Shinji Matou at Your Service

The table collapsed.

Why make a big fuss about it?

As the only natural god in the modern world, a candidate for U.O. and a being higher than even Phantasmal Species, Arcueid was more destructive than a humanoid T-Rex. Tearing down buildings by hand and running faster than a sports car were trivial for her.

In her normal state, she would consciously control herself to avoid causing damage to her surroundings. But once she got excited, her control would weaken. Luckily, she only pressed down on the table with her palms, and McDonald's standard table quality was decent enough. Otherwise, the diners would have witnessed the fantastical scene of her hands slicing through the table like tofu.

Of course, even just collapsing the table garnered a lot of attention.

A young man at a nearby table even mimicked Arcueid's posture, lifting his feet off the ground and putting all his weight on the table, which remained intact, proving the quality of McDonald's hardware.

Shinji quickly reacted, pressing the muttering "so fragile" Arcueid back into her seat with one hand while raising the other high, speaking in English:

"Sorry, we got a bit carried away. How much for the table? We'll pay the full price."

The McDonald's staff hadn't encountered such a situation before and quickly fetched the manager, who finally gave a price.

Shinji didn't haggle. The Matou family might not be as wealthy as some, but their assets were more than enough for the family members to splurge, so there was no need to fuss over a small amount of money.

However, when he pulled out his wallet to pay, he was embarrassed—he didn't have enough money.

Shinji's wallet was new, the previous one possibly lost in the Po River or the sea, either way, it was gone. The IDs and bank cards inside could be replaced, but it would take time, and Shinji hadn't received them before leaving home. The wallet only had some cash. Though Shinji often traveled abroad and had a habit of carrying US dollars, he had only kept a few bills for symbolic reasons, enough for a meal but not for compensating a table.

"Uh, do you accept yen here?"

"Sorry, we don't accept yen. You can use a credit card," the manager replied.

"The problem is I don't have a card with me. Are we going to dine and dash?"

Shinji muttered softly, turning to look at Arcueid. He didn't have high hopes but decided to ask anyway.

"Do you have any money?"

"No, but I should have a way. So, we just need more of this kind of paper, right?"

Arcueid said, pulling a green bill from Shinji's wallet.

"That's right."

Shinji nodded, a sense of unease rising in his heart.

The next second, his unease was confirmed. Arcueid's eyes turned from red to gold, and then identical bills appeared out of thin air, even with the same serial numbers.

He had just been lamenting about fantastical scenes, and now one had appeared. This was no longer just about attracting attention; it was about eyeballs dropping to the ground and being crushed.

The culprit, Arcueid, proudly asked, "Hey, hey, is this enough?"

"Enough!"

Shinji barely managed to suppress the emotions surging in his chest. He glanced at the surveillance cameras overhead and then, under the shocked gazes of the onlookers, drew runes in the air, casting the suggestion magic that every magus needed to master in society.

"Nothing happened here. You saw nothing."

"We saw... nothing... nothing happened..."

Influenced by the runes, the people in McDonald's repeated the same words in unison. After confirming that there would be no issues, Shinji finally stopped the suggestion.

"Phew, suggesting so many people at once is tough."

"What's the big deal? My Mystic Eyes could have handled it in an instant. Shinji, you're so overthinking."

Hearing Arcueid's complaint, Shinji's barely controlled emotions surged again.

"Whose fault do you think this is?! If you hadn't used your powers recklessly, would I need to go through all this trouble to clean up?"

"I didn't use them recklessly, just a little bit."

Indeed, it was just a little bit. Although paper money is man-made, its structure is simple, and with a sample, Arcueid could easily replicate it.

"It's still reckless. You promised me that you'd get my consent before using your powers."

Having experienced being dragged along in a 100-meter sprint in one second, how could Shinji not make preparations in advance? Unfortunately, he still underestimated Arcueid's unpredictability.

"Alright, alright, I admit I was wrong. Isn't that enough?"

Seeing Arcueid's spirits dampen, Shinji's expression softened, and his voice grew gentler.

"I'm not trying to harp on your mistake. Money is a fundamental part of human society, and even a small discrepancy can cause big problems. Explaining it in detail is complicated. If you're interested, I can find you a book to study it slowly."

"No way! If you say it's complicated, it must be very complicated. I'm not reading it."

"You..."

Arcueid wrinkled her nose in a cute manner, which brightened Shinji's mood considerably. She had that kind of charm, though it was only perceptible to those connected to the mystical world. This was one of the preparations Shinji had made—if Arcueid fully unleashed her charm, ordinary people's sanity would crumble instantly, regardless of age or gender.

"Fine, don't read it then. Just remember what I said and never do this kind of thing again. If we don't have enough money, I'll handle it."

Maybe it was a bit exaggerated, but for a competent magus, problems that could be solved with money weren't problems.

Arcueid "Oh" in response, pointing at the floating replicated bills, and asked, "What should we do with these? Destroy them?"

"You've already made them, so let's not waste them. Just change the serial numbers, the last three digits here, so they don't repeat."

"Like this?"

Her eyes flashed gold, and the numbers changed accordingly. No matter how many times he saw it, Arcueid's ability was always astonishing—this was the legendary humanoid money printer, creating genuine bills on the spot that even the U.S. Mint couldn't distinguish.

"Yes, just like that. Let's go."

Shinji first counted out the necessary amount and handed it to the manager behind the counter, then put the remaining bills into his wallet. He didn't forget to erase the runes he used for the suggestion spell before leaving.

With a snap of his fingers, the fast-food restaurant returned to its usual order. Only the staff at the door could faintly hear the conversation of the departing couple.

"By the way, does using Marble Phantasm still give you a headache?"

"It does, but it's a bit better now."

"It seems you're gradually getting used to the voices of humans. Maybe I should find a place to test my magic too?"

"Sure, sure, let's go right now."

"No, before that, we need to go somewhere first."

"Where to?"

"A place where we can make an international call. My phone's out of battery."

"Phone? What's that?"

"It's this."

"It looks fun. Hmm, I can't understand its structure for now."

"Take your time to understand it. If you still don't get it, I'll buy a few more for you to take apart and play with."

"Hehe, Shinji, you're the best."