Chapter 120| Presumed Nil Meetup

Chapter 120: Chapter 120| Presumed Nil Meetup

The guest common room at this hour on a Saturday was the specific version of occupied that didn’t feel crowded. Two students on the far couch sharing a laptop screen. Someone near the window with earphones in and a textbook open that they clearly weren’t reading. The vending machine in the corner humming to itself. The kind of space that existed specifically for moments when people needed to be somewhere that wasn’t their room but didn’t require them to be anywhere in particular.

Maren was already there. Hair down from the shower. Casual fitted top. Dark trousers. The Saturday evening version of her sitting on the couch with the specific composed energy that apparently operated in every context.

She looked up when he arrived.

Then the main entrance opened.

Nil Valkyrie walked in.

Zane looked at her.

She was wearing, he did the immediate involuntary full assessment before his brain caught up with what his eyes were doing. A short lavender skirt that landed significantly above the knee that exposed her smooth, white thighs. A fitted white top. Hair down. The specific figure that he’d catalogued from corridor distance and cafeteria range now arriving at common room proximity and confirming everything the previous distances had suggested.

The short wear wardrobe philosophy fully and completely in effect.

’Thick,’ he thought. ’Consistently, deliberately, unapologetically thick.’

The system surfaced.

『 The system notes the host completed the assessment in 1.2 seconds. The system considers this efficient. 』

’Shush,’ he thought.

Nil spotted Maren immediately. Her face shifted into the warm ecstatic version. The specific expression of someone who was genuinely delighted to be wherever they were and had no interest in hiding it.

"Maren." She crossed the common room with the specific walk that the lavender skirt was doing considerable work to keep up with. Reached the couch. Looked down at her.

Then looked at Zane sitting beside Maren.

Her expression shifted again — not less warm, just recalibrating. The ecstatic version running an update.

"Oh," she said. "You brought him."

"He was already here," Maren said flatly.

Nil looked between them.

Then sat down across from both of them with the comfortable energy of someone who had decided this couch arrangement was exactly where she was supposed to be.

"Nil," she said. Directly at Zane. Like he hadn’t already read her name off a system notification twice.

"Zane," he said.

She tilted her head. The lavender skirt shifting with the movement. The white top doing what fitted white tops did at that neckline, the specific view it was presenting at this angle made it considerably more dramatic than the actual size suggested. The push up bra allegedly working overtime. Her small chest presented with the authority of something considerably larger than the baseline.

’She’s leaning forward,’ he thought.

The system surfaced.

『 The system notes the host has been staring at the top for 1.4 seconds. The system recommends eye contact. 』

He looked at her face.

"I watched your drill yesterday," she said. The ecstatic energy sitting underneath everything she said like a permanent baseline. "From the gallery."

"I know," he said. "You gave me a thumbs up."

"You earned it." She said it simply. Like it was obvious. "Running two mechanisms simultaneously in a live zone control drill against three A-ranks. That’s not something you see from a first year." A pause. "Or from most second years."

He looked at her.

’She clocked the two mechanisms,’ he thought. ’Not just impressed by the output, she identified the architecture.’

"You know what you were watching," he said.

She tilted her head slightly. "I have a good eye for output architecture." The warm smile sitting on her face without effort. "Yours was unusual."

He looked at her.

"Very unusual," she added.

He laughed. Short. Genuine. "You give me too many praises."

"You deserve the accolades." She said it simply. No ceremony. Like it was an obvious fact she was simply confirming.

Maren looked at her water bottle.

Zane looked at Nil.

’Was it her Sigil or just plain observation,’ he thought.

The system surfaced.

『 Anyone putting keen enough eyes on the host would notice. It is not necessarily a matter of special ability. The host was running two separate output architectures simultaneously on a live drill floor in front of forty two students. The system notes subtlety was not a feature of that performance. 』

He stared at that for a moment.

’Fair point,’ he thought.

’She’s been reading me since phase three started,’ he added.

The system surfaced.

