As Kita and Anon quietly slipped away, the room quickly fell into silence.
Meanwhile, inside the Onsen Dimension, things were unusually lively.
"Ryo-senpai, you had a lot of fun just now, didn't you?"
Kitahara walked toward Ryo with a smile on his face, rubbing his hands together.
Creeping in for a night raid was one thing, but actually staging a death Q&A on top of that? You definitely need to be properly "rewarded"!
"It's all Kitahara's fault." Ryo crossed her arms over her chest, taking the initiative with a calm, fearless demeanor. "If you had answered the questions properly, maybe everyone would have agreed to hold a tsukkomi party."
Like hell!
Who could hold a party after answering such terrible death Q&A questions?
Could it be that she meant infuriating everyone until they passed out, and then hosting a death party inside their dreams?!
Kitahara cracked his knuckles and stepped toward Ryo:
"It seems I really have to properly reward Ryo-senpai tonight. Get ready to receive maximum output."
"Tch~" Ryo let out a soft exclamation, her pretty face slightly blushing, yet her expression remained as serene as ever. "It's merely a bit of wind and frost."
Besides music and good food, Ryo also enjoyed solo hiking on her days off. Over time, her stamina and endurance surpassed those of ordinary people, giving her genuine reason to face Kitahara's "reward" without fear.
If it had been Anon, whose battle power was practically zero, she would certainly be trembling by now, squatting down to shield her head.
"Very well, it looks like I need to pull out my secretly treasured item."
Hearing this, Kitahara raised an eyebrow slightly and decisively resolved to bring out his high-tech trickery to crank up the intensity for Ryo.
"A secretly treasured item... What is that?"
Nijika widened her eyes at the side, her small face flushing red and her heart silently accelerating.
Kita and Anon were able to escape, but she had been locked inside the Onsen Dimension. With no chance to run away, she certainly wouldn't escape unscathed later.
(If he uses the mysterious item to take advantage of Ryo, will he leave me alone?)
Obviously, he wouldn't agree to that.
Even if Kitahara agreed verbally, he definitely wouldn't keep his promise.
(What kind of item is it... A collar? Handcuffs? Or one of those awful tails?)
While Nijika was lost in her embarrassed, chaotic thoughts, Kitahara had already walked up to the storage cabinet, opened it, and pulled out an inconspicuous transparent bento box.
Opening the bento box revealed what appeared to be completely ordinary animal cookies.
"Eh, could it be...?!"
Seeing the animal cookies in the bento box, both Ryo and Nijika widened their eyes in unison.
Nijika went without saying—her small face was filled with panic. Even Ryo, who was usually serene and unflappable regardless of what happened, showed a rare look of nervousness on her pretty face.
"That's right, these are Sensitivity Cookies." Kitahara looked at the two girls with a smile. "Ryo-senpai, open wide. I'm feeding you a cookie."
"S-Sorry..."
Ryo instantly adopted a pitiful little expression, pressing her hands together in a pleading gesture:
"I was wrong just now. Kitahara-sama, please be sure to forgive me."
"If apologizing worked, what would we need cookies for?"
Kitahara leaned in close and swiftly fed the magical cookie to Ryo:
"Ryo-senpai has unyielding iron strength; it's far too early to apologize now."
"Tch~"
With the cookie already in her mouth, knowing she couldn't escape tonight, Ryo's expression restored to indifference. Her cheeks puffed out rhythmic bulges as she chewed slowly and methodically.
It was just maxed-out sensitivity... at worst, she'd take tomorrow off to rest.
"Nijika-senpai?"
Kitahara turned his head to look at Nijika.
"I-I just came over along with Ryo, I didn't do anything! So I definitely don't want to eat any cookies!"
Nijika's golden side-tail fluttered nervously. Her face flushed bright red as she shook her head frantically.
She had been tricked into eating a Sensitivity Cookies once before. Afterward... she couldn't remember clearly what happened next, only recalling that when she woke up the next morning, her legs wouldn't stop trembling, and her throat felt extraordinarily parched and uncomfortable—just like a traveler who had lost their way in the desert and collapsed from dehydration.
In short, Sensitivity Cookies were absolutely the most terrifying item—bar none!
"Heave-ho~"
With a flash, Ryo appeared behind Nijika, seizing her in a surprise attack.
