"And you better rework my Irregular skill, you hear?! Make it good!"
"…who are you talking to?"
Beatrix couldn't help but question Evan as she heard him yelling out the hotel window the mont she stepped into the room.
Clicking his tongue, the boy turned to face her and replied.
"It was the Author. He just left."
"Author? As in, a book writer?"
"Yeah."
Evan confird as he made his way to the suite's dining table, grabbing his half-empty smoothie glass and downing the rest in one go.
Beatrix cast a glance out the window, as if searching for this "Author" Evan had just been shouting at, and upon seeing this, Evan spoke up.
"Don't bother. You wouldn't see him even if he was right in front of you."
Setting down his glass, he pulled a box of ingredients from his inventory and began preparing another strawberry smoothie.
In true Beatrix fashion, she decided not to stress over it. She simply chalked it up as another oddity of Evan's and focused on sothing more understandable.
Like the smoothie Evan was making.
"Can you make one for ?"
"150 Credits. 200 with ice."
"So expensive!!"
Beatrix cried out in shock at the outrageous price Evan demanded, but he just laughed, pulling out a second glass and setting it on the table.
As he switched on the blender, he turned his gaze to the tablet in Beatrix's hands, which had been playing a video for a while now.
"What're you watching?"
"Hmm? Oh, this. It's a family show. They were talking about how parents choose nas for their kids, and it eventually led to a discussion about weird nas that end up causing problems later in life."
She explained the gist of the show as she settled onto a couch, facing the tablet. A dreamy sigh escaped her lips as she continued.
"It got thinking… If I have children in the future, what would I na them?"
Evan felt that wasn't exactly sothing a teenage Beatrix should be thinking about. Then again, he realized he only thought that way because he knew when she started dating Alvey.
While Evan was lost in thought, Beatrix kept talking.
"According to them, it's best to keep things simple—like using parts of the parents' nas or sothing."
"That is rather simple."
Evan acknowledged as he stirred the contents of his glass, and Beatrix nodded in agreent. With a snap of his fingers, a few ice cubes materialized and dropped into the drink. He then handed it to her.
"I take cash, please."
"Sure, sure."
Beatrix accepted the smoothie with a light chuckle, taking a sip before throwing a question his way.
"What do you think, Evan? About the naming stuff."
Evan turned to her, his expression clearly asking why he'd even be thinking about that. In response, Beatrix pointed at his left hand.
"You were engaged in the future, weren't you? That ans you were already considering marriage.
And with that, having kids should've also crossed your mind."
"You do have a point," Evan admitted. "But I was only focused on getting with her, not what ca after."
Evan sat down at the dining chair, picking up his own smoothie and sipping it before continuing.
"Then again, if it ca down to it, I'd probably choose a na that starts with 'E'."
"Why?"
"Because both our nas start with 'E'. Might as well keep the tradition going."
Beatrix gave a silent nod at his reasoning, but a mont later, her expression scrunched up. Evan didn't need a mind-reading skill to guess what was on her mind.
"You and Alvey don't have matching initials, do you?"
"Gek—!"
The teen goddess flinched at his words before shooting him a glare, but Evan just laughed.
Still chuckling, he drumd his fingers on the table and said, "Don't worry, you can always go the na-combo route."
"Na combination?"
Beatrix raised an eyebrow in montary confusion before realization flashed in her eyes.
"That is an option. But the order…"
As she started contemplating, Evan sipped his smoothie and offered a suggestion.
"Just switch it depending on the child's gender.
Alverix if it's a boy, and…"
He placed a hand on his chin, thinking for a mont before continuing.
"Sothing like Beavy if it's a girl."
Finishing his words with a shrug, Evan continued sipping his smoothie while Beatrix blinked at him in surprise.
"That's odd. You're being rather helpful."
"That's an extra 800 credits, by the way."
"Pfft…!"
Beatrix burst into laughter at Evan's remark, leaning back on the couch as she mulled over his suggestions.
It was then that sothing struck her as odd.
'Didn't he co up with 'Alverix' a bit too quickly?'
Replaying the mont in her mind, she realized that Evan had instantly suggested 'Alverix'—in contrast to how he'd hesitated before coming up with 'Beavy.'
She shot him an inquisitive gaze, asking with a asured tone.
"…are you sure you don't know in the future?"
At her question, Evan paused mid-sip, then glanced at her and replied calmly.
"Depends on which future you an. Yours, or the one I ca from."
"..."
That was not the answer he usually gave to that question. Normally, he straight up said 'NO', but now he was speaking in riddles.
A heavy silence settled between them, broken only by the loud slurp of Evan finishing off the last of his smoothie.
Just then, the door swung open, drawing both their gazes as Artemisia stepped inside.
Seeing this, Evan narrowed his eyes and asked.
"Uh… last I checked, this is supposed to be my suite, right? Why does it feel like everyone has unrestricted access?"
Responding to his question was Artemisia who tossed the keys hanging behind the door at him.
"You were unconscious for ten days. We helped you lock your door."
Evan caught the keys and quickly checked them over, confirming that all were accounted for before tossing them into his inventory.
"Fair point."
As he spoke, Artemisia tapped away on the communication device in her hands, sending a ssage to Jamie to inform him that Evan was awake, before turning towards Beatrix.
