>>>>>

After making himself lunch, naturally, Kaito didn't forget about his goal and begin to find a clue about the identity of his parent. With the help from Est, Kaito managed to scan around the house in a few hours.

...

*Sigh*

"There is no a good clue at all." Kaito muttered while sitting on the sofa in depression.

Right now, he is chilling taking a break on the sofa with Est sitting on his lap while watching the TV. Since it has been several hours with no result, Kaito decides to stop since there is no progress.

"Kaito, are you okay?" Est asked her master innocently.

"I am okay, Est." Kaito nodded, continued stroking her silky hair, and said, "I am just a little tired. Just let me lay in minutes."

"Umm."

Hearing her master is okay, Est quickly back to watch the cartoon on the TV while Kaito just smiled wryly at her.

Knowing that Est must noticed worry in his face and concerned about him, Kaito decide to think more seriously about his situation and stop procrastinating. He might no as smart as Aika, but Kaito is still quite smart and manages to conclude some stuff on his own.

First, he quickly eliminates the possibility of his 'parents' coming from the devil faction-- since if that was the case they definitely show up the moment he becomes a Riser peerage member. So the other possibility would be coming from a biblical faction and fallen angel faction.

'Hmm... I am sure my so-called adopting parent doesn't seem to be an exorcist or anything from the biblical faction.' Kaito concluded.

After exploring the house for a few hours, Kaito hasn't seen any holy object or cross in this home... So it's already a good sign that his 'parent' is not religious and shouldn't belong to that faction. Also, as far as he remembers, neither his parent nor his caretaker told him to pray or urge him to visit a church too, making the evidence get stronger. This series of evidence makes Kaito release a sigh of relief, genuinely happy to find his 'parent' isn't someone from that side.

It's not like Kaito hates an exorcist, but it would be troublesome if his parent's identity were an exorcist who adopt him out of kindness. After all, Kaito has become a devil now... Which is the natural enemy of the biblical faction and obviously makes things harder.

'Another option would be the fallen angel faction... actually, they could be the one with the highest possibility.' 

The more Kaito think about this option, the more he was sure about it. He remembers that in the original work, the Fallen Angel faction does have some cooperation with the sacred gear human user groups under their wings. When he thinks Vienna owns a sacred gear herself and is also 100% human, the evidence is getting stronger, and no doubt his parent identity may belong to that faction.

The only question that Kaito has for this option is why they decide to adopt him. After all, in his opinion, before his golden finger activated... Kaito is just a normal human without any remarkable achievements.

As Kaito still thought about it deeply, of a sudden he feel Est moving on his lap and called him out, "Kaito."

"What's up Est? Did the show end?" Kaito said with a smile while patting her head. For Est who is his current strongest equipment, Kaito didn't dare to ignore her and could be said doting her. After all, Est's loli appearance is really cute-- even if he ignored her strength.

"No." Est shook her head slightly, and bring up an empty potato chip container innocently, "Kaito, the potato chip is run out."

"Ah..." 

Realizing what happened, Kaito move Est out of his lap and stood up from the sofa, "Well, I guess I need to get into a convenience store."

"Come back to the inventory, Est." 

"No!!" 

Hearing his order, Est showed a look of grievance and protested, "I don't want to go there! Kaito, you already lied to me, said will bring me out every day, yet you forget about me entirely when you go back to the base world!"

Thinking her protest does make sense, Kaito suddenly feels bad as it is indeed his fault to break his promises. Naturally, Kaito didn't want to make their relationship get worse from this point, so he can only reluctantly follow her wish to go with him.

*Sigh*

"I am sorry..." Kaito pat her head and continue said, "Well, please follow me and hold my hand."

"Yay!" 

After that, both Kaito and Est went to the closest convenience store to get some snacks for Est-- and also bought some ingredients for dinner. Since he can't find any good clue on his own, Kaito plan to ask Vienna later by treating her a dinner 

Kaito believe that with Erina's cooking skills, he could conquer her stomach, and from there he could interrogate Vienna about her real identity and her real master.

>>>>>

After shopping for a while, Kaito and Est finally done getting everything they need from the convenience store. Now, they are currently walking back to his home while bringing all the grocery bag with them. 

"Kaito, Earlier... why everyone looked at you with a weird gaze?" Est curiously asked.

*Sigh*

"It's fine. They are probably surprised to see you with me." Kaito said with a wry smile on his face.

"Me?" Est tilted her head in confusion.

"Umm." Kaito nodded and pat her head to coax her, "After all, you are so cute, Est."

"Ohh..."

The main reason why Kaito initially didn't want Est to follow him was that he knew that the appearance of the two of them would invite unpleasant attention toward them. With Kaito's bad luck, he wasn't surprised that people who saw him walking with Est who looked like a complete loli-- mistook him for a lolicon.

