Chapter 107: The Shamelessly Extravagant Shizuku
"It" had grown weaker.
"It" did not originally belong to this world, nor did it come here willingly.
"It" was inherently prone to being drawn to intense spirit particle fluctuations.
Ecstasy, lamentation, hatred, and wishes. Drawn by the spirit particle fluctuations born from desires that could be called prayers, "it" crossed the "wall" that swayed only for an instant and was pulled from the formless world into the world of form.
The shock of crossing the wall caused "it" to split into twelve parts, each taking refuge within the humans who had attracted "it."
"It" had to continuously absorb spirit particles to maintain its existence.
Because "it" slowly emitted spirit particles while existing.
But in this "tangible" world, "it" could not absorb spirit particles on its own. "It" had to merge with tangible entities capable of gathering spirit particles to replenish them.
In its state of possessing only its main body, repeatedly using its power had caused "it" to lose a vast amount of spirit particles stored since arriving in the "tangible world."
Not only that, but "it" had also been washed by a high-pressure psion stream, causing the parts that had invaded the material dimension to be greatly reduced and lost. At that time, "it" had nearly lost all of its psions.
Psions are not essential for "its" existence, but without sufficient psions, it cannot interfere with the material dimension.
"It" itself lacks advanced cognitive abilities.
It is called a monster by the world merely because it reflects and amplifies the host's deeply hidden thoughts or repressed impulses.
The cognitive abilities "it" inherently lacks are only akin to the instinct to continue existing.
Even so, "its" limited cognitive capacity understands that, as of now, the other eleven "its" have already perished one after another, and if it continues in its current weakened state, the last "it" may dissipate.
It must find a place to rest.
A place abundant with psions.
For instance, in the blood flowing through a body without consciousness.
For example, in an excellent vessel mage aimlessly wandering the streets even at this late hour.
"..."
"....."
"...."
"Huff...."
Exhaling a puff of white mist, Shizuku walked alone along the streets of Berkeley on the West Coast.
The choking smell of car exhaust mixed with the faint, unpleasant odor of garbage lingered at the tip of her nose, causing her delicate brows to furrow slightly.
Although February on the West Coast wasn't particularly cold, her slender, form-fitting evening gown was somewhat out of season.
There was no helping it.
After all, she had escaped from a house party held at her boarding place.
As a daughter of the Kitayama family, she was no stranger to parties and could handle them with ease, but this time was different.
At every party, there was someone whose excessive enthusiasm annoyed her, constantly hovering around her.
Even though she had clearly expressed her refusal.
Yet, they would persistently come over to strike up a conversation.
For this reason, she had secretly slipped away from the party.
But then came the problem: Where should she go now to pass this boring time?
"If only Honoka and Miyuki were here... I'm starting to regret coming abroad for studies."
Shizuku sighed softly.
In front of her friends, she would never show such a lonely expression.
And deep down, aside from Miyuki and Honoka, she was even more eagerly anticipating the presence of another person.
That person who was handsome, sometimes acted frivolously, seemed indifferent to everything, yet was unexpectedly reliable.
Like the one who had spared no effort to help her win during the Nine Schools Competition...
Since their last call, when he said he would come to see her, Mahiro's image had involuntarily appeared in her mind more and more often.
She felt a little anticipation.
But also some hesitation.
After all, she was well aware that her good friend Honoka also liked Mahiro. If she expressed her feelings, wouldn't it hurt Honoka?
Probably...
No, it definitely would.
Thinking of this, the girl couldn't help but sigh again softly, then glanced around.
Only now did she realize that the surroundings were somewhat unfamiliar.
Everywhere was filled with neon signs labeled in English, and low-rise apartments with scattered brown tiles lined both sides of the street.
These aged buildings stood in stark contrast to the rows of newly constructed high-rises in the distance.
An indescribable strangeness lingered in the air.
It felt like the boundary between past and future.
Just then, a white, flaky substance drifted slowly before her.
Shizuku instinctively reached out her small hand to catch it. A chill immediately spread from her palm as the flake melted away.
"...It's snowing."
She lifted her head, gazing up at the lead-gray clouds overhead, watching as sparse snowflakes drifted down from the sky, gradually growing denser.
Under the neon lights, they glittered with fragmented brilliance.
Shizuku instinctively hugged her arms tightly.
"What a miscalculation..."
She murmured to herself, her breath forming a white mist that quickly vanished in the air.
In truth, whether due to her natural constitution or her magical power, she had no reason to fear this level of cold. The gesture was purely instinctive.
But just then, she suddenly sensed an unusual presence.
It wasn't the shiver brought by the cold, but something more primal—an instinctual alertness.
