Chapter 54
In the world outside the domain, where everything continued as normal.
Inside the noodle shop.
"Wah—waaah!"
Power, whose back suddenly met empty air, plopped straight down onto the seat with a loud thud.
"?"
The noise instantly drew the attention of everyone present.
Three… four people all realized that Denji and Higashiyama Koharu had vanished in an instant.
"What… happened again? Is there another devil?"
Himeno rubbed her temples in mild irritation.
Aki and Arai had no clues at all. They just scanned the surroundings once, hoping to find some hint from the environment.
Meanwhile, Power—who had flopped onto the long bench—suddenly poked her little head up~
Eyes narrowed, small mouth pursed, she wore a serious expression as she carefully sniffed the empty air where Koharu and Denji had been sitting~
She twitched her nose. Her eyes lit up for a second—then immediately furrowed slightly.
They lit up because there was still a strong, explosive trace of Denji's hormones lingering in that spot. They furrowed because there was also another person's hormone outburst—a sleazy, pungent scent.
And the two smells were tangled together, making it feel a bit… messy~
The other three naturally noticed Power's behavior. After exchanging glances and communicating with their eyes,
Aki firmly signaled: unless absolutely necessary, he absolutely did not want to interact with any more of these weird devils.
Arai was the junior—he wasn't in a position to speak.
So it fell to Himeno to ask.
"Um… Power-chan, did you discover something~?"
Perhaps because Denji liked pretty girls, Power decided to be a bit more open-minded this time.
If Denji ended up making moves on those pretty girls, wouldn't they all become sisters under the same roof in the future?
Of course—no matter how many women Denji caught, none of them could compare to this great one, who held the absolute top spot in Denji's heart as the world's number-one cutest devil (person)!
"Power-chan?"
Seeing Power seemingly lost in her own world, Himeno tried calling again.
"Ah, oh, it's nothing~ Probably Denji took that crybaby off somewhere to make love!"
Power casually tossed out the sentence, then started turning the gears in her "world-shaking genius" brain again.
"Ah… ah?"
Himeno was stunned into silence, letting out two bewildered sounds.
Just as she was about to press Power for more details about that sentence, Aki suddenly patted her shoulder.
"Hm?"
She turned to look at Aki.
Aki calmly opened his mouth, first pointed at his own lips, then quietly pointed at Power, and shook his head.
(Translation: Remember what I told you? She's a devil. You can't fully trust what she says.)
Himeno understood and nodded—but still couldn't help asking worriedly:
"They… they won't run into any trouble, right?"
Aki looked at Himeno and shook his head again, indicating he didn't know either.
Himeno interpreted it as "it's fine."
"Sigh~ Okay then."
Himeno propped her chin on her hand and stared out the window, lost in thought.
Aki stayed silent and stopped eating his noodles.
The reason he wasn't speaking was simple: with Denji gone, he wanted to minimize any triggers that might set off the Blood Fiend's rampage.
After thinking for a moment, he lowered his head and noticed Himeno's fingers drumming restlessly on her thigh.
He thought for a second, then gently placed his own hand over hers, holding her slightly cool fingers, using warmth to quietly soothe the anxiety in her heart.
A faint blush quietly bloomed across Himeno's cheeks…
Meanwhile, Arai wasn't on the same wavelength as the others. He was guessing wildly based on his own subjective logic:
Denji-san suddenly disappeared without a word—probably ran into some devil-related trouble. Denji-san specifically took Higashiyama Koharu along, so the trouble was very likely related to her…
No—it must be directly related to Higashiyama Koharu. Could she have been targeted by a devil?
Wait—no! With Denji-san's strength, unless it's a catastrophe-level devil like the Gun Devil, I can't even imagine anything capable of causing him trouble.
So there's only one truth!
Could Higashiyama Koharu actually be a disguised devil—and Denji-san discovered it?!
Denji-san didn't kill her immediately because he has an inclusive heart. As long as she hasn't killed indiscriminately, even a bloodthirsty monster like the Blood Fiend… Denji-san can accept her.
So for someone as seemingly harmless as Higashiyama Koharu, Denji-san would be even more tolerant. Taking her away suddenly might be him investigating her true nature—or maybe even starting to tame her already!
As expected of Denji-san.
Only such a powerful and outstanding man can truly embody the saying: with great power comes great responsibility!
Arai nodded deeply to himself, growing more and more convinced of his own deduction…
Power clenched her fist, feeling the connection named "Source Blood."
The aura on the other end of the link was extremely stable—no trouble at all… wait—no!
Why was there this kind of emotional scent?
She couldn't understand. This scent was countless times heavier than mere "like," its underlying emotion so deep it was bottomless.
Su… surely Denji took that crybaby off to do it.
Power lowered her head dejectedly, expression blank. She pressed all the other indescribable emotions deep into her heart.
She couldn't quite understand.
If they were going to do it, fine—this great one wouldn't object.
And Denji doing it with that crybaby first was actually pretty good—it would give him more experience to teach this great one how to do it later.
And and, after they finished, that crybaby would probably become part of our family too…
Perfect—this great one still doesn't know how to do it. When we're at home, this great one can watch and learn.
Then later this great one can do it with Denji too…
But… why didn't he bring this sensible great one along too?
And and, this great one came first—shouldn't he try it with this great one first?
This great one's body can't be broken anyway—gaining experience here, then going to…
Power could no longer brainwash herself.
She blinked aggrievedly, lips pouting, and finally said in her heart with deep grievance:
Denji does it without this great one—this great one's heart is on fire!
When Denji comes back, this great one is definitely going to bite him 1, 2, 3…
While thinking this in her heart, Power curled her fingers—curled to the fourth, felt it was too many, and released one.
Looking at the three bent fingers, she visualized them as fangs.
She imagined it in her mind—three felt awkward. One bite on the left, one on the right, the extra one didn't fit anywhere—biting either side would make the other look lonely.
So she released another finger.
Two bites… maybe still a bit excessive… this great one would get drunk with just one bite. Too many and Denji might think it's wasteful.
She released one more—leaving only a single lonely thumb.
Without warning, a slight chill touched her palm—a tear suddenly burst and fell.
The sound of the tear drop was faint, but it was enough to shatter the dead-silent deep pool. Suppressed emotions rippled outward like circles on water, stirring her heartstrings until her eyes filled with damp mist.
That watery layer blurred her vision. Her eye sockets ached from the sour swelling—finally she couldn't hold back and blinked lightly.
In that single instant, tears poured out like a broken dam—strings of teardrops falling in a gentle, pattering rain curtain.
The world dissolved and warped in the tear-light—only bizarre, shifting color blocks remained, moving meaninglessly.
The transparent droplets only reflected a cold world—yet from that endless cold, she stubbornly captured a nonexistent warmth.
It was Denji's shadow. The tears had already shattered into countless tiny prisms—each minuscule fragment greedily reflecting his brilliance.
She clumsily and clumsily wiped the tears, as if terrified Denji might see her in this pathetic state.
Even the last stubborn thumb finally relaxed.
Actually… actually… this great one only needs one kiss to be coaxed. Please come back soon and stay with this great one~ Denji…
A warm palm suddenly covered the top of her head, gently ruffling her hair in that familiar way~
"Huh? Why's there a crybaby sitting here? Where did my world's number-one cutest Power go~?"
--------------------------
Support us on Patreon and gain access to 100 chapters in advance!
patreon.com/inkshield
Special Offer: Badass Tier – 20% OFF
Use code: STAR20