Point-of-View: Belia Lasmodeus

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Wow, this is...fascinating. Shiro seems to be having something of an identity crisis...I've been watching him conduct the training for the Rustlands' S-Ranks, and them treating him like a normal human has visibly been a strange experience for him.

Yes, the summons treated him nicely too, but that was only because he acted like he was a saint and hid his true colors. But this time, everyone knows exactly what he's done and what kind of person he is, and yet, they've chosen to treat him normally.

What would especially have thrown him off and confused him was the lack of bloodlust or hostility directed at him during the training. Of course, it's not like they're all especially forgiving people or whatever, it just so happens that none of them bear any particular grudges towards him.

Those from Bronztan are likely to direct most of their hatred over their nation being destroyed at me, so while they might bear some animosity towards him, it won't be much of a significant amount.

This is quite a fascinating development...the main reason that Shiro is the way he is, is due to a bunch of reasons. First off, he was brought into existence out of nowhere, with someone else's copied memories and a temporary existence.

Anyone would be furious about that, and rightfully so. The only way for him to survive was to kill the person that he was a copy of, but even if he succeeded, he'd be living a lie, pretending to be someone else instead of living as he pleases.

This made him bitter, spiteful and filled with resentment, and the being that was to blame, Samsara, isn't someone you can just walk up to and kill to get revenge, considering that he doesn't even reside in this dimension, and no one can enter his dimension unless he brings them into it himself, and even then, he doesn't have a physical form.

And so, Shiro decided to lean into all his violent instincts and lash out at the world, so to speak...but now, things are changing for him. Other people, for the first time, are treating him like a normal person...just how will that affect him, I wonder? I can't wait to see what kind of changes he-.

"Hey, Belia, quit daydreaming, we're in the middle of a strategy meeting, in case you forgot," Remarked Agatha Silvland, snapping me out of it.

"Oh, right, I was just-," I began sheepishly.

"I find it insulting that I must be in the same space as you, 'sister'," Growled Aguil, glaring at his sister.

The same sister that he and his forces had tried to kill a bunch of times, but never actually succeeded.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I find it insulting that, uh...," She began to respond, before trailing off as she couldn't think of something she found insulting about her brother, "You know what...God isn't real and your religion is imaginary!"

Wow, she couldn't think of a smart comeback so she went for the low blow instead...nice.

"Enough, this is unbecoming of those with royal blood-," King Rustlands began to intervene.

"Cowardice and idiocy are also unbecoming of royal blood," Chimed in Cusana Bronztan, giving him a pointed glare.

"Such insolence-! In case you forgot, you are no longer officially royalty, therefore I am your superior!"

"Hah, and I thought the Rustlands preached equality for all."

"That is not what I-!"

Ahh, I love these meetings, they're so...chaotic...

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Point-of-View: Shiro Blanc

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"Man, I gotta say, that was some work out! You really are seriously powerful, and you didn't even use your full power," Remarked Minise, as we headed for a bar.

"Oh, uh...thanks," I replied, averting my gaze.

I feel...awkward. Everytime I've 'hung out' with people before this, it wasn't as myself, it was either me pretending to be Kuro during those first few months of my existence or me acting like a good guy with the summons.

I did notice Cusnai initially giving me a couple of wary looks today, as did some of the others, but for the most part, they weren't all that on-guard against me, especially after a couple of rounds of the training had passed. Damn it, why is this affecting me so much?

"Gotta say, when you dodged my attempt to knee you in the face, that felt super unsatisfying, like when you're about to go in for a lick of ice cream but right before you get a taste, it falls off the cone," Sighed Minise wistfully.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't going to just let you potentially break my nose," I retorted dryly.

"Aren't you, like, resistant to pain or whatever?" She countered.

"Tolerant, not resistant, there's a difference," I corrected her.

This girl is weird...more than the others, she was especially relaxed around me, I don't get it...I mean, if the situations were reversed, I'd definitely be on my guard and cautious.

Instead, she was walking right beside me, seemingly without so much as a care in the world. The others were walking up ahead, and after I accepted their invitation, I'd been trailing behind them, and a couple of minutes after we began heading for the bar, Minise broke away from the front and joined me at the back.

"Hey...," I remarked, looking at her, "Why are you so...uh...nonchalant?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, uh, it's just that...you seem relaxed, even though I was one of the ones who helped destroy Bronztan, and in general have done a lot of things that may or may not be classified as evil," I said awkwardly...maybe I shouldn't have brought this up...

"Well, no...for starters, no one especially close to me was killed during that attack, so I don't really harbor that much resentment over it...maybe that's a little messed up and heartless on my part, but it's how I feel," She replied with a shrug, after mulling it over.

"So, like...that's all there is to it?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Not exactly...how do I put this? Okay, don't take this the wrong way, but...I kinda feel bad for you."

"What? Why?" I responded skeptically.

"Well, that's just the thing, from what I've heard about you, you suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and as for how or why, I read that that Kuro guy said that it's something he literally can't talk about...and everytime I think about it deeply and try to figure out an explanation, my mind blanks out...it happens abruptly, but until recently, I didn't even realize that it was happening to me. So I wrote down my thoughts instead...and I noticed that that blanking out thing only happens when I start thinking or writing about explanations that involve divine beings or reinc-...," She explained, before trailing off as her expression blanked, "Huh? What was I...?"

Huh, so someone's actually noticed not-God's brainwashing.

"You blanked because you were about to talk about something you aren't supposed to," I replied, starting to feel fascinated.

I've noticed that blanking out thing happen a few times to different people, but this is the first time I've come across someone who's not just accepting it and moving on like it never happened...she's actively trying to solve it.

"It happened again? Oh, right, I was talking about me trying to figure out how you came to be. My best guess is that-..."

She blanked out again. Looks like even being aware of it doesn't make the brainwashing cast by Samsara any less effective, and I doubt anyone else has tried this hard to make sense of it.

"You good?" I inquired, as a confused look appeared on her face.

"Did...it happen again?" She sighed with a frown, before adding, "Yeah, I'm fine, no worries."

She was silent after that, looking like she was deep in thought as we covered the remaining distance to the bar, her expression blanking a couple of times. Seriously, why is she so interested in this? I don't get her at all.

Well, whatever, for now I'll focus on suppressing my Healing Factor so that I can get good and drunk here. The last time I drank was-...wait, have I ever actually had alcohol as myself, and not just from Kuro's memories? I don't...think so. Huh...how about that.

"How about we start with a round of beers?" Suggested Cusnai, as we found a table and sat down.

It was her, Minise, myself, Zave, Niski and Shin, the rest had all gone home. I let out a quiet sigh as everyone voiced their agreement to Cusnai's suggestion...this is all very conflicting, ever since I came into existence, I haven't done anything like this, something that's so...normal. Well...I suppose I should stop overthinking it and just enjoy myself...

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