Inside Ren's shop, Ophis and Fou were locked in a stare-off.
Fou clutched its Jealousy Crystal tightly. It had been rationing this delicious treat for ages.
It knew Ren didn't have much of it left. Just look—Kuroka already ran out of her Nekomata Bloodline Crystals. If Fou finished this, that'd be it! Sure, Ren had replaced it with other foods, but…
Delicious stuff must be saved for last.
That's how normal people do it. Fou thought the same.
"Want to eat… It'll help me get stronger."
Ophis spoke concisely and reached for the item with a hand that, in Fou's eyes, looked like a devil's claw.
Without a word, Fou handed her a bag of blue-grade cat food.
Ophis glanced at it—and tossed it aside.
Fou swore she saw disdain in her eyes.
"Not tasty. Power boost is minimal. Almost negligible..."
Flat and direct. Fou nodded in agreement.
Even it didn't think much of the blue stuff. That's why it saved the Jealousy Crystals. Blue-grade food barely helped beings at their level. Maybe the black cat's little sister would benefit from it.
Ophis once again reached out.
Fou looked around in panic, searching for something to trade.
Then its gaze fell on the crystals in front of Examon.
"Fou~~ Fou~~ Fou~~ (Don't take mine! Go steal the dragon's instead!)"
"Examon's food?"
Ophis tilted her head and looked at Examon.
At that moment, Examon heard Fou and raised its head.
The two dragons locked eyes.
Fou sighed in relief. Examon's food was blue-grade, but designed specifically for dragon-types. It still gave decent boosts to dragon-kind.
Rather than spreading generic food around, Ren always ensured each creature got what matched their needs. That's why, even though Examon craved Fou's food, it never asked for it.
This thing being able to shake the limit of his power, which hadn't improved until now, was already quite impressive.
However, he hadn't even blamed Fou for anything, and yet this cat-devil had the nerve to deflect the trouble toward someone else!
The look in Examon's eyes instantly turned unfriendly.
After a long stare-down, no one knew what kind of agreement was reached between Ophis and Examon, but they both gave a slight nod.
Sensing danger, Fou looked up cautiously.
Immediately, two pairs of eyes gleaming with cold light locked onto her, causing cold sweat to bead on her forehead.
—Crack!
"I'm back! Fou, well done! You actually brought Ophis here. I'll definitely reward you crack, cocaine and lots of headp—huh?"
The voice arrived before the person. As the shop door opened, Ren slowly walked in.
Before he could finish his sentence, his expression shifted dramatically, piquing the curiosity of those behind him.
The little girl Ophis sat in a chair, with two servings of food laid out on the table before her.
Ren could see clearly—it was the blue reward, Dragon Crystal, and the purple reward, Jealousy Crystal.
Ophis grabbed a handful and stuffed them into her mouth. The two powers merged within her. She was steadily growing stronger. Of course, if Ren hadn't been closely observing, he wouldn't have noticed it.
It was like when Kuroka and Fou were eating—they seemed to be just having a meal, with no visible changes.
Ren didn't feel regretful about not forming a contract with Ophis, and thus not receiving any feedback. After all, Fou, Examon, and Lucemon were all stronger than Ophis. He didn't need to be greedy for such small returns.
What caused his expression to change so much wasn't Ophis—it was Fou.
Fou looked utterly deflated, as if she'd lost the meaning of life. She was counting the Jealousy Crystals in the bag with a tearful expression. It was the kind of scene that could make onlookers cry.
Incidentally, Examon acted as if nothing had happened, quietly eating its food.
It hadn't taken any Jealousy Crystals and even shared some food with Ophis.
"Heh heh… finally, someone's putting that little thing in her place!"
Kuroka laughed mischievously, her face full of schadenfreude.
Though she and Fou were the first of Ren's familiars, their relationship was never particularly good.
It was hot and cold, fluctuating based on how much Fou suppressed Kuroka in strength.
Sure enough, noticing Kuroka's glee, Fou's gaze changed.
From who knows where, she pulled out a bag of blue-grade cat food and then—
"Wait!!!"
Fou dove straight into the bag, devouring the contents like a whirlwind, completely ignoring the now petrified Kuroka.
"Waaaahhh—what are you doing?! There wasn't much left to begin with!"
She yanked Fou out and tossed her away.
Seeing how little was left inside, Kuroka looked on the verge of tears and turned to Ren.
Ren only commented dryly.
"You brought this on yourself by being so smug."
Kuroka twitched. Who knew Fou had such good hearing?
Ren ignored the rest and slowly walked up to Ophis, smiling gently.
Ophis lifted her head slightly and met Ren's gaze.
"So, you're Ophis?"
"Mm… Fou and Examon… are your pets?"
On the way here, Fou had told her about it, and she had also asked Examon some things while eating.
So she wasn't entirely ignorant of Ren.
"They are my pets, but I think of them more like family…"
'Pet' was just how the system labeled them. Ren really did want to treat them well.
If they were just pets, he wouldn't respect their thoughts this much.
Looking at the food in her hand, Ren continued asking.
"Is it tasty?"
"Mm… It increases my strength. Helps me defeat Baka-red. But… there's not enough of it."
Ophis seemed a little regretful as she said that.
"Then, would you like to stay with me? I still have a lot of this stuff. Even if the gains aren't huge, you're not in a rush, are you? Ophis?"
At that, Ophis looked at Ren again.
Fou stared at Ren with utter disdain.
Here we go again! This man is at it again!