She spun around abruptly, only to find the sparsely populated street empty, with only her own shadow stretched long under the streetlights.
[Found it...]
[Finally found a place to reside...]
"It" observed from the shadows.
Weakness made "it" even more cautious.
The spiritual particle waves emanating from this girl were exceptionally pure—exactly the nourishment "it" desperately needed.
But "it" also sensed danger—within this seemingly fragile girl lay immense power, as terrifying as those Japanese Hosts!
"Who's there?!"
Shizuku's voice cut clearly through the snowy night.
No response.
Only the faint sound of snow falling to the ground.
Shizuku's fingers unconsciously moved to the CAD on her wrist. Ever since receiving that enhancement injection from Mahiro, she had noticed her intuition seemed to have sharpened.
Like now.
Though she couldn't see anything, she was certain something was watching her.
"It" began to move slowly toward its target.
As a non-physical life form, "it" was fundamentally invisible to the naked eye, yet "it" remained vigilant.
Moreover, in "its" current weakened state, "it" couldn't move as swiftly as before. But "it" understood—this was "its" chance!
"Come out!"
Shizuku's voice carried a sharp edge. "I know you're there."
The moment her words faded, a piercing chill suddenly surged from behind her.
Shizuku activated vibration magic almost instinctively. The air around her seemed to boil, shattering the falling snowflakes into dust.
Pedestrians on the opposite street scattered in panic at the sight.
But Shizuku didn't feel her magic hit anything. Not even that subtle chill had dissipated.
It was like a beast lurking in the darkness, preparing to strike from another direction!
Shizuku quickly adjusted her breathing and activated another spell through her wrist CAD—
Multi-Scope
This was a spell the Saegusa family excelled in, one Mahiro had taught her as the top priority when facing an enemy.
No matter what kind of enemy she faced, the first step was always to pinpoint their location.
This way, no matter what kind of attack the opponent launched or what actions followed, she would have the leeway to react.
But the problem was—
"...Nothing at all?"
It was indeed empty.
The pedestrians had already scattered, leaving only herself on this residential street, with no second person in sight.
Just like that, Shizuku remained frozen in place for nearly ten minutes.
Suddenly.
Tap—
A faint footstep sounded from behind.
"..."
Shizuku remained silent, turning and swinging her arm with a faint whistling sound.
A girl studying alone overseas naturally had to learn some self-defense techniques.
However, this strike didn't seem to be very effective against the assailant.
With a snap! Her slender wrist was tightly grasped by a large hand.
The girl instinctively struggled and tried to call for help, but when she turned her head, she froze.
A faint smile actually curled at the corner of her usually expressionless lips.
"...This isn't my hallucination, right?"
"Of course not."
The one who had appeared behind the girl was none other than Mahiro, who had rushed over in a hurry. Since school ended, he had come straight to the United States.
"I wanted to surprise you, but you tried to send me off as soon as we met."
Mahiro chuckled and released the girl's wrist.
Shizuku didn't offer any excuses, merely calmly retorted, "It's your fault, Mahiro-kun, for suddenly appearing in such a situation."
Mahiro laughed softly, then glanced at the time and breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"Good, good, I made it in time."
At first, Shizuku didn't understand, but after a moment, she suddenly realized and asked with some surprise, "Did you come all this way just for this?"
"Of course."
The "this" they were referring to was naturally Valentine's Day.
Although it was already over on the other side, thanks to the 16-hour time difference, it hadn't ended yet in the USNA.
"I saw that Shizuku-san was alone overseas, without any familiar friends around, so I specifically came on behalf of our friends to spend Valentine's Day with you."
"...Actually, there's no need for that. The journey is too far, and I'll be back in March anyway."
Shizuku wanted to say this, but before she could speak, a shadow suddenly fell over her, and then Mahiro's jacket was draped over her, hanging on her exposed, rounded shoulders.
It was just that the jacket was a bit too large for her petite frame, long enough to cover even her hips.
It was like a dress.
"Looking at how you're dressed, Shizuku-san, you must be playing the runaway princess, right? If such a beautiful little princess were to get kidnapped by those 'prison America' types, I'd be heartbroken."
Shizuku: "...."
This time, she didn't respond, merely lowering her head and tugging at the edge of the jacket.
So warm...
The face hidden beneath her shoulder-length gray hair had already turned as red as an apple.
"Thank you..."
After a long while, the girl finally managed to squeeze out these words.
"Save your thanks for later. I have a gift for you."
"Huh?"
The girl looked up in surprise, only to see Mahiro's hand reaching toward her chest.
Not that he intended to do anything inappropriate there, after all, it was so flat there wouldn't be much to feel anyway.
