A Strange Man (4)

...

Seeing the reactions of Grimes and Harker, the little cub looks at them strangely and in a calm voice she transmits her thoughts

⟨ I have a doubt... if you two want so bad to know what his intentions are. Why the hell haven't you guys tried to use [Eye of Mind] on him yet? ⟩

Hearing this, the two brothers feel as they have been struck by lightning and look at the cub as if it has revealed one of the biggest secrets in the world

⟨ Damn! You're right! Why the hell didn't I think of that before! ⟩

⟨ Yeah, I had forgotten about that little detail too! Let's activate Skill and see what this guy thinks of us! ⟩

Seeing the two activate their Skill, the cub looks at them both with pity, as if looking at two idiots

'Sigh! Sometimes I don't understand how Harker can be as smart as Rie for some things, but he's just as stupid as Grimes for others'

While this exchange takes place, Icarus continues to whisper his thoughts in a "discreet" way

"I don't understand where these guys' selfishness comes from. They should learn from me and be more charitable and humbler..."

Icarus finally wakes up from his daydreams, and realizes that the three lions are staring at him

Seeing this, he quickly clears his throat and with a proud face he continues

"Ahem... Humble as I am, I will not be stingy to insist on this subject! On the contrary, I will be magnanimous and I will forgive you for this incident!"

The brothers' faces twitch slightly listening to his comments

⟨ How the hell can there be someone as shameless as this guy? ⟩

⟨ Yes, he doesn't even hesitate to say that nonsense and the worst of it is that this guy really feels it! ⟩

As the lions' expressions are limited, Icarus does not notice this small change and continues

"Anyway, leaving this matter aside. I humbly offer my gift to you!"

After saying this, Icarus points to the body beside him with a slight smile, while waiting for the three of them to respond.

Grimes and Harker look at each other, not knowing how to react to this situation

⟨ Humbly? Is this guy real? You've got to be kidding! If that's how he acts when is trying to be humble... I can't even imagine what it would be like if he was being arrogant ⟩

⟨ Yeah... I always thought I was thick-skinned. After all, I can tell some lies without feeling bad. However compared to this guy, my skin is as thin as paper! ⟩

While the two are still in a trance trying to process what just happened

The little cub that stayed almost all the time in silent, finally decides to act

She starts walking slowly towards Icarus

Seeing this, the two quickly wake up from their trance and question her

⟨ Lizze, what are you doing? We still don't know if we can trust him! ⟩

After hearing this, Lizze responds without even turning around with just two words

⟨ Shut up! ⟩

Hearing Lizze's angry tone, the two respond involuntarily

⟨ Yes ma'am! ⟩

⟨ Yes ma'am! ⟩

Lizze continues walking to Icarus, stopping only when she is about five feet from him

Once there, still with her head down, a light flashes in her eyes and her purple eyes become a little brighter

Then she raises her head and starts to stare at Icarus's face in silence

Using her big and shiny eyes, she looks through Icarus's bangs looking straight into his eyes

She looks into his eyes very intently without blinking, as if she's trying to guess what he's thinking

Icarus feels a little uncomfortable when faced intensely in this way

However, he quickly gets distracted by thinking about something else

'Oh my god... I want to hug this cute thing so badly!'

As soon as Icarus thinks about it, the cub jumps back and quickly starts to retreat while looking at Icarus with a strange face

Realizing this, Grimes and Harker quickly move forward with concern, and place their bodies between Icarus and her while looking at Icarus with hostility

⟨ Lizze, is everything okay? Did he do anything for you? ⟩

⟨ Yeah or maybe he has any hostile thoughts against us? ⟩

Hearing her brothers' questions, Lizze quickly wakes up from her reverie and shakes her head as if she's trying to clear her thoughts

After a few seconds, she finally calms down then her lifts the head, to look at Icarus

In doing so, she realizes that he is looking at her with a worried expression, as if he feels guilty for what happened

Seeing this, Lizze finds herself overwhelmed by complex emotions

However, she quickly suppresses these emotions and while sighing she finally say

⟨ Sigh! It's all right! We will talk about this later! Anyway. Grimes ⟩

⟨ Yes? ⟩

⟨ Go and accept his gift! ⟩

⟨ Huh? Excuse me, what? ⟩

Hearing this unexpected request, Grimes looks at Lizze with a face full of doubt as if he is trying to confirm that she said what he thinks she said

Seeing the stupid look on his face, she feels like punching him in the face

However, she quickly suppresses that desire, sighs and patiently say

⟨ Sigh! Just take the body of the monster he brought, at once! ⟩

⟨ No way! I don't trust him yet! Besides that, don't think you can order me around like that. After all, I am the big brother here! ⟩

Seeing that Grimes is still standing in place, and doesn't seem to intend to hear what she said, Lizze looks at him angrily

However, she soon thinks of something and smiles, so in a sweet voice she says to him

⟨ Go get the monster body right now, or I'll tell Gau that you've been calling her an crazy woman when she wasn't around! ⟩

Hearing the mention of that name, Grimes feels a shiver run down his spine

⟨ Y-You wouldn't do that and betray your big brother like that... would you? ⟩

Lizze looks at him and with a smile she asks

⟨ Why would I not? ⟩

Realizing that the other party doesn't seem to be kidding, Grimes begins to ponder the options he has

'I have two options; I can stand my ground and defend my thoughts or I can just swallow my pride and do what she says... Which of these is the best choice given the current circumstances?'

As the three talk to each other, Icarus, who is standing next to them, looks at the three with frowns

'Sigh! These guys really like to compete to see who blinks first! This time even the cub is participating!'

If any of the three knew of his thoughts, they would probably find it difficult to contain the urge to hit him

After a few seconds, Grimes finally made up his mind

'Well, I think the answer here is obvious. After all, my life is much more important than my pride!'

Having reached that conclusion, he looks at Lizze and with a serious face he says

⟨ Alright, you won... I'll get his gift! But before that you have to promise me that you will not tell Gau this! ⟩

⟨ Okay, this is easy... I promise I won't tell Gau that you called her a crazy woman. Is it good for you? ⟩

⟨ Yeah... ⟩

After promising this, Lizze smiles as she thinks

'Well, even if I don't say anything to her, she will find out for herself. After all, you are an idiot and will end up telling her by accident!'

Grimes reluctantly walks over to Icarus and using his mouth he picks up the monster from the ground

He looks at Icarus with a complex look and slowly walks away

Seeing this Icarus lets out a sigh of relief as he thinks

'Phew! For a moment, I thought they would ignore my gift. After all, that earlier reaction didn't seem very good. Glad that I have an extremely good taste for gifts!'

Grimes walks over to Harker and Lizze and places the body on the floor

After doing this, he looks at Icarus, trying to see what the other party is going to do

Realizing this, Icarus decides to use this opportunity to leave

"Now that you guys have accepted my gift, I think it would be better for me to go and do my stuff. Maybe I'll show up later!"

⟨ He'll appear later! ⟩

⟨ He'll definitely be back! ⟩

⟨ Well, that's kinda obvious! ⟩

"Well, bye!"

After saying goodbye, Icarus quickly activates the Skill <Phantom Steps> and disappears from the sight of the three

'Huehuehue... I bet that my little trick must have surprised them! With that I am sure that their impression of me will improve! With that next time it will be easier for me to get close enough to them... so I can finally pick and pet those cute cubs freely!'

With that in mind, Icarus happily moves away from there

What Icarus doesn't imagine, is that his little trick really impressed the three

However, it did not increase their confidence in him

Instead, the mistrust that the three feels about their identity has only increased

...