"Shin—!!!"
As soon as Shin returned home, the first thing he saw was Gabriel rushing out in a maid outfit.
Shouting his name, she threw herself into his arms, gripping his clothes tightly before looking up at him with eyes full of grief and indignation.
"Vignette won't lift my restrictions!!!"
Just as Shin had expected, after Gabriel redeemed the First Horn of Apocalypse, she excitedly went to school to explain the situation to Vignette.
Just when Gabriel assumed Vignette would remove her curfew restrictions, Vignette only loosened them slightly—allowing Gabriel to play games until 2 a.m.
While staying up until 2 a.m. playing games was already considered terrible behavior by Vignette's standards, for Gabriel, it still wasn't enough to satisfy her.
So now, she was here to complain to Shin—after all, since Vignette's Stand ability was granted by Shin, he was the only one who could fix this.
"Vignette isn't wrong. Your sleep schedule really is a mess."
Shin chuckled and patted Gabriel's head. Over this period, with her more regulated routine, even her hair had become smoother.
It was a bit like an unhealthy cat—after some proper care, its fur became softer and more pleasant to touch.
"But now I barely have any time for online games! Just doing my daily and weekly quests eats up almost all my time!"
Gabriel tugged fiercely at Shin's clothes, her expression resolute, as if saying, "If you don't help me, I'm not letting you go!"
"You wouldn't want to lose a permanent party member, would you?!"
It was true. Nowadays, Gabriel spent most of her time just clearing daily and weekly quests, leaving little room for dungeon runs.
Sometimes, after dinner, Shin even had to take a shower and wait for Gabriel to finish her dailies before they could raid together.
Even the other permanent party members were puzzled as to why Gabriel had suddenly become less obsessed with gaming—no one knew it was because of Vignette's Stand ability forcing her to behave.
"Hmm... If you really want a solution, there is a way~"
Shin stroked his chin, thinking it over—he could actually help Gabriel with this.
Since Shin also possessed Vignette's Stand ability, he could adjust the "balance" Vignette had imposed on Gabriel—or even remove the restrictions entirely. Of course, if he outright lifted them, Vignette would definitely notice.
"Then help me already!"
Gabriel was now desperate enough to try anything—for a fallen angel long addicted to online games, being forced away from them was worse than death.
She had endured it before only because she thought Vignette would let her off the hook once she redeemed the First Horn of Apocalypse.
But now, it seemed Vignette was dead set on fixing her sleep schedule, and Gabriel could no longer tolerate it.
As if struck by inspiration, she suddenly blurted out:
"How about I do the same work as Tohru? Just help me lift these restrictions!"
"...The same work as Tohru?"
At first, Shin didn't immediately grasp what she meant—after all, Tohru was just a maid in his household, and her usual duties weren't much different from any other maid's.
But soon, seeing Gabriel's slightly flushed face, Shin realized what she was referring to.
If there was one thing that set Tohru apart from the other maids, it was the "work" she did every night.
Though most of the time, Tohru carried out this "work" in bed, there were occasions when she'd suddenly get excited and choose to "battle" Shin in the bathroom instead.
Gabriel must have witnessed one of those impulsive moments.
His lips twitched as he gave Gabriel an exasperated look:
"You're really something, huh? Willing to go this far just for gaming?"
"It's not like I'd do this for just anyone! I'm only agreeing because it's you!"
At Shin's teasing, Gabriel shot him an annoyed glare—she had been a top student in Heaven, and though corrupted by online games in the human world, she still had some basic principles.
The only reason she dared to offer this as an exchange was because it was Shin.
Even if this hadn't been part of the deal, if Shin had tried to push things with her, she would've likely given in half-reluctantly anyway.
But now, with Vignette pushing her to her limits, she simply used this as an excuse to give herself to Shin.
"Well, since you've said so... I won't hold back then."
Shin smirked at Gabriel—he knew full well that she was only saying this because it was him. His earlier remark was just to see her reaction.
The Shin of the past might've hesitated, but the current Shin was no longer the same somewhat innocent guy.
If Gabriel didn't mind, he certainly wouldn't pretend to be reserved.
---
Two hours later, at the dinner table, Gabriel sat stiffly as she ate.
The reason for her stiffness, of course, was that everyone at the table was staring at her with deeply suggestive looks.
Clearly, the "intense workout" she and Shin had engaged in earlier had been a bit too loud, leaving no room for ambiguity among the other women in the house.
Even someone as shameless as Gabriel couldn't help but blush furiously, wishing she could vanish into the ground.
It couldn't be helped. This was like a boxing rookie stepping into the ring for the first time against a seasoned champion—naturally, she'd be utterly overwhelmed, unable to hide any of the... effects.
Shin, meanwhile, acted as if nothing had happened. Though the others were staring at Gabriel with strange expressions, he knew they were already used to this.
The solution to their resentment was simple—he just had to put in some extra effort tonight.
"You really won't let a single one slip by, will you, Shin?"
Tohru, who had just refilled Shin's bowl, couldn't help but grumble as she set it down in front of him.
But this time, her reaction was much calmer than before—partly because she had grown accustomed to Shin occasionally adding new girls to his collection, and partly because, as the head maid, she had long noticed the unusual dynamic between Gabriel (the "part-time maid") and Shin.
So this scene was something she had already braced herself for...
To be continued…