CHAPTER 437: A KID WHO DOESN’T LIKE PIZZA.

Dante woke up to the torment of unbearable pain coursing through every inch of his body. It took him some time to recall how he ended up in that state, and when he finally did, the urge to laugh struck him again.

"God... damn it..."

Unfortunately for him, his lungs were in such a bad state that he struggled to even breathe. He could still breathe, at the very least. That meant he had yet to flatline, which was the best he could hope for after equipping a Level 6 armor for the second time.

’Volcan.’ He thought aloud. ’How long was I out of it?’

[Roughly five hours.]

’Damn...’

Things were bad, but they could have been much, much worse. Managing to escape that situation was nothing short of a miracle, and he somehow pulled it off. If unbearable pain was the price he had to pay, then he was willing to pay it a thousand times over.

’I’m not dying, right?’ He asked.

[Your body is suffering from the aftereffects of the strain caused by Type 8-6. Though you don’t seem to have any life-threatening injuries, you should take a prolonged rest.]

’That’s... better than I thought...’

He was sure he had worn the Level 6 armor for six whole seconds. With the time limit still being thirty seconds despite all the enhancements he underwent, he expected the damage to his body to be much more severe. As it turned out, he got away with no serious injuries.

’Guess I got lucky...’

It didn’t look like the pain would subside any time soon, so Dante did his best to ignore it as he forced himself to sit up. He opened his Storage with a thought and took out the RED bottle, intending to take one of the pills to help with his recovery. Just as he twisted the cap off, Dante noticed something in the corner of his eye.

"..."

"..."

’... Volcan...’

[Yes?]

’Who is this?’

The last thing he remembered was teleporting into Hollowstreet. As he was the only one to ever enter the pocket dimension, Dante was entirely convinced that he was the only one inside it. He should have been the only one, and yet...

[She is the girl you rescued a few hours ago.] Volcan replied. [You sent her here before resuming your attack on the mansion.]

’... Ah...’

The explanation helped refresh his memory, and now that he looked at her again, Dante noticed a few things. For one, the jacket she wore belonged to him. He remembered giving it to her before dealing with that bastard of a politician.

"Marie, right?" He asked.

At the mention of her name, the girl’s eyes went wide like saucers.

"You shouldn’t sit there like that. The concrete is cold."

Resting on the cold, hard ground was bad for one’s health. He knew that better than anyone, having experienced sleeping on concrete more than once. Because of that, he knew the little girl couldn’t possibly be comfortable sitting with her legs folded under her.

’Come to think of it, she isn’t wearing anything under that, is she?’

Staring at her for a moment, Dante turned back to the RED bottle. He dropped a pill onto his palm and then tossed it into his mouth. He managed to swallow despite how dry his throat was. A few seconds later, the effects started to kick in, and the pain began to fade away.

Pushing himself up, he tried to stretch only for the pain to return and remind him that his body had yet to heal. Noticing that the little girl was following him with her eyes, he tried to think of something to say, only for a loud roar to interrupt him.

He looked down at his stomach, then he turned to the girl. The urge to laugh overwhelmed him in that moment.

"Man, I’m really hungry." He said. "What about you?"

The girl didn’t reply, continuing to stare at him with a blank expression.

"Great. Let’s go inside, then." He said. "We can go find you something better to wear after that, okay?"

~[ ]~

One of the best aspects of the Storage was how it maintains the state of the items placed inside it. A the start, Dante used to stock up on convenience store sandwiches and other snacks, but then he realized that the warm food he stores never gets cold, so he started ordering a bunch of takeout and keeping it for a later time.

Obviously, he had tried having Nobara cook a bunch of dishes for him, but the old hag refused, saying he would have to come by if he wanted to taste her delicious cooking. Because of that, he had to make do with good but not excellent food.

He was in the mood for some pizza today, so he took out a bunch of boxes and spread them out on the long kitchen table. Each pie was loaded with different toppings, and that made him want to try a slice from each, one at a time.

As he bit into his third slice, Dante glanced across the table. The little blonde was sitting still.

"What? You don’t like pizza?" He asked.

That would be a first. A kid who doesn’t like pizza is unheard of.

The girl stared at him for a moment, then shook her head. She didn’t reach for any of the boxes, however.

"Well, take your time."

Though he was doing his best to act normal, Dante didn’t really know what to do. The girl saw him take off his armor. He hadn’t given it much thought at the time, since he passed out right after. Now, however, he was having trouble deciding what to do with her.

"Um..."

As he was deep in thought, the girl looked up at him and tried to get his attention.

"Hm? What is it?"

When he met her eyes, she quickly averted them and started fidgeting. A few seconds later, she finally seemed to gather the courage to say something, though she only managed two words.

"Your... name..."

"Oh, my name?" Thinking for a moment, he decided not to bother with the matter too much. "Call me Dante."

"Dante..."

Somehow, light seemed to return to the girl’s eyes as she repeated the name. She seemed to catch herself staring, growing flustered as a result. After a few seconds, she looked up with a start as if remembering something. After flapping her mouth open and closed a few times, she finally managed another two words.

"Thank you."