"Darling, is something wrong?" Kaori's voice was laced with concern as she closed the distance between them.
Jin instinctively wanted to step back, but he immediately remembered one crucial detail about his new "wife."
Kenjaku could kill him at any moment.
'I have to play along,' he told himself, allowing the cold hand disguised as his deceased wife to caress his cheek.
Claud was clearly in a precarious situation, judging by everything he knew about the millennium-old sorcerer.
The woman standing before him had lived for centuries with a single purpose: to satisfy her boundless curiosity.
On the surface, a harmless goal — but the reality was far darker.
This sorcerer would stop at nothing to answer even the most unhinged questions.
One of the most infamous examples was the betrayal of a desperate woman who came to him seeking help.
Noritoshi Kamo (Kenjaku) had no hesitation in using her body as breeding stock to create hybrids — neither cursed spirits nor fully human.
A horrific fate for that woman… and not entirely different from Jin's current predicament.
The only reason Kenjaku wasn't killing the current Jin right now was because of Yuji Itadori still growing inside "her."
The child hadn't been born yet, so Kenjaku wouldn't risk anything that might harm Yuji's development.
As for what would happen afterward?
Unknown…
Claud had no idea, because in the original story, Jin Itadori's fate after Yuji's birth remained a mystery.
He couldn't be certain of his own safety once the baby arrived.
He had to escape… or he might end up like Choso's mother.
*cough*… "I-I might have caught a cold. It's nothing serious," he said, his voice slightly hoarse.
He wasn't lying.
The original Jin Itadori had indeed caught a cold, but he had hidden it from "his wife" to avoid worrying her.
"Hmm~ I see."
She paused, tapping a finger against her chin as though thinking.
Clap.
Suddenly, she clapped her hands together with an expression of sudden realization.
"You're in luck, darling~ I reacted quickly," she drawled sweetly before handing him a cup containing a strange liquid.
By the smell, Jin judged it to be some kind of herbal tea.
The thought of refusing crossed his mind — but he dismissed it instantly.
Better to be a coward than a dead fool.
Jin took the tea and drank it without hesitation, a gesture that clearly delighted Kenjaku, who watched him with a "tender" smile.
"Thank you. I already feel better," he said, not hiding his genuine relief.
Surprisingly, the substance Kenjaku had given him tasted excellent — and it worked perfectly.
He really did feel much better.
"Wonderful. Would you accompany me to my ultrasound? The little one was especially active tonight," Kaori said after setting the food tray beside the bed.
For a moment, Claud hesitated.
He already knew Yuji Itadori was coming into the world, but hearing it phrased that way reminded him more forcefully of his new identity.
He wasn't just Jin — he was about to become a father.
If he escaped the moment Kenjaku lowered her guard… would Yuji be even slightly spared from her influence?
Unlikely.
And he didn't know…
"The ultrasound! I almost forgot because of how I was feeling," he said, pretending he had genuinely forgotten that Kenjaku had an appointment today.
He gave his "wife" an apologetic look. She responded with her usual smile.
An expression the original Jin had barely noticed — but which Claud now saw in a completely different light.
Beyond the "tender" smile, he sensed something else.
The former office worker felt like he was facing a Pro Max version of his old capitalist boss — someone who didn't care about the journey, only the result.
That gaze from Kenjaku awakened an instinctive wariness in Jin.
"Hmm~ you're still a bit dazed," she replied, giving him a light flick on the forehead.
A cute gesture to any outsider — but inside Jin's chest, it triggered a mini heart attack.
Kenjaku let out a small laugh at his reaction before slowly walking toward the door.
The sway of the millennium sorcerer's hips emphasized the curves of the housewife's body — something the seasoned former bachelor couldn't help but notice.
'Damn it, what are you thinking?! She's dangerous,' he scolded himself, forcefully banishing any inappropriate thoughts.
He picked up the meal she had brought.
Jin inspected it briefly out of reflex, but his stomach soon took over and he devoured it under its urgent demands.
He was hungrier than he'd realized.
'What the hell is this?!' he thought as he tore into the dish Kenjaku had given him.
Then he noticed the bag — the one his friend had entrusted to him at the manga convention in his previous life as Claud.
Instinctively, he reached for it.
Ding.
A strange chime rang out after his fingers brushed against something metallic inside.
The sound startled him slightly, but he immediately pulled the unfamiliar object from the familiar bag.
He recognized it instantly.
It was the guild card from his friend's Kazuma Satou cosplay — the one he had been asked to hold for a moment.
Inside the bag were also other items: Chunchunmaru and the rest of the adventurer gear from the Konosuba protagonist.
"What did that Taoist priest say again? That everything I was carrying would undergo some kind of change?" he muttered, turning the guild card over in his hands.
He had no idea how it worked — but he had no choice.
If this guild card could become real just like his cosplay had, then Jin might finally have a sliver of hope in this deadly world.
Ding.
Immediately.
The card prompted Jin for personal information — details he judged necessary to initialize the item.
After all, the receptionist always asked Kazuma for the same things.
Fortunately, it only took him a few minutes to fill everything out.
[Initialization in progress… 1%… 2%…]
With each percentage that ticked up, Jin felt himself growing inexplicably more exhausted.
But he forced himself to stay awake.
Finally — 100%.
Name:Jin Itadori
Species:Human?
Age:28
Class:None (please select a class)
Level:1
• Strength: 8
• Agility: 9
• Dexterity: 7
• Intelligence: 15
• Luck: 3
• Magic Power: 6
• Cursed Energy: 8
• Health: 30
Available Skill Points: 5
Skills:None
Magic :None
Cursed Technique: ( unawakened )
Items:Vanir Mask, Chunchunmaru, Bow, Silver Flesh, Megumin's Amulet, Dynamite