Upon hearing this, Kanata nodded slightly.
On the surface, Eiji seemed like a bit of a lecher, but in reality, he was a man of principle—sure enough, he hadn't been swayed by such a shallow money transaction.
I knew I didn't misjudge him!
Thinking this, Kanata conveniently chose to forget exactly how she herself had managed to win Eiji over in the first place.
"Let's go."
Kanata grabbed Eiji's hand, then brushed past Sara and headed straight for the exhibition hall's exit.
Anyone would lose interest in continuing to browse after their boyfriend got stared at like that.
The art exhibition would still be there later—but boyfriends weren't so easily replaced.
Besides, she still hadn't fully secured this boyfriend yet.
"Wait…!"
Sara reached out, trying to grab Eiji.
But the two of them moved quickly, disappearing from the gallery in no time.
She couldn't keep up—leaving behind nothing but a futile reaching hand.
Crap!
She hadn't even gotten a good look at his face!
Sara bit down hard on her lip, nearly drawing blood.
If she missed this chance, it would be almost impossible to find him again without knowing his identity—it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
"Like hell I'll give up that easily!"
A terrifying obsession appeared in Sara's eyes.
A fixation she'd carried for over a decade—and now, with the opportunity so close, how could she possibly let it go?
She stretched out both hands, and in a flash of light, a paintbrush and palette appeared within them.
Then, like a madwoman, she began painting in midair.
Her expression so focused it seemed like even if the sky collapsed, she wouldn't so much as blink.
***
"She seemed like a decent person, but I didn't expect her to have such a terrifying side."
After leaving the exhibition hall, Kanata sighed with a bit of regret.
Sara had earlier been the one to so unceremoniously drive off the arrogant Rinna— proving she wasn't a bad person at heart.
Plus, she clearly had a passion for art, which had given Kanata a good impression of her.
But who would have thought—in the blink of an eye, she'd go and try to strip Eiji in public, acting like a woman starved of male company for decades.
The sudden escalation was like a whirlwind, catching everyone completely off guard.
"Must be an artist's quirk."
Eiji zipped up his jacket and made a speculative guess.
"That girl Sara—just a guess, but she might have some connection to Mario Rosso."
"What? Are you serious?"
Kanata's eyes widened.
That desperate woman is connected to my idol?
"Her level of focus was extraordinary."
Eiji nodded solemnly.
"If she were a swordsman, she'd probably be at my level."
A swordsman's skill could be discerned in many ways — their stance, their observational sharpness, their ability to focus during training.
And those same principles applied to all forms of artistry, painting included.
The intensity of focus Sara had shown back there had been astonishing.
A painter like that would be the type to lose herself in a painting for an entire day and night without food or water, collapsing only when her body gave out.
Her usual half-dead appearance was probably a way to conserve mental energy, because once she truly focused, the energy drain must have been immense.
The reason she tried to strip Eiji in public was probably that classic artist's curse—the irresistible urge to capture beauty the moment it appeared.
Though honestly, stripping a stranger in public was pushing it.
And maybe… just maybe, she really was Mario Rosso.
The idea sounded crazy, but timeline-wise, it actually fit.
And someone with that kind of laser-like focus—if they weren't a world-class master, that would be what was truly unfair about the world.
But saying this aloud would likely shatter Kanata's faith in her idol completely, so Eiji decided to bury that thought deep down.
"It's getting late. Let's head back."
Eiji glanced up at the sky where the last streak of dusk was fading.
"Good idea."
Kanata nodded in agreement.
If they got back too late, and Touka found out about all this, it would be bad.
Clap!
As they walked along the asphalt road, Eiji suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"What is it?"
Kanata turned to look at him, confused.
"We're being watched."
"Watched?"
"They're after me."
Kanata couldn't sense anything unusual.
But seeing Eiji's serious face, with no hint of joking, her heart instinctively tightened.
"Attention everyone on this street!"
Kanata made a snap decision and shouted:
"A Blazer terrorist incident is about to occur! I'm a licensed Mage-Knight—evacuate immediately!"
Her voice echoed down the street, causing an instant stir.
Having participated in "Special Recruitment" before, Kanata had firsthand experience dealing with terrorists—her decisiveness far beyond that of ordinary students.
"What should we do?"
"We better get out of here. No sense getting caught up in this!"
Most people, unwilling to risk their lives for nothing, disappeared down alleyways or ducked behind walls and buildings in the blink of an eye.
Thanks to the ever-escalating global terror attacks by Rebellion, no one dared gamble their life in a situation like this.
The last traces of sunset disappeared below the horizon.
A dark blue curtain of night fell, a crescent moon hanging above.
On the long street, only Eiji and Kanata remained.
Eiji stood motionless in the middle of the street, staring toward its far end.
Kanata warily scanned their surroundings.
Without a sound—a shadow appeared at the street's end.
The figure was petite, looking like a 14 or 15-year-old girl.
But her face had no features at all — just a faint black outline, as if someone had scribbled over her entire body with a thick marker.
She looked like a walking stick figure.
Vrrr——!
In her hands, though, she held a chainsaw gleaming with a cold metallic light, its engine roaring like a beast.
"Is that… a human?"
For a moment, Eiji couldn't tell.
She looked like a shadow creature, pitch black from head to toe, impossible to distinguish as human.
The abilities of Blazers were bizarre and varied.
It could be a cloaking ability, or she could be some artificially created entity.
Swish!
The shadow creature shot across the ground like she was flying.
She raised the chainsaw in a horizontal sweep, completely ignoring Kanata—and swung it directly at Eiji.
Not at his torso though, but straight for his legs, clearly aiming to disable him.
"Planning to keep me alive?"
Eiji mused, reaching for his gleaming Bling Blade.
And with a swift motion—he swung.
***
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