"Good sisters share hardship together. If someone's eating it, of course we eat it together." Ryo turned and shouted, "Kitahara, come over quick and feed Nijika the cookie."
Nijika: "..."
The night passed in silence.
The next day.
At seven o'clock in the morning.
Kitahara woke up punctually as usual and headed to the washroom to start freshening up.
Ryo and Nijika were still fast asleep. They had expended far too much energy last night, to the point where even with the shared ability of [Hero of Kidneys], they still hadn't fully recovered yet.
"Let's check today's daily quests first..."
While brushing his teeth, Kitahara opened his quest panel.
A whole week had passed since his last good pull. He had been having the worst luck this past week, with every single pull ending in failure. Fortunately, there was a ten-pull pity system; the next three pulls were guaranteed to yield a new ability.
The first two fitness quests went without saying: long-distance running and squats.
The third daily quest was [Tokyo Exorcism]. A daily quest that had troubled Kitahara for a long time was now something he could complete in minutes. With the invasion of the underworld, the number of monsters and evil spirits was steadily increasing. He didn't need to search deliberately at all; just going out for a walk around the block would complete the quest.
Kitahara shifted his gaze downward to today's fourth quest.
"Show a Disgusted Face to You... Wait, is this a serious quest?"
Kitahara felt utterly speechless in his heart as he continued reading down.
"And it's a limited quest, limited character: Taki, limited outfit: Maid Outfit..."
"This is blatantly making things hard for Gian, isn't it?"
Kitahara was extremely exasperated.
If the limited character had been Anon, there wouldn't be any difficulty at all—Anon would agree happily. But with Taki as the limited character... it was clearly super-high difficulty.
Yet no matter how difficult, he had to push forward. The Lord of Calamity could descend upon the real world at any moment, so he had to race against time to become stronger as fast as possible. Plus, the School Festival was coming up soon, and the enemy would definitely stir up trouble during the festival... In short, he had to get today's gacha pull count no matter what.
"Wait, maybe it's not actually that hard..."
Kitahara recalled the self-disclosure inside the Onsen Dimension last night.
Taki had also been present at the time and had promised alongside everyone else that, to save the world, she would unconditionally cooperate to complete the events.
"Prepare the maid outfit first." Kitahara put away his toothbrush, splashed water to wash his face. "I'll message Taki when I get a moment."
"..."
Finishing his wash-up.
Kitahara turned around, pulled out the Book of Answers, and began retrieving today's intelligence.
"Question: What is the weakness of the Lord of Calamity?"
As Kitahara silently recited the true name of the Lord of Calamity in his mind, a soft "buzz" sounded in his head, and the existence of a terrifying giant tree emerged. Immediately after, various chaotic images and raving whispers rapidly sprouted in his mind.
However, with yesterday's experience and Kitahara preparing in advance, he was able to stabilize his sanity without even needing to activate [Sage Time].
Rustle, rustle.
The Book of Answers began turning its pages automatically without wind, flipping rapidly, though the time spent flipping was noticeably much longer than usual.
After a long while, the Book of Answers finally stopped, and a line of text silently surfaced on the blank page:
[Eden Tree]
"What?"
Seeing the answer provided by the book, Kitahara raised his eyebrows in surprise.
The Eden Tree?
Could it be the very Eden Tree he knew?
Both being tree-like existences—one representing calamity and death, and the other representing life and hope—perhaps there truly was some mysterious connection between them...
"Wait—"
Kitahara quickly discovered a blind spot:
"The Book of Answers didn't dare reveal the true name of the Lord of Calamity, so why was it able to look directly at the Eden Tree back then?"
"Or is this Eden Tree not the same Eden Tree where we usually pick fruit?"
"..."
Questions surged in his mind as Kitahara sat on the sofa, pondering deeply. The bathroom door was suddenly pushed open quietly, and a pink-haired girl stealthily peeked her little head out.
Seeing Kitahara sitting on the sofa, Anon's eyes lit up. Her little head looked left and right, and after confirming that no one else was in the living room, she walked out with her hands behind her back. Her cheeks puffed out slightly, and the small tiger tooth at the corner of her mouth gleamed softly:
"Zako-kun really had a hard time last night, huh?"
Anon rented an apartment outside by herself, so unlike the other girls, she didn't have to worry about being found out by her parents. Thus, she would come over to leech a meal every morning.
