Chapter 451: The Evil Eye of the Wicked Lord, the Strongest!

“Are you really not a Mummy?”

“I really, really am not!”

“Oh… not…”

The happy little hand-clapping stopped immediately. The smile she’d offered Himekoji was retracted by Rikka in an instant.

Growing cold–no, even showing distaste…

The shift in attitude was jarring.

Seriously–

“Do you have to look that disappointed? Are you really hoping I’d be a Mummy or something?”

“I wanted a Mummy for my Apostle.”

“Your taste in choosing Apostles is way too weird!”

“They are tough! The strongest trait!”

“The strongest trait? Why does that just sound… pitiful…”

Wearing the thickest armor, taking the most brutal beatings?

Where was the good in that…

Himekoji Akito couldn’t help feeling sympathy for the Mummy Rikka imagined.

The toughest one must be the one who got hit the most, right?

“Because we need trait affinity.”

Just as Akito was lost in these thoughts, he suddenly heard Rikka beside him murmur those words.

Trait affinity?

“Huh?”

He voiced his confusion without thinking.

“You didn’t know?”

Rikka asked back.

And without waiting for Akito to answer, the girl supplied the answer herself,

“Because, if the traits don’t match, we can’t form a con… con-con-con…”

Her fluent speech suddenly tripped over the word “contract”.

It seemed like Rikka had forgotten something, struggling to remember.

“Contract?”

“Yes, yes! Contract, it’s a contract!”

Only after Akito prompted her did Rikka finally recall the word.

However, the relief of remembering lasted only a brief moment. By the very next second, Rikka seemed lost again,

“Wait… contract? What’s that? Why did I say that?”

She whispered it, talking only to herself, and Akito didn’t catch it.

Right now, what Akito was fixated on was Rikka’s “trait affinity”.

“Needing trait affinity, so wanting a tough Mummy, that means…”

Suddenly, like a puzzle clicking into place, Akito stared blankly at Rikka.

“Correct! The Evil Eye of the Wicked Lord’s trait… is Damage Immunity! The strongest!”

Rikka stood on the bed, hands on her hips, tilting her small head back proudly.

“Hee hee,” she giggled, genuinely seeming pleased with herself.

Her smile froze only when her gradually rising gaze bumped into the ceiling.

“The strongest…”

Rikka repeated it. Her tone and expression hadn’t changed much from before, yet somehow, it flooded Akito with vast waves of unease and panic.

Akito didn’t have time to think about where that unease came from.

The next second, he was startled by Rikka’s sudden question.

As if changing the topic, Rikka’s gaze snapped away from the ceiling onto him—

“If you’re not a mummy, then who are you?”

Who are you?

This was the second time Rikka had asked him that.

“…Didn’t I already answer that yesterday?”

Akito could only force a bitter smile.

“Yester… day?”

Rikka tilted her head slightly, confusion flickering in her eyes. Her gaze wandered for a moment, paused in her speech for several breaths, before finally speaking again,

“Yesterday was yesterday. Today I’m asking you.”

“It’s me. Himekoji Akito.”

He didn’t say anything embarrassingly cringe-worthy like “Contractor” this time.

Actually, thinking back now, Akito still found it strange. In that life-or-death moment yesterday, how had “Contractor” popped into his head?

Was his own deeply buried chuunibyou spirit not dead yet?

So embarrassing! That chuunibyou spirit should just hurry up and die!

“Hi… me… ko… ji… A… ki… to?”

Rikka spelled it out syllable by syllable, as if unfamiliar with the name.

Hearing this, Akito’s expression stiffened.

The next moment, he managed an even more strained smile.

“Hah, it’s because of the Bandage covering my face, right? You didn’t recognize me?”

Akito moved to undo the Bandage covering most of his face.

“Didn’t recognize you?”

“Do… we know each other?”

But her next words instantly froze all his movements.

He looked like he’d been petrified. Akito stared blankly at Rikka, mouth slightly agape in shock.

The Bandage half undone revealed the scabbed wound from yesterday’s sword slash, where blood had flowed freely.

…

So…

She really didn’t remember?

Even though he’d mentally prepared for this outcome yesterday.

The one who forgets others… being forgotten by others… how utterly normal.

“What about Hanjo? Hanjo Ayame?”

She’s the only person at school who still remembered you!

Rikka just shook her head.

How could that be?

Not even Hanjo Ayame anymore?

What exactly had happened to Rikka?

Just as he wanted to demand answers, the sudden ringing of the phone beside the bed cut off Himekoji before he could speak.

“Ah… why so early today…”

Glancing at her phone, Rikka spoke.

Her tone sounded unwilling, like a kid refusing to get up for school.

But she’d still go. It was her duty.

“Alright, I’m heading out.”

Rikka bid Himekoji goodbye.

As she waved, her childish cartoon nightgown transformed instantly. Covered in shimmering light, it shifted abruptly into the dark, gothic outfit she’d worn when Himekoji saw her yesterday.

Wait, what?

A magic wardrobe change?

But! Shouldn’t there be a completely naked moment in the middle?

Why did I get the kid-friendly censored version?

Normally, Himekoji would have made such a sarcastic remark. But right now, he really wasn’t in the mood.

“Where are you going?”

Himekoji asked frantically.

“To fight.”

Her look while saying this line, fitting her chuunibyou nature, was as cool as always.

But it wasn’t cool at all to be the one who lost the fight! Or got hurt! Or died!

“Do you really have to go?”

He didn’t ask what kind of fight; he’d already seen it yesterday.

“I must.”

Rikka’s answer held no hesitation.

“But you haven’t eaten breakfast!”

“Huh? Breakfast?”

Her stomach growled loudly on cue, hinting at doubt.

“Then… I’ll eat when I get back.”

After thinking it over, this was the decision Rikka finally made.

Hearing this, Himekoji immediately looked horrified.

“Blech! Blech! Blech! Take it back! Take that back right now!”

“Huh?”

Rikka looked back, confused.

“It’s terrible luck to say that before a battle! That’s a major death flag!”

Himekoji explained urgently, clearly worried.

“Pfft! Hah! Won’t happen! And you know why?”

Rikka rose onto her tiptoes, giving Himekoji a playful, adorable victory pose.

“Because the Evil Eye of the Wicked Lord… IS THE STRONGEST!”

Strongest pain-tolerance ever!

Immunity to damage!

“And, I really wanna eat!”

Her cowlick bounced left and right as if begging for her.

Helpless against Rikka, Himekoji gave in.

“Alright, alright, I got it. What do you want to eat?”

He asked her.

“Instant noodles!”

Rikka answered immediately, eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Huh?”

“Never tried ’em. Wanna see what they are like!”

Never tried them?

No…

But we definitely had them before.

Last time… at his place.

…