After imprisoning Himiko in a Safe House of CJ, in the Hidden Interior Dimension, I used the {Go to-} Function of the Map to return back to the shop, and what I saw after returning surprised me. There was light coming out of my kitchen.

'Did a thief break into my house?' I thought in my mind. I took the light to be coming from the flashlight of the thief as it was constantly moving.

I took out a Silenced Pistol and slowly walked towards the kitchen, with both of my hands holding the pistol. I had various thoughts coming related to this 'intruder.'

'Is this trespasser a small-time burglar who broke into my house out? Or is he a person investigating Night Slash's identity, and now he is searching for some evidence in my house as he suspects me of being Night Slash.'

All these thoughts came to me, ranging from the most possible outcome to the highly unlikely one, but I was unfazed by all of that, as I had the Mind Stabilizer still on Ultra setting.

I took cover beside the wall and slightly peeked out of the door to look at what was happening inside the kitchen. I had my finger readied on the trigger of the gun. As soon as I find the trespasser a threat, I will riddle them with bullets.

When I peeked inside, I saw the source of the light. All the possible outcomes I earlier thought of turned out to be false.

It was all because I took a wrong initial assumption.

The light was not coming from a thief's flashlight; It all was coming out of the fridge.

And the 'trespasser' turned out to be Eri and her new pet cat Sakamoto scrounging through the fridge.

"Eri," I called out Eri in a neutral monotonous tone. It was because of the >>Mind Stabilizer<< still being on Ultra.

Eri froze when she heard a voice calling her and her hands which were going around the shelves of the fridge, started trembling. She slowly turned to look at the source of the sound, and when she saw me wearing the Night Slash suit.

"What are you doing?" I asked but she didn't answer.

"Why are you going through the fridge this late in the night?"

I asked her again but she didn't give any answer instead she just lowered her head. I saw the cat who was standing near Eri's leg, slowly hiding behind her legs. Eri turned to look at the cat.

It was clear that she was not going to answer me anytime soon, so instead of waiting for her to answer me; I took the initiative,

"Hungry?"

She shook her head to deny, but then she stopped and started nodding in approval.

'I think I gave her enough dinner before I left for the Vigilante work. But even if she is hungry now, why didn't she ask Fuyumi to give her some food.'

I sighed and took out some snacks from the Inventory and give it to Eri. She took the snacks with a smile, but after a few moments, her smile faded, and then she gave the snacks back to me.

"You don't want it?"

She shook her head again, refusing the given snacks.

"Then what do you want?"

"Fish," She said instantaneously.

I took out two packets from the Inventory and gave them to Eri.

"This is Big Katsu. It may look like pork, but it is made of shredded fish. Two packets will be enough?"

She nodded and walked out of the kitchen with two packets of Big Katsu. The cat walked behind Eri.

I retracted my suit back into the Inventory, but I was looking at the cat continuously. I wanted to know what is so special in this normal-looking cat that it was in the special cell of Tartarus.

'I think Fuyumi's {Appraisal} skill would do the work.'

....

[General POV]

Eri and Sakamoto were climbing the stairs to go to their room.

//Oi kid, Do you think that monster was suspicious of me? I think he was suspicious of me by the looks he was giving me.//

Sakamoto remembered the face of the 'monster'. It was devoid of any feelings, not serious, not stern. It was just neutral. It was the face of a person who has killed a lot in the past and will kill a lot in the future. Sakamoto shivered when he reminisced the warning he got from that 'monster.'

"Don't call Papa Monster again and again. He cares about me and Fuyumi-Nee Chan a lot. He is a good man."

//But he doesn't care about me. He will kill me the moment I am suspicious to him.//

"He won't and stop talking into my mind. I don't like it."

//It is called being under the radar. I am reducing my chances of getting caught by directly talking to your mind. This way he won't find me suspicious. //

Both of them were now standing in front of the door of Eri's room. Eri didn't turn back and was about to open the door.

//Kid... You forgot to give me one packet.//

"No, I did not forget Sakamoto. I got two packets from Papa. So Eri gets two packets and Sakamoto gets zero because I did most of the work." She slowly turned to look at Sakamoto.

Sakamoto squinted his eyes.

//No, Eri gets zero packets and Sakamoto-san gets two packets. Because I was the one who made the suggestion of Fish in your mind. You were too scared to even ask him for some food. I had to tell you what to say using my telepathy. And It consumes a lot of energy. So, therefore I should get two packets. And call me Sakamoto-san, kid. I am older than you in human years//

The atmosphere around the two tensed up. Eri turned around, now she and Sakamoto were standing face-to-face. A pet and her owner standing on opposite sides because their interests were contradicting each other.

The distribution of resources has always been a major reason for conflicts between people, communities, and even countries throughout the history of mankind. Wars happened in the past under the sole reason of unequal distribution of resources. It is said that the one with the most merit or has done the most, is worthy to get more resources than others. But where is the fairness in that?

Still, mankind has not been able to uplift themselves from this conflict of fairness and merit, and now this has reached the point that a 4-year-old kid is now confronting her pet cat for the distribution of two packets of Big Katsu among them.