Kitahara raised his eyes and looked over: "Call me boyfriend."
"Hmph~"
Anon let out a soft hmph, her pretty face clearly writing "I'm jealous":
"Abandoning us right in front of our faces last night and choosing Nijika-senpai and Ryo-senpai... Kitahara has already been fired from the position of boyfriend."
She was indeed jealous, but Anon's jealousy was not the goal—it was the means.
Her real goal was only one thing: she wanted Kitahara to coax her and make her happy.
"Come here."
Kitahara raised his right arm and waved at Anon.
"Hmph, not coming over."
Anon turned her head to look elsewhere. Her highly puffed-out cheeks were exceptionally alluring, making one inexplicably want to take a couple of bites.
"I like Anon."
"Sorry, I can't hear you clearly."
"I super like Anon."
"Your voice is so small, I can't feel any sincerity at all."
"I like Anon the most."
"Hmph~"
Anon let out another soft hmph, crossed her arms over her chest, and continued maintaining the pose of turning her head toward the window. She tried hard to hold back a smile, but unfortunately, the corners of her mouth couldn't help curving upward. In the end, she could only give up struggling and turned her sparkling eyes back toward him:
"How much does Zako-kun like me?"
Kitahara had already walked over to Anon's side, opening his arms to pull the pink-haired girl into his embrace:
"As much as from here to the edge of the Solar System."
"Too exaggerated, failing grade."
Although her mouth said it was a failing grade, Anon's eyes curved into crescent moons. Her toes instinctively stood on tip-toe, and she proactively offered a kiss.
A moment later.
Having coaxed Anon until she was completely happy, Kitahara pulled out the Book of Answers and handed it in front of Anon:
"Anon-chan, help me ask a question."
Anon was panting slightly, her eyes moist and watery, and her slender legs wrapped in black silk unconsciously rubbed against Kitahara's body:
"What question?"
Kitahara said seriously:
"Ask why we can look directly at the Eden Tree."
"Eh?" Anon was startled upon hearing this. "What kind of question is that?"
Kitahara naturally wouldn't hide anything and lowered his voice to explain the content of his earlier question.
They had faced the Eden Tree countless times without anyone being affected in the slightest, so there was no need to worry about danger arising during the questioning process.
"I see." Realizing it was serious business, Anon's expression quickly turned stern. "Leave the questioning to me."
Rustle, rustle.
The Book of Answers began flipping pages rapidly.
Before long, a line of text silently surfaced:
[Insufficient fuel, divine authority has not yet awakened]
"Is it insufficient fuel..."
Kitahara suddenly recalled the ring of cliffs surrounding Eden Island. He had previously suspected that the cliffs were not naturally formed, as they looked far too neat no matter how one viewed them.
"So, is there a mastermind behind the cliffs?"
"It seems the circular cliffs surrounding the entire island are not meant to protect the Eden Tree, but rather serve as a containment measure to prevent monsters in the sea from coming onto the island to die. The Eden Tree has always been 'malnourished', thereby preventing it from evolving into an entity like the Lord of Calamity..."
Having cleared up his line of thought, the next step was to consider how to profit from this.
"Time to cook." Kitahara stood up and walked toward the kitchen. "What does Anon want to eat this morning?"
Anon raised her right hand and spoke in a crisp voice:
"Egg fried rice!"
Kitahara didn't even turn his head as he asked:
"Plus a serving of Mapo Tofu?"
"Ehehe, boyfriend really is super thoughtful."
"..."
Having prepared the breakfast, Nijika and Ryo happened to come downstairs one after the other.
"Good morning." Kitahara looked up. "Hurry up and wash your faces and brush your teeth; we can eat now."
"Nijika-senpai, Ryo-senpai, good morning."
Anon raised her right hand and greeted them with a bright smile.
Having stayed hidden under the covers all last night without revealing her identity, she didn't feel embarrassed in the slightest right now.
(How terrifying...)
Anon's gaze subtly lowered, landing on Nijika and Ryo's legs. She could clearly see that both Nijika and Ryo's legs were faintly trembling.
(Just how far did Kitahara go last night to make Nijika and Ryo's legs still shake when they walk!)
Noticing Anon's subtle stare, Nijika's small face quickly flushed red, and she looked away in embarrassment:
"Good morning, Anon... I'm going to wash my face and brush my teeth!"