"You're still watching that weird show?"
"It's not weird!"
Beatrix imdiately jumped to its defence, but Artemisia simply raised a brow.
"You an to tell a show that justifies the na "Pobruanuth" isn't weird?"
Hearing this, Evan shook his head and agreed.
"Yeah, I gotta side with Artemisia on this one. That show's weird as hell."
"Oh, co on! It could an sothing in a different language!"
Beatrix made another attempt to defend it, but Evan shut it down imdiately.
"I have a language comprehension skill, and I still hear it as gibberish. There's no salvaging it."
With that, he got to his feet, taking his empty glass as he headed toward the kitchen, while Beatrix clicked her tongue in annoyance, mumbling sothing about them not appreciating the show's good aspects.
Ignoring her, Evan briefly considered tossing his glass into the sink for a wash but ultimately decided against it. Instead, he gave it a quick rinse before pulling out his box of ingredients, this ti preparing to make a milkshake.
Noticing this, Artemisia glanced at the half-full glass in Beatrix's hands before turning back to him and making a request.
"Can you make one for as well?"
"300 credits. 400 with ice."
Beatrix, who had just raised her glass for another sip, nearly spit it out as she snapped her gaze to him.
"It doubled?!"
"Inflation's a bitch."
Evan responded without raising his gaze, his hands retrieving a few wine bottles and ice cream from his refrigerator before sending it back into his inventory.
Ti passed in quiet chatter and occasional banter as Evan prepared the milkshakes. By the ti he finished, the three of them were seated at the kitchen counter, each holding a glass.
That was the scene Arthur and Jamie walked into when they finally made their way back to the Hotel suite.
Evan was perched on the kitchen counter, casually sipping his milkshake, while Artemisia and Beatrix sat across from him, holding their own glasses.
It didn't take long for Arthur to put the pieces together, and he quickly demanded one for himself.
To his request, Evan sighed and shook his head.
"Guys, don't forget, my strawberries are limited edition."
Arthur gave him an incredulous look, the expression on his face clearly saying, How can strawberries be limited edition? You could walk outside and find a bunch being sold at any roadside stall.
Sensing Arthur's disbelief, Evan explained.
"My strawberries co from the future. This is the past, so, technically, my future strawberries are limited edition."
Evan's explanation made Arthur roll his eyes and press a hand to his forehead.
"Just make the milkshake, will ya?."
Laughing, Evan slid off the counter, grabbed the blender, and started tossing in more of his so-called futuristic strawberries.
anwhile, Arthur dropped onto the couch with a heavy sigh, and seeing his exaggerated exhaustion, Jamie chuckled.
"Maybe you'll finally get your shot after we finish this next trip."
He was referring to sothing that had happened wherever he and Arthur had been before this, but rather than that, Artemisia and Beatrix were more interested in the 'trip' part of his statent.
"Next trip? Where are you guys going?"
"We're looking for sowhere Arthur can get the final push he needs to create a new form of the Extre Nothingness technique, and in that place, I also plan to have you guys power level.
I an, since Arthur's going there to boost his power, why not do the sa for the rest of you? You, Beatrix, and Evan are coming along."
Jamie spoke as if it was already set in stone, and Artemisia silently sipped her milkshake, nodding along.
She wasn't entirely against the idea, especially since Jamie had proposed it. He was an oddball, sure, but she knew he wouldn't take them, his friends' daughters, to a place riddled with life-threatening dangers without being there to protect them if necessary.
But then again, if he stepped in to save them every ti, it would defeat the purpose of the trip. The whole point was for them to grow stronger—to reach a level where they could hold their own without relying on soone else.
Jamie wouldn't coddle them, but he also wouldn't throw them into the fire without so assurance that they could handle the heat—or at least survive long enough to learn how.
While Artemisia was lost in thought, Evan handed over two freshly made milkshakes to Arthur and Jamie. He then took a sip of his own before turning to Arthur with a question.
"Arthur, do you rember what you said when I first arrived? About how there was no way you of all people wouldn't know what race I was?"
Arthur nodded, recalling their conversation from Evan's first day on Aramis.
"Yeah?"
Evan set down his glass, leaning back against the counter, a wry smile forming beneath his mask.
"I finally get what you ant."
His response made realization flash in Arthur's eyes. He finished his milkshake, set the glass aside, and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, you finally figured it out?"
Evan gave an affirmative nod.
"If I had just paid a little more attention that day, I would've caught on sooner. You practically told the answer back then, but my mind was occupied with other things, so I didn't think much about it.
Didn't notice it was staring in the face…"
Evan t Arthur's gaze as he finished.
"…Literally."
"That's life, man. You search everywhere, and the answer's been right in front of you the whole ti."
Arthur responded with a laugh, and Evan couldn't help but agree. Back then, his mind had been too preoccupied with everything else to really ponder on Arthur's words.
But now that he knew the answer, it all made sense.
'Arthur ntioned that Progenitors can identify soone's race with just a glance. Naturally, there was no way he wouldn't recognize a godslayer like himself.'
While Evan accepted his true race, the curiosity of the others quickly shifted.
Now, Jamie, Artemisia, Beatrix, and Arthur were all fixated on a new question.
What exactly had Evan just 'unsealed'?
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