It was so bad, even a policeman who was on patrol approached him because of it! Fortunately, with a bit of point spending-- Kaito was able to be free from police custody otherwise he might need to explain himself and Est's identity.

...!!!

As Kaito lamenting his bad luck, of a sudden he felt an atmosphere change surrounding him-- as if someone set a magic in this area. There is also a feeling that someone is watching them, even though Kaito can't find anyone around him.

'The fact that the street is too empty is weird itself!' Kaito secretly thought.

Trusting his guts and battle instinct that he has honed for years in SAO, Kaito quickly took a fight stance, preparing an ambush from others. After all, as a popular player who used to be hated the most, Kaito is familiar with being ambushed by other players that want to beat him-- and his current situation gives him the same feeling.

"Est, become my sword."

"Um."

Noticing Kaito entering his combat stances, Est nodded and then changed herself to a sword form-- which Kaito quickly grab with his left hand. 

"I know someone is here. Come out!" Kaito yelled to the empty street, but he was sure there is someone watching him. 

"..."

Sure enough, after hearing Kaito's provocation, they decide to reveal themselves to him.

"Oh, it seems this man was able to detect us!" (???)

"Interesting. The information about his sacred gear seems to be wrong and there is no information saying he has a detection ability. (???)

"Then we don't need to hide anymore." (???)

"Great, I can tell he is strong. I can't wait to fight him!" (???)

...

Hearing the voices of several people, Kaito looked toward the source and find a group of people standing on the roof of a nearby house. Upon the reveal, a handsome young man with short black hair and blue eyes that seems slightly older than him quickly jumps directly in front of Kaito, followed by the rest of the people who consist of 4 males and 1 female-- who mostly have a western people appearance.

...

'Hero faction... And their leader Cao Cao is here.' Kaito quickly recognized the people in front of them.

Looking at people who appeared in front of him, Kaito become tensed and frowned at his situation. It's not like he is afraid of them, but he was concerned about how these people know his identity. 

To ambush him after he went out of home, they must have investigated his information thoroughly-- and this could put everyone around him in danger. 

Fortunately, in this world, Kaito doesn't have any friends or people he should care about, except for Vienna who is his caretaker (albeit their relationship is a bit rough). But since Vienna also has the means to protect herself with her sacred gear, Kaito doesn't feel concerned about her, not to mention there should be a master behind her.

...

"Who are you all?" Kaito asked, pretending to not know and acting vigilance against his surrounding. 

Hearing his question, Cao Cao, the leader of the group put his hand on his chest and politely introduce himself, "My name is Cao Cao, and we are here to invite you to join our faction." 

"Faction?" Kaito answered with a skeptical expression and asked, "What do you mean by faction?"

"Ah, my bad." Cao Cao shook his head in an apologetic tone and explained, "Our faction is called the Hero faction, which consists of descendants of heroes of the human race. As descendants of heroes, most of us own a powerful sacred gear and I believe you are also one of us."

"We want you to join us, to become the hero of the human race." Cao Cao continues to explain with confidence.

"But I am a devil now. I'm sure that I have lost my qualification to join the hero of the human race" Kaito humbly answered, trying his best to avoid conflict. Although he is not scared of them, Kaito is aware they are currently in a residential area and if a fight broke out, he is at a disadvantage since there's not much space to move around here.

"Oh, your answer made me even convinced that you should join us." Cao Cao commented with a smile and continue said,  "But it wasn't your intention and your fault. We already know how did you become a devil after trying to protect an 'innocent' and how cunning the devil using your kindness to set a trap for you in order to enslave you."

"..."

After hearing Cao Cao's explanation, ignoring the clinical misunderstanding Kaito could easily guess that information about him had been leaked to the supernatural world if a terrorist group like the Hero faction could find out about what happened to him in detail. What Kaito was confused about now was who leaked the information about him-- but after thinking about his position as the only male in the Riser peerage and how his 'heroic' story come, Kaito thought it made sense that he would become famous.

In essence, the only thing he could blame for his current situation was his bad luck.

...

"So, what do you think about our invitation, Kaito?" Cao Cao politely asked.

Hearing his question once more, Kaito give an apologetic look, shook his head, and answered, "I am flattered about what you said about me, but I am sorry that I had to decline your invitation."

...

Kaito who doesn't have reason to join them naturally is going to reject their invitation since he knows there is nothing good about them.  After all, in this world they are literally one of the antagonist groups that would destined to get trampled by the protagonist and Kaito refused to become a stepping stone. 

Not to mention, by joining them it could make his reputation worse in the chat group since there are a lot more good guys in there.