Comforting Megumi Kato took Shin some time.
Mainly because he had been bottling up some frustration from yesterday that hadn't been vented. Now that Megumi had actively come to him, Shin naturally took the opportunity to satisfy her.
He really had to thank Ai Hayasaka's maid-outfit stand-in here—it allowed Shin to help Megumi recover her stamina and energy. Otherwise, she probably wouldn't have been able to return to the living room in a normal state.
"Why did it take so long?"
When Megumi returned to the living room, Nijika Ijichi looked at her curiously, somewhat puzzled.
From the time Megumi left the living room to her return, almost an hour had passed.
At first, she had only mentioned going to help Shin with something, but what exactly that entailed, Nijika wasn't too clear about.
"The matter was a bit special… This time was actually relatively quick."
Of course, Megumi couldn't reveal what she and Shin had just done. She simply offered a faint smile and responded to Nijika with calm composure.
Thanks to Hayasaka's maid-outfit stand-in, aside from her slightly unsteady steps, Megumi showed no particularly unusual reactions.
Thus, neither Ijichi Nijika, Yamada, nor Hitori noticed anything amiss about what Megumi had gone to help Shin with.
Similarly, Irisviel, Illya, and Sayu Ogiwara didn't pick up on anything either.
Of course, while the other three members of Kessoku Band didn't know what Megumi had been doing, Ikuyo Kita was fully aware.
She couldn't help but grumble inwardly about Shin's lack of restraint even during the day—though she also felt a tiny bit of envy.
Megumi and Shin were classmates and had known each other much longer than she had, so it made sense that Megumi could share such intimacy with him. But Kita felt she wasn't quite at that stage yet.
"Hmm?"
Kita wasn't the only one who noticed, though. Sitting nearby, Kanna also seemed to pick up on something and suddenly shot a sharp glance at Megumi.
As a dragon, she could sense the presence of magic—and right now, Megumi's body clearly contained magic originating from Shin.
She had seen this situation before—the girls in Shin's bed the night before last had all been in this state.
However, since Shin had warned her that such things were still too early for her, Kanna didn't say anything. She just quietly filed the observation away.
Tohru had instructed her that if she noticed any peculiar interactions between other girls and Shin, she should secretly report back to her later.
Megumi's current condition… probably warranted telling Tohru, right?
---
In the afternoon, another girl arrived at Shin's house—though this wasn't a first-time visitor, but rather a regular who had been coming daily these past few days.
Perhaps she couldn't even be called a guest anymore—the newcomer was Gabriel, who worked part-time as a maid at Shin's place.
She hadn't come in the morning, but since she had asked Tohru for leave, it didn't count as skipping work.
After handling her own affairs in the morning, she arrived at Shin's house in the afternoon. Changing into her maid outfit with practiced ease, she pushed open the living room door without hesitation:
"Shin! I'm here! Hurry up and give me what you promised yesterday—"
Given how familiar Gabriel was with Shin, she acted completely uninhibited, as relaxed in his home as if it were her own.
After all, working as a maid these past few days had made her well-acquainted with everyone in the household. In front of Irisviel, Sayu Ogiwara, and the others, she had no issue showing her true self.
However, her voice quickly trailed off.
As she loudly called out to Shin, she noticed several unfamiliar faces sitting in the living room.
She recognized Megumi Kato, but the other members of Kessoku Band were clearly meeting her for the first time.
Evidently, they were Shin's guests.
Though Gabriel was indeed bold and unrestrained around those she knew, being too rude in front of guests was still somewhat inappropriate.
Normally, Gabriel's thick skin wouldn't have cared, but if Tohru found out she'd acted so improperly as a maid, her wages might get docked.
And having her wages docked was no small matter!
Shin, who was in the middle of playing a game, didn't mind, though. Seeing Gabriel burst in, he remembered the condensed magic polymer he'd crafted last night but hadn't yet handed over to her.
Since Gabriel was an angel, she still had tasks from Heaven to complete. To avoid drawing Heaven's attention, Shin didn't mind helping her out in this regard.
Besides, Gabriel had already paid him yesterday—he naturally couldn't break his promise now…
---
"Why are there so many more girls here now?"
After leaving the living room with Gabriel and finding a quiet corner in the courtyard, the first thing Gabriel said was a complaint about the excessive number of girls Shin was involved with.
This surprised Shin—he had assumed Gabriel wouldn't care about such things at all.
After all, in Gabriel's mind, games were undoubtedly her top priority, while making money was a close second—since earning money allowed her to game even better.
Heaven probably ranked third, since completing its tasks also earned her an allowance, which, in a roundabout way, still helped her gaming life.
And yet, Gabriel had resisted the temptation to immediately demand her reward and instead asked about Shin's relationships with those girls first?
Shin gave her a thoughtful look—seems like her personality wasn't entirely beyond redemption after all.
"...Don't misunderstand! I'm just worried you'll get so obsessed with girls that you'll forget important things!"
Noticing Shin's meaningful gaze, Gabriel seemed to realize something and flushed red, shouting like a tsundere.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it."
Shin looked at her with an understanding expression, then retrieved the dark magic polymer from Blackbird Requiem's body.
"So this is it… Yeah, I can feel the malevolent spirit's magic from it, and there's a lot too."
Seeing the bead-like magic polymer in Shin's hand, Gabriel nodded solemnly and carefully stored it away.
This thing was her ticket to securing her allowance from Heaven—of course she had to keep it safe.
She'd heard Hell was also looking for it, especially that idiot demon Satania. If she found out, who knew what kind of chaos would ensue.
"I've given it to you. Any extra rewards?"
Watching Gabriel put it away, Shin knew it was pretty much a done deal.
No matter what, Gabriel was still one of Heaven's most outstanding recent graduates. If she thought this bead met the requirements, Heaven would likely accept it without issue.
"You've got quite the imagination."
Gabriel shot Shin an annoyed glare, then hesitated for a moment.
"Bring your face closer."
To be continued…
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