Aqua: "Wah!"
Ren: "I'm talking about serious matters; why are you screaming?"
Aqua: "Wah!!!"
Ren: "...Speak human!"
Aqua: "I want to cry so badly! My house, all my money, it's all gone, boohoohoo!"
Ren was speechless. He had long expected such a thing. She was Aqua, the Aqua with extremely low luck. He was already surprised when she said she was living a good life before. One can only say that it's not that there's no retribution; it's just that the time hasn't come yet.
Exusiai: "Was your money stolen?"
Aqua: "It was blown up! My house was blown up!"
Exusiai: "Oh? Tell me more about the explosion! How did it explode?" When it came to explosions, Exusiai wasn't sleepy anymore. Latran people love excitement the most.
Aqua: "Today, I kindly took in a starving Crimson Demon Clan mage. I originally wanted to convert her to the Axis Order."
Aqua: "Who knew that after she ate and drank her fill, she insisted on showing me her power, and actually blew up my house with one Burst Magic! All my money is gone! Boohoohoo!"
Tushan Honghong: "Is this what people call repaying kindness with enmity?"
Saeko Busujima: "It's still best not to easily help strangers."
Ren: "..."
Crimson Demon Clan, Burst Magic. Isn't that Megumin? They could meet even without Kazuma... that's quite a fate. Idiotic and chuunibyou, beyond saving. If that masochistic knight appears later... With the three of them together, just give up. Aqua lost her money, lost her house; everything started from zero.
He closed the Chat Group. He picked up his phone and checked the time.
"Hmm? January 3rd, Saturday." The school schedule in this strange world was very odd. Normally, it should be winter break now, but this world was different; winter break wouldn't start until February. For Ren, who had lived here since childhood, he had grown accustomed to this peculiar timing.
"This date today..." It seemed he had something to do during the day. He took out his phone. He sent a mass message to everyone in his contacts. 777...
*****
"Chika, why are you sleeping so early today?" Fujiwara Moeha, Fujiwara Chika's younger sister, opened Chika's door and saw that Chika had already wrapped herself in the quilt. Normally, Chika would be pulling them to play games, but today, she went to bed right after dinner, and she showered as soon as she got home, remaining silent throughout dinner. Something felt very wrong!
"Ugh... I'm really sleepy!" Fujiwara Chika had her back to the door, looking nervous. In reality, even after showering, she still felt a warmth in her belly. It felt as if there was still something inside her belly. Even though Ren said he had handled it properly with his ability, it still felt somewhat strange.
"Oh, okay then." Fujiwara Moeha's eyes darted around, and she closed the door with a mischievous smile.
Click!
Hearing the door close, Fujiwara Chika finally relaxed her tense body.
"..." She still felt a phantom warmth in her lower abdomen. She bit her silver teeth, deciding to touch it and investigate. Two slender hands unconsciously reached for the edge of the quilt.
"Chika! Let me see what you're doing!" With a whoosh, the quilt was pulled away. The wind brushed past their bodies with a rustle.
"Eek!!!"
"Ah!!!"
Two screams simultaneously echoed in the room. Fujiwara Toyomi, Chika's older sister, heard the commotion as she passed by. Her hand on the doorknob, she gently pushed it open. "So noisy, what are you…" Her words caught in her throat halfway through. She saw the quilt fallen on the floor. She saw Fujiwara Moeha sitting on the ground, looking at Chika in shock. She saw Chika's posture… Her own sister… had grown up…
"…" Fujiwara Toyomi blinked in silence.
"Ah!!!" Chika's scream once again rang out from the room.
Chika had died tonight, socially.
*****
"Young Miss, why are you still not asleep?" Hayasaka Ai, with dark circles under her eyes, opened Kaguya's door and saw that Kaguya was still awake. As for why she wasn't sleeping either… it was because after her Young Miss returned, she had asked for her computer. She said she needed to look something up. This made Hayasaka Ai very curious. Her Young Miss was clearly a computer illiterate, so why did she suddenly need to use a computer? And she had even used it until the middle of the night. Something was off. Hayasaka Ai wanted to know what had happened.
"Oh, oh! Alright… Here you go!" Kaguya, her face flushed, handed her the computer, then quickly ran back to her bed, pulled the covers over her head, and muffledly said, "I'm going to sleep."
"Alright, Young Miss, please rest well." Hayasaka Ai closed the door. She returned to her own room. She opened the computer browser. She opened the browser's search history. It was just as she had thought. The silly Young Miss didn't even know how to delete her search history, nor did she use incognito Browse like many boys.
As her gaze focused on the search history… Gradually… Her eyes widened, widened immensely. Her mouth opened, opened immensely. A look more horrifying than if she had seen the sky collapsing.
The browser page displayed:
How long does it take to have a baby? Is there a chance of getting pregnant during safe periods? How should a first-time mother take care of a baby? How to choose daily necessities for a baby?
"?????" An endless storm of question marks engulfed Hayasaka Ai's brain. Wasn't her Young Miss a complete novice when it came to sex education? Why had she suddenly jumped to the steps of pregnancy and childcare? What about the middle? What about the process in between? Was the process in between skipped?!
Hayasaka Ai sat stunned in front of the computer. Deep in a brainstorm.
*****
"Is something the matter, Ren-kun?" Yukino was a little puzzled as to why Ren had come to see her so early in the morning. She hadn't found an answer to her and Ren's problem yesterday.
"I'm free today, want to go out and have some fun?"
"With Chika and them?" Yukino subconsciously assumed it would be with Chika and the others.
