"Hey, did you hear the news? There's a new SOVERIGN?"
"What? That's impossible. Aren't you being fooled by those fake blogs? Everyone thinks that they've found the next SOVEREIGN once someone defeats a calamity! They even said Taylor was going to be the next SOVERIGN."
"No, this time I'm not kidding. I'm dead serious. The news said it themselves! They found the sixth SOVERIGN!"
"Alright, I'll bite, who is it?"
"They say it's GHOST. That new kid vigilante that recently killed a calamity class. I haven't gotten the exact score yet, but they say that he killed an ELDRITCH during his assessment, and he would definitely be an Undefined."
"Eh?? That's impossible. Are you sure you aren't smoking again? I told you to stay off those things, they're messing with your damn head. You just said he killed a calamity the other day, and now you say he killed an ELDRITCH? Are you mental?"
"Seriously! I'm not kidding!"
"Miss me with the bullshit! You're always lying!"
"You just never believe me!"
...
"Hey, there's a new SOVERIGN. They say it's that new kid, GHOST."
"Yeah, I've heard about that too. They said he killed an ELDRITCH!"
"Fucking hell, man, are we going to see another guild war? All the guilds are gonna want a piece of him!"
"Nah, they say he already joined the Artemis guild."
"Artemis? What guild is that?"
...
"Hey, have you heard about the new kid GHOST? They say he's going to be the next SOVERIGN!"
"Wait, GHOST. Do you mean Mark Vanitas? I go to school with that dude!"
"Shit, really? Bro, you're gonna have a fucking SOVERIGN in your school!"
...
Ring~! Ring~! Ring~!
The phone rang for a while without an answer, and Arit's worry grew when the voice of the call center echoed that there was no answer. She quickly called again, and this time, Mark picked up on the second ring.
[Babe, what's up?]
"Mark, oh thank god. I heard about what happened on TV. I was worried. Are you alright?"
Mark released a deep breath over the phone. Mark was currently in the gym pummeling a punching bag to oblivion, and he cleaned the sweat that accumulated on his neck while answering that he was fine, he didn't get injured at all during the fight. Mark went to sit down on a bench at the side and collected the water that Mary handed him with a quiet thank you.
Mark smiled at him beautifully, but Mark ignored her and focused on Arit as she started talking again.
"I'm glad. You know, when you told me that you were going to the office, I didn't think you would be getting into any fights there."
Mark chuckled at Arit's joke, and Arit couldn't help but smile as well as she started walking towards the kitchen to check on the food.
"Are you going to be back soon?"
[Yeah, just need to stay for my final score. I'll see you soon, babe.]
"Alright. I-I love you."
Mark smiled as he heard the crack in Arit's voice as she talked. Even after all this time, she was still shy about things like this. This girl was really something else!
Arit had a huge blush on her face as she waited for a response from Mark. Her hand was holding her apron tightly, and she was one second away from cutting the phone in embarrassment when Mark finally spoke up.
[I love you too, babe.]
"Eep!"
Beep!
Arit quickly cut the phone when she heard that, and she bent down while holding the edge of the counter tightly! She put a hand over her face, and she could feel how hot it was because of the heavy blush that was growing on her cheeks!
'I can't believe I said that! I told him I love him! Ah! This is so embarrassing! Can I even face him when he comes back home!?'
Whineeeeee~!
The cooker started to whine loudly, and Arit quickly forgot about her embarrassment as she rushed to finish the meal.