Instead, he gently lifted the fabric of her top and pinned a cross-shaped brooch through the thin material.
The base was made of gold, but it was decorated with silver vines winding around it, with ruby buds blooming at the tips of the vines.
Yet the most captivating part was the blue gemstone embedded in the center of the cross.
Under the streetlights, it shimmered with a gentle radiance, as if containing a small fish swimming inside, truly beautiful.
"What a beautiful brooch."
"Do you like it?"
"Yes, I really like it."
"That's good to hear."
Mahiro smiled with satisfaction, though his gaze subtly lingered on the brooch's gemstone.
In a certain sense, this gemstone was indeed made from a living creature.
It was the last "parasite" he had captured just ten minutes ago.
He had originally planned to eliminate it directly, but surprisingly, the "parasite" had begged for mercy through tears!
It claimed to bear no malice toward humans, that "it" had been forcibly summoned by those humans but couldn't maintain existence in the physical world, hence resorting to this parasitic method to sustain itself.
"It" just wanted to live, not die.
Therefore, Mahiro didn't kill "it," and instead conceived the idea of turning "it" into a gift for Shizuku.
He trapped it within the gemstone structure and applied a mental interference spell on the exterior. If this thing dared try to break through the gemstone structure, the spell would capture it and forcibly put it into deep sleep.
And the consequence of falling into deep sleep would naturally be death.
Of course, to allow this little creature to survive in the physical world, he had also infused the gemstone with considerable psions, that is, magical power.
But this wasn't permanent, it required regular replenishment.
This also served as an assessment for this "parasite."
Although the "parasite" wasn't particularly willing, even now it kept calling him the real demon.
"Since Mahiro-kun gave me a Valentine's gift, I should return the favor."
Shizuku looked up at him with calm eyes and a composed tone.
"Come with me."
Saying this, she took his hand and led him toward the other side of the street.
"Welcome~"
"Hello, I'd like some chocolate."
Shizuku pulled him along as they briskly entered a specialty chocolate shop with Godiva displayed on its signboard.
Not only was the store exquisitely decorated, with bright lights reflecting off the ivory-white floors and walls, but even through the exterior display windows one could see those chocolate-crafted artworks.
Not to mention the rich cocoa aroma that greeted them the moment they stepped inside.
The chocolates for sale were displayed like jewelry in separate counters.
The prices matched the store's ambiance perfectly, starting at $120 per pound for the cheapest items.
This is a bit outrageous.
Is this really a place for someone like me to be?
Mahiro's eyelid twitched slightly. It was important to note that he had come to the USNA entirely by stowing away—not by plane, but by using flight magic combined with what seemed like teleportation magic to fly over.
Aside from the hassle of visas and passports, the main reason was that he didn't want to waste money on a plane ticket.
Just as his thoughts were racing, Shizuku and the shop assistant began negotiating again.
"Miss, what kind of chocolate would you like? All our chocolates here are Belgian brands..."
"Please give me the best one."
Shizuku directly interrupted the assistant's introduction, boldly requesting the highest grade available.
Naturally, the assistant was quite pleased with such a customer and smiled slightly: "Understood. I assume you and this gentleman are a couple, miss?"
"Yes, that's right. We're a couple, and I want to give my boyfriend some chocolate."
As she spoke, Shizuku seemed to confirm this by tightly hugging his arm. On her typically expressionless face, there was almost an illusion of delight?
Unfortunately, her chest was too flat to provide much sensation.
"In that case, I recommend this one for you, miss—"
The assistant led them to a display case and explained, "This chocolate was once used by the Belgian royal family in the last century. Besides using the highest quality cocoa beans, it also contains premium nuts, a small amount of Napoleon-grade cognac, and Dom Pérignon..."
I don't understand a thing.
Being completely clueless about chocolate, Mahiro felt like he was listening to gibberish as the assistant explained.
Only Shizuku gently pinched her chin, looking studious, and nodded slightly as if comprehending the assistant's introduction.
Admittedly, with her serious demeanor and expressionless face, she looked quite cute.
"Alright, I'll take this. Please wrap it up for me."
"Thank you for your patronage."
After receiving the chocolate from the assistant, Shizuku directly handed it to him.
"Here, this is my return gift—my true-feelings chocolate."
There was no shyness or blushing; everything seemed perfectly natural.
The assistant beside them even offered sincere blessings, maxing out the emotional value!
"Although it's not handmade, I hope you won't mind."
Shizuku added this remark.
But how could he possibly mind?
Even if it wasn't handmade, the sincerity was already overwhelming. The box contained twenty chocolates, each worth four figures—almost as expensive as gold.
It was utterly extravagant.
As expected of the young lady of the Kitayama family...