Chapter 146: You Just Have a Special Talent for Precisely Finding Death!
With nothing else to do, Ryohei Tanaka sat on the sofa and started watching a prank variety show with Jashin-chan and the others. He had to admit, the Japanese prank shows were pretty funny. He found himself chuckling along and thought they were a nice way to relax.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jashin-chan pull a small notebook and a pen out of the snake-skin pouch on her belly. She was jotting something down with a thoughtful look, humming to herself.
Ryohei blinked, then looked over at her, speechless. "Jashin-chan, what are you doing?"
"It's obvious. I'm learning from the best to improve my own weaknesses..." Jashin-chan replied without looking up, her pen scratching furiously across the page. An idea seemed to strike her, and her mouth stretched into a grin that nearly reached her ears, followed by a sinister "Heh heh heh..."
"Don't go courting death," Ryohei advised her kindly. The prank on TV had involved sneaking a stag beetle onto a female celebrity. If she tried something like that on Yurine, Jashin-chan would get a severe punishment. And if she tried it on him, he would ask Yurine to give her a severe punishment.
"Shut up! I'm not courting death!" Jashin-chan snapped back defensively after she finished writing down her prank idea.
"Right, right, you're not courting death..." Ryohei leaned back comfortably in the beanbag chair, a playful smirk on his face. "You just have a special talent for precisely finding death."
"Pfft—!" Minos, who was curled up on the sofa hugging a pillow, her long, stocking-clad legs tucked under her, burst out laughing. "That's so true!" she added, continuing to giggle.
"HAH?!" Jashin-chan's eyes went wide with rage as she glared at them. Her gaze finally settled on Ryohei. She bared her sharp snake fangs threateningly. "You bastard subordinate, are you looking for a fight?"
Having received an invitation for a "real-life duel," Ryohei calmly glanced at Lucoa. "Can I call in a substitute fighter?"
"A subordinate is part of the master's strength. Calling on me doesn't count as a substitute," Lucoa said with a serene smile.
Jashin-chan's cute face twitched as if she had a toothache. "A subordinate is part of the master's strength? Then what does that make me?" Her own subordinates had all rebelled against her and never took her side.
"...It means you deserve it?" Ryohei mused, then continued to tease her. "See, you failed at being a good subordinate to Yurine, and I'm just learning from your example... So you deserve it."
Jashin-chan was speechless. The logic was sound, and utterly infuriating. She stared at Ryohei, so frustrated she almost imploded.
"Well, in that case, I must be doing a pretty good job. I haven't learned any of your bad habits, Tanaka-kun," Lucoa said, sitting up straight and placing a hand on her ample chest, smiling at him.
Ryohei shot her a surprised look. Where do you get the nerve to say that? You're a huge problem yourself! You're hardly a proper subordinate!
...
By the time the prank show ended, it was eleven o'clock, time to start preparing lunch. Ryohei got up from the sofa, stretched, and went into the open kitchen. He checked the large unicorn tenderloin; it was in a perfect, semi-frozen state, ideal for slicing.
He immediately tore open the vacuum-sealed package, cut six perfectly uniform steaks, and set aside a portion to be served as sashimi.
Minos stood at the kitchen counter, her eyes glued to the glowing sashimi on the cutting board, swallowing hard. Her face was a perfect picture of craving. Ryohei looked up after finishing and couldn't help but smile. He remembered when they first met, she had insisted she wasn't a glutton, yet she was by far the greediest of them all—even more so than Koji-kun.
Of course, gluttony aside, Minos was also hardworking, kind, beautiful, and had a killer figure. Her greed wasn't so much a flaw as it was an adorable character trait.
"Want to try some now?" Ryohei asked with a smile.
"Yes, yes!" Minos's eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly like a chick pecking at grain.
"Then wait just a moment while I make a dipping sauce for you," Ryohei said, grabbing a small bowl. He looked at the finely marbled sashimi and decided on a refreshing, sweet-and-sour sauce made with lemon, minced garlic, soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili, sesame oil, and a bit of sugar.
"Everyone, have a taste." Ryohei arranged some of the sashimi on a small plate, placed it on the counter with the sauce, and gestured to Minos, Yurine, and Lucoa.
"Hey—! Don't you dare eat without us!" Jashin-chan yelled, rushing over with Medusa in tow.
"There are three of us here, so we're not eating alone!" Minos retorted, taking a pair of chopsticks from Ryohei. She picked up a slice of the marbled sashimi, dipped it in the sauce, and brought it to her mouth.
The moment it touched her tongue, a refreshing coolness spread through her.
In the next second, the exquisitely smooth texture of the sashimi and the unique flavor of the sauce exploded in her mouth. The cool, tender meat melted like ice cream, releasing a rich, creamy aroma and sweet juices—a result of the unsaturated fatty acids in the fat reacting with the inosinic acid in the meat.
"Mmmph—!" Minos's head tilted back, her pale chin forming an alluring curve. She closed her eyes in pleasure and let out a soft moan.
"This is it... that melts-in-your-mouth texture!"
The meat was so fine it required almost no chewing. The lean parts had a subtle elasticity but none of the coarseness of muscle fiber. After she swallowed, a long, savory aftertaste lingered in her throat, along with a rich, nutty fragrance.
"I can't take it, I can't take it... This is too delicious! Amazing!" (≧∀≦)!
...
A blood-red moon hung high in the sky, casting an ominous crimson glow over the dark forest.
As if she had become a lonely gourmet, Minos, holding a giant axe and carrying a traveler's pack, walked through the deep woods. Her khaki-colored boots crunched on the dry leaves and twigs underfoot.
Suddenly, a strange sound came from her right. Minos spun around—and when she saw what was there, her face lit up with joy.
The target had appeared!
The first thing she saw was a pair of long, narrow eyes burning with ethereal blue flames, like two will-o'-the-wisps in the darkness. Then, its silhouette came into view: a horse-like form, standing about two meters tall. Its coat was pitch black. From its forehead grew a single, spiraling horn of the same color.
It was the target she had been seeking for so long—the Dark Unicorn.
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