Frieren thought Diego's brain was sick.
Although he was usually quite ill, today it seemed he had entered the late stage and wasn't far from death.
Late at night, while she was lying in bed holding a book up to read, Diego suddenly popped his head out, perfectly blocking Frieren's view.
"Frieren, ko no Dio has decided to grant you a supreme honor!"
Frieren replied nonchalantly: "Eh——? What honor——? When did you come back——?"
At the same time, she kept shifting her body left and right, changing the position where she held the book again and again, but Diego remained firmly stuck in the spot between her and the book, like a cat constantly chasing a laser pointer.
"That is the opportunity to comfort this great one!" Diego raised one finger and spoke grandly. "Ordinary people don't get to experience this. You should cherish it well!"
"I don't want it."
Frieren refused very straightforwardly.
"Also, can you stay farther away from me? I can't see anything now."
A well-shaped vein slowly popped on Frieren's forehead. She pressed one hand firmly against Diego's face, exerting force to push him away.
"Just once... just listen once, that's all. Don't force me to beg you." Diego pleaded persistently.
"Hah——, fine, fine. I really can't do anything with you. Just listen for a little while, okay."
Under the combination of soft and hard tactics, Frieren sighed lightly, gave up on the book in her hands, and sat up with dead-fish eyes.
She tilted her head and asked: "So, what's wrong with you?"
"Hmph hmph hmph hmph hmph hahaha..."
Seeing this, Diego immediately crossed his arms and let out a series of cold laughs.
Then, Diego pushed his bangs up with his hand and slowly said: "Alicia... after using violence on me, resolutely ran away from home."
"...Are you serious..."
The air was silent for a few seconds.
Frieren laughed expressionlessly, rolled her eyes at Diego, then lay back down again.
"What kind of reaction is that? Everything I'm saying is true!!!" Seeing Frieren's complete lack of trust, Diego broke down and pulled Frieren up again, emphasizing loudly, "Alicia really beat me up and then ran off with Kitagawa!"
"wryyyyyy!! Believe me, believe me! Belief doesn't need reasons!!"
"Hmm... In normal circumstances, I would choose to believe you." Frieren waved her hand helplessly. "But I think what Elga said makes sense. Your words can only be believed in emergencies and when discussing serious matters. The rest of the time, it's safe to assume you're farting."
Then she used magic to amplify her voice and shouted downstairs: "Mabel, Dio says Alicia used violence on him. Do you believe it?"
"Hahaha! What kind of new joke is this? Alicia would actually use violence?!!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Mabel's laughter rang out.
Frieren maintained her expressionless, hands-spread pose.
From her eyes, Diego read the sentence Frieren wanted to express: See, this is the reaction normal people have when they hear it.
Faced with the distrust Frieren expressed between the lines, Diego truly regretted it—regretted why he usually acted so abstract.
Now, he finally had something sad to confide in, but after hearing it, not only did she not comfort him, she even laughed and said he was really humorous.
Sadness...
Diego could instantly empathize with Bocchi-chan.
He considered himself unlucky. Dark clouds gathered above his head as he ran alone to a corner of the room and squatted there drawing circles.
"Dio, you're blocking my eyes."
Looking at the shut-in Diego, Frieren said plainly: "At the very least, you have to tell me what happened, right?"
"The thing is..."
...
Let time go back to this afternoon, at Kita Ikuyo's house...
Thud.. thud.. thud.. thud..
"Wh-What's going on?! Alicia?!"
"Violence!! No violence!!"
"Stop... Little Sun!! Kitagawa!! Save me!!"
"Alicia is beating me up!!"
"Quickly stop her, quick..."
Diego was being beaten.
In a state of shame and anger, Alicia kept swinging her fists and hitting Diego's body.
Kita Ikuyo and Kitagawa Marin turned their heads away, chatting about where to go play on the weekend.
On the ground was a broken pet collar.
Everyone has a bright and beautiful future (bushi).
The two directly turned their backs.
Kitagawa Marin consciously used international gossip to change the topic: "Hey, little Kita, have you seen the news recently? I heard America recently got a new president with a national approval rating as high as 91%."
"I know, I know. It's called Funny Valentine, right?" Kita Ikuyo instantly understood Kitagawa Marin's meaning and quickly followed up while wiggling her finger. "After taking office, he reportedly searched extensively within the country for a genius jockey from Britain. The portrait looks a lot like the teacher."
"Eh eh?! What are you two talking about?! Don't... don't chat. Alicia is really beating me. I'm about to be beaten to death!!" Diego struggled and stretched out one hand for help.
Dio/teacher is fully responsible...
In a situation where right and wrong could be seen at a glance, Kita Ikuyo and Kitagawa Marin could still maintain a neutral stance—this was already quite biased toward Diego.
Moreover, who gets beaten up and still has this much energy?
If you're flirting, just flirt. Don't get the advantage and then act pitiful, saying you were beaten.
The one-sided beating didn't last long.
Alicia quickly calmed down. Her two small fists hung in mid-air, the blush on her cheeks not yet fully faded.
Because they were at Kita Ikuyo's house, feelings of regret quickly took over her mind. She bowed and apologized to the two: "S-Sorry, I lost my composure a bit."
"It's completely——fine!" Kita Ikuyo smiled and waved her hand. After a moment, as if remembering something, she showed a troubled expression. "If we're being honest, this kind of thing has happened often before too..."
She leaned close to Alicia's earlobe and deliberately lowered her voice: "The teacher was super depressed for a while recently. It's really nice to see him so energetic now."
"Depressed?" Alicia repeated in disbelief.
"Yeah, the teacher even said he was going to end Kessoku Band——"
Before she could finish, Diego anxiously interrupted:
"Wait, you can't say that!"
!!
Kita Ikuyo froze for a moment, her speech stuttering with a slight tremor: "Eh, Nijika-senpai told me she had met Miss Mabel and the others. I thought..."
Oh no, it seems like she said something she shouldn't have...
"End... Kessoku Band? Dio said something that overboard?" Alicia's expression changed.
To be honest, this was the first time Diego had seen Alicia show such a disappointed expression.
Alicia slowly asked: "Miss Kita, when you heard it back then, you must have been very sad, right?"
"Haha... Actually, actually we didn't really mind this matter that much. Nijika-senpai said to turn the page..."
"Words like drawing a clear line are very hurtful." Alicia held Kita Ikuyo's hand and said softly, "If Dio one day said to me: 'I don't need you anymore,' I would also be very sad."
"Did he properly apologize for this matter?"
"This..."
Under Alicia's gaze, the words Kita Ikuyo had prepared to cover up completely couldn't come out.
Moreover, in this atmosphere of concern, that feeling of grievance from back then quickly welled up again. She stammered for a long time, then with a "wah" sound, threw herself into Alicia's arms and cried.
"That's right... I was so uneasy back then——!"
"Miss Alicia...!!"