『 NIL VALKYRIE — Familiarity +8% 』

『 Current: 15% — Stranger tier 』

『 System Note: Genuine extended interaction. She is engaging with the host as someone she finds tactically interesting. The system notes this is a different entry point from most familiarity building. 』

"The corridor," Nil said suddenly.

He looked at her.

Nil looked at him with the warm directness that apparently filtered nothing.

"I knew Maren heard when I said she had good taste." Her eyes moved over him briefly with the specific assessment of someone confirming a previous conclusion. "I was actually right." A pause. "You look interesting."

Maren’s face went slightly pink, she cleared her throat beside him.

Nil glanced at her.

"What," Nil said innocently.

"Nothing," Maren replied. Still looking at her water bottle.

Zane looked at Nil.

’Interesting,’ he thought. ’Thanks for the compliment.’

"What’s interesting," he said.

Nil smiled. Full. The ecstatic version at full capacity. The kind of smile that knew something and wasn’t going to explain what.

"Nothing," she said. "Just interesting."

The system surfaced.

『 The system notes the host has zero ball game and could not compliment her back. The system finds this disappointing. 』

’Not when Maren is right here,’ he thought. ’Although I may be attracted to her, but I still have courtesy.’

『 The system notes the host has a specific excuse prepared for every scenario. The system finds this impressive in its own way. 』

’So funny,’ he thought.

『 The system tries. 』

She reached over and took Maren’s water bottle. Drank from it without asking.

Maren looked at her.

"That’s mine," Maren said.

"I know," Nil said. Handed it back.

Zane watched the exchange.

’They’re close,’ he thought. ’The kind of close that comes from living in the same room for a year. The specific shorthand of two people who have been each other’s ambient company long enough that taking someone’s water bottle isn’t an incident.’

’Maren’s roommate,’ he thought. ’Which means she knows things about Maren that I don’t.’

’Which means she probably knows things about me through Maren that I don’t know she knows,’ he thought.

The system surfaced.

『 System Note: The host has arrived at an accurate assessment of the situation. The system notes Nil Valkyrie has been Maren’s roommate for a few months. Whatever Maren has mentioned about the host in that time has been received by someone with Emperor’s Touch and a very good memory. The system recommends filing this accordingly. 』

’Filed,’ he thought.

Nil looked at him over the water bottle she’d already returned.

"You’re different from how Maren described you," she said.

He looked at Maren.

Maren looked at the ceiling.

"How did she describe me," he said.

"Quiet," Nil said. "Focused. Hard to read." The warm smile doing its thing. "She left out the part where you’re running two Sigils simultaneously in joint practicals."

"I don’t know about the two Sigil part," he said.

Nil looked at him. Then at Maren. Something running behind her eyes — warm, curious, the specific expression of someone connecting dots they hadn’t expected to connect in a guest common room on a Saturday afternoon.

"Interesting," she said. For the third time.

Maren finally looked up from her water bottle.

"Stop saying interesting," Maren said flatly.

"I say what I observe," Nil said simply. Completely unbothered.

He looked at her.

’She’s going to keep saying interesting,’ he thought. ’Until she’s collected enough data to say something more specific.’

’She’s more dangerous than she looks,’ he thought.

The system surfaced.

『 System Note: Correct. Emperor’s Touch at B-rank in someone with Nil Valkyrie’s observational instincts is a significantly more complex variable than the force manipulation range suggests. The system notes the host is updating his assessment appropriately. 』

The common room ran its Saturday afternoon quiet around them.

Gerald wheezed somewhere upstairs in Zane’s absurd thoughts.

Nil crossed her legs on the couch. The lavender skirt adjusted to the movement with the specific result and quickly covered the brief moment her white kitten patterned pants were slightly visible during the action.

Zane looked at the vending machine across the room.

The system surfaced.

『 The system notes the host looked at the vending machine. The system also notes the vending machine has not changed since the host last looked at it. The system has no further comment. 』

’Appreciated,’ he thought.