Sakamoto initially went for fairness with equal distribution but after seeing Eri's greed for both the packets of Big Katsu, he changed his ways and he went for the merit. Now it is a one-on-one where they try to prove their contribution was more worthy than the other, to take all the reward for themselves.

"I think we should settle this as civilized people do," Eri said.

//Indeed,// Sakamoto showed his agreement to her proposition.

Eri placed the two packets on the floor and then both of them backed off some distance.

"I am asking for the two packets because I was the one who asked Papa for snacks and he gave them because it was me. If you asked him, he definitely would have refused. So it will not wrong to say that I was the one who brings the food to the table here. So Logically, I get the two packets." Eri was the first one to present her point.

// I am asking for the two packets because I was the one who made the proposition to look for food this late in the night. If I didn't make that preposition earlier, you could just be sleeping with your mother on the bed while I could be having all the food for myself. Can you see my generosity Kid? I decided to share the profits with you. You should be grateful for that, but you are not. That's why I am taking all as it already belonged to me the moment I proposed the idea to you.// Sakamoto also made presented his point.

Eri was now in a deadlock. What Sakamoto just said was right. It was he who proposed the idea of late-night snacks. She agreed to it and followed Sakamoto's instructions to reach where they are now. When Shido called her out, she was too terrified to answer but Sakamoto told her what to say in her mind directly. With that, she was able to flee from there. So it can be said the Big Katsu they are having now, is a;; because of Sakamoto.

But Greed is endless and mindless. It doesn't need any reason and here Eri still wants two packets because,

"I refute. I want two packets because... because... I want it." Eri said and quickly stretched her hands to get the two packets.

"No, you don't!!" Sakamoto was also about to pounce to get his hands on the packets.

The conflict which was decided to be solved as civil as possible was now about to turn into a battle. It was like the past conflicts which happened in history. They also started and were thought they could be solved through debate and negotiations but eventually, they turned into a battle.

These battles were fought until one party gets what they want, the other party loses what they wanted and that is inevitable. The winner wins all while the loser loses all.

Eri and Sakamoto were about to pounce on the packets but they stopped when they heard the sound of footsteps coming towards them. They slowly turned their heads to look at the staircase where the sound of footsteps came from.

The most dreaded existence for villains in the three cities of Hosu, Musutafu, and Naruhata, came through the staircase, wearing a nightwear shirt and a pair of pajamas. He walked a few steps but stopped when he saw Eri and Sakamoto. The newcomer was none other than 'The Papa.'

"What are you doing outside the room?" Shido asked.

Eri and Sakamoto were frozen in fear. Eri couldn't think of any answer to say and Sakamoto was too fear-stricken to advise Eri telepathically.

Shido's gaze ran around and he saw the 'reward at stake' on the floor. He walked close to them and bent down to pick the packets of Big Katsu.

"What is this doing on the floor? If you couldn't eat two katsu, then you shouldn't have taken it in the first place. Don't throw food unnecessarily." Shido scolded Eri for throwing the food on the ground while playing with her cat.

"Here take this. It is light and is made of fish as you wanted. It will be a good late-night snack." Shido took out a packet and gave it to Eri. He then walked away with the packets of Big Katsu.

There is a case where both sides can lose the reward at stake and that is when a third party, who is much stronger than both of the other parties, decides to enter the battle and takes the reward at stake through force. And the main parties in conflict can only watch how they lost the thing they fought for.

And this was happening right now.

Eri and Sakamoto were watching how Shido went away with the Big Katsu they were about to fight each other for. Eri quickly opened the packet and looked inside it to look at what was given to them. But after that Eri had a devastated look on her face but Sakamoto had some optimism about the new snack given to them.

"Kid... Let bygone be bygone. What did he give you? What fish is it? What is in the packet?"

"... Almond Fish..."

"What?"

"Papa gave a packet of Almond Fish..."

Eri then opened the packet to show Sakamoto what was inside. Sakamoto looked closely inside the packet and his eyes went wide from what he saw.

Inside the packet, there was a mixture of almonds and dried sardines.

Dried Sardines.

From Salmon to Dried Sardines.

All the optimism that Sakamoto had shattered when he saw sardines inside the packet. But still, something is better than nothing.

"Hey Kid... let's just split this equally okay? We can agree on this right?" Sakamoto suggested Eri.

"No Sakamoto-san, You can take more. I have now realized that it was all because of you I can eat this late-night snack. So you should get more than me. Here.."

'Complete Reversal!!!' Sakamoto was shocked when he heard what Eri just said. She even used the honorifics to address him. Situations really change people how they act, but this fast. Sakamoto was truly baffled by humans and how they act.

"Fine..."

Eri threw some almond fish on the ground for Sakamoto and then she took some in her hand. Both of them sighed and ate whatever they had.

Like this, the two conflicting parties came close and enjoyed what they had. Even if it was not so good, they celebrated what they had. And it should end like this.

At this moment, A little girl and a cat unknowingly find the solution to end the conflicts based on greed around the world. That is to celebrate and enjoy what we already have rather than looking and lusting over something which is not in our hands.

...

Meanwhile in the other room,

"This Katsu tastes good! I should make some Katsu for dinner tomorrow." Shido ate the katsu while lying on the bed.