Chapter 166: Eirin: A Holy Body for Medicine Testing?
"Is there something wrong with this instant ramen?"
Reimu immediately sensed that something was amiss from the subtle shift in Haruto's expression. Under her direct questioning, he found he had no choice but to lay out the unfortunate truth.
"Well, the thing is... these instant noodles are actually incredibly cheap in the outside world. That forty thousand yen you paid? Forget ten or twenty bowls—you probably couldn't even spend that much if you filled this entire shrine with them."
"Rin... no... suke!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Reimu's face went dark. A evident, crimson aura of spiritual power began to coalesce around her, crackling with raw fury. She shot to her feet, a yin-yang orb materializing in her palm, spinning with a menacing hum that promised nothing but destruction.
"I'm going to tear down that scam shop right now!"
"Hold on," Haruto said, catching the arm of the rampaging shrine maiden. "The noodles are about to get soggy. It won't be too late to go after we finish eating."
Reimu was still seething, but after Haruto's repeated insistence, she finally relented and sat back down. With a furious snatch, she grabbed a fork, viciously twirled a mass of noodles, and bit down with a vengeance.
Haruto sat down as well and lifted the lid from his own cup. Inside, nestled among the noodles, were slices of ham, meatballs, and other ingredients—it was packed with toppings, all clearly added by Reimu as an extra touch.
"Daring to scam even the Shrine Maiden..." she muttered, her words muffled by a mouthful of noodles. "Just you wait. We'll see if this Shrine Maiden doesn't smash his crooked little shop to pieces."
"Eat your fill first. You'll need the strength for revenge," Haruto said, moving the braised egg from his bowl into hers. "But speaking of which, I'm actually quite touched. You were willing to spend forty thousand yen on two bowls of noodles just to treat me."
"...Didn't I already say?" Reimu curled her lip, burying her head in the bowl and abandoning her muttered threats. "You helped me earn so much money, so just consider this a return gift."
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the two made their way to the Human Village. The sun had completely set by now, and the beast-trod paths leading to the settlement were sparsely populated.
Kourindou was situated at the edge of the village, not far from the entrance to the Forest of Magic.
Haruto, however, was in no particular hurry to confront Rinnosuke. Instead, he took Reimu on a leisurely stroll through the village's main street. He bought her a stick of candied haws first, then guided her to a stall selling freshly made taiyaki.
It was worth mentioning that this taiyaki was a new product, introduced by a youkai with an unfamiliar face. The vendor claimed the ingredients were carefully irrigated with demonic power, which not only gave the pastries an excellent taste but could also slightly enhance one's own cultivation.
Haruto tried one and found that his strength did indeed improve by a minuscule amount, though it was hardly significant.
The shrine maiden, whose anger had yet to fully subside, was quickly distracted by the array of delicacies. Before long, she had a stick of candied haws in her left hand and a warm taiyaki in her right, her cheeks puffed out as she happily chewed away.
Seeing her eating so ravenously that she was starting to choke, Haruto let out a helpless sigh, bought two cups of orange juice, and handed one to her.
"Don't eat so fast. No one's going to steal it from you."
Her face flushed, Reimu gulped down more than half the cup of juice in one go, finally catching her breath.
Just as she was about to speak, Haruto's hand was already cradling her face. While she was still dazed, he gently used his fingertip to wipe away a crumb from the corner of her mouth.
No, no, no...
Her pink pupils constricted slightly as her heart gave a sudden, violent lurch. Reimu recognized this plot development; there was a scene just like this in a manga Marisa had brought over. The male and female leads are walking the streets at night, the female lead gets food on the corner of her mouth, and the male lead gently wipes it away for her. The only difference was that in the manga, it had been cream.
'And the next development,'her mind screamed,'will be the male lead naturally putting the cream from his fingertip into his mouth... Should I stop him? Should I stop him!?'
Having known him for four years, Reimu's impression of Haruto was, admittedly, not bad at all.
, Yakumo Yukari had once promised her that as long as she married into the Yakumo family, she would be gifted an offering box made of pure gold.
At that moment, it was as if a tiny black-and-white angel and devil were engaged in a furious battle within her heart.
But from Haruto's perspective, all he saw was Reimu freezing in place, her entire body flushing a deep red as she trembled slightly, looking completely out of it.
Utterly oblivious to the rich inner drama unfolding within Reimu's mind, Haruto confusedly wiped the residue from his finger with a handkerchief. Then, a sudden, horrifying realization seemed to dawn on him. His heart skipped a beat. In a fit of panic, he threw away the candied haws and taiyaki still in his hands, tore open a Gap to pull out a strong healing potion, and began pouring it directly down Reimu's throat.
"Hang in there, Reimu! For your Yin-Yang Orbs' sake! Someone actually dared to poison you in broad daylight! Stay with me, I'm taking you to Eientei right now!"
With one bottle of potion forced down her throat, Reimu's frantic mind calmed slightly. Just as she was about to explain, a second bottle was jammed against her lips.
She tried to struggle, but her entire body felt strangely weak.
Bottle after bottle of the potent liquid was poured down her throat until her eyes rolled back into her head and she teetered on the edge of unconsciousness...
Ten minutes later, inside a ward at Eientei.
Yagokoro Eirin withdrew her hand from her examination and stated calmly, "She's fine. There are no signs of poisoning."
Haruto looked down at the still-unconscious Reimu. "Then why did she faint?"
"The strong healing potion I gave you has certain side effects compared to ordinary potions, similar to an anesthetic," Eirin explained. Her gaze fell to Reimu's noticeably bloated abdomen, and her expression grew increasingly helpless. ", all medicine is, to some degree, a poison. You've nearly filled her to the brim with it."
Haruto looked slightly embarrassed. "I was just worried about her, wasn't I?"
There had been far too many coincidences today: a new youkai vendor, a new taiyaki product claiming to increase one's strength, the two of them being the first customers, and Reimu's sudden, abnormal behavior. It had all immediately made him think of the 'Toxin Adaptation' ability he had just acquired.
This ability could convert certain toxins into his own energy, slightly accelerating his physical recovery and permanently strengthening his body.
After witnessing Reimu's bizarre state and then noticing the slight increase in his own strength, he had naturally assumed his ability was working—and that Reimu was having an adverse reaction because she couldn't resist the 'toxin' in the taiyaki.
Haruto recounted the entire sequence of events to Yagokoro Eirin, including the details of his newly acquired Toxin Adaptation.
Eirin was quite intrigued, especially when she heard that this constitution could convert all toxins into energy to strengthen his body. The scientific curiosity in her eyes deepened.
After listening to Haruto's description, Eirin checked Reimu's condition once more before confirming her diagnosis.
"I can be certain she was not poisoned. The anesthetic effect should wear off in about ten minutes, and she'll wake up then."
"Then why was she acting like that?"
Eirin didn't answer directly, taking a moment to ponder her wording.
"It's not really convenient for me to say. You can ask her yourself when she wakes up."
"Inconvenient to answer?"
Haruto frowned slightly and was about to press further, but Eirin spoke first.
"Can you find some free time during this period to cooperate with my research?"
Haruto nodded readily. "Sure. If we can verify it's effective, the drug testing you have Reisen do can be handed over to me as well."
He recalled the miserable state Reisen was always in during those tests. Every time, she was either wailing in agony or her eyes would roll back as she fainted. Haruto felt he really should help out the rabbit-eared girl who so often looked after him.
In any case, with Toxin Adaptation, being a test subject for new drugs would actually improve his strength. Why wouldn't he agree?
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