being a weakling and was unable to discern Megumi's true condition.
"Oh~ Then what about the curse?"
Megumi nodded slightly, her face still calm, and curiously brought up another possibility.
"As for curses, there are many possible explanations. Perhaps your family isn't just an ordinary family—maybe they're an Onmyoji or Exorcist lineage, or perhaps they possess divine blood. If that's the case, someone might have cursed you out of jealousy or fear of your power... In short, the curse was placed to make the world abandon you."
This kind of curse would gradually make everyone forget about Kato Megumi—first, her ordinary friends, then her family, and eventually, the entire world would act as if she never existed, leaving her to experience the pain of complete solitude.
"Ah, is that so?"
Megumi's reaction remained unchanged from the beginning. She wasn't surprised by Yazuki's words; rather, her gaze toward him seemed somewhat exasperated.
After speaking, she took a sip of the iced drink that had been brought over earlier. In reality, it could have arrived much sooner, but the waiter momentarily forgot about Kato and mistakenly delivered it to another table.
"So, Kato, what do you plan to do now? If you want to break free from this state, I can help you."
Yazuki interlocked his fingers and rested his chin on them, looking at Megumi seriously, waiting for her decision.
This was his way of repaying her kindness.
Naturally, he wouldn't irresponsibly lift a seal or break a curse and then walk away, that would be the same as harming her. Of course, he would also provide aftercare.
Some might see this as a foolish act, an unfair exchange, but he didn't care. That was just the kind of person he was, if someone did him a favor, he would do his best to resolve their troubles.
That said, how could he help her in his current state?
Unless he managed to break free from this world's reality constraints, he was just an ordinary human.
However, he had obtained some soft feathers from a certain little loli angel, which might be useful.
Ahem, he really hadn't planned on using them for anything else at first, really! Believe it or not, it's up to you!
"Eh? So, you're basically saying that you want to help me stand out more? Make more friends, right?"
Megumi's interpretation of his words carried a hint of hesitation on her otherwise indifferent face.
"Well, it's fine. You don't have to go to such lengths. I think staying like this is just fine."
She twirled a strand of hair around her finger and spoke in a gentle tone.
"Is that so? Are you sure? Actually, I know—you don't really believe me, do you?"
Yazuki wasn't surprised by Megumi's reaction.
It was understandable.
If he hadn't personally experienced being summoned to another world, transformed into a demon—no, just a lowly demon soldier at first—and struggled desperately to return, only to eventually find himself sitting on the Demon King's throne and waging war against the gods... he wouldn't have believed it either.
Megumi had lived in a perfectly normal world since childhood. Naturally, from her perspective, his words must have sounded utterly nonsensical.
"How about this? I'll be coming to your school soon. When the time comes, I'll prove it to you, and then you can decide."
"Uh—no need for that, really..."
For the first time, Megumi's usually calm demeanor wavered.
It was as if she was afraid of discovering some undeniable truth and wanted to maintain the status quo.
But more than that, she seemed worried about what Yazuki's "actions" to prove himself would entail.
In other words, Yazuki's "actions" might bring trouble to Megumi, drawing strange looks from those around her.
She rubbed her cheek slightly, her lips parting as if she wanted to voice her real concerns, but she hesitated, afraid that her words might hurt Yazuki.
To her, Yazuki seemed to exhibit classic symptoms of a certain "illness" commonly associated with otaku.
And then, out of nowhere—
"Pfft!"
A barely suppressed laugh burst out from the neighboring seat, separated by a waist-high partition.
When they had entered the café earlier, there were leftover plates on that table, so Yazuki had chosen a different seat instead of waiting for it to be cleared.
But now, it was clear that someone had been sitting there all along, eavesdropping on their conversation.
Moreover, the voice was oddly familiar—it was undoubtedly a girl's voice.
"Hahaha, I can't hold it in anymore! Pfft, hahaha~"
Even though there was a wooden partition between them, Yazuki could practically see the person behind it clutching their stomach and pounding on their chair, laughing so hard they could barely breathe.
Yazuki's eyebrow twitched, and he cast a deadpan stare in that direction.
He recognized that voice.
And then, he saw a tuft of golden twin tails bouncing in excitement over the top of the partition.