Ren shook his head: "Just the two of us."
"Huh?"
...
Ultimately, Yukino agreed. She changed into a blue and white dress. The two walked side by side in the mall. Yukino's gaze occasionally darted towards Ren. Just the two of them… wasn't that a date? This situation made her feel a little uncomfortable.
Ren also observed Yukino, and couldn't help but ask. "Yukino, aren't you cold?" The current weather was considered winter. When they were at Ren's house, because of the temperature parameters he had set, it was always a moderate temperature, so wearing light clothes or even being naked was fine. Although school uniforms had short skirts, students also had 'bare leg artifacts'.
Yukino slightly raised her eyelids and quietly said, "Ren-kun, have you forgotten my ability?"
"…" Alright, he had indeed forgotten. Ice power. Plus the enhancement from the last Doomsday Game. Currently, Yukino should have power approaching level 4. It would be strange if she were still afraid of the cold.
The two chatted idly, on and off. Mainly because Yukino was still reserved due to what happened yesterday. Suddenly, Yukino's walking speed slowed down. She gradually fell a body length behind Ren.
"Hmm?" Ren noticed Yukino's slowed pace. He looked back and saw Yukino's eyes fixed on a claw machine. Inside the claw machine were black and white dolls. They looked somewhat like panda plushies. He remembered that Yukino seemed to like cats and also liked Mr. Pan, who resembled a panda. So, those were Mr. Pan plushies, then?
"Do you want one?" Ren asked softly.
"No… No." Yukino's voice hesitated.
"Let's go grab one." Without waiting for Yukino to refuse, Ren took her hand and walked over. "Leave claw machine games to me. I'm known as the Claw Machine Master." Ren said confidently. With his claw-shaking technique, he was truly good at claw games.
He inserted a coin. He manipulated the joystick. He rotated the joystick.
"…" Hiss! This machine can't shake the claw? Ren felt like cursing. If it couldn't shake the claw, what was the point? You could only get the guaranteed prize!
Indeed. Under Yukino's feigned calm but expectant gaze, Mr. Pan was picked up, and the claw retracted upwards.
Clang! His claws seemed to go limp, and Mr. Pan dropped.
Ren didn't use his abilities. Why use abilities to play a claw machine? Wouldn't that be boring?
He continued to insert coins. After ten tries... Holy crap! This darn machine is a rip-off. No guaranteed prize after ten tries? He checked his pockets... no more coins.
"How about we just give up?" Yukino tugged at his clothes.
However, Ren's temper was also ignited. This darn machine. He had to conquer it!
"Wait for me!" Ren said, then ran off to get more coins. He returned with a pile of coins. The Claw Machine Master was back!
Another ten coins. Under Yukino's repeated hopeful gazes, Mr. Pan dropped again and again.
Suddenly, Ren stopped after inserting a coin. He looked at Yukino and said seriously, "Yukino, I think it's your fault I can't catch it."
"My fault?" Yukino was puzzled.
Ren nodded earnestly, explaining logically, "It's because of a lack of Yukino Energy!"
"Yukino Energy? What do you mean?"
"Come here." Ren pulled Yukino in front of the claw machine. Then, standing behind her, he took her hands and placed them on the joystick and button. Holding her hands, he began to operate it.
"Mmm..." Yukino felt the warmth of his breath and hands, and her heart stirred.
Ren pressed the button. The claw descended. It grabbed the doll. The claw retracted. It moved and released its grip. Mr. Pan dropped into the hole!
"Success!" Ren took out Mr. Pan and placed him in Yukino's hands. "How about that? I told you we needed Yukino Energy, one hit and it was a success!"
"!!!" Yukino hugged Mr. Pan, the warmth in her heart filled with joy and happiness. He actually caught it! She held Mr. Pan, unable to put him down.
Seeing Yukino relax and become happy, Ren smiled with relief. Yukino Energy was, of course, just something he said offhand. He simply used Observation Haki to predict that this attempt would be a guaranteed prize. He wanted Yukino to personally experience the joy of catching Mr. Pan. If they were going to play, they should play happily. Overthinking things and being unable to let loose wouldn't do.
*****
With a good mood, Ren took her shopping, took photos, and ate desserts, and Yukino smiled happily throughout. At least, they had a very enjoyable day today. In the evening, they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It was time to go home.
As they were about to leave the mall, Ren glanced into the distance. He said to Yukino, "Wait for me here for a moment."
"Okay," Yukino nodded obediently.
...
"Who can save me... I'm so hungry... Am I going to die soon...?"
It staggered through the alley. Its eyes could no longer see clearly. Finally, its front legs gave out, and its entire body uncontrollably began to fall. If it fell, it probably wouldn't be able to get up again, right?
However, its body didn't fall. It was lifted by a warm force.
"Are you the little one praying?" Ren held the scrawny cat in his hands. It sounded like someone was speaking. The kitten couldn't open its eyes anymore.
The special ability of Chaos Power. Sin Wing could identify and sense sin. Redemption Wings could hear and sense prayers. Ren had heard the fragile prayer for survival from afar. When he arrived, he saw this small black cat with a white belly. Because it was a girl's voice, he initially thought it was a person, but it turned out to be a kitten.
"It's fate that I met you today." Faith Power was infused. Under the golden light, the kitten's frail body gradually recovered, and the dust on its fur disappeared.
"Meow..." (So warm)
The kitten gradually regained its vitality, and it opened its eyes to see a human radiating golden light. The human's hands were so warm, and it felt its body getting better.