Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

Midnight.

Aleph was sitting at his bedside. Beside him was none other than Kurumi.

'Hm… It's like this…'

A week ago, Kurumi recovered enough by intercepting his cursed energy. Her authority as a Spirit was unlocked.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The cold handle of a flintlock gun appeared in his grasp. A vague phantom of a clock appeared on his back.

Aleph pointed the flintlock above his shoulder—to the 'ten-o-clock'. A surge of 'power' emerged from the gun.

{Result: With the Sephira Crystal as the basis, a form of authority that intervenes with the physical world…}

Great Sage's analysis came next. Both it and his elemental sight told Aleph about this so-called authority.

"Are you ready, Kurumi?"

"Mn."

There was only one reason why Aleph did this.

One of Kurumi's powers include the ability to show one's past into another. It was something that she asked to do a while ago.

As to why…

"I want to know everything."

It was a simple wish of hers to catch up on everything Aleph faced.

Kurumi leaned her head to his shoulders.

Pointing the flintlock's nozzle at his head…

"Zafkiel. Yod."

Bang-!

…a long dream began.

*****

A night had passed.

There are people who remained asleep throughout. Similarly, there were also people who worked all-night long.

"You haven't slept, doctor?"

"I don't need it."

Klein saw Mobius in her usual work state. The paperworks were slowly being decreased as her signatures were placed in them. Some of them were stacked higher than her.

When Klein saw some of them, she was startled to see that these were the pending paperworks from a few months ago.

Mobius completed several months' workload in one go.

"There are some proposals that have expired. The personnel involved already left the institute." She explained. "I thought the doctor will focus on the Project Soldier?"

"I don't care. Call them all back. It's not like they would refuse an opportunity."

Somehow, Mobius' sarcastic tone was stronger today.

It was as if she used these stacked paperworks as a form of stress relief…

"As for the project, Aleph can do it himself. I'll return once the director's surgery comes."

Klein had an urge to ask more questions. In the end, she kept her mouth shut. It doesn't take a genius to see that Mobius was in a bad mood.

"Speaking of it, can you knock at his room? It's already late." Mobius said.

"Sir Aleph did not come late before. Perhaps it was due to the eastern region issue?"

Klein raised her thoughts. It was enough to make Mobius pause.

"...You are right. Just check up on him, then."

Once this conversation ended, Klein headed to the dormitory room with her tablet in tow.

However, she was absent-minded along the way.

'Was this a lover's quarrel? It was the first time the doctor reacted that harshly…'

Klein served as Blanca's replacement once the latter gave birth. It has already been several years since she worked under Mobius. Naturally, she knew more about her than any other personnel.

It was the first time Klein saw her react like that—akin to being on edge. It wouldn't be surprising if it happened during a research period. 

But for it to happen out of nowhere…

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Klein arrived in front of the door. She hesitated several times as to whether to knock or not.

Fortunately, she didn't need to do so as it opened on its own.

"Klein?"

Aleph's sleepy look greeted her. His eyes were still half-asleep. His hair was very disheveled.

Klein did not respond to him. Her gaze was directed towards the bed; rather, the girl sleeping on his bed.

It was visible from this angle. The bed was located to the right of the door.

At this moment, everything clicked.

'I didn't expect…'

Aleph glanced at Klein's steadily collapsing expression before heaving a sigh.

Click.

He went outside the room and closed the door.

"It's quite a long story. Would you mind listening?"

Klein nodded silently.

Seeing that, Aleph began reiterating everything that was said last night. From the other world thing up to his double confession, he didn't leave anything out.

It was a very complex story. The shock from the knowledge of another world, the childhood friend with superpowers, and Aleph daring to confess to two girls at once made Klein pause.

It took a while until she barely processed everything.

'This was the reason why…'

She temporarily chose to forget most of the things except for the double confession. The corner of her eye tried to glance at Aleph, to which the latter caught.

'Sir Aleph was sharp. If so…'

"Sir Aleph. What do you think of the doctor?" She asked.

"Mobius? She is… very strong. In terms of dedication, few could match her."

That was Aleph's first impression of Mobius. Although brief, the texts in the game he knew described her the best.

She was someone who wouldn't stop until humanity evolves into something incomparable to what they were now. Their ugliness, in the first place, was the reason why Mobius wanted to lead humanity into another level.

In the game Aleph knew, however, the desperate situations forced her to lower her bottom line until she was feared by most—far worse than the current situation now.

The two fell into a period of silence. It wasn't until Klein spoke was the silence broken.

"Then, why didn't you…"

—confront her?

Aleph knew the meaning of her words even if she didn't complete them.

"Because…"

He wanted to say all his reasons as to why he played dumb. Things such as her 'not willing to be tied by emotions' or him 'serving as her distraction of sorts' appeared in his mind. 

However, he stopped. He could not bring himself to say these words.

In the process of confronting Mei and Kurumi's true feelings, he neglected Mobius. 

The "not-thirty-year-old yet" doctor was someone who bantered with him every time they worked together.

Her voice.

Her gaze.

Things that made up the person known as "Mobius" came to his mind.

It was unknown as to when, but…

'I like her too.'

The boundary between trusted friends and partners became blurry.

Aleph's mind became clear.

'Since I am greedy, why should I leave someone out..?!'

All of his thoughts and excuses were compressed to self-loathing. What he did last night was extremely stupid.

"...Thank you, Klein."

Aleph no longer hesitated. Even if he was wearing his sleepwear, he headed towards Mobius' office.

Seeing this, a sigh of relief escaped from Klein.

'Even if Sir Aleph is a romantic person, his concerns are sincere.'

The only problem left was one that came from the future:

'How many more girls will be around him?'

*****

A/N: Welp. The interpersonal relationship arc will end in 2~3 chapters. MC will come out with a few more developments in his pocket (i.e., romance). As seen in the previous chapter, we'll be moving towards the serious stuff after this (The limited JJK instance and the nearly forgotten Random Box included).

Anyways, I apologize for the lack of updates (again). I am being overcooked by college with our finals week. The stable schedule should return to normal next week.