Outside the hall, he mentally asked, 'Great Sage, how many AP did I earn in total earlier?'

  [Answering. 18 AP.]

  Toug his , he reflected as he walked dowreet illuminated by street mps.

  'I remember the notification saying I earned 2 AP for healing the girl, so the rest was because of Supergirl and that Fake Santa...' He thought, 'I k, I should have killed that thing. Maybe it would've given me more AP.'

  However, if he wished to i with Supergirl in the near future, going down that path would plicate things.

  'Whatever.' There was no poiting a choice already made.

  Not to mention, he had no proof that killing that Fake Santa would have earned him more AP.

  By the way, he tried to replicate Supergirl's powers, but the result was simir to his skill, 'Magic Master,' a full suite of various abilities. And to replicate it... It would cost 200,000 AP, with an 11% ce of success.

  Such a high cost for such a pitiful ce was deplorable and not worth attempting, even if he amassed 1 million AP.

  'I still have plenty of money left from the 1 AP I exged for 100,000 yen. I'll find a hotel to stay at.'

  ***

  ***

  It was a bit annoying to have to use hypnosis again, this time to che at a 3-star hotel.

  'This is why not having dotation is troublesome.' Zaydas began pnning to resolve this tomorrow while iigating more about this world.

  He was also curious about eople were saying regarding the "Sed Phase" the Fake Santa was undergoing.

  After sh and ging clothes, Zaydas y on the bed, thinking, 'Alright, I'll deal with it tomorrow...'

  ***

  ***

  The m, Shibuya City Office.

  As soon as Zaydas arrived, he used mass hypnosis.

  It was an unfair but effective approach: he made everyone in the registry office work on his registration. To avoid plications, he also maniputed the present citizens, ensuring no one pined about the wait or questiohe process. Those whose matters weren't urgent simply decided to leave without any objes.

  The process was lengthy and required attention to detail. He had te multiple records, even school dots. For that, he knew he would o visit the registered sanipute its files directly, and create wito corroborate his existence.

  In his personal records, Zaydas opted for a pusible yet ve backstory: he cimed to be the son of an Irishman and a Japanese womae being a sad story, he decided to include that both parents had mysteriously disappeared.

  This choice wasn't random. There were reports of disappearances in the region—fidential cases with restricted access—which made the narrative sistent and less suspicious.

  To reinforce his story, he also included a mediote in his records: up until the age of 17, he had suffered from a severe health issue but had miraculously recovered at 18, shortly before his parents' disappearance.

  After hours of adjusting every detail, Zaydas headed to the school he had added to his records, maniputing its files and creating evidence of his supposed time there. He used his hypnosis to gee witeachers and students who would "remember" his presence.

  Whehing was pleted, it was already past noon, nearing the evening. He barely ate lunch. Exhausted, he decided to stop at a café to rex and reanize his thoughts.

  ***

  ***

  Marin was thinking about the photoshoots she had lined up for the day and sighed, already feeling tired. "S..."

  But since she he money, she murmured to herself, "I 't be like this... Work is work. Right! I'll do my best~!"

  With her graceful figure—or perhaps because she was talking to herself in the middle of the street—Marin attracted several curious gnces. However, she seemed oblivious or simply didn't care.

  "La--a~"

  Just moments earlier, she had been exhausted, but now she was cheerfully humming an anime song, even making pyful sounds with her nose.

  "Huh?" She suddenly stopped, surprised. 'No way?! It's him...!'

  Through the gss of a café, she saw the boy who had been occupyihoughts frequently since yesterday. Earlier that m, she and her friends had talked about him. Marin had assumed that, since he didn't seem Japanese, he might have left the try and that she'd never see him again.

  Looking at the clod realizing she had a few spare minutes, she decided to go in.

  At the sound of the doorbell, she walked to where the boy was, seated at the ter, fag the street. He was calmly reading a book while sipping on a cappuo.

  The geurn of the pages and his serene expression made Marin pause for a moment. 'He's really handsome and elegant.'

  She wasn't the kind of person to judge solely by appearances, but she couldn't ignore how attractive he was. Everanquil way he turhe pages exuded an air of sophistication.

  'Like, is he a noble or something?' Marin ughed internally at the thought. Smiling, she pulled one of the tall chairs beside him and asked, "Excuse me, is it okay if I sit here?"

  "Go ahead." He replied without taking his eyes off the book.

  'What a beautiful voice!' Marin thought. 'If he were a voice actor, I'd waty anime just to hear his voice.'

  "Thank youuu~" she replied cheerfully.

  After getting fortable, a waitress came to take her order. Marin asked for a bubble tea, and while waiting, she propped her fa her hand and stared at the boy. "It's you, isn't it?"

  "Huh? Is this a new kind of pick-up line?" He closed the book, keeping his finger between the pages to mark his pce.

  "Haha, hirious. Of course not!" Marin ughed and tinued, "You were at the Elegay Saloerday, remember? That boy ig on me, and you told him, 'The jerk here is you!'"

  "Oh, yes. I remember." He said calmly. "Sorry, but I didn't do it for you specifically. I just didn't like the boy."

  "I see~ But is that all?"

  "Actually," he gnced out at the street, "I believe everyone has the right to like what they want. Hearing him moeone for liking anime was… unpleasant."

  His words left her speechless. Marin stared at him with wide eyes, pletely taken aback.

  Evehe waitress brought her bubble tea, she was lost in thought, stirring the drink with her straw without saying a word.

  Meanwhile, the boy beside her went back to reading, oblivious to the fusion he was causing her.

  Turning her fa the opposite dire, her hands c her cheeks, Marin thought, 'Oh my god, he's totally my type… What do I do?!'

  'No, calm down, Marin!' she tried to steady herself. 'How this be? You've only seen him twice! Just because he has a philosophy of life simir to yours doesn't mean he's your soulmate!'

  It took a minute and a half for Marin to pull herself together. After drinking half her bubble tea, she finally broke the silence. "Um… May I know your name? Oh, by the way, I'm Marin Kitagawa."

  He looked at her and smiled—one of the most beautiful smiles she had ever seen.

  "Zaydas Grimmory. o meet you, Marin-."

  Before she could say anything, he stood up, left a 5,000-yen note uhe cup, and walked out.

  Marin stared at him, uo react. She only snapped out of her daze when she heard the doorbell chime again.

  'Huh? Wait?! No way… What?! Maji?! He called me Marin-?!'

  With a flushed face, she covered her mouth with her hands.

  'He said… his name is Zaydas Grimmory, right?'

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