[ Bonus Chapter - 100 P.S ]
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That night, beneath the dim glow of the bedroom lights, Yanagi quietly lay in Wise's arms, snuggling close to him as she slowly recounted the events from years ago.
Back then, humans and the Oni tribe had not yet made peace.
The two sides were trapped in endless conflict, slaughtering one another without end. But Yanagi had long since grown tired of the bloodshed.
Determined to put an end to the war, she ventured alone deep into the Oni tribe's territory.
That was where she first met Soukaku.
Soon after, she was brought to the Oni tribe's main settlement, where she met the tribe's leader, Soukaku's older sister.
At the time, the woman was already critically ill.
However, after speaking with each other, Yanagi realized they both shared the same wish. They were equally exhausted by the endless fighting and both hoped for peace between humans and the Oni tribe.
To make that peace possible, Soukaku's sister entrusted everything to Yanagi, even offering her own life and blood so that Yanagi could carry on her will.
Eventually, the blood of humans and Oni fused within Yanagi's body.
And in the end, she fulfilled that promise.
The Oni tribe was finally accepted as part of New Eridu.
As for Soukaku, perhaps because Yanagi carried her sister's blood within her, she had felt drawn to Yanagi from the very beginning.
In the end, Yanagi took her in and raised her personally.
"So the reason you sometimes lose your sight or suddenly become weak..." Wise murmured softly after hearing the entire story. "It's because of the Oni blood inside your body?"
After hearing the entire story, Wise quietly voiced the thought lingering in his mind.
Yanagi gave an honest nod.
"Yes. That's the price I have to bear."
She paused briefly before smiling faintly.
"But I don't regret it. Everything was worth it."
Even though her voice remained steady, a faint trace of unease still lingered in her eyes.
Yanagi slowly looked up at Wise.
"Wise..." she called softly. "If Soukaku ever learns the truth, what do you think she'll do? Will she see me as the one responsible for her sister's death... or even hate me for it?"
"You're thinking too much," Wise replied gently.
He raised his hand and softly caressed her smooth cheek.
"No matter what happened back then, you're still the person who stayed by Soukaku's side all these years. You inherited her sister's final wish and protected her until now."
He smiled reassuringly.
"To Soukaku, you're already family. She'll definitely understand."
As he spoke, Wise slowly lowered his head and gently kissed Yanagi's lips.
The rest of the night passed in quiet peace. And after finally opening up about everything, Yanagi also came to a decision.
Since Soukaku still didn't know the truth, she wouldn't deliberately tell her about it. After all, some things were happier when left unspoken.
The next morning, Yanagi and Soukaku woke up as usual, washed up, and headed to the dining table together to eat the breakfast Wise had prepared for them.
Soukaku was clearly enjoying this peaceful life very much.
While eating, she suddenly looked at Wise with sparkling eyes and happily said, "It would be amazing if Wise could live with us forever."
Although that was obviously unrealistic, considering Wise still had Random Play to take care of, he still smiled helplessly and reached over to ruffle Soukaku's hair.
Now that the issues between Soukaku and Yanagi had finally been resolved, Wise felt like he could finally return home without any worries.
Or at least... that was what he thought.
"Beep! Beep! Beep!"
Suddenly, his phone started ringing loudly.
'Hm? Who's calling me right now?' Wise wondered as he took out his phone.
The caller ID showed Ellen's name.
Seeing it, Wise looked a little surprised.
'Wasn't Ellen supposed to be in class right now? Why would she suddenly call me?'
With that thought in mind, Wise answered the call.
"Ellen? What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Before Wise could even finish speaking, Ellen's anxious voice hurriedly rang out from the other end of the call.
"Wise! Where are you right now? Can you come to my school for a bit?!"
"Huh? That came out of nowhere."
"Just get here first! I'll explain everything on the way!"
Hearing the urgency in her voice, Wise stopped joking around and immediately headed out.
During the trip, Ellen finally explained the situation over the phone.
"So it's just a parent-teacher conference?" Wise said with a laugh. "You made it sound like you'd gotten yourself into trouble."
"What do you mean, I got into trouble?!" Ellen shot back immediately. "I'm not the kind of person who causes problems for other people... well, aside from accidentally falling asleep in class sometimes."
After muttering that defensively, she continued in a slightly awkward tone.
"Anyway, Rina and Lycaon are both busy today, and there's no way I could ask Corin to deal with something like this, so... you're the only person I could ask for help."
It was obvious she wouldn't have called Wise unless she genuinely had no other option.
"Alright, I get it."
Wise chuckled.
"So what identity am I supposed to use? If I say I'm your boyfriend—"
"Brother! You're my brother, obviously!" Ellen immediately interrupted him in a panicked voice. "If you say you're my boyfriend, the teacher is definitely going to lecture me to death!"
That was what she said aloud, but in truth, she was far more worried about Ruby and the others.
After all, they'd already seen Wise before and knew perfectly well that the two of them were dating.
Still... she'd deal with explaining that later.
"Oh, right," Ellen suddenly added after remembering something important.
"Even though there's no reproductive isolation between races, a Shark Thiren having a completely human brother still sounds kind of suspicious, so..."
Although she didn't finish the sentence, Wise immediately understood what she meant.
"Got it. I'll disguise myself."
After ending the call, Wise immediately hailed a taxi toward Ellen's school.
As for the disguise, buying fake ears from some roadside shop would look way too suspicious. If someone noticed, it'd probably make things even weirder.
That meant he could only rely on the system.
'System, do you have any abilities that can disguise me as a Thiren?'
[Hmm? Host, are you planning to experience a different type of rela—]
'Absolutely not!'
[Okay, okay! Seriously, why can everyone else tease you, but I can't? I'm cute too, you know!]
The system complained in a sweet, aggrieved tone while simultaneously pulling up the ability panel Wise wanted.
[Fox Transformation (A): As the name suggests, the Host can freely control the degree of transformation and disguise themselves as a Fox Thiren. Transformed features such as fox ears and tails possess realistic tactile sensation.]
[Note: During the transformation process, the Host's attractiveness toward fox-type girls will slightly increase.]
'Is this the only available option?'
[Yes, Host. At the moment, this is the most natural and convincing disguise.]
'Alright then. It'll have to do.'
Although a Shark Thiren having a Fox Thiren brother still sounded a little strange, it was at least far easier to believe than being related to a completely ordinary human.
Besides, hadn't Lycaon pretended to be Ellen's guardian before?
And honestly, fox ears and wolf ears looked pretty similar anyway, so most people probably wouldn't question it too deeply.
With that thought in mind, Wise decisively spent 3000 Emotional Value to purchase the ability.
Since it wasn't combat-related and matched the system's support-oriented nature, the price was relatively cheap.
Even so, Wise didn't transform immediately.
Only after arriving near Ellen's school did he find a secluded corner and activate the ability.
Once the transformation was complete, he sent Ellen a message.
Not long after, Ellen hurried over to the school gate to pick him up personally.
The moment she saw the incredibly realistic fox ears on Wise's head, surprise visibly flashed across her face.
Still, she chose not to ask any questions for now.
At the moment, dealing with the parent-teacher conference was far more important.
As Ellen grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the school building, Wise casually observed the campus surroundings along the way.
Naturally, his appearance drew more than a few curious glances from the nearby girls.
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