It was Yuria's first time being a guest at someone else's house, and she was feeling quite excited.
Thinking about the test Gabriel had in store for her next, she nervously patted her cheeks, silently cheering herself on in her heart.
"Calm down... calm down, you can do this!"
When Yuria entered the living room, the moment she laid eyes on Uncle Yotsuya using the computer, she immediately noticed something was wrong.
He wasn't... a living person...
"Brother-san, don't stay addicted to games all the time. You need to focus on your studies."
Gabriel walked over, approaching Kyousuke Yotsuya—who was happily playing a three-player co-op with Uncle Yotsuya and the Large Dog—and solemnly patted his shoulder.
Thanks to Gabriel's financial backing, Uncle Yotsuya and the Large Dog's equipment had been fully upgraded, and Kyousuke Yotsuya also got a computer of his own.
However, Touko Yotsuya and Uncle Yotsuya were very strict, so Kyousuke Yotsuya was only allowed to play for one morning on the weekends.
"...You are the last person I want to hear that from."
Kyousuke Yotsuya rolled his eyes at her, speechless.
In this entire house, Gabriel was the one most unabashedly addicted to online games. If it weren't for his sister keeping her in check, she probably wouldn't even sleep.
What he couldn't understand even more were Gabriel's grades. Her mind clearly wasn't on her studies, yet her test scores were terrifyingly good.
According to his sister, Gabriel scored the highest in their entire grade for every subject, becoming the new Number One in School.
Kyousuke Yotsuya cast an admiring glance at his sister.
As expected of his sister, bringing home a genius among geniuses so casually—their family was truly blessed.
Although he complained verbally, Kyousuke Yotsuya obediently closed his computer game.
After all, one cannot speak ill of those who provide for them, and he was softened by her favors.
Not to mention, Gabriel treated him really well.
Even though they would occasionally bicker.
Kyousuke Yotsuya stood up, greeted Hana Yurikawa and Yuria, and then went to the fridge to get some fruit and juice to entertain them.
"Little Kyousuke, I don't think I'm seeing things, but the mice on those two computers are moving on their own."
As if discovering something, Hana Yurikawa asked with a look of amazement.
"That's Gabriel's masterpiece. I don't really know the exact principles behind it, but anyway, it's the kind of high-tech stuff that sounds super impressive..."
Kyousuke Yotsuya explained.
"Eh?! So Gabriel isn't just good at studying, she seems amazing! No wonder the teachers at school paid so much attention to her from the very beginning; there really was a reason."
"Hana-nee, let me tell you, the smart program installed on this computer is no different from a normal person. It can even communicate with us via text. As for the other one, although it's a bit mentally challenged, its learning ability is decent, so its future is promising..."
Kyousuke Yotsuya pointed to Uncle Yotsuya's computer, then with a somewhat disgusted expression, pointed to the Large Dog's computer, introducing them enthusiastically.
The more Hana Yurikawa listened, the brighter her eyes shone. She even raised her hand, wanting to get a closer look, but was stopped by Miko Yotsuya, whose expression was quite unnatural.
"..."
Yuria stared at Uncle Yotsuya not far away, her face filled with bewilderment.
You call this high-tech?
Are you sure it isn't the legendary 'ghosts turning the millstone'?
Yuria cast a questioning look at Miko Yotsuya, but the latter only returned an awkward yet polite smile.
At that moment, Yuria realized something else.
If each computer was being operated by a Spiritual Body, then...
Yuria shifted her gaze to the other computer.
There was nothing there, yet the mouse and keyboard were moving.
She felt a sense of eerie dread.
Yuria's palms began to sweat as she continuously guessed in her heart what on earth was using that computer.
Could it be the same entity from The Cursed Building incident?
Just then, she suddenly noticed Gabriel walking over to that computer.
Gabriel approached the Large Dog and craned her neck to look at the computer screen.
Seeing that he was in the crucial moment of a team fight, Gabriel suddenly reached out and ruthlessly forced the computer to shut down.
Large Dog: "!!!"
Staring at the black screen, that huge, ferocious face instantly donned a mask of pure agony. A terrifying aura radiated uncontrollably, and thick black mist rose from the ground, making him look just like a vicious hound crawling out from Hell.
Right at this moment, Gabriel activated the Guardian Cross on Yuria's body and bestowed a Seraphim's Blessing upon her.
"From now on, you shall clearly see The Other World."
Yuria only felt a warmth spread through her body, followed by a refreshing coolness in her eyes.
Suddenly, her pupils shrank sharply, and her back instantly stiffened straight.
In the place that was previously empty, a massive and terrifying monster suddenly appeared.
Its body was gigantic, its visage abominable and savage, just like a monster from Hell in the legends, as if it could swallow a human whole in a single bite and tear their soul to shreds along with them.
Yuria swore that out of all the Evil Spirits she had seen before, not a single one could compare to this, whether in terms of oppressive presence or level of horror.
Standing before it, she felt like someone facing a starving grizzly bear—liable to drop dead at any moment.
"?"
A question mark popped up in Miko Yotsuya's mind.
She didn't understand how Yuria, who had been perfectly fine just a moment ago, suddenly had such a strange expression.
Puzzled, Miko Yotsuya stole another glance at the Large Dog squatting on the floor with its head drooping, seemingly sulking and deliberately ignoring Gabriel.
"Although he looks a bit scary, right now... he actually seems quite cute."
Even though Gabriel had guessed the outcome, seeing Yuria react exactly as expected made her sigh with a massive headache.
"Sigh..."
Gabriel withdrew the Blessing on Yuria, and the Divine Arts on the Guardian Cross began to soothe Yuria's frightened mind and body.
She glanced at the completely spoiled Large Dog, took out her phone, and transferred a considerable amount of money to his account.
After showing him the transfer record, she ignored the dog as he excitedly jumped up and down on the spot.
"Sigh..."
Gabriel slumped heavily onto the sofa, staring at the ceiling with a deadpan expression, beginning to doubt her life choices.
This is troublesome.
Even someone like Yuria, who frequently saw ordinary Evil Spirits, would still be scared weak in the knees upon suddenly seeing a higher-level Spiritual Body.
What am I supposed to do about this?
In the future, if she had people with Yin-Yang Eyes deal with high-level Evil Spirits, and they lost half their combat strength to fear before the fight even began, then how the hell were they supposed to fight?
After all, in this world, the higher the level of the Spiritual Body, the more terrifying its appearance, and the easier it was to lose SAN points.
Solving this problem was actually quite simple; she just needed to add a layer of Cognitive Filter.
But the bad part was, Heaven's Divine Arts didn't have such a thing!
Because Divine Arts were all meant for Angels to use, there was absolutely no need to apply things like Cognitive Filters to themselves.
But the good news was that Gabriel had rich theoretical knowledge and had already learned all the Divine Arts in Heaven.
So, as long as she was willing to spend a little time and effort, she could develop new Divine Arts in a short amount of time.
"...But I'm only here on vacation."
Gabriel clutched her head in agony.
Skipping sleep and forgetting to eat just to work hard for a better tomorrow—that wasn't like a Lazy Angel at all!
That kind of thing...
Muri!