After greeting her, Nijika panicked and fled toward the washroom.
"Phew... Good morning."
Ryo covered her mouth with her hand and let out a lazy yawn. Unlike Nijika, who was too embarrassed to meet anyone's eyes, she tilted her head to look at Anon, her pretty face completely devoid of shame:
"We played games all night until dawn and lost track of time to go back. Anon, do you want to join in and play games together?"
Anon: "..."
The "game" Ryo spoke of must definitely be an extremely inappropriate game, right?
To actually have the nerve to invite someone so brazenly—Ryo really was a total weirdo!
"Sorry, I suddenly remembered I have something very important to do." Anon's small face flushed slightly, and she decisively turned around to slip away. "Farewell."
"..."
"After waking up this morning, I asked the Book of Answers..."
Kitahara spoke about what happened earlier while eating breakfast. Rather than staying silent during meals, he preferred chatting while eating.
"Eh, it's actually the Eden Tree we know?"
"Looks like everyone was really lucky; otherwise, the moment we saw the Eden Tree, we probably would have broken."
"Speaking of which, can we ask the Eden Tree to deal with the mastermind behind the scenes?"
"The Eden Tree isn't human. Once it awakens, it feels like it would be super dangerous as well..."
"..."
The girls offered their own opinions, talking back and forth.
Among them, Anon was even more whimsical: "Can we find a way to turn the Eden Tree into a beast-eared girl like Hana, and then have Kitahara contract it?"
"A bold idea." Kitahara looked toward Anon. "Although it's highly unlikely to work, I've thought of what to ask for the next question."
The reason he was able to contract Hana as a mount back then was that Hana possessed a Imitation ability, allowing her to transform into a form suitable for "riding." But no matter how one looked at it, the Eden Tree did not meet the requirements for riding.
After finishing breakfast, Kitahara pulled out the Book of Answers, handed it to Nijika, and said softly:
"Nijika-senpai, please ask how I can make use of the Eden Tree's power."
Contracting the other party as a mount or praying for their assistance was, in essence, all about wanting to utilize their power—so the question needed to get straight to the point.
"I understand."
Nijika nodded gently, placed her hand on the Book of Answers, and then asked in a soft voice.
A moment later.
A line of text silently surfaced on the blank page:
[Symbiosis]
"Eh, what does symbiosis mean?"
Looking at the answer that appeared in the book, Anon couldn't help but complain in a low voice:
"This answer is way too concise! Couldn't it be a bit more detailed?"
Ryo crossed her left arm over her chest and pressed her right index finger to her brow, analyzing quietly:
"The question was 'how Kitahara can make use of the Eden Tree's power.' In other words, 'symbiosis' should be something Kitahara is capable of doing right now; otherwise, the answer would be meaningless..."
Kitahara's heart stirred slightly, instantly thinking of the Queen parasite, Aoi.
Aoi's core ability was symbiosis. Could it be that he needed to copy Aoi's ability for himself?
Even if he copied it over, how would he achieve symbiosis with the Eden Tree?
"We need to save the remaining asking attempts just in case." Kitahara's expression was calm. "We'll ask other questions tomorrow."
With the chat over, the girls left one by one to prepare for school.
Kitahara dressed neatly, stepped out, got onto his scooter, and headed toward Hitori's house.
"Good morning, Kitahara."
Just as he turned the street corner, he saw Hitori standing at the door looking out expectantly.
"Good morning." Kitahara handed over a salted plum candy in passing. "Let's go to school."
"Mm-hmm."
"..."
They rode in silence the whole way.
Upon arriving at school, Kitahara went to the club room first and summoned Succubus Saki. Shimizu Rin clearly knew more valuable intelligence, so naturally, he had Succubus Saki continue trying to conquer her.
After chatting with Tomori for a while in the club room, the two left together and returned to the classroom to get busy. Thanks to yesterday's hard work, the overall structure of the haunted house was complete; today only required the final touch-ups.
In the blink of an eye, it was lunchtime again.
Kitahara first pulled out a dish and handed it to Succubus Saki, letting her continue going after Shimizu Rin. Then, while heading toward the club room, he pulled out his phone and sent a message to Taki.
"Taki, you don't want the world to be destroyed either, right?"