(MC POV)
For lunchtime, we were gathered at the rooftop again, this time with Lian Li joining our little group.
"So I guess introductions are necessary once more," I mused, gesturing to Lian Li who was seated beside me. "This is Lian Li, she is my cousin who was recently put under my care."
My disciple waved at the others with her usual dazzling smile, "I'll be in your care."
Following that, I gestured to the still dumbstruck baseball ace, "This is Taiyo Nishimura, the ace of our baseball team. As you can see, his cognitive functions have not returned so let's skip him. Next to him is Michiko Fujiwara, she's the one you want to talk to for fashion advice."
Our resident gyaru grinned at her, "Heya, Lian Li-chan~ If you wanna know what makeup or clothes makes you look even prettier, come to me, 'mkay?"
Lian Li made some polite noises in response to her greeting.
I had also heard back from Yumi that Fujiwara had ended up accepting the job so she's also technically my employee now. Feels rather weird knowing your classmate is also your employee.
"Last but not least, we have Tamako Maeda, our resident otaku."
The girl in question puffed her cheeks at me, "Mou! What is with that introduction, Onii-san? Now Lian Li-chan is going to think I'm weird!"
Tsuki patted her friend's shoulder, "It's ok, we already know you're weird."
"Arghh! Don't I have any allies here?!"
I grinned at the scene of normalcy in front of me.
It's hard to imagine that just less than a few hours ago, the three of us had witnessed monsters attacking the school.
I have to give it to my girls though, they acted normal despite witnessing what should have been a rather traumatic event. In fact, they didn't even mention it at all after it was over.
Soon enough, we were eating our packed lunches, signaling the commencement of the bargaining and trading for my food.
At least we have three boxed bentos for them to take from so it wasn't as bad as last time. Maybe I should just make their portion too in the future.
"I'm sooo jealous of you two…" Fujiwara whined, munching on the piece of sausage that she managed to nab from my box. "Why don't you just adopt me as your sister too, Onii-san~"
"Oh! That's a great idea! Adopt me too, Onii-san!!" Maeda added with a raised hand.
I rolled my eyes at the two girls but Tsuki seemed to take offence at their words the most.
My little sister immediately went to hug my arm possessively, "No way! Aniue is mine!"
Unexpectedly, Lian Li had also chosen to hug my other arm as well, "Mas… Nii-sama is mine too!"
I reached up and gave both of them a forehead flick each, "Who are you trying to own? I'm not a toy you can claim is yours."
"Owwiiee! Aniue is always bullying me…"
I was about to reach out and pat her head to console her when the world stopped again, similar to what had happened in the classroom hours before.
The only difference was that Tsuki's three friends were exempt from being frozen this time for some reason.
Nishimura looked around in worry, "What… What's going on?"
Fujiwara shared his fear, reaching out to grasp Maeda's hand, "Is it just me… Or do things look weird?"
Maeda squeezed her hand back while looking around in panic, "Is… Is it the end of the world?"
The confusion on these three were expected, but I was definitely not expecting both Tsuki and Lian Li to cuddle me in worry as well.
"Aniue… What's wrong with this place? Why is everything so muted?"
"Mas… Nii-sama, what's happening?"
I frowned at the two, thinking that this was just their elaborate ruse to hug me but the confusion in their eyes said otherwise.
"What do you mean? Isn't this the same thing that happened just now?" I asked.
Tsuki and Lian Li both looked at me like they didn't understand.
"Just now? What… What happened just now, Aniue?"
My frown deepened, "Just now when those monsters appeared and I fought them off?"
I didn't bother to lower my voice since I could easily wipe the memories of our three classmates anyway so there's no problem in them finding out.
And even if I keep it a secret now, they would see the monsters appearing in a while so there's literally no point hiding it.
Hearing my words, instead of showing understanding, my little sister and my disciple merely gave me another look of confusion.
"Just after homeroom? The monsters that showed up outside our classroom window?" I reminded them again.
Lian Li shook her head, "There were no monsters outside the classroom window, Nii-sama…"
What? Then what the hell happened just now? I couldn't have been dreaming right? These two even begged me to let them help fight the monsters too, there's no way I imagined all that right?
Is this memoryscape doing something weird again?
I didn't have time to question my sanity when another of those giant eyeball monsters appeared, looming over our school rooftop and watching us with its single eye.
The three students began freaking out and screaming at the top of their lungs, all of them moving behind me for safety and comfort.
"Aniue… That's the monster from the dungeon, isn't it?" Tsuki asked.
That confirms that both Lian Li and her do not recall what happened in class just now.
We're their memories wiped after I killed off those monsters? Why wasn't I affected then?
Seeing no point in prolonging this situation, I summoned the energy lance that I've been using all this while to kill its brethren and let it loose on its exposed iris.
I remembered to shield us with a soundproof barrier so we could be spared from its inhuman screams of pain before its imminent death.
Right after it popped out of existence, another five showed up in the same formation and composition as the first group I had seen this morning with the red one leading in the centre.
I wasted no time in wiping these five out as well. Their size really just makes it a bigger target for me and they're really, really weak.
I had expected the world to return to normal but it seems like it wasn't enough this time around since nothing changed even after those five died.
I was busy soothing the distressed classmates behind me when the area around us was suddenly encased in shadow, prompting me to turn around and see the biggest eyeball monster I've seen yet.
While the rest was only about three to four stories high, the one that appeared in front of me was easily the size of a skyscraper. Even one of its tentacles would have been enough to not just crush the school but the entire neighbourhood as well.
Well… Like I said… Being so big just makes you a bigger target for me...
I summoned an even bigger spear to match its size and with a flick of my wrist, my weapon had pierced through its eye and exploded it into nothingness like its brethren before it.
At the moment of its death, the world returned back to how it was before with all of us sitting around and eating our lunch as though nothing had happened.
They were even talking as though the event had all been an illusion for me, Tsuki was even massaging her temple like I had just flicked her forehead.
"Manami Onee-chan! Aniue is bullying me…"
"Ara ara? Shall I help you kiss it better then? Ufufufu~"
I swivelled my head to see the unmistakable form of Manami seated beside Lian Li, joining our lunch time as though it was the most obvious thing to do.
What the hell? Where did she come from?!
